Albrecht II Elected King of Germany

1438

The Habsburg archduke of Austria inherited the German, Hungarian, and Bohemian crowns in a single year, initiating the dynasty's long march toward European dominance. He died of dysentery within eighteen months, but the precedent was set: the Holy Roman Empire now belonged, by custom, to the Habsburgs. His posthumous son Ladislaus became a pawn in dynastic struggles between Hungarian, Bohemian, and Austrian factions for two decades.