Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/514

Rh 1433-93. IIaps- burg dynasty. Albert I I. 496 fief, the march of Brandenburg. to become the centre of a mighty kingdom. Sigismund was succeeded by Albert, duke of Austria, who, as his sJn—in-law, became king of Bohemia and Hungary. .-‘llthough the German crown remained elective, it was henceforth always conferred on a member of the house of Hapsburg until the extinction of the male line; and the same family never willingly lost its grip of the two countries which now fell to it, and of which it ultimately gained complete possession. Albert II. ( 1 438-3 9) evidently meant well by Germany; but his reign was too short to enable him to do more than indicate his good in- tentions. He was succeeded by Frederick, duke of Styria. Frederltk Frederick IV. (1440-93), unfortunately for his subjects, I V. l‘rivate war=. Local diets. occupied the throne longer than any other sovereign. He was a solemn triﬂer, obstinate without being ﬁrm, and bent on promoting only the interests of his family. The council of Basel having met after the council of Constance, King Albert accepted its reforming decrees ; and it appeared probable that the abuses which scandalized Christendom were about to be brought to an end. But Frederick, whose dull mind did not see that in the changed circumstances of the world the papacy could be strong only in proportion to its purity, fancied that in its existing condition it might be made a powerful ally of the empire. Ile accordingly carried his submissiveiiess so far as to sign in 1448 the concordat of Ascliaffenburg, perpetuating the very evils from which the church had aimed at delivering itself. After his assent had been obtained it was comparatively easy to overcome the scriiples of the princes, so that the chances of a voluntary reformation were lost ; the upheaval of the 16th century was rendered inevitable. Frederick’s career is one of great importance in Austrian history; he was involved in wars with the Turks, with the Hungarians, with his brothers, a_nd with his own subjects. In 1452 he was crowned emperor, being the last who passed through the ceremony in Rome. He had no inﬂuence in Italy; and in Burgundy he could neither check the towering ambition of Charles the Bold, nor after Charles’s death prevent the seizure of the duchy of Burgundy by the French king. In Gernianyhe hardly made apretence of exercising supreme authority, and many private wars were waged, especially between the cities and the princes. The most famous of these was the inargraves’ war, carried on by Albert of Brandenburg with a number of princely allies against Nuremberg, which had the support of the Swiss League and upwards of 70 cities. The war was in every respect a critical one. Had the cities gained they might still have aimed at balancing the power of the princes ; but owing partly to their imperfect union, partly to the necessity of ﬁghting with hired troops, they were not successful. They won, indeed, great advantages in the course of the war; but after the conclusion of peace it was felt that on the whole they had decidedly lost ground. After this struggle, which lasted seven years, there could be no doubt as to the element in which the centre of gravity of the state was to be found. The princes, however, did not have everything their own way. About this time their power was seriously limited by the formation of diets in nearly all the principalities. These bodies were composed of the mediate prelates, the mediate nobles, and representatives of the mediate cities. hey were not summoned because the princes wished their aid, but because arms could be had only with the consent of the nobles, and money only with that of the cities and the clergy. When once formed, the local diets soon extended their functions. They claimed the right of sanctioning taxation; they had something to say as to the expenditure of the public revenues; they insisted on GE1tli.NY Thus llrandciibiirg passed - into the hands of the family under whom it was destined , ‘ turies they did much to make up for the lack of a genuine [nis'ronY. justice being administered. Such institutions as these were clearly of the highest nnportanee, and for two ceri- monarchy. During this reign the conditions of warfare began to be Agitat radically changed. The discovery of gunpowder made small f‘_"' "3' bodies of men, properly armed, more than a match for great forces equipped in the mediieval style. Hence the custom of hiring mercenary troops came into use; and a prince could never feel sure, however numerous his vassals, that the advantage would not rest with his opponent. This fact, added to the influence of the local diets, made even the princes sick of war; and everywhere a demand arose for the reform of the national institutions. In 1488 a great Swabian confederation, consisting of princes, nobles, and towns, was created for the establislnnent of peace ; and its effects were excellent. But obviously no partial remedy of this kind could sufliee; it was essential that there should be some central reform by which every part of the kingdoia Could be effectually reached. Had the proposal been that the imperial authority should be directly strengthened, Frederick would not have objected ; but the scheme repeat- edly forced upon him was that he should iii some fonn delegate to others the power which theoretically belonged to him, so that it might really be put in force. The emperor doggedly withheld his assent, and the nation im- patiently waited in the hope that his successor would be more pliant. .Iaximilian I. (1493-1519) mounted the throne with Maxin unusual advantages. He was not only lord of the great “ml [- Austrian laiids, but, as husband of the princess Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, administered the Low Countries and the free county of Burgundy. T hcse terri- tories he soon gave up to their lawful ruler, his son Philip ; but the fact that they were in the possession of his family added to his influence, which was still further increased when Philip, by marrying the infanta Joanna, had the prospect of becoming king of Spain. From this time the empire exercised in the aff-airs of Europe an authority which had not belonged to it for several centuries. The reason was not that the empire itself was stronger, but that the crown was held by princes who were in their own right mighty sovereigns. This emperor is often called the last of the knights, aml in some respects the name is strikingly appropriate. lIc had not, indeed, suﬂicient dignity to rank among the greatest representatives of chivalry. A knight who was also emperor ought not, for instance, as Maxiiiiilian did at the siege of Terouenne, to have served a foreign prince for pay. But he possessed many of the more prominent qualities sug- gested by the word chivalry; he was a man of fascinating manner, a lover of poetry and art, and endowed with a bold and adventurous spirit. Above all, he was a knight in his political opinions. Maximilian never could learn that the world had changed since the time of the Ilolienstaufcn dynasty; that the old order of society was passing away, and a new order arising, was altogether hidden from him. An irresistible fascination attracted him to the glitter of the inediaeval empire, and the best part of his life he spent in vague schemes for its revival. The agitation for reform in the direction indicated by the princes and the cities met his unqualified disapproval. During the vhole course of lns reign the diet, which was now composed of three colleges, the electors, the princes, and representatives of the imperial cities, urged him with even greater importunity than _it had displayed toward his father, to adapt himself to the circum- stances of the time. The only occasions on which it could bend him to its will were when he needed money for his military enterprises; and by taking advantage_of these opportunities it obtained his sanction to the division of the