View source for Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

{{short description|Holy Roman Emperor from 1705 to 1711}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Joseph I
| title        = [[Imperator Romanorum]]
| image        = JosephI.1705.JPG
| caption      = Portrait by [[Frans van Stampart]], {{circa|1705}}
| succession   = [[Holy Roman Emperor]]
| moretext     = ([[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor#Regnal titles|more...]])
| reign        = 5 May 1705 – {{nowrap|17 April 1711}}
| predecessor  = [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]]
| successor    = [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]]
| succession1  = [[List of Hungarian monarchs|King of Hungary]], [[List of rulers of Croatia|Croatia]] and [[King of Slavonia|Slavonia]]
| reign1       = 9 December 1687 – {{nowrap|17 April 1711}}
| coronation1  = 9 December 1687
| cor-type1    = [[Coronation of the Hungarian monarch|Coronation]]
| predecessor1 = [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]]
| successor1   = [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles III]]
| regent1      = Leopold I (1687–1705)
| reg-type1    = Co-ruler
| succession2  = [[List of rulers of Austria|Archduke of Austria]] and [[King of Bohemia]]
| reign2       = 5 May 1705 – {{nowrap|17 April 1711}}
| predecessor2 = [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold VI & I]]
| successor2   = [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles III & II]]
| royal house  = [[House of Habsburg]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick]]|1699}}
| issue        = [[Maria Josepha of Austria|Maria Josepha, Queen of Poland]]<br/>Archduke Leopold Joseph<br/>[[Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress]]
| full name    = {{langx|de|Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius}}<ref>Johann Burkhard Mencke; Leben und Thaten Sr. Majestät des Römischen Käysers Leopold des Ersten pg 914 https://books.google.com/books?id=AdhXAAAAcAAJ&q=Josephus+Jacobus+Ignatius+Johannes+Antonius+Eustachius&pg=PA914</ref>
| father       = [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| mother       = [[Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1678|7|26|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Archduchy of Austria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1711|4|17|1678|7|26|df=y}}
| death_place  = Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
| burial_place = [[Imperial Crypt]], Vienna
| religion     = [[Catholic Church]]
| signature    = Signature of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor.svg
}}
'''Joseph I''' (Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius; 26 July 1678 – 17 April 1711) was [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and ruler of the [[Habsburg monarchy]] from 1705 until his death in 1711. He was the eldest son of [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] from his third wife, [[Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg]]. Joseph was crowned [[King of Hungary]] at the age of nine in 1687 and was elected [[King of the Romans]] at the age of eleven in 1690. He succeeded to the thrones of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] when his father died.

Joseph continued the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], begun by his father against [[Louis XIV]] of France, in an attempt to make his younger brother [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]] (later Emperor Charles VI) [[King of Spain]]. In the process, however, owing to the victories won by his military commander, Prince [[Eugene of Savoy]], he did succeed in establishing Austrian hegemony over Italy. Joseph also had to contend with a protracted revolt in Hungary, fomented by Louis XIV. Neither conflict was resolved until the [[Treaty of Utrecht]], after his death.

His motto was ''Amore et Timore'' ([[Latin]] for "Through Love and Fear").<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Joseph I as Roman-German Emperor, oval portrait with motto |url=http://english.habsburger.net/module-en/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i/MB-ST_D12-MOD4-01.jpg/?size=preview&plus=1 |website=The World of the Habsburgs |publisher=english.habsburger.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710181428/http://english.habsburger.net/module-en/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i/MB-ST_D12-MOD4-01.jpg/?size=preview&plus=1 |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref> Like his father and grandfather, he was a composer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor Songs, Albums, Re... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joseph-i-holy-roman-emperor-mn0002284595 |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Benjamin von Block 003.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Archduke Joseph at the age of six (by [[Benjamin Block]], 1684)]]
Born in [[Vienna]], Joseph was educated strictly by [[Charles Theodore, Prince of Salm]], and became a good linguist. Perhaps due to the influence of his formerly Protestant tutor he was a less devout Catholic than his parents and other relatives and developed into an adherent of the early [[Age of Enlightenment]].<ref name="habsburger">{{Cite web |title=Reforming zeal in the Baroque: Joseph I |url=http://english.habsburger.net/module-en/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i |website=The World of the Habsburgs |publisher=english.habsburger.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214122631/http://english.habsburger.net/module-en/reformeifer-im-barock-joseph-i |archive-date=December 14, 2011 |access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref> He had two great enthusiasms: music and hunting.<ref name="habsburger" /> 

