Holy Roman Emperor

(noun)

A term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who had also received the title "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope.

Related Terms

Examples of Holy Roman Emperor in the following topics:

  • Panel Painting in the Northern Renaissance

    • The court of the Holy Roman Emperor played an important role in panel paintings during the Northern Renaissance.
    • The court of the Holy Roman Emperor, originally based in Prague, played an important role in supporting artists as patrons during the Northern Renaissance.
    • Albrech Durer is a well known artist of the Northern Italian Renaissance who found a patron in Emperor Maximillian I.

  • The Structure of the Holy Roman Empire

    • The term Holy Roman Empire was not used until the 13th century and the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties.
    • The Habsburgs held the title of Holy Roman Emperor between 1438 and 1740, and again from 1745 to 1806.
    • The division between the positions of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Emperor of the Austrian Monarchy is best illustrated by the circumstances around the War of the Austrian Succession.
    • The End of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire
    • In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy as 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.

  • Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire

    • The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose religious uniformity on his domains, forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples.
    • The position of the Holy Roman Emperor was mainly titular, but the emperors, from the House of Habsburg, also directly ruled a large portion of imperial territory (lands of the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Bohemia), as well as the Kingdom of Hungary.
    • The Peace of Augsburg (1555), signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, ended the war between German Lutherans and Catholics.
    • As he was an imperial elector, this could have produced a Protestant majority in the College that elected the Holy Roman Emperor, a position that Catholics had always held.
    • Religion in the Holy Roman Empire on the eve of the Thirty Years' War.

  • The Pragmatic Sanction

    • The Pragmatic Sanction did not affect the office of Holy Roman Emperor because the Imperial crown was elective, not hereditary, although successive elected Habsburg rulers headed the Holy Roman Empire since 1438.
    • The War of the Spanish Succession ensued, with Louis XIV of France claiming the crowns of Spain for his grandson Philip and Leopold I (Holy Roman Emperor) claiming them for his son Charles.
    • The elective office of Holy Roman Emperor was filled by Joseph I's son-in-law Charles Albert of Bavaria, marking the first time in several hundred years that the position was not held by a Habsburg.
    • Maria Theresa's husband was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I in 1745.
    • In accordance with the tradition, Maria Theresa held the title of the Holy Roman Empress as wife of the Emperor.

  • The Peace of Westphalia

    • Over a four-year period, the warring parties of the Thirty Years' War (the Holy Roman Empire, France, and Sweden) were actively negotiating at Osnabrück and Münster in Westphalia.
    • The three treaties involved were the Peace of Münster (between the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain), the Treaty of Münster (between the Holy Roman Emperor and France and their respective allies), and the Treaty of Osnabrück (between the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and their respective allies).
    • The peace negotiations involved a total of 109 delegations representing European powers, including Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, Philip IV of Spain, the Kingdom of France, the Swedish Empire, the Dutch Republic, the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire and sovereigns of the free imperial cities.
    • The power taken by Ferdinand III in contravention of the Holy Roman Empire's constitution was stripped and returned to the rulers of the Imperial States.
    • the Treaty of Münster between the Holy Roman Emperor and France was one of three treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia

  • Rise of the Holy Roman Empire

    • The formation of the Holy Roman Empire was initiated by Charlemagne's coronation as "Emperor of the Romans" in 800, and consolidated by Otto I when he was crowned emperor in 962 by Pope John XII.
    • The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806.
    • In 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans, reviving the title in Western Europe after more than three centuries.
    • Following the example of Charlemagne's coronation as "Emperor of the Romans" in 800, Otto was crowned emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome, thus intertwining the affairs of the German kingdom with those of Italy and the papacy.
    • Otto II succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor.

  • Fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire

    • The office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties.
    • The Holy Roman Empire was not a highly centralized state like most countries today.
    • In 1516, Ferdinand II of Aragon, grandfather of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, died.
    • The empire was dissolved in 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.
    • The Holy Roman Empire after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648.

  • Administration of the Empire

    • The Holy Roman Empire was not a highly centralized state like most countries today.
    • The Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was the legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire and theoretically superior to the emperor himself.
    • In the Holy Roman Empire, the main dukes and bishops of the kingdom elected the King of the Romans.
    • The Hohenstaufen-ruled Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of Sicily.
    • Explain the relationship between the Holy Roman Emperor and the other German nobles

  • Faith in the Face of Suffering

    • The Holy Roman Empire existed for almost 850 years, starting with the reign of Charlemagne in 962.
    • Throughout the Middle Ages several political, religious, and social crises ripped through the Holy Roman Empire.
    • These conflicts included ongoing internal struggles with various local monarchs vying for the role of Emperor, and struggles against rulers in areas attempting to resist the rule of the Holy Roman Empire.
    • The church remained one of the strongest institutions in Europe, and in the Holy Roman Empire.
    • Discuss the Great Famine, the Black Death, and the political and social unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries.

  • The Holy Roman Empire and the Church