The
House of Habsburg or
Hapsburg (also known as
House of Austria) was an important
royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected
Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the
Austrian and
Spanish Empire and several other countries. Originally from
Switzerland, the dynasty first reigned in
Austria, which they ruled for over six centuries. A series of dynastic marriages brought
Burgundy,
Spain,
Bohemia,
Hungary, and other territories into the inheritance. In the 16th century the senior
Spanish and junior
Austrian branches of the family separated.
As royal houses are by convention determined via the male line, the Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II in 1700 and was replaced by the Anjou branch of the House of Bourbon in the person of his great-nephew Philip V. The Austrian branch went extinct in 1780 with the death of Empress Maria Theresa and was replaced by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine in the person of her son Joseph II. The new successor house styled itself as House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German Habsburg-Lothringen).
Their principal roles were as
Other crowns held briefly by the House included
