HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum; German: Heiliges Römisches Reich) was a complex of territories in Central Europe and parts of Western Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. The largest territory of the empire after 962 AD was the Kingdom of Germany, though it also came to include the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Italy, and numerous other territories.

Charlemagne or Charles the Great April 2 742 – January 28 814, numbered Charles I, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774 and Holy Roman Emperor from 800. He united much of Europe during the early Middle Ages. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded is called the Carolingian Empire

On December 25 800, 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 Western Roman Empire. 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, in 924. The Massacre at Verden produced perhaps the greatest stain on Charlemagne's reputation.

Here is another interesting fact. As early as 330 A.D., around the time that Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the Roman Empire's official religion, Rome outlawed cremation as a pagan practice. The theological reason for the ban was related to the resurrection, it was good to keep the body whole or in one place. Through the Reformation, the Catholic church frowned on or prohibited cremation, though it was used for punishment and hygiene reasons. Jewish law also banned the practice. By the 5th century, cremation had all but disappeared from Europe. Now cremation is about 50% of the method after death.

The precise term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, but the concept of translatio imperii[e] was fundamental to the prestge of the emperor, the notion that he held supreme power inherited from the emperors of Rome. The office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. The German prince-electors, the highest ranking noblemen of the empire, usually elected one of their peers as "King of the Romans", and he would later be crowned emperor by the Pope; the tradition of papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th century. The empire never achieved the extent of political unification formed in France, evolving instead into a decentralized, limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of sub-units, principalities, duchies, counties, Free Imperial Cities, and other domains. The power of the emperor was limited, and while the various princes, lords, and kings of the empire were vassals and subjects who owed the emperor their allegiance, they also possessed an extent of privileges that gave them de facto sovereignty within their territories. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after its defeat by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. The Battle of Austerlitz, December 2 1805-11 Frimaire An XIV FRC, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. In what is widely regarded as the greatest victory achieved by Napoleon, the Grande Armée (army) of France defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army led by Tsar Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire (modern-day Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic). Austerlitz brought the War of the Third Coalition to a rapid end, with the Treaty of Pressburg signed by the Austrians later in the month. The battle is often cited as a tactical masterpiece, in the same league as other historic engagements like Cannae or Arbela.

The territories and dominion of the Holy Roman Empire in terms of present-day states comprised Germany (except Southern Schleswig), Austria (except Burgenland), the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Slovenia (except Prekmurje), besides significant parts of eastern France (mainly Artois, Alsace, Franche-Comté, French Flanders, Savoy and Lorraine), northern Italy (mainly Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Trentino and South Tyrol), and western Poland (mainly Silesia, Pomerania and Neumark). Since this was all territory of the Holy Roman Empire, one might surmise that Hitler wantedto get it all back, ergo WWII.

The term sacrum (i.e., holy in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used from 1157, under Frederick I Barbarossa.
('Holy Empire' the form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward). The term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy. Before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire.

In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was officially changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. This form was first used in a document in 1474.The Holy Roman Empire was named after the Roman Empire and was considered its continuation.

The French Enlightenment writer Voltaire remarked sardonically: "This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."

The Holy Roman Empire looked to Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as its founder, who had been crowned Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day in 800 by Pope Leo III. The Western Roman Empire was thus revived by transferring it to the Frankish king. This remained the basis for the Holy Roman Empire, at least in theory, until its demise in 1806.

The Carolingian imperial crown was initially disputed among the Carolingian rulers of Western Francia (France) and Eastern Francia (Germany), with first the western king, Charles the Bald, 13 June 823 – 6 October 877, King of West Francia (843–77), King of Italy (875–77) and Holy Roman Emperor (875–77, as Charles II). After a series of civil wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded by the Treaty of Verdun (843) in acquiring the western third of the Carolingian Empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith, and then the eastern king, Charles the Fat, 13 June 839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles III, Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne and was the last Carolingian to rule over the briefly re-united empire. However, after the death of Charles the Fat in 888, the Carolingian Empire broke asunder, never to be restored. According to Regino of Prüm, each part of the realm elected a king from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned Emperor by the Pope controlled only territories in Italy. The last such Emperor was Berengar I, 845-924, King of Italy from 887, and Holy Roman Emperor after 915, until his death. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896. NEXT