The Holy Roman Empire

119

So Leo III in a charter issued on the day of Charles's coronation: '… actum in præsentia gloriosi atque excellentissimi filii nostri Caroli quem auctore Deo in defensionem et provectionem sanctæ universalis ecclesiæ hodie Augustum sacravimus.' – Jaffé Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, ad ann. 800.

So, indeed, Theodulf of Orleans, a contemporary of Charles, ascribes to the Emperor an almost papal authority over the Church itself: —

'Cœli habet hic (sc. Papa) claves, proprias te iussit habere;Tu regis ecclesiæ, nam regit ille poli;Tu regis eius opes, clerum populumque gubernas,Hic te cœlicolas ducet ad usque choros.'In D. Bouquet, v. 415.

120

Perhaps at no more than three: in the time of Charles and Leo; again under Otto III and his two Popes, Gregory V and Sylvester II; thirdly, under Henry III; certainly never thenceforth.

121

The Sachsenspiegel (Speculum Saxonicum, circ. A.D. 1240), the great North-German law book, says, 'The Empire is held from God alone, not from the Pope. Emperor and Pope are supreme each in what has been entrusted to him: the Pope in what concerns the soul; the Emperor in all that belongs to the body and to knighthood.' The Schwabenspiegel, compiled half a century later, subordinates the prince to the pontiff: 'Daz weltliche Schwert des Gerichtes daz lihet der Babest dem Chaiser; daz geistlich ist dem Babest gesetzt daz er damit richte.'

122

So Boniface VIII in the bull Unam Sanctam, will have but one head for the Christian people. 'Igitur ecclesiæ unius et unicæ unum corpus, unum caput, non duo capita quasi monstrum.'

123

St. Bernard writes to Conrad III: 'Non veniat anima mea in consilium eorum qui dicunt vel imperio pacem et libertatem ecclesiæ vel ecclesiæ prosperitatem et exaltationem imperii nocituram.' So in the De Consideratione: 'Si utrumque simul habere velis, perdes utrumque,' of the papal claim to temporal and spiritual authority, quoted by Gieseler.

124

'Sedens in solio armatus et cinctus ensem, habensque in capite Constantini diadema, stricto dextra capulo ensis accincti, ait: "Numquid ego summus sum pontifex? nonne ista est cathedra Petri? Nonne possum imperii iura tutari? ego sum Cæsar, ego sum imperator."' – Fr. Pipinus (ap. Murat. S. R. I. ix.) l. iv. c. 47. These words, however, are by this writer ascribed to Boniface, when receiving the envoys of the emperor Albert I, in A.D. 1299. I have not been able to find authority for their use at the jubilee, but give the current story for what it is worth.

It has been suggested that Dante may be alluding to this sword scene in a well-known passage of the Purgatorio (xvi. l. 106): —

'Soleva Roma, che 'l buon mondo feoDuo Soli aver, che l' una e l' altra stradaFacean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.L' un l' altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spadaCol pastorale: e l' un coll altro insiemePer viva forzu mal convien che vada.'

125

See especially Peter de Andlo (De Imperio Romano); Ralph Colonna (De translatione Imperii Romani); Dante (De Monarchia); Engelbert (De Ortu et Fine Imperii Romani); Marsilius Patavinus (De translatione Imperii Romani); Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini (De Ortu et Authoritate Imperii Romani); Zoannetus (De Imperio Romano atque ejus Iurisdictione); and the writers in Schardius's Sylloge, and in Goldast's Collection of Tracts, entitled Monarchia Imperii.

126

Letter of Lewis II to Basil the Macedonian, in Chron. Salernit. in Mur. S. R. I.; also given by Baronius, Ann. Eccl. ad ann. 871.

127

'Ad summum dignitatis pervenisti: Vicarius es Christi.' – Wippo, Vita Chuonradi (ap. Pertz), c. 3.

Letter in Radewic, ap. Murat, S. R. I.

128

Lewis IV is styled in one of his proclamations, 'Gentis humanæ, orbis Christiani custos, urbi et orbi a Deo electus præesse.' – Pfeffinger, Vitriarius Illustratus.

129

In a document issued by the Diet of Speyer (A.D. 1529) the Emperor is called 'Oberst, Vogt, und Haupt der Christenheit.' Hieronymus Balbus, writing about the same time, puts the question whether all Christians are subject to the Emperor in temporal things, as they are to the Pope in spiritual, and answers it by saying, 'Cum ambo ex eodem fonte perfluxerint et eadem semita incedant, de utroque idem puto sentiendum.'

130

'Non magis ad Papam depositio seu remotio pertinet quam ad quoslibet regum prælatos, qui reges suos prout assolent, consecrant et inungunt.' —Letter of Frederick II (lib. i. c. 3).

131

Liber Ceremonialis Romanus, lib. i. sect. 5; with which compare the Coronatio Romana of Henry VII, in Pertz, and Muratori's Dissertation in vol. i. of the Antiquitates Italiæ Medii Ævi.

132

See Goldast, Collection of Imperial Constitutions; and Moser, Römische Kayser.

133

The abbot Engelbert (De Ortu et Fine Imperii Romani) quotes Origen and Jerome to this effect, and proceeds himself to explain, from 2 Thess. ii., how the falling away will precede the coming of Antichrist. There will be a triple 'discessio,' of the kingdoms of the earth from the Roman Empire, of the Church from the Apostolic See, of the faithful from the faith. Of these, the first causes the second; the temporal sword to punish heretics and schismatics being no longer ready to work the will of the rulers of the Church.

134

A full statement of the views that prevailed in the earlier Middle Age regarding Antichrist – as well as of the singular prophecy of the Frankish Emperor who shall appear in the latter days, conquer the world, and then going to Jerusalem shall lay down his crown on the Mount of Olives and deliver over the kingdom to Christ – may be found in the little treatise, Vita Antichristi, which Adso, monk and afterwards abbot of Moutier-en-Der, compiled (cir. 950) for the information of Queen Gerberga, wife of Louis d'Outremer. Antichrist is to be born a Jew of the tribe of Dan (Gen. xlix. 17), 'non de episcopo et monacha, sicut alii delirando dogmatizant, sed de immundissima meretrice et crudelissimo nebulone. Totus in peccato concipietur, in peccato generabitur, in peccato nascetur.' His birthplace is Babylon: he is to be brought up in Bethsaida and Chorazin.

Adso's book may be found printed in Migne, t. ci. p. 1290.

135

S. Thomas explains the prophecy in a remarkable manner, shewing how the decline of the Empire is no argument against its fulfilment. 'Dicendum quod nondum cessavit, sed est commutatum de temporali in spirituale, ut dicit Leo Papa in sermone de Apostolis: et ideo discessio a Romano imperio debet intelligi non solum a temporali sed etiam a spirituali, scilicit a fide Catholica Romanæ Ecclesiæ. Est autem hoc conveniens signum nam Christus venit, quando Romanum imperium omnibus dominabatur: ita e contra signum adventus Antichristi est discessio ab eo.' —Comment. ad 2 Thess. ii.

136

See note z, page 119. The Papal party sometimes insisted that both swords were given to Peter, while the imperialists assigned the temporal sword to John. Thus a gloss to the Sachsenspiegel says, 'Dat eine svert hadde Sinte Peter, dat het nu de paves: dat andere hadde Johannes, dat het nu de keyser.'

137

2 Thess. ii. 7.

138

St. Augustine, however, though he states the view (applying the passage to the Roman Empire) which was generally received in the Middle Ages, is careful not to commit himself positively to it.

139

Jordanis Chronica (written towards the close of the thirteenth century).

140

Compare with this the words which Pope Hadrian I. had used some twenty-three years before, of Charles as representative of Constantine: 'Et sicut temporibus Beati Sylvestri, Romani pontificis, a sanctæ recordationis piissimo Constantino magno imperatore, per eius largitatem sancta Dei catholica et apostolica Romana ecclesia elevata atque exaltata est, et potestatem in his Hesperiæ partibus largiri dignatus est, ita et in his vestris felicissimis temporibus atque nostris, sancta Dei ecclesia, id est, beati Petri apostoli germinet atque exsultet, ut omnes gentes quæ hæc audierint edicere valeant, 'Domine salvum fac regem, et exaudi nos in die in qua invocaverimus te;' quia ecce novus Christianissimus Dei Constantinus imperator his temporibus surrexit, per quem omnia Deus sanctæ suæ ecclesiæ beati apostolorum principis Petri largiri dignatus est.' —Letter XLIX of Cod. Carol., A.D. 777 (in Mur. Scriptores Rerum Italicarum).

This letter is memorable as containing the first allusion, or what seems an allusion, to Constantine's Donation.

The phrase 'sancta Dei ecclesia, id est, B. Petri apostoli,' is worth noting.

141

The church in which the opening scene of Boccaccio's Decameron is laid.

142

So Kugler (Eastlake's ed. vol. i. p. 144), and so also Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, in their New History of Painting in Italy, vol. ii. pp. 85 sqq.

143

Domini canes. Spotted because of their black-and-white raiment.

There is of course a great deal more detail in the picture, which it does not appear necessary to describe. St. Dominic is a conspicuous figure.

It is worth remarking that the Emperor, who is on the Pope's left hand, and so made slightly inferior to him while superior to every one else, holds in his hand, instead of the usual imperial globe, a death's head, typifying the transitory nature of his power.

144

Although this was of course never his legal title. Till 1806 he was 'Romanorum Imperator semper Augustus;' 'Römischer Kaiser.'

145

Pütter, Dissertationes de Instauratione Imperii Romani; cf. Goldast's Collection of Constitutions; and the proclamations and other documents collected in Pertz, M. G. H. legg. I.

146

Pütter (De Instauratione Imperii Romani) will have it that upon this mistake, as he calls it, of Otto's, the whole subsequent history of the Empire turned; that if Otto had but continued to style himself 'Francorum Rex,' Germany would have been spared all her Italian wars.

147

'Iohannes episcopus, servus servorum Dei, omnibus episcopis. Nos audivimus dicere quia vos vultis alium papam facere: si hoc facitis, da Deum omnipotentem excommunico vos, ut non habeatis licentiam missam celebrare aut nullum ordinare.' – Liudprand, ut supra. The 'da' is curious, as shewing the progress of the change from Latin to Italian. The answer sent by Otto and the council takes exception to the double negative.

148

'Cives fidelitatem promittunt hæc addentes et firmiter iurantes nunquam se papam electuros aut ordinaturos præter consensum atque electionem domini imperatoris Ottonis Cæsaris Augusti filiique ipsius Ottonis.' – Liudprand, Gesta Ottonis, lib. vi.

149

'In timporibus adeo a dyabulo est percussus ut infra dierum octo spacium eodem sit in vulnere mortuus,' says the chronicler, crediting with but little of his wonted cleverness the supposed author of John's death, who well might have desired a long life for so useful a servant.

He adds a detail too characteristic of the time to be omitted – 'Sed eucharistiæ viaticum, ipsius instinctu qui eum percusserat, non percepit.'

150

Corpus Iuris Canonici, Dist. lxiii., 'In synodo.' A decree which is probably substantially genuine, although the form in which we have it is evidently of later date.

151

Cf. St. Peter Damiani's lines —

'Roma vorax hominum domat ardua colla virorum,Roma ferax febrium necis est uberrima frugum,Romanæ febres stabili sunt iure fideles.'

152

There was a separate chancellor for Italy, as afterwards for the kingdom of Burgundy.

153

Liudprand, Legatio Constantinopolitana.

154

'Sancti imperii nostri olim servos principes, Beneventanum scilicet, tradat,' &c. The epithet is worth noticing.

155

Liudprand calls the Eastern Franks 'Franci Teutonici' to distinguish them from the Romanized Franks of Gaul or 'Francigenæ,' as they were frequently called. The name 'Frank' seems even so early as the tenth century to have been used in the East as a general name for the Western peoples of Europe. Liudprand says that the Greek Emperor included 'sub Francorum nomine tam Latinos quam Teutonicos.' Probably this use dates from the time of Charles.

156

Conring, De Finibus Imperii.

157

Basileus was a favourite title of the English kings before the Conquest. Titles like this used in these early English charters prove, it need hardly be said, absolutely nothing as to the real existence of any rights or powers of the English king beyond his own borders. What they do prove (over and above the taste for florid rhetoric in the royal clerks) is the impression produced by the imperial style, and by the idea of the emperor's throne as supported by the thrones of kings and other lesser potentates.

158

The coins of Crescentius are said to exhibit the insignia of the old Empire. – Palgrave, Normandy and England, i. 715. But probably some at least of them are forgeries.

159

Proclamation in Pertz, M. G. H. ii.

160

'Imperator antiquam Romanorum consuetudinem iam ex magna parte deletam suis cupiens renovare temporibus multa faciebat quæ diversi diverse sentiebant.' – Thietmar, Chron. ix.; ap. Pertz, M. G. H. t. iii.

161

Annales Quedlinb., ad ann. 1002.

162

Henry had already entered Italy in 1004.

163

Annales Beneventani, in Pertz, M. G. H.

164

See Appendix, Note A.

165

'Roma per sedem Beati Petri caput orbis effecta.' – See note i, p. 32.

