Formation of the Holy Roman Empire 962 g. The Holy Roman Empire is the basis of the Western project. History of the term "Holy Roman Empire"

In 843, the united Frankish state collapsed. its eastern part (future Germany) stood out and became a kingdom, which was divided into four virtually independent duchies - Swabia, Bavaria, Franconia and Saxony with Thuringia. In 911, the local nobility elected the Saxon Duke Henry as king, who was able to rally the German tribes for joint defense against enemies and annexed Lorraine to his possessions.

The German lands quite successfully held back the onslaught of the Vikings. However, from the end of the 9th century. The real disaster for them was the raids of the Magyars (Hungarians) from the Danube region. The mobile Magyar cavalry burst into Germany with lightning speed and mercilessly destroyed everything in its path. To protect against the Hungarians, Henry I created an equestrian army of knights and built numerous burgs (fortresses).

Henry I's son Otto continued his father's work. In 955, near the city of Augsburg, he defeated the Magyars. Otto became the most powerful king in Europe. He sought to revive the power of Charlemagne.

It was at this time in Rome that several noble families were planning to remove the pope from the throne and openly threatened him. The Pope turned to Otto for help.

In 962, at the head of the army, the German king went to Italy. On the way he met no resistance and soon entered Rome. The Pope crowned Otto I with the imperial crown. A new one was born, now German Empire, which dates back to the end of the 12th century. began to be called the Holy Roman Empire. This state existed until 1806. In addition to Germany, it included Northern and partly Central Italy, some Slavic lands, part of Southern France, and from the 11th century. also Burgundy. Later, the next German king, Otto II, tried to annex the south of Italy to the empire, but was defeated by the Arabs and almost fell into Byzantine captivity.

Otto and his successors paid special attention to church affairs. They gave her many lands and numerous privileges. But the German sovereigns appointed bishops and abbots from people loyal to themselves. The highest clergy advocated state and military service. It was this that brought three quarters of the heavy cavalry to the Ottonian army. The church was put at the service of royal power and became its main support. The emperor's attempts to turn the church into part of the state apparatus soon displeased the Pope, who believed that his power was higher than secular. The mighty Otto made a new campaign against Rome, eliminated Pope John XII and installed his protege Leo VIII.

Otto tried to organize the governance of Italy according to the German model: he created an extensive administrative apparatus headed by the chancellor; appointed German commandants - prefects - to the cities. He managed to settle relations with Byzantium, which had its possessions in Italy (Apulia and Calabria), through the marriage of his son ( future emperor Otto P) with the niece of the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes.

at the end of the 10th century. In Germany there was a short-term rise in culture known as the Ottonian Renaissance. At the court of Otto I there was an academy where educated people gathered.

It developed there literary activity, manuscripts were produced, Otto II was married to the Byzantine princess Theophapos, which contributed to the strengthening of cultural ties with Byzantium. Schools arose that were attended by both boys and girls. Among the teachers, the learned monk Herbert especially stood out. A man of humble origin, he received an excellent education, became the teacher of the future Emperor Otto III, and later Pope Sylvester.

Each new king considered it necessary to make a trip to Rome in order to receive the imperial crown there. Often such campaigns turned into protracted wars and the kings had to leave Germany for a long time. Emperor Otto III, crowned in 996, decided to remain permanently in Rome, devoting his life to the revival of the Roman Empire, and enjoyed the support of Pope Sylvester. However, frequent riots in Rome forced him to move to Ravenna. In 1002 he died of cholera.

The consequences of the long absence of emperors in Germany were the growing independence of large feudal lords and dynastic disputes. The victory was won by Duke Henry of Bavaria, who was crowned in Aachen as Henry II (1013-1024). In the first years of his reign, he restored order in the German possessions and only in 1018 was crowned emperor in Rome. Soon the new emperor returned to Germany, and Italy was ruled by German bishops in Milan, Ravenna, Aquileia, etc. After his death in 1024, a significant part of Italy temporarily left the power of the German kings.

The German Empire grew significantly stronger during the reign of Henry III (1039-1056). He not only ruled the state with a firm hand, but also managed to make the papacy dependent on him. At his discretion, the emperor appointed popes, who were mainly Germans. This situation caused discontent among the clergy. A movement for church reform developed, primarily for the liberation of the church from the supremacy of secular power. Pope Gregory VII introduced a new procedure for electing popes exclusively by cardinals, depriving the secular authorities of the opportunity to interfere in this process. Celibacy was established - a vow of celibacy for clergy of all ranks, which ensured the inviolability of the Church's land property.

The conflict between the empire and the papacy became particularly acute during the events of the “struggle for investiture.” It resolved the question: who should lead the Christian world - the emperor or the pope. In 1075, Gregory VII signed a decree that abolished secular investiture. This reform encountered resistance from Emperor Henry IV, who the following year at the Council of Worms achieved the removal of the pope. In response, Gregory UP at a council of bishops excommunicated the emperor from the church. The dissatisfied took advantage of this internal politics the emperor were large German feudal lords who organized revolts. Finding himself in a difficult situation, Henry IV was forced to seek reconciliation with the pope. In January 1077, the emperor appeared in front of the castle of Canossa in Northern Italy, where Gregory UP was located, and for three days stood barefoot in beggarly clothing at the gate. The pope forgave the enemy, and from that time Canossa became a symbol of the greatest humiliation of secular power before church power.

The reconciliation between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV at Canossa was short-lived. The struggle continued for many years with varying success. Only in 1122 an agreement was concluded in Worms. The Emperor retained control of the church in Germany. An important consequence of these events was the weakening of imperial power.

At the beginning of the 12th century. The empire included the territory of modern Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, part of France (Burgundy) and Switzerland, Northern and Central Italy. It was a collection of separate territories that were ruled by virtually independent secular and ecclesiastical princes. The hereditary monarchy did not work out in Germany. The kings were elected by the territorial princes. The emperor could force the princes even at own life elect his son as king, but did not have the right to appoint an heir for himself and transfer the throne to him. Emperors increasingly had to simply buy the support of princes at the cost of various concessions.

In 1137, the Staufen (Hohenstaufen) dynasty came to power in Germany, the most well-known representative which was Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190), who made enormous efforts to subjugate Italy to his power, making six Italian campaigns. His intentions were facilitated by the struggle between separate factions in Rome, who hoped to make their protege pope. In 1153, Pope Eugene III turned for help to Frederick Barbarossa, who agreed to help subject to his subsequent coronation. The following year he made his first successful Italian campaign and was crowned emperor. However, disputes soon arose with the papal legate, which led in 1158 to the second Italian campaign, as a result of which the autonomous Italian city-states lost their status and became imperial possessions. This caused discontent among local residents, who formed the Verona and Lombardy unions in opposition to the emperor. Having united, the inhabitants of Italian cities drove out the German garrisons and restored the free rights of the city-states. After unsuccessful attempts The emperor concluded a separate peace with the Lombardy Union; his troops suffered a crushing defeat from the Italians in 1176 at the Battle of Legnano. Frederick Barbarossa was forced to recognize the independence of Italian cities and reconcile with the pope.

A new conflict with Pope Urban III flared up when, during the sixth Italian campaign of 1184-1186. Frederick Barbarossa married his son Henry to Constance of Sicily and the Kingdom of Sicily, which was a vassal of the pope, passed to the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Emperor Henry VI (1190-1197) managed to defeat his opponents in the struggle for the Sicilian crown and establish himself in Southern Italy, thereby significantly expanding the territory of the empire and it reached its greatest power (Henry VI became a vassal English king Richard the Lionheart was captured after returning from the crusade and ransomed at enormous expense).

Henry VI died at 32, leaving a 3-year-old son, Frederick, under whom Constance of Sicily was regent. After her death, the future emperor was raised by Pope Innocent III, who tried to establish papal authority over the entire Christian world and used all his diplomatic talent for this. However, most of the German princes who supported the Hohenstaufens elected Frederick's uncle Philip of Swabia as king, and the supporters of the Belfians elected Otto IV. After the death of Philip, Otto was crowned in Rome, promising Innocent III not to seize the papal possessions in Italy. After breaking the promise, Otto IV was immediately excommunicated and deprived of his imperial rank. In 1210, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1210-1260) was proclaimed the German king, supported by the French king Philip P Augustus, hoping to gain an ally in the fight against England, on whose side was Otto IV. Southern German secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords went over to the side of Frederick II.

After the unsuccessful battle of Buvic for the English and their ally Otto IV in 1214, Frederick II finally established himself in Germany and was crowned for the second time in Aachen, and in 1220 Pope Honnorius III proclaimed him Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Center political activity the new emperor chose not Germany, but Italy and Sicily, and at first tried to maintain friendly relations with the popes, promising them to spread Christianity and fight heretics. That is why he agreed to organize a crusade in 1227, which he interrupted due to illness. Pope Gregory IX, without going into details of the failure, excommunicated the emperor, which caused new conflict between secular and ecclesiastical authorities. The following year, Frederick II, with insignificant forces, carried out a crusade, liberated Jerusalem and made peace with the Egyptian Sultan. The pope declared the campaign a pirate campaign, and the peace with the Egyptian sultan wicked and incited the Sicilians to directly oppose the emperor, which was supported by the northern Italian cities, dissatisfied with the emperor’s restriction of their privileges, which restored the Lombardy Union. In 1230, Frederick II restored his power in Sicily and concluded the Peace of Tsepran with the pope, which canceled his excommunication, and the pope received special ecclesiastical rights in Sicily.

However, peaceful relations with the church did not last long. In 1236, Frederick II, with the support of the German princes, decided to end the Lombardy Union. In the Battle of Cortenuova in 1237, the royal troops were victorious, but were forced to retreat from the city of Brescia, which withstood a siege for 3 months. The Lombardy cities were openly supported by Pope Gregory IX. The conflict with the latter deepened after Frederick II appointed his illegitimate son Enzio as king of Sardinia, which was considered a vassal of the Pali. In 1239, Frederick II was again excommunicated and the pope called for disobedience to the emperor. Frederick II turned to the secular rulers of the Christian world for support, convincing them that the pope was trying to subjugate secular power. The imperial troops approached Rome, but Gregory IX died unexpectedly and a new pope was elected only a year and a half later.

The new Pope Innocent IV took an even tougher position before the emperor and convened in 1245. Council in Lyon, at which Frederick II was almost unanimously again excommunicated from the church and called a heretic. Opposition also intensified among secular princes, who chose the so-called anti-kings - Landgrave of Thuringia Heinrich Raspe and Count William of Holland. The rebellious emperor was preparing to march on Lyon and fight the apostate princes, but in 1250 he unexpectedly died.

A period of princely civil strife began in Germany. In 1268, the last representative of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, Conradin, lost the battle for Sicily to the French and was executed in Naples. The period of greatest growth of the Holy Roman Empire was left behind. In the XIV century. The imperial title became the title of only German kings, and in the next century the name of the state of the German emperors also changed, which became known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German (German) nation.

A complex political union that existed from 962 to 1806 and potentially represented the largest state, the founder of which was Emperor Otto I. At its peak (in 1050), under Henry III, it included German, Czech, Italian and Burgundian territories. It grew out of the East Frankish Kingdom, proclaiming itself the heir of Great Rome, in accordance with the medieval idea of "translatio imperii" ("transition of the empire"). The sacred represented a conscious attempt to revive the state.

True, by 1600 only a shadow of its former glory remained. Its heart was Germany, which by this period represented many principalities that successfully established their independent position under the rule of the emperor, which never had absolute status. Therefore, since the end of the fifteenth century, it has been better known as the Holy Roman Nation.

The most important territories belonged to the seven electors of the emperor (the King of Bavaria, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Duke of Saxony, the Count Palatine of the Rhine and the three archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne), who are referred to as the first estate. The second consisted of unelected princes, the third - of the leaders of 80 free imperial cities. Representatives of the classes (princes, princes, lords, kings) were theoretically subject to the emperor, but each had sovereignty over their lands and acted as they saw fit, based on their own considerations. The Holy Roman Empire was never able to achieve the kind of political unification that existed in France, developing instead into a decentralized, limited electoral monarchy composed of hundreds of sub-blocs, principalities, districts, free imperial cities and other areas.

The Emperor himself also owned lands in Inner, Upper, Lower and Western Austria, and controlled Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. The most significant area was the Czech Republic (Bohemia). When Rudolf II became emperor, he designated Prague as its capital. According to the testimony of his contemporaries, he was a very interesting, intelligent, reasonable person. However, unfortunately, Rudolf suffered from bouts of insanity, which developed from his tendency to depression. This greatly affected the government structure. More and more privileges of power were in the hands of Matthias, his brother, despite the fact that he had no authority over it. The German princes tried to take advantage of this problem, but as a result (by 1600) they not only did not join forces, but, on the contrary, a split occurred between them.

So, let's summarize what has been said. Major milestones of the political union of the territories: the formation of the Holy Roman Empire occurred in 962. Otto, its founder, was crowned pope in Rome. Since then, the power of the emperors has been only nominal.

Although some of them tried to change their position and strengthen their positions of power, their attempts were prevented by the papacy and princes. The last was Franz II, who, under pressure from Napoleon I, renounced the title, thereby ending its existence.

The Holy Roman Empire is a state that existed from 962 to 1806. His story is very interesting. The founding of the Holy Roman Empire occurred in 962. It was carried out by King Otto I. He was the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The state existed until 1806 and was a feudal-theocratic country with a complex hierarchy. The image below is the area of the state around the beginning of the 17th century.

