Archduchy of Austria | |||||||||||
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| 1453–1804 1867–1918 | |||||||||||
| Motto: A.E.I.O.U. (Motto for theHouse of Habsburg) "All The World Is Subject To Austria"[1][2] | |||||||||||
Full coat of arms with decorations:[3] | |||||||||||
 The Archduchy of Austria, 1477 | |||||||||||
| Status | State of theHoly Roman Empire (1453–1806) Crown land of theHabsburg monarchy (from 1526) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Vienna | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Austrian | ||||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||||||
| Archduke | |||||||||||
• 1453–1457 | Ladislaus V | ||||||||||
• 1792–1806 | Francis Ia | ||||||||||
• 1916–1918 | Charles I | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Late Middle Ages toEarly modern period | ||||||||||
• DukeRudolf IV forgedPrivilegium Maius | 1358/59 | ||||||||||
• EmperorFrederick III acknowledged archducal title | 6 January 1453 | ||||||||||
• JoinedAustrian Circle | 1512 | ||||||||||
• Ferdinand I regent according toWorms agreement | 28 April 1521 | ||||||||||
| 1740–1748 | |||||||||||
• Austrian Empire proclaimed | 11 August 1804 | ||||||||||
• Holy Roman Empire dissolved | 6 August 1806 | ||||||||||
| 30 August 1867 | |||||||||||
| 18 November 1918 | |||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1918 | ||||||||||
| Currency |
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^a The title "Archduke of Austria" remained part of the official grand title of the rulers of Austria until 1918. | |||||||||||
TheArchduchy of Austria (Latin:Archiducatus Austriae;German:Erzherzogtum Österreich) was a majorprincipality of theHoly Roman Empire and the nucleus of theHabsburg monarchy. With its capital atVienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periphery.
Its present name originates from the Frankish termOustrich – Eastern Kingdom (east of theFrankish kingdom). The archduchy developed out of the BavarianMargraviate of Austria, elevated to theDuchy of Austria according to the 1156Privilegium Minus by EmperorFrederick Barbarossa. TheHouse of Habsburg came to the Austrian throne in Vienna in 1282 and in 1453 EmperorFrederick III, also the ruler of Austria, officially adopted thearchducal title. From the 15th century onward, allHoly Roman Emperors butone were Austrian archdukes and with the acquisition of theBohemian andHungarian crown lands in 1526, theHabsburg hereditary lands became the centre of a major European power.[4]
The archduchy's history as animperial state ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with theLower andUpper Austria crown lands of theAustrian Empire.[5][6]
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Located in theDanube basin, the ancient Roman provincePannonia Superior, Austria bordered on theKingdom of Hungary beyond theMarch andLeitha rivers in the east. In the south it was confined by theDuchy of Styria, with the border at the historicSemmering Pass, while in the north theBohemian Forest and theThaya river marked the border withBohemia andMoravia.[4]
In the west, the Upper Austrian part bordered on theBavarian stem duchy. The adjacentInnviertel region belonged to the Bavarian dukes, until it was occupied by Austrian forces during theWar of the Bavarian Succession in 1778 and incorporated into the archducal lands according to thePeace of Teschen. In the course of theGerman mediatisation in 1803, the Austrian archdukes also acquired the rule over theElectorate of Salzburg and theBerchtesgaden Provostry.[7]
After Austria was detached from theDuchy of Bavaria and established as an Imperial estate in 1156 (thanks to thePrivilegium Minus), theBabenberg dukes also acquired the neighbouringDuchy of Styria in 1192. After the extinction of male line in 1246 and the subsequent quarter-century reign by KingOttokar II of Bohemia – a permanent vestige of his rule is the division of Austria proper into Upper and Lower Austria (at the time called "Austria above theEnns" and "below the Enns") – it was seized by Habsburg KingRudolf I of Germany, who defeated Ottokar in theBattle on the Marchfeld (1278)[8] and later (1282) enfeoffed his sonsAlbert I andRudolf II with both duchies.
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In 1358/59, Habsburg DukeRudolf IV, in response to theGolden Bull of 1356, already claimed thearchducal title by forging thePrivilegium Maius. Rudolf aimed to achieve a status comparable to the Empire's sevenprince-electors, the holders of the traditional Imperial'arch'-offices; however, his attempts failed as the elevation was rejected by theLuxembourg emperorCharles IV (Rudolf's father-in-law). Rudolf's younger brothersAlbert III andLeopold III divided the Habsburg lands by the 1379Treaty of Neuberg, whereafter the Austrian duchy itself remained under the rule of theAlbertinian line.[9][10]
On Epiphany 1453, Emperor Frederick III, regent of Austria for his minor Albertinian cousinLadislaus the Posthumous, finally acknowledged the archducal title. It was then conferred to all Habsburg emperors and rulers, as well as to the non-ruling princes of the dynasty, however, it still did not carry the right to vote in theImperial election.
Frederick further promoted the rise of the Habsburg dynasty into European dimensions with the arrangement of the marriage between his son ArchdukeMaximilian andMary of Burgundy, heiress ofBurgundy in 1477. After Maximilian's sonPhilip the Handsome in 1496 had marriedJoanna the Mad, Queen ofCastile andAragon, his sonCharles V could come into an inheritance "on which the sun never sets".[10]
Nevertheless, Charles' younger brotherFerdinand I claimed his rights and became Archduke of Austria according to an estate distribution at the 1521Diet of Worms, whereby he became regent over the Austrian archduchy and the adjacentInner Austrian lands ofStyria,Carinthia,Carniola, andGorizia (Görz). By marrying PrincessAnna of Bohemia and Hungary, Ferdinand inherited both kingdoms in 1526. AlsoKing of the Romans from 1531, he became the progenitor of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg (House of Habsburg-Lorraine from 1780 on), which as Archdukes of Austria and Kings of Bohemia ruled as Holy Roman Emperors until the Empire's dissolution in 1806.[7]
In 1804, EmperorFrancis II, who was also ruler of the lands of theHabsburg monarchy, established theAustrian Empire in reaction toNapoleon's proclamation of theFrench Empire. His new state comprised both territories within the Holy Roman Empire (theErblande, which included the Archduchy, and theLands of the Bohemian Crown) and outside it (Hungary includingCroatia andTransylvania,Galicia and Lodomeria and hisrecently acquired formerVenetian territory). Two years later Francis formally dissolved the Holy Roman Empire. The Archduchy of Austria continued to exist as a constituentcrown land (Kronland) within the Empire, although it was divided into Upper and Lower Austria for administrative purposes. (Hungary preserved its earlier status asRegnum Independens.) The title of archduke continued to be used by members of the imperial family and the archduchy was only formally dissolved in 1918 with the collapse ofAustria-Hungary and the creation of the separatefederal states ofLower andUpper Austria in the newRepublic of German-Austria.[10]
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 Habsburg lands |  | |
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| Habsburg’svassals | ||
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Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||
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