when did the roman empire become the holy roman empire
Roman Empire


religious hierarchy and many aspects of its ritual influenced Christian forms, and many pre-Christian beliefs and practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions. Several states claimed to be the Roman Empire's successors after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire, an attempt to resurrect the Empire in the West, was established in 800 when Pope Leo III crowned Frankish King Charlemagne as Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, though the empire and the imperial office did not become formalized for some decades. After the fall of
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Army of the Holy Roman Empire


The Army of the Holy Roman Empire (German "Reichsarmee", "Reichsheer" or "Reichsarmatur"; Latin "exercitus imperii") was created in 1422 and came to an end when the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806 as the result of the Napoleonic Wars. It must not be confused with the Imperial Army ("Kaiserliche Armee") of the Emperor. The Army of the Empire did not constitute a permanent standing army which was always at the ready to fight for the Empire. When there was danger,
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Western Roman Empire


Empire in the West would resurface in the form of the Holy Roman Empire in 962. The Holy Roman Emperors would uphold the notion that they had inherited the supreme power and prestige of the Roman Emperors of old until the downfall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Charlemagne, and the subsequent Holy Roman Emperors, were not, and did not claim to be, rulers of a restored Western Roman Empire. Pope Leo III and contemporary historians were fully aware of that the notion of a separate Western court had been abolished over
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Holy Roman Empire


Empire did not constitute a permanent standing army that was always at the ready to fight for the Empire. When there was danger, an Army of the Empire was mustered from among the elements constituting it, in order to conduct an imperial military campaign or "Reichsheerfahrt". In practice, the imperial troops often had local allegiances stronger than their loyalty to the Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire never had a single permanent/fixed capital city. Usually, the Holy Roman Emperor ruled from a place of his own choice. This
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King of the Romans


and "king in Germany" ("König in Germanien") continued to be used as part of the full style of the emperors until 1806. When Francis II founded the Austrian Empire in 1804, he used as his style for the last two years before the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire: The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Emperor. However, the Emperor could, and often did, have a relative (
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Empire


Roman Empire, the Carolingian Empire, the largely Germanic Holy Roman Empire, and the Russian Empire. Yet, these states did not always fit the geographic, political, or military profiles of empires in the modern sense of the word. To legitimise their "imperium", these states directly claimed the title of "Empire" from Rome. The "sacrum Romanum imperium" (Holy Roman Empire), which lasted from 800 to 1806, claimed to have exclusively comprehended Christian principalities, and was only nominally a discrete imperial state
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Princes of the Holy Roman Empire


Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. "Fürst") was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassals of the Emperor who held a fief (secular or ecclesiastical) that had no suzerain except the Emperor. However, by the time the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, there were a number of holders of Imperial princely titles who did not meet these criteria. Thus
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Flags of the Holy Roman Empire


the Habsburg dynasty declared his personal domain to be the Austrian Empire and became Francis I of Austria. Taking the colours of the banner of the Holy Roman Emperor, the flag of the Austrian Empire was black and gold. Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, with Napoleon forcing the empire's dissolution in 1806. After this point, these colours continued to be used as the flag of Austria until 1918. The colours red and white were also significant during this period. When the Holy Roman Empire took part in the
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Imperial vicar


An imperial vicar () was a prince charged with administering all or part of the Holy Roman Empire on behalf of the Emperor. Later, an imperial vicar was invariably one of two princes charged by the Golden Bull with administering the Holy Roman Empire during an interregnum. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy, not a hereditary one. When a King or Holy Roman Emperor died, if a King of the Romans had not already been elected, there would be no new Emperor for a matter of several months until all
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Electorate of Baden


The Electorate of Baden was a State of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803 to 1806. In 1803, Napoleon bestowed the office of Prince-elector to Charles Frederick. This only lasted until 1806, when Francis II dissolved the Empire. When the Holy Roman Empire dissolved, Baden achieved sovereignty, and Charles Frederick became Grand Duke. The French Revolution began in 1789, and at its onset the Margraviate of Baden was united under Charles Frederick, but it did not form a compact territory. Its total area was only about ,
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Holy Roman Emperor


(i.e., "holy") in connection with the German Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was "August Emperor of the Romans" ("Romanorum Imperator Augustus"). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he was styled as "most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing the Roman Empire," thus constituting the elements of "Holy" and "Roman" in the imperial title. The word "Roman
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Eighty Years' War


Holy Roman Empire, and Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire of 14 and 24 October 1648, which comprise the Peace of Westphalia, but which were not signed by the Republic, the Republic now also gained formal "independence" from the Holy Roman Empire, just like the Swiss Cantons. In both cases this was just a formalisation of a situation that had already existed for a long time. France and Spain did not conclude a treaty and so remained at war until the peace of the Pyrenees of 1659. The peace was
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Kingdom of Saxony


