Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – formally, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, after 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland – was a dual state, a bi-confederation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch, both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th– to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered 400,000 square miles and sustained a multi-ethnic population of 11 million; the Commonwealth was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been in a de facto personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Hedwig and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila, crowned King jure uxoris Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland. The First Partition of Poland in 1772 and the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 reduced the state's size and the Commonwealth collapsed as an independent state following the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
The Union possessed many features unique among contemporary states. Its political system was characterized by strict checks upon monarchical power; these checks were enacted by a legislature controlled by the nobility. This idiosyncratic system was a precursor to modern concepts of democracy, constitutional monarchy, federation. Although the two component states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, Poland was the dominant partner in the union; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was marked by high levels of ethnic diversity and by relative religious tolerance, guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act 1573. The Constitution of 1791 acknowledged Catholicism as the "dominant religion", unlike the Warsaw Confederation, but freedom of religion was still granted with it. After several decades of prosperity, it entered a period of protracted political and economic decline, its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbors during the late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a massive reform effort and enacted the May 3 Constitution—the first codified constitution in modern European history and the second in modern world history.
The official name of the state was The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Latin term was used in international treaties and diplomacy. In the 17th century and it was known as the Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland, the Commonwealth of the Polish Kingdom, or the Commonwealth of Poland, its inhabitants referred to it in everyday speech as the "Rzeczpospolita". Western Europeans simply called it Poland and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Poland, or just Poland; the terms: the Commonwealth of Poland and the Commonwealth of Two Nations were used in the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations. The English term'Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth' and German'Polen-Litauen' are seen as renderings of the Commonwealth of Two Nations variant. Other names include the Republic of Nobles and the First Commonwealth, the latter common in Polish historiography. Poland and Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances during the 14th century and early 15th century.
Several agreements between the two were struck before the permanent 1569 Union of Lublin. This agreement was one of the signal achievements of Sigismund II Augustus, last monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Sigismund believed, his death in 1572 was followed by a three-year interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system. The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the early 17th century, its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years' War. The Commonwealth was able to hold its own against Sweden, the Tsardom of Russia, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, launched successful expansionist offensives against its neighbors. In several invasions during the Time of Troubles, Commonwealth troops entered Russia and managed to take Moscow and hold it from 27 September 1610 to 4 November 1612, when they were driven out after a siege. Commonwealth power began waning after a series of blows during the following decades. A major rebellion of Ukrainian Cossacks in the southeastern portion of the Commonwealth began in 1648.
It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, for protection by the Russian Tsar. Russian annexation of part of Ukraine supplanted Polish influence; the other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655, known as the Deluge, supported by troops of Transylvanian Duke George II Rákóczi a
Electorate of Mainz
The Electorate of Mainz known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz was the Primate of Germany, a purely honorary dignity, unsuccessfully claimed from time to time by other archbishops. There were only two other ecclesiastical Prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Cologne and the Electorate of Trier; the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz was archchancellor of Germany and, as such, ranked first among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, was second only to the Emperor. His political role as an intermediary between the Estates of the Empire and the Emperor, was considerable; the episcopal see was established in ancient Roman times in the city of Mainz, a Roman provincial capital, Moguntiacum. The first bishops before the 4th century have legendary names, beginning with Crescens; the first verifiable Bishop of Mainz was Martinus in 343.
The ecclesiastical and secular importance of Mainz dates from the accession of St. Boniface to the see in 747. Boniface was an archbishop though without an assigned see, but that ecclesiastical status did not devolve upon the see itself until his successor Lullus. Another early bishop of Mainz was Aureus of Mainz; the territory of the Electorate included several non-contiguous blocks of territory: lands near Mainz on both the left and right banks of the Rhine. As was the case in the Holy Roman Empire, the territory of a prince-bishopric or archbishopric differed from that of the corresponding diocese or archdiocese, the purely spiritual jurisdiction of the prince-bishop or archbishop. During the early modern age, the archdiocese of Mainz was the largest ecclesiastical province of Germany, covering Mainz and 10 suffragant dioceses. In 1802, Mainz lost its archiepiscopal character. In the secularizations that accompanied the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the seat of the elector, Karl Theodor von Dalberg, was moved to Regensburg, the electorate lost its left bank territories to France, its right bank areas along the Main below Frankfurt to Hesse-Darmstadt and the Nassau princes, Eichsfeld and Erfurt to the Kingdom of Prussia.
