The

imperial election The election of a Holy Roman Emperor was generally a two-stage process whereby the King of the Romans was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the realm, the prince-electors. This was then followed shortly thereafter by his coronati ...

of 1346 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 ...

was orchestrated by

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI (; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1 ...

after the pope had pronounced the deposition of the Emperor Louis IV. The pope's candidate, Charles of Moravia, was duly elected by five of the imperial electors at Rhense on 11 July. On 13 April 1346 at

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, Clement VI declared Louis IV a heretic and schismatic and deposed him.Lee 2018, p. 267.Wood 1989, p. 152. He preached a sermon against Louis in which he quoted from

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

's letter to the Emperor

Valentinian II Valentinian II (; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman Empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his half-brother, then was sidelined by a usurper, and finally became sole ruler after 388, ...

: "What could be more honourable to the emperor than to be called a son of the hurch" Charles and his father, King

John of Bohemia John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting ...

, were in attendance. Afterwards, Charles swore an oath to Clement that if elected he would annul all of his predecessor's acts and not spend more than one day in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for his imperial coronation. On 28 April 1346, Clement VI formally requested the electors to elect a new emperor. Two of the electors were Charles's relations: the king of Bohemia was his father and the archbishop of Trier was his great-uncle, Baldwin of Luxembourg.Wilson 2016, p. 725. A third, the

archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, Gerlach of Nassau, had only been installed after Clement deposed Henry of Virneberg on 7 April 1346.Wood 1989, p. 150. Charles also received the support of Walram of Jülich,

archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

, and Rudolf, Duke of Saxony.Wood 1989, p. 155. Charles IV was far from having universal support in the Empire while Louis still lived. He was labelled a ''Pfaffenkönig'' (parson's king) because of the role the pope played in procuring his election. The free cities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

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 ...

refused to recognise him. Charles and his father went abroad after his election to assist

Philip VI of France Philip VI (; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (), the Catholic (''le Catholique'') and of Valois (''de Valois''), was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350. Philip's reign w ...

against an English invasion. John died at the

battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France ...

and Charles was seriously injured. Because Aachen would not accept him, Charles was forced upon his return to be crowned in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

on 26 November.Wood 1989, p. 159. He dated his reign, however, from the moment he received papal approbation, on 6 November. This was also the day on which he took the title "

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 ...

" (until his imperial coronation). His position only became secure with the death of Louis on 11 October 1347.Lee 2018, p. 272.

Notes

Sources

*Lee, Alexander. ''Humanism and Empire: The Imperial Ideal in Fourteenth-Century Italy''. Oxford University Press, 2018. *Wilson, Peter. ''Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire''. Belknap Press, 2016. *Wood, Diana. ''Clement VI: The Pontificate and Ideas of an Avignon Pope''. Cambridge University Press, 1989. {{Holy Roman Empire elections Imperial election (Holy Roman Empire) 1340s in the Holy Roman Empire 1346 in Europe 14th-century elections Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor