House of Habsburg

Augsburg, 27 December 1282

At a royal court assembly in Augsburg on 27 December 1282, King Rudolf I issued a charter jointly enfeoffing his sons Albert and Rudolf with the duchies of Austria and Styria, and with Carniola and the Windic March.

The brothers were elevated to the rank of imperial princes, and the grant was made zu gesamter Hand — jointly — so that they initially shared the lordship.

Rudolf authenticated the instrument with a royal gold seal; the original deed is catalogued by the Austrian State Archives as AT-OeStA/HHStA UR AUR 1792.

A feudal act, not a bequest

This was a feudal enfeoffment of imperial lands, not a private transfer of property to heirs. Rudolf was King of the Romans, not a crowned Holy Roman emperor.

He had sought a durable dynastic settlement for territories recovered from Ottokar II, and had obtained the necessary support of the imperial princes.

“Co-rulers” is defensible, but “jointly enfeoffed” is the more precise description.

Six months of joint rule

The grant established a Habsburg territorial base in the eastern Alpine lands. Albert did not become sole ruler until the Rheinfelden family settlement of 1 June 1283, under which Rudolf II relinquished his position.

After this deed, the Austrian State Archives notes, the Habsburgs began styling themselves “of Austria.”