Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
1459 – 1519 · Generation VII · Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1508–1519) · The marriage empire
Maximilian (1459 – 1519). Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1508–1519). Married Mary in 1477. His marriage to Mary of Burgundy brought the Low Countries to the Habsburgs; architect of the dynasty's marriage policy. King of the Romans from 1486, he shared rule with his father until the old emperor died in 1493. With the road to Rome barred by the Venetians, he broke with centuries of custom and proclaimed himself elected emperor at Trento in 1508 — never crowned by a pope, though Julius II later recognized the title. War served him less kindly than weddings: the Swiss Confederacy stripped away the Habsburgs' ancestral lands in Switzerland, but by marrying his son Philip the Handsome to Joanna of Castile he planted the dynasty in Spain, opening the way for his grandson Charles V to rule Castile and Aragon alike.
One of 9 people of The marriage empire (1440–1578) in this archive. The generations in which Habsburg marriages gathered Burgundy, Spain and Bohemia-Hungary into a single inheritance.
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 → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Parents
- Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (1415 – 1493)
- Eleanor of Portugal (1434 – 1467)
Partners
- Married Mary of Burgundy (1457 – 1482) in 1477 — 2 children together
Children
- Philip I of Castile (1478 – 1506)
- Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480 – 1530)
Life
- 1459 — Born
- 1477 — Married Mary
- 1519 — Died