[Frontispiece: MAXIMILIAN IN 1502 Painting by A. de Predis]
MAXIMILIAN I
HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
(Stanhope Historical Essay 1901)
WITH NUMEROUS
ILLUSTRATIONS
R. W. SETON-WATSON
Commoner of New College
Oxford
"Mein Ehr ist deutsch Ehr und
deutsch Ehr ist mein Ehr"
WESTMINSTER
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD
2 WHITEHALL GARDENS
1902
BUTLER & TANNER,
THE SELWOOD PRINTING WORKS,
FROME, AND LONDON.
{v}
PREFATORY NOTE
No apology seems necessary for illustrating such an essay as the
present, save that it is an innovation. No one now denies the value of
portraits in rendering history more vivid; and it might be argued that
an essay dealing with a personality requires illustration more, not
less, than important historical studies.
My best thanks are due to the Keeper of the Hope Collection of Engraved
Portraits, Oxford, and his assistants, for the use of eight of the
illustrations, and for their unfailing courtesy and ready assistance in
the selection; to the well-known publishers, Messrs. Velhagen &
Klasing, of Leipzig, for the use of illustrations 6, 7 and 12; and to
Herr Löwy, of Vienna, for the two photographs of Maximilian
(frontispiece) and Bianca Maria Sforza.
The Imperial Arms of Maximilian, which appear upon the cover, are taken
from Sir David Lindsay's Scottish Heraldic Manuscript.
But for a prolonged illness the essay would have undergone a much more
thorough revision.
{vii}
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Maximilian in 1502--Painting by A. de Predis (from a photograph by
Herr J. Löwy, of Vienna) . . . (_frontispiece_)
2. Mary of Burgundy (from the Hope Collection, Oxford)
3. Anne of Brittany (from the Hope Collection, Oxford)
4. Bianca Maria Sforza--Painting by A. de Predis (from a photograph by
Herr J. Löwy, of Vienna)
5. Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (from the Hope Collection)
5. Armour of Maximilian (by permission of Messrs. Velhagen & Klasing,
Leipzig)
7. Maximilian in 1518--Chalk Drawing of Dürer (by permission of Messrs.
Velhagen & Klasing, Leipzig)
8. Sebastian Brant (from the Hope Collection)
9. Conrad Peutinger (from the Hope Collection)
10. Wilibald Pirkheimer (from the Hope Collection)
11. Albrecht Dürer (from the Hope Collection)
12. Das Rosenkranzfest--Painting by Dürer, with kneeling figure of
Maximilian (by permission of Messrs. Velhagen & Klasing)
13. Conrad Celtes (from the Hope Collection)
14. Genealogy of the Imperial House of Hapsburg
Index
{viii}
"Preis dem wackern Gemsenjäger!
Ruhm in Fehden, Ruhm in Frieden,
In Gedichten Ruhm beschieden
Dir, o ritterlicher Max!"
--_Max von Schenkendorf_.
{1}
I
There is a peculiar difficulty in bridging over long periods of
history, and in clearing our minds of the habits and prejudices of
to-day, before we criticize characters and events which belong to
distant periods and other lands. This difficulty, in spite of the
strange charm which encourages us to surmount it, makes itself all the
more felt in a Transition Period, such as the close of the fifteenth,
and the dawn of the sixteenth century. The breath of new ideas is in
the air.
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new," but the old dreams are
not yet banished from the imagination, and the old ideals have not yet
wholly lost their power. Change is everywhere apparent, consummation
is still a dream of the far-distant future. To those who look for a
figure typical of the age, Maximilian stands forth pre-eminent. Heir
to all the splendid traditions of the Caesars and the later glories of
the Saxon and Franconian Emperors, he filled the highest position of
Germany, not in an attitude of indifference or aloofness, but devoting
all his energies and sympathies to every movement or aspiration of his
time. His actual achievements in the hard concrete of facts are, from
a national point of view, but small; but these are more than balanced
by his activity in other and more abstract directions. It is in his
relations to the budding thought of modern life that we can feel the
real charm and fascination of {2} Maximilian's character. For his was
a nature which could never rest satisfied with the past, and aspired to
ends which only the far distant future was destined to attain.
Maximilian cannot fairly be judged solely from an historical
standpoint; from this a judgment in the main unfavourable would be
difficult to avoid. For his task was to bridge over a necessary period
of transition--to check the perils of innovation, to employ political
expedients which could not, from their very nature, stand the shock of
later developments, and to make shift with materials and resources
which were soon to be altered or replaced. Hence his achievements,
though of very real value to his own age, have left but few traces
visible to modern eyes. The Southern temperament which he inherited
from his mother often drove him into foolhardy adventures, from which
he only extricated himself with a loss of dignity. But the
questionable results of his headlong enthusiasms are atoned for by the
noble ideals which prompted them; and the very traits which were
disastrous to his political career have earned for him his truest
claims to greatness.
