Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I

27 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

Who is who? de Liedekerke family!

House of Wittelsbach - Between crazyness and excellence

Who was Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan?