French–Habsburg relations

The term France–Habsburg rivalry (French: Rivalité franco-habsbourgeoise; German: Habsburgisch-Französischer Gegensatz) describes the rivalry between the House of Habsburg and the Kingdom of France. The Habsburgs were the largest and most powerful royal house of the Holy Roman Empire from the Early Modern Period until the First World War. In addition to holding significant amounts of land and influence within the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg dynasty ruled Spain under Charles V. As the House of Habsburg expanded into western Europe, border friction began with the Kingdom of France, the lands of which extended to the west bank of the Rhine. The subsequent rivalry became a cause for several major wars, including the Italian Wars, the Thirty Years' War, the Nine Years' War, the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, and the Napoleonic Wars.

During the late Middle Ages, the Habsburgs, whose dominions consisted principally of Austria, and later Spain, sought coalitions principally through marriage, a policy which had the added benefit of gaining territory through marital inheritance. Territorial expansion in this way allowed the Habsburgs to gain territories throughout Europe such as the Spanish Road, Burgundy, Milan and the Low Countries. This practice was described by Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus' quote: Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube! – "Let others wage war. You, happy Austria, marry!" Despite the fact that both branches of the Habsburg family, Austria and Spain, had gained a significant number of territories in this way, the complex series of inter-marriage had several consequences, such as the mental and physical afflictions and deformities suffered by Charles II of Spain. Following this tradition, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I married Mary, the last Valois duchess of Burgundy in 1477. Nineteen years later, their son Philip the Handsome married Joanna of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Joanna (also known as Juanna the Mad) was sister to Katherine (of Aragon), the first wife of Henry VIII of England. Following the death of her brother and two sisters, Joanna became heiress to the Spanish throne. Joanna and Philip's son, (Maximilian's grandson) Charles united all these possessions, when he became King of Spain (as Charles I) in 1516 and Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 (as Charles V). He ruled over a vast empire. Now, France had the Habsburgs on three sides as its neighbor, with Spain to the south, the County of Flanders to the north, and the Franche-Comté to the east.

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