To tell the life-story of an idealist seems to be repugnant to the most
modern of historical methods. Hard dry facts must be summoned to
describe his career; an array of political exploits and the wearisome
details of fruitless legal reforms must be poured forth in profitless
and unending monotony. The soul and its impulses, human or divine,
seem no longer to be admitted to the chamber of the historian, whose
dull and regulated pulse scorns to beat faster at the tragedy of human
lives. But if there is one case in which a true account must not be
limited to {3} mere facts, it is that of Maximilian. The specious
system of accumulating details, coldly balancing them, and leaving the
reader to judge, would be utterly unfair in his case. As well attempt
to do justice to Luther, while omitting the agonies and self-reproach
of his cloister life, the deep formative influence of those silent
months upon the Wartburg, as estimate Maximilian, the dreamer and
idealist, by the necessities of his purse or the extravagance of his
vast designs! His personality and his office do not by any means
coincide. There are many features of his character which have no
connexion with the government of his lands, which the historians of his
own day overlooked, and which would still be overlooked from a strictly
political and historical point of view. But while our admiration is
aroused by his active share in the great living movements of the age,
it must be confessed that his versatility and breadth of interest have
an unfortunate counterpart in the fickleness and lack of concentration
which led him to flit from scheme to scheme, without ever allowing any
single one to attain to maturity. Such inconstancy in a sovereign is
usually negatived, or at least held in bounds, by the apparatus of
government. But in this case all centred in Maximilian himself, and
not even the influential Matthew Lang was entirely trusted in high
affairs of state. As a rule, Maximilian could not endure to have men
of masterly or original character about him, mainly owing to the
passionate conviction with which he clung to his own opinions, and
partly perhaps to a half-conscious fear of unfavourable comparisons.
We are thus driven to the conclusion that his policy is mainly his own
work, and that, though inspired by lofty patriotism and definite family
and {4} territorial ambitions, he never succeeded in combining the two
motives, and finally left the problem unsolved and insoluble. But this
conviction should only serve to remind us that his greatest
achievements lie outside the province of politics. Indeed, regarded as
a whole, his life is not so much a great historical drama, as an epic
poem of chivalry, rich in bright colours and romantic episodes, and
crowded with the swift turns and surprises of fortune.
{5}
II
To describe the events of Maximilian's political career with any sort
of detail would be to narrate the history of Europe during one of its
most fascinating and complicated phases. To an essay such as the
present such a scheme must be entirely alien; and for its purposes
Maximilian's life may be broadly divided into two periods. In the
first, which ends with 1490, his ambitions are directed towards the
West; and Burgundy, the Netherlands, and the French frontier claim his
whole attention. But in the midst of his designs against France, new
developments at home summon him away. The acquisition of Tyrol and the
recovery of Austria shift the centre of gravity from West to East, and
his accession to the Empire finally compels him to take up new threads
of policy, which point him to the East and the South rather than to the
West. In this later period, which is more purely political, and in
which the character of Maximilian is perhaps less marked, the main
trend of his policy is towards the re-establishment of Imperial
influence in Italy, and combinations either against the French or the
Turks. In each case he is doomed to disappointment; and the
misfortunes that arise from his continual lack of money and resources
form a story at once irritating and pathetic.
While engaged in certain operations against the {6} County of Cilly,
1452, the Emperor Frederick III. narrowly escaped capture by the enemy.
He ascribed his safety to a dream, in which St. Maximilian[1] warned
him of his danger; and thus when his wife presented him with a son, the
infant received the name of his father's saintly patron. Maximilian
was born at Neustadt near Vienna on May 22, 1459. His mother, Eleanor
of Portugal, whose marriage to Frederick III. has been immortalized by
the brush of Pinturicchio,[2] was a princess of lively wit and
considerable talent: and many points of his character are to be traced
to the Southern temperament of Eleanor, rather than to the phlegmatic
and ineffectual nature of Frederick. His early years were times of
stress and trouble; and, while still an infant, he shared the dangers
of his parents, who were closely besieged in the citadel of Vienna by
Albert of Austria and the insurgent citizens. To such straits was the
slender garrison reduced, that the young prince is said to have
wandered through the castle vaults, tearfully begging the servants for
a piece of bread.[3] In spite of a vigorous defence, Frederick must
have yielded to superior force, but for the timely assistance of his
allies, the Bohemians, through whose influence peace was restored
between the rival brothers. The death of Albert in 1463 left Frederick
supreme in Austria and its dependencies. But his past experiences had
inspired him with a very natural prejudice against the citizens of
Vienna; and they, on their part, were never slow to reveal the dislike
and contempt in {7} which they held their Imperial master. This mutual
ill-feeling largely accounts for the ease with which Matthias effected
the conquest of Austria. Frederick, at first from choice, later from
necessity, chose Linz or Graz as his Austrian residences, and never
overcame his distrust of the Viennese. Thus it was that Maximilian's
childhood was spent at Wiener Neustadt, thirteen miles S.E. from
Vienna. His education was entrusted to Peter Engelbrecht, afterwards
Bishop of Wiener Neustadt; and we learn that up to the age of six he
found great difficulty in articulating. This may have thrown him back
somewhat; and, indeed, he himself complained in later days of his bad
education. "If Peter, my teacher, still lived," he declared, "I would
make him live near me, in order to teach him how to bring up
children."[4] But Maximilian's strictures are probably undeserved, and
may be due to the fact that his tutor restrained him from the study of
history, which he loved, and held him down to Latin and dialectics,
even enforcing them upon his unwilling pupil by rudely practical
methods. Certainly, if we may judge by the accounts furnished in
Weisskunig, which seems the most reliable of the books compiled under
Maximilian's supervision, there were but few pursuits, physical or
mental, in which the young Prince had not his share. Not merely was he
instructed in the art of war, and in the technical details of various
trades, such as carpentry and founding, but also in the prevailing
theories of statesmanship and government. These are quaintly divided
by the young White King under five heads--the all-mightiness of God,
the influence of the planets on Man's {8} destiny, the reason of Man,
excessive mildness in administration, and excessive severity in power;
and his discourse on the subject wins the complete approval of his
father and the wonder of his biographer. Everything which Maximilian
does approaches perfection; if he fishes, he catches more than other
men; he cures horses of which all the horse-doctors have despaired; he
has few equals as blacksmith or locksmith. But though all this is
clearly exaggeration, it yet affords a clue to the accomplishments to
which Maximilian was brought up, and to the manysidedness of his early
training. There is no doubt as to his proficiency as a linguist; he
could speak Latin, French, Italian and Flemish fluently, and had some
knowledge of Spanish, Walloon, and English besides.[5] His thirst for
knowledge was almost unquenchable, and increased with his
years--history, mathematics, languages, all receiving attention from
the Royal student. But his literary tastes, even in later life, never
superseded his love of manly exercises; and it was no doubt in his
early years that he first acquired that passion for the chase which
never deserted him. His marvellous adventures in pursuit of the
chamois or the bear are still remembered in the Tyrolese Alps. He
possessed the most dauntless courage, and is said to have been one of
the finest swordsmen in Europe. He had few equals at the tourney; and
one of the most romantic incidents of his life was the single combat at
Worms, when, entering the lists in the simplest of armour, he overcame
a famous French knight, and then, raising his vizor, revealed his
identity amid the deafening plaudits of the crowd. Nor were his
exploits confined to chivalrous {9} amusements: time and again he
proved his courage on the field of battle; notably at Guinegate, where
"he raged like a lion in the fight," and later, with characteristic
generosity, devoted himself to dressing the wounds of the vanquished.
Gallant, chivalrous and versatile, full of high ideals and noble
enthusiasms, he was formed by nature to be the darling of his age and
nation.
Such general characteristics must suffice for a description of
Maximilian's early life, of which we possess but few details or facts,
until the Burgundian marriage brought him into the full blaze of the
political arena. This famous event, whose results are still to be
traced in the political conditions of Europe, was the first step of the
House of Hapsburg towards the "Weltmacht" of Charles V.
To Frederick III. belongs the credit of this achievement. During his
long reign of fifty-three years the Imperial crown lost much of its
remaining prestige and influence; and it is undoubtedly true that
Frederick used his Imperial office for purposes of Hapsburg
aggrandisement. But he can hardly be blamed for adopting a policy to
which there was no alternative. Chosen mainly for his impotence, he
had literally no hold upon the Empire itself, beyond the largely
nominal prerogatives of his office; and he had good precedent for his
scheme of attaining to real Imperial power by building up a compact
territorial state. Something must be allowed to a prince who, with
such slight resources as Frederick III., could aspire to the proud
motto, "Alles Erdreich ist Oesterreich Unterthan,"[6] and who, after
years of disaster and disappointment, succeeded in laying the {10}
foundations of a greatness which he did not live to see. The policy of
the Hohenstauffen was no longer practicable. The power of the Emperor
had all but vanished, and the sole way of meeting the territorial
tendencies of the great princes was to develop a territorial power for
himself. The task required a man of courage and endurance, who should
paralyse the opposing forces by passive resistance; and such a man was
Frederick. That the Burgundian marriage was no mere lucky accident,
but the fruit of a long and deliberate policy, is abundantly shown by
the negotiations which preceded the event. A life-long struggle
against inadequate means effectually soured the character of the old
monarch, but it had not been wholly in vain; and the marked contrast
between father and son may perhaps account for the unfavourable light
in which Frederick has been viewed by posterity.
The first suggestion of a marriage between Maximilian and Mary of
Burgundy occurs in a letter of Pius II. to Philip the Good in 1463.[7]
The Pope doubtless hoped that an alliance of Austria and Burgundy would
further his great scheme of a crusade against the Turks; but even hints
of a kingly title failed to rouse the old Duke's interest in the
proposal, and it seems to have been allowed to drop. In 1468 an envoy
appeared at the Burgundian Court, with full powers to treat as to the
marriage, and the election of Charles the Bold as King of the Romans.
