History And Its Story

Amy

Reading notes

PC, pages 129-141

The Civil and Religious Wars

Ð'* 9 civil wars in the last four decades of 16th century France

Ð'* The feudalistic nature of the religious wars in France, and the tensions between centralization and localism were important

Ð'* The Huguenots didn't fully decide to fight until Catherine de Medici had them drug from their beds and murdered on St. Bartholomew's Day

Ð'* They were always fighting each other until the Political decided nothing was worth the continuous death and being in a continual state of war

Ð'* Henry IV accepted Catholicism and the Edict of Nantes that he issued gave protestants legal actions so both religious parties were satisfied

Ð'* He gradually helped the country recover and it was rebuilt and remade

Ð'* But he was murdered by a crazed fanatic leaving the running of the country in the hands of his wife and son who were aided by Cardinal Richelieu

Ð'* There was a renewed threat of civil war but the cardinal issued laws that regulated and constrained the people

The Thirty Years' War

Ð'* Germany began to slowly decline and then the different religious groups began to fight again and then the different political parties began to fight as well and then country found itself in trouble again

Ð'* Different countries took sides and the different religious groups prepared to fight

Ð'* But it was a very complex war because it was a German civil war fought over the catholic protestant issue as well as being a German civil war fought over constitutional issues between the emperor striving to build up the central power of the empire and the member states struggling to maintain independence

Ð'* The fighting of the war actually began in Bohemia and the bohemians were afraid of losing

their Protestantism and eventually Bohemia was conquered and revolutionized