House of Habsburg

The House of Habsburg, also spelled Hapsburg, was one of the most important royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740. The house also produced kings of Bohemia, England, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, as well as rulers of several Dutch and Italian countries.

The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland by Count Radbot of Klettgau, who chose to name his fortress Habsburg. His grandson, Otto II, was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "Count of Habsburg" to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

By 1276, Count Radbot's seventh generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg, had moved the family's power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918.

A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to vastly expand its domains, to include Burgundy, Spain and her colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary, and other territories into the inheritance. In the 16th century, the family separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches, who settled their mutual claims in the Oñate treaty.

The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century. The senior branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. The remaining branch went extinct in the male line in 1740 with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and completely in 1780 with the death of his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, and was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine. The new successor house styled itself formally as House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Habsburg-Lothringen), although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg.

Principal roles
Their principal roles were as:
 * King of the Romans
 * Holy Roman Emperors
 * King of Germany
 * Rulers of Austria (as Dukes, Archdukes after 1453)
 * King of Bohemia (1306–1307, 1437–1439, 1453–1457, 1526–1918),
 * Kings of Hungary and Croatia (1526–1918),
 * Kings of Spain (1516–1700),
 * King of Portugal (1580–1640),
 * King of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772–1918), and
 * Grand Prince of Transylvania (1690–1867).

Numerous other titles were attached to the crowns listed above.

Counts of Habsburg


The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram the Rich, a count in Breisgau who lived in the 10th century. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, after which the Habsburgs are named. The origins of the castle's name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, 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. The Habsburg Castle was the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau, Aargau and Thurgau. In the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to gain high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other noble families such as the House of Kyburg.

Kings of the Romans
By the second half of 13th century, count Rudolph IV (1218–1291) had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between Vosges mountains and Lake Constance. Due to these impressive preconditions, on 1 October 1273 Rudolph was chosen as the King of the Romans and received the name Rudolph I of Germany.

In 1282, the Habsburgs gained the rulership of the Duchy of Austria, which they then held for over 600 years, until 1918. Through the forged Privilegium Maius document (1358/59), a special bond was created between the House and Austria. The document, forged at the behest of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339–1365), also attempted to introduce rules to preserve the unity of the family's Austrian lands. In the long term, this indeed succeeded, but Rudolph's descendants ignored the rule, leading to the separation of the Albertian and Leopoldian family lines in 1379.

By marrying Elisabeth of Luxembourg, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1437, Duke Albert V (1397–1439) became the ruler of Bohemia and Hungary, expanding the family's political horizons. The next year, Albert V was crowned as the King of the Romans as Albert II. After his early death in war with the Turks in 1439, and after the death of his son Ladislaus Postumus in 1457, the Habsburgs lost Bohemia and Hungary again. National kingdoms were established in these areas, and the Habsburgs were not able to restore their influence there for decades.

Holy Roman Emperors


In 1440, Frederick III was chosen by the Electoral College to succeed Albert II as the king. After several Habsburg kings had attempted to gain the imperial throne over the years, success finally arrived on 19 March 1452, when Pope Nicholas V crowned Frederick III as the Holy Roman Emperor in a grand ceremony held in Rome. In Frederick III, the Pope found an important political ally with whose help he was able to counter the conciliar movement.

While in Rome, Frederick III married Eleanor of Portugal, enabling him to build a network of connections with dynasties in the west and southeast of Europe. In contrast to Frederick, who was rather distant to his family, Eleanor had a great influence on the raising and education of Frederick's children, and therefore played an important role in the family's rise to prominence. After Frederick III's coronation, the Habsburgs were able to hold the imperial throne almost continuously for centuries, until 1806.

As Emperor, Frederick III took a leading role inside the family and positioned himself as the judge over the family's internal conflicts, often making use of the privilegium maius. He was able to restore the unity of the house's Austrian lands, as the Albertinian line was now extinct. Territorial integrity was also strengthened by the extinction of the Tirolian branch of the Leopoldian line in 1490/1496. Frederick's aim was to make Austria a united country, stretching from Rhine to Murr and Leitha.

On the external front, one of Frederick's main achievements was the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), in which he forced Charles the Bold of Burgundy to give his daughter Mary of Burgundy as wife to Frederick's son Maximilian. The wedding, which took place on the evening of August 16, 1477, ultimately resulted in the Habsburgs acquiring control of the Low Countries. After Mary's early death in 1482, Maximilian attempted to secure the Burgundian heritance to one of his and Mary's children, Philip the Handsome. Charles VIII of France contested this, using both military and dynastic means, but the Burgundian succession was finally ruled in favour of Philip in the Treaty of Senlis in 1493.

