May 5, 1747: Birth of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

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Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria, Empress Maria Theresa, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, King Carlos III of Spain, Louis XVI of France and Navarre

Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; May 5, 1747 – March 1, 1792) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790.

He was a son of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria in her own right and her husband, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I.

Leopold was also and the brother of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre as the wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre; Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies; Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma by her marriage to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma; and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany (left) with his brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism. He granted the Academy of Georgofili his protection. Despite his brief reign, he is highly regarded. The historian Paul W. Schroeder called him “one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown”.

Unusually for his time, he opposed capital punishment and abolished it in Tuscany in 1786 during his rule there, making it the first nation in modern history to do so.

As his parents’ third son, he was initially selected for a clerical career, he received education with focus on theology.

In 1753, he was engaged to Maria Beatrice d’Este, heiress to the Duchy of Modena and the eldest child of two monarchs, Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, reigning duchess of Massa and princess of Carrara.

As heiress to four states (Modena, Reggio, Massa and Carrara), she was a very attractive wedding partner. Empress Maria Theresa sought to arrange a marriage between Maria Beatrice and Archduke Leopold, but this never materialised. Instead she married Leopold’s brother, Archduke Ferdinand Charles bof Austria, in a union through which the Austrians aimed to expand their influence in Italy.

Upon the early death of his older brother Archduke Charles in 1761, the family decided that Leopold was going to succeed his father as Duke of Tuscany. Tuscany had been envisioned and designated as a Secundogeniture, a territory and title bestowed upon the second born son, which was greater than an Appanage.

Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain

On August 5, 1765 Leopold married the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of Carlos III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Upon the death of his father, Franz on August 18, 1765, he became Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Leopold, during his government in Tuscany, had shown a speculative tendency to grant his subjects a constitution. When he succeeded to the Austrian lands he began by making large concessions to the interests offended by his brother’s innovations.

He recognized the Estates of his different dominions as “the pillars of the monarchy”, pacified the Hungarians and Bohemians, and divided the insurgents in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) by means of concessions. When these failed to restore order, he marched troops into the country and re-established his own authority, and at the same time the historic franchises of the Flemings.

Young Leopold as the Grand Duke of Tuscany

Yet he did not surrender any part that could be retained of what Maria Theresa and Joseph had done to strengthen the hands of the state. He continued, for instance, to insist that no papal bull could be published in his dominions without his consent (placetum regium).

One of the harshest actions Leopold took to placate the noble communities of the various Habsburg domains was to issue a decree on May 9, 1790 that forced thousands of Bohemian serfs freed by his brother Joseph back into servitude.

Leopold lived for barely two years after his accession as Holy Roman Emperor, and during that period he was hard pressed by peril from west and east alike. The growing revolutionary disorders in France endangered the life of his sister Marie Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI, and also threatened his own dominions with the spread of subversive agitation. His sister sent him passionate appeals for help, and he was pestered by the royalist émigrés, who were intriguing to bring about armed intervention in France.

From the east he was threatened by the aggressive ambition of Empress Catherine II of Russia and by the unscrupulous policy of Prussia. Catherine would have been delighted to see Austria and Prussia embark on a crusade in the cause of kings against the French Revolution.

While they were busy beyond the Rhine, she would have annexed what remained of Poland and made conquests against the Ottoman Empire. Leopold II had no difficulty in seeing through the rather transparent cunning of the Russian empress, and he refused to be misled.

To his sister, he gave good advice and promises of help if she and her husband could escape from Paris. The émigrés who followed him pertinaciously were refused audience, or when they forced themselves on him, were peremptorily denied all help.

Leopold was too purely a politician not to be secretly pleased at the destruction of the power of France and of her influence in Europe by her internal disorders. Within six weeks of his accession, he displayed his contempt for France’s weakness by practically tearing up the treaty of alliance made by Maria Theresa in 1756 and opening negotiations with Great Britain to impose a check on Russia and Prussia.

Leopold put pressure on Great Britain by threatening to cede his part of the Low Countries to France. Then, when sure of British support, he was in a position to baffle the intrigues of Prussia. A personal appeal to King Friedrich Wilhelm II led to a conference between them at Reichenbach in July 1790, and to an arrangement which was in fact a defeat for Prussia: Leopold’s coronation as king of Hungary on November 11, 1790, preceded by a settlement with the Diet in which he recognized the dominant position of the Magyars.

