The Letter of Majesty (1609) was a 17th-century European document, reluctantly signed by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

, granting

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

to both

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

citizens living in the estates of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. The letter also created a Bohemian Protestant State Church, run by said estates. A similar Letter was issued for

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. In 1611, Rudolf inexplicably permitted his cousin

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

to invade Bohemia with some 7,000 troops. A considerable Bohemian force drove Leopold back from the suburbs of Prague, and the Bohemian Estates called upon

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

to take over the government of their kingdom.Parker, 1997, p.8

Notes

References

* Wedgwood, C.V. (2005). ''The Thirty Years War''. New York Review of Books. *Parker, G. (edited)(1997). ''The Thirty Years War''. Routledge. *"The Bohemian Religious Peace (July 1609)". German History in Documents and Images. Accessed 11 July 2019. http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4501 1609 works Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 17th-century documents Edicts of toleration {{Europe-hist-stub