Early Politics in Prussia (Holy Roman Empire)

The Holy Roman Empire consisted of my states. It was originally allied with the papacy but after a long struggle with pope for leadership of Christian Europe its power was weakened. In addition, its power was weakened by the Reformation during the 16Th century because it split the Catholic emperors and German Princes who were on the Protestant side. Also, in 1618 The Thirty Years War began. The Thirty Years War was a long series of wars fought over religion and land and driven by rivalry. The first phase of this war was the Bohemian Revolt. The Bohemian Revolt began when Ferdinand II of the Holy Roman Empire attempted to force Roman Catholic absolutism on his territory but Protestant nobles in Bohemia and Austria fought back. It took Ferdinand five years to win this struggle. At the end of the Thirty Years War the states of the Holy Roman Empire were granted complete sovereignty. Although the church and the empire had their problems they remained closely associated throughout the Middle Ages. For example, German kings were crowned by the pope, a tradition that lasted until Maximilian