Federico III d’Asburgo tra Venezia e la Corte Estense (Gennaio – Maggio 1452)

Abstract

The article “Frederick III of Habsburg between Venice and the House of Este” aims at providing a brief insight into the political and diplomatic relations that served as the background to Frederick’s Romzug, thus focusing on the first steps of Frederick’s journey and on the relationship he was able to establish in northeast Italy with the Republic of Venice and the Este House in Ferrara. In fact, the first Italian states that the Habsburg emperor visited in 1452 after leaving Austria on his journey to Rome were the Serenissima and the territories under the supremacy of the Este House. Hence, this study sheds some light on the first part of the emperor’s journey in Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia, where conflicts with the Austrian “Stande” were raging at that time, and mainly on the emperor’s stays at the House of Este (in January and May 1452) and his visit to Venice on the way back to Austria (in May 1452). The analysis of Frederick’s documents (Regesta Imperii) has shown that the emperor was able to establish long-lasting political and diplomatic relations with the most important Italian courts during his first journey to Rome. Not only do Frederick’s documents bear witness to the emperor’s “Vicariate policy”, but they also show how privileges were bestowed upon Italian princes: in order for the emperor to establish political relations, some were elevated to the knighthood, some were awarded the title of doctor and others were appointed as notaries. All these documents confirm that Frederick III actively tried to influence the politics of Italy and of the Italian courts in a manner not seen before then. Through intensive diplomatic activity, which was advanced during the Romzug, Frederick gradually managed to rebuild the role of the Habsburg Empire in Italy. In doing so, he paved the way for the House of Habsburg to become a world political power.