Kingdom of East Francia

Tags

Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, East Francia, Emperor of the Romans, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King of East Francia, Otto I the Great, Pope John XII, Pope Leo III

From the Emperor’s Desk: This post is merely to announce the coming of a new series…the Kingdom of East Francia.

One of my favorite topics in studying European Royalty is studying the Holy Roman Empire. It is actually a very large topic considering the Empire lasted, depending on when you date the start of the Empire, for about 1,000 years.

And one of the most interesting aspects of the Holy Roman Empire that I like to focus on is the origins of the Empire itself.

Many believe that the Holy Roman Empire began with the coronation of Charlemagne, King of the Franks, by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in the year 800CE with the Imperial title.

Although many historians do accept this date and the coronation of Charlemagne as the start of the Holy Roman Empire, other historians, myself included, tend to view the coronation of Otto I the Great, King of East Francia, by Pope John XII at Old St. Peter’s Basilica on February 2, 962, as the authentic starting point of the Holy Roman Empire.

Whichever date you support for the founding of the Holy Roman Empire, one point is certain…the Empire was something that evolved over time.

That evolution can get confusing.

Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans

Even though I believe the coronation of Otto I the Great as Emperor is a more logical choice for the start of the Holy Roman Empire, I certainly cannot ignore the Empire that started with Charlemagne! It was an essential and an important part of the process in the development of the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed the coronation and the very life of Charlemagne is vitally important to the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, I tend to call the Empire started by Charlemagne as the Carolingian Empire, named after the dynasty to which Charlemagne belonged. I consider this Carolingian Empire as a proto-Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first “Emperor of the Romans” from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded is often better known in history as the Carolingian Empire.

Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards

It was an Empire that was divided within 26 years after the death of Charlemagne. With the death of his son, Louis the Pious, in 840, the Empire was divided between his three sons. As Emperor, Louis the Pious included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them.

However, this arrangement was not suitable. Louis the Pious died on June 20, 840 in the presence of many bishops and clerics and his son Lothair was proclaimed Emperor.

However, soon dispute plunged the surviving brothers of Louis the Pious into yet another civil war. It lasted until 843 with the signing of the Treaty of Verdun, in which the division of the empire into three sovereign entities was settled.

These three sovereign kingdoms were West Francia and East Francia and Middle Francia. West and East Francia became the kernels of modern France and Germany respectively. Middle Francia was only short-lived until 855 and later reorganized as Lotharingia.

It was through the Kingdom of East Francia, initially a Frankish Kingdom, that eventually evolved into a Germanic Kingdom that produced the Ottonian Dynasty of which Otto I the Great belonged. It was also through the Kingdom of East Francia from which the Holy Roman Empire formed.

Although this may seem somewhat straightforward but there are some issues which can be confusing.

Otto I the Great, Emperor of the Romans, King of East Francia

For during this time period from the Treaty of Verdun in 843 to the coronation of Otto I the Great in 962 and beyond, terminology developed to describe the political entity which can be confusing.

Such terminology not only surrounded the name of the political entity but the titles of the monarch himself. These titles were:

King of East Francia
King of Germany
King of the Romans
Holy Roman Emperor

Therefore this series will examine these terms, thier history and usage in an attempt to make sense of it all.

April 14, 972: Marriage of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor and Byzantine Princess Theophanu

Tags

Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Princess Theophanu, Eastern Roman Empire, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, John I Tzimiskes, Macedonian Dynasty, Otto I the Great, Otto II, Pope John XIII, Regent

Otto II (955 – December 7, 983), called the Red was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983.

Otto II was born in 955, the third son of the King of Germany Otto I (Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962) and his second wife Adelaide of Burgundy the daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia.

By 957, Otto II’s older brothers Henry (born 952) and Bruno (born 953) had died, as well as Otto I’s son from his first wife Eadgyth, the Crown Prince Liudolf, Duke of Swabia.

Otto II was made joint-ruler of the Empire in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu.

Theophanu (c. AD 955 – June 15, 991) According to the marriage certificate issued on April 14, 972 Theophanu is identified as the niece or granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (925–976, reigned 969–976) who was of Armenian and Byzantine Greek descent.

