Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire (Sacrum Imperium Romanum; Heiliges Römisches Reich), also known as Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in and  that developed during the  and continued until its  during the. The largest territory of the after 962 was the, though it also included the neighboring  and , plus numerous other territories, and soon after the  was added. Its size gradually diminished over time, particularly from 1648 onward, and by the time of its dissolution, it largely contained only German-speaking territories (although Switzerland and East Prussia were not included), plus the Kingdom of Bohemia which was bordered by the German lands on three sides. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, most of the Holy Roman Empire was included in the.

On 25 December 800, crowned the   as, reviving the title in , more than three centuries after the  of the earlier ancient  in 476. The title continued in the until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Italian claimant,, in 924. The title was revived again in 962 when was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of  and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption of the imperial title and role.

The exact term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, but the concept of , the notion that he—the sovereign ruler—held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of, was fundamental to the prestige of the emperor. The office of was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. The mostly German, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire, usually elected one of their peers as "", and he would later be crowned emperor by the ; the tradition of papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th century.

The empire never achieved the extent of political unification as was formed to the west in, evolving instead into a decentralized, limited elective monarchy composed of : doms, , , , rics, , and other domains. The power of the emperor was limited, and while the various princes, lords, bishops, and cities of the empire were s who owed the emperor their allegiance, they also possessed an extent of privileges that gave them de facto independence within their territories. Emperor  the empire on 6 August 1806 following the creation of the  by emperor  the month before.

Name
Before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. The term sacrum ("holy", in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under ("Holy Empire"): the term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the. The form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward.

In a decree following the 1512 of, the name was changed to the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" (Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicæ), a form first used in a document in 1474. The new title was adopted partly because the Empire had lost most of its territories in Italy and Burgundy (the ) to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German s in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform. By the end of the 18th century, the term "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" had fallen out of official use. Contradicting the traditional view concerning that designation, Hermann Weisert has argued in a study on imperial titulature that, despite the claims of many textbooks, the name "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" never had an official status and points out that documents were thirty times as likely to omit the national suffix as include it.

In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher remarked sardonically: "This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."

In the modern period, the Empire was often informally called the German Empire (Deutsches Reich) or Roman-German Empire (Römisch-Deutsches Reich). After its dissolution through the end of the, it was often called "the old Empire" (das alte Reich). Beginning in 1923, early-twentieth century German nationalist and propaganda would identify the Holy Roman Empire as the First Reich (Reich meaning empire), with the  as the Second Reich and either a future German nationalist state or Nazi Germany as the.

Carolingian period
As power in  declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control. In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, the, under and his successors, consolidated  tribes and extended hegemony over others to gain control of northern Gaul and the middle  valley region. By the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the, led by , had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel's son became King of the Franks, and later gained the sanction of the Pope. The Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy.

In 768, Pepin's son became King of the Franks and began an extensive expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, and beyond, linking the Frankish kingdom with Papal lands.

Although antagonism about the expense of had long persisted within Italy, a political rupture was set in motion in earnest in 726 by the  of Emperor, in what  saw as the latest in a series of imperial heresies. In 797, the Eastern Roman Emperor was removed from the throne by his mother  who declared herself Empress. As the Latin Church, influenced by Gothic law forbidding female leadership and property ownership, only regarded a male Roman Emperor as the head of Christendom, Pope Leo III sought a new candidate for the dignity, excluding consultation with the. Charlemagne's good service to the Church in his defense of Papal possessions against the made him the ideal candidate. On Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the West for the first time in over three centuries. This can be seen as symbolic of the papacy turning away from the declining towards the new power of. Charlemagne adopted the formula  ("renewal of the Roman Empire"). In 802, Irene was overthrown and exiled by and henceforth there were two Roman Emperors.

After Charlemagne died in 814, the imperial crown passed to his son,. Upon Louis' death in 840, it passed to his son, who had been his co-ruler. By this point the territory of Charlemagne had been divided into several territories, and over the course of the later ninth century the title of Emperor was disputed by the Carolingian rulers of and, with first the western king  and then the eastern , who briefly reunited the Empire, attaining the prize. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, and was never restored. According to, the parts of the realm "spewed forth kinglets", and each part elected a kinglet "from its own bowels". After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the controlled only territories in Italy. The last such emperor was, who died in 924.

Formation of the Ottonian empire
Around 900, autonomous (,, , , and ) reemerged in East Francia. After the Carolingian king died without issue in 911, East Francia did not turn to the Carolingian ruler of West Francia to take over the realm but instead elected one of the dukes,, as Rex Francorum Orientalium. On his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, of Saxony (r. 919–36), who was elected king at the Diet of  in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the.

Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowler's death,, his son and designated successor, was elected King in in 936. He overcame a series of revolts from a younger brother and from several dukes. After that, the king managed to control the appointment of dukes and often also employed bishops in administrative affairs.

In 951, Otto came to the aid of, the widowed queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her, and taking control over Italy. In 955, Otto won a decisive victory over the in the. In 962, Otto was crowned Emperor by, thus intertwining the affairs of the German kingdom with those of Italy and the Papacy. Otto's coronation as Emperor marked the German kings as successors to the Empire of Charlemagne, which through the concept of , also made them consider themselves as successors to Ancient Rome.

The kingdom had no permanent capital city. Kings traveled between residences (called ) to discharge affairs. However, each king preferred certain places; in Otto's case, this was the city of. Kingship continued to be transferred by election, but Kings often ensured their own sons were elected during their lifetimes, enabling them to keep the crown for their families. This only changed after the end of the Salian dynasty in the 12th century.

In 963, Otto deposed the current Pope John XII and chose as the new pope (although John XII and Leo VIII both claimed the papacy until 964 when John XII died). This also renewed the conflict with the, especially after Otto's son (r. 967–83) adopted the designation imperator Romanorum. Still, Otto II formed marital ties with the east when he married the Byzantine princess. Their son,, came to the throne only three years old, and was subjected to a power struggle and series of regencies until his age of majority in 994. Up to that time, he had remained in Germany, while a deposed Duke,, ruled over Rome and part of Italy, ostensibly in his stead.

In 996 Otto III appointed his cousin the first German Pope. A foreign pope and foreign papal officers were seen with suspicion by Roman nobles, who were led by to revolt. 's former mentor briefly held Rome, until the  seized the city.

Otto died young in 1002, and was succeeded by his cousin, who focused on Germany.

died in 1024 and, first of the , was elected king only after some debate among dukes and nobles. This group eventually developed into the college of.

The Holy Roman Empire became eventually composed of four kingdoms. The kingdoms were:
 * (part of the empire since 962),
 * (from 962 until 1648),
 * (since 1002 as the and raised to a kingdom in 1198),
 * (from 1032 to 1378).

Investiture controversy
Kings often employed bishops in administrative affairs and often determined who would be appointed to ecclesiastical offices. In the wake of the, this involvement was increasingly seen as inappropriate by the Papacy. The reform-minded was determined to oppose such practices, which led to the  with  (r. 1056–1106), the King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperor. repudiated the Pope's interference and persuaded his bishops to excommunicate the Pope, whom he famously addressed by his born name "Hildebrand", rather than his regnal name "Pope Gregory VII". The Pope, in turn, excommunicated the king, declared him deposed, and dissolved the oaths of loyalty made to Henry. The king found himself with almost no political support and was forced to make the famous in 1077, by which he achieved a lifting of the excommunication at the price of humiliation. Meanwhile, the German princes had elected another king,. Henry managed to defeat him but was subsequently confronted with more uprisings, renewed excommunication, and even the rebellion of his sons. After his death, his second son,, reached an agreement with the Pope and the bishops in the 1122. The political power of the Empire was maintained, but the conflict had demonstrated the limits of the ruler's power, especially in regard to the Church, and it robbed the king of the sacral status he had previously enjoyed. The Pope and the German princes had surfaced as major players in the political system of the empire.

Holy Roman Empire under Hohenstaufen dynasty
When the Salian dynasty ended with Henry V's death in 1125, the princes chose not to elect the next of kin, but rather, the moderately powerful but already old Duke of Saxony. When he died in 1137, the princes again aimed to check royal power; accordingly they did not elect Lothair's favoured heir, his son-in-law of the  family, but  of the  family, the grandson of Emperor Henry IV and thus a nephew of Emperor Henry V. This led to over a century of strife between the two houses. Conrad ousted the Welfs from their possessions, but after his death in 1152, his nephew succeeded him and made peace with the Welfs, restoring his cousin  to his – albeit diminished – possessions.

The Hohenstaufen rulers increasingly lent land to ministerialia, formerly non-free servicemen, who Frederick hoped would be more reliable than dukes. Initially used mainly for war services, this new class of people would form the basis for the later, another basis of imperial power. A further important constitutional move at Roncaglia was the establishment of a new peace mechanism for the entire empire, the, with the first imperial one being issued in 1103 under at. This was an attempt to abolish private feuds, between the many dukes and other people, and to tie the Emperor's subordinates to a legal system of jurisdiction and public prosecution of criminal acts – a predecessor of the modern concept of "". Another new concept of the time was the systematic foundation of new cities by the Emperor and by the local dukes. These were partly caused by the explosion in population, and they also concentrated economic power at strategic locations. Before this, cities had only existed in the form of old Roman foundations or older bishoprics. Cities that were founded in the 12th century include, possibly the economic model for many later cities, and.

, also called Frederick Barbarossa, was crowned Emperor in 1155. He emphasized the "Romanness" of the empire, partly in an attempt to justify the power of the Emperor independent of the (now strengthened) Pope. An imperial assembly at the fields of Roncaglia in 1158 reclaimed imperial rights in reference to 's. Imperial rights had been referred to as regalia since the Investiture Controversy but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining, collecting punitive fees, and the investiture or seating and unseating of office holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman Law, a far-reaching constitutional act.

Frederick's policies were primarily directed at Italy, where he clashed with the increasingly wealthy and free-minded cities of the north, especially. He also embroiled himself in another conflict with the Papacy by supporting a candidate elected by a minority against (1159–81). Frederick supported a succession of s before finally making peace with Alexander in 1177. In Germany, the Emperor had repeatedly protected Henry the Lion against complaints by rival princes or cities (especially in the cases of and ). Henry gave only lackluster support to Frederick's policies, and in a critical situation during the Italian wars, Henry refused the Emperor's plea for military support. After returning to Germany, an embittered Frederick opened proceedings against the Duke, resulting in a public ban and the confiscation of all his territories. In 1190, Frederick participated in the and died in the.

During the Hohenstaufen period, German princes facilitated a successful, peaceful of lands that were uninhabited or inhabited sparsely by. farmers, traders, and craftsmen from the western part of the Empire, both Christians and Jews, moved into these areas. The gradual of these lands was a complex phenomenon that should not be interpreted in the biased terms of 19th-century. The eastward settlement expanded the influence of the empire to include and, as did the intermarriage of the local, still mostly Slavic, rulers with German spouses. The were invited to  by Duke  to Christianize the  in 1226. The (Deutschordensstaat) and its later German successor state of  were, however, never part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Under the son and successor of Frederick Barbarossa,, the Hohenstaufen dynasty reached its apex. Henry added the Norman kingdom of Sicily to his domains, held English king captive, and aimed to establish a hereditary monarchy when he died in 1197. As his son,, though already elected king, was still a small child and living in Sicily, German princes chose to elect an adult king, resulting in the dual election of Frederick Barbarossa's youngest son and Henry the Lion's son , who competed for the crown. Otto prevailed for a while after Philip was murdered in a private squabble in 1208 until he began to also claim Sicily.

, who feared the threat posed by a union of the empire and Sicily, now supported by Frederick II, who marched to Germany and defeated Otto. After his victory, Frederick did not act upon his promise to keep the two realms separate. Though he had made his son Henry king of Sicily before marching on Germany, he still reserved real political power for himself. This continued after Frederick was crowned Emperor in 1220. Fearing Frederick's concentration of power, the Pope finally excommunicated the Emperor. Another point of contention was the crusade, which Frederick had promised but repeatedly postponed. Now, although excommunicated, Frederick led the in 1228, which ended in negotiations and a temporary restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Despite his imperial claims, Frederick's rule was a major turning point towards the disintegration of central rule in the Empire. While concentrated on establishing a modern, centralized state in Sicily, he was mostly absent from Germany and issued far-reaching privileges to Germany's secular and ecclesiastical princes: In the 1220 , Frederick gave up a number of regalia in favour of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining, and fortification. The 1232  mostly extended these privileges to secular territories. Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German princes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick concentrated on Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that the German dukes were called domini terræ, owners of their lands, a remarkable change in terminology as well.

Kingdom of Bohemia
The was a significant regional power during the. In 1212, King (bearing the title "king" since 1198) extracted a  (a formal edict) from the emperor, confirming the royal title for Ottokar and his descendants and the Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a kingdom. Bohemian kings would be exempt from all future obligations to the Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. set to be the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Interregnum
After the death of Frederick II in 1250, the German kingdom was divided between his son (died 1254) and the,  (died 1256). Conrad's death was followed by the, during which no king could achieve universal recognition, allowing the princes to consolidate their holdings and become even more independent rulers. After 1257, the crown was contested between, who was supported by the , and , who was recognized by the Hohenstaufen party but never set foot on German soil. After Richard's death in 1273,, a minor pro-Staufen count, was elected. He was the first of the to hold a royal title, but he was never crowned emperor. After Rudolf's death in 1291, and  were two further weak kings who were never crowned emperor.

Albert was assassinated in 1308. Almost immediately, King Philip IV of France began aggressively seeking support for his brother, Charles of Valois, to be elected the next King of the Romans. Philip thought he had the backing of the French Pope Clement V (established at Avignon in 1309), and that his prospects of bringing the empire into the orbit of the French royal house were good. He lavishly spread French money in the hope of bribing the German electors. Although Charles of Valois had the backing of Henry, Archbishop of Cologne, a French supporter, many were not keen to see an expansion of French power, least of all Clement V. The principal rival to Charles appeared to be Rudolf, the Count Palatine.

Instead, Henry VII, of the House of Luxembourg, was elected with six votes at Frankfurt on 27 November 1308. Given his background, although he was a vassal of king Philip, Henry was bound by few national ties, an aspect of his suitability as a compromise candidate among the electors, the great territorial magnates who had lived without a crowned emperor for decades, and who were unhappy with both Charles and Rudolf. Henry of Cologne's brother, Baldwin, Archbishop of Trier, won over a number of the electors, including Henry, in exchange for some substantial concessions. Henry VII was crowned king at Aachen on 6 January 1309, and emperor by Pope Clement V on 29 June 1312 in Rome, ending the interregnum.

Changes in political structure
During the 13th century, a general structural change in how land was administered prepared the shift of political power towards the rising at the expense of aristocratic  that would characterize the. Instead of personal duties, money increasingly became the common means to represent economic value in agriculture. Peasants were increasingly required to pay tribute to their lands. The concept of "property" began to replace more ancient forms of jurisdiction, although they were still very much tied together. In the territories (not at the level of the Empire), power became increasingly bundled: Whoever owned the land had jurisdiction, from which other powers derived. It is important to note, however, that jurisdiction at this time did not include legislation, which virtually did not exist until well into the 15th century. Court practice heavily relied on traditional customs or rules described as customary.

During this time territories began to transform into the predecessors of modern states. The process varied greatly among the various lands and was most advanced in those territories that were almost identical to the lands of the old Germanic tribes, e.g. Bavaria. It was slower in those scattered territories that were founded through imperial privileges.

Rise of the territories after the Hohenstaufens
The difficulties in electing the king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed college of s (Kurfürsten), whose composition and procedures were set forth in the, which remained valid until 1806. This development probably best symbolizes the emerging duality between emperor and realm (Kaiser und Reich), which were no longer considered identical. The Golden Bull also set forth the system for election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The emperor now was to be elected by a majority rather than by consent of all seven electors. For electors the title became hereditary, and they were given the right to mint coins and to exercise jurisdiction. Also it was recommended that their sons learn the imperial languages –, , , and.

The shift in power away from the emperor is also revealed in the way the post-Hohenstaufen kings attempted to sustain their power. Earlier, the Empire's strength (and finances) greatly relied on the Empire's own lands, the so-called Reichsgut, which always belonged to the king of the day and included many Imperial Cities. After the 13th century, the relevance of the Reichsgut faded, even though some parts of it did remain until the Empire's end in 1806. Instead, the Reichsgut was increasingly pawned to local dukes, sometimes to raise money for the Empire, but more frequently to reward faithful duty or as an attempt to establish control over the dukes. The direct governance of the Reichsgut no longer matched the needs of either the king or the dukes.

The kings beginning with increasingly relied on the lands of their respective dynasties to support their power. In contrast with the Reichsgut, which was mostly scattered and difficult to administer, these territories were relatively compact and thus easier to control. In 1282, Rudolf I thus lent Austria and to his own sons. In 1312, of the  was crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor since Frederick II. After him all kings and emperors relied on the lands of their own family (Hausmacht): of  (king 1314, emperor 1328–47) relied on his lands in Bavaria;  of Luxembourg, the grandson of Henry VII, drew strength from his own lands in Bohemia. It was thus increasingly in the king's own interest to strengthen the power of the territories, since the king profited from such a benefit in his own lands as well.

Imperial reform
The "constitution" of the Empire still remained largely unsettled at the beginning of the 15th century. Although some procedures and institutions had been fixed, for example by the, the rules of how the king, the electors, and the other dukes should cooperate in the Empire much depended on the personality of the respective king. It therefore proved somewhat damaging that (king 1410, emperor 1433–1437) and  (king 1440, emperor 1452–1493) neglected the old core lands of the empire and mostly resided in their own lands. Without the presence of the king, the old institution of the , the assembly of the realm's leading men, deteriorated. The  as a legislative organ of the Empire did not exist at that time. The dukes often conducted feuds against each other – feuds that, more often than not, escalated into local wars.

