View source for Albert II of Germany

{{Short description|King of the Romans from 1438 to 1439}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=September 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Albert the Magnanimous
| image        = Albrecht II. von Habsburg.jpg
| image_size   = 230px
| caption      = Posthumous anonymous portrait of Albert, 16th century
| succession   = [[Duke of Austria]]
| reign        = 14 September 1404{{snd}}27 October 1439
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Albert IV of Austria|Albert IV]]
| successor    = [[Ladislaus the Posthumous]]
| succession1  = [[King of Hungary]] and [[King of Croatia|Croatia]]
| reign1       = 18 December 1437{{snd}}27 October 1439
| coronation1  = 1 January 1438, [[Székesfehérvár]]
| predecessor1 = [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]
| successor1   = [[Władysław III of Poland|Vladislaus I]]
| succession2  = [[King of the Romans]]
| reign2       = 17 March 1438{{snd}}27 October 1439
| predecessor2 = [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]
| successor2   = [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]]
| succession3  = [[King of Bohemia]]
| reign3       = 6 May 1438{{snd}}27 October 1439
| coronation3  = 29 June 1438, [[Prague]]
| predecessor3 = [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]
| successor3   = [[Ladislaus the Posthumous]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Elizabeth of Luxembourg]]|1422}}
| issue        = {{ubl|[[Anne of Luxembourg|Anne, Duchess of Luxembourg]]|[[Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)|Elisabeth, Queen of Poland]]|[[Ladislaus the Posthumous]]}}
| house        = [[Habsburg]]
| father       = [[Albert IV, Duke of Austria]]
| mother       = [[Joanna Sophia of Bavaria]]
| birth_date   = 10 August 1397
| birth_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Duchy of Austria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=y|1439|10|27|1397|08|10}}
| death_place  = [[Neszmély]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Kingdom of Hungary]]
| burial_place = [[Székesfehérvár]]
}}
'''Albert the Magnanimous''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Order of the Garter|KG]]}}, elected [[King of the Romans]] as '''Albert II''' (10 August 1397{{snd}}27 October 1439), was a member of the [[House of Habsburg]]. By inheritance he became '''Albert V''', [[Duchy of Austria|Duke of Austria]]. Through his wife (''[[jure uxoris]]'') he also became [[King of Hungary]], [[Croatia]], [[Bohemia]], and inherited a claim to the [[Duchy of Luxembourg]].

He played a significant role in the [[Hussite Wars]], assisting his father-in-law [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]] and suffering defeats like the [[Battle of Domažlice]] in 1431. Crowned King of Hungary in 1438, he struggled to control [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and fought against Polish-Bohemian forces. He later became [[King of the Romans]] but died in 1439 while defending [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Hungary]] from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]. His reign saw anti-Hussite and anti-Jewish persecutions, continuing medieval [[Crusades of the 15th century|crusades]] against perceived heretics. Austrian Jews faced increased taxation and expulsions, culminating in the 1420 Vienna pogrom, partly driven by accusations of aiding the Hussites.

==Biography==
[[File:Karel Svoboda (1824-1870) - Korunovace císaře Albrechta II. za krále českého roku 1438.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Coronation of Albert II in 1438 as King of Bohemia, by [[Karel Svoboda (artist)|Karel Svoboda]], 1848–1856]]
Albert was born in [[Vienna]] as the son of [[Albert IV, Duke of Austria]], and [[Joanna Sophia of Bavaria]].{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1978|p=792}}

He succeeded to the Duchy of Austria at the age of seven on his father's death in 1404. His uncle [[William, Duke of Austria|Duke William of Inner Austria]], then head of the rivaling [[Leopoldinian line]], served as regent for his nephew, followed by his brothers [[Leopold IV, Duke of Austria|Leopold IV]] and [[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest the Iron]] in 1406. The quarrels between the brothers and their continued attempts to gain control over the [[Albertinian line|Albertinian]] territories led to civil war-like conditions. Nevertheless, Albert, having received a good education, undertook the government of Austria proper on the occasion of Leopold's death in 1411 and succeeded, with the aid of his advisers, in ridding the duchy of the evils which had arisen during his minority.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Albert II. (German king)|display=Albert II.|volume=1|page=496}} Endnote: see [[Wilhelm Altmann|W. Altmann]], ''Die Wahl Albrecht II. zum römische Könige'' (Berlin, 1886).</ref>

In 1422 Albert married [[Elisabeth of Bohemia (1409-1442)|Elisabeth of Luxemburg]], the daughter and heiress of the King [[Sigismund of Hungary]] (later also [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Kingdom of Bohemia|King of Bohemia]]), and his second wife, the Slovenian noblewoman [[Barbara of Celje]].{{sfn|Jackson-Laufer|1999|p=130}} Besides Hungary, Albert's marriage brought him claims to several Slavic kingdoms and principalities as well.

[[File:Albrecht II as Roman-German king.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Albert II as Roman-German king]]
Albert assisted his father-in-law Sigismund in his campaigns against the [[Hussites]], involving the Austrian duchy in the [[Hussite Wars]]. In return Sigismund designated him as his successor and granted him the title of [[Margraviate of Moravia|Margrave of Moravia]] in 1423. The Austrian lands were devastated several times and Albert also participated in the 1431 [[Battle of Domažlice]] where the Imperial troops suffered an embarrassing defeat. While his lands were harmed it was a show of loyalty to the church as the church was trying to consolidate its influence and power.<ref name=":0" />{{Failed verification|reason=At no point does the source given refer to Albert, Sigismund or the Hussite Wars.|date=September 2025}}

When Sigismund died in 1437, Albert was crowned king of Hungary on 1 January 1438, and just as his predecessor did, he moved his court to the Hungarian Kingdom from where he later oversaw his other domains. Although crowned king of Bohemia six months after ascending to the Hungarian throne, he was unable to obtain possession of the country. He was engaged in warfare with the Bohemians and their Polish allies, when on 17 March 1438, he was elected as "[[King of the Romans]]" at [[Frankfurt am Main|Frankfurt]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Decaluwé |editor-first1=Michiel |editor-last2=Izbicki |editor-first2=Thomas M. |editor-last3=Christianson |editor-first3=Gerald |date=November 2016 |title=A Companion to the Council of Basel |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=28 |isbn=9789004222649 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyZoDQAAQBAJ |access-date=February 3, 2025}}</ref> Albert was never crowned as [[Holy Roman Emperor]].

Afterwards engaged in defending Hungary against the attacks of the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]], he died on 27 October 1439 at [[Neszmély]] and was buried at [[Székesfehérvár]]. Albert was an energetic and warlike prince, whose short reign as a triple king gave great promise of usefulness for the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Hussite Wars and persecution ==
[[File:Seal of Albert II of Habsburg.png|thumb|Albert's seal]]
Beginning with the [[First Crusade]] in the year 1095, those who were not adherents to the [[Catholic]] faith were deemed by the religious authorities to be [[heretics]], and were to be persecuted, destroyed or converted.<ref name=":2" /> While the papal call for violence against non-Christians applied to [[Muslims]] originally, it was applied against other religious and social groups.<ref name=":3" /> [[Jews]] and [[lepers]] were the main targets along with Muslims in the crusade to destroy "devilry."<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Nirenberg |first=David |title=Communities of violence: persecution of minorities in the Middle Ages |date=1996 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-03375-4 |location=Princeton, N.J}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The persecution of Jews came as no surprise in connection with the [[Hussite Wars]].{{Clarify|date=September 2025}} The call to arms against heretics meant the call to arms against all who are not Christian, with the hopes of their destruction or conversion.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> If the heretics did not convert to Christianity they were massacred, usually burned.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025|reason=Only burned?}}

