Holy Roman Emperor
1
9.4
- noun
:
Emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano
- The figure in the middle is the Holy Roman Emperor Karl IV, known for his contributions to the empire.
- Holy Roman Emperor Charles
The Holy Roman Empire is so the title of Holy Roman Emperor is given to the king of the Franks.
- The Holy Roman Empire is so the title of Holy Roman Emperor is given to the king of the Franks.
Examples
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In 1601, Johannes Kepler became imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II.
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He worked at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II at a time when Prague was an imperial city.
Blog text (4) -
Oddly, two of the few examples that I have come across concern the same person, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Academic text (2001) -
Instead, German principalities were required to swear an oath of loyalty to and grant the Holy Roman Emperor certain legal jurisdictions.
Academic text (2005) -
Both the French King Louis and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Third Habsburg were eager to acquire these lands by marrying their sons to Mary.
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Castilians were skeptical of their young foreign king, whose role as Holy Roman Emperor would involve long periods of royal absenteeism and subject them to a higher rate of taxation.
Academic text (2001) -
The most original Jewish thinker of his time, he led a tireless campaign against the intellectual persecution of the Jews, yet he was the intellectual confidant to the Holy Roman Emperor himself.
Academic text (2001) -
Local rivalries were further inflamed by supra-regional fighting between the pope and the Holy Roman emperor, which divided the loyalties of citizens into bitterly opposed Guelph and Ghibelline parties respectively.
Academic text (2015) -
Ultimately, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III forced both men to relinquish their claims to the papacy.
Synonyms
524
3.5
A man who rules an empire made of many countries
2
9.5
A title for the emperors of Germany, Austria, or the Holy Roman Empire, especially before 1918
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'holy' (sacred) + 'Roman' (relating to Rome) + 'emperor' (ruler) give a clear hint that this is a religious/ceremonial ruler related to Rome, so a learner who knows the words can form a basic idea. However, the phrase is a fixed historical title with specific historical meaning (the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire) and some non‑transparent aspects (e.g., the empire was not strictly 'Roman' in the ancient sense), so the precise referent and historical nuances are not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Holy Roman Emperor was a title made in the Middle Ages to show a ruler had both the power of ancient Rome and the blessing of the Church. The word Roman links to old Rome, Holy shows the Church's support, and Emperor means the top ruler, so the title came to mean 'the ruler of many lands' with the Church's blessing.