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95-533: After the coronation of Emperor Joseph II , new fortifications began to be built for the defence of the northern border of the Empire. The defence of Moravia was entrusted to Olomouc , which was fortified by powerful forts. When the work was completed, the fortification of Hradec Králové commenced between 1766-88. The Emperor Joseph II himself had the Josefov Fortress built around the area of Plesy, near

190-584: A secundogeniture , a territory and title bestowed upon the second born son, which was greater than an appanage . On 5 August 1765, Leopold married Maria Luisa , daughter of King Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony ; however, they were already married by proxy on 16 February 1764 in Madrid , more than a year before their in-person marriage. Upon the death of his father, Francis I, on 18 August 1765, he became Grand Duke of Tuscany. For five years, Leopold exercised little more than nominal authority, under

285-570: A 20% death rate in the new hospital; the city nevertheless became preeminent in the medical field in the next century. Joseph's policy of religious "toleration" was the most aggressive of any state in Europe. Probably the most unpopular of all his reforms was his attempted modernization of the highly traditional Catholic Church , which in medieval times had helped establish the Holy Roman Empire beginning with Charlemagne . Calling himself

380-561: A Lodge himself. Freemasonry attracted many anticlericals and was condemned by the Church. Joseph's feelings towards religion are reflected in a witticism he once spoke in Paris. While being given a tour of the Sorbonne 's library, the archivist took Joseph to a dark room containing religious documents and lamented the lack of light which prevented Joseph from being able to read them. Joseph put

475-533: A clerical career, he received an education with a focus on theology . In 1753, he was engaged to Maria Beatrice d'Este , heiress to the Duchy of Modena . The marriage was never consummated and Maria Beatrice instead married Leopold's brother, Archduke Ferdinand . Upon the early death of his older brother Archduke Charles in 1761, the family decided that Leopold was going to succeed his father as Grand Duke of Tuscany . Tuscany had been envisioned and designated as

570-577: 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 Toleration (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

665-737: 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 25 August 1791, he met the King of Prussia at Pillnitz Castle , near Dresden , and they drew up

760-495: A hierarchy under himself as a supreme autocrat. The personnel of government was expected to be imbued with the same dedicated spirit of service to the state that he himself had. It was recruited without favor for a class or ethnic origins, and promotion was solely by merit. To further uniformity, the emperor made German the compulsory language of official business throughout the Habsburg Monarchy, which affected especially

855-417: A literate citizenry, elementary education was made compulsory for all boys and girls, and higher education on practical lines was offered for a select few. Joseph created scholarships for talented poor students and allowed the establishment of schools for Jews and other religious minorities. In 1784 he ordered that the country change its language of instruction from Latin to German, a highly controversial step in

950-473: A man of the Enlightenment he ridiculed the contemplative monastic orders, which he considered unproductive. Accordingly, he suppressed a third of the monasteries (over 700 were closed) and reduced the number of monks and nuns from 65,000 to 27,000. The Church's ecclesiastical tribunals were abolished and marriage was defined as a civil contract outside the jurisdiction of the Church. Joseph sharply cut

1045-569: A multilingual empire. By the 18th century, centralization was the trend in medicine because more and better-educated doctors were requesting improved facilities. Cities lacked the budgets to fund local hospitals, and the monarchy wanted to end costly epidemics and quarantines. Joseph attempted to centralize medical care in Vienna through the construction of a single, large hospital, the famous Allgemeines Krankenhaus , which opened in 1784. Centralization worsened sanitation problems, causing epidemics and

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1140-424: A single and egalitarian tax on land. The goal was to modernize the relationship of dependence between the landowners and peasantry, relieve some of the tax burden on the peasantry, and increase state revenues. Joseph looked on the tax and land reforms as being interconnected and strove to implement them at the same time. The various commissions he established to formulate and carry out the reforms met resistance among

