Editing History of Austria (section)

===== Leopoldian line (1379–1490) =====
Leopold III took the remaining territories, ruling till 1386. He was succeeded by two of his sons jointly, [[William, Duke of Austria|William the Courteous]] (1386–1406) and [[Leopold IV, Duke of Austria|Leopold IV the Fat]] (1386–1411). In 1402 yet another split in the Duchy occurred, since Leopold III had had four sons and neither Leopold IV or William had heirs. The remaining brothers then divided the territory.

[[Ernest of Austria (Habsburg)|Ernest the Iron]] (1402–1424) took Inner Austria, while [[Frederick IV, Duke of Austria|Frederick IV of the Empty Pockets]] (1402–1439) took Further Austria. Once William died in 1406, this took formal effect with two separate ducal lines, the ''Elder Ernestine Line'' and ''Junior Tyrolean Line'' respectively.

'''Ernestine line (Inner Austria 1406–1457)'''
[[File:Hans Burgkmair d. Ä. 005.jpg|thumb|left|[[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]] (1415–1493) by [[Hans Burgkmair]], {{Circa}} 1500 ([[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], [[Vienna]]). Duke 1424, King 1440, Emperor 1452, Archduke 1457.]]
The Ernestine line consisted of Ernest and a joint rule by two of his sons upon his death in 1424, [[Albert VI, Archduke of Austria|Albert VI]] the Prodigal (1457–1463) and [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]] the Peaceful (1457–1493). They too quarreled and in turn divided what had now become both Lower and Inner Austria upon the death of Ladislaus in 1457 and extinction of the Albertinians. Albert seized Upper Austria in 1458, ruling from [[Linz]], but in 1462 proceeded to besiege his elder brother in the [[Hofburg Palace]] in Vienna, seizing lower Austria too. However, since he died childless the following year (1463) his possessions automatically reverted to his brother, and Frederick now controlled all of the Albertinian and Ernestine possessions.

Frederick's political career had advanced in a major way, since he inherited the Duchy of Inner Austria in 1424. From being a Duke, he became [[King of the Romans|German King]] as Frederick IV in 1440 and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III (1452–1493).

'''Tyrolean line (Further Austria) 1406–1490'''

The Tyrolean line consisted of Frederick IV and his son, [[Sigismund, Archduke of Austria|Sigismund the Rich]] (1439–1490). Frederick moved his court to [[Innsbruck]] but lost some of his possessions to Switzerland. Sigismund who succeeded him sold some of his lands to [[Charles the Bold]] in 1469 and was elevated to Archduke by Emperor Frederick III in 1477. He died childless, but in 1490, he abdicated in the face of unpopularity and Further Austria reverted to the then Archduke, [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] the Last Knight (1490–1493), Frederick V's son who now effectively controlled all the Habsburg territory for the first time since 1365.