CHARLES

n.

German Karl

born Oct. 1, 1685, Vienna, Austria

died Oct. 20, 1740, Vienna

Holy Roman emperor (1711–40) and king of Hungary (as Charles III).

Son of Emperor Leopold I , he tried unsuccessfully to claim the Spanish throne (as the pretender Charles III), which caused the War of the Spanish Succession . He conducted a successful war against the Ottoman Empire (1716–18) but lost the War of the Polish Succession (1733–38), and a new conflict with Turkey (1736–39) resulted in the loss of most of the territories gained in 1718. He promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction in an attempt to ensure that his daughter Maria Theresa would succeed him, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession .