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167-655: Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty , Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu . Otto III was crowned as king of Germany in 983 at the age of three, shortly after his father's death in Southern Italy while campaigning against the Byzantine Empire and

334-648: A Parliament and a constitutional Charter , usually known as the " Charte octroyée " ("Granted Charter"). His reign was characterized by disagreements between the Doctrinaires , liberal thinkers who supported the Charter and the rising bourgeoisie , and the Ultra-royalists , aristocrats and clergymen who totally refused the Revolution's heritage. Peace was maintained by statesmen like Talleyrand and

501-438: A centralized state governed from the capital of Paris. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism still persisting in parts of France and, by compelling the noble elite to regularly inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles , built on the outskirts of Paris, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the earlier " Fronde " rebellion during Louis' minority. By these means he consolidated

668-545: A revolt led by Eleanor and three of their four sons, Henry had Eleanor imprisoned, made the Duke of Brittany his vassal, and in effect ruled the western half of France as a greater power than the French throne. However, disputes among Henry's descendants over the division of his French territories, coupled with John of England 's lengthy quarrel with Philip II , allowed Philip to recover influence over most of this territory. After

835-527: A brief illness. Upon learning of Gregory V's death, Otto III installed his long-time tutor Gerbert of Aurillac as Pope Sylvester II . The use of this papal name was not without cause: it recalled the first pope of this name, who had allegedly created the "Christian Empire" together with Emperor Constantine the Great. This was part of Otto III's campaign to further link himself with both the Roman Empire and

1002-655: A crushing defeat against the Muslim Emirate of Sicily at the Battle of Stilo . Otto II had been campaigning in Southern Italy with hopes of annexing the whole of Italy into the Holy Roman Empire . Otto II himself escaped the battle unharmed but many important imperial officials were among the battle's casualties. Following the defeat and at the insistence of the Empire's nobles, Otto II called an assembly of

1169-647: A duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy . The emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresies , and uphold ecclesiastical unity. Both the title and connection between Emperor and Church continued in the Eastern Roman Empire throughout the medieval period ( in exile during 1204–1261). The ecumenical councils of the 5th to 8th centuries were convoked by the Eastern Roman Emperors . In Western Europe ,

1336-515: A label they reserved for themselves. The title of emperor in the West implied recognition by the pope. As the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was that known as the investiture controversy , fought during the 11th century between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII . After

1503-628: A lieutenant of the king. When Boniface VII died in 985, Pope John XV was chosen to succeed him. Although the details of the election are unknown, it is likely that Crescentius II played a key role in the process. For a number of years, Crescentius II exercised authority over the city, severely limiting the autonomy of the pope in the process. When the Empress Theophanu was in Rome between 989 and 991, Crescentius II nominally subordinated himself to her, though he maintained his position as ruler of

1670-792: A long-standing dispute over the rights to Gascony in the south of France, and the relationship between England and the Flemish cloth towns, led to the Hundred Years' War of 1337–1453. The following century was to see devastating warfare, the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War , peasant revolts (the English peasants' revolt of 1381 and the Jacquerie of 1358 in France) and the growth of nationalism in both countries. The losses of

1837-570: A monastery in Germany, where he would die in 1001. Crescentius II retreated again to the Tomb of Hadrian, the traditional stronghold of the Crescentii , and was then besieged by Otto III's imperial army. Towards the end of April, the stronghold was breached, and Crescentius II was taken prisoner and executed by decapitation . His body was put on public display at Monte Mario . Otto III made Rome

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2004-473: A number of dynasties. A period of dispute during the second half of the 13th century over the kingship of Germany led to there being no emperor crowned for several decades, though this ended in 1312 with the coronation of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor . The period of free election ended with the ascension of the Austrian House of Habsburg , as an unbroken line of Habsburgs held the imperial throne until

2171-530: A nun in the abbey. Sophia refused to accept the authority of the Bishop of Hildesheim, instead recognizing only that of the Archbishop of Mainz. The conflict escalated until it was brought before the royal court of Otto III and Theophanu. The royal intervention eased the tensions between the parties by providing that both bishops would anoint Sophia, while anointing the remaining nuns of the abbey would be left to

2338-533: A peace settlement. With Otto III in control of the city, Gregory V was reinstated as pope. John XVI fled, but the Emperor's troops pursued and captured him, cut off his nose and ears, cut out his tongue, broke his fingers, blinded him, and then brought him before Otto III and Gregory V for judgement. At the intercession of Saint Nilus the Younger , one of his countrymen, Otto III spared John XVI's life and sent him to

2505-686: A positive light, but several facets of the emperor remain enigmatic and debates on the true intentions behind his Imperial Renovation ( renovatio imperii Romanorum ) program continue. Otto III was born in June or July 980 somewhere between Aachen and Nijmegen , in modern-day North Rhine-Westphalia . The only son of Emperor Otto II and Empress Theophanu , Otto III was the youngest of the couple's four children. Immediately prior to Otto III's birth, his father had completed military campaigns in France against King Lothar . On 14 July 982, Otto II's army suffered

2672-545: A short while. Prior to his sudden death in December 983, Otto II had installed Pietro Canepanova as pope. Calling himself Pope John XIV , Canepanova was a non-Roman from Lombardy who had served as Otto II's chancellor in Italy. After Otto II's death, John XIV intervened in the dispute between Henry II of Bavaria and Theophanu over the regency, issuing an edict ordering Henry to turn Otto over to his mother. During that turmoil,

2839-578: A system of absolute monarchy in France that endured 150 years until the French Revolution . McCabe says critics used fiction to portray the degraded Turkish court, using "the harem, the Sultan court, oriental despotism, luxury, gems and spices, carpets, and silk cushions" as an unfavorable analogy to the corruption of the French royal court. The king sought to impose total religious uniformity on

3006-638: A total of ten electors, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. This list includes all 47 German monarchs crowned from Charlemagne until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806). Several rulers were crowned king of the Romans (king of Germany) but not emperor, although they styled themselves thus, among whom were: Conrad I and Henry the Fowler in the 10th century, and Conrad IV , Rudolf I , Adolf and Albert I during

3173-534: Is Karolus Imperator Augustus . In documents, he used Imperator Augustus Romanum gubernans Imperium ("Emperor Augustus, governing the Roman Empire") and serenissimus Augustus a Deo coronatus, magnus pacificus Imperator Romanorum gubernans Imperium ("most serene Augustus crowned by God, great peaceful emperor governing the empire of the Romans"). The Eastern Empire eventually relented to recognizing Charlemagne and his successors as emperors, but as "Frankish" and "German emperors", at no point referring to them as Roman,

3340-495: Is thus recognized as the founder of the independent Polish state and the first ruler of Poland, and his son, Boleslaus I, was the first to be crowned King of Poland. Mieszko I remained a powerful ally of Otto I for the remainder of his life. Although he was a pagan, in 965 he married the Christian Dobrawa , daughter of Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia . He then converted to Christianity in 966, bringing Poland closer to

3507-702: The Archbishop of Mainz , was ex officio the secular Archchancellor of Germany . Though Theophanu was regent, Willigis was given considerable leeway in administering the kingdom. One of the Empress's greatest achievements was her success in maintaining German supremacy over Bohemia , as Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia , was forced to accept the authority of Otto III. In 986 the five-year-old Otto III celebrated Easter at Quedlinburg. The four major dukes of Germany (Henry II of Bavaria, Conrad I of Swabia, Henry III of Carinthia, and Bernard I of Saxony) also paid tribute to

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3674-555: The Battle of Austerlitz . The emperor was widely perceived to rule by divine right , though he often contradicted or rivaled the pope , most notably during the Investiture controversy . The Holy Roman Empire never had an empress regnant , though women such as Theophanu and Maria Theresa exerted strong influence. Throughout its history, the position was viewed as a defender of the Catholic faith. Until Maximilian I in 1508,

3841-472: The Bishop of Utrecht , ahead of him in order to attempt a peace negotiation between him and the conspirators. The negotiations failed when the conspirators refused to swear allegiance to anyone other than Otto III, with Bernard I, Duke of Saxony , maintaining allegiance to the child king. In response to his failure to gain control over Saxony, Henry II promised to hold future peace negotiations and then headed for

4008-556: The Capetian dynasty on the throne. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon , it was to rule France for more than 800 years. The old order left the new dynasty in immediate control of little beyond the middle Seine and adjacent territories, while powerful territorial lords such as the 10th- and 11th-century counts of Blois accumulated large domains of their own through marriage and through private arrangements with lesser nobles for protection and support. The area around

4175-527: The Duchy of Bavaria . With his long-standing familial ties in the region, many bishops and counts recognized him as the rightful heir to the throne. Henry III, Duke of Bavaria , who had been installed as Duke by Otto II, refused to recognize Henry II and remained loyal to Otto III. With his successes and failures in Saxony and Bavaria, Henry II's claims depended on gaining support in the Duchy of Franconia , which

4342-694: The Duke of Richelieu , as well as the King's moderation and prudent intervention. In 1823, the Trienio Liberal revolt in Spain led to a French intervention on the royalists' side, which permitted King Ferdinand VII of Spain to abolish the Constitution of 1812 . However, the work of Louis XVIII was frustrated when, after his death on 16 September 1824, his brother the Count of Artois became king under

4509-516: The Emirate of Sicily . Though the nominal ruler of Germany, Otto III's minor status ensured his various regents held power over the Empire. His cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria , initially claimed regency over the young king and attempted to seize the throne for himself in 984. When his rebellion failed to gain the support of Germany's aristocracy, Henry II was forced to abandon his claims to

4676-602: The Franco-Dutch War , 1672–1678) brought further territorial gains ( Artois and western Flanders and the free County of Burgundy , previously left to the Empire in 1482), but at the cost of the increasingly concerted opposition of rival royal powers, and a legacy of an increasingly enormous national debt . An adherent of the theory of the "Divine Right of Kings" , which advocates the divine origin of temporal power and any lack of earthly restraint of monarchical rule, Louis XIV continued his predecessors' work of creating

4843-599: The French Revolution , which began in 1789, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic . The monarchy was restored by the other great powers in 1814 and, with the exception of the Hundred Days in 1815, lasted until the French Revolution of 1848 . During the later years of Charlemagne 's rule,

5010-451: The German dukes , and it is not known precisely when the system of seven prince-electors was established. The papal decree Venerabilem by Innocent III (1202), addressed to Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen , establishes the election procedure by (unnamed) princes of the realm, reserving for the pope the right to approve of the candidates. A letter of Pope Urban IV (1263), in the context of

5177-667: The Huguenots , which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion (1562–1598). The Wars of Religion crippled France, but triumph over Spain and the Habsburg monarchy in the Thirty Years' War made France the most powerful nation on the continent once more. The kingdom became Europe's dominant cultural, political and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV . Throughout the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, France

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5344-533: The Hundred Days . When a Seventh European Coalition again deposed Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Bourbon monarchy was once again restored. The Count of Provence - brother of Louis XVI, who was guillotined in 1793 - was crowned as Louis XVIII , nicknamed "The Desired". Louis XVIII tried to conciliate the legacies of the Revolution and the Ancien Régime, by permitting the formation of

5511-576: The Imperial Diet in Verona at Pentecost , 983, where he proposed to the assembly to have the three-year-old Otto III elected as king of Germany and Italy , becoming Otto II's undoubted heir apparent . This was the first time a German ruler had been elected on Italian soil. After the assembly was concluded, Otto III traveled across the Alps in order to be crowned at Aachen, the traditional location of

5678-598: The Industrial Revolution that was beginning in Britain, the rising middle class of the cities felt increasingly frustrated with a system and rulers that seemed silly, frivolous, aloof, and antiquated, even if true feudalism no longer existed in France. Upon Louis XV's death, his grandson Louis XVI became king. Initially popular, he too came to be widely detested by the 1780s. He was married to an Austrian archduchess, Marie Antoinette . French intervention in

5845-612: The Jansenists , a group that denied free will and had already been condemned by the popes. In this, he garnered the friendship of the papacy, which had previously been hostile to France because of its policy of putting all church property in the country under the jurisdiction of the state rather than that of Rome. In November 1700, King Charles II of Spain died, ending the Habsburg line in that country. Louis had long planned for this moment, but these plans were thrown into disarray by

6012-624: The July Revolution . The King abdicated, as did his son the Dauphin Louis Antoine , in favour of his grandson Henri, Count of Chambord , nominating his cousin the Duke of Orléans as regent. However, it was too late, and the liberal opposition won out over the monarchy. On 9 August 1830, the Chamber of Deputies elected Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans as "King of the French": for the first time since French Revolution,

6179-583: The Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution. The term sacrum (i.e., "holy") in connection with the German Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa . The Holy Roman Emperor's standard designation was "August Emperor of the Romans" ( Romanorum Imperator Augustus ). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he was styled as "most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing

6346-485: The Palatine Hill and planned to restore the ancient Roman Senate to its position of prominence. He revived the city's ancient governmental system, including appointing a City Patrician , a City Prefect , and a body of judges whom he commanded to recognize only Roman law . In order to strengthen his title to the Roman Empire and to announce his position as the protector of Christendom , Otto III took for himself

6513-477: The Romano-German Emperor since the early modern period ( Latin : Imperator Germanorum ; German : Römisch-deutscher Kaiser , lit.   'Roman-German emperor'), 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 ( Rex Italiae ) from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with

6680-619: The Slavic uprising on the Empire's eastern border made the Empire's political situation extremely unstable. With a minor on the throne, the Empire was thrown into confusion and Otto III's mother Theophanu assumed the role of regent for her young son. Otto III's cousin Henry II had been deposed as Duke of Bavaria by Otto II in 976 following his failed rebellion and imprisoned within the Bishopric of Utrecht . Following Otto II's death, Henry

6847-564: The Slavs rebelled against imperial control , forcing the Empire to abandon its territories east of the Elbe river. Otto III fought to regain the Empire's lost territories throughout his reign with only limited success. While in the east, Otto III strengthened the Empire's relations with Poland , Bohemia , and Hungary . Through his affairs in Eastern Europe in 1000, he was able to extend

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7014-692: The Spanish Empire . Colonial conflicts with Great Britain led to the loss of much of its North American holdings by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped the United States secure independence from King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain , but was costly and achieved little for France. France through its French colonial empire , became a superpower from 1643 until 1815; from

7181-546: The Third Republic , the French monarchy has not restored. Before the 13th century, only a small part of what is now France was under control of the Frankish king; in the north there were Viking incursions leading to the formation of the Duchy of Normandy ; in the west, the counts of Anjou established themselves as powerful rivals of the king, by the late 11th century ruling over the " Angevin Empire ", which included

7348-406: The Tomb of Hadrian , out of fear of retribution. The new supreme pontiff crowned Otto III as emperor on 21 May 996, in Rome at St. Peter's Basilica . The Emperor and Pope then held a synod at St. Peter's on 25 May to serve as the Empire's highest judicial court . The Roman nobles who had rebelled against Pope John XV were summoned before the synod to give an account of their actions. A number of

7515-426: The Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks . After Charlemagne's death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia , the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Charles

7682-400: The War of the Polish Succession from 1733 to 1735. Large-scale warfare resumed with the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). But alliance with the traditional Habsburg enemy (the " Diplomatic Revolution " of 1756) against the rising power of Britain and Prussia led to costly failure in the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and the loss of France's North American colonies. On the whole,

7849-481: The War of the Three Henrys in which Henry III assassinated Henry de Guise , leader of the Spanish-backed Catholic League , and the king was murdered in return. After the assassination of both Henry of Guise (1588) and Henry III (1589), the conflict was ended by the accession of the Protestant king of Navarre as Henry IV (first king of the Bourbon dynasty ) and his subsequent abandonment of Protestantism (Expedient of 1592) effective in 1593, his acceptance by most of

8016-590: The conquest of Algeria . The absolutist tendencies of the King were disliked by the Doctrinaire majority in the Chamber of Deputies , that on 18 March 1830 sent an address to the King, upholding the rights of the Chamber and in effect supporting a transition to a full parliamentary system. Charles X received this address as a veiled threat, and in 25 July of the same year, he issued the St. Cloud Ordinances , in an attempt to reduce Parliament's powers and re-establish absolute rule. The opposition reacted with riots in Parliament and barricades in Paris, that resulted in

8183-408: The interregnum of the late 13th century. Traditional historiography assumes a continuity between the Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, while a modern convention takes the coronation of Otto I in 962 as the starting point of the Holy Roman Empire (although the term Sacrum Imperium Romanum was not in use before the 13th century). On Christmas Day, 800, Charlemagne, King of the Franks,

8350-451: The kingdom of England . It was only with Philip II of France that the bulk of the territory of Western Francia came under the rule of the Frankish kings, and Philip was consequently the first king to call himself "king of France" (1190). The division of France between the Angevin (Plantagenet) kings of England and the Capetian kings of France would lead to the Hundred Years' War , and France would regain control over these territories only by

8517-504: The patron of Otto Orseolo , the son of Venetian Doge Pietro II Orseolo . He then pledged to support Otto Orseolo as the next Doge of Venice, leading to a period of good relations between the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice after years of conflict under Otto II. Reaching Pavia for Easter , 996, Otto III was declared King of Italy and crowned with the Iron Crown of the Lombards . The king failed, however, to reach Rome before Pope John XV died of fever . While Otto III

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8684-448: The 18th century saw growing discontent with the monarchy and the established order. Louis XV was a highly unpopular king for his sexual excesses, overall weakness, and for losing New France to the British. The writings of the philosophes such as Voltaire were a clear sign of discontent, but the king chose to ignore them. He died of smallpox in 1774, and the French people shed few tears at his death. While France had not yet experienced

8851-410: The 18th century. Later a cadet branch known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine passed it from father to son until the abolition of the Empire in 1806. Notably, from the 16th century, the Habsburgs dispensed with the requirement that emperors be crowned by the pope before exercising their office. Starting with Ferdinand I , all successive emperors forwent the traditional coronation. The interregnum of

9018-471: The American War of Independence was also very expensive. With the country deeply in debt, Louis XVI permitted the radical reforms of Turgot and Malesherbes , but noble disaffection led to Turgot's dismissal and Malesherbes' resignation in 1776. They were replaced by Jacques Necker . Necker had resigned in 1781 to be replaced by Calonne and Brienne , before being restored in 1788. A harsh winter that year led to widespread food shortages, and by then France

9185-418: The Ancien Régime were the result of years of state-building, legislative acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts ), internal conflicts and civil wars, but they remained a confusing patchwork of local privilege and historic differences until the French Revolution brought about a radical suppression of administrative incoherence. For most of the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715), ("The Sun King"), France

9352-422: The Archbishop of Piacenza, John Philagathos, to Constantinople as his representative to arrange a marriage between himself and a Byzantine princess following the example of his father, Otto II, who solidified his claim to the throne by marrying the Byzantine Theophanu. For a while the discussions were about Zoe Porphyrogenita . The Lutici federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes had remained quiet during

9519-444: The Bald was also crowned King of Lotharingia after the death of Lothair II in 869, but in the Treaty of Meerssen (870) was forced to cede much of Lotharingia to his brothers, retaining the Rhône and Meuse basins (including Verdun , Vienne and Besançon ) but leaving the Rhineland with Aachen , Metz , and Trier in East Francia . Viking incursions up the Loire , the Seine , and other inland waterways increased. During

9686-410: The Bishop of Hildesheim alone. In 989 Theophanu and Otto III made a royal expedition to Italy to visit the grave of Otto II in Rome. After crossing the Alps and reaching Pavia in northern Italy, the Empress had her longtime confidant John Philagathos appointed as Archbishop of Piacenza . After a year in Italy, the royal court returned to Germany, where Theophanu died in Nijmegen on 15 June 991, at

9853-412: The Capetians and their cadet lines under the Valois and Bourbon until the monarchy was abolished in 1792 during the French Revolution . The Kingdom of France was also ruled in personal union with the Kingdom of Navarre over two time periods, 1284–1328 and 1572–1620, after which the institutions of Navarre were abolished and it was fully annexed by France (though the King of France continued to use

10020-421: The Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty . The territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum ('king of the Franks') well into the High Middle Ages . The first king calling himself rex Francie ('King of France') was Philip II , in 1190, and officially from 1204. From then, France was continuously ruled by

10187-477: The Catholic establishment (1594) and by the Pope (1595), and his issue of the toleration decree known as the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed freedom of private worship and civil equality. France's pacification under Henry IV laid much of the ground for the beginnings of France's rise to European hegemony. France was expansive during all but the end of the seventeenth century: the French began trading in India and Madagascar , founded Quebec and penetrated

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10354-460: The Christian states of Bohemia and the Empire. Dobrawa died in 977, and Mieszko I then strengthened his alliance with the Empire by marrying Oda , the daughter of the Saxon Margrave Dietrich of Haldensleben in 978, and by marrying his son Bolesłaus I of Poland to a daughter of Margrave Rikdag of Meissen. Following the death of Otto I in 973, Mieszko I sided with Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, against Otto II during Henry's failed revolt in 977. After

10521-427: The Church of Constantinople . Toward the end of the 8th century, the Papacy still recognised the ruler at Constantinople as the Roman Emperor, though Byzantine military support in Italy had increasingly waned, leading to the Papacy to look to the Franks for protection. In 800 Pope Leo III owed a great debt to Charlemagne , the King of the Franks and King of Italy , for securing his life and position. By this time,

10688-418: The Church. Like his grandfather before him, Otto III strongly aspired to be the successor of Charlemagne . In 1000, he visited Charlemagne's tomb in Aachen , removing relics from it and transporting them to Rome. Otto III also carried back parts of the body of Bishop Adalbert of Prague, which he placed in the church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola he had built on the Tiber Island in Rome. Otto III also added

