From Bohemia to the Thirty Years War 233not only the army but the Union itself were effectively disbanded and
played no further part in subsequent events.
The League was more circumspect, but its members too were looking
to scale back their commitments at a parallel meeting held in Augsburg.
There were also complaints from the Rhine section of the association,
particularly the electors of Mainz and Trier, that the League’s forces were
being used only to support the emperor instead of to protect the lands
of the members. Nevertheless it was agreed to finance the army for a
further six months, albeit its size was to be reduced to 15,000 men, an
arrangement which benefited principally Maximilian, as he needed the
League forces for the conquest of the Upper Palatinate and to strengthen
his position in seeking his rewards from the emperor.^10
Not everyone was peaceably inclined. Friedrich in particular, faced
with losing not only the Bohemian crown but also all his other pos-
sessions, was determined to fight on. Moreover the hard Imperial line
being taken against him was beginning to elicit more sympathy for
his cause than had previously been the case, among others from his
father-in-law James I of England and his wife’s uncle Christian IV of
Denmark. Neither had supported the Bohemian rebels, both had advised
Friedrich not to accept the crown, and both continued to urge him to
make his peace with the emperor following the defeat of the revolt,
but the imposition of the Imperial ban and the occupation of the
Rhineland Palatinate, especially by Spanish troops, was more than they
were prepared to accept. Christian was also wary of Habsburg successes
in general, but particularly of Ferdinand’s reputation and intentions as
a Catholic counter-reformer. By the beginning of 1620 he had been
sufficiently alarmed to consider recruiting troops to defend Denmark’s
own interests if necessary, although this had met with no support from
his royal council, while his offer to mediate between Ferdinand and
the Bohemians had not elicited positive responses.^11 In March 1621
Christian took the lead in convening a meeting in the Holstein town
of Segeberg, with the intention of forming a Protestant united front
determined to prevent the emperor from exploiting his victory.
The attendance was impressive, with both England and the United
Provinces joining Denmark, along with representatives of the Lower
Saxon Circle, Brandenburg and the Protestant Union, although Sweden
was a notable absentee, and Saxony and its confederates predictably
declined to support the endeavour. Nevertheless the gathering agreed
to issue Ferdinand with a comprehensive set of demands, and to raise
a joint army of 30,000 men to enforce them if necessary. The key
points, which Christian duly despatched to Vienna, were that the ban