The Golden Bull of the Emperor Charles IV 1356 A.D.
(from
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/golden.htm)
Eternal, omnipotent God, in
whom the sole hope of the world is,
Of Heaven the Maker Thou, of earth, too, the lofty Creator:
Consider, we pray Thee, Thy people, and gently, from out Thy high dwelling
Look down lest they turn their steps to the place where Erinis is ruler;
There where Allecto commands, Megaera dietetic the measures
But rather by virtue of him, this emperor Charles whom Thou lovest
O most beneficent God, may'st Thou graciously please to ordain it
That, through the pleasant glades of forests ever in flower,
And through the realms of the bless'd, their pious leader may bring them
I nto the holy shades, where the heavenly waters will quicken
The seeds that were sown in the life, and where the ripe crops are made glorious
Cleansed in supernal founts from all of the thorns they have gathered.
Thus may the harvest be God's, and great may its worth be in
future
Heaping a hundred fold the corn in the barns overflowing..
In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity felicitously amen.
Charles the Fourth, by favour of the divine mercy emperor of the Romans, always
august, and king of
Inasmuch as we, through the office by which we possess the imperial
dignity, are doubly-both as emperor and by the electoral right which we
enjoy-bound to put an end to future danger of discords among the electors
themselves, to whose number we, as king of Bohemia are known to belong: we have
promulgated, decreed and recommended for ratification the subjoined laws for
the purpose of cherishing unity among the electors, and of bringing about a
unanimous election, and of closing all approach to the aforesaid detestable
discord and to the various dangers which arise from it. This we have done in
our solemn court at Nuremberg, in session with all the electoral princes,
ecclesiastical and secular, and amid a numerous multitude of other princes,
counts, barons, magnates, nobles and citizens; after mature deliberation, from
the fulness of our imperial power; sitting on the throne of our imperial
majesty, adorned with the imperial bands, insignia and diadem; in the year of
our Lord 1356, in the 9th Indiction, on the 4th day before the Ides of January,
in the 10th year of our reign as king, the 1st as emperor.
1. What sort of escort
the electors should have, and by whom furnished.
(1) We decree, and, by the present imperial and ever valid edict, do
sanction of certain knowledge and from the plenitude of the imperial power:
that whenever, and so often as in future, necessity or occasion shall arise for
the election of a king of the Romans and prospective emperor and the prince
electors, according to ancient and laudable custom, are obliged to journey to
such election,-each prince elector, if, and whenever, he is called upon to do
this, shall be bound to escort any of his fellow prince electors or the envoys
whom they shall send to this election through his lands, territories and
districts, and even as much beyond them as he shall be able; and to lend them
escort without guile on their way to the city in which such election is to be
held, and also in returning from it This he shall do under pain of perjury and
the loss, for that time only, of the vote which he was about to have in such
election; which penalty, indeed, we decree that he or they who shall prove
rebellious or negligent in furnishing the aforesaid escort shall, by the very
act, incur.
(2) We furthermore decree, and we command all other princes holding fiefs
from the holy Roman empire, whatever the service they have to perform,-also all
counts barons, knights, noble and common followers, citizens and communities of
castles, cities and districts of the holy empire: that at this same time-when,
namely, an election is to take place of king of the Romans and prospective
emperor-they shall, without guile, in the manner aforesaid, escort through
their territories and as far beyond as they can, any prince elector demanding
from them, or any one of them, help of this kind, or the envoys whom as has
been explained before, he shall have sent to that election. But if any persons
shall presume to run counter to this our decree they shall, by the act itself,
incur the following penalties: all princes and counts, barons, noble knights
and followers, and all nobles acting counter to it, shall be considered guilty
of perjury and deprived of all the fiefs which they hold of the holy Roman
empire and of any lords whatever, and also of all their possessions no matter
from whom they hold them. All cities and guilds, moreover, presuming to act
counter to the foregoing, shall similarly be considered guilty of perjury, and
likewise shall be altogether deprived of all their rights, liberties,
privileges and favours obtained from the holy empire, and both in their persons
and in all their possessions shall incur the imperial bann and proscription.
And any man on his own authority and without trial or the calling in of any
magistrate, may henceforth with impunity attack those whom we, by the act
itself, deprive, from now or from a past time on, of all their rights. And, in
attacking them, he need fear no punishment on this account from the empire or
any one else; inasmuch as they, rashly negligent in so great a matter, are
convicted of acting faithlessly and perversely, as disobedient and perfidious
persons and rebels against the state, and against the majesty and dignity of
the holy empire, and even against their own honour and safety.
(3) We decree, moreover, and command, that the citizens and guilds of all
cities shall be compelled to sell or cause to be sold to the aforesaid prince
electors, or to any one of them who demands it, and to their envoys, when they
are going to said city for the sake of holding said election, and even when
they are returning from it: victuals at the common and current price for the
needs of themselves or the said envoys and their followers. And in no way shall
they act fraudulently with regard to the foregoing. We will that those who do
otherwise shall, by the act itself, incur those penalties which we, in the
foregoing, have seen fit to decree against citizens and guilds. Whoever,
moreover, of the princes, counts, barons, knights, noble or common followers,
citizens or guilds of cities shall presume to erect hostile barriers or to
prepare ambushes for a prince elector going to hold the election of a king of
the Romans or returning from it,-or to attack or disturb them or any one of
them in their persons or in their property, or in the persons of said envoys
sent by them or any one of them, whether they have sought escort or have not
considered it worth while to demand it: we decree that he, together with all
the accomplices of his iniquity, shall, by the act itself, have incurred the
above penalties; in such wise, namely, that each person shall incur the penalty
or penalties which, according to what precedes, we have thought best,
relatively to the rank of those persons, to inflict..
(4) But if any prince elector should be at enmity with any one of his
co-electors, and any contention, controversy, or dissension should be going on
between them;-notwithstanding this, one shall be bound, under penalty of
perjury and loss, for this one time, of his vote in the election, as has been
stated above, to escort in said manner the other? Or the envoys of the other
who shall be sent in said manner to such election.
(5) But if any princes, counts, barons, knights, noble or common followers,
citizens, or guilds of cities, should bear ill-will to one or more of the
prince electors, or any mutual discord, or war, or dissension should be going
on between them: nevertheless, all opposition and fraud being laid aside, they
ought to furnish such escort to this or to these prince electors, or to his or
their envoys dispatched to or returning from such election, according as they
each and all desire to avoid the said punishments declared by u s against them;
punishments which those who act counter shall, we decree, by the act itself
incur. Moreover, for the ampler security and certitude of all the above, we
command and we will that all the prince electors and other princes, also the
counts, barons, nobles, cities or guilds of the same, shall confirm all the
aforesaid through their writings and through their oaths, and shall
efficaciously bind themselves to fulfil them with good faith and without guile.
But whoever shall refuse to give writings of this kind, shall, by the act
itself, incur such punishment as we, by the above, have seen fit to inflict on
each person according to his rank.
(6) But if any prince elector or other prince of whatever condition or
standing, or any count, baron, or noble, or the successors or heirs of such,
holding a fief or fiefs from the holy empire, be not willing to fulfill our
imperial constitutions and laws above and below laid down, or shall presume to
act counter to them: if such a one, indeed, be an elector prince, his
co-electors shall, from that time on, exclude him from association with
themselves, and he shall lose both his vote in the election and the position,
dignity and privileges possessed by the other electors; nor shall he be
invested with the fiefs which he shall have obtained from the holy empire. But
any other prince or nobleman infringing, as we have said, these our laws, shall
likewise not be invested with fiefs which he shall obtain from the holy empire
or from any one otherwise, and shall, in addition, incur by the act itself all
the aforesaid penalties concerning his person.
(7) Although, indeed, we have willed and decreed in general terms that
all princes, counts, barons, nobles knights, followers, and also cities and
guilds of the same are bound, as has been said, to furnish the aforesaid escort
to any prince elector or his envoys: nevertheless we have thought best to
designate for each one of them special escorts and conductors who will be best
suited for them according to the nearness of their lands and districts as will
directly be made clearer from what follows.
(8) For first the king of
(9) Then the archbishop of Cologne, the arch-chancellor of the holy
empire for Italy, shall be escorted-they being bound to furnish such escort-by
the archbishops of Mainz and Treves, the count palatine of the Rhine, the
landgrave of Hesse; likewise by the counts of Katzenellenbogen, of Nassau, of
Dietz; likewise of Ysenburg, of Vesterburg, of Runkel, of Limburg and
Falkenstein; likewise by the cities of Wetzlar, Gelnhausen and Friedberg.
(10) In like manner the archbishop of Treves, archchancellor of the holy
empire for the Glallic provinces and for the kingdom of Arles, shall be
escorted by the archbishop of Mainz, the count palatine of the Rhine; likewise
the counts of Sponheim, of Veldenz. likewise the Raugraves and Wiltgraves of
Nassau, of Ysenburg, of Westerburg, of Runkel, of Dietz, of Katzenellenbogen,
of Eppenstein, of Falkenstein; likewise the city of
(11) Then the count palatine of the Rhine, arch-steward of the holy
empire, ought to be escorted by the archbishop of
(12) But the duke of Saxony, the arch-marshall of the holy empire, shall,
by right, be escorted by the king of Bohemia, the archbishops of Mainz and
Madgeburg; likewise by the bishops of Bamberg and Wurzburg, the margrave of
Meissen, the landgrave of Hesse; likewise the abbots of Fulda and Hersfeld, the
burgraves of Nuremberg; likewise those of Hohenlohe, of Wertheim, of Bruneck,
of Hohenau, of Falkenstein; likewise the cities of Erfurt, Mulhausen,
Nuremberg, Rothenburg and Windesheim. And all of these last named shall
likewise be bound to escort the margrave of
(13) We will, moreover, and do expressly decree that each prince elector
who shall wish to have such escort shall make known this fact and the way by
which he is to pass, and shall demand this escort in such good time that those
who have been deputed to furnish such escort, and from whom it shall thus have
been demanded, may be able to prepare themselves for this in good time and
conveniently.
(14) We declare, moreover, that the foregoing decrees promulgated
concerning the matter of escort shall, indeed, be so understood that each
person named above-or perhaps not expressed-from whom, in the aforesaid case,
escort may happen to be demanded, shall be bound to furnish it at least through
his lands and territories, and as far beyond as he can, without fraud, under
the penalties contained above.
(15) Moreover we decree, and also ordain, that he who shall be archbishop
of
(16) Moreover we ordain and decree that when the death of the emperor or
king of the Romans shall come to be known for certain in the diocese of
Mainz,-within one month of that time, counting continuously from the day of the
notice of such death, the death itself and the summons of which we have spoken
shall be announced by the archbishop of Mainz through his letters patent. But
if this same archbishop should chance to be negligent or remiss in carrying out
this and in sending the summons,-thereupon those same princes of their own
accord shall, even without summons, by virtue of the fealty which they owe to
the holy conspire, come together in the oft-mentioned city of Frankfort within
three months after this, as is contained in the decree immediately preceding,
being about to elect a king of the Humans and future emperor.
(17) Moreover any one prince elector of his envoys should, at the time of
the aforesaid election, enter the said city of Frankfort with not more than two
hundred mounted followers, among which number he may be allowed to bring in
with himself only fifty armed men or fewer, but not more.
(18) But a prince elector, called and summoned to such election, and
neither coming to it nor sending lawful envoys with letters patent, sealed with
his greater seal and containing empowerment, full, free and of every kind, for
the election of king of the Romans and prospective emperor; or one who comes,
or perchance sends envoys, to the same, but who, afterwards, himself-or the
aforesaid embassy- goes away from the place of election before a king of the
Romans and prospective emperor has been elected, and does not formally
substitute a lawful procurator and leave him there: shall forfeit for that time
the vote or right which he had in that election and which he abandoned in such
a manner.
