登陆注册
5244000000046

第46章 Book II(14)

The dread of the interference of foreign powers, the insubordination of the Protestants in his own states, and still more the storm which was gradually darkening along the whole of Protestant Germany, inclined the Emperor to peace, which his general, from opposite motives, was equally desirous to effect. Far from wishing for a state of things which would reduce him from the meridian of greatness and glory to the obscurity of private life, he only wished to change the theatre of war, and by a partial peace to prolong the general confusion. The friendship of Denmark, whose neighbour he had become as Duke of Mecklenburgh, was most important for the success of his ambitious views; and he resolved, even at the sacrifice of his sovereign's interests, to secure its alliance.

By the treaty of Copenhagen, Christian IV. had expressly engaged not to conclude a separate peace with the Emperor, without the consent of Sweden. Notwithstanding, Wallenstein's proposition was readily received by him. In a conference at Lubeck in 1629, from which Wallenstein, with studied contempt, excluded the Swedish ambassadors who came to intercede for Mecklenburgh, all the conquests taken by the imperialists were restored to the Danes. The conditions imposed upon the king were, that he should interfere no farther with the affairs of Germany than was called for by his character of Duke of Holstein;that he should on no pretext harass the Chapters of Lower Germany, and should leave the Dukes of Mecklenburgh to their fate.

By Christian himself had these princes been involved in the war with the Emperor; he now sacrificed them, to gain the favour of the usurper of their territories. Among the motives which had engaged him in a war with the Emperor, not the least was the restoration of his relation, the Elector Palatine -- yet the name of that unfortunate prince was not even mentioned in the treaty; while in one of its articles the legitimacy of the Bavarian election was expressly recognised.

Thus meanly and ingloriously did Christian IV. retire from the field.

Ferdinand had it now in his power, for the second time, to secure the tranquillity of Germany; and it depended solely on his will whether the treaty with Denmark should or should not be the basis of a general peace. From every quarter arose the cry of the unfortunate, petitioning for an end of their sufferings; the cruelties of his soldiers, and the rapacity of his generals, had exceeded all bounds. Germany, laid waste by the desolating bands of Mansfeld and the Duke of Brunswick, and by the still more terrible hordes of Tilly and Wallenstein, lay exhausted, bleeding, wasted, and sighing for repose. An anxious desire for peace was felt by all conditions, and by the Emperor himself; involved as he was in a war with France in Upper Italy, exhausted by his past warfare in Germany, and apprehensive of the day of reckoning which was approaching.

But, unfortunately, the conditions on which alone the two religious parties were willing respectively to sheath the sword, were irreconcileable.

The Roman Catholics wished to terminate the war to their own advantage;the Protestants advanced equal pretensions. The Emperor, instead of uniting both parties by a prudent moderation, sided with one;and thus Germany was again plunged in the horrors of a bloody war.

From the very close of the Bohemian troubles, Ferdinand had carried on a counter reformation in his hereditary dominions, in which, however, from regard to some of the Protestant Estates, he proceeded, at first, with moderation. But the victories of his generals in Lower Germany encouraged him to throw off all reserve. Accordingly he had it intimated to all the Protestants in these dominions, that they must either abandon their religion, or their native country, -- a bitter and dreadful alternative, which excited the most violent commotions among his Austrian subjects.

In the Palatinate, immediately after the expulsion of Frederick, the Protestant religion had been suppressed, and its professors expelled from the University of Heidelberg.

All this was but the prelude to greater changes. In the Electoral Congress held at Muehlhausen, the Roman Catholics had demanded of the Emperor that all the archbishoprics, bishoprics, mediate and immediate, abbacies and monasteries, which, since the Diet of Augsburg, had been secularized by the Protestants, should be restored to the church, in order to indemnify them for the losses and sufferings in the war.

To a Roman Catholic prince so zealous as Ferdinand was, such a hint was not likely to be neglected; but he still thought it would be premature to arouse the whole Protestants of Germany by so decisive a step.

Not a single Protestant prince but would be deprived, by this revocation of the religious foundations, of a part of his lands;for where these revenues had not actually been diverted to secular purposes they had been made over to the Protestant church. To this source, many princes owed the chief part of their revenues and importance.

All, without exception, would be irritated by this demand for restoration.

The religious treaty did not expressly deny their right to these chapters, although it did not allow it. But a possession which had now been held for nearly a century, the silence of four preceding emperors, and the law of equity, which gave them an equal right with the Roman Catholics to the foundations of their common ancestors, might be strongly pleaded by them as a valid title. Besides the actual loss of power and authority, which the surrender of these foundations would occasion, besides the inevitable confusion which would necessarily attend it, one important disadvantage to which it would lead, was, that the restoration of the Roman Catholic bishops would increase the strength of that party in the Diet by so many additional votes.

