Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/509

Rh 10 If )tl3O '1 3I‘lCl{ 110 H ENSTAUFEN EMPERORS2] his infant so11 Frederick as king of the Romans (as a king elected durintr the lifetime of a11 emperor was now and henceforth called), but he made proposals that the crown should be declared hereditary. To secure this important end, he offered so many concessions that, but for his sudden death it would probably have been achieved. Grdat as was Henry’s authority, there had been a danger- ous conspiracy acrainst even him, and after his death the princes who hadotaken part in it refused to recognize his son. There was 11ow a double election, those who were favourable to the Hohenstaufen dynasty choosing Philip, Henry’s brother, their enemies appointino; Otto son of Henry the Lion. Had Germany had no {rel-atiofi to the papacy, or had the papacy continued as weak as in the days of Henry VI., there could have been no doubt how the strife would end. A large majority of the princes were on l’hilip’s side, and his personal character commanded univer- sal respect, while Otto was a man without principle, harsh and violent. But, to Germany’s misfortune, the papal see was at this time held by Innocent III., a pope in whom were revived the ambition, statesmanship, and force of Hildebrand. After a little delay he decided for Otto, and thenceforward for some years the country was desolated by civil war. Even with the help of the pope, Otto by and by lost 1«gd1°ou11d; End Pléihp, had he 11p1tbeei1:mi11'{1e1red:1111 11308, wou soon ave een universa y ac 'now e we. ter his death, however, there was no longer any BXCIISG for war, and Otto IV. was crowned emperor. While his position was undecided he remained a humble suppliant of the pope, but after his coronation he cast aside his pledges a11d began to act as an independent sovereign. Up to, this time Frederick, the son of Henry VI., had lived in his southern kingdom, nominally under the guardianship of Innocent, but in reality left to be trained by the severe discipline of practical life. Although the pope did not altogether like him, he now resolved to punish Otto by bringing forward this young prince as a candidate for the German throne. A party amen" the princes was easil induced to elect him and in 121-the started, full of youtliful hope, on his joui'11ey across the Alps. In the period which followed, he displayed an un- surpassed power of managing men ; while Otto, thinking to injure him by indirectly striking a heavy blow at his patron the pope, was short-sighted enough to leave Germany and to support John of England against the French king, Philip Auaustus. In the battle of Bouvines memorable alike in tiff: history of England, France, and Germany, his fate was sealed. After so crushimr a defeat nothincr remained for him but to make way fbr his rival by withD- drawing from public life. Frederick II. (1212-50), if not the strongest, was per- sonally the most brilliant, of the German kinrrs. With the mediaaval passion for adventure he combined the intellectual freed-)m and culture of a modern gentleman. A lover of poetry, of science, and of art, he was also a great statesman ; with a power of will which the most adverse circumstances could _not _break, he knew how to adapt his policy to piiaiigiijg cirpuiplstanceiialilid how tip movle men by applealiiig one ime o e1r se s ness an wea ’ness a ano. er o the most ideal qualities of human nature. And for outward splendour his position never was surpassed, since, when he died, he possessed no fewer than six crowns,—the imperial crown, and the crowns of Germany, Burgundy, Lom- bardy, Sicily, and Jerusalem. But Germany, his proper kingdom, proﬁted not at all by his marrniﬁcent gifts. In 1220 he left it for a space of 15 years? to accomplish his famous crusade, to carry on his bitter contest with the Loipbard citiis anr1 Pope Gregory IX., and to rule Sicily, wit 1 an insig t into its needs that 1na.de it. the most )ros- perous land in Christendom. In his absence he was ri3pre- sented in Germany by his young son Henry, who was GERMANY ‘reality watched with sullen suspicion. 491 crowned king of the Romans, and in whose name the 1190- country was governed by two successive regents. Through- 1250. out the kingdom the princes did very much what seemed good in their own eyes ; and in the north a confused warfare was carried on between the Germans and the Danes. As there was now no powerful Saxon duke to uphold the northern interests of the kingdom, and as the central Govern- ment did not choose, or was unable, to act with energy, the Danes had decidedly the best of this struggle, and extended their power along the Baltic coast. At the same time Prussia was conquered for Christianity and for civilization Con- by the knights of the Teutonic Order, who here slowly built quest Of up the state which ultimately, in association with Branden- Prussia‘ burg, was to influence so profoundly the course of history. Crusading knights from all lands came to their help against the Prussian heathen, and their strength was permanently increased by their union with the Knights of the Sword, who, before their appearance in Prussia, had been subduing Livonia and Courland. In all these countries Christian institutions were introduced, and German settlers brought with them the peaceful arts. As young King Henry grew up, he displayed none of the good characteristics of his house, and in 1235 he openly rebelled. So conﬁdent was Frederick of his own position that he entered Germany with only a few personal attend- ants, and his presence had the effect he anticipated. At Mainz, amid circumstances of unprecedented pomp, he held a diet which was attended by nearly all the princes, and Henry was solemnly deposed. Yet Frederick was in The princes did not know what might be implied i11 his extraordinary display of imperial power; they resented his evident dislike of their country; as loyal sons of the church, they could not but hold somewhat aloof from one who was believed to be at heart a Mahometan. It was signiﬁcant of the limits of his influence that, in declaring private war to be unlawful, he had to except cases in which justice could not be ob- tained ; and that, although desirous of setting up courts of justice which should make private war unnecessary, he could only establish a tribunal from whose jurisdiction princes of the empire were excluded. Some years after this, the gulf between Frederick and The the nation was further widened by his indiﬁ"erence to aM°“8°l5- fearful danger by which Germany was threatened. Hordes of Mongols appeared on the eastern frontiers, yet Frederick h-ad_‘neither counsel nor help for his subjects 3 the peril was wa.rded off independently of him by the brave margrave, Henry of Liegnitz. At that time he was once more absorbed by his Italian wars. In Innocent IV. he found an enemy quite as persistent as Gregory IX. Innocent grasped at the old and well-tried weapon, the ambition of the princes ; and he succeeded so far as to induce a number of them, mostly prelates, to accept his sentence of deposition, and to appoint a rival king. The king of their choice was Henry Raspe, landgrave of Thuringia, a rude noble, who had ex- tended his territories at the expense of those of his dead brother, husband of the famous St Elizabeth of Hungary. Frederick’s younger son, Conrad, who had some time before been elected king of the Romans, resisted the parsons’ king, as Henry Raspe was popularly called; and the rebellion did not at any time assume dangerous proportions. After Henry Raspe’s death, the papal party elected Villiam, count William of Holland, a prince who had no quality to recommend him, C; U 1 except that he was young and weak, and therefore likely to 0 am‘ be a willing tool in the hands of his friends. Had Frederick chosen to leave the Lombard cities, he might still have found sources of strength in Germany ; but he preferred to remain at what he considered the centre of his empire, and King Conrad had not influence enough to restore harmony. At the time of the emperor’s death, when he was almost ready Henry Raspe.