ABSTRACT
Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire started as a minor prince of the House of Habsburg, under the authority of other relatives. Deaths in the dynasty, however, brought him to its leadership by 1439. He then took on wardship of his younger relatives to his own advantage. The next year, he also followed his cousin Albrecht I as king of the Romans. Frederick tried to build up a humanistic court in Vienna, but lack of funds and wars with Matthias Corvinus of Hungary severely limited his options. His two main successes were the Concordat of Vienna, giving him the right to nominate various bishops, and the marriage he arranged for his son Maximilian with the heiress Mary of Burgundy. While his reputation has long suffered in comparison to his son’s, recent historians have shown his attention to both imperial and Austrian interests.
