Holy Roman Empire

"HRE" redirects here. For other uses, see HRE (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Roman Empire.

Holy Roman Empire
Sacrum Imperium Romanum (Latin)
Heiliges Römisches Reich (German)
Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation
Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicae (Latin)
Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation (German)
800/962[a]–1806
Quaternion Eagle (1510)
The Holy Roman Empire at its greatest territorial extent imposed over modern borders, c. 1200–1250
The Holy Roman Empire at its greatest territorial extent imposed over modern borders, c. 1200–1250
CapitalMulticentral[3]
Rome (de jure)
Aachen (800–1562)
  • 800–888 (as capital) 800–1562 (coronation of the king of Germany)
Palermo and Foggia (de facto) (1194–1254); (1220-1254)
Innsbruck (1508–1519)
  • Seat of the Hofkammer and the Court Chancery[7][8]
Vienna (1550s–1583, 1612–1806)
Frankfurt (1562–1806)
Prague (1583–1612)
Regensburg (1594–1806)
Wetzlar (1689–1806)
Common languagesGerman, Medieval Latin (administrative/liturgical/ceremonial)
Various[c]
Religion
Various official religions:
Roman Catholicism (1054–1806)[d]
Lutheranism (1555–1806)
Calvinism (1648–1806)
GovernmentElective monarchy
Mixed monarchy (after Imperial Reform)[17]
Emperor 
• 800–814
Charlemagne[a] (first)
• 962–973
Otto I
• 1519–1556
Charles V
• 1792–1806
Francis II (last)
LegislatureImperial Diet
Historical eraMiddle Ages to early modern period
25 December 800
• East Frankish Otto I is crowned Emperor of the Romans
2 February 962
• Conrad II assumes crown of the Kingdom of Burgundy
2 February 1033
25 September 1555
24 October 1648
1648–1789
2 December 1805
6 August 1806
Area
1150[e]1,100,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1700[18]
23,000,000
• 1800[18]
29,000,000
CurrencyMultiple: thaler, guilder, groschen, Reichsthaler
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
East Francia
Kingdom of Italy
Carolingian Empire
Confederation of the Rhine
Austrian Empire
Kingdom of Prussia
Old Swiss Confederacy
Kingdom of Sardinia
Duchy of Savoy
Dutch Republic
Kingdom of France

The Holy Roman Empire,[f] also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor.[19] It developed in the Early Middle Ages and lasted for almost a thousand years until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.[20]

On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish king Charlemagne as Roman emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe more than three centuries after the fall of the ancient Western Roman Empire in 476.[21] The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII, fashioning himself as Charlemagne's and the Carolingian Empire's successor,[22] and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries.[23][24][g] From 962 until the 12th century, the empire was one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe.[25] The functioning of government depended on the harmonious cooperation between emperor and vassals;[26] this harmony was disturbed during the Salian period.[27] The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, but overextension of its power led to a partial collapse.[28][29]

Scholars generally describe an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, and a gradual development of the imperial role.[30][31] While the office of emperor had been reestablished, the exact term for his realm as the "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century,[32] although the emperor's theoretical legitimacy from the beginning rested on the concept of translatio imperii, that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome.[30] Nevertheless, in the Holy Roman Empire, the imperial office was traditionally elective by the mostly German prince-electors. In theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered the first among equals of all Europe's Catholic monarchs.[33]

A process of Imperial Reform in the late 15th and early 16th centuries transformed the empire, creating a set of institutions which endured until its final demise in the 19th century.[34][35] According to historian Thomas Brady Jr., the empire after the Imperial Reform was a political body of remarkable longevity and stability, and "resembled in some respects the monarchical polities of Europe's western tier, and in others the loosely integrated, elective polities of East Central Europe." The new corporate German Nation, instead of simply obeying the emperor, negotiated with him.[36][37] On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated and formally dissolved the empire following the creation – the month before, by French emperor Napoleon – of the Confederation of the Rhine, a confederation of German client states loyal not to the Holy Roman emperor but to France.

