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Why were 27 Prague commoners and Czech noblemen executed in 1621?

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Prague Prague on the banks of the Vltava River.

The execution of 27 Prague commoners and Czech noblemen in 1621 was a direct consequence of the Bohemian Revolt, a Protestant uprising against the Catholic Habsburg monarchy that helped trigger the Thirty Years’ War.12

Following the Defenestration of Prague in 1618, the Bohemian estates rejected the authority of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II and elected Frederick V as their king. However, the Protestant forces were decisively defeated by the Catholic League at the Battle of the White Mountain in November 1620.21

After retaking control of Bohemia, Ferdinand II sought to punish the rebellion's leadership and consolidate his power. In June 1621, he ordered the execution of 27 leaders—comprising 3 lords, 7 knights, and 17 burghers—on the Staroměstské Square. This act served to crush the political opposition, facilitate the confiscation of rebel lands, and initiate a vigorous program of re-Catholicization in the region.23