Holy Roman Empire Explained
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- čas přidán 8. 08. 2018
- Looking at the origins and history of the Holy Roman Empire, assessing the claim by Voltaire that it was not holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, and finally looking at the complex hierarchical political structure of the empire.
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if the Holy Roman Empire existed today? This video is a collaboration was RealLifeLore, who looked at that very question. Link here: • What if the Holy Roman...
MUSIC:
Kevin MacLeod - Suonatore di Liuto
incompetech.com/music/royalty...
Super excited to be doing this video as part of a collab with RealLifeLore. In this video I very briefly look at the history of the Holy Roman Empire, then look at the frequently used Voltaire quote that it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, and then finish by taking a deeper look at the political structure of the empire.
After this video, go check out RealLifeLore's video, if the Holy Roman Empire existed today: czcams.com/video/SIwNRwPR0K0/video.html
Thanks for all the continued support from my long-terms subs, and for any new ones: welcome!
WonderWhy: I believe we have John Green from Crash Course to thank for that quote. 😂
Gud vid mah boi. Thank you for your content.
Oh wow that explains a lot why RealLifeLore and you uploaded roughly at the same time.
It is called:
"Holy Roman Empire of the german nation" !!!
WonderWhy can I have a shout out?
Hey can you do a video explaining the Papal States?
holy roman empire is basically that one thing making shit difficult for historians
And for those poor souls studying it, like me.
just play eu 4 with meiou mod and you will know everything Lmao
@@utherlightbringer3868 hahahaha lol
@@utherlightbringer3868 But that's no fun, Ulm always conquer it all.
for me forming HRE is epic and hard goal in meiou better than conquering..especially if you stop italy leaving HRE
Playing EU IV makes it so much easier to understand
Lol, actually not really
Yep. Gotta love an irish minor being unanimously elected emperor 4 times in a row. Calm down offaly
If you really want to get the sense of it you should get Voltaire’s nightmare
@@njb1126 I prefer MEIOU & taxes
If you view it the right way, but there is some discrepancy given to being able to effect internal policy and taxation laws which are like half the mechanics of the empire and honestly if I had access to it I could absolutely destroy England financially and by proxy get France and Portugal to submit to the crown without so much as a revolt let alone a war which would free up the armies to cleansing the holy land of heresy and opening trade to china, the colonization of Taiwan and so much more but honestly it's hard enough on the graphics ,video card, processor and all that I don't think it would ever load if it included that aspect.
Curiosity: this Habsburg yellow is the same yellow in Brazil’s flag, since Leopoldina, from Austria, was the wife of Pedro I, first emperor of Brazil
Não seja babaca
@@vitorsilveira560 ?
Cool
Eita mundão
@@vitorsilveira560 Uai... tá lôca?
Where are my EU4 brethren?
Nate U Deus Akbar. May the Great kebabıni become a great holy roman emperor.
Here I am
Hehe
Here.
Ulm World Conquest with Brittany and Jan Mayen!
It’s such a shame that even in a German school I learned almost nothing about the HRE.
That's your problem, though, for not paying attention or (most probably) just forgetting what you had learned - it's definitely on the curriculum.
Good for you. Otherwise your brain would malfunction
I thought history class was replaced by an hour of flogging in Germany.
i tought people were taught to take arms and annex foreign european countries in Germany.
RapierNeedleCrime Same here in Czechia, the main problem is that nobody ever explained us anything, teachers just said what they've got in books without explaining anything, so we know that "something existed and happened", without knowing the context etc.
Holy Roman Empire: Exists
Roman Empire from the grave: You're not affiliated with me!
Not from the grave, more likely from the other side of Europe, from New Rome (Constantinople)
There were multiple times when a Western Roman Emperor who ruled was not formally recognized by the Eastern Roman Emperor, yet most today still refer to them as Roman Emperors. However, to make this circumstance even worse, the Pope didn't just declare Charlemagne another Western Roman Emperor or a Co-Emperor of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, he declared Charlemagne THE Roman Emperor while not recognizing Irene not just for the reasons of her being a women, but also for here taking the throne by force after killing the current Emperor. However, regardless, one of the prerequisites set for the marriage between Otto II of the Holy Roman Empire and princess Theophanu of the Eastern Roman Empire was the recognition of Otto II as a Co-Emperor. Therefore, yes, the Byzantine Empire did eventually recognize the Holy Roman Empire.
@@paulmayson3129 until 1453
Paul Mayson Istanbul:D
@@reinhardvanastrea3019 Istanbul is cringe
When your emperor refuses to travel into Italy at all during his reign, yet still has "Roman" in his name.
Same would be true for the Byzantines, wouldn't it...
@@Siegbert85 Eh they at least had a reason to not travel to Rome, religiuos schism and all. The Holy Roman Emperor could go to Rome whenever he wanted.
They also had a reason... it was expensive and dangerous.
FYI this was common practice in ancient Rome since the 3rd century (Neither Maximinus Thrax, nor Gordianus, nor any of the other "barracks emperors" in this time had ever been in Rome). The emperor was supposed to protect the borders and to be on perpetual campaign in the Roman understanding.
I guess you could say to the Italians that the Emperor… was "Rome-ing around."
That Voltaire quote is such a reddit tier quote.
He kinda was a redditor of the 1700s
@@DP-mz8fo MF was a proto-redditor
roman because its declared by the roman catholic church.
holy because the fucking pope crowns the emperor.
