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
Treaty of Stettin (1653) Pomerania became Brandenburgian Pomerania. During the war, Sweden had occupied the Duchy of Pomerania in 1630. The last Griffin duke Bogislaw XIV died in 1637, his duchy was supposed to be inherited by Brandenburg, who based her claims on in the Treaty of Grimnitz. This however was hindered by the Swedish presence. The 1648 Peace of Westphalia ended the war, and Pomerania was to be partitioned between Brandenburg and Sweden. The 1650 Treaty of Nuremberg roughly defined the areas that should be under control of Sweden and Brandenburg, respectively. The precise border was drawn in the 1653 Treaty of Stettin,