Editing Adolf, King of the Romans (section)

== Election as King of the Romans ==

[[File:Adolf von nassau montanus.JPG|thumb|Portrait by Arnold Montanus, 1662]]

Rudolf I of Habsburg died on 15 July 1291. For many years before his death, Rudolf had tried to secure the election of his eldest son [[Albert I of Habsburg|Albert]] (Albrecht) as his successor. He was thwarted, however, by the opposition of the Archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, and the [[List of rulers of Bohemia|King of Bohemia]], [[Wenceslaus II of Bohemia|Wenceslaus (''Václav/Wenzel'') II]]. Only the Count Palatine [[Louis II, Duke of Bavaria|Louis II of Upper Bavaria]] "the Rigorous" promised to choose Albert. Wenceslaus, despite Rudolf's recognition of his electoral vote, refused to support Albert because he would not cede [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]] to him. He took the side of the nobles in the core Habsburg areas of [[Swabia]] and in their newly acquired territories in [[Austria]], with whom Albert was unpopular. Wenceslaus was supported by Duke [[Otto III, Duke of Bavaria|Otto III of Lower Bavaria]], whose family were traditional enemies of the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]].{{sfn|Herde|2000|pp=515–516}} Wenceslaus succeeded in bringing the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony over to his side: [[Albert II, Duke of Saxony|Albert II of Saxony]] signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus; [[List of rulers of Brandenburg|Otto IV of Brandenburg]] made a similar commitment.

Archbishop Siegfried believed that the Emperor should not receive the crown as an inheritance from his father, but should be freely selected by the College of Electors. He convinced the [[Archbishopric of Mainz|Archbishop of Mainz]], {{Interlanguage link|Gerard II of Eppstein|de|3=Gerhard II. von Eppstein}}, to select a king who would principally serve their interests. Gerard in turn recruited the new [[Archbishopric of Trier|Archbishop of Trier]], [[Bohemond I (Archbishop of Trier)|Bohemund I]]. Thereupon, the Count Palatine was forced to submit to the majority of the College of Electors. Siegfried therefore proposed to the Elector College to select Adolf of Nassau as king. They were ready to elect him, provided he make extensive concessions to the Electors and follow their political demands.

A few days before the election, on 27 April 1292, the first of the electors, Archbishop Siegfried issued the [[Treaty of Andernach (1292)|Treaty of Andernach]], stating that for Adolf to be chosen king he must promise a long list of acknowledgments of possession (including the imperial cities of [[Dortmund]] and [[Duisburg]], and the Vogtship of [[Essen]]), pledges of imperial cities and castles, and a sum of 25,000 marks in silver. Furthermore, Adolf promised assistance against specifically listed opponents, but also the general promise that he would not admit any enemy of Siegfried II into his council. After the election, Adolf had to give the archbishop sufficient collateral for the fulfilment of the promise; otherwise he would lose his throne. The last clause is evidence of the fact that at the end of the 13th century, the coronation of the king as the constitutive moment of his rule was still very critical. Adolf promised the archbishop to ask him first for his coronation only after he had raised the agreed collateral.

The other electors extracted similar concessions from Adolf, but only after the election. Among the most far-reaching were the concessions to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia on 30 June 1292. Adolf promised Wenceslaus to remove the two duchies of [[Austria]] and [[Styria]] from Albert of Habsburg. This was to be done as the previous King Rudolf had removed these territories from King [[Ottokar II of Bohemia]], the father of Wenceslaus. Albert would be charged to agree to this arrangement at a court hearing. If Albert would not bend, the decision of the court would be executed by force within a year. Wenceslaus would then recover the lost territories of his father. Gerhard, the Archbishop of Mainz would receive the imperial cities of [[Mühlhausen]] and [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]], which corresponded with the interests of Mainz in the [[Thuringia]]n region. Furthermore, Gerhard received financial benefits. Like his counterpart in Cologne, the Mainz elector also forbade the presence of his opponents in Adolf’s court. In comparison to the benefits which the electors of Mainz, Cologne and Bohemian received, the donations to the Count Palatine and the Archbishop of Trier were modest.

On 5 May 1292 in [[Frankfurt am Main]], the Archbishop of Mainz, in the name of all the electors, elected Adolf [[List of German monarchs|King of the Germans]] (Emperor-Elect).{{sfn|Herde|2000|p=516}} He was crowned in [[Aachen]] on 24 June by the Archbishop of Cologne.