Editing Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

{{Short description|Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 to 1576}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Maximilian II
| title        = [[Imperator Romanorum]]
| image        = Nicolas Neufchâtel 002.jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Nicolas Neufchâtel]], c. 1566
| succession   = [[Holy Roman Emperor]]
| moretext     = ([[#Regnal titles|more...]])
| reign        = 25 July 1564 &ndash; {{nowrap|12 October 1576}}
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]
| successor    = [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria of Austria]]|13 September 1548}}
| issue        = {{Plainlist|
*[[Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain|Anna, Queen of Spain]]
* [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
* [[Archduke Ernest of Austria|Archduke Ernest]]
* [[Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France|Elisabeth, Queen of France]]
* [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor]]
* [[Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria]]
* [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria]]
* [[Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria|Archduke Wenceslaus]]
* [[Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1567–1633)|Archduchess Margaret]]
}}
| issue-link   = #Marriage and children
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]]
| father       = [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| mother       = [[Anna of Bohemia and Hungary]]
| birth_date   = 31 July 1527
| birth_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Archduchy of Austria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1576|10|12|1527|07|31|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Regensburg|Imperial City of Regensburg]], Holy Roman Empire
| place of burial = [[Prague]], [[St. Vitus Cathedral]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
| signature    = Signature of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.svg
}}

'''Maximilian II''' (31 July 1527 &ndash; 12 October 1576)  was [[Holy Roman Emperor]] from 1564 until his death in 1576. A member of the [[Archduchy of Austria|Austrian]] [[House of Habsburg]], he was crowned [[King of Bohemia]] in [[Prague]] on 14 May 1562 and [[imperial election of 1562|elected]] [[King of Germany]] ([[King of the Romans]]) on 24 November 1562. On 8 September 1563, he was crowned [[King of Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Croatia]] in the Hungarian capital [[Bratislava|Pressburg]] (Pozsony in Hungarian; now Bratislava, Slovakia). On 25 July 1564, he succeeded his father [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] as Holy Roman Emperor.<ref name=":0">Maximilian II. (2009). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Retrieved  20 May 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/370517/Maximilian-II</ref><ref>Paula Sutter Fichtner, ''Historical dictionary of Austria'' ( 2009)</ref>

Maximilian's rule was shaped by the [[confessionalization]] process after the 1555 [[Peace of Augsburg]]. Though a Habsburg and a Catholic, he approached the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] Imperial [[Imperial Estate|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|Spanish Habsburg]] cousins.

According to Fichtner, Maximilian failed to achieve his three major aims: rationalizing the government structure, unifying Christianity, and evicting the Turks from Hungary.<ref>Paula Sutter Fichtner, ''Emperor Maximilian II'' (2001)</ref> Peter Marshall opines that it is wrong to dismiss Maximilian as a failure. According to Marshall, through his [[religious tolerance]] as well as his encouragement of arts and sciences, he succeeded in maintaining a precarious peace.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Peter |title=The Mercurial Emperor: The Magic Circle of Rudolf II in Renaissance Prague |date=28 November 2013 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4464-2664-7 |pages=10–12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XoPAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |access-date=20 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==
{{Sources|section|date=June 2023}}
Maximilian was born in [[Vienna]], [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]], the second child and eldest son of the Habsburg King [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]], younger brother of Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], and the [[Jagiellonian dynasty|Jagiellonian]] Princess [[Anne of Bohemia and Hungary]] (1503&ndash;1547).<ref name=Mutschlechner>[https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/maximilian-ii-caught-between-competing-priorities-vienna-prague-and-madrid Mutschlechner, Martin. "Maximilian II: caught between the competing priorities of Vienna, Prague and Madrid", Die Welt der Habsburger]</ref> He was named after his great-grandfather, Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]]. At the time of his birth, his father Ferdinand succeeded his brother-in-law King [[Louis II of Hungary|Louis II]] in the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] and the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]], greatly expanding the [[Habsburg monarchy]].

[[File:Jakob Seisenegger 007.jpg|thumb|left|Maximilian and his younger brothers Ferdinand II and John, painting by [[Jakob Seisenegger]], 1539]]

Having spent his childhood years at his father's court in [[Innsbruck]], [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]], Maximilian was educated principally in Italy. Among his teachers were [[humanism|humanist]] scholars like [[Kaspar Ursinus Velius]] and [[Georg Tannstetter]]. He also came in contact with the Lutheran teaching and early on corresponded with the Protestant prince [[Augustus, Elector of Saxony|Augustus of Saxony]]. From the age of 17, he gained some experience of warfare during the [[Italian War of 1542–46|Italian War]] campaign of his uncle [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|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 League|Schmalkaldic]] leaders, Elector [[John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony]] and [[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 (Maximilian's cousin) [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria of Spain]]<ref name=Mutschlechner/> in the [[Crown of Castile|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 [[List of Spanish regents|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, Archduke of Austria|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.