Recent research tends to concur that she was most probably the daughter of Tzimiskes’ brother-in-law (from his first marriage) Constantine Skleros (c. 920–989) and cousin Sophia Phokas, the daughter of Kouropalatēs Leo Phokas, brother of Emperor Nikephoros II (c. 912–969).

Marriage

Theophanu was not born “in the purple” as the Ottonians would have preferred. The Saxon chronicler Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg writes that the Ottonian preference was for Anna Porphyrogenita, a daughter of late Byzantine Emperor Romanos II. Theophanu’s uncle John I Tzimiskes had overthrown his predecessor Nikephoros II Phokas in 969.

Theophanu was escorted back to Rome for her wedding by a delegation of German and Italian churchmen and nobles. When the Ottonian court discovered Theophanu was not a scion of the Macedonian dynasty, as had been assumed, Otto I was told by some to send Theophanu away.

Otto’s advisors believed that Theophanu’s relation to the usurper John Tzimiskes would invalidate the marriage as a confirmation of Otto I as Holy Roman Emperor.

He was persuaded to allow her to stay when it was pointed out that John Tzimiskes had wed Theodora, a member of the Macedonian dynasty and sister to Emperor Romanos II. John was therefore a Macedonian, by marriage if not by birth.

A reference by Pope John XIII to Emperor Nikephoros II as “Emperor of the Greeks” in a letter while Otto’s ambassador, Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, was at the Byzantine court, had destroyed the first round of marriage negotiations.

With the ascension of John I Tzimiskes, who had not been personally referred to other than as Roman Emperor, the treaty negotiations were able to resume. However, not until a third delegation led by Archbishop Gero of Cologne arrived in Constantinople, were they successfully completed.

After the marriage negotiations completed, Theophanu and Otto II were married by Pope John XIII on April 14, 972.

According to Karl Leysers’ book Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: Carolingian and Ottonian, Otto I’s choice was not “to be searched for in the parlance of high politics” as his decision was ultimately made on the basis of securing his dynasty with the birth of the next Ottonian emperor.

Empress

Otto II succeeded his father on May 8, 973. Theophanu accompanied her husband on all his journeys, and she is mentioned in approximately one quarter of the emperor’s formal documents – evidence of her privileged position, influence and interest in affairs of the empire.

It is known that she was frequently at odds with her mother-in-law, Adelaide of Italy, which caused an estrangement between Otto II and Adelaide. According to Abbot Odilo of Cluny, Adelaide was very happy when “that Greek woman” died.

The Benedictine chronicler Alpert of Metz describes Theophanu as being an unpleasant and chattery woman. Theophanu was also criticized for having introduced new luxurious garments and jewelry into France and the Holy Roman Empire.

The theologian Peter Damian even asserts that Theophanu had a love affair with John Philagathos, a Greek monk who briefly reigned as Antipope John XVI.

Otto II died suddenly on December 7, 983 at the age of 28, probably from malaria. His three-year-old son, Otto III, had already been appointed King of the Romans during a diet held on Pentecost of that year at Verona.

At Christmas, Theophanu had him crowned by the Mainz archbishop Willigis at Aachen Cathedral, with herself ruling as Empress Regent on his behalf.

Upon the death of Emperor Otto II, Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht released his cousin, the Bavarian duke Heinrich the Quarrelsome from custody. Duke Heinrich allied with Archbishop Warin of Cologne and seized his nephew Otto III in spring 984, while Theophanu was still in Italy. Nevertheless he was forced to surrender the child to his mother, who was backed by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and Bishop Hildebald of Worms.

Regency

Theophanu ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent for a span of five years, from May 985 to her death in 991, despite early opposition by the Ottonian court.

Her first act as regent was in securing her son, Otto III, as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire. Theophanu also placed her daughters in power by giving them high positions in influential nunneries all around the Ottonian-ruled west, securing power for all her children. She welcomed ambassadors, declaring herself “imperator” or “imperatrix”, as did her relative contemporaries Irene of Athens and Theodora; the starting date for her reign being 972, the year of her marriage to the late Otto II.

