Habsburg monarchy


The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm, and Danube Monarchy, was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From 1804 it was referred to as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 as Austria-Hungary.
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. In 1482, Maximilian I acquired the Netherlands through marriage. Both realms passed to his grandson and successor, Charles V, who also inherited the Spanish throne and its colonial possessions, and thus came to rule the Habsburg empire at its greatest territorial extent. The abdication of Charles V in 1556 led to a division within the dynasty between his son Philip II of Spain and his brother Ferdinand I, who had served as his lieutenant and the elected king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. The Spanish branch became extinct in the male line in 1700, but continued through the female line through the House of Bourbon. The Austrian branch was itself split into different branches in 1564 but reunited 101 years later. It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but continued through the female line as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
The Habsburg monarchy was a union of crowns, with only partial shared laws and institutions other than the Habsburg court itself; the provinces were divided in three groups: the Archduchy proper, Inner Austria that included Styria and Carniola, and Further Austria with Tyrol and the Swabian lands. The territorial possessions of the monarchy were thus united only by virtue of a common monarch. The Habsburg realms were unified in 1804 with the formation of the Austrian Empire and later split in two as Austria-Hungary with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The monarchy began to fracture in the face of inevitable defeat during the final years of World War I and ultimately disbanded with proclamation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Republic of German-Austria and the First Hungarian Republic in late 1918.
In historiography, the terms Austria or Austrians are frequently used as shorthand for the Habsburg monarchy since the 18th century. From 1438 to 1806, the rulers of the House of Habsburg almost continuously reigned as Holy Roman Emperors. However, the realms of the Holy Roman Empire were mostly self-governing and are thus not considered to have been part of the Habsburg monarchy. Hence, the Habsburg monarchy is often called Austria by metonymy. Around 1700, the Latin term monarchia austriaca came into use as a term of convenience. Within the empire alone, the vast possessions included the original Hereditary Lands, the Erblande, from before 1526; the Lands of the Bohemian Crown; the formerly Spanish Austrian Netherlands from 1714 until 1794; and some fiefs in Imperial Italy. Outside the empire, they encompassed all the Kingdom of Hungary as well as conquests made at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was in Prague.

Origins and expansion

The first Habsburg who can be reliably traced was Radbot of Klettgau, who was born in the late 10th century; the family name originated with Habsburg Castle, in present-day Switzerland, which was built by Radbot. After 1279, the Habsburgs came to rule in the Duchy of Austria, which was part of the elective Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire. King Rudolf I of Germany of the Habsburg family assigned the Duchy of Austria to his sons at the Diet of Augsburg, thus establishing the "Austrian hereditary lands". From that moment, the Habsburg dynasty was also known as the House of Austria. Between 1438 and 1806, with few exceptions, the Habsburg Archduke of Austria was elected as Holy Roman Emperor.
The Habsburgs grew to European prominence as a result of the dynastic policy pursued by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian married Mary of Burgundy, thus bringing the Burgundian Netherlands into the Habsburg possessions. Their son, Philip the Handsome, married Joanna the Mad of Spain. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of Philip and Joanna, inherited the Habsburg Netherlands in 1506, Habsburg Spain and its territories in 1516, and Habsburg Austria in 1519.
At this point, the Habsburg possessions were so vast that Charles V was constantly travelling throughout his dominions and therefore needed deputies and regents, such as Isabella of Portugal in Spain and Margaret of Austria in the Low Countries, to govern his various realms. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Emperor Charles V came to terms with his younger brother Ferdinand. According to the Habsburg compact of Worms, confirmed a year later in Brussels, Ferdinand was made Archduke, as a regent of Charles V in the Austrian hereditary lands.
Following the death of Louis II of Hungary in the Battle of Mohács against the Ottoman Turks, Archduke Ferdinand was also elected the next king of Bohemia and Hungary in 1526. Bohemia and Hungary became hereditary Habsburg domains only in the 17th century: Following victory in the Battle of White Mountain over the Bohemian rebels, Ferdinand II promulgated a Renewed Land Ordinance that established hereditary succession over Bohemia. Following the Battle of Mohács, in which Leopold I reconquered almost all of Ottoman Hungary from the Turks, the emperor held a diet in Pressburg to establish hereditary succession in the Hungarian kingdom.
Charles V divided the House in 1556 by ceding Austria along with the Imperial crown to Ferdinand, and the Spanish Empire to his son Philip. The Spanish branch became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch was itself divided between different branches of the family from 1564 until 1665, but thereafter it remained a single personal union. It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but through the marriage of Queen Maria Theresa with Francis of Lorraine, the dynasty continued as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Names

  • Habsburg monarchy : this is an unofficial umbrella term, very frequently used, but was not an official name.
  • Austrian monarchy came into use around 1700 as a term of convenience for the Habsburg territories.
  • "Danubian monarchy" was an unofficial name often used contemporaneously.
  • "Dual monarchy" referred to the combination of Cisleithania and the Transleithania, two states under one crowned ruler.
  • Austrian Empire : This was the official name of the new Habsburg empire created in 1804, immediately prior to the Holy Roman Empire being dissolved in 1806. In this context, the English word empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, and not to a "widespreading domain".
  • Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918: This name was commonly used in international relations, although the official name was Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
  • Crownlands or crown lands : This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Kingdom of Hungary was not considered a "crownland" anymore after the establishment of Austria-Hungary in 1867, so that the "crownlands" became identical with what was called the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council.
  • The Hungarian parts of the empire were called "Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen" or "Lands of Holy Stephen's Crown". The Bohemian Lands were called "Lands of the St. Wenceslaus' Crown".
Names of some smaller territories:
The Erblande also included many small territories that were principalities, duchies or counties in other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, such as Further Austria.

Territories

The territories ruled by the Austrian monarchy changed over the centuries, but the core always consisted of four blocs:
Over the course of its history, other lands were, at times, under Austrian Habsburg rule :
The boundaries of some of these territories varied over the period indicated, and others were ruled by a subordinate Habsburg line. The Habsburgs also held the title of Holy Roman Emperor between 1438 and 1740, and again from 1745 to 1806.