#brozik

This painting was created in 1889, over two and a half centuries after the second Defenestration of Prague, by Václav Brožík. Brožík was a leading Czech artist in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was significant for his use of the style of historicism. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and gained fame in 1878 after being awarded gold medal at the Salon de Paris for his painting of Czech King Ladislas at the court of Charles VII of France. His work largely replicated the style of historic paintings.

This event depicted is the second of three Defenestrations of Prague. This happened right before the 30 Years War as resistance to the Hapsburgs. The 30 Years War brought the end of the Protestant Reformation and was the last religious war in Europe. Protestant churches in Broumov and Hrob were being shut down by Catholic authorities, which violated rules set in place by the Letter of Majesty, a document allowing various religious freedoms created by Rudolf II. Imperial regents William Slavata and Jaroslav Martinic were tried and found guilty of violating the letter, and both of them, as well as their secretary Fabricius, were thrown out of the window of the Hradčany. Though they were thrown from one of the higher stories, no one was seriously injured.