So how did the HRE last for as long as it did? I mean a decentralized

>>2546988
Because even if the emperor could only rely on a quarter of those petty, infighting states, he'd have a big fucking army. It was also densely populated and developed, and combined with the disunity meant the entire empire was heavily fortified and well equipped with lots of manpower to go around.

>>2547020
I guess that makes sense, also speaking of the Emperor what did he even do? I mean all the states in the empire practically functioned like they were independent and even in religious matters the HRE seemed to have relied more so on the will of the Pope and thus the Papal States as opposed to the Emperor.

The HRE is the poster child for being a decentralized petty state with massive infighting, most other feudal states for most history were no better. The Kings of France often contended with powerful nobles such as the Duke of Aquataine, and the English Crown had manage the nation with a Parliament, which not only forced the King to heed the will of the nobles but even that of the burghers.

Notice how during the Medieval period in that .gif the Empire not only managed to survive, but even expand in many areas, but once Centralization began to take root in other European nations, they began losing land and power.

>>2546988
The Pope was untouchable -- for a long time anyway. You wouldn't dare attack a Papally-protected king without Papal approval, or else you'd be excommunicated. Big deal, it's all a make-believe skydaddy, right? Well, being excommunicated meant you couldn't get married, couldn't get funeral rights, inheritance (nor leave inheritance -- including land), and basically made you persona non grata, a homo sacer. There would be no shortage of Papal lickspittles waiting in the shadows to take your queen, your manor, your lands, your men-at-arms and so on if you didn't play by the Pope's rules.

This lasted pretty much until the Reformation, when it started to fall apart in earnest. It creaked on for a couple hundred more years, but much reduced in power. By the time it finally whimpered out of existence, it was """""Holy""'"" just as much as it was ""'""Roman""'"" or ""'""Empire""'"".

File: Umritt_Heinrich_II.png (127KB, 1381x1909px) Image search: [Google]

127KB, 1381x1909px

>>2547028
>what did he even do
Check Regesta Imperii website

>>2546988
It wasnt long - Roman Empire became Holy Roman Empire during 16 century.

File: voltaire.jpg (21KB, 400x483px) Image search: [Google]

21KB, 400x483px

>>2546988
Excuse me, but how long did what last?

>>2548158
hundreds of years longer than the empires who based their ideas on Voltaire

>>2546988
What the fuck happened in the northeast, why did it lose all that land there in 1034?

>>2548474
Wends.

They were taken out by crusaders.

File: RemoveWeed.jpg (23KB, 550x330px) Image search: [Google]

23KB, 550x330px

>>2548158
"""""""HOLY"""""""

>>2549031
>roman