
Reading of the ''Confessio Augustana'' by Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg, 1530
The 'Diet of Augsburg' were the meetings of the ''
Reichstag'' of the
Holy Roman Empire in the German city of
Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the
Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Catholic emperor
Charles V and the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League in the early
16th century are especially noteworthy.
The session of
1530 attempted to calm rising tensions over
Protestantism. It brought forth the ''
Confessio Augustana'', a central document of
Lutheranism that was presented to emperor Charles V. After his victory over the Schmalkaldic League, Charles V convened the session of
1547/
48 (''geharnischter Reichstag''), where the
Augsburg Interim was proclaimed. This attempt to give Catholicism the priority was rejected by many princes, though, and a resolution of the confessional tensions was only achieved at the session on
1555, where the
Peace of Augsburg was concluded. The treaty acknowledged the ''Confessio Augustana'' and codified the ''
cuius regio, eius religio'' principle, which gave each prince the power to decide the religion of his subjects.
The decrees of the
Council of Trent were acknowledged in Italy, Portugal, Poland, and by the Catholic princes of Germany at the Diet of Augsburg held in 1566.