archduke franz ferdinand of austria portrait

Rudolf originally claimed the title in the form palatinus archidux ('palatine archduke'). The title was not used systematically until the 14th century, when the title 'Archduke of Austria' was invented in the forged Privilegium Maius (1358–1359) by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria, called Rudolf the Founder (German: Rudolf der Stifter). In Ruotger, the title served as an honorific denoting Bruno's unusual position rather than a formal office. The Latin title archidux is first attested in reference to Bruno the Great, who ruled simultaneously as Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia in the 10th century, in the work of his biographer Ruotger. 'Archduke' ( German: Erzherzog Dutch: Aartshertog) is a title distinct from ' Grand Duke' ( French: Grand-Duc Luxembourgish: Groussherzog German: Großherzog Dutch: Groothertog), a later monarchic title borne by the rulers of other European countries (for instance, Luxembourg). The English word is first recorded in 1530, derived from Middle French archeduc, a 15th-century derivation from Medieval Latin archidux, from Latin archi- ( Greek ἀρχι-) meaning 'authority' or 'primary' (see arch-) and dux 'duke' (literally 'leader').

The current head of the House of Habsburg is Karl von Habsburg. All remaining archduchies ceased to exist in 1918. The territory ruled by an archduke or archduchess was called an archduchy. It denotes a rank within the former Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), which was below that of Emperor, and roughly equal to King, Prince-Archbishop, Grand prince and Grand Duke, but above that of a Sovereign Prince and Duke. The palace itself houses a substantial exhibition on the life of Franz Ferdinand and his family.Archducal hat, the coronet of an archdukeĪrchduke (feminine: Archduchess German: Erzherzog, feminine form: Erzherzogin) was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty.

Upon request, today’s visitors to the family crypt at Hohenberg are handed a large key in order to explore on their own the resting place where the subsequent generations of the family were also buried. The funeral ceremony in Artstetten was deliberately low-key. Only four years later the couple fell victim to assassination in Sarajevo, which was exploited as the trigger for the First World War. In order to spare the Countess such ignominy - at the Viennese court she was reminded at every opportunity of her inferior status – Franz Ferdinand pre-empted the situation in 1910 by setting up a family crypt below the choir of the Schlosskirche. As a result, not only did he have to agree to his descendants waiving their claim to the throne, but he also knew that he could not be buried together with his beloved wife in the Imperial Crypt. One year later, Franz Ferdinand decided to marry, for love, a woman below his station, Countess Sophie Chotek, an aristocrat from the Bohemian nobility.

Thus it returned to the ownership of Carl Ludwig, who passed it on to his eldest son Franz Ferdinand in 1889. However, Maximilian was never able to use his newly-acquired estate, since he was executed in Mexico just one year later. He would spend several weeks there in the spring and summer until, in 1866, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico bought the palace from his brother. The Archduke had the building lavishly renovated both internally and externally, and laid out a large park.

Franz I bequeathed the estate to his fourth wife, Empress Caroline Auguste, and she in turn left it to her grandson Carl Ludwig, the second-oldest brother of Franz Joseph. When Emperor Franz I purchased Artstetten Palace in 1823, situated near Melk in Lower Austria, it came into the ownership of the Habsburg family.

Archduke franz ferdinand of austria portrait