ELECTOR

(Ger. Kurfiirst, ‘electoral prince’), the title of certain princes of the Holy Roman Empire, who had the right of electing the emPperors. In the reign of Conrad I, King of Germany (912-918), the dukes and counts became gradually independent of the sovereign, and a umed the right of choosing future monarchs. In the thirteenth century the number of these electors was seven—the Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Tréves, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. In 1648 an eighth electorate was created to make room for Bavaria, and Hanover was added as a ninth in 1692. The votes of the Palatinate and of Bavaria were merged in one in 1777. In 1802 the two ecclesiastical electors of Cologne and Tréves were set aside, and Baden, Wiirttemberg, He e-Ca el, and Salzburg declared electorates; so that there were ten electors in 1806 when the old German Empire was di olved.—Cf. Viscount Bryce, The Holy Roman Empire.