East Francia and the Holy Roman Empire
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Charlemagne founded the Carolingian Empire in 800; it was divided in 843.[35] The eastern successor kingdom of East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to the Alps.[35] Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The Ottonian rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major duchies.[36] In 996, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III, whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy.[37]
Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east (Ostsiedlung).[38] Members of the Hanseatic League, mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade.[39] The population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315, followed by the Black Death of 1348–1350.[40] The Golden Bull issued in 1356 provided the constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors.[41]
Johannes Gutenberg introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratisation of knowledge.[42] In 1517, Martin Luther incited the Protestant Reformation and his translation of the Bible began the standardisation of the language; the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tolerated the "Evangelical" faith (Lutheranism), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects (cuius regio, eius religio).[43] From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population.[44][45]
The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among the Imperial Estates.[44] The legal system initiated by a series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet.[46] The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of Charles VI in 1740. Following the War of the Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as empress consort when her husband, Francis I, became emperor.[47][48]