Misplaced Pages

#373626

53-824: Its intended aim was to weaken the position of the Holy Roman Emperor , Leopold I and to marginalise the Austrian House of Habsburg . Louis XIV had wished to be elected emperor himself, but had failed, despite the French victory at the Battle of the Dunes . The new confederation allied itself to France, swearing not to let any anti-French troops (marching to attack France in the Spanish Netherlands or elsewhere) pass through their territory , thus protecting France's eastern frontier with

106-727: A "military border" running along the Rhine and cutting Habsburg monarchy off from the Spanish Netherlands. Sweden was guaranteed its German possessions in Bremen-Verden , and later also those in Swedish Pomerania . The League's members also swore to maintain the clauses of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia , which had made the League possible by authorising the German princes, immediate vassals of

159-634: A few days before France declared war on Austria. In 1792, Leopold II's son Francis II was crowned emperor in Frankfurt . After the beheading of the French sovereigns, he – along with the other European sovereigns – created the First Coalition against Revolutionary France. The coalition initially recorded some success but soon began to withdraw, especially in Italy , where the Austrians were repeatedly defeated by

212-557: A fortress built in the 1020s by Count Radbot of Klettgau in Aargau (now in Switzerland ). His grandson, Otto II , was the first to take on the name of the fortress as his own, adding Graf von Habsburg ("Count of Habsburg") to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, and in 1273, Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg , became Roman-German King . He moved

265-810: A further extension of the alliance as the Rheinbundrat, made up only of the main members of the League, which lasted to 1688. Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor , originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( Latin : Imperator Romanorum ; German : Kaiser der Römer ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Romano-German Emperor since the early modern period ( Latin : Imperator Germanorum ; German : Römisch-deutscher Kaiser , lit.   'Roman-German emperor'),

318-588: Is a modern shorthand for "emperor of the Holy Roman Empire" not corresponding to the historical style or title, i.e., the adjective "holy" is not intended as modifying "emperor"; the English term "Holy Roman Emperor" gained currency in the interbellum period (the 1920s to 1930s); formerly the title had also been rendered as "German-Roman emperor" in English. The elective monarchy of the Kingdom of Germany goes back to

371-627: The Holy Alliance was also established between Austria , Russia and Prussia , which had the task of suppressing all the pro-French or independence revolutionary movements that would have erupted in Europe. In the years that followed, Francis II pursued a centralization policy on the advice of Chancellor Metternich ; but precisely because of it, and emerging ideals of independence, the Revolutions of 1848 broke out, which wracked all of Europe. This led to

424-526: The Holy Roman Empire was Joseph II , a sovereign raised during the Enlightenment . By the new ideals he brought, he implemented many reforms, most of which were to the detriment of the clergy. Upon his death in 1790, he was succeeded by his brother Leopold II , who in 1791 invited Europe's powers to help the French royal family stifle the ideals of the revolution without military intervention. He died

477-563: The Holy Roman Empire . Under the Ottonians , much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire. Since 911, the various German princes had elected the King of the Germans from among their peers. The King of the Germans would then be crowned as emperor following the precedent set by Charlemagne, during the period of 962–1530. Charles V

530-603: The King of the Franks and King of Italy , for securing his life and position. By this time, the Eastern Emperor Constantine VI had been deposed in 797 and replaced as monarch by his mother, Irene . Under the pretext that a woman could not rule the empire, Pope Leo III declared the throne vacant and crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans ( Imperator Romanorum ), the successor of Constantine VI as Roman emperor, using

583-554: The archbishop of Mainz , the archbishop of Trier , the archbishop of Cologne , the king of Bohemia , the count palatine of the Rhine , the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg . After 1438, the title remained in the House of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine , with the brief exception of Charles VII , who was a Wittelsbach . Maximilian I (emperor 1508–1519) and his successors no longer traveled to Rome to be crowned as emperor by

SECTION 10

#1732884283374

636-509: The male line of the House of Lorraine. The House of Lorraine's branch of Vaudémont and Guise become the main branch after a brief interlude in 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right of Charles de Bourbon 's daughter to her husband, John of Calabria , a Capetian . Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of the House of Lorraine, in the person of René II , who later added to his titles that of Duke of Bar . The House of Habsburg takes its name from Habsburg Castle ,

