User:Iazyges/Kingdom of Bohemia

The Kingdom of Bohemia was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czech Republic. It was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Bohemian king was a prince-elector of the empire. The kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia, ruled also the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia and parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria.

The kingdom was established by the Přemyslid dynasty in the 12th century from Duchy of Bohemia, later ruled by the House of Luxembourg, the Jagiellonian dynasty, and since 1526 by the House of Habsburg and its successor house Habsburg-Lorraine. Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the imperial seat in the late 14th century, and at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries.

After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the territory became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire, and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867. Bohemia retained its name and formal status as a separate Kingdom of Bohemia until 1918, known as a crown land within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its capital Prague was one of the empire's leading cities. The Czech language (called the Bohemian language in English usage until the 19th century) was the main language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627 (after the Bohemian Revolt was suppressed). German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech national revival in the 19th century. German was also widely used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler and period.

Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the core part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic.

18th century
In August of 1619, the Bohemian Diet declared itself independant of the Von Habsburgs, and invited Frederick V to come and rule them. He was crowned king of Bohemia on 4 November 1619. He had a very short rule, of just a year and four days, as Ferdinand II invaded them to restore his rule. Ferdinand II defeated the Bohemian forces decisively at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620, just outside the Bohemian capital of Prague. Following this, Frederick V fled the city, and Ferdinand II restored Austrian rule over Bohemia. Ferdinand II confiscated large amounts of the lands owned by Protestant nobles, and gifted, or sold them cheaply, to Catholic nobles. Because of this mass redistribution, over three quarters of the land owned by nobles changed hands within the 1620's.

Religion
Bohemia switched state religions several time.

Catholicism
In 1621, Bohemia banished all non-Catholic priests. Three years later, in 1624, Catholicism was declared the state religion. Another three years later, in 1627, Protestant nobles and burghers were threatened with banishment if they did not convert. Of the nobles threatened, 185, roughly a fifth, refused to convert, and were banished. Over a quarter of the burghers refused to convert. Prague lost 120 burgher families, about a twentieth of its population.

Language
In 1627, after the Bohemian Diet was weakened, German was considered equal with Bohemian for the first time, by the state.

Government
In 1624 the Czech Chancellery was moved to Vienna, and in 1627 was heavily empowered, whereas the Bohemian Diet was weakened significantly; it could still make taxes, but was otherwise banned from legislature, until in 1640 the king allowed them to make minor laws. They were similarly banned from judicial work, unless at the request of the king.