(19) We command, moreover, and enjoin on the citizens of Frankfort, that
they, by virtue of the oath which we decree they shall swear on the gospel
concerning this, shall, with faithful zeal and anxious diligence, protect and
defend all the prince electors in general and each one of them in particular
from the invasion of the other, if any quarrel shall arise between them; and
also from the invasion of any other person. And the same with regard to all the
followers whom they or any one of them shall have brought into the said city
among the said number of two hundred horsemen. Otherwise they shall incur the
guilt of perjury, and shall also lose all their rights, liberties, privileges,
favours and grants which they are known to hold from the holy empire, and
shall, by the act itself, fall under the bann of the empire as to their persons
and all their goods. And, from that time on, every man on his own authority and
without judicial sentence may, with impunity, invade as traitors and as
disloyal persons and as rebels against the empire, those citizens whom we, in
such a case, from now or from a former time on deprive of all their rights: And
such invaders need in no Lay fear any punishment from the holy empire or from
any one else.
(20) The said citizens of Frankfort, moreover, throughout all that time
when the oft-mentioned election is being treated of and carried on, shall not
admit, or in any way permit any one, of whatever dignity, condition or standing
he may be, to enter the aforesaid city: the prince electors and their envoys
and the aforesaid procurators alone being excepted; each of whom shall be
admitted, as has been said, with two hundred horsemen. But if, after the entry
of these same prince electors, or while they are present, any one shall chance
to be found in the said city, the citizens themselves shall, effectually and
without delay, straightway bring about his exit, under penalty of all that has
above been promulgated against them, and also by virtue of the oath concerning
this that those same citizens of Frankfort must, by the terms of this present
decree, swear upon the gospel, as has been explained in the foregoing.
2. Concerning the
election of a king of the Romans.
(1) After, moreover, the oft-mentioned electors or their envoys shall
have entered the city of Frankfort, they shall straightway on the following day
at dawn, in the church of St. Bartholomew the apostle, in the presence of all
of them cause a mass to be sung to the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit
himself may illumine their hearts and infuse the light of his virtue into their
senses; so that they, armed with his protection, may be able to elect a just,
good and useful man as king of the Romans and future emperor, and as a
safeguard for the people of Christ. After such mass has been performed all
those electors or their envoys shall approach the altar on which that mass has
been celebrated, and there the ecclesiastical prince electors, before the
gospel of
(2) " I, archbishop of Mainz, arch-chancellor of the holy empire
throughout Germany, and prince elector, do swear on this holy gospel of God
here actually placed before me, that I, through the faith which binds me to God
and to the holy Roman empire, do intend by the help of God, to the utmost
extent of my discretion and intelligence, and in accordance with the said
faith, to elect one who will be suitable, as far as my discretion and
discernment can tell for a temporal head of the Christian people,-that is, a
king of the Romans and prospective emperor. And my voice and vote, or said
election, I will give without any pact, payment, price, or promise, or whatever
such things may be called. So help me God and all the saints."
(3) Such oath having been taken by the electors or their envoys in the
aforesaid form and manner, they shall then proceed to the election. And from
now on they shall not disperse from the said city of Frankfort until the
majority of them shall have elected a temporal head for the world and for the
Christian people; a king, namely, of the Romans and prospective emperor. But if
they shall fail to do this within thirty days, counting continuously from the
day when they took the aforesaid oath: when those thirty days are over, from
that time on they shall live on bread and water, and by no means leave the
aforesaid city unless first through them, or the majority of them, a ruler or
temporal head of the faithful shall have been elected, as was said before.
