Ernest was born in
Bruck an der Mur in Styria, the third son of Duke
Leopold III of Austria (1351–1386) and his consort
Viridis Visconti (d. 1414), a daughter of
Bernabò Visconti, Lord of
Milan. Shortly after his birth, his father and his uncle
Albert III divided the Habsburg lands by the 1379
Treaty of Neuberg: while Albert and his
Albertinian descendants would rule over the
Duchy of Austria proper, the Leopoldian line received the Inner Austrian
states of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola with the remaining
March of Istria, as well as
Tyrol and the
Further Austrian possessions. After Leopold's death in the 1386
Battle of Sempach, young Ernest and his brothers
William,
Leopold IV and
Frederick IV remained under the guardianship of their uncle Albert III. In 1401 Ernest accompanied King
Rupert of Germany on his campaign to
Italy. When their elder brother William died in 1406, the remaining three sons of Leopold III agreed about the partition of their patrimony: In the separation agreement of 1406, Ernest received Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and jointly with his elder brother Leopold IV (the current head of the Leopoldian line) held the guardianship over their minor nephew
Albert V of Austria, grandson of Duke Albert III. Tyrol and Further Austria passed to the youngest brother Frederick IV. In 1407, however, conflicts between Leopold and Ernest resulted in a civil war that lasted until May 1409. When Leopold died without male heirs in 1411, Ernest finally became the uncontested head of the Leopoldian branch. In 1414, he became the last Duke to be enthroned according to
Carantanian traditional rite at the
Prince's Stone in Carinthia, and from that time on called himself '
archduke'. He was the first Habsburg to actually use this title, which had been invented by his uncle Duke
Rudolf IV. Ernest was made a member of the
Order of the Dragon and of the
Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1414, however, he became bitter with the
Luxembourg king
Sigismund from 1412 onwards. When his brother Frederick IV, a supporter of
Antipope John XXIII at the
Council of Constance, was banned by the king in 1417, Ernest first attempted to gain control over Frederick's territories himself, but then came to an agreement with him and successfully defended Tyrol against Sigismund's pretensions. Ernest turned out to be a capable ruler of the Inner Austrian lands; his eldest son
Frederick V would become sole heir of all Habsburg lines, elected
King of the Romans in 1440 and crowned
Holy Roman Emperor in 1452. Ernest died at Bruck an der Mur, and was buried in the
Cistercian monastery of
Rein near
Graz. His nickname
the Iron only came into use after his death. ==Family and children==