the german princes who chose the holy roman empire were called prince - electors.
the german princes who chose the holy roman empire were called?
prince - electors
electoral college (holy roman empire)





























the electoral college (; ) of the holy roman empire was the gathering of prince electors for an imperial election, where they voted for the next king of the romans and future emperor. the german name of this gathering, "kur", is derived from the middle high german "kur" or "kure" ("election").





























initially all the so-called "great ones of the empire" ("große des reiches") were entitled to vote, but by the second half of the 13th century, only the prince electors were entitled to participate in the royal election.
electoral college (holy roman empire)
as part of the holy roman empire since 1034, the city became an archbishopric, and was designated the free imperial city of besançon (an autonomous city-state under the holy roman emperor) in 1184. in 1157, emperor frederick barbarossa held the diet of besançon. there, cardinal orlando bandinelli (the future pope alexander iii, then adviser of pope adrian iv) openly asserted before the emperor that the imperial dignity was a papal beneficium (in the more general sense of favour, not the strict feudal sense of fief), which incurred the wrath of the german princes. he would have fallen on the spot under the battle-axe of his lifelong foe, otto of wittelsbach, had frederick not intervened. the imperial chancellor rainald of dassel then inaugurated a german policy that insisted upon the rights and the power of the german kings, the strengthening of the church in the german empire, the lordship of italy and the humiliation of the papacy. the archbishops were elevated to princes of the holy roman empire in 1288. the close connection to the empire is reflected in the city's coat of arms.
besançon