Editing Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Power struggle among Habsburg brothers===
[[File:Lucas van Valckenborch - Portrait as Archduke in harness in full figure, with a general's staff.jpg|thumb|Matthias portrait as Archduke in armour and general's staff, by [[Lucas van Valckenborch]], 1579 ]]
With great concern, the Habsburgs observed the increasing [[depression (mood)|psychological decline]] of the ageing emperor. After Ernest's death in 1595, Matthias became the oldest [[archduke]]. From 1599 onward, Matthias in vain urged the childless emperor to arrange his succession, as Matthias was rejected. The crisis carried on in 1604 during the [[Bocskai uprising|uprising]] of [[Stephen Bocskai]] in Hungary. Matthias initially avoided an argument with the emperor, but Bishop Klesl urged him to take command in the [[Brothers' Quarrel]] with Rudolf. In November 1600 at [[Schottwien]], Archdukes Matthias, Maximilian and [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand]] signed an agreement of concerted opposition against the emperor. In 1606, they declared Rudolf insane (document dated 25 April), appointed Matthias as the head of the family and began to oust Rudolf. It was Matthias, not the emperor, who had brokered the [[Peace of Zsitvatorok]] with the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] and in 1606 had [[Treaty of Vienna (1606)|ended the conflict in Hungary]] by granting freedom of religion in Hungary and guaranteed the right of [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania]] to elect its own independent princes in the future.<ref name=bab/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Matthias and Rudolf II: the beginning of the Bruderzwist |url=https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/matthias-and-rudolf-ii-beginning-bruderzwist |last=Martin Mutschlechner |publisher=Die Welt der Habsburger |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref>

As unrest resurfaced in Hungary and spread into parts of [[Margraviate of Moravia|Moravia]] and Austria, Matthias attempted to use the opposition in the power struggle against the emperor. He joined the rebellious [[Diet of Hungary]] and the Lower and Upper Austrian estates in [[Bratislava|Pressburg]] in 1608 and in Moravia shortly later. In April 1608, Matthias marched on [[Prague]] and besieged the city. Although he could not fully win over the Bohemian estates, he forced Rudolf to negotiate and to sign a peace treaty in June 1608, which unsurprisingly resulted in the redistribution of power. Rudolf kept Bohemia, Silesia and [[March of Lusatia|Lusatia]], and Matthias received Hungary, Austria and Moravia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matthias an ambitious archduke as political adventurer |url=https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/matthias-ambitious-archduke-political-adventurer |last=Martin Mutschlechner |publisher=Die Welt der Habsburger |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref>

However, the takeover of power did not proceed according to customary protocol. Matthias, as the new sovereign, had not guaranteed the privileges of the estates before they officially paid homage to him. He tried to reverse the order, which led to the so-called ''Homage Dispute''. As most of the estates were Protestant in Austria and Moravia, their nobles then formed the powerful [[Horner Confederation]] (Horner Bund) and paid homage only after a guarantee of their religious rights. The Horner Confederation continued to exist until the beginning of the [[Thirty Years' War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horn: town of insurgent Estates |url=https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/horn-town-insurgent-estates |last=Martin Mutschlechner |publisher=Die Welt der Habsburger |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Coxe1847">{{Cite book |last=William Coxe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYcAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR7 |title=History of the House of Austria, from the Foundation of the Monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the Death of Leopold II: 1218 to 1792: In Three Volumes |publisher=G. Bohn |year=1847 |pages=7–}}</ref>