The Habsburg monarchy , also known as Habsburg Empire , or Habsburg Realm , was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities that were ruled by the House of Habsburg . From the 18th century it is also referred to as the Austrian monarchy ( Latin : Monarchia Austriaca ) or the Danubian monarchy .
51-665: The history of the Habsburg monarchy can be traced back to the election of Rudolf I as King of Germany in 1273 and his acquisition of the Duchy of Austria for the Habsburgs in 1282. In 1482, Maximilian I acquired the Netherlands through marriage. Both realms passed to his grandson and successor, Charles V , who also inherited the Spanish throne and its colonial possessions , and thus came to rule
102-517: A number of robber castles . In 1291, he attempted to secure the election of his son Albert as German king. The electors refused, however, claiming inability to support two kings, but in reality, perhaps, wary of the increasing power of the House of Habsburg. Upon Rudolf's death they elected Count Adolf of Nassau . In 1286, Rudolf I instituted a new persecution of the Jews, declaring them servi camerae ("serfs of
153-564: A ransom was paid for his body by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpfen, who was subsequently laid to rest beside the Maharam. Rudolf died in Speyer on 15 July 1291 and was buried in Speyer Cathedral . Only one of his sons survived him: Albert I . Most of his daughters outlived him, apart from Catherine who had died in 1282 during childbirth and Hedwig who had died in 1285/6. Rudolf's reign
204-570: A result, Rudolf, by siding with the Pope, gained more power and influence. Rudolf paid frequent visits to the court of his godfather, the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II , and his loyalty to Frederick and his son, King Conrad IV of Germany , was richly rewarded by grants of land. In 1254, he engaged with other nobles of the Staufen party against Bertold II, Bishop of Basle . When night fell, he penetrated
255-499: A triumphal entry into Vienna . Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolf formed an alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and gave additional privileges to the Viennese citizens. On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at the Battle on
306-634: Is most memorable for his establishment of the House of Habsburg as a powerful dynasty in the southeastern part of the realm. In the other territories, the centuries-long decline of Imperial authority since the days of the Investiture Controversy continued, and the princes were largely left to their own devices. In the Divine Comedy , Dante finds Rudolf sitting outside the gates of purgatory with his contemporaries, characterizing him as "he who neglected that which he ought to have done". Rudolf
357-801: The Erblande , from before 1526; the Lands of the Bohemian Crown ; the formerly Spanish Austrian Netherlands from 1714 until 1794; and some fiefs in Imperial Italy . Outside the empire, they encompassed all the Kingdom of Hungary as well as conquests made at the expense of the Ottoman Empire . The dynastic capital was Vienna , except from 1583 to 1611, when it was in Prague . The first Habsburg who can be reliably traced
408-655: The Archduchy proper, Inner Austria that included Styria and Carniola , and Further Austria with Tyrol and the Swabian lands. The territorial possessions of the monarchy were thus united only by virtue of a common monarch. The Habsburg realms were unified in 1804 with the formation of the Austrian Empire and later split in two with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 . The monarchy began to fracture in
459-518: The Battle of Schosshalde , he strengthened his authority in Switzerland. He further expanded his Swiss possessions and granted some ecclesiastical posts to his family. In 1289 he marched against Count Philip's successor, Otto IV , compelling him to do homage. In 1281, Rudolf's first wife died. On 5 February 1284, he married Isabella , daughter of Duke Hugh IV of Burgundy , the Empire's western neighbor in
510-673: The Burgundian Netherlands into the Habsburg possessions. Their son, Philip the Handsome , married Joanna the Mad of Spain (daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile ). Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , the son of Philip and Joanna, inherited the Habsburg Netherlands in 1506, Habsburg Spain and its territories in 1516, and Habsburg Austria in 1519. At this point, the Habsburg possessions were so vast that Charles V
561-612: The Diet of Augsburg (1282), thus establishing the " Austrian hereditary lands ". From that moment, the Habsburg dynasty was also known as the House of Austria . Between 1438 and 1806, with few exceptions, the Habsburg Archduke of Austria was elected as Holy Roman Emperor . The Habsburgs grew to European prominence as a result of the dynastic policy pursued by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor . Maximilian married Mary of Burgundy , thus bringing
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#1732858613076612-467: The Duchy of Carinthia , one of the conquered provinces taken from Ottokar. The Princes of the Empire did not allow Rudolf to give everything that was recovered to the royal domain to his own sons, and his allies needed their rewards too. Turning to the west, in 1281 he compelled Count Philip I of Savoy to cede some territory to him, then forced the citizens of Bern to pay the tribute that they had been refusing. After his son Rudolf II defeated Bern at
663-781: The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza between 1814 and 1847. Also, the Second Mexican Empire , from 1863 to 1867, was headed by Maximilian I of Mexico , the brother of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria . The so-called "Habsburg monarchs" or "Habsburg emperors" held many different titles and ruled each kingdom separately through a personal union . The decline of the Habsburg Empire is given in Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday . Stefan Zweig, l'autore del più famoso libro sull'Impero asburgico, Die Welt von Gestern Rudolf I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291)
