List of rulers of Austria
This is a list of
margraves,
dukes,
archdukes, and
emperors of
Austria.
Austria became one of the
marches (in later times sometimes called the
Ostmark) of the
Holy Roman Empire after the
Battle of Lechfeld in
955, and was given a
margrave around
960. In
976 Austria became independent from the duchy of
Bavaria. Until
1246 Austria was ruled by the
Babenberg family.
*
Aribo (
880-
909)
*to Hungary (
909-
955)
*to Holy Roman Empire (
955- c.
960)
*
Burkhard (c.
960-
975)
*
Leopold I (
976-
994)
*
Henry I (
994-
1018)
*
Adalbert (
1018-
1055)
*
Ernest (
1055-
1075)
*
Leopold II (
1075-
1095)
*
Leopold III (
Saint Leopold) (
1095-
1136)
*
Leopold IV (
1136-
1141) (
Duke of Bavaria, 1139-1141)
Babenberg Dukes
*
Henry II Jasomirgott (
1141-
1177) (
Duke of Bavaria, 1143-1156)
*
Leopold V (
1177-
1194)
*
Frederick I (
1195-
1198)
*
Leopold VI (
1198-
1230)
*
Frederick II the Quarrelsome (
1230-
1246)
Interregnum
The inheritance of the duchy passed to the Margraves of Baden through Frederick II's sister,
Gertrude of Austria, but they did not manage to establish themselves in the country and were rejected by the estates
*
Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (
1248-
1250)
*
Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (
1250-
1251)In 1251, Przemysl Ottokar II, ruler of the neighbouring
Kingdom of Bohemia, took control of the country.
*
Ottokar II of Bohemia (
1251-
1278)
Habsburg Dukes and Archdukes of Austria
In
1278, Rudolph I defeated Ottokar and secured the duchy for the
Habsburg dynasty, whose heads were often also
Holy Roman Emperors. When the patrimony was divided, its usual partitions were:
*
Lower Austria which was always the main line's possession and was centered around
Vienna and was larger than the modern namesake state
*
Further Austria, sometimes (particularly when including Tirol) called
Upper Austria (not to be confused with the namesake modern state)
*
Inner Austria which included
Styria and usually Carniola and Carinthia
*
Rudolph I (Rudolph I of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1278-
1282)
*
Albert I (King of Germany from 1298) (
1282-
1308) jointly with
**
Rudolph II (
1282-
1290)
**
Rudolph III (
1298-
1307)
*
Frederick I (Frederick (III) as
King of the Romans, but never ruled the empire) (
1308-
1330) jointly with
**
Leopold I (
1308-
1326)
*
Albert II (
1330-
1358) jointly with
**
Otto (
1330-
1339)
**
Leopold II, Duke of Austria (1339-44), underage son of Otto
*
Rudolph IV (
1358-
1365)
In the
Privilegium Maius of
1359, Rudolf attempted to elevate Austria to an archduchy. The title of
Archduke was first used by him, then sometimes by
Ernest the Iron and formally recognized at the level of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor
Frederick III only in
1453.
Many of the dukes and
archdukes were also Holy Roman Emperors.
The territories were split among different lines of the dynasty after
1379 (
Treaty of Neuberg)
Albertinian Line (Austria proper, i.e
Duke of (Lower) Austria):
**
Albert III (
1365-
1395)
**
Albert IV (
1395-
1404)
**
Albert V (Albert II of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1404-
1439)
**vacant (
1439-
1440)
**
Ladislaus Posthumus (
1440-
1457)
*
Leopoldinian Line (
Duke of Inner Austria:
Styria,
Carinthia,
Carniola,
Tyrol and
Further Austria):
**
Leopold III 1365-
1386**
William 1386-
1406**
Leopold IV 1386-
1411**In 1402, there was a split in the Leopoldinian Line:
**
Inner Austrian line (Styria, Carinthia and Carniola):***
Ernest the Iron,
1402-
1424***
Frederick V (Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1458-
1493)
***
Albert VI 1446-
1463, became officially Archduke
**
Duke of Further Austria Elder Tyrolean Line:***
Friedrich IV 1402-
1439***
Siegmund 1439-
1490, became officially Archduke
* Between 1485 and 1490,
Matthias Corvinus of
Hungary resided in
Vienna as duke of Austria.After 1490, the Austrian territories were reunified under Habsburg rule:
*
Maximilian I (
1493-
1519), was officially Archduke
*
Charles I (Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1519-
1520)
*
Ferdinand I (
1520-
1564)
*
Maximilian II (
1564-
1576)
**
Charles II: Archduke of
Inner Austria (1564-
1590) (Styria, Carinthia and Carniola); succeeded by Emperor Ferdinand II (Archduke Ferdinand III)
**
Ferdinand II: Archduke of Further Austria (including
Tirol, 1564-
1595)
*
Rudolph V (Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1576-
1608)
*
Matthias (
1608-
1619)
**
Maximilian III: Governor of
Tyrol, Archduke of Further Austria (
1612-
1618)
**
Archduke of Further Austria,
Younger Tyrolean Line:
***
Leopold V (
1619-
1632)
***
Ferdinand Charles (
1628-
1662)
***
Sigismund Francis (
1662-
1665)
*
Ferdinand III (=Ferdinand II of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1619-
1637)
*
Ferdinand IV (=Ferdinand III of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1637-
1657)
*
Leopold VI (Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1657-
1705)
*
Joseph I (
1705-
1711)
*
Charles III (Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1711-
1740)
*
Maria Theresa (
1740-
1780)
*
Joseph II (
1780-
1790)
*
Leopold VII (Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire) (
1790-
1792)
The
Holy Roman Empire was abolished in
1806. Francis II had already taken the title of Francis I, Emperor of Austria, in
1804 (see
Austrian Empire).
*
Francis I (
1792-
1835) (Emperor of Austria from 1804)
*
Ferdinand I (
1835-
1848)
*
Francis Joseph I (
1848-
1916)
*
Charles I (
1916-
1918)
In 1918, a
Republic was established. The head of state is the Federal President (
Bundespräsident), the (in practice much more important) head of government is the Federal Chancellor (
Bundeskanzler).
For lists of officeholders, see
*
List of Federal Presidents of Austria*
Chancellor of Austria*
Austria*
Austrian Empire*
Habsburg*
History of Austria*
Holy Roman Empire
