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117-518: In 1253, the town and castle of Langenburg were inherited by the lords of Hohenlohe , after the lords of Langenburg had become extinct. Despite repeated divisions during the 13th and 15th centuries and a donation to the Teutonic Order in 1219, the House of Hohenlohe was able to form an almost complete territory of which Langenburg was a part. The lordship of Hohenlohe was elevated to the status of

234-732: A "Byzantine-like presidency over a family of nations, centred on pope and emperor in Rome". This has proved a lasting achievement. Otto's early death though made his reign "the tale of largely unrealized potential". Henry II died in 1024 and Conrad II , first of the Salian dynasty , was elected king only after some debate among dukes and nobles. This group eventually developed into the college of electors . The Holy Roman Empire eventually came to be composed of four kingdoms: Kings often employed bishops in administrative affairs and often determined who would be appointed to ecclesiastical offices. In

351-485: A compromise candidate. 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. During the 13th century, a general structural change in how land was administered prepared the shift of political power toward the rising bourgeoisie at the expense of the aristocratic feudalism that would characterize the Late Middle Ages . The rise of

468-609: A confessional division arose when the two sons of Georg Friedrich II of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, Christian (founder of the Bartenstein line) and Ludwig Gustav (founder of the Schillingsfürst line), converted to the Catholic Church . After the extinction of two other protestant side lines, Waldenburg in 1679 and Waldenburg- Pfedelbach in 1728, the whole property of the main branch Hohenlohe-Waldenburg

585-520: A continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. From 962 until the 12th century, the empire was one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. The functioning of government depended on the harmonious cooperation between emperor and vassals; this harmony was disturbed during the Salian period. The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in

702-685: A county in 1495. The house often divided its possessions so that different lines emerged and sometimes merged again later. In 1586–1590, the Neuenstein line split into the Langenburg side line under Count Friedrich. Of the Protestant branch of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, which underwent several partitions and inherited the county of Gleichen in Thuringia (with its residence at Ohrdruf ) in 1631, the senior line became extinct in 1805, while in 1701

819-552: A far-reaching constitutional act. Frederick's policies were primarily directed at Italy, where he clashed with the free-minded cities of the north, especially the Duchy of Milan . He also embroiled himself in another conflict with the Papacy by supporting a candidate elected by a minority against Pope Alexander III (1159–1181). Frederick supported a succession of antipopes before finally making peace with Alexander in 1177. In Germany,

936-653: A form first used in a document in 1474. The adoption of this new name coincided with the loss of imperial territories in Italy and Burgundy to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform . The Hungarian denomination "German Roman Empire" ( Hungarian : Német-római Birodalom )

1053-519: A government office for the county of Gleichen at Ehrenstein Castle until 1848. Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen , had acquired the estates of Slawentzitz , Ujest and Bitschin in Silesia by marriage in 1782, an area of 108 square miles, where his grandson Hugo zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen , Duke of Ujest, established calamine mines and founded one of the largest zinc smelting plants in

1170-415: A legal system of jurisdiction and public prosecution of criminal acts – a predecessor of the modern concept of rule of law . Another new concept of the time was the systematic founding of new cities by the emperor and by the local dukes. These were partly a result of the explosion in population; they also concentrated economic power at strategic locations. Before this, cities had only existed in

1287-539: A museum, to the state. The existing branches of the Hohenlohe family are descended from the lines of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein and Hohenlohe-Waldenburg , established in 1551 by Ludwig Kasimir (d. 1568) and Eberhard (d. 1570), the sons of Count Georg I (d. 1551). Since Georg had become protestant on his deathbed, the reformation was introduced in the county and confirmed by the Peace of Augsburg in 1556. In 1667 however,

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1404-634: A noble lady named Gerberga. The Hohenlohe family therefore later boasted of a kinship with the Imperial House of Hohenstaufen . Heinrich von Weikersheim is mentioned in documents from 1156 to 1182 and Adelbert von Weikersheim around 1172 to 1182. The latter used Hohenlohe ("Albertus de Hohenloch") as his name for the first time in 1178 which is derived from the no longer existing Hohlach Castle near Simmershofen in Middle Franconia. His brother Heinrich also called himself so from 1182 (in

1521-600: A public ban and the confiscation of all Henry's territories. In 1190, Frederick participated in the Third Crusade , dying in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . During the Hohenstaufen period, German princes facilitated a successful, peaceful eastward settlement of lands that were uninhabited or inhabited sparsely by West Slavs . German-speaking farmers, traders, and craftsmen from the western part of

1638-578: A remarkable change in terminology as well. the Statutum affirmed a division of labor between the emperor and the princes and laid much groundwork for the development of particularism in Germany. Even so, from 1232 the vassals of the emperor had a veto over imperial legislative decisions and any new law established by the emperor had to be approved by the princes. These provisions not withstanding, royal power in Germany remained strong under Frederick and by