Theophanu brought from her native east, a culture of royal women at the helm of a small amount of political power, something that the West—of which she was in rule of—had remained generally opposed to for centuries before her regency.

Theophanu and her mother-in-law, Adelaide, are known during the empress’ regency to have butted heads frequently–Adelaide of of Burgundy is even quoted as referring to her as “that Greek empress.” Theophanu’s rivalry with her mother-in-law, according to historian and author Simon Maclean, is overstated. Theophanu’s “Greekness” was not an overall issue. Moreover, there was a grand fascination with the culture surrounding Byzantine court in the west that slighted most criticisms to her Greek origin.

Theophanu did not remain merely as an image of the Ottonian empire, but as an influence within the Holy Roman Empire. She intervened within the governing of the empire a total of seventy-six times during the reign of her husband Otto II—perhaps a foreshadowing of her regency.

Though never donning any armor, she also waged war and sought peace agreements throughout her regency. Theophanu’s regency is a time of considerable peace, as the years 985-991 passed without major crises. Though the myth of Theophanu’s prowess as imperator could be an overstatement, according to historian Gerd Althoff, royal charters present evidence that magnates were at the core of governing the empire.

Althoff highlights this as unusual, since kings or emperors in the middle ages rarely shared such a large beacon of empirical power with nobility.

Due to illness beginning in 988, Theophanu eventually died at Nijmegen and was buried in the Church of St. Pantaleon near her wittum in Cologne in 991.

The chronicler Thietmar eulogized her as follows: “Though [Theophanu] was of the weak sex she possessed moderation, trustworthiness, and good manners. In this way she protected with male vigilance the royal power for her son, friendly with all those who were honest, but with terrifying superiority against rebels.”

Because Otto III was still a child, his grandmother Adelaide of Burgundy took over the regency until Otto III became old enough to rule on his own.

History of Germany Part VII: Otto the Great and the founding of the Holy Roman Empire.

Tags

Berengar of Fruili, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Italy, Otto I the Great, Otto the Great, Pope John XII

After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, the briefly reunited Carolingian Empire broke apart, and was never restored. According to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm “spewed forth kinglets”, and each part elected a kinglet “from its own bowels”. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy. The last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924.

Berengar I (c. 845 – April 7, 924) was the king of Italy from 887. He was the Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.

Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of Charles the Fat, and he was elected to replace Charles in Italy after the latter’s deposition in November 887. His long reign of 36 years saw him opposed by no less than seven other claimants to the Italian throne. His reign is usually characterised as “troubled” because of the many competitors for the crown and because of the arrival of Magyar raiders in Western Europe. He was the last emperor before Otto the Great was crowned in 962, after a 38-year interregnum.

Otto I (November 23, 912 – May 7, 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great, was German king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Heinric I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, the daughter of the local count Dietrich and his wife Reinhild, a noblewoman of Danish and Frisian descent.

Otto inherited the Duchy of Saxony and the kingship of the Germans upon his father’s death in 936. He continued his father’s work of unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom and greatly expanded the king’s powers at the expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the kingdom’s most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, to royal subjects under his authority. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen royal authority and subjected its clergy to his personal control.

The Hungarians (Magyars) invaded Otto’s domain as part of the larger Hungarian invasions of Europe and ravaged much of Southern Germany. Though Otto had installed the Margraves Hermann Billung and Gero on his kingdom’s northern and northeastern borders, the Principality of Hungary to the southeast was a permanent threat to German security. The Hungarians took advantage of the kingdom’s civil war and invaded the Duchy of Bavaria in spring 954. Though Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, had successfully prevented the Hungarians from invading their own territories in the west, the invaders managed to reach the Rhine River, sacking much of Bavaria and Franconia in the process.

The Hungarians, encouraged by their successful raids, began another invasion into Germany in the spring of 955. Otto’s army, now unhindered by civil war, was able to defeat the invasion, and soon the Hungarians sent an ambassador to seek peace with Otto. The ambassador proved to be a decoy: Otto’s brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, sent word to Otto that the Hungarians had crossed into his territory from the southeast. The main Hungarian army had camped along the Lech River and besieged Augsburg. While the city was defended by Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg, Otto assembled his army and marched south to face the Hungarians.

Otto and his army fought the Hungarian force on August 10, 955 at the Battle of Lechfeld. Under Otto’s command were Burchard III, Duke of Swabia and Bohemian troops of Duke Boleslaus I. Though outnumbered nearly two to one, Otto was determined to push the Hungarian forces out of his territory. According to Widukind of Corvey, Otto “pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by Duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad’s unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately.”

While Otto was fighting the Hungarians with his main army deployed in Southern Germany, the Obotrite Slavs in the north were in a state of insurrection. Count Wichmann the Younger, still Otto’s opponent over the King’s refusal to grant Wichmann the title of Margrave in 936, marauded through the lands of the Obotrites in the Billung March, causing the followers of Slavic Prince Nako to revolt. The Obotrites invaded Saxony in the fall of 955, killing the men of arms-bearing age and carrying off the women and children into slavery. In the aftermath of the Battle of Lechfeld, Otto rushed to the north and pressed far into their territory. A Slav embassy offered to pay annual tribute in return for being allowed self-government under German overlordship instead of direct German rule.[80]Otto refused, and the two sides met on October 16, at the Battle of Recknitz. Otto’s forces gained a decisive victory; after the battle, hundreds of captured Slavs were executed.

Celebrations for Otto’s victory over the pagan Hungarians and Slavs were held in churches across the kingdom, with bishops attributing the victory to divine intervention and as proof of Otto’s “divine right” to rule. The battles of Lechfeld and Recknitz mark a turning point in Otto’s reign. The victories over Hungarians and Slavs sealed his hold on power over Germany, with the duchies firmly under royal authority. From 955 on, Otto would not experience another rebellion against his rule and as a result was able to further consolidate his position throughout Central Europe.

Liudolf’s death in the fall of 957 deprived Otto of both an heir and a commander of his expedition against King Berengar II of Italy. Beginning with the unfavorable peace treaty signed in 952 in which he became Otto’s vassal, Berengar II had always been a rebellious subordinate. With the death of Liudolf and Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, and with Otto campaigning in northern Germany, Berengar II attacked the March of Verona in 958, which Otto had stripped from his control under the 952 treaty, and besieged Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa there. Berengar II’s forces also attacked the Papal States and the city of Rome under Pope John XII. In autumn 960, with Italy in political turmoil, the Pope sent word to Otto seeking his aid against Berengar II. Several other influential Italian leaders arrived at Otto’s court with similar appeals, including the Archbishop of Milan, the bishops of Como and Novara, and Margrave Otbert of Milan.

After the Pope agreed to crown him as Emperor, Otto assembled his army to march upon Italy. In preparation for his second Italian campaign and the imperial coronation, Otto planned his kingdom’s future. At the Imperial Diet at Worms in May 961, Otto named his six-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler, and had him crowned at Aachen Cathedral on 26 May 961. Otto II was anointed by the Archbishops Bruno I of Cologne, William of Mainz, and Henry I of Trier. The King instituted a separate chancery to issue diplomas in his heir’s name, and appointed his brother Bruno and illegitimate son William as Otto II’s co-regents in Germany.

Otto’s army descended into northern Italy in August 961 through the Brenner Pass at Trento. The German king moved towards Pavia, the former Lombard capital of Italy, where he celebrated Christmas and assumed the title King of Italy for himself. Berengar II’s armies retreated to their strongholds in order to avoid battle with Otto, allowing him to advance southward unopposed. Otto reached Rome on January 31, 962; three days later, he was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII at Old St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope also anointed Otto’s wife Adelaide of Italy, who had accompanied Otto on his Italian campaign, as empress. With Otto’s coronation as emperor, the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy were unified into a common realm, later called the Holy Roman Empire.

The kingdom/Empire had no permanent capital city. Kings traveled between residences (called Kaiserpfalz) to discharge affairs. However, each king preferred certain places; in Otto’s case, this was the city of Magdeburg. Kingship continued to be transferred by election, but Kings often ensured their own sons were elected during their lifetimes, enabling them to keep the crown for their families. This only changed after the end of the Salian dynasty in the 12th century.

The Holy Roman Empire became eventually composed of four kingdoms. The kingdoms were:
* Kingdom of Germany (part of the empire since 962),
* Kingdom of Italy (from 962 until 1648),
* Kingdom of Bohemia (since 1002 as the Duchy of Bohemia and raised to a kingdom in 1198),
* Kingdom of Burgundy (from 1032 to 1378).

Regaling about Regalia

Tags

Austrian State Crown, Charles II of England and Scotland, Crown of Rudolf II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Hohenzollern Crown, Imperial State Crown., Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Oliver Cromwell, Otto I the Great, St. Edward's Crown

One of the things I liked about monarchy once I began studying it back many years ago were the regalia of each monarchy. Except for Britain these are hardly every used. So today I thought I would highlight the five crowns found in Europe that I like the best.

St. Edward’s Crown

This crown, named after King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) was created for King Charles II and was allegedly made from materials contained in St. Edward’s original crown. The original St. Edward’s Crown was broken up by Oliver Cromwell when the monarchy was abolished in 1649. The crown is made of solid gold and contains 444 precious stones. 

Although it is called the official coronation crown it has not been worn as frequently as its title suggests. Here is a list of the monarchs who have been crowned with St. Edwards Crown since its recreation: Charles II (1661), James II (1685), William III (1689), George V (1911), George VI (1937) and Elizabeth II (1953). Mary II and Anne were crowned with small diamond crowns of their own. George I, George II, George III and William IV used a state crown made for King George I. King George IV used a large new diamond crown and Victoria and Edward VII  used the 1838 Imperial State Crown.

Imperial State Crown

This version (design) of the Imperial State Crown was made for Queen Victoria in 1838. Although the present Imperial State Crown uses the same jewels and design as the 1838 model this one was made in 1937 for King George VI. The Imperial State Crown is smaller and lighter than St. Edward’s Crown. The Crown contains 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies. The most historical jewels on the crown are the Stuart Sapphire in the back, Cullian II also known as the Lesser Star of Africa which comes in at 317.4 carats and is the fourth largest polished diamond in the world. Atop the cross at the top of the crown is St. Edward’s Sapphire which was taken from a ring or a crown owned by King Edward the Confessor. Above the Lesser Star of Africa is the Black Prince’s Ruby (the Black Prince was the son of Edward III) which is actually not a ruby but a actually a spinel.

Both Queen Victoria and King Edward VII used this crown for their coronation, St Edward’s Crown was too large for Victoria and Edward had just recovered from an operation for an appendicitis. Generally the Imperial State Crown is used after the Coronation and annually at the State Opening of Parliament. If the Prince of Wales is up there in year at the time of his coronation I wonder if he will use the Imperial State Crown for his ceremony? 

Crown of Christian V

This beautiful ornate crown came to symbolize absolute monarchy in Denmark. Made in 1670-71 by Made by Paul Kurtz in Copenhagen for King Christian V and was modeled after a crown worn by King Louis XIV of France. prior to 1660 the crown was elective and there was no coronation in Denmark until absolutism became the style of rule. When the 1840 Constitution ended absolutism a coronation was no longer held. The Crown has since been used only for the castrum doloris (‘camp of woe’) at the death of the monarch when the crown is placed on the coffin. 

The Crown of the Austrian Empire

The original Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire was made for Otto I the Great 912-973 and remained in Nuremberg and was only allowed to leave the city for imperial coronations. Therefore, many monarchs had their own personal crowns made for usage at other times. This crown was made for Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II of the Habsburg  family.  The Crown was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen. This unusual crown was made out of three parts: the circlet, the high arch, and a mitre.

The Crown was last worn by Holy Roman Emperor Franz II who was the only Double Emperor in the history of the world. He was the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicating that crown on the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. However, he was the first Emperor of Austria obtaining that elevated title in 1804. Therefore for two years he was the Emperor of two empires. Despite being the Imperial Crown for the Austrian Empire the crown was not used in coronations because the emperors were inaugurated instead of crowned. 

