Heirs Designate
The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Emperor. However, the Emperor could, and often did, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent bore the title "King of the Romans".
The election was in the same form as that of the senior ruler, and theoretically meant that both men were equal co-rulers of the Empire; in practice, however, the actual administration of the Empire was always managed by the senior Emperor, with at most certain duties delegated to the heir.
Read more about this topic: King Of The Romans
Famous quotes containing the words heirs and/or designate:
“Modern civilization has bred a race with brains like those of rabbits and we who are the heirs of the witch-doctor and the voodoo. We artists who have been so long the despised are about to take over control.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“I devote myself to what I love the most, and for this very reason I hesitate to designate it with lofty words: I do not want to risk believing that it is a sublime compulsion, a law, which I obey: I love what I love the most too much to wish to appear to it as one compelled.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)