Rudolf was the first son and successor of Maximillian. Acceding to the Habsburg lands, he reversed his father's tolerant policy toward Protestantism and gave assistance to the Counter-Reformation. Although Rudolf was a learned man, he was incapable of ruling because he was plagued by melancholy and later became subject to occasional fits of insanity. Other members of his family began to intervene in imperial affairs.
Following a revolt in Hungary (1604-6) by Stephen Bocskay and his Ottoman allies, most of the actual ruling power passed to Rudolf's brother Matthias; the revolt was provoked by Rudolf's attempt to impose Roman Catholicism in Hungary. In 1608, Matthias forced Rudolf to cede Hungary, Austria, and Moravia to him. Seeking to gain the support of the Bohemian estates, Rudolf issued a royal charter in 1609 that guaranteed religious freedom to the nobles and cities. This effort was in vain, and Rudolf was forced to give up Bohemia to Matthias in 1611. Rudolf's turbulent reign was a prelude to the Thirty Years' War.
Rudolf II was one of the most eccentric European monarchs of that or any other period. Rudolf collected dwarfs and had a regiment of giants in his army. He was surrounded by astrologers, and he was fascinated by games and codes and music. He was typical of the occult-oriented noblemen of this period and epitomized the liberated northern European prince. He was a patron of alchemy and supported the printing of alchemical literature.
See also
Moldavian Magnate Wars for the background on southern wars (with Ottomans and its allies)
RudolfII is known as an exceptional patron of the arts, a monarch who succumbed to a collector's passion and who succeeded during his era in creating the largest kunstkammer in Europe.
RudolfII employed the goldsmith Jacop Strada as antiquary, who had also worked at the court during the time of Rudolf's father Maximilian II, and later the artist and miniaturist Daniel Froschl who is supposed to have been the first artist to compile an inventory of the collections.
He was honoured with noble status in 1595 by RudolfII and, in 1609, the emperor conferred on him the privilege of bearing the title of decorative glass engraver.
RudolfII is often remembered as a great patron of art, as someone who was passionate about collecting and who managed to create the largest art collection in all Europe, called "Kunstkammer".
One of the famous painter of RudolfII was the Italian Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
In 1595 he was knighted by RudolfII and in 1609 he was granted privilege for this type of glass decoration, which mainly be loaned from the Museum of Art History in Vienna, where the "Kunstkammer" forms part of the collection.
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