Tags
Archduke of Austria, Battle of Mühldorf, Emperor Friedrich III, German Monarchy, Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation, House of Habsburg, Imperial Crown of Germany, Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, King Friedrich IV of Germany, Pope Nicholas V
Friedrich III (September 21, 1415 – August 19, 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. He was the fourth king and first Emperor of the House of Habsburg. He was the penultimate Emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome.
Early life
Born at the Tyrolean residence of Innsbruck in 1415, Friedrich III was the eldest son of the Inner Austrian Duke, Ernst 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 Friedrich’s eight siblings survived childhood: his younger brother Albrecht (later to be Albrecht VI, Archduke of Austria), and his sisters Margaret (later the Electress of Saxony as the wife of Prince-Elector Friedrich II of Saxony) and Catherine. In 1424, nine-year-old Friedrich’s father died, making Friedrich the Duke of Inner Austria, as Duke Friedrich V, with his uncle, Duke Friedrich IV of Tyrol, acting as regent.
From 1431, Friedrich 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, Albrecht V, Duke of Austria (later Albrecht II, King of Germany), awarded him the rule over his Inner Austrian heritage. As he unified Austria he and officially adopted the Archducal title and Austria was raised to an Archduchy.
As a cousin of late King Albrecht II of Germany/the Romans, Friedrich of Austria became a candidate for the 1440 imperial election. On February 2, 1440, the Prince-Electors convened at Frankfurt and unanimously elected him King of the Romans as Friedrich IV; his rule was still based on his hereditary lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, or Inner Austria.
As Emperor, Friedrich was known as Emperor Friedrich III. However, as King of Germany/King of the Romans he was known as King Friedrich IV until his Papal coronation. King Friedrich III of Germany/the Romans was actually Prince Friedrich the Fair (c. 1289 – January 13, 1330), also from the House of Habsburg, who was the Duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-King of Germany from 1314 and then co-King of Germany along with his cousin Emperor Ludwig IV from 1325 until his death in 1330. Emperor Ludwig IV was King of Germany since 1314 and Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347.
Ludwig IV’s election as King of Germany in 1314 was controversial, as his Habsburg cousin Friedrich the Fair was simultaneously elected king by a separate set of electors. Ludwig defeated Friedrich III the Fair in the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322, and the two eventually reconciled.
In 1452, at the age of 37, Friedrich IV of Germany travelled to Italy to receive his bride and to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. His fiancée was the 17-year-old infanta Eleanor of Portugal, the daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Aragon, the daughter of King Fernando I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque.
Arrangements were made by Eleanor’s maternal uncle Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Naples, who, in 1448, sent artists from his court to paint Eleanor. Eleanor was also suggested as a marriage partner for Louis, Dauphin of France, the eldest son of King Charles VII, but she herself preferred to marry Friedrich because a match with him would give her the title of Empress instead of Queen.
Infanta Eleanor of Portugal landed at Livorno (Leghorn) after a 104-day trip. Her dowry would help Friedrich alleviate his debts and cement his power. The couple met at Siena on February 24 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 Friedrich 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 Friedrich’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 March 19, in spite of the protests of the Milanese ambassadors, and in the afternoon King Friedrich IV of Germany, now Emperor Friedrich III, was crowned with the Imperial Crown by Pope Nicholas V. Emperor Friedrich III and Infanta Eleanor were married by Pope Nicholas V.
The Imperial couple were anointed in St Peter’s Basilica by the Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Francesco Condulmer. Emperor Friedrich III was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned in Rome. His great-grandson Emperor Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned, but this was done in Bologna.
Eleanor and Friedrich were dissimilar and never happy. She was an ambitious and willful woman who frequently participated in intrigues, whereas the emperor was a sober and uninspiring man. Her interest in dancing, gambling and hunting was not shared by Friedrich, and their relationship was affected by their differences.
During his reign, Emperor Friedrich III 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” during his lifetime, he is today increasingly seen as an effective ruler.
Historian Thomas A. Brady Jr. credited Friedrich III 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 Friedrich.
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 as Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.