Editing Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

{{Redirect|Rudolf II| |Rudolph II (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Holy Roman Emperor from 1576 to 1612}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Rudolf II
| title        = [[Imperator Romanorum]]
| image        = AACHEN, Hans von - Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II - WGA.jpg
| caption      = Portrait by Hans von Aachen, c. 1607
| succession   = [[Holy Roman Emperor]]
| moretext     = ([[#Regnal titles|more...]])
| reign        = 12 October 1576 – {{nowrap|20 January 1612}}
| coronation   = 1 November 1576, [[Regensburg]]
| cor-type     = Proclamation
| predecessor  = [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]]
| successor    = [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]
| house        = [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]]
| father       = [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
| mother       = [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria of Austria]]
| issue        = [[Don Julius Caesar d'Austria]] (ill.)
| issue-link   = #Personal life
| issue-pipe   = more...
| birth_date   = 18 July 1552
| birth_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Archduchy of Austria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=y|1612|1|20|1552|07|18}}
| death_place  = [[Prague]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia]], Holy Roman Empire
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = [[St. Vitus Cathedral]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church]]
| signature    = Signature of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.svg|
}}

'''Rudolf II''' (18 July 1552 &ndash; 20 January 1612) was [[Holy Roman Emperor]] (1576–1612), [[King of Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Croatia]] (as '''Rudolf I''', 1572–1608), [[King of Bohemia]] (1575–1608/1611) and [[Archduke of Austria]] (1576–1608). He was a member of the [[House of Habsburg]].

Rudolf's legacy has traditionally been viewed in three ways:<ref name="hotson">Hotson, 1999.</ref> an ineffectual ruler whose mistakes led directly to the [[Thirty Years' War]]; a great and influential patron of [[Northern Mannerism|Northern Mannerist]] art; and an intellectual devotee of occult arts and learning which helped seed what would be called the [[Scientific Revolution]]. Determined to unify [[Christendom]], he initiated the [[Long Turkish War]] (1593–1606) with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Exhausted by war, his citizens in [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526-1867)|Hungary]] revolted in the [[Bocskai uprising|Bocskai Uprising]], which led to more authority being given to his brother [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]. Under his reign, there was a policy of toleration towards [[Judaism]].

==Early life==
[[File:Archdukerudolf.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Archduke Rudolf, aged 15, painted by [[Alonso Sánchez Coello]]]]

Rudolf was born in [[Vienna]] on 18 July 1552.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Rudolph II. |volume=23 |page=817}}</ref> He was the eldest son and successor of [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]], Holy Roman Emperor, King of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], and King of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Croatia]]; his mother was the Spanish Princess [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria]], a daughter of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]<ref name=EB1911/> and [[Isabella of Portugal]]. He was the elder brother of [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]] who was to succeed him as King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor.
[[File:Portrait bust of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, Antwerp City Hall, Belgium - 20150629-03.jpg|thumb|A portrait bust of Rudolf II in the collection of the [[Antwerp City Hall]], Belgium]]Rudolf spent eight formative years, from age 11 to 19 (1563–1571), in Spain, at the court of his maternal uncle [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], together with his younger brother [[Archduke Ernest of Austria|Ernest]], future governor of the [[Low Countries]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferri |first=Edgarda |title=Rodolfo II. Un imperatore nella Praga dell'arte, della scienza e dell'alchimia |publisher=Arnoldo Mondadori Editore |year=2007}}</ref> 

After his return to Vienna, his father was concerned about Rudolf's aloof and stiff manner, typical of the more conservative Spanish court, rather than the more relaxed and open Austrian court; but his Spanish mother saw in him courtliness and refinement.<ref name="marshall">Marshall, 2006.</ref> In the years following his return to Vienna, Rudolf was crowned [[King of Hungary]] (1572), [[King of Bohemia]] and [[King of the Romans]] (1575)<ref name="Treccani">{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it//enciclopedia/rodolfo-ii-imperatore|title=Rodòlfo II Imperatore nell'Enciclopedia Treccani|website=www.treccani.it|access-date=2020-07-26|archive-date=2019-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107120800/http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/rodolfo-ii-imperatore/|url-status=live}}</ref> when his father was still alive.

