Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
1527 – 1576 · Generation X · Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1564–1576) · Austrian Habsburgs
Maximilian (1527 – 1576). Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1564–1576). Married Maria in 1548. Father of Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain. Raised among humanist scholars and drawn early to Lutheran teaching, he remained only nominally Catholic — promising the Protestant electors he would accept the Augsburg confession, letting Austria's Lutheran nobles and knights worship as they chose, and refusing to publish the decrees of the Council of Trent. His hope of healing the Empire's confessional schism came to nothing, and renewed Ottoman war saw Szigetvár fall in 1566, though Sultan Suleiman died during the siege. Outgoing where his Spanish cousin Philip II was reserved, he disliked Spanish rigidity and the two remained uneasy kinsmen. Historians dispute the ledger: he failed in his grand aims, but through tolerance and patronage of arts and sciences he kept a precarious peace.
Place in the family
- Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor was a nephew of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor was the eldest of 3 children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary recorded in this archive.
- The archive records 39 of his descendants, across 15 generations.
One of 24 people of Austrian Habsburgs (1527–1754) 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 → Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Parents
- Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1503 – 1564)
- Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503 – 1547)
Siblings
- Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (1529 – 1595)
- Charles II, Archduke of Austria (1540 – 1590)
Partners
- Married Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (1528 – 1603) in 1548 — 2 children together
Children
- Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (1552 – 1612)
- Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (1557 – 1619)
- Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (1549 – 1580)
Life
- 1527 — Born
- 1548 — Married Maria
- 1576 — Died