9.7: Conclusion

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Obviously, neither Catholics nor Protestants "won" the wars of religion that wracked Europe from roughly 1550 - 1650. Instead, millions died, intolerance remained the rule, and the major states of Europe emerged more focused than ever on centralization and military power. If there was a silver lining, it was that rulers did their best to clamp down on explosions of religiously-inspired violence in the future, in the name of maintaining order and control. Those concepts - order and control - would go on to inspire the development of a new kind of political system in which kings would claim almost total authority: absolutism.

Image Citations (Wikimedia Commons):

Little Ice Age - Robert A. Rohde

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre - Public Domain

The Spanish Fury - Public Domain

Marauding Soldiers - Public Domain