Simultaneously, the Catholic Church experienced crises of its own, with wide-reaching effects in the Empire. The conflict between several papal claimants (two and the "legitimate" ) ended only with the  (1414–1418); after 1419 the Papacy directed much of its energy to suppress the. The medieval idea of unifying all into a single political entity, with the Church and the Empire as its leading institutions, began to decline.

With these drastic changes, much discussion emerged in the 15th century about the Empire itself. Rules from the past no longer adequately described the structure of the time, and a reinforcement of earlier Landfrieden was urgently needed. During this time, the concept of "reform" emerged, in the original sense of the Latin verb re-formare – to regain an earlier shape that had been lost.

When needed the dukes to finance a, and at the same time had his son (later ) elected king, he faced a demand from the united dukes for their participation in an Imperial Court. For the first time, the assembly of the electors and other dukes was now called the (German Reichstag) (to be joined by the  later). While Frederick refused, his more conciliatory son finally convened the, after his father's death in 1493. Here, the king and the dukes agreed on four bills, commonly referred to as the : a set of legal acts to give the disintegrating Empire some structure. For example, this act produced the and the  (Imperial Chamber Court), institutions that would – to a degree – persist until the end of the Empire in 1806.

However, it took a few more decades for the new regulation to gain universal acceptance and for the new court to begin to function effectively; only in 1512 would the Imperial Circles be finalized. The King also made sure that his own court, the Reichshofrat, continued to operate in parallel to the Reichskammergericht. Also in 1512, the Empire received its new title, the Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation").

Reformation and Renaissance
In 1516,, grandfather of the future Holy Roman Emperor , died. Due to a combination of (1) the traditions of dynastic succession in Aragon, which permitted maternal inheritance with no precedence for female rule; (2) the insanity of Charles's mother, ; and (3) the insistence by his remaining grandfather,, that he take up his royal titles, Charles initiated his reign in Castile and Aragon, a union which evolved into , in conjunction with his mother. This ensured for the first time that all the realms of what is now Spain would be united by one monarch under one nascent Spanish crown. The founding territories retained their separate governance codes and laws. In 1519, already reigning as Carlos I in Spain, Charles took up the imperial title as Karl V. The balance (and imbalance) between these separate inheritances would be defining elements of his reign and would ensure that personal union between the Spanish and German crowns would be short-lived. The latter would end up going to a more junior branch of the Habsburgs in the person of Charles's brother, while the senior branch continued to rule in Spain and in the Burgundian inheritance in the person of Charles's son,.

In addition to conflicts between his Spanish and German inheritances, conflicts of religion would be another source of tension during the reign of Charles V. Before Charles's reign in the Holy Roman Empire began, in 1517, launched what would later be known as the. At this time, many local dukes saw it as a chance to oppose the hegemony of Emperor. The empire then became fatally divided along religious lines, with the north, the east, and many of the major cities –, , and – becoming  while the southern and western regions largely remained.

Baroque period
Charles V continued to battle the French and the Protestant princes in Germany for much of his reign. After his son Philip married, it appeared that France would be completely surrounded by Habsburg domains, but this hope proved unfounded when the marriage produced no children. In 1555, was elected pope and took the side of France, whereupon an exhausted Charles finally gave up his hopes of a world Christian empire. He abdicated and divided his territories between Philip and Ferdinand of Austria. The ended the war in Germany and accepted the existence of  in form of, while  was still not recognized. , and other minor Protestant communities were also forbidden.

Germany would enjoy relative peace for the next six decades. On the eastern front, the Turks continued to loom large as a threat, although war would mean further compromises with the Protestant princes, and so the Emperor sought to avoid it. In the west, the Rhineland increasingly fell under French influence. After the Dutch revolt against Spain erupted, the Empire remained neutral, de facto allowing the Netherlands to depart the empire in 1581, a secession acknowledged in 1648. A side effect was the, which ravaged much of the upper Rhine.

After Ferdinand died in 1564, his son became Emperor, and like his father accepted the existence of Protestantism and the need for occasional compromise with it. Maximilian was succeeded in 1576 by, a strange man who preferred to Christianity and lived an isolated existence in Bohemia. He became afraid to act when the Catholic Church was forcibly reasserting control in Austria and Hungary, and the Protestant princes became upset over this. Imperial power sharply deteriorated by the time of Rudolf's death in 1612. When Bohemians rebelled against the Emperor, the immediate result was the series of conflicts known as the (1618–48), which devastated the Empire. Foreign powers, including France and Sweden, intervened in the conflict and strengthened those fighting Imperial power, but also seized considerable territory for themselves. The long conflict so bled the Empire that it never recovered its strength.

