The imperial election of 20 October 1314 was an

imperial election The election of a Holy Roman Emperor was generally a two-stage process whereby, from at least the 13th century, the King of the Romans was elected by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the prince-electors. This was then followed ...

held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Frankfurt. Like the previous day's election, the meeting was called to elect the successor of Emperor Henry VII, who had died while in Italy on 24 August 1313. Henry's son John, King of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

since 1310, was considered by many prince-electors to be too young, and by others to be already too powerful. While one day before three of the seven electors had elected Frederick the Fair, son of the late German king

Albert I Albert I may refer to: People Born before 1300 * Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987) *Albert I, Count of Namur () *Albert I of Moha *Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg *Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195) *Alber ...

, the result was claimed to be invalid, due to the absence of the other four electors and the presence as fourth elector of

Henry of Carinthia Henry of Gorizia (german: Heinrich, cs, Jindřich; – 2 April 1335), a member of the House of Gorizia, was Duke of Carinthia and Landgrave of Carniola (as Henry VI) and Count of Tyrol from 1295 until his death, as well as King of Bohemia, Marg ...

, the deposed King-Elector of Bohemia who still claimed the title against John. The election was presided over by

Peter of Aspelt Peter of Aspelt (aka ''Peter von Aichspelt, Peter von Basel, Peter von Mainz''; born 1240/45, died 5 June 1320 in Mainz) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1306 to 1320, and an influential political figure of the period. He brought the archbishopric to ...

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

and member of the pro- Luxembourg party. Of seven electors only five attended the meeting, one of whom was disputed: * Peter of Aspelt,

Archbishop-Elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

* Baldwin of Luxembourg, brother of Henry VII and Archbishop-Elector of Trier * John, son of Henry VII and King-Elector of Bohemia * Waldemar of Stendal, Elector of Brandenburg * '' John II of Lauenburg, claimant Elector of Saxony against Rudolf I of Wittenberg'' As a result of the election, Louis IV, Duke of Bavaria was elected

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

. However, due to the unrecognized claim of John II of Lauenburg, the election was considered invalid by the electors who supported Frederick the Fair. The two contested elections caused the eruption of a civil war inside the Holy Roman Empire, fought between pro-Luxembourg and pro-Habsburg parties. Louis was successfully crowned at

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

- the customary site of coronations - by the Archbishop of Mainz, while the Archbishop of Cologne, who by custom had the right to crown the new king, crowned Frederick at Bonn. In the following conflict between the kings, Louis recognized the independence of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

from the Habsburg dynasty in 1316. After several years of bloody war, victory finally seemed within the grasp of Frederick, who was strongly supported by his brother

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

. However, Frederick's army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Mühldorf on 28 September 1322 on the

Ampfing Ampfing is a municipality in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria in Germany, and a name of a small town of the same name. History The Battle of Mühldorf was fought on 28 September 1322 between Bavaria and Austria in Ampfing Heath. The Bavarian ...

Heath, where Frederick and 1300 nobles from Austria and Salzburg were captured. Louis was finally crowned Emperor in Rome on 17 January 1328 by Senator Giacomo Colonna, demoting the Pope's authority and introducing the tradition of imperial legitimacy only by election, not papal coronation.

References

1314 Events * March 18 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake in Paris, France. * April 4 – Exeter College, Oxford is founded in England by Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Ex ...

1314 in the Holy Roman Empire 14th-century elections Non-partisan elections Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor {{HolyRomanEmpire-stub