A Scandal in Bohemia 27Wallenstein and the money reached Vienna. His dramatic exploit was
well received privately, and he had an audience with Ferdinand himself
(Matthias having died six weeks earlier), but diplomatically it presented
something of a problem. The situation in Moravia was still fluid, and
although everyone could see how things were going no formal breach
with the emperor had occurred, so that there were no legal grounds for
confiscation of the treasury funds. Opinion was divided in the penni-
less Imperial government – it was a lot of money – but in the end it was
decided that it had to be returned.^7 The rebels were less hesitant, and
Wallenstein was promptly banished and all his assets in Moravia were
confiscated. He was not surprised, and he had already provided himself
with a newly recruited cavalry regiment, a commission as an Imperial
colonel, and the considerable pay and allowances which went with it.
The political history of the Bohemian revolt during its remaining year
and a half was principally concerned with the search for legitimacy and
allies, problems which were interlinked as Europe’s kings and princes
were always wary of supporting rebels abroad for fear of encouraging
rebellion at home. Having approved Ferdinand’s nomination as succes-
sor king when they could lawfully have declined, the Bohemians now
decided that he must be deposed, a step which was both unprecedented
and unconstitutional. They had to find a new king to maintain an
appearance of legitimacy, but candidates were scarce, not least because
of the very limited powers which the Estates proposed to grant. Several
of the princes whose names were canvassed might have been flattered
by the offer of a crown but were either unsuitable or unwilling. The
duke of Savoy was not prepared to risk all-out war with the Habsburgs
and was moreover a Catholic, while John George I, Elector of Saxony,
although a Lutheran, was opposed to the revolt and would not contem-
plate a breach of his own duty to the emperor. The best that could be
found was the young, naive and ineffectual Frederick V, Elector of the
Palatinate, and even he was both hesitant and a Calvinist. Time was
pressing for Bohemia, as Matthias’s death had also started the process of
an Imperial election, and Ferdinand would be doubly difficult to depose
once he had become emperor. The result was an eventful week in
August 1619, during which Ferdinand was deposed as king of Bohemia
on the 22nd, Frederick of the Palatinate was elected in his place on the
26th, and Ferdinand was elected Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt on
the 28th.
Allies remained hard to find. A couple of Protestant German princes
recognised Frederick’s election in Bohemia, but they did no more. The
Dutch sent words of support but only a little money and even fewer men.