Inner Austria (german: Innerösterreich; sl, Notranja Avstrija; it, Austria Interiore) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the
Habsburg hereditary lands south of the
Semmering Pass, referring to the
Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texas
...
duchies of
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
,
Carinthia and
Carniola and the lands of the
Austrian Littoral. The residence of the Inner Austrian
archdukes and
stadtholders was at the ''Burg'' castle complex in
Graz.
Geography
The Inner Austrian territory stretched from the northern border with the
Archduchy of Austria on the
Alpine divide over
Upper and
Lower Styria
Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...
down to
Carniola, where the
Lower and
White Carniolan lands (the former
Windic March) bordered on the Habsburg
Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to:
* Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom
* Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary
* Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...
. In the west, the Carinthian lands stretched to the
Archbishopric of Salzburg and the Habsburg
County of Tyrol, while in the east, the
Mur River formed the border with the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...
.
In the south, the
County of Görz
The County of Gorizia ( it, Contea di Gorizia, german: Grafschaft Görz, sl, Goriška grofija, fur, Contee di Gurize), from 1365 Princely County of Gorizia, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. Originally mediate '' Vogts'' of the Patriarchs ...
, which had passed to the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
in 1500, and
Duino (''Tybein'') bordered on the ''
Domini di Terraferma'' of
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
. The
Imperial Free City of Trieste on the
Adriatic Coast linked to assorted smaller possessions in the
March of Istria
The March of Istria (or Margraviate of Istria ) was originally a Carolingian frontier march covering the Istrian peninsula and surrounding territory conquered by Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy in 789. After 1364, it was the name of the Istrian ...
around
Pazin and the
free port of
Rijeka (later ''
corpus separatum
''Corpus separatum'' is a Latin term referring to a city or region which is given a special legal and political status different from its environment, but which falls short of being sovereign, or an independent city state. The term may refer to:
* ...
'' of Fiume) in
Liburnia.
History
The Styrian lands had already been ruled in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...
by the
Babenberg dukes of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
since 1192 and were finally seized with the Austrian lands by the Habsburg king
Rudolph I of Germany upon his victory in the 1278
Battle on the Marchfeld. In 1335 Rudolph's grandson Duke
Albert II of Austria
Albert II (12 December 1298 – 16 August 1358), known as ''the Wise'' or ''the Lame'', a member of the House of Habsburg, was duke of Austria and Styria from 1330, as well as duke of Carinthia and margrave of Carniola from 1335 until his death. ...
also received the Carinthian duchy with the adjacent
March of Carniola at the hands of Emperor
Louis the Bavarian as Imperial fiefs.
When in 1365 Albert's son Duke
Rudolf IV of Austria suddenly died at the age of 26, Emperor
Charles IV enfeoffed his younger brothers
Albert III with the Pigtail and
Leopold III the Just, who however began to quarrel about the Habsburg heritage. By the 1379
Treaty of Neuberg they finally split late Rudolf's territories: The elder Albertinian line would rule in the
Archduchy of Austria proper (then sometimes referred to as "Lower Austria" (''Niederösterreich''), but comprising modern
Lower Austria and most of
Upper Austria), while the younger
Leopoldian line
The Leopoldian line was a sequence of descent in the Habsburg dynasty begun by Duke Leopold III of Austria, who, after the death of his elder brother Rudolf IV, divided the Habsburg hereditary lands with his brother Albert III according to the ...
ruled the Styrian, Carinthian and Carniolan duchies, then subsumed under the denotation of "Inner Austria". At that time their share also comprised Tyrol and the original Habsburg possessions in
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
, called
Further Austria; both collectively referred to as "Upper Austria" (''Oberösterreich'') in that context, also not to be confused with the modern state of that name.
When Leopold III was killed in the 1386
Battle of Sempach
The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the loo ...
against the
Old Swiss Confederacy, the Leopoldian heritage fell to his eldest son Duke
William the Courteous, who upon the death of his uncle Albert III in 1395 also raised claims to the Archduchy of Austria against Albert's only son and heir Duke
Albert IV. Both sides came to an agreement to maintain the Neuberg division but also to assert the common rule over the Habsburg lands. Therefore, from 1404 William acted as Austrian regent for his minor nephew
Albert V. The Tyrolean and Further Austrian lands passed to William's younger brother Duke
Leopold IV the Fat. When Duke William died without issue in 1406, the Leopoldian line was further split among his younger brothers: while Leopold IV assumed the regency in Austria, the Inner Austrian territories passed to
Ernest the Iron
Ernest the Iron (; 1377 – 10 June 1424), a member of the House of Habsburg, ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was head of the Habsburg Leopoldian line from 1411.
Biography
E ...
, while the Tyrolean/Further Austrian passed to the youngest brother
Frederick of the Empty Pockets.
In 1457 the Leopoldian line again could assume the rule over the Austrian archduchy, when Ernest's son Duke
Frederick V of Inner Austria succeeded his Albertine cousin
Ladislaus the Posthumous who had died without issue. 1490 saw the reunification of all Habsburg lines, when Archduke
Sigismund of Further Austria and Tyrol resigned in favour of Frederick's son
Maximilian I. In 1512, the Habsburg territories were incorporated into the Imperial
Austrian Circle.
