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The Protestant Reformation
Maximilian I
On the eve of the Protestant Reformation, the institutions of the Holy
Roman Empire were widely thought to be in need of improvement. The Habsburg
emperors Frederick III (r. 1440-93) and his son Maximilian I (r. 1493-1519)
both cooperated with individual local rulers to enact changes. However,
the imperial and local parties had different aims, the former wishing
to strengthen the empire, the latter aiming to secure greater independence
by formalizing their rights and ensuring regular procedures for the conduct
of public business. In 1489 the procedures of the imperial diet, the Reichstag,
in which representatives of all states within the empire met, were reorganized.
One of the reforms allowed participation in the diet by representatives
of the towns. In 1495 Maximilian declared an empirewide peace and made
arrangements to reduce the lawlessness and violence that often marked
relations among local rulers.
Maximilian's reforms were not enough to cure the ills of the empire,
and relations between it and the princes and ecclesiastical states often
were tense. Disputes frequently involved complicated constellations of
powers with occasional interference from abroad, most notably France.
Charles V (r. 1519-56) was elected emperor in 1519 only after he paid
large bribes to the seven electors and agreed to many restrictions on
his powers, restrictions he often later ignored (see fig. 3).
Charles V
A changing economy also made for discontent among those unable to profit
from new conditions. Some of the empire's inhabitants had become quite
rich, most notably the Fugger family of Augsburg, whose members had replaced
the bankers of northern Italy as Europe's leading financiers. The Fuggers
had come to manage the financial affairs of the Habsburg Dynasty, which,
in combination with increased trade between south and north, made Germany
Europe's financial center for a few decades. However, other groups in
Germany were experiencing hardship. A burgeoning rural population found
it difficult to get enough to eat, and many peasants went to the towns
to seek a living. Municipal officials responded by seeking to bar rural
newcomers. Within towns that were not prospering, relations between the
classes became more tense as social mobility was reduced by a declining
economy.
- Martin Luther
- Protestant Reformation
- Resistance to Lutheranism
- The Peace of Augsburg
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