View source for Albert VI, Archduke of Austria

{{Short description|Archduke of Austria from 1457 to 1463}}
{{Other people|Albert of Austria}}
{{Refimprove|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Albert VI
| image        = Albrecht VI. (Miniatur in Gebetbuch).jpg
| image_size   = 
| caption      = 
| succession   = [[Duke of Styria]], [[Duke of Carinthia|Carinthia]], and [[Duke of Carniola|Carniola]]
| reign        = 10 June 1424 – {{nowrap|2 December 1463}}
| predecessor  = [[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest]]
| successor    = [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]]
| succession1  = [[Archduke of Austria]]
| reign1       = 23 November 1457 – {{nowrap|2 December 1463}}
| predecessor1 = [[Ladislaus the Posthumous|Ladislaus]]
| successor1   = [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]]
| spouse       = [[Mechthild of the Palatinate]]
| issue        = 
| house        = [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]]
| father       = [[Ernest, Duke of Austria]]
| mother       = [[Cymburgis of Masovia]]
| birth_date   = 18 December 1418
| birth_place  = [[Vienna]], [[Duchy of Austria]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1463|12|2|1418|12|18|df=y}}
| death_place  = Vienna, [[Archduchy of Austria]]
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna|St. Stephen's Cathedral]]
| signature    = 
}}

'''Albert VI'''<ref>Konstantin Moritz A. Langmaier: Erzherzog Albrecht VI. von Österreich (1418–1463). Ein Fürst im Spannungsfeld von Dynastie, Regionen und Reich (= Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters. Bd. 38). Böhlau, Köln u.a. 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-412-50139-6}}. Cf. http://www.regesta-imperii.de/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/Regesta_Imperii_Beiheft_38_Druckv.pdf</ref> ({{langx|de|Albrecht VI.}}; 18 December 1418 &ndash; 2 December 1463), a member of the [[House of Habsburg]], was [[List of rulers of Austria|Duke of Austria]] from 1424, elevated to [[Archduke]] in 1453. As a scion of the [[Leopoldian line]], he ruled over the [[Inner Austria]]n duchies of [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]], [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]] and [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]] from 1424, from 1457 also over the [[Archduchy of Austria]] until his death, rivalling with his elder brother Emperor [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]]. According to tradition, Albert, later known as ''the Prodigal'', was the exact opposite of Frederick: energetic and inclined to thoughtlessness.

==Biography==
Albert was born in [[Vienna]], the son of the Inner Austrian duke [[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest the Iron]] from his second marriage with the [[House of Piast|Piast]] princess [[Cymburgis of Masovia]].{{sfn|Watanabe|2011|p=132}} Still minors upon the death of their father in 1424, he and his brother remained under the tutelage of their uncle Duke [[Frederick IV, Duke of Austria|Frederick IV of the Empty Pockets]],{{sfn|Watanabe|2011|p=132}} who ruled over [[Further Austria]] and the [[County of Tyrol]].

Coming of age in 1436, Albert, though a junior heir of Inner Austria, received no full rulership anywhere for a long time, which caused friction in his relations with his elder brother Frederick V. When in 1439 both Duke Frederick IV of Further Austria and  King [[Albert II of Germany]], Duke of Austria died, Archduke Frederick assumed the guardianship over their minor sons [[Sigismund, Archduke of Austria|Sigismund]] and [[Ladislaus the Posthumous]]. As Habsburg patriarch, heir of Inner Austria and [[regent]] of Further Austria, Tyrol and the [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria proper]], he then ruled over all the dynasty's hereditary lands. At that stage, Albert began quarreling with his brother and in 1446 claimed the lands of Further Austria from him.
[[File:Albert VI of Austria.jpg|thumb|left|Albert VI of Austria]]

The conflict between the brothers escalated when Duke Ladislaus Posthumous of Austria died childless in 1457 and Frederick, [[Holy Roman Emperor]] since 1452, came into his inheritance. Albert rose up and in 1458 occupied the western part of the Austrian archduchy "above the [[Enns (river)|Enns]]" (later known as [[Upper Austria]]), which he ruled at [[Linz]] as a separate principality (''Fürstentum Österreich ob der Enns'') and, quite small, his portion of Habsburg patrimony. After laying [[siege]] to Frederick in the Vienna [[Hofburg Imperial Palace|Hofburg]], he also took over the reign of Austria below the Enns (now [[Lower Austria]]) in 1462. Albert however died childless the next year and all his lands fell back to his elder brother.

In 1452 Albert had married [[Mechthild of the Palatinate]], daughter of Count Palatine [[Louis III, Elector Palatine|Louis III]].{{sfn|Watanabe|2011|p=106}} Albert is credited for founding the [[University of Freiburg]] in 1457.{{sfn|Holtkamp|1998|p=14}}



==Male-line family tree==
{{Habsburg family tree}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Holtkamp |first=Wolfgang |editor1-last=Devine |editor1-first=Mary Elizabeth | editor2-last=Summerfield |editor2-first=Carol |encyclopedia=International Dictionary of University Histories |title=Albert Ludwigs University |year=1998 |publisher=FitzRoy Dearborn Publishers |pages=14–17 }}
*{{cite book |title=Nicholas of Cusa: A Companion to His Life and His Times |first=Morimichi |last=Watanabe |publisher=Ashgate Publishing | year=2011}}
*Langmaier, Konstantin M. Erzherzog Albrecht VI. von Österreich (1418–1463), Ein Fürst im Spannungsfeld von Dynastie, Regionen und Reich (Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters, Beihefte zu J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 38, Köln, Weimar, Wien 2015. Cf. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337656429_Whaley_Review_Albrecht_VI_701202
{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Habsburg]]|18 December|1418|2 December|1463}}
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:<br>'''[[Ernest, Duke of Austria|Ernest]]'''
| width="40%" align="center" | '''[[List of rulers of Austria|Duke of Inner Austria]]<br/>([[Duchy of Styria|Styria]], [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]], and [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]])<br>'''1424&ndash;1463<br>with [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]]
| width="30%" align="center" rowspan="2"| Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]]'''
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:<br>'''[[Ladislaus the Posthumous|Ladislaus]]'''
| width="40%" align="center" | '''[[List of rulers of Austria|Archduke of Austria]]<br>'''1457&ndash;1463<br>with [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick V]]
{{S-end}}

{{Rulers of Austria}}
{{Austrian archdukes}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert Vi, Archduke Of Austria}}
[[Category:1418 births]]
[[Category:1463 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century archdukes of Austria]]
[[Category:Dukes of Styria]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna]]