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
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
hee complaines and Otho the brother of Suatopulcos renewes a pretence First Boreuoy treates by his Embassadors to perswade his yonger Brother to resigne Responsom huic a Vladislao huiusmodi retulit non esse rem priuatam quam Boriuorius peteret Dubrau p. 91. sed ad vniversi populi suffragium illam pertinere proin haud ab vno fratre sed ab omnibus ordinibus principatum esse ambiendum The Bohemians adhere truely to their owne Election ouerthrew Otho in Battaile Cosm Prag pag. 62. and after Vladislaus by the Emperours deliuery gets Boreuoy into his power and all his friends Hee dyes and Sobieslaus his yongest brother is chosen Otho niger againe pretends quia aetate prior esset but is reiected Sobieslaus had foure sonnes Vladislaus the first Dubrau p. 9â— Sobieslaus the second Vdalricus the third Wenceslaus the fourth These should haue succeeded the Father if succession had preuailed but Vladislaus his Nephew the sonne of his Brother Vladislaus euen by the fauor of Sobieslaus his Vncle against his owne Children and by the Emperors helpe was designed Prince of Bohemia and by the Emperor crowned the second King But the Bohemians because hee was yonger in yeares then Conrad his Cozen Germane the sonne of Leopold son of Otho And because his Election was not formall Dubrau p. 10â— ac Caesaris potius quam Boemorum Principem quando non in Bohemia sed in curia Caesaris Princeps sit creatus Throno deijciunt in locum eius Conradum substituunt But the Emperour Fredericke fauouring Vladislaus restor'd him by force and his sonne Fredericke succeeded but was after also expulsed and Vdalricus the third sonne of Sobieslaus the 30th Prince chosen his elder brethren being neglected He was Cozen German halfe remooued from Fredericke He dying his next elder brother Sobieslaus succeeded and now Fredericke had againe gotten possession was againe expulled After which Conradus the sonne of Leopold forenamed was a new declared Prince of Bohemia suffragijs primorum or dinum Dubrau P. 126. Fredericke was againe restored and Conrad expulsed and then Fredericke dying though hee had fower brethren aliue Albert Suatopulk Premislans and Vladislaus which should all haue taken place in true succession Conradus was in his absence declared Prince ab ordinibus Bohemia Dubrau p. 130. After his death Venceslans the son of Otho niger younger brother to Suatopulcus his Cozen but preferred before many neerer the Succession was Elected Prince Him Primislaus expulsed but fearing his returne hee quitted Prage And Wenceslaus in his returne died leauing a Sonne called Spitigneus vacante principali sede Henricus the second Sonne of Brecislaus the sixe and twentieth Bishop of Prage diem comitiorum habendorum Praga indicit Dubrau P. 132. candida tumque in illo principatus pro spitigenio pupillo agit Boemi parumper deliberantes ipsum Henricum vnanimi assensu magnaque voce Principem Boemiae pronuntiant Heere also was a succession interrupted by the free Election not onely Spitigneus the sonne of the last Wenceslaus reiected because a childe but Henry preferred before all the Sons of Vladislaus the second King of Bohemia Henry not long after falls sicke and assembles all the Nobility declaring vnto them his desire to resigne the Principality of Bohemia Dubr u p. 134. Datque ill is potestatem eligendi Principis quemcunque voluerint but the Bohemians hoping on his recouery would not proceed to a new Election and so he remained Prince to his death Being dead de successione in comitijs ab ordinibus variatum Dubrau p. 135. at last they Elected Vladislaus yonger brother to Primislaus once before in possession and fift sonne of Vladislaus the second King two elder Brethren at least aliue He resigned in fiue moneths to Primislaus his brother who was Elected Prince Dubr Genealog Page 139. being of the second venter by the Landgraues daughter and his elder brethren and their children for any thing appeares being refused And this Priâ—â—slaus was crowned the third King of Bohemia by the Emperour Philip at Mentz de omnium quae aderant sententia Anno 1199. Thus it is euident from Bretislaus the 22. to this Primislaus Ottocarus the thirtieth in which are seuenteene changes no kinde of succession hath taken place but that the yonger brother that beene preferred before the elder the vncle before the Nephew the yonger house before the elder and many Princes deposed for misgouernment or want of forme in true election After Primislaus foure Kings are pretended to succeed to Wenceslaus the seauenth King But Primislaus causeth his sonne Wenceslaus to be crowned in his life-time and Dubrauius notes it pag. 139. that he was carefull of his owne house Exin rebus suis domi intentas Venceslaum silium etiamsi puerum regem coronat which hee needed not haue done had he Ius successionis and was easie for him to doe being in possession When hee died his friends concealed it and his sonne Ottocarus entred with an army and so was admitted Idem 157. Propter frequentiam comitatus qui eum ex Austria Styria Morauia comitabantur ita plerisque metuendus quia armatus vener at Hee was Marquesse of Morauia established in his Fathers life time and because hee was not then admitted to the Crowne by Election it seemes he entred armed which hee needed not doe to his Inheritance He was slaine in the battell of Laua and his sonne Venceslaus a Childe was admitted in his Infancy in honour of the Father ex consensu omnium Ordinum Idem 16â— cura fouendi illius ad Marchionem Brandeburgum The Marquesse abuseth the trust and carries him away At 15. yeares of age he is restored to the Bohemians for a summe of mony not till now was he chosen King which I inferre out of Dubranius Idem 169. Inter catera ab omnibus acclamantum est Aduenisti tandem desiderabilis quem tam diu ex pectabamus Ottogari ô inclytaproles which insinuates the loue of the father nihil videlicet tum Otthogari nomine clarius nihil ad conciliandum omnium ordinem fauorem efficacius which implyes the Election by the States although the reason be rendred why they chose him for loue of the father yet still their fauour was the formall part of his admission Wenceslaus the 7. The stories mention not the manner his Admission King succeeded the Father in him ended the ancient Race of their Princes in all these no succession of right established He had 3. sisters Iudith eldest Anne Elizabeth the first married to Rupertus of Nassau the Emperors son the second to Henry of Carinthia the third yet a maid Dubrau p. 179. The States assemble in the Bishop of Prages house ad ius comitioruÌ„ summaque contentione de Rege eligendo certant alijs perigrinuÌ„ regem penitus aspernantibus alijs inter Rodulphum Caesaris Alberti filiuÌ„ Henricum ex Carinthia qui praesens
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