House of Habsburg

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House of Habsburg
Austria,Hungary, Portugal, Mexico, Bohemia, and Spain
Country: Austria,Hungary, Spain
Titles: Monarch of Austria, King of Castile, King of Aragon, King of Spain, Monarch of Hungary, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Mexico
Founder: Otto II, Count of Habsburg
Final ruler: Maria Theresa in Austria
Charles II in Spain
Current head: None. Habsburg line merged with House of Lorraine to become House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Founding year: 1100s AD
Dissolution: 1780 in Austria, 1700 in Spain, 1640 deposed in Portugal
Ethnicity: Austrian, Spanish, German
Cadet branches: Leopoldian line

Albertine line
Spanish Habsburgs

Coats of arms of a Habsburg Emperor showing the variety of his territories.
Coats of arms of a Habsburg Emperor showing the variety of his territories.
Arms of the Ducal House of Hohenberg-descended from Franz Ferdinard and Sophia Choteck
Arms of the Ducal House of Hohenberg-descended from Franz Ferdinard and Sophia Choteck

Habsburg (sometimes anglicized to "Hapsburg") and the successor family, Habsburg-Lorraine, were important ruling houses of Europe and are best known as the ruling House of Spain and the ruling Houses of Austria (and the Austrian Empire and its successors) where the dynasty reigned for over six centuries.

Aside from inherited dignities and lands, the dynasty's members were frequently elected to be the "Emperor of the Romans", who nominally led the far flung, fragmented and factional states of the Holy Roman Empire, including the roughly 1800 states of the Germanies.

Their principal roles were as:


Other crowns held briefly by the House included:

  • King-consort of England (1554–1558)
  • Dukes of Parma (1814–1847)
  • Dukes of Modena (1814–1859)
  • Emperor of Mexico (1864–1867)
  • Queen consort of France and Navarre (later retitle of the French) (1774-1792)
  • Empress consort of the French (1810-1814)
  • Queens consort of Portugal and the Algarve (1518-1521, 1525-1557, 1708-1750 and 1826)
  • Empress consort of Brazil (1822-1826)

Numerous other titles were attached to the crowns listed above.

Contents

[edit] A brief history of the House of Habsburg

[edit] From Counts of Habsburg to Roman Emperors

The Habsburg dominions around AD 1200 are shown as     Habsburg, among the houses of      Savoy,     Zähringer and     Kyburg
The Habsburg dominions around AD 1200 are shown as     Habsburg, among the houses of     Savoy,     Zähringer and     Kyburg
The Habsburg dominions within the Holy Roman Empire acquired before AD 1378 are shown as     Habsburg, among the houses of     Luxembourg and     Wittelsbach
The Habsburg dominions within the Holy Roman Empire acquired before AD 1378 are shown as     Habsburg, among the houses of     Luxembourg and     Wittelsbach

The dynasty is named after the seat of origin, the Habsburg castle in the Swiss Canton of Aargau. The origins of the name of the castle are uncertain. Most people assume the name to be derived from the High German Habichtsburg (Hawk Castle), but some historians and linguists are convinced that the name comes from the Middle High German word 'hab/ hap' meaning ford, as there is a river with a ford nearby. The first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108.[1][2][3] The Habsburg (aka Hapsburg) Castle was the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries in the former duchy of Swabia, which incorporated present-day Aargau, at the time of the 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, heiress of Burgundy, Maximilian I acquired control of the low countries. His son Philip the Handsome married Juana, heiress of Spain, so that Philip's son Charles V inherited Spain, Southern Italy, Austria and the Low Countries. In 1580 Charles' son Philip II inherited Portugal and its colonies.

Under Maximilian II, 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.

[edit] Division of the House: Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs

A map of the dominion of the Habsburgs following the Battle of Mühlberg (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.
A map of the dominion of the Habsburgs following the Battle of Mühlberg (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 from his brother Emperor Charles V (also King Charles I of Spain) (1516–1556), the dynasty split into one Austrian and one Spanish branch. 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. Hungary, nominally under Habsburg kingship from 1526 but mostly under Ottoman 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) had married Francis Stephan, Duke of Lorraine, (both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III, but from different empresses) and their descendants carried on the Habsburg tradition from Vienna under the dynastic name Habsburg-Lorraine. (see Dukes of Lorraine family tree) (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.)

