religious conflict

Rudolf II: The Intellectual yet Disastrous Emperor

Rudolf II desired to unify Christendom in the Empire and tried to take a tolerant stance on religious issues. Though he was an ineffectual ruler, he had a love for academics that helped spur the Scientific Revolution. He was known as “the greatest art patron in the world,” and philosophers, painters, alchemists, astronomers, architects, and mathematicians came to Prague to work under his patronage.