of Charles, Archduke of Styria, and of Mary, sister of
the Duke of Bavaria, b. at Graz on 9 July 1578, d.
at Vienna on 15 Feb. 1637. Educated by the Jesuits at
Ingolstadt with his cousin Maximilian of Bavaria,
he took over the government of the central Austrian
lands in 1596, from which he expelled the Protestants.
He became King of Bohemia in 1617 and of Hungary in
1618; in both kingdoms he encountered Protestant opposition.
He was crowned Emperor on 28 Aug. 1619. Two days earlier
the rebellious Bohemians had set up Frederick V of the Palatinate
(the Winter King) in opposition to him. After the victory at the
White Mountain (1620), F. sought to restore Catholicism in
Bohemia, Moravia and Austria. As the Thirty Years’ War spread
to Germany, the Protestant cause was taken up by Christian IV
of Denmark, who, forced by the arms of Tilly and Wallenstein to
quit Germany, suffered the Peace of Lübeck (1629). To secure
Catholic predominance in Germany, F. issued the Edict of Restitution
(1629), ordering the return of church lands secularised since the
Peace of Passau (1552).
Thus the conflict with the Protestants sharpened, now aided by
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who, under the pretext of saving
Protestantism, invaded Germany. After Tilly’s army was annihilated
at Breitenfeld (1631), F. recalled Wallenstein, who the year before
had been sacrificed to the princes’ hatred at the Diet of Regensburg.
The Swedish king fell at Lützen (1632). F.’s enemies opened
negotiations with Wallenstein to detach him from the Emperor;
but the general was assassinated at Eger (1634). F. concluded
the separate Peace of Prague (1635) with Saxony and the other
Lutheran princes. He died before the war ended; his last political
act was the election of his son as King of the Romans (Dec. 1636).