Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
| Rudolf IV | |
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Rudolf IV of Austria. This portrait is the first half frontal portrait of the Occident. It had been on display above his grave in the Stephansdom of Vienna for several decades after his death, but can now be seen in the Museum of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. Apart from the (invented) archdukal crown, the foreshortening of which the artist did not completely master, the portrait is completely realistic. Even the duke's incipient facioplegia is shown
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| Duke of Austria | |
| Reign | 1358–1365 |
| Predecessor | Albert II, Duke of Austria |
| Successor | Albert III & Leopold III |
| Born |
1 November 1339 Vienna |
| Died | 27 July 1365 (aged 25) Milan |
| Burial | Ducal Crypt, Vienna |
| Spouse | Catherine of Luxembourg |
| House | House of Habsburg |
| Father | Albert II, Duke of Austria |
| Mother | Joanna of Pfirt |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Rudolf IV der Stifter ("the Founder") (November 1, 1339 – July 27, 1365) was a scion of the House of Habsburg and Duke (self-proclaimed Archduke) of Austria and Duke of Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as Count of Tyrol from 1363 and first Duke of Carniola from 1364 until his death. After the Habsburgs got nothing from the decree of the Golden Bull in 1356, he gave order to draw up the "Privilegium Maius", a fake document to empower the Austrian rulers.
Born in Vienna, Rudolf was the eldest son of Duke Albert II of Austria and his wife Joanna of Pfirt. One of the third generation of Habsburg dukes in Austria, he was the first to be born within the duchy. Therefore, he considered Austria his home, a sentiment that no doubt communicated itself to his subjects and contributed to his popularity. Faced with the Habsburgs' loss of the Imperial crown upon the assassination of his grandfather King Albert I of Germany in 1308, Rudolf was one of the most energetic and active rulers of Austria in the late Middle Ages, and it was said of him that as a young man he already had the air of a king.
In 1357 he was married to Catherine of Luxembourg, a daughter of Emperor Charles IV . Eager to compete with his mighty father-in-law, who had made the Kingdom of Bohemia and its capital Prague a radiant center of Imperial culture, Rudolf desired to raise the importance of his residence Vienna to a comparable or greater height.
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