During my more idealistic days in college as a "baby monarchist" with no real religion at all one of my favorite monarchs was the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. I read a number of books about him and he seemed like a wonderful example of the best of monarchism. After becoming Catholic, reading the rest of the story and becoming familiar with "Josephism" my views were somewhat modified. However, I have not quite renounced all of the good things I had to say about Emperor Joseph II. He was, of course, Catholic and he was, I think, a good monarch but he certainly was not a good Catholic monarch. I also think it is important to see him within the context of his time and the fashion of the so-called "enlightened despots" of Europe. When compared to Catherine in Russia or Frederick in Prussia I do think that Joseph II was the most truly enlightened as opposed to simply being a despot with good political spin. It is also sadly true that, as with many historical monarchs, most Americans know only what they've seen in the movies and if anyone among the majority masses has even heard of Joseph II they know him as the character played by Jeff Jones in the Academy Award-winning film "Amadeus" about Mozart. In that work the Emperor was portrayed as a good but rather dull man with some aspects being true and others not.
Emperor Joseph II was an enlightened despot in every sense of the word. He was enlightened in that he took seriously the need to help the poor, to have personal freedom, to curtail the favored status of the elites over the common people and look after the public welfare. He was a despot in that he was an absolute monarch and firmly believed that the authority of an enlightened, reasonable monarch had to be absolute and most of those who knew him commented on his great ambition and idealism. Many of his good qualities, it is often ignored, were built on the work done by his mother the Empress Maria Theresa. All too often this woman is portrayed at worst as a religious fanatic and at best as a superstitious, fussy old woman. In fact, Empress Maria Theresa was one of the great queens of history and the policies she enacted to uplift her people, help the poor and make society more fair are often ignored. Joseph II took over her humanitarian work and carried it further. He continued her efforts to end serfdom in Austria, he encouraged education, built public hospitals and built shelters for the poor though some complained that these looked more like army barracks in their style rather than a refuge for the unfortunate. There are many stories about the attitudes of Joseph II, "the people's Kaiser" they called him, toward the common folk. For instance, when he allowed commoners to make use of the beautiful parks in Vienna many nobles protested at having to come in contact with "inferiors" while on their walks. Joseph II dismissed their complaints by saying that, as Emperor, were he to insist on avoiding all people beneath him in rank he would have to spend all his time in the imperial tombs!
In short, his absolutism was used in very beneficial ways to improve the lives of his subjects. However, one of the most controversial ways was his insistence on freedom of religion and his efforts to bring the Church under or at least largely under imperial control. This is the core meaning of "Josephism" which is a term useful for describing the events of a particular time and place but it must also be remembered that the idea of state control of religion did not begin or end with Joseph II; it existed long before his reign and continues to exist long after. However, his efforts to suppress the Jesuits and public religious displays and popular devotions etc did cause a great deal of controversy and sparked opposition in many quarters, especially from the Church and particularly in Belgium or the Austrian Netherlands as it was then. This, naturally, as a Catholic, I oppose. In fairness though it must be remembered that Joseph II was a Catholic all throughout his life. He went to mass every morning, never considered being anything else but a Catholic and even when Pope Pius VI came to visit him to address the problems the Church had with his policies his political disagreements did not stop him from being very gracious and respectful toward the Pope. It must also be remembered that had his efforts to take Bavaria out of the Prussian sphere of influence been more successful it would have been a benefit to the Catholic cause. As his sister, Marie Antoinette, was Queen of France he was also very wary of republican revolutionaries and warned about the coming upheaval in that country which he predicted. He was rather more friendly with the Freemasons than any good Catholic would like, mostly because he admired their exaltation of reason, but it must also be remembered that he never became a Mason himself unlike many other monarchs.
Another fact which caused bad feelings between the Church and the Emperor was the preaching Joseph II did toward Church leaders about their responsibility to do more to take care of the poor and unfortunate. This should also be remembered along with the fact, unfortunate but one which Catholics must recognize, that in the years just before the French Revolution there really was a problem in the Church with too many clerics being much more rich and worldly than they should have been. As bad as Joseph II might look with his finger-wagging, there was reason for it given those opulent clerics who were not at all what they should have been. Some of this was also a matter of taste. Joseph II was a rather simple man who hated lots of pageantry and ritual. Throughout his life he most often dressed in an Austrian army uniform and he saw finery as simply waste that could be put to better use. He was also, to keep on his good points, a great champion of German culture and the glory of Austria. Part of this was seen in his support for the arts, most famously of course with his support for Mozart and favoring German over Italian opera. In his foreign policy he was also always on the look out for any opportunity to advance Austria be it against Prussia or the Ottoman Turks. He also abolished the death penalty which, today at least, the Church says is a good thing.
In short, I think alot of Catholics need to simply take a few deep breaths before addressing the subject of Kaiser Joseph II. He was certainly no champion of Catholicism nor a great Catholic monarch, but he was a monarch who did many good things, had many noble ideals and he was a lifelong Catholic. I would certainly disagree with those who place him in the same category as predecessors like Frederick II or others who were openly, even militarily, hostile to the Church. He was a Catholic and a pretty good monarch but certainly not a good "Catholic monarch". It is also rather unfair to criticize him for holding positions which the Catholic Church then opposed but seems all too willing to embrace today. Joseph II can and should be justly criticized for the actions he took against the Church and which his marvelous mother would have certainly opposed, but we should also be fair and recognize that he cared for his people, worked for their common good in at least worldly matters and he was, at the end of the day, a Catholic monarch, a champion of Austria and was adamantly opposed to the sort of "enlightenment" that brought about the French Revolution and the effective end of Christendom as it had existed since the time of Constantine. |