166

'Claves tibi ad regnum dimisimus.' – Pope Stephen to Charles Martel, in Codex Carolinus, ap. Muratori, S. R. I. iii. Some, however, prefer to read 'ad rogum.'

167

Corpus Iuris Canonici, Dist. lxiii. c. 22.

168

Dist. lxiii. c. 30. This decree is, however, in all probability spurious.

169

'Nos elegimus merito et approbavimus una cum annisu et voto patrum amplique senatus et gentis togatæ,' &c., ap. Baron. Ann. Eccl., ad ann. 876.

170

'Divina vos pietas B. principum apostolorum Petri et Pauli interventione per vicarium ipsorum dominum Ioannem summum pontificem… ad imperiale culmen S. Spiritus iudicio provexit.' —Concil. Ticinense, in Mur., S. R. I. ii.

171

Strictly speaking, Henry was at this time only king of the Romans: he was not crowned Emperor at Rome till 1084.

172

Letter of Gregory VII to William I, A.D. 1080. I quote from Migne, t. cxlviii. p. 568.

173

'Gradum statim post Principes Electores.' – Frederick I's Privilege of Austria, in Pertz, M. G. H. legg. ii.

174

Hohenstaufen is a castle in what is now the kingdom of Würtemberg, about four miles from the Göppingen station of the railway from Stuttgart to Ulm. It stands, or rather stood, on the summit of a steep and lofty conical hill, commanding a boundless view over the great limestone plateau of the Rauhe Alp, the eastern declivities of the Schwartzwald, and the bare and tedious plains of western Bavaria. Of the castle itself, destroyed in the Peasants' War, there remain only fragments of the wall-foundations: in a rude chapel lying on the hill slope below are some strange half-obliterated frescoes; over the arch of the door is inscribed 'Hic transibat Cæsar.' Frederick Barbarossa had another famous palace at Kaiserslautern, a small town in the Palatinate, on the railway from Mannheim to Treves, lying in a wide valley at the western foot of the Hardt mountains. It was destroyed by the French and a house of correction has been built upon its site; but in a brewery hard by may be seen some of the huge low-browed arches of its lower story.

175

A great deal of importance seems to have been attached to this symbolic act of courtesy. See Art. I of the Sachsenspiegel.

176

Letter to the German bishops in Radewic; Mur., S. R. I., t. vi. p. 833.

177

A picture in the great hall of the ducal palace (the Sala del Maggio Consiglio) represents the scene. See Rogers' Italy.

178

Psalm xci.

179

Document of 1230, quoted by Von Raumer, v. p. 81.

180

Speech of archbishop of Milan, in Radewic; Mur. vi.

181

Frederick's election (at Frankfort) was made 'non sine quibusdam Italiæ baronibus.' – Otto Fris. i. But this was the exception.

182

See also post, Chapter XVI.

183

'Senatus Populusque Romanus urbis et orbis totius domino Conrado.'

184

Otto of Freysing.

185

Later in his reign, Frederick condescended to negotiate with these Roman magistrates against a hostile Pope, and entered into a sort of treaty by which they were declared exempt from all jurisdiction but his own.

186

See the first note to Shelley's Hellas. Sismondi is mainly answerable for this conception of Barbarossa's position.

187

They say rebelliously, says Frederick, 'Nolumus hunc regnare super nos … at nos maluimus honestam mortem quam ut,' &c. – Letter in Pertz. M. G. H. legg. ii.

188

'De tributo Cæsaris nemo cogitabat;Omnes erant Cæsares, nemo censum dabat;Civitas Ambrosii, velut Troia, stabat,Deos parum, homines minus formidabat.'

Poems relating to the Emperor Frederick of Hohenstaufen, published by Grimm.

189

Charles the Great was canonized by Frederick's anti-pope and confirmed afterwards.

190

Acta Concil. Hartzhem. iii., quoted by Von Raumer, ii. 6.

191

Poems relating to Frederick I, ut supra.

192

The carroccio was a waggon with a flagstaff planted on it, which served the Lombards for a rallying-point in battle.

193

Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen, and Frankfort.

[Since this was first written Frankfort has been annexed by Prussia, and her three surviving sisters have, by their entrance into the North German confederation, lost something of their independence.]

194

The legend is one which appears under various forms in many countries.

195

'Pruzzi,' says the biographer of St. Adalbert, 'quorum Deus est venter et avaritia iuncta cum morte.' —M. G. H. t. iv.

It is curious that this non-Teutonic people should have given their name to the great German kingdom of the present.

196

Conring, De Finibus Imperii. It is hardly necessary to observe that the connection of Hungary with the Hapsburgs is of comparatively recent origin, and of a purely dynastic nature. The position of the archdukes of Austria as kings of Hungary had nothing to do legally with the fact that many of them were also chosen Emperors, although practically their possession of the imperial crown had greatly aided them in grasping and retaining the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia.

197

Cf. Pfeffel, Abrégé Chronologique.

198

Letter of Frederick I to Otto of Freising, prefixed to the latter's History. This king is also called Sweyn.

199

See Appendix, Note B.

200

Albertus Stadensis apud Conringium, De Finibus Imperii.

201

There is an allusion to this in the poems of the Cid. Arthur Duck, De Usu et Authoritate Iuris Civilis, quotes the view of some among the older jurists, that Spain having been, as far as the Romans were concerned, a res derelicta, recovered by the Spaniards themselves from the Moors, and thus acquired by occupatio, ought not to be subject to the Emperors.

202

One of the greatest of English kings appears performing an act of courtesy to the Emperor which was probably construed into an acknowledgment of his own inferior position. Describing the Roman coronation of the Emperor Conrad II, Wippo (c. 16) tells us 'His ita peractis in duorum regum præsentia Ruodolfi regis Burgundiæ et Chnutonis regis Anglorum divino officio finito imperator duorum regum medius ad cubiculum suum honorifice ductus est.'

203

Letter in Otto Fris. i.: 'Nobis submittuntur Francia et Hispania, Anglia et Dania.'

204

Letter in Radewic says, 'Regnum nostrum vobis exponimus… Vobis imperandi cedat auctoritas, nobis non deerit voluntas obsequendi.'

205

The alleged instances of homage by the Scots to the Saxon and early Norman kings are almost all complicated in some such way. They had once held also the earldom of Huntingdon from the English crown, and some have supposed (but on no sufficient grounds) that homage was also done by them for Lothian.

206

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

207

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

208

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

209

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

210

Selden, Titles of Honour, part i. chap. ii. Nevertheless, notaries in Scotland, as elsewhere, continued for a long time to style themselves 'Ego M. auctoritate imperiali (or papali) notarius.'

211

It is not necessary to prove this letter to have been the composition of Frederick or his ministers. If it be (as it doubtless is) contemporary, it is equally to the purpose as an evidence of the feelings and ideas of the age. As a reviewer of a former edition of this book has questioned its authenticity, I may mention that it is to be found not only in Hoveden, but also in the 'Itinerarium regis Ricardi,' in Ralph de Diceto, and in the 'Chronicon Terrae Sanctae.' [See Mr. Stubbs' edition of Hoveden, vol. ii. p. 356.]

212

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

213

Otto of Freising, i.

214

'Isaachius a Deo constitutus Imperator, sacratissimus, excellentissimus, potentissimus, moderator Romanorum, Angelus totius orbis, heres coronæ magni Constantini, dilecto fratri imperii sui, maximo principi Alemanniæ.' A remarkable speech of Frederick's to the envoys of Isaac, who had addressed a letter to him as 'Rex Alemaniæ' is preserved by Ansbert (Historia de Expeditione Friderici Imperatoris): – 'Dominus Imperator divina se illustrante gratia ulterius dissimulare non valens temerarium fastum regis (sc. Græcorum) et usurpantem vocabulum falsi imperatoris Romanorum, hæc inter cætera exorsus est: – "Omnibus qui sanæ mentis sunt constat, quia unus est Monarchus Imperator Romanorum, sicut et unus est pater universitatis, pontifex videlicet Romanus; ideoque cum ego Romani imperii sceptrum plusquam per annos XXX absque omnium regum vel principum contradictione tranquille tenuerim et in Romana urbe a summo pontifice imperiali benedictione unctus sim et sublimatus, quia denique Monarchiam prædecessores mei imperatores Romanorum plusquam per CCCC annos etiam gloriose transmiserint, utpote a Constantinopolitana urbe ad pristinam sedem imperii, caput orbis Romam, acclamatione Romanorum et principum imperii, auctoritate quoque summi pontificis et S. catholicæ ecclesiæ translatam, propter tardum et infructuosum Constantinopolitani imperatoris auxilium contra tyrannos ecclesiæ, mirandum est admodum cur frater meus dominus vester Constantinopolitanus imperator usurpet inefficax sibi idem vocabulum et glorietur stulte alieno sibi prorsus honore, cum liquido noverit me et nomine dici et re esse Fridericum Romanorum imperatorem semper Augustum."'