Sacred Roman Empire: The Name 'Holy Roman Empire' and How It Developed
The 'Sacred Roman Empire', Sacrum Romanum Imperium, is the Latin name of the Holy Roman Empire. How the words Roman, Holy and 'of the German Nation' were added between the 10th and 16th centuries, what they meant, and why Voltaire mocked them.
Last updated September 2026
Contents13
- Sacred or holy: the translation
- How the name was built, step by step
- The emperor's title
- Symbols of the empire
- Other claims to be "Roman"
- Why "Roman"
- Why "holy"
- Why "of the German Nation"
- The empire's changing borders
- Voltaire's joke
- What the "Sacred Roman Empire" actually was
- The name after 1806
- Verdict: the Sacred Roman Empire's name
The "Sacred Roman Empire" is a word-for-word translation of Sacrum Romanum Imperium. That was the Latin name of the state English speakers call the Holy Roman Empire. The name was not fixed at the start.
It grew over several centuries. Rulers added "Roman", then "holy", then "of the German Nation" to describe what they claimed to be. This page traces each part of the name and what it meant. It also sets out the dates sources give for each step.
TL;DR: Sacrum Romanum Imperium, "Sacred" or "Holy Roman Empire", was the formal name of the empire. German kings ruled it from 962, or from Charlemagne in 800, until 1806. "Roman" was stressed from the 1040s. "Sacrum" (holy) appears in documents from 1157. The full form is dated to 1254. "Of the German Nation" was added from the late 1400s.
Sacred or holy: the translation
The Latin word sacrum can mean "holy" or "sacred". English usage settled on "Holy Roman Empire". But "Sacred Roman Empire" is an accurate version of the same name. It is closer to the forms used in several other languages.
| Language | Name | Literal meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Sacrum Romanum Imperium | Sacred Roman Empire |
| German | Heiliges Römisches Reich | Holy Roman Empire (or Realm) |
| German, later form | Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation | Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation |
| Italian | Sacro Romano Impero | Sacred Roman Empire |
| Spanish | Sacro Imperio Romano | Sacred Roman Empire |
| French | Saint-Empire romain | Holy Roman Empire |
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How the name was built, step by step
Dates for each part of the name
The development of "Sacrum Romanum Imperium".
Status: Reviewed Dated from surviving imperial documents.
Note: François Velde's history of the empire's titles, on Heraldica, gives the dates. "Rex Romanorum" (King of the Romans) appears in 1040 and comes into official use in 1041. "Romanum imperium" becomes common under Frederick I Barbarossa.
In 1157 his documents use "sacrum imperium", holy empire. The full "sacrum Romanum imperium" is dated to 1254. Forms adding the German nation appear in documents of 1471, 1486, 1487 and 1497. They also appear at the Diet of Cologne in 1512.
Sources: Heraldica (François Velde), "The Holy Roman Empire"; World History Encyclopedia, "The Ideology of the Holy Roman Empire".
| Stage | Name in use | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imperium (empire), with the emperor as imperator augustus | From Charlemagne in 800 and Otto I in 962 |
| 2 | Romanum imperium; the German king as "King of the Romans" | From the 1040s |
| 3 | Sacrum imperium, "holy empire" | From 1157, under Frederick I |
| 4 | Sacrum Romanum Imperium | From 1254 |
| 5 | ... of the German Nation | From the late 15th century; used at the Diet of Cologne in 1512 |
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The emperor's title
The ruler's own title changed along with the empire's name. Heraldica's collection of imperial titles shows the main forms.
| Ruler | Year | Title used |
|---|---|---|
| Otto I | 962 | Dei gratia imperator augustus, "by the grace of God emperor augustus" |
| Frederick I | 1152 | Dei gratia Romanorum imperator et semper augustus |
| Standard form | 12th-16th centuries | Dei gratia Romanorum imperator semper augustus |
| Maximilian I | 1508 | Romanorum imperator electus, "elected Roman emperor" |
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The change of 1508 mattered. Until then a German king became emperor only when the Pope crowned him, usually in Rome. Maximilian I could not travel to Rome.
So he took the title of elected emperor with the Pope's approval. After Charles V, crowned in Bologna in 1530, no pope crowned an emperor. People at the time called an heir chosen in an emperor's lifetime the "King of the Romans".
Symbols of the empire
The empire's symbols carried the same claims as its name.
- The imperial eagle. A black eagle on gold was the emperor's emblem. The double-headed form became standard from the 15th century.
- The imperial crown. An eight-sided crown of gold, pearls and gems, probably made in the late 10th or 11th century, was used to crown German kings for centuries.
- The regalia. The crown, orb, sceptre, sword and the Holy Lance formed the imperial regalia. The Imperial Treasury in Vienna holds them today.
- Coronation places. German kings were crowned at Aachen, Charlemagne's capital, until 1531, and later at Frankfurt.
Other claims to be "Roman"
The Holy Roman Empire was not the only state to claim Rome's inheritance.
| Claimant | Basis of the claim |
|---|---|
| The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire | Direct, unbroken continuation of the Roman state until 1453 |
| The Holy Roman Empire | Charlemagne's coronation in 800 and the transfer of empire |
| The Ottoman Empire | Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople in 1453, used the title Kayser-i Rum, "Caesar of Rome" |
| Muscovite Russia | The idea of Moscow as a "Third Rome", after Rome and Constantinople |
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The rival claims caused real friction between states. Byzantine emperors long refused to call Western rulers "emperor of the Romans". In their view there could be only one Roman emperor.
Why "Roman"
The empire's rulers claimed to carry on the ancient Roman Empire. Medieval writers explained this through the idea of translatio imperii, the "transfer of empire". They drew on the Book of Daniel and its four world empires. In their view the last of these, Rome's, passed from the Romans to the Franks when Charlemagne was crowned in 800. From the Franks it passed to the German kings.
This claim set the Western emperors against the emperors in Constantinople. Those rulers were the direct heirs of Rome and called themselves Roman. The clash between the two claims is part of the story on the Eastern Roman Empire hub.
Why "holy"
The word sacrum stressed that the empire was a Christian realm with a sacred purpose. Frederick I Barbarossa took it up in the 1150s, during his long struggle with the popes. Calling the empire itself holy was a way of claiming that imperial power came straight from God, not through the Pope.
The conflict between emperors and popes had come to a head earlier, in the Investiture Controversy of the late 1000s. Emperor Henry IV stood as a penitent at Canossa in 1077. The Concordat of Worms in 1122 settled the dispute over who appointed bishops.
Why "of the German Nation"
By the late 1400s, the empire's real land lay mainly in Germany. Its hold on Italy was weak. France and other kingdoms were outside it. The phrase "of the German Nation" reflected this narrower base.
It appears in the records of imperial diets from the 1470s on. It was used at the Diet of Cologne in 1512. Some historians read it as limiting the empire to Germany. Others see it as describing the German nation's special role in a larger empire.
The empire's changing borders
The lands behind the name changed a great deal. Under Otto I and his heirs the empire held Germany and much of northern and central Italy. From 1033 it also held the kingdom of Burgundy. Bohemia was part of it throughout. Over the centuries its edges wore away.
The Swiss cantons became free in practice in the late 1400s. In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia confirmed that the Swiss and the Dutch were independent. France took Alsace and parts of Lorraine in the 1600s. By the 1700s, "Roman" was only a claim. The empire itself lay mainly in Germany, Austria and Bohemia.
Voltaire's joke
The best-known comment on the name comes from Voltaire. His Essay on the Customs and Spirit of Nations appeared in 1756. In it he wrote that the body calling itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
By his time the emperor had little power over the princes. To many, the empire looked like a loose federation. The line has shaped its name ever since. But many modern historians argue that it long worked better than Voltaire allowed.
What the "Sacred Roman Empire" actually was
| Feature | Record |
|---|---|
| Dates | 800 or 962 to 6 August 1806 |
| Ruler | An elected emperor; from 1438 almost always a Habsburg |
| Core lands | Germany, Austria, Bohemia, the Low Countries, northern Italy |
| Main institutions | The emperor, the electors, the Imperial Diet, imperial courts |
| End | Francis II laid down the crown and dissolved the empire in 1806 |
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For the empire's history, see the Holy Roman Empire page. For its rulers, see the Holy Roman emperor page.
The name after 1806
Francis II ended the empire in 1806. He had already taken the new title of Emperor of Austria in 1804. The name "Holy Roman Empire" passed into history.
Later German states used "Reich", but not the old title. The empire's crown jewels are kept today in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna. They include the imperial crown, made around the 900s or 1000s.
The name claimed Rome's heritage. To read about the empire it looked back to, see our guide to the best Roman history books.
Verdict: the Sacred Roman Empire's name
"Sacred Roman Empire" is simply a more literal translation of Sacrum Romanum Imperium. In English we call it the Holy Roman Empire. Each word had a purpose. "Roman" claimed the heritage of ancient Rome. "Sacred" stressed a divine mission, free of the Pope.
"Of the German Nation" reflected the empire's German core. Surviving documents date these changes from the 1040s to 1512. For the people who held the title, see the Charles V page and the full list of emperors.
Sources checked for this page
- Heraldica (François Velde), "The Holy Roman Empire"
- World History Encyclopedia, "The Ideology of the Holy Roman Empire"
- World History Encyclopedia, "Holy Roman Empire"
- Britannica, "Holy Roman Empire"
- Britannica, "Frederick I, Holy Roman emperor"
- Britannica, "Voltaire"
Questions people also ask
What is the Sacred Roman Empire?
Another translation of Sacrum Romanum Imperium, the Latin name of the Holy Roman Empire, the central European state that lasted from 800 or 962 until 1806. In English it is almost always called the Holy Roman Empire.
Why was it called holy?
Its rulers presented the empire as a Christian realm with a sacred mission, equal in dignity to the Church. The word sacrum appears in imperial documents under Frederick I Barbarossa from 1157.
Why was it called Roman?
Its emperors claimed to be the successors of the ancient Roman emperors, through the idea of translatio imperii, the transfer of empire from Rome to the Franks and then to the Germans.
Who said it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire?
The French writer Voltaire, in his Essay on the Customs and Spirit of Nations, published in 1756.
When did the Holy Roman Empire get the words 'of the German Nation'?
The phrase appears in imperial documents from the 1470s and 1480s, and was used at the Diet of Cologne in 1512. It reflected the empire's shrinking base in the German lands.
Is the Sacred Roman Empire the same as the Roman Empire?
No. The ancient Roman Empire began in 27 BCE and its Western half ended in 476. The Sacred or Holy Roman Empire was a medieval and early modern state in central Europe that claimed Rome's inheritance from 800 or 962.
What was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire?
It had no fixed capital for most of its history. Emperors travelled between their own lands and imperial cities. Aachen was the traditional coronation city, Frankfurt the city of elections, Regensburg the seat of the Imperial Diet from 1663, and Vienna the Habsburg residence.
Why did the Holy Roman Empire end?
After defeats by Napoleon and the creation of the French-backed Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, Emperor Francis II laid down the imperial crown and dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806.
How long did the Holy Roman Empire last?
About 844 years if it is dated from Otto I's coronation in 962 to 1806, or just over 1,000 years if dated from Charlemagne's coronation in 800.