It is known as the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, a state that originated in the kingdom of Germania, one of the three portions into which the Carolingian Empire was divided. To be more specific, the Holy Empire was the eastern portion of the Carolingian Empire, the so-called Francia Orientalis, and it takes place with the aim of replacing the old Western Roman Empire.
After a series of problems arose, the Carolingian Empire became extinct until Otto I emerged, the great emperor who obtained said Empire for the Germans. The new holy empire differs from the previous one, by the fact that it managed to maintain itself for almost a thousand years and apart from that Germany included possessions such as the northern region of Italy.
It should be noted that this was not a unitary state. During the High Middle Ages this did not represent a problem at all, since the rest of the neighboring towns were equally divided into multiple duchies and counties with enough autonomy. During this time the monarchs had little royal power and were only recognized a certain primacy over the rest of noble society. One level above the kings was the emperor. At the time when the monarchs of EuropeOccidental began to regain its power the Holy Empire was left behind. Since the long struggles with the Papacy over who should have the primacy in the Catholic world greatly weakened the empire.
The apostolic authority maintained the hypothesis that the emperor was the armed wing of the Church, that is, a simple servant of the high pontiff, who was the true leader of the religion. The emperor for his part was inclined towards the idea of creating a new Christian empire that would be responsible for spreading Christianity, even if it was necessary by force.
While the pope was solely responsible for religious and spiritual affairs, while the rest was the prerogative of the emperor. Such disputes remained for several centuries, thus preventing the emperor from concentrating on setting up a strong monarchy in Germany. After the defeat of Hohenstaufen there was a great interregnum in which the nobles had autonomy full. A precedent that meant the end of the possibility of establishing a modern state in Germany, which would completely extinguish the idea of creating a universal empire.
