Seven electors held the power to elect the German king, who until 1508 would then travel to Rome to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The seven electors were the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Brandenburg, and the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier. The Holy Roman Empire began to be called Holy by its subjects in the 12th century, when the emperor and the pope were fighting for control of northern Italy. After 1273, with the accession of Rudolf of Habsburg to the Imperial throne, the Holy Roman Empire no longer included any part of Italy. It then consisted of present-day Germany, eastern France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, and areas of the modern Czech Republic. By the time that Charles V abdicated in 1556, the new emperor, Ferdinand I (1503-64), was only the titular head of a federation of German principalities. (See page 15 On Germany.) During the Renaissance, the empire gained and lost territory in Italy, Hungary, Bohemia, and the Netherlands.
Imperial military power was at its height during the 12 th century. By the 15th century, the emperor’s power was waning. Major campaigns required allies, and emperors were often allied with the popes. The emperor’s relationship with the popes between 1400 and 1600 usually consisted of mutual support in both military and religious matters, concerns that often overlapped. Emperors joined the holy leagues with the pope and other allies to combat the French in Italy as well as the Ottoman Turks. Imperial troops combated Protestantism in the north in several campaigns, with the pope’s blessing and financial support. Although not actually crowned by the pope, the Holy Roman Emperors of the Renaissance had his recognition and approval.
The last emperor who was crowned in Rome was Frederick III (1415-93), chosen by the electors in 1440. (Charles V, the last emperor crowned by a pope, received his crown in Bologna because Rome was in ruins from the 1527 sack.) By marrying his children with the children of powerful rulers across Europe, Frederick guaranteed that his Habsburg line would be part of Europe’s political future. Beginning with Frederick III, the Habsburg dynasty dominated the Imperial elections. The fact that the Spanish king, Charles I, was a Habsburg was distinctly to his advantage when the French king, Francis I, competed with him for the Imperial crown in 1519.
In the 1480s, the archbishop of Mainz, one of the seven electors, attempted to create a centralized imperial administration in Germany. This movement succeeded only partially because regional rulers were unwilling to relinquish control over their territories, and the emperor balked at what would have been a loss in status. The seven hereditary electors were especially autonomous, as their families were granted
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Special privileges. Nevertheless, as a result of the Diet of 1495, an official Public Peace (Landfriede) assured law and order and an Imperial Court of Chancery (Reichskammergericht) was established. This tribunal, responsible not to the emperor but to the Diet, held jurisdiction throughout the empire. It was not, however, an executive body and the administration of justice was often difficult. Finally, in 1500, the Council of Regency (Reichsregiment) of 21 members was set up to deal with executive aspects of Imperial administration. The other administrative body, established by the emperor himself, was the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat), which functioned as a high court of justice.
By the early 16th century, the empire included Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, parts of Italy, and the Burgundian Netherlands. Although this list may sound impressive, in matter of fact the empire was more a concept than an actuality. The “king of the Romans,” as the king of Germany (the emperor) was called, did not even rule Germany because so much authority was vested in local princes and dukes. It was virtually impossible for him to raise any revenue from his own country, unlike the sovereigns of France, Spain, and England—the “new” monarchies of Europe. One important reason why the Habsburgs were welcomed as dynastic emperors is that each of them had personal territories in his own realm that produced appreciable income. The German king did, however, have political influence, whereas the influence of the princes was local, or at best regional.
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