Holy Roman Empire

From History Wiki

Table of Contents 1 Structure and Institutions of the Holy Roman Empire 1.1 The German Kingdom 1.2 The Reichstag 1.3 The Imperial Electors 1.4 Imperial States and Estates 1.5 Imperial Circles 1.6 Imperial Courts 2 Chronological History of the Holy Roman Empire 2.1 The Carolingian Empire (800 - 888) 2.2 The Italian Emperors (888 - 924) 2.3 The Early Holy Roman Empire (962 - 1137) 2.4 The Empire Under the Hohenstaufens (1137 - 1252) 2.5 The Interregnum and Imperial Reform (1252 - 1517) 2.6 The Reformation and the Thirty Years' War (1517 - 1648) 2.7 The Decline of the Holy Roman Empire (1648 - 1801) 2.8 The End of the Empire (1801 - 1806) 3 See Also:

[edit] Structure and Institutions of the Holy Roman Empire

[edit] The German Kingdom

The German kingdom's origins can be traced to the initial partition of the Carolingian Empire by the grandsons of Charlemagne in 843. Louis the German obtained many of the territories which would later form the Kingdom of Germany. Originally the Kingdom was divided into six distinct regions: the Duchies of Alemannia (later Swabia), Bavaria, Eastern Francia (later Franconia), Saxony and Thuringia, and the Margraviate of Carinthia. Each duchy was divided into several smaller "gau" counties. As the Kingdom expanded and obtained lands to the west, east and south, the number of the larger designations increased. The Dukes held as their right to elect the new king after the extinction of the German line of the Carolingians. As the system was standardized, prospective kings had to offer bribes or grants of lands and privileges to obtain votes from the electors.

In 962, Otto the Great, Duke of Saxony and King of Germany received the title of "Holy Roman Emperor" and abandoned France from Imperial jurisdiction, thereby establishing the Empire as a German institution. Holding the title "King of Germany" first became necessary to receiving the Imperial title. Lesser nobles were stripped of their rights in electing the Kings, whilst the most powerful Bishops in the kingdom obtained their right to vote. The system of election was eventually standardized by the Golden Bull of 1356. Until 1508 every King made the travel to Rome to be crowned emperor by the Pope, after then the Emperors were merely "Emperors-elect". The title "King of the Germans" lasted until the abolition of the Empire in 1806.

[edit] The Reichstag

The Reichstag (German for Imperial Diet) was the legislative institution of the Holy Roman Empire. It was an assembly of all immediate territories (ie; all states in the Holy Roman Empire with only the King in authority above them). The role, location and the time between diets was originally never fixed. It emerged as a meeting of the King and the leading Dukes of the empire as to the governance of the kingdom. The Reichstag held at Roncalgia in 1158 fixed four laws that would change the constitution of the empire, placing power in the hands of local nobility at the expense of the king.

Until the late 15th Century, the Reichstag would meet irregularily when summoned by the king. In 1489, the first benches were created for the Electors and the other landed nobility. Further benches were created for the counts, cities and prelates in following years. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 transferred the few remaining powers of the Emperor to the Reichstag, transforming the empire into a mass of small, independent states and beginning the Empire's slow end. It was not until 1663 that the Reichstag had a fixed location, Regensburg.

[edit] The Imperial Electors

The antecedents of the College of Electors can be found in the ancient Teutonic tribes of Germany. Many smaller tribes would confederate together and the kings of each would elect one of their number to lead them. While in France and other realms the succession of the kingship had become hereditary, the Kingdom of Germany remained elective. Over time the number of princes allowed to participate in elections was considerably lessened. As Germany slowly became the centre of the empire, the electors were limited to Germans, and it became necessary to hold the title "King of Germany" before being crowned emperor.

When King Louis III the Child died in 911, the Dukes of Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony, Swabia and Thuringia asserted their ancient right to elect Conrad von Wetterau of Franconia the new German king, thus beginning the notion of college of electors. Thuringia was annexed to the royal crown, and was only reinstated as a mere landgraviate in 1130, being replaced by the Duke of Lorraine. Originally, after the election of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Emperor-elect would gain the approval of the remaining nobles in the realm.

The College of Electors is mentioned in the elections of 1125, 1152 and 1198. Pope Urban IV asserted in a letter in 1264, that by right of custom immemorial, seven princes held the right to elect the Emperor: the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier, and the Dukes of Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony and Swabia. The three Archbishops ruled some of the richest sees in Europe, and the four Dukes held ancient hereditary offices. The Duchies of Franconia and Swabia had become extinct in 1196 and 1268, and had their rights inherited by the Margrave of Brandenburg and the Count Palatine of the Rhine respectively. However, as the House of Wittelsbach ruled both Bavaria and the Count Palatinate, the other electors refused to allow two Wittelsbachs to have electoral rights, beginning a long feud between Bavaria and the Palatinate in which the latter victored. Meanwhile, the King of Bohemia asserted his right as the Imperial Cupbearer to participate in elections in which the other electors challenged on the grounds his lands were not German. The Declaration at Rhense in 1338 ensured that the electors did not require Papal confirmation. The Golden Bull of 1356 finally resolved the feuds amongst the electors. In it, the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier, the Duke of Saxony, the Count Palatinate, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia were all conferred the right of electorship.

The College of Electors did not change until 1621. Elector Palatine Frederick V had participated in the Bohemian Revolt of 1621 and was placed under the Imperial Ban. His vote on the Council of Electors was then granted the Duke of Bavaria, originally as a personalist vote but was later made hereditary. When the Thirty Years' War ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, a new electorate was created for the Palatine while the Duke of Bavaria retained his vote. In 1692 the Electorate of the Palatinate was inherited by a Catholic line, upsetting the religious balance of the College of Electors, so a new electorate was created in the Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen renamed to Hannover (this was confirmed by the Reichstag in 1708). During the War of Spanish Succession, both the electors of Cologne and Bavaria were placed under the Imperial Ban, although they regained their seats with the Peace of Baden in 1714. In 1777 the number of electors decreased with the inheritence of the Palatinate by Bavaria.

During the last years of the Holy Roman Empire, further changes occured to the College of Electors. The Archbishoprics of Cologne and Trier were annexed to France by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801 and their votes lost. During the reorganisation of the Empire in 1803 the Dukes of Salzburg and Württemberg, the Margrave of Baden, and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel gained a seat on the College of Electors. None of the new electors had the opportunity to vote in an election as the empire was abolished in 1806, and only the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel retained the right of electorship after 1806.

[edit] Imperial States and Estates

The rise of Feudalism in the 11th Century transformed the empire from holding a few, powerful territories to holding many smaller territories, each with their own rights and priveleges. An entity was only considered an Imperial Estate (German: Reichsstand) if they held no authority above them besides the Holy Roman Emperor. These included:

• The Duchies and Principalities of the empire, or an immediate County, Barony or Lordship in one of the four Benches of Counts.
• The Bishoprics and Prince-Bishoprics, or an immediate prelate in one of the two Benches of Prelates.
• The Free and Imperial Cities.

The holder of an Imperial Estate was called a "State". States had more rights and priveleges than other landholders, and they also held coveted seats and votes in the Imperial Circle diets and the Reichstag. The number of states and estates in surprisingly large, with many of them little larger than a few square kilometres.

See also: List of Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire and List of States in the Holy Roman Empire.

[edit] Imperial Circles

As the Empire became increasingly fragmented, new methods were created to consolidate and organise the various lands in the realm. With the Imperial Reform in 1495, the Imperial Circles were created. Each Imperial Circle held its own diet (Kreistag) in which all states held a seat and vote (although not all states in a Kreistag also held a seat in the Reichstag). Only six Circles were created in 1500: the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle, the Upper Rhenish Circle, the Bavarian Circle, the Swabian Circle, the Franconian Circle, and the Lower Saxon Circle. In 1512, the other four circles were created: the Electoral Rhenish Circle, the Austrian Circle, the Burgundian Circle and the Upper Saxon Circle.

Not all states and estates were included in circles. Lands of the Bohemian crown, Italian and Swiss territories, and several small and outlying territories were not included in any. The circles remained largely unchanged until the 1790s when the French Revolution and successive French governments greatly changed the political map of Europe.

[edit] Imperial Courts

The Holy Roman Empire had two supreme courts in existence. The first was the Reichshofrat (also called the Aulic Council). It was the court of the Emperor, held where they took residence. After the end of the Hohenstaufens the court was almost always held at the permanent residence of the Emperor in their own lands. The Aulic Council held exclusive jurisdiction in criminal affairs and feudal processes in all immediate territories. After the Battle of Austerlitz, the Aulic Council was reformed as a war council for the Austrian Empire.

The other court was the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court). It was created in 1495 by the Reichstag in Worms as the supreme court of the Holy Roman Empire, despite the Aulic Council having exclusive jurisdiction in many important areas. The Imperial Chamber Court was notorious for the length of criminal proceedings and the time necessary to reach conclusion - several cases took hundreds of years. All procedings could be taken to the Court unless the ruler of the territory held a privilegium de non appellando in which the highest judicial authority of the territory was created by the ruler of the territory.

[edit] Chronological History of the Holy Roman Empire

[edit] The Carolingian Empire (800 - 888)

[edit] The Italian Emperors (888 - 924)

[edit] The Early Holy Roman Empire (962 - 1137)

[edit] The Empire Under the Hohenstaufens (1137 - 1252)

[edit] The Interregnum and Imperial Reform (1252 - 1517)

[edit] The Reformation and the Thirty Years' War (1517 - 1648)

[edit] The Decline of the Holy Roman Empire (1648 - 1801)

[edit] The End of the Empire (1801 - 1806)

[edit] See Also:

• List of Holy Roman Emperors
• List of Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire
• List of States in the Holy Roman Empire

History of Ancient Rome
History: Roman Kingdom | Roman Republic | Roman Empire | Western Roman Empire | Eastern Roman Empire / Byzantine Empire (Western and Eastern Empires ran simultaneously)| Frankish Empire & Holy Roman Empire (not considered legitimate successors)