How did the Holy Roman Empire Work? (Short Animated Documentary)

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anon

How did the Holy Roman Empire work? It was an antiquated mess but it did have a system of government that did work. Sort of. If everyone felt like it.

Sources:

Prussia's Relations with the Holy Roman Empire, 1740-1786 by Peter H. Wilson.

Benjamin Franklin, Student of the Holy Roman Empire: His Summer Journey to Germany in 1766 and His Interest in the Empire's Federal Constitution by Jürgen Overhoff.

The Constitution of the Holy Roman Empire after 1648: Samuel Pufendorf's Assessment in His Monzambano by Peter Schröder.

Bolstering the Prestige of the Habsburgs: The End of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 by Peter H. Wilson.

[Wanderer]

As strange as the whole concept was the fact it lasted a thousand years is extremely impressive.

[Ivan-fnbf]

Must've been a pain in the ass to colour the HRE map

[rakhafitra]

I'm honestly amazed that the HRE was able to make that system work in a time when information travels slowly.

[bandie]

"How did the Holy Roman Empire Work?"
"It did not."
"I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching and ...."

[OctagonDinosaur]

Isn't it obvious? You need 50 imperial authority in order to pass reforms.

[overvieweffect]

me before watching the video: "HOW did the Holy Roman Empire Work?"


after watching the video: "How did the Holy Roman Empire WORK?"

[nate]

Napoleon, 1806: “Wait a minute...This whole thing is Stupid!!!” *HRE has been removed from chat*

[mr.markofski]

The HRE is the epitome of life: fumbling your way through and somehow barely manage to make it

[manuelxcool]

Which political system do you prefer?
Feudalism
Democracy
Absolute Monarchy

Holy Roman Empire : Yes

[silas__]

Title should be, how did the l͟a͟t͟e HRE work.
The first few hundred years were much less decentralized, meaning the country could wage wars, also at that point the emperor wasn't just Austria every time.

[mardasman]

It depends on the time. During medieval times the HRE emperor was pretty powerful as a collection of lordships that were somewhat loyal to the emperor, but after the 30-years war he and the HRE structure became almost completely irrelevant, as the religious divisions made the HRE divided and weak.

[auraguard]

Short Answer: It didn't.

Long Answer: The Imperial Eagle was awesome so there's that.

[loganliss]

_I love Germany so much, I prefer to see 1000 of them!_

[alejandroojeda]

"Whose task It was, as prevoously said, to be bribed by the Habsburgs into electing them as emperor" pretty neat 🤣🤣🤣

[karunyaasribashyam]

So wholesome that Napoleon is waving goodbye to an episode about the HRE

[noujaadw]

When the Habsburg territories were split in 1558 the Netherlands went to the Spanish branch, however the Spanish Netherlands continued to be a part of the HRE, and in their role as the Count of Flanders, Namur, etc. The Spanish Habsburgs were vassals to the HRE. Although Spain itself wasn't a vassal. Therefore when the Dutch revolt happened they were not technically rebelling against the Spanish crown. Just against Phillip II who also happened to be King of Spain.

[charito]

I'm betting that 50% of the work put into this video was to accurately display the HRE then giving up and combining many of the smaller states.

[pridelander]

Did the Holy Roman Empire work?
Well yes, but actually no.

[DaisyGeekyTransGirl]

I’m surprised this video was only four minutes and not a return to Ten Minute History given how fiendishly complicated this empire is.

[geoofficial]

“How did the HRE Work?”
“It didn’t.”
“I hope you enjoyed this video, thank you for watching and special thanks to James Bisonette and Kelly Moneymaker.”