The branch of Vaudémont and Guise from the House of Lorraine become the major branch after a brief interlude in 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right of Charles de Bourbon's daughter to her husband, John of Calabria, a Capetian, Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of the House of Lorraine, in the person of René II, who later added to his titles that of Duke of Bar.
The House of Habsburg takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s by Count RadbotofKlettgau, Aargau, now in Switzerland. His grandson, Otto II, was the first to take on the name of the fortress as his own, adding Graf von Habsburg ("Count of Habsburg") to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, and in 1273, Radbot's seventh-generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg became Roman-German King. He moved the family's power base to the Duchy of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918.
The first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over the Holy Roman Empire was Joseph II, a sovereign raised during the Enlightenment. By the new ideals he brought, he implemented many reforms, most of which were to the detriment of the clergy. Upon his death in 1790, he was succeeded by his brother Leopold II, who in 1791 invited Europe's powers to help the French royal family to stifle the ideals of the revolution without military intervention. He died a few days before France declared war on Austria.
In 1792, Leopold's son, Francis II, was crowned emperor in Frankfurt. After the beheading of the French sovereigns, he, along with the other European sovereigns created the First Coalition against Revolutionary France. The coalition initially recorded some success, but soon began to withdraw, especially in Italy, where the Austrians were repeatedly defeated by the Corsican general Napoleon Bonaparte.
In the same year as Waterloo the Congress of Vienna was established with which the Restoration began. The Congress demanded the restoration of the old regimesーAustria recovered all the Italian, Slavic and German territories that they had lost during the Napoleonic Wars, and the Holy Alliance was also established between Austria, Russia and Prussia, which had the task of suppressing all the pro-French or independence revolutionary movements that would have erupted in Europe.
In the years that followed, Francis II pursued a centralization policy, on the advice of Chancellor Metternich; but precisely because of it, and emerging ideals of independence, the Revolutions of 1848 broke out, which wracked all of Europe. This led to the expulsion of Metternich from the Imperial Chancellery, and the rise of Franz Joseph, replacing Ferdinand I who was forced to abdicate in favour of the 18-year-old man.
End of the rule of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine in Europe
Franz Joseph I (1830–1916), was the last member of the House of Habsburg to hold any significant political or military authority in Europe. At the beginning of his reign (1848–1916), Austria was the dominant power in Central Europe, whilst Vienna emerged as one of the greatest metropolitan cities on the continent. The emperor, however, waged the Second Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War; both ended in defeats, putting an end to Austrian supremacy in Italy and Germany and accelerating the gradual decline of the dynasty.
In 1867 Franz Joseph granted effective autonomy to the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austrian Empire under the terms of the Ausgleich; politically and militarily they were united, but in terms of internal policy and administration they became separate entities. The title of the Head of State became "Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary", although he was also referred to as "Emperor of Austria-Hungary".
With the growing interest of Austria-Hungary and Russia in the Balkans, strong tensions were created between the Habsburgs and Russia, eventually leading Austria to enter into alliance with Germany and Italy.
In 1916 Franz Joseph died and was succeeded by his grandnephew Charles I. Charles – the last sovereign – upon losing the war, renounced the exercise of power, but did not abdicate. He was forced into exile on April 3, 1919. The Habsburg dominions were subsequently divided into independent republics.
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine refused to swear its allegiance to the new Republic of Austria, therefore family members were forced into exile and their property was confiscated. The law of exile still applies to the descendants of Emperor Charles under the same conditions. In 1961, Otto von Habsburg, the late head of the House and formerly a member of the European Parliament, relinquished the monarchy and the succession rights of his descendants in exchange for an end to exile. He was known in the Republic of Austria as Dr. Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, since the Republic does not officially recognise titles of nobility.[citation needed]
The current leader of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine is Karl von Habsburg, who succeeded his father Otto as head of the imperial house after his father renounced the role in 2007. Karl is the eldest grandson of the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, Charles I.
(13)Archduke Carlos Felipe (b. 1954); married in 1994 to (1) [divorced (and annulled ?) in 1997] Martina Donath, (2) [civilly (and religiously ?)] Annie-Claire Lacrambe, two sons, one by either marriage (the eldest one was born before marriage).
(14) Archduke Louis-Damian (b. 1998)
Archduke Raimund (1958–2008), married to Bettina Götz
(15) Archduke Felix (b. 1996)
(16) Archduke István (b. 1961), married to Paola de Temesváry
(45) Archduke Sigismund, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1966); married to Elyssa Edmonstone
(46) Archduke Leopold, Grand Prince of Tuscany (b. 2001)
(47) Archduke Maximilian (b. 2004)
(48) Archduke Guntram (b. 1967); morganatically (in Tuscany) married to Debora de Sola, recognised as Countess von Habsburg [marriage retroactively approved as dynastic (only in Austria)][2]
(49) Tiziano Leopold, Count von Habsburg (b. 2004), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
Archduke Georg (1905–1952)
(50) Archduke Radbot (b. 1938); morganatically married to Caroline Proust, with issue.
