Schönbrunn Palace, located just outside Vienna, was the summer residence of the Habsburg family. The opulence of this summer retreat might make a person curious about how a family could acquire wealth on such a grand scale. The previous two posts told how the Habsburgs started to build their dynasty. Here’s the rest of the story.
Quick Recap
You may recall that Rudolf I moved the Habsburgs into the fast lane with a big win on the battlefield in the 13th century. Subsequent Habsburgs continued to grow the family fortune by defeating rivals here and there. But defeating rivals only gets you so far.
A smarter, more effective way to gain territory was to strategically arrange marriages. Marry off a son to a royal family. Stipulate that the kids become heirs to the throne when the time comes. Eventually, a new kingdom or duchy comes into the family. This method takes time, but it works.
The Rest of the Story
Let’s fast-forward a couple of centuries. Expanding one’s turf wasn’t just a Habsburg thing. In the 15th century, the French succeeded in evicting the English from French soil. It took them 100 years, (as in the Hundred Years War), but they prevailed.
When the fighting was over, the French king had amassed the largest, battle-ready standing army in Europe. But now they had no one to fight. It was widely believed that the French king had expansionist ideas.
To the east of France, the Habsburgs were concerned. To the west of France, the ruling families of Spain and Portugal were concerned. The royal families surrounding France decided to enter into a strategic alliance.
In those days, forming a strategic alliance often meant joining families by arranging a marriage or two.
Enter Maximilian
One such marriage was that of Frederick Habsburg III to Eleanor of Portugal. She was the eldest daughter of the king of Portugal. Frederick and Eleanor had a son. They named him Maximilian.
Maximilian was a Habsburg and the heir to the Portuguese throne. He was destined to live the good life, but of course, that wasn’t enough. (Of course it wasn’t!)
Maximilian wanted to follow in his ancestors’ expansionist footsteps. But to do that, he’d have to get himself a wife and start having kids.
The most desirable woman on the planet, at least in Maximilian’s world, was Mary of Burgundy. She was also known as Mary the Rich. What was Maximilian waiting for?
He wasn’t waiting for anything. Maximilian, along with every other young buck with royal credentials, set out to woo Mary.
Good Job Maximilian!
When the long line of suiters had been whittled down to one lucky guy, Maximilian was the only man standing. He’d won her heart – and Burgundy along with it.
Even back in those days, Burgundy was prime real estate. And at the the time, Burgundy encompassed the Netherlands as well as present-day Burgundy. It was a sweet addition to the growing Habsburg empire.
Maximilian had done his Habsburg family well. But he wasn’t finished. In fact, he was just getting started.
Maximilian and Mary had more children. They married off another son, Philip, to Joanna of Castille. She would become queen of Castille and Aragon. Their child, Maximilian and Mary’s grandson, would become the king of Spain.
Another grandson became king of Bohemia and Hungary. It was getting hard to find a European country that didn’t have a Habsburg sitting on the throne.
That’s how to build a dynasty. And that’s how you and your family can have a nice, 1,400-room getaway in which to spend your summers. We might as well go inside and check it out., eh?
To be continued…
