Regesten Kaiser Friedrichs III. Heft 18 (1458-1463)

The volume contains summaries (Regesten) of letters and charters issued by Emperor Frederic III between 1458 and 1463 from the State Archives (Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv) in Vienna and continue the two already publishes volumes drawn from these Archives. It is the 18th volume from the renowned project "Regesten Kaiser Friedrichs III (1440-1493) supported by the Academy of Science in Austria and the German Academy of Science and Literature of Mainz. The introduction contains statistical data and some reflections on the chancery of Frederic III and the provenance of the used documents leading back to the private Archives of the House of Habsburg. An index of the charters, a booklist and a detailed index of names and places allow easy access to the summaries. The years 1458-1463 are characterized by the conflict between Emperor Frederic III and his brother Albrecht VI about the predomination in Austria, ending with the abrupt death of Albrecht VI in December 1463. In the same period the Emperor entered some contracts and alliances with Archbishop Sigmund of Salzburg, Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut, King George of Bohemia and King Mathias Corvinus of Hungary. They all represent mile- stones in the politics of Fredric III leading to the consolidation of his hereditary power (Hausmacht). Beside the prominent political events the volume also serves illustrate the "daily" proceedings of a late medieval sovereign and the enforcement of his resolutions. Numerous charters display Frederic`s III work as a regional sovereign (Landesherr) and his efforts to restructure the administration of his properties and revenues. The recipients of the documents give clues to the Emperors personal surrounding, his partisans and opponents. The volume contains a great number of interesting but unknown documents of political, social, legal and economic importance that go far beyond the level of local interest, and thus provides a new foundation for further scientific works.