Holy Roman Empire (XIII): Charles IV
26. Louis IV
Louis IV (Bavaria) (1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), Duke of Upper Bavaria (from 1302 onwards), King of the Roman People (elected in 1314), Holy Roman Emperor (coronation in 1328). Son of Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria. He was a member of the Wittelsbach family, which ruled bavaria until 1918.
Louis became Duke of Upper Bavaria in 1302 and had all of Bavaria by 1340. In 1322 he defeated frederick Frederick III of Austria, the son of King Albrecht I of the Roman people, a rival of the Habsburgs (who was also partially elected king). Louis IV accepted Frederick III as co-ruler, but limited the latter's power in Austria.
Louis IV was at odds with the Pope of Avignon, who was in fact a puppet of France. He used the so-called Emperor's Party to fight back against the Pope, and enlisted such brilliant thinkers as Occam and Marseli of Padua to support him. In 1324, Pope John XXII of France imposed an excommunication on Louis IV.
In 1327, Louis IV was crowned King of Italy. In 1328 he received the crown of the Holy Roman Empire from the Roman nobility instead of the Pope. He even created a rival pope: Nicholas V. When the Pope attempted to excommunicate him, the Seven Electors passed a resolution stipulating that the election of a king of the People of Rome did not require papal approval (1338). Louis IV struggled to expand his family's territory in the country.
In 1346, while Louis IV was still alive, a number of electors, with the support of Pope Clement VI, elected a new king, Charles IV of luxembourg. The legitimacy of Louis IV was called into question. However, when Louis was preparing to go to war with Charles IV, he died in Munich.
27. Charles IV
Charles IV (Czech: Karel I, Karel I, German: Karl IV, Karl IV, Latin: Carolus IV, Carolus IV, 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378) of the Luxembourg Dynasty, King Carrel I of Bohemia (reigned 1346–1378) and King Carl IV of the Roman people (reigned 1347–1378), King Carolès IV of Italy (1347–1378). Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (coronation in 1355), Earl of Luxembourg (1347-1378). His reign was at its most powerful in the Czech Republic of the Middle Ages.
Charles IV was the eldest son of King John I of Bohemia, the mother of Elizabeth, john's predecessor, sister of King Wencesslas III of Bohcemian Bohemia, born on 14 May 1316. In 1323, at the age of seven, Charles married Brownie, sister of King Philip VI of France. He later married twice. He was educated as a teenager by the future Pope Clement VI.
In 1331, John gave Charles the Luxembourg dynasty territories in northern Italy, which were conquered by John's father, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII. Charles became Marquis of Moravia and Governor of the Bohemian Army in 1333 and succeeded his father to the throne as King of Bohemia in 1346.
In 1346, a group of German princes, with the support of Pope Clement VI, who was hostile to the Emperor, elected Charles of Luxembourg as a hostile king while Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV was still alive. Louis IV prepared to crusade against Charles and the rebellious princes, but died suddenly in 1347. Thus, Charles IV became the undisputed "King of the Roman People". In 1354 he followed the example of emperors in entering Italy and was officially crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Milan in 1355.
During the reign of Charles IV, Bohemia became the core of the Holy Roman Empire and Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. As a result of Charles IV's decision to make his family's hereditary fiefdom the backbone of the Luxembourg dynasty's strength, Bohemian interests dominated the policies of the Empire (the Golden Edict stipulated that the Bohemian king was at the head of the four secular electors), and the Czech Republic became a Central European power in the 14th century. As early as 1344, Charles, who was still Crown Prince, instigated Pope Clement VI to establish the Archdiocese of Prague, significantly raising the status of the Czech Church. Charles IV's policy was aimed at strengthening the power of the crown and weakening the power of the Czech nobility. He adopted an approach that encouraged production and trade. Prague became one of the most beautiful and wealthy cities thanks to the efforts of Charles IV: the first university in Central Europe, charles university, was founded in 1348; the famous bridge "Charles Bridge" over the Vltava River was built; and the "Charles Castle" was built near Prague. In 1355, Charles IV's Code of Charles was rejected by the Bohemian Congress.
Charles IV greatly expanded the territory of the Luxembourg dynasty by marriage and purchase, but did not use force. The new territories included: Part of Thuringian and Saxony; Nizhny Luzitzer; and the Brandenburg Mark.
