Holy Roman Empire
From EU2Wiki
The Holy Roman Empire was a confederation of German principalities. (You can read the real-world history at wikipedia [1].) Although it had a monarch, the monarch was elected and never wielded strong executive authority. In the game, the HRE is represented as a special title (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) that is held by the monarch of some country. The Emperor gains certain benefits which model his leadership of the Empire.
Selection of the Emperor
| Scenario | Emperor |
| 1419 | Hungary |
| 1492 | Austria |
| 1617 | Austria |
| 1700 | Austria |
| 1773 | Lothringen |
| 1795 | Tuscany |
The initial Emperor is defined by the scenario. These are shown in the table to the right.
When the current Emperor dies (that is, the monarch who is Emperor is replaced), or if the current Emperor's country is annexed, there will be an election which determines the new Emperor. This election is done automatically by the game. The voters are the electors of the Holy Roman Empire. The candidates for Emperor are the monarchs of all electors, as well as all Catholic monarchs (that is, monarchs of countries which have Catholicism as their state religion). The monarch of the country with the best overall diplomatic relations with the electors will be chosen.
When a new Emperor is chosen, the game sends a message to that effect, for example, "December 10, 1437 : The Holy Roman Empire has elected Albert V of Austria as emperor." You can see the current Emperor on the map display: there is a special icon displayed around the normal capital icon indicating the Emperor.
Benefits of being Emperor
The Emperor's country benefits from his status in several ways. Most of the benefits accrue based on the number of "supportive electors" that the Emperor currently has. A supportive elector is a country:
- in the set of electors of the Holy Roman Empire
- with which the Emperor has good relations (relations >= 100).
The following benefits apply to the country whose monarch is the Emperor:
- its stability cost is reduced by 1% for each supportive elector.
- its technology cost is reduced by 1% for each supportive elector. However, this reduction is a part of the "tech speed modifier", which is capped both high and low (minimum 1.0, maximum 3.0). So, very small, or very large countries won't benefit.
- it gains a bonus of 1 manpower from each supportive elector.
- it gains a bonus of 2 ducats yearly (of monthly income) from each supportive elector.
- if it is at war, it has military access in all electors (regardless of support).
