1. MedievWorld1_fm_4pp.qxd

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Holy Sepulcher 347

Genoese source, Raymond recovered it but later lost it at
his defeat in ANATOLIAin 1101. If a lance had remained
at Constantinople, it could have been among the relics
of the Passion bought in 1241 from the Latin emperor
Baldwin II (r. 1240–61) by King LOUISIX for SAINTE-
CHAPELLE. On the other hand a holy lance of Con-
stantinople from the fourth century fell into the hands of
the OTTOMANSat the end of the siege of 1453 and was
sold by Sultan BAYAZIDII (r. 1481–1502) to Pope Inno-
cent VIII (r. 1484–92). It has been in Rome in Saint
Peter’s since that date.
See alsoRELICS.
Further reading:Steven Runciman, A History of the
Crusades,Vol. 1, The First Crusade and the Foundation of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem(Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1951).


Holy Roman Empire (The Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation, Western Christian Empire, Sacrum
Romanorum Imperium) In theory the Holy Roman
Empire existed between 800 and 1806. Its rulers rarely
actually referred to themselves as “Holy Roman
Emperor,” and the institution itself was not called that
until 1254. The concept had its origins in the crowning
of CHARLEMAGNEin 800 at Rome as the successor to uni-
versal rule of the Roman emperors. The contemporary
Byzantine ruler, the empress IRENE, took this as an insult
to Byzantine pretensions to sovereignty and refused to
recognize it. The CAROLINGIAN successors to Charle-
magne continued to suggest that they were in the succes-
sion to the Roman emperors.


EARLY HISTORY

In the 10th century, the new Salian rulers of central Europe
and GERMANYrealized the value of this tradition. The Holy
Roman Empire became a political organization in 962,
when the king of Germany, OTTOI, was crowned emperor.
He assumed its universalistic ambitions and claimed the
heritage of both the Roman and the Christian empires. Part
of this was supposedly the perpetual union of Germany
with northern Italy. OTTOIII elaborated this concept into
an idea of empire that encompassed the “four nations” of
Germany, Italy, Gaul or FRANCE, and the SLAVS. The foun-
dation of such an empire was also connected with the idea
of imperial protection of a universal Catholic Church or
CHRISTENDOMwith a special relationship with the papacy.
These prerogatives amounted to interdependence in the
eyes of most of the emperors and in the thought of most of
the imperial political apologists. In its most basic terms,
this meant that no king of Germany was a legitimate
emperor without papal consent and a coronation in Rome.
On the other hand, no one could be elected pope without
imperial consent. These ideas were the foundation of the
many conflicts between the emperors and the popes
throughout the rest of the Middle Ages, and the popes


consistently sought to assert their dominance in this rela-
tionship. This conflict was fought out primarily in Italy but
also in Germany itself as the popes undermined allegiances
of vassals and towns to most of the emperors. This long
conflict between the church and the state can be best fol-
lowed through entries of particular popes, emperors, and
political institutions and thought. It was not really settled
by 1500 as the balance of power and authority between the
two rulers swung back and forth, sometimes involving
intervention by the rulers of other states.
See alsoALEXANDERIII, POPE;BONIFACEVIII, POPE;
BULLS, PAPAL AND IMPERIAL; CLERGY AND CLERICAL ORDERS;
DONATION OFCONSTANTINE;FALSEDECRETALS;FREDERICK
I BARBAROSSA HOHENSTAUFEN;FREDERICK II, EMPEROR
ANDKING OFSICILY;GREGORIANREFORM;GOLDENBULLS;
HABSBURGDYNASTY;HENRYIII, THE SALIAN;HENRYVI,
KING OFGERMANY ANDHOLYROMANEMPEROR;HOHEN-
STAUFEN DYNASTY;INNOCENT III, POPE;INNOCENT IV,
POPE; INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY AND DISPUTES;LOMBARD
LEAGUE;LOUISI THEPIOUS;MARSILIUS OFPADUA;PAPAL
STATES; POLITICAL THEORY AND TREATISES;SALIAN DYNASTY.
Further reading: Friedrich Heer, The Holy Roman
Empire, trans. Janet Sondheimer (New York: Praeger,
1968); Jonathan W. Zophy, The Holy Roman Empire: A Dic-
tionary Handbook (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1980); Jonathan W. Zophy, An Annotated Bibliography of the
Holy Roman Empire(New York: Greenwood Press, 1986).

Holy Sepulcher This was the complex of Golgotha or
Calvary, the site of Jesus’s crucifixion, and the tomb
where Christ’s body was placed on the evening of Good
Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. It was a
major sanctuary for Christianity. The hill of Golgotha,
and the tomb, hidden in the Roman period, were redis-
covered under CONSTANTINEabout 326. Around the tomb
was built the rotunda of the Anastasis. It had an ambula-
tory where a liturgical procession might take place. There
was also a great five-aisled basilica.

DESTRUCTIONS AND REBUILDINGS
A Persian invasion of 614 destroyed it. It was subse-
quently restored by Patriarch Modestus, and that is the
building described by a pilgrim in 670. The second
destruction was ordered in 1009 by the fanatical Caliph
AL-HAKIM. The structure of the rotunda remains, but the
tomb was badly damaged. The great basilica disappeared,
and was to be replaced by a court with porticos.
In 1048 the emperor Constantine Monomachos
(r. 1042–55) negotiated a restorations. The crusaders
modified not one building, adding a choir in the
Romanesque style, that was consecrated in 1149 on the
50th anniversary of the capture of JERUSALEM. The Latin
clergy also needed buildings for canons around a great
CLOISTER. After the fall of the Latin kingdom, the sharing
of the area among different Christian communities,
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