1755-426: 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. He replaced leaders of most of the major East Frankish duchies with his own relatives. At the same time, he was careful to prevent members of his own family from making infringements on his royal prerogatives. In 951, Otto came to

1872-732: A truce with the raiding Magyars , and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade . Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing (or Ottonian) dynasty , would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom or the Kingdom of Germany for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowler's death, Otto , his son and designated successor, was elected king in Aachen in 936. He overcame

1989-586: A younger branch, founded a Catholic, Bohemian branch at Rothenhaus Castle (today Červený Hrádek Castle in Jirkov , Czech Republic) during the 19th century. As one of 16 mediatized princely houses of the former Holy Roman Empire, then residing in Austria-Hungary , this family had a hereditary seat in the House of Lords (Austria) . Prince Max Egon (1897–1968) tried to prevent the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Hitler in 1938 through diplomatic negotiations with

2106-488: Is a German princely dynasty. It formerly ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire , which was divided between several branches. In 1806, the area of Hohenlohe was 1,760 km² and its estimated population was 108,000. The motto of the house is Ex flammis orior ( Latin for 'From flames I rise'). The Lords of Hohenlohe were elevated to the rank of Imperial Counts in 1450, and from 1744,

2223-548: Is part of the East Franconian German dialect group and the population still values its traditional distinct identity. Notable members of the von Hohenlohe family include: (*) still owned by members of the House of Hohenlohe The Legion de Hohenlohe was a unit of foreign soldiers serving in the French Army until 1831, when its members (as well as those of the disbanded Swiss Guards ) were folded into

2340-516: Is the shortening of this. By the end of the 18th century, the term "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" fell 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

2457-465: Is the subject of debates: on one hand, it helped to restore peace in the lands of the Empire, that had been engulfed in civil conflicts after the end of the Hohenstaufen era; on the other hand, the "blow to central authority was unmistakable". Thomas Brady Jr. opines that Charles IV's intention was to end contested royal elections (from the Luxembourghs' perspective, they also had the advantage that

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2574-517: Is unlikely that a particularly "strong ruler" such as Frederick II would have even pragmatically agreed to legislation that was truly concessionary rather than cooperative, neither would the princes have insisted on such. The Mainz Landfriede or Constitutio Pacis , decreed at the Imperial Diet of 1235, became one of the basic laws of the empire and provided that the princes should share the burden of local government in Germany. The authority of

2691-670: The Baltic Sea , the North Sea and along the connected navigable rivers. Each of the affiliated cities retained the legal system of its sovereign and, with the exception of the Free imperial cities , had only a limited degree of political autonomy. By the late 14th century, the powerful league enforced its interests with military means, if necessary. This culminated in a war with the sovereign Kingdom of Denmark from 1361 to 1370. The league declined after 1450. The difficulties in electing

2808-624: The Bishop of Würzburg around 1300, which later came to various other feudal holders, but repeatedly also back to the House of Hohenlohe. The Lords of Hohenlohe-Brauneck became extinct in 1390, their lands were sold to the Hohenzollern margraves of Ansbach in 1448. Hohenlohe-Hohenlohe was divided into several branches, two of which were Hohenlohe-Weikersheim and Hohenlohe-Uffenheim- Speckfeld (1330–1412). Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, descended from count Kraft I (died 1313), also underwent several divisions,

2925-700: The Franconian Circle . They also had six voices in the Franconian College of Imperial Counts (Fränkisches Reichsgrafenkollegium) of the Imperial Diet ( Reichstag ). The right to vote in the Imperial Diet gave a German noble family the status of imperial state ( Reichsstände ) and made them belong to the High Nobility ( Hoher Adel ), on a par with ruling princes and dukes. By 1455, Albrecht of Hohenlohe had acquired

3042-640: The Napoleonic Wars . On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish king Charlemagne as Roman emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe more than three centuries after the fall of the ancient Western Roman Empire in 476. The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII , fashioning himself as Charlemagne's and the Carolingian Empire 's successor, and beginning

3159-861: The Prussians in 1226. The monastic state of the Teutonic Order ( Deutschordensstaat ) and its later German successor state of the Duchy of Prussia was never part of the Holy Roman Empire. Under the son and successor of Frederick Barbarossa, Henry VI , the Hohenstaufen dynasty reached its apex, with the addition of the Norman kingdom of Sicily through the marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily . Bohemia and Poland were under feudal dependence, while Cyprus and Lesser Armenia also paid homage. The Iberian-Moroccan caliph accepted his claims over

