King of Bohemia and Hungary, and Holy Roman Empire from 1620 to 1637. One of the most despised rulers in Czech culture, a symbol of violent recatholization of the Czech lands.
King of Bohemia and Hungary, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 to 1657. A lesser known monarch largely responsible for the end of the Thirty Years’ War, but also for ending the process of recatholisation of Bohemia and Moravia.
Archduke of Austria and Count of Tyrol between 1567 and 1595. In 1547–1567, he was Imperial Governor of the Kingdom of Bohemia. During his time at Prague Castle, Renaissance culture and humanism flourished in the Czech lands.
King of Bohemia and Hungary, and Austrian Emperor from 1835 to 1848. The last crowned King of Bohemia. In spite of his physical and mental limitations, due to which he could never become a fully-fledged ruler, he became popular among the populace due to his charity.
A world conflict that resulted in fundamental political changes in Central Europe and allowed for the formation of independent Czechoslovakia.
King of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary between 1792 and 1835, Holy Roman Emperor (as Francis II) between 1792 and 1806, Emperor of Austria between 1804 and 1835. A strongly conservative ruler whose reign in the Czech lands was a period of stagnation and police repression.
King of Bohemia and Hungary and Austrian Emperor from 1848 to 1916, one of the most famous rulers of Bohemia. For many Czechs he is still a symbol of the Habsburg Monarchy and the revolutionary period of the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
King of Bohemia in 1619–1620, Elector Palatine in 1610–1620. The only Protestant on the Bohemian throne and one of the leaders of the anti-Habsburg side at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War. He was called “the Winter King” in the Czech lands due to his short reign.
Process involving Leopold Hilsner, a young Jew unjustly accused of a murder of a young Christian girl. It was the largest expression of antisemitism in the Czech lands in the 19th century and, in a way, the Czech version of the well-known Dreyfus Affair.
Religious movement based on the ideas of the Czech reformer Jan Hus. Its different versions all sought to achieve a radical personal faith and equality before God. The movement also became the source of bloody religious wars at the beginning of the 15th century.
The last King of Bohemia and Hungary and Austrian Emperor. He ruled between 1916 and 1918, unsuccessfully trying to preserve the disintegrating empire during the difficult times of the First World War.
15 September 1564, Brandýs nad Orlicí – 9 October 1636, Přerov
Charles the Elder of Zierotin was the most prominent and respectable figures from Moravian non-Catholic nobility for several decades. A purposeful and deeply religious member of the Unity of the Brethren, he was exceptionally well-educated at Protestant schools and academies in Western Europe and he stood out among the Bohemian nobility as an individual with an unusually broad European outlook. In 1591, he entered the service of King Henry of Navarre, alongside whom he wanted to fight in the war between Huguenots and Catholics. However, when Henry converted to Catholicism in order to ascend the French throne, the disappointed Moravian nobleman returned home.
On the domestic political scene, Charles the Elder was a capable politician, lawyer and diplomat who commanded respect even in his adversaries. Until as late as 1599, when he withdrew due to false accusations of high treason, he held many Moravian offices. He described the crisis of contemporary society and his disappointment with the nobility’s selfish behaviour in his work Apologia or Defence of Mister George of Hodice (Apologie, neb obrana ku panu Jiříku z Hodic), which is one of the foremost monuments of Czech humanist literature. As a long-time critic of Rudolf II, in 1607 he supported the formation of the Moravian-Austrian-Hungarian coalition, which recognised the Emperor’s brother Matthias as their ruler. With his support, he held the office of the Moravian regional governor between 1608 and 1615. Three years later, as the recognised leader of the Moravian estates he rejected Moravian participation in the Bohemian Revolt; moreover, he sought to mediate peace between the rebels and the Emperor. His attempts to keep Moravia outside the war finally isolated him and after the Brno revolution, carried out by radical Moravian Protestants in June 1619, he could only watch, from home confinement, as his country shared the tragic fate of the revolt. He is still admired and criticised for his apparently unrealistic peace efforts.
Although after the Battle of White Mountain most Protestant noblemen were either imprisoned or exiled, the Emperor did not forget the Moravian leader’s peace efforts and Charles was thus one of a few non-Catholics allowed to stay in the country and keep at least a small property. He used his influence to support and protect persecuted members of the Unity of the Brethren; e.g. he provided shelter to Jan Amos Komenský. In 1629, he went into voluntary exile to Wrocław in Silesia, although he regularly returned to Moravia, where he died seven years later.
King of Bohemia and Hungary, Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740, King of Spain from 1703 to 1711. The last male member of the House of Habsburg in the male line.
Process of transition from the traditional agricultural society to the modern industrial era, which created conditions due to which the Czech lands became the most industrially developed region of the Austrian monarchy.
A religious order that came to the Czech lands in the 16th century. It developed a very advanced pedagogic practice in education. However, due to its connections with the Habsburg royal family, it is regarded as controversial in the Czech society.
King of Bohemia and Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor from 1705 to 1711. He is almost forgotten in the Czech lands, although he was an educated and cultivated reformer who sought to modernise the Habsburg Monarchy during his short reign.
King of Bohemia and King of Hungary between 1780 and 1790, Holy Roman Emperor between 1765 and 1790. One of the most distinguished representative of European Enlightenment and a great reformer, who sought to fundamentally change the Habsburg Monarchy.
Bohemian nobleman serving as a General in the army of the Austrian Empire. He is regarded as one of the best army commanders and reformers in 19th-century Europe.
King of Bohemia and Hungary between 1657 and 1705, Holy Roman Emperor between 1658 and 1705. During his reign, the Habsburg Monarchy became one of the largest European powers.
King of the Kingdom of Bohemia and of the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Holy Roman Emperor between 1790 and 1792. He strove to continue the reforms of his brother Joseph II by more sensitive means. However, his short reign did not allow him to fully implement his plans.
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