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HIS TORY OF THE
S. A. DUNHAM ESQ. IXJX&C.
s
HENRY MORSE STEPHENS
TABLE,
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL,
TO THE FIRST VOLUME OF
THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
BOOK I.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE DURING
THE MIDDLE AGES.
7521437.
INTRODUCTION.
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD.
496752.
Page
Unsettled State of Germany prior to the French Monarchy 1
Changes of Appellation, Alliances, and Confederations of
the Germanic Tribes - - - 2
Situations of the Franks, the Alamanni, the Saxons, and
the Vandals 3
Situation of the Goths, and the different Tribes of this
great Stock - - . - - 4
The Thuringians composed of several Tribes of the great
Teutonic Family ; their Situation
Sclavonic Tribes and their Situations - 4
Encroachments of the Germanic Tribes ; and their Con-
quests of other States - - 4
Clovis Prince of the Salian Franks ; converted to the Ca-
tholic Faith ; subdues the greater Part of Gaul - 5
VI ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D. Page
Overcomes the Burgundians and Wisigoths; through a
Succession of Crimes becomes sole Monarch of the
Franks ; is resisted by the Armoricans . - fi
511. His Death, and the Division of his Kingdom between his
four Sons . . - 7
Thierry, the eldest, becomes Sovereign of Austrasia, or the
Eastern Provinces of the Franks, and of his Germanic
Dominions .. - - .7
Extent of Thierry's Dominions - 7
534752. The Merovingian Princes ; their Vices and licentious Pro-
pensities ; they devolve the Cares of the Government on
the Mayor of the Palace - - 8
638650. Pepin, Mayor of the Palace in the Reign of Sigebert II.,
transmits that Office to his Son - - -9
673678. Pepin, Grandson of the former, Mayor of the Palace, in
the Reign of Dagobert II. - ... 9
691695. Clovis III. succeeds to the Thrones of Neustria and Bur-
gundy . . .9
Pepin sanctions the Heritability of the Lands, Offices, and
Dignities of the Nobles, and they recognise the here-
ditary Transmission of his ; his Victories - - 10
Charles Martel, son of Pepin, acknowledges him as Mayor
toChilperic II. - . - - 10
Subdues or defeats the Bavarians, the Swabians, and the
Frisians ; he overcomes the Arabs, in a great Battle on
the Plains of Poictiers - - - - 11
741. His Death ; bequeaths the Dominions of the Franks to
his three Sons - - - 12
Carloman and Pepin, Sons of Charles Martel . .12
752. Carloman assumes the Cowl . ' . - 12
Pepin, with the Sanction of the Pope, raised to the Throne 12
The Franks had sovereign Families, out of which their
Princes were elected - - - .13
i The King's Authority circumscribed - . 13
The King had the Disposal of the Lands and the Appoint.
ments of Dukes, Counts, &c. - - 14
The Kings retained a Number of armed Warriors - 15
Subserviency of the Gaulish Bishops of the Sixth Century 16
Ancient Germanic Tribes ; each a separate Republic - 17
Germanic Dukes and Counts ; their Jurisdictions, Dig-
nities, Courts, and Manner of administering Justice - 17
Society of the German Tribes ; the feudal System - 20
State of Liberty in Germany and Gaul - - 22
CHAPTER L
CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY.
752910.
CHARLEMAGNE RESTORES THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST. HIS
REIGN, AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS. CONVULSIONS OF
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, Vll
THE EMPIRE. CIVIL WARS. SEPARATION OF THE FRANK
AND GERMANIC CROWNS. GOVERNMENT, LAWS, SOCIETY, ANI>
MANNERS OF THE GERMANS DURING THE DOMINATION OF
THIS HOUSE. LAWS THROWING LIGHT ON THAT SOCIETY.
CODES OF THE FRANKS. BURGUNDIANS. SWABIANS. BA-
VARIANS. ANGLES. SAXONS. FRISIANS.
A. D. Page
752771. Pepin triumphs over the Frisians and Saxons ; he forces
the King of Lombardy to deliver the Exarchate of Ra-
venna to Pope Stephen III. ; leaves his two Sons,
Charles and Carloman, joint Heirs of his States - 2t
771 814. Charles, on the Death of Carloman, seizes the whole Inhe-
ritance ; his Dominions - - -25
Other Advantages of the Commencement of his Reign ;
and the Difficulties he had to overcome - - 26
He declares War with the Saxons, and takes the Fortress
of Eresberg, in which was the Statue of the deified Irmm
or Armin - - - - 27
He forces the Saxons to give Hostages - - 28
778. After repeated Revolts he finally subdues them, and, after
having massacred 4500 Prisoners, forces them to profess
Christianity ; transplants 10,000 Saxons to various Parts
of France and Italy - - - - - 29
The Avars and Franconians, who invade Bavaria, defeated
and driven back to Hungary - "- 31
Charles subdues Catalonia, and air Italy as far as Bene-
ventum; his Empire extends from the Ebro to the
Mouth of the Elbe, and from the British Channel to the
Oder and the Raab - - 31
800. He is crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III. - -32
Character of Charles - - - 33
814 887. Division of the Dominions of Charlemagne among his
Sons, and their weak and unworthy Conduct - - 35
State of Society at this Period; Classification of royal
Abbeys, according to the Assistance they were to furnish
to the State, in Troops, Money, or Prayers. The Em-
press Judith permitted to clear herself from the Suspi-
cion of Adultery by the Ordeal of red-hot Ploughshares ;
Heritability of Fiefs first known in Germany - 36
840 855. Lothaire 1. succeeded to the Title of Emperor, with no
more than a third of the Empire; which he divided be-
tween his two Sons, Louis II., wholhad Italy and the
Title of Emperor, and Lothaire, who had Lorraine - 36
875877. Charles the Bald succeeds to the Title of Emperor, and to
the Government of Italy ; Death of Louis of Germany,
and Division of his States among his Sons ; Evils result-
ing from .the continued Subdivision of the Empire ;
Death of Charles the Bald - - 37
A 4
Vlll ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D Page
881887. Charles the Fat invested with the imperial Title ; deposed
for his Cowardice . ... 38
887. Arnulf Duke of Carinthia elected King of Germany ". 38
888 910. Separation of the Crowns of France and Germany ;
Arnulf attaches the Bohemians and Moravians, with
their King Swentibold, to his Interests . -39
Swentibold revolts j is compelled to own himself a Vassal
of the Empire - - -40
899. Arnulf triumphs over the Normans; is crowned Em-
peror of Germany by the Pope ; his Death - - 41
The Nobles assume the Power of electing the Emperors - 41
Louis, the Son of Arnulf, elected Emperor - - 42
907910. The Huns overrun the Empire; Death of .Louis IV.
the last of the Carlovingian Line in Germany - 42
911. View of the State of Society, Laws, and Manners, during
the Carlovingian Period, 752 to 911 - - 43
CHAP. II.
HOUSES OF SAXONY AND FRANCONIA.
911 1138.
MONARCHS OF THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. THE IMPERIAL DIG-
NITY ELECTIVE. HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. FIEFS
HEREDITARY. FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS. STATE OF SOCIETY.
MONARCHS OF THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. ATTEMPTS OF
HENRY IV. AND V. TO RENDER RELIGION DEPENDENT ON
THE STATE. INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. THE CONCORDAT OF
1122. PROGRESS OF THE CONSTITUTION. INCREASING
POWER OF THE DUKES AND OF THE IMPERIAL DIETS.
CONDITION OF SOCIETY. IGNORANCE AND VICES OF CLERGY
AND LAITY.
911. Situation of the Empire on the Extinction of the Car-
lovingian Line , - - 99
Witikind's Account of the Hardihood and Independence
of the Slavonians ; Ditmar's Directions for treating the
Poles ; his Account of their singular Punishment for
eating Meat in Lent - - - 100
Anarchy of the Empire ; Wars and Rapine of the feudal
Princes - - 101
Otho Duke of Saxony elected Emperor ; he declines the
I Dignity, in favour of Conrad, Count or Duke of Fran-
conia - . . - 104
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. IX
A. D. Page
911 936. Conrad I. ; his worthy Character . - - 104
His War with Henry Duke of Saxony; his Success in
Swabia ; Partiality of the Germanic Constitution ;
Treason of Duke Arnulf of Bavaria - - 105
Duke Arnulf forced to take Refuge in Hungary, and his
Son Burkard II. elected his Successor - - 106
Conrad's Successes in Lorraine ; he is mortally wounded
in an Engagement with the Hungarians ; is succeeded
by Henry Duke of Saxony - - 106
Henry I., surnamed the Fowler : he consolidates the Ger-
manic Empire ; humbles the Hungarians - - 107
He improves the military System of the Country ; builds
fortified Towns - - - 108
936. Death of Henry the Fowler -109
937 1024. Otho I., Henry's eldest Son, elected ; Contests between
different Bishops respecting the Right of consecrating
the Emperor ; Origin of the Offices of Grand Chamber-
lain, Grand Cup-bearer, Grand Marshal, and Grand
Seneschal, &c. - ... 110
Othojrepresses the Turbulence of the great Feudatories of
the Empire ; compels Boleslas Duke of Bohemia, who
had abolished Christianity and his Allegiance to the
Empire, to submit ; triumphs over the Slavi of the
Oder, and humbles the Danes - - 111
955 973. His splendid Victory over the Huns ; he procures the Im-
perial Crown from Pope John XII. ; his Policy with
respect to the Holy See ; procures the Coronation of
his Son Otho, as his Successor ; his Death ; brief Cha-
racter of Otho I. - 112
973983. ^Otho II. ; his troubled Reign ; his War with the Greek
Emperor; he is defeated in Calabria; his Son Otho
elected as his Successor ; Revolt of the Slavonic Tribes ;
Death of the Emperor - , - 113
9831002. Otho III. a Minor; Henry the Turbulent usurps the
Regency ; aspires to the Crown - - 113
He is compelled to resign the Regency ; Otho, under the
Guidance of his wise Counsellors, triumphs over the
Slavi, and forces "the Duke of Poland to do him Ho-
mage; he projects the Subjugation of Italy; his
Death - - 114
10021024. Henry Duke of Bavaria illegally elected - 114
He submits to receive the Crown a second Time in a Diet
at Aix-la-Chapelle ; his troubled Reign ; his excellent
Character ; War with Boleslas, King of Poland - 115
Distracted State of the Empire - 116
i Henry II. and his Empress receive the Imperial Crown
from Pope Benedict VIII. at Rome; his Piety and
Justice - - 117
Review of the State of Society, Laws, Manners, Religion,
X ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
*. D. Page
Manufactures, and Commerce, during the Period oc-
cupied by the House of Saxony, from 911 to 1C24 - 118
1024. St Cunegund, the late Emperor's Widow and Regent ;
the Archbishop of Mentz convokes a Diet for the Elec-
tion of an Emperor, where the Princes with their
armed Followers assembled, to the Number of 50,000 - 136
10241039. House of Franconia.
Conrad II. elected Emperor; be extends the Empire;
forces the King of Poland to do Homage for Silesia ;
establishes his Authority over the Lombards ; and
checks the Hungarians - - 138
He cedes Sleswig to Canute King of Denmark ; confers
Privileges too extensive on the Nobles of the Empire ;
procures his Son Henry to be elected his Successor - 139
10391056. Henry III.; he reduces the Bohemians; establishes his
Superiority over Hungary, and abridges her Ter-
ritory - - - 139
His Justice, Piety, and Valour - - 140
10561106. Henry IV. Son of the preceding, in his sixth Year pro-
claimed Emperor ; the Empress Mother Regent ; con-
sequent Dissatisfaction ; the Saxons espouse the Cause
of a rival Candidate . . 140
Fortresses erected to keep them in Bounds ; Excesses com-
mitted by the Garrisons ; a Conspiracy headed by the
Archbishop of Cologne, who seizes the Regency ; he
is soon supplanted by Adelbert, the Archbishop of
Bremen; a Diet convoked by the Archbishops of Mentz
and Cologne ; Henry forced to dismiss Adelbert - 141
Adelbert regains his former Ascendancy - - 142
Henry's unruly Passions and arbitrary Conduct ; he seeks
to divorce his Consort ; he is humbled by the Revolt of
his Subjects ; he quarrels with Pope Gregory ; is ex-
communicated and forced to do Penance ; is deposed by
the Princes of the Empire - - 142
Rudolf Duke of Swabia elected by the German Princes ;
he is defeated by Henry, and slain ; another Anti-
Casar elected ; hostile Sentiments of the Papal See to-
wards Henry ; its Cause ; monstrous Pretensions of the
Popes ; Henry triumphs over the Saxons ; the Swabians
elect his Son Conrad ; the Emperor again victorious ;
Germany pacified ; his second Son Henry wrests the
Sceptre from him ; his Death - 143
Reflections on the Reign of Henry IV., with a brief
Character . - . 144
Character of the Papal and Imperial Policy in regard to
the Germanic Church - - 145
11061125. Natural Hostility of the Spiritual and Temporal Heads of
Christendom; celebrated Concordat of 1122; Extinc-
tion of the House of Franconia - - 147
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XI
A. a Page
11251138. Lother II. - 154
1034 1138. History of the Germanic Constitution resumed ; Bounds
of the Empire ; of the Imperial Authority - - 157
In Proportion as the Power of the Emperors decreased,
that of the States was augmented - - - 161
Classes of Germanic Society ; Obligation of military Ser-
vice on all - - - - 164
Municipal Institutions ; Progressive Amelioration in the
Lot of the Peasantry - - - 167
General Character of Germanic Society ; Reign of Vio-
lence ; Bandit Nobles ; Anecdotes illustrative of the
National Manners - - - 171
The Ties of Blood overlooked ; Anecdote - - 177
The Spiritual not much superior to the Temporal Digni-
taries; the Bishop of Hildesheim and the Abbot of
Fulda - - - 178
Other Anecdotes illustrative of Manners - - 182
CHAP. III.
HOUSE OF SWAB1A OR HOHENSTAUFFEN, ETC.
1138 1271.
CONRAD III. FREDERICK BARBAROSSA. HENRVIV. PHILIP.
FREDERIC II. CONRAD IV. WILLIAM OF HOLLAND.
RICHARD OF CORNWALL, ETC. STATE OF THE EMPIRE
DURING THIS PERIOD. THE IMPERIAL PREROGATIVES.
ASCENDANCY OF THE STATES. FALL OF THE DUKES.
PROGRESS OF THE TERRITORIAL PRINCES. THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE. THE COLLEGE OF NOBLES. THE IMPERIAL
CITIES. THE SERFS. LAMENTABLE STATE OF SOCIETY
FROM THE TIME OF THE SECOND FREDERIC TO THE DEATH
OF RICHARD.
1138-1152. Conrad III. ; Troubles - - - - 186
11521190. Frederic I. succeeded Barbarossa ; his Reign one of the
most splendid in the German Annals; his Transactions
in Germany ; in Italy ; in Palestine ; Character of his
Reign - . - 189
11901212. Heinric VI.; Philip; Otho IV.; Anarchy; Otho de-
throned by the Heir of the Hohenstauffens - - 194
121 1250. Frederic II. ; his remarkable Reign ; Duplicity of his
Conduct ; his Transactions in the Holy Land ; in
Italy ; Violence no less than Perfidy of his Character - 197
12501271. Conrad IV. ; William of Holland ; Richard of Cornwall ;
Alfonso of Castile ; Universal Anarchy - -205
Xll ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D. - Page
11381271. History of the Germanic Constitution resumed; further
Limitations of the Imperial Authority ; the Crown di-
vested by degrees of its most important Prerogatives ;
its increasing Poverty ... 208
Peculiarities of the Swabian Period :
I. Conversion of the Privilege of Pretaxation into the
Right of Suffrage; Number of Electors . -213
IL The College of Princes ; Augmentation of the Body ;
their Privileges - . . - 218
III. Condition of the Nobles immediately below the
Rank of Prince . . -223
IV. Progress of the Germanic Municipalities - . 224
V. Condition of the Serfs and Peasantry ; Progressive
Amelioration in their Lot - - - 228
VI. Military Service - - - - 231
VII. Progress of the Territorial Jurisdiction; State of
Society - - -233
State of Society continued ; alarming Character of the
Times - '. - . - - 238
It could not be reformed by the Institutions of Chivalry,
the Advantages of which have been exaggerated;
Anecdotes illustrative of National Violence - - 241
CHAP. IV.
THE HOUSES OF HAFSBURG, LUXEMBURG, AND BAVARIA.
12731437.
SECTION I.
STATE OF THE COUNTRY. REIGNS OF RODOLF 1. ADOLF.
ALBERT I. HEINRIC VII. LUDOVIC V. CHARLES IV. WEN-
CESLAS SIGISMUND. IMPERIAL AUTHORITY. PRIVILEGES
OF THE ELECTORS OF THE TERRITORIAL PRINCES OF THE
NOBLES.
1273. State of the Empire after the Death of Richard King
of the Romans ; Election of Rodolf Count of Haps-
burg - - - - - 248
12731291. Rodolf I. ; his manly Character ; sincere Conduct in re-
gard to the Popes; Concordat with Gregory X. ; Victory
over the Bohemian King ; Repression of internal Vio-
lence - - - - 252
12911308. Adolf of Nassau elected, to the Exclusion of Albert, son
of Rodolf; civil War; Albert I. ; Turbulence of the
Germanic Princes ; Restoration of the Imperial Autho-
rity ; Murder of Albert - - 259
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Xlll
A. D. Page
1308 1313. Heinric VII. of the House of Luxemburg ; Compact with
the excluded Princes of Austria - - 264
1313 1317. Anarchy consequent on Heinric's Death ; Ludovic V. ;
internal Troubles ; spirited Conduct of the Diet in re-
gard to the Papal Pretensions ... 267
13471378. Charles IV. of Bohemia - - .272
Charles accused of poisoning Gunther - - -273
His internal Administration - 273
Publication of the famous Golden Bull - -273
The Right of Suffrage recognised as inseparable from the
high Offices of the imperial State and Household - 274
Troubles in the Kingdom during the Absence of the Sove-
reign ; Steps taken by Charles's Predecessors to remedy
them . .... 275
Charles's only Object, the Aggrandisement of his House 277
His Foreign Policy and general Character . - 278
1378 1400. Jf'enceslas succeeds to the Germanic Throne - - 279
His Indifference to the Affairs of the Kingdom ; his un-
feeling Conduct to his Queen ; Murder added to his
other Crimes ; is even reported to have kept near him a
Butcher to execute his Sentences ... 280
The Inhabitants of Prague rise 'against him, and consign
him to a Dungeon ; effects his Escape ; is retaken and
transferred to Austria, but is soon enlarged - - 281
Hostility of the People towards each other - - 282
To secure the public Peace, Charles IV. confides certain
Districts to Imperial Baillies - 283
Wenceslas disposes of one of these Bailliages to Leopold of
Austria for 40,000 Florins in Gold . 284
He forms a Confederation to restore the public Peace, and
exacts an Oath from the Deputies that no Hostilities
should be undertaken before a certain Period ; the pub-
lic Peace further prolonged . 285
The Peace broken by the Duke of Bavaria ; and the War
becomes general - 285
The Confederation dissolved by Imperial Edict, and Mea-
sures taken to ensure Tranquillity 285
Wenceslas deposed - 286
14001410. The Suffrages of the Electors fall on Robert, Count Pa-
latine ; his unfortunate Administration both in Italy
and Germany - - 287
His Death - -288
1410 1437. Sigismund, King of Hungary, illegally elected - 288
1. His Foreign Policy - - 289
2. His Internal Policy - - 290
1273 1437. History of the Germanic Constitution resumed ; State of
the Imperial Authority and Revenues - 294
State of the Electoral Dignity ; Privileges of the Seven
Elective Princes - - - - 300
XIV ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
Page
The Territorial Princes ; their Position in regard to the
other Powers of the State - - - 305
The Nobles without territorial Jurisdiction ; their natural
Hostility to the other Branches of the State - - 312
Germanic Society ; Improvement in the Condition of the
Rustic Population - . . - 314
TABLE II.
SOVEREIGNS OF GERMANY DURING THE
MIDDLE AGES.
I. CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY.
Pepin
Charlemagne
Ludovic I.
Lother I.
Ludovic II.
Charles II.
Charles III.
Arnulf
Ludovic IV.*
II. SAXON DYNASTY.
Conrad I.
Heinric I. (the Fowler)
Otho I. (the Great)
Otho II.
Otho III. -
Heinric II. (St.)
Reigned.
- 752768.
- 768 814.
- 814 84O.
- 840 855.
- 855875.
- 875877.
- 877888.
- 888899.
- 899910.
911919.
919936.
936973.
973993.
- 9931002.
- 10021024.
III. FRANCONIAN DYNASTY.
Conrad II.
Heinric III.
Heinric IV.
Heinric V.
Lother II. f
10241039.
10391056.
10561106.
11061125.
11251137.
* Or rather Ludovic III. ; but, as there was a French pricceof the same
neme (Louis III.), we will not change the numeral.
f Immediately belonging to the house of Saxony.
TABLE OF SOVEREIGNS.
IV. SwABIAN OR HOHENSTAUFFEN DyNAS*T.
Reigned.
Conrad III. , - - 11371152
Frederic I. (Barbarossa) - 11521190.
Heinric VI. - 11901197.
Philip - 11971208.
Otho IV. - 12081212.
Frederic II. - - 12121250.
Conrad IV. 12501254.
V. FOREIGN HOUSES.
William (of Holland)
Richard (of Cornwall)
- 12541256.
- 12561271.
VI. DYNASTIES OF HAPSBURG, LUXEMBURG, AND
BAVARIA.
Rodolf I.
Adolf -
Albert I.
Heinric VII.
Ludovic V.
Charles IV.
Wenceslas
Robert
Sigismund
1273-
1291-
1298-
1308-
1313-
1347-
1378-
1400-
1410-
-1291.
-1298.
-1308.
-1313.
-1347.
-1378.
-1400.
-1410.
-1437.
H1STOR.Y
OF
THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
BOOK I.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE DURING
THE MIDDLE AGES.
7521437.
INTRODUCTION.
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD.
496752.
\ViTH Germany prior to the dissolution of the Roman
power, the present compendium has no concern : the
history of that period is, or ought to be, familiar to
every reader. Our object is to contemplate that cele-
brated country as an Empire ; but as its establishment
must be traced to an era considerably anterior, a few
pages by way of introduction may properly open the
main subject.
Germany, prior to the French monarchy, exhibits a
perpetual succession of vicissitudes. As we descend the
stream of time, from the invasion by Caesar to the reign
of Honorius, we find new nations, or at least new de-
nominations of such as previously existed ; and that the
boundaries or the location of each is ever changing.
VOL. i. u
*2f / I . I- K-H y 6? ;f HE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
At otvs.time.we read of q number of tribes located on
'. ; :th)>,"fyifck4 off 'the! ,&lbe, /jr of the Rhine, or of the
Danube ; in the revolution of two or three centuries,
we perceive names totally different occupying the same
regions. The causes of these changes are twofold,
the peculiarly military character of the old Germans,
and the frequent arrival of barbaric torrents from the
eastern confines of Europe. Of these causes, the latter
was the more efficacious; for though the Germanic tribes
were always ready to encroach on the boundaries of each
other, they were more generally moved from their seats
by the resistless torrent of invasion, the course of which
was nearly always from east to west. Nor must we
overlook the probability we should be justified in as-
suming it as a fact that new combinations of tribes,
for the purpose whether of defence or aggression, often
changed their distinctive appellation. It has, indeed,
been contended, that the various denominations of
Alamanni, Suevi, Goths, Franks, Saxons, &c. implied
, not associations, whether voluntary or compulsory, of dif-
ferent, however kindred, tribes, kindred in descent,
manners, and language, but that each was a generic term
strictly applicable to one great nation. But for such an
assertion there is no foundation. That these associ-
ations were frequent, may easily be collected from the
incidental notices of the Roman historians; and reason
tells us that it must have been so. All the great tribes
were, in fact, eager to increase their armed defenders,
by incorporating with themselves their allies or those
whom they subdued. On some occasions, we distinctly
read that the option proposed by one tribe to another,
was alliance or war. Yet where success must, in the
nature of things, have been so variable, these alliances
must have been extremely precarious. In most cases,
the victor would dictate, and the conquered would
receive the terms of a new confederation. In a
country covered, not with fortresses, but with forests ;
which contained no strong positions where aggression
might be successfully resisted ; such mutations, alike of
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 3
place and of denomination, were incessant. In general,
the struggle on the eastern frontier, between the nations
of Teutonic and of Sclavonic stock, were felt, by an im-
mediate vibration, in the forests and marshes of the
west. If one nation, or confederation of tribes, was
impelled in the western direction, its first object was in
like manner to dispossess some feebler people ; and the
impulse was soon communicated throughout the social
chain. The location of these confederations at the
opening of the fifth century must be understood, or
little idea can be formed of the establishment of the
French monarchy. 1 . Between the mouths of the
Elbe and the Meuse, along the sea-coast, yet extending
inwards towards the Rhine, were the Franks; not
perhaps the most numerous, or the most formidable,
but, beyond doubt, the most remarkable of the Ger-
manic associations. Sometimes the enemies, more
recently the allies of the empire, they were always
treated with consideration. 2. TheAlamanni, a similar
confederation of tribes, occupied the eastern bank of the
Rhine, from its junction with the Mein to the Lake of
Constance, and as far inward as the frontiers, perhaps, of
Bohemia. 3. In an obscure angle north of the Elbe,
comprising chiefly the duchy of Bremen, and part of
Holstein, the Saxons, in the fourth century, appeared
little formidable to their neighbours : yet in another
we find them stretched considerably into the present
kingdoms of Saxony and Hanover. They could not,
however, be of that nation alone, who, in the fifth
century, sufficed to conquer England : associated, or at
least acting simultaneously with them, were the Jutes,
the Frisians, and other tribes. This expatriation of so
many thousand adventurers did not much affect the
amount of population left behind ; for the extension of
the Saxon frontier continued to be progressive, until
they bordered on the Franks and the Swabians. 4.
Along the southern coasts of the Baltic, comprehending
the maritime tracts of Mecklenburg and Pomerania as
far as the Oder, lay the Vandals. 5. Eastward still, to
B 2
4 1IISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the banks of the Vistula, were the Goths, generally in
alliance with the Vandals. Of this great stock were
the Burgundians, who, as their name implies, dwelt in
cities situated on the confines of Germany and Poland ;
the Heruli, who lay towards the Palus Mueotis ; the
Lombards, who occupied the region between the two,
comprising the northern parts of Pannonia ; and the
Gepidte, who extended farther into that province. Such
were the Teutonic tribes, who, at the period in question,
hovered on the Roman frontiers. Southern Germany,
or Rhsetia and Noricum, which nearly correspond to
Bavaria and Austria, was inhabited by tribes whom we
need not condescend to notice, as they had long been
subject to Rome. 6. But in the central parts of
Germany, extending from the Mein to the Hartz forest,
we perceive the Thuringiaris, evidently composed like
the rest of several tribes belonging to the great Teu-
tonic family. 7- Besides these nations, were some
tribes of Sclavonic descent, inhabiting Monnia, Misnia,
Bohemia, Lusatia, and part of Mecklenburg. Were
these tribes the tributaries or the allies of the Teutones ?
Were they now located in these regions for the first time,
or had they long been here ? These questions cannot
be answered. One thing is certain, that, when in
danger of being expelled by their neighbours, they in-
voked with success the succour of their Polish or
Pannonian kindred.*
409 The changes effected in the location of these tribes
to by the invasion of the Roman empire, were in some
534 ' respects greater, in others less, than we might have ex-
pected. On the one side, the Heruli and the Lombards
penetrated into Italy ; the Suevi, the Alans, and the
Vandals traversed Gaul and passed into Spain ; the
Burgundians settled in the eastern province of Gaul ;
the Franks extended themselves from the Rhine,
* Cffisar, DeBello Gallico. Tacitus, Gcrmania, et Annales, in passages
too familiar to be cited. Jornandes, De Rebus Geticie, cap. ] SO. Pro.
copius, De Belio Vandalico, lib. i. cap. 293. Luden, Gescliichte der
Teutsrhcn Volkes, vol. i. Mannert, Geschichte der Alten Deutschen,
pp. 1 57. Schmidt, Histoire dcs Allemands, torn. i.
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 5
throughout the Netherlands, to the frontiers of that
monarchy. These changes enabled the Saxons, as we
have before intimated, to extend themselves farther into
the interior ; and the Alamanni, who were joined by a
considerable body of the Suevi, to spread themselves
partially into Helvetia, Rhsetia, and Vindelicia. From
this period the united people are distinguished as
Swabians ; and the country now seized by the Boii be-
came known as Bavaria. The Thuringians, by the
movement of the Franks, extended their frontier to the
east bank of the Rhine ; but north of Cologne, that
noble river was still possessed by the Franks. The
subsequent departure of the Goths into Italy and Spain
enabled the nations of Sclavonic descent to spread
themselves farther into Brandenburg, Bohemia, and
towards the Italian frontiers. Of all these people,
the Franks must occupy our chief attention. Subject
to many independent reguli, no doubt, all elective,
though all professedly descended from a common
illustrious ancestor, they were at peace with one
another whenever any common object was to be gained ;
but when no foreign enemy was to be resisted or con-
quered, their intestine quarrels seem to have been
frequent. They \vere arranged under two great con-
federations, the Salian and the Ripuarian Franks. In
481, we first hear of Clovis, prince of the Salian Franks
at Tournay. This man was born to be a hero : with
all the vices of the barbarians, he had also the elevated
qualities which are necessary in the founder of a king-
dom. The steps by which he attained that object are
so well known, that we shall relate only the results.
From Syagrius, the Roman governor of Gaul, he
wrested first the southern provinces, and established his
seat at Soissons ; next the central, and even western
provinces, and transferring his court to Paris : con-
sequently his dominions to the east, bordered on the
state of Burgundy, to the south on the kingdom of the
Wisigoths. For much of this success he was, doubtless,
indebted to his conversion to the catholic faith. As
B 3
6
HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
orthodox Christians, the inhabitants of all Gaul, who
detested the Arian sway of the Burgundians and the
Wisigoths, prayed for his success. Besides, his queen,
Clotilda, who had been the chief instrument of his con-
version, was a princess of the Burgundian house ; do
that he had other claims than those of religion on that
kingdom. In a single campaign, he rendered the
princes of Burgundy tributary to him. In another he
broke, on the plains of Vougle, the force of the Wisigoths;
wrested from them several important places in the south
of France; and would probably have driven them across
the Pyrenees, had not Theodoric the Ostrogoth hastened
to their assistance. For the extension of his dignity
no less than of his power, he received from the Greek
emperor the consular and patrician honours. Hitherto
he had triumphed over his natural enemies only ; he
now turned his arms against his kindred and friends.
By a succession of the most perfidious and odious
crimes, he removed one by one all the long-haired
princes of the Franks long hair being the distinction
of the family of Merowig, which furnished rulers for
the nation who reigned from the Rhine to the
British channel ; and he was recognised by the Franks
who dwelt beyond the northern bank of that river. He
was therefore sole monarch of the nation, and his sway
extended from Burgundy to the confines of Armorica,
and from the borders of Aquitaine into the marshes of
Holland, where his empire was bounded by the Frisian
and Saxon possessions. It mus.t not, indeed, be sup-
posed that his new conquests were secure : he had
rather over-run than subdued the country ; and his
frontiers were perpetually harassed by the most active
enemies. North, as we have just observed, were the
Frisians and Saxons ; eastward, on the right bank of
the Rhine, were the Thuringians, south of them the
Swabians ; in Gaul, the Wisigoths, in the west,
Armorica, disdained submission. But, after all, his
career was most splendid : he humbled both the
Thuringians and the Swabians, who, allured by his
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 7
success, endeavoured to form settlements in Gaul ;
and he made the Svrabians his dependent allies. The
Bavarians, fearful of the yoke, implored the protection
of the Ostrogothic king, and their duke became the ally
of the Lombard crown. But the Ostrogothic power was
declining, and the duke of the Bavarians, like his
brother of Swabia, was soon compelled not, however,
during the life of Clovis to receive the alliance of the
Franks. The successors of this celebrated barbarian
were too often at war with each other to permit the con-
solidation of the new empire. Their divisions were owing
to the erroneous, however common, policy of dividing
the dominions into" as many sovereignties as there were
sons of the king. Thus, on the death of Clovis (511),
the new conquests were bequeathed to his four sons.
With the portions of the princes who reigned in Gaul
we have here no concern.* Austrasia, or the eastern
provinces of the Franks, with the Germanic possessions,
fell to Thierry, the eldest ; while his other brothers
reigned at Soissons, Orleans, and Paris, over their
respective subjects. Thierry had the most ample share.
The Netherlands between the Meuse, the Scheldt, and
the Rhine, were his: the duke of Swabia was his vassal ;
the duke of Bavaria he compelled to become his de-
pendent ally. The Thuringians, indeed, whom his
father had defeated, endeavoured to circumscribe his
boundaries, and they made a formidable attack on his
Rhenish frontier ; hut, with the aid of his brothers, he
completely humbled them, and transplanted to both
banks of the Mein considerable colonies of Franks.
Hence the new province took the name of Franconia,
which it preserved to recent times. This was a politic
step : it compelled the Thuringians to throw themselves
backwards on the Saxon frontier ; it became a strong
barrier against the hostilities of both ; and it served as
a point of departure for succeeding conquests. Hence
Thierry may truly be said to have reigned from the
* See History of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. pp. 79.
B 4
8 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
banks of the Meuse to the frontiers of Bohemia, and
from the confines of modern Thuringia to those of
Switzerland.*
534 The history of the Merovingian dynasty in France
J must be sought in the works expressly devoted to the
' subject, t Adverting, in accordance with our design,
to the chief revolutions which, in the regions west of
the Rhine, preceded the establishment of the Germanic
empire, we may observe, that though sometimes all the
kingdoms of the Franks, Burgundy, Neustria, Aus-
trasia, and subsequently Aquitaine, were the chief,
were twice or thrice under the same sceptre, on the
death of the monarch the same fatal division obtained.
The sovereigns of Austrasia had, like their more western
brethren, various success. By Sigebert, son of Clo-
thaire I., the capital was removed from Rheims to
Mentz ; but, if we except the submission of the
Thuringians, no new conquests signalised the suc-
cessors of Clovis. Through the never-ceasing revolu-
tions, however, in the Frank kingdoms, Burgundy was
frequently under the sceptre of the Austrasian monarch.
But the advantage was more than counterbalanced by
the imbecility, no less than by the accursed vices, of the
Merovingian princes ; the one excited the contempt,
the other the indignation of the people. In one respect,
indeed, these defects were beneficial to them ; since, to
gratify their licentious propensities, the Austrasian kings
shut themselves up from the world, and devolved the
cares of government on a prime minister, the mayor of
the palace. It may readily be supposed that such a state
* Authorities : besides the histories of the Roman Empire, S. Gregorius
Turonensis, Historia Eccles. Francor. lib. i. iv. Victor Turonensis,
Chronica, p. 35! 1. &c. Prosperus Aquitanus, Chronica, cum Chronicon
Pithoeano, p. 295 318. (apud Canisium, Lectiones Antiqux, torn. i.).
Idatius, Chronicon, p. 365. (apud Florez, Espaila Sagrada, torn. vi.). Rorico
Monachus, Gesta Francorum (sub annis). Rhegino Monachus, Chronica,
lib. i. p. 13. (apud Struvium, Rerum Germanicarum Scriptores, torn. i.).
Mannert, Geschichte dcr Alien Deutschen, pp. 57 120. ; necnon Luden,
Geschichte der Teutschen Volkes, ubi supra, bd. ii. et iii. (in multis
paginis).
f See Sismondi, Histoire des Franyais, torn. i. and ii. A notice of the
subject, sufficient for any general purpose, may be found in the History of
Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. chap.i.
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 9
of things must have been as favourable to the popu-
larity, and consequently to the influence, of the mayor,
as it must have been fatal to those of the king. In
fact, from the opening of the seventh century, the
former was tacitly regarded as the virtual master of the
kingdom. The other kingdoms, indeed, had their
mayors ; but none to be compared, either for capability
or power, with those of Austrasia. For this superiority
there are causes sufficiently obvious. Pepin, who, in
the reign of Sigebert II. (638650), held that high
dignity, possessed vast estates in the lordship of Ar-
dennes ; he had numerous vassals ; and, as his talents
were equal to his means, and his ambition to both : he
succeeded in laying the foundation of the future great-
ness of his house. In that office he was succeeded by
his son Grimoald. The customs of the age favoured
this usurpation. The dukes of Swabia, of Franconia,
and Thuringia the three great vassals of the Austra-
sian crown were recognised as hereditary ; why should
not the same law of succession be extended to the
mayors ? Nay, the same ambition descended to the
official dignities, to the counts and the inferior local
magistrates, and the military leaders, who openly
vindicated the new right. To recognise it was for the
interest neither of the crown nor of the mayor ; and
there was long a struggle between the two orders,
which, however, was in favour of the nobles. In
the reign of Dagobert II. (6?3 678), we find another
Pepin, grandson of the former mayor, in possession of
the dignity. Fortunately for his views, Clovis III., the
successor of Dagobert (691 695), succeeded by here-
ditary right or by conquest to the thrones of Neustria
and Burgundy ; and, as Aquitaine had now no vassal
dukes, he was the virtual master of the Franks. From
this time forward, indeed, the three crowns were always
on the same brow, with one nominal interruption. The
same high dignity he held under Childebert III. (695
711), and thus firmly established the influence of
his family. That influence, however, was not acquired
10 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
without some victories over the insurgent nobles ; nor
without some bribes, where open force would have
failed; nor without some concessions to the discontented.
It is certain, that, in a treaty with the heads of the
nobles, he sanctioned the heritability of their lands,
offices, and dignities ; but as they recognised the here-
ditary transmission of his. he was the chief gainer by
the compact. Nor could his pretensions be withstood ;
he wielded at his absolute pleasure the riches, the in-
fluence, the forces of the crown, a crown which was
evidently departing from the wretched brows which it
adorned. So hopeless, indeed, was the imbecility of
these abominable princes, who generally such were
their premature vices died of old age before thirty,
that in modern times much surprise has been caused by
his forbearance towards the royal puppets. He might
easily have removed them : the world remembered them
only to despise them ; they never appeared in public ;
they never discharged any function of royalty. But
he was satisfied with the power without the title of
king. His victories, too, aided his ambition. Over
Radbod, duke of Frisia, he signally triumphed ; and he
reduced to obedience the rebellious duke of Swabia.
Before his death, he removed the seat of government to
Cologne, evidently with the view of more effectually
repressing the spirit of Germanic insubordination. No
less fortunate was it for this aspiring house, that the
successor of Pepin was the celebrated Charles, surnamed,
from his victories, Martel, or the hammer. Neustria,
which was chiefly inhabited by descendants of the
Gauls, was never well disposed to the supremacy of
Austrasia, refused, after Pepin's death, to acknowledge
Dagobert III.; proclaimed Chilperic II., and thereby
asserted its independence. But the king and nobles,
though aided by the duke of Aquitaine, were vanquished
by Charles, who caused them to acknowledge him as
mayor of Chilperic. Chilperic succeeded, on Dagobert's
death, to Austrasia ; and when he, too, paid the debt of
nature, Thierry IV. (720 737.) was permitted to bear
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 11
the vain title of king. At the head of the undivided
power of the Franks, a genius like that of Charles could
not fail to obtain rapid successes. Bavaria, which had
never been invaded, though its duke had been com-
pelled to become an ally of the Franks, he invaded and
subdued : Swabia he conquered : the Saxons, who were
making perpetual irruptions into Franconia, he van-
quished: the Frisians, who were no less restless and
dangerous, he pursued into the very bosom of their
marshes, and compelled them to swear submission. But
what more than all other things contributed to the
establishment of his power, were his victories over the
Arabs, who now poured their vast hordes over the Py-
renees, with the avowed purpose of finishing the con-
quest of Europe. In 732, he met them on the plains
of Poictiers, advancing in the flush of success, and con-
fiding in their prodigious multitude no less than in their
valour. His splendid victory rolled back the barbaric
tide ; it completely broke the Mohammedan power,
and as certainly saved Central Europe from the yoke
That this great hero should be regarded as the so-
vereign of the Franks, was natural : he was invited
by Europe to the throne ; and though, on the death
of Thierry, he did not assume the regal title, he
took care not to confer it on any other prince. In
his conduct at this period he seems to have been actu-
ated by great policy. Many subjects he doubtless had,
who, had he openly assumed the crown, would have
joined the excluded race ; and he had no wish to add
civil war to his other difficulties. The time was, per-
haps, not come for the attempt ; but he hastened its
arrival, not merely by his victories, but by the politic
correspondence which he maintained with the popes.
As the Lombards were menacing the existence of Rome,
the successors of St. Peter cast their eyes on the only
orthodox son of the church who could defend them
against those fierce Arians. Though he sent no armies
to aid the pope, his threats are believed to have arrested
the Lombards in the way to the eternal city ; and the
12 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
service thus rendered, enabled his successors to draw
closer the bonds of amity with the great bishop of the
West. On his death in 74-1, he bequeathed the domi-
nions of the Franks to his three sons, with a disposi-
tion as absolute as if the crown had been for ages in
his family. To Carloman, the eldest, he left Austrasia,
Swabia, and Franconia ; to Pepin, Neustria, Burgundy,
and Provence ; to a bastard son, Grifo, several lordships
by way of fief. Why did his last testament omit all
mention of Aquitaine and Bavaria ? The latter, after
the death of Thierry, refused to acknowledge the Aus-
trasian mayors : in fact, if it had been over- run, it
had never been conquered ; and it had regarded
itself as the ally, not as the vassal of the Merovingians.
The justice of the case seems to have been recognised
by Charles, who made no effort to reduce the duchy.
Carloman and Pepin, however, overthrew the Bavarians,
reducing duke Odilo to vassalage. They found it ne-
cessary also to take the field against the Swabians. The
same success attended them here as in Bavaria ; and
Aquitaine was speedily reduced to submission. But
these advantages threatened to be rendered abortive by
the fatal policy of Charles, in dividing the provinces.
Often had the opportunity of uniting them in one com-
pact monarchy been lost ; dissension, open war, bloody
treachery, were the inevitable consequence. It was re-
served for Pepin to establish the foundation of a great
empire. In 752, his brother Carloman assumed the
cowl ; leaving heirs, however, who, on reaching a suit-
able age, were intended to succeed in the Germanic pro-
vinces. But Pepin forced them also into the cloister ;
and he besought pope Zacharias to sanction his claim
to the crown. Fortunately for him, the Lombards were
now more formidable than ever : the pope had, conse-
quently, the utmost need of his assistance ; and, as the
condition of affording it, his claim was fully sanctioned.
Childeric II., who a few years before he had consented
should bear the regal title probably with the view of
securing the obedience of the Germans was now
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. IS
quietly removed to the cloister, and he was solemnly
anointed and crowned amidst the unbounded acclam-
ations of the people.*
But the institutions and character of a people are
the only subjects on which the eye of the historic
student can rest with pleasure. In the preceding rapid
summary, the question perpetually recurs, What were the
government, the administration, and the polity of a
people thus destined to found a great empire ? Into
that extensive subject we cannot here fully enter, as
on a former occasion we have, for any general pur-
pose, considered it sufficiently, t Our present observ-
ations, so far from being intended as a complete treatise
on it, are, in fact., intended merely as supplementary
or explanatory of what we wrote on that occasion.
When the Franks first appeared in Gaul, they had cer-
tainly hereditary princes ; that is, they had one sove-
reign family from which alone they elected their future
sovereigns, generally, as it appears, during the lifetime
of the reigning monarch j for as to the strict law of
succession, this was unknown in every European coun-
try. What was the authority of these sovereigns ? That
which was sanctioned by the customs of the people,
appears to have been moderate enough. Without the
consent of his assembled warriors, the king could not
legally undertake any important affair. For the great
question of peace or war, this concurrence, we need not
doubt, remained unimpaired ; but in almost every thing
else, except in the exercise of legislation, he con-
tinued, and more rapidly than we might have antici-
* Johannes Biclariensis, Chronicon, p. 337. &c. (apud Canisium, Lec-
tiones Antiquae, torn. i.). S. Gregorius Turonensis, Historia Eccles. Francor.
lib. iy. x. Fredegarius, Chronicon, p. 749. &c. Anonymus, Gesta
Domini Dagoberti, p. 572. &c. ; necnpn Vita Beati Pippini, p. 594. &c.
(apud Duchesne, Rerum Francorum Scriptores, torn. i.). Annales Francicl,
necnon Annales Rerum Francorum (apud eundem, torn. ii. pp. 3 24.).
Flodoardus, Historia Ecclesise Rhemigiensis, lib. i. cap. 18 26. Rhegino
Monachus, Chronicon, lib. i. pp. 1524. (apud Struvium, Rerum Ger.
manicarum Scriptores, torn. i.). Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon, pp. 176
216. (apud eundem). Lambertus Schaflhaburgensis, De Rebus Ger-
manicis, p. 310. (apud eundem). Mannert, Geschichte der Teutschen,
necnon Luden, Geschichte, ubi supra.
t CAU. CYC. Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. II. chap. i.
14- IIISTOKV OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
pated, to extend and establish his authority. In the
first place, he seems to have possessed ample means of
corruption. As the country was won from the original
inhabitants, he assumed the right of partitioning it ac-
cording to his pleasure among those who had helped
him to acquire it, a privilege which must, of neces-
sity, have immeasurably augmented his influence. How
such a privilege should have been left to him, is indeed
surprising ; but that it was an usurpation may fairly be
inferred. In the rapidity of conquest, which was
sometimes effected with a mere handful of troops,
Clovis does not appear to have commenced with more
than 4000 or 5000, and at no period, probably, had
the French kings more than three times that number,
it was not always convenient to convoke the great body
of the Franks ; and as the new domains were to be di-
vided, who so likely to fix the portions as he who had
been witness to the valour exhibited by each warrior ?
Again, on the death of a tenant, the domain naturally
reverted to the king ; and it could either be intrusted,
under the usual condition of military service, to some
member of the same family, or to any other individual
whom he might select. Whatever circumstances may
have placed this privilege in his hands, nothing
seems more certain than that he exercised it. He
could not, however, at his own pleasure, deprive any
tenant of his domain ; such deprivation was the un-
questionable prerogative of the annual plaids, and one
which was retained through every varying change of
fortune. Not that the king did not sometimes punish
his most powerful followers ; but these were exceptions
from the rule; they were instances of violence which no
man had foreseen, and which became less uncommon
in proportion to the augmented influence of the crown.
Again, the king had the nomination of the dukes, counts,
and other functionaries, whose character appears to have
been equally military and civil. Was this, also, an inno-
vation ? This question, perhaps, can never be decided.
Whether it were an innovation or not, there was a
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 15
plausible pretext for its exercise ; for, on a vacancy, the
necessities of the public service would naturally demand
the immediate nomination of a successor. What ap-
pears certain is, that such dignities were generally venal,
unless the king chose to confer them as a mark of his
especial favour. Thus, Gregory of Tours tells us of a
man who sent his son with a considerable sum of money
to court, to procure the vacant office of count, and that
the son bought it for himself. These two facts alone
would account for the rapidity with which the royal
power was consolidated. There was always a sufficient
number of armed warriors at court, in expectation of
lands or dignities, and ready to obey any expression of
the royal will. It was the manifest interest of the king
to augment the number ; and we accordingly find that
this lawless band was sometimes powerful enough even
to crush an insurrection. All, it may be said, could
not reasonably expect either dignities or territorial do-
mains ; but, for the present wants of all, the king had
generally an ample store of gold and silver. When
these failed, the church supplied a resource. To the
more favoured of their followers, the Merovingian princes
of later times sometimes granted the revenues of mo-
nasteries, even of cathedrals. They were his un-
scrupulous instruments so long as he had either the
present means or the future prospect of rewarding them;
and by their aid it was that he was enabled to triumph
over the more powerful dukes or counts who raised the
standard of revolt. Again, so long as the great bulk of
the armed population attended the annual plaids, they
were a check on the royal power. Originally, when
the territory was limited, such attendance was frequent,
because it was not burdensome ; but when the new
vassals were scattered over a wide extent of country,
from the bosom of Franconia to that of Aquitaine, there
were many who had little disposition to undertake a
long, a dangerous, and an expensive journey. The
official dignitaries, indeed, were bound to be present ;
but these were not the men most likely to resist the
16 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
monarch's will. In fact, as these were long removable
at his pleasure, they were in no haste to oppose him.
It is certain that, in process of time, these plaids were
but indifferently attended ; and that the virtual govern-
ment of the nation rested with the king and his de-
pendents. Lastly, the spirit of the Roman jurisprudence,
which was essentially favourable to despotism in the
sovereign, was rapidly displacing that of the Germanic
code. If we read the slavish language of the bishops
of Gaul during the sixth century, we shall soon per-
ceive that his power was irresponsible. But in the
progress and revolution of society, that power de-
creased as rapidly as it had arisen. The causes are
by no means recondite. The personal character of
the monarchs was, probably, the most effectual. The
functions which they were incompetent to discharge,
were intrusted to the mayor of the palace, who, as we
have before intimated, soon engrossed the actual powers
of the monarchy. Again, when the warriors now
become nobles insisted that their domains should be
hereditarily transmissible to their descendants ; when
even the dukes, counts, and other dignitaries, no less
insisted that these offices should descend to their heirs;
the influence of the crown was almost annihilated. We
have alluded to the compact between the mayor, Pepin,
and the nobles of Austrasia, after a struggle which appears
to have continued throughout the greater part of a
century. As far as regarded the lands, there was jus-
tice in it. In all countries, these had been heredi-
tary ; and no man could patiently bear the reflection,
that what he himself had won with the sword, should
be forcibly transferred from his offspring to a stranger.
In fact, there can be no doubt that these fiefs soon
ceased to be moveable; that they were soon regarded
as purely hereditary, subject, perhaps, to a nominal
confirmation by the crown. Where so many thousands
had a direct interest in the question at issue, we need
not wonder that they made common cause against the
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 17
crown, as regarded not only their fief, but their juris-
dictions.*
The judicial system of the Germanic tribes is worthy
of consideration. Our earliest information, derived from
Caesar and confirmed by Tacitus, shows that Germany
had anciently as many republics as it had tribes. Ex-
cept in time of war, there was no chief common to all,
or even to any given confederation. In each pagus or
canton the inhabitants periodically assembled, elected
their magistrates, not for the pagus only, but for each
community or colony towns there were not of that
district. These, Caesar calls principes regionum ac pa-
gorum, Tacitus, principes pagorum vicorumque. Those
who presided over a pagus were certainly equal in au-
thority to the counts, or even the dukes of a later period,
and they were as certainly chosen from the nobles, pro-
bably from some particular family ; for, that there were
hereditary distinctions, even at this period, is incontest-
able. Under these, were certainly other functionaries :
of them was the tiuphad, of whom we read in the
Wisigothic code ; and the magistrates over the vici were,
doubtless, subordinate to those of the pagi. Whether the
principes qui jura per pagos vicosque reddebant, had
official scabini or assessors at this early period, may be
doubted : it is more probable, that a certain number of
householders were chosen for the occasion, to advise and
even to concur with the presiding judge. In sub-
sequent times these dignitaries were called dukes and
counts. It is impossible to ascertain the number in the
dominion of the Franks. The Germanic provinces had,
indeed, but one duke each ; and there could not be
many in Gaul, since his jurisdiction embraced a whole
province, and contained several countships. His office
was originally military ; to lead, at the summons of the
king, the armed men of his duchy to the field; but
* Mably, Observations sur 1'Histoire de France, torn. i. S. Gregorius
Turonensis, Histpria Ecclesiastica, lib. v. cap. 19. lib. vi. cap. 46. lib. vii.
cap. 33. (et in aliis locis). Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France
torn. i. lecon 8. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, tom. i. chap. 6. Sis
mondi, Histoire des Franjais, torn. i. et ii. passim.
VOL. 1. C
18 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
that it soon became civil also, is evident from a formula
in Marculfus. The same twofold and apparently dis-
cordant character distinguished the count. He, too,
had his district, the forces of which he led to the ban-
ner of his duke, and in the tribunal of which he ad-
ministered justice to the people. Both, too, raised the
royal revenues, and transmitted them to the court. In
their origin, these offices, as we have already intimated,
were conferred for a period only, at the pleasure of the
crown; but they were soon held for life, and were,
consequently, irrevocable, unless in cases of convicted
delinquency. Subsequently, as we have shown, they
were declared hereditary. To repress extortion, the
dukes appear to have had no interest in the revenues
of their provinces. Those of a certain territory were
assigned to support the splendour of the dignity,
in the immediate vicinity of the place where the duke
had his seat of jurisdiction. Thus, the city of Wurtz-
burg, and its dependencies, was the ancient domain
of the duke of Franconia; and in later times, the
whole circle of Wittenberg was not thought too ample
for the necessities of the dukes of Saxony. In each
courtship (pagus, gau; hence the numerous German
words ending in gau, as Risgau, Rhingau) were several
hundreds, each governed by a hundredary or centen-
arius, who, like the count and duke, had his tribunal.
But, as reliance could not always be placed on the in-
tegrity, or competency, or moderation of the military
judges, missi dominici, or royal commissaries, armed
with superior judicial powers, were frequently sent into
the provinces, to superintend the administration of jus-
tice, to report on the conduct of the ordinary function-
aries, and to hold courts themselves, into which they
could evoke any cause pending in the inferior tribunals.
And the bishops appear to have been invested with a
sort of indirect control over the counts of the same city.
Appeals, too, could regularly be carried from an inferior
to a higher tribunal ; even from the decision of the
royal judges, there was an appeal to the superior justice
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 19
of the monarch. Besides, in the annual plaids, which,
under the Merovingian sovereigns, were always held in
March, and thence called Campi Martii, complaints
could be made against any functionary, from the centen-
ary to the duke, who had abused his trust. When the
king sat on the seat of judgment, he was always accom-
panied by the higher officers of his crown ; by his
marshals, senechals, stewards, cupbearers, &c., and,
generally, by one or two bishops. The dukes and
counts, too, were not allowed to dispense justice alone :
they presided in a court, composed of a certain number of
assessors, called scabini or rachimburgii, who possessed
the right of advice and suffrage ; and they had vicars
to take their places, either when the multiplicity of
affairs exceeded the power of one man, or when they
were absent on military business. And there was
another class of functionaries associated with the co-
mites and rachimburgi, or scabini. These were the sagi-
barones, who appear to have been a sort of syndics or
advising magistrates. They were not so numerous as the
scabini; for, while every open tribunal required seven,
there were only three sagibarones. Originally these func-
tionaries, the count, and the scabini (for the sagibarones
are of more recent appointment), met in their tribunal, or
mallum, under the open firmament, to administer justice
in presence of the people. The place had some dis-
tinguishing mark to warn the people of its sanctity, to
repress turbulence and noise, and to inspire a sedate at-
tention. That distinction was sometimes a solitary oak,
sometimes a cross, now a statue ; and, if none of these
were at hand, the upraised shield of the judge might be
a sufficient token. These primitive judgments in the
open air continued to the days of Charlemagne, and
even of his sons. Both he and Louis le Debonnaire,
caused buildings to be erected, for the purpose, " that
the public service might not suffer either through the
heat of the sun, or the rain." But we must never for-
get that the jurisdiction of the count was as well military
c 2
20 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
as civil ; and as no man could be equal to these two-
fold duties, when he was occupied in one he necessarily
devolved the care of the other on his vicar, or vice-
count. Each vicar had his tribunal, but that tribunal
could not suffice either for the multiplicity of affairs or
for the extent of a district. Hence the inferior courts
of the centenary or hundredary, so called, probably, from
his jurisdiction over a district containing 100 families
or hamlets ; of the decanus, or tything man, who was
probably something more of a constable than a magis-
trate. It has, however been said, that he held his tri-
bunal, as well as his superior the centenary ; but if he
had one, it must assuredly have been for very trifling
causes. By some writers he is supposed to have been
identical with the tungin ; but this officer was certainly
one of much higher grade. The tungin appears to have
been independent of the ordinary or royal courts, and
to have exercised a territorial jurisdiction by especial
grant from the sovereign. From several of the Ger-
manic codes it is evident, that he took cognisance of
very important cases, a fact that does not much coun-
tenance the notion of his identity with the public tything-
man. That there were regular gradations of appeal
through these tribunals, is undoubted. The two judges
of the king's palace were chiefly occupied in hearing
appeals ; and it is certain, that they were often carried
from the centenary to the count, from the count to the
king, and from the king to the annual placita.*
The society of the German tribes will be found to
exhibit features no less striking than the government
and administration. That the feudal system had its
roots in these times, is, of all facts, the least questionable.
Lands were confessedly bestowed and held on the con-
Caesar, De Bello Gallico, lib. vi. cap. 23. Tacitus, De Moribus Gcr-
manorum, cap. 12. Capitularta Regum Francorum (in a multitude of
places). Lindenbrogius, Codex Legum Antiquarum, especially the laws of
the Franks, passim. Ducangc, Glossarium ad Scriptores, voc. Dux, Cornet,
Rachimbergus, Scaktni, Sagus-baro, Missus, and many others. Couringius,
De Judiciis Reipublicae Germaniae, 1 36. Marculfus Formula? (in multi*
icriptores) Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanid, lib. iii. tit. 1. See also
Europe during the Middle Age, voL ii. p. 19, Ac,
THE MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 21
dition of military service ; and, except in the event of
invasion, that service was limited to a certain number
of days every year. And it is certain that lands were
not merely held from the monarch; they were also
granted by the great vassals, who may now be called
barons, to inferior warriors. As the number of men
which every great tenant was compelled to furnish, was
proportioned to the extent of his domain, he was of
necessity compelled to surround himself with armed
men. Some of them, indeed, were the inmates of his
abode ; they sat at his table, and were, in fact, his
military domestics ; but to the greater number, smaller
portions of land were conceded, on the same condition
of service. This policy was in other respects useful.
It tended to the better cultivation of the ground ; and
it fortified the different parts of the domain against
aggressions, which in such an age were of perpetual
recurrence. The number of armed attendants on the
persons of the dukes appears to have been considerable.
The German dukes were virtually sovereigns ; and
were often able to contend with their superiors of Aus-
trasia. The hostility of the warriors to agricultural
pursuits, which they devolved on slaves or domestics,
is well known. War and hunting were their constant
employment ; so much so, that lance and man were as
synonymous as spindle and woman. In the laws of all
these people, the life of a dog, of a falcon, or a hawk, is
secured by heavy penalties. Buried in the recesses of
their vast forests, surrounded by a numerous train of
slaves and of armed warriors, occupied in masculine
sports, and proudly conscious of their independence, the
German barons were little disposed to abide in cities.
At their superior's summons, they were always ready to
take the field ; but that service performed, they regarded
themselves as under no obligation to him, and they
hastened to visit their rural abodes. In their habits of
life we perceive a considerable improvement from the
time of Tacitus. Their houses were evidently much
larger, and provided with apartments appropriated to
c 3
22 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
distinct offices of the household ; their tables became,
not indeed more plentiful, but certainly much less rude.
We read even of cooks, a refinement unknown to their
lives of old. It is equally clear that, though they took
no part in agricultural labours, considerable improve-
ment had been effected in that most useful of the arts.
The class of slaves must have greatly multiplied, before
the land could be rendered capable of supporting so
many free-born warriors. Enfranchisement, however,
was not unfrequent, especially that partial sort, which
though it broke the more galling chain of servitude, still
rendered the freedman dependent on his patron, sub-
ject to certain services or returns of produce. On the
whole, it is difficult to determine whether liberty most
flourished in Germany or Gaul ; for though in the lat-
ter country the influence of religion was incomparably
greater during the Merovingian sway, in the former
there had always subsisted more individual independence.
In Gaul, however, manumission was much more fre-
quent: the slaves were even elevated into liberty, that
they might, on any emergency, be able to assist their
lords, who, from their location in a foreign country, had
not, like the German barons, free-born warriors always
at hand to assist them. In Gaul, too, the church had
an infinitely greater number of slaves. In fact, Chris-
tianity was little known in Germany during the period
before us : and under that spirit which has always in-
fluenced the ministers of the altar, the worst evils of
slavery in the former country were sure to be mitigated.
There were other marks of distinction between the people
of Gaul and of Germany. In the former, the eccle-
siastical dignities and the municipal offices were in the
hands of navties, whose influence was a salutary coun-
terpoise to the tyranny of the new proprietors. Again,
the proudest tenants paid more attention to the cul-
tivation of the ground, than their trans-rhenish country-
men. Thirdly, the constant intercourse between the
two great classes of the people, insensibly led to an ap-
proximation. Though originally, the life of a Frank
THK MEROVINGIAN PERIOD. 23
was rated at twice the amount of a Gaul s ; but this
obnoxious distinction was soon abolished by the Bur-
gundians, who placed the two nations on an equal foot-
ing ; and their example was at length imitated by the
Franks.*
' * Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. i. Guizot, Histoire de la
Civilisation en France, torn. i. Mably, Observations sur 1'Histoire de
France, torn. i. et ii. Sismondi, Histoire des Francais, torn. ii. Europe
during the Middle Ages, vol. i. in pages too numerous to be cited. To
none of these works, however, are the preceding paragraphs much in-
debted. They are chiefly founded on the laws of the several Germanic
codes, and on some incidental notices in the chronicles of the times.
o 4
24 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
CHAPTER I.
I THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY.*
752910.
CHARLEMAGNE RESTORES THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST. HIS
REIGN AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS. CONVULSIONS OF
THE EMPIRE. CIVIL WARS. SEPARATION OF THE FRANK
AND GERMANIC CROWNS. GOVERNMENT, LAWS, SOCIETY,
AND MANNERS OF THE GERMANS DURING THE DOMINATION
OF THIS HOUSE. LAWS THROWING LIGHT ON THAT SOCI-
ETY. CODES OF THE FRANKS. BURGUNDIANS. SWA-
BIANS. BAVARIANS. ANGLES. SAXONS. FRISIANS.
752 THE conduct of Pepin was not unworthy of the confi-
to dence which had been reposed in him. Like his im-
fH' mediate predecessor, he triumphed over the hostile
Frisians and Saxons, and he quelled the insurrections of
the Germanic dukes. To the pope he proved that he
could be grateful for his elevation to a throne. Being
honoured by a personal visit from Stephen III., and in-
formed of the extremity to which the Roman posses-
sions were reduced, he first remonstrated with Astolfus
of Lombardy ; and when that prince still marched
on Rome, he hastened into Italy, and forced him to
restore the exarchate of Ravenna, not indeed to the
Greek emperor, but to the pope. In his testament,
which he took care to see confirmed in a public diet, the
year before his death, he left his two sons, Charles and
Carloman, joint heirs of his states. To the one he left
the West, from Frisia to the Pyrenees ; to the other,
the Germanic provinces, part of Austrasia, Alsace, Swit-
zerland, Burgundy, and Provence. To us, whom his-
* As this dynasty was also common to France, we pass over it with cele-
rity, referring the reader for more ample particulars to the histories of that
kingdom, and.of Europe during the Middle Ages, CAB. Cvc.
THE CABLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 25
tory has presented with a wide field of experience, it
often seems surprising that such impolitic measures could
be adopted by men distinguished for considerable powers
of judgment, for such, assuredly, were Charles Mar-
tel and Pepin. Its ruinous effects were before the
eyes of both ; yet neither they nor any other sovereign
of these ages ever thought of deviating from it. It
is indeed probable, that to one of the sons, gene-
rally the eldest, a superiority was awarded over the
others; but it was merely feudal, consequently no-
minal. The most obvious cause of this policy must be
traced to that natural affection, and to those natural
feelings of justice, which lay in the paternal breast ; yet
a more enlightened affection would have shrunk from
placing sons in a position where they must inevitably
become hostile to one another, where troubles must,
of necessity, agitate both them and their people. But
the equality of rights among the children of the same
family, the total absence of primogenital advantages, dis-
tinguished all the Teutonic, all the Sclavonic nations ;
and custom was too powerful to be eradicated by policy,
until it was found, by that most effectual, though most
melancholy of teachers, experience, that where primoge-
niture is not adopted, society will be disorganised. In
the present instance, indeed, no serious mischief followed
the partition. A civil war was preparing by both bro-
thers, when Carloman died, and though he left children,
their claims were disregarded by Charles, who seized the
whole inheritance.*
In estimating the reign and character of Charlemagne, 771
let us not lose sight of the peculiar advantages which at- to
tended his accession. 1. He was the undisputed master 814 *
of France, for the Arabs had, in the late reign, been
driven from Septimania. In Germany he had ample
possessions, and if he could place little dependence on
* Eginhardus, Annales Regum Francorum, &.. n. 741771. Idem, Vita
Carol! Magni, cap. 118. Monachus Gallensis, De Gestis ejusdem, lib. i.
Oe Gestis Francorum, p. 136^ (apuci Duchesne, Rerum Francorum
,:,, 01C _218. (apud Struvium,
;, Geschichte den Alien
itchen Volkes, th. iv. . .,
26 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the attachment of the Bavarians, the Franconians were
bound to his government, and the Swabians were not
ill affected towards him. His empire, therefore, ex-
tended from the Scheldt to the Pyrenees, and from Bo-
hemia to the British Channel. 2. The forces, to the
direction of which he also succeeded, had been rendered
warlike and confident by the victories of his father and
grandfather. 3. He had nothing to fear from the
Arabs, whom his great predecessor had taught for ever
to respect the territory of the Franks; nor from the
Lombards, who could not for a moment contend with
him ; nor from the Greek empire, which was fast sink-
ing into imbecility. 4. The north had not yet equipped
the formidable maritime expeditions which, in another
century, were to shake Europe to its foundations.
5. The introduction of Christianity, during the eighth
century, into Germany, in some degree, even among the
Saxons and the Frisians, opened the way for greater
triumphs ; since the new converts were taught to pray
for the success of the Christian king, of one who would
prostrate the idols of the Pagans, burn the temples so
long polluted by bloody rites, and infuse a new spirit,
the spirit of harmony, of peace, and happiness, into
scenes which had long been disfigured by the tempest of
passion and of violence. These were great advantages,
the coincidence and concurrence of which nothing short of
Omniscience could have foreseen, perhaps which nothing
short of Omnipotence could have produced. Yet he had
difficulties to remove which would have cooled the ardour
of any other prince. The Frisians and Saxons were, in
the proportion of nine to ten, pagans, actuated by a
fierce hatred of Christianity, and by a quenchless thirst
for blood and plunder. These were men to whom war
was agreeable as a passtime, and whose predatory in-
cursions had for ages troubled the surrounding tribes.
We are astonished to see the territorial progress of
the Saxons. At the dissolution of the Western empire,
they occupied, as we have before shown, a bounded
region near the mouth of the Elbe. Now they bordered
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 27
on Franconia to the south, westward with the Frisians,
and eastward with the Sclavonic tribes, which lay between
the Elbe and the Oder. This aggrandisement was the
effect, not so much of increase in population, for bar-
barous nations do not multiply, as of conquest. They
forced other tribes to amalgamate with them, and their
augmented number of warriors enabled them to medi-
tate even greater enterprises than they had yet effected.
Again, the Bavarians bore their dependence on the
Franks with exceeding impatience ; they waited only
for a rising in northern Germany, to throw their own
swords into the scale of war. Should they and the
Saxons combine, it would require all Charlemagne's
power to break their force. From the very commence-
ment of his reign he seems to have meditated the sub-
jugation of both. He began with the Saxons, the most
formidable and savage of his enemies ; and though his
operations were often suspended by his campaigns in
Spain, Aquitaine, and Italy, he always returned with
augmented vigour to the charge. In 772 war was for-
mally declared against them, in the diet of Worms.
The immediate cause was, the massacre of some mis- ,
sionaries whom the monarch had sent to reclaim the
people from idolatry, but their frequent irruptions in
Franconia had no less effect on the resolution. In a
rapid campaign, he prostrated these ferocious people ;
for what could undisciplined, however brave levies effect,
in opposition to a veteran army, led by one of the ablest
generals that Europe has ever produced ? In this cam-
paign he took the strong fortress of Eresberg (now
Statbergen, in the bishopric of Paderborn), containing
the temple and idol of Irminsul, (statue of Irmin), the
object of their peculiar veneration. This Irmin was the
celebrated Arminius (Armin), the Cheruscan (a branch
of the Saxons) chief, who, eight centuries before, had
cut off the Roman army, with its leader Quintilius
Varus. That such a hero should long be venerated as
the saviour of his country ; that in the progress of cen-
turies he should attain the honour of deification, is ex-
28 BISTORT OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ceedingly probable. All the pagan demigods have, at
some period, been men, whose fame, magnified through
the mist of succeeding ages, has been elevated from hu-
man to divine.* Such was Hercules, such Odin, such
Armin. After this triumph, Charlemagne halted on
the banks of the Weser, arid forced the deputies of the
Saxon states the chiefs of the confederation, to give
hostages for their future obedience. In a short time,
however, so far from observing the treaty, they poured
their wild hordes into Franconia, burnt every church
and monastery that fell in their way, and put every
creature to the sword. Another campaign reduced the
four great tribes, or rather confederation of tribes, of"
which they were composed, the Westphalians, who lay
west of the Weser ; the Eastphalians, who lay between
that river and the Ems ; the Angravarians, who bordered
the Westphalians ; and the Nordalbingians, who dwelt
north of the Elbe, the cradle of the Saxon race. As be-
fore, however, no sooner was he engaged in a distant
war, than they renewed their depredations ; and, on his
return, were forced to bend before his commanding ge-
nius. He soon discovered that these savage people could
never be civilised, never be made to forsake their warlike
habits, unless they were effectually reclaimed from
idolatry. With this view, he dispersed the numerous
hostages he received in the cloisters of monasteries, and
sent missionaries to labour in the wide field. In 776
Witikind, the most famous chief of the Saxon chiefs,
instigated the Westphalians to revolt ; and committed
ravages which long rendered his name memorable ; but
the monarch's approach compelled him to seek shelter
with the Danish king. Charles had reason enough
to be dissatisfied with his two great feudatories, the
dukes of Swabia and Bavaria, who during his absence
* Roland, too, had his statue. That gods could be made without much
difficulty, appears from the celebrated passage in the Life of St. Anschar.
See History of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 213. The
following is not less remarkable :
" Colunt et Decs ex hominibus factos ; quos pro inpentibus factis itn-
niortalitate donant, sicut in vita sancti Ansgarii legitur Ericus rex fecisse.'"
Adamus Hremensis, lib. iv.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 29
raised not a lance in defence of the invaded provinces.
When, in 778, Witikind returned, duke Tassilo of
Bavaria remained inactive: (the troops of Swabia ap-
pear to have been absent on the Spanish expedition).*
In this war Witikind had at first the advantage ; but,
as in all other cases, it fled on the approach of the king.
That Charles should be exasperated at these manifold
perfidies, and still more at the wanton outrages which
accompanied them, for the Saxon chief was little short
of a demon, was natural; but the coolness with which he
massacred, at Verden, 4500 Saxon prisoners, must cover
his name with everlasting infamy. It was as impolitic
as it was demoniacal, for it roused the whole nation to
arms. But though the king had thus created a new and
more formidable obstacle, with him victory and battle
were words of the same import. This time he humbled
the country so completely, that both Witikind and his
brother submitted, and received baptism. The alterna-
tive of death or Christianity was held out to thousands
of the people, who naturally preferred the latter. He
now incorporated the region with his empire, and in his
subsequent wars drew off some ferocious natives of this
extensive province to distant points of his empire. But
that conquest cannot be called complete before 803. He
was even compelled to adopt a cruel but successful
policy, that of transplanting 10,000 at a time from
the bosom of their forests to colonise various parts of
his dominions in France and Italy : it broke the force
of their confederation; and, joined to the incorporation
of the more turbulent spirits with his armies in Italy
or Aquitaine, or on other distant points of his empire,
rendered them sufficiently pliant during the remainder
of his reign ; but the most effectual cause of their sub-
mission, was doubtless, their adoption of Christianity.
So much had they been humbled by their successive
disasters, that they consented to pay tithes to the priest-
hood located among them, utterly to destroy their tem-
ples, and to baptise every child that should be born ;
* See History of Spain and Portugal, voL i.
30 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
nay, in the diet of Wurtzburg, the more aged agreed
to receive the regenerating rite. Yet, so stout had been
their resistance, that the monarch granted them more
favourable terms than they could have expected : he
extended to them all the privileges of liis own Franks,
he exempted them from every species of tribute, other
than that of tithes ; he admitted their chiefs to the
diets of the empire, and he exacted nothing from them
beyond the usual oaths of fidelity, and the right of
nominating their judges and governors, though both
were to be chosen from the Saxons themselves. Thus,
after numerous campaigns, and the loss of so many
brave defenders, after seeing its myriads drawn away to
distant settlements, and their place filled by the Obo-
trites, or Sclavonic tribe, this proud nation received the
yoke. Some thousands, however, preferring expatria-
tion to submission, repaired to the Danes, whom they
joined in the piratical expeditions, which in the reign
of Charlemagne's successor began to desolate the mari-
time provinces of Gaul. Of Witikind we hear no more;
he appears to have retired to his ample domains, and to
have passed the remainder of his days in tranquillity.*
He left an illustrious posterity; his immediate descend-
ant, count Walbert, was the root of the ancient counts
of Oldenburg, and consequently of the now reigning
houses of Denmark and Russia. Long before the ter-
mination of this war, duke Tassilo was called to ac-
count ; perceiving the storm that was ready to burst
upon him, he invoked the mediation of the pope, but
his object being evidently to gain time, until he could
bring the Avars of Bohemia, and even a body of Pan-
nonians into the heart of Germany, negotiations were
broken off, Bavaria was invaded, and the duke forced
to appear at the diet of Ingelheim ; there he was delibe-
rately tried by his peers, was found guilty of violating
the fidelity which as a vassal he had sworn to his feudal
superior, and was condemned to death. But his relation-
ship with the royal family (he had married one daughter
* He was sainted ! His acts are in Mabillon.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 31
of the Lombard king and Charlemagne another) mitigated
his fate, and both he and his consort were allowed to
pass their days in religious seclusion. In 794 he so-
lemnly renounced all claim to the sovereignty of Bavaria,
which was now divided into feudal governments, ac-
cording to the system established in every other part of
the empire. With Tassilo ended the princely house
of the Agiolfingians, who had governed Bavaria during
two centuries. But if the duke was thus removed, the
ferocious barbarians whom he had invoked soon brought
desolation into Bavaria. By the Saxons, the Frisians,
and the Bavarians, however, these invaders were signally
defeated on the banks of the Danube, and were precipi-
tately driven back into Hungary. In this campaign^
the boundary of the empire was carried from the Ens
to the Raab, while, north of the Danube, his generals
carried it from the Elbe to the Oder. Of these con-
quests, magnificent as they were, we have few details
in the ancient chroniclers. To defend them, he co-
lonised the country between the Drave, the Danube,
and the Raab, not only with Germans but with such
Avars as embraced Christianity : and he placed this
important work under the superintendance of a mar-
grave. For the sake of more easy communication with
this distant frontier, he formed the gigantic design of
joining, by means of a canal, the Rhine with the
Danube; but though considerable progress was made in
the work, the mechanical knowledge of the age was un-
equal to it, and it was reluctantly abandoned. The truth
is, Charles was much superior to that age; his compre-
hensive views often urged him to the adoption of mea-
sures for which his contemporaries were wholly unpre-
pared, and in the execution of which he could find no
co-operators : that his German successes were not his
only ones, has been related in several of the historical
works embraced in this collection, the CABINET CYCLO-
PEDIA.* We shall here content ourselves with observ-
See the History of France ; the History of Spain and Portugal, vol. i. ;
the History of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. chap. 1.
