Editing Albert I of Germany

{{Short description|King of Germany from 1298 to 1308}}
{{Other people|Albert of Austria}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name=Albert I
|image=Albrecht1 habsburg.jpg
|caption=Seal of Albert I, inscribed in Latin: {{Lang|la|Albertus Dei gratia Romanorum rex semper augustus}} ('Albert by the grace of God King of the Romans, ever majestic')
|succession=[[King of Germany]] <br/>(formally [[King of the Romans]])
|reign=27 July 1298{{snd}}1 May 1308
|predecessor=[[Adolf, King of Germany|Adolph]]
|successor=[[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]]
|coronation=24 August 1298<br/>[[Aachen Cathedral]]
|birth_date=July 1255
|birth_place=[[Free imperial city|Imperial City]] of [[Rheinfelden (Aargau)|Rheinfelden]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1308|5|1|1255|7|1|df=y}}
|death_place=[[Windisch, Switzerland|Windisch]], [[Further Austria]]
|burial_place=[[Speyer Cathedral]]
|house=[[House of Habsburg]]
|father=[[Rudolph I of Germany]]
|mother=[[Gertrude of Hohenberg]]
|spouse=[[Elisabeth of Carinthia, Queen of the Romans|Elizabeth of Carinthia]]
|issue= {{Plainlist}}
* [[Rudolph I of Bohemia|Rudolph I, King of Bohemia]]
* [[Frederick the Fair|Frederick the Fair, King of the Romans]]
* [[Leopold I, Duke of Austria]]
* [[Albert II, Duke of Austria]]
* [[Henry the Gentle]]
* [[Otto, Duke of Austria]] 
* [[Anne of Austria, Margravine of Brandenburg|Anna, Margravine of Brandenburg and Duchess of Wrocław]]
* [[Agnes of Austria (1281–1364)|Agnes, Queen of Hungary]]
* [[Elisabeth of Austria, Duchess of Lorraine|Elizabeth, Duchess of Lorraine]]
* [[Catherine of Austria, Duchess of Calabria|Catherine, Duchess of Calabria]]
* [[:File:Guta,_countess_of_Oettingen.jpg|Judith, Countess of Öttingen]]
{{Endplainlist}}
}}
'''Albert I of Habsburg''' ({{langx|de|Albrecht I.}}) (July 1255{{snd}}1 May 1308) was a [[List of rulers of Austria|Duke of Austria]] and [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]] from 1282 and [[List of German monarchs|King of Germany]] from 1298 until his assassination. He was the eldest son of King [[Rudolf I of Germany]]{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}} and his first wife [[Gertrude of Hohenberg]]. Sometimes referred to as 'Albert the One-eyed' because of a battle injury that left him with a hollow eye socket and a permanent snarl.<ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Wheatcroft |title=The Habsburgs Embodying Empire |publisher=Penguin |year=1995 |page=32}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Albecht 1.jpg|thumb|Seal of Albert I of Habsburg; his shield displays the arms of Habsburg (modern) (Babenberg: ''Gules, a fess argent'', here shown decorated with diaper-work) whilst his banner and the shields on his horse's caparison displays Habsburg (ancient) ''Or, a lion rampant gules crowned armed and langued azure''. Latin inscription (abbreviated): {{lang|la|Albertus Dei gratia grandis dux Austriae et Styriae de Habsburg et Kiburg comes lantgravus Alsaciae}} ('Albert by grace of God Grand Duke of Austria and Styria, Count of Habsburg and Kyburg, Landgrave of Alsace'). Atop his helm he displays a crest of ''A plume of peacock feathers'']]
From 1273 Albert ruled as a [[landgrave]] over his father's [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabian]] ([[Further Austria]]n) possessions in [[Alsace]]. In 1282 his father, the first German monarch from the [[House of Habsburg]], invested him and his younger brother [[Rudolf II, Duke of Austria|Rudolf II]] with the duchies of [[Duchy of Austria|Austria]] and [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]],{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} which he had seized from late King [[Ottokar II of Bohemia]] and defended in the 1278 [[Battle on the Marchfeld]]. By the 1283 [[Treaty of Rheinfelden]] his father entrusted Albert with their sole government, while Rudolf II ought to be compensated by the Further Austrian Habsburg home territories – which, however, never happened until his death in 1290. Albert and his Swabian {{lang|la|[[ministerialis|ministeriales]]}} appear to have ruled the Austrian and Styrian duchies with conspicuous success, overcoming the resistance by local nobles.

