Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky,

listener discretion advised.

If you are a regular Noble Blood listener or even a casual student of European history,

you've likely come across the phrase, Holy Roman Empire.

Ah, you might have thought upon seeing those words, Rome, Italy, Holy the Vatican.

But then you look deeper and you find out what was known as the Holy Roman Empire

seemed to have mainly occupied the land that we know today as Germany.

Well, surely it should have been known as the Holy German Empire then.

And what makes it so holy anyways.

If you found yourself asking those questions, know that you are not alone.

The famous French writer Voltaire once famously wrote, quote,

this body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way,

holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

Like many things medieval and monarchical, the term Holy Roman Empire seems to defy modern logic.

But we do know at least the origins of the term.

To understand why much of central Europe was for centuries,

referred to as the Holy Roman Empire, we'll have to go back to the 8th century.

When in ambitious Frankish king, a bold Byzantine empress, a vulnerable pope,

and a shocking coronation changed the shape of Europe forever.

I'm Dana Schwartz and this is Noble Blood.

The winding road that led to the creation of the Holy Roman Empire began fittingly in Rome.

It was April 25th 799, the day of the procession of the greater litany's and Christian Romans were

...