The HRE Was Actually Holy, Roman and an Empire

Voltaire BTFO'd

The concept of sacrum imperium in historical scholarship:

Footage:
Barbarossa, 2009
Charlemagne, 2013

Music:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clemency of Titus
Crusader Kings II Soundtrack - The Holy Sepulchre
Crusader Kings II Soundtrack - Journey to Absolution
Imperator: Rome Soundtrack - Hegemony
Imperator: Rome Soundtrack - Caesarion

00:00 Intro
01:29 Origins of the Quote
03:00 Holy
08:59 Roman
14:54 Empire

[SwedishmafiaMemeCorporation]

Voltaire has been really quiet since this video dropped.

[Briggattonii]

“Controversial and serious video posted on April 1st and passed on as a joke at first glance” is my favorite video genre

[NicCageCDXX]

In all seriousness, it's just unreasonable to judge the HRE as something that didn't evolve and change over its millenium long existence. There were times it very much did live up to its name, and there were times where it was far closer to the Voltaire quote. Take any point where you can go 1, 000 years forward or backwards in the Roman Kingdom/Republic/Empire and it'll look vastly different, with government vastly differently structured.

[aegonthedragon]

The HRE, despite being a husk of itself after 1648, still deserves credit for lasting roughly 1000 years and being able to adapt through social changes/revolutions.

[frederickbarbarossa]

As the HRE PR manager I have two things to say:
Thank you.
How much do I owe you for your service?

[Remesayy]

Your research done about the holy part is impressive and imo quite accurate, well done

[mortache]

Trouble with HRE is kinda the same as the Ottomans and their image of being the "sick man of Europe". People only remember them in the state of the final decline, not the long and glorious past

[OmegaTrooper]

Voltaire was just jealous that he was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.

[ghastlyghandi]

It’s crazy how several US presidents had actual opinions on the HRE as a fellow political entity, even some while still in office.

[pradyumn]

Among all the three Reichs, HRE was the only one that came closest to a thousand year Reich

[Pan_Z]

9:18 depicting others as Adam Conover is more unflattering than using Wojaks.

[gas]

fun fact, the German "Heiliges Römisches Reich" may at first glance translate to "Holy Roman Empire" but even without pulling up its latin name, it can be translated as "Sacred Roman Empire"
this is because "Heilig" means both "Holy" and "Sacred" in german

[evenlord]

I'm glad you fit in the Crusader Kings joke. Paradox gaming reignited my interest in history

[thaneofwhiterun]

Funnily enough, in Spanish. The Holy Roman Empire is called the "Sacro Imperio Romano".

Which has literally the same meaning as the latin name, so this misconception never spread in the Hispanic world.

[malicant]

If Voltaire were alive today, he'd be a Redditor

[fitzroys]

I would like to add to your final point by commenting on the kingdom of France during the time of Henry ii of England
Massive parts of France were brought under his rule and command only and just through marriages, would this make you not call royaume de France not a kingdom? No!
This is quite natural and normal in a feudal system

[richardm]

Voltaire's quote tells us more about him and contemporary thought that surrounded him than it does the HRE subject matter itself - as is the case with all historical sources 😉

[jensphiliphohmann]

The English word "empire" is actually ambiguous. In German we have different words like "
"Kaisertum", "Kaiserreich", "Reich", "Imperium" (from Latin) and "Empire" (from English).
▪︎At one hand, "empire" means a state governed by a monarch who is called an emperor rather than a king*), no matter its size. This is what "Kaiserreich" refers to, in rarer cases "Kaisertum" as well but the latter rather stands for the institution of an emperor.
▪︎At the other hand, a state is called an empire if it's very large and exceeds the nation state, for instance by a state having colonies. The head of this state _may_ be an emperor but also a king or not even a monarch but a president like in the French empire after Napoleon III's fall.
In German, this is referred to by "Imperium" or "Empire", or "Reich". The last, however, may also refer to a nation state which is not even a monarchy for some historical reasons. When the German Kaiser abdicated after WW1, the Reich became a federal republic but stuck to the name "Reich ". Of course, it continued to do so after being centralized by the nazis.
____
*) I don't even know what is the exact difference since the eastern Roman emperors from Herakleios onwards used the term "Basileus" which also means king.
The translation of foreign titles such as Chinese or Japanese also

[gloud_genn]

Voltairs quote is correct if you only look at the last years of the HRE but it completely ignores the other 900years of its existence.

[GeldtheGelded]

Italy really slipped from imperial control after the death of Henry VII, whom Dante Alighieri held in high regard as a reformer who came to italy before she knew she needed one. He was the last emperor to really pursue an italian policy, which was cut short by his sudden death in 1313