How did the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire compare to the kings of England and France?
The big difference was that the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were elected by local rulers. In England and France it was usually the same house (or family) that ruled. England and to a lesser degree France were more compact states than the Holy Roman Empire, which included parts of modern day Austria,Germany and Italy. By the early modern period (1500-1800), the Holy Roman Empire was quite fragmented and rulers of states such as Prussia and Bavaria held more power than the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Also in the medieval period the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire had to rely on the support of the Pope, who often crowned new rulers. So the rulers of England and France were hereditary monarchs who managed to create compact kingdoms with the aid of vassals while the Holy Roman Emperor had trouble ruling over a diverse geographical region and his power was more or less restricted to his own region.
