Joseph II was the emperor of Austria from 1765-1790. He lived from 1741-1790, and was the son of Maria Theresa. Later, Joseph ran a co-regency with Maria Theresa after his father had died. The co-regency was mostly run by Maria, but Joseph ran foreign matters and the military. Joseph agreed with Maria’s ideas about education, but they argued constantly other other things such as religious toleration. When Joseph finally became the single ruler in 1780 when Maria had died, he began to apply his ideas to the people. Joseph believed that religious toleration was very important to help the country of Austria. He thought that organized religion could help centralize his authority. So, in order to centralize his authority, Joseph took power away