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