Wilhelm (Austria)

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Wilhelm, Duke of Austria ( historicizing painting around 1580)

Wilhelm , called the Ambitious or the Friendly or the Kind (* around 1370 in Vienna ; † July 15, 1406 ibid) from the House of Austria or Habsburg had been head of the Albertine and Leopoldine lines of his family since 1395 . From 1386 and 1395 he was also Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and from 1404 also ducal regent of the Duchy of Austria .

Origin and family

Wilhelm was the eldest son of Duke Leopold III. from Austria (1351–1386) from his marriage to Viridis Visconti (1350–1414), a daughter of Bernabò Visconti , lord of Milan .

His engagement to Queen Hedwig of Poland (1380) is considered to be one of the first attempts by the House of Habsburg to pursue a marriage policy in East Central Europe. After forced by Polish resistance dissolution of his engagement or prevented marriage to the child's Queen Jadwiga Wilhelm married in 1401 her cousin Joan , the sister of King Ladislaus of Naples from the House of Anjou , who because of his claim to the crown of the Hungarian Kingdom to belonged to the opponents of Hedwig's sister Maria and the later Emperor Sigmund (as her husband, co-regent and successor).

No descendants are known of Wilhelm, his marriage to Johanna remained childless.

Succession arrangements

King Wenzel enfeoffs the dukes Wilhelm and Albrecht IV with the lands of the late Albrecht III (1398)

When his father died in the battle of Sempach in 1386 , Wilhelm, who was still very young at the time but was of legal age, succeeded him as his eldest son. However, with the consent of the prelates and sovereigns, he accepted his uncle Albrecht III for himself and his siblings only a little later on October 10, 1386 . as a guardian, who then suspended the division of property agreed between him and his brother in the Neuberg Treaty of 1379 and took over sole rule over all of the family's dominions.

After the death of his uncle, Wilhelm, as the oldest male member of the family and thus its senior, claimed priority over the other family members, referring to the will of his uncle, who had spoken out against a renewed real division and invoked the privilege maius . This led to a conflict with his cousin Albrecht IV , who had succeeded his father in the Duchy of Austria , where he found support from the citizens of Vienna , Albrecht IV. From the aristocrats. On the mediation of the Austrian provincial estates, the Treaty of Hollenburg was therefore concluded on September 22nd, 1395 , which provided for joint rule between the two, each to rule as lord in his own group of countries and as co-regent in the other. The administration, the farm and the "treasure" should be run or administered together. As a result of this treaty, Wilhelm ruled the duchies ( Styria , Carinthia and Carniola and the coastal regions ) as Duke in Inner Austria from 1396 , with his headquarters in Graz . His main residence, however, was the Hofburg in Vienna, where he resided together with Albrecht IV.

The administration of the county of Tyrol and the Vorderen Lande had Albrecht III. Already in 1392 Wilhelm's younger brother Leopold IV was transferred. At his insistence, a new house contract was signed in Vienna in 1396, through which Leopold IV was granted complete equality in the Leopoldine countries, once again the administration of Tyrol and the Vorderen Lands and financial compensation. In this contract there was also a provisional regulation that affected Wilhelm's other younger brothers. Wilhelm was to take care of Duke Ernst I and Leopold IV for Duke Friedrich IV .

This Vienna contract was limited in time and was subsequently extended three times. In 1402 Ernst I and Friedrich IV also became co-rulers in the rulership complexes of their brothers.

After the death of Albrecht IV, Wilhelm, as senior of the House of Austria, became ducal regent from 1404 for his underage son Albrecht V.

Politics under Wilhelm

In December 1395 an armistice was concluded with King Wenzel and as a result the conflict with and about him, in which Albrecht III. had contributed to a preliminary end. The fact that Wilhelm and the other dukes of Austria did not succeed in finding a common political line until his death resulted in a significant weakening of the dynasty. The deposition of Wenceslas as King of the Holy Roman Empire in 1400 and the election of the Count Palatine and Elector Ruprecht III. to the Gegenkönig also led to a split in the dynasty, with Wilhelm's position being assessed very differently in the secondary literature.

Since 1402 Albrecht IV. Together with Wilhelm in the Duchy of Austria, with the consent of the nobility, the prelates and the cities, introduced the "whispering", a kind of " martial law ", in order to be able to put a stop to attacks by feuding nobles and robber gangs, a consequence the unstable political situation in the neighboring countries of Bohemia and Moravia . He continued this policy even after Albrecht's death. In order to ward off similar attacks from Hungary, Wilhelm captured Neusiedl am See , where he set up a base, and at the beginning of 1406 confirmed the Austrian aristocratic society vom Häferl mit dem Sterne , whose aims were to maintain peace.

Death and succession

Wilhelm died in 1406 and found his final resting place in the ducal crypt of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

In 1406, after the Treaty of Neuberg of 1379 and the Treaty of Hollenburg in 1395, the Habsburg inheritance was redistributed again , Leopold the Fat , the second brother of the Leopoldines , regent in Innsbruck and Count of Tyrol, became the young nephew's guardian Albrecht and ducal Austrian regent in Vienna, Ernst der Eiserne , the third brother, 1396 too young and 1401-1402 in Italy (military campaign of the Roman-German King Ruprecht ) and still without a regency, became Duke in Inner Austria, and the youngest, Friedrich , the one with the empty pocket , previously regent of the Vorlande in Freiburg im Breisgau, took the county of Tyrol with him, which formed the administrative unit of Upper Austria .

Wilhelm's personality

A description of Wilhelm in the Austrian Chronicle of the 95 Rulers suggests the Duke's overall appearance, but gives no concrete information about his actual appearance. A portrait that can be classified as authentic has also not survived. In contrast to his brothers, he is described as calm and level-headed, but this is less an indication of his actual character than it is related to his position in the family as the oldest son and later senior.