After the death of his father in 1493, Maximilian was proclaimed the new King of the Romans, receiving the name Maximilian I. Maximilian was initially unable to travel to Rome to receive the Imperial title from the Pope, due to opposition from Venice and from the French, who were occupying Milan, as well a refusal from the Pope due to enemy forces being present on his territory. In 1508, Maximilian proclaimed himself as the "chosen Emperor", and this was also recognized by the Pope due to changes in political alliances. This had a historical consequence in that in the future, the Roman King would also automatically become Emperor, without needing the Pope's consent. In 1530, Emperor Charles V, became the last person to be crowned as the Emperor by the Pope.

Maximilian's rule (1493–1519) was a time of great expansion for the Habsburgs. In 1497, Maximilian's son, Philip the Handsome (also known as Phillip the Fair) married Joanna of Castile, also known as Joan the Mad, heiress of Castile, Aragon and most of Spain. Phillip and Joan had six children, the eldest of whom became Charles V and inherited the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, including their colonies in America; Southern Italy, Austria and the Low Countries.

The foundations for the later empire of Austria-Hungary were laid in 1515 by the means of a double wedding between Louis, only son of Vladislaus II, King of Hungary, and Maximilian's granddaughter Mary; and between her brother, Archduke Ferdinand and Vladislaus' daughter, Anna. The wedding was celebrated in grand style on 22 July 1515, and has been described by some historians as the First Congress of Vienna due to its significant implications for Europe's political landscape. As all the children were still minors, the wedding was formally completed in 1521. Vladislaus died on 13 March 1516, and Maximilian died on 12 January 1519, but his designs were ultimately successful: on Louis's death in 1526, Maximilian's grandson, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, became the King of Bohemia.

By the time of Charles V the "World Emperor" and his "empire on which the sun never sets", the Habsburg dynasty achieved, for the first and only time in their history, the position of a true world power.

Division of the house: Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs


After the April 21, 1521 assignment of the Austrian lands to Ferdinand I by his brother Emperor Charles V (also King Charles I of Spain) (1516–1556), the dynasty split into the junior branch of the Austrian Habsburgs and the senior branch of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Austrian Habsburgs held the title of Holy Roman Emperor after Charles' death in 1558, as well as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary.

The senior Spanish branch ruled over Spain, its Italian possessions and its colonial empire, the Netherlands, and, for a time (1580-1640), Portugal. Hungary was partly under Habsburg rule from 1526. For 150 years most of the country was occupied by the Ottoman Turks but these territories were re-conquered in 1683–1699.

In the secret Oñate treaty, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs settled their mutual claims. The Spanish Habsburgs died out in 1700 (prompting the War of the Spanish Succession), as did the last male of the Austrian Habsburg line in 1740 (prompting the War of the Austrian Succession), and finally the last female of the Habsburg male line in 1780.

Extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs
The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by the frequent use of consanguineous marriages, with ultimately disastrous results for their gene pool. Marriages between first cousins, or between uncle and niece, were commonplace in the family. A study of 3,000 family members over 16 generations by the University of Santiago de Compostela suggests that inbreeding directly led to their extinction. The gene pool eventually became so small that the last of the Spanish line Charles II, who was severely disabled by genetic disorders, possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, likely due to "remote inbreeding".

Extinction of the Austrian Habsburgs
The Austrian branch went extinct in the male person in 1740 with the death of Charles VI and in the female person in 1780 with the death of his daughter Maria Theresa and was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine in the person of her son Joseph II. The new successor house styled itself formally as House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Habsburg-Lothringen), although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. The heiress of the last Austrian Habsburgs 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, although technically a new ruling house came into existence in the Austrian territories, the House of Lorraine (see Dukes of Lorraine family tree). It is thought that extensive intra-family marriages within both lines contributed to their extinctions.

Habsburg-Lorraine
On August 6, 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved under the French Emperor Napoleon I's reorganization 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) on 11 August 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of the French on 18 May 1804.

Emperor Francis I of Austria used the official full list of titles: "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".

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 created a personal union, whereby the House of Habsburg agreed to share power with the separate Hungarian government, dividing the territory of the former Austrian Empire between them. The Austrian and the Hungarian lands became independent entities enjoying equal status Under this arrangement, the Hungarians referred to their ruler as king and never emperor (see k. u. k.). This prevailed until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I.

On 11 November 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 all hope of returning to power until Otto von Habsburg, Emperor Charles' eldest son, renounced all claims to the throne.

The dynasty's motto, "Leave the waging of wars to others! But you, happy Austria, marry; for the realms which Mars awards to others, Venus transfers to you.", indicates the knack of the Habsburgs to have members intermarry into other royal houses in order to build alliances and inherit territory. Empress Maria Theresa is recognized quite notably for it and is sometimes referred to as the "Great-Grandmother of Europe".

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



Similarly, this family tree only includes male scions of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine who survived to adulthood:



Monarchs of the House of Habsburg
A word about the coats of arms: the Habsburg Empire was never composed of a single unified and unitary state as Bourbon France, Hohenzollern Germany, or Great Britain was. It was made up of an accretion of territories that owed their historic loyalty to the head of the house of Habsburg as hereditary lord. The Habsburgs had mostly married the heiresses of these territories, most famously of Spain and the Netherlands. They used their arms then as a statement of their right to rule all these territories. As there were many territories, so their arms were complex and reflected the waxing and waning position of the Habsburgs within European power politics. It was not until the 19th century (see below Arms of Dominion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) that the arms began to take on their own life as symbols of a state which may have an existence outside of the Habsburg dynast. A complete listing of the arms can be found at the Habsburg Armory.

Ancestors

 * Guntram the Rich (ca. 930–985 / 990) Father of:
 * Lanzelin of Altenburg (died 991). Besides Radbot, he had sons named Rudolph I, Wernher, and Landolf.

Counts of Habsburg


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


 * Radbot of Klettgau, built the Habsburg Castle (ca. 985–1035). Besides Werner I, he had two other sons: Otto I, who would become Count of Sundgau in the Alsace, and Albrecht I.
 * Werner I, Count of Habsburg (1025 / 1030–1096). Besides Otto II, there was another son, Albert II, who was reeve of Muri from 1111–1141 after the death of Otto II.
 * Otto II of Habsburg; first to name himself as "of Habsburg" (died 1111) Father of:
 * Werner II of Habsburg (around 1135; died 1167) Father of:
 * Albrecht III of Habsburg (the Rich), died 1199. Under him, the Habsburg territories expanded to cover most of what is today the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Father of:
 * Rudolph II of Habsburg (b. c. 1160, died 1232) Father of:
 * Albrecht IV of Habsburg, (died 1239 / 1240); father of Rudolph IV of Habsburg, who would later become king Rudolph I of Germany. Between Albrecht IV and his brother Rudolph III, the Habsburg properties were split, with Albrecht keeping the Aargau and the western parts, the eastern parts going to Rudolph III. Albrecht IV was also a mutual ancestor of Sophia Chotek and of her husband Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Dukes/Archdukes 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 (Niederösterreich) and the eastern part of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich). The Habsburg possessions also included the rest of what was then called Inner Austria (Innerösterreich), i.e. the Duchy of Styria, and then expanded west to include the Duchy of Carinthia and Carniola in 1335 and the Count of Tirol in 1363. Their original scattered possessions in the southern Alsace, south-western Germany and Vorarlberg were collectively known as Further Austria.

The senior Habsburg dynast generally ruled Lower Austria from Vienna as archduke ("paramount duke") of Duchy of Austria. The Styrian lands had already been ruled in personal union by the Babenberg dukes of Austria since 1192 and were finally seized with the Austrian lands by the Habsburg king Rudolph I of Germany upon his victory in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld. In 1335 Rudolph's grandson Duke Albert II of Austria also received the Carinthian duchy with the adjacent March of Carniola at the hands of Emperor Louis the Bavarian as Imperial fiefs.

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.

When Albert's son Duke Rudolf IV of Austria in 1365, his younger brothers Albert III and Leopold III quarelled about his heritage and in the Treaty of Neuberg of 1379 finally split the Habsburg territories: The Albertinian line would rule in the Archduchy of Austria proper (then sometimes referred to as "Lower Austria" (Niederösterreich), but comprising modern Lower Austria and most of Upper Austria), while the Leopoldian line ruled in the Styrian, Carinthian and Carniolan territories, subsumed under the denotation of "Inner Austria". At that time their share also comprised Tyrol and the original Habsburg possessions in Swabia, called Further Austria; sometimes both were collectively referred to as "Upper Austria" (Oberösterreich) in that context, also not to be confused with the modern state of that name.

