GIUSEPPE I, EMPEROR. - Born in Vienna on 26 July 1678, died there on 17 Apr. 1711. He assumed the imperial crown upon the death of his father Leopoldo I, on 5 May 1705.
His accession to the throne marked a revival of energy in Habsburg policy. He strengthened the cohesion of his states, suppressing the Hungarian revolt led by Francesco Rakoczi II. He reaffirmed imperial authority in Germany, condemning as rebels the princes who had sided with France. In contrast to his father’s Catholic orientation, he reached an agreement with Carlo XII of Sweden in favor of the Silesian Protestants, opposed the Jesuits, and came into conflict with the Pope over Italian policy. He vigorously pursued the War of the Spanish Succession: his armies, under the leadership of Eugenio di Savoia, won the great victories of Turin, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet. His death, and the succession of his brother Carlo VI, who was a claimant to the Spanish throne, led to the collapse of the allied coalition. The marriages of his two daughters, Maria Giuseppa and Maria Amalia, would later contribute to the dispute over the Habsburg inheritance upon the death of Carlo VI.