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177-604: With the rise of the Habsburg dynasty, the kings and dukes of Habsburg sought to extend their influence over this region and to bring it under their rule; as a consequence, a conflict ensued between the Habsburgs and these mountain communities who tried to defend their privileged status as reichsfrei regions. The three founding cantons of the Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft , as the confederacy

354-523: A Habsburg territory , i.e., only by males and their consorts, appanages being commonly distributed to Cadets . 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

531-849: A de facto independence from the empire. During their involvement in the Italian Wars , the Swiss brought the Ticino under their control. Two similar federations sprang up in neighboring areas in the Alps in the 14th century: in the Grisons , the federation of the Three Leagues ( Drei Bünde ) was founded, and in the Valais , the Seven Tithings ( Sieben Zenden ) were formed as a result of

708-601: A bilingual early education in French and German, then added Czech and Hungarian and later Italian and Polish. He also studied Latin and Greek. After the end of the Habsburg Monarchy Otto von Habsburg was fluent in English, French, German, Hungarian, Croatian, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. The Habsburgs' monarchical positions included: Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298)

885-431: A conglomerate of eight independent cities and lands, held together not by one single pact but by a net of six different "eternal" pacts, none of which included all eight parties as signatories. Only the three Waldstätten Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were part of all these treaties. All eight parties would still pursue their own particular interests, most notably in the cases of the strong cities of Zürich and Bern. Zürich

1062-664: A few faithful. Adolf’s army turned to flee and quickly dispersed. Albert did not allow the followers of Adolf to bury the body of the fallen king in the Kaiserdom , the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer . Therefore, Adolf was initially buried in the Cistercian monastery of Rosenthal Abbey  [ de ] in present-day Kerzenheim and was only later transferred to Speyer. On 29 August 1309, Albert I’s successor, Emperor Henry VII transferred Adolf’s remains to

1239-559: A formal enfeoffment with Austria, Styria, the Windic March , and the Lordship of Pordenone . The disposition of the prestigious insignia and relics of the empire was an additional and important sign for the legitimacy of the reign of the king, but not a mandatory prerequisite. With each new document, Adolf moved a little farther away from his promises, without having to open himself up to breach of contract accusations. Adolf acted as

1416-561: A fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland by Radbot of Klettgau , who named 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. In 1273, Count Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg , was elected King of the Romans . Taking advantage of the extinction of the Babenbergs and of his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia at

1593-469: A king. This argument was problematic insofar as the deposition of Frederick II was already a precedent for this case. According to church law, only the pope had the power to depose a king. Following Adolf’s deposition came the election of Albert I of Habsburg as the new king. How this election took place is not very clear today, as the chroniclers have little to report. The question is open, for example, whether Albert actually initially did not want to accept

1770-488: A lawsuit against the king himself. The archbishop of Cologne and the king of Bohemia had previously authorised the archbishop of Mainz to act in their names. In these proceedings Adolf was charged with numerous crimes, including the continued breach of the peace in Thuringia and the breaking of the promises he had made to the archbishop of Mainz. Adolf was deemed unworthy of his office and had forfeited his royal dignity. It

1947-577: A leading role in 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, since the Albertinian line was now extinct. Territorial integrity was also strengthened by the extinction of the Tyrolean branch of the Leopoldian line. Frederick's aim was to make Austria

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2124-550: A party to the conflict, could not at the same time act as judge and saw these charges as a provocation given that Albert was raising arms against him, the rightful king. Therefore, the meeting planned for 15 June, at which the dispute was to be resolved, did not take place. A meeting between the archbishop of Mainz, Count Albrecht of Saxony-Wittenberg, and three margraves of Brandenburg ( Otto IV, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal , Henry I, Margrave of Brandenburg and Herman, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel ) on 23 June 1298 then led to

2301-533: A power struggle with Pope Pius II over the nomination of a bishop in Tyrol in 1460. When the duke was excommunicated by the pope, a situation similar to that of 1415 arose. The confederates took advantage of the problems of the Habsburgs and conquered the Habsburg Thurgau and the region of Sargans in the autumn of 1460, which became both commonly administered property. In a peace treaty from 1 June 1461,

2478-442: A preliminary peace was concluded. In 1450, the parties made a definitive peace and Zürich was admitted into the confederation again, but had to dissolve its alliance with the Habsburgs. The confederation had grown into a political alliance so close that it no longer tolerated separatist tendencies of its members. The end of the dynasty of the counts of Toggenburg in 1436 also had effects on the Grisons . In their former territories in

2655-428: A self-assured ruler in other ways as well. His court was an attraction for all who sought protection from the powerful emerging territorial lords. He held numerous court days. At the beginning of his reign, he renewed the general public peace ( Landfrieden ) of Rudolf I for another ten years, and brought about at least two regional peaces. Adolf used the feudal system as one of his major tools of power. He demanded from

2832-607: A strict rule and raised the taxes to finance wars and further territorial acquisitions. When he died in 1291, his son Albert I got involved in a power struggle with Adolf of Nassau for the German throne, and the Habsburg rule over the alpine territories weakened temporarily. Anti-Habsburg insurgences sprang up in Swabia and Austria, but were quashed quickly by Albert in 1292. Zürich had participated in this uprising. Albert besieged

3009-612: A united country stretching from the Rhine to the Mur and Leitha . Externally, one of Frederick's main achievements was the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), in which he coerced Charles the Bold of Burgundy to give his daughter Mary of Burgundy as wife to Frederick's son Maximilian . The wedding took place on the evening of 16 August 1477, and ultimately resulted in the Habsburgs acquiring control of

3186-778: A victory in the Battle on the Planta in November 1475. In 1476, Charles retaliated and marched to Grandson with his army, but suffered three devastating defeats in a row, first in the Battle of Grandson , then in the Battle of Murten , until he was killed in the Battle of Nancy in 1477, where the confederates fought alongside an army of René II , Duke of Lorraine . There is a proverbial saying in Switzerland summarizing these events as "Bi Grandson s'Guet, bi Murte de Muet, bi Nancy s'Bluet" [ hät de Karl de Küeni verloore ] ("[Charles

3363-767: A year later that of Gutenfels Castle near Kaub (where he became a vassal of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine ). Before his election, Adolf’s political activities had been limited to his role as Bundesgenosse of the Archbishop of Cologne. Adolf had no particular office, but likely became known through his involvement with the Archbishops of Cologne and Mainz in the politics of the Middle Rhine and Mainz areas. He spoke German , French , and Latin , which

3540-603: Is generally considered a fictitious glorification of the independence struggles of the Waldstätten . Habsburg Cognatic : The House of Habsburg ( / ˈ h æ p s b ɜːr ɡ / ; German : Haus Habsburg [haʊs ˈhaːpsbʊrk] ), also known as the House of Austria , was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. The house takes its name from Habsburg Castle ,

3717-605: Is one of the oldest surviving written documents of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy . It is possible that it was written a few decades later than the given date of 1291, which would put it in the same date range as the pact of Brunnen of 1315. The traditional date given for the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy in Swiss historiography of

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3894-488: Is remarkable that Adolf was not excommunicated by the Pope before being deposed. The pope was probably not even included in the deposition procedure. The princes, it is true, did try to formulate their arguments similarly to Innocent IV’s statement in the deposition of Frederick II , but the process was unprecedented. Because Adolf had been elected and crowned, the contemporary understanding was that he had been chosen by God to be

4071-624: Is the White Book of Sarnen (1470), which records that wa böse Türnli waren, die brachen sy vnd viengen ze Uere am ersten an die hüser brechen wherever there were hostile forts (towers), they broke (slighted) them and first began in Uri to break these buildings The text names Zwing Uri at Amsteg as the first castle slighted, followed by castle Schwandau in Schwyz , Rötzberg in Stans , and finally

