Above: illustration of the structure of the Holy Roman Empire. Google Images
The holy Roman Empire in the 1400's-1600's
During the 1400's and 1500's the Holy Roman Empire was made up of many duchies, archbishoprics, and free cities. These small states were ruled by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire who was elected by the seven electorate states at the time. In the 1400 and 1500's the majority of the Holy Roman Empire was in present day Germany. Other regions that were part of the Holy Roman Empire were the Lowlands and Northern Italy. The Emperor held large amounts of power within the Empire as well as outside the Empire with foreign affairs. Beginning in 1438 with the crowning of Albert II as Emperor, the position of the Holy Roman Emperor was occupied by the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty. The Hapsburg dynasty became a very influential family within Europe and outside of it fighting in many wars and causing a war with the whole world involved. Beginning in the 1500's religious tensions began to rise with the Holy Roman Empire under the Hapsburg with the emergence of Protestantism.
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