After the death of Leopold's eldest son William in 1406, the Leopoldinian line was further split among his brothers into the Inner Austrian territory under Ernest the Iron and a Tyrolean/Further Austrian line under Frederick IV. In 1457 Ernest's son Duke Frederick V of Inner Austria also gained the Austrian archduchy after his Albertine cousin Ladislaus the Posthumous had died without issue. 1490 saw the reunification of all Habsburg lines, when Archduke Sigismund of Further Austria and Tyrol resigned in favour of Frederick's son Maximilian I. In 1512, the Habsburg territories were incorporated into the Imperial Austrian Circle.

Archduke of Austria, was invented in the Privilegium Maius, a 14th-century forgery initiated by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria. Originally, it was meant to denote the "ruler" (thus "Arch-") of the duchy of Austria, usually from Vienna, in an effort to put the Habsburgs on a par with the Prince-electors, as Austria had been passed as hereditary prince-electors of the empire when the Golden Bull of 1356 assigned that title to the highest ranking Imperial princes. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV refused to recognise the title.

The archducal title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor Frederick III. Emperor Frederick III himself used just "Duke of Austria", never Archduke, until his death in 1493. The title was first granted to Frederick's younger brother, Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463), who used it at least from 1458.

In 1477, Frederick III also granted the title archduke to his first cousin, Sigismund of Austria, ruler of Further Austria. Frederick's son and heir, the future Emperor Maximilian I, started to use the title, but apparently only after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy (d. 1482), as Archduke never appears in documents issued jointly by Maximilian and Mary as rulers in the Low Countries (where Maximilian is still titled "Duke of Austria"). The title appears first in documents issued under the joint rule of Maximilian and Philip (his under-age son) in the Low Countries.

Archduke was initially borne by those dynasts who ruled a Habsburg territory, i.e., only by males and their consorts, appanages being commonly distributed to cadets. But these "junior" archdukes did not thereby become independent hereditary rulers, since all territories remained vested in the Austrian crown. Occasionally a territory might be combined with a separate gubernatorial mandate ruled by an archducal cadet.

From the 16th century onward, archduke and its female form, archduchess, came to be used by all the members of the House of Habsburg (e.g., Queen Marie Antoinette of France was born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria.


 * 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 Albert 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 Further Austria 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 Tirol 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 Windic March, Tirol, and Further Austria.

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.

Leopoldine line: Dukes of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol



 * Leopold III, duke of Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, and Further Austria until 1386, when he was killed in the Battle of Sempach.
 * William (Wilhelm), son of the above, 1386–1406 duke in Inner Austria (Carinthia, Styria)
 * Leopold IV, son of Leopold III, 1391 regent of Further Austria, 1395–1402 duke of Tyrol, after 1404 also duke of Austria, 1406–1411 duke of Inner Austria

Leopoldine-Inner Austrian sub-line

 * Ernest the Iron (der Eiserne), 1406–1424 duke of Inner Austria, until 1411 together and competing with his brother Leopold IV.
 * Frederick V (Friedrich), son of Ernst, became emperor Frederick III in 1440. He was duke of Inner Austria from 1424 on. Guardian of Sigismund 1439–1446 and of Ladislaus Posthumus 1440–1452. See also below.
 * Albert VI (Albrecht VI), brother of the above, 1446–1463 regent of Further Austria, duke of Austria 1458–1463
 * Ernestine line of Saxon princes, ancestor of George I of Great Britain-descended from sister of Frederick III; also Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse King of Finland 1918

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.

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.

