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Ernest I
Ernest I
Duke of Austria
	Portrait by Anton Boys, c. 1580
Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola
Reign	15 July 1406 – 10 June 1424
Predecessor	William
Successor	Frederick V and Albert VI
Born	1377; Bruck an der Mur, Duchy of Styria
Died	10 June 1424; Bruck an der Mur, Duchy of Styria
Spouse	Margaret of Pomerania; Cymburgis of Masovia
Issue	Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor; Margaret of Austria; Albert VI, Archduke of Austria; Alexander of Austria; Rudolf of Austria; Catherine of Austria; Leopold of Austria; Anna of Austria; Ernest of Austria
House	Habsburg
Father	Leopold III, Duke of Austria
Mother	Viridis Visconti

Ernest the Iron-Willed (German: Ernst der Eiserne; 1377 – 10 June 1424), a member of the House of Habsburg, ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was head of the Habsburg Leopoldian line from 1411.

Biography

Ernest was born in Bruck an der Mur in Styria, the third son of Duke Leopold III of Austria (1351–1386) and his consort Viridis Visconti (d. 1414),^[1] a daughter of Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan. Shortly after his birth, his father and his uncle Albert III divided the Habsburg lands by the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg: while Albert and his Albertinian descendants would rule over the Duchy of Austria proper, the Leopoldian line received the Inner Austrian states of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola with the remaining March of Istria, as well as Tyrol and the Further Austrian possessions. After Leopold's death in the 1386 Battle of Sempach, young Ernest and his brothers William, Leopold IV and Frederick IV remained under the guardianship of their uncle Albert III.

In 1401 Ernest accompanied King Rupert of Germany on his campaign to Italy. When their elder brother William died in 1406, the remaining three sons of Leopold III agreed about the partition of their patrimony: In the separation agreement of 1406, Ernest received Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and jointly with his elder brother Leopold IV (the current head of the Leopoldian line) held the guardianship over their minor nephew Albert V of Austria, grandson of Duke Albert III. Tyrol and Further Austria passed to the youngest brother Frederick IV.

In 1407, however, conflicts between Leopold and Ernest resulted in a civil war that lasted until May 1409. When Leopold died without male heirs in 1411, Ernest finally became the uncontested head of the Leopoldian branch. In 1414, he became the last Duke to be enthroned according to Carantanian traditional rite at the Prince's Stone in Carinthia, and from that time on called himself 'archduke'. He was the first Habsburg to actually use this title, which had been invented by his uncle Duke Rudolf IV.

Ernest was made a member of the Order of the Dragon and of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1414, however, he became bitter with the Luxembourg king Sigismund from 1412 onwards. When his brother Frederick IV, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, was banned by the king in 1417, Ernest first attempted to gain control over Frederick's territories himself, but then came to an agreement with him and successfully defended Tyrol against Sigismund's pretensions. Ernest turned out to be a capable ruler of the Inner Austrian lands; his eldest son Frederick V would become sole heir of all Habsburg lines, elected King of the Romans in 1440 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1452.

Ernest died at Bruck an der Mur, and was buried in the Cistercian monastery of Rein near Graz. His nickname the Iron only came into use after his death.

Family and children

Margaret of Pomerania

Cymburgis of Masovia

On 14 January 1392, Ernest married his first wife, Margaret of Pomerania. She was a daughter of the Griffin duke Bogislaw V of Pomerania and his second wife, Adelheid of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. They had no children. She died in either 1407 or 1410, according to contradictory necrologies.

On 25 January 1412, Ernest married his second wife, the Piast princess Cymburgis of Masovia.^[2] They had:

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493)^[1]
Margaret of Austria (1416/17 – 12 February 1486), married on 3 June 1431 to Frederick II, Elector of Saxony^[2]
Albert VI, Archduke of Austria (18 December 1418 – 2 December 1463)
Alexander of Austria (died 1420)
Rudolf of Austria (died before 1424)
Catherine of Austria (1420 – 11 September 1493), married on 15 July 1447 to Charles I, Margrave of Baden-Baden^[2]
Leopold of Austria (died before 1424)
Anna of Austria (died 11 November 1429)
Ernest of Austria (died 10 August 1432)

As the ruler of Inner Austria and founder of the older Styrian line of the Habsburgs, which, by their son, Frederick III survived the Albertinian (Austrian) and Tyrolean lines, Ernest and Cymburgis became the ancestors of all later emperors of the Habsburg monarchy.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Ernest, Duke of Austria

