What were the differences between the Holy Roman Empire vs. the French/English empires?
For one thing, The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor from 962–1806. Despite its name, for most of its history the Empire did not include Rome within its borders. In other words, it was neither Holy, nor Roman or a true empire. The principalities and it’s comprising States were much more independent and reluctant to cede power to a central authority. All attempts to make the kingdom hereditary failed; instead, the king was always elected. Later, every candidate for the king had to make promises to his electorate, the so-called Wahlkapitulationen (election capitulations), thus granting the territories more and more power over the centuries. Until the sixteenth century, the economic interests of the south and west diverged from those of the north where the Hanseatic League operated. German historiography nowadays often views the Holy Roman Empire as a well balanced system of organizi