32 HISTORY OP THE GE11MANIC EMPIRE.
ing, that he subdued Catalonia, and all Italy as far as
the confines of Beneventum ; he was consequently lord
of as many regions in Europe as Rome had ever pos-
sessed. From the Ebro to the mouth of the Elbe, from
the British Channel to the Oder and the Raab such was
the empire of this great prince. Much of this was his
own work. When he ascended the throne, Franconia
and Swabia were the only Germanic provinces which
owned his sway : it is strange that he should make no
effort to subjugate Bohemia, which was inhabited by
Sclavonic pagans, men ever ready to join the Huns in
any depredations. Two motives by which he was
almost equally actuated, ambition, and the propagation
of the Christian faith, would, we might imagine, suf-
fice to move him ; yet he made no serious attempt to
subjugate that wild ^'country. His generals and sons,
indeed, appear to have overrun it in their passage to
the Oder, and it may be, that the natives, by acting as
his allies, averted his hostilities for the time ; but they
never recognised him as their sovereign, perhaps they
openly defied his power ; nor is it unlikely, that with
the aids they were able to receive from the neighbouring
provinces of Poland, Brandenburg and Hungary, and
with the rugged nature of the country, they might feel
confident in their powers of resistance. However this
be, enough of military glory remains for Charlemagne,
more perhaps than had ever fallen to the lot of any con-
queror since the days of Julius Caesar. Well did he
deserve the imperial crown, which, in the year 800, pope
Leo III. placed on his brows in the capital of the
Christian world. But military glory is not his only, nor
his chief claim to the admiration of posterity : never
did conqueror labour like him to introduce civilisation
among the conquered. This he effected, not only by
sending missionaries among them, by compelling them
to receive religious instruction, but by the establishment
of monasteries, where youth were taught all the know-
ledge of the age ; by promulgating laws for their obserr-
ance ; by furnishing them with a new system of admi-
THE CAHLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 3
lustration. Of his activity in this respect, as regarded
not only the Saxons and the Bavarians, but the Frisians,
the Lombards, and the Franks, we have evidence enough
in the various Germanic codes, and the number of diets
convoked by him ; he was, beyond all doubt, the great-
est legislator of the middle ages. Of his zeal for the
diffusion of religion;, for the maintenance of discipline,
for the restoration of learning; of the allurements which
he held out to all who to-operated with him in his ex-
tensive reforms, this is not the place to speak ; suffice
it to know, that both to the religious and the intellectual
character of his age;, he gave no less an impulse than to
the political and civil, an impulse which long survived
him, which even descended to modern times. In every
respect his reign was glorious. In Spain he aimed the
first effectual blow at the Mohammedan power, which
he precipitated beyond the Ebro. In Lombardy he
broke the iron yoke of the most tyrannical people that
Italy had yet seen. In Germany he did much more :
he humbled the Frisians : the lawless barbarians of
Saxony, who for ages had been the curse of their neigh-
bours, he not merely subjugated, but conducted into
the career of civilisation and of happiness : the Sla-
vonians he taught to respect the public tranquillity:
the Avars and Pannonians he confined within bar-
riers, which he defended by an armed force. In fact,
this monarch was the father of European civilisation ;
he not only called it into existence, but protected it
by barriers which barbarism afterwards in vain as-
sailed. As the founder of the Germanic empire, he
has peculiar claims on the gratitude of all posterity; no
genius less commanding than his could have formed
the most savage, and the most lawless of men, into a
body politic ; could have transformed wild beasts into
rational and humane beings. That empire has been the
bulwark of European knowledge, morals, and freedom.
How often it has rolled back the tide of Asiatic invasion,
how often it has withstood the spiritual despotism of
vot. i. D
34 HISTORY OF THE GKKMANIO EMPIRE.
the popes, need not be mentioned here. Much of the
glory must be attributed to this wonderful man, who,
to the Christian philosopher, seems to have been raised
by Heaven itself for the accomplishment of its own high
purpose. He had, indeed, his defects ; he was inor-?
dinately ambitious ; in the promotion of his schemes he
subjected his people to incredible sacrifices ; in private
life he was incontinent, sometimes cruel; and he often
pursued the gratification of his own will at the expense
of justice ; but it may be replied, a strong hand, even
a rod of iron was necessary to rule men, grown licen-*
tious by immemorial impunity. To the poor he was
always clement, and in the frequency with which he
convoked, and the solicitude with which he consulted
his diets, he evinced his natural love of justice, and sur-
rounded himself with a host of faithful and affectionate
advisers. No wonder that his fame should be so widely
diffused, even in his own days. " His name was re-
spected with equal reverence by the Arab of the desert,
and by the pirate of the deep. The kings of his time,
from the caliphs of JJagdat to the Anglo-Saxon reguli,
from the sovereigns of Cordova to those of Scandinavia,
were eager to obtain his notice, to be honoured by his
friendship or alliance." To some of his institutions, to
such especially as have survived to more recent times,
we shall advert before the conclusion of this chapter ;
while his zeal for learning and religion will often be
mentioned in this compendium. His glory cannot suf-
fer from the attacks of malignity ; with all due al-
lowances for the favourable circumstances in which
he was placed, and for the defects with which he was
sullied, he effected more good, and is more entitled to
our admiration, than any other monarch in the whole
range of history. Alfred the Great, who has been op-
posed to him, wiU not for a moment bear comparison
with him. *
* Eginhardus, Vita Caroli Magni, cap. 18. to the end. Monachus Gal-
Icnsis, do Gestis ejusdem, lib. i. et ii. passim. This book is full of fables,
not, however, as respects the hero Charlemagne. Anon Annales de
Gestis Caroli Magni, lib. i. v. Fragmenta de Rebus Gestis Caroli M.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 35
It is unfortunate for mankind that the edifice which 814
Charlemagne erected with so much labour, could not be to
established by his successors ; they were all unworthy 887f
of the station to which they were called ; some of them
did little honour to human nature. In this respect, no
prince was ever so unfortunate. For many of the dis-
asters which followed he himself is to he blamed. If
ever man could be expected to rise above the evil
customs of an age, to appreciate the true interests of
nations, it was Charlemagne ; yet some years before his
death he committed the unpardonable, however common,
error of dividing his dominions among his sons. To
Charles, the eldest, he gave northern France, the Low
Countries, and most of Germany ; to Pepin, Italy and
Bavaria ; to Ludovic, Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine,
and the Spanish March. The two eldest, indeed, pre-
ceded him to the tomb, so that Ludovic inherited the
whole empire. But the evil example was both per-
petuated and sanctioned by this policy ; and being
imitated by others, it led to all the misfortunes of the
following reigns. Louis- le^Debonnaire (8 1 4 840) lived
to see its ill effects : his very children, being dissatisfied
with the portions he assigned them, and rendered proud
by the kingdoms bestowed on them during his life, re-
belled, and dethroned him ; and though he was after-
wards restored, his reign was inglorious, and his life
was one of bitterness. One part of his dominion was
laid waste by the Normans, another by the Danes;
while his subjects derided his impotence. Who would
have believed that such a sovereign coujd be son of
Charlemagne ? We will not enter into the recital
of troubles which perpetually agitated this and the
following reigns, but we must notice such peculiari-
ties as distinguish them from the rest, or throw light
36 BISTORT OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
on society. In the diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (held 817),
there was a classification of royal abbies, viz. abbies of
royal foundation, according to the assistance they were
to furnish to the state. The first, or richest class, was
rated at a certain number of warriors, and at a certain
sum of money, whenever the emperor should go to war ;
the second was to furnish money only ; the third neither
money nor troops, but prayers. The empress Judith,
being accused of adultery with duke Bernard of Septi-
mania *, was permitted to clear herself by the ordeal of
red hot ploughshares. In this reign we perceive the
first traces of the heritability of fiefs : several domains
of the crown were alienated in favour of certain courtiers,
and were transmissible to heirs, while hitherto, in Ger-
many, they had been conferred for life only. In France,
this heritability, as we have before observed, prevailed,
but it had been suspended by Charlemagne. Lother I.
(84-0 855), succeeded t6 the imperial title, yet not to
Germany, which fell by partition to his brother Ludovic;
nor to France, which was the portion of another brother,
Charles the Bald. Lother 's own portion was Lorraine,
Burgundy, Switzerland, and Italy ; bat, with the im-
perial name, he had some superiority over the others>
and he laboured to make it more than nominal. They
resisted, and the sword of civil strife was again drawn.
In the end he received some augmentation ; but king
Louis retained the whole 'of Germany, with the provinces
on the left bank of the Rhine. In 850, Ludovic vested
the ducal title, which had been suppressed by Charle-
magne, in the house of Thurihgia. Though Lother's
domains occupied merely a third of the empire before his
death, he divided that third between his two sons : to
Ludovic II. he left the imperial title, with Italy; to Lo-
thaire, his second son, the country situated between the
Scheldt and the Saone, the Meuse and the Rhine, which
was thence called Lotharii Regnum, and easily corruptible
into Lotharingia and Lorraine. Ludovic 1 1. (8 5 5 875)
being thus confined to Italy, his reign offers few events
* History of Spain and Portugal, vol. iii. (COUNTS OF BARCELONA).
THE CABLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 37
connected wi/h Germany. The duchy of Saxony was
restored ; Alsace was ceded by king Lother to Ludovic
of Germany ; and, on Lothaire's death, the remaining
part of the kingdom, which belonged of right to
the emperor, was seized by Charles the Bald, king of
France ; but it was subsequently divided between the
two. On the death of the emperor, Charles the Bald
(875 877) succeeded to a vain title, and to the more
substantial government of Italy. Ludovic of Germany
contended for both, but dying in the interim, his states
were subdivided. Carloman, the eldest son, had Bavaria,
with the Tyrol, and the other provinces dependent on
that duchy, and with the claims to the Lombard crown ;
Ludovic 1 1 1. had Saxony and Franconia; Charles the Fat
had Swabia, Alsace, and Switzerland, all with the regal
title. As the custom of the age was that every state,
however small, should be equally divided, there required
only a few more subdivisions to have as many kingdoms
as there were cantons, to restore the good old days when
the Salian or Ripuarian Franks alone had as many kings
as all Europe now has. This endless system of sub-
division was rapidly i educing the empire to its primitive
barbarism, was creating a multitude of petty chiefs,
whose mutual hostilities would speedily have trampled
into the earth the rising fruits of civilisation. But
Charlemagne was not to live in vain : circumstances,
which no human prudence could have foreseen, rapidly
tended to restore the unity of the empire. After
the death of Charles the Bald, no chief was imme-
diately nominated ; in fact, the states knew not what to
do : there were so many kings, with interests so opposing,
that a choice would have been difficult. Besides, with
whom was the choice to rest ? Hitherto the reigning
emperor had, with the full approbation of the diet, de-
signated his successor ; but this formality had not been
observed by Charles the Bald, who died suddenly. The
pope openly pretended to the privilege of crowning, in
other words, of creating the emperor ; a pretension mon-
strous enough, but one which would probably have been
3
58 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE*
recognised by the Germans, had not he shown an operi
partiality to the French branch of the Carlovingian
family. The Germans were naturally resolyed to sup-
port the claims, which in reality were the moft feasible^
of king Ludovic's children. The death of the French
branches of the family induced the pope to regard their
wishes, and, in 881, Charles the Fat was invested with
the imperial title. That of his two brothers with-
out issue, left Charles the undisputed master of the em-
pire ; and in 884, by the death of Carloman, king of
France, his sceptre extended over all the countries pos-
sessed by Charlemagne. But his cowardice in war and
his imbecility in peace disgusted his people. Instead
of fighting the Normans, who were laying siege to Paris
itself, and desolating every maritime part of his empire,
he adopted the same notable expedient as our Alfred,
he bribed them to depart ; and they departed only to
return. In 887 } the indignant Germans assembled in
full diet, deposed their imperial log, and elected in his
place, not as emperor, however, but as king, Arnulf duke
of Carinthia, a bastard son of Carloman king of Bavaria.
There was, in fact, no legitimate scion of the house of
Charlemagne remaining, so rapidly had it degenerated in
bodily no less than in mental vigour; for though Charles
the Simple was the offspring of a marriage between his
father Louis-le-Begue and a princess of France, that
marriage had been declared invalid by the church. Be-
sides, Charles was ye 1 ! an Infant, while Arnulf was not
only in the vigour of manhood, but had distinguished
himself in several actions against the Slavonians, who
were endeavouring to penetrate through the march
formed by Charlemagne into Bavaria. We may add, that
the Germans had never been well affected to the French
people, who, though of the same origin as themselves,
had, by intermixture with the native Gauls, lost the!
more prominent of their Teutonic qualities. Under
these circumstances a wiser choice could not have been
made : it was not likely, indeed, to be very agreeable to
the other countries who had hitherto submitted to the im-
Tfate CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 39
perial sceptre. In fact, Italy declared for two princes>
JBerenger duke of Friuli, and Guido duke of Spoletto,
both connected on the female side with the imperial
family.* France declared for Eudes duke bf Aqui-
taine t ; and Burgundy chose Rudolph, who might pos-
sibly be connected by distant ties with the imperial house.
But the diet disregarded these considerations : probably
it hoped, with the aid of its new monarch, to reduce the
other countries to obedience j or, if this should be im-
practible, Germany would still be extensive enough to
form the most powerful as well as the most extensive
sovereignty in Europe. Charles the Fat survived his
deposition only a few months.^
From this moment the crown of Germany is separate 888
from that of France ; and their histories diverge as much to
as those of any two European states. Arnulf found that
the throne to which he was called was not one of down.
During the anarchy which had prevailed during the
greater part of the ninth century, the barbaric tribes had
been loudly knocking at the gates of the empire ; and
wherever they could obtain access, they had carried de-
vastation into its heart. In the end) indeed, they were
compelled to retreat ; but not without ample plunder.
That Bohemia > which had for some time had its own
dukes, had been rendered in some degree dependent on
the empire, is certain ; for in the hope of attaching to his
interests a faithful ally, it was now conferred on Swen-
tibold, Slavonic king of Moravia., which had hitherto
had little intercourse with the CarloVingian monarchs.
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 21.
t Ibid, vol ii. p. 47.
t Eginhardus, Annales Regum Francorum, A. D. 814 829. Astronomus,
Vita et Actus Ludovici Pii, p. 286, &c. Nithardus, de Dissensionibus
Filiorum Ludovici Pii, p. 359, &c. Annales Bertiniani, A. D. 840852-
Annales Metenses, A. b. 852-^888. Annales Francorum Fuldenses, p. 560,
&c. (omnes apud Duchesne, Rerum Francorum Scriptores, torn. ii.). Rhe-
gim, Chronicon, p. 59, &c. Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon, p. 225, &c.
Sigebertus Gemblacensis, Chronograph ia, p. 78H,&c. (onrmesapud Struvium,
Rerum Germanicarum Scriptore-s torn. i.). Ermoldus Nigellus, de Rebus
Ludovici Pii, p. 883, &c. (apud Menckenium, Scriptores Rerum German,
torn. i.). Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. (variis capitulis).
Anon, Historia Archiepiscoporum Bremensium, pp. 77 72. Helmoldus,
Chronicon Sclavorum, cap. 1 6.
n 4
40 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE,
As the Bohemians and Moravians were of the same great
family, the two states would form a powerful rampart
against the assaults of the Hungarians. But Arnulf
might have foreseen the danger of making this pagan
barbarian more formidable than he already was. The
Slavonians were never well affected to their Teutonic
neighbours ; their language, manners, and religion were
divergent ; and frequent hostilities had embittered their
natural rivalry. The duke of Bohemia, as the vassal of
the Moravian king, would certainly join that king when-
ever there was a war with the emperor. Swentibold
soon refused to perform any of the conditions which had
been stipulated with Arnulf. Jn his exasperation, the
latter invited the Huns of Transylvania and Moldavia,
who were not of Slavonic origin, to turn their arms
against Moravia. Here, again, was policy as short-
sighted as it was vindictive. They quickly indeed dis-
membered Moravia, which then stretched far into Hun-
gary ; and, by detaching from it the region east of
Silesia and modern Austria, and adding to this territory
a part of Thracian Dacia, they formed the kingdom of
Hungary ; but from their contiguity they were now able
to pour their wild hordes over the frontier, and to re-
treat before any force could be collected to oppose them.
Though Swentibold was conquered, and compelled to
own himself a vassal of the empire, this advantage was
small : it could not drive back the Huns to the borders
of the Euxine, and it could not be binding on the suc-
cessors of Swentibold. In Arnulf 's reign there seems
to have been much less regard for the defence of the
empire than might have been expected from its consti-
tuted chiefs,. The Slavonic tribes who dwelt eastward
of die Elbe were virtually independent, however their
country might be overrun by the imperial legions. Thus,
in 892, they penetrated into Franconia,, defeated the
frontier troops, and slew the general, the bishop of
Wurtzburg, without any molestation from the duke of
Thuringia. The duke, however, wa.s punished by de-
position, a,nd tha.t important fief was conferred on count
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOIX 41
Burkard, source of the present royal house of Saxony. IB
other wars, however, Arnulf was more successful. Over
the Normans he signally triumphed, and he is believed
to have been the first continental prince who openly de-
fied and conquered these savage barbarians. His Italian
campaigns, and generally those of his successors, we
shall not notice, since they have been detailed at suffi-
cient length in other publications connected with the
present. * Suffice it to say that he procured from pope
Pormosus the imperial crown. It is lamentable to find
that this voluntary act of Charlemagne and his sons was
so speedily drawn into a precedent; that the respect
which they had voluntarily paid to the pope by receiv-
ing the regal consecration at his hands, was perverted
into an obligation, that though a prince, when elected by
the diet, might be king, he could not be recognised as
emperor, of Germany until the ceremony had been pre-
ferred by the head of the church. On the death of Ar-
nulf (899)> who left an infant son, the diet met to no,
minate a successor for the days were past when the
reigning monarch could designate his heir. This im-
portant revolution was the work of circumstances.
During the late reigns, the imperial authority had
declined exactly in proportion as the diets became more
active, and as the feudal system strengthened the au-
thority of each member. The dukes, margraves, and
counts of the empire, and, in virtueof their temporalities,
the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, regarded them-
selves as the legitimate electors of the chief who was to
govern them. They were themselves virtual sovereigns
within their respective jurisdictions; they could, if they
pleased, choose an emperor from among their own order;
and if they could thus eleet they could surely control
him when elected. The custom which had prevailed
since the time of Charlemagne, of requesting their sane,
tion of the future heir, even where the right of blood
and the ordinary law of succession were indisputable,
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics under the correspond-
ing years j and the History of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i.
42 ttlSTORV Ofc THE GERMANIC EMPIRE*
made them willing to believe that the imperial qualifi*
cation depended much more on their approbation than
on any other cause. The memorable occasion on which
they had been assembled to depose the imbecile Charles
the Fat 3 and to elect another in his room, had so strongly
fortified this consciousness of their own privilege, that
thenceforth it was admitted as an essential article of the
Germanic constitution. On this occasion they were no
less called to decide on the choice of emperors. The
son of Arnulf was too young to hold the reins of go-
vernment at a timd when the irruptions of the Slavonic
and Hungarian tribes kept the empire in alarm, when
there was a dispute with France for the possession of Lor-
raine, when Burgundy and Provence were exposed to
the same chances of revolution. On mature deliberation
however, especially on weighing the troubles which in
France and Italy had attended the election of a sovereign
in any other than the reigping house, they Wisely re-
solved to elect the young Ludovic. They furnished him
with two guardians, the archbishop of Mentz, and the
duke of Saxony. His reign was unfortunate ; for though
Lorraine voluntarily submitted, the Huns made terrible
depredations in almost every part of the empire. In
907 they signally defeated the Bavarians, whose chief
fell on the field of battle, and ravaged with impunity
that great province. The following year Thuringia suf-
fered the same fatej many of its noblest chivalry falling
with Burkard their chief: in 909 and 910, the Swa-
bians and Franks suffered the same infliction. Anarchy
was almost as fatal as the enemy's sword : nothing was
more common than for two nobles to raise troops and
make war on each other, with as much ceremony as if
they had been crowned heads. Thus, the count of
Bamberg and the bishop of Wurtzburg disturbed the
tranquillity of the state ; the former, though cited to
appear at the diet, refused ; and though condemned by
his peers, and besieged by the young monarch in person,
would have persisted in his defiance, had not Hatto, the
archbishop, dishonestly allured him to the camp, and put
frHfe ttARiOVifcGIAfc PEBiOD. 43
him to death. His ample domains, which had been
formerly confiscated, were annexed to the crown until the
Eleventh century, when they were applied to the endow-
ment of the new bishopric of Bamberg. The Germans
were in consternation when a count of Bamberg could,
from his castle, defy the combined force of the nation,
fend when the savage Hungarians could thus force a way
almost to the banks of the Rhine. Unhappy the people,
was the cry, which has a child for its king ! In pll
their murmurs were silenced by the death of Ludovic IV.,
with whom ended the Carlovingian line of Germany.*
The period under consideration exhibits, as we have 752
already intimated> no inconsiderable changes in the to
Germanic constitution. Of these the most remark-
able regards the power of the crown. Nothing can
texceed the respect with which Charlemagne and his son
Louis were treated by the proudest princes of the em-
pire. Those who were admitted to their presence were
constrained to kiss their feet; a few, indeed, had the
privilege of kissing the knee only ; a privilege which
they shared with the empress herself. Yet the dukes
and counts who thus condescended to an act of Asiatic
debasement, were themselves adorned with rich crowns.
But, in after times, when the empire was divided into *
a multiplicity of states under the Carlovingian princes,
this pomp would have been too ridiculous to be sus-
tained. Hence these divisions were the primary cause
of the decrease in the imperial authority. A second
was the personal character of the emperors themselves,
which was more powerful than law. Whatever be
the circumscriptions which custom or positive enact-
ments place to the sovereign power, before a master
mind they will be useless : and before a feeble one, they
* Authorities : Rhegino, Chronicon. pp. 87101. (apud Struvium, Rerum
Germanicarum Scriptores> torn. i.). Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon,
pp. 248 255. (in eodem tomo). Lambertus SchaffYiaburgensis, de Rebus
Germanicis, pp. 312, 3ia (in eodem tomo). Cosma Pragensis, Chronicon
Bohemorum, p. 10. (apud Freherum, Rerum Bohemicarum Scriptores).
Dubravius, Histsria Bohemica, lib. ii. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands,
torn. ii. liv. iii. chap. 6. See also Europe during the Middle Ages, voL ii.
chap. i.
44 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
will be drawn more closely than their legitimate con-
struction would warrant. A third and scarcely less pow-
erful reason is to he found in the increased importance, not
only of the diet collectively, but of its leading members
individually. Under the house of Charlemagne, as under
that of Merowig, these assemblies were two in the year;
but the first, which was now held, not in March but in
May, was the only one attended by the great body of the
members, because it was the only one in which the great
Affairs of the monarchy were transacted; the other,
which was held in autumn, chiefly regarded the finan-
cial measures which had been decreed at the preceding,
and was therefore attended only by the dukes, counts,
and the officers of administration. In the placita ma-
jora, the dukes, counts, bishops, scabini, and centenaries
all who were connected with the government or the
administration were officially present ; the great and
small proprietors, the barons and gentry, were so in
virtue of their fiefs ; the freemen in virtue of their cha-
racter as warriors, though undoubtedly there were few
freemen obliged to bear arms not provided with some
portion of landed property. And, in so extensive an
empire, where every man who possessed thirty-six acres
was expected to be present, where every thirty-six, how-
ever subdivided, was compelled to return a warrior and
member, the number must have been prodigious. It
appears, however, that these smaller proprietors took
no share in the deliberations : they could behold and
applaud, but they could not vote. AS to the higher
members of these diets, the dukes were become so
powerful, that it was the policy of Charlemagne to sup-
press them. Those of the Franks, indeed, as they were
originally appointed, could not be dangerous : their
jurisdictions had long been purely official, and it ex-
pired, more anciently, at the royal pleasure, subse-
quently, on their own deaths ; and in no case could it be
transmitted to their descendants, unless through royal
favour. But in Germany it was widely different.
When the Franks began the conquest of the country,
THE CAHLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 45
they formed certain confederations under a head, whom
their chronicles called dux, but whose authority was
assuredly much more extensive. These Were the natural
military leaders, the natural judges of the district ; ahd
for some ages, at least, their dignity had been hereditary,
or, if election had taken place, the choice had been con-
fined to the same family. The dukes of the Franks,
those especially who were placed over the new Trans-
Rhenish provinces, were not sloVv to vindicate the same
extent of authority, with what success may be infer-
red from the conditions which they wrested from the
mayor Pepin, and from the jealousy of the first em-
peror. But if the ducal fief were thus suffered to be-
come extinct with the lives of the nobles who held them,
they were restored by Charlemagne's successors eventu-
ally, though not immediately, with augmented authority.
In reality, they necessarily arose from the very nature
of the feudal system, which that monarch himself con-
tributed to strengthen as much as any prince of his fa-
mily. The military command and the civil jurisdiction
must be confided to some hand ; and though the dukes
were peculiarly trained to the first of these functions,
it was conceived, that if the laws were rendered ex-
plicit, if they were accompanied by assessors, and by a
bishop as official colleague) to serve as a check alike on
their tyranny or corruption, they might safely be en-
trusted with the administration of the laws, at least in
cases of appeal from the inferior tribunals. Perhaps the
jurisdiction, after the restoration of their dignity, was
purely appellant ; for with the count, who is called the
judge (itaT 1 iZofflv'), rested, in conjunction with his
assessors, the decision of all important cases. They
were, after all, the mere ministers of the legislative
power : they were strictly bound by the letter of the
statutes in the penalties which they inflicted ; and they
had nothing whatever to do with the question of guilt
or innocence, which rested with the sworn assessors, or
perhaps with the verdict of a jury. But it was not
foreseen that official would soon acquire personal power.
46 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE,
Unfortunately for the interests alike of liberty and of
justice, the duke or count was generally chosen from the
local nobles ; and he who had the most influence through
his territorial possessions, or his family connections, was
generally sure to be chosen. The hope was speciously
indulged, that this influence would be exerted in behalf
of the sovereign who had conferred the authority. But
the aim of these feudal governors was to strengthen their
own interest. Such as were rich were anxious still more
to extend their possessions or their family consideration,
by marriage, or purchase, or judicial forfeiture ; and
as their office soon became hereditary, nothing was more
common than to see the domains of the ducal family SQ
enormously augmented as to embrace no inconsiderable
portion of the province. To expect that the jury, or
assessors, or inferior officers of local administration,
would be willing to oppose the man on whom they were
dependent, whose vassals they generally were, was to
expect what universal experience has demonstrated to be
impossible. In later ages, when the principles of equity
were applied to the improvement of the system, a judge
was sometimes annually appointed who had no military
jurisdiction, who had no property in the district, and
who was forbidden to acquire any, either by marriage
or purchase ; but this salutary regulation was never
much observed in Germany, and then only in the towns;
in the provinces and inferior lordships the civil juris-
diction wa.s considered inseparable from the military in
the family of the duke, or count, or bishop, or abbot.
Even where the baron was convicted of judicial delin-
quency by an appeal to a higher tribunal, nothing was
so difficult as to punish him. He was surrounded by
his armed vassals ; his castle was almost impregnable ;
no force could be sent to oppose him until a diet had pro-
nounced his guilt ; and he could often withstand the
attacks of his sovereign until the interest of his kindred
and friends procured his pardon. Of this abuse of ter,
ritorial jurisdiction Charlemagne was not insensible,
jke his Merovingian predecessors, he continued to send
THE OARLOVJNGIAN PERIOD. 47
his missi dominici, the one always a bishop, into the
provinces, to superintend the proceedings of the dukes
and counts, and to hold their own tribunals, before which
they could evoke any cause pending in those of the dis-
trict. Unfortunately, this policy was not much imitated
by the successors of Charlemagne, so that the jurisdiction
of the barons was virtually irresponsible, Such were the
chief causes which led to the degradation of the imperial
authority. Others might be enumerated ; but though ef-
fectual in the aggregate, individually they had not much
influence, and we will not detail them, as those already
assigned will sufficiently prove the proposition we have
advanced. The revenues of the emperors seem to have
decreased with their authority. In general? they lived
on those arising from their own domains ; but for
the wants of the public service more correctly, how-
ever, for the splendour of the monarch annual pre-
sents, originally voluntary, were soon exacted, These
were from the barons and bishops, who would not fail
to exact from their own dependants the sums they were
thus compelled to offer. Certain taxes, too, went into
the royal treasury ; a portion of the judicial fines was
similarly appropriated ; and there were other feudal in-
cidents, even at this early period, no less favourable to
the royal exchequer. But such was the profusion of
the sovereign, that they were generally inadequate to his
support, much less to the public uses for which they
were originally designed. We must not omit to men-
tion, that though the right of coining money was an-
ciently the prerogative of the crown, it was at length
delegated to some dukes, counts, bishops, and even
ecclesiastical bodies. Charlemagne, indeed, who knew
that by this practice the current coin was much debased,
forbade it ; but, like most of his other prohibitions, it
was abrogated by his successors, t
* Authorities: the histories of the Franks and the Germans. The Code*
of the Germanic nations in the collection of Lindenbrog. The Formula? of
Marculfus. Heineccius, Elements Juris Germanic!. Pfeffel, Histoire d'Al.
leiqagne. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands ; and many others, too numerous
to be cited.
48 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
But, in contemplating the gradations of society among
the Germanic nations, we must not suppose that the
911, feudal jurisdiction was exclusively confined to the dukes,
the counts, the bishops, the abbots, and the royal officers.
Many of the tenants in capite of the crown had whe-
ther through immemorial custom, or imperial conces-
sion the privilege of holding tribunals within the
bounds of their fiefs ; and such fiefs took the name of
immunitates, because they were exempt from the royal
justice ; because in them no royal judge could hold his
tribunal. These were monstrous abuses, but when the
missi dominici were no longer despatched at regular in-
tervals by the crown into the other districts of the
empire, perhaps they were not much greater than those
which prevailed in other places. They were, indeed,
somewhat mitigated by accompanying regulations. Of
these, the chief was the right of appeal to the tribunal of
the count ; and from the count's to the emperor's : and
it is certain that these baronial courts could not take
Cognisance of capital cases, though they could fine, or
imprison, or banish, or reduce to slavery ; or, perhaps,
mutilate. Thus, if a robber on the highway tied into
one of these immunities, he was immediately transferred
to the tribunal of the count or duke of the province.
On all these feudal superiors, and on their armed vas^
sals, military service was of course obligatory. The
same obligation extended to all freemen who held land
equivalent, as we have before observed, to thirty-six
acres. The smaller proprietors found this a most op-
pressive ordinance. To provide themselves with clothing
and arms> and a horse, and even provisions for a given
period, generally three months in the year, often
exceeded their means ; and to undertake long, expen-
sive, and dangerous journeys, to join the army on some
distant frontier, was what all naturally endeavoured to
avoid. Hence the complaints with which we perpetually
meet> that the military duties were neglected ; that the
armies could scarcely be recruited : hence the severe
penalties which we observe in the imperial codes from
THE CABLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 49
the time of Charlemagne downwards. Owing to the
interminable system of subdivisions, the children even
of the smallest proprietor having, by the Germanic law,
an equal right to the inheritance, the number of these
petty free proprietors was amazingly multiplied. Be-
tween them and the crown there soon arose a dispute.
They contended that they were only bound to military ser-
vice within their own country; that their compact did not
compel them to leave it, however pressing the occasion.
There seems to have been justice in the plea ; but it
was a plea which no conqueror, no monarch, would be
disposed to relish. Hence they were obnoxious to
Charlemagne and his successors, who made a great dis-
tinction between them and the immediate tenants of the
crown, who had received lands from it on the express
obligation of service. That monarch endeavoured,
and with some success, to convert allodial proprietors
into vassals. In fact, those who were averse " to take
a lord" to place themselves and their lands under the
protection, and promise suit "and service in the hands, of
some great baron were subject to the most vexatious
annoyances, often to direct plunder. As the imperial
power declined, and anarchy increased, they soon found
that security, whether as to their lives or their posses-
sions, could be gained only by voluntarily choosing some
powerful lord, whose protection they purchased as the
price of service. The small allodial proprietor might
be insulted or offended with impunity ; the follower of
the great baron was too intimately connected with the
system, and too sure of redress or revenge, to be wan-
tonly injured. Hence, in a few reigns, the number
of these proprietors was insignificant : in fact, they
seem to have almost disappeared. They had done per-
sonal homage to some superior, from whom they agreed
to hold their lands in fee, subject to the usual incidents
of the system. As the dukes, counts, and barons were
naturally eager to increase their armed force, they were
willing enough to observe the terms of their compact :
the advantage was therefore reciprocal. This policy
50 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
gave immense influence to the feudal system. The sub-
vassal knew very little of his sovereign ; but to his im-
mediate superior he was bound by the strongest ties of
present advantage and of future hope. Hence it was
that, in the numerous disputes which their superiors had
with the crown, they were sure to take part with the
latter : hence, too, their superiors became so powerful as
often to defy kings. The sub-vassal, indeed, could leave
the service of his lord on surrendering the lands he held,
and he could receive them from another. And there
were numerous cases in which, the feudal compact being
infringed, such changes of service were necessary. But,
in general, the vassal and the lord were bound by ties
stronger than those of mere compact by the associ-
ation, on the one hand, of hereditary service, on the
other of hereditary protection. Below the freemen were
the liberti, or freedmen, who appear to have followed
various callings, generally for their patron's advantage.
They filled the meaner parts of his household, and they
tilled his ground ; and, though it has been denied that
they could bear arms, there are several passages in the
old chroniclers intimating that some, at least, of them
did. When the patron enfranchised them, he dictated
his own conditions : nor is it unreasonable to suppose
that military service without fief might be one. In
many cases, certainly, the freedman was an armed do-
mestic ; and, in some, we know that he accompanied his
lord to the field. There was, however, a gulf between
him and the freeman : he could not depose against one
in a court of justice, nor cite one for any offence, how-
ever grave. His patron, however, could sue for him.
Among them the leuds should not, probably, be included,
strongly as Mably, Schmidt, and other historians urge to
the contrary. That those attendant on the king were
freemen, is evident from several passages of the Wisi-
gothic and Longobardean codes. Whether they had
benefices also, has been much disputed apparently
with little reason : some had, and others had not ;
in the one case, they were rewards for past, and oblig-
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 51
ation to future service ; in the other, there was a pro-
spect of obtaining them. They seem to have been con-
ferred merely for life : often, perhaps, for a definite
period. It is certain, however, that persons of in-
ferior station might have their lends, who were mere
liberti. Thus, in the Traditiones Fuldenses, we read of
half leuds and whole leuds, who seem not to have borne
arms, but to have been occupied in the humble labours
of agriculture. And, in the codes of the Saxons and
Frisians, the litus, or leud, is always classed below the
freeman. Below the liberti were the coloni, or peasants,
who, though capable of acquiring and of enjoying pro-
perty, were irrevocably fixed to the glebe, so long as
their owner did not raise them to a higher grade. And
lower still there seems to have been another class,
the serfs, who had no peculium, and were exactly
on a level with the beasts. We think the distinction
between the colonus and the servus was this, that the
former could not be sold except with the land which he
cultivated, while the latter could be sent to any quarter
of the world : the one had certain defined civil rights ;
the other depended merely on his master's will : nor
does there seem to have been originally any penalty for
the murderer of his own slave, we mean legal penalty,
forthere was always a canonical penance, which was wisely
the same whether the victim were free or enthralled.
The distinction we have drawn between the colonus and
the servus we believe to be a just one in substance,
though the terms themselves are frequently convertible ;
very of ten both are included under the one term,' especially
that of servus, which was generic : at least, if both were
understood to be in the same class, it is certain that there
were gradations of condition. " Si servus," says a law of
the Capitularies, " suam ancillam concubinam habuerit,
potest, ilia dimissa, comparem suam ancillam tenere."
In addition we may observe, that there was evidently
some diversity in the] character and condition of all
the classes below the rank of ingenui ; for we read of
E 2
52 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
serfs who were bound to unlimited service, and of others
who worked for their masters only four, or three, or
even two days a week. The truth is, that the hard-
ships of their condition were often exaggerated or miti-
gated at his pleasure, without any reference to positive
law. 1
From the preceding pages it is evident that Ger-
manic society consisted of four great classes, the slaves,
the freedmen, the freemen, and the nobles. 1. Slaves
were either born so, or they became so by various acci-
dents. For many ages even German captives in war
were reduced to that condition 2 , a fortiori, Romans,
Gauls, and Slavi. :i And those who were in danger
of famishing through want, often voluntarily embraced
that deplorable state. 4 Towards the church, a mis-
taken piety often prompted even the rich, with their
whole families, to embrace that condition. 5 Love
sometimes produced the same result ; for, in many of the
Germanic codes, if a freeman married a female slave
(ancilla), or vice versa, the one was compelled to take
the lot of the other. 6 In general, however, neither
want, nor piety, nor love, had much effect in this
social degradation. Debtors who were unable to meet
their engagements 7 , and convicted criminals, who were
equally unable to raise the pecuniary mulct, infalli-
bly incurred it. 8 Originally, and for a long'period, the
slaves were adscriptitiae conditionis ; terms sufficiently
significant of their wretched^state. Hence, if they fled,
1 Capitularia Regum Francorum (in a multitude of places). Annales
Fuldenses, 870. Traditiones Fuldenses, p. 60., necnon Appendix ad
easdem, 1. p. 331. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. ii. liv. iii. c. 10.
As the subject of the Germanic constitution has been discussed on former
occasions, we are anxious to avoid repetition, and we therefore touch on
such points only as have been either omitted or imperfectly noticed. We
distinctly intimate that the observations in the text are intended as merely
supplementary to what we have before written in the History of Europe
during the Middle Ages, voL ii. pp. 1928, and pp. 3844.-
2 Annales Fuldenses, A. D. 7&4.
1 3 Tacitus Annales, xii. 2r>. Hemoldus Chronica Slavorum, lib. i. c. 66.
" 4 Tacitus Annales, iv. 72. Lex Baivaricum, tit v. 1. 6.
3 Mabillon, De Re Diplom. lib. vi. c. 4. Ducange, Glossarium, v. Ib.
latus.
6 Lex Baivar. tit. vi. c. 1. 1. 3.
^ Codex, Legum Antiquarum, passim.
8 Marculfus Formula;, lib. ii. c. 36. 58. Lex Bai. tit. v). c. 2. 1. 2.
THE CARLOVJNGIAN PERIOD. 53
they could be reclaimed 1 ; they could be alienated with
the land which they cultivated 2 ; their masters had
power to chastise, even to kill them 3 ; until the laws
of the empire interfered to prevent either death or
mutilation. 4 They were subject to various duties,
according to their master's pleasure : sometimes they
attended his person, or lived in his household; and
these were more honourable than the rest. If located
on the soil, their condition admitted of some amelio-
ration. If they were the lowest of their kind, all their
labour, all the produce which they raised, that moderate
portion excepted which was necessary for the support
of nature, went to their lords. 5 But there were others
who had certainly a peculium, since they could pur-
chase their own freedom 6 , and, in some places, inherit
a portion of their paternal property. 7 The pass-
ages in the foregoing paragraphs are sufficient to estab-
lish this point. 2. The slaves who thus purchased
their emancipation, or were enfranchised by their lords,
became generally liberti, or freedmen. Whether manu-
mission was known in the earliest stages of Germanic
society is unknown. In the time of Tacitus, there were
liberti, who sometimes filled posts of honour 8 ; but in
the codes we perpetually meet with them as forming a
distinct and very numerous class of society, and en-
grossing no small portion of the legislative care. In
later ages the forms of manumission were various : in
the open church 9 , before the altar, where often a tabu-
larius libertimus was kept 10 ; by testamentary declar-
1 Codex Legum Antiquarum, passim.
2 Traditiones Fuldenses, lib. i. Bochmen, De Jure et Statu Hominum
Propriorum, sect. iii. \ 2. But no Christian slave could be alienated to a
Jew or Pagan. Capitularia Regura Francorum, lib. vi. 318.
3 Tacitus de Moribus Germanorum, c. 25.
4 By pecuniary fines and canonical penance.
5 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanici, lib. i. tit. i. De Prima Homi-
num Divisione, ^ 32, 33.
6 Marculfus Formulas.
7 Boehmen, De Stati) ad Conditione Horn. Propr. sect iii. 17.
8 De Moribus Germanorum, c. 25.
9 Lex Burgundica.
10 Lex Longobardica, lib. ii. tit. xviii. to L iii. Marculfus, Formula?
Ap. 56.
E 3
54 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ation >, and by letter 2 , were common to the Germans
and Romans, and need not, therefore, be particularly
described. But the former had also their peculiar
forms. One took place in the presence of the king, by
striking the denarius from the slave's hand, who was
thence called homo denarialis. 3 This seems to imply
that the tribute, or census, brought by the slave was re-
fused by the master, and that, consequently, his servitude
was at an end. Sometimes it was effected by opening
the door, to indicate that he was at liberty to leave
the house 4 , sometimes by placing him where four roads
met, to show that he might take which he pleased. 5
Again, it was sometimes effected by the hand of the
king or priest 6 , and by the arrow, which appears to
have been a favourite with the Lombards, and what
betokened the right of the man henceforth to assume
arms, the sign of freedom. 7 The most usual mode,
however, seems to have given rise to the word itself,
manumissione, to send from the hand, to push away. 8
The effect resulting from these various forms was very
different, the emancipation being sometimes entire,
generally partial. Thus the enfranchisement at the
altar was as complete as if the slave were born from
free parents : he did not become a libertus, but an in-
genuus. 9 The same effect was produced by the ex-
cussio denarii 10 , by the portse patentes, by the quatuor
vise, and by the imposition of the royal or princely
hand. 11 But in a vast majority of cases some service or
1 Concilium Arelatense, ii. con. 33.
3 Lex Alamannorum, tit. xvii. xviii. Capitularia Regum Francorum,
A. a 806, 8ia S. Gregorius Turonensis, Historia Eeclesiastica, tit. v. c. 27.
S. Gregorius Magnus, lib. i. Epist. 53. lib. v. Epist 12.
3 Lex Ripuariorum, tit Ivii. 1. i., tit. Ixii. 1. ii. Baluzius, Capitularia
Regum Francorum, torn. ii. p. 905. Goklastus, Constitutioiies Imperiales,
torn. Hi. p. 70.
4 Lex Ripuar. tit. Ixi. 1. i.
5 Lex Longobardica, lib. iii. c. iv. 1. 1.
6 Lex Longobardica, lib. ii. tit. 34. L. i.
7 Paulus Warnefridus, De Gestis Longobardorum, lib. i. c. 13.
8 Ducange, Glossariuin ad Scriptures, v. Manumissio.
9 Marculfus, Formulae, App. 56.
Baluzius, Capitularia Regum Francorum, torn. ii. p. 905.
. Jl Ibid. p. 947. Lex Longobard. lib.ii. tit. 34. L i. a
THE CARLOVIN T GIAN PERIOD. 55
right, or tribute, was retained. 1 The condition of the
libertus varied according to the obligations imposed on
him on his elevation from the inferior state of servus :
sometimes they were very light, consisting of a small
census, or personal homage. 2 In general he was sub-
ject to the immediate control of his patron : he was to
work certain days every week, or bring a portion of
produce, or a certain sum to his master. And he was
liable to some other prestations ; all which, though they
involved civil rights, and enabled him to acquire
wealth, did not much raise him in the scale of dignity. 3
The most galling of the obligations generally left to the
freedman was his dependence on the jurisdiction of his
patron ; but let us remember that all good is comparar
tive, and that even a great evil, if it remove a greater, is
a good. This dependence, often this obligation of ser-
vice, from rustics to their lords (nor was the obligation
destroyed if they removed, as they certainly had the
power of removing to any of the numerous municipal
confederations which, from the eleventh century at least,
began to rise), was the foundation of that herilis potestas,
that jurisdictio patrimonialis, so well known to every
student in the feudal law. 4 But this system, though
already visible, was not fully established until after-
times. 3. The ingenui, or freeman, who possessed
berty without civic dignity, were called milites in France,
and gude knechten in the empire. 5 These names had
reference to their sole profession, the military art ; the
knowledge and practice of which, conjointly with the
chase, occupied the whole of their lives : hence their
peculiar denomination of milites agrarii, de genere mili-
tari nati fi , which they naturally prized as their noblest
1 Ducange, Glossarium ad Verb. Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanic!,
lib. i tit. ii. { 55.
2 Boehmer, Dissertatio de Imperfecta Libertate Rusticorum per Ger-
maniam, ^ 1 24.
56* HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
distinction. They did not assume their arms of their
own authority : when arrived at a suitable age, they
were solemnly invested with them by some chief or
kinsman, in presence of the comitia, or periodical assem-
blies of the people. 1 And this is clearly the origin of
the ceremonies which chivalry exacted at the reception
of a knight into its order. The newly appointed war-
riors offered their swords to some chief, who was
flattered by a splendid retinue of martial followers
his pride in peace, his defence in war. 2 The compact
between the warrior and his chief, comes et princeps,
appears to have been of a much closer nature than we
generally suppose. The sustenance, often the lands,
vouchsafed by the one, the service performed by the
other, led to a connection almost indissoluble. The
clientes were often known to sacrifice their lives in the
cause of their patrons 3 , and they had many privileges :
they assisted their patrons in the administration of
justice 4 ; in after ages, too, they filled more honourable
parts in the republic 5 ; and from them the nobles were
taken, before nobility became an hereditary distinction,
while it depended on a certain dignity. 6 Hence the
jealousy with which they preserved the privileges of their
condition ; hence their hatred of unequal marriage,
and the severe penalty (degradation to slavery) which
they inflicted on the free man or woman who married
a slave 7 ; hence their contempt of commerce, which,
as exercised by freedmen only, would have degraded
them 8 ; their dislike to cities 9 ; and the eagerness with
1 " Turn Tin ipso concilio, vel principum aliquis, vel pater, vel propin.
quus, scuto frameaquejuvenem ornfisse." Tacitus, De Morib. Germ. c. 13.
2 " Haee dignitas, ha? vires, magno semper electorum juvenum globo
circumdari, in pace decus, in bello presidium." Tacitus, De Moribus
Germ. c. 13.
3 Tacitus, ibid.
4 Ibid. Centeni singulis comitibus ex plebe comites consilium simul et
auctoritas aderat.
5 Traditiones Fuldenses, lib. ii. no. 156.
6 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanic!, lib. i. tit. iii.
7 Lex Salica, tit i. c. 14. 1. ii. Lex Ripuariorum, tit. Iviii. 1. xv. The
woman who had married a slave was offered a sword and a spindle : if she
chose the former, she slew her husband with it ; if the latter, she embraced
his state. Ibid. 1. xviii.
8 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanic!, lib. i. tit. iii. ^ 79,
Beyer, Speculum Juris Germanici, lib. i. c. 1. $ 21.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 57
which they entered the service and contended for the
rewards of the prince, duke, count, baron, or bishop,
whose clients or vassals they had become. 1 4. The
nobles, as we have before intimated, were anciently
those who, being born from parents long possessed of
freedom, were invested with the dignities of the common-
wealth. 2 In the middle ages it was applied to the
graviones, or counts, in virtue of their birth and offices,
and to bishops and abbots in virtue of their dignities. 3
The dukes were not styled nobles, but principes. In
subsequent times, the term was applied to barons and
territorial gentry, who were not in the service of any
superior ; finally, to the members of sovereign families. 4
The term noble became general, containing several gra-
dations of dignity. 5 Hence the seven military shields
of which the order was said to consist : the first shield
was the king ; the second consisted of the bishops and
abbots ; the third, of the lay princes ; the fourth, of the
counts ; the fifth, of the ingenui, who held no dignities ;
the sixth, of the great officers of the imperial or ducal
courts ; the seventh, of those who were not allodial
gentry, or officers of the reigning houses, but who
held fiefs in capite from the emperor. 6 Nor were the
nobles distinguished from the ingenui only by their
civil dignities, or by a pompous train of attendants :
they had also certain privileges wrung or obtained by
solicitation from the crown. 7 Such were those of being
accompanied by banners, generally with arms or devices
emblazoned on them : they had forest rights, from which
the freemen were excluded ; and in a multitude of
cases they took precedence of all the ingenui. But their
1 Ibid, ubi supra.
2 Tacitus, De Moribus Germanorum, c. 13, 14. 25. Cfesar, De Bello Gallico,
lib. vi. c. 23.
3 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanic!, lib. i. tit. iv. 1. 89. Capitu-
laria Rcgum Francorum, torn. i. 697. Venantius Fortunatus Carmina,
lib. i. c.4.
f " Ecclesiae nunc jura regis, venerande sacerdos,
Altera nobilitas additur unde tibi."
4 "Leibnitz, Scriptores Rerum Brunsvicarum, torn. 1. p. 798. Heineccius
Elementa, lib. i. tit. 4. 90.
5 Heineccius, ubi supra.
Schilter, Ins. Feudale, cap. i. 7 Heineccius, I. i 94.
58 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
greater and more numerous honours were not reduced
to a system during the period under consideration.*
The state of society among the Germanic nations, from
the foundation of the empire to the extinction of the
Carlovingian line, would be a most interesting subject of
contemplation, if we had more materials for estimating it.
Unfortunately manners and habits were the last things
of which the chroniclers thought ; and what little know-
ledge we have on the subject is derived from incidental
notices, always so meagre as to excite disappointment.
Well could we have spared their accounts of battles, of
Christian festivals, of courts and chapters, in return for
some information respecting the character of Germanic
society. Any information that we have been able to
glean is derived from scattered sources, isolated in its
nature, and must therefore be communicated in uncon-
nected observations. As in more ancient times, the heart
of the nation was turned to hunting and hawking, to
war and drunkenness, to mirth and frolic. Hunting
was also the diversion of ladies, who, though they took
no part in it, were eager spectators of it. Thus we see,
in a scene which took place at the court of Charlemagne,
a picture of the daily routine of life, when war or the
placita did not interrupt its uniformity. The men, with
their dogs and birds, their horses, hunting spears, do-
mestics, hastened to the forest ; they were followed by
the ladies, also on horseback, who from a distance
observed the destruction of the game. When satiated
with the exercise, tents were pitched under the shade,
and a repast was served, somewhat more distinguished
for indulgence than delicacy, for boisterous mirth than
innocent recreation. Hence, the extreme attachment of
the Germans to rural life to the forest and the moun-
tain : nor was their aversion to cities much lessened
by the reflection, that there they should certainly find
equals, probably superiors ; and, to the man who was
lord of all around him, there was something so humili-
* Ducange, Glossarium ad Scriptures, v. Nobilis.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 5Q
ating in kissing the knee * of a king, and mixing with
pert menials. Jesters were common ; and, though for-
bidden to ecclesiastics, we have evidence enough, that the
prohibition was not wholly regarded. And there was
certainly a rude species of dramatic entertainment ;
for one of the laws of the period forbids any actor to
appear on the stage in the habit of an ecclesiastic. But
churchmen themselves frequently indulged in such
diversions : witness the canons of councils in the eighth
and ninth centuries. For their hunting both priests and
monks had a good excuse : they wanted parchment for
the transcription, and leather for the binding, of books ;
butr these articles were too dear to be purchased, and
could only be obtained by the chase. Then, if a brother
were recovering from indisposition, and required game
as a nourishment, how procure it, if they were not per-
mitted to hunt it ? One thing is certain, that in the
vicinity of every great monastery was an ample forest,
more than tolerably stocked with these animals. Of the
jovial manners of the people generally, we may form a
notion, from the frequent drinking assemblies, which
characterised them. That these assemblies were or-
ganised, appears from the brotherhood of St. Stephen,
which, by a capitulary of 789, Charlemagne abolished.
This prohibition would be obeyed only within the pre-
cincts of the court ; for what imperial rescript could
reach the depths of the forest, or the lonely valley?
That at these entertainments the members drank from
the beginning to the end; while the enjoyment was
increased by the witticisms and freaks of the jocu-
lator, amidst the din of music, vocal and instrumen-
tal, appears from that decree. No people were ever
so fond of songs as the ancient Germans : these formed
a part, not merely of their festive entertainments, but
of their daily amusements. One of the Carlovingian
monarchs, with more piety than taste, committed to the
flames a huge portion of written songs, doubtless be-
cause they were pervaded by the superstitions of pagan-
* See before, page 43.
60 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ism. He was incapable of reflecting for future times,
that posterity would wish for these songs chiefly for
the light they must of necessity have thrown on opinions
and manners. But the Germans were not always thus
innocently employed. That they took no small delight
in open violence, may be reasonably inferred from the
prodigious number of cases on record : not even the
rigorous hand of Charlemagne could repress the evil.
He could maintain order, where he happened to abide ;
his court, like that of his predecessors and succes-
sors, was migratory from one royal domain to another ;
and he could inflict chastisement when an appeal was
brought before him ; but vainly could he reach the dis-
tant noble, who, embosomed in the vast solitudes of the
country, could oppress his feebler neighbour or his vassal
with something like impunity. And there were crimes
enough, which, though they made the forest and even a
whole canton ring, escaped unpunished. The custom
of private warfare a custom warranted by immemorial
usage led to melancholy scenes. The only thing which
Charlemagne could do, was to direct that, where two
neighbours were at war, the count of the district was to
force them to make peace, and to inflict a fine on the
man who did the wrong ; and that if they refused to be
pacified, both should be brought before the emperor, and
made to swear that they would live in peace with each
other : if one of them violated the oath, he lost the hand
which he had perfidiously raised to invoke the attesting
power of heaven. Death was decreed against the robber
and assassin on the highway, while other thefts and
homicides were compensated by money. The inefficiency
of these and similar regulations is abundantly proved by
the fact, that even the imperial manors were not safe ;
that during the night fires and guards were placed
round them, to discover and to resist the armed prowl-
ers. Could the emperor have succeeded in his efforts to
abolish the constant wearing of arms, that from time im-
memorial had been as inseparable from a German warrior
as his clothes, a stop would have been effectually put to
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 6l
most of the quarrels, which arose from sudden passion
or intoxication ; but, in spite of all his power, the men
drank and fought much the same as before. After his
death, amidst the anarchy which reigned on every side,
when duke and count were as lawless as the private
noble or freeman, the state of society was often appal-
ling. The representations of the bishops, assembled in
888 at the synod of Mentz, prove that ecclesiastical
property was as little respected as the lay. After allu-
ding to the atrocities of the Northmen, who were now
as active in Saxony and France as they were in western
France, the prelates assert that they were surrounded on
all sides by professed robbers ; that the possessions of all
men were exposed to daily destruction ; that the country
was laid waste ; the sacred buildings robbed or con-
sumed ; the poor massacred before their eyes. Abduc-
tion and rape were seen on every side : nor did even
ladies of the highest rank escape the disorders of the
times. Thus, in 846, a daughter of the emperor Lo-
thaire was carried away by cne Giselbert; in 878, one
of Louis II. sustained the same calamity; in 893, one
of Arnulf's was forcibly taken into the march of Aus-
tria. Still more common was the practice of capturing
the rich, even those of high dignity, and immuring them
in dungeons until they agreed to pay a heavy ransom ;
often, too, until they had sworn not to enquire into the
violence, much less take any measures to revenge it. Nor
were excesses confined to laymen. Thus Rudolph, bishop
of Wurtzburg, was at deadly feud with two members
of the ducal house of Thuringia ; and with his partisans,
consisting of his immediate vassals, his kindred, and their
followers, he raised a force sufficient to oppose his
enemies, whose territories he laid waste with as little
scruple as the veriest freebooter in the annals of the
empire. In a subsequent combat, one of the young
nobles was slain, the other was taken and beheaded.
Nor were ecclesiastics, even of the highest dignity,
secure against violence. Thus, in 903, Fulco, arch-
bishop of Rheiras, was waylaid and murdered in a wood
62 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
by an emissary of his powerful enemy, Count Baldwin
of Flanders. A model of ecclesiastical, no less than of
royal, delinquency is to be found in prince Carloman,
son of Charles the Bald. In his youth he had assumed
the tonsure, as the sign of his irrevocable destination to
the ecclesiastical state ; subsequently, much against his
inclination, he had received deacon's orders in his father's
presence, and had publicly ministered at the altar. But
his was a different vocation. He fled from the church,
collected a band of freebooters, and became the terror
of the neighbouring country : he robbed and consumed
churches and monasteries with as little hesitation as the
houses of the gentry. At length the father, finding that
admonitions were vain, ordered his eyes to be put out
a punishment by no means uncommon among the detest-
able princes of this dynasty. This cruelty is related by
Regino without any surprise, much less any reprobation :
he considers that it was merely a -righteous judgment,
that he whose in ward sight had been destroyed should also
lose his outward. In this state Carloman proceeded to his
uncle Louis, who placed him in a monastery, where he
speedily ended his days. A brother of Carloman's met
his death in a manner sufficiently characteristic of the
age. Confiding in his own strength, and anxious to
prove it in struggling with a warrior celebrated for
valour, Charles one evening fell on the warrior, who
was returning from the chase. His object was to un-
horse him, and take away his steed. Alboin, ignorant
of his quality, prostrated him to the earth at one blow,
and, having wounded him sorely, took away his horse
and arms. The young prince did not long survive ; and
the terrified murderer, hearing the rank of his victim,
precipitately fled from the country.*
But the state of Germanic society will be best illus-
* Capitularia Regum Francorum, An. 789. cap. 15. (et sub aliis an .
nis). Commentarii De Rebus Francorum, torn. i. pp. 635. 764. Rhegino,
Chronicon, lib. ii. p. 73 96. (apud Struvium, Rerum Germ. Scriptores,
torn. LI. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. ii. liv. 3. chap. 7. Heinec-
cius, Elementa Juris Germanic), passim. With many others, which it would
be troublesome to specify.
THE CABLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 63
tratecl by a reference to its laws. Anciently the coun-
try had no laws, because it had not the art of writing ;
but customs handed down by traditions from time im-
memorial formed the basis of social protection. Of
these, some are specified by Caesar and Tacitus; but
neither of these celebrated men could know much of the
subject. What little they could collect must have been
exceedingly meagre, since it could only be acquired from
the reports of individuals who had dwelt among them.
Let. however, this scantiness of information be what it
may, that it is substantially correct may be proved by
its similarity, often by its positive identity, with several
provisions of the codes afterwards promulgated, codes
which confessedly consisted of mere observances. But
no society, not even that of the German forests, could
wholly be stationary : though ancient habits there sub-
sisted with greater purity, from the isolation of the tribes
in regard to the Roman world, yet even in the infancy
of man, his vices are as prolific as his wants. New
crimes, or the more frequent repetition of old crimes ;
the aggravated circumstances attending some, the reasons
which might be pleaded in mitigation of others, would
often perplex the mind of the elder or chief, who, from
his " hill of justice," and in presence of the assembled
tribe, applied the provisions of the unwritten observance
to the cases brought before him. Here, in the half-
yearly meetings of the warriors representing the tribes
of any particular confederation, such suggestions would
be proposed, and such enactments made, as experience
had demanded. Let us not suppose that the customs
to which ancient writers allude were universally bind-
ing throughout the Germanic tribes. That, though
agreeing in their general character, many were yet dis-
similar in different confederations, is not only consentient
with reason, but is clearly inferrible from the various
codes which were published from the fifth to the seventh
centuries, codes which, it is distinctly intimated, had
been promulgated at a much earlier period. The writ-
ten codes were first published for the tribes which had
64- HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
passed the Rhine : hereditary customs still governed
those which remained in their native forests. As the
former had forsaken idolatry for Christianity, and as the
codes of the latter did not appear until the same religion
was received by them, both must of necessity have sus-
tained considerable alteration before a Christian prince
would publish, or Christian prelate sanction them.*
Of the codes to which we have alluded, the most
ancient was the Lex Salica, or that which was pro-
mulgated for the use of the Salian Franks. The origin
of this collection has defied the erudition of jurisconsults.
Rejecting the hypothesis of the ingenious, we may ob-
serve that it was declared, we do not say originally
promulgated, before the Salian Franks forsook Ger-
many, by four princes of the region afterwards deno-
minated Franconia ; that it was, not long afterwards,
committed to writing ; that it was altered, augmented,
and published by Clovis, founder of the monarchy ; and
that considerable additions were made to it by Childe-
bert, Lothaire, Charlemagne, and Louis. Of this code the
most prominent character is its penalties against theft,
penalties so minutely graduated by the circumstances of
the crime, as to prove its frequency, and that, "whatever
may be the virtues of barbarians, they do not easily com-
prehend the distinction between meum and tuum. Thus,
if a man stole a sucking-pig during the first month, he
was mulcted in 3 solidi ; if it were older, in 1 5 ; if the pig
were a year old, the mulct was also 3 ; if two years, 15 :
1 5 was also the penalty for the swineherd who stole any
one of the animals confided to his care. When violence
attended the theft, the pecuniary compensation was rea-
sonably augmented ; thus, if the pig were abstracted
from a place defended by a lock and key, the penalty
was 45 sols. In like manner, the theft of a sucking calf
was mulcted in 3 sols ; of a calf a year old, in 1 5 ; of
* Csesar, De Bello Gallico, lib. vi. cap. 18. 21. Tacitus, De Moribus Ger-
manorum, passim, pracsertim cap. 13, 14. 18, 19. 21. 25. Pomponius Mela,
De Situ Orbis, lib. iii. cap. 3. Goldastus, Collectio Legum et Consuetudi.
mim Imperil, passim, a work of rare erudition. Heineccius, De Origine et
Progressu Juris Germanici, cap. L ^ 1 5.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 65
the cow and calf together, in 35. The last named
penalty was the ordinary one for an ox, and for a bull
non gregem regens, but if he were gregis regnator, 45
sols. But the theft of the king's bull was raised to 90.
The penalty for that of sheep and lambs was much
lower. Not so, however, in regard to dogs ; for so
passionately attached were all the Germanic natives to
the chase, that they fixed the mulct at a rate enormously
high : from 15 to 45 sols was that for hunting dogs,
according as the animal was the leader of the pack, or
merely one of the common hounds ; while the theft of a
shepherd's dog was only 3. Again, for the theft of a
hawk on a tree the mulct was 3 sols; but if the bird
were taken from its perch, 1 5 ; if under lock and key,
45. Equally minute are the penalties for the theft of
geese, hens, bees, trees, &c. But what was the mulct
if any one stole a slave, male or female ? It was much
the same as for that of an ox or hound ; but the com-
position was regulated by the office rilled by the slave,
consequently, by the degree of inconvenience his loss
must occasion to the owner. Again, a great distinction
was made as to the person of the thief no less than as to
the thing stolen. Thus, if a freeman stole, not in a
house, any thing worth two deniers, he was mulcted in
15 sols; but if a slave, in 3 only, or in 120 stripes.
But if the thing were taken from a house, the mulct
was 30 for the freeman, and the poor slave was castrated.
If the theft related to human beings, the punishment
varied alike with the quality and number of the thieves,
and the condition of the person abducted : the lowest
sum for a free woman, one below the class of nobles,
was 30, the highest, 62 sols ; and if the copula carnalis
followed, the mulct varied according as she was willing
or unwilling, single, married, or betrothed. Again, the
penalties denounced against such as robbed men of their
clothes or armour varied according to the nation of the
parties. The barbarians made a distinction between
themselves and the Romans, not over flattering to men
who had once been lords of the world. Thus, if a Ro-
VOL. i. p
66 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
man (meaning a Gaul) despoiled a Frank, the mulct was
62 sols ; if a Frank a Roman, 30. x
Next to theft, the crimes most common in all the
barbaric codes are wounding and maiming ; and the
amount of the damage is carefully graduated by the
condition of the parties and the value of the member.
If one man struck another with the intent to kill him,
the mulct was 62 sols-; if on the head so that the
blood flowed, 15 3 ; so that the bones appeared, SO 4 ;
so that the skull was laid bare, 45. 5 Men striking,
without any danger, was estimated at so much per blow.
The loss of a hand, foot, nose, tongue, an eye or ear,
was 100 sols 7 ; the thumb or big toe, 45"; the index
finger, 35, because it was used in shooting the arrow 9 ;
but any other finger 15 : it is, however, somewhat odd,
that if three fingers were cut off at one blow, the mulct
was much less than we should expect. A tooth was
valued at 15. 11 Si quis ingenuus ingenuum castraverit
aut virilia truncaverit ut mancus fiat, sol c culpabilis
judicetur 12 si vero ad integrum tulerit, cc sol culp.
jud. 13 When death followed, equally variable and
equally minute were the penalties. Where the homi-
cide was a freeman, and the victim a slave, of course
nothing was expected beyond the pecuniary value of
that slave. 14 On these occurrences, therefore, the law
is explicit and brief; and from them we may infer,
either that they were rare, or that they produced little
sensation in the community. But the earnestness and
number of the laws respecting the homicide of freemen
and nobles, and the minuteness with which every pos-
sible circumstance of the crime is noted, prove its alarm-
ing frequency. Men never legislate by anticipation :
laws are generated by the wants of society alone ; and
1 Lex Salica, tit ii. iii. iv. vi. xi. xii. xiii. xiv. (in multislegibus.) Lin-
denbrogius, Codex Legum Antiquarum.
2 Tit. xix. De Vulneribus, 1. 1. 3 Ibid. 1. 2.
Ibid. 1. A s Ibid. 1. 4.
6 Ibid. 1. 7. 7 Tit xxxi. De Debilitatibus, 1. 1.
* Ibid. 1. 4. 9 Ibid. I. 6.
Ibid. 1.'8, 9. " Ibid. 17.
12 Ibid. L"l8. Ibid. I 19.
11 L)e Homicidiis Serverutn, tit xxxvii. 1. 18.
THE CARLOVINGUN PERIOD. 67
where those of a particular class are so carefully multi-
plied and defined, they afford the best evidence of the
social state. Hence that state can only be understood
from a consideration of the crime and the penalty.
Melancholy are the lessons taught us by such clauses as
the following : If any freeman killed a Frank, with-
out any of the atrocious circumstances which we may
infer to have been very common, the penalty was 200
sols '; but if the victim were thrown into a well, or
smothered under the water, it was raised threefold, to
600. 2 Threefold also was the ordinary mulct if the
victim were burnt or buried alive in his house. 3 The
death of a Roman (Gaul), however, did not call for any
very angry feeling of justice: 100 sols were sufficient
unless the victim happened to be the king's guest 4 : and
as to a noble Roman ; if the victim was a tributary,
45 sols were as much as he was worth. s The disparity
of the penalty is not the thing which will here strike
any reader : the frequency of the atrocity attending the
homicide is lamentably proved by the increased amount
of the penalty, and by the earnestness with which it is
enforced. Equally full of instruction are other enact-
ments relative to other circumstances of the murder. If
an organised band assailed and murdered a freeman in
his own house, mulct 600 sols 6 ; if the same violence
were committed on a Sunday, the day above all others
when it might most easily be committed, and no doubt
was most generally so, 1800 sols. 7 If a Roman or a
freedman were killed under such circumstances, one half
the penalty. 8 Not less melancholy are the laws respect-
ing homicides at convivial entertainments, which, indeed,
offered peculiar facilities for the commission of the
crime. 9 When a man drank, he was at the mercy of his
secret enemy : hence the pledge or protection guaranteed
1 DC Homicidiis Ingenuorum. tit. xliii. 1. 1. * Ibid. 1. 2.
3 Ibid. 1. a Ibid. 1. 6, 7. * Ibid. 1. 8.
I)e Homicidiis & Contubernio factis, tit. xliv. 1. 1.
7 Ibid. 1. 2. 8 Ibid. 1. 4.
9 De Homicidiis in Convivio factis, tit. xlv 1 1, 2, 3.
F 2
68 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
by the members, that pledge being fulfilled by the in-
dividual holding a drawn weapon behind the seat of the
man whose safety he had engaged to defend. The atro-
cious perfidy against which this custom was levelled was
as common among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ' as any
other people : in none, perhaps, was it wholly unknown
hence the modern custom of drinking healths, which,
though now an empty ceremony, was once of import-
ance. Other injuries besides the above were redeemable
by money. For instance, all the barbaric nations, we
believe, punished terms of reproach, or insult, or con-
tempt, or curses. If one man called another a hare,
no doubt alluding to the timidity of that animal, and
therefore a heinous reproach among a warlike people,
the mulct was 6 sols.- If one woman called another by
a name of frequent recurrence in the neighbourhood of
Billingsgate, offended chastity demanded 45. 3 That
the ancient Jews had also punishments for such terms
of reproach is evident from our Saviour's sermon on the
mount 4 , where raca (empty pate), and fool (moros),
are visited with different penalties. 6
In contemplating the crimes and penalties of the
code before us, an inexperienced reader might be struck
with surprise at the absence of such as regard the chas-
tity of free women. In regard to that of female slaves,
there are provisions enough. Thus, if a freeman sinned
with the handmaid of another, the mulct was 15
sols, which proves that her chastity was valued about
as high as the loss of a common hound. But there is
nothing whatever relating to the ravishment of free or
noble women, married or single. Were the Franks
indifferent to female virtue? No people in Europe
guarded it with greater jealousy ; none, according both
to Tacitus and Salvian of Marseilles, were in this
respect so worthy of admiration. That they were trem-
1 See History of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. Hi. p. 82. (note).
* DeConviviis, tit xxxii. L 4. 3 Ibid. L 5.
St. Matthew, v. 822.
5 Lex Salica, passim (apud Lindenbrogium, Codex Legum Antiquarum,
p. 327, &c.V Ducange, Glossarium ad Scriptores Med. et Inf. Latinitatis,
voc. Concagalum, ruljiicula, &c.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 69
blingly alive to the honour of their females, is evident
from another title of the same code. If any freeman
presumed merely to touch the hand of a free woman,
he paid 15 sols i ; if he grasped her arm, SO 2 ;
if he touched her bosom, 45. 3 The reader, who
is acquainted with the laws, society, and character of
the Germanic tribes, need not be told that those laws
were of two kinds the written and the unwritten,
or, if he will, the statute and the common. From a
period immemorial, unwritten observances, as we have
already intimated, governed them all. Of these the
most prominent one was, that where the injury was
personal, where it affected the life or honour of an
individual, that individual, aided by his kindred or
friends, should have the right to revenge it ; that the
community should not interfere in a matter which
merely concerned one of its members. Hence, in many
cases, in those especially of homicide, or fornication or
adultery, the party most injured openly armed to exact
satisfaction for it ; and that satisfaction was always
death. But in the fury of passion the measure of
natural equity was generally disregarded ; one death
was followed by another ; the connections of each party
joined to screen or revenge a companion or a chief;
and from one single homicide, or act of dishonour, the
feud often extended to hundreds of such crimes. In
all such cases, retaliation was loudly demanded ; and
as the vindication of one injury always gave rise to the
commission of another, sometimes, from one single
homicide, a whole district was at war. Experience at
length showed, that if society were to exist, the sword
of justice must be transferred from the individual in-
jured to the community. The elders and chiefs decreed,
that, except in a very few cases, every injury should be
redeemable by pecuniary composition ; and to prevent
all dispute, the amount was carefully graduated by the
quality of the parties and circumstances of the crime.
1 De eo qui Mulieri ingenuje, &c. tit. xxii. L 1.
Ibid. 1. 2. 3 Ibid. L J.
70 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
From undoubted authority we know that this change was
exceedingly disagreeable to the great body of the people,
who could never be made to understand what society
had to do with the matter, still less how the loss of
honour could be repaired by money. In defiance of
the prohibitions to the contrary, powerful individuals
still called their kindred and dependents to join them in
executing a more severe penalty than was awarded by
the new laws. And in certain cases, so strong was the
national feeling on this subject, that the earlier legisla-
tors did not attempt to change the character of the an-
cient observances. They fixed no compensation, nor
rendered the reception of any binding on the in-
jured party : the alternative was left in his own hands,
either to enter into a composition with the kindred of
the other aggressor, or to pursue his revenge in what-
ever way he was able. Among them the violation of
chastity was doubtless one. But we must not omit to
observe, that there were also many crimes, the satisfac-
tion for which was not left with the plaintiff, and which
yet have no place in the code. That satisfaction was
wisely left either to the local judge and jury, and
traces of a jury are discernible in all the Germanic
codes, or to the annual diet of the confederation ;
and its amount varied with the condition of the parties
and the circumstances of the offence. It may, in fact,
be safely assumed, that where we find no trace of legis-
lation on any particular crime, either the penalty was
left to private revenge, or it was reserved for estimation
by the constituted authorities. In general, the written
law originally applied to those cases only which most
directly affected the interests of the community. There
were some offences which were judged to be too unim-
portant for legislation, and which might be left to the
discretion of the deemster and his assessors. There were
others that were amply provided for by acknowledged
custom ; and there were a few where to enforce the or-
dinary pecuniary compensation would have been a vain
attempt. These observations do not apply merely
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 71
to the Salic, they apply in a greater or less degree to all
the ancient codes of the Germanic nation. 1
The same Salic code incidentally acquaints us with
other particulars which may serve to throw light on the
state and habits of society. From one title we learn
that deer were tamed and employed in deluding the wild
ones. 2 When a man resolved to marry a widow, he
could not be engaged to her until a mallurn or judicial
meeting were convened ; and that it might be a legal
meeting the shield of the centenary or of the tungin
(thegn, Ang. Sax. who was immediately below the count)
was to be present, and three causes despatched before
the engagement was formed. 3 Then he presented the
reippus or widow's spousal gift. This presence of the
shield belonging to the judge, held apparently by one of
his attendants, and the necessity of trying three causes
before a court could be considered legal, is mentioned in
other places. 4 The shield denoted his military juris-
diction, and implied that he was authorised to use force,
if force were required for the execution of his sentence.
