48i 
GERMANY. 
lai 1 tiie execution of fifty German prifoncrs upon the 
walls; and he readily grarved the fupplicants tlu'ir 
lives, cm condition tiiey fiiould pay fixty thoufand 
crowns, and deliver one hundred hofcages. However, 
he ordered tlieir walls and fortifications to be demo- 
iillied, and entered in triumph through the breach 
wliich his troops had made. 
d'hough Henry was, for fome time, amufed by the 
difiimulation ot Robert king of Naples, who had formed 
a llridt alliance witii the pope, Itc^'efolved to marcli 
toward Rome, in 1312, in order to receive tiie imperial 
crown. Accordingly, he led his annv-tliitlier with all 
pofiible expedition, and v.ms crowned bv fome cardinals 
fwlio had recewed a commiliion for that purpofe) in 
tlie churcit of St. John of Lalcran, becaufe tlie church 
ot St. Peter was occupied by his enemies. As tiie city 
ot Rome was at this period difiracted by two contend¬ 
ing factions, the majority of tlie iniiabitants rejoiced at 
Henry’s ariaval, as the only means of delivering tliem 
from the horrors of civil war; but wlieii tlie emperor, 
inttead of gratifying them with inifances of liis bounty, 
demanded money for the fupport of his army, they 
broke out into open rebellion, and upwards of two 
thoufand imperialitts were I’acrificed to their tumultuary 
vengeance. 
I'inding it impoffible to reduce liis enemies at Ronie, 
tlie emperor marched tlirougli tlie territory of Perugia, 
which he ravaged vvith fire and fword, and laid fiege to 
I'lorence; but the inhabitants defended theinlelves 
i' itli Inch gallantry, that lie was unable to obtain any 
advantage over them, and retired into winter quarters. 
Iniheenluing ipring, notwithlfanding his ill Pate of 
healtli, he engaged in an expedition againft Robert king 
ot Naples; but on Ids arrival at Buonconvento lie died 
iuddeniy, and it was generally aiferted that a Florentine 
dominican Iiad poifoned him in adminiftering the facra- 
meiit. Henry VII. was, at the time of his death, in 
the fifty-firif year of his age, and tiie fifth of his reign. 
In ids perlbn he poileHed an appearance of majefty min¬ 
gled w ith great coinplaifancc ; and he was generally 
beloved by his fubjects, on account of his juPice, 
piety, and valour. 
'idle imperial diadem now excited the wiflies and the 
•ePorts of Frederic ol AuPria, and I.ouis of Bavaria, 
\v!io came forward, in 1315, as candidates for the lu- 
preine dignity; and eacli formed a party fufficiently 
Prong to inveP tiiem vvith the infignia of royalty. Ac¬ 
cordingly, a double coronation took place, and the two 
•■einperors made the moP vigorous ePdrts againP each' 
ocher for about feven years; but at the expiration of 
that time, Frederic was defeated and taken prifoner, 
and Louis was loletnnly recognifed as the lawful pof- 
fellbr of tlie throne. 
Louis had no Iboner fettled the affairs of Germany, 
than lie exerted himfelf to appeafe pope John XXII. 
who iiad availed liimlelt of tlie recent quarrels to gain 
poiFefrion of leveral domains, and to make various en¬ 
croachments upon tlie imperial crown. But the haughty 
pontiff, inPead of liPening to propofals of an accommo¬ 
dation, publiPied a bull, in which he aflerted that the 
empire was a fief of the holy fee, and that Louis was 
an ulurper of tlie fupreme dignity. He even com¬ 
manded the emperor to defiP immediately from the ad- 
miniPration of government; and enjoined all patriarclis, 
bifliops, priePs, nobles, and commoners, to wdthdraw 
or renounce their allegiance. Louis protePed againP 
tliis bull, and requePed that his liolinefs would fulpend 
his cenlures until he could confult the llates of the em- 
puie ; but, at the expiration of tlirce months, the pon¬ 
tiff had recourle to the ecclefuiPical thunder, and ac¬ 
tually negociated vvith fome of the German princes for 
eiedliiig Charles the Fair, king of F'ranee, to tlie impe¬ 
rial dignity. 
