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Duchy of Austria | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1156–1453 | |||||||||||
.svg) Map of the Austrian duchy in the 13th century: Austria proper shown in solid red, the Duchy of Styria, an Austrian possession since 1192, in hatched red. The pale highlighted area roughly corresponds with the anachronisticAustrian Circle (est. 1512), and is merely for context. The rest of theHoly Roman Empire is shown in pale orange. | |||||||||||
| Status | Duchy within theHoly Roman Empire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Vienna | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Austrian | ||||||||||
| Duke of Austria | |||||||||||
• 1141–1177 | Henry II (first duke, from 1156) | ||||||||||
• 1230–1246 | Frederick II (lastBabenberg duke) | ||||||||||
• 1251–1276 | Ottokar (Přemyslid dynasty) | ||||||||||
• 1282–1291 | Albert I (firstHabsburg duke) | ||||||||||
• 1440–1457 | Ladislaus I (last duke, archduke from 1453) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
| 17 September 1156 | |||||||||||
| 17 August 1186 | |||||||||||
| 26 August 1278 | |||||||||||
| 1358/59 | |||||||||||
| 25 September 1379 | |||||||||||
• Archduchy recognized | 6 January 1453 | ||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | AT | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
TheDuchy of Austria (Latin:Austriae Ducatus;Middle High German:Herzogtum Österreich) was a medievalprincipality of theHoly Roman Empire, established in 1156 by thePrivilegium Minus, when theMargraviate of Austria (Ostarrîchi) was detached fromBavaria and elevated to aduchy in its own right.[1] After the rulingdukes of theHouse of Babenberg became extinct in male line, there was as much as three decades of rivalry on inheritance and rulership, until the German kingRudolf I took over the dominion as the first monarch of theHabsburg dynasty in 1276. Thereafter, Austria became the patrimony and ancestral homeland of the dynasty and the nucleus of theHabsburg monarchy. In 1453, thearchducal title of the Austrian rulers, invented by DukeRudolf IV in the forgedPrivilegium Maius of 1359, was officially acknowledged by the Habsburg emperorFrederick III.
Initially, the duchy was comparatively small in area, roughly comprising the modern-day Austrian state ofLower Austria. As a formerborder march, it was located on the eastern periphery of the Empire, on the northern and southern shores of theDanube River, east of ("below") theEnns tributary.
Drosendorf,Raabs,Laa and other fortifications along theThaya River, north of the historicWaldviertel andWeinviertel regions and separated by theManhartsberg range, marked the border with theDuchy of Bohemia (elevated to aKingdom in 1198) and theMoravian lands, both of which were held by the CzechPřemyslid dynasty. In the east, the Imperial border with theKingdom of Hungary (present-daySlovakia) had gradually shifted towards the plains of theMorava River and the eastern rim of theVienna Basin. On the right shore of the Danube, the lowerLeitha River marked the Imperial–Hungarian border for centuries. In the south, Austria bordered theStyrian lands which were likewise elevated to a duchy, and unified with Austria in 1192.
The territory originally inhabited byCelts was conquered by theRoman Empire at the end of the1st century BC. Following thefall of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, the area was invaded by severalGermanic tribes and from the 6th century onward settled byAvars as well as bySlavic tribes, who about 600 founded the independent principality ofCarantania in the south. TheAvar Khaganate established in 567 comprised most of the later Austrian march up to the Enns river, where it bordered on the Germanstem duchy of Bavaria. Temporarily part ofSamo's Empire from 631 to 658, the territory was under constant attack by theCarolingian forces ofCharlemagne from 791 onward.[2]
About 800, Charlemagne, having won several victories against the Avars, established a frontiermarch in the region between the Enns andRaab rivers, called theAvar March, part of themarcha orientalis. TheEast Frankish margraviate was again lost to the invadingMagyars at the 907Battle of Pressburg, and re-established as the Bavarian March of Austria after KingOtto I of Germany's victory at the 955Battle of Lechfeld. In 976 EmperorOtto II enfeoffed theBabenberg countLeopold the Illustrious with the Austrian margraviate. A large-scale German settlement (Ostsiedlung) along the Danube down to the border with Hungary followed, which ultimately disrupted the Slavic continuity between theWest Slavic (Slovak) andSouth Slavic (Slovene) lands.[3]
Although today closely associated with theHabsburg dynasty, Austria was, until 1246, afeudal possession of the younger House of Babenberg. MargraveLeopold the Generous (1136–1141) was a loyal vassal of the imperialHouse of Hohenstaufen in the struggle against the BavarianWelf dynasty. In 1139, after KingConrad III of Germany deposed the Welf dukeHenry the Proud, he gave the Bavarian duchy to his half-brother Margrave Leopold. Leopold's brother and successorHenry Jasomirgott was enfeoffed with Bavaria in 1141. In 1156, Hohenstaufen EmperorFrederick Barbarossa approached a settlement with the Welfs. At the 1156Imperial Diet inRegensburg,Henry Jasomirgott had to renounce the Bavarian duchy in favor ofHenry the Lion. In compensation, the Babenberg margraviate was elevated to an equal duchy, confirmed by numerous privileges granted by thePrivilegium Minus on 17 September.
