Peace of Prague (1635)

Peace of Prague
	John George I, Elector of Saxony
Signed	30 May 1635
Location	Prague Castle,Bohemia
Mediators	George II of Hesse-Darmstadt
Negotiators	Trauttmansdorff; von Senftenau; von Gebhardt; von Döring; von Sebottendorf; von Oppel;
Original; signatories	Emperor Ferdinand II; John George I;
Signatories	Numerous
Parties	Emperor Ferdinand II; John George I;
Languages	German

ThePeace of Prague^[c],dated 30 May 1635Old Style,was a significant turning point in theThirty Years' War.Signed byJohn George I, Elector of Saxony,andFerdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor,the terms endedSaxony's support for theanti-Imperialcoalition led bySweden.

Other states within theHoly Roman Empiresubsequently joined the treaty, and their exit was a key factor inCatholic France entering the waras an ally ofProtestantSweden. Although fighting continued until 1648, it is generally agreed Prague ended the war as a primarilyone of religion.^[3]^[4]

Background

TheThirty Years' Warbegan in 1618 when theProtestant Frederick V of the Palatinate,accepted the crown ofBohemia.Most members of theHoly Roman Empireviewed it as an internal dynastic dispute. WithBavariansupport,Emperor Ferdinandquickly suppressed theBohemian Revolt.Troops underMaximilian I, Elector of Bavariainvaded thePalatinatein 1622 and sent Frederick into exile. However, depriving a hereditary prince of his lands changed both the nature and the extent of the war.^{[citation needed]}

Christian IV of Denmarkinvaded Northern Germany in support of his fellow Protestants untilforced to withdrawin 1629. Success led Ferdinand to pass theEdict of Restitution,which required any property transferred since 1552 to be restored to its original owner, which was in nearly every case theCatholic Church.By effectively undoing the 1555Peace of Augsburg,the edict forced moderate Protestants likeJohn George of SaxonyandGeorge William of Brandenburginto opposition.^[5]That increased after 1627 by having a large Imperial army based on their lands, whose rarely-paid troops simplytook what they wanted.^[6]

In 1630,Gustavus Adolphus of SwedeninvadedPomeraniawithmoney from Franceand support fromSaxonyandBrandenburg-Prussia.After his death at theBattle of Lützen (1632),Sweden formed theHeilbronn League.Funded by France and composed of smaller German Protestant states, the League won a number of victories until defeat atNördlingen in 1634.^[7]

One result of Nördlingen was to highlight strategic differences between individual Heilbronn members. Sweden competed with Prussia and theDutch Republicover the lucrativeBaltic trade,and sought to retain its post-1630 acquisition ofSwedish Pomerania.To strengthen its borders in theRhinelandandLow Countries,France supported the Dutch against the Swedes in the Baltic, and also backed Maximilian of Bavaria, a leader of the anti-SwedishCatholic League.Most of their German allies wanted to restore the territorial position of 1618, which implied reversing French and Swedish gains.^[8]

After 1632, Ferdinand accepted Catholicism could not be re-imposed by force and opened discussions on amending the Edict of Restitution in February 1633, eighteen months before Nördlingen.^[9]The execution of Imperial CommanderAlbrecht von Wallensteinin February 1634 removed a major obstacle since he had become an independent agent. With theLutheranstates of Denmark-Norway andHesse-Darmstadtacting as mediators, the two parties agreed a preliminary draft in November 1634, known as the Pirnaer Noteln. Although subject to many corrections and revisions, this formed the basis of the 1635 agreement.^[1]

Terms

The treaty was a bilateral agreement between Ferdinand and John George, and other states joined later. Negotiations took eight days and were held inPrague Castle,the site of theDefenestrations of Prague,which had begun the war in 1618.^[10]Its terms included the following;

The Edict of Restitution was effectively revoked, and the date for returning properties was established as 12 November 1627. However, under theReservatum ecclesiasticum,Protestant administrators of formally Catholicprince-bishopricsandimperial abbeyswere excluded from theImperial Diet.^{[citation needed]}

Formal alliances between states within the Empire or with outside powers were prohibited, which led to dissolution of the Catholic and Heilbronn Leagues.^{[citation needed]}

In principle, the armies of the various states were unified into theArmy of the Holy Roman Empire,but that proved almost impossible to enforce;^{[citation needed]}

A general amnesty was granted to those who had fought against Imperial troops, apart from descendants of former "Winter King"Frederick V of the Palatinate(1596–1632).^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath

Accessions

Many other states and rulers subsequentlyacceded to the treaty,including:

31 August 1635:George, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg–Principality of CalenbergandDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg^[11]
Electorate of Brandenburg^{[clarification needed]}^[11]
Electorate of Mainz^[11]
Ferdinand of Bavaria–Electorate of Cologne,Prince-Bishopric of Münster(the Chapter of Münster signed as a separate party), andPrince-Bishopric of Paderborn^[11]
Franz von Hatzfeld–Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg^[11]
George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt–Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt^[11]
Saxe-Weimar^[11]
Saxe-Gotha^[11]
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin^[11]
Theprinces of Anhalt^{[clarification needed]}^[11]
Countess Katharine of Lippe-Detmold^[11]^[12]
Count of Zweibrücken-Hanau^{[clarification needed]}^[11]
Hanseatic Leaguecities such as theFree City of Hamburgand theFree City of Bremen^[11]
Severalimperial citiessuch as
- Erfurt(which never achieved imperial city status)^[11]
- Free City of Frankfurt^[11]
- Imperial City of Memmingen^[11]
- Free Imperial City of Nuremberg^[11]
- Free Imperial City of Ulm^[11]
Electorate of Bavaria^[1]^{[better source needed]}

Some exceptions:

