Interim

document by Charles V

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June 17, 2026

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The Augsburg Interim was a temporary religious agreement proposed in 1548 at the Diet of Augsburg. It was created at the insistence of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to establish religious unity in Germany until a Catholic Church council could resolve differences.

The Interim primarily reflected Catholic views but allowed for clerical marriage and communion in both kinds for the laity. Many Protestant electors rejected it, leading to the Leipzig Interim, which upheld Protestant doctrines. Neither interim was fully accepted, and a lasting religious settlement was not achieved until the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.

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Charles V
Imperialist goals, rivalry with Francis I, and fight against Protestantism
…the publication of the “Interim,” a formula conciliatory to the Protestants but retaining the Roman Catholic ritual in general. Although Charles believed that he had granted far-reaching concessions to the people and the Protestant authorities in that document, his main concern was to make the Protestants return to the…
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…the publication of the “Interim,” a formula conciliatory to the Protestants but retaining the Roman Catholic ritual in general. Although Charles believed that he had granted far-reaching concessions to the people and the Protestant authorities in that document, his main concern was to make the Protestants return to the…
Read More

Germany
Religious war and the Peace of Augsburg
…the estates to accept an Interim, a temporary religious settlement on the emperor’s terms. It was the political concessions Charles demanded from the estates, however—concessions that would have permanently limited their autonomy—that led to a resumption of war. Among the Protestants the lead was now taken by Maurice of Saxony,…
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…the estates to accept an Interim, a temporary religious settlement on the emperor’s terms. It was the political concessions Charles demanded from the estates, however—concessions that would have permanently limited their autonomy—that led to a resumption of war. Among the Protestants the lead was now taken by Maurice of Saxony,…
Read More