Leopold I (Holy Roman Emperor)

Leopold I
Portrait by Benjamin von Block, 1672
Holy Roman Emperor (more...) King of Hungary 1655–1705 King of Bohemia 1656–1705 Archduke of Austria 1657–1705 King of Croatia 1657–1705 Duke of Teschen 1657–1705 King of the Romans 1658–1705 Holy Roman Emperor 1658–1705 Archduke of Further Austria 1665–1705 Prince of Transylvania 1692–1705
Reign	18 July 1658 – 5 May 1705
Coronation	1 August 1658, Frankfurt
Predecessor	Ferdinand III
Successor	Joseph I
Born	(1640-06-09)9 June 1640 Vienna, Austria
Died	5 May 1705(1705-05-05) (aged 64) Vienna, Austria
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Spouse	Margaret Theresa of Austria (m. 1666; d. 1673) Claudia Felicitas of Austria (m. 1673; d. 1676) Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (m. 1676)
Issue Detail	Maria Antonia, Electress of Bavaria Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor Maria Elisabeth, Governor of the Netherlands Leopold Joseph Maria Anna, Queen of Portugal Maria Theresa Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Maria Josepha Maria Magdalena
Full name Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Felician
House	Habsburg
Father	Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Anna of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Leopold I (name in full: Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Felician; Hungarian: I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain, Leopold became heir apparent in 1654 by the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV. Elected in 1658, Leopold ruled the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1705.

Leopold's reign is known for conflicts with the Ottoman Empire in the east and rivalry with Louis XIV, a contemporary and first cousin, in the west. After more than a decade of warfare, Leopold emerged victorious from the Great Turkish War thanks to the military talents of Prince Eugene of Savoy. By the Treaty of Karlowitz, Leopold recovered almost all of the Kingdom of Hungary, which had fallen under the Turkish yoke in the years after the 1526 Battle of Mohács.

Leopold fought three wars against France: the Dutch War, the Nine Years' War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. In this last, Leopold sought to give his younger son the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Charles II. Leopold started a war that soon engulfed much of Europe. The early years of the war went fairly well for Austria, with victories at Schellenberg and Blenheim, but the war would drag on till 1714, nine years after Leopold's death, which barely had an effect on the warring nations. When peace returned, Austria could not be said to have emerged as triumphant as it had from the war against the Turks.