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Roman Empire

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The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum Sacrum, German: Heiliges Römisches Reich, Italian: Sacro Romano Impero, Czech:Svatá říše římská, Slovene: Sveto rimsko cesarstvo) was a varying complex of lands^[1] that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.^[2] It grew out of East Francia, one of the primary divisions of the Frankish Empire. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes. In its last centuries, it had become quite close to a union of territories.

The empire's territory lay predominantly in Central Europe and at its peak included territories of the Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Burgundy.^[3] For much of its history, the Empire consisted of hundreds of smaller sub-units,principalities, duchies, counties, Free Imperial Cities and other domains.

The Holy Roman Empire explicitly proclaimed itself to be the successor of the Western Roman Empire under the doctrine of translatio imperii("transfer of rule" via a succession of singular rulers vested with supreme power).^[4] In 962 Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor (Latin:Imperator Romanus Sacer), although the Roman imperial title was first restored to Charlemagne by the Pope in 800. Otto was the first emperor of the realm who was not a member of the earlier Carolingian dynasty.^[5] The last Holy Roman Emperor was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.^[6]

The term sacrum (i.e., "holy" in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used from 1157, underFrederick I Barbarossa "Holy Empire"; the form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward.^[7] The term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy.^[8] Before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire.^[9]

In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was officially changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German:Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Latin: Imperium Romanum Sacrum Nationis Germanicæ).^[10] This form was first used in a document in 1474.^[8] The new title was partly adopted because the Empire had lost most of its Italian and Burgundian (Kingdom of Arles) territories by the late 15th century,^[11] but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform.^[12] By the late 16th century this title again fell out of fashion, but was occasionally still used in German literature.^[13]

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."^[14]

[edit]History

[edit]Carolingian forerunners

Further information: Carolingian Empire

The Western Roman Empire, that began its terminal collapse in 408, was notionally reborn nearly four centuries later through translatio imperii, the transfer of its lands, to Charlemagne, Charles the Great, King of the Franks, who had been crowned Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day 800 by Pope Leo III.^[15][16]. The term "Holy Empire" (in the sense of "consecrated") in reference to the medieval Roman Empire was used from 1157, under Frederick I. The form "Holy Roman Empire", in German the: Heiliges Römisches Reich, is attested from 1254 onward^[17].

The Carolingian imperial crown was initially disputed among the Carolingian rulers of Western Francia and Eastern Francia, with first the western king (Charles the Bald) and then the eastern (Charles the Fat) attaining the prize.^{[citation needed]} 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 "kinglet" from its own "bowels."^{[citation needed]} After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned Emperor by the Pope controlled only territories in Italy.^{[citation needed]} The last such Emperor was Berengar I of Italy who died in 924.

Formation

Around 900, East Francia saw the reemergence of autonomous stem duchies (Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia, Saxony and Lotharingia). After the Carolingian king Louis the Child died without issue in 911, East Francia did not turn to the Carolingian ruler of West Francia to take over the realm but elected one of the dukes, Conrad of Franconia, as Rex Francorum Orientalum.^{[citation needed]} On his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry of Saxony (r. 919–36), who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919.^[18] Henry reached a truce with the raidingMagyars and in 933^{[citation needed]} won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade.

Henry died in 936 but his descendants, the Liudolfing (or Ottonian) dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Henry's designated successor, Otto, was elected King in Aachen in 936.^[19] He overcame a series of revolts—both from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the king managed to control the appointment of dukes and often also employed bishops in administrative affairs.^{[citation needed]}

The Kingdom had no permanent capital city^[20] and the kings travelled from residence to residence (called Kaiserpfalz) to discharge affairs. However, each king preferred certain places, in Otto's case, the city of Magdeburg. Kingship continued to be transferred by election, but Kings often had their sons elected during their lifetime, enabling them to keep the crown for their families. This only changed after the end of the Salian dynasty in the 12th century.

In 955, Otto won a decisive victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld.^[21] In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide,^{[citation needed]} the widowed queen of Italy, defeating her enemies. He then married her and took control over Italy.^{[citation needed]} In 962, Otto was crowned Emperor by the Pope.^[21]This date marks the historical beginning of the Holy Roman Empire as a territory. From then on, the affairs of the German kingdom were intertwined with those of Italy and the Papacy. Otto's coronation as Emperor made the German kings successors to the Empire of Charlemagne, which throughtranslatio imperii also made them successors to Ancient Rome.

This also renewed the conflict with the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople, especially after Otto's son Otto II (r. 967–83) adopted the designationimperator Romanorum. Still, Otto formed marital ties with the east, when he married the Byzantine princess Theophanu.^[22] Their son, Otto III, focused his attention on Italy and Rome and employed widespread diplomacy but died young in 1002,^{[citation needed]} to be succeeded by his cousin Henry II, who focused on Germany.

When Henry II died in 1024, Conrad II, first of the Salian Dynasty, was then elected king in 1024 only after some debate among dukes and nobles, which would eventually develop into the collegiate of Electors.

Hohenstaufen dynasty

When the Salian dynasty ended with Henry V's death in 1125, the princes chose not to elect the next of kin, but rather Lothair, the moderately powerful but already old Duke of Saxony. When he died in 1138, the princes again aimed at checking royal power; accordingly they did not elect Lothair's favoured heir, his son-in-law Henry the Proud of the Welf family, but Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen family, close relatives of the Salians, leading to over a century of strife between the two houses. Conrad ousted the Welfs from their possessions, but after his death in 1152, his nephew Frederick I "Barbarossa" succeeded and made peace with the Welfs, restoring his cousin Henry the Lion to his—albeit diminished—possessions.

The Hohenstaufen rulers increasingly lent land to ministerialia, formerly non-free service men, which Frederick hoped would be more reliable than dukes. Initially used mainly for war services, this new class of people would form the basis for the later knights, another basis of imperial power. Another important constitutional move at Roncaglia was the establishment of a new peace (Landfrieden) for all of the Empire, an attempt to (on the one hand) abolish private feuds not only between the many dukes, but on the other hand a means to tie the Emperor's subordinates to a legal system of jurisdiction and public prosecution of criminal acts — a predecessor of the modern concept of "rule of law". Another new concept of the time was the systematic foundation of new cities, both by the Emperor and the local dukes. These were partly caused by the explosion in population, but also to concentrate economic power at strategic locations, while formerly cities only existed in the shape of either old Roman foundations or older bishoprics. Cities that were founded in the 12th century include Freiburg, possibly the economic model for many later cities, and Munich.

Frederick I, also called Frederick Barbarossa, was crowned Emperor in 1155. He emphasized the Empire's "Romanness", partly in an attempt to justify the Emperor's power independently of the (now strengthened) Pope. An imperial assembly at the fields of Roncaglia in 1158 reclaimed imperial rights in reference to Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis. Imperial rights had been referred to asregalia since the Investiture Controversy, but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia as well. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining, collecting punitive fees and the investiture, the seating and unseating of office holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman Law, a far-reaching constitutional act.

Frederick's policies were mainly aimed at Italy, where he clashed with the increasingly wealthy and free-minded cities of the north, especially Milan. He also embroiled himself in another conflict with the Papacy by supporting a candidate elected by a minority against Pope Alexander III (1159–81). Frederick supported a succession of antipopes before finally making peace with Alexander in 1177. In Germany, the Emperor had repeatedly protected Henry the Lion against complaints by rival princes or cities (especially in the cases of Munich and Lübeck). Henry's support of Frederick's policies was only lackluster and in a critical situation during the Italian wars, Henry refused the Emperor's plea for military support. After his return to Germany, an embittered Frederick opened proceedings against the Duke, resulting in a public ban and the confiscation of all territories.

During the Hohenstaufen period, German princes facilitated a successful, peaceful eastward settlement of lands previously sparsely inhabited by West Slavs or uninhabited, by German speakingfarmers, traders and craftsmen from the western part of the Empire, both Christians and Jews. The gradual Germanization of these lands was a complex phenomenon which should not be interpreted in terms of 19th century nationalism's bias. By the eastward settlement the Empire's influence increased to eventually include Pomerania and Silesia – also due to intermarriage of the local, still mostly Slavic, rulers with German spouses. Also, the Teutonic Knights were invited to Prussia by Duke Konrad of Masovia to Christianise the Prussians in 1226. The monastic state of the Teutonic Order (German: Deutschordensstaat) and its later German successor states of Prussia however never were part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1190, Frederick Barbarossa participated in the Third Crusade and died in Asia Minor. Under his son and successor, Henry VI, the Hohenstaufen dynasty reached its apex. Henry added the Norman kingdom of Sicily to his domains, held English king Richard the Lionheart captive and aimed to establish a hereditary monarchy, when he died in 1197. As his son, Frederick II, though already elected king, was still a small child and living in Sicily, German princes chose to elect an adult king, which resulted in the dual election of Frederick Barbarossa's youngest son Philip of Swabia and Henry the Lion's son Otto of Brunswick, who competed for the crown. Otto prevailed for a while after Philip was murdered in a private squabble in 1208 until he began to also claim Sicily. Pope Innocent III, who feared the threat posed by a union of the Empire and Sicily, now supported Sicily's king Frederick II, who marched to Germany and defeated Otto. After his victory, Frederick did not act upon his promise to keep the two realms separate - though he had made his son Henry king of Sicily before marching on Germany, he still reserved real political power for himself. This continued after Frederick was crowned Emperor in 1220. Fearing Frederick's concentration of power, the Pope finally excommunicated the Emperor. Another point was the crusade, which Frederick had promised but repeatedly postponed. Now, though excommunicated, Frederick led the crusade in 1228, which however ended in negotiations and a temporary restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The conflict with the Pope endured who later supported the election of an anti-king in Germany.

Despite his imperial claims, Frederick's rule was a major turning point towards the disintegration of a central rule in the Empire. While concentrated on establishing a modern, centralised state in Sicily, he was mostly absent from Germany and issued far-reaching privileges to Germany's secular and ecclesiastical princes: In the 1220 Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis, Frederick gave up a number of regalia in favour of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining, and fortification. The 1232 Statutum in favorem principum mostly extended these privileges to secular territories. Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German princes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick wanted to concentrate on Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that the German dukes were called domini terræ, owners of their lands, a remarkable change in terminology as well.

Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; 16 April 1927) is the 265th Pope,^[2] a position in which he serves dual roles as Sovereign of the Vatican City State and leader of theCatholic Church. As Pope, he is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter the Apostle. Benedict XVI was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, theArchbasilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. A native of Bavaria, Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship.

Ordained as a priest in 1951, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a full professor in 1958. After a long career as an academic, serving as a professor of theology at several German universities—the last being the University of Regensburg—he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience. In 1981, he settled in Rome when he became Prefect of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of theRoman Curia. From 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals, and as such the primus inter pares among the cardinals. Prior to becoming Pope, he was "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century" as "one of the most respected, influential and controversial members of the College of Cardinals"; he had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of Pope John Paul II's closest confidants.^[3]

Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI is theologically conservative in his teaching and prolific^[4] writings defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI has advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many developed countries. He views relativism's denial ofobjective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He teaches the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of God's redemptive love. He has reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."^[5] Pope Benedict has also revived a number of traditions including elevating theTridentine Mass to a more prominent position.^[6]

 OTHER LINKS:
Medieval Times
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Crusades:
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