[December 27] George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

Sobriquet: "The Pious" (Der Fromme)
Parents: Frederick I, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and Sophia of Poland
Date of Birth: 4 March 1484
House: Hohenzollern
Spouse(s): (1) Beatrice, daughter of Bernardin, prince of Krk & Modrus, and Donna Luisa Marzano d'Aragona, then (2) Hedwig, daughter of Charles I, duke of Münsterberg-Oels, and Anna of Sagan, then (3) Emilie, daughter of Henry IV, duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg
Predecessor: Frederick I
Reign: 1536 – 1543
Brief: Young and a third son of his father, Frederick, George decided early on to enter the service of his uncle, King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, at the age of twenty-two. He rose in ranks quickly and was placed in charge of the duchy of Oppeln in 1515. The next year, we was elected to the Hungarian council of state and became tutor for the future King Louis II. George became the leader of one of the political factions within Hungary, fighting against the faction of the Magyar. Within a few years of the preachings of Martin Luther, George became a convert to Lutheranism and began allowing its spread in northern Hungary (Slovakia) and within his own home of Ansbach. He fought with his elder brother, Casimir, for many years until 1536, when Casimir died and George could spread Lutheranism without resistance. George remained a close friend of Luther and wrote to him frequently. In 1529, he met John of Saxony and they agreed to form a German league of Protestants in the north. George attended numerous meetings between imperial and Protestant delegates, as well as councils between the church and Lutherans, but he died leaving much undone. His legacy in the Reformation is nearly as strong as that of John of Saxony, though he is much less remembered.

Date of Death: 27 December 1543

Successor: George Frederick

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Zosimus, pope of Rome (418)
• Svyatoslav II, grand prince of Kiev (1076)

[November 15] Frederick William II, king of Prussia

Surnamed: "The Fat Bastard" (Der dicke Lüderjahn)
Local Name: Friedfrich Wilhelm
Parents: Augustus William, heir of Prussia, and Luise of Brunswick-Wilfenbüttel
Born: 25 September 1744
House: Hohenzollern
Spouse(s): (1) Elisabeth Christina, daughter of Charles I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Philippine Charlotte of Prussia, then (2) Frederika Louisa, daughter of Ludwig IX, landgrave of Hesse-Darmstaft, and Caroline of Zweibrücken, alongside (3) Julie and (4) Sophie, daughters of Friedrich Christian von Voss and Amalia Ottilia av Vieregg
Predecessor: Frederick II

Reign: 1786 – 1797
Brief: The reign of Frederick William II was perilous from the start. The king was flirtatious and cared little for the role he played in government. He was artistically-inclined and favored music over warfare, things that sent shivers down the spine of Frederick the Great, his predecessor. As soon as Frederick William took the throne, he lightened the burdens of the Prussian people, encouraging trade at reduced costs and educating more people. The king was also a Rosicrucian and employed many of them in his government. He neglected the army, leaving it under the control of foreign warlords. His foreign policy was a joke, giving concessions to anyone would deigned to invade Brandenburg-Prussia. And when the French Revolution broke out, he delayed, focused more on the wealth that could come out of Poland than the threat in the west. He eventually removed himself from the French-Revolutionary wars in 1795, betraying the other European powers and isolating Prussia. When Frederick William II finally died in 1797, the economy of Prussia was in shambles, the army confused, and the kingship in doubt. 

Date of Death: 16 November 1797
Successor: Frederick William III

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Anastasius II, pope of Rome (498)
• Henry III, king of England (1272)
• Hisaaki, shogun of Japan (1328)
• Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden (1632)
• Robert I, duke of Parma (1907)

[September 24] Albert, archbishop of Mainz

Parents: John Cicero, elector of Brandenburg, and Margaret of Thuringia
Date of Birth: 28 June 1490
House: Hohenzollern
Predecessor: Uriel von Gemmingen

Reign: 1514 – 1545
Brief: When he was young, he became a co-margrave of Brandenburg and soon also became archbishop of Magdeburg. His brother, Joachim I Nestor, was appointed elector. In 1514, Albert became the elector of Mainz and was made a cardinal soon after. In becoming elector, he had to begin selling indulgences and enlisted the aid of John Tetzel whose activities prompted the 95 Theses of Matin Luther to be posted on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. In 1519, he was bribed to vote for Charles I of Spain for Holy Roman Emperor against the bid of François I of France. At first tolerant to the rising Protestant movement within his lands, Albert turned on them in his latter years and was eventually booted out of his own lands, with Mainz becoming a Protestant see.

