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757:. A Prague police report in 2004 concluded after forensic research that at least one other person was involved in Masaryk's death. This report was seemingly corroborated in 2006 when a Russian journalist said that his mother knew the Russian intelligence officer who defenestrated Masaryk. However, a more recent investigation opened in 2019 again called those findings into question, with new research claiming that Masaryk fell not from the bathroom window, but from the adjacent exterior ledge. That investigation was shelved in 2021, with investigators citing a continuing lack of sufficient evidence to make conclusive determinations regarding the events of Masaryk's death.
591:, and they all had to observe the holy day). The Protestant lords, however, demanded an immediate answer. Two regents, Adam II von Sternberg and Matthew Leopold Popel Lobkowitz, were declared innocent by the Protestant Estate holders, deemed to be too pious to have any responsibility in the preparation of the Emperor's letter. They were removed from the room; before leaving, Adam II von Sternberg made it clear that they "did not advise anything that was contrary to the Letter of Majesty". This left Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum and Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice (who had replaced Thurn as castellan), both known Catholic hard-liners, and
641:
559:... a letter with the following approximate content: His Imperial Majesty had sent to their graces the lord regents a sharp letter that was, by our request, issued to us as a copy after the original had been read aloud, and in which His Majesty declared all of our lives and honour already forfeit, thereby greatly frightening all three Protestant estates. As they also absolutely intended to proceed with the execution against us, we came to a unanimous agreement among ourselves that, regardless of any loss of life and limb, honour and property, we would stand firm, with all for one and one for all
27:
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494:, which granted Bohemia's largely Protestant estates the right to freely exercise their religion, essentially setting up a Protestant Bohemian state church controlled by the estates, "dominated by the towns and rural nobility". Upon Rudolf's death, Matthias succeeded in the rule of Bohemia (1612–1619) and extended his offer of more legal and religious concessions to Bohemia, relying mostly on the advice of his chancellor, Bishop
387:
563:... nor would we be subservient, but rather we would loyally help and protect each other to the utmost, against all difficulties. Because, however, it is clear that such a letter came about through the advice of some of our religious enemies, we wish to know, and hereby ask the lord regents present, if all or some of them knew of the letter, recommended it, and approved of it.
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The first governmental defenestration occurred in 1419, the second in 1483 and the third in 1618, although the term "Defenestration of Prague" more commonly refers to the third. Often, however, the 1483 event is not recognized as a "significant defenestration", which leads to some ambiguity when the
220:
The procession was a result of the growing discontent at the contemporary direction of the Church and the inequality between the peasants, the Church's prelates, and the nobility. This discontent combined with rising feelings of nationalism increased the influence of preachers such as Jan Želivský,
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and not likely to be well-disposed to
Protestantism or Bohemian freedoms. Bohemian Protestants opposed the royal government as they interpreted the Letter of Majesty to extend not only to the land controlled by the nobility or self-governing towns but also to the king's own lands. Whereas Matthias
697:
Immediately after the defenestration, the
Protestant estates and Catholic Habsburgs started gathering allies for war. After the death of Matthias in 1619, Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. At the same time, the Bohemian estates deposed him as King of Bohemia and replaced him with
213:. The town council members had refused to exchange their Hussite prisoners. While they were marching, a stone was thrown at Želivský from the town hall and allegedly hit him. This enraged the mob and they stormed the town hall. Once inside the hall, the group defenestrated the judge, the
606:... for there can be no justice to be gained from or by them". Shortly thereafter, the two regents and their secretary were defenestrated, but they survived the 70-foot (21-metre) fall from the third floor. Catholics maintained the men were saved by angels or by the intercession of the
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602:... and have tried to force them to adopt your religion against their wills or have had them expelled for this reason." Then to the crowd of Protestants, he continued, "Were we to keep these men alive, then we would lose the Letter of Majesty and our religion
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Ministry of
Foreign Affairs on 10 March 1948. The official report listed the death as a suicide. However, it was widely believed he was murdered, either by the nascent Communist government in which he served as a non-partisan foreign minister, or by the
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by the
Emperor. The Protestant lords' agenda was to clarify whether the four regents present were responsible for persuading the Emperor to order the cessation of Protestant church construction on royal lands. According to Count of Martinice himself:
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Because they deposed a properly chosen king, who also happened to be emperor, the
Protestants could not gather the international support they needed for war. Just two years after the defenestration, Ferdinand and the Catholics regained power in the
534:), and Matthew Leopold Popel Lobkowitz (who was the grand prior), arrived at the Bohemian Chancellery at 8:30 am. After preparing the meeting hall, members of the dissolved assembly of the three main Protestant estates gathered at 9:00 am, led by
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asserted that they survived due to falling onto a dung heap, a story unknown to contemporaries and probably coined in response to divine intervention claims. Philip
Fabricius was later ennobled by the Emperor and granted the title
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and the dead bodies of seven New Town councilors were defenestrated from the respective town halls. The coup in Prague contributed to the limitation of ruling power and prevented the resumption of pre-Hussite conditions.