3276-630: The Sixth Crusade in 1228, which ended in negotiations and a temporary restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . For his many-sided activities, prestige, and dynamic personality Frederick II has been called the greatest of all the medieval German emperors. In the Kingdom of Sicily and much of Italy, Frederick built upon the work of his Norman predecessors and forged an early absolutist state bound together by an efficient secular bureaucracy. Despite his imperial prestige and power, Frederick II's rule

3393-500: The Tauber river on the trading route between Frankfurt and Augsburg until the 14th century. It is likely that Conrad was a son of Conrad von Pfitzingen, who was already mentioned in documents in 1136/1141 and owned a castle of that name near Weikersheim. Allegedly, according to some, however unconfirmed sources, the wife of Conrad von Pfitzingen named Sophie was an illegitimate daughter of Conrad III Hohenstaufen, King of Germany , with

3510-548: The United Kingdom was a Hohenlohe-Langenburg on her mother's side and her cousin, Prince Ernst , was married in 1828 to Feodora of Leiningen , the half-sister of the future Queen Victoria . In 1896, Feodora's grandson, another Prince Ernst , married Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha . Prince Gottfried (1897–1960) was married in 1931 to his second cousin once removed, Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (1905–1981). She

3627-475: The cities and the emergence of the new burgher class eroded the societal, legal and economic order of feudalism. Peasants were increasingly required to pay tribute to their landlords. 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

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3744-573: The patriarch of Constantinople . Charlemagne's good service to the Church in his defense of Papal possessions against the Lombards 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 Byzantine Empire toward

3861-468: The 1240s the crown was still rich in fiscal resources, land holdings, retinues, and all other rights, revenues, and jurisdictions. Frederick II used the political loyalty and practical jurisdictions granted to the higher German aristocracy to impose peace, order, and justice upon Germany. The jurisdictional autarky of the German princes was favoured by the crown itself in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in

3978-689: The Act of the Confederation of the Rhine . Therefore, the region of Hohenlohe is presently located for the most part in the north eastern part of the State of Baden-Württemberg (forming the counties of Hohenlohe , Schwäbisch Hall and the southern part of Main-Tauber-Kreis ), with smaller parts in the Bavarian administrative districts of Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia . The Hohenlohisch dialect

4095-678: The Bald ) and then the eastern ( Charles the Fat ), who briefly reunited the Empire, attaining the prize. In the 9th century, Charlemagne and his successors promoted the intellectual revival, known as the Carolingian Renaissance . Some, like Mortimer Chambers, opine that the Carolingian Renaissance made possible the subsequent renaissances (even though by the early 10th century, the revival already diminished). After

4212-603: The British government. After World War II , Prince Max Egon was expropriated by the communist government. Due to the wealthy Spanish origins of his wife, his descendants lived mainly in Spain, including Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , Prince Max of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , Prince Marco of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Victoria of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 20th Duchess of Medinaceli . Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe ( pronounced [hoːənˈloːə] )

4329-550: The Burgundian territories lost to France . Although the Italian territories were formally part of the empire, the territories were ignored in the Imperial Reform and splintered into numerous de facto independent territorial entities. The status of Italy in particular varied throughout the 16th to 18th centuries. Some territories like Piedmont-Savoy became increasingly independent, while others became more dependent due to

4446-599: The Carolingian king Louis the Child 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, Conrad of Franconia , as Rex Francorum Orientalium . On his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony ( r.  919–936 ), who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached

4563-544: The Empire were gradually reduced. Charles IV set Prague to be the seat of the Holy Roman emperor. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, Conrad IV , Frederick's son (died 1254), enjoyed a strong position having defeated his papal-backed rival anti-king , William of Holland (died 1256). However, Conrad's death was followed by the Interregnum , during which no king could achieve universal recognition, allowing

4680-491: The Empire, both Christians and Jews, moved into these areas. The gradual Germanization of these lands was a complex phenomenon that should not be interpreted in the biased terms of 19th-century nationalism . The eastward settlement expanded the influence of the empire to include Pomerania and Silesia , as did the intermarriage of the local, still mostly Slavic, rulers with German spouses. The Teutonic Knights were invited to Prussia by Duke Konrad of Masovia to Christianize

4797-594: The Franks and began an extensive expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, the Low Countries and beyond, linking the Frankish kingdom with Papal lands. Although antagonism about the expense of Byzantine domination had long persisted within Italy, a political rupture was set in motion in earnest in 726 by the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo III

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4914-566: The Holy Roman emperor seized the city. Otto died young in 1002, and was succeeded by his cousin Henry II , who focused on Germany. Otto III's (and his mentor Pope Sylvester's) diplomatic activities coincided with and facilitated the Christianization and the spread of Latin culture in different parts of Europe. They coopted a new group of nations (Slavic) into the framework of Europe, with their empire functioning, as some remark, as

