Ferdinand II of Austria was a very strict, Catholic dictator who 's actions greatly impacted history. He made a name for himself, not only for good doings but also for bad ones. Ferdinand was a monarch who made quick decisions, which sometimes led him and his empire into a great deal of trouble. Ferdinand II of Austria was born on July 9, 1578 in Graz, Austria. Ferdinand was the oldest son of the archduke Charles and Maria of Bavaria, the daughter of the Duke of Bavaria. His father, Charles, at the time was the ruler of Austria. Charles needed a son to take over as ruler when he died. Ferdinand grew up strictly Catholic. As Ferdinand got older, he got his education from the Jesuits at the University of Ingolstadt from 1590 to 1595. "He was educated in the hopes of being a strict Catholic ruler" (Sturmberger). Once Ferdinand 's father passed away, he was ready to take over Charles 's position. After all, it was his birth right to become the next ruler of Austria. His ascension to the throne was not as easy as it seemed, because he wasn’t the only one …show more content…
The same year Ferdinand took over as ruler of Austria, he also became known as the King of Bohemia by the Bohemian Diet. Later, in 1618, Ferdinand added another title to his name as king of Hungary ("Ferdinand II Facts"). Soon after he became king of Hungary, Ferdinand ran into some trouble when Bohemian nobles revolted against him. The revolts were caused by Ferdinand 's restoring of Catholicism in Bohemia ("Ferdinand II Facts"). Since Ferdinand grew up strictly Catholic, he didn’t allow many other religions as king which "made many Bohemians frustrated". Another cause of the revolt was that Ferdinand started to close down some Protestant churches(McKay et al. 562). The Bohemians soon got rid of Ferdinand as king and replaced him with Frederick V (Sturmberger). All of this conflict built up until fighting broke out, and this fighting lead to what is now known today as the Thirty Years ' War ("Ferdinand II