Early modern Europe dynasty. For the first time since the days of Martin Luther, political and national convictions again outweighed religious convictions in Europe. Two main tenets of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War, were: The treaty also effectively ended the Papacy's pan-European political power. Pope Innocent X declared the treaty "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all times" in his bull "Zelo Domus Dei". European sovereigns, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike, ignored his verdict. Scholars taking a "realist" perspective on wars and diplomacy have emphasized the Peace of Westphalia (1648)
Piracy in the Caribbean of the Americas all beckoned to those eager to make their fortunes and a large assortment of Frenchmen and Englishmen began new colonial ventures during the early 17th century, both in North America, which lay basically empty of European settlement north of Mexico, and in the Caribbean, where Spain remained the dominant power until late in the century. As for the Dutch Netherlands, after decades of rebellion against Spain fueled by both Dutch nationalism and their staunch Protestantism, independence had been gained in all but name (and that too would eventually come with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648). The