Holy Roman Emperor

Emperor of the Romans
Former Monarchy
Imperial

Imperial Coat of arms

Francis II
First monarch	Charles I
Last monarch	Francis II
Style	His Imperial Majesty
Appointer	Papal appointment
Monarchy started	25 December 800
Monarchy ended	06 August 1806
Current pretender	Position abolished

The Holy Roman Emperor (German: Heiliger Römischer Kaiser, Latin: Imperator Romanum Sacrum) 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 of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and after the 16th century, the elected monarch governing the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European union of territories in existence during the Medieval and Early Modern period.

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 "Venerable Emperor of the Romans" (Imperator Romanorum 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.^[1]

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. After that point the position was vacant until the time of 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.

Frankish Empire

Carolingian Dynasty (800–888)

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Charles I the Great	25 December 800	28 January 814	• N/A

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Louis I the Pious	1st 13 September 813 2nd 05 October 816	20 June 840	• Son of Charles I

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Lothair I	1st 817 2nd 05 April 823	29 September 855	• Son of Louis I

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Louis II	850	12 August 875	• Son of Lothair I

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Charles II the Bald	29 December 875	06 October 877	• Son of Louis I

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Charles III the Fat	12 February 881	13 January 888	• Grandson of Louis I

House of Guideschi (891–898)

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Guy III ^[2]	891	12 December 894	• Great-great grandson of Charles I

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Lambert II ^[3]	30 April 892	15 October 898	• Son of Guy III

Carolingian Dynasty (896–899)

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Arnulf	22 Februray 896	08 December 899	• Nephew of Charles III

Bosonid Dynasty (901–905)

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Louis III the Blind	22 February 901	21 July 905	• Grandson of Louis II

Unruoching Dynasty (915–924)

Portrait	Name	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coin
	Berengar I	915	07 April 924	• Grandson of Louis I

Holy Roman Empire

Ottonian Dynasty (962–1024)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Otto I the Great	-	02 February 962	07 May 973	• Possibly great-great-great-grandson of Louis I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Otto II the Red	961	25 December 967	07 December 983	• Son of Otto I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Otto III	983	21 May 996	24 January 1002	• Son of Otto II

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Henry II the Saint ^[4]	07 July 1002	14 February 1014	13 July 1024	• Second-cousin of Otto III

Salian Dynasty (1024–1125)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Conrad II ^[5]	1024	26 March 1027	04 June 1039	• Great-great-grandson of Otto I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Henry III the Black	1028	25 December 1046	05 October 1056	• Son of Conrad II

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Henry IV	1053	31 March 1084	1105	• Son of Henry III

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Henry V ^[6]	06 January 1099	13 April 1111	23 May 1125	• Son of Henry IV

Supplinburger Dynasty (1125–1137)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Seal
	Lothair III ^[7]	1125	04 June 1133	04 December 1137	• Possibly 9th generation descendant of Otto I

House of Hohenstaufen (1152–1197)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Frederick I Barbarossa	04 March 1152	18 June 1155	10 June 1190	• Great-grandson of Henry IV

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Henry VI	1169	14 April 1191	28 September 1197	• Son of Frederick I

House of Welf (1198–1215)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Otto IV	09 June 1198	04 October 1209	1215	• Great-grandson of Lothair III

House of Hohenstaufen (1215–1250)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Frederick II	1215	22 November 1220	13 December 1250	• Son of Henry VI

House of Luxembourg (1308–1313)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Henry VII	1308	29 June 1312	24 August 1313	• 13th generation descendant of Louis III

House of Wittelsbach (1314–1347)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Louis IV the Bavarian	1314	17 January 1328	11 October 1347	• 6th generation descendant of Lothair III

House of Luxembourg (1346–1437)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Charles IV	11 July 1346 Re-election 17 June 1349	05 April 1355	29 November 1378	• Grandson of Henry VII

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Sigismund	10 September 1410 Re-election 21 July 1411	31 May 1433	09 December 1437	• Son of Charles IV

House of Habsburg (1440–1740)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Frederick III	1440	19 March 1452	19 August 1493	• 10th generation descendant of Lothair III

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Maximilian I	19 August 1483	- ^[8]	12 January 1519	• Son of Frederick III

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Charles V	28 June 1519	24 Februray 1530	27 August 1556	• Grandson of Maximilian I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Ferdinand I	1558	- ^[8]	25 July 1564	• Grandson of Maximilian I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Maximilian II	25 July 1564	- ^[8]	12 October 1576	• Son of Ferdinand I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Rudolf II ^[9]	12 October 1576	- ^[8]	20 January 1612	• Son of Maximilian II

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Matthias	30 June 1612	- ^[8]	20 March 1619	• Son of Maximilian II

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Ferdinand II	26 August 1619	- ^[8]	15 February 1637	• Grandson of Ferdinand I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Ferdinand III	22 December 1636	- ^[8]	02 April 1657	• Son of Ferdinand II

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Leopold I	18 July 1658	- ^[8]	05 May 1705	• Son of Ferdinand III

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Joseph I	05 May 1705	- ^[8]	17 April 1711	• Son of Leopold I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Charles VI	12 October 1711	- ^[8]	20 October 1740	• Son of Leopold I

House of Wittelsbach (1742–1745)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Charles VII	24 January 1742	- ^[8]	20 January 1745	• Great-great grandson of Ferdinand II

House of Habsburg-Lorraine (1745–1806)

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Francis I	13 September 1745	- ^[8]	18 August 1765	• Great grandson of Ferdinand III

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Joseph II	18 August 1765	- ^[8]	20 February 1790	• Son of Francis I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Leopold II	30 September 1790	- ^[8]	01 March 1792	• Son of Francis I

Portrait	Name	Election	Coronation	Ceased to be Emperor	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Coat of arms
	Francis II	05 July 1792	- ^[8]	06 August 1806	• Son of Leopold II

Coronation

The Emperor was crowned in a special ceremony, traditionally performed by the Pope in Rome, using the Imperial Regalia. Without that coronation, no king, despite exercising all powers, could call himself Emperor. In 1508, Pope Julius II allowed Maximilian I to use the title of Emperor without coronation in Rome, though the title was qualified as Electus Imperator Romanorum ("elected Emperor of the Romans"). Maximilian's successors adopted the same titulature, usually when they became the sole ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's first successor Charles V was the last to be crowned Emperor.

