Maximilian II. Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches

Maximilian II was born in Vienna on 31 July 1527 as the eldest son of the future Emperor Ferdinand I and his wife, Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He belonged to the far-reaching Habsburg family. His paternal uncle was Emperor Charles V, while through his mother he was related to King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. Maximilian grew up with numerous siblings in Innsbruck and received an excellent education alongside his brother Ferdinand. His teachers included the humanists Caspar Ursinus Velius and Georg Tannstetter. He was particularly influenced at first by his Lutheran tutor, Wolfgang Schiefer. In addition to German, Maximilian mastered six foreign languages: French, Spanish, Latin, Italian, Czech, and Hungarian. As a young man, he quickly became involved in the political affairs of the Habsburg dynasty. At the age of 17, Charles V brought him into his entourage. Maximilian accompanied him to Brussels and into the Schmalkaldic War. Although he fought alongside the emperor at the Battle of Mühlberg, he showed sympathy for the Protestant side and pressed after the victory for the release of the Saxon elector John Frederick and the Hessian landgrave Philip. In 1548, he married his cousin Maria, the daughter of Charles V. The marriage was intended to strengthen the ties between the Austrian and Spanish branches of the Habsburgs. Despite political tensions, it proved exceptionally happy, and the couple had 15 children. During Charles V’s absence, Maximilian governed Spain together with Maria as regents. His surroundings there were intended to curb his Protestant inclinations, but the effort did not produce the desired result. At the same time, his relationship with Charles V deteriorated because Charles planned that, after Ferdinand I, the imperial crown should pass not to Maximilian but to his own son, Philip of Spain. Maximilian therefore turned increasingly toward German princes and Protestant politicians and developed a distinctly anti-Spanish attitude. He increasingly saw himself as a German prince rather than simply as a member of a pan-European dynasty. In 1552, Maximilian took over the administration of the Austrian hereditary lands. In Vienna, he cultivated close relationships with scholars and artists. He supported the religiously open humanism of the period, collected books and manuscripts, and had exotic plants and animals scientifically documented. His library later formed the basis of the Austrian National Library. Music also played an important role at his court, where he particularly supported Italian artists. In Vienna, he commissioned the construction of the Stallburg and the Renaissance pleasure palace Neugebäude; a pheasant garden was also established during his reign. He expanded his residence in Prague as well. Religiously, Maximilian remained throughout his life between the confessions. He partly abandoned Catholic practices, read evangelical writings, and once said that he was neither papal nor evangelical, but a Christian. Nevertheless, he never made a complete break with the Catholic Church. Under pressure from his father, the papal curia, and his Spanish relatives, he professed adherence to the Catholic Church at the beginning of 1562. His prospects of being elected German king, of being crowned king of Hungary, and possibly of succeeding to the Spanish throne also played a role in this decision. This step cleared the way for his succession to his father. In 1562, Maximilian was crowned king of Bohemia in Prague and elected Roman-German king in Frankfurt am Main. In 1563, he was crowned king of Hungary and Croatia in Pressburg. After Ferdinand I’s death, Maximilian assumed the imperial dignity on 25 July 1564 and took over rule of the Holy Roman Empire as well as Upper and Lower Austria. The remaining Austrian territories had been divided between his brothers Ferdinand and Charles. As emperor, Maximilian pursued a moderate religious policy. He wanted to preserve the Peace of Augsburg and at times even hoped for an understanding or reunification of the confessions. In his Austrian lands, he granted limited concessions to the Lutheran estates in 1568 and 1571. These applied only to the Augsburg Confession and primarily to the nobility and knights; they did not amount to general religious freedom. In Bohemia, he also accommodated the estates and orally recognized the Confessio Bohemica in 1575. Within the Empire, his attempt at confessional rapprochement finally failed at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1566. Thereafter, he largely limited himself to defending the religious peace. Both the pope and Philip II criticized him for this stance. In domestic affairs, Maximilian strengthened the institutions of the Empire, although he could expand imperial authority over the princes only to a limited extent. The Imperial Circles gained importance, the Imperial Diet asserted its precedence over other assemblies, and the Imperial Chamber Court continued to grow in influence. During the Grumbach Feud in 1567, Maximilian had the imperial enforcement ordinance applied comprehensively for the first time. The suppression of the conflict marked the end of the medieval system of private feuds within the Empire. The most important foreign-policy conflict of his reign was the renewed war against the Ottoman Empire. Following struggles over Hungary and Transylvania, the Ottomans advanced with a large army in 1566. Sultan Suleiman I died during the siege of Szigeth, but Maximilian was unable to exploit the resulting advantage militarily. The Peace of Adrianople, concluded in 1568, largely confirmed the existing territorial situation, recognized John Sigismund Zápolya as prince of Transylvania, and required the emperor to pay an annual tribute. Border warfare continued afterward, but major conflicts were avoided for a long time. Maximilian also pursued an extensive marriage policy. In 1570, his daughter Elisabeth married the French king Charles IX, while his daughter Anna married Philip II of Spain. During conflicts between the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, particularly the Dutch Revolt, Maximilian sought to mediate but could not achieve a lasting solution. In Italy, too, the growing Spanish influence repeatedly brought him into conflict with Philip II. After the death of the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus, Maximilian himself stood as a candidate for the succession in 1575, but he was defeated by Stephen Báthory. Maximilian began arranging his succession at an early stage. His eldest son Rudolf became regent in Austria in 1571, king of Hungary in 1572, and king of Bohemia in 1575. Despite concerns about Rudolf’s Catholic upbringing at the Spanish court, Maximilian succeeded in preparing his election as Roman-German king. During the Imperial Diet in Regensburg, the emperor suffered a severe relapse in August 1576 after a family outing, following a long illness. He died in Regensburg on 12 October 1576. He refused the Catholic last rites. Maximilian II was buried in St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle alongside his father.