The coronation of a Holy Roman Emperor was the culmination of a complex process that joined election within the Empire to recognition by the papacy. Beginning with the coronation of Otto I ⓘ in 962, the imperial title claimed continuity with the authority of ancient Rome.

Relations between emperor and pope were often tense. The Investiture Controversy and later conflicts reshaped the meaning of imperial authority. Some rulers were crowned in Rome by the pope, while others exercised imperial power without papal coronation.

Over time the balance shifted from Roman ceremony to electoral legitimacy within the Empire itself. The coronations assembled here illustrate the changing character of imperial rule from the early medieval revival to the consolidation of Habsburg authority.