Die Schlacht bei Mühlberg in der Reichsgeschichte als Auseinandersetzung zwischen protestantischen Fürsten und Kaiser Karl V.

Abstract

The Battle of Muhlberg on 24 April 1547 sealed the defeat of the Ernestine Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony and ushered in a new imperial policy towards Protestants. The strategy of Protestant self-defense introduced by the Smalkaldic League had led to a temporary stabilization of the Protestant territories, but in 1546 produced a deep crisis. The allies of electoral Saxony and Hesse did not manage to stand up against imperial diplomacy and the imperial troops. The end of German Protestantism seemed to be near. The defeat of Johann Friedrich changed the map of Germany. It deepened the conflict within the house of Wettin, which after the Interim also acquired a theological dimension. The Wittenberg theologians around Philipp Melanchthon became suspect and could only stand their ground by backing the new princes, the Electors Moritz and - later on - August. The victory of Charles V did not lead to a solution of the problems in the Empire in favor of the Emperor. Rather, the Albertine Elector Moritz succeeded in freeing himself from the political clutch of the Emperor. He focused the political interest of the princes against Charles V. An alliance with France made it possible to lead the Princes' War (Furstenkrieg) in 1552 and to find a political solution in the Empire in agreement with the Catholic princes and bishops, and King Ferdinand I. With the Treaty of Passau (1552) and the Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) multiconfessionalism was ensured in the Empire. This strengthened particularism and prevented a religious war in the Empire in the sixteenth century.