Leopold I, Duke of Austria


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Leopold I (c. 1290 – 28 February 1326),[1] called The Glorious, was Duke of Austria and Styria – as co-ruler with his elder brother Frederick the Fair – from 1308 until his death. A member of the House of Habsburg, he was the third son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol,[2] a scion of the Meinhardiner dynasty.

Leopold I
Duke of Austria, Duke of Styria
Duke1308–1326
Bornc. 1290
Died28 February 1326
Strasbourg
Spouse

(m. 1315)

IssueCatherine of Austria
Agnes of Austria
HouseHabsburg
FatherAlbert I of Germany
MotherElisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol
 
Leopold I Habsburg

After the death of his eldest brother Duke Rudolph III in 1307 and the assassination of King Albert in 1308, Leopold became administrator of Further Austria, where he started a retaliation campaign against his father's murderers.[1] He converged with the royal House of Luxembourg and accompanied King Henry VII on his Italian campaign. In 1311, he helped to suppress a Guelph uprising in Milan under Guido della Torre, and to lay siege to the city of Brescia.

Upon Emperor Henry's death, he strongly supported his brother Frederick in the 1314 election as King of the Romans.[1] Despite all efforts, the Habsburgs only gained the votes of four prince-electors, while Louis IV of Bavaria, with support of the Luxembourgs, was elected by five. In the following armed conflict between the rivals, the forces of Leopold were supportive of his brother's claims.[1] In his ancestral homeland however, he incurred a decisive defeat by the Swiss Confederacy at the 1315 Battle of Morgarten.[1]

 
Seal of Duke Leopold of Austria

When Frederick and their younger brother Henry had been captured at the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322, Leopold struggled for their release. He entered into negotiations with King Louis IV and even surrendered the Imperial Regalia he had kept at Kyburg Castle. The parleys failed and Leopold continued to attack the Bavarian forces of Louis, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the Swabian town of Burgau in 1324. After the king had failed to reach the approval of his election by Pope John XXII and was even banned, he released Frederick in 1325. The captive however had to promise to swear his brother to acknowledge Louis as his suzerain, which Leopold refused.[1] Frederick voluntarily returned to the Bavarian court, where he and Louis finally agreed upon a joint rule.

Leopold died in Strasbourg shortly afterwards, on 28 February 1326.[1] His remains were buried at Königsfelden Monastery in Windisch.

In 1315, Leopold married Catherine of Savoy (1284–1336), daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy by his second wife, Marie of Brabant. They had two daughters:

  1. Catherine of Austria (1320–1349), who married Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy[2]
  2. Agnes of Austria (1322–1392), who married Bolko II, Duke of Świdnica[2]

Male-line family tree

edit

House of Habsburg[n 1]
  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
Notes:
  1. ^ "Habsburg family tree". Habsburg family website. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Franziska Hälg-Steffen: Leopold I of Habsburg in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. ^ a b c Wheatcroft 1996, p. 297.

Leopold I, Duke of Austria

Born: 1290 Died: 1326
Regnal titles
Preceded by Duke of Austria and Styria
1308–1326
With: Frederick the Fair
Succeeded byas sole duke