Elizabeth of Bohemia

“ The Bohemian lords did not object to this, since the chief of these was Peter, the Archbishop of Mayence, who had been greatly loved and honored by Václav II. Later, when the German lords began to grow too domineering, King John was held to the agreement, and ordered to dismiss them.
When the nobles had established King John and Queen Elizabeth upon the throne of Bohemia, they imagined that they had done their country a good service, and that his reign would be an era of peace and prosperity to all the people. ”

“ But his reign at Prague was short, for the Emperor won back his own, and the Queen of Hearts, as Elizabeth was affectionately called, had to escape with her children as best she could, Rupert being but a few weeks old. Her father, afraid of Spain and the Roman Catholic powers, would do nothing to help her, so she would have fared badly had it not been for some faithful English friends, headed by Lord Craven, and the people of Holland, who looked on the king of Bohemia as a sufferer in the Protestant cause, and who therefore gave his family a home besides a generous allowance. ”

“ For one year, Elizabeth of England held a gay and chivalrous court in Prague. Had her husband been 4a statesman and a soldier, he might have disciplined his brave, enthusiastic subjects, and have repulsed the invasion of Austria. He was vanquished ingloriously, and, forced to fly from the city, he became a wanderer and an exile. Ferdinand triumphed; but a collision between his pretensions and the free institutions of Bohemia was inevitable. The nobles resisted the Emperor’s edicts, and tossed his commissioners out of the windows of the Green Chamber of the palace. ”

“ The German King Albert, however, declared Bohemia a vacant fief of the Empire, and appointed as king his eldest son Rudolph. The nobles assembled at Prague, and, probably intimidated by the power of the German king, elected Rudolph. They further, on the request of King Albert, who accompanied his son to Bohemia, declared Rudolph's brothers heirs to the throne in case of his death without children. As a concession to the feeling in favour of the old national dynasty, a marriage between Rudolph and Elizabeth, widow of Venceslas II, was arranged. ”

“ The Rhenish archbishops were pacified by the restoration of the Rhine tolls, negotiations were begun with Philip IV., king of France, and with Robert, king of Naples, and the Habsburgs were confirmed in their possessions. At this time Bohemia was ruled by Henry V., duke of Carinthia, but the terrible disorder which prevailed induced some of the Bohemians to offer the crown, together with the hand of Elizabeth, daughter of the late king Wenceslas II., to John, the son of the German king. Henry accepted the offer, and in August 1310 John was invested with Bohemia and his marriage was celebrated. ”

“ This noble favored the claims of Elizabeth in behalf of the young prince, Ladislav, because in this way he had hopes that he himself could rule the country. Disappointed here, the popular side offered the crown to Frederick of Styria, who, at the death of Albert of Austria, had assumed the government of that country for Elizabeth, and was also the guardian of the young prince. ”

“ Elbing, Comenius at, 496 Elizabeth, daughter of Wenceslaus II., 119, 123, 125, 126, 127 Elizabeth, daughter of Sigismund, 314 Elizabeth, wife of Frederick V., her advice, 474; her unpopularity, 475; her courage, 477, 478; her flight, 479 Emperor, Frankish, struggles of, against Slavs (see Louis) ; relations of, to subjects, 19 Emperor of Constantinople, treatment of barbarians, 19, 20 Emperor, German, relations of, with Bohemia in tenth century, 33; in thirteenth century, 68, 89 Empire, Holy Roman, effect of its weakness, 89-90 ”

“ They approached him reverently, and the eldest among them opened his lips, and said: “The Duchess of Bohemia has sent us hither, and bids us signify to thee the will and purpose of the gods, that thou change thy plough with the throne of this kingdom, and thy goad with its sceptre. She selects thee for her husband, to rule with her over the Bohemians.” ”

