1: Early History of Austria
Introduction || 2: Charles V to Leopold II >>
The empire of Austria, as the official designation of the territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, dates back only to 1804, when Francis II, the
last of the Holy Roman emperors, proclaimed himself emperor of Austria as Francis I. His
motive in doing so was to guard against the great house of Habsburg being relegated to a
position inferior to the parvenus Bonapartes, in the event of the final collapse of
the Holy Roman Empire, or of the possible election of Napoleon as his own successor on the
throne of Charlemagne. The title emperor of Austria, then, replaced that of
"Imperator Romanorum semper Augustus" when the Holy Empire came to an end in
1806. From the first, however, it was no more than a title, which represented but ill the
actual relation of the Habsburg sovereigns to their several states. Magyars and Slavs
never willingly recognized a style which ignored their national rights and implied the
superiority of the German elements of the monarchy; to the Germans it was a poor
substitute for a title which had represented the political unity of the German race under
the Holy Empire. For long after the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815 the "Kaiser" as
such exercised a powerful influence over the imaginations of the German people outside the
Habsburg dominions; but this was because the title was still surrounded with its ancient
halo and the essential change was not at once recognized. The outcome of the long struggle
with Prussia, which in 1866 finally broke the spell, and the proclamation of the German
empire in 1871 left the title of emperor of Austria stripped of everything but a purely
territorial significance. It had, moreover, by the compact with Hungary of 1867, ceased
even fully to represent the relation of the emperor to all his dominions; and the title
which had been devised to cover the whole of the Habsburg monarchy sank into the official
style of the sovereign of but a half; while even within the Austrian empire proper it is
resented by those peoples which, like the Bohemians, wish to obtain the same recognition
of their national independence as was conceded to Hungary. In placing the account of the
origin and development of the Habsburg monarchy under this heading, it is merely for the
sake of convenience.
The first nucleus round which the present dominions of the house
of Austria gradually accumulated was the mark which lay along the south bank of the
Danube, east of the river Enns, founded about A.D. 800 as a defence for the Frankish
kingdom against the Slavs. Although its total length from east to west was only about 60 km., it was associated in the popular mind with a large and almost unbroken tract of land
in the east of Europe. This fact, together with the position of the mark with regard to
Germany in general and to Bavaria in particular, accounts for the name Österreich
(Austria) i.e. east empire or realm, a word first used in a charter of 996, where the
phrase in regione vulgari nomine Ostarrichi occurs. The development of this small
mark into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was a slow and gradual process, and falls into two
main divisions, which almost coincide with the periods during which the dynasties of
Babenberg and Habsburg have respectively ruled the land. The energies of the house of
Babenberg were chiefly spent in enlarging the area and strengthening the position of the
mark itself, and when this was done the house of Habsburg set itself with remarkable
perseverance and marvellous success to extend its rule over neighbouring territories. The
many vicissitudes which have attended this development have not, however, altered the
European position of Austria, which has remained the same for over a thousand years.
Standing sentinel over the valley of the middle Danube, and barring the advance of the
Slavs on Germany, Austria, whether mark, duchy or empire has always been the meeting-place
of the Teuton and the Slav. It is this fact which gives it a unique interest and
importance in the history of Europe, and which unites the ideas of the Germans to-day with
those of Charlemagne and Otto the Great.
The southern part of the country now called Austria was
inhabited before the opening of the Christian era by the Taurisci, a Celtic tribe, who
were subsequently called the Norici and who were conquered by the Romans about 14 B.C.
Their land was afterwards included in the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum, and under
Roman rule, Vindobona, the modern Vienna, became a place of some importance. The part of
the country north of the Danube was peopled by the Marcomanni and the Quadi, and both of
these tribes were frequently at war with the Romans especially during the reign of the
emperor Marcus Aurelius, who died at Vindobona in A.D.;. 180 when campaigning against
them. Christianity and civilization obtained entrance into the land, but the increasing
weakness of the Roman empire opened the country to the inroads of the barbarians, and
during the period of the great migrations it was ravaged in quick succession by a number
of these tribes, prominent among whom were the Huns. The lands on both banks of the river
shared the same fate, due probably to the fact to which Gibbon has drawn attention, that
at this period the Danube was frequently frozen over. About 590 the district was settled
by the Slovenes, or Corutanes, a Slavonic people, who formed part of the kingdom of Samo,
and were afterwards included in the extensive kingdom of the Avars. The Franks claimed
some authority over this people, and probably some of the princes of the Slovenes had
recognized this claim, but it could not be regarded as serious while the Avars were in
possession of the land. In 791 Charlemagne, after he had established his authority over
the Bajuvarii or Bavarians crossed the river Enns, and moved against the Avars.
