History of Austria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans as Noricum, dating from c. 800 to 400 BC. At the end of the 1st century BC, the lands south of the Danube became part of the Roman Empire. In the Migration Period, the 6th century, the Bavarii, a Germanic people, occupied these lands until it fell to the Frankish Empire established by the Germanic Franks in the 9th century. The name Ostarrîchi (Austria) has been in use since 996 AD when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria and from 1156 an independent duchy (later archduchy) of the Holy Roman Empire (Heiliges Römisches Reich 962–1806).
This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. (August 2023) |
Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Haus Österreich) from 1273 to 1918. In 1806, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918). When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire (its current frontiers), and adopted the name, the Republic of German-Austria. However, union with Germany and the chosen country name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic (1919–1933).
Following the First Republic, Austrofascism tried to keep Austria independent from the German Reich. Engelbert Dollfuss accepted that most Austrians were German and Austrian, but wanted Austria to remain independent from Germany. In 1938, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to the German Reich under the Anschluss concept, which was supported by a large majority of the Austrian people.[1][2] After the German defeat in World War II, the German identity in Austria was weakened. Ten years after the Second World War Austria again became an independent republic as the Second Austrian Republic in 1955. Austria joined the European Union in 1995.
Since the territory understood by the term 'Austria' underwent drastic changes over time, dealing with a History of Austria raises a number of questions, e.g., whether it is confined to the current or former Republic of Austria, or extends also to all lands formerly ruled by the rulers of Austria. Furthermore, should Austrian history include the period 1938–1945, when it nominally did not exist? Of the lands now part of the second Republic of Austria, many were added over time – only two of the nine provinces or Bundesländer (Lower Austria and Upper Austria) are strictly 'Austria', while other parts of its former sovereign territory are now part of other countries e.g., Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Czechia. Within Austria there are regionally and temporally varying affinities to adjacent countries.[3]
Paleolithic
The Alps were inaccessible during the Ice Age, so human habitation dates no earlier than the Middle Paleolithic era, during the time of the Neanderthals. The oldest traces of human habitation in Austria, more than 250,000 years ago, were found in the Repolust Cave at Badl, near Peggau in the Graz-Umgebung district of Styria. These include stone tools, bone tools, and pottery fragments together with mammalian remains. Some 70,000-year-old evidence was found in the Gudenus Cave in northwestern Lower Austria.
Upper Paleolithic remains are more numerous in Lower Austria. The best known are in the Wachau region, including the sites of the two oldest pieces of art in Austria. These are figurative representations of women, the Venus of Galgenberg found near Stratzing and thought to be 32,000 years old, and the nearby Venus of Willendorf (26,000 years old) found at Willendorf, near Krems an der Donau. In 2005 in the same area, a double infant burial site was discovered at Krems-Wachtberg, dating from Gravettian culture (27,000 years old), the oldest burial ground found in Austria to date.[4][5]
Mesolithic
Mesolithic remains include rock shelters (abris) from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine Valley, a funeral site at Elsbethen and a few other sites with microlithic artifacts which demonstrate the transition from living as hunter-gatherers and sedentary farmers and ranchers.
Neolithic
During the Neolithic era, most of those areas of Austria that were amenable to agriculture and were sources of raw materials were settled. Remains include those of the Linear pottery culture, one of the first agrarian cultures in Europe. The first recorded rural settlement from this time was at Brunn am Gebirge in Mödling. Austria's first industrial monument, the chert mine at Mauer-Antonshöhe in the Mauer neighborhood of the southern Vienna district of Liesing dates from this period. In the Lengyel culture, which followed Linear Pottery in Lower Austria, circular ditches were constructed.
Copper Age
Traces of the Copper Age (Chalcolithic era) in Austria were identified in the Carpathian Basin hoard at Stollhof, Hohe Wand, Lower Austria. Hilltop settlements from this era are common in eastern Austria. During this time the inhabitants sought out and developed raw materials in the central Alpine areas. The most important find is considered to be the Iceman Ötzi, a well-preserved mummy of a man frozen in the Alps dating from approximately 3,300 BC, although these finds are now in Italy on the Austrian border. Another culture is the Mondsee group, represented by stilt houses in the Alpine lakes.
Bronze Age
By the beginning of the Bronze Age fortifications were appearing, protecting the commercial centers of the mining, processing, and trading of copper and tin. This flourishing culture is reflected in the grave artifacts, such as at Pitten, in Nußdorf ob der Traisen, Lower Austria. In the late Bronze Age appeared the Urnfield culture, in which salt mining commenced in the northern salt mines at Hallstatt.
Iron Age
The Iron Age in Austria is represented by the Hallstatt culture, which succeeded the Urnfield culture, under influences from the Mediterranean civilizations and Steppe peoples. This gradually transitioned into the Celtic La Tène culture.
Hallstatt culture
This early Iron Age culture is named after Hallstatt the type site in Upper Austria. The culture is often described in two zones, Western and Eastern, through which flowed the rivers Enns, Ybbs and Inn. The West Hallstatt area was in contact with the Greek colonies on the Ligurian coast. In the Alps, contacts with the Etruscans and under Greek influence regions in Italy were maintained. The East had close links with the Steppe Peoples who had passed over the Carpathian Basin from the southern Russian steppes.
The population of Hallstatt drew its wealth from the salt industry. Imports of luxury goods stretching from the North and Baltic seas to Africa have been discovered in the cemetery at Hallstatt. The oldest evidence of an Austrian wine industry was discovered in Zagersdorf, Burgenland in a grave mound. The Cult Wagon of Strettweg, Styria is evidence of contemporary religious life.
La Tène (Celtic) culture
In the later Iron Age, the Celtic La Tène culture spread to Austria. This culture gave rise to the first-recorded local tribal (Taurisci, Ambidravi, Ambisontes) and place names. Out of this arose Noricum (2nd century to c. 15 b.c.) – a confederation of Alpine Celtic tribes (traditionally twelve) under the leadership of the Norici. It was confined to present-day southern and eastern Austria and part of Slovenia. The West was settled by the Raeti.