==Jewish persecution==
Beginning in the 11th century, Jews began to migrate from rural areas to the cities of Western Europe, where they came to assume an important economic role in commercial activity and especially as moneylenders.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Little |first=Lester K. |title=Religious poverty and the profit economy in medieval Europe |date=1978 |page=42-51 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-1213-4 |location=Ithaca, NY}}</ref> This economic transformation was accompanied by a deterioration of relations between Jewish and Christian populations, with an increase of violent persecutions ([[Pogrom]]) by the latter towards the former.<ref name=":0" /> [[Rhineland massacres|The first major instance of Jewish persecution]] coincided with the call of the First Crusade in the fall of 1095.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Riley-Smith |first=Jonathan |date=January 1984 |title=The First Crusade and the Persecution of the Jews |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/article/abs/first-crusade-and-the-persecution-of-the-jews/6F89E56B68A5B3BE5853FEF23A522570 |journal=Studies in Church History |language=en |volume=21 |pages=51–72 |doi=10.1017/S0424208400007531 |issn=0424-2084|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Summoned by [[Pope Urban II]] with the aim of conquering the [[Holy Land]], crusaders interpreted the papal call to use violence against non Christians as a command to attack and destroy Jewish communities in France<ref name=":0" /> and the Rhineland.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=The Intolerant Middle Ages: A Reader |date=2020 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-0612-4 |editor-last=Smelyansky |editor-first=Eugene |page=28 |series=Readings in medieval civilizations and cultures |location=Toronto; Buffalo; London}}</ref> These German-Austrian massacres were arguably a great influence on Albert V and his Jewish persecutions and expulsions.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} 

Though the Jews in the Austrian duchy had been subject to local persecutions during the 13th and 14th century, their position remained relatively safe. Jewish communities prospered in several towns like [[Krems an der Donau|Krems]] or the area around the ''[[Judenplatz]]'' at [[Vienna]]. During the confusion after the death of Duke Albert IV in 1404 their situation worsened sharply, culminating in the blaze of the Vienna synagogue on 5 November 1406, followed by riots and lootings.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

[[File:Albert (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg|thumb|upright|King Albert of Hungary as depicted in the ''[[Chronica Hungarorum]]'']]

With the ordering of campaign preparations against the Hussites by King Sigismund in the beginning of the 15th century, taxes were used to fund a crusade army.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Fudge |first=Thomas A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm49640251 |title=The crusade against heretics in Bohemia, 1418-1437: sources and documents for the Hussite crusades |date=2002 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-0801-1 |series=Crusade texts in translation |location=Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT, USA |oclc=ocm49640251}}</ref> Albert V of Austria followed suit, keeping his good standing with the Catholic Church while he was in power.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |title=The Medieval Church |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Medieval_Church/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=World History Encyclopedia |date=17 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> When Albert V came of age in 1411 and interfered in the Hussite Wars, he repeatedly established new taxes on the Jewish community to finance his campaigns, to destroy "devilry" and "imprudence".<ref name=":1" /> Like the Hussites, Jews were seen  as an enemy to Christendom.<ref name=":0" /> After the Hussites had devastated the duchy, the Austrian Jews were accused of collaboration and arms trade in favor of the enemies. The accusations of a [[host desecration]] at [[Enns (town)|Enns]] in 1420 gave Albert pretext for the destruction of the Jewish community.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

According to the 1463 ''Chronica Austriae'' by chronicler [[Thomas Ebendorfer]], the duke on 23 May 1420, at the behest of the Church, ordered the imprisonment and forcible conversion of the Jews. Those that had not converted or escaped were sent off in boats down the [[Danube]], while wealthy Jews remained under arrest, several of them tortured and stripped of their property. The forced baptism of Jewish children was stopped on intervention by [[Pope Martin V]]. On 12 March 1421 Albert sentenced the remaining Jews to death. Ninety-two men and 120 women were burned at the stake south of the Vienna city walls on 12 March 1421. The Jews were placed under an "eternal ban" and their synagogue was demolished. The persecutions in several Austrian towns are explicitly described in a 16th-century script called ''[[Vienna Gesera]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Full title==
[[File:CoA Albert II of Habsburg (Variant).svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms Albert II of Habsburg]]
Full titulature Albert possessed went as follows: ''Albert, by the grace of God elected King of the Romans, always August, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, elected King of Bohemia, duke of Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, margrave of Moravia, Lord of the Wendish March and Port Naon, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Ferrete and Kyburg, etc. Margrave of Burgau and landgrave of Alsace.''

In practise he often used a shorter version: ''Albert, by the grace of God elected King of the Romans, always August, King of Hungary, Dalmatia and Croatia, etc. elected King of Bohemia, duke of Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, Margrave of Moravia and Count of Tyrol, etc.''