[[File:William Scrots 001.jpg|thumb|left|Archduke Maximilian, portrait by [[William Scrots]], about 1544]] 

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 [[1531 imperial election|elected]] as the next occupant of the imperial throne, and his son Maximilian objected to this proposal. Maximilian sought the support of the German [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire|princes]] such as [[Albert V, Duke of Bavaria]] and even contacted Protestant leaders like Maurice of Saxony and [[Christoph, Duke 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 that had hitherto existed between the two branches of the Habsburg family; an illness that 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 his life, Maximilian identified himself as the quintessential German prince and often displayed a strong dislike of Spaniards, whom he considered as intolerant and arrogant.<ref>''Spain under Philip II'', Perez</ref> 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.<ref>''History of the Habsburg Empire'', [[Jean Bérenger]]</ref> Also, he was considered a promising commander, while Philip disliked war and only once personally commanded an army. Nonetheless, the two remained committed to the unity of their dynasty. 

[[File:Stallburg - Vienna.jpg|thumb|''Stallburg'']]

In 1551 Maximilian attended the [[Council of Trent]] and the next year took up his residence at the [[Hofburg]] palace in Vienna, celebrated by a triumphal return into the city with a large entourage including the elephant [[Suleiman (elephant)|Suleiman]]. While his father Ferdinand concluded the 1552 [[Peace of Passau|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 [[Erblande|Austrian hereditary lands]] and in defending them against [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] incursions. In Vienna, he had his Hofburg residence extended with the [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] ''[[Stallburg]]'' wing, the site of the later [[Spanish Riding School]], and also ordered the construction of [[Neugebäude Palace]] in [[Simmering (Vienna)|Simmering]]. In the 1550s, Vienna had more than 50,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in Central Europe with Prague and before Nuremberg (40,000 inhabitants).

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 {{Interlanguage link multi|Sebastian Pfauser|de|3=Johann 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 [[Catholic Mass|Masses]] of the Catholic Church.

===Reign===
In November 1562 Maximilian was [[1562 imperial election|chosen King of the Romans]], or German king, by the [[Prince-elector|electoral college]]<ref name=Mutschlechner/> 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 [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom–Budapest|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 summoned [[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 [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|war with the Turks]], which had just been renewed. Maximilian gathered a large army and marched to fight the Ottomans. The Ottomans [[Siege of Szigetvár|besieged and conquered Szigetvár]] in 1566, but their [[sultan]], [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], died of old age during the siege. With neither side winning a decisive engagement, Maximilian's ambassadors [[Antun Vrančić]] and [[Christoph Teuffenbach]] met with the Ottoman [[Grand Vizier]] [[Sokollu Mehmed Pasha]] in [[Edirne|Adrianople]] to negotiate a truce in 1568. The terms of the [[Treaty of Adrianople (1568)|Treaty of Adrianople]] required the emperor to recognise Ottoman suzerainty over [[Eastern Hungarian Kingdom|Transylvania]], [[Wallachia]], and [[Moldavia]].

[[File:Maximilian II of Austria (1527-1576), by Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg|thumb|Maximilian II ([[Sofonisba Anguissola]], {{circa|1580}})]]

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, [[Charles, Prince of Asturias|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 of Austria (1549-1580)|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 [[Habsburg Netherlands|Netherlands]]. In 1570 the emperor met the [[Diet of Speyer (1570)|Diet of Speyer]] and asked for aid to place his [[Military Frontier|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 [[Kingdom of France|France]] and the [[Dutch Republic|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 [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|victory of Lepanto]] in 1571; and he remained inert while the authority of the empire in north-eastern Europe was threatened.

In 1576, Maximilian was [[1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election|elected]] by the part of Polish and Lithuanian magnates to be the [[King of Poland]] in opposition to [[Stefan Batory|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 ten sons and six daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf]], who had been chosen king of the Romans in October 1575. Another of his sons, [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]], also became emperor; three others, [[Archduke Ernest of Austria|Ernest]], [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert]] and [[Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria|Maximilian]], took some part in the government of the Habsburg territories or of the Netherlands. His eldest daughter, Anna, married Philip II of Spain. Another daughter, [[Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France|Elizabeth]], married [[Charles IX of France]].

