Editing Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Succession to the Habsburg dominions===
[[File:Portrait of Charles III of Habsburg.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Portrait of a young Archduke Charles during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]]]
When Charles succeeded his brother in 1711, he was the last male Habsburg heir in the direct line. Since Habsburg possessions were subject to [[Salic law]], barring women from inheriting in their own right, his own lack of a male heir meant they would be divided on his death. The [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1713|Pragmatic Sanction]] of 19 April 1713 abolished male-only succession in all Habsburg realms and declared their lands indivisible, although the [[Diet of Hungary]] only approved it in 1723.<ref>Crankshaw, 12.</ref>
[[File:Thaler à l'effigie de Charles VI, 1721.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Charles VI on a silver Thaler, 1721]]
Charles had three daughters, [[Maria Theresa]] (1717–1780), [[Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (governor)|Maria Anna]] (1718–1744) and Maria Amalia (1724–1730) but no surviving sons. When Maria Theresa was born, he disinherited his nieces who were the daughters of his elder brother Joseph, [[Maria Josepha of Austria|Maria Josepha]] and [[Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress|Maria Amalia]]. It was this act that undermined the chances of a smooth succession as set out in a [[Mutual Pact of Succession|Pact]] arranged by his father, and obliged Charles to spend the rest of his reign seeking to ensure enforcement of the sanction from other European powers.<ref>Holborn, Hajo: ''A History of Modern Germany: 1648–1840'' Princeton University Press 1982 {{ISBN|0-691-00796-9}}, 108.</ref>

[[File:Meytens - Charles VI, Empress Elisabeth Christine and their three daughters – Bundesmobilienverwaltung.jpg|thumb|Charles VI with his wife Empress Elisabeth Christine and their daughters in 1730]]
Charles agreed to a demand from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] that he close a trading company, the [[Ostend Company]], which was based in the Austrian Netherlands and that he himself founded in 1722.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ostend Company |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434249/Ostend-Company |last=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=britannica.com |access-date=23 October 2009}}</ref> Other signatories included Britain, [[Early Modern France|France]], the [[Dutch Republic]], Spain, [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Denmark-Norway]] and [[Savoyard state|Savoy-Sardinia]], but subsequent events underlined [[Prince Eugene of Savoy]]'s comment that the best guarantee was a powerful army and full treasury. Charles's nieces were married to the rulers of Saxony and Bavaria, both of whom ultimately refused to be bound by the decision of the Imperial Diet. France, despite publicly agreeing to the Pragmatic Sanction in 1735, signed a secret treaty with Bavaria in 1738 promising to back the 'just claims' of [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles Albert]] of Bavaria.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Black |first=James |title=From Louis XIV to Napoleon: The Fate of a Great Power |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=185728934X |page=82}}</ref>

In the first part of his reign, the [[Habsburg monarchy]] continued to expand thanks to the success in the [[Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)]], adding [[Banat]] to [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and establishing direct Austrian rule over [[Kingdom of Serbia (1718-1739)|Serbia]] and [[Banat of Craiova|Oltenia]] (Lesser [[Wallachia]]). This extended Austrian rule to the lower [[Danube]].<ref name=Charlesbrittanica/>

[[File:Retrat de Carles III davant el port de Barcelona, Frans van Stampart.jpg|thumb|left|195px|''Charles III in front of the port of Barcelona'' by [[Frans van Stampart]]]]
The [[War of the Quadruple Alliance]] (1718–1720) followed. It too ended in an Austrian victory; by the [[Treaty of The Hague (1720)]], Charles swapped [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Sardinia]], which went to the Duke of Savoy, [[Victor Amadeus II]], for [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], the largest island in the Mediterranean, which was harder to defend than Sardinia.<ref>Kahn, Robert A.: ''A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526–1918'', University of California Press, California, 1992, {{ISBN|978-0-520-04206-3}}, 91.</ref> The treaty also recognised [[Philip V of Spain]]'s younger son, Don Carlos (the future [[Charles III of Spain]]) as heir to the [[Duchy of Parma]] and [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]; Charles had previously endorsed the succession of the [[Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|incumbent Grand Duke's]] daughter, [[Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici|Anna Maria Luisa, Electress Palatine]].<ref>Acton, Harold: ''The Last Medici'', Macmillan, London, 1980, {{ISBN|0-333-29315-0}}, p. 256.</ref>

