History of Germany Part-6

They are in regular conflict with the nobility and other forces of power in the country like a church and cities and this feature kind of prevents it from unifying into a cohesive nation-state in France and England.

 

For example we can see clear centralization of power a  clear chain of command cohesion among  the organs of the nation it's not always  perfect but it works that doesn't happen  with the Holy Roman Empire.

 

It exists as  a kind of loose union of microstates with too much autonomy to really get the nation off its feet and moving as a real  Empire the microstates later have their own armies currencies laws that sort of  thing and this is interesting because throughout the upcoming period of  history.

 

Germany should have been a major power to rival France England Spain later on however a number of bizarre circumstances prevented the power within the country from being harnessed and that doesn't change until much later not  to say that this was some sort of failed  state however it was unusual but it did last for a thousand years which suggests that there is a method to the madness which we shall see as the Christian  world came under threat by Islamic dominance of the Holy Land around the same time as the investiture controversy, Germany finding itself greatly wounded  by these events participated very little  in the First Crusade rather it fell in a  period of relative isolation in 1125.  Heinrich v died childless as the last ruler of the salient dynasty accordingly Conrad of the Hohenstaufen dynasty eventually came to the throne after attempts to prevent him and an interregnum in 1152. Conrad's nephew Friedrich was elected King one of Friedreich's first acts was to begin  campaigning in Italy subduing the independent-minded northern Italians the Milanese in particular eventually he  reached Rome where he was crowned Holy  Roman Emperor while in Italy Friedrich  would be given the name by which he is  better known to this day  red beard or an Italian Barbarossa shortly thereafter Barbarossa married Beatrice of Burgundy securing his rule over all three main components of the Empire once more on their wedding then gay aged in a ritual which today may seem  unusual to us their marriage which was a  greatly political event was consummated in front of many important figures and  foreign representatives thankfully the  details of this event were meticulously  recorded which I shall now narrate to  you.

 

Barbarossa would spend much of his rule struggling with Italy and the Pope  Alexander the third this struggle in  fact was to lead to the placement of  holy in the term holy roman empire or  sacrum and petty 'm Romano in Latin hi  dais remissions Reich in German the term  holy was not meant to show fidelity to  the pope rather it was added to show  independence from him implying that the  position of emperor was not some reward  from the church it was a position handed  by God directly to the Emperor without  the Pope's involvement Barbarossa would  campaign in Italy five times he had  goals to extend control all the way to  Sicily but in the end he was defeated by  the Lombard League an alliance of many  rebellious states of northern Italy as  well as the Pope Venice Sicily and the  Byzantines at the Battle of LAN Yano. Barbarossa would also have to deal with  power struggles at home as well his  cousin Heinrich Deer Lube  Henry the lion Duke of Bavaria and  Saxony was an increasingly powerful  individual in his territories he was  keenly interested in founding cities and  expanding his power  one such city in Bavaria was a town  called mention home of the monks.

 

Today, the city of Munich which remains as  Bavaria's capital along with Bavaria and  Saxony Heinrich the lion also pressed  east into Slavic lands a holy mission to  convert the Slavs and Baltic people's  the last European pagans to Christianity  also presented an opportunity for  Germans of all social status to expand  eastward into sparsely inhabited and  undeveloped lands this expansion which  would last for centuries is collectively  referred to as a Coelom the East  settling the old seed lung would soon  evolved into a lesser-known chapter of  the Crusades one which prominently  featured Germans and Germany the  northern Crusades as well as Danes  Swedes and poles hi erect the Lions power would increase the  point of him being able to challenge  Barbarossa even refusing to campaign  with them in Italy  Barbarossa viewing this his treachery  stripped him of his titles and exiled  him for some time to England this did  not solve the lack of cohesion among his  nation at home and abroad that he was  facing however Barbarossa's last campaign would be the Third Crusade  where he Endeavored to reclaim the Holy  Land from the Muslim invaders in tandem  with the French King Philip Augustus and  the English King Richard the Lion heart  before he could reach the Holy Land  however in 1190 Barbarossa fell off his  horse into a river where he drowned to  death he was succeeded by his son Heinrich who became Heinrich the sixth  he would rule for seven years during  which time he expanded the empire all  the way to Sicily territorial claim  which concerned the Pope he died in 1197  his son Friedrich was only 3 at a time  and the throne became disputed as two  kings were elected Heinrich the sixth  brother Philip the first and Heinrich  the lion's son Otto the fourth civil war erupted and continued until Friedrich a  second came of age when he did he won  the pope support by promising to let go  of Sicily and became undisputed king in  1215 he won the support of his Nobles by  doing what his predecessors had  struggled in vain against granted the  nobility further rights and independence.

 

Friedrich is remembered as a rather bright in fact intellectual King  Friedrich Nietzsche would later refer to  him as the first European speaking of  Sicily despite his promise to the Pope. He did not release it he was actually  able to form a strong effective  centralized government there this anger  the Pope furthermore Friedrich was  crowned promising that he would embark  on a crusade which he had thus far  failed to do as well in fact his  hesitation to embark on the fifth  crusade is often cited as the reason for  its failure Friedrich would be  excommunicated four times throughout his  life and his struggles with the papacy  even being called the Antichrist on one  occasion by Pope Gregory the ninth  Friedrich would embark on a crusade  however to in fact the sixth crusade  where he miraculously won Jerusalem by  negotiation  which the Pope hoping for a great battle  wasn't happy about and of course the  northern Crusades Friedrich had elevated  Herman von salsa to be the Grand Master  of the Teutonic order around 1210. The Teutonic Knights would be key to  expanding into territories such as Livonia and crush' in fact they had been  granted permission to rule over the  pagan territories which they conquered  the Teutonic orders rule over the  territory of Prussia would lead to  massive German migration and the  Germanisation of the people there which  would have long-term effects on German  and European history  Friedrichs reign became greatly unstable  in the 12 40s as the papacy fought  against them and engineered plots to  overthrow him notably with an archbishop  support of two different rival Kings  Wilhelm of Holland and Henry Rasp  meanwhile the Teutonic order was taking  on the far reaches of the Mongol army  and the middle of the struggle and 12:50, Friedrich died his son died only a few  years later ending Hohenstaufen rule the  Holy Roman Empire was effectively  entering into its first great  interregnum where no King was able to  receive undisputed approval until 1272  though confusion and uncertainty would  last longer than this in both the Empire  and the papacy the power of the nobility  and bishops only fed off this increasing  their power in cementing their autonomy  with each noble commonly building his  own castle to cement his authority in  this time period  Germany is today one of the most castled  regions in the world despite a major  lack of central authority however the  German Kingdom would continue and many  of its endeavors including the push  eastward which was less affected by home  affairs amid this confusion and the  vision arose a house which would come to  be one of the most important in the Holy  Roman Empire and one of the most  influential houses in European history  from the arch Duchy of Austria which has  split off from Avaria and a 12th century  came the Hapsburgs the first Habsburg to  be elected King was Rudolf the first  though king of Germany he would not be Holy Roman Emperor. The ecclesiastical and secular Prince's during this time were not interested in a leader. They were interested in a servant and  more resilient than ever towards the  king's attempts to rule them accordingly  this was not the Hapsburgs who rise to  power it was only temporary  foreshadowing as it would be sometime  before they had a permanent hold on Germany the Hapsburgs lost power in  Germany after Rudolf though he had  established his family by making his  sons the dukes of Austria and Styria the  German electors fearing the power of the  house the selected kings from different  houses some of whom were chosen  specifically because they lacked power  and would be weak rulers from the surface this arrangement of things  probably appears to have a greatly  favored the princes however in turn the princes found themselves struggling to  maintain rule over their domains and the  nobility church knights and cities  within them who often acted  independently as well the cities in  Germany in particular in his time period  operated fairly independently. They  weren't exactly city-states like in  Italy but they weren't always  subservient to the surrounding country  and oftentimes they banded together to  promote their own interests one example  of this is the Hanseatic League from the  German word honza which means guilt  which was both a trading and also a  defensively administered by German  merchants extending from London to  Novgorod by the 15th century some of  these cities became Imperial cities  which were effectively as autonomous as  other parts of the country. Hinrich the  seventh was crowned king in 1308  becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1312  during his reign the Teutonic Knights  capture the city of Gdansk or in German  Danzig linking Germany and Prussia  geographically Heinrich died a few years  into his reign though and was succeeded  by his son Ludwig the 4th and a  contested election the Pope furthermore  refused to acknowledge his claims but in  1338 the German electors agreed to the declaration of Renza in this declaration  they stated that the right of the  Emperor to rule was no longer dependent  on the Pope's approval whomever the  electors chose to be king would be king  and with the title of king automatically  came the title of Holy Roman Emperor or  in German Kaiser from the Latin Kaiser  or as we more commonly pronounce it Caesar. This decision later paved the way  for the golden bull of 1356 to be issued  under Carl Forrest who was also King of  Bohemia and a part of the house of  Luxembourg beginning his reign as well  as the reign of his house in 1346 the  golden bull finally solidified and organized the process by which Emperor's  would be elected. The Emperor's would be elected by seven curved wood stone or prince-electors three of them were  ecclesiastical the Archbishop of Mainz. The Archbishop of Cologne and the Archbishop of Trier four were secular  the King of Bohemia the count Palatine of the Rhine the Duke of Saxony Vinton burg and the margrave of Brandenburg. The  golden bull is at times referred to as  the German Magna Carta these changes  marked the beginning of a new identity  for the Holy Roman Empire. It would end  or attempt to end constant civil wars  caused by succession debates but in  truth to a degree. It was a significant  milestone on the Empire's gradual path  toward a Roven sea the Empire had lost  its vision of being a universal  Christian Empire the Emperor's were now  dependent on the electors this would  greatly impede its ability to project  power beyond its own borders around the  same time that these changes were  occurring Germany was invaded by a new  enemy the Black Death  caused by three different strains of  plague between 1347 and 1351 it would  kill around half of Europe's population  Germany was thankfully not hit quite as  hard but it was still dealt a heavy blow  by losing 20% of its population when  Karl the fourth died his son once ass  louse was elected in 1378 yet.

