No Superior But God

Welcome to No Superior But God ATL. The name is derived from a quote from a one Richard I, King of England, to his captor and ransomer, Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor that he gave in defiance of the Emperor's request for Richard to show deference to him.

The quote goes as follows: "I am born of a rank that recognizes no superior but God."

This ATL is centered begins with an action equivalent to the crossing of the Rubicon. Henry VI Hoehenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, marches against Rome.

POD
In 1193, Henry VI captured Richard the Lionheart on his return trip to England from his crusades in the Holy Land. Eager to help fund an army for his designs on SIcily, Henry VI ransomed King Richard for 150,000 marks, an exorbitant sums. Pope Celestine III had long opposed Henry VI and his attempts to unite southern Italy witgh Holy Roman realm. Seeing as imprisoning crusaders was fundamentally illegal in the eyes of the Church, Celestine III naturally excommunicated Emperor Henry. Richard's ransom was payed, and Emperor Henry VI did not see the excommunication as all-together extremely detrimental to his campaign on Sicily. However, upon reaching Sicily and finding the nobles of Palermo and the island openly flaunting his authority due to in part his excommunication, Henry VI took a bold, aggressive action that would have far-reaching consequences. He took his army and marched on Rome itself. Easily securing his march through Italy, he reached Rome and forced Pope Celestine III to relinquish his power, demanding an immediate gathering of the Cardinals to elect a new Pope. With the Papal States occupied by enemy forces, the Roman Curia was forced to elect a weak-willed, pro-German Pope named Marinus III. Pope Celestine III stepped down as Pope and was exiled to the Kingdom of Castile as per Emperor Henry VI's orders. Henry VI now had full Papal backing, and the stability of Sicily was more secure. Henry VI then forced the newly elected Marinus III to issue a Papal Bull that described the exact relationship of the Emperor and the Pope. This included the following:
 * The German Prince-Electors have the right to elect the King of the Romans, free of influence of the Pope.
 * The King of the Romans, as official protector of the Pope, has a necessary power to anoint and consecrate an election of the Pope and legitimate Papal authority.
 * The King of the Romans reserves the right to demand the Papal Curia elect a different Pope if the Emperor deems an elected Pope unfit for the the theological authority of the position. THis power comes from the Holy Roman Emperor's responsibility as defender of the faith, and therefore defender of Christianity from Popes that are unfit to lead the faith, and may lead all of Christendom into a possibly heretical or factionalist future, dominated by corruption and dynastic nepotism within the Papal hierarchy.

1190s

 * Alfonso VIII of Castile lost the Battle of Alarcos, as in the OTL, however, Alfonso IX of Leon launched a successful invasion of Castile after the disater of Alarcos in an attempt to take back lands lost to Castile years prior. Without an effective Pope to excommunicate Alfonso of Leon, the Christian powers of Iberia did not unite against Alfonso of Leon in support of Castile. Instead, a temporary yet effective alliance between Leon and the Almohad Caliph al-Mansur formed, leading to major setbacks in the Christian reconquest, including the loss of Toledo, then the capital of Castile, to the Almohad Caliphs. The Almohads subsequently took greater interest in their Iberian holdings, with the major setback of the Reconquista set as the impetus for a major push against the now disjointed and bickering Christian powers.
 * The Teutonic Knights is never confirmed to be a leigtimate military order by the weak-willed Pope.
 * Both the Imperial Diets of Wurzburg and Erfurt made the imperial crown hereditary, and specifically belonging to Henry VI's house of Hohenstaufen, delegating his successor as his son, Frederick II, or in the case of Henry's untimely death prior to his son coming of age, the crown would go to Philip, DUke of Swabia. Though this was approved my a majority of the Prince-Electors, a noticeable minority headed by powers such as Otto of Brunswick and Wenceslaus I of Bohemia did not agree with the formation of a hereditary crown for the King of the Romans.