Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Achievements: Established Hapsburg dynasty as a European power
Born: March 22, 1459; Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Died: January 12, 1519; Wels, Austria (Aged 59)
Field & Discipline: Royalty; Emperor
Language: German
Father: Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother: Eleanor (daughter of the King of Portugal)
Siblings: 2 brothers, names unknown; Kunigunde (sister); second sister died in infancy
Spouse: 1) Mary (daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy); 2) Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan
Children: by Mary of Burgundy: Philip the Fair; Margaret
Education: Private tutors
Life & Times:
Maximilian was a member of the Hapsburg dynasty. His father was Arch-Duke of Austria, King of the Romans (traditional name for king of the Germans) and Holy Roman Emperor, a title conferred by the Pope.
In 1477, when he was 18, Maximilian was married to Mary, daughter of [father-in-law was] Charles the Bold*, Duke of Burgundy, who had just inherited large tracts of land in the Netherlands and along the frontier with eastern France.
Maximilian was unpopular in the Netherlands and when Mary died after only five years of marriage, his popularity sank further. Many Dutch states refused to acknowledge him as Regent for his son, Philip, who was about four years old. The Netherlands forced Maximilian to allow parliament to act as Regent for his son, and obliged him to negotiate with the French.
In 1482, he signed the Treaty of Arras which decreed that his infant daughter Margaret would marry Charles, the heir to the French throne, and hand over to France as part of her dowry the provinces of Artois and Franche-Comte. The Treaty also tacitly accepted French King Louis XI's claim to the duchy of Burgundy.
After quashing a rebellion in Utrecht, he regained the regency in 1485. The next year, he returned to Germany and was crowned "King of the Romans" at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1487. By 1490, he had persuaded several of the Dutch states to accept him as regent, had made peace with France, and had become ruler of the Tyrol on the abdication of his cousin. He formed an alliance with Henry VII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon to defend the possessions of Anne of Brittany against the French. He then took the further step of marrying Anne of Brittany by proxy, although Brittany was then occupied by French troops.
Maximilian now turned his attention to Eastern Europe. He drove the Hungarians out of Austria and regained Vienna, but was forced to halt his campaign because he ran out of funds. Vladislav II of Bohemia was elected King of Hungary and Maximilian, in 1491, had to settle for the Treaty of Pressburg, which decreed that the Hapsburgs could have both Hungary and Bohemia, but only if Vladislav died without a male heir.
Back in France, things were not going any better. Maximilian's marriage turned out to be invalid. Anne of Brittany married Charles VIII, king of France, and Maximilian's daughter, who was supposed to have married Charles VIII, and who had been living in France since her betrothal, was sent back to her father.
In 1492, Maximilian fought off the Turks, who were invading Austrian lands in the east. Maximilian's father, Frederick III, died in 1493 and Maximilian became head of the Hapsburgs and sole ruler in Germany. In 1494, he married Bianca Sforza, daughter of the Duke of Milan, who brought him a considerable dowry.
He handed over government of the Netherlands to his son, Philip, now about 16, and turned his attention to Italy, where France was making incursions. To get money to fight the French in Italy, Maximilian called together the Diet Worms (the Imperial Parliament) at Worms, in 1495.
But his attempts to introduce measures --including tax laws -- that would strengthen the empire and make its administration more efficient were stymied by individual German princes who resented any central authority that could undermine their powers.
Maximilian then joined the Holy League against the French with the Pope, Spain, Venice and Milan, but he fought only briefly in Italy, in 1496 and in 1497. He strengthened his alliance with Spain by marrying son his Philip to the daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and [in-law was] Isabella* of Castile. He arranged the marriage of his daughter Margaret to the Spanish Crown prince.
He also set up independent legal and financial structures in Germany so that he could by-pass the Imperial Diet. In 1499, after hostilities broke out with the Swiss, who would not pay his taxes or contribute to war against the French, Maximilian found himself in a losing position and was forced to accept the Peace of Basel, which made the Swiss virtually independent of the empire.
When the French took Milan, Maximilian was obliged to ask the Diet again for money. The German princes used the occasion to set up a Regency Council which severely limited his power. But Maximilian ignored the new council, and out-maneuvered the princes by entering a peace treaty with France in 1504.
In accordance with the treaty, Maximilian's grandson (who would succeed him as [grandson was] Charles V*) was betrothed to the daughter of Louis XII of France. Maximilian made his own arrangements for money by coming to terms with business firms in south Germany, such as the [borrowed from] Fugger* bankers.
In 1508, he was given the title of Holy Roman Emperor elect by [named Emperor by] Pope Julius II*, but could not go to Rome to be crowned because the Venetians would not let him pass through their territory. Angry, he joined the League of Cambrai with France, Spain and the Pope, and attacked Venice. The war was not popular with his financial backers, the trading cities of southern Germany, so he made a truce with Venice.
In 1511, suspicious again of French motives in Italy, he joined a new Holy League with the Pope, Spain and England. In Germany, he decided to cement his reputation as the focal point of the Empire by embarking on what was effectively a huge public relations campaign.
He commissioned a series of works from artists and writers to glorify his achievements. In 1512, he commissioned [got propaganda from] Durer* to supervise a series of woodcuts commemorating his life and victories.
After 1514, Maximilian's health began to decline, and he became somewhat of a hypochondriac. He even began taking his coffin along with him on his travels. He spent considerable time arranging dynastic marriages to consolidate the power of the empire. During a session of the Diet at Augsburg in 1518, Durer sketched a charcoal portrait of him.
Extra Connections: Commissioned work by [commissioned] Da Vinci*
Spied on by [spied on by] Macchiavelli*
He consulted [consulted] Reuchlin*
Assessment: Made the Hapsburg dynasty a dominant force in Europe through a combination of military action, treaties, and marriages.
Oneliner: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Bibliography:
- Beneck, Gerhard, Maximilian I, an Analytical Biography, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1982.