Although Joseph was the first son and child born of his parents' marriage, he was his father's third son and seventh child. Previously, Leopold had been married to Infanta [[Margaret Theresa of Spain]], who had given him four children, one of whom survived infancy. He then married [[Claudia Felicitas of Austria]], who gave him two short-lived daughters. Thus, Joseph had six half-siblings. In 1684, the six-year-old Archduke had his first portrait painted by [[Benjamin Block]]. At the age of nine, on 9 December 1687, he was crowned King of Hungary; and at the age of eleven, on 23 January 1690, King of the Romans.

==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]], in the [[Siege of Landau (1702)|Siege of Landau]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Joseph I|display=Joseph I.|volume=15|page=514}}</ref>

==Holy Roman Emperor==
[[File:Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor 002.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Joseph I by [[Johann Rudolf Huber]], 1702]]

Prior to his ascension, Joseph had 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".<ref name="habsburger" /> The large number of privy councillors was reduced and attempts were made to make the bureaucracy more efficient. Measures were taken to modernize the central bodies and a certain success was achieved in stabilizing the chronically poor Habsburg finances. Joseph also endeavoured to strengthen his position in the Holy Roman Empire – as a means of strengthening Austria’s standing as a great power. When he sought to lay claim to imperial rights in Italy and gain territories for the Habsburgs, he even risked a military conflict with the Pope over the [[Duchy of Mantua]].<ref name="habsburger" /> Joseph I was threatened with excommunication by [[Pope Clement XI]] on 16 June 1699.<ref>Joaquín Lorenzo Villanueva, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rudGAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA65 Misapprehension of Patrick Curties and James Doyle concerning the oath which the bishops of Ireland take to the Roman Pontiff], (1825) page 64</ref>

In Hungary, Joseph had inherited the [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|kuruc rebellion]] from his father Leopold I: once again, nobles in [[Transylvania]] (Siebenbürgen) had risen against Habsburg rule, even advancing for a time as far as Vienna. Although Joseph was compelled to take military action, he refrained – unlike his predecessors – from seeking to teach his subjects a lesson by executing the leaders. Instead, he agreed to a compromise peace, which in the long term facilitated the integration of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] into the Habsburg domains.<ref name="habsburger" /> It was his good fortune to govern the Austrian dominions and to be head of the Empire, during the years in which his trusted general, Prince Eugene of Savoy, either acting alone in Italy or with the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]] in Germany and [[Flanders]], was beating the armies of Louis XIV of France. During the whole of his reign, Hungary was disturbed by the conflict with [[Francis Rákóczi II]], who eventually took refuge in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The emperor reversed many of the authoritarian measures of his father, thus helping to placate opponents. He began the attempts to settle the question of the Austrian inheritance by a [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1713|pragmatic sanction]], which was continued by his brother [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Religious and ethnic policies===
During the [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|Rákóczi's rebellion]] (1703–1711) in the Kingdom of Hungary, Joseph's government was also faced with various religious and ethnic challenges. Significant portion of Hungarian nobility and people belonged to the [[Reformed Church in Hungary|Reformed Church]] (Calvinists). Hoping to gain full religious freedom and equality, Hungarian Calvinists were supportive for the Rákóczi's movement, thus forcing the imperial court in Vienna to reexamine some staunch pro-Catholic policies.{{sfn|Ingrao|1979|p=123-160}} In the same time, eastern and southern regions of the Kingdom were also inhabited by [[Eastern Orthodox Christians]], mainly [[Habsburg Serbs|Serbs]] and [[Romanians]]. In order to secure their loyalty, Joseph issued (in 1706) official confirmation of religious liberties that were previously granted to Eastern Orthodox subjects by his father, late emperor Leopold I. In 1708, Joseph confirmed the establishment of the [[Metropolitanate of Krušedol]].{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=149-150}} 

