by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

(Use the following link to see the above map larger: Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1789)

The 18th-century French philosopher Voltaire once said: “The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.” The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. It was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the Pope. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks and King of the Lombards was crowned the Emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800 by Pope Leo III in Rome. Some historians say that was the start of the Holy Roman Empire. However, when Charlemagne died his empire was given to his sons and divided into three different countries: West Francia which eventually became France, Lotharingia which eventually became Italy, Lorraine, and Burgundy, and East Francia which eventually became Germany.

Most historians say that the Holy Roman Empire started with Otto (the Great) I who was King of Italy, King of East Francia, and Duke of Saxony. In 962, following the example of Charlemagne’s coronation as Emperor of the Romans in 800, Otto was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome.

From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states. Common practice was to elect the deceased Emperor’s heir. The House of Habsburg held the title from 1440 until the death of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI In 1740. Throughout his reign, Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI expected to have a male heir and never really prepared his daughter Maria Theresa of Austria for her future role as sovereign. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma in her own right, and she was the only female to hold the position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right and her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

However, Maria Theresa was unable to be elected the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. In 1742, Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor as Franz I. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power and Francis Stephen was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife. Until the demise of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Holy Roman Emperor was from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg.

Until the 13th century, the Holy Roman Empire was powerful. As time went on the constituent states of the started to obtain more power. Even before the reign of Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor began in 1792, the Holy Roman Emperors had little real power. Franz II, the grandson of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen, also had Habsburg family titles and territories. He was King of Hungary, King of Croatia, King of Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria. During the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th-century, Franz II feared that Napoleon could take over the personal, hereditary Habsburg lands within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804, he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria. As it turned out, Franz’s move was a wise one because the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.

• Wikipedia: Holy Roman Empire
• Wikipedia: List of Holy Roman Emperors
• Wikipedia: List of States in the Holy Roman Empire

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Holy Roman Emperor – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Emperor> [Accessed 21 September 2021].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Holy Roman Empire – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire> [Accessed 21 September 2021].
• Flantzer, S., 2016. Franz I, Emperor of Austria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/franz-i-emperor-of-austria/> [Accessed 21 September 2021].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-theresa-archduchess-of-austria-queen-of-hungary-croatia-and-bohemia/> [Accessed 19 September 2021].
• Wilson, Peter, 2016. Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.