 

Wenceslaus was deposed by the electors in 1,400 his  behavior was seen as rather degenerate  and his rural and effective but he did  remain king of bohemia he was replaced  by a Ruprecht the third as long as  Wenceslaus lived however Ruprecht reign  was contested and domestic conflict was a feature throughout his reign on the  verge of Civil War in 1410 Ruprecht died  and though Wenceslaus wanted the throne. It would pass to his younger brother Sigismund. Sigismund was a bright and  energetic man and was in fact already  king of Hungary he had spent  considerable  campaigning against the Muslim Ottomans  as the head of the order of the Dragon. Sigismund's early reign was marked by  handling a large number of affairs he  would go to war with the Venetians he  would be very much involved in the  Teutonic polish Wars interrupting to the  northeast and he would help end the  papal schism a dispute which had divided  the church among three competing popes . He would do this with his suggestion of  the Council of Constance not the Council  of Constance as well the matter of a  Catholic priest named yon Huis was  addressed yon. Hoose was a bohemian or  checked reformer who had wanted to  change the behavior and practices in the  Catholic Church in a time. When a schism was deteriorating its image whose wasn't  tolerated and he was burned at the stake  in 1415 in Constance despite Sigismund's  vow of protection this would not end the  discontent however rather it would  enrage it as many checks and favorite  whose and viewed him now as a martyr  public unrest brewed in Bohemia which  evolved into civil war in 1419 one SAS  louse died and Sigismund came to the  throne of Bohemia as well declaring that  he would drown all the host site  heretics in 1421. The pope escalated the  situation by calling a crusade against  the host side checks the hood sites  weren't pushovers the conflict that was  emerging would last for years and they  in fact took the fight to Germany  Hungary and the Teutonic lands where  they lied themselves with the Polish and  a Polish Teutonic war of 1430 135 the who cites themselves however soon split  into separate branches and the U.S. be  more moderate of the two were victorious. The war ended in 1434 with a mix of results neither side was really victorious. The host sites were reincorporated into Bohemia but they were allowed to continue practicing some of their religious beliefs. Sigismund died the following year his successor would be Friedrich a third from the House of Habsburg another house he Hohenzollern had gained power in Brandenburg-Prussia with the compromise between the hood sites and Catholics  more radical Church reform would be delayed by a century but it was coming reform which would rock Christianity and Europe to a  core would be sparked under a German  monk named Martin Luther.