Archduchy of Austria
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The Archduchy of Austria (German: Erzherzogtum Österreich) was one of the most important states within Holy Roman Empire, the center of the Habsburg Monarchy, the predecessor of the Austrian Empire. Over nearly 700 years, it evolved from a margravate to the center of an empire. The archduchy, with its capital at Vienna, was centered in the area current Austrian federal state of Lower Austria and included most of what is now Upper Austria as well.
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[edit] Marchia Orientalis and the Babenberger Margravate of Austria
- Main articles: Ostarrîchi, Babenberg
In Carolingian times and during the early Middle Ages, the core of territory that would become the Archduchy of Austria was known as Marchia orientalis or the "Eastern March". Ethnic German migrants displaced earlier Slavic populations in the 9th and 10th centuries and, after the Battle of Lechfeld in AD 955, the area became one of the marches of the Holy Roman Empire and was given a margrave around 960. From AD 976, the territory was ruled by the Babenberg dynasty and it came to be known as Ostarrîchi ("Eastern Realm"), the linguistic ancestor of the German name for Austria, Österreich.
[edit] Duchy of Austria
In 1156 the margravate was raised to the Duchy of Austria through the Privilegium Minus issued by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. In 1278, Rudolph I defeated Ottokar II of Bohemia and secured the duchy for the Habsburg dynasty.
[edit] Archduchy of Austria
In 1359, the forged Privilegium Maius was used by Duke Rudolf IV to elevate the status of the duchy to archduchy but the action was not recognized by the Holy Roman Empire. Ernest was the first to use the title of archduke but the archduchy was only formally recognized in 1453 when the Habsburgs gained control of the office of Holy Roman Emperor under Frederick III. Austria was the only state ever to be designated an archduchy and, from the 16th century, members of the House of Habsburg held the title of archduke or archduchess similar to "princes or princesses of the blood" in other European royal houses. From 1512, the archduchy was also the center of an Imperial Circle of Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Circle, which was of comprised most of the Habsburg hereditary lands.
[edit] Habsburg Empire
In 1804, Emperor Francis II promoted his territory within the Holy Roman Empire from archduchy to empire in reaction to Napoleon I's proclamation of the French Empire in 1804 and he formally dissolved the defunct the Holy Roman Empire two years later. The Archduchy of Austria continued to exist as a constituent crown land (Kronland) within the empire although it was divided into Upper and Lower Austria for some purposes. The title of archduke continued to be used by members of the imperial family and the archduchy was only formally dissolved in 1918 with collapse of Austria-Hungary and the creation of the separate federal states of Lower and Upper Austria in the new Republic of German Austria.
[edit] See also
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