Cultural depictions of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death.
Maximilian was an ambitious leader who was active in many fields and lived in a time of great upheaval between the Medieval and Early Modern worlds. Maximilian's reputation in historiography is many-sided, often contradictory: the last knight or the first modern foot soldier and "first cannoneer of his nation"; the first Renaissance prince (understood either as a Machiavellian politician or omnicompetent, universal genius) or a dilettante; a far-sighted state builder and reformer, or an unrealistic schemer whose posthumous successes were based on luck, or a clear-headed, prudent statesman. While Austrian researchers often emphasize his role as the founder of the early modern supremacy of the House of Habsburg or founder of the nation, debates on Maximilian's political activities in Germany as well as international scholarship on his reign as Holy Roman Emperor often centre on the Imperial Reform. In the Burgundian Low Countries (and the modern Netherlands and Belgium), in scholarly circles as well as popular imagination, his depictions vary as well: a foreign tyrant who imposed wars, taxes, high-handed methods of ruling and suspicious personal agenda, and then "abandoned" the Low Countries after gaining the imperial throne, or a saviour and builder of the early modern state. Jelle Haemers calls the relationship between the Low Countries and Maximilian "a troubled marriage".
In his lifetime, as the first ruler who exploited the propaganda potential of the printing press, he attempted to control his own depictions, although various projects (called Gedechtnus) that he commissioned (and authored in part by him in some cases) were only finished after his death. Various authors refer to the emperor's image-building programs as "unprecedented". Historian Thomas Brady Jr. remarks that Maximilian's humanists, artists, and printers "created for him a virtual royal self of hitherto unimagined quality and intensity. They half-captured and half-invented a rich past, which progressed from ancient Rome through the line of Charlemagne to the glory of the house of Habsburg and culminated in Maximilian's own high presidency of the Christian brotherhood of warrior-kings."
Additionally, as his legends have many spontaneous sources, the Gedechtnus projects themselves are just one of the many tributaries of the early modern Maximiliana stream. Today, according to Elaine C.Tennant, it is impossible to determine the degree modern attention and reception to Maximilian (what Tennant dubs "the Maximilian industry") are influenced by the self-advertising program the emperor set in motion 500 years ago. According to historian Thomas Martin Lindsay, the scholars and artists in service of the emperor could not expect much financial rewards or prestigious offices, but just like the peasantry, they genuinely loved the emperor for his romanticism, amazing intellectual versatility and other qualities. Thus, he "lives in the folk-song of Germany like no other ruler does." Maximilian Krüger remarks that, although the most known of all Habsburgs, and a ruler so markedly different from all who came before him and his contemporaries, Maximilian's reputation is fading outside of the scientific ivory tower, due to general problems within German education and a culture self-defined as post-heroic and post-national.
Maximilian is the subject of several legends and anecdotes, which themselves would later produce inspirations for artworks.
Another related story came from Hans Sachs' poem Dem Geschichte Keyser Maximiliani mit dem alchamisten (The story of Emperor Maximilian with the Alchemist), which in turn was based on an incident in the seventh century involving the alchemist Morienus [de] and Sultan Khalif of Egypt. Hans Sachs's story allegedly inspired Goethe's scene at the imperial court in Faust II. The story is as the following: Maximilian is approached in his court in Wels by an alchemist who proposed to show him his art. Later, after the transformation had been completed, the alchemist disappeared, leaving a gold cake of ten measures and a message:
Maximilian then learns that the alchemist was a Venetian and sent by his enemies. The next time the poet returns to Wels, Maximilian has died.
The blooming of the Faustus myth was fuelled by the witch craze of the time.
There are two large murals (created in 2019) in the centre of Bruges, both related to the legend. One is Maria Van Bourgondië (by Jeremiah Persyn), in which Mary of Burgundy is depicted as a Jesus-like figure while Maximilian is in the guise of the Brugge Fool, riding a swan and holding a halfmoon. Another is De Dans der Zotten ("Dance of the fools") by Stan Slabbinck.
Franz Schubert wrote the song Kaiser Maximilian auf der Martinswand, based on a text by Heinrich von Collin, about this legend.
This story and the 1849 painting by August Siegert [de], shown above, have become relevant recently. This nineteenth-century painting shows Dürer painting a mural at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. Apparently, this reflects a seventeenth-century "artists' legend" about the previously mentioned encounter (in which the emperor held the ladder). In 2020, during restoration work, art connoisseurs discovered a piece of handwriting now attributed to Dürer, suggesting the Nuremberg master's participation in creating the Viennese murals. In the recent 2022 Dürer exhibition in Nurembeg (in which the drawing technique is also traced and connected to Dürer's other works), the identity of the commissioner is discussed. Now the painting of Siegert (and the legend associated with it) is used as evidence to suggest that this was Maximilian. Dürer is historically recorded to have entered the emperor's service in 1511, and the mural's date is calculated to be around 1505, but it is possible they have known and worked with each other earlier than 1511.
The scene is depicted by Johannes Riepenhausen in his Herzog Erich der Ältere von Calenberg und Kaiser Maximilian vor der Veste Kufstein in Tirol (pen-and-ink drawing around 1836; the same artist recaptured the scene in an oil painting in 1837 with Herzog Erich von Braunschweig bittet unter eigener Gefahr den Kaiser Max um Gnade für die zu Kuffstein Verurteilten), On the wall of the nearby Auracher Löchl (the oldest winehouse of Austria), there is a depiction of the "last knight" with his cannon, opposing Hans Pienzenau.
Maximilian was a major patron of the Renaissance in the North as well as a creative force in his own right, and as such admired and able to maintain a relationship with many important artists and scholars of his time, most notably the humanists who praised him as a second Apollo and Father of the Muses. In the Low Countries, Maximilian was a divisive figure, sometimes represented as the saviour of the country and sometimes as an autocratic tyrant (both possibly historical truths). While his Burgundian supporters (beginning with Molinet) tended to identify him with the Saviour (either in the guise of an eagle or the only begotten Son), Maximilian and his German supporters, especially his closest humanist circle, usually identified himself with Apollo-Phoebus (or the Sun), Hercules, Saint George and some other saints. Hugh Trevor-Roper remarks that in comparison with princes in Italy and Flanders as well as his own descendants, he did not commission great religious pictures. His tastes focused on himself, his family, German and Roman ancient heroes, and certain saints that he considered to have a kinship to his house.
Gedechtnus (memorial) is a term used by the emperor to refer to his monumental projects that served to institutionalize and memorialize his image and that of his family. The core of these was his massive autographical (or semi-autographical) corpus, including Theuerdank, Freydal, Weisskunig, the Ehrenpforte (Triumphal Arch), genealogical projects, various triumphal celebrations, architectural projects like his Cenotaph in Innsbruck, musical works by leading composers of the day like Heinrich Isaac and Paul Hofhaimer. Maria Golubeva judges these projects as glorification for posterity, rather than propaganda in the normal sense of the word. Theuerdank and Weisskunig are considered "the last attempt to revive medieval chivalrous ideals." For Theuerdank, Freydal and Weisskunig as well as his Latin autobiography, Maximilian dictated content of chapters, provided sketches, revised drafts and was generally the driving force of these projects himself, although dozens of artists were involved in the creative process. In the cases of the Triumphal Arch and the Triumphal Procession, with the help of Johannes Stabius, he provided the texts on iconography and close supervision. He was the designer of his own Cenotaph.
Watanabe-O'Kelly notes that the projects often made use of luxurious elements, which indicated that they were not intended for the mass. Maximilian issued privileges to printers of such projects, but a number of these works, by their design, "invited reproduction, reuse, appropriation and imitation". Theuerdank (one of the few projects completed in the emperor's lifetime), in particular, quickly became free-for-all, public shareware after its first publication in 1517, pirated initially by printers in the Low Countries.
The Triumphal Arch as well as other depictions of triumphal celebrations by the emperor as his artists have been called "the most elaborate imaginary procession designs." According to Jasper Cornelis van Putten, the Triumphal Arch is the most influential genealogical woodcut, following which printed monumental genealogies became popular with European rulers until well into the eighteenth century. It is also "the most celebrated hierographic monument".
Other than the glorification aspect, the emperor, with the help of his artistic advisors, had a habit of inject dark allegories and his inner turmoil into the works.
The genealogical projects and the invented histories that went with them tended to attract criticisms even from the contemporaries for being overboard (even though other rulers also made extraordinary claims about their families), including the famous mathematician and astronomer Johannes Stabius. After the origins of the Habsburg had been traced back to Noah, Kunz von der Rosen brought before the emperor a retired soldiers' harlot and a beggar, who petitioned him to support them because they were all descendants of Adam. The emperor laughed. Later, Charles V personally tried to eliminate Theodoric from his grandfather's tomb (which was in some respects also a genealogical work) but failed, while Ferdinand I successfully eliminated Caesar and Ottokar.
For portraits, he preferred woodcuts as it was the cheapest medium. The iconic oil painting Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I by Albrecht Dürer was a rare case another medium was used instead.
Another plan that was never carried out, partly for financial reason, was a memorial chapel for himself in Falkenstein (Falconstone) near St. Wolfgang. He was going to have himself buried in this area, until the Archbishop of Salzburg, Leonhard von Keutschach, persuaded him choose St. George's Cathedral, Wiener Neustadt, probably with considerable financial help.
Inheriting an interest in astrology from his father, Maximilian extensively utilized astrological works for propaganda in general and for self-presenting in particular, although Darin Hayton notes that, propaganda here should not be understood as an attempt to deceive the public, as propaganda is sometimes described in the modern sense. Rather, Maximilian and his circles were sincere in their belief of a relationship between politics and science, and in their efforts to promote an enhanced role for scientific knowledge in politics.
Dramatic works by Maximilian's court scholars and Poet Laureates as well as others who supported him tended to double as encomium for imperial politics and commentary on contemporary events.
The other humanists support this image as well – the idea behind was that an ideal ruler outshone everything. The function of the emperor as the promoter of arts and learning (Musagetes or Musarum pater) was important but the political mission was highlighted as well (as shown by Willibald Pirckheimer's text that accompanied the Great Triumphal Carriage, mentioned above.) Apollo was also the symbol of the Renaissance that Celtis and the humanists wanted to bring to Germany.
Rainer Schöffl connects the story of Kriemhild and Siegfried in the Nibelungenlied (also part of the Ambraser Heldenbuch) to Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian. Kriemhild, also a Burgundian princess, is often shown with a falcon. The "falcon dream" (Falkentraum) is a favourite motif the Nibelungenlied. In the first adventure, she dreamed of a tame falcon who was killed by two eagles. In the story, Siegfried set out for Worms (capital of the Kingdom of Burgundy according to the Nibelungenlied) because he heard of Kriemhild's beauty. Siegfried is depicted as a passionate hunter, too, with equipments similar to those used by Maximilian, as shown by his Geheimen Jagdbuch (Hunting Book). He is also a dragon slayer like Maximilian's favorite saint, Saint George. Schöffl notes, though, that the emperor must have realized that some of Siegfried's actions (like cheating Brunhild with a magical cloak to gain Kriemhild as a "bought bride") did not fit into his chivalrous concepts, and that was why he did not claim Siegfried as one of his ancestors. Like Maximilian and Mary's marriage, Siegfried and Kriemhild's marriage also became a love marriage, but ended too soon and suddenly, in a violent manner. Gunda Lange writes that the Nibelungenlied and the Kudrun (both take the woman as the central character and are put next to each other in the Ambraser Heldenbuch) are connected by the overuse of the dangerous courtship motif, which seems to reflect Maximilian's literary preferences, as this is the way his courtship of Mary of Burgundy is stylized in his works. Christopher Wood links the Ambraser Heldenbuch to extensive archaeological activities by Maximilian (already started by his father Frederick III around the city of Worms). The work seemed to be intended to double as materials for his genealogical projects.
For example, he criticized the court historians who fawned over their prince in his The ship of fools:
The poem is short but often noted for the connection between cosmography and imperial ideology.
During the 1482–1492 Flemish revolts against Maximilian as well as the later war against Guelders (which was believed, by many, as a dynastic struggle between the Habsburgs and the King of France, that had nothing to do with the Low Countries), as continual warfare and taxes (levied to support those wars) put pressure on the society – including the middle class that the contemporary renown painter belonged to, many works portraying Maximilian in a satyrical way appeared.
The signs through which one can recognize the allusion to Maximilian and tend to be the features of his face, especially his distinctive nose, and the imperial eagle.
During the 1510s and 1520s, Maximilian's vassals and retainers tended to commission Holy Kinship paintings to praise the Habsburg's marriage politics and also to pray for the prosperity of their own family. Other examples include:
Saint George was the emperor's favourite saint. Maximilianic iconography tends to fuse the saint and the emperor, as the Defender of Christendom. The cult of Saint George nurtured by Maximilian caused ambitious rivals to emulate to compete with him (for example, Frederick the Wise of Saxony hired Lucas Cranach to make works depicting Saint George for him, that rivalled those made for the emperor).
On his deathbed, Maximilian planned a project called Arch of Devotion (Andacht), of which the title page would show "Maximilian, crowned and enthronedin the armor of the Order of St. George, whose shield hangs above him, balanced by the joint arms of Austria and Burgundy, alongside the central imperial arms above the throne". The emperor also ordered that: "Write [of] my Tomb institution and the Order of St. George as well as of my family and ordained descent." The plan was never carried out. Instead, his death was glorified by a woodcut by Hans Springinklee under the order of Johannes Stabius that described a complete different scheme (see below) The idea was laid out in 1512. It is unclear whether this was meant as a counterpart for the Ehrenpforte or a program for the fresco cycle of the planned memorial chapel in Falkenstein. Müller opines that it is possible it was intended to serve both purposes.
Maximilian's veneration of Saint George also influenced the knights of his time, who shared his ideals of chivalry.
During his reign, Maximilian and his humanists reinvented Germania as the mother of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In the previous eras, she was presented as one of the lands conquered or ruled by the Roman emperors, and then by the Holy Roman Emperors (see also: History of the personified Germania), often in subordination to both imperial power and Italia (or Roma) and Gallia. In Maximilian's imagination, she reflected the self-image of emperor and took a central role in his Triumphal Procession (Maximilian died before this project was completed though. When it was first printed in 1526 by Archduke Ferdinand, the future emperor, she disappeared.) She was pacific, yet virile, and as the emperor personally dictated, with her hair loose and wearing a crown. She was presented as Mother, Sovereign Lady (Herrscherin), the Empire and the Birthland, as well as embodiment of Imperial rulership. The humanist Heinrich Bebel also spread a story about his dream, in which Germania told him to talk to her son (Maximilian).
His first wife, Mary of Burgundy, played an important role in Maximilianic iconography, as display of personal attachment or representation of the fusion of the Houses of Burgundy and Austria or both. In many cases, her iconography is blended with that of the Virgin Mary, who was her patron, and also especially revered by the emperor (his other favourite saints tended to be military saints).
Maximilian kept certain themes consistent in representations of the two Marys and his association with them for decades. According to Silver, when he supervised Mary of Burgundy's tomb in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Maximilian had already anticipated some later elements for his own burial. Their tombs were both made in bronze, and both of them were buried beneath the altar. Both tombs show attention to the assertive rather than the mournful side of family ancestry and possessions.