Art patrons and sponsors

Together with Albrecht IV, he promoted the construction of the Maria am Gestade church in Vienna. Although only a few works of art are associated with him today, the quality of the few books that have survived from his possession suggests that he, like his uncle Albrecht III, may have been a promoter of book art.

presentation

Wilhelm's small title read: " Wilhalm von gotes gnaden duczog ze Österreich, ze Steyr, ze Kernden and ze Krain, graf ze Tyrol etc ". In his great title he describes himself as Duke of Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, Lord of the Windischen Mark and Portenau, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Pfirt and Kiburg, Margrave of Burgau and Landgrave in Alsace . Here he probably also testified to his political claims towards his cousin Albrecht IV. In the documents that he issued together with his relatives, he is usually mentioned first as the senior of the house.

In a fiefdom letter that was issued on May 20, 1404, Wilhelm is referred to as Archduke , from which it can be concluded that the Archduke title was in use at the time. Wilhelm himself did not use the title in his documents. However, he is the first Habsburg or Duke of Austria after Rudolf IV , of whom a pictorial representation with the archducal hat has been preserved.

Wilhelm in legend and legend

Historically clearly proven facts are that King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia was actually captured by his brother Sigmund in 1402. He had him brought to Vienna, where he placed Wenzel in the custody of Duke Albrecht IV. However, Wenzel managed to escape from Vienna on November 11, 1403. After his return to Bohemia, he took over the rule there again. Duke Albrecht IV therefore had to justify himself personally to Sigmund, although the details of this encounter differ in essential points in the secondary literature, which is obviously based on chronicles. Sometimes this is portrayed as a matter between Sigmund and him, sometimes Albrecht visits Sigmund accompanied by one or the other cousin, sometimes it's all his cousins ​​(except Wilhelm) who have to accompany him. In some versions of the legend that developed about Wenceslas' flight from Vienna, Duke Wilhelm finds himself in the role of the escape helper who makes the escape possible, or at least he is the confidante who allows the escape.

See also

literature

  • Eva Bruckner: Forms of power representation and self-portrayal of Habsburg princes in the late Middle Ages. phil. Dissertation, Vienna, 2009, pp. 152–164.
  • Alois Niederstätter : Austrian History 1278-1411. The rule of Austria. Prince and country in the late Middle Ages. Ueberreuter Verlag, Vienna 2001, especially pp. 194–198.

Lexicon article

Fiction

  • Josephine von Kviatovska: Hedwiga and Cimburgis or the strong women. A historical novel from the 14th century. Mausberger, Vienna 1820.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm (Austria)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Kleindel: The Big Book of Austrians. Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1987.
  2. ^ Eva Bruckner: Forms of the representation of power. 2009, p. 152.
  3. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 188. The fact that Wilhelm's younger brother Leopold IV only agreed to this regulation in November 1386 could be an indication that he was also of legal age at that time.
  4. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 194.
  5. ^ Eva Bruckner: Forms of the representation of power. 2009, p. 153.
  6. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 189.
  7. ↑ The financial compensation for Leopold IV was owed to the fact that the income of Tyrol and the Vorderen Landen at this point in time was much lower than that of the duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. Only under the rule of his brother, Duke Friedrich IV, did the financial situation turn into the opposite, as well as Klaus Brandstätter: On the development of finances under Duke Friedrich IV. In: Georg Mühlberger - Mercedes Blaas (Ed.): Grafschaft Tirol: "Terra Venusta" . Studies on the history of Tyrol, especially the Vinschgau (= Schlern-Schriften. 337). Innsbruck, 2007, p. 233 f.
  8. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411 , 2001, p. 194 and p. 196.
  9. ^ During Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 196, Wilhelm sees together with Albrecht IV. On the side of Sigmund, the opposite assertion can be found again and again in the secondary literature, that he was with Leopold IV. On the side of Ruprecht. In view of his marriage connections and Ruprecht's Romzug, politics against the Luxembourgers would appear more credible, but it cannot be overlooked that Wenzel, Sigmund and other members of this family were not a "united house" from a political point of view.
  10. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 194 and p. 196 f.
  11. ^ Eva Bruckner: Formen der Herrschaftsrepresentation , 2009, p. 157 f.
  12. ↑ Konstantin Moritz A. Langmaier: Archduke Albrecht VI. of Austria (1418–1463). A prince caught between dynasty, regions and empire. Cologne u. a. 2015, p. 17 f. and p. 28, has shown very convincingly that the characteristic of an older brother, often handed down in the Middle Ages, who, in contrast to his younger brother or brothers, is described as calm and prudent, is a cliché that has nothing about the the actual character of the person, but is related to the position in the family group.
  13. ^ Eva Bruckner: Forms of the representation of power. 2009, pp. 158 and 163.
  14. ^ Eva Bruckner: Forms of the representation of power. 2009, p. 154 f.
  15. ^ Eva Bruckner: Forms of the representation of power. 2009, p. 154.
  16. ^ Alois Niederstätter: Austrian History 1278-1411. 2001, p. 196 (note).
predecessor Office successor
Albrecht III. Duke of Austria
(together with Albrecht IV until 1404 )
1396–1406 		Albrecht V
(1406–1411 Leopold IV and Ernst I as regents)
1386 Leopold III. , 1396 Albrecht III. Duke of Steier (mark)
1386 and 1396–1406 		Ernst I.
1386 Leopold III. , 1396 Albrecht III. Duke of Carinthia
1386 and 1396–1406 		Ernst I.
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilhelm von Habsburg; Wilhelm the Ambitious; Wilhelm the Friendly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Austria
DATE OF BIRTH around 1370
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1406
Place of death Vienna