Holy Roman Empire Electoral System

Timeline

1. 1000–1310Holy Roman Empire · Holy Roman EmpireAfter the 11th century, German archbishops and certain secular princes gradually acquired the privilege of electing the Roman-German king; the 1273 election of Rudolf I established the electors' central role in imperial succession, but the number and qualifications of electors long remained unfixed.
2. 1311–1320Frankfurt and Bonn · Holy Roman EmpireIn October 1314 the electors split into two factions: one elected Louis IV of Wittelsbach at Frankfurt, the other elected Frederick of Habsburg (the Fair) at Bonn; the resulting dual emperors triggered an eight-year civil war, exposing the fundamental flaw of the electoral system's lack of clear procedure and majority rules.
3. 1356–1806Nuremberg · GermanyIn 1356 Charles IV issued the Golden Bull, formally confirming the electoral rights of the three ecclesiastical electors of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier and the four secular electors of Bohemia, the Palatinate, Saxony, and Brandenburg—seven in all—and stipulating election procedures and the framework of fundamental imperial law; the system lasted until the empire's dissolution in 1806.