Date of Death: 24 September 1545

Successor: Sebastian von Heusenstamm

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Liberius, pope of Rome (366)
• Pippin, king of the Franks (768)
• Welf II, duke of Bavaria (1120)
• Innocent II, pope of Rome (1143)
• Manuel I, emperor of Constantinople (1180)
• Stefan, king of Serbia (1228)
• Reigen, emperor of Japan (1732)
• Pedro I, emperor of Brazil (1834)

[July 20] Ferdinand I, king of Romania

Surnamed: "The Loyal"
Parents: Leopold and Antónia of Portugal
Date of Birth: 24 August 1865
Royal House: Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Spouse: Marie, daughter of Alfred, duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, and Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Predecessor: Carol I
Reign: 1914 – 1927
Summary: Like many of the monarchs of the late 1880s and early 1900s, Ferdinand was not born to rule a country. He was born in Germany to the royal family of the kings of Prussia, which would soon rule all of Germany. In 1886, the twenty-one-year-old man was appointed heir-presumptive to the throne of Romania when it was assumed that his uncle, King Carol I, would have no children. He was related through his mother to both the tsar of Bulgaria and the Austrian emperor, and both would provide unceasing problems for Ferdinand. After an affair with a Romanian noblewoman, Ferdinand married Marie, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, in 1898. This marriage added relatives in Russia, the United Kingdom, and numerous German states. In the months immediately prior to the start of World War I, King Carol I died and Ferdinand was thrust into the position of king without any real knowledge or experience in running a country.


When the war began, Romania joined the Allies against the Central Powers. Emperor Wilhelm II saw this as a personal betrayal and erased his name from the Hohenzollern house register. Romanians fought hard against German and Austrian aggression, losing large portions of Wallachia and Dobruja but keeping the Germans out of Moldavia. When Russia dropped out of the war in early 1918, Romania was surrounded and was forced to conclude a separate peace with the Treaty of Bucharest. But Ferdinand refused to sign the treaty and soon after the Allies defeated Bulgaria. Ferdinand immediately ordered the re-mobilization of Romania's army. The war ended soon after and Romania reaped the benefits. Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transylvania were all added from Austro-Hungarian possessions, doubling the size of Romania. In 1922, Ferdinand underwent a second coronation ceremony at Alba Iulia, the princely seat of the ancient Roman province in Transylvania. The merger of Transylvania into Romania increased the peasant population greatly and the conservatives were pushed out in favor of a the National Peasant Party. Ferdinand died before having to deal with the Great Depression or the rise of communism in Romania. He was succeeded by his grandson, Michael I, under  a regency led partially by his second son, Nicholas.
Date of Death: 20 July 1927
Successor: Michael I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Boniface VII, pope of Rome (985)
• Robert II, king of France (1031)
• Toba, emperor of Japan (1156)
• Oshin, king of Armenia (1320)
• John II, king of Castile (1454)
• Leo XIII, pope of Rome (1903)
• Abdullah I, king of Jordan (1951)
• Wilhelm III, pretender to Germany (1951)

[July 18] Joachim III Friedrich, elector of Brandenburg

Parents: John George, elector of Brandenburg, and Sophie of Legnica

Date of Birth: 27 January 1546
Royal House: Hohenzollern
Spouse: (1) Catherine, daughter of John, margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin, and Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, then (2) Eleanor, daughter of Albert Frederick, duke of Prussia, and Marie Eleanore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

Predecessor: John George
Reign: 1598 — 1608
Summary: Nothing is said of the early life of Joachim Friedrich. At the age of twenty, he was appointed the administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, although he lost technical rights to that post in 1570 when he married Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Since Magdeburg was a Catholic see and the Hohenzollern family was Lutheran, they only exercised political power in the archbishopric. The Bishop of Halberstadt was in charge of ecclesiastical affairs in Magdeburg between 1480 and 1680 when it was secularized and became a duchy. Joachim Friedrich became margrave and Holy Roman Imperial Elector of Brandenburg upon the death of his father in 1598, at which time he passed his authority in Madgeburg to his youngest son, Christian Wilhelm.


Of his reign, almost nothing is known. He became regent over the Duchy of Prussia in 1605 in the name of his relative, Albert Frederick, who had become feeble-minded. The Brandenburg-Ansbach branch of the family had technical control over Prussia, but it was decided that that control passed to the Electorate after Margrave George Friedrich's death in 1603. Joachim Friedrich's first wife died in 1602 and the margrave was forced to find another wife, whom he found among his cousin and ward's children. Marrying, Eleanor, the daughter of Albert Friedrich of Prussia helped emphasize his control and influence in Prussia while also giving him rights to Jülich-Cleves-Berg, a territory that Eleanor could one day inherit. Eleanor died in 1607 after giving birth to her only child, Maria Eleanore. Joachim Friedrich died the following year passing his margraviate to his eldest son from his first wife, John Sigismund.

