ABSTRACT
Albert had been left an important inheritance by his father, Rudolf, and was without question endowed with the qualities of a statesman. He was not, however, able to pursue the apparently irresistible rise of the House of Habsburg as he roused great envy among his old and new subjects, including the other great princely houses of the Empire. The reign of Albert of Habsburg ended in tragedy in 1308 and left behind a sense of failure. It took his descendants more than a century to consolidate their position and to prepare a new ascendancy which would endure.
