Holy Roman Emperor
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2008-07-14T16:31:04Z
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Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/213.2.177.214|213.2.177.214]] identified as [[WP:VAND|vandalism]] to last revision by [[User:Neo-Jay|Neo-Jay]]. ([[WP:TW|TW]])
{{Refimprove|date=July 2008}}
{{Infobox Former Emperorship
| realm = the [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| insignia = Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor (after 1400).svg
| insigniasize = 120px
| insigniacaption = Flag of the Holy Roman Empire
| image = Otto I the Great.jpg
| caption = Otto I the first Emperor
| first_emperor = [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]
| last_emperor = [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]]
| style = ''Holy Roman Emperor''
| residence =
| appointer = [[Prince-elector|Electors' Council]]
| began = 962
| ended = [[August 6]], [[1806]]
}}
[[Image:Wappen röm.kaiser.JPG|300px|thumb|Coats of arms of [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]] from 1564 to 1576. The Emperors used the [[double-headed eagle]] as a symbol of their authority]]
[[Image:HRR 14Jh.jpg|300px|thumb|The Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. (The colours indicate the main dynasties competing for the crown.]]
The '''Holy Roman Emperor''' ({{lang-de|Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser}}, {{lang-la|Romanorum Imperator}}) was the [[elected monarchy|elected monarch]] ruling over the [[list of states of the Holy Roman Empire|many varying numbers of states]] making up the [[Holy Roman Empire]]— a [[Central European]] [[feudalism|feudal]] [[state]] in [[the Germanies|existence]] from the [[Early Middle Ages]] (962) into the [[Early Modern]] period until its dissolution during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1806). The Empire, whose Emperor was crowned as [[King of the Romans]] was based upon the Germanic territories of the Emperor [[Charlemagne]], and held by tradition to be his successors ruling its successor state. The last Emperor, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II of Austria]] and technically the '''Emperor-elect''' (candidates were initially elected by the [[Prince-Elector]]s as [[King of the Germans]])—as most were from the time of the [[Investiture Controversy]] in the 1070s–1080s, though styled as '''Emperor'''— dissolved the empire so that [[Napoleon]] could not become (Holy Roman) emperor by controlling [[Confederation of the Rhine|client states]] whose heads of state were the empire's Prince-Electors.
By convention the first Emperor was taken to be the [[Dukes of Saxony|Saxon]] king [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto the Great]], crowned as Emperor by [[Pope John XII]] on [[February 2]] [[962]], although the Empire itself (as well as the style ''Holy Roman Emperor'') did not come into use until some time later. Some have asserted that the first Emperor was [[Charlemagne]] (crowned in 800), but that claim was only made afterwards. Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the [[Pope]]s up until the 16th century, and the last Emperor, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]], abdicated in 1806 during the [[Napoleonic War]]s that saw the Empire's final dissolution.
The ''Roman'' of the Emperor's title 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 I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto the Great]] 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 ''[[Kingdom of Germany|King of the Germans]]'', after which he would be crowned as emperor by the [[Pope]]. The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]; all emperors after him were technically ''emperors-elect'', but were universally referred to as ''Emperor''.
==Conflict with the Papacy==
The title of ''Emperor'' (''[[Imperator]]'') carried with it an important role as protector of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], and women were ineligible to be crowned. 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, Holy Roman Emperor|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 [[Prince-elector|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, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VII]]. In 1508, and permanently after 1556, the King no longer traveled to Rome for the crowning by the Pope.
==List of Emperors==
This list includes all emperors, whether or not they styled themselves ''Holy Roman Emperor'', from [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto the Great]] on. There are some gaps in the tally. For example, [[Henry the Fowler]] was King of Germany but not Emperor; [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry II]] was numbered as his successor as German King. The Guideschi follow the numeration for the [[Duchy of Spoleto]].
===Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty===
*[[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I the Great]], 962–973
*[[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]], 973–983
*[[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]], 996–1002
*[[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II the Saint]], 1014–1024 (enumerated as successor of [[Henry I the Fowler|Henry I]] who was German King 919–936 but not Emperor.)
===Salian (Frankish) Dynasty===
*[[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]], 1027–1039 (enumerated as successor of [[Conrad I]] who was German King 911–918 but not Emperor)
*[[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]], 1046–1056
*[[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]], 1084–1105
*[[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]], 1111–1125<ref>
{{cite book
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RY6VmGuAaCkC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=supplinburg+dynasty&source=web&ots=RsLwH_MnGU&sig=EFPN-WhCOTcfJD4WsWDk39dsGl4
|title=The Origins of Modern Germany
|first=Geoffrey
|last=Barraclough
|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company
|date=1984
|isbn=0393301532
}}
</ref>
===Supplinburger dynasty===
*[[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothair III]], 1133–1137 (enumerated as successor of [[Lothair II of Lotharingia|Lothair II]], who was King of Lotharingia 855–869 but not Emperor)
===Staufen (or Hohenstaufen) dynasty===
*[[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I Barbarossa]], 1155–1190
*[[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]], 1191–1197
===House of Welf===
*[[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto IV of Brunswick]], 1209–1215 (d.1218)
===Staufen (or Hohenstaufen) dynasty===
*[[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], 1211–1250
===House of Luxembourg===
*[[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]], 1312–1313
===House of Wittelsbach===
*[[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV the Bavarian]], 1328–1347
===House of Luxembourg===
*[[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]], 1355–1378
*[[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], 1433–1437
===House of Habsburg===
*[[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]], 1452–1493
*[[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]], 1508–1519 (emperor-elect)
*[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], 1530–1556 (emperor-elect 1519–1530)
*[[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]], 1558-1564 (emperor-elect)
*[[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]], 1564–1576 (emperor-elect)
*[[Rudolf II]], 1576–1612 (emperor-elect; enumerated as successor of [[Rudolf I of Germany|Rudolf I]] who was German King 1273–1291 but not Emperor)
*[[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]], 1612–1619 (emperor-elect)
*[[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]], 1619–1637 (emperor-elect)
*[[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III]], 1637–1657 (emperor-elect)
*[[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]], 1658–1705 (emperor-elect)
*[[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph I]], 1705–1711 (emperor-elect)
*[[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]], 1711–1740 (emperor-elect)
===House of Wittelsbach===
*[[Charles VII Albert]], 1742–1745 (emperor-elect)
=== House of Habsburg-Lorraine===
*[[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I]], 1745–1765 (emperor-elect)
*[[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]], 1765–1790 (emperor-elect)
*[[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]], 1790–1792 (emperor-elect)
*[[Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire|Francis II]], 1792–1806 (emperor-elect)
==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, Holy Roman Emperor|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, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] was the last to be crowned Emperor.
