Frederick the Fair (1289-13 January 1330) was King of the Romans from 19 October 1314 to 13 January 1330, succeeding Henry VII of Germany and preceding Louis IV of Germany and Duke of Austria and Styria from 1 May 1308 to 13 January 1330, succeeding Albert I of Germany and preceding Albert II of Austria.
Biography[]
Frederick the Fair as Duke of Austria in 1309
Frederick the Fair was born in 1289, the second son of Albert I of Germany and Elizabeth of Carinthia. In 1298, he became joint ruler of Austria and Styria with his brother Rudolf I of Bohemia, and the death of Rudolph in 1307 and the assassination of Albert I in 1308 led to Frederick becoming the ruler of Austria. However, Count Henry of Luxembourg was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire over Frederick, and he abjured his claims to the German crown in exchange for Henry recognizing his claims.
In 1313, an invasion of Bavaria led to defeat at the Battle of Gammelsdorf, but in 1313 Frederick once more emerged as a candidate for Emperor when Henry VII died. Frederick received four out of seven electoral votes, but Louis IV of Wittelsbach was elected "Louis IV of Germany" in a second election; Louis was crowned at Aachen Cathedral, while Frederick was crowned in opposition to Louis at Bonn Minister on 25 November 1314. After several years of war, it appeared that Frederick would emerge victorious. However, the 28 September 1322 Battle of Muhldorf saw Louis IV defeat Frederick's army, and he was captured with 1,300 other Austrian nobles. On 13 March 1325, he was freed due to pressure from Pope John XXII, the withdrawal of King John the Blind from an alliance with Louis, and Leopold I, Duke of Austria's threat of war against Louis, and Frederick and Louis later became friends and agreed to jointly rule the empire. After Leopold's death in 1326, he returned to Austria and died there in 1330.