For the rest of his life, Rudolf would remain reserved, secretive, and largely a recluse who did not like to travel or even partake in the daily affairs of the state.<ref name="marshall" /> 

He was more intrigued by occult learning such as [[astrology]] and [[alchemy]], which was mainstream in the [[Renaissance]] period, and had a wide variety of personal hobbies such as horses, clocks, collecting rarities, and being a patron of the arts. He suffered from periodic bouts of "[[Depression (mood)|melancholy]]" (depression), which was common in the Habsburg line. These became worse with age and were manifested by a withdrawal from the world and its affairs into his private interests.

==Personal life==
[[File:Lucas van Valckenborch - Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II - c. 1580.jpg|thumb|''Portrait of Rudolf II'' by [[Lucas van Valckenborch]], c. 1580]]
Like [[Elizabeth I of England]], whose birth was 19 years before his, Rudolf dangled himself as a prize in a string of diplomatic negotiations for marriages but never in fact married. Rudolf was known to have had a succession of affairs with women, some of whom claimed to have been impregnated by him.<ref name=marshall/> He had several illegitimate children by his mistress [[Catherina Strada]]. Their eldest son, [[Don Julius Caesar d'Austria]], was likely born between 1584 and 1586 and received an education and opportunities for political and social prominence from his father.<ref name="Don Julius D">{{Cite web |title=Don Julius D'Austria and his Fate |url=http://www.castle.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/zamek_oinf_dojuda.xml |publisher=State Castle and Chateau Český Krumlov |access-date=4 January 2013 |archive-date=19 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219104139/http://www.castle.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/zamek_oinf_dojuda.xml |url-status=live}}</ref> Another famous child was {{ill|Karolina d'Austria|fr|Caroline d'Autriche|lt=Karolina}} (1591–1662), Princess of Cantecroix, mother-in-law of [[Béatrix de Cusance|Beatrice de Cusance]], later [[List of Lorrainian royal consorts|Duchess of Lorraine]] as the second wife of [[Charles IV of Lorraine]].

During his periods of self-imposed isolation, Rudolf reportedly had affairs with his [[Obersthofmeister]], Wolfgang Siegmund Rumpf vom Wullroß (1536–1606), and a series of [[valet]]s. One of them, Philipp Lang von Langenfels (1560–1609), influenced him for years and was hated by those seeking favours with the emperor.<ref name="rowse">Rowse, 1977.</ref><ref>''Philipp Lang, Kammerdiener Kaiser Rudolphs II. Eine Criminal-Geschichte aus dem Anfang des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts''</ref>

Rudolf succeeded his father, Maximilian II, on 12 October 1576.<ref name="Treccani" /> In 1583, he moved the court to [[Prague]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/easterneuropeint0000unse/page/252 |title=Eastern Europe |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57607-800-6 |editor-last=Frucht |editor-first=Richard C. |page=[https://archive.org/details/easterneuropeint0000unse/page/252 252]}}</ref>

In 1607, Rudolf sent Julius to live at [[Český Krumlov]], in [[Bohemia]], in what is now the [[Czech Republic]], a castle that Rudolf had purchased from [[Peter Vok of Rosenberg]], the last member of the [[House of Rosenberg]], who had fallen into financial ruin. Julius lived at Český Krumlov in 1608, when he reportedly abused and murdered the daughter of a local barber, who had been living in the castle, and then disfigured her body. Rudolf condemned his son's act and suggested that he should be imprisoned for the rest of his life.<ref name="Don Julius D"/>
 
However, Julius died in 1609 after he had shown signs of [[schizophrenia]], refused to bathe and lived in squalor. His death was apparently caused by an ulcer that ruptured.<ref name="Don Julius D"/>

Many artworks commissioned by Rudolf are unusually erotic.<ref>Trevor-Roper, pp. 116–120</ref> The emperor was the subject of a [[whispering campaign]] by his enemies in his family and the [[Catholic Church]] in the years before he was deposed. Sexual allegations may well have formed a part of the campaign against him.<ref>Trevor-Roper, pp. 121–123.<br>Trevor-Roper mentions many stories and rumours but not those of Rudolf's homosexuality.</ref>