4248-624: The Freibriefe establishing their immediate status. Even Unterwalden was finally properly granted this status by Albert's successor Henry VII in 1309. This did not prevent the dukes of Habsburg, who originally had had their homelands in the Aargau , from trying to reassert their sovereignty over the territories south of the Rhine. In the struggle for the crown of the Holy Roman Empire in 1314 between duke Frederick I of Austria and

4425-630: The Pfaffenbrief forbade feuds and the parties pledged to guarantee the peace on the road from Zürich to the St. Gotthard pass. Another important treaty was the Sempacherbrief in 1393. Not only was this the first document signed by all of the Eight Cantons (plus the associated Solothurn), but it also defined that none of them was to unilaterally start a war without the consent of all

4602-635: The Allies , were executed. The Habsburg family played a leading role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc . As they accumulated crowns and titles, the Habsburgs developed a family tradition of multilingualism that evolved over the centuries. The Holy Roman Empire had been multilingual from the start, even though most of its emperors were native German speakers. The language issue within

4779-428: The Battle of Sempach and he himself was killed. In the wake of these events Glarus declared itself free and constituted its first regional diet ( Landsgemeinde ) in 1387. In the Battle of Näfels in 1388, an Austrian army of Albert III , the successor of Leopold, was defeated, and in the peace treaty concluded the next year, Glarus maintained its independence from the Habsburgs. The loose federation of states

4956-792: The Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, he appointed his sons as Dukes of Austria and moved the family's power base to Vienna , where the Habsburg dynasty gained the name of "House of Austria" and ruled until 1918. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740, and, as the Habsburg-Lorraines, from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806. The house also produced kings of Bohemia , Hungary , Croatia , Slavonia , Dalmatia , Spain , Portugal , Sicily , Lombardy-Venetia and Galicia-Lodomeria , with their respective colonies; rulers of several principalities in

5133-482: The Bavarian king Louis IV , the Waldstätten sided with Louis for fear of the Habsburgs trying to annex their counties again, like Rudolph I had done. When a long-simmering conflict between Schwyz and the abbey of Einsiedeln escalated once more, the Habsburgs responded by sending a strong army of knights against these peasants to subdue their insurrection, but the Austrian army of Frederick's brother Leopold I

5310-589: The Bohemian Diet in Czech, even though it is not clear that they were fluent. By contrast there is little evidence that later Habsburgs in the 17th and 18th centuries spoke Czech, with the probable exception of Ferdinand III , who had several stays in Bohemia and appears to have spoken Czech while there. In the 19th century Francis I had some Czech and Ferdinand I spoke it decently. Franz Joseph received

5487-656: The Burgundian Netherlands . After Mary's early death in 1482, Maximilian attempted to secure the Burgundian inheritance for 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 favor of Philip in the Treaty of Senlis in 1493. After the death of his father in 1493, Maximilian

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5664-522: The Casa de Austria , including illegitimate sons such as John of Austria and John Joseph of Austria . The arms displayed in their simplest form were those of Austria, which the Habsburgs had made their own, at times impaled with the arms of the Duchy of Burgundy (ancient). After Maria Theresa married Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine , the idea of "Habsburg" as associated with ancestral Austrian rulership

5841-566: The Council of Constance , and encouraged others to take over the duke's possessions, amongst which was the Aargau . After being granted far-reaching privileges by the emperor (all eight cantons became immediate) and a decree that placed the ban over the peace treaty of 1412, the confederates conquered the Aargau. A large part became Bernese, while the County of Baden was subsequently administered by

6018-432: The Duchy of Burgundy and the County of Flanders . The Count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre , mediated, therefore, the alliance between Edward I and Adolf for his protection against France. That the alliance was construed by his contemporaries as purely mercenary, and the fact that Adolf did not comply with its obligations, damaged his reputation, but this was initially without consequences. Adolf began recruiting troops in

6195-691: The Duchy of Milan were in personal union under the King of Spain but remained part of the Holy Roman Empire . Furthermore, the Spanish king had claims on Hungary and Bohemia. In the secret Oñate treaty of 29 July 1617, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs settled their mutual claims. The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by frequent consanguineous marriages , resulting in a cumulatively deleterious effect on their gene pool . Health impairments due to inbreeding included epilepsy, insanity and early death. A study of 3,000 family members over 16 generations by

6372-664: The Habsburg Castle . That castle was the family seat during most of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Giovanni Thomas Marnavich in his book " Regiae Sanctitatis Illyricanae Faecunditas " dedicated to Ferdinand III , wrote that the House of Habsburg is descended from the Roman emperor Constantine the Great , an invention common in ruling dynasties at the time. In the 12th century, the Habsburgs became increasingly associated with

6549-624: The House of Gorizia . Following Rudolph's death in 1291, Albert I 's assassination in 1308, and Frederick the Fair 's failure to secure the German/Imperial crown for himself, the Habsburgs temporarily lost their supremacy in the Empire. In the early 14th century, they also focused on the Kingdom of Bohemia . After Václav III 's death on 4 August 1306, there were no male heirs remaining in

6726-569: The Jura mountains , especially Grandson and Murten, as common dependencies of Bern and Fribourg. The whole Valais, however, would henceforth be independent, and Bern would reconquer the Vaud in 1536. While the territorial effects of the Burgundian Wars on the confederation were minor, they marked the beginning of the rise of Swiss mercenaries on the battlefields of Europe. In the Burgundian Wars,

6903-572: The Low Countries and Italy; numerous Prince-Bishoprics in the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 19th century, emperors of Austria and of Austria-Hungary , as well as one emperor of Mexico . The family split several times into parallel branches, most consequentially in the mid-16th century between its Spanish and German-Austrian branches following the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556. Although they ruled distinct territories,

7080-734: The Ossola valley. Twice, the Milanese reconquered all these territories except the Leventina. Both times, the Swiss managed, despite their defeats, to negotiate peace treaties that were actually favorable for them. The Burgundian Wars were an involvement of confederate forces in the conflict between the Valois dynasty and the Habsburgs . The aggressive expansionism of the Duke of Burgundy , Charles

7257-417: The Prättigau and Davos , the (initially eleven, after a merger only ten) villages founded the League of the Ten Jurisdictions ( Zehngerichtebund ). By 1471, the three leagues, together with the city of Chur , had formed a close federation, based on military assistance and free trade pacts between the partners and including a common federal diet: the Three Leagues ( Drei Bünde ) was born, even though

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7434-431: The Přemyslid dynasty . Habsburg scion Rudolph I was then elected but only lasted a year. The Bohemian kingship was an elected position, and the Habsburgs were only able to secure it on a hereditary basis much later in 1626, following their reconquest of the Czech lands during the Thirty Years' War . After 1307, subsequent Habsburg attempts to gain the Bohemian crown were frustrated first by Henry of Bohemia (a member of

7611-410: The Spanheim ( Carinthia and Carniola ). In 1278, Rudolph and his allies defeated and killed Ottokar at the Battle of Marchfeld , and the lands he had acquired reverted to the German crown. With the Georgenberg Pact of 1286, Rudolph secured for his family the duchies of Austria and Styria. The southern portions of Ottokar's former realm, Carinthia, Carniola, and Savinja, went to Rudolph's allies from

7788-400: The Staufer emperors, participating in the imperial court and the emperor's military expeditions; Werner II, Count of Habsburg died fighting for Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in Italy. This association helped them to inherit many domains as the Staufers caused the extinction of many dynasties, some of which the Habsburgs were heirs to. In 1198, Rudolf II, Count of Habsburg fully dedicated

