Rudolf II 1552-1612
King of Hungary and of Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor

Born in Vienna, he ruled Hungary (1572-1608) and Bohemia (1575-1611) and became Holy Roman Emperor on the death of his father Maximilian II in 1576. Residing for most of his reign in Prague, he made the city a centre for writers, artists and humanist scholars, including the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and mystics such as Giordano Bruno and John Dee. He waged an indecisive and underfinanced war against the Turks (1591-1606). His catholicizing policies provoked opposition among the Bohemian Protestants, who looked to his younger brother, Matthias, for support. He was shy and melancholy, and his mental instability became more pronounced in his later years, during which he was gradually superseded by Matthias.

Bibliography: R J W Evans, Rudolf II and his World (1973)