Joseph I definition of Joseph I in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Joseph I, 1678–1711, Holy Roman emperor (1705–11), king of Hungary (1687–1711) and of Bohemia (1705–11), son and successor of Leopold I. Joseph became Holy Roman emperor in the midst of the War of the Spanish Succession Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the War of the Spanish Succession was known as Queen Anne's War
..... Click the link for more information. and died before it ended. He vigorously supported the claim of his brother (who succeeded him as Charles VI Charles VI, 1685–1740, Holy Roman emperor (1711–40), king of Bohemia (1711–40) and, as Charles III, king of Hungary (1712–40); brother and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I .
..... Click the link for more information. ) to the Spanish throne. During his reign Hungary was in revolt under Francis II Rákóczy Sigismund Rákóczy, 1544–1608, was elected (1607) prince of Transylvania to succeed Stephen Bocskay. His son,

George I Rákóczy, 1591–1648, was elected prince of Transylvania in 1630.
..... Click the link for more information. , but by 1711 the rebellion had been quelled. Joseph made some attempts at internal reform. A musician and an admirer of art, he encouraged cultural life in Vienna.