ABSTRACT
In addition to the French Wars of Religion, chiey two military conicts have shaped the idea of religious war in early modern times: e Schmalkaldic War (1546-47), which has been repeatedly called the rst religious war, and the irty Years War (1618-48), which was – and in popular discourse frequently still is – addressed as the last war of that kind. Hence, both events have framed the notion of an age of religious war for quite a long time, even if they dier greatly in scope, duration, and complexity. How one understands these wars remains highly relevant for any assessment of the explanatory strength which the term religious war provides to historians, political scientists, social scientists, and philosophers concerning other military conicts in early modern and modern times.
