Editing Absolute monarchy (section)

====Habsburgs====
[[File: Anton von Maron 006.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor]]]]
{{See|House of Habsburg}}
The House of Habsburg is currently extinct in its male line, due to the death of the childless [[Charles II of Spain]] in 1700. However, the [[House of Hapsburg-Lorraine|House of Habsburg-Lorraine]] still carries the female line of the House of Habsburg. 

The first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was [[Joseph II]], a sovereign raised during the Enlightenment. Joseph II [[Serfdom Patent (1781)|extended full legal freedom to serfs]] in 1781. [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]] was [[Emperor of Austria]] from 1848 until his death in 1916 and was succeeded by [[Charles I of Austria]]. Charles I was the last Emperor of Austria and abdicated on 12 November 1918 due to [[Austria-Hungary]] losing [[World War I]].