Middle Ages
Designation played a significant constitutional and political role in the succession of the Frankish monarchy and, later, in the succession of kings in the Holy Roman Empire in Middle Ages. Because the throne was not passed on by inheritance, the king tried to determine his successor by making a recommendation to the "greats of the empire" (i.e. the empire's most powerful princes) within his own lifetime. Not infrequently this took the form of an actual nomination, but was probably also indicated by less formal acts.
Four forms of designation can be distinguished, which have legally different meanings:
- the designatio de futuro, the obligation demanded by the reigning king on the "great princes" to recognise the succession of his son by swearing an oath of allegiance to the son (examples are the designation of Liudolf in 946 by Otto I, Henry III in 1026 and Henry IV in 1050.
- the designatio de praesenti of the pre-Hohenstaufen era, the election of the king's son commanded by the king during his lifetime (for example, the designation of Otto III)
- the designatio de praesenti of the Hohenstaufen era (e. g. the designation of Henry VI in 1169)
- the Fremddesignation, i. e. the designation of a successor who is not the son of the ruler (e. g. the designation of Henry I in 919 and Frederick I in 1152)
The attempt by rulers to override the electoral rights of the princes in this way was no longer as successful after 1075, which is why Henry VI pursued an Erbreichsplan or "plan for a hereditary empire. With the double election of 1198, he had practically failed, but the right of the princes to elect the king despite a royal designation was settled only with the formation of the college of electors (Kurfürstenkolleg).
The Capetian dynasty, also known as the "House of France", is a dynasty of European origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty, and his male-line descendants, who ruled in France without interruption from 987 to 1792, and again from 1814 to 1848. The senior line ruled in France as the House of Capet from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. That line was succeeded by cadet branches, the Houses of Valois and then Bourbon, which ruled without interruption until the French Revolution abolished the monarchy in 1792. The Bourbons were restored in 1814 in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, but had to vacate the throne again in 1830 in favor of the last Capetian monarch of France, Louis Philippe I, who belonged to the House of Orléans. Cadet branches of the Capetian House of Bourbon are still reigning over Spain and Luxembourg.
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages and lasted for almost 1000 years until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Hohenstaufen dynasty, also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty's most prominent rulers – Frederick I (1155), Henry VI (1191) and Frederick II (1220) – ascended the imperial throne and also reigned over Italy and Burgundy. The non-contemporary name of 'Hohenstaufen' is derived from the family's Hohenstaufen Castle on Hohenstaufen mountain at the northern fringes of the Swabian Jura, near the town of Göppingen. Under Hohenstaufen rule, the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent from 1155 to 1268.
Year 1196 (MCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-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.
Philip of Swabia was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination.
An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by a monarch who is elected, in contrast to a hereditary monarchy in which the office is automatically passed down as a family inheritance. The manner of election, the nature of candidate qualifications, and the electors vary from case to case. Historically, it was common for elective monarchies to transform into hereditary ones over time or for hereditary ones to acquire at least occasional elective aspects.
King of the Romans was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward.
The House of Welf is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Moselle area was closely related to the imperial family of the Carolingians.
The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy, was a monarchy and a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early and High Middle Ages. It was formed around 870 by Czechs as part of the Great Moravian realm. Bohemia separated from disintegrating Great Moravia after Duke Spytihněv swore fealty to the East Frankish king Arnulf in 895.
The Duchy of Bavaria was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (duces) under Frankish overlordship. A new duchy was created from this area during the decline of the Carolingian Empire in the late ninth century. It became one of the stem duchies of the East Frankish realm which evolved as the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.
Liudolf, a member of the Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Swabia from 950 until 954. His rebellion in 953/54 led to a major crisis of the rising German kingdom.
The Duchy of Austria was a medieval principality of the Holy Roman Empire, established in 1156 by the Privilegium Minus, when the Margraviate of Austria (Ostarrîchi) was detached from Bavaria and elevated to a duchy in its own right. After the ruling dukes of the House of Babenberg became extinct in male line, there was as much as three decades of rivalry on inheritance and rulership, until the German king Rudolf I took over the dominion as the first monarch of the Habsburg dynasty in 1276. Thereafter, Austria became the patrimony and ancestral homeland of the dynasty and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1453, the archducal title of the Austrian rulers, invented by Duke Rudolf IV in the forged Privilegium Maius of 1359, was officially acknowledged by the Habsburg emperor Frederick III.
Erbreichsplan is a German word meaning "plan for a hereditary empire". It refers to the proposal of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1191–1197), to abolish imperial election and make the Holy Roman Empire hereditary within his family, the Staufer. This would effectively have combined the Empire and its three kingdoms—Germany, Italy and Burgundy—with the hereditary kingdom of Sicily, which belonged to Henry and his heirs in right of his wife, the heiress Constance. Since Sicily was a papal fief, this plan was strongly opposed by the Papacy. It also failed to generate sufficient support among the imperial princes.
Henry VI, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sicily.
The German royal election of 1002 was the decision on the succession which was held after the death of Emperor Otto III without heirs. It was won by Duke Henry IV of Bavaria among accusations of uncustomary practices.
The German throne dispute or German throne controversy was a political conflict in the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 to 1215. This dispute between the House of Hohenstaufen and House of Welf was over the successor to Emperor Henry VI who had just died. After a conflict lasting 17 years the Hohenstaufen Frederick II prevailed.
In the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Interregnum was a period of time following the death 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, 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 1125 German royal election was the Imperial election which lasted from 24 August to 1 or 2 September 1125, following the death of Henry V. It resulted in the coronation of the Duke of Saxony Lothair of Supplinburg as the King of the Romans by the Archbishop of Mainz, Adalbert on 13 September in Aachen.