CalvinistWilliam V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kasselinitially also acceded to the Peace of Prague but in 1636 concluded an alliance with France instead, which earned him animperial ban.^[11]
TheImperial City of Strasbourgdid not accede to the treaty.^[11]
TheDuchy of Württembergwas explicitly excluded from the treaty.^[11]

Imperial restoration and territorial changes

Some of the states that later acceded to the Peace of Prague received minor concessions:Brandenburg-Prussiawas confirmed as holder ofFarther Pomerania,previously a possession of the lastDuke Bogislaw XIV.^[1]

In 1623, Saxony occupied theBohemian crown landsofLowerandUpper Lusatiain return for its support during theBohemian Revolt.Under theTraditionsrezessannex of 1636, Ferdinand ceded both territories in perpetuity, plus the towns ofJüterbog,Dahmeand Burg Querfurt. John George also received theArchbishopric of MagdeburgandHalberstadt,after agreeing not tosecularisethem; these were transferred to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648.^[13]

While Ferdinand continued theCounter-Reformationin his own lands, it is generally agreed the Peace of Prague ended it as an internal religious conflict and re-established the principle ofcuius regio, eius religio.By renouncing their right to create alliances and handing over control of armed forces, the Imperial estates, in return, acknowledged the supremacy of the Emperor.^[14]

Continuation of wars

However, those principles were not universally followed and hostilities continued. They included internal struggles between Imperial states, such as theHessian War,as well as intervention by foreign powers. The war expanded on 19 May 1635, when Francedeclared war on Spain,and entered the Thirty Years War as an activebelligerent.While his elder brotherWilliam, Duke of Saxe-Weimarjoined the Peace,Bernard of Saxe-Weimarand his army were employed by France against Spanish possessions inLorraineand in the Rhineland. In 1642, Sweden won a decisive victory atBreitenfeld,and overran Saxony. Many German states responded by shifting towards neutrality, and negotiating independently from the Emperor. The various parties fought on in the hope of improving their position, and peace was not finally achieved until thePeace of Westphaliain 1648.^[15]

Footnotes

^All dates in article areOld Style
^While most treaties of the period were written inLatin,German was used for agreements within the Holy Roman Empire^[2]
^Czech:Pražský mír,German:Prager Frieden

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eAsbach & Schröder 2014,p. 288.
^Espenhorst 2016,p. 510.
^Onnekink & Rommelse 2019,p. 62.
^Espenhorst 2016,p. 512.
^Bireley 2003,p. 111.
^Knox 2017,p. 182.
^Knox 2017,pp. 181.
^Knox 2017,pp. 182–183.
^Bireley 1976,p. 31.
^Asbach & Schröder 2014,p. 287.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^uEspenhorst 2016,p. 514.
^Engel 1980,p. 167.
^Asbach & Schröder 2014,p. 293.
^Bireley 1976,p. 32.
^Knox 2017,p. 187.

Sources

Asbach, Olaf; Schröder, Peter (2014).The Ashgate Research Companion to the Thirty Years' War.Ashgate.ISBN 978-1409406297.
Espenhorst, Martin (2016). "The Peace of Prague – A Failed Settlement?".The Ashgate Research Companion to the Thirty Years' War.Ashgate.ISBN 9781317041344.
Bireley, Robert (2003).The Jesuits and the Thirty Years War: Kings, Courts, and Confessors.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0521820172.
Bireley, Robert (1976). "The Peace of Prague (1635) and the Counterreformation in Germany".The Journal of Modern History.48(1): 31–69.doi:10.1086/241519.S2CID 143376778.
Engel, Gustav (1980).Politische Geschichte Westfalens(in German). Grote.ISBN 978-3774564428.
Knox, Bill (2017). Tucker, Spencer (ed.).Enduring Controversies in Military History Volume I: Critical Analyses and Context.Greenwood Press.ISBN 978-1440841194.
Onnekink, David; Rommelse, Gijs (2019).The Dutch in the Early Modern World: A History of a Global Power.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1107125810.
Wedgwood, CV (1938).The Thirty Years War(2005 ed.). New York Review of Books.ISBN 978-1590171462.

External links

Scan of the Imperial-Saxon treaty at IEG Mainz, 81 pages

[1] All dates in article areOld Style

[4] While most treaties of the period were written inLatin,German was used for agreements within the Holy Roman Empire^[2]

[5] Czech:Pražský mír,German:Prager Frieden

[FOOTNOTEAsbachSchröder2014288-2] Asbach & Schröder 2014,p. 288.

[FOOTNOTEEspenhorst2016510-3] Espenhorst 2016,p. 510.

[FOOTNOTEOnnekinkRommelse201962-6] Onnekink & Rommelse 2019,p. 62.

[FOOTNOTEEspenhorst2016512-7] Espenhorst 2016,p. 512.

[FOOTNOTEBireley2003111-8] Bireley 2003,p. 111.

[FOOTNOTEKnox2017182-9] Knox 2017,p. 182.

[FOOTNOTEKnox2017181-10] Knox 2017,pp. 181.

[FOOTNOTEKnox2017182–183-11] Knox 2017,pp. 182–183.

[FOOTNOTEBireley197631-12] Bireley 1976,p. 31.

[FOOTNOTEAsbachSchröder2014287-13] Asbach & Schröder 2014,p. 287.

[FOOTNOTEEspenhorst2016514-14] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^uEspenhorst 2016,p. 514.

[FOOTNOTEEngel1980167-15] Engel 1980,p. 167.

[FOOTNOTEAsbachSchröder2014293-16] Asbach & Schröder 2014,p. 293.

[FOOTNOTEBireley197632-17] Bireley 1976,p. 32.

[FOOTNOTEKnox2017187-18] Knox 2017,p. 187.

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