of France, and of his allies the Protestant princes of Germany. Prince Christian of Anhalt,[1] the principal adviser of these princes, had at this moment already entered into close connection with some of the Protestant nobles of Bohemia, particularly with Peter Vòk, Lord of Rosenberg.
The first impulse to combined action against Rudolph came, however, from Hungary, where his rule had always been unpopular. His refusal to ratify the treaty of peace with Turkey, and thus restore quiet to the land, caused general dissatisfaction. The feeling against Rudolph was in Austria[2] and Moravia nearly as strong as in Hungary, and the nobles of these countries soon entered into negotiations with the Hungarian malcontents. Their first object, however, was to come to a complete understanding among themselves. With the approval of the Archduke Matthew, several of the leading nobles of Moravia and Austria met at Rossitz (in Moravia), under the pretext of affirming the necessity of the ratification of the treaty of peace with Turkey.
Subsequent events, however, render it certain that the real object of these deliberations—which were held in secret—was the deposition of Rudolph. Shortly afterwards Archduke Matthew, still nominally as representative of his brother, convoked the Hungarian Diet at Presburg. Through the archduke's influence delegates from Lower and Upper Austria were also present. This very exceptional event was the result of Matthew's wish to unite the representatives of the various lands subject to Rudolph for the purpose of procuring his deposition. The racial enmities at this period for the moment disappeared, and Slav, German, and Hungarian nobles acted in accord. All present at the deliberations of Presburg solemnly pledged themselves to maintain the treaty with Turkey against all its opponents. The carefully-worded declaration was directly aimed at Rudolph, who still refused to sanction that treaty, and in effect the authority of the sovereign was by it tacitly suspended. Moravia very shortly followed the example of Austria and Hungary, principally through the
