Being Bold Abroad: Adventuring in Vienna: My NOT Paper Topic! Hapsburg Dynasty

As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, the Hapsburgs can be found throughout Vienna, in art and architecture (the Emperor's name is plastered over every single building). However, their reign can be seen also throughout Europe. In Venice, we saw where Franz-Josef and Sisi spent their vacations, and in Spain, the Spanish Hapsburg's portraits are viewed throughout many museums, as their dynasty ruled there in the 16th and 17th centuries. What I most enjoyed learning about the Habsburg dynasty was how they came to control most of Europe, through marriage.

" Belli gerunt alli, Tu felix Austria nube."

This phrase we learned in class was the literal motto of the Habsburg family, who ensured their absolutist reign through marrying for territories throughout Europe, and then marrying those offspring to each other to keep control of those territories in the family. It is also interesting to find out that this method of keeping their dynasty led to them losing a part of this dynasty. Charles II King of Spain was the son of a niece (Mariana of Austria) and her uncle (Phillip IV of Spain), both of which already had incestuous ancestries. This caused poor King Charles to have many mental, emotional, and physical disabilities, ultimately making him unable to produce a Hapsburg heir to the Spanish throne, ending their dynasty their.

Despite this minor hiccup, Hapsburg absolutism was prevalent until World War 1, and I doubt you can go into any museum in Vienna (except the Jewish museum), without any mention of the Hapsburgs.