Holy+Roman+Empire

Tim Doody

“The Holy Roman Empire is a particularly misleading name for Europe's largest collective of kingdoms and fiefdoms, regardless which way one looks at it. For starters, it is the Byzantine Empire that truly carries on the legacy of the ancient Romans, and the notion that the Kaiser (the Germanic name for "Emperor") truly serves the Roman Catholic Church is presently quite laughable.” ( Medieval Total War ) This empire consisted of parts of modern day Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, and Slovenia. The empire’s golden age was when Charlemagne was crowned Kaiser in 800. He built the empire in size and forged the name of his land. Then when he passed there was a time of darkness. Then someone turned on a light. Otto, son of Henry, would be elected king in 936. He expanded this empire with bloody wars and secret agreements. Otto claimed to be Charlemagne's successor. The empire is most famous for it’s size and of all the ethnic groups it united. Back in medieval times all kingdoms were ruled by kings and queens. The Holy Roman Empire’s Kaiser was elected then appointed by the pope. In a time of monarchy a democracy like this flourished. It may not be the same as it the United States was but it still was a start to advanced civilization. Reichstag, the governing body of the empire, could in fact over power the Kaiser. The transportation back then was a good four legged horse. So how could an empire make up about ten modern day countries. The land was immense in these times. No one had seen anything like it. Empire’s like this took years to unite and that’s just what the Kaiser’s did. They built roads and stables. It took a strong army to build. That’s another thing they were well known for. There armored knights and strong pikemen won them many battles and wars. The Holy Roman Empire is considered the equivalent of the new European Union. They manage Europe and the Euro, the currency in Europe. This empire has changed Central Europe in mostly positive ways. It is now the modern day country of Germany while the other ethnic groups have separated to other countries. Many keeps and castles of the feudal lords in the empire still stand today. Uniting these groups of people allowed them to share a similar religion and culture bringing the population of the continent closer. The seeds of democracy were planted in this area and would begin to bloom over the years. The Holy Roman Empire was violent in battle, but left major good marks on Europe that made it how it is today.