The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereign state in 1815.

Counts of Luxembourg House of Ardenne–Luxembourg

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Siegfried 922 28 October 998 963–28 October 998 Henry I 964 27 February 1026 28 October 998–27 February 1026 His son Henry II 1007 16 October 1047 27 February 1026–16 October 1047 His nephew Giselbert 1007 14 August 1059 16 October 1047–14 August 1059 His brother Conrad I 1040 8 August 1086 14 August 1059–8 August 1086 His son Henry III 1070 1096 8 August 1086–1096 William 1081 1131 1096–1131 His brother Conrad II 1106 1136 1131–1136 His son Ermesinde I 1080 1143 1136–1136 His aunt

House of Luxembourg–Namur

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Henry IVthe Blind 1112 14 August 1196 1136–14 August 1196 Her son

House of Hohenstaufen

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Otto June/July 1170 13 January 1200 1196–1197 His third-cousin once removed

House of Luxembourg–Namur

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Ermesinde II July 1186 12 February 1247 1197–12 February 1247 Henry IV's only daughter and Otto's fourth cousin Theobald I 1158 13 February 1214 1197–13 February 1214 Her first husband and co-ruler Waleran 2 July 1226 May 1214–2 July 1226 Her second husband and co-ruler

House of Luxembourg–Limburg

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Henry V the Blond 1216 24 December 1281 12 February 1247–24 December 1281 Their son Henry VI 1240 5 June 1288 24 December 1281–5 June 1288 His son Henry VII 1275/1270 24 August 1313 5 June 1288–24 August 1313 John the Blind 10 August 1296 26 August 1346 24 August 1313–26 August 1346 Charles I 14 May 1316 29 November 1378 26 August 1346–1353 Wenceslaus I 25 February 1337 7 December 1383 1353–13 March 1354 His brother

Dukes of Luxembourg In 1354, the county was elevated to a duchy.

House of Luxembourg-Limburg

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Wenceslaus I 25 February 1337 7 December 1383 13 March 1354–7 December 1383 Himself as count Wenceslaus II the Lazy 26 February 1361 16 August 1419 7 December 1383–1388 His nephew Jobst December 1351 18 January 1411 1388–18 January 1411 His cousin Elisabeth I November 1390 2 August 1451 18 January 1411–1443 His heiress & first cousin once removed Anthony August 1384 25 October 1415 18 January 1411–25 October 1415 Her first husband and co-ruler John II the Pitiless 1374 6 January 1425 10 March 1418–6 January 1425 Her second husband and co-ruler

As Elisabeth had no surviving children, she sold Luxembourg to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy in 1441, but only to succeed upon her death. Philip captured Luxembourg City in 1443, but did not assume the ducal title because of conflicting claims by Anne of Austria, the closest Luxembourg relative.

Claimants Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Elisabeth I November 1390 2 August 1451 1443to2 August 1451 Ladislausthe Posthumous 22 February 1440 23 November 1457 2 August 1451to23 November 1457 Her first cousin once removed Anne 12 April 1432 13 November 1462 23 November 1457to13 November 1462 His sister William the Brave 30 April 1425 17 September 1482 Her husband and co-pretender Elisabeth II 1436 30 August 1505 13 November 1462to1467 Her sister Casimir Jagiellon 30 November 1427 7 June 1492 Her husband and co-pretender George of Poděbrady 23 April 1420 22 March 1471 1458to1471 Claimed title as king of Bohemia

House of Valois-Burgundy

In 1467, when Elisabeth II of Austria, last rival claimant to the title, renounced her rights, Philip III's son, Charles the Bold, assumed the title of duke of Luxembourg, making it a subsidiary title of the Duke of Burgundy.

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Philip I "the Good" 31 July 1396 15 June 1467 1443to15 June 1467 Elisabeth I's second cousinonce removed and "usurper" Charles II"the Bold" 10 November 1433 5 January 1477 15 June 1467to5 January 1477 His son Mary I"the Rich" 13 February 1457 27 March 1482 5 January 1477to27 March 1482 His daughter Maximilian I"the Last Knight" 22 March 1459 12 January 1519 Her husband and co-ruler

House of Habsburg

In 1482, Luxembourg passed to the House of Habsburg. After the abdication of Emperor Charles V, the duchy of Luxembourg fell to the Spanish line of the House of Habsburg.

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Philip II "the Handsome" 22 July 1478 25 September 1506 27 March 1482to25 September 1506 Their son Charles III"the Golden" 24 February 1500 21 September 1558 25 September 1506to16 January 1556 His son Philip III"the Prudent" 21 May 1527 13 September 1598 16 January 1556to6 May 1598 Isabella Clara Eugenia 12 August 1566 1 December 1633 6 May 1598to13 July 1621 His daughter Albert 15 November 1559 13 July 1621 His son-in-law Philip IV"the Great" 8 April 1605 17 September 1665 13 July 1621to17 September 1665 Their nephew Charles IV "the Bewitched" 6 November 1661 1 November 1700 17 September 1665to1 November 1700 His son

