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THE OFFICIAL ALMANACH
DE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
800-2008
The Imperial and Royal Society of
The Almanach de Holy Roman Empire
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Welcome to The Official Website of
The Almanach de Holy Roman Empire.
The most comprehensive Website on
The History and Structure of The First Reich,
and The Official Listing of The
Imperial Nobility of the Holy Roman Empire.
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English :
Holy Roman Empire .
German :
Heiliges Römisches Reich .
Italian :
Sacro Romano Impero .
Latin :
Sacrum Romanum Imperium .
Czech :
Svatá øíše øímská .
Croatian :
Sveto Rimsko Carstvo .
French :
Saint Empire Romain Germanique .
Polish :
wiête Cesarstwo Rzymskie Narodu Niemieckiego .
Dutch :
Heilige Roomse Rijk .
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(Above)
The Crown of The Holy Roman Empire, also known as The 'Reichskrone' and 'The Crown of Charlemagne ', this ancient Crown is believed to have been made at the Monastery of Reichenau for the Coronation of Emperor Otto I, The Great, in 962. Made of Eight joined plates, four depict enamelled figures of Our Lord enthroned in Majesty, King Solomon, King David and King Hezekiah and The Prophet Isaiah. The remaining four plates are set with large precious stones.
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THE OFFICIAL ALMANACH DE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
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The Almanach de Holy Roman Empire, was formally founded for the compiling of certain relevent Histories, Genealogies and Information concerning the First Reich being The Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation, We are most pleased to have the formal Patronage and valuable assistance of His Imperial and Royal Highness Prinz Karl Friedrich von Deutschland, Herzog von Swabia, de jure Charles VIII of Germany, as Founder and President of The Almanach de Holy Roman Empire, We are pleased to welcome you to the Official Website of The Almanach.
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THE IMPERIAL AND ROYAL SOCIETY
OF
THE ALMANACH DE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
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PRESIDENT
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany,
Duke of Swabia, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt
de jure Emperor Charles VIII I.R.
CHAIRMAN
Her Imperial and Royal Highness
Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany,
Duchess of Swabia, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg,
Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt
VICE-CHAIRMAN
Her Imperial and Royal Highness
Princess Charlotte Elizabeth of Germany,
Princess of Saxe-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxony,
Duchess of Regensburg.
COMITE' DE PATRONAGE
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Louis Stefan of Germany,
Prinz von Saxe-Altenburg, Duke of Saxony,
Duke of Thuringia.
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Henry Eduard of Germany,
Prinz von Saxe-Altenburg, Duke of Saxony,
Duke of Franconia.
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Eduard Stefan of Germany,
Prince of Saxe-Altenburg, Duke of Saxony,
Duke of Mannheim.
His Serene Highness
Prince Stefan-Johannes von Regensburg,
Furst von Regensburg, Frieherr von Aachen.
His Excellency
Count Frederick Wilhelm von Buren.
His Most Illustrious Highness
Count Charles von Giech.
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis.
His Excellency
Count Leopold zu Limpurg und Gaildorf.
His Excellency
Baron Christian Wilhelm von Groditz.
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THE HONOURY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETE DES
AMIS DE L'ALMANACH DE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI , Bishop of Rome,
Supreme Primate of The Holy Roman Empire.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
( Princess of The Holy Roman Empire )
Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
( Princess of The Holy Roman Empire )
Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.
( Princess of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty Czar Simeon II of The Bulgarians,
Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Albert II of The Belgians
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Harald V of Norway.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Michael I of Romania.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Constantine II of Greece.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.
( Princess of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Imperial Highness Grand Duke George of Russia.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy,
The Prince of Naples.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Dom Pedro Orleans-Bragança.
His Imperial and Royal Highness
The Archduke Otto von Habsburg of Austria
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
The Archduke Sigismund of Austria, Prince of Tuscany.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince George Friedrich of Prussia.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness
Margrave Max of Baden.
( Margrave of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness
Duke Franz of Bavaria.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness
Margrave Maria Emanuel of Meissen.
( Margrave of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness
Prince Michael of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Royal Highness
Duke Friedrich-Konrad of Saxe-Meiningen.
( Duke of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Highness
Duke Borwin of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
( Duke of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Highness
Duke Eduard of Anhalt.
( Duke of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Highness
Duke Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
( Duke of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Jean-Engelbert of Arenberg.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Serene Highness
Prince York of Schaumburg-Lippe.
( Prince of The Holy Roman Empire )
His Illustrious Highness
Count Ernst Leonhard von Harrach zu Rohrau und Thannhausen.
( Princely Count of The Holy Roman Empire )
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THE IMPERIAL HIGH OFFICERS OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erzämter, Archiofficia )
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THE IMPERIAL ARCH-CHANCELOR OF GERMANY
( Erzkanzler durch Germanien )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Henry Eduard of Germany,
Duke of Mainz, Duke of Franconia ,
Duke of Saxony, Prinz von Saxe-Altenburg,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt.
THE IMPERIAL ARCH-CHANCELOR OF ITALY
( Erzkanzler durch Italien )
Her Imperial and Royal Highness
Princess Maria Alexandra of Germany ,
Duchess of Swabia , Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg ,
Duchess of Saxony , Duchess of Modena ,
Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt ,
de jure Empress of The Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation .
THE IMPERIAL ARCH-CHANCELOR OF GAUL AND ARLES
( Erzkanzler durch Gallien und Arelat ( Burgund )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Louis Stefan of Germany ,
Duke of Thuringia , Duke of Trier ,
Prince of Saxe-Altenburg , Duke of Saxony ,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt ,
de jure King of the Romans.
THE IMPERIAL GRAND BUTLER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erzschenk )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Karl Friedrich of Germany,
Duke of Swabia, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt
de jure Emperor Charles VIII, King of Bohemia.
THE IMPERIAL ARCH-STEWARD OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erztruchseß )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Eduard Rupert Stefan of Germany ,
Duke of Berg , Duke of Mannheim ,
Prince of Saxe-Altenburg , Duke of Saxony ,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt .
THE IMPERIAL GRAND MARSHAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erzmarschall )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Henry Eduard of Germany,
Duke of Mainz, Duke of Franconia ,
Duke of Saxony, Prinz von Saxe-Altenburg,
Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt.
THE IMPERIAL ARCH-CHAMBERLAIN OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erzkämmerer )
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia,
de jure King of Prussia,
Margrave of Brandenburg,
Burgrave of Nuremburg.
THE IMPERIAL ARCH-TREASURER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Erzschatzmeister )
Her Imperial and Royal Highness
Princess Charlotte Elizabeth of Germany ,
Princess of Saxe-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxony ,
Duchess of Regensburg, Baroness of Aachen ,
Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Rudolstadt .
THE HEREDITARY GRAND SENESCHAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Maximillian von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee .
THE HEREDITARY BUTLER OF HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Mundschenk )
His Excellency
Count Otto von Althan .
THE HEREDITARY STEWARD OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Truchseß )
His Most Illustrious Highness
Count Carl Ludwig Waldbott von Bassenheim.
THE HEREDITARY CHAMBERLAIN OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Kämmerer )
His Highness
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern .
THE HEREDITARY MARSHAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Marschall )
His Most Illustrious Highness
Count Albert zu Pappenheim .
THE HEREDITARY TREASURER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Schatzmeister )
His Illustrious Highness
Count Anton Josef von Sinzendorf .
THE HEREDITARY STANDARD-BEARER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Bannerherr )
His Royal Highness
Duke Carl of Wurttemberg ,
de jure King of Wurttemberg .
THE HEREDITARY POST MASTER GENERAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Postmeister )
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis.
THE IMPERIAL GRAND REGISTRAR OF THR HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
His Most Illustrious Highness
Count Charles von Giech.
THE USHER OF THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD
( Erbtürhüter )
His Most Serene Highness
Prince Rupert zu Lowenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg
THE MASTER OF THE HOUNDS OF THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD
( Jägermeister )
His Royal Highness
Prince Wilhelm Albert Raphael Maria of Urach,
Count of Württemberg, 5th Duke of Urach ,
de jure King of Lithuania .
THE MASTER OF THE HORSES OF THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD
( Stallmeister )
His Serene Highness
Prince Stefan-Johannes von Regensburg,
Prince von Regensburg, Baron von Aachen.
THE IMPERIAL FALCONER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
( Falkenmeister )
His Excellency
Count Joseph von Thurheim .
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
OF THE GERMAN NATION, THE CREATION,
ILLEGAL SUSPENSION AND FORMAL RESUMPTION.
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Forwarded by
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prinz Karl Friedrich von Deutschland,
Herzog von Swabia,
de jure
CHARLES VIII I.R.
