RESTITUTION, EDICT of. - This is the decree of Emperor Ferdinando II of 6 March 1629, which established that Catholic princes could expel dissenters, and that only adherents of the Augsburg Confession enjoyed the concessions of that peace; finally, ecclesiastical property occupied after the normal year 1552 was to be restored, and commissioners were appointed who could employ troops; appeal did not suspend execution.
Wallenstein’s victories in northern Germany made it possible to implement there the restoration already partly applied in the south; this concerned 2 archbishoprics, 12 bishoprics, and numerous abbeys and churches. Although theoretically justified, politically the act proved highly dangerous, inducing many Protestant princes to accept, against their will, the aid of Gustavo Adolfo. As early as 1631 the 2 archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg and 5 bishoprics and approximately 150 abbeys had been recovered, but there was disagreement over the destination of these properties, since the old abbeys were deserted, while the new religious Orders, the true authors of Catholic progress, lacked means, premises, etc. Gustavo Adolfo’s action halted its implementation. In the Peace of Prague (1635) with Saxony it was suspended for 40 years, also for those princes who adhered to II. In the Peace of Münster (Westphalia) of 1648 it was practically annulled by moving the normal year to 1624.