According to the thoughts of its founder, the German king, the empire created by Charlemagne was to be revived. However, the idea of Christian unity, which had been present in the Roman state since the very beginning of its Christianization, that is, since the reign of Constantine the Great, who died in 337, was largely forgotten by the 7th century. However, the church, which was heavily influenced by Roman institutions and laws, did not forget about this idea.

St. Augustine's idea

St. Augustine at one time undertook a critical development in his treatise entitled “On the City of God” of pagan ideas about an eternal and universal monarchy. Medieval thinkers interpreted this teaching in a political aspect, more positively than its author himself. They were encouraged to do this by comments on the Book of Daniel of the Church Fathers. According to them, the Roman Empire will be the last of the great powers, which will perish only with the coming of the Antichrist to earth. Thus, the formation of the Holy Roman Empire came to symbolize the unity of Christians.

History of the title

The term itself denoting this state appeared rather late. Immediately after Charles was crowned, he took advantage of an awkward and lengthy title, which was soon discarded. It contained the words “emperor, ruler of the Roman Empire.”

All his successors called themselves Emperor Augustus (without territorial specification). Over time, it was assumed that the former Roman Empire would become a power, and then the whole world. Therefore, Otto II is sometimes called Emperor Augustus of the Romans. And then, since the time of Otto III, this title is already indispensable.

History of the name of the state

The phrase “Roman Empire” itself began to be used as the name of the state from the middle of the 10th century, and was finally established in 1034. We must not forget that the Byzantine emperors also considered themselves the successors of the Roman Empire, so the assignment of this name by the German kings led to some diplomatic complications.

The definition “Sacred” is found in the documents of Frederick I Barbarossa from 1157. In sources from 1254 the full designation (“Holy Roman Empire”) took root. We find the same name in German in the documents of Charles IV; since 1442 the words “German Nation” have been added to it, first in order to distinguish the German lands from the Roman Empire.

In the decree of Frederick III, issued in 1486, this mention is made of “universal peace”, and since 1512 the final form has been approved - the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”. It existed until 1806, until its collapse. The approval of this form occurred during the reign of Maximilian, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (reign from 1508 to 1519).

Carolingian emperors

The medieval theory of the so-called Divine State originated from the earlier Carolingian period. In the second half of the 8th century, the Frankish kingdom, created by Pepin and his son Charlemagne, included most of the territory of Western Europe. This made this state suitable for the role of spokesman for the interests of the Holy See. In this role he was replaced by Byzantine Empire(Eastern Roman).

Having crowned Charlemagne with the imperial crown in 800, on December 25, Pope Leo III decided to break ties with Constantinople. He created the Western Empire. The political interpretation of the power of the Church as a continuation of the (ancient) Empire thereby received its form of expression. It was based on the idea that one political ruler should rise above the world, who acts in accordance with the Church, which is also common to all. Moreover, both sides had their own spheres of influence, which were established by God.

Such a holistic idea of the so-called Divine State was realized almost in full during his reign by Charlemagne. Although it disintegrated under his grandchildren, the tradition of the forefather continued to be preserved in the minds of the forefather, which led to the establishment in 962 of Otto I of a special education. It later received the name "Holy Roman Empire". This is the state we are talking about in this article.

German emperors

Otto, Holy Roman Emperor, held power over the most powerful state in Europe.

He was able to revive the empire by doing what Charlemagne did in his time. But the possessions of this emperor were, however, significantly smaller than those that belonged to Charles. They included mainly German lands, as well as the territory of central and northern Italy. Limited sovereignty was extended to some uncivilized border areas.

However, the imperial title did not give the kings of Germany greater powers, although they theoretically stood above the royal houses in Europe. Emperors ruled in Germany using administrative mechanisms that already existed. Their interference in the affairs of the vassals in Italy was very insignificant. Here the main support of the feudal vassals were the bishops of various Lombard cities.

Emperor Henry III, starting in 1046, received the right to appoint popes of his own choosing, just as he did with regard to bishops belonging to the German church. He used his power to introduce ideas of church government in Rome in accordance with the principles of the so-called canon law (Cluny Reform). These principles were developed in the territory located on the border between Germany and France. After the death of Henry, the papacy turned the idea of freedom of the Divine State against the imperial power. Gregory VII, the Pope, argued that spiritual power is superior to secular power. He began an attack on imperial law and began to appoint bishops on his own. This struggle went down in history as the “struggle for investiture.” It lasted from 1075 to 1122.