The appearance on the medal of Saint Sebastian, a saint to whom Maximilian especially devoted, seems to suggest the connection to his status as King of the Romans (he was elected in 1486). Also in this year, an image produced for the book usually called Maximilian's Old Prayers Book was created, showing Maximilian praying to Saint Sebastian. There are three falcons in the picture: the one chasing another bird seems to be an allegory for Maximilian himself, protecting mother and child (Mary and Philip).
Rothenberg notes that, in the painting (considered by him to be a "direct visual counterpart" to the motet Virgo prudentissima, mentioned below), "The most prudent Virgin thus crowns the Wise King with a rose garland at the very moment when she herself is about to be crowned Queen of Heaven."
The motet's text by George Slatkonia, expanding on the antiphon, reads: "The most prudent Virgin, who brought holy joys to the world, and transcended all spheres, and melted the stars beneath her feet with brilliant beams and gleaming light [...] the Mother of the eternal almighty, the Queen, powerful in Heaven, on land and at sea, whose divinity is deservingly venerated [and whom] every spirit and human being adores? We call upon you, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, to pour upon her ears chaste vows and prayers for the holy Empire, for the Emperor Maximilian; may the omnipotent Virgin grant that he conquer his malicious enemies; may he restore peace to the people and safety to the lands. [...] the highest place belongs to Him by whom you were assumed, to whom you shine beautiful as the moon and are as excellent as the sun."
Later, around 1537–1538, Virgo prudentissima was rewritten by Hans Ott to be rededicated to Christ as Christus filius Dei (all Marian references were replaced) and Maximilian was replaced with his grandson Charles V, then the reigning emperor.
Moritz Kelber agrees with Rothenberg's interpretation of Virgo Prudentissima and its connection to the Feast of the Rosary. He adds that Maximilian considered the Virgin the patron of his reign and symbol of his march to Italy. The Marian symbols appeared notable not only in regard to the Reichstag at Constance but other occasions like Philip the Fair's funeral. Later, in the Reichstag of Augsburg (1548), his eldest granddaughter Mary of Hungary "appropriated" Marian symbols through music as well (in this case, the Virgin became associated with the ruler herself).
The Virgin appears in other composers' works too, with some of the most notable being:
CMME's editor argues that the date of 1508 for these motets is not a certainty.
These motets were later printed in the Unio pro conservation rei publice (by Jan de Gheet, Antwerp, dated 1515), "eldest printed edition of polyphonic music in the Netherlands. It celebrates the visits of emperor Maximilian of Austria and his successor Charles V to the city of Antwerpen in 1508 and 1515".
The texts Populus qui ambulat in tenebris vidit lucem magnam (1477) and Le paradis terrestre (1486) are both allegorical texts used as the titles of chapters in Molinet's Chroniques. In these texts, Emperor Frederick III is compared to God while Maximilian is seen as the Only Begotten Son, who is sent to save the Burgundian nation and wed Mary of Burgundy. The Le paradis terrestre describes Maximilian's return to the 'Kingdom of the Father', where he was crowned as king of the Romans. The mass Missa Salve diva parens by the composer Jacob Obrecht (d.1505) declares: 'Hail divine mother of the lovely offspring, Virgin dedicated to the good things of eternity, through whom the true Light, God, shone upon the world, and the ruler of Olympus submitted himself to become flesh' ('Salve diva parens prolis amene, / eternis meritis virgo sacrata, / Qua lux vera, deus, fulsit in orbem / et carnem subiit rector olimphi'). According to van der Heide, here Mary (of Burgundy) and her Olympus (the Burgundian nation) is visited by the True Light (Maximilian). The mass was likely made to celebrate Maximilian's return to the Low Countries in 1508/1509. The mass Missa Ave regina celorum, also by Jacob Obrecht, is a tribute to both the Virgin Mary and Mary of Burgundy. Here, Mary became the deceased heavenly Mother, Friend and Queen of Emperor Maximilian.
Silver notes that Maximilian's vision of religious music was not the simple result of sacral precedents seen by him in the chapels of the Low Countries, but tied to his militancy, his self-image as a martial ruler and the strong right arm of the Christian faith. Alexander the Great and Caesar were great sources of inspiration for him in music, as he said himself in the Weisskunig. Professor Nicole Schwindt notes that in his time, "this convergence of military heroism and artistic sensibility was a new profile for a ruler, which was not universally accepted and still had to be legitimized by citing Aristoteles." Beyond political representation, this reflects on Maximilian as an individual who turned to music for deeper aesthetic desires as well.
The ancient hero Hercules and the Biblical figure Samson were also favourite figures of the emperor and identified with him through different mediums of art. According to Silver, "Hercules, then, is a perfect pagan parallel to St. George or to the biblical lion slayer, Samson, illustrated later in the Prayerbook by Breu. Hercules and Samson also shared the parallel of being undone by women."