Empire because tell me this entity didn't do imperialism in the name of taking territory for itself with a straight face.
It’s a great quote but it’s been ruined by nerds
''Holy Roman Empire Explained''
me : IMPOSSIBLE!
Can't believe so many people are criticising WonderWhy for not uploading very often..
Personally, I just want to congratulate him for the great work he's been doing!
Your videos are great man!
After all, it is quality over quantity.
It’s funny how nobody complains about channels like oversimplified or historia civilis, that also take a bit to upload, in my opinion, wonderwhy, oversimplified and historia civilis have amazing, informative channels that have helped me a great deal to understand and get into history, so I say thank you to these three channels.
@@inferno__ Proper English would be with a British accent, hun. Your pfp has an American flag, so if you aren't a Brit with a self-contradictory profile picture, you should probably do the same before you judge others.
Also, there's no "normal" with language, every accent/dialect is "normal" for the people who live there.
Big brain
We have nice traditions in Bohemia (throw people from windows), we did it 3 times
Prostě Martin We should do it again, shouldn't We?
Štěpán Pytlík True :D
Bouncers should tell unruly bar patrons that they are about to be "defenestrated".
Yes and apparently very soft soil
Yeah, in medieval history you get to really know a place by those locations which have enough repeat instances of an absurdly specific crisis event. With Bohemia you learn about the *first* defenstration of Bohemia, then its sequels, with Russia you get the *first* False Dmitri, and so on.
Teacher: Today we are going to learn about the Holy Roman Empire
Kid who has put 5000 hours collectively into paradox games: my time has come
A marriage between
Charlemagne and Irene was proposed but things didn't work out I forget why. It would have been Rome 2.0 Ruled by a Germanic-Hellenic Dynasty.
One of the major reasons was Aetios.
🤮
@@spiffygonzales5160 there's 150 years between Irene of athens and otto ii
Great video, never understood why history classes never really talk about this period when in it was around for about a millennia...history classes seem to always groan at any history from 800-1500 😂
because they have to explain HRE if they did 800-1500
Try explaining this unholy barbaric mess to highschool kids who aren't interested for a large part...
I imagine most highschool kids would have listened more, I know I would have atleast. Instead of it just being like it was in Sweden where first we learn about the stone age and everything leading up to the viking era in like half a month, then we spend a schoolyear going from the vikings to Gustav Vasa, and afterwards it's a bit more Gustav Vasa and about what he did, and then completly skip everything after that like Gustav II Adolph. And then talk about WW2 from 6th grade to 12th grade. Gets a bit boring to go over WW2 for the 5th year in a row.
I suspect the reason for this is that “history” consistently desires to trace its narrative through a specific type of story that includes dates, names of countries or nation states, rulers by name and conveniently packaged and likewise named wars. Approaching a discussion of the HRE along those lines creates a difficult mess to follow. On the other hand, if the HRE is examined and discussed along the lines of how pathological people approach taking control of land and people, it becomes an intriguing and quite easy to understand story. Examining the mechanisms first, and the names and dates second, reveal a set of mechanism that allow the questionably psychotic among us to control the world.
Rusty Shackleford because the Holy Roman Empire, while very interesting, had nothing to do with the progress of Western Culture, and the HRE and Reformation period is largely cast as an antagonist in Western history classes. A lineage is traced from Athens to Rome, specifically Republican Rome while highlighting the failures of Imperial Rome, to a brief stop at the Magna Carta, to the Enlightenment and Renaissance, to the French Republic, and finally to the American Revolution. This is clearly designed to paint the United States as the current carriers of the Roman’s legacy. The Holy Roman Empire, as a state that was collectively largely involved in the suppression of free thought and enlightened thinking, is seen as an “imitator” to the Roman legacy. The Byzantine and Russian Empires are similarly downplayed in a different way, they are not vilified like the HRE, they are acknowledged as enlightened cultures and Constantinople is acknowledged to be the second Rome, but they are mostly totally ignored so as to downplay their continuation of western culture in between 476 AD and the Enlightenment, plus Russia’s claim to being the third Rome is unnentioned
Holy Roman Empire: I’m the most confusing part of European history The Balkins: Let us introduce ourselves
Lol not even close. Balkans is easy.
Holy Roman Empire is much more confusing
@@midgetporn9735
Pretty simple. Everyone hates each other
Balkan history is so complicated with all the ethnic groups and changing web of alliances
You also have to take into account that in German, the term 'reich' does not carry the identical meaning to the English word 'empire'. It can also just mean 'realm' And that it most undoubtedly was
Doesn't matter since most official documents were written in Latin and they did use the word "imperium".
In Latin 'imperium' also carries a broader meaning than the English 'empire', so yeah, it does matter.
Oh, of course. It can't be seperated from the theological concept that lies behind it: the Roman Empire being the last in a line of world empires before the end of days and the emperor being Christendom's symbolic figurehead.
I just meant to say that the German term doesn't matter as it itself is just a mere translation.
No, my point was that the word 'imperium' also has a broad meaning, encompassing both 'empire', 'realm' and even 'power'. You cannot say something is not an 'imperium' or 'Reich' when those words have such a broad meaning.
Austria = Österreich in german. Means "eastern realm".
Came just after the Real Life Lore see you next time (a few months)
I know right.
