Page "Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor" Paragraph 8

Meanwhile the relations between Maximilian and Philip of Spain had improved ; and the emperor's increasingly cautious and moderate attitude in religious matters was doubtless because the death of Philip's son, Don Carlos, had opened the way for the succession of Maximilian, or of one of his sons, to the Spanish throne.

Evidence of this friendly feeling was given in 1570, when the emperor's daughter, Anna, became the fourth wife of Philip ; but Maximilian was unable to moderate the harsh proceedings of the Spanish king against the revolting inhabitants of the Netherlands.

In 1570 the emperor met the diet of Speyer and asked for aid to place his eastern borders in a state of defence, and also for power to repress the disorder caused by troops in the service of foreign powers passing through Germany.

He proposed that his consent should be necessary before any soldiers for foreign service were recruited in the empire ; but the estates were unwilling to strengthen the imperial authority, the Protestant princes regarded the suggestion as an attempt to prevent them from assisting their co-religionists in France and the Netherlands, and nothing was done in this direction, although some assistance was voted for the defense of Austria.

The religious demands of the Protestants were still unsatisfied, while the policy of toleration had failed to give peace to Austria.

Maximilian's power was very limited ; it was inability rather than unwillingness that prevented him from yielding to the entreaties of Pope Pius V to join in an attack on the Turks both before and after the victory of Lepanto in 1571 ; and he remained inert while the authority of the empire in north-eastern Europe was threatened.