![]() Above them sat the Imperial Diet, which prior to 1663 assembled on an irregular basis and largely served as a forum for discussion, rather than legislation. Each also belonged to a regional grouping or " Imperial circle", which primarily focused on defence and operated as autonomous bodies. ![]() They ranged in size and importance from the seven Prince-electors who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor, down to Prince-bishoprics and Imperial cities like Hamburg. Reconciling these differences was hampered by the fragmented nature of the Empire and its representative institutions, which included 300 Imperial Estates distributed across Germany, the Low Countries, Northern Italy and modern France. Conflict over economic and political objectives frequently superseded religion, with Lutheran Saxony, Denmark-Norway and Sweden competing with each other and Calvinist Brandenburg over the Baltic trade. The Peace of Augsburg also gave individual rulers within the Empire greater political autonomy and control over the religion practised in their domains, while weakening central authority. These agreements were undermined by the post-1555 expansion of Protestantism into areas previously designated as Catholic, as well as the growth of Reformed faiths not recognised by Augsburg, especially Calvinism, a theology viewed with hostility by both Lutherans and Catholics. Other provisions protected substantial religious minorities in cities like Donauwörth and confirmed Lutheran ownership of property taken from the Catholic Church since Passau. Under the principle of cuius regio, eius religio, states were categorised as either Lutheran, then the most usual form of Protestantism, or Catholic, based on the religion of their ruler. The 1552 Peace of Passau sought to resolve the issues that led to conflict between Protestants and Catholics within the Holy Roman Empire, while the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tried to prevent their recurrence by fixing boundaries between the two faiths. By weakening the Habsburgs relative to France, the conflict altered the European balance of power and set the stage for the wars of Louis XIV. This concluded with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, whose provisions included greater autonomy within the Empire for states like Bavaria and Saxony, as well as acceptance of Dutch independence by Spain. After 1635, the Empire became one theatre in a wider struggle between France, supported by Sweden, and Emperor Ferdinand III, allied with Spain. The first phase from 1618 until 1635 was primarily a civil war between German members of the Holy Roman Empire, with support from external powers. Since rulers like Christian IV of Denmark and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden also held territories within the Empire, this gave them and other foreign powers an excuse to intervene, turning an internal dynastic dispute into a broader European conflict. Although Imperial forces quickly suppressed the Bohemian Revolt, his participation expanded the fighting into the Palatinate, whose strategic importance drew in the Dutch Republic and Spain, then engaged in the Eighty Years' War. Its outbreak is generally traced to 1618, when Emperor Ferdinand II was deposed as king of Bohemia and replaced by the Protestant Frederick V of the Palatinate. While most modern commentators accept that differences over religion and Imperial authority were important factors in causing the war, they argue its scope and extent were driven by the contest for European dominance between Habsburg-ruled Spain and Austria, and the French House of Bourbon. ![]() The 1555 Peace of Augsburg attempted to resolve this by dividing the Empire into Lutheran and Catholic states, but over the next 50 years the expansion of Protestantism beyond these boundaries destabilised the settlement. Until the 20th century, historians generally viewed the war as a continuation of the religious struggle initiated by the 16th-century Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648.
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