Peace in Europe was shattered by the [[War of the Polish Succession]] (1733–1738), a dispute over the throne of [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]] between [[Augustus III of Poland|Augustus of Saxony]], the previous king's elder son, and [[Stanisław Leszczyński]]. Austria supported the former, France the latter; thus, a war broke out. By the [[Treaty of Vienna (1738)]], Augustus ascended the throne, but Charles had to give the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] and [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] to Don Carlos, in exchange for the much smaller Duchy of Parma and Grand Duchy of Tuscany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War of the Polish Succession (European history) |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467508/War-of-the-Polish-Succession#ref=ref291264 |last=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=britannica.com |access-date=23 October 2009}}</ref>

The question of Charles's elder daughter's marriage was raised early in her childhood. She was first betrothed to [[Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine|Léopold Clément of Lorraine]], who was supposed to come to Vienna and meet Maria Theresa. Instead, he died of [[smallpox]] in 1723, which upset Maria Theresa. Léopold Clément's younger brother, [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis Stephen]], then came to Vienna to replace him. Charles considered other possibilities (such as Don Carlos) before announcing the engagement to Francis.<ref>Mahan, 26.</ref> At the end of the War of the Polish Succession, France demanded that Francis surrender the [[Duchy of Lorraine]] (his hereditary domain), to Stanisław Leszczyński, the deposed king of Poland, who would bequeath it to France at his death. Charles compelled Francis to renounce his rights to Lorraine and told him: "No renunciation, no archduchess."<ref>[[Fraser, Antonia]]: ''Maria Antoinette: the Journey'', Orion books, London, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-7538-1305-8}}, p. 7</ref>

Charles had a number of sexual relationships with male courtiers, including his Master of the Horse, Prince Schwarzenberg, and a hunter's boy.<ref>Charlotte Backerra, 'Disregarding Norms: Emperor Charles VI and His Intimate Relationships', ''Royal Studies Journal'', Vol 6 No2, Winchester University Press, 2019, p75; Friedrich Polleroß, 'Monumenta Virtutis Austriacae: Addenda zur Kunstpolitik Kaiser Karls VI.,' in ''Kunst, Politik, Religion: Studien zur Kunst in Süddeutschland, Österreich, Tschechien und der Slowakei'', ed. Markus Hörsch and Elisabeth Oy-Marra, Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2000, p118.</ref> The love of his life was Michael Joseph, Count Althann, a groom of the bedchamber, whom he called "my only heart, my comfort...my soul mate",<ref>16 March 1722, OeStA, HHStA, HA, Sammelbände 2, Tagebuch 12 (1722-1724), fol. 6r., quoted in Stefan Seitschek, ''Die Tagebücher Kaiser Karls VI.'', Berger & Söhne, Ferdinand 2018, p233.</ref> and with whom he slept regularly. Althann's death in 1722, after a relationship of nineteen years, devastated him.<ref>Clarlotte Backerra, 'Intime Beziehungen Kaiser Karls VI. in Historiogrpahie und überlieferten Quellen', in Norman Domeier, Christian Mühling (eds.), ''Homosexualität am Hof: Praktiken und Diskurse vom Mittelalter bis heute'', Campus Verlag GmbH, 2020, pp53-78; Helmut Neuhold, ''Das andere Habsburg: Homoerotik im österreichischen Kaiserhaus'', Broschur 2008, passim.</ref>

[[File:Srpske privilegije 1732.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Collection of Serbian privileges, issued by Charles VI in 1732]]

In 1737, the Emperor embarked on another [[Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739)|Turkish War]], in alliance with Russia.{{sfn|Roider|1972a|p=}} Its start was promising. Already in the autumn of the same year, imperial troops took [[Niš]] and tried to consolidate gains in 1738, but during the next year Habsburg armies suffered several defeats. By the [[Treaty of Belgrade]] (1739), emperor Charles had to cede several regions to the sultan, including [[Bosnia]]n section of [[Posavina]], central regions of [[Kingdom of Serbia (1718–1739)|Serbia]], and [[Wallachia Minor]] (Oltenia).{{sfn|Roider|1972b|p=195–207}} Popular discontent at the costly war reigned in Vienna; Francis of Lorraine, Maria Theresa's husband, was dubbed a French spy by the Viennese.<ref>Crankshaw, 26.</ref>