The terms of peace, called the Peace of Westphalia (1648), reflect the passing of an age. Calvinism joined Lutheranism and Catholicism as a recognized expression of the Christian faith. Princes, if they chose, could, for the first time, allow Protestants and Catholics to coexist within their territories. And the pope was excluded from any interference in the religious affairs of Germany. Naturally Pope Innocent X condemned the treaty, but both Catholics and Protestants ignored his protests.
One of the glaring weaknesses of the Peace of Augsburg (1555) was that it ignored the Calvinists. Given their sense of holy mission, it was merely a matter of time before hostilities erupted anew. Preparations for war were laid early in the seventeenth century when Protestants formed a league of German princes and Catholics created a similar Catholic League. Fighting broke out in 1618.
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Calvinism’s emphasis on the sovereignty of God led in turn to a special view of the state. Luther tended to consider the state supreme. The German princes often determined where and how the gospel would be preached. But Calvin taught that no one—whether pope or king—has any claim to absolute power. Calvin never preached the “right of revolution,” but he did encourage the growth of representative assemblies and stressed their right to resist the tyranny of monarchs.
After 1530 the emperor, Charles V, made clear his intention to crush the growing heresy. In defense, the Lutheran princes banded together in 1531 in the Schmalkaldic League, and between 1546 and 1555 a sporadic civil war raged. The combatants reached a compromise in the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which allowed each prince to decide the religion of his subjects, forbade all sects of Protestantism other than Lutheranism, and ordered all Catholic bishops to give up their property if they turned Lutheran.
The effects of these provisions on Germany were profound. Lutheranism became a state religion in large portions of the empire. From Germany it spread to Scandinavia. Religious opinions became the private property of the princes, and the individual had to believe what his prince wanted him to believe, be it Lutheran or Catholic.
Luther’s conservative political and economic views arose from his belief that the equality of all people before God applied to spiritual not secular matters. While alienating the peasants, such views were a boon to alliances with the princes, many of whom became Lutheran in part because Luther’s views allowed them to control the church in their territories, thereby strengthening their power and wealth.
Encouraged by the reformer’s concept of the freedom of a Christian, which they applied to economic and social spheres, the German peasants revolted against their lords. Long ground down by the nobles, the peasants included in their twelve demands abolition of serfdom—unless it could be justified from the gospel—and relief from the excessive services demanded of them.
At first Luther recognized the justice of the peasants’ complaints, but when they turned to violence against established authority, he lashed out against them. In a virulent pamphlet, Against the Thievish and Murderous Hordes of Peasants , Luther called on the princes to “knock down, strangle, and stab . . . and think nothing so venomous, pernicious, or Satanic as an insurgent.”