Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

The Pragmatic Sanction (Latin: Sanctio Pragmatica) was an edict issued by Charles VI on 19 April 1713, to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by a daughter. The Head of the House of Habsburg ruled the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Italian territories awarded to Austria by the Treaty of Utrecht (Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily), and the Austrian Netherlands. The Pragmatic Sanction did not affect the office of Holy Roman Emperor because the Imperial crown was elective, not hereditary; even though successive elected Habsburg rulers headed the Holy Roman Empire since 1438.

Since their marriage in 1708, Charles and his wife Elizabeth Christine had not had children, and since 1711 Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the House of Habsburg. Charles's elder brother Joseph I had died without male issue, making accession of a female a very plausible contingency. Because Salic law precluded female inheritance, Charles VI needed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a succession dispute. Charles VI was, indeed, ultimately succeeded by his elder daughter Maria Theresa (born 1717). Despite the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction, however, her accession in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession.

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