Edict of Restitution
The Edict of Restitution, issued by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1629, was a pivotal decree during the Thirty Years' War, which spanned from 1618 to 1648. This edict aimed to reinforce Catholic dominance within the Holy Roman Empire by restoring church properties that had been acquired by Protestant entities since the mid-16th century, specifically since the Truce of Passau in 1552. It mandated that all ecclesiastical principalities should be governed by Catholic rulers and effectively marginalized the Reformed (Calvinist) faith, granting religious tolerance only to Catholics and Lutherans. The decree represented a significant assertion of the principle "cuius regio, eius religio," reflecting Ferdinand's ambition to enhance monarchical authority and religious conformity.
However, the enforcement of the Edict, particularly through military means, provoked widespread discontent among Protestant princes and even some Catholic leaders, generating fears of persecution and a potential Habsburg hegemony. This unrest catalyzed alliances among disaffected Protestant factions and foreign powers like Sweden and France, intensifying the conflict and complicating the path to peace. Ultimately, the Edict of Restitution not only marked a critical shift in the war's dynamics but also set the stage for broader international involvement, which contributed to the protracted nature of the conflict and delayed peace until 1648.
Edict of Restitution
Locale Holy Roman Empire
Date March 6, 1629
The Edict of Restitution marked the high point of the Counter-Reformation and of Habsburg imperial power during the Thirty Years’ War.
Key Figures
Ferdinand II (1578-1637), Holy Roman Emperor, 1619-1637Gustavus II Adolphus (1594-1632), king of Sweden, 1611-1632John George I (1585-1656), elector of Saxony, 1611-1656William Lamormaini (1570-1648), Ferdinand’s Jesuit confessorMaximilian I (1573-1651), elector of Bavaria, 1623-1651Cardinal de Richelieu (Armand-Jean du Pessis; 1585-1642), chief minister of France, 1624-1642Count Johan Tserclaes Tilly (1559-1632), commander of the army of the Catholic LeagueAlbrecht Wenzel von Wallenstein (1583-1634), commander of the Imperial army
Summary of Event
During the first phases of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), it appeared that Emperor Ferdinand II would be at least partly successful in emulating the powers of Western Europe by establishing a stronger national state based on monarchical authority and religious conformity. The Edict of Restitution, issued in 1629, marked the turning point after which achievement of these ambitions became increasingly unlikely.
Hitherto, the war had been predominantly a religious contest between the Catholic Habsburg Empire on the one side, and several Protestant powers of Europe, including Bohemia, the Palatinate, and Denmark, on the other. During the course of the Bohemian phase of the war from 1618 to 1625, Ferdinand ruthlessly crushed religious and political rebellion in Bohemia while his brother-in-law, Maximilian I of Bavaria, and the army of the Catholic League overran the Palatinate. Similarly, the Danish phase of the war from 1625 to 1629 witnessed the Habsburg conquest of Denmark, which had entered the conflict to shore up the faltering Protestant cause and promote Danish dynastic interests in northern Germany. The year 1629 found Catholicism and Habsburg Austria triumphant. For Ferdinand II, the moment had arrived to crown his success by taking steps to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church and the sovereign power of his dynasty within the Holy Roman Empire. Acting upon the advice of William Lamormaini, his Jesuit confessor, the emperor promulgated the Edict of Restitution on March 6, 1629.
Imperial law governing the recognition of religious confessions, the control of the numerous and often wealthy ecclesiastical principalities, and the ownership of Church property was settled by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Under that agreement, only the Catholic and Lutheran Churches were recognized as legal. The princes reigning in the ecclesiastical principalities were required under a provision known as the ecclesiastical reservation to be Catholic, and the ownership of Church properties was assigned to whichever of the legal confessions actually had possession at the time of the Truce of Passau on August 2, 1552.
The three-quarters of a century between the Peace of Augsburg and the Edict of Restitution had seen the arrival of the Reformed (Calvinist) church, the widespread avoidance of the ecclesiastical reservation in northern and eastern Germany, and the loss of considerable property by the Catholics.
Ferdinand decreed that all Church properties that had been acquired by the Protestants since the Truce of Passau were to be restored, and all ecclesiastical principalities were to receive Catholic rulers. This decree affected the two archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Bremen; twelve bishoprics, three of which were subsequently left in the hands of John George I of Saxony, a Lutheran supporter of the imperial cause; and numerous abbeys, churches, and estates. The edict further stated that only adherents of the Catholic faith or the faith of the Augsburg Confession, meaning Lutherans, were to enjoy free exercise of religion. The Reformed or Calvinist faith was thus placed outside imperial protection.
