Leopold I 1640-1705
Holy Roman Emperor

Born in Vienna, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain (daughter of Philip III). He became King of Hungary (1655) and Bohemia (1656), and was elected emperor (1658) in succession to his father. For most of his reign he was at war either with the Ottoman Turks over Hungary, or with the France of Louis XIV. The first war with Turkey (1661-64) ended in victory at St Gotthard. The second war (1682-99) involved the siege of Vienna (1683), relieved by John III Sobieski of Poland, and ended with the Treaty of Karlowitz, giving Leopold control of virtually all of Hungary. In 1686 he had combined with England and the Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange (later William III of Great Britain) to resist French expansionism in Europe, culminating in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) which attempted to prevent the succession of the Bourbon House in Spain. A pious lover of the arts, and originally destined for the Church, Leopold strove to extend Habsburg power, the imperial Crown being declared hereditary in the family at the Diet of Pressburg (1687), and to repress Protestantism. Under him the Baroque flourished, and Vienna became renowned as a cultural centre. In 1703 his refusal to respect the traditional rights of the Hungarian nobles led to an uprising under Francis II R�k�czi. By his third wife, Eleanora of Neuburg, he had two sons who both succeeded him as emperor, Joseph I and Charles VI.

Bibliography: John P Spielman, Leopold I of Austria (1977)