The Crown of Prussia (Hohenzollern Crown)

The crown was created for the last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II. He never had a coronation so this crown was never worn. The crown was made in 1888 to symbolize his rule as the King of Prussia. A Imperial Crown was not made for him. The crown itself contains a large sapphire and supports a diamond-studded cross, 142 rose-cut diamonds, 18 larger diamonds and 8 large pearls. It comprises eight half-arches.

This was Wilhelm’s personal crown and did not belong to the state. He was allowed to take it with him into exile in 1918 and today resides in the family residence of the Hohenzollern Castle.

Royal Numbering ~ Germany

Tags

Charlemagne, England, Ernest Augustus, George I, George II, George III, Germany, Hanover, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom, Kingdom of Hanover, Napoleon, Otto I the Great, Scotland, William IV

Royal Numbering ~ Germany

Germany is a unique example in the topic of monarchy and with numbering their rulers. Unlike Britain and France and other states of Europe, Germany was slow in become a centralized nation-state. For centuries Germany was more of a geographical term than a name attached to a centralized nation state. Similar to France German history has its roots in the old Kingdom of the Franks. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Charlemagne’s empire. The eastern half of the kingdom retained the imperial title and from this entity evolved the Holy Roman Empire.

Even though Charlemagne is considered the Fist Holy Roman Emperor when he was crown Emperor on Christmas Day 800CE that state was something that developed through the centuries. I remember one historian saying that Charlemagne’s empire, thought to have reestablished the Western Roman Empire, was in reality was a state without a name. In 843 when the empire was divided the monarchs of the eastern half were titled Regnum Francorum Orientalium or Francia Orientalis: the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks. This Kingdom of East Francia lasted from 843 until 911 under the Carolingian Dynasty and the rise of the Ottonian Dynasty.

The imperial title lapsed after the death of Berengar I in 924 and would not be revived until Otto I, Duke of Saxony was crowned Emperor in 962. This is when the majority of historians believe the Holy Roman Empire began. The empire was a loose conglomeration of states with their own leaders who held titles either directly or indirectly from the emperor. The monarchy was elective but in practice it did become hereditary within certain dynasties with the election become a mere formality. The Archdukes of Austria of the Habsburg Dynasty held the title the longest. As territories merged or were annexed the rulers still held their titles and a right to sit in the imperial diet even though they no longer ruled over territory. There is not any discrepancy for the numbering of the emperors but there are some minor discrepancies and inconsistencies for the lesser states.

One of the places where there is a discrepancy in numbering is the Kingdom of Hanover. Prior to its elevation as a kingdom Hanover was an Imperial Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire ruled by a cadet line of the House of Guelph that ruled the various Brunswick duchies. In 1692 Emperor Leopold I installed Duke Ernst August of Brunswick-Lüneburg as Prince-Elector of Hanover. In 1698 Elector Ernst August was succeeded by his eldest son who became Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover. In 1714 via the provisions of the Act of Settelment of 1701 in England and Scotland Georg Ludwig became King George I of Great Britain. In Hanover and Great Britain the numbering for these King-Electors was the same. In 1727 George I was succeeded by his son as George II and in 1760 his grandson succeeded him as George III.

In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire came to an end and Hanover became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a puppet state founded by Napoleon. After the defeat of Napoleon the Congress of Vienna restored George III to his Hanoverian territories and elevated Hanover to a Kingdom. Instead of starting a new numbering of as Kings of Hanover George III still retained his ordinal number. In 1820 George III was succeeded by his son who became George IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Hanover. In 1837 George IV was succeeded by his brother William IV who was known as Wilhelm I of Hanover.

Since succession to Hanover was governed by the Salic Law which barred women from inheriting the throne the personal union between Great Britain and Hanover ended in 1837 with the death of William IV. William IV was succeeded in Great Britain by his niece, Victoria, who reigned in Britain until 1901 and gave her name to the entire era. In Hanover the crown went to another brother of William IV, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.

This is where it gets tricky. In my view he should have been been called Ernst August II because the numbering for Hanover began with Ernst August in 1692. However, Ernst August was only an Elector in 1692 and never a King. His son, George I, was the first Hanoverian to hold the royal title of King…although he was a King of Great Britain not a King of Hanover. So it appears that the royal numbering of Hanover follows those with the title of King regardless if the person was not a King of Hanover.