to formally notify them of the death of Emperor Matthias. Informally, he would discuss the Bohemian revolt. Secretly, he negotiated with Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria and other Catholic princes about military assistance to the Catholic League, in view of the impending war. In the same year, he undertook a second mission, to the spiritual electors, to prepare the election of Ferdinand II as the next emperor. He also visited Elector Palatine Frederick V, even though the court in Vienna already knew that Frederick was about to play an important role in the Bohemian revolt. Gundakar was present when Ferdinand was elected and continued to accompany him. He negotiated with the Upper Austrian Estates about their position with regards to the Bohemian revolt. The Austrians did not formally break with Bohemia. After the Imperial victory, Gundakar was tasked with punishing the supporters of the rebellion in Upper Austria. From 1621, he was a secret councillor and a close political adviser to the Emperor. Especially in the period before 1626, he was influential as the leader of the Privy Council. After 1625, he was Obersthofmeister. However, he was displaced from that position by Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, who was a supporter of Wallenstein and leader of the "Spanish" party at the court. This turned Gundakar into an enemy of Wallenstein. He authored several studies and two "Mirrors for princes". He proposed the creation of a Knight academy and argued for a reform of the administration. He also demanded that the state should promote the economy, in the sense of the early mercantilism, in order to increase tax revenue. This was apparently inspired by Giovanni Botero and other contemporary political theorists. Besides his official writings, he also published a work on the bridling of horses. In 1623, he was raised to the rank of hereditary Imperial Prince. Counter-Reformation His ideology was anti-Machiavellian and he was influenced by the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He donated gifts to many churches and monasteries and imposed Catholicism on his possessions. He created a staged surveillance apparatus to control the faith in his lands. This allowed him to displace Protestantism from his eastern Moravian possessions, despite resistance of the population. Possessions When his father's inheritance was divided in 1598, he received the lordships Wilfersdorf and Ringelsdorf. In 1601, he issued a regulation for his subjects. He was so wealthy that he could grant loans to the state. Like his