Editing Holy Roman Emperor (section)

==Title==
{{See also|Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor}}
{{Further|Emperor|Translatio imperii|Problem of two emperors}}
[[File:Wapen 1545 Kaiserwappen des Heiligen Römischen Reichs Polychromie.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Coats of arms of the Holy Roman Empire#Prince-electors|Coats of arms]] of prince electors surround the [[Coats of arms of the Holy Roman Empire#Imperial Coat of arms|imperial coat of arms]]; from a 1545 armorial. Electors voted in an Imperial Diet for a new Holy Roman Emperor.]]
[[File:Empereur en majesté (musée de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg) (36005712991).jpg|thumb|upright|Depiction of [[Charlemagne]] in a 12th-century stained glass window, [[Strasbourg Cathedral]], now at [[Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame]].]]

From the time of [[Constantine I]] ({{Reign|306|337}}), the [[Roman Emperor]]s had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of [[State church of the Roman Empire|Christianity]]. The [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|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 a duty to help the Church define and maintain [[Orthodoxy#Christianity|orthodoxy]]. The emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out [[Heresy in Christianity|heresies]], and uphold ecclesiastical unity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Jeffrey |title=The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476–752 |location=London |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |date=1979 |pages=14–15}}</ref> Both the title and connection between Emperor and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Church]] continued in the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]] throughout the medieval period ([[Empire of Nicaea|in exile]] during 1204&ndash;1261). The [[First seven ecumenical councils|ecumenical councils]] of the 5th to 8th centuries were convoked by the [[Eastern Roman Emperor]]s.{{Sfn|Richards|1979|p=16}}

In [[Western Roman Empire|Western Europe]], 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 Italy|Byzantine presence in the Italian Peninsula]], religious frictions existed with the [[Papacy]] who sought dominance over 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 [[Frankish Kingdom|Franks]] for protection. In 800 [[Pope Leo III]] owed a great debt to [[Charlemagne]], the [[King of the Franks]] and [[King of Italy#Kingdom of Italy (781–962)|King of Italy]], for securing his life and position. By this time, the Eastern Emperor [[Constantine VI]] had been deposed in 797 and replaced as monarch by his mother, [[Irene of Athens|Irene]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bryce |first=James |author-link=James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce |title=The Holy Roman Empire |orig-date=1864 |publisher=Macmillan |date=1968 |pages=62–64}}</ref>

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 ({{Lang|la|Imperator Romanorum}}), the successor of Constantine VI as Roman emperor, using the concept of ''[[translatio imperii]]''.<ref name=":0"/> On his coins, the name and title used by Charlemagne is ''Karolus Imperator Augustus''. In documents, he used ''Imperator Augustus Romanum gubernans Imperium'' ("Emperor Augustus, governing the Roman Empire") and {{Lang|la|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, a label they reserved for themselves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klewitz |first=Hans-Walter |year=1943 |title=Eduard Eichmann, die Kaiserkrönung im Abendland. Ein Beitrag zur, Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des kirchlichen Rechts, der Liturgie und der Kirchenpolitik |journal=Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Kanonistische Abteilung |volume=32 |pages=509–525 |doi=10.7767/zrgka.1943.32.1.509 |s2cid=183386465}}</ref>

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, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry&nbsp;IV]] and [[Pope Gregory VII]].

After the coronation of Charlemagne, his successors maintained the title until the death of [[Berengar&nbsp;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 the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire.

Since 911, the various [[Princes of the Holy Roman Empire|German princes]] had elected the ''[[Kingdom of Germany|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&ndash;1530. [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] was the last emperor to be crowned by the pope, and his successor, [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]], merely adopted the title of "Emperor elect" in 1558. The final Holy Roman emperor-elect, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis&nbsp;II]], abdicated in 1806 during the [[Napoleonic War]]s 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, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick&nbsp;I Barbarossa]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Moraw |title=Heiliges Reich |series=[[Lexikon des Mittelalters]] |location=Munich & Zurich |publisher=Artemis |date=1977–1999 |volume=4 |at=Columns 2025–2028}}</ref>

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 the Roman Empire," thus constituting the elements of "Holy" and "Roman" in the imperial title.{{Sfn|Bryce|1968|page=530}}

The word ''Roman'' was a reflection of the principle of ''[[translatio imperii]]'' (or in this case ''restauratio imperii'') that regarded the Holy Roman emperors as the inheritors of the title of emperor of the [[Western Roman Empire]].

In German-language historiography, 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"; 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.<ref name="German-Roman">{{Cite book |title=The New International Encyclopædia |volume=10 |date=1927 |page=675}}; {{Cite book |author-link=Carlton J. H. Hayes |first=Carlton J. H. |last=Hayes |title=A Political and Cvltvral History of Modern Europe |volume=1 |date=1932 |page=225}}</ref>