istoryworld
Events relating to the austrian empire
Count Radbot builds himself a 'hawk's castle' or Habichstburg, near Zurich, from which the Habsburg dynasty takes its name
The period without a German king, known as the Great Interregnum, ends with the election of a Habsburg prince, Rudolf I
At Dürnkrut Rudolf I defeats and kills Otakar II, his rival for Austria - thus bringing the Austrian territories into the Habsburg domain
The Swiss forest districts of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden sign an Everlasting League (in the Rütli meadow) to resist Habsburg domination
The Swiss, defeating the Habsburgs at Morgarten, make lethal use of their halberds - designed to jab, grapple and slash
The leading role of Schwyz in the victory at Morgarten causes the independent cantons to become informally known as the Swiss confederation
The office of Holy Roman emperor becomes a hereditary title within the Habsburg dynasty
Maximilian, heir to Austria, weds Mary, heiress to Burgundy, in the first of the great marriage alliances which form the Habsburg empire
Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, captures Vienna and makes the city his capital
On the death of Matthias Corvinus, in 1490, the Habsburgs recover Vienna from the Hungarians
Philip, heir to Austria, marries Joanna, a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, in the second of the great Habsburg marital alliances
The death of Ferdinand II results in Spain becoming part of the Habsburg empire, under the rule of Charles V (as Charles I of Spain)
Charles V borrows 852,000 florins, mainly from the Fuggers, to bribe the seven imperial electors
Charles V abdicates, handing the Netherlands and Spain to his son Philip and the title of Holy Roman emperor to his brother Ferdinand
The division by Charles V of his territories means that there are now two Habsburg empires, Austrian and Spanish
Bohemian nobles throw the Habsburg regents out of a window in the castle in Prague, thus triggering the Thirty Years' War
The Protestant Frederick V (elector palatine of the Rhine) is elected king by the rebellious Bohemian nobles
The battle of the White Mountain, to the west of Prague, ends the brief reign of Frederick V in Bohemia
The emperor, Leopold I, and his court abandon Vienna on the approach of a Turkish army
The Turks are driven from the walls of Vienna by the Polish king John Sobieski, in what proves a historic turning point
The Hungarian diet grants the Habsburg dynasty in Austria a hereditary right to the crown of St Stephen
The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne
The treaties signed in Utrecht bring to an end the War of the Spanish Succession
In the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish Netherlands are transferred to Austria
The Austrian emperor, Charles VI, agrees that Hungary shall be ruled as a separate kingdom within his empire
