It was not to the interest of France to have the house of Hapsburg further aggrandized. God used this jealousy and ambition to further the work of the Reformation, so that France, through Cardinal Richelieu, became the ally of Gustavus Adolphus, and furnished a monthly stipend for paying Protestant soldiers, but even more valuable to the cause was the information and advice of this great Catholic ally. It was now believed that Richelieu[[2]] even hoped for a confederacy of the smaller German States and free cities under the protectorate of France.
[2]. See Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IV.
Reviewing for a moment the past, we shall remember that Charles V. was succeeded by his brother, Ferdinand I., who reigned from 1556 to 1564. Maximilian II., his son, was lenient to the Protestants, and ruled from 1564 to 1576. It was during his reign, in 1572, the St. Bartholomew massacre occurred in Paris, in which Catherine de Medicis and her son, Charles IX., caused the murder of over fifty thousand Huguenots, as the Protestants were called in France. The massacre continued three days and nights.
Pope Gregory XIII., on hearing the news, openly expressed his joy at "the glorious event," caused public thanksgiving to be made, and had a coin struck in commemoration of this vile sin. This event gave warning to the Protestants that Rome would take advantage of whatever opportunity offered to destroy Protestantism.
During the great war Rudolph II. ruled Germany from 1576 to 1612, Mathias from 1612 to 1619, followed now by Ferdinand II. Louis XIII., the creature of his minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who, though a churchman, always put the State before the Church, was the ruler of France. He was followed by Louis XIV., whose mother, Queen Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin ruled till the majority of Louis XIV. The kings of England were James I., from 1603 to 1625, and Charles I., from 1625 to 1649. The Popes were Paul V., Gregory XV., Urban VIII. and Innocent X.
The Catholics now formed a strong league. The Protestants already had a weak union.
Mathias, during a reign of seven years, had favored the Catholics, and caused Ferdinand, one of the most cruel Catholics who ever lived, to be elected king of Hungary and Bohemia.
The election of Ferdinand was a great blow to Bohemia, and the new king lost no time in trying to destroy all the Protestants in his kingdom. Protestants were persecuted as criminals, and when they appealed to the law of the land, the Jesuits replied that Ferdinand's election as king of Bohemia canceled all laws in favor of Protestants.
"Novus rex, nova lex." This they declared was what was meant by the Reservatum Ecclesiasticum in the Augsburg Treaty of Peace. The clause stipulated that the people of each State should follow the religion of the ruler of the State. It is true the clause was there, but modified by two things:
1st. Cities were excepted.