(4) Moreover after they, or the majority of them, shall have made their
choice in that place, such election shall in future be considered and looked
upon as if it had been unanimously carried through by all of them, no one
dissenting. And if any one of the electors or their aforesaid envoys should
happen for a time to be detained and to be absent or late, provided he arrive
before the said election has been consummated, we decree that he shall be
admitted to the election in the stage at which it was at the actual time of his
coming. And since by ancient approved and laudable custom what follows has
always been observed inviolately, therefore we also do establish and decree by
the plenitude of the imperial power that he who shall have, in the aforesaid
manner, been elected king of the Romans, shall, directly after such election
shall have been held, and before he shall attend to any other cases or matters
by virtue of his imperial office, without delay or contradiction, confirm and
approve, by his letters and seals, to each and all of the elector princes,
ecclesiastical and secular, who are known to be the nearer members of the holy
empire, all their privileges, charters, rights, liberties, ancient customs, and
also their dignities and whatever they shall have obtained and possessed from
the empire before the day of the election. And he shall renew to them all the
above after he shall have been crowned with the imperial adornments. Moreover,
the elected king shall make such confirmation to each prince elector in
particular, first as king, then, renewing it, under his title as emperor; and,
in there matters, he shall be bound by no means to impede either those same
princes in general or any one of them in particular, but rather to promote them
with his favour and without guile.
(5) In a case, finally, where three prince electors in person, or the
envoys of the absent ones, shall elect as king of the Romans a fourth from
among themselves or from among their whole number-an elector prince, namely,
who is either present or absent:-we decree that the vote of that person who has
been elected, if he shall be present, or of his envoys if he shall chance to be
absent, shall have full vigour and shall increase the number of those electing,
and shall constitute a majority like that of the other prince electors.
3. Concerning the
seating of the bishops of Treves,
In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity felicitously amen.
Charles the Fourth, by favour of the divine mercy emperor of the Romans, always
august, and king of
4. Concerning the prince
electors in common.
We decree, moreover, that, as often as an imperial court shall henceforth
chance to be held, in every assembly,-in council, namely, at table or in any
place whatsoever where the emperor or king of the Romans shall happen to sit
with the prince electors, on the right side of the emperor or king of the
Romans there shall sit immediately after the archbishop of Mainz or the
archbishop of Cologne-whichever, namely, shall happen at that time, according
to the place or province, following the tenor of his privilege, to sit at the
right hand of the emperor-first, the king of Bohemia, as he is a crowned and
anointed prince, and secondly, the count palatine of the Rhine. But on the left
side, immediately after whichever of the aforesaid archbishops shall happen to
sit on the left, the duke of Saxony shall have the first, and, after him, the
margrave of
But so often and whenever the holy empire shall hereafter happen to be
vacant, the archbishop of Mainz shall Men have the right, which he is known
from of old to have had, of convoking the other princes, his aforesaid
companions in the said election. And when all of them, or those who can and
will be present, are assembled together at the term of the election, it shall
pertain to the said archbishop of
5. Concerning the right
of the Count palatine and also of the duke of
Whenever, moreover, as has been said before, the throne of the holy empire
shall happen to be vacant, the illustrious count palatine of the Rhine,
arch-steward of the holy empire, the right hand of the future king of the
Romans in the districts of the Rhine and of Swabia and in the limits of
Franconia, ought, by reason of his principality or by privilege of the county
palatine, to be the administrator of the empire itself, with the power of
passing judgments, of presenting to ecclesiastical benefices, of collecting
returns and revenues and investing with fiefs, of receiving oaths of fealty for
and in the name of the holy empire. All of these acts, however, shall, in due
time, be renewed by the king of the Romans who is afterwards elected, and the
oaths shall be sworn to him anew. The fiefs of princes are alone excepted, and those
which are commonly called banner-fiefs: the conferring of which, and the
investing, we reserve especially for the emperor or king of the Romans alone.
The count palatine must know, nevertheless, that every kind of alienation or
obligation of imperial possessions, in the time of such administration, is
expressly forbidden to him. And we will that the illustrious king of Saxony,
arch-marshal of the holy empire, shall enjoy the same right of administration
in those places where the Saxon jurisdiction prevails, under all the modes and
conditions that have been expressed above.
And although the emperor or king of the Romans, in matters concerning
which he is called to account, has to answer before the count palatine of the
Rhine and prince elector-as is is said to have been introduced by custom:-
nevertheless the count palatine shall not be able to exercise that right of
judging otherwise than in the imperial court, where the emperor or king of the
Romans shall be present.