==Reign==
[[File:Rudolf2c.jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Engraving]] by [[Aegidius Sadeler]] (1603)]]
Historians have traditionally blamed Rudolf's preoccupation with the arts, occult sciences, and other personal interests for the political disasters of his reign.<ref name="hotson" /> More recently historians have re-evaluated that view and see his patronage of the arts and occult sciences as a triumph and key part of the Renaissance, and his political failures are seen as a legitimate attempt to create a unified Christian empire that was undermined by the realities of religious, political and intellectual disintegrations of the time.<ref name="hotson" />

Although raised in his uncle's [[Catholic]] court in Spain, Rudolf was tolerant of [[Protestantism]] and other religions including [[Judaism]].<ref name=marshall/> The tolerant policy by the empire towards the Jews would see Jewish cultural life flourishing, and their population increased under Rudolf's reign.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kieval |first=Hillel J. |date=1997 |title=Pursuing the Golem of Prague: Jewish Culture and the Invention of a Tradition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396572 |journal=Modern Judaism |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=5 |doi=10.1093/mj/17.1.1 |jstor=1396572 |issn=0276-1114}}</ref>
[[File:Martino Rota - Emperor Rudolf II in Armour - WGA20140.jpg|thumb|180px|Portrait of Rudolf II as a young man by [[Martino Rota]]]]
He largely withdrew from Catholic observances and even in death refused the last sacramental rites. He had little attachment to Protestants either, except as a counter-weight to papal policies. He put his primary support behind [[conciliarist]]s, [[irenicist]]s and [[humanists]]. When the papacy instigated the [[Counter-Reformation]] by using agents sent to his court, Rudolf backed those who he thought were the most neutral in the debate, not taking a side or trying to effect restraint. This led to political chaos and threatened to provoke civil war.<ref name=hotson/>

His conflict with the [[Ottoman Empire]] was the final cause of his undoing. Unwilling to compromise with the Ottomans and stubbornly determined that he could unify all of Christendom with a new [[crusade]], he started a long and indecisive war against the Ottomans in 1593.<ref>Craft, Kimberly L. (2011) ''The Private Letters of Countess Erzsébet Báthory'', pp. 73–74.</ref> The war lasted until 1606 and is known as the "[[Long Turkish War]]".<ref name=hotson/> 

By 1604, his Hungarian subjects were exhausted by the war and revolted, led by [[Stephen Bocskai]] ([[Bocskai uprising]]). In 1605, Rudolf was forced by his other family members to cede control of Hungarian affairs to his younger brother Archduke [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]. By 1606, Matthias had forged a difficult peace with the Hungarian rebels ([[Treaty of Vienna (1606)|Peace of Vienna]]) and the Ottomans ([[Peace of Zsitvatorok]]). 

Rudolf was angry with Matthias's concessions and saw them as giving away too much to further his hold on power. That made Rudolf prepare to start a new war against the Ottomans, but Matthias rallied support from the disaffected Hungarians and forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]] and [[Margraviate of Moravia|Moravia]] to him. Meanwhile, the Bohemian Protestants demanded greater religious liberty, which Rudolf granted in the ''[[Letter of Majesty]]'' in 1609. Bohemians continued to press for further freedoms, and Rudolf used his army to repress them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GHDI – Document |url=https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4501 |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=ghdi.ghi-dc.org}}</ref>

Bohemian Protestants then appealed to Matthias for help. His army held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague until 1611, when Rudolf ceded the crown of Bohemia, as well, to his brother.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

==Death==
[[File:Imperial Crown of Austria Globus cruciger Sceptre.jpg|thumb|[[Globus cruciger]], [[crown]] and [[scepter]] of Rudolf II]]

