Leopold II, Emperor (I as Grand Duke of Tuscany)

LEOPOLD II, Emperor (I as Grand Duke of Tuscany). - B. 15 May 1747 in Vienna, d. there 2 March 1792. Third son of Francis Stephen of Lorraine and Empress Maria Theresa, he became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1765. With the help of capable advisers such as Pompeo Neri, Francesco Maria Gianni and others, he initiated a bold policy of reforms.

The collection of taxes was no longer farmed out, but passed directly into the hands of the State; the customs system was greatly simplified with the elimination of almost all internal duties, and the country's economy derived no small advantages from this; the works of reclamation and land improvement in the Val di Chiana, in the plain of Pisa, in the marshes of Bientina and Fucecchio, in Valdinievole, in the Maremma gave new impetus to agriculture. The communes were furthermore guaranteed autonomous administration. The Grand Duke also intended to promulgate a true constitution and in 1779 charged Gianni with drafting a plan "for the erection of a body of public representation in Tuscany," but the Constitution, prepared in 1782, never entered into force. In foreign policy L. was inclined toward a neutralization of Tuscany, while in relations with the Church he was inspired by a very rigid jurisdictionalism: he abolished ecclesiastical immunities, forbade appeals to Rome, dissolved 2,500 confraternities, suppressing convents that had no purpose of public utility, established the evogantur for the acts of religious authority; he seconded the suggestions of S. Ricci, bishop of Pistoia, allowing the famous Synod of 1786 to be convened, later condemned by the Church. Having ascended the imperial throne in 1790 upon the death of his brother Joseph II, although always remaining a supporter of the enlightened and reformist despotism of the 18th century, he profoundly modified his conduct. He was thus able to overcome the grave crisis that his brother's doctrinairism had stirred up (the uprising of the Austrian Netherlands and of Hungary), to moderate the previous position of intransigence toward the Holy See (1790: suppression of the State seminaries) and to settle his brother's war legacy (Peace of Sistova of 4 Aug. 1791 with Turkey, to which he restored Belgrade and Wallachia). He also maintained an attitude of prudent moderation toward the French Revolution of 1789: disposed to act only within the framework of "a European concert," the agreement of Pillnitz (1791) and the alliance of 1792 with Prussia were always understood by L. II in a defensive function. He died suddenly before the conflagration broke out.