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Charles IV in the Late Holy Roman Empire

Type Event Region Central Europe Time 1371–1378

The 1370s were the final decade of Charles IV's rule over the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia;…

Timeline

  1. 1371–1375Holy Roman Empire · GermanyIn the early 1370s Charles IV continued to maintain the seven-elector arrangement under the Golden Bull (1356), coordinating German princes through dynastic marriages and the Imperial Diet (Hoftag). He retained influence over Brandenburg, Saxony, and other marches while using the Bohemian royal lands as his power base; imperial central authority was still at the tail end of its formal zenith.
  2. 1371–1378Prague · BohemiaCharles IV made Prague the imperial cultural capital: Charles University continued to flourish, construction of St. Vitus Cathedral advanced, and the court attracted German and Italian scholars. Ecclesiastical administrative reform and bishop appointments in the 1370s remained under imperial influence, and Prague's position in Central Europe's religious and scholarly landscape peaked during the emperor's lifetime.
  3. 1376–1378Prague Castle · BohemiaIn 1376 Charles IV secured the coronation of Wenceslaus IV as King of the Romans in Aachen, completing the imperial succession procedure. Charles IV died in Prague on November 29, 1378, and was buried in St. Vitus Cathedral. The empire passed to Wenceslaus IV, but the electors lacked confidence in him and imperial cohesion soon weakened.

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