House of Lorraine

The House of Lorraine (German: Haus Lothringen) was a noble house that ruled over the Duchy of Lorraine (1047–1431, 1473–1737) within the Holy Roman Empire, and also held other feudal domains, such as the County of Vaudémont, the Duchy of Bar, the Duchy of Guise, and various minor possessions. The senior ducal branch died out in 1431, but the cadet branch, headed by the Counts of Vaudémont, continued and reacquired the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473, thus establishing the junior ducal line, that ruled over Lorraine until 1737. Its cadet branch, the House of Guise, played a prominent role in political history of the Kingdom of France.

By the marriage of duke Francis of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg and became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen). Francis, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and his grandson Francis II were the last four Holy Roman emperors from 1745 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and then Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.