Rudolf I of Bohemia
| Rudolf I | |
|---|---|
| Rudolf's effigy on a seal
Rudolf's effigy on a seal
| |
| King of Bohemia | |
| Reign | 1306 – 3/4 July 1307 |
| Predecessor | Wenceslaus III |
| Successor | Henry |
| Duke of Austria and Styria | |
| Reign | 21 November 1298 – 3/4 July 1307 |
| Predecessor | Albert I |
| Successor | Albert I |
| Born | c. 1281 |
| Died | 3/4 July 1307 (aged 26) Horažďovice, Bohemia |
| Burial | St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague |
| Spouse | Blanche of France Elisabeth Richeza |
| Issue | 2 (with Blanche) |
| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Albert I of Germany |
| Mother | Elizabeth of Carinthia |
Rudolf I (c. 1282 – 3/4 July 1307), also known as Rudolf of Habsburg, was a member of the House of Habsburg, the King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death. He was also Duke of Austria (as Rudolf III) and Styria from 1298.
Early life
Rudolf was the eldest son of Duke Albert I of Austria and his wife Elizabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, thereby the grandson of King Rudolf I of Germany. After lengthy struggles with Adolf of Nassau, his father was elected King of Germany in 1298 and vested sixteen-year-old Rudolf as a co-ruler with the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburg dynasty. According to the Treaty of Rheinfelden, Rudolf acted as regent on behalf of his younger brothers Frederick the Fair and Leopold I.
On 25 May 1300 King Albert I arranged his marriage with Blanche, a daughter of King Philip III of France.[1] The intended union failed as the couple's son and daughter died young and Blanche herself died, probably after a miscarriage or premature birth, in 1305. Rudolf accompanied his father on his 1304 expedition against King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, who had placed his son Wenceslaus III on the Hungarian throne after the Árpád dynasty died out in 1301 with the death of King Andrew III.
King of Bohemia
Another opportunity for a Habsburg gain in power opened when in 1306 King Wenceslaus III, the last Bohemian ruler of the Přemyslid dynasty, was killed and Albert I was able to seize his kingdom as an escheated fief. Rudolph was then vested with the Bohemian throne. This was contested by his maternal uncle Duke Henry of Carinthia, husband of Wenceslaus' sister Anne. When several Bohemian nobles elected Henry King of Bohemia, Albert I placed his brother-in-law under the Imperial ban and marched against Prague. Henry fled, first to Bavaria, then back to his Carinthian homelands. To further legitimate the Habsburg claims to the Bohemian and the Polish throne, Albert had Rudolph married to Elizabeth Richeza of Poland, widow of King Wenceslaus II.
Mocked as král kaše ("king porridge") for his thriftiness rather than stomach problems, Rudolf was rejected by several Bohemian nobles, who continued to hold out for Henry. His aims to take hold of the silver deposits at Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg) sparked a rebellion led by the noble House of Strakonice. The king besieged the rebel fortress of Horažďovice, but died at the campsite in the night of 3 to 4 July 1307, probably of gastrointestinal perforation.
