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What did the Reformation do to politics? (Part I)

What did the Reformation do to politics? (Part I). Holy Roman Empire and France. From last time. England and the other ReformationS The political effects of the Reformation in England: a strengthening of the authority of the sovereign

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What did the Reformation do to politics? (Part I)

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  1. What did the Reformation do to politics? (Part I) Holy Roman Empire and France

  2. From last time • England and the other ReformationS • The political effects of the Reformation in England: a strengthening of the authority of the sovereign • The Catholic reaction to Protestantism: discipline and punish (see M.Foucault for more on this)

  3. Today • The religious wars in Germany and the end of Charles’s empire • The religious wars in France and their relationship with the French state • The development or refinement of new political theories: constitutionalism and absolutism

  4. The Holy Roman Empire and the religious wars • 1531: the formation of the Schmalkaldic League • 1547: the battle of Mühlberg and the defeat of the League, but… • Duke Maurice of Saxony betrayes Charles and… • In 1552 the war is resumed!

  5. 1555: the Peace of Augsburg

  6. 1555: ‘cuius regio, eius religion’ (whose region, his religion)

  7. Cuius regio, eius religion: what is it? • It gave every prince the right to pick the religion of their territories (either Lutheran or Catholic, no Calvinist, no Anabaptists, no ‘Radicals’) • NO TOLERATION • The breaking down of unity and the formation of territorial churches

  8. 1556: Charles’s empire is OVER Philip II Philip II P I L I P H II Ferdinand

  9. The French wars of religion • Ingredients for a bloodshed: • A big country, with a strong tradition of national identity and a strong Calvinist minority, called Huguenots • A young king and a strong, ‘Machiavellian’ Queen-mother, Catherine de Medici • A strong and powerful Huguenot leader, Henry of Navarre

  10. Catherine de Medici

  11. Henry of Navarre

  12. Steps of the war • Context: Catherine de Medici tries to play off the Huguenots (Navarre) and the Catholics (the League) against each other • 1572: marriage between Marguerite de Medici and Henry of Navarre • 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre • 1570s-1580s: the war of the 3 Henry’s (Henry III -the king, Henry of Guise -the member of the super-Catholic League, Henry of Navarre -the Huguenot) • 1589: Henry of Navarre wins

  13. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

  14. What are the political consequences? • Reformation in France cannot be ‘fixed’ the German-way: impossible to divide the territories • So what do we do to avoid civil wars? • Two solutions elaborated in the 1570s, of very crucial importance in the political history of Europe: • 1) Either we LIMIT the authority of the sovereign, so that she/he cannot kill any of her/his subjects for any reason, including religion; or • 2) We INCREASE the authority of the sovereign, so that he is ‘ABOVE’ the religious factions

  15. Solution n.1: look at your handout • The prince are made by God THROUGH the People • The people as a whole (NOT as individuals) are above the king • The representatives of the people as a whole, i.e. the magistrates, can resist to the king

  16. Solution n.2: look a the handout • Sovereignty is PERPETUAL and ABSOLUTE • The prince has no limit, aside from the laws of nature and God • NO resistance possible, but the king cannot kill his subjects because that would make him ‘guilty of treason against God’

  17. The End of the Wars of Religion: • 1589: Henry of Navarre becomes King Henry IV • 1593: He converts to Catholicism (!), but… • 1598: He issues the Edict of Nantes to grant his Huguenot subjects freedom of worship. • But… • 1610: He is killed by a religious fanatic, and the French crown recovers by strengthening its absolutist character (see your readings on that)

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