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Information about Holy Roman Emperors

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The Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. (The colours indicate the main dynasties competing for the crown.


The Holy Roman Emperor (German: Römischer Kaiser, Latin: Romanorum Imperator) was the elected monarch ruling over the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European state in existence during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. By convention the first Emperor was taken to be the Frankish king Charlemagne, crowned as Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800, although the Empire itself (as well as the style Holy Roman Emperor) did not come into use until some time later. Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the Popes up until the 16th century, and the last Emperor, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution.

The Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii (transfer of rule) principle that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480.

Establishment of the Holy Roman Empire

After Charlemagne's death in 814, his realm was eventually divided into three by his grandsons at the Treaty of Verdun of 843. The Western realm would later become France, the Middle realm Lotharingia or Lorraine, and the Eastern realm Germany. The title of Emperor was held by several Carolingian Frankish monarchs until the ascension of Otto I of the Eastern realm, in 962. From this time onward, Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire, and its rulers, after being elected as King of Germany, would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was Charles V; all emperors after him were technically emperors-elect, but were universally referred to as Emperor.

Conflict with the Papacy

The title of Emperor (Imperator) carried with it an important role as protector of the Catholic Church, and emperors were ordained as subdeacons of the Catholic Church (thus women were ineligible to be crowned). As the papacy's power grew during the Middle Ages, Popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The most well-known and bitter conflict was that known as the Investiture Controversy fought during the 11th century between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII.

Succession

Successions to the kingship were controlled by a complicated mélange of factors. Elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. Some scholars suggest that the task of the elections was really to solve conflicts only when the dynastic rule was unclear, yet, the process meant that the prime candidate had to make concessions, by which the voters were kept on side, which were known as Wahlkapitulationen (election capitulations). The Electoral council was set at seven princes (three archbishops and four secular princes) by the Golden Bull of 1356. It remained so until 1648, when the settlement of the Thirty Years' War required the addition of a new elector to maintain the precarious balance between Protestant and Catholic factions in the Empire. Another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire.

After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the brief exception of one Wittelsbach, Charles VII. In 1508, and permanently after 1556, the King no longer traveled to Rome for the crowning by the Pope.

List of Emperors

This list includes all emperors from Charlemagne, including Emperors-Elect. The numeration of Emperors follows that of the Kings of Germany; thus, there are some gaps in the tally. For example, Henry the Fowler was King of Germany but not Emperor; Emperor Henry II was numbered as his successor as German King. The Guideschi follow the numeration for the Duchy of Spoleto.

Carolingian Dynasty

House of Guideschi

Carolingian Dynasty

Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty

Salian (Frankish) Dynasty

Supplinburger dynasty

  • Lothair III, 1133–1137 (enumerated as successor of Lothair II, who was King of Lotharingia 855–869 but not Emperor)

Staufen (or Hohenstaufen dynasty)

House of Welf

Staufen (or Hohenstaufen dynasty)

House of Luxembourg

House of Wittelsbach

House of Luxembourg

House of Habsburg

House of Wittelsbach

House of Habsburg-Lorraine

Coronation

The Emperor was crowned in a special ceremony, traditionally, though not always, performed by the Pope in Rome, using the Imperial Regalia. Before 1508, a king, though elected and exercising all the powers of the Emperor, could not call himself by that title. In 1508, Pope Julius II conceded to Maximilian I the right to use the title of Emperor without coronation in Rome, though the title was qualified as Electus Romanorum Imperator, "Emperor of the Romans by election". Other than Charles V, all succeeding Emperors availed themselves of the right to use the title without going to Rome for coronation. Even before 1530, coronations were somewhat rare phenomena, and several were not performed by a generally recognized Pope at all.

Emperor Coronation date Officiant Location
Charles I25 December 800Pope Leo IIIRome
Louis I816Pope Stephen VReims
Lothair I5 April 823Pope Paschal IRome
Louis II850Pope Leo IVRome
Charles II29 December 875Pope John VIIIRome
Charles III12 February 881
GuyMay 891Pope Stephen V
Lambert30 April 892Pope FormosusRavenna
Arnulf22 February 896Rome
Louis III901Pope Benedict IVRome
BerengarDecember 915Pope John XRome
Otto I2 February, 962Pope John XII
Otto II25 December, 967Pope John XIII
Otto III21 May, 996Pope Gregory V
Henry II14 February, 1014Pope Benedict VIII
Conrad II26 March, 1027Pope John XIX
Henry III25 December, 1046Pope Clement II
Henry IV31 March, 1084Antipope Clement III
Henry V13 April, 1111Pope Paschal II
Henry V23 March, 1117Antipope Gregory VIII
Lothair III4 June, 1133Pope Innocent IIBasilica of St. John Lateran
Frederick I18 June, 1155Pope Adrian IV
Henry VI14 April, 1191Pope Celestine III
Otto IV4 October, 1209Pope Innocent III
Frederick II22 November 1220Pope Honorius III
Henry VII29 June 1312Cardinals
Louis IV17 January 1328Sciarra Colonna
Charles IV5 April, 1355Cardinal
Sigismund31 May, 1433Pope Eugenius IV
Frederick III19 March, 1452Pope Nicholas V
Charles VFebruary 1530Pope Clement VIIBologna, Italy