Leopold II. Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria, and Grand Duke of Tuscany

He had already made an eight months’ truce with the Turks in September, which prepared the way for the termination of the war begun by Joseph II. The pacification of his eastern dominions left Leopold free to re-establish order in Belgium and to confirm friendly relations with Britain and the Netherlands.

During 1791, the emperor remained increasingly preoccupied with the affairs of France. In January, he had to dismiss the Count of Artois (afterwards Charles X of France) in a very peremptory way. His good sense was revolted by the folly of the French émigrés, and he did his utmost to avoid being entangled in the affairs of that country.

The insults inflicted on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, however, at the time of their attempted flight to Varennes in June, stirred his indignation, and he made a general appeal in the Padua Circular to the sovereigns of Europe to take common measures in view of events which “immediately compromised the honour of all sovereigns, and the security of all governments.” Yet he was most directly interested in negotiations with Turkey, which in June led to a final peace, the Treaty of Sistova being signed in August 1791.

On August 25, 1791, he met King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia at Pillnitz Castle, near Dresden, and they drew up the Declaration of Pillnitz, stating their readiness to intervene in France if and when their assistance was called for by the other powers.

The declaration was a mere formality, for, as Leopold knew, neither Russia nor Britain was prepared to act, and he endeavored to guard against the use which he foresaw the émigrés would try to make of it. In face of the reaction in France to the Declaration of Pillnitz, the intrigues of the émigrés, and attacks made by the French revolutionists on the rights of the German princes in Alsace, Leopold continued to hope that intervention might not be required.

When Louis XVI swore to observe the constitution of September 1791, the emperor professed to think that a settlement had been reached in France. The attacks on the rights of the German princes on the left bank of the Rhine, and the increasing violence of the parties in Paris which were agitating to bring about war, soon showed, however, that this hope was vain.

Leopold meant to meet the challenge of the revolutionists in France with dignity and temper, however the effect of the Declaration of Pillnitz was to contribute to the radicalization of their political movement.

Mozart’s opera La clemenza di Tito was commissioned by the Estates of Bohemia for the festivities that accompanied Leopold’s coronation as king of Bohemia in Prague on September 6, 1791.

Leopold died suddenly in Vienna, in March 1792.

His mother Empress Maria Theresa was the last Habsburg. His brother Joseph II died without any surviving children, but Leopold in turn had also 16 children, just like his mother, and became the founder of the main line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

The eldest of Leopold II’s eight sons being his successor, Emperor Franz II, the last Holy Roman Emperor and first Emperor of Austria. Some of his other sons were prominent personages in their day. Among them were: Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, a celebrated soldier; Archduke Johann of Austria, also a soldier; Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary; and Archduke Rainer, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.

January 12, 1751: Birth of Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies. Part I.

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Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria, Carlos III of Spain, Empress Maria Theresa, Ferdinand I of the Two-Sicilies, Ferdinand IV-III of Naples and Sicily, Fernando VI of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Napoleonic Wars

Ferdinand I (January 12, 1751 – January 4, 1825), was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He was also King of Gozo. He was deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816.

Ferdinand was the third son of King Carlos VII of Naples and V of Sicily by his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. On August 10, 1759, Carlos succeeded his elder brother, Fernando VI of Spain, becoming King Carlos III of Spain, but treaty provisions made him ineligible to hold all three crowns. On October 6, he abdicated his Neapolitan and Sicilian titles in favour of his third son Ferdinand because his eldest son Felipe had been excluded from succession due to illnesses and his second son Carlos was heir-apparent to the Spanish throne. Ferdinand was the founder of the cadet House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Childhood

Ferdinand was born in Naples and grew up amidst many of the monuments erected there by his father which can be seen today; the Palaces of Portici, Caserta and Capodimonte.

Since Ferdinand IV-III of Naples was eight upon his accession to both thrones, a regency council presided over by the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci was set up. The latter, an able, ambitious man, wishing to keep the government as much as possible in his own hands, purposely neglected the young king’s education, and encouraged him in his love of pleasure, his idleness and his excessive devotion to outdoor sports.