Saxony. Before 1806, Saxony was part of the Holy Roman Empire, a thousand-year-old entity that had become highly decentralised over the centuries. The rulers of the Electorate of Saxony of the House of Wettin had held the title of elector for several centuries. When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in August 1806 following the defeat of Emperor Francis II by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz, the electorate was raised to the status of an independent kingdom with the support of the First French Empire, then the dominant
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Western Roman Empire


competing claims to be rulers of the whole Roman Empire. With the Eastern Empire terming the Holy Roman Empire as an "Empire of the Franks", the term "Empire of the Greeks" was popularized in the Frankish court as a way to refer to the Empire centered in Constantinople. Following the end of the Eastern Roman Empire after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the title of "Emperor" became widespread among European monarchs. The Austrian Empire laid claim to be
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Interregnum (Holy Roman Empire)


There were many imperial interregna in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, when there was no emperor. Interregna in which there was no emperor-elect (king of the Romans) were rarer. Among the longest periods without an emperor were between 924 and 962 (38 years), between 1245 and 1312 (67 years), and between 1378 and 1433 (55 years). The crisis of government of the Holy Roman Empire and the German kingdom thus lasted throughout the late medieval period, and ended only with the
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Holy Roman Empire


Confederation of the Rhine by emperor Napoleon I the month before. In various languages the Holy Roman Empire was known as: , , Spanish: Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico, , , , , , . Before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the "Roman Empire". The term "sacrum" ("holy", in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa ("Holy Empire"): the term was added to
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Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor


French-speaking part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was symptomatic of the empire’s weakness that during his rule as the Count of Luxembourg, he agreed to become a French vassal, seeking the protection of King Philip the Fair of France. During his rule of Luxembourg, he ruled effectively, especially in keeping the peace in local feudal disputes. Henry became caught up in the internal political machinations of the Holy Roman Empire with the assassination of King Albert I on 1 May 1308. Almost immediately, King Philip of France
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Outline of Palermo


the Phoenicians. Palermo then became a possession of Carthage, before becoming part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when the city first became a capital. Following the Norman reconquest, Palermo became the capital of a new kingdom (from 1130 to 1816), the Kingdom of Sicily and the capital of the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Frederick II and King Conrad IV.
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Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)


would weigh the votes and announce a consensus. Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony converted to Catholicism in 1697 in order to become King of Poland, but the Electorate itself remained officially Protestant and retained the directorship of the Protestant body. When the Elector's son also converted to Catholicism, Prussia and Hanover attempted to take over the directorship in 1717–1720, but without success. The Electors of Saxony would head the Protestant body until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. After the formation of the new German Empire in 1871,
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Imperial Sovereign


The "Unionvorstand" had to share certain rights with other princes, above all, the veto of proposed laws. The title of "Emperor" originally came from the ancient Roman Empire and was familiar, not least because of its use in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. It had become natural that the German king also had the title of Holy Roman Emperor. For centuries, this had been the head of the Austrian House of Habsburg until, in 1806, the Empire was dissolved under pressure from Napoleon. The renunciation of
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Electoral college


order to become the first Carolingian king. While most other Germanic nations had developed a strictly hereditary system by the end of the first millennium, the Holy Roman Empire did not, and the King of the Romans, who would become, by papal coronation, Holy Roman Emperor or at least Emperor-elect, was elected by the college of prince-electors from the late Middle Ages until 1806 (the last election took place in 1792). In the Church, both the clergy and laity elected the bishop or presiding presbyter
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Liechtenstein


the country to conclude a customs and monetary union with its other neighbour, Switzerland. At the time of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was argued that Liechtenstein, as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, was no longer bound to the emerging independent state of Austria, since the latter did not consider itself the legal successor to the empire. This is partly contradicted by the Liechtenstein perception that the dethroned Austro-Hungarian Emperor still maintained an abstract heritage of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1929, 75-year
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Christianity in the 2nd century


the Holy Land did not regain significance to greater Christianity until the pilgrimage of the Empress Helena c. 326. Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire until 330, was the most important Christian center in the Western Roman Empire. Antioch, Alexandria, and others were important centers of Christian thought in the Eastern Roman Empire. Christianity also spread outside of the Roman Empire. The community and seat of the patriarchate according to Orthodox tradition was founded by Saint Peter and then given to Saint Ignatius, in what is now Turkey. The
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Siege of Trsat


settlement called Trsat. Višeslav continued to rule over the Dalmatian Croatia and warred against the Franks, avoiding defeat upon his death in 802. He was succeeded by his son Borna, who later become a Frankish ally. On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Imperator Romanorum (Holy Roman Emperor) in Saint Peter's Basilica. This was a direct challenge to Byzantium's claim to be the one—the Roman—empire. Nicephorus I of the Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire settled their
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Empire


. The Holy Roman Empire was not always centrally-governed, as it had neither core nor peripheral territories, and was not governed by a central, politico-military elite. Hence, Voltaire's remark that the Holy Roman Empire "was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" is accurate to the degree that it ignores German rule over Italian, French, Provençal, Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and Bohemian populations, and the efforts of the ninth-century Holy Roman Emperors (i.e., the Ottonians)
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Emperor


last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. In the face of aggressions by Napoleon, Francis feared for the future of the Holy Roman Empire. He wished to maintain his and his family's Imperial status in the event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved, as it indeed was in 1806 when an Austrian-led army suffered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz. After which, the victorious Napoleon proceeded to dismantle the old "Reich" by severing a good portion from the empire and turning it into a separate Confederation
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German Emperor


