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This book is the second and final volume of Derek Beales's magisterial biography of the emperor Joseph II.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Joseph, his ministers, the court and the constitution; 2. The first six months: Josephism intensified (29 November 1780 to 22 May 1781); 3. Foreign policy and the Russian alliance, 1780-2; 4. Joseph's visit to Belgium, the Dutch Republic and France, May-August 1781; 5. Toleration of Protestants, Greek Orthodox and Jews; 6. The Pope's visit to Vienna (22 March-22 April 1782); 7. Joseph and the peasants, 1780-1785/6; 8. Josephism rampant I: monasteries, general seminaries and parishes; 9. Josephism rampant II: lay education and a new Catholicism; 10. 'The Lion's Claws Bared', 1782-4; 11. Foreign policy, 1782-6: The Scheldt, the 'Greek Project' and the Crimea, the Dutch 'War' and the Bavarian Exchange; 12. Joseph as Emperor; 13. Joseph in Vienna: his routine and his impact, especially on music; 14. 'Just One Body, Uniformly Governed': Hungary, the Tyrol, Italy and Belgium, 1784-7; 15. Joseph's Enlightenment: freemasonry, law reform and police; 16. War against the Turks, August 1787-December 1788; 17. Rebellion, victory and death, January 1789-February 1790; Conclusion.
About the author
Derek Beales is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. His previous publications include Joseph II. Volume I: In the Shadow of Maria Theresa, 1741–80 (Cambridge University Press, 1987), Prosperity and Plunder: European Catholic Monasteries in the Age of Revolution, 1650–1810 (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and Enlightenment and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Europe (2005).
Summary
This final volume of Derek Beales's magisterial biography of the emperor Joseph II describes the critical period when he was sole ruler of the Austrian monarchy. Explaining his motivation and showing how his ideas developed, Derek Beales reveals that Joseph left an ineffaceable mark on all his lands.
