Maximilian II (1527-1576)

Holy Roman Emperor 1564-76. Maximilian was the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Hungary. He married his cousin Maria, daughter of Charles V, in 1548. Like his father he was mainly engaged in defending the empire's eastern border against the Turks and trying to ensure peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Protestants in Habsburg lands - like his father, he adopted a tolerant policy in religious matters. He was succeeded by his son Rudolf II.

Born in Vienna, but educated mainly in Spain, he shared his father's taste for the arts and sciences. He tried unsuccessfully to lure the composer Palestrina and the sculptor Giambologna to his court in Vienna. The artists who did work for him include Arcimboldo and Spranger, and the architect and sculptor Hans Mont of Ghent.

His tolerance in religious issues led some to believe that he was secretly a Lutheran, a belief given some weight by his deathbed refusal to receive the Catholic sacrament.