Charles IV's most famous decision as Holy Roman Emperor was the promulgation of the Golden Seal Edict (or translated as the Golden Edict) in 1356. This edict is an acknowledgement of the actual situation in Germany at that time; it is the observance of the traditional political customs of the Germans, objectively and completely resolves a series of contradictions since the struggle between the emperor and the pope for the right to independently teach and appoint, and legally frees itself from the pope's interference in the election of the emperor. According to the Golden Edict, the practice of electing emperors by princes was recognized; these princes were called electors. There were seven electors in the empire: archbishop mainz; archbishop of Cologne; archbishop of Trier; king of Bohemia; count of Rhine-Palatinate; duke of Saxony-Wittenberg; marquis of Brandenburg; and hundreds of minor princes. The emperor has no right to interfere with the behavior of the princes in their own territory.
Charles IV died of a stroke in Prague on 29 November 1378. In June 2005, he was ranked first in the Czech vote for "The Greatest Czech" (Czech: Největ í ech).
(1) Personal experience
Charles IV was recalled from Paris by his father at the age of 17 and appointed commander-in-chief of the Bohemian army, accompanying his father on a campaign and touring the nations. Later, his father became blind, and he became his father's co-ruler, and his knightly career did not last long, and his influence on his personality was not large, but it also made him accustomed to the sinister power of the jianghu. Just when he was a fledgling, he was almost poisoned by political opponents.
In 1344, Charles, who was still Crown Prince, instigated his teacher in Paris, and later Pope Clement VI, established the Archdiocese of Prague, significantly increasing the status of the Czech Church.
In 1345, when the Black Death spread in the countries along the Mediterranean coast, and people blamed the plague on the Jews who murdered Jesus, a wave of persecution swept through Europe, killing more than 100,000 Jews, and Charles IV ignored this atrocity and instead benefited from the confiscation of Jewish property.
In June 1346, his father was killed at the Battle of Cércy, and he officially succeeded to the Bohemian throne. His next step was to seize the crown, and after buying off the five German electors, at the instigation of his teacher Pope Clement VI, he elected him as a rival king when the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of the Wittelsbach family was still alive. Louis IV prepared to crusade against Charles and the rebellious princes, but died suddenly in 1347. As a result, Charles IV became undisputed King of Germany.
During the reign of Charles IV, Bohemia became the core of the Holy Roman Empire. As a result of Charles IV's decision to make his family's hereditary fiefdom the backbone of the Luxembourg dynasty's strength, bohemian interests were at the forefront of the empire's policies (the Golden Edict stipulated that the bohemian king was at the head of the seven electors). Charles IV's policy was aimed at strengthening the power of the crown and weakening the power of the Czech nobility.
What made him even more famous was his construction of Prague. From an early age, he was determined to make Prague an international metropolis that matched the status of the capital of the empire, and his later travels around the world enriched his blueprints. He personally participated in the urban planning of Prague, building towers, walls, etc., and also built Karlstenborg near Prague. Construction of the famous bridge "Charles Bridge" on the Vltava River. He adopted an approach that encouraged production and trade. Prague became one of the most beautiful and wealthy cities through the efforts of Charles IV: he established the University of Prague, the first university in Central Europe, and hired famous scholars to teach at the University of Prague with great money, and by the time of Charles IV's death, the new university had 110,000 students.
The influence of this scholarly emperor on history was not limited to these pleasant things, and his efforts in the complex and brutal contests of german princes, as well as in the sensitive struggle for imperial and clerical power, also profoundly influenced the history of Europe, the representative of which was the Golden Edict of 1356. Charles IV's methods of political struggle, unlike most of the German kings, were not mainly achieved by conquest, but by money to buy, marry, promise and conclude covenants, and in this respect he received the true inheritance of his grandfather Rudolf I. He also waged several wars during his reign, but they were small, more like the removal of mountain thieves.
In Germany at that time, there were more than a dozen large princes, more than two hundred small princes, thousands of independent imperial knightly territories, and numerous autonomous cities. A loose confederation was formed, and the emperor was the nominal leader of this confederation, but the actual power was equivalent to that of a great prince. After a long period of balance, war and annexation, seven of the most prominent princes were formed, namely the three archbishops of Trier, Cologne and Mainz, and the four secular princes of the Rhine Court, the Duke of Saxony, the Count of Brandenburg, and the King of Bohemia. There are two possible ways to establish a firm rule over the empire: either to unite with the small princes, the autonomous cities, and the churches to fight against the great princes and establish their own supreme dominance, or to unite with the great princes to jointly slaughter the entire empire. Obviously, the latter approach was less risky and became an inevitable choice for the cautious Charles IV.