1235-536: A visit to his sister the queen of France, Marie Antoinette of Austria , traveling under the name of "Count Falkenstein". He was well received and much flattered by the Encyclopedists, but his observations led him to predict the approaching downfall of the French monarchy, and he was not impressed favorably by the French army or navy. In 1778, he commanded the troops collected to oppose Frederick, who supported

1330-743: A visit with the Russian empress Catherine, which started talks that would later lead to the Austro-Russian Alliance (1781) , including an offensive clause to be used against the Ottomans. This was a significant diplomatic development, as it neutralised the previous Russian-Prussian alliance which had threatened the monarchy into peace during the War of the Bavarian Succession. The agreement with Russia would later lead Austria into

1425-753: The Burgtheater and Kärntnertortheate . Following this shift, Mozart , who had previously written the opera buffas The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790) with Da Ponte, created the opera seria La clemenza di Tito which was commissioned by the Estates of Bohemia for the festivities that accompanied Leopold's coronation as king of Bohemia in Prague on 6 September 1791. This shift toward opera seria and ballet continued in Vienna beyond Leopold II's reign decades into

1520-585: 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,

1615-581: The Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I , and the brother of Marie Antoinette , Leopold II , Maria Carolina of Austria , and Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma . He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the union of the Houses of Habsburg and Lorraine , styled Habsburg-Lorraine . Joseph

1710-467: The Kingdom of Hungary . The Diet of Hungary was stripped of its prerogatives, and not even called together. As privy finance minister, Count Karl von Zinzendorf (1739–1813) introduced a uniform system of accounting for state revenues, expenditures, and debts of the territories of the Austrian crown. Austria was more successful than France in meeting regular expenditures and in gaining credit. However,

1805-489: The power of the state when directed by reason . As an absolutist ruler, however, he was also convinced of his right to speak for the state uncontrolled by laws, and of the wisdom of his own rule. He had also inherited from his mother the belief of the House of Austria in its "August" quality and its claim to acquire whatever it found desirable for its power or profit. He was unable to understand that his philosophical plans for

1900-547: The "legge sui pazzi" (law on the insane) was established, the first of its kind to be introduced in Europe, allowing steps to be taken to hospitalize individuals deemed insane. A few years later Leopold undertook the project of building a new hospital, the Bonifacio Hospital  [ it ] . He used his skill at choosing collaborators to put a young physician, Vincenzo Chiarugi , at its head. Chiarugi and his collaborators introduced new humanitarian regulations in

1995-403: The Austrian dominions. 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, by threatening to resign his place as co-regent, could induce his mother to abate her dislike for religious toleration. He could and did place a great strain on her patience and temper, as in

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2090-454: The Emperor was obvious to Frederick II of Prussia, who, after their first interview in 1769, described him as ambitious, and as capable of setting the world on fire. The French minister Vergennes , who met Joseph when he was traveling incognito in 1777, judged him to be "ambitious and despotic". After the death of his father in 1765, he became emperor and was made co-regent by his mother in

2185-616: The Habsburg monarchy the greatest of the European powers. His main goal was to acquire Bavaria, if necessary in exchange for the Austrian Netherlands , but in 1778 and again in 1785 he was thwarted by King Frederick II of Prussia, whom he feared greatly; on the second occasion, a number of other German princes, wary of Joseph's designs on their lands, joined Frederick's side. Joseph's travels through Russia in 1780 included

2280-580: 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 Frederick William 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 11 November 1790, preceded by a settlement with the Diet in which he recognized

2375-477: 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. Like his parents before him, Leopold had sixteen children,

2470-492: 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

2565-635: The back of their newfound parenthood, the couple then endured two consecutive miscarriages—an ordeal particularly hard on Isabella—followed quickly by another pregnancy. Pregnancy was again provoking melancholy, fears and dread in Isabella. 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 (b.d November 22 1763), who died shortly after being born. Progressively ill with smallpox and strained by sudden childbirth and tragedy, Isabella died

2660-420: The birth of a daughter, Maria Theresa . Isabella was fearful of pregnancy and early death, largely a result of the early loss of her mother. Her own pregnancy proved especially difficult as she suffered symptoms of pain, illness and melancholy both during and afterward, though Joseph attended to her and tried to comfort her. She remained bedridden for six weeks after their daughter's birth. Almost immediately on

