But death, the goal to which every one tends, was suddenly and unexpectedly reached by Mary.

She died the 7th of August, 1479, leaving two infant children, Philip and Margaret.
The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic cunning, in convening the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his successor to the imperial throne.

Frederic and Maximilian now united in the endeavor to recover Austria from the King of Hungary.

The German princes, however, notwithstanding the summons of the emperor, refused to take any part in the private quarrels of Austria, and thus the battle would have to be fought between the troops of Maximilian and of Matthias.

Maximilian prudently decided that it would be better to purchase the redemption of the territory with money than with blood.