The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it was part of the Habsburg monarchy and later Austria-Hungary. During the history of the Habsburg empire, the Esterházy family was consistently loyal to the Habsburg rulers. The Esterházys received the title of Graf (Count) in 1626, and the Forchtenstein line received the title of Fürst (Prince) from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1712. History The Esterházys arose among the minor nobility of the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary (today's southwest Slovakia), originally a branch of the Salamon clan (de genere Salamon) by the name Zerházi (de Zerhásház / de Zyrház / de Zyrhas). Their first known ancestor was Mokud (Mocud) from the Salamon clan, who was a military serviceman and landowner in the Csallóköz region of Western Hungary (today Žitný ostrov in southwestern Slovakia), and Pristaldus, a judicial office-holder in the court of Béla III of Hungary. The name Esterházy was first used by Benedict Zerhas de Zerhashaz (1508–1553), who in 1539 took over the wealth of his wife, Ilona Bessenyei de Galántha. Their son, Ferenc Esterházy (1533–1604) inherited the coat of arms and title of his mother and the full surname of the family became Eszterházy de Galántha, Galanta being a small town east of Bratislava (, ), now capital of Slovakia. The family rose to prominence under Count Nikolaus Esterházy (1583–1645) and his son, Prince Paul Esterházy (1635–1713). In the 17th century, after Nikolaus' acquisitions, the family split into four main family lines: the older Forchtenstein (Hungarian: Fraknó) line: founded by Nikolaus Esterházy, main seat: Eisenstadt (Kismarton) The three cadet branches: the younger Forchtenstein line the Zólyom line: founded by Paul Esterházy (died 1645) the Csesznek line: founded by Daniel Esterházy (died 1654) In 1626 the Esterházys were granted the title of Count and in 1712, the older Forchtenstein line received the title of (Ruling) Prince by the Holy Roman Emperor. They had a Sovereign State when they obtained former Edelstetten Abbey as an Imperial Principality in 1804. The success of the family arose from the steady accumulation of land, and loyalty both to the Roman Catholic Church and to the Habsburg Emperor, the latter factor being the most important. A consistent theme of Hungarian history