Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II
Portrait by Anton von Maron, c. 1775
Holy Roman Emperor (more...)
Reign	18 August 1765 – 20 February 1790
Coronation	3 April 1764 Frankfurt Cathedral
Predecessor	Francis I
Successor	Leopold II
Born	13 March 1741 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	20 February 1790(1790-02-20) (aged 48) Vienna, Austria
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Spouses	Isabella of Parma ​ ​ (m. 1760; died 1763)​ Maria Josepha of Bavaria ​ ​ (m. 1765; died 1767)​
Issue	Archduchess Maria Theresa Archduchess Maria Christina
House	Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Theresa
Religion	Catholic Church
Signature

Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of 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 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 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 offspring and was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II.