Hohenstaufen Dynasty

The compromise reached in 1122 did not lead, however, to final clarity on the pressing issue of supremacy, and under Frederick I Barbarossa, who was the first emperor belonging to the Hohenstaufen dynasty (who took the throne 30 years later), the struggle between the empire and the papal throne flared up again. Under Frederick, the term “Sacred” was added to the phrase “Roman Empire” for the first time. That is, the state began to be called the Holy Roman Empire. This concept received further justification when Roman law began to be revived, as well as contacts were established with influential byzantine state. This period was the time of the highest power and prestige of the empire.

Spread of Hohenstaufen power

Frederick, as well as his successors on the throne (other Holy Roman Emperors) centralized the system of government in the territories that belonged to the state. They also conquered Italian cities and also established suzerainty over countries outside the empire.

The Hohenstaufens, as Germany moved eastward, extended their influence in this direction. The Kingdom of Sicily went to them in 1194. This happened through Constance, who was the daughter of the Sicilian king Roger II and the wife of Henry VI. This led to the fact that the papal possessions were completely surrounded by lands that were the property of the state of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Empire is in decline

The civil war weakened its power. It flared up between the Hohenstaufens and the Welves after Henry died prematurely in 1197. The papal throne under Innocent III dominated until 1216. This pope even insisted on the right to resolve controversial issues arising between contenders for the throne of the emperor.

After the death of Innocent, Frederick II returned the former greatness to the imperial crown, but was forced to give the German princes the right to do whatever they wanted in their destinies. He, having thus abandoned his leadership in Germany, decided to concentrate all his forces on Italy, to strengthen his position here in the ongoing struggle with the papal throne, as well as with the cities under the control of the Guelphs.

The power of the emperors after 1250

In 1250, shortly after Frederick died, with the help of the French, the papacy finally defeated the Hohenstaufen dynasty. One can see the decline of the empire at least in the fact that the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were not crowned for quite a long time - in the period from 1250 to 1312. However, the state itself still existed in one form or another for many years. long period- more than five centuries. This was because it was closely associated with the German royal throne, and also because of the persistence of the tradition. Corona, despite numerous attempts made French kings in order to receive the dignity of an emperor, it remained unchanged in the hands of the Germans. Boniface VIII's attempts to reduce the status of the emperor's power caused the opposite result - a movement in its defense.

Decline of the Empire

But the glory of the state is already a thing of the past. Despite the efforts made by Petrarch and Dante, representatives of the mature Renaissance turned away from ideals that had become obsolete. And the glory of the empire was their embodiment. Now its sovereignty was limited only to Germany. Burgundy and Italy fell away from it. The state received a new name. It became known as the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation."

By the end of the 15th century, the last ties with the papal throne were severed. By this time, the kings of the Holy Roman Empire began to accept the title without going to Rome to receive the crown. The power of the princes in Germany itself increased. The principles of election to the throne had been sufficiently defined since 1263, and in 1356 they were consolidated by Charles IV. The seven electors (called electors) used their influence to make various demands on the emperors.

This greatly weakened their power. Below is the flag of the Roman Empire that existed since the 14th century.

Habsburg emperors

The crown had been in the hands of the Habsburgs (Austrians) since 1438. Following the trend that existed in Germany, they sacrificed the interests of the nation for the sake of the greatness of their dynasty. Charles I, King of Spain, was elected Roman Emperor in 1519 under the name of Charles V. He united the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Sardinia and the Kingdom of Sicily under his rule. Charles, Holy Roman Emperor, abdicated the throne in 1556. The Spanish crown then passed to Philip II, his son. Ferdinand I, his brother, was appointed to succeed Charles as Holy Roman Emperor.

Collapse of the Empire

The princes throughout the 15th century tried unsuccessfully to strengthen the role of the Reichstag (which represented the electors, as well as less influential princes and cities of the empire) at the expense of the emperor. The Reformation that occurred in the 16th century dashed any hopes that the old empire could be rebuilt. As a result, various secularized states were born, as well as strife based on religion.

The power of the emperor was now decorative. The meetings of the Reichstag turned into congresses of diplomats, busy with trifles. The empire degenerated into a tenuous alliance between many small independent states and principalities. In 1806, on August 6, Franz II renounced the crown. Thus the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation collapsed.

Formation of German statehood

With the collapse of the Carolingian Empire (mid-9th century), an independent East Frankish State. The kingdom included lands with a predominantly German population. Such ethnic cohesion was rare in the Middle Ages. The kingdom did not, however, have state and political unity. By the beginning of the 10th century. Germany represented the totality duchies, the largest of which were Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony.

