Sunday, October 5, 2008

Prompt 4

France was more able than Germany to recover from the religious wars because the French king Francis I made a deal with the pope to renounce the Pragmatic Sanction in France through the Concordat of Bologna thus giving the French king power over the French Catholic Church. With this power he controlled his subjects both through the state and church. Any rebellion there may have been was probably crushed quickly. Germany on the other hand was full of rebellious princes who wanted to defy the Habsburgs and revolt against the church that gave the HRE power. Because France worked against the common goal of beating the Habsburgs while Germany revolted, France was able to stay unified and recover quickly from the religious wars.

2 comments:

Sarah Hayes said...

Don't you think that maybe it was because Gemrnay was divided politically? Both countires had state curches (everyone in the HRE was Catholic), but France just had one king.

Lena said...

It could have been, but i think it was because france had absolute power because the king made sure he had the power. he united his princes to one cause( destruction of the Habsburgs) instead of letting them fight and scheme. By keeping the absolute power he kept his control and it was that much easier to overcome something that barely effected you.