The new Austrian duke took his residence atVienna at the site of the laterHofburg Palace. He also foundedSchottenstift Abbey as the Babenbergproprietary church, settled withIrish monks. The Austrian lands prospered, due to their favorable location on the Danube, as an important trade route fromKrems andMautern via Vienna down to Hungary and theByzantine Empire. For a short time, the Babenbergs came to be one of the most influential ruling families in the Empire, peaking under the reign ofLeopold V the Virtous (1177–1194) andLeopold VI the Glorious (1194–1230). In 1186, they signed theGeorgenberg Pact with the first and lastOtakar dukeOttokar IV of Styria and, upon his death in 1192, acquired the adjacent Styrian lands in the south, which were ruled with Austria inpersonal union until 1918. They also expanded their territory into the old Bavarian lands west of the Enns River, along theTraun to the city ofLinz, the future capital ofUpper Austria.
In 1191, Duke Leopold V joined theThird Crusade and thesiege of Acre. Once the city was conquered and occupied, he picked a fierce quarrel with KingRichard the Lionheart, allegedly over Leopold's raising of his Babenberg banner beside the royal flags of Richard andPhilip II of France. When the English king passed through Austria on his way home, Leopold had him abducted and arrested atDürnstein Castle. Handed over to EmperorHenry VI, Richard was only released after paying an enormous ransom, and the duke used his share to lay out the Wiener Neustadt fortification near the Hungarian border. According to legend, the emperor granted him permission to bear the red-white-red colors that became theflag of Austria.
His son Leopold VI, sole ruler of the Austrian and Styrian lands from 1198, married the Byzantine princessTheodora Angelina and later married his daughterMargaret toHenry of Hohenstaufen, son of EmperorFrederick II, in 1225. Notableminnesingers likeReinmar von Hagenau andWalther von der Vogelweide were regular guests at the Vienna court andMiddle High German poetry flourished. The poemNibelungenlied probably arose in the Austrian lands.
However, Leopold's son, DukeFrederick II the Warlike, entered into fierce conflicts soon after his accession in 1230, not only with the Austrian nobility, but also with KingWenceslaus I of Bohemia, KingAndrew II of Hungary and even with Emperor Frederick II for the alleged entanglement in the rebellion of the duke's brother-in-law Henry of Hohenstaufen. The latter earned him anImperial ban and an expulsion from Vienna in 1236. Though he could later reconcile with the Emperor, the border conflict with Hungary culminated in several clashes of arms after 1242, after KingBéla IV of Hungary marched into Austria to reconquer occupied lands. Duke Frederick was killed at the 1246Battle of the Leitha River, whereby the Babenberg line became extinct in the male line.
According to feudal law, theimmediate heritable fees fell back to thesuzerain, theHoly Roman Emperor. However, Emperor Frederick II, in the last years of his rule, was weakened by the struggle againstPope Innocent IV, and was stuck in the Italian Wars between theGuelphs and Ghibellines. His death in 1250 and the death of his only surviving son KingConrad IV four years later ended the line of Hohenstaufen rulers, only eight years after the extinction of the Babenberg dynasty. The extinction led to theGreat Interregnum, a period of several decades during which the status of the country's rulers was disputed. While in the following years several candidates were electedKing of the Romans, none of them were able to control the Empire.
