Numerous other titles were attached to the crowns listed above.
A brief history of the House of Habsburg
From Counts of Habsburg to Holy Roman Emperors
The name is derived from the Swiss Habichtsburg (Hawk Castle), the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries at Habsburg in the former duchy of Swabia in present-day Switzerland (Switzerland did not then exist in its present form, and the Swiss lands were part of the mainly Germanic Holy Roman Empire). From Southwest-Germany the family extended its influence and holdings to the south-eastern reaches of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly today's Austria (1278 - 1382). Within only two or three generations, the Habsburgs had managed to secure an initially intermittent grasp on the imperial throne that would last for centuries (1273 - 1291, 1298 - 1308, 1438 - 1740, and 1745 - 1806).
Under Maximilian II, the Habsburgs first acquired the land upon which would later be erected the Schönbrunn Palace: the Habsburgs' summer palace in Vienna and one of the most enduring symbols of the dynasty.
Division of the House: Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs
After the April 21, 1521 assignment of the Austrian lands to Ferdinand I from his brother Emperor Charles V (also King Charles I of Spain) (1516 - 1556), the dynasty split into one Austrian and one Spanish branch. The Austrian Habsburgs held (after 1556) the title of Holy Roman Emperor, as well as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, while the Spanish Habsburgs ruled over the Spanish kingdoms, the Netherlands, the Habsburgs' Italian possessions, and, for a time, Portugal. Hungary, nominally under Habsburg kingship from 1526 but mostly under Ottoman Turkish occupation for 150 years, was reconquered in 1683 - 1699.
The Spanish Habsburgs died out in 1700 (prompting the War of the Spanish Succession), as did the Austrian Habsburgs in 1740 (prompting the War of the Austrian Succession). However, the heiress of the last Austrian Habsburg (Maria Theresa) had married Francis Stephan, Duke of Lorraine, (both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III, but from different empresses) and their descendants carried on the Habsburg tradition from Vienna under the dynastic name Habsburg-Lorraine. (It is often speculated that extensive intra-family marriages within both lines contributed to their extinctions, but there were few such marriages in the Austrian line. Smallpox killing young heirs was a greater cause.)
House of Habsburg-Lorraine: the Austrian Empire
On August 61806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved under the French Emperor Napoleon I's reorganisation of Germany. However, in anticipation of the loss of his title of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II declared himself hereditary Emperor of Austria (as Francis I, thereof) on August 11, 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of France on May 18, 1804.
In 1867 effective autonomy was given to Hungary under the terms of the Ausgleich or "compromise" (seeAustria-Hungary) until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I.
Albrecht III of Habsburg (the Rich), d. 1199. Under him, the Habsburg territories expanded to cover most of what is today the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Father of:
Albrecht IV of Habsburg, (d. 1239 / 1240); father of Rudolph IV of Habsburg, who would later become king Rudolph I of Germany. Between Albrecht IV and his brother Rudolph III, the Habsburg properties were split, with Albrecht keeping the Aargau and the western parts, the eastern parts going to Rudolph III.
Kings of Germany
Rudolph I was king of Germany (then an elective position, as its successive post, the Holy Roman Emperor, would be) from 1273 - 1291.
Dukes of Austria
In the late middle ages, when the Habsburgs expanded their territories in the east, they often ruled as dukes. "Duke of Austria" is a bit misleading, though: Austria at the time covered what is today Lower Austria and the eastern part of Upper Austria. The Habsburg possessions also included Styria, and then expanded west to include Carinthia and Carniola in 1335 and Tyrol in 1363. Their original scattered possessions in the southern Alsace, south-western Germany and Vorarlberg were collectively known as Vorderösterreich. The Habsburg dukes gradually lost their homelands south of the Rhine and Lake Constance to the expanding Old Swiss Confederacy. Unless mentioned explicitly, the dukes of Austria also ruled over Vorderösterreich until 1379, after that year, Vorderösterreich was ruled by the Princely Count of Tyrol. Names in italics designate dukes that never actually ruled.
Rudolph II, son of Rudolph I, duke of Austria and Styria together with his brother 1282 - 1283, was dispossessed by his brother, who eventually would be murdered by one of Rudolph's sons.
Rudolph III, oldest son of Albert I, designated duke of Austria and Styria 1298 - 1307
Frederick the Handsome (Friedrich der Schöne), brother of Rudolph III. Duke of Austria and Styria (with his brother Leopold I) from 1308 - 1330; officially co-regent of emperor Louis IV since 1325, but never ruled.
Leopold I, brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 - 1326.
Albert II (Albrecht II), brother of the above, duke of Vorderösterreich from 1326 - 1358, duke of Austria and Styria 1330 - 1358, duke of Carinthia after 1335.
Otto the Jolly (der Fröhliche), brother of the above, duke of Austria and Styria 1330 - 1339 (together with his brother), duke of Carinthia after 1335.
Frederick IV (Friedrich), brother of Ernst, 1402 - 1439 duke of Tyrol and Vorderösterreich
Sigismund, also spelled Siegmund or Sigmund, 1439 - 1446 under the tutelage of the Frederick V above, then duke of Tyrol, and after the death of Albrecht VI in 1463 also duke of Vorderösterreich.
Reuniting of Habsburg possessions
Sigismund had no children and adopted Maximilian I, son of duke Frederick V (emperor Frederick III). Under Maximilian, the possessions of the Habsburgs would be united again under one ruler, after he had re-conquered Lower Austria after the death of Matthias Corvinus, who resided in Vienna and styled himself duke of Austria from 1485 - 1490.
German Kings and Holy Roman Emperors previous to the reunion of the Habsburg possessions
Philip I of Castile, second son of Maximilian I, founded the Spanish Habsburgs in 1506 by marrying Joanna the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Philip promptly died, leaving the thrones of Castile and Aragon to be inherited and united into the nation of Spain by his son:
Charles I 1516-1556, aka Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; converdivided the House into Austrian and Spanish lines
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine retained Austria and attached possessions after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire; see below.
House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Grand dukes of Tuscany
Francis Stephen 1737-1765 (later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor)
Francis Stephen assigned the grand duchy of Tuscany to his second son Peter Leopold, who in turn assigned it to his second son upon his accession as Holy Roman Emperor. Tuscany remained the domain of this cadet branch of the family until Italian unification.
Peter Leopold 1765-1790 (later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor)
Maximilian, an adventurous younger son, was invited as part of Napoleon III's manipulations to take the throne of Mexico. The adventure did not end well. Maximilian was shot in "Cerro de las Campanas" in 1867.
The kingship of Hungary remained in the Habsburg family for centuries; but as the kingship was not strictly inherited (Hungary was an elective monarchy till 1687) and was sometimes used as a training ground for young Habsburgs, the dates of rule do not always match those of the primary Habsburg possessions. Therefore, the kings of Hungary are listed separately.
The kingship of Bohemia was for centuries a position elected by its nobles. As a result, it was not an automatically inherited position. The king of Bohemia tended to be a Habsburg, but was not always. Hence, the kings of Bohemia and their ruling dates are listed separately.
From the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, the greatest non-Habsburg power in Europe was usually France. As a result, in usually futile attempts to either unite Europe under the Habsburg family or to prevent French enmity, Habsburg daughters were wed to successive kings of France.
"Habsburg".
