biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1459–1519)
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| biography:
| Holy Roman Emperor (1493–1519), born as Archduke of Austria in Wiener Neustadt, NE Austria, the eldest son of Emperor Frederick III and Eleanor of Portugal. Elected King of the Romans (1486), he inherited the Habsburg territories and assumed the imperial title in 1493. He pursued an ambitious foreign policy, based on dynastic alliances, with far-reaching results for Habsburg power. His marriage to Mary of Burgundy brought his family the Burgundian inheritance, including Holland, followed by union with the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragón when the Spanish crown passed to his grandson, Charles (1516). A double marriage treaty between the Habsburgs and the Jagiellons (1506) eventually brought the union of Austria–Bohemia–Hungary (1526). He was involved in conflict with the Flemish, the Swiss, the German princes, and especially with the Valois kings of France. Financial difficulties weakened his campaigns, and he was later forced to cede Milan (1504) to Louis XII. He incurred the hostility of the Venetians and, despite the League of Cambrai (1508), suffered defeat. He was succeeded by his grandson, as Charles V. |
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