Angus Yang Same
Hey look another person who puts a space between one parentheses and no space at the other! Why do people do this. Why.
hey this is the person so said tine instead of time
Yeah! Like 4 months
Prague: *throws something out of the windows*
Europe: *sweats profusely*
Many people tend to misinterpred or misuse Voltaire's quote about the Holy Roman Empire. It was his view about the HRE during his own lifetime. It was never meant to be an in-depth-analysis of the HRE during all of it's existence throughout history. It was his personal opinion (and he was not alone with this opinion at the time). And by the time he said those popular lines, it was pretty much fitting, judging by what became of the HRE and the HRE was dissolved shortly afterwards. But it's name was quite correct when it was formed.
Obviously, you can argue about the "Holy", but back in the day it was meant to display, that the religious center of Chritianity and seat of the pope was part of the realm. It gave the emperor a divine claim and united all Chrisitian people under his rule during times of spreading of Christian believes. Easy when the pope is your bro. This part is pretty well explained in the video. "Roman" was used because Rome (the old capital of the ancient Roman Empire) was also part of the empire. It was basically every ruler's dream to revive the ancient giant Roman Empire. No other empire could be called by that, because they were all lacking the mighty city of Rome. It is also very much connected to the fact, that Rome was (and still is today) the center of Christianity. It's more a spiritual bound to Rome and it's religious headquarter, than to the ancient realm, which looked way different. The video explaines this part also very well. "Empire" was also correct by the time of it's founding (there is also an translation error in effect, as explained further down in my comment). Back in the day there was no clear definition of what an empire should be like. The way the realm was distributed was very common for Germans, who evolved out of a more federal-like clan-hieracy. The emperor (Kaiser or Ceasar) therefore was the king of kings. Doesn't matter how many kings, dukes, barons, etc. where under his rule. A more modern approach of how an empire should look like evolved much later. The ancient Roman Empire was also called an empire, while it was ruled by a senate instead of an emperor during some decades. It should have been called Roman Republic during these times. By today's standard the HRE was more like a federation with an emperor as primary ruler.
And you have to keep in mind, that there is also a tiny translation error when it comes to "Empire". In German it is called "Heiliges Römisches Reich" -> which directly translates to Holy Roman Realm -> not Empire. Imperium translates to Empire. The word "Reich" has a few more meanings in German than just the translation into English by the word "realm". But while there is no better translation into English, people use "Empire" for that, because it matches better in English than "Realm". But the true meaning does not fully translate into English.
People are absolutely right when they argue it actually never was an empire. And it was never called empire to begin with. It is the translation into English, that turns it into an empire. (same effect goes for French, which Voltaire spoke)
Its refreshing when people have informed and intelligent opinions in the comments section, bravo 👏
Thank you, we need more people bringing attention to this!
When you call Otto the first German emperor of the Roman Empire, it should at least be noted that Charlemagne is plausibly claimed by Germans as one of their own. The Franks he was king of lived on both sides of the modern border between Germany and France, and in Belgium and the Netherlands. The language he spoke was much closer to modern German or Dutch than to any recognisable form of French, and the German lands he ruled preserved the legal and cultural heritage of his rule much closer than the French territories.
Similarly it should be noted that the Byzantines did not think that the title of Emperor had somehow "returned" to Rome with Charlemagne. After Irene's rule they simply went on with a new line of Emperors and didn't stop until Byzantium was conquered by the Turks in the 15th century.
Another little tidbit, less crucial for this video, but related is that Francis II, after being forced to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire, became the first Emperor of the Austrian Empire.
Finally, a little fun fact: the German word for emperor, "Kaiser", is directly derived from the Latin "caesar" and matches its original pronunciation much closer than how most English or German speakers pronounce caeser. The "cae" would have been pronounced much more like the "ki" in kite.
Charlemagne was indeed listed among the German kings and emperors for medieval Germans, even their most prominent one. The famous painting by Dürer reads "this is the image of emperor Karl who subdued the Roman Empire for the Germans."
The imperial regalia was commonly attributed to him despite being produced much later and he was canonized on behalf of emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century.
What can be said for Otto is that he consolidated his East Frankish kingdom under a new powerful Saxon dynasty and permanently attached the imperial crown onto its kings. Whether that makes him the first "German" to wear the crown is debateable. Contemporaries certainly didn't see it that way.
That was very much my point. I didn't mean to diminish Otto's achievements, merely make sure that Charlemagne would be given his due. As you mentioned, he is certainly regarded as a German by most Germans that came after him, and his German name Karl was most likely what he was called by his contemporaries. One should not forget though, that the French also claim him for their own, which is where the name Charlemagne comes from after all (Charles le Magne = Charles the Great = Karl der Große). Since Germany and France were still far from unified countries or nations, borders between local entities were not fixed, and the Franks lived right around future borders, his fitting into modern nationalities is not easily decided one way or another. But I remain convinced he himself and his contemporaries would have seen themselves as Germans.
"One should not forget though, that the French also claim him for their own"
And they are right to do so. He was the one ruler who managed to include all of the later France and Germany into his empire which was very much the origin of both.
Interestingly enough medieval art always tended to display him wearing a surcoat with both the imperial eagle of Germany/HRE and the golden lillies of France. The Dürer painting has both coat of arms in the background and the bust of Charlemagne in Aachen does as well.
What is a little weird is the statue in front of Notre Dame showing him with the German imperial regalia like that has anything to do with France. But it was made in1878 so I guess there was a little bit of nationalistic rivalry going on.
I never meant to imply that the French have no claim to him. I only started this entire comment thread because the German claim on him seemed to have been completely brushed over in the video by naming Otto the first GERMAN emperor. I am well aware that there are legitimate claims on both sides, as I had hoped to have made clear earlier on.