6. Concerning the
comparison of prince electors with other, ordinary princes.
We decree that, in holding an imperial court, whenever in future one
shall chance to be held, the aforesaid prince electors, ecclesiastical and
secular, shall immutably hold their positions on the right and on the
left-according to the prescribed order and manner. And no other prince of
whatever standing, dignity, pre-eminence or condition be may be, shall in any
way be preferred to them or anyone of them, in any acts relating to that court;
in going there, while sitting or while standing. And it is distinctly declared
that especially the king of
7. Concerning the
successors of the princes.
Among those innumerable cares for the well-being of the holy empire over
which we, by God's grace, do happily reign-cares which daily try our heart,-our
thoughts are chiefly directed to this: that union, desirable and always
healthful, may continually flourish among the prince electors of the holy
empire, and that the hearts of those men may be preserved in the concord of
sincere charity, by whose timely care the disturbances of the world are the
more easily and quickly allayed, the less error creeps in among them, and the
more purely charity is observed, obscurity being removed and the rights of each
one being clearly defined. It is, indeed, commonly known far and wide, and
clearly manifest, as it were, throughout the whole world, that those
illustrious men the king of Bohemia and the count palatine of the Rhine, the
duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg, have-the one by reason of his
kingdom, the others of their principalities, -together with the ecclesiastical
princes their co-electors, their right, vote and place in the election of the
king of the Romans and prospective emperor. And, together with the spiritual
princes, they are considered and are the true and lawful. prince electors of
the holy empire. Lest, in future, among the sons of these same secular prince
electors, matter for scandal and dissension should arise concerning the above
right, vote and power, and the common welfare be thus jeopardized by dangerous
delays, we, wishing by God's help to wholesomely obviate future dangers, do
establish with imperial authority and decree, By the present ever-to-be-valid
law, that when these same secular prince electors, or any of them, shall die,
the right, vote and power of thus electing shall, freely and without the
contradiction of any one, devolve on his first born, legitimate, lay son; but,
if he be not living, on the son of this same first born son, if he be a layman.
If, however, such first born son shall have departed from this world without
leaving male legitimate lay heirs,-by virtue of the present imperial edict, the
right, vote and aforesaid power of electing shall devolve upon the elder lay brother
descended by the true paternal line, and thence upon his first born lay son.
And such succession of the first born sons, and of the heirs of these same
princes, to their right, vote and power, shall be observed in all future time;
under such rule and condition, however, that if a prince elector, or his first
born or eldest lay son, should happen to die leaving male, legitimate, lay
heirs who are minors, then the eldest of the brothers of that elector, or of
his first born son, shall be their tutor and administrator until the eldest of
them shall have attained legitimate age. Which age we wish to have considered,
and we decree that it shall be considered, eighteen full years in the case of
prince electors; and, when they shall have attained this, the guardian shall
straightway be obliged to resign to them completely, together with his office,
the right, vote and power, and all that these involve. But if any such
principality should happen to revert to the holy empire, the then emperor or
king of the Romans should and may to dispose of it as of a possession which has
lawfully devolved upon himself and the empire. Saving always the privileges,
rights and customs of our
8. Concerning the
immunity of the king of
Inasmuch as, through our predecessors the divine emperors and kings of
the Romans, it was formerly graciously conceded and allowed to our progenitors
and predecessors the illustrious kings of Bohemia, also to the kingdom of Bohemia
and to the crown of that same kingdom; and was introduced, without hindrance of
contradiction or interruption, into that kingdom at a time to which memory does
not reach back, by a laudable custom preserved unshaken by length of time, and
called for by the character of those who enjoy it; that no prince, baron,
noble, knight, follower, burgher, citizen-in a word no person belonging to that
kingdom and its dependencies wherever they may be, no matter what his standing,
dignity, pre-eminence, or condition-might, or in all future time may, be cited,
or dragged or summoned, at the instance of any plaintiff whatsoever, before any
tribunal beyond that kingdom itself other than that of the king of Bohemia and
of the judges of his royal court: therefore of certain knowledge, by the
imperial authority and from the plenitude of imperial power, we renew and also