During the War of Spanish Succession, 1701–1714, the duchy was disputed between Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France, of the House of Bourbon; and Charles of Austria, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, of the House of Habsburg. In 1712, Luxembourg and Namur were ceded to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria by his French allies, but at the end of the war in 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht Maximilian Emanuel was restored as Elector of Bavaria. In 1713, the duchy fell to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

House of Bourbon

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Philip VPhilippe de France 19 December 1683 9 July 1746 1 November 1700–1712 His grandnephew

House of Wittelsbach

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Maximilian IIMaximilian Emanuel Ludwig Maria Joseph Kajetan Anton Nikolaus Franz Ignaz Felix 11 July 1662 26 February 1726 1712–11 April 1713 His uncle

House of Habsburg Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor Charles VKarl Franz Joseph Wenceslau Balthasar Johann Anton Ignatius 1 October 1685 20 October 1740 11 April 1713–20 October 1740 His second cousin Maria II TheresaMaria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina 13 May 1717 29 November 1780 20 October 1740–29 November 1780 His daughter JosephJoseph Benedikt AugustJohannes Anton Michael Adam 13 March 1741 20 February 1790 29 November 1780to20 February 1790 Her son LeopoldPeter Leopold JosephAnton Joachim Pius Gotthard 5 May 1747 1 March 1792 20 February 1790to1 March 1792 His brother FrancisFrancis Joseph Charles 12 February 1768 2 March 1835 1 March 1792to1794 His son

Luxembourg was occupied by France between 1794 and 1813. At the Vienna Congress, it was elevated to a grand duchy and given in personal union to William I of the Netherlands.

Grand Dukes of Luxembourg

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg (or Grand Duchess in the case of a female monarch) is the head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the world's only extant sovereign grand duchy, a status to which Luxembourg was promoted in 1815 upon its unification with the Netherlands under the House of Orange-Nassau.

The Luxembourg constitution defines the grand duke's position:

Originally, the constitution vested the grand duke with considerable executive power. In practice, however, since the end of the personal union with the Netherlands in 1890, he has usually limited himself to a mostly representative role, acting on the advice of the government. Amendments in 1919 significantly curbed the grand duke's powers, thus codifying two decades of constitutional practice.

House of Orange-Nassau

Portrait Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship withpredecessor William I 24 August 1772 12 December 1843 15 March 1815to7 October 1840 Francis' third cousin and Anne's descendant William II 6 December 1792 17 March 1849 7 October 1840to17 March 1849 Son William III 17 February 1817 23 November 1890 17 March 1849to23 November 1890 Son

House of Nassau-Weilburg Under the 1783 Nassau Family Pact, those territories of the Nassau family in the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the Pact (Luxembourg and Nassau) were bound by semi-Salic law, which allowed inheritance by females or through the female line only upon extinction of male members of the dynasty. When William III died leaving only his daughter Wilhelmina as an heir, the crown of the Netherlands, not being bound by the family pact, passed to Wilhelmina. However, the crown of Luxembourg passed to a male of another branch of the House of Nassau: Adolphe, the dispossessed Duke of Nassau and head of the branch of Nassau-Weilburg.

In 1905, Grand Duke Adolphe's younger half-brother, Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau, died, having left a son Georg Nikolaus, Count von Merenberg who was, however, the product of a morganatic marriage, and therefore not legally a member of the House of Nassau. In 1907, Adolphe's only son, William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, obtained passage of a law confirming the right of his eldest daughter, Marie-Adélaïde, to succeed to the throne in virtue of the absence of any remaining dynastic males of the House of Nassau, as originally stipulated in the Nassau Family Pact. She became the grand duchy's first reigning female monarch upon her father's death in 1912, and upon her own abdication in 1919, was succeeded by her younger sister Charlotte, who married Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a prince of the former Duchy of Parma. Charlotte's descendants have since reigned as the continued dynasty of Nassau.

Name and reign Portrait Birth Marriages Death Right ofSuccession Adolphe23 November 1890 –17 November 1905 24 July 1817Wiesbaden (Prussia) (1) Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia31 January 1844[1 child (stillborn)](2) Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau23 April 1851[5 children] 17 November 1905Colmar-Berg William III's 17th cousin once removed through male line3rd cousin through William IV, Prince of OrangeAnne's direct descendant William IV17 November 1905 –25 February 1912 22 April 1852Wiesbaden (Prussia) Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal[6 children] 25 February 1912Colmar-Berg Eldest child Marie-Adélaïde25 February 1912 –14 January 1919 14 June 1894Colmar-Berg Unmarried[childless] 24 January 1924Lenggries (Germany) Eldest daughter Charlotte14 January 1919 –12 November 1964 23 January 1896Colmar-Berg Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma6 November 1919[6 children] 9 July 1985Fischbach Second daughter

House of Luxembourg-Nassau The House of Luxembourg-Nassau originated in 1919 with the marriage of Grand Duchess Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (of the House of Nassau‑Weilburg) to Prince Félix of Bourbon‑Parma (of the House of Bourbon-Parma). Their eldest son, Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 5 January 1921), succeeded to the throne in 1964, thus establishing the present ruling dynasty. Although the male‑line (agnatic) descent is from Bourbon‑Parma, the dynasty continues to be styled “Luxembourg‑Nassau” to reflect the historic Nassau‑Weilburg legacy maintained through Charlotte and the links with Luxembourg.