Albert II of Germany
Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Albert the Magnanimous Template:Post-nominals, elected King of the Romans as Albert II (10 August 1397Template:Snd27 October 1439), was a member of the House of Habsburg. By inheritance he became Albert V, Duke of Austria. Through his wife (jure uxoris) he also became King of Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, and inherited a claim to the Duchy of Luxembourg.
He played a significant role in the Hussite Wars, assisting his father-in-law Sigismund and suffering defeats like the Battle of Domažlice in 1431. Crowned King of Hungary in 1438, he struggled to control Bohemia and fought against Polish-Bohemian forces. He later became King of the Romans but died in 1439 while defending Hungary from the Ottomans. His reign saw anti-Hussite and anti-Jewish persecutions, continuing medieval crusades against perceived heretics. Austrian Jews faced increased taxation and expulsions, culminating in the 1420 Vienna pogrom, partly driven by accusations of aiding the Hussites.
Biography
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Albert was born in Vienna as the son of Albert IV, Duke of Austria, and Joanna Sophia of Bavaria.Template:Sfn
He succeeded to the Duchy of Austria at the age of seven on his father's death in 1404. His uncle Duke William of Inner Austria, then head of the rivaling Leopoldinian line, served as regent for his nephew, followed by his brothers Leopold IV and Ernest the Iron in 1406. The quarrels between the brothers and their continued attempts to gain control over the Albertinian territories led to civil war-like conditions. Nevertheless, Albert, having received a good education, undertook the government of Austria proper on the occasion of Leopold's death in 1411 and succeeded, with the aid of his advisers, in ridding the duchy of the evils which had arisen during his minority.<ref name="EB1911">{{#if: |
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}}{{#ifeq: ||}} Endnote: see W. Altmann, Die Wahl Albrecht II. zum römische Könige (Berlin, 1886).</ref>
In 1422 Albert married Elisabeth of Luxemburg, the daughter and heiress of the King Sigismund of Hungary (later also Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia), and his second wife, the Slovenian noblewoman Barbara of Celje.Template:Sfn Besides Hungary, Albert's marriage brought him claims to several Slavic kingdoms and principalities as well.
Albert assisted his father-in-law Sigismund in his campaigns against the Hussites, involving the Austrian duchy in the Hussite Wars. In return Sigismund designated him as his successor and granted him the title of Margrave of Moravia in 1423. The Austrian lands were devastated several times and Albert also participated in the 1431 Battle of Domažlice where the Imperial troops suffered an embarrassing defeat. While his lands were harmed it was a show of loyalty to the church as the church was trying to consolidate its influence and power.<ref name=":0" />Template:Failed verification
When Sigismund died in 1437, Albert was crowned king of Hungary on 1 January 1438, and just as his predecessor did, he moved his court to the Hungarian Kingdom from where he later oversaw his other domains. Although crowned king of Bohemia six months after ascending to the Hungarian throne, he was unable to obtain possession of the country. He was engaged in warfare with the Bohemians and their Polish allies, when on 17 March 1438, he was elected as "King of the Romans" at Frankfurt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Albert was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor.
Afterwards engaged in defending Hungary against the attacks of the Turks, he died on 27 October 1439 at Neszmély and was buried at Székesfehérvár. Albert was an energetic and warlike prince, whose short reign as a triple king gave great promise of usefulness for the Holy Roman Empire.<ref name="EB1911"/>
Hussite Wars and persecution
Beginning with the First Crusade in the year 1095, those who were not adherents to the Catholic faith were deemed by the religious authorities to be heretics, and were to be persecuted, destroyed or converted.<ref name=":2" /> While the papal call for violence against non-Christians applied to Muslims originally, it was applied against other religious and social groups.<ref name=":3" /> Jews and lepers were the main targets along with Muslims in the crusade to destroy "devilry."<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":1" /> The persecution of Jews came as no surprise in connection with the Hussite Wars.Template:Clarify The call to arms against heretics meant the call to arms against all who are not Christian, with the hopes of their destruction or conversion.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> If the heretics did not convert to Christianity they were massacred, usually burned.Template:Citation needed
Jewish persecution
