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This page lists those considered Holy Roman Emperors from the time of Charlemagne until the abolition of the Empire in 1806. For the early rulers in this list, the title Holy Roman Emperor is anachronistic – Charlemagne, for instance, variously called himself imperator Romanorum ("emperor of the Romans") and imperator Romanum gubernans imperium ("emperor ruling the Roman Empire"), and many simply used the title imperator ("emperor"). However, most contemporaries and historians consider the rulers in this list to represent a historically continuous sequence.

Charlemagne received his imperial title when crowned by Pope Leo III. Subsequently, a papal coronation was considered a prerequisite for becoming emperor. After the coronation of Otto I, the imperial title became a prerogative of the ruler of Germany; however, while not all German rulers were crowned, the numbering of the various rulers reflects the complete list of German monarchs, so there are gaps in the sequence of ordinals in a strictly imperial list. For instance, King Henry the Fowler was never crowned as emperor and is thus not on this list; nevertheless, his great-grandson, who was crowned, is referred to as Henry II, not Henry I.

This situation changed somewhat in the early modern period. In 1508, Maximilian I, after a failed move towards Rome, was granted permission by the pope to call himself imperator electus, or emperor-elect. His successor Charles V was crowned emperor by the Pope in 1530, but Ferdinand I and all his successors did not seek a papal coronation and remained emperors-elect. In common usage this title was elided to just imperator, and all emperors-elect are included in this list.

Carolingian Dynasty

Spoleto

Carolingian Dynasty

Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty

Salian (Frankish) Dynasty

Supplinburger

  • Lothair III, 1133-1137 (note that this ruler is called Lothair III as successor of Lothair II, who was king of Lotharingia 855-869 but not emperor)

Staufen (or Hohenstaufen dynasty)

Welf Dynasty

Staufen (or Hohenstaufen dynasty)

Luxembourg

Wittelsbach

Luxembourg

Habsburg

Wittelsbach

Habsburg-Lorraine

Holy Roman Empire | Holy Roman emperors | Lists of monarchs | Lista de Imperadores do Sacro Império Romano | Seznam panovníků Svaté říše římské | Liste der römisch-deutschen Herrscher | Imperiestroj de la Sankta Romia Imperio | Emperadores del Sacro Imperio | Liste des souverains du Saint-Empire | A német-római császárok listája | Imperatori del Sacro Romano Impero | Imperatores Romani Sacri | Keizers van het Heilige Roomse Rijk | Luettelo Pyhän saksalais-roomalaisen valtakunnan hallitsijoista | Листа Светих Римских Царева | Djivêye des Impreus do Sint Impire Romin Djermanike | 神圣罗马帝国皇帝列表

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "List of Holy Roman Emperors".

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