Enlightened Despots

1. Maria Theresa of Austria

1.1. Reign 1740-1780

1.2. Only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions

1.3. Unsuccessfully tried to reconquer Silesia during the Seven Years War

1.4. Absolute sovereign who ruled by the counsel of her advisers

1.5. Promoted commerce and the development of agriculture

2. Joseph II the Holy Roman Emperor of Austria

2.1. Reign 1765-1790

2.2. The first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine

2.3. A proponent of enlightened absolutism

2.4. Education came from writings of Voltaire and the Encyclopédistes

2.5. Died with no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, Leopold

3. Catherine the Great of Russia

3.1. Reign 1762-1796

3.2. Came to power following a coup d'état

3.3. Relied a lot on Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin

3.4. Reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas

3.5. Patron of the arts she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment

3.6. The Catherinian Era is often considered the Golden Age of the

4. Frederick the Great of Prussia

4.1. Reign 1740-1786

4.2. Participated in the Seven Years War

4.3. Conquered Polish territories in the First Partition of Poland

4.4. Succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II

4.5. Was more interested in music and philosophy than the art of war

4.6. Patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment in Prussia