The main object of this book is to describe the Holy Roman Empire as an institution or system, the wonderful offspring of a body of beliefs and traditions which have 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 medieval Italy.
The Roman Empire Before the Invasion of the Barbarians
The Barbarian Invasions
Restoration of the Empire in the West
Empire and Policy of Charles
Carolingian and Italian Emperors
Theory of the Mediæval Empire
The Roman Empire and the German Kingdom
Saxon and Franconian Emperors
Struggle of the Empire and the Papacy
The Emperors in Italy: Frederick Barbarossa
Imperial Titles and Pretensions
Fall of the Hohenstaufen
The Germanic Constitution—the Seven Electors
The Empire as an International Power
The City of Rome in the Middle Ages
The Renaissance: Change in the Character of the Empire
The Reformation and Its Effects Upon the Empire
The Peace of Westphalia: Last Stage in the Decline of the Empire
Fall of the Empire