Dürrnberg and Hallein (Salzburg) were Celtic salt settlements. In eastern Styria and the Burgenland (e.g., Oberpullendorf) high-quality iron ore was mined and processed, then exported to the Romans as ferrum noricum (Noric iron). This led to the creation of a Roman trading outpost on the Magdalensberg in the early 1st century b.c., later replaced by the Roman town Virunum. Fortified hilltop settlements (oppida), e.g. Kulm (east Styria), Idunum (mod. Villach), Burg (Schwarzenbach), and Braunsberg (Hainburg), were centers of public life. Some cities such as Linz (Lentos) date back to this period also.
Roman era
Although Noricum and Rome had been active trading partners and had formed military alliances, around 15 BC the majority of what we now know as Austria was annexed to the Roman Empire, beginning 500 years of so-called "Austria Romana" (as it became known in the 19th century). Noricum became a province of the Roman Empire.
During the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD), the Roman province of Noricum had as its boundaries to the north the Danube, to the north-east the Vienna Woods, and in the east approximately the current eastern border of Styria, while in the south-east and south it was bounded by the Eisack and Drava rivers. Later, under Diocletian (284–305), the province was divided along the main Alpine ridge into a northern (Noricum ripense) and a southern (Noricum Mediterraneum). Across the Ziller in the west, corresponding to the present provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, lay the province of Raetia, incorporating the earlier territory of Vindelicia. In the east lay Pannonia, including what is today the Burgenland. To the south was Region 10, Venetia et Histria.[6] The Danube river formed the Danubian limes (limes Danubii), a defensive line separating Upper and Lower Austria from the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi.
The Romans built many cities that survive today. They include Vindobona (Vienna), Juvavum (Salzburg), Valdidena (Innsbruck), and Brigantium (Bregenz).[7] Other important towns were Virunum (north of the modern Klagenfurt), Teurnia (near Spittal), and Lauriacum (Enns). Significant archaeological sites from the Roman period include Kleinklein (Styria) and Zollfeld (Magdalensberg).
Christianity appeared in Austria in the 2nd century AD, prompting Church organization that can be traced back to the 4th century AD. After the arrival of the Bavarii, Austria became the object of missionary efforts, such as Rupert and Virgil of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.
Migration period
First phase: Goths, 300–500 AD
The Great Migration (Völkerwanderung) sealed the decline of Roman power in Austria. In the First Phase (300–500 AD) the Roman Empire was increasingly harassed by Germanic tribes from the 5th Century, including Goths and Vandals. As the fabric of the Roman Empire crumbled, the ability of Raetia, Noricum, and Pannonia to defend themselves became increasingly problematic. Radagaisus overran part of the country in 405. (Géza Alföldy pp. 213–4). After several raids on Italy, the Visigoths arrived in 408, under Alaric I.[8]
As described by Zosimus, Alaric set out from Emona (modern Ljubljana) which lay between Pannonia Superior and Noricum over the Carnic Alps arriving at Virunum in Noricum, as had been agreed to by the Roman general Stilicho, following several skirmishes between the two. Alaric was voted a large amount of money to maintain peace, by the Roman Senate, at Stilicho's instigation.[8] From there he directed his operations against Italy, demanding Noricum among another territory, finally sacking Rome in 410 but dying on the route home that year.[9]
The Visigoths eventually moved on, allowing a short period of stability apart from domestic disturbances in 431. (Alföldy p. 214). 451 saw the Huns pour through the land, and in 433, Pannonia had had to be evacuated under the Hun attacks. The death of Attila in 453 allowed the Ostrogoths to scatter his Hunnish empire. Many tribes, formerly under the Huns now started to settle along the Danube basin and assert their independence. Among these were the Rugii, who formed their own lands (Rugiland) across the Danube and started to impose their will on Noricum.
From 472 Ostrogoths and Alamanni invaded the area but did not subdue it. Even after Odoacer had overthrown the last Western Roman Emperor in 476, there remained remnants of the Roman administration in the provinces before the final collapse of Late Antiquity in this area (see Severinus of Noricum and Flaccitheus). Noricum was eventually abandoned in 488,[10] while Raetia was abandoned by the Romans to the Alamanni.
Abandoned and devastated towns and buildings slowly fell into disarray during the 4th and 5th centuries. By 493 the area was part of the lands of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric and there were no remaining Roman influences. The collapse of the Ostrogothic empire began with his death in 526.
Second phase: Slavs and Bavarii, 500–700 AD
During the second phase of the Migration Period (500–700 AD) the Langobardii (Lombards) made a brief appearance in the northern and eastern regions around 500 AD, but had been driven south into northern Italy by the Avars by 567. The Avars and their vassal Slavs had established themselves from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans.[11] After the Avars suffered setbacks in the east in 626, the Slavs rebelled, establishing their own territories. The Alpine Slavs (Carantanii) elected a Bavarian, Odilo, as their count and successfully resisted further Avar subjugation.
The Slavic tribe of the Carantanians migrated westward along the Drava into the Eastern Alps in the wake of the expansion of their Avar overlords during the 7th century, mixed with the Celto-Romanic population, and established the realm of Carantania (later Carinthia), which covered much of eastern and central Austrian territory and was the first independent Slavic state in Europe, centred at Zollfeld. Together with the indigenous population they were able to resist further encroachment of the neighboring Franks and Avars in the southeastern Alps.
In the meantime, the Germanic tribe of the Bavarii (Bavarians), vassals of the Franks, had developed in the 5th and 6th century in the west of the country and in what is now known as Bavaria, while what is today Vorarlberg had been settled by the Alemans. In the northern alps the Bavarians had become established as a stem dukedom around 550 AD, under the rule of the Agilolfings until 788 as an eastern outpost of the Frankish Empire. At that time the lands occupied by the Bavarians extended south to current South Tyrol, and east to the river Enns. The administrative center was at Regensburg. Those groups mixed with the Rhaeto-Romanic population and pushed it up into the mountains along the Puster Valley.[12]
In the south of present-day Austria, the Slavic tribes had settled in the valleys of the Drava, Mura and Save by 600 AD. The westward Slavic migration stopped further Bavarian migration eastwards by 610. Their most westward expansion was reached in 650 at the Puster Valley (Pustertal), but gradually fell back to the Enns River by 780.[11] The settlement boundary between Slavs and Bavarians roughly corresponds to a line from Freistadt through Linz, Salzburg (Lungau), to East Tyrol (Lesachtal), with Avars and Slavs occupying eastern Austria and modern-day Bohemia.