10855-442: The Czech territory. To strengthen the Bohemian-Polish alliance, Boleslaus I's daughter Dobrawa was married to the pagan Mieszko I of Poland in 965. The marriage helped bring Christianity to Poland. He died in 972 and was succeeded as Duke by his oldest son Boleslaus II . After initially siding with Henry II against Otto II during Henry's failed revolt in 977, Boleslaus II swore loyalty to Otto II. When Otto II died suddenly in 983 and

11022-432: The Eastern Emperor Constantine VI had been deposed in 797 and replaced as monarch by his mother, Irene . Under the pretext that a woman could not rule the empire, Pope Leo III declared the throne vacant and crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans ( Imperator Romanorum ), the successor of Constantine VI as Roman emperor, using the concept of translatio imperii . On his coins, the name and title used by Charlemagne

11189-405: The Elbe Slavs in order to secure Saxony's eastern border. When Otto III left Italy for Germany, the situation in Rome remained uncertain. In September 996, a few months after receiving a pardon from Otto III, Crescentius II met with the Archbishop of Piacenza, John Philagathos, a former adviser to the late Empress Theophanu, to devise a plan to depose the newly installed Pope Gregory V. In 997, with

11356-415: The Emperor-elect ( Imperator electus ) was required to be crowned by the pope before assuming the imperial title. Charles V was the last to be crowned by the pope in 1530. Even after the Reformation , the elected emperor was always a Catholic . There were short periods in history when the electoral college was dominated by Protestants , and the electors usually voted in their own political interest. From

11523-423: The Empire into political crisis. Otto was a charismatic figure associated with several legends and notable figures of his time. Opinions on Otto III and his reign vary considerably. Recognized in his own day as a brilliant, energetic, pious leader, Otto was portrayed by nineteenth century historians as a whimsical, overidealistic dreamer who failed in his duty towards Germany. Modern historians generally see him in

11690-444: The Empire's campaigns to put down the Great Slav Rising , led by the Polabian Lutici tribes during the 980s and 990s. Germany and the Duchy of Bohemia came into significant contact with one another in 929, when German King Henry I had invaded the Duchy to force Duke Wenceslaus I to pay regular tribute to Germany. When Wenceslaus I was assassinated in 935, his brother Boleslaus I succeeded him as Duke and refused to continue paying

11857-433: The English term "Holy Roman Emperor" gained currency in the interbellum period (the 1920s to 1930s); formerly the title had also been rendered as "German-Roman emperor" in English. The elective monarchy of the Kingdom of Germany goes back to the early 10th century, the election of Conrad I of Germany in 911 following the death without issue of Louis the Child , the last Carolingian ruler of Germany. Elections meant

12024-466: The French language began to displace other languages from official use, and the monarch expanded his absolute power in an administrative system, known as the Ancien Régime , complicated by historic and regional irregularities in taxation, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions, and local prerogatives. Religiously, France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority,

12191-553: The French monarchy maintained a significant degree of autonomy, namely through its policy of " Gallicanism ", whereby the king selected bishops rather than the papacy. During the Protestant Reformation of the mid 16th century, France developed a large and influential Protestant population, primarily of Reformed confession; after French theologian and pastor John Calvin introduced the Reformation in France,

12358-522: The French monarchy was effectively abolished by the proclamation of the French First Republic . The role of the King in France was finally ended with the execution of Louis XVI by guillotine on Monday, January 21, 1793, followed by the " Reign of Terror ", mass executions and the provisional " Directory " form of republican government, and the eventual beginnings of twenty-five years of reform, upheaval, dictatorship, wars and renewal, with

12525-566: The French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Aquitaine . The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line. Under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman (Philip IV's daughter was Isabella , whose son was Edward III of England ), so the throne passed to Philip VI , son of Charles of Valois . This, in addition to

12692-565: The German throne, with limited success. Among those who supported his claims were Duke Mieszko I of Poland and Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia . Henry II was also supported by Archbishop Egbert of Trier , Archbishop Gisilher of Magdeburg , and Bishop Dietrich I of Metz . Those who opposed Henry II's claims fled to Quedlinburg in Saxony to conspire against him. When he became aware of this conspiracy, he moved his army towards Quedlinburg in hopes of crushing his opposition. Henry II sent Folcmar ,

12859-708: The Great , the Pope was granted secular authority over western Europe . These actions resulted in increased tensions between the Roman nobility and the Church, who had traditionally reserved the right to name the pope from among their own members. After his coronation, Otto III returned to Germany in December 996, staying along the Lower Rhine (especially in Aachen ) until April 997. His specific activities during this time are not known. In summer 997, Otto III campaigned against

13026-547: The Holy Roman Empire as a constituent state. Bohemia would be a major factor in the many battles along the Empire's eastern border. Boleslaus I helped Otto I crush an uprising of Slavs along the Lower Elbe in 953, and they joined forces again to defeat the Hungarians at the battle of Lechfeld in 955. In 973 Otto I established the bishopric of Prague , subordinated to the archbishopric of Mainz, in order to Christianize

13193-488: The Holy Roman Empire dates as far back as Charlemagne, some histories consider the Carolingian Empire to be a distinct polity from the later Holy Roman Empire as established under Otto I in 962. Nephew and adopted son of Charles III While earlier Frankish and Italian monarchs had been crowned as Roman emperors, the actual Holy Roman Empire is often considered to have begun with the crowning of Otto I , at

13360-466: The Holy Roman Empire is taken to have lasted from the deposition of Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV in 1245 (or alternatively from Frederick's death in 1250 or from the death of Conrad IV in 1254) to the election of Rudolf I of Germany (1273). Rudolf was not crowned emperor, nor were his successors Adolf and Albert . The next emperor was Henry VII , crowned on 29 June 1312 by Pope Clement V . In 1508, Pope Julius II allowed Maximilian I to use

13527-563: The King was designated as the ruler of the French people and not the country. The Bourbon white flag was substituted with the French tricolour , and a new Charter was introduced in August 1830. The conquest of Algeria continued, and new settlements were established in the Gulf of Guinea , Gabon , Madagascar , and Mayotte , while Tahiti was placed under protectorate . However, despite

13694-476: The League of Augsburg") had just concluded. The reign (1715–1774) of Louis XV saw an initial return to peace and prosperity under the regency (1715–1723) of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , whose policies were largely continued (1726–1743) by Cardinal Fleury , prime minister in all but name. The exhaustion of Europe after two major wars resulted in a long period of peace, only interrupted by minor conflicts like

13861-607: The North American Great Lakes and Mississippi , established plantation economies in the West Indies and extended their trade contacts in the Levant and enlarged their merchant marine . Henry IV's son Louis XIII and his minister (1624–1642) Cardinal Richelieu , elaborated a policy against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) which had broken out in Germany. After

14028-577: The Roman Empire," thus constituting the elements of "Holy" and "Roman" in the imperial title. The word Roman was a reflection of the principle of translatio imperii (or in this case restauratio imperii ) that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman emperors as the inheritors of the title of emperor of the Western Roman Empire , despite the continued existence of the Eastern Roman Empire. In German-language historiography,

14195-553: The Roman aristocracy saw an opportunity to remove the non-Roman John XIV and install a pope from among themselves. The Antipope Boniface VII , who had spent nine years in exile in the Byzantine Empire , joined forces with Byzantine nobles in southern Italy and marched on Rome in April 984 in order to claim the papal throne for himself. With the aid of the sons of Crescentius the Elder — Crescentius II and John Crescentius — Boniface VII

14362-535: The Romans"). Maximilian's successors adopted the same titulature, usually when they became the sole ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's first successor Charles V was the last to be crowned Emperor. Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France was descended directly from the western Frankish realm of the Carolingian Empire , which was ceded to Charles the Bald with the Treaty of Verdun (843). A branch of

14529-546: The Saxon Margrave Gero , to address the Polan threat, while Otto I traveled to Italy to be crowned as emperor. Gero defeated Mieszko I in 963 and forced him to recognize Otto I as his overlord. In return for submitting tribute to the newly crowned Emperor, Otto I granted Mieszko I the title of amicus imperatoris ("Friend of the Emperor") and acknowledged his position as dux Poloniae ("Duke of Poland"). Mieszko I

14696-463: The Spanish territory of Roussillon after the crushing of the ephemeral Catalan Republic and ushered a short period of peace. The Ancien Régime , a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule", or simply "Former Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system of early modern France under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties. The administrative and social structures of

14863-608: The abolition of the bishopric of Merseburg , Otto III and Pope Gregory V began the process of reviving the Diocese. Otto I had established the Diocese in 968 following his victory over the Hungarians in order to Christianize the Polabian Slavs but it had been effectively destroyed in 983 with the Great Slav Rising following the death of Otto II that year. Otto III arranged for his imperial palace to be built on

15030-483: The active support of Byzantine Emperor Basil II , Crescentius II led a revolt against Gregory V, deposed him, and installed John Philagathos as Pope John XVI , an antipope , in April 997. Gregory fled to Pavia in northern Italy, held a synod, and excommunicated John. The new bishop of Piacenza, Siegfried , came north to meet Otto at Eschwege in July. Otto detached the city from the county of Piacenza and granted it to

15197-455: The administrative capital of his Empire and revived elaborate Roman customs and Byzantine court ceremonies. During his time in Italy, the Emperor and the Pope attempted to reform the Church, and confiscated church property was returned to the respective religious institutions. Additionally, after the death of the Bishop of Halberstadt in November 996, who had been one of the masterminds behind

15364-725: The age of 14. At an assembly of the Imperial Diet held in Solingen in September 994, Otto III was granted the ability to fully govern the kingdom without the need of a regent. With this, Adelaide retired to a nunnery she had founded at Selz in Alsace . Although she never became a nun, she spent the rest of her days there in the service of the Church and in acts of charity. As Otto III was still unmarried, from 995 until 997 his older sister Sophia accompanied him and acted as his consort. One of Otto III's first actions as an independent ruler

15531-611: The age of 31. She was buried in the Church of St. Pantaleon in Cologne . Because Otto III was still a child (only eleven when his mother died), his grandmother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy , became regent, together with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, until he became old enough to rule on his own in 994. As Otto III grew in age, the authority of his grandmother gradually waned until 994 when Otto III reached

15698-562: The age of six onward, Otto III would receive education and training from Bernward of Hildesheim and Gerbert d'Aurillac . During the regency of Theophanu, the Great Gandersheim Conflict broke out, concerning control of Gandersheim Abbey and its estates. Both the Archbishop of Mainz and the Bishop of Hildesheim claimed authority over the abbey, including the authority to anoint the abbey's nuns . The conflict began in 989 when Otto III's older sister Sophia became

15865-401: The annual tribute to Germany. This action caused Henry I's son and successor Otto I to launch an invasion of Bohemia. Following the initial invasion, the conflict deteriorated into a series of border raids that lasted until 950 when Otto I and Boleslaus I signed a peace treaty. Boleslaus I agreed to resume paying tribute and to recognize Otto I as his overlord. The Duchy was then incorporated into

16032-530: The bishop in perpetuity. Putting down the Slavic forces in eastern Saxony, Otto III began his second expedition into Italy in December 997. Accompanied by his sister Sophia into Italy, Otto III named his aunt Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg , as his regent in Germany, becoming the first non-duke or bishop to serve in that capacity. Otto III peacefully retook Rome in February 998 when the Roman aristocracy agreed to

16199-615: The boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire. Since 911, the various German princes had elected the King of the Germans from among their peers. The King of the Germans would then be crowned as emperor following the precedent set by Charlemagne, during the period of 962–1530. Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned by the pope, and his successor, Ferdinand I , merely adopted the title of "Emperor elect" in 1558. The final Holy Roman emperor-elect, Francis II , abdicated in 1806 during

16366-567: The century of war were enormous, particularly owing to the plague (the Black Death , usually considered an outbreak of bubonic plague ), which arrived from Italy in 1348, spreading rapidly up the Rhône valley and thence across most of the country: it is estimated that a population of some 18–20 million in modern-day France at the time of the 1328 hearth tax returns had been reduced 150 years later by 50 percent or more. The Renaissance era

16533-465: The child king. Imitating similar ceremonies carried out under Otto I in 936 and Otto II in 961, the dukes served Otto III as his ceremonial steward , chamberlain , cupbearer , and marshal , respectively. This service symbolized the loyalty of the dukes to Otto III and their willingness to serve him. Most significant was the submission of Henry II, who demonstrated his loyalty to his cousin despite his failed rebellion two years earlier. The next year, from

16700-482: The city in 998, reinstalled Gregory V, and executed both Crescentius II and John XVI. When Gregory V died in 999, Otto III installed Sylvester II as the new pope. Otto III's actions throughout his life further strengthened imperial control over the Catholic Church . From the beginning of his reign, Otto III faced opposition from the Slavs along the eastern frontier. Following the death of his father in 983,

16867-458: The city of Breisach , but at the last minute, Henry's resolve weakened. Nevertheless, Lothair continued to campaign into German lands and succeeded in overrunning the Verdun by March 985. Henry II took the young Otto III and traveled to Saxony . There, Henry II invited all the great nobles of the kingdom to celebrate Palm Sunday at Magdeburg for 985. He then campaigned openly for his claim to

17034-405: The city of Rome, which had revolted under the leadership of Crescentius II , and through it the papacy . Crowned as emperor, Otto III put down the Roman rebellion and installed his cousin as Pope Gregory V , the first pope of German descent. After the Emperor had pardoned him and left the city, Crescentius II again rebelled, deposing Gregory V and installing John XVI as pope. Otto III returned to

17201-468: The city. After taking the crown in 994, Otto III faced first a Slavic rebellion, which he put down, and then an attempt by Crescentius II to seize power in Italy. When Otto III turned his attention to Italy, he not only intended to be crowned Emperor but also to come to the aid of Pope John XV , who had been forced to flee Rome. Otto set out for Italy from Ratisbon in March 996. In Verona , he became

17368-521: The coronation of Charlemagne, his successors maintained the title until the death of Berengar I of Italy in 924. The comparatively brief interregnum between 924 and the coronation of Otto the Great in 962 is taken as marking the transition from the Frankish Empire to the Holy Roman Empire . Under the Ottonians , much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within

17535-696: The coronation of the German kings. Otto II stayed behind to address military action against the Muslims. While still in central Italy, however, Otto II suddenly died on 7 December 983, and was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome . Otto III was crowned as king on Christmas Day 983, three weeks after his father's death, by Willigis , the archbishop of Mainz , and by John X , the archbishop of Ravenna . News of Otto II's death first reached Germany shortly after his son's coronation. The unresolved problems in southern Italy and