The Holy Roman Empire was formally founded in the year 800 by Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards, who revived the Imperial August Title of Roman Emperor in the West. According to Carolingian theory, the Roman Empire had merely been suspended, not ended, by the abdication of the last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476. On Christmas Day, In the year 800 AD Pope Leo III, Crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor, in St.Peters, Rome, probably perceived more as a personal Imperial Title than as a reference to a particular Territorial Rule. The Holy Roman Empire was once famously dismissed by Voltaire as neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire, despite covering most of central Europe for over a thousand years, its history was intricately interwoven with that of Europe as a whole. The ghosts of the old Empire still haunt the Twenty-First century Europe in the guise of many institutions and ideals as well as political divisions and factional struggles. From the death of Arnulf (899), the last Carolingian to hold the Imperial Title, until Emperor Otto’s Coronation in Rome by Pope John XII, various rulers bore the Imperial Title but exercised no authority; among them were Louis III, King of Provence, and Berengar I, King of Italy. From the time of Otto's reign the Imperial office was based on the German Kingship. The German King, elected by the German Princes, automatically sought Imperial Coronation by the Pope, the Churchmen who crowned the Emperors, and thus actually sustained the Empire, considered it to be the Church's Secular arm, sharing responsibility for the welfare and spread of the Christian faith and duty-bound to protect the Papacy. This view of the relationship between Church and state, which dated from the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I, was generally accepted by both Emperors and Popes. In practice, however, this partnership seldom worked smoothly, as one of the partners inevitably tried to dominate the other. Frequent fluctuations in the actual power and vitality of each individual as well as changes in the prevailing political and theological theories gave a fluid, dynamic quality to the empire's history. After 1045 a King who was not yet Crowned Emperor was known as King of the Romans, a Title that asserted his right to the Imperial Throne and implied that he was Emperor-designate. Not every German King became Emperor, however, because the Popes, especially when elections to the Kingships were disputed, often claimed that the selection of the Emperor was their prerogative. Despite the fact that the German Kingship and the Imperial office were technically elective, they tended to become hereditary. At times the electors, the German Princes who approved the succession to the German Kingship, exercised real authority in choosing the King, although Papal confirmation was still necessary for accession to the Imperial Throne. In 1338 at the diets of Rhense and Frankfurt the German Princes proclaimed the electors’ right to choose the Emperor without papal intervention. The Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Emperor Charles IV reaffirmed this and regulated the election procedure. Emperors continued to be crowned by the Pope until after the coronation (1530) of the Emperor Charles V. Thereafter, following the precedent (1508) of Emperor Maximilian I, they were Crowned at Frankfurt. Several early Emperors were also Crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of the Lombards. After 1438 the Imperial office was held, with one exception, by the House of Hapsburg.The Empire was justified by the claim that, just as the Pope was the Vicar of God on earth in spiritual matters, so the Emperor was God’s temporal Vicar; hence he claimed to be the supreme Temporal Ruler of Christendom. Actually, the power of the Emperor never equaled his pretensions. Although the Emperors were accorded diplomatic precedence over other Sovereigns Rulers, their Suzerainty early ceased over France, Italy, Denmark, Poland, and Hungary; and their control over England, Sweden, and Spain was never more than nominal. The authority of the Emperors in Italy and Germany was sometimes nonexistent, sometimes real.The territorial limits of the Empire varied, but it generally included Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, parts of Northern Italy, present-day Belgium, and, until 1648, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Some countries (e.g., Hungary) were ruled by the Emperor or Imperial Prince but were outside the Empire, while others (e.g., Flanders, Pomerania, Schleswig, and Holstein) were part of the Empire but were Ruled by foreign Princes who held their lands in fief from the Emperor and took part in the Imperial diet. When Otto I became Emperor, he renewed the traditions of the Carolingian Empire that had been eroding for decades before Arnulf’s death. Otto’s Empire comprised the German Duchies, Lorraine (or Lotharingia), Italy, and Burgundy, which had its own nominal King. Burgundy was formally annexed in 1033. The Imperial position, however, was precarious from the start. A conflict over the relationship between the Papacy and the Imperial Throne resulted in the investiture controversy during the reign of Henry IV (1084–1105), who appointed Bishops to three Sees already under the direction of Papal appointees. He was also suspected of tolerating simony and other practices that the Pope was trying to curb. In 1076, Henry IV withdrew his obedience to Pope Gregory VII and was excommunicated. Subsequent struggles between the Popes Alexander III, Gregory IX, and Innocent IV and the Emperors Frederick I and Frederick II concerned papal Sovereignty in Italy. The Papacy was victorious, and the Emperors ceased to interfere seriously with Papal affairs except during the Great Schism of the 15th century, and in the Italian Wars of the 16th century. Also untenable was the dual position of the Emperors as Rulers of Germany and of Italy; geography as well as cultural and political conditions separated the two Countries. The defense of the Empire against foreign attack was made more difficult by the repeated attempts of the emperors to maintain their authority in Italy against the opposition of the city-states the Papacy, and the petty Princes. Frederick I failed to suppress the Lombard League, which had Papal support. Frederick II, after inheriting Naples and Sicily, was primarily interested in Italian affairs; his conflict with the Papacy produced the feud between Guelphs and Ghibellines throughout Italy and ruined the Imperial authority there.The death (1254) of Conrad IV, the last ruling Hohenstaufen, was followed by an interregnum of 19 years. Opposing claimants to the Imperial Crown were unable to exercise authority during this period, and the power of the Emperor declined considerably. The election (1273) of the Emperor Rudolf I as the first Hapsburg German King restored some order, but after his death rival claimants renewed the strife. The effect of continued warfare and weak monarchs increased the power of the German Princes, particularly the dukes of the great Duchies of Bavaria, Saxony, Swabia, Franconia, Thuringia, and Upper and Lower Lorraine. The Golden Bull of 1356 conceded the Princes’ dominance over the monarchy.The Emperors maintained some authority against the nobles with the support of the towns and of the great Ecclesiastical Princes (e.g., the archbishop-electors of Cologne, Mainz, and Trier), who were Imperial appointees. As the German towns grew in wealth and power, they entered leagues for defense against the Nobles. Since they acted as a counterbalance to the Nobility, they were generally favored by the emperors, who made them free Imperial cities with a voice in the diet. The power of the Emperors, however, had come to depend largely on the size and wealth of the Emperors’ hereditary domains. Thus, the Luxemburg Emperors (Henry VII, Emperor Charles IV, Wenceslaus, and Sigismund) and the Hapsburg Emperors concerned themselves with their own lands to the detriment of the unity of the Empire. During the reign of the Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519) the conflict between the dynastic policy of the Hapsburg Emperors and the interests of the German empire (then known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) became pronounced. The Princes attempted to remove the administration of the Empire from the Emperor and put it in the hands of an Imperial council; the council would control all external and internal affairs of the empire. Under pressure Maximilian I, created (1500) a council and an Imperial court of justice. However, these were only temporary measures, since the Hapsburgs had no intention of pursuing German policy, which would conflict with their dynastic interests, particularly in Austria.In the 16th cent., under Charles V and Ferdinand I, Imperial and Austrian affairs were practically identical. This identity was furthered by the Reformation, which generally aligned the German Protestant Princes against the Emperors, who championed Roman Catholicism. In the Thirty Years War (1618–48) the Emperor, allied with Spain, opposed the Protestant princes, who were allied chiefly with Sweden and France. The struggle ended with the virtual dissolution of the Empire in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which recognized the Sovereignty of all the States of the Empire; the only limitation was that the princes could not make alliances directed against the Empire or the Emperor.Although the Imperial Title became largely honorific, the outward forms of the empire were retained; the emperors, with their hereditary lands, remained powerful monarchs. While the peace generally legalized the situation that had existed in the empire since the Reformation, it also advanced the growth of particularism and absolutism in the German States. The Emperors suffered further loss of prestige in their wars against Louis XIV . The death (1740) of Charles VI ended the male Hapsburg line, precipitating further conflict While the elector of Bavaria was chosen (1742) Emperor as Charles VII, Maria Theresa, daughter of Charles VI, defended her Hapsburg inheritance against the claims of Bavaria, Prussia, and Saxony. By the peace of Hubertusburg (1763), Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, was recognized as Emperor; however, Prussia, under King Frederick II, had emerged as the leading German power. Joseph II, successor of Francis I, adhered to the principles of the Enlightenment; he attempted to rationalize the administration of the Imperial Government but failed in the face of resistance by the particularist princes, especially Frederick II of Prussia.During the French Revolutionary Wars the Empire was completely reorganized by the treaty of Lunéville (1801) and by action of the diet in 1803. The number of states was greatly reduced, and the remaining States were aggrandized at the expense of the petty Princedoms and Ecclesiastical Estates. In 1804, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II took the title Francis I, emperor of Austria, and after the establishment (1806) of the Confederation of the Rhine under Napoleon I, Francis renounced his Imperial Title as Holy Roman Emperor. After the fall of Napoleon no attempt was made to restore the Empire, the Illegal suspension of the Empire by the Emperor Francis II, on the sixth of August, 1806, following the Emperors Abdication and formal Renunciation of the Imperial Title and Crown, for Himself, His Heirs and Descendants, laid both the Empire and Imperial Title dormant. The Empire, has formally remained in a dormant State of Illegal suspension since the sixth of August, 1806 until the First of September 1999, when Karl von Deutschland, formally issued a Statutory Promulgated Proclamation in the form of Legal Deed of Patent Claim by the Instrument of Universal Public Proclamation open with certain Dimensions, an Act for which He formally Perpetuated the full resumption of the Old Empire, its Imperial Patrimony, Sovereign Rights, Prerogatives, Pretensions and Institutions etc., and thus formally Claimed, Pertained and Perpetuated the Formal Act of Instauration of the Imperial Sovereign Title, Electoral Office, Imperial Throne and Crown, for Himself, His Heirs and Descendants of His Body in Universal Perpetuity.
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THE CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
OF
THE KINGS OF GERMANY AND
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS,
RIVAL EMPERORS,
REGENTS, AND CO-REGENTS.
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( CAROLINGIAN HOUSE )
Charles I . The Great, Charlemagne , 800-814 ,
Born: 2 April 742, Died: 28 January 814
Birthplace: ? , Emperor known as "a light in the Dark Ages". Charlemagne was the Frankish king who conquered most of Europe and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in the year 800. Charlemagne was probably born somewhere in what is now France or Germany, the eldest son of Pepin the Short. Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, divided the kingdom after Pepin's death in 768; a few years later Carloman died and Charlemagne annexed his portion. During his 43-year reign from his court at Aachen, Charlemagne proved himself a brilliant military strategist and administrator, promoting art and education while waging war from Saxony to the Mediterranean. Among his many campaigns were: The Lombard War (773-775); the Spanish War (778-801); the conquest of Bavaria (787-788); the conquest of the Avars (791-801); the Byzantine War (802-812); and a thirty-year effort to subdue the Saxons and convert them to Christianity. Charlemagne united most of Europe and created a period of relative order during the otherwise tumultuous Middle Ages. King of The Franks 768, Crowned Emperor 800.
Louis I . The Pious, 814-840.
Lothair I . 840-855.
Louis II . 855-875.
Charles II . The Bald, 875-877.*Interregnum 877-81*
Charles II or Charles the Bald,823–77, emperor of the West (875–77) and king of the West Franks (843–77); son of Emperor Louis I by a second marriage. The efforts of Louis to create a kingdom for Charles were responsible for the repeated revolts of Louis's elder sons that disturbed the latter part of Louis's reign. When Lothair I, the eldest and heir to the imperial title, attempted to reunite the empire after Louis's death (840), Charles and Louis the German marched against their brother and defeated him at Fontenoy (841). Reaffirming their alliance in 842 (see Strasbourg, Oath of), they signed (843) with Lothair the Treaty of Verdun (see Verdun, Treaty of), which divided the empire into three parts. The part roughly corresponding to modern France fell to Charles. He was almost continuously at war with his brothers and their sons, with the Norsemen (or Normans, as they came to be known in France), and with rebellious subjects. When Charles's nephew Lothair, son of Lothair I and king of Lotharingia, died in 869, Charles seized his kingdom but was forced by the Treaty of Mersen (870) to divide it with Louis the German. In 875, at the death of his nephew Louis II, who had succeeded Lothair I as emperor, Charles secured the imperial crown. His reign witnessed the growth of the power of the nobles at the expense of the royal power and thus marked the rise of local feudalism. Charles's chief adviser was Archbishop Hincmar.
Charles III . The Fat, 881-887. *Deposed 887*
Arnulf . of Carinthia , 887-899, Louis III. The Child, 899-911.
( HOUSE OF FRANCONIA )
Conrad I of Franconia , 911-918.
( HOUSE OF SAXONY )
Henry I . The Fowler, 919-936.
0tto I . The Great, 936-973.
Otto I or Otto the Great,912–73, Holy Roman emperor (962–73) and German king (936–73), son and successor of Henry I of Germany. He is often regarded as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. Boldly developing the policies that his father had begun, Otto brought the Middle Kingdom of the Carolingian Lothair I (see Verdun, Treaty of), including Italy, Burgundy, and Lotharingia, under German influence and broke the independence of the duchies. The rebellions of Otto's brother, Henry, and of Duke Eberhard of Franconia were ended by the battle of Andernach (939) and Henry's submission (941). King Louis IV of France, hoping to gain Lotharingia, had assisted the rebels, and Otto campaigned against him (940) with Hugh the Great; in 942, however, Otto and Louis reached an agreement, and Otto helped Louis to defeat Hugh (950). In 951, Otto invaded Italy, taking advantage of an appeal from the widowed Italian queen, Adelaide, who was about to be forced into a marriage with the son of Berengar II. Defeating Berengar, Otto assumed the title king of the Lombards, married Adelaide, and returned to Germany, where Berengar eventually paid him homage. In Germany another revolt was brewing. Rivalry and jealousy among the dukes, particularly against Otto's brother, Henry, whom he had made duke of Bavaria in 947, resulted in a rebellion in 953 led by Conrad the Red and Otto's son Duke Ludolf of Swabia. New attacks by the Magyars ended the rebellion and forced the dukes to form a united front against the invaders, who were defeated (955) in the Lechfeld. Otto had already begun to counter the ducal power by creating the “Ottonian system,” entailing close alliance between the crown and the higher prelates. An important exponent of the alliance was his brother and chief adviser, St. Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, whom Otto made duke of Lotharingia. Meanwhile, in Italy, Berengar II resumed his aggression. Pope John XII appealed to Otto, who entered Rome and was crowned emperor early in 962, reviving the imperial title of the Carolingians and legitimizing the German kings' claim to the Middle Kingdom; Otto thus linked the destinies of Italy and Germany. John soon found the emperor too powerful and, while Otto was campaigning against Berengar, secretly negotiated with Otto's enemies. Otto hastened back to Rome (963), deposed John, and installed a new pope, Leo VIII. The Romans, seeing all independence lost, rose in 964 and restored John, but John died the same year and Otto reinstated Leo. Otto's campaign (966–72) to gain control over S Italy was unsuccessful, but a minor diplomatic triumph was scored in 972 when Emperor John I of Byzantium gave a Greek princess in marriage to Otto's son and successor, Otto II.
Otto II . 973-983. Co-Regent,961.
Otto II, 955–83, Holy Roman emperor (973–83) and German king (961–83), son and successor of Otto I. He was crowned joint emperor in 967. Shortly after his father died Otto faced a rebellion by his cousin, Henry the Wrangler, duke of Bavaria, who coveted the crown. Otto defeated and deposed Henry (976), at the same time making Austria, Carinthia, and the Nordgau virtually independent of Bavaria. During this period he also repulsed a Danish attack. In 978, Otto invaded France in retaliation for the French king Lothair's attempt to conquer Lorraine; the inconclusive war ended in 980. Campaigning in Italy (981–82), Otto was, after some initial success, disastrously defeated by the Arabs in S Italy. In 983 he held a diet of German and Italian nobles at Verona, where he had his son Otto III elected German king. Meanwhile, the Danes and the Slavs were again attacking his German lands, but Otto died suddenly before he could act. Regarding Germany and Italy as a united realm, Otto II felt his position as emperor more keenly than his role as German king. His failure in Italy greatly weakened the imperial prestige.
