
King of the Romans (; ) was the title used by the king of
East Francia following his election by the
princes
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...
from the reign of
Henry II (1002–1024) onward.
The title originally referred to any German king between his
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
and coronation as
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
by the
pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
. The title was also used to designate the successor to the throne elected during the lifetime of a sitting Emperor. From the 16th century onwards, as German kings adopted the title of Emperor-elect and ceased to be crowned by the pope, the title continued to be used solely for an elected successor to the throne during his predecessor's lifetime.
The actual title varied over time. During the
Ottonian period, it was King of the Franks (German: ''König der Franken'', Latin: ''Rex Francorum''), from the late
Salian period it was King of the Romans (German: ''König der Römer'', Lat.: ''Rex Romanorum''). In the Modern Period, the title King in Germania (German: ''König in Germanien'', Lat.: ''Germaniae Rex'') came into use. Finally, modern German historiography established the term Roman-German King (''Römisch-deutscher König'') to differentiate it both from the classical
Roman Emperor as well as from the modern
German Emperor.
Ruling kings
History and usage
The territory of
East Francia was not referred to as the
Kingdom of Germany or ''Regnum Teutonicum'' by contemporary sources until the 11th century. During this time, the king's claim to coronation was increasingly contested by the
papacy, culminating in the fierce
Investiture Controversy. After the
Salian heir apparent Henry IV, a six-year-old minor, had been elected to rule the Empire in 1056 he adopted ''Romanorum Rex'' as a title to emphasize his sacred entitlement to be crowned Emperor by the Pope.
Pope Gregory VII insisted on using the derogatory term ''Teutonicorum Rex'' ("King of the Germans") in order to imply that Henry's authority was merely local and did not extend over the whole Empire. Henry continued to regularly use the title ''Romanorum Rex'' until he finally was crowned Emperor by
Antipope Clement III in 1084. Henry's successors imitated this practice, and were also called ''Romanorum Rex'' before and ''Romanorum Imperator'' after their Roman coronations.
Medieval practice
Candidates for the kingship were at first the heads of Germanic
stem duchies. As these units broke up, rulers of smaller principalities and even non-Germanic rulers were considered for the position. The only requirements generally observed were that the candidate be an adult male, a Catholic Christian, and not in holy orders. The kings were elected by several
Imperial Estates (secular princes as well as
Prince-Bishops), often in the
imperial city of
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
after 1147, a
custom recorded in the ''
Schwabenspiegel'' code in about 1275.
Originally all noblemen present could vote by unanimous acclamation, but later a franchise was granted to only the most eminent bishops and noblemen, and according to the
Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Emperor
Charles IV only the seven
Prince-electors had the right to participate in a
majority voting as determined by the 1338
Declaration of Rhense. They were the Prince-Archbishops of
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
,
Trier and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
as well as the
King of Bohemia, the
Count Palatine of the Rhine, the
Saxon duke, and the
Margrave of Brandenburg. After the
Investiture Controversy, Charles intended to strengthen the legal status of the ''Rex Romanorum'' beyond Papal
approbation. Consequently, among his successors only
Sigismund and
Frederick III were still crowned Emperors in Rome and in 1530
Charles V was the last king to receive the Imperial Crown at the hands of the Pope (in
Bologna). The Golden Bull remained effective as constitutional law until the Empire's dissolution in 1806.
After his election, the new king would be crowned as King of the Romans (''Romanorum Rex''), usually at Charlemagne's throne in
Aachen Cathedral by the Archbishop of Cologne in a solemnly celebrated ceremony. The details of Otto's coronation in 936 are described by the medieval chronicler
Widukind of Corvey in his ''
Res gestae saxonicae''. The kings received the
Imperial Crown from at least 1024, at the coronation of
Conrad II. In 1198 the
Hohenstaufen candidate
Philip of Swabia was crowned ''Rex Romanorum'' at
Mainz Cathedral (as was King
Rupert centuries later), but he had another coronation in Aachen after he had prevailed against his
Welf rival
Otto IV.
At some time after the ceremony, the king would, if possible, cross the
Alps, to receive coronation in
Pavia or
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
with the
Iron Crown of Lombardy as
King of Italy
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...
. Finally, he would travel to Rome and be crowned Emperor by the Pope. Because it was rarely possible for the elected King to proceed immediately to Rome for his crowning, several years might elapse between election and coronation, and some Kings never completed the journey to Rome at all. As a suitable title for the King between his election and his coronation as Emperor, ''Romanorum Rex'' would stress the plenitude of his authority over the Empire and his warrant to be future Emperor (''Imperator futurus'') without infringing upon the Papal privilege.
