Bohemiae Regnum Electiuum THAT IS A PLAINE AND TRVE RELATION OF the proceeding of the STATES of BOHEMIA from the first foundation of that Prouince by Free Election of Princes and Kings vnto FERDINAND the eighteenth King of the house of Austria WHEREIN IS EVIDENTLY MANIfested that the first Princes were Elected and no true and simple Hereditary Succession esta blished nor practised in all that time containing about 900. yeares Taken out of vnpartiall and Classicque Authors ESDRAS 1.4.37.38 All other things perish in their vnrighteousnesse But Truth it endureth and is alwaies strong it liueth and conquereth for euermore MDCXX A PLAINE AND TRVE RELATION OF the proceeding of the States of BOHEMIA THE Triumph that I heard sung aloud of the strength and solidnesse of argument in a little Information sent abroad almost in the darke to beguile the friends thereof Maintaining the Kingdome of Bohemia to be successiue and by consequence rightly descended to the house of Austria at first so farre preiudiced mee as to thinke so much confidence and boldnesse was supported with great probability of truth And I confesse that little pile as it stands compacted and involued hath in it selfe a faire show vntill it bee taken in peeces and searched at the Corner Stones Desire of mine owne satisfaction first made me curious to looke into the best Records of Story of that Country I found the Authors such as without exception for their quality iudgement and meanes to know the truth no dispaffionate man could refuse They doe relate barely what was done and practised without fore-thinking to decide a question which in their times could not be fore-seene and was the least part of their designe and therefore their witnesse as vn-concerned therein is of more authority When I had informed my selfe I learned of Saint Paul to settle my Brethren who for want of my leisure could not intend such a perplexed search and might for zeale and loue of truth be miscarried with that which was first propounded to them for truth I doe not intend to answer the Informatoâ— from point to point but to warne you that he hath taken aduantages and forcibly drawne into his purpose fragments and pieces the whole whereof would be too heauy for his foundation and as his stuffe is so are his vses and applications wrested made crooked not one grown Timber among them I haue therfore vndertaken in a plaine Narration to shew the first Election of the Princes of Bohemia the continuance and practice of Free Election vnto Ferdinand of Austria 34. from Breâ—tâ—l â—2 That not one in all that series of so manie Princes and Kings did succeed in right of Inheritance simply nor did dare so to claime an admittance to that Scepter In which discourse I desire you to consider not so much the efficacy of euery proofe of Election singly which notwithstanding is an irrefragable euidence as the whole file and thred purpose and practice of the States and free people of that Kingdome for power and affection may sometimes obscure and slacken the stiffnesse but yet in euery age and change more or lesse the right hath broken forth and stood for it selfe I haue not thought it fit to trouble you with latter times in which the house of Austria hath beene preferred and haue claimed a succession of right from a succession of Loue and so haue lost their best title It is euident in all Electiue kingdomes that the Sonne of the Father hath beene chosen for hee was already set vpon the stage and was borne Candidatus So was it often practized in the Empire without preiudice to the right of Election in any family when there vvas iust cause to change As Galba noted of Augustus I lle in Domo successorem quae siuit ego in Republica Tac. hist lib. 1. But if that Electiue succession be pretended and an answere heere expected I say it is out of my purpose who wade only in the History of former ages and it is more proper for them to satisfie who can search the Archiues and Records of their owne Acts but for a generall answere we propound that we dare ioyne issue euen in these and be iudged by the Registers of the publike assemblies vpon euery Election and by the Defesall and Reuersall letters giuen by those Princes of Austria their own Acts acknowledging the free Election and good will of the States of Bohemia sine vlla alia obligatione To lay our owne foundation sure and conspicuous I first present this definition of a Kingdome successiue That the Crowne and all the Rights of Regality doe de Iure descend vnto the next Prince or Princesse of the bloud Royall in right Line And that it is as great an Interruption of succession that a younger House bee preferred as that a Stranger and that the States and people haue no