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Rh Conrad I. (911-918), unsuccessfully endeavored to make his authority respected by the mighty Saxon duke Henry, and on his deathbed entreated his subjects to elect the duke his successor. Henry I. (919-936) restored the empire by victories over the Danes, Slavs, and Magyars. His son Otho I. (936-973) extended the boundaries beyond the Elbe and Saale rivers, defeated the Magyars, who had invaded the country, so completely (955) that they never ventured to return, and conquered Lombardy. From that time the conquest of Italy became one of the principal aims of nearly all rulers of Germany. For many of them the barren honor of being crowned by the pope emperor of the Roman empire became the chief object of all their desires, to obtain which they allowed their power in Germany to be encroached upon more and more by the vassal princes. The Saxon dynasty ruled till 1024 (Otho II. 973-983, Otho III. 983-1002, Henry II. 1002-'24), and was succeeded by the Franconian. Conrad II. (1024-'39), an energetic and well-meaning man, conquered Burgundy for the German empire. His son, Henry III. (1039-'56), extended the German influence over the Slavic countries and Hungary, and succeeded for a time in maintaining the royal authority against all attacks of the aristocracy and hierarchy. But the youthful Henry IV., who succeded to the throne in 1056, was unable to resist the power of the papacy, then at its zenith under Gregory VII., and was obliged to yield some of the most important prerogatives of the crown. His son, Henry V. (1106-'25), was the last ruler of the Franconian dynasty. After the brief reign of Lothaire II., the dynasty of the Hohenstaufen (Swabians) succeeded to the throne, and gave to the country five sovereigns: Conrad III. (1138-'52), Frederick I. (1152-'90), Henry VI. (1190-'97), Frederick II. (1215-'50), and Conrad IV. (1250-'54). Between Henry VI. and Frederick II., Philip of Swabia and Otho IV. of Brunswick reigned as rival kings, and after the death of Philip Otho alone. The reign of the Hohenstaufen dynasty represents the most glorious period of German history during the middle ages. Frederick I., surnamed Barbarossa (der Rothbart), still figures in the popular songs and traditions of Germany as the ideal emperor, the representative of German national power and splendor. To conquer Italy and to break the temporal power of the pope were the great objects of the emperors of this house. After a gigantic struggle, lasting nearly a century, they succumbed. From 1250 to 1273 anarchy prevailed in Germany. Several rival kings were elected (William of Holland, Richard of Cornwall, Alfonso of Castile, and Henry Raspe), but none of them obtained any authority. At last, in 1273, Count Rudolph of Hapsburg was elected king, and, by vigorously suppressing the feuds of the knights and barons, reëstablished at least the semblance of

royal authority. At the same time he obtained for his family several important territories (Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and Tyrol). After his decease (1291) Adolph, count of Nassau, was elected king by the dukes, who were jealous of the growing power of the Hapsburgs; but Albert, Rudolph's son, wrested the crown from him. Under Albert's reign (1298-1308) the Swiss cantons declared their independence of Austria. His successors were Henry VII. of Luxemburg (1308-'13), Louis IV. of Bavaria (1313-'47), Charles IV. of Luxemburg (l347-'78), who by a sort of written constitution (golden bull) defined and increased the power of the prince electors, Wenceslas or Wenzel (1378-1400), so miserable a ruler that it was found necessary to dismiss him, Rupert of the Palatinate (1400-'10), and Sigismund, brother of Wenceslas. During the reign of the latter the attempt of Huss to reform the doctrines of the church was the principal event. Huss was burned at the stake (1415), at the council of Constance, the emperor having ignominiously broken his pledge to protect him during his stay at Constance. This treachery provoked the bloody war of the Hussites. After Sigismund's decease (1437), the royal or imperial crown of Germany (the title of Roman emperor having gradually supplanted that of German king) remained continuously with the Hapsburg family. The energetic and liberal Albert II. (1438-'39) was succeeded by the inert and feeble Frederick III. (or IV., as Frederick the Fair, the rival of Louis the Bavarian, had borne the title of king as Frederick III.), who bore the royal title for more than half a century (1440-'93). His son, Maximilian I. (1493-1519), a chivalrous man of noble impulses, but lacking perseverance, organized the empire more systematically than had ever been attempted, but was unsuccessful in his efforts to establish a national army. Under his reign the reformation of the church was begun by Luther (1517). Once more Germany became the ruling power of Europe under Charles V., grandson of Maximilian, who united the crowns of Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Naples, and vigorously opposed the efforts of France to obtain control of Italy. But even during his reign the germs of civil and political dissension contained in the reformation of the church began to be developed in Germany. A formidable insurrection of the peasants, who longed for civil as well as religious liberty, was quelled with difficulty by the princes under the sanction of Luther, who was only too ready to scout the idea of an amelioration of the political condition of the people. The Protestant princes of northern Germany leagued themselves against the imperial authority, and though Charles defeated them (1547) by the aid of Maurice of Saxony, he was compelled by his former ally to grant important privileges to the Lutheran church (1552). In the mean time the bishoprics of