Date of Death: 18 July 1608
Successor: John Sigismund

[June 4] Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany

Full Name: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen

Parents: Frederick III, emperor of Germany, and Victoria of the United Kingdom

Date of Birth: 27 January 1859

House: Hohenzollern
Spouse: (1) Augusta Victoria, daughter of Frederick VIII, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, then (2) Hermine, daughter of Heinrich XXII, prince of Greiz, and Ida Mathilde Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe

Predecessor: Frederick III

Reign: 1888 – 1918

Summary: In the world of monarchs, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany is often viewed as one of the most vile, comparable to the likes of Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, or Napoleon I. In many ways, he is very much like them in his vision, but his status as the last monarch of the German Empire and the promoter of the First World War has left an indelible mark on his name. He was the eldest son of the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and as such held a high status among her grandchildren, many of whom ruled or sat beside rulers of monarchies in Europe. Wilhelm was raised in the military arts at a very young age and the prince was rarely seen out of uniform. This strongly effected his later development as emperor. Wilhelm watched in awe as his grandfather and father unified Germany in the 1860s, yet by the 1870s, Wilhelm had grown distant from his family, partially due to the machinations of Otto von Bismarck. When Emperor Wilhelm I died in 1888, Prince Wilhelm's father was already in the advanced stages of throat cancer. Three months later, Wilhelm II was the third and final German Emperor. 

Bismarck continued to try and administer the empire for Wilhelm, but the young emperor wanted none of it. By 1890, Bismarck was forced out of the government and Wilhelm took over control of the government directly. Wilhelm II supported the arts and sciences, promoted workers rights, and sought expansion both in Europe and abroad. Attempts to colonize areas in Asia and Africa largely failed, requiring heavy resources to support little if any profit. To support his goal of expansion, Wilhelm financed a complete overhaul of the German navy with the goal of rivaling the navy of Britain. This all led to the unfortunate events of 1914. Wilhelm was a personal friend of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his assassination on 28 June 1914 led to Wilhelm agreeing to help Austria tracked down the Black Hand leadership, which was responsible for the kill. Austria agreed to declare war on Serbia, which in turn triggered Russia to declare war on Austria. Germany had no choice but to respond and decided that attacking France would be the better first move in a war that was sure to include France and Britain. World War I thus began. Throughout the war, Wilhelm became increasingly distant from the government and military, becoming merely a ceremonial figure in the shadow of Chief Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg. When the United States joined in the war in 1917, Woodrow Wilson made it clear that those who support the German Emperor would not be privy to the peace negotiations. All support for the German Emperor failed, even though Wilhelm was hardly even an active member of the government. The German army and navy broke out in revolt against Wilhelm. With little choice, on 9 November 1918 Wilhelm II abdicated the thrones of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia with other regional sub-monarchs abdicating by the end of the year. Wilhelm boarded a train for the Netherlands and began his life in exile. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands refused to hand over the former emperor to the war crimes courts after the Treaty of Versailles, but Wilhelm remained trapped in a foreign country. During the 1920s and 1930s, he witnessed from a distance the rise of Adolf Hitler and, though he deeply disliked and distrusted the new German leader, he wrote to him regularly congratulating him for his political victories and desire to restore Germany's glory. When Germany conquered the Netherlands in 1940, Wilhelm retired completely from public life. He died at his home in Doorn, Netherlands, surrounded by a Nazi honor guard. He was buried on the grounds of his estate there, having pledged never to be buried in Germany until the monarchy is restored. His eldest son, Wilhelm Victor, succeeded him in his pretentions to the German throne.

Date of Death: 4 June 1941

Other Monarch Deaths:

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (1039)

Huizong, emperor of China (1135)

Przemysl I, duke of Poland (1257)

Dipendra, king of Nepal (2001)

[January 2] Frederick William IV, king of Prussia

Parents: Frederick William III, king of Prussia, and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Date of Birth: 15 October 1795

Royal House: Hohenzollern

Spouse: Elisabeth Ludovika, daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, king of Bavaria, and Caroline of Baden

Reign: 1840 – 1861
Predecessor: Frederick William III

Summary: Frederick William IV was an interesting monarch. He did little to advance Prussia's power in Germany while he did much to maintain the conservatism of the other royal houses within his country. He agreed to grant a constitution over Prussia but would not allow for a popular assembly. He achieved fame during the Revolutions of 1848, when he decided against the techniques of his other European colleagues and joined in the revolt.

