The Holy Empire and Orthodox Church are major figures in the story of the Rosenkreuzstilette series.
Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The Empire and Church were known for persecuting Magi in the past before Rosenkreuz stood up to them and, at the end of a holy war fought alongside his eight disciples against the Empire and the Church, sacrificed his own life to have them accept the Magi as part of their military, which led to the creation of the RKS. Since then, the Orthodox Church served as a place for Magi to train and study in.
However, the peace did not last, as the scorn and contempt for the Magi was too much for them to take, and the persecution began once more. The Magi were not willing to stand aside as they were brought back down and their former leader Rosenkreuz was disrespected. The RKS began a rebellion against the Empire, but the rebellion ultimately proved to not be the answer to gaining acceptance from the Empire.
In truth, the Empire has no emperor - its power actually lies within the Orthodox Church. The church actually feared Iris Zeppelin's power and the fact that she was reincarnated from Rosenkreuz, not the Magi of RKS, and, hoping to stop her, sent several of its priests to dispose of her - all of which failed as Iris killed them. Kahl Palesch could also see through her mask and attempted to kill her as well. Iris knew of this and manipulated her father into believing that RKS was the target of persecution and that Kahl was out to kill her, so he made a pact with the Devil to protect her and imprisoned Kahl in his castle's dungeon and made it look like his imprisonment was the Empire's doing. Because of his belief that RKS was the target of persecution once again, he commanded Freudia Neuwahl to lead the rebellion against the Empire. The rebellion was finally aborted when both Spiritia Rosenberg and Freudia learned of Iris' true nature and intentions.
A few months later, the Orthodox Church oversaw the creation of the Schwarzkreuz and began witch-hunting Magi. Unknown to both the Church and the Schwarzkreuz, however, Eifer Skute was manipulating them by posing as a member of the organization, as in reality she was a servant of Iris. Eifer eventually betrayed the the Church and murdered the pope.
Trivia
The priest from the opening of Grollschwert.
- The Holy Empire is similar in appearance to Renaissance Era Italy, though far different in nature.
- An unnamed priest (presumably a member of the Orthodox Church) is seen in the opening scene of Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~, having been killed by Iris.
Spoilers end here.