7965-452: The Taunus Mountains. These included Wiesbaden and Idstein , as fiefdoms , and the Vogtship in Weilburg under the Bishopric of Worms . He also shared ownership of the family homelands around the castles of Nassau and Laurenburg . Around 1280, Adolf became involved in the Nassau-Eppstein Feud  [ de ] with the Lords of Eppstein , in which the city of Wiesbaden was devastated and Sonnenberg Castle destroyed. The feud

8142-432: The Thirty Years' War and was not included into the system of imperial circles in 1500. As a direct consequence of the Swabian War the previously associated city states of Basel and Schaffhausen joined the confederation in 1501. In 1513, the Appenzell followed suit as the thirteenth member. The cities of St. Gallen , Biel , Mulhouse and Rottweil as well as the Three Leagues in the Grisons were all associates of

8319-419: The Tyrol ; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria ". The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 created a real union , whereby the Kingdom of Hungary was granted co-equality with the Empire of Austria , that henceforth didn't include the Kingdom of Hungary as a crownland anymore. The Austrian and the Hungarian lands became independent entities enjoying equal status. Under this arrangement,

8496-445: The University of Santiago de Compostela suggests inbreeding may have played a role in their extinction. Numerous members of the family showed specific facial deformities: an enlarged lower jaw with an extended chin known as mandibular prognathism or 'Habsburg jaw', a large nose with hump and hanging tip ('Habsburg nose') and an everted lower lip ('Habsburg lip'). The last two are signs of maxillary deficiency . A 2019 study found that

8673-400: The status quo of 1301. As a result of these struggles, the villages in the upper Valais organized themselves in the Sieben Zenden ("seven tenths") around 1355, emerging after these wars as largely independent small states, much like the cantons of the Confederacy. In the Grisons , then called Churwalchen, the bishop of Chur and numerous local noble families competed for the control of

8850-413: 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 . By the second half of the 13th century, Count Rudolph I (1218–1291) had become an influential territorial lord in

9027-481: The 16th century ( Aegidius Tschudi and others) is 1307. King Rudolf I died in 1291, and 1307 falls into the reign of King Albert I , both members of the House of Habsburg ruling in a time of political instability , when the Holy Roman Empire had been without an emperor for several decades. The politically weak kings of this period had to make frequent concessions to their subjects and vassals in order to remain in power. The founding cantons received confirmations of

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9204-425: The Adriatic Sea. After the death of Leopold's eldest son, William , in 1406 the Leopoldian line was further split among his brothers into the Inner Austrian territory under Ernest the Iron and a Tyrolean/Further Austrian line under Frederick of the Empty Pockets . In 1440 Ernest's son Frederick III was chosen by the electoral college to succeed Albert II as the king. Several Habsburg kings had attempted to gain

9381-407: The Alsatian cities and Sigismund in an "anti-burgundian league", conquered part of the Burgundian Jura ( Franche-Comté ), and the next year, Bernese forces conquered and ravaged the Vaud , which belonged to the Duchy of Savoy , which in turn was allied with Charles the Bold. The Sieben Zenden , with the help of Bernese and other confederate forces, drove the Savoyards out of the lower Valais after

9558-421: The Archbishop of Cologne, Adolf remained in his dominion for four months after his election. The archbishop awaited from the king a revision of the results of the Battle of Worringen in 1288. He had hoped to win again greater influence in the city of Cologne . Despite the tight specifications, Adolf soon emancipated himself from his Electors and concluded pacts with their opponents. Thus, for example, he confirmed

9735-430: The Archbishop of Mainz, in the name of all the electors, elected Adolf King of the Germans (Emperor-Elect). He was crowned in Aachen on 24 June by the Archbishop of Cologne. At the start of his reign, Adolf had neither influence nor power, and was elected Rex Romanorum because of the electors' preference for a weak king. His power was limited from the outset because of the commitments he made. As he had agreed with

9912-432: The Austrian Vorarlberg and in the Grisons , where the confederates were victorious more often than not, the Battle of Dornach , where the emperor's commander was killed, put an end to the war. In September 1499, a peace agreement was concluded at Basel that effectively established a de facto independence of the confederation from the empire, although it continued nominally to be part of the Holy Roman Empire until after

10089-586: The Austrian Succession . The former was won by House of Bourbon , putting an end to Habsburg rule in Spain . The latter, however, was won by Maria Theresa and led to the succession of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine ( German : Haus Habsburg-Lothringen ) becoming the new main branch of the dynasty in the person of Maria Theresa's son, Joseph II . This new House was created by the marriage between Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan , Duke of Lorraine . (Both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III , but from different empresses.) This new House

10266-439: The Bailiwick of Bellinzona ( German : Bellinzona ), Blenio ( German : Bollenz ) and Riviera ( German : Reffier ) which were owned by Uri, Schwyz, and Nidwalden as well as the bailiwick Leventina ( German : Livinental ) (owned by Uri) and even the Val d'Ossola ( German : Eschental ). There were also three Italian-speaking subject areas of the Three Leagues (Bormio, Valtellina and Chiavenna) which were not included in

10443-473: The Bold , brought him in conflict with both the French king Louis XI and emperor Frederick III of the House of Habsburg . His embargo politics against the cities of Basel, Strasbourg and Mulhouse prompted these to turn to Bern for help. The conflicts culminated in 1474, after duke Sigismund of Austria had concluded a peace agreement with the confederates in Constance (later called the Perpetual Accord , Ewige Richtung ). The confederates, united with

10620-411: The Bold lost] his goods at Grandson, his boldness at Murten and his blood at Nancy"). As a result of the Burgundian Wars, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy had died out. Bern returned the Vaud to the duchy of Savoy against a ransom of 50,000 guilders in 1476, and sold its claims on the Franche-Comté to Louis XI for 150,000 guilders in 1479. The confederates only kept small territories east of

10797-426: The Communities prepared to defend themselves. On August 1, 1291, an Everlasting League was made between the Forest Communities for mutual defense against a common enemy. Uri and Schwyz got their status reconfirmed by Adolf of Nassau in 1297, but to no avail, for Albert finally won the power struggle and became King of Germany in 1298 after Adolf was killed in the Battle of Göllheim . The Federal Charter of 1291

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10974-412: The Confederacy was at its peak, and the default view was to regard the reports of the late-15th-century chronists as essentially legendary. Since the late 1970s, systematic surveys of medieval castles in Central Switzerland have shown that a number of castles were indeed destroyed during the early 14th century, so that a possible historical nucleus of the Burgenbruch accounts may be granted, even though

11151-430: The Degenerate and his sons Frederick and Theodoric IV of Lusatia . He bought the Landgraviate from Albert in his capacity as king and probably using the payments from England. Legally, it was perfectly acceptable for Adolf to induce the feudal lord to abandon his fief and to bring the land under the empire. Furthermore, he seized the Margraviate of Meissen as an imperial fief, since it had been literally ownerless after

11328-399: The Empire became gradually more salient as the non-religious use of Latin declined and that of national languages gained prominence during the High Middle Ages . Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg was known to be fluent in Czech, French, German, Italian and Latin. The last section of his Golden Bull of 1356 specifies that the Empire's secular prince-electors "should be instructed in

11505-686: 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

11682-412: The French invasion of 1499. The events told in the saga of William Tell , which are purported to have occurred around 1307, are not substantiated by historical evidence. This story, like the related story of the Rütlischwur (the oath on the Rütli , a meadow above Lake Lucerne ), seems to have its origins in the late 15th century White Book of Sarnen , a collection of folk tales from 1470, and