Ferdinand’s minority/childhood ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of the Jesuits. The following year he married Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I.

By the marriage contract the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, and she was not slow to avail herself of this means of political influence.daughter of Empress Maria Theresa

Archduchess Maria Carolina was the de facto ruler of her husband’s kingdoms. Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her favorite, Sir John Acton, and the expulsion of Spanish influence.

She was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until the advent of the French Revolution, when, in order to prevent its ideas gaining currency, she made Naples a police state.

Although peace was made with France in 1796, the demands of the French Directory, whose troops occupied Rome, alarmed the king once more, and at his wife’s instigation he took advantage of Napoleon’s absence in Egypt and of Nelson’s victories to go to war.

Ferdinand IV-III marched with his army against the French and entered Rome (November 29), but on the defeat of some of his columns he hurried back to Naples, and on the approach of the French, fled on December 23, 1798 aboard Nelson’s ship HMS Vanguard to Palermo, Sicily, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy.

When, a few weeks later the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force, under Cardinal Ruffo, to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church, and the pro-Bourbon aristocracy, succeeded, reaching Naples in May 1800. After some months King Ferdinand returned to the throne.

The king, and above all the queen, were particularly anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executed Marie Antoinette, Queen of France) made use of Lady Hamilton, Nelson’s mistress, to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.

September 19, 1803: Birth of Princess Maria Anna of Savoy

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Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, Emperor Francis I of Austria, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria- Hungary, Empress Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, King Ferdinand V of Hungary and Bohemia, King Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia, Princess Maria Anna of Savoy

Maria Anna of Savoy (September 19, 1803 – May 4, 1884) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary by marriage to Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria.

Biography

Maria Anna was born in Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele I of Sardinia and his wife, Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este, daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, governor of Milan and son of Empress Maria Theresa after whom she was named. Her mother was Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa and heir to the Duchy of Modena. Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa, was born in Modena, the eldest child of two monarchs, Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, reigning duchess of Massa and princess of Carrara.

Maria Anna of Savoy had a twin sister Maria Teresa, who became Duchess consort of Parma and Piacenza by marriage to Carlo II, Duke of Parma (Duke Charles I of Lucca).

The two princesses were baptised by Pope Pius VII. Their godparents were their maternal grandparents, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este. In the Museo di Roma can be seen a painting of the baptism.

On February 12, 1831 Maria Anna was married by procuration in Turin to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria). On February 27, the couple were married in person in Vienna in the Hofburg chapel by the Cardinal Archbishop of Olmütz.

Ferdinand was the eldest son of Franz II-I, Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. Possibly as a result of his parents’ genetic closeness (they were double first cousins), Ferdinand suffered from epilepsy, hydrocephalus, neurological problems, and a speech impediment. He was educated by Baron Josef Kalasanz von Erberg, and his wife Josephine, by birth a Countess von Attems.

When Princess Maria Anna and Archduke Ferdinand married, the court physician considered it unlikely that he would be able to consummate the marriage. When he tried to consummate the marriage, he had five seizures.

Ferdinand succeeded on the death of his father Franz II-I on March 2, 1835. Fredinand also became King Ferdinand V of Hungary. Ferdinand was incapable of ruling his empire because of his mental deficiency, so his father, before he died, made a will which promulgated that Ferdinand should consult Archduke Ludwig on all aspects of internal policy and urged him to be influenced by Prince Metternich, Austria’s Foreign Minister.

Following the Revolutions of 1848, Ferdinand abdicated on December 2, 1848. He was succeeded by his nephew, Franz Joseph. Following his abdication, he lived in Hradčany Palace, Prague, until his death in 1875.

Maria Anna and Ferdinand had no children.

When Ferdinand succeeded as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia; Maria Anna became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. On September 12, 1836 she was crowned as Queen of Bohemia at Prague.

After December 2, 1848 when Ferdinand abdicated as Emperor of Austria, but retaining his imperial rank; Maria Anna was henceforward titled Empress Maria Anna. They lived in retirement together, spending the winters at Prague Castle and the summers at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) or at Ploschkowitz (now Ploskovice).

Maria Anna died in Prague, May 4, 1884 (aged 80). She is buried next to her husband in tomb number 63 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

April 19, 1713: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inheritable by a female.

