Habsburg

Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe.

A brief history of the House of Habsburg

From Counts of Habsburg to Holy Roman Emperors

The name is derived from the Swiss Habichtsburg (Hawk Castle), the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries at Habsburg, Switzerland (Switzerland did not then exist in its present form, and the Swiss lands were part of the mainly Germanic Holy Roman Empire). From South-East-Germany the family extended its influence and holdings to the eastern 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).

Related Topics:
11th - 12th - 13th centuries - Habsburg, Switzerland - Holy Roman Empire - Austria - 1278 - 1382 - 1273 - 1291 - 1298 - 1308 - 1438 - 1740 - 1745 - 1806

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After the marriage of Maximilian I with Mary, heiress of Burgundy (the Low Countries) and the marriage of his son Philipp the Handsome with Juana, heiress of Spain and its newly-founded empire, Charles V inherited an empire where "the sun does not set".

Related Topics:
Maximilian I - Mary - Burgundy - Philipp the Handsome - Juana - Spain - Charles V

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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.

Related Topics:
Maximilian II - Schönbrunn Palace - Vienna

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Division of the House: Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs

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 family split into the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish Habsburgs. 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.

Related Topics:
April 21 - 1521 - Ferdinand I - Charles V - 1516 - 1556 - Austrian Habsburgs - Spanish Habsburgs - Holy Roman Emperor - Hungary - 1526 - Ottoman - 1683 - 1699

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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. (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.)

Related Topics:
1700 - War of the Spanish Succession - 1740 - War of the Austrian Succession - Maria Theresa - Francis Stephan - Duke of Lorraine - Ferdinand III - Vienna

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House of Habsburg-Lorraine: the Austrian Empire

On August 6 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was wound up 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 France on May 18, 1804.

Related Topics:
August 6 - 1806 - Napoleon I - Germany - Emperor of Austria - August 11 - 1804 - May 18

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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 Kraków; 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".

Related Topics:
Francis I - King of Jerusalem - Hungary - Bohemia - Dalmatia - Croatia - Slavonia - Galicia - Lodomeria - Austria - Lorraine - Salzburg - Würzburg - Franconia - Styria - Carinthia - Carniola - Kraków - Transylvania - Moravia - Sandomir - Masovia - Lublin - Silesia - Auschwitz - Zator - Teschen - Friule - Berchtesgaden - Mergentheim - Gorizia - Gradisca - Tyrol - Lusatia - Istria

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In 1867 effective autonomy was given to Hungary under the terms of the Ausgleich or "compromise" (see Austria-Hungary) until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I.

Related Topics:
1867 - Ausgleich - Austria-Hungary - 1918 - World War I

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The current head of the Habsburg family is Otto von Habsburg, Emperor Karl's eldest son.

Related Topics:
Otto von Habsburg - Emperor Karl's

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