11859-417: The Gray League was dominated by the free communities and gave itself a more democratic charter. The third league, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions ( Zehngerichtenbund ), would not be formed until later. The relationships between the individual cantons of the confederation were not without tensions, though. A first clash between Bern and the four Waldstätten over the Raron conflict (Bern supported

12036-417: The Habsburgs, joined the alliance. In 1351, these four communities were joined by the city of Zürich , where a strong citizenship had gained power following the installation of the Zunftordnung ( guild regulations) and the banning of the noble authorities in 1336. The city also sought support against the Habsburg city of Rapperswil , which had tried to overthrow mayor Rudolf Brun in Zürich in 1350. With

12213-404: The Handsome or the Fair, married Joanna of Castile , also known as Joanna the Mad, heiress of Castile and Aragon . Phillip and Joan had six children, the eldest of whom became Emperor Charles V in 1516 and ruled the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (including their colonies in the New World ), Southern Italy, Austria and the Habsburg Netherlands with his mother and nominal coruler, Joanna, who

12390-440: The House of Gorizia) and then by the House of Luxembourg . Instead, they were able to expand southwards: in 1311, they took over Savinja ; after the death of Henry in 1335, they assumed power in Carniola and Carinthia ; and in 1369, they succeeded his daughter Margaret in Tyrol . After the death of Albert III of Gorizia in 1374, they gained a foothold at Pazin in central Istria , followed by Trieste in 1382. Meanwhile,

12567-417: 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 of Austria (who also reigned as Charles IV of Hungary) issued a proclamation recognizing Austria's right to determine

12744-582: The Latin phrase "Praestat vir sine pecunia quam pecunia sine viro" (Better a man without money than money without a man). Since no contemporary images of the King exist, the portrait is an idealized representation by the artist in the spirit of historicism. It is not based on previous portraits, since Mücke considered other representations, such as the one attributed to Georg Friedrich Christian Seekatz, to be too moderate On 8 May 1858, Duke Adolf of Nassau established

12921-603: The Margrave of Brandenburg toward active support and the Archbishop of Mainz and the Duke of Saxony toward at least acquiescence of the purchase. Two bloody campaigns against the sons of Albert the Degenerate were necessary to secure the acquisitions and a peace assured the achievements. Two years later, in the summer of 1296, Adolf proudly announced on the invitation to a court day that he had by his actions significantly increased

13098-665: The Mountains; Italian : Baliaggi Ultramontani , German : Ennetbergische Vogteien ) was administered by the Twelve Cantons. These districts were governed by bailiffs holding office for two years and purchasing it from the members of the League. Some of the land and the town of Bellinzona were annexed by Uri in 1419 but lost again in 1422. In 1499 nearly one and a half centuries of Milanese rule in Bellinzona ended with

13275-459: The Ottomans in 1439 and that of his son Ladislaus Postumus in 1457, the Habsburgs lost Bohemia once more as well as Hungary for several decades. However, with the extinction of the House of Celje in 1456 and the House of Wallsee-Enns in 1466/1483, they managed to absorb significant secular enclaves into their territories and create a contiguous domain stretching from the border with Bohemia to

13452-641: The Speyer Cathedral, where he was buried next to Albert, who had been murdered in 1308. In 1824, Duke William of Nassau built a grave monument in the vestibule of the cathedral. Leo von Klenze was commissioned with the design, which shows King Adolf in armor kneeling in prayer. Probably in the 19th century, the legend arose that Adolf was a count from the Nuremberg area. This misconception was probably based on confusion with Emich I of Nassau-Hadamar, who after his marriage to Anne of Nuremberg around 1300

13629-623: The Swiss Confederation on 14 April 1500. Bellinzona would remain under the joint administration of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden until the creation of the Helvetic Republic after the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798. Between 1433 and 1438 the Duke of Milan , Aloisio Sanseverino, sat as a feudal lord over Lugano. Under the reign of his heirs in the following decades rebellions and riots broke out, which lasted until

13806-515: The Swiss soldiers had gained a reputation of near invincibility, and their mercenary services became increasingly sought after by the great European political powers of the time. Shortly after the Burgundy Wars, individual cantons concluded mercenary contracts, so-called " capitulations ", with many parties, including the Pope —the papal Swiss Guard was founded in 1505 and became operational

13983-650: The Ticino Bailiwicks. Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were annexed by forces from Uri, but subsequently lost after the Battle of Arbedo in 1422. While the Battle of Arbedo stopped Swiss expansion for a time, the Confederation continued to exercise influence in the area. The Canton of Uri conquered the Leventina Valley in 1440. In a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained

14160-466: The Valois and the Habsburgs over the control of northern Italy. When the power of the Duchy of Milan perished in these wars, the Swiss finally managed to bring the whole Ticino under their control. In 1500, they occupied the strategically important fortress of Bellinzona , which the French king Louis XII , who ruled Milan at that time, ceded definitively in 1503. From 1512 on, the confederates fought on

14337-400: The alliance would be officially concluded in a written contract only in 1524. In the second half of the 15th century, the confederation expanded its territory further. In the north, the formerly Habsburg cities of Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein had become immediate in 1415, with the ban of Frederick IV. The two strategically important cities—they offered the only two fortified bridges over

14514-412: The archbishop to ask him first for his coronation only after he had raised the agreed collateral. The other electors extracted similar concessions from Adolf, but only after the election. Among the most far-reaching were the concessions to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia on 30 June 1292. Adolf promised Wenceslaus to remove the two duchies of Austria and Styria from Albert of Habsburg. This was to be done as

14691-625: The area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance . On 1 October 1273, he was elected as a compromise candidate as King of the Romans and received the name Rudolph I of Germany . He then led a coalition against King Ottokar II of Bohemia who had taken advantage of the Great Interregnum in order to expand southwards, taking over the respective inheritances of the Babenberg ( Austria , Styria , Savinja ) and of

14868-483: The barons of Raron, while the forest cantons sided with the Sieben Zenden ) in the upper Valais was barely avoided. The local noble barons of Raron established themselves as the leading family in the upper Valais in the late 14th century and competed with the bishop of Sion for the control of the valley. When emperor Sigismund designated them counts in 1413 and ordered the bishop to hand over his territories to

15045-494: The castle at Sarnen , the storming of which is told in a graphic manner. The Burgenbruch was long seen as historical, substantiated by the numerous ruined castles in Central Switzerland, but archaeological excavations have shown that these castles were abandoned gradually, not during a sudden uprising, during the period of roughly 1200 to 1350. By the 1970s, the "demythologization" of the foundational period of

15222-588: The choice, as he would later assert against Pope Boniface VIII . To depose Adolf was one thing; it was another to enforce the decision against him. Adolf refused to accept this decision, but the conflict between him and the princely opposition was soon decided on the battlefield. On 2 July 1298 the armies of Adolf and Albert met at the Battle of Göllheim . The small village of Göllheim is situated in northern Rhineland-Palatinate between Kaiserslautern and Worms in present-day Donnersbergkreis . After violent attacks, Adolf fell together with his standard-bearers and

15399-479: The city of Bern in 1323, and even sent a detachment to help the Bernese forces in their territorial expansion against the dukes of Savoy and the Habsburgs in the Battle of Laupen in 1339. In 1353, Bern entered an "eternal" alliance with the confederation, completing the "Confederacy of the Eight Cantons" ( German : Bund der Acht Orte ). This alliance of the Eight Cantons was not a homogeneous state but rather