If one man lent any thing to another, and the borrower
refused to restore it, the lender took his witnesses to the
house, and said to the other, Restore me to-morrow night
what thou hast received from me. On the following
night he returned with the same witnesses, and if the
thing were not restored on the seven consecutive nights,
and if the borrower still refused, the law adjudged him
not only to restore the loan, but to pay 15 sols beyond
it. 5 If a man were condemned to the loss of his hand,
he might redeem it ; and if he had not the money, he
might produce juratores (bail) to engage that it should
be furnished within a given time. 6 If a defendant,
when cited, refused to appear before the mallum, or,
when legally convicted, to pay the penalty awarded, he
was at once summoned before the king; and, after a short
1 Lex Salica apud Lindenbrogium, in Codice Legum Antiquartim,
p. 323. Goldastus, Collectio Legum etConsuetudinum Imperil (variis locis.)
2 De Venationibus, tit. xxxv. 3 Tit xlvi. lie Reippus.
< Tit. lix. De Eo qui ad Mallum. 5 Tit liv. De Re prestata.
Tit Iv. De Manu, L 1
F 4
72 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
interval, if he still refused satisfaction, all his goods were
placed at the king's mercy. Such severity was doubt-
less most necessary at a period when the new courts and
the written laws had not had time to make themselves
respected. But suppose the loser in a suit, or any
criminal legally convicted before the mallum, had not
sufficient money to pay the compensation awarded by
the laws ? The proceeding was exceedingly curious.
He first produced twelve men to swear that neither on
the earth nor under the earth had he the money de-
manded. He then invited his kindred to his house, to
make over to them all his earthly goods, and oblige
them to pay the residue. He went to the four corners
of the house, gathered as much dust or soil from all the
four as he could hold in his fist; then standing on the
threshold, and turning his face towards the interior, he
threw, with his left hand, the dust on the nearest
relatives he had. If he had no father, mother, or
brother, or if they had on former occasions been re-
sponsible for his deficiency, he cast it on the sister of
his mother, or her children, or on any three of his
maternal kinsmen. And if there were three also on the
paternal side, he did the same. Then stripping himself
to his under garment, with bare head and feet, he went
with a staff in his hand, to sit down on the edge or
boundary of his habitation. He or they on whom the
dust fell for the aim with the left hand could not be
very accurate were obliged to pay the deficiency, if
they had the power. This custom has strangely puzzled
Selden, Goldast, and all legal commentators. They
might, however, have reflected that it is wholly sym-
bolical. The casting of the dust or earth of the house
implied the tradition of that house to the kinsmen on
whom it fell ; and the stripping and sitting with staff
in hand on the boundary of the house, denoted that the
former inmate had now no house, no property ; that he
was at liberty to wander wherever he pleased. But
suppose the deficiency was too great for the relations on
whom the dust fell to raise ? In this case any one of
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 73
them, or each successively, might throw the dust in a
similar manner ; a proof that the sprinkling of the earth
by the owner implied the tradition of the house. If all
the kindred were unable to pay the composition, the
culprit was successively led to four successive malla or
judgment meetings, and there exposed ; and if no one
consented to redeem his head, he was put to death.
This compulsory observance was, as we may readily
suppose, very hard on the relatives of a culprit, if they
happened, as must have been generally the case, to be
poor, especially when there were several repetitions of
the crime. Of this fact Childebert was aware, and in
his Decretum he abolished what he truly called a pagan
custom ; leaving the insolvent culprit to be either put
to death or reduced to slavery at the option of the
kindred of the deceased. 1 Other passages might be
extracted from this venerable code, all equally striking,
tending to the same point, to the elucidation of
manners. We will instance three more. Any man
might renounce his kindred ; so that he should no
longer be responsible for their misdeeds, or they for his ;
so that neither, in the event of the one party dying in-
testate, could inherit the property. Appearing on the
mallum in presence of the tungin (thegn) or centenary,
he walked before them for some time ; then raising
four twigs of the alder tree above his head, he broke
each into four pieces, and threw them on the ground,
at the same time exclaiming that he utterly renounced
all right, or obligation, or interest, or connection with
his kindred. 2 The four twigs, and their multiplication
by fraction into sixteen, were evidently intended to
designate both his proximate and more distant relatives,
the capita and the stirpes. The next passage we shall
select is mysterious : " Si quis alterum hereburgium cla-
maverit, hoc est strioportium, aut qui ceneum portare
dicitur, ubi striae concinnunt, et convincere non potuerit,
1 De Venationibus, tit. Ixi. De Chrenechruda, necnon Decretum Chil-
deberti Regis, p. 347.
3 Tit. Ixiii. De Eo qui, &C. 1. 1.
74 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
sols 62 culp. jud." l Did this term of reproach mean a
carrier of witches, or of poisoners ? Stria was cer-
tainly a woman conversant with the use of magic herbs,
and strioportium (or strio-portum) may mean a carrier
of such women. And hereburgium (or hereburgum)
may also mean an associate of the goddess Hera, the
Juno, or, perhaps, the Diana, of the Saxons. 2 To this
day the Swiss call a wizard herberger. Herburgum ad
strio-portum aut qui seneum portaredicitur, are, however,
here synonymous ; and the literal meaning therefore
seems to be that the person thus reproached was in.
dicated as one who carried the brazen caldron to the
place where the witches assembled to chant their words
of might (ubi striae concinnunt). That stria certainly
meant a woman of supernatural powers, is clear from a
passage in the Lex Alamannicse, where she is designated
as one who fed on the entrails of men, an allusion
which will bring to the reader's mind the sorceress of
the Arabian Nights, who in the day only ate a few
grains of rice, and who nightly left her husband's bed,
when he was wrapt in deep sleep, to meet her sister
sorceresses among the tombs of the dead, and feed with
them on the corpses they disinterred. 3 The superstition
of the Arabian is manifestly that of Germany ; both
not merely spring from the same source, but are ab-
solutely identical, a circumstance, however, which
has escaped the notice of all the commentators on this
obscure law. In this sense the word was known to the
Greeks 4 , and to the Latins 5 , and to the writers of the
'. ' De Eo qui alterum, &c. tit Ixvii. I 1.
' " Quod Hera colebatur a Saxonibus videtur ex eo, quod adhuc quidam
vulgares recitant, se audivisse ab antiquis, prout et ego audivi, quod intro
festum nativitatis Christi et festum Epipnaniae Domini, Domina Hera
volet per era, quoniam Junoni apud gentiles aer deputabatur. Et quod
Juno quandoque Hera appellatur, et depingebatur cum tintinnabulis et
aliis, dicebant vulgares, prasdictotempore Vrowe Here, seu corrupto nomine,
Vro Here de vlughet." Gobelinus apud Schilterum, voc. Cherioburge.
3 See the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.
4 Callimachus Hymnus in Apol. v 45. and many others.
8 As strix, originally signifying a bird of night by some supposed to
be the owl, but manifestly without reason. Thus Ovid, Fasti, lib. vi.
T. 130, &c.
" Sunt avidae volucres, non qua; Phineia mensis
Guttura fraudubant, setl genus inde truhunt :
THE CABLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 75
middle ages. 1 Hence, though Ducange and Schilter
were not aware of the universality of this superstition,
they could not avoid forming a tolerably correct idea of
the beings designated by the word. By all the Ger-
manic, probably also by the Sclavonic nations, it was be-
lieved that there were women who at certain seasons,
amidst the silence of night, rode through the air to hold
communication with the pagan goddess ; that they had
supernatural gifts, especially an abundance of worldly
things. By the Alamanni and the Franks, as is plainly
intimated in their laws, the same witch was believed to
feed on the entrails of the dead. Nor was the super-
stition unknown to the Lombards, who, however, had
too much good sense to believe in it. In a law of the
code which forbids the destruction of a woman re-
proached as a strigis, we have these remarkable words :
" Quod Christianis mentibus nullatenus est credendum,
nee possibile est, ut hominem mulier vivum intrinsecus
possit comedere." 2 If this prohibition does honour to
the Lombard legislator, it equally proves the strange
diffusion of the notion. Allusion, we think, is also
made to it in the laws which so severely visit the resur-
rectionists of those times, the sixth law of the sixty-
seventh title of the Lex Salica, inflicting no less a
penalty than 200 sols on the criminal. 3 It is un-
reasonable to suppose that so high a mulct, the full
Grande caput, stantes oculi, rostra apta rapinis,
Canities pennis, unguibus hanuis inest
Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes,
Et vitiant cunis corpora rapta suis.
Carpere dicuntur lactentia viscera rostris
Et plenum poto sanguine guttur habent :
Est illis strigibus nomen, sed nominis hujtis
Causa, quod horrendo stridore nocte solet."
Still stronger is the well known passage of Petronius: " Qua? striges
comederunt nervos tuos ? " A passage, however, which commentators
have been glad to pass over, or to leave it worse than they found it
1 Thus in the Komaunt de Rose, we have estries (strits) for witches
and magicians.
2 Codex Legum Longobardum, lib. i. tit. ii. I. 9.
3 Lex Salica, ad tit.
76 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
compensation for the homicide of a Frank, and twice
that of a Roman, could have been exacted, had not
some such consideration been present to the mind of the
legislators. Lastly for we must quit the Salic code
that gallows and gibbets were as rife in the fifth
century as in the time of Tacitus, is evident from the
penalties against such as dared to remove the corpses
thus suspended. The ordinary mulct for such removal
provided it were not done at the command of the
judge was 45 sols. 1 Whoever presumed to remove
the head of a malefactor, when exposed, according to
custom, on a post, was fined 15 sols. 2 If a malefactor
were stolen away before life had left his body, the
penalty was 100 sols. 3
The Salian Franks, after their migration into Gaul,
were first located in the western provinces of the
Netherlands, and subsequently, after the conquest of
their king Clovis, they extended far into the centre of
that province, so as to border on Burgundy and Aqui-
taine. The Lex Salica therefore was obligatory over a
wide region, subject, however, to many amendments,
alterations, and additions, by the royal successors of
Clovis. The Ripuarian Franks then located between
the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the Meuse had also their
code, promulgated not long after that of the Franks,
and published by the son of Clovis. This, however,
we shall not notice, because of its affinity with the pre-
ceding. The Burgundian law which was promulgated
early in the fifth century, bears a greater affinity to the
Roman than any other [of the early barbarian codes, yet
it frequently betrays the ancient habits of the people
during their abode on the eastern confines of Germany.
We may briefly advert to a few of its more striking de-
viations from the kindred codes. The deliberate homi-
THK CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 77
cicle of a freeman was punished with death. 1 If a
slave committed the deed with his owner's privity, both
suffered the last penalty 2 ; but where the homicide was
provoked or accidental, a pecuniary mulct was ad-
mitted. 3 That the Burgundians already valued the
more liberal arts is apparent from the wide distinction
they made between the homicide of a rustic slave and of
an artisan. Thus the murder of a ploughman or swine-
herd was compensated by 30 sols 4 ; that of a carpenter
by 40 5 ; of a common smith by 50 6 ; of a silver-
smith by 100 7 ; of a goldsmith by 150. 8 This code
rendered hospitality obligatory : whoever refused to the
most obscure traveller shelter and fire was mulcted in
3 sols 9 j and higher, if the stranger were of condition. 10
Does this fact speak for the superior humanity of the
Burgundians ? We think not. Though no such in-
junction is to be found, for instance, in the two codes of
the Franks, let us not suppose that hospitality was dis-
regarded. On the contrary, that it was a virtue held in
high estimation among them is incontestable from.'the
whole tenor of their history. The truth probably is,
that here ancient custom, the common or unwritten law,
was too deeply impressed on the people to require any
additional injunction ; and in this sense the published
law of the Burgundians may not be very honourable to
them ; perhaps, by constant intercourse with the Ro-
manised inhabitants of Gaul, the fervour of this great
virtue had cooled. On the same principle we account
for the doom of death awarded against those guilty of
adultery H ; for chastity was assuredly as dear to the
Franks, who have no written penalty for the crime, as
to the Burgundians. 12
1 Lex Burgundionum, tit. ii. LI. 2 Ibid. 1. a
3 Jbid. 1. 2. < Ibid. tit. x. 1. 2.
5 Ibid. 1. 6. 6 Ibid. 1. 5.
7 Ibid. 1. 4. 8 ibid. 1. 3.
9 Tit. xxxviii. De Hospitalitate, 1. 1. " Ibid. 1. 210. '
Tit. Ixviii. 1. 1.
12 Lindenbrogius Prolegomena in Codicem Legum Antiquarum. Ba-
luzius, Capitularia Regum Francorum, torn. i. p. 989. S. Gregorius Tu.
ronensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. 33. Heineccius, Historia
Juris Germanic!, cap. i. L 8, 9, 10.
78 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
Omitting the laws of the Lombards, which contain little
that is peculiarly striking ', and those of the Wisigoths 2 ,
which do not belong to the Germanic empire, we come
to a very brief but very ancient code, bearing the name
of the Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, and supposed to
have been also common to the Thuringians. Its origin
is wrapt in great obscurity ; but from internal evidence
there can be no doubt both' of its high antiquity, and of
its being received by some of the Saxon tribes. Of its
affinity with the ancient codes of this country from
Ethelbert king of Kent downwards, a slight glance may
satisfy any reader 3 ; for this reason, and because it is
very curious, it may occupy a few moments of our at-
tention. Its most striking characteristic is the dis-
tinction it draws between the different classes of society,
a distinction insulting enough to form the basis of
Anglo-Saxon legislation. Thus in regard to homicide,
the murder of an adding (etheling) was fixed as high as
600 sols 4 , three times that of a Frank noble,
while that of a slave was reduced to 30 5 : that of a
freeman was compensated by 200. 6 There is, however,
a peculiarity attending these penalties which deserves
serious consideration. If the man accused of murdering
either an etheling or a freeman denied the crime, he
might purge himself by the oaths of twelve men, who
should swear that in their conscience they believed him
innocent: if accused of a slave's murder, he might
swear with five. This is probably the earliest authority
where we meet with compurgation by the oaths of
others ; but we should not be justified in assigning it to
the Angles, the Werins, or the Thuringians alone ; it
doubtless pervaded all the Germanic codes, though we
meet with express mention of it in two or three only.
It was, in fact, interwoven into the judicial system
1 See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 12, &c.
9 An elaborate analysis of this code has been given in the History of
Spain and Portugal, vol. iv,
3 See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iii. chap. 1.
* Lex Angliorum, tit. i. 1 1. Ibid. L 4. 6 Ibid. 1. 2.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 79
comprised by the ancient unwritten observances. We
find it at the same time in Spain ' and Scandinavia, in
England 2 and in Saxony. It is the basis of our trial
by jury, an institution which, though subject to much
abuse from popular prejudice, interest, or passion, is
the noblest bulwark ever devised by man for the pro-
tection of individuals. From the custom of twelve
men swearing in favour of the accused, and in reality
being produced by him as his counsel, the transition
to these being nominated by the court, and sworn to
give an impartial verdict between the two parties, was
natural and easy. It is not the least remarkable of
historic facts, that this palladium of civil liberty, so
wisely framed, that it could scarcely have been con-
ceived by the most enlightened philosopher, so humane,
that it would honour the Christian philanthropist, origi-
nated not in the boasted wisdom of Greece or Rome,
but in the dark forests of Germany, amidst the pagans
of a barbarous age. The truth is, that to philosophy
human liberty is not much indebted : it has been fostered
by that independence which distinguishes the Gothic
nations beyond all other people on earth. There is
scarcely a penalty in this most extraordinary code (Lex
Angliorum) which may not be evaded by this form of
compurgation. But in some cases it was joined with
the alternative of another, that of compurgation by
the duel. Thus when accused of homicide in regard
either to an adeling or a freeman, the defendant could
legally defy the plaintiff to the field. 3 In after times
this ordeal of single combat was perfected into an
elaborate system, professed champions being granted to
churchmen, to women, and to such as were enfeebled
by age. Every reader knows that it was an essential
character of chivalry ; and chivalry is founded on the
customs of the Germanic nations. In this form of
compurgation, however, there is little to praise. Ori-
1 See History of Spain and Portugal, vol. iv. p. 110, &c.
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. Hi. p. 57.
3 Lex Angliorum, tit. L 1. 3.
80 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ginally it was. doubtless, a salutary mode, since it often
prevented the poor man, whose only defence was his
sword, from being overwhelmed by the vengeance of
power ; but it grew into a monstrous abuse, until the
church procured its condemnation. Would that the
church had been able to banish it entirely, and that the
duel no longer disgraced, we do not say Christian, but
rational society ! The same distinction between the
homicide of a noble and that of a mere freeman held
good in other cases. The blow received by an adeling
was rated at three times the amount of that received by
a mere ingenuus : in the former case it was 30, in the
latter 10 sols l ; and the same held good when blood
flowed from the wound. 2 And if a bone were broken,
the same proportion was observed : in the one case 90,
in the other 30 sols, being the amount of compens-
ation. 3 In all these, however, the accused could
swear with five, or six, or twelve men. Again, if an
adeling lost an eye, the mulct was 300 sols 4 ; if a free-
man, it was 100, unless there were a compurgation by
oath. 5 The same sum and the same rule obtained in
regard to the nose, the ear, the tongue, the hand, the
foot. 6 " Qui adalingo unum vel ambes testiculos ex-
cusserit, ccc sol componat. Si libero, c sol componat,
vel juret ut superius." 7 Other injuries were subjected
to the same mode and the same proportion of com-
pensation. 8 The minuteness with which bodily ones
are described and graduated, sufficiently betrays the
earnestness of the rude legislators on this subject. It
is the best evidence of their alarming frequency. The
jealous distinction made between the nobles of the
Saxon and those of some other tribes, seems to imply
some pre-eminence of birth or of dignity in the former ;
and at every step the question recurs, were they not
thus favoured on account of their descent from some
> Tit ii. L 1, 2. * Tit. iii. L 1, 2.
3 Tit iv. 1. 1, 2. * Tit T. L a
* Ibid. Ibid. 1. 4, 5.
7 Ibid. L & 8 Ibid. L 780.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 81
great name perhaps from Odin ? We know with what
jealousy that descent was valued in this country ; that
on it Hengist, and Horsa, Offa, and Ida, equally prided
themselves ; and we are sure some advantage must have
attended it, or the members, whether real or reputed, of
that family would not so readily have obtained thrones
wherever they drew their victorious swords. Females
could not succeed to landed property : a daughter was
set aside in favour of the most distant relation. l That
theft was not very common, may be inferred from the
fact, that three laws only relate to it, and that the com-
position is fixed at no more than threefold the value of
the things stolen. 2 Had the crime been frequent enough
to excite the alarm of the community, assuredly we
should have had more numerous and more severe penal-
ties. Incendiaries were more dreaded than thieves ;
for not only was reparation for the damage exacted
threefold, but, in addition, a fine of 60 sols went to
satisfy the community. 3 And here we may observe,
that this freda which was equivalent to the Anglo-
Saxon wite 4 is made to accompany many of the pe-
cuniary compensations, a proof either that the judges
were more rapacious, or that society was more enlight-
ened than in some other places. Yet on such a subject
we cannot be confident, when we consider the numerous
cases which, in all the tribes, were left to the decision of
the unwritten customs. In the mulcts annexed to the
more violent crimes, we perceive some curious par-
ticulars. That for the homicide of a noble virgin was
600 sols 5 ; but if the victim were a pregnant woman,
or one accustomed to bear children, it was tripled, viz.
to 1800 sols 6 ; but if she were past the age of bearing,
it was reduced to 600. 7 This curious fact proves the
care with which population was encouraged. If a
woman were accused of having poisoned her husband
1 Tit. vi. De Alodibus. 2 Tit. vii. De FurtU.
3 Ibid. L 2, a 5, &c.
4 See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 6i.
5 De Vi, tit. x. 1. 3. 6 ibid.
i Ibid. "
VOL. I. G
82 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
by herbs or witchcraft, she might clear herself by a
champion, who was to be her nearest kin ; and if she
had no champion, by nine red-hot ploughshares. 1 We
conclude our brief notice of this code with observing,
that its numerous omissions were doubtless supplied by
the unwritten law ; that it exhibits an exceedingly
simple, we may add rude., state of society ; and that it
is pervaded by a spirit of equity not to be found in any
other written laws. 2
That all the Germanic nations, or, to speak correctly,
confederations of tribes whether they remained on the
native soil, or had migrated to other countries had
written laws before the time of Charlemagne, is un-
doubted. In this work, Thierry, the son of Clovis,
exerted himself: he caused his most learned men to
draw up codes for the Franks, the Alamanni, and the
Bavarians ; but that these were not new codes, is evi-
dent from the whole tenor of the relation. He added,
we are told, what he saw fit ; and " the customs which
were according to the manner of the pagans, he altered
after the law of Christ." We are also told that Thierry
could not wholly root out the vestiges of idolatry ; but
that Childebert, Clothaire, and Dagobert successively
perfected his work. According to the unquestionable
testimony of Eginhard, Charlemagne made additions to
or alterations in the codes of all the nations submitted to
his sceptre. The LexAlamannica, as it was originally con-
firmed by Clothaire II., would have been an interesting
subject of contemplation ; but the additions made to it
by succeeding monarchs, and incorporated with the rest,
renders it impossible to separate the more ancient from
the more recent laws, and, consequently, to form any
satisfactory notice of the pristine character of the peo-
ple. From the contiguity of Swabia with Christian
Gaul, we find, as we might naturally expect, a more
humanised spirit in the code : it exhibits, in fact, a de-
1 De Beneficiis, tit. xiv.
* Lindenbrogius, Prolegomena in Codicem Lejuim Antiquarum. Con-
rlngius, De Origine Juris Germanic!, cap. IS. Heineccius, Historia Jur.
Germ. cap. i. p. 12.
THE CARLOV1NGIAN PERIOD. OO
gree of civilisation not to be found at the same period in
provinces further removed from communication with
the Roman world. Its chief peculiarity regards the
struggles which Christianity had to encounter against
the lingering, and still powerful, spirit of heathenism
Thus, neither duke nor count could prevent a freeman
from devoting himself or his property to the service of
the altar ' ; thus sanctuary was solemnly recognised 2 ;
and if any freeman was killed within the precincts of a
church, there was not only the usual composition for
homicide, but a fine of 60 sols to the church, and as
many to the royal treasury. 3 Hence, too, the severe
penalties decreed against all who presumed to touch the
substance or the persons of ecclesiastics, amounting
in many cases to three, in some to nine, times the
sum where laymen only were concerned. 4 These and
similar laws were made with a wise purpose ; that of
inducing the pagans, or, what is the same thing, men
but nominally reclaimed from paganism, to regard the
church and her ministers with respect. But this code
has some other particulars which derive interest from
the light they throw on more ancient times. Thus the
thirty-sixth chapter enacts, that a conventus, or judicial
meeting, shall be held secundum antiquamconsuetudinem,
in every canton before the comes, in every hundred
before the centenarius 5 ; that if the times be turbulent,
it shall be held once every seven days ; but in peaceful
times, once in fourteen. 6 All crimes in this code were
commutable for money/ 7 The extreme minuteness with
which bodily injuries are recorded, and the careful
graduation of the mulct to the damage, prove that,
whatever was the frequency of the judicial assemblies,
violence reigned on every side. 8 But if some crimes
were thus severely punished, there were others of which
the punishment was nominal. Thus, in regard to the
1 Lex Alamannica, cap. 1, 2. 2 Ibid. cap. 3. 1. 1.
3 Ibid. cap. 4. 4 Ibid, passim.
' Ibid. cap. 36. 1. 1. 6 ibid. 1. 2.
7 Ibid. cap. 40. et alia.
8 Ibid. cap. 59 65. in multis locis.
c 9
84 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
offences against chastity, which, in more ancient times,
under the pagans, were visited either with death or a
heavy pecuniary mulct, according to the magnitude of
the charge, justice was no longer stern. If a man in-
decently exposed a free virgin, he was fined 6 or
12 sols, according to the degree of exposure: and if
he effected the copula carnalis, whatever were her un-
willingness, 40 was sufficient ; or double, if she were
married. 1 Again, if a man put away his betrothed,
and married another, he was merely obliged to put the
second wife away, with 40 sols for the loss she had
sustained, and to recal the first. 2 If the victim of
man's violence were one degree below the rank of a
freewoman, her chastity was valued at the magnificent
sum of 6 sols 3 ; if a mere slave, at 3 ! 4 These
extraordinary contrasts between the pagan and Christian
codes, do not argue much for the latter ; in Swabia,
chastity had evidently ceased to be held in much
respect. But, assuredly, no one will impute this moral
laxity to the Christian religion. It was, doubtless,
owing to other causes, among which may be ranked the
perpetually unsettled state of society, the absence of any
direct efficient government, and, still more, of religious
sanctions : the inhabitants had thrown off paganism
without receiving Christianity. In other cases, we may
look in vain for that respect to the fair sex so cha-
racteristic of the Germanic tribes. Thus, if any one
boxed a freewoman on the ear, so that blood did not
issue, the mulct was 2 sols 5 , and one half if a slave;
and if the blow were struck by a slave, half of that
trifle. 6 Before we dismiss this code we may add, that
it contains traces of greater improvement in the system
of compurgation by oath ; but that it nowhere mentions
legal champions. 7
1 Lex Alamannica, cap. 58. * Ibid. cap. 53.
3 Ibid. cap. 80. 1. 1. ' Ibid. 1. 3.
* Ibid. cap. 95. 1. 1. 6 ibid. 1. 3.
^ Lindenbrogius, Prologomena in Cpdicetn Legum Antiquarian, necnon
Prsefat:o ad Leges Baivar. p. 399. Eginhardus, Vita Carol i Magni, cap. 29.
Conringius, De prigine Juris Germanici, cap. 9. Heineccius, Historia
Juris Germ. cap. i. L 2123.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 85
The code of the Bavarians is, probably, of equal an-
tiquity with that of the Swabians. It is in many re-
spects similar to the latter ; and for some of its pro-
visions it is evidently indebted to that of the Lombards.
On the whole, it exhibits no very favourable view of the
social state. Slaves were held in lighter estimation than
in any other country : to break the head of one, in-
curred a penalty of 4 sols only l ; and you might cut
oft' his nose for2^ 2 ; his ear for l^ 3 ; and murder
him at once for 20. 4 Chastity was about as valuable
in this province as in Swabia. The rape of another's
wife was l6'0 sols 5 ; of a widow, 80 G ; of a virgin,
40 ~ ; but if the virgin consented, 12. 8 But these
were free born women ; for as to the chastity of a
female slave, 4 sols was considered a fair equivalent,
even if she were married y ; and 3, if she were not. 10
Other offences, falling short of the main crime, were
naturally treated with much more indulgence. An im-
mediate touch by the hand, no matter in what part,
nor whether with a maid, might be purchased for 6
sols. 11 If, however, indumenta super genicula eleva-
verit, quod himilzorum vocat, cum 12 sol. componat. 12
If such lustful behaviour was shown to one below the
rank of freewoman, the penalty was nothing at all. 13
The Lex Saxonum, which is one of the briefest in
the range of Germanic jurisprudence, bears the impress
of high antiquity. It was confirmed by Charlemagne,
the conqueror of this people, who, doubtless, expelled
the heathen spirit which pervaded it. It exhibits a
very different state of society from that subsisting in
Swabia, Bavaria, or even in Gaul ; and, in its general
features, it approximates closely to the code of the
Angles. Like the latter, and even in a greater degree,
I Lex Baivariorum, tit v. 1. 5. * Ibid. 1. 10.
3 Ibid. 1. 15. < Ibid. 1. 18.
5 Tit. vii. LI. 6 ibid. ). 7.
^ Ibid. 1. 6. Ibid. 1. 8.
9 Ibid. I. 12. 10 Ibid. 1. 13.
II Tit vii. I. a 12 ibid. 1. 4.
13 Authorities: Lindenbrog, Conring, Heinck.
G 3
86 HISTORY OP THK GERMANIC EMPIRE.
it draws the most insulting distinction between the dif-
ferent grades of society ; and like the latter, it exhibits,
with great barbarism, great virtues also. The mulct
for the murder of a noble was 1440 sols to the kindred,
besides a fine to the state J ; for that of a freedman,
120-'; for that of a slave by a noble, 36 3 ; but by a
freedman, an oath of compurgation sufficed. 4 It is re-
markable that the murder of a virgin was just double 5 ;
a pleasing proof of Saxon gallantry. Compurgation by
oath, when the guilt was only presumptive, was common
to this as well as to the Anglian code. If a feud, or
armed retainer, killed a man by command of his lord,
that lord was to pay the mulct, or to support the feud ;
which, as we may perceive in any article of this little
code, was not wholly discountenanced by the laws. In
fact, pecuniary composition was yet in its infancy ; and
was not very palatable to a high-spirited savage people.
If the crime were committed without the lord's privity,
he had to purge himself by the oaths of twelve men ;
and not only was the feud put to death by the kindred
of the deceased, but, at the same time, seven of the
homicide's kin were sacrificed with him. 6 This atro-
cious law was evidently a remnant of the pagan custom
of offering living victims to the manes of the dead. The
jealous care with which the life of the nobles was
preserved, the extraordinary penalties which protected
it among the Saxon tribes, strongly confirms the hy-
pothesis we have started, that the nobles were of
some sacred family the descendants of some deified
legislator or hero. We know that Saxony had two
sucn, Armin and Odin ; nor is it improbable that they
had more. A barbarous people easily magnifies the
deeds of its celebrated public characters ; nor is the
transition from admiration to homage very difficult to be
conceived. There are parallel cases nearer to our times.
i Lex Saxonum. tit. ii. LI. 3 Ibid. L a
3 Ibid. I. 4. Ibid. I. 4.
i Ibid. L 5. 6 Ibid. 1. 5.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 87
We do not see that the deification once in vogue among
poor savages is much more irrational than the ca-
nonisation of Roman catholics. If the pope has the
power of placing a mortal inter divos ; if the issuing of
his mandate authorise invocation, and, consequently,
the worship of one, why should we be angry with the
worshippers of Armin, or Odin, or Eric. l In most
other respects, the character of this code is distinguished
for severe penalties. Sacrilege and perjury were pu-
nished with death. 2 Wounds were rated very high.
A slight blow on a noble was 30 sols 3 ; if swelling fol-
lowed the blow, 60 4 ; if blood, 120 5 ; if the bone ap-
peared, 1 SO G ; if a bone were broken, 240 7 : corn-
purgation, however, by the oaths of six or twelve men,
being allowed in all these cases, where the evidence was
circumstantial. The loss of one eye, we are still
speaking of nobles, was 720 sols 8 ; of both, the full
widrigild, or composition for life, viz. 1440. 9 The
same rule held good in regard to the hands, and feet,
and nose. Even a noble's thumb was valued at 240 10 ;
his little finger at the same ' l ; his index finger, however,
at 1 80 only. 12 But the last penalty itself, so foreign to the
spirit of Germanic jurisprudence, is often exacted by
the Saxon law. Whosoever conspired against the king
or kingdom of the Franks I3 ; whosoever slew his feudal
lord 14 ; whosoever slew the son of his lord, or violated
the wife, the daughter, or mother of that lord 15 ; who-
soever killed his deadly foe in his own house 16 ; in-
curred the doom of death : and even the church was
forbidden to harbour those who were obnoxious to it. 17
Nay, the same penalty was exacted in regard to minor
1 See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 213.
2 Lex Saxonum, 1. 8. 3 Tit. i. 1. 1.
4 Ibid. 1. 2. s Ibid. 1. a
6 Ibid. 1. 4. ? Ibid.
8 Ibid. 1. 11.
9 Ibid. And it also held good in regard to other matter
si unus abscisus fuerit, 720 sol. ; ambo, 1440. Ibid.
10 Ibid. 1.2. 11 Ibid.
i 2 Ibid. I. la 13 Tit. iii. 1. 1.
. . . . .
Ibid. 1. 12. > 5 Ibid. 1. a
i Ibid. 1. 4. I? Ibid. L 5.
Q 4
88 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
crimes. Whosoever stole a horse ] ; whosoever broke
into the dwelling house of another by night to steal ' 2 ;
whosoever stole in an adjoining building, whether locked
or not 3 ; whosoever stole by night an ox four years
old 4 ; whosoever, by day or night, stole a thing,
value 3 solidi 5 ; whosoever set on fire, by night or
day, the house of another 6 ; equally incurred the last
penalty. It is impossible to contemplate some of these
sanguinary enactments, without a strong feeling of hor-
ror ; nor, we may add, without one equally strong of
surprise. Whence this amazing difference between the
codes of Saxony and of Swabia or Bavaria ? Here is a
curious subject for reflection. Were crimes held in
greater detestation in Saxony than in the two last pro-
vinces ? or were they so common, that to repress them
it was found necessary to adopt these extraordinary
penalties? We incline to the former supposition. When
the conduct of men is lax, they do not think of visiting
it with severity. Had crime been generally diffused, it
could not possibly have been repressed by such means.
To the observation that Charlemagne, their conqueror
and legislator, was compelled to restrain their perpetual
turbulence by new and unexampled punishments, we
might answer, it is only true in part. The law which
makes conspiracy against the Frank government, and
even sacrilege, a capital offence, was, probably, forced
on them by that monarch; who wished a rebellious
people to be taught obedience, and a pagan people
respect for religion. But that the other laws are of
native growth, may be inferred from internal evidence,
and from the relation of Charlemagne's biographers.
Had not these savage penalties been consentaneous with
the ancient customs of the province, could they have
been enforced ? Would not the whole people the
most high spirited and courageous under heaven
have risen in a mass to destroy the conquerors ? Be-
nt iv. De FurtU, 1. 1. 2 Ibid. 1. a
3 Ibid. L 4. Ibid. 1. 5.
5 Ibid. 16. De Incendiis, tit v. L 2.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 89
sides, who taught Charlemagne, whose mind was so
deeply imbued with the Frank jurisprudence, these
sanguinary lessons ? He could not learn them from any
preceding code or legislator ; and we cannot conceive
how they could have entered his mind. But it is ex-
pressly affirmed, by more than one historian of the
period, that he caused the laws of each people subject
to his sway to be compiled from their ancient customs
and the Saxons are enumerated among the rest, a
relation which completely establishes the point at issue.
To our minds, however, the internal evidence is no less
convincing ; nor can we divest ourselves of the im
pression that the laws sprung from Odin. That such a
personage existed, and that he was the legislator both
of Northern Germany and of Scandinavia, we are pre-
pared to prove from unquestionable historic evidence ;
but here we will not enter into the elaborate investi-
gation ; nor ought we, as our subject is the Germanic
empire. Assuming the fact of his existence, we must
also receive the character given of him as a legislator by
writers who lived nearest to his period ; whether that
period were in the second or first century after Christ,
or even prior to the Christian era. Now, he is expressly
affirmed to have been a sanguinary law -maker; to have
punished slight offences with the same penalty as the
heaviest : one writer, indeed (we do not at this moment
remember his name), positively asserts that, prior to
Odin, capital punishment was unknown to the Ger-
manic tribes. According to Tacitus, indeed, and even
to Caesar, who speak of potestas vitoe et necis, death
was far from an uncommon punishment ; but did Odin
precede or follow these writers ? Notwithstanding the
pretended genealogy of some Anglo-Saxon princes, who
are represented, by later writers, as only a few ge-
nerations distant from Odin, we incline to the former
opinion. However, we do not insist on the literal
meaning of the assertion, that, prior to him, the pu-
nishment of death was unknown. Without that penalty
90 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
in the most aggravated cases in deliberate murder at
least no society can be secure ; and what the historian
probably means, was, that before the time of that cele-
brated legislator, the punishment of death was very un-
common. Of its unhappy frequency at the period under
consideration, we have given proof enough. Its pre-
valence, too, among all the nations of Saxon descent, must
be admitted as strong presumption in favour of its in-
ternal growth, or, at least, of its reception from time im-
memorial. In this respect the penal code of England has
been a melancholy reflection on our wisdom and hu-
manity. On our wisdom, because the punishment of
death has not diminished the amount of crime ; for
down to the period of the French revolution, when that
nation obtained the supremacy of guilt, England alone
has exhibited more numerous and more flagitious
violations of every commandment in the decalogue, than
all the European nations taken together. As to our
humanity, it is useless to do more than add, that if the
horrid features of all other codes were collected and ar-
ranged, they would not form an aggregate so frightful
as the English code was some years ago. Even now,
much remains to be done; but, happily, there is a
better spirit abroad, from which much may be hoped.*
The only legal collection which we shall here no-
tice, is the Lex Frisica. Yet, in point of antiquity,
assuredly it is not the last ; though it was, probably, one
of the last promulgated by the Frank monarchs. In
many parts it bears the impress of pagan society, and
it is generally rude. As the Frisians were so late in
receiving Christianity their conversion not being com-
pleted, however long before it might have commenced,
until the ninth century we are prepared for this cha-
* Authorities : the Lex Saxonies hi the collection of Lindcnbrog ;
Conringius, De Origine Juris Germanic! ; Heineccius, Elementa Juris Ger-
manici, nficnon Hiatoria ejusdem in place too numerous to be cited.
The efforts to reform our penat code have been deplorably short of
what was required. Its rigour has even, in some cases, been increased,
and the little good that has been effected has been wrung from our re-
formers by the irresistible voice of public indignation.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. Ql
racteristic of barbarians. By whom it was originally
promulgated would be vain to enquire ; he could not be
earlier than Charles Martel, who seems to have been the
first who obtained any signal or general triumph over
the wild inhabitants. Partial victories had, indeed,
been gained, and the duke of Frisia had sometimes pro-
fessed himself the vassal of the Franks ; but the
country was virtually independent until the time of
Charlemagne. Some high legal authorities have con-
tended that this celebrated legislator could not possibly
have compiled the code ; yet we should remember that
he did not so much compile, as sanction, the laws of
the nation submitted to him. He did not, as some
modern legislators would have done, employ his ablest
jurists to devise a system of law founded on natural
equity or philosophical principles : he merely sanc-
tioned such of the ancient customs of each people
as were not at variance with the domination he had
established, and the religion he was resolved to in-
troduce. Probably he was wise enough to know, that,
as all laws are intimately connected with the feelings, no
less than the habits, of the people among whom they
have grown from infancy to maturity, any sudden or
sweeping innovations could only endanger the stability
of his empire, and prove most injurious to Christianity.
He seems to have been directed by that true philosophy
which would prepare a people for certain institutions ;
not force these institutions, however wise, on a people
reluctant to receive them, and incapable of comprehend-
ing them. He softened the harsher feature of the sys-
tem ; he left to time and circumstances the slow
transformation of deformity into beauty. But let us
proceed to the code itself. From the geographical po-
sition of the Frisians, we should naturally expect that
their laws would be, if not identical, at least kindred,
with those of the Saxons. But there is no affinity
whatever between the two : each presents a social state
so different from the other, that the two people could
92 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
scarcely spring from the same stock ; or, if they did,
their characters, during the lapse of ages, must have
been so altered by widely dissimilar institutions, as to
render the line of demarcation between them as deep as
if they had belonged to races essentially foreign. Thus,
in regard to homicide, the pecuniary composition for
that of a noble is 80 sols only l ; while among the
Saxons, as we have before seen, it was 1440. This
proves that the Frisians had no family of noble and
sacred descent, the members of which were to be pro-
tected by such extraordinary penalties. There could
not possibly be any relationship between the nobles
of both these people. The murder of a freeman was 54
sols- ; a small sum, indeed, in comparison with the
Saxon mulct, but so nearly approximating to the com-
position for the noble, that the line of distinction
between the two classes (nobles and freemen) in Frisia
was not very broad. The more we investigate the sub-
ject, the more strongly we find our original impression
confirmed, that in Saxony there was a nobility re-
garded as sacred as constituting a family venerable
in the eyes of the people as descended from a
deified legislator and king. The murder of a freed-
man was 27 sols 3 : of a slave, of course, less, but the
sum is not fixed ; probably, because he was not thought
very deserving of legislation, the comparison was loosely
left to arbitrary appreciation. 4 That murder was a
very frequent crime among this people, is incontestable
from the number of laws on this subject ; from the mi-
nuteness with which the circumstances were specified ;
from the graduation of the mulct according to these
circumstances. In one respect only is there a similarity
between the Saxon and the Frisian laws, and that re-
lating not so much to crime as to the judicial process :
in both, the accused, where the guilt was merely pre-
Lex Frisionum, tit.i. LI.' 2 IM4 1.54.
Ibid. I & * Ibid. L 10.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD $3
sumptive, could swear with a certain number, some-
times with five, at others with twelve, in a few cases with
twenty-three, or thirty-five, and forty-eight. 1 This dif-
ference in the number of jurors was purely topographi-
cal ; in one district a few, in another many, were
required. And we may add, that in the districts border-
ing on Westphalia, the country of the Saxons, not only
was the number of jurors much greater, but the amount
of compensation was much higher. Thus, between the
Fli and the Sincfal, the were of a noble was 100 sols ;
of a freeman, 50 ; of a freedman, 25 ; or, if the guilt
were presumptive only, the accused swore with twenty-
three, or eleven, or five. 2 Between the Lanbach and
theWeser, the mulct of a noble was 106sols, the rest in
proportion ; and if the guilt were not apparent, the ac-
cused, according as the deceased were noble, or free, or
freed, might swear with forty-seven, or twenty-three, or
eleven. 3 This difference affords strong presumption of
a "radical difference in race among the inhabitants of
Frisia : some, certainly, were of the Gothic ; some, ap-
parently, of one very dissimilar. The language itself
seems to confirm this hypothesis ; for, though many
words are of the great Teutonic family, there are many,
also, from a different source. Rape, theft, burning, and
other crimes were equally to be compensated by money.
Death was permitted only in six cases : where the
champion fell in a duel ; where an adulterer was caught
flagrante delicto ; where a thief was apprehended while
breaking into a house ; where an incendiary was actually
applying the torch to burn a house ; where a man was
breaking into a temple ; where one was destroying the
infant snatched from the mother's breast. 4 For all
other crimes, how heinous soever, the mulct was care-
fully provided. But the most remarkable title of the
Frisian code is that which relates to wounds and maim-
1 Lex Frisionum, variis legibus. 2 Ibid, variis legibus.
3 Ibid. 1.7,8,9. 4 Ibid. tit. v. 1.1.
94 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ing. For injuries done to various parts of the body,
the composition is so minutely graduated, that expe-
rience only could have framed the scale. Such acci-
dents must, in fact, have been of perpetual occurrence.
We will give a few examples from the eighty-nine
regulations on the subject : If a man struck another
on the head so as to make him deaf, 24 sols ' ; if
dumb, 1 8 2 : if blood merely flowed, 1 3 ; if the skull
appeared, 2 4 : if an ear were cut off, 1 2 5 ; if the nose,
24 6 : if the upper part of the forehead were cut, 2 7 ;
if the lower, 4 8 : if one of the inward teeth were
knocked out, 2 9 ; if an angular tooth, 3 10 ; if a
grinder, 4 11 : if the hand were cut off by the wrist,
45 12 ; if the thumb 13 and a fraction 13 ; if the index
finger, 7 14 ', if the middle finger, a fraction under 7 15 ;
if the ring finger, 8 16 ; if the little finger, 6' 17 ; if the
whole five fingers, 4 1. 18 And this is not all; for not
only the fingers, but the joints of every finger, whether
cut off or simply pierced, were valued with a minute-
ness which fully confirms the inference we have drawn
as to the barbarous and violent state of Frisian society.
When we add, that wounds, or abscisions, or bruises in
every other part of the body are graduated with equal
care ; and above all, that a new-born infant might be
exposed or put to death, provided it had not sucked its
mother's breast I9 , we shall have said enough to make
the reader sick of this horrid people. They had, in-
deed, other laws, which some modern writers contend
are as ancient as the eighth, or at least the ninth, cen-
tury, and which betray some faint traces of civilisation ;
but they have no such antiquity ; they are more proba-
i Lex Frisionum, tit. xxii., DeDolg., 1.1. 2 Ibid. 1.2.
3 Ibid. 1.4. Ibid. 15. * Ibid. IS.
Ibid. Lll. 7 Ibid. L 12.
Ibid. L19. 9 Ibid. 1.20. "> Ibid 1.21.
Ji Ibid. 1.21. " Ibid. 1.27. 13 Ibid. 1.28.
" Ibid. 1.29. 15 Ibid. L30. " Ibid. 1.31.
i? Ibid. I. 32. 18 Ibid. 1. 33.
is Vita S. Ludgerii. See Europe during the Middle Ages, TO!, ii. p. 206.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 95
bly of the eleventh or twelfth, and consequently could
have no place in the present chapter. l
A few words on judicial proofs and purgations, and
we conclude this brief sketch of the Germanic admi-
nistration, society, and laws. 1. Though written in-
struments were not uncommon, as is evident from the
collections of Marculf and Sirmond, and from many
passages of the laws, the ordinary mode of proving a
fact was by witnesses. These could only depose by
personally appearing in the court. 2 They were sworn ;
and before their testimony was given, their ears were
always pulled or pinched, as a memento that they must
speak the truth, a custom in our eyes ludicrous, but
in theirs solemn. ;i The form of the position varied
considerably in different provinces. In more ancient
times, the witnesses swore on their arms, a form pecu-
liarly solemn to all the pagan nations, and not wholly
discontinued long after the establishment of Christian-
ity. 4 But in the middle ages, the oath was generally
taken on the Gospels, over the altar, over the relics,
sometimes over the tombs of saints. 5 When testimonial
evidence was inconclusive or wanting, the actor and reus,
or plaintiff and defendant, could, as we have often had
occasion to observe, swear either alone, or with a certain
number ; but it was generally the privilege of the ac-
cused to produce his kinsmen or friends to swear for
him; viz. to depose that, in their opinion, he had sworn
1 Lex Frisionum, apud Lindenbrogium, Codex Legum Antiquarum,
p. 491. &c. Conringius, De Origine Juris Germanic!, cap.,13. Heineccius,
Historia Juris Germ. lib. ii. cap. i. \ 25.
2 Capitularia Regum Francorum, lib. vi. 145.
3 Lex Baivarica, tit. xvi. cap. 1. & 2. Capitularia, lib. viii. 207.
4 Lex Baivarica, tit. xvi. cap. 5. Lex Longobardica, lib. ii. tit. 55. $ 1.
Lex Saxonum, tit. i. ^8. Fredegarius, Chronicon, cap. 74. Aimonus
Kloriacensis, Historia, lib. iv. cap. 26. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Eccle-
siastica, lib. i. cap.33. Bartholinus, De Causis Contemptus Mortis, lib. i.
cap. C. Ven. Fortunatus, Carmina, lib. i. car. 7.
" Utque fidelis ei ait, gens armata per arma
Jurat, jure se quoque jure tegat."
Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xvii. cap. 12.
5 Marculfus, Formulas, Appen. cap. 29. Ducange, Glossarium ad Scrip-
tores, v. Juro. The Franks were fond of swearing over the relics of St.
Martin (S. Gregorius Turon. Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iv. cap. 46., lib. viii.
cap. 16.) and over the tomb of St. Denis (Idem, lib. v. cap. 32.).
96 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
in foro conscientiae. The conjuratores varied exceed-
ingly in number: sometimes they were two 1 , four 2 ,
five-', six 4 , seven. 5 The Frisian code admitted from
two to forty-eight 6 ; but cases have been adduced, in
which 60, 62,74,81,100, and even 300, thus swore to-
gether 7 ; yet the most usual number was 12. 8 We have
alluded to the more ordinary forms of swearing ; but
there were others, the mention of which may gratify a
passing curiosity. There was the oath in manu comitis,
or head of the court 9 ; in vestimento, which probably
means by touching the garment of the man who admi-
nistered it 10 ; and in pecunia, from the image of the
king or the sign of the cross engraven on it." Some
Germanic tribes had modes of swearing peculiar to
themselves. Thus, the Frisians plucked away some hair
with the left hand, and placing two fingers of the right
hand upon it, made their adjuration. Hence the pro-
verb, " You may believe a Frisian when he touches his
hair." 12 Thus, also, the Franks swore with a rod or
staff in the right hand. 13 Classes, and even individuals,
had also a peculiar mode of swearing. Thus, clergymen
often swore not only on the Gospels, but on the missal
and the canons. 14 Some were evidently heathen oaths :
as, By my father's soul ! (per animam patris) !5 ; By all
nations ! (per omnes gentes) 16 ; By the teeth of God !
(per dentes Dei) ; By the lance of St. James ! (per
lanceam S. Jacobi) l7 ; By the crown 18 ! By my salva-
i Lex Saxonica, tit. i. 1. 1. 6. 9. 2 Lex Frisica, tit.ii. 1.8.
3 Lex Alamannica, tit. vi. 1.6. 4 Lex Saxonum, tit. xiv. 1.2.
* Lex Baivarica, tit. iii. 1.2.
6 Lx Frisica, passim, praesertim, tit. 1.
7 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanic!, lib. iii. tit 6. 218.
8 Codex Legum Antiquarum, passim.
9 Lex Longobardica, lib. ii. tit. 52. L 15.
1 Lex Frisica, tit. iii. 1. 4.
i Ibid, titxii.
i* Heineccius, Elementa. Ibid. 1.221.
13 Capitularia Regum Francorum, lib. vi. 1. 285. The staff was thrown
from the hands as soon as the oath was uttered.
14 Ducange, Glossarium ad Scriptores, ubi supra.
lb Witikind, Saxonia, lib. iii.
is Orderirus Vitalis, Historia, lib. xji. p. 880.
! " Chronicon Flandricum, cap. 17. Ibid. cap. 8. 16.
' Sanuto, Chronicon, lib. iii. part ii. cap. 3.
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 97
tion 1 ! by the splendour of God 2 ! by Mount Sion and
Mount Sinai 3 ! by the beard of Otho 4 ! In taking the
oath men raised the right hand on high 5 ; the women
and priests placed it on the breast. 2. The forms of
compurgation are no less curious. Of these one of the
most ancient was cold water. The accused was thrown
into it : if he sank, he was guilty ; if he swam, he was
innocent." Boiling water was more common : the arm
was plunged into a caldron, was soon bandaged and
sealed ; and if at the end of a few hours the member
had a healthy appearance, the accused was absolved. 8
The mode of purgation by the cross has puzzled the in-
genuity of the learned. That it took place before the
cross in the church, is admitted. 9 We think that it
consisted in holding the hands crossed over the head ;
and that, if the arms of the accused dropped before a
certain time, he was pronounced guilty. 10 Much more
common than this was the ordeal by hot iron. ' l Some-
times it consisted in seizing the red-hot iron with the
hand 1 -; sometimes in walking with naked feet over a
number of burning ploughshares 13 ; and, notwithstand-
ing the prohibition of popes and councils, it kept its
ground so difficult is it to extirpate national customs,
1 S. Gregorius Turon., Hist. Eccles. lib. Hi. cap. 15.
2 Ordericus Vitalis, Ibid. p. 53fi. The celebrated oath of William the
Conqueror.
3 Baluzius, Formulae, 15.
4 Heineccius, Elementa, ubi supra. Ducange, Glossarium ad Scriptores,
ubi supra.
5 S. Gregorius Turon. De Miraculis, lib. i. cap. 20.
6 Lex Alamannica, tit. Ivi. 1. 2. This is as ancient as it is an universal
mode. Thus Ovid, Amor, lib.iii. :
" Supposuisse manus ad pectora lubricus amnis
Dicitur, et socii jura dedisse tori."
But the gospel was most frequently used ; women and boys wore it round
their necks as a protection : Oux, ? xs * u * "' ywtuxts, *&s ra piz^a,
xa.i&ia. ttvri Qu^Kicrif fJ-tyKhti; ivx,"/ylXia, il-a.tfTua'i TOU ra%ii\av, xl
!r<ttTtt%w Ki$i flaunt, oxm viou ftaffit. S. Chrysostom, Horn. 19. And it
was common to the German women. Heineccius, iii. 6. 223.
7 Ducange, Glossarium, ad verb.
" Codex Legum Antiquarum, passim.
9 Capitularia Kegum Francorum, A. n. 803. Hieronimo della Corte,
Hist. Veron. p. 178.
10 Mabilloii, De Re Diplom. lib. vi. no. 51.
11 Eadmer, Historia Novorum, p. 48.
w Ducange, Glossarium, ad vocem. ' s Ibid.
VOL. I. H
98 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
however absurd until the thirteenth century. 1 There
were many other forms of compurgation ; as the purga-
tio per sortes- ; per panem, or corsnid 15 ; and above all
by the brabirist 4 , and by single combat 5 : most of
which may be found in the invaluable work of Du-
cange. In the preceding extracts from the Germanic
codes, we have often met with the campiones, or judi-
cial champions, who fought for women, priests, and the
aged or infirm. But the duel, as a mode of proof in
the ordinary tribunals, was at length abrogated, and
reserved to knights and women. 6 Of this subject more
at the proper period. 7
1 Chronicon Colmarense, A. D. 1278. Seldenus, Note ad Eadmerura,
p. 48.
2 Lex Frisica, tit xiv. 1. 1.
3 Ducange, Glossariura ad Scriptores, sub voce. Leges Canuti, cap. 6. In-
gulfus Croylandensis, Historia (we have mislaid the reference to the
pagel.
4 Lambertus Schaffnaburgensis de Rebus Germanicis, A. D. 1077. An-
nales Metenses, necnon Regino, Chronicon, A.D. 870. Ranulphus Glaber,
Historia, lib. v. cap. 1.
5 Lex Burgundica, tit xlv. Lex Alamannica, tit xliii. Lex Baivar. tit. ii.
cap. 2. Lex Frisica, tit. xiv. 1. 7.
6 Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanici, iii. 6. 238. And, above all,
Ducange, Glossarium ad Scriptores, v. Duel/ium. We doubt if, for extent
as well as depth of erudition, this celebrated man has ever been equalled.
^ On this and some other subjects, we have been anxious to specify our
authorities with more than ordinary minuteness, that the curious reader
may at once be directed to the proper sources of information.
99
CHAP. II.
HOUSES OP SAXONY AND FRANCONIA.
9111138.
MONARCHS OF THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. THE IMPERIAL DIG-
NITY ELECTIVE. HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. FIEFS
HEREDITARY FEUDAL INSTITUTIONS STATE OF SOCIETY.
MONARCHS OF THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. ATTEMPTS
OF HENRY IV. AND V. TO RENDER RELIGION DEPENDENT ON
THE STATE. INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. THE CONCORDAT OF
1122. PROGRESS OF THE CONSTITUTION. INCREASING
POWER OF THE DUKES AND OF THE IMPERIAL DIETS.
CONDITION OF SOCIETY. IGNORANCE AND VICES OF CLERGY
AND LAITY.
THE situation of the empire, on the extinction of the 911.
Carlovingian line, was very different from what it had
been on the demise of its great founder. France was
irrevocably detached from it ; Italy was a prey to in-
testine wars* ; and Germany had its troubles, external
and internal. The Normans, or Danes, indeed, who
had just obtained by their swords a settlement in Neus-
tria, were no longer to be dreaded south of the Elbe ;
but the Slaves and the Huns were perpetually harassing
the eastern and northern frontiers. Though the Bohe-
mians and the Moravians were regarded as subject to
the empire, they were yet but partially humanised by
Christianity ; in fact, idolatry had numerically the ad-
vantage : and those who adhered to the ancient gods
were not well affected to the Christian yoke. The Sla-
vonians on the Baltic coast, inhabiting Mecklenburg
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 22, as far as Italy is con-
cerned : in regard to France, see vol. ii. p. 46, &c.
H 2
100 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
and Brandenburg, and those of Lusatia, were of a far
more warlike character, and actuated by greater hatred
towards the Germanic tribes. Witikind, a writer of
the time, represents them as a hardy race of men, as
patient of fatigue, as regarding merely in the light of
recreation labours, which to a German were insupport-
able, and as pervaded with an indomitable spirit of
liberty. Their want of union had, however, made
them, though not an easy, a certain prey to the in-
vaders ; yet their obedience lasted no longer than while
their country was actually occupied by the feudal
armies : and -their hatred of the Teutonic nation was
embittered by something deeper than even the feeling
which continued hostilities had engendered : by the
victors they had been treated, not merely with cruelty,
but with perfidy and insult. Thus Gero, a Saxon count,
whose jurisdiction was separated from their territory by
the Oder, invited thirty of their most illustrious chiefs
to an entertainment, where, having made them all drunk,
he deluged the hall of feasting with their blood. For
this atrocious act he had the plea that some of them had
conspired against him, and he was sure of impunity.
The way in which holy bishops speak of these tribes,
shows that there was a feeling equally strong, and
somewhat less laudable, on the part of the Germans.
The only way, says Ditmar of Merseburg, to treat
the Poles most of them, at this time, were nominally,
at least, dependent on the empire is to feed them
like oxen, and beat them like asses ; nor without such
treatment will the sovereign ever derive any advantage
from them.* Christianity from such hands was not
likely to be a very welcome gift ; and we shall not won-
der that its diffusion was so long retarded. Every
Pole, says this pious prelate, convicted of eating meat
during Lent, has his teeth knocked out of his mouth ;
g. way, he adds, of establishing God's law much prefer-
* " Populus enim suus more bovis est pascendus, et tardi ritu asini cas-
tigandus ; et sine peena gravi non potest cum salute principis tractari."
HOUSE OP FRANCONIA. 101
able to the ordinances of any bish'ap**'- 'The "pii
like all his Slavonic brethren, had not much affec-
tion for a religion thus propagated, and still less for its
propagators ; and he was naturally eager to escape from
both. The Hungarian frontier, ever since the destruc-
tion of the Slavonic kingdom of Moravia f, was perpe-
tually infested by these restless pagans, who often enough
penetrated into the heart of the empire ; sometimes
even to the banks of the Rhine. Such was the frontier
situation of Germany ; its internal state was equally
unsatisfactory. The feudal princes, and even barons,
whose power had risen on the ruins of the imperial
authority, and who were grown ferocious amidst the
anarchy of the late reigns, made war on one another,
with the conviction that it was perfectly legal ; that
within their respective districts they were virtual sove-
reigns : and when they were not at war they lived by
open plunder. Surrounding themselves by troops of
banditti, and by vassals equally lawless, they scoured
the country, carrying off to their strong-hold whatever
money or provisions they could find ; but their most
valuable captures were ecclesiastics or nobles, whom by
the worst usage they compelled to pay a heavy ransom ;
and young ladies of noble families, whom they forcibly
married In this critical position of things, while the
barbarians were desolating the frontiers, and anarchy
the most frightful was destroying all within, had Ger-
many to choose a new ruler. The discordant rival
elements of which it was composed, did not appear
likely to agree in the choice : the Frank did not wish a
Saxon, nor the Saxon a Frank, to obtain the dignity ;
and apprehensions were entertained that the empire
might be dissolved, and split into several monarchies.
But the denomination of Saxons and Franks is rather
political than real ; for, nationally speaking, the empire
* " Quicumque post Septuagesimam camera manducasse invenitur, ab-
gcisis dentibus graviter punitur. Lex namque divina in his regionibus
i) miter exorta potentate tali melius quam jejunio ab episcopis institute
corroboratur."
f See the reigns of Charlemagne and Arnulf.
H 3
102 HISTORY OY THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
consisted df' flve 'different people, kindred, indeed, in
descent, but long separated by local interests and feel-
ings : these were the Franks, the Saxons, the Bavarians,
the Swabians, and the Lorrainers. The Lorrainers and
the Franks were one people : the Swabians had so long
been united with them, that, politically, they would act
together; and Bavaria had generally adhered to the
confederation. These constituted the old provinces of
the monarchy, even in the Merovingian times ; and
they looked on the Saxons as a barbarous people, who
had just been admitted to the same federative rights,
and whom they had several times conquered. But the
Saxons possessed territory full as extensive as any two
of the rest ; and, by the adhesion of Thuringia, they
were able to counterpoise the balance. On the death of
Louis we have reason to believe that each of these
nations had its duke. The dignity had been restored
under the reign of Arnulf, and with augmented splen-
dour. Anciently, these functionaries had been satisfied
with their ample powers as military heads of the pro-
vince, and as superintending, if not controlling, the
judicial functions of the counts. These powers, in fact,
were so ample, that Charlemagne, as we have before
related, had abolished the dignity and divided the duties.
The judicial superintendence of the counts he had con-
fided to his missi dominici ; and the defence of the
frontiers to a new species of officers, the margraves.
Under his successor, on the disuse of the missi, the
functions of margrave and count, though essentially
different, and, in reality, incompatible, had been fre-
quently united in the same person, under the title of
margrave or count, according to local circumstances.
This union of the civil and military powers, this usurp-
ation of all authority by the local governor, had lately
become general ; and when Arnulf restored, or per-
mitted to be restored, the ducal title, nothing was
added to the real power of the office. The dukes at
this time had an authority perfectly sovereign within
their respective limits ; from one of them the imperial
HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 103
head was to be chosen ; and the unsuccessful candidates
might, in their disappointment, found dynasties for
themselves. Of all these tribes the Franks, properly so
called, the inhabitants of Franconia, and the regions
on each bank of the Rhine, were the first in dignity.
They were the descendants of those who had conquered
and founded the empire : the elections took place among
them ; their archbishop (Mentz), who was regarded as
its primate, had, on the former occasion, been allowed
to regulate the ceremonial of the election ; and he would,
doubtless, exercise the same privilege on the present.
Hence Conrad, their count or duke, for there is some
doubt whether Franconia had yet assumed the latter
title, might well aspire to the vacant dignity, espe-
cially as, on the maternal side, he was closely connected
with the last two emperors.* On the other hand, the
Saxons could oppose to him their duke Otho, whose
states during the last reign had been considerably aug-
mented by the addition of Thuringia. Besides such
extensive states, a numerous army of warlike vassals,
and personal qualities which have merited for him the
epithet of Great, Otho could boast of a maternal
relationship with the Carlovingian house. If Arnulf,
duke of Bavaria, who appears to have been elected to
that dignity by the Bavarians themselves, as one capable
of defending them against the irruptions of the Hun-
garians, could not boast of equal advantages, yet, from
the extent of his state, on which the eastern and southern
marches were dependent, and from his mother being a
princess of the Carlovingian house, he was not without
some pretensions. Whether Burkard, duke of Swabia,
had the same advantage of imperial consanguinity, is
doubtful ; but it was certainly possessed by Regnier,
duke of Lorraine. The two last, however, could not
reasonably hope to contend with the three first; we
may rather say with the two ; for the personal qualities
* He was the grandson of Arnulf, and, consequently, the nephew of
Louis.
H 4
104 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
of Arnulf were not of a nature likely to promise him
success. The struggle would evidently rest with the
Franks and the 1 Saxons. Fortunately, however, their
chiefs were more moderate than themselves. Otho was
old ; so that, if he were chosen, there would soon be an
interregnum. Arnulf and Burkard, with their numerous
lay and ecclesiastical vassals declared for him ; and the
same consideration, no doubt, induced Conrad to follow
the example. With much difficulty the Franks were at
length induced to run with the stream, and the suffrages
fell on Otho. But this celebrated man, whether age had
cooled his ambition, or he foresaw the troubles which
the dissatisfaction of the Franks would occasion, declined
the dignity, and had the extraordinary disinterestedness
to vote for his rival, the duke Conrad. The combined
states of Saxony and Thuringia, constrained by his
authority, gave their suffrages in favour of Conrad ; and
as this could not fail to be peculiarly agreeable to the
Franks, the concord of these powerful people rendered
their expressed will obligatory on the rest. Bavaria and,
Swabia joined them ; and though Regnier of Lorraine
retired in anger to submit his states to Charles the
Simple, king of France, the duke of Franconia was
solemnly elected.*
911 Conrad I. was worthy of the dignity to which he was
to raised. Possessed of great valour, of a firm character,
I36> and of enlightened views, he was enabled to struggle
with the difficulties of his situation. These difficulties
were formidable enough ; arising from the turbulence of
vassals too proud to acknowledge obedience, and almost
too powerful to be controlled. The year after his elec-
tion he lost his great support, the duke of Saxony,
and he resolved to embrace the favourable moment for
reducing the vast domains of the ducal house, domains
* Ditmarus Merseburgensis, Chronicon, p. 325, &c. Witikind, Historia,
lio. i. LuitpranduB Ticincnsis, Historia, lib. ii. cap. 7. Regino, Chronicon,
lib. ii. p. 99. Lambertus Schaffhaburgensis, De Rebus Geruianorum, p.313.
(apud Struvium,Rerum Germanicarum Scriptores, torn. i.). Adamus Bre-
mensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. (variis capitulis). Anonymus,
Chronicon Vetus, p. IS. (apud Menckenius, ScriptoresReram Germ. torn, i.)
HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 105
which rendered it the arbiter of the empire. His ob-
ject appears to have been the incorporation of Saxony and
Thuringia, which ought never to have been united ; but
Henry, the son of Otho, naturally opposed the measure,
and in defence of his paternal rights did not hesitate to
draw the sword. In the campaign which followed, the
brother of Conrad was defeated; but when the emperor*
himself appeared in the field, Henry retired to a fort-
ress whence he could defy the imperial forces : and
whenever they, after devastating the country, retired, in
retaliation he inflicted the same evils on Franconia.
Nothing can better justify the policy of Conrad than,
this fact, that he was unable to reduce the vassal who
had defied him. Through the intervention of the states,
tranquillity was at length restored, but Henry kept his
fiefs. In Swabia, the efforts of Conrad to repress
anarchy were more successful. In 912 or 913,
Burkard I. had been murdered by his subjects ; and
the duty was now administered by two intendants, with
honours not inferior to the ducal. They rebelled, were
subdued and exiled ; but, returning to resume their
turbulent career, they were condemned in a diet of the
empire, and publicly executed. Well did they merit
their fate ; but so also did duke Henry : yet, while they
perished, he increased his power. This affords us a
practical commentary on the Germanic constitution :
the powerful rebel was secure ; the inferior one was
speedily crushed. In their rebellion the two intendants
had been much encouraged by duke Arnulf of Bavaria,
who had even outdone them in treason by leaguing with
the Hungarians. His motives were, evidently, a per-
sonal dislike of Conrad ; indignation at the monarch's
efforts to control the ducal feudatories, and a wish to
emperors for that reason 9
106 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
form an independent sovereignty, or at least one merely
tributary like the duke of Bohemia. In the diet of
Atheim,he,too, was convicted of high treason ; being ex-
communicated, placed under the ban of the empire, and
his duchy invaded by the forces of the other states : he
fled with his family and treasures into Hungary. By
the states of Swabia, at the instance of Conrad, Burk-
ard II., who appears to have been the son of the pre-
ceding, was elected duke ; but the government of
Bavaria remained in the hands of intendants. On the
side of Lorraine, this monarch was equally successful :
he defeated the rebels, detached Alsace and Utrecht
from the portion which acknowledged the Frank king.
He would speedily have annexed the whole to his em-
pire, but for the internal troubles to which we have
alluded. The same troubles will sufficiently account
for the depredations of the Huns, who pushed their
frontier to the very confines of Bavaria. In fighting
these ferocious barbarians, he received his mortal wound,
at a period when he had triumphed over domestic re-
bellion, and when his valour held out the prospect of
equal success over the foreign enemy. In his last mo-
ments he exhibited a wise policy. Knowing the am-
bition and the power of duke Henry, he represented to
his brother Eberhard, and his other relatives, the pro-
priety of renouncing their own views, and of recognising
the Saxon duke, a measure which he truly regarded
as necessary to the salvation of the Germanic body.
Fortunately, Eberhard had the same moderation ; and
from the death-bed of Conrad, he himself bore the en-
signs of royalty to the individual most worthy to receive
them. The Franconian states were, with some dif-
ficulty, induced by Eberhard, now their duke, to declare
19 for Heinricl., surnamed the Fowler; so called, because
to when he received the news of his elevation he was oc-
936. cupied in the pursuit of birds. Heinric was even a
greater prince than the one he succeeded. His personal
qualities were of an elevated order ; and his vast power
not as emperor, for little was attached to that dignity,
HEINRIC I. 107
but as duke of Saxony and Thuringia enabled him to
effect more good than any of his predecessors since
Charlemagne. Burkard of Swabia, who had not ac-
knowledged him, he visited rather to reason with as a
friend, than to command as a sovereign ; and the re-
sult was the homage of that vassal. In the mean time,
Arnulf had returned to Bavaria, and been received
with open arms by the people. His object was cer-
tainly to establish an independent sovereignty : by some
he is said to have meditated the dethronement of Heinric;
but how could he hope to prevail against the most pow-
erful monarch in Christendom? for such assuredly
was the Fowler. As in the case of Burkard, Heinric
hastened into Bavaria, and having demanded an inter-
view with him, so thoroughly dwelt on the necessity of
union among the different members of the Germanic
body, and so clearly showed that it was the interest of
Arnulf himself to concur in the present order of things,
that a reconciliation was soon effected : Arnulf con.
sented to hold Bavaria as a fief of the empire, and to
do homage : in return he was gratified with the nomin-
ation to the vacant bishoprics, and with the jurisdiction
over the margrave of Nordgau and the counts of Eastern
Franconia. By similar means he prevailed on Lorraine
to join the Germanic confederation; to their duke Giselbert
he gave his daughter in marriage ; and Charles the Simple,
whose sceptre was passing into the house of Capet*, re-
nounced all claims over that important province. Heinric
thus strengthened himself by measures at once wise and
vigorous ; he prepared to withstand the Hungarians. It
is a well known fact, that his immediate predecessors
had been constrained to pay them tribute as the price of
forbearance. Whether Heinric refused to pay it we
know not ; but, the Huns having invaded Saxony, he
made one of their chiefs captive, and dictated a truce of
nine years as the condition of liberation. The interval he
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 48.
108 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
employed in improving the discipline of his people,
whom he subjected to rigorous military exercises. He
has been generally called the inventor of tourneys ; but
though these appear to have originated a century later
in France, there can be no doubt that he introduced
many salutary innovations into the military system of
the country. The predatory bands, whom Conrad had
been unable to extirpate, he reclaimed from their vicious
career ; placed them in the newly erected fortress of
Marberg ; and, by confiding to them the defence of the
frontier, transformed them into useful subjects. From
the eldest sons of each family subject to service, he
formed a permanent militia, causing a decree to be
passed that the expense of their equipment should be
defrayed from the common heritage of the house. He
thus acquired a force on which far more reliance could
be placed, than on the hasty levies which had previously
been conducted to the field. To join the practice to
the theory of discipline, he led his troops against the
Slavi, and after some successes he erected the frontier
province, now called Misnia, into a margravate. From
Alsace he penetrated into Bohemia, the duke of which
he compelled to revive the homage which had been
discontinued since the days of Arnulf. Further vic-
tories enabled him to erect a second margravate in
northern Saxony, and a third in Sleswig, which he
wrested from the Danish king. To secure these ad-
vantages, he resorted to a policy new in Germany, the
erection of fortified towns ; and granted extraordinary
privileges to the warriors who would settle in them.
They were so numerous, that a ninth part of the free
rural population of Saxony was required to fill them.
For their support, he formed immense magazines, to
which he appropriated one third of the produce arising
from the district in the immediate vicinity. He is the
true founder of the Germanic burghs, of the places
which, in after-ages, were not only destined to defend
the country, but to serve as nurseries of freedom. The
repugnance, however, of the free population to walled
HEINBIC I. 109
places was long an obstacle to the progress of municipal
institutions. Though he effected much good, he could-
do no more than lay a foundation : time was required
for the erection of the superstructure. The fortresses,
however, which he had built, had one obvious and im-
mediate good that of resisting the progress of invasion.
At the expiration of the nine years, the Huns demanded
the renewal of the tribute, which was indignantly re-
fused. In revenge, they penetrated into the heart of
the empire, were signally defeated in two successive
engagements, and pursued to the confines of their own
country. On this occasion, he restored the margraviate
of Austria, which since the time of the Carlovingian
emperors had been in the power of the enemy. In
936 this great prince bade adieu to empire and to life,
after one of the most useful as well as splendid reigns
of which there is any record in history.*
That the imperial dignity was, in the strictest sense 937
of the word, elective, was apparent on Heinric's death. to
Though prince Otho, the eldest legitimate son of Henry t, 1024>
had been declared successor, that recognition, which had
been made at the express entreaty of the monarch, had
no effect, unless it were confirmed by the proper diet
of election. Thus, if the reigning sovereign could pre-
vail on a considerable number to promise that the
crown should devolve on his sons, he could have no
security that the engagement would be fulfilled. On
the present occasion, the German dukes assembled to
arrange the preliminaries for the election. Aix-Ia-
Chapelle was selected for the place, both from respect
to the memory of Charlemagne, who had generally re-
sided there, and whose magnificent cathedral was the
* Regino, Chronicon, lib. ii. p. 101103. Hermannus Contractus,
Chronicon, p. 255 259. Lambertus Schaffnaburgensis, De Rebus Germ,
p 313. Marianus Scotus, Chronicon, lib. iii. p. 644. Sigebertus Gembla-
censis, Chronographia, p. 807 811. Siffredus Misnensis, Epitome, lib. i.
p. 1022. (apud Struvium, Rerum Germanicarum Scriptores, torn, i.) Luit-
prandus Ticinensis, lib. ii. cap. 7. Anonymus Saxo, Chronicon Vetus (sub
annis). Witikind, Historia, lib. i. p. 635, &c.
t He was not the son of a concubine. His mother had been the wife of
the emperor, and worthy of her station; but the marriage had been de.
clared invalid by the church.
