Holy Roman Empire1.doc

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a German empire that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe . It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor . Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period , when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes. In its last centuries, its character became quite close toa union of territories. The empire's territory was centered on the Kingdom of Germany , and included neighboring territories, which at its peak included the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Burgundy ['b?:ɡ? ndi] n. 勃艮第( 法国东南部地方的地名). For much of its history, the Empire consisted of hundreds of smaller sub-units , principalities 公国,侯国, duchies 公爵的领地, counties 郡, Free Imperial Cities and other domains[d ? u'mein] n. 版图,领土. In 962 Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor , although the Roman imperial title was first restored to Charlemagne 查理曼大帝 in 800. Otto was the first emperor of the realm [relm] n. 王国, 国度 who was not a member of the earlier Carolingian [k?r? 'lind ? i? n] adj. 王朝的 dynasty . The last Holy Roman Emperor was Francis II, who abdicated 退位 and dissolved 结束 the Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic [n?p? uli' ? nik] adj.( 像) 拿破仑一世的 Wars . Ina decree following the 1512 Diet ( an assembly of the various estates of the realm ) of Cologne [k? 'l?? n]科隆( 德意志联邦共和国城市), the name was officially changed to Holy Roman Empire of