The Holy Roman Empire — James Bryce
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : The Holy Roman Empire Author : Viscount James Bryce Bryce Release date : November 4, 2013 [eBook #44101] Most recently updated: October 23, 2024 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44101 Credits : Produced by Melissa McDaniel, Stephen Rowland, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) *** START OF Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original document have been preserved. THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE BY JAMES BRYCE, D.C.L. FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE and PROFESSOR OF CIVIL LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD THIRD EDITION REVISED London MACMILLAN AND CO. 1871 OXFORD: By T. Combe, M.A., E. B. Gardner, and E. Pickard Hall, PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. The object of this treatise is not so much to give a narrative history of the countries included in the Romano-Germanic Empire—Italy during the middle ages, Germany from the ninth century to the nineteenth—as to describe the Holy Empire itself as an institution or system, the wonderful offspring of a body of beliefs and traditions which have almost wholly passed away from the world. Such a description, however, would not be intelligible without some account of the great events which accompanied the growth and decay of imperial power; and it has therefore appeared best to give the book the form rather of a narrative than of a dissertation; and to combine with an exposition of what may be called the theory of the Empire an outline of the political history of Germany, as well as some notices of the affairs of mediæval Italy. To make the succession of events clearer, a Chronological List of Emperors and Popes has been prefixed [1] . The present edition has been carefully revised and corrected throughout; and a good many additions have been made to both text and notes. Lincoln's Inn , August 11, 1870 . CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introductory. CHAPTER II. The Roman Empire before the Invasion of the Barbarians. The Empire in the Second Century 5 Obliteration of National distinctions 6 Rise of Christianity 10 Its Alliance with the State 10 Its Influence on the Idea of an Imperial Nationality 13 CHAPTER III. The Barbarian Invasions. Relations between the Primitive Germans and the Romans 15 Their Feelings towards Rome and her Empire 16 Belief in its Eternity 20 Extinction by Odoacer of the Western branch of the Empire 26 Theodoric the Ostrogothic King 27 Gradual Dissolution of the Empire 30 Permanence of the Roman Religion and the Roman Law 31 CHAPTER IV. Restoration of the Empire in the West. The Franks 34 Italy under Greeks and Lombards 37 The Iconoclastic Schism 38 Alliance of the Popes with the Frankish Kings 39 The Frankish Conquest of Italy 41 Adventures and Plans of Pope Leo III 43 Coronation of Charles the Great 48 CHAPTER V. Empire and Policy of Charles. Import of the Coronation at Rome 52 Accounts given in the Annals of the time 53 Question as to the Intentions of Charles 58 Legal Effect of the Coronation 62 Position of Charles towards the Church 64 Towards his German Subjects 67 Towards the other Races of Europe 70 General View of his Character and Policy 72 CHAPTER VI. Carolingian and Italian Emperors. Reign of Lewis I 76 Dissolution of the Carolingian Empire 78 Beginnings of the German Kingdom 79 Italian Emperors 80 Otto the Saxon King 84 Coronation of Otto at Rome 87 CHAPTER VII. Theory of the Mediæval Empire. The World Monarchy and the World Religion 91 Unity of the Christian Church 94 Influence of the Doctrine of Realism 97 The Popes as heirs to the Roman Monarchy 99 Character of the revived Roman Empire 102 Respective Functions of the Pope and the Emperor 104 Proofs and Illustrations 109 Interpretations of Prophecy 112 Two remarkable Pictures 116 CHAPTER VIII. The Roman Empire and the German Kingdom. The German or East Frankish Monarchy 122 Feudality in Germany 123 Reciprocal Influence of the Roman and Teutonic Elements on the Character of the Empire 127 CHAPTER IX. Saxon and Franconian Emperors. Adventures of Otto the Great in Rome 134 Trial and Deposition of Pope John XII 135 Position of Otto in Italy 139 His European Policy 140 Comparison of his Empire with the Carolingian 144 Character and Projects of the Emperor Otto III 146 The Emperors Henry II and Conrad II 150 The Emperor Henry III 151 CHAPTER X. Struggle of the Empire and the Papacy. Origin and Progress of Papal Power 153 Relations of the Popes with the early Emperors 155 Quarrel of Henry IV and Gregory VII 159 Gregory's Ideas 160 Concordat of Worms 163 General Results of the Contest 164 CHAPTER XI. The Emperors in Italy: Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick and the Papacy 167 Revival of the Study of the Roman Law 172 Arnold of Brescia and the Roman Republicans 174 Frederick's Struggle with the Lombard Cities 175 His Policy as German King 178 CHAPTER XII. Imperial Titles and Pretensions. Territorial Limits of the Empire—Its Claims of Jurisdiction over other Countries 182 Hungary 183 Poland 184 Denmark 184 France 185 Sweden 185 Spain 185 England 186 Scotland 187 Naples and Sicily 188 Venice 188 The East 189 Rivalry of the Teutonic and Byzantine Emperors 191 The Four Crowns 193 Origin and Meaning of the title 'Holy Empire' 199 CHAPTER XIII. Fall of the Hohenstaufen. Reign of Henry VI 205 Contest of Philip and Otto IV 206 Character and Career of the Emperor Frederick II 207 Destruction of Imperial Authority in Italy 211 The Great Interregnum 212 Rudolf of Hapsburg 213 Change in the Character of the Empire 214 Haughty Demeanour of the Popes 217 CHAPTER XIV. The Germanic Constitution—the Seven Electors. Ge