Joseph Ii: Freedom To Assemble In Austria

Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria was an enlightened despot who introduced a series of reforms that affected nearly every aspect of life in his empire. He was a proponent of enlightened absolutism and believed in the rule of reason, which he thought would produce the best results in the shortest time. He issued 6,000 edicts and 11,000 new laws designed to regulate and reorder his empire.

Joseph's enlightened despotism included the Patent of Toleration, enacted in 1781, and the Edict of Tolerance in 1782. The Patent granted religious freedom to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Serbian Orthodox, while the Edict extended religious freedom to the Jewish population. He also abolished brutal punishments and the death penalty in most instances, and imposed the principle of complete equality of treatment for all offenders.

However, Joseph's commitment to modernizing reforms led to significant opposition, and he ultimately failed to fully implement his programs. His attempts to modernize the highly traditional Catholic Church, for example, were unpopular and met with resistance. Joseph's reforms also elicited vehement opposition from all sectors in every part of his empire, and he faced numerous problems by 1790, including a loss of control in the Austrian Netherlands.

The Patent of Toleration (1781)

The Patent of Toleration, also known as the Toleranzpatent, was a law promulgated by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in 1781. It granted limited freedom of worship to non-Roman Catholic Christians in the Austrian domains, while maintaining a privileged position for the Catholic Church.

The Patent of Toleration was part of Joseph II's policy of Josephinism, a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria into an ideal Enlightened state. As a proponent of enlightened absolutism, he was committed to secularizing, liberalizing, and modernizing reforms. However, his policies faced significant opposition, and he was ultimately unable to fully implement his programs.

The Patent of Toleration allowed certain rights and recognized the existence of non-Catholic religions in the Habsburg Empire. It granted religious freedom to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Serbian Orthodox, although conversion from Catholicism was still restricted. The tolerated religions were allowed to have congregations, but they could not exceed 100 people in a private home. If a sect had more than 100 families in an area, they could build a church, but it could not have a direct entrance from the street and could not have the appearance of a church.

The Patent of Toleration was followed by the Edict of Tolerance in 1782, which extended religious freedom to the Jewish population and removed many discriminatory restrictions they faced.

The Edict of Tolerance (1782)

The Edict of Tolerance, also known as the Toleranzpatent, was a religious reform of Emperor Joseph II during his reign as emperor of the Habsburg monarchy. It was enacted on 2 January 1782 as part of his policy of Josephinism, a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria into the form of an ideal Enlightened state.

The Edict of Tolerance extended religious freedom to the Jewish population, allowing Jewish children to attend schools and universities, and adults to work as merchants or open factories. However, there were still some restrictions in place, such as the prohibition of becoming master craftsmen, and the replacement of Jewish languages with the national language of the country. The edict also severely restricted the immigration of new Jews into Austria.

The Edict of Tolerance was a follow-up to the Patent of Toleration, enacted in 1781, which granted religious freedom to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Serbian Orthodox, but not to Jews. The Patent of Toleration allowed certain rights and recognised the existence of non-Catholic religions in the Habsburg Empire. It allowed members of these religions to immigrate to Austria and hold jobs, but congregations were limited to 100 people in a private home, and there were restrictions on the appearance and location of churches.

The Serfdom Patent (1781)

The Serfdom Patent of 1781, issued by the enlightened absolutist Emperor Joseph II, was a decree aimed at abolishing the traditional serfdom system of the Habsburg monarchy. The patent established basic civil liberties for serfs, who were previously bound to inherited pieces of land and subjected to the absolute control of their landlords.

The Patent diminished the mastery of landlords, allowing serfs to independently choose marriage partners, pursue career choices, and move between estates. They were also no longer required to perform domestic services for their lords, except for orphans, who could be mandated to do so for up to three years. Additionally, serfs could now learn any trade and seek their livelihood without the need for a leaving permit.

The motivations behind the Serfdom Patent were both economic and moral. Joseph II recognised that abolishing the feudal system would allow peasants to pay higher tax rates to the state, as the tax burden primarily fell on them. Moreover, he also had moral objections to the "inhumanity of serfdom" and abolished beatings.

The consequences of the Serfdom Patent varied across the different Habsburg lands. While the peasants of the German-speaking provinces benefited from the Patent, the nobility in Bohemia refused to enact its provisions, and the Transylvanian nobles did not notify the peasants in their region. The Hungarian estates claimed their peasants were not serfs but "tenants in fee simple" and continued to restrict them. Joseph II acknowledged the need for further reforms to address the financial dues and unpaid labour that serfs still owed to their landlords. He continued to pursue these reforms, such as the Tax Decree of 1789, until his death, after which his latter reforms were withdrawn. Nonetheless, the personal freedom of serfs remained guaranteed through the first half of the nineteenth century due to the Serfdom Patent.

The Tax Decree (1789)

The Tax Decree of 1789 was part of a wider reform by Joseph II to modernise the Habsburg monarchy, which included the abolition of serfdom in 1781 and the introduction of cash payments for peasants in 1789.

The decree was the culmination of a series of reforms that began in 1783, when Joseph II exhorted the Lower Austrian Estates to revise the provincial cadastre that underlay the system of direct taxation. This led to the great tax and peasant labour reform of 1789, which was intended to modernise the relationship of dependence between landowners and the peasantry, relieve some of the tax burden on the peasantry, and increase state revenues.

The various commissions established to formulate and carry out the reforms met resistance from the nobility, the peasantry, and some officials. Most of the reforms were abrogated shortly before or after Joseph's death in 1790. They were ultimately doomed to failure because they tried to change too much in too short a time and radically altered the traditional customs and relationships that villagers had long depended on.

The decree was part of a wider attempt by Joseph II to implement the principles of enlightened absolutism, incorporating reason and Enlightenment ideals into his administration. However, his commitment to modernising reforms resulted in significant opposition and the failure to fully implement his programmes.

The Decree of 1789

Joseph II's commitment to modernising reforms resulted in significant opposition, and his programs were not fully implemented. However, he is considered one of the three great Enlightenment monarchs, alongside Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Frequently asked questions