I wasn't aware of this dual use of the insignias in portrayals of Charlemagne. You are right to point out national rivalries between Germany and France in the 1870ies (which of course have their earliest cause in the shattered unity after Charlemagne). While I'm not familiar with the statue in question, it might have been a response to the first emperor of the (Second) German Empire having been given that title in Versailles Palace. A sort of thumbing of the nose, saying something like "You may have your new emperor, but we have the original, including his regalia." I'm only guessing here though. Of course the actual regalia of the Holy Roman Empire were in Vienna at that time, and are there again after a short involuntary excursion during the Third Reich.
No, I know. Didn't try to put words in your mouth. Just wanted to give my 2 cents.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne_et_ses_Leudes
that's the statue I was talking about
It blows my mind how some people can explain a topic in a way that makes me feel like I've wasted years of my life looking in the wrong places...Great Video!
Witness why there were so many states in HRE....
Emperor Otto: Bernhard, damn cold wind blowing from that edge in my throne room. Do something against it!
Bernhard of Brunswick: Well my emperor, we've just founded Liechtenstein to cover that edge with one more flag!
*giggles* nice one xD
Grüße aus Braunschweig :D
This is the only time I’ve ever seen someone actually go into the details of explaining this. Thank you.
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f27b5caebe6362e1c21b035fb8c902a5 his consort Holy Roman Empress Maria Anna of Austria qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7856aacd2be40370795efefa3266c68c Teylers Museum in the Netherlands. Their son Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-19e95c0baa1ec76d4ea7218d966d55ea qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f6bfb91de5eb7deed7e8d07c36ce5ae1 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-155d29ffaa7581637870a8f01487b72a Leopold's cousin King Louis XIV of France qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-4c4df12e8975568cdde6c5a5cdbf8227
Knights of the Holy Roman Empire qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e1272d7febc5a8aca8e42d07e39bb00d qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-0f7b4a79a06b3350cd0a8f4064ab2971 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1b0021b4d4577e608b7a46055a64fd51 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5af14a5a1e5e1b8c4618e70f886a5225 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-832e56f4b79bab126a2dce58061061a3 Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and Queen Edith of England qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-26c9c77ccc808bb57daec7e6690b3b68 All statues at Madgeburg Cathedral in Germany.
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5194d9a232935967688cb5dd6aaa69c9 His son Philip II, King of Spain (who is great grandfather to King Louis XIV of France) qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-77426cd4cbc69e5bf63c1cd242521ab7 on a painting of the Inca Kings in Larco Museum, Lima Peru. Emperor Charles V's Aunt Margaret of Austria qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5a53d21d79ae2829336a952ed1e039af Charles, Philip and Margaret at the Royal Schools in Tortosa, Spain. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-47624441aabae405f86ddcef3598ab8a qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-56953fbefb9d36500d9e15fa9799129b qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a3713445bae6a7cf9521f97fd763569f qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-28f47fa5522d3fa9bd5885c758d5d6c9 Battle shield depicting Johann Frederick I, Elector of Saxony surrendering to Emperor Charles V and his brother Ferdinand I. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-78fc742e3c3011696ef7f0c3941b1a0b qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a626c1fe5d4c067fb78dd35829800146 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7870d37ef2c87be207e54ed3fb1ebffc Roman Emperors and a Roman Empress along the edge of the shield qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9155614704438fed38be16d975e964e9 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8185e6f437b3028d9812cde6ae71e6e2 from the 16th century currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Johann Frederick's cousin Maurice I, Elector of Saxony qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a930d2e9bc72d23f3b803ed58337fb94 from 1584 at a museum in Leipzig.The literary reference confirming this painting is Maurice I is Mitteilungen, Issues 21-30 Freiburger Altertumsverein from 1885. Johann Fredrick's father and Maurice's uncle Johann I the Constant, Elector of Saxony qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c32b75daae5503549d2ea9411f9ce7ed The vast majority of paintings go unauthenticated publicly, but every now and then we are able to see the results. This painting is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and they published the x-radiograph results. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-82d7eac04e3473f0e662184dacf26b4d Not a surprise that underneath there is the true image of a Black man with a wider, flatter nose and thicker lips. Just as you would see with any real painting of the nobility of old.
Here is Johann's brother Frederick III the Wise, the protector of Martin Luther qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c1d24ea09eba934722fc1b72f0d8dafb qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f83a1f5975fd111e67a615cef5d9f3ab Here is a depiction of Martin Luther qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8d93cfcbd8d9b45dbd758c4b13dcd5db By Johann Michael Püchler (German, born Schwäbisch-Gmünd), ca. 1680-1702. Here is another painting from the Met Museum that they mislabel as St. Maurice qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-2e43a5aae731fb8771d45351ee7f8d6b and his x-ray qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-36e5738bea0e5a1866dace0071f486c4 He is wearing the Golden Fleece which was part of sacred order and given to not even 2000 people to date. Upon death it had to be returned. And he is holding Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I's sword in his hand. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-de3e50bd6d550a72483d1c69f7543102 The museum even admits he is holding Maximilian's sword, but will never bring themselves to admit its Maximilian I. John, Elector of Saxony is an ancestor of Queen Sophie Charlotte. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-03d5ec2d1813dde6e5abd85adef5b11f All these historical figures were instrumental in the Protestant Reformation, which effected much of Europe, including the British Isles which I'll speak on now.
