Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1741-1790), was the son and successor of Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and Francis Stephen, aka Francis I (1708-1765), of the imperial house of the Habsburgs. He governed as co-ruler with his mother from 1765 to 1780 and was sole ruler of the Habsburg Empire from 1780 to 1790. A remarkable emperor, Joseph II has gone down in the annals of history as an Enlightenment reformer comparable to the monarchs Catherine II of Russia (reign 1762-1796) and Frederick II of Prussia (reign 1740-1786), both of whom received the epithet "Great."
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