15576-599: The city, which had to accept him as its patron. This time of turmoil prompted the Waldstätten to cooperate more closely, trying to preserve or regain their immediacy. The first alliance started in 1291 when Rudolph bought all the rights over the town of Lucerne and the abbey estates in Unterwalden from Murbach Abbey in Alsace . The Waldstätten saw their trade route over Lake Lucerne cut off and feared losing their independence. When Rudolph died on July 15, 1291,

15753-423: The claims of Schwyz and Glarus, which were supported by the rest of the cantons, and in 1438 declared an embargo . The other members of the confederation expelled Zürich from the confederation in 1440 and declared war. In retaliation Zürich made a pact with the Habsburgs in 1442. The other cantons invaded the canton of Zürich and besieged the city, but were unable to capture it. By 1446, both sides were exhausted, and

15930-475: The confederates against the Habsburgs: Rottweil became an associate on 18 June 1463, and Mülhausen on 17 June 1466, through an alliance with Bern (and Solothurn). In Rapperswil , a Habsburg enclave on Lake Zürich within confederate territory, a pro-confederate coup d'état in 1458 led to the city becoming a protectorate of the confederacy in 1464. Duke Sigismund of Austria got involved in

16107-561: The confederates controlled most of the territory south and west of the Rhine to the Alps and the Jura mountains . At the end of the 15th century, two wars resulted in an expansion to thirteen cantons ( Dreizehn Orte ): in the Burgundian Wars of the 1470s, the confederates asserted their hegemony on the western border, and their victory in the Swabian War in 1499 against the forces of the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I ensured

16284-429: The confederates, and the abbey became a protectorate of the confederacy on 17 August 1451. The city was accepted as an associate state on 13 June 1454. Fribourg , another Habsburg city, came under the rule of the Duke of Savoy during the 1440s and had to accept the duke as its lord in 1452. Nevertheless, it also entered an alliance with Bern in 1454, becoming an associate state, too. Two other cities also sought help from

16461-753: The confederation ( Zugewandte Orte ); the Valais would become an associate state in 1529. The Ticino region consisted of several city-states along the Ticino river . Following the conquest of the region, it was divided into four 'Ticino Bailiwicks ' which were under the joint administration of the Thirteen Cantons after 1512. The four bailiwicks were Valle di Maggia ( German : Meynthal or Maiental ), Locarno ( German : Luggarus ), Lugano ( German : Lugano ) and Mendrisio ( German : Mendris ). The area also included several other territories that were owned by one or more cantons. These included:

16638-637: The confederation as a common property until 1798. Only the Fricktal remained a Habsburg possession. In the Valais , the conflict between the Bishop of Sion and the Duchy of Savoy , which had led to a separation in 1301 (the bishop controlling the upper Valais and the Savoyards the lower part), broke out again. Twice the Savoyards temporarily occupied the whole Valais, but both times they were ultimately defeated. Both peace treaties from 1361 and 1391 restored

16815-459: The confederation, which would have tipped the balance in favour of the city cantons. The rural cantons were thus strongly opposed. In 1477 they marched upon the cities in protest. At Stans in 1481 the Federal Diet met in order to resolve the issues, but war seemed inevitable. A local hermit, Niklaus von der Flüe , was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to

16992-569: The conflicts with the Dukes of Savoy . Neither federation was part of the medieval Eidgenossenschaft but both maintained very close connections with it. Under the Hohenstaufen dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire , the three regions of Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden (the Waldstätten or "forest communities") had gained Imperial immediacy ( Reichsfreiheit ), the first two because

17169-418: The degree of mandibular prognathism in the Habsburg family shows a statistically significant correlation with the degree of inbreeding. A correlation between maxillary deficiency and degree of inbreeding was also present but was not statistically significant. Other scientific studies, however, dispute the ideas of any linkage between fertility and consanguinity . The gene pool eventually became so small that

17346-431: The destruction of these forts in itself was of limited military import and could not have resulted in a lasting political change. Subsequently, the three communities (their territories did not yet correspond to the areas of the modern-day cantons ) followed a slow policy of expansion. Uri entered a pact with the previously Habsburg valley of Urseren in 1317. In 1332, the city of Lucerne , trying to achieve immediacy from

17523-648: The different branches nevertheless maintained close relations and frequently intermarried. Members of the Habsburg family oversee the Austrian branch of the Order of the Golden Fleece , the Order of the Starry Cross and the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George . The current head of the family is Karl von Habsburg . The origins of Habsburg Castle 's name are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether

17700-463: The duke had no choice but to accept the new situation. The Swiss also had an interest in extending their influence south of the Alps to secure the trade route across the St. Gotthard Pass to Milan . Beginning in 1331, they initially exerted their influence through peaceful trade agreements, but in the 15th century, their involvement turned military. In 1403 the upper Leventina , as the valley south of

17877-570: The dynasty to the Staufer cause by joining the Ghibellines and funded the Staufer emperor Frederick II 's war for the throne in 1211. The emperor was made godfather to his newly born grandson, the future King Rudolf . The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau , Aargau and Thurgau . In

18054-401: The early 15th century, Strasbourg -based chronicler Jakob Twinger von Königshofen asserted that Charlemagne had mastered six languages, even though he had a preference for German. In the early years of the family's ascendancy, neither Rudolf I nor Albert I appears to have spoken French. By contrast, Charles V of Habsburg is well known as having been fluent in several languages. He

18231-604: The election of his eldest son Albert (Albrecht) as his successor. He was thwarted, however, by the opposition of the Archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, and the King of Bohemia , Wenceslaus ( Václav/Wenzel ) II . Only the Count Palatine Louis II of Upper Bavaria "the Rigorous" promised to choose Albert. Wenceslaus, despite Rudolf's recognition of his electoral vote, refused to support Albert because he would not cede Carinthia to him. He took

18408-576: The emperors wanted to place the strategically important St. Gotthard Pass under their direct control, the latter because most of its territory belonged to immediate monasteries. The cities of Bern and Zürich had also become immediate when the dynasty of their patrons, the Zähringer , had died out. When Rudolph I of Habsburg was elected "King of the Germans" in 1273, he also became the direct liege lord of these reichsfrei regions. He instituted

18585-495: The empire for a war against France. On 31 August 1294, he sent a declaration of war to the French king, alleging that the latter had seized rights and possessions of the empire. King Philip responded contemptuously on 9 March 1295. Pope Boniface VIII , however, ordered peace in 1295 and threatened to commence the excommunication of Adolf in the event of an outbreak of war. A little later, Adolf intervened in war-torn Thuringia , where fighting had erupted between Landgrave Albert

18762-577: The empire in his Golden Bull issued in January of that same year. The confederacy had signed "perpetual" pacts with both Glarus and Zug in 1352, and thus, even if these pacts apparently were disregarded only a few years later. This date is often considered the entry of these two cantons into the confederation despite their remaining under Habsburg rule for a few more years. In the west, the Vier Waldstätten had already formed an alliance with

18939-519: The extinction of a collateral line of the House of Wettin and had been occupied by a son of Albert the Degenerate. This purchase and the Margraviate of Meissen , however, affected the interests of four of the electors. The Archbishop of Mainz asserted that a part of Thuringia was not an imperial fief, but rather a fief of the Archdiocese of Mainz. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia was not thrilled by

19116-574: The family domains and enacted the separation of the so-called Albertinian and Leopoldian family lines on 25 September 1379 by the Treaty of Neuberg . The former would maintain Austria proper (then called Niederösterreich but comprising modern Lower Austria and most of Upper Austria ), while the latter would rule over lands then labeled Oberösterreich , namely Inner Austria ( Innerösterreich ) comprising Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and Further Austria ( Vorderösterreich ) consisting of Tyrol and

