Ferdinand of Bohemia and Hungary

Conquered, pillaged, ruined

Like father, like son. It’s because of these 2 strict Catholics’ mortal contempt for the Protestants that we talk about a 30 Years War rather than the 20 Years one.

But let’s deal with them one at a time. Daddy Ferdinand II persecutes the Bohemian authorities with such brutality that they feel they have no choice but to storm Prague Castle and throw 3 royal governors out of the window. This event comes be known as the 2nd Defenestration of Prague and is reason enough for Ferdinand to start a war. Ferdinand II is reported to have said, “Better to reign over a desert than a land full of heretics.”

By the time his son, Ferdinand of Bohemia and Hungary, takes over in 1637 as Ferdinand III, the war has been going on for nearly 20 years. Even though the empire’s military position is precarious, Ferdinand is still not prepared to allow his princes religious freedom and so the war is significantly drawn out.

Ferdinand’s subjects pay the price. Combat, pillage and plague claim more lives between 1644 and 1648, the years when peace talks are held parallel to the conflict, than in the previous 26.