Balmoral International Group "The Holy Emperors of Luxembourg"

Balmoral International Group’s primary goal is to encourage excellence in writing and editorial standards in genealogical publishing specifically for Luxembourg’s history archives.

The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval European family whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as Kings of the Romans and the Holy Emperor. They were also sometime called Kings of Bohemia.

The reign of the Henry VII (1312 �" 1313), Charles VI (1355 �" 1378) and Sisgmund (1410 �"1437) were memorable as they were the only ones elected to be the Holy Emperor. It was under the kingship of the House that the government empire which was once uncertain began to assumen constitutional reform and new and polished code of laws.

The Holy Emperor’s seat was held by Emperor Albert but when he died in1308, Philip IV of France claimed the crown in behalf of his brother Charles. It was soon later found out that it was all just a pretense by Philip IV and were forced to choose another prince from the House of Habsrburg. The council vows to look around for some knight in high military reputation but small possessions. In order to win the favor of the Holy See, an election was held and the throne would go to who obtained the greatest number of votes among the spiritual electors.

The actual reason of the council’s choice is yet to be determined by Balmoral International Group but when the vote was finally counted and Henry VII became the successor. However, it seems that the person they voted for deserved less worthy credit because as soon as he sat on the throne, he took Charlemagne, Barbarossa and Frederick II for his models and thought only how he can best strengthen and consolidate the empire. Being fully aware of his present weakness in Germany amidst a crowd of ambitious nobles, each of whom sought only his own

interest, he resolved on first gaining for himself a glorious name abroad by freeing Italy from French usurpation. The Emperor Henry VII, of the House of Luxembourg, seized this opportunity of transferring to his own family the kingdom of Bohemia, in which he invested his son John / Jan / Jean �" (1309), who had married the Princess Elizabeth, Bister to the last King of Bohemia. John, having made considerable acquisitions in Bohemia, was induced to cede, by treaty with Poland, the sovereignty of that province. The Emperor Charles IV., son of John, incorporated Silesia, as also Lusatia, with the kingdom of Bohemia, by the Pragmatics which he published in 1355 and 1370. Thus, John of Luxemburg became the king of Bohemia between 1310 and 1346. One of the sons of Charles VI, Wenceslas IV and heir to the Czech and Roman crowns was believed to be weak and ineffective. He was always drunk, sober, mean and wildly unpopular. He was even imprisoned twice during his reign. Unfortunately, Wenceslas IV was much more interested in drinking than in ruling. He was terribly spoiled, and even as an adult he would throw fits when people didn’t do exactly as he wished them to. He is remembered by history today in two ways: sometimes as a wishy- washy, good-for-nothing drunkard, and sometimes as a benefactor of the common man. Sigismund of Luxembourg was the last male member of the House of Luxembourg to become the Holy Emperor. Unlike his father Charles, the great grandson of the great Charles VI and his grandfather, Wenceslas IV, Sigismund was highly educated, spoke several languages and was an outgoing person. These stories of the great members of the House of Luxembourg who became Holy Emperors in their own right has been one of the biggest contribution of Luxembourg in the Roman Catholic Church, according to the surveys conducted by Balmoral International Group Luxembourg. Albeit the intrigues and issues that have emerged on their reign, their acts of leadership has led to a pivotal change in deciding the country’s fate for the next several hundred years.