[RobbyS]

I was giving the conclusion of Richard Marius, a recent biographer and admirer of Luther. Whether Luther was right or wrong theologically is beside the point, which is that he initiated an age of war motivated by religious fanaticism. Even the Reconquista, which lasted almost four hundred years,or the wars fought between Turks and Christians were never savage as the religious wars of Europe, especially those in France and Germany. Spain, England, Italy, and France were all saved finally by despotic governments. After 1648, religion no longer drove the wars of Europe. The despot Cromwell died early, sparing the country across the channel from another general like Henry V.

[american_ranger]

Whether Luther was right or wrong theologically is beside the point, which is that he initiated an age of war motivated by religious fanaticism.

Luther initiated nothing of the sort. Idiots simply used Luther's teaching as their excuse to kill others. None of Luther's teachings can be interpreted as initiating an age of war. Following this idiotic reasoning, Jesus was responsible for the Crusades and the inquisition while Moses cause the Holocaust.

[colorado tanker]

Although the Thirty Years War was ostensibly fought over religion, dig a little and you'll find "the great game" of the princes. The Holy Roman Empire was, as was said, neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. By the 16th Century Germany was divided among many principalities and was a power vacuum. The War, after the initial conflicts, had mainly to do with who would dominate this vacuum, the leading contenders being Austria, France and Sweden.

As usual, the heaviest price was paid by the German peasantry, who suffered terribly after decades of brutal war.

The English Puritans in my view were reformers, opposed to a corrupt aristocracy. Had the English Civil War happened a century later, England might have been the first representative democracy, and not the U.S. But, Cromwell proved no Adams or Jefferson.