同类推荐
  • 宋本备急灸法

    宋本备急灸法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 永字八法

    永字八法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明刻话本四种

    明刻话本四种

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 笑林

    笑林

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices

    Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 卡内基自传

    卡内基自传

    安德鲁·卡内基是美国第一位现代工业巨头,他的一生经历了从工业革命早期直至第一次世界大战的各个阶段。卡内基从小信差干起,此后,偷学发电报、进铁路公司、当上铁路公司主管、贷款开发卧铺车厢、创建钢铁公司,直到建立起垄断美国钢铁业的钢铁王国。卡内基的前半生拼命赚钱,成为白手起家的成功典范。50年后,已经成为钢铁大王、世界首富的安德鲁·卡内基以5亿美元(相当于2008年的2000亿美元)的价格将自己的产业卖给了金融大王摩根,并在此后的余生将个人财富全数捐赠,成为第一个倡议裸捐的财富榜样。如今,遍布全球的卡内基音乐厅、卡内基大学、卡内基图书馆,在他的身后延续着成功的人生。
  • 亲吻我的彼得潘:明瞳

    亲吻我的彼得潘:明瞳

    七落,寒冬生。嗜好极多。最讨厌的事情是没有存在感,思维呈现跳跃式,喜欢不断地反省自我。在喧闹的吵嚷之市中,希望能够保持从容与淡静,不去模仿别人,也不愿复制自己,崇尚柏拉图式人生。
  • 公主嫁到:妖孽师叔,请接嫁

    公主嫁到:妖孽师叔,请接嫁

    这是一个被亲哥坑骗穿越到了一个玄幻世界,经历一生的故事。亲人、朋友和一个让她心动的他。阴谋、真相,甘甜的毒药,甜腻微苦的爱恋,皆化作雨点般的狗粮,朝无辜的路人砸去。整天沉迷男色的某公主:承蒙你出现,够我喜欢一辈子了。终日勾搭公主的某狐狸:这就是你整日偷看为夫的理由?她是翱翔九天的凰,是张扬灿烂的阳,是受人崇敬的天才,更是某人的心尖宠。早慧天才?不不不,现在更流行全职业天才。什么?你是双灵根天才?十灵根了解一下,谢谢;炼丹炼器一手抓?不好意思,她七大职业都精通;摧残了一众天才的玻璃心?她不是故意的啊,这都是把她扔到这个世界的无良哥哥给她开的bug。男女主妥妥的宠文路线,身心干净一对一,欢迎入坑。
  • 人脉就是命脉大全集

    人脉就是命脉大全集

    不可不知的人脉力量不可不知的人脉拓展,每个人都需要好的人际关系,人际关系好的人,我们称他的人脉好。人脉好是安全感的来源,是社会生活的基础,是创造辉煌的平台。什么样的人有人脉?古道热肠者有人脉,和气宽厚者有人脉,急人所难者有人脉,侠肝义胆者有人脉,通情达理者有人脉,礼让谦逊者有人脉。什么样的人没人脉?无情无义者没人脉,刻薄寡恩者没人脉,自以为是者没人脉,尖酸善妒者没人脉,吝啬小气者没人脉,缺心缺肺者没人脉,颐指气使者没人脉。一个人能否成功,不在于你知道什么,而是在于你认识谁!
  • 御制广寒殿记

    御制广寒殿记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 绝色小妞:医王太霸道

    绝色小妞:医王太霸道

    草根命?好吧。拖油瓶?认了。弱美男?算了。变态男?滚粗。腹黑男?死开。……她一切努力只为早日过上混吃等死的安逸生活可是贼老天,还能不能让她过点正常生活了?
  • 海军战略论

    海军战略论

    《海军战略论》,世界上第一部海军战略专著。主张运用优势海军和其他海上力量去控制海洋,以实现战略目的;把认识海洋的作用与确保制海权视为建立海军战略的先决条件;海军战略的基本原理是造成对敌优势,给敌舰队以毁灭性打击;控制海上的战略地点,力争内线作战,时刻保护自己的交通线。《海军战略论》受到日不落帝国高度推崇,是人类现代史上富有煽动性的国家战略著作。作者指出,海上力量的历史就是一部军事史。反观晚清时代的中国,缺乏制海权思想、丧失制海权,造成了1894年甲午海战的国耻。历史上,中国国防建设一直以塞防为重,兼顾海防,奉行消极防御的战略,结局就是北洋水师全军覆没。
  • 废材不是我本意

    废材不是我本意

    生命再来一次固然是好,只是穿成一个众所周知的废材,还是万里挑一的那种…………正牌的夫君是鄙视她的,青楼里的相好是别有用心的,当朝小王子是穷追猛打的……当爱哪个人的自由都没有了,她怎么突破命运的重重围截,明明只想混吃等死求抱大腿的说——
  • 九劫真仙

    九劫真仙

    秦宇轩,一个资质平庸的普通少年,却突然被云家的大小姐看中,成为其替身未婚夫,这其中,倒底有何秘密?原本应该在云家倍受欺凌,甚至早就死于非命的秦宇轩,却奇迹般的依靠父母留下的乾坤戒,改天换命,逆袭成功。这乾坤戒中,究竟蕴藏着什么奥妙?请看一位普通的修仙少年,从平凡到天才,从默默无闻到三界至尊,踩遍天下高手,虐尽宇内神魔的崛起历程。
  • 亚洲现代作家作品浅析

    亚洲现代作家作品浅析

    文学作品是作家根据一定的立场、观点、社会理想和审美观念,从社会生活中选取一定的材料,经过提炼加工而后创作出来的。它既包含客观的现实生活,也包含作家主观的思想感情。此书堪称亚洲现代作家及作品的博览会,内容全面具体,具有很强的文学性和知识性。