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nyumunc viii
Dear Delegates,
Welcome to NYUMUNC VIII’s (Holy) Roman Empire Committee! We are extremely excited to
share with you our vision of this committee and look forward to seeing where you choose to take
it over the course of the weekend. We stand against five other civilizations who all claim to be
the greatest of the era, however it is through our actions and great debate that we will exclaim
our superiority over all.
My name is Ayushi Mathur, and I am extremely honored to serve as your Chair for this year’s
conference. Hailing from New Jersey, I am a second year Pre-Health student majoring in
Biochemistry and Mathematics here at NYU. As someone who has served as a delegate for many
years, I look forward to finding myself on the other side of the dais and moderating an exciting
and achieving committee.
I am Nickson Chong, and I have the great honor of serving as your Crisis Director for the (Holy)
Roman Empire in the eighth annual NYU Model United Nations Conference. I was raised in
Houston, Texas, and I am currently a third year studying Economics and Real Estate. I served
on four conferences over two years, once as a Chair and this conference will be my second as
Crisis Director. I look forward to the conference, and I wish you all the best of luck.
This committee stands in a time of great competition and excitement as five major empires
battle to hold the title as victor. The Crusades have put everyone in an unique predicament of
skepticism and unknown. It is your mission, as members of the empire with the greatest moral
conviction, to prove your standing and ensure that nobody questions it ever again. With the
Lord and us by your side, you have all the resources you need to take over this JCC. The fate of
the (Holy) Roman Empire rests in your hands.
Those of us who have worked on creating this committee in order to provide you with the
greatest experience at the conference, wish you the best of luck in your aspiration to be the
greatest of all time. We aim to provide you with meaningful and entertaining discussions. We
look forward to meeting you all. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, then please
feel free to contact us.
Best,
Ayushi Mathur
Chair
NYUMUNC VIII
[email protected]
Nickson Chong
Crisis Director
NYUMUNC VIII
[email protected]
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kingdom’s power once more. Charlemagne
extended the borders of the Franks through
the conquests of the Gaul, Germany, as well
as Italy. In addition to his military
expansionism, he incorporated different
peoples of Eastern Europe such as the Serbs
and Avars into his Kingdom. In 774 CE,
Charles created an Alliance with the Papacy,
and created a papal state in central Italy.
So on Christmas Day of 800 CE,
Pope Leo III proclaimed Charlemagne as
the first Holy Roman Emperor, thus
establishing the Holy Roman Empire.
Charlemagne’s great achievements of
reuniting Western Europe under one power
earned him the title of Holy Roman
Emperor which was fortified with religious
power
by
the
Catholic
Church.
Unfortunately, the reunification established
by Charlemagne was short lived in 840 CE
when the Empire was divided up by his
grandchildren who contested power to the
throne. Charles II was given the West, Louis
II was given the East, and Lothar was given
the Italian province who ultimately
inherited the title of Holy Roman Emperor.
The Holy Roman Empire went
through subsequent divisions because of
competition over the Holy Roman throne,
which dissolved the authority of the
Carolingians. New powers rose within the
Empire such as the Saxons and Normans
and it was not until 881 CE that Carolingian
power had dissolved completely after the
reign of Charles III.
During Louis the Pious’ reign after
Charlemagne, he had the duty to handle the
Civil War brought upon by his competitive
sons over the Holy Imperial Throne. In 829,
Louis the Pious gave his son, Charles, the
kingdom of Alemannia which infuriated his
competitive brother a co-emperor alongside
Louis, Lothair. A civil war was underway
because of the sons’ political competition
over the rights of the empire. It was not
History
During the age of the Roman
Empire, a mix of tribes known as the Franks
inhabited the lands between the lower and
middle Rhine as well as the Northern part of
Roman Gaul. Historically, the Franks were
known to be one of the first German tribes
that inhabited the region, but were
incorporated into the dominion of the
Roman Empire during Julius Caesar’s
military expansion in the Gaul, also known
as modern day France.
As the Roman Empire steadily
declined onto the third century CE, the
Franks made frequent raids and pillages
within Roman territory, for the Romans
were in a position that they could no longer
heavily fortify their vast borders. The
Roman Empire eventually fell with the fall
of Rome in 476 CE. The vast territories the
Romans conquered were now divided up
with Latin and non-Latin tribes no longer
under the reign of Rome.
During the 5th and 6th centuries CE,
the Franks expanded into modern day
France and Belgium as well as the northern
part of Spain. These successful military
campaigns were orchestrated by Clovis I of
the Merovingian Dynasty who consolidated
Frankish power by uniting all of Gaul. At the
time, many Franks were pagans, but it was
not until Clovis converted to Christianity
that the Franks began their conversion to
Christianity as well.
However, during the early 8th
Century, political and internal division
within the Frankish Kingdom caused the fall
of the Merovingian Dynasty. As the
Merovingians lost power, the noble family
of the Carolingians took control of what
remained of the Frankish Kingdom. One
certain ruler of the new dynasty, Charles
later known as Charlemagne, reunited all
the territories of the Franks expanding the
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until 830 CE, that Louis the Pious pardoned
but banished Lothair to Italy that the civil
war ended with the remaining rebels taken
care of.
However, another revolt erupted in
832 CE when another son, Louis the
German gathered an army to conquer the
kingdom of Swabia before the emperor
could intervene. In response, Louis the
Pious declared his son, Charles, king of
Aquitaine. Soon enough in 833, all sons
including Lothair were involved in the
second Civil war over total control of the
kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.
Lothair wanted to usurp his father's
authority, but Louis the Pious made peace
with his sons in 836 CE by dividing the
empire further between all of them.
In 839 CE, another great civil war
broke out once more because of the unfair
division of land amongst Louis the Pious’
empire. Louis the Pious favored his son
Charles more by giving him most of the
inheritance. Louis the German prompted
another invasion and the other sons joined
the revolt as well to claim more territory
within the empire. Lothair for the first time
allied with his father to quell the rebellion in
exchange for a better inheritance of the
empire. Louis the Pious was able to put
down the revolt and for the last time divided
his empire further between his sons in an
attempt to end hostilities between them.
