'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'Poems relating to the Emperor Frederick of Hohenstaufen, published by Grimm.[195]Charles the Great was canonized by Frederick's anti-pope and confirmed afterwards.[196]Acta Concil. Hartzhem.iii., quoted by Von Raumer, ii. 6.[197]Poems relating to Frederick I,ut supra.[198]The carroccio was a waggon with a flagstaff planted on it, which served the Lombards for a rallying-point in battle.[199]Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen, and Frankfort.[Since this was first written Frankfort has been annexed by Prussia, and her three surviving sisters have, by their entrance into the North German confederation, lost something of their independence.][200]The legend is one which appears under various forms in many countries.[201]'Pruzzi,' says the biographer of St. Adalbert,'quorum Deus est venter et avaritia iuncta cum morte.'—M. G. H.t. iv.It is curious that this non-Teutonic people should have given their name to the great German kingdom of the present.[202]Conring,De Finibus Imperii. It is hardly necessary to observe that the connection of Hungary with the Hapsburgs is of comparatively recent origin, and of a purely dynastic nature. The position of the archdukes of Austria as kings of Hungary had nothing to do legally with the fact that many of them were also chosen Emperors, although practically their possession of the imperial crown had greatly aided them in grasping and retaining the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia.[203]Cf. Pfeffel,Abrégé Chronologique.[204]Letter of Frederick I to Otto of Freising, prefixed to the latter's History. This king is also called Sweyn.[205]SeeAppendix, Note B.[206]Albertus Stadensis apud Conringium,De Finibus Imperii.[207]There is an allusion to this in the poems of the Cid. Arthur Duck,De Usu et Authoritate Iuris Civilis, quotes the view of some among the older jurists, that Spain having been, as far as the Romans were concerned, ares derelicta, recovered by the Spaniards themselves from the Moors, and thus acquired byoccupatio, ought not to be subject to the Emperors.[208]One of the greatest of English kings appears performing an act of courtesy to the Emperor which was probably construed into an acknowledgment of his own inferior position. Describing the Roman coronation of the Emperor Conrad II, Wippo (c. 16) tells us'His ita peractis in duorum regum præsentia Ruodolfi regis Burgundiæ et Chnutonis regis Anglorum divino officio finito imperator duorum regum medius ad cubiculum suum honorifice ductus est.'[209]Letter in Otto Fris. i.:'Nobis submittuntur Francia et Hispania, Anglia et Dania.'[210]Letter in Radewic says,'Regnum nostrum vobis exponimus.... Vobis imperandi cedat auctoritas, nobis non deerit voluntas obsequendi.'[211]The alleged instances of homage by the Scots to the Saxon and early Norman kings are almost all complicated in some such way. They had once held also the earldom of Huntingdon from the English crown, and some have supposed (but on no sufficient grounds) that homage was also done by them for Lothian.[212]Selden,Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii.[213]Edward refused upon the ground that he was 'rex inunctus.'[214]Sigismund had shortly before given great offence in France by dubbing knights.[215]Sigismund answered,'Nihil se contra superioritatem regis prætexere.'[216]Selden,Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii. Nevertheless, notaries in Scotland, as elsewhere, continued for a long time to style themselves'Ego M. auctoritate imperiali (orpapali) notarius.'[217]It is not necessary to prove this letter to have been the composition of Frederick or his ministers. If it be (as it doubtless is) contemporary, it is equally to the purpose as an evidence of the feelings and ideas of the age. As a reviewer of a former edition of this book has questioned its authenticity, I may mention that it is to be found not only in Hoveden, but also in the'Itinerarium regis Ricardi,'in Ralph de Diceto, and in the'Chronicon Terrae Sanctae.'[See Mr. Stubbs' edition of Hoveden, vol. ii. p. 356.][218]Liutprand,Legatio Constantinopolitana. Nicephorus says,'Vis maius scandalum quam quod se imperatorem vocat.'[219]Otto of Freising, i.[220]'Isaachius a Deo constitutus Imperator, sacratissimus, excellentissimus, potentissimus, moderator Romanorum, Angelus totius orbis, heres coronæ magni Constantini, dilecto fratri imperii sui, maximo principi Alemanniæ.'A remarkable speech of Frederick's to the envoys of Isaac, who had addressed a letter to him as'Rex Alemaniæ'is preserved by Ansbert (Historia de Expeditione Friderici Imperatoris):—'Dominus Imperator divina se illustrante gratia ulterius dissimulare non valens temerarium fastum regis (sc.Græcorum) et usurpantem vocabulum falsi imperatoris Romanorum, hæc inter cætera exorsus est:—"Omnibus qui sanæ mentis sunt constat, quia unus est Monarchus Imperator Romanorum, sicut et unus est pater universitatis, pontifex videlicet Romanus; ideoque cum ego Romani imperii sceptrum plusquam per annos XXX absque omnium regum vel principum contradictione tranquille tenuerim et in Romana urbe a summo pontifice imperiali benedictione unctus sim et sublimatus, quia denique Monarchiam prædecessores mei imperatores Romanorum plusquam per CCCC annos etiam gloriose transmiserint, utpote a Constantinopolitana urbe ad pristinam sedem imperii, caput orbis Romam, acclamatione Romanorum et principum imperii, auctoritate quoque summi pontificis et S. catholicæ ecclesiæ translatam, propter tardum et infructuosum Constantinopolitani imperatoris auxilium contra tyrannos ecclesiæ, mirandum est admodum cur frater meus dominus vester Constantinopolitanus imperator usurpet inefficax sibi idem vocabulum et glorietur stulte alieno sibi prorsus honore, cum liquido noverit me et nomine dici et re esse Fridericum Romanorum imperatorem semper Augustum."'Isaac was so far moved by Frederick's indignation that in his next letter he addressed him as'generosissimum imperatorem Alemaniæ,'and in a third thus:—'Isaakius in Christo fidelis divinitus coronatus, sublimis, potens, excelsus, hæres coronæ magni Constantini et Moderator Romeon Angelus nobilissimo Imperatori antiquæ Romæ, regi Alemaniæ et dilecto fratri imperii sui, salutem,'&c., &c. (Ansbert,ut supra.)[221]Baronius, ad ann.[222]SeeAppendix, Note C.[223]Godefr. Viterb.,Pantheon, in Mur.,S. R. I., tom. vii.[224]Dönniges,Deutsches Staatsrecht, thinks that the crown of Italy, neglected by the Ottos, and taken by Henry II, was a recognition of the separate nationality of Italy. But Otto I seems to have been crowned king of Italy, and Muratori (Ant. It.Dissert. iii.) believes that Otto II and Otto III were likewise.[225]SeeAppendix, note A.[226]Some add a fifth crown, of Germany (making that of Aachen Frankish), which they say belonged to Regensburg—Marquardus Freherus.[227]'Dy erste ist tho Aken: dar kronet men mit der Yseren Krone, so is he Konig over alle Dudesche Ryke. Dy andere tho Meylan, de is Sulvern, so is he Here der Walen. Dy drüdde is tho Rome; dy is guldin, so is he Keyser over alle dy Werlt.'—Gloss to theSachsenspiegel, quoted by Pfeffinger. Similarly Peter de Andlo.[228]Cf. Gewoldus,De Septemviratu imperii Romani. One would expect some ingenious allegorizer to have discovered that the crown of Burgundy must be, and therefore is, of copper or bronze, making the series complete, like the four ages of men in Hesiod. But I have not been able to find any such.[229]Hence the numbers attached to the names of the Emperors are often different in German and Italian writers, the latter not reckoning Henry the Fowler nor Conrad I. So Henry III (of Germany) calls himself'Imperator Henricus Secundus;'and all distinguish the years of theirregnumfrom those of theimperium. Cardinal Baronius will not call Henry V anything but Henry III, not recognizing Henry IV's coronation, because it was performed by an antipope.[230]Life of S. Adalbert (written at Rome early in the eleventh century, probably by a brother of the monastery of SS. Boniface and Alexius) in Pertz,M. G. H.iv.[231]Given by Glaber Rudolphus. It is on the face of it a most impudent forgery:'Ne quisquam audacter Romani Imperii sceptrum præpostere gestare princeps appetat neve Imperator dici aut esse valeat nisi quem Papa Romanus morum probitate aptum elegerit, eique commiserit insigne imperiale.'[232]Universal and undisputed in the West, which, for practical purposes, meant the world. The denial of the supreme jurisdiction of Peter's chair by the eastern churches affected very slightly the belief of Latin Christendom, just as the existence of a rival emperor at Constantinople with at least as good a legal title as the Teutonic Cæsar, was readily forgotten or ignored by the German and Italian subjects of the latter.[233]Odious especially for the inscription,—'Rex venit ante fores nullo prius urbis honore;Post homo fit Papæ, sumit quo dante coronam.'—Radewic.[234]Mediæval history is full of instances of the superstitious veneration attached to the rite of coronation (made by the Church almost a sacrament), and to the special places where, or even utensils with which it was performed. Everyone knows the importance in France of Rheims and its sacredampulla; so the Scottish king must be crowned at Scone, an old seat of Pictish royalty—Robert Bruce risked a great deal to receive his crown there; so no Hungarian coronation was valid unless made with the crown of St. Stephen; the possession whereof is still accounted so valuable by the Austrian court.Great importance seems to have been attached to the imperial globe (Reichsapfel) which the Pope delivered to the Emperor at his coronation.[235]Whether the poem which passes under the name of Gunther Ligurinus be his work or that of some scholar in a later age is for the present purpose indifferent.[236]Zedler,Universal Lexicon, s. v.Reich.[237]It does not occur before Frederick I's time in any of the documents printed by Pertz; and this is the date which Boeclerus also assigns in his treatise,De Sacro Imperio Romano, vindicating the terms'sacrum'and'Romanum'against the aspersions of Blondel.[238]Pertz,M. G. H., tom. iv. (legum ii.)[239]Ibid. iv.[240]Radewic.ap.Pertz.[241]Blondellus adv. Chiffletium. Most of these theories are stated by Boeclerus. Jordanes (Chronica) says,'Sacri imperii quod non est dubium sancti Spiritus ordinatione, secundum qualitatem ipsam et exigentiam meritorum humanorum disponi.'[242]Marquard Freher's notes to Peter de Andlo, book i. chap. vii.[243]So in the song on the capture of the Emperor Lewis II by Adalgisus of Benevento, we find the words,'Ludhuicum comprenderunt sancto, pio, Augusto.'(Quoted by Gregorovius,Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, iii. p. 185.)[244]Goldast,Constitutiones.[245]Pertz,M. G. H., legg. ii.[246]'Apostolic majesty' was the proper title of the king of Hungary. The Austrian court has recently revived it.[247]Moser,Römische Kayser.[248]Urban IV used the title in 1259: Francis I (of France) calls the Empire'sacrosanctum.'[249]Cf. 'Holy Russia.'[250]It is almost superfluous to observe that the beginning of the title 'Holy' has nothing to do with the beginning of the Empire itself. Essentially and substantially, the Holy Roman Empire was, as has been shewn already, the creation of Charles the Great. Looking at it more technically, as the monarchy, not of the whole West, like that of Charles, but of Germany and Italy, with a claim, which was never more than a claim, to universal sovereignty, its beginning is fixed by most of the German writers, whose practice has been followed in the text, at the coronation of Otto the Great. But the title was at least one, and probably two centuries later.[251]I quote from theLiber Augustalisprinted among Petrarch's works the following curious description of Frederick:'Fuit armorum strenuus, linguarum peritus, rigorosus, luxuriosus, epicurus, nihil curans vel credens nisi temporale: fuit malleus Romanae ecclesiae.'As Otto III had been called'mirabilia mundi,'so Frederick II is often spoken of in his own time as'stupor mundi Fridericus.'[252]'Quà entro è lo secondo Federico.'—Inferno, canto x.[253]The interregnum is by some reckoned as the two years before Richard's election; by others, as the whole period from the death of Frederick II or that of his son Conrad IV till Rudolf's accession in 1273.[254]Surnamed, from his scientific tastes, 'the Wise.'[255]Hapsburg is a castle in the Aargau on the banks of the Aar, and near the line of railway from Olten to Zürich, from a point on which a glimpse of it may be had. 'Within the ancient walls of Vindonissa,' says Gibbon, 'the castle of Hapsburg, the abbey of Königsfeld, and the town of Bruck have successively arisen. The philosophic traveller may compare the monuments of Roman conquests, of feudal or Austrian tyranny, of monkish superstition, and of industrious freedom. If he be truly a philosopher, he will applaud the merit and happiness of his own time.'[256]Corpus Iuris Canonici, Decr. Greg. i. 6, cap. 34,Venerabilem: 'Ius et authoritas examinandi personam electam in regem et promovendam ad imperium, ad nos spectat, qui eum inungimus, consecramus, et coronamus.'[257]'Illis principibus,'writes Innocent,'ius et potestatem eligendi regem [Romanorum] in imperatorem postmodum promovendum recognoscimus, ad quos de iure ac antiqua consuetudine noscitur pertinere, præsertim quum ad eos ius et potestas huiusmodi ab apostolica sede pervenerit, quæ Romanum imperium in persona magnifici Caroli a Græcis transtulit in Germanos.'—Decr. Greg. i. 6, cap. 34,Venerabilem.[258]Its influence, however, as Döllinger (Das Kaiserthum Karls des Grossen und seiner Nachfolger) remarks, first became great when this letter, some forty or fifty years after Innocent wrote it, was inserted in the digest of the canon law.[259]Vid. supra, pp. 52-58.[260]Upon this so-called 'Translation of the Empire,' many books remain to us: many more have probably perished. A good although far from impartial summary of the controversy may be found in Vagedes,De Ludibriis Aulæ Romanæ in transferendo Imperio Romano.[261]'Vacante imperio Romano, cum in illo ad sæcularem iudicem nequeat haberi recursus, ad summum pontificem, cui in persona B. Petri terreni simul et cœlestis imperii iura Deus ipse commisit, imperii prædicti iurisdictio regimen et dispositio devolvitur.'—BullSi fratrum(of John XXI, inA.D.1316), inBullar. Rom.So again:'Attendentes quod Imperii Romani regimen cura et administratio tempore quo illud vacare contingit ad nos pertinet, sicut dignoscitur pertinere.'So Boniface VIII, refusing to recognize Albert I, because he was ugly and one-eyed ('est homo monoculus et vultu sordido, non potest esse Imperator'), and had taken a wife from the serpent brood of Frederick II ('de sanguine viperali Friderici'), declared himself Vicar of the Empire, and assumed the crown and sword of Constantine.[262]Avignon was not yet in the territory of France: it lay within the bounds of the kingdom of Arles. But the French power was nearer than that of the Emperor; and pontiffs many of them French by extraction sympathized, as was natural, with princes of their own race.[263]Quoted by Moser,Römische Kayser, fromChron. Hirsang.:'Regni vires temporum iniuria nimium contritæ vix uni alendo regi sufficerent, tantum abesse ut sumptus in duos reges ferre queant.'[264]At Rupert's death, under whom the mischief had increased greatly, there were, we are told, many bishops better off than the Emperor.[265]'Proventus Imperii ita minimi sunt ut legationibus vix suppetant.'—Quoted by Moser.[266]Albert I tried in vain to wrest the tolls of the Rhine from the grasp of the Rhenish electors.[267]The Æthelings of the line of Cerdic, among the West Saxons, and the Bavarian Agilolfings, may thus be compared with the Achæmenids of Persia or the heroic houses of early Greece.[268]Wippo, describing the election of Conrad the Franconian, says,'Inter confinia Moguntiæ et Wormatiæ convenerunt cuncti primates et, ut ita dicam, vires et viscera regni.'So Bruno says that Henry IV was elected by the 'populus.' So Gunther Ligurinus of Frederick I's election:—'Acturi sacræ de successione coronæConveniunt proceres, totius viscera regni.'So Amandus, secretary of Frederick Barbarossa, in describing his election, says,'Multi illustres heroes ex Lombardia, Tuscia, Ianuensi et aliis Italiæ dominiis, ac maior et potior pars principum ex Transalpino regno.'—Quoted by Mur.Antiq.Diss. iii. And see many other authorities to the same effect, collected by Pfeffinger,Vitriarius illustratus.[269]Alciatus,De Formula Romani Imperii. He adds that the Gauls and Italians were incensed at the preference shewn to Germany. So too Radulfus de Columna.[270]Quoted by Gewoldus,De Septemviratu Sacri Imperii Romani, himself a violent advocate of Gregory's decree, though living as late as the days of Ferdinand II. As late asA.D.1648 we find Pope Innocent X maintaining that the sacred numberSevenof the electors was'apostolica auctoritate olim præfinitus.'BullZelo domusinBullar. Rom.[271]Sometimes we hear of a decree made by Pope Sergius IV and his cardinals (of course equally fabulous with Otto's). So John Villani, iv. 2.[272]In 1152 we read,'Id iuris Romani Imperii apex habere dicitur ut non per sanguinis propaginem sed per principum electionem reges creentur.'—Otto Fris. Gulielmus Brito, writing not much later, says (quoted by Freher),—'Est etenim talis dynastia TheutonicorumUt nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illumEligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'[273]Innocent III, during the contest between Philip and Otto IV, speaks of'principes ad quos principaliter spectat regis Romani electio.'[274]'Rex Bohemiæ non eligit, quia non est Teutonicus,'says a writer early in the fourteenth century.[275]The names and offices of the seven are concisely given in these lines, which appear in the treatise of Marsilius of Padua,De Imperio Romano:—'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;Et Palatinus dapifer, Dux portitor ensis,Marchio præpositus cameræ, pincerna Bohemus,Hi statuunt dominum cunctis per sæcula summum.'It is worth while to place beside this the first stanza of Schiller's ballad,Der Graf von Hapsburg, in which the coronation feast of Rudolf is described:—'Zu Aachen in seiner KaiserprachtIm alterthümlichen Saale,Sass König Rudolphs heilige MachtBeim festlichen Krönungsmahle.Die Speisen trug der Pfalzgraf des Rheins,Es schenkte der Böhme des perlenden Weins,Und alle die Wähler, die Sieben,Wie der Sterne Chor um die Sonne sich stellt,Umstanden geschäftig den Herrscher der Welt,Die Würde des Amtes zu üben.'It is a poetical licence, however (as Schiller himself admits), to bring the Bohemian there, for King Ottocar was far away at home, mortified at his own rejection, and already meditating war.[276]The electoral prince (Kurfürst) of Hessen-Cassel. His retention of the title has this advantage, that it enables the Germans readily to distinguish electoral Hesse (Kur-Hessen) from the Grand Duchy (Hessen-Darmstadt) and the landgraviate (Hessen Homburg). [Since the above was written (in 1865) this last relic of the electoral system has passed away, the Elector of Hessen having been dethroned in 1866, and his territories (to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants, whom he had worried by a long course of petty tyrannies) annexed to the Prussian kingdom, along with Hanover, Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort. Count Bismarck, as he raises his master nearer and nearer to the position of a Germanic Emperor, destroys one by one the historical memorials of that elder Empire which people had learned to associate with the Austrian house.][277]Goethe, whose imagination was wonderfully attracted by the splendours of the old Empire, has given in the second part ofFausta sort of fancy sketch of the origin of the great offices and the territorial independence of the German princes. Two lines express concisely the fiscal rights granted by the Emperor to the electors:—'Dann Steuer Zins und Beed, Lehn und Geleit und Zoll,Berg-, Salz- und Münz-regal euch angehören soll.'[278]This line is said to be as old as the time of Otto III.[279]See esp. Ægidi,Der Fürstenrath nach dem Luneviller Frieden, and the passages by him quoted.[280]The archbishop of Mentz addresses Conrad II on his election thus:'Deus quum a te multa requirat tum hoc potissimum desiderat ut facias iudicium et iustitiam et pacem patriæ quæ respicit ad te, ut sis defensor ecclesiarum et clericorum, tutor viduarum et orphanorum.'—Wippo, Vita Chuonradi, c. 3,ap.Pertz. So Pope Urban IV writes to Richard:'Ut consternatis Imperii Romani inimicis, in pacis pulchritudine sedeat populus Christianus et requie opulenta quiescat.'Compare also the'Edictum de crimine læsæ maiestatis'issued by Henry VII in Italy:'Ad reprimenda multorum facinora qui ruptis totius debitæ fidelitatis habenis adversus Romanum imperium, in cuius tranquillitate totius orbis regularitas requiescit, hostili animo armati conentur nedum humana, verum etiam divina præcepta, quibus iubetur quod omnis anima Romanorum principi sit subiecta, scelestissimis facinoribus et rebellionibus demoliri,'&c.