which, though all owing allegiance to him, still possessed separate political and representative institutions. Limiting our account to Bohemia, we will only mention the fact that Matthew convoked a "General Diet" of the lands of the Bohemian crown at Prague in the following year (1615). Here also the king's attempts to obtain grants of money and men for the Turkish war were entirely fruitless. The attitude of the Estates was one of direct opposition to the king, and they seem from this moment, if not earlier, to have prepared for an open conflict with the crown. Moravia being represented at this "General Diet," the Estates attempted to conclude with that country an alliance similar to the one that already existed between them and the Estates of Silesia. These negotiations were unsuccessful, as no agreement could be arrived at on the old standing question as to the constitutional relationship of Moravia to Bohemia. The Diet, probably contrary to the king's wishes, also turned its attention to the national question, which the religious troubles had recently thrown into the background. Special enactments were framed to favour the Bohemian language, as against the use of German or other foreign tongues. The Bohemian language was also by vote of the Estates declared to be the "authorized" official language of the country.
Matthew was well advanced in years when he obtained the Bohemian crown; and being, like his brother Rudolph, childless, he was soon obliged to take into consideration the succession to the Bohemian throne. It was at that period still an unsettled question whether the crown was hereditary. In Bohemia—as in Hungary—the princes of the Habsburg dynasty had several times obtained the coronation of their heirs during their lifetime, thus avoiding a contest when the crown became vacant. This was now Matthew's object. As his two surviving brothers were also childless, he resolved with their consent to nominate the next heir, Archduke Ferdinand of Styria, to be his successor.
The Diet, which was to decide the momentous question as to the succession, met at Prague on June 5, 1617. That Matthew knew well the difficulty of gaining his object is shown by the attempts at intimidation made by the high burgrave, Adam, Lord of Sternberg. The burgrave, before the sittings of the Diet commenced, had requested all the more important State officials and councillors to appear at his apartments on the Hradčany. With the exception of
