Duchy of Austria

Duchy of Austria Herzogtum Österreich
State of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1156–1457 →
Flag
German map showing the Duchy of Austria along other territories
Capital	Vienna
Language(s)	Austro-Bavarian language
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Monarchy
Duke
- 1141–77	Henry II (first duke, from 1156)
- 1230–46	Frederick II (last Babenberg duke)
- 1278–91	Rudolf I (first Habsburg duke)
- 1330–58	Albert II² (last nominal duke)
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Raised to duchy	1156
- Archduchy recognised     by the Empire	1457
1: Jointly duke until 1344, firstly with Otto, Duke of Austria, then with Leopold V, Duke of Austria.

The Duchy of Austria was a territory established in 1156 by the Privilegium Minus, detached from the Duchy of Bavaria and became a separate duchy in 1156. Although closely associated with the House of Habsburg, between 976 and 1246, the Duchy was one of extensive feudal possessions of the House of Babenberg. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria through the Georgenberg Pact. At that time, the Babenberg Dukes came to be one of the most influential ruling families in the region, peaking in the reign of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria.

However, with the death of his son Frederick II, Duke of Austria in 1246, the Babenberg line became extinct, which resulted in the interregnum, a period of several decades during which the status of the country's rulers was disputed. Austria came briefly under the rule of the ambitious king Ottokar II of Bohemia, who effectively controlled the Duchy of Styria and the Duchy of Carinthia. When Ottokar failed to be elected emperor in 1273, he contested the election of the successful candidate, Rudolph I of Germany, the first after the Great Interregnum (1254-1273), which followed the fall of the Hohenstaufen Imperial dynasty. Ottokar was killed in the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, but his domains were granted to his sons and heirs, who added them to their already extensive lands in Switzerland, Germany, and France.

Austria was ruled by the House of Habsburg for the next 640 years. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of Austria and Styria, which they had acquired from Ottokar alongside with the Duchy of Carinthia and Duchy of Carniola came under Habsburg rule in 1335, County of Tyrol in 1363. These provinces, together, became known as the Habsburg Hereditary Lands, although they were sometimes all lumped together simply as Austria.

The history of the following two centuries were fairly turbulent for the duchy. Following the brief yet eventful rule of Duke Rudolf IV, his brothers Albert III and Leopold III divided the duchy between themselves, in accordance with the Treaty of Neuberg, signed in 1379. Albert retained Austria proper, while Leopold took the remaining territories. In 1402, there was another split in the Leopoldinian line, when Duke Ernest took Inner Austria (Styria, Carinthia and Carniola) and Duke Frederick IV became the ruler of Tyrol and Further Austria. The territories were eventually reunified by Ernest's son, Emperor Frederick III, when the Albertinian Line (1457) and the Elder Tyrolean line (1490) had become extinct.

In 1438, Albert II of Germany was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund. Although Albert's reign spanned only one year, the Habsburg line was elevated to the Imperial throne, and only one non-Habsburg reigned during the period from 1438 until 1806, when the Empire was dissolved by Emperor Francis II.