Dominions of Sweden German principalities, the Swedish kings in their roles as princes and dukes, or "Reichsfürsten", of the Holy Roman Empire took part in the German diets from 1648 until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Following the Thirty Years' War, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 assigned to Sweden the two bishoprics of Bremen-Verden, with the exclave of Wildeshausen. All of them were ceded to Hanover in the peace treaty of 1719. By the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 Sweden received Swedish Pomerania, situated along the German Baltic Sea coast. The whole Duchy of Pomerania was under Swedish
History of Europe and Spanish trade routes into the Pacific Ocean, reaching Australia in 1606 and New Zealand in 1642. With the development of the printing press, new ideas spread throughout Europe and challenged traditional doctrines in science and theology. Simultaneously, the Protestant Reformation under German Martin Luther questioned Papal authority. The most common dating of the Reformation begins in 1517, when Luther published "The Ninety-Five Theses", and concludes in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended years of European religious wars. During this period corruption in the Catholic Church led to a sharp backlash in the Protestant Reformation. It gained many