In 1354, Charles IV took advantage of the golden opportunity of the princes of Northern Italy to settle the situation, and many hoped for a great opportunity to stabilize the situation, and brought a large army into Northern Italy, and the following year accepted the Lombard Iron Crown in Milan and was officially crowned emperor in Rome. In November of that year, he held a grand imperial parliament in Nuremberg, attended by a large number of legal experts in addition to the princes, and the central topic was the formulation of the imperial constitution. Two issues were controversial, namely the election of the emperor, including how to elect and whether the pope was allowed to intervene, and the competence of the princes over the cities and people in their own territories.
In 1356, Charles IV convened another imperial parliament in Metz, and this time Charles IV issued the Golden Edict, the main contents of which were as follows: 1. It was clear that the emperor was elected by the seven electors, and the regency of the Duke of Saxony and the Earl of the Rhine court when the throne was vacant; 2. Each elector had customs duties and coinage rights in his territory, mining and selling salt (before this, these powers were not clear between the emperor and the elector), and prohibited the feudal lords from forming alliances against their vassals. It was forbidden for cities to form alliances against the princes, and offending the electors was considered a crime of rebellion. The electors effectively held the power of an absolute monarch within their own territories within a loose confederation framework. In addition, the edict avoids the question of the role of the Pope and the Holy See in the election of the Emperor, effectively depriving the Pope of his powers.
In 1378, Charles IV died of a stroke in Prague.
(2) Golden Edict
Charles IV's most famous decision as Holy Roman Emperor was the promulgation of the Golden Edict (or translated as the Golden Seal Edict). This edict actually made the division of Germany and the powerlessness of the emperor legally inevitable. According to the Golden Edict, the practice of electing emperors by princes was recognized; these princes were called electors. There were seven electors in the empire: the King of Bohemia; the Count of Palatinate; the Duke of Saxony; the Marquis of Brandenburg; the Archbishop of Mainz; the Archbishop of Trier; the Archbishop of Cologne; and hundreds of minor electors. The emperor has no right to interfere with the behavior of the princes in their own territory.
Its main content is to determine the emperor's election law and stipulate the authority of the princes. It was promulgated in January and December 1356 at the Imperial Diets of Nuremberg and Metz, respectively. In addition to the preface, the Golden Seal edict consists of 31 chapters. stipulate:
The Emperor was elected by the seven most powerful electors of the time (The Three Patriarchs of Mainz, Cologne and Trier; secular Electors: The Prince of Bohemia, the Count of Baladin of the Rhine, the Duke of Saxony and the Count of brandenburg) in the city of Frankfurt. The electoral council was convened and presided over by the Archbishop of Mainz; the coronation of the throne was held in Aachen; and the German king, the Holy Roman Emperor, no longer required papal recognition. It is also stipulated that the secular electors shall be inherited by the eldest son, the males shall continue, and the territory shall be inseparable. The Electors were politically independent in their territories, had national sovereignty over taxation, coinage, salt, iron ore mining, and an independent supreme jurisdiction that did not allow subjects to appeal; The Electors had a new mandate to oversee the empire.
The Edict of the Golden Seal legally established the separation system of the German princely states, which was the legal basis for the princely state to implement the monarchical system. It further weakened imperial power and exacerbated the political divisions of Germany. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the edict lost its meaning. The original of the Golden Seal edict is preserved in the State Library of Vienna.
(3) Character achievements
What made him famous was his construction of Prague. From an early age, he was determined to make Prague an international metropolis that matched the status of the capital of the empire, and his later travels around the world enriched his blueprints. He personally participated in the urban planning of Prague, building towers, walls, etc., and also built Karlstenborg near Prague. He founded the University of Prague, the first university in Central Europe, and hired prominent scholars to teach at Prague University, which had 110,000 students by the time charles IV died. He also promoted Prague to archdiocese through his teacher, Pope Clement VI, and gave his kingdom of Bohemia ecclesiastical autonomy.
But the scholarly emperor's influence on history was not limited to these pleasant things, and his efforts in the complex and brutal contests of German princes, as well as the sensitive struggle for imperial and clerical power, also profoundly influenced the history of Europe, the representative of which was the Golden Edict of 1356.
Charles IV's Golden Edict established a pattern of German politics with the Grand Princes as its political entity, a pattern that did not change qualitatively until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This is his greatest influence on history. In addition, his patronage of literature and art caused the passion of the Renaissance movement to begin to burn in the German lands, and later, the Hussite movement and Martin Luther's Reformation both took place in Germany, and there is a certain relationship with this.