Concept
House of Habsburg
Overview
The House of Habsburg (; German: Haus Habsburg, lit. 'House of the Hawk's hill' [haʊs ˈhaːbsbʊrɡ] ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Western civilization. They were best known for ruling vast realms throughout Europe and the Americas during the Middle Ages and early modern period, including the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg monarchy and Spain.
The house takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a Swabian 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, was elected King of the Romans. Taking advantage of the extinction of the Babenbergs and of his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia at 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 dissolution resulted from a combination of factors, chief among them Napoleon’s military victories in Germany. The empire’s authority had steadily weakened, while political fragmentation among the German states further eroded central control. Economic strains and intensifying regional rivalries compounded these challenges, ultimately destabilizing the Holy Roman Empire. 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 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, 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.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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One of his descendants was that Gustavus Adolphus who is called the Great. This king conquered Livonia, Ingria, Bremen, Verden, Vismar, Pomerania, besides more than a hundred towns in Germany, given up by Sweden after his death. He shook the throne of Ferdinand II, and protected the Lutherans in Germany, his efforts in that direction being furthered by the intrigues of Rome herself, who stood more in awe of the…
Voltaire, Voltaire's history of Charles XII, king of Sweden
States what House of Habsburg is.
MARCH 15th, 1852. Bohemia and Croatia (another disjected member of the Slavonic family, acted upon by the Hungarian, as Bohemia by the German) were the homes of what is called on the European continent "Panslavism." Neither Bohemia nor Croatia was strong enough to exist as a nation by herself. Their respective nationalities, gradually undermined by the action of historical causes that inevitably absorbs into a more…
Friedrich Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution
States what House of Habsburg is.
The military leaders were elected solely on their merits. They had little power and were obliged to rely on the force of their example. The actual disciplinary power in the army was held by the priests, as Tacitus implicitly states. The public meeting was the real executive. The king or chief of the tribe presided. The people decided. A murmur signified "No," acclamation and clanging of weapons meant "Yes." The…
Friedrich Engels, The origin of the family, private property, and the state
Close in meaning to House of Habsburg; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed House of Habsburg
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