The imperial election of 1346 in the Holy Roman Empire was orchestrated by Pope Clement VI after the pope had pronounced the deposition of the Emperor Louis IV. The pope's candidate, Charles of Moravia, was duly elected by five of the imperial electors at Rhense on 11 July.
On 13 April 1346 at Avignon, Clement VI declared Louis IV a heretic and schismatic and deposed him. [1] [2] He preached a sermon against Louis in which he quoted from Ambrose's letter to the Emperor Valentinian II: "What could be more honourable to the emperor than to be called a son of the [church]?" [2] Charles and his father, King John of Bohemia, were in attendance. Afterwards, Charles swore an oath to Clement that if elected he would annul all of his predecessor's acts and not spend more than one day in Rome for his imperial coronation. [1]
On 28 April 1346, Clement VI formally requested the electors to elect a new emperor. [1] Two of the electors were Charles's relations: the king of Bohemia was his father and the archbishop of Trier was his great uncle, Baldwin of Luxembourg. [3] A third, the archbishop of Mainz, Gerlach of Nassau, had only been installed after Clement deposed Henry of Virneberg on 7 April 1346. [4] Charles also received the support of Walram of Jülich, archbishop of Cologne, and Rudolf, Duke of Saxony. [5]
Charles IV was far from having universal support in the Empire while Louis still lived. He was labelled a Pfaffenkönig (parson's king) because of the role the pope played in procuring his election. The free cities of Cologne and Aachen refused to recognise him. Charles and his father went abroad after his election to assist Philip VI of France against an English invasion. John died at the battle of Crécy and Charles was seriously injured. [1] Because Aachen would not accept him, Charles was forced upon his return to be crowned in Bonn on 26 November. [1] [6] He dated his reign, however, from the moment he received papal approbation, on 6 November. This was also the day on which he took the title "King of the Romans" (until his imperial coronation). [6] His position only became secure with the death of Louis on 11 October 1347. [7]
Louis IV, called the Bavarian, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347.
Wenceslaus IV, also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he was deposed in 1400. As he belonged to the House of Luxembourg, he was also Duke of Luxembourg from 1383 to 1388.
Charles IV, also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death in 1378. He was elected King of Germany in 1346 and became King of Bohemia that same year. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemyslid from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints.
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Romano-German Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.
Adolf was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title. He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg.
King of the Romans was the title used by the king of East Francia following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward.
Frederick the Fair or the Handsome, from the House of Habsburg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-king of Germany from 1314 until 1325 and then co-king until his death.
The House of Luxembourg or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kings of Germany and Holy Roman emperors as well as kings of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Their rule was twice interrupted by the rival House of Wittelsbach. The family takes its name from its ancestral county of Luxembourg which they continued to hold.
The Declaration of Rhens or Treaty of Rhens was a decree or Kurverein of the Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire issued in 1338 and initiated by Baldwin of Luxembourg, the Archbishop of Trier and brother of the late Emperor Henry VII.
The election of a Holy Roman Emperor was generally a two-stage process whereby the King of the Romans was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the realm, the prince-electors. This was then followed shortly thereafter by his coronation as king, originally at Aachen and later at Frankfurt. The king was then expected to march to Rome, to be crowned Emperor by the pope. In 1356, the Emperor Charles IV promulgated the Golden Bull, which became the fundamental law by which all future kings and emperors were elected. After 1508, rulers usually were recognized as "Emperor elect" after their first, royal coronation.
The Holy Roman Emperor received the imperial regalia from the hands of the Pope, symbolizing both the pope's right to crown Christian sovereigns and also the emperor's role as protector of the Catholic Church. The Holy Roman empresses were crowned as well.
In the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Interregnum was a period of time, from approximately 1254 until 1273, following the throne dispute of Frederick II where the succession of the Holy Roman Empire was contested and fought over between pro- and anti-Hohenstaufen factions. Starting around 1250 with the death of Frederick II, the conflict over who was the rightful emperor and King of the Romans would continue into the 1300s until Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected emperor and secured succession for his son Wenceslaus. This period saw a multitude of emperors and kings be elected or propped up by rival factions and princes, with many kings and emperors having short reigns or reigns that became heavily contested by rival claimants.
The imperial election of 21 August 1400 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Rhens.
In the years 1410 and 1411 saw three royal elections in the Holy Roman Empire. The elections were prompted by the death of previous King Rupert in 1410 and, after two contested elections in 1410, resulted in Sigismund of Hungary being recognized as the new king in 1411.
The imperial election of 1519 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Frankfurt on the 28th of June.
An imperial election was held in Cologne on 5 January 1531 to select the King of the Romans of the Holy Roman Empire. As the current emperor, Charles V, had not yet died nor abdicated, this election was conducted so as to determine his successor.
The imperial election of 1273 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Frankfurt on October 1.
The imperial election of 20 October 1314 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Frankfurt.
The 1257 imperial election was a double election in which the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire split into factions and elected two rivals, earl Richard of Cornwall and King Alfonso X of Castile, each claiming to have been legally elected.
Henry III von Virneburg was Archbishop and Elector of Mainz (1328/37–1346/53).
