"
The pope, pressed with all the importunity which Ferdinand could urge,
reluctantly consented to the administration of the cup to the laity, but
resolutely refused to tolerate the marriage of the clergy. Ferdinand was
excessively annoyed by the stubbornness of the court of Rome in its
refusal to submit to the most reasonable reform, thus rendering it
impossible for him to allay the religious dissensions which were still
spreading and increasing in acrimony. His disappointment was so great
that it is said to have thrown him into the fever of which he died on
the 25th of July, 1564.
For several ages the archdukes of Austria had been endeavoring to unite
the Austrian States with Hungary and Bohemia under one monarchy. The
union had been temporarily effected once or twice, but Ferdinand
accomplished the permanent union, and may thus be considered as the
founder of the Austrian monarchy essentially as it now exists. As
Archduke of Austria, he inherited the Austrian duchies. By his marriage
with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, he
secured those crowns, which he made hereditary in his family. He left
three sons. The eldest, Maximilian, inherited the archduchy of Austria
and the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, of course inheriting, with
Hungary, prospective war with the Turks.
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