A. D. 800-888 confraternel des fils de Louis le Pieux, Paris, 1898, in Le Moyen Age for CHAP. III 1898, pp. 252, 285; Calmette, La diplomatie Carolingienne du Traité de Verdun à la mort de Charles le Chauve, Paris, 1901. The forms of immediate intercourse between sovereigns in this period are given by Michael, Die Formen des unmittelbaren Verkehrs zwischen den deutschen Kaisern und souveränen Fürsten, vornehmlich im X, XI und XII Jahrhundert, Hamburg and Leipzig, 1888. Lapôtre, L'Europe et le S. Siège à l'époque Carolingienne, Paris, 1895, contains a defence of the motives and ideals of John VIII in choosing Charles the Bald as Emperor. The transfer of the Empire to the Germans The antago nism between Rome and the CHAPTER IV THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION THE HE collapse of the Empire as an effective form of government under the Carlovingians was produced by those national rivalries which had already pronounced the doom of universal dominion. The struggle between two opposing ideas that of a universal monarchy inherited from the Romans, and that of local rule derived from the instincts and usages of the Germans, accentuated by the personal ambitions of the national princes- had now become the predominating movement in the political development of Europe. By a new combination of circumstances the imperial office had been transferred to a German king in the person of Charles the Fat. The Empire had thereby become the appanage of the German kingdom,-a realm entirely outside the limits of the old Roman world. It was a transfer fraught with incalculable consequences, for it placed the conduct of the Empire in the hands of the nation of Europe the least Roman of all the European peoples. The change marks the beginning of a new era and of a new order of ideas, in which the most antagonistic elements were to be brought into the most intimate relations. The efforts to reconcile their contradictions, destined to a failure not less tragic than the disruption of the Empire of Charles the Great, constitute the principal interest of the period which now lies before us. I. THE STATE OF ITALY BEFORE THE TRANSFER In every age it has been the unhappy lot of Rome to be made a martyr to her own greatness. Never wholly unmindful of her ancient liberties and grandeur, the Eternal A. D. 888-1002 City has always been doomed to sacrifice her present welfare CHAP. IV to the memory of her splendid past. In giving herself to the headship of the world she surrendered her civic rights to the exigencies of a world-monarchy. As the cradle of republicanism in Western Europe she has demanded the rights of self-government, but as the capital of the Caesars she has been compelled to submit to the dictation of the stranger. As an apostolic community she has claimed the primitive right of choosing her own bishops, but as the seat of the Papacy she has been forced to accept the heads of the Church Universal imposed upon her by a foreign will. Nowhere else has the conciliation of the opposing principles of universal rule and local government proved so difficult to accomplish or filled the theatre of its struggles with such tragic episodes. When the Papacy, subordinated by the Byzantine emperors, sought to gain the spiritual freedom which was deemed necessary for the unrestrained exercise of its authority over the faith of Christendom, it endeavored to establish a territorial basis for that freedom by rendering Rome independent of the Empire, and by ridding itself of the Lombard monarchy in Italy. For this purpose it put forth the claim to be a sacred republic, unfettered by the restraint and contradiction of external authority, exercising within its own borders both civil and spiritual powers in a purely theocratic sense. Encroached upon and intimidated by the Lombard kings, it appealed to the Franks for protection. In a desperate emergency, when Leo III was unable to provide otherwise for his personal safety in his "Holy Republic," in order to secure the protection of the imperial authority, he restored the Empire in the person of Charles the Great. For a time, a satisfactory solution of the problem seemed to have been found, but with the new claims of the Emperor in Italy, after the accession of Lothair I, the conflict between the local pretensions of Rome and the imperial authority was renewed. Lothair I, having been crowned co-emperor by Pope Pas- The Constitu chal I, at Rome, on Easter Sunday, 823, was sent to Rome tion of 824 in 824 by his father, Lewis the Pious, to negotiate with the CHAP. IV A. D. 888-1002 new Pope, Eugenius II, and the Roman people, concerning the imperial jurisdiction over the city. Action had been rendered necessary by the disregard at Rome of the regulations introduced by Charles the Great after his coronation. At that time the entire administration of the city had been recast, with a view to render impossible such acts of violence as Leo III had received. A resident missus, or legate, of the Emperor had been installed in a palace near St. Peter's Church, whose duty it was to administer the criminal justice of the city and to guard and represent the imperial authority. The government in other particulars was left in the hands of the papal officers, composed of three classes: the officials of the papal court, modelled after that of Byzantium; the duces, or tribuni, who commanded the militia; and the judices de clero, or ecclesiastical magistrates. The mission of Lothair resulted in the adoption of the Constitution of 824, accepted and signed by Eugenius II, with a provision that it was to be solemnly sworn to by his successors in the presence of the imperial missi sent to judge of the legality of their election before their ordination to the papal office.1 This Constitution of 824 was, therefore, one of the most important documents of the Carlovingian era, for it was a serious attempt to fix forever the reciprocal rights and duties of the Emperor, the Pope, and the citizens of Rome. It provided that the papal magistrates should exercise jurisdiction as they had under Charles the Great, and they were, upon occasion, if required, to appear before the representatives of the Emperor. To oversee these magistrates, missi, appointed by the Emperor and the Pope, were to constitute a mixed directory and court of appeal. If they failed to agree, the dispute was to be referred to the Emperor, who was to send special legates to determine the question. A permanent missus, residing at Rome, represented the imperial supervision. 1 The text of the "Constitution of 824" is found in Migne, XCVII, p. 459 et seq.; and in Mon. Germ. Hist., Leges, IV, p. 545. A. D. 888-1002 In addition to these arrangements for the administration CHAP. IV of justice, each inhabitant of Rome was required to choose the code Roman, Frankish, or Lombard - by which he wished to live, and was then judged according to the law selected. Dividing his time between Rome and Aachen, Lothair I, as emperor, caused little anxiety to the Papacy, to which he was devoted; but when, in 844, he assigned the royalty in Italy to Lewis II, who in 855 became Emperor, the popes! were confronted with the old problem of maintaining their freedom in the presence of a monarch whose only realm was Italy. Exclusively Italian, patriotic, and a brave warrior, Lewis II nearly succeeded in accomplishing the difficult task of Italian unity. The right of the Emperor to require subscription to the Constitution of 824 was construed by him as a right to influence the papal elections also, of which there were six during his reign. He could not without great inconvenience permit his supremacy to be menaced by the election of a hostile or intriguing pontiff, and his interest was, therefore, indisputable as well as undisguised; but the Romans resented their obligation to await the presence of the imperial missi before proceeding with their election. The commencement of his reign in Italy brought Lewis into conflict with both Pope and people. Gregory IV having died in 844, two candidates for the Papacy appeared. One, who assumed the title of Pope Sergius II, claiming the election, was promptly consecrated without awaiting the missi of Lothair I, and his rival was cast into prison. Upon learning of this irregularity, the Emperor despatched Lewis to Rome with an army and an imposing retinue of clergy. Having arrived at Rome, where preparations had been made to receive him in state upon the steps of St. Peter's, Lewis ascended to the platform where the Pope was waiting to greet him. Interpreting some casual circumstance as an indication that he had come to chastise them for their action, at the moment of the papal salutation the Romans precipitated a conflict with the Franks. In the confusion the Pope The conflict the Em of peror and the Romans |