714-452: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany between 1765 and 1801, and again from 1814 to 1859. While exiled from Tuscany, this line ruled at Salzburg from 1803 to 1805, and in Grand Duchy of Würzburg from 1805 to 1814. The House of Austria-Este ruled the Duchy of Modena from 1814 to 1859, while Empress Marie Louise , Napoleon 's second wife and the daughter of Austrian Emperor Francis I , ruled over
765-454: The Hohenzollern burgrave Frederick III of Nuremberg . The support of Duke Albert II of Saxony and Elector Palatine Louis II had been purchased by betrothing them to two of Rudolf's daughters. As a result, within the electoral college, King Ottokar II of Bohemia (1230–1278), himself a candidate for the throne and related to the late Hohenstaufen king Philip of Swabia (being the son of
816-499: The Holy Roman Empire , Hungary, Bohemia and various other lands) was itself split into different branches in 1564 but reunited 101 years later. It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but continued through the female line as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine . The Habsburg monarchy was a union of crowns, with only partial shared laws and institutions other than the Habsburg court itself; the provinces were divided in three groups:
867-619: The Kingdom of France . Rudolf was not very successful in restoring internal peace. Orders were indeed issued for the establishment of territorial peaces in Bavaria , Franconia and Swabia, and at the Synod of Würzburg in March 1287 for the whole Empire. But the king lacked the power, resources, and determination to enforce them, although in December 1289 he led an expedition into Thuringia , where he destroyed
918-540: The "Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council". When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed (after 30 years of occupation and administration ), it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy. Instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. During the dissolution of Austria-Hungary , the Austrian territories collapsed under the weight of the various ethnic independence movements that came to
969-597: The 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld . The territories remained under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, forming the core of the Habsburg monarchy and the present-day country of Austria . Rudolf played a vital role in raising the comital House of Habsburg to the rank of Imperial princes . Rudolf was born on 1 May 1218 at Limburgh Castle near Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl in the Breisgau region of present-day southwestern Germany . He
1020-571: The 17th century: Following victory in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) over the Bohemian rebels, Ferdinand II promulgated a Renewed Land Ordinance (1627/1628) that established hereditary succession over Bohemia. Following the Battle of Mohács (1687) , in which Leopold I reconquered almost all of Ottoman Hungary from the Turks, the emperor held a diet in Pressburg to establish hereditary succession in
1071-461: The Austrian monarchy changed over the centuries, but the core always consisted of four blocs: Over the course of its history, other lands were, at times, under Austrian Habsburg rule (some of these territories were secundogenitures , i.e. ruled by other lines of Habsburg dynasty): The boundaries of some of these territories varied over the period indicated, and others were ruled by a subordinate (secundogeniture) Habsburg line. The Habsburgs also held
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#17328586130761122-481: The Habsburg empire at its greatest territorial extent. The abdication of Charles V in 1556 led to a division within the dynasty between his son Philip II of Spain and his brother Ferdinand I , who had served as his lieutenant and the elected king of Hungary , Croatia and Bohemia . The Spanish branch (which held all of Iberia , the Netherlands , and lands in Italy) became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch (which ruled
1173-484: The Holy Roman Empire, Hungary and Bohemia) was itself divided between different branches of the family from 1564 until 1665, but thereafter it remained a single personal union . It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but through the marriage of Queen Maria Theresa with Francis of Lorraine , the dynasty continued as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine . Names of some smaller territories: The territories ruled by
1224-726: The Hungarian kingdom. Charles V divided the House in 1556 by ceding Austria along with the Imperial crown to Ferdinand (as decided at the Imperial election, 1531 ), and the Spanish Empire to his son Philip . The Spanish branch (which also held the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Portugal between 1580 and 1640, and the Mezzogiorno of Italy) became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch (which also ruled
1275-460: The Marchfeld , where Ottokar was defeated and killed. The Margraviate of Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolf's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Slavonia in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Rudolf's youngest daughter Judith . Rudolf's attention next turned to the possessions in Austria and
1326-538: The adjacent provinces, which were taken into the royal domain. He spent several years establishing his authority there but found some difficulty in establishing his family as successors to the rule of those provinces. At length, the hostility of the princes was overcome. In December 1282, at the Hoftag (imperial diet) in Augsburg , Rudolf invested his sons, Albert and Rudolf II , with the duchies of Austria and Styria and so laid
