describes him as 'the first Holy Roman Emperor in 250 years who ruled as well as reigned' and also, the 'ablest royal warlord of his generation.' Through marriage of his son Philip the Handsome to eventual queen Joanna of Castile in 1498, Maximilian helped to establish the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, which allowed his grandson Charles to hold the thrones of both Castile and Aragon. Maximilian expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through war and his marriage in 1477 to Mary of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State, heir of Charles the Bold, though he also lost his family's original lands in today's Switzerland to the Swiss Confederacy. He ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of the latter's reign, from c. Maximilian was the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal.
He was instead proclaimed emperor elect by Pope Julius II at Trent, thus breaking the long tradition of requiring a Papal coronation for the adoption of the Imperial title. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death.