King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperors prior to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

 * Rudolph I, emperor 1273–1291 (never crowned) Emporer Rudolf I Arms.svg
 * Albert I, emperor 1298–1308 (never crowned) Armoiries empereur Albert Ier.svg
 * Albert II, emperor 1438–1439 (never crowned) -ancestor of Empress Catherine II of Russia Armoiries empereur Albert II.svg
 * Frederick III, emperor 1440–1493 Armoiries empereur Frédéric III.svg

Kings of Hungary prior to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions

 * Albert, king of Hungary 1437–1439 Armoiries Albert II de Habsbourg.svg
 * Ladislaus V Posthumus, king of Hungary 1444–1457

Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria




The title Archduke of Austria, the one most famously associated with the Habsburgs, was invented in the Privilegium Maius, a 14th-century forgery initiated by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria. Originally, it was meant to denote the ruler of the (thus 'Arch')duchy of Austria, in an effort to put that ruler on par with the Prince-electors, as Austria had been passed over in the Golden Bull of 1356, when the electorships had been assigned. Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV refused to recognize the title. Ladislaus the Posthumous, Duke of Austria, who died in 1457, was never in his lifetime authorized to use it, and accordingly, not he nor anyone in his branch of the dynasty ever used the title.

Duke Ernest the Iron and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title "archduke". This title was only officially recognized in 1453 by his son, Emperor Frederick III, when the Habsburgs had (permanently) gained control of the office of the Holy Roman Emperor. Emperor Frederick III himself used just Duke of Austria, never Archduke, until his death in 1493.

Frederick's son and heir, the future Emperor Maximilian I, started to use the title, but apparently only after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy (died 1482) as the title never appears in documents of joint Maximilian and Mary rule in the Low Countries (where Maximilian is still titled Duke of Austria). The title appears first in documents of joint Maximilian and Philip (his under-age son) rule in the Low Countries. It only gained currency with Charles V and the descendants of his brother, the Emperor Frederick.


 * Maximilian I, emperor 1508–1519 Armoiries Maximilien Ier.png CoA Maximilian I of Habsburg.svg


 * Charles V, emperor 1519–1556, his arms are explained in an article about them Arms of Charles II of Spain (1668-1700).svg  [[File:Arms of Charles I of Spain, Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor-Or shield variant (1530-1556).svg|50px]]

Titular Dukes of Burgundy, Lords of the Netherlands


The reigning duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was the chief political opponent of Maximilian's father Frederick III. Charles controlled not only Burgundy (both dukedom and county), but the wealthy and powerful Netherlands, the real center of his power. Frederick was concerned about Burgundy's expansive tendencies on the western border of his Holy Roman Empire, and to forestall military conflict, he attempted to secure the marriage of Charles's only daughter, Mary of Burgundy, to his son Maximilian. After the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), he was successful. The wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on the evening of 16 August 1477, after the death of Charles. Mary and the Habsburgs lost the Duchy of Burgundy to France, but managed to defend and hold onto the rest what became the 17 provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands. After Mary's death in 1482, Maximilian acted as regent for his son:


 * Philip the Handsome (1482–1506) Arms of Philip IV of Burgundy.svg


 * Charles V (1506–1555) Arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as Heir of Philip the Handsome.svg


 * Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy, regent (1507–1515) and (1519–1530) CoA Margaret of Austria 1501-1530.svg


 * Mary of Hungary, dowager queen of Hungary, sister of Charles V, governor of the Netherlands, 1531–1555 Blason marie de hongrie 4.svg Coat of Arms of Mary of Austria as Queen of Hungary.svg


 * Margaret of Parma, illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Duchess of Parma, and mother of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, governor 1559–1567 Coat of Arms of Margareth of Parma Before her Marriage.svg


 * Don John of Austria, illegitimate son of Charles V, victor of Lepanto, governor of the Netherlands, 1576–1578 Coat of Arms of John of Austria (1545-1578).svg


 * Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, son of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Netherlands, 1578–1592 Armoiries Parme 1586.svg

The Netherlands were frequently governed directly by a regent or governor-general, who was a collateral member of the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs controlled the 17 Provinces of the Netherlands until the Dutch Revolt in the second half of the 16th century, when they lost the seven northern Protestant provinces. They held onto the southern Catholic part (roughly modern Belgium and Luxembourg) as the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands until they were conquered by French Revolutionary armies in 1795. The one exception to this was the period of (1601-1621), when shortly before Philip II died on 13 September 1598, he renounced his rights to the Netherlands in favor of his daughter Isabella and her fiancé, Archduke Albert of Austria, a youger son of Emperor Maximilian II. The terrories reverted to Spain on the death of Albert in 1621, as the couple had no surviving offspring, and Isabella acted as regent-governor until her death in 1633:


 * the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, 1601-1621 [[File:Coat of Arms of Archduke Albert of Austria as Governor-Monarch of the Low Countries.svg|75px]] [[File:Coat of Arms of Infanta Isabella of Spain as Governor Monarch of the Low Countries.svg|50px]]