The duchies were not really interconnected with each other; they differed significantly even in their social structure. In the western regions, patrimonial feudalism was firmly established, there was almost no free peasantry left, and new socio-economic centers - cities - emerged. IN eastern regions The feudalization of society was weak, the social structure was focused on community ties, significant territories with the pre-state life of barbarian times were preserved; there only the latest of barbaric truths appeared (see § 23).

The unity of the state strengthened with the establishment of the royal throne Saxon dynasty (919 - 1024). Internecine feuds were temporarily overcome, several successful external wars basically determined the territories belonging to the kingdom, and a special political place for the king in the feudal hierarchy was established - King Otto I was crowned (in the conditional center of the state - Aachen). Formation of a single government organization The kingdom was unique due to the great dependence of royal power on the tribal duchies. The formation of statehood in Germany relied on the church as the only bearer of the state principle.

State system of the empire XIV - XV centuries.

Strengthening the state-political independence of individual German principalities continued in the 14th - 15th centuries. The boundaries of the huge empire at this time became largely nominal. A movement began inside for an open secession from its composition: at the beginning of the 14th century. The Swiss Union was formed and led the struggle for independence.

Emperor possessed special rights of political supremacy, which were far from real state powers. Even during periods of strengthening of the empire, it was not possible to turn this power into hereditary one. By the 14th century the principle of election to the throne at the will of the assembly of the highest nobility of the empire became absolute. This was enshrined in a special document - Golden Bull of 1356*, granted by King Charles IV. The rights of a special board were established - from 7 princes and archbishops (the sovereign princes of Mainz, Cologne, the Rhine, Saxony, Brandenburg, the King of Bohemia) to elect an emperor at their congress. These rights were henceforth hereditary and inseparable from the special status of the princes themselves as sovereign rulers. The bull assigned to the princes financial regalia that previously belonged to the emperor (mines, coinage), maximum judicial immunity, and the right to enter into foreign political alliances. The Congress of Princes became an almost permanent political institution of the empire: it was supposed to take place annually and, together with the emperor, decide matters “for the common benefit and benefit.”

* A document of special significance was called a bull, Golden - because of the special seal attached to it.

The imperial power had no real administration at its disposal. The administration of the empire was carried out more extra-institutionally: thanks to the personal presence of the emperor in the principality (they did not have a permanent residence) or family ties, thanks to vassal connections, thanks to representation from the empire in local institutions, thanks to the involvement of princes for a period of time to carry out royal commissions, thanks, finally, to obligations imperial cities. The empire's finances were also decentralized. Almost the only lever of power was the right to disgrace the offender, that is, deprivation of the opportunity to resort to the protection of the imperial court.

Congresses of feudal lords became a significant institution of imperial power - Reichstags. The Reichstags developed as a continuation of the meetings of the nobility of the era of the fief monarchy. With the formation of estates in the social and legal structure of the empire, the Reichstags began to be considered as their representatives in the management of the empire. At first, only princes and, as the second curia, counts were called to the congresses. Since 1180, a full-fledged second conditional curia took shape - counts and knights, from the 13th century. They already participate regularly. In the XIV century. Imperial and princely cities and imperial ministries receive the right to participate through their representatives. Participation in the Reichstag was regarded as a state-legal obligation, inseparable from subordination to imperial power; already in the 13th century. the law provided for significant fines for neglecting this. The Emperor could have taken away the right to attend the Reichstag.

The Reichstags were convened by the emperor at his permission; there were no exact invitations. From the end of the 15th century. The Reichstag worked in the curiae of: 1) princes, 2) counts and knights, 3) cities. Its competence included decisions on the organization of the armed forces of the empire, the collection of taxes, the management of general imperial property, and new customs duties. The estates approved the legal customs proposed by the emperor, and from 1497 they began to influence the decrees of the emperors. The Reichstags met at the discretion of the emperor and in the place where he indicated. Since 1495, the convocation became annual; in the same year the name was assigned to the congress Reichstag. The existence of the Reichstag and some other class institutions, their role in the empire, defined Germany as estate monarchy, but very relative in its state unity.

In the Reichstags of the second half of the 15th century. The question of reform of the empire repeatedly arose, the ideas of which were actively developed in the political journalism of the era. The weakening of the empire was also detrimental to a significant number of minor rulers. The Reichstag of 1495 proclaimed “universal zemstvo peace” in the empire (in development of ideas about guaranteeing the rights of everyone in the empire, which appeared in the form of a “common peace” back in the middle of the 12th century). Internal wars in the empire and encroachment on established rights and privileges were prohibited. For some guarantees it was created imperial court(representing the electors and the city, the chairman was the emperor) with supreme judicial rights, as well as the imperial military organization(up to 4 thousand cavalry and 20 thousand infantry, convened in 10 districts into which the empire was divided). An attempt was made to introduce a single imperial tax. Under the emperor, a general administrative body was created - imperial court council. However, in the context of the almost century-long crisis of German statehood caused by the Reformation of the 16th century, the new institutions remained largely effective within the domains of the Habsburgs, who secured the imperial throne (1438) - Austria and the eastern regions.