110 HISTORY OP THK GERMANIC EMPIRE.
pride of the city, and from a wish to humour the Lor-
rainers, not yet fully attached to the general confeder-
ation. There were three competitors, all three sons of
the late monarch ; for, whatever might be the privilege
and the latitude of suffrage, there was seldom any wish
to transfer the crown from the reigning family. Hav-
ing canvassed the claims of all, the dukes, margraves,
counts, bishops, abbots, barons, territorial nobles, and
functionaries of the administration, who were always
sufficiently disposed to favour the eldest son, provided
there existed no legitimate ground of exclusion, made
choice of Otho /., now duke of Saxony, and, having
placed him on the throne of Charlemagne, did him
supreme homage. This diet is especially memorable
for two circumstances, which in after-times led to re-
markable results. Who was to consecrate the new
sovereign ? During the last half century, the privilege
had certainly been exercised by the archbishop of Mentz;
but it was now resisted, on the ground that it had been
allowed only because the election had taken place at
Mentz, but that now, as Aix-la-Chapelle was within
the metropolitan jurisdiction of the archbishop of Co-
logne, he had clearly a canonical right to its exercise.
But there was another archbishop, that of Treves, who
contended that his was the oldest church of the empire;
that it had been founded by a disciple of St. Peter him-
self, at the express command of that apostle ; and that,
therefore, in dignity as well as antiquity, the privilege
was his. After some contestation, the honour was ceded,
for this time, to the archbishop of Mentz. At this
period every compact is interesting, because every one,
being invoked as a precedent in future times, will in-
fallibly become a law. Another circumstance, in ap-
pearance much more trifling, led to a result of far
greater moment. During his coronation feasts, Otho
dined with his three archbishops ; and, to do him the
greater honour, the duke of Lorraine discharged the
functions of grand chamberlain, the duke of Bavaria
those of grand marshal, the duke of Swabia those of
OTHO I. 311
grand cup-bearer, and the duke of Franconia, those
of grand seneschal. And we may observe from the
commencement of this reign the dignity of arch-chan-
cellor was understood as annexed to the metropolitan
see of Mentz. To these facts we shall frequently have
to allude in the succeeding pages. The reign of the
first Otho was eventful. During the greater part of it
he was occupied in quelling the turbulence of his great
feudatories, a fate inseparable from the dignity. On
the death of Arnulf, duke of Bavaria, Eberhard, who
assumed the government, refused to do homage ; the
province was invaded, subdued, and placed under Ber-
thold, the brother of Arnulf. Otho's own brother, joined
by Eberhard, duke of Franconia, and Giselbert, duke of
Lorraine, rose against him, and, in concert with the
archbishop of Mentz, whom they had gained, were pro-
ceeding even to elect a new sovereign, when his suc-
cesses over them turned the tide of affairs. Some of the
leading rebels met a premature death ; the rest sub-
mitted. To strengthen his interest, he drew the fiefs
of Swabia, Bavaria, and Lorraine into his own family ;
but the policy was not clear-sighted : a man's own
kindred are generally the first to rebel. Ere many years
passed, his own son and son-in-law raised the standard
of revolt; and though he triumphed over them, as he had
done over other rebels, his reign could not be very satis-
factory to himself. In other respects, however, it was
beneficial to his people. 1 . Boleslas, duke of Bohemia,
having assassinated his father, St. Wenceslas, abolished
Christianity, threw off his allegiance to the empire, and
during fourteen years maintained a desultory warfare
with the imperial generals. In the end, however, he
was compelled to submit. 2. Over the rebellious Slavi
of the region bordering on the Oder this monarch also
triumphed, and founded two bishoprics Havelburg
and Brandenburg which might furnish missionaries
for their conversion. No less signal, though less en-
during, was his success over the Danes, to hasten whose
112 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRK.
conversion he also founded bishoprics in Sleswig and
Holstein. 3. Far more useful, however, were his ex-
ploits against the Huns, over whom, in 955, he ob-
tained the most splendid victory Europe had recently
seen. It enabled him to extend and to consolidate the
margravate of Austria. 4. His transactions in Italy
are too interminable to be recorded here; nor need they,
as they are already sufficiently known to the readers of
the Cabinet Cyclopaedia.* We will only observe, that,
though the late sovereigns of Germany had been de-
terred from invading Lombardy, they regarded them-
selves as the superiors of that province in virtue of the
right they had received from Charlemagne ; that Otho
took advantage of the troubles which agitated it to
reduce it to his sway ; and that he not only won the
iron, but procured the imperial, crown from John XII.
His policy, indeed, was to reduce the holy see then
filled neither by the wisest nor the best of bishops t
to as much dependence on his throne as Cologne or
Mentz. The Greek emperors had once exercised con-
siderable influence in the election of popes ; the same
privilege had been granted to his own predecessors, the
Carlovingian emperors ; and he loudly proclaimed it as
an integral part of his prerogatives. During his life he
ruled Rome as he pleased, and even procured the coro-
nation of his son Otho as his imperial successor. Western
Europe, however, had not long two emperors ; the
father died in 973. By posterity he has been styled
the Great : but if greatness be founded on wisdom, mo-
deration, or patriotism, he had little claim to the dis-
tinction : if it depend on success in battle, and still
more on a certain degree of splendour, both the result
rather of accident than of ability, he may deserve it.
His acquisition of a new crown might be dazzling, but
it proved a curse to Germany. Otho II. (973 983)
had a short and troubled reign. He had to subdue his
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics, passim ; and Europe
during the Middle Ages, vol. i. pp. 26. 144, &c.
f Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 145, &c.
THE HOUSE OP SAXONY. 113
vassal, Henry duke of Bavaria, whose fief he con-
ferred on another kinsman, the duke of Swabia ; and
with the king of France he had to contend for Lorraine,
which had been divided into two provinces, the Upper
and the Lower. Though he ultimately restored tran-
quillity, the Italian mania was to seal his fate. He
had long meditated the expulsion of the Greeks from
the maritime places of that peninsula ; nor did his con-
nection with the imperial family of Constantinople
his consort Theophania being a princess of that house -
deter him from his purpose ; perhaps it only strength-
ened his ambitious projects. But the Greeks invoked
the aid of the Saracens ; and the emperor was signally
defeated in Calabria, whence he found it difficult to
escape with life. On his return to Lombardy, he had
the satisfaction, at Verona, to see his infant son elected
by the united states of that province and of the empire;
but at the same time he received intelligence that the
Slavonic tribes had universally revolted, and that the
Danes were pouring their predatory hordes into Saxony.
The first event had been chiefly caused by the tyranny
of the margrave of Northern Saxony ; the latter, by the
hostility of Sweno king of Denmark to the Christian
religion, which he abolished. Otho I. had stood his
godfather ; and on this occasion he had sworn fealty to
the German head ; but, with the pagan religion, he
resumed the independence of his fathers. At this cri-
tical period the emperor died at Rome ; and Otho III.
(9831002), in a diet at Aix-la-Chapelle, was con-
secrated, by the hands of the primate, the archbishop of
Mentz. In such a country the reign of a minor could
not fail to be disastrous. The regency being usurped
by Henry the Turbulent, a member of the imperial
family, who, by Otho II., had been deposed from the
ducal dignity of Bavaria, that ambitious prince openly
aspired to the crown ; and, to support his pretensions,
allied himself with the Slavonic tribes of Mecklenburg,
Bohemia, and Poland. But they were not approved by
the great vassals, who, in a public diet, compelled him
114 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
to surrender the young monarch, and the regency too.
Yet he received the duchy of Bavaria. Under the
guidance of his able counsellors, at the head of whom
was the archbishop of Mentz, the young emperor tri-
umphed over the Slavi, and forced duke Micislas of
Poland to do him homage. On the successor of Mi-
cislas, duke Boleslas, he conferred the regal title. But,
like his two predecessors, the Italian mania blinded him
to his own interests, and to those of his people. To
establish his domination over the fickle Romans, and
thence to spread it, if possible, over the south of Italy,
he thrice hastened into that country, which in 1002
became his tomb. Had he lived, he would, probably,
have attempted to restore the Western empire in a fuller
sense than had been done by Charlemagne : he wished,
we are told, to transfer his capital from the banks of the
Rhine to those of the Tiber. The dislike which he
evidently had to the language and customs of his native
country; his admiration of every thing Roman; his eager-
ness, however unsuccessful, to gain the applause of the
populace of that corrupted capital ; and the ceremonial
which, in imitation of the Roman and Greek emperors,
he introduced into his palace ; strongly confirm the re-
lation. With Otho III. ended the male posterity of
Otho the Great ; but a scion of the house of Saxe still
remained in Henry duke of Bavaria, who, in 995, had
succeeded his father Henry the Turbulent. This prince
had two competitors, Herman duke of Swabia, and
Eckard margrave of Misnia. Of Bavaria he was sure ;
through the efforts of his kindred he was soon joined
by the states of Saxony ; but notwithstanding these
advantages, he would not, probably, have gained his
object, had not his more formidable rival, the margrave
Eckard, been removed by assassination, a crime of
daily occurrence in an age so lawless. After all, his elecr
tion could not be called legal : for though, having gained
the Franconians, he secretly repaired to Mentz, where,
from the archbishop of that see, he received the crown,
yet Swabia had no deputies, and Saxony but four, pre-
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 115
sent on the occasion. And the archbishop of Cologne
murmured loudly, saying that Aix-la-Chapelle, and not
Mentz, was the legal place of election. The truth,
however, is, that the Germanic states had never ap-
pointed either city for the ceremony, and custom was
as much in favour of the one as of the other. But
there was illegality enough in the constitution of
the diet which had assembled to elect him ; and
Henry, feeling that his throne was in danger, hastened
to reduce his remaining rival. He succeeded; per-
suaded the Saxons to approve what had been done ; and
won the states of Lorraine as well as the archbishop of
Cologne, by submitting to receive the crown a second
time in a diet assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle. The reign
of HeinricII. (10021024), like that of his prede-
cessors, was full of troubles. Yet few princes have
better deserved a throne. Exceedingly moderate in his
conduct, affable in his manners, swayed by a strict sense
of justice, and in all things more ruled by conscience
than any other prince of his age, St. Heinric for he
has been canonised in any other country would have
been a blessing to the people. One of the most trou-
blesome of his enemies was Boleslas king of Poland, a
valiant, ambitious man, who was evidently determined
not to pay the tribute which his immediate predecessors
had yielded to the empire. An opportunity of inter-
fering in the affairs of Bohemia afforded him the means
of mortifying his suzerain. The duke of that province,
like him named Boleslas, after usurping the govern-
ment, proved so great a tyrant, that the people rose and
expelled him, substituting in his place a brother, Vla-
dimir, whom he had dethroned. On Vladimir's death,
they placed another brother, Jaromir, in the same dig-
nity ; but the Polish king restored his namesake, who
consented to reign as his vassal ; yet, for reasons not
very clear, he soon deposed and blinded the work of his
own hands, and retained that important province for
himself. Hence the war between him and the empire,
which was protracted for years, but which, in general,
i 2
116 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
must have been favourable to the Pole ; for though he
withdrew his forces from Bohemia, he received most of
Silesia as a fief from Heinric. But the Germanic vas-
sals of Henry were his most troublesome enemies.
Agreeably to the custom of his immediate predecessors,
on accepting the crown he had been compelled to resign
his fief; for the princes of the empire feared, that if the
ducal and imperial powers were suffered to meet in the
same person, despotism might soon be established. His
duchy of Bavaria he had conferred on his brother-in-
law, Henry of Luxemburg, and by so doing had made
all who had hoped for the brilliant prize his enemies.
One of them, the margrave of Schweinfort, raised the
standard of revolt ; but was at length forced to invoke
his clemency. This necessity of arming, to reduce a
turbulent vassal to obedience, is the best comment on
the political constitution of the country. It was Heinric's
constant entreaty that his dukes and barons would live
at peace with each other, and refrain from plunder.
This state of things was incompatible with social hap-
piness ; now was the empire of violence, when the
bandit no longer blushed for his profession. " These
provinces," says Ditmar of Merseburg, speaking of Lor-
raine and the Netherlands in general, " are, indeed,
the Low Countries ; for every thing like justice or obe-
dience to the laws, or love of one's neighbour, is fallen
as low as it possibly can be. Here the preachers can do
no good ; both king and priest are disregarded ; none
have any power, except banditti and persecutors of in-
nocence." Unfortunately, Heinric was too pacific for the
times : averse to civil war, his policy was to govern by
conciliation. He was thrice in Italy. During his
first visit he received the iron crown of Lombardy ; but
a quarrel between his troops and the inhabitants of
Pavia, in which that magnificent city was reduced to
ashes, so disgusted him with the people, that he left
them with the resolution never to return.* In a few
* See Siwnondi, History of the Italian Republics (Cab. Cyc.), and Europe
during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 30.
THE HOUSE OP SAXONY. 117
years, however, the anarchy of that province, and the
entreaties of Benedict VIII., who had need of his aid,
induced him to revisit that country of revolutions.
From that pontiff, both he and his empress, St. Cune-
gund, received at Rome the imperial crown, a vain
ceremony, which added nothing either to his dignity or
his power, but which gratified his devotion to the head
of the church. Prior to his coronation by the pope, he
never styled himself emperor, but merely king of the
Romans, an example unhappily followed by his suc-
cessors. In a third journey he pacified Southern Italy,
and, to defend it against the incessant attacks of the
Saracens, he conferred some important fiefs on certain
Norman adventurers, who were ultimately destined to
prove enemies far more formidable than the Saracens. *
In a peaceful state St. Heinric would have made an ex-
cellent monarch ; perhaps he would have been a still
better bishop. By abstaining from the bed of his im-
perial consort, he must excite our pity, or even a
stronger sentiment, as with him the male posterity of
Henry the Fowler became extinct. By founding and
splendidly endowing the bishopric of Bamberg, four
princes of the empire being the hereditary servants of
the new spiritual dignitary t, he showed his magni-
ficence no less than his devotion. With some defects of
the head, he had the best disposition of heart. Perhaps,
with the single exception of St. Louis, there was no
other prince of the middle ages so uniformly swayed by
justice. |
* Sec either of the preceding works under the proper date.
t Thus, in after-times, the elector of Bohemia was his grand cupbearer;
of Bavaria, his seneschal ; of Saxony, his marshal ; of Brandenburg, his
chamberlain.
J Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. et iii. (variis ca-
pitulis). Cosmo Pragensis, Chronicon Boemorum, lib. i. passim. Chronica
lleginonis, lib. ii. p. 103 112. Hermannus Cnntractus, Chro'iicon, p. 258
,-276. Lambertus Schaffnaburgensis, De Rebus German, p. 314317.
Marianus Scotus, Chronicon, lib. iii. p. 645. Sigebertus Gemblacensis,
Chronographia, p. 812 829. Siffredus Misnensis, p. 10.S3, &c. Anony-
mus, Chronicon Vetus, p. 15, &c. Magnum Chronicon Belgicum, p. 80
108. Witikind, Historia, lib. ii. p. 643. ad h'nein. Ditmarus Merseburgensis,
Chronicon, p. 340 398. (sub annis). Helmoldus, Chronica Slavica, lib. i.
Annales Hildesheimensis (sub annis). Bollaiidistic, Acta Sanctorum, die
Aprilis 5.
i 3
118 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC E3IPIRE.
911 In contemplating the period over which we have
to passed that occupied by the house of Saxony it is
1024. impossible not to perceive, that, whatever were the tur-
bulence, the insubordination, the civil wars of the so-
vereign princes, whatever the successes of the Slavonic
tribes, the progress of the empire towards improvement
was on the whole conspicuous. It acquired both ex-
tent and strength. The margravates of Sleswic, Bran-
denburg, Lusatia, Misnia, were called into existence ;
that of Austria was restored and extended ; Bohemia
was humbled ; Lorraine, Provence, and Burgundy, were
declared, the first an integral, the two last a vassalitic,
portion of the empire ; the duchies of Frisia and Hol-
land, both in possession of the same feudatory, stood
in the same relation to the empire ; Lombardy and
Tuscany, to say nothing of Rome and Beneventum, and
the southern parts of Italy, were no less dependent.
Though some of their conquests were less solid than
splendid, they were not wholly useless, since they raised
the name of the empire high in the scale of nations,
and made even the proud rulers of Constantinople con-
sent to unite their blood with the Western Caesars. This
world is strangely governed by appearances : probably,
the successes of the first Otho were more imposing, and
tended to keep the rest of Europe in more respect, than
the wise policy of the first Heinric, who by his excellent
internal regulations laid the foundation of future great-
ness. The political constitution of the period is not
one of the clearest subjects. In the first place, what
were the prerogatives of the emperor ? and, consequently,
what were the rights of the dukes and of the pro-
vincial states ? These questions have been fiercely
debated ; but oftener, we fear, in the zeal of party
than in that of truth. The fact is, that the limits
of the imperial, the ducal and the federative powers
were undefined ; that, though the emperors aspired
to the authority which had been exercised by their
Carlovingian predecessors, they were thwarted not
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 119
merely by the dispositions of their great vassals, but by
the altered circumstances of the times. The feudal
system was now in all its glory. The ducal fiefs were
generally regarded as hereditary ; and the territorial
nobles, the most valiant, the most numerous, and by far
the most influential portion of the community, were no
longer immediately dependent on the crown, but on the
dukes. The domains of the latter are no longer direct
movable fiefs of the crown, but arriere fiefs of the
great vassals. Hence the indissoluble union between
the head and the members of the same state ; the
readiness with which the latter entered into the views,
however rebellious, of the former ; and the formidable
opposition which could at any time be displayed before
the sovereign. Fortunately for the emperor, he had
seldom more than one duke to oppose at the same time ;
and when any one was convicted of treason against the
confederation, the other members, in diet assembled,
were not backward to furnish him with troops for the
reduction of the rebel ; for if rebellion was the whim of
one, it was not the interest of the body. Hence the success
with which the most powerful were reduced, the duke
of Bavaria no less than the margrave of Schweinfort,
the duke of Swabia no less than the count of Bamberg.
Whenever the duke of Bohemia, who was merely a
tributary vassal, and was not a member of the con-
federation, rebelled, all the great feudatories ranged
themselves on the side of order ; and the case was the
same in regard to other Slavonic tribes. And if the em-
peror's prerogatives were often at variance with the rights
of his feudal vassals, he had still considerable influence.
He conferred to all honours, all dignities, except such
as were confessedly hereditary. He created dukes,
counts, margraves ; conferred territorial jurisdiction, or
granted exemptions from it ; and had the undoubted
right of collating to vacant benefices, vacant, whether
from judicial conviction, or in default of lawful heirs.
And as every heir had to receive investiture from him
before the fief could be administered, he could avail
i 4
120 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
himself of the interminable provisions in the feudal
laws, to prove before the diet that forfeiture had been
incurred. In general, however, he remitted the extreme
penalty for a heavy fine. Nor must we forget to men-
tion, that he had many immediate vassals even in the
domains of the dukes. It was a privilege of the
barons and territorial nobles, whose ancestors had not
received their fiefs from the local dignitaries, that they
could transfer their homage from him to the lord
paramount. If this privilege were rarely, still it
would sometimes be used, and every augmentation
of the imperial power was a positive advantage.
Again, if the emperor was not the supreme legislator,
he was the supreme judge; not only did he receive
appeals, but his presence in any duchy or county sus-
pended the functions of the local judges. From the mo-
ment he placed his foot in any feudal district, the
tribunals, in cases at least where the merum imperium or
high jurisdiction was concerned, were silent, and the
dukes, counts, margraves, bishops, or abbots, became
his assessors. Again, he could confer municipal char-
ters, and by so doing remove any city or town from the
feudal jurisdiction, and place it immediately under his
own. Add, that te diminish the power of the local rulers,
he appointed as their coadjutors, often with a concur-
rent, sometimes with a sole jurisdiction, counts palatine, '
whose functipns were more extensive than those of the
ancient missi dominici. Yet the office was different.
Under the Carlovingian emperors, there had been one
dignitary with that title, who received appeals from all
the secular tribunals of the empire. The missi domi-
nici were more than his mere colleagues, since they
could convoke any cause pending before the ordinary
judges, and take cognisance of more serious cases even
in the first instance. As the missi were disused, and
as the empire became split among the immediate de-
scendants of Louis le Debonnaire, the count palatine
(comes palatii) was found inadequate to his numerous
duties ; and coadjutors were provided him for Saxony,
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 121
Bavaria, and Swabia. After the elevation of Arnulf,
however, most of these dignities ceased; and we read of
one count palatine only the count or duke of Franconia,
or Rhenish France. Though we have reason to believe
that this high functionary continued to receive appeals
from the tribunals of each duchy, he certainly could
not exercise over them a sufficient control ; nor, if his
authority were undisputed, could he be equal to his
judicial duties. Yet to restrain the absolute jurisdic-
tion of his princely vassals, was no less the interest of
the people than the sovereign ; and in this view Otho I.
restored, with even increased powers, the provincial
counts palatine. He gave them not only the appellant
jurisdiction of the ancient comes palatii, but the pri-
mary one of the missi dominici. Hence their attribu-
tions may be correctly defined. 1 . Within their respective
districts they were the hereditary supreme judges, in
the first and last resort, in all causes which related to
the rights, the interest, or the exchequer of the sove-
reign ; in those especially which regarded the public
tranquillity. 2. They were also the proper judges of a
class of persons who, for the sake of the social interest,
ought to have been more numerous, the immediate
vassals of the crown, and those who, by royal charter, or
immemorial usage, had been exempted from the juris-
diction of the feudal governor. 3. In the absence of
the dukes, they presided over the provincial states and
in the ducal tribunal. 4. On them devolved the super-
intendence of the royal domains, and that of the royal
revenues. These domains were in number considerable,
and were reserved for the accommodation of the sovereign
in his frequent journeys from one part to another of his
dominions. They had each a castle, the wardenship of
which was intrusted to officers named burgraves, de-
pendent on the count palatine of the province. In
the sequel, some of these burgraves became princes
of the empire. Finally, the emperors were the sove-
reigns, jure proprio, of Lombardy, the revenues of
which were perfectly at their disposal : throughout their
122 HISTOKY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
dominions they received all fines, forfeitures, and se-
questrations ; and they had the undoubted prerogative
of summoning at any time the great vassals to their
standard, without the formality of convoking a diet.
That summons was denominated a ban ; and that it
could be published in Italy as well as in Germany, ap-
pears from many instances. Thus Otho II. summoned
the Swabians and Bavarians to join him in Lombardy.*
911 We have observed, that during this period fiefs were
to beginning to be regarded as hereditary ; and of this
1024. f ac { ever y r eign affords us abundant proof. Often, too
perhaps we might say generally in default of
male issue, the fief was renewed to the husband of the
sister or daughter. Thus, Heinric the Young obtained,
through his marriage with a daughter of Arnulf the
Bad, the ducal crown of Bavaria; Ludolf that of
Swabia, through his consort, daughter of duke Her-
man I.; and the margrave Ernest of Austria succeeded
to the Swabian duchy on the death of his brother-in-
law, duke Herman III. Yet, though this was appa-
rently the rule, there were occasionally exceptions from
it, even when there were male heirs. Thus, Otho I.
refused to his step-brother Tancmar a countship, of
which the latter was the next heir ; and Heinric II. con-
ferred the duchy of Carinthia on a stranger, to the ex-
clusion of the late Conrad's son. Yet, most, if not all,
of these exceptions may be traced to the feudal law of
the period. Where a particular fief, from its frontier
situation, or from other causes, required the constant
residence of the vassal, the monarch might purposely
withhold it from one, however near by the rule of in-
heritance, who had vassalitic duties to discharge in
some other district ; from one who was too young to
fulfil the compact on which the fief was originally
granted; from one who had charges enough already,
* Founded on the authorities last cited, with the addition of Pfeffel,
Histoire d'Allemagne, torn. i. (Remarques Particulieres), Putter (History
of the German Constitution, voL i. book ), and Schmidt (Histoire de
Allemands, lib. iv. passim).
THE HOUSE OP SAXONY. 123
and whom an additional charge would either embarrass,
or elevate too high above his fellow vassals. There is,
indeed, reason to infer that every apparent deviation
from the rule might, if the circumstances were known,
be referred to some other clear and acknowledged
principle. There are, however, some cases for which
it is less easy to account. Sometimes, on the absolute
extinction of the reigning house, the emperor, instead
of nominating, as by his acknowledged prerogative he
might have done, to the vacant ducal fief, permitted
the states to elect a chief. Originally, as we have more
than once intimated, every Germanic dignity was elec-
tive ; and down to the Carlovingian period, such elec-
tions were frequent, though they were always confined
to the family, generally to the direct heir, of the last
duke. In the tenth, and even eleventh century, we meet
with several instances where the right was exercised.
Thus, in QlG, Burkard II. was elected duke of Swabia
by the states of that province ; and a century afterwards,
HeinricII. declared that, from time immemorial, Bavaria
had, in virtue of its own laws, enjoyed this right of
election ; and that no innovation could be made on this
usage without the express consent of the diet. The
same held good in regard to Lorraine ; but not in re-
spect either to Franconia or Saxony : in the former, the
duke was originally appointed by the crown, and when
the male line became extinct, the fief was renewed
without any formality of election ; in the latter, though
the dignity was certainly elective prior to its conquest
by Charlemagne, under his successors it became here-
ditary; and when vacant by forfeiture or in default of
issue, it was conferred at the sovereign pleasure. In
regard to the margraves, the case was not exactly simi-
lar ; for though, in some instances, as in that of
Merseburg, we read that they were elected communi
totius populi consensu, in many more they are merely
said to have been appointed by the emperor, without
any allusion to the consent, much less the suffrage, of
the inferior vassals. Perhaps that suffrage was an ex-
124 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
traordinary concession granted] to the people as an in-
ducement for them to settle in the marches, the most
exposed, the most precarious, the most dangerous of situ-
ations, where, without such inducements, few would
be willing to abide. On the whole, then, it appears,
that, in respect to the ducal and margravial fiefs,
there was not a uniform system in all the provinces ;
that, while they were generally hereditary, in some the
emperor, in others the states themselves, could choose
a successor. The counts palatine and the royal counts
were more closely dependent on the crown ; for though
the same hereditary law prevailed, on their forfeiture
or extinction there was no question that the imperial
prerogative was competent to decide in whose hands
the succession could continue. And here we may ob-
serve, that the counts below the rank of the palatines
were not strictly of the same class ; that there was a
distinction between the comitatus fisci and the comi-
tatus terrae ; but in what did it consist ? The opinion
of Williman, which has been adopted by most antiqua-
rians, is., that the counts fiscal were the only effective
counts ; that they alone received investiture, held the
high jurisdiction, and sat in the states of the empire ;
while the counts territorial consisted of the landed
nobility, who, however vast their domains, had no such
jurisdiction or privileges, yet who, belonging to fami-
lies which ranked such dignitaries among its members,
were unwilling to be without some more pompous tide
than the generic one of nobilis. We do not mean to
deny, though we have nothing like evidence to prove
it, that even so early as the tenth century there might
be counts of honour and not of jurisdiction, counts titu-
lar and not effective ; and this may explain why we
meet with so many individuals whose names are fol-
lowed by the title comes, without reference to any count-
ship. We certainly meet with dukes who had no
feudal governments ; the title was often assumed by
members of the imperial family who had no fiefs ; and
when a duke was deposed, or his son was not appointed
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 125
his successor, the distinction descended to his heirs.
Probably, too, the same titular usurpation might obtain
in regard to the margraves, since there are instruments
remaining where marchiones are used in the same doubt-
ful sense as the comites. Still the alleged distinction
between the comites fisci and the comites terrae will
not, we think, stand the test of criticism. The former
were rather the dignitaries, who (whether hereditary, or
elective, or merely nominated by the crown) presided,
in the ancient sense of the word, over the administration
of justice, the military and the fiscal affairs, of a
given district ; and who, as the learned German sup-
poses, alone held the high jurisdiction, received their
investiture immediately from the crown, and sat by
right in the diets of the empire. The latter seem to
have been the hereditary owners of domains, who, by
imperial grant, or gradual usurpation, or tacit consent,
exercised judicial power over their own vassals, similar
in kind, but inferior in degree, to that of the counts
fiscal. Whether these received investiture from the
monarch may well be doubted ; probably some of them
might from the local duke ; but there appears to have
been many who acknowledged no feudal superior what-
ever, though all were subject to the feudal laws : they
sat in the provincial states, but not in the general diets,
if we except the diet of election, where every freeman
had a right to be present. Such, we apprehend, will
be found the true distinction between these controverted
classes of feudatories. But we must observe, that the
tendency of the system was manifestly towards the ter-
ritorial character. The immediate vassals of the crown
were anxious to convert their fiefs into allodial property,
subject, however, to the usual burdens of the state ;
and many, we know, succeeded. Thenceforth they no
longer received investiture from any hands; they no
longer feared the escheats, wardships, the reliefs, the
sequestrations, and other incidents, which the feudal
laws placed in the power of the sovereign : they became
120 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the comites terrse, subject, indeed, in a military sense,
to the duke of the province, and in a judicial one to
the provincial states, or the count palatine, and forced
to sanction appeals from their local tribunals to higher
judges ; but in other respects independent of emperor
or duke. Their jurisdiction was confined to their own
vassals ; nor do they seem to have possessed the power
of inflicting any heavier punishment than temporary
imprisonment or slight fines on their free vassals (over
slaves, their authority was much more extensive) : of
grave offences, they could take no cognisance whatever.
But it must not be supposed, that at any time, much less
during the period before us, every territorial baron had
even the low jurisdiction over his vassals. Originally,
it was granted to a few only, as a mark of imperial
favour ; subsequently, it was extended to others in whose
vicinity there was no regular tribunal ; and it is pos-
sible that the number was multiplied by concession of
the dukes or of the provincial states. We know that some
of the dukes arrogated sovereign power; that they coined
money, had exchequers separate from those of the king,
and were often attended with royal pornp ; that they
published the ban for the assembling of the military
forces within their respective districts ; nor is there
any thing absurd in the belief that local tribunals could
be held at their mandate, especially with the concur-
rence of the provincial states. But the jurisdiction thus
conceded to a territorial lord, could extend no farther
than an enforcement of the obligations which were due
to that lord, and which many vassals would be willing
to resist or to evade. It was, therefore, the very lowest
species of jurisdiction ; and in no instance would it in-
volve the forfeiture of a fief. That which was conceded
by imperial instruments varied in degree according to the
tenour of these instruments : in some places it was more,
in others less, extensive ; in some it was controlled by
the ducal, in others by the palatinal, tribunals ; in some
it took cognisance of most causes in the first instance ;
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 12?
in others it merely received the charge, and sent the
case before a higher court ; in all, except in trifling
cases, an appeal lay from the decision of the territorial
judge : in fact, the baron himself was as much subject
to the tribunal of the duke or the count palatine as the
meanest of his free vassals ; and by the meanest could
he be sued in the court of either. There is, indeed,
reason to believe that his judicial authority was chiefly
confined to the enslaved class to those who were glebes
vet personae adscriptitii ; and it is certain that, though he
could decide between two of his free vassals, he could
not take cognisance of any cause in which he himself
was a party interested. But we must not forget that
slaves were by far the most numerous portion of the
population, and that much tyranny might be exercised
with impunity. In regard, indeed, to the lowest class,
life and limb were safe : but though authority fall short
of enforcing capital punishment, it may be as vexatious
as if the power of inflicting such penalties were recog-
nised.*
The condition of the freemen and of the serfs during 911
the tenth century somewhat differed from that of the to
ninth. The former were no longer so influential as in 1024.
earlier times; they did not form so conspicuous a part
of the legislative power, which, in virtue of the feudal
institutions, devolved on the princes and barons of the
empire ; and though they could attend a diet of election,
they do not appear to have exercised the right of suf-
frage : it was their duty to applaud the choice of their
superiors. Many of them were sub- vassals ; they owed
suit and service to their immediate lords ; and, in re-
* Conringius, De Origine etProgressu Juris Germanic!. Goldastus, Con-
stitutiones Imperil (in a multitude of places). Carpzovius, De Lege Regia
Germanorum, cap. 1 9. Beroldus, Tractatus de Comitibus et Baronibus
S. R. Imperil, p. 1 3f>5. Engelbrecht, De Successione in Electoratibus ex
Jure Primogenitures (in Nucleo Juris, p. 679, &c.). Sithmannus, Speculum
Imperil, cap. 1 15. Severinus de Mozambano, DeStatu Germanise (variis
capitulis). Conradus Peutingerus, p. 207, &c. De Jure Publico in Im-
perip Rom. German, p. 15 7a Heineccius, Elementa Juris Germanici,
lib. i. tit. i. ii. iii.
128 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
gard to the momentous affairs of the monarchy, had no
will of their own. In the provincial states they had
some influence, since their concurrence was always
necessary before any regulation would have the force of
law. On the other hand, as the freemen gradually
fell, the slaves gradually arose, in the social scale.
Slavery still existed ; but it was mitigated by advan-
tages unknown to former times. There was, in fact, a
constant progressive ascent from the state of the ad-
scripti glebse vel personse to that of the liberti, or freed-
man ; necessarily, however, with some intervening
gradations of condition. We find that the great body
of those called slaves had now a peculium ; from their
labour, whether agricultural, mechanical, or commercial,
a portion only was the acknowledged right of the lord ;
and with the rest they could purchase their entire re-
lease from the remaining obligations of feudality. But
those bonds it was rather their wish to weaken than to
remove. In returning, from the profits of their industry,
a certain portion to the proprietor of the soil, they felt
no grievance ; and even the more degraded were com-
pelled only to work so many days a week for their su-
perior j their remaining time was their own, and might
be employed to their own advantage. In short, the
slaves were rising to the rank of peasants ; the peasants
to those of freedmen ; the freedmen to comparative in-
dependence. Of this change, the causes are partly hid-
den and partly obvious. In Germany, as every where
else, Christianity, when once established, had its inevit-
able effect : it narrowed the gulf between man and man,
by disposing the pious to mitigate the condition of their
dependants, and by terrifying even the guilty, when
lingering on the bed of death, into similar concessions.
Innumerable are the instances now extant, of conditional
emancipation, dictated sometimes by pity, sometimes
by remorse, and often by sound policy. As the popu-
lation increased, new wants arose ; commerce was found
necessary ; and the feudal lords quickly discovered that
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 129
their own benefit would be better consulted by allowing
their less enslaved vassals to exercise the mechanical
arts, to form domestic manufactures, to attend fairs and
merchants with the productions of their labour, to open
wine shops and magazines, than by confining them to
the cultivation of the soil, especially when agricultural
produce was already sufficiently abundant. Again, a
prodigious number of domains successively passed into
the hands of the church ; and every reader knows that
the church has always been favourable to partial en-
franchisement. The privileges conferred on its vassals
and priests soon passed to those of temporal proprietors.
When one class is raised in the scale of society, there is
a corresponding advance in the next inferior ; and the
motion descends to the lowest link in the chain. In
the tenth, and still more in the eleventh century, as we
are incidentally informed, many proprietors complained
that the change was in some respects prejudicial to their
interests ; that there was no longer unmitigated thraldom
among the German slaves ; that all had new rights sanc-
tioned alike by custom and authority. We have evi-
dence enough that the change was considerable, in the
eagerness with which the proprietors of the soil sought
for Slavonic captives. They often made partial irrup-
tions into the regions on the Oder, for the purpose of
making prisoners, whom they transferred to their estates,
and whom they were allowed to rule with all the des-
potism of former ages. But what, more than all these
considerations, favoured the improvement of Germanic
society, was the foundation of cities, and of fortified
towns. This policy, which, as we have before observed,
was originally introduced by Heinric the Fowler, pro-
duced in time the most signal consequences. At first
these towns were founded chiefly, if not wholly, on the
domains of the crown, and were called imperial, to dis-
tinguish them from those which were afterwards built
by the dukes; and from those also which, since the Roman
times, had been subject to the jurisdiction of the duke
VOL. I. K
130 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
or count, and governed by their local laws. But a new
class of cities arose those which were founded by and
for the church, and were attached to episcopal sees.
Over these, neither count nor duke had any jurisdic-
tion ; it was exercised by the bishop or his vicars, the
chief inhabitants being admitted as assessors ; and that
their condition was far superior to that of the ducal
towns is confirmed by many acts of the period. The
imperial towns were different from the rest. Of their
internal constitution at this period we know little ; but
that they were governed by royal officers, and enjoyed
much more liberty than the rest, is undoubted. Those
founded by the dukes with the same purpose the de-
fence of the district were ruled by his deputies;
and the same held good in regard to such as were kept
on the domains of inferior feudatories, of the counts,
barons, and other territorial nobles. The custom was
general, that the new foundation should follow the fate
of the domain on which it lay ; that it should be subject
to the same superior, were he emperor, duke, margrave,
count, baron, bishop, or abbot. In all these cities more
liberty was left to the inhabitants than to the rural po-
pulation : it was necessary to people them ; and unless
inducements were held out to free settlers, they could
not be obtained, both from the repugnance which the
Germans entertained to such places, and from the
greater danger to which they were exposed ; for they
were usually the first, and often the only, places assailed
by an invading enemy. Besides, the circumstances of
life in a crowded population are evidently different
from those of a rural community ; and it was necessary
that new wants and new duties should be met by new
regulations and new privileges. To this subject we
shall revert on a future occasion, when there will no
longer be a dearth of monuments to illustrate the con-
dition of the rising municipalities. In the present place,
we mention it only to show that a new class of society .
had arisen, essentially different from the rest, and des-
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 131
tined at a future period to exercise no small influence
over them.*
So much for the gradations of society. If we turn 911
to the rights possessed by the great powers of the state,
we shall have a clearer idea of the relative position of
each towards the other, than we could possibly have
from mere historic testimony. Most of the imperial
privileges we have already noticed; by way, however, of
summary, we may observe, that the sovereign nominated
to the greater benefices, and during the vacancy received
their revenues; that he had considerable influence in the
election of the popes ; that he convoked national coun-
cils, and directed their deliberations ; that he could
confer the regal title on his vassals, and all vacant fiefs
in his own domains, but whether he could confer those
dependent on the dukes may reasonably be doubted ;
that he received the imperial revenues, consisting, besides
the usual feudal sources, of the produce of the mines,
with that arising from his own domains, and from all
mines in the empire ; of the Jewish capitation tax, and
of the tribute paid by the Venedes and the Slavi ; that he
established fairs and markets ; that he convoked diets ;
that he coined money, and often bestowed the privilege
of coining it on others ; and that the high jurisdiction
was administered in his name, and by his officers,
throughout the empire. The rights of the general
diets were sufficiently ample : with them lay the elec-
tion of emperors, the nomination of guardians or
regents, the enaction of laws, the sanction of all ter-
ritorial alienations, a voice in the establishment of all
new principalities, the power of peace and war, the
trial of all the privileged classes, the condemnation of
any state with its head, whether count, margrave,
or duke, and the placing them under the ban of the
empire. Again, the states assembled in each province,
and consisting, beyond doubt, of every feudatory and
* Founded on the same authorities, with the addition of Pfeflfel, Histoire
d' Allemagne (Kemarques Particuliferes), of Putter, Historic Developement,
vol. i., and of Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. ii. liv. 4. (variU
capitulis).
K 2
132 HISTORY OP THE OER3IANIC EMPIRE.
every allodial proprietor, however small his domain,
were convoked by their governor, and were allowed to
exercise powers not much inferior to those recognised
in the general diets. It is said that they could make
peace or war, of their own authority, with foreign
princes. But though we certainly read of occasions where
one state armed against another when the duke of
Bavaria, for instance, led his troops into Lombardy to
conquer a county which he considered his through his
relation to the Carlovingian family we may doubt if,
from the tenth century, such wars were permitted by the
diet. It is certain, however, that they could erect for-
tresses, judge all below the rank of those who sat in the
general diet, coin money, establish fairs, exact certain
contributions (the nature and amount of which are not
well ascertained), authorise Jews to settle in the district,
possess mines, and in some cases exercise the high justice.
But most of these privileges emanated from the imperial
authority, and were not naturally inherent in the states ;
nor do we know whether they were revocable or not at
pleasure. In general, the affairs brought before the
provincial states regarded the internal administration,
the conduct of vassals, the enforcement and appropri-
ation of the local revenues, the construction of bridges
and roads, and other matters, which, as every state was
a little sovereignty, were interminable enough.*
911 In a feudal monarchy in one, especially, which had
to so many wars to maintain with its neighbours military
service, from the duke to the lowest freeman, was com-
pulsory. Under the Carlovingians, the arriere ban,
consisting of the allodial proprietors, had been with
difficulty summoned to the field : the vassals of the
crown as well as those of the dukes, with their im-
mediate sub- vassals, were compelled to obey the call ;
but it was not easy to force the man who owned or held,
thirty or forty acres only, still less several men who in the
* Authorities, Pfeffel, Putter, Schmidt, and the contemporary chroni.
clers. Especially, however, are we indebted to the Statuta Burkardi,
No. 24. 33. &c. ; to Pfeffinger, Libri Feudorum, torn. i. passim.
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 133
aggregate possessed no more than that number for a
certain extent of land, into whatever number of hands it
had fallen, was expected to return an armed horseman
to incur the expense of an equipment, unless the pro-
vince itself were invaded by a foreign enemy. To
render those who composed the arriere ban available for
the common defence, Henry the Fowler adopted several
regulations, which, in his own hereditary states at least,
those of Saxony, were successful. One of them the
abstraction of one ninth of the armed population from
the rural districts, and their location in the walled towns
which he erected for them was the best that could have
been devised. There was now a continuous succession of
strong positions, where the force of the invaders might
be broken or discouraged ; and an easy refuge for the
peasantry and slaves, their cattle, and the produce of
the ground, whenever the country was ravaged by the
Slavonic, or Hungarian, or Danish bands. His policy
was evidently as obligatory on the allodial proprietors as
on the vassals ; but, as it was equally the interest of
both to observe it, little compulsion would be necessary.
It was only where the war was removed to a distance
from their own frontier, that the former sought to
evade the summons to arms. Wherever might be its
seat, all who held lands by the invariable tenour of
military service, were compelled a certain number of
days to be present. On bishops and abbots it was as
obligatory as on the rest ; their lands were not, as in
some other countries, exempted from the burdens of
the state ; and they were to be seen at the head of their
"vassals as often as the temporal barons of the realm.
We may, however, observe, that on the ecclesiastical
superiors alone on bishops and abbots was mi-
litary service obligatory ; the rest were never abstracted
from the duties of the altar ; but church lands were
sub-infeudated to laymen, that the requisite number of
horsemen might always be ready whenever the ban was
proclaimed by the emperor or the duke of the province.
In general, the term of service was forty days, a time
K 3
134; HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
sufficient for the defence of the country, but inadequate
to the prosecution of a war in Poland, Hungary, or
Italy. Feudal institutions were excellently adapted to
the fostering of a military spirit; but were they favour-
able to domestic tranquillity ? The reverse is the fact.
The freemen who, in accordance with the regulations of
Henry the Fowler, hastened at certain periods to the
new fortified places to display their feats of arms, and
indulge in festive entertainments, would not always be
disposed to respect the peace of society. Under the
walls, single combats often led to fatal results ; there was
the insolence of triumph, the shame of defeat ; and
though both parties might be kept in check in presence
of the constituted authorities of the place, who could
prevent the collision of rival factions in the depths of
the forest ? That such collisions were of perpetual re-
currence, is evident from the literary monuments of the
period especially from the acts of councils and the lives
of saints. Ecclesiastics were as much inclined to them
as laymen ; and their example was naturally imitated
by their own vassals, even by their serfs. Thus
Burkard, the celebrated bishop of Worms, tells us that,
in one year, there were thirty-five homicides among the
people of his church. That theft was no less common,
is decidedly clear from the same authorities. Hence
the increased severity of the penalties decreed by coun-
cils and diets ; for pecuniary compensation, which
formed the basis of the Germanic codes, was no longer
adequate to the repression of the evil. The laws of the
Saxons, being much more favourable to capital punish-
ments and to mutilation, gradually superseded those of
the Franks ; increased rigour was given to the Capitu-
laries ; and thus was laid the foundation of a different
system of jurisprudence, a system to which we shall
advert when it has grown into notice. In their infancy,
human institutions elude our ooservation ; their origin
is not related, their rise is silent ; and it is only when
the plant rears its summit on high, and occupies a dis-
tinguished place among the trees of the same forest, that
THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 135
its existence becomes visible. In reality, the state of the
administration and of the laws, during the period of the
Saxon emperors, is a very obscure subject of enquiry ;
and, for this reason, we defer it until historic truth dis-
perses the gloom. We may, however, notice a few such
peculiarities as throw light on the social character. Ec-
clesiastics, like laymen, had their prisons for the coercion
not only of their own members, but of all the secular
inhabitants of the domains subjected to them. In the
earlier times, the jurisdiction of the bishop had embraced
only his own clergy ; it was subsequently, rather by
usage than by positive law, extended to laymen, in cases
where the duties of religion, the rights or discipline of
the church, were concerned ; and the execution of his
decrees was confided to the care of the local courts. The
next stage was the association of the bishop with the
count, or the concurrent jurisdiction of the two, in the ad-
ministration of the laws ; and this continued during the
Carlovingian period. The progress of the feudal system,
the conversion of ecclesiastical into secular vassals, the
gradual extension of the territorial tribunals, soon made
them, like the baronial feudatories, judges. In fact, they
were temporal barons themselves ; and were liable, like
the merest layman, to military service, to the jurisdictio
herilis, and the other obligations of the dignity. But
no ecclesiastic could sit on judgments of blood : he
could not pronounce, much less execute, sentences of
death ; so that the more heinous cases must always
have devolved to the tribunal of the count; and, in
general, we find that wherever laymen only were con-
cerned, the judicial functions were not often exercised
by the bishop or abbot in person ; in such cases, they
devolved on his vicars, who were always laymen. Where
the evidence was presumptive only, recourse was had
to " the judgment of God," especially to ordeals
by red-hot iron, by boiling water, and by the duel. The
duel, however, as a judicial proof in the ordinary tri-
bunals, appears to have been abolished ; from the tenth
century, it was seldom allowed to others than nobles or
K 4
136
HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ladies of rank. Thus Otho I. vindicated the honour of
his only daughter by the duel : her champion was the
victor, and she was consequently declared innocent.
This mode of judicial proof was sometimes attended by
revolting circumstances : one, related by the historian
Ditmar, evidently inspired with disgust even the savage
warriors of the day. A count, named Waldo, ac-
cused another, named Gero, to Otho II. The accused
was committed to close custody; and, as the case could
only be tried by their equals, the princes of the empire
were convoked at Magdeburg. The duel was ordered,
and the two parties were compelled to engage in mortal
combat on a little island in the river. Waldo, after re-
ceiving two severe wounds in his head, at length threw
his adversary to the earth ; and Gero, being asked if he
was able to continue the battle, replied that he was not.
By the emperor and the noble judges the latter was de-
clared guilty, and beheaded on the spot by a common
executioner. But Waldo had received his death wound ;
for, after drinking a cup of water, he fell backwards,
and expired. Though Otho was reproached by some of
his nobles for hazarding the lives of individuals so useful
to the state, the duel continued in force.*
1024 But to resume our historical summary. On the ex-
to tinction of the house of Saxony, the archbishop of
Mentz convoked a diet of election, the regency, in
virtue of Heinric's will, being confided to St. Cune-
gund, the widowed empress. The scene which followed
is well worthy of consideration. At the time ap-
pointed, the Germanic nation, under its feudal rulers,
hastened to the vast plains lying on both banks of the
Rhine from Mentz to Worms. The Rhenish Franks
came under duke Conrad; the Upper Lorrainers under
Frederic, and the Lower under Goslic ; the Saxons
under Bernard, or Benno ; the Bavarians under
* Ditmarus Mersebergensis, Historta, p. 339. 343. &c. Codex Pro).
Hist. Episcop. Wormatise, No. 51. p. 44 48. \Vitikind, Historia, p. 644.
Pfeffinger, Libri Feudorurn, lib. i. tit 15. Pfeffel, Histoire, torn. i.
Schmidt, Histoire, torn. ii. liv. 4.
THE HOUSE OF FBANCONIA. 137
Henry ; the Swabians under Ernest. These were the
great feudatories, or rather sovereigns, who, from time
immemorial, had ruled over their respective people;
but we also find the Carinthians present under duke
Adalbert, the Bohemians under duke Udalric, and
several tributary Slavonic tribes under their respective
leaders. This fact proves that the Bohemians, like the
Carinthians, though not admitted to the dignity of se-
parate states, were now regarded as an integral portion
of the empire. The approach of so many nations, or
tribes, in military array, not together, but in separate
bodies, each taking its station as it arrived under the
banner of the duke, was a picturesque sight. The
number assembled appears to have been about 50,000,
comprised in six different classes: the higher clergy;
the feudatories, or dukes, any one of whom might be
elected ; the princes, comprising the margraves, counts
palatine, and the great officers of the crown ; the terri-
torial nobles, possessed of extensive fiefs, and the feudal
jurisdiction ; the ordinary nobles, some with, some
without fiefs, but none possessing judicial rank ; and
the great body of the freemen. The Lorrainers and the
Rhenish Franks were on the left ; the Swabians, Bohe-
mians, Carinthians, Saxons, &c. on the right bank of
the Rhine. The same or a similar collection of states,
and about the same number of persons, had been at
prior elections ; but this is the first time the chroni-
clers descend to particulars. The number, however,
was too great to take part in the deliberations ; and the
chiefs, consisting of the bishops, abbots, dukes, counts,
and probably a few of the territorial nobles, met in an
island between the two banks, to deliberate rather what
princes should be proposed, than who should be chosen.
Probably these primates, as they are styled by Wippo,
a writer of the time, had previously consulted with the
other nobles of their state ; or, peril aps, they were
chosen by the rest to deliberate for them. Whether
the same preliminary form had been adopted on former
occasions, we know not ; but it is worth bearing in re-
138 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
membrance, from the influence it had in subsequent
elections. After much deliberation, " cum diu centa-
retur qui regnare deberet," when some candidates had
been rejected from their age, others from their youth,
some from their temper, others from their merits being
untried, two were selected from the rest as most worthy
to obtain the suffrages of the nation. Both were named
Conrad, both of the Franconian province, and kinsmen.
By the archbishop of Mentz, both were immediately
proposed to the assembly ; and when required, accord-
ing to his rank, to give the first vote, he declared for
the elder Conrad, who was instantly acknowledged by
the rest of the clergy. As a better choice could not
have been made, the eyes of the multitude proclaimed
their satisfaction ; and the younger Conrad himself
fixed the choice, by advancing with his nobles to repeat
the usual words. The dukes and counts of the dif-
ferent states followed the example ; and the remaining
nobles and freemen, drawn up around their respective
standards, testified their consent by their acclamations.
From this relation, it is evident that the choice lay with
the chiefs of each state, not with the great body of no-
bles, much less of freemen. When the oath of alle-
giance was taken, the people advanced in classes, or, as
they were subsequently called, in bucklers, or shields, in
the order we have already described ; and this is said
to be the first recorded instance of this sixfold dis-
tribution. The reign of Conrad II. (1024 1039)
does not exhibit much to strike the attention. He
annexed Burgundy to the empire, the revocability of
which had been guaranteed by the king of that province
to St. Henry. Thus all Switzerland and Provence,
besides Burgundy Proper, was added to the confedera-
tion. Conrad forced the Polish king to do homage for
Silesia ; he established his superiority over the Lom-
bards*, who, according to custom, endeavoured to evade
the German domination ; and he kept the Hungarians
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 30.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 139
in check. To Canute of Denmark and England, how-
ever, he ceded the duchy of Sleswig as a fief, for which
homage was to be done, and service performed, by each
succeeding Danish king. In other words, this was a
cession of the province ; for the Danish monarchs, who
by their position were inaccessible to the forces of the
empire, had no intention of continuing the homage. In
regard to Burgundy, also, the policy of Conrad was not
wise. To secure the favour of the native nobles, and
maintain the crown in his family, he conferred on them
so many privileges, that he virtually changed them from
vassals into sovereigns ; and to many even of the pre-
lates he granted privileges, which rendered them, as
well as the lay dignitaries, almost independent of the
crown. To make a subject powerful, is not the way to
command obedience : the new feudatories owed him no
gratitude ; and most of their successors gradually be-
came the vassals of the French crown. If Conrad
had great qualities, he seems to have been more than
duly attentive to the interests of his house. One of
his sons he caused to be elected his successor, and pre-
sented him successively with the ducal fiefs of Bavaria
and Swabia ; to another prince of his family he gave
Carinthia ; to a third, another fief. Yet he was an
able and a valiant ruler; the greatest, with the ex-
ception of Henry the Fowler, Germany had seen
since Charlemagne. Heinric III. (1039 1056)
had the good fortune not only to be elected, but to
be crowned, during his father's life ; and he met
no obstacle in ascending the throne. He, too, was
worthy of his dignity. His first exploit was to re-
duce the Bohemians, whose duke had refused the
accustomed tribute. If the German historians are
to be believed and there is no reason to doubt their
statement he also established his superiority over
Hungary ; it is certain that he obtained several victories
over the inhabitants, and that he wrested from that
kingdom some districts beyond his frontier, incor-
porated them with Lower Austria, and elevated the
140 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
whole into a margraviate. Of his transactions in
Italy we shall not speak : the efforts of a people
so fickle and so changeable, rebelling to-day, sub-
mitting to-morrow, do not deserve relating ; and if
they did, we should content ourselves with referring
the reader to works expressly devoted to the subject.*
Henry died prematurely at the age of thirty-nine, with
the respect of all Europe. To his zeal for justice, all
the historians of the time bear testimony : his valour
is evinced by the signal victories which he obtained over
the Hungarians, the Bohemians, and the count of
Flanders ; and his piety, by the fact that he would
never wear his crown in public until he had lamented
and atoned for his sins, t
1056 Heinric IF., though only in his sixth year on his
to father's death, had already been recognised successor ;
106> and no obstacle was opposed to his proclamation. It
seemed, indeed, as if the imperial dignity were making
rapid strides towards hereditary succession ; nor were
the people much satisfied with the prospect. Never
had the imperial power been so strong as under the
two preceding princes of the house of Franconia ; yet
this was not owing to any change in the principles of
the constitution ; it was the result of the personal
character of the two monarchs. In vain had the nobles
endeavoured to withstand .either ; and a few rigorous
examples had kept the whole body in check. But now,
when the sovereign was a minor, and the regency in
the hands of a woman (the empress mother), the dis-
satisfaction which had been so long smothered, broke
out with increased fury. The Saxons, who had always
detested the Franconians, and who beheld with morti-
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 30.
f Adamus Brernensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. iii. (variis capitulis).
Helmoldus, Chronica Slavica (sub annis). Anon. Historia Arch iepisco-
porum Bremenensium, p. 85, &c. Wippo, Vita Chunradi Salici Impera.
toris, p. 463483. Annalista Saxonicus, A. D. 10241040. Hermannus
Contractus, Chronicon, p. 2745297. Lambertus Schaffnaburgensis, De
Rebus Germanorum, p. 317 321. Marianus Scotus, Chronicon, p. 648
650. Sigebertus Gemblacensis, Chronographia, p. 830835. Sift'redus
Misnensis, Epitome, lib. i. p. 1036. Langius, Chronicon Citizense,
a 1138, &c.
THE HOUSE OP FBANCONIA. 141
fication the crown on the brows of the third prince of
that house, immediately espoused the part of a rival
candidate ; and, though they were quelled for a time,
their failure only served to sharpen- their appetite for
revenge. And they had better cause for discontent. To
keep them in bounds, fortresses had been erected among
them ; but every one of them was garrisoned by ban-
ditti, who, though in the service of the crown, com-
mitted with impunity every possible excess. To
plunder the people and violate the women were their
constant employment ; nor did the king, when in-
formed of their conduct, so much as disapprove it.
The weak and vicious conduct of Heinric's ministers
and counsellors served to heighten the existing dis-
content. By the archbishop of Cologne, a formidable
conspiracy was organised ; the young prince was de-
coyed from his mother ; and the regency formally
transferred from her hands to the archbishop's. In a
short time, the influence of this prelate was supplanted
by that of another, the archbishop of Bremen, whose con-
duct was exceedingly unpopular. He was charged with
selling all ecclesiastical benefices, and with flattering the
passions of the young monarch : both might be true ;
but they were not so uncommon as to raise much indig-
nation : if, as was also asserted, and as there is some
ground to believe, he laboured to infuse high notions of
the imperial prerogative into the mind of his ward, we
may easily account for the ill-will towards him. It is,
however, more probable that this ill-will was caused by
his good fortune rather than by his alleged abuse of
trust. In this feeling, the archbishops of Mentz and
Cologne convoked, of their own authority, a diet at
Tribut, and plainly informed Heinric that he must either
dismiss the prelate or renounce the crown. He na-
turally chose the former alternative ; and no sooner
was the removal of Adalbert known, than the Saxons,
who mortally hated him, openly plundered his cathedral
of Bremen. Such was the regard paid to the laws in
an age when there was no authority to enforce them.
142 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
In a short time, however, Adalbert returned; and, though
compelled at first to share the public authority with the
rival prelates of Mentz and Cologne, ere long he re-
gained his wonted ascendancy. The conduct of Heinric
soon showed that the. school in which he had been in-
structed, was not one of the best. His passions had no
check. He had just married an Italian princess ; but
being disgusted with her, he sought a divorce, and per-
suaded the archbishop of Mentz to espouse his views.
The offer of all the tithes of Thuringia a province
which, like Saxony, had not yet paid them had easily
induced Hanno to sacrifice conscience to interest ; but
the people, instead of submitting, made common cause
with the Saxons, and an extensive conspiracy was framed.
An act of some injustice, the proscription of Otho
duke of Bavaria, and the appointment of another duke,
Guelf marquis of Este, without so much as consulting
the states of that duchy, gave deep offence to the Ba-
varians. Otho joined the Saxons, and the standard of
revolt was quickly raised. The result was, that Heinric
was compelled not only to abandon the tithe, but to
consent that the fortresses which he had erected to
keep the Saxons in check should be demolished, a
work which was speedily effected. He was thus beset
with mortifications ; for we must not omit to state,
that the consort whom he so cordially hated, he was
compelled, under the menace of excommunication by
the pope, to retain ; and that, if not by name, he was
virtually, included in the ban pronounced by Alexander II.
and Gregory VII. against all who had encouraged
simony. Into these interminable transactions we can-
not enter ; but they may be found in other works con-
nected with the present.* Suffice it to repeat, that he
had the misfortune to quarrel with Gregory, and to be
excommunicated by that extraordinary man ; that, to
procure absolution, he submitted to the most humi-
liating penance t ', that his princes rebelled, deposed
' * See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics ; and Europe during
the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 154, &c. . f The latter work, p. 158.
THE HOUSE OF FBANCONIA. 143
him, and elected in his place his brother-in-law, Ru-
dolf duke of Swabia ; that though, after several battles,
Rudolf was defeated and slain, the opposition of the
pope could not be shaken ; that at Gregory's instigation
a new anti-Cssar was soon elected, and the civil war
renewed, which raged with greater fury than be-
fore ; and that Gregory's death made little difference
in the hostile sentiments of the papal see towards
the emperor. That hostility, indeed, was natural ;
for Heinric, on his side, had deposed Gregory in a
national council ; had committed great disorders in the
pontifical states ; had laboured to make the chair of
St. Peter as dependent on his throne as the see of
Bamberg ; and had dispensed the patrimony of the
church in so scandalous a manner, as to merit the exe-
cration of every honest mind.* But these facts, and
others of a similar character, do not exculpate the mon-
strous pretensions of the popes themselves, who openly
aspired to the temporal, no less than the spiritual,
government of the world to reduce the emperors to
the same level of obedience as the veriest knight of their
household. After a twenty years' war, however, Heinric
triumphed over the Saxons ; but the Swabians refused
to submit, and they even elected his eldest son Con-
rad in his place. Again the veteran emperor was vic-
torious; he forced all Germany to be pacified; his
son was declared guilty of high treason, and deprived
of the privileges of primogeniture ; but, as if a fatality
were to attend him, as if his days were to be made
bitter by the ingratitude of his nearest connections
the result, however, of his own vices his second son,
Heinric, who, on Conrad's deposition had been declared
i his successor, also rebelled, wrested the sceptre from
his hands, and forced him to retire to Liege, where he
died the very year after his deposition. It has been
confidently asserted that in his last days he wanted the
necessaries of life ; but though this relation is ex-
ceedingly improbable, as he had still many attached
, * See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 155.
144 HISTORY OP THE GEBMANIC EMPIRE.
friends, and as even the city of Cologne declared for
him, his fate is one of the most memorable in the
annals of royalty. To be engaged during many years
with his rebellious subjects, has been the lot of some
other princes ; but none, like him, ever passed the whole
of his life in a struggle against them ; none, like him,
had ever to encounter two sons, successively insti-
gated by the popes ; none ever displayed so much
firmness amidst difficulties unequalled and unexampled.
Often did he lay the whole power of Rome at his feet,
and compel the highest of his vassals to bend before
him. Even at the last he would have conquered, had
not deception been allied to force : in the assurance
that a reconciliation was guaranteed by the states, he
was persuaded to dismiss his troops, and thus defence-
less he was compelled to abdicate. He died excom-
municate ; and five years elapsed before the papal
absolution could be obtained, or he could be interred in
the magnificent church which he had founded at Spires.
That Henry was a great prince, is admitted by his
enemies. His valour was unequalled ; his strength of
character bore him through every storm of life ; his
generosity was commensurate with his extent of intel-
lect ; in some cases, perhaps, he was criminally indul-
gent. Thus, when some men who had combined to
assassinate him, and were on the point of perpetrating
the deed, were seized and brought before him, he dis-
missed them unpunished ; and the most bitter of his
enemies had only to submit, to obtain forgiveness. To
the poor he was a munificent friend : he always main-
tained a certain number at each of his manors ; and
was known to admit them to his own apartment, where,
if they were sick as well as poor, he could more effec-
tually minister to their wants. Yet he was a monster
of immorality : if he was sometimes generous, let us
remember that generosity is the virtue of a barbarous
age that it often exists without any other. He could
be mean as well as noble, cruel as well as clement, per-
fidious as well as open. Rapacious, tyrannical, lawless,
he incurred the hatred of every class of his people.
THE HOUSE OF PBANCONIA. 145
His licentious amours carried dishonour and indignation
into the bosom of noble families, and tended in no small
degree to swell the tide of hostility he encountered :
at his court every dignity was venal ; his manner was
stern, his behaviour violent, and he had the singular
ill-fortune to make enemies of those he most enriched
and even most loved. It must not be forgotten, that
one prince was faithful to him in every vicissitude, the
duke of Bohemia, in whose favour, as a signal proof of
his gratitude, he restored in fact, though not in title,
the ancient kingdom of Moravia : at Prague, he caused
the duke to be crowned king of Bohemia, Moravia, and
Lusatia.*
With Henry IV. commenced the interminable wars
of the investitures, which, during above two centuries,
convulsed the Christian world. Into it we cannot enter ;
nor need we ; as on a former occasion f we have detailed
its causes and consequences at some length.
That the pope was perfectly justified in seeking to
deprive the emperor of an usurped right, of filling,
through corruption or court favour, ecclesiastical digni-
ties with the weakest and most vicious of men, will not
be denied. Had not the Holy See interposed, religion
itself would for ever have been attached to the imperial
car, and, from a ruling power, converted into a slave.
All the princes of Europe would have imitated the
conduct of Henry ; in fact, by some, by our William
Rufus among the rest, it was imitated ; and others were
only waiting for the discomfiture of the pope, to seize
on the revenues and entire administration of the church.
Had he triumphed, the regal and sacerdotal characters
would at length have been united ; and Christianity
would not have been at all superior to the religion of
pagan Rome or Thibet. The readiness with which
the German bishops entered into his views, assuming
the power even of deposing the pope at his pleasure,
and declaring their willingness to enter into the wild-
* Founded chiefly on the same authorities."
t See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. L p. 155, &c.
VOL. I. L
146 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
est of his schemes, is among the most memorable
lessons of history. Most of them, if any faith is to
be had in a writer of the period (Lambert of Schaff-
naburg) had obtained their dignities by unblushing
simony ; their principles were lax, their morals impure ;
nor would they have hesitated at the destruction of the
church itself, so that their worldly views were gratified.
It is melancholy to see with what ease, not merely in-
dividuals, but national councils, could be drawn into
the worst vices of the monarch. Well is it for
Europe, that the chair of St. Peter was at this time
filled by a man of such commanding talents, of such
unbending character, as Gregory VII.; well is it for re-
ligion, that, in the tremendous struggle, he conquered.
Yet most of the German, the French, and even the
English historians some through ignorance, others
through design have wholly misrepresented the me-
morable transactions of this period, and contrived to
throw the undivided odium on the pope. The real points
at issue they have industriously concealed : Henry has
been represented as wholly justifiable ; as contending
only for his acknowledged regalian rights ; while the
papal views have been confined, not to the removal of
ecclesiastical abuses, of which we find little mention in
these impartial writers, but to the arrogation of tem-
poral sovereignty over the princes of the earth. This,
alas ! is not the only instance in which truth has been
deliberately perverted to serve a purpose. Whoever
will take the pains to open the original historians of
any period where a collision of principles appears, and
compare them with modern writers, will be sickened at
the contrast. If he extend his researches, he will find
that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred an inves-
tigation of many years has earned us the right to make
the assertion the aim of the latter has manifestly been
to pervert the testimony of the former ; to make his-
tory the organ of present opinions ; to render turbid the
whole current of truth. And, we make the additional
observations under the same feeling of responsibility,
THE HOUSE OF PRANCONIA. 147
in no country under heaven has this abominable dis-
honesty been so prevalent as in England. But, while
praising Gregory and his immediate successors for their
noble stand against the most formidable dangers that
ever threatened religion and even morals, let us not
forget to execrate, in some other respects, both their
pretensions and their conduct. Their aim, to render
the temporal subservient to the spiritual power, to de-
stroy the independence of nations by transforming
sovereigns into their vassals, is so monstrous, that, were
it not attested by the whole tenour of history, we should
not believe it. Yet, whatever its monstrosity, it might
and did seem reasonable to Gregory and his successors,
who conscientiously believed that, in advocating it, they
were defending the cause of God. But no charity can
exculpate them from fomenting internal rebellion ; for
placing brother against brother, son against father, and
bidding the bloody strife be continued without pity or
intermission. Thus must historic justice condemn both
parties ; but not in an equal degree. If compelled to
draw the line between shades of guilt, every eye must
see that Gregory's, striking as it is when viewed alone,
is almost lost in the glaring hue of the emperor's.
This condemnation regards the quality and magnitude
of the action : if that action be weighed by its motives,
the result must be still more favourable to the pope.
His, however erroneous, and in some respects monstrous,
were still conscientious ; those of the emperor must
of necessity have been the reverse.*
From this time to the reign of Rodolf I., the leading HOG
characteristic of German history is a struggle between to
1125,
* Authorities: Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon, p. 298. OthoFri-
singensis, Chromron, lib. i vi. Lambertus Schaffnaburgensis, do Rebus
Oermanorum, pp. 321 424. ; a valuable but prejudiced guide. Anon. Ad-
ditiones ad eundem, p. 425. Marianus Scotus, Chronicon, pp. 651 656.
Dodechinus, Appendix ad eundom, pp. 657666. Sigebertus Gembla-
censis, Chronographia, pp. 88S 855. Siffredus Misnensis, Epitome, lib. i.
p. 1037, Ike. Latigius, Chronicon Citizense, pp. 1140 1148. Adamus Bre-
mensis, Historia, lib. iii. (variis capitulis). Magnum Chronicon Belgicum,
pp. 117 156. passim. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. iii. liv. 5.
Pi'effel, Abr<?gi Chronologique, torn. i. (sub annis). We refrain from
quoting the interminable Italian authorities of the period.
148 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the emperors and the popes : by the former to extend
their influence, as well over the Germanic church as
over Italy ; by the latter, to prevent both. The whole
tenour of public events is a commentary on this policy.
In virtue of pretensions which the temporal heads of
Christendom now began to advance, that they were
the successors, not merely of Charlemagne, but of the
Roman Caesars, and were entitled to all the privileges
of their predecessors, Rome itself, the object of so
much veneration to the rest of mankind, and with it
the whole of Italy, was associated with their ambition.
In what sense, indeed, could they claim universal do-
minion, unless the capital of the world were theirs ?
Hence, as the temporal authority of the popes was an
obstacle to their magnificent design, it must previously
be removed, the Roman states incorporated with the
empire, and the successors of St. Peter reduced to the
same dependence on them as the patriarchs of Constan-
tinople on the Greek emperors. The popes, aware of
this design, dreaded nothing so much as the extension
of the imperial power in Italy. Hence the eagerness
with which, to weaken their formidable adversaries,
they encouraged the municipalities of Italy in their
efforts for independence ; hence the frequent rebellions
which they fomented in the empire itself; hence, when
none of these things were sufficiently effectual, they
called in, first the Normans *, next the French t, to
establish a power in southern Italy capable of with-
standing the leviathan of the north. Historic events,
as we have before observed, are a practical commentary
on this policy. Heinric V. (1106 1125) soon found
that the throne he had so basely usurped was not likely
to reward him for the sacrifice of duty and of conscience.
Pope Pascal, in a council at Troyes, renewed the de-
clarations against investiture, absolutely prohibiting every
ecclesiastic, of whatever grade, to do homage to a lay-
man. At this synod Heinric had his ambassadors, who
* See Europe during the Middle Ages. vol. i. p. 113.
t Ibid. p. 124.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 149
appealed to a general council, and declared that the
cause of investiture must not be decided here, but at
Rome. The menace was disregarded ; but Henry me-
ditated open violence. At the head of the most for-
midable army which for ages had passed the Alps, and
accompanied by many learned doctors, whose duty it
was to justify by the pen what he was resolved, to effect
by the sword, he hastened to Rome. Before his ar-
rival, he received a solemn embassy from Pascal, with
a proposal so rational and so disinterested, that it may
perhaps surprise readers, who have been taught to regard
the Roman court as solicitous only for its temporal
aggrandisement. f{ If the emperor," said that excellent
man, " has only in view what he professes to have,
his regalian rights, let him resume the donations
on which those rights are founded, his duchies, mar-
graviates, countships, towns, manors, fortresses, with
all the rights and jurisdictions belonging to them, let
him resume every thing which the church has received
from him and his predecessors. Sufficient for the
church will be its tithes, with the donations it has de-
rived from private bounty. By all laws, divine and ec-
clesiastic, churchmen are prohibited from devoting them-
selves to worldly affairs : they are even forbidden to
approach a court, unless on some work of mercy such as
to deliver a captive, or to obtain succour for some one
in necessity. But, in opposition to their proper calling,
they are now, from the multitude of their civil occu-
pations, generally either there, or in a worse place, the
field of battle. From ministers of the altar, they are
become ministers of the court. Let Heinric renounce
the right of investiture, and the church will immediately
restore all that it has received from secular princes
since the time of Charlemagne." This proposal went
at once to the root of the evil : of the pope's sincerity
in making it, there can be no doubt, as he had already
procured its sanction by a synod. What follows has
been so wilfully misrepresented, by the historians of
Germany, France, and England, that we are anxious to
L 3
150 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
relate it, from the original authorities alone, more at
length than we should otherwise do. Did Heinric accept
the proposal ? Unquestionably he did ; the arrange-
ments to that effect were made between his deputies
and those of the pope ; and, when he advanced to Sutri,
he himself swore to renounce all claim to the investiture,
if, by the Sunday following, Pascal followed his own
agreement, of causing the ecclesiastics to surrender the
feudal possessions, jurisdictions, and honours, which had
been received from the crown. That his object was
merely to procure his coronation by the pope, will be
abundantly evident from the sequel. By Pascal he was
received with great honour, and, in presence of the
Roman inhabitants, designated emperor, a step pre-
paratory to the coronation. At this moment, Pascal,
being in conversation with the emperor, demanded the
renunciation of the regalian rights, offering, at the same
time, to fulfil At* part of the convention. Heinric drew
his counsellors, among whom were several bishops, aside,
to confer with them. The result was what might have
been expected : the bishops, and all who hoped to
attain ecclesiastical dignities, persuaded him to refuse
compliance with a demand which they artfully repre-
sented as a renunciation of the imperial prerogatives,
and a diminution of the imperial dignity. That he was
previously resolved not to surrender the empire which
nominative election and investiture enabled him to ex-
ercise over the church, is evident from his whole con-
duct. His delays arose from his inability to discover
any pretext by which he might colour his refusal to
execute the convention, yet secure his coronation. Urged
by repeated messages from the pope, that, as the day
was fast wearing away, and the ceremony would be a
long one, an immediate decision was necessary, it was
at length resolved that Pascal should be summoned to
perform the ceremony without any conditions whatever,
and that, if he demurred, he should be compelled to do
so. To this ruffian determination the pope returned a
dignified refusal ; andj at the suggestion of two German
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 151
prelates, the archbishop of Mentz and the bishop of
Saxony, he was immediately surrounded by armed
men. A tumult followed, in which many excesses are
said, probably with great truth, to have been committed
by the German troops. They who could ill-treat an un-
offending old man, venerable alike from his age and
dignity, were not likely to hesitate at plunder, or even
murder. His situation was not an enviable one ; anxious
for ever to end the contest between the spiritual and
temporal thrones, yet convinced, from the opposition he
encountered among his own people, that the surrender
of the feudal honours was more unpalatable to them
than even to the Germans, he remained in a state,
not of irresolution, for he was resolved to do his part,
to excommunicate any prelate who should refuse to
make the surrender, but of doubt as to the issue.
