GERMANY. 4Q3 
chided liimfcd-f in the retirement of his. palace, till he 
%vas feized with a ditbi der which put a period to his life, 
ill the fifty-ninth year of his age, and tlie thii ty-lixtli of 
his reign, A. D. 1612. 
Matthias, having received his brother’s diadem from 
the electors, fixed liis refidcnce at Vienna, and exerted 
hinifelt to rc-eftablilh the tranquillity of the empire. 
This he in a great meafure effected ; and lie had alfo the 
good fortune to perfuade the PeiTians and Rullians to 
piarticipate the burthen of a war againfi the Turks. But, 
by his procuring the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia 
tor his coutin Ferdinand, he ocsafioned much ditlurb- 
ance and efi'ufion of blood. Ferdinand had no fooner 
received the feeptre of'Bohemia, than he declared him- 
felf inimical to the fedlaries, who were i-ery numerous 
in that kingdom ; and both tlie proteftants and catholics 
foon perceived that his grand objcCf was to weaken their 
parties, for the purpot'e of obtaining abfolute authority. 
A general revolt was the confequence of this difeovery ; 
and, though the emperor allitled his coufin with the 
bravefl troops of Germany, the Bohemians defended 
themfelves with extraordinary refolution, and often 
caufed the viftory to be doubtful. After this conflidl: 
had continued fome time, the dates of Silefia entered 
into an alliance with the Bohemians; which meafure 
proved the fource of a war that ravaged Germany du¬ 
ring the fpace of thirty years. This misfortune;, toge¬ 
ther with the lols of his emprefs, and the obvious dif- 
content of the Auflrians, had fuch an eftedf upon Mat¬ 
thias, that he funk into a languifliing diftemper, which 
terminated his life in the fixty-third year of his age and 
the eighth of his reign, A. D. 1619. 
Upon the demife of Matthias, the imperial crown w’as 
oflered to Maximilian duke of Bavaria ; but he pru¬ 
dently refufed a prefent which mull inevitably have fub- 
jecSled him to the vengeance of the houfe of Audria; 
and, after fome time, Ferdinand II. was proclaimed 
king of the Romans w’ith the accudomed ceremonies. 
The Bohemians were fo highly exafperated at this elec¬ 
tion, that they renounced all allegiance to Ferdinand, 
and bedowed his diadem upon Frederic, the elector pa¬ 
latine. That prince prevailed on the kings of Sweden 
and Denmark to cfpoufe his caufe; but, while he re¬ 
mained in expectation of tlieir aflidance, he was totally 
defeated by the imperialilts, put under the ban of the 
empire, and deprived of all his dates. Gabor alfo, 
whom the emperor had, in a moment of difficulty, ac¬ 
knowledged as king of Hungary, was now compelled to 
refign his regal dignity; the king of Denmark w^as de- 
fpoiled of his Germanic pofiefiions, and confined within 
his pridine boundaries; and Mansfeld, the gallant gene¬ 
ral who had long nourilhed the martial ardour of the 
Bohemians, tell a viiStiin to unconquerable grief. 
Thefe fucceffive advantages feemed to promife Ferdi¬ 
nand a happy triumph; but his hopes proved illufive, 
and a tremendous dorm foon followed the fun-fliine of 
lecurity; for now commenced the thirty years war, 
which aimed at the total extirpation of the protedants. 
J he court of Vienna, emboldened by fuccefs, was the 
hid to avow their defign of fiippreliing the protedant 
religion, extinguifliing the liberties of the empire, and 
Hcndering the imperial diadem hereditary in the houfe 
of Audria. Germany confeqnently began to tremble 
with the apprehenfion of a llavilh fubjeCtion; the pro. 
teftants more efpecially took the aiarm ; and cardinal 
Richelieu, anxious to humble the Audrian greatnefs, 
excited the public inquietude, and fomented the difeon- 
tent of Gudavus Adolphus king of Sweden, who had 
been infiilted by the emperor. Richelieu’s plans were 
attended with complete fuccefs. The protedants and 
catholics, laying afide their theological dil'putes, con- 
fpired togetiier for the diminution of Ferdinand’s power; 
the courts ot h ranee and Fingland cheerfully embarked 
in the fame caufe; and Gudavus rufhed, with the iinpe- 
tuofity of a torrent, into Germany, 
■Voh.VlII. No.520. 
Having made hirafelf maker of feveral places of im¬ 
portance, and engaged in a treaty with the landgrave of 
Hefle and the electors of Saxony and Branden'ourg, Gui- 
tavus made preparations for engaging count Tilly, ge¬ 
neral of the imperial forces, who was then encamped in 
the fields ot Leipfic. Accordingly the two armies (each 
confiding of about forty thoufand men) were drawn up 
in order of battle, and a mod obflinate conflict enfued . 
but viiftory declared in favour of the Swedes and their 
allies, and tiic imperialids were defeated, with tlie lof's 
of feven thoufand fix luindredmen, befidesfive thoiifand 
wlio were taken prifoners. One hundred pair of colours 
and many dandards, together witli all the baggage and 
artillery, fell into the hands of the conquerors. Tlie im¬ 
mediate confequence of this victory was the reduftion 
of Leipfic, which had been long wreded from the eleftor 
of Saxony; and Gudavus extended his conqueds with 
fuch furprifing rapidity, that he foon made himfelf 
mader of the wiiole country from the Elbe to the Rhine, 
comprehending a fpace of near one hundred leagues, full 
of fortified towns, iirfort in Thuringia, Wirtzbiu'g, 
and all the drong places of Franconia, eluded his rt- 
fentment, by timely fubmiilions; Mentz furrendered, 
after a diort refidance ; and the victorious prince erected 
a pyramid upon the banks of the Rhine, that poderity 
might know how far he had condudted his heroic fol¬ 
lowers. 
Thefe fuccelTes were followed, ia 1632, by a general 
revolution in fav'our of the conqueror; and Ferdinand 
favv himfelf in danger of being befieged in his own capi¬ 
tal, or chafed for ever from his dominions. In this ex- 
tremity his miniders reprefented, that the mod prudent 
expedient for re-e dab lifting his affairs would be to de¬ 
prive Tilly of his command, and bedow it upon a ge¬ 
neral of fuperior ability. This advice was accepted ; 
and Waldein duke of Fridland, who had been unjuftly 
difgraced, wuis now recalled to defend his country. But 
notwithflanding this regulation, and the fubfequent ex¬ 
ertions of the emperor, Gudavus continued to enlarge 
his conquells; and tlie wreath of laurel which adorned 
his brow feemed to acquire freft verdure in every en¬ 
gagement. Having reduced a confiderablc part of Fran¬ 
conia, and exprelfed his intention of penetrating into 
Bavaria, he received intelligence that Tilly had prepared 
to difpute the paffage of the Leek ; but he perfilled in 
his delign, and opened fuch a prodigious fire upon the 
imperial regiments, that they were foon difperfed with 
dreadful llaughter, and Tilly himfelf was mortally 
wounded. 
While Gudavus was employed in the reduction of. 
Munich, Waldein reduced all Bohemia under the domi¬ 
nion of the emperor; but the recollcftion of his private 
wrongs predominated in his mind, and he obdinateiy 
refufed to adopt fuch meafures as might have facilitated 
the redoration of a general peace. He even permitted 
his troops to ravage the Upper Palatinate, as it it luid 
been an enemy’s country; and indead of attacking the 
Swedes while they were greatly inferior to him in num¬ 
bers, he contented himfelf with cutting off their con¬ 
voys, and interrupting their foraging parties. Mean¬ 
while Gudavus received fuch numerous reinforcements, 
that he foon found himfelf at the head of lixty thoufand 
men, and made immediate preparations for attacking 
the imperialids in their camp. An engagement accord¬ 
ingly enfued, in which both parties diffinguifhed them¬ 
felves by extraordinary exertions for the fpace of ten 
hours : but, though every regiment in the Swedifh army 
marched up to the attack in its turn, Gudavus found 
it utterly impoflible to force the intrenchments; and he 
therefore refolved to effefluate a retreat. 
After this rencontre, Gudavus marched to Naumburg, 
where he received intelligence tha^ Papenheim had been 
detached from the imperial army to conduCl fix regi¬ 
ments to Cologne; and that Waldein had retired to Lut- 
zen, at the didance of two leagues from Leipfic. 'Fhe 
6 K ■ king 
