1745 imperial election

Election in the Holy Roman Empire 1745 imperial election Holy Roman Empire presidential no 1742 imperial election 1742 1764 imperial election 1764 13 September 1745 7 Prince-electorsTwo electors, Frederick II of Brandenburg and Charles Theodore of the Palatinate, abstained from the ballot.5 votes needed to winFive votes were required to establish an absolute majority of the nine recognized electoral seats. Attributed to German School, 18th century - Francis, Duke of Lorraine, later Francis I, Emperor of Austria (1708-1765) - RCIN 405282 - Royal Collection.jpg Francis Stephen House Habsburg-Lorraine 7 100% Emperor Charles VII House of Wittelsbach Francis I House of Habsburg-Lorraine The 1745 imperial election was held on (13 September 1745) in Frankfurt am Main to elect the new Holy Roman Emperor following the death of Emperor Charles VII. Francis Stephen of Lorraine was elected, restoring the Habsburg dynasty to the imperial throne. Background War of the Austrian Succession War of the Austrian Succession Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor died on October 20, 1740. His daughter Maria Theresa inherited his royal titles in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma according to the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Although Prussia had accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, it now repudiated Maria Theresa's inheritance as a violation of Salic law. Its king Frederick the Great invaded Silesia on December 16. France and Bavaria, whose elector Charles Albert rejected the Pragmatic Sanction for self-interested reasons, joined Prussia in 1741. Charles Albert's territories in Bavaria were quickly overrun by the Austrian forces of Maria Theresa, but the alliance remained on the attack. On November 26, Prague was captured and on December 9, Charles Albert crowned himself king of Bohemia. On January 24, 1742, in the imperial election of 1742, from which Maria Theresa was excluded, he was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles VII. He died of gout at Nymphenburg Palace on January 20, 1745, three years before the conclusion of the war. Election of 1745 The electors called to Frankfurt to choose Charles VII's successor were: Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein, elector of Mainz Franz Georg von Schönborn, elector of Trier Clemens August, elector of Cologne Maria Theresa, queen regnant of Bohemia Maximilian III Joseph, elector of Bavaria Frederick Augustus II, elector of Saxony Frederick the Great, elector of Brandenburg Charles Theodore, elector of the Palatinate George II of Great Britain, elector of Hanover Maria Theresa came to an arrangement with Maximilian III Joseph, Charles VII's son, wherein she would allow his return to Bavaria in exchange for his support, and the support of his uncle Clemens August, of the candidacy of her husband, Francis of Lorraine. Election results Francis was elected Emperor Francis I with the support of seven of the electors. Frederick the Great and Charles Theodore, opponents of Maria Theresa in the War of the Austrian Succession, abstained.Mack Walker, Johann Jakob Moser and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1981. Francis was crowned on 4 October 1745 at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Frankfurt. His accession reinstated Habsburg dynastic dominance, though actual governance remained firmly in Maria Theresa’s hands. Frederick II eventually recognized the election’s validity on 25 December 1745. Elector Title Vote Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein Archbishop of Mainz Francis I Franz Georg von Schönborn Archbishop of Trier Francis I Clemens August of Bavaria Archbishop of Cologne Francis I Maria Theresa Queen of Bohemia Francis I Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria Elector of Bavaria Francis I Frederick Augustus II of Saxony Elector of Saxony Francis I George II of Great Britain Elector of Hanover Francis I Frederick II of Prussia Elector of Brandenburg Abstained Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine Elector Palatine Abstained Total 7 votes, 77.8% (Francis I), 2 abstentions (22.2%) References Notes Category:Imperial election (Holy Roman Empire) Category:1745 in the Holy Roman Empire Category:18th-century elections in Europe Category:Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor