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 survive his final dethronement. He died on January 20, 1612. Matthew was then also chosen as Emperor by the German Electors.

The policy of Matthew with regard to the religious affairs of Bohemia underwent a change when the twelve years' struggle between him and his brother came to an end. His amicable relations with the Protestant leaders, such as Žerotin and Rosenberg, were broken off about this time. Distrust of the new king can easily be traced in the demands which the Estates addressed to him even before his coronation. Five points were specially brought forward, as embodying the wishes of the Estates. The most important among the concessions demanded were the right of the Diet to assemble without royal authorization, and the right to levy troops. The king conceded only one point of minor importance. He gave his sanction to the treaty of alliance which the Bohemian Protestants had (1609) concluded with the Estates of Silesia in defence of their faith. On the other points, among which were the two of most importance, the king reserved his decision.

The peace with Turkey which Matthew had concluded (in 1606) did not secure permanent tranquillity in Eastern Europe. Matthew, forced to renewed warfare with the Turks, was obliged to apply for aid to the Estates of the many countries over which the German branch of the house of Habsburg ruled. He first appealed to a representative assembly, which consisted of deputies from all the lands of the Bohemian crown, from Hungary, and from Upper and Lower Austria. Representatives of Styria (which with Carinthia and Carniola was then governed by the Archduke Ferdinand) and of the Tyrol were also present. This assembly, remarkable as the only one in which representatives of almost all the lands now constituting the Austro-Hungarian Empire sat in one parliamentary body, was entirely abortive. When the deputies met at Linz (1614), it soon appeared that their only purpose was the further limitation of the sovereign power in the different States which they represented. They declined all contributions towards the expenses of the war against Turkey. Frustrated in this plan, Matthew was obliged to appeal to the assemblies of the different countries