!!!Friedrich III

b. Innsbruck (Tyrol), Sept. 21, 1415, 
d. Linz (Upper Austria), Aug. 19, 1493, Emperor (as King F. IV, as 
Duke F. V). Son of Duke  Ernst the Iron, one of the Styrian line of 
the Habsburgs, whom he succeeded in Styria and in Carinthia in 1424. 
In 1439 became guardian of the minor  Sigmund of Tyrol (until 1446) 
and took over guardianship of  Ladislaus Postumus in Austria in 1440. 
In 1452 the estates forced him to release Ladislaus from tutelage. 
After Ladislaus's death in 1457 F. came into conflict with his brother 
 Albrecht VI over the succession to the throne and was besieged 
together with his family in his Vienna residence in the Castle of 
Vienna in 1462. After Albrecht's death in 1463 was also recognized as 
Duke of Austria. When the claims of the  Privilegium maius (a forged 
charter commissioned by Duke Rudolf IV, by means of which he claimed 
privileges for Austria) were asserted in 1453, F. legalized the title 
of Archduke. He became German King in 1440, was crowned Emperor in 
Rome in 1452, and King of Hungary in 1459. From 1452 was married to  
Eleonore of Portugal, with whom he had a son,  Maximilian I. F. 
welcomed the fact that his son was elected Roman King in 1486, but 
their relationship was often marked by tensions. Around 1470 came into 
conflict with  Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who occupied parts of 
Lower Austria from 1482. F. enlarged his residences in Graz, Wiener 
Neustadt and Linz, and some of his buildings are marked with his 
personal insignia  AEIOU, the meaning of which is not fully clear 
since there are various ways in which the abbreviation may be 
interpreted. F. established the dioceses of Laibach/Ljubljana (1462), 
Vienna and Wiener Neustadt (both in 1469) and brought about the 
canonization of Margrave  Leopold III in 1485. A pious man, he loved 
neither warfare nor hunting, but was very interested in botany, 
alchemy and astrology. He was ambitious and determined, tough and 
tenacious, economical and dignified. In part, he owed his success to 
the fact that he survived his adversaries. He is buried in St 
Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

!Literature
F. III., exhibition catalogue, Wr. Neustadt 1966; B. Rill, 
Ks. F. III., 1987.



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