Freydal

It was intended to be a romantic allegorical account of Maximilian's own participation in a series of jousting tournaments in the guise of the tale's eponymous hero, Freydal.

In the story, Freydal takes part in the tournaments to prove that he is worthy to marry a princess, who is a fictionalised representation of Maximilian's late wife, Mary of Burgundy.

Over 200 high quality drawings were created to be used as planning sketches, 203 of which are held in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., with a small number of others preserved in the British Museum and the Vatican Library.

Based on these drawings, 256 miniature paintings were created by court painters, and 255 are preserved in an illuminated manuscript, the Freydal tournament book held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

These miniatures vividly record the different types of jousts that were popular at the time as well as the court masquerades, or ‘mummeries’, that took place at the end of the day after each tournament.

[2] During his reign, Maximilian commissioned a number of humanist scholars and artists to assist him in completing a series of projects, in different art forms, intended to immortalize his life and deeds and those of his Habsburg ancestors.

[3] He referred to these projects as Gedechtnus ("memorial"),[4] and included a series of stylised autobiographical works: Freydal, the prose romance Weisskunig, and the poem Theuerdank.

[3] Freydal and Theuerdank are closely linked and together give an allegorical account of the events leading to Maximilian's marriage to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.

[8] He staged many tournaments, with major ones held to celebrate his wedding to Mary of Burgundy in 1477, his coronation as King of the Romans in 1486 and on the occasion of the First Congress of Vienna in 1515.

[14] He appears to have begun planning the work in 1502 when he instructed his court taylor, Martin Trummer, "to have drawn in a book all those costumes as yet seen in mummeries organised by his majesty".

[15] A collection of 203 of these are housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[17] A small number of additional drawings are held at the British Museum and the Vatican Library.

[15] In 1511, Maximilian dictated some of the text to his secretary, Max Trytssaurwein,[13] (or Marx Treitzsauerwein[18]) and the following year wrote "Freydal is half conceived, the largest part of which we have made in Cologne".

[5] These were painted on paper in gouache with gold and silver highlights over pen, pencil and leadpoint[5] by two dozen anonymous[9] court artists under the direction of the imperial master-taylor.

[9][25] Based on the draft text preserved in the Austrian National Library,[27][28] the story is an account of a series of tournaments in which Freydal – a young knight and Maximilian's literary alter ego – demonstrates his valour in combat in order to earn honour and fame[29] and to win the hand of a princess.

[20] Freydal is the son of a “mighty prince” and he is born with “noble virtue”; his heraldic colours are white, red, and black, symbolising purity, fire, and bravery.

The work reflects Maximilian's vanity, as exemplified by a poem which forms part of the draft text:[7]This did the gallant FreydalIn knightly deeds of fameThus rendering illustriousThe glories of his name.His virtues and his goodnessAre manifest to all;His many glorious triumphsAt tilt, at masks and ball...His like will ne’er be seen again.

[20] In the Welsches Gestecht (Italian joust of peace) a board separates the jousters so that they can ride more closely to each other and strike their opponent frontally with greater force.

[8] In addition to illustrating the jousts themselves, it represents a remarkable catalogue of the weaponry used during tournaments [8] and is the most extensive record of mummery, the early court masquerade, that exists.

[40] As part of what he called his ‘memorial projects’ or Gedechtnus, Maximilian I used literary and visual works such as Freydal to model and enhance his public image.

[43] Increasingly, his skilful use of new media, such as the printing press, for propaganda purposes is seen as part of his success in laying the foundations of future Habsburg power.