17702-489: The country, repealing the Edict of Nantes in 1685. It is estimated that anywhere between 150,000 and 300,000 Protestants fled France during the wave of persecution that followed the repeal, (following " Huguenots " beginning a hundred and fifty years earlier until the end of the 18th century) costing the country a great many intellectuals, artisans, and other valuable people. Persecution extended to unorthodox Roman Catholics like

17869-588: The crown unrivalled power in senior ecclesiastical appointments, France was deeply affected by the Protestant Reformation 's attempt to break the hegemony of Catholic Europe. A growing urban-based Protestant minority (later dubbed Huguenots ) faced ever harsher repression under the rule of Francis I's son King Henry II . After Henry II's death in a joust, the country was ruled by his widow Catherine de' Medici and her sons Francis II , Charles IX and Henry III . Renewed Catholic reaction headed by

18036-630: The death of both king and cardinal, the Peace of Westphalia (1648) secured universal acceptance of Germany's political and religious fragmentation, but the Regency of Anne of Austria and her minister Cardinal Mazarin experienced a civil uprising known as the Fronde (1648–1653) which expanded into a Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) . The Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) formalised France's seizure (1642) of

18203-553: The disputed vote of 1256 and the subsequent interregnum , suggests that by " immemorial custom ", seven princes had the right to elect the king and future emperor. The seven prince-electors are named in the Golden Bull of 1356 : the archbishop of Mainz , the archbishop of Trier , the archbishop of Cologne , the king of Bohemia , the count palatine of the Rhine , the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg . After 1438,

18370-713: The early years of Otto III's reign, even during Henry II's failed rebellion. In 983, following Otto II's defeat at the battle of Stilo , the Slavs revolted against Imperial control , forcing the Empire to abandon its territories east of the Elbe River in the Northern March and the Billung March . With the process of Christianization halted, the Slavs left the Empire in peace, and with Henry II's rebellion put down, Theophanu launched multiple campaigns to re-conquer

18537-459: The emperors were considered primus inter pares , regarded as first among equals among other Catholic monarchs across Europe. From an autocracy in Carolingian times (AD 800–924), the title by the 13th century evolved into an elective monarchy , with the emperor chosen by the prince-electors . Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, became de facto hereditary holders of

18704-515: The end of the Hundred Years' War: Prior to the French Revolution , the Catholic Church was the official state religion of the Kingdom of France. France was traditionally considered the Church's eldest daughter (French: Fille aînée de l'Église ), and the King of France always maintained close links to the Pope, receiving the title Most Christian Majesty from the Pope in 1464. However,

18871-483: The immediate one, received a papal coronation . The elector palatine's seat was conferred on the duke of Bavaria in 1621, but in 1648, in the wake of the Thirty Years' War , the elector palatine was restored, as the eighth elector. The Electorate of Hanover was added as a ninth elector in 1692, confirmed by the Imperial Diet in 1708. The whole college was reshuffled in the German mediatization of 1803 with

19038-623: The influence of Christianity by supporting mission work in Poland and through the crowning of Stephen I as the first Christian king of Hungary. Returning to Rome in 1001, Otto faced a rebellion by the Roman aristocracy, which forced him to flee the city. While marching to reclaim the city in 1002, Otto suffered a sudden fever and died in Castle Paterno in Faleria at the age of 21. With no clear heir to succeed him, his early death threw

19205-418: The initial reforms, Louis Philippe was little different from his predecessors. The old nobility was replaced by urban bourgeoisie, and the working class was excluded from voting. Louis Philippe appointed notable bourgeois as Prime Minister , like banker Casimir Périer , academic François Guizot , general Jean-de-Dieu Soult , and thus obtained the nickname of "Citizen King" ( Roi-Citoyen ). The July Monarchy

19372-402: The kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of England , although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The process of an election meant that the prime candidate had to make concessions, by which the voters were kept on his side, which was known as Wahlkapitulationen ( electoral capitulation ). Conrad was elected by

19539-501: The late 17th century by Louis XIV . The resulting exodus of Huguenots from the Kingdom of France created a brain drain , as many of them had occupied important places in society. Jews have a documented presence in France since at least the early Middle Ages . The Kingdom of France was a center of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, producing influential Jewish scholars such as Rashi and even hosting theological debates between Jews and Christians. Widespread persecution began in

19706-520: The lost eastern territories, beginning in 985. Even though he was only six at the time, Otto III personally participated in these campaigns. During the expedition of 986 against the Slavs, Otto III received the homage of Duke Mieszko I of Poland , who provided the Imperial army with military assistance and gave Otto III a camel . Although the Lutici were subdued for a time in 987, they continued to occupy

19873-647: The lower Seine became a source of particular concern when Duke William of Normandy took possession of the Kingdom of England by the Norman Conquest of 1066, making himself and his heirs the king's equal outside France (where he was still nominally subject to the Crown). Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou , and married France's newly single ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine , who ruled much of southwest France, in 1152. After defeating

20040-478: The mid 15th century. What is now eastern France (Lorraine, Arelat) was not part of Western Francia to begin with and was only incorporated into the kingdom during the early modern period . Territories inherited from Western Francia: Acquisitions during the 13th to 14th centuries: Acquisitions from the Plantagenet kings of England with the French victory in the Hundred Years' War 1453 Acquisitions after

20207-654: The name of Charles X . Charles X was a strong reactionary who supported the ultra-royalists and the Catholic Church . Under his reign, the censorship of newspapers was reinforced, the Anti-Sacrilege Act passed, and compensations to Émigrés were increased. However, the reign also witnessed the French intervention in the Greek Revolution in favour of the Greek rebels, and the first phase of

20374-520: The new Duke of Carinthia . The regency of Theophanu , from 984 until her death in 991, was largely spared internal revolt. She struggled throughout to reinstate the Diocese of Merseburg , which her husband Otto II had absorbed into the Archdiocese of Magdeburg in 981. Theophanu also retained Otto II's court chaplains , in particular Count Bernward of Hildesheim and Archbishop Willigis, who, as

20541-751: The northern Slavs and the Vikings, but he did successfully re-conquer Brandenburg in 993, and in 995 he subdued the Obotrite Slavs . In the fall of 995, after Otto III reached his majority, he again took to the field against the Lutici , this time aided by the Polish Duke Bolesław I the Brave . Then in 997 he had to deal with a new Lutician attack on Arneburg on the Elbe, which they managed to retake for

20708-497: The number of French Protestants ( Huguenots ) steadily swelled to 10 percent of the population, or roughly 1.8 million people. The ensuring French Wars of Religion , and particularly the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre , decimated the Huguenot community; Protestants declined to seven to eight percent of the kingdom's population by the end of the 16th century. The Edict of Nantes brought decades of respite until its revocation in

20875-563: The powerful dukes of Guise culminated in a massacre of Huguenots (1572), starting the first of the French Wars of Religion , during which English, German, and Spanish forces intervened on the side of rival Protestant and Catholic forces. Opposed to absolute monarchy, the Huguenot Monarchomachs theorized during this time the right of rebellion and the legitimacy of tyrannicide . The Wars of Religion culminated in

21042-576: The privileges of the Holy See laid out by Otto I. Under the Diploma Ottonianum issued by Otto I, the Emperor could only veto papal candidates. Otto III, however, had nominated and successfully installed his own candidate. The Emperor also refused to acknowledge the Donation of Constantine , which Otto III declared a forgery. Under a decree supposedly issued by Roman Emperor Constantine