915:
598:
Count von Thurn turned to both
Martinice and Slavata and said, "You are enemies of us and of our religion, have desired to deprive us of our Letter of Majesty, have horribly plagued your Protestant subjects
484:, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia (1576–1612), increased Protestant rights. He was increasingly viewed as unfit to govern, and other members of the Habsburg dynasty declared his younger brother,
595:, the secretary to the regents. They eventually acknowledged responsibility for the letter and, presuming they would only be arrested, welcomed any punishment the Protestants had planned.
587:, who was not present. If they were given the opportunity, the Protestants were to receive an official answer to their grievance by the next Friday (the encounter took place on the eve of
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744:
Sometimes, the name "the fourth" or "the third defenestration of Prague" is used, although it has no standard meaning. For example, it has been used to describe the death of
488:, to be family head in 1606. Matthias began to gradually wrest territory from Rudolf, beginning with Hungary. In 1609, to strengthen his hold on Bohemia, Rudolf issued the
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There was plundering and pillaging in Prague for weeks following the battle. Several months later, twenty-seven nobles and citizens were tortured and
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and Klesl were prepared to appease these demands, Ferdinand was not; in 1618 he forced the
Emperor to order the cessation of construction of some
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1618 defenestration is referred to as the "second Prague defenestration". The first and third defenestrations helped to trigger a prolonged
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More events of defenestration have occurred in Prague during its history, but they are not usually called "defenestrations of Prague".
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Before the regents gave any answer, they requested that the
Protestants give them the opportunity to confer with their superior,
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On
October 6, 1483, three Prague municipalities signed a treaty on unity and common action, which brought the dominion of the
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This defenestration took place on 24 September 1483 during the storms of the Prague population during the reign of King
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chapels on royal land. When the Bohemian estates protested against this order, Ferdinand had their assembly dissolved.
1191:), pp. 344–347 (it contains an English translation of part of Slavata's report of the incident is printed in).
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The window (top floor) where the 1483 defenestration occurred. A monument stands to the right of the castle tower.
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Conflict was precipitated by two factors: Matthias, already aging, and without children, made his cousin,
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168:, 3rd defenestration), while the second helped establish a religious peace in the country for 31 years (
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This defenestration significantly influenced the history of Europe and led to the Thirty Years' War.
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The First Defenestration was thus the turning point between talk and action leading to the prolonged
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120:("out of the window") is believed to have first been used in English in reference to the episodes in
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kings, who did not force their Catholic religion on their largely Protestant subjects. In 1609,
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776:"Prague as the Site of Defenestration: On the Twentieth Anniversary of Bohumil Hrabal's Death"
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as a warning. This contributed to the resentment that gave rise to the Thirty Years' War.
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on November 8, 1620. This became known as the first battle in the Thirty Years' War.
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and the declaration of equality of both churches at the Kutná Hora Assembly in 1485.
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1097:"Sixty years on, the mystery of Jan Masaryk's tragic death remains unresolved"
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estates threw two royal governors and their secretary out of a window of the
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1132:"Masaryk murder mystery back in headlines as Russian journalist speaks out"
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involved the killing of several members of the city council by a crowd of
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1020:"This View of Life: The Diet of Worms and the Defenestrations of Prague"
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411: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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1119:"Police close case on 1948 death of Jan Masaryk – murder, not suicide"
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times, defenestration was not uncommon—the act carried elements of
1146:"Police shelve investigation into mysterious death of Jan Masaryk"
305:
977:
Gutmann, Myron P. (1988). "The Origins of the Thirty Years War".
748:, who was found below the bathroom window of the building of the
337:, fearing for their influence, carried out a violent coup in the
318:. He was king of Bohemia at that time but he became the ruler of
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679:, thrown out of windows of the royal castle in Prague in 1618
940:. Vol. 2 (5 ed.). Houghton Mifflin. p. 498.
299:
1872 illustration depicting the 1483 defenestrations, from
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A history of Western society: from the Renaissance to 1815
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Memoirs of the court and aristocracy of Austria, Volume 1
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MacKay, John P.; Hill, Bennett D.; Buckler, John (1995).
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1618 defenestration as illustrated on a contemporaneous
870:. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. p. 16.
802:
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225:, who saw the state of the Catholic Church as corrupt.
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Vehse, Eduard, translated by Franz KF Demmier (1896).
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The Imperial Privy Council in the Seventeenth Century
112:(thrown out of a window). Though already existing in
883:"The Westphalian Legal Orthodoxy – Myth or Reality?"
39:
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522:On 23 May 1618, four Catholic lords regent, Count
16:Incidents in Bohemian history (1419, 1483, 1618)
780:The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
553:
530:, Adam II von Sternberg (who was the supreme
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855:. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 155.
631:1844 illustration by Czech-Austrian painter
443:1662 woodcut of the 1618 event, by engraver
152:in the form of murder committed together.
19:
1144:Fraňková, Ruth; Kézrová, Eva (2021-03-10).
