Habsburg



of 1867.

Habsburg (commonly anglicised to "Hapsburg") and the successor family, Habsburg-Lorraine, were important Royal House of Europe and are best known as the ruling Houses of Austria (and the Austrian Empire) for over six centuries.

Their principal roles were as:

Other crowns held briefly by the House included:

Numerous other titles were attached to the crowns listed above.

A brief history of the House of Habsburg From Counts of Habsburg to Roman Emperors The name is derived from the Swiss German Habichtsburg (Hawk Castle), the family seat in the 11th century, 12th century and 13th century at Habsburg in the former duchy of Swabia in present-day Switzerland (Switzerland did not exist then in its present form, and the Swiss lands were part of the mainly Germanic Holy Roman Empire). From southwestern Germany (mainly Alsace, Breisgau, Aargau and Thurgau) the family extended its influence and holdings to the southeastern reaches of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly today's Austria (1278–1382). Within only two or three generations, the Habsburgs had managed to secure an initially intermittent grasp on the imperial throne that would last for centuries (1273–1291, 1298–1308, 1438–1740, and 1745–1806).

By marrying Mary of Burgundy, heiress of Burgundy, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor acquired control of the low countries. His son Philip I of Castile married Joanna of Castile, heiress of Spain, so that Philip's son Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor inherited Spain, Southern Italy, Austria and the Low Countries. In 1580 Charles' son Philip II of Spain inherited Portugal and its colonies.

Under Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburgs first acquired the land upon which would later be erected the Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs' summer palace in Vienna and one of the most enduring symbols of the dynasty.

Division of the House: Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs (1547) as depicted in The Cambridge Modern History Atlas (1912); Habsburg lands are shaded green. Not shaded are the lands of the Holy Roman Empire over which the Habsburgs presided, nor are the vast Castilian holdings outside of Europe, and particularly in the New World, shown.

After the April 21, 1521 assignment of the Austrian lands to Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor from his brother Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King Charles I of Spain) (1516–1556), the dynasty split into one Habsburg Monarchy and one Habsburg Spain. The Austrian Habsburgs held (after 1556) the title of Holy Roman Emperor, as well as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, while the Spanish Habsburgs ruled over the Spanish kingdoms, the Netherlands, the Habsburgs' Italian possessions, and, for a time, Portugal. Kingdom of Hungary, nominally under Habsburg kingship from 1526 but mostly under Ottoman Empire Turkish occupation for 150 years, was reconquered in 1683–1699.

The Spanish Habsburgs died out in 1700 (prompting the War of the Spanish Succession), as did the Austrian Habsburgs in 1740 (prompting the War of the Austrian Succession). However, the heiress of the last Austrian Habsburg (Maria Theresa of Austria) had married Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Lorraine, (both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, but from different empresses) and their descendants carried on the Habsburg tradition from Vienna under the dynastic name Habsburg-Lorraine. (It is often speculated that extensive intra-family marriages within both lines contributed to their extinctions, but there were few such marriages in the Austrian line. Smallpox killing young heirs was a greater cause.)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: the Austrian Empire On August 6 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved under the French Emperor Napoleon I's reorganisation of Germany. However, in anticipation of the loss of his title of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II declared himself hereditary Emperor of Austria (as Francis I, thereof) on August 11, 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of the French on May 18, 1804.

Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire of Austria used the official great title: "We, Francis the First, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; Kings of Jerusalem, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia (Central Europe), and Lodomeria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Lorraine (province), Salzburg, Würzburg, Franconia, Styria (duchy), Carinthia (duchy), and Carniola; Grand Duke of Grand Duchy of Cracow; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Sandomir, Masovia, Lublin, Upper and Lower Silesia, Oswiecim and Zator, Cieszyn, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia, and Gradisca d'Isonzo and of the Tyrol; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria".

In 1867 effective autonomy was given to Hungary under the terms of the Ausgleich or "compromise" (see Austria-Hungary). Under this arrangement, the Hungarians referred to their ruler as king and never emperor. This prevailed until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I.