When provided with literary evidence explicitly telling us in plain English that King Charles the second's grandson was a "tall Black man" many feel there is some other explanation. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-dadb23640e9e4dfcbbfd8b062fcb1252 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d3a9e6f0a3a191e646352215ace21c95 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7f9ba8b6a52c3bd4166b38fd8e1222fa But Macky's Memoir is used as a reference in many popular works of the time such as the Dictionary of National Biography (England) and The Scottish Nation.
And with regards to The Scottish Nation, when some users upload this text online, instead of whitewashing the portraits by swapping them out before scanning, they simply cover them up qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e716d8be62b6a0e309317355a645cf43 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d692be752bb9ad1fa924dae0af06c46f qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1f048c39b9b2e8539b6b8e927b897513 Some uploaders even try, unsuccessfully, to swap the images out qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-b5499c69be184a6718769f08ffff4400 Thats history for some people, change Black people into White people.
COMPLEXION: the natural color, texture, and appearance of a person's skin, especially of the face. - Oxford Dictionary. So what is written in The Scottish Nation qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8a35b70068247d23621c40c530535548 I do believe that is a reference to Black Roman Emperors. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7c10f21bd922b3d8441146a7d75936f1 This book of the prominent people of Scottish history is an example of what we SHOULD be learning in school. It's out of copyright and freely available for you to read. I know its trustworthy because it describes BOTH Black and White peoples of Scotland, instead of whitewashing everyone. qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-24cc0236abae0817eafce85ecbf6fbf0 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a03ced64a6e916816453b6aa7828ee4d qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c07d53563e01b31c821e1e8fdaf11486 qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-dd63e84a74f371cdde7b15052cbfe5ac qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9b2b5d6a2a2b9cf52726970121e4fc7f
When King Charles II (the Black Boy) is described as a tall Black man on a warrant issued for his arrest by Parliament, many feel there is some other explanation. All contemporary literature describe the nobility as Black people as I referenced previously. The National Portrait Gallery (UK) has many different images of figures, but only sometimes you come across the real likeness of these characters qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-02a6c24c3269491cca01b0b33ce5d74d qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-2d25c2a3c5c352af3a761df93afe72c5 You have to use logic and reason to determine whats real. Here is a clue. This statue of "The Black Boy" is at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin Ireland qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-0f49f9f57a744da8b38c6691ef8562d2 Which engraving is an exact match from this original statue?
11:01 in Italian we have three terms for the vassal grade:
'Vassallo' (1° grade)
'Valvassore' (2° grade)
'Valvassino' (3° grade)
I love how you never quite put your personnal opinions in your videos. The result is very unbiased and interesting to watch. Nice job!
More like Holy Roman Mess
ArcticEngineer Or the Loose collection of Largely Secular German States
Welcome to Bordergore Country!
Organized chaos :)
Unholy German mess
Merritt Animation More like the Secularized German Mess amirit?
>HRE
>explained
>15 minute video
Oh, no, no, no
I've cherished you and reallifelore for a while, cool to see you guys collabbed
Finally a good video about the HRE
I never knew people found it complicated! In simplest of correlations it is like the Greek city states with one hegemon.
Loving this video by the way
Well, Its made up on bishoprics, Kings, dukes, electors amongst them and cover large tracts of territory and most not by the coast. Further divided by ethnic boundaries. Also the complicated dynastic elite.
Love your video along with RealLifeLore's. Great work!
Gratulations! The best explanation of the old Empire so far.
_Guess who’s back…_
_Back again…_
HRE, HRE, HRE
the slim/shady?
Your videos are so well done, a feast for ears and eyes!
i love these colabs!! keep up the good work!
Excellent video packed with information!
Do a video on Prussia next?
He did a video about the Unification, Division and Reunification of Germany
Yes basically the same thing
this was a highly competent video, really love it. Voltaire's nightmare will never be forgotten. Thanks Wonder Why.
im glad people came here from reallifelore, you have a great channel and i want you to grow
Mapper: So how much text do you want on the map?
HRE: *Yes*
WonderWhy, your videos never disappoint. Doesn't bother me you don't upload frequently, your videos are well researched and put together nicely.
You don't always post a video, but when you do, it's great!
A new video!!! Always an exciting notification to get.
13:12 Look at the third shield at the top row. America was part of the Holy Roman Empire?
Yeah i stopped the video and said "Captain America was in the HRE?!" XD
No, is probably Hesse coat of arms badly drawn.
@Jakob Patrick Is not even a joke i suggest.
I might get wooshed but this is a coat of counts of Celje. We still have their sigil on slovenian flag
This "joke" is just retarded
This didnt help me expand into the HRE in my Europa Universalis 4 game at all
D I S M A N T L E I T
Actually being the emperor is more useful rather than uh dismantling it
Well done mate very interesting video, also thanks for the subtitles :)
Very good explanation, and such an important part of history.
Great video! What I'd like to add is that the Empire even in the 18th century was much more unified as its often portrayed nowadays. No imperial estate, not even the most powerful ones, ever denied that the sole sovereignty lay with the Empire and not with them. They always acknowledged that they were members of the Empire. Everytime they fought each other, they at least tried to justify the war by claiming to protect the imperial constitution against the other side who wanted to subdue it.
Furthermore, imperial institutions such as the Imperial Chamber Court functioned quite well. Every German, whether they were mediate or immediate subjects, could sue their princes before the court -- and won quite often. It is very unfortunate that today most people regard the Empire as a completely lose confederation although it was seen as a normal country just like everyone else by its citizens.