21209-419: The rebels, including Crescentius II, were banished for their crimes. Pope Gregory V, however, wished to inaugurate his papal reign with acts of mercy and pleaded for clemency from the Emperor, who issued pardons to those he convicted. In particular, while Crescentius II was pardoned by Otto III, he was deprived of his title of Patricius but was permitted to live out his life in retirement at Rome. Following

21376-504: The reign of Charles the Simple (898–922), Vikings under Rollo from Scandinavia settled along the Seine, downstream from Paris, in a region that came to be known as Normandy . The Carolingians were to share the fate of their predecessors: after an intermittent power struggle between the two dynasties, the accession in 987 of Hugh Capet , Duke of France and Count of Paris, established

21543-443: The reign of King Louis XIV until the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars . The Spanish Empire lost its superpower status to France after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (but maintained the status of Great Power until the Napoleonic Wars and the Independence of Spanish America ). France lost its superpower status after Napoleon 's defeat against the British , Prussians and Russians in 1815 . Following

21710-409: The revolt was put down, Mieszko I swore loyalty to Otto II. When Otto II died suddenly in 983 and was succeeded by the three-year old Otto III, Mieszko I again supported Henry II in his bid for the German throne. When Henry's revolt failed, Mieszko I swore loyalty to Otto III. Mieszko I's son Bolesław I succeeded him as Duke in 992, and Poland continued its alliance with the Empire. Polish forces joined

21877-539: The secular and ecclesiastical magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established the principle of male primogeniture , which became codified in the Salic law . During the Late Middle Ages , rivalry between the Capetian dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of France and their vassals the House of Plantagenet , who also ruled the Kingdom of England as part of their so-called competing Angevin Empire , resulted in many armed struggles. The most notorious of them all are

22044-422: The series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) in which the kings of England laid claim to the French throne. Emerging victorious from said conflicts, France subsequently sought to extend its influence into Italy , but after initial gains was defeated by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in the ensuing Italian Wars (1494–1559). France in the early modern era was increasingly centralised;

22211-454: The skin of Saint Bartholomew to the relics housed there. Around 960, the Polish Piast dynasty under Mieszko I had extended the Duchy of Poland beyond the Oder River in an effort to conquer the Polabian Slavs , who lived along the Elbe River. This brought the Polans into Germany's sphere of influence and into conflict with Otto I's Kingdom of Germany , who also desired to conquer the Polabian Slavs. Otto I sent his trusted lieutenant,

22378-416: The support of existing Italian religious communities. For instance, he granted royal immunity to the Abbey of San Salvatore, a rich monastery along the shores of the Lago di Bientina in Tuscany. Through the election of Gregory V, Otto III exercised greater control over the Church than his grandfather Otto I had decades earlier. The Emperor quickly demonstrated his intention to withdraw Imperial support for

22545-489: The synod, Otto III appointed Gerbert of Aurillac, the Archbishop of Reims , to be his tutor. Counseled by Gerbert and Bishop Adalbert of Prague , Otto III set out to reorganize the Empire. Influenced by the ruin of ancient Rome and perhaps by his Byzantine mother, Otto III dreamed of restoring the glory and power of the Roman Empire , with himself at the head of a theocratic state . He also introduced some Byzantine court customs. To shore up his power in Italy, Otto III sought

22712-417: The term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser ("Roman-German emperor") is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman emperor on one hand, and that of German emperor ( Deutscher Kaiser ) on the other. The English term "Holy Roman Emperor" is a modern shorthand for "emperor of the Holy Roman Empire" not corresponding to the historical style or title, i.e., the adjective "holy" is not intended as modifying "emperor";

22879-420: The throne and to allow Otto III's mother Theophanu to serve as regent until her death in 991. Otto III was then still a child, so his grandmother, Adelaide of Italy , served as regent until 994. In 996, Otto III marched to Italy to claim the titles of king of Italy and Holy Roman emperor , which had been left unclaimed since the death of Otto II in 983. Otto III also sought to reestablish Imperial control over

23046-486: The throne for himself. According to Gerbert of Aurillac , Henry II adopted a Byzantine -style joint-kingship. Towards the end of 984, Henry II sought to form alliances between himself and other important figures in the Ottonian world, chief among them his cousin King Lothar of France . In exchange for Lothar's agreement to make Henry II king of Germany, Henry II agreed to relinquish Lotharingia to Lothar. The two agreed to join their armies on 1 February 985, in order to take

23213-430: The throne would end up recreating the grand multi-national Empire of Charles V ; of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and the Spanish territories in Italy, which would also grossly upset the power balance. However, the rest of Europe would not stand for his ambitions in Spain, and so the long War of the Spanish Succession began (1701–1714), a mere three years after the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697, a.k.a. "War of

23380-424: The time Duke of Saxony and King of Germany . Because the King of Germany was an elected position, being elected King of Germany was functionally a pre-requisite to being crowned Holy Roman Emperor. By the 13th century, the Prince-electors became formalized as a specific body of seven electors, consisting of three bishops and four secular princes. Through the middle 15th century, the electors chose freely from among

23547-407: The time of Constantine I ( r.  306–337 ), the Roman Emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity . The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Great Church . Emperors considered themselves responsible to God for the spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had

23714-428: The title "King of Navarre" through the end of the monarchy). France in the Middle Ages was a decentralised, feudal monarchy. In Brittany and Catalonia (the latter now a part of Spain), as well as Aquitaine , the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine , Provence and East Burgundy were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France. West Frankish kings were initially elected by

23881-413: The title of Emperor in the West lapsed after the death of Julius Nepos in 480, although the rulers of the barbarian kingdoms continued to recognize the authority of the Eastern Emperor at least nominally well into the 6th century. While the reconquest of Justinian I had re-established Byzantine presence in the Italian Peninsula , religious frictions existed with the Papacy who sought dominance over

24048-431: The title of King of Germany ( Rex Teutonicorum , lit.   ' King of the Teutons ' ) throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. The Holy Roman Emperor title provided the highest prestige among medieval Catholic monarchs , because the empire was considered by the Catholic Church to be the only successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period . Thus, in theory and diplomacy,

24215-403: The title of Emperor without coronation in Rome, though the title was qualified as Electus Romanorum Imperator ("elected Emperor of the Romans"). Maximilian's successors each adopted the same titulature, usually on becoming the sole ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian's predecessor Frederick III was the last to be crowned Emperor by the Pope in Rome, while Maximilian's successor Charles V

24382-468: The title remained in the House of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine , with the brief exception of Charles VII , who was a Wittelsbach . Maximilian I (emperor 1508–1519) and his successors no longer traveled to Rome to be crowned as emperor by the pope. Maximilian, therefore, named himself elected Roman emperor ( Erwählter Römischer Kaiser ) in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors. Of his successors, only Charles V ,

24549-402: The title, notably the Ottonians (962–1024) and the Salians (1027–1125). Following the late medieval crisis of government , the Habsburgs kept possession of the title (with only one interruption ) from 1440 to 1806. The final emperors were from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine , from 1765 to 1806. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Francis II , after a devastating defeat by Napoleon at

