CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: A - The Holy Roman Emperor was crowned by the pope as the senior monarch among all the Catholic monarchs in Central Europe. The empire had within it various monarchies, from whom the emperor was chosen or elected. However, the position was rather confusing, for several reasons. There were considerable periods of time in which there was no Holy Roman Emperor. Technically, Christian England was Catholic until the foundation of the Church of England, but it was not included in the Holy Roman Empire, and parts of Catholic France were also not in the empire. Also, while the emperor reigned with the blessing of the pope, there were instances in which reigning emperors came in conflict with the papacy (like the Investiture Controversy), only adding to the complexity of the role.