==Religious policies==
Maximilian's policies of religious neutrality and peace in the empire afforded its [[Roman Catholic]]s and [[Protestant]]s 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 [[prince]]s by his refusal to invest [[Diocesan administrator#Administrators of prince-bishoprics|Lutheran administrators]] of [[prince-bishopric]]s 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 [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] opposition.

Maximilian II was a member of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]].
==Patronage of arts and sciences==

Under [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] and Maximilian II, the imperial court itself became the centre of [[Humanism|humanist]] scholarship. The court held close ties to the [[University of Vienna]] but the university, that reached its summit under [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]], had been severely diminished due to wars and civil disturbances.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fulton |first1=Elaine |title=Catholic Belief and Survival in Late Sixteenth-Century Vienna: The Case of Georg Eder (1523–87) |date=5 December 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-95311-5 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUmoDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT46 |access-date=21 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Janssen |first1=Johannes |title=History of the German People at the Close of the Middle Ages |date=1909 |publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Company, Limited |page=213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4dDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA213 |access-date=21 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

In his court, Catholic and Prostestant scholars equally thrived. Many artists and scholars came from Spain, Italy and Spanish Netherlands.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Racaut |first1=Luc |last2=Ryrie |first2=Alec |title=Moderate Voices in the European Reformation |date=15 May 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-91705-6 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aAskDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT223 |access-date=21 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Maximilian 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.

==Marriage and children==
[[File:Giuseppe Arcimboldi 003.jpg|thumb|Maximilian II with his family in 1553, by [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]]]]
On 13 September 1548, Maximilian married his first cousin [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria of Spain]], daughter of Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] and [[Isabella of Portugal]]. Despite Maria's commitment to [[Habsburg Spain]] and her strong [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] manners, the marriage was a happy one. The couple had sixteen children in just nineteen years, but only nine of them lived to adulthood:

#[[Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain|Anna]] (1 November 1549 &ndash; 26 October 1580), who became queen of Spain
#Ferdinand (28 March 1551 &ndash; 25 June 1552), who died in early childhood.
#[[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf]] (18 July 1552 &ndash; 20 January 1612), who became emperor
#[[Archduke Ernest of Austria|Ernest]] (15 July 1553 &ndash; 12 February 1595), who served as [[governor of the Habsburg Netherlands]]
#[[Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France|Elisabeth]] (5 July 1554 &ndash; 22 January 1592), who became queen of France
#Marie (27 July 1555 &ndash; 25 June 1556), who died in infancy
#[[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]] (24 February 1557 &ndash; 20 March 1619), who became emperor
#A stillborn son (20 October 1557)
#[[Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria|Maximilian]] (12 October 1558 &ndash; 2 November 1618), who served as grandmaster of the [[Teutonic Order]] and administrator of [[Prussia]].
#[[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert]] (13 November 1559 &ndash; 13 July 1621), who served as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
#[[Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria|Wenceslaus]] (9 March 1561 &ndash; 22 September 1578)
#Frederick (21 June 1562 &ndash; 16 January 1563), who died in infancy
#Marie (19 February 1564 – 26 March 1564), who died in infancy
#Charles (26 September 1565 &ndash; 23 May 1566), who died in infancy
#[[Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1567–1633)|Margaret]] (25 January 1567 &ndash; 5 July 1633), a nun
#Eleanor (4 November 1568 &ndash; 12 March 1580), who died in childhood

==Heraldry==
{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=100% align="center"
|-
! style="background:#ccccff;"|Heraldry of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
|-
|
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|[[File:Coat of Arms of Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1527–1576).svg|180px]]
|[[File:Coat of Arms of Ferdinand I and Maximilian II as Kings of the Romans.svg|180px]]
|[[File:Greater Coat of Arms of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.svg|200px]]
|-
|Coat of arms as Archduke of Austria<br/><small>(1527–1576)</small>
|Coat of arms as King of the Romans<br/><small>(1562–1576)</small>
|Coat of arms as Holy Roman Emperor<br/><small>(1564–1576)</small>
|}
|}

==In popular culture==

* Maximilian II figures in [[José Saramago]]'s 2008 novel ''[[The Elephant's Journey]]''.

==See also==
*[[Kings of Germany family tree]]. He was related to every other king of Germany.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Fichtner, Paula Sutter. ''Emperor Maximilian II'' (Yale University Press, 2001) {{ISBN|978-0-30008-527-3}}
* Fichtner, Paula Sutter. ''Historical Dictionary of Austria'' (Scarecrow Press, 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-81085-592-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

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{{S-ttl|title=[[Holy Roman Emperor]]<br>[[Archduke of Austria]]|years=1564&ndash;1576}}
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