See also

References



 •  • [ e]
Holy Roman Emperors
Carolingian Empire
Charles I • Louis I • Lothair I • Louis II • Charles II • Charles III • Guy • Lambert • Arnulf • Louis III • Berengar
German Empire
Otto I • Otto II • Otto III • Henry II • Conrad II • Henry III • Henry IV • Henry V • Lothair III • Frederick I • Henry VI • Otto IV • Frederick II • Henry VII • Louis IV • Charles IV • Sigismund • Frederick III • Maximilian I • Charles V • Ferdinand I • Maximilian II • Rudolph II • Matthias • Ferdinand II • Ferdinand III • Leopold I • Joseph I • Charles VI • Charles VII • Francis I • Joseph II • Leopold II • Francis II


Roman Emperors by Epoch
see also: List of Roman Emperors · Concise list of Roman Emperors · Roman Empire
Principate Crisis of the 3rd century Dominate Division Successors
  • Britannic Emperors
German language (Deutsch, ] (help info ) ) is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by a monarch who is elected by a group.

Some examples from history

In the ancient Kingdom of Rome, the kings were elected by the Assemblies.
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Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium, German: Heiliges Römisches Reich, Italian: Sacro Romano Impero
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Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe.
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A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. It usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that govern the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends in part on
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the post Late Middle Ages period in Western Europe (Early modern Europe), its first colonies marked by the rise of strong centralized governments and the beginnings of recognizable nation states that
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Franks or Frankish people (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an ethnic group living north and east of the Lower Rhine.
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Charlemagne (En: [ˈʃa(ɹ).lə.meɪn]; Fr: [ʃaʀ.lə.
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The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 286; the other half of the Roman Empire became known as the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire.
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Pope Leo III (died June 12, 816) was Pope from 795 to 816.

Leo announced his election to Charlemagne, sending him the keys of Saint Peter's tomb and the banner of Rome, requesting an envoy.
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December 25 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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8th century - 9th century
770s  780s  790s  - 800s -  810s  820s  830s
797 798 799 - 800 - 801 802 803
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The Pope (from Latin: papa, father;[1] from Greek πάπας (papas) = father - originally written πάππας (
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 through 1600.

See also: 16th century in literature

Events

1500s

  • 1500s: Mississippian culture disappears.

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Francis II (Francis I of Austria)
Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria,
King of Hungary and Bohemia

Reign as Holy Roman Emperor -
March 1 1792 - August 6 1806;
as Emperor of Austria -
August 11 1804 - March 2 1835

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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Top: Battle of Austerlitz
Bottom: Battle of Waterloo

Date c.1803–1815
Location Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Río de la Plata, Indian Ocean

Result Coalition victory, Congress of Vienna

Combatants
Austria[a]
Portugal
Prussia
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The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the . <includeonly>

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Translatio imperii
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The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 286; the other half of the Roman Empire became known as the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire.
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5th century · 6th century
450s 460s 470s 480s 490s 500s 510s
477 478 479 480 481 482 483
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Treaty of Verdun of 843 the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charles Liaison (Charlemagne's) grandsons, divided his territories, the Carolingian Empire, into three kingdoms.
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Western Francia was the land under the control of Charles the Bald after the Treaty of Verdun of 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire of the Franks into an East, West, and Middle. It is the precursor of modern France.
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Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule," "Old Kingdom," or simply "Old Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from (roughly) the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon
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Middle Francia describes the realm created for the Emperor Lothair I (843-855), wedged between East Francia and West Francia. The kingdom, which included the kingdom of Italy, Burgundy, Provence, and the west of Austrasia, was an unnatural creation of the Treaty of Verdun of 843,
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Lotharingia or Lorraine was a short-lived kingdom in western Europe, the aggregate of territories belonging to Lothair, King of Lotharingia (reigned 855–869), who received it in 855 from his father, Lothair I (795-855), Holy Roman Emperor.
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Eastern Francia was the land of Louis the German after the Treaty of Verdun of 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire of the Franks into an East, West, and Middle. It is the precursor of the Holy Roman Empire and modern Germany.
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Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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