confirm such privilege, custom and favour; and by this our imperial forever-to
be-valid edict do decree that if, contrary to the said privilege, custom, or
favour, any one of the foregoing-namely, any prince, baron, noble, knight,
follower, citizen, burgher, or rustic, or any aforementioned person whatever-at
any time be cited in any civil, criminal, or mixed case, or concerning any
matter, before the tribunal of any one outside the said-kingdom of Bohemia, he
shall not at all be bound to appear when summoned, or to answer before the
court. But if it shall chance that, against any such person or persons not
appearing, by any judge outside of that kingdom of Bohemia no matter what his
authority, judicial proceedings are instituted, a trial is carried on, or one
or more intermediate or final sentences are passed and promulgated: by the
aforesaid authority, and also from the plentitude of the aforesaid imperial power,
we declare utterly vain, and do annul such citations, commands, proceedings and
sentences, also the carrying out of them and everything which may in any way be
attempted or done in consequence of them or any one of them. And we expressly
add and, by the same authority and from the fulness of the aforesaid power, do
decree by an ever-to-be-valid imperial edict that, just as it has been
continually observed from time immemorial in the aforesaid kingdom of Bohemia,
so, henceforth, no prince, baron, noble, knight, follower, citizen, burgher, or
rustic-in short no person or inhabitant of the oft-mentioned kingdom of
Bohemia, whatever be his standing, pre-eminence, dignity, or condition-may be
allowed to appeal to any other tribunal from any proceedings, provisional or
final sentences, or ordinances of the king of Bohemia or of his judges,
instituted or promulgated, or henceforth to be instituted or promulgated
against him, in the royal court or before tribunals of the king, the kingdom or
the aforesaid judges. Nor may he appeal against the putting into execution of
the same Provocations or appeals of this kind, moreover, if any, contrary to
this edict, should chance to be brought, shall of their own accord be invalid;
and those appealing shall know that, by the act itself, they have incurred the
penalty of loss of their case.
9. Concerning mines of
gold, silver and other specie.
We establish by this ever-to-be-valid decree, and of certain knowledge do
declare that our successors the kings of Bohemia, also each and all future
prince electors, ecclesiastical and secular, may justly hold and lawfully
possess- with all their rights without exception, according as such things can
be, or usually have been possessed-all the gold and silver mines and mines of
tin, copper, lead, iron and any other kind of metal, and also of salt: the
king, those which have been found, and which shall at any future time be found,
in the aforesaid kingdom and the lands and dependencies of that kingdom,-and
the aforesaid electors in their principalities, lands, domains and
dependencies. And they may also have the Jew taxes and enjoy the tolls which
have been decreed and assigned to them in the past, and whatever our
progenitors the kings of Bohemia of blessed memory, and these same prince electors
and their progenitors and predecessors shall have legally possessed until now;
as is known to have been observed by ancient custom, laudable and approved, and
sanctioned by the lapse of a very long period of time.
10. Concerning money.
(1) We decree, moreover, that our successor, the king for the time being
of Bohemia, shall have the same right which our predecessors the kings of
Bohemia of blessed memory are known to have had, and in the continuous peaceful
possession of which they remained: the right, namely, in every place and part
of their kingdom, and of the lands subject to them, and of all their
dependencies- wherever the king himself may have decreed and shall please-of
coining gold and silver money and of circulating it in every way and manner
observed up to this time in this same kingdom of Bohemia in such matters. (2)
And, by this our imperial ever-to-be-valid decree and favour we establish, that
all future kings of Bohemia forever shall have the right of buying or
purchasing, or of receiving in gift or donation for any reason, or in bond,
from any princes, magnates, counts or other persons, any lands, castles,
possessions, estates or goods, under the usual conditions with regard to such
lands, castles, possessions, estates or goods: that, namely, alods shall be
bought or received as alods, freeholds as freeholds; that holdings in feudal
dependency shall be bought as fiefs, and shall be held as such when bought. In
such wise, however, that the kings of Bohemia shall themselves be bound to
regard and to render to the holy empire its pristine and customary rights over
these things (lands, etc.) which they shall, in this way, have bought or
received, and have seen fit to add to the kingdom of Bohemia. (3) We will,
moreover, that the present decree and favour, by virtue of this our present
imperial law, be fully extended to all the elector princes, ecclesiastical as
well as secular, and to their successors and lawful heirs, under all the
foregoing forms and conditions.
