View source for Inner Austria

{{Short description|Historical region of Europe}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2014}}
[[File:AvI Provinz Innerösterreich.jpg|thumb|350px|Late 18th century map of the Habsburg Inner Austrian province:{{legend|#d4de99|Duchy of Styria}}{{legend|#fcf4b0|Duchy of Carinthia}}{{legend|#f8d9d2|Duchy of Carniola with the Lordship of Duino and the March of Istria}}{{legend|#d1e8e2|Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca}}{{legend|#9db2ac|Imperial City of Trieste}}]]
'''Inner Austria''' ({{langx|de|Innerösterreich}}; {{langx|sl|Notranja Avstrija}}; {{langx|it|Austria Interiore}}) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]] hereditary lands south of the [[Semmering Pass]], referring to the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] duchies of [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]], [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]] and [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]] and the lands of the [[Austrian Littoral]]. The residence of the Inner Austrian [[archduke]]s and [[stadtholder]]s was at the ''Burg'' castle complex in [[Graz]].

==Geography==
The Inner Austrian territory stretched from the northern border with the [[Archduchy of Austria]] on the [[Main chain of the Alps|Alpine divide]] over [[Upper Styria|Upper]] and [[Lower Styria]] down to [[Carniola]], where the [[Lower Carniola|Lower]] and [[White Carniola]]n lands (the former [[Windic March]]) bordered on the Habsburg [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Kingdom of Croatia]]. In the west, the Carinthian lands stretched to the [[Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg|Archbishopric of Salzburg]] and the Habsburg [[County of Tyrol]], while in the east, the [[Mur (river)|Mur]] River formed the border with the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1538–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]].

In the south, the [[County of Görz]], which had passed to the [[House of Habsburg]] in 1500, and [[Duino]] (''Tybein'') bordered on the ''[[Domini di Terraferma]]'' of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. The [[Imperial Free City of Trieste]] on the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] Coast linked to assorted smaller possessions in the [[March of Istria]] around [[Pazin]] and the [[free port]] of [[Rijeka]] (later ''[[Corpus separatum (Fiume)|corpus separatum]]'' of Fiume) in [[Liburnia]].

==History==
{{History of Slovenia}}
The Styrian lands had already been ruled in [[personal union]] by the [[House of Babenberg|Babenberg]] dukes of [[Duchy of Austria|Austria]] since 1192 and were finally seized with the Austrian lands by the Habsburg king [[Rudolph I of Germany]] upon his victory in the 1278 [[Battle on the Marchfeld]]. In 1335 Rudolph's grandson Duke [[Albert II, Duke of Austria|Albert II of Austria]] also received the Carinthian duchy with the adjacent [[March of Carniola]] at the hands of Emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis the Bavarian]] as Imperial fiefs.
[[File:Carte archiduché Autriche.svg|thumb|left|Austria proper (below and above the Enns river), Inner Austria, and Upper Austria (Tyrol and Vorarlberg)]]
When in 1365 Albert's son Duke [[Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria|Rudolf IV of Austria]] suddenly died at the age of 26, Emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] enfeoffed his younger brothers [[Albert III, Duke of Austria|Albert III with the Pigtail]] and [[Leopold III, Duke of Austria|Leopold III the Just]], who however began to quarrel about the Habsburg heritage. By the 1379 [[Treaty of Neuberg]] they finally split late Rudolf's territories: The elder Albertinian line would rule in the [[Archduchy of Austria]] proper (then sometimes referred to as "Lower Austria" (''Niederösterreich''), but comprising modern [[Lower Austria]] and most of [[Upper Austria]]), while the younger [[Leopoldian line]] ruled the Styrian, Carinthian and Carniolan duchies, then subsumed under the denotation of "Inner Austria". At that time their share also comprised Tyrol and the original Habsburg possessions in [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabia]], called [[Further Austria]]; both collectively referred to as "Upper Austria" (''Oberösterreich'') in that context, also not to be confused with the modern state of that name.

