Friedrich IV of Austria Habsburg ¹

  General Notes:

Friedrich IV of Austria was a Habsburg duke of Tirol, son of Leopold III of Austria.

Friedrich's regency over Tirol and the scattered Habsburg territories in southwestern Germany and in the Alsace referred to collectively as Vorderösterreich began in 1402. The early years of his reign were marked by external and internal conflicts. He had to overcome the opposition of the local nobles in 1406/07, and had to deal with the independence movement in Appenzell, which became a protectorate of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411.

When he sided with Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, emperor Sigismund banned him. Thanks to the support of the local population he managed to keep Tirol, but he lost the Aargau, the old homeland of the Habsburgs, to the Swiss.

By 1425, his rule over Tirol had stabilized, also due to successful beginning of silver mining that brought an increase in prosperity to the region.

Friedrich also moved the court from Meran-Merano to Innsbruck.

Friedrich was married to Anna of Braunschweig; they had one son, Sigismund.

Friedrich married Elisabeth von der Pfalz, daughter of Leopold III of Austria Habsburg and Viridis Visconti, in 1406. (Elisabeth von der Pfalz was born in 1381 and died in 1408.)

Friedrich next married Anna of Braunschweig in 1410.^{1 2}