Habsburg Rule: Austria's Imperial Legacy

The House of Habsburg, also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. The name derives from the Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s in Switzerland.

The Habsburg monarchy, also known as the Habsburg Empire or Habsburg Realm, was a collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century, it is also referred to as the Austrian monarchy or the Danubian monarchy.

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. From that moment, the Habsburg dynasty was also known as the House of Austria.

The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges. They frequently intermarried and ruled distinct territories, with only partial shared laws and institutions other than the Habsburg court itself.

The Habsburgs ruled Austria until 1918, when the titles were abolished or fell into abeyance with the erection of the modern Republic of Austria.

The rise of the Habsburgs in Germany and their acquisition of the Duchy of Austria

The House of Habsburg, also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. The name Habsburg is derived from the castle of Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (“Hawk's Castle”), built in 1020 by Werner, bishop of Strasbourg, and his brother-in-law, Count Radbot, in the Aargau overlooking the Aar River, in what is now Switzerland.

The rise of the Habsburgs in Germany can be traced back to the election of Rudolf I as King of Germany in 1273. Rudolf IV of Habsburg was elected German king as Rudolf I in 1273. In 1282, he bestowed Austria and Styria on his two sons Albert (the future German king Albert I) and Rudolf (reckoned as Rudolf II of Austria). From that date onwards, the Habsburgs were identified with Austria.

Rudolf's sons, Albert and Rudolf, ruled their hereditary domains jointly until Rudolf renounced his share in 1283. However, difficulties arose again when King Albert I died in 1308. After a system of condominium had been tried, Rudolf IV of Austria made a compact with his younger brothers in 1364 that acknowledged the principle of equal rights but secured de facto supremacy for the head of the house. Even so, after Rudolf's death, his brothers Albert III and Leopold III of Austria agreed on a partition (Treaty of Neuberg, 1379): Albert took Austria, and Leopold took Styria, Carinthia, and Tirol.

The acquisition of the Duchy of Austria for the Habsburgs in 1282 was complemented by other gains. Albert I's son Rudolf III of Austria had been king of Bohemia from 1306 to 1307, and his brother Frederick I had been German king as Frederick III (in rivalry or conjointly with Louis IV the Bavarian) from 1314 to 1330. Albert V of Austria was elected king of Hungary, German king (as Albert II), and king of Bohemia in 1438; his only surviving son, Ladislas Posthumus, was also king of Hungary from 1446 and of Bohemia from 1453. Meanwhile, the Styrian line descended from Leopold III had been subdivided into Inner Austrian and Tirolean branches.

Frederick V, senior representative of the Inner Austrian line, was elected German king in 1440 and crowned Holy Roman emperor, as Frederick III, in 1452—the last such emperor to be crowned in Rome. A Habsburg having thus attained the Western world's most exalted secular dignity, a word may be said about the dynasty’s major titles. The imperial title at that time was, for practical purposes, hardly more than a glorification of the title of German king, and the German kingship was, like the Bohemian and the Hungarian, elective. If Habsburg was to succeed Habsburg as emperor continuously from Frederick’s death in 1493 to Charles VI’s accession in 1711, the principal reason was that the hereditary lands of the Habsburgs formed an aggregate large enough and rich enough to enable the dynasty to impose its candidate on the other German electors.

The Habsburgs as Holy Roman Emperors

The Habsburgs were a royal German family and one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. They were one of the principal sovereign dynasties of Europe from the 15th to the 20th century.

The name Habsburg is derived from the castle of Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (meaning "Hawk's Castle" in German), built in 1020 by Werner, bishop of Strasbourg, and his brother-in-law, Count Radbot, in the Aargau overlooking the Aar River, in what is now Switzerland.

The Habsburgs' agelong identification with Austria began in 1282, when Rudolf I of Germany bestowed Austria and Styria on his two sons, who would become German king Albert I and Rudolf II of Austria.

The Habsburgs' dominion expanded dramatically over continental Europe, not only through military conquest but also through carefully chosen marriage alliances.

The Habsburgs' monopoly over the imperial succession was not always foreseeable. For example, they lost the Bohemian and Hungarian kingdoms for nearly 70 years after the death of Ladislas Posthumus in 1457.

The principal reason for their continuous succession from 1493 to 1711 was that their hereditary lands formed an aggregate large enough and rich enough to enable the dynasty to impose its candidate on the other German electors.

The Habsburgs' rule as Holy Roman Emperors ended in 1806, although they continued to rule as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine until their deposition from Austria and Hungary in 1918 following their defeat in World War I.

The Habsburgs' expansion through marriage

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, married Mary of Burgundy, bringing the Burgundian Netherlands into the Habsburg possessions. Their son, Philip the Handsome, married Joanna of Spain (also known as Joanna the Mad), the heiress of Castile and Aragon. Their son, Charles V, inherited the Habsburg Netherlands in 1506, as well as Habsburg Spain and its territories in 1516, and Habsburg Austria in 1519. Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, becoming one of the most powerful rulers in Europe.

The Habsburgs' influence was further expanded through marriages with families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They also gained high positions in the church hierarchy for their members.

The zenith of Habsburg power under Charles V

Charles V's dominions included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. In the Americas, he oversaw the continuation of Spanish colonisation and a short-lived German colonisation.

Charles V was the first ruler to be referred to as the head of an empire "on which the sun never sets". He inherited the Austrian hereditary lands in 1519 and was elected Holy Roman Emperor in the same year. He was also King of Spain from 1516 to 1556.

Charles V's power was so extensive that he was constantly travelling to maintain control of his vast empire. He made 40 journeys through the different entities he ruled and spent a quarter of his reign travelling within his realms. He spent 10,000 days in the Low Countries, 6,500 days in Spain, 3,000 days in Germany, and 1,000 days in Italy.

Charles V's power was not without its challenges, however. He spent most of his life waging war, exhausting his revenues and leaving debts in his attempt to defend the integrity of the Holy Roman Empire from the Protestant Reformation, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and in wars with France. He relied on the wealth of the Low Countries and the flow of silver from New Spain and Peru, brought under his rule following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires, to fund his military campaigns.

Charles V's expansionist and aggressive policy, in combination with the brutal behaviours of the Landsknechte, would leave an indelible mark on his neighbours' impression of the German polity. Ultimately, he was unable to prevent the religious division of Germany and the rise of Protestantism. He also failed to halt the advance of the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean and central Europe.

In 1556, Charles V divided the Habsburg empire between a senior Spanish line and a German-Austrian branch. He gave Spain and the Spanish Empire in the Americas to his son, Philip II, and the Holy Roman Empire to his brother, Ferdinand.

The division of the House into Austrian and Spanish branches

The Habsburg dynasty split into the Austrian (or German) and Spanish branches following the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556. Charles's son, Philip, became King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire and its colonial possessions, while his brother, Ferdinand, became the ruler of the Austrian Empire, which included the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Bohemia, and various other lands.

The Spanish branch, also known as the Philippine dynasty, held all of Iberia, the Netherlands, and lands in Italy. This branch became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch, meanwhile, was itself divided between different branches of the family from 1564 until 1665, after which it remained a single personal union. The Austrian branch became extinct in the male line in 1740 but continued through the female line as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

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