MATTHIAS (1557-1619), Roman emperor, son of the em peror Maximilian II. and Maria, daughter of the emperor Charles V., was born in Vienna, on Feb. 24, 1557, and educated by the diplomatist 0. G. de Busbecq (q.v.), he was invited in 1577, soon after his father's death, to assume the governorship of the Netherlands, then in the midst of the long struggle with Spain. Entering Brussels in Jan. 1578 he was named governor-general; but he was merely a cipher, and only held the position for about three years, returning to Germany in Oct. 1581. Matthias was appointed governor of Austria in 1593 by his brother, the emperor Rudolph II; he continued the policy of crushing the Protestants, although personally he appears to have been inclined to religious tolerance ; dealt with the rising of the peasants in 1595, and took part in the Turkish War. A few years later the discontent felt by the members of the Habsburg family at the incompetence of the emperor became very acute.
Obtaining in May 16°5 a reluctant consent from his brother, Matthias took over the conduct of affairs in Hungary, where a revolt had broken out, was formally recognized by the Habs burgs as their head in April i6o6, and was promised the succession to the empire, In June 1606 he concluded the peace of Vienna with the rebellious Hungarians, and made peace with the sultan in November. This pacific policy was displeasing to Rudolph, who prepared to renew the Turkish War ; but with the support of the national party in Hungary Matthias forced his brother to cede to him this kingdom, together with Austria and Moravia, both of which had thrown in their lot with Hungary (16°8). The king of Hungary, as Matthias now became, was reluctantly com pelled to grant religious liberty to the inhabitants of Austria. A formal reconciliation between Rudolph and Matthias took place in 161o; but affairs in Bohemia Soon destroyed this fraternal peace. In 1611 the Bohemians invited Matthias to come to their aid against Rudolph, whose troops were ravaging their land. Ac cepting this invitation, he was crowned king of Bohemia in May 1611. Rudolph, however, was successful in preventing the elec tion of Matthias as German king, or king of the Romans, and when he died, in Jan. 1612, no provision had been made for a successor. Matthias, however, obtained the remaining hereditary dominions of the Habsburgs, and in June 1612 was crowned emperor The short reign of the new emperor was troubled by the re ligious dissensions of Germany. His health became impaired and his indolence increased, and he fell completely under the influence of Melchior Klesl (q.v.), who practically conducted the
imperial business, by whose advice he sought vainly to reconcile the contending religious parties. Meanwhile the younger Habs burgs, led by the emperor's brother, the archduke Maximilian, and his cousin, Ferdinand, archduke of Styria, afterwards the emperor Ferdinand II., disliking the peaceful policy of Klesl, had allied themselves with the unyielding Roman Catholics, while the question of the imperial succession was forcing its way to the front. In 1611 Matthias had married his cousin Anna (d. 1618), daughter of the archduke Ferdinand (d. 1595), but he was old and childless and the Habsburgs were anxious to retain his ex tensive possessions in the family.
Meanwhile the disputed succession to the duchies of Cleves and Jiilich again threatened a European war ; the imperial com mands were flouted in Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle, and the Bo hemians were again becoming troublesome. Having decided that Ferdinand should succeed Matthias as emperor, the Habsburgs had secured his election as king of Bohemia in June 1617, but were unable to stem the rising tide of disorder in that country. Matthias and Klesl were in favour of concessions, but Ferdinand and Maximilian met this move by seizing and imprisoning Klesl. Ferdinand had just secured his coronation as king of Hungary when there broke out in Bohemia those struggles which heralded the Thirty Years' War; and on March 20, 1619, the emperor died at Vienna.
For the life and reign of Matthias see J. Heling, Die Wahl des rom ischen Konigs Matthias (Belgrade, 1892) ; A. Gindely, Rudolf II. und seine Zeit (Prague, 1862-68) ; F. Stieve, Die Verhandlungen fiber die Nachfolge Kaisers Rudolf II. (Munich, 188o) ; P. von Chlumecky, Karl von Zierotin und seine Zeit (Briinn, 1862-79) ; A. Kerschbaumer, Kardinal Klesel (Vienna, 1865) ; M. Ritter, Quellenbeitrdge zur Ge schichte des Kaisers Rudolf II. (Munich, 1872) ; Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation and des dreissigjdhrigen Krieges (Stuttgart, 1887, seq.) ; and the article on Matthias in the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, Bd. xx. (Leipzig, 1884) ; L. von Ranke, Zur deutschen Geschichte vom Religionsfrieden bis zum 30-jahrigen Kriege (Leipzig, 1888) ; and T. Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volks seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters (Freiburg, 1878 seq.; Eng. trans. by M. A. Mitchell and A. M. Christie (1896. seq.).