History UsefulNotes / HolyRomanEmpire

One of the effects of the fracturing of the Holy Roman Empire into dozens and then hundreds of sovereign states was that many princes and princesses from these states became eligible to marry into the ruling families of non-German nations, which in some cases led to branches of German dynasties to becoming the ruling houses elsewhere. One classic example is the House of Oldenburg, which split into several lines including the royal houses of Denmark (until today), Norway (until today), Sweden (1751-1818) and Greece (1863-1974), the ducal house of Oldenburg (until 1918), and the imperial house of Russia (from Peter III and Paul I to Nicholas II). Another is the House of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the Ernestinian line of the House of Wettin), which since the 19th century supplied monarchs to Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Bulgaria.

One of the effects of the fracturing of the Holy Roman Empire into dozens and then hundreds of sovereign states was that many princes and princesses from these states became eligible to marry into the ruling families of non-German nations, which in some cases led to branches of German dynasties to becoming the ruling houses elsewhere. One classic example is the House of Oldenburg, which split into several lines including the royal houses of Denmark (until today), Norway (until today), Sweden (1751-1818) and Greece (1863-1974), the ducal house of Oldenburg (until 1918), and the imperial house of Russia (from Peter III and Paul I to Nicholas II). Another is the House of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the Ernestinian line of the House of Wettin), which in the 19th century supplied monarchs to Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Bulgaria.

One of the effects of the fracturing of the Holy Roman Empire into dozens and then hundreds of sovereign states was that many princes and princesses from these states became eligible to marry into the ruling families of non-German nations, which in some cases led to branches of German dynasties to becoming the ruling houses elsewhere. One classic example is the House of Oldenburg, which split into several lines including the royal houses of Denmark (until today), Norway (until today) and Sweden (until 1818), the ducal house of Oldenburg (until 1918), and the imperial house of Russia (from Peter III and Paul I to Nicholas II). Another is the House of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the Ernestinian line of the House of Wettin), which in the 19th century supplied monarchs to Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Bulgaria.

The climax was reached with the reign of Friedrich II (1215-1250), Barbarossa's grandson, who while being an individual of singular gifts nonetheless attempted to run an Italian-German Empire from Sicily, but had come to the throne against his rival Otto IV largely as a consequence of the victory of King Philip II of France against the armies of King John of England and Otto at Bouvines. His reign had some impressive successes (he managed to get excommunicated for leading a crusade which restored the "holy places" to christian pilgrims without anyone getting killed), but failed to establish a secure power base and got his line targeted by both the French and the Papacy, insofar as the difference mattered at that point. After his death and those of his sons, the name of Holy Roman Emperor was an empty title sought and won by adventurers. After this period, the Interregnum, or in the words of a German poet, ''"die kaiserlose, die schreckliche Zeit"'' (the emperor-less, terrible time"), the Empire recovered somewhat and for a time its greats allotted the crown to the Houses of Habsburg, Luxemburg and Wittelsbach by rota.

Thus throughout most of its history it is rather difficult to define the very borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Many of the princes owned large territories outside the Empire or would successfully bid for foreign crowns, such as the rulers of Austria (also kings of Hungary and, sometimes, of Spain and Portugal), Hanover (who became kings of the United Kingdom), Saxony (two of whom became kings of Poland), and Brandenburg (kings in or of Prussia since 1701). On the other hand foreign sovereigns came to inherit territories belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, such as the king of Denmark in the duchy of Holstein, or conquered them (the kings of Sweden in the Thirty Years War). Territories that had become ''de facto'' independent powers would still technically considered part of the Empire (as e. g. the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of the United Netherlands were until the end of the Thirty Years War).

* TheKnightsTemplar: TheTeutonicKnights were also a crusading order like them and are nearly as famous in their own right. However, their ''Drang nach Osten'' ("Drive toward the East") was toward Eastern Europe instead of the Middle East, against Europe's last pagan peoples (which they kept doing long after those nations converted). They also rival the Holy Roman Empire in being "Germany before modern Germany." Some of the lands they conquered were considered German until WWII because of it (as referenced in Creator/TSEliot's ''The Waste Land'': ''Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch''[[note]]Roughly, "I'm not Russian, I come from Lithuania; I'm a genuine German"[[/note]]).
** Strictly speaking, this falls outside the scope of the Holy Roman Empire as these territories (in East and West Prussia and the Baltic states) were well outside its borders. After their defeat at Grunwald/Tannenberg, the Teutonic Knights had to acknowledge the suzerainty of the King of Poland again, although eventually this ended. Also, apart from East and West Prussia with their predominantly German (or at least German-speaking) population, the territories were only partly German insofar as they contained a relatively small, but culturally dominant ethnically German minority (i. e. the majority of the population was non-German, but the local nobility and educated middle class was dominated by Germans). That sad, the Knights were often seen as an extension of the Empire, and there's no doubt that the successor to the Knights--the Duchy of {{Prussia}}--was an Imperial constituent even if it had territory outside the Empire. (The Duchy was established when the Grand Master of the Order, a younger son of the Margrave of Brandenburg, converted to Lutheranism to get out of his vows and established his own branch of the House of Hohenzollern--the branch that [[ImperialGermany united Germany]] over 300 years later.)

* ChristopherLee released a symphonic metal album entitled ''[[Music/{{Charlemagne}} Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross]]'', which dramatized the life or Charlemagne (of whom Lee is a direct descendant [[note]] just like most european descended people[[/note]]) in the form of a [[HeavyMithril Orchestral rock opera]] with Lee playing the role of the titular emperor. The upcoming follow-up, ''Charlemagne: the Omens of Death'', will be full-blown HeavyMetal arranged by [[Music/JudasPriest Richie Faulkner.]]

* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: Or rather, its pre-[[TheFrenchRevolution French Revolution]] equivalent; "Holy," "Roman," and "Empire" were the great political buzzwords of the time, and by the end, it managed to be none of them. Most of the time the Holy Roman Emperors didn't even have any power in Rome itself. The "German" part (which was only official after 1512) is a bit more complicated; its core territory was Germany throughout its history, but it also contained much of North Italy, and Czech and Slovene lands until long after its demise.

* The Petty Princedom period features beautiful [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princesses]] stifled by the dull etiquette of a DeadlyDecadentCourt, rebellious court musicians, and fountains running with wine at the conclusion of the Peace of [[BilingualBonus Pumpernickel-Knoblauch]].

** Strictly speaking, this falls outside the scope of the Holy Roman Empire as these territories (in East and West Prussia and the Baltic states) were well outside its borders. After their defeat at Grunwald/Tannenberg, the Teutonic Knights had to acknowledge the suzerainty of the King of Poland again. Also, apart from East and West Prussia with their predominantly German (or at least German-speaking) population, the territories were only partly German insofar as they contained a relatively small, but culturally dominant ethnically German minority (i. e. the majority of the population was non-German, but the local nobility and educated middle class was dominated by Germans).

