Frederick III (1415-1493)

Holy Roman Emperor. In 1463 he united Upper and Lower Austria under his rule, taking the title of Frederick V, Archduke of Austria. Frederick was an incapable ruler, and towards the end of his reign handed over the government of his lands to his son, Maximilian I. The marriage of Maximilian with Mary, daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, made the Habsburg family one of the greatest dynasties in Europe.

He was born at Innsbruck in the Tirol, son of Ernest of Habsburg, Duke of Styria and Carinthia. In 1440 he was chosen as German king at Frankfurt, and in 1452 became the last emperor to be crowned at Rome. His claims to Bohemia and Hungary were successfully contested by George of Podebrad and Matthias Corvinus, the latter even occupying Vienna in the 1480s.

Frederick III (1463-1525)

Elector of Saxony from 1486, when he succeeded his father Ernest. He exercised an enormous influence on German politics of the 16th century. He founded the University of Wittenberg in 1502, making Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon professors, and protecting them after they were declared heretics.