General Notes

Ferdinand I (Holy Roman Empire) (1503-64), Holy Roman emperor (1558-64), king
of Bohemia (1526-64), and king of Germany (1531-64). The son of Philip I, king
of Castile, and Joanna the Mad, queen of Castile, he was born on March 10,
1503, at Alcalá de Henares, Spain. In 1521, he became governor of the duchy of
Württemberg and of the Habsburg hereditary lands, where he sought to check the
spread of the Reformation. When his brother-in-law, King Louis II of Hungary,
died in 1526, Ferdinand claimed through his wife the thrones of Bohemia and
Hungary. He was crowned king by the Bohemians early in 1527. Although crowned
almost simultaneously in Hungary, he was rejected there by the nobles, who
were led by John I Zápolya and supported by the Turks. A long series of
indecisive wars ensued against the Ottoman Turks and the forces of John I and
his son, John II. A truce finally concluded in 1562 gave Ferdinand sovereignty
over a small part of Hungary, for which he was obliged to pay tribute to the
Turks.
Meanwhile, in 1531, Ferdinand had been elected king of Germany as a reward for
his loyalty to his brother, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Good relations
between the brothers, however, did not continue because Charles reserved the
imperial crown for his son Philip, later King Philip II of Spain, instead of
for Ferdinand. Friendly feeling was restored in 1555, largely because
Ferdinand successfully arranged the Treaty of Passau in 1552 and the peace of
Augsburg in 1555. On Charles's abdication in 1556 of the Spanish crown, Philip
was made king of Spain, while Ferdinand assumed the duties of emperor; he was
not crowned, however, until after Charles's formal abdication as emperor in
1558. Subsequently Ferdinand attempted to effect a reunion of Roman Catholics
and Protestants but failed because he insisted that bishops retain their
secular authority. He died on July 25, 1564, in Vienna.