City (pop., 2002 est.: 257,800), Bavaria, southern Germany. Founded as a Roman colony by Augustus 14 BC, it was the seat of a bishopric by AD 739. It became an imperial free city in 1276 and joined the Swabian League in 1331. The Fugger and Welser families made the city a major banking and commercial centre in the 15th-16th centuries. The Augsburg Confession was read at the Diet of 1530; the Peace of Augsburg was concluded in 1555; and the League of Augsburg was formed in 1686. The city became part of Bavaria in 1806. It was heavily bombed during World War II. Sites of interest include the Fuggerei (1519), the world's oldest housing settlement for the poor. Augsburg Confession Augsburg League of Augsburg Peace of
Basic doctrinal statement of Lutheranism. Its principal author was Philipp Melanchthon, and it was presented to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg on June 25, 1530. Its purpose was to defend the Lutherans against misrepresentations of their teachings and to provide a statement of theology that Roman Catholics might accept. It consisted of 28 articles that outlined Lutheran doctrine and listed abuses that had crept into Western Christendom over the centuries. The unaltered document has remained authoritative for Lutherans, and a heavily revised version by Melanchthon is accepted by some Reformed churches. Translated into English in 1536, it had a major influence on the Anglican Church's Thirty-nine Articles and the Methodists' Twenty-five Articles of Religion
Coalition formed in 1686 by Emperor Leopold I, the kings of Sweden and Spain, and the electors of Bavaria, Saxony, and the Palatinate. The league was formed to oppose the expansionist plans of Louis XIV of France prior to the War of the Grand Alliance. It proved ineffective because of the reluctance of some princes to oppose France and the absence of provisions for combined military action
Convention promulgated in 1555 by the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which provided the first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism in addition to Catholicism in Germany. The Diet determined that no member of the empire would make war against another on religious grounds. It recognized just two denominations, the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans, and it stipulated that in each territory of the empire, only one denomination was allowed. However, people were allowed to move to states where their faith was adopted. Despite numerous shortcomings, the accord saved the empire from serious internal conflicts for over 50 years. See also Reformation