Insurrection 141could therefore reply with a clear conscience that they had not given
any advice on the royal letter. This was received angrily by many of
those present, with shouts that the emperor’s order was a breach of the
Letter of Majesty.
Some now addressed Sternberg and Diepold Lobkowitz, saying that
they realised that the two of them were not ill-disposed to the Protestant
estates but had been persuaded and led astray by Slavata and Martinitz.
Turning then on the latter two, they accused them of being their true
enemies and of aiming to deprive them of the rights granted by the Let-
ter of Majesty, as well as having persecuted the Protestant tenants on
their own private lands. A long argument then followed, in which the
two regents defended themselves against these and other accusations
which were brought forward, including Wilhelm Lobkowitz’s assertion
that they had been instrumental in ‘leading us by the nose’ at the assem-
bly to accept Ferdinand as king, and in trying to avoid him reconfirming
the Letter of Majesty. The crowd grew steadily more hostile, whipped
up, says Martinitz, by the leading figures, notable among them Thurn
and Wilhelm Lobkowitz, causing Slavata to appeal to them not to be
over-hasty in taking any action against them, but if they had complaints
to put these forward through the due processes of the law.
At this point Ruppa began to read out another document, arguing that
the two regents had always been enemies of the Protestants, as shown
by their refusal in 1609 to sign the Letter of Majesty and by their sub-
sequent efforts to undermine the rights which had been granted. It was
now clear, he said, that the emperor’s letter had been drafted in Prague
on their advice, with the intention of ending the Protestant freedoms
once and for all. ‘Thus we declare you to be our enemies, enemies of the
country, and the destroyers of our rights and the general peace. We shall
proceed directly against you, imposing a heavy punishment.’ After this
speech – ‘or something like it’, notes Martinitz – Ruppa shouted: ‘Do you
all subscribe to this? Then declare it now!’ His call was received with
general acclamation, even from friends of the two regents and Slavata’s
many relatives who were present. He and Martinitz tried again to defend
themselves with counter-arguments, but seeing the mounting hostility
they eventually concluded with a plea for respect for the royal castle
and their own positions as councillors, and for no violence to be used
against them.
It was too late. Sternberg and Diepold Lobkowitz were ushered out
of the room, and the other two were seized, each by several men. Those
grabbing Slavata included Schlick and Thurn – ‘I think’, adds Martinitz –
while he names his own assailants as Wilhelm Lobkowitz, Hans Litwin