Franz Ferdinand, a nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph, had become the favourite for heir to the throne after the suicide of...

Franz Stephan married Maria Theresa in 1736, thus founding the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. In 1740, following the...

Franz II was the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. After Napoleon proclaimed the French...

Franz Joseph ascended the throne of the Austrian Empire in 1848. His concept of rulership was informed by a great sense...

The son of Emperor Franz II (I) and younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand I, he was a member of the Privy State...

Lasting fifty-three years, Frederick’s reign was the longest of any king or emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was...

Frederick ‘the Fair’, son of King Albrecht I, endeavoured to succeed his father as Roman-German King. However, in 1322...

Frederick ruled over the Swabian territories and Tyrol at the beginning of the fifteenth century. There he gradually...

The third child of Philip the Fair and Joanna of Castile and Aragon, Isabella grew up with her aunt Margaret in the...

Highly educated and musical, Isabella of Parma grew up in Spain and Parma. She entered a politically arranged marriage...

Donna Juana (Joan) of Castile and Aragon was married to Philip the Fair in an alliance arranged between the Spanish...

A brother of Emperor Franz II (I), Johann played an important role in the struggle to liberate Tyrol led by Andreas...

The nephew of the Habsburg king Albrecht I, he received the epithet of ‘the Parricide’, meaning ‘killer of a relative...

The ‘young court’ around the ambitious Joseph pressed for political reforms even while Emperor Leopold I was still on...

Joseph II is one of the best-known representatives of Enlightened Absolutism. As a monarch he was indebted to the ideas...

Archduke Karl, a son of Leopold II, was originally destined for the Church. However, in his youth he developed military...

Karl became the heir to the throne after the death of his uncle Franz Ferdinand in 1914, and emperor following the...

Karl Ludwig spent the whole of his life overshadowed by his older brothers Emperor Franz Joseph and Maximilian of...

Born after the death of his father King Albrecht II, Ladislaus received the epithet of ‘Postumus’. Only a few weeks...

Leopold I became emperor after the sudden death of his brother Ferdinand IV. Originally destined for a career in the...

The son of King Albrecht I, Leopold pursued his father’s murderers remorselessly. Afterwards he promoted the election...

As a ruler Leopold II was prepared to initiate reforms. Following the death of his father, he became regent of the...

During the 1360s Leopold administered Tyrol and the Habsburg Swabian territories. However, he pressed for greater...

The life of Duke Leopold IV was marked by the numerous family conflicts that arose in the line of his father, Duke...