Germany as a realm separate from the Frankish empire emerged with the Treaties of Verdun (843) and Mersen (870). Modern historians tend to distinguish between Charlemagne's Empire (usually referred to as the Frankish Kingdoms or the Carolingian Empire), and the proper Holy Roman Empire, which itself is exclusively descendent from the Eastern Frankish realm when the Carolingian Frankish Kingdom fractured. Thus, while Charlemagne was officially crowned "Roman Emperor" by the Pope, it is more common to refer to Otto I as the first Holy Roman Emperor. The title of "Roman Emperor" bounced around between various descendents of Louis the Pious, but the lands of the title holder varied, at first holding the entire Caroligian Empire (Charlemagne and Louis the Pious), then the Middle Frankish Kingdom (area of modern day Low Countries, Burgundy, and Northern Italy), then to just Northern Italy, and so on. The title fell out of use for 38 years, until Otto I was crowned Roman Emperor, where the title was once again in continuous use, and it became associated with the German lands. After the last of Charlemagne's line died in 911, the German nobles elected Henry the Fowler, Duke of Saxony, as King of the Germans. The coronation of his son Otto in 962 may be taken as the actual foundation of the Holy Roman Empire. The actual term "Holy Roman Empire" began to be used only during the reign of Friedrich Barbarossa two centuries and two dynasties later, reflecting Frederick Barbarossa's ambition to rule Italy and the Papacy. Prior to that, it had variously (and highly inconsistently) been referred to as "Imperium Romanum" (Roman Empire), "Imperium Teutonicorum" (German Empire), and "Regnum Teutonicorum" (Kingdom of Germany). Once again, readers should keep in mind that there was a ''still existing'' Roman Empire in the form of the ByzantineEmpire, and the Byzantines were deeply insulted when the Pope crowned "Roman Emperors," which massively contributed to the East-West schism in Christianity. Keep in mind that at the time, the Byzantines were still calling themselves the Roman Empire and Romans (the term Byzantine didn't even appear until the 16th century) so the Pope was giving just about the biggest snub possible to their rulers.

In TheRenaissance, despite a brief flourishing under Charles V (the last ruler actually crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the [[ThePope Pope]]), the Reformation and the subsequent Wars of Religion and UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar effectively broke the Empire as a single political unit. Thereafter, the German states ruled themselves and were able to conclude international treaties as sovereign principalities, and the Habsburg emperors, though retaining the Imperial title, concentrated more and more to their Austrian dominions (which included Hungary, parts of Northern Italy and Southwest Germany, and, since the War of Spanish Succession, the Austrian Netherlands (most of what is now Belgium plus Luxembourg)). After the War of Austrian Succession, despite the flourishing of culture under rulers such as MariaTheresa of Austria, FrederickTheGreat of Prussia, and Augustus the Strong of Saxony, the empire was finished. When Emperor Francis II assumed the title of Emperor Francis I of Austria in 1804 and was forced by [[NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]] to abdicate as Holy Roman Emperor in 1806, the changed reality was recognized and the Empire came to an end. Although some German nationalists dreamed of recreating it following Napoleon's defeat, all they got was the loose German Federation (''Deutscher Bund'', 1815-1866).

* TheHighQueen: MariaTheresa of Austria fits this trope perfectly, with a touch of TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask -- though she was devoted to her husband, the Emperor Francis I, his philandering made her bitterly unhappy; her son Joseph II's progressive policies troubled her deeply; and among her daughters was MarieAntoinette (although her execution took place after her mother's death, marital alliances with France always were a source of troubles).

* TheSoundOfMartialMusic: By the latter half of the HRE's existence, the Austrian lands under the Habsburgs became increasingly prominent, ultimately becoming nigh synonymous with the Empire. Tellingly, nearly every Emperor (and [[MariaTheresa defacto Empress]]) at this point all the way up to the very end was a Habsburg.

*** More exactly, said character is the embodiment of Austria, and the [[TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austrian Habsburgs]] are his bosses. Specifically, he's shown interacting with the recently crowned Empress MariaTheresa.

* ChristopherLee released a symphonic metal album entitled ''[[Music/{{Charlemagne}} Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross]]'', which dramatized the life or Charlemagne (of whom Lee is a direct descendant [[note]] just like most european descended people[[/note]]) in the form of a [[HeavyMithril Orchestral rock opera]] with Lee playing the role of the titular emperor. The upcoming follow-up, ''Charlemagne: the Omens of Death'', will be full-blown Music/HeavyMetal arranged by [[Music/JudasPriest Richie Faulkner.]]

** Although the imperial office became ''de facto</'' hereditary under the Hapsburgs since the early fifteenth century, with the exception of a brief period from 1742 to 1745 when a lack of male heirs threatened the Hapsburg monopoly on the empire and led to the Elector of Bavaria being elected emperor. He was succeeded by Francis of Lorraine, the husband to the Hapsburg heiress Maria Theresa, which led to the Hapsburgs regaining the title of Holy Roman Emperor until the HRE was dissolved.

** Although the imperial office became <i>de facto</i> hereditary under the Hapsburgs since the early fifteenth century, with the exception of a brief period from 1742 to 1745 when a lack of male heirs threatened the Hapsburg monopoly on the empire and led to the Elector of Bavaria being elected emperor. He was succeeded by Francis of Lorraine, the husband to the Hapsburg heiress Maria Theresa, which led to the Hapsburgs regaining the title of Holy Roman Emperor until the HRE was dissolved.

Germany as a realm separate from the Frankish empire emerged with the Treaties of Verdun (843) and Mersen (870). Modern historians tend to distinguish between Charlemagne's Empire (usually referred to as the Frankish Kingdoms or the Carolingian Empire), and the proper Holy Roman Empire, which itself is exclusively descendent from the Eastern Frankish realm when the Carolingian Frankish Kingdom fractured. Thus, while Charlemagne was officially crowned "Roman Emperor" by the Pope, it is more common to refer to Otto I as the first Holy Roman Emperor. The title of "Roman Emperor" bounced around between various descendents of Louis the Pious, but the lands of the title holder varied, at first holding the entire Caroligian Empire (Charlemagne and Louis the Pious), then the Middle Frankish Kingdom (area of modern day Low Countries, Burgundy, and Northern Italy), then to just Northern Italy, and so on. The title fell out of use for 38 years, until Otto I was crowned Roman Emperor, where the title was once again in continuous use, and it became associated with the German lands. After the last of Charlemagne's line died in 911, the German nobles elected Henry the Fowler, Duke of Saxony, as King of the Germans. The coronation of his son Otto in 962 may be taken as the actual foundation of the Holy Roman Empire. The actual term "Holy Roman Empire" began to be used only during the reign of Friedrich Barbarossa two centuries and two dynasties later, reflecting Frederick Barbarossa's ambition to rule Italy and the Papacy. Prior to that, it had variously (and highly inconsistently) been referred to as "Imperium Romanum" (Roman Empire), "Imperium Teutonicorum" (German Empire), and "Regnum Teutonicorum" (Kingdom of Germany). Once again, readers should keep in mind that there was a ''still existing'' Roman Empire in the form of the ByzantineEmpire, and the Byzantines were deeply insulted when the Pope crowned "Roman Emperors," which massively contributed to the East-West schism in Christianity.

->''This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor [[UsefulNotes/RomanEmpire Roman]], nor an empire.''

* The old DOS roleplaying game {{Darklands}} was set in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1400s. While the game strives to be historically accurate, it also portrays medieval Europe as the inhabitants at the time believed it to be, meaning fantastic elements like demons, witches, and dragons are real.

Thus throughout most of its history it is rather difficult to define the very borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Many of the princes owned large territories outside the Empire or would successfully bid for foreign crowns, such as the rulers of Austria (also kings of Hungary), Hanover (who became kings of the United Kingdom), Saxony (two of whom became kings of Poland), and Brandenburg (kings in or of Prussia since 1701). On the other hand foreign sovereigns came to inherit territories belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, such as the king of Denmark in the duchy of Holstein, or conquered them (the kings of Sweden in the Thirty Years War). Territories that had become ''de facto'' independent powers would still technically considered part of the Empire (as e. g. the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of the United Netherlands were until the end of the Thirty Years War).

** ''CrusaderKings'', another game in the Paradox lineup, includes the HRE as a feudal "Kingdom of Germany."

* ChristopherLee released a symphonic metal album entitled ''[[Music/{{Charlemagne}} Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross]]'', which dramatized the life or Charlemagne (whom Lee is a direct descendant of[[note]] just like most european descended people[[/note]]) in the form of a [[HeavyMithril Orchestral rock opera]] with Lee playing the role of the titular emperor. The upcoming follow-up, ''Charlemagne: the Omens of Death'', will be full-blown Music/HeavyMetal arranged by [[Music/JudasPriest Richie Faulkner.]]

