Many in Prague were deeply uncomfortable with courting the Ottomans, yet the leadership was seduced by the fantastical scheme of a grand alliance smashing both Poland and the Habsburgs. Scultetus (court preacher to the Elector of the Palatinate Frederick V) did a theological somersault to stress common ground between Calvinism and Islam, while (Calvinist Austrian) Baron Tschernembl argued any means were justified provided they saved the true cause from the papists. Despite misgivings, Frederick wrote to the sultan on 12 July, making Bohemia a tributary state of the Ottoman empire in return for assistance. A delegation of a hundred Bohemians, Hungarians and Transylvanians set out for Constantinople with 70,000 fl. (florins) in bribes to seal the deal. Meanwhile, Frederick promised 300,000 fl. to (Calvinist Transylvanian prince Gabor) Bethlen, even pawning his jewels to raise the first instalment. Read more»
Peter H. Wilson, The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy (Harvard University Press, 2009), 294.
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Brad Isbell
Brad Isbell is a ruling elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Oak Ridge, TN, board member of More In The PCA, co-host of the Presbycast podcast, editorial member of Presbyterian Polity, and treasurer of the Heidelberg Reformation Association.
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