Saturday, February 02, 2008
This Day in German Early History
On this first cross-quarter day in 962, Otto I, King of the Lombards, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Neither holy nor Roman nor much of an empire, it is easiest to think of the Holy Roman Empire as a confederacy of German principalities awaiting (and for a long time) unification. The term Holy Roman Empire wasn't even used for hundreds of years after Otto's 'crowning,' but Otto held the exact same position of power as later Emperors and many historians think of him as the first. I'm willing to believe them.
Labels: Holy Roman Empire
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Who? Charles the Great, king of the Franks? He was merely Imperator Romanorum (no holy in that name) from the Pope. Although some say it was Lothair I.
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