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Letter of Majesty

1609 statute by Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II on religious tolerance in Bohemia

The Letter of Majesty (1609) was a 17th-century European document, reluctantly signed by Rudolf II in his capacity as king of Bohemia, granting religious tolerance to both Protestant and Catholic citizens living in the estates of Bohemia.^[1] The letter also created a Bohemian Protestant State Church, run by said estates.^[2] A similar Letter was issued for Silesia, a part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown.

In 1611, Rudolf inexplicably permitted his cousin Archduke Leopold to invade Bohemia with some 7,000 troops. A considerable Bohemian force drove Leopold back from the suburbs of Prague, and the Bohemian Estates called upon Matthias to take over the government of their kingdom.^[3]

Following the Bohemian Revolt, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor revoked the Letter of Majesty, going as far as to personally tear up the original document.^{[citation needed]}

• Wedgwood, C.V. (2005). The Thirty Years War. New York Review of Books.
• Parker, G. (edited)(1997). The Thirty Years War. Routledge.
• "The Bohemian Religious Peace (July 1609)". German History in Documents and Images. Accessed 11 July 2019. http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4501

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