King Consort of England

 * Philip II of Spain (King Consort with Mary I of England 1554–1558)

Spanish Habsburgs: Kings of Spain, Kings of Portugal (1580–1640)




The Habsburg Kingdom(s) of Spain were more a personal union of possessions of the Habsburg king and dynast, who was King of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Valencia, sometime of Portugal, Naples and Sicily, Duke of Milan, and Lord of the Americas, as well as Duke of Brabant, Count of Flanders and Holland, Duke of Luxemburg (i.e. all the Habsburg Netherlands). The dynast (head of the Spanish Habsburgs, i.e. the King, showed this wide range of claims in his arms. There are many more variants of these arms in the Habsburg Armory, Spanish Section.  The Spanish Habsburgs also kept up the Burgundian court tradition of the dynast being known by a "nickname" (e.g. the Bold, the Prudent, the Bewitched)


 * Philip I of Castile the Handsome, second son of Maximilian I, founded the Spanish Habsburgs in 1496 by marrying Joanna the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Philip died in 1506, leaving the thrones of Castile and Aragon to be inherited and united into the throne of Spain by his son: Coat of Arms of Philip I of Castile.svg


 * Charles I 1516–1556, aka Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; divided the House into Austrian and Spanish lines Arms of Charles II of Spain (1668-1700).svg  [[File:Middle Arms of Charles I of Spain, Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor-Middle (1530-1556).svg|50px]]


 * Philip II the Prudent 1556–1598, also Philip I of Portugal 1580–1598 and Philip I of England with his wife Mary I of England 1554–1558. Arms of Philip II of Spain (1558-1580).svg. Royal Arms of Spain (1580-1668).svg


 * Philip III the Pious, also Philip II of Portugal 1598–1621 Royal Arms of Spain (1580-1668).svg


 * Philip IV the Great 1621–1665, also Philip III of Portugal 1621–1640 Royal Arms of Spain (1580-1668).svg  Arms of Charles II of Spain (1668-1700).svg


 * Charles II the Bewitched ( "El Hechizado") 1665–1700 Arms of Charles II of Spain (1668-1700).svg

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


The main junior line of the house ruled the Duchy of Austria, as well as the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary. The dynasty however was split up again in 1564 among the children of deceased Emperor Ferdinand I of Habsburg. The Inner Austrian line founded by Archduke Charles II prevailed again, when his son and successor as regent of Inner Austria (i.e. the Duchy of Styria, the Duchy of Carniola with March of Istria, the Duchy of Carinthia, the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, and the Imperial City of Trieste, ruled from Graz) Ferdinand II in 1619 became Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor as well as King of Bohemia and Hungary in 1620. The Further Austrian/Tyrolean line of Ferdinand's brother Archduke Leopold V survived until the death of his son Sigismund Francis in 1665, whereafter their territories ultimately returned to common control with the other Austrian Habsburg lands. Inner Austrian stadtholders went on to rule until the days of Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century.


 * Ferdinand I, emperor 1556–1564 [[File:Coat of Arms of Ferdinand I of Austria (1503-1564) as King of Hungary and Bohemia.svg|50px]]Armoiries empereur Ferdinand Ier.svg (→Family Tree)
 * Maximilian II, emperor 1564–1576 Armoiries empereur Ferdinand Ier.svg
 * Rudolf II, emperor 1576–1612 Armoiries empereur Rodolphe II.svg
 * Matthias, emperor 1612–1619 Armoiries empereur Rodolphe II.svg
 * Ferdinand II, emperor 1619–1637 Armoiries empereur Ferdinand III.svg
 * Ferdinand III, emperor 1637–1657 Armoiries empereur Charles IV.svg(→Family Tree)
 * Leopold I, emperor 1658–1705 Armoiries empereur Rodolphe II.svg
 * Josef I, emperor 1705–1711 Armoiries empereur Ferdinand Ier.svg
 * Charles VI, emperor 1711–1740 Armoiries empereur Charles VI.svg
 * 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.

The War of the Austrian Succession took place after the extinction of the male line of the Austrian Habsburg line upon the death of Charles VI. The direct Habsburg line itself became totally extinct with the death of Maria Theresa of Austria, when it was followed by the House of Lorraine, styled  of Habsburg-Lorraine.

