49;3 
GERMAN Y. 
Rcdolphus had feven beautiful daughters, by means 
of whom he contradted alliances which proved liighly 
advantageous to his pollerity. He had alio {'even ions ; 
but none of th.efe lurvived him except his fen the duke 
ot Auftria, In him began the fogereign elevation of 
the houfe of Aullria, of which dynaity of emperors he 
was the founder.—Their hiftory is Ijriefly this: The 
houfe ot Auftria fprung from the counts of Hapfburg, 
a fmall territory of Swilferland on the river Aar, in the 
canton_ot Bern; where, on a lofty eminence, Itand the 
3 ‘emains oi an ancient cattle, the firtt teat of the houie 
of Auttria. When Rodolphus I. count of Haptburg, 
was called to fill the imperial throne, he was liege lord 
ol the greatei- part of Swilferland, after the extindtion 
ot the powerful houfe of Zaeringen, and that of the 
counts of Kyburg ; whole joint inheritance devolving 
on Rodolphus, became, in 1273, the grand bafis of his 
power, and that of his fuccelfors of the ancient and il- 
luttrious houfe of Auttria. 
Attec an interregnum of about nine months, a diet 
was held at Frankfort for the election of a new fove- 
reign, A.D. 1292; and the princes were tlrongly foli- 
cited to give their futfrages in favour of the late empe¬ 
ror’s fon ; but by the intrigues of Gerhard eledtor of 
Mentz, the majority declared for Adolphus of Nalfau, 
who, although one of the pooreil princes of the empire, 
was renowned tor his military Ikill and bravery. He 
proved himlelt, however, unworthy of his new dignity ; 
for, having injudicioully attacked the count-palatine of 
Burgundy and the princes of Thuringia, his ill fuccefs 
dimimllied his reputation : lie alfo rendered himfelf 
odious to the peopde by violating his promifes, and fet- 
ting up his own will as a fupreme lavv ; and was pub¬ 
licly accufed ot having facrificed helplefs maidens, 
wives, widows, and even nuns, to his lult and cruelty. 
Accordingly the Ifates declared him incapable of wear¬ 
ing the diadem; and, by a I'olemn aCd, transferred their 
allegiance- to the duke of Auttria. Upon the firll intel¬ 
ligence of this tranfa6lion, Adolphus advanced againlt 
Ids competitor, and tingled him out in the heat of en¬ 
gagement ; but victory relied on the Ivvord of Albert, 
and the remains of the fallen emperor were depofited in 
the cloiller of Frauenfelt, whence they were afterward 
removed to the imperial lepulchre bv Henry of Luxem¬ 
burg. 
Albert I. furnamed the Triumphant, on account of 
the numerous vi6tories he obtained over his enemies, 
wasinvefied with the royal diadem at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
in 129S. Upon the demil'e of •AVincellaus the Younger, 
Albert railed a llrong party in order to put the crown 
of Bohemia upon the head of his fon Rodolphus, and 
even perluaded tlie widow of the late king to bellow 
Jier hand upon him in marriage. Rodolphus, how'ever, 
was foon taken oft by a hidden death ; and Henry count 
ot Carinthia eilablilhed himfelf fo firmly on the throne, 
that Albert tound it impoflible to depofe him. Some 
time alter thefe tranfa6tions, the emperor efpoufed tlie 
raufe of Philip Nalfau agaim'l Frederic and Dictmann, 
who had been dilinherited by an unnatural father; but 
this flagrant iiijuftice was generally execrated ; Frederic 
raifed a numerous body of troops ; and Albert was 
eventually compelled to retire from the fword of his 
young adverfary. His chagain on this occalion, how¬ 
ever, was foon difiipated by the elevation of his nephew 
Charobert to the throne of Hungary. 
Albert’s conduct toward the Swifs v/as exactly the 
reverie ot his father’s ; for, though the latter had con¬ 
ciliated their aft'eClion by kindnefs and indulgence, and 
had unitormly defended their privileges againft the no¬ 
bles who attempted to infringe them, yet Albert wiftied 
to govern them as an abfolute fovereign, and appointed 
governors who opprelfed them in the moft unfeeling 
manner. The three cantons of Uijy, Switz, and Under- 
wald, in 1307, preferred I'everal complaints and remon- 
fininces to the emperor on the fubjett of their grie» 
vances : but as tl.cy found it impoflible to obtain any 
redrefs, they took an early opi'-ortunity of lhaking olF 
the imperial yoke ; and the other cantons foon engaged 
in a confederacy, which laid the firfl foundation ot the 
Flelvetic republic. 
