Maximilian II, a member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman
Emperor from 1564 until his death. He was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on
14 May 1562 and elected King of Germany on 24 November 1562. On 8 September 1563
he was crowned King of Hungary and Croatia in the Hungarian capital
Pressburg. On 25 July 1564 he succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of the
Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's rule was shaped by the
confessionalization process after the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. Though a
Habsburg and a Catholic, he approached the Lutheran Imperial estates with a
view to overcome the denominational schism, which ultimately failed. He also
was faced with the ongoing Ottoman–Habsburg wars and rising
conflicts with his Habsburg Spain cousins.
According to Fitchner, he failed to achieve his three major aims:
rationalizing the government structure, unifying Christianity, and evicting the
Turks from Hungary. Biography
Born in Vienna, Austria, he was the eldest son of the Habsburg archduke
Ferdinand I, younger brother of Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the
Jagiellonian princess Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. He was named after his
great-grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I. At the time of his birth, his father
Ferdinand succeeded his brother-in-law King Louis II in the Kingdom of Bohemia
and the Kingdom of Hungary, laying the grounds for the global Habsburg
Monarchy. Having spent his childhood years at his
fathers's court in Innsbruck, Tyrol, he was educated principally in Italy. Among
his teachers were humanist scholars like Kaspar Ursinus Velius and Georg
Tannstetter. Maximilian also came in contact with the Lutheran teaching and
early on corresponded with the Protestant prince Augustus of Saxony,
suspiciously eyed by his Habsburg relatives. From the age of 17, he gained
some experience of warfare during the Italian War campaign of his uncle
Charles V against King Francis I of France in 1544, and also during the
Schmalkaldic War. Upon Charles' victory in the 1547 Battle of Mühlberg,
Maximilian put in a good word for the Schmalkaldic leaders Elector John
Frederick I of Saxony and Landgrave Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, and soon
began to take part in Imperial business. = Heir apparent=
On 13 September 1548 Emperor Charles V married Maximilian to Charles's daughter
Mary of Spain in the Castile residence of Valladolid. By the marriage his uncle
intended to strengthen the ties with the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, but
also to consolidate his nephew's Catholic faith. Maximilian temporarily
acted as the emperor's representative in Spain, however not as stadtholder of the
Habsburg Netherlands as he had hoped for. To his indignation, King Ferdinand
appointed his younger brother Ferdinand II administrator in the Kingdom of
Bohemia, nevertheless Maximilian's right of succession as the future king was
recognised in 1549. He returned to Germany in December 1550 in order to
take part in the discussion over the Imperial succession.
Maximilian's relations with his uncle worsened, as Charles V, again embattled
by rebellious Protestant princes led by Elector Maurice of Saxony, wished his
son Philip II of Spain to succeed him as emperor. However, Charles' brother
Ferdinand, who had already been designated as the next occupant of the
imperial throne, and his son Maximilian objected to this proposal. Maximilian
sought the support of the German princes such as Duke Albert V of Bavaria and
even contacted Protestant leaders like Maurice of Saxony and Duke Christoph of
Württemberg. At length a compromise was reached: Philip was to succeed
Ferdinand, but during the former's reign Maximilian, as King of the Romans, was
to govern Germany. This arrangement was not carried out, and is only important
because the insistence of the emperor seriously disturbed the harmonious
relations which had hitherto existed between the two branches of the Habsburg
family; an illness which befell Maximilian in 1552 was attributed to
poison given to him in the interests of his cousin and brother-in-law, Philip II
of Spain. The relationship between the two cousins
was uneasy. While Philip had been raised a Spaniard and barely travelled out of
the kingdom during is life, Maximilian identified himself as the quintessential
German prince and often displayed a strong dislike of Spaniards, whom he
considered as intolerant and arrogant. While his cousin was reserved and shy,
Maximilian was outgoing and charismatic. His adherence to humanism and religious
tolerance put him at odds with Philip who was more committed to the defence of
the Catholic faith. Also, he was considered a promising commander, while
Philip disliked war and only once did he personally command an army. Nonetheless,
the two remained committed to the unity of their dynasty.
In 1551 Maximilian attended the Council of Trent and the next year took up his
residence at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, celebrated by a triumphal return into
the city with a large entourage including the elephant Suleiman. While
his father Ferdinand concluded the 1552 Treaty of Passau with the Protestant
estates and finally reached the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Maximilian was engaged
mainly in the government of the Austrian hereditary lands and in defending them
against Ottoman incursions. In Vienna, he had his Hofburg residence extended
with the Renaissance Stallburg wing, the site of the later Spanish Riding School,
and also ordered the construction of Neugebäude Palace in Simmering. The
court held close ties to the University of Vienna and employed scholars like the
botanist Carolus Clusius and the diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq.
Maximilian's library curated by Hugo Blotius later became the nucleus of the
Austrian National Library. He implemented the Roman School of
composition with his court orchestra, however, his plans to win Giovanni
Pierluigi da Palestrina as Kapellmeister foundered on financial reasons. In the
1550s, Vienna had more than 50,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city
in Central Europe with Prague and before Nuremberg.
The religious views of the future King of Bohemia had always been somewhat
uncertain, and he had probably learned something of Lutheranism in his youth;
but his amicable relations with several Protestant princes, which began about
the time of the discussion over the succession, were probably due more to
political than to religious considerations. However, in Vienna he
became very intimate with Sebastian Pfauser, a court preacher influenced by
Heinrich Bullinger with strong leanings towards Lutheranism, and his religious
attitude caused some uneasiness to his father. Fears were freely expressed that
he would definitely leave the Catholic Church, and when his father Ferdinand
became emperor in 1558 he was prepared to assure Pope Paul IV that his son
should not succeed him if he took this step. Eventually Maximilian remained
nominally an adherent of the older faith, although his views were tinged
with Lutheranism until the end of his life. After several refusals he
consented in 1560 to the banishment of Pfauser, and began again to attend the
Masses of the Catholic Church. = Succession=
In November 1562 Maximilian was chosen King of the Romans, or German king, by
the electoral college at Frankfurt, where he was crowned a few days later,
after assuring the Catholic electors of his fidelity to their faith, and
promising the Protestant electors that he would publicly accept the confession
of Augsburg when he became emperor. He also took the usual oath to protect the
Church, and his election was afterwards confirmed by the papacy. He was the
first King of the Romans not to be crowned in Aachen. In September 1563 he
was crowned King of Hungary by the Archbishop of Esztergom, Nicolaus
Olahus, and on his father's death, in July 1564, he succeeded to the empire
and to the kingdoms of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia.
The new emperor had already shown that he believed in the necessity for a
thorough reform of the Church. He was unable, however, to obtain the consent
of Pope Pius IV to the marriage of the clergy, and in 1568 the concession of
communion in both kinds to the laity was withdrawn. On his part Maximilian
granted religious liberty to the Lutheran nobles and knights in Austria,
and refused to allow the publication of the decrees of the council of Trent.
Amidst general expectations on the part of the Protestants he met his first Diet
of Augsburg in March 1566. He refused to accede to the demands of the Lutheran
princes; on the other hand, although the increase of sectarianism was discussed,
no decisive steps were taken to suppress it, and the only result of the meeting
was a grant of assistance for the Turkish War, which had just been
renewed. Collecting a large army Maximilian marched to defend his
territories; but no decisive engagement had taken place when a truce was made in
1568, and the emperor continued to pay tribute to the sultan as the price of
peace in the western and northern areas of the Hungarian kingdom still under
Habsburg control. Meanwhile the relations between
Maximilian and Philip of Spain had improved; and the emperor's increasingly
cautious and moderate attitude in religious matters was doubtless because
the death of Philip's son, Don Carlos, had opened the way for the succession of
Maximilian, or of one of his sons, to the Spanish throne. Evidence of this
friendly feeling was given in 1570, when the emperor's daughter, Anna, became the
fourth wife of Philip; but Maximilian was unable to moderate the harsh
proceedings of the Spanish king against the revolting inhabitants of the
Netherlands. In 1570 the emperor met the diet of Speyer and asked for aid to
place his eastern borders in a state of defence, and also for power to repress
the disorder caused by troops in the service of foreign powers passing
through Germany. He proposed that his consent should be necessary before any
soldiers for foreign service were recruited in the empire; but the estates
were unwilling to strengthen the imperial authority, the Protestant
princes regarded the suggestion as an attempt to prevent them from assisting
their co-religionists in France and the Netherlands, and nothing was done in
this direction, although some assistance was voted for the defense of Austria.
