This Week in Christian History: A Major Battle, Influential Treaty, and 'Great Disappointment'

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, October 22, 2017

The Peace of Westphalia Signed — October 24, 1648

The victory of Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld, a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) | (Photo: Public Domain)

This week marks the anniversary of an important treaty that helped end the Thirty Years' War, a major European conflict fought between Catholics and Protestants.

Signed in the city of Munster, which was located in the province Westphalia in modern day Germany, the treaty ended a conflict begun in 1618 when the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II tried to curb the rights of Protestants in his territory.

"That there shall be a Christian and Universal Peace, and a perpetual, true, and sincere Amity, between his Sacred Imperial Majesty, and his most Christian Majesty ... but chiefly between the Electors, Princes, and States of the Empire on the one side; and all and each of the Allies of his said Christian Majesty, and all their Heirs and Successors, chiefly between the most Serene Queen and Kingdom of Swedeland, the Electors respectively, the Princes and States of the Empire, on the other part," read the Peace of Westphalia.

"... all Partys in this Transaction shall be oblig'd to defend and protect all and every Article of this Peace against any one, without distinction of Religion; and if it happens any point shall be violated, the Offended shall before all things exhort the Offender not to come to any Hostility, submitting the Cause to a friendly Composition, or the ordinary Proceedings of Justice."

Westphalia is seen by many scholars as a milestone in diplomacy and religious tolerance, being viewed as the first step towards the modern political idea of national sovereignty.