In 1848, Frederick William IV called the first popular assembly in Prussia's history. He proclaimed his support for a unified German state, formed a liberal (modern) government, and ordered the writing of a national Prussian constitution. When the movement ended late that year, Frederick William renounced some of his proclamations. He presided over the Frankfurt Parliament on unification the following April, but refused the German crown when it was offered to him stating that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter." He did follow through with his promise of a constitution and assembly but denied the public universal suffrage preferring instead to only allow taxpayers to elect officials. The king also retained many rights to himself, thereby minimizing the authority of the assembly. A stroke in 1857 left Frederick William's brother in charge of the state as regent until the king died in 1861, at which point William became king.

Date of Death: 2 January 1861

Successor: William I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Svante, regent of Sweden (1512)

One Emperor to Rule them All! (The Holy Roman Empire)

 
Banner of the Holy Roman Empire

Of all the great and powerfully misunderstood political entities in history, few are as confusing as the political monstrosity now known as the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed, many who know little about European History have heard of this strange empire, sometimes wondering when and where it was, why it was Holy and Roman, and if it was even an empire. Well it has been long in coming but let us explore what was, for a while, one of the most powerful empires in the western world.

The Frankish Empire
Let us begin with the FIRST Holy Roman Empire, or at least the original empire that would become, through twists and turns, that empire. The original empire was much larger, actually, than the one that reached its height around the year 1600 in the modern state of Germany. Historians now call the earlier empire the Frankish Empire, or the Carolingian Empire. Neither are really correct, though, since it was not always ruled by Franks nor by Carolingians. Nonetheless, the coronation on December 25th, 800 as Roman Emperor of Charles the Great, Roman Emperor Charles I, Charlemagne, heralded a new age for Europe. Starting from this date, the Holy Roman Empire claimed a 1006 year heritage from its founding in 800 until its demise in 1806 under the overwhelming occupation of Napoleon I Bonaparte of France. It established the precedent of the Germanic emperors being "Roman Emperors" for, indeed, the Carolingian emperors from whence the empire claims its foundation was built upon control over Rome and the defeat of the Lombards by Charlemagne in 774. Thus the Holy Roman Empire was indeed based upon a true empire that included Rome.

The Frankish Empire showing its maximum extent and its 843 divisions

In addition, Pope Leo III who crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor did not feel that he was stealing the title. Rather, he felt he had a legitimate right to place such a title upon Charles' head. First and foremost, he did not recognize the legitimate Roman Emperor in Constantinople. Constantine VI, the legitimate emperor, had been overthrown in 797 by his mother, Irene, who claimed the title Roman Empress, the first female to ever hold the imperial throne. Since there was no precedent for such a title, Leo III felt the throne had become vacant and, as the senior patriarch of the Christian church, took the initiative and crowned his savior, Charles, as an anti-emperor to Irene. Despite Irene's death in 802, Byzantium's replacements proved unworthy and the papacy continued to support its own line of Roman Emperors. Secondly, the Lombards who had controlled Rome were defeated and their Iron Crown captured by Charles. Charles was already, then, King of the Lombards and thereby King of Rome, and so he was the only logical candidate for the imperial title.

What happened next is why the Holy Roman Empire is considered separate from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne. Charles' grandsons divided up the empire with the eldest son taking the title of Roman Emperor. But, in exchange, the eldest son was also placed in the worse condition, being ruler of a narrow strip of lands stretching from the Netherlands south through Burgundy to Tuscany and Italy. His younger brothers controlled the more centralized lands of Francia and the more warmongering lands of Germania. Quickly, the imperial title was abandoned and minor rulers in Italy fought for it. Berengar I was the last such emperor and died in 824. The Frankish Empire was dead.

The Early Roman Empire of the Germans
The Holy Roman Empire formed out of the ruins of the Germanic Eastern Empire of the Franks. The Carolingian line had died and Germany had pieced itself apart into small duchies. Bavaria and Saxony became the biggest rivals. Henry of Saxony was elected the first king of Germany in 919. He was a warrior who defeated the Magyars (Hungarians) to the east. His son, Otto, continued that war and achieved fame and renown. In 951, Otto campaigned in Italy where he aided then married the widowed queen of Italy and, as a reward, was crowned Emperor of Rome by the pope in 962. Thus Otto became the first Roman Emperor of Germany. Otto's son, Otto II, elevated his title to match that of his eastern counterpart, angering the Byzantine Empire even more. But to counter his presumption, he wed a Byzantine princess. The early Holy Roman Emperors were constantly split between loyalty to Italy, whence their titles come, and loyalty to Germany, where their hereditary lands and people resided. Thus while it can certainly be said that Holy Roman Emperors were Roman, it perhaps would have been better if they had also been German. In these early days, the empire was still hereditary in the line of Henry. That would all change when Henry II died.

The First Election and the "Holy" Empire
In 1024, Henry II of the Ottonian dynasty died leaving no heirs. The dukes and high nobles of the land, therefore, chose his successor: Conrad II of the Salian dynasty. While the line remained in the Salian dynasty for quite some time, a precedent had been unknowingly set. The fate of the empire had passed from hereditary right, as had been with the Carolingian emperors, to election by peers. And though the pope had the power to crown the emperor, the peers had the power to select the king of Germany who would be eligible for the imperial crown. Thus, a change in tides was coming though it was still long off.

The Holy Roman Empire, c. 1000

Meanwhile, Pope Gregory VII was establishing a different kind of precedent. For many centuries, the Roman Emperors had been in charge of appointing their own bishops and choosing which clergy would assist them in their day-to-day tasks. In 1075, Gregory and Henry IV excommunicated eachother, leading to a bitter struggle to determine the place of the church in government. For Henry it was a disaster. He walked to Canossa in 1077 and prostrated himself before the pope. In Germany, he had lost such face that some dukes elected a new king, Rudolf of Swabia. Henry's son, Henry V, finally resolved the conflict through the Concordat of Worms in 1122. It held the empire in check and removed the pope from it.

Following the earlier tradition, a new dynasty arose through election, the Hohenstaufens, and they used their political power to increase the "Romanness" of Italy and Germany. At every turn, they tried to fight against papal power but ultimately failed in their attempt. The pope kept the rulers in constant check by including blackmail in their elevations to emperor. Only if a king were "holy" would the pope crown them emperor over his domain. Thus the "Holy Roman" aspect of the empire became a dependent clause — if the empire wanted to be Roman, it had to be holy since the pope controlled Rome. And if it wanted to be holy, it had to be Roman since the pope lived in Rome. Thus the Holy Roman Empire, during its pre-Habsburg years, was constantly Holy and Roman, even though it was often only reluctantly both.

This problem reached its apex during the reign of Frederick II. Already many Crusades had gone out, generally with the enthusiastic support of the Holy Roman Emperors. These campaigns in the Middle East helped strengthen the claim that the empire was "Holy". But in Italy, Frederick and the papacy fought constantly. Frederick supported multiple anti-popes while Pope Innocent III long supported rival kings to Frederick II. Frederick's reign also saw the end of centralized rule in Germany. Whereas before Germany was a rather centralized Empire, it became after Frederick a decentralized empire. Frederick spent most of his efforts in Italy, specifically Sicily, giving wide-reaching freedoms to his dukes in Germany. Thus when Frederick died in 1250, the German empire literally crumbled into the confusions of history.

The Holy Roman Empire, c. 1300

The "Holy" "Roman" "Empire"
Where most of the confusion comes concerning the terminology of the HRE derives from the period from 1250 through 1806. During this time, Germany lost its control over Rome, lost its direct election by the pope, and lost the centralization required to truly be called an empire. Thus, while the HRE was at one point all three of those things, by the time history books catch up to it in 1806, it was none of those things.

An Early Image of the College of Electors

The empire dissolved after 1250. A 23-year interregnum ended with the election of Rudolf I of Habsburg as the new king and emperor-elect. The College of Electors was firmly in place by this time, having been created out of the power vacuum of the past two decades. The college became the elective body that chose the next German king. It met to discuss imperial law and was comprised of the chief dukes and archbishops of the state. In state affairs, the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne met with the margrave of Brandenburg, count palatine of the Rhine, and the duke of Saxony. In imperial elections, the King of Bohemia, a seventh party, presided and acted as the swing-vote. In 1621, the duke of Bavaria became the eighth electorate, though it would later inherit the Palatinate. In 1692, a ninth elector was chosen—the duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover). These people were deemed overlords of the empire under the ruling emperor, but each region was autonomous in all things save inter-territorial disputes.

The Decline of the German Empire
The decline of the empire happened gradually and over much time. Most of the post-1250 emperors were not crowned by the pope in Rome, but rather held the title "emperor-elect", which sometimes had the blessing of the pope. The emperors ruled their own lands and presided over the imperial courts. The majority of imperial funds came from their own lands except for a small tax imposed on all the other lords, which often went unpaid. Yet even as the empire dissolved into hundreds of petty states separated by rival dynasties and cadet branches, the government began to bureaucratize. Institutions sprang up, especially throughout the Renaissance after the Black Death. In 1512, the empire received its first legal name: The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The concept of a centralized German state had reappeared, but centralization was but a pipe dream. The Habsburgs became the founders of a nearly-unbroken line in 1452. Charles V would be their banner-boy but he could not hold his massive empire that spanned from the New World, Spain, and Italy together. Religious strife appeared with the teachings of Martin Luther in the heart of Germany, and with it came the many wars of religion that would prove the death of a central German state until 1871.