Dalberg retained the Aschaffenburg area as the Principality of Aschaffenburg. In 1810 Dalberg merged Aschaffenburg, Wetzlar and Fulda, to form the new Grand Duchy of Frankfurt in 1810. Dalberg resigned in 1813 and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna divided his territories between the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Free City of Frankfurt; the modern Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz was founded in 1802 when Mainz lost its archdiocese status and its territory west of the Rhine River became a mere diocese within the territory of France. In 1814 its jurisdiction was extended over the territory of Hesse-Darmstadt. Since it has had two cardinals and via various concordats was allowed to retain the medieval tradition of the cathedral chapter electing a successor to the bishop. Elector of Mainz Mainz Cathedral Primas Germaniae Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz Official website of the modern Diocese Map of the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1789
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, where its capital was Berlin; the kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a great power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia, which became a military power under Frederick William, known as "The Great Elector". Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more known as Frederick the Great, the third son of Frederick William I. Frederick the Great was instrumental in starting the Seven Years' War, holding his own against Austria, Russia and Sweden and establishing Prussia's role in the German states, as well as establishing the country as a European great power.
After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a major power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles, many wars; because of its power, Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule, although whether Austria would be included in such a unified German domain was an ongoing question. After the Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of the German Confederation, the issue of more unifying the many German states caused revolution throughout the German states, with each wanting their own constitution. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful member states and Austria; the North German Confederation, which lasted from 1867 to 1871, created a closer union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent. The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War but many of its laws were used in the German Empire.
The German Empire lasted from 1871 to 1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony, this was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. The war united all the German states against a common enemy, with the victory came an overwhelming wave of nationalism which changed the opinions of some of those, against unification. In 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power. Prussia is considered the legal predecessor of the unified German Reich and as such a direct ancestor of today's Federal Republic of Germany; the formal abolition of Prussia, carried out on 25 February 1947 by the fiat of the Allied Control Council referred to an alleged tradition of the kingdom as a bearer of militarism and reaction, made way for the current setup of the German states. However, the Free State of Prussia, which followed the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of World War I, was a major democratic force in Weimar Germany until the nationalist coup of 1932 known as the Preußenschlag.
The Kingdom left a significant cultural legacy, today notably promoted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which has become one of the largest cultural organisations in the world. In 1415 a Hohenzollern Burgrave came from the south to the March of Brandenburg and took control of the area as elector. In 1417 the Hohenzollern was made an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. After the Polish wars, the newly established Baltic towns of the German states, including Prussia, suffered many economic setbacks. Many of the Prussian towns could not afford to attend political meetings outside of Prussia; the towns were poverty stricken, with the largest town, having to borrow money from elsewhere to pay for trade. Poverty in these towns was caused by Prussia's neighbours, who had established and developed such a monopoly on trading that these new towns could not compete; these issues led to feuds, trade competition and invasions. However, the fall of these towns gave rise to the nobility, separated the east and the west, allowed the urban middle class of Brandenburg to prosper.
It was clear in 1440 how different Brandenburg was from the other German territories, as it faced two dangers that the other German territories did not, partition from within and the threat of invasion by its neighbours. It prevented partition by enacting the Dispositio Achillea, which instilled the principle of primogeniture to both the Brandenburg and Franconian territories; the second issue was resolved through expansion. Brandenburg was surrounded on every side by neighbours whose boundaries were political. Any neighbour could consume Brandenburg at any moment; the only way to defend herself was to absorb her neighbours. Through negotiations and marriages Brandenburg but expanded her borders, absorbing neighbours and eliminating the threat of attack; the Hohenzollerns were made rulers of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1518. In 1529 the Hohenzollerns secured the reversion of the Duchy of Pomerania after a series of conflicts, acquired its eastern part following the Peace of Westphalia. In 1618 the Hohenzollerns inherited the Duchy of Prussia, since 1511 ruled by Hohenzollern Albrecht of Brandenburg Prussia, who in 1525 converted the Teutonic Order ruled state to a Protestant Duchy by accepting fiefdom of the crown of Poland.
It was ruled in a personal union with Brandenburg
Saxe-Merseburg
The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656/57 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin; the Wettin Elector John George I of Saxony stipulated in his will dated 20 July 1652 that his three younger sons should receive secundogeniture principalities. After the elector died on 8 October 1656, his sons concluded the "friend-brotherly main treaty" in the Saxon residence of Dresden on 22 April 1657 and a further treaty in 1663 delineating their territories and sovereign rights definitively; the treaties created three duchies: Saxe-Zeitz, Saxe-Weissenfels, Saxe-Merseburg. Prince Christian, the third oldest son, among other properties, the estates of the former Bishopric of Merseburg, secularised in 1565: the castles and districts of Merseburg, Plagwitz, Rückmarsdorf, Bad Lauchstädt, Schkeuditz, Lützen, Bitterfeld, Zörbig, the County of Brehna as well as the Margraviate of Lower Lusatia, including the cities and castles of Lübben, Finsterwalde, Döbern and Guben.
