Holy Roman Empire: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

The classic account in English is that of James Bryce, The Holy Roman Empire, new ed. (1904, reprinted 1978). Further broad studies include Geoffrey Barraclough, The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries in European History (1976), and The Mediæval Empire: Idea and Reality (1950, reissued 1964), somewhat critical of Bryce; and Robert Folz, The Concept of Empire in Western Europe from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century (1969, reissued 1980; originally published in French, 1953), with bibliography. The best bibliographic resource is Jonathan W. Zophy (compiler), An Annotated Bibliography of the Holy Roman Empire (1986).

The components of the imperial idea are explained in Fedor Schneider, Rom und Romgedanke im Mittelalter (1925, reprinted 1959); H.X. Arquillière, L’Augustinisme politique, 2nd rev. ed. (1955, reissued 1972); Carl Erdmann, Forschungen zur politischen Ideenwelt des Frühmittelalters (1951); and John G. Gagliardo, Reich and Nation: The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality (1980). The intellectual climate of the early period is covered in Heinrich Fichtenau, Living in the Tenth Century: Mentalities and Social Orders (1991; originally published in German, 2 vol., 1984). Relations between the eastern and western empires are chronicled in Werner Ohnsorge, Das Zweikaiserproblem im früheren Mittelalter (1947); Franz Dölger, Byzanz und die europäische Staatenwelt (1953, reprinted 1976); and George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, rev. ed. (1969, reprinted 1980; originally published in German, 1940). The Carolingian empire is treated in Karl Heldmann, Das Kaisertum Karls des Grossen (1928, reissued 1971); and Louis Halphen, Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire (1977; originally published in French, 1947). The period of the Investiture is discussed in Élie Voosen, Papauté et pouvoir civil à l’époque de Grégoire VII (1927); and Gerd Tellenbach, Church, State, and Christian Society at the Time of the Investiture Contest (1940, reissued 1991; originally published in German, 1936). Walther Holtzmann, Das mittelalterliche Imperium und die werdenden Natione (1953); and Hans Joachim Kirfel, Weltherrschaftsidee und Bündnispolitik (1959), treat the Hohenstaufen empire. R. Po-Chia Hsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation: Central Europe, 1550–1750 (1989, reissued 1992), covers topics ranging from confessionalism to popular culture during the Reformation. The empire after the interregnum is analyzed by Friedrich Bock, Reichsidee und Nationalstaaten (1943); James Allen Vann, The Making of a State: Württemberg, 1593–1793 (1984); and M.j. Rodríguez-Salgado, The Changing Face of Empire: Charles V, Philip II, and Habsburg Authority, 1551–1559 (1988). The classic account of the imperial constitution after the Thirty Years’ War is a contemporary work in modern translation by Samuel Pufendorf, Die Verfassung des deutschen Reiches, trans. from Latin (1976).

Geoffrey Barraclough The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified title of Web site: CORE - Jurisdiction Without Territory: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Responsibility to Protect (PDF). Dec 20, 2024
Add new Web site: CORE - Jurisdiction Without Territory: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Responsibility to Protect (PDF). Dec 16, 2024
Add new Web site: History Today - The End of the Holy Roman Empire. Sep 09, 2024
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Holy Roman Empire. Mar 29, 2024
Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - The Holy Roman Empire. Nov 09, 2023
Top Questions updated. Jan 31, 2023
Cross-references added. Jan 31, 2023
Add new Web site: Holy Roman Empire Association - History of the Holy Roman Empire. Jan 16, 2023
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Holy Roman Empire. Sep 21, 2022
Add new Web site: Khan Academy - The Roman Empire. Mar 07, 2022
Maps added. Oct 29, 2020
Media added. Aug 20, 2019
Corrected display issue. Jul 25, 2018
Add new Web site: Deutsches Historisches Museum - “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation 962-1806”. Oct 24, 2016
"Concordant of Worms" changed to "Concordat of Worms." Oct 11, 2016
Article revised. May 12, 2015
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - The Vedas. Mar 05, 2014
Article revised and romanization changed. Jan 14, 2013
Add new Web site: University of Calgary - Holy Roman Empire. Dec 07, 2012
Add new Web site: University of California - The Department of Black Studies - The Holy Roman Empire. Dec 07, 2012
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - History - Holy Roman Empire. Oct 31, 2008
Article revised and updated. Jul 02, 2008
Added new Web site: Kidipede-History for Kids - Holy Roman Empire. Feb 08, 2008
Added new Web site: CRW Flags - Flag of Holy Roman Empire, Germany. Feb 08, 2008
Added new Web site: HistoryWorld - History of Holy Roman Empire. Feb 04, 2008
Added new Web site: UNRV History - Roman Empire. May 25, 2007
Added new Web site: The History Learning Site - Holy Roman Empire. May 25, 2007
Media added. Oct 26, 2006
Article revised and updated. Oct 26, 2006
Bibliography revised. Oct 26, 2006
Article revised. Mar 12, 2004
Article revised. Nov 01, 2000
Article revised. Sep 01, 1999
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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