76 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
accepted by the Estates, although again there was no firm basis for this
other than precedent, and neither the distinction between confirmation
and election nor the consequences should a candidate in the event not
be accepted were clear. Although succession disputes arose at times dur-
ing the long dynastic reigns of the Pˇremyslids and Luxembourgers these
uncertainties were not the principal problem, but they were to play a
significant part in the Bohemian revolt of 1618.
Ferdinand, only 23 when he gained the Bohemian crown, reigned for
37 years, the last six also as emperor following his brother Charles V’s
abdication, before he was succeeded by his son Emperor Maximilian
II in 1564, the latter in turn being succeeded by his son Emperor
Rudolf II in 1576. The most striking feature of Ferdinand’s era was the
rapid, relatively peaceful but far-reaching spread of the Reformation
in Bohemia, and also, although to varying degrees, in the other lands
of the Bohemian crown and in Hungary, as well as in the Habsburg
hereditary lands in Austria. Ferdinand made efforts to limit Protestant
progress, including assisting the Jesuits to establish themselves in his
territories, but he was careful to avoid a confrontation and to maintain
his own position by playing off one group in the Estates against another,
not least because he needed their financial support for defence against
the Turks.
Maximilian, often viewed as personally sympathetic to Protestantism,
continued this approach, and he granted significant religious conces-
sions to the Estates of Upper and Lower Austria in 1568. During his
reign the more moderate Protestants in Bohemia sought to agree a com-
mon doctrinal position in order to obtain official recognition, and for
this reason they modelled their draft closely on the Augsburg Confes-
sion. They submitted this to Maximilian in 1575, obtaining his verbal
approval, but under papal pressure he went no further, although the
Protestants nevertheless subsequently maintained that their Bohemian
Confession had royal authorisation.^10
Nevertheless the religious situation remained complicated. Follow-
ing the Reformation the Hussite Utraquists had split into Catholic-style
and Protestant-style wings, and although the latter, together with the
Lutherans, joined in the Bohemian Confession they also held to their
own positions. The more extreme Protestants belonged mainly to the
Bohemian Brethren, which had both strong national-political links
and Calvinist connections, and which, like the Reformed in Germany,
exercised considerable influence despite its relatively modest numbers.
The remaining Catholics were also disproportionately influential, as
they were favoured by the Habsburg rulers in making governmental