ern and central portion where the Turks had garrisoned the
fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, now sent
united ambassadors to the emperor urging him to summon the armies of the
empire and drive the Turks entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon
assured the emperor, in the name of the holy father of the Church, that
it was no sin to violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly
replied,

"The faith of treaties ought to be considered as inviolable, and a
Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath."

Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being anxious to secure
the tranquillity of his extended realms after his death, he had his
eldest son, Rhodolph, in a diet at Presburg, crowned King of Hungary.
Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his realm as viceroy
during the life of his father. Thus he would have all the reins of
government in his hands, and, at the death of the emperor, there would
be no apparent change.

It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence and treachery,
wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing their sovereign,
and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary monarchy. Maximilian,
with characteristic prudence, wished to maintain the hereditary right
thus established, while at the same time he wished to avoid wounding the
prejudices of those who had surrendered the right of suffrage only to
fraud and the sword. He accordingly convoked a diet at Prague. The
nobles were assembled in large numbers, and the occasion was invested
with unusual solemnity. The emperor himself introduced to them his son,
and recommended him to them as their future sovereign. The nobles were
much gratified by so unexpected a concession, and with enthusiasm
accepted their new king. The emperor had thus wisely secured for his son
the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia.

Having succeeded in these two important measures, Maximilian set about
the more difficult enterprise of securing for his son his succession
upon the imperial throne. This was a difficult matter in the strong
rivalry which then existed between the Catholics and the Protestants.
With caution and conciliation, encountering and overturning innumerable
obstacles, Maximilian proceeded, until having, as he supposed, a fair
chance of success, he summoned the diet of electors at Ratisbon. But
here new difficulties arose. The Protestants were jealous of their
constantly imperiled privileges, and