Austrian history: Habsburg dynasty
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Bella gerant
alii, tu felix Austria nube!
The rise of House Habsburg!
This line of medieval poetry is representative of the rise of the
Habsburg Empire. It was written in the late Middle Ages at the same
time when the Habsburgs transformed themselves from insignificant
Swiss Counts to Holy Roman Emperors of German Nation. They were
one of the most powerful dynasties of Ancient Europe.
Rudolf von Habsburg - the 13th century
But we will come to this later! Let's start at the beginning:
In 1273 the kurfuersts (a number of counts responsible for electing
the German emperor) had finally come to a decision: they had elected
the rather negligible Swiss count 'Rudolf von der Habichtsburg'
(Habsburg!) on the strength of his very insignificance. By this
they expected to lose as little power of their own as possible.
However, their hopes were to be disappointed. Already in 1278 Rudolf
defeated his mightiest opponent Premysl II Otakar, Emperor
of Bohemia. This victory made Rudolf unchallenged Emperor of Germany
and won him the lands of Austria. Viennese 'Hofburg' became
his residency and would be the Imperial residence of House Habsburg
till the end of the dynasty.
Friedrich III - the 15th century
In the 14th century the German crown was lost temporarily to the
Luxemburg dynasty which was residing in Prague. Even though, Habsburg
politics, which was based on marriage rather than warfare ('Hausmachtpolitik"),
was very successful. Emperor Friedrich III (died in 1493)
is famous for the inscription AEIOU ("Alles Erdreich
Ist Österreich Untertan", meaning: the whole world is
subject to Austria) which adorned many buildings of his time.
Karl V - an empire in which 'the sun never sets'
Only half a century later, this inscription is much less of an
exaggeration: His successor Karl V (died in 1558) was Lord
of an empire in which "the sun never sets".
By then, the Habsburgs where not merely German emperors but also
Dukes of wealthy Burgundy (1477, today's Low-Counties) and Kings
of Bohemia and Hungary (1526) as well as Spain (1516, including
half of America and the Philippines!).
Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube!
How did that happen? By warfare? By spending enormous fortunes?
By diplomatic excellence? Possibly. But one important factor was
dynastically smart marriage.
The Latin verse quoted at the beginning refers to exactly that:
"Let others wage war, you - happy Austria - marry!"
With this enormous empire the Habsburgs also inherited a bulk of
problems: There were numerous religiously motivated wars against
Protestants. Esp. the Thirty-Years-War lasting from 1618
- 1648 was one of the most appalling wars in history.
For centuries the Ottomans, Islamic Turks, were a constant
threat. They controlled the Balkan area and even besieged Vienna,
the Habsburgs Imperial residence, twice (1529 and 1683).
The success of the Habsburg era was not least based on a strictly
authoritarian sovereignty (absolutism!). Esp. Karl VI
and his daughter Maria-Theresia (died in 1780) strove
to perpetuate the glory of their dynasty by splendid buildings in
representative baroque style. Esp. Imperial city Vienna features
many imposing buildings of this time (Karlskirche, Schönbrunn
castle).
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