RUDOLF II, DUKE OF AUSTRIA

(Redirected from Rudolph II of Austria)
Duke 'Rudolph II of Austria', titular ''Duke of Swabia'' (1270–May 10, 1290) was the younger son of Rudolph of Habsburg, from 1273 King of the Romans, and Gertrude of Hohenburg.
In December 1282 he became Duke of Austria and Styria jointly with his brother Albert I. However, in the Treaty of Rheinfelden (June 1, 1283) he had to waive his share. He married 1289 Agnes of Bohemia (1269-96), daughter of Otakar II of Bohemia and had one son John. He died in the same year his son was born, at the age of 20.
His brother's failure to ensure that Rudolf would be adequately compensated caused strife in the Habsburg family, leading to the assassination of Albert by Rudolph's son John Parricida in 1308.
King Rudolf also created him Duke of Swabia, a province in long-term disarray where the last duke, the underage Conradin, had been killed in 1268 and where the Habsburgs themselves were the most powerful provincial lords.