The Revised Ordinance of the Land (1627) established a legal basis for Habsburg absolutism. All Czech lands were declared hereditary property of the Habsburg family. The German language was made equal to the Czech language. The legislative function of the diets of both Bohemia and Moravia was revoked; all subsequent legislation was to be by royal decree, receiving only formal approval from the diets. The highest officials of the kingdom, to be chosen from among the local nobility, would be strictly subordinate to the king. Thus, little remained of an autonomous and distinct Bohemian Kingdom.