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine: the Austrian Empire

House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Austria and Hungary
Country: Austria, Hungary
Parent house: House of Lorraine
Titles: Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Emperor of Austria
Founder: Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Final ruler: Karl I of Austria
Current head: Otto von Habsburg
Founding year: 1780
Dissolution: 1918
Ethnicity: Austrian, Hungarian, German
Cadet branches: House of Austria-Este

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 I of Austria used the official great title: "We, Francis the First, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; King of Jerusalem, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Würzburg, Franconia, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola; Grand Duke of Cracow; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Sandomir, Masovia, Lublin, Upper and Lower Silesia, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen, and Friule; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia, and Gradisca and of the Tyrol; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria".

Under the terms of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 effective autonomy was given to Hungary (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 (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 abdicate, 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 to as the 'Great-Grandmother of Europe'.

[edit] Family tree

This family tree only includes male scions of the direct House of Habsburg who survived to adulthood.

[edit] Main line

Before Rudolph rose to German king, the Habsburgs were Counts in what is today southwestern Germany and Switzerland.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] Counts of Habsburg

[edit] German kings

  • Rudolph I was king of Germany (an elective position) from 1273–1291.

[edit] 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 Styria, and then expanded west to include 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.

  • Rudolph II, son of Rudolph I, duke of Austria and Styria together with his brother 1282–1283, was dispossessed by his brother, who eventually would be murdered by one of Rudolph's sons.
  • Albert I (Albrecht I), son of Rudolph I and brother of the above, duke from 1282–1308; was Holy Roman Emperor from 1298–1308. See also below.
  • Rudolph III, oldest son of Lenihan I, designated duke of Austria and Styria 1298–1307
  • Frederick the Handsome (Friedrich der Schöne), brother of Rudolph III. Duke of Austria and Styria (with his brother Leopold I) from 1308–1330; officially co-regent of emperor Louis IV since 1325, but never ruled.
  • Leopold I, brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria from 1308–1326.
  • Albert II (Albrecht II), brother of the above, duke of Vorderösterreich from 1326–1358, duke of Austria and Styria 1330–1358, duke of Carinthia after 1335.
  • Otto the Jolly (der Fröhliche), brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria 1330–1339 (together with his brother), duke of Carinthia after 1335.
  • Rudolph IV the Founder (der Stifter), oldest son of Albert II. Duke of Austria and Styria 1358–1365, Duke of Tyrol after 1363.

After the death of Rudolph IV, his brothers Albert III and Leopold III 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 Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Windish March, Tyrol, and Further Austria.

[edit] Albertine line: Dukes of Austria

  • Albert III (Albrecht III), duke of Austria until 1395, from 1386 (after the death of Leopold) until 1395 also ruled over the latter's possessions.
  • Albert IV (Albrecht IV), duke of Austria 1395–1404, in conflict with Leopold IV.
  • Albert V (Albrecht V), duke of Austria 1404–1439, Holy Roman Emperor from 1438–1439 as Albert II. See also below.
  • Ladislaus Posthumus, son of the above, duke of Austria 1440–1457.

[edit] Leopoldine line: Dukes of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol

[edit] Leopoldine-Inner Austrian sub-line

[edit] Leopoldine-Tyrol sub-line

  • Frederick IV (Friedrich), brother of Ernst, 1402–1439 duke of Tyrol and Further Austria
  • Sigismund, 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.

[edit] Reuniting of Habsburg possessions

Sigismund had no children and adopted Maximilian I, 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.

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

[edit] Kings of Hungary previous to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

[edit] Main Line: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

[edit] Spanish Habsburgs: 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.

[edit] Austrian Habsburgs: Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria

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

[edit] 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 of the House of Bourbon. Alfonso XIII's wife Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was descended from King George I of Great Britain from the Habsburg Leopold Line {above}.

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 Adelaide, Queen of Sardina 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 of Montferrat and Chablis.

[edit] 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.

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Tuscany line, post monarchy

see Line of succession to the Tuscan Throne

[edit] 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.

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Modena line, post monarchy

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Empress consort of France

  • Marie Louise of Austria 1810-1814

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, becoming Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. The conservative Mexicans, as well as the clergy, supported this Second Mexican Empire. His consort, Empress Carlota of Mexico, born a Belgian princess of the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, encouraged her husband's 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 republican forces of Benito Juarez.

