the Abbot of Braunau, and the
Protestants of Klostergrab, on the lands of the Archbishop of Prague,
built churches for themselves, the use of which was prohibited by the
abbot and the archbishop. A dispute immediately arose as to the rights
of ecclesiastical land-owners, and it was argued on the Protestant side
that their lands were technically crown lands, and that they had
therefore no right to close the churches. Matthias took the opposite
view.

On his own estates Matthias found means to evade the charter. He
appointed Catholic priests to Protestant churches, and allowed measures
to be taken to compel Protestants to attend the Catholic service. Yet
for a long time the Protestant nobility kept quiet. Matthias was old and
infirm, and when he died they would, as they supposed, have an
opportunity of choosing their next king, and it was generally believed
that the election would fall upon a Protestant. The only question was
whether the Elector Palatine or the Elector of Saxony would be chosen.

Suddenly in 1617 the Bohemian Diet was summoned. When the Estates of the
kingdom met they were told that it was a mistake to suppose that the
crown of Bohemia was elective. Evidence was produced that for some time
before the election of Matthias the Estates had acknowledged the throne
to be hereditary, and the precedent of Matthias was to be set aside as
occurring in revolutionary times. Intimidation was used to assist the
argument, and men in the confidence of the court whispered in the ears
of those who refused to be convinced that it was to be hoped that they
had at least two heads on their shoulders.

If ever there was a moment for resistance, if resistance was to be made
at all, it was this. The arguments of the court were undoubtedly strong,
but a skilful lawyer could easily have found technicalities on the other
side, and the real evasion of the Royal Charter might have been urged as
a reason why the court had no right to press technical arguments too
closely. The danger was all the greater, as it was known that by the
renunciation of all intermediate heirs the hereditary right fell upon
Ferdinand of Styria, who had already stamped Protestantism out in his
own dominions. Yet, in spite of this, the Diet did as it was bidden,
and renounced the right of election by acknowledging Ferdinand as their
hereditary king (1617).

The new King was more of a devotee and less of a statesman than
Maximilian of Bavaria, his cousin on