The Great Me (Das Große Mich)

Hallo und heißt willkommen to my “in-ter-net” page. I am the great Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI. In addition to this already distinguished title, I am also King of Austria, King of Holland, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of the German States, and temporary King of Spain and territories in Italy until that wretched rat of a King, Philip V whom I will elaborate on later, stole what was rightfully mine. I come from the long a noble family of the Habsburgs which has long been deeply rooted in Austria, my birthplace. I grew up in Austria and was well educated by my parents, Leopold I, former Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanore-Magdalena Of Neuburg. I was raised in an age in Europe known as the Enlightenment. This was an age of intellectuals and artists, of philosophers and economy.  It was only natural that my education was filled with the arts and, being prince to an Emperor, the study of government systems. As a child, I easily took a liking to much of the arts particularly music. My instructor in music Johann Joseph Fux introduced me to the harpsichord which I continued to excel in during much of my life, even composing a number of my own songs along the way. Art was not nearly my only concern however, my teacher in government, Prince Anton Florian of Liechtenstein, emphasized the importance of my comprehension of contemporary monarchies and their systems. It was from him that I learned much of my principles that I would later use in my reign as Emperor. When I was 25, by an act of faith, King Charles II of Spain and of the Habsburgs died, making me the next in line to the throne in Spain. However, in a completely blasphemous and profane act, Charles had appointed Philip V of France as the next successor to the throne. This was an outrage, and I was not going to stand by and accept it, therefore I declared war with France. I received aid from the royal troops from England who hoped to weaken the Spanish monarchy, and together we marched into Spain overthrow Charles and declare myself King Charles III of Spain. Not more than 11 years later, my brother Joseph I who at the time was the current Holy Roman Emperor past away, making me successor not only to the throne in Spain, but to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and all territories which it contained. From a number of wars fought early on in my reign, I managed to obtain territories in Italy and western borders of the Turkish Empire. During the later years of my reign, I began to worry about the succession of my family to the throne of the Empire for I possessed only one heir, a female named Maria Theresa. In a fear that I would produce no male heir, I issued the pragmatic sanction which declared Maria my official heir and to be recognize by the rest of Europe. It is maddening to know that several years after my death this sanction would be ignored. I died several years later at the age of 55, though I am still writing this blog. This is my life in a nutshell.

                                                                                                                                                                Vielen Dank

                                                                                                                                                                Charles VI