Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I of Habsburg (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor.

Life and reign in the Habsburg hereditary lands

Maximilian was born in Vienna as the son of the Emperor Frederick III and Eleanore of Portugal. He married (1477) the heiress of Burgundy, Mary, the only daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Through this marriage, Maximilian obtained the Burgundian Netherlands and the Free County of Burgundy, though France took Burgundy proper.

Related Topics:
Vienna - Frederick III - Eleanore of Portugal - 1477 - Mary - Charles the Bold - Burgundian Netherlands - Free County of Burgundy - France

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In 1490, he bought Tyrol and Further Austria from his cousin Sigismund, the last member of the Elder Tyrolean Line of the House of Habsburg. Upon the death of his father in 1493, he inherited the remaining Habsburg possesions and thus reunified all Habsburg territories. That same year Maximilian married Bianca Maria Sforza (d. 1510), the daughter of the Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan as he had been a widower since the death of his first wife in 1482.

Related Topics:
1490 - Tyrol - Further Austria - Sigismund - Habsburg - 1493 - Bianca Maria Sforza - 1510 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza - Milan - 1482

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Maximilian was a keen supporter of the arts and sciences, and he surrounded himself with scholars such as Joachim Vadian and Andreas Stoberl (Stiborius), promoting them to important court posts.

Related Topics:
Joachim Vadian - Andreas Stoberl

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