The Holy Roman Empire, c. 1648, after the Peace of Westphalia

One-by-one, the Holy Roman Empire fell to pieces. The Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648 granted near-complete sovereignty to hundreds of the German states. The Dutch Netherlands rebelled from the empire while Switzerland achieved independence in 1499. Control of the empire shifted from a united entity to rival major states vying for control of the petty states. Of these, Brandenburg-Prussia, Austria-Hungary-Bohemia, Bavaria-Palatinate and Saxony became the biggest competitors. The balance of power, however, rested solely in Austria and Prussia, the two largest states in Germany.

The Holy Roman Empire, c. 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution

Only outside chaos could have ended the stalemate of the Holy Roman Empire. The French Revolution turned Prussia against many of its neighbors while Austria retreated to its heartland. In addition, the majority of the smaller states were forcibly annexed by their neighbors via French mediation. Ultimately, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II voluntarily dissolved the empire on August 6th, 1806. Napoleon took the remaining imperial lands and created the Confederacy of the Rhine, while the Austrian Habsburgs declared themselves Emperors of Austria and survived for another 112 years until their ultimate defeat in World War I. Germany reorganized into the German Confederation after Napoleon was defeated in 1815, and became the North German Confederation in 1866 when Prussia took control of Germany. The Hohenzollern king of Prussia, in 1871, declared himself King of Germany and dissolved the confederation after that, and the German Empire lasted for another 47 years before it, too, was ended in World War I.

So ends the tragic tale of the rise and fall of the First Reich of the German Empire. It rose in splendor and glory, passed through times of trial and success, and fell to lows unforeseen and unrepairable. Thus the Holy Roman Empire became, through feats of piety and subservience, Holy, through feats of strength, Roman, and through expansion and allegiance, an Empire, only to lose all three through greed and disorganization. The Holy Roman Empire's last remnant in Europe lies in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, two petty states of the great empire that somehow survived through it all.

The Many Varied Dynasties of the First Two German Reichs (Germany)

There is a whole lot to cover today, so I am going to change my formatting around a little bit for this penultimate dynastology. Today I will be covering the various dynasties that ruled the Holy Roman Empire and German Empire from the rise of the Ottonians to the fall of the German Empire in 1918. I will not in any way be able to cover everything and in many places, I will be quickly summarizing. This is intentional. I want to cover the dynastic history mostly and am leaving much of the history out of this post. Hopefully it will be both enjoyable and enlightening. Now, on to the dynasties!

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The Holy Roman Empire at its Height, c. 970

The Ottonian Dynasty

Founder: Liudolf, Count of Saxony before 866 

Most Famous Monarch: Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor 962 – 973 

Ruled: Saxony, Bavaria, the Holy Roman Empire 

Claim to Fame: The Ottonians restored the Roman Empire that Charlemagne had founded 150 years earlier. The Carolingian line had died out many years prior to the reign of Henry the Fowler, the first King of Germany of the Ottonian line. Otto the Great was instrumental in the unification of the Eastern Frankish states into a single entity, which became known soon after as the Holy Roman Empire.  

Last monarch: St. Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, who died in 1024 (Henry II was also the only German Emperor to ever be canonized) 

What Happened? The dynasty simply died out because Henry II had taken a vow of chastity. The line passed to the Salian Dynasty, which were distant cousins of Henry II. 

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The Salian Dynasty

Henry IV, Holy Roman EmperorFounder: Conrad the Red, duke of Lorraine until 955

Most Famous Monarch: Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor 1084 – 1106

Ruled: Lorraine, Carinthia, Speyer, the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire

Claim to Fame: The dynasty linked the Holy Roman Empire closely with the Catholic Church, which caused a lot of problems with the next dynasty. The Investiture Controversy  was a conflict between the Pope and Emperor over who had true control over appointing (investing) religious leaders in Imperial land. Oddly, the end result wasn't just the loss of control over much of Italy, but a loss of control over vassal states within the Empire itself.

Last monarch: Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor 1111 to 1125

What Happened? Henry V died in combat. He had no legitimate heirs so the line died out. His designated heir was Frederick II of Swabia, his nephew, and so the line passed to him.

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 The House of Hohenstaufen

Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman EmperorFounder: Frederick I, duke of Swabia until 1105

Most Famous Monarch: Frederick I Barbarossa ("the Red Beard"), Holy Roman Emperor 1155 – 1190

Ruled: Swabia, Sicily, the Holy Roman Empire

Claim to Fame: Barbarossa was known as a ruthless fighter who spent his entire life in war and accomplished virtually nothing for it. He invaded Italy with a huge army only to be slowly pushed back. His traditional allies in northern Italy worked against him and, despite being crowned emperor by the pope, he never managed to assert imperial authority over the Catholic Church or the Empire itself. Barbarossa ended up dying in the Holy Land while on crusade, leaving his family squabbling over its ruins.

Last monarch: Conradin, king of Sicily until 1268 and titular Holy Roman Emperor

What happened? Conradin was executed as a traitor after being excommunicated by the pope. The Kingdom of Sicily was divided between the Angevins and Aragonese, Swabia disintegrated and was incorporated into several neighboring states, and the Holy Roman Empire fell into nineteen years of civil war. The emperor never had absolute power again.

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The House of Este-Welf, commonly known as Guelph

Founder: Welf I, duke of Bavaria until 1101

Most Famous Monarch: Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria until 1195

Ruled: Bavaria, Saxony, Brunswick, Great Britain, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hanover

Lands of the Guelph dynasty, c. 1165

Claim to Fame: The Welf family has many claims to fame, but I will only discuss two. The first is that of Henry the Lion. Henry tried desperately to conquer and unify Saxony and Bavaria, two of his ancestral duchies. If completed, it would have made him the most powerful monarch in Germany. Henry failed, though, by alienating pretty much everyone else in Germany. When Frederick Barbarossa came around, Henry lost everything. He was exiled to Normandy as a landless royal in 1180 but returned three years later to secure some vestige of his short-lived empire. Henry was exiled again and only returned once Barbarossa was dead. He ravaged his former lands for a few years before contenting himself with the small duchy of Brunswick, which would remain the family's core unit until 1866.

Last Monarch: Ernst August III, duke of Brunswick until 1918

What happened? Power shifted from Hanover to the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving Hanover poor and neglected. When attention did return to the duchy, it was too late and the German Empire took it over. Wilhelm II granted Brunswick to one last Welf in 1913, but the empire fell soon after. The dynasty still continues, but no longer rules any country.

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The House of Luxembourg

The Seven Imperial Electors voting for Henry VII of LuxembourgFounder: Waleran I, count of Limburg from 1065 – 1082

Most Famous Monarch: Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor 1355 – 1378

Ruled: Limburg, Lorraine, Bohemia, the Holy Roman Empire

Claim to Fame: It was Charles IV who promulgated the Golden Bull of 1356, setting in place the rules of the election of future emperors. He also was one of the most well-recognized emperors in Imperial history. He was elected King of the Romans twice: the first time was as an anti-emperor against Louis IV; the second was to confirm the earlier election after Louis died. He was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. He also was crowned King of Burgundy, something that was rarely done by the 14th century.

Last Monarch: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor 1433 – 1437

What happened? Sigismund didn't produce any sons and so all his territories passed to his daughter, Elisabeth, who married Albert von Habsburg and helped empower the Habsburgs to take control of the empire a few decades later.

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The House of Vaudemont, commonly divided as Habsburg-Lorraine and Hesse

Charles, Emperor of Austria and King of HungaryFounder: Adalbert, duke of Upper Lorraine from 1047 – 1048

Most Famous Monarch: Francis Ferdinand, Archduke and Heir of Austria 1889 – 1914

Ruled: Metz, Lorraine, Bar, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Hesse

Claim to Fame: The fame of the House of Vaudemont is that people who DIDN'T rule are more famous than those who did. Like Marie Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI of France who probably did not say "Let them eat cake!" when French protesters were laying siege to Versailles and who lost her head a few years later. Yeah, she's not exactly the most important historical figure but I can guarantee you most people know her more than the name of her father, Francis I of Austria. Another famous Vaudemont was Franz Ferdinand, the most common answer to "Whose assassination caused World War I?" Franz wasn't even close to being Austrian emperor yet and no one knows the name of royal heirs in history. He is only important because his death led to a massive world war. I'd like to know more about the Hessians...and not just their participation as mercenaries in the American Revolutionary War...

Last Monarch: Charles, Emperor of Austria 1916 – 1918; Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse(-Darmstadt) 1892 – 1918

What happened? The same fate that befell the German Empire befell the two distant branches of the House of Vaudemont. Ernest Louis was forced to abdicate after serving for four years in the German military. The Hesse grand duchy quickly joined the Weimar Republic. Charles likewise didn't abdicate, but he did step down from being the head of state of both Austria and Hungary, leaving the decision of his abdication to the people. After Austria & Hungary declared themselves republics two months later, Charles and his family left. Both the Hessian and Habsburg-Lorraine lines continue to provide pretenders to the thrones, the current pretender to Austria being the now-ancient Dr. Otto von Habsburg, who just turned 98 years old.