The actual end of the empire came in several steps. The in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years' War, gave the territories almost complete independence. was now allowed, but, and other Protestant communities would still lack any support and continue to be persecuted well until the end of the Empire. The, which had already established quasi-independence in 1499, as well as the , left the Empire. The Emperors focused on consolidating their own estates in Austria and elsewhere.

At the (1683), the, led by the Polish King , decisively defeated a large Turkish army, stopping the western Ottoman advance and leading to the eventual dismemberment of the  in Europe. The army was half forces of the, mostly cavalry, and half forces of the Holy Roman Empire (German/Austrian), mostly infantry.

Prussia and Austria
By the rise of, the Habsburgs were chiefly dependent on their to counter the rise of , some of whose territories lay inside the Empire. Throughout the 18th century, the Habsburgs were embroiled in various European conflicts, such as the, the , and the. The between  and  dominated the empire's history after 1740.

French Revolutionary Wars and final dissolution
From 1792 onwards, was at war with various parts of the Empire intermittently.

The was the series of s and s that occurred between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the  and then the. "Mediatization" was the process of the lands of one  to another, often leaving the annexed some rights. For example, the estates of the s were formally mediatized in 1806, having de facto been seized by the great s in 1803 in the so-called . "Secularization" was the abolition of the temporal power of an ruler such as a  or an  and the annexation of the secularized territory to a secular territory.

The empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1804, Emperor Francis I of Austria) abdicated, following a military defeat by the French under  at  (see ). Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the, a. Francis' survived the demise of the empire, continuing to reign as  and  until the Habsburg empire's final dissolution in 1918 in the.

The Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine was replaced by a new union, the, in 1815, following the end of the. It lasted until 1866 when Prussia founded the, a forerunner of the which united the German-speaking territories outside of Austria and Switzerland under Prussian leadership in 1871. This state developed into.

The only princely member state of the Holy Roman Empire that has preserved its status as a monarchy until today is the. The only Free Imperial Cities still being states within Germany are and. All other historic member states of the HRE were either dissolved or are republican successor states to their princely predecessor states.

Institutions
The Holy Roman Empire was neither a centralized nor a. Instead, it was divided into dozens – eventually hundreds – of individual entities governed by s, s, s, s, s, and other rulers, collectively known as s. There were also some areas ruled directly by the Emperor. At no time could the Emperor simply issue decrees and govern autonomously over the Empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders.

From the onwards, the Holy Roman Empire was marked by an uneasy coexistence with the princes of the local territories who were struggling to take  away from it. To a greater extent than in other medieval kingdoms such as and, the Emperors were unable to gain much control over the lands that they formally owned. Instead, to secure their own position from the threat of being deposed, Emperors were forced to grant more and more autonomy to local rulers, both nobles, and bishops. This process began in the 11th century with the and was more or less concluded with the 1648. Several Emperors attempted to reverse this steady dilution of their authority but were thwarted both by the and by the princes of the Empire.

Imperial estates
The number of territories represented in the Imperial Diet was considerable, numbering about 300 at the time of the. Many of these  ("little states") covered no more than a few square miles, and/or included several non-contiguous pieces, so the Empire was often called a Flickenteppich (""). An entity was considered a Reichsstand (imperial estate) if, according to, it had no authority above it except the Holy Roman Emperor himself. The imperial estates comprised:
 * Territories ruled by a hereditary nobleman, such as a prince, archduke, duke, or count.
 * Territories in which secular authority was held by a clerical dignitary, such as an archbishop, bishop, or abbot. Such a cleric was a . In the common case of a, this temporal territory (called a prince-bishopric) frequently overlapped with his often-larger ecclesiastical , giving the bishop both civil and clerical powers. Examples are the prince-archbishoprics of , , and.
 * and, which were subject only to the jurisdiction of the emperor.
 * The scattered estates of the free s and s, immediate to the Emperor but unrepresented in the Imperial Diet.

A sum total of 1,500 Imperial estates has been reckoned. For a list of Reichsstände in 1792, see.

