The throne of the Holy Roman Empire turned out to be a hot potato. Especially when the news of the Ottoman Empire's invasion of Vienna reached Cologne, the whole city fell into panic. The German princes gathered here seemed to have seen the end of the world. The Roman Catholic Church Zonggen spent the whole day in the cathedral praying for the residents of Vienna...No one actually died in the Battle of Vienna. Because the city was abandoned before the Ottoman army arrived.
All the residents fled in panic, leaving only an empty city with still strong walls, allowing Mohammed IV's army to show off its power.
But... Vienna is Vienna!
After the fall of Constantinople, Vienna became a holy place for European Christians to resist the invasion of Tianfang Cult.
It was this fortified city located in central Europe that blocked the attack of the 100,000 Ottoman Empire army led by Suleiman I in 1529, thus curbing the expansion momentum of the Ottoman Empire on the European continent.
But now, the unexpected fall of this fortress city that once withstood the Ottoman army and served as the shield of Christ has made the entire German and even the entire European Christian world feel desperate.
But people in despair still have a last glimmer of hope!
This glimmer of hope is France, Louis XIV...
In the city of Cologne, outside a palace formerly owned by the Archbishop of Cologne where Louis XIV lived, these days, day and night, it was crowded with Cologne citizens who were full of expectations for the French King. Not long ago, most of them were very disgusted with the French king who had so much power and was eyeing the Rhineland.
But now, they are very afraid that Louis will abandon them...
Louis's 100,000 troops are in Lorraine and Alsace! Moreover, Louis XIV also had a group of people who were particularly capable of fighting, such as the Prince of Condé, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Grand Marshal Dourenne, the Marquis of Marina... each of them was more capable than the other!
If there is anyone who can save the Holy Roman Empire, save the Rhineland, save Bavaria, and save Austria and Upper Hungary that have fallen into the hands of the enemy, it seems that only Louis XIV is there.
But this Louis XIV showed no interest in the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. After attending the funeral and canonization ceremony of Leopold I, he prepared to leave Cologne and return to France.
As soon as the news came out, the whole of Cologne stopped working... At this time, you, Louis XIV, still want to run away? The people of Cologne will never agree!
As this emperor, you can act appropriately or not!
So the people of Cologne took to the streets and surrounded the residence of Louis XIV... It looked a bit like a revolution!
Others want to revolutionize the emperor, but they want to find an emperor for themselves!
But Louis XIV was determined that he would not be the emperor! You can make as much trouble as you like, but in short, you cannot be the emperor.
Now it would be difficult to deal with six electors and an old pope. Louis XIV would not be emperor, and the Cologne people outside insisted on Louis being emperor. What should we do?
If things were reversed, the people of Cologne could still revolt, rush in, drag Louis out and behead him... But what to do now? Drag him out to become emperor? Prepare a purple robe and put it on him, and then everyone will shout long live?
How can anyone in the world be an emperor like this? Never heard of it!
"Your Majesty, why don't you go one step further and become the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire? This is not only the request of all the nobles and civilians of the Holy Roman Empire, but also the will of God! Aren't you a devout Catholic? You Don’t you feel God’s call in your heart?”
The one who was pleading with Louis XIV was the Roman Pope Clement X. He once again brought the six electors of the Holy Roman Empire to persuade him to enter.
In order to persuade Louis XIV to become emperor, the old man even moved God out.
But the problem was that Louis XIV would not nod or let go, which made the old man and the six electoral princes cry.
Louis looked at the seven people in front of him and said calmly: "I will not be the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans. You can go back and choose someone else!"
“Why?” asked the Pope, “do you even want to reject God’s call?”
Louis XIV shook his head and said: "First, I am not German; second, I don't think there is anything sacred about the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, I cannot be the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans!"
What this means is...
The pope was old and slow to react, so he didn't understand it all at once. But the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich William, somewhat understood, and immediately said: "Then take away the German and the Holy..."
The Pope was taken aback and said, "Take away Germany and Holiness...then only the Roman Empire will be left?"
It turns out that Louis XIV wanted to be the emperor of the Roman Empire!
Louis XIV's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hugo Leonard, also attended today's meeting. At this time, he opened his mouth and made the topic completely clear.
"His Majesty the King of France owns Gaul, and is also the heir to the Habsburg family... Carlos of Spain has no way to leave descendants, so the King of France is still Spain, Austria, Bohemia, Naples, Milan Waiting for the heir to the territory. These areas together are almost the original Western Roman Empire!
Therefore, His Majesty the King of France must be called the Roman Emperor, not the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans!
Furthermore, His Majesty the King of France is an absolute monarch with absolute power...unrestrained by the Senate or the Imperial Assembly! "
It turned out that Louis XIV only wanted the title of Roman Emperor, not a Senate or an Imperial Parliament that could restrict him.
This is also the reason why he did not accept the election of him by the six electors to become the Holy Roman Emperor... He was unwilling to hand over power to the Parliament, but wanted to keep it firmly in his hands.
Now it was the turn of the Pope and the six electors to be speechless!
What they want is not a Roman emperor with monopoly power, but a Holy Roman emperor who has the ability to drive away the Ottomans from the territory of the Holy Roman Empire...
Do they still have a choice now? The Ottoman Empire has been victorious! The entire Rhineland was in panic and looked to Louis as its only hope. If the Pope and the six electors could not convince Louis, the Rhineland might break away from the Holy Roman Empire and join France in order to protect itself. At that time, the six electorate princes would have no choice.
So accepting a Roman emperor who can truly lead Europe seems to be the only option!
But this Roman Empire... seems like it should implement a provincial system!
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you want to rebuild an empire where the glory and power belong to Rome?"
Louis XIV looked at the Elector and said with a smile: "The Roman Empire in my mind should be based on the Ming Empire..."
"Take Ming as your teacher? What should you learn?" The Pope of Rome is very vigilant!
Wouldn’t this Louis XIV want to abandon God and study heaven?
Louis XIV said: "Of course it is the pluralistic political system of the Ming Empire.
Under the Ming Empire, there were provinces under the direct jurisdiction of the emperor, military regions governed by governors, and vassal states that were basically autonomous. Moreover, the political systems of vassal states are also very diverse, including kingdoms, principalities, United States, republics, and even a United Kingdom.
Isn’t the approach of the Ming Empire worth learning and imitating? After all, their empire is extremely huge, and the people they govern exceed 200 million! Compared with the Ming Empire, Rome was not huge and vast! "
It turns out that Louis XIV did not want to turn all the feudal lords below into provincial governors of the empire... but wanted to learn from the Ming Dynasty and build a country with diversified governance methods.
He planned to establish provinces in some places where conditions were suitable for direct rule, and to retain the territories of feudal lords in other places.