Not all Kings of the Romans made this step, sometimes because of hostile relations with the Pope, or because either the pressure of business at home or warfare in Germany or Italy made it impossible for the King to make the journey. In such cases, the king might retain the title "King of the Romans" for his entire reign.
Later developments
The title ''Romanorum Rex'' ceased to be used for ruling kings after 1508, when the Pope permitted King
Maximilian I to use the title of ''Electus Romanorum Imperator'' ("elected Emperor of the Romans") after he failed in a
good-faith attempt to journey to Rome. At this time Maximilian also took the new title "King in Germania" (''Germaniae rex'', ''König in Germanien''), but the latter was never used as a primary title.
[Elisabeth Rothmund: ''Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672). Kulturpatriotismus und deutsche weltliche Vokalmusik. "Zum Auffnehmen der Music, auch Vermehrung unserer Nation Ruhm"'', 2004, p. 79; H. Weisert: ''Der Reichstitel bis 1806''. In: '' Archiv für Diplomatik, Schriftgeschichte, Siegel- und Wappenkunde'' 4 (1994), 441–513 (p. 449).]
Maximilian's titles read, in part: "''Maximilian von Gots genaden erwelter Romischer Romischer kayser, zu allen zeiten merer des Reichs, in Germanien zu Hungern, Dalmatien, Croatien etc. kunig
��' ("Maximilian, by God's grace Elected Roman Emperor, always Augustus, in Germany, of Hungary, Dalamatia, Croatia etc King
��[Ernest Troger, Georg Zwanowetz (ed.): ''Neue Beiträge zur geschichtlichen Landeskunde Tirols. Festschrift für Univ. Prof. Dr. Franz Huter anlässlich der Vollendung des 70. Lebensjahres.'' Wagner, Innsbruck 1969, p. 269.]
Beginning with
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, the rulers of the Empire no longer sought the Imperial coronation by the Pope and styled themselves "Emperors" without Papal approval, taking the title as soon as they were crowned in Germany or, if crowned in their predecessor's lifetime, upon the death of a sitting Emperor.
Heirs designate
The
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
was an
elective monarchy. No person had an automatic legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Emperor. However, the Emperor could, and often did, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected
heir apparent bore the title "King of the Romans".
During the Middle Ages, a junior King of the Romans was normally chosen only when the senior ruler bore the title of Emperor, so as to avoid having two, theoretically equal kings. Only on one occasion (1147–1150) was there both a ruling King of the Romans (King
Conrad III) and a King of the Romans as heir (
Henry Berengar). This practice continued from the 16th century onwards as the rulers of the Empire assumed the title "Emperor elect" without Imperial coronation by the Pope. The title of a King of the Romans now exclusively refers to the elected successor during his predecessor's lifetime.
The election was in the same form as that of the senior ruler. In practice, however, the actual administration of the Empire was always managed by the Emperor (or Emperor elect), with at most certain duties delegated to the heir.
King of Rome
When
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, had a son and heir,
Napoleon II (181132), he introduced the title as King of Rome (''Roi de Rome''), styling his son as such at birth. The boy was often known colloquially by this title throughout his short life. However, from 1818 onward, he was styled officially as the
Duke of Reichstadt by his maternal grandfather, Emperor
Francis I of Austria.
List
The following list shows all individuals bearing the title "Kings of the Romans". The regnal dates given are those between a king's election as "King of the Romans" and either becoming Emperor or ending their reign by deposition or death.
Ruling kings are coloured in yellow, while those whose claim to the throne failed to achieve widespread support are coloured in pink. Individuals that bore the title "Kings of the Romans" solely as
heirs designate are coloured in silver. '* ' indicates that the king in question was elected in his predecessor's lifetime.
See also
*
List of German monarchs, rulers of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, including those using titles other than "King of the Romans"
*
List of Holy Roman Emperors
*
Emperor of the Romans
Notes
References
*
* H. Beumann: ''Rex Romanorum'', in: ''
Lexikon des Mittelalters'' (Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 9 vols., Munich-Zürich 1980–98), vol. 7, col. 777 f.
{{DEFAULTSORT:King of the Romans
Kings in Germany
Heirs to the throne
Holy Roman Empire-related lists
Royalty of the Holy Roman Empire
King of the Romans
Medieval German nobility