“ There is much in Bohemian history that will appeal to the English reader. What Englishman could fail to find interest in the history of that nation which was once ruled over by the "Goode King Wenceslaus" of the old English carol and by the blind King John, the news of whose valiant death brought tears to the eyes of Edward III; of that nation which gave England one of her most popular queens—Queen Anne, wife of Richard II and daughter of the greatest of our Czech kings?
Bohemia, though one of the lesser nations, gave more than one man to the world," revered in all hearts that love light." ”

“ The return of peace enabled the Empress Maria Theresa to carry out the plans she had previously formed of reorganizing the vast Habsburg dominions. Even during the reign of Charles VI, the Empress's father, these various racially and historically distinct countries were, to a great extent, governed according to their ancient laws and traditions. Beside the high officials of Prague, no longer indeed elected by the Estates, but appointed by the Austrian Government, Bohemia was administered by the "Bohemian secret court chancellery" (Böheimische Geheime Hof Kanzlei) . ”

“ The only offense of the Bohemian king is that he is Slav, but that, with the jealousy of his power, the democratic institutions, and the wealth of his country, which contains the richest mines of silver in Europe, is sufficient. Great armies, German and Hungarian, are raised against him; finally he is treacherously slain in battle, his kingdom torn apart, and Bohemia is ravished and reduced almost to a "possession" or a fief of the Empire.
Yet the wound is not mortal, the nation is too strong ”

“ Suffice it to say that during most of the time Bohemians were forced to fight on two fronts—Vienna on one front and their fellow-countrymen with Pan-German leanings on the other. The main quarrel between Vienna and Prague during all these years has been over Home Rule. Shall Bohemians living in the countries comprising the Bohemian Crown (Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia) be the arbiters of their own destiny, and shall they govern themselves from Prague by laws made and enacted by their home parliament? Home Rule is and has been the main issue; all else is subordinate to it. ”

“ The best answer to this—quite apart from the triumphs of Russian musical, literary, and dramatic genius which are no longer unfamiliar to us to-day—is to point to the existence, in the very heart of Europe, surrounded by hostile influences, of a highly cultured, democratic, progressive, Slavonic nation, the Czechs of Bohemia. It is right to remember on the anniversary of Hus, that the Slavs, as well as the Latin and Germanic races, contributed to the Reformation movement which was to transform Europe and the world, both from a religious and from a national point of view. ”

“ The Electors of Saxony and Bavaria, [42] however, who had both married daughters of the Emperor Joseph I, immediately refused to recognize Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. They were, in accordance with the traditional Bourbon policy, strongly supported by France, which believed that the extinction of the male line of the house of Habsburg would inevitably be followed by the complete ruin of that dynasty. The court of Spain, closely connected by relationship with that of France, also opposed Maria Theresa, who found in England her only ally. ”

“ It is inhabited by the Czech branch of the great Slavonic race, and for fifteen hundred years has contributed largely to European culture. The fact that the Bohemians have not succumbed to strenuous efforts on the part of the Austrians to Germanise them speaks well for their individuality. That they have preserved their nationality and evolved their own civilisation augurs well for the brilliant future which lies before them.
Bohemia is situated in the centre of the continent of Europe, and is divided by chains of mountains from the German countries—Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Austria. ”

“ The fateful period for Bohemia comes in the sixteenth century. The people are weakened by wars, by internal religious strifes. A fearful new danger threatens central Europe—the Turks. In 1526 the Bohemian king, Ludvik, is killed in a battle with the Turks, assisting Hungary; and as there is no male descendant, the elective diet at Prague is influenced to offer the crown of Bohemia, under strict guarantees of all its rights, to the husband of Ludvik's daughter, Ferdinand of Habsburg, archduke of Austria. ”

“ The manly independence and the solicitude for individual political rights always exhibited by the Bohemian people have rendered them the teachers of nations; and their principles and parliamentary constitution have gradually penetrated into every country under heaven.
"They protected and preserved the rights of men during long ages when those rights were elsewhere unknown or trampled down. Bohemia has been the birthplace and the shelter of the modern politics of freedom."
But Bohemia has also been for centuries the culture center of central Europe. ”

