Joseph 2 austria biography for kids
Biography for 2nd graders.
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor for 25 years in the second half of the 18th Century. He emerged from his mother's shadow and became a proponent of enlightened absolutism.
He was born on March 13, , at Sch&#;nbrunn Palace, in Vienna.
Joseph 2 austria biography for kids
His father was the eventual Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, and his mother was the Holy Roman Empress, Maria Theresa.
When Joseph was born, his parents were fighting the War of the Austrian Succession, a consortium of European powers that challenged Maria Theresa's right to inherit the imperial throne from her father, Charles VI.
Joseph was his parents' eldest son and so was the heir apparent; he had an education and upbringing to match. The preparation included a proper wedding, which Joseph achieved in October by marrying Isabella of Parma, the granddaughter of France's King Louis XV.
Two years later, they had a daughter, Maria Theresa. Both wedding and birth occurred while Austria was in the middle of fighting the Seven Years War, a c