Otto III . 983-1002. Co-Rgent,983.
Otto III, 980–1002, Holy Roman emperor (996–1002) and German king (983–1002), son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano. On Otto's accession Henry the Wrangler, the deposed duke of Bavaria, attempted to become his guardian and then to obtain the crown, but the plot was frustrated and Henry was forced to abandon it, although he was restored in Bavaria. Instead, Theophano was regent until her death in 991, and Otto's grandmother Adelaide succeeded her until 994. Otto established his cousin Bruno in the vacant papacy as Gregory V (996) and restored him (998) after his expulsion by a Roman revolt. After Gregory's death (999), Otto installed his tutor Gerbert of Aurillac as pope (see Sylvester II). His pilgrimage (1000) to the grave of his friend St. Adalbert gave him the opportunity to strengthen the influence of his “ecclesiastical empire” against Germany's eastern neighbors. The scion of both the Western and Eastern imperial houses and remarkably well educated, Otto III was at the same time noted for his asceticism and religiosity. In 998 he settled in Rome, hoping to make this the seat of his empire, which would include German, Italian, and Slavic lands. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a permanent imperial administration. In 1001 discontented Romans rioted and forced Otto to flee the city. He was planning to attack Rome when he died. Otto was succeeded by Henry II, son of Henry the Wrangler.
St.Henry II . 1002-1024.
Henry II, 973–1024, Holy Roman emperor (1014–24) and German king (1002–24), last of the Saxon line. He succeeded his father as duke of Bavaria. When Otto III died without an heir, Henry, who was Otto's second cousin and the great-grandson of Henry I, was elected German king. After some opposition he was recognized by the German duchies. In 1004 he entered Italy and at Pavia was crowned king of the rebellious Lombards by the bishops. Italian resistance appeared to be broken when Pavia was destroyed in a conflict between the citizens and Henry's German followers, but his supremacy was still uncertain when he went north to meet Boleslaus I of Poland. Henry expelled (1004) Boleslaus from Bohemia, but the war dragged on until 1018, when Boleslaus was able to obtain territories in E Germany in fief from Henry. Returning (1013) to Italy, Henry was crowned (1014) Holy Roman emperor at Rome. On his third Italian campaign (1021–22), undertaken at the pope's behest, he restored order in Lombardy, reasserted his sovereignty in all Italy, and attended a synod at Pavia where he advocated far-reaching church reform. Always relying heavily on ecclesiastic support, Henry opposed the monastic clergy in its jurisdictional struggle with the bishops, and he forcefully exercised his right of nominating bishops. However, both Henry and his empress, Kunigunde of Luxembourg, were distinguished for piety and have been canonized. His most notable achievement was the foundation of the new bishopric of Bamberg, which became a center of scholastic culture and art. Henry died childless; he was succeeded by Conrad II. Feast: July 15.
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Conrad II . 1024-1039.
Conrad II, c.990–1039, Holy Roman emperor (1027–39) and German king (1024–39), first of the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the Saxon line on the death of Henry II, the succession passed to the matrilineal descendants of Otto I, and Conrad, a Franconian noble, was elected (1024) as German king. Although the hereditary principle in Germany was strong enough to secure his election, it did not ensure Conrad support throughout the empire. His accession was contested by his stepson, Ernest of Swabia, and by the Lotharingians (see Lotharingia) and the Italians. After the collapse of the revolts of Ernest and the Lotharingians, Conrad brought N Italy into submission (1026–27) and was crowned emperor at Rome. He suppressed two more revolts (1027, 1030) by Ernest and won (1031) Lusatia from Poland. In 1034 he annexed the kingdom of Burgundy (see Arles, kingdom of) under the terms of a treaty (1006) between Rudolf III, last independent king of Arles, and Holy Roman Emperor Henry II. In 1036, Conrad returned to Italy, where war was raging between the greater and the lesser nobles. He deposed Archbishop Aribert of Milan, a powerful ally of the great nobles, and made the fiefs of the lesser nobles hereditary by issuing (1037) the Constitution of Pavia. In Germany also Conrad favored the small nobility, thus reversing the policy of Otto I and Henry II, who had depended for support on the Church. He promoted the servile classes to administrative office, thus building a new hereditary class of ministeriales to replace the ecclesiastics in the civil service. Conrad's administration was economical, and he encouraged commerce by granting market and mint privileges. At his death, his son Henry III ascended the throne at the height of its wealth and power.
Henry III . 1039-1056. Co-Regent,1028.
Henry III, 1017–56, Holy Roman Emperor (1046–56) and German king (1039–56), son and successor of Conrad II. He was crowned joint king with his father in 1028, and acceded on Conrad's death in 1039. Under Henry III the medieval Holy Roman Empire probably attained its greatest power and solidity. In 1041, Henry defeated the Bohemians, who had been overrunning the lands of his vassals, the Poles, and compelled Duke Bratislaus I of Bohemia to renew his vassalage. Although several expeditions to Hungary against the raiding Magyars failed to establish his authority in that country, Henry was able in 1043 to fix the frontier of Austria and Hungary at the Leitha and Morava rivers, where it remained until the end of World War I. In the West, Henry attempted with some initial success to control particularist tendencies among the duchies. The dukes of Saxony and Lorraine (Lotharingia) offered the most resistance. In Saxony, Henry managed to avert rebellion, which, however, erupted after his death. On the death of Duke Gozilo of Lorraine (1044), Henry divided the duchy between the duke's two sons. Duke Godfrey, the elder, who received Upper Lorraine, organized numerous revolts against Henry; in 1047–50 the counts of Holland and Flanders (Lower Lorraine) joined in the revolt. Godfrey was successively defeated, imprisoned, restored, and expelled again. He went to Italy (1051), where he married (1054) Marchioness Beatrice of Tuscany, mother of Matilda; Godfrey used his Tuscan position to bolster his strength in Germany, and Henry was unable to subdue him. Despite his political involvement Henry made religious matters his prime concern and supported monastic reform movements, including the Cluniac order. He branded as simony the customary payments made to the king by new bishops and in 1046 undertook to reform the church. Descending into Italy, he had three rival claimants to the papacy set aside at the synods of Sutri and Rome and was accorded the decisive vote in papal elections. The four German popes named by Henry (including Leo IX) renewed the strength of the papacy, which was to prove the nemesis of his successors. On his death his wife Agnes of Poitou assumed the regency for his infant son, Henry IV.
Henry IV . 1056-1105. Co-Regent,1054.
Holy Roman emperor (1084–1105) and German king (1056–1105), son and successor of Henry III. He was the central figure in the opening stages of the long struggle between the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy.
[ Rudolf of Swabia ]. 1077-1080.
[ Herman of Salm ]. 1081-1088.
Conrad . 1087-1098. Co-Regent;*deposed, died 1101.*
Henry V . 1105-1125. Co-Regent, 1099.
Henry V, 1081–1125, Holy Roman emperor (1111–25) and German king (1105–25), son of Henry IV. Crowned joint king with his father in 1099, he put himself at the head of the party desiring reconciliation with the pope and, with the approval of Pope Paschal II, rebelled (1104) against his father and compelled him to abdicate (1105). Formally reconciled with the church, Henry V practiced lay investiture from the beginning of his reign. The pope protested against the practice. In 1110, Henry entered Italy with his army to settle the conflict and receive the imperial crown. At this time the pope proposed a compact that provided that if the king abandoned lay investiture and confirmed the pope's right to the Patrimony of St. Peter (see Papal States), the bishops of the empire would give up the temporal powers and estates they had received from former emperors. Henry accepted the compromise, but when it was announced at St. Peter's as a preliminary to his imperial coronation (1111), a violent tumult arose from the clergy, who saw their wealth and power being given away. Henry thereupon left the city with the pope and cardinals as his prisoners; in order to procure his release, Paschal conceded to Henry the right to appoint and invest at will and crowned him emperor. Henry returned to Germany, but in 1112 Paschal repudiated his concessions. Henry was faced (1114–21) by rebellions in Saxony that he was unable to put down; he nevertheless went to Italy in 1116 to take possession, as suzerain, of the fiefs of Matilda of Tuscany and, as heir, of her alodial lands. In 1118, Paschal died. Henry set up an antipope to the new pope, Gelasius II, whereupon Gelasius excommunicated the emperor. In 1119, Henry entered upon negotiations with Pope Calixtus II, Gelasius's successor, and a compromise on the investiture question was reached at last in the Concordat of Worms (1122; see Worms, Concordat of). Henry made peace with his domestic enemies at the Diet of Würzburg (1121). His empress, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, bore him no heir; the nobles elected the duke of Saxony to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II. Henry was the last emperor of the Salian line.
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Lothair II . of Saxony , 1125-1137.
Lothair II, also called Lothair III,1075–1137, Holy Roman Emperor (1133–37) and German king (1125–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. His predecessor invested him with the duchy of Saxony in 1106, but after 1112 Lothair, in several rebellions, successfully championed local independence against the royal authority. When Henry V died (1125), the electors chose Lothair over Frederick of Hohenstaufen, Henry V's nephew, to succeed him; this represented an important victory of elective over hereditary kingship. Frederick and his brother Conrad (who later became German king as Conrad III) made war on Lothair, and Conrad was elected (1127) antiking. However, Lothair and his son-in-law, Henry the Proud of Bavaria, defeated the Hohenstaufen and peace was made in 1135. In Italy, Lothair promised his support to Pope Innocent II, whose election was disputed. In 1132 he entered Italy and was crowned emperor in Rome (1133). After the defeat of the Hohenstaufen he returned (1136) to Italy and campaigned successfully against Roger II of Sicily, supporter of the antipope Anacletus II. Lothair died on the journey home. As emperor, Lothair adhered loyally to the Concordat of Worms (see Worms, Concordat of), and actively supported both political expansion and revival of missionary activity in the East. He forced various heathen princes to pay tribute and established German suzerainty in Denmark, Bohemia, and Poland (see Boleslaus III). At his death his rival, Conrad III, was elected king. Lothair is known also as Lothair of Saxony or Lothair of Supplinburg.
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Conrad III . 1138-1152.
[ Henry ] . Co-Regent, 1147-1150.
Frederick I . Barbarossa, 1152-1190.
Frederick I or Frederick Barbarossa (bärburôs'u)[Ital.,=red beard], c.1125–90, Holy Roman emperor (1155–90) and German king (1152–90), son of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia, nephew and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III.
Henry VI . 1190-1197. Co-Regent,1169.
Henry VI, 1165–97, Holy Roman emperor (1191–97) and German king (1190–97), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Frederick Barbarossa). He was crowned German king at Aachen in 1169 and king of Italy at Milan in 1186 after his marriage to Constance, heiress presumptive to the throne of Sicily. Henry remained in Italy as his father's representative, ravaging central Italy and forcing it to submit to imperial domination. He became regent at his father's departure (1189) for the Third Crusade and succeeded Frederick, who died in 1190. In 1191, Henry entered Italy on an expedition to secure Constance's Sicilian inheritance from Tancred of Lecce, who had illegally assumed the crown. Stopping at Rome he was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Celestine III. He continued southward, but failed in the initial attempt to take Sicily. He returned to Germany, where he faced a rebellion fomented by the Guelphs and the nobles of the Lower Rhine, who opposed his attempt to absorb Thuringia into the royal demesne. Henry secured a powerful bargaining weapon when he obtained custody (1193) of King Richard I of England, brother-in-law and ally of the Guelph leader, Henry the Lion. Soon after Richard had paid a ransom, sworn fealty to Henry, and been released (Feb., 1194), peace was made. In Sicily, the death of Tancred favored the success of Henry's second expedition (May, 1194). Palermo fell in November, and on Christmas Day Henry was crowned king of Sicily. Insatiable, Henry dreamed of further expansion in the Mediterranean. He began to promote (1195) a new crusade and intimidated the Byzantine emperor, Alexius III, into paying him tribute. At the Diet of Würzburg (1196) Henry proposed that the empire be made hereditary in his family, the Hohenstaufen, and in return offered unrestricted rights of inheritance to those who held fiefs from him. The proposal was defeated, though it found many supporters, and Henry contented himself with securing the election of his infant son (later Emperor Frederick II) as king. Henry died of a fever at Messina just as he was preparing to invade the Holy Land. He was succeeded in Sicily by Frederick II and in the rest of the empire by Philip of Swabia.
