Elector's fable

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The term elector's fable is used in recent historical research to describe late medieval ideas about the formation of the electoral body of the electors entitled to elect the Roman-German king .

According to these "theories" that emerged at the end of the 13th century, the electoral body was based on the appointment of important emperors or the Pope . Emperors are named: Charlemagne (768–814), Otto III. (984–1002), Heinrich II. (1002–1024), the papal variant of the elector's fable mostly refers to Gregory V (996–999).

Medieval ideas

The elector's fable shows how medieval chroniclers and observers imagined political and social developments. After that, these always had to be the result of a one-off act. Accordingly, shortly after the establishment of the electoral college, the electoral princes' sole right to vote was no longer in doubt, because it was considered an ancient right of these princes. The actual causes for the formation of the body in the second half of the 13th century cannot be determined.

The elector's fable was in circulation in different versions. The most widespread was that of Martin von Troppau , which he wrote down in 1268/71, i.e. shortly before Rudolf I was elected Roman-German king. According to him, the right to vote was transferred to the electors after Otto III. died childless in 1002. Since these princes Erzämter occupied the kingdom, these are also entitled to vote. This line of argument can already be found at the end of the 1220s in the Sachsenspiegel , the large collection of the law applicable in Saxony. It was not until the 1270s that the electors themselves took on this additional legitimation of their exclusive electoral function and listed the ore office in their titles.

This arch office theory can also be found in writing from the end of the Ottonians beyond the Alps, for example in Giovanni Villani and Marsilius von Padua .

Recent research

Even more recent historical research is not free from such monocausal evaluation structures. Theories on the formation of the electoral committee are presented here:

  • the arch office theory of Egon Boshof , according to which the four secular electors also held the royal court offices of truchess , tavern , marshal and chamberlain ,
  • the inheritance theory of Armin Wolf , after the election body of King Albert I used (1298-1308) in 1298 was the descendants of the Ottoman royal dynasty represented the secular electors.
  • the development theory of Franz-Reiner Erkens , according to which the establishment of the electoral body took place in stages from 1198 to 1273.

literature

  • Jörg Rogge, The German Kings in the Middle Ages. Election and Coronation (= compact history. Middle Ages) , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006, p. 46f.
  • Malte Prietzel : The Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages , Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2004. ISBN 3-534-15131-3 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Armin Wolf (ed.): Royal daughter tribes, royal voters and electors. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-465-03200-4 . In it: Armin Wolf: Königswähler and royal daughter tribes, pp. 1–77.