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| 1558–64 |
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| FERDINAND I, husband of Anna, sister of Louis II, king of Bohemia and Hungary, after whose death he was elected king of these countries by their estates. Constant warfare over the latter country, which he was obliged to abandon, in great part, to the Ottoman Turks (See 1551–62). | 1 |
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| 1564–76 |
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| MAXIMILIAN II, son of Ferdinand, was of a mild disposition and favorably inclined to the Protestants, whom he left undisturbed in the free exercise of their religion. War with John Zápolya, prince of Transylvania, and the Ottoman Turks. Sultan Suleyman I died in camp before Szigeth, which was defended by the heroic Nicholas Zrinyi. By the truce with Selim II (1566, (See 1566–74) each party retained its possessions. | 2 |
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| 1576–1612 |
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| RUDOLF II, son of the emperor Maximilian II, a learned astrologer and astronomer but incapable of governing. New quarrels over the ecclesiastical reservation. The imperial city of Donauwörth, placed under the ban by the emperor because a mob had disturbed a Catholic procession, was, despite the prohibition of the emperor, retained by Maximilian of Bavaria, who had executed the ban (1607). | 3 |
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| 1608 |
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| These troubles led to the formation of a Protestant Union (leader, Frederick IV, elector palatine). | 4 |
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| 1609 |
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| The Union was opposed by the Catholic League (leader, Maximilian, duke of Bavaria). Both princes were of the house of Wittelsbach. | 5 |
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| 1609 |
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| Beginning of the quarrel about the succession of Cleves-Jülich on the death of John William, duke of Cleves. The elector of Brandenburg and the prince of Neuburg were the principal claimants. | 6 |
| Rudolf, toward the close of his life, was forced by Matthias to abdicate the government of Bohemia. | 7 |
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| 1612–19 |
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| MATTHIAS, being childless, and having obtained the renunciation of his brothers, secured for his cousin Ferdinand, duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, who had been educated by the Jesuits in strict Catholicism, the succession in Bohemia and Hungary, notwithstanding the objections of the Protestant states. | 8 |
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| Cultural Developments |
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| The greatest of the Meistersinger was Hans Sachs (1494–1576), composer also of numerous Fastnachtspiele, the popular plays that emerged as drama became more secular. Satire appeared in prose and poetry, in fable and in Schwank, or comic anecdote (Sebastian Brant, Narrenschiff, 1494); in the writings of Thomas Murner (1475–1537) and Johann Fischart (c. 1550-c. 1591); most particularly in the writings of the humanist scholar and great Reformation author Desiderius Erasmus (b. Rotterdam c. 1466, d. 1536). His Encomium Moriae (Praise of Folly, 1509) satirized the foibles of individuals and of institutions, especially Monasticism; his Colloqui likewise contain criticisms of contemporary usage. The Volkslied remained a popular vehicle for lyric poetry, having gradually expanded to a polyphonic Lied in style. | 9 |
| The drama was further popularized by touring English players late in the 16th century. Dr. Faustus, first published anonymously in 1587 as a “chap-book,” was immediately popular and translated into English. | 10 |
| Pre-Reformation artists continued to be concerned with church decoration: the sculptors Tilman Riemenschneider (1468–1531) and the two Peter Vischers; the artist Matthias Grünewald (1460–1527; Isenheimer Altar). The influence of the Reformation and a trend toward secularism are evident in the works of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), whose careful studies and theoretical treatises exerted tremendous influence on the development of techniques in the graphic arts. The paintings of Lucas Cranach (1472–1553) and Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543), court painter to Henry VIII of England, reflect a growing secularism in art. | 11 |
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