Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (German: Friedrich III, 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was the Holy Roman emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome. He was the fourth king of the Romans and the first Holy Roman emperor from the House of Habsburg, which was to retain the title with one gap until it was declared at an end by Emperor Francis II, in 1806.

Prior to his imperial coronation, he was duke of the Inner Austrian lands of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola from 1424, and also acted as regent over the Duchy of Austria from 1439. He was elected and crowned King of Germany in 1440.He was the fourth Frederick to rule Germany in the Habsburgs' preferred enumeration, which counted Frederick the Fair ("Frederick III") as a legitimate king, although he was elected by only a minority of electors. Cf. Anthony Radcliffe (1986), "The Habsburg Images: Cigoli, Terzio and Reichle", The Burlington Magazine, 128 (995), 103–106. His reign of 41 years is the longest in the history of the Holy Roman Empire or the German monarchy. Upon his death in 1493, he was succeeded by his son Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.

During his reign, Frederick concentrated on re-uniting the Habsburg "hereditary lands" of Austria and took a lesser interest in Imperial affairs. Nevertheless, by his dynastic entitlement to Hungary as well as by the Burgundian inheritance, he laid the foundations for the later Habsburg Empire. Despite being mocked as "Arch-Sleepyhead of the Holy Roman Empire" () during his lifetime, he is today increasingly seen as an effective ruler.

Historian Thomas A. Brady Jr. credited Frederick with leaving a credible claim on the imperial title and a secure grip on the Austrian lands, now organised as a single state, for his son. This imperial revival (as well as the rise of the territorial state) began under the reign of Frederick.

Early life Born at the Tyrolean residence of Innsbruck in 1415, Frederick was the eldest son of the Inner Austrian duke Ernest, Duke of Austria, a member of the Leopoldian line of the Habsburg dynasty, and his second wife Cymburgis of Masovia. According to the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, the Leopoldinian branch ruled over the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, or what was referred to as Inner Austria. Only three of Frederick's eight siblings survived childhood: his younger brother Albert of Austria (later to be Albert VI, archduke of Austria), and his sisters Margaret of Austria (later the electress of Saxony) and Catherine of Austria. In 1424, nine-year-old Frederick's father died, making Frederick the duke of Inner Austria, as Frederick V, with his uncle, Frederick IV of Austria, acting as regent.

From 1431, Frederick tried to obtain the majority (to be declared "of age", and thus allowed to rule), but for several years was denied by his relatives. Finally, in 1435, Albert V, duke of Austria (later Albert II, the king of Germany), awarded him the rule over his Inner Austrian heritage. Almost from the beginning, Frederick's younger brother Albert asserted his rights as a co-ruler, as the beginning of a long rivalry. Already in these years, Frederick had begun to use the symbolic A.E.I.O.U. signature as a kind of motto with various meanings. In 1436, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, accompanied by numerous nobles knighted by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, which earned him a great reputation.

Upon the death of his uncle, Duke Frederick IV, Duke of Austria in 1439, Frederick III took over the regency of Tyrol and Further Austria for the duke's heir Sigismund. Again, he had to ward off the claims raised by his brother Albert VI, Archduke of Austria; he prevailed with the support of the Tyrolean aristocracy. Likewise, he acted as regent for his nephew Ladislaus the Posthumous, son of late King Albert II and his consort Elizabeth of Luxembourg, in the duchy of Austria (Further Austria). (Ladislaus would die before coming of age). Frederick was now the undisputed head of the House of Habsburg, though his regency in the lands of the Albertinian Line (Further Austria) was still viewed with suspicion.

As a cousin of late King Albert II, Frederick became a candidate for the 1440 imperial election. On 2 February 1440, the prince-electors convened at Frankfurt and unanimously elected him King of the Romans as Frederick IV; his rule was still based on his hereditary lands of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola or Inner Austria.

In 1442, Frederick allied himself with Rudolf Stüssi, burgomaster of Zürich, against the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Old Zürich War (Alter Zürichkrieg) but lost. In 1448, he entered into the Concordat of Vienna with the Holy See, which remained in force until 1806 and regulated the relationship between the Habsburgs and the Holy See.

In 1452, at the age of 37, Frederick III travelled to Italy to receive his bride and to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. His fiancée, the 17-year-old infanta Eleanor, daughter of King Edward of Portugal, landed at Livorno (Leghorn) after a 104-day trip. Her dowry would help Frederick alleviate his debts and cement his power. The couple met at Siena on 24 February and proceeded together to Rome. As per tradition, they spent a night outside the walls of Rome before entering the city on 9 March, where Frederick and Pope Nicholas V exchanged friendly greetings. Because the emperor had been unable to retrieve the Iron Crown of Lombardy from the cathedral of Monza where it was kept, nor be crowned King of Italy by the archbishop of Milan (on account of Frederick's dispute with Francesco I Sforza, lord of Milan), he convinced the pope to crown him as such with the German crown, which had been brought for the purpose. This coronation took place on the morning of 16 March, in spite of the protests of the Milanese ambassadors, and in the afternoon, Frederick and Eleanor were married by the pope. Finally, on 19 March, Frederick and Eleanor were anointed in St Peter's Basilica by the Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Francesco Condulmer, and Frederick was then crowned with the Imperial Crown by the pope.M. Creighton, A History of the Papacy During the Period of the Reformation, Volume II: The Council of Basel to the Papal Restoration, 1418–1464 (London: Longmans, 1882), pp. 297–299. Frederick III was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned in Rome. His great-grandson Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned, but this was done in Bologna.

