Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/69

 CHAPTER XXIV GERMANY BEFORE THE PROTESTANT REVOLT I. Germany in the Time of Maximilian I It would be difficult indeed to give a clearer or more comprehensive account of the conditions in Germany than that submitted by the Venetian ambassador, Qui- rini, on his return from the court of Maximilian in 1 507. 1 Maximilian was just then contemplating an expedition to Italy, and consequently Quirini opens his report to the doge and council as follows : Since, most serene prince [namely, the doge], and most sage and weighty council, all the discord which is now to be observed among Christian peoples appears to be due to the most serene king of the Romans [namely, Maximilian] and to the Empire, it seemed to me my duty to report to your excellencies concerning affairs in Germany with such full- ness as to enable you in the present emergencies and in those which you will have to face from, let us say, to-day the better to reach your wise decisions. First, to proceed in an orderly fashion, I will endeavor to narrate all that I have been able to learn of the extent of that country, its government and resources, and the customs throughout Germany; then of the character and resources of his Majesty the emperor, and the relations which have existed and now exist between him and the princes and estates of the Empire, and between him and the Swiss; lastly, of the disposition of the Empire and the king toward 1 For an account of the reports of the Venetian ambassadors, see above, p. 30. 31 235. A Venetiam ambas- sador's account ol Germany in 1507.