Noiw irhltanding this violent conduct, the pope found 
huuleu unable to ePeit his purpofe; and perceived, 
vvith tlie utmoP mortification, that a great majority of 
the Germans were refolved to defend the dignity of 
their fovCreign, and the liberties of liieir coiiPitution. 
Some diforders wdiich had recently broke out in the 
empire were happily hulhed to filence;_the populace 
were overjoyed at the liberation of the duke of Au.Pria, 
who now renounced liis preteufions to the tiirone ; and 
Louis contrived to render liimfelf peculiarly agreeable 
to Ills nobles, by tlie fafliion of the times, in entertain¬ 
ing them vvith feveiail m:ignificer.t tournaments. 
Having convened a diet at Spire, A. D. 1327, and oh. 
tained fome necePliry fupplies of troops and money, 
Louis relblved to make an expedition into Italy, whi¬ 
ther he had been Prongly invited by tbe Gibellines, and 
took a folemn oath that he would never return until he 
Piould liave received tlie imperial crown at Rome. 
L'pon '.his occafion, allb, he ordered the pope to be ex¬ 
communicated, as an lieretic unwortliy of filling the 
apoPolic chair. On his arrival at Milan, he was crowned 
king of Italy by the bifiiop of Arezzo, as the arclibi- 
fliip of Milan refufed to perform the ceremony. He 
then advanced into Tufeany ; and, after reducing tlie 
city of Pifa, marciied towards Rome, where he was re¬ 
ceived vvith all pollible refpeft. Tlie governor and fe- 
nators came out to welcome his arrival ; and, after the 
ceremony of his coronation, which was performed by 
the biPiops of Venice and Aleria, tlie affedtion of the 
Romans was effedJiudly conciliated by his liberality and 
courteous behaviour. 
The pope, in tlie mean time, renewed his bulls of 
excommunication againP the emperor, and treated hini 
vvith fuch indignity, that Louis loP all patience, and 
fwore to be revenged. Accordingly, he convoked an 
aP'embly at Rome, where pope John was degraded and 
condemned to death, as a perfon guilty of herefy and 
treafon ; and Pietro de Rainauci, a Cordelier, was fo- 
lemnly invePed with the papacy, by the name ot Ni¬ 
cholas V. Sentences of excommunication were now 
mutually fulminated by John and the antipope, and the 
former was actually burnt in effigy : but, atter fome 
time, tlie Romans became difeontented ; the Pifans re¬ 
conciled themfelves to tiie holy fee ; feveral otlier Ita¬ 
lian cities renounced the emperor’s party; and Nicholas, 
being compelled to fubmit to tlie fuperior power of his 
enemy, was Pripped of his facerdotal dignities, and 
doomed to perpetual iiuprifonmcnt. His liolinefs then 
engaged in feveral new intrigues vvith the German 
princes, and with the king of Bohemia ; but his mea- 
• fures were cut Piort by death, in the ninetietli year of 
his age, and the papal chair was filled by Janies Du- 
four, in 1336, wlio all'umcd the name of BeiiediCf XII. 
Louis, having quelled otlier diPurbaiices in the em¬ 
pire, feiit a fubiiiiffive embaPy to the new pope, who 
received tliem very gracioully, and exprefled an earneP 
defire of terminating the diP'erences vvhicli had lo long 
fubliPed between Germany and the lee of Rome. But 
the pontiff’s favourable intentions were defeated by the 
intrigues of the French, Bohemian, and Neapolitan, 
courts; and he was loon afterwards perfuaded to re¬ 
nounce the interelts of Louis, as thofe of an exconiniu- 
nicated heretic. Hereupon the German princes nobly 
affembled at Spire, declared the empire independent of 
the pope, and acknowledged Louis of Bavaria as their 
only lawful emperor; and in alubfequent diet at Frank¬ 
fort, they enafled that famous ConPitutioii by which 
the independence of the empire v/as for ever ePabliPied. 
On this occaPon, all the eieftors, except the king of 
Bohemia, declared by a folemn protePation, “ that who¬ 
ever was eleifted king of the Romans by a majority of 
the princes, needed not the conlent or conPrmation ot 
the holy fee to aPume the regal title, adminiPer the 
laws, or govern the ePates of the empire.” 
After tills triumph, Louis applied hinilelf with great 
diligence to tlie regulation of the police, and tlie ePa- 
bliiliment of wholelome regulations tor the prefervation 
of 
