“Secular leaders had little to do with the rise and strength of Protestantism.”
- Not with the rise and basic strength of Protestantism itself perhaps.
But, never forget the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy).
If Sweden wouldn’t have intervened and wouldn’t have laid siege to Germany for 15 years, this part of Europe would definitely have been Catholic today, the Nordic countries probably would’ve been too and perhaps even Britain and the US!
Yikes, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre! My family had to leave France due to persecution. They ended up in the Netherlands. Lots of them are still there :) We were Hugenots.