Habsburg

The Habsburgs were named after Habsburg Castle, built by Radbot in the 1020s. Staufer clients, they rose with Rudolf's election as King of the Romans in 1273. His Marchfeld victory over Ottokar II in 1278 and the Georgenberg Pact of 1286 won Austria and Styria for his sons, Vienna becoming their seat.

After Rudolf's death in 1291 and Albert I's murder in 1308 the house lost the imperial crown for a time but gained Carinthia and Carniola in 1335. From 1440 the imperial title was effectively hereditary. The 1515 double wedding brought Bohemia and Hungary to Ferdinand I in 1526; Charles V, elected emperor in 1519, ruled Spain, the Low Countries and Austria.

His 1556 abdication split the house into Spanish and Austrian branches: the Spanish line ended in 1700 with Charles II, the Austrian male line with Charles VI in 1740. Maria Theresa's marriage to Francis Stephen of Lorraine founded Habsburg-Lorraine; Francis I took the title of Emperor of Austria in 1804, the Holy Roman Empire dissolving in 1806.