Peace did not last long, for the
competitive ambitions of Louis’ sons
continued after his death in 840 CE. Revolts
erupted over more territory in the Holy
Roman Empire, but in 843 CE, the Treaty of
Verdun divided the empire into three realms
between Louis’ sons. Finally, the long
competitive quarrels ended over the Holy
Roman throne with Charles III becoming
the new Holy Roman Emperor.
From 962 to 1046, the (Holy)
Roman Empire saw the height of its power,
dominating the other kingdoms in Europe.
Many of the greatest reformers of the
period, including the abbots of Cluny,
supported the Empire and even looked to its
emperor rather than the pope as the
primary leader of morality, ethics and Latin
Christendom. The Empire safeguarded the
papal states; and while the papacy remained
under this imperial protection, it easily
became prostrated under the authority of
the Empire.
Disgruntled over an unfavorable
peace treaty, which made his territory a
vassal under Otto I, Beranger II invaded the
Papal States of Italy. In 960, Pope John XII,
like many popes before him, needed
assistance against Italy’s enemies and again
appealed to a strong German ruler, Otto I.
By 961, Otto I conquered the Kingdom of
Italy and extended the Empire’s borders
throughout much of Europe. During his and
his successors reign, a cultural explosion
that saw a flourishing of the arts and
architecture swept throughout the Empire.
Such patronage and great achievements had
not been seen since the glory days of
Charlemagne, thus Otto I was crowned as
the Holy Roman Emperor in 962 CE by
Pope John XII. With his coronation, the
Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of
Italy united under a common realm, which
would later be called the (Holy) Roman
Empire, and sparked the reanimation of a
Christian
emperor
and
imperium
Christianum.
Otto II and Otto III, son and
grandson of Otto I, regarded the imperial
crown as a mandate to control the papacy.
They dismissed Popes at their will and
appointed replacements that were more
congenial to their individual campaigns. The
Roman Emperor’s power to pick and select
Popes and their control of most of central
Europe raised the German Empire to higher
levels of prestige and admiration.
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After subduing an insurrection from
the Crescentii family – led by Crescentius II
who opposed Otto III’s selection of his
cousin and the first German Pope, Pope
Gregory V – Otto III made Rome the
administrative center of his empire. From
Rome, he sought to resurrect the greatness
and glory of the ancient Rome Empire in a
Christian state and revived elaborate
Byzantine ceremonies and ancient Roman
customs. When Pope Gregory V died, he
installed his tutor, Sylvester II, as Pope
because he shared Otto’s idea of a theocratic
empire.
In 1027, succeeding Emperors
Conrad II and Henry II found their reign
plagued with recurring battles with forces
inside and outside of the (Holy) Roman
Empire. Conrad faced internal rebellions
from princes of Lombardy and German
nobility, including his own relatives. Soon
after his coronation in Rome by Pope John
XIX, a renewed rebellion forced him to
return to Germany. His reign saw more than
his able strength in securing his rule, but
also advances in legislation in the Empire.
He formally enforced prevailing legal
principles of Saxony and set forth new
feudal constitutions for Lombardy. Henry
II, Conrad’s son, often neglected affairs in
Italy. Under the plea of Pope Benedict VIII,
Henry II marched to Rome in order to
defend the papacy from Lombardy princes
and defend the city from the Greeks in the
south. However, his main concerns were to
establish law and order in Germany, in
particular, consolidating a peaceful royal
regime through the creation of an Ottonian
system of government.
In 1046, the reign of Henry III saw
the end of an emperor’s dominance of the
papacy. Henry III was a large advocate of
ecclesiastical reforms; however, he failed to
carry out these changes and force a
prostrated Italy failed due to opposition
from Germany’s clergies and churches of
surrounding territories. Lay rulers found
Henry III as overly indulgent to the papacy
and hostile to their own affairs. His failure
to effectively hold influence of the duchies
that came under his control — he entrusted
them to others — and loss of support from
the papacy resulted in all of his
accomplishments wasted away, including
losing control of territory: northeastern
Germany, Hungary, southern Italy, and
Lorraine.
The Crusades
The First Crusades lasted from 1095 to 1099
and was the first and only military
expedition by Roman Catholic Europe to
liberate the Holy Land that eventually
resulted in the capture of Jerusalem.
After a plea from Byzantine Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos, Pope Urban II
launched a campaign to repel the invading
Seljuk Turks from Anatolia. He called on
western Christians to take up arms and set
out on a pilgrimage to retake the Holy Land
from Muslim control. Knights, peasants and
serfs from all over Western Europe traveled
by land and sea first to Constantinople and
then to Jerusalem. People of all social
classes helped liberate the Holy Land from
Muslims and Jews and rightfully place it’s
control under the influence of Western
Europe.
By 1099, the end of the First
Crusades saw the establishment of several
crusader states: The Country of Tripoli,
Principality of Antioch, County of Edessa,
and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Revival of the Papacy
The rise of the impotent, six-yearold German King Henry IV enabled the
papacy to act with a renewed emboldened
authority. Pope Gregory VII initiated the
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revival of the papacy through his argument
against a lay emperor’s ability to appoint
bishops and abbots within their authority.
This conflict would last from 1076 until 1122
and be known as the Investiture
Controversy.
Pope Gregory VII decreed that no lay
ruler may appoint any ecclesiastical
positions, positions that are too valuable
and important to be so easily relinquished
to secular rulers. Feudal wealth and power
were tied to these appointments; and high
clerics, often the highest educated members
within a community, represented one of the
greatest assets of any administration. Pope
Gregory VII’s declaration of independence
from any and all kingdoms and rulers
encompassed more than the appointments
of bishops and abbots, but it also acted as a
symbolic thrust of papal superiority over the
authority of any emperor.
Based on the interpretations of the
Donation of Constantine – a supposedly
forged document that recorded Roman
Emperor Constantine the Great bestowing
broad territory and temporal and secular
power in the hands of the pope and his or
her successors – the pope held the supreme
power to convey supreme dignity and
depose emperors as he or she saw fit.
In 1122, the Concordat of Worms
brought an end to the Investiture
Controversy. The settlement clear outline
the powers of empire and the papacy. The
clergy appointed bishops and abbots; the
emperor decided contested elections
throughout the empire. The ruler chosen
from the elected position was invested with
regalia by the emperor and spiritulia by a
spiritual ruler and served as a vassal for the
crown and representative of the church.
