Maximilian II (1527-1576) was Holy Roman emperor from 1564 to 1576. Although Protestant, he was not successful in uniting Protestants in the empire.

Maximilian was the son of Ferdinand I, who succeeded as Holy Roman emperor after the abdication of Charles V. In 1548 Maximilian married his cousin Maria, daughter of Charles V. Although Charles V had to give the imperial succession of Ferdinand I, he had tried to reserve the succession of Ferdinand for his own son Philip II of Spain rather than Maximilian. This created a deep division between the two main branches of the Hapsburg family; in 1551 Ferdinand and Maximilian had to yield to Charles V's wishes, although they did not plan to keep the agreement. A complicating factor was that Maximilian's Catholicism was suspect; he was on very good terms with the German princes who had defeated Charles V in 1552.

After Ferdinand succeeded Charles V in 1555, he...