This attack was followed by campaigns on the part of his lieutenants, and in 805 the Avars
were finally subdued, and their land incorporated with the Frankish empire. This step
brought the later Austria definitely under the rule of the Franks, and during the struggle
Charlemagne erected a mark, called the East Mark, to defend the eastern border of his
empire. A series of margraves ruled this small district from 799 to 907, but as the
Frankish empire grew weaker, the mark suffered more and more from the ravages of its
eastern neighbours. During the century the Frankish supremacy vanished, and the mark was
overrun by the Moravians, and then by the Magyars, or Hungarians, who destroyed the few
remaining traces of Frankish influence.
A new era dawned after Otto the Great was elected German king in
936, and it is Otto rather than Charlemagne who must be regarded as the real founder of
Austria. In August 955 he gained a great victory over the Magyars on the Lechfeld freed
Bavaria from their presence, and refounded the East Mark for the defence of his kingdom.
In 976 his son, the emperor Otto II., entrusted the government of this mark, soon to be
known as Austria, to Leopold, a member of the family of Babenberg, and its administration
was conducted with vigour and success. Leopold and his descendants ruled Austria until the
extinction of the family in 1246, and by their skill and foresight raised the mark to an
important place among the German states. Their first care was to push its eastern frontier
down the Danube valley, by colonizing the lands on either side of the river, and the
success of this work may be seen in the removal of their capital from Pöchlarn to Melk,
then to Tulln, and finally about 1140 to Vienna. The country as far as the Leitha was
subsequently incorporated with Austria, and in the other direction the district between
the Enns and the Inn was added to the mark in 1156, an important date in Austrian history.
Anxious to restore peace to Germany in this year, the new king, Frederick I., raised
Austria to the rank of a duchy, and conferred upon it exceptional privileges. The
investiture was bestowed not only upon Duke Henry but upon his second wife Theodora; in
case of a failure of male heirs the duchy was to descend to females; and if the duke had
no children he could nominate his successor. Controlling all the jurisdiction of the land,
the duke's only duties towards the Empire were to appear at any diet held in Bavaria, and
to send a contingent to the imperial army for any campaigns in the countries bordering
upon Austria. In 1186 Duke Leopold I. made a treaty with Ottakar IV., duke of Styria, an
arrangement which brought Styria and upper Austria to the Babenbergs in 1192, and in 1229
Duke Leopold II. purchased some lands from the bishop of Freising, and took the title of
lord of Carniola. When the house of Babenberg became extinct in 1246, Austria, stretching
from Passau almost to Pressburg, had the frontiers which it retains to-day, and this
increase of territory had been accompanied by a corresponding increase in wealth and
general prosperity. The chief reason for this prosperity was the growth of trade along the
Danube, which stimulated the foundation, or the growth, of towns, and brought considerable
riches to the ruler. Under the later Babenbergs Vienna was regarded as one of the most
important of German cities, and it was computed that the duke was as rich as the
archbishop of Cologne, or the margrave of Brandenburg, and was surpassed in this respect
by only one German prince, the king of Bohemia The interests of the Austrian margraves and
dukes were not confined to the acquisition of wealth either in land or chattels. Vienna
became a centre of culture and learning and many religious houses were founded and
endowed. The acme of the early prosperity of Austria was reached under Duke Leopold II.,
surnamed the Glorious, who reigned from 1194 to 1230 He gave a code of municipal law to
Vienna, and rights to other towns, welcomed the Minnesingers to his brilliant court, and
left to his subjects an enduring memory of valour and wisdom. Leopold and his predecessors
were enabled, owing to the special position of Austria, to act practically as independent
rulers. Cherishing the privilege of 1156, they made treaties with foreign kings, and
arranged marriages with the great families of Europe. With full control of jurisdiction
and of commerce, no great bishopric nor imperial city impeded the course of their
authority, and the emperor interfered only to settle boundary disputes.
The main lines of Austrian policy under the Babenbergs were
warfare with the Hungarians and other eastern neighbours, and a general attitude of
loyalty towards the emperors. The story of the Hungarian wars in a monotonous record of
forays, of assistance given at times to the Babenbergs by the force of the Empire, and
ending in the gradual eastward advance of Austria. The traditional loyalty to the
emperors, which was cemented by several marriages between the imperial house and the
Babenbergs, was, however, departed from by the margrave Leopold II., and by Duke Frederick
II. During the investiture struggle Leopold deserted the emperor Henry IV., who deprived
him of Austria and conferred it upon Vratislav II., duke of the Bohemians. Unable to
maintain his position, Vratislav was soon driven out, and in 1083 Leopold again obtained
possession of the mark, and was soon reconciled with Henry. Very similar was the result of
the conflict between the emperor Frederick II. and Duke Frederick II. Ignoring the
privilege of 1156, the emperor claimed certain rights in Austria, and summoned the duke to
his Italian diets. Frederick, who was called the Quarrelsome, had irritated both his
neighbours and his subjects, and complaints of his exactions and confiscations reached the
ears of the emperor. After the duke had three times refused to appear before the princes,
Frederick placed him under the ban, declared the duchies of Austria and Styria to be
vacant, and, aided by the king of Bohemia, the duke of Bavaria and other princes, invaded
the country in 1236. He met with very slight opposition, declared the duchies to be
immediately dependent upon the Empire, made Vienna an imperial city, and imposed other
changes upon the constitution of Austria. After his departure, however, the duke returned,
and in 1239 was in possession of his former power, while the changes made by the emperor
were ignored. Continuing his career of violence and oppression, Duke Frederick was killed
in battle by the Hungarians in June 1246, when the family of Babenberg became extinct.
The duchies of Austria and Styria were now claimed by the
emperor Frederick II. as vacant fiefs of the Empire, and their government was entrusted to
Otto II., duke of Bavaria. Frederick, however, who was in Italy, harassed and afflicted,
could do little to assert the imperial authority, and his enemy, Pope Innocent IV.,
bestowed the two duchies upon Hermann VI., margrave of Baben, whose wife, Gertrude, was a
niece of the last of the Babenbergs. Hermann was invested by the German king, William,
count of Holland, but he was unable to establish his position, and law and order were
quickly disappearing from the duchies. The deaths of Hermann and of the emperor in 1250,
however, paved the way for a settlement. Weary of struggle and disorder, and despairing of
any help from the central authority, the estates of Austria met at Trübensee in 1251, and
chose Ottakar, son of Wenceslaus I., king of Bohemia, as their duke. This step was
favoured by the pope, and Ottakar, eagerly accepting the offer, strengthened his position
by marrying Margaret, a sister of Duke Frederick II., and in return for his investiture
promised his assistance to William of Holland. Styria appears at this time to have shared
the fortunes of Austria, but it was claimed by Bela IV., king of Hungary, who conquered
the land, and made a treaty with Ottakar in 1254 which confirmed him in its possession.
The Hungarian rule was soon resented by the Styrians, and Ottakar, who had become king of
Bohemia in 1253, took advantage of this resentment, and interfered in the affairs of the
duchy. A war with Hungary was the result, but on this occasion victory rested with
Ottakar, and by a treaty made with Bela, in March 1261, he was recognized as duke of
Styria. In 1269 Ottakar inherited the duchy of Carinthia on the death of Duke Ulrich III.,
and, his power having now become very great, he began to aspire to the German throne. He
did something to improve the condition of the duchies by restoring order, introducing
German colonist into the eastern districts, and seeking to benefit the inhabitants of the
towns.
In 1273 Rudolph, count of Habsburg, became German king, and his
attention soon turned to Ottakar, whose power menaced the occupant of the German throne.
