alternatehistory.com

Hello everyone. I have been an observer on this site for a good while now, but I’m finally deciding to create my first thread.

A bit of background: We all know about the Protestant Reformation, and if you’re on this site and don’t know about it, well, I don’t even know what to say to that. Anyway, in the 1550s, Charles V and the Pope at the time decided that, since their attempts to crush the Reformation by force had, despite numerous successes such as the very recent Schmalkadic War, failed in the end, they resolved to end the Reformation by diplomatic means instead. This manifested in the Council of Trent in 1555, during which numerous Protestant leaders and theologians were invited to share their disagreements with Catholic practice and debate on the aspects of the faith. It possibly could’ve worked; at least, had the hoped numbers of Protestant leaders actually shown up. Instead, they ignored Charles’ efforts at compromise, and continued the Reformation.

What if, during the Council of Trent, Protestant delegates had actually decided to attend the Council and, by the time the council had concluded, the disagreements had been solved and Western, Central and Northern Europe were religiously reunited? I feel this is the best opportunity to end the Reformation diplomatically, as it came long before the Thirty Years’ War and the related atrocities of both sides driving the wedge deeper and deeper. It would also, to the advantage of the Protestant theologians, probably be viewed as them having “won” in a sense, as they had managed to outlast long enough to force the Catholics to compromise.

What are your thoughts on this?
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