MCXLVII
The first German king of the Hohenstaufen
dynasty, Conrad III is seen as the effective
head of the (Holy) Roman Empire. While he
has not officially been crowned “Emperor,”
he fashions himself as the “King of the
Romans.” His ascension to the throne was
wrought by civil war; but by 1146, he
secured the election and his son as his
successor.
While a certain peace has since
presided over the Empire, the very fabric of
the (Holy) Roman Empire may as well tear
apart at the seams in the coming decades.
Although he secured one brother-in-law as a
prince in Bohemia, Conrad III’s second
attempt of nepotism of another brother-inlaw met opposition and led to disorder in
Saxony, Bavaria and Burgundy.The Empire
itself remains a decentralized state
consisting of fairly independent rulers and
aristocrats, each fearing the other may seize
and conquer their territories. Rising
tensions continue to persist between the
Emperors and papal leaders, a discord
forcing the people to side with their secular
rulers or their spiritual guides. Increasingly
powerful Muslim states constantly threaten
to retake the Empire’s hard-fought Crusader
states, particularly those hosting Holy
Lands.
The Political Drama Between
Brothers
Lay rulers of the Holy Roman
Emperor contest for the throne and
inheritance. Each ruler threatens rebellion
and secession from the HRE. Lay rulers also
face constant power grabs from the
aristocracy in their respective kingdoms.
After the death of Charlemagne, The
Empire was divided up amongst his
grandchildren who each contested for the
throne. Charlemagne’s son and Holy Roman
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Emperor then, Louis the Pious, faced the
greatest challenge of making peace between
his ambitious sons. Charles and Lothair
were just a few of the sons who felt as
though they had been cheated of their
inheritances.
Thus,
they
threatened
rebellion and secession if their political
ambitions are not satisfied. Louis the Pious
quelled countless revolts and civil wars
compromising and maintaining peace at the
time. But after his death, the Empire did not
fully unify until Otto I ascended to the Holy
Roman Throne.
Now a similar threat challenges the
very unity of the Empire. The Holy Roman
Throne is vacant and a new leader needs to
unite the Empire. Within the Kingdom of
Allemania, a prince has ambitious goals to
overtake the throne. However, within the
Kingdom of Aquitaine, a fellow prince fears
his rule to be threatened by the
overwhelming ambitions of the Prince of
Allemania. The prelude to civil war is
underway as political tensions rises within
the Empire.
Several other Kingdoms of the
Empire are choosing sides and it seems that
the Empire is split between who to support.
The aristocracy plays a huge role in this
political contest, as they do have major
influence
within
the
government.
Unfortunately, it would as seem as though
those within the nobility have their own
political gains as well whether they gain
favor on the prince they support, or they
choose to swindle the popularity of a prince
on their own for they own desires. Political
corruption is high as bribery and disloyalty
runs rampant within all the kingdoms under
the Holy Roman Empire.
Succession of heirs of lay rulers and
aristocrats is often determined by a higher
authority. With the exception of the
Emperor himself, the ascendency of a
dominant lord becomes legitimized when it
is recognized by the (Holy) Roman
Emperor; the ascendency of
vassals,
provincial governors, or viceroys becomes
legitimized under the authority of the
dominant lord. Rulers saw their land and
the people who served under them as their
property to be exploited under their sole
discretion; and more often than not, the
only authority that bind the two parties
together lied in the word of the Emperor.
While this system evolved and
preserved the status quo of territory and
rule throughout most of the history of the
(Holy) Roman Empire, rulers often divided
their empire among their heirs. Heirs —
whether they were siblings, cousins, or, if
the ruler bedded extramarital spouses, then
half-siblings or cousins — found themselves
embroiled in warfare in order to expand
their respective territories or to unify the
divided empire under their authority.
Territory, soldiers, and income from
peasants are found at the root of these
conflicts; and almost always, the ruler who
lost their share of the empire are made
impotent and forced to serve as bureaucrats,
warriors, or hand servants for the
conquering ruler.
Historically, these tensions between
heirs trickled down to the vassals, provincial
governors, and viceroys that inhabit their
land. Individual families of one of these
three parties likely have aligned themselves
with one of the competing heirs. Those who
aligned with the victorious expect to gain
power, prestige, or property; and, the bolder
demand the ability to retain all taxes they
collect and independence from the
kingdom. Those who sided with the
conquered side find themselves exiled or
loss of territory, authority, and wealth.
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delegated to local aristocracies. Laws and
rulings within each region was enforced by
the bishops, kings, etc. of that particular
region. The Emperor also had the power to
appoint imperial officers. Under his
Legislative Powers, the Emperor could
propose, approve, and promote laws. He
had the power to withhold approval for a
law. However, he could not levy taxes
without approval from the Imperial Diet.
The Emperor’s Judicial powers included
being the ultimate judge in Germany.
However, he could only exercise his power
as a judge in legally appointed courts. The
Emperor had the right of pardon, but there
were exceptions to the use of this power in
the imperial laws. The Emperor was mainly
a figurehead, which can be see from his
International
powers.
The
Emperor
represented the empire abroad, but his
ability to make war, peace, and alliances was
very limited.
Government
Political Structure of the Empire
For 700 plus years, the Holy Roman
Empire functioned as a limited elective
monarchy. Although the Emperor was
considered to be the supreme, sovereign
ruler, his power was limited by the local
leaders of the regions within the empire.
The Emperor’s authority was held in check
by the Reichstag, also know as the Imperial
Diet, which was composed of the various
duchies, princedoms, bishoprics, and
counties, who ruled the individual states
within Empire. Since each individual region
was led by local leaders, the role of the
Emperor was to be a chief arbiter, who
judged
interregional
disputes
and
represented the Empire’s interest as a
whole.
According to law, the various lords
and king had to serve the Emperor and thus
they had to obey his authority on executive,
legislative and judicial matters. However, as
long as the local leaders followed the
imperial laws, the Emperor could not
interfere in local affairs. This political
structure allowed all the local territories to
have some sort of sovereignty.
Decentralized Political Structure
The political structure of the Holy
Roman Empire was extremely decentralized
not only by the law or constitution but also
by the practices of the Emperor himself. All
of the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire
were in constant fear of being overthrown
by their aristocratic subjects. Unlike the
French and Spanish Empires, where the
rulers seized a power, the German
Emperors were forced to recognize the
autonomy of the dukes, bishops, kings, etc.
When joining the empire, each lord swore
an oath, paid specific taxes, and provided
troops in a time of crisis. By joining this
network of aristocratic elite, lords were
buying an insurance under which their
sovereignty would be protected from
foreigners and from the Emperor. If the
Emperor tried to encroach on a lord’s
The Emperor
The Emperor was at the top of the
Holy Roman Empire hierarchy as the feudal
overlord of the smaller fiefs and their local
rulers. The Emperor’s powers can be
outlined in four different categories,
Executive power, Legislative power, Judicial
power, and International power.
As the leader of the Holy Roman
Empire, the Emperor’s executive powers
include enforcing the laws and rulings of the
empire. However, it is important to
remember that most of this power was
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territory, then he risked provoking a
rebellion from all the other lords.
crown’s power in church established the
divide between the two entities.
Appointing bishops and abbots who
were trusted allies to the crown was a power
too magnanimous to be given up by the
secular rulers. Due to the potential power of
these religious leaders meant access to both
wealth and power, while remaining in the
good graces of both God and the Crown.
Following Pope Gregory’s decree, back and
forth on both sides resulted in multiple
compromises including the later Concordat
of Worms.
Rome was engaged in yet another
power struggle between Pope Gregory VII
and Henry IV that lasted 9 years.
Representing a back and forth between the
powers of the Church reinforced by the
canonization of St. Gregory and the political
power that Henry IV, the 9 year struggle
was sparked by Henry IV’s staunch
opposition to the Pope’s demands. In
response the Pope excommunicated the
emperor
only
to
later
lift
the
excommunication due to his public
penance. Enemies of Henry IV, particularly
the Germany, appointed a the Duke of
Swabia, a rival, to the crown. A civil war
lasting from 1077 to 1080 ensues in Henry
IV’s
victory.
However,
the
Pope’s
sympathies lied with the Duke and were
displayed due to the excommunication of
Henry IV once again.
An enraged Henry that intends to
replace the pope with the archbishop of
Ravenna, an ally as Pope Clement III. Upon
declaring a new Pope, Henry reassumes his
power on his own accord. During this time
Pope Gregory finds safety in the Roman
Castel Sant'Angelo. Desperate to regain his
position, Pope Gregory calls for help. He
provides the Normans permission to
conquer part of Italy while fighting of the
Germans and rescuing Pope Gregory. They
do so in 1804, but political climate is one of
The Reichstag
Serving as the legislative body of the
territory, the Reichstag made laws that
applied to all territories despite not all these
territories
being
represented.
“The
Reichstag was subdivided into the following
three separate colleges: first being the
Electoral Council, which was composed of
seven electors who nominated a candidate
for Emperor. Second was the Council of
Princes, which represented the aristocratic
and theocratic local rulers within the
Empire. The third and final college was the
Council of Imperial Cities.” To have a voice
in the Reichstag, a territory would have to
be deemed a state. A lord would have to
pledge his military and financial allegiance
to the crown. A state could be a territory
owned and ruled by a duke or cities ruled by
the Church. The rulers of these territories
had the ability to “dispense justice, collect
taxes and tolls, mint coins, mine for ore, etc.
(Regalian rights), the right to keep knights
in one’s service and rally them to war
(enfeoffment), the seigniorial rights (social
status), and finally the feudal rights.” These
lords were then kept in check by the
Emperor or the Council of Princes.
Specific Political Climate
The political climate in 1075 marked
the beginning of the struggle surrounding
religion and power that transitioned into a
struggle tied to the Catholic Reformation.
The King and Queen’s right to investiture,
or the ability to appoint an individual with a
rank, was curbed by Pope Gregory’s grab at
power through the political decree that
rulers were no longer allowed to make
ecclesiastical appointments. Curbing the
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such violence that Pope Gregory is forced to
flee only to face his death in 1805.Taking
the position of the antipope, Clement III
hold power in Rome for the 10 years
following. “Urban II, the pope who preaches
the first crusade in 1095, is not able to enter
the holy city for several years after his
election. Unrest prevails in Rome, and
uncertainty in the empire, until the
Hohenstaufen win the German crown in
1138.”
expanded from just that of a religious hub to
a center of cultural and economic action
that was easily accessible for trade, as well.
Due to the opportunities Rome harboured,
it began to serve as a “pilgrimage for
Catholics.” This trade began to expand to
cities such as Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, and
thus trade roots were starting to form. Due
to the slow accumulation of wealth in these
cities that were engaging in trade, they
began to gain more power in the eyes of
Rome. It was these cities that housed the
merchant classes that were seeking
autonomy, and were forcing the shift in
power from the aristocratic families to the
merchant classes. These shifts in power
began to take place in Rome as well. The
people began questioning and taking action
to limit the power of both the Pope and the
nobility.
Voices such as Arnaldo da Brescia, a
wiley preacher furthered ignited the
opposition against the aristocracy by voicing
opinions against ecclesiastical property. In
response to a call for change in the status
quo, Giordani Pierleoni, a member of a
consequential banking family in Rome, led
the rebellion against the aristocratic and
papal control of the lands that would
eventually take over the city. Upon doing so,
he proceeded to establish the Commune of
Rome in 1143. A move towards to old style
of rule in the Roman Republic, the
commune called for the senate. One that
was representative of the districts of Rome
with 56 senators, with 4 representatives
from each of the 14 districts, it was this
senate that maintained power for 700 years.
The Commune of Rome was created
in opposition to the power of the nobles and
the pope. It attempted to create a
government similar to the government of
the old Roman Republic. A move towards to
old style of rule in the Roman Republic, the
commune called for the senate. One that
The Great Schism and Commune
of Rome
In 1054, a religious schism was
beginning to take root. The East-West
schism, also known as the Great Schism,
took place between the East and West of
Europe based on a religious divide between
Catholicism and theology. At this point the
religion began to split Christianity into
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
The initial mark of the schism is often
determined as 1054 when Pope Leo IX and
Patriarch Michael I took actions to
excommunicate one another.