King Rudolf I was unable to secure the succession to the German throne for his son, especially due to the objections raised by Ottokar's son King [[Wenceslaus II of Bohemia]], and the plans to install Albert as successor of the assassinated King [[Ladislaus IV of Hungary]] in 1290 also failed. Upon Rudolf's death in 1291, the [[Prince-elector]]s, fearing Albert's power and the implementation of a [[hereditary monarchy]], chose Count [[Adolf, King of the Romans|Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg]] as [[King of the Romans]]. An uprising among his Styrian dependents compelled Albert to recognize the sovereignty of his rival and to confine himself for a time to the government of the Habsburg lands at [[Vienna]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[File:AlbrechtI.jpg|thumb|left|Albrecht I]]
He did not abandon his hopes of the throne, however, which were eventually realised: In 1298, he was chosen German king by some of the princes, who were bothered about Adolf's attempts to gain his own power bases in the lands of [[Thuringia]] and [[Margraviate of Meissen|Meissen]], again led by the Bohemian king Wenceslaus II. The armies of the rival kings met at the [[Battle of Göllheim]] near [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], where Adolf was defeated and slain.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johannes von Geissel |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XJVCAAAAcAAJ |title=Die Schlacht am Hasenbühl und das Königskreuz zu Göllheim: eine historische Monographie |publisher=Kranzbühler |year=1835}}</ref>

Submitting to a new election but securing the support of several influential princes by making extensive promises, he was chosen at the [[Free imperial city|Imperial City]] of [[Frankfurt]] on 27 July 1298, and crowned at [[Aachen Cathedral]] on 24 August.<ref>On the election and coronation see Andreas Büttner, ''Rituale der Herrschererhebung im spätmittelalterlichen Reich (Mittelalter-Forschung 35,1).'' Vol. 1. Ostfildern 2012, pp. 237–264 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/mf35_1/0252/image,info online]).</ref>

Although a hard, stern man, Albert had a keen sense of justice when his own interests were not involved, and few of the German kings possessed so practical an intelligence. He encouraged the cities, and not content with issuing proclamations against private war, formed alliances with the princes in order to enforce his decrees. The serfs, whose wrongs seldom attracted notice in an age indifferent to the claims of common humanity, found a friend in this severe monarch, and he protected even the despised and persecuted Jews. Stories of his cruelty and oppression in the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss]] cantons (cf. [[William Tell]]) did not appear until the 16th century, and are now regarded as legendary.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Albert sought to play an important part in European affairs. He seemed at first inclined to press a quarrel with the [[Kingdom of France]] over the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]] frontier, but the refusal of [[Pope Boniface VIII]] to recognize his election led him to change his policy, and, in 1299, he made a treaty with King [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]], by which his son Rudolph was to marry Blanche, the King's half-sister.  He afterwards became estranged from Philip, but in 1303, Boniface recognized him as German king and future emperor; in return, Albert recognized the authority of the pope alone to bestow the [[Holy Roman Emperor|Imperial]] crown, and promised that none of his sons should be elected German king without papal consent.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Albert had failed in his attempt to seize the counties of [[County of Holland|Holland]] and [[County of Zeeland|Zeeland]], as vacant fiefs of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], on the death of Count [[John I, Count of Holland|John I]] in 1299, but in 1306 he secured the crown of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] for his son [[Rudolph I of Bohemia|Rudolph III]] on the death of King [[Wenceslaus III of Bohemia|Wenceslaus III]]. He also renewed the claim made by his predecessor, Adolf, on Thuringia, and interfered in a quarrel over the succession to the [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian]] throne.  The Thuringian attack ended in Albert's defeat at the [[Battle of Lucka]] in 1307 and, in the same year, the death of his son Rudolph weakened his position in eastern Europe.  His action in abolishing all tolls established on the [[Rhine]] since 1250 led the Rhenish prince-archbishops and the [[Elector of the Palatinate]] to form a league against him. Aided by the [[Free imperial city|Imperial cities]], however, he soon crushed the rising.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== Death ==
Albert was on the way to suppress a revolt in [[Duke of Swabia|Swabia]] when he was murdered on 1 May 1308, at [[Windisch on the Reuss]], by his nephew Duke [[John Parricida|John]], afterwards called "the Parricide" or "John Parricida".<ref>The medieval sources on the murder are examined by Manuel Kamenzin, ''Die Tode der römisch-deutschen Könige und Kaiser (1150–1349)'' (Mittelalter-Forschungen 64), Ostfildern 2020, pp. 278–308 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/mf64/0279/image,info online]).</ref>

== Titles ==
His full name and titles were: ''Albert, by the grace of God, King of the Romans, Duke of Austria and Styria, Lord of [[March of Carniola|Carniola]], over the [[Windic March|Wendish Mark]] and of [[Pordenone|Port Naon]], Count of [[Habsburg Castle|Habsburg]] and [[Kyburg (castle)|Kyburg]], Landgrave of [[Alsace]]''.

== Marriage and children ==
In 1274, Albert had married [[Elisabeth of Carinthia, Queen of the Romans|Elizabeth]],{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=796}} daughter of Count [[Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia|Meinhard II]] of [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]], who was a descendant of the [[House of Babenberg|Babenberg]] margraves of Austria who predated the Habsburgs' rule. The baptismal name Leopold, patron [[saint margrave of Austria]], was given to one of their sons. Queen Elizabeth was in fact better connected to mighty German rulers than her husband: she was a descendant of earlier German kings, including Emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]]; she was also a niece of the [[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbach]] dukes of [[History of Bavaria|Bavaria]], Austria's important neighbor.

