In autumn of 1918, as the First World War drew to a close, Austria-Hungary was crumbling. On the 11th of November, the day of the armistice, Emperor Charles I issued a proclamation, recognizing Austria's right to determine the future of the state and renouncing any role in state affairs. Two days later, a similar proclamation was issued for Hungary, and although the Emperor never officially abdicated, this is considered to mark the end of Habsburg rule. For hundreds of years, this family had played a vital role in the history of not just Europe, but of the world, amassing the first empire on which the sun never set. Its members would go on to become Holy Roman Emperors, kings of Spain, and at one point even Emperors of Mexico, to name but a few titles. But exactly where did this illustrious family come from, and how did it first rise to power? In this video, we’re looking at the origins of the Habsburgs, from the founding of the dynasty, to their election as kings of Germany. The early history of the family is shrouded in mystery, and over the years, various genealogies have tried to link them to the noblest possible ancestors. One has the Habsburgs descending via various Roman families back to noone less than Julius Caesar, and from there all the way to ancient Troy. Meanwhile, another would make them descendants, via Osiris and Jupiter, of Ham and Noah. What we do know is that the family gets its name from Habsburg Castle, located in northern Switzerland. The building is in turn believed to have been named after a hawk, or in German: “Habicht”, although some mean that it may come from the Middle High German word “hab” meaning ford, as its located near a ford of the Aar river. This would make the builder of the castle the first Habsburg, but exactly who that was is disputed. The most common guess would be Guntram the Rich who lived from about 920 to 973. Originally from Alsace, he was count of Breisgau, an area in what is now the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and had in addition to this been given many lands by King Otto the Great. In 952 however, he was convicted of treachery during an Imperial Diet in Augsburg, resulting in the retraction of many of them. Guntram nonetheless retained possessions in Breisgau, Alsace, and of course in northern Switzerland, where he is also believed to have founded Muri Abbey. This building would become the final resting place of many of the early Habsburgs, and it’s in the chronology of the abbey, written in the 11th century, that “Guntramnus Dives”, or Guntram the Rich is named as the founder of the house of Habsburg. He didn’t come from nowhere however, and descended from the powerful Etichonids, who had ruled the duchy of Alsace ever since the 7th century. In a sense then, the Habsburgs can be seen as a branch of this older family, probably of either Frankish, Burgundian or Visigothic origin. Guntram was succeeded by his son Lanzelin, who styled himself “Count of Altenburg”. This may come from the castle of the same name, located not far from the Habsburg, or from the town of Altenburg, just across what is now the German border. The reason behind this is that he also took the title “Count of Klettgau”, which is the region where the town of Altenburg is located. Lanzelin is also said to have conquered lands in what is now the Swiss Canton of Aargau, but apart from that, not much more is known about him. He died in 991, and was succeeded by one of his four sons called Radbot. The use of the title “Count of Klettgau” was continued by him, and he is said to have acquired extensive land holdings in Alsace, Swabia and Aargau. Radbot, just like his grandfather, is also said to have founded both Habsburg Castle and Muri Abbey. In the case of the latter, he was supposedly asked to build it by his wife Ida, as an atonement for his sins, although exactly what he had done is unknown. Ida provides the early Habsburgs with a connection to another of the most long-lived and influential dynasties in Europe, as her uncle was the French king Hugh Capet. The senior line of his descendants, the Capetians would rule France until 1328, followed by the Valois, Bourbon and Orleans branches, which fell from power as late as 1848. Rabot was succeeded by Werner, who was the first to take the title “Count of Habsburg”. Sometimes known as “Werner the Pious”, he supported the Pope and anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden in the Investiture Controversy. This conflict had arisen as a power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor over who had the right to install high church officials, and eventually ended with a compromise. Werner had two sons, between whom he seems to have divided his lands. One of them, called Otto, accompanied Emperor Henry V (not IV) on a campaign to Hungary in 1108, and was upon his return assassinated. The other, called Albert, died childless, and thus