The Habsburgs- The History of a Dynasty

by Benjamin Curtis

  The central difficulty of the dynasty’s rule was paradoxically also its greatest success. It proved so adept at the first strategy of production and reproduction that the fourth strategy, institutionalizing rule, took a decentralized form. The unheard-of windfall in the late medieval and early modern periods—suddenly acquiring a worldwide territorial reach as no family in human history ever had before—collided with the technological and other limitations of government in this time. Thus the family had to strike deals with the elites in its lands to ensure the continuity of Habsburg rule. Those deals, coupled with the diversity of the dynasty’s domains, in the long run often worked against the development of a state that could extract sufficient resources to remain a major military power. The Habsburgs’ remarkable accomplishments in assembling a patrimony also in the long run created a realm where the dynasty could represent a state, but not the multiple nations that emerged there. In this way the dynasty remained stamped and even hampered by its sixteenth-century gains; it was never exactly stuck in the early modern period, but its achievements in that period constricted its options in the future.

  Finally, a few practical considerations on terminology and the book’s approach. Though the Habsburgs are often known as the “House of Austria,” their domains extended far beyond Austria, and even the definition of Austria itself was contestable into the nineteenth century. Austria proper was often divided into “Upper Austria” (roughly, the northwestern part bordering mostly on Germany) and “Lower Austria” (the northeastern part bordering the Czech lands and Hungary), with the River Enns as the dividing line. There was also “Inner Austria,” which referred to the southern areas of Carinthia, Styria, and Carniola (the latter of which is now mostly Slovenia). When the term “Austria” is used in this book, it will usually refer to the whole complex of the dynasty’s domains centering on the Danube, excluding Hungary. Another term, “the Danubian domains,” more accurately embraces Hungary as well. The term “Hereditary Lands” (Erblande in German) refers to the strictly Austrian domains, but after 1627 also includes the Bohemian kingdom. Within the Hereditary Lands, the family’s oldest territories in what is today mostly Switzerland and southwest Germany have a more precise definition, the Vorlande; the English-language term “Further Austria” is too clumsy to use. “The Habsburg monarchy” refers to all the lands under Habsburg rule, from the Netherlands, to the Vorlande, to Transylvania. This is the name of the state, even when the state was rather weak, and I prefer it to another sometimes-used term, “the Habsburg empire,” which legitimately covers the Iberian overseas possessions but is much too grandiose to describe the Danubian domains, even after Franz I proclaimed the Hereditary Lands an “empire” in 1804. The Habsburg monarchy in Iberia presents fewer terminological difficulties, though the term “Spain” will sometimes be used when in fact there was no unified Spanish state throughout the time the Habsburgs ruled there.

  My naming of places and people is admittedly idiosyncratic. For towns, I most often employ the name currently in use in whatever country the place is located. For instance, I will typically refer to Bratislava even though during Habsburg rule it was almost always known by its German name, Pressburg, or Hungarian, Pozsony. A few exceptions are made for place names that are too well established in English, thus Vienna instead of Wien. Regions that have a commonly used name in English will use that name; hence Styria rather than the German Steiermark. For people, I will use the name they themselves used in whatever was their main language. Rather than Philip II of Spain, then, it is Felipe II since his primary language was Spanish. Other, highly multilingual Habsburgs are trickier, and expose my choices to quibbling. Since Felipe’s father grew up favoring French, he is Charles V rather than the Spanish “Carlos” or the German “Karl.” I acknowledge that this nomenclature will occasionally present readers whose first language is English with unfamiliar orthography. Therefore, in the chapters that follow, as well as in the index, when a person’s name is first mentioned, the English version (if it is not obvious) will be given in brackets. In any case, I hope that such difficulties are requited by the more respectful approach of using the names that these people would actually have used for themselves.16

  In compressing so many centuries of one family’s and multiple lands’ histories into what will hopefully be a relatively manageable text, I have made many sacrifices. This book focuses unapologetically on “high politics,” that is, battles, diplomacy, royal marriages, and other matters central to the dynasty’s rule. Given short shrift are cultural and social history. Broader developments in society, and the conditions of those who did not live in palaces, had to give way in order to do some justice to the crowned heads. Similarly, because the dynasty is the star of this show, and it was most deeply connected to Austria, the other realms such as Hungary or the Netherlands do not receive as much attention as do the Hereditary Lands. Also in an effort to do justice to the Habsburgs themselves, I have tried to sketch them as individuals, to put some flesh on their old bones. Hence each chapter begins with a mostly “narrative” section detailing the major events of the reign. Each ends with a more “analytical” section evaluating the relevant rulers according to the four dynastic strategies outlined above. I also regret that the book is mostly a parade of dead white men. Where possible I have devoted attention to some of the dynasty’s remarkable women, but the first duty has to be to the family’s heads, who were almost always males. In the end, many other books were cut out of this one, ending up on the “editing room floor,” so to speak. Yet since the Habsburgs are an inexhaustible topic, those less-explored areas may yet find books of their own.

  MAP 1. Growth of Habsburg territories.