(54) Archduke Alexander Salvator (b. 1959); married to Countess Maria-Gabriele von Waldstein
(55) Archduke Constantin Salvator (b. 2002)
(56) Archduke Paul Salvator (b. 2003)
(57) Archduke Andreas Salvator (b. 1936); married to (1) [divorced 2001 (and annulled 2002)] Maria de la Piedad Espinosa de los Monteros y Rosillo (2) 2001 (civilly) and 2003 (religiously) Countess Valerie Podstatzky-Lichtenstein. Issue by the second marriage only.
(58) Archduke Thadeus Salvator (b. 2001)
(59) Archduke Casimir Salvator (b. 2003)
(60) Archduke Markus (b. 1946); married morganatically to Hildegard (Hilde) Maria Jungmayr, with issue.
(61) Archduke Johann (b. 1947); married morganatically to Anne-Marie Stummer, with issue.
(62) Archduke Michael (b. 1949); married in 1992 to Eva Antonia von Hofmann, with one daughter.
Archduke Theodore Salvator (1899–1978)
(63) Archduke Carl Salvator (b. 1936); married to Edith Wenzl Frn von Sternbach [marriage retroactively approved as dynastic (only in Austria)][2]
Count Matthias of Habsburg (1971–2024), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights
(64) Count Nikolaus of Habsburg (b. 2000), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(65) Count Jakob of Habsburg (b. 2001), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(66) Count Martin of Habsburg (b. 2011), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(67) Count Johannes of Habsburg (b. 1974), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights;[2] married to Katharina Lieselotte Riedl Edle von Riedenstein
(68) Count Bernhard of Habsburg (b. 1977), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
(69) Count Benedikt of Habsburg (b. 1983), keeps his Austro-Hungarian dynastic rights.[2]
Archduke Clemens Salvator (1904–1974); married to Elisabeth Gfn Rességuier de Miremont [marriage retroactively approved as dynastic (only in Austria)][2]
Clemens, Prince von Altenburg (1932–2022), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Laurence Costa de Beauregard
(70) Philipp, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1966), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(71) Georg, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1933), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
Peter, Prince von Altenburg (1935–2008), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Juliane Gfn von Waldstein-Forni
(72) Friedrich, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1966), retroactively integrated into the dynasty;[2] married to Gabriele Gfn von Walterskirchen
(73) Emanuel, Prince von Altenburg (b.2002)
(74) Nikolaus, Prince von Altenburg (b. 2008)
(75) Leopold, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1971), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(76) Johannes, Prince von Altenburg (b. 1949), retroactively integrated into the dynasty.[2]
(77) Archduke Joseph Karl (b. 1960); married to Princess Margarete von Hohenberg
(78) Archduke Joseph Albrecht (b. 1994); married to Countess Sophie von Schaesberg
(79) Archduke Paul Leo (b. 1996)
(80) Archduke Andreas-Augustinus (b. 1963); married to Countess Marie-Christine von Hatzfeldt-Dönhoff
(81) Archduke Friedrich-Cyprian (b. 1995)
(82) Archduke Pierre (b. 1997)
(83) Archduke Benedikt-Alexander (b. 2005)
(84) Archduke Nikolaus (b. 1973); married to Eugenia de Calonje y Gurrea
(85) Archduke Nicolás (b. 2003)
(86) Archduke Santiago (b. 2006)
(87) Archduke Johannes (b. 1975); married to María Gabriela Montenegro Villamizar
(88) Archduke Johannes (b. 2010)
(89) Archduke Alejandro (b. 2011)
(90) Archduke Ignacio (b. 2013)
(91)Archduke Géza (b. 1940); married morganatically twice to (1) [divorced] Monika Decker and (2) [civilly] Elizabeth Jane Kunstadter. Issue by both marriages.
(92) Archduke Michael (b. 1942); married to Princess Christiana of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, his brother's sister-in-law.
(93)Archduke Eduard (b. 1967); married to Baroness Maria Theresia von Gudenus
(94) Archduke Paul Benedikt (b. 2000)
(95) Father Paul Habsburg (b. 1968), a priest of the Legion of Christ
Hans Bankl, Mal d'Asburgo. Vizi, vezzi, malanni e manie della Casa Imperiale d'Austria , traduzione di Flavia Foradini, Trieste, mgs press, 1998, pp. 202
Flavia Foradini, "Otto d'Asburgo. L'ultimo atto di una dinastia", mgs press, Trieste, 2004. ISBN88-89219-04-1
Martha e Horst Schad, La prediletta. Il diario della figlia di Sissi, traduzione di Flavia Foradini, Trieste, mgs Press 2001, ISBN88-86424-78-7
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (1747–1792)
Emperor Francis I (1768–1835)
Archduke Franz Karl (1802–1878)
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico (1832–1867); married to Charlotte of Belgium
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1769–1824), founder of the Tuscany branch of the imperial house.
