Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
March 13 1741-Febuary 20
1790
Early Life
Born 1741
Son of Maria Theresa and her
husband, Francis Stephen
Eldest son
Ate only boiled beef for many years
Educated by Christian Beck
Was a Catholic
Early Reign
Educated by Voltaire and
Encyclopedists
Married Isabel of Parma
1761 became a member of the state
council
Virtually powerless until his mothers
death
Strongly Catholic
1764 crowned King of the Romans
Maria Theresa
Guaranteed aristocracy,
independence, especially in Hungary
Established efficient system of tax
collection
Had government be involved in
education
Concerned with the welfare of
peasants
Supported suppression of Jesuits
Co-ruled with her son and her
chancellor Wenzel Anton Von Kauintz
Centralization of Authority
Sought to extend territories
Sought to reduce Hungarian
autonomy
Liberation of Peasants
1781 decreed the abolition of serfdom
in Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian
Duchies
Devised a new system of taxation
based on physiocratic principles
Taxes on landlords
1781 issued a decree allowing
peasants to move, trade and wed
freely
Made it illegal to require labor from
peasant children
Josephinism
Edictof Toleration
Decreased the number of the
monasteries
Tightened control of church discipline
and church property as well as
secularized clergy education
Forbade bishops to communicate
directly with the pope
Educated priests to run diocese
Failures
Failed to satisfy the privileged class
Failed to lift blockade of Port of
Antwerp
Defeated by the Ottoman empire in
1787
Hungarians revoked his reforms
Joseph’s utilitarian monastic system
was ineffective without a proper
bureaucracy
Was Joseph II truly an
Enlightened ruler?
Or was it a façade?
Joseph II truly embodied Enlightened
Absolutism
Believed in ending censorship
(unsuccessful)
Tolerant
Freedom of speech and the press
Rationality (applied to his territories)
Humanitarian efforts
Fostered science and education
Legacy
Most enlightened ruler
Failed because of:
Lacked well trained disciplined bureaucracy
Poor health
Economic depression
Unfortunate war with the Turks
Some highlights of his reign