a kingdom of Europe subject to the house of Austria, and surrounded on every side with woods and mountains as with a natural rampart. It is bounded on the east by Moravia and part of Silesia, on the north by Lusatia and Upper Saxony, on the west by Franconia, and on the south by Bavaria. Although this kingdom is situated in the middle of Germany, and its king is an elector of the empire, it has nevertheless its particular assemblies, customs, and language, different from the Germans. It is one of the most elevated countries of Europe: for no river enters into it, though many have their source there; the chief of which are the Elbe, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Morava. Its greatest length is 200 miles, its breadth 180, and it comprehends an area of 20,000 square miles. The climate of the interior is temperate and healthy, but on the frontiers it is raw and inclement, on account of the high grounds. The soil is generally rich. Besides corn, flax, hemp, hops, saffron, it produces wine, though only in small quantity. Nearly one-third of the country is covered with wood. It is rich in minerals. Its gold mines are exhausted: but it has mines of silver, iron, mercury, copper, lead, cobalt, zinc, calamine, antimony, pit coal; and its mines of tin are next in value to those of Cornwall. Its manufactures consist of yarn, linen, cambric, stockings, lace, woollen stuffs, glass, cotton and silk stuffs, leather, &c., and amounted in value in 1792 to 3,630,000l. sterling, of which about a third is exported.

Bohemia is the most populous of all the Austrian dominions beyond the Alps. The number of inhabitants in 1789 was 2,852,463, and in 1817 it was 3,236,140. The Bohemian nobility consist of 10 princes, 110 counts, 82 barons, and 238 knights. The original language of the people is a dialect of the Slavonian; but German is spoken in all the large towns. The established religion is the Roman Catholic; but there are about 100,000 dissenters, consisting of Jews, Lutherans, and Calvinists. There is a university at Prague, the chief town, and there are about 2200 schools in the country.

The name Bohemia, in the German language, signifies the home or abode of the Boii, a people of ancient Gaul, who under their leader Sergovesus settled in that country about 500 years before the Christian era. These Boii were soon after expelled by the Marcomanni, a nation of the Suevi, who were afterwards subdued by the Scavi, a people of Scythia, whose language is still spoken in Bohemia and Moravia. Notwithstanding this expulsion of the Boii, the present inhabitants are still called Bohemians by foreigners, but the natives call themselves Zechs. At first they were governed by dukes; but the emperor Otho I. conquered the duke of Bohemia, and reduced the province under the empire. Afterwards Henry V. gave the title of king to Ladislaus duke of Bohemia; and since that time these kings have been electors and chief cup-bearers of the empire, and the kingdom has been elective; which privileges have been confirmed by the golden bull. Formerly the kings of Bohemia received the kingdom as a fief of the empire, which ceremony was practised upon the frontiers; after which the standards of the principalities of which it is composed were given to them, without being torn and given to the people, as is done with the ensigns of the other fiefs of the empire. Ferdinand I. of Austria, having married Anne, sister of Louis, last king of Bohemia, who died without issue, and being elected king, that kingdom has remained in his family ever since. But the crown is conferred with some appearance of election; which right the states of Bohemia still pretend to claim, notwithstanding that, by the treaty of Westphalia, Bohemia is declared hereditary in the house of Austria.

The king of Bohemia was formerly the first secular elector, and gave his opinion after the elector of Cologne. The states of Bohemia have never been comprehended in the government or in the circles of the empire; they are not subject to any of its jurisdictions, nor to the Roman mouths, taxes, or public contributions; and they owed nothing to the empire but what the king voluntarily imposed upon himself. The government of Bohemia is different from that of all other states, the affairs of the kingdom being managed by six different courts. First, the council of the regency, or the great royal council, in which presides the great judge or burgrave of Bohemia, and who has under him 18 lieutenants of the king and other assessors. Secondly, The council or superior chamber of justice, at which the great master of the kingdom is president. Thirdly, The chamber of fiefs. Fourthly, The new tribunals to judge the appeals of the German vassals in their differences on the account of fiefs; which court has also its president, vice-president, and assessors. Fifthly, The royal chamber of finances, which has a president and vice-president. Sixthly, The chancery, which always follows the court. Besides, every circle of Bohemia is governed by two bailiffs, who administer justice in their prefecture. The states are composed of the clergy, lords, nobles, and burgheers. As to Moravia, there is a grand bailiff who governs it in the name of the king of Bohemia, as margrave of Moravia. He is at the head of the royal council, which is composed of three assessors, and in which all is transacted in the name of the king. This province is divided into five circles, each of which has a bailiff. There are, besides, other officers of justice, who have a right of judging only at certain times, and in particular cases, where an appeal is allowed.

Bohemia was divided by the emperor Charles IV. into 12 provinces, in each of which he ordered two captains to be appointed every year for the administration of the government. The same emperor caused the church of Prague to be erected into an archbishopric. Bohemia with this advantage, that the archbishop of Prague should have the prerogative that the archbishop of Mentz formerly enjoyed, viz. of crowning the king of Bohemia. The duchy of Silesia, the marquisate of Moravia, and that of Lusatia, formerly held of this crown; but now only that of Moravia, which is incorporated with the kingdom of Bohemia, and is in the possession of the house of Austria. The total revenue of Bohemia is about 2,000,000l. sterling; and its peace establishment amounts to 50,000 or 60,000 men.

The only remarkable occurrence in the Bohemian history is the rebellion of the disciples of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, on account of their leaders having been burnt as heretics. This occasioned a bloody war of 16 years continuance; for a particular account of which, see the article Hussites.