2755-510: The brother of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, Queen Maria Carolina , Duchess Maria Amalia of Parma , and Emperor Joseph II . Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism . He granted the Academy of Georgofili his protection. Unusually for his time, he opposed the death penalty and torture and abolished it in Tuscany on 30 November 1786 during his rule there, making it

2850-452: The by now completely estranged French Queen. When Maria Theresa died, Joseph started issuing edicts, over 6,000 in all, plus 11,000 new laws designed to regulate and reorder every aspect of the empire. The spirit of Josephinism was benevolent and paternal. He intended to make his people happy, but strictly in accordance with his own criteria. Joseph set about building a rationalized, centralized, and uniform government for his diverse lands,

2945-765: The case of the First Partition of Poland and the War of the Bavarian Succession of 1778–1779, but in the last resort the empress spoke the final word. Therefore, until the death of his mother in 1780, Joseph was never quite free to follow his own instincts. During these years, Joseph traveled much. He met Frederick the Great privately at Neisse in 1769 (later painted in The Meeting of Frederick II and Joseph II in Neisse in 1769 ), and again at Mährisch-Neustadt in 1770;

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3040-470: The crown and taxes were levied upon all income derived from land. The landlords, however, found their economic position threatened, and eventually reversed the policy. Indeed, in Hungary and Transylvania, the resistance of the magnates was such that Joseph had to content himself for a while with halfway measures. Of the five million Hungarians, 40,000 were nobles, of whom 4,000 were magnates who owned and ruled

3135-401: The destruction of the autonomous guilds, already weakened during the age of mercantilism. Joseph II's tax reforms and the institution of Katastralgemeinde (tax districts for the large estates) served this purpose, and new factory privileges ended guild rights while customs laws aimed at economic unity. Physiocratic influence also led to the inclusion of agriculture in these reforms. To produce

3230-539: The development of a political constitution, said to have anticipated by many years the promulgation of the French constitution and which presented some similarities with the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778. Leopold's concept of this was based on respect for the political rights of citizens and on a harmony of power between the executive and the legislative. However, it could not be put into effect because Leopold moved to Vienna to become emperor in 1790, and because it

3325-522: The direct result of his brother's strict methods. He and Joseph II were tenderly attached to one another and met frequently both before and after the death of their mother. The portrait by Pompeo Batoni in which they appear together shows that they bore a strong personal resemblance to one another. But it may be said of Leopold, as of Fontenelle , that his heart was made of brains. He knew that he had to succeed his childless eldest brother in Austria, and he

3420-694: The dominant position of the Magyars . 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

3515-629: The east he was threatened by the aggressive ambition of 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

3610-443: The eldest of his eight sons being his successor, Emperor Francis II . 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. Leopold died suddenly in Vienna on 1 March 1792. He

3705-484: The event of Frederick's death, was to advance into Prussia and demand Silesia (a territory Frederick had conquered from Maria Theresa in the War of the Austrian Succession ). However, Frederick recovered, and thereafter became wary and mistrustful of Joseph. Joseph was also eager to enforce Austria's claim on Bavaria upon the death of the elector Maximilian III in 1777. In April of that year, he paid

3800-404: The events of Joseph II's last years also suggest that the government was financially vulnerable to the European wars that ensued after 1792. The Emperor also attempted to simplify the administration of his dominions, often a patchwork of states united in personal union by the Habsburg monarch. As an example, in 1786 he abolished the separate administration of the Duchy of Mantua , merging it with

3895-503: The expensive and largely futile Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791) . Joseph II travelled with only a few servants on horseback as "Count Falkenstein". He preferred to stop at a regular inn—forcing Catherine II to convert a wing of her palace, cajoling her gardener to act as inn-keeper. Joseph's participation in the Ottoman war was reluctant, attributable not to his usual acquisitiveness, but rather to his close ties to Russia, which he saw as

