The Rise of the European Emperor

At the end of January, the Archbishop of Mainz suddenly issued a summons order to convene the Worms Empire Conference. Just in need of some targets at the Worms Empire meeting, Marin went south with a group of cavalry.

The actual mountain, this meeting, was originally supposed to be held in the fall. However, as the initiator of the Worms Imperial Conference and the Grand Speaker of the Imperial Council, the Archbishop of Mainz has been in poor health from last autumn to winter. It didn't come back until years later. Therefore, the meeting that was supposed to be held in the autumn was simply postponed to a year later.

The Imperial Conference is not held every year, nor does it have a fixed time. However, when it comes to big events, everyone does have to meet.

Last spring, Marin united the Hanseatic League leaders and vice-leaders to overthrow the Danish Kalmar League, which had been on an equal footing with the Holy Roman Empire, and also seized the Duchy of Schleswig and Holstein.

This is definitely a major event that will change the European landscape. Therefore, the Archbishop of Mainz issued a convening order as early as last summer to discuss this matter, and intend to mediate the contradictions between the parties. However, before the Imperial Conference was held, the Archbishop of Mainz suddenly fell ill, and he did not recover for a long time. In desperation, the Archbishop of Mainz had to cancel the summoning order again. It was not until the year later, when the body recovered, that the summoning order was issued again.

As an important protagonist at this meeting, Marin, of course, has to go there in person. Moreover, Marin went south with a large party and a lot of gold coins on the day he received the summoning order.

As for why go so early? Do you still need to ask, of course, to bribe those members of the Imperial Council...

Before, Marin had already bribed some major princes, such as 5 of the 7 Electors (Electors of Brandenburg and Electors of Saxony not counting).

However, the Imperial Council members are very large. How much? According to Marin’s statistics, at present, the Imperial Parliament has 7 emperors, 4 archbishops, 46 diocesan bishops (bishoprics), 21 German-speaking dukes, 2 non-German-speaking dukes (Savoy and Milan), 56 seated high priests (major abbots), 11 abbots, 75 imperial cities, and 110 counties or dominions.

In total, the Imperial Parliament has a whopping 330 seats, or 330 votes.

Of course, that's not to say Marin needs to bribe all 330 voters. In that case, Marin would go bankrupt. By convention, those bishops and senior priests of the bishopric, as well as the abbots, basically followed the three religious electors.

That is to say, as long as you get the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, and the Archbishop of Cologne, basically most religious members will be willing to vote for you. There are 120 votes for all religious members. The secular votes, compared with 210.

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These 210 secular vote-holders, 75 imperial cities are self-contained, 21 dukes, Bavaria, Baden, Jülich, Criver, Brunswick, Lorraine, Geddes, Anhal Principalities such as Teresa and Henneberg are also self-contained.

Several other principalities have their own factions. For example, the Duchy of Burgundy naturally belongs to the Austrian faction; the Duchy of Saxony belongs to the faction of the Electors of Saxony; while Württemberg belongs to the Swabian League, which also belongs to the Austrian faction; Mecklenburg and Pomerania belong to the faction Brandenburg faction (actually oppressed by Brandenburg)...

And those counties and dominions are basically attached to five secular electors...

In short, the thirty or so votes attached to the Electors of Brandenburg and the Electors of Saxony, Marin is not to think about. He can only start from other directions.

The King of Bohemia changed his attitude because of the relationship of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander, and would take his younger brother to support Marin. The Elector of the Palatinate was also bought by Marin.

In this way, what Marin still needs to buy is probably the nine principalities that form their own system. Among them, the Principality of Clifford is its own ally and does not need to be bought. Although the Principality of Gedes is unreliable, it is also an ally for the time being. So, Marin needs to buy. In fact, it is the remaining 7 principalities.

In addition, for those 75 imperial cities, Marin needn't worry. If it were the old one, Marin might be worried. However, since hugging Lübeck's thigh, these imperial cities have become easier to communicate with. Because, these 75 imperial cities all started with business. Since we want to engage in business, we cannot do without the support of the Hanseatic League. Therefore, for the leader of the alliance, Lubeck, these imperial cities must give face. Even if there are some who are not eye-opening, there are not many, and most of them are for Lubeck's face.

Not only that, but even those lords owed money to the Hanseatic League. They did not dare to refute the opinions raised by Lubeck as long as they did not infringe on their own interests.

Therefore, Marin's choice to form an alliance with Lübeck is indeed a very wise decision. At least, in the Imperial Council, those imperial cities will not embarrass him.

However, what surprised Marin was that Hamburg, the deputy leader of the Hanseatic League, was not an imperial city...

But after thinking about it, Marin understood. why? No matter how powerful Lübeck is, it mainly targets those imperial cities and some nobles who owe money to the Hanseatic League. However, the total number of imperial cities is only 75. The Imperial Council has 330 seats.

That is to say, in the Imperial Council, imperial cities are a minority and cannot control the overall situation. Only the seven great emperors, who form an alliance, can occupy an overwhelming advantage.

Therefore, it is not easy for Hamburg to join the Imperial Parliament.

After arriving in Worms, Marin met Tagfacht, the Grand Chancellor of Lübeck, and Heisenberg, the Grand Chancellor of Hamburg. This time, Lübeck and Hamburg came to the Imperial Council with two main goals—the first was to let everyone recognize the actual occupation of the Principality of Holstein by Lübeck and Hamburg; the second was to let Hamburg join the Imperial Council, Become an imperial city with voting rights.

Marin wanted to ask Lübeck to help convince the imperial cities, but Lübeck turned to Marin in turn. What did Lübeck ask for Marin? It turned out that Lübeck wanted Marin to act as an intermediary to introduce them to the Emperor Maximilian I.

For a long time, relying on economic means, Lübeck controlled the imperial city and some nobles who wanted to borrow money in the imperial parliament. However, the number of votes obtained can never be more than half. Therefore, Lübeck believes that it is necessary to find an ally with more votes.

Originally, Lübeck wanted to get in touch with the seven great emperors. Because, the alliance formed by these seven emperors and princes has more than half of the votes. If they can form an alliance with them, Lübeck will have a great say in the imperial conference.

However, the seven emperors believed that the Hanseatic League led by Lübeck was already very strong economically. If he gains the right to speak in politics again, he will become a superpower no less than the elector. Therefore, the seven great emperors have reached an agreement, that is - never agree to cooperate with Lübeck, and maintain the political suppression of the Hanseatic League.

In desperation, Lübeck only thought of Austria, which also did not deal with the seven great emperors. Under Maximilian I, he had a lot of votes. Not to mention the votes of the Austrian and Burgundian lords, the Swabian League also had a lot of votes.

This is why Lübeck and Hamburg were willing to ally with Marin when they started the war against Denmark.

Lübeck and Denmark would have ignored Marin if Marin had no use value. No, after coming to Worms, the two great Chancellors of Lübeck and Hamburg asked Marin to help introduce them to Maximilian I in order to reach a political alliance with Austria.

Maximilian I was different from those electors. As an emperor, he was inherently opposed to the princes. The reason why the Holy Roman Empire has 75 imperial cities that are independent of the princes is that they appeared with the support of successive emperors. And these cities were originally the cash cows of the various princes. But with the support of the emperor, they broke away from the control of the various princes, and were also hostile to the princes.

Therefore, Maximilian I and those imperial cities stood against the princes. Before, the Hanseatic League was busy with business and did not care about political demands.

This time, however, Lübeck needed to legally occupy the eastern half of the Duchy of Holstein. While Hamburg required to become an imperial city, it also needed to legally occupy the western half of the Principality of Holstein. In this way, they must gain allies. The emperor Maximilian I, who had a large number of votes and was willing to find a partner, became the first choice of the Hanseatic League.

In addition, Marin's allies, the Principality of Clifford and the Principality of Gerd, are also the targets that Lübeck and Hamburg want to win over. In particular, John the Duke of Cleaver, not only the Duke of Cleaver, but also the Earl of Mark, has two parliamentary votes. Moreover, Marin himself is also a member of the Imperial Council and has a vote. Therefore, between Marin and the Hanseatic League, it is actually a mutually beneficial alliance of interests...