Titles of the Royals of Europe: What Language to use? Part IV.

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Fürst, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine. King Wilhelm I of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Wilhelm Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck

To continue my series on what language to use while writing the blog I want to discuss how I use German titles.

Here is a list of titles in German and thier English equivalent.

Kaiser and Kaiserin (Emperor and Empress)

König and Königin (King and Queen)

Großherzog and Großherzogin (Grand Duke and Grand Duchess)

Herzog and Herzogin (Duke and Duchess)

Prinz and Prinzessin (Prince and Princess)

I don’t use any of these German translations of titles. I only use English.

Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine

It does create an unusual mixture. I will use Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine, the son-in-law of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for my example.

Generally when reading a book about this German Prince his name and title will be rendered in English as Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine.

In German it’s Großherzog Ludwig IV von Hessen und bei Rhein.

I will use German for his name but English for the title: Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine.

I want to give a little background on the title German Emperor which in German is: Deutscher Kaiser.

The title German Emperor was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the January 1, 1871 constitution and lasted until the official abdication of Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918.

This painting is the third version of the proclamation of Prussian king Wilhelm I as German Emperor at Versailles, by Anton von Werner. The first two versions were destroyed in the Second World War. This version was commissioned by the Prussian royal family for chancellor Bismarck’s 70th birthday. Note that the subjects are portrayed as the age they were when the work was painted in 1885, not the age they were at when the event occurred in 1871.

The Holy Roman Emperor is sometimes also called “German Emperor” when the historical context is clear, as derived from the Holy Roman Empire’s official name of “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” from 1512.

German Empire (1848–49)

In the wake of the revolutions of 1848 and during the German Empire (1848–49), King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia was offered the title “Emperor of the Germans” which is translated Kaiser der Deutschen in German.

This title was offered to the Prussian King by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, but the King declined it because he didn’t believe the title was “not the Parliament’s to give”. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV believed that only the German princes had the right to make such an offer, in accordance with the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.

Creation

The title German Emperor was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of the North German Confederation, after discussion which continued until the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as Emperor at the Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris.

Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly on January 18 1871, having preferred “Emperor of Germany” which in German translates to Kaiser von Deutschland.

However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his realm such as Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and others.

German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia

“Emperor of the Germans” was also ruled out by Wilhelm as he considered himself a king who ruled by divine right and chosen “By the Grace of God”, not by the people in a popular monarchy. This was the exact same belief his brother King Friedrich Wilhelm IV professed.

But more in general, Wilhelm was unhappy about a crown that looked artificial (like Napoléon’s), having been created by a constitution. He was afraid that it would overshadow the Prussian crown. Which it eventually did during the reign of his grandson German Emperor Wilhelm II.

What is interesting is that when I speak of the German Emperors I will refer to them as Kaiser for the most part but will also refer to them as German Emperor. However in writing I always stick to the term German Emperor. Yes I’m not always consistent!

However, there is one title I do render in German and that is…

Fürst and Fürstin (Plural: Fürsten)

It is a German word for a ruler and it is also a princely title. Fürstens were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of the Holy Roman Empire and later its former territories, and ranks below the ruling Emperor or King.

A Prince of the Holy Roman Empire was the reigning sovereign ruler of an Imperial State that held imperial immediacy in the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire. The territory ruled is referred to in German as a Fürstentum (principality), the family dynasty referred to as a Fürstenhaus (princely house), and the (non-reigning) descendants of a Fürst are titled and referred to in German as Prinz (prince) or Prinzessin (princess).

The English language uses the term “Prince” for both a member of a Royal or Princely family and a reigning Prince. Therefore since the English language doesn’t distinguish between a non reigning Prince and a reigning Prince (Fürst) I will use the title Fürst when necessary and applicable.

Next week I will conclude this series with discussion of titles in Russian.

Origins of the Holy Roman Empire. Conclusions

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Carolingian Empire, Charles V, Emperor-Elect, Francis II, Golden Bull, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, King of Rome, Kingdom of Germany, Pope, Roman Catholic Church

The Imperial title

Another aspect of examining the origins of the Holy Roman Empire is to examine the history of the Imperial title itself. In other words, the history of the title gives us some understanding of the history of the empire itself.

The Holy Roman Emperor’s standard designation was simply, originally and officially “August Emperor of the Romans.” In Latin this was translated as “Romanorum Imperator Augustus.” In native German the title was translated as Kaiser der Römer.

Let me expand on this a little further. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser (“Roman-German Emperor”) is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, and that of German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) on the other, the title held by the Hohenzollern Emperors from 1871 until 1918.

The English term “Holy Roman Emperor” is modern shorthand for “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire” and not corresponding to the actual historical style or title. In other words, the adjective “holy” is not intended as modifying “emperor.” The English term “Holy Roman Emperor” gained currency in the interbellum period (the 1920s to 1930s); formerly the title had also been rendered “German-Roman Emperor” in English.

The Empire was considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only legal successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Since Charlemagne, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. The term sacrum (“holy”, in the sense of “consecrated”) in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under Friedrich I Barbarossa. “Holy Empire”: was the term added to reflect Friedrich’s ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy. The form “Holy Roman Empire” is attested from 1254 onward.

In a decree following the Diet of Cologne in 1512, the name was changed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicæ), a form first used in a document in 1474. The new title was adopted partly because the Empire lost most of its territories in Italy and Burgundy to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform.

By the end of the 18th century, the term “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” fell out of official use. Contradicting the traditional view concerning that designation, Hermann Weisert has argued in a study on imperial titulature that, despite the claims of many textbooks, the name “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” never had an official status and points out that documents were thirty times as likely to omit the national suffix as include it.

In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher Voltaire remarked sardonically: “This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

The title of emperor in the West implied recognition by the pope. It was the pope who had the power to create an emperor. But as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was that known as the investiture controversy, fought during the 11th century between Heinrich IV and Pope Gregory VII.

The office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. As we have seen since 911, the various German princes had elected the King of the Germans, technically, King of East Francia, from among their peers. The King of the Germans would then be crowned as emperor following the precedent set by Charlemagne.

Beginning with the reign Heinrich II (1002–1024, emperor from 1014) the title King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum; German: König der Römer) was the title used by the German king following his election the mostly German prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire. Technically they would retain the title “King of the Romans”, until they were officially crowned emperor by the Pope. However, the Papacy’s hold over the emperor wained greatly after the Protestant Reformation as many states became officially Protestant despite the Habsburg emperors remaining Roman Catholic.

Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned by the pope, and his successor, Ferdinand I, merely adopted the title of “Emperor-Elect” in 1558. Despite holding the title Emperor-Elect and forgoing the papal coronation the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were still simply referred to as emperor. As we began this blog entry, we have seen that the final Holy Roman emperor-elect, Franz II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire’s final dissolution.

Having read its complex history I see the Carolingian Empire that began with Charlamagne as a “Frankish Empire” and was the first phase in the evolution of the Holy Roman Empire. This Frankish Carolingian Empire eventually died out in 924. Then, with the Revival of the Imperial title under Otto the Great, I view this act as a transition from Frankish Empire to the creation of a “German Empire” which is what came to define the Holy Roman Empire in its essense. As a Germanic Empire it helped foster and grow a diverse German culture signifying an important part of German history.