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Cultural patronage, reforms and image building
Maximilian was a keen supporter of the arts and sciences, and he surrounded himself with scholars such as Conrad Celtis, Joachim Vadian and Andreas Stoberl (Stiborius), promoting them to important court posts. He supported and utilized the humanists partly for propaganda effect, partly for his genealogical projects, but he also employed several as secretaries and counsellors. Many of them were commissioned to assist him complete a series of projects, in different art forms, intended to glorify for posterity his life and deeds and those of his Habsburg ancestors. He referred to these projects as Gedechtnus ("memorial"), which included a series of stylised autobiographical works: the epic poems Theuerdank and Freydal, and the chivalric novel Weisskunig, both published in editions lavishly illustrated with woodcuts. In this vein, he commissioned a series of three monumental woodblock prints: The Triumphal Arch, and a Triumphal Procession, which is led by a Large Triumphal Carriage, created by artists including Albrecht Dürer, Albrecht Altdorfer and Hans Burgkmair. Maximilian dictated large parts of the books to his secretary and friend Marx Treitzsaurwein who rewrote much of the text. Together with the aristocrats and the literati, lawyers and legal scholars became one of three main groups in Maximilian's court. Among the prominent lawyers and legal scholars who served Maximilian in various capacities and provided legal advices to the emperor were Mercurino Gattinara, Sebastian Brandt and Ulrich Zasius.

Maximilian's patronage of German literature included the commissioning of the Ambraser Heldenbuch, an important compendium of German medieval narratives, by Hans Ried,  his support of Ulrich von Hutten whom he crowned as Poet Laureate in 1517 and the humanist Willibald Pirckheimer, who was one of Germany's most important patrons of arts in his own right. Maximilian's reign witnessed the gradual emergence of the German common language and his chancery played a notable role in developing new linguistic standards. As a part of his influential literary and propaganda projects, Maximilian had his autobiographical works embellished, reworked and sometimes ghostwritten in the chancery itself. He introduced a style of written language into his chancery which is considered a form of Early New High German. It replaced older forms of written language that were close to Middle High German. This new form was used by the imperial chanceries until the end of the 17th century and therefore also referred to as the Imperial speech.

Under his rule, the University of Vienna reached its apogee as a centre of humanistic thought. He established the College of Poets and Mathematicians which was incorporated into the university. Maximilian also promoted the development of the young Habsburg University of Freiburg. He co-founded, with the Elector of Saxony and the Elector of Brandenburg, respectively, the University of Wittenberg (in 1502) and the University of Frankfurt (in 1506). Maximilian's philosophical interests extended beyond humanism to esotericism. In 1505, he sent Johannes Trithemius eight questions concerning spiritual and religious matters including witchcraft that Trithemius answered and later published in the 1515 book Liber octo questionum (Books of eight questions). Maximilian displayed a skeptical aspect, posing questions such as why God permitted witches and their powers to control evil spirits.

Maximilian was an energetic patron of the library. Substantial collections came into his possession by inheritance from previous Habsburg rulers, and through his marriages to Mary of Burgundy, and Bianca Maria. Maximilian commissioned Ladislaus Sunthaim, Jakob Mennel and Johannes Cuspinian to acquire and compose books and his collection would ultimately evolve into the Imperial Library, and as it is named today, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek or the Austrian National Library). Maximilian supported the development of several encyclopaedic works, among them the incomplete projects of Conrad Celtis. The humanist Gregor Reisch, who was also Maximilian's confessor, produced the Margarita Philosophica, "the first modern encyclopaedia of any importance", first published in 1503. The work covers rhetoric, grammar, logic, music, mathematical topics, childbirth, astronomy, astrology, chemical topics (including alchemy), and hell.

In the fields of history and historiography, Maximilian and his court preferred the fictional settings and reimagination of history (such as the Weisskunig). Consequently, no outstanding works of historiography (such as those of Molinet and Chastelain at the Burgundian court) were produced. Instead, inventive histories such as those of Trithemius connecting Maximilian to Trojan heroes, the Merovingians and the Carolingians were created. He had notable influence on the development of the musical tradition in Austria and Germany as well. Several historians credit Maximilian with playing the decisive role in making Vienna the music capital of Europe. Under his reign, the Habsburg musical culture reached its first high point and he had at his service the best musicians in Europe.

Maximilian pursued interests in a number of the sciences. Cartography was a point of focus. Dürer and Johannes Stabius created the first world map projected on a solid geometric sphere. According to Buisseret, Maximilian could "call upon a variety of cartographic talent unrivalled anywhere else in Europe at that time" (that included Celtis, Stabius, Cuspinianus, Jacob Ziegler, Johannes Aventinus and Tannstetter). Maximilian assigned Johannes Cuspinianus and Stabius to compile a topography of Austrian lands and a set of regional maps. Stabius and his friend Georg Tannstetter worked together on the maps. A related interest was ethnography: Maximilian backed the 1505–1506 voyage to the east of Balthasar Springer to obtain knowledge of the peoples of India.

Maximilian was also concerned with astrology and astronomy and employed Georg Tannstetter to produce yearly practica and wall calendars. In 1515, Stabius (who also acted as the court astronomer), Dürer and the astronomer Konrad Heinfogel produced the first planispheres of both southern and northerns hemispheres, also the first printed celestial maps. These maps prompted the revival of interest in the field of uranometry throughout Europe. In addition to maps, other astrological, geometrical and horological instruments were also developed, chiefly by Stiborius and Stabius. Maximilian continued his father's tradition of supporting physicians at court. He kept on his payroll about 23 court physicians and established eight hospitals in various hereditary lands. Maximilian had an interest in archaeology and supported the archaeological projects of Konrad Peutinger as well as creating his own private collection under his secretary, the humanist Johann Fuchsmagen.

Among some authors, Maximilian has a reputation as the "media emperor". The historian Larry Silver describes him as the first ruler who realized and exploited the propaganda potential of the print press both for images and texts. The reproduction of the Triumphal Arch (mentioned above) in printed form is an example of art in service of propaganda, made available for the public by the economical method of printing (Maximilian did not have money to actually construct it). At least 700 copies were created in the first edition and hung in ducal palaces and town halls through the Reich. He also promoted the association between his own wife Mary of Burgundy and the Virgin Mary, that had already been started in her lifetime by members of the Burgundian court before his arrival.