WI Byzantine Holy Roman Emperor?

VT45

Banned
Now, admittedly, I don't know much about the political system of the HRE, but what would have happened if the Byzantines controlled part of the Holy Roman Empire, and their emperor ended up being elected Holy Roman Emperor?
 
wasn't being Catholic a requirement for being HREmperor? if not, I doubt the Germans would accept an Orthodox emperor.

maybe if: 1) the Great Schism never happens, or gets resolved (the Papal-Byzantine Alliance works maybe?) and the Byzantines manage to regain territory in northern Italy, it might be slightly more possible to happen.
 

VT45

Banned
wasn't being Catholic a requirement for being HREmperor? if not, I doubt the Germans would accept an Orthodox emperor.

maybe if: 1) the Great Schism never happens, or gets resolved (the Papal-Byzantine Alliance works maybe?) and the Byzantines manage to regain territory in northern Italy, it might be slightly more possible to happen.

Yeah, this question was spurred on by an EUII game I'm playing. I'm the Byzantine Empire, and I control about a third of the HRE. We did have a union of the churches for a few years, but it didn't last. So I suppose for me to be Holy Roman Emperor, I'd have to conquer the entire HRE?
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Actually, didn't that come close to happening, with Charlemagne being offered a Byzantine Princess for a wife or something?
 
Actually, didn't that come close to happening, with Charlemagne being offered a Byzantine Princess for a wife or something?

Well there are two scenarios that you could be talking about.

The first (and most likely) was the rumour of a marrige proposal between Charlemagne and Empress Irene.

The second, which occured earlier, was negotiations for a Byzantine Princess marrying a son of Charlemagne.
 

VT45

Banned
Well there are two scenarios that you could be talking about.

The first (and most likely) was the rumour of a marrige proposal between Charlemagne and Empress Irene.

The second, which occured earlier, was negotiations for a Byzantine Princess marrying a son of Charlemagne.

But both of those are pre-Schism. I'm talking about post-Schism. If Byzantium held a controlling amount of the HRE, could the Byzantine emperor become Holy Roman Emperor too, provided he also controlled the Papal States, or Avingnon, or wherever the Pope feels like living at the time?
 
wasn't being Catholic a requirement for being HREmperor? if not, I doubt the Germans would accept an Orthodox emperor.

Being Catholic was a requirement for being elected King of Poland.

One only had to be Christian to become HREmperor, although all of them (as far as I can remember) were Catholic...
 
But both of those are pre-Schism. I'm talking about post-Schism. If Byzantium held a controlling amount of the HRE, could the Byzantine emperor become Holy Roman Emperor too, provided he also controlled the Papal States, or Avingnon, or wherever the Pope feels like living at the time?
The problem is that pre schism I would say it’s doable not all that likely but with a bit of work it could be pulled off credibly. Post schism though it becomes progressively harder to have a native born Orthodox Byzantine Emperor become Holy Roman Emperor. You only have 17 years from the official start of the schism to Manzikert which if it and the resulting fallout do occur your looking at needing near ASB circumstances to have them willing and able to exert enough influence and resources to become HRE. Also a minor issue is the problem that you didn’t officially become Holy Roman Emperor until crowned by the Pope.
 
Being Catholic was a requirement for being elected King of Poland.

One only had to be Christian to become HREmperor, although all of them (as far as I can remember) were Catholic...

Well, it only became a practical issue after the reformation. Seeing as the Byzantine Empire didn't overlap with the reformation...

So, it would be interesting if...

The Byzantines controlled some of the territory. And lasted longer or an earlier reformation removed that obstacle to the legality of it.
 
Being Catholic was a requirement for being elected King of Poland.

One only had to be Christian to become HREmperor, although all of them (as far as I can remember) were Catholic...

Since three of the electors were Catholic bishops it would be difficult for a non-Catholic to be elected, as it would take truly exceptional circumstances for any of the ecclesiastical electors to ever even consider voting for a non-Catholic. That said, don't forget the Thirty Years War was touched off by the Protestants getting all four of secular electorates under their control, so it is certainly possible for a non-Catholic to win the Imperial Crown. The Pope would probably refuse to crown the Emperor-elect, but it's not like Papal-Imperial conflict was anything new by this point...
 
Since three of the electors were Catholic bishops it would be difficult for a non-Catholic to be elected, as it would take truly exceptional circumstances for any of the ecclesiastical electors to ever even consider voting for a non-Catholic. That said, don't forget the Thirty Years War was touched off by the Protestants getting all four of secular electorates under their control, so it is certainly possible for a non-Catholic to win the Imperial Crown. The Pope would probably refuse to crown the Emperor-elect, but it's not like Papal-Imperial conflict was anything new by this point...

But like I said, the denomination wasn't (officially) an issue... It's just that they were all Catholic.
 
Logically, therefore it will need Byzantine military prowess to be at a high ebb, both to show off for the electors (why vote for a defeated or moribund state's ruler) and to have influence and potential threat hanging over them

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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