PRAGUE, DEFENESTRATION OF

(May 23, 1618), incident of Bohemian resistance to Habsburg authority that preceded the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. In 1617 Roman Catholic officials in Bohemia closed Protestant chapels that were being constructed by citizens of the towns of Broumov and Hrob, thus violating the guarantees of religious liberty laid down in the Letter of Majesty (Majesttsbrief) of Emperor Rudolf II (1609). In response, the defensors, appointed under the Letter of Majesty to safeguard Protestant rights, called an assembly of Protestants at Prague, where the imperial regents, William Slavata and Jaroslav Martinic, were tried and found guilty of violating the Letter of Majesty and, with their secretary, Fabricius, were thrown from the windows of the council room of Hradcany (Prague Castle) on May 23, 1618. Although inflicting no serious injury on the victims, that act, known as the Defenestration of Prague, was a signal for the beginning of a Bohemian revolt against the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II, which marked one of the opening phases of the Thirty Years' War. Physical and human geography The landscape From its original small riverside settlements, Prague has spread over its hills, up river valleys, and along riverside terraces. The Prague metropolitan area covers 192 square miles (496 square kilometres). Gold Makers' Lane, the narrow street where Rudolf II's alchemists are said to have lived, near the 1/4 The city's core, with its historic buildings, bridges, and museums, is a major centre of employment and traffic congestion. Around the core is a mixed zone of industrial and residential areas, containing about half the city's population and nearly half its jobs. Surrounding this area is the outer city development zone, and beyond this is yet another zone of development containing new industrial areas, parks and recreation areas, and sports facilities. Finally, there is a belt of agricultural land and open countryside, where farms and market gardening projects satisfy Prague's demand for food. The lowest point in the city is 623 feet (190 metres) above sea level, and the highest point is 1,247 feet (380 metres) on White Mountain (Bl hora). The climate of Prague is typically mid-continental, with temperatures there averaging 67 F (19.3 C) in July and 31 F (-0.6 C) in January. The people Prague has a homogeneous population. There is a small Slovak community, but the overwhelming majority of residents are Czechs. The city has a number of demographic peculiarities stemming mainly from the effects of World War II; there are more women than men, and a sizable proportion of the female population is past the age of fertility. The natural rate of population increase is very small. A tendency toward small families is a reflection of both difficulties in housing and increased participation by both parents in the workforce. Migration into the city has continued.