689-568: The (Germanic) Holy Roman emperors as the inheritors of the title of emperor of the Western Roman Empire , despite the continued existence of the Eastern Roman Empire. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser ("Roman-German emperor") is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman emperor on one hand, and that of German emperor ( Deutscher Kaiser ) on the other. The English term "Holy Roman Emperor"

742-582: The 5th to 8th centuries were convoked by the Eastern Roman Emperors . In Western Europe , the title of Emperor in the West lapsed after the death of Julius Nepos in 480, although the rulers of the barbarian kingdoms continued to recognize the authority of the Eastern Emperor at least nominally well into the 6th century. While the reconquest of Justinian I had re-established Byzantine presence in

795-676: The Corsican general Napoleon Bonaparte . With the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, the Duchy of Milan was handed over to France, while the Austrians gained Veneto , Istria and Dalmatia . This pact was followed by others that reduced the dominion of the Habsburgs to Austria, Bohemia and Hungary. Francis II was also forced to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire , but he had already proclaimed himself Emperor of Austria , in order to retain his imperial status. After

848-711: The Emperor, to conclude alliances between themselves or with foreign states. On August 14, 1658, the League of the Rhine was formed by: The League fielded a force of 6000 to fight on the side of France and the Empire against the Ottomans , seeing action in the 1664 Battle of Saint Gotthard . The League was promulgated to last for three years, which was later twice extended. It officially ended in August 1667, but its end should in fact be dated to 1668 since French diplomacy succeeded in negotiating

901-760: The Habsburgs and Russia, eventually leading Austria-Hungary to enter into an alliance with Germany and Italy . In 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , the First World War broke out between the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire ) and the Entente Powers (the British Empire , France , Russia and others). In 1916, Franz Joseph died and

954-528: The Holy Roman Empire (800–1806). Several rulers were crowned king of the Romans (king of Germany) but not emperor, although they styled themselves thus, among whom were: Conrad I and Henry the Fowler in the 10th century, and Conrad IV , Rudolf I , Adolf and Albert I during the interregnum of the late 13th century. Traditional historiography assumes a continuity between the Carolingian Empire and

1007-411: The Holy Roman Empire, while a modern convention takes the coronation of Otto I in 962 as the starting point of the Holy Roman Empire (although the term Sacrum Imperium Romanum was not in use before the 13th century). On Christmas Day, 800, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, was crowned Emperor of the Romans ( Imperator Romanorum ) by Pope Leo III , in opposition to Empress Irene , who was then ruling

1060-785: The Italian Peninsula , religious frictions existed with the Papacy who sought dominance over the Church of Constantinople . Toward the end of the 8th century, the Papacy still recognised the ruler at Constantinople as the Roman Emperor, though Byzantine military support in Italy had increasingly waned, leading to the Papacy to look to the Franks for protection. In 800 Pope Leo III owed a great debt to Charlemagne ,

1113-630: The Roman Empire from Constantinople. Charlemagne's descendants from the Carolingian Dynasty continued to be crowned Emperor until 899, excepting a brief period when the Imperial crown was awarded to the Widonid Dukes of Spoleto . There is some contention as to whether the Holy Roman Empire dates as far back as Charlemagne, some histories consider the Carolingian Empire to be a distinct polity from

SECTION 20

#1732884283374

1166-420: The concept of translatio imperii . On his coins, the name and title used by Charlemagne is Karolus Imperator Augustus . In documents, he used Imperator Augustus Romanum gubernans Imperium ("Emperor Augustus, governing the Roman Empire") and serenissimus Augustus a Deo coronatus, magnus pacificus Imperator Romanorum gubernans Imperium ("most serene Augustus crowned by God, great peaceful emperor governing

1219-465: The coronation of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor . The period of free election ended with the ascension of the Austrian House of Habsburg , as an unbroken line of Habsburgs held the imperial throne until the 18th century. Later a cadet branch known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine passed it from father to son until the abolition of the Empire in 1806. Notably, from the 16th century, the Habsburgs dispensed with

1272-613: The defeats at Leipzig (1813) and Waterloo (1815), Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena , where he died. In the same year as Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna was established, with which the Restoration began. The Congress demanded the restoration of the old regimes. Austria recovered all the Italian, Slavic and German territories that it had lost during the Napoleonic Wars , and

1325-454: The early 10th century, the election of Conrad I of Germany in 911 following the death without issue of Louis the Child , the last Carolingian ruler of Germany. Elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of England , although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The process of an election meant that

1378-492: The election of Rudolf I of Germany (1273). Rudolf was not crowned emperor, nor were his successors Adolf and Albert . The next emperor was Henry VII , crowned on 29 June 1312 by Pope Clement V . 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 each adopted

1431-459: The election procedure by (unnamed) princes of the realm, reserving for the pope the right to approve of the candidates. A letter of Pope Urban IV (1263), in the context of the disputed vote of 1256 and the subsequent interregnum , suggests that by " immemorial custom ", seven princes had the right to elect the king and future emperor. The seven prince-electors are named in the Golden Bull of 1356 :

1484-519: The elector palatine was restored, as the eighth elector. The Electorate of Hanover was added as a ninth elector in 1692, confirmed by the Imperial Diet in 1708. The whole college was reshuffled in the German mediatization of 1803 with a total of ten electors, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. This list includes all 47 German monarchs crowned from Charlemagne until the dissolution of

1537-564: The emperor chosen by the prince-electors . Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, became de facto hereditary holders of the title, notably the Ottonians (962–1024) and the Salians (1027–1125). Following the late medieval crisis of government , the Habsburgs kept possession of the title (with only one interruption ) from 1440 to 1806. The final emperors were from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine , from 1765 to 1806. The Holy Roman Empire

1590-475: The empire of the Romans"). The Eastern Empire eventually relented to recognizing Charlemagne and his successors as emperors, but as "Frankish" and "German emperors", at no point referring to them as Roman, a label they reserved for themselves. The title of emperor in the West implied recognition by the pope. As the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict

1643-667: The empire was considered by the Catholic Church to be the only successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period . Thus, in theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered primus inter pares , regarded as first among equals among other Catholic monarchs across Europe. From an autocracy in Carolingian times (AD 800–924), the title by the 13th century evolved into an elective monarchy , with

League of the Rhine - Misplaced Pages Continue

1696-569: The expulsion of Metternich from the Imperial Chancellery and the rise of Franz Joseph , replacing Ferdinand I , who was forced to abdicate in favour of the 18-year-old man. Franz Joseph (1830–1916) was the last member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to hold any significant political or military authority in Europe. At the beginning of his reign (1848–1916), Austria was the dominant power in Central Europe, whilst Vienna emerged as one of

1749-614: The family's power base to the Duchy of Austria , which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine still exists today, and the head of the family is Karl von Habsburg . The current house orders are the Order of the Golden Fleece , the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George and the Order of the Starry Cross . The first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over

1802-585: The greatest metropolitan cities on the continent. The emperor, however, waged the Second Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War . Both ended in defeats, which put an end to Austrian supremacy in Italy and Germany, as well as accelerating the gradual decline of the dynasty. In 1867, Franz Joseph granted effective autonomy to the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austrian Empire under

1855-465: The later Holy Roman Empire as established under Otto I in 962. Nephew and adopted son of Charles III While earlier Frankish and Italian monarchs had been crowned as Roman emperors, the actual Holy Roman Empire is often considered to have begun with the crowning of Otto I , at the time Duke of Saxony and King of Germany . Because the King of Germany was an elected position, being elected King of Germany

1908-420: The marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar , and Maria Theresa of Austria , later successively Queen of Bohemia , Queen of Hungary , Queen of Croatia and Archduchess of Austria . Its members form the legitimate surviving line of both the House of Habsburg and the House of Lorraine , and they inherited their patrimonial possessions from the female line of the House of Habsburg and from

1961-455: The pope. Maximilian, therefore, named himself elected Roman emperor ( Erwählter Römischer Kaiser ) in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors. Of his successors, only Charles V , the immediate one, received a papal coronation . The elector palatine's seat was conferred on the duke of Bavaria in 1621, but in 1648, in the wake of the Thirty Years' War ,

2014-563: The position was viewed as a defender of the Catholic faith. Until Maximilian I in 1508, the Emperor-elect ( Imperator electus ) was required to be crowned by the pope before assuming the imperial title. Charles V was the last to be crowned by the pope in 1530. Even after the Reformation , the elected emperor was always a Catholic . There were short periods in history when the electoral college