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Emperors of Austria

[edit] 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

[edit] Burials

See Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

[edit] Habsburgs as Kings of Hungary

The kingship 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.

[edit] Albertine line: Kings of Hungary

[edit] Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Hungary

[edit] House of Habsburg-Lorraine, main line: Kings of Hungary

[edit] Habsburgs as Kings of Bohemia

The kingship of Bohemia was from 1306 a position elected by its nobles. As a result, it was not an automatically inherited position. Until rule of the Ferdinand I Habsburgs didn't gain hereditary accession to the throne and were shifted by other dynasties. Hence, the kings of Bohemia and their ruling dates are listed separately.

[edit] Main line: Kings of Bohemia

[edit] Albertine line: Kings of Bohemia

[edit] Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Bohemia

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Pre-division Habsburgs

[edit] Austrian Habsburgs

[edit] Spanish Habsburgs

[edit] Habsburg-Lorraine

[edit] Habsburgs as Queens Consort of Portugal

Due to its proximaty (geographic, strategic and religious) the Habsburgs always consolidated their aliances with the portuguese Royal House of Aviz, which gave them this Kingdom in 1580. When the Braganzas expelled the Spanish Habsburgs (1640), new alliances were set-up, this time with the Austrian Habsburgs.

[edit] Pre-division Habsburgs

[edit] Austrian Habsburgs

[edit] Habsburg-Lorraine

  • Marie Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria (1797-1826), first wife of Peter I, Emperor of Brazil, also known as Peter IV, King of Portugal. Marie Leopoldina was Marie Louise younger sister.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Brewer-Ward, Daniel A. The House of Habsburg: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Empress Maria Theresia. Clearfield, 1996.
  • Evans, Robert J. W. The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550-1700: An Interpretation. Clarendon Press, 1979.
  • McGuigan, Dorothy Gies. The Habsburgs. Doubleday, 1966.
  • Wandruszka, Adam. The House of Habsburg: Six Hundred Years of a European Dynasty. Doubleday, 1964 (Greenwood Press, 1975).
  • Crankshaw, Edward. The Fall of the House of Habsburg. Sphere Books Limited, London, 1970. (first published by Longmans in 1963)
  • Palmer Alan. "Napoleón and Marie Louise" Ariel Mexico 2003

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Habsburger-Gedenkjahr im Aargau," Neue Zürcher Zeitung, (page 17) 23 May 2008.
  2. ^ [[1]]
  3. ^ [[2]]

[edit] External links

ROYAL HOUSE
House of Habsburg
Founding year: 12th century
Preceded by
Přemyslid dynasty
Ruling House of the Duchy of Austria
1282–1453
Duchy Elevated
Became Archduchy
New title Ruling House of Archduchy of Austria
1453–1780
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Extinction of direct male line
Preceded by
House of Jagiellon
Ruling House of Kingdom of Hungary
1526–1780
Ruling House of Kingdom of Bohemia
1526–1780
Preceded by
House of Aviz
Ruling House of Kingdom of Portugal
1580–1640
Succeeded by
House of Braganza
Preceded by
House of Trastámara
Ruling House of Kingdom of Spain
1504–1700
Succeeded by
House of Bourbon
Preceded by
House of Valois
Ruling House of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands
1477–1700
Preceded by
House of Bourbon
Ruling House of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands
1713–1780
Succeeded by
House of Habsburg Lorraine
ROYAL HOUSE
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Preceded by
House of Habsburg
Ruling House of the Archduchy of Austria
1780–1804
Archduchy Elevated
Became Empire
Ruling House of Kingdom of Bohemia
1780–1918
Monarchy Abolished
Ruling House of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands
1780–1795
Duchy Abolished
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Hungary
1780–1849
Kingdom incorporated into Empire of Austria
Kingdom given autonomy as part of Ausgleich Ruling House of the Kingdom of Hungary
1867–1918
Monarchy Abolished
New title Ruling House of the Empire of Austria
1804–1918
Preceded by
House of Bonaparte
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia
1815–1866
Kingdom Abolished
Italy united under the House of Savoy
New title
Last held by House of Iturbide
Ruling House of the Empire of Mexico
1864–1867
Empire Abolished



 

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