The extremely elaborated and innovative bards crafted by Lorenz Helmschmied were important as iconographic and propagandic devices for Maximilian in his Burgundian years, as the horse wearing his bards served as living banners for the master even when he could not be present himself. Maximilian utilized the technological expertise of Augsburg, renowned for its innovative wonders and automata, for his bards that, in combination with equine and human performances, would produce optical and technological marvels corresponding to the Burgundian entremets for the Burgundian viewers. Kirchhoff writes that, "In its most luxurious iterations, horse armor did far more than protect an expensive and extensively trained steed. It transformed the animal's body into a moving sculpture and a communicative surface upon which to inscribe the iconography of power. In the case of the bard now in Vienna, the crupper plates that encase the horse's flanks form imperial double eagles that are enlivened by etched feathers and emblazoned with an escutcheon bearing the arms of Austria. The corresponding crupper shown in images of the 1480 entries uses the marshalled heraldry of the Habsburg and Burgundian dynasties,supported by a figure that resembles the duchess herself, to declare the consolidation of Mary and Maximilian's power [...] No surviving equine armor approaches the technical and visual ambition of the articulated bard, and the Helmschmids are the only armorers known to have created matrixes of steel plates flexible enough to encase a horse's entire lower body as it moved. Indeed, this type of armor became associated with Maximilian, who continued to commission bards that covered horses' legs and bellies to arm his own steeds and also as diplomatic gifts to forge alliances and demonstrate Habsburg power." The recipients of these bards included Sigismund I the Old, who was presented with "two coursers all covered with steel to the fetlocks and the belly, save in the spurring place". Another case was Henry VIII's so-called Burgundian bard.
Surviving examples of the parts of armour crafted specifically to cover the horse's legs are very rare. The most remarkable case is an element made for a horse's forearm or gaskin, decorated with the fluting technique and etched bands that display the style of Daniel Hopfer of Augsburg, the inventor of the metal etching technique (circa 1470—1536). This part is preserved in Brussels's Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire (10212). It is dated around 1515 and most likely made by the Helmschmid workshop.
In Innsbruck, Maximilian inherited the legacy of Sigismund of Tyrol, who also loved high quality armour and had patronized armourers in the nearby Mühlau, who produced works that were sent as gifts by Sigismund to rulers in Hungary, Portugal, France, Scotland and Silesia.
Insbruck's arms production was geared towards quality rather than quantity. The city could not compete with Augsburg and Nuremberg in mass producing war armour. Other than Seusenhofer, another favourite master of Maximilian was Hans Laubermann, "the wealthiest armorer in Innsbruck".
A particularly exotic invention of Seusenhofer was the pleated skirt armour, which required exceptional skill to deal with metal the same way as with fabric. According to the MET, "the base was an imitation in steel of the cloth skirt that was sometimes worn over armor. The deep, arched cutouts in front and back allowed the wearer to sit on horseback; the close-set holes along these openings were for the attachment of textile decoration, probably fringe. The etching imitates the elaborate embroidery and cut velvet of fashionable court costume." Works of this type contributed to Seusenhofer's status as Maximilian's favourite armourer for donations. A notable example was the harness made for Charles of Burgundy (future Charles V) in 1512-1514.
The Maximilian armour style was likely originally conceived to "create a dazzling effect as sunlight reflected on its polished, rippling steel", although it turned out that the flutings strengthened the defensive capability of the armour. The flutings also might have been designed to imitate the pleatings of costumes in the late 15th century.
Swords (see External links), knives, crossbows, cannons and other weapons were an artistic and propagandistic medium to Maximilian as well, although the audience here is more limited.
Maximilian commissioned a series of inventory books that record important information about his arsenals. These books called Zeugbuch, serve the aesthetic purposes as well. The Vienna manuscript is the most famous one. A Zeugbuch recently discovered in Munich, Cod. icon. 222, "contains extensive information on the armament kept at approximately 100 locations – from castles and towns to monasteries and fortified churches – within the historical Slovenian territories."
After Maximilian's death, generations of Habsburg rulers looked up to him as a model for their patronage and continued his artistic legacy. Hugh Trevor-Roper writes that, "By harnessing the arts, he surrounded his dynasty with a lustrous aura it had previously lacked. It was to this illusion that his successors looked for their inspiration. To them, he was not simply the second founder of the dynasty; he was the creator of its legend – one that transcended politics, nationality, even religion."
In the eighteenth century, Maximilian transformed from a dynastic symbol representing the Habsburgs to a national symbol for Germany. The Weisskunig was rediscovered and got its first edition in 1775. Herder saw his era, which he shared with other heroic figures like Albrecht Dürer, Martin Luther and Paracelsus, as the great German era, the most important one since the Romans, and the source of European constitution. In the nineteenth century, his story was re-stylized as "key moments in the German-Austrian self-image". Under the influence of both Romanticism and Historicism, his image took on many new directions.
Maximilian's relationship with notable artists and scholars of his time was a popular topic in the nineteenth century, with artworks including:
The Burgundian episode and the marriage with Mary of Burgundy have a cultural afterlife. Some of the works depicting this episode are:
Between 1915 and 1918, artists were commissioned to decorate the Festsaal of the Neuen Burg in Vienna. Alois Hans Schramm created, in Baroque style (at that time no longer common, probably used to remind the viewers of the most prosperous era of Habsburg power), the ceiling painting, that shows Magna Mater Austriae surrounded by Olympian gods and members of the House of Habsburg, beginning with Maximilian and Mary. Charles V, Don Juan of Austria, Georg von Frundsberg(?) and Nuremberg citizens (?) also appeared.
Artists in the Würtemberg region tend to be interested in the relationship between Maximilian and Eberhart im Bart, the first duke of Würtemberg.
