Ferdinand III (1608-1657) ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1637 until his death on April 2, 1657. Ferdinand tried to promote his authority over the German states of the empire and to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church in them.
Ferdinand was born on July 13, 1608. He was a member of the House of Habsburg (or Hapsburg), a Catholic family that had long dominated the empire. He succeeded his father, Ferdinand II, as emperor and continued his father’s policies in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). During this war, Ferdinand III sought to increase his authority over the German states, promote Catholicism in Germany, and expand Habsburg power in Europe. But the war exhausted his resources. Following several military defeats, he signed the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. This agreement ended the war. It weakened Ferdinand’s authority in the empire, but strengthened his control over the Habsburg family’s lands.