  1. ^ "Charlemagne | Holy Roman emperor". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  2. ^ Kleinhenz 2004, p. 810; "Otto can be considered the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, though that term was used until the twelfth century".
  3. ^ von Aretin, Karl Otmar Freiherr (31 December 1983). Schieder, Theodor; Brunn, Gerhard (eds.). "Das Reich ohne Hauptstadt? Die Multizentralitat der Hauptstadtfunktionen im Reich bis 1806". Hauptstädte in europäischen Nationalstaaten: 5–14. doi:10.1515/9783486992878-003. ISBN 978-3-4869-9287-8.
  4. ^ "UNIO REGNI AD IMPERIUM in 'Federiciana'". Treccani.it. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Enrico Vi, Re Di Sicilia E Imperatore In 'Federiciana'". Treccani.it. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  6. ^ Kamp, Norbert. "Federico Ii Di Svevia, Imperatore, Re Di Sicilia E Di Gerusalemme, Re Dei Romani In 'Federiciana'". Treccani.it. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  7. ^ Brady 2009, p. 211.
  8. ^ Pavlac & Lott 2019, p. 249.
  9. ^ Wissenschaften, Neuhausener Akademie der (2021). Beiträge zur bayerischen Geschichte, Sprache und Kultur (in German). BoD – Books on Demand. p. 106. ISBN 978-3-0006-9644-2.
  10. ^ Schmitt, Oliver Jens (2021). Herrschaft und Politik in Südosteuropa von 1300 bis 1800 (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 659. ISBN 978-3-1107-4443-9.
  11. ^ Buchmann, Bertrand Michael (2002). Hof, Regierung, Stadtverwaltung: Wien als Sitz der österreichischen Zentralverwaltung von den Anfängen bis zum Untergang der Monarchie (in German). Verlag für Geschichte und Politik. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-4865-6541-6.
  12. ^ Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb (1974). Werke und Briefe: historisch-kritische Ausgabe (in German). W. de Gruyter. p. 999. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  13. ^ Pihlajamäki, Heikki; Dubber, Markus D.; Godfrey, Mark (2018). The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History. Oxford University Press. p. 762. ISBN 978-0-1910-8838-4. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  14. ^ Johnston, William M. (1983). The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848–1938. University of California Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-5200-4955-0.
  15. ^ Pavlac & Lott 2019, p. 278.
  16. ^ Žůrek 2014.
  17. ^ Wilson 2016, pp. v–xxvi.
  18. ^ a b Wilson 2016, p. 496.
  19. ^ Coy, Jason Philip; Marschke, Benjamin; Sabean, David Warren (2010). The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered. Berghahn Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-8454-5992-5.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference EB.HRE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Charlemagne". History. 9 November 2009. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  22. ^ Cantor 1993, pp. 212–215.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gascoigne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Davies 1996, pp. 316–317.
  25. ^ Peters, Edward (1977). Europe: the World of the Middle Ages. Prentice-Hall. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-1329-1898-5. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  26. ^ Weiler, Björn K. U.; MacLean, Simon (2006). Representations of Power in Medieval Germany 800–1500. Isd. p. 126. ISBN 978-2-5035-1815-2. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  27. ^ Loud, Graham A.; Schenk, Jochen (2017). The Origins of the German Principalities, 1100–1350: Essays by German Historians. Taylor & Francis. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-3170-2200-8.
  28. ^ Streissguth, Tom (2009). The Middle Ages. Greenhaven Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-7377-4636-5.
  29. ^ Wilson 1999, p. 18.
  30. ^ a b Whaley 2012a, pp. 17–21.
  31. ^ Bryce 1890, pp. 2–3.
  32. ^ Garipzanov 2008.
  33. ^ Breverton 2014, p. 104.
  34. ^ Wilson 2016b, p. 79.
  35. ^ Brady 2009, pp. 104–106.
  36. ^ Brady 2009, pp. 128, 129.
  37. ^ Johnson 1996, p. 23.


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