==Family==

His children with [[Elizabeth of Luxembourg]] were:
* [[Anne of Luxembourg|Anne of Austria]] (1432–1462), who married [[William III, Duke of Luxemburg|William III, Duke of Saxony]].{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1978|p=792}} William became (1457–69) Duke of Luxembourg, in right of his wife
* [[Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)|Elisabeth]] (c. 1436–1439 to 1505), who married [[Kazimierz IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV of Poland]],{{sfn|Previté-Orton|1978|p=792}} and whose son [[Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary|Vladislaus II of Bohemia]] later became king of Bohemia and Hungary
* George (born and died at [[Vienna]] on 16 February 1435)
* [[Ladislas V Posthumus of Bohemia]], King of Hungary and Bohemia{{sfn|Jackson-Laufer|1999|p=130}}

==Male-line family tree==
{{Habsburg family tree}}

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Albert II, King of Germany'''
|2= 2. [[Albert IV, Duke of Austria]]
|3= 3. [[Joanna Sophia of Bavaria]]
|4= 4. [[Albert III, Duke of Austria]]
|5= 5. [[Beatrice of Nuremberg]]
|6= 6. [[Albert I, Duke of Bavaria|Albert I, Duke of Lower Bavaria]]
|7= 7. [[Margaret of Brieg]]
|8= 8. [[Albert II, Duke of Austria]]
|9= 9. [[Joanna of Pfirt]]
|10= 10. [[Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg]]
|11= 11. [[Elisabeth of Meissen]]
|12= 12. [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|13= 13. [[Margaret II, Countess of Holland]]
|14= 14. [[Louis I of Brzeg|Louis I, Duke of Brzeg]]
|15= 15. Agnes of Głogów
}}

==See also==
*[[Kings of Germany family tree]]. He was related to every other German king.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |title=Albrecht II. Königtum, Reichsregierung und Reichsreform 1438–1439 |first=Günther  |last=Hödl |year=1978  }}
*{{cite book |title=Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576070917 |url-access=registration |first=Guida Myrl |last=Jackson-Laufer |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1999  |isbn=9781576070918 }}
*{{cite book |title=Cambridge Medieval History, Shorter |volume=II:The Twelfth Century to the Renaissance |editor-first=C. W. |editor-last=Previté-Orton |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1978 }}
*{{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource|Bericht über die Wahl Albrechts II.}}
* {{Nömuseum|p|520}}
* [http://www.tripota.uni-trier.de/single_picture.php?signatur=121_port_0039 Tripota – Trier portrait database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714122042/http://www.tripota.uni-trier.de/single_picture.php?signatur=121_port_0039 |date=14 July 2014 }}
* Illustration by Francesco Terzio from 1569: Albertus II, Imp. ({{ULBDD|urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-106574}})
* {{DNB-Portal|118501615|NAME=Albrecht II.}}
* {{DDB|Person|118501615}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou| [[Habsburg|House of Habsburg]] | 10 August | 1397 | 27 October | 1439 }}
{{S-reg}}
{{S-bef| rows = 3 | before = [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[King of Hungary]] and [[King of Croatia|Croatia]]| years = 1437–39 }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Ladislaus the Posthumous|Ladislaus V]]|after2 = [[Władysław III of Poland|Vladislaus I]]|as=contenders}}
|-
{{S-ttl| title = [[King of Germany]]| years=1438–39 }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]] }}
|-
{{S-ttl| title=[[King of Bohemia]]| years = 1438–39 }}
{{S-vac| rows = 2 | next= [[Ladislaus the Posthumous|Ladislaus]] }}
{{S-bef| before = [[Albert IV of Austria|Albert IV]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Duke of Austria]]| years = 1404–39 }}
{{s-end}}

{{Monarchs of Bohemia}}
{{Hungarian kings}}
{{German monarchs}}
{{Croatian kings}}
{{Rulers of Austria}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert 2, Germany}}
[[Category:1397 births|Albert 2 of Germany]]
[[Category:1439 deaths|Albert 2 of Germany]]
[[Category:15th-century dukes of Austria]]
[[Category:15th-century Kings of the Romans]]
[[Category:15th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:15th-century Hungarian monarchs]]
[[Category:15th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Habsburg monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:Kings of Hungary]]
[[Category:Kings of Croatia]]
[[Category:Hungarian Roman Catholic monarchs]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Nobility from Vienna]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary]]