The Insignia of The Austrian Hereditary Homage
Austria began as a small march and was later elevated to a duchy, then archduchy. The house of Babenberg and later the Habsburg dynasty were the margraves, dukes and later archdukes of this fiefdom. After the death of the last Babenberg duke, Frederick II in 1246, King Ottokar II of Bohemia took over for a while. He was, however, defeated by King of Germany Rudolf of Habsburg in 1278, with the help of his sons Albert and Rudolf. Rudolf then installed his son Albert as Duke of Austria. The enthronement ceremony of the new Archduke of Austria was not an actual coronation, but more a ceremony of homage by the estates. In the German language, this ceremony is called the Erbhuldigung. The estates in parliament swore obedience to their new ruler, and he in turn guaranteed their rights and upheld their privileges. However, in this ceremony sovereign insignia were also used.
The Insignia consist of the Austrian archducal hat or archducal coronet, which was made for Joseph II's entry into Frankfurt for his coronation as German king in 1764. The orb and the sceptre were in use as the royal insignia of the Kingdom of Bohemia until the early 17th century.
- The archducal hat is kept today at the Klosterneuburg Monastery in Lower Austria. Please see archducal hat for further information.
- The ducal hat of Styria is kept at the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Styria.
Read more about this topic: Austrian Crown Jewels
Famous quotes containing the words austrian, hereditary and/or homage:
“An Austrian army, awfully array’d,
Boldly by battery besiege Belgrade;
Cossack commanders cannonading come,
Deal devastation’s dire destructive doom;”
—Alaric Alexander Watts (1797–1864)
“People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.”
—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)
“Did men but consider that the sun, moon, and stars, and every other object of the senses, are only so many sensations in their minds, which have no other existence but barely being perceived, doubtless they would never fall down and worship their own ideas; but rather address their homage to that eternal invisible Mind which produces and sustains all things.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)