Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (July 9, 1578 – February 15, 1637), of the house of Habsburg, reigned 1620-1637. He was also the Archduke of Styria (Inner Austria) from 1617-1619 and again from 1620-1637 as well as King of Hungary from 1618-1625. A devout Catholic, his recognition as King of Bohemia and suppression of Protestantism precipitated the early events of the Thirty Years' War. The duration of his reign was occupied by confessional and military concerns.
Born in Graz to Charles II of Austria (1540-1590) and Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608), Ferdinand was provided with a strict Jesuit education culminating in his years at the University of Ingolstadt. After completing his studies in 1595, he acceded to his hereditary lands and made a pilgrimage to Loreto and Rome. Shortly afterwards, he began to suppress the practice of non-Catholic faiths within his territory.
King of Bohemia
In 1617, Ferdinand was elected King of Bohemia by the Bohemian Diet. He also secured support from the Spanish Habsburgs for his claim to succeed the childless Emperor Matthias on the throne, granting them future rule over Alsace and imperial fiefs in Italy. Ferdinand's staunch Catholicism led to infringements on the religious freedoms of non-Catholics. Among other things, the king did not respect the religious freedoms granted in the Majestät (or "Majestic Letter") signed by the earlier emperor Rudolph II to end the Brothers' War, which had granted freedom of worship to nobles and the inhabitants of cities. Additionally, Ferdinand was an absolutist and also infringed upon what nobles regarded as secular rights. Given the relatively large number of Protestants within the kingdom, including many among the noble classes, the new king soon became unpopular and some dissidents participated in the ensuing Bohemian Revolt. On May 22, 1618, two royal (Catholic) officials in Prague were thrown out a castle window by Bohemian Protestants (the Defenestration of Prague). Though the officials were uninjured, such actions did not fall within the realm of standard protocol, and the clear offense against the royal dignity led to a hardening of attitudes and full rebellion.
The nobility revolted against Ferdinand and replaced him with the protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine, known as the "Winter King."
Holy Roman Emperor
The Emperor Matthias died in Vienna in May of 1619. As earlier agreed, Ferdinand succeeded him on the throne. Supported by the Catholic League, which included the rulers of Poland, Spain, and Bavaria, Ferdinand sought to reclaim his Bohemian possessions and stamp out the Protestant rebellion. On November 8, 1620, Catholic forces engaged those supporting the Protestant Frederick, who had taken the Bohemian kingship, at the Battle of White Mountain. After only two hours of fighting, the Catholics emerged victorious. The now-deposed Frederick fled to the Netherlands and Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria, the leader of the Catholic League, moved to confiscate his lands in the Palatine. The restored Ferdinand set about strengthening the Catholic church in Bohemia, reduced the authority of the Diet, and forcibly converted Austrian and Bohemian Protestants.
By 1625, despite receiving subsidies from the Spanish and the Pope, Ferdinand was strapped for cash and looking for a means to raise his own army. His solution was to charge the Bohemian soldier and "military entrepreneur" Albrecht von Wallenstein with raising and commanding an Imperial army. Wallenstein accepted the position with the proviso that the management (and possession) of the army's funds were solely his, as was the right to take and distribute loot and ransoms taken in the course of operations. Quickly raising at least 30,000 men (he would later command at least 100,000), and fighting alongside the Catholic League army under the Count of Tilly, Wallenstein defeated Protestant forces in Silesia, Anhalt, and Denmark.
With his forces scoring important victories against the Protestants, Ferdinand crowned his religious policies by issuing his Edict of Restitution (1629), which was designed to restore all ecclesiastical properties which had been secularized since 1552. This blatantly pro-Catholic policy has been widely credited with bringing the Protestant King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, into the war against Ferdinand.
Despite the succeses of Wallenstein, many of Ferdinand's advisors saw a genuine political threat in the general, citing his growing influence, his increasing number of estates and titles, as well as his extortionate methods of raising funds for his army. Ferdinand responded by dismissing Wallenstein in 1630. With the loss of his commander, he was once again forced to rely on the Catholic League army under Tilly. But Tilly was unable to stem the Swedish advance and was killed in 1632. As a result, Ferdinand recalled Wallenstein from retirement.
In the spring of 1632, Wallenstein raised a fresh army in a matter of weeks and drove the Protestant army out of Bohemia. In November came the great Battle of Lützen, at which the Catholics were defeated, but Gustavus Adolphus was killed. Wallenstein withdrew to winter quarters in Bohemia. Although he had lost strategically and been forced out of Saxony, the Protestants had suffered much greater casualties.
The campaigning of 1633 was indecisive, partly because Wallenstein was negotiating with the enemy, thinking that the army would be loyal to him, rather than Ferdinand, and follow him if he switched sides. In early 1634, he was openly accused of treason and assassinated, probably at Ferdinand's instigation.
Despite the loss of Wallenstein, Imperial forces took Regensburg and won a victory at the battle of Nördlingen. This marked the end of Swedish involvement in the war, but for fear of German domination, France stepped in. Although it was Catholic, France feared both the Germans and the Spanish, so Cardinal Richelieu convinced Louis XIII of France to ally himself with the Dutch and the Swedes.
The French were highly dissatisfied with the terms of the Peace of Prague concluded in 1635, the last important act of Ferdinand. Therefore, although a treaty was signed, peace did not come. So, at Ferdinand's death in 1637, his son Ferdinand III inherited an embattled empire.
Marriages and Issue
In 1600, Ferdinand married Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574-1616), daughter of William V, Duke of Bavaria. They had seven children:
- Christine (1601-1601)
- Charles (1603-1603)
- John-Charles, born on November 1 1605 died at 14 on December 28 1619
- Ferdinand III (July 13, 1608-April 2, 1657)
- Maria Anna of Austria (January 13, 1610-September 25, 1665)
- Cecylia Renata of Austria (July 16, 1611-March 24, 1644), who married her cousin Wladyslaw IV Vasa, King of Poland.
- Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662).
In 1622, he married Eleonore Gonzaga (1598-1655), the daughter of the Duke Vincenzo I of Mantua and Eleanore de Medici of Tuscany, at Innsbruck.
| Preceded by: Charles II | Archduke of Inner Austria 1590-1637 | Succeeded by: Ferdinand III |
| Preceded by: Mathias | Holy Roman Emperor Also King of Germany 1619-1637 | |
| King of Hungary 1619-1637 | ||
| King of Bohemia 1619-1637 |
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