Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor received the imperial regalia from the hands of the Pope, symbolizing both the pope's right to crown Christian sovereigns and also the emperor's role as protector of the Catholic Church. The Holy Roman empresses were crowned as well.
The Holy Roman Empire was established in 962 under Otto the Great. Later emperors were crowned by the pope or other Catholic bishops. In 1530 Charles V became the last Holy Roman emperor to be crowned by a pope, Clement VII, albeit in Bologna. Thereafter, until the abolition of the empire in 1806, no further crownings by the pope were held.[N 1] Later rulers simply proclaimed themselves Imperator Electus Romanorum ("Elected Emperor of the Romans") after their coronation as German king.
Preliminaries[edit]
Before being crowned emperor by the pope, a monarch first had to win the support of the majority of the seven prince-electors in the Imperial election, then to be crowned King of the Romans by an archbishop, for example that of Cologne, Mainz, or Trier. He then had to conduct an Italienzug (Romzug), leading his army from Germany to Rome and occasionally having to fight off enemies barring the way, making his coronation into a military expedition. Some elected or crowned Kings of the Romans never made it that far, and thus were never confirmed as Holy Roman Emperors by the Holy See. The papal coronation was necessary for the Imperial title until 1508, when the Venetians blocked the journey of Maximilian I, and he was instead proclaimed emperor elect by Pope Julius II at Trent.[1] This established the right of elected Germanic monarchs to use the imperial title.
Empresses and queens[edit]
Up to and including the coronation of Richenza of Northeim at Cologne in 1125, Holy Roman empresses and German queens were usually anointed and crowned separately from their husbands, unless joint ceremony was required by political circumstances. From then on, joint coronation ceremonies were more common.[25]