Imperial election

The election of a Holy Roman Emperor or King of Germany was, from at least the 13th century, accomplished by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the Prince-electors. Appointment as Emperor was normally for life. In 1356, the Emperor Charles IV, promulgated the Golden Bull, which became the fundamental law by which all future Kings and Emperors were elected.

The seven electors who chose the Emperor, or, in some cases, the King of the Romans — the Emperor's designated heir — were:

Later additions to the electoral council were:

Listed below are all the elections that took place under the conditions of the Golden Bull, as are expulsions, readmittances, and additions to the electoral council.

The 1376 election took place on June 10 in Frankfurt.

Wenceslaus of Bohemia, King of the Romans.

This was the first election to be carried out following the enactment of the Golden Bull, which laid out in exact terms the qualifications of the electors, the manner of holding elections and was the basis of every election thenceforward. Wenceslaus, son of Emperor Charles IV, and then holding the dignity of Elector of Brandenburg, was elected as Charles's heir, King of the Romans. He succeeded as king when Charles died two years later on November 29, 1378, at which point he also became King of Bohemia.

The first election in 1400 took place on May 22 in Frankfurt.

Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Dissatisfied with Wenceslaus's performance of his duties as King of Germany, the electors met to consider alternatives. Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg was elected in opposition to Wenceslaus. However, the three spiritual electors of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, (and of course Wenceslaus himself) did not concur with the election, which was therefore legally invalid, as supported by only a minority of the electors. Frederick was assassinated two weeks later, on June 5, 1400.

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