Page 77 - All About History - Issue 28-15

What was it like?
PRAGUE, 1576

Education
With Rudolf II taking the crown in
1575, sciences flourished in Prague.
In particular, alchemy and astronomy
became synonymous with the town,
and famous names visited him in court,
such as Johannes Kepler. It’s rumoured
that Rudolf II sought eternal youth, but
when alchemist Edward Kelly failed to
change a base metal into gold, he was
thrown into jail.
Art

Art thrived during the reign of
Rudolf II. A great lover of all things
beautiful, Rudolf happily invited
dozens of artists and scholars to
visit him at court. He also brought
Government with him the introduction of
Mannerism to Prague, endowing
After the Habsburg dynasty took masterpieces in this style to the
over the Bohemian throne in 1525, galleries across the town.
inhabitants of Prague began to
revolt. Brutally suppressing these
revolutions, King Charles IV (and
later Rudolf II) revoked many
citizens’ political privileges. By 1576
it was an oppressive regime, and
the Defenestration of Prague in 1618 Religion
sparked the Thirty Years’ War. The Hussite movement in the previous century laid
the foundations for religious unrest, with frustrations
between Catholics and Protestants still prevalent in
1576. The relative peace wasn’t long lived, however,
and in 1618 the Protestants revolted, provoking the
start of the Thirty Years’ War.

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