The Holy Roman Empire

Highlights of the History of the Holy Roman Empire

Crown of the Emperors and the Coronation of Charlemagne
The Crown of the Emperors and the Coronation of Charlemagne

Readings in the history of the Holy Roman Empire and its related empires (the Empire of the Franks, the Empire of the Hapsburgs, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) by some of history’s greatest writers.

Some Years listed below are approximate.

YearTitleAuthor(s)
732Battle of ToursEdward S. Creasy
751The Carolingian Dynasty BeginsFrançois P.G. Guizot
772-814CharlemagneFrançois P.G. Guizot
817Empire of the Franks Splits and DecaysFrançois P. G. Guizot
911-936Henry the Fowler’s ReignWolfgang Menzel
1000ChivalryLéon Gautier
1048Holy Roman Emperor Takes Control of the PapacyFerdinand Gregorovius| |Joseph Darras
1054Orthodox, Catholics SplitHenry F. Tozer| |Joseph Deharbe
1077Hildebrand’s Papal TriumphArthur Robert Pennington| |Artaud De Montor
1095Pope Launches CrusadeJack Le Moine
1183The Peace Of Constance Secures The Liberties Of The Lombard CitiesErnest F. Henderson
1187Saladin Takes Jerusalem From the ChristiansSir George W. Cox
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1189-1194The Third CrusadeHenry Von Sybel
1190-1809The Teutonic KnightsFrederick C. Woodhouse
1204Constantinople Taken by the Western CrusadersEdwin Pears
1208Zenith of Papal PowerThomas F. Tout
1228Treaty Ends Sixth CrusadeGeorge W. Cox
1273Hapsburg Dynasty FoundedWilliam Coxe
1308First Swiss Struggle For LibertyF. Grenfell Baker
1348The Black Death Reaches EuropeJ. F. C. Hecker| |Giovanni Boccaccio
1356Charles IV Publishes His Golden BullSir Robert Comyn
1358The Hanseatic League’s StoryHarry Denicke
1374Medieval Dancing ManiaJ. F. C. Hecker
1380The House of Hohenzollern Established in BrandenburgThomas Carlyle
1386The Swiss Win IndependenceF. Grenfell Baker| |Lina Hug and Richard Stead
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1414Council of Constance 1414Richard Lodge
1415The Trial and Burning of John HussRichard Chenevix Trench
1517Luther Begins the Reformation in GermanyJulius Koestlin| |Jean-M.-Vincent Audin
1520The Field of the Cloth of GoldJohn S. Brewer
1524The Peasants’ War in GermanyJean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné
1525The Battle of PaviaWilliam Robertson
1527Charles V Sacks RomeBenvenuto Cellini| |T. Adolphus Trollope
1545The Council of Trent and the Counter-ReformationSir Adolphus W. Ward
1546Protestant Struggle Against Charles V – The Smalkaldic WarEdward Armstrong
1552France Breaks Up Holy Roman EmpireLady Catherine Charlotte Jackson
1555The Peace of Augsburg and the Abdication of Charles VWilliam Robertson
1618The Thirty Years WarSamuel R. Gardiner| |Charles F. Horne
1632Gustavus Adolphus at LutzenBenjamin Chapman
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1640The Great Elector Grows PrussiaThomas Carlyle
1683Last Turkish Invasion of EuropeSutherland Menzies
1701Prussia Proclaimed a KingdomLeopold von Ranke
1704The Battle of BlenheimSir Edward Creasy
1717Turkish Threat on Europe Finally VanquishedPrince Eugene of Savoy
1740Prussia Invades SilesiaWilliam Smyth
1750Bach Lays the Foundation of Modern MusicHenry Tipper
1756-1763The Seven Years WarWolfgang Menzel| |Frederick The Great
1772First Partition of PolandJames Fletcher
1780Joseph II Attempts Reforms for HungaryArminius Vambery
1792Europe’s First Battle Against Republican FranceAlphonse M. L. Lamartine
1794Poland’s DownfallSir Archibald Alison
1796Napoleon’s First CampaignSir Walter Scott
1805The Battle of AusterlitzPierre Lanfrey
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1813Leipzig Battle of the NationsWolfgang Menzel
1814The Congress of Vienna 1814-15Henry M. Stephens
1816The Holy Alliance – European Reaction Under MetternichCharles Edmund Maurice
18481848 German RevolutionsC. Edmund Maurice
1848The Hungarians RevoltArminius Vembery
1849Garibaldi and the Roman RepublicJessie White Mario
1859The Second War of Italian IndependencePietro Orsi
1866The Austro-Prussian WarCharles A. Fyffe
1871Final Italian UnificationPietro Orsi| |Henry Dwight Sedgwick
1878The Berlin Congress of 1878Stephen P.H. Duggan
1908Austria-Hungary Annexes Bosnia-HerzegovinaEmil Reich
1912Militarism Before World War INorman Angell| |Sir Max Waechter.

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