But the latter's soaring ambitions were a hindrance to the marriage;
and when the long negotiations for the revival of the old Burgundian
kingdom came to nothing in 1474, Frederick's object {11} seemed as far
from fulfilment as ever. Throughout Charles's reign there was a
continual danger of the prize falling to some more favoured suitor. It
was only when the Burgundian arms first met with disaster at the hands
of the Swiss, that Charles's day dreams began to be dispelled, and he
gave serious thought to the future of his only child. A month after
the defeat of Grandson, an Imperial embassy waited upon the Duke; and
on May 6, 1476, the betrothal of Maximilian and Mary was formally
announced. In its immediate results, the alliance was disastrous to
Charles; for his desertion by the Prince of Taranto, one of Mary's
disappointed suitors, the day before the battle of Morat, was one of
the causes of his second defeat by the Swiss. Charles now became
anxious to hasten on the marriage, and sent an envoy to obtain his
daughter's consent. On November 4, he wrote to Frederick begging him
and Maximilian to come with all speed to Koln for the ceremony;[8] and
soon after, Maximilian received a letter from his bride, thanking him
for the letter and ring which he had sent her, and declaring her
agreement with her father. But now, as ever, Frederick was tied down
by want of money, and the final catastrophe, when Charles the Bold
perished on the field of Nancy (January 6, 1477), found the bridegroom
quite unprepared for his new and arduous task. At a time when so much
depended on prompt action,[9] the Emperor contented himself with
sending despatches to the officials and stadtholders of the Low
Countries, urging them to obey none but Mary {12} and Maximilian as her
betrothed husband, and promising to come in person at the earliest
possible date. Meanwhile, Mary's position was pitiable in the extreme.
The ungallant citizens of Ghent took prompt advantage of her weakness
by extorting from her "The Great Privilege": the chief cities refused
to pay taxes; and French agents everywhere incited the burghers to
rebellion. Louis XI. did not imitate his cousin of Austria, and lost
no time in profiting by Mary's helpless condition. In the course of a
few weeks, Picardy, Franche Comté, and the Duchy of Burgundy were
annexed to the French Crown. King Louis demanded, almost at the
sword's point, the hand of Mary for the infant Dauphin; and his
ungenerous betrayal of her secret overtures exposed her to an
unpardonable affront at the hands of her disloyal subjects. Despite
her tears and entreaties, and before her very eyes, her two most
trusted counsellors were executed by the citizens of Ghent; and the
young Duchess found herself friendless and alone, at the mercy of the
treacherous Louis and her own rebellious people. In her distress she
turned naturally to her knight and protector, Maximilian, whose
admirers pictured to her a new Lohengrin destined at the last moment to
restore the desperate fortunes of Elsa of Brabant. The romance of this
journey to succour his Princess in distress is somewhat marred by the
long delay which preceded it. It can only be explained by the money
difficulties of his father, and the intrigues of Matthias of Hungary,
which brought him to the verge of war with Frederick. Notwithstanding
Mary's pressing entreaties[10] for his coming, it was only on May 21
that Maximilian left {13} Vienna, and he did not actually reach Ghent
till August 18. But though this delay was of great advantage to Louis
XI., it may be doubted whether Maximilian could have effected much,
even had he arrived on the scene at an earlier date. The Ghentois were
probably hostile to him,[11] or sank their opposition mainly because of
the distance of his own dominions. It was the growing fear of French
predominance which won adherents to his cause, and he found many
supporters among the Flemish nobles, and the party of the Hoeks. The
old Netherland chronicler gives us a favourable sketch of Maximilian,
when he says: "Though still a youth, he displayed the true qualities of
a man and a prince. He was magnanimous, brave and liberal, born for
the good of the race. His fame was increased by a countenance of right
royal dignity, the splendour of his father's majesty, the antiquity of
his lineage, and the amplitude of his inheritance."[12] The day after
his arrival in Ghent, the marriage was celebrated by the Legate with
great pomp and rejoicings.
"I beheld the pageants splendid, that adorned those days of old;
Stately dames, like queens attended, knights who bore the fleece
of gold;
Lombard and Venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies;
Ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease.
I beheld proud Maximilian, kneeling humbly on the ground;
I beheld the gentle Mary, hunting with her hawk and hound."
[Illustration: MARY OF BURGUNDY]
The young Prince seems at first to have carried all before him; and as
we read the words of an eye-witness of the proceedings, our charmed
fancy pictures {14} for us one of the deathless paladins of Charles the
Great. "Mounted on a large chestnut horse, clad in silver armour, his
head uncovered, his flowing locks bound with a circlet of pearls and
precious stones, Maximilian looks so glorious in his youth, so strong
in his manliness, that I know not which to admire most--the beauty of
his youth, the bravery of his manhood, or the promise of his future.
Man muss ihn gern haben, den glänzenden Mann."[13] From the very first
the marriage seems to have been one of great happiness; and the birth
of Philip (June 1478) set a crown to their affection. Maximilian
himself gives a happy description of his wife in a confidential letter
to Sigismund Prüschenk: "I have a lovely good virtuous wife ... She is
small of body, much smaller than 'die Rosina,'[14] and snow-white.