In his lifetime, the emperor planned to build an equestrian statue of himself (based on a 1509 design by Hans Burgkmair, which itself was a revised edition of the 1508 woodcut mentioned above), which would be housed in the Church of Saints Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg. But the death in 1510 of the local abbot Conrad Mörlin, who had supported the monument, halted the project, which would never be completed.
In 1993, new imperial portraits were made by Gernot and Barbara Rumpf. Maximilian, together with Bianca Maria, and Frederick Barbarossa returned, depicted in a caricatural manner, while Otto I was introduced (depicted seriously). Maximilian is shown extending his hand like a beggar, while a bird on the bonnet of the empress sometimes spits water into his hand, seemingly symbolizing their loveless and money-based marriage and alluding to his neverending financial troubles. Emperor Wilhelm I was replaced with a pigeon, perhaps symbolizing peace.
In 2022, The Hague named a street after him.
Due to "enormous demand", the exhibition Wir Friedrich III. & Maximilian I. in Admont Abbey, Austria, has been reopened (19 March to 1 November 2022).
In July, Füssen will organize the Füssen in der Renaissance event to commemorate the golden era under Maximilian, with parades, reenactment and a colloquium named "Füssen in the time of Maximilian" (Füssen zur Zeit Maximilians I.). A commemoration board for the emperor (Kaisertafel) was erectedin 2022. In September, Wenzenbach (Regensburg) will commemorate the Battle of Wenzenbach of 1504, one of the last knight battles, with the festival Der letzte Ritter ("The last knight"). In October 2022, Lindau commemorated the 600th year of their Old City Hall (Alte Rathaus) and also the Reichstag of 1496 when Maximilian, the court and princes came to the town.
From October 2022 to April 2023, a great exhibition in Speyer named Die Habsburger im Mittelalter. Aufstieg einer Dynastie traced the rise of the Habsburg dynasty from the time of Rudolf I to its emergence as a European power under Maximilian.
Maximilian has been an attractive subject of scholarly research since the 18th century. Serious academic research began in the nineteenth century with Heinrich Ulmann's two-volume work Kaiser Maximilian I., which criticized the emperor's focus on dynastic interests and failure to cooperate with the Estates on the Imperial reform in a constructive manner. Leopold von Ranke and his school, who did huge damage to the reputation of the emperor, also criticized Maximilian's lack of attention to imperial affairs, which in their view hampered the unification process of the German nation. Ever since Austrian historian Hermann Wiesflecker's [de] Kaiser Maximilian I. (1971–1986) became the standard work, a much more positive image of the emperor has emerged. He is seen as an essentially modern, innovative ruler who carried out important reforms and promoted significant cultural achievements, even if the financial price weighed hard on the Austrians and his military expansion caused the deaths and sufferings of tens of thousands of people. According to Wiesflecker, Maximilian's critics in the nineteenth century overly relied on archived imperial estates sources, which tended to paint a one-sided character. Besides, the rise of nationalism and anti-Habsburg feelings in the nineteenth century made the emperor an easy target. Historian Joachim Whaley opines that the criticisms of nineteenth century works cannot stand in light of new evidences, and that: "If the aspiration was always greater than the reality, Maximilian's government in the Reich at least demonstrated a greater vitality and power than that of any of his predecessors."
While Austrian historians like Wiesflecker and Holleger consider Maximilian's efforts in Austria, where he left stable institutions and what would mature into the Danube monarchy, as much more successful than in the Empire (although these historians put the blame on the resistance of the princes and the nature of the era, that did not support a strong centralized authority anymore), recent German historians like Seyboth and Wüst stress the modernization aspect that the Imperial Reform brought and tie the development to the person of Maximilian, whose charisma, personality and politics allowed previously unavailable dynamics which, in particular, made possible a dynamic European policy and facilitated the evolution of the Reichstag and the Imperial Circles, which in turn opened up opportunities for corporate participation from the Estates as well as exercise of particular policies regarding police, coinage or sanity issues. According to Wüst, the creation of Imperial Circles would profoundly affect the modernization process of Europe in general too. Heinig comments that recent research, particularly Seyboth's work, convincingly show that the emperor's role in the operation of the political system should be rated much higher than before, or in the other words, "conceptual, communicative and organizational resources derived from the Habsburgs" are shown to be of paramount importance, and that the death of Frederick III (who was completely inaccessible regarding reform attempts) in 1493 was "the real turning point in imperial history".
Another usually debated problem is how much Maximilian's political activities in his patrimonial lands was influenced by the Burgundian model and his "Burgundian experience" in general. Wiesflecker sees the Burgundian model's influence as predominant, Jean-Marie Cauchies und Manfred Hollegger emphasize the role of authochthonous institutions and procedures, while Wim Blockmans and Nicolette Mout note the new communication techniques imported from Italy (with the combo of patronage, book printing and propaganda). Franca Leverotti opines that the administrative reforms in the 1490s seemed to be affected by Milanese influence rather than Burgundian influence. Heribert Müller [de] opines that unlike what happened between Mary and Maximilian, between Maximilian and the Burgundian Netherlands (after Mary's death), there was hardly a love history, but rather, "a history of misunderstandings, violence, and in the end, the scaffold and the prison", so he had no personal nor political motivation to emulate such a model in his own patrimonial lands. Susanne Wolf remarks that the Burgundian legacy from his first wife shaped Maximilian in terms of culture and way of life and preserving this legacy was often the main driving force in the seven years (1486–1493) he shared a double government (Doppelregierung) with his father (who feared that the effort to retain Burgundy would destabilize their Austrian hereditary lands). Wolf sees the double government era as the period that shaped Maximilian as a statesman though.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, traditionally Maximilian's rule, especially his regency (1482–1494), has been the subject of considerable controversies. However, comprehensive studies are rare. Serious research began in the nineteenth century with the historian Louis Gilliodts-Van Severen. In Germany, Friedrich Schiller wrote a work (translated into English by Thomas Horne as History of the Rise and Progress of the Belgian Republic, Until the Revolution Under Philip II.: Including a Detail of the Primary Causes of that Memorable Event) that took the side of his opponents and criticized Maximilian's leadership. After World War II, when historians began to focus on political protests, the debate on the regency was revived with Robert Wellens's 1965 work, the first comprehensive study on the Bruges revolt of 1488 as well as Wim Blockmans's 1974 article. Both historians see the revolt as the conflict between medieval cities that desired autonomy with a more modern, autocratic regime. Jelle Haemer's more recent, highly rated work De strijd om het regentschap over Filips de Schone : opstand, facties en geweld in Brugge, Gent en Ieper (1482–1488), that focuses more on the figures and political groups that supported or fought against Maximilian, presents the conflict not as a matter between the autocratic prince and his people, but two groups that supported different ideologies – both made mistakes and both had their points.
Regarding Maximilian as an individual, commentators tend to rate his military ability and skills as an organizer highly, while noting that his personal ambitions, his highly autocratic style (although, he and his governments were willing to show leniency; in the Empire, Maximilian had a reputation of leaning towards the gentle, conciliatory side, even if not without outburts of violence.), reckless fiscal practices and problems in addressing his political opponents' grievances exarcebated his side's difficulties. Regarding the question of who preserved the Burgundian nation and saved it from being swallowed by the French polity, Koenigsberger opines that it was the Estates, Jean Berenger and C.A. Simpson argue that it was Maximilian, while Haemers and Spufford point to the combination of Maximilian's military leadership and the Estates' support (especially on financial matters). Bart Lambert remarks that he was more autocratic than his Burgundian predecessors. He had come with almost no help from the Empire, and basically functioned as a condottiere, relying only on his own military ability to survive politically and depending on the resources of the Low Countries to build up his military force.
Holleger and Štih comment that the autocratic style, together with his visionary appetite, gave him troubles not only in Burgundian lands, but in Austria and the Holy Roman Empire also, yet reality and the will of his subjects often managed to restrain the ruler and forged his visions into more well-considered strategies.
Traditionally, the Habsburg empire's formation has been association with the Latin couplet "Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube" ("Let others wage war: thou, happy Austria, marry"). This was also part of the imperial strategy to show the empire in its civil aspect and promote mutual acceptance in their multi-ethnic empire.
Modern research explores the multifaceted nature of the dynasty's (and above all, Maximilian's) dynastic empire building, concerning its formation and maintenance or development, as well as its relation to the Holy Roman Empire.
Responding to the opinion that the Habsburg's dynastic concerns were damaging to the Holy Roman Empire, Whaley writes that, "There was no fundamental incompatibility between dynasticism and participation in the empire, either for the Habsburgs or for the Saxons or others." Rather, the Habsburgs only inherited the German imperial dynasties' tradition in combining the implications of their imperial title with inheritance and marriage strategies and (usually defensive) wars in building their dynastic empire. As the new empire, "arguably more universal in potential than any previous imperial dynasty", needed resources to defend itself, Maximilian and his descendants exerted more pressure on German estates so that they could receive more organized assistance, which in the end led to the Imperial Reform.
Regarding his diplomacy, while there was an unforeseeable factor concerning the marriages he arranged, recent scholarship also takes note of the diplomatic web (consisting of around 300 individuals, mostly from lower nobility and the bourgeoisie) he built and deployed all over Europe. Jean-Marie Cauchies [fr] agrees with Gregor M. Metzig, author of the work Kommunikation und Konfrontation: Diplomatie und Gesandtschaftswesen Kaiser Maximilians I. (1486–1519) (2016), that the network contributed strongly to the heights the Habsburg dynasty later reached. The chief actors in this network, who were very capable officials but now largely forgotten, were Konrad Stürtzel, Zyprian von Serntein [de], Paul von Liechtenstein [de], Melchior von Meckau, Wolfgang von Polheim, Pietro Bonomo, Francesco Delli Monti, Giorgio Della Torre, Andrea Da Burgo...etc and perhaps most importantly Matthäus Lang, together with diplomats Maximilian inherited from the Burgundian system such as Jean Bontemps, Jacques de Gondebault or Philibert Naturelli. Together with the latter group, there was a transfer of knowledge in a wide range of matters from alliance planning to financial management. Additionally, while the whole network suffered from chronic underfunding, the Burgundian side of the system, which was especially important in negotiations with France or Iberian kingdoms, was always better organized in terms of financial matters and personnel. Moreover, the Burgundian government and above all its ruler, namely Philip at first and then Margaret especially, functioned as the contact center or head (Meldekopf) of the whole Habsburg Western policy, as Maximilian ran an itinerant court and thus was in no position to manage it personally.
