Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
Rudolf IV (* November 1, 1339 in Vienna, † July 27, 1365 in Milan ), called the donor, was Duke ( and self-proclaimed Archduke ) of Austria, Duke of Carinthia, Duke of Styria ( 1358-1365 ), as well as Count of Tyrol ( 1363-1365 ).
Life
As the eldest son in the family of Albrecht II and Joan of Pfirt Rudolf was born after only 15 years of marriage, and the third generation of Habsburg dukes in Austria belonged to. He was thus the first Duke, who was born in the country itself, and considered it his home region, which is pretty contributed to its popularity. He is considered one of the most energetic and dedicated ruler of Austria in the late Middle Ages, it is said, he should have occurred already as a young man like a king.
His three years younger wife Catherine of Luxembourg, whom he married in 1357, a daughter of Charles IV was. Competition with his father, who extended Prague at a brilliant cultural center, was a not insignificant theme in his thought and action. Just as Karl the importance of Prague, he wanted to raise the importance of Vienna, which is also emphasized in many of his records.
One jumped into the eye and it already had all the Austrian dukes for over a hundred years employed: Vienna was not a bishop's seat. Responsible was still the Bishop of Passau, a condition which was felt for a ducal residence as unfortunate. But since the bishops of Passau had better relations with the Pope, he penetrated with the project to build an independent diocese in Vienna, not through. Instead, he resorted to a kind of imposture: he led at St. Stephen the creation of a Metropolitan Chapter (which should be attached to the name after an archbishop ), whose members were dressed in red ( as cardinals ). The dean of this cathedral chapter received the title of Lord Chancellor of Austria.
During his reign, was the expansion of the Church of St. Stephen, whose high Gothic nave begun (new building of St. Stephen's cathedral, on whose portal he immortalized himself ). This did not last as a competitor to the St. Vitus Cathedral. The church expansion earned him the nickname of the founder. After his death, his remains were brought home from Milan and embedded in the cathedral of St. Stephan to rest.
Also to compete with the Charles University in Prague, the founding of the University of Vienna was thought that still means Alma Mater Rudolphina today. It is one of the oldest universities in the former German-speaking area - Prague is the oldest. It was founded in 1365, but not until 1385, after Rudolf's death, was founded a theological faculty, which only accounted for a full university in the eyes of contemporaries.
Many other measures have served to raise the city's economy, such as the duty of supervision of the mayor on all land purchases, to prevent too much of the " dead hand " ( the economically unproductive and tax-exempt church property ). Also, he managed to create a relatively stable monetary unit with the Vienna penny.
On most well-known is another fake from the years 1358/59, the forgery of the privilege Maius (starting from the privilege minus 1156 ), the de facto the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire equal with him, since Austria was left empty-handed in the Golden Bull. The invented on this occasion Archduke title was under Emperor Friedrich III. ( also a Habsburg ) in 1453 reaching a legal status and from the 16th century to a characteristic of the princes of the House of Habsburg.
1363 he joined after the death of the Tyrolean Wittelsbach Meinhard III. - Meinhard was married to Rudolf's sister Margaret - a contract of inheritance, fell with his mother Margaret of Tyrol to the Tyrol to the rule to Austria. Through its contract with Margarethe ( which was later occupied by the nickname Maultasch ) he could also bring Tyrol to the Habsburgs, which only became widely accepted by the Peace of Schärding 1369. In 1364 he joined with his father Emperor Charles IV the Brno inheritance contract, which provided for the reciprocal succession of Habsburg and Luxemburg.
His plans were invested large; However, he has his countries, and especially his residence modernized and enriched also important. His early death brought this to an abrupt end: his brothers Albert III. and Leopold III. , which after Rudolf's House Rules ( 1364 ) have in common are to rule, fell out soon hopelessly and sharing their possessions in 1379 in the Treaty of Neuberg.
More important for the history of art to overestimate hardly Rudolf Portrait, the first ( semi-) frontal portrait of the West. It was suspended a few decades over his grave in St. Stephen's Cathedral and is now in the Cathedral Museum Vienna visible. Apart from the (invented) Archduke Crown, whose perspective view of the artist failed satisfactory, it is a completely realistic portrait. Even the onset of facial paralysis of the Duke is shown.
He died unexpectedly on July 27, 1365 in Milan. After his death, the corpse was treated with red wine and sewn into a black cow skin, covered with a precious shroud with Arabic inscriptions and then transferred over the Alps to Vienna, where he was buried with great sympathy of his subjects in the Ducal Crypt of the Stephansdom in a copper coffin. Since the Cenotaph for Duke Rudolf IV due to the long construction time until some time has been set up after his untimely death, it remained empty.