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     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 mediaeval 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.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The author has in preparation, and hopes before long to complete
and publish, a set of chronological tables which may be made to serve
as a sort of skeleton history of mediaeval Germany and Italy.




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 Mediaeval Empire.

     The World Monarchy and the World Religion                      91
     Unity of the Christian Church                                  94
     Influence