2067-404: The prime candidate had to make concessions, by which the voters were kept on his side, which was known as Wahlkapitulationen ( electoral capitulation ). Conrad was elected by the German dukes , and it is not known precisely when the system of seven prince-electors was established. The papal decree Venerabilem by Innocent III (1202), addressed to Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen , establishes

2120-402: The requirement that emperors be crowned by the pope before exercising their office. Starting with Ferdinand I , all successive emperors forwent the traditional coronation. The interregnum of the Holy Roman Empire is taken to have lasted from the deposition of Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV in 1245 (or alternatively from Frederick's death in 1250 or from the death of Conrad IV in 1254) to

2173-537: The same titulature, usually on becoming the sole ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's predecessor Frederick III was the last to be crowned Emperor by the Pope in Rome, while Maximilian's successor Charles V was the last to be crowned by the pope, though in Bologna , in 1530. The Emperor was crowned in a special ceremony, traditionally performed by the Pope in Rome . Without that coronation, no king, despite exercising all powers, could call himself Emperor. In 1508, Pope Julius II allowed Maximilian I to use

League of the Rhine - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-424: The spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had a duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy . The emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresies , and uphold ecclesiastical unity. Both the title and connection between Emperor and Church continued in the Eastern Roman Empire throughout the medieval period ( in exile during 1204–1261). The ecumenical councils of

2279-420: The terms of the Ausgleich ; politically and militarily they were united, but in terms of internal policy and administration, they became separate entities. The title of the head of state became "Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary", although he was also referred to as "Emperor of Austria-Hungary". With the growing interest of Austria-Hungary and Russia in the Balkans, strong tensions were created between

2332-472: 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. House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine ( German : Haus Habsburg-Lothringen ) originated from

2385-427: Was "August Emperor of the Romans" ( Romanorum Imperator Augustus ). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he 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 Roman was a reflection of the principle of translatio imperii (or in this case restauratio imperii ) that regarded

2438-404: Was confiscated. The law of exile still applies to the descendants of Emperor Charles under the same conditions. In 1961, Otto von Habsburg , the late head of the house and formerly a member of the European Parliament , relinquished the monarchy and the succession rights of his descendants in exchange for an end to exile. He was known in the Republic of Austria as Dr. Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, since

2491-424: Was dissolved by Francis II , after a devastating defeat by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz . The emperor was widely perceived to rule by divine right , though he often contradicted or rivaled the pope , most notably during the Investiture controversy . The Holy Roman Empire never had an empress regnant , though women such as Theophanu and Maria Theresa exerted strong influence. Throughout its history,

2544-439: Was dominated by Protestants , and the electors usually voted in their own political interest. From the time of Constantine I ( r.  306–337 ), the Roman Emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity . The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Great Church . Emperors considered themselves responsible to God for

2597-497: Was functionally a pre-requisite to being crowned Holy Roman Emperor. By the 13th century, the Prince-electors became formalized as a specific body of seven electors, consisting of three bishops and four secular princes. Through the middle 15th century, the electors chose freely from among a number of dynasties. A period of dispute during the second half of the 13th century over the kingship of Germany led to there being no emperor crowned for several decades, though this ended in 1312 with

2650-439: Was succeeded by his grandnephew, Charles I . Charles (the last sovereign), upon losing the war, renounced the exercise of power but did not abdicate. He was forced into exile on April 3, 1919. The Habsburg dominions were subsequently divided into independent republics. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine refused to swear its allegiance to the new Republic of Austria , therefore family members were forced into exile and their property

2703-415: Was that known as the investiture controversy , fought during the 11th century between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII . After the coronation of Charlemagne, his successors maintained the title until the death of Berengar I of Italy in 924. The comparatively brief interregnum between 924 and the coronation of Otto the Great in 962 is taken as marking the transition from the Frankish Empire to

SECTION 50

#1732884283374

2756-464: Was the last emperor to be crowned by the pope, and his successor, Ferdinand I , merely adopted the title of "Emperor elect" in 1558. The final Holy Roman emperor-elect, Francis II , abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution. The term sacrum (i.e., "holy") in connection with the German Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa . The Holy Roman Emperor's standard designation

2809-463: Was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire . The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy ( Rex Italiae ) from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany ( Rex Teutonicorum , lit.   ' King of the Teutons ' ) throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. The Holy Roman Emperor title provided the highest prestige among medieval Catholic monarchs , because

#373626