FERDINAND

n.

born July 13, 1608, Graz, Inner Austria

died April 2, 1657, Vienna

Holy Roman emperor (1637–57), archduke of Austria (1621–57), king of Hungary (1625–57) and king of Bohemia (1627–57).

Denied command of the Habsburg armies in the Thirty Years' War , Ferdinand conspired to overthrow Gen. Albrecht W.E. von Wallenstein , whom he replaced as commander (1634–35). His leadership of the so-called peace party at the imperial court led to the Peace of Prague in 1635. As emperor from 1637, he refused to allow religious freedom in his own domains, but he compromised with Europe's Protestant powers and agreed to the Peace of Westphalia , ending 30 years of religious strife in central Europe.