Prelude
Negotiations towards the agreement had been instigated by the Elector John George I of Saxony, who whilst being a Lutheran prince had nonetheless initially supported the Emperor against the revolting Bohemian estates and had remained neutral during the Swedish intervention in 1630. However, after continued plundering of the Saxon lands by the troops of the Catholic League, he had joined the forces of King Gustavus Adolphus at the 1631 Battle of Breitenfeld. Gustavus Adolphus' death at the Battle of Lützen in 1632 and the Protestant defeat at the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen prompted the elector to again switch sides.
Years of fighting, an inability to reimpose the Catholic confession by force, the assassination of Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein, and the need to put an end to the intervention of foreign powers in German affairs all combined to bring Ferdinand II to the table with a degree of willingness to make concessions towards the Lutheran estates.
Read more about this topic: Peace Of Prague (1635)
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