Qualla: The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: Introduction

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Globe-trotter, CC BY-SA 4.0. On May 23, 1618, a group of Protestant Bohemian nobles stormed Prague Castle to protest restrictions on their religious freedom. They found two Catholic imperial governors, Jaroslav Martinic and Vilém Slavata, and their secretary, Philip Fabricius, and threw them out a third-floor window - a drop of 70 feet. Remarkably, all three survived. Catholics claimed angels had caught them. Protestants noted the landing zone was a pile of manure. The incident - the 'Defenestration of Prague' - ignited the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that would kill 8 million people and reshape the map of Europe. All because some angry men threw some other men out a window.

Image: Globe-trotter | CC BY-SA 4.0

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: The Grievance

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daniel Baránek, CC BY 2.5. The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 was a religious tinderbox. Protestants had been guaranteed religious freedom by the Letter of Majesty in 1609. But the new Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, was a devout Catholic who began restricting Protestant rights. Churches were closed. Meeting...

Image: Daniel Baránek | CC BY 2.5

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: The Window

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Archiv Ústavu dějin umění AV ČR, Public domain. The Protestant delegation found Governors Martinic and Slavata in the Bohemian Chancellery. They accused the governors of violating the Letter of Majesty. A trial was conducted on the spot - by the accusers. The verdict was guilty. The sentence was defenestration - throwing from ...

Image: Archiv Ústavu dějin umění AV ČR | Public domain

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: The Miracle

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daniel Baránek, CC BY 2.5. All three men survived the fall. How they survived depends on who you ask. Catholic accounts credited divine intervention - angels had caught the loyal Catholics and lowered them gently to the ground. Protestant accounts noted that the men had landed in a pile of manure from the ...

Image: Daniel Baránek | CC BY 2.5

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: The War

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Хомелка, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Defenestration of Prague ignited the Thirty Years' War - one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. What began as a religious conflict in Bohemia spread across the continent, drawing in France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and dozens of German states. The war deva...

Image: Хомелка | CC BY-SA 3.0

The Defenestration of Prague: The Thrown Men Who Started a Thirty Years' War: The Window Today

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Archiv Ústavu dějin umění AV ČR, Public domain. Prague Castle still stands, and the Bohemian Chancellery window still exists. Visitors can see the spot where three men were thrown 70 feet and lived. A plaque commemorates the event - the moment that triggered three decades of religious warfare. The Thirty Years' War ended the ...

Image: Archiv Ústavu dějin umění AV ČR | Public domain