When Leopold III was killed in the 1386 [[Battle of Sempach]] against the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]], the Leopoldian heritage fell to his eldest son Duke [[William, Duke of Austria|William the Courteous]], who upon the death of his uncle Albert III in 1395 also raised claims to the Archduchy of Austria against Albert's only son and heir Duke [[Albert IV, Duke of Austria|Albert IV]]. Both sides came to an agreement to maintain the Neuberg division but also to assert the common rule over the Habsburg lands. Therefore, from 1404 William acted as Austrian regent for his minor nephew [[Albert II of Germany|Albert V]]. The Tyrolean and Further Austrian lands passed to William's younger brother Duke [[Leopold IV, Duke of Austria|Leopold IV the Fat]]. When Duke William died without issue in 1406, the Leopoldian line was further split among his younger brothers: while Leopold IV assumed the regency in Austria, the Inner Austrian territories passed to [[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest the Iron]], while the Tyrolean/Further Austrian passed to the youngest brother [[Frederick IV, Duke of Austria|Frederick of the Empty Pockets]].

In 1457 the Leopoldian line again could assume the rule over the Austrian archduchy, when Ernest's son Duke [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]] of Inner Austria succeeded his Albertine cousin [[Ladislaus the Posthumous]] who had died without issue. 1490 saw the reunification of all Habsburg lines, when Archduke [[Sigismund, Archduke of Austria|Sigismund]] of Further Austria and Tyrol resigned in favour of Frederick's son [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]]. In 1512, the Habsburg territories were incorporated into the Imperial [[Austrian Circle]].
[[File:Grazer Burg, Burghof.jpg|thumb|Graz Castle, courtyard]]
The dynasty however was split up again in 1564 among the children of deceased Emperor [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I of Habsburg]]. Under the Inner Austrian line founded by his younger son Archduke [[Charles II, Archduke of Austria|Charles II]], the lands became a centre of the [[Counter-Reformation]], carried out by the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] with great determination. The cadet branch prevailed again, when Charles' son and successor as regent of Inner Austria, Archduke [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]], was crowned [[List of Bohemian monarchs|King of Bohemia]] in 1617, [[List of Hungarian monarchs|King of Hungary]] in 1618, and finally succeeded his cousin [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]] in the Archduchy of Austria (as Ferdinand III) and as [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1619. His intentions to translate the [[Absolute monarchy|absolutist]] and anti-reformationist Inner Austrian policies to the [[Crown of Bohemia]] sparked the [[Thirty Years' War]].

The Further Austrian/Tyrolean line of Ferdinand's younger brother Archduke [[Leopold V, Archduke of Austria|Leopold V]] survived until the death of his son [[Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Further Austria|Sigismund Francis]] in 1665, whereafter all territories ultimately returned to common control with the other Austrian Habsburg lands. The political administration of Inner Austria was centralized at [[Graz]] in 1763.<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = H.M. Stationery Office
| last = Prothero
| first = GW
| author-link = George Walter Prothero
| author2 = Great Britain. Foreign Office. Historical Section
| title = Carniola, Carinthia and Styria
| location = London
| series = Peace handbooks
| access-date = 2014-06-05
| date = 1920
| pages = 11
| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9178/view/1/24/
}}</ref> Inner Austrian [[stadtholder]]s went on to rule until the days of Empress [[Maria Theresa of Austria|Maria Theresa]] in the 18th century.

==Administration from 1748==
[[File:Innerösterreich Sanson.jpg|thumb|320px|Duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola etc., 1657 map by [[Joan Blaeu]]]]
*[[Duchy of Styria]]
**[[Lower Styria]]
***[[Graz]] District: 
***[[Maribor|Marburg]] District
***[[Celje|Cilli]] District
**[[Upper Styria]]
***[[Bruck an der Mur|Bruck]] District 
***[[Judenburg]] District
*[[Duchy of Carinthia]]
**[[Klagenfurt]] District (Lower Carinthia)
**[[Villach]] District (Upper Carinthia)
*[[Duchy of Carniola]]
**[[Ljubljana|Laibach]] District ([[Upper Carniola]])
**[[Postojna|Adelsberg]] District ([[Inner Carniola]] and [[March of Istria|Istria]])
**[[Novo Mesto|Neustadtl]] District ([[Lower Carniola]])
*[[Gorizia and Gradisca|Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca]]
**[[Gorizia|Görz]] District
*[[Imperial Free City of Trieste]]
**[[Trieste|Triest]] District

