![]() The emperor was not himself a man of war, and never led his troops in person yet the greater part of his public life was spent in arranging and directing wars. Leopold's long reign covers one of the most important periods of European history for nearly the whole of its forty-seven years he was pitted against Louis XIV of France, whose dominant personality completely overshadowed Leopold. Mazarin, however, obtained a promise from the new emperor that he would not send assistance to Spain, then at war with France, and, by joining a confederation of German princes, called the League of the Rhine, France secured a certain influence in the internal affairs of Germany. In July 1658, more than a year after his father's death, he was elected emperor at Frankfurt in spite of the intrigues of Cardinal Mazarin, who wished to place on the imperial throne Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria or some other prince whose elevation would break the Habsburg succession. In 1655 he was chosen king of Hungary, in 1656 king of Bohemia, in 1657 he gained the crown of Croatia. Historian William Coxe described Leopold in the following manner: "His gait was stately, slow and deliberate his air pensive, his address awkward, his manner uncouth, his disposition cold and phlegmatic." Short and sickly, he had inherited the Habsburg lip to a degree unusual even in his family. Intended for the Church, he received a good education but his prospects were changed by the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV, on 9 July 1654 of smallpox, when he became his father's heir. He was a younger brother of Ferdinand IV of Hungary and Mariana of Austria. His death in 1705 left the throne to his eldest son Joseph. ![]() Leopold managed the war extremely well, and the Habsburg Monarchy scored decisive victories at Schellenberg and Blenheim. In the latter, he had hoped to enforce the Second Partition Treaty, which assigned the throne of the Kingdom of Spain to his son the Archduke Charles. Leopold is also known for his conflicts against France through the Nine Years' War and the War of Spanish Succession. By the end of the war, the Habsburg Monarchy had annexed Transylvania and much of Hungary. Leopold's reign was marked by military successes against the Ottoman Empire in the Great Turkish War through his greatest general Prince Eugene of Savoy, including at Saint Gotthard, Vienna, Second Mohács and Zenta. He became heir apparent on 9 July 1654 by the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV, and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1658 to 1705. He was also a first cousin of his rival, Louis XIV of France. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. ![]() Lipót) Habsburg (9 June 1640 – ), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, was the second son of the emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife Maria Ana of Austria. Leopold I (name in full: Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Felician Hungarian: I.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |