300th anniversary of the coronation of Charles III

€100 gold collector coin

In the first third of the 16th century, Hungary was threatened by the raids of the Turks. After the Turkish occupation of the capital Buda, the Hungarian Parliament decided in 1536 that the new capital and coronation city of Hungary would be Pressburg (today’s Bratislava). From 1563 to 1830, 11 rulers and 8 royal wives were crowned in the gothic St. Martin’s Cathedral.

When Joseph died, Charles became the sole male descendent of the Habsburg dynasty and he returned to Vienna from Spain. En route, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Frankfurt am Main on 24 December 1711. He became Emperor Charles VI, while as King of Hungary he would be Charles III. His coronation as the Hungarian king was preceded by a session of the Diet of Hungary in Pressburg, which did not immediately give its ascent to the succession. Only after months of negotiations and after Charles pledged to fulfil the conditions laid down by the Hungarian nobility did the Diet approve the coronation, setting the date for 22 May 1712.

During a reign of almost thirty years, Charles III seldom returned to Pressburg. His time was taken up with fighting battles in southern Hungary and performing official duties in Vienna. One of his most well-known acts was to issue the Pragmatic Sanction, an edict of 1713 that established the indivisibility of the Hapsburg Monarchy and a new order of succession that allowed a daughter to accede to the throne.