Charles VI and the Pragmatic Sanction

Charles VI, born in Vienna on October 1, 1685, became Holy Roman Emperor in 1711 after contending for the Spanish throne during the War of the Spanish Succession. Lacking a male heir, his principal diplomatic focus was securing the integrity of Habsburg territories for his daughter, Maria Theresa, through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. While his reign saw territorial shifts through conflicts with the Ottoman Empire, his death in 1740 marked the end of the direct male Habsburg line and immediately precipitated the War of the Austrian Succession across Europe.

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