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}.
 * Francis I Stephen, emperor 1745–1765 Armoiries empereur François Ier.svg (→Family Tree)
 * Joseph II, emperor 1765–1790 Armoiries empereur Joseph II.svg
 * Leopold II, emperor 1790–1792 Armoiries empereur Léopold II.svg (→Family Tree)
 * Francis II, emperor 1792–1806 Armoiries empereur Léopold II.svg (→Family Tree)

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; Saxe-Coburg and Gotha {Bragança} {Portugal}; Savoy {Spain}; and the Dukedoms of Montferrat and Chablis.

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


(→Family Tree)
 * Francis I, Emperor of Austria 1804–1835: formerly Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Armoiries Léopold II Habsbourg Lorraine.svg Wappen Habsburg-Lothringen Schild.svg
 * Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria 1835–1848 Habsburg Personal Arms Ferdinand I.PNG
 * Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria 1848–1916. Habsburg Personal Arms Franz Joseph and Charles.PNG
 * Charles I, Emperor of Austria 1916–1918. He died in exile in 1922. His wife was of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Habsburg Personal Arms Franz Joseph and Charles.PNG

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Grand dukes of Tuscany

 * Francis Stephen 1737–1765 (later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor)

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.


 * Peter Leopold 1765–1790 (later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor)
 * Ferdinand III 1790–1800, 1814–1824 (→Family Tree)
 * Leopold II 1824–1849, 1849–1859
 * Ferdinand IV 1859–1860

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Tuscany line, post monarchy

 * Ferdinand IV 1860–1908
 * Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany 1908–1942
 * Archduke Peter Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany 1942–1948
 * Archduke Gottfried, Prince of Tuscany 1948–1984
 * Archduke Leopold Franz, Prince of Tuscany 1948–1993
 * Archduke Sigismund, Grand Duke of Tuscany 1993–present

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.


 * Francis IV 1814–1831, 1831–1846 (→Family Tree)
 * Francis V 1846–1848, 1849–1859

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Modena line, post monarchy

 * Francis V (1859–1875) Armoiries Autriche-Este 1846.svg
 * Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este & Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary (1875–1914)Armoiries Autriche-Este 1875.svg
 * Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este (1914–1917)
 * Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (1917–1996) Armoiries Autriche-Este 1914.svg
 * Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este (1996–Present)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Empress consort of France

 * Marie Louise of Austria 1810–1814

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.


 * Maria Luisa 1814–1847 (→Family Tree)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Emperor of Mexico
Maximilian, the adventurous second son of Archduke Franz Karl, was invited as part of Napoleon III's manipulations to take the throne of Mexico, becoming Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. The conservative Mexican nobility, as well as the clergy, supported this Second Mexican Empire. His consort, Charlotte of Belgium, a daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium and a princess of the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, encouraged her husband's acceptance of the Mexican crown and accompanied him as Empress Carlota of Mexico. The adventure did not end well. Maximilian was shot in "Cerro de las Campanas" in 1867 by the republican forces of Benito Juárez.


 * Maximilian I (1864–1867) (→Family Tree)

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.


 * Charles I (1918–1922) (→Family Tree)
 * Otto von Habsburg (1912-2011)
 * Zita of Bourbon-Parma, guardian, (1922–1930)
 * Karl von Habsburg, (2007–present)

see Line of succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne

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 until 1687) and was sometimes used as a training ground for young Habsburgs,as "Palatine"of Hungary, 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

 * Albert, king of Hungary 1437–1439
 * Ladislaus V Posthumus, King of Hungary 1444–1457

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Hungary

 * Ferdinand I, king of Hungary 1526–1564
 * Maximilian I, king of Hungary 1563–1576
 * Rudolf I, king of Hungary 1572–1608
 * Matthias II, king of Hungary 1608–1619
 * Ferdinand II, king of Hungary 1618–1637
 * Ferdinand III, king of Hungary 1625–1657
 * Ferdinand IV, king of Hungary 1647–1654
 * Leopold I, king of Hungary 1655–1705
 * Joseph I, king of Hungary 1687–1711
 * Charles III, king of Hungary 1711–1740

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

 * Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary 1741–1780
 * Joseph II, king of Hungary 1780–1790
 * Leopold II, king of Hungary 1790–1792
 * Francis, king of Hungary 1792–1835
 * Ferdinand V, king of Hungary and Bohemia 1835–1848
 * Francis Joseph I, king of Hungary 1867–1916
 * Charles IV, king of Hungary 1916–1918

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.

