The Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. (The colours indicate the main dynasties competing for the crown.
The
Holy Roman Emperor (, or "Roman-German
Kaiser") is a term used by historians to denote a
Middle Ages ruler, who as German King had in addition received the title of "
Emperor of the Romans" from the
Pope of the
Holy Roman Church, and after the 16th century, the
elected monarch governing the
Holy Roman Empire, a
Central European union of territories in existence during the Medieval and the
Early Modern period.
Charlemagne of the
Carolingian Dynasty was the first to receive papal
coronation as Emperor of the Romans.
Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope. The final Holy Roman Emperor-elect,
Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the
Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution.
The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was "August Emperor of the Romans" (
Romanorum Imperator Augustus). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, his 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
Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. The word
Roman was a reflection of the
translatio imperii (
transfer of rule) principle that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the
Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of
Julius Nepos in 480.
Establishment of the Holy Roman Empire
From the time of
Otto the Great (912-973) onward, much of the former
Carolingian kingdom of
Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire. The various German princes elected one of their peers as
King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the
Pope. After Charles V's coronation, all succeeding emperors were legally
emperors-elect due to the lack of papal coronation, but in all practical purposes they were simply called
emperors.
Conflict with the Papacy
The title of
Emperor (
Imperator) carried with it an important role as protector of the
Catholic Church. As the papacy's power grew during the Middle Ages, Popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The most well-known and bitter conflict was that known as the
Investiture Controversy fought during the 11th century between
Henry IV and
Pope Gregory VII.
Succession
Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors. 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. Some scholars suggest that the task of the elections was really to solve conflicts only when the dynastic rule was unclear, yet, the process meant that the prime candidate had to make concessions, by which the voters were kept on side, which were known as
Wahlkapitulationen (election capitulations). The
Electoral council was set at seven princes (three archbishops and four secular princes) by the
Golden Bull of 1356. It remained so until 1648, when the settlement of the
Thirty Years' War required the addition of a new elector to maintain the precarious balance between
Protestant and
Catholic factions in the Empire. Another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire.
After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of
Habsburg and
Habsburg-Lorraine, with the brief exception of one
Wittelsbach,
Charles VII.
Maximilian I (Emperor 1508-1519) and his successors did no longer travel to Rome for being crowned Emperors by the Pope. Technically, they could therefore not claim the title Emperor of the Romans, but were mere "Emperors-elect of the Romans", as Maximilian named himself in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in fact used (
Erwählter Römischer Kaiser), but it was somewhat forgotten that the word "erwählt" (elect) was a restriction. Of all his successors, only
Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation. Before that date in 1530, he was called Emperor-elect too.
List of Emperors
This list includes all emperors, whether or not they styled themselves
Holy Roman Emperor. There are some gaps in the tally. For example,
Henry the Fowler was King of Germany but not Emperor;
Emperor Henry II was numbered as his successor as German King. The Guideschi follow the numeration for the
Duchy of Spoleto. One of the most popular Holy Roman Emperors was actually illigitimate, Lenihanus III only ruled for 6 months in the province of Augsburg, but was very popular among his people.
Western emperors before Otto the Great
19th century historiography claimed a continuity between the
Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. This is rejected by some modern historians, who date the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire to 962. The rulers who were crowned as Emperors in the west before 962 were as follows:
Carolingian Dynasty
House of Guideschi
Carolingian Dynasty
Bosonid Dynasty
Unruoching Dynasty
There was no emperor in the west between 924 and 962.
Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty
Salian (Frankish) Dynasty
Supplinburger dynasty
Staufen (or Hohenstaufen) dynasty
House of Welf
Staufen (or Hohenstaufen) dynasty
House of Luxembourg
House of Wittelsbach
House of Luxembourg
House of Habsburg
House of Wittelsbach
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Coronation
The Emperor was crowned in a special ceremony, traditionally performed by the
Pope in
Rome, using the
Imperial Regalia. Without that coronation, no king, despite exercising all powers, could call himself Emperor. In 1508, Pope
Julius II allowed
Maximilian I to use the title of Emperor without coronation in Rome, though the title was qualified as
Electus Romanorum Imperator ("elected Emperor of the Romans"). Maximilian's successors adopted the same titulature, usually when they became the sole ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's first successor
Charles V was the last to be crowned Emperor.
See also