The cause behind this schism was
separation in practices of the two churches
(Roman
Catholicism
and
Eastern
Orthodoxy), and was then heightened by a
struggle for power between the pope and the
king. The Roman Pope felt as though he had
control over the four Eastern patriarchs. On
the other hand, the patriarchs felt that the
power
of
the Roman Pope was
inconsequential. It was this Schism that
eventually led to the formation of the
Commune of Rome.
Following the Schism, Rome began
to take center stage as it became a religious
hub. It was the central area for religious
action for the Catholic Church, the residence
of the Pope, and where the concentration of
power lay for the Papal states. This focus
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was representative of the districts of Rome
with 56 senators, with 4 representatives
from each of the 14 districts, it was this
senate that maintained power for 700 years.
These senators elected Giordano Pierleoni
as their leader.
using exotic greatswords. The Holy Roman
Empire commanded an army of 20,000, of
which 2000 were armored knights.
Consequently, the majority of troops
fielded in any European army were levy
footmen and levy archers. Levy were men
from the peasantry that had crude sense of
how to wield a spear and shield or a bow
and arrow. Spears were used more
commonly over swords because it took a lot
less training and time to become decently
effective with a spear and shield, compared
to the time necessary to learn how to use a
sword effectively. The bowmen of European
armies were generally hunters or farmers in
their everyday lives as well, which
consequently made them already proficient
with the use of a bow. Crossbows also made
up a significant portion of the ranged
contingent of a European army because
learning to use a crossbow was incredibly
easy and quick.
The need for to quickly train a large
of group of men arose from the fact that the
peasantry was generally consumed with the
their feudal duties throughout the year i.e.
being farmers, huntsmen, or basic
craftsmen. The peasantry did not have the
time to train in a more professional manner
like the knight.
Further troops were recruited from
bands of mercenaries. These mercenary
companies were also generally composed of
spearmen and archers, but often times
contained a variety of other more skilled
troops which were often a bit more unique
to the home region of the mercenary
company. The twelfth century especially,
saw a greater increase in the use of
mercenaries and Europe would have a
thriving mercenary market until the
reestablishment
of
true
national
professional standing armies.
Military
Troops, Army Composition, and
Recruitment
The medieval knight, arguably one of
the most iconic historical warriors, formed
the heavy core of Western European
armies. Although knights constituted only
10-15% of medieval armies, they were far
and away the most important military unit.
Knights fought heavily armored and
mounted on horses and functioned as shock
troops however, in the 12th century, the
knight was not yet covered in heavy plate
like those of the 14th century. The knight of
the mid medieval ages wore a coat of chain
mail, interlocked rings of metal, for
protection. Over that they generally wore a
cloth tunic with their coat of arms or that of
their liege. He came to battle mounted and
equipped with lance, sword, and shield. The
lance was used in large cavalry charges to
decimate opposing infantry lines, light
cavalry formations, or archers. Once the
melee began the knight would rely on his
skill with sword and shield to butches his
foes from his horse, or keep himself alive if
he became dismounted. The knight of
europe was almost always a high born
because only the rich upper class of europe
could afford to purchase the equipment
necessary to outfit a knight. However this
did significantly limit the pool of knights
that a kingdom could draw upon. The
knights of the Holy Roman Empire
particularly excelled at fighting on foot
9
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could be flung over the castle walls using a
trebuchet, as a form of psychological and
biological warfare, to hasten the rate of
attrition from disease and loss of morale.
Finally, the army attacking a castle
could also try to circumvent the walls of the
castle, by destroying the walls themselves,
or by going over or under them. This could
be accomplished with the help of siege
machines. One such machine is the Belfry, a
wooden tower used to gain access to the
battlements (the top of the castle walls). It
would be wheeled up right next to the walls,
so boarding parties could fight for a
foothold in the castle. Battering rams, large,
heavy wooden logs that would be propelled
against castle walls, could knock an opening
in the castle walls that the attacking army
could enter through.
Invading armies often pillaged the
lands around them, both to weaken the
economy, military potential and morale of
the land. By burning the fields and
murdering the livestock, enemy armies
could be starved into submission. On the
other hand, defending armies could shadow
the invading forces, preventing them from
doing too much damage to the land, and
disrupting the supply lines of the invading
armies, forcing them to abandon their
campaigns once their capacity to live off the
land was used up.
For the most part, medieval armies
avoided open combat with each other - the
ability for armies to fight open battles was
often more for the deterrence, rather than
the actual occurrence of large scale, open
battles. However, pitched battles did occur,
and they were often decisive moments in the
campaign, because of the difficulty of
disengaging from such battles - most of the
casualties occurred during routs, when
morale on one side broke down sufficiently
that individual soldiers broke formation and
retreated from the battle in a disorganised
Leadership and Command
Medieval armies were generally lead
by the Emperor, King, or Duke responsible
for amassing it in the first place. From
there, sections were created based upon
where the troops had come from, and were
lead by the lords of that land. For example if
the Holy Roman Emperor amassed an army
he would be its commander. He would then
distribute orders to his dukes and barons
who would then lead their own feudal levies
into battle alongside one another.
Siege and Combat
Warfare in the Middle Ages could be
characterised by sieges and open battles.
Sieges were by far the most common form of
warfare, due to the dominance of fixed
fortifications like castles. In fact, it can be
said that the primary goal of medieval
warfare
was
wresting
control
of
fortifications. There were a number of
methods to defeat the defenses of a castle.
The most basic method was
starvation - an attacking army would
surround a castle, and wait for attrition
through starvation, thirst, disease and
desertion to lower the morale of the castle
enough that the defenders surrender.
Castles had the capability to endure sieges
for up years at a time if food was stockpiled,
wells were available, and secret passageways
were dug to allow the defenders to forage at
night. Thus, this method was slow and
costly, as it would require the besieging
army to be supplied for years, and the
besieging army itself was also vulnerable to
attrition from disease. A relief army might
also come along to break the siege.
Hence, siege warfare also included
methods to hasten the surrender of the
castle defenders. Trickery, bribery and
diplomacy could reduce the length of time
before castle defenders surrendered.
Diseased corpses, both human and animal,
10
nyumunc viii
manner, allowing for cavalry on the
opposing side to chase them down and
massacre them. During the High Middle
Ages, armored knights dominated the open
battlefield.
to provide a great amount of profit towards
the Empire. The beginning of these stem
from the cash payments required to be
payed to the lord when the formal
arrangement between the lord and vassal
begins. These cash payments have become
so overwhelming that the profits make up a
large percentage of the overall economy of
the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the
vassals are given land that is to be
maintained under their jurisdiction. The
products acquired from this land are heavily
taxed by the Empire and therefore, heavily
taxed by the lords. The peasants that live on
this land are also required to pay rent that is
provided to the lords and in turn given to
the kingdom in the form of taxes.
A large part of the in the feudalism
within Roman Empire revolves around a
three-tier crop rotation to prevent soil
exhaustion. Farmers follow a crop rotation
system called “food, feed, fallow.” This
system divides the farm into three sections,
rotating the sections into the next category
the following year. The “food” section is
where farmers plant a food grain such as
wheat, in the “feed” section barley or oats
are planted as feed for livestock, and in
“fallow” the ground lays empty so that it can
recover the organic matter and nutrients
that were lost in the previous years.
Previously, the farmers had left halve of
their fields lay fallow each year and then
switched between fallow and planted fields
intermittently. This left half of the land
unused. The three-field system allows for
less unused land and more fodder for
draught animals, leading to more manure
for the soil. This system is more efficient
and produces greater taxable goods, than
the two-tiered system that was utilized
previously and also provides a balance
between individual initiative and governed
law. Also, the long warming cycle has come
to a peak during this time and has allowed
Economy
After a long history of roman
economic growth as well as failure, the
Roman Empire has now finally come to a
point of economic stability after taking upon
a variety of initiative to better organize
structures of production and social
organization. These changes have grown the
Roman economy further and have
developed it to fit the current climate. The
distinctions in economic standings have
grown dramatically - leading to a greater
difference between the aristocrats and the
peasant population which increases the
economic development and complexity of
an Empire through the dispersion of wealth
and the growth of feudalism. Similarly,
there have been great advances in
technology and trades with other empires
around Europe and Asia. The advancements
in trade are a result of the changes that were
made to the currency system, making it
more appropriate for the evolving trade
dynamic.
Feudalism
Feudalism has taken the Empire by
storm and has become the most important
part of society in a social and economic
manner. This term is referred to when a lord
gives his most trusted men, the vassals, land
and power over all the people living within
the lord’s domain, in return for loyalty to
the lord, a promised share of taxes, and
military support whenever needed. The
economic ramifications of this social
agreement are plenty and have been shown
11
nyumunc viii
for the Mediterranean Empires to plant
crops that had previously only grown in the
south, in the north as well. This has
increased
the
overall
agricultural
production and thus has grown the
economy overall. The warm climate has also
given farmers the ability to plant earlier in
the spring without the fear of frost killing
their crops and also, keep their crops in the
fields into October. The longer growing
season has contributed to higher yields
across the Empire. All of these factors have
led to an increase in the number of
fiefdoms, making it more difficult, yet
important to maintain the delicate balance
between the aristocracy and the peasants.
textile weaving, etc.4 Moreover, the
wheelbarrow has made construction and
transport of materials a much easier task
with the fields of construction, mining
operations, and agriculture. All of these
technological advances directly correlate
with the growing economy the Empire is
witnessing currently. The advances shown
through each of these items replaces human
labor and reduces the effort and time that it
will take to carry out the same processes
without the machinery. WIthout these
advances, the economy would be at a
standstill as it’s growth can be directly
correlated with the growth of the Empire
and its methods.3
Technology
Commerce and Trade
Advances in technology have helped
grow the agriculture industry in the Empire.
The light “scratch plows” being used in the
south were not effective throughout the
Empire, which required for there to be a
change to heavier iron plows. This was also
brought upon by the recent expansion of
iron welding throughout Europe. This
expansion has increased the efficiency of
yokes and harnesses for oxen, shoes for
horses, the wheelbarrow, and the increased
usage of iron hand tools. The iron advances
can also be seen in the new building
materials, such as nails, hinges, and fittings.
Not only are these items being used within
the Empire, they are also being exported to
other nations throughout Europe and Asia.
Along with the advances in iron usage, there
have been advances in wind and water mills.
These new mills provide more efficient
power as they reduce cost and provide more
power than previous methods. The mills are
greatly useful for grinding grain into flour,
but can also be used for other purposes that
apply the same principle. These include
sawing lumber, powering machines for
The Empire relies heavily on trade
for its economy to prosper, mostly between
China and India. The sea routes cover the
Mediterranean and Black Sea, in addition to
the numerous land routes using the roads
that have been built by the Empire for trade
and the movement of the Roman Army.
Most of the trade is conducted via shipping
because transporting goods on land has
proved to be expensive and often dangerous.
Constant “police” protection, through the
Liburnian galleys and the Roman navy, over
the Mediterranean Sea allows for Roman
ships to travel without the fear of pirates as
that posed a very large issue in the past.
Also, lighthouses have been built, along with
safe harbors and docks in order to enhance
the protection of the Roman fleet and its
workers from pirates in the Mediterranean
Sea. Trade has been made as easy and
convenient as possible by only utilizing one
currency and removing the complication of
custom dues. Trade has been encouraged
due to the many years of peace within the
Empire and is vital to the successful
economy it boasts.
12
nyumunc viii
There has been a lot of trade
between Rome and China and India for the
use of their spices and exotic goods that are
not available within the Empire. In turn for
these goods, the Roman Empire exports its
flour and grains, as well as iron goods and
Roman wine, olive oil, pottery, and papyrus,
that are not readily available within the two
countries.
the state of the union and our impending
civil war. As the influx of taxes slows down,
the commodities produced within the
empire are running out of funding. The
farmers revolting has turned the empire
upon itself where each layer is blaming the
other. The farmers have been mistreated
and over taxed for decades now and they are
finally standing up against the vassals. The
vassals have this pressure due to the lords
and their extreme greed and need to fulfill
their given quotas. Overall, the cycle is
catastrophic and must be resolved
immediately. The laborers have gone on
strike and the plantations are inherently
failing. This is a tragedy as the crops are
going to absolute waste, yet there is nothing
that can be done as the division of labor is
so absolute within the empire. Only the
laborers know the proper farming
techniques and the newest advances in the
agricultural industry. The empire is now left
to fend for itself through a civil war and all
of its allies and enemies looking down upon
it.
The civil war is between the farmers
and their superiors, the vassals and the
lords. The vassals and lords are continuing
to
maintain
a
relatively
balanced
relationship. This is facilitated through the
relationship that the vassals and lords have
fostered over the years as well as the
intelligence on part of the lords to emplace
their friends within high parts of their own
feudalistic empires. The issue at hand is the
negotiation with the laborers from the
vassals and lords. Although some feudalistic
“empires” have begun speaking and
negotiating terms, there are others that are
resisting negotiation and would like to split
away from their current situation and take
over the plantation as their own. This would
be an incredible loss for the empire and
instigate great issues throughout the land as
well as throughout Europe. The negotiation
Rising Conflicts Between Social
Classes
The Holy Roman Empire runs upon
feudalistic policies where a lord gives his
most trusted men, the vassals, land and
power over all the people living within the
lord’s domain, in return for loyalty to the
lord, a promised share of taxes, and military
support whenever needed. The economic
ramifications of this social agreement are
plenty and have been shown to provide a
great amount of profit towards the Empire.
However, the balance between the layers is
crucial and that is currently at stake. Due to
the feudalistic system, the difference within
classes of people has become extremely
evident and the balance is being loosely
maintained by the lords and their vassals
and the workers that tend the land. As a
result, there is a clear shortage in certain
grains and taxable goods throughout the
country. The workers are revolting against
the vassals and their constant increase in
taxation of the crops they sow and for that
reason there is an uprising against the
vassals and the lords. The balance has been
squandered and it has been proven to be an
extremely difficult time for the empire as
taxation decreases and exportable goods are
unavailable.
The reduction in taxes has reduced
the economic growth of the empire within
the eyes of all of Europe. The empire is
losing its power as the other empires realize
13
nyumunc viii
process must be successful and the demands
must be met in a reasonable manner.
religious nature of Medieval societies. The
Pope was the most powerful and influential
figure in the church. Bishops were the
highest ranking church officials below the
pope. They were often wealthy and
considered apart nobility. Next were Priests,
who worked directly with the people. They
administered sacraments, absolved sins,
collected taxes, and kept records. Below the
priests were monks, who lived separately in
monasteries. Monks devoted their lives to
education and often scribed copies of the
Bible. Nuns were considered at the lowest
level of the church. Young and old women
alike were sent to converts to learn their
duties. Nuns primarily taught people how to
read and write.
Social Life
Social Classes
While most social distinctions fell
along the lines drawn by feudalism, a few
groups and classes existed outside of the
system. At the very top of the social system
was the royalty. The king had the most
power and controlled all of the land, making
him the prime lord in all lord-vassal
relationships. Queens, princesses, and
princes were also included in this class.
Directly below the royalty were the
nobility. Dukes and Duchesses were
hereditarily connected to the royal family,
and thus were responsible for ruling their
own province. Barons were also related to
the royal class by blood. They were the
primary vassals the Middle Ages. While
Barons controlled their own manors and
had knights below them, their first and
foremost job was to serve the king. Barons
had the chance to earn more land and a
higher social title depending on their
relationship with the king. Knights were the
only group considered in the nobility
without a hereditary relationship with the
royal family.
The remaining 90 percent of people
were considered in the peasant class.
Peasants could be freemen, who were poor
farmers that sold just enough goods to live.
Serfs were also considered peasants. Serfs,
as mentioned before, were at the bottom of
the feudal hierarchy. Lastly, a few societies
had slaves, who were individuals bought
and sold into labor.
While the Church was considered
somewhat
separated
from
the
aforementioned system, it was, at the same
time, deeply entangled because of the highly
Religion
Christianity was the only recognized
religion in the Holy Roman Empire by 1147
and dominated the everyday lives of
individuals. Everyone at the time believed in
God. People often prayed multiple times a
day and attended church on a daily basis.
Matters from birth to the afterlife—baptism
to the absolution of sins—were controlled by
the Catholic Church.
The Church also held legal power in
Medieval Europe. The Church had power on
matters regarding religious offenses, like
heresy, sorcery, apostasy, and sexual sins. It
even had jurisdiction over family law,
regarding the legitimacy of children, the
recording of marriages, wills, and personal
property.
Social Mobility
Social mobility in the Holy Roman Empire
was extremely limited. This was in part due
to the religiosity of the times. People often
attributed their socioeconomic standing to
the will of God, which could not be
questioned. Generally, an individual stayed
14
nyumunc viii
in the social class that he or she was born
into. Upward movement was rare, and often
took generations to accomplish. Peasants
and townspeople could only improve their
standing within their own tier. Peasants, for
example, could live more comfortable lives
with financial planning, hard work, and
luck.
Marriage and the Catholic Church
were the main avenues for upward mobility.
A townsman could try marry his daughter
off to a knight, securing a better life for the
next generation. A townsman could also
attempt to enter the Church and climb the
ranks there. These options were only
available to wealthy townspeople, not to the
peasant class. Therefore, any type of upward
movement was small and restricted.
While royal queens and princesses lived
lavishly in castles, peasant mothers and
daughters tended to the land and assisted in
specialized labor. Poorer families and
communities needed women’s work for
survival, which granted women in lower
social strata more agency and freedom.
After an especially harsh winter in
the previous year 1146, women were pushed
to work beyond the home and contribute
more to town centers. This changed the
standard among guilds to purposefully
exclude women. Women joined tasks
ranging from metalworking to soapmaking,
yet they were always in a secondary position
to men working in the same field. As a
result,
women
shifted
from
more
traditionally male labor to spinning,
weaving, and embroidery in hopes of
gaining more control over their work.
Spinning is the process of turning
raw materials into thread, which could be
later made into textiles. In the Middle Ages,
spinning was the traditional task for
women, hence the term spinster. Most of
the work is in the preparation, while the
actual act of spinning the material can be
done idly. The tool used for spinning was
called a distaff, which turned into a symbol
for femininity and womanhood in art.
