Originally from
Pitten in present-day
Lower Austria, the family's ancestors took their residence at Stubenberg in the
March of Styria about 1160. One Ulrich of Stubenberg is documented as a participant of the
Fifth Crusade, killed at
Damietta in 1218. The Stubenbergs established contacts to the rising
House of Habsburg at an early stage and revolted against the rule of King
Ottokar II of Bohemia, who finally was defeated by his Habsburg rival King
Rudolf I of Germany in the 1278
Battle on the Marchfeld. Under Habsburg rule, the family members were able to restore their devastated estates; in the mid 14th century they had
Neuhaus Castle (
Burg Neuhaus) erected near Stubenberg and built Stubenberg Castle as their new residence. However, about one hundred years later, the Stubenbergs fought against the Habsburg Emperor
Frederick III side by side with the
Hungarian king
Matthias Corvinus. Once Frederick had prevailed, the Stubenberg possessions were seized and the dynasty retired to their estates in
Gutenberg and at
Oberkapfenberg in
Upper Styria. From 1739 the Styrian branch of the family resided in the town of
Kapfenberg. In 1548 one Wolfgang von Stubenberg acquired the estates of
Nové Město nad Metují (
Neustadt an der Mettau) in
Bohemia from the heirs of late governor
John III of Pernstein. The Stubenbergs had the local castle rebuilt in a lavish
Renaissance style and became notable members of the
Protestant Bohemian nobility. Upon the 1618
Bohemian Revolt against the Habsburg archduke
Ferdinand II and the
Battle of the White Mountain, the Nové Město estates were seized and ceded to
Albrecht von Wallenstein. Likewise, when Ferdinand II,
Holy Roman Emperor since 1619, had the Protestant nobles expelled from the Habsburg hereditary lands, several members of the Styrian Stubenbergs went into exile in the
Electorate of Saxony or in the
imperial cities of
Nuremberg and
Regensburg. ==Notable members==