European wars of religion European wars of religion The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in 16th and 17th century Europe. The wars were fought in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation (1517), which disrupted the religious order in the Catholic countries of Europe. However, religion was not the only cause of the wars, which also included revolts, territorial ambitions, and Great Power conflicts. By the end of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Catholic France was allied with the Protestant countries against the Catholic Habsburg monarchy. The wars were largely ended by the Peace of Westphalia (1648), establishing a
League of the Rhine of the 1648 treaty of Westphalia, the treaty which had made the League possible by authorising the German princes, immediate vassals of the Emperor, to conclude alliances between themselves or with foreign states. On August 14, 1658, the League of the Rhine was formed by: The League fielded a force of 6000 to fight on the side of France and the Empire against the Ottomans, seeing action in the 1664 Battle of Saint Gotthard. The League was promulgated to last for three years, and this was later twice extended. It officially ended in August 1667, its end should in fact