Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor - Markušovice, Czech Republic
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vraatja
N 50° 34.077 E 016° 00.958
33U E 571949 N 5602273
Cast iron statue of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in small village Markušovice (East Bohemia).
Waymark Code: WMGZ1F
Location: Královéhradecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/26/2013
Views: 43
The coloured cast-iron statue of Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor (1765 – 1790) located recently in small garden at house No. 95 (former local authority) was dedicated in Markušovice, small village located at the foot of the Jestrebí Mountains (Hawk hills), in 1881 on the occasion of centennial of abolishon of serfdom (1781) by this ruler. On the table attached on the wall of the house here is also mention about visit of Joseph II in the village in 1771 during catastrophic crop failure. The statue depicts the Emperior in typical suit, holding just the "edict on abolishon of serfdom".
Joseph II
Born: Mart 13,1741 (Vienna, Austria) - Died: February 20,1790(Vienna, Austria)
Reigned from August 18, 1765 - February 20, 1790 (24 years, 186 days)
"Holy Roman emperor was eldest son of the empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I. He became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father in 1765, and King of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia and Slavonia upon the death of his mother in 1780. After his death on 20 February 1790, he was succeeded by his brother Leopold II (1747-1792).
Joseph II was a uniquely progressive Hapsburg ruler. His emphatic reform ideas harmonized with the Enlightenment philosophers, whose (esp. Voltaire's) dedicated student he was (see Emancipation). Friedrich II of Prussia and Czarina Catherine of Russia had provided patterns for Joseph's policies designed to induce settlers to come to his lands. Joseph's imperial objectives included attempts to redress long and complicated grievances in law and law court procedures. These efforts, incidentally, brought up the local privileges as regards the Mennonite position on the oath. Refreshingly sound views were aired.
The death of Maria Theresa in 1780 made Joseph the uncontested ruler. Eager to apply reason and enlightenment to the power of state he issued on 13 October 1781, a Toleranz-Patent (Patent of Tolerance) granting freedom to the Greek Orthodox and Protestant confessions. Parallel to Catherine's 1763 Manifesto inviting German farmers to Russia, he issued on 17 September 1781, the "Kolonisten-Patent" opening his eastern provinces to immigrants. This law attracted a number of Palatinate Mennonite families into Galicia. The decree of acceptance (Annahmedekret) for the Palatine group was handed down on 29 March 1784. Alsatian Amish followed from Montbeliard. The 1781 events mark a memorable chapter of Joseph's reforms. They reveal him as a just benefactor to Mennonites and other Protestants. His toleration patent brought relief to them and provided an escape avenue far less troublesome than the passage to the New World."
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