112 Wallenstein
possession at the time of original transfer were long gone, many having
themselves turned Protestant and left their orders. Lawsuits had been
brought seeking return of individual properties to the church, but this
piecemeal approach had achieved little, so the prelates looked to the
emperor for more sweeping measures.
Ferdinand was far from unwilling. As early as autumn 1627 he had
informed the Catholic hierarchy that he considered the opportunity of
recovering church lands to be the principal benefit gained from success
in the war, and that he saw it as his responsibility to pursue all possi-
bilities to their limits.^13 Practical action nevertheless had to wait until
the final defeat of Christian of Denmark, but with that accomplished
a draft of the proposed measure was produced in the autumn of 1628.
Consultations within the Catholic camp followed, but Ferdinand dis-
missed any reservations, including the contention that the matter ought
to be considered by an Imperial Diet, and in March 1629 he went ahead,
promulgating his Edict of Restitution entirely on his own authority as
emperor.^14 Whether he had any such authority is extremely question-
able, even though he disingenuously claimed that he was doing no
more than setting out to enforce existing law. Despite this, two points
certainly went beyond the Augsburg settlement of 1555, and hence
beyond existing law. Firstly the right of secular princes to determine
and enforce the religion of their subjects was extended to ecclesiastical
princes – all of course Catholics – from whom it had been specifically
withheld at Augsburg. Secondly the edict was applied in many Imperial
free cities, which had been guaranteed freedom of religion at that
time. Moreover the official date of 1552 was by no means scrupulously
observed in practice, with many longer-standing secularisations uncer-
emoniously clawed back at the same time. With these resumptions,
a measure which affected only the wealthy, went compulsory reca-
tholicisation of whole populations, the closure of Protestant churches,
and the expulsion of those who would not conform, reportedly 8000
from Augsburg alone. Added to that, the rights which were allowed to
Protestants were limited to Lutherans, thereby excluding Calvinists and
others, a restriction which had been in the Augsburg settlement but
which had lapsed in practice since.^15
The resulting uproar in the Empire showed only too clearly why
Ferdinand still needed the army. Imperial commissioners seeking to
enforce restitutions often met resistance, and on many occasions troops
were used to support them, although mainly from Tilly’s League army.
Wallenstein largely prevented the employment of his men for this pur-
pose, at least in the earlier stages, but the mere existence of his army,