Personality

Frederick's style of rulership was marked by hesitation and a sluggish pace of decision making. The Italian humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, who at one time worked at Frederick's court, described the Emperor as a person who wanted to conquer the world while remaining seated. Although this was regarded as a character flaw in older academic research, his delaying tactics are now viewed as a means of coping with political challenges in far-flung territorial possessions. Frederick is credited with having the ability to sit out difficult political situations patiently."Heinz-Dieter Heimann: Die Habsburger. Dynastie und Kaiserreiche." . pp. 38–45

According to contemporary accounts, Frederick had difficulties developing emotional closeness to other persons, including his children and wife Eleanor. Unlike his brother Albert and his son Maximilian, Frederick maintained a reserved lifestyle. Although he was willing to appear in social events like festivals and tournaments, he disliked lavish feasts. Later he became horrified when his son, still in early teen years, displayed a tendency towards wine, feasts and women. As Frederick was rather distant to his family, Eleanor had a great influence on the raising and education of Frederick's children, and she therefore played an important role in the House of Habsburg's rise to prominence. Despite the fact that their marriage had been unhappy, when Eleanor died, the Emperor was affected by her loss and remained widowed for the rest of his long life.

Emperor

Frederick's political initiatives were hardly bold, but they were still successful. Frederick III was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1452, the first since the death of Emperor Sigismund. His ascension to the role of Emperor came with the stipulation that should the previous queen of Bohemia (wife of Albert V of the Albertine line) give birth to a male heir, Frederick would become his guardian. When the queen gave birth to Ladislaus the Posthumous, as according to the stipulations, Frederick took on his guardianship. This led to conflicts between Frederick and other members of the royal family and nobility. His first major opponent was his brother Albert VI, who challenged his rule. He did not manage to win a single conflict on the battlefield against him, and thus resorted to more subtle means. He held his second cousin once removed Ladislaus the Posthumous, the ruler of the Archduchy of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia (born in 1440) as a prisoner and attempted to extend his guardianship over him in perpetuity to maintain his control over Lower Austria. Ladislaus was freed in 1452 by the Lower Austrian estates. He acted similarly towards his first cousin Sigismund of the Tyrolian line of the Habsburg family. One of his important advisors during this time was Friedrich II von Graben."Wien und Niederösterreich – eine untrennbare Beziehung?", Festschrift für Willibald Rosner zum 65. Geburtstag. Herausgegeben von Elisabeth Loining, Stefan Eminger und Andreas Weigl, p. 442; In: Studien und Forschungen aus dem Niederösterreichischen Institut für Landeskunde. Herausgegeben von Elisabeth Loining (Band 70)

Ultimately, Frederick prevailed in all those conflicts by outliving his opponents and sometimes inheriting their lands, as was the case with Ladislaus, from whom he gained Lower Austria in 1457, and with his brother Albert VI, whom he succeeded in Upper Austria. In 1462, his brother Albert VI raised an insurrection against him in Vienna and the emperor was besieged in his residence by rebellious subjects. In this war between the brothers, Frederick received support from the King of Bohemia, George of Poděbrady. These conflicts forced him into an anachronistic itinerant existence, as he had to move his court between various places through the years, residing in Graz, Linz, and Wiener Neustadt.Joachim Laczny: Historical Geographic Information System (Historical GIS). Joachim Laczny, Jürgen Sarnowsky eds., In: Perzeption und Rezeption. Wahrnehmung und Deutung im Mittelalter und in der Moderne, Göttingen 2014, , pp. 33–65. Joachim Laczny: The late medieval ruler Frederick III (1440–1493) on the journey. The creation of the itinerary using a Historical Geographic Information System (Historical GIS). Wiener Neustadt owes him its castle and the "New Monastery". In 1469, Friedrich founded the Order of Saint George, which still exists today, whereby the first investiture in the Lateran Basilica in Rome was carried out by him and Pope Paul II.Heinrich Koller: Der St.-Georgs-Ritterorden Kaiser Friedrichs III. In: Die geistlichen Ritterorden Europas. (1980) p. 417.Winkelbauer: Kaiser Maximilian I. und St. Georg. In: Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 7/1954, p. 523.