Many of these territories had belonged to the Diocese of Merseburg until it was secularized in 1562. The area of Saxe-Merseburg stretched to the western city limits of Leipzig; the customs station was in. After the death of the last male heir of the Saxon branch line in 1738, the Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg fell back to the Electorate of Saxony. 1656-1691 Christian I 1691-1694 Christian II 1694-1694 Christian III Maurice, under the regency of Elector Frederick August I of Saxony and the guardianship of his mother Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz 1694-1731 Maurice Wilhelm, until 1712 under the regency of Elector Frederick August I of Saxony and the guardianship of his mother Erdmuthe Dorothea of Saxe-Zeitz 1731-1738 Heinrich already Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg To supply his three younger sons with incomes befitting a duke, Duke Christian I created apanages for his younger sons during his lifetime. These territories remained dependent on the main line and their sovereignty was restricted, they were named after their owner's residences and disappeared with the death of their first duke, because none of them fathered surviving male heirs.
Before it died out, the Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg line inherited all of Saxe-Merseburg. Until 1715 August, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Zörbig Until 1690 Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt Until 1731 Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg-Spremberg until 1731, inherited Saxe-Merseburg in 1731 Martina Schattkowsky/Manfred Wilde: Sachsen und seine Sekundogenituren. Die Nebenlinien Weißenfels, Merseburg und Zeitz. Schriften zur Sächsischen Geschichte und Volkskunde, Band 33. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-86583-432-4. Manfred Wilde: Das Barockschloss Delitzsch als Witwensitz der Herzöge von Sachsen-Merseburg. In: Barocke Fürstenresidenzen an Saale, Unstrut und Elster, hg. vom Museumsverbund Die fünf Ungleichen e. V. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2007, S. 264–276, ISBN 978-3-86568-218-5. Johann Huebner... Three hundred and thirty-three Genealogical Tables, Table 170
Bolesław I the Brave
Bolesław I the Brave, less known as Bolesław I the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025, the first King of Poland in 1025. As Boleslav IV, he was Duke of Bohemia between 1002 and 1003, he was the son of Mieszko I of Poland by Dobrawa of Bohemia. According to a scholarly theory, Bolesław ruled Lesser Poland during the last years of his father's reign. Mieszko I, who died in 992, divided Poland among his sons, but Bolesław expelled his father's last wife, Oda of Haldensleben, his half-brothers and reunited Poland between 992 and 995, he supported the missionary views of Adalbert, Bishop of Prague, Bruno of Querfurt. The martyrdom of Adalbert in 997 and his imminent canonization were used to consolidate Poland's autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire; this happened most during the Congress of Gniezno, which resulted in the establishment of a Polish church structure with a Metropolitan See at Gniezno. This See was independent of the German Archbishopric of Magdeburg, which had tried to claim jurisdiction over the Polish church.
Following the Congress of Gniezno, bishoprics were established in Kraków, Wrocław and Kołobrzeg, Bolesław formally repudiated paying tribute to the Holy Roman Empire. Following the death of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III in 1002, Bolesław fought a series of wars against the Holy Roman Empire and Otto's cousin and heir, Henry II, ending in the Peace of Bautzen. In the summer of 1018, in one of his expeditions, Bolesław I captured Kiev, where he installed his son-in-law Sviatopolk I as ruler. According to legend, Bolesław chipped his sword. In honor of this legend, a sword called Szczerbiec would become the coronation sword of Poland's kings. Bolesław I was a remarkable politician and statesman, he not only turned Poland into a country comparable to older western monarchies, but he raised it to the front rank of European states. Bolesław conducted successful military campaigns in the west and east, he consolidated Polish lands and conquered territories outside the borders of modern-day Poland, including Slovakia, Red Ruthenia, Meissen and Bohemia.
He was a powerful mediator in Central European affairs. As the culmination of his reign, in 1025 he had himself crowned King of Poland, he was the first Polish ruler to receive the title of rex. He was an able administrator who established the "Prince's Law" and built many forts, churches and bridges, he introduced the first Polish monetary unit, the grzywna, divided into 240 denarii, minted his own coinage. Bolesław I is considered one of Poland's most capable and accomplished Piast rulers. Bolesław was born in 966 or 967, the first child of Mieszko I of Poland and his wife, the Bohemian princess Dobrawa, his Epitaph, written in the middle of the 11th century, emphasized that Bolesław had been born to a "faithless" father and a "true-believing" mother, suggesting that he was born before his father's baptism. Bolesław was baptized shortly after his birth, he was named after his maternal grandfather, Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. Not much is known about Bolesław's childhood, his Epitaph recorded that he underwent the traditional hair-cutting ceremony at the age of seven and a lock of his hair was sent to Rome.
