This event formed quite an accession
to the power of the Austrian monarch, as he now held all of Hungary save
the southern and central portion where the Turks had garrisoned the
fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, now sent
united ambassadors to the emperor urging him to summon the armies of the
empire and drive the Turks entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon
assured the emperor, in the name of the holy father of the Church, that
it was no sin to violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly
replied,
"The faith of treaties ought to be considered as inviolable, and a
Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath."
Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being anxious to secure
the tranquillity of his extended realms after his death, he had his
eldest son, Rhodolph, in a diet at Presburg, crowned King of Hungary.
Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his realm as viceroy
during the life of his father. Thus he would have all the reins of
government in his hands, and, at the death of the emperor, there would
be no apparent change.
It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence and treachery,
wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing their sovereign,
and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary monarchy.
Pages:
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276