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Enforcement of the Edict of Restitution
In 1629 Emperor Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution, ordering Protestant princes to return Catholic church properties secularized since 1555…
Timeline
- 1629–1630Protestant territories of the Holy Roman Empire · Holy Roman EmpireFerdinand II, by imperial edict, compelled Protestant princes to return Catholic bishoprics, monasteries, and church properties secularized since 1555. Catholic commissioners were stationed to carry out the restitution, provoking strong resistance and alarm among Protestant princes.
- 1630Regensburg · BavariaAt the electoral diet in Regensburg, Protestant and Catholic princes jointly pressured the emperor to amend or suspend the Edict of Restitution, while forcing Ferdinand II to dismiss Wallenstein as commander-in-chief. Tensions between imperial princes and imperial authority reached their peak.
- 1635Prague · BohemiaThe Peace of Prague was signed, with the emperor and the Elector of Saxony and other leading Protestant princes reaching a compromise. The Edict of Restitution was suspended for 40 years, based on the state of church property possession before 1627, laying the groundwork for the diplomatic landscape of the later Thirty Years' War.
Sources
- The Thirty Years War — C. V. Wedgwood (1938)
- Der Dreißigjährige Krieg — Georg Schmidt (1999)