The Holy Roman Emperor (Latin: Imperator Romanus Sacer) is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope. After the 16th century, this elected monarch governed the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European union of territories of the Medieval and Early Modern period. In the feudal hierarchy, a medieval Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares (first among equals) among the other medieval Roman Catholic monarchs; he was the "Senior Monarch in (Catholic) Christendom" and the "secular arm of the Catholic Church".
Read more about Holy Roman Emperor: Title, Succession, List of Emperors, Coronation
Famous quotes containing the words holy, roman and/or emperor:
“Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?”
—William Blake (17571827)
“Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily.
Let not our looks put on our purposes,
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untired spirits and formal constancy.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.”
—Wallace Stevens (18791955)