In 1710, Joseph extended his father's edict of [[outlaw]]ry against the [[Romani people|Romani]] ([[Gypsies]]) in the Habsburg lands. Per Leopold, any Romani who entered the kingdom was to be declared an outlaw by [[letters patent]]. If the same person returned to Bohemia a second time, they were to be "treated with all possible severity". Joseph ordered that in the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] they were to have their right ears cut off; in the [[Margraviate of Moravia]], the left ear was to be cut off; in Austria, they would be branded on the back with a [[branding iron]], representing the [[gallows]]. These mutilations were to enable the authorities to identify Romani who had been outlawed and returned. Joseph's edict specified "that all adult males were to be hanged without trial, whereas women and young males were to be flogged and banished forever." Officials who failed to enforce the edict could be fined 100 [[Reichsthaler]]. Helping Romani was punishable by a half-year's [[forced labor]]. "Mass killings" of Romani were reported as a result.<ref name="crowe">David Crowe (2004): A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (Palgrave Macmillan) {{ISBN|0-312-08691-1}} p.XI p.36-37</ref>

==Death==
[[File:JosephI.01.jpg|thumb|Tomb of the emperor in the [[Imperial Crypt, Vienna]]]]

During the [[smallpox]] epidemic of 1711, which killed [[Louis, Grand Dauphin]] and three siblings of the future Emperor [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I]], Joseph became infected. He died on 17 April in the [[Hofburg]] palace. He had previously promised his wife to stop having affairs, should he survive.

The Emperor was buried in the [[Imperial Crypt]], resting place of the majority of the Habsburgs. His funeral took place on 20 April, in tomb [[Imperial Crypt Vaults#bio35|no. 35]] in [[Imperial Crypt Vaults#Charles Vault|Karl's Vault]]. His tomb was designed by [[Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt]], decorated with pictures of various battles from the War of Spanish Succession. [[Josefstadt]] (the eighth district of [[Vienna]]) is named for Joseph.

==Marriage and lack of heirs==
On 24 February 1699, he married [[Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg]] in Vienna. They had three children and their only son died of [[hydrocephalus]] before his first birthday. Joseph had a passion for love affairs (none of which resulted in illegitimate children) and he caught a [[sexual disease|sexually transmittable disease]], probably [[syphilis]], which he passed on to his wife while they were trying to produce a new heir. This incident rendered her [[Sterility (physiology)|sterile]].<ref name="habsburger" /> Their father, who was still alive during these events, made Joseph and his brother Charles sign the [[Mutual Pact of Succession]], under which Joseph's daughters would have precedence over Charles's daughters, in case neither fathered a son. This ruling, which made no provision for the accession of Charles's daughter [[Maria Theresa]], led to the [[War of Austrian Succession]].

===Issue===
{| style="text-align:center" class="wikitable"
! Name !! Portrait !! Lifespan !! Notes
|-
| '''[[Maria Josepha of Austria|Maria Josepha]]'''<br />Queen of Poland
|| [[File:Maria Josepha of Austria as a child in Hungarian costume.jpg|100px]]
|| {{nowrap|8 December 1699 –}}<br/>17 November 1757
|| Archduchess of Austria, married [[Augustus III]], King of Poland and Elector of Saxony.
|-
| '''Leopold Joseph'''<br />
|| 
|| {{nowrap|29 October 1700 –}}<br/> 4 August 1701
|| Archduke of Austria, died in infancy.
|-
| '''[[Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress|Maria Amalia]]'''<br />Holy Roman Empress
|| [[File:Richter - Maria Amalia of Austria - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg|100px]]
|| 22 October 1701 –<br/>11 December 1756
|| Archduchess of Austria, married [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|-
|}