Finding some support in Austria, Rudolph questioned the title of the Bohemian king to the
three duchies, and sought to recover the imperial lands which had been in the possession
of the emperor Frederick II. Ottakar was summoned twice before the diet, the imperial
court declared against him, and in July 1275 he was placed under the ban. War was the
result, and in November 1276 Ottakar submitted to Rudolph, and renounced the duchies of
Austria Styria and Carinthia. For some time the three duchies were administered by Rudolph
in his capacity as head of the Empire, of which they formed part. Not content with this
tie, however, which was personal to himself alone, the king planned to make them
hereditary possessions of his family, and to transfer the headquarters of the Habsburgs
from the Rhine to the Danube. Some opposition was offered to this scheme; but the
perseverance of the king overcame all difficulties, and one of the most important events
in European history took place on the 27th of December 1282, when Rudolph invested his
sons, Rudolph and Albert, with the duchies of Austria and Styria. He retained Carinthia in
his own hands until 1286, when, in return for valuable services, he bestowed it upon
Meinhard IV., count of Tirol. The younger Rudolph took no part in the government of
Austria and Styria, which was undertaken by Albert, until his election as German king in
1298. Albert appears to have been rather an arbitrary ruler. In 1288 he suppressed a
rising of the people of Vienna, and he made the fullest use of the ducal power in
asserting his real or supposed rights. At this time the principle of primogeniture was
unknown in the house of Habsburg, and for many years the duchies were ruled in common by
two, or even three, members of the family. After Albert became German king, his two elder
sons, Rudolph and Frederick, were successively associated with him in the government, and
after his death in 1308, his four younger sons shared at one time or another in the
administration of Austria and Styria. In 1314 Albert's son, Frederick, was chosen German
king in opposition to Louis IV., duke of Upper Bavaria, afterwards the emperor Louis IV.,
and Austria was weakened by the efforts of the Habsburgs to sustain Frederick in his
contest with Louis, and also by the struggle carried on between another brother, Leopold,
and the Swiss. A series of deaths among the Habsburgs during the first half of the 14th
century left Duke Albert II. and his four sons as the only representatives of the family.
Albert ruled the duchies alone from 1344 to 1356, and after this date his sons began to
take part in the government. The most noteworthy of these was Duke Rudolph IV., a son-in-
law of the emperor Charles IV., who showed his interest in learning by founding the
university of Vienna in 1365. Rudolph's chief aim was to make Austria into an independent
state, and he forged a series of privileges the purport of which was to free the duchy
from all its duties towards the Empire. A sharp contest with the emperor followed this
proceeding, and the Austrian duke, annoyed that Austria was not raised to the dignity of
an electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356, did not shrink from a contest with Charles. In
1361, however, he abandoned his pretensions, but claimed the title of archduke, and in
1346 declared that the possession of the Habsburgs were indivisible. Meanwhile the
acquisition of neighbouring territories had been steadily pressed on. In 1335 the duchy of
Carinthia, and a part of Carniola, were inherited by Dukes Albert II. and Otto, and in
1363 Rudolph IV. obtained the county of Tirol. In 1364 Carniola was made into an
hereditary duchy in 1374 part of Istria came under the rule of the Habsburgs in 1382
Trieste submitted voluntarily to Austria, and at various times during the century other
smaller districts were added to the lands of the Habsburgs.
Rudolph IV. died childless in 1365, and in 1379 his two
remaining brothers, Leopold III. and Albert III., made a division of their lands, by which
Albert retained Austria proper and Carniola, and Leopold got Styria, Carinthia and Tirol.
Leopold was killed in 1386 at the battle of Sempach, and Albert became guardian for his
four nephews, who subsequently ruled their lands in common. The senior line which ruled in
Austria was represented after the death of Duke Albert III. in 1395 by his son, Duke
Albert IV., and then by his grandson, Duke Albert V., who became German king as Albert II.
in 1438. Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of Sigismund, king of Hungary and Bohemia, and
on the death of his father-in-law assumed these two crowns. He died in 1439, and just
after his death a son was born to him, who was called Ladislaus Posthumus, and succeeded
to the duchy of Austria and to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia. William and Leopold,
the two eldest sons of Duke Leopold III., and, with their younger brothers Ernest and
Frederick, the joint rulers of Styria, Carinthia and Tirol, died early in the 15th
century, and in 1406 Ernest and Frederick made a division of their lands. Ernest became
duke of Styria and Carinthia, and Frederick, count of Tirol. Ernest was succeeded in 1424
by his sons, Frederick and Albert, and Frederick in 1439 by his son, Sigismund, and these
three princes were reigning when King Albert II. died in 1439. Frederick, who succeeded
Albert as German king, and was soon crowned emperor as Frederick III., acted as guardian
for Sigismund of Tirol, who was a minor, and also became regent of Austria in consequence
