What a way to repay a friend

1356 - So, if you were the first crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for the past hundred years (except for that one year Henry ran the place) what would you do within the first year? Issue a law that offically and completely removes the pope from having any further say in the crowning of Emperors? Well that is exactly what Charles IV did when he issued the Golden Bull. The election process has actually been regularised and the official electors have been determined.

Another Emperor!!

1355 - 42 years later and we actually have another Emperor. Charles IV has been crowned by Pope Innocent VI. I wonder if we can make this one last.

Charles in Charge

1347 - So yeah, Pope Clement VI really didn't like the whole idea of the pope having no say over who the Emperor is. So what does he do about it? Well, he waits 8 years and then decided to depose Louis IV and promote Charles of Luxembourg to the position. But that didn't take quite so well. Louis kept on being the King. But Louis just died, so it looks like Charles got a break.

Again, Still no Emperor

1338 - So once again, the Pope has decided not to deem any of our kings worthy of being crowned Emperor since Henry VII died. But Louis IV sure is trying. He just issued the Declaration of Rense. With this Declaration, becoming Emperor will be come a one-step process. Get yourself elected by seven German princes and TA-DA you are Emperor. Needless to say, Pope Clement VI is none-too-pleased by this, but oh well. Render unto God what is God's, and to Caesar what is Caesar's like scripture says, right?

Just kidding

August 24, 1313 - So Henry died, guess that didn't last too long.

He did it!

June 29, 1312 - And we thought it would never happen. That's right folks, WE HAVE AN EMPEROR. Henry VII has offically been elected King and crowned Emperor!!! Maybe he will actually do some good for us and restore some power down in Italy.

Still no Emperor and the Pope is dead

1303- OK so, Pope Boniface VIII has not really been the French's favorite person ever since he wrote the bull Unam sanctam last year. Boniface's attempt to establish the papacy as the dominant spiritual and temporal authority definitely upset the French.

Our good King Albert decided to try working with the Pope in order to actually be crowned Emperor. Everything looked pretty good, until Philip IV of France set some people to de-pope Boniface, and although he was rescued, Boniface died just last week. We get so close and still no Emperor.

Rudolf, the red nosed King

1273- Rudolf of Habsburg, Fred II's godson, was just named King by the seven electors but will never be crowned Emporer. According to Pope Gregory IX, Rudolf could be crowned but only on the condition that he renew his previous promises, including a crusade. Of course, Rudolf states lack of funds as the reason for not venturing out on a crusade. Given that he's a renowned cheapskate, we all know he's just too scared to spend his money.

I'm not a king, not yet an emperor

1272 - In case you don't already know, I should probably explain how you get to be emperor. According to tradition there are seven electors who decide on who will be king. Four of the electors are secular princes and three of the electors are archbishops for the church. (It sounds simple enough, but getting seven people to agree on one king has proven a bigger challenge than it should be. When the electors' votes split, we could end up with two kings. Seriously, just pick someone! I'm kind of sick of civil unrest.)

Ok, that's step one. The second part involves getting approval from the pope to be crowned emperor. That's been the other tricky part.

We haven't had a elected king since 1260 but we'll see what happens next, I hear there may be a new emperor soon...

Three of a kind

1271 - The last few years have been really scary. Three different guys, have tried to be emperor but none have stuck. Everything is up for grabs and the pope is jockeying for power too.

Don't cross the pope.

1268- The pope really hates Fred II, and he's been dead for 18 years now! The pope teamed up with the French to kill all of Fred's relatives, including his son, King Manfred and Conradin, his grandson. There's no one else in the family to take charge. Now what?

Conrad out

1254 - Well, Conrad just died after ruling for just four years. Who's going to take charge now?

Hohenstaufen in the house!

Dec 20 1250 - Fred's son Conrad's in charge now. Good luck getting crowned by the pope, ever since he excommunicated your dad he's really had it in for you.

Freddy's Dead!!

December 13, 1250 - Fred II died!! I can't believe it! He was such a nice guy, he dealt with Muslims and those Sicilians rationally and almost had everything under control.

Sure, some people (including the pope) called him the anti-christ and said he used humans as test subjects for his crazy experiments, but I don't believe it.

What's going to happen now?

Bread and circuses

June 1249 - Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Things have been crazy at work the last few months. Anyway, I haven't really been online because things have been pretty good. Ever since Fredrick II got in charge in 1215 he's really gotten things turned around, he fixed the currency, helped out the arts and more. Got to go, I'll post tomorrow.

Hey Friends, Germans, Countrymen!

June 1248 A.D. - Hey, just started this blog. I'll be talking about everything having to do with politics in the Holy Roman Empire. Keep checking back for the latest news!