Editing House of Habsburg (section)

===Archdukes===
Through the forged document called ''[[privilegium maius]]'' (1358/59), [[Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria]] (1339–1365) introduced the title of [[Archduke]] to place the Habsburgs on a par with the [[Prince-electors]] of the Empire, since Emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] had omitted to give them the electoral dignity in his [[Golden Bull of 1356]]. Charles, however, refused to recognize the title, as did his immediate successors.

Duke [[Ernest of Austria (Habsburg)|Ernest the Iron]] and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title "archduke". That title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]], the ruler of Austria himself.<ref>{{cite book | title=Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Furstliche Hauser Band XIV | publisher=C. A. Starke Verlag | year=1991 | location=Limburg ad der Lahn, Germany | pages=91–93 | isbn=978-3-7980-0700-0}}</ref> Frederick himself used just "Duke of Austria", never ''Archduke'', until his death in 1493. The title was first granted to Frederick's younger brother, [[Albert VI, Archduke of Austria|Albert VI of Austria]] (died 1463), who used it at least from 1458. In 1477, Frederick granted the title ''archduke'' to his first cousin [[Sigismund of Austria]], ruler of [[Further Austria]]. Frederick's son and heir, the future [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor]], apparently only started to use the title after the death of his wife [[Mary of Burgundy]] in 1482, as ''Archduke'' never appears in documents issued jointly by Maximilian and Mary as rulers in the [[Low Countries]] (where Maximilian is still titled "Duke of Austria"). The title appears first in documents issued under the joint rule of Maximilian and [[Philip I of Castile|Philip]] (his under-age son) in the Low Countries.

''Archduke'' was initially borne by those dynasts who ruled a [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg territory]], i.e., only by males and their consorts, [[appanage]]s being commonly distributed to [[Cadet (genealogy)|Cadets]]. These "junior" ''archdukes'' did not thereby become independent hereditary rulers, since all territories remained vested in the Austrian crown. Occasionally a territory might be combined with a separate gubernatorial mandate ruled by an archducal cadet. From the 16th century onward, ''archduke'' and its female form, ''archduchess'', came to be used by all the members of the House of Habsburg (e.g., Queen [[Marie Antoinette]] of France was born ''Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria'').