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Holy Roman Emperor

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The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser, Romanorum Imperator) was the elected monarch ruling over the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European state in existence during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. By convention the first Emperor was taken to be the Frankish king Charlemagne, crowned as Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800, although the Empire itself (as well as the style Holy Roman Emperor) did not come into use until some time later. Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the Popes up until the 16th century, and the last Emperor, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars 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

After Charlemagne's death in 814, his realm was eventually divided into three by his grandsons at the Treaty of Verdun of 843. The Western realm would later become France, the Middle realm Lotharingia or Lorraine, and the Eastern realm Germany. The title of Emperor was held by several Carolingian Frankish monarchs until the ascension of Otto I of the Eastern realm, in 962. From this time onward, Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire, and its rulers, after being elected as King of Germany, would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was 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 Catholic Church, and emperors were ordained as subdeacons of the Catholic Church (thus 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 and Pope Gregory VII.

Succession

Successions to the kingship were controlled by a complicated mélange of 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. 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 from Charlemagne, including Emperors-Elect. The numeration of Emperors follows that of the Kings of Germany; thus, 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.

Carolingian Dynasty

House of Guideschi

Carolingian Dynasty

Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty

Salian (Frankish) Dynasty

Supplinburger dynasty

  • Lothair III, 1133–1137 (enumerated as successor of Lothair II, who was King of Lotharingia 855–869 but not Emperor)

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.

Emperor Coronation date Officiant Location
Charles I 25 December 800 Pope Leo III Rome
Louis I 816 Pope Stephen V Reims
Lothair I 5 April 823 Pope Paschal I Rome
Louis II 850 Pope Leo IV Rome
Charles II 29 December 875 Pope John VIII Rome
Charles III 12 February 881
Guy III of Spoleto May 891 Pope Stephen V
Lambert II of Spoleto 30 April 892 Pope Formosus Ravenna
Arnulf of Carinthia 22 February 896 Rome
Louis III 901 Pope Benedict IV Rome
Berengar December 915 Pope John X Rome
Otto I 2 February, 962 Pope John XII
Otto II 25 December, 967 Pope John XIII
Otto III 21 May, 996 Pope Gregory V
Henry II 14 February, 1014 Pope Benedict VIII
Conrad II 26 March, 1027 Pope John XIX
Henry III 25 December, 1046 Pope Clement II
Henry IV 31 March, 1084 Antipope Clement III
Henry V 13 April, 1111 Pope Paschal II
Henry V 23 March, 1117 Antipope Gregory VIII
Lothair III 4 June, 1133 Pope Innocent II Basilica of St. John Lateran
Frederick I 18 June, 1155 Pope Adrian IV
Henry VI 14 April, 1191 Pope Celestine III
Otto IV 4 October, 1209 Pope Innocent III
Frederick II 22 November 1220 Pope Honorius III
Henry VII 29 June 1312 Cardinals
Louis IV 17 January 1328 Sciarra Colonna
Charles IV 5 April, 1355 Cardinal
Sigismund 31 May, 1433 Pope Eugenius IV
Frederick III 19 March, 1452 Pope Nicholas V
Charles V February 1530 Pope Clement VII Bologna, Italy

See also

References



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