96 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
Maximilian Ernst, younger brother of Ferdinand of Styria, while the lat-
ter’s other two brothers, Leopold and Karl Joseph, were still under age.
Hence it fell to Matthias and Ferdinand to take the lead on behalf of the
family as its problems multiplied.
Matthias was in principle as much a Catholic protagonist as Rudolf,
albeit more pragmatic when confronted with formidable opposition,
while Ferdinand was an outright militant. Hence it was not so much
Rudolf’s religious measures as the increasing military threat which occa-
sioned their growing concern. The Turks’ renewed offensive, together
with Bocskay’s hold on Habsburg Hungary, presented a crisis which the
emperor appeared to be incapable of addressing, so that they eventually
felt obliged to intercede. Twice in 1605 they led a family delegation to
Prague, and twice they failed to gain an audience with Rudolf.^3 Never-
theless on the second occasion they did succeed in obtaining authority,
albeit reluctantly granted, for Matthias to conduct the wars with the
Hungarians and the Turks, and to conclude a peace on the emperor’s
behalf.
It was not an easy task, with Bocskay continuing his advance into
Moravia and threatening Austria, while the emperor’s forces were
demoralised after their retreats and mutinous because of lack of pay.
Worse still, there was no money, as none came from rebel-controlled
Hungary, and the Protestants in the Estates of Austria were obstructing
efforts to raise war taxation. It was clearly going to be all but impossible
to inflict a decisive defeat on the Hungarians and to face the Turks at
the same time, but in the event a hurriedly assembled army met with
enough success against the rebels in the latter part of 1605 to persuade
Bocskay to agree to a truce in January 1606.
Matthias then found himself in the unenviable position of having
to negotiate with very few cards in his hand. The price of a settle-
ment in Hungary would undoubtedly be major religious concessions
to the Protestants, which Rudolf continued to oppose, while Khlesl
and the pope both threatened him with eternal damnation should he
grant them. On the other hand continuing to fight was scarcely feasi-
ble, either militarily or financially. Realism prevailed, and Matthias was
fortunate to find the Hungarians wary of too firm a commitment to
Bocskay’s Transylvania and still warier of an alliance with the Muslim
Turks against the Christian emperor. Even so both sides had entrenched
positions, and many months of negotiation were required before an
agreement was eventually reached in June 1606.
This settlement had three main elements. Firstly Bocskay reaped the
reward for his efforts, prising Transylvania and some adjacent territories