The German constitutional lawyer Johann Jakob Moser wrote about the complexity of the imperial constitution: "Teutschland wird auf teutsch regiert." (Germany is governed the German way.) And that's enough. ;-)
They were unified culturally but not politically. Back then cultural unity was not considered to be an overly relevant thing. Imperial citizens were likely considered the same thing as Germans and most did indeed consider themselves German. You need to remember that in an age before paved roads, literacy being a skill for the elite and any advanced agricultural equipment most people didn't consider themselves part of anything. The idea of identity was only raised as literacy started to rise, canals were build and carriages and roads developed.
Also politically the constant meddling with the pope and the religious divisions prevented consolidation of power.
That depends on the time period you're talking about. The Empire lasted for a millenium, and obviously, the situation in 1806 was different from the situation in 1006. One must never underestimate the knowledge of people and the ways of communication. The German historian Georg Schmidt writes about these issues in his books where he shows that a general knowledge about the Empire existed in all classes at least from the 15th century onwards. Its citizens regularly stumbled upon imperial symbols, imperial institutions, the dominical prayer for the Empire and its ruler, and political or even overtly patriotic songs circulating in the entire country. The official propaganda of the emperors and rulers directed towards "normal people" constantly emphasized the German nation, the Empire and the allegiance every citizen owed to the fatherland which shows that the rulers at least thought that such tropes were going to be successful and that everyday citizens must have been aware of them because they could hardly escape them.
From a political point of view, the Empire was regarded as a country by its princes, its experts in constitutional law and its citizens. They were aware of and accepted the great independence the immediate subjects of the Empire enjoyed, but no one ever disputed that the final and sole real sovereignty lay with the Empire itself and not its princes. Even potentates such as Frederick the Great of Prussia never really disputed the Empire's statehood (he spoke of Germany as the Germans' "patrie commune", the common fatherland).
The fact that its constitutional makeup seems weird to us today doesn't change the ways contemporary Germans (and foreigners) perceived it.
I am aware of that sense of cultural unity but the thing is that it wasn't all that relevant. Political unity, as in can they all easily unite or move as 1 entity was largely disconnected from that. I know that the sense of nationhood must have been there otherwise Germany could not have formed a single identity so quickly.
I don't think final say lay with the emperor to that extent. No ruler over a large and/or diverse nation ever enjoyed that sort of power not even the most unified ones like France. The French king did have final say but overruling the nobles wasn't really feasible. If they lost their loyalty the nation would collapse.
People just like Voltaire and don't think any further on it
Heard in a Berlin night club :
- So where are you from ?
- The Netherlands !
- Eeeeeh it's Europe, we're all the same. Heiliges europäisches Reich deutscher Nation! (= "Holy european Empire of the German Nation")
Really love your videos, WonderWhy. Always so well-researched yet succinct and with a good mix of info from broad general knowledge to interesting titbits of detail for the slightly more curious viewer (and of course the occasional joke subtly slipped in there like the split-second frame of the Death Star). Also the accent makes me melt
Many many thanks and kudos for this fantastic, clear, thourough and yet easy to follow video on the HRE.
On the topic of King "in" Prussia versus King "of" Prussia, the situation is more complicated than you describe and some of the reasons you give are the exact opposite if reality.
Prussia was in theory a part of Poland which the Kings of Poland had given to the Teutonic Knights as a fief in reward for pacifying tge Prussian tribes. The Teutonic Knights gained ever greater autonomy but the Kings of Poland never recognized their independence and always held on to the western portions of Prussia.
When Prussia became a secular state (as in, no longer ruled by a religious order) it came into a personal union with Brandenburg. The ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia really wanted to have the prestige of being a King so he lobbied hard for it and eventually was granted the title of King by the Emperor.
He was not granted a Kingdom however. Brandenburg remained a Margraviate-Electorate and Prussia remained a Duchy, half of which belonged to the King of Poland directly and half to the, well, King, who is also Elector of Brandenburg. He's a King and he resides in Prussia, so the title became King "in" Prussia rather than King "of" Prussia. I think another part of that may have been that the title of King only applied in Prussia and not in Brandenburg.
So yeah. Nothing to do with Prussia being outside the Empire and all to do with the Emperor granting a Kingship to a vassal of a foreign King without attaching a Kingdom.
Frederick III (who was first crowned King in Prussia) was not a Polish vassal anymore, though. In the Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg of 1657, King John II Casimir had relinquished his lordship over the Duchy of Prussia, making the Duke a sovereign ruler. There were some technicalities regarding the case of the Hohenzollern family dying out, but Prussia had ceased to be part of the Polish Crown.
When Frederick III lobbied for getting the title of King, his sovereign rule over Prussia came handy, as the Habsburg emperor didn't want to elevate an imperial prince to King. Polish suzerainty has nothing to do with it, really.
varana312 I stand corrected. However, much of my point stands. Frederick could not be King of Prussia because half of Prussia still belonged to Poland and indeed the Kings of Poland held on to the title already. Only when Brandenburg-Prussia conquered the remainder of Prussia was the title of King of Prussia taken. So yeah, I mischaracterized the relationship between Poland and Prussia in the relevant period but that doesn't really impact my explanation much.
"Prussia was in theory a part of Poland which the Kings of Poland had given to the Teutonic Knights as a fief in reward for pacifying tge Prussian tribes."
The Teutonic Knights were not vassals to Poland to my knowledge. They were sovereign.
