Rudolf I of Germany

"Rudolf I" and "Rudolf of Habsburg" redirect here. For other uses, seeRudolf I (disambiguation)andRudolf of Habsburg (disambiguation).

Rudolf I
Seal of Rudolf I inscribed: RUDOLFUS DEI GRACIA ROMANORUM REXSEMPER AUGUSTUS( "Rudolf by the grace of God King of the Romans, ever majestic" )
King of Germany (formallyKing of the Romans)
Reign	1 October 1273 – 15 July 1291
Coronation	24 October 1273 Aachen Cathedral
Predecessor	(Richard of Cornwall) Interregnum
Successor	Adolf of Nassau
Born	1 May 1218 Limburgh Castle nearSasbach am Kaiserstuhl
Died	15 July 1291(1291-07-15)(aged 73) Speyer
Burial	Speyer Cathedral
Spouses	Gertrude of Hohenberg Isabella of Burgundy
Issue more...	Matilda, Duchess of Bavaria Albert I, King of Germany Catherine, Duchess of Bavaria Agnes, Duchess of Saxony Hedwig, Margravine of Brandenburg Clementia, Queen of Hungary Rudolf II, Duke of Austria Judith, Queen of Bohemia
House	Habsburg
Father	Albert IV, Count of Habsburg
Mother	Hedwig of Kyburg

Rudolf I(1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the firstKing of Germanyfrom theHouse of Habsburg.The first of thecount-kingsofGermany,he reigned from 1273 until his death in 1291.

Rudolf'selectionmarked the end of theGreat Interregnumwhich had begun after the death of theHohenstaufenEmperor Frederick IIin 1250. Originally aSwabiancount, he was the first Habsburg to acquire the duchies ofAustriaandStyriain opposition to his mighty rival, thePřemyslidkingOttokar II of Bohemia,whom he defeated in the 1278Battle on the Marchfeld.The territories remained under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, forming the core of theHabsburg monarchyand the present-day country ofAustria.Rudolf played a vital role in raising thecomitalHouse of Habsburg to the rank ofImperial princes.

Early life

Rudolf was born on 1 May 1218 at Limburgh Castle nearSasbach am Kaiserstuhlin theBreisgauregion of present-day southwesternGermany.He was the son of CountAlbert IV of Habsburgand Hedwig, daughter of Count Ulrich ofKyburg.Around 1232, he was given as a squire to his uncle,Rudolf I, Count of Laufenburg,to train in knightly pursuits.

Count of Habsburg

At his father's death in 1239, Rudolf inherited from him large estates around the ancestral seat ofHabsburg Castlein theAargauregion of present-daySwitzerlandas well as inAlsace.Thus, in 1240,in order to quell the rising power of Rudolf and in an attempt to place the important "Devil's Bridge"(Teufelsbrücke) across theSchöllenenschluchtunder his direct control, Emperor Frederick II grantedSchwyzReichsfreiheitin theFreibrief von Faenza.

In 1242,Hugh of Tuffensteinprovoked Count Rudolf through contumelious expressions.In turn, the Count of Habsburg had invaded his domains, yet failed to take his seat of power. As the day passed on,Count Rudolf bribed the sentinels of the city and gained entry, killing Hugh in the process. Then in 1244, to help controlLake Lucerneand restrict the neighboring forest communities ofUri,Schwyz andUnterwalden,Rudolf built near its shoresNeuhabsburg Castle.In 1245 Rudolf married Gertrude, daughter of Count Burkhard III ofHohenberg.He received as her dowry the castles ofOettingen,the valley ofWeile,and other places in Alsace, and he became an important vassal in Swabia, the formerAlemannicGermanstem duchy.That same year, Emperor Frederick II was excommunicated byPope Innocent IVat theCouncil of Lyon.Rudolf sided against the Emperor, while the forest communities sided with Frederick. This gave them a pretext to attack and damage Neuhabsburg. Rudolf successfully defended it and drove them off. As a result, Rudolf, by siding with the Pope, gained more power and influence.

Rudolf paid frequent visits to the court of his godfather, theHohenstaufenemperorFrederick II,and his loyalty to Frederick and his son, KingConrad IV of Germany,was richly rewarded by grants of land. In 1254, he engaged with other nobles of the Staufen party againstBertold II, Bishop of Basle.When night fell, he penetrated the suburbs of Basle and burnt down the local nunnery, an act for whichPope Innocent IVexcommunicated him and all parties involved.As a penance, he took up the cross and joinedOttokar II, King of Bohemiain thePrussian Crusade of 1254.Whilst there, he oversaw the founding of the city ofKönigsberg,which was named in memory of King Ottokar.

Rise to power

The disorder in Germany during theinterregnumafter the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty afforded an opportunity for Count Rudolf to increase his possessions. His wife was a Hohenberg heiress; and on the death of his childless maternal uncle Count Hartmann IV ofKyburgin 1264, Rudolf seized Hartmann's valuable estates. Successful feuds with theBishops of StrasbourgandBaselfurther augmented his wealth and reputation, including rights over various tracts of land that he purchased fromabbotsand others.

These various sources of wealth and influence rendered Rudolf the most powerful prince and noble in southwestern Germany (where the tribalDuchy of Swabiahad disintegrated, enabling its vassals to become completely independent). In the autumn of 1273, theprince-electorsmet to choose a king afterRichard of Cornwallhad died inEnglandin April 1272. Rudolf's election inFrankfurton 1 October 1273,when he was 55 years old, was largely due to the efforts of his brother-in-law, theHohenzollernburgraveFrederick III of Nuremberg.The support of DukeAlbert II of Saxonyand Elector PalatineLouis IIhad been purchased by betrothing them to two of Rudolf's daughters.

As a result, within the electoral college, KingOttokar II of Bohemia(1230–1278), himself a candidate for the throne and related to the late Hohenstaufen kingPhilip of Swabia(being the son of the eldest surviving daughter), was almost alone in opposing Rudolf. Other candidates were PrinceSiegfried I of Anhaltand MargraveFrederick I of Meissen(1257–1323), a young grandson of the excommunicated Emperor Frederick II, who did not yet even have a principality of his own as his father was still alive. By the admission of DukeHenry XIII of Lower Bavariainstead of the King of Bohemia as the seventh Elector,Rudolf gained all seven votes.

King of the Germans

Engraving of Rudolf I of Habsburg, c. 1640

Rudolf was crowned inAachen Cathedralon 24 October 1273. To win the approbation of the Pope, Rudolf renounced all imperial rights inRome,the papal territory, andSicily,and promised to lead a newcrusadeby taking the crusader's vow in 1275.Pope Gregory X,despite the protests of Ottokar II of Bohemia, not only recognised Rudolf himself, but persuaded KingAlfonso X of Castile(another grandson ofPhilip of Swabia), who had been chosen German (anti-)king in 1257 as the successor to CountWilliam II of Holland,to do the same. Thus, Rudolf surpassed the two heirs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty whom he had earlier served so loyally.

In November 1274, theImperial DietatNurembergdecided that all Crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new king. Ottokar refused to appear or to restore the duchies ofAustria,StyriaandCarinthiatogether with theMarch of Carniola,which he had claimed through his first wife, aBabenbergheiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, MargraveHermann VI of Baden.Rudolf refused to accept Ottokar's succession to the Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces reverted to the Imperial crown due to the lack of male-line heirs. King Ottokar was placed under theimperial ban;and in June 1276 war was declared against him.

Having persuaded Ottokar's former allyDuke Henry XIII of Lower Bavariato switch sides, Rudolf compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the royal administration in November 1276. Rudolf then re-invested Ottokar with theKingdom of Bohemia,betrothed one of his daughters to Ottokar's sonWenceslaus II,and made a triumphal entry intoVienna.Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolf formed an alliance with KingLadislaus IV of Hungaryand gave additional privileges to the Viennese citizens. On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at theBattle on the Marchfeld,where Ottokar was defeated and killed. TheMargraviate of Moraviawas subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolf's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widowKunigunda of Slavoniain control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Rudolf's youngest daughterJudith.

Rudolf's attention next turned to the possessions in Austria and the adjacent provinces, which were taken into the royal domain. He spent several years establishing his authority there but found some difficulty in establishing his family as successors to the rule of those provinces. At length, the hostility of the princes was overcome. In December 1282, at theHoftag(imperial diet) inAugsburg,Rudolf invested his sons,AlbertandRudolf II,with the duchies of Austria and Styria and so laid the foundation of the House of Habsburg. Additionally, he made the twelve-year-old Rudolf Duke of Swabia, a merely titular dignity, as the duchy had been without an actual ruler sinceConradin's execution.The 27-year-old Duke Albert, married since 1274 to a daughter of CountMeinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol(1238–95), was capable enough to hold some sway in the new patrimony.

Rudolph I of Austria

In 1286, King Rudolf fully invested Albert's father-in-law Count Meinhard with theDuchy of Carinthia,one of the conquered provinces taken from Ottokar.ThePrinces of the Empiredid not allow Rudolf to give everything that was recovered to the royal domain to his own sons, and his allies needed their rewards too. Turning to the west, in 1281 he compelled CountPhilip I of Savoyto cede some territory to him, then forced the citizens ofBernto pay the tribute that they had been refusing. After his sonRudolf IIdefeated Bern at theBattle of Schosshalde,he strengthened his authority in Switzerland. He further expanded his Swiss possessions and granted some ecclesiastical posts to his family. In 1289 he marched against Count Philip's successor,Otto IV,compelling him to do homage.