—Pertz,M. G. H., legg. ii. p. 544.See also a curious passage in the Life of St. Adalbert, describing the beginning of the reign at Rome of the Emperor Otto III, and his cousin and nominee Pope Gregory V:'Lætantur cum primatibus minores civitatis: cum afflicto paupere exultant agmina viduarum, quia novus imperator dat iura populis; dat iura novus papa.'[281]'Imperator est monarcha omnium regum et principum terrenorum ... nec insurgat superbia Gallicorum quæ dicat quod non recognoscit superiorem, mentiuntur, quia de iure sunt et esse debent sub rege Romanorum et Imperatore.'—Speech of Boniface VIII. It is curious to compare with this the words addressed nearly five centuries earlier by Pope John VIII to Lewis, king of Bavaria:'Si sumpseritis Romanum imperium, omnia regna vobis subiecta existent.'[282]So Alfonso, king of Naples, writes to Frederick III:'Nos reges omnes debemus reverentiam Imperatori, tanquam summo regi, qui est Caput et Dux regum.'—Quoted by Pfeffinger,Vitriarius illustratus, i. 379. And Francis I (of France), speaking of a proposed combined expedition against the Turks, says,'Cæsari nihilominus principem ea in expeditione locum non gravarer ex officio cedere.'—For a long time no European sovereign save the Emperor ventured to use the title of 'Majesty.' The imperial chancery conceded it in 1633 to the kings of England and Sweden; in 1641 to the king of France.—Zedler,Universal Lexicon,s. v.Majestät.[283]For with the progress of society and the growth of commerce the old feudal customs were through the greater part of Western Europe, and especially in Germany, either giving way to or being remodelled and supplemented by the civil law.[284]'Imperator est animata lex in terris.'—Quoted by Von Raumer, v. 81.[285]Thus we are told of the Emperor Charles the Bald, when he confirmed the election of Boso, king of Burgundy and Provence,'Dedit Bosoni Provinciam (sc.Carolus Calvus), et corona in vertice capitis imposita, eum regem appellari iussit, ut more priscorum imperatorum regibus videretur dominari.'—Regin. Chron.Frederick II made his son Enzio (that famous Enzio whose romantic history every one who has seen Bologna will remember) king of Sardinia, and also erected the duchy of Austria into a kingdom, although for some reason the title seems never to have been used; and Lewis IV gave to Humbert of Dauphiné the title of King of Vienne,A.D.1336.[286]It is probably for this reason that theOrdo Romanusdirects the Emperor and Empress to be crowned (in St. Peter's) at the altar of St. Maurice, the patron saint of knighthood.[287]See especially Gerlach Buxtorff,Dissertatio ad Auream Bullam; and Augustinus Stenchus,De Imperio Romano; quoted by Marquard Freher. It was keenly debated, while Charles V and Francis I (of France) were rival candidates, whether any one but a German was eligible. By birth Charles was either a Spaniard or a Fleming; but this difficulty his partisans avoided by holding that he had been, according to the civil law,in potestateof Maximilian his grandfather. However, to say nothing of the Guidos and Berengars of earlier days, the examples of Richard and Alfonso are conclusive as to the eligibility of others than Germans. Edward III of England was, as has been said, actually elected; Henry VIII was a candidate. And attempts were frequently made to elect the kings of France.[288]The mediæval practice seems to have been that which still prevails in the Roman Catholic Church—to presume the doctrinal orthodoxy and external conformity of every citizen, whether lay or clerical, until the contrary be proved. Of course when heresy was rife it went hard with suspected men, unless they could either clear themselves or submit to recant. But no one was required to pledge himself beforehand, as a qualification for any office, to certain doctrines. And thus, important as an Emperor's orthodoxy was, he does not appear to have been subjected to any test, although the Pope pretended to the right of catechizing him in the faith and rejecting him if unsound. In theOrdo Romanuswe find a long series of questions which the Pontiff was to administer, but it does not appear, and is in the highest degree unlikely, that such a programme was ever carried out.The charge of heresy was one of the weapons used with most effect against Frederick II.[289]Honorius II in 1229 forbade it to be studied or taught in the University of Paris. Innocent IV published some years later a still more sweeping prohibition.[290]See Von Savigny,History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages, vol. iii. pp. 81, 341-347.[291]Charles the Bold of Burgundy was a potentate incomparably stronger than the Emperor Frederick III from whom he sought the regal title.[292]Cf. Sismondi,Républiques Italiennes, iv. chap. xxvii.[293]See Dante,Paradiso, canto vi.[294]
'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'
'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'
'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'
'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;
Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;
Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,
Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'
Poems relating to the Emperor Frederick of Hohenstaufen, published by Grimm.
[195]Charles the Great was canonized by Frederick's anti-pope and confirmed afterwards.
[196]Acta Concil. Hartzhem.iii., quoted by Von Raumer, ii. 6.
[197]Poems relating to Frederick I,ut supra.
[198]The carroccio was a waggon with a flagstaff planted on it, which served the Lombards for a rallying-point in battle.
[199]Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen, and Frankfort.
[Since this was first written Frankfort has been annexed by Prussia, and her three surviving sisters have, by their entrance into the North German confederation, lost something of their independence.]
[200]The legend is one which appears under various forms in many countries.
[201]'Pruzzi,' says the biographer of St. Adalbert,'quorum Deus est venter et avaritia iuncta cum morte.'—M. G. H.t. iv.
It is curious that this non-Teutonic people should have given their name to the great German kingdom of the present.
[202]Conring,De Finibus Imperii. It is hardly necessary to observe that the connection of Hungary with the Hapsburgs is of comparatively recent origin, and of a purely dynastic nature. The position of the archdukes of Austria as kings of Hungary had nothing to do legally with the fact that many of them were also chosen Emperors, although practically their possession of the imperial crown had greatly aided them in grasping and retaining the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia.
[203]Cf. Pfeffel,Abrégé Chronologique.
[204]Letter of Frederick I to Otto of Freising, prefixed to the latter's History. This king is also called Sweyn.
[205]SeeAppendix, Note B.
[206]Albertus Stadensis apud Conringium,De Finibus Imperii.
[207]There is an allusion to this in the poems of the Cid. Arthur Duck,De Usu et Authoritate Iuris Civilis, quotes the view of some among the older jurists, that Spain having been, as far as the Romans were concerned, ares derelicta, recovered by the Spaniards themselves from the Moors, and thus acquired byoccupatio, ought not to be subject to the Emperors.
