24.2.1527 Ferdinand I was crowned King of Bohemia.

He was small, pale and his mouth was always open. This is how historical sources describe Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who was crowned King of Bohemia on 24 February 1527. He promised to fill the half-empty treasury.

His parents were Philip I the Magnificent and the infanta Jana the Mad, who was a Castilian and Aragonese princess. Ferdinand I was the first Roman king of that name, otherwise the seventeenth Czech monarch overall. He was crowned at the age of 24 years and 14 days. The following day, his wife Anna, who was five months younger, also awaited the ceremony. There were tournaments, hunts and all sorts of other pastimes in Prague Castle and Old Town Square, because it was the Mardi Gras. When the glory was over, Ferdinand set off on a journey to Moravia and Silesia. It is said that he only became ruler because the treasury of the Bohemian kingdom was not in good shape.

Ferdinand I was not a very handsome man. According to surviving sources, he was thin, pale, short and had a strangely perched head. Plus, his mouth must have been hanging open all the time because of an overhanging lower lip. But he was able to compensate for this with his energetic and ambitious nature. "Before he was elected King of Bohemia, he promised everything. For example, that he would pay the king's debts and respect religious freedom. He also claimed that he would take Prague as his seat," says historian Martin Pitro.

After taking over the government, Ferdinand I followed the path of centralisation and raised the Czech lands economically. He also created new offices in Vienna. These were mainly the Privy Council, the Court Chamber and the War Council. He did not fulfil his promise of a seat in Prague. As far as religion was concerned, he supported the Catholic faith, for which he was criticised.

The freedom of the Bohemian states was also against his mind, as Ferdinand I was a supporter of absolutism. Clashes with the nobility culminated in the 1546 uprising. "It turned out badly for the nobility. Ferdinand was victorious and the consequences were not long in coming. Two burgesses and two knights were executed. The towns were deprived of their political rights, all armaments had to be surrendered and the town castles had to be demolished. The non-Catholics were in disgrace. Ferdinand summoned the Society of Jesus from Spain to support the Catholic Church," write Martina Drijverová and Vojtěch Otčenášek in their book The Czech Monarchs Were Only Human Too.

During the reign of Ferdinand I of Habsburg, a new artistic style also emerged in the Czech lands, namely the Renaissance. For example, the Royal Summer Palace at Hradčany was created. Ferdinand died on 25 July 1564 in Vienna. He was buried in St. Vitus Cathedral next to his wife.

Sources.