Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire

Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire (1747-1792), Holy Roman emperor (1790-1792), son of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa and brother of Emperor Joseph II and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. He was born in Vienna. On the death of his father in 1765, he became Grand Duke of Tuscany. Imbued with the ideas of the Enlightenment, he reformed the government of the grand duchy, dismantling feudal institutions and rationalizing taxation and finances. In 1790 he succeeded his brother as emperor. During his brief reign, his sister was deposed by the French revolutionaries, and he formed (1792) a military alliance with Prussia against France. He was succeeded by his son Francis II.