Editing Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Rudolf2c.jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Engraving]] by [[Aegidius Sadeler]] (1603)]]
Historians have traditionally blamed Rudolf's preoccupation with the arts, occult sciences, and other personal interests for the political disasters of his reign.<ref name="hotson" /> More recently historians have re-evaluated that view and see his patronage of the arts and occult sciences as a triumph and key part of the Renaissance, and his political failures are seen as a legitimate attempt to create a unified Christian empire that was undermined by the realities of religious, political and intellectual disintegrations of the time.<ref name="hotson" />

Although raised in his uncle's [[Catholic]] court in Spain, Rudolf was tolerant of [[Protestantism]] and other religions including [[Judaism]].<ref name=marshall/> The tolerant policy by the empire towards the Jews would see Jewish cultural life flourishing, and their population increased under Rudolf's reign.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kieval |first=Hillel J. |date=1997 |title=Pursuing the Golem of Prague: Jewish Culture and the Invention of a Tradition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396572 |journal=Modern Judaism |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=5 |doi=10.1093/mj/17.1.1 |jstor=1396572 |issn=0276-1114}}</ref>
[[File:Martino Rota - Emperor Rudolf II in Armour - WGA20140.jpg|thumb|180px|Portrait of Rudolf II as a young man by [[Martino Rota]]]]
He largely withdrew from Catholic observances and even in death refused the last sacramental rites. He had little attachment to Protestants either, except as a counter-weight to papal policies. He put his primary support behind [[conciliarist]]s, [[irenicist]]s and [[humanists]]. When the papacy instigated the [[Counter-Reformation]] by using agents sent to his court, Rudolf backed those who he thought were the most neutral in the debate, not taking a side or trying to effect restraint. This led to political chaos and threatened to provoke civil war.<ref name=hotson/>

His conflict with the [[Ottoman Empire]] was the final cause of his undoing. Unwilling to compromise with the Ottomans and stubbornly determined that he could unify all of Christendom with a new [[crusade]], he started a long and indecisive war against the Ottomans in 1593.<ref>Craft, Kimberly L. (2011) ''The Private Letters of Countess Erzsébet Báthory'', pp. 73–74.</ref> The war lasted until 1606 and is known as the "[[Long Turkish War]]".<ref name=hotson/> 

By 1604, his Hungarian subjects were exhausted by the war and revolted, led by [[Stephen Bocskai]] ([[Bocskai uprising]]). In 1605, Rudolf was forced by his other family members to cede control of Hungarian affairs to his younger brother Archduke [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]. By 1606, Matthias had forged a difficult peace with the Hungarian rebels ([[Treaty of Vienna (1606)|Peace of Vienna]]) and the Ottomans ([[Peace of Zsitvatorok]]). 

Rudolf was angry with Matthias's concessions and saw them as giving away too much to further his hold on power. That made Rudolf prepare to start a new war against the Ottomans, but Matthias rallied support from the disaffected Hungarians and forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]] and [[Margraviate of Moravia|Moravia]] to him. Meanwhile, the Bohemian Protestants demanded greater religious liberty, which Rudolf granted in the ''[[Letter of Majesty]]'' in 1609. Bohemians continued to press for further freedoms, and Rudolf used his army to repress them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GHDI – Document |url=https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4501 |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=ghdi.ghi-dc.org}}</ref>

Bohemian Protestants then appealed to Matthias for help. His army held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague until 1611, when Rudolf ceded the crown of Bohemia, as well, to his brother.{{cn|date=October 2021}}