Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick III (German: Friedrich III, 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome.
Frederick III
19 March 1452 – 19 August 1493
19 March 1452
2 February 1440 – 19 August 1493
17 June 1442
Maximilian I (1486–1493)
23 November 1457 – 19 August 1493
Albert VI (1457–1463)
10 June 1424 – 19 August 1493
Albert VI (1424–1463)
Prior to his imperial coronation, he was duke of the Inner Austrian lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1424, and also acted as regent over the Duchy of Austria from 1439. He was elected and crowned King of Germany in 1440.[1] His reign of 53 years is the longest in the history of the Holy Roman Empire or the German monarchy. Upon his death in 1493 he was succeeded by his son Maximilian.
During his reign, Frederick concentrated on re-uniting the Habsburg "hereditary lands" of Austria and took a lesser interest in Imperial affairs. Nevertheless, by his dynastic entitlement to Hungary as well as by the Burgundian inheritance, he laid the foundations for the later Habsburg Empire. Despite being mocked as "Arch-Sleepyhead of the Holy Roman Empire" (German: Erzschlafmütze) during his lifetime,[2] he is today increasingly seen as an effective ruler.
Historian Thomas A. Brady Jr. credited Frederick with leaving a credible claim on the imperial title and a secure grip on the Austrian lands, now organized as a single state, for his son. This imperial revival (as well as the rise of the territorial state) began under the reign of Frederick.[3]
Early life[edit]
Born at the Tyrolean residence of Innsbruck in 1415, Frederick was the eldest son of the Inner Austrian duke Ernest the Iron, a member of the Leopoldian line of the Habsburg dynasty, and his second wife Cymburgis of Masovia. According to the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, the Leopoldinian branch ruled over the duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, or what was referred to as Inner Austria. Only three of Frederick's eight siblings survived childhood: his younger brother Albert (later to be Albert VI, archduke of Austria), and his sisters Margaret (later the electress of Saxony) and Catherine. In 1424, nine-year-old Frederick's father died, making Frederick the duke of Inner Austria, as Frederick V, with his uncle, Duke Frederick IV of Tyrol, acting as regent.
From 1431, Frederick tried to obtain majority (to be declared "of age", and thus allowed to rule) but for several years was denied by his relatives. Finally, in 1435, Albert V, duke of Austria (later Albert II, the king of Germany), awarded him the rule over his Inner Austrian heritage. Almost from the beginning, Frederick's younger brother Albert asserted his rights as a co-ruler, as the beginning of a long rivalry. Already in these years, Frederick had begun to use the symbolic A.E.I.O.U. signature as a kind of motto with various meanings. In 1436 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, accompanied by numerous nobles knighted by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, which earned him great reputation.
Upon the death of his uncle Duke Frederick IV in 1439, Frederick took over the regency of Tyrol and Further Austria for the duke's heir Sigismund. Again he had to ward off the claims raised by his brother Albert VI; he prevailed by the support of the Tyrolean aristocracy. Likewise he acted as regent for his nephew Ladislaus the Posthumous, son of late King Albert II and his consort Elizabeth of Luxembourg, in the duchy of Austria (Further Austria). (Ladislaus would die before coming of age). Frederick was now the undisputed head of the Habsburg dynasty, though his regency in the lands of the Albertinian Line (Further Austria) was still viewed with suspicion.
As a cousin of late King Albert II, Frederick became a candidate for the 1440 imperial election. On 2 February 1440, the prince-electors convened at Frankfurt and unanimously elected him King of the Romans as Frederick IV; his rule was still based on his hereditary lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, or Inner Austria.
In 1442, Frederick allied himself with Rudolf Stüssi, burgomaster of Zürich, against the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Old Zürich War (Alter Zürichkrieg) but lost. In 1448, he entered into the Concordat of Vienna with the Holy See, which remained in force until 1806 and regulated the relationship between the Habsburgs and the Holy See.
In 1452, at the age of 37, Frederick III travelled to Italy to receive his bride and to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. His fiancée, the 17-year-old infanta Eleanor, daughter of King Edward of Portugal, landed at Livorno (Leghorn) after a 104-day trip. Her dowry would help Frederick alleviate his debts and cement his power. The couple met at Siena on 24 February and proceeded together to Rome. As per tradition, they spent a night outside the walls of Rome before entering the city on 9 March, where Frederick and Pope Nicholas V exchanged friendly greetings. Because the emperor had been unable to retrieve the Iron Crown of Lombardy from the cathedral of Monza where it was kept, nor be crowned King of Italy by the archbishop of Milan (on account of Frederick's dispute with Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan), he convinced the pope to crown him as such with the German crown, which had been brought for the purpose. This coronation took place on the morning of 16 March, in spite of the protests of the Milanese ambassadors, and in the afternoon Frederick and Eleanor were married by the pope. Finally, on 19 March, Frederick and Eleanor were anointed in St Peter's Basilica by the Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Francesco Condulmer, and Frederick was then crowned with the Imperial Crown by the pope.[4] Frederick was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned in Rome.[5] His great-grandson Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned, but this was done in Bologna.
Patronage of the arts[edit]
Frederick was an important and powerful patron of music, with a "preference for importing Western talent". This, combined with the efforts by non-coủrtly institutions like the Cathedral at Trent, would contribute to the flourishing of music under Maximilian I.[22]
The 110 books he collected form the core collection of the later Bibliotheca Regia, that was the predecessor of the later Imperial Library and the current Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek).[23]
Legacy[edit]
German historians tend to be more critical of Frederick than Austrian ones. Austrian historian Adam Wandruszka opines that while he was not an impressive emperor, Frederick III was effective in defending and expanding his family's dynastic interests. Wandruszka calls him the "true founder of the Habsburg imperial position".[24] German historians Paul-Joachim Heinig (author of Kaiser Friedrich III. (1440–1493). Hof, Regierung und Politik, Böhlau, 1997) writes that it would be unfair to say that Maximilan stood on the shoulders of a giant, yet nevertheless Frederick provided the shoulders without which Maximilian could not have become a giant himself.[25]
Frederick was a great benefactor to the Jews – his enemies described him as "more of a Jew than a Holy Roman Emperor". He favoured such Jewish scholars like Jacob ben Jehiel Loans, who was the teacher of the Hebraist Johann Reuchlin.[26] His empress Eleanor also favoured Jews. For unknown reasons, their son Maximilian developed a dislike for the Jews as a child though, to the horror of both parents.
[27] His own relationship with the Jews evolved over the years though. Ursula Schattner-Rieser opines that the foundation of Modern Judaism, arising in the eras of Frederick and Maximilian, was "embedded in the principles of humanism".[28]
Frederick had five children from his marriage with Eleanor of Portugal:
For the last 10 years of Frederick's life, he and Maximilian ruled jointly.