About the Author
Fr Neil J. Roy, STL, Ph.D. SAGI Chaplain & Director, Inspiring Faith
Book Review(s)
1. The Habsburg Way. Seven Rules for Turbulent Times.
By Eduard Habsburg. Foreword by Viktor Orbán. Manchester NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2023.
2. Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World. Habsburg Lessons from the Centuries. By Eduard Habsburg. Foreword by Viktor Orbán. Manchester NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2023.
Time for Hope
Christmas 2024 marked the inauguration by Pope Francis of an Ordinary Holy Year. The Jubilee Year 2025 extends from 25 December 2024 to just beyond the end of 2025, concluding officially on Epiphany, 6 January 2026. The theme of this Holy Year is: Pilgrims of Hope. The supernatural and infused virtue of hope, like faith and charity, finds its original source in God; it likewise has God as its ultimate end. By the virtue of hope, infused at baptism, the Christian can expect with confidence to attain to the fulfilment of all God’s promises, culminating in eternal life. Such a virtue, described in the Epistle to the Hebrews as “the anchor of the soul” (6:19), ought to inspire deep joy in the Christian. Rejoicing is one significant expression of the virtue of hope.
Recent witnesses to the power of the virtue of hope and its attendant joys are these two excellent books on how to lead a vibrant Catholic life in challenging times. The author, Eduard Habsburg, is actually Archduke Eduard of Austria-Lothringen, a member of the historic imperial and royal family of Austria and Hungary. The great-great-great grandson of the Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916; reigned 1848-1916), Eduard Habsburg now serves as Hungary’s Ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
The first book, titled The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times, was published by Sophia Institute Press in 2023. Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary and the employer of the author, wrote the Foreword to this book. The book’s dedication is twofold: first to the author’s wife and children, and then to the Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria (1887-1922; reigned 1916-1918; beatified 2004).
Habsburg Family History
Archduke Eduard Habsburg is a deeply committed Catholic layman who, at the beginning of each book, shares his family’s remarkably long family history, going back some 850 years, to address the kind of life and lifestyle that people pursuing true joy should embrace wholeheartedly in “turbulent times.” Which times, we may ask, are not “turbulent”? Loving marriages and a generous openness to the gift of life in large families are at the top of his list of priorities in both books. The Habsburg Way presents “seven rules” or first principles for conducting a life oriented ultimately to eternal union with God in heaven. Curiosity alone may prompt readers of this review to explore this instructive and entertaining book. Their efforts will be amply rewarded.
Lovers of history will appreciate the brief but fascinating history of the Habsburgs, originally a family of counts who trace their roots to the year 950. The family name “Habsburg” derives from a castle in the Swiss canton of Aargau. “Burg” clearly refers to the castle; “Hab” may refer either to a “falcon” or to a “ford over a river.” In 1273, after the Holy Roman Empire suffered an interregnum of a quarter century, owing to the papal deposition of Frederick II, Rudolf von Habsburg was elected as the ruler of the empire. Although Rudolf served as king and therefore was a true sovereign, nevertheless, because he had not been crowned by the pope, he is not regarded as an “emperor.” The Habsburgs would have to wait for several centuries before gaining this title.
In 1358, a subsequent Rudolf produced a document purporting to be a decree of Julius Caesar, called the Privilegium maius, that supposedly granted the Habsburgs the right to rule Austria. It likewise conferred on all male or female Habsburgs the prerogative of being titled an archduke or an archduchess. The first Habsburg to enjoy the authentic title of “emperor” was Frederick III (1414-1493) who was crowned at Rome by Pope Nicholas V (reigned 1447-1455). Frederick III reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. [Here Eduard Habsburg erroneously states that the imperial coronation was carried out by Pope Adrian IV (reigned 1154-1159). This slip should be corrected in a second edition of the book.] The book explains the development of major branches or households (e.g. Spanish, Austrian, of the Habsburg family.
Although the Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806, the Habsburgs ruled over Austria and Hungary as well as several other countries and regions until 1918, when Blessed Karl of Austria was deposed. Although the Habsburgs no longer rule over Austria or Hungary, several of them have continued to exercise undeniable leadership by means of diplomacy and other forms of influence.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
As part of his “seven rules” or basic principles for navigating “turbulent times,” Edward Habsburg encourages readers to embrace marriage and to have many children. The Habsburgs, after all, shaped history far more effectively by judicious and fruitful marriages than by military force. Indeed one of the family maxims remains: Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube / “Others wage wars; thou, O happy Austria, get married” (26). The Habsburgs’ long-standing fidelity to the Catholic faith and their loyalty to the Catholic Church prompt the author to urge readers to discover or rediscover the value of living by the standards of the Christian Gospel, and to do so in full communion with the Catholic Church. If there is one institution in the world that has given rise to the western civilization embodied and embellished by the Habsburgs, it is the Catholic Church. The author strongly promotes not just the sincere profession of, but also the active and devout practice of, the Catholic faith.