The German Emperor ( ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the official abdication of Wilhelm II on 28 November 1918. The Holy Roman Emperor is sometimes also called "German Emperor" when the historical context is clear, as derived from the Holy Roman Empire's official name of "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" from 1512. Following the revolution of 1918, the function
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Flag of Germany


colours of the banner of the Holy Roman Emperor, the flag of the Austrian Empire was black and gold. Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, with Napoleon forcing the empire's dissolution in 1806. After this point, these colours continued to be used as the flag of Austria until 1918. The colours red and white were also significant during this period. When the Holy Roman Empire took part in the Crusades, a war flag was flown alongside the black-gold imperial banner. This flag, known as the
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Frederick Augustus I of Saxony


relinquishing their territories. Saxony refused to agree to territorial adjustments that were designed to benefit Bavaria, Prussia, Württemberg, and Baden at the Congress of Rastatt and in 1803 at the issuance of the Final Report of the Empire Delegation [the law of the Holy Roman Empire that laid out the new order of the Empire]. Frederick Augustus also did not participate in the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, which led to the final dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. With respect to the Prussian idea of a north German
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Bishopric of Utrecht


The Bishopric of Utrecht (1024–1528) was a civil principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in present Netherlands, which was ruled by the bishops of Utrecht as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1024 until 1528, it was one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, constituting, in addition to its ecclesiastical aspect, a civil state within the Empire. In 1528, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, secularized its civil authority and territorial possessions. The Diocese of Utrecht was established
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Flag of Germany


flags are required to be flown at half-staff, vertical flags are not lowered. A black mourning ribbon is instead attached, either atop the staff (if hung from a pole) or to each end of the flag's supporting cross-beams (if flown like a banner). The Holy Roman Empire (800/962 – 1806, known as the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" after 1512) did not have a national flag, but black and gold were used as colours of the Holy Roman Emperor
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Bohemia


Bohemia over invading Magyars in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld, Boleslaus I of Bohemia was granted the March of Moravia by German emperor Otto the Great. Bohemia would remain a largely autonomous state under the Holy Roman Empire for several decades. The jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire was definitively reasserted when Jaromír of Bohemia was granted fief of the Kingdom of Bohemia by Emperor King Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire, with the promise that he hold it as a vassal once he re-occupied Prague with a German army in 1004,
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Austrian Crown Jewels


of the imperial crown; the diamond is a symbol of Christ. Under threat from Napoleon, emperor Francis II dissolved the thousand-year old Holy Roman Empire and proclaimed the Austrian Empire on August 11, 1804. He did not use the crown of the Holy Roman Empire but the old crown of Rudolf II as the crown of the new empire. "For more detailed information, see Imperial Crown of Austria." After Napoleon's downfall and the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was created under Austrian
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Territories of the Holy Roman Empire outside the Imperial Circles


When the Imperial Circles ( ) — comprising a regional grouping of territories of the Holy Roman Empire — were created as part of the Imperial Reform at the 1500 Diet of Augsburg, many Imperial territories remained unencircled. Initially six circles were established in order to secure and enforce the Public Peace (') declared by Emperor Maximilian I and the jurisdiction of the '. They did not incorporate the territories of the Prince-electors and the Austrian homelands of the ruling House of Habsburg. Only at the 1512 Diet of Trier were these
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Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire


The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire () was the hoop crown () of the Holy Roman Emperor from the 11th century to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. The crown was used in the coronation of the King of the Romans, the title assumed by the Emperor-elect immediately after his election. It was made in the late 10th or early 11th century. Unlike many other crowns, it has an octagonal rather than a circular shape, and is constructed from eight hinged plates. The plate
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Mozart's nationality


the extensive Habsburg territories (shown in orange-brown) and Bavaria (pale green). The great number of small independent states that are now mostly part of Germany can also be seen. The extensive territories ruled by the Habsburgs but outside of the Holy Roman Empire are not indicated on the map. For maps depicting the Circles of the Holy Roman Empire, see Imperial Circle. The political situation that prevailed in Mozart's lifetime did not long endure, with radical changes resulting from the Napoleonic Wars. Holy Roman Emperor Francis
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Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor


Francis II (; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Holy Roman Empire after the decisive defeat at the hands of the First French Empire led by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804, he had founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the "Doppelkaiser" (double emperor) in history. For the two years
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History of the Catholic Church in Germany