Main line

 * Rudolph I, king of Bohemia 1306–1307

Albertine line: Kings of Bohemia

 * Albert, king of Bohemia 1437–1439
 * Ladislaus Posthumus, king of Bohemia 1453–1457

Austrian Habsburgs: Kings of Bohemia

 * Ferdinand I, king of Bohemia 1526–1564
 * Maximilian I, king of Bohemia 1563–1576
 * Rudolph II, king of Bohemia 1572–1611
 * Matthias, king of Bohemia 1611–1618
 * Ferdinand II, king of Bohemia 1621–1637
 * Ferdinand III, king of Bohemia 1625–1657
 * Ferdinand IV, king of Bohemia 1647–1654
 * Leopold I, king of Bohemia 1655–1705
 * Joseph I, king of Bohemia 1687–1711
 * Charles VI, king of Bohemia 1711–1740
 * Maria Theresa, queen of Bohemia 1743–1780

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.


 * Joseph II, king of Bohemia 1780–1790
 * Leopold II, king of Bohemia 1790–1792
 * Francis, king of Bohemia 1792–1835
 * Ferdinand V, king of Bohemia 1835–1848
 * Francis Joseph I, king of Bohemia 1848–1916
 * Charles III, king of Bohemia 1916–1918

Arms of Dominion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
The arms of dominion began to take on a life of their own in the 19th century as the idea of the state as independent from the Habsburg dynasty took root. They are the national arms as borne by a sovereign in his capacity as head of state and represent the state as separate from the person of the monarch or his dynasty. Since the states, territories, and nationalities represented were in many cases only united to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by their historic loyalty to the head of the house of Habsburg as hereditary lord, these full ("grand") arms of dominion of Austria-Hungary reflect the complex political infrastructure that was necessarily to accommodate the many different nationalities and groupings within the empire after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.



After 1867 the eastern part of the empire, also called Transleithania, was mostly under the domination of the Kingdom of Hungary. The shield integrated the arms of the kingdom of Hungary, with two angels and supporters and the crown of St. Stephen, along with the territories that were subject to it:

The Kingdom of Dalmatia, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Slavonia (conjoined with Croatia as the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia - formally known as the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia, although the claim to Dalmatia was mostly de jure), the Great Principality of Transylvania, the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1915-1918), the City of Fiume and its district (modern Rijeka), and in the center, the Kingdom of Hungary.

The western or Austrian part of the empire, Cisleithania, continued using the shield of the Empire in 1815 but with the seals of various member territories located around the central shield. Paradoxically, some of these coats of arms belonged to the territories that were part of the Hungarian part of the empire and shield. This shield, the most frequently used until 1915, was known as the middle shield. There was also the small shield, with just the personal arms of the Habsburgs, as used in 1815.

Version of 1915
In 1915, in the middle of World War I, Austria-Hungary adopted a heraldic composition uniting the shield that was used in the Hungarian part, also known as the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, with a new version of the medium shield of the Austrian part as depicted above in the section on the main line of the Emperors of Austria.

Before 1915, the arms of the different territories of the Austrian part of the Empire (heraldry was added to some areas not shown in the previous version and to the left to the Hungarian part) appeared together in the shield positioned on the double-headed eagle coat of arms of the Austrian Empire as an inescutcheon. The eagle was inside a shield with a gold field. The latter shield was supported by two griffins and was topped by the Austrian Imperial Crown (previously these items were included only in the large shield). Then, shown in the center of both arms of dominion, as an inescutcheon to the inescutcheon, is the small shield, i.e. personal arms, of the Habsburgs. All this was surrounded by the collar Order of the Golden Fleece



In the heraldic composition of 1915, the shields of the two foci of the empire, Austria and Hungary, were brought together. The griffin supporter on the left was added for Austria and an angel on the right as a supporter for Hungary. The center featured the personal arms of the Habsburgs (Habsburg, Austria and Lorraine). This small shield was topped with a royal crown and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, below which was the Military Order of Maria Theresa, below which was the collars of the Orders of St. Stephen's and Leopold. At the bottom was the motto that read "AC INDIVISIBILITER INSEPARABILITER" ("indivisible and inseparable"). There were other simplified versions which did not have the supports depicted, and the simple shields of Austria and Hungary. These were the arms of the Empire of Austria with an inescutcheon of Austria, and the Arms of Hungary (with chequer of Croatia at the tip).