How The Holy Roman Empire Came Apart After A Thousand Years

Enter Napoleon

(By François Gérard — L’Histoire par l’image [1], digital version produced by Agence photographique de la Réunion des musées nationaux [2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=254720)

The Holy Roman Empire came into existence in the year 800 with the coronation of Charlemagne. Charlemagne sought to tap into the old heritage of the Roman Empire, lost in the West for nearly four centuries. In 800, Charlemagne himself was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III. This fusion brought together two of the most powerful institutions in Europe into one crown: the Catholic Church and the ghost of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Holy Roman Empire was born. Charlemagne was an emperor; he proclaimed himself to be the continuation of the Romans, and he had the blessing of the people. Holy, Roman, and Empire all in one.

Despite being a confederation of states ruled by a transitory imperial family and no hard borders, this empire would last a thousand years. From 800 until 1805, the Holy Roman Empire was a prominent feature of Europe, especially Medieval Europe.

So how did an empire that had managed to survive for a millennium finally fall?

The Holy Roman Empire had been in decline for a couple of centuries during the Renaissance Period. While it thrived during the Medieval Period in an environment that did not recognize overarching nationalities or borders, it struggled to find a place in a world coalescing around nation-states. The…