The Holy Roman Empire

206

Selden, Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii.

207

Edward refused upon the ground that he was 'rex inunctus.'

208

Sigismund had shortly before given great offence in France by dubbing knights.

209

Sigismund answered, 'Nihil se contra superioritatem regis prætexere.'

210

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 (or papali) notarius.'

211

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.]

212

Liutprand, Legatio Constantinopolitana. Nicephorus says, 'Vis maius scandalum quam quod se imperatorem vocat.'

213

Otto of Freising, i.

214

'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.)

215

Baronius, ad ann.

216

See Appendix, Note C.

217

Godefr. Viterb., Pantheon, in Mur., S. R. I., tom. vii.

218

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.

219

See Appendix, note A.

220

Some add a fifth crown, of Germany (making that of Aachen Frankish), which they say belonged to Regensburg – Marquardus Freherus.

221

'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 the Sachsenspiegel, quoted by Pfeffinger. Similarly Peter de Andlo.

222

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.

223

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 their regnum from those of the imperium. Cardinal Baronius will not call Henry V anything but Henry III, not recognizing Henry IV's coronation, because it was performed by an antipope.

224

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.

225

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.'

226

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.

227

Odious especially for the inscription, —

228

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 sacred ampulla; 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.

229

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.

230

Zedler, Universal Lexicon, s. v. Reich.

231

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.

232

Pertz, M. G. H., tom. iv. (legum ii.)

233

Ibid. iv.

234

Radewic. ap. Pertz.

235

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.'

236

Marquard Freher's notes to Peter de Andlo, book i. chap. vii.

237

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.)

238

Goldast, Constitutiones.

239

Pertz, M. G. H., legg. ii.

240

'Apostolic majesty' was the proper title of the king of Hungary. The Austrian court has recently revived it.

241

Moser, Römische Kayser.

242

Urban IV used the title in 1259: Francis I (of France) calls the Empire 'sacrosanctum.'

243

Cf. 'Holy Russia.'

244

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.

245

I quote from the Liber Augustalis printed 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.'

246

'Quà entro è lo secondo Federico.' —Inferno, canto x.

247

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.

248

Surnamed, from his scientific tastes, 'the Wise.'

249

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.'

250

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.'

251

'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.

252

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.

253

Vid. supra, pp. 52-58.

254

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.

255

'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.' – Bull Si fratrum (of John XXI, in A.D. 1316), in Bullar. 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.

256

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.

257

Quoted by Moser, Römische Kayser, from Chron. Hirsang.: 'Regni vires temporum iniuria nimium contritæ vix uni alendo regi sufficerent, tantum abesse ut sumptus in duos reges ferre queant.'

258

At Rupert's death, under whom the mischief had increased greatly, there were, we are told, many bishops better off than the Emperor.

259

'Proventus Imperii ita minimi sunt ut legationibus vix suppetant.' – Quoted by Moser.

260

Albert I tried in vain to wrest the tolls of the Rhine from the grasp of the Rhenish electors.

261

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.

262

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: —

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.

263

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.

264

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 as A.D. 1648 we find Pope Innocent X maintaining that the sacred number Seven of the electors was 'apostolica auctoritate olim præfinitus.' Bull Zelo domus in Bullar. Rom.

265

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.

266

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), —

267

Innocent III, during the contest between Philip and Otto IV, speaks of 'principes ad quos principaliter spectat regis Romani electio.'

268

'Rex Bohemiæ non eligit, quia non est Teutonicus,' says a writer early in the fourteenth century.

269

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: —

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: —

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.

270

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.]

271

Goethe, whose imagination was wonderfully attracted by the splendours of the old Empire, has given in the second part of Faust a 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: —

272

This line is said to be as old as the time of Otto III.

273

See esp. Ægidi, Der Fürstenrath nach dem Luneviller Frieden, and the passages by him quoted.

274

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.'

275

'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.'

276

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.

277

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.

278

'Imperator est animata lex in terris.' – Quoted by Von Raumer, v. 81.

279

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.

280

It is probably for this reason that the Ordo Romanus directs the Emperor and Empress to be crowned (in St. Peter's) at the altar of St. Maurice, the patron saint of knighthood.

281

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 potestate of 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.