Schmalkaldic War 1546–48

a war between the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, who was attempting to restore Catholicism in Germany, and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League.

The negotiation of a peace treaty with France in 1544, the conclusion of a truce with the Ottoman Empire in 1545, and the defection of Duke Maurice of Saxony to the side of the emperor enabled Charles V to begin the war in July 1546. Additional troops from the Netherlands and the pope gave the emperor a substantial military advantage. In late 1546, Maurice seized the lands of his relative Elector John Frederick of Saxony. The Protestant troops were routed at Mühlberg, Saxony, on Apr. 24, 1547, and John Frederick, who had been taken prisoner, renounced his electorate in favor of Maurice. On June 19,1547, another Protestant leader, Philip of Hesse, surrendered.

Fighting resumed in 1552 with a revolt of the Protestant princes. The new war ended in a victory for the princes that was given official recognition by the Treaty of Passau (1552) and the religious Peace of Augsburg (1555).