Royal Ancestor Construction and Veneration in the House of Habsburg

Focused on medieval-period Austria, this chapter explores how the Central European House of Habsburg deployed ancestors as part of a political strategy to link the dynasty and its members with the illustrious dead. Taking a liberal view of ancestorhood, Habsburgs such as Rudolph I and Maximilian I p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Archaeology of Ancestors
Main Author Weiss-Krejci, Estella
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published University Press of Florida 29.03.2016
Subjects
ancestors
Austria
Europe
genealogy
Habsburgs
Historical Archaeology
medieval period
politics
royalty
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Summary:Focused on medieval-period Austria, this chapter explores how the Central European House of Habsburg deployed ancestors as part of a political strategy to link the dynasty and its members with the illustrious dead. Taking a liberal view of ancestorhood, Habsburgs such as Rudolph I and Maximilian I publicly visited and reused ancient burial places, intermarried with members of other dynasties in order to increase the prestige of their own, and occasionally manufactured—wholesale—the required genealogical documentation to bolster their kinship-based claims to royal status.
ISBN:9780813062518
0813062519
DOI:10.5744/florida/9780813062518.003.0007