Holy Roman Empires were occupied by Catholic archbishops: the Arch-chancellor of Burgundy (archbishop of Trier), the Arch-chancellor of Italy (archbishop of Cologne), and the Arch-chancellor of Germany (archbishop of Mainz). Charlemagne, crowned Roman Emperor in 800 AD, is sometimes considered as a forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire. Most historians today reject this view, arguing that the Holy Roman Empire had different antecedents and a different constitution, and the Holy Roman Emperor had a different status and role than
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Rhine Campaign of 1796


should pay for itself and did not budget to pay, feed, and equip its troops. Thus, a campaign that would take the army out of France became increasingly urgent for both budgetary and internal security reasons. The predominantly German-speaking states on the east bank of the Rhine were part of the vast complex of territories in central Europe called the Holy Roman Empire, of which the Archduchy of Austria was a principal polity and its archduke typically the Holy Roman Emperor. The French government considered the Holy Roman Empire as its
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Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire


which seems very probable. Most of the Kings of the Romans of the Holy Roman Empire were crowned with it. Along with the Imperial Cross (), the Imperial Sword (), and the Holy Lance (), the crown was the most important part of the Imperial Regalia (). During the coronation, it was given to the new king along with the sceptre () and the Imperial Orb (). The Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, especially the Imperial Crown, were kept from 1349–1421 in
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Third Rome


, in a circular not intended for publication, further use of the term "Third Reich" was prohibited. After the Holy Roman Empire was dismantled in 1806, the Austrian Empire sought to lay claim as the heir of the Holy Roman Empire as Austria's Habsburgs attempted to unite Germany under their rule. The Federal State of Austria used some symbols from the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire: The Cross potent, symbol of the Fatherland Front, was as medieval symbol - the oldest representation is on the (German)
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Holy Roman Empire


, left the Empire. The Habsburg Emperors focused on consolidating their own estates in Austria and elsewhere. At the Battle of Vienna (1683), the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, led by the Polish King John III Sobieski, decisively defeated a large Turkish army, stopping the western Ottoman advance and leading to the eventual dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. The army was half forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, mostly cavalry, and half forces of the Holy Roman Empire (German/Austrian), mostly
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List of rulers of Württemberg


Duke of Württemberg was raised to the rank of Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, the Empire was dissolved, and the Elector of Württemberg became an independent monarch with the title of King. The Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806. The Elector of Württemberg, allied to Napoleon I, anticipated its dissolution by becoming the ruler of an independent Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806. Because of a lack of male heirs under Salic law, on the death of Wilhelm II in 1921 the royal house had to
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Austro-Hungarian gulden


the leading state of the Holy Roman Empire. With the introduction of the Conventionsthaler as the principal currency of the Empire in 1754, when it began to replace the Reichsthaler. The Gulden was defined as half of a Conventionsthaler, and it was the equivalent of of a Cologne mark of silver. The Gulden was subdivided into 60 Kreuzer. Following the winding up of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Gulden became the standard unit of account in the Habsburg Empire and remained so until 1892. In 1857, the Vereinsthaler was
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Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)


Nuremberg (Diet of Nuremberg). Only with the introduction of the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg in 1663 did the Diet permanently convene in a fixed location. The Imperial Diet of Constance opened on 27 April 1507; it recognized the unity of the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Imperial Chamber, the empire’s supreme court. Since 1489, the Diet comprised three colleges: The Electoral College ("Kurfürstenrat"), led by the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz in his capacity as Archchancellor of Germany. The seven Prince-electors
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Alpine Rhine


member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It is a testament to the pure political expediency of the purchases that the Princes of Liechtenstein did not set foot in their new principality for over 120 years. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, by 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was under the control of French emperor Napoleon I. Napoleon dissolved the empire; this had broad consequences for Liechtenstein: imperial, legal and political mechanisms broke down. The state ceased to owe obligations to any feudal lord beyond its borders. In 1798, the
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Western Roman Empire


the heir of the Holy Roman Empire as Austria's Habsburgs attempted to unite Germany under their rule. The German Empire, established in 1871, also claimed to be a successor of Rome through the lineage of the Holy Roman Empire. Both of these empires used the imperial title "Kaiser" (derived from the Latin word "Caesar"), the German word for emperor. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary, successor of the Austrian Empire, would both fall in the aftermath of the First World War along with the
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Bohemia


would rule the Czech lands for the next several hundred years. The Přemyslids secured their frontiers from the remnant Asian interlocurs, after the collapse of the Moravian state, by entering into a state of semi-vassalage to the Frankish rulers. This alliance was facilitated by Bohemia's conversion to Christianity, in the 9th century. Continuing close relations were developed with the East Frankish kingdom, which devolved from the Carolingian Empire, into East Francia, eventually becoming the Holy Roman Empire. After a decisive victory of the Holy Roman Empire and
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Third Rome


. James of Baux willed his titular claims to Duke Louis I of Anjou, also claimant to the throne of Naples, but Louis and his descendants (including the Holy Roman Emperor from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the Austrian emperors through Francis I) never used the title. The Carolingian Empire has been claimed to have deliberately sought to revive the Roman Empire in the West. According to early German nationalism, the Carolingian Empire transformed into the Holy Roman Empire as a continuation of the Western Roman Empire. In 800,
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Holy Roman Empire


figures for the Holy Roman Empire are extremely vague and vary widely. Given the political fragmentation of the Empire, there were no central agencies that could compile such figures. According to an overgenerous contemporary estimate of the Austrian War Archives for the first decade of the 18th century, the Empire, including Bohemia and the Spanish Netherlands, had a population of close to 28 million with a breakdown as follow: German demographic historians have traditionally worked on estimates of the population of the Holy Roman Empire based on assumed population within the frontiers of
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Habsburg Monarchy


Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The head of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg was often elected Holy Roman Emperor: from 1452 until the Empire's dissolution in 1806, Charles VII of Bavaria (1742–1745) was the only Holy Roman Emperor who was not Habsburg ruler of Austria. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, and most of the Empire was ruled by other dynasties
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Empress Matilda


, later the Antipope Gregory VIII, crowned the pair at St. Peter's Basilica, probably that Easter and certainly by Pentecost. Matilda used these ceremonies to claim the title of the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire was governed by elected monarchs who, like Henry V, had been selected by the major nobles to become the King of the Romans. These kings typically hoped to be subsequently crowned by the Pope as the Holy Roman Emperor, but this could not be guaranteed. Henry V had coerced the Pope into
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Eagle


symbol in heraldry, being considered the "King of Birds" in contrast to the lion, the "King of Beasts". They are particularly popular in Germanic countries such as Austria, due to their association with the Holy Roman Empire. The eagle of the Holy Roman Empire was two-headed, supposedly representing the two divisions, East and West, of the old Roman Empire. The Roman eagle was preceded by the eagle of Ptolemaic Egypt and the Achaemenid Empire. Heraldic eagles are most often found "displayed",
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History of Schleswig-Holstein


Crown as for example Brandenburg or Bavaria had to the Holy Roman Emperor. Holstein had as a fief been part of the Holy Roman Empire, and was eventually established as a single united province. Schleswig and Holstein have at different times belonged in part or completely to either Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, or been virtually independent of both nations. The exception is that Schleswig had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire or the German Confederation before the Second War of Schleswig in 1864. For many centuries, the King of
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Austrian Empire


established, comprising 16 sovereigns and countries. This confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him. This action was unrecognized by George III of the United Kingdom who was also the Elector of Hanover and had also lost his German territories around Hanover to Napoleon. His claims were later settled by the creation of the Kingdom of Hanover
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Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire


Thesis", published in the 1920s, which remains influential to this day. It holds that even after the barbarian invasions, the Roman way of doing things did not immediately change; barbarians came to Rome not to destroy it, but to take part in its benefits, and thus they tried to preserve the Roman way of life. The Pirenne Thesis regards the rise of the Frankish realm in Europe as a continuation of the Roman Empire, and thus validates the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor as a successor
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Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire)


status that was recognised in all of Latin Europe. Accordingly, the Imperial Army was a force established by the Emperor, with privileges in the whole of the Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor was not permitted to raise troops in the electoral states, but had "inter alia" the right to recruit soldiers in the imperial cities and in all other territories. Independent of the Emperor's ability to raise his own army, the Imperial Diet could establish the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, the "troops of the empire"
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Holy Roman Empire


reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy. The form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" (, ), a form first used in a document in 1474. The new title was adopted partly because the Empire had lost most of its Italian and Burgundian (Kingdom of Arles) territories to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to
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Empire


political entity to another. For example, the Holy Roman Empire, a German re-constitution of the Roman Empire, metamorphosed into various political structures (i.e., federalism), and eventually, under Habsburg rule, re-constituted itself in 1804 as the Austrian Empire, an empire of much different politics and scope, which in turn became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The Roman Empire, perennially reborn, also lived on as the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) - temporarily splitting into the Latin Empire,
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Holy Roman Empire


of religion would be another source of tension during the reign of Charles V. Before Charles's reign in the Holy Roman Empire began, in 1517, Martin Luther launched what would later be known as the Reformation. At this time, many local dukes saw it as a chance to oppose the hegemony of Emperor Charles V. The empire then became fatally divided along religious lines, with the north, the east, and many of the major cities – Strasbourg, Frankfurt, and Nuremberg – becoming Protestant while the southern and western regions largely
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War of the Bavarian Succession


the Holy Roman Empire. As a prince-elector, he stood in the highest rank of the Empire, with broad legal, economic, and judicial rights. As an elector, he was one of the men who selected the Holy Roman Emperor from a group of candidates. He was the son of one Holy Roman Emperor (Charles VII), and the grandson of another (Joseph I). When he died of smallpox on 30 December 1777, he left no children to succeed him and several ambitious men prepared to
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Double-headed eagle


within the Christian world. Used during the late East Roman Empire as a dynastic emblem of the Palaiologoi, it was adopted during the late Medieval to Early Modern period in the Holy Roman Empire on one hand, and in Orthodox principalities Serbia and Russia on the other, representing an augmentation of the (single-headed) eagle or "Aquila" associated with the Roman Empire. In a few places, among them the Holy Roman Empire and Russia, the motif was further augmented to create the less prominent triple-headed eagle
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Austrian Empire


from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess was the end of the empire. Taking this significant change into consideration, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors. In 1804, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was also ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria, in which all his lands were included. In doing so
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Annals of the Empire