== Ancestors ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| 1 = 1. '''Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor'''
| 2 = 2. [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| 3 = 3. [[Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg]]
| 4 = 4. [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name="Genealogie">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA100 |title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans |publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel |year=1768 |location=Bourdeaux |pages=100 |language=fr |trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living}}</ref>
| 5 = 5. [[Maria Anna of Spain|Maria Anna of Austria]]<ref name="Genealogie" />
| 6 = 6. [[Philip William, Elector Palatine]]<ref name="Genealogie" />
| 7 = 7. [[Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt|Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt]]<ref name="Genealogie" />
| 8 = 8. [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name="NDB-Ferdinand III">{{NDB|5|85|86|Ferdinand III.|Eder, Karl|118532529}}</ref>
| 9 = 9. [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574–1616)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]<ref name="NDB-Ferdinand III" />
| 10 = 10. [[Philip III of Spain]]<ref name="BLKO-Maria Anna von Spanien">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria Anna von Spanien |volume=7 |page=23}}</ref>
| 11 = 11. [[Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain|Margaret of Austria]]<ref name="BLKO-Maria Anna von Spanien" />
| 12 = 12. [[Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg|Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg]]<ref name="NDB-Philipp Wilhelm">{{NDB|20|384||Philipp Wilhelm|Fuchs, Peter|118742221}}</ref>
| 13 = 13. [[Magdalene of Bavaria]]<ref name="NDB-Philipp Wilhelm" />
| 14 = 14. [[George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt]]<ref name="Louda84">{{Cite book |last1=Louda |first1=Jirí |title=Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe |last2=MacLagan |first2=Michael |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1999 |edition=2nd |location=London |at=table 84}}</ref>
| 15 = 15. [[Sophia Eleonore of Saxony]]<ref name="Louda84" />
}}

==Male-line family tree==
{{Habsburg family tree}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ćirković|first=Sima|author-link=Sima Ćirković|year=2004|title=The Serbs|location=Malden|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-1-4051-4291-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Wc-DWRzoeIC}}
* Herchenhahn, J. C. ''Geschichte der Regierung Kaiser Josephs I'' (1786–1789)
* {{Cite book|last=Hochedlinger|first=Michael|title=Austria's Wars of Emergence: War, State and Society in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1683–1797|year=2013|location=London & New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-88793-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbpACwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ingrao|first=Charles W.|author-link=Charles Ingrao|title=In Quest and Crisis: Emperor Joseph I and the Habsburg Monarchy|year=1979|location=West Lafayette|publisher=Purdue University Press|isbn=978-0-911198-53-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAkNAAAAIAAJ}}
* Krones von Marchiand, F.  ''Grundriss der Oesterreichischen Geschichte'' (1882)
* van Noorden,C.  ''Europäische Geschichte im achtzehnten Jahrhundert'' (1870–1882).
* Wagner, F. ''Historia Josephi Caesaris'' (1746)
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{DNB portal|118558390|TYP=| NAME =Joseph I}}
* [http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.music.7.3/070304.htm Joseph I.: ''"Regina coeli"'']
* [http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552898/Joseph_I_(Holy_Roman_Empire).html Joseph I (Holy Roman Empire) - MSN Encarta <!-- BOT GENERATED TITLE -->] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060509014835/http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552898/Joseph_I_(Holy_Roman_Empire).html Archived] 2009-10-31)[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306340/Joseph-I]

===Regnal titles===

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Habsburg|House of Habsburg]]|26 July|1678|17 April|1711}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|rows=3|before=[[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Holy Roman Emperor]]<br/>[[King of Bohemia]]<br/>[[Archduke of Austria]]<br/>[[Duke of Teschen]]|years=1705–1711}}
{{s-aft|rows=3|after=[[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles VI]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of the Romans]]<br>[[King in Germany]]|years=1690–1711|regent1=[[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]]|years1=1690–1705}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Hungary]], [[List of rulers of Croatia|Croatia]] and [[King of Slavonia|Slavonia]]|years=1687–1711|regent1=[[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]]|years1=1687–1705}}
{{s-end}}

{{Holy Roman Emperors}}
{{Monarchs of Bohemia}}
{{German monarchs}}
{{Hungarian kings}}
{{Croatian kings}}
{{Rulers of Austria}}
{{Austrian archdukes}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor}}
[[Category:1678 births]]
[[Category:1711 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Holy Roman Emperors]]
[[Category:18th-century archdukes of Austria]]
[[Category:17th-century Kings of the Romans]]
[[Category:18th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:17th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:18th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:Nobility from Vienna]]
[[Category:Dukes of Teschen]]
[[Category:Antiziganism in Europe|Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
[[Category:Grand masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Austria]]
[[Category:Burials at the Imperial Crypt]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna]]
[[Category:17th-century House of Habsburg]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]
[[Category:Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor| ]]
[[Category:Children of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
[[Category:Habsburg monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:Kings of Hungary]]
[[Category:Kings of Croatia]]