After the Defenestration of 1618, Frederick, Prince-Elector of Palatinate, foolishly accepted the crown of Bohemia from the Czech Protestant nobility in 1619. Their action triggered the Thirty Years War. This period woodcut depicts his hastily retreat from Prague on November 9, 1620 after the Bohemian army was defeated during the Battle of White Mountain. Two years later, he lost his ancestral land of Palatine and spent most of his life in exile in Holland.
This woodcut on display in the St. Vitus shows accurately what Prague was like during the 17th century.