The election of a

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

was generally a two-stage process whereby the

King of the Romans King of the Romans (; ) was the title used by the king of East Francia following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German king between his election and coronatio ...

was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the realm, the

prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s. This was then followed shortly thereafter by his coronation as king, originally at

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and later at

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The king was then expected to march to Rome, to be crowned Emperor by the pope. In 1356, the Emperor Charles IV promulgated the Golden Bull, which became the fundamental law by which all future kings and emperors were elected. After 1508, rulers usually were recognized as "Emperor elect" after their first, royal coronation.

Background

The ''Königswahl'' was the election of royal candidates in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and its predecessors as

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

by a specified elective body. Whilst the succession to the throne of the monarch in some cultures is governed by the rules of hereditary succession, there are also elective monarchies. There were elective monarchies in several Germanic successor states after the collapse of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, the Holy Roman Empire and the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

from 1573 to 1795 (see

Royal elections in Poland Royal elections in Poland ( Polish: ''wolna elekcja'', lit. ''free election'') were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, streng ...

Prince-electors

From the 13th century, the right to elect kings in the Holy Roman Empire came upon a limited number of

imperial prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

s called

s. There are various theories over the emergence of their exclusive election right.Armin Wolf: ''Kurfürsten''
, article dated 25 March 2013 in the ''historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de'' portal, retrieved 16 August 2013 The secular electoral seats were hereditary. However, ecclesiastical electors (and other prince-bishops) were elected by the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

s as religious leaders, but simultaneously ruled as princes of a territory of

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

(which usually comprised a part of their diocesan territory). Thus the

prince-bishopric A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to ''Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the Bi ...

s were elective monarchies too. The same holds true for prince-abbeys, whose prince-abbots or prince-abbesses were elected by a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

of clerics and imperially appointed as princely rulers in a pertaining territory. Initially seven electors chose the "

". The king then went on to be crowned by the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. The prince-electors were:

Ecclesiastical electors

* The Prince-Archbishop of Mainz * The Prince-Archbishop of Cologne * Trier Arms

The Prince-Archbishop of Trier

Secular electors

Small coat of arms of the Czech Republic

The King of Bohemia, of the House of Luxembourg at the time of the Golden Bull, but from 1526 onward ruled by the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

, who also ruled the

Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

and Inner Austria. The Bohemian Crown itself was also theoretically elective, but under the Habsburgs it became ''de facto'' hereditary. * Wappen Kurpfalz

The Count Palatine of the Rhine, throughout the entire period a member of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

The Duke of Saxony, from 1356 a member of the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

; from 1423, a member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

The Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1356 a member of the

; from 1373, a member of the House of Luxembourg; from 1415, a member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

Subsequent changes

Later additions to the electoral council were: * Bavaria Arms

The

Duke of Bavaria The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...

; of another branch of the

, granted elector status in 1623, replacing the Count Palatinate of the Rhine following the Bohemian Revolt. * Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Hanover

The Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as the Elector of Hanover) of the

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...

, granted elector status in 1692. From 1714 the Duke was also the King of Great Britain.

References

Literature

* Heinrich Mitteis: ''Die deutsche Königswahl. Ihre Rechtsgrundlagen bis zur Goldenen Bulle''. 2. erweiterte Auflage. Rohrer, Brünn u. a. 1944. * Eduard Hlawitschka: ''Königswahl und Thronfolge in fränkisch-karolingischer Zeit'', Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1975, . * Ulrich Schmidt: ''Königswahl und Thronfolge im 12. Jahrhundert''. Böhlau, Cologne, etc.. 1987, , (''Forschungen zur Kaiser- und Papstgeschichte des Mittelalters''. Beihefte zu J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 7), (Zugleich: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 1985). * Gerhard Baaken, Roderich Schmidt: ''Königtum, Burgen und Königsfreie. Königsumritt und Huldigungen in ottonisch-salischer Zeit''. 2nd edn. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen, 1981, (Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte e.V. (publ.): ''Vorträge und Forschungen'' 6).

External links

The Holy Roman Empire
at Heraldica.org. {{Authority control Monarchy of the Holy Roman Empire Elective monarchy