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Heilbronn League | |
|---|---|
| 1633–1635 | |
 Founding of the Heilbronn League, April 1633 | |
| Common languages | French andGerman |
| League Director | |
• 1633–1635 | Axel Oxenstierna |
| Historical era | 1633 to 1635 |
• Established | 23 April 1633 |
• Dissolved, following thePeace of Prague | 30 May 1635 |
TheHeilbronn League was formed in theFree Imperial City ofHeilbronn, on 23 April 1633, during theThirty Years' War. Led bySweden, it brought together various Protestant states in western and northern Germany. It was supported bySaxony andBrandenburg-Prussia, although they were not members.
Established following the death ofGustavus Adolphus of Sweden atLützen, in November 1632, it was directed by Sweden, withFrance providing financial support. Despite competing priorities and objectives, the League achieved considerable success, before its defeat atNördlingen in November 1634.
This provided an opportunity forEmperor Ferdinand to negotiate with his Protestant opponents. ThePeace of Prague largely ended conflict between members of theHoly Roman Empire, and the League was dissolved. However, fighting in Germany continued until 1648, much of it driven by foreign powers including France, Sweden, theDutch Republic andSpain.
Many German Protestants remained neutral in the early stages of theThirty Years' War, which began inBohemia, then expanded after 1620 into thePalatinate.
This changed in 1629, whenEmperor Ferdinand passed theEdict of Restitution, requiring any property transferred since 1552 to be returned to its original owners. In nearly every case, this meant fromProtestant to theCatholic Church, effectively undoing the settlement agreed in the 1555Peace of Augsburg.
In addition, instead of paying wages, Ferdinand allowed his armies to plunder any territories they passed through, including those of his allies.[1]
The combination ledSaxony andBrandenburg-Prussia to joinGustavus Adolphus of Sweden, when he invaded the Empire in 1630. Swedish intervention was a mixture of religious support for fellow Protestants, and acquiringSwedish Pomerania in order to control the lucrativeBaltic trade. It wasfinanced byFrance, concerned by Imperial gains on its eastern border in theRhineland.[2]
The coalition won a series of battles against theGerman Catholic League, culminating in November 1632 withLützen, in the modern German state ofSaxony-Anhalt. Although generally held to be a Protestant victory, the death of Gustavus Adolphus weakened their cause overall.[3]
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As Gustavus was succeeded by hissix-year-old daughter Christina, chancellorAxel Oxenstierna took over direction of policy.
After ensuring control of the army, his next step was replacing the previous loose alliance with a more formal structure; this was driven by a perceived need to stabilise the Swedish state and doubts over the reliability of his allies.[4]
Swedish Pomerania blocked Brandenburg's own commercial ambitions in theBaltic Sea, while Saxony's ruler,Elector John George, considered Sweden as great a threat as the Imperial armies.[5]
After Lützen, John George proposed a summit of German Protestants inDresden, to negotiate a pact of neutrality, while France suspended its subsidy payments to Sweden, and awaited developments. Advisors urged Ferdinand to take advantage of this and reverse the 1629 Edict, but he saw a chance to recoup his losses by military means and missed the opportunity.[6]
In March, Oxenstierna invited members of theUpper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Swabian andFranconian Circles toHeilbronn.[a]
Although efforts to recruit theHansa cities failed, the League was formed on 27 April 1633.[7]
France resumed payment of subsidies on 7 April; crucially, these were paid direct to Sweden, assuring its control. Oxenstierna was appointed League Director, with an absolute veto over military affairs; he was supported by a council of ten advisors, three of whom were Swedes, the others being long-time supporters like Count Solms-Hohensolms. The members agreed to fund an army of 78,000, although in reality they provided less than a third of the money needed; the Germans agreed to continue fighting until Sweden obtained 'just compensation', while Oxenstierna promised to ensure a return to pre-1618 borders.[8]
With limited support from Saxony and Brandenburg, the coalition won a series of victories against theCatholic League. Imperial victory atNördlingen in 1634 re-established a military balance and gave Ferdinand another chance to make peace.[9]
The League and its supporters had different priorities. To strengthen its borders in theRhineland and theLow Countries, France supported the Dutch, Swedish competitors in the Baltic, and agreed the May 1631Treaty of Fontainebleau withMaximilian of Bavaria, Ferdinand's ally and Sweden's opponent in the Rhineland campaign of 1633–34.[10]
Sweden sought to preserve its grip on the Baltic Sea and retain Swedish Pomerania. Their German allies wanted to restore the territorial position of 1618, effectively negating gains by France and Sweden.[11]
By the end of 1633, Ferdinand had accepted Catholicism could not be re-imposed by force. With theLutheran states ofDenmark-Norway andHesse-Darmstadt acting as mediators, in November 1634, he agreed a preliminary draft with John George, known as the 'Pirnaer Noteln'. While subject to many corrections and revisions, this became the basis of the 1635Peace of Prague, which dissolved the Catholic and Heilbronn leagues.[12]
