Maximilian I

German king from 1486, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493. He was the son of the emperor Frederick III (1415–93). Through a combination of dynastic marriages and diplomacy backed up by military threats, Maximilian was able to build up the Habsburg inheritance. He married Mary of Burgundy in 1477, and after her death in 1582 held onto Burgundian lands. He married his son, Philip the Handsome, to Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and undertook long wars with Italy and Hungary in attempts to extend Habsburg power. The eventual legatee of these arrangements was Maximilian's grandson, Charles V.

Maximilian was keen to promote his glory and did so in part in his own writings. He encouraged the writing of chivalric literature and wrote an autobiography including information on tournaments. His entourage provided patronage for Germans with humanist interests, like Willibald Pirckheimer and Konrad Peutinger (1465–1547); he also attracted dedications from other scholars like Ulrich von Hutten. It was probably through Pirckheimer that Albrecht Dürer was provided with imperial artistic commissions, including a portrait (one among many) of Maximilian.