As far back as the end of the 13th century, French kings had been scheming to annex the title as well as to absorb the outlying territories of the empire. With Napoleon’s rise to power this ambition came within reach. Posing as the new Charlemagne (“because, like Charlemagne, I unite the crown of France to that of the Lombards, and my empire marches with the east”), he resolved in 1806 to oust Francis II from his title and to make the Holy Roman Empire a part of the Napoleonic “new order.” He was anticipated, however, by Francis II, who in 1804 had assumed the title “hereditary emperor of Austria” and who, resolving that no other should wear the crown that he was powerless to defend, resigned the old imperial dignity on August 6, 1806.
So perished the Holy Roman Empire. The extent and character of its influence will always be a matter for debate, but it left a deep imprint on Europe. Nor did it cease to be influential after its extinction. The debate about the medieval empire was an ideological background to the creation of the Second Reich, or German Empire, in 1871, and even Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich drew sustenance from memories, often thwarted and perverted, of Charlemagne and Otto the Great and Frederick II.