King of the Romans
A prospective Emperor had first to be elected (Latin: Rex Romanorum; German: römischer König). had been elected since the 9th century; at that point they were chosen by the leaders of the five most important tribes (the of,  of , , ns, and ns). In the Holy Roman Empire, the main dukes and bishops of the kingdom elected the King of the Romans. In 1356, Emperor issued the, which limited the  to seven: the , the , the , the , and the archbishops of , , and. During the, the was given the right to vote as the eighth elector, and the  (colloquially, Hanover) was granted a ninth electorate; additionally, the Napoleonic Wars resulted in several electorates being reallocated, but these new electors never voted before the Empire's dissolution. A candidate for election would be expected to offer concessions of land or money to the electors in order to secure their vote.

After being elected, the King of the Romans could theoretically claim the title of "Emperor" only after being crowned by the. In many cases, this took several years while the King was held up by other tasks: frequently he first had to resolve conflicts in rebellious northern Italy or was quarreling with the Pope himself. Later Emperors dispensed with the papal coronation altogether, being content with the styling Emperor-Elect: the last Emperor to be crowned by the Pope was in 1530.

The Emperor had to be male and of noble blood. No law required him to be a Catholic, but as the majority of the Electors adhered to this faith, no Protestant was ever elected. Whether and to what degree he had to be German was disputed among the Electors, contemporary experts in constitutional law, and the public. During the Middle Ages, some Kings and Emperors were not of German origin, but since the Renaissance, German heritage was regarded as vital for a candidate in order to be eligible for imperial office.

Imperial Diet (Reichstag)
The Imperial Diet (Reichstag, or Reichsversammlung) was not a legislative body as we understand it today, as its members envisioned it more like a central forum where it was more important to negotiate than to decide. The Diet was theoretically superior to the emperor himself. It was divided into three classes. The first class, the, consisted of the electors, or the princes who could vote for King of the Romans. The second class, the, consisted of the other princes. The Council of Princes was divided into two "benches", one for secular rulers and one for ecclesiastical ones. Higher-ranking princes had individual votes, while lower-ranking princes were grouped into "colleges" by geography. Each college had one vote.

The third class was the Council of Imperial Cities, which was divided into two colleges: and the. The Council of Imperial Cities was not fully equal with the others; it could not vote on several matters such as the admission of new territories. The representation of the Free Cities at the Diet had become common since the late Middle Ages. Nevertheless, their participation was formally acknowledged only as late as in 1648 with the ending the.

Imperial courts
The Empire also had two courts: the Reichshofrat (also known in English as the ) at the court of the King/Emperor, and the  (Imperial Chamber Court), established with the of 1495.

Imperial circles
As part of the Imperial Reform, six s were established in 1500; four more were established in 1512. These were regional groupings of most (though not all) of the various states of the Empire for the purposes of defense, imperial taxation, supervision of coining, peace-keeping functions, and public security. Each circle had its own parliament, known as a Kreistag ("Circle Diet"), and one or more directors, who coordinated the affairs of the circle. Not all imperial territories were included within the imperial circles, even after 1512; the were excluded, as were, the imperial fiefs in northern Italy, the lands of the , and certain other small territories like the.

Army
The (German Reichsarmee, Reichsheer or Reichsarmatur; Latin exercitus imperii) was created in 1422 and came to an end even before the Empire as the result of the. It must not be confused with the (Kaiserliche Armee) of the Emperor.

Despite appearances to the contrary, the Army of the Empire did not constitute a permanent that was always at the ready to fight for the Empire. When there was danger, an Army of the Empire was mustered from among the elements constituting it, in order to conduct an imperial military campaign or Reichsheerfahrt. In practice, the imperial troops often had local allegiances stronger than their loyalty to the Emperor.

Administrative centres
The Holy Roman Empire never had a single permanent/fixed. Usually, the Holy Roman Emperor ruled from a place of his own choice. This was called an imperial seat. Seats of the Holy Roman Emperor included: (from 794),  (1220–1254),  (1328–1347 and 1744–1745),  (1355–1437 and 1576–1611),  (1516–1556),  (1438–1576, 1611–1740 and 1745–1806) and  (1742–1744) among other cities.

The (Reichshofrat) resided in.

The  resided in, , , , and  before it was moved permanently to.

The (Reichstag) resided variously in, , ,  (now ), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  (now ), , , , ,  and  before it was moved permanently to.

s were mostly held in Frankfurt am Main, but also took place in, , and. Going as far as into the 16th century, the elected Holy Roman Emperor was then and appointed by the Pope in, but individual coronations also happened in ,  and.

Foreign relations
The royal family had its own diplomats to represent its interests. The larger principalities in the HRE, beginning around 1648, also did the same. The HRE did not have its own dedicated ministry of foreign affairs and therefore the had no control over these diplomats; occasionally the Diet criticised them.