right to put by or refuse the next in bloud vpon any pretence and these rules establish and limit a Kingdome successiue But that this Canon hath neuer taken place nor beene practised by the Bohemians I shew in these fiue Conclusions 1. That the first Princes of Bohemia were Elected and the forme of their Election recorded 2. That the practice of Election hath continued so that the Yonger Brethren haue beene preferred before the Elder the Vncle before the Nephew sonne to the elder brother the Cosen of the yonger House before Cosen of the elder the Husband of the yonger sister before the Husband of the elder 3. Meere stangers before daughters and sisters of the last Kings and before any of the Bloud 4. The power and practice of deposition or reiection in case of misgouernment or want of due Forme in Election 5. That almost all the Kings that haue immediatelie succeeded their Fathers haue beene Elected and Crowned during the Fathers life or chosen Marquesses of Morauia a step to the Crowne by the authority of the Father in possession or for his merit and memory dead so that no such succession hath been pure de Iure but ayded and grounded vpon other rights then of succession All which examples and Rules doe diametrally oppugne and ouerthrow the pretence of Hereditary Succession and consequently proue for there is not one Prince without the reach of one of these Rules Bohemiae Regnum esse Electinum Crocus after Zechius who setled his Colonies in Bohemia was made there Iudge by the people for his vertue Geor. Barthold Boh pia pag. 11. Crocus vir Iustus magnae apud Bohemos tunc temporis opinionis authoritatis princeps dilectus est vir hic fuit Iudiciorum in deliberatione discretus Cosm Prag Chron. pag. 4. ad quem tam de proprijs tribubus quam ex totius prouinciae plebtbus velut apes ad alueria ita omnes ad dirimenda conuolabant Iudicia Crocus had three daughters Kari eldest Tethka second Lubossa third and yongest Cosm Prag pag. 4.5 6. This last for her wise dome was by the
sons Rodolph and Fredericke To vnfold all these Contradictions we must returne to the truth of Story These neither of his sisters had nor claimed right But the Bohemians alwaies respectiue to the descendents of their Kings first Elected the husband of Anne the eldest and after reiecting him for misgouernment called in Iohn of Luxenburgh And though they gaue him Elizabeth to bee his Wife they plainly chose him for their King Next he tells vs Ibid. Wenceslaus the sonne of Charles at three yeares of age was Crowned King by his Fathers Command absque vlla requisitione statuum That negatiue is not proued and I aske no more Inference against it and that which it concludes quod Iure successionis then his owne words his Father commanded it which if you make gentler and say as the truth is he desired it wee are agreed for to command it if he had right was vnnecessary to entreat and procure it not so hauing no right I omit his boldnesse contrary to good authority Idem pag. 3. to auerre that Albert of Austria claymed the kingdome in right of Elizabeth when it is euident that Sigismund at his death presented him to the States by vehement words of recommendation and the imputation cast vpon the Ashes of Podiebrad whom indeed hee hates for against his Election stands no exception and descend to the onely clayme that the daughters were true heyres to proue which he auerrs that Cassimir of Poland pretended right to the Kingdome at the Election of Podiebrad which is vtterly false and that Podiebrad preuailed by a faction of a few against the more powerfull of the States which is in it selfe absurd brands Pope Calixtus his approbation for neuer was any King chosen with more vniuersal applause But admit all that true the Conclusion to be proued is That the Kingdome did descend in right to a Daughter and so after Podiebrad the sonne of Cassimir was admitted to vse his owne words The kingdome did returne to the ordinary succession de Iure was it ordinary that the younger did succeed Was not Anne married to the Duke of Saxe the Elder and heyre if there were a right of Succession Was Anne deposed by any Emperour or any Decree against her if not what clayme had the sonne of Elizabeth against his Aunt and her issue And how by the right and vigour of their priuiledges did the kingdome appertaine to the younger in bloud But we see these daughters Titles pieced up to confirme the claime of Ferdinand by Anne the sister of Ladislaus which hee at his owne Election durst not trust vnto Lastly he preferres to vs the Letters or Bulls of Fredericke Charles Ferdinand and Vladislâ—us to entaile the Kingdome to the Princes of the bloud but none of these to the next in bloud which formes a