Saxony-Gotha Duchy

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Was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in Thuringia. It was one of the many Ernestine Duchies that divided and reunited several times and that were ruled by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.

Establishment

January 1641: Establishment of the Saxony-Gotha Duchy.

January 1641: Sovereignty over Gleichen County lay with the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha from 1640.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. European wars of religion

Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.

1.1.Thirty Years' War

Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.

1.1.1.Franco-Swedish Period

Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.

1.1.1.1.North German Front (Sweden)

Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.

December 1643: In 1643 Swedish general Torstensson invaded Moravia for the second time.

January 1644: In 1643, when the Torstensson War broke out, the Swedish military focused entirely on Denmark and thus enabled an imperial offensive to Jutland.

June 1648: In May 1648, there was the last major field battle of the Thirty Years' War between French-Swedish and Imperial-Bavarian armies near Augsburg.

1.1.2.Peace of Westphalia

Were a series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War. Catholics and Protestants were redefined as equal in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. There were major territorial adjustments. In particular, France, Sweden and Brandenburg had major territorial gains, and several religious territories of the Holy Roman Empire were secularized.

October 1648: With the Peace of Westphalia Sweden received Western Pomerania (henceforth Swedish Pomerania), Wismar, and the Prince-Bishoprics of Bremen and Verden as hereditary fiefs. Sweden evacuated the remnant territories it had occupied in the Holy Roman Empire.