Germany and the Coming of the French Wars of Religion: Confession, Identity, and Transnational Relations

Germany and the Coming of the French Wars of Religion: Confession, Identity, and Transnational Relations Jonas A. M. van Tol Doctor of Philosophy University of York History February 2016 Abstract From its inception, the French Wars of Religion was a European phenomenon. The internationality of the conflict is most clearly illustrated by the Protestant princes who engaged militarily in France between 1567 and 1569. Due to the historiographical convention of approaching the French Wars of Religion as a national event, studied almost entirely separate from the history of the German Reformation, its transnational dimension has largely been ignored or misinterpreted. Using ten German Protestant princes as a case study, this thesis investigates the variety of factors that shaped German understandings of the French Wars of Religion and by extension German involvement in France. The princes’ rich and international network of correspondence together with the many German-language pamphlets about the Wars in France provide an insight into the ways in which the conflict was explained, debated, and interpreted. Applying a transnational interpretive framework, this thesis unravels the complex interplay between the personal, local, national, and international influences that together formed an individual’s understanding of the Wars of Religion. These interpretations were rooted in the longstanding personal and cultural connections between France and the Rhineland and strongly influenced by French diplomacy and propaganda. Moreover, they were conditioned by one’s precise position in a number of key religious debates, most notably the question of Lutheran-Reformed relations. These understandings changed as a result of a number pivotal European events that took place in 1566 and 1567 and the conspiracy theories they inspired. This combination of influences created a spectrum of individual interpretations of the French Wars of Religion. The military campaigns of the years 1567-69, far from being motivated by political or financial opportunism, were the product of these individual interpretations. 2 Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Figures 7 Acknowledgments 8 Author’s Declaration 9 Introduction 10 Historiography 12 The French Wars of Religion: national or 13 international story? Germany and the French Wars of Religion 16 Transnational history 19 Confessionalisation 22 Religion and politics 24 History of ideas 25 Aims and Methodology 26 Questions 26 Methodology 28 Sources 29 Chapters 31 The German princes 34 Terminology 39 I. The princes of the Holy Roman Empire on the 40 International Stage 1.1 National identity in the sixteenth-century 42 Rhineland 1.2 The international identity of the high nobility 54 1.2.1 Territories and family connections 54 1.2.2 Education and language skills 56 1.2.3 International networks of sociability 62 1.2.4 The exchange of news and information 66 1.2.5 Art and visual culture 70 1.2.6 Warfare, captivity, and diplomacy 76 1.3 Franco-Imperial relations after 1552 78 1.3.1 The constitutional make-up of the Holy 78 Roman Empire 1.3.2 German mercenaries 80 1.3.3 Henry II, protector of German liberties 83 3 1.4 Conclusion 85 II. Lutheran-Reformed Relations 89 2.1 The history of the ‘middle parties’ 91 2.2 The Peace of Augsburg 94 2.2.1 The legal status of Lutheranism 96 2.2.2 Reformed Protestantism in the Empire 98 2.2.3 Lutheran hostility towards Reformed 100 Protestantism 2.3 The conversion of Friedrich III 106 2.3.1 Lutheran reactions 107 2.3.2 Friedrich’s defence 111 2.4 German views on Reformed 115 Protestantism in France 2.4.1 Lutheran rejections of French 115 Reformed Protestantism 2.4.2 Friedrich III as promoter of the 118 Huguenot cause in the Empire 2.4.3 Defence of the Huguenots’ religion in print 122 2.4.4 The alternative: a rapprochement with 124 reform-minded Catholics 2.5 Conclusion 129 III. Diplomacy and propaganda 134 3.1 Introduction: the Massacre of Vassy 134 3.2 Civil war: religion or rebellion? 138 3.3 Pre-Reformation understandings of resistance 139 3.4 Lutheran resistance theory 141 3.5 Calvinist resistance theory 143 3.6 French diplomatic missions to Germany 145 3.6.1 The logistics of diplomacy and 146 propaganda 3.6.2 The Huguenot message 150 3.6.3 The Catholic message 155 3.7 French propaganda in print 158 3.7.1 Pro-Huguenot pamphlets 161 3.7.2 Pro-Catholic pamphlets 167 3.7.3 Audiences 168 3.7.4 Religion or politics? 