Austria 100 Schilling Silver Coin 1978 Battle on the Marchfeld
Commemorative issue: 700th Anniversary - Battle on the Marchfeld or Battle of Durnkrut and Jedenspeigen
Obverse: Standing figures holding hands form a circle with an Austrian shield at center, value below, beaded circle surrounds all.
Reverse: Bust of King Rudolf I of Germany, also known as Rudolf of Habsburg.
Edge Description: Plain with engraved lettering.
Composition: Silver.
Fineness: 0.640.
Weight: 24 g.
ASW: 0.4938 oz.
Diameter: 36 mm.
Battle on the Marchfeld
The Battle on the Marchfeld (i.e. Morava Field; Czech: Bitva na Moravském poli; Hungarian: Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history of Central Europe for the following centuries. The opponents were a Bohemian (Czech) army led by the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia and the Imperial army under the German king Rudolph I of Habsburg in alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary. Although both sides had in their units also infantry, the battle itself was primarily a great collision of heavy knights cavalry, though the Cuman horse archers in the Hungarian army played a vital role. The battle was finally won by an ambush attack of the united Imperial-Hungarian forces.
The battle was depicted in art especially during the rise of nationalism in the 19th century, when it was viewed as the example of an traditional cooperation between Habsburg dynasty (Austria) and Kingdom of Hungary from one side and the traditional tension between Habsburg dynasty and Bohemia from the Czech side.
King Rudolf I of Germany
Rudolf I, also known as Rudolf of Habsburg (German: Rudolf von Habsburg, Czech: Rudolf Habsburský; 1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was Count of Habsburg from about 1240 and elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire after the death of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II in 1250. Originally a Swabian count, he was the first Habsburg to acquire the duchies of Austria and Styria against his mighty rival, the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia, whom he defeated in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld. The territories would remain under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, they would form the core of the Habsburg Monarchy and the present-day country of Austria
The first German king of the Habsburg dynasty, he played a vital role in raising the comital house to the rank of Imperial princes. He was also the first in a number of late medieval count-kings, so-called by the historian Bernd Schneidmüller, from the rivalling noble houses of Habsburg, Luxembourg, and Wittelsbach, all striving after the Roman-German royal dignity, which ultimately was taken over by the Habsburgs in 1438.