Editing Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

=== King of the Romans ===

On 11 July 1346, in consequence of an alliance between his father and [[Pope Clement VI]], relentless enemy of the emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]], Charles [[1346 Imperial election|was elected]] as Roman [[Anti-king|king in opposition]] to Louis by some of the [[prince-electors]] at [[Rhens]]. As he had previously promised to be subservient to Clement, he made extensive concessions to the pope in 1347. Confirming the papacy in the possession of vast territories, he promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to take no part in Italian affairs, and to defend and protect the church.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[File:Karte Böhmen unter Karl IV.png|thumb|left|[[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]] ruled by Charles IV]]

Charles IV was in a very weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was derisively referred to as a "Priests' King" (''Pfaffenkönig''). Many bishops and nearly all of the [[Imperial State|Imperial cities]] remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian. Worse still, Charles backed the wrong side in the [[Hundred Years' War]], losing his father and many of his best knights at the [[Battle of Crécy]] in August 1346, with Charles himself escaping from the field wounded.

Civil war in Germany was prevented, however, when Louis IV died on 11 October 1347, after suffering a stroke during a bear hunt. In January 1349, partisans from the [[House of Wittelsbach]] attempted to secure the election of [[Günther von Schwarzburg]] as king, but he attracted few supporters and was defeated by Charles at the [[siege of Eltville]] in May. Thereafter, Charles faced no direct threat to his claim to the Imperial throne.

Charles initially worked to secure his power base. [[Bohemia]] had remained untouched by the plague. [[Prague]] became his capital, and he rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, establishing the [[New Town, Prague|New Town]] (''Nové Město''). In 1348, he founded the [[Charles University in Prague]], which was later named after him and was the first university in [[Central Europe]]. This served as a training ground for bureaucrats and lawyers. Soon Prague emerged as the intellectual and cultural center of Central Europe.

[[File:Busta Karel IV.jpg|thumb|[[Bust (sculpture)|Bust]] of Charles IV in [[St. Vitus Cathedral]], 1370s]]

Having made good use of the difficulties of his opponents, Charles was again elected in [[Frankfurt]] on 17 June 1349 and re-crowned at [[Aachen]] on 25 July 1349. He was soon the undisputed ruler of the Empire. Gifts or promises had won the support of the Rhenish and [[Swabia]]n towns; a marriage alliance secured the friendship of the Habsburgs; and an alliance with [[Rudolf II, Duke of Bavaria|Rudolf II of Bavaria]], [[Count Palatine of the Rhine]], was obtained when Charles, who had become a widower in 1348, married Rudolph's daughter [[Anna of Bavaria|Anna]].<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1350, the king was visited at Prague by the Roman tribune [[Cola di Rienzo]], who urged him to go to Italy, where the poet [[Petrarch]] and the citizens of [[Florence]] also implored his presence.<ref name="F.X.1">[[Francesco Petrarca]] ''[[Epistolae familiares]]'' X.1, XII.1, XVIII.1; See also: E.H. Wilkins ''Life of Petrarch'' (Chicago, 1961) 97, 112, 134 resp.</ref> Turning a deaf ear to these entreaties, Charles kept Cola in prison for a year, and then handed him as a prisoner to Clement at [[Avignon]].<ref name=EB1911/>

Outside Prague, Charles attempted to expand the Bohemian crown lands, using his imperial authority to acquire fiefs in [[Silesia]], the [[Upper Palatinate]], and [[Franconia]]. The latter regions comprised "New Bohemia", a string of possessions intended to link Bohemia with the Luxemburg territories in the Rhineland. The Bohemian estates, however, were not willing to support Charles in these ventures. When Charles sought to codify Bohemian law in the [[Maiestas Carolina]] of 1355, he met with sharp resistance. After that point, Charles found it expedient to scale back his efforts at centralization.