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3990-460: The first nation in modern history to do so. This act has been commemorated since 2000 by a regional custom known as the Feast of Tuscany, held every 30 November. 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". Leopold was born in Vienna as his parents' third son. Initially selected for

4085-592: The first staging in Florence of Traetta's 1763 masterwork Ifigenia in Tauride . He also was a patron of the opera singers Giovanni Manzuoli , Giusto Fernando Tenducci , and Tommaso Guarducci . Upon his succession to Holy Roman Emperor in 1790, Leopold II brought his passion for Florentine opera to the Vienna court, and brought with him many of the musicians and opera singers he enjoyed in Tuscany to Vienna. Many of

4180-681: 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, though he dearly loved his daughter and remained a devoted father to Maria Theresa. 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 . 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,

4275-571: The grand duchy to a high level of material prosperity. His ecclesiastical policy, which disturbed the deeply rooted convictions of his people and brought him into collision with the Pope, was not successful. He was unable to secularize the property of the religious houses or to put the clergy entirely under the control of the lay power. However, his abolition of capital punishment was the first permanent abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked capital executions (the last

4370-451: The grand duchy to his younger son Ferdinand III , who ruled until the French invasion in 1797 and then again from 1814 to 1824. 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

4465-526: The guardian of Catholicism, Joseph II struck vigorously at papal power . He tried to make the Catholic Church in his territories the tool of the state, independent of Rome. Clergymen were deprived of the tithe and ordered to study in seminaries under government supervision, while bishops had to take a formal oath of loyalty to the crown. He financed the large increase in bishoprics, parishes, and secular clergy by extensive sales of monastic lands. As

4560-497: 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 9 May 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

4655-509: 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

4750-408: The land; most of the remainder were serfs legally tied to particular estates. After the collapse of the peasant revolt of Horea , 1784–1785, in which over a hundred nobles were killed, the emperor acted. His Imperial Patent of 1785 abolished serfdom but did not give the peasants ownership of the land or freedom from dues owed to the landowning nobles. It did give them personal freedom. Emancipation of

4845-534: The main fortress with its residential and public function, the lower Crown fortress with a fortified island, and a forward redoubt in Brdce fortress. The town had four gates. The dominant part of the whole Josefov Fortress is the Empire Church, which was built between 1805-10. It was designed by Heinrich Hatzinger, Julius D’Andreis and Franz Joseph Fohmann. Before that, there was a fountain in the same place, which

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4940-478: The man at rest by saying "Ah, when it comes to theology, there is never much light." Thus, Joseph was undoubtedly a much laxer Catholic than his mother. In 1789 he issued a charter of religious toleration for the Jews of Galicia , a region with a large Yiddish-speaking traditional Jewish population. The charter abolished communal autonomy whereby the Jews controlled their internal affairs; it promoted Germanization and

5035-548: 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. Yet he did not surrender any part that could be retained of what Maria Theresa and Joseph had done to strengthen

5130-428: The moulding of humanity could meet with pardonable opposition. Joseph was documented by contemporaries as being impressive, but not necessarily likable. In 1760, his arranged consort , the well educated Isabella of Parma, was handed over to him. Joseph appears to have been completely in love with her, but Isabella preferred the companionship of Joseph's sister, Marie Christine of Austria . The overweening character of

5225-400: The music stages built against the outer walls. Metalheads from all over Europe occupy the fortress for four days each year. 50°20′21.4″N 15°55′48.8″E  /  50.339278°N 15.930222°E  / 50.339278; 15.930222 Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of

5320-544: The necessary price to be paid for the security of his people. After initial defeats, the Austrians won a string of victories in 1789, including the capture of Belgrade , a key Turkish fortress in the Balkans. These victories however would not amount to any significant gains for the monarchy. Under the threat of Prussian intervention and with the worrying state of the revolution in France, the Treaty of Sistova of 1791 ended

