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 renewal of energy in Habsburg policy. He strengthened the cohesion of his States by suppressing the Hungarian revolt led by Francesco Rakoczi II. He reaffirmed imperial authority in Germany, condemning as rebels the princes who had aligned themselves with France. In contrast to his father’s Catholic orientation, he came to an agreement with Carlo XII of Sweden in favour of the Silesian Protestants, opposed the Jesuits, and came into conflict with the Pontiff because of Italian policy. He vigorously continued the War of the Spanish Succession: his armies, under the command of Eugenio di Savoia, won the great victories of Turin, Oudenarde,
Malplaquet. His death, and the succession of his brother Carlo VI, claimant to the throne of Spain, brought about the dissolution of the allied coalition. The marriage of his two daughters, Maria Giuseppa and Maria Amalia, was to contribute to the dispute over the Habsburg inheritance upon the death of Carlo VI.