Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor: Encyclopedia II - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor - Life and reign in the Habsburg hereditary lands

Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor - Life and reign in the Habsburg hereditary lands

Maximilian was born in Wiener Neustadt 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.

In 1490, he bought Tyrol and Further Austria from his cousin Sigismund, the last member of the Elder Tyrolean Line of the House of Hapsburg. 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.

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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life and reign in the Habsburg hereditary lands", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki