ll jointly the Utraquists, Lutherans and Bohemian Brethren--and the
Roman Catholics should have an equal right to hold all the offices of
state, and that the power of the Jesuits to acquire land should be
limited. They finally asked for redress of several grievances caused by
the misrule of Rudolph. This document had remained in the hands of
Budova, who refused to deliver it to the king. The estates then chose
twelve of their number--among whom was Count Henry Matthias Thurn--who
were to negotiate with the king and his councillors. Protracted
discussions ensued, and the king finally stated, on the 31st of March,
that he could grant no concessions in matters of religion. On the
following day the estates met under the leadership of Budova. They
decided to arm for the defence of their rights, and when the king
immediately afterwards dissolved the diet, it was resolved to meet again
after a month, even without a royal summons. When they returned to
Prague, Adam of Sternberg, the burgrave, again informed Budova that the
king would grant no concessions in ecclesiastical matters. Bohemia
appeared to be on the verge of a revolution. It is unnecessary to record
the frequent and contradictory resolutions of the king, influenced now
by the extreme Romanists, now by those of his councillors who favoured a
peaceful solution. Finally--on the 9th of July 1609--Rudolph signed the
famed "Letter of Majesty" which gave satisfaction to all the legitimate
demands of the Bohemian Protestants. In the "Letter of Majesty" Rudolph
recognized the _Confessio Bohemica_. He further granted to the
Protestant estates the control over the university of Prague, and
authorized them to elect the members of the Utraquist consistory. They
were further empowered to elect "defenders" chosen in equal number from
the estates of the nobles, knights and citizens, who were to superintend
the execution of the enactments of the Letter of Majesty and generally
to uphold the rights of the Protestants. On the same day the Romanist
and the Protestant members of the diet also signed an agreement by which
they guaranteed to each other full liberty of religious worship and
declared that this liberty should be extended to all classes of the
population.

Matthias.

In 1611 the peace of Bohemia was again disturbed by the invasion of the
archduke Leopold of Austria, bishop of Passau, who probably acted in
connivance with his cousin King Rudolph. Leopold succeeded in obtai