Albert and Elizabeth had twelve children:
# [[Anna of Austria (1275–1327)|Anna]] (1275, Vienna{{snd}}19 March 1327, [[Breslau]]),{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}} married:
## in [[Graz]] {{circa|lk=no|1295}} to [[Herman, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel]];{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}}
## in [[Breslau]] 1310 to [[Henry VI the Good|Henry VI the Good, Duke of Wrocław]].
# [[Agnes of Austria (1281-1364)|Agnes]] (18 May 1281{{snd}}10 June 1364, [[Königsfelden Abbey|Königsfelden]]), married in Vienna 13 February 1296 King [[Andrew III of Hungary]].{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}}
# [[Rudolph I of Bohemia|Rudolph III]] ({{circa|1282}}{{snd}}4 July 1307, [[Horažďovice]]){{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=796}} married but line extinct and predeceased his father.
# [[Elisabeth of Austria, Duchess of Lorraine|Elizabeth]] (1285{{snd}}19 May 1353), married 1304 [[Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine]].{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}}
# [[Frederick I of Austria (Habsburg)|Frederick I]] (1289{{snd}}13 January 1330, [[Gutenstein, Austria|Gutenstein]]){{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=796}} married to [[Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Germany]] but line extinct.
# [[Leopold I of Austria (Habsburg)|Leopold I]] (4 August 1290{{snd}}28 February 1326, [[Strassburg]]){{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=797}} married, had issue.
# [[Catherine of Austria (1295–1323)|Catherine]] (1295{{snd}}18 January 1323, [[Naples]]), married [[Charles, Duke of Calabria]] in  1316.
# [[Albert II of Austria|Albert II]] (12 December 1298, Vienna{{snd}}20 July 1358, Vienna).{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=797}}
# [[Henry the Gentle]] (1299{{snd}}3 February 1327,{{sfn|George|1875|p=table XIV}} [[Bruck an der Mur]]) married but line extinct.
# Meinhard (1300{{snd}}1301), died in infancy.
# [[Otto, Duke of Austria|Otto]] (23 July 1301, Vienna{{snd}}26 February 1339, Vienna){{sfn|Previté-Orton|1960|p=797}} married but line extinct.
# [[:File:Guta,_countess_of_Oettingen.jpg|Jutta]] (1302{{snd}}5 March 1329), married Ludwig V, Count of [[House of Oettingen-Oettingen|Öttingen]] in [[Baden]], 26 March 1319.

==Male-line family tree==
{{Habsburg family tree}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |first=Hereford Brooke |last=George |title=Genealogical Tables Illustrative of Modern History |publisher=Oxford at the Clarendon Press |year=1875 }}
*{{cite book |first=Charles William |last=Previté-Orton |title=The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History |volume=2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1960 }}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Albert I. (German king)|display=Albert I.|volume=1|page=496}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
The poem {{ws|[[s:Poems of Felicia Hemans in Friendship's Offering, 1826/A Monarch's Death-bed|A Monarch's Death-bed]]}}, by [[Felicia Hemans]] recalls the scene of Albert's death, where he was supposedly comforted by a passing peasant woman. From Friendship's Offering annual, 1826.

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[House of Habsburg]]||1255||1308}}
{{s-reg |}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Rudolph I of Germany|Rudolph IV]]|before2=[[Rudolph II of Austria|Rudolph V]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Count of Habsburg]] | regent1=[[Rudolph I of Bohemia|Rudolph VI]]|years1=1298–1307 | years=1291–1308 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Leopold I, Duke of Austria|Leopold I]] }}
{{s-bef | rows=2 | before=[[Adolf, King of the Romans|Adolf]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[King of Germany]]| years=1298–1308 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Margrave of Meissen]] | regent1=[[Theodoric IV, Landgrave of Lusatia|Theodoric II]]|years1=1291–1307| regent2=[[Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen|Frederick I]]|years2=1291–1323 | years=1298–1307 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen|Frederick II]] }}
{{s-bef | before= [[Rudolph I of Germany|Rudolph I]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Duke of Austria]] and [[Duke of Styria|Styria]] | regent1=[[Rudolph II of Austria|Rudolph II]]|years1=1282–83| regent2=[[Rudolph I of Bohemia|Rudolph III]]|years2=1298–1307| years=1282–1308 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Frederick the Fair]]|after2=[[Leopold I, Duke of Austria|Leopold I]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{German monarchs}}
{{Rulers of Austria}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 01 of Germany}}
[[Category:1255 births]]
[[Category:1308 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century House of Habsburg]]
[[Category:13th-century Kings of the Romans]]
[[Category:13th-century dukes of Austria]]
[[Category:14th-century Kings of the Romans]]
[[Category:14th-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:14th-century dukes of Austria]]
[[Category:Assassinated German people]]
[[Category:Burials at Speyer Cathedral]]
[[Category:Deaths by edged and bladed weapons]]
[[Category:Landgraves of Thuringia]]
[[Category:Margraves of Meissen]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the Hungarian throne]]
[[Category:German royalty and nobility with disabilities]]