Martin Luther's theses and his writings left no one in Germany untouched after 1517. They made those who took pains to live a life of faith prick up their ears, as well as those who discovered in the pronouncements of the monk attacks on the existing order such as the papacy and the empire.
The map shows the distribution of religious belief in southwest Germany
around 1580.
Areas that remained Catholic were, above all, those that belonged to the
Habsburg imperial house, or else were dependent on it, and the areas of
the bishops of Basel, Speyer, Strassbourg and Würzburg.
The Evangelical movement gained its greatest increase in territory through
the Duchy of Württemberg.
The Electorate Palatine around 1580 was the center of German Calvinism,
a unique direction in the Reformation.
Up to 1580 some areas became Catholic again. The areas, marked by hatching,
of the imperial cities of Biberach, Ravensburg and Leutkirch remained
religiously mixed.
Just a half a year after the publication of the theses, Martin Luther
made them public in Heidelberg. Those taking part in the dialogue
included many who later became leaders of the Reformation such as Martin
Bucer (later a reformer in Strassbourg), Johannes Brenz (later a reformer
in Schwäbisch Hall and Stuttgart) and Erhard Schnepf (later a reformer
in northern Württemberg). Like Luther, monks left their cloisters and
embraced the incipient Evangelical movement, including Ambrosius Blarer,
a reformer in Constance and Upper Swabia.
Luther's theses and writings, thanks to the new capability of printing,
could be rapidly copied and disseminated. They followed the great commercial
routes and were especially disseminated in the cities.
Wittenberg, Luther's home town, was not the only center of the Reformation.
In Zürich, Ulrich Zwingli preached in the minster in Evangelical
style. He had, however, a different understanding of the Eucharist than
Luther. Martin Bucer of Strassbourg, Johannes Oekolampad from Basel and
Ambrosius Blarer from Constance adhered to his concept. In 1563 a third
interpretation appeared. The Palatinate embraced the direction
of the reformer John Calvin of Geneva.
The Evangelical movement experienced its greatest territorial increase
through the Reformation of Württemberg. Duke Ulrich of Württemberg
had been living in his County of Mömpelgard since 1519. He had been exiled
from his duchy by his own fault and controversial encroachments into non-Württembergish
possessions. In Basel, Duke Ulrich came into contact with the Reformation.
In May 1534, he was able to take back his land with the aid of
other princes who had become Evangelical. In the face of disputes with
the royal and imperial house, he instantly fixed himself on the introduction
of the Reformation. Erhard Schnepf and Ambrosius Blarer were his leading
reformers. A liturgy that foresaw the sermon-oriented worship service
and which adopted the catechism of Johannes Brenz, as well as the erecting
of a school for theological training, expanded the reforming actions of
Duke Ulrich of Württemberg.
Karl V had been king and emperor in the German empire since 1519.
He saw himself as the defender of the one, Catholic Church. In this attribute
he undertook various efforts to restore a unified faith in the empire:
In 1529 Karl V caused the ecclesiastical innovations to be condemned
in the Second Imperial Diet in Speyer. Seven imperial princes and 16 imperial
cities crystallized into a demonstration of protest. These Protestants
did not want the Reformation to end and gathered together into a defensive
alliance. They named their alliance after the town of Schmalkalden
on the southern slope of the Thueringer Forest, where they met at the
instigation of Count Philipp of Hessen.
In the Schmalkalden War of 1546, the imperial army conquered the
Evangelical princes and cities, who begged him for forgiveness.
In 1548 at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg, the emperor caused the
so-called "Interim" to be worked out, which strived for an interim
solution to the religious question. Karl V demanded that the agreement
of the Imperial Diet be carried out. Areas belonging directly to the empire,
such as the province of Ortenau, were re-Catholicized. Where princes who
remained Catholic, like Friedrich von Fürstenberg, succeeded an Evangelical,
the subjects had to go back to the old faith.
Even some monasteries were temporarily rebuilt.
After the religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, the Reformation broadened its framework. After earlier beginnings and a few starts at reforming, the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach now joined in 1556 with the sovereignties of Hachberg, Rötteln and Sausenberg in the Evangelical denomination and introduced the Württemberg liturgy. Even the Margraviate of Baden-Baden went over to Lutheranism that same year, but indeed only for a short time. Likewise after the Peace of Augsburg the Reformation was carried out in the County of Hohenlohe. At the same time, however, the Counter-Reformation began. It was persistently supported by the Emperor and the clerical princes.
