The
Privilegium maius consists of five forged deeds, some of which purported to have been issued by
Julius Caesar and
Nero to the historic
Roman province of
Noricum, which was roughly coterminous with the modern Austrian borders. Though purposefully modeled on the
Privilegium minus, the original of which "got lost" at the same time, the bundle was already identified as a fake by contemporaries such as the Italian scholar
Petrarch. In the
Privilegium maius, Rudolf IV claimed for the Dukes of Austria various honors, rights and privileges, similar to those of the
prince-electors of the
Holy Roman Empire such as: • inseparability of the territory • automatic
inheritance of the first-born (
primogeniture), later extended to female heirs in the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 in favour of Archduchess
Maria Theresa • independent
jurisdiction and legislature, without any possibility to
appeal to the
Emperor (
privilegium de non evocando) • permission to display certain symbols of rule The
Privilegium maius also contained a singular mention of the newly created title of
Archdukes Palatine (; /
Palatine Archduke), used as an honorary designation, ranking with
prince-electors, among whom the Duke of Austria aspired to be elevated: :"
Si quibusvis curiis publicis Imperii dux Austrie presens fuerit unus de palatinis archiducibus est censendus et nichilominus in consessu et incessu ad latus dextrum Imperii post electores principes obtineat primum locum." Also in
English:
If the Duke of Austria is present at any public courts of the Empire, he is to be considered one of the Palatine Archdukes, and nevertheless in the sitting and procession he shall occupy the first place on the right side of the Empire after the prince electors. The first Habsburg ruler who actually used the title of an archduke was
Ernest of Iron, ruler of
Inner Austria from 1406 to 1424. From the 15th century onward, all princes of the Habsburg dynasty were styled as
Archdukes ().
Related documents from the same set Being the main document from the set of five forged charters, the
Privilegium maius was accompanied by four other newly produced forgeries, all created in the same time, during the second half of 1358 or the first half of 1359: • Charter from "1058", attributed to king
Henry IV, and shaped as a confirmation of various privileges whose establishment was attributed to
Julius Caesar and emperor
Nero, while also granting those rights to margrave Ernst of Austria and awarding him and his successors the lordship over the bishoprics of Salzburg and Lorch (Passau), and allowing them to bear the judicial sword and banner of the land. • Charter from "1228", attributed to king
Henry VII, and also shaped as a confirmation of various privileges, while granting additional rights to duke Leopold VI of Austria and Styria. • Charter from "1245", attributed to emperor
Frederick II, and shaped as a confirmation of the
Privilegium maius from "1156", while also granting additional rights to duke Frederick II of Austria. • Charter from "1283", attributed to king
Rudolf I and the
Prince-Electors, also shaped as a confirmation of previously issued privileges, awarded now to king's sons Albrecht and Rudolf, dukes of Austria and Styria. ==Effects==