by curtailing the old privileges of
the land. The estates met at Prague in March 1547, without awaiting a
royal summons,--undoubtedly an unconstitutional proceeding. The
assembly, in which the influence of the representatives of the town of
Prague and of the knights and nobles who belonged to the Bohemian
Brotherhood was predominant, had a very revolutionary character. This
became yet more marked when the news of the elector of Saxony's victory
at Rochlitz reached Prague. The estates demanded the re-establishment of
the elective character of the Bohemian kingdom, the recognition of
religious liberty for all, and various enactments limiting the royal
prerogative. It was decided to entrust the management of state affairs
to a committee of twelve members chosen in equal number from the three
estates. Of the members of the committee chosen by the knights and
nobles four belonged to the Bohemian Brotherhood. The committee decided
to equip an armed force, the command of which was conferred on Kaspar
Pflug of Rabenstein (d. 1576). According to his instructions he was
merely to march to the Saxon frontier, and there await further orders
from the estates; there seems, however, little doubt that he was
secretly instructed to afford aid to the German Protestants. Pflug
marched to Joachimsthal on the frontier, but refused to enter Saxon
territory without a special command of the estates.

Meanwhile the great victory of the imperialists at Muhlberg had for a
time crushed German Protestantism. The Bohemians were in a very
difficult position. They had seriously offended their sovereign and yet
afforded no aid to the German Protestants. The army of Pflug hastily
dispersed, and the estates still assembled at Prague endeavoured to
propitiate Ferdinand. They sent envoys to the camp of the king who, with
his brother Charles, was then besieging Wittenberg. Ferdinand received
the envoys better than they had perhaps expected. He indeed always
maintained his plan of making Bohemia a hereditary kingdom under
Habsburg rule, and of curtailing as far as possible its ancient
constitution, but he did not wish to drive to despair a still warlike
people. Ferdinand demanded that the Bohemians should renounce all
alliances with the German Protestants, and declared that he would make
his will known after his arrival in Prague. He arrived there on the 20th
of July, with a large force of Spanish and Walloon mercenaries, and
occupied the city almost withou