It was the ambitious Přemyslid rulerOttokar II of Bohemia, son of King Wenceslaus I, who took the occasion to take over the rule in the "princeless" lands of late Duke Frederick II the Warlike. Referring to thePrivilegium Minus, Pope Innocent IV, against the feudal principle of patrilineal inheritance, confirmed the hereditary rights of Frederick's sister Margaret, widow of Henry of Hohenstaufen, and his nieceGertrude, widow of Ottokar's elder brother Přemyslid MargraveVladislaus of Moravia who died in 1247. Upon the death of Gertrude's second husband, MargraveHerman VI of Baden, in 1250, Ottokar invaded the Austrian lands, acclaimed by the local nobility. To substantiate his claims, he married Margaret (about 30 years his senior) in 1252. King Béla IV of Hungary contested this, referring to the Gertrude's third marriage with his relativeRoman Danylovich and occupied the Styrian lands. However, Ottokar prevailed as he defeated the Hungarian troops at theBattle of Kressenbrunn. Bohemian king since 1253, he now was sole ruler of the Bohemian, Moravian, Austrian and Styrian lands—an anticipation of the early modernHabsburg monarchy after 1526.
In 1269, Ottokar also effectively controlled theDuchy of Carinthia, withCarniola and theWindic March further in the south. He controlled, in all, aCentral European realm stretching from thePolish border in theSudetes towards theAdriatic coast in the south. When he failed to be electedKing of the Romans in 1273, he contested the election of the successful candidate, theSwabian countRudolf of Habsburg. Nevertheless, Rudolf was able to secure his rule as the first actual German king after the Great Interregnum. By his Imperial authority he seized Ottokar's "alienated" territories and added them to his already extensive homelands in Swabia. King Ottokar was finally defeated and killed by the united Austrian and Hungarian forces in the 1278Battle on the Marchfeld.
Rudolf married his daughterJudith off to Ottokar's sonWenceslaus II, who retained the Bohemian kingdom. Having reached an agreement with theprince-electors, he granted the Austrian domains to his sonsAlbert andRudolf II at the 1282Diet of Augsburg, elevating them toPrinces of the Holy Roman Empire. The right ofprimogeniture was implemented with theTreaty of Rheinfelden one year later. Rudolf's descendants ruled Austria and Styria until 1918.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Habsburgs accumulated further provinces in the southeastern part of the Empire: theDuchy of Carinthia with theMarch of Carniola, initially ceded to theHouse of Gorizia, came under Habsburg rule in 1335; theCounty of Tyrol was ceded to DukeRudolf IV of Austria by CountessMargaret in 1363. These territories, together, became known as the Habsburg 'Hereditary Lands', although they were sometimes referred to in sum as Austria.[4] Rudolf established his residence at the ViennaHofburg Palace and in 1358/59 he had thePrivilegium Maius forged to elevate himself to a privileged "archduke" of the Empire.
The following two centuries were turbulent for the duchy. Under Habsburg rule, severalinquisitorial persecutions againstWaldensians were carried out, notably by the clericPetrus Zwicker in the late 14th century. Following the brief, yet eventful, rule of Duke Rudolf IV, his brothersAlbert III andLeopold III divided the Austrian domains between themselves, in accordance with theTreaty of Neuberg, signed in 1379. Albert retained Austria proper, while Leopold took the remaining territories. In 1402, there was another split in theLeopoldian line, whenDuke Ernest tookInner Austria (i.e. the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola) andDuke Frederick IV became the ruler of Tyrol andFurther Austria. The partitions decisively weakened the Habsburg position, in favour of their rivals from theLuxembourg andWittelsbach dynasties.
The HabsburgAlbertinian line was again elevated to the Imperial throne in 1438. DukeAlbert V of Austria was chosen King of the Romans as the successor to hisHouse of Luxembourg father-in-law, EmperorSigismund. Although Albert's reign spanned only one year, he was succeeded by his Leopoldian cousin, Duke Ernest's son,Frederick V, who eventually reunified the Habsburg territories, after the extinctions of the Albertinian line (1457) and the Elder Tyrolean line (1490). Duke Frederick was crowned Holy Roman Emperor (as Frederick III) in 1452; he formally acknowledged the elevation of Austria to an archduchy one year later, whereafter all Habsburg princes bore the archducal title. Only two non-Habsburgs reigned the Empire between 1438 and 1806, when EmperorFrancis II resigned.
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