He peremptorily ordered the Protestants to be silent, and to
cease their murmurings, or he would visit them with the most exemplary
punishment.
North-east of the duchy of Austria, and lying between the kingdoms of
Hungary and Bohemia, was the province of Moravia. This territory was
about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and its chief noble, or
governor, held the title of margrave, or marquis. Hence the province,
which belonged to the Austrian empire, was called the margraviate of
Moravia. It contained a population of a little over a million. The
nobles of Moravia immediately made common cause with those of Austria,
for they knew that they must share the same fate. Matthias was again
alarmed, and brought to terms. On the 16th of March, 1609, he signed a
capitulation, which restored to all the Austrian provinces all the
toleration which they had enjoyed under Maximilian II. The nobles then,
of all the States of Austria, took the oath of allegiance to Matthias.
The ambitious monarch, having thus for succeeded, looked with a covetous
eye towards Transylvania. That majestic province, on the eastern borders
of Hungary, being three times the size of Massachusetts, and containing
a population of about two millions, would prove a splendid addition to
the Hungarian kingdom.
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