Can anyone think of a scenario where a man is able to assume both the offices of Pope AND Holy Roman Emperor? Because as far as I know, the only requirement to become Pope was that a person be a Catholic male. Are there any other qualifications that I'm missing?
I had two possible situations in mind: either where an Emperor (Pre-Investiture Controversy) uses his authority to appoint himself Pope. I know that it's pretty ASB-ish and tough to pull off, but I thought I'd throw it out there anywhere.
The other one, which I thought had a little more potential, is where a Pope (post-Golden Bull) makes a bid to get elected Emperor. He would already have three of the seven votes in his pocket (his three archbishops), so he would only need to convince one more elector to snatch up the crown.
Can anyone think of any other ways to make this idea work or is it back to the drawing board for me?