The Treaty of Brussels between King Charles V and Archduke Ferdinand concerning the latter’s sovereignty over the Austrian Hereditary Lands

The Hungarians demanded that Princess Anna’s future husband should control a rich endowment, which is why King Charles V invested Archduke Ferdinand with his own sovereign territory. Following difficult negotiations, the Treaty of Worms was signed on April 28, 1521; in it Charles made over the five counties of Lower Austrian (Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Krain) to Ferdinand. Charles retained possession of the southern territories (Friuli, Gorizia, Trieste and the Windic March/Windische Mark), which border the northern Adriatic, offering vital access to the open sea.

A final agreement regarding the division of territories between Charles and Ferdinand was signed in Brussels on January 30 and February 8, 1522. In these treaties Charles invested his brother Ferdinand not only with the countries bordering the Adriatic Sea, but also with western territories like Tyrol, Further Austria, Württemberg, Pfirt, and Hagenau.

Matthias Pfaffenbichler

Between March 1522 and April 1523, the royal couple resided in Bohemia, mainly in Prague. For Bohemia, this stay was important because Ludwig II, together with his wife Maria, tried to strengthen again the reduced power of the ruler in Bohemia and the other lands.

This included questions regarding the nobility, the administration of both the country and the city of Prague, and religion. In February 1523 the king appointed both Zdeněk Lev z Rožmitálu/Zdeniek Lev von Rosental as the leading civil servant and as Steward of the Royal Castle of Prague, who represented the absent king, and Jan z Vartenberka/von Wartenberg, who harboured sympathies for the growing Lutheran reform. Only a few Catholics had high administrative positions. In March Prague witnesses what was practically a coup d’état, when the city council of the United Prague was taken over by the radical Utraquists.

This also helped to strengthen the power of the ruler, because the enemies of royal power were eliminated. Although in the following year the king was forced to change both the city council and the position of the civil servants of the land, his attempts remained unsuccessfu.

Antonín Kalous