Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I

26 July 1678 marks the birth of Joseph Jacob Johann Anton Eustachius. This took place in Vienna, Austria.

Family

Joseph was the son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg.
He was a member of the royal house of Habsburg.



Youth

Joseph was educated by Prince Dietrich Otto von Salm and he became a good linguist.
On 9 December 1687, when he was 9 years old, Joseph was crowned King of Hungary.
On 23 January 1690, at the age of 11, Joseph was crowned King of the Romans.
Joseph had two great passions: music and hunting.




Love and Marriage

On 24 February 1699, Joseph married Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick- Lüneburg in Vienna. They would have three children but their only son died of hydrocephalus before his first B-day.


Military service

In 1702, at the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Joseph saw his only military service. He joined the Imperial General, Louis William Margrave of Baden-Baden.






Duty

Joseph surrounded himself with reform-hungry advisors and the young court of Vienna was ambitious in the elaboration of innovative plans. He was described as a forward looking ruler. Measures were taken to modernize the central bodies and a certain success was achieved in stabilizing the chronic Habsburg finances.

On 16 June 1708, Joseph was threatened with excommunication by Pope Clement XI due to a military conflict with the Pope about the Duchy of Mantua.

Joseph was the head of the Empire and he governed in the Austrian dominions, his trusted general Eugene of Savoy acted alone in Italy or with the duke of Marlborough in Germany and Flanders.

Death

During the smallpox epidemic of 1711, which killed even Louis, le Grand Dauphin and three siblings of the future Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, Joseph became infected too.

When he was ill, Joseph promised his wife to stop having affairs if he should survive.

However, he died on 17 April 1711, at the age of 32, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Joseph I was buried in the Imperial Crypt, the resting place of the majority of the Habsburgs. His funeral took place on 20 April 1711.

He was succeeded by his younger brother Charles, who ruled as Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor.







Source pictures: Wikipedia


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark

Who is who? de Liedekerke family!

House of Wittelsbach - Between crazyness and excellence