Story perspectives

1618 Prague Defenestration Ignites Bohemian Revolt, Thirty Years' War

4/24/2026

Summary

Story summary

On 23 May 1618 Protestant nobles threw two Catholic royal governors and a secretary from Prague Castle window.
Defenestration sparked a Protestant-led Bohemian revolt that grew into Thirty Years' War, for three decades, involving more than a dozen nations, causing millions of deaths and disease.
Catholic accounts claim angels saved the men while Protestant accounts say manure broke their fall, leading historians to view event as a catalyst for upheavals.

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Story summary

On 23 May 1618 Protestant nobles threw two Catholic royal governors and a secretary from Prague Castle window.
Defenestration sparked a Protestant-led Bohemian revolt that grew into Thirty Years' War, for three decades, involving more than a dozen nations, causing millions of deaths and disease.
Catholic accounts claim angels saved the men while Protestant accounts say manure broke their fall, leading historians to view event as a catalyst for upheavals.