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The Declaration of Rhens or Treaty of Rhens (German : Kurverein) 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.
In 1314 Louis of Wittelsbach had been elected Rex Romanorum against Frederick of Habsburg at Frankfurt, however with the decisive fourth vote cast by the Elector John II of Saxe-Lauenburg. The election was denied not only by the rivaling duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg but also by the Archbishop of Cologne, who traditionally held the privilege to crown the elected king at Aachen. Moreover, Henry of Carinthia had acted as the Bohemian elector, voting for Frederick, although he had already been deposed as king by John of Luxembourg in 1310. Louis was crowned by Peter von Aspelt, the Archbishop of Mainz, while Frederick of Habsburg received consecration by the Cologne archbishop, though not at Aachen but in Bonn. The legal uncertainty of the double election resulted in a long-standing conflict, finally settled by the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf in favour of Louis.
The controversy broadened as Pope John XXII in Avignon, willing to restore the papal claim to power, nevertheless dependent on the French royal House of Capet, refused to acknowledge Louis' election. Instead he took the occasion to install Robert of Naples from the Capetian House of Anjou as "Senator of Rome" and regent of the Imperial Kingdom of Italy in 1317. The king however was the choice of the Ghibelline party which included not only the House of Wittelsbach but also the Bohemian Luxembourgs and the Milanese Visconti. The pope accused Louis of having usurped the royal title without papal approbation as he was crowned by the "wrong" archbishop. The conflict escalated with the declaration of anathema and interdict by the pope against the king and all his supporters in 1324.
King Louis, no longer contested in Germany, now was able to campaign Italy, where he obtained the Iron Crown of Lombardy in 1327, while the papal regent Robert of Naples was deposed. One year later he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor per acclamation by the "people of Rome" under the Ghibelline leader Sciarra Colonna without any participation of the pope. Thereafter he nominated Antipope Nicholas V to receive consecration from him. Nevertheless, the political situation in Italy changed again in favour of the House of Anjou, revealing that the Emperor could not actually maintain his sovereignty. Louis was forced to return to Germany, leaving the conflict with the papacy unsettled.
In view of the denied recognition by the pope, the prince-electors saw the necessity to affirm their franchise. On 16 July 1338 [1] six electors from Cologne, Mainz and Trier, Saxe-Wittenberg, Brandenburg and the Electorate of the Palatinate met at the Nussbaumgarten in Rhens to support Emperor Louis IV. Even though the practice of election of the Holy Roman Emperor had finally prevailed since the fall of the House of Hohenstaufen, it was now fixed that the election by all or the majority of the electors automatically conferred the royal title and rule over the empire, without papal confirmation. [2] The convened prince-electors decided that "Louis is the rightfully elected King of the Romans, and his legitimate power (in the German kingdom) is not dependent upon the pope's will".
In coincidence with the Emperor's loss of power over Italy the decree meant a decisive step beyond the universal claim of the translatio imperii derived from the Roman Empire and conveyed by the pope. Louis reacted with two mandates of 6 August 1338, stating that the Emperor-elect is vested with complete Imperial rights and all estates are obliged to ignore dissenting papal decretals. In 1356 the Golden Bull issued by Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg specified the procedures for imperial election, the electoral college - including the Bohemian king - having already been those seven by custom. As result the monarch, no longer subject to papal approbation, became increasingly dependent on the favour of the electors.
The declaration is not to be confused with another meeting of electors at Rhens on 20 August 1400 to depose King Wenceslaus of Luxembourg and elect Rupert of Wittelsbach.
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire, or Electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor.
Louis IV, called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.
Wenceslaus was, by inheritance, King of Bohemia from 1363 and by election, German King from 1376. He was the third Bohemian and fourth German monarch of the Luxembourg dynasty. Wenceslaus was deposed in 1400 as King of the Romans, but continued to rule as Bohemian king until his death.
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 (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death.
Philip of Swabia was a prince of the House of Hohenstaufen and king of Germany from 1198 to 1208. In the long-term struggle for the German throne upon the death of Emperor Henry VI between the Hohenstaufen and Welf dynasties, he was the first German king to be assassinated.
Adolf was Count of Nassau from about 1276 and 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 title of Holy Roman Emperor. 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 a title used by Syagrius, then by the German king following his election by the princes from the time of Emperor Henry II (1014–1024) onward. The title was predominantly a claim to become Holy Roman Emperor and was dependent upon coronation by the Pope.
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire. It was named the Golden Bull for the golden seal it carried.
Frederick the Handsome or the Fair, from the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as Frederick I as well as King of Germany from 1314 as Frederick III until his death.
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The Battle of Mühldorf was fought near Mühldorf am Inn on September 28, 1322 between the Duchy of (Upper) Bavaria and Austria. The Bavarians were led by the German king Louis of Wittelsbach, while the Austrians were under the command of his cousin, the anti-king Frederick of Habsburg.
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The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity until their duchy was finally elevated to the Electorate of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356.
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Henry VII was the King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg. During his brief career he reinvigorated the imperial cause in Italy, which was racked with the partisan struggles between the divided Guelf and Ghibelline factions, and inspired the praise of Dino Compagni and Dante Alighieri. He was the first emperor since the death of Frederick II in 1250, ending the Great Interregnum of the Holy Roman Empire; however, his premature death threatened to undo his life's work. His son, John of Bohemia, failed to be elected as his successor, and there was briefly another anti-king, Frederick the Fair contesting the rule of Louis IV.
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