Inner Austria - Definition

Inner Austria (German Innerösterreich) is a term used from the late 14th to the 16th century referring to Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and assorted smaller Habsburg possessions in bordering the area.

In the Treaty of Neuberg of 1379, the Habsburgs split into the Albertinian (see Albert III) line ruling in Austria proper (then sometimes referred to as Lower Austria, but comprising modern Lower Austria and Upper Austria) and the Leopoldian line (see Leopold III) ruling in Inner Austria and also Tyrol and Further Austria (which were collectively sometimes referred to as Upper Austria in that context, not to be confused with the modern state of that name).

In 1402, the Leopoldinian line was further split into an Inner Austrian (see Ernest the Iron) and a Tyrolean/Further Austrian line (see Frederick IV). After a reunification around 1500 when all lines but the Inner Austrian one went extinct, the Habsburg lines were split up again in 1564 among the children of Emperor Ferdinand I. The Inner Austrian line founded by Archduke Charles II prevailed again, when his son and successor as regent of Inner Austria became Emperor as Ferdinand II and King of Bohemia and Hungary in 1620. The Tyrolean line of Ferdinand's brother Archduke Leopold V survived until 1665, when their territories ultimately returned to common control with the other Austrian Habsburg lands.

See also

• List of rulers of Austria
• Habsburg