1377-426: The day passed on, Count Rudolf bribed the sentinels of the city and gained entry, killing Hugh in the process. Then in 1244, to help control Lake Lucerne and restrict the neighboring forest communities of Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden , Rudolf built near its shores Neuhabsburg Castle . In 1245 Rudolf married Gertrude, daughter of Count Burkhard III of Hohenberg . He received as her dowry the castles of Oettingen ,
1428-503: The duchies of Austria , Styria and Carinthia together with the March of Carniola , which he had claimed through his first wife, a Babenberg heiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, Margrave Hermann VI of Baden . Rudolf refused to accept Ottokar's succession to the Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces reverted to the Imperial crown due to
1479-734: The early 1860s, the famous Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was arrived at, by which the so-called dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was set up. In this system, the Kingdom of Hungary ("Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen.") was an equal sovereign with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. Although the non-Hungarian Habsburg lands were referred to as "Austria", received their own central parliament (the Reichsrat , or Imperial Council ) and ministries, as their official name –
1530-452: The eldest surviving daughter), was almost alone in opposing Rudolf. Other candidates were Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt and Margrave Frederick I of Meissen (1257–1323), a young grandson of the excommunicated Emperor Frederick II, who did not yet even have a principality of his own as his father was still alive. By the admission of Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria instead of the King of Bohemia as
1581-576: The face of inevitable defeat during the final years of World War I and ultimately disbanded with the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria and the First Hungarian Republic in late 1918. In historiography , the terms "Austria" or "Austrians" are frequently used as shorthand for the Habsburg monarchy since the 18th century. From 1438 to 1806, the rulers of the House of Habsburg almost continuously reigned as Holy Roman Emperors . However,
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1632-635: The fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty afforded an opportunity for Count Rudolf to increase his possessions. His wife was a Hohenberg heiress; and on the death of his childless maternal uncle Count Hartmann IV of Kyburg in 1264, Rudolf seized Hartmann's valuable estates. Successful feuds with the Bishops of Strasbourg and Basel further augmented his wealth and reputation, including rights over various tracts of land that he purchased from abbots and others. These various sources of wealth and influence rendered Rudolf
1683-671: The fore with its defeat in World War I. After its dissolution, the new republics of Austria (the German-Austrian territories of the Hereditary lands) and the First Hungarian Republic were created. In the peace settlement that followed, significant territories were ceded to Romania and Italy and the remainder of the monarchy's territory was shared out among the new states of Poland , the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), and Czechoslovakia . A junior line ruled over
1734-461: The foundation of the House of Habsburg. Additionally, he made the twelve-year-old Rudolf Duke of Swabia, a merely titular dignity, as the duchy had been without an actual ruler since Conradin 's execution. The 27-year-old Duke Albert, married since 1274 to a daughter of Count Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol (1238–95), was capable enough to hold some sway in the new patrimony. In 1286, King Rudolf fully invested Albert's father-in-law Count Meinhard with
1785-576: The lack of male-line heirs. King Ottokar was placed under the imperial ban ; and in June 1276 war was declared against him. Having persuaded Ottokar's former ally Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria to switch sides, Rudolf compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the royal administration in November 1276. Rudolf then re-invested Ottokar with the Kingdom of Bohemia , betrothed one of his daughters to Ottokar's son Wenceslaus II , and made
1836-493: The mid to late 18th century, but many of these were abandoned following large scale resistance to Joseph's more radical reform attempts, although a more cautious policy of centralization continued during the revolutionary period and the Metternichian period that followed. Another attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the various revolutions of 1848 . For the first time, ministers tried to transform
1887-516: The monarchy into a centralized bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary was placed under martial law , being divided into a series of military districts, the centralized neo-absolutism tried to as well to nullify Hungary's constitution and Diet . Following the Habsburg defeats in the Second Italian War of Independence (1859) and Austro-Prussian War (1866), these policies were step by step abandoned. After experimentation in
1938-581: The most powerful prince and noble in southwestern Germany (where the tribal Duchy of Swabia had disintegrated, enabling its vassals to become completely independent). In the autumn of 1273, the prince-electors met to choose a king after Richard of Cornwall had died in England in April 1272. Rudolf's election in Frankfurt on 1 October 1273, when he was 55 years old, was largely due to the efforts of his brother-in-law,
