Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/151

 Course of the Protestant Revolt in Germany 1 1 3 III. The Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) Charles V delegated to Ferdinand, his brother and 255. Ex- successor on the imperial throne, the tedious task of the°Reii- 0m coming to an understanding with the Lutheran party in £ ious Peace Germany. The outcome of the negotiations was the Peace of Augsburg, a diffuse document, of which the chief provisions are given below. Constitution of the "Peace between their Imperial and Royal Majesties, on the one hand, and the electors a?id estates of the realm, o?i the other : We, Ferdinand, by God's grace king of the Romans and at all times widener of the empire, king of Germany, Hun- gary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia, infanta of Spain, archduke of Austria, etc., etc., — Whereas, at all the diets held during the last thirty years and more, and at sev- eral special sessions besides, there have often been negotia- tions and consultations to establish between the estates of the Holy Empire a general, continuous, and enduring peace in regard to the contending religions ; and several times terms of peace were drawn up, which, however, were never sufficient for the maintenance of peace, but in spite of them the estates of the Empire remained continually in bitterness and distrust toward each other, from which not a little evil has had its origin ;. . . to secure again peace and confi- dence, in the minds of the estates and subjects toward each other, and to save the German nation, our beloved father- land, from final dissolution and ruin; we, on the one hand, have united and agreed with the electors, the princes and estates present, and with the deputies and embassies of those absent, as they, on the other hand, with us. 1. We therefore establish, will, and command that from General henceforth no one, whatsoever his rank or character, for P eace , throughout any cause, or upon any pretense whatsoever, shall engage t h e land in feuds, or make war upon, rob, seize, invest, or besiege proclaimed, another. Nor shall he, in person or through any agent,