  CHAPTER ONE

  From not so humble beginnings (c. 1000–1439)

  On a hill above the Aare River in the Swiss canton of Aargau stands a thousand-year-old castle, a modest structure consisting now of a square, crenellated tower attached to an austere residential building of rough-hewn stone. This is the original Habichtsburg, sometimes known as “Hawk Castle,” the ancestral seat and source of appellation for the Habsburg dynasty. The family was thus named after a place, a fortress dating back to the early eleventh century, which occupies a strategic position near the upper Rhine and important passes over the Alps. These were the Habsburgs’ earliest lands, though they were eventually lost: after 1415 the Habsburgs no longer owned the Habsburg castle itself, since it fell under the control of the Swiss Confederation. That surprising setback illustrates how the family’s history in its first few centuries does not presage its later dominance. At times it rose to become one of the elite German dynasties, but at others experienced major defeats such as being expelled from its original homelands. In response, the Habsburgs moved their center of gravity eastward to the Austrian duchies, where they gradually built up administrative structures to buttress their rule and their status. Their territorial patrimony thereby expanded, though it also came to be divided among multiple family lines. During this period, several lasting patterns of Habsburg dynastic practice were established, including a conscientiously pious image and a grandiose belief in the family’s eminence. The Habsburgs’ oldest castle may have been modest, and only a few family members truly significant, but even in its beginnings the dynasty was never humble.

  Much of the dynasty’s earliest history is uncertain, a mélange of mythology and conjecture. Standing as the hazy first figure in a long lineage is a duke named Guntram the Rich, who lived in the middle 900s. The details of Guntram’s life are little known, but he had a son, Lanzelin, the count of Altenburg, who in the later 900s owned land where the Habichtsburg was later built. Lanzelin himself may have had three sons. One was Rudolf—a name which created a precedent in Habsburg history—and another was Radbot, who married a woman named Ita and died sometime around 1045. A certain Werner, who became the bishop of Strasbourg circa 1002, may have been Lanzelin’s third son, or perhaps Ita’s brother; in any case, it was he and Radbot who began the construction of the Habsburg
Castle. These men were all minor nobles in what was then the Duchy of Swabia. Lanzelin’s sons Rudolf and Radbot, and their sons in turn, grew rich from transalpine trade and tolls and amassed land in the areas of Alsace, southwestern Germany, and Switzerland. They received commensurately appropriate authority and titles: Radbot’s grandson Otto was named the first “count of Habsburg” in 1090.

  During the 1100s the Habsburgs forged a political alliance with the Hohenstaufens, one of the most prominent European dynasties by virtue of ruling the Holy Roman Empire for much of the twelfth century. The imperial crown was elective, chosen by several of the highest German princes. Another Rudolf (known as “the Benevolent”) supported the Hohenstaufens in the election of 1198. This loyalty was rewarded in land and prestige: Emperor Friedrich II subsequently took Rudolf the Benevolent’s grandson (whose name was also Rudolf) as his godson, which helped elevate the family into the highest imperial circles. Thanks to such astute alliances, by the early 1200s the Habsburgs had established themselves as one of the wealthiest, most prominent families of southwestern Germany. The dynasty was now positioned for a sudden jump in its power and status. That opportunity came after the end of Hohenstaufen rule in the Empire (1254), which led to the Interregnum, an almost 20-year period when the German kingship was split between multiple claimants. The lack of an acknowledged royal authority led to a gradual breakdown of public order, with rogue knights marauding the countryside and no strong king to bring them to justice. Finally in 1273 the electoral princes moved to remedy the situation and elect a compromise candidate. In that year Rudolf von Habsburg attained the German kingship.

  Rudolf I (1218–91)

  Rudolf I (actually the fourth Habsburg Rudolf) is the dynasty’s first figure of major importance and represented a zenith that no successor would equal for several generations. He was chosen because the electoral princes calculated that he was rich and powerful enough to restore order in the Empire, but not too rich and powerful to overstep the monarch’s bounds by encroaching on the princes’ sovereignty. Rudolf was 55 years old when elected, but had been head of his family for more than 30 years. From both his parents’ sides he had claim to valuable territories that made him one of the richest lords in Swabia. Though it can be difficult to cut through mythical obfuscation and simple inadequacy of historical sources to ascertain the personalities of the early Habsburgs, contemporary accounts and family tradition coincide in their descriptions of Rudolf. He was known as a wise, modest, decent person, famed not only for his astute political skills but for his sense of humor as well. Tall and thin, with a prominent aquiline nose, stories relate that he would mend his own clothes, pick grapes with his men, and dress in a style quite subdued for a great lord. Contrary to the allegations made by those who opposed Rudolf’s candidacy, he was no parvenu “poor count” unworthy of the German kingship, the office still regarded as the highest secular power in Europe.

