drawn up this document at this moment. It is this draft that was finally accepted by the king, and is known as the celebrated "Letter of Majesty."
Only the last-named document was presented to Rudolph by a deputation of the Estates (June 13). The king's answer, though more conciliatory than some of his former communications, did not satisfy the Protestants. He promised to continue to the Protestants the enjoyment of all the rights which th6y had had during the reign of Maximilian.[1] The king, however, insisted on retaining complete authority over the utraquist Consistory and over the University. If we consider the bitter theological animosity of the age, it will not appear surprising that the Protestants were not prepared to concede this point. Had they done so, they would have admitted the right of a sovereign—himself a Romanist—to appoint as rulers of their Church men who acknowledged the authority of the Roman creed though they differed from it with regard to communion in both kinds. It was impossible for an assembly in which an enormous majority were Lutherans and Brethren of the Unity, to accept the king's demand. His message was, therefore, considered by the Protestants as a refusal of their demands, and it served in fact only to increase their opposition. The project of arming the country was further advanced, and—as it was difficult for such an unwieldy body as the Estates to exercise executive functions—thirty "Directors" were chosen from among the members of the Diet. These, as Gindely says, practically constituted a provisional government. Three generals, the foremost of whom was Count Thurn, were also appointed by the Estates, and the enrolment of troops began, a special tax having been voted for this purpose. The Estates of Silesia concluded an alliance with those of Bohemia for mutual defence, and there also the armament of the people was undertaken.
The danger of civil war, which now seemed inevitable, induced the Elector of Saxony to attempt to mediate. Himself a Lutheran, he had strong claims on the confidence of the Estates. Dr. Gerstenberger, the Elector's ambassador at Prague, in his master's name proposed a compromise. The free profession of the "Confessio Bohemica" was to be
- ↑ As has been noticed previously, the position of the Protestants had been more secure during the reign of that prince than during that of his father, Ferdinand I.
