 Vendôme followed this up the next day by defeating Starhemberg at Villaviciosa; these defeats were a devastating setback to Allied ambitions in Spain.In April 1711, Emperor Joseph I died and his brother Archduke Charles succeeded him as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI; an Austrian union with Spain was as unwelcome to Britain as a French one, which meant there seemed little point in continuing the war.A new Tory Government, led by Robert Harley, came to power in 1710.