Rudolf I

Rudolf I or Rudolf of Hapsburg, 1218-91, German king (1273-91), first king of the Hapsburg dynasty. Rudolf's election as king ended the interregnum (1250-73), during which time there was no accepted German king or Holy Roman emperor. The election was prompted by Pope Gregory X, who needed the support of a strong German ruler to counter the power of Charles I of Anjou in Italy. Rudolf's election was contested by the powerful King Ottocar II of Bohemia. Rudolf finally defeated Ottocar at Marchfeld (1278) and invested (1282) his own sons Albert (later King Albert I) and Rudolf with Austria, Styria, and Carniola, which he had won from Ottocar; these lands became the core of the Hapsburg possessions. Rudolf thus laid the foundations for a strong kingship based on large dynastic holdings. In Germany, Rudolf attempted to recover the rights lost to the crown during the interregnum. He issued local land peaces to overcome internal anarchy and imposed taxes on the imperial towns in order to strengthen the central government, but these measures had little success. In his Italian policy Rudolf attempted to conciliate the new pope, Nicholas III (reigned 1277-80), in the hope of securing the pope's approval for his coronation as Holy Roman emperor; Rudolf renounced his sovereignty over the Papal States and sought to bring about the withdrawal of the house of Anjou from central Italy. With Nicholas's death, however, and the election of an anti-German pope, Rudolf's plans for imperial coronation fell through. He also failed to have his son Albert elected king, which would have insured Albert's succession as emperor. Instead, Adolf of Nassau succeeded Rudolf.

or Rudolf of Habsburg

(born May 1, 1218, Limburg-im-Breisgau—died July 15, 1291, Speyer) First German king (1273–91) of the Habsburg dynasty. He inherited lands in Alsace, the Aargau, and Breisgau and extended his territory by marriage and through negotiation. Crowned king in 1273, he was recognized by Pope Gregory X only after promising to lead a new Crusade and to renounce imperial rights in Rome, the papal territories, and Italy. Rudolf defeated his rival Otakar II (1276, 1278) and gained lands in Austria, which he granted to his sons. He worked to combat the expansionist policies of France, but French influence at the papal court kept him from being crowned Holy Roman emperor. Although he created the core of later Habsburg territorial power, Rudolf was unable to make the throne a hereditary possession of his family, because the German electors would not raise his son to the kingship.

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Rudolf I of Bavaria (October 4 1274, Basle – August 12 1319), (German: Rudolf I , Herzog von Bayern, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein), since 1294 he was the Duke of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Rudolf was the son of Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria, and Mechthild (Matilda), a daughter of King Rudolph I.

Life

He succeeded his father in 1294 and supported his father-in-law king Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg against his uncle, the Habsburg Albert of Austria. After Adolf's death Rudolf joined Albert's party but the strong dynastic policy of the new king caused a new conflict. Since Albert put pressure on Rudolf he had to accept his younger brother Louis IV as co-regent in 1301. After Albert's assassination in 1308 Rudolf voted for Henry of Luxemburg and then accompanied the new king to Italy.

A civil war against his brother Louis IV due to new disputes on the partition of their lands was ended in 1313, when peace was made at Munich. Louis IV was elected German king in 1314 but Rudolf had voted for his opponent Frederick of Austria. In 1317 after another long controversy with Louis IV he lost the Palatinate and it was agreed that Rudolf gave up his rule until the conflict of Louis with Habsburg was ended. But then Rudolf died already in 1319, assumedly in England.

But by the Treaty of Pavia in 1329, Louis granted the Palatinate to Rudolf's sons Rudolf II "the Blind" and Rupert I and Rudolf's grandson Rupert II, a son of Adolf. This way finally Rudolf I and his grandson Rupert II became the ancestors of the older (Palatinate) line of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which returned to power also in Bavaria in 1777 after the extinction of the younger (Bavarian) line, the descendants of Louis IV.

Family and children

He married in Nuremberg 1 September 1294 with Mechtild of Nassau, daughter of king Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg and had the following children:

1. Ludwig (1297–before 5 April 1311).
2. Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (27 September 1300, Wolfratshausen–29 January 1327).
3. Rudolf II the Blind (8 August 1306, Wolfratshausen–4 October 1353, Neustadt).
4. Rupert I the Red (9 June 1309, Wolfratshausen–16 February 1390).
5. Mathilde (1312–25 November 1375), married 1330/1 to Count John III of Sponheim.
6. Anna (1318–1319).

Ancestors

Rudolf's ancestors in three generations

Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria	Father: Louis II, Duke of Bavaria	Paternal Grandfather: Otto II, Duke of Bavaria	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Louis I, Duke of Bavaria
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Ludmila of Bohemia
		Paternal Grandmother: Agnes of Palatinate	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Agnes of Hohenstaufen
	Mother: Matilda of Habsburg	Maternal Grandfather: Rudolph I of Germany	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Albert IV, Count of Habsburg
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Hedwig of Kyburg
		Maternal Grandmother: Gertrude of Hohenburg	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Burchard V, Count of Hohenberg
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Mechtild of Tübingen