MAXDIILIAN
916
MAXIMIN
Augustino friar, Maximilian addressed the Eoman pon- tiff, and persuaded him to heed this ditKculty as " a ques- tion wliich was dividing Germany." But in the very vear in which the discussion at Leipzic came off Maxi- milian died (1519), and left it for his successor Charles X to further the cause of Protestantism by a blind obe- dience to the dictates of an incompetent Roman pontiff. iNIaximilian I was a liberal patron of literature, and learned men were greatly encouraged by him. Indeed he was himself an author, producing several works in prose and verse. See Hegewisch, Gesch. d. Regierung JIaximilians /(178-2; new ed. Leipz. 1818); Haltaus, Gesch. (1. Kaise7-s Maximilian (1850) ; Klupfel, Kaiser Jfaximilian I (Beil. 1864) ; Lichnowsky, Gesch. d. Hauses Habsbiirg; Vehse, Memohs of Austria, i, 2-33: Coxe, Hist, of the House of A ustria, i, 278 sq. ; Kohlrausch, Hist, of Germany, p. 234 sq.
Maximilian II, emperor of Austria, son of empe- ror Ferdinand I, and of Anna of Hungarj', was bora at Vienna Aug. 1, 1527. He was educated in Spain by Charles V; took part in the war of Smalcald (1541-48) against the French ; became viceroy of Spain in 1549 ; on his return to Germany, about 1551, he made the treaty of Passau, and in 1552 became governor cf Hun- gary. In September, 1 562, he was crowned king of Bo- hemia ; elected king of Rome at Frankfort in Novem- liir of the same year; king of Hungarj' at Presburg in loG3; and finally succeeded his father as emperor of (iermaiiy in July, 1564. He made war against the Turks, in Hungary, until 1567, but aftenvards reigned in peace. During his youth his preceptor, "Wolfgang Stiefel, had made him acquainted with the Protestant tenets, and he showed himself favorable to the Refor- mation, living on very friencUy terms with the Protes- tant princes (Fisher, Hist, of the Reformation [N. Y. 1873, 8vo], p. 423). Yet he did not allow their doctrines free scope throughout his empire, as the majority in the states was opposed to it, and the Protestants themselves, divided into Lutherans and Calvinists, were engaged in strife with each other. From the manner in which he sought the friendship and alliance of Romish princes, it must appear that Maximilian II never allowed his pri- vate convictions to rule him as a monarch, but that all was made subservient to the interests of tlie empire. Some will even have it. as Yehse (see below), that he was at one time a convert to the Protestant religion (comp. Baker, Eccles. Hist, ii, 211). He, however, grant- ed the Protestants in 1568 liberty to worship God accordmg to their conscience throughout Austria, and commissioned D. Chytrrous to draw up a Prot- estant liturgy for Austria. Although he was op- posed to the Jesuits, and subjected them to many restrictions, he yet, by his toleration, permitted them access and great influence in his own family. He died Oct. 12,' 157G. See J. F. Miller, Episto'lm Fer- dinandi I et M. II (Pesth. 1808); Koch, Quellen z. Gesch. M. II (Leipz. 1857-61) ; Ranke, Historisch- jyoiitischer Zeitschr. (1832, p. 278 sq.) ; and the same reprinted in Deutsche Gesch. (1868), vol. vi ; Bernard Raupach, Evang. Ofsterrclch, vol. i and ii ; Lebret, Magazin z. Gehrauch d. Staaten und Kirchengesch. (Ulm, 1785), vol. ix ; Maurenbrecher, in Sybcl's Ilisior. Zeitschrift, 1862, p. 351 sq. ; E. Reimann, in the same journal, 1866, p. 1 sq. ; Coxe, Hist, of the House of A us- tria, ii, 4 sq.; Yehse, Jtlemoirs of the House of Austria, i, 217 SI]. : I'ierer, Unicersal-Lexikon, xi, 29; Herzog, /?ea?- Encykliip. ix. 204.
Maximin I, Ji-i.ius Yerus, Roman emperor, was a native of Thrace, and a shcjiherd in his youth. His fine figure, great height, and strength attracted the notice of the emperor Sevcrus, who enrolled him in his guards. Maximin advanced rapidly, but did not serve -imder either ^Macrinus or Ileliogabalus. During the reign of Alexander Sevcrus he came to Rome, was made senator and chief of a newly-formed legion, took an active part in the wars against the Persians and ^Vllemans. and soon gained great influence over the soldiers. "When Alex-
ander Severus was killed at Mayence, March 19, 235. the troops appointed Maximin his successor, and the sen- ate, frightened, confirmed the election. He remained, however, with the army, and made several expeditions into Germany. His disposition was naturally cruel, and he gave fuU scope to it when on the throne. Two con- spiracies against him which were discovered led to fear- ful massacres; in the first, it is said, over four thousand persons were executed. He also opposed Christianity, and particularly persecuted the bishops who had been most favored by Alexander. About the same time some earthquakes occurred in the empire, particularly in Cap- padocia, and the people became enraged against the Christians, whom they accused of being the cause of all the evUs which befell them, and the emperor allowed free scope to all barbarities the people chose to inflict on them. The persecution, indeed, broke out only in some parts of the empire, so that Christians could flee before it ; but as the Christians had of late become used to toleration, this sudden visitation of persecution fell severely upon their heads, and caused much suffering (comp. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist, vi, 28 ; Firmilian, in Cypr. Ep. 75 ; Origen, Comment, in Matt, xxiv, 9). Finally his soldiers, tired of his tyranny and cruelty, murdered him, together with his son, at Aquileia, March, 238. Max- imin was only regretted by the inhabitants of Thrace and Pannonia, who were proud of having an emperor of their own ; the other parts of the empire rejoiced over his death. The legendary poesy of the 10th centu- r\' assigns to the reign of Maximin the fabulous mar- tyrdom of St. Ursula, a British princess, and her com- pany of eleven thousand (according to others, ten thou- sand) virgins, who, on their return from a pilgrimage to Rome, were murdered bj' heathens in the neighborhood of Cologne. "This incredible number has probably arisen from the misinterpretation of an inscription, like • Ursula et Undecimilla' (which occurs in an old missal of the Sorbonne), or ' Ursula et XI M. Y., i. e. Martyres Yirgines, which, by substituting milUa for viarlyres, was increased from eleven martjTS to eleven thousand vir- gins. Some historians place the fact, which seems to form the basis of this legend, in connection with the retreat of the Huns after the battle of Chalons, 451" (Schaff). iieaHerzog, Real-Encyclop.i:^,2Ql\ Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, ii, 983 ; Schaff, Church Hist, i, 170 ; Gieseler, Ecclesiastical History, i, 115.