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The Thirty Years War started as a religious struggle, but transformed into a dynastic war for power in Europe. It all began with the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which was formed to bring religious peace to the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Augsburg stated that “the faith of the rulers is the faith of the ruled.” Under this agreement, Lutheran and Catholic princes could dictate the religion of their entire population. However, it did not include Calvinists. The Holy Roman Empire consisted of one-half Catholic and one-half Protestant. Of the Protestants, three-fourths were Lutheran and one-fourth were Calvinist, thus making the Calvinists one-eighth of the overall population. The Peace of Augsburg worked well at first and Calvinists were basically free to practice their religion. However, when Ferdinand II was elected in 1618, things began to change. Ferdinand was a devoted Catholic, as well as a powerful Hapsburg, and decided to reconvert Bohemia from Calvinist to Catholic. Ferdinand sent representatives to Bohemia to inform them of the news.
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