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24 October 1648

The Peace of Westphalia

Thirty years after the defenestration, the war that began in Prague ended in two towns in Westphalia. In Prague, the fighting stopped on the stone bridge.

Place: Münster and OsnabrückEra: The Thirty Years' War

An engraving of a crowded hall where men in black with white collars raise their hands to swear an oath over a table
The oath at Münster. P. J. Greive, after Gerard ter Borch, 1850s. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain (CC0).

The war that began with a window in Prague ended with years of talks in two towns of Westphalia. Catholic powers met in Münster, Protestant ones in Osnabrück, and messengers rode between them.

The last fight, in Prague

While the envoys talked, a Swedish army surprised Prague in July 1648 and took the castle and the Lesser Town. The Old Town held the far end of the stone bridge, and the Old Town Bridge Tower, the tower where the heads had hung, was fought over for months.

What it settled

The peace was signed on 24 October 1648. For Bohemia it confirmed what the White Mountain had decided: the exiles stayed abroad, and the country stayed Catholic under the Habsburgs.

Timeline

  1. 1643

    The talks begin

    Envoys gather in Münster and Osnabrück. The fighting goes on while they talk.

  2. 15 May 1648

    The oath at Münster

    Spain and the Dutch Republic swear to their peace.

    An engraving of a crowded hall where men in black with white collars raise their hands to swear an oath over a table

  3. July 1648

    Swedes in Prague

    A Swedish army takes the castle and the Lesser Town; the Old Town holds the bridge.

  4. 24 October 1648

    The peace is signed

    The treaties are signed. News reaches Prague, and the siege ends.

Further reading

  • Peter H. Wilson, Europe's Tragedy (London, 2009)

Questions

Did Bohemia get anything back?

No. The emigrants were not allowed to return, and Bohemia stayed Catholic and Habsburg.

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