Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

The Pragmatic Sanction (Latin: Pragmatica Sanctio)

was an edict issued by Charles VI on 19 April 1713, to
ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be
inherited by a daughter. The Head of the House of Habsburg ruled the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of
Hungary, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Italian territories
awarded to Austria by the Treaty of Utrecht (Duchy of
Milan, Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily), and
the Austrian Netherlands. The Pragmatic Sanction did
not aect the oce of Holy Roman Emperor because the
Imperial crown was elective, not hereditary; even though
successive elected Habsburg rulers headed the Holy Roman Empire since 1438.

the Pact, and Maria Josepha became his heir presumptive. However, Charles soon expressed a wish to amend
the Pact in order to give his own future daughters precedence over his nieces. On 19 April 1713, the Emperor announced the changes in a secret session of the council.[2]
Securing the right to succeed for his own daughters, who
were not even born yet, became Charless obsession. The
previous succession laws had also forbidden the partition
of the Habsburg dominions and provided for succession
by females but they had been mostly hypothetical. The
Pragmatic Sanction was the rst such document to be
publicly announced and as such required formal acceptance by the estates of the realms it concerned.[3]

Since their marriage in 1708, Charles and his wife

Elizabeth Christine had not had children, and since 1711
Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the
House of Habsburg. Charless elder brother Joseph I had
died without male issue, making accession of a female a
very plausible contingency. Because Salic law precluded
female inheritance, Charles VI needed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a succession dispute.[1] Charles VI
was, indeed, ultimately succeeded by his elder daughter
Maria Theresa (born 1717). Despite the promulgation of
the Pragmatic Sanction, however, her accession in 1740
resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession.

2 Foreign recognition
For 10 years, Charles VI labored, with the support of his
closest advisor Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, to have
his sanction accepted by the courts of Europe. Only the
Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Bavaria did
not accept, because it was detrimental to their inheritance
rights. (Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony was
married to Maria Josepha of Austria and Charles, Elector
of Bavaria to Maria Amalia of Austria, both daughters of
Charless deceased elder brother Joseph I)
France accepted in exchange for the duchy of Lorraine, under the Treaty of Vienna (1738).

Events leading to the Pragmatic

Sanction

Spains acceptance was also gained under the Treaty

of Vienna (1738). In 1731, the 15-year-old Spanish prince Charles became the Duke of Parma and
Piacenza, as Charles I, on the death of his childless
granduncle Antonio Farnese. He went on to conquer
Naples and Sicily, after which he returned Parma
to the Emperor by the Treaty of Vienna (1738). In
1759 he became King of Spain as Charles III.

Main article: Mutual Pact of Succession

In 1700, the senior (oldest, rst-in-line) line of the House

of Habsburg went extinct with the death of Charles II
of Spain. The War of the Spanish Succession ensued,
with Louis XIV of France claiming the crowns of Spain
Great Britain accepted in exchange for the cessation
for his grandson Philip and Leopold I claiming them
of operations of the Ostend Company.
for his son Charles. In 1703, Charles and Joseph, the
sons of Leopold, signed the Mutual Pact of Succession,
King Frederick I of Prussia approved for his loyalty
granting succession rights to the daughters of Joseph and
to the Emperor.
Charles in case of complete extinction of the male line,
but favouring Josephs daughters over Charless, because Charles VI made commitments with Russia and AugusJoseph was older.
tus of Saxony, King of Poland from which came two
In 1705, Leopold I died and was succeeded by his elder wars: the War of the Polish Succession against France and
son, Joseph I. Six years later, Joseph I died leaving be- Spain, which cost him Naples and Sicily, and the Austrohind two daughters, Archduchesses Maria Josepha and RussianTurkish War, which cost him Little Wallachia
Maria Amalia. Charles succeeded Joseph, according to and northern Serbia, including the Fortress of Belgrade.
1

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Internal recognition

Hungary, which had an elective kingship, had accepted

the house of Habsburg as hereditary kings in the male
line without election in 1687 but not semi-Salic inheritance. The Emperor-King agreed that if the Habsburg
male line became extinct, Hungary would once again have
an elective monarchy. This was the rule in the Kingdom
of Bohemia too. Maria Theresa, however, still gained the
throne of Hungary; the Hungarian Parliament voted its
own Pragmatic Sanction in 1723 in which the Kingdom
of Hungary accepted female inheritance supporting her
to become queen of Hungary.[4]

Sanctions failure

Charles VI spent the time of his reign preparing Europe

for a female ruler, but he did not prepare his daughter,
Maria Theresa. He would not read documents to her, take
her to meetings, or allow her to be introduced to ministers
or have any preparation for the power she would receive
in 1740. It is possible that it was because such instruction
would imply an acceptance of his inability to produce a
male heir.
Charles VI managed to get the great European powers
to agree to the Pragmatic Sanction (for the time being)
and died in 1740 with no male heirs. However, France,
Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony broke their promises and
contested the claims of his daughter Maria Theresa on his
Austrian lands, and initiated the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Austria lost Silesia to Prussia. The elective oce of Holy Roman Emperor was lled by Joseph
Is son-in-law Charles Albert of Bavaria, marking the rst
time in several hundred years that the position was not
held by a Habsburg.
As Emperor Charles VII, he lost his own country,
Bavaria, to the Austrian army of his wifes cousin Maria
Theresa and then died. His son, Maximilian III Joseph,
Elector of Bavaria, renounced claims on Austria in exchange for the return of his paternal duchy of Bavaria.
Maria Theresas husband was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I in 1745. The Treaty of Aix-laChapelle, in 1748, nally recognized Maria Theresas
rule.

References

[1] The Encyclopaedia Britannica - Eleventh Edition. 1911.

[2] Holborn, 128.
[3] Ingrao, 129.
[4] R. W. SETON -WATSON: The southern Slav question.
Full text of The southern Slav question and the Habsburg Monarchy"". archive.org. p. 22.

6 Bibliography
Crankshaw, Edward: Maria Theresa, Longman
publishers 1969
Holborn, Hajo: A History of Modern Germany:
16481840 Princeton University Press 1982 ISBN
0-691-00796-9
Ingrao, Charles W: The Habsburg monarchy, 1618
1815 Cambridge University Press 2000 ISBN 0521-78505-7
Kann, Robert A.: A history of the Habsburg Empire,
15261918 University of California Press 1980
ISBN 0-520-04206-9
Mahan, J. Alexander: Maria Theresa of Austria
READ BOOKS 2007 ISBN 1-4067-3370-9

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