History of The Holy Roman Empire - Name

Name

The term sacrum (i.e., "holy" in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used from 1157, under Frederick I Barbarossa "Holy Empire"; the form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward. The term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy. Before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire.

In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was officially changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Latin: Imperium Romanum Sacrum Nationis Germanicæ). This form was first used in a document in 1474. The new title was partly adopted because the Empire had lost most of its Italian and Burgundian (Kingdom of Arles) territories by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform. By the late 16th century this title again fell out of fashion, but was occasionally still used in German literature.

The French Enlightenment writer Voltaire remarked sardonically: "This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."