[208]One of the greatest of English kings appears performing an act of courtesy to the Emperor which was probably construed into an acknowledgment of his own inferior position. Describing the Roman coronation of the Emperor Conrad II, Wippo (c. 16) tells us'His ita peractis in duorum regum præsentia Ruodolfi regis Burgundiæ et Chnutonis regis Anglorum divino officio finito imperator duorum regum medius ad cubiculum suum honorifice ductus est.'
[209]Letter in Otto Fris. i.:'Nobis submittuntur Francia et Hispania, Anglia et Dania.'
[210]Letter in Radewic says,'Regnum nostrum vobis exponimus.... Vobis imperandi cedat auctoritas, nobis non deerit voluntas obsequendi.'
[211]The alleged instances of homage by the Scots to the Saxon and early Norman kings are almost all complicated in some such way. They had once held also the earldom of Huntingdon from the English crown, and some have supposed (but on no sufficient grounds) that homage was also done by them for Lothian.
[212]Selden,Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii.
[213]Edward refused upon the ground that he was 'rex inunctus.'
[214]Sigismund had shortly before given great offence in France by dubbing knights.
[215]Sigismund answered,'Nihil se contra superioritatem regis prætexere.'
[216]Selden,Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii. Nevertheless, notaries in Scotland, as elsewhere, continued for a long time to style themselves'Ego M. auctoritate imperiali (orpapali) notarius.'
[217]It is not necessary to prove this letter to have been the composition of Frederick or his ministers. If it be (as it doubtless is) contemporary, it is equally to the purpose as an evidence of the feelings and ideas of the age. As a reviewer of a former edition of this book has questioned its authenticity, I may mention that it is to be found not only in Hoveden, but also in the'Itinerarium regis Ricardi,'in Ralph de Diceto, and in the'Chronicon Terrae Sanctae.'[See Mr. Stubbs' edition of Hoveden, vol. ii. p. 356.]
[218]Liutprand,Legatio Constantinopolitana. Nicephorus says,'Vis maius scandalum quam quod se imperatorem vocat.'
[219]Otto of Freising, i.
[220]'Isaachius a Deo constitutus Imperator, sacratissimus, excellentissimus, potentissimus, moderator Romanorum, Angelus totius orbis, heres coronæ magni Constantini, dilecto fratri imperii sui, maximo principi Alemanniæ.'A remarkable speech of Frederick's to the envoys of Isaac, who had addressed a letter to him as'Rex Alemaniæ'is preserved by Ansbert (Historia de Expeditione Friderici Imperatoris):—'Dominus Imperator divina se illustrante gratia ulterius dissimulare non valens temerarium fastum regis (sc.Græcorum) et usurpantem vocabulum falsi imperatoris Romanorum, hæc inter cætera exorsus est:—"Omnibus qui sanæ mentis sunt constat, quia unus est Monarchus Imperator Romanorum, sicut et unus est pater universitatis, pontifex videlicet Romanus; ideoque cum ego Romani imperii sceptrum plusquam per annos XXX absque omnium regum vel principum contradictione tranquille tenuerim et in Romana urbe a summo pontifice imperiali benedictione unctus sim et sublimatus, quia denique Monarchiam prædecessores mei imperatores Romanorum plusquam per CCCC annos etiam gloriose transmiserint, utpote a Constantinopolitana urbe ad pristinam sedem imperii, caput orbis Romam, acclamatione Romanorum et principum imperii, auctoritate quoque summi pontificis et S. catholicæ ecclesiæ translatam, propter tardum et infructuosum Constantinopolitani imperatoris auxilium contra tyrannos ecclesiæ, mirandum est admodum cur frater meus dominus vester Constantinopolitanus imperator usurpet inefficax sibi idem vocabulum et glorietur stulte alieno sibi prorsus honore, cum liquido noverit me et nomine dici et re esse Fridericum Romanorum imperatorem semper Augustum."'
Isaac was so far moved by Frederick's indignation that in his next letter he addressed him as'generosissimum imperatorem Alemaniæ,'and in a third thus:—
'Isaakius in Christo fidelis divinitus coronatus, sublimis, potens, excelsus, hæres coronæ magni Constantini et Moderator Romeon Angelus nobilissimo Imperatori antiquæ Romæ, regi Alemaniæ et dilecto fratri imperii sui, salutem,'&c., &c. (Ansbert,ut supra.)
[221]Baronius, ad ann.
[222]SeeAppendix, Note C.
[223]Godefr. Viterb.,Pantheon, in Mur.,S. R. I., tom. vii.
[224]Dönniges,Deutsches Staatsrecht, thinks that the crown of Italy, neglected by the Ottos, and taken by Henry II, was a recognition of the separate nationality of Italy. But Otto I seems to have been crowned king of Italy, and Muratori (Ant. It.Dissert. iii.) believes that Otto II and Otto III were likewise.
[225]SeeAppendix, note A.
[226]Some add a fifth crown, of Germany (making that of Aachen Frankish), which they say belonged to Regensburg—Marquardus Freherus.
[227]'Dy erste ist tho Aken: dar kronet men mit der Yseren Krone, so is he Konig over alle Dudesche Ryke. Dy andere tho Meylan, de is Sulvern, so is he Here der Walen. Dy drüdde is tho Rome; dy is guldin, so is he Keyser over alle dy Werlt.'—Gloss to theSachsenspiegel, quoted by Pfeffinger. Similarly Peter de Andlo.
[228]Cf. Gewoldus,De Septemviratu imperii Romani. One would expect some ingenious allegorizer to have discovered that the crown of Burgundy must be, and therefore is, of copper or bronze, making the series complete, like the four ages of men in Hesiod. But I have not been able to find any such.
[229]Hence the numbers attached to the names of the Emperors are often different in German and Italian writers, the latter not reckoning Henry the Fowler nor Conrad I. So Henry III (of Germany) calls himself'Imperator Henricus Secundus;'and all distinguish the years of theirregnumfrom those of theimperium. Cardinal Baronius will not call Henry V anything but Henry III, not recognizing Henry IV's coronation, because it was performed by an antipope.
[230]Life of S. Adalbert (written at Rome early in the eleventh century, probably by a brother of the monastery of SS. Boniface and Alexius) in Pertz,M. G. H.iv.
[231]Given by Glaber Rudolphus. It is on the face of it a most impudent forgery:'Ne quisquam audacter Romani Imperii sceptrum præpostere gestare princeps appetat neve Imperator dici aut esse valeat nisi quem Papa Romanus morum probitate aptum elegerit, eique commiserit insigne imperiale.'
