On this day in 1395 Albert III, Duke of Austria (b. 1349) died.
Albert III was born in Vienna, the third son of Duke Albert II of Austria and his wife Joanna of Pfirt. Even though his father had determined that the eldest son should be the sole successor, after his father’s death in 1358, Albert later inherited the rule from his two older brothers Rudolf IV and Frederick III and later shared it with his younger brother Leopold III.
In 1377, Albert went on a crusade against the pagan Lithuanians and Samogitians.
After Rudolf’s and Frederick’s death without an heir, Albert and his remaining brother, Leopold III, entered, in 1379, into the Treaty of Neuberg to divide the Habsburg territories. Albert received Austria proper while Leopold ruled over Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol and Further Austria.
His government was beneficial to the realm, as he supported the arts and sciences. Albert was an apt scholar himself, particularly as a mathematician. He expanded the University of Vienna and attempted to refurbish Vienna.
Albert died in August 1395 at the castle Schloss Laxenburg. He is buried in the Ducal Crypt in the Stephansdom cathedral in Vienna.