Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph I.

Joseph I (July 26, 1678 – April 17, 1711), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was the elder son of the emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleanora, Countess Palatine, daughter of Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine.

Born in Vienna, he was educated strictly by Prince Dietrich Otto von Salm and became a good linguist. In 1687 he received the crown of Hungary and became King of the Romans on January 6, 1690.

Marriage and children

In 1699, he married Wilhelmina Amalia, daughter of Duke Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had three children:
*Maria Josepha of Austria (December 8, 1699 - November 17, 1757). Married August III the Saxon
*Leopold Joseph, Archduke of Austria (October 29, 1700 - August 4, 1701).
*Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria (October 22, 1701 - December 11, 1756). Married Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

Emperor

In 1702, on the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, he saw his only military service. He joined the imperial general Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden in the siege of Landau. It is said that when he was advised not to go into a place of danger, he replied that those who were afraid might retire.

He succeeded his father as emperor in 1705, and it was his good fortune to govern the Austrian dominions and to be head of the Empire during the years in which his trusted general Prince Eugene of Savoy, either acting alone in Italy or with the duke of Marlborough in Germany and Flanders, was beating the armies of Louis XIV. During the whole of his reign, Hungary was disturbed by the conflict with Francis Rákóczi II, who eventually took refuge in the Ottoman Empire.

The emperor did not himself take the field against the rebels, but he is entitled to a large share of the credit for the restoration of his authority. He reversed many of the pedantically authoritative measures of his father, thus placating all opponents who could be pacified, and he fought stoutly for what he believed to be his rights. Joseph showed himself very independent towards the pope and hostile to the Jesuits, by whom his father had been much influenced. He had a taste for art and music, which was almost hereditary in his family, and was an active hunter. He began the attempts to settle the question of the Austrian inheritance by a pragmatic sanction, which was continued by his brother Charles VI. Joseph died in Vienna of smallpox.

See F Krones von Marchiand, Grundriss der Oesterreichischen Geschichte (1882); F Wagner, Historia Josephi Caesaris (1746); JC Herchenhahn, Geschichte der Regierung Kaiser Josephs I (1786â€"1789); C van Noorden, Europäische Geschichte im achtzehnten Jahrhundert (1870â€"1882).

References

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External links

Names in other languages: German: Joseph I, Czech: Josef I, Slovak: Jozef I, Hungarian: I. József.