114 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
Estates troops, commanded by Fels and Wilhelm Lobkowitz, retreated
to the castle, while others led by Wilhelm Kinsky successfully defended
the Old Town against an attack over the bridge. Ramé then mounted an
assault on the castle but was driven off, at which point Rudolf sent out
heralds calling for a three-hour truce, during which it was arranged that
the Passau troops would quarter themselves in the Lesser Town while
the Estates forces withdrew to the other side of the river. Leopold is
reported to have paraded through the Lesser Town acclaiming himself
as the victor, firing off his pistol and boasting that Rudolf had appointed
him commander-in-chief.^34
The available members of the Estates reassembled in the Old Town
city hall on the same day, a potentially revolutionary gathering as it was
on their own initiative, without king or officers, and led by Kinsky they
refused to accept the cease-fire. They then moved rapidly to strengthen
their defences and to send out calls for militia from around the country
to hurry to their assistance. The Catholic party were still in the castle,
as were some Protestant members of the Estates, including Thurn, Fels
and Wilhelm Lobkowitz, who were now effectively prisoners, while their
remaining troops were conscripted into Leopold’s army.
Negotiations took place a few days later, but the Estates were not pre-
pared to admit the Passau troops to the Old Town. Meanwhile Ramé
was busy mounting cannon, and on the breakdown of the talks he was
ready to begin bombarding the city. Rudolf, however, refused to give the
order, motivated, it is thought, both by personal horror at military con-
flict in close proximity to his person, and by fear that all the Catholics
in the city might be killed as soon as an attack started, a fate which had
already befallen a number of Franciscan monks during the first day of
fighting.
Several more days of negotiation followed, during which the Estates,
guided by Kinsky, took a hard line, repeatedly delaying or finding new
issues such as compensation for the damage to the city, thus drawing
out the discussions to avoid a conclusion while help was approach-
ing. On 23 February a considerable number of the nobility, together
with their armed retainers, reached the Old Town to strengthen the
Estates forces, Wenzel Budowetz among them, while in an attempt to
persuade the Estates to give way the Catholic party ill-advisedly sent
Thurn, Fels and Wilhelm Lobkowitz to join the negotiations, but none
of them returned. Rudolf’s increasingly obvious indecision helped to
strengthen the resistance, and there were rumours that he was consid-
ering a personal withdrawal to Budweis. Meanwhile the loyalty of the
garrison in the castle was causing his supporters concern, reports were