From the concurrent testimony of Italian, German, and
French writers, it is evident, that the higher orders of
the church were exceedingly corrupt ; that their only
serious object was their worldly aggrandisement. Know-
ing the difficulties with which the pope had to contend,
yet without giving him the opportunity of removing
them, the ruffians proclaimed, that his detention was
caused by his failing to perform his part of the con-
vention. The pretext did not deceive the Romans ;
who, incensed at seeing their chief a prisoner, and in-
stigated by revenge, collected, and fell on the German
soldiery ; whom, after a long struggle, they forced back
to the camp. Towards evening, the bishop of Tus-
culum harangued the inhabitants : he bade them re-
member that they were fighting for liberty, and even for
existence ; that their fellow-citizens were in arms ; that
the venerable church of St. Peter, hitherto the abode of
peace and sanctity, was defiled with blood; that the
princes of the church and its sacred head were in
fetters ; and he exhorted them to strain every nerve for
the deliverance of their common brother. The harangue,
falling like a spark on materials prepared for com-
bustion, produced its effect. Hearing this determination,
i, 4
152 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the emperor drew all his troops from the plain, and
encamped at a farther distance. The pope was dragged
with the army, and, after two days, we are told, stripped
of his pontifical ornaments, and, like the vilest male-
factor, tied with cords. It is certain that Heinric
threatened to kill him, unless he unconditionally sub-
mitted unless he performed the coronation ceremony,
removed all opposition to the investitures, and sanc-
tioned the empire which he had resolved to restore in
Italy. At length, moved by the murmurs of many even
among his own people, he proposed to release the pope
on the fulfilment of the two former conditions; engaging,
in return, never again to interfere in elections ; to
confer neither the rights nor the functions of the church,
but simply to have the power, inherent in his imperial
character, of conferring the temporalities on the prelate
elect. Pascal long resisted ; but, in the end, overcome
by the lamentations of his numerous fellow-prisoners,
the entreaties of his ecclesiastics, and, perhaps, fearful
of further consequences, he consented to concede the in-
vestitures : he was even forced to swear that he would
never excommunicate the emperor. Heinric, on his
side, swore to respect the independence, privileges, and
immunities of the church: but with him an oath consisted
merely of words, and words were air. The coronation
was performed, and he returned triumphant to Ger-
many. But the struggle was not at an end : several car-
dinals repaired to Rome, and condemned the concessions
of their chief, as contrary not merely to the rights of
the church, but to the policy which, during the greater
part of a century, had been pursued. After what had
passed, Pascal, who could not decently interfere in the
affair, absented himself from Rome j but he wrote
to moderate their zeal, and to exculpate himself, by
that best of all pleas, necessity. To submit his con-
duct to the judgment of the church, he convoked a nu-
merous council of bishops, before whom he exposed his
transactions with Heinric, recommended them to take
whatever measures they judged expedient, but declared
THE HOUSE OP FBANCONIA. 1.53
that, though the emperor had already broken his oath,
he would not break his, by either excommunicating or
molesting him : he even proposed to abdicate his dig-
nity, as one who through fear had betrayed his trust ;
but allowance was made for him, and he was forced to
retain it. After much deliberation, his bull was so-
lemnly condemned ; and, in four months afterwards, a
council of French bishops being assembled at Vienne,
not only were the proceedings of the Lateran council
approved, but it was declared that the investiture of
churchmen by lay hands was a heresy, and Heinric was
solemnly excommunicated by the council. The prelates,
in their application to the pope for the confirmation of
their decrees, menaced him with open resistance to his
authority, if he refused. The prelates of Italy and
France, who might well be called the representatives of
the Christian world, having thus loudly condemned the
papal concessions, some of the most eminent doctors of
the church now entered the field, while some of its
saints among others, Hugh of Grenoble, and Ives
of Chartres beset the papal throne with remon-
strances and reproaches. The tempest which was now
collected fell on the head of Heinric : his great vassals
seldom wanted any inducement to rebellion ; a portion
of his ecclesiastics condemned his violence towards the
pope : even a council of German prelates, presided by
the papal legate, renewed the excommunication of their
Italian and French brethren ; and a revolt, originating
in Saxony, soon spread through all Germany. Deserted
by all his feudatories except two, the count palatine of
the Rhine, and his nephew the duke of Swabia, he
created from the domains lying between Bavaria and
Saxony a new principality, which, under the title of
duchy of Franconia, he conferred on another nephew,
Conrad of Hohenstauffen. With the aid of his three
vassals, Heinric, who had great valour, kept the field,
and even returned to Italy, to wreak his vengeance on
the pope ; but Pascal fled, and soon died. To his suc-
cessor, ^Gelasius II., was opposed an an tipope, a creature
154 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
of Heinric. Gelasius died in exile ; and Calixtus II., who
succeeded, though a relation of the emperor, renewed
the excommunication. In 1122, however, a compro-
mise was effected between the empire and the priesthood.
On the one hand, Heinric entirely renounced the right
of nomination to benefices, and of influencing elections,
which thenceforward were to be conducted in the ca-
nonical forms. On the other, he was allowed to be
present whenever elections were made, and even to
invest with a sceptre, not with the cross and ring, to
which a mysterious signification seems to have been
attached. This concordat mitigated, but did not re-
move, the evil. If the emperor could no longer
nominate, he could influence the choice of a prelate ;
while, substantially, his right of investiture remained
the same. Yet he agreed to it with reluctance, and then
only because rebellion had shaken his throne to its
foundation. Vindictive in his resentments, he was pre-
paring to march into France, and lay Rheims, which had
excommunicated him, in ashes, when Worms revolted,
He scarcely survived the reduction of the latter city. As
he left no legitimate offspring, the domains of his house
descended to his nephews, Conrad duke of Franconia,
and Frederic duke of Swabia. With him ended the
male line of the house of Franconia, which had occupied
the throne a full century.*
1125 The extinction of the Franconian family rendered
to the election of a new dynasty indispensable ; and by the
1138. archbishop of Mentz, who acted in virtue of former
precedents, a diet was convoked in that city. The
number who attended, and who comprised the six buck-
lers of the state, was about equal to that which had
been assembled in 1024. The mode of proceeding,
too, was nearly the same : ten princes were chosen from
THE HOUSE OF FRAXCONIA. 155
the three nations of Saxons, Franconians, Bavarians
for the Swabians, constrained by their duke, were not
present to serve as a commission for exercising the
right of pretaxation , viz. of selecting from the number
of candidates those whom they considered most worthy
of being proposed to the suffrages of the assembly. To
these suffrages several princes appeared to have an equal
claim. TrTere was 1. Frederick of Hohenstauffen,
duke of Swabia, and Conrad duke of Franconia, ne-
phews of the late emperor ; 2. Leopold margrave of
Austria, brother-in-law of that emperor ; 3. Henry the
Proud, duke of Bavaria, a Guelf ; 4. Lother duke of
Saxony. But from this pretaxation, Conrad, as the
younger brother of Frederic, was excluded ; and Henry
the Proud, for what reason we are not informed, was
not put into nomination ; but, to make a fourth candi-
date, Charles the Good, count of Flanders, was added.
It is, however, certain that in the eyes of all thinking
men the dignity had ceased to be an object of ambition.
During the late reigns it had been so encompassed by
cares, and difficulties, and dangers, and the minds of the
Germanic princes were grown so averse to obedience,
that Lother and Leopold earnestly besought the electors
that they might be permitted to decline the unwelcome
post. Frederic of Hohenstauffen would probably have
been chosen, had he not given umbrage to the electors,
by hinting that his consanguinity gave him a claim.
Resolved to show him that the dignity was purely elec-
tive, and influenced by the example of the primate, who
bore no good will to the house of Hohenstauffen, the
dignitaries made choice of Lother. On this occasion,
Lother swore to the concordat of 1 1 22 ; but, owing to
the influence of the papal legate, a clause was introduced,
which not only forbade the emperor to be present at fu-
ture ecclesiastical elections, but virtually changed the
homage into a mere oath of fidelity and obedience.
Another innovation was no less remarkable : the diet
sent the prelates to request the papal confirmation of the
election. In these times, as we have before observed^
156 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
every concession becomes a precedent. Strange was the
contrast now exhibited, both by the temporal and spi-
ritual powers. Under the house of Saxony, as under
that of Charlemagne, the popes had been sometimes
chosen, and always confirmed, by the emperors ; now,
the sovereign was no longer to have a voice in the elec-
tion of the humblest prelate, while his own confirmation
was to be sought from the see of Rome. Frederic of
HohenstaufFen refused to acknowledge the now king of
the Romans, who, in fact, appears to have been his per-
sonal enemy, and who lost no time in placing him under
the ban of the empire. A civil war followed, which
might soon have turned the scale, had not the king of
the Romans detached from Frederic his own ally, Henry
of Bavaria, by conferring on the latter the hand of his
daughter. Though his place was supplied by Conrad of
Franconia, who returned from a crusade about a year
after the election ; though, in the struggle which ensued,
Conrad was acknowledged by most of Lombardy, and
even elected by a party in Germany, in the end Lother
triumphed, forced his rival to submission, and procured
the imperial crown from the hands of Innocent II. His
transactions in Italy were numerous, but not very im-
portant ; they chiefly regarded the schism which agitated
the church *, and his hostilities with the Normans ; and
it may truly be said of him, that he courageously de-
fended the interests of the empire ; that if, at his ele-
vation, he had made some dangerous concessions, he now
demanded the restoration of his imperial rights over the
church ; and that, though he could not obtain the full
extent of his wishes, he yet effected a species of com-
promise, by which he was allowed to exercise a veto on
the prelate elect, by withholding the investiture. Far
more important is the fact, that in this reign began the
greatness of the house of Brandenburg. He conferred
the margraviate, then comprising no more than the old
march of that name, on Albert the Boar, a descendant
of the ancient Saxon dukes. In a few years, Albert, by
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics.
THE HOUSE OF FBANCONIA. 157
his valour,, greatly extended the margraviate, at the
expense of the Slavonic tribes lying beyond the Elbe ;
tribes which, though nominally subject to the empire,
were seldom disposed to pay tribute. These regions,
however, were not formally raised to the dignity of a
principality during the reign of Lother.*
During the period under consideration, the bounds of 1024
the empire do not seem to have materially varied. On to
the south were the Alps; on the west, the Rhone, the 1138<
Saone, the Meuse, and the Scheldt ; on the north, the
German Sea and the Eyder ; but the eastern limits are
not so well defined. Though the Slavonic tribes east
of the Oder were tributary to the empire, their frequent
wars against the margraves on the frontier prove that
they were not portions of it. Towards the end of Lo-
ther's reign, indeed, the conquests of Albert the Boar
were preparing the entire subjugation of these wild re-
gions ; but during the period to which our observations
extend, a commencement only was made. As to the
dependencies of the empire, their possession was ex-
tremely precarious. Bohemia, indeed, was generally
submissive ; but the Danish and Polish kings were as
often enemies as vassals ; Burgundy, through the enor-
mous privileges granted to its hereditary houses, was
virtually independent ; Lombardy required reconquer-
ing in almost every reign ; and the provinces south of
Rome were now beginning to acknowledge the Norman
sway. In regard to the imperial power, we find that
it was considerably on the decrease. It was opposed
by the popes, who were resolved to rescue the church
from its exercise ; and by the dukes, no less eager
to extend their authority at its expense. A common
sense of danger, no less than a common bond of in-
terest, naturally drew the popes and the dukes into
closer relation with each other. What the latter were
ambitious to procure, they could not, with any justice,
deny to their associates, the ecclesiastical feudatories.
* Chiefly the same authorities, with the addition of Schmidt, Histoire,
torn. iii. ; and of Pfeffel, Abrege Chronologique, torn. i. (sub annis).
158 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
That such a combination should be too powerful for the
crown was to be expected ; and concessions were some-
times wrung as inconsistent with the spirit of monarchy
as they were favourable to local despotism. By
Henry V, and Lother II., especially, mortal blows were
given, however compulsively, to the grandeur of the
crown. Even in the time of St. Henry the dukes had
been styled cooperatores rcgis, by the historian Ditmar;
in that of the fourth Henry, Lambert of Schaffenburg,
though an ardent and prejudiced supporter of the im-
perial dignity, does not hesitate to affirm, that nothing
great was undertaken without their consent and au-
thority: " Ducum consilio et auctoritate summam pub-
licorum negotiorum disponi oportet." In accordance
with this universally acknowledged principle, we find
1. That the emperor could no longer confer a ducal fief,
or elevate a vassal to the dignity of prince or count,
without the consent of the states. 2. That his juris-
diction was extremely narrowed, since, at the close of
this period, the states which exercised the high jus-
tice refused to allow any other tribunal than his own
when he was personally present, and would not consent
that he should pardon any criminal whom they had con-
demned. 3. That he could no longer appropriate to
himself the property of convicted offenders, unless those
offenders were his immediate vassals ; and, even in this
case, the property was inalienably attached to the do-
main of the crown, not to his own peculium. 4. That
over that domain itself, which had hitherto been at the
absolute disposal of the emperor, his authority was be-
ginning to be circumscribed. It must not, indeed, be
concealed, that occasions might be enumerated in which
the sovereign disregarded every one of these limitations :
but this only proves that, for the moment, he was pow-
erful enough to dictate the law to the people whom he
had conquered. In the flush of victory, with some of
his rebellious vassals at his feet, he was not likely to pay
much regard to the odious shackles imposed on himself
or his immediate predecessor. But, on the other hand,
THE HOUSE OP FRANCONIA. 159
he was as frequently vanquished as victorious ; and on
these latter occasions was compelled to sanction the least
welcome innovations on his prerogative. The truth is
that great constitutional principles must be drawn, not
from times of violence, but from those of internal tran-
quillity ; and from the latter, we are sure, there is evi-
dence enough to establish the limitations we have men-
tioned. To those devised by the popes, we have already
adverted. The concordat of 1122 absolutely prohibited
the emperor from exercising the least influence over
elections, and compelled him to grant the temporalities
without delay to the prelate elect. By a subsequent
regulation, as we have already seen, the imperial pre-
rogative was still farther circumscribed ; but Lother
procured its abrogation, from the gratitude of the pontiff 1 ,
whom he maintained on the throne of St. Peter. It is,
indeed, true that the two last emperors were always dis-
posed to violate the concordat, and that when they had
the power they never failed to do so. Secretly, if not
openly, they endeavoured to influence the election ; and
from an obnoxious prelate they could at any time with-
hold the temporalities. The ecclesiastic thus excluded
could indeed appeal to a national council ; but one was
seldom sitting, and none could be convoked for the in-
terests of a mere individual. And if there was a similar
appeal to the sovereign pontiff, the great conservator
of discipline, it frequently happened that lie had too
much need of the imperial assistance to quarrel with the
empire. After all allowances, however, for violence and
political encroachments, the German ecclesiastics had
reason enough for congratulation. By Henry V. it was
truly observed of them, that they possessed the finest
cities and strongest fortresses of Germany ; that they
had many duchies, margraviates, and countships ; that
they coined money, received feudal taxes, exercised the
high and low jurisdiction, established fairs and markets,
and could convoke a formidable army of vassals. Nor
must we omit to notice that the imperial wealth declined
as much as the imperial power. The revenues, indeed,
160 HISTORY OF THE GEBMANIC EMPIRE.
remained nominally on the same footing, 1. In the
produce of the Germanic domain, extending on both
banks of the Rhine, from Basle to below Cologne ; 2. In
the revenues of Lombardy, the regnum proprium im-
peratoris ; 3. In the tribute of the Slavonic tribes,
especially of the Bohemians and Poles ; 4. In the pro-
duce of the wines, the tolls on travellers and merchan-
dise ; 5. In the contributions from the Jews, who were
then called servi domaniales ; 6. In the subsidies ex-
acted, for the maintenance of the court, from the inferior
states, especially the ecclesiastics, and ranked with other
servitia regalia ; ? In the duties arising from the high-
ways and ports of the sea. And to these permanent
sources of revenue we may add such as were accidental,
consisting, 1. In all the effects of malefactors con-
demned by the states ; 2. In the returns arising from
vacant fiefs and benefices, which in Germany, as else-
where, it was the interest of the sovereign to keep
vacant as long as he could ; 3. In the property of the
vassals who died without heirs ; 4. In the movable
property belonging to deceased bishops and abbots ;
5. In the returns arising from shipwrecks ; 6. In all
conquests, which, by a conventional fiction, were made
by and for the emperor. At the first glance, these va-
rious sources of income would seem to be ample enough
for the support of any dignity ; yet nothing is more
certain than that the conclusion would be exceedingly
fallacious. The Rhenish domain was often laid waste
by the great vassals, and in peaceful times it yielded
very little ; Lombardy required more money to maintain
it in obedience than it produced ; the Slavonic tribes
frequently brought the sword instead of gold ; the re-
galia servitia were often resisted, and by the states the
resistance was generally sanctioned ; and confiscations
or judicial forfeitures were very frequently placed be-
yond his reach, by those who pronounced the sentence.
In many parts of the empire there were, indeed, domains
which belonged, or had belonged, to the crown, and such
as had been alienated Henry III. endeavoured to revoke.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. l6l
But these revocations were very partial, and they ex-
cited an opposition which, though he was able to subdue,
was one of the causes that shook the throne of his son,
the fourth Henry. And even in regard to those of
which the emperor was the acknowledged superior, they
refused to yield some of the ordinary presentations.
That of purveyance, in particular, was denied by the
Saxons, who complained that Henry IV. was always
amongst them, and who thereby reduced him to the ne-
cessity of purchasing every thing he required for his
table. From the preceding observations, then, we may
estimate the degree in which the imperial prerogatives,
revenues, and consequently influence, had declined.
Well might the same monarch, when speaking of the
dukes and bishops, observe, " These men, who possess
the riches of my crown, have reduced both me and all
connected with me to poverty."*
Inevitably proportionate with the decrease of the im- 1024
perial authority was the augmentation of that usurped to
by the diets and the dukes. The diets, which were 1138.
convoked by the emperor, or, in his default, by the
archbishop of Mentz, as primate of the Germanic
church and arch-chancellor of the empire, were fre-
quent, and their sessions short. They were, in fact, so
frequent, that some of the minor states applied for a
dispensation from the necessity of attending all. To
them, no doubt, the expense of such attendance was
oppressive ; nor need we be surprised that many, like
the abbot of St. Maximin, should obtain permission to
vote by proxy whenever the subject for which the diet
was convoked was not deemed sufficiently important to
require his presence in person. But this conduct of
* Founded on the historians of the Franconian period. Add Pfeffel,
Histoire, torn. i. p. V53, c. ; Schmidt, Historia, torn. iii. liv. 5. chap. 10. ;
Conringius, Da Origine Juris Gerraanici ; Diplomats Imperatorum ;
Scharnat, Historia Episcop. Bamberg ; Nucleus Juris Public! ; Onuphrius
Panvinius, De Comitiis ; Beuthen, Animadversiones, seu Disceptationes
Historicfe et Chronological ; Petrus de Andle, De Imperio Romano Ger-
manico; Nntitia S. K. Imperii ; DeJuribus Regni et Imperil Romanorum;
De Auctoritate Principum in Populum ; Conringius, De Finibus Imperii
Germanic! ; Goldastus, Monarchia Romana ; with many others, to specify
whose pages would not be possible in a single foot-note. Our authorities
are boundless ; many_of them we are constrained to pass over.
VOL. I. M
162 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the inferior dignitaries was highly impolitic, since it
augmented the authority of men who had already too
much influence, the dukes, the bishops, and other
great feudatories. On the pretext often, no doubt, a
; ust one that the affair under consideration was too
trifling for the convocation of a regular diet, the emperor
called into deliberation with him such of those chief
dignitaries as happened to be at court, or in its imme-
diate vicinity. By degrees, as we shall hereafter per-
ceive, the honour was claimed as a right, and considered
to be inherent in the dignity. This, added to the cele-
brated privilege of pretaxation* , gave an alarming
power to great feudatories, and prepared the way for
an innovation, which in the ensuing chapter we shall
have occasion to record ; the assumption of the whole
elective and most of the executive power, by seven or
eight individuals. But for the more important affairs
of the empire the diets were the only legitimate tri-
bunal. The letters of convocation prove how ne-
cessary was the presence of the members, and how
unwilling were some of them to attend. " Our trusty
counsellors," says one, " inform us that now is the fa-
vourable time for deliberating on the affairs of the
Roman see and the Roman commonwealth ; and for
this purpose we necessarily convoke our princes, that
we may avail ourselves, as we ought, of their advice
and assistance. Of thy faithful presence and prudent
counsel we have special need. Wherefore we beseech
thee with equal earnestness and confidence to meet us
at Spires, the first Friday after the approaching feast of
St. Mary ; and there, by thy advice and that of our other
prince?, we will treat concerning these things to the
honour of God and our kingdom, and the preservation
of peace in Christendom. And we entreat thee to
come willingly, assuring thee that we shall soon dis-
miss thee, and that we would gladly spare thee this
trouble unless the necessity of the case impelled us."
These mandates were addressed to the princes only ;
* See before, page 160.
THE HOUSE OP FRANCONIA. l6S
the rest of the nobles were not convoked, unless on ex-
traordinary occasions, as when some great war was to
be undertaken, or some national affair decided. When
the diet assembled, the emperor had no influence be-
yond that which, as the- fountain of honour, and the
disposer of much patronage, he might possess : as head
of the Germanic constitutions he had scarcely more
than any individual prince : in this respect he was but
primus inter pares, though he was invested with much
outward pomp, and hailed as the legitimate successor,
not merely of Charlemagne, but of the Caesars. This
preponderance of the ducal, episcopal, and princely
power, and this consequent levity of the imperial, are
owing to causes at which we have already glanced, the
progress of feudality ; the union of nobles anxious for
independence, with the dignitaries and head of the
church ; the success of their combined arms ; and to the
circumstances of the times. Of the progress in feudal
institutions, we need no other proof than the absolute
heritability of fiefs, which the Franconian emperors
were constrained to recognise. And this heritability
regarded not merely the ducal fief, and the beneficia
majora ; it descended to the least benefice in the state.
And as every fief, great or small, descended inalienable
to the eldest son, or, in default of sons, to the nearest
male heir, the influence of the vassal was not weakened
by the partitions which prevailed in the nations of
Slavonic race, which in earlier times had no less pre-
vailed in Germany, and which, as we shall perceive at
the proper period, did afterwards prevail in that em-
pire. We must, however, observe, that the eldest
might not necessarily inherit. Not only if he were a
bastard, but if he were the issue of an unequal mar-
riage, of a prince with a private lady, of a freeman with
a slave, his claim was forfeited. The first effect of
this acknowledged right of succession was, that the
count, like the margrave or duke, took his title from
the domain which he governed, or from the castle
which he inhabited ; and that from the counts the ex-
M 2
164 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ample descended to the lowest territorial nobles. A
second effect, that of simultaneous investiture, is much
more remarkable. Often several vassals, denominated
co-vassals, were at the same time invested with the
same fief, on the condition that they should succeed in
the order of their seniority, as their respective houses
became extinct. And such extinction was not uncom-
mon at an age when possessors of fiefs frequently en-
tered the cloister ; when civil war raged on every side ;
when private assassination and predatory violence
reigned from one end of the empire to the other ; when
unequal marriages must frequently have been celebrated ;
and. above all, when so many expeditions were under-
taken into Italy, a country described by historians as
peculiarly fatal to the German soldiers.*
The nobles who attended the diets were compre-
hended, as in preceding times, under six classes, called
shields: 1. The dukes. 2. The ecclesiastical princes ;
consisting of bishops and abbots. 3. The secular
princes ; comprising the landgraves, margraves, and
counts. 4. The dynasties or territorial nobles, some
with, others without, jurisdiction, and independent of
the great feudatories. 5. The ministerial, or noble
functionaries, attached not only to the imperial court,
but to that of the dukes, margraves, landgraves, and
counts. 6. The great body of ingenui, or freemen, the
lowest link in the noble chain. Yet though all these
could, on extraordinary occasions, assemble in diet, the
three last classes had certainly no deliberative voice,
probably no suffrage. On all, military service was
obligatory. As the ecclesiastical princes were com-
pelled to produce a number of lances commensurate
with the extent of their fiefs, by subinfeudation they
became the superiors of lay vassals. It is probably as
* Founded on Rhegino, Chronicon ; Hermannus Contractus, Chronicon ;
Lambertus Schaffhal'urgensis, De Rebus Germanorum ; Chronicon Urs-
pergense, necnon Annalista Saxo (sub annis) ; Anselmus Gemblacensis,
Chronograph ia; Siff'redus Misnensis, Epitome; Chronicon Montis Sereni ;
Magnum Chronicon Belgicum ; Libri Feudorurn ; Conringius, De Origine
Juris ; Heineccius, Elementa Juris Gerraanici ; Pfefl'el and Schmidt, in
places too numerous to be cited.
THE HOUSE OP FBANCONIA. ' l65
much from this circumstance as from respect to reli-
gion that they took precedence of all secular princes,
excepting the dukes, whose authority was more sove-
reign than feudal. Of the privileges usurped by these
dukes, we have hefore spoken. Some of them openly
aspired to royal pomp. Thus Welf (Guelph) of
Bavaria caused, on public occasions, a sword to be
carried before him ; and, while at table, the duke of
Saxony was surrounded by prelates. The counts, as
we have already observed, now assumed, after their own
names, the name of the district they hereditarily
governed, or the castle they had constructed. Both
these districts or countships, and their castles, were, in
virtue of the hereditary succession, soon regarded as
patrimonial. With much greater justice could the ter-
ritorial dynasties, or free proprietors whose domains were
allodial, aspire to the same independence ; and we ac-
cordingly find that from the twelfth century they too
assumed a title from their possessions, and qualified
themselves, sometimes as counts, sometimes as barons.
These dynasties, who held fiefs of no one, are mentioned
by the chronicles and in ancient instruments as milites
primi ordinis capitanei. Each had his banner, and was
followed by his vassals, by the milites secundi ordinis ;
and if they, too, as was sometimes the case, were the
superiors of vassals, the latter were styled milites mediae
nobilitatis, doubtless to distinguish them from the mere
ingenui, who had no fief, and were the lowest grade in
the scale of nobles. We may here observe that during
the Franconian period we no longer read of the arriere
ban. Yet allodial proprietors there certainly were.
Whether they had conventionally agreed to follow the
banner of the local duke, or they were exempted from
the military service, has been much disputed. The
truth seems to be, that the arriere ban comprised only the
smallest allodial proprietors, as the obligation of service
at their own cost wpuld have been not only oppressive,
but ruinous ; and that they were, in consequence, tacitly
exempted from it. Whenever a campaign was resolved
M 3
166 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
in the diets, for the declaration of war no longer de-
pended on the emperor, an oath from each prince was
required, that at the appointed time and place he would
he present with the number of lances he was bound to
furnish. This precaution sufficiently evinces the repug-
nance no doubt from a consideration of the expense
which the great vassals entertained to the service,
whenever their individual or family interests, or their
privileges as a class, were not concerned. By a con-
temporary writer they are truly said to have lost all re-
gard for the general interests of the empire, and to have
been intent only on mere selfish objects. When the
campaign was long, no vassal would move without an
advance of money. There was some justice in the de-
mand, for as the time (forty days) usually fixed for the
duration of a campaign would expire before any decisive
operations could be made, often before the troops could
reach the seat of war, and as the period must of neces-
sity be extended, some remuneration might justly be
expected for the excess of time, and for the more ex-
pensive preparations required for long journeys. In
regard to Italy, this general repugnance was much
greater, not merely from the length of the campaign,
but from the pestilential marshes, so fatal to the northern
troops. Without ten pounds in gold, five changes of
horse accoutrements, two goatskins for wine, two port-
manteaus filled with other necessaries, and a sumpter
beast led by two attendants, no knightly vassal of the
crown could be induced to undertake the journey ; and
even then, his provisions, after he had crossed the Alps,
were to be provided for him at the emperor's expense.
For other campaigns, five pounds in gold, a sumpter
beast without baggage, five pair of horseshoes, and
two goatskins, sufficed. Gratuities similar in kind,
but less considerable, were given by the dukes, bishops,
abbots, and secular princes to their vassals. Thus for
the Italian expedition, the bishop of Bamberg furnished
each of his knights with a horse, a suit of armour, and
three pounds in gold. From these examples we may
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA.
167
correctly estimate the reluctance with which military
service beyond the bounds of the empire was under-
taken. Towards the close of their career, the Fran-
conian sovereigns had learned enough to be convinced
that, except for the defence of the country against foreign
invaders, who, in facf, scarcely ever appeared, there
was no reliance to be placed on a feudal army. In this
conviction they began to raise mercenary troops, soldiers
properly so called, consisting not merely of freemen
without fiefs, but of the burgher inhabitants from the
imperial and other towns.*
Hitherto these inhabitants were not formed into mil- 1024
nicipal bodies, but, by successive privileges, they were to
rapidly approaching that state. During the greater part
of the Franconian period they were divided into three
classes, according to the distinction of ranks in the first
settlers. 1. To defend the new community, encourage-
ment was naturally given to the only classes authorised
to bear arms, and the only ones consequently acquainted
with the art of war, to take up their abodes within the
walls. To a noble without fief, whose sole possessions
were his arms, the opportunity of being thus located,
of enjoying, with a few equals and some inferiors, the
usufruct of a considerable domain, and of being the
acknowledged head of a community, in other words,
of possessing wealth and influence, was too advan-
tageous not to be eagerly embraced. Of the rural no-
bility in Saxony, one ninth were, by Henry the Fowler,
thus transferred from the fields to the cities. The ex-
ample, as we have before observed, was imitated by the
local sovereigns, especially by the dukes and bishops.
Thus the dukes of Saxony and Bavaria established many
of these fortresses; and though the privileges they con-
ferred on the noble inhabitants were not equal to those
which had been conceded by the crown, they were still
sufficient to attract men whose only fortune was the
sword. 2. The ingenui, or free burghers, who pos-
* Chiefly the same authorities.
M 4
168 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
sessed lands within the jurisdiction of the city ; and, as
in number they had greatly the superiority over the
nobles, they soon obtained a voice in the local adminis-
tration. Like the former, their only profession was that
of arms ; they could not engage in commercial pursuits,
which were universally abandoned to serfs and freedmen,
without forfeiting the privileges of their order ; and, if
they married below their condition, their offspring be-
came slaves. Time, indeed, at length destroyed these
absurd prejudices ; but not until, through repeated
imperial concessions and favourable circumstances,
municipal dignities were associated with commerce, and,
above all, until commerce was perceived to be the most
rapid step towards wealth. In a few reigns the free
burghers were numerous and improtant enough to con-
stitute a distinct order in the state, and to be styled the
seventh buckler of the empire. 3. On the serfs and
freedmen thus devolved the labours of agriculture, the
mechanical arts, and the cares of commerce, occupa-
tions which the prejudices of the age universally regarded
as servile. To understand their progressive condition,
let us observe that in their infancy they were under the
protection (advocatus) of bishops appointed by the em-
perors. As, however brave their defenders, they had
no powerful name to defend them, and as they were
constantly exposed to the hostilities or insults of the
turbulent rural nobles, the institution of advocati was
undoubtedly a boon ; and the office was delegated to
some bishop who could have no hostility towards them,
and who, as a prince of the empire, had influence enough
to watch over their interests. But by the Franconian
emperors they were relieved from this episcopal pro-
tection, and made immediately dependent on the em-
perors, a change which they certainly hailed with
satisfaction. Probably the bishops were not sufficiently
warlike for such an office in times of more than ordinary
commotion : undoubtedly, they partook of the haughty
prejudices of the age, 1 which confounded negotiatores
with the servile class^ while by the emperors the new
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA.
169
communities were treated with considerable respect. The
good- will so evident between the emperor and these
communities is easy to.be explained. They had been
called into existence by him ; to him they were indebted
for many successive edicts in their favour ; his appellant
jurisdiction was seldom invoked in vain : in return,
during the troubles which incessantly agitated the
country, they uniformly took his part. The first oc-
casion on which they rushed to arms was when Henry IV.,
abandoned by the princes of the empire, was received
with great solemnity into the city of Worms : the in-
habitants, after expelling their bishop, his personal
enemy, unanimously offered him the use of their arms
and fortunes, and promised to sustain him against all
his adversaries. Henry was probably surprised to see
such an array of armed merchants and mechanics thus
enthusiastically hasten to his standard ; but the senti-
ment must have been inferior to his pleasure, since he
unexpectedly found that, however adverse his circum-
stances, he had a sure place of refuge, and that, if the
example were followed by other cities, he should have a
power at his disposal capable of embarrassing the he-
reditary enemies of his throne. That example was
immediately imitated : the communities at once com-
prehended the importance of the crisis ; and, by
rushing to the defence of the crown, they obtained
not only a powerful friend, but a far greater object,
permission to use the weapons of war ; a per-
mission which at one blow demolished the barrier be-
tween freedom and slavery. Henry V., who had no
less need of their support, won a greater claim to their
gratitude by raising the lowest class of the people
to the dignity of cives opifices. They were now a
free class, and were distributed into corporations, ac-
cording to their usual trades or branches of industry.
This innovation was far from agreeable to the two
higher classes of the inhabitants, the nobles and the
free burgesses, who, eager to preserve some line of de-
marcation, insisted on a distinction of name. From this
170 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
period to the fourteenth century, most imperial charters
distinguish the families, or nobites, from the liberi cives,
and the latter from the cives opifices. From this period,
too, the prosperity of the towns was amazingly rapid.
The freedom which had been conferred by the emperors,
and the wealth which industry and commerce could not
fail to procure, soon weakened, if it could not banish,
the absurd prejudices of the aristocracy. Not merely
freemen, but nobles themselves, rinding that there was
more advantage, as well as more independence, in serving
these rich and enterprising communities than their own
haughty superiors, applied for the privilege of citizen-
ship. Let it not be supposed, however, that, during
the period under present consideration, the enfranchise^
ment of the artisans was complete. They had not yet
the choice of their own magistrates : in the imperial
cities, in which their condition was the most liberal, they
still depended on the advocates, bailiffs, and judges
nominated by the crown ; and in those of which the su-
periors were the princes of the empire, they were subject
to some feudal exactions, which were felt to be more
galling than ever, yet which time only could remove.
But the good, both direct and incidental, effected by the
policy of the emperors, was prodigious. Slaves and
freedmen were encouraged to desert their tyrannical
masters, and take refuge in the towns ; knowing that, if
they were not discovered and claimed within a given
time, their emancipation was secure. Industry gave
birth to some arts, and perfected others ; a taste not
merely for the comforts, but for the elegancies, of life
was rapidly diffused ; civilisation marched hand in hand
with social enterprise ; and its influence, which was at
first confined within the walls, at length penetrated the
recesses of the forest.*
* Sachsenspiegel, lib. i. (variis articulis). Putter, VollstUndiges Hand-
buch der Deutschen Reichs Historic, p. 150 248. passim. Ludwig, Scrip-
tores Rerum Bambergensium, torn. i. p. 815. Codex Bambergense (in
multis numeris). Diplomata Variorum Imperatorum (apud Lehman,
Speyrische Chronika, lib. i. iv. (multis capitulis). Gudenus, Codex Diplo-
matum, torn. i. Chronicon Urspergense, p. 2sl. Heineccius, Elementa
Juris Germanic!, lib. i. tit. 5. Ffeflel and Schmidt, ubi supra.
THE HOUSE OP FRANCONIA. 1?1
During the same period the natural condition of Ger- 1024
manic society has little to excite our admiration. Now. to
as in former times, the national characteristics, drunken.
ness and fighting, were universally conspicuous. " Over
their cups," says Donizo, the Italian biographer of the
countess Matilda, " the Germans always indulge in ex-
cesses : when drunk, they love to dispute and to quar-
rel ; they draw their weapons, and cut off one another's
limbs for trifles, which, in any other country, would be
settled by the tongue." So prevailing was the vice, that
it found its way into the halls of majesty; and it is a fact
no less singular than amusing, that at his coronation every
emperor was solemnly obliged to engage that, through
the graco of God, he would, if possible, live soberly.*
That drunkenness is the prolific parent of other crimes,
we know by universal experience ; and we, therefore,
need not refuse our credence to the instances so fre-
quently recorded in the chroniclers of Italy and France.
The impetus and furor Teutonlcus are acknowledged
even by the native writers, and are indelibly traced on
the monuments of the times. We have before alluded
to the predatory habits of the Germanic nobles; and
never, perhaps, were they so conspicuous as during the
Franconian period. The castles which were built on
almost every eminence, and which, in reality, were ne-
cessary for self preservation when private war could not
possibly be put down, were garrisoned with men who
were obliged to procure their subsistence from the sur-
rounding country. Those which the emperors them-
selves had built among the Saxons, had the same per-
mission ; and the excesses committed by these imperial
banditti were one of the causes which led to the frequent
revolts of that large province. That their example was
imitated by the inferior lords ; that robbers, under the
name of knights, laid waste the surrounding country,
especially the towns and the serfs of ecclesiastics t ; that
* Vis sobrietatem cum auxilio Dei custodire. Cenni Monumenta, as
quoted by Schmidt.
f Pradones quippe qui sub nomine equitum abundabant, villas et
agros ecclesiarum invadebant, colonos domi forisque spoliabant. Chronicon
Urspergense, p. 280.
172 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the professed bandits who served a particular chief were
not more licentious than the legitimate defenders of the
place, are facts which meet us at every stage. To con-
vince the reader that this is no exaggeration, we will
exhibit a few from the many instances on which we
have founded the assertion. 1. Adalbert, archbishop of
Bremen, built a fortress for the defence of the frontier
against the Slavonic irruptions ; but the garrison which
he placed in it, immediately began to pillage the people
whom they were appointed to protect.* 2. Again, the
imperial troops who garrisoned the castles in Saxony
and Thuringia, " made," says the monk Lambert t>
" daily irruptions into the neighbourhood : they laid
waste every thing which they could find in town or
country ; they levied contributions on the inhabitants of
the fields and of the woods, and often drove away whole
flocks. They forced the people, even those of respect-
able families, to serve them as slaves ; they violated the
wives and daughters under the very eyes of the hus-
bands and fathers ; some they carried away to their
retreats, and, having detained them "quanto tempore
libido suggessisset," returned them, with expressions of
insult, to their nearest connections : and whoever pre-
sumed to complain, either that his substance was plun-
dered, or his wife dishonoured, was called an enemy of
the king, was cast into a dungeon, nor suffered to
leave it until he procured his release by the surrender of
his movable property. These excesses took place in
the reign of the fourth Henry, who openly encouraged
his followers to commit them. 3. For the truth of the
following story we shall not vouch, though we can for its
antiquity : A bandit chief of some note was Adalbert
of Treves, who, from his strong-hold, frequently issued
with a numerous band, pillaged the bishop's domain, and
returned in triumph. Nothing can better exhibit the
state of the towns than the fact, that, though St. Henry
was on the throne, Peppo (the bishop) did not dream of
* Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. 3.
f Lambcrtus Schaffnaburgensis, De Rebus Germanorum, p. 355.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 173
complaining to the monarch, but only to his own kin-
dred, friends, and vassals. Though experienced, like all
the prelates of his age, in the use of martial weapons, he
knew not how to reach the bandit behind his formidable
bulwarks ; and as the insult weighed more and more on
his mind, one of his vassals, at length, undertook to re-
venge him. As stratagem, not open force, was to pre-
vail, Tycho (the vassal) one day went to the castle of
Adalbert, and, loudly knocking, demanded a cup of
something to drink. The readiness with which the de-
mand was complied with "quod (poculum) cum ce-
leriter allatum fuisset" is a pleasing illustration of the
hospitality of the age. " Thank thy master," said
Tycho to the bearer of the cup, " and tell him that I
will certainly render him some service for his good
will !" The vassal returned to his lord; and, after de-
liberating with his fellows, formed a resolution which
may fairly bear comparison with that of the bandit
chief in the Arabian tale of the Forty Thieves. He
prepared thirty wine casks * of capacious size ; in each
he concealed a select warrior, fully armed with cuirass,
shield, helmet, and sword ; covered each with a linen
cloth, and applied ropes to each for the facility of the
carriers. He then chose sixty other men, two for
each cask, who, though habited as peasants, were war-
riors, and had each a sword in the same vessels. When
these preparations were completed, Tycho, accompanied
by the sixty carriers with their casks, and by a few
other knights, proceeded to the fortress, and struck the
door. To the demand who and what he was, he re-
plied that he came to recompense the chief for the cup
of wine which he had received on a former occasion.
The domestic related the message to Adalbert, who or-
dered the men to be admitted. As the casks were placed
before him, Tycho besought the chief to accept them as
a present ; and, at the same time, ordered the porters
to remove the covering. In an instant they seized their
* Onas, Ona, dolii vinearii species. Ducange, ad voc.
174 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
swords ; their thirty comrades rose from their hiding-
place ; Adalbert, with his men, fell the easy victims of
the stratagem, and the fortress was rased to the ground.*
4. These excesses were not confined to mere military
adventurers, or to simple knights. Thus, when duke
Ernest fell into disgrace with Conrad II., he hastened
to the Black Forest, from the depths of which he con-
tinually issued, to spread desolation through the neigh-
bouring country. Being pursued by a body of imperial
troops, though he and his followers could easily escape,
his horses, while quietly grazing, were surprised and
taken by his enemies. This was a misfortune which
could not be repaired; for though he plundered the
peasantry of as many as his people required, the beasts
were unfit for knightly use. In this emergency, though
aware that the issues of the forest were watched by men
in ambush, he said that an honourable death was pre-
ferable to a timid life, and left his retreat. He was able,
however, to maintain an obstinate combat with count
Manegold, the emperor's vassal, which was fatal both
to them and many of their followers, t 5. In the
time of the same Conrad, Lombardy was infested by
a famous freebooter, named Thesselgart the Lion, who
had defied the whole power of his predecessor St.
Henry. The strength, indeed, of flie bandit's re-
treats, which were among the rocks on the sea-
shore, and approachable only at low water, rendered
his apprehension even to an army and no force in-
ferior to that of an army dared to contend with him
no easy task. At length, however, parties of troops
being posted in ambush at different points, the outlaw
was taken. Though Conrad was a hundred miles dis-
tant, the intelligence was important enough to bring
him to the place ; nor, in the fear that Thesselgart
would, as usual, escape, did he rest day or night on his
journey. " Art thou," demanded Conrad, " that lion
* Magnum Chronicon Belgicum, p. 106. It is extracted from a more
ancient authority, the Chronica Pontificum Trevirensium, A. D, 1016.
f Wippo, Vita Conradi Salici, p. 476.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 175
which hath made such havoc among the flocks of Italy ?
By the holy rood ! but Lion as thou art thou shalt have
no more prey." The freebooter had not the philosophy
of the Thracian ; nor "if he had, would Conrad have
equalled the magnanimity of Alexander ; and a gallows
soon restored peace to the harassed region.* 6. But
the manners of the times will be still better illustrated
by an anecdote from Lambert of Schaffenburg. " It
was a custom in Flanders/' says the monk, " for the
count, when he had more sons than one, to choose
which of them should succeed him ; and for the other
brothers to seek a more shining fortune out of their
native province. Count Baldwin the Elder had two
sons, one named like himself, his designated heir ;
the other named Robert. When Robert arrived at a
suitable age, he received from the old count a few vas-
sals, some money, provisions and arms ; was told that
if he had a man's spirit he might win himself a lord-
ship, or even a kingdom ; and was dismissed from his
paternal palace. At a time when the Normans, by
bravery alone, were winning kingdoms in Naples and
Sicily t, and with the example of Rollo and other suc-
cessful adventurers, who had obtained sovereign fiefs
by the sword ^, the project was not so absurd as we
might suppose ; in fact, the policy of the old count
was that of his Scandinavian or Frisian sires. The
design of Robert was to gain Gallicia a province
which had been frequently ravaged by his piratical pre-
decessors, and where, amidst the revolutions which
agitated Spain, he might even hope to win, from
Christian or Moor, some reputable principality. But
Gallicia he was not to see. The winds forced him on
a coast, which, from the chronicler's description, we
may suppose to have been Ireland. There he landed,
and began to plunder in the true spirit of the times ;
but the natives, not much liking this mode of ruling
* Wippo, Vita Conradi Salici, p. 4 7 3.
f See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. Ill, &c.
j Ibid. vol. ii. p. 47. Russia had previously been won by Ruric, another
prince of the nation.
176 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
them, collected in great numbers, assailed him with
vigour, and scarcely allowed him to regain his ships,
with, perhaps, a tithe of his followers. Discouraged
at his ill-success, the youth returned to his father ; but
was sternly repulsed, as one who had no valour or enter-
prise in him, and as every way unworthy of his sires.
To wipe out this stain on his character, he equipped a
new fleet, and again put to sea. But his evil star pre-
vailed : he lost his vessels and most of his companions
in a storm, and with difficulty gained the shore, destitute
of every thing. His first impulse was to join the
hundreds of his nation, who served as a body-guard to
the Constantinopolitan emperors ; but hearing that
there were difficulties and even dangers in the way, he
resolved to try his fortune in Frisia, a province border-
ing on Flanders. In two engagements he was van-
quished ; but seeing that he was resolved to conquer
or die, the natives, harassed by his depredations, con-
sented, as the price of peace, to receive him. But, in
the mean time, his father was no more ; and his bro-
ther, Baldwin, the superior of Flanders, viewing with
much anger, and more jealousy, his contiguity to
that province, marched against him. In this dilemma
Robert sent messengers to his brother, whom he be-
sought, by the closeness of the ties which bound them,
and by his past misfortunes, not to molest him, but
leave him to enjoy in tranquillity the obscure angle of
territory that was now his : he protested, however, that
rather than be again exposed to the caprice of fortune,
he would resist even a brother, and either preserve his
domain, or find a grave. Baldwin, however, who had
cast an ambitious eye on Frisia, and was evidently
insensible of fraternal love, continued to advance ; and
a battle ensued, in which he was defeated and slain.
Robert improved his success by invading Flanders, and
expelling his young nephew ; nor, though that nephew
complained first to the king of France, and next to, the
emperor, could he be driven from his acquisition. By
THE HOUSE OF FBANCONI.V. 177
consenting to become a vassal of Philip I., he at length
firmly established his dominion.*
That in these savage times the ties of blood were
utterly disregarded, is evident from the preceding anec-
dote, and from the rebellions which, in the historic
summary of the present chapter, we have had occasion
to notice. Another memorable example will show not
only how little influence they exercised, but from what
trivial causes the most deadly feuds could arise. In
1126', one broke out between Conrad count of Withan,
and Henry margrave of Misnia, his kinsman. Henry
was a posthumous child. On the death of the old
margrave, the widow's pregnancy was apparent to all ;
but the count, who, in the event of his dying without
a son, was heir to the fief, maintained that it was not
real, that it was feigned to exclude him. To disprove
the dangerous report the lady assembled all the kinsmen
and vassals of her husband's house ; and standing on
high, with a freedom to modern delicacy somewhat re-
volting, asked all present to judge whether her preg-
nancy was real or feigned. t In time she was delivered
of a son ; but the count was still rancorous. He
allowed that she had indeed given birth to a child, but
maintained that it was a female, exchanged at the mo-
ment of birth for a male infant, of which the wife of
her cook was at the same time delivered. Though the
child was now a man, and in possession of his father's
fief, the malignity of the count remained undiminished.
The name of the margrave, his kinsman, being one day
mentioned in conversation, he hastily observed, " The
cook's son is no kinsman of mine !" In the true spirit
of dependants, Heldolf, a vassal of the count, went
farther, and swore before the altar that to his know-
* Lambertus Schaffhaburgens's, De Kebus Germanorum, p. 344. Pis-
torius, Rerum Germanicarum Scriptores, torn. i. & iii. Menckenius, Scrip-
tores Rerum Germ. torn. i. Adamus Bremensis, Historia Ecclesiastica,
ubi supra. Magnum Chronicon Belgicum, ubi supra.
t Devoluto ex humeris usque ad natos pallio, nudam se ostendit, dicens
ut ipsi, an vere gravida esset, judicarent. The German ladies, however,
were never viciously immodest: from the time of Tacitu? to th<? present,
the females of no nation have exceeded them in chastity.
VOL. I. N
178 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ledge the margrave had been exchanged, wishing that
if it were not so, he might lose the use of his limbs.
Both the conversation and the oath reached the ears of
Henry, who vowed a signal revenge. His vassals, as in
dufy bound, eagerly embraced his quarrel ; and two of
them lying in ambush for Heldolf, at length caught
him, and deprived him of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and
lips a fate which, as they alleged, he had incurred
by his false oath. The margrave, however, was not
satisfied with this vengeance ; he declared war against
the count, whom he defeated, captured, consigned to
the dungeons of his castle, fed on bread and water,
and on whom for a bed he forced a couch of iron. But
the following year this captivity ended with the death
of the margrave. Conrad, as the next heir, succeeded
to all the possessions and honours of the deceased
feudatory.*
Had religion possessed any influence over the minds
of the Germanic nobles, such outrages as we have de-
scribed could never have been frequent. But the eccle-
siastics themselves were little, if at all, superior to the
laity. Chosen merely for their birth, the dignitaries
had neither learning, nor regard for the decencies of
their station. High and low, instead of dispensing
peace, were among the foremost to swell the current of
strife wherever a feud divided two powerful neigh-
bours. Nor did they want feuds among themselves.
In former times, the abbots of Fulda, the most magni-
ficent and celebrated of the German monasteries, had
possessed the privilege of sitting on all public occasions
at the right hand of the emperors, next to the arch-
bishops of Mentz. In 1063, when the festivities of
Christmas were celebrated by Henry IV. at Goslar, and
seats were placed for the spiritual princes, a struggle for
the precedence arose between the domestics of the abbot
and those of the bishop of Hildesheim : the former could
' * Anon. Chronicon Montis Sereni, p. 168. (Apud Menckenium, Scriptores
Rcrum Germanicarum, torn. ii.;.
THE HOUSE OF FBANCONIA. 179
plead a custom of three centuries ; the latter would not
allow himself to be dishonoured in his own diocese. Both
flew to arms; but the powerful duke of Bavaria espousing
the pretensions of the abbot, the bishop's domestics were
forced to yield. The following Christmas, however, the
court being held at the same place, as the seats were ar-
ranging for the guests in the monastic church of Goslar,
the contention was renewed. This time the bishop,
who was resolved to defend his rights, had placed his
chief vassal, count Egbert, with a band provided with
staves, behind the high altar. No sooner did the words
of strife arise, than the men in ambush arose, fell on
the abbot's attendants, wounded some, and expelled the
rest from the church. But other vassals of that
princely dignitary soon collected in greater numbers,
seized swords instead of staves, and rushed into the
choir. The songs of praise were instantly drowned in
the clang of arms, the shouts of the assailants, and the
groans of the dying. Amidst the horrors of the scene,
the bishop of Hildesheim ascended some steps, and en-
couraged his followers to disregard the sanctity of the
place, and fight his battle manfully. In vain did the
king of the Romans endeavour to allay the animosity :
he spoke to the winds ; and as the battle increased, he
found that his own life was in danger ; nor was it
without much difficulty that he could gain a place of
refuge. At length the armed partisans of the abbot
were expelled, and the gates were bolted. But they
were still numerous ; and as they were every moment
joined by new comers, they drew up before the vesti-
bule of the church, in the resolution of awaiting the
issue of their opponents. Fortunately, however, the
latter remained in the place until night sent the abbot's
domestics to their hostels : in reality, mischief enough
had been effected ; for the floor of the choir was
covered with the dead and the dying. The following
morning the king and his princes were able to take
cognisance of the affair. But it was treated with'
notorious partiality. The blame evidently rested with
N2
180 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the bishop ; yet as count Egbert was a relative of the
king, it was wholly thrown on the abbot, who was
compelled to promise a heavy pecuniary composition to
the king, the councillors, and the bishop. The princi-
ple, or rather the absence of all principle, which go-
verned the times, may be inferred from this abominable
convention. The abbot had nothing of his own : with
what face could he engage to alienate the property of
his community ? Fearful of the intelligence reaching
Rome, whence an inhibition to the monastery would
speedily have been addressed, the mulct was kept secret.
But the worst was yet to come : the abbot's haughtiness
had long offended his monks, who, now that he had
lost the royal favour, and was humbled by circum-
stances, resolved to shake off his tyrannical authority,
if not to kill him. With piteous accents he implored
them to spare his life ; and promised to make twofold
satisfaction to the community for the money of which
he had plundered it, and the domains which he had
alienated in favour of his knights. The more aged and
reflecting monks, contented with the pledge, endea-
voured to save him from the fury of their younger
brethren, and with some difficulty they succeeded.
But the treasury of the monastery was insufficient to
satisfy the rapacity of the courtiers ; and the abbot
being summoned to the king's presence, besought the
elders to allay, by some means, the fury of the young
monks. But no sooner was he departed, than the
latter broke out into open insurrection ; professed their
determination to follow him, and upbraid him with his
vices before the king. They insisted that all who were
able to accompany them should prepare for the journey ;
and that all who were not should sign an instrument,
approving the object they had in view. With a cru-
cifix borne before them, sixteen of the most presump-
tuous issued from the cloisters, followed by the elders ;
but to save their reputation, perhaps their lives for
while rebellion to the king was regarded as a venial
offence, that against a religious superior was considered
THE HOUSE OP 1'RANCONIA. 181
the most atrocious of crimes they sent one of their
body before them to acquaint the king that they were
acting by constraint. As the rebellion was chiefly
caused by the robbery f the monastic treasury, a
robbery made for the sole advantage of the court,
the king, on this occasion, testified becoming horror at
the conduct of the young monks, and a most zealous
respect for the ecclesiastical discipline the only time,
perhaps, when he treated either it or religion itself
with regard. Four of the ringleaders were sentenced
to confinement for life in the dungeons of different
monasteries ; and the abbot was provided with a mili-
tary force to overawe the rest. On his return, the vin-
dictive dignitary proceeded to punish the rest: two of
the more obnoxious were publicly whipt and expelled;
many others were dispersed in other religious houses,
and subjected to penalties, graduated not so much by
the comparative enormity of their offence, as by the no-
bleness or obscurity of their birth.* Neither in ancient
nor in modern times will the Germanic clergy, as a
body, be found to possess much claim to our respect.
The dignitaries were chosen only for their birth, and
were almost uniformly ignorant and licentious ; the
lower ranks were equally ignorant, and no less plunged
into the worst vices of barbarism. Their ferocity, in
fact, was not much inferior to that of the laity. Thus
in 1123, Benno, a monk, was so exasperated with the
reproaches of his abbot and bishop probably he had
stripes as well as reproaches to revenge that he
stabbed the latter at the high altar. What became of
the assassin ? According to the monastic chronicles,
he was carried bodily away by the devil. f That he
was buried alive is much more probable. He deserved
any fate ; and we notice the subject, not through com-
passion for him, but from a suspicion that though
ecclesiastics were by the canons forbidden to sit " in
* De singulis tamen, non pro modo culpa?, sed pro natalium suorum
elaritate aut obscuritate, nritius vel atrocius sumptum supplicium est,
t Mox vivus a dccinonc raptus, nusquam comparuit,
v 3
182 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
judgment of blood," they sometimes evaded the prohi-
bition. *
1073 If to depress as low as possible the morals of the
10 people had been the sole ob^ct of both the temporal
1097 ' and ecclesiastical powers, they could not have acted with
more effect. A knight was but another word for ban-
dit; a count, or duke, or even king, for the chief of
bandits. The only consolation of the sufferers lay in
their belief of a retributive justice. They held, that
after death every robber knight was compelled to wander
over the earth enveloped in burning flames ; and super-
stition gravely affirmed, that fiery horsenren might be
nocturnally seen flying through the gloom of the forest.
But open violence was not the only evil which society
had to lament ; a greater, perhaps, was the disregard,
not only of all principle, but of all decency which cha-
racterised the fourth Henry. A few anecdotes, extracted
from the chroniclers of the times, will exhibit the dread-
ful state of morals more completely than any description.
We have alluded to the aversion which Henry enter-
tained towards his virtuous consort, and to his fruitless
efforts to obtain a divorce from her. With the view
of procuring his release from her by death, he insti-
gated his creatures to tempt her chastity. But Bertha,
, however incensed by his shameful debaucheries, had
tdo much virtue to be allured from her duty. To one
courtier, indeed, who in the event of success had been
promised extraordinary rewards, and who, in conse-
quence, was indefatigable in his attentions, she appointed
the place and hour of meeting, but only to inflict on
him such correction as he deserved. The intelligence
of an assignation, however, was sufficiently welcome to
Henry, who, to convict her the more completely, at-
tended it himself. But though admitted into the queen's
apartment, instead of an amorous mistress, he encoun-
tered the cudgels of a score of female domestics, who
* Lambertus Schaffnabergensis, De Rebus Germanorum, p. 327.
(apud Pistorium, Rerum Germ. Scriptores, torn. i.). Magnum Chronicon
Belgicum, p. llfi. (apud eunciem, torn. iii.). Langius, Chronicon Citizense,
p. .1150. (apud Struvium, Rerum Germ. Scriptores, torn. i.).
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 183
laid on him with such hearty good-will, that his life was
in danger. In vain did he cry out that he was the
king ; they could not or would not believe him, nor
did they give him any respite until, tired of their office,
they had thrust him from the palace. On the death of
Bertha, he married Adelaide, a Russian princess. The
treatment which she too was doomed to experience,
made life intolerable to her. Whether he caused her to
be violated by others, and still more whether he urged
his (by Bertha) son Conrad to defile his bed, may rea-
sonably be doubted ; but if exaggerations, they prove
the reputation in which he was held by his contempo-
raries. Adelaide must have had extraordinary provo-
cations. We know that she was detained during four
years in prison ; that the usage she received was in-
tended to shorten her life ; but she had the good for-
tune to escape, and to reach the countess Matilda, who
introduced her and her wrongs to the notice of the pope.
By Urban he was solemnly excommunicated a doom
which was never more righteously inflicted. He had
incurred it for his abuse of church patronage ; but in
a German emperor that was so common a crime, that he
might have evaded it, had not his personal vices been in
array against him, and called loudly for his chastise-
ment. The indignation of the papal see was, doubtless,
augmented by the report which daily reached it that
in his unbridled lust he made no distinction between
women of the world and virgins consecrated to God.
But though of his .conduct in this respect there is
abundant proof, very probably some of his actions may
have been exaggerated by hostile writers, in fact, all
are hostile to him. That he violated his own sister,
under circumstances unutterable, is asserted by the his-
torians of the age. The subsequent conduct of this
princess, nun as she was, would seem to confirm the
relation. One thing at least is certain, that through
her frequent visits to, we may add her residence at,
her brother's court, her principles were corrupted. The
following anecdote may or may not be true ; it may
K 4
HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
or may not be founded on the well-known story of
Charlemagne's daughter and of his favourite secretary
Eginhard ; but it is not inconsistent with the moral
state of the times :
In the winter, Henry undertook an expedition against the
Slavonic tribes, and pitched his tent on his eastern frontier.
And he had with him his sister, a nun of great fairness, whom
a certain canon loved too much, and whom he at length per-
suaded to receive him at midnight into her chamber. While
they thus slept, a deep snow suddenly fell, and the morning
beams dispelled the shades of darkness. Most anxious was
the canon how to regain his own tent without betraying him-
self by his footmarks ; and it was agreed that the nun should
carry him on her shoulders, and re-tread her steps in the same
track. At that very hour, the cares of war keeping the em-
peror awake, he perceived this extraordinary spectacle from
the window of his tent, and he smiled at it. When the sun
arose, he ordered the canon to fulfil the deacon's office at mass ;
but the latter, whose conscience pricked him, could neither be
persuaded nor threatened into compliance. Wherefore, per-
ceiving his conscientious scruples, he forgot his anger ; and at
the very time, it happened that a deanery and the dignity of
abbess, both in the gift of the crown, were vacant. Sending
for the canon and his sister, Caesar spoke enigmatically :
" Beloved brother ! be henceforth a true dignitary j for
behold a vacant deanery which we bestow upon thee : but let
us advise thee never again to ride a nun ! " Then turning
to the other : " Dearest sister ! from this time forward be
chaste ! By the present ring we confer on ,thee a nunnery
with the care of Christ's virgins ; but, we admonish thee never
again to be ridden by a canon! " Hearing these words, both
blushed and were silent ; and, reformed by this gentle reproof,
both atoned for their crime by perpetual continence.*
The preceding extracts will show that during the
Franconian period morals were at a low pitch. Where
the nobles were freebooters ; where churchmen were
warriors; where contempt was exhibited by both for
the obligations of law and the sanctions of religion, how,
in fact, could they be otherwise ? Such a state of things,
* The same anecdote is related by Becker, Chronicon Traject. p. 39. ; by
Diceto, p. 470. ; by Knighton, lib. i. cap. 6., and by others. Probably it is
merely a distorted version of the anecdote in the Monk of St. Gall.
THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 185
however, is not, as we have before remarked, incom-
patible with generosity and sincerity, which probably
exist in greater perfection among barbarous than among
refined nations.*
186
HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
CHAP. III.
HOUSE OF SWABIA OR HOHENSTAVFFEN, ETC.
11381271.
CONRAD III. FREDERIC BARBAROSSA. HENRY VI. PHILIP.
FREDERIC II. CONRAD IV. WILLIAM OF HOLLAND.
RICHARD OF CORNWALL, &C. STATE OF THE EMPIRE DURING
THIS PERIOD. THE IMPERIAL PREROGATIVES. ASCEND-
ANCY OF THE STATES. FALL OF THE DUKES. PROGRESS OF
THE TERRITORIAL PRINCES. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
THE COLLEGE OF NOBLES. THE IMPERIAL CITIES. THE
SERFS. LAMENTABLE STATE OF SOCIETY FROM THE TIME OF
THE SECOND FREDERIC TO THE DEATH OF RICHARD.
1138. THE unexpected death of Lother II. without male
issue, again opened a door to ambition, and, what is
worse, to internal disorders. The same ceremonies
would have been observed in the diet of election as on
the former occasions had that diet been attended by all
the states. But the Saxons and Bavarians were not
present. There was a vacancy in the see of Mentz,
and the archbishop of Treves, a creature of the Ho-
henstauffen family, hastily convoked a diet of the
Swabian and Franconian nobles at Coblentz, with the
resolution of electing Conrad duke of Franconia, who, in
the late reign, had been proclaimed king of Italy. As
the nephew and heir of the emperor Henry V., Conrad
could rely on the suffrages of all who favoured that
family, as well as on the numerous vassals of his house ;
but then his rival, Henry the Proud, duke of Saxony and
of Bavaria had married the daughter of Lother II.,
and had more vassals still. It was the power of Henry,
already so enormous, that procured his exclusion. As
the head of two vast duchies, his sway extended from
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 187
the Baltic to the confines of Lombardy ; if he obtained
the empire, he could easily crush the liberties of his
country. Yet if his vassals were present at the diet,
their suffrage would inevitably preponderate ; and in
this apprehension the archbishop had no difficulty in
procuring from his fellow partisans the election of
Conrad. Conrad III. (1138 1 152) was immediately
crowned king of the Romans by the papal legate, who
attended the diet, with the approbation of Innocent II.
It was evident, however, that the election was illegal ;
as such it was properly condemned by the Saxons and
Bavarians, who had thus been robbed of their undoubted
right ; but an aversion from civil war at length induced
them to acknowledge him. Yet Henry was to be
dreaded ; and he was pursued with jealous animosity by
the monarch. He knew that if the diet had been legally
constituted, he should have been placed at the head of
the empire ; and he had soon a more grievous cause of ,
offence : he was summoned to restore one of the two
duchies which he had received from the late emperor.
There was, doubtless, danger in allowing any subject to
be thus powerful ; yet there was evident injustice in the
demand. Had there been due moderation on the part
of Conrad, some compromise might have been effected ;
but eager to ruin his rival, whom he exasperated into
an enemy, he procured the condemnation of the latter
in the diet of Wurtzburg. In that assembly, Saxony
was conferred on Albert the Boar, descended from
the ancient dukes of that province ; and Bavaria on
Leopold V. margrave of Austria, whose mother was
daughter of Henry IV. A civil war was the result.
Henry preserved Saxony ; but dying in the midst of
success, his rights descended to his infant son, Henry
the Lion, who was immediately acknowledged by the
Saxon states. And the house of Guelf, to which Henry
belonged, had also its partisans in Bavaria. A prince
named Guelf, brother of Henry the Proud, having
obtained aid from the kings of Sicily and Hungary, rose
against Leopold, whom he speedily expelled. Guelf
188 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
now measured his arms with the king of the Romans
at Winsberg in Swabia. This battle is memorable from
the origin of the terms Guelf and Ghibelin, doomed to
a melancholy notoriety in the annals of Italy and of the
empire. The war-cry of the Guelfs was that of their
leader ; of the imperial troops that of Ghiblingen, a
town of Wurtemburg, the patrimonial seat of the Ho-
henstauffen family. The names Guelf and Ghibelin
were originally applied merely to the adherents of the
duke and to those of the emperor ; the former was soon
extended to all the disaffected or rebellious ; and the
Italians, adopting the distinction, named the Guelfs as
the opponents, the Ghibelins as the defenders, of the
imperial authority. Guelf lost the battle of Winsberg,
nor did the subsequent death of Leopold benefit him.
Henry the Lion, however, was acknowledged lawful
duke of Saxony, and in return he ceded Bavaria to the
margrave of Austria, Henry the brother 'of Leopold.
Albert the Boar was recompensed for the loss of Saxony
by the erection of Brandenburg into a margravate, en-
franchised from all dependence on the dukes of Saxony.
The talents of Albert, who obtained great successes over
the Slavonic tribes bordering on the Baltic, sufficed to
raise Brandenburg to the dignity of a state, which
thenceforth ranked with Swabia, Bavaria, and Saxony.
Having pacified Germany, Conrad was induced by the
preaching of St. Bernard to assume the cross, and to
depart with the flower of Teutonic chivalry for the Holy
Land. His exploits must be sought in the histories of
the crusades. Suffice it to say, that owing to the perfidy
of his Greek allies, the licentiousness of the crusaders
themselves, the quarrels of their chiefs, the nature of
the climate, and the valour of the enemy, the expedition
was most disastrous ; it disproved, in a melancholy man-
ner, the confident predictions of St. Bernard. Conrad
returned to behold Germany convulsed by the ambition
of Guelf. Though he again triumphed over his anta-
gonist, he died as he was preparing an expedition into
Italy, both to receive the imperial crown from the hands
THE HOUSE OP nOHENSrAUFFEN. 189
of the pope, and to punish Roger of Sicily, who had
fermented the troubles of the empire.*
Conrad was preceded to the tomb by his eldest son 1153
Henry, whom the states had recognised as his successor, to
He left, indeed, another son; but as the prince was 119 -
too young for the weight of empire at such a crisis
when the Guelfs were actively opposing his family both
in Germany and in Lombardy he himself recom-
mended that the crown should pass to his nephew,
Frederic Barbarossa, duke of Swabia. Besides the pos-
session of great personal valour, and mental distinctions
far more valuable, Frederic was maternally connected
with the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Austria.
The diet of election was held for the first time at
Frankfort; the celebrated privilege of pretaxation was
now acknowledged, by tacit consent, in the dukes, the
margraves of Brandenburg, and the archbishops of the
empire, and Frederic was unanimously chosen. Why
Frankfort was thus chosen, and why Frederic was
crowned by the archbishop of Cologne instead of the pri-
mate, we are not informed : but, probably, the latter
archbishop was at the time suspended from his functions;
for the following year he was deposed by two cardinals,
legates of the pope. The reign of Frederic I. (1152
1 1 90) was one of great splendour ; for though the
difficulties which he encountered would have over-
whelmed a prince of less vigour, they only served to
display in its full light a character fitted for empire.
1 . His transactions in Germany deserve our first notice.
That the crown of Denmark was considered feudally
dependent on the imperial, is evident from Frederic
* Otho Frisingensis, Chronicon, lib. vii. (variis capitulis). Additiones
ad Lambertum Schaffiiabergensum, p. 418. Dodechinus, Appendix ad
Mariani Scoti Chronicon, p. 674 676. Kobertus de Monte, Appendix ad
Chronographiam Sigeberti Gemblacensis, p. 876 883. Auctarium Anselmi
Gemblacensis, p. 958 966. Siffredus Misnensis, Epitome, lib. i. p. 1039.
(apud Struvium, Rerum Germanicarum Scriptores, torn. i.). Chronicon
S. Petri, p. 216. (apud Menckenium, Scriptores Rerum Germ., torn. iii.).
Anon. Historia Imperatorum, p. 106. Chronicon Montis Sereni, necnon
Chronicon Urspergense (sub annis). Felix Monachus Ulmensis, Historia
Suevorum, lib. i. p. 31. (apud Guldastum, Rerum Suevicarum Scriptores).
Haumer, Geschichte der Hohenstauffen, vol. i.
190 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
citing the three candidates for it before the diet of
Merseburg, and from the decision in favour of Sweyn.
The investiture of Sweyn was made by means of the
royal sword of Denmark, while the symbol for the
duchies and margravates was always a banner. To
pacify Guelf of Bavaria, he conferred on him the fiefs
which had descended from the countess Matilda
the marquisate of Tuscany, the duchy of Spoleto, and
the march of Ancona ; possessions, however, which
virtually belonged to the popes, and the superiority
over which was long destined to trouble the temporal
and spiritual heads of Christendom. But Bavaria itself,
though in the possession of the margrave Leopold, was
eagerly claimed by Henry the Lion : it had belonged
to his father ; and he threatened to wrest it by force
of arms from the margrave. In the diets held for the
pacification of the two vassals, Frederic, with an im-
policy that must surprise us, leaned towards the duke
of Saxony. It was probably this evident tendency
which deterred Leopold from obeying the citation to
appear. His absence enabled his competitors to obtain
judgment by default ; and Bavaria was awarded to
Henry the Lion. To reconcile him, however, Upper
Austria, his hereditary fief, was exempted from the
jurisdiction of Bavaria, and was erected into a duchy
patrimonial, immediately subject to the empire. Thus,
Leopold was the first duke of Austria, as Albert the
Boar was the first margrave of Brandenburg ; but
Austria was not, like Brandenburg, raised to the dignity
of the states, whose dukes had the privilege of pre-
taxation. Yet Leopold reserved for himself and his
successors many that were remarkable. They were to
exercise local sovereignty ; they were not compelled to
attend any imperial diet, unless it were held in some
city of Bavaria ; and they ranked immediately after
the elective princes above all the other dukes and
princes of the empire. This is the first occasion in
which the elective princes are mentioned ; and it shows
that a few precedents had already converted into an
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 1Q1
hereditary right the celebrated privilege of pretaxation.
But though Henry the Lion was under the strongest
obligations to the emperor, he refused to aid him in
reducing the Italians to obedience, even though he well
knew that his desertion must cause the ruin of the im-
perial power beyond the Alps. He met Frederic, in-
deed, at Chiavenna, near the lake of Como ; yet, though
Frederic knelt before him to prevail on him to furnish
his contingent, he sullenly refused, and returned to his
domains. This desertion, which led to a disastrous
peace, could not be forgiven. In 1178, he was sum-
moned to three consecutive diets ; but he refused to
obey the citation. He was evidently too powerful for a
subject : he appears even to have indulged the belief,
that in the event of a struggle with his imperial kins-
man, he should triumph, and to have awaited the
result with confidence. But he did not sufficiently re-
flect that his very influence was umbrageous to the
other princes, and that Frederic was not a monarch to
be openly braved. By the diet of Wurtzburg, he was
declared guilty of high treason, and deprived of his vast
states, which by two subsequent diets were thus divided :
Saxony was conferred on Bernard of Anhalt, a second
son of Albert the Boar ; Westphalia and Angrivaria
fell to the archbishop of Cologne ; Holstein, which had
hitherto been dependent on the dukes of Saxony, was
immediately subjected to the empire ; Bavaria returned
into the family of Arnulf the Bad (deprived of it by
Otho I.), and was conferred on Otho of Wittelspach,
count palatine of that province; the margravate of Styria,
and the countship of the Tyrol, were in like manner
transferred from their dependency on Bavaria to direct
dependency on the empire ; the cities of Lubeck and
Radsbon were declared imperial ; Eichsfeldt fell to the
archbishop of Mentz ; to the archbishops of Bremen
and Magdeburg other territories were apportioned ;
the bishoprics founded in Mecklenburg and Pomerania
by Henry the Lion were created principalities of the
empire : of the Slavonic princes who had hitherto been
192 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the vassals of Saxony, some as dukes of Pomerania
became princes of the Germanic body ; others, chiefly
the local counts of Schwerin and Mecklenburg, conti-
nued dependent on duke Bernard. It is impossible to
read the catalogue of these vast states, without feeling
surprise that they should ever have been entrusted to the
government of one subject. Yet Henry did not tamely
submit to the sentence ; during three years he main-
tained a contest with the whole force of the empire.
But if, while at the head of above half Germany, he had
been unable to resist his opponents, he was not likely to
succeed when deprived of his princely vassals. He
then applied for pardon ; but he could not obtain it,
except on the condition of a few years' exile in England ;
nor would he have been allowed to revisit his country,
but for the interference of the emperor, who, throughout
this painful case, appears to have acted with consider-
able magnanimity. Through the favour of his injured
kinsman, he was permitted to retain the allodials of his
house the duchies of Brunswick and Lunenburg. In
one respect, however, the fall of so valiant a prince was
disastrous. Saxony was now too weak to oppose the
hostile irruptions of the Danes ; duke Bernard could
not aspire to the surname of Lion ; the very next year
Canute of Denmark not only threw off his allegiance to
the empire, but seized Holstein, and obtained some suc-
cesses in Mecklenburg and Pomerania. 2. For Fre-
deric's interminable transactions with Italy, into which
he undertook no fewer than six expeditions, we refer to
two historic works connected with the present.* We
shall only observe, that though he exhibited great con-
duct and great valour, and obtained some splendid suc-
cesses, he was unable to contend with enemies so
formidable as the pope and the Italian republics com-
bined, aided, too, as they were, by the kings of Sicily.
In the field, indeed, he could conquer them ; but no
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics; and Europe during
the Middle Ages, vol. i. chap. 1.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 1Q3
sooner had he returned across the Alps, than those
whom he had forced to submit, were again in arms.
