Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II of the Habsburg dynasty (July 31, 1527 - October 12, 1576) was king of Bohemia from 1562, king of Hungary from 1563 and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1564 until his death.

Biography

Born in Vienna, he was a son of his predecessor Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547). Anne was a daughter of King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix.

His paternal uncle was Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. His first cousin Philip II of Spain, son of Charles V, was ahead of him in the line of succession, but under a 1553 agreement Maximilian displaced Philip as heir to the Imperial throne.

Maximilian's policies of religious neutrality and peace in the Empire afforded its Roman Catholics and Protestants a breathing-space after the first struggles of the Reformation. His sympathies for Lutheranism had caused frictions in the House of Habsburg and his father had threatened him with exclusion from the succession. Officially he remained a Catholic.

He disappointed the German Protestant princes by his refusal to invest Protestant administrators of bishoprics with their imperial fiefs. Yet on a personal basis he granted freedom of worship to the Protestant nobility and worked for reform in the Roman Catholic church, including the right of priests to marry. This failed because of Spanish opposition.

The Turks continued to be a threat to the empire and after an unsuccessful campaign against them he had to continue paying tribute to the sultan as the price of peace in the western and northern areas of the Hungarian kingdom still under Habsburg control. His attempt (1570) to gain control over the army was rejected by the German Protestant princes, who feared that his demand for a veto over foreign forces on German soil was intended to prevent them from seeking Protestant help abroad.

In 1573, Maximilan was elected to be King of Poland in opposition to Stephan IV Bathory, but he did not manage to become widely accepted there.

Maximilian II was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

He died at Regensburg in 1576.

Names in other languages: German: Maximilian II., Hungarian: II. Miksa, Czech Maxmilián, Slovak: Maximilián II

Marriage and children

On 13 September 1548, Maximilian married his first cousin Maria of Spain, daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella of Portugal, Empress. They had sixteen children:

Anne of Austria (November 2, 1549 - October 26, 1580). Married Philip II of Spain. She was mother of Philip III of Spain.
Ferdinand of Austria (March 28, 1551 - June 25, 1552).
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (July 18, 1552 - January 20, 1612).
Archduke Ernest of Austria, (July 15, 1553 - February 12, 1595). He served as Governor of the Low Countries.
Elisabeth of Austria (June 5, 1554 - January 22, 1592). Married Charles IX of France.
Marie of Austria (July 27, 1555 - June 25, 1556).
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (February 24, 1557 - March 20, 1619).
A stillborn son (born and deceased on October 20, 1557).
Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (October 12, 1558 - November 2, 1618). He served as grandmaster of the Teutonic Order and Administrator of Prussia.
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria (November 15, 1559 - July 13, 1621). He served as Governor of the Low Countries.
Wenzel of Austria (March 9, 1561 - September 22, 1578).
Friedrich of Austria (June 21, 1562 - January 16, 1563).
Marie of Austria (February 19 - March 26, 1564). Named after deceased older sister.
Karl of Austria (September 26, 1565 - May 23, 1566).
Margaret of Austria (January 25, 1567 - July 5, 1633). A nun.
Eleonore of Austria (November 4, 1568 - March 12, 1580).

External links

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Biography

Marriage and children

External links