page_title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
section_title: Counter-Reformation
hierarchical_section_title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor / Reign / Inner Austria / Counter-Reformation
caption_attribution_description: English: View at Graz from the south; Copper engraving around 1626/1657, Laurenz van de Sype/Wenzel Hollar Deutsch: Ansicht von Graz vom Süden, Kupferstich, um 1626/1657, Laurenz van de Sype/Wenzel Hollar
context_page_description: Ferdinand II, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary and Croatia. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were devout Catholics, and in 1590, they sent him to study at the Jesuits' college in Ingolstadt, because they wanted to isolate him from the Lutheran nobles. In July that same year, when Ferdinand was 12 years old, his father died, and he inherited Inner Austria—Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and smaller provinces. His cousin, the childless Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the head of the Habsburg family, appointed regents to administer these lands.
  Ferdinand was installed as the actual ruler of the Inner Austrian provinces in 1596 and 1597. His cousin Rudolph II also charged him with the command of the defense of Croatia, Slavonia and southeastern Hungary against the Ottoman Empire. Ferdinand regarded the regulation of religious issues as a royal prerogative, and introduced strict Counter-Reformation measures from 1598. First, he ordered the expulsion of all Protestant pastors and teachers; next, he established special commissions to restore the Catholic parishes.
context_section_description: Ferdinand returned to Graz on 20 June 1598. Johannes Kepler, who had been staying in the town, noted that the Protestant burghers watched Ferdinand's return with some apprehension. He had already made unsuccessful attempts to appoint Catholic priests to churches in predominantly Lutheran towns prior to his Italian journey. A former Jesuit student, Lorenz Sonnabenter, whom Ferdinand had sent to a parish in Graz, made a formal complaint against the local Lutheran pastors on 22 August, accusing them of unlawfully interfering in his office. Ferdinand's mother and Jesuit confessor urged him to take vigorous measures. He ordered the expulsion of all Protestant pastors and teachers from Styria, Carinthia and Carniola on 13 September, emphasizing that he was the "general overseer of all ecclesiastical foundations in his hereditary lands". When the Protestant nobles and burghers protested against his decree, he replied that the Estates had no jurisdiction in religious affairs. He summoned Italian and Spanish mercenaries to Graz. Due to his firm actions, no riots broke out when the leaders of the Protestant community left Graz on 29 September.
  Ferdinand forbade the Estates of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola to hold a joint assembly. The Styrian nobles and burghers unsuccessfully sought assistance from Rudolph II and their Austrian peers against him. Although he issued new decrees to strengthen the position of the Catholic Church without seeking the Estates' consent, the Estates granted the subsidies that he had demanded from them. After the Styrian general assembly was dissolved, Ferdinand summarized his views of the Counter-Reformation in a letter to the delegates. He claimed that the unlawful prosecution of Catholics had forced him to adopt strict measures, adding that the Holy Spirit had inspired his acts. In October 1599, Ferdinand set up special commissions, consisting of a prelate and a high officer, to install Catholic priests in each town and village, and authorized them to apply military force if necessary. During the visit of the commissioners, local Protestants were to choose between conversion or exile, although in practice peasants were rarely allowed to leave. The commissioners also burnt prohibited books. Ferdinand did not force the Lutheran noblemen to convert to Catholicism, but forbade them to employ Protestant priests.
caption: Graz in the mid-17th-century
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