19293-693: The federation of the Three Leagues as a whole became an associate state of the confederation, in 1498, by concluding alliance agreements with the seven easternmost cantons. When the confederates refused to accept the resolutions of the Diet of Worms in 1495 , the Swabian War (also called the Swiss War in Germany) broke out in 1499, opposing the confederation against the Swabian League and emperor Maximilian I . After some battles around Schaffhausen, in

19470-586: The fight against Protestantism , which led to its eradication throughout vast areas under Habsburg control. Charles formally became the sole monarch of Spain upon the death of his imprisoned mother Queen Joan in 1555. After the abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg dynasty split into the branch of the Austrian (or German) Habsburgs, led by Ferdinand, and the branch of the Spanish Habsburgs, initially led by Charles's son Philip . Ferdinand I , King of Bohemia, Hungary, and archduke of Austria in

19647-494: The first of the electors, Archbishop Siegfried issued the Treaty of Andernach , stating that for Adolf to be chosen king he must promise a long list of acknowledgments of possession (including the imperial cities of Dortmund and Duisburg , and the Vogtship of Essen ), pledges of imperial cities and castles, and a sum of 25,000 marks in silver. Furthermore, Adolf promised assistance against specifically listed opponents, but also

19824-470: The following decades increased its control over the secular administration of the prince-bishopric, until the bishop's regent was deposed in 1452. In the upper valley of the Rhine , the Grauer Bund ("Gray League") was founded in 1395 under the direction of the abbot of Disentis and including not only the peasant communities but also the local nobles to end the permanent feuds of the latter. By 1424

20001-401: 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

20178-511: The gain of Ticino as a common administrative region of the confederacy and the occupation of the valley of the Adda river ( Veltlin , Bormio , and Chiavenna ) by the Three Leagues , which would remain a dependency of the Grisons until 1797 with a brief interruption during the Thirty Years' War . Both Fribourg and Solothurn, which had participated in the Burgundy Wars, now wanted to join

20355-416: The general promise that he would not admit any enemy of Siegfried II into his council. After the election, Adolf had to give the archbishop sufficient collateral for the fulfilment of the promise; otherwise he would lose his throne. The last clause is evidence of the fact that at the end of the 13th century, the coronation of the king as the constitutive moment of his rule was still very critical. Adolf promised

20532-515: The growing power of the emperor on his northern border, especially since Adolf had promised to give him the Margraviate of Meissen. Also, all the electors hoped to profit from the turmoil in Thuringia. In addition to the ostensible return of imperial fiefs to the empire, it can not be ruled out that Adolf was anxious to build a dynastic power base (albeit a small one). First, Adolf succeeded in securing his acquisitions diplomatically and provoking

20709-454: The help of its new allies, Zürich was able to withstand the siege of duke Albert II of Austria , and the confederates even conquered the city of Zug and the valley of Glarus in 1352. They had to return both Glarus and Zug to the Habsburgs in the peace treaty of Regensburg in 1356; emperor Charles IV in return recognized the guild government of Zürich and confirmed its immediate status in spite of his having forbidden any confederations within

20886-400: The help of the confederates, a Habsburg army of about 2,000 men was warded off east of Thayngen . Stein am Rhein concluded a similar alliance on 6 December 1459. The city of St. Gallen had also become free in 1415, but was in a conflict with its abbot , who tried to bring it under his influence. But as the Habsburg dukes were unable to support him in any way, he was forced to seek help from

21063-628: The imperial dignity over the years, but 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

21240-754: The interests of Mainz in the Thuringian region. Furthermore, Gerhard received financial benefits. Like his counterpart in Cologne, the Mainz elector also forbade the presence of his opponents in Adolf’s court. In comparison to the benefits which the electors of Mainz, Cologne and Bohemian received, the donations to the Count Palatine and the Archbishop of Trier were modest. On 5 May 1292 in Frankfurt am Main ,

21417-556: The invasion of Milan by Louis XII of France . He captured the city and, fearing an attack by the Swiss, fortified the Castelgrande with 1,000 troops. Throughout the winter of 1499/1500 unrest in Bellinzona grew, until January when an armed revolt of the citizens of Bellinzona drove the French troops from the city. Following the capture and execution of Ludovico Sforza in April 1500 and seeking protection from France, Bellinzona joined

21594-519: The last of the Spanish line, Charles II , who was severely disabled from birth (perhaps by genetic disorders ), possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, probably because of 'remote inbreeding '. The death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 led to the War of the Spanish Succession , and that of Emperor Charles VI in 1740 to the War of

21771-594: The leadership of Bern in December 1375. In 1364, Schwyz reconquered the city and land of Zug and renewed the alliance the following year. In the 1380s, Lucerne expanded its territory aggressively, conquering Wolhusen , claiming sovereignty over the valley of the Entlebuch and the formerly Habsburg city of Sempach . As a consequence, Leopold III of Austria assembled an army and met the confederate army near Sempach in 1386, where his troops were defeated decisively in

21948-525: The members of the Diet on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, but it did calm tempers and led to the drawing up of the Treaty of Stans ( Stanser Verkommnis ). Fribourg and Solothurn were admitted into the confederation. After isolated bilateral pacts between the leagues in the Grisons and some cantons of the confederation had already existed since the early 15th century,

22125-592: The members of the House of Habsburg (e.g., Queen Marie Antoinette of France was born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria ). In 1457 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 favor of Frederick's son Maximilian I . As emperor, Frederick III took

22302-566: The name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg ( hawk castle), or 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 name was not continuously used by the family members, since they often emphasized their more prestigious princely titles. The dynasty

22479-678: The name of his brother Charles V became suo jure monarch as well as the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor (designated as successor already in 1531 ). Philip became King of Spain and its colonial empire as Philip II , and ruler of the Habsburg domains in Italy and the Low Countries. The Spanish Habsburgs also ruled Portugal for a time, known there as the Philippine dynasty (1580–1640). The Seventeen Provinces and

22656-575: The new Archbishop of Trier , Bohemund I . Thereupon, the Count Palatine was forced to submit to the majority of the College of Electors. Siegfried therefore proposed to the Elector College to select Adolf of Nassau as king. They were ready to elect him, provided he make extensive concessions to the Electors and follow their political demands. A few days before the election, on 27 April 1292,

22833-528: The next year. More contracts were made with France (a Swiss Guard of mercenaries would be destroyed in the storming of the Tuileries Palace in Paris in 1792), the Duchy of Savoy , Austria, and still others. Swiss mercenaries would play an initially important, but later minor, role on European battlefields until well into the 18th century. Swiss forces soon got involved in the Italian Wars between

23010-415: The original home territories of the Habsburgs in what is now Switzerland, including the Aargau with Habsburg Castle, were lost in the 14th century to the expanding Swiss Confederacy after the battles of Morgarten (1315) and Sempach (1386). Habsburg Castle itself was finally lost to the Swiss in 1415. Rudolf IV 's brothers Albert III and Leopold III ignored his efforts to preserve the integrity of

23187-487: The others. Beginning in 1401, the confederates supported the insurrection of Appenzell against the abbey of St. Gallen and Frederick IV of Austria , duke in Tyrol and Vorderösterreich . Appenzell became a protectorate of the Eight Cantons in 1411, which concluded a 50-year peace with Frederick IV in 1412. Emperor Sigismund placed the imperial ban on Frederick IV in 1415, who had sided with Antipope John XXIII at

23364-413: The pass is called, became a protectorate of Uri. The Swiss and the Duchy of Milan were in conflict over this region throughout much of the 15th century. In 1439, Uri assumed full control of the upper Leventina; the Duchy of Milan gave up its claims there two years later, and so did the chapter of Milan in 1477. Twice the Swiss conquered roughly the whole territory of the modern canton of Ticino and also

