The House of Lorraine's branch ofVaudémont andGuise became the main branch after a brief interlude in 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right ofCharles de Bourbon's daughter to her husband,John of Calabria, aCapetian. Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of the House of Lorraine, in the person ofRené II, who later added to his titles that ofDuke of Bar.
The House of Habsburg takes its name fromHabsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s by CountRadbot ofKlettgau inAargau (now inSwitzerland). His grandson,Otto II, was the first to take on the name of the fortress as his own, addingGraf von Habsburg ("Count of Habsburg") to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, and in 1273, Radbot's seventh-generation descendant,Rudolph of Habsburg, becameRoman-German King. He moved the family's power base to theDuchy of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918.
The first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over theHoly Roman Empire wasJoseph II, a sovereign raised during theEnlightenment. By the new ideals he brought, he implemented many reforms, most of which were to the detriment of the clergy. Upon his death in 1790, he was succeeded by his brotherLeopold II, who in 1791invited Europe's powers to help the French royal family stifle the ideals of the revolution without military intervention. He died a few days beforeFrance declared war on Austria.
In 1792, Leopold II's sonFrancis II was crowned emperor inFrankfurt. After the beheading of the French sovereigns, he – along with the other European sovereigns – created theFirst Coalition against Revolutionary France. The coalition initially recorded some success but soon began to withdraw, especially inItaly, where the Austrians were repeatedly defeated by the French GeneralNapoleon Bonaparte.
After the defeats atLeipzig (1813) andWaterloo (1815), Napoleon was exiled to the island ofSaint Helena, where he died. In the same year as Waterloo, theCongress of Vienna was established, with which the Restoration began. The Congress demanded the restoration of the old regimes. Austria recovered all the Italian, Slavic and German territories that it had lost during theNapoleonic Wars, and theHoly Alliance was also established betweenAustria,Russia andPrussia, which had the task of suppressing all the pro-French or independence revolutionary movements that would have erupted in Europe.
In the years that followed, Francis II pursued a centralization policy on the advice of ChancellorMetternich; but precisely because of it, and emerging ideals of independence, theRevolutions of 1848 broke out, which wracked all of Europe. This led to the expulsion of Metternich from theImperial Chancellery and the rise ofFranz Joseph, replacingFerdinand I, who was forced to abdicate in favour of the 18-year-old man.
Franz Joseph (1830–1916) was the last member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to hold any significant political or military authority in Europe. At the beginning of his reign (1848–1916), Austria was the dominant power in Central Europe, whilst Vienna emerged as one of the greatest metropolitan cities on the continent. The emperor, however, waged theSecond Italian War of Independence and theAustro-Prussian War. Both ended in defeats, which put an end to Austrian supremacy in Italy and Germany, as well as accelerating the gradual decline of the dynasty.
In 1867, Franz Joseph granted effective autonomy to theKingdom of Hungary within the Austrian Empire under the terms of theAusgleich; politically and militarily they were united, but in terms of internal policy and administration, they became separate entities. The title of the head of state became "Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary", although he was also referred to as "Emperor of Austria-Hungary".
With the growing interest ofAustria-Hungary andRussia in the Balkans, strong tensions were created between the Habsburgs and Russia, eventually leading Austria-Hungary to enter into an alliance withGermany andItaly.
In 1916, Franz Joseph died and was succeeded by his grandnephew,Charles I. Charles (the last sovereign), upon losing the war, renounced the exercise of power but did not abdicate. He was forced into exile on April 3, 1919. TheHabsburg dominions were subsequently divided into independent republics.
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine refused to swear its allegiance to the newRepublic of Austria, therefore family members were forced into exile and their property was confiscated. The law of exile still applies to the descendants of Emperor Charles under the same conditions. In 1961,Otto von Habsburg, the late head of the house and formerly a member of theEuropean Parliament, relinquished the monarchy and the succession rights of his descendants in exchange for an end to exile. He was known in the Republic of Austria as Dr. Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, since the Republic does not officially recognise titles of nobility.[citation needed]
The current leader of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine isKarl von Habsburg, who succeeded his father Otto as head of the imperial house after his father renounced the role in 2007. Karl is the eldest grandson of the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, Charles I, and hisheir apparent is his eldest son,Ferdinand Habsburg, an Austrian racing driver.
(13) Archduke Carlos Felipe (b. 1954); married in 1994 to (1) [divorced (and annulled?) in 1997] Martina Donath, (2) [civilly (and religiously?)] Annie-Claire Lacrambe, two sons, one by each marriage (eldest born before marriage).