Carantania, under pressure of the Avars, became a vassal state to Bavaria in 745 and was later incorporated into the Carolingian empire, first as a tribal margravate under Slavic dukes, and after the failed rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski in the early 9th century, under Frankish-appointed noblemen. During the following centuries, Bavarian settlers went down the Danube and up the Alps, a process through which Austria was to become the mostly German-speaking country it is today. Only in southern Carinthia, the Slavic population maintained its language and identity until the early 20th century, when a process of assimilation reduced their number to a small minority.
Early Middle Ages: Duchy of Bavaria (8th–10th centuries)
Bavarian relationship with the Franks varied, achieving temporary independence by 717 AD, only to be subjugated by Charles Martel. Finally Charlemagne (Emperor 800–814) deposed the last Agilolfing duke, Tassilo III, assuming direct Carolingian control in 788 AD, with non-hereditary Bavarian kings. Charlemagne subsequently led the Franks and Bavarians against the eastern Avars in 791, so that by 803 they had fallen back to the east of the Fischa and Leitha rivers.[11] These conquests enabled the establishment of a system of defensive marches (military borderlands) from the Danube to the Adriatic.[13] By around 800 AD, Österreich, the "Kingdom of the East," had been joined to the Holy Roman Empire.[7]
Among these was an eastern march, the Avar March (Awarenmark), corresponding roughly to present day Lower Austria, bordered by the rivers Enns, Raab and Drava, while to the south lay the March of Carinthia. Both marches were collectively referred to as the Marcha orientalis (Eastern March), a prefecture of the Duchy of Bavaria. In 805, the Avars, with Charlemagne's permission, led by the Avar Khagan, settled south-eastward from Vienna.[14]
A new threat appeared in 862, the Hungarians, following the pattern of displacement from more eastern territories by superior forces. By 896 the Hungarians were present in large numbers on the Hungarian Plain from which they raided the Frankish domains. They defeated the Moravians and in 907 defeated the Bavarians at the Battle of Pressburg and by 909 had overrun the marches forcing the Franks and Bavarians back to the Enns River.[13]
Bavaria became a Margraviate under Engeldeo (890–895) and was re-established as a Duchy under Arnulf the Bad (907–937) who united it with the Duchy of Carinthia, occupying most of the eastern alps. This proved short lived. His son Eberhard (937–938) found himself in conflict with the German King, Otto I (Otto the Great) who deposed him. The next Duke was Henry I (947–955), who was Otto's brother. In 955 Otto successfully forced back the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld, beginning a slow reconquest of the eastern lands, including Istria and Carniola.
During the reign of Henry's son, Henry II (the Quarrelsome) (955–976) Otto became the first Holy Roman Emperor (962) and Bavaria became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto I re-established the eastern march, and was succeeded by Otto II in 967, and found himself in conflict with Henry who he deposed, allowing him to re-organise the duchies of his empire.
Otto considerably reduced Bavaria, re-establishing Carinthia to the south. To the east, he established a new Bavarian Eastern March, subsequently known as Austria, under Leopold (Luitpold), count of Babenberg in 976. Leopold I, also known as Leopold the Illustrious (Luitpold der Erlauchte) ruled Austria from 976 to 994.
Babenberg Austria (976–1246)
Margraviate (976–1156)
The marches were overseen by a comes or dux as appointed by the emperor. These titles are usually translated as count or duke, but these terms conveyed very different meanings in the Early Middle Ages, so the Latin versions are to be preferred [by whom?]. In Lombardic speaking countries, the title was eventually regularized to margrave (German: markgraf) i.e. "count of the mark".
The first recorded instance of the name 'Austria' appeared in 996, in a document of King Otto III written as Ostarrîchi, referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. In addition, for a long time the form Osterlant (Ostland or 'Eastland') was in use, the inhabitants being referred to as Ostermann or Osterfrau. The Latinized name Austria applied to this area appears in the 12th Century writings in the time of Leopold III (1095–1136). (compare Austrasia as the name for the north-eastern part of the Frankish Empire). The term Ostmark is not historically certain and appears to be a translation of marchia orientalis that came up only much later.
The Babenbergs pursued a policy of settling the country, clearing forests and founding towns and monasteries. They ruled the March from Pöchlarn initially, and later from Melk, continually expanding the territory eastward along the Danube valley, so that by 1002 it reached Vienna. The eastward expansion was finally halted by the newly Christianized Hungarians in 1030, when King Stephen (1001–1038) of Hungary defeated the Emperor, Conrad II (1024–1039) at Vienna.
A 'core' territory had finally been established. The land contained the remnant of many prior civilisations, but the Bavarians predominated, except in the Lake Constance area to the west occupied by the Alemanni (Vorarlberg). Pockets of the Celto-Romanic population (Walchen or Welsche) persisted, such as around Salzburg, and Roman place names persisted, such as Juvavum (Salzburg). In addition this population was distinguished by Christianity and by their language, a Latin dialect (Romansch). Salzburg was already a bishopric (739), and by 798 an archbishopric.
Although the Germanic Bavarians steadily replaced Romansch as the main language, they adopted many Roman customs and became increasingly Christianized. Similarly in the east, German replaced the Slavic language. The March of Austria's neighbours were the Duchy of Bavaria to the west, the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland to the North, the Kingdom of Hungary to the east and the Duchy of Carinthia to the south. In this setting, Austria, still subject to Bavaria was a relatively small player.
The Babenberg Margraves controlled very little of modern Austria. Salzburg, historically part of Bavaria became an ecclesiastical territory, while Styria was part of the Carinthian Duchy. The Babenbergs had relatively small holdings, with not only Salzburg but the lands of the Diocese of Passau lying in the hands of the church, and the nobility controlling much of the rest. However they embarked on a programme of consolidating their power base. One such method was to employ indentures servants such as the Kuenringern family as Ministeriales and given considerable military and administrative duties.[15] They survived as a dynasty through good fortune and skill at power politics, in that era dominated by the continual struggle between emperor and papacy.
