Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/436

 punished, the others ought to be left in the enjoyment of the liberties that they had never forfeited.

To show his unlimited power, Ferdinand called a Diet, and, without asking its leave, had his son crowned King of Bohemia as Ferdinand III. Ferdinand remained in Prague for eight months, after which he moved to Vienna with his whole court, leaving the government of the country in the hands of the highest officials as his regents.

The uprising of the Bohemians against Ferdinand II was the beginning of that long and bloody struggle known in history as the Thirty Years’ War. Although the emperor had conquered Bohemia, King Frederick was still at large, enlisting in his cause, or perhaps more in the cause of Protestantism, the various German princes, and also the great warrior Christian, the King of Denmark. This brought on a war in which almost the whole of Europe was involved.

At this time, one of the most powerful noblemen in the emperor’s dominions was Albert of Wallenstein. He came from a Protestant Bohemian family; but having received his education from the Jesuits, he became a traitor to both his nation and his Church. As a reward for services done the emperor against the Venetians, Hungarians, and Bohemians, he was endowed with vast estates, and granted the title of the Duke of Friedland.

In 1625, when so many of the German princes had taken up arms against Ferdinand, so that his position was most critical, Wallenstein in a few months raised and equipped an army at his own expense, and came