The marriage of his son Henry, with Constanza, heiress
of the Sicilian throne, brought that kingdom into his
family ; but this acquisition was the greatest misfor-
tune that could have befallen either his house or his
country. It rendered him and his successors Hisre at
tentive to the affairs of Italy than those of Germany ;
in a proportionate degree it lost him and them the attach-
ment of the latter over the empire ; it made the popes
their natural enemies ; and it ended in their expulsion
from the sovereignty in both kingdoms. 3. Like Con-
rad, Frederic was a crusader. In 1188, influenced by
the infectious mania of the times, he and the flower of
his nobles, with a multitude of freemen, assumed the
cross, and proceeded into Palestine. Notwithstanding
the difficulties of the expedition, Frederic overran Cilicia
and Armenia ; and he would probably have recovered
Jerusalem, had not death surprised him while bathing
in a river near Seleucia. The reign of this great
monarch proves, that however limited the imperial
prerogatives, the dignity might be made respectable.
Though he undertook nothing sine assensu principum,
though, as he himself observed, ministerium imperil
apud nos, auctoritas penes optimates est ; yet he gene-
rally swayed the diets at his pleasure. In all govern-
ments, the personal character of a great prince will
have more influence than his prerogatives. Some of
this deference might possibly have been owing to the
maxims of the Roman jurisprudence, which was now
making progress in Germany. Before his coronation
by the pope, he took the title of Imperator Electus,
instead of Rex Romanorum. And among other pecu-
liarities of the period, we observe that the title of prince
oegan to be applied personally; that free burgesses
might obtain the knightly dignity ; that the archbishop
of Mentz is termed Supremus imperil consiliarius ;
that at the reception of his two sons into the order of
knighthood, the great offices of his household were
VOL. i. o
194 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
exercised by the great dignitaries of the empire.*
During their absence, the duty is, by many writers,
believed to have devolved on hereditary deputies.
Deputies there doubtless were ; but that the office
either of deputy or of principal was definitely fixed in
certain families, is more easily asserted than proved. t
1910 Long before the death of Frederic, his son Henry VI.
to (1190 1197) had been elected king of the Romans,
21 2> and had exercised the lieutenancy of the empire during
his father's absence. Scarcely had the new monarch
grasped the sceptre, when Henry the Lion returned from
England, to renew the contest for the duchy of Saxony.
But success on the present, as on the former occasions,
failed him ; nor could he without much difficulty pre-
serve the patrimonial domains of his house. The cha-
racter of Henry was stern ; as a judge he was more
dreaded than the laws ; but that this disposition was a
blessing amidst the anarchy of such an age may readily
be inferred. In Naples and Sicily, however, to which
he succeeded in right of his wife Constanza , his con-
duct is said to have been savage. His severity certainly
degenerated into tyranny ; and that he was incapable of
generosity is proved by his behaviour to our Richard I.,
who was arrested by Leopold, duke of Austria, and
transferred to his custody. It was the aim of Henry
* See the commencement of the Franconian period.
t Otho Frisingensis, De Gestis Frederic! I. Imperatoris, p. 629, &c.
(apud Moratorium, Rerum Italicum Scriptores, torn. vi.). Conradus
Urspergensis, Chronicon, p. 282. &c. Albertus Stadensis, Chronicon,
A. D. 1152, c. Radevicus, Continuatio Othonis Frisingensis, lib. L and ii.
(variis capitibus). Otho de Sancto Blasio, Chronicon, cap 1 28. Arnol-
dus Lubecensis, Chronicon Slavonum, lib. iii. cap. 1 15. Hadulphus
Mediolanensis (Sire Raoul), De Rerum Gestis Friderici I. in Italia, p. 1167,
Sec. Godefridus Coloniensis, Chronicon (sub annis). Additiones ad Lnirs-
bertum Schaffnab. pp. 428431). Dodechimus, Appendix ad Marianum
Scot p. (T75. Robertus de Monte, Appendix ad Chronographiam Sigeberti
Gemb. pp. 884 937. Auctarium ad Chronicon Anselmi Gemb. pp. 9f>6
988. Chronicon Citizense (sub annis). Felix Ulmansis, Historia Sue-
vorum, lib. i. cap. 12. Chronicon Montis Sereni, passim. Anon. Saxo.
Historia Imperatorum, p. 108 114. Das Leben Kayser Friederich, ab
initio ad finem. Guntherus Ligurinus, De Rebus Gestis Frederici I. lib. i.
and ii. (multis capitulis). Gondemus, Historia Erfurdense, lib. i. Mur;i-
tori, Annali d : Italia (sub annis). Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastics;, torn. xii.
(sub annis). Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstauffen, vol. iii.
t See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. ls-0.
VARIOUS EMPERORS. ANARCHY. IQ
to render the crown hereditary in his family. To ob-
tain the consent of the states he offered to incorporate
Naples and Sicily with the empire, and to render all
the fiefs of the crown allodial and hereditary in the
families of the vassals. In this aim he failed ; yet, to
soften his disappointment, the states elected his infant
son Frederic king of the Romans. On his death the
regency was entrusted to Philip, duke of Swabia, uncle
of the young prince ; but the party of the Guelfs, which
now ventured to rear its head, elected Berthold, duke of
Zehringen. But Berthold declined a dignity which,
against the power of Philip, he would have been unable
to sustain; and, in another diet, Philip himself (1198
1208) was raised to the throne. But Innocent III.
remembering the persecutions which the church had sus-
tained from the Franconian and Swabian emperors, re-
fused to recognise either Frederic or Philip, and prevailed
on the Guelf party to proceed to another election. The
archbishop of Cologne, and the other heads of the party
chose Otho of Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion. A
civil war was the inevitable result. The king of Bohe-
mia, though at first favourable to Philip, joined the ban-
ner of Otho, whose party was further strengthened by
the adhesion of the Danish king. But success attended
the wars of Philip, who, in 1204, was again crowned by
the archbishop of Cologne, and acknowledged even by
Innocent. Yet Otho scorned to submit; he was sup-
ported by the other chiefs of the Guelf party ; and in
1208 his hopes were raised on the assassination of Philip
by Otho of Wittelspech, count palatine of Bavaria. Nor
were these hopes unfounded : even the princes most
zealously attached to the HohenstaufFen family, had
suffered too much from civil war to perpetuate it by
electing another; and Otho IF. (1208 1212) was
unanimously chosen : but he was obliged to swear that
he would not seek to render the crown hereditary in his
family ; that he would discourage the use of the Roman
laws ; and enforce the observances of the various pro-
vincial codes promulgated by Charlemagne. By the
196 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
same diet, Otho of Wittelspach was placed under the
ban, degraded from his honours, and condemned to
death; and the execution of the sentence was entrusted
to the hereditary marshal of the empire, who overtook
and slew him on the banks of the Danube. To connect
the Guelf with the Ghibelin party, a marriage was re-
solved between the new king of the Romans and Beatrix
daughter of Philip. But though the appearance of
things was thus promising, and Otho received the im-
perial crown from the hands of Innocent, he was not
long permitted to retain it. At his consecration by the
pope, he promised to restore the domains bequeathed to
the church by the countess Matilda, and to undertake
nothing against Frederic king of Sicily, son of Frederic
Barbarossa, and ward of the pope.* But both engage-
ments he speedily broke ; the first by expelling the papal
troops from Ancona and Spoleto ; the second by citing
doubtless with an insidious purpose Frederic to do
homage for the duchies of Calabria and Apulia, and
when that prince wisely refused to appear, by declaring
those fiefs forfeited. He did more : he marched on
Rome, and commanded Innocent to annul the celebrated
concordat of 1122, and to recognise in the imperial
crown the right of nominating to all vacant benefices.
Whether the man who made such extravagant demands
could be really sane, may well be doubted. They sealed
his fate. The German prelates, already incensed at the
manner in which the concordat had been violated by the
crown, combined to preserve the privileges which re-
mained to them, and formed, among the secular princes,
a party strong enough to hasten the return of Otho.
There were other causes of discontent : instead of
wasting his time in Italy, and exasperating the pope, it
was his first duty to defend the northern provinces of
the empire against Waldemar of Denmark, who had
rendered himself master of the whole Baltic coast from
Holstein to Livonia. In this state of things, Otho was
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 162.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 197
deposed, and Frederic of Sicily invited to ascend the
throne of his ancestors. But Otho had still a consi-
derable party : he caused the defiles of the. Alps to be
narrowly watched for his rival ; and most of Lorobardy
was no less willing to intercept that adventurous heir of
the Hohenstauffens. The hair-breadth escapes of Fre-
deric, in Lombardy, amidst the Alps, and on Jris way
to Constance, equal the fictions of romance. Constance
declared for him, and by degrees most of the states fol-
lowed the example, until 1215, when Otho, hopeless of
success, retired from the contest, and Frederic was so-
lemnly proclaimed.*
! The reign of Frederic II., which may be dated from 1212
the year of his appearance in Germany, was more re- to
markable than that of his three predecessors. For some 125 *
years he lived on good terms with the church. He not
only confirmed the concordat of 1122, but surrendered
the domains of Matilda, renounced the odious claim to
the personalties of deceased prelates, and sanctioned the
right of appeal from the ecclesiastical princes to the
pope; and when, in 1222, he received the imperial
crown from the hands of Honorius III., he also en-
gaged that the crown of Sicily should never be united
with that of Germany that it should never adorn the
same brow ; and he resigned it in favour of his son
Henry, whom he caused to be elected king of the
Romans : but this was an evasion ; for the prince could
be no more than his puppet, and he exercised his do-
minion over the kingdom as absolutely as before. The
early years of his reign were every way fortunate. From
the Danish king, Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania
were rescued ; not so much, however, by the valour of
the German troops, as by the hatred which the people
bore to the Danish yoke, and by the vices of the Danish
king. But he was doomed to be as unfortunate as
Authorities- Otho de Sancto Clasio, Chronicon Citizense; Felix
Ulmensis ; Robertas de Monte; Auctorium Ansehni . Gemblacensis ;
Siffreitus Misnensis ; Chronicon Urspergense > Chronicon Thurmgicum ;
Chronicon Sleswiccnse ; Arnoldus Lubecensis ; Chronicon Montis Sereni ;
Raurner j Pfeft'el ; Schmidt ; and others in places too numerous to be
cited.
o 3
198 HISTORV OF TIII: OF.HMANIC EMPIRE.
most of his predecessors. On the very day of his co-
ronation, at Mentz, he was so rash as to assume the
cross ; and, subsequently, he promised to sail for the
Holy Land. But in regard to this expedition, as to
the Sicilian crown, he eagerly sought evasions. Nine
years had elapsed from his assumption of the cross,
when Gregory IX. ascended the chair of St. Peter;
yet the emperor showed no disposition to hasten his
departure. Gregory had succeeded to the principles,
and almost to the talents, of Hildebrand. To an in-
timate conviction that all earthly things should be sub-
mitted to Christ's vicar, he added a profound knowledge
of the canon law, and a burning zeal for ecclesiastic
discipline. That such a man should long continue on
even civil terms with an emperor who was seeking to
evade every engagement, was impossible. Being sum-
moned to fulfil his vow, he again sought for a pretext,
until he was excommunicated by the rigid pontiff. Yet
ecclesiastical censures would scarcely have induced him
to embark, had not personal ambition had considerable
influence on the determination. He had married, as his
second wife, the daughter of John de Brienne, the ex-
pelled king of Jerusalem ; and, in virtue of this con-
nection, he aspired to the crown of Palestine. The
manifesto in which he replied to the anathema was not
very respectful to the papal dignity ; and when he em-
barked, he did not condescend to apply for absolution.
But the religious notions of the age were not to be
braved with impunity, even by the temporal head of
Christendom. On disembarking at Ptolemais, he found
the clergy, the crusaders from Europe, and the three
military orders *, indisposed against him ; so that he
was compelled to open the campaign with the troops
alone which had accompanied him. Those troops were
few merely 100 knights: they were compared rather
to the expedition of a pirate than to that of an emperor ;
and doubts were seriously entertained whether he had
- * The knights of St. John, the Templars, and the Teutonic knights.
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 1 99
the intention, or even the wish, to aid the common
cause. However this be, it is certain that the inactivity
of the military orders, and the hostility of the clergy,
rendered success by arms impossible. But, that he
might not return wholly inglorious, instead of fighting,
he negotiated a truce of ten years with the sultan
of Egypt, and obtained the surrender of Bethlehem,
Nazareth, and partially of Jerusalem all but the
temple, built on the ruins of Solomon's, which the Mo-
hammedans regarded with as much veneration as the
Christians. By most of the German historians this
success of Frederic, which they represent as effected by
the mere terror of his arms, has been extravagantly
praised.* It deserves not even the name of success:
it was conceded by the policy of the sultan, who, though
he well knew that Frederic could do nothing in the
field, and was eager to return, was yet not averse, by a
vain concession the value of which could not fail to
be estimated by every reflecting mind to remove him
from Syria : in fact, it was asserted by contemporary
writers, that the emperor and the sultan perfectly un-
derstood each other ; that the former opened a corre-
spondence, by stating that he had not left Europe for
the purpose of conquest, but merely to procure the holy
places for the use of the Christians; and that, after
mutual messages, the tenour of which was kept secret,
both monarchs were on the most friendly terms. It is
certain, that many valuable presents passed between
them ; that Frederic imitated not merely the state, but
the vices, of his Mohammedan ally ; that the articles of
the treaty were purposely so loose as to be binding on
neither ; and that the sultan of Damascus, nephew of
the Egyptian potentate, was not included in it. Unless,
as contemporary historians unanimously assert, there
was a secret understanding between the two, it is im-
possible to account for the forbearance of the sultan
towards one whom he could have crushed at any moment.
* And also by English historians, who, witho u t consulting the original
authorities, have repeated the praise.
o 4
200 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
With a retinue hardly sufficient for a simple count, the
emperor leisurely proceeded to Jerusalem, and, as the
patriarch refused to crown an excommunicated person,
placed the crown on his own head, and immediately
returned to the coast, whence he embarked for Italy.
To account for his precipitate departure, his partisans
such are nearly all the historians of Germany and
France report that it was caused by the unexpected
invasion of Apulia by the papal troops. This is par-
tially true ; but they forget to inform us that Gregory
did not resort to arms until Spoleto had been invaded
by one of the imperial vassals, Raynaldo, duke of
Spoleto, who, doubtless, acted from the orders of the
emperor. Though Raynaldo was expected to retire,
and, on his refusal, was excommunicated, he no less
persevered : his object was not merely to advance the
cause of his master, but to recover the duchy, from
which he had been removed. From the commence-
ment of his career, he had been a terrible enemy
to the church ; and on the present occasion, by mu-
tilating or hanging the priests, and plundering the
churches, he procured for himself a still more melan-
choly reputation. Seeing that spiritual thunders were
despised, the pope ordered a small army to march
against Raynaldo, which subsequently, by way of a di-
version, invaded Apulia, and made some conquests.
On the arrival of Frederic, however, the imperial for-
tunes took a turn ; and, as he professed unconditional
submission to the church, the sentence of excommu-
nication was raised, and an interview between the tem-
poral and spiritual heads of Christendom seemed to
promise future peace. But, however much Frederic
may have been praised for his magnanimity, there
could be no peace with him ; for scarcely had he ob-
tained the object of his submission, than he renewed 'his
intrigues with the Italians, especially with the citizens
of Rome, for the expulsion of Gregory, who, in reality,
was soon expelled. Yet all this time he professed great
devotion to the holy see, the interests of which he pre-
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 201
tended to espouse with zeal. Throughout his trans-
actions with the popes, his conduct was a tissue of
perfidy, or violence, as best suited his immediate ad-
vantage. One day, to prove his fidelity to the world,
he sent his knights to defend Gregory against the storm
which he himself had raised ; another, his Saracen
subjects, by his positive orders, laid waste the papal
territories. In 1238, the irritated pope renewed the
excommunication in a public instrument, in which he
minutely detailed the crimes of the emperor. That
the latter had excited seditions in Rome ; that in the
two Sicilies he retained twenty prelacies vacant; that
he suffered the Saracens to rob even the churches of
his dominions ; that by his orders they had plundered
all the commanderies of the Templars ; that enormous
sums had been wrung from ecclesiastical bodies, espe-
cially the monastic communities ; that he had seized
the domains bequeathed for the support of the poor and
the fatherless; were indeed notorious to the world. Per-
haps, too, as was generally reported, he was at heart an
infidel, and actuated by the most vindictive feelings
towards religion and the church. Yet impartial history
cannot exculpate the pope from the charge of rashness
even of injustice. The sums which he wrung from most
Christian countries, to prosecute the war against one who
was reputed at least a Christian monarch ; his worldly
policy, no less than his rapacity, called forth the indig-
nation of the honest and the patriotic none more se-
vere or well-merited than that of Grossetete, bishop of
Lincoln.* Though Frederic was by far the more cen-
surable, he had, perhaps, more of sympathy, since men
are always disposed to condemn without mercy the
errors of ecclesiastics. As on the former occasion, the
emperor published an apology, in which, while vin-
dicating the orthodoxy of his opinions and his actions,
in the order of time, he did not spare the sanctity of
the holy see. He declared that such a pontiff was un-
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. iv.
202 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
worthy of St. Peter's chair ; that, by his duplicity, his
corruption, and his tyranny, he had forfeited his dig-
nity; that to recognise him henceforth Was a crime ; and
that a general council should be convoked to depose him.
Lest this apology, which was addressed to all Christian
princes, should have any effect, Gregory replied with
equal violence, and in a manner equally unbecoming his
station. Then followed a rejoinder from Frederic, Avho
called the pope the great dragon of the Revelations, the
antichrist, another Balaam, a prince of darkness. In
the same spirit, he ordered the orders of St. Francis and
St. Dominic to be banished from the two Sicilies ; that
a heavy subsidy should be raised from the cathedral
churches, from the secular clergy of each parish, from
every monastic community of that kingdom ; that all
intercourse with the Roman court should be suspended ;
and that any ecclesiastic discovered with letters or
mandates from the pope should at once be hung without
formality. From the tenour of Frederic's language,
not merely in his memorials, but in his conversations ;
from the epistles of his courtiers, and, still more, from
the evident tendency of his acts, there can be no doubt
that he was resolved to abolish the papal government.
These transactions, in which neither party listened to
justice, reason, or moderation, scandalised the Christian
world, and called forth the grief or the indignation of
every unbiassed individual. For the interminable trans-
actions which followed, we refer to accessible sources.*
Suffice it to say that, though Gregory was soon suc-
ceeded by Innocent IV., a personal friend of Frederic,
who was sincerely desirous of peace, the emperor re-
fused the very moderate conditions proposed ; that
Innocent, feeling that his person was in danger, fled to
Lyons; that the excommunication was renewed; and
that, in the council of Lyons, a sentence of deposition
was solemnly pronounced by Innocent. This was not
a brutum fulmen : it stirred up many of the eccle-
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 203
siastical and secular princes of Germany to revolt ; and
an anti-Caesar was soon found in Henry, landgrave of
Thuringia, who, in the diet of Stockheim, was elected
king of the Romans. Some years before, Frederic's
tranquillity had been disturbed by the revolt of his eldest
son ; but Gregory had taken his part a fact sup-
pressed by most of the Ghibelin historians and he
had been able to consign the un dutiful prince to per-
petual seclusion. But now, the king of the Romans
being supported by the whole power of the church,
a church which had many princely vassals, with a vast
array of military followers a civil war began to rage
with fury. The immediate vassals of the emperor na-
turally aided their lord ; the states in general declared
for him ; and by his son Conrad the rebel was defeated,
and mortally wounded. But Innocent soon provided
another antagonist in William, count of Holland ; and
Lombardy was speedily in revolt. If Frederic had ob-
served little moderation under ordinary provocations,
he was not likely to regard it now. He vowed an ex-
terminating war against the chief of the church ; and,
though an interdict had been imposed on the places
where he might happen to abide, he hung the priests who
refused to celebrate the divine offices. In revenge, In-
nocent, who knew as little of moderation as himself,
proclaimed a crusade against him, promising the same
indulgences to those who engaged in it as to those who
fought in the Holy Land. As ecclesiastical censures
were despised by the emperor, and a numerous body of
vassals, who constantly adhered to him, and as both
parties were actuated by the worst passions, the war,
both in Germany and Lombardy, assumed a vindictive
and ferocious character. In 1250, however, Frederic
breathed his last ; and with him ended the glory of the
empire, until its restoration by the house of Austria.
Whether, in his last moments, he assumed the Cis-
tercian habit, is doubtful; but he certainly received
absolution from the archbishop of Tarento ; and in his
last will be ordered some reparation to be made to the
204 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
churches which he had plundered. Of his character
there can scarcely be a second opinion.* That he had
some great qualities ; that he was a munificent patron
of letters, and cultivated them with success ; that he
founded the university of Naples, besides many schools ;
that he built splendid palaces, encouraged artists, com-
merce, and manufactures ; that he was the great patron
of the imperial cities, on which he conferred many new
privileges, and which, in return, constantly adhered to
his fortunes ; that his views were extensive, his courage
indomitable, his activity as a ruler incessant ; that he
was not merely liberal, but magnificent, both in his
habits and his sentiments ; that he was a poet and a
legislator, an antiquary and a statesman ; are incon-
testible, from the numerous histories of his reign. But
if he was, in some respects, a great, he was in many a
most pernicious, sovereign. Never were talents so use-
lessly or so viciously employed. His exploits in Pales-
tine are not of a kind to reflect much lustre on his
name : in his chimerical project of reducing the Lom-
bards to perpetual submission, he wasted his strength
and that of his empire ; in his attempts to make the
holy see dependent on his crown his invariable policy
from the commencement to the close of his career he
recklessly provoked an opposition which inflicted the
severest misfortunes on his country and his house ; the
subsidies which he exacted, and the burdens which he
imposed on his people, for the prosecution, not of ho-
nourable war, but of his own ambitious or vindictive
schemes, procured him their cordial hatred. " As he
cared little for Germany," says a national historian, " so
Germany cared little for him or his house." He was,
in fact, the most mischievous sovereign with whom the
country had ever yet been cursed. Nor in his private
character does he deserve much respect : his amours
were notorious, and his frequent debaucheries degraded
his majesty. Whether he was really a Christian at
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 125.
AtfAJICHY. 205
heart, until conscience, on his death-bed, roused the
feelings of his youth, may be doubted. He was, how-
ever, superstitious : he was much addicted to judicial
astrology ; and is believed to have been led into some
wild enterprises through a persuasion that the stars
called him to a destiny superior to that which had been
granted to the most renowned of his predecessors, or
was reserved for his successors.*
The time which elapsed from the death of Frederic II. 1254
to the accession of Rodolf I. may be regarded as l
an interregnum ; for though Conrad IV., had many
years been elected king of the Romans, and was ac-
knowledged by the Ghibelins, he had still to oppose the
anti-Caesar, William of Holland, and the influence of
the church. Italy was doomed to be the grave of
Conrad, as it had been to other princes of his house :
his Sicilian dominions evidently lay nearer his heart
than Germany ; or he would not, at so critical a period,
have abandoned the latter to his rival. The cause of
that rival was fortified from day to day, while he re-
mained in Southern Italy, both to oppose Innocent and
his bastard brother Manfred who evidently aspired to
the crown. t His premature death destroyed the for-
tunes of his house. The duchy of Franconia soon
emancipated itself from subjection ; and though Swabia
was reluctantly left to his only son Conradin, then an
Hohenstauffen, vol. iv.
iionenscaunen, VOL iv.
f SPB Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics j and Europe during
the Middle Ages, voL i. p. 122.
206 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
infant, it too soon departed from his family. Conradin,
before reaching years of discretion, invaded Naples to
expel the papal feudatory, Charles of Anjou ; but being
defeated and made prisoner, he perished ingloriously
on the scaffold. The fall of this youthful duke* ena-
bled the vassals of Swabia, like those of Franconia, to
become independent patrimonial proprietors. This
splendid house fell without one tear of pity from the
world. It had so exasperated the church, that the
popes had endeavoured to exclude Conradin even from
the duchy of Swabia ; and by its sacrifice of German
to Sicilian interests, it had rendered the empire indif-
ferent to its fate. Leaving this anticipation, the death
of Manfred, in 1254, was hailed as an event likely to
restore peace to the empire : it left William the undis-
puted head of the Germanic body ; yet his fleeting
reign of ten years was full of troubles, occasioned partly
by the Ghibelins, but in a greater degree by the anarchy
to which the absence of Frederic and Conrad had given
rise. In 1256, his death, by the hands of the West
Friesland rebels, replunged the empire into the gulf
from which it was beginning to emerge. Who was
now to fill the vacant dignity ? The princes were too
jealous of one another to agree in conferring it on one
of their own body. They resolved to elect a can-
didate who had wealth enough to sustain it with splen-
dour; but who, having no patrimonial possessions in the
states, could not possibly encroach on their liberties.
From the accession of Frederic II. the privilege of pre-
taxation had risen into the right of suffrage, inherent in
a certain number of princes, who are thenceforth called
the electoral college, and the lamina imperil. The
number of these dignitaries, who had thus by gradual
precedents usurped the rights of the German nobles,
appears not to have exceeded seven or eight ; the three
archbishops and four or five secular princes. A party
formed by the archbishop of Cologne (the primate hap-
* See Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. L p. 129.
ANARCHY. 20?
pened at this time to be a prisoner) cast their eyes on
Richard earl of Cornwall, brother-in-law of Frederic II.
But Richard was at the same time distinctly informed
that the suffrages of the electors were not to be gratui-
tous ; that each must be assured a considerable sum, or
some more liberal prince would outbid him. The
abominable venality of these men does not appear to
have excited much surprise at a period when no dignity,
civil or ecclesiastical, could be procured without pur-
chase. Richard had the folly to accept a crown, which
since the earlier years of Frederic II. was a brilliant
bauble, unattended with even the shadow of power.
But in choosing him, the electors were so far from
unanimous, that another party offered their suffrages to
Alfonso X. of Castile, who with equal infatuation con-
sented to waste his treasures for an object unattainable ;
and which, if attainable, could not have been worth accep-
tance even as a gift. On the day fixed for the opening
of the diet, there was consequently a double election.
Hence the troubles which during several years again
afflicted this unfortunate country ; unfortunate, because
the passions of its princes were opposed to its prosperity.
Richard had one advantage over his rival his proximity
to the empire, and his disentanglement from cares
which long occupied the whole attention of Alfonso.
Both electors appealed to pope Alexander IV., who at
first refused to decide between them ; such a decision,
without the power to enforce it, was manifestly unwise ;
yet at a subsequent period Alexander leaned to Richard,
whom he acknowledged as king of the Romans. But
the recognition led to no effect ; a party adhered to
Alfonso so long as that monarch had money to distribute
among the rapacious princes ; and Richard found, when
his treasures were exhausted, that he had little influ-
ence. During this gloomy period, indeed, every great
feudatory was merely intent on his own aggrandise-
ment. Richard of Cornwall, who was generally in
England, assisting his brother Henry III. in repressing
208 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the barons, bade adieu, in 1271, to ambition and to
life.*
1138 The period over which we have passed, affords ample
to materials for tracing the progress of the Germanic con-
1271> stitution. The first peculiarity regards the alarming
decline of the imperial authority. 1. From the time of
Frederic II., the crown no longer possessed the right of
deciding even in litigated ecclesiastical elections. The
popes had found that this privilege, exacted from
them by the concordat of 1122, had uniformly led to
abuse ; that it enabled the sovereign to exercise his in-
fluence as effectually as if he possessed the undisputed
right of nomination. But to remonstrate with princes
so powerful as those of the Hohenstauffen dynasty, was
vain, and they were compelled to await a more favour-
able opportunity of vindicating the independence of
elections. It was presented by the fall of the second
Frederic : they refused to favour any candidate who
hesitated to surrender the obnoxious privilege ; and
they accordingly succeeded in transferring from the
crown to themselves the right of deciding whenever
there was a division among the electors. 2. Again,
even Frederic II. was compelled to publish two prag-
matic sanctions, by one of which he renounced, for him-
self and successors, the right of inheriting the movable
effects of deceased ecclesiastics, and of demanding other
subsidies than those fixed by feudal custom ; by another
he extended a similar indulgence to the secular princes,
in renouncing all claim to purveyance. 3. The im-
perial jurisdiction was still further circumscribed for
the aggrandisement of the states. By the ancient laws
of Germany, the sovereign was forbidden to revoke
any cause to a tribunal held beyond the confines of the
province where the defendant resided. If, therefore,
he would exercise his judicial prerogative, he was com-
pelled to travel from province to province to hear and
decide causes. So long as the institution of counts
* Chiefly the same authorities, the pages of which it is useless to specify,
as they may be easily found from the last citations.
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 209
palatine was in its full vigour, much of this laborious
duty devolved on these deputies ; but these offices gra-
dually fell into insignificance, probably because they
were too dependent on the local dukes to have any
voice of their own. It is certain that they ceased to
be the slightest check on those great feudatories ; so
that in 1231, when Frederic abolished the jurisdiction
of the royal judges over the vassals of those princes,
he merely abolished a vain formality. Owing to the
anarchy of the times, however, it was found, that if the
public tranquillity were to be maintained, there must
be some tribunal to take cognizance of the endless
private wars and other disorders which rendered in-
dividual and even social security a mere name. Hence,
in 1235, the same emperor was authorised to create a
new judge, who should sit daily, but who, however,
should hold no tribunal beyond the precincts of the
court, and in no degree interfere with the local juris-
diction of the dukes. Yet he took cognizance through-
out the empire of all cases which, by the Roman law,
now spreading its roots widely in the Teutonic soil,
were the peculiar province of the monarch. Still a vast
majority of cases lay within the competency of the
ducal tribunals, who thus exercised a jurisdiction in
other countries inherent in the crown, or delegated to
royal judges. 4. In an equal degree the imperial
revenues were diminished. Of these, the reception of
mortuary and purveyance fines, considerable in amount,
ceased ; but the loss was small in comparison with the
usurpations of most fiscal and regalian rights by the
states. The exercise of the judicial functions placed at
the disposal of the dukes all such fines as were levied by
their courts. During three centuries they had pos-
sessed the privilege, originally a concession from the
crown, of coining and fixing the value of money : now,
by means which no contemporary historian condescends
to explain, they obtained two thirds of the returns from
all gold and silver mines. Anciently the Jews were the
exclusive serfs of the emperor ; and as the price of pro-
VOL. i. p
210 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
tection they paid him a capitation tax : now, though on
the imperial domain they still stood in the same relation
to him, within the jurisdiction of the dukes they began
to be regarded as subject to the local treasury. Again,
several of the imperial cities, which had hitherto paid
some annual revenue to the emperor, procured, probably
in consequence of express stipulations to that effect
as the express condition of joining the imperial cause
exemptions from the obligation, and were henceforth
styled free as well as imperial. We may add, that the
Germanic domain, which extended on both banks of the
Rhine from Cologne to Bale, was invaded by the four
electors of Franconia, viz. by the three archbishops and
the count palatine of the Rhine. It is, indeed, manifest,
that had not the late emperors possessed immense patri-
monial domains, they could not have sustained the
dignity of the station. William of Holland had little
patrimony : he was consequently so poor as to be com-
pelled to borrow money for his ordinary expenses ; a
necessity which virtually annihilated what little influence
the constitution had left him. At this period, however,
neither the jurisdiction nor the revenues of the crown
were well defined. There was evidently a struggle be-
tween it and the great dukes the former to retain, the
latter to usurp, the rights which had hitherto been in-
herent in the sovereignty. In some cases, too, there ap-
pears to have been a compromise between the two parties.
Thus, though the civil and criminal jurisdiction was
engrossed and valued by the states, on account of the
advantage they derived from pecuniary compositions
or fines, there were some cases in which appeals to him
were permitted, and some of which he took cognizance
even in the first instance. These cases, however, were
generally decided by the new judge of the court : when
the parties implicated were of high dignity, the sove-
reign was expected to preside ; but even then he was
compelled to act with seven assessors of equal or higher
rank than the parties themselves. It has been contended
by some writers, that the Swabian emperors conferred
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 211
vacant duchies and other princely fiefs of their own
authority. To us this appears a rash assertion ; for
though the chroniclers intimate the mere fact, unac-
companied by any observation, the instruments which
remain of that period distinctly express the consent of
the nobles, or of the states. Germany has its party
writers, and writers, too, as dishonest as any other
country. Some are for the exaltation of the imperial,
others of the ducal, prerogatives ; each djstort or sup-
press facts which oppose their favourite views ; but
both unite whenever the interests or abuses of emperor
or prince are assailed by the church. In some other
respects the dignity rather than the authority of the
sovereign remained unimpaired. He convoked and
presided over the diets ; he rendered bastards legitimate ;
he conferred nobility by letters patent. It has been
also asserted that he could declare war or make peace
at his own pleasure. This is very partially true. As
king of Lombardy, which was his regnum proprium,
he could certainly commence hostilities against any po-
tentate ; but he could not force his ducal and princely
vassals to take part in them. On such occasions he
could summon to his standard the vassals who imme-
diately held of him, those who were dispersed over
his still considerable domains ; but he could undertake
no war for the general interests of the empire without
the consent of his states. Thus, though Frederic I.
urged them to join him in declaring war against
the Hungarians, they refused, and no campaign took
place. The wars which that monarch undertook were
conducted at his own expense. Frederic II. had the
gold of the two Sicilies to assist him. Nothing, in-
deed, was so difficult as to prevail on the states to sanc-
tion any war : they often regarded the irruptions of the
Danes with an apathy which seems irreconcilable with
patriotism : they left all to the frontier margraves, and
the military authorities of the particular district in-
vaded ; they saw Poland gradually emancipate itself
from fealty to the empire, Aries become virtually in-
p 2
212 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
dependent, Friesland choose, as its sovereign head,
William of Holland, the imperial dignity decline so as
to become degraded in the eyes even of second rate
princes, and the house of Hohenstauffen gradually
perish in attempting to preserve the connection of Italy
with the empire. All were eager to aggrandise them-
selves at the expense of their chief. So jealous were
they of imperial influence, that the duke whom they
elected to that dignity, they always forced to surrender
his hereditary fief to some member of his family. In
this there was good policy ; for had such powerful
princes as the dukes of Saxony or Bavaria been allowed
to retain those provinces, in time despotism would
assuredly have been established. Yet still there was a
family interest which was sometimes dangerous, always
umbrageous, to the states. Thus the Svvabian emperors,
through their connections and their personal qualities,
obtained a preponderancy which we should not have
expected to find under such a constitution. To guard
against the possible consequences of the system, the
electors began to select as candidates such princes only
as, having no considerable domains, at least in Germany,
could not give rise to apprehension ; but yet who
should have gold enough to pay dearly for so sterile an
honour. Hence the landgrave of Thuringia, William
of Holland, Richard of Cornwall, and Alfonso of
Castile, allowed themselves to become the tool of their
contemporaries, the pity of posterity. One privilege,
however, the emperors had, which we should not
omit. In the imperial cities they could marry the
children of the chief citizens according to their pleasure.
When the parties were provided, a herald paraded the
public places of the city, proclaiming that the Kaiser
had betrothed the daughter of such a citizen to the
son of such a one ; and the marriage always followed
that day twelve months. In 1232, however, the citi-
zens of Frankfort obtained an exemption from it.*
* Otho Frisingensis, De Gestis Frederic! I. lib. i. et ii. passim. Chro-
nicnn Urspergense (sub annis). Diplomata varia Imperatorum (apud
Senkenberg, Reichsabscheitle, ch. i. No. 8. et 12.). Schwachischs Lan-
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 213
1. The most remarkable peculiarity during the pe- 1184.
riod before us is, the conversion of the privilege of
pretaxation into the right of election. That privilege
had existed for many reigns ; this right does not appear
to have been fully established before the reign of Fre-
deric I. On this subject we borrow our own words on a
former occasion.*
From this right of pretaxation, or of deciding which of
the candidates should be proposed for the crown, the transition
to that of absolute nomination was natural and easy ; hence
we now find them denominated the Electoral College. Soon
after the time of Lothaire II. these great dignitaries were seven,
three ecclesiastical and four secular princes : the former being
the archbishops of JMentz, Cologne, and Treves ; the latter, the
dukes of Franconia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Swabia. It is cer-
tain that Conrad IV. was elected by these dignitaries, and that
the rest of the princes had no other privilege than that of con-
senting of suffrage not one word is said. A fifth secular
prince is said to have been added to the electoral college. This
was the count palatine of the Rhine, who preserved /m- juris-
diction when the office was every where else abolished, proba-
bly by annexing it to his hereditary duchy, Franconia. It may,
however, be doubted whether he originally voted as count
palatine ; whether he did not enjoy his suffragan right merely
as duke of Bavaria. In this case the number was still seven.
Other changes followed, the knowledge of which is necessary
towards a clear conception of the Franconian constitution.
The count palatine soon succeeded to the duchy of Bavaria ;
but as in these days no elector was allowed to possess two
votes, the suffragan privilege of Bavaria was transferred to the
crown of Bohemia, Again, when one of the great dukes was
elected to the throne of Germany, he was compelled to
confide the right of voting inherent in his duchy to some mar-
gravate not already an elector. Thus, when Frederic of
Hohenstauffen assumed the reigns of empire, he intrusted the
suffragan right of Swabia to the margrave of Brandenburg, the
only margravate not an elector who was not dependant on some
one of the four duchies.
drecht, cap. 34. 40. 69, &c. Olenschlager, Urkundenbuch zur Goldenen
Bulle (variis numeris, presertim 48.). Gebaver Leben dcs Kaisers Ri-
chards, Drittes Buch, Urkunden, No. 6. p. 344. und 1. buch, $ 115.
p. 108. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. iv. liv. 6. chap. 14. Pfeffel,
AbrcgiJ Chronolog'ujue, torn. i. pp. 304 3fi8. Putter, Historical Develope-
ment of the German Constitution, vol. i. book ii. chap. 9, 10.
* Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 107. We make a few slight
verbal changes.
v 3
214 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
By this arrangement, which appears to have been the
growth of accident, Bavaria and Swabia lost the elec-
toral right, the former being united with the pa-
latinate ; the latter being lent, never to be revoked,
to the aspiring house of Brandenburg. The former,
indeed, might be consoled with the reflection that its
suffrage was virtually retained, since it continued to
rest in its hereditary duke, as count palatine ; but the
latter was unjustly deprived of it, if the term injustice
can be applied in a case where the original privilege
was an usurpation. There is reason enough for this
exclusion of the HohenstaufFens ; they were at once ob-
noxious to the church and the empire ; and by both
it was agreed, that they should never again be per-
mitted to obtain their ancient preponderance. And in
further illustration of the preceding extract, we may
show that the rights of these electors were recognised
much before the time of Conrad IV. Thus, in the
diploma which, in 1156, called into existence the duchy
of Austria, we have express mention of the principes
electores, after whom the new feudatory was to rank.
The same margravates elected Philip ; they are styled
in a letter of Innocent III. as principes ad quos spe-
cialiter spectat electio ; and by Otho IV., in the diet
of Frankfort (1208), they were admitted as a legally
constituted body. In subsequent elections they exercised
the suffrage undisputed. It is, however, believed by
most historical critics, that the electors exercised this
suffrage, not as archbishops or dukes, but as holding
some office in the imperial court or household. But we
do not know that this hypothesis will stand the test of
investigation. In regard to the three spiritual electors,
though they were all arch- chancellors of the empire and
of the kingdom of Italy, they might sit there as spiritual
princes, as the acknowledged heads of the Germanic
church. And as to the four secular electors, it is equally
probable that they voted in virtue of their ducal fiefs.
Though in the eleventh century they exercised, at the
royal entertainment, certain functions of the household,
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 215
those functions appear to have been arbitrarily assumed,
and assumed for the first time, with the mere view of
honouring their new sovereign. The diet of 1184,
when the duke of Saxony fulfilled the duties of grand
marshal, the count palatine those of grand steward,
the king of Bohemia those of grand cup-bearer, the
margrave of Brandenburg those of grand chamberlain,
has been adduced in corroboration of the statement that
the official was inseparable from the elective dignity.
But though the fact is certain, the inference is assumed.
In the absence of any authority for the assumption that
these functionaries were necessarily electors, it is too
much to assert that they were so, because, being electors,
they were found to have discharged the great offices of
the palace. Much more rational would it be to infer
what, indeed, the chroniclers seem to intimate that
on the first occasion the election of Otho I. - the
office was voluntarily assumed purely to honour the
sovereign ; and that on subsequent ones* the precedence
was perpetuated, partly for the same purpose, and
partly because there is some reason for believing that
the sovereign himself, flattered by the homage, stipu-
lated for its observance. We remember, though we
have mislaid the reference to the passage, an incidental
remark in some old chronicler, the tenour of which led
us to infer that the four dukes received the investiture of
certain lands in the imperial domain on the express ob-
ligation of discharging, at all public entertainments, the
official duties we have mentioned. What confirms this
inference is the fact, that when, at a subsequent period,
the king of Bohemia, the margrave of Brandenburg, the
duke of Saxony, and the count palatine fulfilled, on
ordinary occasions at least, their respective offices by
deputy, these deputies received from them certain fiefs
as obligations to the service. Hence, by parity of
reasoning, if even express authority should not be found
for the opinion, we might infer that if the deputies held
* On the coronation of Otho III. for instance, in 98i
P 4
216
HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
fiefs, so did the principals ; that the latter only sub-
infeudated in favour of the former, a portion of what
they had received from the crown. The office seems, in
fact, not to have been essential, but incidental, to the
elective dignity. From the thirteenth century, however,
probably from the twelfth, perhaps even from the
eleventh, we find certain offices inseparable from it.
" It is not easy to account," says Mr. Hallam, " for all the
circumstances that gave to seven spiritual and temporal princes
this distinguished pre-eminence. The three archbishops,
Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, were always, indeed, at the head
of the German church. But the secular electors should na-
turally have been the dukes of four nations, Saxony, Franconia,
Swabia, and Bavaria. We find, however, only the first of
these in the undisputed exercise of a vote. It seems probable,
that when the electoral princes came to be distinguished from
the rest, their privilege was considered as peculiarly connected
with the discharge of one of the great offices in the imperial
court. These were attached, as early as the diet of Mentz, in
1 1 84, to the four electors who ever afterwards possessed them :
the duke of Saxony having then officiated as arch-marshal, the
count palatine of the Rhine as arch-steward, the king of Bo-
hemia as arch-cupbearer, and the margrave of Brandenburg as
arch-chamberlain of the empire. But it still continues a
problem why the three latter offices, with the electoral capacitj
as their incident, should not rather have been granted to the
dukes of Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria. 1 have seen no
adequate explanation of this circumstance."*
We believe, however, that the explanation we have
already given, will sufficiently elucidate this con-
troverted subject. We have shown that originally the
ft dukes of Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria" did possess
the offices in question ; that Bavaria being merged in
the county palatine, its office passed to Bohemia ; and
that the right of Swabia was lent to Brandenburg, and
could not be revoked. For the deprivation of Fran-
conia, we have not yet accounted. Let us, however,
remember that, from the reign of Henry V., both Fran
conia and Swabia were in the house of Hohenstauffen ;
, * Hallam, State of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 109.
I THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 217
and that from the time of Henry VI. they were in the
hands of the same individual, that individual being the
emperor himself as head of the house. This retention
of two important states after acceding to the empire
this open violation of a custom universally sanctioned and
long established gave serious umbrage to the nation,
and tended more than any other thing to the downfall of
the Hohenstauffen family. It was resolved to deprive
them, not merely of the empire, but of the suffragan
rights inherent in their states. Hence, Franconia would
follow the fate of its kindred state, Swabia, for the ex-
tinction of which as an elective power we have en-
deavoured to account on the same principle. And the
more we examine the subject, the more we are in-
clined to the opinion, that it will eventually be found to
be the only true hypothesis. The diet -of 1184, when
the house of Hohenstauffen was in all its glory, and
when neither Swabia nor Franconia performed its
ancient official functions, does not at all affect the in-
ference we have drawn. Frederic, at his accession, had
conferred the right of Swabia on the margrave of
Brandenburg, who was naturally in no haste to sur-
render it; and both Swabia and Franconia were in his
own hands, though nominally held by his two sons. In
other respects, we may observe that the mode of electing
the emperors was assimilated to that of electing the
popes. The seven elective princes resembled the seven
cardinal bishops, who had the chief voice in the choice
of a pontiff. As the latter deliberated on the choice of
candidates, so did the former, as we are expressly in-
formed by Otho of Freysingen, on the election of
Frederic I.: it was only after these preliminary deliber-
ations, that in the one case the nobles, in the other the
bishops and clergy, were permitted to take any part in
the proceedings. And there was another point of re-
semblance the usurpations of the two ; for as anciently
the whole body of the people were allowed to elect an
emperor, so also were the great body of the clergy and
people to choose a successor to St. Peter. In both cases,
218
HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
however, the innovation was an improvement, since it
averted popular turbulence and divisions.*
II. Nor is this period much less remarkable for an-
other college ; that of princes. Its formation and his-
tory is one of the most interesting circumstances relating
to Germany during the middle ages. The result of the
proscription of Henry the Lion was the dismemberment
of the great duchies of Saxony and Bavaria. This called
into existence a number of feudatories, who, with do-
mains from portions of those great fiefs, assumed the
designation of princes of the empire, and obtained juris-
dictions independent of the electors and of each other.
Among these were the dukes of Austria, Styria, and
Pomerania ; the margrave of Misnia ; the landgrave of
Meiningen ; and the counts of Mecklenburg and Hoi-
stein. The political existence of the duchy of Swabia
expired on the execution of Conradin, the last male of
the Hohenstauffen dynasty t ; and the counts of Wur-
temburg, Furstenburg, Hohenzollem,with several others,
made their appearance on the scene of German history.
By this deprivation of one man of the power of with-
standing the emperor or diet, the dissolution of these
great duchies was certainly a good. But not content
with the divisions of territory already made, these newly
created princes, at their deaths, subdivided their do-
minions among their sons, by which means the number
of the order was much increased. The house of Saxony,
though it had lost its sovereignty over half of Germany,
had considerable patrimonial estates remaining, which,
according to this partitioning policy, were split between
the dukes of Lunenburg and the princes of Anhalt.
* Arnoldus Lubecensis, Chronicon, cap. 9. Albertus Stadensbergensis,
Chronicon, A. D. 1240. Olenschlager, Urkundenbuch zur Guldenen
Bulle, Nos. 12. 18, &c. Struvius, Historia Germanica, i. 357, &c. Pfeffel,
Abrtgi5 Chronologique, torn. i. p. 39!). Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands,
torn. iii. liv. 5. torn. iv. liv. 6. Putter, Historical Developement, vol. L
book 2. chap. ii. Hallam, State of Europe, ubi supra.
Mr. Hallam is not nearly so well acquainted with the constitution of Ger-
many as with that of France. The former, he seems to have very imper-
fectly studied.
t Conradin, the son of Conrad IV., beheaded in Naples by Charles of
Anjou. See Europe during the Middle Ages, voL L p. 129.
THE HOSUE OF HOHENSTAUFFEJf. 219
Bavaria was divided into two dukedoms, the upper and
the lower ; while, with the margrave of Baden, Zehrin-
gen divided its possessions. On condition of being re-
cognised as members of the college, many of the princes
who thus succeeded to their domains by family com-
pact or testamentary bequest, agreed to hold them as
fiefs of the empire.
The college of princes, thus called into existence,
made a thorough revolution in the territorial jurisdiction
of the country. Before the dismemberment of the
duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, and the annihilation of
the imperial influence, the chief princes, though next in
rank to the sovereign dukes, had exercised a very limited
feudal jurisdiction. They were themselves vassals of
the emperor ; and they had no authority over either the
allodial proprietors, or the inferior vassals who held
immediately from the same source. But now that the
only bulwark which could defend the great body of the
untitled nobility was thrown down ; now that the
number of princes was augmented so as to form an
imposing body in the state, they began to usurp the
privileges formerly possessed by the dukes, and aim at
more. We must not forget that the ancient duchies
were dissolved, some wholly, others, if not nominally,
virtually. With the Hohenstauffen dynasty, both Swa-
bia and Franconia fell as ducal states ; never afterwards
could they boast of a single chief: they were divided
among many princes, who aimed at the jurisdiction
formerly held by the dukes. Saxony and Bavaria, in-
deed, remained ; but so circumscribed in extent, com-
pared with what they ever had been, that the ducal
jurisdiction could not possibly be restored. Hence, the
princes who, as we have already related, arose on the
dismemberment of these two duchies, had little dif-
ficulty in procuring from Frederic II. a recognition of
their territorial authority. As the heads of new states
were admitted into the Germanic confederation, the ec-
clesiastical princes, by a pragmatic sanction of 1 220, ob-
tained full sovereign jurisdiction within their respective
220 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
domains; and by another, of 1232, the secular princes
were equally favoured. Henceforth, the emperor could
not build fortresses, nor coin money, nor exact fiscal
duties, nor exercise the judicial functions through his
judges, within any of the new states. It is, therefore,
evident, that they succeeded to more than the power
of the extinct ducal sovereignties. We might be sur-
prised that sovereign prerogatives were thus entrusted
to so many new magnates, if we lost sight for a moment
of the peculiar circumstances of the period. From the
time when the first Frederic sanctioned the creation of
the new states from the vast spoils of Henry the Lion,
they had rapidly consolidated their power. They were
no longer afraid of their neighbours the dukes, whose
possessions and privileges were so' much circumscribed
by that event. Franconia and Swabia, indeed, subsisted
unimpaired ; but these formed a small portion of the
empire, and were fast tending to dissolution. Thus
being removed from the jurisdiction of the dukes, as
counts palatine were no longer in use, as the imperial
authority was declining every day ; we cannot be sur-
prised that the new princes were successful in their
efforts to appropriate to themselves the floating wrecks
of the ducal and imperial powers. It might, indeed, be
expected,that the great body of the nobles in each of the
new states, whether by the disruption of the ties which
formerly bound them to the dukes, transferred from vas-
sals to allodial proprietors, or allodial proprietors as many
were from time immemorial, would resist the efforts of the
princes for their subjugation. In many cases, no doubt,
such resistance was offered and was successful ; but in
more the degradation was complete. Some were bribed
by pensions and offices, others were terrified by menaces
or open violence, into submission ; and of those who re-
tained for a time their ancient or newly acquired inde-
pendence, most were eventually reduced to the same
condition. The nobles and abbots not invested with
the princely dignity, now constituted an equestrian body,
ranking among the provincial orders, which were re-
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 221
tained by the princes as a sort of shadow of the ancient
local states. This subjection of a numerous class to
the will of the princes confirmed, in process of time,
a maxim exceedingly useful to their views that what-
ever lands are situated in a territory, belong to that ter-
ritory ; that whatever lies within a given boundary of
jurisdiction, is necessarily subject to that jurisdiction
quicquid est in territorio, etiam est de territorio. Hence
the expression territorium clausum, invented by writers
on public law to designate states which admitted of no
independent restrictions, and the princes of which were
presumed to hold sovereign rights over all the domains
without distinction contained in such province or lord-
ship. The consolidation of the territorial government
in each state caused the princes soon to regard it almost
as patrimonial ; and in their last dispositions, acting on
an ancient maxim of Germanic law, they divided it
equally among their sons ; and the sons themselves, in
the order of things, effected similar partitions among
their heirs : thus prodigiously increasing the number of
territorial lords ; for we must bear in mind that the in-
. dividual who succeeded to the smallest portion of do-
main, succeeded also to all the rights attached to that
domain. He sat in the provincial diets, and exercised
all the feudal privileges of his caste. Nor was this
custom confined to the inferior princes and nobles : it
was adopted by the most powerful of the reigning
houses. The first example on record appears to have
been the division of the ducal sovereignty of Bavaria
in 1255. On the death of Otho, at once duke and
count palatine we have before shown that both were
united in the same prince one of his sons, Ludowig
the Stern, took the palatine and most of Upper Bavaria ;
the other, Henry, the rest or Lower Bavaria. In some
cases, however, the partition was not entire : the re-
venues, indeed, and domains were equally apportioned;
but the government of the principality was exercised
by all conjointly. This we know to have been the case
on the death of Albert II., margrave of Brandenburg.
222 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
In time, however, the sovereign houses themselves took
the alarm, and agreed that principalities should no
longer be divided, whatever appanage might be awarded
to the younger sons. Still the good was to a certain
extent effected ; the great duchies and principalities
were considerably lessened in magnitude, and were no
longer dangerous to the rest. In all cases, this policy of
partition had been approved by the emperors ; and
though it was soon disused in reference to the greater
states, it continued to flourish among the secondary and
still inferior houses. It inevitably reduced the greatest
families to insignificance ; for insignificant and power-
less every one became, whose members by intermin-
able subdivision were thus reduced to poverty. Had
the agnates of each family combined in aid of in-
dividual interests, they would still have been numerically
strong ; but the separate views and the passions of
human nature, rendered such combination impossible
and well for Germany that it was so. But in tracing
the progress of territorial usurpation, we have omitted
to mention one important fact, which facilitated the suc-
cess of the princes more than the anarchy of the times or
the feebleness of the emperors : on the dismemberment
of the duchies, the domains which those princes acquired
were held by the feudal tenure, subject to the usual ob-
ligations towards the empire and its head ; but many of
them had also patrimonial lands, over which their in-
fluence was not circumscribed by law or custom. Their
object was eventually to place the two descriptions of
land on the same footing. In fact, a few generations,
perhaps even a few years, in such times of anarchy,
sufficed utterly to confound the distinction between
feudal and patrimonial possessions. Of the unbounded
power which was usurped over all, we need no other
proof than the fact, that when there was a family in
danger of extinction, females were allowed to inherit ;
a custom derived from France and Italy, and foreign to
Germanic jurisprudence. We know that the palatinate
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 223
of the Rhine passed successively by marriage into the
house of Saxony and into that of Wittelspach.*
III. The condition of the nobles immediately inferior
to the princes no less deserves attention. On the ex-
tinction of the great duchies of Swabia and Franconia,
the nobles of those duchies who had hitherto been vas-
sals of the house of Hohenstauffen became allodial pro-
prietors, and succeeded to a territorial jurisdiction within
their respective domains. The revolution was equally
favourable to the officers of the duchies no less than to
the vassals :
" They could never, indeed, obtain admission into a general
diet, or the recognition of their existence as an independent
body ; but their numbers, their possessions, their valour, made
amends for the disappointment, and rendered their support,
whether to emperor or electors, a matter of no trifling import-
ance : into whatever scale they threw their arms, it was sure to
preponderate. They chiefly resided in Franconia, the palatine,
and Swabia, the local administration of which, being divided
into cantons, remained in their own hands. We may add that
these nobles imitated the example of the towns by confede-
rating, whenever the privileges of their order were at stake, or
even when any individual member was liable to injury by the
crown, the princes, or the municipal corporations. Their
head, in a certain district, was denominated the burgrave, just
as the head of a municipal town was the burgomaster. "f-
Had the vassals of other states, who formerly held of
the crown, and were now become proprietors, imitated
the example of those who had held from the house of
Hohenstauffen, the territorial despotism of the new
princes would never have been established. But the
ascendancy of these princes in Bavaria, Austria, Saxony,
Brandenburg, Misnia, and other provinces, was the
grave of freedom to the vast body of nobles. Hence-
those of Franconia and Swabia had reason to applaud
the spirit of their forefathers. Uninfluenced by fear of
* Chronicon Augustinense, A. D.1251. Hacherlins, Reichsgeschichte, ii.
passim. Schwabisch, cap. 20. Putter, Historical Developement, vol. i.
book 2. chap. ii. Picffel, Abrg Chronologique, torn. i. p. 401, &c. Schmidt,
Histoire des Allemands, torn. iv. p. 6i, &c.
f Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 111.
224 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
revenge from local superiors, they were generally ready
to espouse the caiise of the crown, which has, in all
ages, been a barrier against aristocratic tyranny. Sen-
sible of the advantages resulting from their support,
it watched, with jealous care, over their interests as
a body. Through its influence in after times, and
from their own union, they were defended from the
blows aimed at their privileges by the electors, by the
duke of Wurtemburg, by the margraves of Anspach
and Bareith, the heads of the Germanic confederation.
There were bishops, too, with sovereign jurisdiction ;
not in these provinces only, but in most of the states,
and they were not friendly to the progress of noble
liberty.*
IV. Equally interesting is the progress of the Ger-
manic municipalities, the existence of which we have
noticed from their origin under Henry the Fowler to
the extinction of the Franconian dynasty. While the
electors and the princes not electors were extending and
consolidating their power under the shade of anarchy,
the cities were not idle :
" Originally, in each city there was a wide distinction in
the condition of the inhabitants. The nobles were those to
defend the walls, the free citizens to assist them, and the slaves
to supply the wants of both. By the two first classes all the
offices of magistracy were filled, even after the enfranchise-
ment of the last by Henry V. But as the last class was by
far the most numerous ; as their establishment into corpor-
ations, subject to their heads, gave them organisation, union,
and strength ; they began to complain of the wall of separation
between them. That wall was demolished, not, indeed, at
once, but by degrees ; the burgesses gained privilege after
privilege, access to. the highest municipal dignities, until mar-
riages between their daughters and the nobles were no longer
stigmatised as ill-assorted or unequal. The number of impe-
rial cities, of those which, in accordance with imperial char-
ters, were governed either by a lieutenant of the emperor, or
by their own chief magistrate, was greatly augmented after
the death of Conradin ; those in the two escheated duchies of
' * The same authorities, with the addition of Schannat, Corpus Juris
Publici, passim.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 225
Franconia and Swabia lost no time in securing their exemp-
tion from feudal jurisdiction. The next step in the progress
of these imperial cities was confederation, which was formed,
not only for the protection of each other's rights against either
feudal or imperial encroachments, but for the attainment of
other privileges, which they considered necessary to their pro-
sperity. The league of the Rhine, which was inspired by
William of Holland, appears to have been the first ; it was
soon followed by that of the Hanse towns. The latter confe-
deration, which ultimately consisted of above fourscore cities,
the most flourishing in Germany, had no other object beyond
the enjoyment of a commercial monopoly of their own
advantage, to the prejudice of all Europe. Of this confe-
deration, or copartnership, Lubeck set the example before the
middle of the thirteenth century : her first allies were the
towns on the Baltic, then infested by pirates ; and to trade
without fear of these pirates was the chief motive to the asso-
ciation. So rapidly did the example succeed, that on the
death of Richard of Cornwall, all the cities between the
Rhine and the Vistula were thus connected. The association
had four chief emporia, London, Bruges, Novogorod, and
Bergen ; and the direction of its affairs was intrusted to four
great cities, Lubeck, Cologne, Daritzig, and Brunswick. The
consequence was, not only a degree of commercial glory unri-
valled in the annals of the world, but a height of power which
no commercial emporium, not even Tyre, ever reached. The
Hanse towns were able, on any emergency, not only to equip
a considerable number of ships, but to hire mercenaries, who,
added to their own troops, constituted a formidable army.
They were powerful enough to place their royal allies and
their alliance might well be sought by kings on the thrones
of Sweden and Denmark."*
But the prosperity at which we have glanced was,
though rapid, often retarded by obstacles, nor did it
attain the elevation just described until the fourteenth
century. Originally four of the cities were imperial ;
the greater number were called into existence by some
temporal or ecclesiastical prince, and continued long
dependent on him ; a dependence which circumstances
only could loosen. It was not, for instance, without
many struggles that they procured an exemption from
sending their military force to fight the battles of their
* Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 109.
VOL. I. 4
226 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
superior. In 1244, the burgesses of Mentz compelled
their archbishop to agree that they should not serve
him in the field contrary to their own wishes. By de-
grees many of these communities not merely refused
to undertake any war for their superior's sake, but
openly struck off his authority, expelled his deputies,
and elected magistrates of their own. Even in the im-
perial cities which were situated on the domains of the
crown, and during the glory of the Swabian dynasty,
one magistrate only, the advocatus or bailli, was no-
minated by the crown ; the rest were chosen by the
people ; and without their concurrence he could under-
take nothing of moment. In the other cities, those
submitted to the bishops appear first to have won their
enfranchisement. Gradually they withheld all the feudal
obligations, and annihilated all the vassalitic rights to
which they had been subject. In vain did the eccle-
siastics apply to Frederic II. for the suppression of all
the magistracies created by the people ; that emperor
knew his own interests too well to transform his best
friends into enemies. In many cases, however, per-
haps even in a majority, these municipalities, whether
subject to temporal or ecclesiastical princes, procured
their exemption from feudal obligations by purchase
rather than by open force. Innumerable are the
charters in the archives of the German cities, placing
this fact beyond dispute. The increasing dignity of
these places, and the encouragement they held out te
military adventurers, naturally allured the more indig-
nant rural nobles within the walls. The members thus
admitted knew that the confraternity contained names
as noble as their own ; and the prospect of civic dig-
nities, those which regarded the administration of the
law and the police, was always a powerful inducement.
Others, again, instead of entering the municipality, were
contented with obtaining the privileges of citizenship,
still remaining on their former lands, and connected
with their former lords. But this custom of the noble
rassals of princes, dukes, or counts, so eagerly claiming
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 227
the privileges in question, would have been fatal to those
magnates, had not authority intervened to limit it. The
men thus received as members of the municipalities
contended that they were no longer subject to the juris-
diction of their lords ; and if the latter chose to en-
force it, the former speedily summoned the aid of their
brethren. If one single member was in peril, or in-
sulted, it was the duty of the rest to fly to his assist-
ance ; and formidable bands might often be seen issuing
from the gates to resist some local baron. On the other
hand, these falburgers, or external burgesses, were bound
to lend their service to the municipality whenever it
was at war with another power. In both respects, this
custom was hostile to the rights of the territorial princes
and barons, who prevailed on Frederic II. to issue a
decree that their vassals should not be received into the
cities ; and that those who were already falburgers
should be expelled from them. But in the latter case,
Frederic had not the power, probably not the wish, to
enforce the mandate ; in the former, he could not extir-
pate, though he doubtless circumscribed, the abuse. A
more effectual cheek, however, was found in the terri-
torial lords themselves, who were compelled to combine
for the maintenance of their rights, who frequently de-
feated their municipal enemies, intercepted their mer-
chandise, and laid waste their domains to the very gates
of the city. Yet, on the whole, the progress of events
was exceedingly favourable to the corporations. If
the nobles could combine, so could they ; and leagues
were formed capable of bidding defiance not merely to
an elector, but to the whole empire. Thus, in 1256,
about seventy cities, great and small, entered into a
league to resist the newly enfranchised nobles of Fran-
conia and Swabia, who were so many banditti, and.
whose attacks were peculiarly directed against the car-
riers of merchandise. As, in a degree almost equal,
the rural churches suffered, the archbishops, bishops,
and abbots were induced to join the confederation.
After the death of Richard king of the Romans, another
Q 2
228 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
was formed, for supporting the electors in the choice of
an emperor. There were other confederations ; but
the Hanseatic league could scarcely be said to exist
during the period under consideration.*
V. Descending in the social chain we come to the
cultivators of the ground, the serfs or peasantry, whose
condition, though sufficiently onerous, was yet consi-
derably ameliorated. At the close of the last period we
had occasion to remark, that servitude, in its more odious
acceptation, was beginning to disappear ; that there was
a progressive elevation of the class, however split into
distinctions ; that the freedmen were rising into inge-
nui, the less degraded into freedmen, and the lowest into
a political existence. Now, we perceive that corporeal
servitude had ceased throughout a great part of the em-
pire. This was, doubtless, owing to a variety of causes,
of which many are apt to elude our observation. As-
suredly one of these was not the increased humanity of
the lords : the German mind has not been favourable
to abstract notions of right, whenever that right has
opposed aristocratic preponderancy. In the view of a
German noble, liberty means no more than an emanci-
pation from the despotism of the territorial princes ; in
that of citizen, exemption from the jurisdiction of em-
peror or prince ; in that of a prince, perfect indepen-
dence of the emperor. The grades of society below the
rank of freemen were not thought worth the trouble of
legislation ; or if their condition was noticed, it was
only to secure their continued dependence on their su-
periors. But human circumstances are more power-
ful than conventional forms, or the pride of man.
From causes which we before enumerated, policy and
interest demanded that the relation of the serfs should
* Olenschlager, Urkundenbuch zur Goldenen Bulle (variis numeris).
Schannat, Codex Prob. Wormtiz, No. 120. 71, &c. Putter, Constitution of
Germany, vol. i. book 3. chap. i. Pfeffel, Abrg Chronologique, torn. i.
p. 405. Schmidt, Histoire.des Allemands, torn. iv. p. 95, &c. Heineccius
Elementa Juris Germanici, lib. i. tit. 5 (De Jure Municipum). Above all,
Sartorius Freyberrn von Wattershausen Urkundliche Geschichte des
Ursprunges der Deutschen Hansc, vol. i. Introduction.
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 229
undergo considerable modification ; that they should be
placed in situations where their industry should be most
productive to their masters. But the same industry
benefited themselves : it could not be provoked without
some allurement ; for the galley-slave will drop the oar
when his taskmaster is not present. The encourage-
ment thus afforded completely answered its purpose ;
and as the serfs gained property of their own, they be-
came half enfranchised, not by conventional formalities,
but by tacit consent, and by the influence of custom.
The inevitable effect of this system was the rapid in-
crease of the population ; and this increase, in its turn,
tended to the support and prosperity of the whole order.
To such consideration indeed did they arrive, that they
were sometimes furnished with arms to defend the cause
of their master. This innovation tended more than all
other causes to the enfranchisement of the rural popu-
lation ; for whoever is taught to use, and allowed to
possess, weapons, will soon make himself respected. The
class thus favoured was certainly not that of the mere
cultivators of the ground ; but of the mechanics, the
tradesmen, the manufacturers, and the chief villeins, who,
holding land on the condition of a certain return in pro-
duce as rental, were little below free tenants. The agricul-
tural districts had many gradations of society ; and in
respect to those over whom the generic appellation was
the same, much would depend on the disposition of the
proprietor, on the nature of the obligations which he
introduced into the verbal contract between him and his
vassal. Nor must it be forgotten, that, though the great
aristocratic body, whether ecclesiastic or secular, were,
as a body, indifferent to the welfare of their dependants,
though they preferred slaves to tenants half free, or pea-
sants, or liberti, the benign influence of Christianity on
individuals was not wholly without effect. The doctrine,
that by nature all men are equal, and equally entitled to
the expectations of another world ; that the only distinc-
tion in a future state will be between those who have exer-
cised, and those who have neglected, works of mercy and
230 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
other social duties ; could not fail to influence the hearts
of some, and dispose them to ameliorate the evils of their
dependants. Of this feeling the clergy would be the
most susceptible ; and we accordingly find that their
vassals were, generally, in a superior state. Nor was
the sentiment confined to the clergy alone ; if it was not
uttered, it was sanctioned, by some temporal princes.
Thus the Jus Provincials Suevicum, in a spirit which
would do honour to the most enlightened times, asserts
that there is nothing in Scripture to sanction slavery ;
and prays God to pardon the man who first imposed it
on his fellows. But with all willingness to allow its
due weight to this circumstance, we cannot shut our
eyes to the fact, that enfranchisement, which, after all,
was but partial, since even at the present day it is not
complete, was the result rather of policy than of liberal-
ity, rather of interest than of an abstract sense of justice.
It was, indeed, so obviously the interest of the domanial
proprietor to make his dependants industrious, and to
stimulate their exertions by a participation in the profits,
that we may feel surprised only that the system was no
sooner adopted. In this, as in all other cases, the phi-
losopher can easily discover that there is a reciprocal
re-action between services and benefits ; that philan-
thropy is true policy; that humanity is true wisdom:
nor can the Christian observer fail to admire the eternal
and indissoluble connection which God's providence has
established between the duties and the enjoyments, the
obligations and the interests of man. That some of the
German princes were alive to the means by which agri-
culture may be best improved, is evident from many
instances. Thus, Albert the Boar brought a consider-
able number of serfs from Holland to colonise and drain
the marshes of Brandenburg; a service in which the
Dutch were always more experienced than any other
people : and the church always showed considerable
indulgence to the men on whom it depended for its
tithes. We must not, however, omit to state, that in
certain provinces there was no amelioration whatever in
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEST. 231
the condition of the serfs. Thus, in Mecklenburg, Po-
merania, and Lusatia, that condition was one of exceed-
ing rigour. This was owing to the prevalence of Sla-
vonic habits in those provinces; a race which has always
been distinguished for its oppression of dependants.*
In regard to the great object of the institutions of
the age, military service, we have little to add to what
we have said on preceding occasions. Domains were
estimated by the number of men at arms they were ca-
pable of furnishing. These were, in the language of
feudal law, styled homines ; they were the men of some
superior; and to become the man of any one implied the
receiving a fief from him on the usual obligations. It
was a generally received rule, that no one could become
the man of an equal without degrading his shield. In
favour of ecclesiastics, however, there was an exception,
for princes, nay, even the emperors, might hold of a
bishop ; but no bishop could, without dishonour, hold
of any one beneath the dignity of emperor. Yet Henry
the Lion proceeded to make the bishops of the sees he
had founded do homage to him on receiving their tem-
poralities. The attempt produced a considerable sens-
ation; nor could men conceive how any bishop could
become the vassal of a duke. The new prelates, in
some trouble at the precipitancy with which they had
degraded their order, consulted the chapter of Bremen :
and the chapter replied that the innovation was highly
censurable'; that hitherto bishops had been, not the
vassals, but the superiors of dukes and princes. But
Henry was little moved by these absurd pretensions;,
and so long as he held the reins of government he in-
sisted that no temporalities should be delivered where
homage had not been previously performed. The obli-
gations between superior and vassal are detailed with
* Boehmen, Exercitationes in Pandectas, torn. i. ex. 19. De Libertate
Imperfecta Rusticorum. Jus Provinciale Suevicum, cap. 52. Helmoldus,
Chronicon Slavorum, lib. i. cap. 89. Ditmar Merseburgensis, Historia,
p. 419. Albertus Crantzius, Metropol. lib. vi. cap. 39. Heineccius, Ele-
menta Juris Gcrmanici, lib. i. tit. 1. Schmidt, Histoire des AUemands,
torn. iv. p. 103, &c.
Q 4
232 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
sufficient minuteness in the feudal codes of the period.
But, besides the great military obligations, in which all
feudal institutions agree, attempts were made to define
the respect due from the vassal to his lord, in cases that,
to us, must appear amusing. In the Jus Feudale Ala-
mannicum, for instance, it is gravely agitated whether
a vassal may sneeze, blow his nose, cough, or spit in the
presence of his superior. We have already observed,
that, during the period under consideration, burgesses
were not merely permitted, but encouraged, to bear arms.
But, even before their enfranchisement, they did not
willingly fight the battles of their territorial lord ; and
as the nobles themselves sought for every pretext to
escape the onerous obligation, no emperor or prince
could undertake a long or an important campaign without
mercenaries. But where was the money to pay them ?
It must of necessity be raised from the vassals, whether
rural or urban; but in all cases the demand was met by
open murmuring or smothered discontent. Generally,
there can be no doubt, that demand was exorbitant.
Besides, in the more rigid definition of a vassal's duty,
it was contended that, as he was not compelled to serve
in person beyond the frontiers of the state, so neither
was he bound to contribute towards the maintenance of
wars which were waged beyond them. The nobles soon
spurned the shackles that would have been imposed upon
them ; and the cities were not slow in profiting by the
example. The struggle was attended for a time with
various success, according to the strength of the respec-
tive parties ; but in the end, as we have already ob-
served, the cities threw off every sign of vassalage, and
became the enemies of the men whose dependants they
had been. Hence, the only class of men which remained,
that on which all the burdens of society ultimately rest,
were the rural population, the freedmen, the half-
tenants, the peasantry located in the villages and plains.*
The progress of the territorial jurisdiction in Ger-
* Sachsenspiegel, buch 'i. art. 3. Helmoldus, Chronicon Slavorum,
lib. i. cap. 70. Olenschlager, Urkundenbuch xur Guldenen Bulle, No. 24.
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 233
many, is one of the most remarkable features of its
history. How much of the supreme jurisdiction was
wrested from the emperors ; how their frequent decrease
enabled the princes, with some show of reason, to arrogate
to themselves the cognizance of causes within their respec-
tive domains ; how the royal assizes gradually declined
in proportion as the imperial domains were circumscribed
by grant or usurpation; how the abolition of the pro-
vincial palatinian authority left these princes undisturbed
chiefs of the tribunals within their territorial boundaries ;
and how, of all his ancient authority in this respect, the
emperor retained only a court judge, to take cognizance
of certain defined cases in the first instance, have already
been shown in the present and preceding chapters. We
must, however, add that the emperor himself could de-
cide, not only the cases brought before his judge, but
some others which were considered too high for the
competency of that functionary. These chiefly regarded
the preservation of the public peace, where the offenders
were of rank ; but the emperor, while hearing and de-
ciding such cases, was compelled to have with him
seven or eight assessors of the same rank as the accused;
nor without their sanction could he pronounce any sen-
tence ; nor was any one bound to appear before his tri-
bunal without three consecutive citations. And though
the proper tribunal of princes was the general diet, yet
we find several instances where the emperor, in con-
junction with seven princely assessors, exercised the ju-
dicial office in regard even to the reigning dukes. It
may, however, be concluded that this mode of proceed-
ing was illegal ; for not only did the emperors them-
selves, in several instruments, acknowledge that unless
with the concurrence of a diet he had no jurisdiction
over them, but when Henry, duke of Bavaria and
Saxony, was cited to appear before the emperor and a
18, &c. Jus Feudale Alamannicum, cap. 126. Godenus, Diploraata*
torn. i. No. 211., torn. iii. No. 326. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands,
torn. iv. p. 84, &c.
