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House of Lorraine

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For the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, see House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

House of Lorraine
Haus Lothringen
Original arms of the House of Lorraine
Parent houseArdennes–Metz which in turn can possibly be a cadet branch of either the Etichonids or the Matfridings
CountryAlsace, Austria, Bohemia, Brabant, France, Flanders, Hungary, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Mexico, Modena and Tuscany
Current headKarl von Habsburg-Lothringen
Titles (see more)
DepositionLorraine:
1738 – Francis I ceded title in accordance with the Treaty of Vienna, gaining Tuscany

Holy Roman Empire, Luxembourg,
Brabant, and Flanders:
1805 – Francis II & I ceded titles in accordance with the Peace of Pressburg

Parma:
1847 – Marie Louise died with issue

Tuscany:
1859 – Leopold II abdicated due to pressure from Italian nationalists

Mexico:
1867 – Maximilian I executed by Liberal republicans.

Austria, Hungary and Bohemia:
1918 – Charles I & IV relinquished participation in state affairs following the end of World War I
Cadet branches

The House of Lorraine (German: Haus Lothringen) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg and became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen). Francis, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and his grandson Francis II were the last four Holy Roman emperors from 1745 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and then Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.

Although its senior agnates are the dukes of Hohenberg, the house is currently headed by Karl von Habsburg (born 1961), grandson of the last emperor Charles I.[1]

Ancestry

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A controversial origin

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The main two theories of the House's origin are:

What is more securely demonstrated is that in 1048 Emperor Henry III gave the Duchy of Upper Lorraine first to Adalbert of Metz and then to his brother Gerard whose successors (collectively known as the House of Alsace or the House of Châtenois) retained the duchy until the death of Charles the Bold in 1431.[3]

Certainties

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Based on documents dating from the 11th century, researchers are able to establish the two generations preceding Gerard of Alsace. The oldest certain generation is a sibling group shown at the top of the family chart below composed of Gerard, Adalbert and Adelaide[4] · [5]:

Gerard, Count, probably of Metz, died between 1021 and 1033, married Eve, daughter of Count Sigefroid, ancestor of the Counts of Luxembourg. From this marriage were born two children: Sigfried, died between 1017 and 1020, and Berscinde, abbess of Remiremont;
Adelaide married Henry of Franconia, Count in Wormsgau, and is the mother of Emperor Conrad II the Salic and several other children;
Adalbert was Count of Metz, died in 1037. A donation dated June 12, 1037 in favor of the Abbey of Saint-Mathieu calls him dux and marchio Lotoringie. He married Judith who gave birth to a single son, named Gérard[4] · [5].
Gérard, son of Adalbert, died in 1045. He is called Count of Alsace in a charter of May 1038 where he puts an end to a dispute against the Abbey of Remiremont. He married a Gisèle, who gave birth to Adalbert, Duke of Lorraine in 1047, Gérard, Count of Metz, then Duke of Lorraine in 1047, Conrad, Adalberon, Beatrix, Odelric, Cuno, Oda, abbess of Remiremont from 1048 to 1071, Azelinus, Ida and Adelheid, as stated in the Notitiæ Fundationis Monasterii Bosonis-Villæ (Notice of the founding of the monastery of Bouzonville)[4] · [5].


Etichonid

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The Etichonid origin was unanimously recognized from the 18th until the 20th century. For this reason, the marriage between Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis of Lorraine was seen at the time as the reunion of the two branches of the dynasty. The main proponents of this theory have been: Dom Calmet (1672 † 1757),[6] Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais (1773 † 1842)[7] and more recently Michel Dugast Rouillé (1919 † 1987)[2] and Henry Bogdan.[8]


Gerardide-Matfriding

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The main proponents of the Gerardide-Matfriding theory are: Eduard Hlawitschka,[9] George Poull[10] and partially the Europäische Stammtafeln (which however does not take into account the kinship with the Girardides).[5]

The question of the origin of the House of Lorraine was taken up in the 20th Century by Eduard Hlawitschk. He established that Gérard d'Alsace came from the Counts of Metz, but grouped these counts into two family groups: the Matfried of the 9th Century, and the Adalbert/Gérard of the 10th century. The absence of documentation does not allow a formal kinship to be established between the two groups. But he notes that this kinship is very probable because they are of similar status, use the same onomastic background and have concluded matrimonial alliances in the same circles (House of Ardennes, imperial families, etc.).
Eduard Hlawitschka continues his proposal by estimating that the Matfrieds could even be descended from the Girardides (family of Gérard/Girard, Leuthard, Alard/Adal(h)ard, Beggo/Bégon/Bérenger), counts of Paris at the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the 9th century [9]. His thesis was taken up by the historian George Poull[10] and partially by the Europäische Stammtafeln (which however do not take into account the kinship with the Girardides)[5]. Eduard Hlawitschka's thesis, with the Girardide connection, is the one that currently meets with the most support, while the Etichonide thesis seems to be receding (for the agnateic/male lineage, of course; in the cognatic/female lineage, there are obviously relationships, at least with the Eguisheim-Nordgau).
Part of this section is transcluded from Matfriede. (edit | history)


Counts of Metz and ancestors of the Dukes of Lorraine.[11]


Adalhard of Metz
Count of Metz
Henry the Fowler
King of Germany		OdaGerhard
Count of Metz		Richer/Richar (d.945)
Abbot of Prüm, Bishop of Liège		Matfried
Count of Metz
"Ottonian dynasty"Wigfried
Archbishop of Cologne		Godfrid
Count Palantine of Lotharingia		Adalbert (d.944)
Count of Metz		Bishop Bernoin of Verdun
Godfrid
Duke of Lower Lotharingia		Gebhard
Possibly father of...		Gerhard, Count of Metz
Possibly father of...		Adalhard
Possibly father of...
Count Sigfried
founder of Luxembourg		Richard?
Count of Metz? Possibly father of...
Henry II, Holy Roman EmperorCunigunde of LuxembourgEva of LuxembourgGerhard Mosellensis
Count of Metz		Adalbert
Count in Saargau		Adelaide of Metz
Sigfried
died young		Berscinda
abbess		Gerhard
Count of Metz		Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Adalbert, Duke of Lorraine"Salian dynasty"

Renaissance

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The Renaissance dukes of Lorraine tended to arrogate to themselves claims to Carolingian ancestry, as illustrated by Alexandre Dumas, père in the novel La Dame de Monsoreau (1846);[12] in fact, so little documentation survives on the early generations that the reconstruction of a family tree for progenitors of the House of Alsace involves a good deal of guesswork.[citation needed]

Houses of Vaudémont and Guise

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See also: House of Guise
The Château du Grand Jardin in Joinville, the seat of the Counts and Dukes of Guise.

After a brief interlude of 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right of Charles's daughter to her husband John of Calabria, a Capetian, Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of House of Lorraine, in the person of René II who later added to his titles that of Duke of Bar.[13]

The French Wars of Religion saw the rise of a junior branch of the Lorraine family, the House of Guise, which became a dominant force in French politics and, during the later years of Henry III's reign, was on the verge of succeeding to the throne of France.[14] Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, also came from this family.

Under the Bourbon monarchy the remaining branch of the House of Guise, headed by the duc d'Elbeuf, remained part of the highest ranks of French aristocracy, while the senior branch of the House of Vaudémont continued to rule the independent duchies of Lorraine and Bar. Louis XIV's imperialist ambitions (which involved the occupation of Lorraine in 1669–97) forced the dukes into a permanent alliance with his archenemies, the Holy Roman Emperors from the House of Habsburg.

House of Habsburg‑Lorraine

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Main article: House of Habsburg-Lorraine
See also: House of Habsburg, House of Hohenberg, and Austria-Este
The coat of arms of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The shield displays the marshaled arms of the Habsburg, Babenberg and Lorraine families.

After Emperor Joseph I and Emperor Charles VI failed to produce a son and heir, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 left the throne to the latter's yet unborn daughter, Maria Theresa. In 1736 Emperor Charles arranged her marriage to Francis of Lorraine who agreed to exchange his hereditary lands for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (as well as the Duchy of Teschen from the Emperor).

At Charles's death in 1740 the Habsburg holdings passed to Maria Theresa and Francis, who was later elected (in 1745) Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I. The Habsburg-Lorraine nuptials and dynastic union precipitated, and survived, the War of the Austrian Succession. Francis and Maria Theresa's daughters Marie Antoinette and Maria Carolina of Austria became Queens of France and Naples-Sicily, respectively, while their sons Joseph II and Leopold II succeeded to the imperial title.

Apart from the core Habsburg dominions, including the triple crowns of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, several junior branches of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine reigned in the Italian duchies of Tuscany (until 1737-1796, 1814-1860), Parma (1814-1847) and Modena (1814-1859). Another member of the house, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, was Emperor of Mexico (1863–67).

In 1900, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (then heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne) contracted a morganatic marriage with Countess Sophie Chotek. Their descendants, known as the House of Hohenberg, have been excluded from succession to the Austro-Hungarian crown, but not that of Lorraine, where morganatic marriage has never been outlawed. Nevertheless, Otto von Habsburg, the eldest grandson of Franz Ferdinand's younger brother, was universally regarded as the head of the house until his death in 2011.[15] It was at Nancy, the former capital of the House of Vaudémont, that the former crown prince married Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen in 1951.[1]

List of heads

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See also: Family tree of the German monarchs, Dukes of Lorraine family tree, and List of heirs to the Austrian throne
Francis I of Lorraine with his family.

The following is a list of ruling heads (after 1918 pretenders) of the house of Ardennes-Metz and its successor houses of Lorraine and Habsburg-Lorraine, from the start of securely documented genealogical history in the 11th century.[citation needed]

Charles II died without male heir, the duchy passing to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, consort of Naples by marriage to Duke René of Anjou. The duchy passed to their son John II (r. 1453–1470), whose son Nicholas I (r. 1470–1473) died without heir. The title now went to Nicholas' aunt (sister of John II) Yolande.