The book seamlessly integrates faith and culture, no less than faith and life. Habsburg takes a leaf from the tome of Catholic social teaching, especially as expounded by Popes Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903), Pius XI (reigned 1922-1939), and John Paul II (reigned 1978-2005) when he promotes the principle of “subsidiarity.” By this term he means that “issues should be addressed by the lowest institutional level that is competent to resolve them, whether in countries, states, or other social institutions” (79-80). In other words, “higher levels of organization should never take over functions that can be handled better and more competently by lower levels” (80). He points out that this principle remains a key component in the United States, although events over the past several decades have exposed the perils that arise when subsidiarity is ignored or discarded. Habsburg strongly suggests that it be embraced by the European Union.
Another precept espoused by the book is an insistence on the rule of law, precisely because good laws are rooted in justice. Theologian Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI (reigned 2005-2013), coined the term “tyranny of relativism” to describe the “dictatorship” of feelings and strong emotional reactions over well-reasoned and maturely expressed principles or laws. This generation has witnessed such tyranny untethered from the basis of just laws designed to promote the common good. Just laws, after all, serve to protect the rights of all, not just special interest groups or unelected oligarchs usurping authority to imposing their ideological schemes and preoccupations on entire populations. German Nazism, Italian Fascism, Soviet and Chinese Communism all come readily to mind here. Robust remarks made by American Vice President JD Vance to the Munich Security Council on 14 February 2025 raise serious issues like the freedom of speech and the rights of populations to decide matters of government for themselves in freedom from undue constraints.
Priorities Rightly Arranged
Finally, The Habsburg Way urges readers to know themselves and to be courageous in standing up for their convictions. The ancient temple of Apollo at Delphi bore an inscription over its entrance: “Know thyself.” The wisdom of pursuing authentic self-knowledge is by no means the exclusive preserve of Christian thought or polity. Nonetheless, it lies at the root of humility, a virtue once highly prized in the West, but ridiculed in many quarters today in favor of self-assertion, aggression, and bullyism. The rising tide of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (1) throughout the decadent West and the increasingly frequent outbursts of sociopathic behaviors now commonly witnessed in public point to the glaring lack of self-knowledge in a society that congratulates itself on its moral superiority to more traditional cultures or conservative communities.
The attainment of humility or authentic self-knowledge allows “pilgrims of hope” to face the reality of death, and to die well. The “knocking ritual” marks the admission of a deceased Habsburg’s mortal remains to the crypt of Vienna’s Capuchin Church. After each of the first two knocks the earthly honours and accomplishments of the deceased Habsburg are proclaimed. The prior of the Capuchins from within the crypt replies “We know him not!” Only when the deceased is announced as “a poor sinner” is the door opened and the remains of the late Habsburg admitted for burial. Dying well presumes a life well led, where priorities such as those discussed in the book have been properly arranged. Sober preparation for the mystery of death is the last piece of advice given by the book. Drawing on the death scenes of various Habsburgs, especially that of Blessed Karl in 1922, The Habsburg Way illustrates the virtues and qualities that ought to surface as a Christian prepares to pay the last debt of mortality. “After death comes the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). A meditation on “the Four Last Things” (death, judgement, heaven, and hell) concentrates the mind rather effectively on what really matters in the last analysis.
The characters emerging from the pages of Habsburg history include such colourful figures as Maria Teresa “that pillar of conjugal virtue,” (2) Joseph II, Franz Joseph, and of course Blessed Karl “the Emperor of Peace.”
Eduard Habsburg shares many family memories from the vast treasury of his Habsburg patrimony. His anecdotes adduce brilliant examples that prove his points, and his narratives are told with warmth and gentle, often self-deprecating humor. “Pilgrims of hope” will welcome this food for thought especially on their Lenten journey to Easter.
Building a Wholesome Family
The second of Eduard Habsburg’s books under consideration is Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World (published likewise by Sophia Institute Press in Manchester, NH) but in 2024.
In the same vein as The Habsburg Way, the author draws on examples from various Habsburgs over the centuries to underscore the importance of courtship and the discernment necessary in finding and coming to know the right spouse. In this book he frequently refers to his own experience of family life, not just from his childhood, but more often from his role as husband and father. He encourages young couples to avoid all pressures to cohabitate before entering a period of formal engagement and officially getting married. He reflects on both the joys and challenges of marriage as well as on the skills necessary to build a family precisely in a “broken world.” He applauds the role of grandparents and other members of the extended family across the generations in helping to raise well-adjusted children who can relate comfortably with a variety of different personalities and age groups. Finally, he addresses death in the family as another perfectly natural part of family life. For centuries families in the Christian West dealt with the reality of death in a more honest, indeed more human way than has been the case in the last two or three generations. Insulating children from death does them no favor, whether in coping with the death of a family member or coming to terms with their own mortality.
Both books are written in a clear, easily understandable, conversational style. The author espouses an unabashedly “conservative” perspective and presents his arguments with unswerving loyalty to the Church, her teachings, and traditions. The writing is marked by insight, wit, personal warmth, and considerable charm. Young people beginning to explore the joys of courtship and couples preparing for marriage should read both books. The contribution of this gifted lay leader of an illustrious historic family is yet another cause of great rejoicing - in a year dedicated to pursuing Christian joy as “pilgrims of hope.”
REFERENCES AND NOTES
- See Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, The Narcissistic Epidemic (Atria Paperback, 2013).
Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette. The Journey (Anchor Canada, 2002) 11.
The Habsburg Way. Seven Rules for Turbulent Times
Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World
