Maximilian I

Maximilian I (1459-1519), German king (1486-1519) and Holy Roman emperor (1493-1519), who established the Habsburg dynasty as an international European power.

Maximilian, the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. In 1477 he married Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, but his right to the Burgundian realm—which included the present Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) and considerable portions of what is now northern and eastern France—was challenged by the French king, Louis XI. Maximilian successfully defended his wife's inheritance in a war with France that lasted until 1493, and he subdued the rebellious cities of the Netherlands. In 1490 he recovered Austria, which had been occupied by Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. By the Treaty of Pressburg (1491), Maximilian secured the right of succession to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia, which were held by the Habsburg family for the next four centuries. In 1493 Maximilian succeeded his father as king and emperor. Two years later he embarked on a war to prevent France from acquiring territory in Italy. In 1496 he arranged the marriage of his son Philip to Joanna the Mad, heiress to the thrones of Castile and Aragón, thus laying the basis for two centuries of Habsburg rule in Spain. Maximilian made peace with Louis XII of France in 1504, and four years later joined Louis in the League of Cambrai against Venice. In 1511, however, he again opposed France in an alliance (the Holy League) with England, Spain, and the pope, and he was largely responsible for the imperial and English victory over the French in the Battle of the Spurs (1513). Maximilian was a patron of the arts, and among his writings are two autobiographical poems.