Rudolf died in 1612, nine months after he had been stripped of all effective power by his younger brother, except the empty title of Holy Roman Emperor, to which Matthias was elected five months later. In May 1618 with the event known as the [[Defenestration of Prague]], the Protestant Bohemians, in defence of the rights granted them in the ''Letter of Majesty'', threw imperial officials out of the window and thus the [[Thirty Years' War]] (1618–1648) started.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-05-16 |title=Defenestration of Prague |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Defenestration-of-Prague-1618 |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>

==Art collecting and patronage==
{{moresources|section|date=October 2021}}
Rudolf moved the Habsburg capital from Vienna to Prague in 1583. Rudolf loved collecting paintings and was often reported to sit and stare in rapture at a new work for hours on end.<ref name="marshall" /> He spared no expense in acquiring great past masterworks, such as those of [[Albrecht Dürer|Dürer]] and [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder|Brueghel]]. He was also patron to some of the best contemporary artists, who mainly produced new works in the [[Northern Mannerist]] style, such as [[Bartholomeus Spranger]], [[Hans von Aachen]], [[Giambologna]], [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]], [[Aegidius Sadeler]], [[Roelant Savery]], [[Joris Hoefnagel]] and [[Adrian de Vries]], as well as commissioning works from Italians like [[Paolo Veronese]].
[[File:Krone Kaiser Rudolf II Kaisertum Österreich.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Imperial Crown of Austria|Crown of Rudolf II]] later became the imperial crown of the [[Austrian Empire]].]]
Rudolf's collections were the most impressive in the Europe of his day and the greatest collection of Northern Mannerist art ever to be assembled.<ref name="hotson" /> The adjective Rudolfine, as in "Rudolfine Mannerism" is often used in [[art history]] to describe the style of the art that he patronised.

His love of collecting went far beyond paintings and sculptures. He commissioned decorative objects of all kinds and in particular mechanical moving devices. Ceremonial swords and musical instruments, clocks, waterworks, astrolabes, compasses, telescopes and other scientific instruments were all produced for him by some of the best craftsmen in Europe.

He patronized [[natural philosophy|natural philosophers]] such as the botanist [[Charles de l'Ecluse]], and the astronomers [[Tycho Brahe]] and [[Johannes Kepler]] both attended his court. Tycho, who had spent much of his life making observations of stars and planets that were more accurate than any previous observations, directed Kepler to work on the planet Mars. In doing so, Kepler found that in order to fit the observations to the required accuracy, it was necessary to assume that each planet orbits the sun in an ellipse with the sun at one focus, sweeping out equal areas in equal times.  Thus were born two of [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion]]. It was Rudolf's patronage of the two astronomers that made this possible, as Kepler recognized when he eventually published the [[Rudolphine Tables]].  As mentioned earlier, Rudolf also attracted some of the best scientific instrument makers of the time, such as [[Jost Bürgi]], [[Erasmus Habermel]] and [[Hans Christoph Schissler]]. They had direct contact with the court astronomers and through the financial support of the court were economically independent to develop scientific instruments and manufacturing techniques.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kern |first=Ralf |title=Wissenschaftliche Instrumente in ihrer Zeit/Volume 1: Vom Astrolab zum mathematischen Besteck |year=2010 |location=Cologne |pages=366 and 370}}</ref>

The poet [[Elizabeth Jane Weston]], a writer of [[Renaissance Latin]] poetry, was also part of his court and wrote numerous odes to him.

[[File:Vertumnus årstidernas gud målad av Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1591 - Skoklosters slott - 91503.jpg|thumb|200px|Rudolf painted as [[Vertumnus]], Roman god of the seasons, by [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]] (1590–91). Rudolf greatly appreciated the work.]]
Rudolf kept a menagerie of exotic animals, botanical gardens, and Europe's most extensive "[[cabinet of curiosities]]"<ref name=marshall/> (''Kunstkammer'') incorporating "the three kingdoms of nature and the works of man". It was housed at [[Prague Castle]], where between 1587 and 1605 he built the northern wing to house his growing collections.<ref>Wendell E. Wilson, Joel A. Bartsch & Mark Mauthner, Masterpieces of the Mineral World: Treasures from the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Museum of Natural Science Harry N. Abrams/New York, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8109-6751-0}}</ref> A lion and a tiger were allowed to roam the castle, as is documented by the account books, which record compensation paid to survivors of attacks or to family members of victims.<ref>Simon Winder. Danubia. pp 129–130. Picador, Pan Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-0-330-52279-3}}. 2014.</ref>

