# Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor: The Great Enlightened Despot — WHE Definition Discussion (1-29094) **URL:** \ **Category:** WHE Articles\ **Created:** [September 30, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/joseph-ii-holy-roman-emperor-the-great-enlightened-despot-whe-definition-discussion-1-29094/19175 "2026-09-30T16:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ambika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@ambika](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/ambika)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/joseph-ii-holy-roman-emperor-the-great-enlightened-despot-whe-definition-discussion-1-29094/19175/1 "2026-09-30T16:00:02Z")
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." * * * _This is a companion discussion topic for the original definition at [https://www.worldhistory.org/Joseph\_II,\_Holy\_Roman\_Emperor/](https://www.worldhistory.org/Joseph_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor/)._ * * * **Join the Conversation** - Anything here you'd push back on? - Is there a related topic you'd like to see covered? - Which part did you find most interesting, and why? Is there anything you'd like to ask about this definition? Ask away — and if you spot something that should be covered, that's useful to know too. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/community.worldhistory.org/system/32/30_2.png) [@system](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/joseph-ii-holy-roman-emperor-the-great-enlightened-despot-whe-definition-discussion-1-29094/19175/2 "2026-09-30T16:23:15Z")