Lesson #4 - Religious Conflict and the Thirty Years' War

Today, we're going to pick out the topic of religious conflict and focus on that. The period we are studying is sometimes also known as the "Age of Religious Wars" in Europe. We will finish up with a look at the impact of the Thirty Years' War, an event that gave rise to the modern states that we know see in Europe and elsewhere. Note that, in some cases, we'll actually be moving back in time a bit from the events of Louis XIV and some others.

Why were they fighting? Religious conflict is nothing new to us in our study of world history. However, both classes have asked versions of the "What was so different between Catholics and Protestants?" This first activity is designed to give you a chance to answer that question for yourself. You might recall from last year that the Catholic Church leadership met at the Council of Trent during what is called the Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation. (The Council met from 1545 to 1563.) It issued a clarification of the Church's position on many issues. You'll receive two handouts. The first states the "Protestant" interpretation of an issue. You and a partner can use the handout summarizing the Council of Trent's declarations to try to figure out the Catholic Church's position on each of these issues. We'll talk about what you find.

Where were they fighting? You've read bits and pieces about the religious conflicts in Spain and France. Those, along with the Thirty Years' War, were major aspects of this "age of religious wars." We'll do a jigsaw activity with these three sets of conflicts. You'll get one of these three handouts:

In each case, meet with others sharing that reading. Your job is to boil it down to between five and ten brief points that you can share with the other groups. Following that, we'll have you meet in groups of three, with one representative from each group. You'll teach each other the basic points from your reading. I'd recommend jotting down some brief notes (or emailing each other) so that you've got something to review later in the unit.

The Thirty Years' War in Thirty Seconds: To me, the Thirty Years' War is a very complex and confusing series of events. You can get lost in the details and miss the point. Let's see how you do in seeing the "big picture." You can work with up to 3 others. I want you to prepare to tell the story of the Thirty Years' War to us in thirty seconds or less. (Not by talking fast...) Instead, think of this along the lines of the identifications we did last year and focus on what is important and historically significant. If you want a good source besides your text, The Thirty Years' War has a wealth of information on its site. We'll have you tell your story to the class.

If you want another challenge, do the Thirty Years' War in thirty words or fewer.

Please read Chapter 21, Section 4, "Absolute Rulers of Russia." (pp. 608 - 611)

The "Absolute Monarchs of Europe" matrix should be ready for discussing. (If you don't have the Peter the Great information down, that's understandable, but the rest should be completed.)

Your role in the trial should be ready for Tuesday/Wednesday of next week. Remember that the prosecution witnesses will testify on Tuesday, while the defense witnesses and the defendants themselves testify on Wednesday.