Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was established when Charlemagne's claim to emperor of Rome was granted to the kingdom of Germany. Either coronation can be considered the beginning of the empire. The successor states are Austria and Germany.

Composition

Electors

The succession of emperors was determined by three spiritual electors and some number of secular electors.

The spiritual electors held ceremonial chancellorships:

• archbishop of Mainz as archchancellor of Germany

• archbishop of Cologne as archchancellor of Italy

• archbishop of Trier as archchancellor of Burgundy

The secular electors held ceremonial high offices (reichserzamt) modeled on a privy council: arch-cupbearer, arch-steward, arch-marshal, arch-chamberlain, arch-treasurer, and arch-bannerbearer. The assignment of these offices shifted between the electors over time.

• king of Bohemia

• margrave of Brandenburg

• duke of Saxony

  • but only kind of; see house of Ascania

• elector Palatine (from 1356)

• duke of Bavaria (from 1623)

• duke of Hanover (from 1692)

Emperors

From the conquest under Otto I until the death of Charles V, the kingdoms of Germany and Italy were held as an elective union. Being elective, the seat passed between several dynastic houses.

From the creation by Pope John XII until the death of Charles V (a trend!), these kings had to be crowned emperor by the pope. As a result, there are significant gaps between the technical reigns of emperors.

• During the reign of Lothair III, Conrad III emerged as an anti-king. He was previously duke of Franconia but was removed by Lothair after Henry V, his uncle, died in 1125. Conrad was elected the next king of Germany in 1338 over Henry X, duke of Bavaria. Henry refused to swear allegiance and Conrad now had to remove him from his duchy.

• There was also an interregnum after Frederick II died in 1250; while Rudolf I inherited the kingdom, he was never crowned emperor.

Following Charles V, the emperors were self-declared, and so there no longer were gaps between the last emperor's death and the next emperor's coronation.

Note that while Maria Theresa is generally referred to as empress, she formally was empress consort through her husband Francis I. In her own right, she was archduchess of Austria.

History

The empire is considered to have begun when Otto I, duke of Saxony, was elected king of Germany. Through conquest he then claimed the title of king of Italy in 961. Pope John XII crowned him emperor of the Romans in 962.

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The Welfs and Hohenstaufens came into conflict at first over the investiture controversy, whether secular rulers had the right to appoint bishops and abbots. The Welfs (or Guelphs, from the Italian bastardization Guelfo) backed the power of the papacy, as compared to the imperialist Hohenstaufens (or Ghibellines, from the castle city Waiblingen or Ghibellino).

The conflict exacerbated when Lothair III, duke of Saxony, was elected king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. The Hohenstaufen brothers Conrad III, duke of Franconia, and Frederick II, duke of Swabia rebelled. When Lothair eventually emerged as victorious, Conrad was removed from power while Frederick was not.

Henry X succeeded his father, Henry IX, as duke of Bavaria in 1126. He furthermore inherited Saxony from Lothair III in 1135. Despite this massive wealth, Conrad was elected king of Germany over him. He rebelled, and was removed from power. After just a few years however, Conrad returned Saxony to Henry's son, Henry XI.

Frederick Barbarossa was elected the next king as a compromise candidate. One of his first measures was to return Bavaria to Henry as well. However, Frederick ultimately removed all of Henry's titles when he declined to support his war in Lombardy.

This conflict continued to preoccupy the empire in Italy for centuries, as in the Italian Wars.

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The empire was ended through the Napoleonic Wars.

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