ABSTRACT
The Hapsburgs are a very old dynasty. There have been, in their periods of grandeur and Eclat, serious efforts made to show the descent of their family from Old Testament kings, or from heroes of Greek mythology, or from Roman emperors. The Czech state soon recovered from the disaster and appeared as a united country with its original boundaries, but the Hapsburgs had won a great victory, and were not to be denied its fruits. Dislike and distrust of the Hapsburg king strengthened national sentiment for an alliance with Poland. In treating the history of Central Europe in the early sixteenth century the very important fact is often lost sight of that the Hapsburgs did not win the Czech throne by conquest. The accession of the Hapsburgs to the throne of Bohemia had introduced a factor into Czech political life which was destined to create and maintain disturbing tensions.
