Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
1415 – 1493 · Generation VI · Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1452–1493) · Counts & Dukes of Austria
Frederick (1415 – 1493). Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1452–1493). Married Eleanor in 1452. Last emperor crowned in Rome; longest reign of any German monarch; father of Maximilian I. Duke of Inner Austria from 1424 and regent of the Duchy of Austria from 1439, he was elected King of Germany in 1440 and became the first Habsburg to hold the imperial title — a dignity his house would keep, with one gap, until 1806. Mocked in his day as an “Arch-Sleepyhead,” he cared less for governing the Empire than for drawing the scattered Habsburg lands back under a single hand; yet through the dynasty’s claims on Hungary and the winning of the rich Burgundian inheritance, his reign prepared the ground for the empire his descendants would build.
One of 19 people of Counts & Dukes of Austria (1218–1496) in this archive. The counts who became dukes of Austria, before a Habsburg wore an imperial crown.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Parents
- Ernest, Duke of Austria (1377 – 1424)
- Cymburgis of Masovia (1397 – 1429)
Partners
- Married Eleanor of Portugal (1434 – 1467) in 1452 — one child together
Children
- Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459 – 1519)
Life
- 1415 — Born
- 1452 — Married Eleanor
- 1493 — Died