At the end of the 15th century. The Swiss Union gained complete independence from the empire. After the Reformation and, especially, the completion Thirty Years' War The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 Germany was officially recognized as a union of states, and the territorial rulers were given the title of kings. Nominally, the title of emperor and general political powers remained with the Austrian house of Habsburg until early XIX c., when (1806) the Holy Roman Empire was abolished.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….3

1. Formations of the empire…………………………………………………….5

1.1. History of the formation of the empire……………….……………………….5

1.2. Character of the state…………………………………….…………6

1.3. Name of the Holy Roman Empire…………………………..7

2. Empire in the Middle Ages…………………………………………………..9

3. Empire of modern times……………………………………………………………14

3.1. Imperial reform……………………………………………………………...14

3.2. Reformation………………………………………………………16

3.3. Empire in the second half of the 17th - mid-18th centuries......17

4. Austro-Prussian confrontation and the decline of the empire…………….…….20

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….24

List of references……………………………………………………………...26

INTRODUCTION

This work is devoted to the history of the Holy Roman Empire, a superpower of the Middle Ages, which single-handedly decided the destinies of Europe, the forerunner of the empires of modern and modern times. A unique phenomenon for its time, a huge state founded in the 10th century by the German king Otgon I the Great included Germany, Italy and Burgundy and claimed power over the European continent. And therefore the history of the Holy Roman Empire is a history of endless wars designed not only to expand the borders of the empire, but also to keep it from collapse. But the political foundation of the new state turned out to be weak: internal rebellions, the struggle with the papacy for supremacy in the Christian world, and the constant need to maintain power over vast areas constantly undermined the empire from within. Even such talented emperors as Frederick I Barbarossa found the burden too much to bear.

The purpose of this work is to consider the history of the creation of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:

· Study the history of the formation of the empire, its character and the name of the “Holy Roman Empire”;

· Consider the empire in the Middle Ages, the empire of modern times, in the second half of the 17th - mid-18th centuries;

· Analyze the Austro-Prussian confrontation and the decline of the empire.

When writing this work, we used the literature of Russian and foreign authors, such as Bryce, J., Eger O. The World History., Galanza P. N., Kolesnitsky, N. F., Prokopyev, Hartmann, P. C., Herbers, K., Neuhaus, H. et al.

Empire formations

1.1. Story formation of the empire

The idea of empire (lat. imperium), a single state that united the entire civilized and Christian world, dating back to the times Ancient Rome and experienced a rebirth under Charlemagne, it persisted even after the collapse of the Frankish Carolingian Empire. The empire in the public consciousness was presented as the earthly embodiment of the Kingdom of God, the best model of state organization, in which the ruler maintains peace and tranquility in Christian countries, protects and takes care of the prosperity of the church, and also organizes protection from external threats. The early medieval concept of empire assumed the unity of state and church and close interaction between the emperor and the pope, who exercised supreme secular and spiritual power. Although the capital of Charlemagne's empire was Aachen, the imperial idea was associated primarily with Rome, the center of Western Christianity and, according to the Donation of Constantine, the source political power throughout Europe.

After the collapse of the state of Charlemagne in the middle of the 9th century, the title of emperor was preserved, but the real power of its bearer was limited only to Italy, with the exception of several cases of short-term unification of all Frankish kingdoms. The last Roman emperor, Berengar of Friuli, died in 924. After his death, power over Italy was disputed for several decades by representatives of a number of aristocratic families in Northern Italy and Burgundy. In Rome itself, the papal throne came under the complete control of the local patriciate. The source of the revival of the imperial idea in the middle of the 10th century was the East Frankish (German) Kingdom, the future Germany.

During the reign of Henry I the Birdcatcher (919-936) and especially Otto I (936-973), the German kingdom was significantly strengthened. The rich Lorraine with the former imperial capital of the Carolingians Aachen became part of the state, the raids of the Hungarians were repelled (Battle of the Lech River 955), and active expansion began towards the Slavic lands of Poelbia and Mecklenburg. Moreover, the conquest was accompanied by energetic missionary activity in the Slavic countries, Hungary and Denmark. The church became the main support of royal power in Germany. The tribal duchies that formed the basis of the territorial structure of the East Frankish kingdom were subordinated under Otto I central government. By the beginning of the 960s. Otto became the most powerful ruler of all the successor states to Charlemagne's empire and gained a reputation as a defender of the Christian church.