The path was not always smooth. The fifth Margrave, Leopold II 'The Fair' (Luitpold der Schöne) (1075–1095) was temporarily deposed by the Emperor Henry IV (1084–1105) after finding himself on the wrong side of the Investiture Dispute. However Leopold's son, Leopold III 'The Good' (Luitpold der Heilige) (1095–1136) backed Henry's rebellious son, Henry V (1111–1125), contributed to his victory and was rewarded with the hand of Henry's sister Agnes von Waiblingen in 1106, thus allying himself with the Imperial family. Leopold then concentrated on pacifying the nobility. His monastic foundations, particularly Klosterneuburg and Heiligenkreuz, led to his posthumous canonisation in 1458, and he became Austria's patron saint.[16]
Union with Bavaria 1139
Leopold III was succeeded by his son, Leopold IV 'The Generous' (Luitpold der Freigiebige) (1137–1141). Leopold further enhanced the status of Austria by also becoming Duke of Bavaria in 1139, as Leopold I. Bavaria itself had been in the hands of the Welf (Guelph) dynasty, who were pitted against the Hohenstaufen. The latter came to the imperial throne in 1138 in the person of Conrad III (1138–1152); the Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Proud, was himself a candidate for the imperial crown and disputed the election of Conrad, and was subsequently deprived of the Duchy, which was given to Leopold IV. When Leopold died, his lands were inherited by his brother Henry II (Heinrich Jasomirgott) (1141–1177).
In the meantime, Conrad had been succeeded as emperor by his nephew Frederick I Barbarossa (1155–1190), who was descended from both the Welfs and Hohenstauffens and sought to end the conflicts within Germany. To this end he returned Bavaria to the Welfs in 1156, but as compensation elevated Austria to a duchy through an instrument known as the Privilegium Minus. Henry II thus became Duke of Austria in exchange for losing the title of Duke of Bavaria.
Duchy of Austria (1156–1246)
Austria was now an independent dominion within the Holy Roman Empire, and Henry moved his official residence to Vienna that year.
Leopold the Virtuous and union with Styria (1177–1194)
In 1186 the Georgenberg Pact bequeathed Austria's southern neighbour, the Duchy of Styria to Austria upon the death of the childless Duke of Styria, Ottokar IV, which occurred in 1192. Styria had been carved out of the northern marches of Carinthia, and only raised to the status of Duchy in 1180. However the territory of the Duchy of Styria extended far beyond the current state of Styria, including parts of present-day Slovenia (Lower Styria), and also parts of Upper Austria (the Traungau, the area around Wels and Steyr) and Lower Austria (the county of Pitten, today's districts of Wiener Neustadt and Neunkirchen).
The second Duke of Austria, Henry II's son Leopold V the Virtuous (Luitpold der Tugendhafte) (1177–1194) became Duke of these combined territories. Leopold is perhaps best known for his imprisonment of the British king, Richard I following the Third Crusade (1189–1192), in 1192 at Dürnstein. The ransom money he received helped finance many of his projects.
At that time, the Babenberg Dukes came to be one of the most influential ruling families in the region, peaking in the reign of Henry's grandson Leopold VI the Glorious (Luitpold der Glorreiche) (1198–1230), the fourth Duke.[12] under whom the culture of the High Middle Ages flourished, including the introduction of Gothic art.
Frederick the Quarrelsome: Division of the land and end of a dynasty (1230–1246)
On Leopold's death, he was succeeded by his son Frederick II the Quarrelsome (Friedrich der Streitbare) (1230–1246). In 1238 he divided the land into two areas divided by the River Enns. That part above the Enns became Ob(erhalb) der Enns (Above the Enns) or 'Upper Austria' (Oberösterreich), although other names such as supra anasum (from an old Latin name for the river), and Austria superior were also in use. Those lands below the Enns or unter der Enns became known as Lower Austria (Niederösterreich). The Traungau and Steyr were made part of Upper Austria rather than Styria. Another of Frederick's achievements was a Patent of Protection for Jews in 1244.[17]
However Frederick was killed in the Battle of the Leitha River against the Hungarians, and had no surviving children. Thus the Babenburg dynasty became extinct in 1246.
Interregnum (1246–1278)
What followed was an interregnum, a period of several decades during which the status of the country was disputed, and during which Frederick II's duchy fell victim to a prolonged power play between rival forces. During this time there were multiple claimants to the title, including Vladislaus, Margrave of Moravia son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia. King Wenceslaus aimed at acquiring the Duchy of Austria by arranging the marriage of Vladislaus to the last Duke's niece Gertrud, herself a potential heir and claimant.
According to the Privilegium Minus issued by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1156, the Austrian lands could be bequeathed through the female line. Vladislaus received the homage of the Austrian nobility, but died shortly afterwards, on 3 January 1247, before he could take possession of the duchy. Next came Herman of Baden in 1248. He also made claim by seeking Gertrud's hand but did not have the support of the nobility. Herman died in 1250, and his claim was taken up by his son Frederick, but his claim was thwarted by the Bohemian invasion of Austria.
In an attempt to end the turmoil a group of Austrian nobles invited the king of Bohemia, Ottokar II Přemysl, Vladislaus' brother, to become Austria's ruler in 1251. His father had attempted to invade Austria in 1250. Ottokar then proceeded to ally himself to the Babenbergs by marrying Margaret, Duke Frederick II's sister[18] and daughter to Leopold VI, therefore making him a potential claimant to the throne, in 1252. He subdued the quarrelsome nobles and made himself ruler of most of the area, including Austria, Styria (which was previously under the rule of Hungary) as well as Carniola and Carinthia, both of which he had claimed by a dubious right of inheritance.[18]
Ottokar was a lawmaker and builder. Among his achievements was the founding of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Ottokar was in a position to establish a new empire, given the weakness of the Holy Roman Empire on the death of Frederick II (1220–1250) particularly after the Hohenstauffen dynasty was ended in 1254 with the death of Conrad IV and the ensuing Imperial interregnum (1254–1273). Thus Ottokar put himself forward as a candidate for the imperial throne, but was unsuccessful.