Constance, 1154–98, Holy Roman Empress, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI; daughter of King Roger II of Sicily. She was named heiress of Sicily by her nephew King William II. On his death, however (1189), the Sicilian nobles, wishing to prevent German rule in Sicily, chose Constance's nephew Tancred of Lecce as William's successor. Henry VI conducted an unsuccessful campaign (1191) against Tancred during which Constance was captured but soon released. After Tancred's death (1194) Henry was crowned king of Sicily. When he died (1197) all of Italy revolted against German rule. In order to save the throne of Sicily for her infant son Frederick (later Holy Roman emperor as Frederick II), Constance renounced the German kingship for Frederick and had him crowned (1198) king of Sicily. She was regent for her son; before her death she named Pope Innocent III his guardian.
Philip of Swabia, 1198-1208.
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Otto IV . of Brunswick, 1108-1215.
Otto IV, 1175?–1218, Holy Roman emperor (1209–15) and German king, son of Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony. He was brought up at the court of his uncle King Richard I of England, who secured his election (1198) as antiking to Philip of Swabia after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. Civil war in Germany ensued. The murder of Philip (June, 1208), who had just been recognized by Pope Innocent III as king, although not Otto's work, revived his cause; he won over the princes by submitting to a new election (Nov., 1208). By the charter of Speyer (Mar., 1209), Otto confirmed his earlier acknowledgment (1201) of the papacy's rights to the Papal States and his promise of aid in upholding papal suzerainty over Sicily. He also conceded the freedom of episcopal elections and the unrestricted right of appeal to the pope. However, no sooner was he crowned emperor (Oct., 1209) at Rome than he reverted to the Hohenstaufen policy of dominance over Italy. He seized (1210) the lands left to the church by Matilda of Tuscany. Only when he invaded Apulia and prepared to attack Sicily, however, did Innocent III excommunicate him (1210). Prompted by the pope and by King Philip II of France, some of the German nobles revolted and elected the Hohenstaufen, Frederick of Sicily (later Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II), as king. In the ensuing war Otto was supported by the nobles of the Lower Rhine and of the northeast, as well as by his uncle King John of England, but he was defeated (1214) at Bouvines by Philip II of France. The pope declared him deposed in 1215.
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Frederick II . 1212-1250.
Frederick II, 1194–1250, Holy Roman emperor (1220–50) and German king (1212–20), king of Sicily (1197–1250), and king of Jerusalem (1229–50), son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and of Constance, heiress of Sicily.
[ Henry ]. 1220-1235, Co-Regent;*deposed,died 1220.*
[ Henry Raspe of Thuringia ]. 1246-1247
[ William of Holland ]. 1247-1256.
Conrad IV . 1237-1254. Co-Regent,1237.
[ Richard of Cornwall ]. 1257-1271.
[ Alfonso X of Castille ]. 1257-1273.
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Rudolf I . 1273-1291.
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Adolf of Nassau , 1292-1298.*deposed,died,1298.*
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Albert I . 1298-1308.
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Henry VII . 1308-1313.
Henry VII , c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the electors had set aside the two main contenders, Albert's eldest son, Frederick of Austria, and the French prince Charles of Valois. By accepting Elizabeth of Bohemia's offer (1310) to marry his son, John of Luxembourg, he gained Bohemia for his house and made it the main rival to the house of Hapsburg. He secured the German princes' approval for the acquisition by lavishly distributing the imperial domain. Henry's chief concern, however, was to renew the Hohenstaufen policy of making Italy the main source of imperial power. Pope Clement V and, among others, Dante welcomed his rule as a means of ending the by now almost meaningless strife of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Entering the peninsula in 1310, Henry proclaimed himself above all parties and received the homage of leaders of both of the chief factions; in Jan., 1311, he was crowned king of the Lombards at Milan, a Guelph city. A revolt occurred in Milan, however, when Henry levied taxes on the city to support his army; although the revolt was suppressed, it drove Henry into the Ghibelline camp and precipitated war with the Guelph cities. Henry did not reach Rome until the following year, where on June 29, 1312, he was crowned Holy Roman emperor. Leaving Rome, he besieged Florence, but without success; in 1313, having allied himself with King Frederick II of Sicily, he pronounced the ban of the empire against King Robert of Naples, who opposed Henry's policy in Italy. While preparing to attack Robert, Henry died of fever. Henry VII's abortive Italian campaign only served to prove the futility of any attempt to revive the ancient imperial policy at a time when the papacy and S Italy were controlled by France and the N Italian towns were autonomous. Henry was succeeded by Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV.
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Louis IV . 1314-1346.
Louis IV or Louis the Bavarian,1287?–1347, Holy Roman emperor (1328–47) and German king (1314–47), duke of Upper Bavaria. After the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII the Luxemburg party among the electors set aside Henry's son, John of Luxemburg, because of his youth and chose Louis as rival king to Frederick the Fair. The popes Clement V and his successor John XXII refused to approve Louis's election and, claiming that the imperial throne was vacant, declared the Holy Roman Empire to be under papal rule. This doctrine fitted in well with the papacy's ambition to restore papal authority in Italy. In 1322, Louis defeated and captured Frederick at Mühldorf. Despite this victory, John XXII refused to ratify Louis's election and in 1324 excommunicated him. In 1327–30 Louis was in Italy, where he was crowned emperor by the representatives of the Roman people, and set up Pietro Rainalducci as Antipope Nicholas V. Rainalducci was soon reconciled with the pope, however, and Louis unsuccessfully attempted to reach a settlement. The failure of protracted negotiations with the papacy led (1338) to the declaration at Rhense by six electors to the effect that election by all or the majority of the electors automatically conferred the royal title and rule over the empire, without papal confirmation. Throughout his reign Louis kept adding to the possessions of his family, the house of Wittelsbach. He conferred Brandenburg on his son and added Lower Bavaria to Upper Bavaria. In 1342 he acquired Tyrol by voiding the first marriage of Margaret Maultasch and marrying her to his own son, thus alienating the house of Luxemburg. In 1346 he further antagonized the lay princes by conferring Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland upon his wife. Meanwhile, the pope, Clement VI, took advantage of the hostility to Louis and deposed him (1346), securing the election of a new German king, Charles of Luxemburg (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV). Louis was successfully resisting his rival when he was killed in a hunting accident. The controversy between Louis and the popes caused the publication of many books and pamphlets, notably the Defensor pacis by Marsilius of Padua, which supported Louis's claims. William of Occam was another of his supporters.
[ Frederick of Austria ]. 1314-1330.
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Charles IV . 1346-1378.
Charles IV, 1316–78, Holy Roman emperor (1355–78), German king (1347–78), and king of Bohemia (1346–78). The son of John of Luxemburg, Charles was educated at the French court and fought the English at Crécy, where his father's heroic death made him king of Bohemia. Pope Clement VI, to whom he had promised far-reaching concessions, helped secure his election (1346) by the imperial electors as antiking to Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV. Louis's death (1347), the popular desire for peace, which was fostered by the ravages of the Black Death (bubonic plague), and the absence of a strong leader to unite the opposition enabled Charles to make good his claim to the crown by 1349. In 1355 he journeyed to Rome, where, on Easter Sunday, he was crowned emperor by the papal legate (the pope was then residing at Avignon). His coronation with papal approval ended years of conflict between popes and emperors, during which time the imperial rulers had tried to regain control of Italy and the papacy. Although the emperors continued to be crowned at Rome, they were excluded from Italian affairs. At the same time, Charles's Golden Bull of 1356 ended papal interference in the Holy Roman Empire by eliminating the need for papal approval and confirmation of emperors. Although he had virtually renounced imperial pretensions in Italy through his treaty with Clement VI, Charles supported the plans of Urban V to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome. Charles's major concern was to strengthen his dynasty. Through skillful diplomacy he acquired Brandenburg (1373) and added to his territories in Silesia and Lusatia. He ensured the succession of his son Wenceslaus by bribing the electors to name him German king (1376). To raise the money for the bribes, he imposed even higher taxes on the cities. This led to a revolt by a league of Swabian cities. Charles obtained peace (1378) by granting concessions. During Charles's reign Bohemia flourished. His imperial capital was at Prague, where he founded (1348) Charles Univ. (the oldest in Central Europe) and rebuilt the Cathedral of St. Vitus. By introducing new agricultural methods and by expanding industries, he fostered economic life. He drew up a code of laws, the Maiestas Carolina (1350)—which, however, was rejected by the diet—and he protected the lower classes by giving them courts in which to sue their overlords. Through Charles's efforts as margrave of Moravia, Prague was elevated (1344) to an archbishopric, thus gaining ecclesiastic independence. By the Golden Bull, which strengthened the electors at the expense of the emperor, he confirmed Bohemia's internal autonomy. As Holy Roman emperor, his reputation rests mainly on the Golden Bull, which, although it confirmed the weakness of the imperial power, provided a stable constitutional foundation for its exercise.
[ Gunther of Schwarzburg ].*abdicated,died,1349.*
Wenceslaus . 1378-1400. Co-Regent 1376, deposed,died 1419.
Wenceslaus, 1361–1419, Holy Roman emperor (uncrowned) and German king (1378–1400), king of Bohemia (1378–1419) as Wenceslaus IV, elector of Brandenburg (1373–76), son and successor of Emperor Charles IV. He was, even more than his father, a Bohemian rather than German king. Although gifted, he was given to drunkenness and violent fits of temper. It was largely through his support that his half-brother Sigismund was able to take possession (1387) of Hungary. Residing in Bohemia, Wenceslaus could do little to end the conflict in Germany between the nobles and the imperial towns. In the general war from 1386 to 1389, Wenceslaus finally sided with the nobles, who were favored by the Peace of Eger (or Peace of Cheb). In the Great Schism, Wenceslaus, like his father, at first supported the Roman pope, Urban VI, but in 1398 he agreed with Charles VI of France that both rival popes should resign and a new pope be elected. The two weak monarchs were unable to execute this plan. As early as 1380, Wenceslaus's neglect of German affairs caused the princes to demand that he name a vicar for Germany. Dissatisfied with his appointment (1396) of Sigismund, they were further provoked by his entente with France and his sale (1395) of Milan as a hereditary fief to Gian Galeazzo Visconti (see under Visconti). They deposed him from the German kingship and elected (1400) Rupert of the Palatinate. Wenceslaus refused to recognize the deposition, but he retired to Bohemia; in 1411, after Rupert's death, he surrendered his claim to Germany to Sigismund. In Bohemia, Wenceslaus was early embroiled with the nobles and higher clergy, especially with the archbishop of Prague. Constant civil war with the nobles twice led to Wenceslaus's imprisonment (1394, 1402–3); Sigismund was both times involved in the plot. As an enemy of the higher clergy, Wenceslaus supported John Huss, the Czech religious reformer. The Decree of Kutna Hora (1409), which gave the Czechs preponderance in voting for the rector of the Univ. of Prague led to the election of Huss as rector. The king attempted to prevent the burning of the writings of John Wyclif and the termination of Huss's preaching and sought to persuade John XXIII (see Cossa, Baldassare) to suspend proceedings against Huss. When the interdict was laid on Prague (1412), he persuaded the reformer to leave the city, but continued to support him covertly. Wenceslaus avoided suppressing the national and religious outburst that followed the burning of Huss, but pressure from Sigismund, then German king, and the rise of the radical Hussite leader John Zizka cooled his feelings toward the Hussites. The reform took on a rebellious character, and after serious riots several town councilors appointed by the king were thrown from the windows of the town hall (the first Defenestration of Prague, July 30, 1419) and were killed. Wenceslaus died shortly afterward and was succeeded by Sigismund as king of Bohemia. The Hussite Wars prevented Sigismund from being accepted as king until 1436.
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Rupert of Palatinate . 1400-1410.
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Sigismund . 1410-1437.