After the reformation and formation into the secular duchy of Prussia the duke pledged allegiance to the king of Poland.
MacX85 And that was because the Kingdom of Poland had held claim over Prussia as long as the Teutonic Knights had held territory in Prussia. It was the Polish who had enlisted the Knights originally after all. Like any vassal, the Teutonic Knights tried to gain more power and autonomy and so they eventually would come to reject their vassalage but Poland considered them rebelious for it.
iirc it was the duke of Masovia who enlisted the knights to pacify the Prussian tribes. Whether that made them vassals to Poland is another matter. I don't think they were. At least I haven't heard it phrased that way.
Also, hadn't there been confirmations by the pope and emperor that they could keep all land that they conquered at some point?
12:48 Oh gods, that map. Looking at those borders hurts.
My favourite channels just did a colab. That's pretty cool.
This was fantastic! Thank you.
Modern historians only call it Byzantine because the HRE couldn’t handle not being called the true Roman Empire.
Since you are a scottish, please make a video about scottish clan or the celtic nation
They weren't a nation.
Anthony Campbell it depends who you ask
He will do, nevertheless with this one at least there's no doubt of authenticity!
you did so well with this complex and long interlude of Western history , do more , much , much more !
Very well researched video.
I believe the fact that the German states were so many and relatively independent, made them all to develop their own cities. Hence, by the time of German unification all those Germany suddenly was the most urbanised/industrialised state.
This. I Had the Same thougt. In a "hyper centrealized" Kingdom like late France Everyrhing could fall and rise with a Bad or good King.
How the HRE fell:
**Napoleon has joined the game**
**the HRE has left the game**
Real life lore sent me and i think I will stick around and watch a few more videos this was so good!
fantastic video, well explained
Hey WonderWhy, this video is amazing! Can you do the Confederation of the Rhine and the German Confederation next?
Confederation of the Rhine was just a puppet state of France and the German Confederation was basically the same as the Holy Roman Empire but without an emperor.
Even in a concise, to-the-point, bite-size You-tube history video, it still takes at least five minutes to explain what the Holy Roman Empire IS! Its baffling complexity is borderline comical (and that's why we love it!)
Real life lore bring me here, finally, this channel has a new video
Great video and loved the Death Star blip!!!
Bohemia and its autonomous status is quite interesting in my opinion, so I'll elaborate on it.
As many Slavic populations bordering the eastern Franks, we became a tributary of sorts. After the fall of Great Moravia, Bohemia asked to be protected by East Francia, first not to get directly integrated as many other slavic protostates, later as a defence against Magyars. This "tributary of the Roman emperor, but not his vassal" became an occuring theme whenever the Empire meddled in internal affairs, and often the dukes who got their title with Empires help were toppled due to disrespecting the Bohemian elevation system. Essentialy, the dukes of Bohemia respected the "christian universal empire", but thought of themselves as independent rulers who chose to abide the authority of Roman emperor - mainly in name - and were ready to often defend this status quo in field.
Over times, when the empire got into a succesion crisis, Přemysl I. asked one emperor for a title of king. He gave it to him, to assure his loyalty - but pope pressured the new king to support the other emperor, who had to agree to Přemysls new title. This way he could get both sides to support his demands, and so a hereditary kingdom greatly independent from the Empire was born. This was further cemented by Charles IV., who, despite being an emperor, did not pursue the empires integrity. He rather chose to cooperate more with regional rulers, ditched the infamous and disastrous Italian escapades, and rather grew Bohemias domestic power, turned it into a regional hegemon for a time, and with it as a diplomatic pillar convinced the imperials to listen to him when needed. This concept of being "king before emperor" was quite a win-win at the time.
Máš pravdu, je to dost zajímavé, taky to hltám, tyhle spletitosti :) a jak řekl autor ve videu: .... "Plus Bohemia, but that's a little different." :D
Jinak bych ti ještě k tomu rád dodal, že tyto diplomatické machinace, hra na obě strany a nakonec získání titulu "krále" se hlavně uskutečnily díky dvěma našim Přemyslovcům, kteří předtím za své vlády porazili germánská dobyvačná vojska a nechtěli mít s připojením do "říše" nic společnýho... Tím si u Němčourů vydobili patřičný respekt, což u nich vedlo ke změně taktiky boje. :)
Vždyť by se dalo vlastně říct, že náhlý vzestup Habsburků (v té době to byl ještě poměrně neznámý šlechtický rod odkudsi z dnešního severního Švýcarska, kde právě z důvodu "malé moci a významnosti" byl jejich člen ostatními princi zvolen do čela celé říše) a jejich všeobecné "uchopení" moci na dalších pár století, se konal na úkor pádu posledního mocného Přemyslovce Otakara II. který padl v bitvě na moravském poli... :(
Téměř každý si chtěl z jeho tehdejšího bohatství a zemí něco vzít a právě tento první Habsburk alá novopečený Kaiser z toho vytěžil nejvíc... za vydatné pomoci od spojeneckého maďarského krále a jeho vojska, společně s dalšími bohatě dotovanými žoldáky od všech, kteří v tom viděli pro sebe nějakou tu příležitost k obohacení.... čili náš Přéma neměl moc šancí. :(
Nicméně toto jsou fakta a historie, s tím se už nic nenadělá :) Co mě ale dost zaráží, je, že toto třeba ví jen málokdo. U Němců se nedivím, ti mají ve zvyku házet vše do jednoho pytle a prohlašovat, že všechno je German, tyhle země patří Germánům a všichni ti lidé, co tam žili byli taky Germáni a šmitec, ty maj v tom navěky jasno. :D
Spíš mě ale mrzí, že našinci to neví, jsou zblblí, maj vypláchlý mozky kdejakejma sračkama co jsou zrovna "trendy" nebo "cool" anebo je to prostě nezajímá... :/
@@bukelos2804 Kluci, oba dva, kde berety ty Maďary. Zkuste studovat i za hranice Českého království. Patrně mluvíte o Uhrech a Uhersku. Maďaři se datují až k Maďarizaci. A ta přišla mnohem později. Předtím nic takového jako Maďar nebo Maďarština neexistovalo. Je to konstrukt pro oslabení moci Slovanů. S tím posledním už souhlasit nemusíte, ale to podstatné, psané na začátku, je nezvratné.
