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Rudolf II

Type Figure Region Holy Roman Empire Time 1552–1612 Also known as Rudolf II von Habsburg、Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Habsburg monarch who served as Holy Roman Emperor from 1576 to 1612 and long ruled Bohemia from a court centered on Prague, famed as a patron of arti…

Timeline

  1. 1552–1572Vienna · AustriaBorn in Vienna, he received a humanist education at the court of his father Maximilian II and from the 1560s gradually took part in imperial affairs, preparing to inherit the East European crowns.
  2. 1572–1576Prague · BohemiaHe succeeded as King of Hungary in 1572 and was crowned King of Bohemia in 1575, beginning to shift the center of his court toward Prague and laying the foundation for his long rule of Bohemia.
  3. 1576–1612Prague · BohemiaAfter succeeding as emperor in 1576 he made Prague his principal residence, avidly collecting art and natural specimens and patronizing scholars such as Kepler, but in his later years his authority declined due to religious policies and family disputes.

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