File:Rudolfus IV.jpg

English: Seal of w:Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339-1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (German: der Stifter), who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as count of Tyrol from 1363 and as the first duke of Carniola from 1364 until his death. He was the eldest son of Duke w:Albert II of Austria and w:Joanna of Pfirt. He stands on two stags, indicating his claim (as Duke of Carinthia) to the Imperial office of Archhunter or Archmaster of Hunt / Archmaster Hunter (Sacri Romani Imperii Archimagister Venator / Jägermeisters des Heiligen Römischen Reiches), which he emphasised to attempt to elevate himself to an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. See w:Privilegium Maius

Inscription

Circumscribed in Latin as follows:

Ruod(olfus) dei gra(tia) sac(ri) romani imperii archymagister venator alberti ducis et johann(a)e duciss(a)e primogenitus ("Rudolf by the grace of God the Archmaster Hunter of the Holy Roman Empire (des Roemischen richs Jaegermaister) the first-born son of Duke Albert and Duchess Joanna")

Heraldry

• Arms (modern) of the w:House of Habsburg (Archdukes of Austria): Gules, a fess argent ("Bindenschild" / Neuösterreich, "New Austria"[1]); originally the arms of the House of Babenburg (Duchies of Austria and Styria); formerly Habsburg used for arms the "Lion of Habsburg" ("Habsburg ancient") (see Category:Lion of Habsburg)
• w:Duchy of Styria
• w:Duchy of Carinthia (w:Duchy of Swabia impaling Habsburg (modern))
• w:March of Carniola
• Arms of Habsburg (ancient): Or, a lion rampant gules crowned armed and langued azure. Replaced by Habsburg (modern), being the arms of Babenberg (Duchies of Austria and Styria): Gules, a fess argent (known as the Bindenschild - see Category:Bindenschild)
• County of Ferrette (Comté de Ferrette (German: Grafschaft Pfirt)), being the arms of the Princely County of Montbéliard (French: Comté princier de Montbéliard; German: Grafschaft Mömpelgard): Gules, two barbels addorsed or; also arms of the town of Ferrette/Pfirt, Haut-Rhin/Alsace
• Arms of City of Pordenone
• w:Windic March
• Coat of arms of the counts of Kyburg (House Habsburg)

Description

Text from www.sigilla.org[2]:

En armure toutes pièces, les épaules couvertes par un grand manteau attaché sur la poitrine par une agrafe orfévrée, le duc se tient debout sur deux cerfs couchés, coiffé de la couronne archiducale à cintre crucigère. Il tient à droite un long sceptre tout en portant la main à la garde de son épée nue, pointe vers le bas. Sa tête est accostée de deux écus portant les armes d'Autriche (treillissé à la fasce diaprée) et de Basse-Autriche. Ces deux éléments sont encadrés la le prénom ducal séparé en quatre syllabes : (croix) RV / ODO / LF / US, mais que la tête du prince masque en partie. La figure ducale se tient dans une grande niche gothique surmonté d'un arc brisé orné de crochets et supportant un dais de remplages. La niche se développe de telle sorte qu'elle abrite de part et d'autre de quatre anges tenant respectivement, à gauche, les écus de Carinthie, Ferrette, Windishen Marck et de Burgovie, et, sur le soubassement maçonné supporté par un homme sauvage, de Pordenone. A droite, les anges tiennents les écus de Styrie, Habsbourg, Carinthie et Alsace, sur le soubassement maçonné pareillement supporté. La composirion est complétée par la présence de deux heaume couronnée et respectivement cimé d'un vol et d'un aigle, disposés aux extrémités de la construction. Enfin, surmontant l'ensenmble est gravé le texte suivant : "NA / IDIE / OM / SAC / TOR" pour NATUS IN DIE OMNIUM SANCTORUM. ("Born on w:All Saints' Day" 1 November 1339)

Archhunter or Archmaster of Hunt

Text from Carantanian Hat An Ancient Sign of Sovereignty by Dr. Josef Šavli, FAS The Augustan Society Omnibus, Book 14, 1993, p. 37 ff. (excerpt)[3]:

Duke of Carinthia was the Archmaster of Hunt of the Roman King – des Roemischen richs Jaegermaister.

Austria was not a historical duchy. Therefore it did not possess its own historical lex like Carinthia (Carantania) and those duchies that were part of the former Frankish Kingdom and afterward the duchies of Kingdom of the Eastern Franks: Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia Saxony and Carantania. The princes of those duchies and of immediate provinces had the right of electing the King and Emperor. After 1257 the above-said elections became reserved only for the so-called Princes Electors. And according to the Golden Bull of 1356, this honor belonged to the possessors of the high offices of the Emperor's Court: Archsteward, Archcellarman, Archmarshall, Archchamberlain, the Chancellors of Germany, Burgundy and Italy. These chancellors were respectively the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne. One time, the high office of Archhunter (arcimagister venator) belonged to the Carantanian Duke. However, during the electoral reform Carantania was already divided in several duchies, and obviously the historical duchy of Carinthia was not able to put forward the historical right of its high office. In this way the Carinthian duke came out of the group of the Princes Electors. The ancient right of Archhunter or Archmaster of Hunt perteining to the Carinthian, i.e., Carantanian duke remember several sources as Swabian Miror of ca.1275, the Chronicler Ottokar ca. 1306, Abbot Johannes Victoriensis ca. 1342, and others. According to the report related in the Swabian Mirror, Duke of Carinthia was the Archmaster of Hunt of the Roman King – des Roemischen richs Jaegermaister. The »Roman King« was the title of the former King of Eastern Franks, called later also King of Germania. Furthermore, the Swabian Miror says that in the ceremony of the inthronization of the Carinthian duke was put on his head a Slovenian Hat – vnd setzen Im ouch ainen Grauen windischen hut vff... It is very interesting the report of the Chronicler Ottokar who say, among others, that a Carantanian did not take off his hat in front of his duke. This was the right of the free Carantanian man. The same right belonged also to the Carantanian duke in front of the King, since he was a windischer herre (Slovenian Lord), and such right derived from his country. - In his relation about the same inthronization Abbot Johannes did not forged to mention the hat – indutus habitu pilleo... The hat played obviously the part of the Carantanian insignia. At that time the ancient Kingdom of the Eastern Franks was usually called Germanic Kingdom (not German). After 1257 the elections of the King, and thereafter Emperor, became reserved only to the so-called Princes Electors. And according to the Golden Bull of 1356, made out by the Emperor Carl IV Luxembourg, this honour belonged only to the possessors of high offices at the Emperor's Court. However, the duke of Austria and of the Carantanian provinces, a Habsburgian, was not acknowledged as the possessor of a high office and consequently a prince elector. Thus, i 1359 the Habsburg Duke Rudolf IV forged a deed named Privilegium maius with which he tried to prove that the Emperor Frederick I »Barbrossa« imparted to Austria, when it was elevated to a dukedom (1156), special rights that would make its dukes equal to the princes electors. Among these rights the honour of Archunter in the Kingdom (archimagister venator) and the Palatine Archduke (palatinus archidux) merit a special attention. In sense of the latter, the title of the Palatin Archduke, and the right to receive his fief sitting on horseback with a scepter in his hand and with the Ducal Hat on his head (superposito ducali pilleo…), i.e., not on his knees like other lords, derived from the institutio Sclavenica. In fact these rights had ben translated from the Carantanian tradition. They were connected with the ceremony of the installation of the Carantanian (Carinthian) dukes. But the Privilegium maius was recognized as falsified and therefore was not acknowledged at the Emperor's Court. However, it remained the aim of the political aspiration of the Habsburg dukes.