ÏÎ1STOMCJ
E pochs. L In 1^73 Rodolph o f Hapfburg was called to the imperial throne, after
an inter-reign* during which the German,potentates had iocreafed, and
fecured their own power; and ■ wifely prefered a nominal fovereigh,'
whofe hunjfble extract, and fmall poffeffioris, could afford rio cheek-to*
V their amhkion. .Yet Rudolph was at this time lordlof the: gfeater" part
o f Swifferland; after the extinction Of the powerful houfe.of Zaeringeri,
and that offthe counts of Kyburg, whofeybtnt inheritance 'devolving to
R.odolph, became the bafis of his power, and that o f his fiieceffors.* '
2. Another emperor o f the houfe of Auftria appeared in Albert;
A. D. 12 98 ; froni whom the SWifs made their fignal revolt in 1307^
• His fori Frederic was obliged to yield the empire to L'o^uis- of-Bavaria.
3. Albert II--duke o f Auftria, A. 1). 1438, fucceed^f to' three
crowns, on the death o f his father-in-law the emperor Sigifmbhd^thbfe
. o f Hungary, and Bohemia, and that o f the'empire.' by unanitribUs
ele&ion. This was the epoch o f the lafting grandeur of' the 'houfe.
of Auftria. Yet Ms fuceeffors Freddric III, and Maximilian I, were
feeble princes; and Charles V firff aftonifhed Europe with a real dif-
play o f Auftrian power.
4. Maximilian having married the heirefs o f Burgundy, the Netherlands
became fubjed to the houfe o f Auftria in! 1 4 7 7 ;-and his fon
Fhilip, in 1496, marrying the heirefs o f Adragon .anddEjdHfc, £the
ample dominion^ of Spain fell afterwards under the Auftrian ift’eptrfe.
Charles V inherited all thefe domains; but on his refignatioft'Spain and
the Netherlands paffed to his fon Philip II, and the former crown continued
in the Auftrian line till the clpfe of the feve'nteenth century.'
Auftria, Bohemia, and Hungary, paffed to Ferdinand ;the/btot%i; !i f
Charles V, who was alfo chofen emperor of Germany. \
5. The noted bigotry of the houfe of Auftria was not confined , to
the Spanilh branch, for though Maximilian II, about 1570, had
granted liberty o f conference even to the proteftants. of Auftria, yet
thofe of Bohemia, and other parts, were afterwards fo much opprefled,
that the proteftant princes of Germany called in Guftaf Adolf, the celebrated
Swedifh monarch, to their affiftance, who Ihook the empire to
its very foundations. Even France fupported the proteftant«, in the view
* Plants’» Swiff, i, 170.
of
Of weakening the.Auftri&h --power and the war continued till 1648;
when the famous'treaty sJWeftphafe was figiied, which has ferved as,
a bafis for otherbiplomatictrarifadtions. ’
b'&siThe war with Ftasrice Was': of&èn. rekindled4 during the long reign
of Leopold I, l^Sv^o-T^C’S' ; Wd'iri i#83 fhè Turks were fofuccefsful
as to lay-fiege tb'Vienna.
» f . ‘His fon JSfêjSh L^j6MetFthe;âlliësv againft Fiâfe'éf’tnd {hared in
their 'Ê&cce0 He married the daughter of John FtéÉeric duke of-
Hanove^t--'1
%8. Bÿ the death dfc the 'ériiperôï ChàrièkVlY*brri the 20th Odober,
x 746, without thalep iffue',’rthe BJfêtffé of Auftria' became? extind. Thei.
elfehT b'f Bavaria -ferfjedHhe ' kingdom :*of- Bohemia; and ,'was elected'
emperor in 1,74 2^ but- dleè-iu» 1745 ■ J
Francis' df Terrain, ïoiîl bf'Leopold duke 'dft-Lorrain, having-
màrried Maria Therefa, dàügbtef of the emperor Charles VI, füceeèdça-
to the Auftrian dominions, which .coffriafib to, be held by his defendants.
Tn 1745 he was ele&ed emperor, and Ms fuccëffôrs have enjoyed
thdimperial crown, asi if herèdàlary.' The powerful hbufé o f Lorrain
i s -of great' antiquity,'- defeending' from ' Gerard' count df'Ahàdë, '■in the
Seventh century’;' whofe origin is referred to»a* collateral branch oftheL
hofffe" o'f Atu'ftrià. t
The reign of the empetor5 Jofeph II, a beneficent bUtUmpetuous
prirtfce, whofe-gfand defignè!'of reformatidk .were fruftrated -by his ignorance’
o f the -irivetëràfcy of habits!1 and prejudices, which muft ever
be corifidered'in a due eftimate o f human affaire. -
• i f . The obdurate and fanguinary^onteil' -w'iith France,è the events-
, of whieh ate known to an.
Having thus briefly marked the'chief epochs-of the 'Auftrian power,
the everits, of the' fubjed: ’kingdornSr àmdtftafes muff b®asj*puch çèra-^
preffed as poffiblè. The next In importarite are thole off the kingaom-
df Hungary.
1. T h e • Roman province of Dacia. The conqùèft by-;'the Huns;
îtnd afterwards by the Avars, and other Slavonic tribes.
The Conquefl by the Ogursj ’rfr the Magiars, 1wh6î continued
under dukes from their firft Fettlement in 884.
: x x 2 û ‘ ■ ■ f 3. St,
H isto r
E po ch