Reg. of Emperor Frederick III., AUR (1483-1488)

This volume of abstracts of charters Emperor Fredericks III in the series Regesta Imperii focusses on the last decade of his rule, in particular on the years between 1483 and 1488. They are based on the original charters in the Allgemeine Urkundenreihe and Familienurkunden in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna and its collections of copies of those charters that have not come down to us in the original, all of which serve to illustrate a number of major historical aspects. In the earliest documents of this time financial transactions like leasing, pawning and enfeoffments feature predominantly, thus revealing the Emperors desparate financial situation that arose from the need to defend his hereditary territories against the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus and against Turkish invasion. Increasingly, Frederick had to cede castles and palaces as well as their revenues to prosperous aristocrats to be used for reconstruction works. For the same purpose, he decided to impose a new duty, Eilende Hilfe (urgent aid), whose collection, however, proved difficult and time- consuming. In the charters of the Familienurkunden a curious attempt Fredericks at fundraising is disclosed: from king João of Portugal he demanded the payment of his wifes dowry Eleonore, who had died in 1467 which amounted to as much as 43.000 gold ducats. Besides the Emperors management of finances, a second focus of interest is on his attempts to consolidate the Empire in the West, which was closely related to the need to reach an understanding with Archduke Sigmund of Austria or to curb the latters position. Sigmund had been pursuing a policy of expansion in Swabia, which resulted in his increasing dependence on the dukes of Bavaria, who in turn managed to gain considerable influence at his court at Innsbruck. Proscription of the unruly counsellors (böse Räte) and the annulment of the leasing contracts which Sigmund had concluded with the dukes of Bavaria should re-establish the former state of affairs. To consolidate the territories in the West the Swabian League (Schwäbischer Bund) was founded, which also tried to provide security for the imperial towns of Swabia. As a third aspect which is highlighted by the documents of this period emerges the beginning of the joint rule of the Emperor and his son Maximilian after the latters election as king of the Holy Roman Empire. While Maximilian concentrated his efforts on the Netherlands, the Emperor turned his attention more and more to his hereditary territories, thus obviously avoiding any rivalry between the two rulers. The present publication continues the systematic collection and analysis of the charters and letters of Emperor Frederick III. Employing the methods of the historical auxiliary sciences the documents provide an ample basis for further studies in local history as well as the history of the aristocracy, finances and public institutions. The analysis of the documents in form and content sheds light on the media of communication. The Emperors signature in his own hand is increasingly used as a means of authentication and legal validity. By examining the persons mentioned in the documents the institutional structure becomes apparent which permitted the development of networks of aristocratic, middle-class and legally-trained elites.