The Tournament and its Role in the Court Culture of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519)

24 
 
coronation as king of the Romans in 1486, Frederick III announced to all present (rather un-
paternally) that Maximilian could not speak even at twelve years old, and his father feared he 
would remain dumb forever. Yet such an unflattering portrait makes a drastic turnaround, as 
Cuspinianus then claims that Maximilian went on to become highly proficient in Latin, French, 
and Italian.
23
 
Maximilian also manages to make up for his lack of intellectual power by means of a 
strong physical presence and charismatic character. Like Grünpeck, Cuspinianus also praises 
Maximilian’s affable personality and ability to endear himself to others. In the chivalrous vein, 
he also paints Maximilian as an emotionally sensitive man, ever courteous to women. After 
Mary of Burgundy died unexpectedly in 1482, Maximilian reportedly never got over his grief 
and could not even mention his first wife without sighs and tears.
24
 And his love for hunting, 
again emphasised by Cuspinianus as by Grünpeck, was described as a noble exercise far to be 
preferred to that other common princely pastime, pursuing women, and that this should 
excuse its cost and consumption of time.
25
 
Cuspinianus also excuses Maximilian’s frequently cited inconsistency of character by 
pointing to his lack of money, another fault frequently picked out by chroniclers – thus one 
fault is excused by another. This Cuspinianus in turn excuses by saying that Maximilian might 
have dipped into the large Habsburg family treasure reserves at any time, thus alleviating his 
financial worries, yet he refused, as he wanted to leave it all to his grandsons.
26
 In this way 
Maximilian’s perpetual financial insecurity is exempted by giving him the positive qualities of 
frugality and love of family.  
                                                 
23
 Cuspinianus, De Caesaribus atque imperatoribus Romanis, p. 602 
24
 Cuspinianus, De Caesaribus atque imperatoribus Romanis, pp. 604, 612. 
25
 Cuspinianus, De Caesaribus atque imperatoribus Romanis, p. 614.  
26
 Cuspinianus, De Caesaribus atque imperatoribus Romanis, p. 613. 

---

25 
 
 
Unsurprisingly, given his connection by marriage to that land, Maximilian also features 
in numerous Burgundian chronicles. In these, his depiction is not always so flattering as that of 
the German accounts, although, following his marriage to Mary of Burgundy, many of these 
authors came under his employ as well. One of these Burgundian writers was Jean Molinet. 
This Burgundian poet and chronicler recorded several events of Maximilian’s reign, and the 
emperor features largely in his Chroniques. As Molinet later served as official court chronicler 
and historian to Maximilian, his account is also skewed in favour of the joint Habsburg-
Burgundian court. One instance of Maximilian’s appearance in Molinet’s chronicles is when he 
writes about the betrothal and marriage of Maximilian to Mary of Burgundy, an event which 
figures in several other Burgundian sources, and which is framed as a desirable event with 
highly religious overtones, where Mary’s union with Maximilian will produce a child destined 
to rule the Burgundian people. Maximilian is set up as the favourable alternative to the son of 
King Louis XI of France, another contender for Mary’s hand.
27
 References to tournaments and 
jousts may be found in Molinet’s work as well, such as those held to celebrate the reunion of 
Maximilian with his father, Frederick III, in Cologne (where he refers to joustes, bancquetz et 
festoyemens), followed by his coronation as king of the Romans.
28
  
Another Burgundian chronicler to write about Maximilian, and one who bridges the 
gap between Burgundian and French perspectives, was Philippe de Commynes, a Burgundian 
nobleman who later went on to serve King Louis XI of France, the monarch whom Molinet 
disapproved of as a choice for Mary’s husband. Like Molinet, in his memoirs de Commynes 
does provide an account of the young Maximilian’s betrothal and marriage to Mary of 
                                                 
27
 Molinet, Chroniques, vol. 2, pp. 156-62. 
28
 Molinet, Chroniques, vol. 1, p. 505. 

---

26 
 
Burgundy.
29
 Unlike Molinet, however, de Commynes takes a more antagonistic approach, 
reflecting his French alliances. In his account, much is made of Maximilian’s lack of funds, 
another thread which was to run through a variety of narrative sources. As de Commynes 
describes it, when Mary’s servants went to meet the young archduke of Austria ‘they found 
him with very few funds, and they brought him money, for his father [Frederick III] was a 
perfectly stingy man – more so than any prince or other person who lived in our time’, thus 
getting in a subtle insult at both Maximilian and his father.
30
  
Indeed, from the beginning, according to de Commynes, the marriage brought no 
benefit to Burgundy; it brought no wealth, and, instead, the Burgundian subjects had to supply 
Maximilian with money. De Commynes makes very clear his belief in the superiority of the 
Burgundian over the Habsburg court when he says that, ‘the furnishings of his [Maximilian’s] 
men did not please the subjects of the house of Burgundy, for they had been raised under rich 
princes who gave them good situations and maintained a household with honor and pomp, 
with respect both to furniture and also to table service and apparel for themselves and their 
servants’.
31
 Here the reader is provided with a glimpse of the splendour of the Burgundian 
court as well as how a young Maximilian might be inspired by and wish to emulate such a 
lavish court culture. It also makes evident de Commynes’ disdain for Maximilian’s apparently 
less than respectable lifestyle.  
De Commynes makes no secret of his own opinion of the Holy Roman Empire and its 
subjects at that point in time either. ‘The Germans,’ he says, ‘are very different [from the 
Burgundians], for they are rude people and they live rudely’.
32
 The chronicler also backs the 
                                                 
29
 de Commynes, Memoirs, vol. 2, pp. 379-85. 
30
 de Commynes, Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 382. 
31
 de Commynes, Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 382. 
32
 de Commynes, Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 382. 

---