How did Rudolf I acquire Austria and Styria for the Habsburg family?
Rudolf I acquired Austria and Styria for the Habsburg family by defeating Otakar II of Bohemia, who had previously seized these territories.12
When Otakar refused to appear before an imperial diet in 1274 to justify his control over these lands, Rudolf placed him under the ban of the empire. Rudolf subsequently led an army into Austria, defeating Otakar in 1276 and forcing him to renounce his claims to Austria, Styria, and Carinthia. After Otakar was killed while attempting to reconquer these territories at the Battle of Dürnkrut in 1278, Rudolf secured permission from the German princes to grant the recovered lands to his own family.12
In December 1282, Rudolf invested his sons, Albert and Rudolf II, with Austria and Styria. This act established the territorial foundation of the future Habsburg power, with the territories initially intended to be ruled jointly before the Treaty of Rheinfelden (1283) established Albert as the sole ruler.13