Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Encyclopedia
Leopold II born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor
and King of Hungary
and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I
and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa
. Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism
.
Leopold was born in Vienna
, the third son, and was at first educated for the priesthood
, but the theological studies to which he was forced to apply himself are believed to have influenced him against the Church.
Since 1753, he had been engaged to Maria Beatrice d'Este
, heiress to the Duchy of Modena; the marriage never materialised, Maria Beatrice instead marrying Leopold's brother, Archduke Ferdinand.
On the death of his elder brother, Charles, in 1761, it was decided that he should succeed to his father's grand duchy
of Tuscany, which was erected into a "secundogeniture
" or apanage for a second son. This settlement was the condition of his marriage on 5 August 1764 with Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain
, daughter of Charles III of Spain
and Maria Amalia of Saxony
. On the death of his father, Francis I (18 August 1765), he succeeded to the grand duchy. Leopold was famous in Florence for his numerous extra-marital affairs. Among his lovers was Countess Cowper, wife of the 3rd Earl Cowper
, who in compensation for being cuckolded was given honours by Leopold's brother, Joseph II.
in 1790, he was employed in reforming the administration of his small state. The reformation was carried out by the removal of the ruinous restrictions on industry and personal freedom imposed by his predecessors of the house of Medici
and left untouched during his father's life, by the introduction of a rational system of taxation, and by the execution of profitable public works, such as the drainage of the Val di Chiana.
As he had no army to maintain, and as he suppressed the small naval force kept up by the Medici, the whole of his revenue was left free for the improvement of his state. Leopold was never popular with his Italian subjects. His disposition was cold and retiring. His habits were simple to the verge of sordidness, though he could display splendour on occasion, and he could not help offending those of his subjects who had profited by the abuses of the Medicean régime.
But his steady, consistent, and intelligent administration, which advanced step by step, brought the grand duchy to a high level of material prosperity. His ecclesiastical policy, which disturbed the deeply rooted convictions of his people and brought him into collision with the pope, was not successful. He was unable to secularize the property of the religious houses or to put the clergy entirely under the control of the lay power. However, his abolition of capital punishment
was the first permanent abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked capital executions (the last was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. Torture was also banned. In 2000 Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is also commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating the Cities for Life Day
.
Leopold also approved and collaborated on the development of a political constitution, said to have anticipated by many years the promulgation of the French constitution and which presented some similarities with the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778. Leopold's concept of this was based on respect for the political rights of citizens and on a harmony of power between the executive and the legislative. However, it could not be put into effect because Leopoldo moved to Vienna to become emperor in 1790, and because it was so radically new that it garnered opposition even from those who might have benefitted from it.
However, Leopold developed and supported many social and economic reforms. Smallpox
vaccination was made systematically available, and an early institution for the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents was founded. Leopold also introduced radical reforms to the system of neglect and inhumane treatment of those deemed mentally ill. On 23 January 1774, the "legge sui pazzi" (law on the insane) was established, the first of its kind to be introduced in all Europe, allowing steps to be taken to hospitalize individuals deemed insane. A few years later Leopold undertook the project of building a new hospital, the Bonifacio
. He used his skill at choosing collaborators to put a young physician, Vincenzo Chiarugi
, at its head. Chiarugi and his collaborators introduced new humanitarian regulations in the running of the hospital and caring for the mentally ill patients, including banning the use of chains and physical punishment, and in so doing have been recognized as early pioneers of what later came to be known as the moral treatment
movement.
During the last few years of his rule in Tuscany, Leopold had begun to be frightened by the increasing disorders in the German and Hungarian dominions of his family, which were the direct result of his brother's headlong methods. He and Joseph II were tenderly attached to one another and met frequently both before and after the death of their mother. The portrait by Pompeo Batoni
in which they appear together shows that they bore a strong personal resemblance to one another. But it may be said of Leopold, as of Fontenelle
, that his heart was made of brains. He knew that he must succeed his childless eldest brother in Austria, and he was unwilling to inherit his unpopularity. When, therefore, in 1789 Joseph, who knew himself to be dying, asked him to come to Vienna and become co-regent, Leopold coldly evaded the request.
