On the Prince Electors Lore Books

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About how the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is elected.

Text

On the Prince Electors

The Holy Roman Empire stretches from sea to sea and does occupy most of the European continent. Within it there are many countries and many kingdoms, which are united under one crown and which is called the Empire. It is ruled over by an Emperor, who judges the kings and dukes and who reigns supreme over all of the lands of the Empire.

It is an elected title, for when the old emperor dies a new emperor is selected by the prince-electors, of which there are seven and who are called in the German tongue Kurfuersten. Emperor Charles did establish this system in his Golden Bull and these seven electors are as follows: the Archbishop of Mainz as the imperial chancellor of the German lands, the Archbishop of Cologne as the archchancellor of the Italian lands, the Archbishop of Trier as the chancellor of Burgundy, Count Palatine of the Rhine as the arch-marshall, the Duke of Saxony as the arch-marshall, the King of Bohemia as the arch-cupbearer and finally, the Margrave of Brandenburg as the arch-chamberlain. All of these electors must agree upon an emperor and confirm his election, and then the emperor must accept the crown from the Pope, to confirm his title, which in current times is a complicated affair, for there are two who claim to be Pope and no one knows which is the true one.