5415-540: The neighbouring Duchy of Milan . Local opposition to the change forced his successor Leopold II to reverse this measure and restore the duchy in 1791. The busy Joseph inspired a complete reform of the legal system, abolished brutal punishments and the death penalty in most instances, and imposed the principle of complete equality of treatment for all offenders. He lightened censorship of the press and theatre. In 1781–1782, he extended full legal freedom to serfs . Rentals paid by peasants were to be regulated by officials of

5510-401: The nobility, clergy, merchants and the peasants, since their barter economy lacked money. Joseph also abolished the death penalty in 1787, a reform that remained until 1795. After the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Joseph sought to help the family of his estranged sister Queen Marie Antoinette of France and her husband King Louis XVI . Joseph kept an eye on the development of

5605-425: The nobility, the peasantry, and some officials. Most of the reforms were abrogated shortly before or after Joseph's death in 1790; they were doomed to failure from the start because they tried to change too much in too short a time, and tried to radically alter the traditional customs and relationships that the villagers had long depended upon. In the cities, the new economic principles of the Enlightenment called for

5700-498: The number of holy days to be observed in the Habsburg monarchy and ordered ornamentation in churches to be reduced. He forcibly simplified the manner in which the Mass (the central Catholic act of worship) was celebrated. Opponents of the reforms blamed them for revealing Protestant tendencies, with the rise of Enlightenment rationalism and the emergence of a liberal class of bourgeois officials. Anti-clericalism emerged and persisted, while

5795-463: The peasantry of feudal burdens, and to remove restrictions on trade and knowledge. In these, he did not differ from Frederick, or his own brother and successor Leopold II, all enlightened rulers of the 18th century. He tried to liberate serfs , but that did not last after his death. Where Joseph differed from great contemporary rulers, and was akin to the Jacobins in the intensity of his belief in

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5890-465: The peasants from the Kingdom of Hungary promoted the growth of a new class of taxable landholders, but it did not abolish the deep-seated ills of feudalism and the exploitation of the landless squatters. Feudalism in the Habsburg monarchy finally ended in 1848. To equalize the incidence of taxation, Joseph caused an appraisal of all the lands of the Habsburg monarchy to be made so that he might impose

5985-513: The point of view of 18th-century philosophy, the Age of Enlightenment , appeared "reasonable". He strove for administrative unity with characteristic haste to reach results without preparation. Joseph carried out measures of the emancipation of the peasantry , which his mother had begun, and abolished serfdom in 1781. In 1789, he decreed that peasants must be paid in cash payments rather than labor obligations. These policies were violently rejected by

6080-402: 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

6175-411: The previously active singers, librettists, and composers at the Vienna court, such as librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte , were dismissed by Leopold II as he significantly changed the staffing of artists in the Vienna court. Before Leopold II opera buffa had been the center of the Vienna court, but after his succession and by Leopold's direction opera seria and ballet became the central repertoire of both

6270-416: 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

6365-634: The relationship offered little for Joseph, who confessed he felt no love (nor attraction) for her in return. He adapted by distancing himself from his wife to the point of near total avoidance, seeing her only at meals and upon retiring to bed. Maria Josepha, in turn, suffered considerable misery in finding herself locked in a cold, loveless union. 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. One thing

6460-520: The removal of the ruinous restrictions on industry and personal freedom imposed by his predecessors of the House of Medici and left untouched during his father's life, by the introduction of a rational system of taxation (reducing the rates of taxation), and by the execution of profitable public works, such as the drainage of the Valdichiana . As Leopold had no army to maintain, and as he suppressed

6555-413: The revolution, and became actively involved in the planning of a rescue attempt. These plans failed, however, either due to Marie Antoinette's refusal to leave her children behind in favor of a faster carriage or Louis XVI's reluctance to become a fugitive king. Joseph died in 1790, making negotiations with Austria about possible rescue attempts more difficult. It was not until 21 June 1791 that an attempt

6650-403: The rival claimant to Bavaria. This was the War of the Bavarian Succession . Real fighting was averted by the unwillingness of Frederick to embark on a new war and by Maria Theresa's determination to maintain peace. However, the war cost Joseph most of his influence over the other German princes, who were wary of his potential designs on their lands, and looked to Frederick as their protector. As

