Frederick III (Holy Roman Empire) (1415–1493; Ruled 1440–1493)

FREDERICK III (HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE) (1415–1493; ruled 1440–1493)

FREDERICK III (HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE) (1415–1493; ruled 1440–1493), Holy Roman emperor. A scion of the Habsburg dynasty, Frederick III married Eleanora of Portugal, with whom he had a son and heir, the future emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519; ruled 1493–1519). Frederick was considered a handsome and placid individual; he had the appearance and bearing of a prince. Intellectually he was a gifted amateur astronomer, botanist, and mineralogist. Politically, however, he lived in reflected glory.

Frederick's career was marked by a striking combination of dramatic defeats and subtler victories. His election as king of Hungary by a faction of Magyar noblemen in 1439 plunged Frederick into an unequal conflict with Matthias Corvinus (1440/1443–1490; ruled 1458–1490). Despite being bought off in 1462, Frederick suffered military defeat at the hands of Corvinus's superior army, which conquered lower Austria, Moravia, and Silesia. He was ultimately driven from Vienna, where Corvinus established his capital in 1485. When Corvinus died in 1490, he left Hungary—not the Holy Roman Empire—the dominant power in central Europe. The rise of the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, however, reduced Hungarian might and made the country a battlefield for centuries to come. Frederick was never able to mount an effective resistance to Ottoman expansion, which continued for most of his reign. By 1493 the Turks had advanced steadily through eastern and central Europe to the very borders of the Holy Roman Empire. During his struggle with Corvinus, however, Frederick managed to strengthen Habsburg relations with Rome. He signed the Concordat of Vienna in 1448, thus bringing the conciliar movement to an effective end and strengthening the hand of the papacy in matters of church governance. As a further acknowledgment of papal authority, Frederick rode to Rome for his coronation in 1452. Papal recognition set a seal of sorts on Habsburg authority within the Holy Roman Empire, but Frederick had to struggle to make that authority real. His relations with the territorial princes of the empire were marked by conflict. The emergence of the Imperial Diet led by the electors gave them extraordinary influence in opposition to the emperor. Frederick played an active role in efforts at imperial reform, fostering the creation of regional confederations, such as the Swabian League, as a counterweight to princely pretensions. As on his eastern frontier, imperial policies to the south and west were similarly disputed. The nascent Swiss Confederation had long sought to throw off imperial—to say nothing of Austrian—rule and establish its independence. Likewise relations with Burgundy, one of the great powers of the fifteenth century, were strained. Frederick decided to make common cause with the Swiss in their military campaign against Charles of Burgundy (1433–1477). In 1474 he signed the Perpetual Peace, renouncing all Austrian claims to Swiss territory. With Frederick's assistance, the Swiss defeated Charles, who was killed in 1477. That year Frederick mended fences with Burgundy by marrying his son Maximilian to Charles's daughter Mary. The alliance of Austria and Burgundy helped raise Habsburg fortunes to their absolute zenith.

Frederick's victories, though less striking in the moment, may have been more durable than his defeats. Though driven from his capital by Corvinus, Frederick managed to outlast him. When the great Hungarian king died and his country succumbed to the Turks, the Habsburgs shouldered the defense of Latin Christendom's eastern frontier with such power and prestige as accompanied that task. By fostering good relations with the papacy, Frederick strengthened both the hand of the emperor and the house of Habsburg as an ally of the Roman Church. It assured each a say in appointments to ecclesiastical office and a means to control church influence in European politics. By encouraging political reform in the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick made the emperor a protector of local interests. It did nothing, however, to halt the erosion of imperial authority to the advantage of the territorial princes. By settling with the Swiss and defeating the Burgundians, Frederick stabilized imperial frontiers and drew Europe's wealthiest principality into the Habsburg orbit. It did bring the house of Habsburg into conflict with the Valois kings of France, but it also laid the foundation for the great Habsburg empire that developed during the reign of Charles V (1500–1558; ruled 1519–1556). Frederick can be said to have given real meaning to the Habsburg motto AEIOU: "Austriae est imperare orbi universo" or "Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan." Whether or not all the world was indeed subject to Austria became a theme of European politics for centuries to come.

See also Austria ; Burgundy ; Habsburg Dynasty: Austria ; Habsburg-Valois Wars ; Hungary ; Switzerland .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Haller, Brigitte. Kaiser Friedrich III. im Urteil der Zeitgenossen. Vienna, 1965.

Hesslinger, Helmo. Die Anfänge des Schwäbischen Bundes. Stuttgart, 1970.

Kramml, Peter F. Kaiser Friedrich III. und die Reichsstadt Konstanz, 1440–1493. Sigmaringen, Germany, 1985.

Nehring, Karl. Matthias Corvinus, Kaiser Friedrich III, und das Reich. Munich, 1975.

Thomas Max Safley