Emperor Charles V and his Vast Realms 563 privileges and independence. The result was that, after the downfall of the Hohenstaufens, Germany fell apart into a great number of practically independent states, of which none were very large and some were extremely small. After an interregnum, Rudolf of Hapsburg had been chosen Rudolf of emperor in 1273 (see above, p. 458). The original seat of the ge^rpos?es- Hapsburgs, who were destined to play such a great part in ^^°" °/ European affairs, was in northern Switzerland, where the ves- tiges of their original castle may still be seen. Rudolf was the first prominent member of the family ; he established its posi- tion and influence by seizing the duchies of Austria and Styria, which became, under his successors, the nucleus of the extensive Austrian possessions. About a century and a half after the death of Rudolf the The imperial German princes began regularly to choose as their emperor the practican>"^ ruler of the Austrian possessions, so that the imperial title became, hereditary to all intents and purposes, hereditary in the Hapsburg line, of Austria The Hapsburgs were, however, far more interested in adding to their family domains than in advancing the interests of the German Empire as a whole. Indeed, the Holy Roman Empire was nearly defunct and, in the memorable words of Voltaire, it had ceased to be either holy, or Roman, or an empire. Maximilian, while still a very young man, married Mary of Burgundy, the heiress to the Burgundian realms, which included what we now call Holland and Belgium and portions of eastern France. In this way the House of Austria got a hold on the shores of the North Sea. Mary died in 1482 and her lands were inherited by her infant son, Philip. Maximilian's next matri- monial move was to arrange a marriage between his son Philip and Joanna, the heiress to the Spanish kingdoms, and this makes it necessary for us to turn a moment to Spain, of which little or nothing has been said since we saw how the kingdom of the Visigoths was overthrown by the Mohammedan invaders, over seven hundred years before Maximilian's time (section 59).
