Throughout his attempts, he received strong support from the Fugger family of Augsburg, one of the wealthiest families around at the time. Only after having paid enormous bribes to the electors, cunning Charles was able to get a hold of the crown. In their attempts to do so, both protagonists were forced to dig deep into their pockets. One could be crowned emperor by bribing the seven prince-electors. Coornhert, after Maarten van Heemskerck, Emperor Charles V surrounded by his defeated opponents, 1556 Henry VIII of England was quick to abandon his dream, but Francis I, king of France, stubbornly continued to pursue the title of Holy Roman Emperor.ĭirck Volckertsz. However, a few competitors had also set their sights on the crown. Maximilian had already been preparing his grandson to succeed him as Emperor for a while. On 12 January 1519, Maximilian of Austria, Charles’ grandfather, died. In reality, the Empire lacked true unity it was simply too divided, politically, culturally and even religiously. The Holy Roman Empire was called ‘Roman’ as it was considered the successor of the Roman Empire, and ‘Holy’ due to its links with the church. To truly become Emperor, one had to be crowned by the pope. This title wasn’t hereditary – rather, the Emperor would be elected by seven prince-electors. The Holy Roman Empire was a political union of both secular and ecclesiastical territories connected to the Roman-German Emperor. All of them accompanied Charles of Habsburg, who, the following day, would be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by three bishops in the Aachen Cathedral. the Prince of Orange, the Counts of Egmont and Horn, and various Spanish lords. The procession included regent of the Netherlands Margaret of Austria as well as a whole slew of bishops, princes, dukes and counts, e.g. The parade was so elaborate it took almost five hours for every aristocrat to arrive in the city. On 22 October 1520, an impressive procession of noblemen rode into the city of Aachen. (Copy after) Titian, Emperor Charles V, 1548
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |