The imperial election of 1519 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 on the 28th of June.
Background
The election followed the death of
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor on January 12, 1519. The two main candidates were his grandson
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
,
duke of
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
,
king of
Spain and
archduke of Austria, and
Francis I of France,
king of
France. Maximilian’s son (Charles’s father),
Philip IV of Burgundy
Philip the Handsome, es, Felipe, french: Philippe, nl, Filips (22 July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg Ki ...
had died in 1506.
Henry VIII of England, king of
England, also presented himself as a candidate. Electing an emperor who was also the ruler of a kingdom outside of the Empire had not happened since the king of
Sicily,
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II (German language, German: ''Friedrich''; Italian language, Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Em ...
was elected in 1212, while France and the Empire had not been joined since the days of the
Carolingian dynasty.
The seven
prince-electors called to elect Maximilian's successor were:
*
Albert of Brandenburg
Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg (german: Albrecht von Brandenburg; 28 June 149024 September 1545) was a German cardinal, elector, Archbishop of Mainz from 1514 to 1545, and Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1513 to 1545.
Biography Early career
Bo ...
, elector of
Mainz
*
Richard von Greiffenklau zu Vollrads, elector of
Trier
*
Hermann of Wied, elector of
Cologne
*
Louis II of Hungary, 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 ...
*
Louis V, Elector Palatine, elector of the
Electoral Palatinate
*
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony
Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise (German ''Friedrich der Weise''), was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther.
Freder ...
, elector of
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.
In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...
*
Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, elector of
Brandenburg
Charles could count on the vote of Louis II, who was married to his younger sister
Mary of Hungary. He and Francis competed to exceed one another in their bribery of the remaining electors.
Elected
Charles was the head of the Austrian
House of Habsburg after the death of his grandfather Maximilian, but he was born in the Burgundian
low countries, had grown up speaking
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
Dutch, was in Spain at the time of the election, and had not yet been to Germany and learned
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
. Thus, there was a risk that he could be felt to be as much of a foreigner as Francis. However, Charles advised the princes against electing a foreign king and declared himself a ''"German by blood and stock"''.
[''The Emperor Charles V'', Maryn Rady, 2014]
Therefore, he underwent a relentless propaganda campaign in which he shifted the narrative to claim his heritage as the head of a German dynasty and as the grandson of Maximilian (previous Holy Roman Emperor) and presented Francis as nothing more than a 'foreign adventurer', fostering fears of foreign interference in German affairs. Consequentially, he obtained 'German sympathies', making his election more attractive.
Another factor in favor of Charles was that he, as the ruler of sparse states in the Low Countries, Spain, and Austria, was less likely to impose his personal ambitions over German princes as he would also be pre-occupied on his other affairs. In contingency with this notion, Charles promised to guarantee 'German liberties'. At the same time, the threat of military force from the
Swabian League, formed in 1488 and sympathetic towards Charles's Habsburg background, also influenced the result.
In addition, Charles had deeper pockets. Francis had bought the elector of Trier; up for grabs were the electors of Mainz, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate. Although full details of the election were never revealed, it is possible that the electors sought a way out of their dilemma by electing Frederick III as emperor, but that he turned them down.
All these factors made Charles's election much more attractive than his competition. In the end, Charles was elected unanimously.
Aftermath
Charles was 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- ...
on October 26, 1520 and later by
Pope Clement VII in
Bologna on February 22, 1530. He was the last emperor to accept the
papal
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
coronation.
Sources
{{Holy Roman Empire elections
1519
__NOTOC__
Year 1519 ( MDXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1519th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 519th year of the 2nd millennium ...
1519 in the Holy Roman Empire
16th-century elections
Non-partisan elections
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I of France
Henry VIII