As Rudolf left no surviving children, the first grab of the Habsburgs for the Crown of Saint Wenceslas failed when the Bohemian nobles restored Henry as king in return for a charter of privileges, who in turn had to renounce the throne in favour of Count John of Luxembourg three years later. Instead Rudolph's enfeoffment intensified the inner Habsburg inheritance conflict, culminating in the assassination of King Albert I by his nephew John Parricida in 1308. Rudolph is buried at the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
Marriages and children
In 1298 or 1300 Rudolph married Blanche, daughter of Philip III of France. They had two children, both of whom died at birth or shortly after.[2]
On 16 October 1306 Rudolph married Elizabeth Richeza of Poland.[3] There is one record that says the Queen gave birth to a son after her husband's death. If true, the Prince died soon after birth, as his claims to the throne were never brought up by Habsburgs.[4]
Male-line family tree
- v
t
e
House of Habsburg[5] - Original line
- Albert
Count of Habsburg
c. 1188–1239 - Rudolf I
of Germany
c. 1218–1291 - Albert I
of Germany
1255–1308 — Hartmann
1263–1281 — Rudolf II
Duke of Austria
1270–1290 - Rudolf I
of Bohemia
1281–1307 — Frederick
the Fair
c. 1289–1330 — Leopold I
Duke of Austria
1290–1326 — Albert II
Duke of Austria
1298–1358 — Henry
the Friendly
1299–1327 — Otto
Duke of Austria
1301–1339 — John
Parricida
c. 1290–1312/1313 - Albertinian line — Leopoldian line
- Rudolf IV
Duke of Austria
1339–1365 — Frederick III
1347–1362 — Albert III
Duke of Austria
1349–1395 — Leopold III
Duke of Austria
1351–1386 — Frederick II
Duke of Austria
1327–1344 — Leopold II
Duke of Austria
1328–1344 - Albert IV
Duke of Austria
1377–1404 — William
Duke of Austria
c. 1370–1406 — Leopold IV
Duke of Austria
1371–1411 — Ernest
Duke of Austria
1377–1424 — Frederick IV
Duke of Austria
1382–1439 - Albert II
of Germany
1397–1439 — Frederick III
HRE
1415–1493 — Albert VI
Archduke of Austria
1418–1463 — Sigismund
Archduke of Austria
1427–1496 - Ladislaus
the Posthumous
1440–1457 — Maximilian I
HRE
1459–1519 - Philip I
of Castile
1478–1506 - Spanish / Iberian line — Austrian / HRE line
- Charles V
HRE
1500–1558 — Ferdinand I
HRE
1503–1564 - Philip II
of Spain
1527–1598 — Maximilian II
HRE
1527–1576 — Ferdinand II
Archduke of Austria
1529–1595 — Charles II
Archduke of Austria
1540–1590 - Carlos
Prince of Asturias
1545–1568 — Philip III
of Spain
1578–1621 — Rudolf II
HRE
1552–1612 — Ernest
of Austria
1553–1595 — Matthias
HRE
1557–1619 — Maximilian III
Archduke of Austria
1558–1618 — Albert VII
Archduke of Austria
1559–1621 — Wenceslaus
Archduke of Austria
1561–1578 — Andrew
Margrave of Burgau
1558–1600 — Charles
Margrave of Burgau
1560–1618 — Ferdinand II
HRE
1578–1637 — Maximilian Ernest
of Austria
1583–1616 — Leopold V
Archduke of Austria
1586–1632 — Charles
of Austria
1590–1624 - Philip IV
of Spain
1605–1665 — Charles
of Austria
1607–1632 — Ferdinand
of Austria
1609–1641 — John-Charles
of Austria
1605–1619 — Ferdinand III
HRE
1608–1657 — Leopold Wilhelm
of Austria
1614–1662 — Ferdinand Charles
Archduke of Austria
1628–1662 — Sigismund Francis
Archduke of Austria
1630–1665 - Balthasar Charles
Prince of Asturias
1629–1646 — Charles II
of Spain
1661–1700 — Ferdinand IV
King of the Romans
1633–1654 — Leopold I
HRE
1640–1705 — Charles Joseph
of Austria
1649–1664 - Joseph I
HRE
1678–1711 — Charles VI
HRE
1685–1740 - Lorraine
- Maria Theresa
HRE
1740–1780 — Francis I
HRE
1745–1765 - Habsburg-Lorraine
- Joseph II
HRE
1765–1790 — Leopold II
HRE
1790–1792 - Francis II
HRE
1792–1806 - Notes:
References
- Back to citation Morrison & Hedeman 2010, p. 4.
- Back to citation Duczmal, Małgorzata (2010). Ryksa Piastówna. Królowa Czech i Polski (1st ed.). Wydawnictwo Manuskrypt. p. 297. ISBN 83-923110-1-9.
- Back to citation Duczmal, Małgorzata (2010). Ryksa Piastówna. Królowa Czech i Polski (1st ed.). Wydawnictwo Manuskrypt. p. 293. ISBN 83-923110-1-9.
- Back to citation Duczmal, Małgorzata (2010). Ryksa Piastówna. Królowa Czech i Polski (1st ed.). Wydawnictwo Manuskrypt. pp. 300–301. ISBN 83-923110-1-9.
- Back to citation "Habsburg family tree". Habsburg family website. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
Bibliography
- Morrison, Elizabeth; Hedeman, Anne Dawson, eds. (2010). Imagining the Past in France: History in Manuscript Painting, 1250-1500. J. Paul Getty Museum.