the Chad Holy Roman Empire
vs
the Virgin Secular German Republic
*the occupied German Reich.
the HRE sucked, the German Empire was peak Germany
What about the GOD 3rd reich?
The modern republic is not secular though.
Well it depends on how you define "secular" I guess. But if you use "secular" and "laicist" interchangably, then its not. Every bishop in germany gets paid by usual tax money (NOT the church tax!) and is a public servant by law. Well there are some exceptions, some states have it a little different. Yes, we are still federal.
vs Thad Roman Empire.
Best explanation of the political structure of the HRE that I've seen so far
Amazing video, finally I feel like I'm getting my head wrapped around it. Thanks especially for explaining some of the shifts over time, all too often only the version that existed during the Protestant Reformation is explained.
The history of the Hohenstaufens is very intriguing indeed!
MoonRavenTales Uploads
WonderWhy Uploads
RealLifeLore uploads
Maybe today isn't so bad after all...
who tf is moonraventales?
Very awesome video, thanks
One of the best videos, maybe the best on the HRE yet. I had already seen the What If video. He should reference this one, too.
Ooh, a WonderWhy video...wait...RealLifeLore also made a video on the same subject? Ooh, I love this collab.
OH MY GOD A NEW VIDEO
Great video! Thank you :)
Very Good Presentation, rich in knowledge.
Great video, thank you. I am looking for information regarding Napoleon’s defeat of the Holy Roman Empire. Not of the lead up nor the battle, but the actual dealings, rules he set down, how it affected things, ect. If you or your viewers can suggest any links I would appreciate it.
Best and most correct explanation of the HRE I have seen yet on youtube. You certainly must have read a lot on the topic.
Wonderfully concise and clear
Whenever you upload you make my day better
the beginning of the video really shows how the American southern accent evolved from a scotch/irish one
We all know what our favorite part of the HRE was... Mighty Ulm
Just perfect. Thank you for this.
Such a great video!
Sorry I'm late, but I needed to watch this. So I watched it.
You have to feel for the last HR Emperor. Imagine being the one to end a legacy that lasted about 1000yrs. Imagine being the one to have to look at the portraits of your ancestors and tell them that you ended everything and not in a good way.
Tbf, it wouldn't have been up to him anyway. The way the HRE at this late stage functioned it was almost independent from the emperor. If anybody could properly dissolve the HRE it would have been the imperial diet. What Francis II actually did was announcing his personal abdication from the office and Austria's secession from the empire.
Excellent overview.
Very good presentation on a subject that is generally little understood. Thank you
As czech i must say, you covered it kinda good. Maybe you should mention that charles IV was czech, but this flaw is still minor so good work.
Btw 14:15 that is charles IV in chaple in Karlštejn castle
On his mother's side he was. On his father's side he was German from the House of Luxembourg.
MacX85 he was king of bohemia, and his capital was prague. he is czech.
So, what... There were Saxon kings of Poland, Norman kings of England and Sicily, Austrian kings of Spain, Prussian Tsars of Russia. The ethnicity of their subjects didn't define the one of the monarch.
Bohemia also had a sizeable German population in the bigger cities at the time. It wasn't exclusively Czech.
Also, king of Bohemia wasn't the only thing he was. He was also count of Luxembourg, king of Germany and Roman Emperor. He can't be understood just as a Czech figure.
MacX85 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
Great video! Greetings from the kingdom of Bohemia, specifically the Margavirate of Moravia. IMO, modern day czechia carries the legacy of the empire as much as say Germany or Austria.
This video is why CZcams is awesome. Keep making videos.
wow great video, i didnt understand a think in school when they taught us about HRE, but this was really well explained
Actually Habsbourghs came to the Bohemian throne not until 1526 (with exception of two very brief one-year episodes earlier). But the Czech kings were HR emperors already in 14th and 15th century through the Luxembough dynasty, including the mentioned Charles IV.
The Luxembourgs were emperors before they got to be kings of Bohemia though. Henry VII of Luxembourg ruled during the 13th and 14 century.
@@Siegbert85 A simmilar case as with Habsbourgs - a local count Henry was elevated by the electors in 1308 out of nowhere to the imperial crown as a seemingly weak compromise candidate. And he used it well to consolidate his power and gain the Bohemian crown for his son - which became the base for Luxembough dominance in HRE in the next years.
Charles the great, quells a rebellion against the Papal States, the pope:
“You shall be the heir to the Roman Empire”
Constantine over Byzantium:
“Am I a joke to you?”
Nice video mate 👍👍😃
1:13 Those are some lovely map transitions and I would LOVE to know what you used to make them. Great vid, have a like!