The Habsburg Empire
Such a complex history — and the Habsburg kings, historians, and peoples would have it no other way. One could go back to the 11th Century and Radbot of Klettgau who built the Habsburg Castle in Switzerland. The family came to rule Austria in the 13th Century; it was a duchy within the Kingdom of Germany which was rolled into the Holy Roman Empire. You see how a thousand years of histories and millions of peoples from a dozen nationalities/ethnicities/geographies are involved. What we do remember is the end: World War One and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the merciless maelstrom of the 20th Century.
This selection scratches the surface, of course. I am drawn to the history and literature of the Empire because it had such grand concerns (half of modern Europe) and great writers (Banffy, Zweig, Musil, Freud, among many). It also had supremely romantic figures — Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Sissi, a Bavarian girl lifted to the heights of the imperium only to see the beginning of the end before her assassination in 1898, the longest serving Empress in Austrian history. All of History’s wheels-within-wheels seemed to operate in the Empire, all levels of art and science and literature and military tradition.
And we live with the shadows, the ruins, and the consequences of the Empire to these fraught days of the 21st Century.
The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times
The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times
Few families in history are as renowned as the Habsburgs, one of the principal sovereign dynasties of Europe from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. These enthralling pages provide glimpses into the lives of their esteemed members. The lessons that their lives teach will help guide your family in faith and will help you live in peaceful prosperity and grow in holiness. Their maxims could also provide a roadmap for healing the world we live in.
You will read about the Imperial House of Habsburg’s saints and heroes, sinners, assassinations, and affairs, and the impact that freemasonry, Jansenism, and the Enlightenment had on them and on all of Europe. With warmth and candor, Eduard Habsburg — a member of the family and archduke of Austria — shares insights about the Seven Principles (maxims) at the root of Habsburg thought, action, politics, and family life, along with:
The main ingredient for a stable marriage and how to create a deep bond between spouses
The secret and value to a happy and productive family life
How the Habsburg’s Empire was different from “Star Wars”
Five dates to remember in Habsburg history and their significance
How to die like a royal (and it’s not what you may think!)
You will learn the key role the Habsburgs played in the epic battles of Lepanto and Vienna and be inspired by exemplary Habsburgs such as Bl. Emperor Karl and Rudolf I, the first Habsburg ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, who helped a priest bring Viaticum to a dying man.
This astounding Habsburg history tells of the devout reign of Maria Theresia Habsburg-Lothringen, mother of sixteen children, who saved the family lands and organized pilgrimages and countrywide vigils in honor of Our Lady and the Blessed Sacrament.
It describes how Emperor Charles V safeguarded the Faith and how Venerable Magdalena, archduchess, and later Ferdinand II, heroically countered the Reformation. You will marvel at how Leopold I led his people to the pinnacle of Catholic piety and almost became a priest.
You will discover fascinating Habsburg family lore and the manner in which their marriages were arranged (even in utero!). And you will find out how they promoted subsidiarity and protected people from politicians — and the extraordinary relevance that has for us today.
Surely our world today be a better place if all of us, our societies and politicians, would study these Seven Rules for Turbulent Times and follow…The Habsburg Way.