succession but at large that any of the bloud may be chosen and to that of greatest force which seemes exclusiue when none of the bloud shall remaine the words following are or by any other meanes when the Crowne shall bee voyd which must needs be by death of any in possession But we say that in the golden Bull of Charles he not onely excepts his Kingdom of Bohemia and the right of the States to choose their King whomsoeuer they will Onaph Aurea Bulla 431. in any vacancy but also confirmes that right so that no Constitution Regall nor Imperiall Aurea Bulla pag. 481. shall bee of force against it and this in words direct and vehement So that whatsoeuer could follow for the aduantage of any particular House could not preiudice an Ancient and Fundamentall Right of a whole Kingdome and the practice hereof is the safest and best Interpretor I haue presented the Truth naked and simply If it do any man seruice I am glad if not I am glad that I haue learned it for my selfe FINIS
aderat variantibus as yet no mention make of any right in the daughters Tobias Bechinus who fauoured the strangers sons of Albert to crosse the aduerse party who would not accept them saith Quando non alium Regem quam Boemum creare libet Regiaque progenies in Boemia planê deficiat reuert amur ad Pagum stadium vnde Primislaus ex rustico priamus in Boemia factus est Princeps atque indidem nos quoque Regem nobis adciscamus Yet that was not his desire but onely to diuert the Election which vtterly ouerthrowes the pretended Contract with the house of Austria for hee being of that party should haue pleaded it if he had knowne it or had thought it of force not haue returned to an originall Election which fully annihilated the Contract but it seems Tobias knew nothing of it And so hee also reiects the sisters for that was his end esteeming them no heyres though they were ex progeniê Regia concluded they might lawfully elect a stranger in bloud This motion was reiected not that they might elect a stranger but because the other side vnderstood his craft that he would obtrude a German hatefull to the Bohemians and so he was commanded without further Prefaces to nominate one in a faire Election He as Chamberlayne of Boheme prefers first Rodolph and then his brother Fredericke sonnes of Albert Quo audito Crussina Lychtemburgus Quousque tandem inquit nobis ingeres tuos Germanos Regum nostrorum parricidas nec plura locutus stringit gladium Thobiam transfodit The next day the two sisters Anna married to Carinthia Elizabeth a maid come into the Court not as heyres or ant ve sui haberi rationem ne velut alienae a Regno praetereantur And Henry the Husband of Anne vvas chosen King but he could not hold it for the Emperour stood for his Sonne not by a Contract but as preuayling in Election and vpon that onely grounds his Title to place him by force Caefare alacriter instante ne filius sâ—ns qui priores partes in suffragijs tulerat posteriores in Regno acquirendo ferret He enters Bohemia vvith an Army Henry of Carinthia and his wife giue way and so he fortifies the election of Rodolph and Crownes him a meere stranger in bloud or other title but the Election pretended Rodolph dies Dubrauius reekons Fredoricke as elected other doe not and Henrie of Carinthia returnes with his Wife In which interim the Emperour endeuors the Election of Fredericke his second sonne but is slaine before hee could effect it and then these were receiued with great Ioy After three or foure yeares the Bohemians grew weary of Henries gouernment and sent Ambassadors to Henry of Luxenburgh then Emperor to send his sonne Iohn to marry Elizabeth the yonger sister to Anne and Wenceslaus the seuenth and that they would elect him King The Emperor accepts it and married Iohn at Spire The Bohemians deposed Henry for ill gouernment as Bartoldus notes Geor. Barthold pag. 24. Hunc Boemi sibi Regem deligunt sed quia male administrauit miserune ad Caesarem Henricum sextum Legatos suos So was Iohn of Luxenburgh Elected a stranger also in bloud for he could pretend no right by his wife in Succession Anne the elder sister liuing Concerning the contract made betweene Boheme and Austria the elder stories speake nothing of it Albert of Austria declared not the pretence Dubrau p. 180. but strengthens the Election of his owne sonnes by making a faction by mariage of Elizabeth the widdow of Venceslaus And Hieronimo Canini in his history of the Election of the Roman Kings Hieron Canini pag. 211. cites that such an accord was made That for want of heyres in eyther House the other should succeed but withall notes Encore que le Royaume soyt a l'Election des Barons des seigneurs du pays which beeing cleerely confessed an accord made