Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Styria is given to Babenberg Leopold V (1157-94) on the condition that it stays part of Austria
forever. Styria then includes chunks of Slovenia and Lower and Upper Austria.
1246-78
The last Babenberg dies in 1246. Habsburg Rudolf I is elected king of the Holy Roman Empire in
1273; he defeats Bohemian Ottokar II in the 1278 Battle of Marchfeld.
1335 & 1363
Bavarian Ludwig IV (1314-47) gives Carinthia to the Habsburgs in 1335; territories include Austria
(Ostarrîchi), Styria and Carinthia. In 1363 Margarethe Maultasch (1318-63) dies and Tyrol is added.
1420-21
Under Duke Albrecht V, the first large-scale persecution of Jews (known as the
Wiener Geserah
) in
Austria's capital takes place.
1496
Habsburg Philipp der Schöne (Philip the Handsome) marries Juana la Loca (Johanna the Mad) in
the ' Spanish Marriage': Spain and its resource-rich Central and South American territories become
Habsburg.
1517
Theology professor Martin Luther sparks the Reformation when he makes public his 95 theses that
call into question corrupt practices of the church, and most of Austria becomes Lutheran (Protest-
ant).
1529
The first Turkish siege of Vienna takes place, undertaken by Süleyman the Magnificent, but Süley-
man's forces are not strong enough to take control of the city.
1556
Abandoning the idea of uniting an empire under Catholicism, K arl V abdicates - the Spanish part
goes to his son Philip II, and Ferdinand I gets Austria, Bohemia and largely Turkish- occupied Hun-
gary.
1618-48
Anti-reformer Ferdinand II challenges Bohemia's confessional freedom. Habsburg counsels are
thrown out of a window (the Prague Defenestration), triggering the Thirty Years' War.
