JOACHIM STEPHANI

Stephani had written a legal analysis of the 1555 “Peace of Augsburg” and used the phrase of the quotation to describe the most basic and important legal agreement. It was that the recognized religion of a nation would be determined by the religion of the king or other ruler. Prior, Protestant and Catholic nations were constantly warring with each other and supporting insurrections in another country of its co-religionists and often warring with the other country where some towns were mostly Protestant and others, mostly Catholic. The treaty which dealt with Europe initially allowed Catholic citizens of a nation ruled by a Protestant to emigrate to a Catholic nation and the reverse. Those who chose to remain, would therefore be a minority of the country where their king was of a different faith. This principle is one of the reasons that English law requires the King or Queen to be the Head of the Church of England. In effect the Protestants controlling England at the time guaranteed that the sovereign was a Protestant and could not have a Catholic spouse in line for the throne. This then guaranteed that England would remain Protestant since the ruler was Protestant. Other European nations, Protestant and Catholic, had similar schemes and many still have them to this day.

Stephani had written a legal analysis of the 1555 “Peace of Augsburg” and used the phrase of the quotation to describe the most basic and important legal agreement. It was that the recognized religion of a nation would be determined by the religion of the king or other ruler. Prior, Protestant and Catholic nations were constantly warring with each other and supporting insurrections in another country of its co-religionists and often warring with the other country where some towns were mostly Protestant and others, mostly Catholic. The treaty which dealt with Europe initially allowed Catholic citizens of a nation ruled by a Protestant to emigrate to a Catholic nation and the reverse. Those who chose to remain, would therefore be a minority of the country where their king was of a different faith. This principle is one of the reasons that English law requires the King or Queen to be the Head of the Church of England. In effect the Protestants controlling England at the time guaranteed that the sovereign was a Protestant and could not have a Catholic spouse in line for the throne. This then guaranteed that England would remain Protestant since the ruler was Protestant. Other European nations, Protestant and Catholic, had similar schemes and many still have them to this day.