The document summarizes several major religious conflicts in Europe between the 16th and 17th centuries including the French Religious Wars between Catholics and Huguenots, the Thirty Years' War, the English Wars of Religion and Civil War, and the rise of Absolutism under Louis XIV in France. It describes the multiple phases and impacts of the Thirty Years' War, including population reductions of up to one third in some areas of Germany and the deaths of one half of all German males. It also outlines the English Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians that led to the beheading of Charles I in 1649.

1. Religious Wars and the Absolutist Response Nilsen World History