1989-459: The realms of the Holy Roman Empire were mostly self-governing and are thus not considered to have been part of the Habsburg monarchy. Hence, the Habsburg monarchy (of the Austrian branch) is often called "Austria" by metonymy . Around 1700, the Latin term monarchia austriaca came into use as a term of convenience. Within the empire alone, the vast possessions included the original Hereditary Lands,
2040-603: The rising power of Rudolf and in an attempt to place the important " Devil's Bridge " ( Teufelsbrücke ) across the Schöllenenschlucht under his direct control, Emperor Frederick II granted Schwyz Reichsfreiheit in the Freibrief von Faenza . In 1242, Hugh of Tuffenstein provoked Count Rudolf through contumelious expressions. In turn, the Count of Habsburg had invaded his domains, yet failed to take his seat of power. As
2091-649: The seventh Elector, Rudolf gained all seven votes. Rudolf was crowned in Aachen Cathedral on 24 October 1273. To win the approbation of the Pope, Rudolf renounced all imperial rights in Rome , the papal territory, and Sicily , and promised to lead a new crusade by taking the crusader's vow in 1275. Pope Gregory X , despite the protests of Ottokar II of Bohemia, not only recognised Rudolf himself, but persuaded King Alfonso X of Castile (another grandson of Philip of Swabia ), who had been chosen German (anti-)king in 1257 as
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2142-522: The suburbs of Basle and burnt down the local nunnery, an act for which Pope Innocent IV excommunicated him and all parties involved. As a penance, he took up the cross and joined Ottokar II, King of Bohemia in the Prussian Crusade of 1254 . Whilst there, he oversaw the founding of the city of Königsberg , which was named in memory of King Ottokar. The disorder in Germany during the interregnum after
2193-610: The successor to Count William II of Holland , to do the same. Thus, Rudolf surpassed the two heirs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty whom he had earlier served so loyally. In November 1274, the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg decided that all Crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new king. Ottokar refused to appear or to restore
2244-571: The title of Holy Roman Emperor between 1438 and 1740, and again from 1745 to 1806. Within the early modern Habsburg monarchy, each entity was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same person—junior members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. Serious attempts at centralization began under Maria Theresa and especially her son Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in
2295-633: The treasury"), which had the effect of negating their political freedoms. Along with many others, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg left Germany with family and followers, but was captured in Lombardy and imprisoned in a fortress in Alsace . Tradition has it that a large ransom of 23,000 marks silver was raised for him (by the Rosh ), but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He died in prison after seven years. Fourteen years after his death
2346-442: The valley of Weile , and other places in Alsace, and he became an important vassal in Swabia, the former Alemannic German stem duchy . That same year, Emperor Frederick II was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV at the Council of Lyon . Rudolf sided against the Emperor, while the forest communities sided with Frederick. This gave them a pretext to attack and damage Neuhabsburg. Rudolf successfully defended it and drove them off. As
2397-417: Was Radbot of Klettgau , who was born in the late 10th century; the family name originated with Habsburg Castle , in present-day Switzerland , which was built by Radbot. After 1279, the Habsburgs came to rule in the Duchy of Austria , which was part of the elective Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire . King Rudolf I of Germany of the Habsburg family assigned the Duchy of Austria to his sons at
2448-416: Was constantly travelling throughout his dominions and therefore needed deputies and regents, such as Isabella of Portugal in Spain and Margaret of Austria in the Low Countries, to govern his various realms. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Emperor Charles V came to terms with his younger brother Ferdinand . According to the Habsburg compact of Worms (1521), confirmed a year later in Brussels , Ferdinand
2499-482: Was made Archduke , as a regent of Charles V in the Austrian hereditary lands. Following the death of Louis II of Hungary in the Battle of Mohács against the Ottoman Turks , Archduke Ferdinand (who was his brother-in-law by virtue of an adoption treaty signed by Maximilian and Vladislaus II , Louis's father at the First Congress of Vienna ) was also elected the next king of Bohemia and Hungary in 1526. Bohemia and Hungary became hereditary Habsburg domains only in
2550-440: Was the first King of Germany of the Habsburg dynasty from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which had begun after the death of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II in 1250. Originally a Swabian count, he was the first Habsburg to acquire the duchies of Austria and Styria in opposition to his mighty rival, the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia , whom he defeated in
2601-442: Was the son of Count Albert IV of Habsburg and Hedwig, daughter of Count Ulrich of Kyburg . Around 1232, he was given as a squire to his uncle, Rudolf I, Count of Laufenburg , to train in knightly pursuits. At his father's death in 1239, Rudolf inherited from him large estates around the ancestral seat of Habsburg Castle in the Aargau region of present-day Switzerland as well as in Alsace . Thus, in 1240, in order to quell
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