Brown hair, a small nose, a small head and features, brown and grey
eyes mixed, clear and beautiful. Her mouth is somewhat high, but pure
and red."[15] Mary was a fine horsewoman, and excelled at most forms
of sport; and this formed an additional link between them. "My wife is
thoroughly at home with falcons and hounds; she has a greyhound of
great pace."[16] In all affairs of Government Mary yielded to her
husband, and they remained in complete accord till the day of her
death. On Maximilian devolved the task of repelling the French {15}
attacks, and we find him complaining of the stress of business which
filled every moment of the day.[17] Infusing his own vigour into his
new subjects, and substantially aided by the Imperial Diet, he was ere
long enabled to take the offensive; and on August 7, 1478, gained a
complete victory over the French at Guinegate. The personal prowess
which Maximilian displayed, while it helps to explain the estimation in
which he was held, inevitably suggests that he was more brilliant as a
soldier than as a commander. For so decisive a success, the results
were remarkably small. Maximilian's sanguine nature induced him to
reject Louis' overtures for peace, and though the tide of invasion had
been rolled back, the most favourable time for a satisfactory
settlement was allowed to pass. But while Maximilian eagerly awaited
the death of the French King,[18] he was himself plunged into mourning
and disaster by the sudden death of Mary (March 27, 1482). Filled with
the liveliest grief at his unexpected bereavement,[19] he found that at
the same time he had lost control of the source of his authority; and
though recognized by Brabant and Holland, he met with nothing but
opposition from the refractory Flemings. Louis XI. could not repress
his delight at the welcome news, and confided to the sagacious Comines
his hopes of Maximilian's discomfiture.[20] Nor was he mistaken in his
forecast of {16} events. Without even consulting Maximilian, the
Flemings ratified the Treaty of Arras with Louis XI. By it the
guardianship of Philip was entrusted to the Estates of Flanders; and
the infant Margaret was to be educated at the French Court as the bride
of the Dauphin Charles. Artois and Franche Comté, over which the
Flemings had not the slightest legal control, were calmly ceded as her
immediate dowry.[21] To this humiliating treaty Maximilian had
perforce to give his assent, and it was not till 1485[22] that the
Flemings recognized him as the guardian of his son. Even then his
authority was hedged in by various conditions; and the young Duke might
not be removed from the country. Maximilian continued to reside in the
Netherlands; but the favour which he bestowed on his own countrymen, as
well as his influence in Brabant and Holland, soon rekindled the
jealousy of the Flemings, who accused him of prolonging the war against
France for his own private ends. He could not leave the Low Countries
without ruining his position and prospects, and abandoning his children
to the mercy of the Ghent citizens; French agents were ready to make
the most of even a temporary absence; and he was powerless to assist
his father in his unequal struggle with Matthias. But even want of
{17} money or resources does not excuse the indifference with which he
treated the news of Frederick's misfortunes. The old Emperor was
driven from his capital, the whole of Lower Austria fell into the hands
of Matthias, and it was only the remonstrances of Venice which assured
to Frederick his Adriatic provinces. There was an evident coolness at
this period between father and son, and this was not removed by
Maximilian's dealings with the Electors, in the hope of securing his
election as King of the Romans.
Frederick had been chosen Emperor mainly for his insignificance, but it
was felt that he had played the part of a nonentity only too well.
There was a growing inclination to turn from Frederick to Maximilian,
and to shift the duties of the Empire's struggle with Matthias of
Hungary on to the Burgundian possessions of the Hapsburg House.
Various causes combined to secure Maximilian's election: but none of
the credit can be assigned to Frederick III., who only consented to
entertain the idea, when he had become a fugitive from his dominions,
and when Maximilian had promised not to make inroads upon his Imperial
power. Frederick's manifest dislike of the scheme was a recommendation
with most of the Electors. Maximilian was welcomed by Albert Achilles
and the old Imperial party, who wished a strong ruler at the head of
the Empire; and his favourable attitude towards Reform won favour with
the party of Berthold of Henneberg, the great Elector of Mainz. The
opposition of France and Hungary was met by the secrecy of the
Electors; and their choice was announced almost before the suspicions
of Uladislas had been aroused (February 16, 1486). Frederick {18} is
said to have wept feebly at the news, but elsewhere the announcement
gave rise to the most sanguine anticipations; and the gorgeous
ceremonial of his coronation at Aachen made a sensible impression upon
the popular mind. The proclamation of a ten years' Landfriede
throughout the Empire, which was the new King's first act, was perhaps
better calculated to please the Reforming party than the rank of the
knights, whose brightest ornament Maximilian was held to be; yet it
seemed to augur well for a new era of peace and order.
In 1488[23] a new instrument was devised for the enforcement of the
Landfriede. The private feuds, so frequent and so ruinous in mediaeval
times, were now falling into disuse, but only because the general
unrest took larger forms. Leagues and Unions superseded the looser
ties of warlike neighbours, and whole districts became involved in the
settlement of some contemptible quarrel. The Swiss Confederacy was in
reality a development of this system of Leagues, its primary object
being protection against the House of Hapsburg. Every access of
strength on the part of the Swiss, and especially the prestige which
their triumph over Charles the Bold had won them, tended to weaken the
Hapsburg influence in Swabia, the cradle of their race, and their
mainstay in the Empire. Thus, when in 1486 the Bavarian Dukes directly
infringed the Landfriede by their seizure of Regensburg,[24] the moment
seemed favourable for some fresh organization, which should preserve
the peace of the Empire and at the same time restore the {19} waning
Hapsburg power in Swabia. In July 1487 an invitation was issued in the
name of Frederick and Maximilian to all the nobles, knights, prelates
and cities of Swabia, to a meeting at Esslingen. This step resulted in
the formation of the famous Swabian League. Though really a
development of the League of St. George's Shield, whose captain, Count
Hugo von Werdenberg, was the chief originator of the scheme, it
differed from it by extending its membership from the ranks of the
nobles of all orders and classes of the Empire. A confederate Council
and Court of Justice were instituted, and expenses were allotted for
the raising of an army of 12,000 foot and 1,200 horse. A decisive
influence was preserved to the Emperor, and the League was further
strengthened by the adhesion of such princes as Sigismund of Tyrol,
Eberhard of Würtemberg, and the Electors of Mainz and Trier. The
Swabian League remained for many years a leading factor in German
affairs. Though it widened the gulf between the Swiss and the members
of the Empire (and thus no doubt was partly responsible for the Swiss
war of ten years later), it also checked the gradual drifting of single
towns from the Imperial to the Swiss system. And still more, it gave
the Hapsburgs a strong weapon of defence against the House of
Wittelsbach, whose aggressive policy might, without it, have proved
entirely successful.
