Prince elector

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The seven - later nine - members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire were called prince electors (German: Kurfürst, pl: Kurfürsten) Their role in the election of the emperor was codified in the Golden Bull of 1356.

The original college was made up by:

* Three ecclesiastic electors
* the Archbishop of Mainz
* the Archbishop of Trier
* the Archbishop of Cologne
* Four secular electors
* the King of Bohemia (German: König von Böhmen, Czech: český král )
* the Margrave of Brandenburg (Markgraf von Brandenburg)
* the Count Palatine of the Rhine (Pfalzgraf bei Rhein)
* the Duke of Saxony (Herzog von Sachsen)
* In the 17th century, two more secular Lords became electors
* the Duke of Bavaria (Herzog von Bayern)
* the Duke of Hannover (Herzog von Hannover)

The emperor was not necessarily chosen from this body (e.g. Frederick Barbarossa): in fact, the ecclesiastic electors were ineligible.