MAXIMILIAN II. ( 527-1576), Roman emperor, was the eldest son of the emperor Ferdinand I. by his wife Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, king of Hungary and Bohemia, and was born in Vienna on July 31, 1527. Educated principally in Spain, he gained some experience of warfare during the campaign of Charles V. against France in 1544, and also during the war of the league of Schmalkalden, and soon began to take part in imperial busi ness. Having in Sept. 1548 married his cousin Maria, daughter of Charles y., he acted as the emperor's representative in Spain from 1548 to 155o, returning to Germany in December 155o in order to take part in the discussion over the imperial succession. Charles V. wished his son Philip (afterwards king of Spain) to succeed him as emperor, but his brother Ferdinand, who had already been designated as the next occupant of the imperial throne, and Maximilian objected to this proposal. At length a compromise was reached. Philip was to succeed Ferdinand, but during the former's reign Maximilian, as king of the Romans, was to govern Germany. This arrangement was not carried out, but the insistence of the emperor disturbed the harmonious relations between the two branches of the Habsburg family; and Maximilian's illness in 1552 was even attributed to poison given to him in the interests of his cousin and brother-in-law, Philip of Spain. He took up his residence in Vienna, and was engaged mainly in the government of the Austrian dominions and their defence against the Turks. The religious views of the king of Bohemia, as Maximilian had been called since his recognition as the future ruler of that country in 1549, had always been some what uncertain, and he had probably learned something of Luther anism in his youth; but his amicable relations with the Protestant princes were probably due to political considerations. Maximilian remained an adherent of the older faith, although his views were tinged with Lutheranism until the end of his life. In November 1562 Maximilian was chosen king of the Romans, or German king, at Frankfort, where he was crowned a few days later, after assuring the Catholic electors of his fidelity to their faith, and promising the Protestant electors that he would publicly accept the confession of Augsburg when he became emperor. He also took the usual oath to protect the Church, and his election was afterwards confirmed by the papacy. In Sept. 1563 he was crowned king of Hungary, and on his father's death, in July succeeded to the empire and to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia.
The new emperor granted religious liberty to the Lutheran nobles and knights in Austria, and refused to allow the publication of the decrees of the council of Trent. Amid general expectations on the part of the Protestants he met his first Diet at Augsburg in March 1566. He refused to accede to the demands of the Lu theran princes; on the other hand, although the increase of sec tarianism was discussed, no decisive steps were taken to suppress it, and the only result of the meeting was a grant of assistance for the Turkish War, which had just been renewed. Collecting a large and splendid army Maximilian marched to defend his terri tories; but no decisive engagement had taken place when a truce was made in 1568, and the emperor continued to pay tribute to the sultan for Hungary. Meanwhile the relations between Maxi milian and Philip of Spain had improved ; and the emperor's in creasingly cautious and moderate attitude in religious matters was doubtless due to the fact that the death of Philip's son, Don Carlos, had opened the way for the succession of Maximilian, or of one of his sons, to the Spanish throne. Evidence of this friendly
feeling was given in 157o, when the emperor's daughter, Anne, be came the fourth wife of Philip; but Maximilian was unable to moderate the harsh proceedings of the Spanish king against the revolting inhabitants of the Netherlands. In 157o the emperor met the diet at Spires and asked for aid to place his eastern borders in a state of defence, and also for power to repress the disorder caused by troops in the service of foreign powers pass ing through Germany. He proposed that his consent should be necessary before any soldiers for foreign service were recruited in the empire; but the estates were unwilling to strengthen the im perial authority, the Protestant princes regarded the suggestion as an attempt to prevent them from assisting their coreligionists in France and the Netherlands, and nothing was done in this direc tion, although some assistance was voted for the defence of Austria. The religious demands of the Protestants were still un satisfied, while the policy of toleration had failed to give peace to Austria. His last important act was to make a bid for the throne of Poland, either for himself or for his son Ernest. In December 1575 he was elected, but the diet which met at Regensburg was loath to assist; and on Oct. 12, 1576, the emperor died, refusing on his deathbed to receive the last sacraments of the Church which were offered him.
By his wife Maria he had a family of nine sons and six daugh ters. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Rudolph, who had been chosen king of the Romans in October, 1575. Another of his sons, Matthias, also became emperor, three others, Ernest, Albert and Maximilian, took some part in the government of the Habsburg territories or of the Netherlands. His daughter, Eliza beth, eventually was married to Charles IX., King of France.
The religious attitude of Maximilian has given rise to much dis cussion, and on this subject see 0. H. Hopfen, Maximilian II. and der Kompromisskatholizismus (Munich, 1895) ; C. Haupt, Melanchthons und seiner Lehrer Einfluss auf Maximilian II. (Wittenberg, 1897) ; F. Walter, Die Wahl Maximilians II. (Heidelberg, 1892) ; W. Goetz, Maximilians II. Wahl zum romischen Konige (Wiirzburg, 1891), and T. J. Scherg, Ober die religiose Entwickelung Kaiser Maximilians bis zu seiner Wahl zum romischen Konige (Wiirzburg, 1903). For a more general account of his life and work see Briefe und Akten zur Geschichte Maximilians II., edited by W. E. Schwarz (Paderborn, 1889-91) ; M. Koch, Quellen zur Geschichte des Kaisers Maximilian II. in Archiven gesammelt (Leipzig, 1857-61) ; R. Holtzmann, Kaiser Maximilian II. bis zu seiner Thronbesteigung (Berlin, 19o3) ; E. Wertheimer, Zur Geschichte der Tiirkenkriege Maximilians II. (Vienna, 1875) ; L. von Ranke, Ober die Zeiten Ferdinands I. und Maximilians II. in Band VII. of his Sdmmtliche Werke (Leipzig, 1874), and J. Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, Bande IV. to VIII. (Freiburg, 1885-94) , Eng. trans. by M. A. Mitchell and A. M. Christie (1896 fol.).