Duke Rudolph IV is unique among the Hapsburgs in his early attempt to create a sense of “Austria” on the same vein as England and France. The intellectual appeal of Vienna was dramatically enriched when Rudolph establishment of the University of Vienna. “The Founder,” founded the Alma Mater Rudolphina Vindobonensi on 12 March 1365 as the first university in the German speaking world. In the dedication, Rudolph states his desire: “For the special honor and enhancement of our land Austria and of our city, Vienna.” With this aim, the members of this universitas magistrorum et scholarium (the fellowship of teachers and learners) were exempt from taxes and military service.
Rudolph IV also attempted to develop an Austrian identity by bringing in troubadours to sing of, “The fairest land on earth,” and Monk historian, Leopold Stainreuter, wrote the Chronicle of the Ninety-five Estates which is a precursor to an Austrian history. Nevertheless, even the names of the work belie no unified identity existed among the Estates. His attempts did seem to work with the Privilegium Maius, the “Great Patent of Freedom,” which gave Austria independence from the German Reich. Unfortunately, such an idea was still fresh when the Hapsburgs became the Kings of Germany and the title of Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation, superseding all independent identity under the label as the Hapsburg’s Hausmacht, or hereditary territorial base.
