Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/676

 574 Outlines of European History In 1520 Charles V started for Germany to receive the imperial crown at Aix-la-Chapelle. On his way he landed in England with the purpose of keeping Henry from forming an alliance with Francis. He judged the best means to be that of freely bribing Wolsey, who had been made a cardinal by Leo X, and who was all-powerful with Henry. Charles there- fore bestowed on the cardinal a large annuity in addition to one which he had granted him somewhat earlier. He then set sail for the Netherlands, where he was duly crowned king of the Romans. From there he proceeded, for the first time, to Germany, where he summoned his first diet at Worms. Weakness of the Emperor Section 100. Condition of Germany when Charles V became Emperor To us to-day, Germany means the German Empirg, one of the three or four best organized and most powerful of the European states. It is a compact federation, somewhat like that of the United States, made up of twenty-two monarchies and three little city-republics. Each member of the union man- ages its local affairs, but leaves all questions of national impor- tance to be setded by the central government at Berlin. This federation is, however, less than half a century old. In the time of Charles V there was no such Germany as this, but only what the French called the " Germanics " ; that is, two or three hundred states, which differed greatly from one another in size and character. This one had a duke, that a count, at its head, while others were ruled over by archbishops, bishops, or abbots. There were many cities, like Nuremberg, Frankfort, and Cologne, which were just as independent as the great duchies of Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Saxony. Lastly there were the knights, whose possessions might consist of no more than a single strong castle with a wretched village lying at its foot. As for the Emperor, he no longer had any power to control his vassals. He could boast of unlimited pretensions and great