The dynasty however was split up again in 1564 among the children of deceased Emperor
Ferdinand I of Habsburg
Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog s ...
. Under the Inner Austrian line founded by his younger son Archduke
Charles II, the lands became a centre of the
Counter-Reformation, carried out by the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
with great determination. The cadet branch prevailed again, when Charles' son and successor as regent of Inner Austria, Archduke
Ferdinand II, was crowned
King of Bohemia
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...
in 1617,
King of Hungary in 1618, and finally succeeded his cousin
Matthias in the Archduchy of Austria (as Ferdinand III) and as
Holy Roman Emperor in 1619. His intentions to translate the
absolutist and anti-reformationist Inner Austrian policies to the
Crown of Bohemia sparked the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
.
The Further Austrian/Tyrolean line of Ferdinand's younger brother Archduke
Leopold V survived until the death of his son
Sigismund Francis in 1665, whereafter all territories ultimately returned to common control with the other Austrian Habsburg lands. The political administration of Inner Austria was centralized at
Graz in 1763.
Inner Austrian
stadtholders went on to rule until the days of Empress
Maria Theresa in the 18th century.
Administration from 1748
*
Duchy of Styria
**
Lower Styria
Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...
***
Graz District:
***
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximat ...
District
***
Cilli District
**
Upper Styria
***
Bruck District
***
Judenburg District
*
Duchy of Carinthia
**
Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
District (Lower Carinthia)
**
Villach District (Upper Carinthia)
*
Duchy of Carniola
**
Laibach District (
Upper Carniola)
**
Adelsberg District (
Inner Carniola and
Istria)
**
Neustadtl District (
Lower Carniola)
*
Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca
The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (german: Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca; it, Principesca Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca; sl, Poknežena grofija Goriška in Gradiščanska), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled " ...
**
Görz
Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...
District
*
Imperial Free City of Trieste
**
Triest District
Rulers of Inner Austria
Leopoldian line
The Leopoldian line was a sequence of descent in the Habsburg dynasty begun by Duke Leopold III of Austria, who, after the death of his elder brother Rudolf IV, divided the Habsburg hereditary lands with his brother Albert III according to the ...
, width=auto,
Leopold III the Just1379–1386
,
, 1 November 1351
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
fourth son of
Albert the Wise and
Joanna of Pfirt
,
Viridis Visconti 23 February 1365
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
six children
, 9 July 1386
Sempachaged 34
, -
, width=auto,
William the Courteous1386–1406
,
, c. 1370
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
eldest son of
Leopold the Just and
Viridis Visconti
,
Joan II of Naples
Joanna II (25 June 1371 – 2 February 1435) was reigning Queen of Naples from 1414 to her death, upon which the Capetian House of Anjou became extinct. As a mere formality, she used the title of Queen of Jerusalem, Sicily, and Hungary.
Earl ...
13 November 1401
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
no issue
, 15 July 1406
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
aged 36
, -
, width=auto,
Leopold IV the Fat1406–1411
,
, c. 1371
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
second son of
Leopold the Just and
Viridis Visconti
,
Catherine of Burgundy15 August 1393
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
no issue
, 3 June 1411
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
aged 40
, -
, width=auto,
Ernest the Iron
Ernest the Iron (; 1377 – 10 June 1424), a member of the House of Habsburg, ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was head of the Habsburg Leopoldian line from 1411.
Biography
E ...
1406–1424
,
, c. 1377
Bruck an der Murthird son of
Leopold the Just and
Viridis Visconti
, (1) Margaret of Pomerania
14 January 1392
Bruck an der Murno issue
(2)
Cymburgis of Masovia25 January 1412
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
nine children
, 10 June 1424
Bruck an der Muraged 47
, -
, width=auto,
Frederick V the Peaceful1457–1493
,
, 21 September 1415
Innsbruckfirst son of
Ernest the Iron
Ernest the Iron (; 1377 – 10 June 1424), a member of the House of Habsburg, ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was head of the Habsburg Leopoldian line from 1411.
Biography
E ...
and
Cymburgis of Masovia
,
Eleanor of Portugal16 March 1452
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
five children
, 19 August 1493
Linzaged 77
, -
Frederick became Archduke of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1457, Habsburg territories united in 1490.
Inner Austrian line
, width=auto,
Charles II1564–1590
,
, 3 June 1540
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
fourth son of
Ferdinand I and
Anne of Bohemia and Hungary
,
Maria Anna of Bavaria26 August 1571
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
fifteen children
, 10 July 1590
Grazaged 50
, -
, width=auto,
Ferdinand II1590–1637
''under regency of
Ernest of Austria (1590–1593)
Maximilian III (1593–1595)
,
, 9 July 1578
Grazsecond son of
Charles II and
Maria Anna of Bavaria
, (1)
Maria Anna of Bavaria23 April 1600
Grazseven children
(2)
Eleonor Gonzaga2 February 1622
Innsbruckno issue
, 15 February 1637
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
aged 58
, -
Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor in 1619.
See also
*
History of Austria
*
History of Slovenia
*
Further Austria
References
{{coord, 46, 41, 40.8, N, 14, 32, 45.23, E, region:AT_dim:400km, display=title
History of Upper Austria
Political history of Slovenia
Former states and territories in Slovenia