The golden seal that earned the decree the name Golden Bull

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, an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire. It was named the Golden Bull for the golden seal it carried. Image File history File links The Golden Bull of 1356 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. This picture is taken form the German Wikipedia (here). ... Image File history File links The Golden Bull of 1356 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. This picture is taken form the German Wikipedia (here). ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... The Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. A Golden Bull or chrysobull was a golden ornament representing a seal (a bulla aurea or golden seal in Latin), attached to a decree issued by monarchs in Europe and the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and... Events January 20 - Edward Balliol surrenders title as King of Scotland to Edward III of England April 16 — the King of the Serbian Kingdom of Raška Stefan Dušan is proclaimed Tsar (Emperor) of all Serbs, Arbanasses and Greeks in Skopje by the Serbian Orthodox Christian Patriarch of a... The Reichstag (German for Imperial Diet) was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945. ... Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg, Polish: Norymberga) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. ... The Diet of Nuremberg is often called the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg. ... The extent of the Holy Roman Empire in c. ... The Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. A Golden Bull or chrysobull was a golden ornament representing a seal (a bulla aurea or golden seal in Latin), attached to a decree issued by monarchs in Europe and the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and...

Background Information 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.”^[1] 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 politicans.^[2]

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.”^[3] Consequently, the Bull speaks of the rex in imperatorem promovendus, the "king to be promoted emperor" — although the distinction between the two titles would become increasingly irrelevant (and virtually nonexistent after 1508). The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (singular) Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Emperors of Germany. ... King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum) was a title used by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire before their coronation by the Pope, and later also by the heir designate of the Empire. ... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... 1508 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. The Declaration at Rhense was a decree issued in 1338 and initiated by the Archbishop of Trier, Baldwin of Luxemburg. ... Events Ashikaga Takauji granted title of Shogun by the emperor of Japan. ... A duke is a nobleman, historically of highest rank and usually controlling a duchy. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Ratification of the Treaty of Münster The Peace of Westphalia refers to the pair of treaties (the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück) signed in October and May 1648 which ended both the Thirty Years War and the Eighty Years War. ...

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 significance for having the elections in Frankfurt, Germany were that it was a tradition dating from East Frankish days preserved the feeling that both election and coronation ought to take place on Frankish soil. ^[4] However, the election location was not 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.^[5] 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 had decided: The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire — German: Kurfürst (singular) Kurfürsten (plural) — were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Emperors of Germany. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ...

Latin: Quod si facere distulerint infra triginta dies, a die prestiti juramenti prefati continuo numerandos, extunc transactis eisdem triginta diebus amodo panem manducent et aquam et nullatenus civitatem exeant antedictam, nisi prius per ipsos vel majorem partem ipsorum rector seu temporale caput fidelium electum fuerit, ut prefertur. [1]

English: But if they shall fail to do this within thirty days, counting continuously from the day when they took the aforesaid oath: when those thirty days are over, from that time on they shall live on bread and water, and by no means leave the aforesaid city unless first through them, or the majority of them, a ruler or temporal head of the faithful shall have been elected, as was said before. [2]

Chapter 2, §3. The city referred to, emboldened here, is Frankfurt.

Besides regulating the election process, the Golden Bull in its 31 chapters contained a lot of 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 conjurationes, confederationes, and conspirationes, 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. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... ... Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ... Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ...

The Pope's involement with the Golden Bull of 1356 was basically nonexsistent, but important. When Charles IV laid down the norms to the procedures of electing a King of the Romans, he never mentioned anything about receiving papal confirmation of the election. However, Pope Innocent VI did not protest this because he needed Charles’s support against the Visconti. ^[6] Pope Innocent continued to have good relations with Charles IV after the Golden Bull of 1356. He remained Pope from 1352-1362. ^[7]

See also

• Golden bull

The Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. A Golden Bull or chrysobull was a golden ornament representing a seal (a bulla aurea or golden seal in Latin), attached to a decree issued by monarchs in Europe and the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and...

References

1. ^ Charles IV, Golden Bull of 1356. <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/golden.htm>, translated into English
2. ^ Heer, Friedrich, trans. Janet Sondheimer, The Holy Roman Empire (New York: Federick A. Praeger Publishers, 1968), 117
3. ^ Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire (London: The Macmillan Company, A New Edition, 1978), 243
4. ^ Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire (London: The Macmillan Company, A New Edition, 1978), 243
5. ^ Heer, Friedrich, trans. Janet Sondheimer, The Holy Roman Empire (New York: Federick A. Praeger Publishers, 1968), 117
6. ^ Renouard, Yves, The Avignon Papacy 1305-1403 (Connecticut : Archon Books, 1970), 127
7. ^ Chambers. D.S., Popes, Cardinals and War (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006), 28

External links

• The complete Golden Bull of 1356, translated into English.
• Selections from the Golden Bull from the Internet Mediæval Sourcebook at the Fordham University Centre for Mediæval Studies.
• The integral Golden Bull in Latin, comparative listing of all five initial copies.

The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Literature

• Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire (London: The Macmillan Company, A New Edition, 1978), 243.
• Chambers. D.S., Popes, Cardinals and War (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006), 28.
• Renouard, Yves, The Avignon Papacy 1305-1403 (Connecticut : Archon Books, 1970), 127.
• Heer, Friedrich, trans. Janet Sondheimer, The Holy Roman Empire (New York: Federick A. Praeger Publishers, 1968), 117.