1621-1624...

Ferdinand placed Frederick under the ban of empire on 22 January, 1621. Maximillian demanded parts of the Palatinate land and the electoral dignity of the Palatinate in renumeration for the expenses of the war. He achieved this, then transported the war to the Palatinate territory.

None of the victors really wished to continue the war. The emperor was busy with the war against Transylvania, while the Spanish had only a small army and lacked spirit. Maximillian had conquests that he wished to possess but lacked trust in the Spaniards.

In 1622, Ernest of Mansfeld, Christian of Brunswick and Margrave George Frederick of Baden collected 50000 mercenaries to challenge Maximillian and the Spanish. Frederick V and his Protestant allies were also trying to regain the Rhenish Palatinate from the Spanish and Catholics. Frederick was supported by the Dutch, who had been battling the Spanish for independence since 1568. However, the Bavarian commander-in-chief Tilly smashed every attempt that this army made to get in the way of the Spanish.

In any case, all efforts to regain Palatinate land were horrid, horrid failures. In 1624, Maximillian began to make the Upper Palatinate once more Catholic. The Catholic Estates sought to reclaim the many ecclesiastical foundations that had been taken by the Protestants. Many thought that all changes in the Empire made by the Protestants would be done away with completely.