Holy Roman Empire
| 800/962[a]–1806 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Imperial Banner
(c. 1430–1806) Coat of arms
(15th-century design) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quaternion Eagle (1510) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Holy Roman Empire in c. 1600 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Multicentral, see § Administrative centres[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | German, Medieval Latin (administrative/liturgical/ Various[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Various official religions: Latin Christianity[c] (800/962–1806) Lutheranism (1555–1806) Calvinism (1648–1806) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy Mixed monarchy (after Imperial Reform)[6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 800–814 | Charlemagne[a] (first) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 962–973 | Otto I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1519–1556 | Charles V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1792–1806 | Francis II (last) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Imperial Diet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages to early modern period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 December 800 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• East Frankish Otto I is crowned Emperor of the Romans | 2 February 962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Conrad II assumes crown of the Kingdom of Burgundy | 2 February 1033 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Peace of Augsburg | 25 September 1555 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 October 1648 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Cabinet wars | 1648–1789 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Battle of Austerlitz | 2 December 1805 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Abdication of Francis II | 6 August 1806 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1150[d] | 1,100,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1700[7] | 23,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1800[7] | 29,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Multiple: thaler, guilder, groschen, Reichsthaler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Holy Roman Empire,[e] also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor.[8] It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.[9] Initially, it comprised three constituent kingdoms—Germany, Italy, and, from 1032, Burgundy—held together by the emperor’s overlordship. By the Late Middle Ages, imperial governance became concentrated in the Kingdom of Germany, as the empire’s effective control over Italy and Burgundy had largely disappeared.
On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne Roman emperor, reviving the title more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.[10] The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII, as Charlemagne's and the Carolingian Empire's successor.[11][12][13][f] From 962 until the 12th century, the empire was one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe.[14] It depended on cooperation between emperor and vassals;[15] this was disturbed during the Salian period.[16] The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, but overextension led to a partial collapse.[17][18][19][20][21] The imperial office was traditionally elective by the mostly German prince-electors. In theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered the first among equals of all of Europe's Catholic monarchs.[22]
A process of Imperial Reform in the late 15th and early 16th centuries transformed the empire, creating a set of institutions which endured until its final demise in the 19th century.[23][24][25][26] On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated and formally dissolved the empire following the creation by French emperor Napoleon of the Confederation of the Rhine from German client states loyal to France.
For most of its history the Empire comprised the entirety of the modern countries of Germany, Czechia, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Luxembourg, most of north-central Italy and southern Belgium, and large parts of modern-day east France and west Poland.
- ^ "Charlemagne | Holy Roman emperor". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ Kleinhenz 2004, p. 810; "Otto can be considered the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, though that term was used until the twelfth century".
- ^ von Aretin, Karl Otmar Freiherr (31 December 1983). Schieder, Theodor; Brunn, Gerhard (eds.). "Das Reich ohne Hauptstadt? Die Multizentralitat der Hauptstadtfunktionen im Reich bis 1806". Hauptstädte in europäischen Nationalstaaten: 5–14. doi:10.1515/9783486992878-003. ISBN 978-3-4869-9287-8.
- ^ Whaley 2012a, p. 20.
- ^ Žůrek 2014.
- ^ Wilson 2016, pp. v–xxvi.
- ^ a b Wilson 2016, p. 496.
- ^ Coy, Jason Philip; Marschke, Benjain min; Sabean, David Warren (2010). The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered. Berghahn Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-8454-5992-5.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
EB.HREwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Charlemagne". History. 9 November 2009. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ Cantor 1993, pp. 212–215.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Gascoignewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Davies 1996, pp. 316–317.
- ^ Peters, Edward (1977). Europe: the World of the Middle Ages. Prentice-Hall. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-1329-1898-5. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ Weiler, Björn K. U.; MacLean, Simon (2006). Representations of Power in Medieval Germany 800–1500. Isd. p. 126. ISBN 978-2-5035-1815-2. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Loud, Graham A.; Schenk, Jochen (2017). The Origins of the German Principalities, 1100–1350: Essays by German Historians. Taylor & Francis. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-3170-2200-8.
- ^ Streissguth, Tom (2009). The Middle Ages. Greenhaven Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-7377-4636-5.
- ^ Wilson 1999, p. 18.
- ^ Whaley 2012a, pp. 17–21.
- ^ Bryce 1890, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Garipzanov 2008.
- ^ Breverton 2014, p. 104.
- ^ Wilson 2016b, p. 79.
- ^ Brady 2009, pp. 104–106.
- ^ Brady 2009, pp. 128, 129.
- ^ Johnson 1996, p. 23.
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