Heart of Europe

Heart of Europe PDF Author: Peter H. Wilson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674058097
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1025

Book Description
An Economist and Sunday Times Best Book of the Year “Deserves to be hailed as a magnum opus.” —Tom Holland, The Telegraph “Ambitious...seeks to rehabilitate the Holy Roman Empire’s reputation by re-examining its place within the larger sweep of European history...Succeeds splendidly in rescuing the empire from its critics.” —Wall Street Journal Massive, ancient, and powerful, the Holy Roman Empire formed the heart of Europe from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later. An engine for inventions and ideas, with no fixed capital and no common language or culture, it derived its legitimacy from the ideal of a unified Christian civilization—though this did not prevent emperors from clashing with the pope for supremacy. In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Holy Roman Empire worked, why it was so important, and how it changed over the course of its existence. The result is a tour de force that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power and the legacy of its offspring, from Nazi Germany to the European Union. “Engrossing...Wilson is to be congratulated on writing the only English-language work that deals with the empire from start to finish...A book that is relevant to our own times.” —Brendan Simms, The Times “The culmination of a lifetime of research and thought...an astonishing scholarly achievement.” —The Spectator “Remarkable...Wilson has set himself a staggering task, but it is one at which he succeeds heroically.” —Times Literary Supplement

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire PDF Author: Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691217319
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Book Description
A new interpretation of the Holy Roman Empire that reveals why it was not a failed state as many historians believe The Holy Roman Empire emerged in the Middle Ages as a loosely integrated union of German states and city-states under the supreme rule of an emperor. Around 1500, it took on a more formal structure with the establishment of powerful institutions--such as the Reichstag and Imperial Chamber Court--that would endure more or less intact until the empire's dissolution by Napoleon in 1806. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger provides a concise history of the Holy Roman Empire, presenting an entirely new interpretation of the empire's political culture and remarkably durable institutions. Rather than comparing the empire to modern states or associations like the European Union, Stollberg-Rilinger shows how it was a political body unlike any other--it had no standing army, no clear boundaries, no general taxation or bureaucracy. She describes a heterogeneous association based on tradition and shared purpose, bound together by personal loyalty and reciprocity, and constantly reenacted by solemn rituals. In a narrative spanning three turbulent centuries, she takes readers from the reform era at the dawn of the sixteenth century to the crisis of the Reformation, from the consolidation of the Peace of Augsburg to the destructive fury of the Thirty Years' War, from the conflict between Austria and Prussia to the empire's downfall in the age of the French Revolution. Authoritative and accessible, The Holy Roman Empire is an incomparable introduction to this momentous period in the history of Europe.

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire PDF Author: Friedrich Heer
Publisher: Weidenfeld and Nicolsen
ISBN: 9781842126004
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The Holy Roman Empire survived for over 1,000 years--and its institutions, ideas, and political divisions haunt Europe still. Starting with Charlemagne's coronation on Christmas day 800, and ending with the illegal suspension of the Empire by Francis II in 1806, this ambitious and comprehensive history examines the status of the Emperor, meaning of kingship and leadership, the Empire's structure, internal conflicts, and shifting centers of power, and ever present ideal of a united Europe. The Holy Roman Empire survived for over 1,000 years--and its institutions, ideas, and political divisions haunt Europe still. Starting with Charlemagne's coronation on Christmas day 800, and ending with the illegal suspension of the Empire by Francis II in 1806, this ambitious and comprehensive history examines the status of the Emperor, meaning of kingship and leadership, the Empire's structure, internal conflicts, and shifting centers of power, and ever present ideal of a united Europe.

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire PDF Author: Joachim Whaley
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191065641
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
Voltaire's description of the Holy Roman Empire as 'neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire' is often cited to underline its worthlessness. German historians traditionally despised it because it had allegedly impeded German unification. Since 1945 scholars have been more positive but the empire's history and significance is still largely misunderstood. In this Very Short Introduction Joachim Whaley outlines the fascinating thousand-year history of the Holy Roman Empire. Founded in 800 on the basis of Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom, its imperial title went to the German monarchy which became established in the ninth and ten centuries. They claimed Charlemagne's legacy, including his role as protector of the papacy and guardian of the Church. Around 1500 the title Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was adopted. An elective monarchy, the empire gradually developed from a feudal monarchy into a legal system that pacified the territories and cities of German-speaking Europe. By 1519 it had a supreme court and a regional enforcement system ended feuding. Throughout its lifetime, the empire's growth and history was shaped by the major developments in Europe, from the Reformation, to the Thirty Years War, to the French revolutionary wars, which led to Napoleon destroying the empire in 1806. The sense of a common history over a thousand years and the legal traditions established by the empire have shaped the history of German-speaking Europe ever since. Joachim Whaley analyses the empire's crucial impact and role in the history of European power and politics, and shows that there has never been a more durable political system in German history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered

The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered PDF Author: Jason Philip Coy
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 184545992X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
The Holy Roman Empire has often been anachronistically assumed to have been defunct long before it was actually dissolved at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The authors of this volume reconsider the significance of the Empire in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Their research reveals the continual importance of the Empire as a stage (and audience) for symbolic performance and communication; as a well utilized problem-solving and conflict-resolving supra-governmental institution; and as an imagined political, religious, and cultural "world" for contemporaries. This volume by leading scholars offers a dramatic reappraisal of politics, religion, and culture and also represents a major revision of the history of the Holy Roman Empire in the early modern period.

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire PDF Author: James Bryce Bryce (Viscount)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Holy Roman Empire
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Book Description

On the Donation of Constantine

On the Donation of Constantine PDF Author: Lorenzo Valla
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674030893
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Valla (1407-1457) was the most important theorist of the humanist movement. His most famous work is the present volume, an oration in which Valla uses new philological methods to attack the authenticity of the most important document justifying the papacy's claims to temporal rule.

The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History

The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History PDF Author: Heikki Pihlajamäki
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191088374
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1217

Book Description
European law, including both civil law and common law, has gone through several major phases of expansion in the world. European legal history thus also is a history of legal transplants and cultural borrowings, which national legal histories as products of nineteenth-century historicism have until recently largely left unconsidered. The Handbook of European Legal History supplies its readers with an overview of the different phases of European legal history in the light of today's state-of-the-art research, by offering cutting-edge views on research questions currently emerging in international discussions. The Handbook takes a broad approach to its subject matter both nationally and systemically. Unlike traditional European legal histories, which tend to concentrate on "heartlands" of Europe (notably Italy and Germany), the Europe of the Handbook is more versatile and nuanced, taking into consideration the legal developments in Europe's geographical "fringes" such as Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. The Handbook covers all major time periods, from the ancient Greek law to the twenty-first century. Contributors include acknowledged leaders in the field as well as rising talents, representing a wide range of legal systems, methodologies, areas of expertise and research agendas.

The Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne in World History

The Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne in World History PDF Author: Jeff Sypeck
Publisher: Enslow Publishing
ISBN: 9780766019010
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
A biography of the Frankish warrior and medieval Christian king who built a great empire in western Europe.
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