The Defenestrations of Prague (Pražské defenestrace, Prager Fenstersturz, Defenestratio Pragensis) were three incidents in the history of Bohemia in which people were defenestrated (thrown out of a window). Though already existing in Middle French, the word defenestrate is believed to have first been used in English in reference to the episodes in Prague in 1618 when the disgruntled Protestant estates threw two royal governors and their secretary out of a window of the Hradčany Castle and wrote an extensive apologia explaining their action. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, defenestration was not uncommon—the act carried elements of lynching and mob violence in the form of murder committed together.
Background
In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg had settled religious disputes in the Holy Roman Empire by enshrining the principle of Cuius regio, eius religio, allowing a prince to determine the religion of his subjects. The Kingdom of Bohemia since 1526 had been governed by Habsburg kings, who did not force their Catholic religion on their largely Protestant subjects. In 1609, Rudolf II, 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, Matthias, 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 Letter of Majesty, 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".
Defenestration
On 21 and 22 May 1618, a congress of the Czech evangelical estates was due to meet in Karlin. They had understood this to be their right following a resolution of the provincial assembly from 1609–10 in connection with Rudolf's Letter of Majesty. According to this resolution, the Czech estates had the right to convene a "special consultative assembly" with their defensors to defend their rights. However, this assembly was forbidden by Matthias.
The resolution of 1609–10 provided another option for dispute resolution, a special court composed of half Catholics and half Evangelicals. It was supposed to be 24 respected persons, whose selection was a free choice of each of the disputing parties. However, this special court was not convened. On Tuesday, May 22, 1618, a meeting of the leaders of the evangelical estates took place in the Smiřických Palace on Lesser Town Square, and it was decided to execute the defenestration the following day.
On 23 May 1618, four Catholic lords regent, Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice, Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum, Adam II von Šternberk (the supreme burgrave), and Matouš Děpolt of Lobkovice (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 Count Thurn, who had been deprived of his post as castellan (burgrave) of Karlštejn Castle 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.
Aftermath
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 Frederick V, Elector Palatine, a leading Calvinist and son-in-law of the Protestant James VI and I, King of Scotland, England and Ireland.
Because they had 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 Battle of White Mountain on November 8, 1620. This became known as the first battle in the Thirty Years' War.
There was plundering and pillaging in Prague for weeks following the battle. Several months later, twenty-seven nobles and citizens were tortured and executed in the Old Town Square. Twelve heads were impaled on iron hooks and hung from the Old Town Bridge Tower as a warning. This contributed to the resentment that gave rise to the Thirty Years' War.