1057:"Some Introductory Historical Observations"
890:Journal of the History of International Law
868:The Thirty Years War: A Documentary History
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576:, 1618 enamel on copper, by a follower of
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427:Learn how and when to remove this message
104:) were three incidents in the history of
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462:had settled religious disputes in the
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276:Illustrated by Czech history painter
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979:Journal of Interdisciplinary History
610:, who caught them; later Protestant
409:adding citations to reliable sources
1235:Incidents of anti-Catholic violence
815:. New York: Robert Appleton Company
264:), site of the 1419 defenestrations
333:It was then that the party of the
14:
1185:, 1943, issued as volume LIII of
1069:Horáková, Pavla (11 March 2002).
706:and son-in-law of the Protestant
176:The 1419 Defenestration of Prague
164:, 1st defenestration) or beyond (
1255:Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
921:from the original on 2017-08-15.
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619:(literally 'Baron of Highfall').
476:since 1526 had been governed by
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136:explaining their action. In the
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1071:"Jan Masaryk died 54 years ago"
809:"The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy"
786:from the original on 2023-06-15
466:by enshrining the principle of
396:needs additional citations for
1210:1410s in the Holy Roman Empire
1095:Richter, Jan (10 March 2008).
647:Pražská defenestrace roku 1618
361:. The development then led to
1:
1220:1618 in the Habsburg monarchy
853:The Long European Reformation
834:Vladislav Zap, Karel (1872).
700:Frederick V, Elector Palatine
682:
671:safeguarding royal officials
369:1618 Defenestration of Prague
291:1483 Defenestration of Prague
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124:in 1618 when the disgruntled
1250:Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
866:Helfferich, Tryntje (2009).
774:Pichova, Hana (2023-06-15).
555:Lord Paul Rziczan read aloud
524:Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice
180:The First Defenestration of
53:September 24, 1483
1134:, Radio Prague, 18-12-2006.
1121:, Radio Prague, 06-01-2004.
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1188:Harvard Historical Studies
1150:Radio Prague International
335:Communion under both kinds
1177:Henry Frederick Schwarz,
902:10.1163/15718050020956812
813:The Catholic Encyclopedia
469:Cuius regio, eius religio
445:Matthäus Merian the Elder
78:Defenestrations of Prague
24:
20:Defenestrations of Prague
1225:Deaths by defenestration
1183:Harvard University Press
807:Wolfsgrüber, C. (1907).
716:Battle of White Mountain
363:religious reconciliation
316:Vladislaus II of Hungary
1215:15th century in Bohemia
851:Wallace, Peter (2004).
737:Further defenestrations
172:, 2nd defenestration).
132:and wrote an extensive
102:Defenestratio Pragensis
43:July 30, 1419
1205:17th century in Prague
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755:Soviet secret services
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108:in which people were
1059:(lecture transcript)
964:, p. 243. HS Nichols
881:Beaulac, S. (2000).
405:improve this article
160:inside Bohemia (the
86:Pražská defenestrace
1181:(Cambridge, Mass.:
1031:(9). Archived from
617:Baron von Hohenfall
507:Counter-Reformation
503:Ferdinand of Styria
246:Novoměstská radnice
170:Peace of Kutná Hora
94:Prager Fenstersturz
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1016:Gould, Stephen Jay
585:Adam von Waldstein
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474:Kingdom of Bohemia
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453:Theatrvm Evropaevm
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158:religious conflict
1240:Thirty Years' War
649:by Czech painter
491:Letter of Majesty
464:Holy Roman Empire
460:Peace of Augsburg
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191:on 30 July 1419.
166:Thirty Years' War
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1099:. Radio Prague
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398:verification
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197:, a Hussite
195:Jan Želivský
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162:Hussite Wars
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150:mob violence
142:early modern
118:defenestrate
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608:Virgin Mary
536:Count Thurn
417:August 2022
351:Burgomaster
347:Lesser Town
326:only after
284: 1900
215:burgomaster
138:Middle Ages
116:, the word
1199:Categories
1172:References
1160:2021-10-30
1103:25 October
1042:2014-01-26
790:2023-06-15
512:Protestant
377:Background
345:towns and
126:Protestant
67:1618-05-23
57:1483-09-24
47:1419-07-30
911:1866/1373
819:11 August
704:Calvinist
693:Aftermath
540:castellan
482:Rudolf II
359:Utraquism
1154:Archived
1018:(1996).
916:Archived
784:Archived
723:executed
677:Martinic
544:burgrave
532:burgrave
526:, Count
486:Matthias
478:Habsburg
189:Hussites
146:lynching
134:apologia
1080:4 April
725:in the
673:Slavata
324:Hungary
320:Moravia
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106:Bohemia
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199:priest
182:Prague
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90:German
1036:(PDF)
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761:Notes
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186:Czech
98:Latin
82:Czech
1105:2009
1082:2009
942:ISBN
821:2014
675:and
341:and
322:and
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244:The
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