[232]Universal and undisputed in the West, which, for practical purposes, meant the world. The denial of the supreme jurisdiction of Peter's chair by the eastern churches affected very slightly the belief of Latin Christendom, just as the existence of a rival emperor at Constantinople with at least as good a legal title as the Teutonic Cæsar, was readily forgotten or ignored by the German and Italian subjects of the latter.
[233]Odious especially for the inscription,—
'Rex venit ante fores nullo prius urbis honore;Post homo fit Papæ, sumit quo dante coronam.'—Radewic.
'Rex venit ante fores nullo prius urbis honore;Post homo fit Papæ, sumit quo dante coronam.'—Radewic.
'Rex venit ante fores nullo prius urbis honore;Post homo fit Papæ, sumit quo dante coronam.'—Radewic.
'Rex venit ante fores nullo prius urbis honore;
Post homo fit Papæ, sumit quo dante coronam.'—Radewic.
[234]Mediæval history is full of instances of the superstitious veneration attached to the rite of coronation (made by the Church almost a sacrament), and to the special places where, or even utensils with which it was performed. Everyone knows the importance in France of Rheims and its sacredampulla; so the Scottish king must be crowned at Scone, an old seat of Pictish royalty—Robert Bruce risked a great deal to receive his crown there; so no Hungarian coronation was valid unless made with the crown of St. Stephen; the possession whereof is still accounted so valuable by the Austrian court.
Great importance seems to have been attached to the imperial globe (Reichsapfel) which the Pope delivered to the Emperor at his coronation.
[235]Whether the poem which passes under the name of Gunther Ligurinus be his work or that of some scholar in a later age is for the present purpose indifferent.
[236]Zedler,Universal Lexicon, s. v.Reich.
[237]It does not occur before Frederick I's time in any of the documents printed by Pertz; and this is the date which Boeclerus also assigns in his treatise,De Sacro Imperio Romano, vindicating the terms'sacrum'and'Romanum'against the aspersions of Blondel.
[238]Pertz,M. G. H., tom. iv. (legum ii.)
[239]Ibid. iv.
[240]Radewic.ap.Pertz.
[241]Blondellus adv. Chiffletium. Most of these theories are stated by Boeclerus. Jordanes (Chronica) says,'Sacri imperii quod non est dubium sancti Spiritus ordinatione, secundum qualitatem ipsam et exigentiam meritorum humanorum disponi.'
[242]Marquard Freher's notes to Peter de Andlo, book i. chap. vii.
[243]So in the song on the capture of the Emperor Lewis II by Adalgisus of Benevento, we find the words,'Ludhuicum comprenderunt sancto, pio, Augusto.'(Quoted by Gregorovius,Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, iii. p. 185.)
[244]Goldast,Constitutiones.
[245]Pertz,M. G. H., legg. ii.
[246]'Apostolic majesty' was the proper title of the king of Hungary. The Austrian court has recently revived it.
[247]Moser,Römische Kayser.
[248]Urban IV used the title in 1259: Francis I (of France) calls the Empire'sacrosanctum.'
[249]Cf. 'Holy Russia.'
[250]It is almost superfluous to observe that the beginning of the title 'Holy' has nothing to do with the beginning of the Empire itself. Essentially and substantially, the Holy Roman Empire was, as has been shewn already, the creation of Charles the Great. Looking at it more technically, as the monarchy, not of the whole West, like that of Charles, but of Germany and Italy, with a claim, which was never more than a claim, to universal sovereignty, its beginning is fixed by most of the German writers, whose practice has been followed in the text, at the coronation of Otto the Great. But the title was at least one, and probably two centuries later.
[251]I quote from theLiber Augustalisprinted among Petrarch's works the following curious description of Frederick:'Fuit armorum strenuus, linguarum peritus, rigorosus, luxuriosus, epicurus, nihil curans vel credens nisi temporale: fuit malleus Romanae ecclesiae.'
As Otto III had been called'mirabilia mundi,'so Frederick II is often spoken of in his own time as'stupor mundi Fridericus.'
[252]'Quà entro è lo secondo Federico.'—Inferno, canto x.
[253]The interregnum is by some reckoned as the two years before Richard's election; by others, as the whole period from the death of Frederick II or that of his son Conrad IV till Rudolf's accession in 1273.
[254]Surnamed, from his scientific tastes, 'the Wise.'
[255]Hapsburg is a castle in the Aargau on the banks of the Aar, and near the line of railway from Olten to Zürich, from a point on which a glimpse of it may be had. 'Within the ancient walls of Vindonissa,' says Gibbon, 'the castle of Hapsburg, the abbey of Königsfeld, and the town of Bruck have successively arisen. The philosophic traveller may compare the monuments of Roman conquests, of feudal or Austrian tyranny, of monkish superstition, and of industrious freedom. If he be truly a philosopher, he will applaud the merit and happiness of his own time.'
[256]Corpus Iuris Canonici, Decr. Greg. i. 6, cap. 34,Venerabilem: 'Ius et authoritas examinandi personam electam in regem et promovendam ad imperium, ad nos spectat, qui eum inungimus, consecramus, et coronamus.'
[257]'Illis principibus,'writes Innocent,'ius et potestatem eligendi regem [Romanorum] in imperatorem postmodum promovendum recognoscimus, ad quos de iure ac antiqua consuetudine noscitur pertinere, præsertim quum ad eos ius et potestas huiusmodi ab apostolica sede pervenerit, quæ Romanum imperium in persona magnifici Caroli a Græcis transtulit in Germanos.'—Decr. Greg. i. 6, cap. 34,Venerabilem.
[258]Its influence, however, as Döllinger (Das Kaiserthum Karls des Grossen und seiner Nachfolger) remarks, first became great when this letter, some forty or fifty years after Innocent wrote it, was inserted in the digest of the canon law.
[259]Vid. supra, pp. 52-58.
[260]Upon this so-called 'Translation of the Empire,' many books remain to us: many more have probably perished. A good although far from impartial summary of the controversy may be found in Vagedes,De Ludibriis Aulæ Romanæ in transferendo Imperio Romano.
[261]'Vacante imperio Romano, cum in illo ad sæcularem iudicem nequeat haberi recursus, ad summum pontificem, cui in persona B. Petri terreni simul et cœlestis imperii iura Deus ipse commisit, imperii prædicti iurisdictio regimen et dispositio devolvitur.'—BullSi fratrum(of John XXI, inA.D.1316), inBullar. Rom.So again:'Attendentes quod Imperii Romani regimen cura et administratio tempore quo illud vacare contingit ad nos pertinet, sicut dignoscitur pertinere.'So Boniface VIII, refusing to recognize Albert I, because he was ugly and one-eyed ('est homo monoculus et vultu sordido, non potest esse Imperator'), and had taken a wife from the serpent brood of Frederick II ('de sanguine viperali Friderici'), declared himself Vicar of the Empire, and assumed the crown and sword of Constantine.
