page_title: Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
hierarchical_section_title: Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die Pragmatische Sanktion English: The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
context_page_description: The Pragmatic Sanction was an edict issued by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter.
  Charles and his wife Elizabeth Christine had not had children, and since 1711, Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the House of Habsburg. Charles's elder brother, Joseph I, had died without male issue, leaving Joseph's daughter Maria Josepha as the heir presumptive. That presented two problems. First, a prior agreement with his brother, known as the Mutual Pact of Succession, had agreed that in the absence of male heirs, Joseph's daughters would take precedence over Charles's daughters in all Habsburg lands. Though Charles had no children, if he were to be survived by daughters alone, they would be cut out of the inheritance.
context_section_description: The Pragmatic Sanction (Latin: Sanctio Pragmatica) was an edict issued by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter.
  Charles and his wife Elizabeth Christine had not had children, and since 1711, Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the House of Habsburg. Charles's elder brother, Joseph I, had died without male issue, leaving Joseph's daughter Maria Josepha as the heir presumptive. That presented two problems.  First, a prior agreement with his brother, known as the Mutual Pact of Succession (1703), had agreed that in the absence of male heirs, Joseph's daughters would take precedence over Charles's daughters in all Habsburg lands. Though Charles had no children, if he were to be survived by daughters alone, they would be cut out of the inheritance. Secondly, because Salic law precluded female inheritance, Charles VI needed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a protracted succession dispute, as other claimants would have surely contested a female inheritance.
  Charles VI was indeed ultimately succeeded by his own elder daughter, Maria Theresa (born 1717).  However, despite the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction, her accession in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession as Charles-Albert of Bavaria, backed by France, contested her inheritance. After the war, Maria Theresa's inheritance of the Habsburg lands was confirmed by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the election of her husband, Francis I, as Holy Roman Emperor was secured by the Treaty of Füssen.
caption: The Pragmatic Sanction, Act of Emperor Charles VI
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