In 1281, Rudolf's first wife died. On 5 February 1284, he marriedIsabella,daughter of DukeHugh IV of Burgundy,the Empire's western neighbor in theKingdom of France.

Rudolf was not very successful in restoring internal peace. Orders were indeed issued for the establishment ofterritorial peacesinBavaria,Franconiaand Swabia, and at theSynod of Würzburgin March 1287 for the whole Empire. But the king lacked the power, resources, and determination to enforce them, although in December 1289 he led an expedition intoThuringia,where he destroyed a number ofrobber castles.In 1291, he attempted to secure the election of his son Albert as German king. The electors refused, however, claiming inability to support two kings, but in reality, perhaps, wary of the increasing power of the House of Habsburg. Upon Rudolf's death they elected CountAdolf of Nassau.

Persecution of the Jews

In 1286, Rudolf I instituted a new persecution of the Jews, declaring themservi camerae( "serfs of the treasury" ), which had the effect of negating their political freedoms. Along with many others, RabbiMeir of Rothenburgleft Germany with family and followers, but was captured inLombardyand imprisoned in a fortress inAlsace.Tradition has it that a large ransom of 23,000markssilver was raised for him (by theRosh), but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He died in prison after seven years. Fourteen years after his death a ransom was paid for his body byAlexander ben Shlomo(Susskind) Wimpfen, who was subsequently laid to rest beside the Maharam.

Death

Rudolf's cenotaph inSpeyer Cathedral

Rudolf died inSpeyeron 15 July 1291 and was buried inSpeyer Cathedral.Only one of his sons survived him:Albert I.Most of his daughters outlived him, apart fromCatherinewho had died in 1282 during childbirth and Hedwig who had died in 1285/6.

Rudolf's reign is most memorable for his establishment of the House of Habsburg as a powerful dynasty in the southeastern part of the realm. In the other territories, the centuries-long decline of Imperial authority since the days of theInvestiture Controversycontinued, and the princes were largely left to their own devices.

In theDivine Comedy,Dantefinds Rudolf sitting outside the gates ofpurgatorywith his contemporaries, characterizing him as "he who neglected that which he ought to have done".

Family and children

Rudolf was married twice. First, in 1251, toGertrude of Hohenbergand second, in 1284, toIsabelle of Burgundy.All children were from the first marriage.

1. Matilda(c. 1253, Rheinfelden – 23 December 1304,Munich), married 1273 inAachento DukeLouis II of Bavariaand became mother of DukeRudolf I of BavariaandEmperor Louis IV
2. Albert I of Germany(July 1255 – 1 May 1308),Duke of Austriaand also ofStyria
3. Catherine (1256 – 4 April 1282,Landshut), married 1279 inViennato DukeOtto III of Bavaria
4. Agnes [Gertrude] (ca. 1257 – 11 October 1322,Wittenberg), married 1273 to DukeAlbert II of Saxonyand became the mother of DukeRudolf I of Saxe-Wittenberg
5. Hedwig(c. 1259 – 26 January 1285/27 October 1286), married 1279 in Vienna to MargraveOtto VI of Brandenburg-Salzwedeland left no issue
6. Clementia(c. 1262 – after 7 February 1293), married 1281 in Vienna toCharles Martel of Anjou,the papal claimant to the throne ofHungary
7. Hartmann (1263,Rheinfelden– 21 December 1281), drowned inRheinau
8. Rudolf II,Duke of Austria and Styria (1270 – 10 May 1290,Prague), titularDuke of Swabia,father ofJohn the Parricide of Austria
9. Judith(13 March 1271 – 18 June 1297,Prague), married 24 January 1285 to KingWenceslaus II of Bohemiaand became the mother of KingWenceslaus III of Bohemia,Poland and Hungary
10. Samson (before 19 Oct 1275 – died young)
11. Charles (14 February 1276 – 16 August 1276)

See also

• Kings of Germany family tree

References

Bibliography

• Abbott, John S. C. (1877).Austria: Its Rise and Present Power.World's Best Histories. New York: The Cooperative Publication Society.
• Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). "Rudolf I King of the Romans".Encyclopædia Britannica.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Coxe, William (1847).History of the House of Austria.Vol. 1. London: Henry G. Bohn.
• Duggan, Anne J., ed. (1997).Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe.The Boydell Press.
• Earenfight, Theresa (2013).Queenship in Medieval Europe.Palgrave Macmillan.
• Emerton, Ephraim (1917).The Beginnings of Modern Europe (1250–1450).Ginn and Company.
• George, Hereford Brooke (1875).Genealogical Tables Illustrative of Modern History.Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
• Kohlrausch, Frederick (1847).History of Germany.New York: D. Appleton & Co.

External links

• Encyclopedia of Austria