Holy Roman Emperor

Emperor of the Romans
Former Monarchy
	Imperial
	Quaternion Eagle
First monarch	Otto I (with numbering from Charlemagne)
Last monarch	Francis II
Style	His Imperial Highness
Appointer	Papal appointment
Monarchy started	25 December 800
Monarchy ended	06 August 1806
Current pretender	Position abolished

The Holy Roman Emperor (German: Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser, or "Roman-German Kaiser") is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler, who as German King had in addition received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope and after the 16th century, the elected monarch governing the Holy Roman Empire (later called Holy Roman Empire of the German nation), a Central European union of territories in existence during the Medieval and Early Modern period.

"Holy"[]

Although the term "sacrum" (i.e. "holy") in connection with the mediaeval Roman Empire did not appear until 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa,^[1] Otto I is considered the first Holy Roman Emperor from the Kingdom of Germany, though Charlemagne of the Carolingian Dynasty was the first to receive papal coronation as Emperor of the Romans. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope. The final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution.

The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was "August Emperor of the Romans" (Romanorum Imperator Augustus). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, his 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 Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents.^[2]

The word Roman 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 was crowned Roman Emperor by the Pope, his successors maintained the title until the death of Berengar I of Italy in 924. No pope appointed an emperor again until Otto the Great (912-973). Otto is considered the first Holy Roman Emperor. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire. The various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles V's coronation, all succeeding emperors were legally emperors-elect due to the lack of papal coronation, but in all practical purposes they were simply called emperors.

Conflict with the Papacy[]

The title of Emperor (Imperator) carried with it an important role as protector of the Catholic Church. 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 variety of complicated 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. Maximilian I (Emperor 1508-1519) and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope. Therefore, they could not technically claim the title Emperor of the Romans, but were mere "Emperors-elect of the Romans", as Maximilian named himself in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in fact used (Erwählter Römischer Kaiser), but it was somewhat forgotten that the word "erwählt" (elect) was a restriction. Of all his successors, only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation. Before that date in 1530, he was called Emperor-elect too.

List of emperors[]

Emperors before Otto the Great[]

19th century historiography claimed a continuity between the Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. This is rejected by some modern historians, who date the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire to 962. The rulers who were crowned as Emperors in the west before 962 were as follows:

Carolingian dynasty[]

Name	Life	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Descent from Emperor
Charles I (Charlemagne)	2 April 742 - 28 January 814	25 December 800	28 January 814	-
Louis I	778 - 20 June 840	5 October 816	20 June 840	son of Emperor Charles I
Lothair I	795 - 29 September 855	5 April 823	29 September 855	son of Emperor Louis I
Louis II	825 - 12 August 875	1st Easter 850 2nd 18 May 872	12 August 875	son of Emperor Lothair I
Charles II	13 June 823 - 6 October 877	29 December 875	6 October 877	son of Emperor Louis I
Charles III	13 June 839 - 13 January 888	12 February 881	13 January 888	grandson of Emperor Louis I

Guideschi dynasty[]

Image	Name	Life	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Descent from Emperor	Coin
	Guy	855 - 12 December 894	May 891	12 December 894	great-great grandson of Emperor Charles I	-
	Lambert	880 - 15 October 898	30 April 892	15 October 898	son of Emperor Guy	-

Carolingian dynasty[]

Image	Name	Life	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Descent from Emperor	Coin
	Arnulph	850 - 8 December 899	22 February 896	8 December 899	nephew of Charles III and great-grandson of Emperor Louis I	-

Bosonid dynasty[]

Image	Name	Life	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Descent from Emperor	Coin
	Louis III	880 - 28 June 928	22 February 901	21 July 905	grandson of Emperor Louis II	-

Unruoching dynasty[]

Image	Name	Life	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Descent from Emperor	Coin
	Berengar	845 - 7 April 924	December 915	7 April 924	grandson of Emperor Louis I	-

There was no emperor in the west between 924 and 962.