Bratislava coronations – 450th anniversary of the coronation of Rudolf

€100 gold collector coin

Until the latter part of the 17th century, no man could become king of Hungary without being elected by the Diet of Hungary. A ruler who wanted his son to succeed him had to persuade the nobles of the Diet to elect and crown him. Following the coronation, the country would have two kings: the reigning father and the son who would rule only after his father’s death. King Maximilian thus secured the crown for his eldest son, Rudolf, who was crowned in Pressburg (now Bratislava) on 25 September 1572 and became the de facto ruler in 1576. Rudolf was also Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. He stayed in Hungary only exceptionally, having opted to move his court and the Hungarian crown to Prague. He reigned during a period marked by Ottoman expansion from the south and by an uprising of the nobility related to Protestant demands for more religious freedom. In 1608 Rudolf relinquished the Hungarian crown and throne to his younger brother, Matthias.