Empire and papacy
From the middle of the 11th century the situation began to change. One cause was the rapid progress of European economic recovery, which brought shifts of power detrimental to Germany. More immediately important was the revival of the papacy, which the emperors had done so much to further. After Henry III’s death in 1056 the initiative passed into papal hands. It was favoured by the long minority—until 1065—of Henry IV (crowned 1084; died 1106), which enabled the papacy to act without fear of intervention from north of the Alps, and by the appearance of allies—particularly the Normans of the Kingdom of Sicily, who for their own purposes supported the papacy against the empire. As they reached maturity the peoples of Europe turned to the pope as leader of Christendom. Even within the imperial frontiers the emperor’s power meant more to the Germans than to the inhabitants of Burgundy or of Italy, for whom it betokened subjection to German rule. Furthermore, only Otto III—and he for less than four years—made Rome the seat of empire; all the rest, from Charlemagne onward, concentrated their efforts north of the Alps. In practice, therefore, the empire was a very imperfect realization of the ideal of an imperium Christianum; and as soon as it was in a position to vindicate its independence, the papacy found many adherents.
Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
-
Holy Roman Empire - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
-
For many centuries, beginning in AD 800, the Holy Roman Empire ruled over much of Europe. The lands of the empire originally included what are now Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, eastern France, and parts of northern and central Italy.
-
Holy Roman Empire - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
-
From Christmas Day in AD 800 until Aug. 6, 1806, there existed in Europe a peculiar political institution called the Holy Roman Empire. The name of the empire as it is known today did not come into general use until 1254. It has truly been said that this political arrangement was not holy, or Roman, or an empire. Any holiness attached to it came from the claims of the popes in their attempts to assert religious control in Europe. It was Roman to the extent that it tried to revive, without success, the political authority of the Roman Empire in the West as a countermeasure to the Byzantine Empire in the East. It was an empire in the loosest sense of the word-at no time was it able to consolidate unchallenged political control over the vast territories it pretended to rule. There was no central government, no unity of language, no common system of law, no sense of common loyalty among the many states within it. Over the centuries the empire’s boundaries shifted and shrank drastically.
The topic Holy Roman Empire is discussed at the following external Web sites.
Citations
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.