Yet even the religious tolerance extended to the Lutherans was qualified by the edict’s strict adherence to the terms of the Peace of Augsburg, ignoring the secret promise of toleration extended to Lutherans in the ecclesiastical lands made by Emperor Ferdinand I. This clause represented the widest application to date of the principle cuius regio, eius religio—literally, “whose rule, his the religion.” Ferdinand had previously made extensive use of this principle against the Protestants of Inner Austria (Styria, Carinthia, Carniola), Bohemia, and Upper and Lower Austria.
Ferdinand’s decision to require restitution by means of an imperial edict rather than by calling for an imperial Diet, and his enforcement of the edict by imperial commissioners backed by the imperial army under Albrecht Wenzel von Wallenstein and that of the Catholic League under Count Johan Tserclaes Tilly were all aspects of his attempt to strengthen the monarchical power in Germany. These measures raised a storm of controversy and numerous other problems as well. The Protestant princes of the empire, even those who were excluded from the provisions of the edict, such as John George of Saxony and George William of Brandenburg, now had cause to fear a new wave of religious persecution at the hands of the triumphant Catholic forces, which were then concluding military operations against defeated Denmark. Both Protestant princes and Catholic princes, such as Maximilian of Bavaria, feared that the emperor would use the edict to subject them to the absolute power of the Habsburg Dynasty.
A Holy Roman Empire unified behind a Habsburg ruler also presented a definite threat to France, now asserting its strength under the guidance of Cardinal de Richelieu and ready to resume its contest with the emperor’s ally, Habsburg Spain. Furthermore, violent arguments broke out among Catholic princes and religious orders as to which of the restored territories they would receive. Finally, the emperor failed to take into consideration the insufficient number of Catholic clergy available in relation to the large territories they would be forced to take over.
Such problems, combined with the ruthless execution of the edict by Wallenstein and Tilly, served to undercut Ferdinand’s support from Catholics as well as Lutherans. At the same time, it inspired many of the Protestant princes to look abroad for assistance from King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden and from Richelieu’s France. Ferdinand, in an attempt to salvage the support of his former staunch ally Maximilian of Bavaria, who was in the process of negotiating an alliance with France, agreed on August 13, 1630, to dismiss Wallenstein but not to modify the Edict of Restitution. The dismissal of Wallenstein also represented an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Protestant princes from rallying behind Gustavus II Adolphus, who two weeks earlier had landed with his forces at Peenemünde in Pomerania. Within a year, Gustavus II Adolphus had secured the somewhat reluctant support of John George of Saxony and George William of Brandenburg and had made an alliance with Cardinal de Richelieu of France.
Significance
Consequently, the international nature of the war was significantly strengthened by Swedish and subsequent French participation, and the conclusion of peace was made more difficult. Not until 1648 was peace restored in Germany, while the conflict between France and Spain lasted until 1659.
Bibliography
Bireley, Robert. The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450-1700: A Reassessment of the Counter Reformation. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1999. Bireley demonstrates how the Counter-Reformation was an active response to the profound changes taking place in the sixteenth century.
Bireley, Robert. Religion and Politics in the Age of the Counterreformation: Emperor Ferdinand II, William Lamormaini, S. J., and the Formation of Imperial Policy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1981. A detailed account of the role of Ferdinand’s confessor.
Gagliardo, John G. Germany Under the Old Regime, 1600-1790. London: Longman, 1991. Provides a coherent overview of the political, cultural, social, and economic trends in the Holy Roman Empire during its last two centuries.
Grell, Ole Peter, and Bob Scribner, eds. Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Chapter 7, an essay by historian Euan Cameron, examines Protestant identities in Germany during the later Reformation.
Holborn, Hajo. The Reformation. Vol. 1 in A History of Modern Germany. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959. Still the best overall history of Germany in English for this period, and a standard source.
Ingrao, Charles W. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. A well-balanced and literate work, without being ponderous, covering the formation of the Habsburg dynastic empire.
Parker, Geoffrey. The Thirty Years’ War. London: Methuen, 1985. Places the events in their military context.
Sturdy, David J. Fractured Europe, 1600-1721. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 2002. This thorough overview of European history includes a chapter on the Edict of Restitution.
Wedgwood, C. V. The Thirty Years’ War. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1949. An extremely readable account of the war, including its German as well as international ramifications.