2021-03-22 Mon

Maximilian I was the archduke of Austria, German king, and Holy Roman emperor who made his family, the Habsburgs, dominant in 16th-century Europe. He was the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal.

He added vast lands to the traditional Austrian holdings, securing the Netherlands by his own marriage, Hungary and Bohemia by treaty and military pressure, and Spain and the Spanish empire by the marriage of his son Philip. He created the Landsknechte (“Servants of the Country”), a body of well-organized mercenaries, and fought a series of wars against the French, mostly in Italy. His grandson succeeded to the vast Habsburg realm and the imperial crown as Charles V.

Depicted here is Maximilian's coin with the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece. He 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. Many of them were commissioned to assist him to complete a series of projects, in different art forms, intended to glorify for posterity his life and deeds and those of his Habsburg ancestors.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org