of the infancy of Ladislaus. His rule was a period of struggle and disorder owing partly
to the feebleness of his own character, partly to the wish of his brother, Albert, to
share his dignities. The Tirolese soon grew weary of his government, and in 1446 Sigismund
was declared of age. The estates of Austria were equally discontented and headed an open
revolt, the object of which was to remove Ladislaus from Frederick's charge and deprive
the latter of the regency. The leading spirit in this movement was Ulrich Eiczing (Eitzing
or von Eiczinger, d. before 1463), a low-born adventurer, ennobled by Albert II., in whose
service he had accumulated vast wealth and power. In 1451 he organized an armed league,
and in December, with the aid of the populace, made himself master of Vienna, whither he
had summoned the estates. In March 1452 he was joined by Count Ulrich of Cilli, while the
Hungarians and the powerful party of the great house of Rosenberg in Bohemia attached
themselves to the league. Frederick, who had hurried back from Italy, was besieged in
August in the Vienna Neustadt, and was forced to deliver Ladislaus to Count Ulrich, whose
influence had meanwhile eclipsed that of Eiczing. Ladislaus now ruled nominally himself,
under the tutelage of Count Ulrich. The country was, however, distracted by quarrels
between the party of the high aristocracy, which recognized the count of Cilli as its
chief, and that of the lesser nobles, citizens and populace, who followed Eiczing. in
September 1453 the latter, by a successful émeute, succeeded in ousting Count
Ulrich, and remained in power till February 1455 when the count once more entered Vienna
in triumph. Ulrich of Cilli was killed before Belgrade in November 1456; a year later
Ladislaus himself died (November 1457). Meanwhile Styria and Carinthia were equally
unfortunate under the rule of Frederick and Albert and the death of Ladislaus led to still
further complications. Austria which had been solemnly created an archduchy by the emperor
Frederick in 1453, was claimed by the three remaining Habsburg princes, and lower Austria
was secured by Frederick, while Albert obtained upper Austria. Both princes were
unpopular, and in 1462 Frederick was attacked by the inhabitants of Vienna, and was forced
to surrender lower Austria to Albert, whose spendthrift habits soon made his rule
disliked. A further struggle between the brothers was prevented by Albert's death in 1463,
when the estates did homage to Frederick. The emperor was soon again at issue with the
Austrian nobles, and was attacked by Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, who drove him
from Vienna in 1485. Although hampered by the inroads of the Turks, Matthias pressed on,
and by 1487 was firmly of possession of Austria, Styria, and Carinthia, which seemed quite
lost to the Habsburgs.
The decline in the fortunes of the family however, was to be
arrested by Frederick's son, Maximilian, afterwards the emperor Maximilian I., who was the
second founder of the greatness of the house of Habsburg. Like his ancestor, Rudolph, he
had to conquer the lands over which his descendants were destined to rule, and by
arranging a treaty of succession to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, he pointed the
way to power and empire in eastern Europe. Soon after his election as king of the Romans
in 1486, Maximilian attacked the Hungarians, and in 1490 he had driven them from Austria,
and recovered his hereditary lands. In the same year he made an arrangement with his
kinsman, Sigismund of Tirol, by which he brought this county under his rule, and when the
emperor Frederick died in 1493, Maximilian united the whole of the Austrian lands under
his sway. Continuing his acquisitions of territory, he inherited the possessions of the
counts of Görz in 1500, added some districts to Tirol by intervening in a succession war
in Bavaria, and acquired Gradisca in 1512 as the result of a struggle with Venice. He did
much for the better government of the Austrian duchies. Bodies were established for
executive, financial and judicial purposes, the Austrian lands constituted one of the
imperial circles which were established m 1512, and in 1518 representatives of the various
diets (Landtage) met at Innsbruck, a proceeding which marks the beginning of an
organic unity in the Austrian lands. In these ways Maximilian proved himself a capable and
energetic ruler, although his plans for making Austria into a kingdom, or an electorate,
were abortive.
At the close of the middle ages the area of Austria had
increased to nearly 50,000 sq. m[iles]., but its internal condition does not appear to
have improved in proportion to this increase in size. The rulers of Austria lacked the
prestige which attached to the electoral office, and, although five of them had held the
position of German king, the four who preceded Maximilian had added little or nothing to
the power and dignity of this position. The ecclesiastical organization of Austria was
imperfect, so long as there was no archbishopric within its borders, and its clergy owed
allegiance to foreign prelates. The work of unification which was so successfully
accomplished by Maximilian was aided by two events, the progress of the Turks in
South-eastern Europe, and the loss of most of the Habsburg possessions on the Rhine. The
first tended to draw the separate states together for purposes of defence, and the second
turned the attention of the Habsburgs to the possibilities of expansion in eastern Europe.
Introduction || 2: Charles V to Leopold II >>
