page_title: History of Goslar
section_title: The Reformation and conflict with Duke Henry the Younger (1523–1552)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Goslar / The Reformation and conflict with Duke Henry the Younger (1523–1552)
caption_attribution_description: Weberturm in Goslar
context_page_description: Goslar is a world heritage site in Germany.
context_section_description: In 1527, aware of the renewed boom in mining and benefiting from the outcome of the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud, Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel paid back the pledge for mining rights and tithes and acquired the Rammelsberg and most of the forests in the area. As a result of the resistance to the actions of the Duke, there was a running battle up to 1552 between the Welfs and Goslar. The town brought an action against the Duke at the Imperial Chamber Court, which ruled largely in their favour in 1528.
  When Henry the Younger moved against the town with an army in 1527, there were riots against ducal officials and the monasteries of St. George, St. Peter and the Holy Sepulchre located outside the walls were destroyed along with the mining village church of St. John. In 1540-1541 Henry the Younger brought an action for breach of the peace against the town as a result of the destruction caused which finally led to the imposition of an imperial ban on Goslar.
  In 1526 after the Reformation was introduced under the influence of external threats after fierce resistance from the council faction which was loyal to the emperor, the council called Nicholas of Amsdorf in 1528 to Goslar and established under his directorship the Municipal School of Latin. In 1531 Amsdorf wrote the first church order.
  The conflict with the Duke came to a head when the Duke ignored the direction and mediation of the Emperor and Empire and began using violence against the townsfolk of Goslar. Using his middlemen, he instigated feuds and blockades against the town, and had Goslar's delegates to the Reichstag, such as Dr. Dellingshausen in 1530, attacked and kidnapped.
  Goslar realised that it was not sufficiently protected by the emperor and so in 1536 it joined the Schmalkaldic League, which resulted in a short respite in the town. When In 1540, Duke Henry the Younger, who was charged with implementing the imperial ban advanced against Goslar even after the ban had been repealed, the Schmalkaldic League intervened and occupied the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. With the victory of Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547 this protection lapsed, however, so Henry the Younger was able to resume his harassment of Goslar and besiege the town in 1552 with 17,000 men. After the first bombardment, negotiations took place concluding in the Riechenberg Treaty which saw the town surrendering its mining tithes and rights, its right of first refusal and large parts of its forest estate.
caption: The Weber Tower, part of the old town fortifications
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