Albert II was born at
Habsburg Castle in
Swabia, a younger son of King
Albert I of Germany and his wife
Elisabeth of Carinthia, a member of the
House of Gorizia (
Meinhardiner). He initially prepared for an ecclesiastical career and, though still a minor, was elected
Bishop of Passau in 1313. However, he had to rival with an opposing candidate and finally renounced the office in 1317. After the death of their elder brother
Frederick the Fair in 1330, the surviving sons Albert II and
Otto the Merry became joint rulers of all Habsburg dominions in
Austria and
Styria. Albert was able to further increase his possessions by the inheritance of his wife
Joanna of Pfirt, which was made up of the
Alsatian county of Pfirt and several cities. Furthermore, upon the death of his maternal uncle Duke
Henry of Carinthia in 1335, Albert succeeded in establishing his claims on the
Duchy of Carinthia and the
March of Carniola, when he reached his enfeoffment by
Emperor Louis IV against the claims raised by his mighty
Luxembourg rival King
John of Bohemia. Reflecting his high reputation among the secular and church leaders of Europe, in 1335
Pope Benedict XII asked him to mediate in the church's conflict with Emperor Louis. Two years later, King
Philip VI of France 1337 asked him for help against the
Wittelsbach emperor and King
Edward III of England. Nevertheless, Albert remained faithful to the emperor until Louis' death in 1347; he also was a close ally of his son Duke
Louis V of Bavaria. After the demolition of
Rapperswil Castle by the forces of
Rudolf Brun in 1350, the Austrian duke marched against the
Swiss Confederacy and laid siege to the city of
Zürich, though to no avail. In Austria, Duke Albert had the construction of the
Gothic Choir begun in
St. Stephen's Cathedral in
Vienna, known as the
Albertinian Choir. He established the "Albertinian House Rule" (
Albertinische Hausordnung) to predetermine the rules of succession in the Habsburg lands according to the principle of
primogeniture. Although the rule was disregarded after his death, it was re-assumed under Emperor
Maximilian. Adopted as part of the
Pragmatic Sanction in 1713, the Albertinian House Rule effectively remained one of the basic laws of Austria until 1918. Styria owes him its (former) constitution, the so-called "Mountain Book" (
Bergbüchel); the same is true for Carinthia. It has been speculated that Albert had experienced temporal paralysis (explaining his nickname "Albert the Lame") caused by
polyarthritis. If so, however, it did not prevent him from fathering numerous children, of whom six survived childhood. Albert died at Vienna in 1358 and was buried in a monastery of his own foundation,
Gaming Charterhouse in present-day
Lower Austria. In 1782 the Gaming Charterhouse was
secularized by
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor; at that time Albert's remains were transferred to the local parish church. In April 1985 they were returned to the Gaming Charterhouse in a ceremony attended by
Regina von Habsburg, wife of the Head of the
House of Habsburg,
Otto von Habsburg, as well as her son
Karl von Habsburg. According to his House Rule, Albert was succeeded by his eldest son
Rudolf IV whose younger brothers acted as regents. However, after Rudolf's death in 1365, the Habsburg lands were divided among Albert's younger sons
Albert III and
Leopold III by the 1379
Treaty of Neuberg. ==Family and children==