Meanwhile, so far from Maximilian realizing the hopes of the Electors
by bringing the forces of the Netherlands to the aid of the Empire, it
was not very long ere Imperial troops were needed to rescue him from
the hands of his turbulent subjects. He was rapidly becoming unpopular
among the Netherlands, {20} whose constitutional traditions were
vitally opposed to his dynastic plans; and the French Government,
strong in Flemish sympathy, renewed the war with greater vigour and
success. Maximilian's first organized body of landsknechts was
completely defeated at Bethune, and afterwards roughly handled by their
nominal allies. The final outbreak was largely due to a commercial
treaty between Maximilian and Henry VII., which closed the Flemish
harbours to English products. As a result, a lively commercial
intercourse in English cloth sprang up in the coast towns of Brabant,
and the economic rivals of Flanders reaped a rich harvest. The French
Government fanned the flame of Flemish disaffection. It declared
Maximilian to have forfeited the French fief of Flanders, and formally
absolved this country from all allegiance to him. His refusal to
account for the expenditure of the public money was an additional
grievance; and when a rash visit to Bruges, with but a slender escort
of troops, placed him in their power, the burghers used their advantage
to the full. The morning after his entry a sudden insurrection took
place (February 10, 1488). The whole town was soon up in arms, the
gates were seized, and the Ducal palace was stormed by an excited mob.
Maximilian himself was removed to the Kranenburg, and closely guarded;
his councillors were racked in the public square, some of his chief
adherents were beheaded, and the citizens of Ghent and Bruges united in
depriving him of the Regency, and forming a new government wholly
subservient to France. For three months he remained in this perilous
condition, in continual fear of death or betrayal to Charles VIII.
Kunz von der Rosen, his {21} faithful jester, who shared his captivity,
begged Maximilian to exchange clothes with him and thus escape from the
city in disguise; but the latter refused to expose him to almost
certain death at the hands of the infuriated mob. Maximilian's letter
to his father and the Electors shows the imminent danger in which he
lay. "They will give me poison to eat, and so kill me ... they are
taking all my people from me; this is my last letter for good and all
... I beseech you, in the name of God and Justice, for counsel and
aid."[24a] For once Frederick's sluggish nature was fully roused, and,
relinquishing all other objects, he moved heaven and earth to obtain
his son's release. Over 20,000 men answered to the Imperial summons to
Koln, and by the middle of May this army was advancing on Liège. The
news of its approach brought the rebels to reason, and led them to
hasten on negotiations with Maximilian. Without awaiting the
liberating army, he gave his consent to the most humiliating terms, and
solemnly pledged himself not to repudiate the agreement. By it he was
to win the consent of the Emperor and Electors, and to withdraw all
foreign troops from the Netherlands within eight days. He renounced,
for Flanders, the guardianship of Philip, and acceded to the formation
of a Council of Regency and to a peace with France (May 16). On the
strength of these promises he was liberated, and joined his father's
army at Liège. Frederick and the Princes refused to recognize any such
agreement; it was declared invalid and contrary to his coronation oath,
on the ground that the Flemings were subjects {22} of the Empire;[25]
and Maximilian, weakly yielding to their pressure, contented himself
with returning the 55,000 groschen which had been granted him to lessen
the bitterness of the pill. The march was resumed, and Ghent was
closely invested. But as usual the old Emperor effected little or
nothing, the town made a vigorous defence, and Maximilian was glad to
avail himself of events in Germany, which claimed his attention. It is
useless to attempt to justify his repudiation of his oath, for he had
carefully precluded himself from all lawful methods of evasion. It
leaves a deep stain upon his honour, and the most that can be said for
him is that it is the one indefensible action of his life.
After an absence of twelve years[26] Maximilian returned to the Empire
in December 1488, leaving Duke Albert of Saxony as his representative
in the Netherlands. The latter showed his zeal by his promise "so to
serve his master that men should write of it for 1,000 years," and
displayed great ability both as a commander and an organizer. The
cause of peace was furthered by the Treaty of Frankfort (July 7, 1489),
in accordance with which Charles VIII. was to use his influence with
the Flemings, and an interview was to be arranged between him and
Maximilian for the settlement of the Burgundian question. As a result
of this treaty, Flanders again recognized Maximilian as lawful Regent
and guardian of his son, and granted him the sum of 300,000 gold
thalers in token of their submission.
