The advent of the Reformation, as has already been pointed
out, finally shattered that ideal of civil and religious unity
which had been the main characteristic of the middle
ages. Thus from the beginning of the 16th century
Europe sees the development of the modern statesThe balance of power and the beginning of
modern times.
system and becomes the scene of national wars in
which the idea of the balance of power was the leading
principle (see Balance of Power). That principle did
not allow of the recognition of the rights of nationalities,
and till the wars of the French Revolution the interests
of the various European states were usually subordinated to the
dynastic aims of their rulers. During the ensuing centuries the
balance of power in Europe was seriously threatened; during
the first half of the 16th century by Charles V., during the latter
half of the same century by Philip II., in the first half of the 17th
century by the house of Habsburg, and in the latter half by
Louis XIV.
The close of the Seven Years’ War seemed to prelude a period of British ascendancy on the continent, but that danger passed away with the outbreak of the war between Great Britain and her American colonies. For a time the balance of power in Europe was completely shattered by Napoleon’s brilliant conquests, but his fall, while to a great extent restoring the political equilibrium, gave an opportunity to Alexander of Russia to dominate Europe. Thus the 16th century definitely marked the beginning of modern times both from a political as well as from a religious point of view.
With the accession of Francis I. to the French and Charles V.
to the imperial throne began the long rivalry between France
and the house of Habsburg, which continued with few
interruptions till 1756. In the struggle between
Charles V. and Francis I., which began in 1521, theThe Reformation
and the rivalry of
Charles V. and Francis I.
former had the advantage, and the battle of Pavia
(1525) seemed likely to lead to the permanent pre-eminence
of the imperial cause. But unexpected
allies were found by Francis in the German reformers and in the
Turks. The nailing by Luther of his ninety-five theses to the
door of the Wittenberg church, followed by the decisions of the
diet of Worms in 1521, led to a rapid development of Lutheran
opinions among the princes of the north of Germany. Charles
V.’s victory over France in 1525 and his reconciliation with the
papacy in 1529 seemed, however, to prelude the suppression
of the Protestant opinions. But Francis I. again took up arms,
while the invasions of Suleiman the Magnificent, during whose
reign the Turkish influence was not only felt in Hungary and
Germany but extended to the west basin of the Mediterranean,
forced Charles to temporize. When in 1544 the conclusion of
the peace of Crépy with Francis I. enabled Charles to turn his
attention to the rapid growth of Protestantism, it was too late
to adopt with any chance of success a policy of suppression.
In 1552 he found himself compelled to agree to the treaty of
Passau which implied the adoption of a policy of compromise,
and which in 1555 was followed by a definite arrangement at
Augsburg, which admitted the principle of cujus regio, ejus religio. Till the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618,
the settlement of Augsburg tended to keep peace between the
Catholics and the Protestants. Equally unsuccessful were
Charles’s later efforts against France; in 1553 he lost Metz,
Toul and Verdun, and in 1556 he retired to Spain, leaving the
Empire to his brother Ferdinand, and Spain, the Netherlands
and his Italian possessions to his son Philip. The latter, after
winning the battle of St Quentin in 1557, made peace with
Henry II. of France by the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in
1559.
By this peace a term was put to the struggle between France on the one hand and the Empire and Spain on the other, and the kings of France and Spain were enabled to turn their attention to the issues raised by the immense growth of Protestantism since 1521. While Charles V. hadThe Counter-Reformation. been engaged in his struggles with the Turks and the French, Protestantism had rapidly developed. In Sweden, in Denmark, in England, in various parts of Germany, and in France Protestant principles had been largely adopted (see Reformation).
Though the forces of Roman Catholicism had for a time been vanquished they had still to be counted with. From the middle of the 16th century the growth of Protestantism began to be checked, and a period of reaction against the Reformation set in. For a time it seemed that the efforts of Roman Catholicism would be successful and that the cause of Protestantism would be permanently weakened. The papacy since the beginning of the 16th century had reformed itself, the council of Trent (q.v.), which closed its sittings in 1564, had given Roman Catholicism a “clearly and sharply defined body of doctrine,” and the Catholic Church had become “more united, less worldly; and more dependent on herself.” In this work of reorganization the Jesuits had played a great part, and the success of the Counter-Reformation was largely due to their efforts (see Jesuits). Paul III., Pius IV. and V., Gregory XIII. and Sixtus V. are all good examples of the reforming popes of the 16th century. Under them the Jesuits worked; they restored Catholicism in Poland, Bohemia and south Germany; and supported by them the Inquisition crushed Protestantism out of Spain and Italy.
The interest of the Counter-Reformation movement from 1559 to 1618 centres round Philip II. of Spain. While Pius V. (1566–1572) is the best example of the Counter-Reformation popes, Philip II. took the lead among European Catholic monarchs in working for the extinctionThe aims of Philip II. of Protestantism. His recovery of the southern Netherlands for the Catholic cause, his attempt to conquer England, his intention of subjugating France, were all parts of a scheme to advance simultaneously his own power and that of the Counter-Reformation.
Circumstances combined to aid Philip, and while he was endeavouring to carry out his political aims, the Jesuits were busily occupied in winning back large portions of Europe to allegiance to the papacy. But failure attended most of Philip’s projects. Though he succeeded in recovering the southern or Walloon provinces of the Netherlands, he was unable to conquer the northern provinces, which under William of Orange formed themselves into the Dutch republic (see Holland: History). His scheme for the conquest of England failed, and the Spanish Armada was totally defeated in 1588. Nor was his plan for the subjection of France more successful. After a tedious civil war between the Catholics and Huguenots, Henry of Navarre appeared as a national leader, who, having overcome the armies of the League with which Philip was allied, concluded the peace of Vervins in 1598. In consenting to this treaty Philip acknowledged that his schemes for the establishment of his influence over France had failed. Thus, when the 16th century closed, England’s independence was assured, the Dutch republic was established, the French monarchy was rapidly recovering from the effects of the religious wars and the decadence of the Spanish monarchy had set in. But the religious question was still unsettled, religious passions ran high, and no satisfactory agreement between Catholicism and Protestantism had been, or seemed likely to be arrived at. The successes of the Counter-Reformation under the Jesuits and such men as Ferdinand of Styria (afterwards the emperor Ferdinand II.) and Maximilian of Bavaria only roused strenuous opposition on the part of Calvinist princes such as Frederick IV., the elector palatine.
Various events had indicated the approach of a final struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism during the early years of the 17th century. The seizure of Donauwörth, a town with Protestant sympathies, by Maximilian of Bavaria in 1607, the formation of the Protestant UnionThe approach of the Thirty Years’ War. in 1608 and of the Catholic League in 1609, the questions raised in 1609 by the Cleves-Jülich affair, the preparations of Henry IV. of France for an anti-Habsburg campaign—all these showed that the political atmosphere was charged with electricity. Till 1618, however, an open conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism in Germany was averted; in that year the acceptance, by the Calvinist Frederick, the elector palatine,