8. Albert I of Germany

4. Albert II, Duke of Austria

9. Elisabeth of Carinthia

2. Leopold III, Duke of Austria

10. Ulrich III, Count of Pfirt

5. Joanna of Pfirt

11. Joanna of Burgundy

1. Ernest, Duke Austria

12. Stefano Visconti

6. Bernabò Visconti

13. Valentina Doria

3. Viridis Visconti

14. Mastino II della Scala

7. Beatrice Regina della Scala

15. Taddea da Carrara

Male-line family tree

House of Habsburg^{[n 1]}

Original line

Albert
Count of Habsburg
c. 1188–1239

Rudolf I
of Germany
c. 1218–1291

Albert I
of Germany
1255–1308

Hartmann
1263–1281

Rudolf II
Duke of Austria
1270–1290

Rudolf I
of Bohemia
1281–1307

Frederick
the Fair
c. 1289–1330

Leopold I
Duke of Austria
1290–1326

Albert II
Duke of Austria
1298–1358

Henry
the Friendly
1299–1327

Otto
Duke of Austria
1301–1339

John
Parricida
c. 1290–1312/1313

Albertinian line

Leopoldian line

Rudolf IV
Duke of Austria
1339–1365

Frederick III
1347–1362

Albert III
Duke of Austria
1349–1395

Leopold III
Duke of Austria
1351–1386

Frederick II
Duke of Austria
1327–1344

Leopold II
Duke of Austria
1328–1344

Albert IV
Duke of Austria
1377–1404

William
Duke of Austria
c. 1370–1406

Leopold IV
Duke of Austria
1371–1411

Ernest
Duke of Austria
1377–1424

Frederick IV
Duke of Austria
1382–1439

Albert II
of Germany
1397–1439

Frederick III
HRE
1415–1493

Albert VI
Archduke of Austria
1418–1463

Sigismund
Archduke of Austria
1427–1496

Ladislaus
the Posthumous
1440–1457

Maximilian I
HRE
1459–1519

Philip I
of Castile
1478–1506

Spanish / Iberian line

Austrian / HRE line

Charles V
HRE
1500–1558

Ferdinand I
HRE
1503–1564

Philip II
of Spain
1527–1598

Maximilian II
HRE
1527–1576

Ferdinand II
Archduke of Austria
1529–1595

Charles II
Archduke of Austria
1540–1590

Carlos
Prince of Asturias
1545–1568

Philip III
of Spain
1578–1621

Rudolf II
HRE
1552–1612

Ernest
of Austria
1553–1595

Matthias
HRE
1557–1619

Maximilian III
Archduke of Austria
1558–1618

Albert VII
Archduke of Austria
1559–1621

Wenceslaus
Archduke of Austria
1561–1578

Andrew
Margrave of Burgau
1558–1600

Charles
Margrave of Burgau
1560–1618

Ferdinand II
HRE
1578–1637

Maximilian Ernest
of Austria
1583–1616

Leopold V
Archduke of Austria
1586–1632

Charles
of Austria
1590–1624

Philip IV
of Spain
1605–1665

Charles
of Austria
1607–1632

Ferdinand
of Austria
1609–1641

John-Charles
of Austria
1605–1619

Ferdinand III
HRE
1608–1657

Leopold Wilhelm
of Austria
1614–1662

Ferdinand Charles
Archduke of Austria
1628–1662

Sigismund Francis
Archduke of Austria
1630–1665

Balthasar Charles
Prince of Asturias
1629–1646

Charles II
of Spain
1661–1700

Ferdinand IV
King of the Romans
1633–1654

Leopold I
HRE
1640–1705

Charles Joseph
of Austria
1649–1664

Joseph I
HRE
1678–1711

Charles VI
HRE
1685–1740

Notes:

^ "Habsburg family tree". Habsburg family website. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

References

^ ^a ^b Lodge 1924, p. 273.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hohkamp 2007, Figure 5.1.

Sources

Lodge, Eleanor Constance (1924). The End of the Middle Age, 1273-1453. Methuen & Company Limited.
Hohkamp, Michaela (2007). "Sisters, Aunts, and Cousins: Familial Architectures and the Political Field in Early Modern Europe". In Sabean, David Warren; Mathieu, Jon; Teuscher, Simon (eds.). Kinship in Europe: Approaches to Long-Term Development (1300-1900). Berghahn Books.

External links

Entry in Aeiou Encyclopedia

Regnal titles
Ernest, Duke of Austria House of Habsburg Born: 1377 Died: 10 June 1424
Preceded by William	Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola 1406–1424	Succeeded by Frederick V & Albert VI