betweene them for their owne aduantage to the preiudice of the freedome of Bohemia could not be auaileable nor was euer confirmed by practice in succession Iohn of Luxenburgh is chosen and is a great Prince he begins indeed to seeke to establish the Kingdome in his Lyne and in his life-time practiseth to exchange it with Lewis Duke of Bauare which it is like he affected to leaue them to the fortune of Election which is a taeite confession of the right in the States to Elect when it was reuealed to the Bohemians they tooke it in so ill part that hee should by a secret practice infringe their liberty or seeme to haue right to obtrude a King vpon them at his choyce that they almost reuolted against him and would not be reconciled vntill a copy of the treaty was shewed that he did nothing but with reseruation of the consent of the States to confirme it The words of Dubrauiuâ— are considerable Dubrau p. 193. Sed longè omnium maximuÌ„ odiuÌ„ sibi ab omnibus or dinibus conflauit inchoatâ cuÌ„ Lodonico permutatione qua regnuÌ„ pro Bauariae principatu commutare voluit At Boemi in deteriorem partem interpretati funt quasi illos Rex vendere Germanis prodcre cuperet Ergo omnes in vnum conspirant vt pereant potius quam non perdant illos qui ad exitium Patriae corum immineant At que haec turba maior visa quam vt pacart vel ipso rege praesente potuerit nisi pacata esset spes de retinendo ei regno decollabat So that this feare of Iohn confesseth a forfeiture and a power to depose him and then hee procures the Emperor to come in person to the Confines of Bohemia where at the towne of Luticium the Emperor thus excuses the King Illic in maxima Bohemorum frequentia Regem illorum de tam graui suspitione qualem de illo haberent testimonio suo expurgat pactionemque illis quam cum Rege inire caeperat scriptum ostendit in qua diserte aperteque appositum erat ita illaÌ„ ratam firmam fore si communi Bohemorum assensu confirmata fuerit So iealous were they then of their right that nothing could appease them but the sight of his owne agnition of the validity of their consent in transferring the kingdome Iohn caused his sonne Charles Dubrau P. 201. to bee admitted Marquesse of Morauia in his life time an halfe election as in the Empire the King of Romans and a step to the kingdome And indeed he was so fauoured of the Bohemians for his valour witte and skill in tongues that his admittance was easily procured yea hee was so fauoured of the Bohemians Idem 202. that his Father suspected and feared him Soone after hee was chosen King of the Romanes at Bon and now it was not easie for the Bohemians to refuse him if they would for he preuailed in vniuersall loue Charles in his life laboured all he could to settle the Kingdome in his issue and to that end in confirming the
priuiledges of Fredericke the Emperour inserts a Clause of exposition to his owne aduantage which cannot extend beyond the Text But 8. yeeres after establishing the succession of all the Electors he expects expressely the Kingdome of Bohemia and the free Election of the States Onuphirus Aure Bulla p. 431. not when the heyres royall should faile as they pretend but vvhen the Crowne shall be vacant quemcunque voluerunt as is notorious in Bulla aurea His sonne Venceslaus was admitted but he gouerned ill and left the kingdome in trouble by the Hussites and Zisca After 12 years Sigismund his brother enters by force Dubrau p. 243. the kingdom weakened and torne in peeces by ciuill dissention takes the Crown and hauing only one daughter Elizabeth married to Albert of Austria Geor. Barthold pag. 29. AEn Syl. p. 54 Sigismund on his death-bedde conuocates the States takes care for the election presents Albert his sonne in Law Albertum Austriae Ducem generum suum esse virtute praestantem gener is nobilitate sublimem cum se non minus amare quam filium successorem itaque suum nominare rogare supremam voluntatem suam exequantur beatum id regnum fore vbi Albertus imperauer it Here are reasons of conuenience of Nobility of Vertue and hee nominates a Successor to their choyce which he could not doe nor they refuse if Elizabeth his daughter should succeed in right and so Albert is chosen a stranger in bloud Dubrau p. 266. Albert hath 3. children Ladislaus Pastunus was admitted King but he was a Childe and therefore the States offered the Kingdome to Albert of Bauaria hee refuseth it vpon Conditions of Religion That hee would not be bound to admitte the Chalice in the Sacrament which was required not considering at all the right of Ladislaus Ibid. Then they offer it to Fredericke the Emperour as Tutor but among the Ambassadors Ptasco no friend to Albertus father of Ladislaus perswades the Emperor to make