Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy or Habsburg Empire is an umbrella term coined by historians to denote the numerous lands and kingdoms of the German House of Habsburg, especially for those of the Austrian line. However, in practice, the Habsburg Monarchy (of the Austrian branch) has often been called simply "Austria". Although from 1438 to 1806 (with the exception of three years; 1742–45), a member of the House of Habsburg was also Holy Roman Emperor.
The Holy Roman Empire included the Habsburg Monarchy. The Habsburg monarchy was a union of crowns, with no single constitution or shared institutions other than the Habsburg court itself, with territories situated inside and outside the Holy Roman Empire that were united only in the person of the monarch. The Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified from 1804 to 1867 as the Austrian Empire and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
History
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg (1278-1780), and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine (since 1780), between 1526 and 1867/1918. The capital was mainly Vienna, except for 28 years, from 1583 to 1611, when the capital of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was Prague.
The monarchy from 1804 to 1867 is usually referred to as the "Austrian Empire" and from 1867 to 1918 as "Austria-Hungary". In some contexts, the term "Habsburg Empire" might also refer to extended Habsburg family possessions once ruled solely by Charles V, Roman-German Emperor, or to the Spanish Empire ruled by the senior Spanish branch of the house.
The Habsburg family originated with the Habsburg Castle in modern Switzerland and after 1278 came to rule in Austria (the Habsburg Hereditary Lands). The Habsburg family grew to European prominence with the marriage and adoption treaty by Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515 and the subsequent death of adopted Louis II (King of Bohemia and Hungary and Croatia) in 1526. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, the younger brother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, was elected the next King of Bohemia, Croatia and Hungary following the death of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, in a battle against the Turks at Mohács. From this point the Monarchy grew to a size where at times, it ruled more than half of Europe.
See also
Sources
- Wheatcroft, Andrew, The Habsburgs, hardback edition by Viking pubs., 1995, paperback edition by Penguin Books, London, 1996. ISBN-13: 978-0-140-23634-7
- Judson, Professor Pieter M., The Habsburg Empire, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., & London, 2016, ISBN: 978-0-674-04776-1
- Rady, Professor Martyn, The Habsburgs: The Rise and Fall of a World Power, Allen Lane pubs., London, 2020, ISBN: 978-0-241-33262-7
