FERDINAND II, Emperor. - Firstborn son of Charles, Archduke of Styria, and of Maria, 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 together with his cousin Maximilian of Bavaria, he took over in 1596 the government of the countries of central Austria, from which he drove out the Protestants.
He was king of Bohemia in 1617, of Hungary in 1618: in both kingdoms he had the Protestants against him. He was crowned emperor on 28 Aug. 1619. Two days earlier the Bohemians in revolt had set up Frederick V of the Palatinate (the winter king) against him. But after the victory at the White Mountain (1620), F. sought to restore Catholicism in Bohemia, in Moravia and in Austria. When the Thirty Years' War spread to Germany, Christian IV of Denmark hurried to the aid of the Protestants, and, forced by the arms of Tilly and Wallenstein to evacuate Germany, he submitted to the Peace of Lübeck (1629). F., in order to make the Catholics prevail in Germany, issued the Edict of Restitution (1629), so that the ecclesiastical properties secularized after the Treaty of Passau (1552) might be restored.
Thus the conflict with the Protestants grew sharper, now aided by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who, under the pretext of saving Protestantism, invaded Germany. After the army of Tilly was annihilated at Breitenfeld (1631), F. recalled Wallenstein, whom he had sacrificed the year before to the hatred of the princes at the Diet of Regensburg. The Swedish king fell at Lützen (1632). F.'s enemies opened negotiations with Wallenstein, with the aim of separating him from the Emperor; but the commander was assassinated at Eger (1634). F. concluded the separate Peace of Prague (1635) with Saxony and the other Lutheran princes. F. died before seeing the end of the conflict: his last political act was the election of his son as king of the Romans (Dec. 1636).
Bibliography3 works
Angelo Ferrari