In the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg had become king in 1486. Seven years later, he took over the possessions of his cousin Sigismund of Austria, which included Tyrol, uniting all Habsburg possessions in his hands. The general rise of power of the Habsburgs and their dynastic politics had brought them in conflict with the French kings. Maximilian's second marriage to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan in 1493 opposed him directly to the French kings who also claimed the Duchy of Milan; a conflict that would escalate to the Italian Wars. The alpine passes in the southern Grisons—and in particular the Umbrail Pass in Val Müstair—had suddenly become strategically important as a direct route from the Tyrol to northern Italy, and the Habsburgs redoubled their efforts to control that region.