He was still in Florence when Joseph II died at Vienna on 20 February 1790, and he did not leave his Italian capital until 3 March 1790.
Leopold, during his government in Tuscany, had shown a speculative tendency to grant his subjects a constitution. When he succeeded to the Austrian lands, he began by making large concessions to the interests offended by his brother's innovations. He recognized the Estates of his different dominions as "the pillars of the monarchy", pacified the Hungarians and Bohemians, and divided the insurgents in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) by means of concessions. When these failed to restore order, he marched troops into the country and re-established his own authority, and at the same time the historic franchises of the Flemings. Yet he did not surrender any part that could be retained of what Maria Theresa and Joseph had done to strengthen the hands of the state. He continued, for instance, to insist that no papal bull
could be published in his dominions without his consent (placetum regium). One of the harshest actions Leopold took to placate the noble communities of the various Habsburg domains was to issue a decree on 9 May 1790, that forced thousands of Bohemian serfs freed by his brother Joseph back into servitude.
Leopold lived for barely two years after his accession as Holy Roman Emperor, and during that period he was hard pressed by peril from west and east alike. The growing revolutionary disorders in France endangered the life of his sister Marie Antoinette of Austria, the queen of Louis XVI
, and also threatened his own dominions with the spread of a subversive agitation. His sister sent him passionate appeals for help, and he was pestered by the royalist emigrants, who were intriguing to bring about armed intervention in France.
From the east he was threatened by the aggressive ambition of Catherine II of Russia
and by the unscrupulous policy of Prussia
. Catherine would have been delighted to see Austria and Prussia embark on a crusade in the cause of kings against the French Revolution
. While they were busy beyond the Rhine, she would have annexed what remained of Poland and made conquests against the Ottoman Empire
. Leopold II had no difficulty in seeing through the rather transparent cunning of the Russian empress, and he refused to be misled.
To his sister, he gave good advice and promises of help if she and her husband could escape from Paris. The emigrants who followed him pertinaciously were refused audience, or when they forced themselves on him, were peremptorily denied all help. Leopold was too purely a politician not to be secretly pleased at the destruction of the power of France and of her influence in Europe by her internal disorders. Within six weeks of his accession, he displayed his contempt for her weakness by practically tearing up the treaty of alliance made by Maria Theresa in 1756 and opening negotiations with England to impose a check on Russia and Prussia.
He was able to put pressure on England by threatening to cede his part of the Low Countries to France. Then, when sure of English support, he was in a position to baffle the intrigues of Prussia. A personal appeal to Frederick William II
led to a conference between them at Reichenbach in July 1790, and to an arrangement which was in fact a defeat for Prussia: Leopold's coronation as king of Hungary on 11 November 1790, preceded by a settlement with the diet in which he recognized the dominant position of the Magyars. He had already made an eight months' truce with the Turks in September, which prepared the way for the termination of the war begun by Joseph II, the peace of Sistova being signed in August 1791. The pacification of his eastern dominions left Leopold free to re-establish order in Belgium and to confirm friendly relations with England and Holland
.
During 1791, the emperor continued to be increasingly preoccupied with the affairs of France. In January, he had to dismiss the Count of Artois, afterwards Charles X
, king of France, in a very peremptory way. His good sense was revolted by the folly of the French emigrants, and he did his utmost to avoid being entangled in the affairs of that country. The insults inflicted on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, however, at the time of their attempted flight to Varennes
in June, stirred his indignation, and he made a general appeal to the sovereigns of Europe to take common measures in view of events which "immediately compromised the honour of all sovereigns, and the security of all governments." Yet he was most directly interested in the conference at Sistova, which in June led to a final peace with Turkey.
