FERDINANDE (1503-1564), emperor, was the son of Philip of Austria and Joanna daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and was born at Alcala in Spain 10th March 1503. In 1521 he married princess Anna of Hungary, and on the death in 1526 of her only brother the boy-king Louis of Bohemia and Hungary he was elected king of Bohemia, but in Hungary his claims were opposed by John Zapolya, palatine of Transylvania. Zapolya suffered a severe defeat from the imperial troops near Tokay; but after receiving the aid of the Turks he managed to carry on the struggle with varying success until 1538, when the exhausted resources of both rival parties led to a compromise, by which it was agreed that a half of the kingdom should be assigned to each, and that on the death of John the half over which he ruled should revert to Ferdinand. But on the death of John in 1540 the Turks supported the cause of his infant son John Sigismund, and in 1547 Ferdinand was compelled to purchase peace at the price of a yearly tribute. The war was again renewed in 1552, and at its termination the Turks were allowed to retain possession of a part of Hungary in trust for Sigismund. In 1521 Ferdinand had been chosen president of the council of regency appointed to govern Germany during the absence in Spain of his brother the emperor Charles V., and in 1531 he was, through the influence of his brother, elected king of the Romans, in which capacity he acted the part of mediator between the emperor and the German princes, and in 1552 negotiated a treaty between him and the elector Maurice of Saxony. On the abdication of Charles in 1556 Ferdinand was elected emperor. Pope Paul IV. refused ecclesiastical recognition to the election on the ground that it was made without the consent of the papal see, but ...