The Renaissance

In 1273, Count Rudolf of the Habsburg
family was appointed king of Germany.
Five years later his sons Albert and Rudolf
became the rulers of Austria, a small do-
main along the Danube River. Habsburg
archdukes reigned in Austria for more than
six hundred years afterward. They brought
new territories under their control through
marital alliances. In the fifteenth century
the Habsburg king Frederick III became
Holy Roman Emperor, and from that point
on the Habsburgs remained in possession
of this title. Archduke Maximilian married
a princess of Burgundy in 1477, bringing
that wealthy realm of northwestern Eu-
rope under the Habsburgs’ control.
Through another marriage, Maximilian’s
son Philip reigned in Castile, Aragon, and
Italian possessions. By the time of Em-
peror Charles V, the Habsburgs also were
in control of Bohemia and Hungary, mak-
ing their realm the largest in Europe.

Patronage of artists and scholars by
the Habsburgs made Vienna an important
center of the Renaissance in central Eu-
rope. The royal court attracted noted art-
ists, sculptors, architects, and composers.
Many Dutch composers were employed at
the sixteenth-century courts of the Hab-
sburgs. One of the notable Renaissance
humanists to make his home in Austria
was Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who was the
royal poet laureate of Emperor Frederick
III, later the emperor’s secretary, and fi-
nally Pope Pius II in 1458. The University
of Vienna, under the leadership of Conra-
dus Celtis, drew scholars from throughout
the empire. Celtis had the works of an-
cient authors translated into German,
staged ancient Roman plays in Vienna, and
founded a college for poets. He had come
to the capital at the invitation of Maximil-
ian I, who also commissioned work from
Albrecht Dürer and several other German

masters. The Schloss Neugebaude, an im-

perial villa, and the Hofburg, the Habsburg

palace in Vienna, were built in the classical

style then popular in Italy.

SEEALSO: Dürer, Albrecht; Habsburg dy-

nasty

Aviz, House of ...................................

A ruling dynasty of Portugal that assumed

power in 1385 with the coronation of Joao

I, master of the Order of Aviz, as king.

The Order of Aviz, symbolized by a green

cross, was founded in the twelfth century

to contend with the Moors, Islamic occu-

piers of the Iberian Peninsula. Under the

kings of Aviz, Portgual became one of the

wealthiest realms in Europe. Portuguese

mariners explored the coasts of Africa,

Asia, and the western hemisphere, laying

claim to Brazil in South America and trad-

ing ports in the East Indies, India, and

China.

The second ruler of the dynasty, Du-

arte I, the Philosopher, supported the

founding of a school of navigation by his

brother, Prince Henry the Navigator, at

Sagres. Duarte allied Portugal with En-

gland by marrying Philippa of Lancaster,

daughter of the English prince John of

Gaunt. His son, Afonso V, succeeded him

in 1438 at the age of six. After coming of

age, Afonso attacked and conquered sev-

eral important ports in North Africa, earn-

ing the nickname of “the African.” Joao II,

coming to power in 1481, dealt with rebel-

lious nobles in his country who were be-

ing supported by the Spanish realm of

Castile. To put an end to the conspiracies,

Joao summoned three noblemen to his

royal palace and murdered them.

Manuel I reigned from 1495 until

1521. This was an important time for over-
      seas trade and the establishment of
      Portugal’s far-flung colonial empire. Por-

Aviz, House of