Changes

By the 1550s, Protestantism had been established too firmly within the Empire Central Europe to be ended by arms. Charles V wanted to secure his son's succession to Spain's throne and his nephew to the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor, and this required peace. He decided to ‘come to terms with the Protestants, which led ‘first to an armistice and then to the Treaty of Augsburg.’ <ref>Von Friedeburg, Robert. "Cuius Regio, Eius Religio: The Ambivalent Meanings of State Building in Protestant Germany, 1555–1655." <i>In Diversity and Dissent: Negotiating Religious Difference in Central Europe, 1500-1800</i>, edited by Louthan Howard, Cohen Gary B., and Szabo Franz A. J., 73-91. Berghahn Books, 2011 </ref>

The Peace of Augsburg, also called the Augsburg Settlement, was signed in September 1555 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Schmalkaldic League signed on 25 September 1555 at the imperial city Augsburg.<ref>Elliot, J.H. <i>Imperial Spain 1469–1716</i>. Penguin Books (New York: 2002), p. 208</ref> It officially ended the religious war. It attempted to establish a religious settlement in the sprawling German lands.<ref> Hale, p. 134</ref> The principle of <i>cuius regio, eius religio</i>, was the most important aspect of the treaty. This principle states that the ruler of the realm decided the faith of the people.<ref>Von Friedneburg, p 76</ref> This was to ensure the states' internal unity within the Holy Roman Empire. If a ruler was Catholic, he could determine that all those who lived in his realm had to be Catholics. Those who did not accept the situation could migrate to a jurisdiction that was Protestant.