Third Sacred War
The Third Sacred War (356–346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 357 BC on the Phocians by the Amphictyonic League (dominated at that moment by Thebes), for the offense of cultivating sacred land; refusing to pay, the Phocians instead seized the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and used the accumulated treasures to fund large mercenary armies. Thus, although the Phocians suffered several major defeats, they were able to continue the war for many years, until eventually all parties were nearing exhaustion. Philip II used the distraction of the other states to increase his power in northern Greece, in the process becoming ruler of Thessaly. In the end, Philip's growing power, and the exhaustion of the other states, allowed him to impose a peaceful settlement of the war, marking a major step in the rise of Macedon to pre-eminence in Ancient Greece.
European balance of power
The papacy launched the Catholic revival in an attempt to halt the growth of Protestantism and put an end to the Ottoman wars in Europe. Despite some successes, such as the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the Siege of Paris (1590), the Anglo-Spanish War and the Long Turkish War questioned the Catholic ambitions. Ultimately, the Papacy lost its status and influence with the Thirty Years' War and many Protestant states experienced a golden age: the Netherlands (now independent of the Holy Roman Empire) formed the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia; Sweden formed an empire in northern Europe; and England began the colonization of North America. By the Treaty of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years War, the Holy Roman Empire became a more decentralized entity in which constituent states, such as Prussia, were allowed to pursue their own foreign policy independent of that of the House of Hapsburg of Austria which continued to rule as Holy Roman Emperor. Hapsburg Austria did directly control some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France who took the status of dominant continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees.