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.
