MATTHIAS, Emperor of Germany, 155'7-1619; son of Maximilian II., and grandson .of Charles V. His eldest brother. Rudolf IL. had succeeded to the throne upon the death of their father. Rudolf resented the influence exerted by Matthias iu the affairs • of the German empire, and the latter, to strengthen himself in another quarter, became -the champion of the Netherlands, in whose affairs he exercised a great authority till 1580, when he was compelled to give way to the ascendancy of the prince of Orange. Upon the death, in 1595, of his brother Ernest, archduke of Austria, he governed the archduchy, where the principal feature of his administration was his persecution of the Protestanis. In 1606 he restored order in Hungary, which had formed a coalition with Turkey and Transylvania against the Hapsburgs. Two years later, with the aid of a league which he had formed- between Hungary, Silesia, and Moravia, lie' forced upon Rudolf the cession of Austria. Hungary, and Moravia, and at the same time, was guar anteed the succession to the Bohemian crown. Matthias afterwards allied himself with :the Bohemians who were then in ickiLlthiriee6M-pelled Rudolf to cede' him Silesia and Lusatia, in addition to Bohemia. Rudolf died without issue in 1612, and 3fatthias was at once chosen his successor. The Turks had invaded Hungary, and Matthias, who wag able to offer them no substantial resistance, was compelled to sue for peace. In the
later days of his Austrian administration, he had made overtures to the Protestants, whom he had formerly persecuted; and he had encouraged the Jesuits. He soon found himself in conflict with both. A Protestant league bad been established in 1608, of which the count palatine Frederic IV. was chief; and a counter Roman Catholic league had been organized iu 1609. 3Iatthias attempted to bring the latter, which was then under Bavarian management, under Austrian influence; and failing in this, framed a decree against both the Roman Catholic and Protestant leagues. The decree failed of its effect, neither league paying any attention to it. The administration of Matthias had proved a failure, and he made of his ill health an excuse for withdmwing front public affairs. In 1617 he made the archduke Ferdinand, afterward the emperor Ferdinand II., king of Bohemia; and the next year, substituted him for himself, on the throne of Hungary. The Bohemians revolted against Ferdinand, enraged by the severity of his religious persecutions; the insurrection at Prague, in 1618, gave the signal for the out break of the thirty years' war, and the last days of Matthias were embittered, not only by his own failure, but by the reverses which the Bohemians inflicted upon Ferdinand.