Peter H. Peter Hamish Wilson Livres

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND ECONOMIST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016 'Hugely impressive... Wilson is an assured guide through the millennium-long labyrinth of papal-imperial relations' Literary Review A great, sprawling, ancient and unique entity, the Holy Roman Empire, from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later, formed the heart of Europe. It was a great engine for inventions and ideas, it was the origin of many modern European states, from Germany to the Czech Republic, its relations with Italy, France and Poland dictated the course of countless wars - indeed European history as a whole makes no sense without it. In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked. It is not a chronological history, but an attempt to convey to readers why it was so important and how it changed over its existence. The result is a tour de force - a book that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power, about diplomacy and the nature of European civilization and about the legacy of the Empire, which has continued to haunt its offspring, from Imperial and Nazi Germany to the European Union.

The Holy Roman Empire lasted a millennium, outliving ancient Rome, yet it never commanded the same reverence. Voltaire's quip reflects a long-standing disdain, as it was deemed neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. However, Peter Wilson illustrates that the Empire encapsulates a significant narrative of Europe, more so than the histories of individual nations, influencing contemporary discussions about the European Union. The narrative spans from its inception in Charlemagne's kingdom around 800 to its dissolution in 1806. By the mid-tenth century, its heart lay in the German kingdom, with territories extending from France and Denmark to Italy and Poland. Despite its vastness, the Empire remained abstract, lacking a fixed capital, common language, or culture. Its continuity stemmed from the ideal of a unified Christian civilization, yet this did not shield emperors from conflicts with the pope, culminating in the sack of Rome in 1527. Although the title of Holy Roman Emperor held prestige, rising powers like Austria and Prussia began to dominate. The Empire struggled to adapt to political, economic, and social shifts, and it was not until the French revolutionary wars and a devastating defeat by Napoleon at Austerlitz that Francis II was compelled to dissolve the Empire.