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Thesis Abstract

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was the site of a number of events in European history that fundamentally changed the connections between religion and politics, specifically in regards to the Catholic Church and national sovereignty. The overbearing political and secular power of the Catholic Church in the Medieval Era sparked the growth of Protestantism in the Reformation, led by princes of the HRE, who sought to seize control of religious authority in their territory. In the resultant religious conflicts of the Early Modern Period, political figures took up religious causes to advance their secular interests, subordinating religion to the state.

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