General Notes

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, on March 22, 1459. In 1477 he married Mary
(1457-82), daughter of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, but his right to
the Burgundian realmùwhich included the present Benelux countries and
considerable portions of what is now northern and eastern Franceùwas
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, and
by the Treaty of Pressburg (1491) secured the right of succession to the
thrones of Hungary and Bohemia, which were held by the Habsburg family for
the next four centuries. Succeeding his father as king and emperor in 1493,
he embarked on a war to prevent France from acquiring territory in Italy two
years later. In 1496 he arranged the marriage of his son Philip to Joanna
(1479-1555), heiress to the thrones of Castile and Aragon, 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; his
writings include two autobiographical poems. He died at Wels, Austria, on
January 12, 1519.