Early Life
Rudolph was the son of Count Albert IV of Habsburg and Hedwig, daughter of Count Ulrich of Kyburg, and was born at Limburg Castle near Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl in the Breisgau region. At his father's death in 1239, he inherited large estates from his father around the ancestral seat of Habsburg Castle in the Aargau region of present-day Switzerland as well as in Alsace. In 1245 Rudolph married Gertrude, daughter of Count Burkhard III of Hohenberg. As a result, he became an important vassal in Swabia, the former Alemannic German stem duchy.
Rudolph paid frequent visits to the court of his godfather, the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, and his loyalty to Frederick and his son, King Conrad IV of Germany, was richly rewarded by grants of land. In 1254, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV as a supporter of King Conrad, due to ongoing political conflicts between the Emperor, who held the Kingdom of Sicily and wanted to reestablish his power in the Imperial Kingdom of Italy, especially in the Lombardy region, and the Papacy, whose States lay in between and feared being overpowered by the Emperor.
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“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
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