Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

As of 1713, Charles and his wife Elizabeth Christine had not had any children. Since the death of his elder brother, Joseph I, in 1711, Charles had been the sole surviving male member of the House of Habsburg. Joseph had died without male issue, leaving Joseph's daughter Maria Josepha as the heiress 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.^[1]


Charles VI was indeed ultimately succeeded by his own firstborn child Maria Theresa, who was born four years after the signing of the Sanction. 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.

For 10 years, Charles VI labored, with the support of his closest advisor, Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, to have his sanction accepted by the courts of Europe. Only the Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Bavaria did not accept it because it was detrimental to their inheritance rights as their sovereigns were married to the daughters of Emperor Joseph I: Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony was married to Maria Josepha and Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria to Maria Amalia.


Charles VI made commitments with Russia and Augustus of Saxony, King of Poland, which caused two wars: the War of the Polish Succession against France and Spain, which cost him Naples and Sicily, and the Austro-Turkish War, which cost him Little Wallachia and northern Serbia, including Belgrade Fortress.