170 3.8 Reception 172 3.8.1 The limits of resistance 175 3.9 Conclusion 177 IV. German solutions for religious divisions in France 179 4.1 The Naumburg Convention 179 4.2 The idea of religious reconciliation 181 4.2.1 Influential ecumenical thinkers 182 4 4.3 The Colloquy of Poissy 184 4.4 The aftermath of Poissy 188 4.4.1 The Württemberg and Palatinate 189 missions 4.4.2 Religious tolerance in France 191 4.5 German mediation during the First War of Religion 194 4.6 Between the wars 198 4.6.1 The Peace of Augsburg in France 201 4.6.2 Theoretical underpinnings of a Peace 202 of Augsburg-style solution 4.7 The Second and Third Wars 207 4.7.1 German calls for tolerance in France 207 4.7.2 Religious tolerance in the principality 210 of Orange 4.8 Protestant loyalists 214 4.8.1 Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar and the 215 preservation of monarchical power 4.9 Conclusion 218 V. The Catholic Conspiracy 221 5.1 The tumultuous years 1566 and 1567 222 5.2 The theory of the Catholic Conspiracy 225 5.3 The transnational dimensions of religious conflict 229 5.4 The Catholic Conspiracy in French diplomacy 232 5.4.1 A Protestant diplomatic offensive 233 5.4.2 Catholic denials 236 5.4.3 Evidence 237 5.5 The Catholic Conspiracy in print 241 5.5.1 The language of conspiracy 241 5.6 The Catholic Conspiracy in Germany 247 5.6.1 The responses of the Protestant princes 251 5.6.2 The consequences for German attitudes 255 to the French Wars of Religion 5.7 An international Protestant alliance 257 5.8 Conclusion 261 VI. German Military Campaigns in France 264 6.1 The failure of diplomacy 265 6.2 The idea of military intervention 267 6.3 Johann Casimir 271 6.4 William of Orange and Louis of Nassau 277 6.5 Wolfgang of Zweibrücken 281 6.6 Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar 287 6.7 Philibert of Baden 296 6.8 The role of money 302 6.9 Conclusion 304 Conclusion 310 5 Abbreviations 327 Bibliography 328 6 List of Figures Figure 1: Map of the possessions of the princes 38 studied in this thesis. Figure 2: Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1555. 45 Figure 3: Nineteenth-century reconstruction of the 72 Ottheinrichsbau. Figure 4: The courtyard, Altes Schloss, Stuttgart. 74 Figure 5: Matthäus Marian die Ältere, ‘Baden-Baden, 74 Ansicht von Westen’ (fragment). Figure 6: Table of works about the French Wars of 159 Religion printed in the Holy Roman Empire. Figure 7: Route taken by Alba and his forces in 1567. 224 Figure 8, ‘The throne of the Duke of Alba’. 244 Figure 9, Detail of an engraving of the Battle of 302 Montcontour, showing Philibert of Baden at the head of 1000 German reiters 7 Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Stuart Carroll, for his expert guidance, encouragement, and for the trust he put in me throughout the process. Dr John Cooper and Dr Tara Alberts, the members of my Thesis Advisory Panel, were also always on hand to provide unique insights, valuable advice, and words of reassurance. I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the French Huguenot Society Charitable Trust for funding my research. The academic community at York, and especially at the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, provided a very inspiring environment in which to work on this thesis. Gabriela Leddy, James Richardson, Christine Knaack, Frances Maguire, Hannah Hogan, Simon Quinn, Emily Moore, Sebastian Owen, Chris Bovis and the many other wonderful people at the Berrick Saul building, with whom I shared many lunches, were instrumental in making the PhD so enjoyable. I would also like to thank Merel Deinema and Sarah Ward for proofreading sections of the thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for their encouragement and for humouring my obsession with all things early modern. I am particularly grateful to my parents, René and Mariska, for instilling me with a love for history and for encouraging me to pursue my interests and ambitions. 8 Author’s declaration I hereby declare that the material presented in this thesis is the product of my own work, except where referenced, and has not been submitted for publication, for any degree at this, or any other institution. 9 Introduction In March 1568 the Elector Palatine Friedrich III sent a letter to his fellow Protestant Prince Elector August of Saxony in which he wrote of the religious conflict that had once again broken out in France. He reminded August that the violence had erupted ‘not only in the Kingdom of France but also in the Netherlands, Italy, and other places’ and feared that it would also engulf ‘our beloved fatherland’ of the Holy Roman Empire.1 Nine months later the Cardinal of Lorraine wrote to Philip II of the dangers facing the Catholics in France. In his letter the Cardinal drew Philip’s attention to the fact ‘that all the German princes of the opposite religion have not only formed a league together but have also armed themselves against us … On the other side, sire, the Queen of England … is said to give aid to our rebels with munitions, artillery, money, and men … Thus, your majesty will permit me to say to you that it is necessary that we prepare a good and great effort’ to end the war.2 These two interpretations of the religious conflict that raged in France are characteristic of a mood that swept across Western Europe between 1567 and 1569.

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