234 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
few princes, he denied the competency of the court :
and though that court placed him under the ban of the
empire, we must certainly regard the whole proceeding
as invalid. Conrad took advantage of the jealousy felt
by other princes to crush his dangerous rival ; whether
by legal or violent means gave him little concern. Nor
must we forget that appeals, in cases equally defined,
were open to the imperial tribunal. That there were
still many judicial functions to fulfil by the emperors,
and that, in general, they were indifferent to the duty,
appears from the promise extorted from one of them
that in future he would preside four times every month
in the tribunal of his court, wherever that court hap-
pened to be. In such cases his deputy, the court judge,
could not preside for him ; for, as we have already ob-
served, the dukes insisted that within their respective
jurisdictions no imperial tribunal should be held, unless
presided over by him in person ; and in the imperial cities,
no less than the territories of some bishops, he could
not even exercise this privilege longer than a week before
and after the assembling of a general diet in that par-
ticular city. Before the time of the Swabian emperors,
it had been a universally received principle, that where-
ever the monarch happened to be, his presence closed the
local tribunals, while now, his jurisdiction was more
bounded than that of any prince in the empire. This
transfer of the judicial power from the emperor to the
princes was attended with two evils the one necessary
and invariable, the other accidental. In the first place,
the prince might be tyrannical or corrupt, without much
fear of punishment ; virtually he was subject to no re-
sponsibility ; and we know that the best men, to say
nothing of the lawless, will transgress the bounds of
their authority. But even if the reigning prince were
disposed to enforce the laws against the everlasting tur-
bulence, the bloody strife, of the nobles, where was the
power by which he was to affect the formidable terri-
torial nobles, who having once been vassals of the em-
peror, were now transferred into allodial proprietors, and
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 235
who scorned submission to the mandates of the dukes
and margraves ? And there were many nobles whose
possessions, lying beyond the range of the electoral or
even princely domination, were as much sovereigns as
any monarch in Europe. These men recognised no au-
thority beyond the general diets ; and even from them
little good was to be expected. Violence took the place
of order ; arms were used both to commit injustice and
to revenge it ; one crime produced retaliation, and re-
taliation, which in reality was seldom, and, in the ex-
cited feelings of men, never, confined to the due mea-
sure, gave birth to new aggressions, until the original
subject of offence was lost under a mass of injuries.
Private wars, which were regarded as justifiable in
theory, were thus sanctioned by practice, until, in cer-
tain districts, there was no such thing as social security.
The condition of society, indeed, was so horrible, that
states were obliged to confederate to form a league
for mutual aid in repressing domestic disturbances.
Where two states were at variance, the rest were con-
stituted arbiters; and if the award were disregarded, an
armed force from the different states of the confederation
was ordered to enforce it. This conventional tribunal
must, one would suppose, have fallen with the cessation
of the circumstances which created it ; but though it
was merely intended to meet the anarchy of the period
following the death of Frederic II., it continued, as we
shall see hereafter, to modern times. The interruption
to the ordinary course of justice, involved in the irre-
sponsibility of so many princes and nobles, produced
another innovation well worthy of our attention, since
it casts so clear a light on the barbarism of the times,
we mean that of hostages.
" The word hostage seems, for want of a more precise term,
to designate two usages essentially distinct from each other.
The first usage was founded on the right of reprisals ; it con-
sisted in arresting, whenever there were the right and the
power to arrest, any countrymen, or subjects of the adverse
party, and of retaining them in prison until satisfaction was
236 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
received. Hence, by this whimsical species of jurisprudence, a
Suabian, a citizen of Ulm, for instance, who had an action
against a citizen of Liege, did not give himself the trouble to
prosecute the cause before the tribunals of Liege ; he summa-
rily laid his hands on the first citizen he could find, and led
him away captive to Ulm : in Ulm the cause was tried ; nor
was the hostage, thus involuntarily made, released until the
sentence was executed. Both history and the public archives
abound with several singular forms of process ; and in Lehmann
we find, among other instances of the kind, letters patent
obtained by the citizens of Spires, to testify that they were not
subjects of their bishop, and that they neither could nor ought
to be seized as hostages in causes concerning that prince and
those who really were his subjects. Another kind of hostages,
which we may term voluntary, and of whom traces may yet
be found in Holstein, regarded the fulfilment of precise
contracts, promises, or engagements. For this purpose, the
contract itself often stipulated that if the party failed in his
promise, he should be bound to surrender himself as a hostage
in a certain city ; that he should repair thither with a certain
number of horses and attendants; and that he should reside
in a certain hostel, at his own expense, until he was willing or
able to fulfil his engagement. What strikes us as more
singular is, that the man who in every thing else would have
derided his own promises, never failed to surrender himself as
a hostage ; nor would he, on any consideration, have quitted
the place designed him for a prison."
Much as the Swabian emperors were occupied in the
affairs of Italy, in the crusades, and other chimerical
projects, we must not be so unjust to their memory as
to leave on the reader's mind an impression that they
were wholly negligent of their imperial duties. In re-
gard to private war, for instance, they, as well as their
predecessors of the Franconian and Saxon dynasties, en-
deavoured to extirpate the abuse. Thus, Frederic I.
renewed, against all disturbances of the public peace,
the ancient penalty of the harnessar by which any
one convicted was compelled to carry, in public, some
badge of ignominy for a few hours or miles ; generally
in the very place where his crime had been committed.
Sometimes the badge was a saddle, sometimes a dog.
Thus, in 1156, the count palatine, with eleven other
counts and many other nobles, were condemned to the
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 23?
same punishment : he and they were compelled to carry,
the distance of two leagues, in presence of the assembled
princes and nobles, a dog on their shoulders; but,
through consideration for his age and character, the
archbishop of Mentz, who was equally implicated, es-
caped the ignominy of the exposure.* Unfortunately,
Frederic did not persevere in this salutary severity ; for
so engrossed was he by other objects, that the internal
tranquillity was perpetually disturbed. In a subsequent
instrument, he himself so far recognises duels, as to de-
cree that no man should make war on another without
a previous warning and defiance of three days. To cir-
cumscribe, however, the distractions that prevailed on
every side, he published another decree, in which all in-
cendiaries were placed under the ban of the empire ; and
the power of imposing that ban he delegated to the ter-
ritorial princes. Thus, if, in conformity with ancient
custom, blood might be shed with impunity ; as stone
houses were yet uncommon, incendiarism, which might
prove fatal to a whole district, was a capital offence.
These provisions were perfectly in accordance with the
spirit of ancient Germanic jurisprudence; which, while
it was satisfied with a pecuniary composition for homicide,
exacted the last penalty for wilful burning, t The same
punishment was decreed against all who laid waste orch-
ards and vineyards ; but not against the destroyers of
corn : because, in the latter case, the damage could be
repaired in a few months ; in the former, not for years.
Nor did the second Frederic, in the earlier part of his
reign, act unworthily of his station as the successor of the
first. In several diets he renewed and even augmented
the penalties already in force against " public enemies."
He decreed that every plaintiff should prosecute his
cause before the judge of the accused ; but, with a clause
which virtually confirmed the abuse, he allowed private
defiance in cases where justice could not be obtained.
This was to constitute the plaintiff his own arbiter as to
* This punishment, however, was confined to France and Swabia.
t See the first chapter of this volume.
238 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
what was or was not the due measure of justice. The
same ordinance, indeed, commanded all judges to re-
ceive and to prosecute charges, from whatever quarter
they might come ; and all were farther directed to de-
cide equitably, and according to law and custom. But
when the heaviest denunciations had been insufficient,
little good could be expected from a mere verbal man-
date, issued, too, by one whose authority was so rapidly
declining.*
Under Frederic II., another decree was passed, which
gives us the most unfavourable impression of the times.
It establishes penalties against the son who made war
on his father, who wasted that father's lands, or put
him in prison. But what, indeed,' could be hoped in
an age when all restraint was removed? The chro-
nicle of bishop Conrad informs us, that after the ex-
communication of Frederic by Gregory IX. the bandits
rejoiced ; that ploughshares were turned into swords,
and pruning-hooks into lances ; that every body carried
flint and steel about him for the purpose of setting fire
to the property of his enemy. Under William of Hol-
land, and Richard of Cornwall, the public safety was
not likely to be much regarded. In the expressive lan-
guage of the Chronicle of Thuringia, every body wished
to domineer over his followers. During this melancholy
period, fortresses arose on every side, some for the
habitation of bandits, others for resistance ; the former,
however, in greater proportion. And, as in former
times, though undoubtedly in a degree more fatal, the
fortresses which had been erected for the defence of
the country were converted to its desolation. An anec-
dote will illustrate the fearful condition of society at this
period, better than the most laboured description. A
* Pfeffel, Abrtge Chronologique, torn. i. p. 415, &c. Olenschlager,
Urkundenbuch zur Guldenen Bulle, p. 126, &c. Liters Pacis Frederic! I.
(apud eundem, p. 127.)- Otho Frisingensis, De Rebus Gestis Frederici I.,
necnon Radevicus, Continuatio ejusdem (sub annis). Senkenburg, Reichs-
abschiede, th. i. p. 20. and 21. Conradus, Chronicon, p. 574. For the
meaning of fuirnessar, see Ducange, Glossarium ail Scriptores, voce Har-
miscai-'i ; and Scliilter,JGlos.sariuin Teutonicum, ad voc. Schmidt, Histoire
des Allemands, torn. iv. p. 108, &c.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 239
gentleman named Schott, whether a Franconian or
Belgian is not very clear, began to build the castle of
Schottnau, on the domain of the Banz convent, with the
purpose of making it the centre of his predatory excur-
sions. Though he was excommunicated, spiritual cen-
sures were disregarded ; and though he did not live to
finish the edifice, it was continued by his son Heinric,
the heir of his profession and projects. The duke
of the province, the advocate or protector of the mon-
astery, proceeded to build another on a mountain near
at hand, less for the security of the monastery itself,
than for sharing in the plunder of Heinric, whether that
plunder were derived from the possessions of the monks
or from other quarters. As the new fortress of the duke
would effectually overcome the establishment, Otho
bishop of Bamberg, who had conferred the domain on
the community, had excommunicated by anticipation
any one who should presume to erect a castle on that
hill. The abbot, in alarm, remonstrated with the
duke, acquainting him with the penalty he was incur-
ring ; but the latter, who treated church censures as
lightly as Schott, replied, that such a castle was necessary
for the discharge of his duties as advocate ; and that, if
he did not erect one, the diocesan would, and with
more injury to the community. This fact proves the
truth of the complaints so common in the monastic
chronicles, epistles, and synods, of the period that,
under the pretext of protecting, the advocates uniformly
oppressed, the churches and convents. Hence the poor
abbot of Banz was between two fires, as he himself ex-
pressed it, "what escaped the wolves of Schottnau,
fell to those of the duke ; whatever the locusts spared,
became the prey of the caterpillars." At length, how-
ever, the two bishops of Bamberg and Wurtzberg were
induced to demolish the two castles. The construc-
tion of both proves how little imperial decrees, any
more than ecclesiastical anathemas, affected the nobles ;
for, some time before (in 1220), Frederic II. had pro-
mulgated severe penalties against all who, whether ad-
240 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
vocates or others, should, on any pretext, build fortresses
on the domain of any church or community ; and had
ordered the demolition of such as were already standing.
This is a remarkable illustration of a fact which meets
us in almost every page, that no estimate whatever is
to be formed from the imperial edicts, concerning the
administration of law, though such edicts afford the
most incontestible evidence of the state of society. The
number of castellated ruins which now frown from the
summits of the German mountains, and the construc-
tion of which may be satisfactorily referred to the for-
mer half of the thirteenth century, prove how little the
decrees of Frederic were regarded. Nor were the towns
themselves without such fortresses. Ostensibly to guard
against the turbulence of the inhabitants, but really to
plunder them with impunity, the princes and counts for-
tified their own houses within the walls. Nothing, at
this day, can seem more extraordinary than the eager-
ness with which the bishops, for instance, erected such
castles. But though many of them were wolves instead
of shepherds, we have evidence enough to show that the
flocks were often to be feared. In fact, no authority,
temporal or spiritual, moral or religious, was respected,
unless it had the means necessary to enforce respect. It
may be said, that whatever were the disorders of the
times, they must have been chiefly confined to princes
and the chief nobles, since none but they could be pow-
erful or rich enough to erect fortresses. Such an in-
ference, however specious, is not just; for simple knights
often united their means for the same purpose, and ren-
dered the structure their common abode : they became
copartners in the honourable profession of bandits. But
in the everlasting vicissitude of human things, good is
often educed from evil. These very men, whose chief
object was to plunder, were often useful as escorts to
merchants and travellers. The highways were so no-
toriously insecure, that nobody thought of undertaking a
journey, or of transmitting valuable commodities, with-
out such an escort ; and these half-nobles, half-bandits,
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 241
were the only men capable of furnishing one. The
merchant could not bring a guard from his own city,
since it was sure to be stripped on entering the domains
of another power : in such times, no territorial prince
would willingly allow armed bands to pass through his
jurisdiction ; but the bandit confraternities cared not
for the permission, and for a stipulated reward they never
failed to discharge the trust with fidelity. No pro-
verb is truer than that some portion of honour is to be
found even among thieves. But if good spring from
evil, the converse of the proposition is more universally
true. Frequently the escort encroached on the domain
of another band; and as the latter band was, in general,
willing enough to continue its protection on the same
terms of advantage, a quarrel was sure to follow for the
right of escort ; and if the former band were worsted,
the merchandise and travellers were equally at the
mercy of the victors. But, in most instances, these were
satisfied with obtaining their reputed right; since escorts,
as much as any other source of profit, replenished their
coffers, and honour was necessary for their employ-
ment.*
Such a state of society as that exhibited in the pre-
ceding pages could scarcely be expected from the insti-
tutions of chivalry, which were now engrafted on the
great trunk of feudality. That it was the peculiar duty
of a knight to protect the people to succour the inno-
cent and oppressed may be true in theory; and in
practice there were, doubtless, some who proved them-
selves true to their vocation : but if the institution it-
self be divested of the romance with which we invest
it, it will probably be found to have produced as much
evil as good. This, at least, was the case in Ger-
many, where the enthusiastic beau ideal of knighthood
VOL. I.
242 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
was little understood. The imagination of a German
is less subject to such impulses ; though, to do him
justice, his heart is generous, and his word more to
be trusted than those of the Franks or Italians, the
very exemplars of chivalric fidelity. At his initiation,
indeed, the German knight, though he did not formally
devote himself to the cause of beauty, or of helpless
innocence, promised not to injure the widow or the
orphan ; not to plunder the feeble, or to aggravate the
evils of the oppressed : but when removed from the
eye of the world, he seldom, we fear, remembered his
obligation. Nor was he more attentive to the reli-
gious sanctions which he had self-imposed, or even to
the ordinary decencies of life. " The order of chi-
valry," says Peter of Blois, " consists in following no
order or rule whatever. Even of the knights who have
most reputation who are the most brave and true
many plunge into every species of debauchery ; swear
without the slightest remorse ; have no fear of God,
but abuse his servants, and plunder his churches. Now,
though new-made knights receive their arms from the
altar, in token that they receive them for the service of
the church, for the honour of the priesthood, to protect
the poor, to punish evil doers, and to fight for the liberty
of one's country, yet they do the contrary of all this :
no sooner do they receive the baldric, than they turn
their arms against the anointed of the Lord, and their
fury against the patrimony of Jesus Christ ; they pil-
lage and lay waste the substance of the poor ; and mer-
cilessly torment the unfortunate, to satiate themselves
with the barbarous pleasure of witnessing the sufferings
of others." The words of this writer might have been
peculiarly applied to Germany : their truth is confirmed
by the monuments extant of that period. To say
nothing of tournaments, which were so frequent in
the time of the Swabian emperors, and in which
some knights were sure to be left dead on the field ;
homicide and violence, as we have already observed,
were so common, that they excited little sensation.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENSTAUFFEN. 243
The following extracts will give a faithful but melan-
choly picture of the age.
" Engelbert archbishop of Cologne, a man noble both by
blood and in mind, and a great column of the church, on the
seventh ides of November (1200), was slain by a certain kins-
man of his, Frederic count of Isenberg, because he had been
removed from the advocacy of a certain nunnery, which, instead
of defending, he had destroyed ; wherefore, Frederic, fleeing,
was excommunicated in all quarters by the authority of my
lord cardinal Conrad ; and by the king's authority he was
diligently sought on every side, a great reward being offered
for his apprehension; and in about a year, returning from Rome
in the disguise of a merchant, he was recognised by some in-
habitants of Liege."
The culprit was taken and broken on the wheel, to
the great joy of the Liegers, who lustily chanted Te
Deum, that they were thus enabled to avenge their
archbishop. The following account of the bishop of
Utrecht is also a good picture of the times.
" Heinric, being consecrated bishop, endeavoured, with pious
solicitude, to refine all ecclesiastical usages ; nor did he neg-
lect to govern his temporal matters with equal probity. But
he vehemently incurred the indignation and hate of the lords
of Aemstel and Woerden, because, in a general chapter, Gos-
win, a kinsman of theirs, had been deposed from the same see.
So, allying themselves with the count of Gelria, they laid waste
the whole bishopric by their frequent incursions, which Heinric,
however, manfully opposed with some of his domestics. After
many depredations, both sides agreed that on a certain day
there should be a pitched battle in the green meadows, and
that it should then be seen which of the two deserved the
crown of victory. Accordingly, they of Aemstel and Woerden
being assembled, their vassals in every quarter advanced with
great triumph towards the place of combat ; and on the other
hand, the bishop, having exhorted his followers to do their duty
manfully, prepared to humble the arrogance of these lords.
And when the day arrived for the trial of strength, the
archbishop of Cologne, being at Utrecht, gave a precious rino-
to bishop Heinric, saying, in the presence of a great number
of people, ' My son, be courageous and confident; for this very
day, through the intercession of the holy confessor St. Martin,
and through the virtue of this ring, thou shalt surely subdue
the pride of thine adversaries, and obtain a renowned victory
over them : in the mean time I will faithfully defend for thee
B 2
244 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
this city with its priests and canons, and will offer up a devout
prayer to the Lord of Hosts for thy success.' And hearing
these words, bishop Htinric, being comforted in the Lord, issued
from the gates amidst the sound of warlike trumpets, accom-
panied by a band of comely warriors j and arriving on the
field, he drew them up sagaciously in rank and file. While these
things were passing at Utrecht, William king of the Romans,
through a speedy messenger, learned that the bishop and the
said lords had assembled a considerable army, to exercise for-
bidden war in the green meadows : wherefore in great haste
he collected some ready knights and comely foot soldiers, and
passed to Utrecht,' to arrest this tumult, and effect peace on
both sides ; and the royal army entered the northern gate
just as the bishop had left by the gate in the south. And the
archbishop of Cologne, accompanied by the canons and priests,
went about the city, looking into every corner, telling the
porters to lock and fasten the gates, and bring the keys to him ;
for he knew not that the royal army had just entered, and was
now within the walls. So the king, wishing to pursue the
bishop's army, found no issue ; and after waiting a short time
seeing that nobody brought him the keys, he tried in great in-
dignation to wrench the bars from the gates and to break the
locks, that he might overtake the bishop's men, and prevent
the fight. Hearing this, the archbishop of Cologne was
much afflicted, believing that the city was taken by the king,
and that he had been introduced through the carelessness of
the porters ; wherefore, accompanied by the parochial clergy
and the canons, he went to the place, and recognising the
king, thus spoke: " Let your greatness listen to my brief
words. It becomes a king to govern his people in tranquillity ;
to do right, equity, and justice on earth. Now, to speak plainly
(saving your grace), I much fear lest with your armed bands
you have obtained the city, and have ordered the locks to be
broken, for this end, that you may expel the inhabitants from
their abodes, and by the introduction of others subject it to
your power. If so, which God forbid! you presume to act
against justice, utterly do you confound me, your chancellor,
and much do you lessen the kingly honour. In conclusion, I
exhort your benignity to restore me this city, and free the
inhabitants from violence ! ' The king, having heard these
words, thus spoke in the presence of the people : ' Venerable
pastor and bishop ! well does thy industry know that it indeed
becomes a king to repress wars on every side, and to punish
with a severe hand disturbers of the public peace. Thou
knowest also how discreditable it must be to us, if our people
were allowed to fight in the neighbourhood of our presence.
THE HOUSE OF HOHENS^AUFFEN. 24?5
We have collected our armed followers and entered this city.
to reconcile the bishop with his vassals.'* ' Imagine not that
we bear any anger towards bishop Henry or to the city ; to
convince thee that we speak without guile, we restore thee this
city, which we could easily keep, and we will cause proclam-
ation to be made that our men repair to their hostels, lay
down their arms, and pass the day in festivity ! ' In the mean
time my lord the bishop was waging a fierce war with his
enemies ; many he killed, more he put to flight ; and having
taken the lords of Aemstel and Woerden prisoners, he tied
them with ropes, and led them at his right to Utrecht; and at
vesper bell he entered the gates victorious, and was graciously
received both by the king and the archbishop, at whose request
he pardoned his captives and released them from their fetters. ""f 1
In these days it was, indeed, necessary, that if a pre-
late would belong to the church triumphant, he must
first serve in the church militant. Numerous are the
instances in which no baron could show more valour
than these doughty churchmen, who laid on their blows
with such good will, as to prove that their hearts were
in the work. Nor were private wars or open violence
wanting even between those most closely joined by the
ties of blood. Of brother against brother, the instances
are numerous ; and there are some of father against
son, and son against father. We have already men-
tioned the decree which the second Frederic was com-
pelled to promulgate against those who wasted the
lands, or imprisoned the persons, of their fathers. The
following will prove that aggressions were not confined
to sons :
" At this time (the thirteenth century) 'flourished Albert
landgrave of Thuringia, a powerful and great man, whose
wife was Margaret, daughter of the emperor Frederic. By her
he had two sons, Frederic and Theodoric, who by some is
called Titzman. And he had a brother named Heinric |, who
reigned in Misnia and Lusatia. And when the latter was on
* We abridge this reply.
f Beker, Chronicon Ultrajectinum (sub annis). Petrus Blesensis, Epis-
tola 94. Chronicon Urspergense, p. 326, &c. Chronicon Montis Sereni
(apud Menckensium, Scriptores Rerum Germanicum, torn. ii.). Magnum
Chronicon Belgicum, p. 272. (apud Struvium, Rerum Germ. Script
torn. iii.}. Chronicon Trevirense (sub annis).
j There appears to be some trifling errors as to names in this relation ;
but the circumstances are correct enough.
R 3
246 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
his death-bed, he sent for his two nephews, and, in the presence
of many princes and nobles, resigned and gave to them, since
he had no other heir, the government of his states: and his
worldly affairs being settled, the pious prince slept in peace.
But Albert, the father, hearing of this, was wroth with his sons,
asserting that he was the lawful successor of his brother, and
the true heir ; and unless they surrendered these possessions,
he would pursue them with fire and sword. But the two
brothers despised the menace ; for they were brave and true,
and were much beloved by all the princes, nobles, and people
of the land. Through this universal good will, and a brave
body of followers, they had in many battles the advantage over
their father Albert, with his ally, the margrave of Brandenburg,
whom he had sent against them ; but yet great damage was
done to the villages and fields. Seeing that he was unable to
contend with his sons, Albert, resolving to disinherit them,
sold the sovereignty of Misnia and Lusatia to the emperor,
and constituted his bastard son, Ludowig, heir of Thuringia."
We need not enter into the wars which followed for
the possession of these domains.*
Another anecdote illustrative of the social state of
Germany must conclude the present subject. There
was, we are told, a count of Holland, Florence by
name, who, about the middle of the thirteenth century,
obtained great celebrity by his deeds of arms. His
fame reached the countess of Claremont, who at length
longed to see him. Whether her motives were of the
purest description her husband was advanced in
years may be doubted ; but, perhaps, she herself was
unconscious that her heart, or, more correctly, her ima-
gination, was engaged. Whether for good or evil, a
lady will find some means of gratifying her curiosity.
She persuaded the count her husband to proclaim a
tournament, well knowing that Florence would be there
to dispute the palm of victory with the veteran knights
of Germany and France. Her expectation was verified
the count was present, and his feats of arms corre-
sponded with his fame. During the tourney, the lady
and her husband surveyed the scene from the summit
* Historia Landgraviorum Thuringise, cap. 72. Langius, Chronicon
Citizense, p. 1191. (apud Struvium, Germanicarum Scriptores, torn. i.).
THE HOUSE OP HOHENSTAUFFEN. 247
of a tower; and she eagerly demanded which of the
combatants was count Florence. The manner in which
the question was put roused the jealousy of her hus-
band, who, surveying her with a frown, replied in a
surly tone, " Out of the fulness of the heart the
mouth speaketh. Behold thy beloved prince is he
whose banner is a red lion ; but before evening thou
shalt see him a corpse." Knowing the revengeful dis-
position of her husband, she caused count Florence to
be secretly warned of his danger. But her caution was
vain : hastily putting on his armour, the count of
Claremont assembled a few knights and men at arms,
and led them out as if to join in the martial sports. In
an unguarded moment they fell on him, and dealt him
a mortal blow. In revenge, the count of Cleves, an in-
timate friend of count Florence, despatched the count
of Claremont. The death of her husband had little
effect on the lady ; but that of count Florence affected
her so much, that, had she not been prevented, she would
have thrown herself from the top of the tower, and in
a few days she died of grief.*
* Magnum Chronicon Belgicum, p. 2-19. The above tragedy is extracted
by the chroniclers ex Gestis Comitum Hollandiffi. We neither vouch for
nor deny its truth ; but, whether true or false, it harmonises with the
manners of the times.
R 4
248 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
CHAP. IV.
THE HOUSES OF HAPSBURG, LUXEMBURG, AND BAVARIA.
12731437.
SECTION I.
STATE OF THE COUNTRY. REIGNS OF RODOLF I. ADOLF
ALBERT I. HEINRIC VII. LUDOVIC V. CHARLES IV. WEN-
CESLAS SIGISMUND. IMPERIAL AUTHORITY. PRIVILEGES
OF THE ELECTORS OF THE TERRITORIAL PRINCES OF THE
' NOBLES.
IN the sober age of reason, the crown of such a country
as Germany, so far from being an object of desire, re-
quired no ordinary inducements to accept it. But
mankind have yet to learn the distinction between uti-
lity and splendour. The mere words " Roman Em-
pire," though allowed by all to involve a fiction, was
still a magnificent fiction ; and to it there were many
willing to sacrifice the substantial enjoyments of life.
The anarchy of the last twenty years had indisposed the
nation to foreign candidates : the general feeling was
for a native; and accordingly the great princes, especially
the electors, began to covet the dignity. Among these
electors, the first in rank and in power was Otho king
of Bohemia, who ruled in addition over Austria, Styria,
Carinthia, and Carniola. Yet the extent of his domi-
nions rather injured than favoured his views, since it
inspired the other princes with alarm. In Bavaria
were two brothers, who had divided the duchy between
them : the elder, Ludovic the Stern had Upper Bavaria,
with the palatinate of the Rhine; the younger had
Lower Bavaria : both, as might be expected from their
position towards each other, were enemies. Branden-
burg was in the possession of two local sovereigns,
RODOLF i. . 249
and Saxony of three all descendants of Albert the
Boar. The electoral dignity was understood to descend
in the order of primogeniture ; yet there are instances
in which the younger brothers claimed a share in its
exercise conjointly with the eldest. The other great
provinces, Brunswick, Misnia, Hesse, and Lorraine,
were under the government of men as powerful as the
electors, if we except the king of Bohemia ; for the
partition of the electorates inevitably reduced them to
a level with the rest. Aries, or Burgundy, which had
formerly acknowledged the superiority of the empire,
was now much more dependent on France, and was
evidently verging to an incorporation with that mon-
archy. In 1273, the diet of election was assembled
at Frankfort; the chief candidates were Ottocar, and
Alfonso of Castile, whom no arguments could persuade
to desist from his pretensions. To the surprise of
Europe, the suffrage fell on Rodolf count of Haps-
burg ; a prince who, in an inferior station, had acquired
much local celebrity, but who was wholly unknown, not
merely to Europe, but to the empire. If Rodolf was
descended from an ancient princely family, among
his ancestors was certainly Gontram the Rich, count of
Alsace, and perhaps Etico duke of Alamannia or Swabia,
who flourished three centuries before Gontram, his
territorial domains were far from considerable. These,
which were chiefly scattered in Argau, Brisgau, and
Alsace, had been divided among different members of
the family, until Rodolf, by his valour, and still more
by his policy, re-united them. But some of his early
exploits will scarcely bear examination in these days,
however they might be palliated by the circumstances
of the times. He did not, indeed, like many other
nobles, openly exercise the profession of bandit ; but,
with his handful of followers, he made war with im-
punity on his obnoxious equals, whose lands and for-
tresses he certainly diminished for his own advantage.
Among these were two of his uncles ; one of whom,
Hartman count of Kyburg, in the view of finding a
250 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
protection against the encroachments of his nephew,
changed his allodial domains into fiefs, for which he
did homage to the bishop of Strasburg. In revenge,
Rodolf took the part of the citizens against their bishop,
defeated the latter, and rescued their domains from all
vassalitical dependence on the see. In 1263, Hartman
dying without issue, Rodolf succeeded to the lordship
of Kyburg, and the other domains of that house ; and
being the constituted guardian of Anne, the heiress of
another uncle, he had also the uncontrolled adminis-
tration of her states. Yet these, even adding his in-
fluence over Schweitz, Uri, and Unterwalden, and the
imperial city of Zurich, gave him little chance of coping
with the sovereigns of the empire : he was yet merely
a prince of the second order, whose influence was much
too bounded for his ambition. At this period he
is believed to have entered the service of the Bohemian
king, and to have distinguished himself in the war
against the Slavi of the frontier and the Hungarians.
But whether he ever possessed the favour of Ottocar
may be doubted : perhaps he only joined the crusade
against the Prussians, as a means of propitiating the
church, which had laid him under its censures for his
violence towards a nunnery/* He would have lived and
died count of Hapsburg and Kyburg, had not an un-
expected circumstance introduced him to the notice of
the archbishop of Mentz. On the way to Rome, that
prelate, conceiving that in times so turbulent his own
escort was insufficient for his protection, applied, on
reaching Strasburg, to Rodolf, for a band of horsemen
as far as the Italian frontier. The count readily fur-
nished him with one, which escorted him to the eternal
city and back to Strasburg. The nobleness of this con-
duct made a deep impression on archbishop Werner;
and his admiration was increased when he learned the
* It is astonishing that modern writers should be found so little ac-
quainted with the elaborate disquisitions of the German critics, as possi.
lively to assert that Rodolf was cup-bearer to Ottocar (see Russell's
History of Modern Europe, vol. i. p. 413.). There is not one syllable on
the subject in any author prior to the fifteenth century.
RODOLF I. 251
success with which this valiant noble had cleared the
highways in these provinces from the banditti which
infested them. Such valour and generosity, indeed, were
qualities which, though they would have adorned any
country, were peculiarly popular in this. From this
period an intimate friendship must have united the
primate and the count ; for the service which we have
mentioned would not, alone, have induced Werner to
espouse his interests so warmly in the diet of Frank-
fort. The primate first gained his two colleagues, the
archbishop of Cologne and Treves. Fortunately for his
views, three of the secular electors were unmarried, and
Rodolf had several marriageable daughters. If the
count's hereditary domains were too small to provide
these daughters with suitable marriage portions, as em-
peror he would have a chief voice in the disposal of
forfeited or lapsed fiefs. The promise of three, to the
dukes of Upper Bavaria and of Saxony, and to the mar-
grave of Brandenburg, secured those powerful electors.
There were, doubtless, other inducements, the nature
of which was secret ; but certain conditions were sanc-
tioned by the margrave of Nuremburg, a prince of
Rodolf's family. Nor must we omit another consider-
ation : though the count of Hapsburg was just such a
man as was required for the defence of the empire, his
hereditary possessions were too bounded to give um-
brage to the princes ; he might be a useful general or
judge, he could scarcely become a master. All were
consequently gained, except the king of Bohemia,
whose ambassadors vainly protested against the elec-
tion. When the unexpected and scarcely credible news
arrived, Rodolf was besieging the city of Basle, the
bishop of which had murdered some nobles of his
family. The citizens were the first to hail his elevation,
and swear allegiance to him ; and he lost no time in
repairing to Aix-la-Chapelle, where, in 1273, he was
crowned king of the Romans by the archbishop of
Mentz, two years after the death of Richard.*
* Origines Habsburgo-Austriacae, p. 7, &c. ttenealogia Diplomatica
Gentis Hapsburgica?, passim. Vitoduranus, Chronica, p. 7. Chronicon
252 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
1273 Had not Rodolf possessed abilities equal to his valour,
* he must have fallen before the obstacles he was sum-
' moned to assail. 1. The papal see had for centuries
been in hostility to the empire : during the late reigns the
animosity had, as we have seen, led to the most disas-
trous results ; and though, with the extinction of the
Swabian house, one cause of the hostility had been
removed, much remained to be done before a good un-
derstanding could be established. Fortunately for the
peace of Christendom, Gregory X. was as wise and
moderate as the new king of the Romans. The latter
renounced all right to the succession of bishop ; all ju-
risdiction over Rome, all feudal superiority over the
march of Ancona, the duchy of Spoleto, the kingdom of
Naples ; all interference in ecclesiastical elections ; he
confirmed the privilege of appeal to the supreme pontiff;
and, except in so far as the right of investiture was
concerned, the independence of the Germanic church on
the crown. These, it has been contended, were re-
markable concessions ; a criminal renunciation of the
most valuable rights in favour of a power necessarily
hostile to the empire ; treason against the empire itself.
We should however, remember, that all of them had
been repeatedly sanctioned by his predecessors previously
to their assumption of the imperial crown ; that all were
equally demanded by the interest of Germany, no less
than that of Italy ; and that the only difference between
him and those predecessors is, that, while they promised
what they were previously resolved to revoke, he acted
with sincerity. Sincerity was so novel a virtue in a
chief of the empire, that, in this instance, it has called
forth the surprise of posterity, and has afforded the
Ghibelin writers a convenient pretext for assailing the
popes. But sober impartiality will for ever praise the
conduct of Rodolf. The independence which he se-
Colmarense, pp. 37 V). Albertus Argestor, Histpria, p. 99. Langius,
Chronicon Citizense, p. 1186. Historia de Langraviis Thuringiz, p. 1333.
Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum, lib. 21. Schmidt, Histoire des Alle-
maiuls, torn. v. p. 273, \-c. Conringius, De Finibus Imperil, lib. ii.
cap. 24. Annales Colmarenses, xv.
HODOLF I. 253
cured to the German church was an unmixed good : his
renunciation of all jurisdiction over Rome was, in fact,
the renunciation of a shadow ; since its exercise, ori-
ginally delegated as a personal favour to the Carlo-
vingian emperors, could be enforced only by an army.
To the long-disputed domains of Matilda, the successors
of Arnulf had never had a well-founded claim : by vio-
lence only had they obtained the temporary homage of
the inhabitants. As the successors of Charlemagne, they
advanced many other pretensions equally insulting :
but if the article in question was good for any thing,
it proved too much ; it asserted their right to France,
to Catalonia, to all Italy, no less than to the domains in
question. But, in reality, these domains, at the time
of their concession by Matilda, were strictly allodial :
they had never been received from the German emperor,
but had been held by her predecessors ever 'since the
Lombard domination, undisturbed and undisputed, until
the Saxon, the Franconian, and, above all, the Swabian
emperors, claimed the superiority over, not only them,
but all Europe, in virtue of that monstrous though magni-
ficent fiction their succession to the empire of the
Ca?sars. Wisely, therefore, did Rodolf resign these
vain and insulting pretensions ; since by so doing
he strengthened, instead of weakening, the empire, and
laid the foundation of his own greatness and the great-
ness of his house. The complaints of his rival Alfonso
were received by the pope and the council of Lyons
with marked indifference ; the influence of another rival,
much more to be dreaded, Charles of Anjou, was much
circumscribed by the efforts of the papal see ; and,
through the same mediation, he preserved, for a time,
Provence as a fief of his crown. But great as were
these advantages, a far greater was the peace which this
compact with the holy see procured to Italy, to Ger-
many, to Europe. The dissensions between the spi-
ritual and temporal chiefs had long shaken the most
distant kingdoms of Christendom : they had compelled
the popes to oppress the church of every European
254 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
country ; had engendered, in consequence, murmurs,
and even civil wars ; had inflicted a fatal blow, not only
on discipline, but on religion ; and had fearfully di-
minished the reverence due, not only to ecclesiastical,
but to civil, authority. 2. This harmony with the
papal see was no less useful to Rodolf in his pacification
of Germany. From the first, Ottocar of Bohemia, and
Heinric duke of Lower Bavaria, opposed his elevation ;
and they refused to attend his first diet, to swear alle-
giance to him, and to do homage for the particular
fiefs which they held from the monarch. Instead of
aiding the Bohemian king, as would have been the
policy of preceding popes, Gregory and his successors
advised him to submit ; but he was too rash to profit by
the warning ; in fact, he was blinded by his passions.
He well knew that his claims to Austria, and the pro-
vinces dependent on it, were liable to dispute ; and he
had reason to know that timely submission would have
confirmed him in the possession of those important
fiefs. From his refusal to appear, they were forfeited ;
and he could not be surprised when messengers arrived
to demand their restitution. Instead of submitting, he
treated the citations with contumely, and prepared for
war ; but war he could not wage with any prospect of
success : he had offended the pope by prohibiting the
bishops of Bohemia from communicating with a pontiff
who had recognised Rodolf; he had irritated the mem-
bers of the diet by representing their choice of that
sovereign as invalid ; he now exasperated the Austrians
by his rapacity and tyranny. Yet though, in addition
to these threatening circumstances, he saw his only ally,
Heinric of Bavaria, submit to Rodolf, he persevered in
his obstinacy. He seems to have indulged the hope,
that few of the Germanic princes would join the standard
of their new chief; nor was the hope without found-
ation. Nothing, indeed, had been more difficult than
for the emperors to congregate a military force sufficient
for the occasion : during the last century, they had been
compelled, as we have before related, to hire mer-
RODOLF i. 255
cenaries. Scarcely a tenth of the princes now joined
the king of the Romans. Yet Rodolf was not a man
to he defied : he collected the vassals of his house, those
subject to the imperial crown, those of his kindred and
friends ; and, joining them to the troops furnished by
some of the states, he invaded Austria, which he quickly
reduced ; while Meinhard, count of the Tyrol, whose
daughter was the wife of his son Albert, was equally suc-
cessful in Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria. Still Vienna
held out; and, on the opposite bank of the Danube,
the Bohemian king, hoping that the river would serve
him as an insurmountable barrier, continued to brave
the Germanic chief. But this sense of security was
soon dissipated by the facility with which the latter
constructed a bridge of boats, a proceeding regarded
with perfect astonishment, and enabled his troops to
pass over. Ottocar, alarmed at his situation, now sub-
mitted, and found that he had a generous adversary.*
If he was compelled to surrender Austria and its de-
pendent provinces, they were regions to which he had a
feeble right, and which he could not possibly have re-
tained ; while he was confirmed in the possession of
Bohemia and Moravia ; and, to preserve the new rela-
tions of amity, a double matrimonial alliance was re-
solved, the prince of Bohemia being affianced to a
daughter of Rodolf, and a son of the latter to a princess
of Bohemia. But the king of the Romans had little
faith in this treaty, and he remained in Austria to watch
the progress of events. This distrust was speedily
justified by the rebellion of Ottocar, whom he again
defeated, and who fell in the battle. The removal of
so turbulent a prince led to the pacification of the king-
dom, the marriages which had been arranged were cele-
brated ; and Wenceslas, the young king, was hence-
forth the peaceful subject, or, to speak correctly, ally,
of his father-in-law. 3. These successes enabled Rodolf
256 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
to effect an object evidently close to his heart, the
aggrandisement of his family. On his two sons, Albert '
and Rodolf, he conferred, with the consent of the diet,
the duchies of Austria, Styria, and Carniola ; reserved
to the elder the undivided administration ; and Carin-
thia, with the title of duke, he gave to his son-in-law
Meinhard, count of the Tyrol, with this proviso, how-
ever, that if the masculine posterity of Meinhard should
become extinct, the duchy should revert to his own
family. Nor did he neglect the interests of his son-in-
law the Bohemian king : in a diet, he decided that the
suffragan right, no less than the office of grand cup-
bearer, should belong, not to Bavaria, but to Bohemia ;
yet Louis the Stern continued, as palatine of the Rhine,
an elector of the empire. 4. But for nothing is Rodolf
so much celebrated as for the vigour with which he re-
pressed internal rebellion, and for the harmony which
he introduced into the internal administration. From
the first to the last year, he showed great zeal in the
discharge of this paramount of duties. In successive
diets, he compelled or persuaded the princes to submit
their differences to arbitration, to swear to the ob-
servance of the public peace, and to consent to the
demolition of the fortresses which had been erected by
the nobles, as well for plunder as for war. In one year
he rased seventy of these mischievous strongholds, and
condemned to death no fewer than twenty-nine nobles
of Thuringia who still presumed to disturb the public
peace ; nor could the entreaties of their friends avert
from them the fate which they had so well deserved.
The number of charters which he granted to several
imperial cities, and to rising municipalities, is very
great : they attest his zeal for the internal prosperity,
and the extraordinary activity with which he hastened
from province to province to watch over the local ad-
ministration. With equal success did he demand the
restoration of the imperial domains from the electors
and princes by whom they had been usurped ; and that
of the superiority of the empire over the provinces,
RODOLF I. 257
which, during the troublesome period of his prede-
cessors, had been usurped by the dukes of Saxony and
Burgundy. We may add, that he restored, in all its
lustre, the office of imperial grand judge, or judge of
the court, which had been allowed to fall into disuse.
Yet, great and enduring as were the benefits which he
conferred on the empire, the states evaded his request
that his son Albert should be elected king of the Romans.
They appear, indeed, to have watched with extreme
jealousy the steps which he had taken to aggrandise his
house ; and to have been apprehensive that, if the crown
passed to his son, it might be rendered hereditary in his
posterity. In 1291, this great prince breathed his last,
in a good old age. In almost every respect, he is entitled
to the admiration of posterity. No man had ever such
difficulties to encounter ; and none, perhaps, ever en-
countered them with so much success. In him were
happily combined great caution with surpassing valour,
great wisdom with an unexampled spirit of enterprise.
In the affairs of Italy he took so little interest, that he
would not visit it even to receive the imperial crown ;
he compared it to the lion's den, whitened with the
bones of the emperors his predecessors. His reign
exhibited a remarkable novelty, internal tranquillity.
He not only preserved peace with his neighbours, but
with a firm hand he suppressed private war in every
quarter, rased the bandit fortresses to the earth, and hung
the inmates by scores. His probity became a proverb.
Of his piety, or rather, of his respect for religion,
some interesting anecdotes are related. While hunting,
he one day met a priest carrying the host to a sick person.
Though the path was exceedingly dirty, and the mountain
torrents almost impassable through the heavy rains, he
quickly dismounted, and gave his horse to the poor
priest, observing, that for him to ride while the bearer
of the consecrated host walked on foot, was an un-
seemly spectacle. The magnanimity with which he
forgot personal wrongs, and the gratitude with which
he rewarded services, especially such as had been ren-
VOL. i. s
258 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
dered him in his early life, are mentioned equally to
his honour. One day, while seated amidst his court at
Mentz, he perceived an humble citizen of Zurich, who,
long before his elevation, rescued him in the midst of
battle from imminent danger. He arose ; treated the
man with the utmost friendship ; and conferred on
him, what in those days was, indeed, both a privi-
lege and an honour the rank of knighthood. It was
his boast that the emperor could not forget the obliga-
tions of the count. During the Bohemian campaign,
while he and his troops were suffering from thirst,
though a jug of water was brought him, he would not
drink it ; he would not enjoy a gratification denied to
them. He was accessible to the humblest of his people.
Seeing one day that his guards were preventing the
approach of some poor men, he cried out, " Let them
approach ! I was not made emperor to be excluded
from my fellow- creatures !" But his highest eulogy is
to be found in his conduct as a sovereign. He illus-
trates, in a striking manner, the truth of an observation
we have before made that more depends on the per-
sonal character of a ruler, than on the laws by
which he is bound. Limited as was the imperial power,
he knew how to make the dignity respected. " His
very name," says a cotemporary chronicler, " spread
terror among the turbulent barons, joy among the
people ; as light springs from darkness, so peace arose
from desolation. The peasant returned to his plough,;
the merchant, whom the fear of bandits had confined to
his hom'e, now traversed the country with confidence."
He has truly been called the second restorer of the
empire ; none of his predecessors, except Charlemagne,
ever procured such benefits for it. That he who rose
from the condition of an humble territorial count, to
that of a great emperor, must have been an extraor-
dinary man, cannot be disputed. If to his good for-
tune he owed much, to his merit he was still more
indebted. Accident might introduce him to the arch-
bishop of Mentz ; but accident could not have won the
ADOLF. 259
admiration and esteem of that prelate. Well may the
house of Austria indisputably the noblest in Europe
glory in its founder.*
Great as was the, jealousy entertained by the Ger- 1291
manic princes towards a candidate who had much here- to
ditary influence, Albert, the only surviving son of ] 308-
Rodolf, would probably have been elected, but for the
intrigues of the archbishop of Mentz. Under the pre-
text of averting disturbances, if not oivil war, this wily
prelate, having persuaded the electors to confide their
votes to him, impudently proclaimed king of the
Romans Adolf of Nassau (1291 1298), a prince of
his own family. Adolf had the meanness to purchase
the dignity by extraordinary concessions, called capi-
tulations, which were exacted by his patron the primate,
an example too alluring not to be followed in the
sequel. To repeat them is needless : suffice it to say,
they regarded the aggrandisement of the archbishop and
his friends, and were deeply injurious both to the in-
terests of the empire and the dignity of its chief. Many
of them, however, he was unwilling some of them,
perhaps, unable to fulfil ; so that the archbishop was
eager to undo his own work. The conduct of Adolf
himself was not of a character to inspire respect, or to
afford the prospect of much good to the people. Feeble,
yet corrupt ; intent on the enriching of his family, but
regardless of his sovereign duties ; without dignity in
his public, vicious in his private, conduct ; he soon be-
came, if not odious, indifferent to his subjects. What
not a little tended to his unpopularity, was the fact,
that though from Edward I. of England he received a
considerable subsidy on the condition of his commencing
hostilities with Philip of France, he neither went to
* Anuales Colmarenses (sub annis). Calles, Annales Austrise, cap. i.
Chronicon, torn. ii. p. 235, &c. Lambacher, Demonstratio Juris,
passim. Vitodurana?, Chronicon, p. 8, &c. Albertus Argentinensis, An-
nales, p. 99, c. Historia Australis Plcnior (apud Freherum, Scriptores,
torn. i.). /Eneas Sylvius, Historia Bohemica, cap 27. Dubravius, Historia
Bohemica, lib. 17. Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesiastic! ; necnon Muratori,
Annali d'ltalia (sub annis). Pfeffel, Histoire d'Allemagne, torn. i. (sub
annis). Academia Grascensis, Historia Ducum Styriae, pp. 103 112.
s 2
260 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
war nor returned the money. Of this general dissatis-
faction, Albert duke of Austria was not slow to avail
himself. The primate was soon in his interests ; and
the remaining electors were persuaded to depose their
present chief. By some modern historians, it has been
asserted that pope Boniface VIII., corrupted by a pre-
sent of money from Albert, authorised a new election :
it is, however, certain, that so far from wishing to over-
turn the established throne, he declared, not only that
he would have no part in the transaction, but that, if
Adolf would proceed to Rome, he would place the im-
perial crown on his head. But the approval or censure
of the pope would have weighed little in the scale of
ambition. By the electors, Adolf, as if he were merely
one of their body, was thrice cited to appear before
them ; and though he disregarded the citations, his
trial proceeded ; he was condemned for contumacy, and
deposed; and in his place was elected Albert I. (12p8
1308), son of the great Rodolf. Adolf naturally
refused to sanction these extraordinary measures ; the
rivals flew to arms ; and, in a battle near Worms,
Adolf lost empire and life. Albert, like his predecessor,
had been compelled to sign capitulations little worthy of
his family or dignity. That he should submit to a new
election was right enough; since the former one' could
scarcely be called valid, even if it were not opposed
by the archbishop of Treves and the count palatine ;
but that he should alienate the domains and revenues of
the crown in favour of the three archbishops, especially
of the primate ; that he should forbid any cause to be
transferred from the tribunals of Cologne to his own ;
that he should renounce, in all the electorates, both for
himself and his judges, his concurrent jurisdiction with
the princes none, in future, being obliged to obey his
citations ; that he should promise four considerable dis-
tricts to the king of Bohemia, his brother-in-law, and
virtually make that prince independent of the crown, by
exempting him from military service, and even from
the obligation of personally appearing at the diets; proves
ALBERT I. 261
that his was one of those little minds over which ambi-
tion is more powerful than the good of mankind. What
makes his meanness more conspicuous is the eagerness
with which he sought to evade his engagements. He
refused to surrender the imperial domains to the arch-
bishops, or his imperial rights to any one ; nor would
would he allow the king of Bohemia to discharge his
duty of cup-bearer by deputy, whenever a general diet
was sitting ; and some concessions, which he had al-
ready executed, he resolved to recover either by treaty
or violence. The rage of the electors was extreme ;
they proclaimed their intention of sending Albert after
his predecessor ; and the primate was heard to boast,
that so long as he lived there should be no lack of
sovereigns, for he had several more in his sleeves. Like
his predecessor, Albert was cited before the tribunal of
the count palatine, and pope Boniface summoned him
to appear in six months at Rome, to answer the charge
of high treason. Never was any situation so extraor-
dinary as his : on the one side his own subjects, on the
other a foreign bishop, proclaimed themselves his judges
and his superiors ; so that the Germanic crown was in
greater jeopardy than it had ever been since the found-
ation of the empire. But Albert was not an Adolf ; he
flew to arms, defeated the three archbishops and the count
palatine, occupied their seats, and dictated whatever con-
ditions he pleased. Fortunately, too, Boniface, who
was then pressed by the king of France, so far from
executing his threats, was compelled to apply to him
for support. In return, he was recognised as lawful
king of the Romans ; and was offered, by way of present,
the kingdom of France : but as this was on the condi-
tion that he should conquer it from Philip, whom the
pope had excommunicated : he wisely declined it.
Though Boniface was soon assassinated by the emis-
saries of Philip, Albert profited by his reconciliation
with the papal see, and by his successes over four of the
electors, to reduce the proud king of Bohemia. In
1305, Wenceslas IV. died, and his youthful son, the
s 3
262
HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
-
;Xr
nephew of Albert, in the following year. With
Wenceslas V. expired the male line of the Slavonic
princes, which had possessed the government from the
first establishment of the state ; and though two sisters
remained the one married to Heinric duke of Carin-
thia, the other a maiden it may be doubted whether
the crown could legally pass to either : conventionally,
in virtue of an agreement between Rodolf and Wences-
las IV., it was the inheritance of the Hapsburg family.
Accordingly, Albert invested his eldest son, Rodolf duke
of Austria, with this royal fief ; but the immediate death
of the young prince arrested the progress of his ambi-
tion. He had, indeed, another son, Frederic, now
duke of Austria, whom the Bohemian states themselves
had acknowledged, in default of issue by Rodolf ; but
the duke of Carinthia had many partisans, who, re-
sorting to arms, overpowered those of Austria, and elected
Heinric as their king. Probably, however, Bohemia
would have been established in the Austrian family, had
not two other affairs demanded the presence of Albert
in other parts. 1. From the accession of Adolf, there
had been a dispute as to the possession of Misnia and a
great part of Thuringia. The old margrave, as we
have before seen, had attempted to disinherit his two
sons, and had sold his right to the crown.* But the
two princes had defended their rights with various suc-
cess ; the power of Adolf had been unable to expel
them ; and now they signally defeated Albert, who had
hoped to erect these provinces into a principality for
one of his sons. 2. Disappointed in his views, he
still hoped to form another from the domains of his house
in Swabia, Alsace, and Helvetia. But the oppression of
his magistrates whom he had placed over the three towns,
Schweitz, Uri, and Unterwalden, and the well-founded
apprehensions of those free mountaineers that he in-
tended to reduce the whole country to subjection, to
crush the territorial nobility, and to annex the imperial
i
See before, page 251.
ALBERT I. . 263
cities to the meditated principality, raised a spirit of
resistance which he had not expected. The three places
we have mentioned, formed themselves into a confederacy
for the defence of their undoubted rights. Yet Albert
had cause for complaint : the members of the league,
not satisfied with renouncing for themselves all depend-
ence on the empire, endeavoured to seduce the vassals
of the house of Hapsburg from their allegiance, and
afforded a ready asylum to the rebels. Hence there
were faults on both sides ; a fact unhappily character-
istic of most human transactions. Whether Albert was
preparing, as the Swiss historians assert to penetrate
into these mountainous regions, may perhaps be doubted ;
but his days were cut short by the conspiracy of his ne-
phew, to whom the domains of the house of Kyburg
belonged, but whom he refused to invest. The his-
torians of Austria uniformly assert, that this refusal was
entirely owing to the minority of prince John ; while
others maintain, and with far greater probability, that
John was to be dispossessed in favour of Albert's son.
That the nephew was convinced of the latter fact is evi-
dent from his atrocious conduct; with four associates
he waylaid the monarch not far from the castle of
Hapsburg, and dealt the first blow ; and they soon
finished the deed. The victim expired in the arms of a
poor woman of frail virtue, who happened to be a spec-
tator of the tragedy. The scene, too, was witnessed by
the royal attendants, and by Leopold, son of Albert, from
the opposite banks of the river Reoss.* It is some con-
* This scene is thus described by Coxe (House of Austria, vol. i.
p.93.):_
" On the arrival of Albert on the banks of the Reoss, opposite Windier),
the conspirators first parsed over the ferry, and were followed by Albert,
who crossed with a single attendant, leaving his son Leopold and the rest
of his suite on the other side of the river. As he rode slowly through the
fields at the foot of the hills crowned by the castle of Hapsburg, familiarly
conversing with his attendant, he was suddenly assailed by the conspirators,
one of whom seized the bridle of his horse. His nephew, exclaiming,
'Will you now restore my inheritance ?' wounded him in the neck;
Balm pierced him in the body, and Eschenbach clove his head with a sabre.
Wart, the other conspirator, stood aghast ; the attendant fled ; and the
king, falling from his horse, was left weltering in his blood. His son Leo-
S 4
264 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
solation to read that the conspirators, and John himself,
had little reason to congratulate themselves on the deed.
Wart, indeed, was the only one taken, and he was soon
broken on the wheel ; but the rest died in obscurity and
misery. Though we have condemned the baseness of
Albert, in consenting to receive the Germanic crown on
terms so ignominious; and, in an equal degree, the con-
stancy with which he procured the aggrandisement of
his family ; we must do justice to his character both as a
man and a sovereign. In the former capacity he was
almost faultless : tender husband and parent ; faith-
ful to his engagements, except in the case of the electors ;
a worshipper of truth, and hostile to flattery as much as
to open lying ; simple in his habits, decorous in his con-
duct ; he was beloved by his household and friends. As
a sovereign, he was distinguished for great firmness of
purpose, for superior military talents, and for the zeal
with which he enforced the peace of the empire. On
the whole, though he must necessarily suffer by the
comparison with his great father, he was one of the
monarchs of whom Germany has most reason to be
proud.*
1308 On the tragical death of Albert, the eyes of many
to princes were turned to Frederic duke of Austria, his
eldest son, who had virtues worthy of any throne: but
the father had Hever been popular ; and the cruelty with
which some members of the family, especially Agnes,
daughter of Albert, and widow of Andrew III. king of
Hungary revenged the murder of that monarch, in-
pold and his attendant! were the terrified spectators of the atrocious deed ;
and when they had passed the river, they found the king just expired, in
the arms of a poor woman who had hastened to his assistance."
* Annales Colmarenses, p. 59, &c. Continuatio Cosniffi Pra?gensis,
cap. 16 19. 27, &c. Albertus Argentinensis, Annales, pp. 101 115. Gpde-
mus, Codex I)iplom. ton:, j. (multis instrumentis). Langius, Chronicon
Citizense, p. 1335. Latomus, Catalogus Archiepiscoporum Moguntinen-
sium, p. 522, &c. Chronicon S. Petri, pp. 302 316. Dubravius, Historia
Bohemica, lib. 18. Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum, lib. 22. Magnum
Chronicon Belgicum (sub annis). Pfeffel, Histoire d'Allemagne, torn. i.
pp. 440 462. Schmidt, Histoire, torn. iv. liv. 7. cap. 2. and 3. Coxe,
House of Austria, vol. i. pp. 7294. Academia Grecensis Historia
Ducum Styriae, pp. 122155.
HEINBIC I. 265
creased the feeling of dissatisfaction. But the electors
themselves, averse, as indeed they had always been, to
the hereditary succession of the crown, had no intention
of choosing Frederic ; in stipulating advantages for
themselves, they would have prolonged the interreg-
num for some time, had not an event happened to
accelerate their decision. One of the candidates was
Charles de Valois, brother to Philip king of France;
and Philip, to ensure his brother's success, ordered Cle-
ment V., who was seated at Avignon, and who was a
creature of France, to recommend the electors to choose
Charles only. When the pope proceeded too slowly
for his impatience, he was preparing to send Charles
with 6000 men to Avignon, to force the execution of his
design, but Clement privately acquainted the electors with
the situation of affairs, and urged them to precipitate
their choice. Though a partisan of France, and a
Frenchman himself, the pope felt that the royal house
of that kingdom was already too powerful; and he might
reasonably fear, that if Germany were added to Naples
and France, that house would have the papal see at its
mercy. Through the intrigues of Peter archbishop of
Mentz, the election fell on Heinric count of Luxemburg,
brother of Baldwin archbishop of Treves. Heinric VII.
(1308 1313) was obliged to sign a capitulation pre-
sented to him by the electors of Mentz, no less mis-
chievous than that which had been sanctioned by his
immediate predecessors. It rendered that prelate com-
pletely the sovereign of Mentz. Nor was Clement in-
attentive to his own interests ; for, as the condition of
acknowledging the new king of the Romans, he drew
that prince, by several demands, into a close connection
with the church: his enemies were to be those of Henry;
who, in fact, was to do nothing beyond the bounds of
the empire without the concurrence of his holiness. But
Heinric consoled himself for these submissions by an un-
expected opportunity of raising his own family to the
highest rank in that country. Heinric duke of Carinthia,
as we have already seen, was received by the Bohemians,
266
HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
to the exclusion of the Austrian princes ; but his con-
duct soon gave so much dissatisfaction to the people,
that a third party was formed, hostile to both houses.
The younger sister of Wenceslas V. was still unmarried;
she was drawn from the cloister in which she had been
immured, and sent to Spires to receive the hand of prince
John, son of the German king, who eagerly embraced
the opportunity of securing the Bohemian crown in his
family. History is little more than the triumph of
violence over right. By compact certainly, probably
also by the laws, the Austrian princes were the true
heirs to the throne ; and even if it were adjudged to the
female offspring of Wenceslas, the elder, the duchess of
Carinthia, must exclude the younger. To remove one
competitor, Heinric of Carinthia was declared, on some
trifling pretexts, to have forfeited his claim ; and the
Austrian princes were alarmed into submission by the
menace, that if they did not recognise John of Luxeml
burg, the fiefs of Austria, Styria, and Carniola, should
be reclaimed as dependent on the Bohemian crown. On
that crown, however, these provinces had been depend-
ent only for a short season, through the usurpation of
a former king ; yet, as justice was not likely to be
more regarded in this than in other cases, the Austrian
princes wisely submitted ; and received in return the
investiture of the three provinces as patrimonial fiefs.
The reign of the seventh Heinric was destined to be
short. His predecessors, during half a century, had
wisely refrained from interfering in the affairs of Italy;
and had thereby avoided the unhappy fate of many
whose bones, as Rodolf truly observed, whitened that
den of wild beasts. But, dazzled by his unexpected
elevation, and that of his son, he resolved, in a fatal
hour, to restore the supremacy of the empire over Lom-
bardy and Tuscany. His transactions in Italy must be
sought in the histories of that country.* Here we need
only observe, that, though for a moment Lombardy sub-
* See Sismondi, History of the Italian Republics; and Europe during
the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 63.
HEINBIC VII. 26?
mitted, and he received the imperial crown at Rome
from the hands of three cardinals, to whom Clement V.
(still at Avignon) delegated the necessary powers, he
suddenly died at Buonconventi, near Sienna.*
The death of Heinric replunged Germany into hor- 1315
rors to which, since the extinction of the Swabian line to
of emperors, it had been a stranger. The Austrian 1347 -
princes, who had never forgiven the elevation of the
Luxemburg family, espoused the interests of Frederic,
their head ; the Bohemians as naturally opposed them.
From the accession of John, the two houses were of
necessity hostile ; and it was evident that there could
be no peace in Germany until one of them was sub-
jected to the other. The Bohemians, indeed, could
not hope to place their king on the vacant throne, since
their project would have found an insurmountable ob-
stacle in the jealousy of the electors ; but they were at
least resolved to support the pretensions of a prince
hostile to the Austrians. The secular electors were
generally favourable to Frederic ; but, unfortunately,
the partition of the electorates had introduced con-
siderable doubt, whether the suffrage which, in cases of
unanimity, was generally exercised by the heads of the
branches conjointly, should, in case of difference of
opinion, be decided by the representative of the house.
Every vote was essentially entire ; it could not be split :
and if unanimity could not be procured, reason certainly
dictated that the decision should be left to him, who,
but for such partition, would have possessed the un-
divided suffrage. But in this respect there was no
established rule ; for while, in general, this primogenital
right was recognised, in some cases the members of the
house refused to be bound by the act of their chief ; in
whose name, however, every vote was of necessity re-
* Authorities: The continuation of Cosma Prasgensis ; Annales Er-
furtenses; Annales Colmarenses ; Olenschlager, Geschichte des XIV.
Jahr; Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesiastic! ; Muratori, Annali d'ltalia ; Lan-
gius, Chronicon Citizense ; Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum; Pfeftel;
Schmidt'; Coxe and others (sub annis) ; Giovanni Vallani, Isforia,
lib. viii. ix. ; Vecerius, De Kebus Gestis Henrici VII. ; Rebdorf, Annales ;
cum aliis.
26'8 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
corded. Hence the votes of the secular electors were
not so influential as those of the ecclesiastical, whose
example almost invariably decided the choice. On the
present occasion, the diet being convoked at Frankfort,
the electors repaired thither ; but with very different
views ; for, as their suffrages were already engaged,
while the more numerous party proclaimed the duke of
Bavaria as Ludowic V., another no less eagerly pro-
claimed Frederic. Although Ludowic was a member
of the Austro-Hapsburg family his mother being a
daughter of Rodolf I. he had always been the enemy
of the Austrian princes, and in the same degree the ally
of the Luxemburg faction. The two candidates being
respectively crowned kings of the Romans ; Ludowic
at Aix-la-Chapelle, by the archbishop of Mentz Fre-
deric at Bonn, by the metropolitan of Cologne ; a civil
war was inevitable : neither had virtue enough to sacri-
fice his own rights to the good of the state. As both
had great military talents, equal enterprise and resolu-
tion, the contest could not fail to be severe and pro-
tracted. Fortunately for Ludowic, the Austrian forces
were defeated by the hardy natives of Helvetia, who,
from hatred to the memory of Albert and his rapacious
officers, had declared for the Bavarian and Bohemian
faction. Yet, after all, the contest would have ended
in favour of the Austrians, but for the rashness of
Frederic, who, in September 1322, without waiting for
the arrival of his brother Leopold, assailed Ludowic
between Mahldorf and Ettingen in Bavaria. With
his usual magnanimity, Frederic, considering that the
pre-eminence of danger was his proper duty, arrayed
himself in splendid armour, on which was emblazoned
the cognizance of his house ; and on his head he wore
a helmet surmounted by a crown ; thus exhibiting him-
self on the one hand as the rallying point of his fol-
lowers, on the other as a mark to the enemy. Ludowic,
who was more prudent, though no less brave, placed him-
self in the centre ; but distrusting his own talents as a
general, he left the command to Schwepperman, one of
LUDOWIC V. 26'9
the most experienced captains of the age. The battle
was maintained with equal valour from the rising to the
setting sun ; and was evidently in favour of the Aus-
trians, when an unexpected charge in flank by a body
of cavalry under the margrave of Nuremburg decided
the fortune of the day. Heinric of Austria was first
taken prisoner ; and Frederic himself, who disdained
to flee., was soon in the same condition. To his ever-
lasting honour, Ludowic received Frederic with the
highest assurances of esteem; and though the latter was
conveyed to the strong fortress of Trapnitz, in the
Upper Palatinate, he was treated with every indulgence
consistent with his safe custody. But the contest was
not yet decided ; the valiant Leopold was still at the
head of a separate force; and pope John XXII., the
natural enemy of the Ghibelins, incensed at some suc-
cours which Ludowic sent to that party in Lombardy,
excommunicated the king of the Romans, and declared
him deposed from his dignity. Among the ecclesiastics
of the empire this iniquitous sentence had its weight ;
but had not other events been disastrous to the king,
he might have safely despised it. By Leopold he was
signally defeated ; he had the mortification to see the
inconstant king of Bohemia join the party of Austria ;
and the still heavier misfortune to learn that the eccle-
siastical and two or three secular electors were proceed-
ing to another choice that of Charles de Valois, whose
interests were warmly supported by the pope. In this
emergency, his only chance of safety was a recon-
ciliation with his enemies ; and Frederic was released
on condition of his renouncing all claim to the empire.
But though Frederic sincerely resolved to fulfil his
share of the compact, Leopold and the other princes of
his family refused ; and their refusal was approved by
the pope. With the magnanimity of his character,
Frederic, unable to execute the engagements which he
had made, voluntarily surrendered himself to his enemy
But Ludowic, who would not be outdone in generosity,
received him, not as a prisoner, but a friend. " They
270 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
ate/' says a contemporary writer, " at the same table,
slept on the same couch ;" and when the king left
Bavaria, the administration of that duchy was confided
to Frederic. Two such men could not long remain
even politically hostile ; and by another treaty, it was
agreed that they should exercise conjointly the govern-
ment of the empire. When this arrangement was con-
demned both by the pope and the electors, Ludowic
proposed to take Italy as his seat of government, and
leave Germany to Frederic. But the death of the war-
like Leopold the great support of the Austrian cause
and the continued opposition of the states to any com-
promise, enabled Ludowic to retain the sceptre of the
kingdom ; and in 1329, that of Frederic strengthened
his party. But his reign was destined to be one of
troubles. Invading Italy to support the Ghibelin fac-
tion, which was in armed opposition to the pope and
the Guelfs, he seems to have lost his former prudence,
and to have disgusted the men whose favour it was his
interest to secure. His open warfare against the head
of the church did not much improve his affairs ; the
vindictive pope, in addition to the former sentence,
placing all Germany under an interdict, so long as obe-
dience should be yielded to him. To strengthen him-
self, he declared the dukes of Austria princes of the
empire during the absence of the emperors ; conferred
on them sovereign powers in their own states ; and
aided them to gain Carinthia, on the death of duke
Heinric without male issue. Though the duchy was
contested by the Bohemian king, the Austrian princes
triumphed, and by the death of the last heir of the
Tyrol, they succeeded also to that mountainous re-
gion. Ludowic had need of their support, and of
the support of his whole empire, against the hosti-
lity of the popes. And to do that empire justice, it
generally despised the papal thunders. In 1338, the
diet of Frankfort issued a declaration for ever me-
morable in the annals of freedom. That the imperial
authority depended on God alone ; that the pope had
LUDOWIC V. 271
no temporal influence, direct or indirect, within the
empire ; that the sovereign chosen by the electors be-
came, ipso facto, the legitimate emperor, without any
need of confirmation by the papal see, who neither by
law nor justice had the power to approve or condemn
the choice ; and that all persons who maintained the
reverse should be declared guilty of high treason ; and
it concluded by empowering the emperor (Ludowic while
in Italy had received the imperial crown from the anti-
pope whom he had created in opposition to John XXII.)
to raise, of his own authority, the interdict which,
during four years, had oppressed the country. Another
diet, held the following year, ratified this bold declar-
ation ; and added, that from the moment of his election,
the sovereign virtually became emperor as well as king ;
and that in regard to the title, if the pope refused to
crown him, the duty might be performed by any catholic
bishop. That such a declaration was not made four
years preceding, may surprise us : never was a wiser
one issued : it was, in fact, become necessary ; for the
independence of the nation, and the dictatorial rights of
the princes, were openly invaded by the monstrous pre-
tensions of the Roman see. But the popes of Avignon
were the mere tools of France, the natural enemy of the
empire : they and the cardinals were alike French ; and
the church universal continued, during several pontifi
cates, attached to the car of the French monarchy.
This sufficiently accounts for the hostility of that
church towards Germany, and for its criminal conde-
scension towards France. But this conduct of the diet
was above the comprehension of the vulgar, who still
regarded Ludowic as under the curse of God and the
church ; and time was necessary to sanction the prin-
ciples it involved. We may add, it had so little effect
on Clement VI., that he renewed the sentence of depo-
sition, and ordered a new election. Unfortunately for
the national independence, Ludowic himself contra-
dicted the tenor of his hitherto spirited conduct, by
mean submissions, by humiliating applications for ab-
272 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
solution. They were unsuccessful ; and he had the
mortification to see the king of Bohemia, who had
always acted an unaccountable part, become his bitter
enemy. His favour, or rather let us say strict justice,
to the Austrian princes in the affair of Carinthia and
the Tyrol, had offended that king, and the whole house of
Luxemburg, beyond the possibility of reconciliation.
From this moment the fate of Ludowic was decided.
In conjunction with the pope and the French king,
Charles of Bohemia, who in 1346 succeeded to his
father's kingdom and antipathy, commenced a civil war ;
and in the midst of these troubled scenes the emperor
breathed his last.*
1347 Twelve months before the decease of Ludowic,
10 Charles of Bohemia, assisted by Clement VI., was
1378 elected king of the Romans. But, in return, he had
signed a shameful capitulation with the pope one by
which the state, no less than the church of Germany,
were placed at the feet of that haughty and corrupt
pontiff. For this and other reasons, many of the
princes were now unwilling to confirm the election.
Four of them called Edward III. of England to the
vacant throne ; but, though for a moment dazzled by
the offer, he prudently declined it. An Anticsesar,
however, was found in Gonther count of Schwartzen-
burg, a prince of great military reputation, and the un-
shaken friend of the deceased sovereign. This oppo-
sition was inevitable in a country where the two rival
families of Luxemburg and Austria were pursuing each
other with deadly animosity ; where the one was sure
* Ohlenschlager, Geschichte des XIV. Jahr (variis numeris). Vito.
duramus, Chronicon, p. 1778, &c. Petrus, Chrotiicon Aulae Regis,
cap. 14 27. Chronicon S. Petri, p. 323 328. Albertus Argenlinensis,
Annales, p. 120 130. Anon. Chronicon. Raynaldus, Annales Eccle-
siastici (sub annis). Academia Graecensis, Historia Ducurn Styria, p. 160,
Sec. Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum, lib. 24. Dubravius, Historia Bo-
hemica, lib. 19, 20. Langius, Chronicon Citizense, p. 1202, &c. Lato-
rnus, Catalogus Archiepiscoporum Mpguntinensium, p. 528, &c. Pfeffel,
Histoire, torn. i. (sub annis). Schmidt, Histoire, torn. iv. liv. 7. (variig
capitulis). Coxe, House of Austria, vol. i. passim. Rebdorf, Annales,
A. D. 1333, &c. Muratori, Annali d'ltalia, A. D. 13131347. Sismondi,
Histoire des Republiques Italiennes du Moyen Age, torn, v. For the Ita-
lian authors of the period, see the great collection of Muratori, Rcrura
Italicarura Scriptures.
CHARLES IV. 273
to disapprove the acts of the other ; and where, if the
submission of the one party was enforced, it was of very
short duration. This and most other evils with which
the nation was cursed, may be traced to the elective
character of the sovereignty : now one family, now an-
other, unexpectedly found itself in possession of the
throne ; and as it was the object of each to perpe-
tuate the possession, and, consequently, to weaken or
remove every rival, we are prepared beforehand for
whatever may arise. Gunther was soon removed by
death, whether unfairly cannot be decided, though
Charles is accused by several historians of employing
poison : what has given confirmation to the rumour is,
his notorious want of principle. By intrigues, money,
and the investiture of fiefs, Charles at length found
himself as firmly seated on the throne as any German
sovereign could be. I. In his internal administration
he is noted for some remarkable things. In 1349, he
issued letters patent in favour of the duke of Brabant,
by which the subjects of the duke were exempted from
the jurisdiction of all the imperial tribunals. This un-
restricted renunciation of the sovereign authority in
favour of a subject, was a most mischievous act ; but
Charles, provided he obtained his own ends, was not
very solicitous about the interests of the community.
He might, indeed, allege that the same sovereignty was
already in the power of the German electors, and that it
might as well be exercised by the duke of Brabant as by
them. In 1356, he decreed that the suffragan vote,
which had been held conjointly by the elector palatine of
the Rhine and the duke of Bavaria, should belong to the
former alone ; thus punishing Bavaria for the opposition
which it had shown to the elevation of his family. But
this was only a prelude to the publication of the famous
Golden Bull, so called from the golden seal appended
to it, which definitely fixed the number and preroga-
tives of the electors, and has ever since been a funda-
mental law of the empire. 1 . The number of electors
was fixed, in conformity with ancient custom, at seven,
VOL. I. T
27-i HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
who were to represent the seven candlesticks of the
Apocalypse, and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. Of
these, three were to continue ecclesiastics the arch-
bishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne; and four secular
princes, the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of
the Rhine, the duke of Saxony," and the margrave of
Brandenburg. 2. The right of suffrage was recognised
as inseparable from the high offices of the imperial state
and household. To the archbishopric of Mentz was at-
tached the arch-chancellorship of the empire ; to the
archbishopric of Cologne, that of Italy ; to the arch-
bishopric of Treves, that of Aries. 3. In establishing
this principle, there could be no opposition, since, from
time immemorial, it had been recognised in practice ;
but the secular electorates could not be touched with the
same satisfaction to all parties. We have before alluded
to the dissensions between the heads of different branches
in the same family, whether the suffrage should in all
cases be exercised conjointly, and whether, in case of
disagreement, the acknowledged representative of the
house should have the power of deciding. On this sub-
ject there was no uniformity ; for while in some houses
the right was thus conjoint, in one or two it was exer-
cised alternately by the reigning chiefs of each branch.