On November 11 1918, with his empire collapsing around him, the last Habsburg ruler, Charles I of Austria (who also reigned as Charles IV of Hungary) issued a proclamation recognizing Austria's right to determine the future of the state and renouncing any role in state affairs. Two days later, he issued a separate proclamation for Hungary. Even though he did not officially abdication, this is considered the end of the Habsburg dynasty. In 1919, the new republican Austrian government subsequently passed a law banishing the Habsburgs from Austrian territory until they renounced all intentions of regaining the throne and accepted the status of private citizens. Charles made several attempts to regain the throne of Hungary, and in 1921 the Hungarian government passed a law which revoked Charles' rights and dethroned the Habsburgs.

The Habsburgs did not formally abandon any hope of returning power until Otto von Habsburg, Emperor Charles' eldest son, renounced all claims to the throne. He is still the head of the house of Habsburg today.

The dynasty's motto is "Let others wage wars, but you, happy Austria, shall marry", which indicates the talent of the Habsburgs to have their progeny intermarry into other royal houses, as to make alliances. Empress Maria Theresa is recognised quite notably for it and is sometimes referred as the 'Great-Grandmother of Europe'.

Main line Before Rudolph I of Germany rose to Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburgs were Counts in what is today southwestern Germany and Switzerland.

Ancestors

Counts of Habsburg

German kings

Dukes of Austria In the late Middle Ages, when the Habsburgs expanded their territories in the east, they often ruled as dukes of the Duchy of Austria which covered only what is today Lower Austria and the eastern part of Upper Austria. The Habsburg possessions also included Duchy of Styria, and then expanded west to include Duchy of Carinthia and Carniola in 1335 and Tyrol in 1363. Their original scattered possessions in the southern Alsace, south-western Germany and Vorarlberg were collectively known as Further Austria. The Habsburg dukes gradually lost their homelands south of the Rhine and Lake Constance to the expanding Old Swiss Confederacy. Unless mentioned explicitly, the dukes of Austria also ruled over Further Austria until 1379, after that year, Further Austria was ruled by the Princely Count of Tyrol. Names in italics designate dukes who never actually ruled.



After the death of Rudolph IV, his brothers Albert III of Austria and Leopold III of Austria (Habsburg) ruled the Habsburg possessions together from 1365 until 1379, when they split the territories in the Treaty of Neuberg, Albert keeping the Duchy of Austria and Leopold ruling over Duchy of Styria, Duchy of Carinthia, Carniola, the Windish March, Tyrol, and Further Austria.

Albertine line: Dukes of Austria

Leopoldine line: Dukes of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol

Leopoldine-Inner Austrian sub-line * Ernest of Austria (Habsburg) (der Eiserne), 1406–1424 duke of Inner Austria, until 1411 together and competing with his brother Leopold IV. * Frederick V of Austria (Friedrich), son of Ernst, became Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor in 1440. He was duke of Inner Austria from 1424 on. Guardian of Sigismund of Austria 1439–1446 and of Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary 1440–1452. See also #House of Habsburg. * Albert VI of Austria (Albrecht VI), brother of the above, 1446–1463 regent of Further Austria, duke of Austria 1458–1463 * Ernestine line of Rulers of Saxonys, ancestor of George I of Great Britain-descended from sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopoldine-Tyrol sub-line * Frederick IV of Austria (Friedrich), brother of Ernst, 1402–1439 duke of Tyrol and Further Austria * Sigismund of Austria, also spelled Siegmund or Sigmund, 1439–1446 under the tutelage of the Frederick V above, then duke of Tyrol, and after the death of Albrecht VI in 1463 also duke of Further Austria.

Reuniting of Habsburg possessions Sigismund had no children and adopted Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, son of duke Frederick V (emperor Frederick III). Under Maximilian, the possessions of the Habsburgs would be united again under one ruler, after he had re-conquered the Duchy of Austria after the death of Matthias Corvinus, who resided in Vienna and styled himself duke of Austria from 1485–1490.

