Rudolph was born in Vienna on 18 July 1582 to the Emperor Maximilian II and Maria, Maximilian's first cousin. Rudolph succeeded his father after his death in 1576. Despite being well educated and intelligent, Rudolph was a relatively poor ruler as he suffered clinical depression and became insane in later life. Other members of the Habsburg family slowly took over Imperial affairs from him across his reign. Rudolph was a keen supporter of the arts, sciences, and alchemy, and he brought to his court the likes of painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, astronomer Tycho Brahe, mathematician Johannes Kepler, and alchemists John Dee and Edward Kelley. He kept a menagerie of exotic animals, and it was rumoured he collections of dwarves and an army of giants. The mystical reputation of Prague originates fro