The Holy Roman Empire

What the hell was the Holy Roman Empire that was overthrown by Napeleon in 1806 ?   The western Roman empire, was what ?  Run out of Germany or Prussia? 

The Holy Roman Empire was a strange beast. Most of the territory was present-day Germany. Most of the Emperors were either German or closely related to Germans.

The Prussians were never Emperors. From the 14th century to the end in the 19th century, the Emperors came from the Habsburg dynasty, which is based in present day Austria and Czech Republic. Their main city was Vienna. Their number two city, very important, was Prague. The capitol of Prussia was Berlin. Prussia fought against the Empire, and in the 19th century they fought against the Austrian Habsburg descendants of the Emperors, and Prussia won, and that's why the capitol of Germany is Berlin and not Vienna.

The "Roman" part meant "Catholic." Up until the 16th century, you were not Emperor until you went to Rome and were crowned by the Pope. And up until the end, until 1806, the Holy Roman Emperors were all very very Catholic.

But that did not always mean that they were close allies of the Popes. To the contrary, often the Emperor and the Pope bitterly opposed each other over the issue of who was the leader of Catholicism. The character and ambition and mentality of the individual Emperor and the individual Pope played a great part in the political situation of Europe at any given time.

As I said, most of the territory of the Empire consisted of modern-day Germany. However, in most of Germany, there was also a local ruler, A King or a Duke or a Count. At some times there were hundreds of states within Germany, some huge, like Prussia or Bavaria, others consisting of one small town.

The Emperor was the sole ruler only in the areas which belonged to him by heredity. Emperors were elected by seven German rulers. (Although, from the 14th century onward, they always elected someone from the Habsburg dynasty.) Some of them had much more hereditary land than others.

Some of the great number of local German rulers paid very little attention to the Emperor. There were endless conflicts about how much tax money the Emperor would get from this or that territory. As the Prussians became more and more powerful and swallowed up more and more of Germany, they came into greater conflict with the Emperors, and felt less and less need to pay them any respect, or any taxes.

On the other hand, some local German leaders might be on very good terms with the Emperor. Maybe because they believed that the Emperor really was the successor of Julius Caesar, chosen by God to rule all of Europe. Sometimes the alliance was much more practical: a King or Duke might be friendly with the Emperor for tactical reasons, because they had some enemies in common.

Usually it was a pretty complex combination of factors. Although modern-day historians always point out that the Emperors were not the undisputed rulers everywhere in the Empire, still, there was a mystique and glamour and awe about the position of Emperor which no other ruler in Western Europe had. And that translated into power. Centuries ago, many Europeans really believed that monarchs had been chosen by God. And there was only one ruler who had been crowned in Rome by the Pope.

It was a different time, people thought differently and believed different things than people do today.

Again, I hope I have explained things rather than made you more confused, and again, I'd be delighted to answer any further questions.