The ''[[Codex Gigas]]'' was one of Rudolf's possessions. He was also alleged, by a single piece of [[hearsay]], to have owned the [[Voynich manuscript]], a codex whose author, purpose, language and script, and posited cipher remain unidentified to this day. In a letter written in 1665, [[Johannes Marcus Marci]] claims to have heard that Rudolf acquired the manuscript for 600 gold [[ducat]]s at some unspecified time. No evidence in support of this assertion has ever been discovered.

As was typical of the time, Rudolf II had a portrait painted in the studio of the renowned [[Alonso Sánchez Coello]]. Completed in 1567, the portrait depicted Rudolf II at the age of 15. This painting can be seen at the [[Lobkowicz Palace]] in the Rozmberk room.
[[File:Celestial globe with clockwork MET DP237684.jpg|thumb|left|Richly ornamented [[celestial globe]] with clockwork, made for the Kunstkammer of Rudolf II, 1579]]
By 1597, the collection occupied three rooms of the incomplete northern wing. When building was completed in 1605, the collection was moved to the dedicated ''Kunstkammer''. ''Naturalia'' ([[mineral]]s and [[gemstone]]s) were arranged in a 37-cabinet display that had three vaulted chambers in front, each about 5.5 m wide by 3 m high and 60 m long, connected to a main chamber 33 m long. Large uncut gemstones were held in strong boxes.<ref name="minhistory">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Wendell |url=http://www.minrec.org/bookdetail.asp?id=34 |title=The History of Mineral Collecting, 1530–1799 |publisher=Mineralogical Record |year=1994 |editor-last=Wilson, Wendell |access-date=2012-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326044645/http://minrec.org/bookdetail.asp?id=34 |archive-date=2013-03-26 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Apart from the fantastic nature of the objects, it is also the aesthetics of their arrangement and presentation which attracts the visitor's attention. Without, however, there being a desire for purely scientific systematization on the part of the sovereign, it is necessary to detect the harmonious expression of the order of God and discern in the micro-macrocosm the analogy of a mimetic dependence on human arts towards nature and the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zylberman |first=Nicolas |date=April 2022 |title=Anselme Boece de Boodt, 1550–1632, gemmologue praticien. 2ème partie |url=https://www.academia.edu/108027939 |journal=Ikuska |issue=54 |pages=25–44}}</ref>

Rudolf's ''Kunstkammer'' was not a typical "cabinet of curiosities", a haphazard collection of unrelated specimens. Rather, the Rudolfine ''Kunstkammer'' was systematically arranged in an [[encyclopaedic]] fashion. In addition, Rudolf employed his court gemologist and physician [[Anselmus de Boodt|Anselmus Boetius de Boodt]] (1550–1632),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zylberman |first=Nicolas |title=Anselme Boece de Boodt, 1550–1632, gemmologue praticien. De Bruges à Prague, itinéraire européen d'un humaniste – 1ère partie |url=https://www.academia.edu/100681375 |journal=Ikuska |date=January 2022 |language=french |issue=53 |pages=41–62}}</ref> to [[curator|curate]] the collection. Anselmus was an avid mineral collector and travelled widely on collecting trips to the [[mining]] regions of Germany, [[Bohemia]] and [[Silesia]], often accompanied by his Bohemian [[naturalist]] friend, [[Thaddaeus Hagecius]]. Between 1607 and 1611, Anselmus catalogued the ''Kunstkammer'' and in 1609 published ''Gemmarum et Lapidum'', the finest [[Gemology|gemological]] treatise and encyclopedia ever written for this time.<ref name =minhistory/>
[[File:Praha Hoefnagel 1595 DSCN0730.JPG|thumb|[[Prague Castle]] in 1595 by [[Joris Hoefnagel]]]]

As was customary at the time, the collection was private, but friends of the emperor, artists and professional scholars were allowed to study it. The collection became an invaluable research tool during the flowering of 17th-century European [[philosophy]]. 

Rudolf's successors did not appreciate the collection, and the ''Kunstkammer'' gradually fell into disarray. Some 50 years after its establishment, most of the collection was packed into wooden crates and moved to Vienna. Most of the paintings that reached Vienna remain there, in the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], with other pieces in the [[Secular Treasury]] and other museums. The collection remaining at Prague was looted during the last year of the [[Thirty Years' War]] by [[Sweden|Swedish]] troops who sacked Prague Castle on 26 July 1648 and took the best of the paintings, many of which later passed to the [[Orléans Collection]] after the death of [[Christina of Sweden]]. In 1782, the remainder of the collection was sold piecemeal to private parties by [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]]. One of the surviving items from the ''Kunstkammer''  is a "fine chair" that was looted by the Swedes in 1648 and now owned by the [[Earl of Radnor]] at [[Longford Castle]] in England,<ref>Hayward, J. F., 1980. A Chair from the 'Kunstkammer' of the Emperor Rudolf II. The Burlington Magazine, 122(927), 428–432. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/880029] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311000731/https://www.jstor.org/pss/880029|date=2020-03-11}}</ref> and others survive in museums.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rupr/hd_rupr.htm|title= Prague during the Rule of Rudolf II (1583–1612)|website= www.metmuseum.org|access-date= 2020-07-26|archive-date= 2008-12-02|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202215428/http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/rupr/hd_rupr.htm|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.frick.org/objects/details/277/wisdom-and-strength|title=Wisdom and Strength|website=collections.frick.org|access-date=2020-07-26|archive-date=2020-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810154538/https://collections.frick.org/objects/details/277/wisdom-and-strength|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Occult sciences==
[[File:Wappen röm.kaiser.JPG|thumb|Great coat of arms, 1605|200x200px]]
[[Astrology]] and [[alchemy]] were regarded as mainstream scientific fields in [[Renaissance]] [[Prague]], and Rudolf was a firm devotee of both. His lifelong quest was to find the [[philosopher's stone]], and Rudolf spared no expense in bringing Europe's best alchemists to court, such as [[Edward Kelley]] and [[John Dee]]. Rudolf even performed his own experiments in a private alchemy laboratory.<ref name=marshall/> When Rudolf was a prince, [[Nostradamus]] prepared a [[horoscope]], which was dedicated to him as 'Prince and King'. In the 1590s, [[Michael Sendivogius]] was active at Rudolph's court.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.udu.cas.cz/en/archive/alchemy-and-rudolf-ii-searching-for-the-secrets-of-nature-in-central-europe-in-the-16th-and-17th-centuries |title=Alchemy and Rudolf II. Searching for the secrets of nature in Central Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries |publisher=Artefactum |year=2016 |isbn=978-80-86890-33-3 |author1=Ivo Purš |author2=Vladimír Karpenko |access-date=2017-10-25 |archive-date=2019-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903150703/https://www.udu.cas.cz/en/archive/alchemy-and-rudolf-ii-searching-for-the-secrets-of-nature-in-central-europe-in-the-16th-and-17th-centuries/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Rudolf gave Prague a mystical reputation that persists in part to this day, with [[Golden Lane|Alchemists' Alley]] l, on the grounds of Prague Castle, being a popular visiting place and [[tourist attraction]].

Rudolf was a patron of the occult sciences. That and his practice of tolerance towards Jews caused during his reign the legend of the [[Golem]] of Prague to be established.<ref name=":0" />

==Issue==
Rudolf had a relationship with the [[Royal mistress]] [[Kateřina Stradová]] (also known as Anna Marie Stradová, or Catherina Strada, c. 1568-1629), with whom he had six children:

* [[Don Julius Caesar d'Austria]]
* Matyáš d'Austria
* Carlos d'Austria
* Karolina d'Austria
* Dorothea d'Austria
* Alžběta d'Austria

== Titles ==
The full titulature of Rudolf after he inherited the Holy Roman Empire and the vast realms of Central and Eastern Europe went as following:

