Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/370



to the agreement made between King Viadislav and the Emperor Maximilian, Ferdinand, the grandson of the latter, was to succeed to the Bohemian crown at the death of Louis; but as the Diet had not confirmed the agreement, it refused to acknowledge it, and therefore would not accept Ferdinand as their king. Ferdinand exhausted all his powers of argument and diplomacy in trying to prove his legal right to the throne, both because Vladislav had made the agreement, and because his wife Anna at the death of Louis was the only legitimate heir of Bohemia. His efforts, however, were not successful. Seeing that the Bohemians would not receive him as king on this basis, he changed his plan, and began to work for securing the crown by election. Among the candidates for the throne were the Polish king, the brother of the late King Vladislav, and Louis and William, the Dukes of Bavaria. Ferdinand proved to be the successful candidate, receiving the unanimous vote of the Diet. By this action the delegates showed that they had nothing against Ferdinand himself, but that they objected to the principle he tried to establish.

Thus the Bohemians, by their own free will, chose a member of the house of Hapsburg to rule over them. As Emperor Charles V, the brother of Ferdinand, had 2em