Habsburgs

All the members of the Habsburg dynasty. Read biographical notes and explore the historical context.
Count Rudolf of Habsburg was the first Habsburg on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. With him, the Habsburgs moved...
Rudolf I
Roman-German King
1273–1291
In 1282 Albrecht was enfeoffed by his father Rudolf I with the lands along the Danube that were to form the nucleus of...
Albrecht I
Roman-German King
1298–1308
Frederick ‘the Fair’, son of King Albrecht I, endeavoured to succeed his father as Roman-German King. However, in 1322...
Frederick III, ‘the Fair’
Roman-German Anti-king
The son of King Albrecht I, Leopold pursued his father’s murderers remorselessly. Afterwards he promoted the election...
Leopold I ‘the Glorious’
Duke of Austria
The nephew of the Habsburg king Albrecht I, he received the epithet of ‘the Parricide’, meaning ‘killer of a relative...
John ‘the Parricide’
Duke of Austria
In 1355 Duke Albrecht II issued a house regulation which in effect stipulated that the Habsburg lands were indivisible...
Albrecht II, 'the Wise'
Duke of Austria
Duke Rudolf IV was the most influential Habsburg of the fourteenth century. Despite his short life of only twenty-six...
Rudolf IV, ‘the Founder’
Duke of Austria
1358–1365
The early years of Duke Albrecht III’s reign were marked by the efforts of his brother Leopold III to divide the...
Albrecht III, ‘with the plait’
Duke of Austria
During the 1360s Leopold administered Tyrol and the Habsburg Swabian territories. However, he pressed for greater...
Leopold III, ‘the Just’
Duke of Austria
William’s life was marked by conflicts with his relatives: the eldest son of Duke Leopold III, he initially shared...
William ‘the Ambitious’
Duke of Austria
The life of Duke Leopold IV was marked by the numerous family conflicts that arose in the line of his father, Duke...
Leopold IV
Duke of Austria
Ernest fought over his share of the Habsburg patrimony with his brothers William and Leopold IV. He became regent over...
Ernest ‘the Iron’
Archduke of Austria
The only son of Duke Albrecht III, he initially shared power with his cousin Wilhelm. However, he became increasingly...
Albrecht IV, 'the Patient'
Duke of Austria
1395–1404
Frederick ruled over the Swabian territories and Tyrol at the beginning of the fifteenth century. There he gradually...
Frederick IV, ‘Empty-Pockets’
Duke of Austria
As Duke of Austria, Albrecht supported the Roman-German Emperor and Bohemian king Sigismund in his struggle against the...
Albrecht II
Roman-German King
1438–1439
Lasting fifty-three years, Frederick’s reign was the longest of any king or emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was...
Frederick III
Roman-German Emperor
1452–1493
The son of Ernest ‘the Iron’, he ruled over the Habsburg Swabian territories from 1446, but demanded a greater share of...
Albrecht VI
Archduke of Austria
Following the death of his father, Duke Frederick IV, Sigismund (also called Siegmund) became a ward of his cousin,...
Sigismund ‘the Rich in Coin’
Duke of Austria
Born after the death of his father King Albrecht II, Ladislaus received the epithet of ‘Postumus’. Only a few weeks...
Ladislaus ‘Postumus’
King of Hungary and King of Bohemia
1440–1457
With his policies of war and marriage, Emperor Maximilian I laid the foundations upon which the Habsburgs rose to...
Maximilian I, 'the last knight'
Roman-German Emperor
1508–1519
Philip was the son of Emperor Maximilian I. He was married to the Spanish infanta Juana (Joan) in a double wedding in...
Philip I, 'the Fair'
King of Castile
Donna Juana (Joan) of Castile and Aragon was married to Philip the Fair in an alliance arranged between the Spanish...
Joan ‘the Mad’
Queen of Castile and Aragon
The daughter of Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, she was brought up at the French court. At the age of...
Margaret of Austria
Regent of the Netherlands
1507–1530
Charles V was one of the most powerful European rulers of all times, reigning over territories in Europe and the...
Charles V
Roman-German Emperor
1519–1556

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