Outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War (1546)

Timeline

1. 1541–1546Holy Roman Empire · GermanyThe religious-political arrangements under the Peace of Augsburg (its pre-1555 implementation framework) were increasingly failing, and tensions between the Schmalkaldic League and the empire's Catholic camp intensified over doctrine, church property, and princely sovereignty.
2. 1546Southern Germany · Baden-WürttembergCharles V, allied with Catholic princes, first attacked the territories of Schmalkaldic League members Elector John Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse, and the war thus broke out in full.
3. 1546–1547various German theaters · GermanyThe war quickly spread to Saxony, Thuringia, Württemberg, and elsewhere. Although the Protestant princes organized resistance, internal divisions within the league and the empire's military superiority gradually tipped the balance toward Charles V.