Holy Roman Empire

Timeline

1. 1452St. Peter's Basilica, Rome · RomeHabsburg Emperor Frederick III traveled in person to Rome, where Pope Nicholas V presided over his coronation, making him the last Holy Roman Emperor to receive a papal coronation in Rome. The act carried strong political symbolism, but Frederick's actual restraint over the princes at home was greatly weakened, and imperial authority grew ever more dispersed.
2. 1453–1456Imperial Diet (in Frankfurt and other cities) · GermanyThe fall of Constantinople in 1453 shocked the Christian world of Europe; Frederick III convened the Imperial Diet to discuss the possibility of organizing a crusade against the Ottomans. However, the German princes each had their own designs, and financial and military mobilization was extremely limited; in 1456 the Hungarian hero János Hunyadi successfully repelled an Ottoman siege at Belgrade, yet the empire was unable to provide substantive support, exposing the severe inadequacy of its capacity for collective action.
3. 1451–1460Habsburg lands in Austria · AustriaFrederick III faced not only the centrifugal tendencies of the imperial princes but also prolonged Habsburg family infighting: his brother Albert VI, allied with Austrian nobles, repeatedly opposed the emperor, and disputes over the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary dragged on. Throughout the 1450s the emperor was unable to push through any effective imperial reform, central authority was extremely weak, and deep pressures accumulated that would fuel the rise of the imperial reform movement at the end of the 15th century.