Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

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Rudolf II
Portrait by Hans von Aachen
Holy Roman Emperor (more...)
Reign	12 October 1576 – 20 January 1612
Proclamation	1 November 1576, Regensburg
Predecessor	Maximilian II
Successor	Matthias
Born	18 July 1552 Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	20 January 1612(1612-01-20) (aged 59) Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	St. Vitus Cathedral
Issue more...	Don Julius Caesar d'Austria (ill.)
House	Habsburg
Father	Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria of Austria
Religion	Catholicism
Signature

Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg.

Rudolf's legacy has traditionally been viewed in three ways:^[1] an ineffectual ruler whose mistakes led directly to the Thirty Years' War; a great and influential patron of Northern Mannerist art; and an intellectual devotee of occult arts and learning which helped seed what would be called the Scientific Revolution. Determined to unify Christendom, he initiated the Long Turkish War (1593–1606) with the Ottoman Empire. Exhausted by war, his citizens in Hungary revolted in the Bocskai Uprising, which led to more authority given to his brother Matthias. Under his reign, there was a policy of toleration towards Judaism.