Oxford Very Short Introductions: The Holy Roman Empire (Chinese Edition)

Voltaire once described the Holy Roman Empire as “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire,” a remark that has led to its history and significance being widely misunderstood. In this book, Joachim Whaley outlines the fascinating thousand-year history of the Holy Roman Empire. Founded in 800 on the basis of Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom, the empire officially became known as the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” around 1500. Its course and history were continually shaped by major events in Europe, from the Reformation to the Thirty Years' War and the French Revolution, until Napoleon brought the empire to an end in 1806. A shared sense of history spanning more than a thousand years, along with the legal traditions established by the empire, shaped the past of Europe's German-speaking lands. In this book, Whaley examines the empire's major influence and role in the history of European power and politics, and points out that no political system in German history has ever endured longer.