On 25 August 1791, he met the king of Prussia at Pillnitz Castle
, near Dresden
, and they drew up a declaration
of their readiness to intervene in France if and when their assistance was called for by the other powers. The declaration was a mere formality, for, as Leopold knew, neither Russia nor England was prepared to act, and he endeavoured to guard against the use which he foresaw the emigrants would endeavour to make of it. In face of the agitation caused by the Pillnitz declaration in France, the intrigues of the emigrants, and the attacks made by the French revolutionists on the rights of the German princes in Alsace
, Leopold continued to hope that intervention might not be required.
When Louis XVI swore to observe the constitution of September 1791, the emperor professed to think that a settlement had been reached in France. The attacks on the rights of the German princes on the left bank of the Rhine, and the increasing violence of the parties in Paris which were agitating to bring about war, soon showed, however, that this hope was vain. Leopold meant to meet the challenge of the revolutionists in France with dignity and temper, however the effect of the Declaration of Pillnitz was to contribute to the radicalization of their political movement.
He died suddenly in Vienna, in March 1792, although some claimed he was poisoned.
Like his parents before him, Leopold had sixteen children, the eldest of his eight sons being his successor, the Emperor Francis II
. Some of his other sons were prominent personages in their day. Among them were: Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
; the Archduke Charles of Austria, a celebrated soldier; the Archduke Johann of Austria
, also a soldier; the Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary; and the Archduke Rainer
, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.
Mozart's opera La clemenza di Tito
was commissioned by the Estates of Bohemia
to be included among the festivities that accompanied Leopold's coronation
as king of Bohemia in Prague
on 6 September 1791.
, Rama, Serbia, Cumania and Bulgaria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, Lorraine, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Grand Duke of Etruria; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia, Prince of Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Geldern, Württemberg, Upper and Lower Silesia, Milan, Mantua, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zatoria, Calabria, Bar, Ferrete and Teschen; Lord of Svevia and Charleville; Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Hannonia, Kyburg, Gorizia, Gradisca; Margrave of Burgau, Upper and Lower Lusatia, Pont-a-Mousson and Nomenum, Count of Provinces of Namur, Valdemons, Albimons, Count of Zütphen, Sarverda, Salma and Falkenstein, Lord of the Wend Margravate and Mechelen, etc.
Children with his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain (also known as Maria Ludovica of Spain):
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
and King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
. Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories...
.
Youth
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the third son, and was at first educated for the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, but the theological studies to which he was forced to apply himself are believed to have influenced him against the Church.
Since 1753, he had been engaged to Maria Beatrice d'Este
Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este
Maria Beatrice d’Este was heiress of Modena and Reggio and Duchess of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1797 and from 1816 until her death in 1829.-Biography:...
, heiress to the Duchy of Modena; the marriage never materialised, Maria Beatrice instead marrying Leopold's brother, Archduke Ferdinand.
On the death of his elder brother, Charles, in 1761, it was decided that he should succeed to his father's grand duchy
Grand duchy
A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy...
of Tuscany, which was erected into a "secundogeniture
Secundogeniture
A secundogeniture was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance...
" or apanage for a second son. This settlement was the condition of his marriage on 5 August 1764 with Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain
Maria Luisa of Spain
Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary as the spouse of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Names:...
, daughter of Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
and Maria Amalia of Saxony
Maria Amalia of Saxony
Maria Amalia of Saxony was a German princess from the House of Wettin and was the wife of Charles III of Spain; she was the Queen consort of Naples and Sicily from 1738 till 1759 and then Queen consort of Spain from 1759 until her death in 1760...
. On the death of his father, Francis I (18 August 1765), he succeeded to the grand duchy. Leopold was famous in Florence for his numerous extra-marital affairs. Among his lovers was Countess Cowper, wife of the 3rd Earl Cowper
George Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper
George Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper was an English peer who went on the grand tour as a young man, but actually emigrated. Despite becoming a Member of Parliament and inheriting lands and the title of Earl Cowper in England, he remained in Italy. He amassed a valuable art collection...
, who in compensation for being cuckolded was given honours by Leopold's brother, Joseph II.