Annals of the Empire ("Annales de l’Empire") is a history of Germany written by the French philosopher and author Voltaire in 1753. It is largely compiled from previous work by German historians: Voltaire described his role as like an architect, assembling a building from individual pieces of masonry. The "Annals" are the source of Voltaire's much-quoted statement about the Holy Roman Empire: This agglomeration which was called, and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire is in no respect either holy, Roman or
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Treaty of Florence


at war against the Second Coalition formed by the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, Portugal, the kingdom of Naples, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Spain and France remained a military alliance since the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796. After the victories of Napoleon's army in the campaign of 1800 in Marengo, Höchstädt and Hohenlinden, on 9 February 1801 the Holy Roman Empire made peace with France by the Treaty of Lunéville. Naples, that until Marengo had help from the Holy Roman Empire, was at
21719740
Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire


Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire was a politico-economic system of relationships between liege lords and enfeoffed vassals (or feudatories) that formed the basis of the social structure within the Holy Roman Empire during the High Middle Ages. In Germany the system is variously referred to "Lehnswesen", "Feudalwesen" or "Benefizialwesen". Feudalism in Europe emerged in the Early Middle Ages, based on Roman clientship and the Germanic social hierarchy of lords and retainers. It obliged the feudatory to render personal services to the lord. These
13499651
Emperor


a reflection of the "translatio imperii" ("transfer of rule") principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, despite the continued existence of the Roman Empire in the east. From the time of Otto the Great onward, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire. The prince-electors elected one of their peers as King of the Romans and King of Italy before being crowned by the Pope. The Emperor could
10020516
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor


that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and on what was to become the modern Italian language. He was also the first king to formally outlaw trial by ordeal, which had come to be viewed as superstitious. After his death his line did not survive, and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Furthermore, the Holy Roman Empire entered a long period of decline from which it did not completely recover until the reign of Charles V, 250 years later. Historians have searched for superlatives to describe
19419798
Austrian Empire


he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, which had functioned as a composite monarchy for about three hundred years. He did so because he foresaw either the end of the Holy Roman Empire, or the eventual accession as Holy Roman Emperor of Napoleon, who had earlier that year adopted the title of an Emperor of the French; Francis II eventually abandoned the title of German-Roman Emperor later in 1806. To safeguard his dynasty's imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Apart from
20079852
Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire


The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire occurred "de facto" on 6 August 1806, when Emperor Francis II abdicated his title and released all imperial states and officials from their oaths and obligations to the empire. Although the abdication was considered legal, the dissolution of the imperial bonds was not and several states refused to recognise the end of the empire at the time. With his victory over Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, the French Emperor Napoleon I "transformed himself from the guarantor of the Reich to
14160446
Holy Roman Empire


follow: Largest cities or towns of the Empire by year: Roman Catholicism constituted the single official religion of the Empire until 1555. The Holy Roman Emperor was always a Roman Catholic. Lutheranism was officially recognized in the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, and Calvinism in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. Those two constituted the only officially recognized Protestant denominations, while various other Protestant confessions such as Anabaptism, Arminianism, etc. coexisted illegally within the Empire. Anabaptism came in a variety of denominations, including Mennonites, Schwarzenau Brethren,
12944756
Salian dynasty


local power in the Holy Roman Empire – in contrast to the trend in France and England, where centralized royal power grew. The Investiture Contest had an additional effect. The long struggle between emperor and pope hurt the Holy Roman Empire's intellectual life, in this period largely confined to monasteries, and the empire no longer led or even kept pace with developments occurring in France and Italy. For instance, no universities were founded in the Holy Roman Empire until the fourteenth century. The first Hohenstaufen king Conrad III was a grandson
10379304
Holy Roman Empire


emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform. By the end of the 18th century, the term "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" had fallen out of official use. Contradicting the traditional view concerning that designation, Hermann Weisert has argued in a study on imperial titulature that, despite the claims of many textbooks, the name ""Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"" never had an official status and points out that documents were thirty times as likely
12944676
Northern Germany


Roman Empire, when the dukes of the Ottonian dynasty were elected King of the Romans and crowned Holy Roman Emperors. From 1500 onwards, the former Saxon territories (except for Westphalia) were incorporated into the Lower Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. The Hanseatic League is also part of the common history and culture of the cities in northern Germany. Northern Germany corresponds to the territory of the North German Confederation in the 19th century. The boundary between the spheres of political influence of Prussia (Northern Germany) and Austria (
11593713
Eastern Orthodox Church


Christ's Great Commission to the apostles, Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. Paul and the Apostles traveled extensively throughout the Empire, including Asia Minor, establishing Churches in major communities, with the first churches appearing in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, then in Antioch, Ethiopia, Egypt, Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Thessalonica, Illyricum, and Byzantium, which centuries later would become prominent as the New Rome. Christianity in the Roman Empire met with considerable resistance, as its adherents would refuse to comply with the Roman
10199478
Austro-Hungarian Navy


its name to the "Imperial and Royal Naval Academy" (German: "k.u.k. Marine-Akademie"). Austria again fought against France during the Second and Third Coalitions, when after meeting a crushing defeat at Austerlitz, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II had to agree to the Treaty of Pressburg, weakening the Austrian Empire and reorganizing Germany under a Napoleonic imprint that would be called the Confederation of the Rhine. Believing his position as Holy Roman Emperor to be untenable, Francis abdicated the throne of the Holy Roman Empire on
939495
Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire)


the Habsburg emperor from the House of Austria, which is why they were also increasingly described in the 18th century as "Austrians", although its troops were recruited not just from the Archduchy of Austria but from all over the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The Habsburg monarchy supplied almost all the Holy Roman Emperors during the Early Modern Period. Their title of Emperor was one that was bound not so much to a territory, but to a person. In the tradition of the Roman Empire, the Emperor had a
10681677
Holy Roman Empire


to omit the national suffix as include it. In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778) remarked sardonically: "This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control. In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, the Merovingians, under Clovis I and his successors, consolidated Frankish tribes and extended hegemony over others
12944677
Holy Roman Emperor