Towns developed textile guilds for
women to sharpen their spinning, weaving,
and embroidery skills. However. given the
chance to head their own trade guilds,
women express their dissatisfaction with the
status quo. These trade guilds developed
more into a union of women workers. They
believed that their textiles were being
bought for less than their true value at the
trading posts simply because it was being
produced by women. Unsurprisingly, the
men at the trading posts resented the higher
bartering prices for textiles.
The growing discontent in these
countryside towns eventually reached the
Women
Women had very little political, social, or
economic agency in the Middle Ages.
Legally, they were not allowed to own a
property, marry without their parents’
permission, divorce their husbands, own a
business, nor inherit land if they had any
surviving brothers.
Most
women
lived
on
the
countryside as peasants. There, in addition
to working on the farm, women were
responsible for housework like cooking,
cleaning, and sewing. Their social standing
was also limited in towns and villages since
trade guilds did not allow women to join. If
they wanted to work outside of the home
they could only assist men in practices like
brewing,
and
maintaining
livestock.
Covenants offered women the chance to
receive an education, but at a price. If a
woman chose to become a nun, she
essentially married the Church and
therefore could not start her own family.
Growing Women’s Movement
15
nyumunc viii
owner of the land. He has the ability to
suppress the growing women’s movement
and dissolve the textile guilds, he is unsure
for how long. In the meantime, the textile
guilds are only growing in size and strength.
would likely not take much to provoke
either side. Maybe all that is needed is an
overly ambitious duke.
Seljuk Sultanate
There is a very apparent conflict
between the Seljuks and the Romans, all
stemming from the inherent nature of man
to conquer various lands. The Seljuks had
taken the Emperor of the (Holy) Roman
Empire as a prisoner, only to release him
after a ransom was paid. Moreover, the
weaker the empire grows and the more
defenseless it seems, the Seljuk power
directly increase and their empire grows
stronger through domination in the realm.
The Romans do not agree with the practices
favored in the Seljuk domain.
The capture of the Roman Emperor
was not taken lightly throughout the (Holy)
Roman Empire. There are great feelings of
disgust and hatred towards the Seljuk
Sultanate that have grown into revolts and
protests, urging the Emperor and all of the
Empire to take action against the Seljuks
and their atrocities against the (Holy)
Roman Empire.
International
Relations
Kingdom of France
There has been a long and often
bloody history between the duchies and
territories of the Holy Roman Empire and
those of France. However for most of the
12th century the Emperors of the Holy
Roman Empire have been far more
concerned with the subjugation of the
Italian states under the banner of the Holy
Roman Empire than they have been with
attacking their Frank neighbors. Similarly
the Kingdom of France has been concerned
far more concerned with the power struggle
between itself and the Kingdom of England,
due to the claims that Henry I has on a
variety of different French duchies. France
has also been heavily involved in the first
crusade and due to these two conflicts there
has been little time to focus on their
Christian
brothers
to
the
east.
However this does not mean that the
Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of
France are allies or even on good terms.
There is constant tension along the border
between these two states especially as the
respective duchies encroach on one
another's lands due to a lack of officially
recognized borders on both sides.
Consequently the attitude between these
two states can be described as wary of each
other at best or bordering on outright
violent hostilities at worst. Although the two
states have not gone to war in some time it
Byzantine Empire
While the (Holy) Roman Empire and
the Byzantine Empire got off to a rocky start
early in their history, they have become
increasingly more aligned through their
shared enmity of Normans and history in
the Crusades. At the start of the 12th century,
several marriages between noblemen and
noblewomen of the (Holy) Roman Empire
and the Byzantine Empire, however, most of
them failed to reach full recognition. The
cold relations between the (Holy) Roman
Empire and the Byzantine Empire have
gradually begun to thaw, but many in the
16
nyumunc viii
Empire caution against calling the
Byzantines our allies.
Although the Papal States emerged
from their rejection of the Byzantine
Empire, the two parties hold relatively good
relations. Lay rulers of the Byzantine
Empire often assisted the Papal States in
warding off or pushing out invading
Normans from southern Italy; the Papal
States guided the religious practices within
the Byzantine Empire. However, since the
East-West Schism, the relations between the
papacy and the religions players in the
Byzantine Empire raised tensions between
these two parties.
because of Catholic prejudice towards the
Islamic faith. The alliance was mainly
political, thus it was unable to stitch
together the religious hate between the two
empire. Politically, the alliance was
favorable militarily to prevent any conflict
between the two, yet the religious divide
between the was the hardest to agree upon.
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was a Shia
Islamic caliphate from 909 to 1171. The
caliphate spanned from the Red Sea in the
east to Atlantic Ocean in the west and
dominated a large portion of North Africa
and the Middle East. After conquering
Egypt in the Middle East in 969, Cairo
became the capital of the empire and the
political, cultural, and religious center of the
empire. From 780 to 1180, the Fatimid
Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire fought
a series of wars for power in the Eastern
Mediterranean. During this time, the Holy
Roman Empire was an ally to the Byzantine
Empire against the Fatimid Caliphate.
Throughout the history of the
Byzantine – Arab Wars, the Holy Roman
Empire served as an ally to the Byzantines
multiple times. In 861, Basil I, the Byzantine
Emperor, allied with Holy Roman Emperor
Louis II against the Arabs and cleared the
Arab fleets and their raids from the Adriatic
Sea. During the Crusades, the Holy Roman
Empire also aided the Byzantine Empire
against the Arabs.
Abbasid Caliphate
Before the establishment of the
Abbasid Caliphate, the Carolingians had a
hostile relationship with the Islamic
Caliphates mainly because of the Umayyad
expansion into Spain and the Gaul. The
Islamic expansion had only been stopped by
Charles Martel, one of the great generals
from the Carolingian Empire. After the fall
of the Umayyads, the Holy Roman Empire
decided to create better relations with the
new Islamic Caliphate, the Abbasids, in
order to prevent another hostile expansion
into Europe. Embassies were established by
great rulers such as Charlemagne and
Harun Al-Rashid, which established a
political and military alliance between the
two.
Religiously, the two empire were
conflicted as tensions were inevitable
17
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