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.
In 1378, Wenceslaus IV, of the House of Luxembourg, had succeeded his father Charles IV both as ruler of both the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, his failure to stamp out civil unrest or resolve the Western Schism led to some of the prince-electors to remove him from his rule. In August 1400 four of the seven prince-electors chose Rupert, Elector Palatinate as the new king. Wenceslaus did not recognise his removal but did not move against Rupert either. Rupert ruled for ten years until he died on 18 May 1410.
After Rupert's death, two princes vied for the succession, both from the House of Luxembourg:
Wenceslaus supported neither candidate as he still deemed himself the rightful king.
On 20 September 1410, three prince-electors convened to elect a new king. These were:
These three men elected Sigismund as the new king.
However, the remaining electors accepted neither Sigismund's election nor his right to act as Elector of Brandenburg. Sigismund, had ruled Brandenburg since 1378 but in 1388 had pawned it to his cousin, Jobst. [1] Jobst argued that his rule over Brandenburg - even as a pawn - entailed its electoral vote, while Sigismund argued that it did not.
On 1 October 1410 another set of electors convened to elect a different king: [2]
These four men elected Jobst as the new king.
The elections of 1410 had resulted in two rival claimants to the kingship. Of the two, Jobst could count on the stronger support but he suddenly died on January 18, 1411, leaving the road to the throne open to the remaining claimant, Sigismund. However, Sigismund, however, did not simply accede to the throne. On 21 July 1411, the prince-electors - who had previously stood on opposing sides - convened for another election. These were:
Wenceslaus, who had not taken part in the previous elections, agreed to cast his vote, thus accepting his deposition of 1400, in exchange for being confirmed as King of Bohemia.
The electors unanimously elected Sigismund. By his participation in this election, Sigismund had tacitly admitted that his election in September of the previous year had been invalid. He was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen on November 8, 1414.
One of the tasks, Sigismund set himself was to end the Western Schism. He urged the rival claimants to the papacy to participate in the Council of Constance, called in the name of the Pisan Pope John XXIII in 1414. The council accepted the resignation of the Roman Pope Gregory XII on July 4, 1415 and excommunicated John XXIII and the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII in 1417. Pope Martin V was elected pope on November 11, ending the schism.
On May 31, 1433, Sigismund was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.
In exchange for his support in the imperial election of September 1410, Sigismund appointed Frederick I elector of Brandenburg at the Council of Constance on April 30, 1415. Frederick I was the first member of the House of Hohenzollern, which would produce later produce the Kings of Prussia and three German Emperors in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Jobst of Moravia, a member of the House of Luxembourg, was Margrave of Moravia from 1375, Duke of Luxembourg and Elector of Brandenburg from 1388 as well as elected King of Germany from 1410 until his death. Jobst was an ambitious and versatile ruler, who in the early 15th century dominated the ongoing struggles within the Luxembourg dynasty and around the German throne.
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.
Rupert of the Palatinate, sometimes known as Robert of the Palatinate, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 and King of Germany from 1400 until his death.
Sigismund of Luxembourg was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437, as well as prince-elector of Brandenburg. He was the last male member of the House of Luxembourg.
Frederick was the last Burgrave of Nuremberg from 1397 to 1427, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1398, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach from 1420, and Elector of Brandenburg from 1415 until his death. He became the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
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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 it name from its ancestral county of Luxembourg which they continued to hold.
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