The defenestration was that of
Martinitz,
Slavata, and
Fabricius in
Prague (then in
Bohemia) on
23 May 1618. They were members of the
Regency of
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor; Martinitz and Slavata were two of his three most important ministers.
Matthias had left Prague in late 1617, leaving the
government in the hands of the
regency (which consisted of seven
Catholics and four
Protestants); in March 1618, an
Imperial letter was issued forbidding meetings of
Protestants (this was during the
Counterreformation). On 23 May,
Thurn,
Ruppa, and
Colonna de Fels met with four of the
Catholic regents (in addition to
Fabricius, who was there as a
secretary), asking whether those four had anything to do with the
edict forbidding the meetings. In the ensuing
confrontation, they
accused Martiniz and Slavata of alliance with the
Jesuits, and proceeded to throw both of them, followed by
Fabricius, from the
window. Only
Slavata was injured, and that was minor.
This is considered by many to be the event that sparked the Thirty Years' War.
xunker's writeup `Defenestrations of Prague' has more information on this event.