Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
1678 – 1711 · Generation XV · Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1705–1711) · Austrian Habsburgs
Joseph (1678 – 1711). Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1705–1711). Married Wilhelmine Amalie in 1699. Died of smallpox, leaving only daughters. Crowned King of Hungary at nine and elected King of the Romans at eleven, he came to power ringed by advisers eager for reform, cutting back the swollen privy council, working to make the bureaucracy more efficient, and bringing a measure of stability to the Habsburgs’ perennially strained finances. He carried on the War of the Spanish Succession to win Spain for his younger brother Charles, and the victories of his general Prince Eugene of Savoy made Austria the dominant power in Italy — at the cost of a quarrel with the Pope over Mantua that brought a threat of excommunication. Facing the kuruc revolt in Hungary, he chose compromise over reprisal, easing that kingdom’s integration into the Habsburg lands, and reversed many of his father’s harsher measures.
One of 23 people of Austrian Habsburgs (1527–1740) in this archive. The Vienna line, which held the Holy Roman crown almost without a break.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor → Charles II, Archduke of Austria → Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor → Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor → Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor → Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Parents
- Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705)
- Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (1655 – 1720)
Siblings
- Maria Anna of Austria (1683 – 1754)
- Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1685 – 1740)
Partners
- Married Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1673 – 1742) in 1699
Life
- 1678 — Born
- 1699 — Married Wilhelmine Amalie
- 1711 — Died