La centralità del Regno di Boemia fra impero e papato

The king of Bohemia was essential to control the election of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. In fact, the ruler of a Slav kingdom was the balance between the three ecclesiastical electors and three lay voters. In addition, the crown of Bohemia was not hereditary, but essentially elective. Therefore the whole of Europe was interested in keeping on the throne of Bohemia a ruler who could get a general consensus or acceptance, without threatening to overly strengthen imperial power. The role of the kingdom of Bohemia became even more important as a result of the Protestant Reformation. For the Catholic side it was essential to maintain a Catholic kingdom of Bohemia, both to ensure the imperial election, and to keep Central and Eastern Europe united against the threat of the Ottoman Empire. The policy of the Roman Papacy was extremely alert, as early as the mid-Sixteenth century, towards what happened in the kingdom of Bohemia. It was necessary to keep the kingdom under the House of Austria, with the contribution of Spain and other Catholic powers. Besides the presence of the papal nuncio a decisive role was entrusted to the Society of Jesus. The Catholic victory at White Mountain (November 1620) had the effect of keeping the kingdom of Bohemia under the house of Austria. For this purpose the Jesuits offered a contribution of absolute importance. The research follows the story of the Jesuit participation in the maintenance of the Bohemian kingdom in the Catholic front, from the mid-Sixteenth century to the beginnings of the Thirty Years’ War, drawing on contributions from Czech authors and contemporary documentation of the Society of Jesus.