Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/709

 The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 603 to settle all differences and reform the Church according to the views of the Catholics. It is unnecessary to follow in detail the progress of Protestant- Progress of ism in Germany during the quarter of a century succeeding the jsm up to the diet of Augsburg. Enough has been said to show the character ^^^^^^^^J of the revolt and the divergent views taken by the German 1555 princes and people. For ten years after the Emperor left Augs- burg he was kept busy in southern Europe by new wars ; and in order to secure the assistance of the Protestants, he was forced to let them go their own way. Meanwhile the number of rulers who accepted Luther's teachings gradually increased. Finally there was a brief war between Charles and the Protestant princes, but there was little fighting done. Charles V brought his Spanish soldiers into Germany and captured both John Frederick of Saxony and his ally, Philip of Hesse, the chief leaders of the Lutheran cause, whom he kept prisoners for several years. This episode did not, however, check the progress of Prot- estantism. The king of France promised them help against his enemy, the Emperor, and Charles was forced to agree to a peace with the Protestants. In 1555 the religious Peace of Augsburg was ratified. Its provisions are memorable. Each German prince and each town and knight immediately under the Emperor was to be at liberty to make a choice between the beliefs of the venerable Catholic Church and those embodied in the Augsburg Confession. If, however, an ecclesiastical prince — an archbishop, bishop, or abbot — declared himself a Protestant, he must surrender his possessions to the Church. Every German was either to con- form to the religious practices of his particular state or emi- grate from it. Every one was supposed to be either a Catholic or a Lutheran, and no provision was made for any other belief. This religious peace in no way established freedom of con- science, except for the rulers. Their power, it must be noted, was greatly increased, inasmuch as they were given the control of religious as well as of secular matters. This arrangement