: Conrad I of Germany and Henry the Fowler in the 10th century, and Conrad IV, Rudolf I, Adolf and Albert I during the "interregnum" of the late 13th century. Traditional historiography assumes a continuity between the Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, while a modern convention takes the coronation of Otto I in 962 as the starting point of the Holy Roman Empire (although the term "Sacrum Imperium Romanum" was not in use before the 13th century). The rulers who were crowned as Roman emperors in
5683541
October 1410 Imperial election


The imperial election of October 1, 1410 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The previous Holy Roman Emperor, Rupert, King of Germany, died on May 18, 1410. Three of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire convened at the imperial election of September 20, 1410 to elect Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, king of Hungary and son of a previous emperor, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. These included Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, burgrave of Nuremberg
11640194
Ius


, such as Tacitus. The list below contains "iura" from different branches of Roman civilization. A "ius" of ancient Rome, marked by the imperial eagle, typically begins in the Roman Republic and continues through the Roman Empire. A "ius" of the Holy Roman Empire is marked with the double-headed eagle. The term is used in this article in the general sense to mean also the Carolingian Empire, named after Charlemagne, who had the title Holy Roman Emperor. His domain also included what is
4870063
Counts of Celje


of the extinct Counts of Ortenburg. In 1410 Sigismund had been elected King of the Romans and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1433. In 1436 he elevated the Counts of Cilli to the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire (although they retained their title of "Graf" ()). The Habsburgs, whose strongest rivals they had become, reacted with a war that lasted until 1443, when an agreement of mutual inheritance was signed. Count Ulrich II of Cilli was the most powerful member of the Cilli family
16474493
Holy Roman Emperor


The Holy Roman Emperor, officially the Emperor of the Romans (), and also the German-Roman Emperor (), was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire (considered by itself to be the successor of the Roman Empire) during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The title was, almost without interruption, held in conjunction with title of King of Germany ("rex teutonicorum") throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. From an autocracy in Carolingian times (AD 800–924) the title by the 13th
5683523
Kaiserpfalz


king", and "Pfalz", meaning "royal palace". Like their peers in France and England, the medieval emperors of the Holy Roman Empire did not rule from a capital city, but had to maintain personal contact with their vassals on the ground. This was so-called "itinerant kingship"; a sort of "travelling kingdom" ("Reisekönigtum"). Because "pfalzen" were built and used by the king as a ruler within the Holy Roman Empire ("rex Romanorum (Römischer König
4206375
Kaiserlich


"kaiserliche" office were recruited from the whole empire, and had wide-ranging privileges in the territories. Examples of military, political and cultural institutions with "kaiserliche" players in the Holy Roman Empire are the: of the Roman-German Emperor (to 1806) (Habsburg, only 1742–1745 Wittelsbach) The traditions continued in the Holy Roman Empire's successors, the Empire of Austria and in Austria-Hungary (with the suffix "königlich" or "royal"). The "kaiserliche" soldiers had an especially
20370687
List of states in the Holy Roman Empire


This list of states which were part of the Holy Roman Empire includes any territory ruled by an authority that had been granted imperial immediacy, as well as many other feudal entities such as lordship, sous-fiefs and allodial fiefs. The Holy Roman Empire was a complex political entity that existed in central Europe for most of the medieval and early modern periods and was generally ruled by a German-speaking Emperor. It should be mentioned that the states that composed the Empire, while enjoying a unique form of territorial authority (called
16302939
Unification of Germany


territories outside the Empire structures) made up the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, which at times included more than 1,000 entities. Since the 15th century, with few exceptions, the Empire's Prince-electors had chosen successive heads of the House of Habsburg to hold the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Among the German-speaking states, the Holy Roman Empire administrative and legal mechanisms provided a venue to resolve disputes between peasants and landlords, between jurisdictions, and within jurisdictions. Through the organization of imperial circles ("Reichskreise
1935789
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire


divested Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony and Bavaria. About fifty years later, Eike of Repgow codified it as an emanation of feudal law recorded in his "Sachsenspiegel", where the lay princes formed the third level or "Heerschild" in the feudal military structure below ecclesiastical princes. Officially the princely states of the Holy Roman Empire had to meet three requirements: Not all states met all three requirements, so one may distinguish between effective and honorary princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The Princes of the Empire ranked below the
19610549
Coats of arms of the Holy Roman Empire