Beginning in the 11th century, Jews began to migrate from rural areas to the cities of Western Europe, where they came to assume an important economic role in commercial activity and especially as moneylenders.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> This economic transformation was accompanied by a deterioration of relations between Jewish and Christian populations, with an increase of violent persecutions (Pogrom) by the latter towards the former.<ref name=":0" /> The first major instance of Jewish persecution coincided with the call of the First Crusade in the fall of 1095.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> Summoned by Pope Urban II with the aim of conquering the Holy Land, crusaders interpreted the papal call to use violence against non Christians as a command to attack and destroy Jewish communities in France<ref name=":0" /> and the Rhineland.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref> These German-Austrian massacres were arguably a great influence on Albert V and his Jewish persecutions and expulsions.Template:Citation needed
Though the Jews in the Austrian duchy had been subject to local persecutions during the 13th and 14th century, their position remained relatively safe. Jewish communities prospered in several towns like Krems or the area around the Judenplatz at Vienna. During the confusion after the death of Duke Albert IV in 1404 their situation worsened sharply, culminating in the blaze of the Vienna synagogue on 5 November 1406, followed by riots and lootings.Template:Citation needed
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With the ordering of campaign preparations against the Hussites by King Sigismund in the beginning of the 15th century, taxes were used to fund a crusade army.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> Albert V of Austria followed suit, keeping his good standing with the Catholic Church while he was in power.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> When Albert V came of age in 1411 and interfered in the Hussite Wars, he repeatedly established new taxes on the Jewish community to finance his campaigns, to destroy "devilry" and "imprudence".<ref name=":1" /> Like the Hussites, Jews were seen as an enemy to Christendom.<ref name=":0" /> After the Hussites had devastated the duchy, the Austrian Jews were accused of collaboration and arms trade in favor of the enemies. The accusations of a host desecration at Enns in 1420 gave Albert pretext for the destruction of the Jewish community.Template:Citation needed
According to the 1463 Chronica Austriae by chronicler Thomas Ebendorfer, the duke on 23 May 1420, at the behest of the Church, ordered the imprisonment and forcible conversion of the Jews. Those that had not converted or escaped were sent off in boats down the Danube, while wealthy Jews remained under arrest, several of them tortured and stripped of their property. The forced baptism of Jewish children was stopped on intervention by Pope Martin V. On 12 March 1421 Albert sentenced the remaining Jews to death. Ninety-two men and 120 women were burned at the stake south of the Vienna city walls on 12 March 1421. The Jews were placed under an "eternal ban" and their synagogue was demolished. The persecutions in several Austrian towns are explicitly described in a 16th-century script called Vienna Gesera.Template:Citation needed
Full title
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Full titulature Albert possessed went as follows: Albert, by the grace of God elected King of the Romans, always August, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, elected King of Bohemia, duke of Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, margrave of Moravia, Lord of the Wendish March and Port Naon, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Ferrete and Kyburg, etc. Margrave of Burgau and landgrave of Alsace.
In practise he often used a shorter version: Albert, by the grace of God elected King of the Romans, always August, King of Hungary, Dalmatia and Croatia, etc. elected King of Bohemia, duke of Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, Margrave of Moravia and Count of Tyrol, etc.
Family
His children with Elizabeth of Luxembourg were:
- Anne of Austria (1432–1462), who married William III, Duke of Saxony.Template:Sfn William became (1457–69) Duke of Luxembourg, in right of his wife
- Elisabeth (c. 1436–1439 to 1505), who married Casimir IV of Poland,Template:Sfn and whose son Vladislaus II of Bohemia later became king of Bohemia and Hungary
- George (born and died at Vienna on 16 February 1435)
- Ladislas V Posthumus of Bohemia, King of Hungary and BohemiaTemplate:Sfn
Male-line family tree
Ancestry
See also
- Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other German king.
Notes
References
External links
Template:Commons category Template:Wikisource
- Template:Nömuseum
- Tripota – Trier portrait database Template:Webarchive
- Illustration by Francesco Terzio from 1569: Albertus II, Imp. (Template:ULBDD)
- Template:DNB-Portal
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Template:Monarchs of Bohemia Template:Hungarian kings Template:German monarchs Template:Croatian kings Template:Rulers of Austria
- Pages with broken file links
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- 1397 births
- 1439 deaths
- 15th-century dukes of Austria
- 15th-century Kings of the Romans
- 15th-century monarchs of Bohemia
- 15th-century Hungarian monarchs
- 15th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire
- Habsburg monarchs of Bohemia
- Kings of Hungary
- Kings of Croatia
- Hungarian Roman Catholic monarchs
- Knights of the Garter
- Nobility from Vienna
- Medieval child monarchs
- Burials at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary