RuDolf: Who’s Who

Rudolf II

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:55:48 -0500

Emperor Rudolf II of Austria (1552-1612) was the eldest son of Maximilian II. He became King of Bohemia in 1575 and was elected emperor in 1576. In 1583, he moved the imperial court to Prague and transformed it into a city of artists and intellectuals: astronomers, alchemists, painters, craftsmen, and humanists. He was fascinated by all new knowledge—scientific and occult. He gathered an enormous art collection, with works by Hieronymus Bosch and Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and filled the castle with a menagerie of exotic animals. He was also known for his great sexual appetite, and his rumored lovers included both men and women.

He ruled at a time of great tension between Catholics and Protestants, just before the Thirty Years’ War. Traditionally viewed as a weak Emperor who refused to take sides, some modern historians argue that his ambivalence prevented a sectarian war during his reign. Instead, his brother Matthias often led the charge, especially in Hungary, which led to his increasing military power. After Rudolf’s brother Ernst died (with whom Rudolf was very close), Matthias became heir presumptive and Rudolf grew increasingly paranoid about Matthias’ desire for the crown.

Rudolf was known to have tremendous mood swings, especially deep depressions. He refused to leave his chambers for long periods of time and attempted suicide on multiple occasions. In contemporary parlance, he would probably be given a diagnosis of manic depression—one that may be applied to many in the Habsburg line.

Libuše

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:55:34 -0500

Libuše is the legendary prophetess who founded Prague. The first written account of her, by Cosmas of Prague (Chronicle of the Bohemians) appeared in 1119. In 1881, Bedřich Smetana based an opera on her legend, with a strong undercurrent of Czech nationalism. A fanfare from the opera is still played at state ceremonies. Alois Jirasek wrote another version in 1894, as part of his Old Bohemian Legends.

According to the legend, Libuše ruled the Czech Nation in the 8th century, living at Vyšehrad, a medieval castle in Prague that served as home to many monarchs. However, the men became ashamed about being ruled by a woman, so she was forced to seek out a husband— Přemsyl. When she died, the women, angered at her treatment, began a Maiden’s War of women against men. Her most famous prophesy, as reported by Cosmas, was that Prague would become “a great city whose fame will touch the stars.” Statues of her and of Přemysl stand at Vyšehrad today.

Philip Lang

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:54:49 -0500

Philip Lang was a converted Jew who served at court, having risen rapidly. He was undoubtedly close to Rudolf. Their relationship was allegedly sexual, but it remains speculation. Various crimes have been attributed to Lang, and he is usually portrayed as a villain in literature and history. Lang’s relationship with Mordechai Maisel is invented, though it is not impossible. Maisel was a great benefactor of the Prague Jews and of Rudolf. The historical Lang had a wife and children.

Katerina Strada

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:54:27 -0500

Katerina Strada was the daughter of Jacopo Strada, curator of Rudolf’s vast art collection. Rudolf’s chief mistress, she bore him many children, including his eldest son, Julius Caesar. Julius inherited the Habsburgs’ propensity for mental illness, becoming a psychotic whose crimes remain notorious. Katerina was not high born enough to marry Rudolf, yet she sustained the longest rapport of his sexual partners. For a woman so close to the Emperor, she lived in relative obscurity. Some speculate that Rudolf’s mistress was Strada’s illegitimate daughter, Anna Maria.

Wolfgang von Rumpf

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:54:00 -0500

Wolfgang von Rumpf was Rudolf II’s chamberlain and loyal retainer despite the emperor’s erratic behavior towards him. A devout Catholic, for many years he was considered the most influential man in Rudolf’s court.

Tycho Brahe

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:53:46 -0500

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish nobleman and astronomer who is almost as well known for his bizarre misadventures as for his scientific discoveries. His greatest contribution to science was his Rudolfine Tables, finished by Johannes Kepler, his assistant and eventual rival, after his death. At the time, the Tables were the most complete and accurate catalogue of the heavenly bodies.

Tycho made his scientific reputation by the “discovery” of a new star; actually, he was the first to document a supernova. He saw himself as a great astrologer, alchemist, and devout Catholic. His Catholicism informed his science; he sought to reconcile Church doctrine with Copernicus by creating an elaborate model that allowed for both.

His misadventures began with the loss of his nose, cut off during a duel fought to identify the superior astronomer. Another episode involved his pet elk that died by tumbling down stairs after drinking an enormous amount of beer. Recent theories posit that Kepler murdered his former mentor by poisoning him with mercury, but evidence indicates that any mercury Tycho drank was self-prescribed.

Elizabeth Jane Weston

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:49:31 -0500

Elizabeth Jane Weston, aka Westonia (1581-1612) was a neo-Latin poet with the unusual distinction, for a woman, to be published. Her poems are an odd array of odes to Rudolf ending in pleas for money, devout odes to Christ and anti-Semitic rants. Fluent in many languages, she befriended the powerful at court. Eventually, she married a lawyer and moved to England. She had six children before dying while birthing the seventh; she was only 31.

Recent research reveals she was the stepdaughter of Edward Kelly, who, along with his partner, John Dee, was the most notorious alchemist at Rudolf’s court. Kelly was an inspiration for the Faust legend, and his home, where Elizabeth lived, is known as the “Faust House.” Ultimately, Kelly was imprisoned, escaped by jumping out a window (breaking a leg), was imprisoned, again escaped by a window (breaking the other leg), and died soon after. Kelly’s most famous spirit contact (made so by Dee’s diaries), was a young girl he called Madimi. He created Enochian, a “language of the angels.”