The emperor had fix fons and tiiree daughters ) and 
the eagernefs which he manifelled to aggrandife his fa¬ 
mily, call a llain upon his reputation, and finally coll 
him his life. Being entrufted with the guardianfliip ot 
his nephew John, fon of Rodolphus duke of Swabia, 
he took upon himfelf the adminiftration of his domi¬ 
nions, and even hefitated to rctlore to him fome callles 
which the young duke demanded. This condudt in¬ 
duced many of the German princes to fuppofe that Al¬ 
bert meant to appropriate his ward’s patrimony to the 
benefit of his own children ; and' John was fo exafpe- 
rated at the idea of Inch an injury, that he engaged 
three confederates to aid him in his purpofed revenge. 
Th-'v accordingly fixed a time for the execution ot their 
delign, and alfaflinated the emperor on the bank ot the 
Rhus, near Schatfhaufen. One of the murderers, be¬ 
ing apprehended, was broken alive upon the wh.eel ; 
John, and another of his accomplices, lingered out a 
miferable life of penitentiary huniiliatio’n in a monallery ; 
and the fourth aflaflin lived thirty-five years as a cow¬ 
herd in an obfeure village, and did not dilcover his 
guilty fecret till the hour of his dilfolution. 
Upon the firll news of Albert’s aflallination, A. D. 
1308, Philip the Fair, king of France, avowed his in¬ 
tention of becoming a canciidate for the vacant throne; 
and even fet out for Avignon, in order to tolicit pope 
Clement V. to determine the fufl'rages in his favour ; 
but the fovereign pontift' had fufficient caufe to dread 
the elevation of a prince who might probably entorce 
the claims of his predecelfors to Italy; and theretore 
wrote privately to the eledlors, urging them to nominate 
a chief, and afl'uring them that, unlefs they proceeded 
to the eledlion immediately, the imperial dignity would 
revert from Germany to France. An all'cmbly ot the 
princes was accordingly held at Frankfort, and Henry 
of Luxemburg was unanimoully chofen to fill the va¬ 
cant throne. 
Having been crowned, with the ufual folemnities, at 
Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1309, Henry made a progrels along 
the Rhine, to receive the cuftomary oaths ot fidelity 
irom the princes ; and foon afterward convened an im¬ 
perial diet at Spire, where fentence of death was pro¬ 
nounced againll the murderers of the late emperor, and 
Albert’s four fons were invefted with the duchy at 
Aullria. Upon this occalion, alio, a marriage was Ib- 
lemnifed between the emperor’s ton John, and the 
princefs Elizabeth of Boiiemia, by which means the^ 
crown of Bohemia became hereditary in the houfe ot 
Luxemburg. After challiling one ot his refratlory 
counts, and promulgating a famous decree for the ex- 
puifion of the Jews from all the provinces ot Germany, 
the emperor fet out on an expedition to Italy; where 
he received the i'ubmillions ot leveral cities, and was 
folemnly crowned at Milan. The pope, however, took 
Inch oft'ence at the arrival of a German army, that he 
formed a confederacy againll liis illuflrious vilitor, and 
urged the inhabitants ot Cremona, Brefcia, I lorcnce, 
and fome other cities, to defend themlelves with vi- 
gour ; but againft whom the emperor immediately led 
tlie imperial forces. 
After reducing Cremoira, and compelling Parma, Vi¬ 
cenza, and Placentia, to make peace upon his own 
terms, Henry laid liege to Brefcia, which refilled all his 
eftbrts for conliderable time, with ailonifliing firmnefs; 
but the inhabitants were at lail reduced to fuch extre¬ 
mity, tiiat they were compelled to appeal to his cle¬ 
mency, and prefented themfelvcs before him, barefoot, 
with halters about their necks. This fpectacle cftec- 
tually appeafed the refentment which had been excited 
in Henry’s brealt by the deaili ot Ids brother Waleran, 
if 
■f 
