The Augsburg Peace of Empire and Religion, Mainz 1555 (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 2 J.publ.g. 10#Beibd.1)

With the Augsburg Peace of Empire and Religion, the empire recognised the declaration laid down in the Confessio Augustana and thus the Lutheran confession – an event of world historical importance. The peace was decreed as an imperial law in 1555 at a diet in Augsburg.

The Peace of Religion appeared in print as part of the so-called “Reichsabschied”, which also contained further political decisions. Charles V (Roman-German king 1519–1556, emperor from 1530) had convened the diet. After decades of conflict, the emperor and his advisors had come to the conclusion that Protestantism could no longer be defeated. The will to achieve peace was also widespread among the imperial estates.

The most important and to this day best-known provision of the “Reichsabschied” is the free choice of confession. This choice, however, only applied to the imperial estates and thus to the rulers and territorial lords, but not to their subjects. The Latin abbreviation coined in the sixteenth century for this provision was “cuius regio, eius religio” (“whose territory, his religion”). In mixed denominational imperial cities, both confessions should continue to exist side by side.

Despite its importance, the effects of the “Reichsabschied” are ambivalent: it did indeed secure peace for decades, but also contained the seeds of future conflicts. The division into Protestant and Catholic territories led to a degree of alienation, which ultimately caused the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).

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