The religious demands of the Protestants were still unsatisfied, while the policy
of toleration had failed to give peace to Austria. Maximilian's power was very
limited; it was inability rather than unwillingness that prevented him from
yielding to the entreaties of Pope Pius V to join in an attack on the Turks both
before and after the victory of Lepanto in 1571; and he remained inert while the
authority of the empire in north-eastern Europe was threatened.
In 1575, Maximilian was elected by the part of Polish and Lithuanian magnates
to be the King of Poland in opposition to Stephan IV Bathory, but he did not
manage to become widely accepted there and was forced to leave Poland.
Maximilian died on 12 October 1576 in Regensburg while preparing to invade
Poland. On his deathbed he refused to receive the last sacraments of the
Church. He is buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
By his wife Maria he had a family of nine sons and six daughters. He was
succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Rudolf, who had been chosen king of the
Romans in October 1575. Another of his sons, Matthias, also became emperor;
three others, Ernest, Albert and Maximilian, took some part in the
government of the Habsburg territories or of the Netherlands, and a daughter,
Elizabeth, married Charles IX of France. Religious policies
Maximilian's policies of religious neutrality and peace in the Empire
afforded its Roman Catholics and Protestants a breathing-space after the
first struggles of the Reformation. His reign also saw the high point of
Protestantism in Austria and Bohemia and unlike his successors, Maximilian did
not try to suppress it. He disappointed the German Protestant
princes by his refusal to invest Lutheran administrators of
prince-bishoprics with their imperial fiefs. Yet on a personal basis he
granted freedom of worship to the Protestant nobility and worked for
reform in the Roman Catholic Church, including the right of priests to marry.
This failed because of Spanish opposition.
Maximilian II was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Marriage and children On 13 September 1548, Maximilian married
his first cousin Mary of Spain, daughter of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of
Portugal. Despite Mary's commitment to Habsburg Spain and her strong Catholic
manners, the marriage was a happy one. The couple had sixteen children:
Archduchess Anna of Austria. Married Philip II of Spain, her uncle. She was
the mother of Philip III of Spain. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. Archduke Ernest of Austria,. He served
as Governor of the Low Countries. Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria.
Married Charles IX of France. Archduchess Marie of Austria.
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor. A stillborn son.
Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Elected king of Poland, but never crowned. He
served as grandmaster of the Teutonic Order and Administrator of Prussia.
Archduke Albert of Austria. He served as Governor of the Low Countries.
Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria. Archduke Frederick of Austria.
Archduchess Marie of Austria. Named after her deceased older sister.
Archduke Charles of Austria. Archduchess Margaret of Austria. A nun.
Archduchess Eleanor of Austria. Official style
Maximilian II, by the grace of God elected Holy Roman Emperor, forever
August, King in Germany, of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia,
etc. Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, Luxemburg, Württemberg, the Upper and Lower Silesia, Prince of
Swabia, Margrave of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgau, Moravia, the Upper and
Lower Lusatia, Princely Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Ferrette, Kyburg,
Gorizia, Landgrave of Alsace, Lord of the Wendish March, Pordenone and Salins,
etc. etc. Heraldry
Ancestors See also
Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany.
References Further reading
Fichtner, Paula Sutter. Emperor Maximilian II
Fichtner, Paula Sutter. Historical dictionary of Austria
External links