Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1741-1790), was the son and successor of Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and Francis Stephen, aka Francis I (1708-1765), of the imperial house of the Habsburgs. He governed as co-ruler with his mother from 1765 to 1780 and was sole ruler of the Habsburg Empire from 1780 to 1790. A remarkable emperor, Joseph II has gone down in the annals of history as an Enlightenment reformer comparable to the monarchs Catherine II of Russia (reign 1762-1796) and Frederick II of Prussia (reign 1740-1786), both of whom received the epithet "Great."
More about: Joseph II, Holy Roman EmperorDefinition
Timeline
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13 Mar 1741Birth of Joseph II at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.
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6 Oct 1760Joseph II's marriage to Isabella of Parma, which ended with her death of smallpox in 1763.
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25 Jan 1765Joseph II's marriage to Maria Josepha of Bavaria, which ended unconsummated with her death of smallpox in 1767.
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18 Aug 1765Death by heart attack of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, the husband of Empress Maria Theresa, aged 56, in Innsbruck, Austria.
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16 May 177014-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste (the future King Louis XVI) at a ceremony at the Palace of Versailles.
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1772First Partition of Poland; Polish territories are carved up between Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria.
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1775The Habsburg Empire annexes Bukovina from the Ottoman Empire.
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Apr 1777Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, visits France to help fix the troubled marriage of his sister Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France.
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1778 - 1779The War of the Bavarian Succession; fought over the vacant Bavarian electorate between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Prussians and Saxony.
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13 May 1779The Treaty of Teschen concludes the War of Bavarian Succession; Maria Theresa relinquishes all of Bavaria.
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29 Nov 1780Death of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in Vienna, aged 63.
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1781Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Patent of Toleration that expands religious freedoms to Jews and non-Catholic Christian denominations.
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1781Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor abolishes serfdom.
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1787Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
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1789The French Revolution breaks out in France.
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20 Feb 1790Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor dies of tuberculosis.
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30 Sep 1790Leopold II succeeds Joseph II as Holy Roman Emperor.