Grand Duke of Tuscany
For five years, he exercised little more than nominal authority, under the supervision of counsellors appointed by his mother. In 1770, he made a journey to Vienna to secure the removal of this vexatious guardianship and returned to Florence with a free hand. During the twenty years which elapsed between his return to Florence and the death of his eldest brother Joseph IIJoseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
in 1790, he was employed in reforming the administration of his small state. The reformation was carried out by the removal of the ruinous restrictions on industry and personal freedom imposed by his predecessors of the house of Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
and left untouched during his father's life, by the introduction of a rational system of taxation, and by the execution of profitable public works, such as the drainage of the Val di Chiana.
As he had no army to maintain, and as he suppressed the small naval force kept up by the Medici, the whole of his revenue was left free for the improvement of his state. Leopold was never popular with his Italian subjects. His disposition was cold and retiring. His habits were simple to the verge of sordidness, though he could display splendour on occasion, and he could not help offending those of his subjects who had profited by the abuses of the Medicean régime.
But his steady, consistent, and intelligent administration, which advanced step by step, brought the grand duchy to a high level of material prosperity. His ecclesiastical policy, which disturbed the deeply rooted convictions of his people and brought him into collision with the pope, was not successful. He was unable to secularize the property of the religious houses or to put the clergy entirely under the control of the lay power. However, his abolition of capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
was the first permanent abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked capital executions (the last was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. Torture was also banned. In 2000 Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is also commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating the Cities for Life Day
Cities for Life Day
On the Cities for Life Day, November 30, cities around the world celebrate the first abolition of the death penalty by a European state, decreed by Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine in 1786 for his Grand Duchy of Tuscany...
.
Leopold also approved and collaborated on the development of a political constitution, said to have anticipated by many years the promulgation of the French constitution and which presented some similarities with the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778. Leopold's concept of this was based on respect for the political rights of citizens and on a harmony of power between the executive and the legislative. However, it could not be put into effect because Leopoldo moved to Vienna to become emperor in 1790, and because it was so radically new that it garnered opposition even from those who might have benefitted from it.
However, Leopold developed and supported many social and economic reforms. Smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
vaccination was made systematically available, and an early institution for the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents was founded. Leopold also introduced radical reforms to the system of neglect and inhumane treatment of those deemed mentally ill. On 23 January 1774, the "legge sui pazzi" (law on the insane) was established, the first of its kind to be introduced in all Europe, allowing steps to be taken to hospitalize individuals deemed insane. A few years later Leopold undertook the project of building a new hospital, the Bonifacio
Bonifacio
Bonifacio is a commune at the southern tip of the island of Corsica, in the Corse-du-Sud department of France. Its inhabitants are called Bonifaciens, feminine Bonifaciennes...
. He used his skill at choosing collaborators to put a young physician, Vincenzo Chiarugi
Vincenzo Chiarugi
Vincenzo Chiarugi was an Italian physician who introduced humanitarian reforms to the psychiatric hospital care of people with mental disorders. His early part in a movement towards moral treatment was relatively overlooked until a gradual reassessment through the 20th century left his work...
, at its head. Chiarugi and his collaborators introduced new humanitarian regulations in the running of the hospital and caring for the mentally ill patients, including banning the use of chains and physical punishment, and in so doing have been recognized as early pioneers of what later came to be known as the moral treatment
Moral treatment
Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly from religious or moral concerns...
movement.
During the last few years of his rule in Tuscany, Leopold had begun to be frightened by the increasing disorders in the German and Hungarian dominions of his family, which were the direct result of his brother's headlong methods. He and Joseph II were tenderly attached to one another and met frequently both before and after the death of their mother. The portrait by Pompeo Batoni
Pompeo Batoni
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni was an Italian painter whose style incorporated elements of the French Rococo, Bolognese classicism, and nascent Neoclassicism.-Biography:He was born in Lucca, the son of a goldsmith, Paolino Batoni...
in which they appear together shows that they bore a strong personal resemblance to one another. But it may be said of Leopold, as of Fontenelle
Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle , also called Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, was a French author.Fontenelle was born in Rouen, France and died in Paris just one month before his 100th birthday. His mother was the sister of great French dramatists Pierre and Thomas Corneille...