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Empress Maria Theresa, First Silesian War, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, Holy Roman Empire, Mutual Pact of Succession 1703, Pragmatic Sanction, War of the Austrian Succession

In 1700, the senior branch of the House of Habsburg became extinct with the death of King Carlos II of Spain. The War of the Spanish Succession ensued, with Louis XIV of France claiming the crowns of Spain for his grandson Philippe, Duke of Anjou and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, claiming the Spanish throne for his son Archduke Charles. In 1703, Archduke Charles and Archduke Joseph, Leopold’s sons, signed the Mutual Pact of Succession, granting succession rights to the daughters of Archduke Joseph and Archduke Charles in the case of complete extinction of the male line but favouring the daughters of Joseph over those of Charles, as Joseph was older.

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduke of Austria

In 1705, Leopold I died and was succeeded by his elder son, as Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Emperor Joseph was married to Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had three children and their only son, Archduke Leopold Joseph, died of hydrocephalus before his first birthday. Their eldest daughter was Maria Josepha of Austria (1699–1757) who was married to August III of Poland. Their last child was Maria Amalia of Austria (1701-1756) was herself Holy Roman Empress, Queen of the Germans, Queen of Bohemia, Electress and Duchess of Bavaria as the spouse of the Wittelsbach Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII.

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduke of Austria

At the death of Emperor Joseph I his younger brother Archduke Charles succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. However, according to the Mutual Pact of Succession of 1703, Joseph’s eldest daughter Archduchess Maria Josepha became his heir presumptive to the Habsburg heredity lands.

Emperor Charles VI and his wife Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the eldest child of Ludwig-Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and his wife Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen, had not, to that point, had children and since 1711 Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the House of Habsburg. This presented two problems. First, as mentioned, a prior agreement with his brother known as the Mutual Pact of Succession (1703) had agreed that, in the absence of male heirs, Joseph’s daughters would take precedence over Charles’s daughters in all Habsburg lands. Secondly, Salic law precluded female inheritance. At the time of the Mutual Pact of Succession Charles had no children, if he were to be survived by daughters alone, they would be cut out of the inheritance.

Eventually Charles VI and his wife Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel did have four children:

The eldest, Archduke Leopold Johann of Austria (April 13, 1716-November 4, 1716); died aged seven months.

The eldest daughter was Archduchess Maria Theresa (May 13, 1717 – November 29, 1780)

The second daughter, Archduchess Maria Anna, (September 14, 1718 – December 16, 1744) married Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, with whom she served as Governess of the Austrian Netherlands. Died in childbirth.

The last child, Archduchess Maria Amalia April 5, 1724 – April 19, 1730, died aged six.

Archduchess Maria Theresa

Archduchess Maria Anna

With only two daughters surviving, who would receive no inheritance under the Mutual Pact of Succession, this was not acceptable to Charles and he therefore decided to amend the Pact to give his own daughters precedence over his nieces. In order to accomplish this Charles VI needed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a protracted succession dispute as other claimants would have surely contested a female inheritance.

On April 19, 1713, he announced the changes in a secret session of the council by issuing the Pragmatic Sanction. The Pragmatic Sanction was an edict to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter. The Holy Roman Empire, which was guided by the Salic Law, did not permit female succession, and was therefore unaffected by the Pragmatic Sanction.

Charles VI was indeed ultimately succeeded by his own elder daughter Maria Theresa upon his death on October 20, 1740 in the Hofburg Palace. Maria Theresa then became the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress via her marriage to Franz of Lorraine.

However, despite the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction, her accession in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession as Charles-Albert of Bavaria, backed by France, contested her inheritance. Friedrich II of Prussia, also disputed the succession of the 23-year-old Maria Theresa to the Habsburg lands, while simultaneously making his own claim on Silesia.

Accordingly, the First Silesian War (1740–1742, part of the War of the Austrian Succession) began on December 16, 1740 when Friedrich II invaded and quickly occupied the province of Silesia. Following the war, Maria Theresa’s inheritance of the Habsburg lands was confirmed by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, while the election of her husband Franz I as Holy Roman Emperor was secured by the Treaty of Füssen.

