What the fuck was his problem?

Freemasonry

The Habsburgs were scum and deserved to fucking die like the Romanovs centuries later. Frederick the Great did nothing wrong.

Too rich to have any so he went up against everything.

Pretty much this.

EMPIRE

>pretty much everything

fixed

Nothing. He was simply doing what the French (and better the part of Europeans) have always done: laughing at how pathetic Germans are.

So why do you people hate Voltaire so much? Can anyone explain it to me? No memeing please

He wore the fedora before it was even invented: "Our [religion] is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world. Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. … My one regret in dying is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out.."

Buttblasted Krauts.

Christfags and

I know you say no memeing but I will respond with a meme. His quote on the Holy Roman Empire is why people dislike Voltaire. Because there are so many krautfags on this board.

>t. Eternal Anglo

He said that the Holy Roman Empire wasn't Holy, Roman or an Empire which is objectively wrong.
Voltaire was a typical anti German Frenchman. Yes, it was holy, the early emperors were crowned by the Pope and the Emperors themselves were mostly Catholic .They were occasionally schismatic, but they were always close to the Christian faith, even if they weren't always strictly Catholic. Yes, they were the rightful heirs to the Roman Emperors as they were given the title by the Pope, not to mention that they controlled Rome. The Holy Roman Empire was founded to be a successor state to the Roman Empire, as indicated by it's very obvious name. The fact that later on they didn't always control Rome directly was irrelevant, because they held the title itself. The Princes of Liechtenstein didn't actually visit their Principality until 100 years after it being granted to them, but they still held it, no? The Jacobite claimants continued to claim to be Kings of Britain despite being born in Continental Europe, but they still held the title. Even the British monarchy, which claimed to be the Dukes of Normandy (and not necessarily correctly, as the agnatic line was broken many times) didn't step foot in Normandy for centuries, but they continued to claim it. And yes, it was an Empire, as there were a variety of Principalities, Grand Duchies, Imperial Free Cities ,and Kingdoms under the Emperor's authority. That has historically been the definition of an Empire; having subordinate kingdoms and other entities pleading fealty to you, which the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire did, for the most part.Plus, there were a wide variety of ethnic groups within the Empire, such as Italians, Germans, and even some French. If you want to include Empire in the modern meaning, well, there were Habsburg kings of Spain for centuries, not to mention the various wars and invasions against France and others. So yes, it was Holy, Roman, and an Empire.

So why would the Pope have any right to appoint the title of Emperor of Rome? The honor surely went to those who could rebuild the mighty empire, not just play around with their sacred icons and swords in the Empire's backyard.

because the late Roman Emperors were Catholic and therefore the Pope had the authority to convey the title

That seems like faulty reasoning. By that logic, could the Pope just name the King of France the new King of England when the English monarch died? And the title of Roman Empire was built upon pagan conquests, what rights did the Catholics have to convey it? Any logical man would say that to be worthy of the title of Roman Emperor, you would have to have the Empire of Rome, something the Pope cannot give.

Yes, and because he was the Pope, he would be able to do it and have his decision respected by all true Catholics.

>what rights did the Catholics have to convey it?

It was built upon Pagan conquests but eventually the Empire (mostly) converted.

Alright, putting the Pope aside, the HRE did not control the entirety of the Roman Empire. They didn't control Anatolia, they didn't control the Balkans, they didn't control the Maghreb, they didn't control Iberia, so on. It was just a Kraut club, and even then they fell apart like paper during a rainfall afterwards. What validity did they have claiming to be the Roman Empire even with the Pope's blessing? If anything, they were a pitiful shell of a glory that was, wearing a facade of greatness over a volatile powder keg.