Defenestration is a term meaning "to throw out a window." The Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1618, when local Protestants became angry with the Catholic King Ferdinand II for going back in his promise of religious freedom. The Protestants stormed Hradcany Castle and murdered three Catholic emissaries by throwing them out the window into a pile of dung. This event sparked the Thirty Years War, as seen in Bertolt Brecht's play, "Mother Courage and Her Children." According to my history professor, the term "defenestration" was originally coined to describe the murder of these three men (I have been unable to verify his statement).