Religious wars plagued Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but since then Western Europe has not been bothered on a large scale by religious sectarian violence. Explain why after the Treaty of Westphalia religion ceased to play an important role in the affairs of Western Europe. Some sense of time would be deeply appreciated, but also some sense of the historical events which gave rise to the "toleration" that began to emerge in Europe.
1. Define toleration and tell what it meant for seventeenth century Europe.
Name some of the religious wars that plagued Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
2. Who was on whose side during the Thirty Years' War and why does that say something about the place of religion in the relations among the secular, national states of western Europe?