“ For many reasons, notably out of deference to the feelings of the Russian Government, a Czech Republic is quite impracticable, but in restoring the ancient Kingdom of Bohemia, the Czechs have no national dynasty to whom they can turn. A German prince is of course out of the question, and they may perhaps experience some difficulty in finding a suitable candidate for the new throne among the reigning families of the West. ”

“ It contains much beautiful scenery and is more varied than many other parts of the Empire, being hilly and level, wooded and cultivated in different places, so that every kind of landscape is met with. Bohemia has always had a struggle to preserve its national unity, for it was surrounded on the one side by the German-speaking peoples of Bavaria and Saxony and on the other by the Magyars of Hungary, and it had to sway into alliance with one or the other accordingly as the opposite one attacked it. ”

“ At the same time, it should be noted that this revival, though generally connected with the name of Rudolf, had been already growing since the accession of Ferdinand. The greater security for life and property, which was gradually introduced by the House of Austria, had given more opportunity for quiet study than had been possible in the turbulent Bohemia of the fifteenth century; while the greater intercourse with foreign countries, which the renewed connection with the Empire had produced, naturally attracted a large number of foreign celebrities to the Court of Prague. ”

“ Bohemia was thus delivered from the enemy, and the government of Charles of Bavaria came to an end. In the spring of 1743, Maria Theresa came to Prague, and was solemnly crowned Queen of Bohemia. The ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Olmutz, the Archbishop of Prague being in disfavor on account of his adherence to Charles of Bavaria. Many of the lords who had sworn allegiance to the usurper had also much to fear. But Maria Theresa, unlike her ancestor Ferdinand, finally granted pardon to all, so that not a single execution marred the beginning of her prosperous reign. ”

“ It was further declared that no Bohemian, at the penalty of being deprived of honor, goods, and life, could separate his interests from those of his nation, but must retain his natural love for his country and help it in this hour of need. This proclamation was sent to all parts of the country, and proved so effective that one lord after another sent letters to the camp of Sigmund severing his allegiance from the crown. Indeed, the disaffection toward the emperor was so great that secret messengers were sent to the King of Poland offering him the crown of Bohemia. ”

“ The German princes now cast their looks about to find a man for an emperor, who should help them to humble the pride of the Bohemian: prince, and who, at the same time, should not stand in the way of their own aggrandizement. They found such a prince in Rudolph, the Count of Hapsburg, who, having some small possessions in Switzerland and Suabia, was too weak to assume any great authority over his constituents, and, moreover, agreed to wrest from the kingdom of Bohemia its recently acquired territories—Austria, Styria, and Carinthia. ”

“ But Ferdinand seems to have thoroughly understood the self-seeking character of the intriguers who were governing Prague; and, resolving to show that he was not to be trifled with, he banished Pas̆ek and Cahera from Prague, and pronounced the formal acquittal of Hlavsa and his friends. Even those against whom there was reasonable suspicion of heresy were allowed to escape by the use of elastic formulæ; and it seemed for the moment as if a happier and better government were really to be introduced into Bohemia. ”

“ In this great country, the richest part of the Austrian dominions, where over three-fifths of the population were Czech, racial feeling was supported by the appeal to historic law. A great party, led by Palacky and Rieger, demanded the restoration of the Bohemian monarchy in its fullest extent, including Moravia and Silesia, and insisted that the emperor should be crowned as king of Bohemia at Prague as his predecessors had been, and that Bohemia should have a position in the monarchy similar to that obtained by Hungary. ”

“ Besides, there are numerous German-speaking enclaves situated in purely Czech districts; on the other hand, the Czechs have shown a tendency to invade the purely German mining and manufacturing districts. Notwithstanding its rich natural resources and its great industrial development, Bohemia sends out a steady flow of emigrants, who either settle in the other provinces of the monarchy, in Germany and in Russia, or cross the Atlantic to America. ”