HRE goes Protestant?

NthBelisarius

How could this happen? The whole or majority of the Holy Roman Empire goes Protestant including the south. What happens with Imperial Authority? About a third of the HRE lands were Church Lands (I think) by 1500 and there was quite a lot of church corruption, so if the bishoprics are abolished then I imagine there will be an expansion of princely power. Could we see the HRE consolidate into a nation state?

Also, what happens with the Imperial Title? Maximilian was the first Emperor who didn't need to be crowned by the Pope, could an extension of this tradition and a disagreement with a newly elected Emperor allow Protestantism to receive Imperial backing? Would France try and claim the Imperial Title for Catholicism by arguing that Protestant HRE can no longer claim it?

I guess this has probably been asked before, but please humour me :).
 

Dr. Waterhouse

Honestly, I think the key is the Bohemian succession crisis at the start of the Thirty Years War. If Bohemia's elective monarchy had turned Protestant, then if Saxony, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate stood shoulder to shoulder with it (which in itself could not be taken for granted, given the propensity of some of these electors to accept Habsburg inducements), you could have a Protestant Emperor. This is precisely why the loss of Bohemia was unacceptable to the Habsburgs in the first place.

In any case, I heartily recommend VC Wedgewood's engaging play-by-play of the conflict by that name. Even though it was written in the thirties, it gives rich perspective on the personalities involved and is written with an elegance lacking in modern historians. As to particular points of departure, I would leave that to your imagination.

But despite the conclusive nature of my previous message, the available points of departure are there.
 
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