MAXIMILIAN I OF HABSBURG

(1459–1519)

Archduke of Austria. Maximilian was the son of the Holy Roman (German) emperor Fred erick III and in 1477 married Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. After the death of his young wife in 1482, Maximilian became regent of the Burgundian Netherlands for his son Philip the Handsome. In 1493, he succeeded his father as emperor of the German Reich. His attempts to unify the Reich were fruitless, but Maximilian was successful in se curing the German crown for the Habsburgfamily. After the death of his son, he became regent again in the Netherlands, now on behalf of his grandson Charles, the future emperor Charles V.