The readiness with which Charles VIII. concluded {23} peace was due to
the recent turn of affairs in Brittany, to which country his rivalry
with Maximilian was now transferred. During the aggressive war waged
by France in the Netherlands the King of the Romans had found a natural
ally in the Duke of Brittany, who dreaded the expansive policy of the
French King. The death of Francis II. (September, 1488) left the
Breton throne to his young daughter Anne; and Ferdinand V. and Henry
VII. united to protect her against her dangerous neighbour. But this
protection was on the whole rather sympathetic than practical; and the
insecurity of her position led the young Duchess to search the
political horizon for some efficient defender. She turned to
Maximilian as the sovereign most interested in resistance to France and
most likely to afford her practical aid. It seemed as though the
romantic episode of his first marriage was to be re-enacted in a new
quarter. On March 20, 1490, Anne and Maximilian were betrothed, and
towards the end of the year the marriage was formally celebrated by
proxy.[27] Anne openly assumed the title of Queen of the Romans, and
Maximilian's diplomacy was for the time triumphant. But the
acquisition of Brittany was a matter of supreme importance to the
French Crown; and Charles VIII. strained every nerve to secure the
discomfiture of his rival. Brittany was overrun by French troops,
Nantes surrendered after a feeble resistance, and Anne found herself
closely besieged in Rennes, with little prospect of timely relief, and
with a strong French faction within the walls. Maximilian's hands were
tied down by the necessities {24} of the Hungarian war, and, confident
in the validity of his union with Anne, and relying on the promised aid
of Henry VII., he stirred not a muscle in her defence. At last Anne
found herself forced to come to terms. Brittany was to remain in the
hands of the French, and free passage was granted to her through French
territory, on her way to join Maximilian. But her feeling as a
Princess overcame her feeling as a woman. She was naturally reluctant
to leave her ancestral dominions in hostile hands for the sake of a man
whom she had never seen and who was her senior by seventeen years; and
her offended pride at Maximilian's inexcusable absence at her time of
need led her footsteps to Chateau Langeais rather than to the German
frontier. The cunning Charles had all prepared, and was able to
produce the double dispensation of Innocent VIII.[28] On December 6,
1491, the marriage of Charles VIII. and Anne of Brittany was duly
solemnized at Langeais, and Brittany was finally incorporated with
France.
[Illustration: ANNE OF BRITTANY]
Maximilian, mainly owing to his dilatory conduct, thus found himself
exposed to the most unpardonable of insults at the hands of a mere
stripling. Not merely had Charles VIII. deprived him of his lawful
wife and her inheritance, but in so doing he repudiated Maximilian's
daughter Margaret, who, since 1482, had been educated at the Court of
Charles as the future Queen of France. To aggravate matters, Charles
{25} showed no inclination to restore Margaret's magnificent dowry,
which consisted of Artois, Picardy and Franche Comté. Nothing could
exceed Maximilian's indignation, and, full of threats of vengeance, he
entered into an offensive alliance against France with the Kings of
England and Spain.
But the acquisition of Brittany had set a seal to the internal
consolidation of France, and Charles, having deprived his enemies of an
excellent base for hostile operations, was now free to indulge in his
golden dreams of foreign conquest. No concession was thought too great
to secure the neutrality of his neighbours. Henry VII. was bought off
by hard cash and by the promise of a yearly pension; Ferdinand was
appeased by the cession of the coveted provinces of Roussillon and
Cerdagne. Maximilian, whose troops were meeting with some success in
Franche Comté,[29] saw himself deserted by his allies, and consented to
pocket his outraged dignity in return for the substantial concessions
of the Peace of Senlis (May 23, 1493). His daughter Margaret was
restored, and the French evacuated Franche Comté, Artois and Nevers, in
favour of the young Archduke Philip.
[1] Saints Bonosus and Maximilian, martyrs A.D. 360 (day, August 21).
[2] Library, Siena Cathedral.
[3] Janssen, _Gesch. des deutschen Volkes_, i. page 593.
[4] Quoted by Le Glay, _Correspondance de Maximilian et de Marguerite_,
vol. ii. page 345.
[5] Janssen, i. 593.
[6] Austriae Est Imperare Orb; Universo.
[7] _See_ Rausch, _Die Burgundische Heirat Maximilians I_.
[8] Chmel, _Mon. Hapsb._ I. i. 33, p. 136 (quoted Rausch).
[9] On January 24, Maximilian had not yet heard of Charles' death.
Lichnowsky Reg. vii. 2004 (quoted Rausch).
[10] Letter dated March 26.
[11] They freed Duke Adolf of Gueldres, in hope of forcing him on Mary.
_See_ Rausch.
[12] Pontus Heuterus, _Rerum Belgie_, lib. ii. 69.
[13] Letter of Wilhelm v. Hoverde, August 23, 1477, quoted Janssen, i.
592.
[14] A former sweetheart of Maximilian, from whom he seems to have had
a most tearful parting.--V. von Kraus, _Maximilians I. vertraulicker
Briefwechsel init Sigmund Prüschenk_, p. 30.
[15] Maximilian to S. P. (December 8, 1477).--v. Kraus, p. 27.
[16] "Mein gemahl ist ein gantze waidtmännin mit valckhen und hundten.
Sie hat ein weis windtspil daz laufft vast bald."--_Ibid._
[17] "Ich bin aber der armist Mensch daz ich nicht essen schlaffn
spatziren stechen (tilt) mag von ubrigen geschefften."
