Ferdinand I
The brother of Charles V, king of Bohemia and Hungary and king of the Romans. He presided over the diet of 1555 in the emperor’s name and issued the Peace of Augsburg; the Council of Trent acclaimed him as emperor in 1563.
The preface of the Augsburg Confession recalls that Ferdinand, king of Bohemia and Hungary, represented the emperor at the diet of Speyer the year before (Augsburg Confession Preface 17–18). In the recess of the diet of 1555 he styles himself king of the Romans and explains that he has taken on the diet’s business in place of his brother Charles V, whom illness kept away (Peace of Augsburg title and §§ 3–5). By the powers the emperor had given him he settled the point on which the estates could not agree, what should become of the sees and benefices of clergy who left the old religion (Peace of Augsburg § 18), and dated the recess at Augsburg on 25 September 1555 (Peace of Augsburg closing clause). See the Peace of Augsburg.
When the Council of Trent closed in December 1563 the fathers acclaimed “the most serene Emperor Ferdinand” (Council of Trent Session 25, acclamations).
In the timeline
- 25 September 1555, firm dateThe Peace of Augsburg
The imperial diet at Augsburg makes a lasting peace between the estates of the old religion and those of the Augsburg Confession. Each estate keeps its religion in its own lands; subjects who dissent may emigrate; all other confessions are excluded.