No. 97 Maximilian Emperor of Germany
BORN 1459, DIED 1519.
Head. Furred dress and cap. Collar and badge of Golden Fleece. Gold diapered background.
The son of Frederick III., Emperor of Germany, by Eleanor of Portugal. In his childhood he was nicknamed ‘The Dumb,’ from the difficulty he had in articulating; although in after years he was remarkable for the sweet tone of his voice. A romantic story is told in connection with him and the beautiful Princess he afterwards married.
Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy, had been much struck with the young Archduke (in an interview with the Emperor) when Maximilian was only fourteen, and made so vivid a description of his appearance and promising qualities as to interest the fancy of his fair daughter and influence her future choice. On the death of her father, Mary, (then Duchess of Burgundy,) finding herself involved in a war with France, and a series of difficulties with her Flemish subjects, felt the importance of securing a strong firm spirit, to protect and counsel her.
Amid the crowd of suitors of all nations who competed for the hand of the richest heiress in Europe, the fairest Princess in Christendom, she selected the young Archduke Maximilian.
He began his married life by a war with Louis XI. of France, but it was not of long duration. His good and beautiful wife survived her marriage but two years, dying from the effects of a fall from her horse while engaged in her favourite pastime of hawking; she left a son and a daughter.
On her death the States of Flanders, regarding the Archduke with great distrust and jealousy as a foreigner, rose in revolt, and even disputed with him the guardianship of his own children. Maximilian’s life, indeed, was one of continual warfare, but though a brave, he was not considered on the whole a very successful General. He at one time formed an alliance with France against England, and at another with England against France: now friendly with, now opposed to, the Swiss, the Venetians, and others. On succeeding to the Imperial throne, he married, as his second wife, Bianca Maria, sister of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, who brought him a large dower.
This match was most distasteful to the proud Germans, who refused to recognise the ‘Bastard’ as Empress, and threatened that, in the event of her having children, they should not be recognised as Princes of the blood-royal. But (perhaps fortunately for herself) Bianca was childless.
This union with an Italian led Maximilian into further warfare. He formed an alliance with the Pope, with his brother-in-law the Duke of Milan, and several States of Italy, to arrest the progress of the King of France, then marching on Naples, but this undertaking was not successful in the end. His energetic and ambitious spirit involved Maximilian, not only in constant wars, but caused him to take part in all the struggles of the day, religious and political. He was a man of remarkable vigour, learning, and skill in all martial exercises, but renowned for his extravagance, which brought him into so many straits that he gained the nickname of ‘Sans Argent,’ and was often without the means of defraying the pay of his soldiers. He helped to form the celebrated League of Cambray, and presided at the Diet of Worms, etc. etc. He admired the manly and independent spirit of Luther, and showed himself no ways averse to the reform of Church abuses, although he did not survive the movement long enough to take a decided part on either side.
His health was now fast declining, and strange fancies took possession of his mind. Being dissatisfied with the construction of a palace he had ordered at Innsprück, he said, ‘I will build myself another house,’ and sending for a carpenter, told him to make a coffin with all speed. For four years this ghastly reminder accompanied him in all his marches and wanderings. Maximilian died at Wels, in Upper Austria, it is said his death was accelerated by eating too freely of melon! Finding his end approaching, he prepared for it, with much calmness; making his will, giving the most eccentric orders concerning his interment, and joining with fervour in the prayers for the dying which were being offered up in his presence. His body was at a later period transferred to Innsprück, where the Emperor Ferdinand I. erected a magnificent tomb to his memory. It is of white marble, representing in high relief the principal events of his most eventful life, while on either side of the mausoleum, noble statues in bronze of illustrious sovereigns, knights, and dames of all ages and nations, form a body-guard round Maximilian’s last resting-place.
He had only two children, Philip, afterwards Emperor of Germany and King of Castille, in right of his wife, ‘Mad Joan,’ as she was called, (the only child of Ferdinand and Isabella,) by whom he had Charles V., and Ferdinand, who both succeeded to the Imperial throne. Maximilian’s only daughter, Margaret, was sent on the death of her mother to France, to be educated with the children of Louis XI., who designed the little heiress as bride for the Dauphin Charles. The betrothal took place with great pomp and ceremony when Margaret had attained the advanced age of three years. But in 1491, Charles, who had then succeeded his father as King of France, resolving on an alliance with Anne, heiress of Brittany, sent his little child-wife back to her father, an indignity which Maximilian resolved to wipe out in French blood.
Margaret afterwards married John Infant of Spain, and secondly Philibert Duke of Savoy, and she eventually became Governess of the Netherlands.
Albert Dürer was much esteemed not only by the Emperor Maximilian, but by his successors Charles and Ferdinand.