someone tell me about the history of the holy roman empire, please~<3
or just parts and cool bits of it~<3
@TipsyTentacle depends on what you mean! the first "Holy Roman Emperor" was Charles the Great (Charlemagne), whom the pope named as such on Christmas Day in A.D. 800. His line of succession, the Carolingian dynasty, is considered by some to be the start of the "Holy Roman Empire", but I think the consensus is that the "Holy Roman Empire" as an entity began its existence when Otto I of Saxony consolidated power in Germany and Northern Italy, eventually being (like Charles) crowned "Holy Roman Emperor" by the pope, this time in A.D. 962.
@TipsyTentacle The Holy Roman Empire fluctuated widely in extent and power over the next several centuries; despite the name "Roman" the center of gravity of the Empire was always German, and its hold over the Italian provinces was never very secure. Eventually the Holy Roman Emperor devolved into an increasingly loose and invertebrate association of German principalities, with hundreds of little kings and dukes and barons all controlling their own terrorities in the name of a weak, figurehead Emperor. The last really strong Holy Roman Emperor was Charles V of Spain.
@TipsyTentacle what little integrity the Holy Roman Empire had left was finally torn completely to pieces by the Protestant Reformation, whose divisive effect was especially pronounced in Germany because all the little kingdoms &c. split up according to whether they stayed Catholic or broke away. The resulting civil war snowballed, with involvement from multiple external powers, into the bruising Thirty Years' War, which ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The peace agreement allowed all the individual states to decide their religious affiliation independently of one another, and the Holy Roman Empire effectively dissolved.
@kara_dreamer Are you a historian? :o You know so much :o
@feli I used to read up on history a lot, just from the library. I think I may have wanted to be a historian for a time in junior high, but mostly it's been a strictly amateur interest. been too closely focused on Europe though :/ oh, and I do have a degree in _Classics_, but that's a rather small subset of history...
@kara_dreamer ohmygosh thank you <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 :D :D :D :D :D :D <3 <3 <3 <3 <3