The Document
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 regnum Noricum province similar to 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 like the Italian scholar Francesco Petrarca.
In the Privilegium Maius, Rudolf IV declared Austria an "archduchy" endowed with rights 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.
Rudolf also created the title Pfalzerzherzog ("Archduke Palatine") similar to the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, holder of an electoral vote. 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 on all princes of the Habsburg dynasty were called Erzherzöge.
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