Have You Heard of the Hapsburgs?
We’ve all heard of famous empires like the Roman, Moghul or the Ottomans. There is another royal family, probably not as well-known as the rest but who were extremely influential. After all, the assassination of their Archduke was the catalyst for the First World War. I’m talking of the House of Hapsburg, an initially nondescript family from the mountains of Switzerland, that rose up to become rulers of the Austro-Hungarian and Spanish Empires, and of various other parts of Europe for 700 years. I find these guys extremely fascinating, not least because of their insistence on marrying within the family, which resulted in some interesting ailments and deformities, but also because of the names by which they came to be known.
Who were the Hapsburgs? As I said before, they were one of the most influential royal houses in Europe. Not only did they occupy the throne of the Holy Roman Empire for about 300 years, they also ruled over Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and several areas of the Netherlands and Italy, as well as over Spanish colonies in the Americas.
Little known fact: the Philippines is named after King Philip II (the one who married Queen Mary of England) and who was a…