House of Lorraine

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The House of Lorraine was formed by Yolande's marriage to Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (1428–1470), who was descended from John I (Yolande's great-grandfather) via his younger son Frederick I, Count of Vaudémont (1346–1390), Antoine, Count of Vaudémont (c. 1395–1431) and Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (1417–1470). René inherited the title of Duke of Lorraine upon his marriage in 1473.

House of Habsburg–Lorraine

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The heir of Franz Joseph, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, committed suicide in 1889. Franz Joseph was succeeded by his grandnephew, Charles I, son of Archduke Otto Francis, the son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, a younger brother of Franz Joseph.

Family tree

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Table Version

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Male-line family tree

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List of male-line members of the House of Lorraine

Male, male-line, legitimate, non-morganatic members of the house who either lived to adulthood, or who held a title as a child, are included. Heads of the house are in bold.


Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b Gordon Brook-Shepherd. Uncrowned Emperor: the Life and Times of Otto von Habsburg. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN 1-85285-439-1. pp. xi, 179, 216.
  2. ^ a b Dugast Rouillé, Michel (1967). Les maisons souveraines de l'Autriche. Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ William W. Kibler, Grover A. Zinn. Medieval France: an Encyclopedia. Routledge, 1995. ISBN 0-8240-4444-4. p. 561.
  4. ^ a b c Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands,Upper Lotharingia Nobility.
  5. ^ a b c d e Schwennicke, Detlev (1935–2007). Europäische Stammtafeln (in German). Vol. VI (3rd ed.). Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt. p. passage 129. Cite error: The named reference "ES" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ Calmet, Antoine Augustin (1728). Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de la Lorraine. Nancy. pp. cix–cxlix.
  7. ^ Viton, Nicholas (1811–1812). Histoire généalogique des maisons souveraines de l'Europe. Paris. p. 67.
  8. ^ Bogdan, Henry (2005). La Lorraine des ducs, sept siècles d'histoire. Perrin. pp. 31–32. ISBN 2-262-02113-9.
  9. ^ a b Hlawitschka, Eduard (1969). Die Anfänge des Hauses Habsburg-Lothringen. Saarbrücken.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ a b Poull, Georges (1991). La Maison ducale de Lorraine. Nancy: Presses Universitaires de Nancy. p. 575. ISBN 2-86480-517-0.
  11. ^ Hlawitschka, Eduard (1969), Die Anfänge des Hauses Habsburg-Lothringen. Genealogische Untersuchungen zur Geschichte Lothringens und des Reiches im 9., 10. und 11. Jahrhundert
  12. ^ See Chapter XXI.
  13. ^ Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (ed. by André Vauchez). Routledge, 2000. ISBN 1-57958-282-6. p. 1227.
  14. ^ Robert Knecht. The Valois: Kings of France 1328–1589. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007. ISBN 1-85285-522-3. p. 214.
  15. ^ Brook-Shepherd also notes that morganatic alliances were not forbidden by ancient Magyar laws. See Brook-Shepherd 179.
  16. ^ In 959, Lorraine was divided into two districts, Lower and Upper Lorraine, each governed by a margrave, under Bruno. Upon Bruno's death in 965, these two margraves were recognised as dukes of Lower Lorraine (Lower Lotharingia was most of today's Belgium less the County of Flanders, Luxembourg and part of the Rhineland]) and Upper Lorraine, respectively. The two duchies remained separate, following separate pathways, except for the period between 1033 and 1044.the Dukes of Lower LorraineDisintegrates. Title passes to the (house of) the Duke of Brabant, who until 1795 kept the title "Duke of Lothier"..
  17. ^ Pixton 1995, p. 142.
  18. ^ a b Bogdan 2007, p. 284.
  19. ^ a b Guenee 1987, p. 334-335.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wellman 2013, p. 236.
  21. ^ Carroll 2011, p. 310.
  22. ^ a b Carroll 2009, p. 310.
  23. ^ a b George 1875, p. table XXX.
  24. ^ a b c Carroll 2011, p. 311.
  25. ^ a b c Bogdan 2005, p. 286.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to House of Lorraine.
— Royal house —
House of Lorraine
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Preceded by
Archduchy of Austria
1780–1804 		Archduchy elevated to the Empire of Austria
Kingdom of Bohemia
1780–1918 		Kingdom abolished
Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands
1780–1795 		Duchy abolished
Kingdom of Hungary
1780–1849 		Incorporated into the Empire of Austria
Austro-Hungarian Compromise recreates the Kingdom of Hungary separate from the Empire of Austria in 1867
Kingdom of Hungary
1867–1918 		Kingdom abolished
New title Empire of Austria
1804–1918 		Empire abolished
Preceded by Grand Duchy of Tuscany
1765–1801 		Grand Duchy abolished
Became the Kingdom of Etruria, a territory of the House of Bourbon
Preceded by Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
1815–1866 		Kingdom abolished
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
1814–1859 		Grand duchy abolished
Incorporated into the United Provinces of Central Italy
Preceded by
House of Iturbide
Deposed in 1823; a republic was created in the interim
 Empire of Mexico
1864–1867 		Empire abolished
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