The Rise to Great Power Status
1477–1526
In 1477 Charles the Bold of Burgundy falls in battle and his heir and daughter Mary subsequently marries the future emperor Maximilian I. The acquisition of Burgundy, one of the most prosperous regions in western Europe, enables the Habsburgs to become a European power of the first rank. Maximilian's grandson Charles not only becomes emperor but also king of Spain, while his second grandson Ferdinand is invested with the Austrian lands and becomes king of Bohemia and Hungary in 1526.