{{Blockquote|text="His Imperial and Royal Majesty, Rudolf II, by the Grace of God elected Holy Roman Emperor, forever Augustus, King of Germany, King of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, of Italy, of Cumania, of Bulgaria, of Serbia, of Rama, of Romania, etc. etc.; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, of Styria, of Carinthia and of Carniola; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Brabant, of Limburg, of Luxemburg, of Guelders, of Württemberg, of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Milan, of Mantua, of Parma, of Piacenza, of Guastalla, of Auschwitz, of Zator and of Teck; Prince of Swabia; Princely Count of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Hainault, of Kyburg, of Gorizia, of Gradisca, of Namur; Lord of the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Landgrave of Alsace; Duke of Lorraine and Bar, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Marquess of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgovia, the Enns, the Upper and Lower Lusatia, Lord of the Marquisate of Slavonia, of Port Naon and Salines, etc. etc."}}

<ref name="EB1911" />{{fv|date=February 2025}}<ref name="Treccani" />{{fv|date=February 2025}}

==Ancestors==
{{ahnentafel
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|1= 1. '''Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor'''
|2= 2. [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|3= 3. [[Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress|Maria of Austria]]
|4= 4. [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name="NDB-Maximilian II">{{NDB|16|471|475|Maximilian II.|Press, Volker|11857938X}}</ref>
|5= 5. [[Anne of Bohemia and Hungary]]<ref name="NDB-Maximilian II" />
|6= 6. [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref name="BLKO-Maria von Spanien">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria von Spanien |volume=7 |page=19}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Isabella of Portugal]]<ref name="BLKO-Maria von Spanien" />
|8= 8. [[Philip I of Castile]]<ref name="BLKO-Philip">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich |volume=7 |year=1861 |page=112}}</ref> (= 12)
|9= 9. [[Joanna I of Castile|Joanna I of Castile and Aragon]]<ref name="1911-Joanna">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Joanna |volume=15}}</ref> (= 13)
|10= 10. [[Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary]]<ref name="ADB-Wladislaw II">{{cite ADB|54|688|696|Wladislaw II.|Priebatsch, Felix|ADB:Wladislaw II.}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Anne of Foix-Candale]]<ref name="ADB-Wladislaw II" />
|12= 12. [[Philip I of Castile]]<ref name="EB-Charles V">{{Britannica|107009|Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor}}</ref> (= 8)
|13= 13. [[Joanna I of Castile|Joanna I of Castile and Aragon]]<ref name="EB-Charles V" /> (= 9)
|14= 14. [[Manuel I of Portugal]]<ref name="Stephens1903">{{Cite book |last=Stephens |first=Henry Morse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwMqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA139 |title=The story of Portugal |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |year=1903 |pages=125, 139, 279 |isbn=978-0722224731 |access-date=11 July 2018 |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502000534/https://books.google.com/books?id=jwMqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA139 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|15= 15. [[Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal|Maria of Aragon]]<ref name="Stephens1903" />
}}

