Editing Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Sovereign rule===
[[File:Matthias Krönung - Krönung und Salbung.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Imperial coronation of Matthias in Frankfurt, 1612]] 
[[File:Kaiser Matthias Schoener Brunnen Alt und Neu Wien 670.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Emperor Matthias at the ''Beautiful Spring'' (Schöner Brunnen)]]
Matthias was crowned King of Bohemia on 23 May 1611 and was, after Rudolf's death on 20 January 1612, [[1612 imperial election|elected]] [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. On 4 December 1611, he married his cousin Archduchess [[Anna of Tyrol|Anna of Austria]], but the union failed to produce children. Matthias allegedly fathered an illegitimate son, Matthias of Austria, by an unknown mother.<ref name=bio/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eigentliche Contrafactur aller underschiedlichen Acten wie Ihre Kon. M. in Hungarn den 23 May Anno 1611 Zum Konig in Bohmen ist gekront worden. |url=http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-88731 |last=Franz Hogenberg |publisher=Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref>

The court and the administration were gradually moved from Prague to Vienna after 1612. The new emperor was less interested in art than Rudolf II had been, and most court artists soon turned their backs on his court. Matthias maintained, however, a close relationship with the painter [[Lucas van Valckenborch]]. For the private crown of his brother Rudolf II, he had a sceptre and an orb made. The emperor's wife founded the [[Capuchin Church, Vienna|Capuchin Church]] and the [[Imperial Crypt]] in Vienna as the future burial site of the Habsburg family. Matthias had allegedly found a spring in the area of today's [[Schönbrunn Palace]]. It is said that it became the eponymous name of the area and the palace from his remark: "Look, what a beautiful spring" (beautiful: ''schön'', spring: ''Brunn[en]'').

After Matthias's imperial accession, his kingship was dominated by Klesl, who hoped to bring about a compromise between [[Catholic]] and Protestant states within the [[Holy Roman Empire]] to strengthen the empire. Matthias had already been forced to grant religious concessions to Protestants in Austria and Moravia, as well as in Hungary, when he had allied with them against Rudolf. Matthias imprisoned Georg [[House of Keglević|Keglević]], the [[Commander-in-chief]], [[General]], Vice-[[Ban (title)|Ban]] of Croatia, [[Kingdom of Slavonia|Slavonia]] and Dalmatia and since 1602 [[baron]] in Transylvania, but soon freed again. The [[Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]] was a fully-autonomous area of Hungary but under the nominal [[suzerainty]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]], where it was the time of the [[Sultanate of Women]].<ref name="Wilson2009" />

Matthias's conciliatory policies were opposed by the more intransigent Catholic Habsburgs, particularly Matthias's brother Archduke [[Maximilian III of Austria|Maximilian]], who hoped to secure the succession for the inflexible Catholic Archduke Ferdinand, [[Oñate treaty|who later became]] Emperor [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]]. The Protestant Bohemians were concerned [[Letter of Majesty|about their religious freedom]] and so fiercely opposed all Catholic officials who were appointed by Matthias, particularly Archduke Ferdinand, who was elected King of Bohemia in June 1617. The dispute came to a head in the [[Defenestrations of Prague|Bohemian Protestant revolt]], which provoked Matthias to imprison Klesl and to revise his policies. However, he was old and ailing and was unable to prevent Maximilian's faction from taking over. He died of natural causes at 62 on 20 March 1619. Ferdinand, who had already been crowned King of Bohemia (1617) and of Hungary (1618), succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defenestration of Prague |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Defenestration-of-Prague-1618 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Habsburg Rule of the Czech Lands |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/cz-history-habsburg.htm |publisher=Global Security |access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Maag2016">{{Cite book |last=Karin Maag |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nsSlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=The Reformation in Eastern and Central Europe |date=5 December 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-88307-8 |pages=72–}}</ref>