, that his heart was made of brains. He knew that he must succeed his childless eldest brother in Austria, and he was unwilling to inherit his unpopularity. When, therefore, in 1789 Joseph, who knew himself to be dying, asked him to come to Vienna and become co-regent, Leopold coldly evaded the request.
He was still in Florence when Joseph II died at Vienna on 20 February 1790, and he did not leave his Italian capital until 3 March 1790.
Holy Roman Emperor
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
could be published in his dominions without his consent (placetum regium). One of the harshest actions Leopold took to placate the noble communities of the various Habsburg domains was to issue a decree on 9 May 1790, that forced thousands of Bohemian serfs freed by his brother Joseph back into servitude.
Leopold lived for barely two years after his accession as Holy Roman Emperor, and during that period he was hard pressed by peril from west and east alike. The growing revolutionary disorders in France endangered the life of his sister Marie Antoinette of Austria, the queen of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, and also threatened his own dominions with the spread of a subversive agitation. His sister sent him passionate appeals for help, and he was pestered by the royalist emigrants, who were intriguing to bring about armed intervention in France.
From the east he was threatened by the aggressive ambition of Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
and by the unscrupulous policy of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. Catherine would have been delighted to see Austria and Prussia embark on a crusade in the cause of kings against the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. While they were busy beyond the Rhine, she would have annexed what remained of Poland and made conquests against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Leopold II had no difficulty in seeing through the rather transparent cunning of the Russian empress, and he refused to be misled.
To his sister, he gave good advice and promises of help if she and her husband could escape from Paris. The emigrants who followed him pertinaciously were refused audience, or when they forced themselves on him, were peremptorily denied all help. Leopold was too purely a politician not to be secretly pleased at the destruction of the power of France and of her influence in Europe by her internal disorders. Within six weeks of his accession, he displayed his contempt for her weakness by practically tearing up the treaty of alliance made by Maria Theresa in 1756 and opening negotiations with England to impose a check on Russia and Prussia.
He was able to put pressure on England by threatening to cede his part of the Low Countries to France. Then, when sure of English support, he was in a position to baffle the intrigues of Prussia. A personal appeal to Frederick William II
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II was the King of Prussia, reigning from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.-Early life:...
led to a conference between them at Reichenbach in July 1790, and to an arrangement which was in fact a defeat for Prussia: Leopold's coronation as king of Hungary on 11 November 1790, preceded by a settlement with the diet in which he recognized the dominant position of the Magyars. He had already made an eight months' truce with the Turks in September, which prepared the way for the termination of the war begun by Joseph II, the peace of Sistova being signed in August 1791. The pacification of his eastern dominions left Leopold free to re-establish order in Belgium and to confirm friendly relations with England and Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
During 1791, the emperor continued to be increasingly preoccupied with the affairs of France. In January, he had to dismiss the Count of Artois, afterwards Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, king of France, in a very peremptory way. His good sense was revolted by the folly of the French emigrants, and he did his utmost to avoid being entangled in the affairs of that country. The insults inflicted on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, however, at the time of their attempted flight to Varennes
Flight to Varennes
The Flight to Varennes was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family attempted unsuccessfully to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution...
in June, stirred his indignation, and he made a general appeal to the sovereigns of Europe to take common measures in view of events which "immediately compromised the honour of all sovereigns, and the security of all governments." Yet he was most directly interested in the conference at Sistova, which in June led to a final peace with Turkey.
On 25 August 1791, he met the king of Prussia at Pillnitz Castle
Pillnitz Castle
Pillnitz Castle is a restored Baroque castle at the eastern end of the city of Dresden in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the bank of the River Elbe in the former village of Pillnitz...
, near Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, and they drew up a declaration
Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a statement issued on 27 August 1791 at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia...
of their readiness to intervene in France if and when their assistance was called for by the other powers. The declaration was a mere formality, for, as Leopold knew, neither Russia nor England was prepared to act, and he endeavoured to guard against the use which he foresaw the emigrants would endeavour to make of it. In face of the agitation caused by the Pillnitz declaration in France, the intrigues of the emigrants, and the attacks made by the French revolutionists on the rights of the German princes in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, Leopold continued to hope that intervention might not be required.