German historían Klaus Oschema [de] argues that Philip and Margaret played a crucial role in the Habsburgs's expansion into Western Europe. The situation with the Burgundy-Habsburg alliance was complex and their ascension in Spain was far from being guaranteed but Philip and Margaret were able to shape the situation and made the father's calculation a success.
Recent research also links the development of the Habsburgs' dynastic empire and the first modern postal network (and the ensuing Early Modern communication revolution), which can be considered both a result as well as a factor in that development process. In his work Kommunikation und Konfrontation. Diplomatie und Gesandtschaftswesen Kaiser Maximilians I. (1486-1519), Gregor Metzig explores in depth the complementary and parallel relationship of this communication system, created by Maximilian in combination with the Taxis and developed further by his son Philip and grandson Charles V, and the Habsburg diplomatic system mentioned above.
Regarding Maximilian's cultural activities and relationship with artistic, technological and general social developments, notable recent collective works include Maximilians Welt. Kaiser Maximilian I. im Spannungsfeld zwischen Innovation und Tradition (edited by Johannes Helmrath, Ursula Kocher and Andrea Sieber. 2018), Maximilians Ruhmeswerk: Künste und Wissenschaften im Umkreis Kaiser Maximilians I. (edited by Jan-Dirk Müller, Hans-Joachim Ziegeler. 2015) and Maximilian I. (1459 –1519): Wahrnehmung — Ubersetzungen — Gender) (edited by Heinz Noflatscher, Michael A. Chisholm, and Bertrand Schnerb. 2011).
Reviewing the latter, Joachim Whaley links Maximilian's political success to activities in these fields:
The ongoing research on Maximilian as a cultural figure corresponds with the rediscovering of notable personalities and works in his era and especially those who served the emperor. For example, until this day, works written in Latin by even the most notable scholars such as the polymath Conrad Celtes remain largely untranslated. Guido Messling and Larry Silver note that among artists who contributed to Maximilian's projects, the prominent roles of the Italians like Jacopo de' Barbari and Ambrogio de Predis, as well as remarkable artists such as Jörg Kölderer [de], Bernhard Strigel, Leonhard Beck – whose reputation for some reason tends to remain in obscurity, and even Hans Burgkmair (who was "the most important figure around 1510" and the rival of Dürer) are usually neglected in favour of the late comer Albrecht Dürer.
Notable experts in individual fields include:
Historian Thomas A.Brady Jr. writes:
Overall, there are relatively few biographies of Maximilian (there is no straightforward biography of the emperor written in English). Historian Paula Fichtner opines that some biographies are of questionable quality, too. According to Fichtner, the critical work Maximilian I, 1459–1519: An Analytic Biography by Gerhard Benecke (1982) is a sincere contribution to the field of court history as social history, but misrepresents the emperor's character. By contrast, there are a large number of works that focus on one aspect of his reign or cultural phenomena as reflected by Maximilian. According to Natalie Anderson, other than Benecke's work, Glenn Elwood Waas's 1941 work The Legendary Character of Kaiser Maximilian is probably the most useful general portrait of the emperor published in English (although this work is also not a biography, but a survey of how the emperor was viewed in contemporary literature).
Historian Reinhard Seyboth notes that it is hard for biographers to meet many challenges in dealing with Maximilian, the great Habsburg ruler "who combined the characteristics of the old and new ages like no other", not only because of his extravagant multifacetedness, but also because of the complexities of his era. Primary sources on the emperor and his reign are still being explored. His extant imperial regesta (containing "deeds, letters, records, chancery and chamber files, diplomatic correspondence, contemporary sources in general and contemporary historiographic sources etc."), collected under the leadership of Hermann Wiesflecker, include around 500,000 documents, of which roughly 40,000 selected documents have been published under the name Ausgewählten Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter Maximilian I.. The series Mittlere Reihe – Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Maximilian I. ("German Reichstag documents under Maximilian I.") has reached the eleventh volume and covered his reign as German king and Holy Roman Emperor until 1512. The latest volume is Bd. 11 (2017) Die Reichstage zu Augsburg 1510 und Trier/Köln 1512. The twelfth volume will be published in 2022.
One matter over which nineteenth century historians like Ulmann as well as more modern commentators often agree is that Maximilian was a very charismatic leader. Many contemporaries found his character and his politics problematic, but they loved him anyway (although they still fought hard to restrain their ruler).
Maximilian was loyal to his confidants, officials and servants. In return, disloyalty in the imperial court was hardly known. The chancellor, Cyprian von Serntein, was even mocked for forgetting God and treating his emperor as God. Hirschbiegel notes that this was Maximilian's recipe for success, as premodern ruling depended on the confidants, who pushed for or implemented the ruler's policies.
Andreas Zajic, who is leading the large interdisciplinary project "Managing Maximilian", remarks that he would be considered a control freak by today's standards, "The most surprising thing was that Maximilian dealt with huge, revolutionary problems on the same day and then went back to regulating his own needs down to the last detail." He saw himself as expert in almost areas. He considered spontaneous ideas like crusading against the Ottomans or becoming Pope as almost as important as big politics.
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