Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Maximilian III

| title = Grand Master of the Teutonic Order

| image = Unknown - Portrait of Archduke Maximilian III Hapsburg (1558–1618) as the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order - M.Ob.1772 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg

| caption = Portrait by Hans Henseiller, 1590s, National Museum in Warsaw

| succession = Archduke of Further Austria

| reign = 26 June 1612 – 2 November 1618

| predecessor = Matthias

| successor = Matthias

| succession1 = King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania
(contested)

| reign1 = 27 September 1587 – 9 March 1589

| predecessor1 = Stephen Báthory

| successor1 = Sigismund III Vasa

| spouse =

| issue =

| house = Habsburg

| father = Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

| mother = Maria of Spain

| birth_date = {{birth date|1558|10|12|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wiener Neustadt, Archduchy of Austria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1618|11|2|1558|10|12|df=y}}

| death_place = Vienna, Archduchy of Austria

| place of burial = Innsbruck Cathedral

| religion = Roman Catholicism

| signature = Autograph of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria.PNG

}}Maximilian III of Austria (12 October 1558 – 2 November 1618), was a member of the House of Habsburg and the Archduke of Further Austria from 1612 until his death. He was also briefly known as Maximilian of Poland during his claim for the Polish throne. After trying and failing to be elected as King of Poland, he launched the War of the Polish Succession and was defeated by the winner, Sigismund III Vasa. He was also Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.

Biography

File:Martino Rota, Schloss Ambras Innsbruck - Erzherzog Maximilian III. (1558-1618) im Harnisch, Kniestück - GG 1063 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, {{c.}} 1580]]

File:Maximilian dli 0613700293.jpgBorn in Wiener Neustadt, Maximilian was the fourth son of the Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain. He was a grandson of Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, daughter and heiress of Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, who himself was the eldest son of Casimir IV of Poland from the Jagiellonian dynasty.

In 1585, Maximilian became the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order; thanks to this he was known by the epithet der Deutschmeister ("the German Master") for much of his later life.The Deutschmeister ("German Master") was the Order's third-highest officer, who administered its bailiwicks in the Holy Roman Empire. The State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and Livonia was administered by the Grand Master. But after 1525, the Order had only its German holdings, and after 1561, these offices were united and the Grand Master was also German Master.

In the 1587 Polish–Lithuanian royal election Maximilian stood as a candidate for the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the death of the previous king, Stephen Báthory. A portion of the Polish nobility supported Maximilian, but the larger faction elected Prince Sigismund of Sweden, grandson of Sigismund I the Old, as Sigismund III Vasa. Maximilian then invaded Poland, starting the War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588). He had considerable support in Poland, but fewer Poles flocked to his army than to that of his rival. In late 1587, he tried and failed to storm Kraków. At Pitschen in Silesia, he met Sigismund's army, commanded by Polish hetman Jan Zamojski. In the Battle of Byczyna (24 January 1588), Maximilian was defeated and captured. He was released a year and half later after the intervention of Pope Sixtus V in the aftermath of the Treaty of Bytom and Będzin. In 1598, he formally renounced his claim to the Polish crown.{{cite book |author=Sławomir Leśniewski |title=Jan Zamoyski – hetman i polityk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXozFROF9QoC&pg=PA111 |date=January 2008 |publisher=Bellona |pages=111–118 |id=GGKEY:RRA1L0T4Y81 |language=pl}} The inactivity of his brother, Emperor Rudolf II, in this matter contributed to Rudolf's poor reputation.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

From 1593 to 1595, Maximilian served as regent for his young cousin, the future Emperor Ferdinand II as Archduke of Inner Austria. In 1595, Maximilian succeeded to the territories of their uncle Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria, including Tyrol, where he proved to be a solid proponent of the Counter-Reformation. He also worked to depose Melchior Khlesl, and to ensure that Ferdinand succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor.

Today, Maximilian is perhaps best remembered for his baroque archducal hat, exhibited in the treasury of the monastery of Klosterneuburg and used for ceremonial purposes as late as 1835.

He died at Vienna in 1618, and is buried in the canopied tomb in Innsbruck Cathedral.

Ancestors

{{Ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|1= 1. Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria

|2= 2. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

|3= 3. Maria of Austria

|4= 4. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor{{NDB|16|471|475|Maximilian II.|Press, Volker|11857938X}}

|5= 5. Anne of Bohemia and Hungary

|6= 6. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Maria von Spanien |volume=7 |page=19}}

|7= 7. Isabella of Portugal

|8= 8. Philip I of Castile{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich |volume=7 |year=1861 |page=112}}

|9= 9. Joanna I of Castile{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Joanna |volume=15}}

|10= 10. Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary{{cite ADB|54|688|696|Wladislaw II.|Priebatsch, Felix|ADB:Wladislaw II.}}

|11= 11. Anne of Foix-Candale

|12= 12. Philip I of Castile{{Britannica|107009|Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor}} (= 8)

|13= 13. Joanna I of Castile (= 9)

|14= 14. Manuel I of Portugal{{cite book |last=Stephens |first=Henry Morse |title=The story of Portugal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwMqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA139 |access-date=11 July 2018 |year=1903 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |pages=125, 139, 279|isbn=9780722224731 }}

|15= 15. Maria of Aragon

}}