6745-431: The running of the hospital and caring for the mentally ill patients, including banning the use of chains and physical punishment, and in so doing have been recognized as early pioneers of what later came to be known as the moral treatment movement. During the last few years of his rule in Tuscany, Leopold had begun to be frightened by the increasing disorders in the German and Hungarian dominions of his family, which were

6840-626: The small naval force kept up by the Medici, the whole of his revenue was left free for the improvement of his state. Leopold was never popular with his Italian subjects. His disposition was cold and retiring. His habits were simple to the verge of sordidness, though he could display splendour on occasion, and he could not help offending those of his subjects who had profited by the abuses of the Medicean régime. But his steady, consistent, and intelligent administration, which advanced step by step, brought

6935-462: The son of Francis I, Joseph succeeded him as titular Duke of Lorraine and Bar , which had been surrendered to France on his father's marriage, and titular King of Jerusalem and Duke of Calabria (as a proxy for the Kingdom of Naples ). The death of Maria Theresa on 29 November 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

7030-415: The supervision of counselors appointed by his mother. In 1770, he made a journey to Vienna to secure the removal of this vexatious guardianship and returned to Florence with a free hand. During the twenty years that elapsed between his return to Florence and the death of his eldest brother Joseph II in 1790, he was employed in reforming the administration of his small state. The reformation was carried out by

7125-421: The three great Enlightenment monarchs. False but influential letters depict him as a somewhat more radical philosophe than he probably was. His policies are now known as Josephinism . He was a supporter of the arts, particularly of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri . He died with no known surviving legitimate offspring and was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II . He

7220-479: The town of Jaroměř. Designed by the French architect Claude Benoît Duhamel de Querlonde and fortified by octagonal-shaped, bastion-like brick walls extending over 289 hectares, the fortress is a system of fortifications in the form of an amphitheatre with extensive three-storey deep underground corridors formed in cretaceous rocks, and running through a labyrinth of 45 kilometers, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in Europe. It had three distinct sections -

7315-474: The traditional Catholics were energized in opposition to the emperor. Joseph's Patent of Toleration in 1781 was a major shift away from the inquisitive religious policies of the Counter Reformation that were previously predominant in the monarchy. Limited religious freedom of worship was given to major non-Catholic Christian sects, although conversion from Catholicism was still restricted. This

7410-543: The two rulers initially got along well. On the second occasion, he was accompanied by Prince Kaunitz , whose conversation with Frederick may be said to mark the starting point of the First Partition of Poland. To this and to every other measure which promised to extend the dominions of his house, Joseph gave hearty approval. Thus, when Frederick fell severely ill in 1775, Joseph assembled an army in Bohemia which, in

7505-430: The union did provide him was the improved possibility of laying claim to a portion of Bavaria, though this would ultimately lead to the War of the Bavarian Succession . Joseph never remarried. In 1770, Joseph's only surviving child, the seven-year-old Maria Theresa, became ill with pleurisy and died. The loss of his daughter was deeply traumatic for him and left him grief-stricken and scarred. Lacking children, Joseph II

7600-422: The war with only token gains. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor , as well as 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 Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I , and

7695-531: The wearing of non-Jewish clothing. The Habsburg Empire also had a policy of war, expansion, colonization and trade as well as exporting intellectual influences. While opposing Prussia and Turkey, Austria maintained its defensive alliance with France and was friendly to Russia though trying to remove the Danubian Principalities from Russian influence. Mayer argues that Joseph was an excessively belligerent, expansionist leader, who sought to make

7790-427: Was a proponent of enlightened absolutism ; however, his commitment to secularizing, liberalizing and modernizing reforms resulted in significant opposition, which resulted in failure to fully implement his programs. Meanwhile, despite making some territorial gains, his reckless foreign policy badly isolated Austria. He has been ranked with Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia as one of