In 961, Pope John XII turned to Otto with a request for protection against the king of Italy, Berengar II of Hebrews, and promised him the imperial crown. Otto immediately crossed the Alps, defeated Berengar and was recognized as king of the Lombards (Italy), and then marched to Rome. On February 2, 962, Otto I was anointed king and crowned emperor. This date is considered the date of formation of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Otto the Great himself obviously did not intend to found a new empire and viewed himself solely as the successor of Charlemagne, in fact the transfer of the imperial crown to the German monarchs meant the final separation of the East Frankish kingdom (Germany) from the West Frankish (France) and the formation of a new state entity based on German and northern Italian territories, acting as the heir to the Roman Empire and claiming to be the patron of the Christian church.

1.2. Character of the State

Throughout the eight hundred and fifty years of its existence, the Holy Roman Empire remained a hierarchical state formation of the feudal type. It never acquired the character of a national state, like England or France, nor did it achieve any high degree centralization of the management system. The empire was neither a federation nor a confederation in the modern sense, but combined elements of these forms of government. The subject composition of the empire was distinguished by extreme diversity: semi-independent vast electors and duchies, principalities and counties, free cities, small abbeys and small possessions of imperial knights - all of them were full subjects of the empire (imperial estates), possessing varying degrees of legal capacity. The power of the emperor was never absolute, but was shared with the highest aristocracy of the country. Moreover, unlike other European states, the inhabitants of the empire were not directly subordinate to the emperor, but had their own ruler - a secular or ecclesiastical prince, an imperial knight or a city magistrate, which formed two levels of power in the country: imperial and territorial, often conflicting with each other .

Each subject of the empire, especially such powerful states as Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, had a wide degree of independence in internal affairs and certain prerogatives in foreign policy, however, sovereignty continued to remain an attribute of the empire as such, and the decrees of imperial institutions and the norms of imperial law were binding (sometimes, however, only theoretically) for all state entities that made up the empire. The Holy Roman Empire was characterized by a special role of the church, giving it public education elements of theocracy, but at the same time, the imperial structure, for the first time in Europe since the Reformation, ensured the long-term peaceful coexistence of several faiths within a single state. The development of the Holy Roman Empire took place in the context of a constant struggle between trends of disintegration and integration. The first expressed, most often, large territorial principalities, which gradually acquired the characteristics of sovereign states and seeking to free themselves from the power of the emperor, while the main consolidating factors were the imperial throne, imperial institutions and institutions (Reichstag, imperial court, system of the zemstvo world), the Catholic Church , German national identity, the class principle of building the state structure of the empire, as well as imperial patriotism (German. Reichspatriotismus) - loyalty to the empire and the emperor as its head rooted in the public consciousness (but not as a representative of a particular dynasty).

1.3. Name of the Holy Roman Empire

Having emerged in 962, the Holy Roman Empire laid claim to the succession of the ancient Roman Empire and the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, trying to become a universal state entity uniting the entire Western European Christian world. Otto I the Great, first monarch of the Holy Roman Empire, used the title Emperor Romanorum et Francorum(lat. Emperor of the Romans and Franks). Although the core of the empire was always Germany, its sacred center was Rome: in this city, until the 16th century, the coronations of emperors were held and it was from Rome, according to medieval ideas, that their divine power flowed. The title "Roman Emperor" (lat. imperator Augustus Romanorum) was already used by Otto II (973-983), and the phrase “Roman Empire” was first mentioned in sources under 1034. At the same time, the use of this title caused sharp rejection in Byzantium, where it was believed that only the Byzantine emperor had the right to be called a Roman emperor.

The monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire claimed supreme spiritual power on its territory and the role of protector and patron of the European Christian Church. Initially, this did not require a separate mention in the title, but after the end of the struggle for investiture and the spread of the idea of the supremacy of the Pope in the spiritual sphere, the word “Sacred” (lat. Sacrum; for the first time, probably in 1157), thereby emphasizing the emperors' claims regarding the church. The application of the epithet “Sacred” not to the person of the ruler, but to the state entity, apparently was an innovation born in the office of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190). Actually the name “Holy Roman Empire” in its Latin version Sacrum Romanum Imperium first appeared in 1254, and its equivalent in German(German) Heiliges Römisches Reich) - another century later, during the reign of Charles IV (1346-1378).