Lecture 2 - The Holy Roman Empire: The Habsburgs Triumph

The Holy Roman Empire was more a "flexible force" than a stable territorial entity. Its ruling dynasties (for these changed many times) together with Its day-to-day functions and physical reach were infinitely adaptable. From the mid 1400s this elective office was almost continuously held by male members of the Habsburg dynasty, indeed, up to 1806 . To exercise real power within their territories armies were required, and these needed to be paid, so the not very wealthy Habsburgs invested in the future via marriage. After the success of the Burgundian alliance, other dynastic links were forged, notably with the emerging power of a semi unified Spain under the house of Castille, but also with the great central dynastic entities of Bohemia and Hungary.

The visual arts will again help us negotiate the ever-changing map of Europe: why was the Emperor Frederick III included in Mantegna's 'Camera Picta' in the Gonzaga family castle in Mantua? Why did the medieval Spanish kingdom of Aragon exercise so much power in southern Italy, facilitating an exchange of artistic ideas across the Mediterranean? What is the dynastic significance of an otherwise not very well painted family portrait group by Bernhard Striegel (seen above) of the Emperor Maximillian and his family? And why was the theme of the 'Triumph' such a vital one in European art as we turn the corner into the sixteenth century?