On this day, 647 years ago, on November 29, 1378 (November 9, 1378 lunar calendar), Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, died. Charles IV (May 14, 1316 - November 29, 1378) King of Bohemia of the Luxembourg Dynasty (reigned 1346-1378) and King of the Roman People (reigned 1347-1378), Holy Roman Emperor (crowned 1355). His reign was the most powerful period of the Czech Republic in the Middle Ages. After my death, you will also rule with crowns, so you should think, I have ruled before you and turned to dust and dirt. And so will your end, like the fleeting shadows and flowers in the field - Charles IV's words to his successors, who is full of hatred, will not be loved, and will be destroyed in his wrath; take all measures in advance to avoid confrontation; doctors treat patients without knives, and emperors have learned this from experience - Charles IV Charles IV, from the family of Luxemburg. Since his father John took the throne of Bohemia (Czech) by marriage, this family has become a strong competitor for the Holy Roman Emperor as the most powerful princes in Germany. Charles IV Charles IV was of medium stature, a little hunched, dressed simply, and had a modest personality. He was perhaps the most famous scholar-type emperor in Europe after Marcus Aurelius of the Roman Empire and Constantine VII of the Byzantine Empire, which made him stand out among the many German kings who were poor soldiers in the Middle Ages. He received a good education from an early age and kept a diary until the age of 30. He liked to read the works of Cicero and Dante, translated the works of Augustine, and liked to associate with great scholars. He maintained a long and close relationship with Petrarch, a famous Italian poet and one of the pioneers of the Renaissance movement. He protected and funded the Italian jurist Bartolu and the author of "On the Power of Kings and Emperors" Lupold. What made Charles IV even more popular was his construction of Prague. From an early age, he was determined to build Prague into a cosmopolitan city that could match the status of the imperial capital. Later, his travels to other countries enriched his blueprint. He personally participated in Prague's urban planning, building towers, walls, etc., and also built Karlstenburg near Prague. He founded the University of Prague, the first university in Central Europe, and paid a lot of money to hire famous scholars to teach at the University of Prague. By the time of his death, the emerging university had 110,000 students. He also promoted Prague to archdiocese through his teacher, Pope Clement VI, and gave his Bohemian kingdom ecclesiastical autonomy. But the scholar-emperor's influence on history did not stop at these pleasant things. His efforts in the complex and cruel competition of German princes, as well as the sensitive battle between imperial and clerical power, also profoundly influenced European history. One of the masterpieces was the 1356 Golden Edict. Charles IV was appointed commander-in-chief of the Bohemian army by his father at the age of 17, and he traveled with his father. Later, his father was blind, and he became a co-ruler of his father and officially succeeded the throne in 1346. His knighthood lasted a short time, and it did not affect his personality much, but it also made him accustomed to the sinister ways of power. Just as he was a fledgling boy, he was almost poisoned by political opponents. But Charles IV's means of political struggle were different from those of most German kings. He did not rely mainly on conquest, but on money to buy, marry, promise, and conclude covenants to achieve his own goals. In this regard, he can be said to have obtained the true biography of his maternal grandfather Rudolf I. During his reign, he also waged several wars, but they were all on a small scale, more like clearing away bandits. In Germany at that time, there were more than a dozen great princes, more than 200 small princes, thousands of independent imperial knight territories, and numerous autonomous cities. This formed a loose confederation. The emperor was the nominal leader of this confederation, but the actual power was equivalent to that of a great princes. After a long period of coalitions, wars, and annexations, seven of the most prominent of the great princes were formed. They were the three archbishops of Trier, Cologne, and Mainz, and the four secular princes of the court of Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, the Count of Brandenburg, and the King of Bohemia. To establish a firm rule over the empire, there were two possible ways: either to join forces with the small princes, the autonomous cities, and the church to fight the big princes and establish their own supreme dominance, or to join forces with the big princes to slaughter the entire empire. The risk of this method was less, and it became an inevitable choice for the cautious Charles IV. Charles IV In 1354, Charles IV took advantage of the rivalry between the princes of northern Italy. Many people hoped for a strong ruler to stabilize the situation. He led a large army into northern Italy. The next year, he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan and was officially crowned emperor in Rome. In November of that year, he held a grand imperial council in Nuremberg. In addition to the princes, many legal experts participated. The central topic was the formulation of the imperial constitution. There were two issues that caused controversy, one was the election of the emperor, including how to elect and whether to allow the pope to intervene, and the other was the authority of the princes over the cities and people in their territories. In 1356, Charles IV held another imperial council in Metz. At this conference, Charles IV issued the "Golden Edict". The main contents of the edict include the following two points: 1. It is clear that the emperor is elected by the seven princes, and that when the throne is suspended, the Duke of Saxony and the Count Regent of the Rhine Court; 2. Each princes has the right to customs and coinage in their own territories, mining and salt sales (until then, these rights were not clear between the emperor and the princes). It is forbidden for feudal lords to form alliances against their own princes, and cities to form alliances against their princes. Offending the princes is considered a crime of treason. Electors actually have absolute monarchical power within their own territories within the framework of a loose confederation. In addition, the edict sidestepped the question of the role of the pope and the papacy in the election of the emperor, effectively depriving the pope of power. One of the reasons why Charles IV was so generous to the electors was that he wanted to exchange their support for his son Wenzel's succession to the throne (in fact, it was he himself who undermined the principle of the election in the edict), and he also sent a large amount of gold and silver to the court of the princes. As it turned out, this selfishness became a major stain on Charles IV's rule. Although his son successfully succeeded him to the throne, he was eventually deposed by the princes due to "infirmity, lack of knowledge, and indecency." When Charles IV gave up his desire for power over the entire empire, he strengthened the centralization of his own territory, the Kingdom of Bohemia, and expanded the territory of Bohemia by means of redemption and other means. During his reign, he worked hard to prompt the return of the Pope, who was "imprisoned in Avignon", to Rome. Charles IV's Golden Edict established the pattern of great princes as the political entity in Germany. This pattern did not change qualitatively until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This was his greatest influence on history. In addition, his patronage of literature and art caused the passion of the Renaissance to begin to burn in Germany. Later, both the Hussite Movement and Martin Luther's Reformation took place in Germany, which was related to this. These two points of light and dark are the reasons why Charles IV is included in the ranks of the most influential emperors, and he is ranked 74th in this list. Commentators on the history of history believe that Charles IV issued the "Golden Edict" out of selfishness for his son to succeed the throne. In fact, selfishness may have been there, but it was more mainly due to the recognition of objective reality. At that time, the seven princes were already in great difficulty, as exemplified by the quick rotation of the German throne among the various families. Challenging the power of the princes can only lead to endless wars, which is what Charles IV, who was more rational than ambitious, did not want to do. Charles IV's single-minded cultivation of the successor humanistic Zell was finally deposed by the princes, which is not only a satire of Charles IV, but also a deeper appreciation of his helplessness during his reign.