War of the Three Henrys (Merveilles des Morte)

War of the Three Henrys
Part of the Wars of Religion and the Italian Wars
Date 1552-1553 Location Bohemia, Austria, Brandenburg Result Henry X outlives other claimants, and becomes King of Bohemia Adoption of Jungism in Bohemia Hungarian conquest of Aquileia End of Imperial Civil War Italian War (1559-1563)
Belligerents
Jungists: Brandenburg Supported by: Metz Bavaria Trier Hesse	Imperialists: Bohemia (Henry IV Faction) Hussites Hungary Austria	Catholics: Bohemia (Catholic Faction) Papal States Habsburg Aquileia Holy League Venice Modena
Commanders and leaders
Henry the Protector John II Otto VI/VIII Johannes Enen	Henry X Oliver I Frederick III	Henry the Pious Leopold II Frederick I John Zobel Leo XII Gregory XIV Engelbert V

The War of the Three Henrys was a civil war in the Kingdom of Bohemia during the Wars of Religion, which saw three rival claimants seeking the Bohemian throne. The three way war was fought between:

• Emperor Henry X, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia since 1544.
• Henry the Pious, Catholic first cousin of Henry X closely tied to the Habsburgs.
• Henry the Protector, Jungist heir to the Duchy of Brandenburg.

Although the Kingdom of Bohemia had been a Catholic kingdom, by the time of the war its Hussite and Jungist population combined outnumbered the strictly Catholic population. Henry X had galvanized the Catholic population and the Pope in Rome through a series of decisions due to his close ties to his brother, Charles IV of France. During the Amiens War, Henry had been hesitant to intervene, had sided against the Pope in favor of rival Pope Zephyrinus II, and had made alliances with the Taborites. As a result of Henry's policies with France and the Antipope, Pope Leo XII (1487-1552) supported the creation of an antiking in Leopold II of Habsburg, beginning a civil war in the Holy Roman Empire.

Although Henry X managed to repulse an Austrian-Hungarian invasion on behalf of Leopold II, it came at the cost of Taborite supremacy, agitating the Catholic nobility of Bohemia into instigating a coup in favor of Henry the Pious, who held marriage ties with the Austrians and the Habsburgs. Fearing total Catholic domination of Bohemia and the Empire should Henry the Pious ascend to the throne, the Jungist base of Brandenburg launched a rebellion to propose a third claimant, Henry the Protector, for the throne of Bohemia. With the death of Pope Leo XII and the election of Gregory XIV, and his support for Henry the Pious, the Hungarian-Papal alliance largely broke down, leading to a Hungarian invasion of Aquileia. This would prompt the creation of the League of Venice, beginning a Hungarian phase of the Italian Wars.