This volume covers a panorama of approximately 100 years, detailing the successful increase in power of the Habsburg rulers at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period. From the last third of the 15th century under the successful expansionist policies of Maximilian I to the first half of the 16th century and the abdication of Charles V, the author discusses the rise of the Habsburg monarchy to a central power in Europe and ultimately its division into a Spanish and an Austrian line. Beginning with the coronation of Frederick III in 1440 and the successful marriage policies of his son Maximilian, which laid the foundation for the grand dynastic rise of the Habsburgs, the volume concludes with the peak of power and the failure of these ambitions under Charles V. It addresses both dynastic, legal, and territorial aspects as well as central political themes.