The beginnings of the house of Habsburg are shrouded in mystery. The difficulty of conducting research into its rise in ...
Reigns and Rulers I
955–1291
In the Middle Ages there was no absolutely indispensible connection between reading and writing. Someone who could read was not ...
Of Reading and Writing
1200–1850
In the fourteenth century swarms of locusts, an earthquake and heavy rainfall led to numerous famines. In the middle of ...
A medieval town was home to a variety of social classes, with the members of the Court (if the town ...
Townscapes
1273–1500
The bones of saints, as well as their hair and nails, were revered as relics, as were objects which had ...
Holy Business
1273–1500
The Vienna Hofburg is one of the most historically important architectural monuments in Europe: for centuries this imperial palace was ...
The Hofburg
1278–1918
The election of Rudolf I as ruler over the Holy Roman Empire propelled a family into the limelight of history ...
The Birth of a Dynasty
1278–1476
It was not until the fifteenth century that the Habsburgs established their quasi-permanent seat at the head of the Holy ...
Reigns and Rulers II
1282–1406
Religious houses have always played a special part in the history and culture of Austria. The Habsburgs played a major ...
The Land of Monasteries
1282–1790
As early as the Middle Ages, the Habsburgs had already had their own Musikkapelle or band of musicians which consisted ...
With Trumpets and Drums
1296–1918
In 1365 Duke Rudolf IV founded the University of Vienna. The Habsburg princes were of major importance for the history ...
Knowledge is Power
1348–1900
In the middle of the fifteenth century the Habsburgs assumed the Roman-German imperial title, retaining it – with one interruption ...
Reigns and Rulers III
1404–1500
Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube – ‘Let others wage war: thou, happy Austria, marry’. This famous saying is ...
Tu felix Austria nube
1430–1570
For several centuries, Habsburg politics were dominated by the dynasty’s conflicts with their neighbours to east and west. In the ...
The early modern age saw the Habsburgs making considerable extensions to their dominions. Through war and dynastic marriages Maximilian I ...
Reigns and Rulers IV
1486–1618
‘Happy is he who forgets’ was certainly not the motto of Emperor Maximilian I, a monarch who did his utmost ...
Good. Better. Habsburg.
1500–1650
Employing craftsmen and artists at court was important to many dynasties. The objects they created embellished their rulers’ lavish lifestyles, ...
In His Majesty’s Service
1500–1650
The ‘discovery’ and colonization of America brought new delicacies like chocolate, sugar and tobacco to Europe, where they first appeared ...
Worlds of Delight
1500–1739
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. This is particularly true when there are wars to be ...
Shaken by Crises
1500–23.10.1648

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