House of Habsburg facts for kids
Habsburg was a family of dukes, kings, and monarchs. They were very important in European history. They first ruled parts of Switzerland in the 13th century. They ruled Austria, later Austria-Hungary for more than 600 years, and also sometimes owned Spain and the Netherlands. They ruled the Holy Roman Empire from about 1280 to 1806. They also ruled the Kingdom of Sardinia until the middle 19th century.
A Treaty was made in Vienna in 1515 between the king of Poland and duke of Lithuania from the Jagiellon dynasty and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, duke of Austria from the Habsburg family. It said that if the kings of Bohemia and Hungary, (Jagiellons), were to die without male heirs the Duke of Austria would take over their territory.
End of the House
The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century. The senior branch ended when Charles II of Spain died in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. The mental and physical handicaps of Charles II were probably caused by inbreeding between relatives in the royal houses of continental Europe. Marriages of close relatives occurred for five generations before him. He was the son of Philip IV, who married his sister's daughter.
The remaining branch went extinct in the male line in 1740 with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and completely in 1780 with the death of his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa of Austria. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine. The new successor house styled itself formally as House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Habsburg-Lothringen), although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg.
The last empress was Zita of Bourbon-Parma. She died in Switzerland in 1989. She had ruled with her husband, Charles I of Austria, from 1916 to 1918.
Images for kids
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The Habsburg dominions around 1200 in the area of modern-day Switzerland are shown as Habsburg, among the houses of Savoy, Zähringer and Kyburg
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Habsburg lands (in green), following the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547; excludes Holy Roman Empire, and the Spanish colonial empire
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The Iberian Union in 1598, under Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal
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The Spanish and Austrian Habsburg European lands, ca 1700
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Profile portrait of Leopold I highlighting his "Habsburg jaw", Deutsches Historisches Museum
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"PLUS OULTRE", motto of Charles V in French, on a ceiling of the Palace of Charles V in Granada
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Current personal arms of the head of the house of Habsburg, claiming only the personal title of Archduke
See also
In Spanish: Casa de Habsburgo para niños