himselfe King of Bohemia as the first of the house of Austria but he refuseth both the ones Counsell and the generall offer of Tutorship and recommits it wholly to the Bohemians as hauing best vnderstanding and interest in their owne affaires In this Interraigne Podiebradius consults of calling home Ladislaus now in the hands of Fredericke for it seemes eyther he bredd him Dubrau p. 271 or was retired to him and after deliberation concludes to receiue him vpon conditions and at his entrance they giue him the oath Ibid. 272. Quo praestito capita deinde libertatum ab omnibus ordinibus missa exhibet c. Hee dyes vvithout Issue and leaues two sisters Anne the Eldest married to William Duke of Saxe Elizabeth to Cassimer King of Poland Ladislaus finding himselfe stroken with Death calls Podiebradius and foreseeing in the affections of the Bohemians who should be Elected Georg. Bartold pag. 30. neuer thinkes of his sisters as in any right nor once mentions them but mihi moriendum est Regnum in tua manuerit Duo te peto vti prouinciales iuste regas c. alterum vt qui me secuti sunt ex Austria caeterisque prouincijs in Patriam suam inuiolatos remittas Podiebradius modestly seemes to decline it excuseth and hopes the King shal recouer neuer for a Complement once mentions any heyre sister or kinred of the King which he could not in manners doe nor with safety omit if they had had right and the King who should maintaine their Interest yet aliue But Ladislaus sets his eyes onely vpon Podiebrad Promitte quod cupio nam me mori certum est Ladislaus eyes and Podibradius beeing Gouernour calls the Assembly for Election The French King stands a meere stranger in bloud and his Ambassadors come to Prage but because they vvere vnwilling to admit a stranger they resolued to finish the Election before the French had audience The manner of the Election is recorded by Dubrauius especially Locus eligendo Regi in domo Praetoria veteris vrbis constitutus where after first solemnely going to the Church Rokickzanus makes an Oration to perswade them not to looke vpon any Stranger nor Germane Among themselues he first propounds the Gouernor Podiebradius whose Armes had defended their Liberties or if they disliked him and thought no Bohemian eminent enough nor worthy of so high aduancement he counsells a new way of gouernment vtterly to relinquish a Monarchy Aut hunc Regem esse nominandum aut si nemo inter Boemos tanto fastigio dignus censeatur Haebreo more duodecim Iudicis assumendos qui Populum Boemum aequo Iure gubernarent Hinc in Praetorium itum tam foris quam intus prius acclamantum quam decretū VIVAT REX GEORGIVS Here is a solemn Election on and therein a proposition to change the gouernemen into Aristocracy and lastly a stranger in bloud to the Crowne of Bohemia Elected the daughters and sisters of the two last Kings not once in question And George held the Crowne of Bohemia to his death and this Election and Coronation of George was confirmed by Calixtus the Pope which no Aussrian dare say hee would haue done in iniury of the true heyre or their House George Podiebrad had three sonnes Idem 281. two liued at his death yet in his last meditations hee durst not once cast his eyes vpon any of them His words are Idem 289. Nollem autem quantum in me situm est libenter committere which implies he had no interest in designing an heyre but by way of Counsayle vt post obitum meum ipsum Regnum in aliquod diserimen adduceretur propter dubium regni successorem proin scire aueo quidn◠in hac causa agere quemuè Regem vobis legare destinaneritis Respondentibus nullam ipso Rege su perstite successoris faciendam esse mentionem perhaps to preuent the preiudice iealous to preserue their right entire instabat auidus donec ab ill it extorqueret non adme dum sibi gratam sententiam qua se dicerent sentire apud Polonos Regem esse quaerendum cum quibus linguae moribus non multùm dissentirent They expresse their reasons for likenesse of manners and language without any mentioning a right by the second daughter of Albert which they could not doe without iniury to Anne the Elder sister married to Saxe Podebradius with this answer was dismaid for thogh he durst not expresse it hee had strong hopes and designes for his owne sonnes but knowing the right of free Election and hauing discouered their affections in the little pause hee had of life neuer sought to alter the Inclination of the Bohemians but prouided onely to leaue his sonnes rich and possessing them with the mooueables of the Kingdome commanded them to retire to the Castle of Podiebrad A solemne Parliament is held for the Election Matthias King of Hungarie stands and is ready to threaten vvith an Army and hath a party