Francis William Bain on the end phase of the Thirty Years' War and on the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia

Source:

Christina, Queen of Sweden, pages 76 to 78, by Francis William Bain, 1890; original at the University of Connecticut Library

https://archive.org/details/christinaqueenof00bain/page/76/mode/2up

The account:

The campaign of Wrangel and Turenne in 1648 put an end to the obstinacy of Maximilian of Bavaria, and the finishing impulse came from the capture of Little Prague by Konigsmarck, on July 31, whereby he took an enormous booty; though all his efforts and those of Charles Gustavus, who had come to assist him to take the rest of the town, were unsuccessful. On the 24th October, 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was actually signed; though it was not till the Recess of Execution at Nuremberg, two years afterwards, that all the details were finally and definitely completed.

"Sweden received Hither Pomerania, including the island of Rügen; from Further Pomerania the island of Wollin and several cities, with their surroundings, among which were Stettin, as also the expectancy of Further Pomerania in case of the extinction of the House of Brandenburgh. Furthermore[,] it received the city of Wismar in Mecklenburgh, and the Bishoprics of Bremen and Verden, with reservation of the rights and immunities of the city of Bremen. Sweden was to hold all the ceded territory as feudal tenures of the Empire, and be represented for them in the Imperial Diet. The Bavarian, Burgundian, and Austrian circles were to be released from contributions to make up the five millions to be paid to the Swedish army, for which only the seven other circles were to be responsible."

In the settlement of the religious difficulties, a compromise was arrived at. Full recognition was now given to Calvinism as well as Lutheranism. New Year's Day, 1624 [sic], was fixed as the limit, after which Catholics and Protestants were to hold whatever benefices they then possessed. In the Imperial Diet, the two opposing creeds were placed upon an equal footing. Thus the final blow was given to Imperial claims in Church or State, and a new system inaugurated, whereby for the already antiquated universal supremacy was substituted the balance of political power and the rights of individual nations. The Peace thus forms an epoch, a date dividing the old and new. This is of more importance to us now than the particular acquisitions of Sweden. But in this connection it is to be noted that the Baltic became, by these provisions, a sort of "Swedish inland lake;" and 1648 marks the culminating point of Sweden's fame. Her position among the European states was, however, based on mere externals, and not justified by her intrinsic capabilities; this, even more than the relative rising of her neighbours, such as Russia and Prussia, is the explanation of her subsequent decline.

Above: Kristina.

Notes: Wollin is the German name for the Polish island of Wolin and a town on it, in the Baltic Sea.

Stettin is the German name for the town of Szczecin in what is now the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland.