Printed Page 415-0(cont.)
A History of Western Society: Printed Page 415
MAPPING THE PAST
Map 13.2 Religious Divisions in Europe, ca. 1555
The Reformations shattered the religious unity of Western Christendom. The situation was even more complicated than a map of this scale can show. Many cities within the Holy Roman Empire, for example, accepted a different faith than the surrounding countryside; Augsburg, Basel, and Strasbourg were all Protestant, though surrounded by territory ruled by Catholic nobles.
Question
ANALYZING THE MAP Which countries were the most religiously diverse in Europe? Which were the least diverse?
Question
CONNECTIONS Where was the first arena of religious conflict in sixteenth-century Europe, and why did it develop there and not elsewhere? To what degree can nonreligious factors be used as an explanation for the religious divisions in sixteenth-century Europe?