Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire II Maximilian ^2,3

  General Notes:

[Europe_New.FTW] [royalfam.ged] A Hapsburg ruler who failed EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN II By Paula Sutter Fichtner Yale University Press, $30, 344 pages, illus. REVIEWED BY BRIDGET HEAL "By virtually all standards, including his own, Emperor Maximilian II 1527-1576 was a failu re." So begins Paula Sutter Fichtner's account of the life and times of one of 16th-century E urope's least effective rulers. As a Hapsburg, Maximilian was a member of one of Europe's leading dynasties. His uncle, Charl es V, had built up a massive empire, uniting the Netherlands, Spain, the New World, Naples, S icily and Germany under his leadership. Charles' son, Philip, inherited the Spanish part of t his empire and the Netherlands, while Germany passed to Charles' brother, Ferdinand, and then ce, in 1562, to Ferdinand's son, Maximilian. Charles V and Philip II are two of the great figures of European history and have been the su bjects of numerous studies, but "Emperor Maximillian II" is the first full biography of Maxim ilian II in English. Perhaps not surprisingly, previous scholars have been deterred by Maximi lian's inadequacies — his inability to achieve any of his stated aims and his failure t o make any lasting impression on Europe's political and religious landscape. As the author po ints out, however, history is not just about great achievements. It is about the totality o f past experience, in which failure and defeat have inevitably played a central role.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Record Change, 7 Oct 2001. ^2,3

II married Archduchess Of Austria Marie, daughter of Charles Of Spain V and Princess Of Portugal Izabel, in 1548 in Valladolid, Valladolid, Castilla-Leon, Spain ².^,3 (Archduchess Of Austria Marie was born on 21 Jun 1528 in Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain,^2,3 died on 26 Feb 1603 in Couvent St. Clara, Villa Monte, Spain ^2,3 and was buried in El Escorial, Madrid, Madrid, Spain ^2,3.)