mercenary troops at this moment favoured his movements. It is not improbable that Bohemia would have been subdued during this campaign had it not in September 1619 been considered necessary to recall Bouquoi. Gabriel Bethlen, prince of Transylvania, had conquered a large part of Hungary, and thus became a rival of Ferdinand, who claimed the crown of Hungary, a policy pursued by all the Habsburg princes at this period. He made a sudden attack on Austria, and arrived close to Vienna, to the defence of which city Bouquoi and his troops marched with all speed.
The weighty question as to the succession to the Bohemian throne had meanwhile been decided by the "General Diet," which first met at Prague on July 8. This Diet from the first assumed the functions of a constituent assembly. It commenced its proceedings by declaring that Bohemia was an elective, not an hereditary kingdom. Curiously enough, a few opinions were expressed in favour of the republican form of government. It was then resolved (probably in view of obtaining the support of the dependent countries) that in the election of a king, Bohemia should have two votes, Moravia, Silesia, Upper Lusatia, and Lower Lusatia one vote each. Other constitutional enactments, subsequently voted, defined and enlarged the powers of the Estates, and limited those of the future elective king. "Defenders" were to be chosen in each of the lands of the Bohemian crown, who were empowered to exercise a supreme control over the king, and even to organize armed resistance against him, should he violate the new constitution. This constitution, which conferred enormous power on the nobles, and placed beside, rather than above them, a king whose influence was strictly limited, was not unlike that of Poland during the last period of its existence as an independent country. The new constitution was solemnly promulgated at Prague on July 31, 1619, but in consequence of the complete collapse of the Bohemian movement in the following year it may be said never to have come into operation. After having decided the constitutional question, the Estates concluded an alliance with the Austrian Protestants, by which they mutually promised aid in the defence of the privileges of the Estates and of the Protestant faith. The next measure that occupied the Bohemian Diet was the deposition of Ferdinand. As the Estates had established a constitution, the provisions of which it was certain that the
