After the death of his older brother John IV, Duke of Bavaria he gave up his spiritual career and returned from Pavia to Munich.

The marriage of Kunigunde of Austria to Albert IV was a result of intrigues and deception, but must be counted as a defeat for Emperor Frederick III.

Albert finally decided to return territorial acquisitions in Swabia in 1492 to avoid a war with the Habsburg and the Swabian League.

After the death of the last duke of Bavaria-Landshut, George in 1503, Albert managed to reunite the whole of Bavaria in a dreadful war against George's heirs, the Palatinate line of his Wittelsbach family but had to transfer the most southern districts of Bavaria-Landshut to his brother-in-law Emperor Maximilian as compensation for his support: Kufstein, Kitzbühel and Rattenberg passed to Maximilian in 1506 and were united with Tyrol.

On 3 January 1487, Albert married Archduchess Kunigunde of Austria,[1] daughter of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Eleonor of Portugal.