98 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
the disaster threatening the house of Habsburg, faced the prospect of
a renewal of the crisis, as well as being personally exposed to the now
overt enmity of his brother the emperor.
Rudolf’s increasingly unstable behaviour and his opposition to the
prospective settlements had been evident from an early stage during
the negotiations with the Hungarians, so that Matthias, needing sup-
port, had turned again to the archdukes. A meeting was held in Vienna
in April 1606, attended by Matthias and Ferdinand, as well as both
Maximilian and Maximilian Ernst, at which they decided to take steps
to limit the risk Rudolf presented to the interests and possessions of the
Habsburg family. In a carefully worded document they noted that his
mental condition was creating severe difficulties for the government,
and that as he was unable to rule effectively Matthias was in future to
be regarded as head of the House of Austria, while in the interests of
ensuring the Habsburg succession to the Imperial crown he was also to
be their candidate when the time came. As well as those present, signa-
tures were added on behalf of Ferdinand’s two under-age brothers, and
Albrecht confirmed his support from the Netherlands later in the year.^6
For practical purposes the move was a failure, as family unity did not
last long. Eighteen months later Ferdinand, probably with an eye to his
own chance of securing the succession, was seeking to make his peace
with Rudolf, excusing his participation with the claim that Matthias
had exaggerated ‘Your Majesty’s indisposition’.^7 Maximilian was also
ambiguous in his support, while Albrecht had his hands full in the
Netherlands, so that Matthias was unable to employ the agreement to
achieve any part in the Imperial government or to place any effective
constraint on Rudolf. It is however worth repeating here that Rudolf’s
partisan intervention in the Donauwörth crisis of 1607, described in
Chapter 1, occurred in this period, when he was feuding with his family
and looking to gain favour and support elsewhere.
The march on Prague,
Unchecked by his family, Rudolf was able to continue planning a
new campaign to reverse the concessions in Hungary, despite his lack
of means, while seeking to frustrate the treaty with the Turks by
not fulfilling his obligations, thus creating renewed tension in both
opposing camps. Bocskay had by this time died, so that a struggle
for pre-eminence in Transylvania temporarily detached it from the
anti-Habsburg front, but the unstable situation in Hungary was fur-
ther complicated in October 1607 by the rebellion of several thousand