->''This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor [[RomanEmpire Roman]], nor an empire.''

The '''Holy Roman Empire [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} of the German Nation]]''' (Latin: ''Imperium Romanum Sacrum Nationis Germanicæ''; German: ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation'') was traditionally founded on Christmas Day of the year 800 A.D., when [[ThePope Pope]] Leo III placed the crown on the head of Charlemagne in St. Peter's, and the assembled multitudes shouted "''Carolo Augusto, a Deo coronato magno et pacifico imperatori, vita et victoria!''" -- "To Charles the Magnificent, crowned the great and peace-giving emperor by God, life and victory!" Strictly speaking, however, Charles's empire was neither Roman nor German, but Frankish -- or as we might say, a sort of French-German mix (for that matter, there was a perfectly valid [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_of_Athens Roman Emperor]] at the time in any case[[note]]Or to be precise, ''empress''. Charlemagne's supporters [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne#Imperial_diplomacy claimed that a woman couldn't rule the Roman Empire]]. The Byzantines promptly deposed Irene and installed Nikephoros I, who was certainly a man; they were possibly disappointed that Charlemagne saw no reason to abdicate.[[/note]]). The Empire was not officially described as "Holy" until the twelfth century, nor officially "German" before the sixteenth. Charlemagne's empire quickly fell to pieces among his squabbling successors, and the Holy Roman Emperors themselves tended to ignore any discontinuity between [[TheRomanEmpire pagan]] and Christian Rome -- Frederick I Barbarossa (1123-1190) going so far as to assert that one of his reasons for going on [[TheCrusades Crusade]] was to avenge the defeat of [[Film/{{Spartacus}} Crassus]] by the Parthians ([[TheRomanRepublic 53 B.C.]]).[[note]]Never mind that the Parthians were Zoroastrian Persians and the rulers of the Middle East of the time were primarily Turkish and to a lesser extent Arab Muslims...[[/note]]

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: TheTeutonicKnights, who were really about on a par with other mediæval rulers, emerge in popular culture as proto-[[NaziGermany Nazis]] dedicated to PuttingOnTheReich. Their common soldiers are all FacelessGoons.

* TakeThat: The Pope declared a new Roman empire in the west as a TakeThat to the EasternRomanEmpire based in Constantinople.

* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' features a character who embodies the HolyRomanEmpire: a young and serious boy who dreams of being as great as Rome and is in love with his maid, Italia aka Chibitalia (not knowing that "she" is a WholesomeCrossdresser). The story strongly hints that [[spoiler: Germany]] is the grown-up version of him.

* ''{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' plays with the setting by having magic, fairies and demons exist alongside bombs, early prosthetics, and robots. Other than that, it's straight up HolyRomanEmpire.
* Ancient Belka in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' is obviously an {{expy}} of HolyRomanEmpire. [[AC:With {{Magitek}}. In Space.]] Virtually everyone in the 'verse has Germanic name. Though by the time the series start, [[ShroudedInMyth Ancient Belka is no more]].

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' has a campaign where you play as the HolyRomanEmpire - Minnesinger

* Siegfried Schtauffen, TheHero of the ''SoulSeries'', is from the HolyRomanEmpire.

