Accounting documentation of the bankruptcy of Emperor Matthias of Habsburg in 1615: archival sources and research possibilities

Abstract

The Author formulated a hypothesis that significantly changes the interpretation of the causes of the conflict in Bohemia in 1618. According to him, the deciding impulse was the uncontrollable indebting of the monarchy which resulted in a sovereign default (1615). The Bohemian Diet refused to guarantee the government bonds which lead to them losing their value. Between 1615 and 1618, along the fight for preservation of the religious freedom, a strenuous fight for a fiscal reform and control of the economic resources was in motion. The creditors – European politicians, bankers and generals – wanted the monarch to take over Bohemia with force in order to be able to pay off the outstanding debts. The data regarding the monarchal credit crisis in Bohemia between 1615 and 1618 were not analysed scientifically up to this point. In this study, the author highlights the main sources available on this issue.