Treaty of Rheinfelden

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In the Treaty of Rheinfelden, concluded June 1, 1283, the then eleven-year-old Duke Rudolph II of Austria had to waive all his rights to the thrones of Austria and Styria to the benefit of his elder brother Albert I. The fact that Rudolph was never compensated induced his son John Parricida to murder Albert in 1308.

History > Late Middle Ages > The accession of the Habsburgs

As the German princes had not cared to give Rudolf adequate support against Otakar, he did not feel bound to them and set out to acquire the former Babenberg lands for his own house. In 1281 he made his eldest son, Albert (later Albert I, king of Germany), governor of Austria and Styria; on Christmas, 1282, he invested his two sons, Albert and Rudolf II, with Austria, Styria, and Carniola, which they were to rule jointly and undivided. As the Austrians were not used to being governed by two sovereigns at the same time, the Treaty of Rheinfelden (June 1, 1283) provided that Duke Albert should be the sole ruler. In 1282 Carniola had already been pawned to Meinhard II of Tirol (of the counts of Gorizia), one of the most reliable allies of Rudolf who, in 1286, was also invested with Carinthia (see Habsburg, House of).