  Rudolf’s reign in fact proved quite successful in spite of the lingering unrest from the Interregnum and the institutional limitations of the king’s authority. From the outset, he focused on the situation in Germany, relegating the imperial territories in Italy to secondary importance—and indeed he was never officially crowned by the pope in Rome, so he was king but never emperor. He diligently worked with the electoral princes to share authority. In order to strengthen these relationships and his dynasty’s position, he married four of his daughters to these princes. He also formed an advantageous relationship with the imperial cities, respecting their rights while at the same time drawing tax revenue and military support from them. Such military support was essential in one of Rudolf’s prime tasks in the Empire, namely to restore law and order after the breakdown of the Interregnum years. He combated private feuds, abolished illegal tolls imposed by local lords, and traveled about Germany destroying robber knights and their castles. As one example, in December 1289 he had 29 malefactors executed for flouting imperial law, then displayed their heads before Erfurt’s town gates. He also improved administrative structures in the Empire by appointing loyal men to temporary positions in which they would carry out his laws, but not accumulate too much influence. He attempted, with less success, to reform the fiscal basis of royal power through his tax programs, record keeping, and efforts to recover former royal domains in Alsace and elsewhere. Overall, Rudolf managed to steer an effective course between restoring some central authority in the realm without upsetting the various other stakeholders in the Empire’s tangled web of authority.

  Rudolf’s most lasting achievement, and certainly his most important for the future of the dynasty, was to bring the Austrian duchies into his house. Austria as a whole was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but had considerable independence thanks to privileges given in 1156 by Emperor Friedrich I Hohenstaufen to the ruling Babenberg family. In 1246 the last male Babenberg died leaving no heir. Because of the chaos of the Interregnum, no emperor could designate an acknowledged successor in the Austrian duchies, which experienced their own attendant collapse of law and order. To correct this situation, in 1251 nobles in Austria and Styria turned to Otakar Přemysl, the margrave of Moravia who subsequently became king of Bohemia. Otakar aggressively solidified his hold on the Austrian domains—gaining Carinthia by an inheritance, conquering Carniola, and even marrying a Babenberg. Otakar, disappointed that he had not been chosen as German king, refused to acknowledge Rudolf’s authority or to cede some lands in Austria that had formerly belonged to the German crown. Rudolf then created a strong alliance with other German princes and went to war. The conflict culminated in the battle of Marchfeld on 26 August 1278, in which Otakar was killed. Rudolf claimed the Austrian lands for himself, and they belonged to the dynasty until 1918, giving rise to the Habsburg moniker as “the House of Austria.”

  Having claimed the Austrian lands, it was then necessary to assert control over them. As did any high lord in the medieval period, Rudolf had to negotiate with the nobles below him to have his authority recognized. In return he had to recognize the nobles’ rights, including that the major Austrian nobles would form a council that would advise the Habsburgs’ rule. The nobles also had to accept Rudolf’s plans to make his sons Albrecht and Rudolf counts of Austria and Styria in 1282. Rudolf granted rule over Carinthia to his vassal Meinhard of Gorizia-Tyrol. This division of authority was necessary partly because the imperial electors were always wary of the king accruing too much power. They therefore insisted on limiting Rudolf’s domains now that his family held the second biggest collection of territories in the Empire, after the Bohemian kingdom. Rudolf lived to the advanced age of 73. Fittingly for a man who was so methodical in life, his death was also carefully planned. In his waning days, he rode to the city of Speyer specifically to die there, since he considered it the traditional burial place of his ancestors. He also contracted an artist to design his tomb monument. This monument, which has been credited as the first realistic portrait of a king of the Holy Roman Empire, was placed in the cathedral of Speyer after Rudolf’s death on 15 July 1291.

  Rudolf’s contributions to his dynasty were momentous. His territorial acquisitions alone would have won him an honored place. In addition to the Austrian domains, Rudolf added a number of smaller lands to the patrimony, including several in southern Germany and a few cities in present-day Switzerland. He also achieved success in another essential duty of any dynast, namely marriage politics. Besides marrying his six daughters to high lords in Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Hungary, he made a double marital arrangement in which one of Rudolf’s daughters married one of Otakar’s sons, and one of Rudolf’s sons married one of Otakar’s daughters. All of these links were intended to cement the Habsburgs’ newly lofty status, to forge the kind of alliances that followed from such personal liaisons, and even to establish inheritance claims for the future. The chief area where Rudolf failed in his aims to advance the family was with his inability to get his son Albrecht accepted as his successor to the German kingship. That failure came in pa
rt because Rudolf was never able to make the journey to Rome, where he would have been crowned emperor by the pope. Lacking the emperor’s prerogative of suasion in naming an heir, Rudolf’s desire to designate Albrecht also ran into the electors’ resistance to the family’s increased power after the acquisition of Austria.

  Albrecht I (1255–1308)

  Albrecht’s rather intimidating character made many people wary. He had only one eye as a result of a botched medieval cure for poisoning, which directed that he be suspended upside down so that the poison could “drain out” of him. What this prescription actually achieved was a blood clot in his eye that caused him to lose it. His appearance only added to his reputation as a harsh, occasionally brutal person. One medieval chronicler described Albrecht as “hard as a diamond,” his heart as “a red-hot iron.”1 He certainly lacked his father’s affability. But he was also highly intelligent, energetic, and competent. As the oldest son, his task was to further the dynasty’s prospects. His duties in that regard were, first of all, to manage the rule in the new Austrian territories as well as its older domains in the Vorlande. It was only some years later, after a short-lived rival’s rule, that Albrecht followed in his father’s path as German king.