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 The emperor alone could not change such barbarous laws; but he did what he could to alleviate the condition of the poor people and to some extent redress their wrongs. The week before Easter and the week following were devoted to hearing the cause of the poor and oppressed. Charles, as judge, sat upon a throne put up at the main entrance to the court of the palace, where the widow, the orphan, and the peasant could bring their grievances without any ceremony, and receive quick justice. In his travels over the country, he often stopped in the various towns to hear the cause of the oppressed.

In a season of great want he ordered the building of a wall about the city so as to give the poor people employment. It was no wonder that the people blessed him, calling him the father of their country.

Shortly after the Diet held in Prague for the consideration of reforms needed in the administration of law, an imperial Diet was held in Nuremburg. Delegates from all the States composing the empire were present, and many important measures were discussed; but what rendered this Diet memorable was the passage of the set of laws known as the Golden Bull. This decree, which, a German author says, was the only good thing that the Emperor Charles IV did for Germany, remained for centuries the fundamental law, governing and holding together the loose confederation of States composing the German Empire.

The Golden Bull fixed the number of electors at seven, three ecclesiastical and four secular. They were the Archbishops of Mainz, Treves, and Cologne; the Count Palatine of the Rhine; the Duke of Saxony; the