General Notes

Matthias, b.  Feb.  24, 1557, d.  Mar.  20, 1619, was Holy Roman emperor
(1612-19), king of Hungary (1608-18), and king of Bohemia (1611-17).  As the
third son of Emperor Maximilian II, he for a long time had no dominions to
rule;  he had great ambition but little political capacity.  In 1577, Matthias
accepted the invitation of the States-General of the Netherlands to become
governor-general, but he became a pawn in Netherlands power politics and
resigned in 1581.  Between 1605 and 1611 he led the opposition to his elder
brother Rudolf II, whom he succeeded on the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia
and, later, as emperor.  Unable to cope with the Bohemian Protestant rebellion
of 1618, which initiated the Thirty Years' War, Matthias was pushed aside as
king of Bohemia and Hungary by his cousin Ferdinand, who succeeded him as
Emperor Ferdinand II on his death.