The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present PowerAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Austria -- History
Leopold was, for many reasons, very anxious for peace, and immediately
proposed terms very favorable to the Turks. The sultan was so
disheartened by this signal reverse that he readily listened to the
propositions of the emperor, and within nine days after the battle of
St. Gothard, to the astonishment of all Europe, a truce was concluded
for twenty years. The Hungarians were much displeased with the terms of
this treaty; for in the first place, it was contrary to the laws of the
kingdom for the king to make peace without the consent of the diet, and
in the second place, the conditions he offered the Turks were
humiliating to the Hungarians. Leopold confirmed to the Turks their
ascendency in Transylvania, and allowed them to retain Great Wardein,
and two other important fortresses in Hungary. It was with no little
difficulty that the emperor persuaded the diet to ratify these terms.
Leopold is to be considered under the twofold light of sovereign of
Austria and Emperor of Germany. We have seen that his power as emperor
was quite limited. His power as sovereign of Austria, also varied
greatly in the different States of his widely extended realms. In the
Austrian duchies proper, upon the Danube, of which he was, by long
hereditary descent, archduke, his sway was almost omnipotent. In Bohemia
he was powerful, though much less so than in Austria, and it was
necessary for him to move with caution there, and not to disturb the
ancient usages of the realm lest he should excite insurrection. In
Hungary, where the laws and customs were entirely different, Leopold
held merely a nominal, hardly a recognized sway. The bold Hungarian
barons, always steel-clad and mounted for war, in their tumultuous
diets, governed the kingdom. There were other remote duchies and
principalities, too feeble to stand by themselves, and ever changing
masters, as they were conquered or sought the protection of other
powers, which, under the reign of Leopold, were portions of wide
extended Austria. Another large and vastly important accession was now
made to his realms. The Tyrol, which, in its natural features, may be
considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a territory of about one
hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent by the Alps.
Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening through its
defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; and through
those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe could force his
way, into the valleys of the Tyrol. The most sublime road in Europe is
that over Mount Brenner, along the banks of the Adige. This province had
long been in the hands of members of the Austrian family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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