The imperial election of 20 October 1314 was an imperial election held to select the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. It took place in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. 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 John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, King of Bohemia since 1310, was considered by many

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...

s 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 Frederick the Fair (german: Friedrich der Schöne) or the Handsome (c. 1289 – 13 January 1330), from the House of Habsburg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-king of Germany from 1314 until 1325 and then co-king ...

, son of the late German king Albert I, 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, Ma ...

, 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 t ...

, Archbishop of Mainz and member of the pro-

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

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 Baldwin of Luxembourg (c. 1285 – 21 January 1354) was the Archbishop- Elector of Trier and Archchancellor of Burgundy from 1307 to his death. From 1328 to 1336, he was the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Mainz and from 1331 to 1 ...

, brother of Henry VII and

Archbishop-Elector of Trier The elector of Trier was one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and, in his capacity as archbishop, administered the archdiocese of Trier. The territories of the electorate and the archdiocese were not, however, equivalent. History ...

* John, son of Henry VII and King-Elector of Bohemia * Waldemar of Stendal,

Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...

* '' John II of Lauenburg, claimant

Elector 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 ...

against Rudolf I of Wittenberg'' As a result of the election, Louis IV, Duke of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor. 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 A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

inside the Holy Roman Empire, fought between pro-Luxembourg and pro-Habsburg parties. Louis was successfully crowned at Aachen - 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 The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. In the following conflict between the kings, Louis recognized the independence of Switzerland 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 The Battle of Mühldorf (also known as the Battle of Ampfing) was fought near Mühldorf am Inn on September 28, 1322 between the Duchy of (Upper) Bavaria and Austria. The Bavarians were led by the German king Louis of Wittelsbach, while the ...

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 Bavaria ...

Heath, where Frederick and 1300 nobles from Austria and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

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