Holy+Roman+Empire

Holy Roman Empire By:Jack Yungblut

The Holy Roman Empire was a powerful empire during the Medieval times. It ruled from 800 until 1806 in Europe. The present day countries that it was located on are Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France and Italy.  The Holy Roman Empire was started by Charlemagne and Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800. They created the Empire to join together Charlemagne's kingdom and the papacy. This lasted until 840 when Charlemagne died and his grandsons split the empire into three kingdoms .

The geography of the Holy Roman Empire was very helpful to them. They had access to many rivers like the Rhine, seas like the Adriatic, North, and Mediterranean, and oceans like the Atlantic. This could allow them to trade easily but it also hurt them in a big way. All of the ports along these waterways brought in merchants from around the world which spread the black death.

 There were many important people that helped the empire become successful. Charlemagne: Helped found the empire and ruled it until he died in 814 King Otto I: Crowned by Pope John XII.He ruled the empire during the 1200's King Charles V: Ruled empire during 1500's Ferdinand II: Ruled from 1452-1516, impacted the 30 years war One of the most important events of the Holy Roman Empire was the Thirty Years War. The Thirty Years War happened when Protestants were becoming unhappy with their rights in the empire, especially in Bohemia. One day all of the turmoil finally went to the next level and the Defenestration of Prague happened. The Defenestration of Prague is what sparked the war. This is what happened. Protestant leaders that were angry at catholic leaders for not letting protestant churches to be built, captured the catholic leaders and found them guilty of violation of the right of the freedom of religion. The protestants then threw the catholics out of a 30 meter tall window and as story has it they landed in a pile of cow manure. Fighting continued from then until the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The result of these events protestants gained more freedoms and rights, it took away some of the power of the Holy Roman Empire, and it caused a death toll larger than the Black Death. An effect of these events on today is it showed all leaders that they needed a military that was ready to fight at all times.

The pope had a very big influence on the empire. In order for an emperor to become emperor of the empire he would have to be crowned by the pope. The pope crowned every emperor until Charles V who was the last emperor. Bibliography: Ingrado, Charles W. "Holy Roman Empire." __World Book 2002__. Chicago: World Book Inc, 2002. 298-99. __ Zum.de __. Thirty Years War. 16 Apr. 2009 .

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