(born May 1, 1218, Limburg-im-Breisgau—died July 15, 1291, Speyer) First German king (1273–91) of the Habsburg dynasty. He inherited lands in Alsace, the Aargau, and Breisgau and extended his territory by marriage and through negotiation.
Crowned king in 1273, he was recognized by Pope Gregory X only after promising to lead a new Crusade and to renounce imperial rights in Rome, the papal territories, and Italy. Rudolf defeated his rival Otakar II (1276, 1278) and gained lands in Austria, which he granted to his sons. He worked to combat the expansionist policies of France, but French influence at the papal court kept him from being crowned Holy Roman emperor. Although he created the core of later Habsburg territorial power, Rudolf was unable to make the throne a hereditary possession of his family, because the German electors would not raise his son to the kingship.
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