The Holy Roman Empire (942-1806) was a German (Catholic) Christian empire that covered the present-day countries of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, parts of western Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, and Denmark. The HRE was founded by Charlemagne in 801 AD with the blessing of Pope Leo III, consolidating his domains in Western Europe and Central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was founded on the Frankish dream of uniting Europe and subjecting the pagans to Christendom, but it fractured into East Francia, Lotharingia, and West Francia in 842. The Holy Roman Empire was one of the largest empires in history, dominating Central Europe, and it was in union with Spain from 1519 to 1556 during the reign of Charles V of Germany. The empire was finally destroyed when Napoleon I of France ordered the dissolution of the empire in 1806 during the War of the Third Coalition; it was partitioned into the Austrian Empire, the Confederation of the Rhine, Bavaria, and several small German states.
History[]
Empire of the Franks[]
Charlemagne, King of the Franks, became the king of France in 772, and started his campaigns against the Saxons and the other Germanic tribes in order to convert them to Christianity. In 801, having conquered northern Spain, all of France, northern Italy, Germany, Austria, and beyond, Charlemagne was crowned as Emperor by Pope Leo III, who made him his vassal. The Holy Roman Empire was on its knees for the Papal States, but as time went on, they grew more powerful.
East Francia[]
The Holy Romans were divided in thirds after Charlemagne's death, between West Francia, Middle Francia (Lotharingia), and East Francia, in 843. Eastern Francia is considered the predecessor of the Holy Roman Empire, with its capital at Salzburg. The Eastern Franks' greatest king was Otto I of Germany, who survived through campaigns against him by his brother, son, and powerful dukes. In 955 he defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld, and repulsed their invasions. The Franks were confirmed as a kingdom in 962, becoming the Holy Roman Empire. Middle Francia became the Duchy of Burgundy, and Western Francia became the Kingdom of France.
Early Years[]
The infant Holy Roman Empire moved its capital to Frankfurt, with major cities at Staufen, Innsbruck, Bologna, Vienna, and Nuremburg. The Germans were strong all-round during the Middle Ages, but would lack the late professional armies of England and France.
In the early 11th century, the Pope and the HRE split due to controversy over the appointment of high church officials and taking away secular investiture, in effect taking away Henry IV of Germany's power. How the Kaiser could react was a mystery and the dilemma that the HRE faced at the time, as well as many German rebellions.
In 1080, Captain Markus captured the city of Hamburg from the rebellious duke Eusebius of Hamburg, starting a series of reconquests. By 1100, the cities of Prague, Florence, Magdeburg, Vilnius, and Breslau had been captured by the Holy Roman Empire, and they had participated in the First Livonian Crusade. The German kingdom started to take a role in Italian civil affairs as well, backing the Waiblingen opposition to the pope, called the "Ghibelline" party. The House of Welf, opposing the emperor, had influence on the Duchy of Milan and other Lombard cities, forming the "Guelph" faction. In the 1150s-1170s Frederick Barbarossa campaigned in northern Italy and exterminated several Lombard cities before the Lombard League defeated him decisively at the Battle of Legnano in 1176.
Church versus State[]
After Legnano, the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire were in a perpetual state of cold warfare, fought by Italian city-states allied to the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In the 1200s Manfred, a son of Frederick II of Germany, claimed the throne of Sicily but was killed by the Angevin Empire prince Charles of Anjou. Frederick's campaigns were brave and achieved new lands, but after his death in 1238, his empire declined again.
Around the same time the HRE took part in the Northern Crusades, allied with the Knights Teutonic against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonians. The Holy Roman Empire would go on to seize lands from the Kingdom of Poland and fail to invade the Grand Duchy of Novgorod in 1242.
Renaissance and Reformation[]
The Holy Roman Empire went through horrible changes in 1517: the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther converted many Catholics to Protestantism. The death of Maximillian I of Germany left Germany unstable, so the King of Spain Charles I took over the Holy Roman Empire, forming the Habsburg Empire. This empire was brief, reigning from 1516 until his abdication in 1556.
The Holy Romans and Spanish allied together and fought France in the Italian Wars in the 1520s. At the Battle of Pavia in 1525 their pike and shot defeated the French army near Montebello Park, and the French were flushed out of Italy. The Imperial army of Charles de Lannoy won a great victory, and the Habsburg domains would be united until Charles made Philip I of Spain and Ferdinand I of Germany his heirs for a divided empire.
Austrian Empire[]
Flag of the Austrian Empire
After the division of the Habsburg Empire the Holy Romans are sometimes called the Austrian Empire. The Austrians ruled from Vienna, as the Kingdom of Prussia had gained independence after the end of the Northern Crusades in 1525. In 1618 the Empire fought Protestant rebels and eventually all of Protestant Europe in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which culminated in the division of Europe between Protestant and Catholic faiths. The Eastern European sector was Catholic and Eastern Orthodox; Western Europe was predominantly Protestant.
In the 1600s the Austrians fought off the Ottoman Empire. In 1683 they repelled an attack on Vienna and in 1699 defeated an attack by Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta, but a peace in 1700 led to some fragile peace in Europe. The Holy Roman Empire fought with France again in the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, allying with Westphalia, Wurttemberg, the United Provinces, and Great Britain. At the same time they invaded Poland-Lithuania and by 1795 divided it between themselves, Prussia, and the Russian Empire.
Fall of the Holy Roman Empire[]
The French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s tested Austria's might. They lost northern Italy and central Germany to the French general Napoleon Bonaparte, who defeated them at the Battle of Arcole and the Battle of Lodi in 1796. The Austrians made peace soon after, but in 1800, when they dared lift a finger again, they were crushed once more.
Their last war was the Third Coalition. They fought with France but at the Battle of Ulm lost a whole army, and lost at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. In 1806 the French occupied their empire and their capital Vienna, and the Holy Roman Empire disintegrated. It was succeeded by the Austrian Empire, the French Confederation of the Rhine, and smaller German principalities.