y. many, viz. Alsace, the Palatinate, Treves, Cologne, 
Juliers, and Liege. Soon after the division of the 
empire of Charlemagne, the feudal system gained a 
consistency and firm footing, so that by degrees it 
~ overpowered the influence and authority of his descen- 
‘dants. In co ence of the weakness of the Carlo- 
vingian princes, the dukes and counts converted their 
hereditary possessions, which they parcelled out among 
their barons, and those among their vassals. The prin- 
cipal of these in Germany were the Dukes of Fran- 
conia, Saxony, Bavaria, Suabia, and Lorraine. These 
usurpations, joined to the incapacity of the Carlovin- 
gian princes, caused the house of Charlemagne to de- 
cline rapidly. In Germany, on the abdication of Charles 
the Fat, the people, from respect to the memory of 
Charlemagne, placed the crown on the head of Arnold, 
a natural son of Carloman, and after the decease of 
Arnold, on Louis, his son. On the death of Louis, 
elected a duke of Franconia for their king, and 
then a Saxon line of princes. 
of The Em of the house of Saxony reigned from 
of A.D. 911, to A. D. 1024. They were Henry I. sur- 
: named the Fowler; Otho I. surnamed the Great; Otho 
“1094, I. Otho III. and Henry II. During the period that 
"~~ the throne was filled by the Saxon Emperors, the li- 
mits of the empire were extended, chiefly by Otho the 
Great. A portion of Gaul, to the west of the Rhine, 
the banks of the Meuse and the Moselle, was 
assigned to the Germans. Between the Rhine, the 
Rhone, and the Alps, the successors of Otho acquired 
a vain and doubtful supremacy over the kingdoms of 
Burgundy and Arles, In the north, the Slavonic na- 
tions of the Elbe and Oder were subdued. The marches 
mans; and the King of Denmark, and the Dukes of 
Poland and Bohemia, became the tributary vassals of 
Otho the Great. The same monarch subdued the king- 
dom of Italy, delivered the pope, and fixed the impe- 
rial crown in the name and nation of Germany. From 
that era, A. D. 962, two maxims of public jurispru- 
dence were introduced: 1. That the prince, who was 
elected in the German diet, acquired from that instant 
the kingdoms of Italy and Rome; and, 2d, That he 
could not jegall assume the titles of Emperor and Au- 
gusta votes received the crown from the hands 
e Pope. 
With r to the principal states which composed 
in Germany during the reign of the Saxon Emperors, a 
at considerable portion of that part of ackety which 
* lies on each side of the Mayne, was known by the va- 
rious appellations of Nova Francia, Francia Orientalis, 
conia. The space between this part of Germany and 
the U sed Elbe, called Saxonia, and Alemannia, was oc- 
ied by the Thuringians. At this period, the Saxons 
had left the Oder, and were spread from the Elbe 
to the Ems, Francia and Thuringia on the 
south. The country between the Weser and the Meuse 
was called Frisia; that between the Rhine and the 
Meuse, Austrasia ; the tract lying between the Rhine, 
the Necker, and the Lech, was divided between the 
Suevi and the Alemanni ; and the country between the 
i Lech, the Alps, and the Anisa, was call Boisaria, the 
modern Bavaria. On the east of this was Austria. 
- Moravia was called Austria Maharensis ; modern Bo- 
hemia was called Boheim. ; 
It has already been mentioned, that in the time of 
however, they spread themselves over the country on 
GERMANY. 
~ of Brandenburg and Sleswic were colonized by Ger-* 
Francia Teutonica, Ostrofrancia, Austrasia, and Fran-. 
' Tacitus, the Germans did not live even in villages ; as, 
251 
the west of the Rhine, they began to inhabit villager, Gernia y. 
and even to construct towns; so that at an early period, “vy 
after the Triboci, Nemetes, and Vangiones, settled in Cities. 
the country between the Rhine an the Vosges, the 
cities of Strasburgh, Spire, Mentz, and Worms, are 
mentioned, Under the Francic sovereigns, cities were 
multiplied ; and by Henry the Fowler, they were par- 
ticularly encouraged by. a singular institution. From 
the troops stationed in Germany, he chose every ninth 
soldier ; the remaining eight were to sow and till the 
land, and to carry the produce to the ninth, whose 
business it was to build habitations for himself and his 
companions. By degrees, the lower order of the peo- 
ple united themselves to these soldiers ; and the Em- 
peror ordered the courts of justice, fairs, tournaments, 
&c. to be held in the cities they constructed. His ex- 
ample was followed in the other parts of Germany, so 
that in a short time it scarcely contained a district of 
any extent, which had not its city. To each of them 
exclusive privileges were granted ; the most important 
of which were the jus stapula and the jus geranii; by 
the former, all commodities brought mto them were 
exposed to public sale ; by the latter, all commodities 
imported or exported, were to be weighed or measured 
by the public weights or measures of the city, for 
which it was entitled to a duty, At first, the chief 
magistrates were of noble birth ; but by degrees, the 
chief offices were opened to the people at large. Thus, 
soon after the era of the Saxon Emperors, there were 
in almost every town three different classes,—nobles, 
citizens, and slaves; but, about the beginning of the 
12th century, Henry V. enfranchised all slaves in ci- 
ties who were artizans, 
The emperors of the house of Franconia were called femperors of 
to the throne, after the Saxon emperors ; they reigned the house of 
from 1027.to 1137. They consisted of Conrad II. who Franconia. 
conquered the kingdom of Burgundy; Henry III, who 4: D- 1027 
conquered the country between the Inn and the Lech, 1137. , 
now called Lower Austria ; Henry 1V. and Henry V.; 
on the death of the last, Lothaire the Saxon was elect- 
ed King of Germany. Under Henry III. the empire 
of Germany had its greatest extent. It comprehended 
Germany, Italy, Burgundy, and Lorraine. Poland, 
and other Slavonian districts, were tributary to it; and 
Denmark and Hungary acknowledged themselves its 
vassals. The Emperors of Germany at this period af- 
fected to consider all Christendom as forming a royal 
republic, of which the Emperor was chief. In conse- 
quence of this assumed supremacy, they claimed the 
exclusive ‘right of creating kings; and the states of 
the empire proclaimed war against the Duke of Poland 
for having taken to himself the title of king, in 1077. 
Soon after reaching this: point of power an deur, ‘Decline of 
the empire began to decline, principally owing to the the empire. 
rapid extension of the feudal system. In every pro- 
vince, the subjects of the law were the vy s of a 
rivate chief ; and the standard which he received from 
is sovereign, was often raised against him. The 
power of the Emperors was also curtailed by the in- 
creasing influence and possessions of the clergy; and 
the bishoprics in Germany became equal in extent and 
privileges, and superior in wealth and population, to 
most of the secular states.. The en were gradu- 
ally deprived of the privilege of filling up the ecclesi- 
astical and secular benefices ; and at length each sove- 
reign was reduced to a recommendation, once in his 
reign, to a single prebend in each church. The secu- 
lar governors could be di led only by the sentence 
of their peers; the appointment of the son to the 
3 
