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How did smallpox affect Joseph II’s two marriages?

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Smallpox tragically ended both of Joseph II’s marriages:

  • First Marriage: In 1760, Joseph married the Bourbon princess Isabella of Parma. He was deeply devoted to her, but she died of smallpox three years later in 1763.1
  • Second Marriage: In 1765, Joseph married Maria Josepha of Bavaria. She also succumbed to smallpox just two years later, in 1767.1