5031-751: The House of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst inherited the dukedom of Ratibor in Silesia in 1834, together with the principality of Corvey in Westphalia. While the Silesian property was expropriated in Poland in 1945, Corvey Abbey remains owned by the Duke of Ratibor to this day, together with further inherited properties in Austria. The Holy Roman Emperors granted the title of Imperial Prince ( Reichsfürst ) to

5148-403: The Isaurian , in what Pope Gregory II saw as the latest in a series of imperial heresies. In 797, the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VI was removed from the throne by his mother, Empress Irene , who declared herself sole ruler. As the Latin Church only regarded a male Roman emperor as the head of Christendom , Pope Leo III sought a new candidate for the dignity, excluding consultation with

5265-503: The King of Bohemia had a permanent and preeminent status as one of the Electors himself). At the same time, he built up Bohemia as the Luxembourghs' core land of the Empire and their dynastic base. His reign in Bohemia is often considered the land's Golden Age. According to Brady Jr. though, under all the glitter, one problem arose: the government showed an inability to deal with the German immigrant waves into Bohemia, thus leading to religious tensions and persecutions. The imperial project of

5382-419: The Ottonian kings actually built their empire on the back of military and bureaucratic apparatuses as well as the cultural legacy they inherited from the Carolingians, who ultimately inherited these from the Late Roman Empire. He argues that the Ottonian empire was hardly an archaic kingdom of primitive Germans, maintained by personal relationships only and driven by the desire of the magnates to plunder and divide

5499-521: The Reich", which tied the great imperial churches and their representatives to imperial service, thus providing "a stable and long-lasting framework for Germany". During the Ottonian era, imperial women played a prominent role in political and ecclesiastic affairs, often combining their functions as religious leader and advisor, regent or co-ruler, notably Matilda of Ringelheim , Eadgyth , Adelaide of Italy , Theophanu , and Matilda of Quedlinburg . In 963, Otto deposed John XII and chose Leo VIII as

5616-429: The Teutonic Order. His grandsons, Gottfried and Conrad, supporters of Emperor Frederick II , founded the lines of Hohenlohe-Hohenlohe and Hohenlohe-Brauneck in 1230, the names taken from their respective castles. The emperor granted them the Italian counties of Molise and Romagna in 1229/30, but they were not able to hold them for long. Gottfried was a tutor and close advisor to the emperor's son king Conrad IV . When

5733-433: The Waldenburg line (in 1744) and to the Neuenstein (Öhringen) line (in 1764). In 1757, the Holy Roman Emperor elevated possessions of the Waldenburg line to the status of Imperial Principality. In 1772, the Holy Roman Emperor elevated possessions of the Neuenstein and Langenburg lines to the status of Imperial Principality. On 12 July 1806, the principalities became parts of the kingdoms of Bavaria and of Württemberg by

5850-453: The Welfs from their possessions, but after his death in 1152, his nephew Frederick Barbarossa succeeded him and made peace with the Welfs, restoring his cousin Henry the Lion to his – albeit diminished – possessions. The Hohenstaufen rulers increasingly lent land to " ministeriales ", 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

5967-403: The aid of Queen Adelaide of Italy , defeating her enemies, marrying her, and taking control over Italy. In 955, Otto won a decisive victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld . In 962, Otto was crowned emperor by Pope John XII , 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

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6084-500: 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 pro-French Henry, Archbishop of Cologne , many were not keen to see an expansion of French power, least of all Clement V. The principal rival to Charles appeared to be Count Palatine Rudolf II . But

6201-415: The basis for the later knights , 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 Landfrieden , with the first imperial one being issued in 1103 under Henry IV at Mainz . This was an attempt to abolish private feuds, between the many dukes and other people, and to tie the emperor's subordinates to

6318-415: The beginning rested on the concept of translatio imperii , that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome . Nevertheless, in the Holy Roman Empire, the imperial office was traditionally elective by the mostly German prince-electors . In theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered the first among equals of all Europe's Catholic monarchs. A process of Imperial Reform in

6435-505: The castle and lordship of Bartenstein (near Schrozberg ). In 1472 the town and castle of Pfedelbach were bought by the Hohenlohe family. In 1586, Weikersheim was inherited by count Wolfgang who reconstructed the medieval Weikersheim Castle into a Renaissance palace. When the last Weikersheim count, Carl Ludwig, died around 1760, his lands were divided between the Langenburg, Neuenstein and Öhringen branches; in 1967, Prince Constantin of Hohenlohe-Langenburg sold Weikersheim Castle, meanwhile

6552-416: The continuous lineage of the dynasty until the present time, it is considered to be one of the longest-lived noble families in Germany and Europe. The large state coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg today bears the Frankish rake of the former Duchy of East and West Franconia, which also included the Franconian region of Baden-Württemberg around Heilbronn-Hohenlohe. The dynasty is related to the Staufers around

6669-467: The crown was not in question, rather its practical allocation in such a wide region which lacked a general administrative apparatus. Far from a broad diminution of royal power, the Mainz Landfriede was a constitutional recalibration based on the culmination of multi-decade political realities and a testament to Frederick II's considerable political strength, his increased prestige during the early 1230s, and sheer overpowering might that he succeeded in securing

6786-433: The death of Charles the Fat in 888, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, and was never restored. According to Regino of Prüm , the parts of the realm "spewed forth kinglets", and each part elected a kinglet "from its own bowels". The last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy , who died in 924. Around 900, East Francia's autonomous stem duchies ( Franconia , Bavaria , Swabia , Saxony , and Lotharingia ) reemerged. After

6903-507: The dissolution of the Empire. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, most of the Holy Roman Empire was included in the German Confederation , with the main exceptions being the Italian states. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control. In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, the Merovingians , under Clovis I and his successors, consolidated Frankish tribes and extended hegemony over others to gain control of northern Gaul and

7020-503: The dual election of Frederick Barbarossa's youngest son Philip of Swabia and Henry the Lion's son Otto of Brunswick , who competed for the crown. After Philip was murdered in a private squabble in 1208, Otto prevailed for a while, until he began to also claim Sicily. Pope Innocent III , who feared the threat posed by a union of the empire and Sicily, was now supported by Frederick II, who marched to Germany and defeated Otto. After his victory, Frederick did not act upon his promise to keep

7137-402: The electors, the great territorial magnates who had lived without a crowned emperor for decades, were unhappy with both Charles and Rudolf. Instead Count Henry of Luxembourg , with the aid of his brother, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier , was elected as Henry VII with six votes at Frankfurt on 27 November 1308. Though a vassal of King Philip, Henry was bound by few national ties, and thus suitable as

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7254-417: The emperor elevated their lordship Hohenlohe to the status of an imperial county . The county remained divided between several family branches, however still being an undivided Imperial Fief under the imperial jurisdiction, and was to be represented by the family's senior vis-à-vis the imperial court . The Hohenlohes were Imperial Counts having two voices in the Diet (or Assembly, called Kreistag ) of

7371-420: The emperor had repeatedly protected Henry the Lion against complaints by rival princes or cities (especially in the cases of Munich and Lübeck ). 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

7488-432: The emperor, negotiated with him. On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated and formally dissolved the empire following the creation – the month before, by French emperor Napoleon – of the Confederation of the Rhine , a confederation of German client states loyal not to the Holy Roman emperor but to France. Since Charlemagne , the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire . The term sacrum ("holy", in

7605-399: The empire of Charlemagne, which through the concept of translatio imperii , also made them consider themselves as successors to Ancient Rome. The flowering of arts beginning with Otto the Great's reign is known as the Ottonian Renaissance , centered in Germany but also happening in Northern Italy and France. Otto created the imperial church system, often called "Ottonian church system of

7722-432: The end of the German Empire , it was often called "the old Empire" ( das alte Reich ). Beginning in 1923, early twentieth-century German nationalists and Nazi Party propaganda would identify the Holy Roman Empire as the "First" Reich ( Erstes Reich , Reich meaning empire), with the German Empire as the "Second" Reich and what would eventually become Nazi Germany as the "Third" Reich. David S. Bachrach opines that

7839-413: The expected invasion. Henry also had plans for turning the Empire into a hereditary monarchy, although this met with opposition from some of the princes and the pope. The emperor suddenly died in 1197, leading to the partial collapse of his empire. As his son, Frederick II , though already elected king, was still a small child and living in Sicily, German princes chose to elect an adult king, resulting in

7956-412: The extinction of their ruling noble houses causing these territories to often fall under the dominions of the Habsburgs and their cadet branches . Barring the loss of Franche-Comté in 1678 , the external borders of the Empire did not change noticeably from the Peace of Westphalia – which acknowledged the exclusion of Switzerland and the Northern Netherlands, and the French protectorate over Alsace – to

8073-432: The family's holdings were expanded from Weikersheim, which is located about 20 km further west, southwards to form the county of Hohenlohe. Haltenbergstetten Castle near Pfitzingen, south of Weikersheim, was built around 1200, as was Brauneck Castle halfway between Weikersheim and Hohlach. The dynasty's influence was soon perceptible between the Franconian valleys of the Kocher , Jagst and Tauber rivers, an area that

8190-419: The famous Emperor Barbarossa , and also to the British royal family through Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria 's half-sister Princess Feodora of Leiningen . The first ancestor was mentioned in 1153 as Conrad, Lord of Weikersheim , where the family had the Geleitrecht (right of escorting travellers and goods and charging customs) along

