History 2403E Lecture : Holy Roman Empire.doc
22 Mar 2012
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Emperor is elected by the 7 most powerful german princes. The electors expected bribes and legal demands from the candidates. They had to trade away their power through these capitulations. Ferdinand knows that he faces excommunication from the papacy if he tolerates protestants o. But he must find a way to maintain peace in the empire. The princes determine the religion of their areas. The emperor"s power to demand loyalty to roman catholicism is limited by cius regio eius. This is the legal agreement between the holy roman emperor and the german princes. This is the bribe that the emperor candidates have to make with the princes gives the princes. The emperors continually give a little more of their power away with each election. In germany, if you wanted to pass a law to the entire empire, they had to go through the reichstag. It was another inconvenient hurdle to the emperor"s power.