[18] For whom he seems to have had a profound hatred--"Kein grosser
verzagter Bösswicht ist in aller Welt nit als er ist."--v. Kraus, p. 27.
[19] "Per omnem exinde vitam, cum de ea M. mentionem inferret, aut
fieri audiret, a lachrymis aut suspirio abstinere non poterat."
[20] Comines: "Le dit seigneur me compta ces nouvelles, et en eust
grande joye; et aussi que les deux enfans estoyent demourés en la
gardes des Gandois, lesquels il cognoissoit enclins à noise et division
contre ceste maison de Bourgonge et lui sembloit avoir trouvé l'heure,
pour ce que le duc d'Austriche estoit jeune, et pour ce qu'il avoit
encores père, et guerre partout, et estoit estranger, et mal
accompaigné."
[21] Auxerrois, Maconnais and Charolais were added by "nos seigneurs de
Grand" (as Louis XI. called them), who wished to conduct the affair
majestically.
[22] When Maximilian had defeated the forces of the rebels.
[23] The decree founding the League was dated March 10, 1488, but it
was actually formed in the previous year.
[24] A free Imperial city.
[24a] _Vertr. Briefwechsel_, p. 68.
[25] As a matter of fact, Flanders was a fief of the French Crown.
[26] If we except his coronation.
[27] Maximilian was represented by Wilhelm v. Polheim, his confidential
agent in Brittany.
[28] To be more exact, the Pope had _promised_ the dispensation: it was
not actually published till December 16, 1491.
Anne's matrimonial experiences form one of the most disgraceful
incidents in all history. The shameless manner in which the Papacy
issued this dispensation is only surpassed by the later bull which
released Louis XII. from his virtuous though childless wife Jeanne,
that he might marry Anne of Brittany.
[29] Battle of Dournon, January 23, 1493, in which 4-5,000 French horse
were defeated by Kappeller and his Germans, inferior in number, but
possessed of cannon. They held a hollow way and withstood the repeated
charges of the French cavalry.--Ulmann, _Kaiser Maximilian I._, i. 169.
{26}
III
Das liebe heil'ge Röm'sche Reich,
Wie hält's nur noch zusammen?--Faust.
With the Breton incident we reach the close of Maximilian's Western
career, and are free to examine the events which engaged his attention
while Charles VIII. was robbing him of his bride. The exigencies of
Hapsburg policy and of his imperial office now draw him into all the
various currents of European diplomacy, and it is hardly to be wondered
at, if his personality is sometimes lost sight of in an attempt to
connect the intricate threads of contemporary politics. Maximilian the
man and the chevalier must be our subject, rather than Maximilian the
politician. The kaleidoscope of political combinations must be left to
a Sismondi or a Creighton. For it is from the description of his
earlier years and of his later relations to Humanism and Art that we
gain the truest insight into the charm and fascination of his
character--the romantic incidents which made the nation mourn him as
the Last of the Knights, and the versatility which dazzled the eyes of
so many brilliant contemporaries.
On his return to the Empire, Maximilian found that his presence was
urgently needed in Tyrol, where Duke Sigismund, after a long reign of
folly and mismanagement, could hardly restrain the general discontent
in his dominions from open expression. The incapable old Duke had in
later life fallen {27} completely under the power of his mistresses,
who played upon his superstitions by incantations and witch-processes,
and who squandered the revenues on their own worthless ends.[30] His
life-long hatred of Frederick III., which even the cession of
Vorder-Austria (1463) could not remove, filled him with the idea that
his cousins wished to deprive him during his lifetime, and inclined him
towards the Bavarian Court, which eagerly furthered the
misunderstanding. The sale of Burgau (1486) to Duke George the Rich
called attention to the possibility of Sigismund leaving his
possessions outside the Hapsburg family. Bavaria was again responsible
for Sigismund's war with Venice; and when defeat came and money failed,
the Duke was obliged to sell all the Vorder-Austria lands to Dukes
Albert and George on terms which made recovery doubtful. The Austrian
party in Tyrol now insisted upon the summons of a Diet, and the Estates
subjected Sigismund to an "Ordnung," by which, in return for the
payment of his debts, he was restricted to a limited expenditure every
year. In the event of his violation of this Ordnung, the Estates were
at liberty to choose another Prince from the House of Austria. The
Dukes of Bavaria had been brought to reason by the formation of the
Swabian League, and raised no serious opposition to this blighting of
their hopes. As was to be expected, six months had not elapsed ere
Sigismund had broken through the Ordnung; while Albert of Bavaria put
in a demand for 100,000 florins, in recompense for the sinking of his
claims. This development brought the old Emperor to Innsbruck, whither
he was {28} followed in April 1489 by Maximilian. The latter, who
entertained more friendly feelings than his father towards Bavaria,
maintained a mediatory position. At last, on March 16, 1490, the
long-desired step was taken. Sigismund made a formal renunciation of
Tyrol, and all his other dominions in favour of Maximilian, contenting
himself with a fixed income and free rights of hunting and fishing.
Almost at the same time Maximilian was recognized heir by Count Bernard
of Görz.
But by that irony of fate which pursued him throughout life, Maximilian
was never permitted to finish any one thing thoroughly. Time and again
we see him ruined by an excess of alternatives, and by his inability to
devote himself exclusively to one out of many objects.