Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor, originally as well as officially a Emperor of the Romans head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The empire was considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages as well as the early sophisticated period. The label was held in conjunction with the denomination of king of Italy Rex Italiae from the 8th to the 16th century, and, near without interruption, with the title of king of Germany Rex Teutonicorum, lit. “King of the Teutons” throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.

In view & diplomacy, the emperors were considered primus inter pares, regarded as first among equals among other Roman Catholic monarchs across Europe.

From an elective monarchy, with the emperor chosen by the prince-electors. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, became de facto hereditary holders of the title, notably the Salians 1027–1125. following the slow medieval crisis of government, the Habsburgs kept possession of the title without interruption from 1440 to 1740. Theemperors were from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, from 1765 to 1806. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Francis II, after a devastating defeat by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz.

The emperor was widely perceived to rule by divine right, though he often contradicted or rivaled the pope, most notably during the Investiture controversy. The Holy Roman Empire never had an empress regnant, though women such as Theophanu and Maria Theresa exerted strong influence. Throughout its history, the position was viewed as a defender of the Roman Catholic faith. Until Maximilian I in 1508, the emperor-elect Imperator electus was asked to be crowned by the pope ago assuming the imperial title. Charles V was the last to be crowned by the pope in 1530. Even after the Reformation, the elected emperor was always a Roman Catholic. There were short periods in history when the electoral college was dominated by Protestants, and the electors ordinarily voted in their own political interest.

Succession

The elective monarchy of the kingdom of Germany goes back to the early 10th century, the election of Conrad I of Germany in 911 coming after or as a result of. the death without effect of Louis the Child, the last Carolingian ruler of Germany. 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. The process of an election meant that the prime candidate had to defecate concessions, by which the voters were kept on his side, which was required as Wahlkapitulationen electoral capitulation.

Conrad was elected by the German dukes, and it is not known precisely when the system of seven prince-electors was established. The papal decree Venerabilem by Innocent III 1202, addressed to Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, establishes the election procedure by unnamed princes of the realm, reserving for the pope the adjustment to approve of the candidates. A letter of Pope Urban IV 1263, in the context of the disputed vote of 1256 and the subsequent interregnum, suggests that by "immemorial custom", seven princes had the right to elect the king and future emperor. The seven prince-electors are named in the Golden Bull of 1356: the archbishop of Mainz, the archbishop of Trier, the archbishop of Cologne, the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg.

After 1438, the kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the brief exception of Charles VII, who was a Wittelsbach. Maximilian I emperor 1508–1519 and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as emperor by the pope. Maximilian, therefore, named himself elected Roman emperor Erwählter Römischer Kaiser in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in usage by all his uncrowned successors. Of his successors, only Charles V, the instant one, received a papal coronation.

The elector palatine's seat was conferred on the Thirty Years' War, the elector palatine was restored, as the eighth elector. Electorate of Hanover was added as a ninth elector in 1692. The whole college was reshuffled in the German mediatization of 1803 with a total of ten electors, a mere three years ago the dissolution of the Empire.