Despite its name, the empire had many traits of a confederation, with the German King (Emperor-elect) being elected by the most powerful regional lords, although it was only through the Golden Bull of 1356 that it was settled in a legally binding way who had the right to elect a king. From 1356 there were seven prince electors: the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, the King of Bohemia, the margraves of Brandenburg and Meissen (Saxony), and the Count Palatine on the Rhine (''Pfalzgraf bei Rhein''). This more or less set the tone, but there were several changes over the centuries. For one, the Duke of Bavaria would sometimes conspire with the Count Palatine to get Bavaria in by excluding Bohemia on the grounds that he wasn't German--but only when the duke and the Count Palatine weren't squabbling about some family issue (both were Wittelsbachs). During the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, the Bavarian Wittelsbachs got ahold of the Palatinate vote because the Bavarian line were Catholics and their Palatinate cousins were not; after the war concluded, the Palatinate branch got a shiny new Electorate to maintain balance between Protestants and Catholics among the electors. However, this new electorate passed to a third, Catholic branch of the Wittelsbachs, leading to the appointment of a new Protestant elector, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (whose territory became known as the Electorate of Hannover from its capital city; members of this line would [[TheHouseOfHanover find greater success elsewhere]]). As luck would have it, the original Catholic Wittelsbach line of Bavaria petered out shortly thereafter, leaving the Catholic Palatinate Wittelsbachs to inherit Bavaria, as well and making the whole charade a moot point (although Hannover got to keep his electorate, nobody wishing to rock the boat). Finally, Regensburg, Salzburg, Würzburg, Württemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Kassel were all given electorates in the final years of the Holy Roman Empire to add to their stature (and in part to replace the four electorates that had been conquered by the French - Mainz, Trier, Cologne, and the Palatinate) however, this proved to be a moot point, as the Empire was dissolved a few years later.

Despite its name, the empire had many traits of a confederation, with the German King (Emperor-elect) being elected by the most powerful regional lords, although it was only through the Golden Bull of 1356 that it was settled in a legally binding way who had the right to elect a king. From 1356 there were seven prince electors: the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, the King of Bohemia, the margraves of Brandenburg and Meissen (Saxony), and the Count Palatine on the Rhine (''Pfalzgraf bei Rhein''). This more or less set the tone, but there were several changes over the centuries. For one, the Duke of Bavaria would sometimes conspire with the Count Palatine to get Bavaria in by excluding Bohemia on the grounds that he wasn't German--but only when the duke and the Count Palatine weren't squabbling about some family issue (both were Wittelsbachs). During the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar, the Bavarian Wittelsbachs got ahold of the Palatinate vote because the Bavarian line were Catholics and their Palatinate cousins were not; after the war concluded, the Palatinate branch got a shiny new Electorate to maintain balance between Protestants and Catholics among the electors. However, this new electorate passed to a third, Catholic branch of the Wittelsbachs, leading to the appointment of a new Protestant elector, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (whose territory became known as the Electorate of Hannover from its capital city; members of this line would [[TheHouseOfHanover find greater success elsewhere]]), although as the Catholic Palatinate Wittelsbachs inherited Bavaria, as well, it turned out to be a moot point. Finally, Regensburg, Salzburg, Würzburg, Württemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Kassel were all given electorates in the final years of the Holy Roman Empire to add to their stature (and in part to replace the four electorates that had been conquered by the French - Mainz, Trier, Cologne, and the Palatinate) however, this proved to be a moot point, as the Empire was dissolved a few years later.

The climax was reached with the reign of Friedrich II (1215-1250), Barbarossa's grandson, who while being an individual of singular gifts nonetheless attempted to run an Italian-German Empire from Sicily, but had come to the throne against his rival Otto IV largely as a consequence of the victory of King Philip II of France against the armies of King John of England and Otto at Bouvines. His reign had some impressive successes (he managed to get excommunicated for leading a crusade which restored the "holy places" to christian pilgrims without anyone getting killed), but failed to establish a secure power base and got his line targeted by both the French and the Papacy, insofar as the difference mattered at that point. After his death and those of his sons, the name of Holy Roman Emperor was an empty title sought and won by adventurers. After this period, the Interregnum, or in the words of a German poet, ''"die kaiserlose, die schreckliche Zeit"'' (the emperor-less, terrible time"), the Empire recovered somewhat and for a time its greats alotted the crown to the houses of Habsburg, Luxemburg and Wittelsbach by rota.