Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
| Frederick III | |
|---|---|
| Archduke of Austria | |
Portrait by Hans Burgkmair, c. 1500
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| Holy Roman Emperor | |
| Reign | 19 March 1452 – 19 August 1493 |
| Coronation | 19 March 1452 |
| Predecessor | Sigismund |
| Successor | Maximilian I |
| King of the Romans | |
| Reign | 2 February 1440 – 19 August 1493 |
| Coronation | 17 June 1442 |
| Predecessor | Albert II |
| Successor | Maximilian I |
| Born |
21 September 1415 Innsbruck, Tyrol |
| Died | 19 August 1493 (aged 77) Linz, Austria |
| Burial | St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna |
| Spouse | Eleanor of Portugal |
| Issue among others... |
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| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Ernest the Iron |
| Mother | Cymburgis of Masovia |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Frederick III (21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493), called the Peaceful or the Fat, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death, the first emperor of the House of Habsburg. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the Pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome.
Prior to his imperial coronation, he was duke of the Inner Austrian lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1424, and also acted as regent over the Duchy of Austria (as Frederick V) from 1439. He was elected and crowned King of Germany (as Frederick IV) in 1440. He was the longest-reigning German monarch when in 1493, after ruling his domains for more than 53 years, he was succeeded by his son Maximilian I.
During his reign, Frederick concentrated on re-uniting the Habsburg "hereditary lands" of Austria and took a lesser interest in Imperial affairs. Nevertheless, by his dynastic entitlement to Hungary as well as by the Burgundian inheritance, he laid the foundations for the later Habsburg Empire. Mocked as "Arch-Sleepyhead of the Holy Roman Empire" (German: Erzschlafmütze) during his lifetime, he is today increasingly seen as an efficient ruler.
Born at the Tyrolean residence of Innsbruck in 1415, Frederick was the eldest son of the Inner Austrian duke Ernest the Iron, a member of the Leopoldian line of the Habsburg dynasty, and his second wife Cymburgis of Masovia. According to the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, the Leopoldinian branch ruled over the duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, or what was referred to as Inner Austria. Only three of Frederick's eight siblings survived childhood: his younger brother Albert (later to be Albert VI, archduke of Austria), and his sisters Margaret (later the electress of Saxony) and Catherine. In 1424, nine-year-old Frederick's father died, making Frederick the duke of Inner Austria, as Frederick V, with his uncle, Duke Frederick IV of Tyrol, acting as regent.
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