The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 was a religious tinderbox. Protestants had been guaranteed religious freedom by the Letter of Majesty in 1609. But the new Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, was a devout Catholic who began restricting Protestant rights. Churches were closed. Meeting houses were demolished.

The Protestant nobles of Bohemia decided to confront the emperor's representatives directly. On May 23, 1618, a delegation marched to Prague Castle, seat of Bohemian government. They intended to make their displeasure known. They exceeded expectations.

The Protestant delegation found Governors Martinic and Slavata in the Bohemian Chancellery. They accused the governors of violating the Letter of Majesty. A trial was conducted on the spot - by the accusers. The verdict was guilty. The sentence was defenestration - throwing from a window.

The word itself - defenestration - comes from the Latin 'de' (out of) and 'fenestra' (window). This was the Third Defenestration of Prague; throwing political opponents out of windows was something of a Bohemian tradition. Martinic was thrown first, then Slavata, then their secretary Fabricius. The drop was 70 feet.

All three men survived the fall. How they survived depends on who you ask. Catholic accounts credited divine intervention - angels had caught the loyal Catholics and lowered them gently to the ground. Protestant accounts noted that the men had landed in a pile of manure from the castle stables. Both explanations are plausible. Neither is provable.

Fabricius, the secretary, was later ennobled by the emperor and given the title 'Baron von Hohenfall' - roughly, 'Baron of Highfall.' Martinic and Slavata both recovered from their injuries. All three lived to see the war their defenestration had started.

The Defenestration of Prague ignited the Thirty Years' War - one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. What began as a religious conflict in Bohemia spread across the continent, drawing in France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and dozens of German states.

The war devastated Central Europe. Some regions lost 50-60% of their population to combat, famine, and disease. The German states lost 20-40% of their total population. An estimated 8 million people died. The war didn't end until 1648, with the Peace of Westphalia that established the modern concept of national sovereignty.

Prague Castle still stands, and the Bohemian Chancellery window still exists. Visitors can see the spot where three men were thrown 70 feet and lived. A plaque commemorates the event - the moment that triggered three decades of religious warfare.

The Thirty Years' War ended the religious conflicts that had torn Europe apart since the Reformation. It established that rulers would determine the religion of their territories and that states were sovereign within their borders. All of this grew from a dispute over church closures and a 70-foot fall. The pile of manure, if it existed, has not been commemorated.