The Kingdom of Bohemia was "an aristocratic republic in all but name", whose nobles elected the monarch. It was one of the few successful pluralist states. The country had enjoyed a long period of religious freedom, but in March 1619, on the death of Emperor Matthias, this seemed about to change. The Habsburg heir, Archduke Ferdinand, crowned King of Bohemia in 1617, was a fervent Catholic who brutally persecuted Protestants in his Duchy of Styria. The Bohemian nobles had to choose between "either accepting Ferdinand as their king after all or taking the ultimate step of deposing him". They decided on deposition, and, when others declined because of the risks involved, the Bohemians "pandered to the elector's royalist pretensions" and extended the invitation to Elizabeth's husband.
The Kingdom of Bohemia was "an aristocratic republic in all but name", whose nobles elected the monarch. It was one of the few successful pluralist states. The country had enjoyed a long period of religious freedom, but in March 1619, on the death of Emperor Matthias, this seemed about to change. The Habsburg heir, Archduke Ferdinand, crowned King of Bohemia in 1617, was a fervent Catholic who brutally persecuted Protestants in his Duchy of Styria. The Bohemian nobles had to choose between "either accepting Ferdinand as their king after all or taking the ultimate step of deposing him". They decided on deposition, and, when others declined because of the risks involved, the Bohemians "pandered to the elector's royalist pretensions" and extended the invitation to Elizabeth's husband.