When served as the site of the Diet, France and, in the late 1700s, Russia, had diplomatic representatives there. Denmark, Great Britain, and Sweden had land holdings in Germany and so had representation in the Diet itself. The Netherlands also had envoys in Regensburg. Regensburg was the place where envoys met as it was where representatives of the Diet could be reached.

Population
Overall population figures for the Holy Roman Empire are extremely vague and vary widely. Given the political fragmentation of the Empire, there were no central agencies that could compile such figures. According to an overgenerous contemporary estimate of the Austrian War Archives for the first decade of the 18th century, the Empire, including Bohemia and the Spanish Netherlands, had a population of close to 28 million with a breakdown as follow:


 * 65 ecclesiastical states with 14 per cent of the total land area and 12 percent of the population;
 * 45 dynastic principalities with 80 percent of the land and 80 percent of the population;
 * 60 dynastic counties and lordships with 3 percent of the land and 3.5 percent of the population;
 * 60 imperial towns with 1 percent of the land and 3.5 percent of the population;
 * Imperial knights' territories, numbering into the several hundreds, with 2 percent of the land and 1 percent of the population.

German demographic historians have traditionally worked on estimates of the population of the Holy Roman Empire based on assumed population within the frontiers of Germany in 1871 or 1914. More recent estimates use less outdated criteria, but they remain guesswork. One estimate based on the frontiers of Germany in 1870 gives a population of some 15–17 million around 1600, declined to 10–13 million around 1650 (following the Thirty Years' War). Other historians who work on estimates of the population of the early modern Empire suggest the population declined from 20 million to some 16–17 million by 1650.

A credible estimate for 1800 gives 27 million inhabitants for the Empire, with an overall breakdown as follow:


 * 9 million Austrian subjects (including Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia);
 * 4 million Prussian subjects;
 * 14–15 million inhabitants for the rest of the Empire.

Largest cities
Largest cities or towns of the Empire by year:
 * 1050: 40,000 people.  35,000.  30,000.  25,000.  21,000.  20,000.  20,000.  20,000.  20,000.  15,000.
 * 1300–1350: 77,000 people.  54,000 people.  21,000 people.  20,000 people.  20,000 people.  20,000 people.  (now Gdańsk) 20,000 people.  (now Strasbourg) 20,000 people.  15,000 people.  11,000 people.
 * 1500: 70,000.  45,000.  38,000.  30,000.  (now Gdańsk) 30,000.  25,000.  (now Wrocław) 25,000.  22,000.  20,000.  (now Strasbourg) 20,000.  18,000.  16,000.  15,000.
 * 1600: 100,000.  50,000.  45,000.  40,000.  40,000.  40,000.  40,000.  (now Wrocław) 40,000.  (now Strasbourg) 25,000.  23,000.  21,000.  20,000.  20,000.  20,000.

Religion
constituted the single official religion of the Empire until 1555. The was always a Roman Catholic.

was officially recognized in the of 1555, and  in the  of 1648. Those two constituted the only officially recognized denominations, while various other Protestant confessions such as, , etc. coexisted illegally within the Empire. came in a variety of denominations, including, , , the , and multiple other groups.

Following the Peace of Augsburg, the official religion of a territory was determined by the principle according to which a ruler's religion determined that of his subjects. The Peace of Westphalia abrogated that principle by stipulating that the official religion of a territory was to be what it had been on 1 January 1624, considered to have been a "normal year". Henceforth, the conversion of a ruler to another faith did not entail the conversion of his subjects. In addition, all Protestant subjects of a Catholic ruler and vice versa were guaranteed the rights that they had enjoyed on that date. While the adherents of a territory's official religion enjoyed the right of public worship, the others were allowed the right of private worship (in chapels without either spires or bells). In theory, no one was to be discriminated against or excluded from commerce, trade, craft or public burial on grounds of religion. For the first time, the permanent nature of the division between the Christian Churches of the empire was more or less assumed.

In addition, a existed in the Holy Roman Empire.

Maps

 * Deutschland beim Tode Kaiser Karls IV. 1378 (Germany at the death of emperor Charles IV.) taken from "Meyers Kleines Konversationslexikon in sechs Bänden. Bd. 2. Leipzig u. Wien : Bibliogr. Institut 1908", map inserted after page 342
 * The Holy Roman Empire, 1138–1254
 * The Holy Roman Empire c. 1500
 * The Holy Roman Empire in 1648
 * The Holy Roman Empire in 1789 (interactive map)