ABSTRACT
Traditionally the tendency has been to interpret the Bohemian rebellion as a war inspired primarily by religion. The revolt began shortly after the designation of Archduke Ferdinand of Styria as the successor to the throne of Bohemia. In early March 1618 the Bohemian Protestant Estates convened and communicated their grave misgivings to the Bohemian diet and the ten regents. The diet then appealed to the Emperor and invited the Estates of the incorporated lands and their other neighbors to join them in their protest. While almost every prominent Protestant prince or state did not move to help the rebels, Frederick V provided them with immediate recognition and speedy assistance. The Palatine regime had been paying particular interest to Bohemian affairs for some time. Immediately after the Defenestration of Prague, both the Bohemian Protestant Estates and Frederick V had portrayed the uprising to King James I as a defense of Bohemian constitutional religious privileges, not as a rebellion against their monarchy.
