ht have continued
longer, had it not been for the dissensions of Protestants among
themselves, caused by the followers of Calvin and Luther. The
Lutherans would not include the Calvinists in their communion, and the
Calvinists would not accede to the Lutheran church. During these
dissensions, the Jesuits sowed tares, and the Protestants lost the
chance of establishing their perfect equality with the Catholics.

Notwithstanding all the bitterness and jealousy which existed between
sects and parties, still the peace of Germany, in a political sense,
was preserved during the reign of Ferdinand, the founder of the German
branch of the house of Austria, and who succeeded his brother
Charles V. On his death, in 1564, his son Maximilian II., was chosen
emperor, and during his reign, and until his death, in 1576, Germany
enjoyed tranquillity. His successor was his son Rodolph, a weak
prince, and incapable of uniting the various territories which were
hereditary in his family--Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, Bohemia,
Moravia, and Styria. There were troubles in each of these provinces,
and one after another revolted, until Rodolph was left with but the
empty title of emperor. But these provinces acknowledged the sway of
his brother Matthias, who had delivered them from the Turks, and had
granted the Protestants liberty of conscience. The emperor was weak
enough to confirm his brother in his usurpation. In 1612, he died, and
Matthias mounted the imperial throne.

[Sidenote: Commencement of the Thirty Years War.]

It was during the reign of this prince, that the Thirty Years' War
commenced. In proportion as the reformed religion gained ground in
Hungary and Bohemia,--two provinces very difficult to rule,--the
Protestant princes of the empire became desirous of securing and
extending their privileges. Their demands were refused, and they
entered into a new confederacy, called the _Evangelical Union_. This
association was opposed by another, called the _Catholic League_. The
former was supported by Holland, England, and Henry IV., of France.
The humiliation of Austria was the great object of Henry in supporting
the Protestant princes of Germany, and he assembled an army of forty
thousand men, which he designed to head himself. But, just as his
preparations were completed, he was assassinated, and his death and
the dissensions in the Austrian family prevented the war breaking out
with the fury which afterwards characterized it.