24716-554: The titles "the Servant of Jesus Christ ," "the Servant of the Apostles ", "Consul of the Senate and People of Rome," and "Emperor of the World". Between 998 and 1000, Otto III made several pilgrimages . In 999, he made a pilgrimage from Gargano to Benevento , where he met with the hermit monk Romuald and the Abbot Nilus the Younger (at that time a highly venerated religious figure) in order to atone for executing Crescentius II after promising his safety. During this particular pilgrimage, his cousin Pope Gregory V died in Rome after

24883-401: The various Napoleonic Wars . Following the French Revolution (1789–99) and the First French Empire under Napoleon (1804–1814), the monarchy was restored when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the House of Bourbon in 1814. However the deposed Emperor Napoleon I returned triumphantly to Paris from his exile in Elba and ruled France for a short period known as

25050-418: The way for France to undertake the long Italian Wars (1494–1559), which marked the beginning of early modern France. French efforts to gain dominance resulted only in the increased power of the House of Habsburg . Barely were the Italian Wars over, when France was plunged into a domestic crisis with far-reaching consequences. Despite the conclusion of a Concordat between France and the Papacy (1516), granting

25217-464: The will of King Charles, which left the entire Spanish Empire to Louis's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou , (1683–1746). Essentially, Spain was to become a perpetual ally and even obedient satellite of France, ruled by a king who would carry out orders from Versailles. Realizing how this would upset the balance of power, the other European rulers were outraged. However, most of the alternatives were equally undesirable. For example, putting another Habsburg on

25384-427: The young king's attention. In September 991, when Otto III was eleven, Slavonic raiders captured the city of Brandenburg . In 992 this invasion, as well as an incursion of Viking raiders, forced Otto III to lead his army against the invaders, and he suffered a crushing defeat in this campaign. The next year, Germany suffered an outbreak of famine and pestilence. In 994 and 995, Otto III led fruitless campaigns against

25551-407: Was Europe's richest, largest, most populous, powerful and influential country. In parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. In the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over 10,000,000 square kilometres (3,900,000 sq mi), the second-largest empire in the world at the time behind

25718-430: Was a direct possession of the German kings. The Franconian nobles, led by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz (the Primate of Germany ) and Conrad I, Duke of Swabia , refused to abandon Otto III. Fearing outright civil war, Henry II relinquished Otto III to the joint-regency of his mother and grandmother on 29 June 985. In return for his submission, Henry II was restored as the Duke of Bavaria , replacing Henry III who became

25885-478: Was a powder keg ready to explode. On the eve of the French Revolution of July 1789, France was in a profound institutional and financial crisis, but the ideas of the Enlightenment had begun to permeate the educated classes of society. On September 3, 1791, the absolute monarchy which had governed France for 948 years was forced to limit its power and become a provisional constitutional monarchy. However, this too would not last very long and on September 21, 1792,

26052-442: Was able to imprison John XIV in the Tomb of Hadrian . Four months later, on 20 August 984, John XIV died in his prison, either starved or poisoned, probably on the orders of Boniface. With Otto's regency seated in Germany, Crescentius II took the title of Patricius Romanorum ( Patrician of the Romans ) and became the effective ruler of Rome, although he did not act entirely independently of central authority, presenting himself as

26219-414: Was beset by corruption scandals and financial crisis. The opposition of the King was composed of Legitimists , supporting the Count of Chambord , Bourbon claimant to the throne, and of Bonapartists and Republicans , who fought against royalty and supported the principles of democracy. The King tried to suppress the opposition with censorship, but when the Campagne des banquets ("Banquets' Campaign")

26386-408: Was crowned Emperor of the Romans ( Imperator Romanorum ) by Pope Leo III , in opposition to Empress Irene , who was then ruling the Roman Empire from Constantinople. Charlemagne's descendants from the Carolingian Dynasty continued to be crowned Emperor until 899, excepting a brief period when the Imperial crown was awarded to the Widonid Dukes of Spoleto . There is some contention as to whether

26553-497: Was in Pavia, Crescentius II, fearing the king's march on Rome, reconciled with Otto III and agreed to accept his nominee as pope. While in Ravenna , Otto III nominated his cousin and court chaplain Bruno, who was then only twenty-three years old, and sent him to Rome with Archbishop Willigis to secure the city. In early May 996, Bruno was consecrated as Gregory V , the first pope of German nationality. Despite submitting to Otto III, Crescentius shut himself in his family's stronghold,

26720-425: Was noted for the emergence of powerful centralized institutions, as well as a flourishing culture (much of it imported from Italy ). The kings built a strong fiscal system, which heightened the power of the king to raise armies that overawed the local nobility. In Paris especially there emerged strong traditions in literature, art and music. The prevailing style was classical . The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts

26887-574: Was released from prison. As Otto III's nearest male Ottonian relative, Henry II claimed the regency over his infant cousin. Archbishop of Cologne Warin granted Henry II the regency without substantial opposition. Only Otto III's mother Theophanu objected, along with his grandmother, the Dowager Empress Adelaide of Italy , and his aunt, Abbess Matilda of Quedlinburg . Adelaide and Matilda, however, were both in Italy and unable to press their objections. As regent, Henry II took actions aimed less at guardianship of his infant cousin and more at claiming

27054-412: Was repressed in February 1848, riots and seditions erupted in Paris and later all France, resulting in the February Revolution . The National Guard refused to repress the rebellion, resulting in Louis Philippe abdicating and fleeing to England. On 24 February 1848, the monarchy was abolished and the Second Republic was proclaimed. Despite later attempts to re-establish the Kingdom in the 1870s, during

27221-591: Was signed into law by Francis I in 1539. Largely the work of Chancellor Guillaume Poyet , it dealt with a number of government, judicial and ecclesiastical matters. Articles 110 and 111, the most famous, called for the use of the French language in all legal acts, notarised contracts and official legislation. After the Hundred Years' War, Charles VIII of France signed three additional treaties with Henry VII of England , Emperor Maximilian I , and Ferdinand II of Aragon respectively at Étaples (1492), Senlis (1493) and Barcelona (1493). These three treaties cleared

27388-416: Was succeeded by the three-year old Otto III, Boleslaus II again supported Henry II in his bid for the German throne. As in 977, Henry's bid failed, and Boleslaus II swore loyalty to Otto III. Holy Roman emperor The Holy Roman Emperor , originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( Latin : Imperator Romanorum ; German : Kaiser der Römer ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as

27555-423: Was the dominant power in Europe, aided by the diplomacy of Cardinal Richelieu's successor as the King's chief minister, (1642–61) Cardinal Jules Mazarin , (1602–1661). Cardinal Mazarin oversaw the creation of a French Royal Navy that rivalled England's , expanding it from 25 ships to almost 200. The size of the French Royal Army was also considerably increased. Renewed wars (the War of Devolution , 1667–1668 and

27722-451: Was the last to be crowned by the pope, though in Bologna , in 1530. The Emperor was crowned in a special ceremony, traditionally performed by the Pope in Rome . Without that coronation, no king, despite exercising all powers, could call himself Emperor. In 1508, Pope Julius II allowed Maximilian I to use the title of Emperor without coronation in Rome, though the title was qualified as Electus Romanorum Imperator ("elected Emperor of

27889-400: Was to appoint Heribert of Cologne as his chancellor over Italy, a position he would hold until Otto's death in 1002. Otto III followed in his grandfather Otto I's footsteps in the beginning of his reign, by appointing a new pope, Gregory V, and leaving Rome. Gregory V was expelled and Otto III returned to Rome in 998 where he stayed permanently until his death. In the summer of 995, Otto sent

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