(14) Archduke Louis-Damian (b. 1998)
Archduke Raimund (1958–2008), married to Bettina Götz
(15) Archduke Felix (b. 1996)
(16) Archduke István (b. 1961), married to Paola de Temesváry
(17) Archduke Andreas (b. 1994)
(18) Archduke Pál (b. 1997); married to Antonia Lütz
(58) Archduke Alexander Salvator (b. 1959); married to Countess Maria-Gabriele von Waldstein
(59) Archduke Constantin Salvator (b. 2002)
(60) Archduke Paul Salvator (b. 2003)
(61) Archduke Andreas Salvator (b. 1936); married to (1) [divorced 2001 (and annulled 2002)] Maria de la Piedad Espinosa de los Monteros y Rosillo (2) 2001 (civilly) and 2003 (religiously) Countess Valerie Podstatzky-Lichtenstein. Issue by the second marriage only.
(62) Archduke Thadeus Salvator (b. 2001)
(63) Archduke Casimir Salvator (b. 2003)
(64) Archduke Markus (b. 1946); married morganatically to Hildegard (Hilde) Maria Jungmayr, with issue.
(65) Archduke Johann (b. 1947); married morganatically to Anne-Marie Stummer, with issue.
(66) Archduke Michael (b. 1949); married in 1992 to Eva Antonia von Hofmann, with one daughter.
Archduke Theodore Salvator (1899–1978)
Archduke Carl Salvator (1936–2023); married to Edith Wenzl Frn von Sternbach[2]
Count Matthias of Habsburg (1971–2024), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights; married to Eva Anderle
(67) Count Nikolaus of Habsburg (b. 2000), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights;[2] married to Sandra Aschauer
(68) Count Jakob of Habsburg (b. 2001), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(69) Count Martin of Habsburg (b. 2011), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(70) Count Johannes of Habsburg (b. 1974), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights;[2] married to Katharina Lieselotte Riedl Edle von Riedenstein
(71) Count Bernhard of Habsburg (b. 1977), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(72) Count Benedikt of Habsburg (b. 1983), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
Archduke Clemens Salvator (1904–1974); married to Elisabeth Gfn Rességuier de Miremont [marriage retroactively approved as dynastic (only in Austria)][2]
Clemens, Prince von Altenburg (1932–2022), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Laurence Costa de Beauregard
(73) Philipp, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1966), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(74) Georg, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1933), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
Peter, Prince von Altenburg (1935–2008), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Juliane Gfn von Waldstein-Forni
(75) Friedrich, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1966), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Gabriele Gfn von Walterskirchen
(76) Emanuel, Prince von Altenburg (b.2002)
(77) Nikolaus, Prince von Altenburg (b. 2008)
(78) Leopold, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1971), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(79) Johannes, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1949), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(80) Archduke Joseph Karl (b. 1960); married to Princess Margarete von Hohenberg
(81) Archduke Joseph Albrecht (b. 1994); married to Countess Sophie von Schaesberg
(82) Archduke Paul Leo (b. 1996)
(83) Archduke Andreas-Augustinus (b. 1963); married to Countess Marie-Christine von Hatzfeldt-Dönhoff
(84) Archduke Friedrich-Cyprian (b. 1995)
(85) Archduke Pierre (b. 1997)
(86) Archduke Benedikt-Alexander (b. 2005)
(87) Archduke Nikolaus (b. 1973); married to Eugenia de Calonje y Gurrea
(88) Archduke Nicolás (b. 2003)
(89) Archduke Santiago (b. 2006)
(90) Archduke Johannes (b. 1975); married to María Gabriela Montenegro Villamizar
(91) Archduke Johannes (b. 2010)
(92) Archduke Alejandro (b. 2011)
(93) Archduke Ignacio (b. 2013)
(94)Archduke Géza (b. 1940); married morganatically twice to (1) [divorced] Monika Decker and (2) [civilly] Elizabeth Jane Kunstadter. Issue by both marriages.
(95) Archduke Michael (b. 1942); married to Princess Christiana of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, his brother's sister-in-law.
(96)Archduke Eduard (b. 1967); married to Baroness Maria Theresia von Gudenus
(97) Archduke Paul Benedikt (b. 2000)
(98) Father Paul Habsburg (b. 1968), a priest of theLegion of Christ
Hans Bankl,Mal d'Asburgo. Vizi, vezzi, malanni e manie della Casa Imperiale d'Austria, traduzione di Flavia Foradini, Trieste, mgs press, 1998, pp. 202
Flavia Foradini, "Otto d'Asburgo. L'ultimo atto di una dinastia", mgs press, Trieste, 2004.ISBN88-89219-04-1
Martha e Horst Schad, La prediletta. Il diario della figlia di Sissi, traduzione di Flavia Foradini, Trieste, mgs Press 2001,ISBN88-86424-78-7
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Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (1747–1792).svg)
Emperor Francis I (1768–1835)
Archduke Franz Karl (1802–1878).svg)
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico (1832–1867); married toCharlotte of Belgium
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1769–1824), founder of the Tuscany branch of the imperial house.
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