The Holy Roman Empire and the Italian Peninsula Did Not

The Holy Roman Empire and the Italian Peninsula did not unite as national monarchies in part because:

A) dynastic struggles in the ruling houses prevented it.
B) continual armed conflict and shifting alliances prevented the emergence of strong,centralizing rulers in these territories.
C) both territories were relatively poor and no single ruling family had the financial and military resources to centralize power in its own hands.
D) both territories were too concerned with checking Ottoman advances for strong rulers to look to expanding their power within Europe.
E) these territories had no external enemy to encourage unification.