Holy Roman Empire: Difference between revisions
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By the 18th century, the Empire had fractured, becoming little more than a disparate collection of loosely-affiliated states: mercenaries from a number of German states, such as the [[Jägers]] fought on both sides of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> | By the 18th century, the Empire had fractured, becoming little more than a disparate collection of loosely-affiliated states: mercenaries from a number of German states, such as the [[Jägers]] fought on both sides of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> | ||
It was finally dissolved in 1806 after Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 03:34, 7 October 2014
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Roman Empire (before 1157) and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (from 1512), was a European superpower throughout the 2nd millennium CE that dominated the central European continent.
Its counterpart in the east was the Byzantine Empire.
History
The spiritual successor to Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, itself a successor to the Western Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire's dominion extended from Denmark in the north, through Germany, and into northern Italy. By 1459, the Empire encompassed numerous city states, such as Milan and Florence, which allowed the Auditore International Bank to provide services throughout the Empire, and the Kingdom of Germania.[1] Despite this dominion, the Empire's military presence in Italy was negligible.[2]
During the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, the Empire developed an antagonistic relationship with the Borgia Papacy, stemming from the Pope recruiting Swiss mercenaries who had defeated him in the Swabian War into the Papal Guard. After the Italian Assassins kidnapped these mercenaries and delivered them to Maximilian in Vienna, the shocked but grateful Emperor had them form the Landsknechte, and later promised they would aid the Assassins should they ever request it.[3]
The Renaissance partly began in the Holy Roman Empire after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press,[4] and under Maximilian, culture, science and reform blossomed with German, Dutch and Swiss intellectuals like Conradus Celtis, Friedrich der Weise, Martin Luther, Desiderius Erasmus and Bombastus, some of whom became members or allies of the Assassins (Erasmus in particular became leader of the Northern European Assassins).[3][5]
This scientific growth extended to the reign of Rudolf II during the late 16th/early 17th century, who invited the occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley to his court in Prague. However, encouraging such pursuits came with a price, as during Rudolf's reign the Golem was unleashed on the city, to which he was criticized for allowing too much intellectual freedom.[6]
By the 18th century, the Empire had fractured, becoming little more than a disparate collection of loosely-affiliated states: mercenaries from a number of German states, such as the Jägers fought on both sides of the American Revolutionary War.[7]
It was finally dissolved in 1806 after Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.