[262]Avignon was not yet in the territory of France: it lay within the bounds of the kingdom of Arles. But the French power was nearer than that of the Emperor; and pontiffs many of them French by extraction sympathized, as was natural, with princes of their own race.
[263]Quoted by Moser,Römische Kayser, fromChron. Hirsang.:'Regni vires temporum iniuria nimium contritæ vix uni alendo regi sufficerent, tantum abesse ut sumptus in duos reges ferre queant.'
[264]At Rupert's death, under whom the mischief had increased greatly, there were, we are told, many bishops better off than the Emperor.
[265]'Proventus Imperii ita minimi sunt ut legationibus vix suppetant.'—Quoted by Moser.
[266]Albert I tried in vain to wrest the tolls of the Rhine from the grasp of the Rhenish electors.
[267]The Æthelings of the line of Cerdic, among the West Saxons, and the Bavarian Agilolfings, may thus be compared with the Achæmenids of Persia or the heroic houses of early Greece.
[268]Wippo, describing the election of Conrad the Franconian, says,'Inter confinia Moguntiæ et Wormatiæ convenerunt cuncti primates et, ut ita dicam, vires et viscera regni.'So Bruno says that Henry IV was elected by the 'populus.' So Gunther Ligurinus of Frederick I's election:—
'Acturi sacræ de successione coronæConveniunt proceres, totius viscera regni.'
'Acturi sacræ de successione coronæConveniunt proceres, totius viscera regni.'
'Acturi sacræ de successione coronæConveniunt proceres, totius viscera regni.'
'Acturi sacræ de successione coronæ
Conveniunt proceres, totius viscera regni.'
So Amandus, secretary of Frederick Barbarossa, in describing his election, says,'Multi illustres heroes ex Lombardia, Tuscia, Ianuensi et aliis Italiæ dominiis, ac maior et potior pars principum ex Transalpino regno.'—Quoted by Mur.Antiq.Diss. iii. And see many other authorities to the same effect, collected by Pfeffinger,Vitriarius illustratus.
[269]Alciatus,De Formula Romani Imperii. He adds that the Gauls and Italians were incensed at the preference shewn to Germany. So too Radulfus de Columna.
[270]Quoted by Gewoldus,De Septemviratu Sacri Imperii Romani, himself a violent advocate of Gregory's decree, though living as late as the days of Ferdinand II. As late asA.D.1648 we find Pope Innocent X maintaining that the sacred numberSevenof the electors was'apostolica auctoritate olim præfinitus.'BullZelo domusinBullar. Rom.
[271]Sometimes we hear of a decree made by Pope Sergius IV and his cardinals (of course equally fabulous with Otto's). So John Villani, iv. 2.
[272]In 1152 we read,'Id iuris Romani Imperii apex habere dicitur ut non per sanguinis propaginem sed per principum electionem reges creentur.'—Otto Fris. Gulielmus Brito, writing not much later, says (quoted by Freher),—
'Est etenim talis dynastia TheutonicorumUt nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illumEligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'
'Est etenim talis dynastia TheutonicorumUt nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illumEligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'
'Est etenim talis dynastia TheutonicorumUt nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illumEligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'
'Est etenim talis dynastia Theutonicorum
Ut nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illum
Eligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'
[273]Innocent III, during the contest between Philip and Otto IV, speaks of'principes ad quos principaliter spectat regis Romani electio.'
[274]'Rex Bohemiæ non eligit, quia non est Teutonicus,'says a writer early in the fourteenth century.
[275]The names and offices of the seven are concisely given in these lines, which appear in the treatise of Marsilius of Padua,De Imperio Romano:—
'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;Et Palatinus dapifer, Dux portitor ensis,Marchio præpositus cameræ, pincerna Bohemus,Hi statuunt dominum cunctis per sæcula summum.'
'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;Et Palatinus dapifer, Dux portitor ensis,Marchio præpositus cameræ, pincerna Bohemus,Hi statuunt dominum cunctis per sæcula summum.'
'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;Et Palatinus dapifer, Dux portitor ensis,Marchio præpositus cameræ, pincerna Bohemus,Hi statuunt dominum cunctis per sæcula summum.'
'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,
Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;
Et Palatinus dapifer, Dux portitor ensis,
Marchio præpositus cameræ, pincerna Bohemus,
Hi statuunt dominum cunctis per sæcula summum.'
It is worth while to place beside this the first stanza of Schiller's ballad,Der Graf von Hapsburg, in which the coronation feast of Rudolf is described:—
'Zu Aachen in seiner KaiserprachtIm alterthümlichen Saale,Sass König Rudolphs heilige MachtBeim festlichen Krönungsmahle.Die Speisen trug der Pfalzgraf des Rheins,Es schenkte der Böhme des perlenden Weins,Und alle die Wähler, die Sieben,Wie der Sterne Chor um die Sonne sich stellt,Umstanden geschäftig den Herrscher der Welt,Die Würde des Amtes zu üben.'
'Zu Aachen in seiner KaiserprachtIm alterthümlichen Saale,Sass König Rudolphs heilige MachtBeim festlichen Krönungsmahle.Die Speisen trug der Pfalzgraf des Rheins,Es schenkte der Böhme des perlenden Weins,Und alle die Wähler, die Sieben,Wie der Sterne Chor um die Sonne sich stellt,Umstanden geschäftig den Herrscher der Welt,Die Würde des Amtes zu üben.'
'Zu Aachen in seiner KaiserprachtIm alterthümlichen Saale,Sass König Rudolphs heilige MachtBeim festlichen Krönungsmahle.Die Speisen trug der Pfalzgraf des Rheins,Es schenkte der Böhme des perlenden Weins,Und alle die Wähler, die Sieben,Wie der Sterne Chor um die Sonne sich stellt,Umstanden geschäftig den Herrscher der Welt,Die Würde des Amtes zu üben.'
'Zu Aachen in seiner Kaiserpracht
Im alterthümlichen Saale,
Sass König Rudolphs heilige Macht
Beim festlichen Krönungsmahle.
Die Speisen trug der Pfalzgraf des Rheins,
Es schenkte der Böhme des perlenden Weins,
Und alle die Wähler, die Sieben,
Wie der Sterne Chor um die Sonne sich stellt,
Umstanden geschäftig den Herrscher der Welt,
Die Würde des Amtes zu üben.'
It is a poetical licence, however (as Schiller himself admits), to bring the Bohemian there, for King Ottocar was far away at home, mortified at his own rejection, and already meditating war.
[276]The electoral prince (Kurfürst) of Hessen-Cassel. His retention of the title has this advantage, that it enables the Germans readily to distinguish electoral Hesse (Kur-Hessen) from the Grand Duchy (Hessen-Darmstadt) and the landgraviate (Hessen Homburg). [Since the above was written (in 1865) this last relic of the electoral system has passed away, the Elector of Hessen having been dethroned in 1866, and his territories (to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants, whom he had worried by a long course of petty tyrannies) annexed to the Prussian kingdom, along with Hanover, Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort. Count Bismarck, as he raises his master nearer and nearer to the position of a Germanic Emperor, destroys one by one the historical memorials of that elder Empire which people had learned to associate with the Austrian house.]
[277]Goethe, whose imagination was wonderfully attracted by the splendours of the old Empire, has given in the second part ofFausta sort of fancy sketch of the origin of the great offices and the territorial independence of the German princes. Two lines express concisely the fiscal rights granted by the Emperor to the electors:—
'Dann Steuer Zins und Beed, Lehn und Geleit und Zoll,Berg-, Salz- und Münz-regal euch angehören soll.'
'Dann Steuer Zins und Beed, Lehn und Geleit und Zoll,Berg-, Salz- und Münz-regal euch angehören soll.'
'Dann Steuer Zins und Beed, Lehn und Geleit und Zoll,Berg-, Salz- und Münz-regal euch angehören soll.'
'Dann Steuer Zins und Beed, Lehn und Geleit und Zoll,
Berg-, Salz- und Münz-regal euch angehören soll.'
[278]This line is said to be as old as the time of Otto III.
[279]See esp. Ægidi,Der Fürstenrath nach dem Luneviller Frieden, and the passages by him quoted.
[280]The archbishop of Mentz addresses Conrad II on his election thus:'Deus quum a te multa requirat tum hoc potissimum desiderat ut facias iudicium et iustitiam et pacem patriæ quæ respicit ad te, ut sis defensor ecclesiarum et clericorum, tutor viduarum et orphanorum.'—Wippo, Vita Chuonradi, c. 3,ap.Pertz. So Pope Urban IV writes to Richard:'Ut consternatis Imperii Romani inimicis, in pacis pulchritudine sedeat populus Christianus et requie opulenta quiescat.'Compare also the'Edictum de crimine læsæ maiestatis'issued by Henry VII in Italy:'Ad reprimenda multorum facinora qui ruptis totius debitæ fidelitatis habenis adversus Romanum imperium, in cuius tranquillitate totius orbis regularitas requiescit, hostili animo armati conentur nedum humana, verum etiam divina præcepta, quibus iubetur quod omnis anima Romanorum principi sit subiecta, scelestissimis facinoribus et rebellionibus demoliri,'&c.—Pertz,M. G. H., legg. ii. p. 544.
See also a curious passage in the Life of St. Adalbert, describing the beginning of the reign at Rome of the Emperor Otto III, and his cousin and nominee Pope Gregory V:'Lætantur cum primatibus minores civitatis: cum afflicto paupere exultant agmina viduarum, quia novus imperator dat iura populis; dat iura novus papa.'
[281]'Imperator est monarcha omnium regum et principum terrenorum ... nec insurgat superbia Gallicorum quæ dicat quod non recognoscit superiorem, mentiuntur, quia de iure sunt et esse debent sub rege Romanorum et Imperatore.'—Speech of Boniface VIII. It is curious to compare with this the words addressed nearly five centuries earlier by Pope John VIII to Lewis, king of Bavaria:'Si sumpseritis Romanum imperium, omnia regna vobis subiecta existent.'
[282]So Alfonso, king of Naples, writes to Frederick III:'Nos reges omnes debemus reverentiam Imperatori, tanquam summo regi, qui est Caput et Dux regum.'—Quoted by Pfeffinger,Vitriarius illustratus, i. 379. And Francis I (of France), speaking of a proposed combined expedition against the Turks, says,'Cæsari nihilominus principem ea in expeditione locum non gravarer ex officio cedere.'—For a long time no European sovereign save the Emperor ventured to use the title of 'Majesty.' The imperial chancery conceded it in 1633 to the kings of England and Sweden; in 1641 to the king of France.—Zedler,Universal Lexicon,s. v.Majestät.
[283]For with the progress of society and the growth of commerce the old feudal customs were through the greater part of Western Europe, and especially in Germany, either giving way to or being remodelled and supplemented by the civil law.
[284]'Imperator est animata lex in terris.'—Quoted by Von Raumer, v. 81.
[285]Thus we are told of the Emperor Charles the Bald, when he confirmed the election of Boso, king of Burgundy and Provence,'Dedit Bosoni Provinciam (sc.Carolus Calvus), et corona in vertice capitis imposita, eum regem appellari iussit, ut more priscorum imperatorum regibus videretur dominari.'—Regin. Chron.Frederick II made his son Enzio (that famous Enzio whose romantic history every one who has seen Bologna will remember) king of Sardinia, and also erected the duchy of Austria into a kingdom, although for some reason the title seems never to have been used; and Lewis IV gave to Humbert of Dauphiné the title of King of Vienne,A.D.1336.
[286]It is probably for this reason that theOrdo Romanusdirects the Emperor and Empress to be crowned (in St. Peter's) at the altar of St. Maurice, the patron saint of knighthood.
[287]See especially Gerlach Buxtorff,Dissertatio ad Auream Bullam; and Augustinus Stenchus,De Imperio Romano; quoted by Marquard Freher. It was keenly debated, while Charles V and Francis I (of France) were rival candidates, whether any one but a German was eligible. By birth Charles was either a Spaniard or a Fleming; but this difficulty his partisans avoided by holding that he had been, according to the civil law,in potestateof Maximilian his grandfather. However, to say nothing of the Guidos and Berengars of earlier days, the examples of Richard and Alfonso are conclusive as to the eligibility of others than Germans. Edward III of England was, as has been said, actually elected; Henry VIII was a candidate. And attempts were frequently made to elect the kings of France.
[288]The mediæval practice seems to have been that which still prevails in the Roman Catholic Church—to presume the doctrinal orthodoxy and external conformity of every citizen, whether lay or clerical, until the contrary be proved. Of course when heresy was rife it went hard with suspected men, unless they could either clear themselves or submit to recant. But no one was required to pledge himself beforehand, as a qualification for any office, to certain doctrines. And thus, important as an Emperor's orthodoxy was, he does not appear to have been subjected to any test, although the Pope pretended to the right of catechizing him in the faith and rejecting him if unsound. In theOrdo Romanuswe find a long series of questions which the Pontiff was to administer, but it does not appear, and is in the highest degree unlikely, that such a programme was ever carried out.
The charge of heresy was one of the weapons used with most effect against Frederick II.
[289]Honorius II in 1229 forbade it to be studied or taught in the University of Paris. Innocent IV published some years later a still more sweeping prohibition.
[290]See Von Savigny,History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages, vol. iii. pp. 81, 341-347.
[291]Charles the Bold of Burgundy was a potentate incomparably stronger than the Emperor Frederick III from whom he sought the regal title.
[292]Cf. Sismondi,Républiques Italiennes, iv. chap. xxvii.
[293]See Dante,Paradiso, canto vi.
[294]