Everything about The Golden Bull Of 1356 totally explained
The
Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by a
Reichstag in
Nuremberg headed by Emperor
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (see
Diet of Nuremberg) that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the
Holy Roman Empire. It was named the
Golden Bull for the golden seal it carried.
Background
According to the written text of the Golden Bull of 1356, "We have promulgated, decreed and recommended for ratification the subjoined laws for the purpose of cherishing unity among the electors, and of bringing about a unanimous election, and of closing all approach to the aforesaid detestable discord and to the various dangers which arise from it.” Charles IV felt that it was necessary to change the current system of electing the "King of the Romans." He thought that without this new decree the world would never be rid of envious and ambitious politicians.
The Golden Bull explicitly named the seven
Kurfürsten or
prince-electors who were to choose the
King of the Romans, who would then usually be crowned
Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope later. The seven prince-electors were, "Three prelates were archchancellors of Germany, Gaul and Burgundy, and Italy respectively: the Bohemia cupbearer, the Palsgrave seneschal, Saxony marshal, and Brandenburg chamberlain.” Consequently, the Bull speaks of the, the "king to be promoted emperor" — although the distinction between the two titles would become increasingly irrelevant (and virtually nonexistent after
1508).
Even though the practice of election had existed earlier and most of the dukes named in the Golden Bull were involved in the election, and although the practice had mostly been written down in an earlier document, the
declaration at Rhense from
1338, the Golden Bull was more precise in several ways. For one, the
dukeships of the Electors were declared
indivisible, and succession was regulated for them to ensure that the votes would never split. Secondly, the Bull prescribed that four votes would always suffice to elect the new King; as a result, three Electors could no longer block the election, and the principle of majority voting was explicitly stated for the first time in the Empire. Finally, the Bull cemented a number of privileges for the
Kurfürsten to confirm their elevated role in the Empire. It is therefore also a milestone in the establishment of largely independent states in the Empire, a process to be concluded only centuries later, notably with the
1648 Peace of Westphalia.
Procedures
The bull regulated the whole election process in great detail, listing explicitly where, when, and under which circumstances what should be done by whom, not only for the
prince-electors but also (for example) for the population of
Frankfurt, where the elections were to be held, and also for the counts of the regions the prince-electors had to travel through to get there. The decision to hold the elections in Frankfurt, reflected a traditional feeling dating from
East Frankish days that both election and coronation ought to take place on Frankish soil. However, the election location wasn't the only specified location, they specified that the coronation would take place in Aachen, and Nuremberg would be the place where the first diet of a reign should be held. The elections were to be concluded within thirty days; failing that, the bull prescribed that the prince-electors were to receive only bread and water until they'd decided:
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Chapter 2, §3. The city referred to, emboldened here, is
Frankfurt.
Besides regulating the election process, the 31 chapters of the Golden Bull contained many minor decrees. For instance, it also defined the order of marching when the emperor was present, both with and without his
insignia. A relatively major decision was made in chapter 15, where Charles IV outlawed any and, meaning in particular the city alliances (
Städtebünde), but also other communal leagues that had sprung up through the
communal movement in mediæval Europe. Most
Städtebünde were subsequently dissolved, sometimes forcibly, and where refounded, their political influence was much reduced. Thus the Golden Bull also strengthened the nobility in general to the detriment of the cities.
The Pope's involvement with the Golden Bull of 1356 was basically nonexistent, which was significant in the history of relations between the Popes and the Emperors. When Charles IV laid down procedure for electing a King of the Romans, he didn't mention anything about receiving papal confirmation of the election. However, Pope Innocent VI didn't protest this because he needed Charles’s support against the
Visconti. Pope Innocent continued to have good relations with Charles IV after the Golden Bull of 1356. He remained Pope from 1352-1362.
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