==Rulers of Inner Austria==

===[[Leopoldian line]]===
{{Sticky header}}
{{Monarchs - table header}}
|width=auto| '''[[Leopold III, Duke of Austria|Leopold III the Just]]'''<br />1379–1386
| [[File:Leopold III of Austria.jpg|100px]] 
| 1 November 1351<br />[[Vienna]]<br />fourth son of [[Albert II, Duke of Austria|Albert the Wise]] and [[Joanna of Pfirt]]
| [[Viridis Visconti]]<br /> 23 February 1365<br />[[Vienna]]<br />six children
| 9 July 1386<br />[[Sempach]]<br />aged 34
|-
|width=auto| '''[[William, Duke of Austria|William the Courteous]]'''<br />1386–1406
| [[File:Wilhelm Austria.jpg|100px]] 
| c. 1370<br />[[Vienna]]<br />eldest son of [[Leopold III, Duke of Austria|Leopold the Just]] and [[Viridis Visconti]]
| [[Joan II of Naples]]<br />13 November 1401 <br />[[Vienna]]<br />no issue
| 15 July 1406<br />[[Vienna]]<br />aged 36
|-
|width=auto| '''[[Leopold IV, Duke of Austria|Leopold IV the Fat]]'''<br />1406–1411
| [[File:Leopold IV.jpg|100px]] 
| c. 1371<br />[[Vienna]]<br />second son of [[Leopold III, Duke of Austria|Leopold the Just]] and [[Viridis Visconti]]
| [[Catherine of Burgundy]]<br />15 August 1393<br />[[Vienna]]<br />no issue
| 3 June 1411<br />[[Vienna]]<br />aged 40
|-
|width=auto| '''[[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest the Iron]]'''<br />1406–1424
| [[File:Ernest the Iron.jpg|100px]] 
| c. 1377<br />[[Bruck an der Mur]]<br />third son of [[Leopold III, Duke of Austria|Leopold the Just]] and [[Viridis Visconti]]
| (1) Margaret of Pomerania<br />14 January 1392<br />[[Bruck an der Mur]]<br />no issue<br />(2) [[Cymburgis of Masovia]]<br />25 January 1412<br />[[Kraków]]<br />nine children
| 10 June 1424<br />[[Bruck an der Mur]]<br />aged 47
|-
|width=auto| '''[[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V the Peaceful]]'''<br />1457–1493
| [[File:Hans Burgkmair d. Ä. 005.jpg|100px]] 
| 21 September 1415<br />[[Innsbruck]]<br />first son of [[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest the Iron]] and [[Cymburgis of Masovia]]
| [[Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress|Eleanor of Portugal]]<br />16 March 1452<br />[[Rome]]<br />five children 
| 19 August 1493<br />[[Linz]]<br />aged 77
|-
|}
Frederick became Archduke of [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]] in 1457, Habsburg territories united in 1490.

===Inner Austrian line===
{{Monarchs - table header}}
|width=auto| '''[[Charles II, Archduke of Austria|Charles II]]'''<br />1564–1590
| [[File:Anonym Erzherzog Karl II.jpg|100px]] 
| 3 June 1540<br />[[Vienna]]<br />fourth son of [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] and [[Anne of Bohemia and Hungary]]
| [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]<br />26 August 1571<br />[[Vienna]]<br />fifteen children
| 10 July 1590<br />[[Graz]]<br />aged 50
|-
|width=auto| '''[[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]]'''<br />1590–1637<br /><small>''under regency of''<br /> [[Archduke Ernest of Austria|Ernest of Austria]] (1590–1593)<br /> [[Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria|Maximilian III]] (1593–1595)</small>
| [[File:Kaiser Ferdinand II. 1614.jpg|100px]] 
|  9 July 1578<br />[[Graz]]<br />second son of [[Charles II, Archduke of Austria|Charles II]] and [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]
| (1) [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574–1616)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]<br />23 April 1600<br />[[Graz]]<br />seven children<br />(2) [[Eleonor Gonzaga (1598–1655)|Eleonor Gonzaga]]<br />2 February 1622<br />[[Innsbruck]]<br />no issue
| 15 February 1637<br />[[Vienna]]<br />aged 58
|-
|}
Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor in 1619.

==See also==
*[[History of Austria]]
*[[History of Slovenia]]
*[[Further Austria]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Innerösterreich}}

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[[Category:History of Upper Austria]]
[[Category:Political history of Slovenia]]
[[Category:Former states and territories in Slovenia]]