23541-436: The possessions of the empire. The electors probably did not plan from the beginning to depose the king, but as events unfolded this result became more inevitable. The reason for the clashes was Adolf’s Thuringia policy. On Pentecost 1297 the elector of Brandenburg, duke of Saxony, and king of Bohemia joined together to enforce their interests. The elector of Mainz, Gerhard II, was associated with this group. In February 1298,

23718-473: The previous King Rudolf had removed these territories from King Ottokar II of Bohemia , the father of Wenceslaus. Albert would be charged to agree to this arrangement at a court hearing. If Albert would not bend, the decision of the court would be executed by force within a year. Wenceslaus would then recover the lost territories of his father. Gerhard, the Archbishop of Mainz would receive the imperial cities of Mühlhausen and Nordhausen , which corresponded with

23895-415: The region with its many alpine passes. Throughout the 14th century, three leagues of free communities appeared. The Gotteshausbund ("League of the House of God"), covering the area around Chur and the Engadin , was founded when in 1367 the bishop, Jean de Vienne , planned to hand over the administration of his diocese to the Austrian Habsburgs. It bought its freedom by paying the bishop's debt and in

24072-422: The rights of the nobles and the city of Cologne, who had turned against their ruler, and even extended these rights. Adolf also very quickly broke the promises concerning the Duchies of Austria and Styria . As a clever diplomat, Albert of Habsburg avoided a confrontation with the new king. In exchange for his surrender of the Imperial Regalia , which he still had in his possession, he received, in November 1292,

24249-431: The river Rhine between Constance and Basel—not only struggled with the robber barons from the neighbouring Hegau region but also were under pressure from the Habsburg dukes, who sought to re-integrate the cities into their domain. On June 1, 1454, Schaffhausen became an associate ( Zugewandter Ort ) of the confederacy by entering an alliance with six of the eight cantons (Uri and Unterwalden did not participate). With

24426-461: The ruler and that the princes were breaking their oath in which they swore loyalty to the king. Therefore, included in the list of charges were some that, at first glance, appear peculiar today, such as the desecration of communion wafers and the simonistic extortion of money. Furthermore, there was no imperial legal procedure for the ousting of the king. Therefore, the princes relied on their right to vote, from which also they derived their right to oust

24603-472: The ruler of Austria himself. Frederick 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 (died 1463), who used it at least from 1458. In 1477, Frederick granted the title archduke to his first cousin Sigismund of Austria , ruler of Further Austria . Frederick's son and heir, the future Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , apparently only started to use

24780-420: The same as Wenceslaus; Otto IV of Brandenburg made a similar commitment. Archbishop Siegfried believed that the Emperor should not receive the crown as an inheritance from his father, but should be freely selected by the College of Electors. He convinced the Archbishop of Mainz , Gerard II of Eppstein  [ de ] , to select a king who would principally serve their interests. Gerard in turn recruited

24957-453: The side of Pope Julius II and his Holy League against the French in territories south of the Alps. After initial successes and having conquered large parts of the territory of Milan , they were utterly defeated by a French army in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, which put an end to military territorial interventions of the confederation, mercenary services under the flags of foreign armies excepted. The results of this short intermezzo were

25134-442: The side of the nobles in the core Habsburg areas of Swabia and in their newly acquired territories in Austria , with whom Albert was unpopular. Wenceslaus was supported by Duke Otto III of Lower Bavaria , whose family were traditional enemies of the Habsburgs . Wenceslaus succeeded in bringing the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony over to his side: Albert II of Saxony signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote

25311-441: The situation became alarming for Adolf because Wenceslaus II and Albert of Habsburg put aside their years of disputes over Austria and Styria, and reached an agreement in the event that Adolf was deposed and Albert elected in his place. There may have been a meeting of the electors as early as the coronation of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia, on 2 June 1297. In January 1298, through the efforts of the archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Habsburg

25488-426: The source] to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse." Latin was the administrative language of the Empire until the aggressive promotion of German by Joseph II in the late 18th century, which was partly reversed by his successors. From the 16th century most if not all Habsburgs spoke French as well as German and many also spoke Italian. Ferdinand I , Maximilian II and Rudolf II addressed

25665-420: The spiritual princes a payment, called Lehnsware , for their enfeoffment with regalian rights , and increased this demand to the level of a nuisance. Many of Adolf’s contemporaries considered this action to be simony . Many of today's historians, however, view it as an innovative way to open up new state revenue sources, as other Western European kings did. Also, the recovery and management of imperial property

25842-465: 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 that revoked Charles' rights and dethroned the Habsburgs, although Hungary remained a kingdom, albeit without a king, until 1946. The Habsburgs did not formally abandon all hope of returning to power until Otto von Habsburg , the eldest son of Charles I, on 31 May 1961 renounced all claims to

26019-412: The throne. In the interwar period, the House of Habsburg was a vehement opponent of Nazism and Communism . In Germany, Adolf Hitler diametrically opposed the centuries-old Habsburg principles of largely allowing local communities under their rule to maintain traditional ethnic, religious and language practices, and he bristled with hatred against the Habsburg family. During the Second World War there

26196-425: The title after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy in 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

26373-450: The title of Archduke to place the Habsburgs on a par with the Prince-electors of the Empire, since Emperor Charles IV had omitted to give them the electoral dignity in his Golden Bull of 1356 . Charles, however, refused to recognize the title, as did his immediate successors. Duke Ernest the Iron and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title "archduke". That title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor Frederick III ,

26550-430: The town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500. The third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation (at that time constituted by 12 cantons). In 1512, Locarno, the Maggia Valley , Lugano and Mendrisio were annexed. Subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino river, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca ( Leventina Valley ) was part of the Canton of Uri. The remaining territory (the Bailiwicks Beyond

26727-466: The tripartite arms adopted in the 18th century by Francis Stephen. The name of the dynasty is sometimes spelled in English publications as Hapsburg . Timeline The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram the Rich , a count in the Breisgau who lived in the 10th century, and forthwith farther back as the medieval Adalrich, Duke of Alsace , from the Etichonids from which Habsburg derives. His grandson Radbot of Klettgau founded

26904-411: The varieties of the different dialects and languages" and that "since they are expected in all likelihood to have naturally acquired the German language, and to have been taught it from their infancy, [they] shall be instructed in the grammar of the Italian and Slavic tongues, beginning with the seventh year of their age so that, before the fourteenth year of their age, they may be learned in the same". In

27081-423: The von Raron, a revolt broke out in 1414. The following year, both rulers had lost: the von Raron had not succeeded in ousting the bishop, who in turn had to concede far-reaching rights to the Sieben Zenden in the treaty of Seta in 1415. The Old Zürich War , which began as a dispute over the succession to the count of Toggenburg , was a more serious test of the unity of the Eight Cantons. Zürich did not accept

27258-401: The wedding was formally completed in 1521. Vladislaus died on 13 March 1516, and Maximilian on 12 January 1519, but the latter's designs were ultimately successful: on Louis's death in battle in 1526 Ferdinand became king of Bohemia and Hungary. The Habsburg dynasty achieved its highest position when Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. Much of Charles's reign was dedicated to

27435-489: The west and southeast of Europe. Frederick was rather distant to his family; Eleanor, by contrast, 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 until 1806. Through the forged document called privilegium maius (1358/59), Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339–1365) introduced

27612-410: The western Habsburg lands in Alsace and Swabia . By marrying Elisabeth of Luxembourg , the daughter of Emperor Sigismund , in 1437 Duke Albert V of the Albertine line (1397–1439) became the ruler of Bohemia and Hungary, again expanding the family's political horizons. The next year Albert was crowned King of the Romans , known as such as Albert II . Following his early death in a battle against