When Louis XVI swore to observe the constitution of September 1791, the emperor professed to think that a settlement had been reached in France. The attacks on the rights of the German princes on the left bank of the Rhine, and the increasing violence of the parties in Paris which were agitating to bring about war, soon showed, however, that this hope was vain. Leopold meant to meet the challenge of the revolutionists in France with dignity and temper, however the effect of the Declaration of Pillnitz was to contribute to the radicalization of their political movement.
He died suddenly in Vienna, in March 1792, although some claimed he was poisoned.
Like his parents before him, Leopold had sixteen children, the eldest of his eight sons being his successor, the Emperor Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
. Some of his other sons were prominent personages in their day. Among them were: Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg and Grand Duke of Würzburg .-Biography:Ferdinand was born in Florence, Tuscany, into the...
; the Archduke Charles of Austria, a celebrated soldier; the Archduke Johann of Austria
Archduke Johann of Austria
Archduke John of Austria was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, an Austrian field marshal and German Imperial regent .-Biography:...
, also a soldier; the Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary; and the Archduke Rainer
Archduke Rainer of Austria
Rainer Joseph of Austria was a Viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia from 1818 to 1848. He was also an Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.-Biography:...
, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.
Mozart's opera La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
was commissioned by the Estates of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
to be included among the festivities that accompanied Leopold's coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
as king of Bohemia in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
on 6 September 1791.
Full title
Leopold II, By the Grace of God, Holy Roman Emperor; King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and LodomeriaKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
, Rama, Serbia, Cumania and Bulgaria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, Lorraine, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Grand Duke of Etruria; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia, Prince of Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Geldern, Württemberg, Upper and Lower Silesia, Milan, Mantua, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zatoria, Calabria, Bar, Ferrete and Teschen; Lord of Svevia and Charleville; Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Hannonia, Kyburg, Gorizia, Gradisca; Margrave of Burgau, Upper and Lower Lusatia, Pont-a-Mousson and Nomenum, Count of Provinces of Namur, Valdemons, Albimons, Count of Zütphen, Sarverda, Salma and Falkenstein, Lord of the Wend Margravate and Mechelen, etc.
Ancestors
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria | 14 January 1767 | 7 November 1827 (aged 60) | Married Anton I of Saxony Anthony Clement of Saxony Anthony , also known by his German name Anton , was a King of Saxony from the House of Wettin... in 1787; had issue. |
| Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor | 12 February 1768 | 2 March 1835 (aged 67) | Married (1) Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg Elisabeth of Württemberg was by birth a Duchess of Württemberg and by marriage an Archduchess of Austria.-Family:... in 1788; had issue. Married (2) Princess Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily in 1790; had issue. Married (3) Archduchess Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, also known as Maria Ludovika of Modena, was daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife, Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este... in 1808; no issue. Married (4) Caroline Augusta of Bavaria Caroline Augusta of Bavaria Caroline Augusta of Bavaria was a daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his wife, Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt , and a member of the House of Wittelsbach. She was married to Crown Prince William of Württemberg and to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor... in 1816; no issue. Franz II would be the last Holy Roman Emperor. |
| Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg and Grand Duke of Würzburg .-Biography:Ferdinand was born in Florence, Tuscany, into the... |
6 May 1769 | 18 June 1824 (aged 55) | Married (1) Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily Maria Luisa of Naples and Sicily , was a Neapolitan and Sicilian princess and the wife of the third Habsburg Grand Duke of Tuscany.-Background:... in 1790; had issue. Married (2) Princess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony Princess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony Princess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony was a daughter of Maximilian, Crown Prince of Saxony and his first wife Princess Caroline of Parma... daughter of Maximilian, Crown Prince of Saxony in 1821; no issue. |
