Brass medal Joseph II standard
Brass medal Joseph II standard
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
King of Bohemia and Hungary
Joseph II (b. 1741, d. 1790) was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, and her husband, Francis I of Lorraine, the Holy Roman Emperor. Joseph II had many brothers and sisters including for example Maria Antonia, who was married to the French Dauphin and future king Louis XVI in 1770, and who is known in history as Marie Antoinette. Joseph II is considered to be one of the most significant European representatives of enlightened despotism. After the death of his father in 1765, he became the Holy Roman Emperor and was made co-regent by his mother. At the beginning, however, he had no real power, and his mother had sovereign control in the empire. He began ruling fully after her death in 1780 when he was elected King of Bohemia and Hungary. During this period he made the most significant decisions and issued many edicts that helped reform the Empire. One of the most important was the Patent of Tolerance, which abolished the monopoly of the Catholic religion in Austrian crown lands and provided limited guarantee of freedom of worship. The second major edict was the decree abolishing serfdom. Pursuant to the edict the serfs were free to move, marry, learn and be educated without necessitating the approval of their lords. Larger freedom of movement facilitated migration of people to towns and cleared the way for industrial revolution. The obverse side of the medal features the effigy of Joseph II with dates of birth and death. The reverse side depicts fragment of an edict and Joseph II writing