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Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Joseph I (July 26, 1678 – April 17, 1711), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduke of Austria, was the elder son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg, who was the daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, 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.
Emperor
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, in imperial regalia
In 1702, at 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. 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 of France. 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.
Marriage and children
In 1699, he married Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick, daughter of John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had three children:
Joseph's descendants include: Louis XVI of France, Charles IV of Spain, Maria Josepha of Bavaria, who married Emperor Joseph II, and several Kings of Poland.
Ancestors
See also
References
- F. Krones von Marchiand, Grundriss der Oesterreichischen Geschichte (1882)
- F. Wagner, Historia Josephi Caesaris (1746)
- J.C. Herchenhahn, Geschichte der Regierung Kaiser Josephs I (1786—1789)
- C. van Noorden, Europäische Geschichte im achtzehnten Jahrhundert (1870—1882).
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