Religious persecution
During the interregnum, Austria was the scene of intense persecution of heretics by the Inquisition. The first instances appear in 1260 in over forty parishes in the southern Danube region between the Salzkammergut and the Vienna Woods, and were mainly directed against the Waldensians.
Habsburg ascent and death of Ottokar (1273–1278)
Ottokar again contested the Imperial Throne in 1273, being almost alone in this position in the electoral college. This time he refused to accept the authority of the successful candidate, Rudolf of Habsburg (Emperor 1273–1291). In November 1274 the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg ruled that all crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II (1250) must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new emperor, Rudolf. Ottokar refused either to appear or to restore the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia with the March of Carniola, which he had claimed through his first wife, a Babenberg heiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, Margrave Hermann VI of Baden.
Rudolph refuted Ottokar's succession to the Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces must revert to the Imperial crown due to the lack of male-line heirs (a position that however conflicted with the provisions of the Austrian Privilegium Minus). King Ottokar was placed under the imperial ban; and in June 1276 war was declared against him, Rudolf laying siege to Vienna. Having persuaded Ottokar's former ally Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria to switch sides, Rudolph compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the imperial administration in November 1276.
Ottokar having relinquished his territories outside of the Czech lands, Rudolph re-invested him with the Kingdom of Bohemia, betrothed his youngest daughter, Judith of Habsburg, (to Ottokar's son Wenceslaus II), and made a triumphal entry into Vienna. Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, made an alliance with some Piast chiefs of Poland, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolph formed an alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and gave additional privileges to the Vienna citizens.
On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at the Battle on the Marchfeld, northeast of Vienna, where Ottokar was defeated and killed. The Margraviate of Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolph's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Slavonia, in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Judith.
Rudolf was thus able to assume sole control over Austria, as Duke of Austria and Styria (1278–1282) which remained under Habsburg rule for over six centuries, until 1918.
The establishment of the Habsburg dynasty: Duchy of Austria (1278–1453)
Thus Austria and the Empire came under a single Habsburg crown, and after a few centuries (1438) would remain so almost continuously (see below) till 1806, when the empire was dissolved, obviating the frequent conflicts that had occurred previously.
Rudolph I and primogeniture (1278–1358)
Rudolf I spent several years establishing his authority in Austria, finding some difficulty in establishing his family as successors to the rule of the province. At length the hostility of the princes was overcome and he was able to bequeath Austria to his two sons. In December 1282, at the Diet of Augsburg, Rudolph invested the duchies of Austria and Styria on his sons, Albert I (1282–1308) and Rudolph II the Debonair (1282–1283) as co-rulers "jointly and severally", and so laid the foundation of the House of Habsburg. Rudolf continued his campaigns subduing and subjugating and adding to his domains, dying in 1291, but leaving dynastic instability in Austria, where frequently the Duchy of Austria was shared between family members. However Rudolf was unsuccessful in ensuring the succession to the imperial throne for the Dukes of Austria and Styria.
The conjoint dukedom lasted only a year until the Treaty of Rheinfelden (Rheinfelder Hausordnung) in 1283 established the Habsburg order of succession. Establishing primogeniture, then eleven-year-old Duke Rudolph II had to waive all his rights to the thrones of Austria and Styria to the benefit of his elder brother Albert I. While Rudolph was supposed to be compensated, this did not happen, dying in 1290, and his son John subsequently murdered his uncle Albert I in 1308. For a brief period, Albert I also shared the duchies with Rudolph III the Good (1298–1307), and finally achieved the imperial throne in 1298.
On Albert I's death, the duchy but not the empire passed to his son, Frederick the Fair (1308–1330), at least not until 1314 when he became co-ruler of the empire with Louis IV. Frederick also had to share the duchy with his brother Leopold I the Glorious (1308–1326). Yet another brother, Albert II the Lame (1330–1358) succeeded Frederick.
The pattern of corule persisted, since Albert had to share the role with another younger brother Otto I the Merry (1330–1339), although he did attempt to unsuccessfully lay down the rules of succession in the "Albertinian House Rule" (Albertinische Hausordnung). When Otto died in 1339, his two sons, Frederick II and Leopold II replaced him, making three simultaneous Dukes of Austria from 1339 to 1344 when both of them died in their teens without issue. Single rule in the Duchy of Austria finally returned when his son, Rudolph IV succeeded him in 1358.
In the 14th century the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria, which had remained a small territory along the Danube, and Styria, which they had acquired with Austria from Ottokar. In 1335 Albert II inherited the Duchy of Carinthia and the March of Carniola from the then rulers, the House of Gorizia.
Rudolph IV and the Privilegium Maius (1358–1365)
Rudolf IV the Founder (1358–1365) was the first to claim the title of Archduke of Austria, through the Privilegium Maius of 1359, which was actually a forgery and not recognized outside of Austria till 1453. However it would have placed him on a level footing with the other Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Rudolph was one of the most active rulers of his time, initiating many measures and elevating the importance of the City of Vienna.
At that time Vienna was ecclesiastically subordinate to the Diocese of Passau, which Rudolph subverted by founding St Stephen's Cathedral and appointing the provost as the Archchancellor of Austria. he also founded the University of Vienna (Alma Mater Rudolphina). He improved the economy and established a stable currency, the Vienna Penny (Wiener Pfennig). When he died in 1365 he was without issue and the succession passed to his brothers jointly under the Rudolfinian House Rules (Rudolfinische Hausordnung).
In 1363, the County of Tyrol was acquired by Rudolph IV from Margaret of Tyrol. Thus Austria was now a complex country in the Eastern Alps, and these lands are often referred to as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands, as well as simply Austria, since the Habsburgs also began to accumulate lands far from their Hereditary Lands.[19]
Albert III and Leopold III: A house divided (1365–1457)
Almost the entire 15th Century was a confusion of estate and family disputes, which considerably weakened the political and economic importance of the Habsburg lands. It was not until 1453 in the reign of Frederick V the Peaceful (1457–1493) that the country (at least the core territories) would be finally united again. Rudolph IV's brothers Albert III the Pigtail and Leopold III the Just quarreled ceaselessly and eventually agreed to split the realm in the Treaty of Neuberg in 1379, which was to result in further schisms later. Altogether this resulted in three separate jurisdictions.
- Lower Austrian Territories or Niederösterreich (Upper and Lower Austria)
- Albertinian Line – extinct 1457, passed to Leopoldians
- Inner Austrian Territories or Innerösterreich (Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and the Austrian Littoral of Istria and Trieste)
- Leopoldian Line then Elder Ernestine Line 1406–1457, continuing as Archduchy of Austria.
- Further Austrian Territories or Vorderösterreich (Tyrol, Vorarlberg and the Swabian and Alsatian territories)
- Leopoldian Line then Junior Tyrolean Line 1406–1490, passed back to Leopoldians
Albertinian line (1379–1457)
In 1379 Albert III retained Austria proper, ruling till 1395. He was succeeded by his son Albert IV (1395–1404) and grandson Albert V (1404–1439) who regained the imperial throne for the Habsburgs and through his territorial acquisitions was set to become one of the most powerful rulers in Europe had he not died when he did, leaving only a posthumous heir, born four months later (Ladislaus the Posthumous 1440–1457). Instead it was Ladislaus' guardian and successor, the Leopoldian Frederick V the Peaceful (1457–1493) who benefited. The Albertinian line having become extinct, the title now passed back to the Leopoldians. Frederick was so aware of the potential of being the young Ladislaus' guardian that he refused to let him rule independently upon reaching majority (12 in Austria at the time)[20] and had to be forced to release him by the Austrian Estates (League of Mailberg 1452).
Leopoldian line (1379–1490)
Leopold III took the remaining territories, ruling till 1386. He was succeeded by two of his sons jointly, William the Courteous (1386–1406) and Leopold IV the Fat (1386–1411). In 1402 yet another split in the Duchy occurred, since Leopold III had had four sons and neither Leopold IV or William had heirs. The remaining brothers then divided the territory.
Ernest the Iron (1402–1424) took Inner Austria, while Frederick IV of the Empty Pockets (1402–1439) took Further Austria. Once William died in 1406, this took formal effect with two separate ducal lines, the Elder Ernestine Line and Junior Tyrolean Line respectively.
Ernestine line (Inner Austria 1406–1457)
The Ernestine line consisted of Ernest and a joint rule by two of his sons upon his death in 1424, Albert VI the Prodigal (1457–1463) and Frederick V the Peaceful (1457–1493). They too quarreled and in turn divided what had now become both Lower and Inner Austria upon the death of Ladislaus in 1457 and extinction of the Albertinians. Albert seized Upper Austria in 1458, ruling from Linz, but in 1462 proceeded to besiege his elder brother in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, seizing lower Austria too. However, since he died childless the following year (1463) his possessions automatically reverted to his brother, and Frederick now controlled all of the Albertinian and Ernestine possessions.
Frederick's political career had advanced in a major way, since he inherited the Duchy of Inner Austria in 1424. From being a Duke, he became German King as Frederick IV in 1440 and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III (1452–1493).
Tyrolean line (Further Austria) 1406–1490
The Tyrolean line consisted of Frederick IV and his son, Sigismund the Rich (1439–1490). Frederick moved his court to Innsbruck but lost some of his possessions to Switzerland. Sigismund who succeeded him sold some of his lands to Charles the Bold in 1469 and was elevated to Archduke by Emperor Frederick III in 1477. He died childless, but in 1490, he abdicated in the face of unpopularity and Further Austria reverted to the then Archduke, Maximilian I the Last Knight (1490–1493), Frederick V's son who now effectively controlled all the Habsburg territory for the first time since 1365.
Religious persecution
The inquisition was also active under the Habsburgs, particularly between 1311 and 1315 when inquisitions were held in Steyr, Krems, St. Pölten and Vienna. The Inquisitor, Petrus Zwicker, conducted severe persecutions in Steyr, Enns, Hartberg, Sopron and Vienna between 1391 and 1402. In 1397 there were some 80–100 Waldensians burnt in Steyr alone, now remembered in a 1997 monument.
Duchy and Kingdom
During the Habsburg Duchy, there were 13 consecutive Dukes, of whom four were also crowned King of Germany, Rudolf I, Albert I, Frederick the Fair, and Albert V (Albert II as King of Germany), although none were recognised as Holy Roman Emperors by the Pope.
When Duke Albert V (1404–1439) was elected as emperor in 1438 (as Albert II), as the successor to his father-in-law, Sigismund von Luxemburg (1433–1437) the imperial crown returned once more to the Habsburgs. Although Albert himself only reigned for a year (1438–1439), from then on, every emperor was a Habsburg (with only one exception: Charles VII 1742–1745), and Austria's rulers were also the Holy Roman Emperors until its dissolution in 1806.
Archduchy of Austria: Becoming a Great Power (1453–1564)
Frederick V (1453–1493): Elevation of the duchy
Frederick V (Duke 1424 Archduke 1453, died 1493) the Peaceful (Emperor Frederick III 1452-–1493) confirmed the Privilegium Maius of Rudolph IV in 1453, and so Austria became an official archduchy of the Holy Roman Empire, the next step in its ascendancy within Europe, and Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440–1457) the first official archduke for a brief period, dying shortly after. The document was a forgery, purportedly written by the Emperor Frederick I and "rediscovered". Frederick had a clear motive for this. He was a Habsburg, he was Duke of Inner Austria in addition to being Emperor, and, up till the previous year, had been guardian of the young Duke of Lower Austria, Ladislaus. He also stood to inherit Ladislaus's title, and did so when Ladislaus died four years later, becoming the second Archduke.
The Austrian Archdukes were now of equal status to the other Prince Electors that selected the emperors. Austrian governance was now to be based on primogeniture and indivisibility. Later Austria was to become officially known as "Erzherzogtum Österreich ob und unter der Enns" (The Archduchy of Austria above and below the Enns). In 1861 it was again divided into Upper and Lower Austria.