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The House of Wettin

Leopold I, King of the BelgiansFounder: Dietrich I, count in Liesgau until c. 982 

Most Famous Monarch: Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland since 1952 

Ruled: Thuringia, Saxony, Poland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium 

Claim to Fame: Perhaps the most interesting thing about the House of Wettin is that it never became an imperial dynasty. Indeed, it was one of the most powerful and influential families in Germany for many centuries, yet never succeeded in obtaining the imperial throne. The family's two branches both led interesting lives—one as imperial electors right up to the end in 1806 when they declared Saxony a kingdom, and one that continued to subdivide until magically the family began ruling the United Kingdom, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Belgium...in addition to all the small territories in Germany.

Last Monarch: There isn't one! Elizabeth II still rules in the United Kingdom and Albert II still rules in Belgium. Pretenders from Saxony and Bulgaria still exist from the Wettin line as well, although the Portuguese Wettins died out not long after the last monarch was deposed.

What happened? All Wettin holdings in Germany were ended in 1918 and integrated into the Weimar Republic. Many lines survive to this day outside of Germany.

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The House of Hohenzollern

Founder: Burkhard I, count of Zollern until 1061 

Most Famous Monarch: Frederick II the Great, King in Prussia & Elector of Brandenburg 1740 – 1786

Ruled: Nuremberg, Ansbach, Brandenburg, Prussia, Hohenzollern, Germany, Romania

The German Empire, 1871 to 1918

Claim to Fame: Like the Wettins, the Hohenzollerns never made it to the imperial throne, though they were electors from the start. But they did get quite bold. After ending the line of Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, the Hohenzollerns incorporated the lands into their sprawling domain. The problem was Poland was right in the way between Brandenburg (in Germany) and Prussia (in northern Poland-Lithuania). So the Hohenzollerns spent the majority of their career trying to take those lands from Poland, all the while picking up pieces of everyone else's land. By the late 19th century, they just decided to take it all and declared the German Empire (Second Reich). It was short-lived but the unity stuck.

Last Monarch: Michael I, king of the Romanians 1927 – 1930, 1940 – 1947

What happened? After Germany's defeat in World War I, Germany declared the Weimar Republic and the Hohenzollerns (and all the other vassal monarchs) got the boot. The dynasty continued in Romania until 1947 when the communists overthrew the king and declared the People's Republic of Romania. Both Germany and Romania still have pretenders to the throne from the Hohenzollern line.

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The House of Württemberg

William II, King of WürttembergFounder: Conrad I, count of Württemberg

Most Famous Monarch: Ulrich, duke of Württemberg 1498 – 1550

Ruled: Württemberg

Claim to Fame: Württemberg really has no claim to fame. It remained one of the largest of the small states in Germany and it was lucky in that it rarely divided itself, thereby avoiding spreading its resources thin. Ulrich led the march to convert the state to Protestantism after Martin Luther posted his theses in Saxony. The conversion stuck and Württemberg became the second state in Germany to become Protestant. When his line died out in the 18th century, a rival Catholic line took control, but they converted to Protestantism a few generations later. Napoleon upgraded the duchy to a kingdom in 1806 and no one told them otherwise after Napoleon fell. It became the smallest of the German kingdoms when the Hohenzollerns created the German Empire in 1871.

Last Monarch: William II, king of Württemberg 1891 – 1918

What happened? Actually, bad luck happened. Unlike William II in Germany and many of the other German monarchs, William II of Württemberg was pretty popular. The only explanation for his downfall is that the people of Württemberg were caught up in the moment with the rest of Germany and simply deposed him. He was the last of his line, but another cadet branch of the family still survives as pretenders to the Württemberg throne.

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There are many other dynasties in German history but there is no way I can go through them all. Above are the most important; those dynasties that contributed the most to German history. Other dynasties of note are the House of Mecklenburg, the House of Zahringen, the House of Supplinburg, the House of Lippe, the House of Schwarzburg and the House of Waldeck. They all contributed to the history of Germany. Also, you cannot forget the dynasties I have already covered in great detail: Habsburg, Oldenburg, Wittelsbach, and more. They, too, are important. Each helped for the modern German state and regional identities, and each still remains suitable candidates for royal marriages. Indeed, we may well see some of these families on thrones again one day...assuming they aren't already on a throne...