| Archduchess Maria Anna Ferdinanda of Austria | 22 April 1770 | 1 October 1809 (aged 39) | Never married. Became an Abbess in Theresian Convent, Prague, Czech Republic. |
| Archduke Charles of Austria | 5 September 1771 | 30 April 1847 (aged 75) | Married Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg in 1815; had issue. |
| Archduke Alexander Leopold Johann Joseph of Austria Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria was the fourth son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Maria Louisa of Spain. After the accession of his father to the Imperial throne in 1790, Alexander Leopold was appointed Palatine of Hungary... |
14 August 1772 | 12 July 1795 (aged 22) | Never married. Accidentally burned to death from a misguided fireworks Fireworks Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices... show. |
| Archduke Albrecht Johann Joseph of Austria | 19 September 1773 | 22 July 1774 (aged 8 months) | Died in infancy. |
| Archduke Maximilian of Austria | 23 December 1774 | 10 March 1778 (aged 3) | Died young. |
| Archduke Joseph of Austria | 9 March 1776 | 13 January 1847 (aged 70) | Married (1) Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia, was a daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and sister of Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. She became Archduchess of Austria upon her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, Governor of Hungary.-Life:... in 1799; had issue. Married (2) Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym was by birth a princess of the House of Ascania and by marriage an Archduchess of Austria.-Family:... in 1815; had issue. Married Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg Maria Dorothea Luise Wilhelmine Caroline of Württemberg was the daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg and Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg .... in 1819; had issue. |
| Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria Maria Clementina of Austria was an Austrian archduchess and the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. In 1797 she married her first cousin Francis I of the Two Sicilies, then Duke of Calabria, heir of Naples and Sicily... |
24 April 1777 | 15 November 1801 (aged 24) | Married the Duke of Calabria Duke of Calabria Duke of Calabria was the traditional title of the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Naples after the accession of Robert of Naples. It was also adopted by the heads of certain Houses that had once claimed the Kingdom of Naples in lieu of the royal title.... , the later king Francis I of the Two Sicilies Francis I of the Two Sicilies -Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic.... in 1797; her only surviving issue daughter Caroline became Duchess of Berry Duchess of Berry -First Creation:-Second Creation:-Eighth Creation:-Ninth Creation:-Tenth Creation:... and mother of the pretender Henri, comte de Chambord Henri, comte de Chambord Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such... as well as Louise, mother of Robert, Duke of Parma. |
| Archduke Anton of Austria | 31 August 1779 | 2 April 1835 (aged 55) | Never married; became Grand Master of Teutonic Knights. |
| Archduke Johann of Austria Archduke Johann of Austria Archduke John of Austria was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, an Austrian field marshal and German Imperial regent .-Biography:... |
20 January 1782 | 11 May 1859 (aged 77) | Married morganatically and had issue. The counts of Meran descend from him. |
| Archduke Rainer of Austria Archduke Rainer of Austria Rainer Joseph of Austria was a Viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia from 1818 to 1848. He was also an Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.-Biography:... |
30 September 1783 | 16 January 1853 (aged 69) | Married Princess Elisabeth of Savoy-Carignan Princess Elisabeth of Savoy-Carignan Elisabeth of Savoy was a Princess of Savoy and the aunt and mother-in-law of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy.-Family:... , sister of king Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert was the King of Piedmont-Sardinia from 1831 to 1849. He succeeded his distant cousin Charles Felix, and his name is bound with the first Italian statute and the First War of Independence... in 1820; had issue. |
| Archduke Louis of Austria Archduke Louis of Austria right|thumb|Archduke LouisArchduke Louis Joseph Anton Johann, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia and Prince of Tuscany , was the 14th child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain.Archduke... |
13 December 1784 | 21 December 1864 (aged 80) | Never married. |
| Archduke Rudolph of Austria | 8 January 1788 | 24 July 1831 (aged 43) | Never married. Became Archbishop of Olmütz Olomouc Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic... created Cardinal on 4 June 1819. |
Titles and styles
- 5 May 1747 - 18 August 1765 His Royal Highness Peter Leopold Prince Imperial and Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany
- 18 August 1765 - 30 September 1790 His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Prince Imperial and Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia
- 30 September 1790 – 1 March 1792 His Imperial Majesty the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria, etc.