Rhineland, Cologne.
In early April 1675 AD, Louis XIV finally arrived in the Rhineland, where he had been thinking about day and night. Welcomed by the great nobles and bishops who came from all over Germany, he entered the same country with the saddest mood. The city of Cologne in sorrow.
The city of Cologne is mourning the death of the late Emperor Leopold I... Although during the lifetime of Leopold I, the citizens of Cologne were ruled by an archbishop who did not love the emperor very much.
But the emperor's death made everyone feel their love for the emperor in an instant!
It turned out that they loved the emperor... and all of them realized the fact that Germany could not live without the emperor, and the citizens of Cologne could not live without the emperor!
How can they survive without the emperor?
Not only the citizens of Cologne became the most staunch royalists overnight. Even the princes of the German states, whether they are Protestants or believers of the Roman Catholic Church, whether they have ever raised the flag against the emperor or not, at this time, they have all become good princes who love the emperor!
They have all realized that Germany cannot live without an emperor, and they princes cannot live without an emperor either!
They really can't live without the emperor!
Because the Ottoman Empire's army, which won the Battle of Djerburg, has now arrived at the gates of Vienna, and has also invaded the Czech Republic and Croatia. The entire Upper Hungary has completely surrendered under the Sultan's feet.
This is 200,000, maybe 300,000 Ottoman troops!
Without the emperor, who else could lead them to fight the powerful Ottoman army?
But the emperor is gone. He left Vienna vertically, and now he has returned to Cologne horizontally. He is placed in a rectangular wooden box and placed in the Cologne Cathedral... waiting for the Pope to arrive from Rome to preside over the ceremony. His funeral.
Fortunately, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is elected by everyone. It doesn't matter if one dies, just choose another one!
Of course, at this time, the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor is no longer as valuable as I thought... No one dares to compete for that position without any strength!
The Ottoman Empire's two to three hundred thousand troops are still raging in Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Royal Hungary!
Without a strong emperor, the Holy Roman Empire would have been doomed...
And who has the strongest soldiers in Europe now? Obviously it’s Louis XIV!
He is now in Cologne, going to Leopold's coffin every day to keep vigil, looking like the heir of the Habsburg dynasty!
So early this morning, the German princes and archbishops gathered in Cologne, including the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich William, the Grand Duke of Saxony, John George II, and the Elector of the Palatinate, Karl I. Led by Derwig, the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Cologne, the Archbishop of Trier and others, they gathered at the Cologne Cathedral and asked to see Louis XIV, who was keeping vigil for Leopold.
"Your Majesty," Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg said in blunt French, "our six electors of the Holy Roman Empire have elected a new emperor after serious discussions... ....”
Louis XIV responded, nodded and asked, "Who will be the next emperor?"
The Elector smiled and said: "The next emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is you!"
"Me?" Louis looked very surprised, "How can I be the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire? I am French! And since the time of Ferdinand I, the crown of the Holy Roman Empire has always belonged to the Habsburg family... ....I can’t be this emperor, so you can choose again and choose someone from the Habsburg family to be the emperor!”
What?
The Habsburgs?
There is only one male left in their family, the Spanish "devil" Carlos II, an imbecile who cannot speak a word clearly!
If you choose him to be the emperor, that big guy might as well go to heaven and teach you...
"No way!" said the Grand Duke of Saxony, John George II. "The only male member of the Habsburg family, Carlos II, is not intelligent enough... and cannot be emperor!"
Louis XIV thought for a while and said: "Then let Pope Clement X also serve as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire! Is he intelligent enough? The Caliph and the Ottoman Sultan of the Tianfang Sect are both headed by one person... ...Catholics can do the same and ask the Pope to be the emperor!"
The Pope becomes the Emperor?
What an international joke!
The six electors were all sweating profusely... How could that old man, the Pope, become the emperor? He has no strength and cannot defeat the Ottoman Empire!
Moreover, there are three Protestants among the six electors!
The Electorate of Brandenburg is Lutheran, the Principality of Saxony is also Lutheran, and the Electorate of Palatinate is Calvinist. How could the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church be elected as emperor? Isn't this nonsense? We must fight a religious war!
The six electors wanted to continue to persuade them to join, but Louis XIV waved his hand to stop him, "You don't have to persuade me anymore, I will not be the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Let's do this, the Pope will arrive in a few days. , you go and discuss it with him... If he is not willing to be the emperor, you can choose someone else to be the emperor!"
This Louis XIV is determined not to be emperor!
The six electors had no choice but to tell the Pope about this. They went out of the city overnight and stopped the Pope in Luxembourg.
In a castle in the Principality of Luxembourg, six electors met a pope whose face was full of fatigue and who was almost dying of old age.
"Your Majesty the Pope... now we have no emperor in the Holy Roman Empire!" Brandenburg Elector Friedrich William spoke in Latin again with an anxious look.
The Pope squinted at the Lutheran elector and said to himself: Isn't it just what you want to have without an emperor? What are you anxious about? Could it be that Louis XIV wanted to be emperor?
"Elector," the pope asked, "can't you elect another emperor?"
John George II, the Grand Duke of Saxony, sighed and said: "Your Majesty the Pope, we have chosen one..."
"Who did you choose?"
"Louis XIV!"
"Oh," the Pope nodded, "he's the emperor now...I just happened to be there to crown him."
This emperor will definitely not satisfy the Holy See... he is too strong!
But there is no one else who can be the one!
You can't defeat the Ottoman Empire by choosing a weak one!
Now it seems that there is no one else in Europe who can defeat the Ottoman Empire except Louis XIV.
"But he doesn't want to be the emperor!" said the Elector of the Palatinate, Karl I Ludwig. "He also elected a highly respected person to be the emperor..."
"Highly respected?" The Pope was stunned, "Who is it?"
"It's you!" Brandenburg Elector Friedrich William grimaced, "The Holy Roman Empire can't live without an emperor, why don't you become the emperor! You are the most respected person in Europe!"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Pope, why don't you become the emperor?"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Pope, just agree!"
"..."
"What? What..." The Pope became anxious after hearing this. This emperor's throne is dependent on life. The previous emperor has already gone to heaven. If he, a bad old man, wants to be the emperor at the same time, what else can he do? Live?
"No!" The Pope shook his head repeatedly, "I can't be the emperor... I am the Pope! How can the Pope be the emperor? This is not okay... Moreover, Friedrich, Karl, John, you are all Protestants! How can you choose an ecumenical pope to be your emperor?"
"So, who should we choose?"
"Yeah, there's no one left..."
"Who can be the emperor?"
The three Protestant electors have run out of ideas...Louis XIV cannot be emperor, Carlos II cannot be emperor, and the Pope also refuses to be emperor.
Who was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire? Is it possible to let the Ottoman Empire’s Sultan Mehmed IV become emperor?
At that time, the big guy will have to marry four wives and raise a harem of female slaves... How can this be possible?