the lands were reunited by Otto’s son Werner II. This younger Werner followed Frederick Barbarossa on a campaign to assert imperial authority in Italy, and fought at the Battle of Monte Porzio, not far from Rome. The outcome was a victory for the Empire against the Roman Commune, an attempted revival of the ancient republic. Werner however, passed away soon afterwards from an illness, leaving his lands to his son Albert. Like his father, Albert was a loyal supporter of the Emperor, and was given the landgraviate of Upper Alsace in 1186. He also followed Frederick Barbarossa, this time on the third Crusade from 1189-92, and died a few years after his return. His son, Rudolf the Kind, acquired Laufenburg and the “Waldstätte” (in other words, the cities of Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Lucerne, all located in Switzerland), but on his death his sons partitioned the inheritance. The youngest, also called Rudolf, would get the eastern lands, and founded the house of Habsburg-Laufenburg, which would live on until 1408. Meanwhile, the elder son, Albert the Wise, would gain the family’s western possessions. Albert participated in the Barons' Crusade of 1239, and died near Ascalon, in what is now Israel. His son, Rudolf, would be the first Habsburg monarch, as King of Germany. He greatly increased the family’s domains, beginning with his marriage in 1245 to Gertrude of Zollern-Hohenberg-Haigerloch, for which he was given lands and several castles in Alsace. Rudolf also expanded by claiming the lands of his relatives, the Kyburg family, whose male line had died out. Furthermore, his loyalty to the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II and his son Conrad IV of Germany was richly rewarded by grants of land. But despite having quickly increased his holdings, rendering him the most powerful noble in southwestern Germany, he was still merely a count and a regional power. So how did he manage to become king of the whole country? Following the death of Emperor Frederick II in 1250, a period of confusion and political disorder had begun in Germany. Although Frederick’s son, Conrad had been elected king, his power was challenged by William of Holland, who had himself been elected as monarch by a rival set of princes. Thus, Conrad could never achieve universal recognition, and the title of Holy Roman Emperor was left vacant. In this absence of a strong leader, the various German princes were now in a position to increase their independence, and acting in their own self-interest, they would make sure that no ruler powerful enough to threaten them would be elected king. Because of this, being a harmless count, like Rudolf, would have actually increased your chances of rising to power. After the deaths Conrad and William, the two factions of princes elected Earl Richard of Cornwall, and the distant Alfonso of Castille respectively as German kings. Richard paid four fleeting visits to Germany - Alfonso never stepped foot in his kingdom. When Richard eventually passed away in 1272, the Pope encouraged the election of a German monarch sympathetic toward a Crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land. Philip III of France and Ottakar II of Bohemia were both interested, but rejected by the princes as being too powerful. Instead, the following year Rudolf of Habsburg was chosen as king, largely because he was considered too weak to regain the crown domains which the electors had previously usurped. Nonetheless, due to the help of the Pope, Alfonso of Castille was persuaded to abandon his pretensions to the throne in 1275, leaving Rudolf as sole ruler of Germany. Not everyone was happy with his election however, and King Ottakar of Bohemia refused to acknowledge it. He had used the recent political turmoil to expand his domains down from what is now the Czech Republic, into the duchies of Austria and Styria, and although this had made him very powerful, it had also made him many enemies. When he refused to give back the areas that he had conquered, Rudolf, together with Ottakar’s many envious neighbours decided to take them back by force. In 1276, he led an army into Austria, and defeated the Bohemian king. The following year, Otakar returned to confront Rudolf, but was again defeated, and this time lost his life. Austria and Styria were then declared vacant, and in 1282, Rudolf received permission from the princes to grant these lands to his sons, thus constituting the heartland of the future Habsburg power. From now on, the family would be one of the most powerful in Germany and the Empire, and although Rudolf never managed to attain the rank of Emperor for himself, his descendants would two centuries later. Their rule of the Holy Roman Empire would be nearly undisturbed until its dissolution in 1806, and Austria would remain in their hands until autumn of 1918.
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