==Male-line family tree==
{{Habsburg family tree}}

==See also==
* [[History of Austria]]
* [[Kings of Germany family tree]]; he was related to every other king of Germany
* [[Moldavian Magnate Wars]] for the background on southern wars (with Ottoman Turkey and its allies)
* [[Vespasiano I Gonzaga]], a friend of Rudolf who built a Renaissance "Ideal city" in [[Sabbioneta]], Italy
* [[Mineral collecting]] – Rudolf II was the 16th century's most famous mineral collector; his collections were curated by [[Anselmus de Boodt|Anselmus Boetius de Boodt]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Bolton, Henry Carrington (1904). [https://archive.org/details/folliesofscience00boltrich ''The Follies of Science at the Court of Rudolph II, 1576–1612''], Milwaukee: Pharmaceutical Review Publishing Co., 1904. From [[Internet Archive]] Inaccurate and misleading
*Evans, R. J. W. (1973). ''Rudolf II and his world: A study in intellectual history, 1576–1612''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2nd ed, 1984. Considered the fundamental re-evaluation of Rudolf.
*[[A. L. Rowse|Rowse, A. L.]] (1977). ''Homosexuals in History: Ambivalence in Society, Literature and the Arts''. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. {{ISBN|0-02-605620-8}}
* [[Howard Hotson]]. "Rudolf II", in ''Encyclopedia of the Renaissance'', ed. Paul Grendler. Vol. 5. {{ISBN|0-684-80514-6}}
*[[Peter Marshall (author, born 1946)|Marshall, Peter]] (2006). ''The Magic Circle of Rudolf II: Alchemy and Astrology in Renaissance Prague''. {{ISBN|0-8027-1551-6}}. Also published as ''The Theatre of the World: Alchemy, Astrology and Magic in Renaissance Prague'' (in the UK, {{ISBN|0-436-20521-1}}; in Canada, {{ISBN|0-7710-5690-7}}); and in paperback as ''The Mercurial Emperor: The Magic Circle of Rudolf II in Renaissance Prague'' (2007) {{ISBN|978-1-84413-537-0}}. Biography, focusing on the many artists and scientists Rudolf patronized.
*[[Hugh Trevor-Roper|Trevor-Roper, Hugh]]; ''Princes and Artists, Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts 1517–1633'', Thames & Hudson, London, 1976, {{ISBN|0-500-23232-6}}
*[[Philippe Malgouyres]]; ''La Science de l’émerveillement. Artistes et intellectuels à la cour de Rodolphe II (1552-1612)'', Paris, Mare & Martin, 2025, {{ISBN|978-2-36222-125-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064359/Rudolf-II Rudolf II], from ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', latest edition online, full-article.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970802004458/http://www.vol.cz/RUDOLFII/index.html Rudolf II and Prague], 1997 official exhibition.
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rupr/hd_rupr.htm Prague during the reign of Rudolf II], by Jacob Wisse, in ''Timeline of Art History''. New York: The [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], 2000.
* [http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/rudolf-ii.html Rudolf II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606092239/http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/rudolf-ii.html |date=6 June 2016 }}, by [[Edward Einhorn]], tells the story of the latter part of Rudolf II's life.
* {{DNB-Portal|118603701|NAME=Rudolf II}}
* {{DDB|Person|118603701}}
* {{VD17|004000625}}
* {{Nömuseum|p|353}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008tsj9 Rudolf II], BBC Radio 4 discussion with Peter Forshaw, Howard Hotson & Adam Mosley (''In Our Time'', Jan. 31, 2008)

===Regnal titles===
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Habsburg|House of Habsburg]]|18 July|1552|20 January|1612}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|rows=4| before=[[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]]}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[King of Bohemia]]|
 years=1576&ndash;1611}}
{{s-aft|rows=4|after=[[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[King of Hungary]] and [[King of Croatia|Croatia]]<br>[[Archduke of Austria]]<br>[[Margrave of Moravia]]|
 years=1576&ndash;1608}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[King of the Romans]]<br/>[[King in Germany]]
|
 years=1575&ndash;1612}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[Holy Roman Emperor]]|
 years=1576&ndash;1612}}
{{s-bef|rows=1| before=[[Iacopo VII Appiani|Jacob VII]]}}
{{s-ttl|rows=1|title=[[Principality of Piombino|Prince of Piombino]]| years=1603&ndash;1611}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Isabella Appiani|Isabella]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Holy Roman Emperors}}
{{Monarchs of Bohemia}}
{{German monarchs}}
{{Rulers of Austria}}
{{Austrian archdukes}}
{{Hungarian kings}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf Ii, Holy Roman Emperor}}
[[Category:Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor| ]]
[[Category:1552 births]]
[[Category:1612 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century Holy Roman Emperors]]
[[Category:17th-century Holy Roman Emperors]]
[[Category:16th-century archdukes of Austria]]
[[Category:17th-century archdukes of Austria]]
[[Category:16th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:17th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:16th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:17th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:Princes of Transylvania]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Vitus Cathedral]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Austrian occultists]]
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[[Category:16th-century occultists]]
[[Category:17th-century occultists]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]
[[Category:Children of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
[[Category:Habsburg monarchs of Bohemia]]
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