Leopold III, Duke of Austria, Habsburg

February 26, 2014 — ancestor, Euros, Holy Roman Empire, Leopold III of Austria

Leopold III

I was trained by Austrian Tourism as an expert in Austria.  The training included classroom study for two full  days and extensive travel around the country.  In the classroom we learned about the Habsburgs who married all the most eligible monarchs in Europe to expand their holdings.  I did not suspect at the time that these were my people.  However, I specifically noticed that Austrian over-the-top castles and music halls thrilled me, whereas French over-the-top design always made me think of them as wasteful. I did have a certain strong feeling for the architecture, especially in Vienna and Salzburg.

Monarchs of the House of Habsburg

A word about the coats of arms: the Habsburg Empire was never composed of a single unified and unitary state as Bourbon France, Hohenzollern Germany, or Great Britain was. It was made up of an accretion of territories that owed their historic loyalty to the head of the house of Habsburg as hereditary lord. The Habsburgs had mostly married the heiresses of these territories, most famously of Spain and the Netherlands. They used their arms then as a statement of their right to rule all these territories. As there were many territories, so their arms were complex and reflected the waxing and waning position of the Habsburgs within European power politics. It was not until the 19th century (see below Arms of Dominion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) that the arms began to take on their own life as symbols of a state which may have an existence outside of the Habsburg dynasty.

Leo

Leopold III “Duke of Austria” Habsburg (1351 – 1386)

is my 17th great grandfather
Ernst I “Ironside” Archduke of Austria Habsburg (1377 – 1424)
son of Leopold III “Duke of Austria” Habsburg
Katharina Archduchess Austria Von Habsburg (1420 – 1493)
daughter of Ernst I “Ironside” Archduke of Austria Habsburg
Christof I VanBaden (1453 – 1527)
son of Katharina Archduchess Austria Von Habsburg
Beatrix Zahringen (1492 – 1535)
daughter of Christof I VanBaden
Sabine Grafin VonSimmern (1528 – 1578)
daughter of Beatrix Zahringen
Marie L Egmond (1564 – 1584)
daughter of Sabine Grafin VonSimmern
Richard Sears (1590 – 1676)
son of Marie L Egmond
Silas Sears (1638 – 1697)
son of Richard Sears
Silas Sears (1661 – 1732)
son of Silas Sears
Sarah Sears (1697 – 1785)
daughter of Silas Sears
Sarah Hamblin (1721 – 1814)
daughter of Sarah Sears
Mercy Hazen (1747 – 1819)
daughter of Sarah Hamblin
Martha Mead (1784 – 1860)
daughter of Mercy Hazen
Abner Morse (1808 – 1838)
son of Martha Mead
Daniel Rowland Morse (1838 – 1910)
son of Abner Morse
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Leopold III

Duke Leopold III of Austria (November 1, 1351 – July 9, 1386) from the Habsburg family, was Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia (Inner Austria) in 1365–1386.

Life
Born in Vienna, Leopold was a younger son of Duke Albert the Wise, and younger brother of the Dukes Rudolf the Founder and Albert the Pigtail. His mother, Joanna of Pfirt, was 51 when she gave birth to him and died shortly after. He was firstly the administrator of Tyrol, and was jointly charged with the rule of the Habsburg lands with Albert after Rudolf’s death. However, by the Treaty of Neuberg of September 9, 1379, he became the exclusive ruler of Styria (including Wiener Neustadt), Carinthia, Carniola, the Windic March, Gorizia, the Habsburgs’ possessions in Friuli, Tyrol and Further Austria. In 1368 he acquired Freiburg im Breisgau, in 1375 Feldkirch and in 1382 Trieste.

However, his attempts to expand his position in Switzerland and Swabia failed, when he died in the Battle of Sempach in 1386.

Family and children
He was married, on 23 February 1365, to Viridis Visconti (1352–1414), second daughter of Barnabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, and Beatrice Regina della Scala, and had the following children:

William the Courteous
Leopold the Fat
Ernest the Iron
Frederick of the Empty Pockets
Elisabeth (1378–1392)
Catherine (1385–?), Abbess of St. Klara in Vienna

He was succeeded by his eldest son William. Other sons included Leopold, future Duke of Further Austria, Ernest the Iron, future Duke of Inner Austria, and Frederick, future Duke of Further Austria.