7885-542: Was baptised under the full name Josephus Benedictus Joannes Antonius Michael Adamus, born an archduke of Austria. Joseph was born in the midst of the early upheavals of the War of the Austrian Succession . His formal education was provided through the writings of David Hume , Edward Gibbon , Voltaire , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , and the Encyclopédistes , and by the example of his contemporary (and sometimes rival) King Frederick II of Prussia . His practical training

7980-645: Was buried in the Tuscan Crypt within the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. As a patron of the arts, Leopold II had an impact on the arts and culture of both Tuscany and Vienna. He was particularly passionate about Italian opera as practiced in the city of Florence. While the Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790, he was a major patron of the composer Tommaso Traetta and subsidized the costs of staging many new innovative operas by that composer; including

8075-457: Was conferred by government officials, who were directed to instruct him in the mechanical details of the administration of the numerous states composing the Austrian dominions and the Holy Roman Empire. 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 ,

8170-627: Was followed by the Edict of Tolerance in 1782, removing many restrictions and regulations on Jews. The Secularization Decree issued on 12 January 1782 banned several monastic orders not involved in teaching or healing and liquidated 140 monasteries (home to 1484 monks and 190 nuns). The banned monastic orders: Jesuits, Camaldolese , Order of Friars Minor Capuchin , Carmelites , Carthusians , Poor Clares , Order of Saint Benedict , Cistercians , Dominican Order (Order of Preachers), Franciscans , Pauline Fathers and Premonstratensians , and their wealth

8265-423: 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

8360-457: Was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. Torture was also banned. In line with the theories of the Age of Enlightenment , he enlarged La Specola with medical waxworks and other exhibits, aiming to educate Florentines in the empirical observation of natural laws. Leopold also approved and collaborated on

8455-428: Was made , with the help of Count Fersen , a Swedish general who had been favored at the courts of both Marie Antoinette and Joseph. The attempt failed after the King was recognized from the back of a coin. Marie Antoinette became increasingly desperate for help from her homeland, even giving French military secrets to Austria. Nevertheless, even though Austria was at war with France at the time, it refused to directly help

8550-636: Was made by the Czech J. Malinský in 1817. The Josefov fortress was originally named Ples, and only later, in 1793, was it renamed Josefov. In 1948 the fortress town was incorporated into Jaroměř and today it is an urban monument reservation preserving 18th-century military building techniques and classicist urbanism. Over the years, the fortress has been converted into a residential district. The biggest extreme metal music festival in Central Europe , Brutal Assault , takes place here each August, with

8645-450: Was so radically new that it garnered opposition even from those who might have benefited from it. Leopold developed and supported many social and economic reforms. Smallpox inoculation was made systematically available, and an early institution for the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents was founded. Leopold also introduced radical reforms to the system of neglect and inhumane treatment of those deemed mentally ill . On 23 January 1774,

8740-526: Was taken over by the Religious Fund. His anticlerical and liberal innovations induced Pope Pius VI to pay him a visit in March 1782. Joseph received the Pope politely and showed himself a good Catholic, but refused to be influenced. On the other hand, Joseph was very friendly to Freemasonry , as he found it highly compatible with his own Enlightenment philosophy, although he apparently never joined

8835-452: Was the eldest daughter of Louis XV of France and his popular wife, Queen Marie Leczinska . 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

8930-402: Was ultimately succeeded by his younger brother, who became Leopold II . Joseph was made a member of the constituted council of state ( Staatsrat ) and began to draw up minutes for his mother to read. These papers contain the germs of his later policy, and of all the disasters that finally overtook him. He was a friend to religious toleration, anxious to reduce the power of the church, to relieve

9025-426: Was unwilling to inherit his unpopularity. When, therefore, in 1789 Joseph, who knew himself to be dying, asked him to come to Vienna and become co-regent, Leopold evaded the request. He was still in Florence when Joseph II died at Vienna on 20 February 1790, and he did not leave his Italian capital until 3 March 1790. Following the principle of secundogeniture which had allowed him to rule Tuscany, Leopold entrusted

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