Debates about religion in Europe were settled by the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia.

Judged as of April 2024 against mainstream historical scholarship. Check the date and treaty (the Peace of Westphalia, 1648) and whether it is standardly credited with ending the European wars of religion by setting up a lasting religious settlement among the confessions. TRUE: historians broadly describe the 1648 Peace of Westphalia as the settlement that ended Europe's religious wars and resolved the confessional conflict. MOSTLY TRUE: the date and treaty are correct and it is widely credited with ending the era of religious wars, but 'settled' overstates it, e.g. its religious terms applied mainly to the Holy Roman Empire and religious persecution continued elsewhere. MIXED: scholarship is substantially divided on whether Westphalia settled religious questions. MOSTLY FALSE: the treaty and date are right, but historians generally hold that it did not settle religious debates in Europe and that its religious significance is exaggerated (the 'Westphalian myth'). FALSE: wrong treaty or date, or the treaty had no religious settlement.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Peace of Westphalia Wikipedia Own record

   “While the treaties do not contain the basis for the modern laws of nations themselves, they do symbolize the end of a long period of religious conflict in Europe.”

2. E2 Peace of Westphalia Wikipedia Own record

   “This interpretation must be followed in court and elsewhere until religious matters can, with God's grace, be resolved.”

3. E3 Peace of Westphalia Wikipedia Own record

   “Signed: 24 October 1648”

4. E4 A critical review on the consensus around the "Westphalian system" JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations (Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa), by Luís Moita · November 2012

   “Both of these papers refer to the “Westphalian myth” and deconstruct the consensus in specialized literature.”

The treaty and date are correct: E3 gives the Peace of Westphalia's signing date as 24 October 1648. E1 says the treaties "symbolize the end of a long period of religious conflict in Europe," which matches the usual view that they ended the era of religious wars. But E2 shows the treaty text setting out an interpretation to be followed "until religious matters can... be resolved," so saying religion was "settled" overstates it. E4 notes scholarly criticism of a "Westphalian myth," but the quote does not say that the criticism is about the religious settlement rather than the idea of a Westphalian state system.