Sigismund (sij'ismund, sig'–) 1368–1437, Holy Roman Emperor (1433–37), German king (1410–37), king of Hungary (1387–1437) and of Bohemia (1419–37), elector of Brandenburg (1376–1415), son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
[ Jobst of Moravia ]. 1410-1411.
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Albert II . 1438-1439.
Frederick III . 1440-1493.
Frederick III, 1415–93, Holy Roman emperor (1452–93) and German king (1440–93). With his brother Albert VI he inherited the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. He became head of the house of Hapsburg at the death (1439) of his distant cousin Albert II, whom he was elected (1440) to succeed as German king. Although Frederick was generally a weak ruler, he made considerable progress toward reuniting the Hapsburg family lands under his own branch. On Albert II's death Frederick became guardian for his young son Ladislaus Posthumus (see Ladislaus V) and regent of Austria for Ladislaus. In Bohemia and Hungary, however, he was unable to establish himself as regent for Ladislaus. In 1453 he temporarily lost Austria when he was forced to give up the youth. After the death (1457) of Ladislaus, Frederick relinquished Bohemia to George of Podebrad and Hungary to Matthias Corvinus. In Austria, his succession to Ladislaus as duke was challenged by his brother, but Albert's death (1463) left Frederick with an undisputed claim. In 1485, Matthias Corvinus, who had invaded Bohemia and Austria, occupied Vienna, and Frederick was forced to abandon his hereditary lands. However, longevity again proved an advantage; Matthias died in 1490, and Frederick recovered his possessions. In his relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Frederick was guided by his secretary, the brilliant Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II). In return for his support of Pope Eugene IV against Antipope Felix V (see Amadeus VIII), Frederick was promised an imperial coronation at Rome and various subsidies and revenues. He was the last emperor crowned at Rome. Frederick's greatest success was his acquisition of Burgundy, including the Netherlands and Belgium, for the house of Hapsburg. In 1473 at an interview at Trier with Charles the Bold of Burgundy, Frederick attempted to arrange the marriage of his son, later King Maximilian I, to Charles's daughter Mary of Burgundy. However, he was not prepared to meet Charles's demands and the negotiations ended abruptly. In 1477, soon after the defeat and death of Charles at Nancy, the marriage of Maximilian and the Burgundian heiress nevertheless took place and netted Austria a huge and cheap prize. This alliance set the pattern for the subsequent marriages and successions through which the Hapsburgs came to dominate a large part of the globe. In 1486, Maximilian was elected king of the Romans, or German king, and after 1490, Frederick resigned most of his duties to his son. The anagram AEIOU, inscribed on Frederick's personal possessions, has traditionally been explained as signifying Austria est imperare orbi universo [Lat.,=it is Austria's destiny to rule the whole world] or Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan [Ger.,=all the earth is subject to Austria].
Maximilian I . 1493-1519. Co-Regent,1486.
Maximilian I, 1459–1519, Holy Roman emperor and German king (1493–1519), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. As emperor, he aspired to restore forceful imperial leadership and inaugurate much-needed administrative reforms in the increasingly decentralized empire. In both domestic and foreign policy, however, he sacrificed the interests of Germany as a whole to the aggrandizement of the Hapsburg possessions.
Charles V . 1519-1558.*abdicated,died 1558.*
Charles V, 1500–1558, Holy Roman emperor (1519–58) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516–56); son of Philip I and Joanna of Castile, grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragón, Isabella of Castile, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Mary of Burgundy.
Ferdinand I . 1558-1564.
Ferdinand I, 1503–64, Holy Roman emperor (1558–64), king of Bohemia (1526–64) and of Hungary (1526–64), younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Brought up in Spain, he was expected to succeed his grandfather, Ferdinand II of Aragón, who, instead, made Charles his heir. In 1521, Charles gave him the Austrian duchies of the Hapsburgs. In the same year Ferdinand married Anna, daughter of Uladislaus II, king of Hungary and Bohemia, in fulfillment of a treaty (1515) between his grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Uladislaus II. When Anna's brother Louis II, who succeeded to the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary on his father's death (1516), was killed at the battle of Mohacs (1526), Ferdinand claimed the succession. He was elected king of Bohemia, but in Hungary he met the rival claim of John I (John Zapolya), supported by Sultan Sulayman I. John's claims were inherited by his son John Sigismund (king as John II). The sporadic warfare in Hungary was indecisive, except that Ferdinand had to pay tribute to the sultan for the strip of NW Hungary that he was allowed to keep with the royal title. In Bohemia, Ferdinand laid the groundwork for Hapsburg absolutism by virtually abrogating (1547) the prerogatives of the diet and the towns; he also began the reconversion of the kingdom to Catholicism by calling in the Jesuits. In Germany, Ferdinand increasingly acted as agent of Charles V, who in 1531 had him elected king of the Romans, which insured Ferdinand's succession as Holy Roman emperor. He had to deal with the Peasants' War and with the rebellions stirred up by Ulrich I, dispossessed duke of Württemberg, where Ferdinand was unpopular as governor. Ulrich secured the aid of Philip of Hesse and defeated Ferdinand at Lauffen (1534). Ferdinand was obliged to restore the duchy to Ulrich. In the war against the Protestant Schmalkaldic League (1546–47), Ferdinand was an important figure. Though a devout Catholic, Ferdinand was less committed against the Reformation than Charles V. When Charles's triumph against the league was turned to defeat by the betrayal of Maurice, elector of Saxony, Ferdinand acted as mediator in making the Treaty of Passau (1552), and in 1555 he negotiated a religious truce at Augsburg (see Augsburg, Peace of). Charles had practically surrendered the government of the empire to Ferdinand by 1556, although formal abdication was not complete until 1558. At the end of his reign, Ferdinand still hoped that the reconvened Council of Trent would bring about a union of the churches. He was succeeded by his son, Maximilian II, who had been crowned king of Bohemia (1562) and king of Hungary (1563) and had been elected king of the Romans (1562) before Ferdinand's death.
Maximilian II . 1564-1576.
Maximilian II, 1527–76, Holy Roman emperor (1564–76), king of Bohemia (1562–76) and of Hungary (1563–76), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Before acceding he evidenced a sympathy for Lutheranism that caused grave concern in imperial and papal circles and led Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to urge that his son King Philip II of Spain succeed Ferdinand. However, Maximilian yielded and in 1562 swore to remain a Catholic and to allow his immediate heirs to be educated in Spain. He thereupon was elected king of the Romans, or Holy Roman emperor-elect (1562), and king of Hungary (1563). On Ferdinand's death (1564) he took full direction of imperial affairs. He obtained funds from the diet for the defense of Austria against the Turks but did not press his advantage, and by the truce of 1568 with Selim II he agreed to continue paying tribute to the sultan for his part of Hungary. Maximilian granted a large degree of religious toleration in his Bohemian and Austrian possessions. His policy of neutrality, however, also allowed the Counter Reformation to make considerable gains in some parts of the empire. A candidate for the throne of Poland to succeed Henry of Anjou (Henry III of France), he was elected (1575) by the Polish diet as rival king to Stephen Báthory. Maximilian died, refusing the sacraments, while preparing to invade Poland. His son succeeded him as Rudolf II.
Rudolf II . 1576-1612.
Rudolf II, 1552–1612, Holy Roman emperor (1576–1612), king of Bohemia (1575–1611) and of Hungary (1572–1608), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Acceding to the Hapsburg lands, he reversed his father's tolerant policy toward Protestantism and gave assistance to the Counter Reformation. Although Rudolf was a learned man, he was incapable of ruling because he was plagued by melancholy and later became subject to occasional fits of insanity. Other members of his family began to intervene in imperial affairs. Following a revolt in Hungary (1604–6) by Stephen Bocskay and his Ottoman allies, most of the actual ruling power passed to Rudolf's brother Matthias; the revolt was provoked by Rudolf's attempt to impose Roman Catholicism in Hungary. In 1608, Matthias forced Rudolf to cede Hungary, Austria, and Moravia to him. Seeking to gain the support of the Bohemian estates, Rudolf issued (1609) a royal charter that guaranteed religious freedom to the nobles and cities. This effort was in vain, and Rudolf was forced to give up Bohemia to Matthias in 1611. Rudolf's turbulent reign was a prelude to the Thirty Years War.
Matthias . 1612-1619.
Matthias, 1557–1619, Holy Roman emperor (1612–19), king of Bohemia (1611–17) and of Hungary (1608–18), son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. He was appointed governor of Austria (1593) by his brother, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. He formed a close association there with the bishop of Vienna, Melchior Klesl, who later became his chief adviser. In 1605, Matthias forced the ailing emperor to allow him to deal with the Hungarian Protestant rebels. The result was the Peace of Vienna (1606), which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. In the same year Matthias was recognized as head of the house of Hapsburg and as future Holy Roman emperor, as a result of Rudolf's illness. Allying himself with the estates of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia, Matthias forced (1608) his brother to yield rule of these lands to him; Rudolf later ceded (1611) Bohemia. After Matthias's accession as Holy Roman emperor, his policy was dominated by Klesl, who hoped to bring about a compromise between Catholic and Protestant states within the empire in order to strengthen it. Matthias had already been forced to grant religious concessions to Protestants in Austria and Moravia, as well as in Hungary, when he had allied with them against Rudolf. His conciliatory policies were opposed by the more intransigent Catholic Hapsburgs, particularly Matthias's brother Archduke Maximilian, who hoped to secure the succession for the inflexible Catholic archduke Ferdinand (later Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II). The start of the Bohemian Protestant revolt in 1618 provoked Maximilian to imprison Klesl and revise his policies. Matthias, old and ailing, was unable to prevent a takeover by Maximilian's faction. Ferdinand, who had already been crowned king of Hungary (1617) and of Bohemia (1618), succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman emperor.
Ferdinard II . 1619-1637.
Ferdinand II, 1578–1637, Holy Roman emperor (1619–37), king of Bohemia (1617–37) and of Hungary (1618–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias. Grandson of Ferdinand I, son of Archduke Charles of Styria, Ferdinand was educated by the Jesuits and supported the Counter Reformation. He was chosen successor to Matthias and became, before the emperor's death, king of Bohemia and Hungary. His Catholicism, however, alienated the Bohemian nobles, who rebelled (1618) and chose (1619) Frederick V (Frederick the Winter King), elector palatine, as their ruler. This began the Thirty Years War. The Bohemians at first were successful and pressed upon Vienna, but Ferdinand, allied with Maximilian I of Bavaria and the Catholic League, won back Bohemia in 1620 in the battle of the White Mt. War continued in the Palatinate. In Hungary, Gabriel Bethlen was successful in opposing Ferdinand in 1619 and 1620, but after the defeat of the Bohemians a peace was signed (1621). During the Danish phase (1625–29) of the Thirty Years War, Tilly, commander of the Catholic League, and Wallenstein, head of the imperial army, defeated the Danes, and a favorable peace was made with Denmark. Ferdinand, then at the height of his power, issued (1629) the Edict of Restitution, ordering the restoration of ecclesiastical property secularized after 1552. That further antagonized the Protestant princes, but they did not take up arms. At that time, however, Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus) of Sweden, a Protestant, came into the war. Ferdinand in 1630 had dismissed Wallenstein under pressure from the princes of the empire, who felt the general was becoming too powerful. In 1632, however, after a series of defeats, Wallenstein was restored. He was later suspected of treason and dismissed. In 1634, Wallenstein was assassinated, almost certainly at the instigation of Ferdinand. The battle of Nördlingen marked the resurgence of the imperialists, but the war was wrecking Germany and the house of Hapsburg. The Peace of Prague (1635), the last important act of the irresolute Ferdinand, did not end the fighting. The war reached its unhappy conclusion in the reign of his son, Ferdinand III.
Ferdinard III . 1637-1657.
Ferdinand III, 1608–57, Holy Roman emperor (1637–57), king of Hungary (1626–57) and of Bohemia (1627–57), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. After the dismissal and assassination (1634) of the imperial commander Wallenstein, Ferdinand became nominal leader of the imperial forces in the Thirty Years War, but it was the imperial general Gallas who was responsible for the successes that culminated in the victory of Nördlingen (1634). After Ferdinand's accession, however, the war took a disastrous turn. Although anxious for peace, Ferdinand rejected the early peace proposals, but in 1648 he had to assent to the treaties negotiated at Münster and Osnabrück (see Westphalia, Peace of), which virtually ended the central power of the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor and his successors were left only the shadow of the imperial dignity, and their power was restricted to the hereditary Hapsburg dominions. In these dominions—a vast enough empire in themselves—Ferdinand devoted the rest of his reign to healing the wounds of war and to continuing administrative reforms. He was succeeded by his son, Leopold I.