Over its long history, the Holy Roman Empire used many different heraldic forms, representing its numerous internal divisions. The "Reichsadler" ("Imperial Eagle") was the heraldic eagle, derived from the Roman eagle standard, used by the Holy Roman Emperors and in modern coats of arms of Germany, including those of the Second German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the "Third Reich" (Nazi Germany, 1933–1945). The same design has remained in use by the Federal Republic of
3005649
Warrior Kings


Cravant, a small fiefdom within the Holy Empire, the dominant power in a world called Orbis. The Holy Empire is a theocratic state (seemingly an amalgamation of the Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States) devoted to a deity called 'The One God'. It is ruled by a spiritual and militant leader, the Patriarch and the Holy Protector respectively. The new Patriarch, Icthyus Granitas, is cruel and corrupt and the Holy Protector is nothing more than his henchman. As soon as he came to
9318536
Aquila (Roman)


the Sunday service. The entry procession of the chalice whose contents will soon become holy communion is modeled after the procession of the standards of the Roman army. Even after the adoption of Christianity as the Roman Empire's religion, the Aquila eagle continued to be used as a symbol. During the reign of Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, the single-headed eagle was modified to double-headed to symbolise the Empire's dominance over East and West. Since the movements of a body of troops and of every portion of
152550
Universal monarchy


there was one God so there could only be one Emperor, which developed in the 10th century into the conception of the Emperor as the "paterfamilias" of a family of kings who were the other rulers in the world. Such concepts were a feature of the Ottoman Empire successor state, particularly when military rule was augmented by the Caliphate. The idea of a sole sovereign Emperor would re-emerge in the West with Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire. The idea of the Holy Roman Empire possessing a special sovereignty as a
11949566
Holy Roman Empire


"Secularization" was the abolition of the temporal power of an ecclesiastical ruler such as a bishop or an abbot and the annexation of the secularized territory to a secular territory. The empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (from 1804, Emperor Francis I of Austria) abdicated, following a military defeat by the French under Napoleon at Austerlitz (see Treaty of Pressburg). Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the Confederation of the Rhine, a French satellite. Francis' House
12944733
House of Savoy


Faucigny, Lord of Vercelli, Pinerolo, Tarentaise, Lumellino, Val di Sesia, Prince and perpetual Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy. Victor Emmanuel II, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy, King of Sardinia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia, Duke of Savoy, Count of Maurienne, Marquis (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy; Prince of Piedmont, Carignano, Oneglia, Poirino, Trino; Prince and Perpetual vicar of the Holy Roman Empire; Prince
20108014
Sack of Rome (410)


", which went on to become foundational to Christian thought. The sack was a culmination of many terminal problems facing the Western Roman Empire. Domestic rebellions and usurpations weakened the Empire in the face of external invasions. These factors would permanently harm the stability of the Roman Empire in the west. The Roman army meanwhile became increasingly barbarian and disloyal to the Empire. A more severe sack of Rome by the Vandals followed in 455, and the Western Roman Empire finally collapsed in 476 when the Germanic Odovacer removed the last Western Roman
4014227
Coronet


but a rank, hence there was no coronet. The Holy Roman Empire, and consequently its successor states (Austria, Germany and others), had a system very similar to that of the British, although the design varied. Considering the religious nature of the Holy Roman Empire, one can say that, except for the short-lived Napoleonic states, no continental secular system of heraldry historically was so neatly regulated as under the British crown. Still, there are often traditions (often connected to the Holy Roman Empire,
11541150
Holy Roman Empire


"Reichskammergericht". Also in 1512, the Empire received its new title, the "Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation" ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"). In 1516, Ferdinand II of Aragon, grandfather of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, died. Due to a combination of (1) the traditions of dynastic succession in Aragon, which permitted maternal inheritance with no precedence for female rule; (2) the insanity of Charles's mother, Joanna of Castile; and (3)
12944721
Pomerania


while the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark augmented their territory from the west and north. In the 12th century, narrow Pomerania became Christian under saint Otto of Bamberg ("the Apostle of the Pomeranians"); at the same time Pomerelia became a part of diocese of Włocławek. Since then, the Griffin Duchy of Pomerania stayed with the Holy Roman Empire and the Principality of Rugia with Denmark, while Pomerelia, under the ruling of Samborides, was a part of Poland. Pomerania, during its alliance in the Holy Roman Empire
4681617
Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)


emperor on 7 February 962. The union of the crowns of Italy and Germany with that of the so-called "Empire of the Romans" proved stable. Burgundy was added to this union in 1032, and by the twelfth century the term "Holy Roman Empire" had come into use to describe it. From 961 on, the Emperor of the Romans was usually also King of Italy and Germany, although emperors sometimes appointed their heirs to rule in Italy and occasionally the Italian bishops and noblemen elected a king of their
17702517
Council of Castile


high taxes and demands on Castile, with its ambitions over all Europe. Charles was the King, becoming Charles V Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, of one of the largest empires, the Spanish Empire, in European and world history - "The empire on which the sun never sets." The Bishop of Badajoz, Ruiz de la Mota, was an influential member of the Royal Council and declared to the "Cortes" of Corunna that Castile was to be the empire's "treasury and sword." When Charles left
11039272