The Historians' History of the World 07

A second, if not equally strong bond for the empire, was the Frankish nationality and the political institutions based upon it. With their swords the victorious Franks had gained control of the West, had made themselves rulers of the Germanic and Latin world; the empire, though it called itself Roman, was nevertheless only an extension of the kingdom of the Franks. The Frankish king was the sovereign of the empire; the divisions of the latter, the provinces, districts, and hundreds, or whatever other provincial name they may have borne, were for the most part ruled by Frankish nobles. Everywhere throughout the wide extent of the empire palaces and courts of the Frankish kings, castles and extensive possessions of the Frankish nobles were to be met with. The elements of the Frankish constitution were imposed both upon the conquered German lands and upon subject Italy. The Frankish people penetrated and surrounded the entire West with their political institutions; not strong enough to destroy the other nationalities, they had however attained such power that they could hold them down and make them serviceable to themselves.

As head of the western church and as king of the Franks the emperor was supreme in every way. The bishops, chosen always in accordance with his will, though not often directly by him, almost seemed to be the mere instruments of his designs. And in no less degree the entire civil government of the state proceeds from him. He alone appoints the counts, who in his name administer the military and judicial authority in their counties; their position is merely that of imperial officials who can be removed or dismissed when the common welfare demands it. He designates the royal messengers who travel annually in pairs through the various divisions of the empire, oversee the officials, receive complaints against them, uphold the rights of the throne in all parts of the monarchy, and maintain a constant communication between the divisions and the emperor. He is himself the supreme judge with unlimited jurisdiction; he has sole jurisdiction over the nobles and can assume all jurisdiction over others. He has the right to call to arms, decides upon war and peace, leads the army in person or appoints a commander-in-chief as well as dukes (Herzöge

) of the forces of the separate peoples for the duration of the war. Legislation is also essentially vested in his hands, although in it he consults the imperial assembly and his council of state.

The imperial assembly consisted of all the lay and clerical lords, i.e., of the high court officials, the bishops, abbots, dukes, counts (Grafen), and the principal men of the royal retinue. It met every spring, usually in connection with the great review of the field of May, and its counsel was asked in all weighty affairs of state or important imperial laws. The council of state, however, was composed only of the high court officials, and the magnates of the empire whom the emperor deemed worthy of special confidence, and summoned to his presence either temporarily or permanently. In the autumn the council of state generally met for especially important sessions which served for the most part as preliminary consultations for the next imperial assembly, and for this purpose was increased by important servants of the emperor from all parts of the empire, and hence might be considered as a sort of imperial assembly in miniature.