Portal:Holy Roman Empire
- Overview
- Territories
- Featured Articles
- Good Articles
- Categories & lists
- Nobility project
- Holy Roman Empire task force
  The Holy Roman Empire portal gives an overview of events from about 900 to 1806, that affected the territories of the Empire and its leading aristocratic families. | |
|
Welcome The purpose of the Holy Roman Empire portal is to make it easy for readers to find and explore articles about the Holy Roman Empire and its aristocratic families, as well as enabling editors to come together to work to enhance the subject and its themes. New editors are warmly welcome and invited to participate in adding new articles and improving existing ones – the first steps are very easy. Article of the month Article of the month
Hoftag  A Hoftag was the name given to an informal and irregular assembly convened by the King of the Romans, the Holy Roman Emperor or one of the Princes of the Empire, with selected chief princes within the Empire. Early scholarship also refers to these meetings as imperial diets, even though these gatherings were not really about the empire in general, but with matters concerning their individual rulers. In fact, the legal institution of the imperial diet appeared much later. From the feudal obligation of chief princes to stand by the king's side in word and deed, a consequent duty was derived by the time of the High Middle Ages to appear in person, at the request of the king, at royal assemblies in order to offer counsel and participate in decision-making. This was the so-called court attendance duty. The Hoftag differed from the usual counsel meetings of the royal court essentially only in the additional participation of those invited. These could be princes, members of the nobility, prelates or representatives of foreign powers. From the 13th century, representatives of the free imperial cities were also invited to Hoftage. The assemblies were organised along the lines of a royal court meeting and were firmly focussed on the king.
Quick start Important noble families Important imperial treaties, edicts and legal sources Conflicts and key events Terminology Organisation of the Empire Structures
Institutions of the Empire
|
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum; German: Heiliges Römisches Reich) was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. The largest territory of the empire after 962, (when Otto I was crowned Emperor) was the Kingdom of Germany, although it also included the neighbouring Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Italy and numerous other territories; soon afterwards, the Kingdom of Burgundy was added. By the end of the 15th century the Empire was still in theory composed of three major blocks – Italy, Germany, and Burgundy. In practice only the Kingdom of Germany remained, with the Burgundian territories lost to France. Although the Italian territories were formally part of the empire, the territories were ignored in the Imperial Reform and splintered into numerous de facto independent territorial entities. The status of Italy in particular varied throughout the 16th to 18th centuries. Some territories like Piedmont-Savoy became increasingly independent, while others became more dependent due to the extinction of their ruling noble houses causing these territories to often fall under the dominions of the Habsburgs and their cadet branches. Barring the loss of Franche-Comté in 1678, the external borders of the Empire did not change noticeably from the Peace of Westphalia – which acknowledged the exclusion of Switzerland and the Northern Netherlands, and the French protectorate over Alsace – to the dissolution of the Empire. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, most of the Holy Roman Empire was included in the German Confederation, with the main exceptions being the Italian states. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the earlier ancient Western Roman Empire in 476. In theory and diplomacy, the Emperors were considered primus inter pares, regarded as first among equals among other Roman Catholic monarchs across Europe. The title continued in the Carolingian family until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Italian claimant, Berengar I, in 924. The title was revived again in 962 when Otto I, King of Germany, was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption of the imperial title and role. The exact term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, before which the empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to the regional kingdoms), imperium christianum ("Christian empire"), or Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), but the Emperor's legitimacy always rested on the concept of translatio imperii, that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome. The dynastic office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective through the mostly German prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire; they would elect one of their peers as "King of the Romans" to be crowned emperor by the Pope, although the tradition of papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th century. The empire never achieved the extent of political unification as was formed to the west in the relatively centralized kingdom of France, evolving instead into a decentralised, limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of sub-units: kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, Free Imperial Cities, and eventually even individuals enjoying imperial immediacy, such as the imperial knights. The power of the emperor was limited, and while the various princes, lords, bishops, and cities of the empire were vassals who owed the emperor their allegiance, they also possessed an extent of privileges that gave them de facto independence within their territories. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806 following the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Emperor Napoleon I the month before. (Full article...) History of the Holy Roman Empire  The Holy Roman Empire (Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium) was the official name for the sovereign territory of the Roman-German Emperor from the Middle Ages to the year 1806. The name of the Empire is derived from the claim of its medieval rulers that it continued the tradition of the Ancient Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire is the forerunner of the modern nation-states of Germany and Austria. To distinguish it from the German Empire founded in 1871 it is also referred to by modern historians as the “Old Empire” (German: Altes Reich) more... Well known people of the Holy Roman Empire Emperors and kings Important church leaders Members • 01.02 Portal:Holy Roman Empire • • Archive Wanted articles |
.svg)
Associated Wikimedia
Photos 
Source texts 
Citations 
Dictionary
Portals