Josephinism is a name given collectively to the domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria in the form of what liberals saw as an ideal Enlightened state. This provoked severe resistance from powerful forces within and outside his empire, but ensured that he would be remembered as an "enlightened ruler" by historians from then to the present day.
The Edict of Tolerance of 1781
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and the brother of Marie Antoinette, Leopold II, Maria Carolina of Austria and Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma. He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the union of the Houses of Habsburg and Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine.
The arrival of Isabella of Parma on the occasion of her wedding to Joseph II, 1760 (painting by Martin van Meytens)
Fête organized to celebrate the marriage of Emperor Joseph II to Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria. The central figures are the three youngest siblings of Joseph, from left to right Archduke Ferdinand as the groom, Archduke Maximilian Franz as Cupid and Archduchess Marie Antoinette as the bride
Coronation of the Archduke Joseph as King of the Romans in the Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew in Frankfurt, 3 April, 1764 (painting by Martin van Meytens)
Joseph II (right) with his brother Peter Leopold (by Pompeo Batoni, 1769, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum)