James Bryce’s The Holy Roman Empire is the classic English account of that singular institution which claimed to continue the Roman Empire in the medieval and early modern West. Bryce traces its origins in the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, its development through the German emperors, its struggles with the papacy, and its long decline to dissolution in 1806. With sweeping vision, he explores the idea of empire and its hold on the medieval European imagination.
Renowned for its clarity and breadth, the work examines how the dream of a universal Christian empire shaped the politics and thought of medieval Europe. Bryce illuminates the great conflicts between emperor and pope and the symbolism of the imperial title. Readers interested in medieval Germany, the papacy, or political ideas will find it essential.