Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I marries earlier

A very quick question, was there any reason why Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor married his wife Wilhemine in 1699? Considering the five year age gap between the two of them, one might have thought that they'd marry sooner, perhaps around the early 1690s. If they had done so, could this have perhaps increased their chances of having a surviving son or two? The reason I ask is that after the birth of their daughters were no more children, now Joseph did catch syphilis which played a big role, but even before then there doesn't seem to have been much sign of pregnancies after 1701/02.
 
A very quick question, was there any reason why Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor married his wife Wilhemine in 1699? Considering the five year age gap between the two of them, one might have thought that they'd marry sooner, perhaps around the early 1690s. If they had done so, could this have perhaps increased their chances of having a surviving son or two? The reason I ask is that after the birth of their daughters were no more children, now Joseph did catch syphilis which played a big role, but even before then there doesn't seem to have been much sign of pregnancies after 1701/02.

BEcause Wilhelmine wasn't the first choice for Josef as a bride. Louis XIV was offering his niece, Liselotte d'Orléans, and his mother and uncle wanted him to marry a Palatine cousin (in spite of Eleonore having been the one to stuff Wilhelmine in a convent for her education as Josef's wife). Plus, the Welfs were on the rise, having just been promoted to elector blah-blah-blah. So if he marries earlier, he's not necessarily marrying Wilhelmine (although I doubt he'd be marrying Liselotte (both his parents were against this)).

As to the lack of children post-1701, I've read speculation that Maria Amalie's birth either rendered Wilhelmine incapable of bearing further children, or the doctors advised against further pregnancies. The oft-cited refrain of Josef's syphilis is a non-starter since he only passed that on to her around '04 (which seems strange if the doctors had advised against further pregnancies). Plus there's the fact that Leopold I also instituted a Family Compact before he died indicating how the succession should run in the event of Josef not having a son, which seems unlikely he would've drawn up if Wilhelmine had been able to have more children (and courts were porous environments, one of the doctors examining Wilhelmine would've reported to the emperor, but the chambermaids to the footmen were generally regarded as part of the furniture, but could still carry gossip, and something as salacious as the Queen of Hungary being unable to bear further children would've definitely gotten out). Of course, Karl VI overturned this with his own Pragmatic Sanction, and the rest is history
 
BEcause Wilhelmine wasn't the first choice for Josef as a bride. Louis XIV was offering his niece, Liselotte d'Orléans, and his mother and uncle wanted him to marry a Palatine cousin (in spite of Eleonore having been the one to stuff Wilhelmine in a convent for her education as Josef's wife). Plus, the Welfs were on the rise, having just been promoted to elector blah-blah-blah. So if he marries earlier, he's not necessarily marrying Wilhelmine (although I doubt he'd be marrying Liselotte (both his parents were against this)).

As to the lack of children post-1701, I've read speculation that Maria Amalie's birth either rendered Wilhelmine incapable of bearing further children, or the doctors advised against further pregnancies. The oft-cited refrain of Josef's syphilis is a non-starter since he only passed that on to her around '04 (which seems strange if the doctors had advised against further pregnancies). Plus there's the fact that Leopold I also instituted a Family Compact before he died indicating how the succession should run in the event of Josef not having a son, which seems unlikely he would've drawn up if Wilhelmine had been able to have more children (and courts were porous environments, one of the doctors examining Wilhelmine would've reported to the emperor, but the chambermaids to the footmen were generally regarded as part of the furniture, but could still carry gossip, and something as salacious as the Queen of Hungary being unable to bear further children would've definitely gotten out). Of course, Karl VI overturned this with his own Pragmatic Sanction, and the rest is history

Oh interesting, a Palatine cousin, hmm, perhaps someone such as Leopoldine Eleonora? Or would that be too close to comfort? Alternatively, what about Eleanor of Lorraine, daughter of Charles, Duke of Lorraine?
 
Oh interesting, a Palatine cousin, hmm, perhaps someone such as Leopoldine Eleonora? Or would that be too close to comfort? Alternatively, what about Eleanor of Lorraine, daughter of Charles, Duke of Lorraine?

Leopoldine Eleonore was his aunt. And the Habsburgs and the Church were okay with uncle-niece marriages but iffy on aunt-nephew marriages (one has to only look at the infrequency with which they occur to gouge an opinion), plus it's banned according to Leviticus, while uncle-niece marriages are a-go. But Leopoldine would be a no, since at the time of her death, she was engaged to Maximilian II of Bavaria, simply waiting for the mourning for his first wife to be over. And then she went and died before it was. As to Éléonor, I'd say it's a bit of a stretch, since both she and her full-sister Charlotte (b.1690) died in in their first year.

Josef's other options were a Danish princess and someone else (the nameless Palatine cousin most likely). The Danish princess (Sophie Hedwig) refused to convert to Catholicism.
 
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