{|class="wikitable"
! Emperor
! Coronation date
! Officiant
! Location
|-
| [[Charlemagne|Charles I]]
| 25 December 800
| [[Pope Leo III]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Louis the Pious|Louis I]]
| 816
| [[Pope Stephen V]]
| Reims
|-
| [[Lothair I]]
| 5 April 823
| [[Pope Paschal I]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis II]]
| 850
| [[Pope Leo IV]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Charles the Bald|Charles II]]
| 29 December 875
| rowspan="2"|[[Pope John VIII]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Charles the Fat|Charles III]]
| 12 February 881
|
|-
| [[Guy III of Spoleto]]
| May 891
| [[Pope Stephen V]]
|
|-
| [[Lambert II of Spoleto]]
| 30 April 892
| rowspan="2"|[[Pope Formosus]]
| Ravenna
|-
| [[Arnulf of Carinthia]]
| 22 February 896
| Rome
|-
| [[Louis the Blind|Louis III]]
| 901
| [[Pope Benedict IV]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Berengar I of Italy|Berengar]]
| December 915
| [[Pope John X]]
| Rome
|-
| [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]
| 2 February, 962
| [[Pope John XII]]
|
|-
| [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]]
| 25 December, 967
| [[Pope John XIII]]
|
|-
| [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]]
| 21 May, 996
| [[Pope Gregory V]]
|
|-
| [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]]
| 14 February, 1014
| [[Pope Benedict VIII]]
|
|-
| [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]]
| 26 March, 1027
| [[Pope John XIX]]
|
|-
| [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]]
| 25 December, 1046
| [[Pope Clement II]]
|
|-
| [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]]
| 31 March, 1084
| [[Antipope Clement III]]
|
|-
| [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]]
| 13 April, 1111
| [[Pope Paschal II]]
|
|-
| [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]]
| 23 March, 1117
| [[Antipope Gregory VIII]]
|
|-
| [[Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothair III]]
| 4 June, 1133
| [[Pope Innocent II]]
| [[Basilica of St. John Lateran]]
|-
| [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I]]
| 18 June, 1155
| [[Pope Adrian IV]]
|
|-
| [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]]
| 14 April, 1191
| [[Pope Celestine III]]
|
|-
| [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto IV]]
| 4 October, 1209
| [[Pope Innocent III]]
|
|-
| [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]
| 22 November 1220
| [[Pope Honorius III]]
|
|-
| [[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]]
| 29 June 1312
| Cardinals
|
|-
| [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]]
| 17 January 1328
| [[Sciarra Colonna]]
|
|-
| [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]]
| 5 April, 1355
| Cardinal
|
|-
| [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]
| 31 May, 1433
| [[Pope Eugenius IV]]
|
|-
| [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]]
| 19 March, 1452
| [[Pope Nicholas V]]
|
|-
| [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]
| February 1530
| [[Pope Clement VII]]
| [[Bologna]], Italy
|}
==See also==
*[[Holy Roman Emperors family tree]]
{{Commons|Holy Roman Emperors}}
* [[King of the Romans]]
* [[List of German monarchs]]
* [[Holy Roman Empress]]
* [[Emperor]] for other uses of the title "Emperor" in western Europe.
==References==
<references/>
{{Holy Roman Emperors}}
{{Epochs of Roman Emperors}}
[[Category:Holy Roman Emperors|*]]
[[Category:Lists of monarchs|Holy Roman]]
[[ar:إمبراطور روماني مقدس]]
[[de:Römisch-deutscher Kaiser]]
[[et:Saksa-Rooma keiser]]
[[es:Emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico]]
[[eo:Imperiestroj de la Sankta Romia Imperio]]
[[fr:Empereur romain germanique]]
[[ko:신성 로마 제국 황제]]
[[id:Kaisar Romawi Suci]]
[[it:Sacro Romano Imperatore]]
[[la:Imperator Romanus Sacer]]
[[ja:神聖ローマ皇帝]]
[[simple:Holy Roman Emperor]]
[[sr:Свети Римски Цар]]
[[th:สมเด็จพระจักรพรรดิแห่งโรมันอันศักดิ์สิทธิ์]]
[[wa:Djivêye des Impreus do Sint Impire Romin Djermanike]]
[[zh:神圣罗马帝国皇帝列表]]