8307-448: The fields of Roncaglia in 1158 reclaimed imperial rights in reference to Justinian I 's Corpus Juris Civilis . 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 seating and unseating of office-holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman law ,

8424-408: The form of old Roman foundations or older bishoprics . Cities that were founded in the 12th century include Freiburg , possibly the economic model for many later cities, and Munich . 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

8541-457: The interests of order and local peace. The inevitable result was the territorial particularism of churchmen, lay princes, and interstitial cities. However, Frederick was a ruler of vast territories and "could not be everywhere at once". The transference of jurisdiction was a practical solution to secure the further support of the German princes and, moreover, was a process which had already been underway even under Henry VI and Frederick Barbarossa. It

8658-414: The junior line divided itself into three branches, those of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen and Hohenlohe-Kirchberg . Hohenlohe-Langenburg was raised from a county to a principality in 1701, and it was mediatised to Württemberg in 1806. The House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg has remained Protestant , and it has been closely related to Europe's Protestant ruling dynasties. Queen Adelaide of

8775-579: The king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed college of prince-electors ( Kurfürsten ), whose composition and procedures were set forth in the Golden Bull of 1356 , issued by Charles IV (reigned 1355–1378, King of the Romans since 1346), 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

8892-414: 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 Holy Roman Empire. As the result of Ostsiedlung, less populated regions of Central Europe (i.e. sparsely populated border areas in present-day Poland and Czechia) received a significant number of German speakers. Silesia became part of the Holy Roman Empire as

9009-399: 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 Walk to Canossa in 1077, by which he achieved a lifting of the excommunication at the price of humiliation. Meanwhile, the German princes had elected another king, Rudolf of Swabia . Henry managed to defeat Rudolf, but

9126-411: The land had jurisdiction, from which other powers derived. Jurisdiction at the time did not include legislation, which was virtually nonexistent 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

9243-579: The late 15th and early 16th centuries transformed the empire, creating a set of institutions which endured until its final demise in the 19th century. According to historian Thomas Brady Jr., the empire after the Imperial Reform was a political body of remarkable longevity and stability, and "resembled in some respects the monarchical polities of Europe's western tier, and in others the loosely integrated, elective polities of East Central Europe." The new corporate German Nation, instead of simply obeying

9360-614: The latter survived an assassination attempt plotted by bishop Albert of Regensburg, he granted Gottfried some possessions of the Prince-Bishopric of Regensburg , namely the Vogt position for the Augustine Stift at Öhringen and the towns of Neuenstein and Waldenburg . Gottfried's son Kraft I acquired the town of Ingelfingen with Lichteneck Castle. In 1253 the town and castle of Langenburg were inherited by

9477-511: The lords of Hohenlohe, after the lords of Langenburg had become extinct. During the Interregnum the Hohenlohe sided with the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg and defeated the count of Henneberg and his coalition at the Battle of Kitzingen gaining Uffenheim in the aftermath. In 1273 Kraft of Hohenlohe fought at the Battle on the Marchfeld on the side of king Rudolf of Habsburg . By 1300, town and castle Schillingsfürst had also passed into

9594-431: The mid-13th century, but overextension of its power led to a partial collapse. Scholars generally describe an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, and a gradual development of the imperial role. While the office of emperor had been reestablished, the exact term for his realm as the "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, although the emperor's theoretical legitimacy from

9711-590: The middle Rhine river valley region. By the middle of the 8th century, the Merovingians were reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians , led by Charles Martel , became the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel's son Pepin 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 Charlemagne became King of

9828-583: 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, Henry the Proud of the Welf family, but Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen family, the grandson of Emperor Henry IV and nephew of Emperor Henry V. This led to over a century of strife between the two houses. Conrad ousted

9945-623: The most important following the deaths of counts Albert and George in 1551. At this time the two main branches of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein and Hohenlohe-Waldenburg were founded by George's sons. Meanwhile, in 1412, the branch of Hohenlohe-Uffenheim-Speckfeld had become extinct, and its lands passed to other families by marriage. George Hohenlohe was prince-bishop of Passau (1390–1423) and archbishop of Esztergom (1418–1423), serving King Sigismund of Hungary (the later King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor). In 1450, Emperor Frederick III granted Kraft of Hohenlohe (died 1472) and his brother, Albrecht,

10062-516: The national suffix as include it. In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher Voltaire 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

10179-458: 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 Byzantine emperor, especially after Otto's son Otto II ( r.  967–983 ) adopted the designation imperator Romanorum . Still, Otto II formed marital ties with the east when he married the Byzantine princess Theophanu . Their son, Otto III , came to