This arrangement had sometimes been made by private
agreement ; sometimes in virtue of an imperial decree.
Thus, Rodolf I. had ordained that the two heads of the
Bavarian family the dukes of Upper and Lower
Bavaria should be governed by this alternating rule ;
and, after the transfer of the vote from Bavaria to Bo-
hemia, Ludowic had decided that the duke and the count
palatine, as heads of the same house, should have the
alternate privilege. The object of Charles was to con-
nect this right of suffrage, not with the house, so much
as the government of each secular state : hence, what-
ever might be the reigning house, the right was hence-
forth irrevocably attached to the kingdom of Bohemia,
to the palatinate, to the duchy of Saxony, to the mar-
graviate of Brandenburg. And, in regard to the offices
CHARLES IV. 275
from which the right was inseparable, that of grand
cup-bearer was declared inherent in the first, that of
grand seneschal in the second, that of grand marshal in
the third, that of grand chamberlain in the fourth. 4.
But, during many reigns, it had been found necessary
for each office, during the absence of the principal,
who, in fact, was always absent except on great occa-
sions, to be performed by deputy. As this latter
office was become no less hereditary in certain families,
and as the system was approved by experience, to pre-
vent any possible misunderstanding, these families were
carefully confirmed in the office. Thus, the count of
Limburg was the hereditary deputy of the Bohemian
king, the lord of Furstemberg that of the count palatine,
the baron of Pappenheim that of the Saxon duke, the
count of Falkenstein that of the margrave. 5. But it
was no less necessary to fix the mode of proceeding
prior to every election. In one month from the demise
of the sovereign, the elector of Mentz was to summon
each of the electors individually to meet at Frankfort
within three months ; if possible personally, otherwise
by a representative armed with the necessary credentials.
The election was henceforth to depend on the plurality
of votes ; and the consecration to take place at Aix-la-
Chapelle, by the hands of the archbishop of Cologne ;
and the first diet to be held at Nuremberg. 6. During
the vacancy of the throne, or the absence of the sove-
reign, troubles had been almost invariable in a country
where there was no recognised authority to repress them.
To remedy this serious evil, the immediate predecessors
of Charles had constituted imperial vicars over certain
principalities. Thus, the duke of Austria had been de-
clared, by Ludowic, imperial hereditary vicar in that
duchy and the provinces dependent on it : before this
period, too, the duke of Saxony had been awarded the
same jurisdiction over that extended country; and, with
the count palatine, that over the regions in the vicinity of
the Rhine. But to the Austrian duke, who was virtually
a sovereign, who ruled his states with far greater power
T 2
276
HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
than the Germanic hand had ruled the empire, the title
was merely one of honour ; it could add nothing to his
influence. The same may be said of the Bohemian
kings and the margraves of Brandenburg, who would
not even recognise the authority of the emperor (we
mean within their respective territories), much less that
of an imperial vicar ; nor would they themselves have
consented to bear a title, which would imply a greater
dependence on the Germanic head than had ever existed
since the Franconian emperors. Hence the vicariat of
the empire was understood to extend only over the fol-
lowing provinces : Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, and
Rhenish France, which were now declared to comprise
the vicarial jurisdiction of the count palatine ; and the
provinces subject to the law of Saxony, a very loose
expression, but still comprehending an extensive circuit,
was placed under the vicarial authority of the Saxon
duke. Neither of these dignitaries had any more authority
over the Low Countries, or over the electorate of Mentz,
than they had over Austria, Bohemia, Misnia, or Bran-
denburg. The vicariat of the Low Countries was under-
stood to be essentially inherent in the duchy of Brabant.
7. In addition to his other dignities, the elector palatine
was confirmed in the privilege of deciding in all judicial
cases where the emperor was a party. 8. The succes-
sion and privileges of the other secular electors are no
less clearly defined. In no case could the glebe on
which the electoral title was founded, be alienated or
partitioned : both the domain and the title descended to
the eldest son, or, in his default, to the nearest heir
male. 9- Their majority was fixed at eighteen years ;
and during their minority^ the administration of the
electorate and the suffrage were to be held by the near-
est agnate in the order of primogeniture. 10. They
were confirmed in their rank above all the princes of
the empire ; were declared equal to the emperors ; and
crimes committed against them were defined as high
treason. 11. Within their respective jurisdictions, they
decided without appeal, both in civil and criminal mat-
CHARLES IV. 277
ters ; nor henceforth, at any stage of its progress, was
a cause to be convoked before any other than the local
tribunal. 12. Within these jurisdictions, too, they
were confirmed in their sovereign rights, of opening
mines, of receiving the ordinary revenues, of regulating
the conditions and capitations of the Jews, of coining
money, of acquiring imperial domains, &c. It is im-
possible not to admit that these regulations were ex-
ceedingly beneficial to the empire, however they might
hurt the ambition, or even the rights, of certain houses.
Some of them bore the impress of the monarch's pas-
sions. In two or three cases, where there was a dis-
pute between the heads of two agnate family branches,
as to the right of primogenital representation, he decided
in favour of the one who had been attached to his in-
terests ; and by depriving Bavaria of its very ancient
right of suffrage in favour of Bohemia, which had ex-
ercised none before the thirteenth century, he more
glaringly displayed his partiality. But the only object
which he steadily pursued was the aggrandisement of
his house, an object to which he would willingly have
sacrificed the empire itself. Nor is this to surprise us.
As head of that empire, he had an influence little more
than nominal, and even that he could not hope to trans-
mit to his posterity ; while in Bohemia, and his other
hereditary states, his authority was despotic, and was
sure to be preserved in his family so long as any of his
descendants remained. This reason will sufficiently
account both for his policy, and that of all the emperors
from the thirteenth century to the period when the
crown of Germany became hereditary in the house of
Hapsburg. Actuated by the same policy, Charles ne-
gotiated with the dukes of Austria a treaty of reciprocal
succession, by which, in the event of his family be-
coming extinct, their heirs would succeed to the Bo-
hemian crown ; while, in the failure of such heirs, his
would, in like manner, succeed to the fair provinces
south of the Danube. By this treaty his house might
gain; it could not possibly lose. Though he hated the
T 3
278 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
house of Austria ; though, in his intemperate anger, he
persuaded the electors to promise that they would not
find him a successor in that house, and left a curse to
any of his Bohemian posterity who should even vote for
an Austrian prince ; the interest of Charles was superior
to his passions. By a similar treaty, joined, however,
to some violence and more corruption, he brought the
margraviate of Brandenburg into his house; (such family
compacts at this period were common in the empire:)
and, avaricious as he notoriously was, he would sacri-
fice a present advantage for a future good. Thus, he
actually purchased from the electors, each vote, as
we are told, at the enormous cost of 100,000 florins,
the nomination of his son Wenceslas as king of the
Romans, and, consequently, as his successor. But how
was so prodigious a sum to be raised ? Though he was
as rich as any European monarch, he could not possibly
possess one half of that sum. He had, therefore, no
other alternative than to surrender the domains and
revenues of the crown ; and, when even these were
found insufficient, he added some of the imperial cities.
He would, probably, have sold or pledged the revenues
and jurisdiction of all, had not those of Swabia taken
the alarm, and entered into a confederation, called the
Swabian league, for the defence of their liberties. It
soon extended beyond the confines of that province, and
became too powerful for the emperor to resist. His
object, however, was gained; his son, in 1377, being
elected king of the Romans. II. Of Charles's foreign
policy we have little to say. He observed treaties with
France or England just so long as suited his interests.
Into Italy he twice descended; once to receive the
imperial crown, the second time under the pretext of
restoring the supremacy of the empire. In both ex-
peditions he sold its rights to the highest bidder ; and
returned to Germany, followed by the curses or the
contempt, not merely of Italy, but of Europe. Cow-
ardly in his nature, he carefully avoided the field of
battle ; avaricious beyond example, he made every thing
WENCESLAS. 279
venal ; faithless in his engagements, he sacrificed his
most devoted adherents every moment he could do so
with advantage ; incapable of justice, or humanity, or
any good principle, he hesitated at no means by which
his ends could be attained. In his opinion, the only use
of the empire was the power to pillage it ; of the im-
perial crown, to exchange its dignity for something
more substantial. Though wholly destitute of com-
prehensive views, he must have had talent of some kind,
or he could never have brought Brandenburg, Silesia,
Lusatia, and a portion of the Upper Palatinate into his
family ; and that, too, without shedding one drop of
blood. Nor must it be forgotten that he extended the
commerce, encouraged the industry, and promoted the
prosperity of Bohemia, of the empire he was utterly
regardless, and that he founded the university of
Prague. But if his memory be dear to his own king-
dom, it is odious to any right-minded German.*
In the last will of Charles, Wenceslas, the eldest 1378
son, had Bohemia and Silesia ; Sigismund, the second, to
had the march of Brandenburg ; John, the youngest, 14 00.
had Schweidnitz, Goerlitz, and Lusatia. In virtue of
the preceding election, Wenceslas also succeeded to the
Germanic throne. The reign of this prince is the
most remarkable in the annals of the empire; and as
most of the events depended on his personal character,
we will first introduce it to the reader. 1. That Wen-
ceslas should have little affection for the empire, where
his influence was null, and should prefer a frequent
* JEneas Sylvius, Historia Bohemica, cap. 33. Vita Caroli IV. p. 86 107.
Dubravius, Historia Boiemica, lib. 22. Langius, Chronicon Citizense (sub
annis). Trithemius, Cronicon Hirsaugensis, A. U. 1347, &c. Albertus
Argentinensi?, Annales, p. 150, &c. Latomus, Catalogus Archiepisco-
porum, p. 535, &c. Ohlenschlager, Urkundenbuch zur Guldenen Bulle (variis
numeris). Aurea Bulla, cap. 1 15. Gudenus, Codex Diplom. torn. iii.
p. 410 458. Putter, Historical Developement, vol. i. book 3. chap. 3. &4.
Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum, lib. 25. Pfeffel, Histoire d'Allemagne,
torn. i. p. 512 536. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. iv. p. 536, &-c.
Coxe, House of Austria, vol. i passim. Rebdorf, Annales, A. D. 1347
1363. Datti, De Pace Publica, lib. i. (variis capitulis). For the Italian his-
torians of the period, see the great collection of Muratori, Rerum Italicarum
Scriptores, torn. xiv. xx. For the ecclesiastical affairs, see Raynaldua
Annales Ecclesiastic! (sub annis).
T 4
280 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC E3IPIRE.
residence in Bohemia, where it was unbounded, was to
be expected. But not satisfied with utterly neglecting
his duties as chief of the empire, he turned them into
a joke. Thus, to the deputies whom the German princes
despatched into Bohemia, requesting that he would
return and transact some urgent affair, he replied, that
he did not see what affairs he had to transact ; that, in
accepting the crown, he had done all that could be ex-
pected from a king of the Romans ; but that, if any of
the princes required his aid, it was more fit that the
prince should come to the king, than that the king
should go to the prince. There was some wit in the
reply, but it must have been accidental ; for Wenceslas
was seldom sufficiently master of himself to speak with
reason, more rarely still with wit, never with discre-
tion. Sunk in the lowest sensuality, " semper edendo
ac bibendo," says a chronicler, he seems to have dis-
sipated the few mental powers which nature had given
him. Nor was this his only vice : that he frequented
the public stews, is positively asserted by contemporary
and even Bohemian writers ; and when reproved by
his queen for conduct which at once degraded the so-
vereign and the man, he threatened, if she ever renewed
her complaint, to take her to the same place. To
gluttony, drunkenness, and whoredom, he soon added
murder. Sending for the ghostly confessor of his
queen, he insisted on knowing what were the pecca-
dilloes she had disclosed ; and when promises, threats,
even imprisonment, were employed in vain to shake the
fidelity of the priest, he caused him to be thrown from
the bridge of Prague into the river. A solitary mur-
der, even though the victim was a priest, would have
led to no consequences either in Bohemia, which had
been used to such tragedies, or at the papal court; since
the Christian world was now distracted by the schism.
But the number of victims is said to have been
great. He is even reported to have kept constantly
near him a butcher to execute his sentences, at which
he was always present with delight. Though this ac-
WENCESLAS. 281
count may be safely rejected, it proves the degree of
estimation in which he was held ; and we may certainly
admit that a butcher was one of his boon companions,
who were always chosen from the dregs of society.
There must have been extraordinary provocations on
his part, or a people so patient of despotism as the
Bohemians would never have risen against him. That
after the wanton murder of two citizens and two nobles,
the inhabitants of Prague arose, seized and consigned
him to one of the public dungeons of the city, where,
during four months, they kept him on bread and water,
without allowing him any change of dress, or any in-
dulgence not granted to other malefactors, is, perhaps,
the most extraordinary fact in all history. It is cer-
tain, however, that they would not have proceeded to
such an extremity, had they not been sure of the appro-
bation of his brother Sigismund, margrave of Branden-
burg, who had succeeded to the throne of Hungary.
The way in which he effected his escape is not less
singular than his imprisonment. Having with some
difficulty obtained permission to cleanse himself in a
public bath, he was conducted by four guards to one in
the vicinity of Prague, and in his prison garb, like the
vilest malefactor : two of them watched his garments,
while the other two stood on the margin of the bath.
There was a woman in the water ; " for," says Dubraf,
" it is the custom of the Bohemians, men and women,
to bathe together ; " and she appears to have been one
of his former acquaintance. Fortunately for him
probably the whole had been previously arranged
there was a fisherman's boat on the bank of the river
near the bath ; and after a moment's conversation with
the woman, they both, though in puris naturalibus,
stepped into the boat, and Susan rowed him to the
other side. Near the opposite bank was a fortress,
which he himself had constructed as a place of refuge
against the fury of the mob ; and it still held out for
him. Here being welcomed by the garrison, Caesar
and his mate now his favourite forgot the dan-
282 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
gers of their escape.* A stronger fortress, farther dis-
tant from the turbulent capital, soon received the pair.
In the mean time, the conspirators were not dismayed :
they knew that he would resort to his old habits ; and
that, when the popular indignation was again raised,
they might attempt his re-capture. The circumstances
of the kingdom were such that any deed might safely
be meditated. The Hussites, to whom Wenceslas was
not unfavourable, were contending not merely for the
toleration, but for the ascendancy, of their religion :
under such a prince there could not, in the proper sense
of the word, be any government ; and the whole
country was infested by banditti. Doubtless with the
full connivance of his brother, the imbecile Wenceslas
was retaken, as he was incautiously diverting himself in
the neighbourhood of the fortress, and was re-consigned
to the citadel of Prague. From thence, however, for
greater security, he was secretly transferred to a prison
in Austria, the duke of which (Albert) was confede-
rated with the discontented Bohemians. But he was
soon enlarged, according to one account by an old
fisherman, who contrived to effect his escape, and ac-
companied him into Bohemia ; according to another,
through the demand of his youngest brother, John of
Luxemburg ; but in either case, probably, with the full
connivance of duke Albert. 2. How fitted such a man
as Wenceslas was for the throne of the empire, may
easily be conceived. In fact, the circumstances of the
times were such, that the ablest and most valiant of
sovereigns could scarcely have held with honour the
reins of government : one half of the population was
in open hostility to the other, the imperial cities to the
territorial princes and nobles. The success of the
Swiss towns in throwing off the domination of the
house of Hapsburg, and even resisting the efforts of
the empire to reduce them ; the encroachments which
Charles IV. had made on the privileges of the impe-
* " Illam (Susannam) non ad rnensam solum, verum etiam] ad lectum
sibi adjunxit'"
WENCESLAS.
rial cities in Swabia ; roused, as we have before inti-
mated, these flourishing municipalities to their common
defence. If, singly, they were unable to contend with
the martial princes, the formation of a league, con-
sisting of above sixty cities in Swabia and the Rhenish
provinces, enabled them to defy the squadrons of their
enemies. Nor had they merely their privileges to
defend : their very existence was menaced by the per-
petual assaults of the nobles, who formed themselves
into confederations for no other object than their
destruction. If their walls might bid defiance to the
attacks of the cavalry, their ruin would be no less
effected by the plunder of their merchandise, and by
the interception of all supplies. All the cities, indeed,
were not imperial ; but all had griefs to remedy, since
those which were feudally subject to the territorial
princes were frequently oppressed ; and even those
which were founded on the ancient domains of the
crown, and by charter recognised as free and imperial,
had to complain of a grievance imposed on them by
the late emperor. To secure the observance of the
public peace, Charles, in imitation of his immediate
predecessors, in times of anarchy, had confided certain
districts to imperial baillies, officers who exercised a
jurisdiction too ample to be trusted to other than the
most moderate hands. And by what right was this
jurisdiction delegated ? It was certainly contrary to
the usage 'of two centuries; perhaps, also, to the spirit
of municipal incorporations ; and we have evidence
enough that the trust was outrageously abused by the
new functionaries. What else, indeed, could happen
where the office was always sold generally for a
heavy sum to the prince who undertook it ? To
indemnify himself was only an introduction to his
object, which was notoriously to enrich his family with
the least possible delay, since, in the anarchy of the
period, his tenure was exceedingly frail. Hence the
design of the league which the cities formed among
themselves was the defence of all and each, against not
284 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
only the noble banditti of the Rhenish provinces and
Swabia, but their provincial tyrants. Charles, as we
have before related, was unable to resist these confe-
derations ; and prudence would have suggested the
removal of the obnoxious baillies. But one of the
first acts of Wenceslas was to sell to Leopold of
Austria, for 40,000 florins in gold, the bailliage over
Upper and Lower Swabia, including Augsburg. Leo-
pold could have no very good feeling towards com-
munities which had so circumscribed 'the domains of
his house in Helvetia ; but though he was doubtless
guilty of great rapacity, still greater blame appears to
rest on his deputies. By some means he pacified for a
moment the imperial cities within his jurisdiction ; but
it was only that he might have leisure to annihilate the
rising confederations of Helvetia. In an attack on
Sempach, he and his noblest chivalry fell. This victory
secured the independence of the Helvetic confederacy ;
nor could the undivided force of the house of Austria,
aided by the alliance of other princes, make any im-
pression on it. This success was not lost on the con-
federated cities of Swabia and the Rhenish provinces,
which were soon joined by several of the territorial
nobles, who hoped by this means not only to avert the
hostility of the cities, but to obtain protection against
the encroachments even of their own order. But from
defenders the cities of the league are said to have
become aggressors ; to have sworn interminable war
against the whole body of nobles ; to have issued from
their walls at the head of formidable bodies, and rased
the castles of the nobles, without regard to the repre-
sentation that many of them were not the strong-holds
of robbers. And it is certain that, to strengthen them-
selves, while they perpetually weakened their enemies,
they encouraged the peasantry to flee from their feudal
lords and settle among them. From the alacrity with
which the nobles formed themselves into counter
leagues, not in these provinces only, but even in
Saxony and Bavaria, and from the adhesion of the
WENCESLAS. 285
whole body to the confederation, there must have heen
ample provocation from the municipalities. What is
certain is, that, through this mutual spirit of confedera-
tion, one half of the empire was arrayed against the
other. The feeble Wenceslas favoured one or the
other according to the views, or, we ought rather to say,
the caprice, of the moment. At length, to counter-
balance the mischief of both, he himself formed a con-
federation, consisting alike of princes and cities, the
object of which was to restore the public peace ; and
from the deputies of both he exacted an oath that no
hostilities should be undertaken before the expiration
of a certain period. Thus in 1387, Stephen duke of
Bavaria, Albert duke of Austria, and Frederic bur-
grave of Nuremberg, on the part of the princes and
nobles ; and deputies from the three imperial cities,
Ulm, Augsburg, Nuremberg, on the part of the cities,
met at Nuremberg, and agreed to prolong the public
peace to St. George's day, 1390; and, for the more con-
venient attainment of this object, the country occupied
by the members of the confederation was divided into
four cantons or circles: 1. Saxony, Upper and Lower;
2. The Rhenish Provinces, from Basle to Holland ;
3. Austria, Bavaria, and Swabia ; 4. Thuringia and
Franconia. But in one year the peace was broken by
the duke of Bavaria, who took prisoner the archbishop
of Salzburg, a member of the municipal league. To
punish this act of violence, Wenceslas himself encou-
raged the cities to take up arms, and the war became
general. In it, however, owing to the universal com-
bination of the military classes, the municipal league
was defeated, and at length forced to purchase peace.
This was followed by an imperial edict, declaring the
confederation dissolved ; and, to ensure the continuation
of tranquillity during six years, four deputies were re-
turned by the nobles, and four by the cities, who, in
conjunction with a president nominated by the sove-
reign, were to form a permanent tribunal, with power
to decide in any dispute that might arise between any
286 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
city or district, any noble or citizen. These measures,
which Wenceslas was compelled to adopt, and which,
with two or three other regulations regarding the uni-
formity of the public currency, and the taxes, consti-
tuted the whole of his experience as emperor, were
sadly annoying to him. Nothing could equal the re-
luctance with which he left Bohemia for Germany,
except, on the dissolution of a diet, the eagerness with
which he resumed his habits of low debauchery. Under
such circumstances, we cannot feel surprise that the
Germanic nation should wish his deposition and effect it.
The result was hastened by the hostility of Boni-
face IX., whom, no less than his rival Benedict XIII.,
Wenceslas had offended by suggesting, that a new
election might be made, and an end put to the schism
which distracted the church. In 1400, a diet of princes,
convoked by the three ecclesiastical electors and the
count palatine, who had vainly cited him to appear
before them, declared the throne vacant. The grounds
on which this declaration was founded were elaborately
displayed ; and their conduct might deserve approba-
tion, had we less reason to suspect the purity of their
motives. To depose a king implied a plenitude of
power extremely agreeable to their ambition ; and to
exact from a new candidate the most advantageous
conditions for their votes, equally gratified their ava-
rice.*-
1400 In the choice of a successor, two of the electors, \Ven-
to ceslas himself as king of Bohemia, and his brother
1410. gigismund as margrave of Brandenburg, could not
possibly concur ; since the one would never sanction
* JEneas Sylvius, Historia Bohemica, cap. 34. Dubravius, Historia Boie-
mica, lib. 23. Mutius, Chronicon Germanorum, lib. 26. Magnum Chro-
nicun Belgicum (sub annis). Ebendorf de Huselbach, Chronicon, p. 811,
&c. Langius, Chronicon Citizense (sub annis). Muratori, Annali
d'ltalia (sub annis). Academia Graecensis, Historia Ducum, pars ii. p. 47,
&C. Putter, Historical Developement, vol. i. book iii. Pteft'el, Hiitoire
d'Allemagne, torn. i. .sub annis). Schmidt, Histoire, torn. v. liv. 7. chap. 10.
Historia de Langraviis Thuringize (variis capitulis). Trithemius, Chro-
nicon, A. D. 1378, &c. Denina, Kivoluzione della Gcrmania, torn. iii. lib. 8
cap. 8, 9.
ROBERT. 287
his own degradation ; nor was the other willing to see
the exclusion of his house. A third, ihe duke of
Saxony, refused to take any part in these proceedings ;
not from respect toWenceslas, but because he perceived
that the choice of the other electors was already deter-
mined in favour of a candidate obnoxious to him. And,
to secure his neutrality, if not concurrence, he was taken
prisoner by an armed band in the interest of the rest.
The suffrages of the electors fell on one of their number,
Robert, count palatine, a prince who had neither the
talents nor the influence necessary for the support of
the dignity. His administration, whether in Italy or
Germany, was unfortunate. 1. One of the causes
alleged for the deposition of Wenceslas was, that he
had virtually dissevered Lombardy from the empire
by creating the celebrated Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti
duke of Milan. To settle the affairs of that perpetually
distracted country, Robert passed the Alps, and sum-
moned the duke to resign both the title and the domain;
but, instead of an obedient vassal, he found an open
enemy, who signally defeated him. By favouring the
league of the Guelfs, he excited the hostility of the Ghi-
belines, which, in this case, was the more bitter, as the
emperors were the natural allies of the latter party. In
return, he might, indeed, expect to secure the adherence
of the Guelfs with pope Boniface at their head; but the
assistance which he received was so feeble, and the hos-
tility excited so formidable, that he ingloriously retraced
his steps. His conduct in regard to the schism was no
less impolitic. Instead of abetting the council of Pisa,
which deposed both popes, the only measure that
could give peace to the church, he zealously espoused
the interests of Gregory XII., and thereby gave offence
not only to the council, but to such of his subjects as
approved the decision of the council. 2. Nor in Ger-
many itself was his conduct more approved. Attempt-
ing to restore the exercise of his undoubted prerogative,
he was opposed by a league of the princes, who as-
sumed, as a pretext, the necessity of watching over the
288 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
rights of the order against the encroachments of the
crown. Such a league could not constitutionally be
formed without his sanction ; and no sovereign could
be expected to approve what was directly levelled at his
authority : but his opposition only confirmed the evil,
and he was forced to treat with the confederates as an
independent power. Equally ineffectual were his efforts
to destroy the union of the cities. Surrounded by these
formidable associations, which were so many inde-
pendent bodies of the state ; which were always in a
state of hostility, either to him or to each other ; of
which any one was more powerful than himself, the
emperor reigned merely by sufferance : he had been
elected by seven princes ; by a majority of the seven
he might at any time be deposed. That doom Robert
very narrowly escaped. Dissatisfied with his govern-
ment, indeed, they would have been equally so with
that of any other man, one party turned their atten-
tion towards Wenceslas ; another towards some other
quarter : but his unexpected death preserved Germany
from another spectacle of successful rebellion. The
talents of Robert were not of a high order ; but that he
was well-intentioned, and that he laboured to promote
the best interests of the empire, cannot be doubted.
But against the real sovereigns of the country, neither
his patriotism nor his virtues could avail. He was,
indeed, but a phantom of royalty : most of the territo-
rial princes were even more powerful than he ; and it
was remarked by a contemporary writer, that his re-
venues as emperor the same is equally true of his
two predecessors did not exceed one half that of
most bishops.*
j 410 The death of Robert seemed to favour the preten-
to sions of Wenceslas ; but the partisans of his house pre-
1437, ferred the choice of his brother Sigismund king of
Hungary. At Frankfort, Sigismund was illegally elected
by two only of the seven ; while five, who assembled
* Founded chiefly on the same authorities.
SIGISMUND. 289
later, gave their suffrages in favour of the margrave of
Moravia, cousin-german of Wenceslas and of Sigismund.
Thus Germany had three kings of the Romans, two of
whom were resolved to defend their rights with the
sword. But the horrors of civil war were averted by
the death of the margrave, whose partisans, combining
with those of Sigismund, proceeded to a new election ;
and Sigismund (1410 1437) was unanimously recog-
nised king of the Romans, Wenceslas himself renouncing
his own rights in favour of his brother. The reign of this
prince, whether external or internal, is well deserving of
our consideration. 1. The foreign transactions of Sigis-
mund chiefly regarded Italy and the church. Though
Gregory XII. had been deposed, and John XXIII.
elected by the council of Pisa, the schism was not ended,
since Gregory was still acknowledged by a part of
Christendom. Though the new sovereign declared for
pope John, he knew that there could be no peace in
Europe until one or both of the rivals were deposed,
and a pontiff acknowledged by the unanimous voice of
Christendom ; results which could be produced only by
another general council. In the hope that another
would be attended by representatives from all the
churches of Europe, he prevailed on John to issue
the necessary bulls of convocation. The proceedings
of the celebrated council of Constance must be sought
in the histories expressly devoted to ecclesiastical affairs.
That John and Gregory XII. were deposed ; that
Martin V. was elected successor; that Benedict XIII.,
however, refused to obey the church universal, and
thus perpetuated the schism unto his death ; that John
Huss, the Bohemian reformer, and Jerome of Prague *,
notwithstanding the safe-conduct given to the former
by Sigismund, were condemned and burnt at the stake
by this intolerant assembly ; that whatever reforms
were meditated by the fathers of the council, they were
prevented by the intrigues of Martin, and by the jea-
To the doctrines and actions of these celebrated men we shall advert
in the proper place the religious history of the empire.
VOL. I. U
290 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
lousy entertained of Sigismund, who certainly claimed
over the council an authority, the admission of which
would have been fatal to the independence of the
church ; are among the best known facts of history. In
1433, Sigismund was crowned emperor by pope Eu-
genius IV. ; but over Italy he had no influence. Lom-
bardy was governed by the duke of Milan, the nominal
vassal of the empire ; and by the Venetians, its natu-
ral enemies, whose conquests now began to menace
Northern Italy.* A few local nobles, indeed, both of
that province and of Tuscany, were willing to purchase
from the avarice, or to solicit from the pride, of the
emperors, the title of imperial lieutenants, which gave
them a little consideration in the eyes of the Ghibelines ;
but all idea of subjection to the empire was vain at a
period when every one knew that even the German
princes were virtually independent of the crown. 2. In-
ternally, this emperor's reign exhibits many melancholy
proofs of the nullity into which the sovereign authority
was fallen. In the first place, the excommunication of
the duke of Austria by the council of Constance, for
plundering churches, and still more for favouring the
interests of John XXIII., enabled the Swiss cantons to
throw off the last bonds of allegiance, not only to the
house of Hapsburg, but to the empire. In the second, he
was unable to enforce, even for a season, the observance
of peace. Private war raged on every side ; the tri-
bunals of the electors and of the territorial princes were
silent. Much of the anarchy that prevailed may be re-
ferred to the frequent absence of the emperor. The
affairs of the church and of Italy ; those of Hungary,
especially the war with the Turks, which engrossed so
much of his attention, inevitably neutralised his efforts
to benefit Germany. But Bohemia, to the crown of
which he succeeded in 1419^ on the death of his
brother Wenceslas, opposed the greatest obstacles to 'his
government. The intolerance which he showed in re-
* See Sisrnondi, History of the Italian'Republics ; and Europe during the
Middle Ages, Yd. i. p. 70.
SIGISMUND. 291
gard to the reformers; his shameful violation of the
safe-conduct which he had given to Huss ; his com-
pliance with the most atrocious measures of the per-
secuting catholics, naturally irritated a people, of whom
one half were friendly to the new opinions. The Huss-
ites, positively refusing to acknowledge him, took pos-
session of the capital, Prague, and declared the throne
vacant. In revenge, Sigismund, who was recognised
by a part of the kingdom, by all the catholics,
grew more severe with the dissidents. Nor must it be
concealed that he had other causes of irritation. The
Hussites had not only insulted the dominant religion ;
but had commenced an active war on the catholics,
whose lands they had laid waste, and whose leaders
they had massacred. They might, indeed, allege that
similar violence had been used towards them ; but, in
their character of reformers they should have remem-
bered, that example is no excuse for evil, and that it
was their duty, no less than their policy, to prove tha
the purer the faith the better the works. Unfortunately
however, they were so far from regarding this truth,
that in violence they exceeded the catholics themselves.
Hence both parties had wrongs to avenge ; and neither
was at all influenced by the genuine spirit of Chris-
tianity. That Sigismund was perfectly justifiable in
attempting to reduce those who were rebels to his au-
thority, cannot be doubted ; but the means which he
adopted were exceedingly censurable. Had he used
mildness, instead of unrelenting persecution, he would
have established his throne without bloodshed, and pro-
bably have restored uniformity of belief. To reduce
the dissidents by his own forces was hopeless : he,
therefore, recurred to the empire and the church ; and,
in conjunction with the papal legate, he proclaimed a
crusade against them. This is not the place to relate
the wars which followed * ; we can merely observe, that
the dissidents defended themselves with remarkable
* To these wars we shall revert in the history of religion in Germany.
U 2
292 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
success ; that they not only defeated the most formi-
dable armies of the empire, but made terrible irruptions
into Austria, Bavaria, Franconia, Misnia, and Lusatia ;
that, though they sustained a signal reverse, the effect
of their own dissensions, and were induced to ac-
knowledge Sigismund, they yet wrung some, civil pri-
vileges from him, and from the church permission to
celebrate the communion under both kinds. The suc-
cessful resistance, the open defiance, of these Bohemian
dissidents, impress us with a poor idea of the military
force of the empire. It consisted only of hasty feudal
levies, without discipline, and averse to the service. In
fact, they exhibited such shameful cowardice, on two
occasions fleeing even without Availing for the onset of
the Bohemians, that a proposition was soon made to
establish a permanent standing army, to consist of mer-
cenaries alone, and that all who chose might join it. It
was at first rejected though the interested opposition of
those who would have to support the new army. All that
the diets agreed to sanction was, that, in future wars,
each state should furnish a certain contingent of troops,
armed at its own expense. But the repeated victories
of the Bohemians at length made the empire blush for
itself, and consent was reluctantly given for the levy of
a standing army to be supported by each state in pro-
portion to its contingent, and by each individual in
proportion to his rank and means. Hence the first
pecuniary taxation in the annals of the empire ; every
inhabitant of each state, from the elector down to the
lowest inhabitant, furnishing his quota, which was
transmitted by the collectors to the general treasury at
Nuremberg. In regard to the electorates, the reign of
Sigismund offers some revolution. In 1422, the an-
cient house of Saxony, in its eldest branch, that of
Saxe-Wittenburg, was extinct in its male line ; but
there remained the branch of Saxe-Lauenburg, de-
scended from the same stock, which, if the ordinary
laws of succession were to be regarded, had an un-
doubted right to the vacant fief; and the elector of
SIGISMUND. 293
Brandenburg had a son, who had married the niece of the
late elector of Saxony. Yet the decision of Sigismund
for it was left to him alone was in favour of neither :
he conferred it on the margrave of Misnia, Frederic
the Warlike, who had no claim by blood. The reason
assigned for this investiture was, that, the duchy in de-
fault of issue having lapsed to the crown, the emperor
had a right to confer it, with the approbation of the
electoral college, on the prince most likely to discharge
the duties it involved, on him most able to govern the
state and to serve the empire. The pretensions of the
margrave of Brandenburg were renounced through two
considerations ; first, that father and son ought not to
possess two voices in the electoral college, but chiefly
through a considerable sum of money offered by the
margrave of Misnia to his most dreaded rival. In vain
did the prince of Saxe-Lauenburg exclaim against the
decision ; in vain appeal to diet and pope : the emperor,
and, indeed, the electors, who seem to have been
gained by the margrave, fully approved the eleva-
tion of the new house ; from which the present royal
family of Saxony is descended. Again, the margra-
viate of Brandenburg, which, through the cares of
Charles IV., had been brought into the house of Lux-
emburg, was sold by the emperor to Frederic of Ho-
henzollern, burgrave of Nuremberg, for 400,000 ducats.
To this transaction the other electors offered no resist-
ance, since any measure that weakened the influence of
a reigning family was sure to be well received. From
this Frederic the royal house of Prussia is descended.
In regard to another principality, that of Lower Bavaria,
vacant by the extinction of one line in the ancient ducal
house, Sigismund was not so successful. He claimed,
indeed, the duchy as a fief lapsed to the crown ; and it
was equally claimed by his son-in-law, Albert the
Wise of Austria, whose mother was the sister of the
deceased duke. But it was at length adjudged to the
four dukes of Upper Bavaria, who formed another
branch of that house, to be equally divided among
u 3
294 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
them. This decision was honourable to the emperor,
whose moderation, however, was probably caused rather
by his own weakness than by any consideration of jus-
tice. Yet Sigismund was not without good qualities.
Brave, indefatigable, enlightened, liberal, a patron of
learning, and anxious for the prosperity of the empire,
he seemed qualified for his station. Still his reign,
as we have seen, was disastrous. Though much of
this is, doubtless, owing to the circumstances of the
times, and to the unmanageable nature of the Germanic
constitution, an equal share must be attributed to defects
of his own character. That he was vindictive, may be
inferred from his conduct to the Bohemians ; that he
was faithless, from the violation of his safe-conduct to
Huss : nor were these the only instances. He had a
considerable share of duplicity, which, though it never
obtained him any great advantage, averted from him
what his love of pleasure rendered most intolerable
present evils.*
1273 In regard to the power of the crown, the period over
*" which we have passed exhibits no great difference from
' the one immediately preceding. In estimating it, no-
thing is more usual than to make some particular reign
the basis of deduction, but at the same time nothing
can be more erroneous ; since the personal character of
the sovereign will have much greater influence than we
generally imagine. Though this is true of all countries,
it is peculiarly so of Germany, where he had only to
invoke the acknowledged prerogatives of his predeces-
sors : if he had learned to make himself respected, the
* jEneas Sylvius, Historia Bohemica, cap. 38. Dubravius, Historia,
lib. 25. Mutius, Chronicon Germanornm, lib. 27. Bonfinius, Rerum Hun-
garicarum Decades, dec. iii. cap.3. Vander Hardt, Acta ConcUii Constant!,
nensis, torn. i. passim. L'Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Constance, lib.
i vii. (multis capitulis). Windeck, Historia Imperatoris Sigismundi,
cap. 1220. Gassarus, Annales Augstburgenses, p. 1551, &C. Raynaldus,
Annales Ecclesiastic! (subannis). Putter, Historical Developement, vol. i.
book iii. chap. 4. Pfeffel, Abrege Chronologique, torn. i. (sub annis). Mu-
ratori, Annali d'ltalia (sub annis . Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. v.
& 81 203. Coxe, House of Austria, voL i. passim. Datti, De Pace Publica,
t>. i. (variis capitulis). Denina, Delle Rivoluzione della Gennania, torn. iii.
lib. 8. cap. 12, 13. ; lib. 9. cap. 1, i .
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 205
claim was reluctantly allowed ; if weak or inconstant,
he was sure to be resisted with success. Thus, Rodolf I.,
through the ascendancy of his personal qualities alone,
exercised more influence, and that constitutionally, over
the affairs of the empire, than many of his predeces-
sors. He found the imperial authority a wreck, its
shattered fragments the sport of the states ; and he com-
menced the task of collecting and replacing them, with
a caution which inspired no alarm, with a perseverance
which nothing could arrest. One of his measures, how-
ever, though based on feudal law, caused considerable
surprise. On the accession of a new sovereign, all the
imperial vassals were required to do homage, within six
months and a day, for their fiefs ; but, as these fiefs were
become hereditary and patrimonial, and still more, as
the great vassals themselves were in power superior to
the lord, the act had been considered as one of mere
formality, as obligatory only on the ; minor feuda-
tories. The readiness with which the king of the
Romans undertook to punish Ottocar of Bohemia,
whom he deprived of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and
ultimately of life, made a salutary impression on
the states. It must not, indeed, be concealed that to
the jealousy entertained by the Teutonic princes con-
cerning a power which had long sighed for independ-
ence, and still more to the defective title by which
Ottocar held those provinces, he was indebted for much
of his success. We may add, that the princes of the
empire generally refused to join his standard, and that
he undertook the war with the vassals of his house, of
his friends and allies. This circumstance alone, though
it rendered his enterprise the more arduous, was of the
highest advantage to him, since it proved that, even
without the aid of the princes, he could make his au-
thority respected. And, from the tenour of history it is
no less clear that open fiefs were regarded as within
the disposal of the crown, though not without the
sanction of the diet. Uniformly as that sanction was
afforded, the influence of the sovereigns must have
u 4
296 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
been considerable, or they could not have brought so
many provinces into their own families. Thus the
house of Hapsburg procured the Austrian provinces ;
that of Luxemburg, Bohemia; that of Brandenburg,
Bavaria. In these cases it was not necessary, nor per-
haps usual, that the consent of the electors should be
given viva voce : it was expressed in written instru-
ments signed by each. Nothing can better exhibit the
policy of Rodolf than this precaution. On the electors
assembled he could probably have made no impression ;
separately, he could work on the hopes or passions of
each ; and by entreaties, or reasoning, or promises, he
was generally successful. Nor did the emperors always
wait for the vacancy of a fief. Where, through de-
fault of succession, it was likely sometime to be open,
they frequently granted letters expectative, whether
with or without the consent of the electors, has been
disputed. It is, however, probable that their con-
currence was necessary to the disposal of every open
fief; as without it such promises could not be ab-
solute. In regard to the great fiefs of the empire,
the ceremonial of investiture was remarkable. Usually
it took place on a scaffold, erected .in the open plain.
On it was the emperor seated, arrayed in all the
pride of majesty, surrounded by electors and princes.
Before the scaffold appeared the prince destined to
receive the honour, mounted generally on a horse,
sometimes on a mule, accompanied by his kindred and
friends, and by a numerous suite of vassals and officers
of his court. The whole party then galloped three
times round the scaffold ; the first time without ban-
ners ; the second with one ; the third time with a dif-
ferent banner, which the prince held in his hand, and
on which were represented the arms of the state he was
about to govern. Dismounting, he advanced with his
suite to the scaffold, was met by two princes, who,
placing themselves one on his right hand, the other on
his left, ascended the steps with him, and stood by him
while he knelt before the throne. One of the princes
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 297
then solicited the investiture, and his words were re-
peated by the candidate. Having received his oaths of
homage and fealty, the sovereign delivered him the
banners, varying in number according to the fiefs and
arriere-fiefs contained in the province or district he was
to govern. No sooner had he returned his thanks to
the monarch, than the banners which he had received
were thrown among the multitude before the scaffold,
and were torn to pieces with strange vociferations. All
princes were not compelled to receive the investiture on
the domains of the empire. Thus, the dukes of Aus-
tria were allowed to do homage on their own territo-
ries, with the ducal coronet on their brows. In regard
to the judicial prerogatives of the crown, the reign of
Rodolf, likewise, offers a striking distinction from that
of his predecessors. Wherever he happened to be, he
held his tribunal, contending that the cognizance of
causes, even in the first instance, was an essential attri-
bute of his dignity. The maxims of the Roman juris-
prudence, which in his age were beginning to pervade
the legislation of the country, were favourable to his
claim ; but we must not forget that the prince in whose
territory he happened to be was his assessor, and even
his colleague. Without the presence of that prince
even Rodolf could not hold a judicial court. And,
notwithstanding the assertions of the imperial writers,
we may justly doubt whether he could, a* a matter of
right, sit in any tribunal beyond the bounds of his
hereditary district, or of the three provinces, Swabia,
Franconia, and the Palatinate, which were long the do-
mains of the crown. It is equally certain that, as no
emperor could be always making the tour of the pro-
vinces, or could spare much time for judicial purposes,
the administration of the laws was almost exclusively in
the hands of the territorial sovereigns. Within a very
circumscribed limit, indeed, courts could be held by
his judges ; but their decisions were seldom obligatory :
the appeal lay to him. In the electorates, however,
and in many of the principalities, the imperial jurisdic-
298 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE/"
tion was unknown ; or, if it were occasionally exercised
during the emperor's accidental presence, it was at the
request, or by the permission, of the local sovereign.
That even appeals from the decision of these sovereigns "
were prohibited, is evident from the Golden Bull. Yet,
to watch over the preservation of the public peace, Si-
gismund restored the office of judge of the court, with
even extended authority. A new tribunal, called the
Imperial Chamber, from which the Aulic Council is legi-
timately descended, and made to depend entirely on the
emperor, was suffered to be established. In fact, its
chief duty being to secure the public tranquillity, it in-
spired no distrust : no one could foresee that in time it
would considerably encroach on the usurped privileges
of the territorial sovereigns. But its influence was
slowly acquired, and during the period before us was
virtually null. Where, in any civil or criminal cause,
one of the parties was an elector or prince of the empire,
or the cause could not be decided by himself, or within
his own jurisdiction, the tribunal of the emperor was
the proper court. There, assisted by seven assessors,
all of the same rank as the plaintiff or defendant,
he heard and decided. Yet even in this case it was
easier to decide than to enforce the execution of the
decision. The convicted party was often too powerful
to be punished ; and all that the sovereign could do,
was either to employ mediators, or to lay the affair
before a diet. Neither measure was of necessity avail-
ing ; and, to escape the odium of pronouncing against
either party, or the folly of decreeing what he had not
power to enforce, often, even where the direct princi-
ples of justice were involved, did he suffer them to
settle the dispute by private war. When one or both
was so weakened that they ceased for the moment to be
formidable, he could safely interfere to defend the vio-
lated majesty of the laws. Again, the throne was the
fountain of honour : it alone could confer letters of
nobility, or elevate a noble to the rank of prince, a
privilege which could not fail to be attended with some
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 299
degree of influence at a period when precedency of rank
was more than a personal distinction. And in a mul-
titude of other cases even its positive control was ne-
cessary ; yet generally both were restricted to the three
provinces we have mentioned, as under its more imme-
diate influence. After all, however, even in the time of
Rodolf, the imperial authority was exceedingly limited.
If the diet authorised him to declare war, it did not
furnish him with the means of waging it ; these he
must find how or where he could. Unless there was
money advanced, the troops would not march ; and
money was seldom to be raised. Anciently the impe-
rial domains, which, as we have more than once inti-
mated, consisted of the territories on both banks of the
Rhine, and of vast estates scattered throughout all the
provinces, were ample enough for the support of the
dignity. They were, indeed, so ample, that it was usual,
we think strictly obligatory on the emperor, to relin-
quish, immediately after his election, the government of
his hereditary state. But by Frederic II. they were
greatly impaired : during the troubles which followed
his death, some were usurped by the princes in the
vicinity ; while, of those who held or administered these
estates, many were not slow to convert them to their
own use, and to transmit them as patrimonial posses-
sions to their heirs. The means by which the vassals
of the crown transformed their fiefs into allodial estates *
will equally account for the usurpation in question.
And as to Italy, the regnum proprium of the emperors,
it was divided among a number of local families, and
was, consequently, lost to him. The alarming diminu-
tion of the imperial revenues rendered it impossible for
the sovereign any longer to resign patrimonial domains,
especially after Charles IV. had alienated the pitiful
remnants of those revenues. In every respect this was
an evil. It enabled none but sovereign princes to support
* See before,~p. 222.
300 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
the dignity ; it diminished their influence over the Ger-
manic provinces ; it compelled them to reside chiefly
in their hereditary states ; and it inevitably rendered
them more solicitous for their own interests, or those of
their family and people, than for the interests of the
empire. In fact, from the time of Ludovic V. we per-
ceive that they discharged their duties with apathy. In
these circumstances, no emperor could be expected to
carry on war, for the benefit of the confederation, at his
own expense. Hence the innovation which we have
before mentioned, the levying of a general tax for
the hire of mercenary soldiers. It was, indeed, neces-
sary to the very existence of the confederation. With-
out money troops could not be put in motion ; without
an expedition, on a large scale, Bohemia must have
been lost ; and the example of successful rebellion
would have been too attractive to the other countries not
to be eagerly followed. From these observations, some
idea may be formed of the amazing difference between
the authority of the Saxon and that of the Luxemburg
emperors. The sterile privilege of the initiative in
regard to laws, with the certainty that the measures
proposed would be modified, or perhaps rejected ;
the imperial treasury reduced to the collection of cer-
tain judicial fines ; the loss of the civil and criminal
jurisdiction other than in the circumstances we have
detailed ; that of the general administration, in favour
not merely of the territorial princes, but even of the
imperial cities, which gradually purchased or wrested
the judicial powers from the crown, made the imperial
dignity an object of contempt whatever the mock so-
lemnity with which it was invested to the meanest
prince of Germany.*
* MfiHer, Theatrum Romano-Teutonicum, ii.58. ; v. 8i, &c. Martene,
Thesaurus Anecdotorum, i. 1153. Aventinus, Annales Boiiorum, lib. iv.
p. 366. Cusanus, Ue Concordantia Catholica, lib. iii. cap. 30. 2P. Putter,
Historical Developement, i. 298, &c. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands,
torn. v. p. 529, &c. Pfeffel, Abreg Chronologique, torn. i. p. 595. To
these must be added the chronicles of the respective reigns.
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 301
During the period before us, the electoral dignity 1273
was, as we have related, declared inherent in three ec- to
clesiastical and four secular princes. That in this
respect the celebrated Golden Bull of Charles IV. was
of great benefit to the empire, is evident ; but in others
it was mischievous, since, in defining, it augmented the
privileges of the seven. Their privileges were often
fatal to the country. The suffrage was seldom gra-
tuitous, however required for the public weal : to them
the interest of the community was a foreign object ;
their own aggrandisement alone being the end of all
their actions. The merits of a candidate were never
considered. He who offered the most for each vote
was sure to be preferred ; and if he were feeble in un-
derstanding, and powerless by position, he had an ad-
ditional recommendation. The shameless venality of
the electoral college is a stain on the character of those
magnates, which no time can cleanse. Yet let us not
suppose that the Germans were more avaricious or less
patriotic than other nations, that the electors were
worse than the parliamentary constituency of Great
Britain. The evil lay first in human nature, and next
in the total absence of all securities against the en-
croachments of the selfish principle. Nor did it merely
display itself at an election. The monarch had fre-
quent need of the letters to which we have alluded,
letters signed by each elector authorising him to confer
a fief, or to exercise some other act of sovereignty, in
which the states had a concurrent share. Now these
were seldom gratuitous : they had to be purchased by
money or promises. But the most dangerous of their
usurpations regarded their privilege of deposing em-
perors. Whatever were the merits or character of the
reigning sovereign, he could not please all : the refusal
of a grace solicited, and still more the preference of one
prince to another, was sure to make the one his enemy,
the other ungrateful. That the offended party had little
difficulty in procuring the support of other electors, is a
302 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
melancholy fact, but easily explicable ; since, apart from
the love of change which characterises human nature,
every one had a great and an immediate advantage in
the capitulations signed by the successful candidate,
and every one was willing to display, as frequently as
possible, his power of making and deposing emperors.
Among those who were always ready for such revo-
lutions, the electoral archbishops were generally the
most prominent. As heads of their respective sees,
they had, no doubt, reason enough to complain of the
injuries sustained by their churches ; as the immediate
servants of the pope, they were not averse to embrace
their master's quarrels ; but in a majority of cases their
opposition to the reigning sovereign arose from his in-
ability to fulfil the pledges he had given in " the ca-
pitulations." To curtail the usurped privileges either
of temporal or of spiritual electors, was a hopeless task ;
since on the slightest aspect of danger, they formed
themselves into a league, ostensibly for their own
defence, but in reality for the purpose of still farther
circumscribing the power of the crown. Of these
leagues we have several examples in history ; but that
of 1424 was rendered permanent, by the resolution that,
on the commencement of his reign, every elector should
swear fidelity to it. In regard to the diets, whose
voice was preponderating, in the period before us they
were neither so numerous nor so efficient as in former
times. Rodolf, indeed, held many ; but his successors,
especially those of the house of Luxemburg, were too
much occupied with their private affairs, and too con-
stantly resident in their own territories, to have either
leisure or inclination for those of the empire. In general
they were satisfied with sending representatives, of
whom one was always a doctor in laws ; but, as the
powers of the latter were limited, they did little good.
To remedy those evils of uncertainty and irresolution,
it was agreed that, whenever the emperor could not
attend the diet, there should be a communication by
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 303
writing ; but the only effect of this innovation was to
protract the business of the state : often months elapsed,
even where the pending affair was most urgent, before
a final decision was taken. From diet to diet the most im-
portant affairs were postponed ; both because the different
arms of the state had not a sufficient number of repre-
sentatives present, and because of the jealousy which
reigned among those who had. If something, for in-
stance, were proposed by the nobles, the proposition
itself was enough to excite the suspicions of the deputies
from the imperial cities ; and vice versa. Nor was this
mutual jealousy unfounded : it was the aim of each to
relieve itself at the expense of the rest. Of balanced
duties and obligations, men had no notion ; self absorbed
every other sentiment ; patriotism and public spirit
were not so much as professed. Let not the severity of
this remark be considered as peculiarly and exclusively
merited by the German legislators alone : it might be ap-
plied with even greater justice to the legislators of Eng-
land, not in the middle ages only, but in times which
we are apt to regard as those of social perfection. As
the German felt no patriotism, he professed none ; nor
will his honesty fail to be doubly appreciated, when con-
trasted with the conduct of those who merely regard the
profession of the public good as the necessary passport to
private advantage. We have alluded to the deputies from
the imperial cities as present in the diets, and deciding on
the most important affairs of the empire. Their in-
troduction may be traced to the close of the thirteenth
century ; but we may doubt whether they ever reached
the dignity of a third estate. The imperial cities, which
were exceedingly few, scarcely constituting a twentieth
of the whole number, were the only ones invested
with the privilege. That their voice should balance
that of the two higher orders of the state, of the
electors and the territorial princes (the mere nobles had
no longer a seat in the general diets), would be an
absurd supposition. In Germany, as in other places,
304 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
their introduction was allowed for one reason only,
that they might contribute the more largely to the
support of the administrative government ; and that,
consequently, they might relieve the other classes of a
load very unwillingly borne. But in other countries
there were no imperial cities, possessing this exclusive
privilege or burden for it was as much the one as
the other since all the municipal corporations were
allowed to return representatives. But it may be asked,
why not admit in Germany, as everywhere else, all the
municipalities to a seat in the national assemblies ? That
such a measure would have increased the general re-
sources of the state, is undoubted ; but in the same
degree it would have diminished those of the provinces.
We must not forget that the cities which were not im-
perial, and which were situated on the domains of the
electors and territorial princes, were, though exempted
from general contributions, compelled to contribute
towards the support of the local administration. . They
had both to support their own municipal establishment,
and to aid that of the province. Hence, they were
subject to certain duties and to occasional levies, payable
into the provincial treasury ; an obligation from which
the imperial cities were exempt. No less than the im-
perial, indeed, they had their leagues ; and in the same
league both were frequently joined. But if their inter-
ests were often common, as when the combination of
all was necessary to resist the encroachments of the aris-
tocracy, they were also frequently divergent. The in-
ferior cities had to struggle with feudal oppressions from
which the others were happily relieved ; and in a more
particular sense against the exactions of their territorial
lords. Singly, a walled town of a few hundred or even
a few thousand inhabitants, could not withstand the local
aristocracy, assembled in the provincial states ; but the
league of several became as formidable in the same dis-
trict, as that of the imperial cities to the empire at large.
In revenge, the aristocracy, as we have before observed,
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 305
had also their leagues. The struggles of the two were
always fatal alike to- social and individual happiness.
Hence, the efforts of the emperor s, and generally of the
diets, to enforce the public peace ; but efforts which, as
they were unsupported by the necessary authority, as
they were, in fact, opposed to whatever was worth the
name of authority, were almost uniformly unavailing.
Beyond the bounds of the imperial domain, the in-
fluence of the electors and of the territorial princes was
generally predominant.*
The second branch of the state, ranking in the diet 1273
immediately below the electors, was formed by the ter- io n
ritorial princes. By the first of their privileges, they
could sit in judgment on their equals, and could be cited
by princes only before any tribunal. By the second
they exercised judicial authority over the knights,
squires, burgesses, peasantry, and other subjects within
their jurisdiction : to their tribunal, every one of these
classes was subject in the first instance ; and it was
only when they denied justice, that the case could be
carried beyond the bounds of the district. But, as no
prince could be equal to the administration of a pro-
vince, he had not only his own tribunal, but several
bailiffs, who, in particular cantons, exercised justice in
his name, and from whose decisions appeals could be
brought before him. And in some other respects they
held an authority virtually sovereign. By a thought-
less concession of Charles IV., a monarch whose only
object was his own private advantage, and that of Bo-
hemia, the landgraves, who constituted the largest class
of the princes, were invested with dominion over the
mines of their districts. Whether he intended to fa-
vour the landgraves only ; or whether the other princes
had the same privilege already, and he wished to make
* Pfeffel, Histoire d'Allemagne, torn. i. p. 595, &c. Putter, Historical
Developement, vol. i. book iii. chap. 2. Gewoldus, De Septemviratu,
cap. 6. Gudenus, Codex Diplomatum, torn. ii. & iii. (variis instrumentis).
Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, torn. vi. cap. 41. But more than all
these the chronicles of the period.
VOL. I. X
306 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
them equal, is not very clear. We know, indeed, that,
in his reign, princes of a different rank from the land-
graves possessed it ; but, in the history of this nation,
we often find that, by imperial concession, some exercised
rights not conceded to the other members of the body.
In a state, however, where the members are constitu-
tionally equal, every thing tends to the same level ; and
the same distinctions which are only odious, merely
when held by our equals, become soon common to the
whole body. In a country, where such violence reigned
that social security could only be found by confederation,
the princes were compelled to unite just like the electors
and the cities. Both were their natural enemies : the
former endeavouring to curtail their privileges in the
diets ; the latter, if imperial, by being at open hostilities
with them ; if situated within their districts, by disturbing
the feudal bonds which connected them with the local
system of government. Nothing could be more fatal to
individual happiness than this endless system of con-
federation. It inevitably led to war : both parties
were prompt to violence, and no less prompt to retali-
ate ; and even when no violence was contemplated, the
interests or pretensions of both were too conflicting to
allow of tranquillity. But let us not imagine that the
princes possessed all the authority within their re-
spective states : they were obliged to share it with the
provincial, just as the emperor in regard to the general^
diet. If, like him, they received the accustomed homage
on their accession to the electorate or principality, with-
out the consent of their estates they could not grant
the privileges of citizenship, nor the jurisdiction over
markets, nor the right of convoy : without it they
could not prevent the erection of fortresses, nor impose
taxes, nor make regulations for the local administration
of justice, or for the prevention of local war. That,
even with such consent, they could be allowed to exercise
prerogatives so remarkable, forcibly indicates the re-
lation which monarch and prince held to the com-
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 307
munity, the degradation to which the imperial office (for
such it virtually was) had sunk, and the preponder-
ating influence of the aristocracy. But there was re-
tribution in the Germanic system : if the princes (in
the remainder of the paragraph, unless otherwise ex-
pressed, we use the term prince in its general sense, as
comprehending electors, margraves, and the heads of
states) were jealous of every measure proposed or
adopted by the emperor, they were equally exposed to
the same busy scrutiny on the part of their territorial
nobles, who constituted the baronial diet. Every en-
croachment on the privileges of the inferior aristocracy,
probably every act of just severity, called forth a
spirit of discontent, which required some dexterity to
assuage, and which was sometimes fatal to the ter-
ritorial prince. The defiance which he threw in the
face of the emperor was frequently returned to him by
his nobles. If any member of his order proposed
contributions for the necessary support of the local ad-
ministration, the proposition was, in some degree, modi-
fied, or even rejected ; while the most strict account was
exacted from him, in regard to the smallest item of
expenditure. Nor could he, as head of his state,
as an individual, he was no more restricted than other
nobles, declare war on any other power. Strictly
speaking, no one state of the Germanic confederation
could commence hostilities without the sanction of the
rest : yet we have numerous instances in which this
fundamental principle of ah 1 union was violated ; in
which state warred against state, even in direct op-
position to the injunctions of the emperor and of the
imperial diet. Opposition from the nobles, the princes
were not surprised to encounter ; but they could not
bear with much patience that of the enclosed towns,
which their ancestors had founded ; which were in-
habited chiefly by persons of plebeian descent; and
which, as lying within their jurisdiction, were, by the
feudal laws, subject to their control That the citizens
308 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
should disregard the obligations imposed by those laws,
was to be expected, from their fortified positions, from
their numerical strength, and from the spirit which
pervaded the whole range of municipal corporations.
So far did they carry their jealousy of their feudal
lord, that, sometimes, they refused to admit him within
their gates, unless he dismissed the greater part of his
suite ; and they have been known to remain under
arms night and day during his visit. Sometimes, for
the sake of greater security, he found it necessary to take
up his abode in the city during certain periods ; but he
could not be attended by many of his knights, nor could
he fortify his house. Thus, when Heinric duke of
Mecklenburg applied for permission to build a resi-
dence in his own city, Wismar, the burgomaster and
the municipal council granted it as a matter not of
right, but of respect ob reverentiam specialem and
they charged it with the condition that, if he wished to
surround his courtyard with a wall, it must not be
more than ten feet high, nor thicker than a foot and a
half. Nor must we forget that, as the imperial cities
sent deputies to the general diet, so these feudal towns
had their representatives in the provincial states. No
contribution could be levied on them without their own
consent, and they claimed the privilege of concurring
with the nobles, before any regulation could be binding
throughout the state. If the princes were powerful
within their respective domains, they were equally so
within their walls. Omitting their privileges of repre-
sentation, and of concurrent legislation, they allowed
none of the higher orders to interfere in their own mu -
nicipal institutions. These rights were common to all;
but many of them purchased from their feudal superiors
other privileges, which placed them far above the nobles.
Among these was a total exemption from his tribute
and that of his bailiff; the power of selecting their own
magistrates, no less than their own municipal officers ;
the right of choosing by what laws they would be
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 309
governed ; that of coining money with the effigies
not of the prince, but of their own arms. How could
such citizens be persuaded that they owed any service
or homage to the head of the province ? Not unfre-
quently they refused to send deputies to the diet ; and
when they did, they enjoined them not to vote a single
florin. To repress their growing independence, the
prince often called on the nobles, whose hatred to the
citizens was uniform, to join him in making war on
some one of the more obnoxious : but though they
could intercept the convoys, and lay waste the vicinity
of a community, they could seldom make any impres-
sion on the place. Very often they were unable to
obtain even this advantage : their own example had
taught the towns to confederate ; and the smallest
aggression on the feeblest member was punished by the
formidable efforts of the whole league. These dissen-
sions particularly distinguished one class of princes,
the bishops and mitred abbots, in relation to the towns
and cities dependent on them. Not that ecclesiastics
were the worst sovereigns, for the reverse of the pro-
position is true ; but that they were less warlike, and
less able to repress the encroachments of their subjects.
In estimating the diminution of authority sustained by
the princes, we must not lose sight of another error,
which, though in them not a voluntary one, had not
the less influence, that of partition. From the be-
ginning of the thirteenth century, at least, we find
that equal division among the sons, with the reserve
of certain honours to the eldest, distinguished all the
first families : but in two centuries several began to
feel that they were sadly declining from their ancient
splendour ; that if, through the increase of the colla-
teral branches, there was less fear of extinction, the
influence of the family was feeble ; that branch was
often at war with branch ; and that some of the younger
members were simple knights, obliged, for support, to
lend their sword to any employer. To remedy this
x 3
310 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
evil, some of the more ambitious* fathers destined their
younger sons to the ecclesiastical state ; and the dignity
of bishop, or abbot, amply compensated for the loss of
their patrimonial inheritance. But this policy had its
evil also, since it evidently tended to the extinction of a
family. As, in failure of issue, the fief reverted to the
empire, some houses entered into a compact of reci-
procal succession; viz. that, if one became extinct,
the other should succeed to the titles and estates. And,
what is still more curious, it often happened that, when
a fief was conferred, three or four houses were co-
invested at the same time ; the second to succeed on
the extinction of the first ; the third on that of the
second. Hence the conflicting interests of the great
families. The head he who held the titles and
estates could do nothing affecting either without the
written consent of all the agnates, and of all the branches
of the families which had received the investiture at
the same time with his own. Nay, marriages could
not be contracted, nor alliances made, without the same
sanction. This, too, was felt to be an evil ; and, from
the middle of the fourteenth century downwards, we
find that not only was primogeniture resuming the em-
pire which it anciently held, and that co-investiture
was less common, but that compacts of succession,
unless there was imminent danger of extinction, were
very rare. This restoration of an old feeling rapidly
strengthened the territorial families ; but it could not
undo the mischief which had been already effected ;
it could not recover their once vast possessions. The
allodial domains of the princely houses were now mo-
derate ; for over the territory to which they succeeded
they merely r exercised a limited jurisdiction. And,
before we dismiss the present subject, we may observe,
that the period under consideration exhibits as great
change in titles, as in extent of authority and family
influence. Originally, as we have more than once ob-
servedj titles were inseparable from jurisdiction, but
GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 311
were frequently assumed within certain limitations by
nobles who had none. Thus the duke, or margrave,
or count, who had been deposed, not only preserved
his title, but transmitted it to his eldest son. The
next stage in the progress of inheritance was, that when
the eldest r son inherited the title of duke, the second
would assume the merely nominal one of count, the
third that of baron. But, after the introduction of
partition, the distinction was as often real as nominal ;
for, when the eldest son ruled one district with the
title of duke, the second exercised an equal sovereignty
over another as margrave or count. And as the system
was strengthened by custom, the original title de-
scended to the co-heirs : all the sons of a duke were
equally called dukes ; of a count, counts. And when
the law of primogeniture was again recognised, though
the domain was deemed indivisible, the title remained
common to all the sons. Hence the number of poor
princes, counts, and barons, who in Germany and Poland
absolutely swarm, and who, in influence at least, and
often in education, are greatly below the lowest class of
English gentry. Originally, too, all territorial princes
were pares; the duke was not higher in the social scale
than the margrave, the margrave than the count. But
in the diets there was certainly a graduated precedence ;
and those who were lowest in the scale endeavoured
to procure an elevation of rank by the conversion of
their titles from mere lordships to duchies. Thus the
counts of Guelderland, Luxemburg, Bar, Juliers, Berg,
&c. became, by imperial concessions, dukes of their
respective territories. But the counts and barons who,
since the custom of partition, had often no more than a
small estate, perhaps merely a fort on the summit of
some hill, were still numerous ; and had they been
allowed to vote personally in the diets, their suffrage
must have overwhelmed those of the margraves, dukes,
and princes. But, notwithstanding their strenuous op-
position, it was at length resolved that the votes of all
x 4
312 HISTORY OP THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
in the same district should be counted as one only. Am-
bition, however, still operated over individuals, who, as
the emperor was the fountain of honour, applied for a
higher grade ; or for superadding to their present grade
the right of a personal vote. That such concessions
were granted, is evident from charters till extant ; but
at length the states took the alarm, and by their own
authority circumscribed this imperial prerogative.*
1273 Descending in the social scale, we come to the nobles
to without territorial jurisdiction. Of these, some were
1437. allodial ; others were vassals of the electors or the
princes ; others had no lands, but subsisted by the
sword, or were attached to the service or household of
some prince. In a country where partition so long pre-
vailed, there would be necessarily many whose inherit-
ance was inadequate to their support ; many who had
no other inheritance than a horse, a suit of armour, and
a noble name. But where every prince was anxious to
increase the number of his followers, since he thereby
increased his power ; where duke, margrave, bishop,
abbot, burgrave, count, were compelled, not from motives
of ambition or of pomp, but from self-defence, to main-
tain constantly on foot a certain number of armed men ;
where not only the imperial cities, but the inferior
walled towns, readily received into their confederation
and pay any horseman who presented himself, there were
resources enough for every individual of the privileged
class. When feudal levies were gradually replaced by
mercenary troops, these adventurers were found neces-
sary in every war, whether of a public or a private
nature. Nothing can exceed the eagerness with which
* Ohlenschlager, Urkundenbuch zur Goldenen Bull, N. 13, 14. 43. (cum
multis aliis>. Haeberlin, Collectio, torn. viii. p. 724 755. (multis instru.
mentis). Miiller, R. T. Theatrum, th. ii. vorst. iv. cap. 2, &c. Pfeffinger,
Codex Diplorn., torn. iii. p. 146. (et inaliis locis). Senkenberg, Selecta Juris
et Historiarum, ii. 480, &c. Geschichte von Bayern Beylager, N. 28. 30,
&c. Strubens, Nebenstunden, ii. 6&4. ; i.421, &c. Lunig, Speculum, cap.
22. Gudenus, Diplomata (in multis instruments) . Rupertus, De Statu
eorum qui Ftirstenmassige, &c. p. 27, &c. Meibomius, Scriptores Rerum
Germanicarum, iii. 208. Linnajus, Jus Publicum, lib. ii. cap. 9. Putter,
Historical Developement, torn. i. book iii. chap. 4. Schmidt, Histoire des
Allemands, torn. vi. cap. 1. Goldastus, Constitutiones Imperiales, passim.
GERMANIC SOCIETY. 313
they rushed to any standard, where pay was offered.
" Little do they care," says a contemporary writer,
" whether the cause he good or bad; were the devil to
offer them good wages, they would swarm around him
like summer flies !" But these were the poor nohles:
the rich ones those, especially, who had comfortahle
hereditary domains might be expected to live in
tranquillity. Yet no men were more restive : if they
refused to hire their swords to the territorial prince, the
elector, or even the emperor, they had still private
quarrels to pursue ; and their obligations, as members of
some particular league, allowed little leisure for the cul-
tivation of peace. On every side the rural noble found
or made enemies : besides his private ones, and those of
his kindred, and those even of his league, he had, as
belonging to an order, narrowly to watch, often openly
to resist, the proceedings of prince or diet. For the
support of the mercenary troops, the permanent militia
of the state, new imposts were unavoidable. Was he
to bear a portion of the burden ? So said the electors,
the princes, the monarch,, and, more than all, reason and
equity ; but he resisted wherever he could do so with
effect. And we have proof that, in many places, the
simple nobles those without territorial jurisdiction or
office aimed at complete independence of both crown
and prince. But, except in times of anarchy, their re-
sistance was vain ; they resided within a certain juris-
diction ; and they were generally amenable to the
tribunal of the prince. Yet there were a considerable
number who enrolled themselves in some municipality,
and who could, consequently, bid defiance to the aristo-
cracy. Also the nobles who held lands, however small,
in future could attend the provincial diets ; and there is
reason to infer, that even simple knights, without fiefs
or allodial possessions, were sometimes convoked with
the rest.*
* Chiefly the same authorities.
314- HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
1273 Amidst the revolutions which agitated Germany
to during this period, the rustic population were not with-
H37. out benefit. In the former chapters we have seen
their condition to be progressively improving ; that one
by one their more galling chains were loosened. The
first from which they were freed was their absolute de-
pendence on their lord, who had possessed over them
the power of life and death : their lives were now pro-
tected by a heavy fine, and by the penance inflicted on
the homicide. The next step exempted them from bodily
servitude ; and, though they were still attached to the
glebe, they were not compelled to labour for their lords
longer than a given number of days in each week; often
they were not expected to labour for them at all, but to
yield, in lieu of service, a certain portion of the pro-
duce. At this stage they had arrived during the last
period, viz., prior to the accession of Rodolf. The
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed an improve-
ment no less salutary. By the subdivision of estates
consequent on the system of partition, many proprietors
were reduced to great poverty. The inheritance was
too small to render continued residence either necessary
or advisable ; and they often made over the land to the
cultivator on such terms as they could command. As
that cultivator was some one of the peasants, or a vassal
of the house, the act involved an absolute emancipation
from the yet lingering bonds of slavery, from the serfage
which had superseded the old evil. The conditions of
this transfer varied according to the compact: some-
times there was an annual return in produce ; more
frequently in a fixed rent ; and we have many instances
in which the property was absolutely sold, the money to
be paid by certain annual instalments. Often, too, it
was let to the tenant on so long a lease as to be equiva-
lent to a freehold ; nor are there instances wanting in
which the farm was to be hereditarily held by the
heirs of the tenant, subject to an annual acknowledg-
ment. From a rescript of the emperor Sigismund,
GERMANIC SOCIETY. 315
issued in the Nuremberg diet of 1431, we recognise the
existence of a class of " poor freemen, resident on
their own land, without superiors, because they had
redeemed themselves from vassalage." Had not the
number been considerable, their existence would not have
been thus formally indicated. And the condition of the
serfs was ameliorated, or rather, they were raised from
the state of serfs to that of free tenants, by other means,
which are well worthy of attention. The expenses
accompanying the interminable private wars of the
period inevitably plunged the allodial proprietor, small
or large, into debt ; and, to relieve himself of the ob-
ligation, he made over, during a certain number of
years, or during his natural life, all interest in the pro-
duce of the ground, for a given sum of money, often
much below the value. If the tenant to whom the pro-
posal was thus made, had not the money at disposal,
he could borrow from the Jews, who were always
ready to advance it, on terms, indeed, sufficiently ra-
pacious, yet not ruinous to the borrower. Generally,
however, the proposal was made to a vassal who had
saved, or inherited, a considerable portion, at least, of
the sum demanded; and that there were many such
may be inferred from the revolution we have before
noticed, the elevation of serfs to the dignity of
tenants ; their capability of acquiring and of transmitting
property. Again, where the domain was extended,
the effect was the same as when it was circumscribed.
Though, by the partitions which we have so often men-
tioned, the possessions of families were subdivided ad
infinitum, yet, from the fourteenth century, the family
contracts relating to mutual succession amplified the
domains of several ; and, by the ordinary laws of suc-
cession, where no such compacts existed, especially after
the restoration of the primogenital rule, property often
accumulated into masses, and passed into the same
hands. Add to this the fact, that the ecclesiastical do-
mains were constantly increasing, whether by bequest,
316 HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
or purchase, or concession ; and we can have no diffi-
culty in believing that a very considerable number of
domains were too extensive to be superintended by one
or even several individuals. When the eye of authority
was removed, the more remote peasant would be little
anxious for the growth of produce beyond what was
necessary for the support of his family. Idleness is
natural to man ; it is necessarily so to the man who
feels that industry cannot much avail him ; that a
certain degree of labour only is requisite for his wants ;
and that all beyond is for the benefit of a superior. He
soon regards whatever exceeds a given modicum as purely
a work of supererogation. Hence the inadequate culti-
vation of the more isolated domains, and the little profit
accruing from them. Experience proved that if, in
consideration of an annual rent, the land were aban-
doned to the cultivator, that rent would be cheerfully
and punctually paid. Hence, the transformation of
villeins into tenants, who gained in even a greater pro-
portion than their masters. In different places, and
even in the same place under different circumstances, the
conditions of the compact varied, but in all it had a
tendency to elevate the labourer. Though the best
feeh'ngs of ' humanity and the progressive influence of
religion had 'generally something to do in the amelior-
ation of his lot, the chief cause was the interest or the
necessities of the landowner. Abstract notions of jus-
tice, unaccompanied by present or the prospect of
future advantage, may favourably dispose the heart, but
they seldom exercise a permanent influence on the con-
duct. It is only when the duties harmonise with the
interests of man, that we can reasonably hope for their
fulfilment. The Christian philosopher, indeed, knows
that the relation between the two is immutable and in-
separable ; but such knowledge is obtained only by the
few ; and the bulk of mankind will prefer a present
and tangible to a future and less apparent good. We
may, therefore, conclude, that the emancipation of the
GERMANIC SOCIETY. 317
\
rtral population an emancipation in Germany purely
conditional was a result produced by the natural
tejdency of events, by causes exclusively human. *
' 1 Sammlung der Reichsabschiede, i. 148. Heineccius, Elementa Juris
Gdrmanici, lib. i. tit 1. Schmidt, Histoire des Allemands, &c., 83.
END OP THE FIRST VOLUME.
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