Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor

Matthias
Portrait by Lucas van Valckenborch, 1583
Holy Roman Emperor (more...)
Reign	13 June 1612 – 20 March 1619
Coronation	26 June 1612 Frankfurt Cathedral
Predecessor	Rudolf II
Successor	Ferdinand II
Born	24 February 1557 Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	20 March 1619(1619-03-20) (aged 62) Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Spouse	Anna of Tyrol ​ ​ (m. 1611; died 1618)​
House	Habsburg
Father	Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Matthias^[1] (24 February 1557 – 20 March 1619) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612 to 1619, Archduke of Austria from 1608 to 1619, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 to 1618 and King of Bohemia from 1611 to 1617. His personal motto was Concordia lumine maior ("Unity is stronger in the light").^[2][3]

Matthias played a significant role in the familial opposition of the Habsburgs against his brother Emperor Rudolf II. After gaining power, he showed little political initiative of his own. The course of his politics was determined by Cardinal Melchior Klesl until his fall in 1618. As a consequence of his failed religious and administrative policies, the Bohemian Revolt, the initial theatre of the Thirty Years' War, began during the final year of Matthias' reign.^[4]