10296-544: The new power of Carolingian Francia . Charlemagne adopted the formula Renovatio imperii Romanorum ("renewal of the Roman Empire"). In 802, Irene was overthrown and exiled by Nikephoros I and henceforth there were two Roman emperors. After Charlemagne died in 814, the imperial crown passed to his son, Louis the Pious . Upon Louis' death in 840, it passed to his son Lothair , who had been his co-ruler. By this point

10413-649: The newly-raised French Foreign Legion for service in Algeria. Holy Roman Empire 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 a thousand years until its dissolution in 1806 during

10530-651: The order. Like Hohlach Castle, these had probably fallen to the Lords of Weikersheim through marriage. In 1219 Mergentheim became the seat of the Mergentheim Commandery  [ de ] . Mergentheim Palace became the residence of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1527 and remained the headquarters of the Order until 1809. The son Heinrich von Hohenlohe (d. 1249) became Grand Master of

10647-595: The possession of the Hohenlohe lords. Hohlach later became part of the Principality of Ansbach , a subsequent state of the Hohenzollern Burgraviate of Nuremberg , to which the Hohenlohe family had sold the nearby town of Uffenheim in 1378, and Hohlach some time later. Yet, the name Hohenlohe remained attached to the county with its other territories. The branch of Hohenlohe-Brauneck received Jagstberg Castle (near Mulfingen ) as af fief from

10764-455: The princes to consolidate their holdings and become even more independent as rulers. After 1257, the crown was contested between Richard of Cornwall , who was supported by the Guelph party , and Alfonso X of Castile , who was recognized by the Hohenstaufen party but never set foot on German soil. After Richard's death in 1273, Rudolf I of Germany , a minor pro-Hohenstaufen count, was elected. He

10881-510: The princes' support and rebound them to Hohenstaufen power. The Kingdom of Bohemia was a significant regional power during the Middle Ages . In 1212, King Ottokar I (bearing the title "king" since 1198) extracted a Golden Bull of Sicily (a formal edict) from Emperor Frederick II, confirming the royal title for Ottokar and his descendants, and the Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a kingdom. Bohemia's political and financial obligations to

10998-614: The regional kingdoms), imperium christianum ("Christian empire"), or Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), but the Emperor's legitimacy always rested on the concept of translatio imperii , that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome . In a decree following the Diet of Cologne in 1512, the name was changed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ( German : Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation , Latin : Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicae ),

11115-513: The result of the local Piast dukes' push for autonomy from the Polish Crown. From the late 12th century, the Duchy of Pomerania was under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire and the conquests of the Teutonic Order made that region German-speaking. When the Salian dynasty ended with Henry V's death in 1125, the princes chose not to elect the next of kin, but rather Lothair III ,

11232-411: The rewards among themselves but instead, notable for their abilities to amass sophisticated economic, administrative, educational and cultural resources that they used to serve their enormous war machine. Until the end of the 15th century, the empire was in theory composed of three major blocs – Italy , Germany and Burgundy . Later territorially only the Kingdom of Germany and Bohemia remained, with

11349-516: The right to build fortification. The 1232 Statutum in favorem principum 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 terrae , owners of their lands,

11466-529: The sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa ("Holy Empire"): the term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy . The form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward. The exact term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, before which the empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to

11583-653: The sons of Elizabeth of Hanau , heiress of Ziegenhain, the title Count of Ziegenhain ( Graf zu Ziegenhain ) and invested them with the County of Ziegenhain . Actually, the Landgraves of Hesse soon took the County of Ziegenhain. After decades of, sometimes armed, conflict, the Hohenlohe gave up their claim to Ziegenhain in favor of the Hessian landgrave in a settlement with financial compensation in 1495. In this context,

11700-476: The suzerainty over Tunis and Tripolitania and paid tribute. Fearing the power of Henry, the most powerful monarch in Europe since Charlemagne, the other European kings formed an alliance. But Henry broke this coalition by blackmailing English king Richard the Lionheart . The Byzantine emperor worried that Henry would turn his Crusade plan against his empire, and began to collect the alamanikon to prepare against

11817-472: 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 – German , Latin , Italian , and Czech . The decision by Charles IV

11934-539: The territory and its rulers were princely. In 1825, the German Confederation recognized the right of all members of the house to be styled as Serene Highness (German: Durchlaucht ), with the title of Fürst for the heads of its branches, and the title of prince/princess for the other members. From 1861, the Hohenlohe- Öhringen branch was also of ducal status as dukes of Ujest . Due to

12051-557: The territory of Charlemagne was divided into several territories ( cf . Treaty of Verdun , Treaty of Prüm , Treaty of Meerssen and Treaty of Ribemont ), and over the course of the later 9th century the title of emperor was disputed by the Carolingian rulers of the Western Frankish Kingdom or West Francia and the Eastern Frankish Kingdom or East Francia , with first the western king ( Charles