The latter act suggests. Historian Tadeusz Manteuffel says that Bolesław needed that protection because his father had sent him to the court of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in token of his allegiance to the emperor; however historian Marek Kazimierz Barański notes that the claim that Bolesław was sent as a hostage to the imperial court is disputed. Bolesław's mother, Dobrawa died in 977. Around that time, Bolesław became the ruler of Lesser Poland, through it is not clear in what circumstances. Jerzy Strzelczyk says. Mieszko I died on 25 May 992; the contemporaneous Thietmar of Merseburg recorded that Mieszko left "his kingdom to be divided among many claimants", but Bolesław unified the country "with fox-like cunning" and expelled his stepmother and half-brothers from Poland. Two Polish lords, "Odilien and Przibiwoj", who had supported her and her sons, were blinded on Bolesław's order. Historian Przemysław Wiszniewski says that Bolesław had taken control of the whole Poland by 992. Bolesław's first coins were issued around 995.
One of them bore the inscription Vencievlavus, showing that he regarded his mother's uncle, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, as the patron saint of Poland. Bolesław sent reinforcements to the Holy Roman Empire to fight against the Polabian Slavs in summer 992. Bolesław led a Polish army to assist the imperial troops in invading the land of the Abodrites or Veleti in 995. During the campaign, he met the young German monarch, Otto III. Soběslav, the head of the Bohemian Slavník dynasty participated in the 995 campaign. Taking advantage of Soběslav's absence, Boleslav II of Bohemia invaded the Slavníks' domains and had most members of the family murdered. After learning of his kinsmen's fate, Soběslav settled in Poland. Bolesław gave shelter to him "for the sake of holy brother", Bishop Adalbert of Prague, according to the latter's hagiographies. A
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is a Metropolitan Catholic archdiocese of the Latin Rite in Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is St. Vitus Cathedral, in the Bohemian and Czech capital Prague situated inside the Prague Castle complex. Msgr Dominik Duka, O. P. is the current archbishop. As per 2014, it pastorally served 558,000 Catholics on 8,590 km² in 145 parishes and 34 missions with 340 priests, 30 deacons, 538 lay religious and 8 seminarians, its suffragan sees are: Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice Roman Catholic Diocese of Hradec Králové Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice Roman Catholic Diocese of Plzeň The diocese was founded in 973 as the Diocese of Prague, through the joint efforts of Duke Boleslav II of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperors Otto I and Otto II. It was a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mainz It lost territories in 1000 to establish the Diocese of Wrocław and in 1063 to establish the Diocese of Olomouc It was elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Prague on 30 April 1344, having lost territory again to establish the Diocese of Litomyšl.
The first official statutes date from 1349 and incorporated the Manipulus florum of Thomas of Ireland. Gained territory in 1474 from the suppressed Diocese of Litomyšl Lost territories repeatedly: on 1655.07.03 to establish the Diocese of Litoměřice, on 1664.11.10 to establish Diocese of Hradec Králové, on 1785.09.20 to establish Diocese of České Budějovice and on 1993.05.31 to establish Diocese of Plzeň, all four Bohemian and its suffragans. It enjoyed Papal visits from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in September 2009.. The names of the following list of bishops and archbishops of Prague are given in Czech, with English equivalent or otherwise as suitable. Suffragan Bishops of PragueDětmar St. Vojtěch (Adalbert of Prague, Benedictine Order (19 January 982 – 988 and, died 996 Kristian Thiddag Ekkhard Hyza Šebíř Gebhart Kosmas Heřman Menhart Jan I? Silvestr (1139 – abdication 1140 Ota Daniel I Gotpold Bedřich z Puttendorfu Valentin Bretislaus III of Bohemia = Jindřich Břetislav Daniel II Ondřej Pelhřim z Vartenberka Budilov Jan II Bernhard Kaplíř ze Sulevic Mikuláš z Reisenburku/Rýzmburka Jan III z Dražic Tobiáš z Bechyně Řehoř Zajíc z Valdeka Jan IV z Dražic?
Jindřich Berka z Dubé Bishop of Olomouc? Arnošt z Pardubic Metropolitan Archbishops of PragueArnošt z Pardubic see above? Jan Očko z Vlašimi. XII Apostoli Jan z Jenštejna.