German Kings and Holy Roman Emperors previous to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

Kings of Hungary previous to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

Main Line: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

Habsburg Spain: Kings of Spain, Kings of Portugal (1580–1640) See also: Portuguese House of Habsburg

The War of the Spanish Succession took place after the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg line, to determine the inheritance of Charles II.

Austrian Habsburgs: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

Maria Theresa of Austria, Habsburg heiress and wife of emperor Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Kingdom of Hungary and Bohemia 1740–1780.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria Queen Maria Christina of Austria of Spain, great-granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor above. Wife of Alfonso XII of Spain and mother of Alfonso XIII.

The House of Habsburg-Lorraine retained Austria and attached possessions after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire; see below.

A son of Leopold II was Archduke Rainer of Austria whose wife was from the House of Savoy; a daughter Maria Adelaide of Austria was the wife of King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy, and Sardinia and King of Italy. Their Children married into the Royal Houses of Bonaparte; House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha {Braganza {Portugal}; House of Savoy {Spain}; and the Dukedoms ofMontferrat and Chablis.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Grand dukes of Tuscany

Francis Stephen assigned the grand duchy of Tuscany to his second son Peter Leopold, who in turn assigned it to his second son upon his accession as Holy Roman Emperor. Tuscany remained the domain of this cadet branch of the family until Italian unification.



House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Tuscany line, post monarchy

see Line of succession to the Tuscan Throne

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Dukes of Modena The duchy of Modena was assigned to a minor branch of the family by the Congress of Vienna. It was lost to Italian unification.



House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Modena line, post monarchy

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Duchess of Parma The duchy of Parma was likewise assigned to a Habsburg, but did not stay in the House long before succumbing to Italian unification. It was granted to the second wife of Napoleon I of France, Maria Luisa Duchess of Parma, a daughter of the Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the mother of Napoleon II of France. Napoleon had divorced his wife Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie (better known to history as Josephine de Beauharnais) in her favour.



House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Emperor of Mexico Maximilian, an adventurous younger son, was invited as part of Napoleon III's manipulations to take the throne of Mexico. The conservative Mexicans, as well as the clergy, supported this Second Mexican Empire. His consort Charlotte of Belgium, born a Belgian princess of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, encouraged her husbands acceptance of the Mexican crown and accompanied him to Mexico. The adventure did not end well. Maximilian was shot in "Cerro de las Campanas" in 1867 by the democratic forces of Benito Juarez



House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Emperors of Austria

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Heads of the House of Habsburg (post-monarchy) Charles I was expelled from his domains after World War I and the empire was abolished.



see Line of succession to the Austria-Hungary Throne

Burials See Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

Habsburgs as Kings of Hungary The kingship of Kingdom of Hungary remained in the Habsburg family for centuries; but as the kingship was not strictly inherited (Hungary was an elective monarchy till 1687) and was sometimes used as a training ground for young Habsburgs, the dates of rule do not always match those of the primary Habsburg possessions. Therefore, the kings of Hungary are listed separately.

Albertine line: Kings of Hungary

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Hungary

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Kings of Hungary

Habsburgs as Kings of Bohemia The kingship of Bohemia was for centuries a position elected by its nobles. As a result, it was not an automatically inherited position. The king of Bohemia tended to be a Habsburg, but was not always. Hence, the kings of Bohemia and their ruling dates are listed separately.

Main line: Kings of Bohemia Albertine line: Kings of Bohemia

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Bohemia

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Kings of Bohemia From the accession of Maria Theresa, the kingship of Bohemia became united with the Austrian possessions.



Habsburgs as Queens Consort of France From the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, the greatest non-Habsburg power in Europe was usually France. As a result, in usually futile attempts to either unite Europe under the Habsburg family or to prevent French enmity, Habsburg daughters were wed to successive kings of France.

Pre-division Habsburgs

Austrian Habsburgs

Spanish Habsburgs

Habsburg-Lorraine

See also

Further reading

External links

|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-