March 13, 1741: Birth of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

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Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Empress Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Holy Roman Empire, Isabella of Parma, Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria

Joseph II (German: Joseph Benedikt Anton Michel Adam; March 13, 1741 – February 20, 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Franz I, and the brother of Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI of France and Navarre. He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine. Joseph was a proponent of enlightened absolutism; however, his commitment to modernizing reforms subsequently engendered significant opposition, which resulted in failure to fully implement his programs.

Joseph married Princess Isabella of Parma in October 1760, a union fashioned to bolster the 1756 defensive pact between France and Austria. (The bride’s mother, Princess Louise Élisabeth, was the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and Navarre. Isabella’s father was Philip, Duke of Parma.) Joseph loved his bride, Isabella, finding her both stimulating and charming, and she sought with special care to cultivate his favor and affection. Isabella also found a best friend and confidant in her husband’s sister, Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen.

The marriage of Joseph and Isabella resulted in the birth of a daughter, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1762–1770), Just a few months short of her eighth birthday, Archduchess Maria Theresa became ill with pleurisy. Her father, by that time Holy Roman Emperor, did everything in his power to save her and attended her bedside even at night. However, the medicine in those days was highly undeveloped and Archduchess Maria Theresa died on January 23, 1770 from a very high fever.

Princess Isabella of Parma

In November 1763, while six months pregnant, Isabella fell ill with smallpox and went into premature labor, resulting in the birth of their second child, Archduchess Maria Christina, who died shortly after being born. Progressively ill with smallpox and strained by sudden childbirth and tragedy, Isabella died the following week. The loss of his beloved wife and their newborn child was devastating for Joseph, after which he felt keenly reluctant to remarry.

For political reasons, and under constant pressure, in 1765, he relented and married his second cousin, Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria, the daughter of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, and Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, the daughter of Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. This marriage proved extremely unhappy, albeit brief, as it lasted only two years. Though Maria Josepha loved her husband, she felt timid and inferior in his company. Lacking common interests or pleasures, the relationship offered little for Joseph, who confessed he felt no love (nor attraction) for her in return.

Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria

Four months after the second anniversary of their wedding, Maria Josepha grew ill and died from smallpox. Joseph neither visited her during her illness nor attended her funeral, though he later expressed regret for not having shown her more kindness, respect, or warmth. Joseph never remarried.

On the death of his father, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I in 1765, he was succeeded as Emperor by his eldest son, Joseph II, and as Grand Duke of Tuscany by his younger son, Peter Leopold (later Emperor Leopold II). Maria Theresa retained the government of her hereditary dominions, Austria, Hungary and Bohemia until her own death in 1780. As emperor, he had little true power, and his mother had resolved that neither her husband nor her son should ever deprive her of sovereign control in her hereditary dominions.

Joseph II (right) with his brother Peter Leopold, then Grand Duke of Tuscany, later Emperor Leopold II, by Pompeo Batoni, 1769, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

The death of Maria Theresa on November 29, 1780 left Joseph free to pursue his own policy, and he immediately directed his government on a new course, attempting to realize his ideal of enlightened despotism acting on a definite system for the good of all. He undertook the spread of education, the secularization of church lands, the reduction of the religious orders and the clergy, in general, to complete submission to the lay state, the issue of the Patent of Tolerance (1781) providing limited guarantee of freedom of worship, and the promotion of unity by the compulsory use of the German language (replacing Latin or in some instances local languages)—everything which from the point of view of 18th-century philosophy, the Age of Enlightenment, appeared “reasonable”.

Despite making some territorial gains, his reckless foreign policy badly isolated Austria. He has been ranked, with Catherine II the Great of Russia and Friedrich II the Great of Prussia, as one of the three great Enlightenment monarchs. His reputation as an enlightened monarch was somewhat legendary, leading to false, but influential letters depicting him as a radical philosopher. His policies are now known as Josephinism. He was a supporter of the arts, and most importantly, of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.

In November 1788, Joseph returned to Vienna with ruined health and was left abandoned. His minister Kaunitz refused to visit his sick-room and did not see him for two years. His brother Leopold remained at Florence. At last, Joseph, worn out and broken-hearted, recognized that his servants could not, or would not, carry out his plans.

Joseph died on February 20, 1790. He is buried in tomb number 42 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. He asked that his epitaph read: “Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook.” Joseph was succeeded by his brother, Leopold II.