Nuremberg Chronicle, 183v-184r, 1493

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Perhaps the best-known thing said of the Holy Roman Empire is attributed to Voltaire, who pronounced that it was in fact neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. 

And perhaps the widest-known fact concerning this strange polity is that Charlemagne was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Except that it isn’t true! The precise term wasn’t used until the thirteenth century, and in any case, Charlemagne’s empire was something rather different.  

So how to make sense of this chaotic and often squabbling mass of states – ranging from the small to the miniscule – in the very heart of Europe? Well we’ll begin at the beginning, with the Franks and Charlemagne (who does have a role to play after all!) and follow the expansion of Christendom eastwards through the tenth and eleventh centuries. 

Central to this story is the relationship between a succession of mostly German rulers and the pope in Rome. A relationship that begins with friendship and a sense of shared purpose, but soon deteriorates into one of rivalry and outright hostility – a tension which continues to create faction and strife throughout the middle ages.

As would-be emperors try to assert their supremacy and instal anti-popes in Rome, a succession of popes respond in kind – issuing bans of excommunication and inciting rebellions and revolts. In the middle of it all, dukes and prince-bishops, imperial knights, and Free Cities – anyone with the means, in fact – grabs hold of as much local power and independence as they possibly can, even if it often ends up being very local indeed.

The result is that nobody truly rules over the Holy Roman Empire, though many will try. Add to this strange mess the vital ingredient of religious division in the form of Protestantism and the Reformation, and we will see how the empire-that-is-not-an-empire (which formally ended in 1806) still holds many of the keys to understanding the Europe of today.

Oh. And we’ll be looking at some very fine towns and cities, magnificent castles and cathedrals, and many more cultural treasures as the story unfolds.

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