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- This article deals primarily with the medieval title; see below for other usages.
King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum) was a title used by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire before their coronation by the Pope, and later also by the heir designate of the Empire.
Origin
The Holy Roman Empire was based on the kingdom of Germany and the King had to go to Rome to be crowned Emperor by the Pope. Before that he did not use the title of Emperor but that of a King. The wording of this title was not fixed, as the King was sometimes called Rex Francorum (King of the Franks), Rex Teutonicorum (King of the Germans) or merely Rex (King).
The title Rex Romanorum was used occasionally by the Ottonian rulers and especially by Emperor Henry II to highlight the Roman nature of their Empire, which was contested by the Byzantine Emperors.
Rex Romanorum became the standard title under the Salian King Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy. Pope Gregory VII insisted on using the title Rex Teutonicorum to counter Henry's imperial claims. As King, Henry was the Imperator futurus but at that point he had not been crowned Emperor. In reaction to Gregory's usage, Henry made Rex Romanorum his standard title until he was crowned Emperor in 1184.
Henry's successors imitated this practice, being called Rex Romanorum before and Imperator Romanorum after their Roman coronation.
Title of the Heir designate
Royal succession in the Holy Roman Empire always was a difficult issue, since the Empire was a elective monarchy. However, once a ruler had been crowned Emperor, he could pursue the election of his heir as King, who would then succeed him after his death. This junior King, who usually did not participate in the rule, bore the title of a "King of the Romans".
This practice was continued even after 1556, when the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire did no longer seek a coronation by the Pope and instead dubbed themselves Emperor-elects. Despite this lack of a coronation, the respective Emperor-elects' sons were elected during their fathers' lifetime in 1653, and in 1764.
Trivia
"Hablando del rey de Roma" (literally "speaking of the king of Rome") is a colloquial expression in Spanish equivalent to the English-language saying "Speak of the devil", referring to someone who has entered a room or conversation in which said person was already the topic.
Other usages
This or similar titles were also used by:
- the first seven Kings of Rome, beginning with Romulus.
- Syagrius, a Gallo-Roman leader heading a short-lived realm in Northern Gaul in the 5th century.
- Napoleon II, son of Napoleon Bonaparte, was called King of Rome as heir-presumptive.
References
This article uses material translated from the Rex Romanorum in the German-language wikipedia, which, in turn, cites a source that contains further references:
- H. Beumann: Rex Romanorum, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters (Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 9 vols., Munich-Zurich 1980-98), vol. 7, col. 777 f.
See also
Кароль рымлянаў | Römisch-deutscher König | Roi des Romains | Re dei Romani | Konge av romerne | Rei dos Romanos | Romersk kung
"King of the Romans"