12168-596: 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 remained in Germany, while a deposed duke, Crescentius II , ruled over Rome and part of Italy, ostensibly in his stead. In 996 Otto III appointed his cousin Gregory V the first German pope. A foreign pope and foreign papal officers were seen with suspicion by Roman nobles, who were led by Crescentius II to revolt. Otto III's former mentor Antipope John XVI briefly held Rome, until

12285-492: 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 him. Another point of contention was the Crusade, which Frederick had promised but repeatedly postponed. Now, although excommunicated, Frederick led

12402-530: The versions “Hohenlach” or “Holach”) which later was to become Hohenlohe . The name means “high-lying wood” (high Loh). The name Hohenlohe was probably adopted because Weikersheim was a fiefdom of the Comburg monastery, but Hohlach was an imperial fiefdom that granted its owners the status of imperial knight . Hohlach Castle secured the Rothenburg − Ochsenfurt road. However, Hohlach soon lost its importance;

12519-669: The wake of the Cluniac Reforms , this involvement was increasingly seen as inappropriate by the Papacy. The reform-minded Pope Gregory VII was determined to oppose such practices, which led to the Investiture Controversy with King Henry IV ( r.  1056–1106 , crowned emperor in 1084). Henry IV repudiated the pope's interference and persuaded his bishops to excommunicate the pope, whom he famously addressed by his birth name "Hildebrand" rather than his papal name "Gregory". The pope, in turn, excommunicated

12636-551: The world. His son, prince Christian Kraft (1848–1926), sold the plants and went almost bankrupt with a fund in which he had invested in 1913; the mines he had still kept were depropriated by communist Poland in 1945. Until then, this branch had its headquarters in Slawentzitz and also owned estates in Hungary. After their expulsion and expropriation, the branch returned to Neuenstein. The Catholic branch of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg

12753-534: The Öhringen-Neuenstein branch (Kirchberg Castle was sold in 1952), but the branches of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (residing at Langenburg Castle) and Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen still exist, the latter being divided into Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen-Öhringen (which became extinct in 1960) and Hohenlohe-Oehringen (today residing at Neuenstein Castle ). The two actual heads of the branches of Langenburg and Oehringen are traditionally styled Fürst . The two princes of Hohenlohe-Oehringen-Neuenstein and of Hohenlohe-Langenburg entertained

12870-441: Was a major turning point toward the partitioning of central rule in the Empire. Since his political focus was south of the Alps, he was mostly absent from Germany and issued far-reaching privileges to Germany's secular and ecclesiastical princes to ensure their cooperation. In the 1220 Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis , Frederick gave up a number of regalia in favour of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining , and

12987-623: Was inherited by the catholic counts. Of the Lutheran branch of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein , which underwent several partitions and inherited the county of Gleichen in Thuringia (with its residence at Ehrenstein Castle in Ohrdruf ) in 1631, the senior line became extinct in 1805, while in 1701 the junior line divided itself into three branches, those of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen and Hohenlohe-Kirchberg . The branch of Kirchberg died out in 1861, with its lands and castle passing to

13104-514: 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. In the 12th century the Hanseatic League established itself as a commercial and defensive alliance of the merchant guilds of towns and cities in the empire and all over northern and central Europe. It dominated marine trade in

13221-562: Was soon divided into three side branches, but two of these had died out by 1729. The surviving branch, that of Schillingsfürst, was divided into the lines of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst and Hohenlohe-Bartenstein , with further divisions following. The four catholic lines which still exist today (with their heads styled Fürst ) are those of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (at Schillingsfürst), Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (at Waldenburg), Hohenlohe-Jagstberg (at Haltenbergstetten) and Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (at Bartenstein). A side branch of

13338-406: Was subsequently confronted with more uprisings, renewed excommunication, and even the rebellion of his sons. After his death, his second son, Henry V , reached an agreement with the Pope and the bishops in the 1122 Concordat of Worms . 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

13455-534: Was the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg , and sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . Members of the British royal family therefore still occasionally visit Langenburg and, conversely, the Hohenlohe-Langenburgs are regular guests at the British court. Prince Karl Gustav Wilhelm of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1777–1866), who came from

13572-476: Was the first of the Habsburgs to hold a royal title, but he was never crowned emperor. After Rudolf's death in 1291, Adolf and Albert 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

13689-534: Was to be called the Hohenlohe Plateau. Their original main seats were Weikersheim, Hohlach and Brauneck (near Creglingen ). Of Konrad von Weikersheim's three sons, Konrad and Albrecht died childless. Heinrich I von Hohenlohe, the third son, died around 1183; he had five sons, of whom Andreas, Heinrich and Friedrich entered the Teutonic Order and thus the clergy, as a result of which the House of Hohenlohe lost important possessions around Mergentheim to

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