intimate alliance with the branch
of his house ruling over Spain, hoping that thus the house of Austria
might be the arbiter of the fate of Europe. The condition of Europe at
that time was peculiarly favorable for the designs of the emperor.
Charles I. of England was struggling against that Parliament which soon
deprived him both of his crown and his head. France was agitated, from
the Rhine to the Pyrenees, by civil war, the Catholics striving to
exterminate the Protestants. Insurrections in Turkey absorbed all the
energies of the Ottoman court, leaving them no time to think of
interfering with the affairs of Europe. The King of Denmark was
humiliated and prostrate. Sweden was too far distant and too feeble to
excite alarm. Sigismond of Poland was in intimate alliance with the
emperor. Gabriel Bethlehem of Hungary was languishing on a bed of
disease and pain, and only asked permission to die in peace.

The first step which the emperor now took was to revoke all the
concessions which had been granted to the Protestants. In Upper Austria,
where he felt especially strong, he abolished the Protestant worship
utterly. In Lower Austria he was slightly embarrassed by engagements
which he had so solemnly made, and dared not trample upon them without
some little show of moderation. First he prohibited the circulation of
all Protestant books; he then annulled all baptisms and marriages
performed by Protestants; then all Protestants were excluded from
holding any civil or military office; then he issued a decree that all
the children, without exception, should be educated by Catholic priests,
and that every individual should attend Catholic worship. Thus coil by
coil he wound around his subjects the chain of unrelenting intolerance.

In Bohemia he was especially severe, apparently delighting to punish
those who had made a struggle for civil and religious liberty. Every
school teacher, university professor and Christian minister, was ejected
from office, and their places in schools, universities and churches were
supplied by Catholic monks. No person was allowed to exercise any
mechanical trade whatever, unless he professed the Roman Catholic faith.
A very severe fine was inflicted upon any one who should be detected
worshiping at any time, even in family prayer, according to the
doctrines and customs of the Protestant church. Protestant marriages
were pronounced illegal, their children illegitimate, their wills
invalid. The Pro