Reformation
The Reformation was a movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Roman Catholic church – and papal authority in particular. Although the Reformation is considered to have started with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517, there was no schism between the Catholics and the nascent Lutheran branch until the 1521 Edict of Worms; the edict condemned Luther and banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas. The end of the Reformation era is disputed: it could be considered to end with the enactment of the confessions of faith which began the Age of Orthodoxy. Other suggested ending years relate to the Counter-Reformation, the Peace of Westphalia, or that it never ended since there are still Protestants today. Movements had been made towards a Reformation prior to Luther, so some Protestants in the tradition of the Radical Reformation prefer to credit the start of the Reformation to reformers such as Arnold of Brescia, Peter Waldo, Jan Hus, Tomáš Štítný ze Štítného, John Wycliffe, Girolamo Savonarola.
Due to the reform efforts of Huss and others in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Utraquist Hussitism was acknowledged by both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, although other movements were still subject to persecution, as were the including Lollards in England and Waldensians in Italy and France. Luther began by criticising the sale of indulgences, insisting that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Treasury of Merit had no foundation in the Bible; the Reformation developed further to include a distinction between Law and Gospel, a complete reliance on Scripture as the only source of proper doctrine and the belief that faith in Jesus is the only way to receive God's pardon for sin rather than good works. Although this is considered a Protestant belief, a similar formulation was taught by Molinist and Jansenist Catholics; the priesthood of all believers downplayed the need for saints or priests to serve as mediators, mandatory clerical celibacy was ended. Simul justus et peccator implied that although people could improve, no one could become good enough to earn forgiveness from God.
Sacramental theology was simplified and attempts at imposing Aristotelian epistemology were resisted. Luther and his followers did not see these theological developments as changes; the 1530 Augsburg Confession concluded that "in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic", after the Council of Trent, Martin Chemnitz published the 1565–73 Examination of the Council of Trent in order to prove that Trent innovated on doctrine while the Lutherans were following in the footsteps of the Church Fathers and Apostles. The initial movement in Germany diversified, other reformers arose independently of Luther such as Zwingli in Zürich and Calvin in Geneva. Depending on the country, the Reformation had varying causes and different backgrounds, unfolded differently than in Germany; the spread of Gutenberg's printing press provided the means for the rapid dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. During Reformation-era confessionalization, Western Christianity adopted different confessions.
Radical Reformers, besides forming communities outside state sanction, sometimes employed more extreme doctrinal change, such as the rejection of the tenets of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon with the Unitarians of Transylvania. Anabaptist movements were persecuted following the German Peasants' War. Leaders within the Roman Catholic Church responded with the Counter-Reformation, initiated by the Confutatio Augustana in 1530, the Council of Trent in 1545, the Jesuits in 1540, the Defensio Tridentinæ fidei in 1578, a series of wars and expulsions of Protestants that continued until the 19th century. Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, came under the influence of Protestantism. Southern Europe remained predominantly Catholic apart from the much-persecuted Waldensians. Central Europe was the site of much of the Thirty Years' War and there were continued expulsions of Protestants in central Europe up to the 19th century. Following World War II, the removal of ethnic Germans to either East Germany or Siberia reduced Protestantism in the Warsaw Pact countries, although some remain today.
Absence of Protestants however, does not imply a failure of the Reformation. Although Protestants were excommunicated and ended up worshipping in communions separate from Catholics contrary to the original intention of the Reformers, they were suppressed and persecuted in most of Europe at one point; as a result, some of them lived as crypto-Protestants called Nicodemites, contrary to the urging of John Calvin who wanted them to live their faith openly. Some crypto-Protestants have been identified as late as the 19th century after immigrating to Latin America; as a result Reformation impulses continued to affect the Latin Church well past the end of what is considered the Reformation era. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, date their origins to Jan Hus in the early 15th century; as it was led by a Bohemian noble majority, recognised, for a time, by the Basel Compacts, the Hussite Reformation was Europe's first "Magisterial Reformation" because the ruling magistrates supported it, unlike the "Radical Reformation", which the state did not support.
Common factors that played a role during the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation included the rise of nationalism, the
Bishopric of Merseburg 1004-1565
Electorate of Saxony 1565-1657
Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg 1657-1738
Poland-Saxony 1738-1763
Kingdom of Saxony 1806-1815
Kingdom of Prussia 1815-1871
German Empire 1871-1918
Weimar Republic 1918-1933
Nazi Germany 1933-1945
Allied-occupied Germany 1945-1949
East Germany 1949-1990
Germany 1990-present
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Merseburg". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 173–174.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
