The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of
Longest reigning Frederick III 19 March 1452 – 19 August 1493
Coats of arms of prince electors surround the imperial coat of arms; from a 1545 armorial. Electors voted in an Imperial Diet for a new Holy Roman Emperor.
Depiction of Charlemagne in a 12th-century stained glass window, Strasbourg Cathedral, now at Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame.
Illustration of the election of Henry VII (27 November 1308) showing (left to right) the Archbishop of Cologne, Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg and King of Bohemia (Codex Balduini Trevirorum, c. 1340).
Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Castile and León from 1516 to 1556, King of Sicily and Naples from 1516 to 1554, and also Lord of the Netherlands an
Holy Roman Emperor
…faith. Until Maximilian I in 1508, the Emperor-elect (Imperator electus) was required to be crowned by the pope before assuming the imperial title. Charles V was the last to be crowned by the Pope in 1530. There were short periods in history when the electoral college was dominated by Protestants, and the…
Portrait of Charles V, 1548
The entrance gate to the Prinsenhof, Dutch for "Princes' Court", in Ghent, where Charles V was born.
A painting by Bernhard Strigel representing the extended Habsburg family with a young Charles in the middle
A 1519 portrait of Charles V by Bernard van Orley with the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece prominently displayed