House of Habsburg, alternatively spelled Hapsburg in English and known as the House of Austria is one of the most prominent dynasties in European history.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,768 |
16 Facts About Habsburg
2.
Habsburg name was not continuously used by the family members, since they often emphasized their more prestigious princely titles.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,769 |
3.
In 1198, Rudolf II, Count of Habsburg fully dedicated the dynasty to the Staufer cause by joining the Ghibellines and funded the Staufer emperor Frederick II's war for the throne in 1211.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,770 |
4.
Habsburg then led a coalition against king Ottokar II of Bohemia who had taken advantage of the Great Interregnum in order to expand southwards, taking over the respective inheritances of the Babenberg and of the Spanheim .
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,771 |
5.
Habsburg was able to restore the unity of the house's Austrian lands, as the Albertinian line was now extinct.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,772 |
6.
Habsburg dynasty achieved its highest position when Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,773 |
7.
The latter was won by Maria Theresa and led to the succession of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine becoming the new main branch of the dynasty, in the person of Maria Theresa's son, Joseph II.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,774 |
8.
The unofficial leader of these groups was Otto von Habsburg, who campaigned against the Nazis and for a free Central Europe in France and the United States.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,775 |
9.
The Habsburg family played a leading role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,776 |
10.
Habsburg was native in French and knew Dutch from his youth in Flanders.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,777 |
11.
Habsburg later added some Castilian Spanish, which he was required to learn by the Castilian Cortes Generales.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,778 |
12.
Habsburg could speak some Basque, acquired by the influence of the Basque secretaries serving in the royal court.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,779 |
13.
Habsburg gained a decent command of German following the Imperial election of 1519, though he never spoke it as well as French.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,780 |
15.
House of Habsburg-Lorraine retained Austria and attached possessions after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire; see below.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,782 |
16.
Duchy of Parma was likewise assigned to a Habsburg, but did not stay in the House long before succumbing to Italian unification.
| FactSnippet No. 1,053,783 |