The relative power of the emperor in the monarchy was not great, as many other aristocratic dynasties pursued their own political power inside and outside the monarchy. However Frederick, although lackluster, pursued a tough and effective rule. He pursued power through dynastic alliances. In 1477 Maximilian (Archduke and Emperor 1493–1519), Frederick's only son, married Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, thus acquiring most of the Low Countries for the family. The strategic importance of this alliance was that Burgundy, which lay on the western border of the empire, was demonstrating expansionist tendencies, and was at that time one of the richest and most powerful of the Western European nation states, with territories stretching from the south of France to the North Sea.
The alliance was achieved at no small cost, since France, which also claimed Burgundy, contested this acquisition, and Maximilian had to defend his new wife's territories from Louis XI, finally doing so upon Mary's death in 1482 at the Peace of Arras. Relationships with France remained difficult, Louis XI being defeated at the Battle of Guinegate in 1479. Matters with France were only concluded in 1493 at the Treaty of Senlis after Maximilian had become emperor.
This and Maximilian's later dynastic alliances gave rise to the saying:[21]
Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube,
Nam quae Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus[lower-alpha 1]
which became a motto of the dynasty. Frederick's reign was pivotal in Austrian history. He united the core lands by simply outliving the rest of his family. From 1439, when Albert V died and the responsibilities for both of the core territories lay with Frederick, he systematically consolidated his power base. The next year (1440) he marched on Rome as King of the Romans with his ward, Ladislaus the last Albertinian duke, and when he was crowned in Rome in 1452 he was not only the first Habsburg but also the last German king to be crowned in Rome by the Pope.[22]
The dynasty was now en route to become a world power. The concept of pietas austriacae (the divine duty to rule) had originated with Rudolph I, but was reformulated by Frederick as AEIOU, Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan or Austriae est imperare orbi universo (Austria's destiny is to rule the world), which came to symbolise Austrian power.[22] However, not all events proceeded smoothly for Frederick. The Austrian-Hungarian War (1477–1488) resulted in the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus setting himself up in Vienna in 1485 till his death in 1490. Hungary occupied the entire Eastern Austria. Frederick therefore found himself with an itinerant court, predominantly in the Upper Austrian capital of Linz.
Maximilian I (1493–1519): Reunification
Maximilian I shared rule with his father during the latter year of Frederick's reign, being elected King of the Romans in 1486. By acquiring the lands of the Tyrolean line of the Habsburgs in 1490 he finally reunited all the Austrian lands, divided since 1379. He also needed to deal with the Hungarian problem when Mathias I died in 1490. Maximilian reconquered the lost parts of Austria and established peace with Mathias's successor Vladislaus II at the Peace of Pressburg in 1491. However the dynastic pattern of division and unification would be one that kept repeating itself over time. With unsettled borders Maximilian found Innsbruck in the Tyrol a safer place for a capital, between his Burgundian and Austrian lands, although he was rarely in any place for very long, being acutely aware of how his father had been repeatedly besieged in Vienna.
Maximilian raised the art of dynastic alliance to a new height and set about systematically creating a dynastic tradition, albeit through considerable revisionism. His wife Mary, was to die in 1482, only five years after they were married. He then married Anne, Duchess of Brittany (by proxy) in 1490, a move that would have brought Brittany, at that time independent, into the Habsburg fold, which was considered provocative to the French monarchy. Charles VIII of France had other ideas and annexed Brittany and married Anne, a situation complicated further by the fact that he was already betrothed to Maximilian's daughter Margaret, Duchess of Savoy. Maximilian's son, Philip the Fair (1478–1506) married Joanna, heiress of Castile and Aragon in 1496, and thus acquired Spain and its Italian (Naples, Kingdom of Sicily and Sardinia), African, and New World appendages for the Habsburgs.
However Tu felix Austria nube was perhaps more romantic than strictly realistic, since Maximilian was not slow to wage war when it suited his purpose. Having settled matters with France in 1493, he was soon involved in the long Italian Wars against France (1494–1559). In addition to the wars against the French, there were the wars for Swiss independence. The Swabian War of 1499 marked the last phase of this struggle against the Habsburgs. Following defeat at the Battle of Dornach in 1499, Austria was forced to recognise Swiss independence at the Treaty of Basel in 1499, a process that was finally formalised by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. This was significant as the Habsburgs had originated in Switzerland, their ancestral home being Habsburg Castle.
In domestic policy, Maximilian launched a series of reforms at the 1495 Diet of Worms, at which the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht) was launched as the highest court. Another new institution of 1495 was the Reichsregiment or Imperial government, meeting at Nuremberg. This preliminary exercise in democracy failed and was dissolved in 1502. Attempts at creating a unified state were not very successful, but rather re-emerged the idea of the three divisions of Austria that existed prior to the unification of Frederick and Maximilian.[23]
Short of funds for his various schemes he relied heavily on banking families such as the Fugger's, and it was these bankers that bribed the prince electors to choose Maximilian's grandson Charles as his successor. One tradition he did away with was the centuries-old custom that the Holy Roman Emperor had to be crowned by the Pope in Rome. Unable to reach Rome, due to Venetian hostility, in 1508, Maximilian, with the assent of Pope Julius II, took the title Erwählter Römischer Kaiser ("Elected Roman Emperor"). Thus his father Frederick was the last emperor to be crowned by the Pope in Rome.
