ABSTRACT
Rudolf II was the only Habsburg to make Prague his residence — one of his several departures from customary Habsburg practice — although his grandfather Ferdinand I and others had made prolonged stays in the city. His decision to reside at Prague from 1582 onwards imparted to the Bohemian capital all the lustre of the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Installed in the Hradčany, he made Prague an artistic and cultural capital to rival the great Italian cities and his Bohemian subjects were duly grateful. Rudolf II alone of their Austrian rulers has left a positive impression in the Czech mind, although Bohemian historians blinded by their nationalist passions have variously charged him with cosmopolitanism and with wanting to Germanize the country, accusations which denote a grave misunderstanding of both the man and the age.