Leopold I . 1658-1705.
Leopold I, 1640–1705, Holy Roman emperor (1658–1705), king of Bohemia (1656–1705) and of Hungary (1655–1705), second son and successor of Ferdinand III. Upon his elder brother's death (1654), Leopold, who had been educated for the church, became Ferdinand's heir. During his reign the Holy Roman Empire was menaced by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in the east and by King Louis XIV of France in the west. The Turkish invasions of Hungary were temporarily checked by the imperial commander Montecucculi, but by the Treaty of Vasvar (1664) the Turks kept their conquests and their suzerainty over Transylvania. In the west, Leopold joined the anti-French coalition in the third (1672–78) of the Dutch Wars. A revolt in Hungary against Hapsburg rule reopened war with the Ottomans, who supported the rebel leader Thököly. The Turks besieged Vienna (1683), which Leopold saved with the aid of King John III of Poland and the imperial general Charles V of Lorraine. Other victories followed. However, Leopold's attempts to stop French aggression divided his energies and postponed the successful conclusion of war with the Turks. In 1686 he formed a defensive alliance against France known as the League of Augsburg. In 1688, Louis XIV invaded the Palatinate and war broke out (see Grand Alliance, War of the). The Treaty of Ryswick with Louis XIV temporarily halted French expansion. In the east the triumph of Eugene of Savoy over the Turks at Zenta (1697) led to the Treaty of Karlowitz by which Leopold obtained nearly all of Hungary. War with France over the succession to the Spanish throne ensued in 1701 (see Spanish Succession, War of the). After Leopold's death the war continued under Joseph I, his son and successor. During Leopold's reign Vienna became a cultural center. His particular interest was music, and he was a fair composer.
Joseph I . 1705-1711.
Joseph I, 1678–1711, Holy Roman emperor (1705–11), king of Hungary (1687–1711) and of Bohemia (1705–11), son and successor of Leopold I. Joseph became Holy Roman emperor in the midst of the War of the Spanish Succession and died before it ended. He vigorously supported the claim of his brother (who succeeded him as Charles VI) to the Spanish throne. During his reign Hungary was in revolt under Francis II Rákóczy, but by 1711 the rebellion had been quelled. Joseph made some attempts at internal reform. A musician and an admirer of art, he encouraged cultural life in Vienna.
Charles VI . 1711-1740. *Interregnum, 1740-1742.*
Charles VI, 1685–1740, Holy Roman emperor (1711–40), king of Bohemia (1711–40) and, as Charles III, king of Hungary (1712–40); brother and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Charles was the last Holy Roman emperor of the direct Hapsburg line. In 1700 he was designated successor in Spain to King Charles II, who was childless. On his deathbed, however, Charles II left his throne to Philip of Anjou (Philip V), grandson of King Louis XIV of France; Philip was proclaimed king in Nov., 1700. War broke out immediately against Louis XIV and Philip (see Spanish Succession, War of the). Although Charles, with the aid of British troops, invaded Spain and proclaimed himself king as Charles III in 1704, he was able to maintain himself only in Catalonia, with his capital at Barcelona. When Charles's brother Joseph I died (1711), Charles succeeded him as Holy Roman emperor. His accession led to England's withdrawal from the war since the English did not wish to see the reunification of the empire of Charles V. A treaty (see Utrecht, Peace of; 1713) was signed between France and Charles's former allies, Holland and England. Charles continued fighting. He finally concluded peace in 1714. By the terms of the peace Philip V remained king of Spain and Charles received most of the Spanish possessions in the Low Countries and in Italy. Philip's subsequent attempt to overthrow the settlement in Italy resulted (1718) in the formation of the Quadruple Alliance against him. The war was ended by the Treaty of The Hague (1720), which repeated the terms of 1713–14, except that Charles obtained Sicily from Savoy in exchange for Sardinia. In E Europe, Charles continued to defend his lands against Turkish invasions (1716–18). In a campaign against the Turks the imperial commander Eugene of Savoy obtained for Hungary the Banat and N Serbia. Charles was later forced to return these lands to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) after several defeats in the Turkish war of 1736–39. Near the end of his reign in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–35) Charles was again involved in a conflict with France and Spain. By the Treaty of Vienna (1738) he was forced to give up Sicily and Naples to Spain, but received Parma and Piacenza. Since Charles had no male heirs, one of his chief concerns was to secure the succession to the Hapsburg lands for his daughter, Maria Theresa. His last years were spent in an effort to win European approval of the pragmatic sanction of 1713, which made Maria Theresa his heir. Although the Pragmatic Sanction was guaranteed by the Treaty of Vienna, the succession was contested on his death (see Austrian Succession, War of the). Charles was a patron of learning and the arts, particularly of music. A mercantilist, he encouraged commerce and industry.
( HOUSE OF WITTLESBACH )
Charles VII . 1742-1745.
Charles VII, 1697–1745, Holy Roman emperor (1742–45) and, as Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria (1726–45). Having married a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, he refused to recognize the pragmatic sanction of 1713 by which Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (his wife's uncle) reserved the succession to the Hapsburg lands for his daughter, Maria Theresa. On Charles VI's death (1740) he advanced his own claim and joined with Frederick II (of Prussia), France, Spain, and Saxony to attack Maria Theresa. In 1742 he was elected Holy Roman emperor, but Bavaria was overrun by Austrian troops. Shortly before his death he regained his territories. Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, was elected Emperor to succeed him.
( HOUSE OF HABSBURG-LORRAINE )
Francis I . of Lorraine, 1745-1765.,
married Maria Theresa, daughter of last
Habsburg, Emperor Charles VI. Francis I, 1708–65, Holy Roman Emperor (1745–65), duke of Lorraine (1729–37) as Francis Stephen, grand duke of Tuscany (1737–65), husband of Archduchess Maria Theresa. He succeeded his father in Lorraine, but agreed (1735) to cede his duchy to Stanislaus I of Poland to end the War of the Polish Succession, in exchange he received the right of succession to Tuscany. In 1736 he married Maria Theresa, heiress to all Hapsburg lands. Francis succeeded (1737) the last Medici ruler of Tuscany and carried out several long-needed reforms. In 1740, Maria Theresa acceded to her inheritance, which was immediately contested in the War of the Austrian Succession, by an alliance under Frederick II of Prussia. The election (Sept., 1745) of Francis to succeed Charles VII as emperor was recognized by Frederick in the Treaty of Dresden (Dec., 1745) with Maria Theresa. Francis I governed little; the real rulers were Maria Theresa and chancellor Kaunitz. Founder of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine, Francis was succeeded as Holy Roman emperor by his eldest son, Joseph II, and as grand duke of Tuscany by his younger son, Leopold (later Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II).
Joseph II . 1765-1790.
Joseph II, 1741–90, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–90), king of Bohemia and Hungary (1780–90), son of Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, whom he succeeded. He was the first emperor of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine.
Leopold II . 1790-1792.
Leopold II, 1747–92, Holy Roman emperor (1790–92), king of Bohemia and Hungary (1790–92), as Leopold I grand duke of Tuscany (1765–90), third son of Maria Theresa. Succeeding his father, Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, in Tuscany, Leopold reorganized the Tuscan government, abolished torture and the death penalty, equalized taxation, and sought to gain control over the church. When Leopold succeeded (1790) his brother Joseph II as emperor and as ruler of the Hapsburg lands, he took over a nearly disrupted state. To pacify his subjects in the Austrian Netherlands (see Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish), in Hungary, and in Bohemia, he repealed most of Joseph's reforms. Unlike Joseph, he had himself crowned king at Pozsony in Hungary (now Bratislava) and at Prague in Bohemia; he was the last crowned king of Bohemia. Having reached an agreement (1790) with Frederick William II of Prussia, who wished to prevent Austrian expansion in the east and was about to side with the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in its war against Russia and Austria, Leopold abandoned his alliance with the Russian czarina, Catherine II. He concluded a separate peace treaty at Sistova (1791) with Turkey by which the pre-war borders were substantially restored. Leopold's troops marched into the Austrian Netherlands and suppressed the Belgian insurrection in 1790. Although he hoped to avoid war with revolutionary France, Leopold instigated (1791) the Declaration of Pillnitz, by which the emperor and the king of Prussia stated that if all other European powers would join them, they were prepared to restore Louis XVI to his lawful powers by force. Contrary to his expectations, this declaration was a basic cause of the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars a few weeks after Leopold's death. Leopold was succeeded by his son, Francis II. Leopold II is generally considered a ruler of outstanding diplomatic and administrative abilities.
Francis II . 1792-1806.
Francis II, 1768–1835, king of Bohemia and of Hungary (1792–1835). He succeeded his father, Leopold II, shortly before the outbreak of war with France. Francis's armies were eventually defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte; by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) Francis ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France but obtained Venetia and Dalmatia. In 1798 he joined the Second Coalition against France, was again defeated, and in the Treaty of Lunéville (1801), Francis abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor, on the 6th of August, 1806. thus formally breaking his Imperial Oaths, becomes Emperor of Austria from 1804-1835. *Start of the long dormant Interregnum. *6th of August, 1806*. After the Austrian rout at Austerlitz, Francis assumed the title Emperor of Austria in 1804. In 1809 he again declared war on Napoleon, now Emperor Napoleon I, who was embroiled in difficulties in Spain. Francis's brother, Archduke Charles, defeated Napoleon at Aspern, but was crushed at Wagram. Napoleon entered Vienna and imposed on Francis the Peace of Schönbrunn, in which Austria was forced to give up Galicia, Istria, and part of Dalmatia, and to join Napoleon's Continental System. In 1810, Francis's daughter, Marie Louise, married Napoleon. This marriage was engineered by Metternich, who from 1809 dominated Austrian politics. In Aug., 1813, Francis joined Russia, Prussia, and England in their war against Napoleon. He presided (1814–15) over the Congress of Vienna in which Austria, through Metternich's diplomacy, emerged as the leading power in Europe. Francis was a chief architect of the Holy Alliance. The events of his early reign shaped his later reactionary views, and he instituted severe repressive measures throughout the empire.
( HOUSE OF WETTINBERG )
de jure Charles VIII . 1999-
His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Karl Friedrich von Deutschland
Duke of Swabia, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg,
de jure Emperor and King of Germany,
*End of the long dormant Interregnum*
*1st of September, 1999.*
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(Above)
Map The Holy Roman Empire of The German Nation
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THE STATISTCAL SURVEY OF
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
BEFORE THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
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(A)THE IMPERIAL ELECTORAL STATES OF THE EMPIRE
(1) Austria within the Reich (Austrian Circle and Swabian possesions, Bohemia and Burgundian Circle), 3534 Q.M.; 9,126,404 inhabitants.
Austrian Territory outside the Reich (Hungary, Illyria, Transylvania, Bukovina, East and West Galicia, Lombardy), 8105 Q.M.; 14,051,000 inhabitants.
Towns with 20,000 inhabitants and over: Vienna (226,000) Milan (119,000), Brussels (80,000), Prague (75,000), Antwerp (60,000), Ofen and Pest (35,000), Graz, Trieste (30,000), Dobreczyn (25,000), Laibbach, Lemberg (20,000).
(2)Prussia within the Reich, 1646 Q.M.; 2,756,600 inhabitants.
Prussia Territory outside the Reich (Kingdom of Prussia,
Polish acquisitions, Silesia, Neufchatel), 3685 Q.M.;
4,890,000 inhabitants.Towns with 20,000 and over: Berlin (143,000), Warsaw (67,000),Konigsberg (60,000), Breslau (57,600), Danzig (36,000), Potsdam (26,700), Magdeburg (26,300), Halle (20,000).
(3) Bavaria with the Palatinate (Kurpfalz), 1028 Q.M., 2,204,700 inhabitants. Towns: Munich (50,000), Mannheim (23,000). of the rest only Dusseldorf (18,000), Elberfeld (14,000), and Heidelberg (11,000) had a population of over 10,000.
(4) Saxony, 708 Q.M.; 2,104,320 inhabitants.
Towns: Dresden (50,000), Leipzig (33,000). Four more towns had a population of 10,000 or slightly over, Naumburg, Zittau, Chemnitz, Freiberg.
(5) Brunswick with Luneburg, 514 Q.M.; 787,200 inhabitants.
Town: Hanover (15,500). no other town had 10,000 inhabitants.
(6) Mainz (Kur-Mainz), 171 Q.M.; 224,734 inhabitants.
Town: Mainz (30,000).
(7) Treves (Kur-Trier), 110 Q.M.; 280,000 inhabitants.
(8) Cologne (Kur-Koln), 130 Q.M.; 198,000 inhabitants.
(B) SPIRITUAL MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE OF PRINCES
OF THE EMPIRE
(Area in Q.M. in Brackets.)
Archbishopric of Salzburg (180), Bishoprics of Munster (230), Liege (105), Wurzburg (90), Trient (70), Bamberg (65), Osnabruck (56), Paderborn (55), Augsburg (54), Hildesheim (54), Fulda (37), Speyer (28), Eichstadt (22), Basel (20), Brixen (17), Passau (15), Strassburg (13), Freisingen (13),
Regensburg (6), Constance (5), Worms (5), Lubeck (1), Order of Hoch-und Deutschmeister (6), Prince-Abbots lands of Kempton (16), Berchtesgaden (10), Corvey (6), Ellwangen (5). the Estimated total polulation of these spiritual lands: was over two and a quarter millions.
(C) LAY PRINCES OF THE EMPIRE
(1) Old Dynasties.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 240 Q.M.; 240,000 inhabitants, (Schwerin, 10,000).
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 60 Q.M.; 60,000 inhabitants.
Hessen-Cassel, 156 Q.M.; 434,499 inhabitants. (Cassel 18,560; Hanau, 11,000).
Hessen-Darmstadt, 104 Q.M.; 655,685 inhabitants. (Darmstadt, 9,500; Pirmasens, 9,000).
Hessen-Homburg, 2 Q.M.; 7,000 inhabitants.
Holstein, 175 Q.M.; 320,000 inhabitants. (Altona, 20,000).
Wurttemberg, 150 Q.M.; 608,667 inhabitants. (Stuttgart, 18,000).
Sachsen-Weimar und Eisenach, 36 Q.M.; 106,400 inhabitants. (Weimar,7500).
Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg, 55 Q.M.; 165,000 inhabitants. (Gotha, 11,430).
Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld, 18 Q.M.; 56,953 inhabitants.
Sachsen-Meiningen, 16 Q.M.; 51,000 inhabitants.
Sachsen-Hildburghausen, 11 Q.M.; 31,800 inhabitants.
Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel, 94 Q.M.; 166,340 inhabitants. (Brunswick, 26,000).
Schwedisch-oder Vorpommern, 70 Q.M.; 104,748 inhabitants. (Stralsund, 11,000).
Baden, 64 Q.M.; 194,118 inhabitants. (Carlsruhe, 9,000).
Anhalt-Dessau, 20 Q.M.; 37,700 inhabitants.
Anhalt-Bernburg, 16 Q.M.; 30,000 inhabitants.
Anhalt-Cothen, 16 Q.M.; 30,000 inhabitants.
Oldenburg, 45 Q.M.; 95,000 inhabitants.
Arenberg, 55-56 Q.M.; 42,000 inhabitants.
(2) New Dynasties.
Seventeen are mentioned, ranging from Nassau-Orange-Deiz, with 48 Q.M. and 97,000 inhabitants, to Lichtenstein, with 3 Q.M. and 6000 inhabitants. Total area of these Principalities, about 200 Q.M.; population about 560,000.
(D) IMPERIAL COUNTS OF THE EMPIRE (REICHSGRAFEN)
(1) Wetterauisches Grafencollegium; thirty-one members, with about 125 Q.m. of land in all.
(2) Schwabisches Grafencollegium; thirteen members, with about 95 Q.M.
(3) Frankisches Grafencollegium; twenty-one members, with about 90 Q.M.
(4) Westphalisches Grafencollegium; thirty members. (total area unascertainable).
(E) REICHSSTIFTER
(1) Twenty-seven Swabian Prelates.
(2) Fifteen Prelates of the Rhine, with territory ranging from 6 Q.M. to half Q.M.
(F) IMPERIAL FREE TOWNS OF THE EMPIRE (REICHSSTADTE)
(1) Rheinische Bank (fourteen towns). (Population, in thousands, in brackets). Hamburg (150), Cologne, Frankfort-on-Main (50), Lubeck (42), Bremen (40), Aix-la-chapelle (27), Muhlhausen (13), Nordhausen (10), Gosler (9), Wetzlar (8), Dortmund, Worms (6), Speyer (5), Friedberg (3).
(2) Schwabische Bank (thirty-six towns). (Population, in thousands, in brackets). Nurnberg (70 in Republic, 30 in town), Ulm (37), Augsburg (36), Rothenburg (26), Ratisbon (Regensburg) (21), Schwabisch-Hall (16), Schwabisch-Gmund (14), Esslingen, Memmingen (11), Heilbronn, Reutlingen (10), Biberach (9), Nordlingen (7), Kaufbeuren (6-8), Dinkelsbuhl (6-5), Uberlingen (6-3), Lindau, Weissenburg (6); and the following, in order of size, with less than 500: Windsheim, Ravensburg, Schweinfurt, Kempten, Zell-am-Hammersbach, Wangen, Gengenbach, Offenburg, Giengen, Pfullendorf, Weil, Wimpfen, Leutkirchen, Bopfingen, Buchhorn, Isny, Buchau (1).
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THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
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The word imperium appears in official documents of Otto I, but it denotes the imperial power, not the territory.After Henry II's death some Italian magnates offered the crown of Italy to the son of the duke of Aquitaine, and swore to help him acquire the "imperium" of the Romans; here, the word meant the title itself. One has to wait until Conrad II to find Romanum imperium used to designate the lands ruled by the emperor (documents of 1034 and 1038). Curiously, the expression Romana res publica is used with the same meaning contemporaneously. The use of the phrase Romanum imperium remains rare under Henry II (in 1049, 1053) and successors until Frederic I. It is however, occasionally used in non-official documents, such a letters, chronicles, even Papal encyclicals (in 1076). At the same time, one finds the expression Romanum regnum (Roman realm) in an official document of 1041. In 1045, the signature of the emperor is described as signum regis invictissimi Henrici tertii, Burgundiorum primi, Romanorum secundi. Correspondingly, the title Rex Romanorum makes its apparition in 1040, and is officially adopted in the Intitulatio in 1041 and in the monogram in 1043. The use of Romanum imperium becomes considerably more frequent under Frederic I Barbarossa (in 1152, 1155, 1157-9,1162), In 1157, one finds a concurrent use of sacrum imperium et diva res publica (holy empire and holy commonwealth). The phrase sacrum imperium is found again in 1161, 1164, 1174, 1184-6. In 1159, one finds sacratissimum imperium, a phrase occasionally encountered until Otto IV. The two expressions Romanum imperium and sacrum imperium are used concurrently in official documents for a century, but one does not find the two together until 1254: sacrum Romanum imperium. From that date, the new phrase never falls out of use although the shorter formulas continue to be used commonly. Official documents in the German language show the phrase heiliges Reich or Römisches Reich frequently in documents of Ludwig of Bavaria, but heiliges Römisches Reich is rare; it first appears in 1340. It becomes common with Charles IV (1347). The last transformation of the official name of the Empire took place in the late 15th c. A Reformation issued at the Reichstag of Frankfurt in 1442 speaks of dem heiligen Römischen Reich und Deutschen Landern. A similar phrase appears at the Reichstag of 1471: des heiligen Römischen Reichs und der widrigen Teutschen Nation (in Latin: sacri Romani imperii ac celeberrimae nationis Germanicae), and in the Landsfriede of Nürnberg of 1487: dem heiligen Reiche und deutscher Nation, the Landsfriede of 1486: das Römische Reich Teutscher Nation, the Worms diet of 1497: das heilige Reich Teutscher Nation, and the Köln diet of 1512: des heiligen Römischen Reichs Teutscher Nation. The phrase entered the Wahlkapitulation of 1519, by which the emperor promised to reside within dem heiligen Römischen Reiche Teutscher Nation. From the late 16th c. to the 18th c. jurists debated the meaning of the phrase. Other early 16th c. documents suggest that it originally may have meant the German part of the Empire, with deutsche Nation in opposition to fremde Nation. Interestingly, the debate in the 17th c. was whether the phrase meant that Germany happened to be an empire, or whether the Empire happened to be located mainly in Germany. Increasingly, jurists and writers used the phrase imperium Romano-Germanicum. Significantly, the final acts of the Holy Roman Empire, namely the Reichsdeputationshauptschluß of 1803, the note of the French ambassador of August 1, 1806 and the abdication of Francis II, all use the phrase Deutsches Reich (confederation germanique) rather than the formal title.
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THE HISTORY OF THE IMPERIAL TITLES OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
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This subject is a great deal wider and intricate than people may understand so here is a brief statement concerning the aforementioned subject, for the practice of the Germanic Emperors varied so greatly concerning their Imperial Titles and Styles. (I). Titles of the Emperors, Charles the Great styled himself 'Carolus serenissimus Augustus, a Deo coronatus, magnus et pacificus imperator, Romanum(or Romanorum) gubernans imperium, qui et per misericordiam Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum'. Subsequent Carolingian Emperors were usually entitled simply 'Imperator Augustus'. Somtimes 'rex Francorum et Langobardorum' was added. Conrad I, and Henry I, (the Fowler) were only German Kings. A Saxon Emperor was, before his coronation at Rome, 'rex', or 'rex Francorium Orientalium', or 'Francorum atque Saxonum rex;' after it, simply 'Imperator Augustus'. Otto III, is usually said to have introduced the form 'Romanorum Imperator Augustus,' but some authorities state that it occurs in the documents of the time of Lewis I. Henry II and his successors, not daring to take the Title of Emperor till they were crowned at Rome (in conformity with with the superstitious notion which had begun with Charles the Bald), but anxious to Claim the Sovereignty of Rome, as indissolubly attached to the German Crown, began to call themselves 'reges Romanorum'. The Title did not, however, become common or regular till the time of Henry IV, in whose proclamations (issued before his Roman Coronation) it occurs constantly. From the eleventh century till th sixteenth, the invariable practice was for the Monarch to be called 'Romanorum rex semper Augustus', till his formal Coronation at Rome by the Pope; after it, 'Romanorum Imperator semper Augustus'. In the year 1508, Maximilian I, being refused a passage to Rome by the Venetians, obtained a Papal Bull from Pope Julius II permitting him to call himself 'Imperator Electus'(erwahlter Kaiser). This Imperial Title Ferinand I (brother of Emperor Charles V) and all succeeding Holy Roman Emperors take immediately upon their Imperial German Coronation, and it is still their strict legal designation and Title. It was Maximilian who added the Title of 'Germania rex', which had never been known before , although the phrase 'rex Germanorum' maybe found employed once or twice in early times. The Titles of 'Rex Teutonicorum,' and 'regnum Teutonicum,' occur often in the tenth and eleventh centuries. A great many Titles of less consequence were added from time to time, the Emperor Charles the Fifth had over seventy-five Titles alone, some of course belonging to his vast Hereditary possessions inside and outside the Empire. The Imperial Title of King of the Romans (Romischer Konig)came into formal use in the reign of Henry II, when the German Monarch began to entitle himself 'Romanorum rex'. Now it was not uncommon in the middle ages for the heir-apparent to a throne to be Crowned during his fathers lifetime, that at the death of the latter he might step at once into his place. This plan was specially useful in an elective monarchy, such as Germany was after the twelfth century, for it avoided the delays and dangers of an election while the throne was vacant. But it seemed against the order of nature to have two Emperors at once, and as the sovereigns authority in Germany depended not on the Roman but on the German coronation, the practice came to be that each Emperor during his own life procured, if he could, the election of his successor, who was crowned at Aachen, in later times at Frankfort, and took the title of 'King of the Romans'. During the presence of the Emperor in Germany he exercised no more authority than a Prince of Wales does in England, but on the Emperors death he succeeded at once, without any second election or coronation, and assumed after the time of Ferdinand I, the title of 'Emperor Elect'. Before Ferdinands time, he would have been expected to go to Rome to be crowned there. While the Hapsburgs held the sceptre, each monarch generally contrived in this way to have his son or some other near relative chosen to succeed him. But many were foiled in their attempts to do so; and, in some cases, an election was held after the Emperors death, according to the rules laid down in the Golden Bull. The First person who thus became King of Romans in the lifetime of an Emperor seems to have been Henry VI, son of Frederick I.
The Qualifications of The Holy Roman Emperor,the Emperor had to be a worthy man, aged 18 or more, reside in the Empire, be of noble birth (all four grandparents had to be noble, according to the Schwabenspiegel), and of lay status (this was not explicitly stated). No law required that he be Catholic, and, although the text in a number of laws assumes that the emperor is Catholic, jurists saw no obstacle to the choice of a Protestant prince. Nor did he have to be German, as the examples of Alfonso of Castile and Charles V showed. By the 17th century, however, it seemed wise for any candidate to possess an estate within the boundaries of the Empire: when the French weighed in 1648 whether to let Alsace remain within the Empire, it was because it might allow the king of France to be a candidate for the throne. Similarly, in 1737 the duke of Lorraine was allowed to retain the county of Falkenstein so as not to jeopardize his future candidacy.
The office was not hereditary, but elective. However, from 1453 to 1740, a Habsburg was always Emperor. The last Habsburg Charles VI died leaving only daughters, and the Elector of Bavaria was elected as Charles VII in 1742, but he died in 1745 and Charles VI's son-in-law Francis of Lorraine was elected emperor in 1745. The reign began with the swearing of the Wahlkapitulation, or electoral capitulation, a kind of contract between the Emperor and the Empire. Even a minor could take the oath (as did the 12-year old Joseph I in 1690), although he also promised to renew his oath upon assuming power. This oath preceded the coronation, led by the archbishop of Mainz. The imperial cities took an oath of loyalty at the time of coronation, but not the states of the empire, since each took such an oath at the time they inherited their fief. The reign ended by death, abdication (Charles V in 1555) or deposition of the emperor. The latter could be declared by the Reichstag, although earlier texts (Schwabenspiegel and Sachsenspiegel, as well as the Golden Bull c5, §3) speak of a jurisdiction of the Count Palatine of the Rhine over the emperor, which was never formally abolished.
When a successor was elected during the lifetime of the Emperor, he bore the title of King of the Romans (Rex Romanorum, römischer König). The election of a successor in the lifetime of the empire was practised up to Frederic II's sons Heinrich in 1220 and Konrad in 1237. It was then abandoned except for Wenceslas in 1376. The Habsburgs resumed it, with Charles V's brother Ferdinand's election in 1531, followed by Maximilian II in 1562, Ferdinand III in 1636, Ferdinand IV in 1653 [who died before his father], and Joseph I in 1690. The King of the Romans bore his arms on a shield on the breast of a single-headed eagle sable (as opposed to the double-headed eagle of the Emperor). He had royal rank and came immediately after the Emperor in precedence. He succeeded the emperor immediately, without need for another coronation or Wahlkapitulation, since he had already been crowned and sworn a capitulation at the time of his election. He also ruled the empire in case the emperor was incapacitated (as did Joseph I in the last days of his father's reign), but stayed out of the government of the empire otherwise, according to the oath he took upon election. If no king of the Romans existed, and if either the Emperor was incapacitated or under age (sede pleana), or there was no emperor (sede vacante, case of an interregnum), the imperial authority was held jointly by two Imperial Vicars (Reichsvikarien), although exercised in the name of the emperor in the first case. By virtue of the Golden Bull, these were the Elector Palatine and the Elector of Saxony, and each had special authority over a part of the empire, depending on which type of law was in force: the Elector Palatine in regions of Franconian law (Franconia, Swabia, the Rhine, southern Germany), while the Elector of Saxony in regions of Saxon law (Saxony, Westphalia, northern Germany, Hannover). The boundaries between the two areas (particularly in Hesse, Julich, Cleve, Berg, Liége, Ostfriesland) were disputed until 1750, and some regions (Bohemia, Austria) did not recognize any vicar. In Italy, the titular vicar was the duke of Savoy. In 1623 the Elector Palatine lost his electorship to Bavaria, and in 1648 a new electorship was created for him. Thereafter Bavaria and Pfalz were in dispute as to who was vicar. In the 1659 interregnum both claimed to be vicars and issued documents on that authority, but the arch-chancellor and the other vicar recognized Bavaria, as did emperor Leopold after his election. In 1724 a family pact between the two branches of the Wittelsbach family set forth joint exercise of the vicariate, but this was not accepted by the Reichstag. In 1745 the two branches agreed to alternate, with Bavaria starting first in the 1745 interregnum. This was accepted by Francis I after his election and by the electors, and later confirmed in 1752 by the Reichstag. In 1777 the Bavarian branch became extinct and the agreement moot. The Imperial vicars exercised the powers of the Emperor that were not explicitly reserved to his person, and in doing so were bound by the terms of the deceased emperor's capitulation. They handled all matters of grace: legitimations, emancipations, privileges, ennoblements and titles, etc. They exercised the Emperor's judicial powers, they collected taxes in his name, nominated to ecclesiastical benefices, and invested vassals with imperial fiefs, whether inherited or newly conceded (except for principalities and Fahnlehen). The emperor was formally obliged to ratify the acts of the vicars after his election, although there are instances of such acts being repealed by the Reichshofrat. The vicariate ended once the new emperor had sworn to uphold his electoral capitulation.
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THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
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The Emperor was entitled to have a Household, a real one as well as one "for show" composed of the High Offices of the Empire (Erzämter, archiofficia). The four High Offices appear under the Ottonian dynasty: at the coronation of Otto I in 936, each of the Stammherzöge held one of the functions. The Golden Bull of 1356 assigned them to the lay electors (in fact, some electors may have become so because they were High Officers). After a new electorate was created for the count Palatine, a new office of Arch-Treasurer was created for him, in 1652. In 1706, after Bavaria was banned, the elector palatine resumed his office of Arch-Steward, and the office of Arch-Treasurer passed in 1710 to the newly created elector of Hanover. In 1714, Bavaria was reinstated, and the elector palatine resumed the office of Treasurer, but Hanover continued to use the title and augmentation of arms until the merger of the Bavarian and Palatine electorates in 1777 allowed Hanover to exercise the office. New offices were planned but never chosen for the electors created in 1803. In the exercise of these functions outside of the coronations, the lay electors were represented by the holders of corresponding hereditary offices (Erbämter), and some were themselves represented in everyday activities by holders of hereditary offices.
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THE IMPERIAL POWERS AND SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF THE EMPEROR
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The powers of the Emperor were exercised in a broad range of areas, but restricted everywhere: Executive:he enforced the laws and rulings of the empire, although most of this was delegated to the Reichskreise; he appointed imperial officers; Legislative: he could propose, approve and promulgate laws; in particular, he had the right to withhold approval; but he could not levy taxes without approval Judiciary: he was the ultimate judge in Germany, although he could only exercise this power through legally appointed courts, and had no right to intervene in the Reichskammergericht, but had in certain cases the final word in the Reichshofrat; he had the right of pardon, as well as the right to confer exemptions and privileges (i.e., exceptions to the application of imperial laws International: he alone represented the Empire abroad, although his ability to make war, peace and alliances was very limited; Feudal: he was overlord of all imperial fiefs.The Imperial Rights of Jura reservata, The Emperor had certain powers that flowed from his position as sovereign of the empire, from his plenitudo potestatis. Over time, this "plenitude of power" became restricted. By the 17th c., the powers of the emperor which were specifically his were called jura reservata or reserved rights; they were opposed to the powers of the Reichstag on one hand, the powers of the individual territories on the other. The reserved rights were divided into the unrestricted (jura reservata illimita) and restricted (jura reservata limita) depending on whether the Reichstag was involved or not. They were also divided into exclusive (jura reservata exclusiva) or concurrent (jura reservata communia), depending on whether the individual territories also enjoyed those rights or not. Examples of such imperial powers include: jura reservata illimita + exclusiva: ennoblement and conferral of titles, foundation of universities. jura reservata limita: imposition of tolls, leasing of mints. jura reservata communia: grant legal majority, legitimize children, appoint notaries, grant arms. The emperor delegated the exercise of these rights to officials called counts palatin (Hofpfalzgrafen). Such delegated powers were called comitiva, and distinguished into the comitiva minor (power to grant majority, legitimize, appoint notaries, grant arms) and comitiva major (ennoblement and power to delegate the comitiva minor). The comitiva minor was commonly bestowed to rulers of territories or titular counts, as well as attached to certain positions (such as provosts of universities). The comitiva major was rarely bestowed, and it was hereditary in the houses of Pfalz and Schwarzburg.
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THE ELECTIONS AND CORONATIONS OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
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The electors elected the king of Germany or king of the Romans who, once crowned, became the Emperor. Under the Habsburgs, it had become usual for the Emperor to have his oldest son crowned as king of the Romans. At the peace of Westphalia, France and Sweden tried to have the right to elect the king of the Romans transferred to the Reichstag, without success. Finally, the electoral capitulation of 1711 included the stipulation that an election would take place only in case of extended absence, advanced age, permanent incapacity of the Emperor, or other urgent necessity. It was up to the electors to decide to hold an election. They were obligated to give the emperor prior notification, but could proceed without his approval. The electors were free to elect whom they wished, and the Emperor, in his capitulation, promised not to interfere with this freedom or use any form of coercion. They could, nevertheless, pledge their vote: when Brunswick (later Hanover) was given an electorate in 1692, it promised in return never to vote for anyone else but the eldest-born archduke of Austria. (In the election of 1742, there were none, and the elector of Hanover was free to cast his vote). A spiritual elector could vote even before having been invested by the Pope and received the pallium, as long as he had been invested by the Emperor. Conversely, an archbishop deprived of his electorate but not of his see could not be replaced as elector and his vote was forfeited (as happened to Cologne in 1711). A minor's vote was cast by his tutor.
The electors were summoned by the archbishop of Mainz, or else by the archbishop of Trier, normally within a month of the death of the Emperor. The electors met in Frankfurt, as prescribed by the Golden Bull (when they didn't, the city protested and it was granted reversals reserving its rights for the future) normally within three months of notification. The Grand Marshal was responsible for the logistics and protection of the electors and their suites. Electors appeared in person, entrusted their vote to another elector, or more often sent an electoral embassy, even if they were present (as the king of Bohemia in 1657 and 1690, or the elector of Mainz in 1741). The ministers presented their credentials to the archbishop of Mainz, who presided over the deliberations, in particular the drafting of the electoral capitulation. When the moment to vote came, the Grand Marshal ordered all princes, noblemen, ambassadors, representatives etc. not part of an electoral suite out of the city. The electors proceeded on horseback from the city hall to the cathedral, and convened in the electoral chapel, and swore to choose the worthiest man, and to accept the majority vote. The elector of Mainz proceeded to collect the votes, starting with Trier and ending with Saxony, and then himself. Electors could vote for themselves, as the king of Bohemia frequently did (although formally, a majority voted for him and he then consented).
The candidate receiving more than half of the votes was elected. In modern times the votes were unanimous. However, some elections were contentious. The election of 1519 was one. As early as 1516, while Maximilian was not clear about his own intentions for his successor, the king of France François I had begun collecting votes, and by 1518 secured the votes of Trier, Mainz, Brandenburg and the Palatinate. Then Maximilian decided to have his grandson Charles elected before his own death, and soon had the commitment of Brandneburg, Cologne, Mainz and the Palatinate, with the vote of Bohemia (the minor king Louis II) cast by his guardians Maximilian and the king of Poland. With Maximilian's death all bets were off and negotiations began anew. Here, the order of voting mattered, and allowed electors to make conditional promises: thus, Joachim of Brandenburg (who voted 6th) could promise to vote for François if two electors had voted for him and if he knew that his brother the archbishop of Mainz (who voted last) would also vote for him. In the end, Charles secured enough votes to win the election, in part through payments to the electors (330,000 florins in lump-sum payments and a total of 30,000 florins in annual pensions promised to four electors). What happened on June 27 (when the voting began and broke off after an hour) and June 28 is unclear; there is a possibility that Frederick the Wise of Saxony was elected but declined. In the end, all electors voted for Cha | | |