Charles I and Ferdinand I (1519–1564)
Since Philip the Fair (1478–1506) died before his father, Maximilian, the succession passed to Philip's son, Charles I (1519–1521) who became the Emperor Charles V, on Maximilian's death in 1519. He reigned as emperor from 1519 to 1556, when in poor health he abdicated, dying in 1558. Although crowned by Pope Clement VII in Bologna in 1530 (Charles had sacked Rome in 1527) he was the last emperor ever to be crowned by a Pope. Although he eventually fell short of his vision of universal monarchy, Charles I is still considered the most powerful of all the Habsburgs. His Chancellor, Mercurino Gattinara remarked in 1519 that he was "on the path to universal monarchy ... unite all Christendom under one sceptre"[24] bringing him closer to Frederick V's vision of AEIOU, and Charles' motto Plus ultra (still further) suggested this was his ambition.[25]
Having inherited his father's possessions in 1506, he was already a powerful ruler with extensive domains. On Maximilian's death these domains became vast. He was now ruler of three of Europe's leading dynasties—the House of Habsburg of the Habsburg monarchy; the House of Valois-Burgundy of the Burgundian Netherlands; and the House of Trastámara of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon. This made him ruler over extensive lands in Central, Western, and Southern Europe; and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As the first king to rule Castile, León, and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, he became the first King of Spain.[26] His empire spanned nearly four million square kilometers across Europe, the Far East, and the Americas.[27]
A number of challenges stood in Charles's way, and were to shape Austria's history for a long time to come. These were France, the appearance of the Ottoman Empire to its East, and Martin Luther (see below).
Following the dynastic tradition the Habsburgs' hereditary territories were separated from this enormous empire at the Diet of Worms in 1521, when Charles I left them to the regency of his younger brother, Ferdinand I (1521–1564), although he then continued to add to the Habsburg territories. Since Charles left his Spanish Empire to his son Philip II of Spain, the Spanish territories became permanently alienated from the northern Habsburg domains, although remained allies for several centuries.
By the time Ferdinand also inherited the title of Holy Roman Emperor from his brother in 1558 the Habsburgs had effectively turned an elective title into a de facto hereditary one. Ferdinand continued the tradition of dynastic marriages by marrying Anne of Bohemia and Hungary in 1521, effectively adding those two kingdoms to the Habsburg domains, together with the adjacent territories of Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. This took effect when Anne's brother Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia (and hence the Jagiellon dynasty) died without heir at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 against Suleiman the Magnificent and the Ottomans. However, by 1538 the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into three parts:
- The Kingdom of Hungary (Royal Hungary) (today Burgenland, parts of Croatia, mostly Slovakia and parts of present-day Hungary) recognised the Habsburgs as Kings.
- Ottoman Hungary (the center of the country).
- Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, later the Principality of Transylvania under counter kings to the Habsburgs, but also under Ottoman protection.
Ferdinand's election to emperor in 1558 once again reunited the Austrian lands. He had had to cope with revolts in his own lands, religious turmoil, Ottoman incursions and even contest for the Hungarian throne from John Sigismund Zápolya. His lands were by no means the most wealthy of the Habsburg lands, but he succeeded in restoring internal order and keeping the Turks at bay, while enlarging his frontiers and creating a central administration.
When Ferdinand died in 1564, the lands were once more divided up between his three sons, a provision he had made in 1554.[28]
Austria in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation (1517–1564)
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation (1517–1545)
When Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517, he challenged the very basis of the Holy Roman Empire, Catholic Christianity, and hence Habsburg hegemony. After the Emperor Charles V interrogated and condemned Luther at the 1521 Diet of Worms, Lutheranism and the Protestant Reformation spread rapidly in the Habsburg territories. Temporarily freed from war with France by the 1529 Treaty of Cambrai and the denouncement of the ban on Luther by the Protestant princes at Speyer that year, the Emperor revisited the issue next at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, by which time it was well-established.
With the Ottoman threat growing (see below), he needed to ensure that he was not facing a major schism within Christianity. He refuted the Lutheran position (Augsburg Confession) (Confessio Augustana) with the Confutatio Augustana, and had Ferdinand elected King of the Romans on 5 January 1531, ensuring his succession as a Catholic monarch. In response, the Protestant princes and estates formed the Schmalkaldic League in February 1531 with French backing. Further Turkish advances in 1532 (which required him to seek Protestant aid) and other wars kept the emperor from taking further action on this front until 1547 when imperial troops defeated the League at the Battle of Mühlberg, allowing him to once more impose Catholicism.
In 1541 Ferdinand's appeal to the estates general for aid against the Turks was met by demand for religious tolerance. The triumph of 1547 turned out to be short lived with French and Protestant forces again challenging the emperor in 1552 culminating in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Exhausted, Charles started to withdraw from politics and hand over the reins. Protestantism had proved too firmly entrenched to enable it to be uprooted.
Austria and the other Habsburg hereditary provinces (and Hungary and Bohemia, as well) were much affected by the Reformation, but with the exception of Tyrol the Austrian lands shut out Protestantism. Although the Habsburg rulers themselves remained Catholic, the non-Austrian provinces largely converted to Lutheranism, which Ferdinand I largely tolerated.
Counter-Reformation (1545–1563)
The Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation was a conservative one, but one that did address the issues raised by Luther. In 1545 the long running Council of Trent began its work of reform and a Counter-Reformation on the borders of the Habsburg domains. The Council continued intermittently until 1563. Ferdinand and the Austrian Habsburgs were far more tolerant than their Spanish brethren, and the process initiated at Trent. However his attempts at reconciliation at the Council in 1562 was rejected, and although a Catholic counteroffensive existed in the Habsburg lands from the 1550s it was based on persuasion, a process in which the Jesuits and Peter Canisius took the lead. Ferdinand deeply regretted the failure to reconcile religious differences before his death (1564).[29]
The arrival of the Ottomans (1526–1562)
When Ferdinand I married into the Hungarian dynasty in 1521 Austria first encountered the westward Ottoman expansion which had first come into conflict with Hungary in the 1370s. Matters came to a close when his wife Anne's brother the young king Louis was killed fighting the Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the title passing to Ferdinand. Louis' widow Mary fled to seek protection from Ferdinand.
The Turks initially withdrew following this victory, reappearing in 1528 advancing on Vienna and laying siege to it the following year. They withdrew that winter till 1532 when their advance was stopped by Charles V, although they controlled much of Hungary. Ferdinand was then forced to recognize John Zápolya Ferdinand and the Turks continued to wage war between 1537 and a temporary truce in 1547 when Hungary was partitioned. However hostilities continued almost immediately till the Treaty of Constantinople of 1562 which confirmed the 1547 borders. The Ottoman threat was to continue for 200 years.