Questions about the Holy Roman Empire

by mkoziol

Hey guys! I have a few questions.

  1. Was it really divided into different countries, and if it was, how was it ruled? Also, if it was, how would the military work? Would there be a Holy Roman Army, or would the countries included just use their own personal ones, (with their own weapons, uniforms and such,) just allied with the others?

  2. I know Napoleon destroyed it, but how? Why did some of the countries once inside of it ally with France, if they had a ruling monarch all their lives? How was it divided?

commiespaceinvader

Hi!

This one is not exactly easy to answer but here is an abridged version:

  1. Yes, it was divided into different countries, though countries does not exactly cover it if one uses the modern definition. Basically, it was a collection of political entities ruled by lords, kings, orders, and bishops. They all owned a certain level of allegiance to the emperor, mostly in form of either money or men, though they didn't have a Holy Roman Army, only an army which the emperor could raise to - for example - defend against the Ottomans.

The emperor was in theory - and in practice until the Habsburgs - elected from among the highest nobles of the empire, though not by all of them but only by the Kurfürsten, which were:

  • The Bishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier

  • The King of Bohemia

  • The County Palatine of the Rhine

  • The Duke of Saxony

  • Margraviate of Brandenburg

and added in the 17th century: The Duke of Bavaria and the Electorate of Hanover.

As mentioned above, the emperor could raise an army but almost every lord in the empire also had their own.

  1. In short, Napolean either replaced the ruling lords and nobles with people who were for his cause and many others realized that in order to stay in power, an alliance with Napoleon would be beneficial.