About Styria (Hartberg belonged to Styria)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styria
It was created by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1180 when he raised the March of Styria to a duchy of equal rank with neighbouring Carinthia and Bavaria, after the fall of the Bavarian duke Henry the Lion earlier that year. Margrave Ottokar IV thereby became the first Duke of Styria and also the last of the ancient Otakar dynasty. As Ottokar had no issue, he in 1186 signed the Georgenberg Pact with the mighty House of Babenberg, rulers of Austria since 976, after which both duchies should in perpetuity be ruled in personal union. Upon his death in 1192, Styria as stipulated fell to the Babenberg duke Leopold V of Austria.
Grazer Schlossberg
The Austrian Babenbergs became extinct in 1246, when Duke Frederick II the Quarrelsome was killed in battle against King Béla IV of Hungary. Styria, actually a ceased Imperial fief, due to the lack of a central authority after the deposition of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen evolved into a matter of dispute among the neighbouring estates. It passed quickly through the hands of Hungary in 1254, until the Bohemian king Ottokar II Přemysl conquered it, being victorious at the 1260 Battle of Kressenbrunn. As King Ottokar II had married the last duke's sister Margaret of Babenberg he laid claim to both Austria and Styria, which however met with strong opposition by the elected German king Rudolph of Habsburg, who now recalled the duchies as reverted fiefs. Rudolph finally defeated Ottokar at the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld, seized Austria and Styria and granted them to his sons Albert I and Rudolf II.
About Hartberg
Hartberg is a city in Styria, Austria, the capital of the district of the same name. As of the census of 2001, it has a population of 6,547 in an area of 21.54 km². About 68 km up the A2 is the large city of Graz.
This town has a long and rich history. A settlement was located here in the Neolithic ages. One of the most important, prehistoric settlements of Styria developed on "Ringkogel" in the 3rd century BC. A massive protective wall surrounded it. Only two towers remind of the 7-8 meter high and 1500 meter long wall. (Schölbinger Tower and Reck Tower). The fist mention of Hartberg as a city was in a 1286 document. During the 15th century it was conquered by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. A huge fire destroyed the town up to a few houses, but the population has been continually on the rise since then.
A massive protective wall surrounded it. In 1122 margrave Leopold I of Styria founded "Hartberg". Hartberg was even a central village in Styria for a certain time. The first written reference to Hartberg as "civitas" was in 1286.
From the Regesten (a way to observe the activities of German emperors) we have an appearance of "Hartberg" only once between 1125 -, and that's ...
Rudolf (RI VI) n. 1128a
1279 sept. ....
Reise nach Steiermark und zurück durch Oberösterreich. Die beschreibung dieser reise über Hartberg, Graz, Judenburg, Admont, Pyhrn und Linz bei Ottokar ...
From the historical context it's clear, that Rudolf I, elected Roman king in 1272, made in 1279 a "triumphal journey" through the region of Styria and crossed at this opportunity Hartberg.
Between 1272 - 1278 Rudolf had made various attempts to get Styria and Austria from Ottokar, the Bohemian king. Ottokar refused. In 1276 Rudolf had cleared the legal status in his own favor, but Ottokar refused. The result was the battle on the Marchfeld 1278 and the further result, that Ottokar was defeated and killed. Rudolf got Styria and Austria. Reason for a triumphal match in 1279. And Hartberg got the rank of a "city", which (as it seems) it hadn't before in the time of Ottokar (from the life description of Ottokar I assume, that Ottokar hadn't too much opportunity to care very much for Styria at all; Hartberg - on a mountain - likely had military value).
Naturally this was a golden opportunity to paint a few "triumphal pictures".
So the question, who this is ...
... should be answered: that's King Rudolf.
Well, this picture belonged to the "heavy destroyed part", which was renovated in late 19th century. From the original the painter could only decipher part of the heads of a horse. Not more ... and that's not much.
So the original King Rudolf might have looked rather different.
In the art history aspects there is a discussion about the "Zackenstil" (used in the Hartberg Karner) and naturally there are rather different opinions between the specialists. One opinion states: This style appeared in Sachsen-Thüringen before and was imitated in Styria since 1260 and used till the end of the century (1300).
"Sachsen-Thüringen" might mean, that the paintings in Hartberg started below Ottokar, but also might mean, under Rudolf.
The Austrian researchers conclude ..
as in
http://www.kunstbewertung.at/Karner.pdf
Die Fresken können daher entweder als die Vision von Daniel, der vier Tiere aus
einem Meer kommen sah, die als Königreiche gedeutet wurden, oder als Apokalyptische
Wesen oder als Sieben Todsünden, angesehen werden. Nach herrschender Ansicht (Marsch,
Grabner, Lanc) handelt es sich um die Tiere der Vision von Daniel, demnach symbolisiert der
Löwe das babylonische Reich (Ninus oder Nabuchodonosor), der Pardel das griechische
Reich (Alexander der Große), der Stier das ägyptische Reich (Ptolomeus) und der Eber das
römische Reich (Augustus). Die Auslegung der Fresken als Darstellung der sieben
Hauptsünden wird ausschließlich von Walter vertreten. Er versucht die Tiere den
Hauptsünden zuzuordnen, dabei stellt sich heraus, dass außer dem Schwein (Eber) kein
anderes Tier passt.
... which means: Marsch, Grabner and Lanc say "Daniel" and only Walter says: "7 deadly sins". Inside the acceptance of Daniel they, however, agree on the four kingdoms Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome ... which contradicts international opinions and contradicts Daniel ...
... nonetheless, I think, this is correctly analyzed.
Babylon = Lion
Egypt = Bull
Greece = Leopard
Rome = the curious animal
For Greece = Leopard see:
... that's Dionysos with Tigers. Alexander had a favor for Dionysos. Alexander reached the borders of India.
The article did forget to talk of King Rudolf. But it should have done it ... I think.
The prolongation of this activity (1 living king + 4 others) are the "neuf preux" (9 kings or 9 Worthies) ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Worthies
... , which appeared first in 1312 by Jacques de Longuyon in his "Voeux du Paon", when Henry VII. became emperor in Rome. Later they developed and became often repeated in art history, and influenced the usual court cards and also the Tarot trumps.
Ercole's d'Este's mother came from a court, which had remarkable "9 worthies":
The "neuf preux" got later "neuf preuses" ... 9 famous women. Another extension was the
10th living regent ... in the same manner, as I suggest it for King Rudolf (who seems to been the 5th for 4 others.
http://english.habsburger.net/module-en ... D3-01.jpg/