Emperor	Coronation date	Officiant	Location
Charles I	25 December 800	Pope Leo III	Rome
Louis I	Jul/Aug 816	Pope Stephen V	Reims
Lothair I	5 April 823	Pope Paschal I	Rome
Louis II	April 850	Pope Leo IV	Rome
Charles II	29 December 875	Pope John VIII	Rome
Charles III	12 February 881	Pope John VIII
Guy III of Spoleto	May 891	Pope Stephen V
Lambert II of Spoleto	30 April 892	Pope Formosus	Ravenna
Arnulf of Carinthia	22 February 896	Pope Formosus	Rome
Louis III	15 or 22 Feb 901	Pope Benedict IV	Rome
Berengar	December 915	Pope John X	Rome
Otto I	2 February, 962	Pope John XII
Otto II	25 December, 967	Pope John XIII
Otto III	21 May, 996	Pope Gregory V
Henry II	14 February 1014	Pope Benedict VIII
Conrad II	26 March 1027	Pope John XIX
Henry III	25 December 1046	Pope Clement II
Henry IV	31 March 1084	Antipope Clement III
Henry V	13 April 1111	Pope Paschal II
Henry V	23 March 1117	Antipope Gregory VIII
Lothair III	4 June 1133	Pope Innocent II	Basilica of St. John Lateran
Frederick I	18 June 1155	Pope Adrian IV
Henry VI	14 April 1191	Pope Celestine III
Otto IV	4 October 1209	Pope Innocent III
Frederick II	22 November 1220	Pope Honorius III
Henry VII	29 June 1312	Cardinals
Louis IV	17 January 1328	Sciarra Colonna
Charles IV	5 April 1355	Cardinal
Sigismund	31 May 1433	Pope Eugenius IV
Frederick III	19 March 1452	Pope Nicholas V
Charles V	February 1530	Pope Clement VII	Bologna, Italy

References

↑ Bryce, James (1968). The Holy Roman Empire. Macmillan. pp. 530.
↑ enumerated as successor of Guy II who was Duke of Spoleto 880–883 but not Emperor.
↑ enumerated as successor of Lambert I who was Duke of Spoleto 859–880 but not Emperor.
↑ enumerated as successor of Henry I who was German King 919–936 but not Emperor.
↑ enumerated as successor of Conrad I who was German King 911–918 but not Emperor.
↑ Barraclough, Geoffrey (1984). The Origins of Modern Germany. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393301532. http://books.google.com/books?id=RY6VmGuAaCkC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=supplinburg+dynasty&source=web&ots=RsLwH_MnGU&sig=EFPN-WhCOTcfJD4WsWDk39dsGl4.
↑ enumerated as successor of Lothair II, who was King of Lotharingia 855–869 but not Emperor.
↑ ^8.00 ^8.01 ^8.02 ^8.03 ^8.04 ^8.05 ^8.06 ^8.07 ^8.08 ^8.09 ^8.10 ^8.11 ^8.12 ^8.13 ^8.14 Emperor-Elect.
↑ enumerated as successor of Rudolf I who was German King 1273–1291 but not Emperor.

Holy Roman Emperors

Carolingian Empire	Charles I (Charlemagne) · Louis I · Lothair I · Louis II · Charles II · Charles III · Guy · Lambert · Arnulf · Louis III · Berengar

Holy Roman Empire	Otto I · Otto II · Otto III · Henry II · Conrad II · Henry III · Henry IV · Henry V · Lothair II · Frederick I · Henry VI · Otto IV · Frederick II · Henry VII · Louis IV · Charles IV · Sigismund · Frederick III · Maximilian I · Charles V · Ferdinand I · Maximilian II · Rudolph II · Matthias · Ferdinand II · Ferdinand III · Leopold I · Joseph I · Charles VI · Charles VII · Francis I · Joseph II · Leopold II · Francis II

Book:Holy Roman Emperors · Category:Holy Roman Emperors

Roman Emperors by Epoch

List of Roman Emperors · Concise list · Roman Empire · Family tree

Principate	Crisis of the 3rd century	Dominate	Division	Successors

Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC – 68 AD) Four Emperors (68–69) Flavian dynasty (69–96) Nerva–Antonine dynasty (96–192) Five Emperors (192–193) Severan dynasty (193–235)	Barracks Emperors (235–284) Illyrian Emperors (268–284) Gallic Emperors (260–274) Britannic Emperors (286–297)	Tetrarchies (293–313) Constantinian dynasty (305–363) Valentinian dynasty (364–392) Theodosian dynasty (378–455)	Western Roman Emperors (395–476) Eastern Roman/Byzantine Emperors (395–1453)	Barbarian kings of Italy Latin Emperors Holy Roman Emperors Ottoman Sultans