27789-464: Was a cadet branch of the female line of the House of Habsburg and the male line of the House of Lorraine . On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis I dissolved the Holy Roman Empire under pressure from Napoleon 's reorganization of Germany . In anticipation of the loss of his title of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis had declared himself hereditary Emperor of Austria (as Francis I) on 11 August 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of

27966-447: Was a more volatile construct of varying alliances, and in the Battle of Laupen (1339), Fribourg even sided against Bern. Bern's position after that battle was strong enough that such alliances often ended with the other party becoming a Bernese dependency, as happened with e.g. Burgdorf or Payerne . An external threat during this time arose in the form of the Guglers , marauding mercenary knights from France who were beaten back under

28143-482: Was a native speaker of French and also knew Dutch from his youth in Flanders . He later added some Castilian Spanish , which he was required to learn by the Castilian Cortes Generales . He could also speak some Basque , acquired by the influence of the Basque secretaries serving in the royal court. He gained a decent command of German following the Imperial election of 1519. A witticism sometimes attributed to Charles was: "I speak Spanish/Latin [depending on

28320-448: Was a strong Habsburg resistance movement in Central Europe, which was radically persecuted by the Nazis and the Gestapo . The unofficial leader of these groups was Otto von Habsburg, who campaigned against the Nazis and for a free Central Europe in France and the United States . Most of the resistance fighters, such as Heinrich Maier , who successfully passed on production sites and plans for V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks and aircraft to

28497-400: Was also part of an alliance of cities around Lake Constance which also included Konstanz , Lindau and Schaffhausen and for some time included cities as far away as Rottweil or Ulm , and Bern followed its own hegemonial politics, participating successively in various alliances with other cities including Fribourg , Murten , Biel or Solothurn . This Bernese "Burgundian Confederation"

28674-407: Was also recognized by the Pope owing to changes in political alliances. This had the consequence of the Roman king automatically becoming emperor without needing the Pope's consent. Emperor Charles V would be the last to be crowned by the Pope himself, at Bologna in 1530. Maximilian's rule (1493–1519) was a time of dramatic expansion for the Habsburgs. In 1497, Maximilian's son Philip , known as

28851-470: Was brought to testify before an imperial court in order to find a compromise between Adolf and Albert. This did not happen; the two came close to battle in the Upper Rhine Valley and the matter was not resolved. On 1 May 1298, the archbishop of Mainz invited the king to his court, so that the dispute could be decided there. Archbishop Gerhard claimed he was authorised to do so as imperial arch-chancellor of Germany, according to an old legal principle. Adolf, as

29028-399: Was called, were joined in the early 14th century by the city states of Lucerne , Zürich , and Bern , and they managed to defeat Habsburg armies on several occasions. They also profited from the fact that the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, for most of the 14th century, came from the House of Luxembourg and regarded them as potential useful allies against the rival Habsburgs. By 1460,

29205-425: Was important to him. He succeeded, through clever marriage policy, to bring former imperial properties back under the control of the emperor. In 1294, when Adolf’s rule was at its height, he concluded an alliance with the King Edward I of England against France and was awarded 60 000 pounds sterling, which corresponded to 90 000 gold marks. The pact had been preceded by attempts by Philip IV of France to conquer

29382-411: Was kept under confinement. The foundations for the later empire of Austria-Hungary were laid in 1515 by a double wedding between Louis , only son of Vladislaus II, King of Bohemia and Hungary , and Maximilian's granddaughter Mary and between her brother Archduke Ferdinand and Louis's sister Anna . The wedding was celebrated in grand style on 22 July 1515. All these children were still minors, so

29559-415: Was married in 1270 to Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg (died after 1313) and they had eight children. Agnes of Isenburg-Limburg, the sister of Imagina, was married to Henry (Heinrich) of Westerburg, the brother of Siegfried II of Westerburg , the Archbishop of Cologne . In 1276 or 1277, Adolf followed his father as Count of Nassau. From his father, he inherited the family’s lands south of the Lahn River in

29736-399: Was proclaimed the new King of Germany , as Maximilian I . Maximilian was initially unable to travel to Rome to receive the Imperial title from the Pope, owing to opposition from Venice and from the French who were occupying Milan , as well a refusal from the Pope owing to enemy forces being present on his territory. In 1508, Maximilian proclaimed himself to be the 'chosen Emperor', and this

29913-505: Was rare at that time for nobles. After his election, King Adolf of Nassau would only rarely be in his home country, having transferred the government there to his burgmen. On 17 January 1294, he purchased Weilburg for 400 pounds from the Bishopric of Worms. He granted Weilburg town privileges on 29 December 1295. He also established the Clarisse abbey of Klarenthal near Wiesbaden in 1296. Rudolf I of Habsburg died on 15 July 1291. For many years before his death, Rudolf had tried to secure

30090-400: Was reinforced by additional agreements amongst the partners. In the Pfaffenbrief of 1370, the signatory six states (without Bern and Glarus) for the first time expressed themselves as a territorial unity, referring to themselves as unser Eydgnosschaft ("our confederacy"). They assumed in this document authority over clericals, subjecting them to their worldly legislation. Furthermore,

30267-416: Was settled in 1283, after which the city and the castle were rebuilt. Sonnenberg, along with Idstein, became Adolf’s residence. He granted Idstein town privileges in 1287 and built its fortifications. Through his uncle, Eberhard I of Katzenelnbogen, Adolf came to the court of King Rudolf I of Habsburg . King Rudolf awarded him with the Burghauptmannamt (Castle Lordship) of Kalsmunt Castle in Wetzlar and

30444-479: Was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title . He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication . Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg . He

30621-432: Was the holder of Kammerstein Castle. In 1841 Duke Adolf of Nassau commissioned a portrait of Adolf by the Düsseldorf painter Heinrich Mücke. In 1843 this painting was hung in the Frankfurt Kaisersaal (Hall of Kings). The picture depicts King Adolf with chest armor, a white coat; and wearing an iron crown with an "implied spiked helmet”; in his right hand he holds a sword and in the left a shield with an eagle. It also bears

30798-403: Was the second in the succession of so-called count-kings of several rivalling comital houses striving after the Roman-German royal dignity. Adolf was the reigning count of a small German state. He was born about 1255 and was the son of Walram II, Count of Nassau and Adelheid of Katzenelnbogen . Adolf’s brother was Diether of Nassau , who was appointed Archbishop of Trier in 1300. Adolf

30975-399: Was thus long known as the "House of Austria". Complementary, in some circumstances the family members were identified by their place of birth. Charles V was known in his youth after his birthplace as Charles of Ghent . When he became king of Spain he was known as Charles of Spain, and after he was elected emperor, as Charles V (in French, Charles Quint ). In Spain, the dynasty was known as

31152-405: Was used to show that the old dynasty continued as did all its inherited rights. Some younger sons who had no prospects of the throne were given the personal title of "count of Habsburg". The surname of more recent members of the family such as Otto von Habsburg and Karl von Habsburg is taken to be " von Habsburg " or more completely "von Habsburg-Lothringen". Princes and members of the house use

31329-455: Was utterly defeated in the Battle of Morgarten in 1315. The three cantons renewed their alliance in the pact of Brunnen , and Louis IV reconfirmed their Imperial immediacy. The Swiss chronicles of the Burgundy Wars period (1470s) refer to a rebellion against the local bailiffs , with a coordinated destruction of their forts or castles, known as the Burgenbruch (" slighting ") in Swiss historiography . The earliest reference for this

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