Rudolf I or Rudolf of Hapsburg (r

`dŏlf), 1218–91, German king (1273–91), first king of the Hapsburg Hapsburg-Lorraine. An enlightened despot, Joseph II instituted reforms that included abolition of serfdom, revision of the penal code, religious toleration, and reduction of the power of the church. Leadership in the Hapsburg empire was given to the Germans.
..... Click the link for more information. 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 Charles I (Charles of Anjou), 1227–85, king of Naples and Sicily (1266–85), count of Anjou and Provence, youngest brother of King Louis IX of France. He took part in Louis's crusades to Egypt (1248) and Tunisia (1270).
..... Click the link for more information. of Anjou in Italy. Rudolf's election was contested by the powerful King Ottocar II Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire to build an empire reaching
..... Click the link for more information. of Bohemia. Rudolf finally defeated Ottocar at Marchfeld (1278) and invested (1282) his own sons Albert (later King Albert I Albert I, c.1250–1308, Holy Roman Emperor (1298–1308), son of Rudolf I . Albert was invested with Austria and Styria in 1282 by his father, who also hoped to secure the succession as king of the Germans for Albert.
..... Click the link for more information. ) 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.

Rudolf I

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.