11. Concerning the
immunity of the prince electors.
We also decree that no counts, barons, nobles, feudal vassals, knights of
castles, followers, citizens, burghers- indeed, no male or female subjects at
all of the Cologne, Mainz and Treves churches, whatever their standing,
condition or dignity-could in past times, or may or can in future be summoned
at the instance of any plaintiff whatsoever, beyond the territory and
boundaries and limits of these same churches and their dependencies, to any
other tribunal or the court of any other person than the archbishops of Mainz,
Treves and Cologne and their judges. And this we find was the observance in the
past. But if contrary to our present edict, one or more of the aforesaid
subjects of the Treves, Mainz or Cologne churches should chance to be summoned,
at the instance of any one whatever, to the tribunal of any one beyond the
territory, limits or bounds of the said churches or of any one of them, for any
criminal, civil or mixed case, or in any matter at all: they shall not in the
least be compelled to appear or respond. And we decree that the summons, and
the proceedings, and the provisional and final sentences already sent or
passed, or in future to be sent or passed against those not appearing, by such
extraneous judges, -furthermore their ordinances, and the carrying out of the
above measures, and all things which might come to pass, be attempted or be
done through them or any one of them, shall be void of their own accord. And we
expressly add that no count, baron, noble, feudal vassal, knight of a castle,
citizen, peasant-no person, in short, subject to such churches or inhabiting
the lands of the same, whatever be his standing, dignity or condition-shall be
allowed to appeal to any other tribunal from the proceedings, the provisional
and final sentences, or the ordinances-or the putting into effect of the
same-of such archbishops and their churches, or of their temporal officials,
when such proceedings, sentences or ordinances shall have been, or shall in
future be held, passed or made against him in the court of the archbishops or
of the aforesaid officials. Provided that justice has not been denied to those
bringing plaint in the courts of the aforesaid archbishops and their officials.
But appeals against this statute shall not, we decree, be received; we declare
them null and void. In case of defect of justice, however, it is allowed to all
the aforementioned persons to appeal, but only to the imperial court and
tribunal or directly to the presence of the judge presiding at the time in the
imperial court. And, even in case of such defect, those to whom justice has
been denied may not appeal to any other judge, whether ordinary or delegated.
And whatever shall Have been done contrary to the above shall be void of its
own accord. And, by virtue of this our present imperial law, we will that this
statute be fully extended, under all the preceding forms and conditions, to
those illustrious men the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony, the
margrave of Brandenburg,-the secular or lay prince electors, their heirs,
successors and subjects.
12. Concerning the
coming together of the princes.
In view of the manifold cares of state with which our mind is constantly
distracted, after much consideration our sublimity has found that it will be
necessary for the prince electors of the holy empire to come together more
frequently than has been their custom, to treat of the safety of that same
empire and of the world. For they, the solid bases and immovable columns of the
empire, according as they reside at long distances from each other, just so are
able to report and confer concerning the impending defects of the districts
known to them, and are not ignorant how, by the wise counsels of their
providence, they may aid in the necessary reformation of the same. Hence it is
that, in the solemn court held by our highness at Nuremberg together with the
venerable ecclesiastical and illustrious secular prince electors, and many
other princes and nobles, we, having deliberated with those same prince
electors and followed their advice, have seen fit to ordain, together with the
said prince electors, ecclesiastical as well as secular, for the common good
and safety: that these same prince electors, once every year, when four weeks,
counting continuously from the Easter feast of the Lord's resurrection, are
past, shall personally congregate in some city of the holy empire; and that
when next that date shall come round, namely, in the present year, a
colloquium, or court, or assembly of this kind, shall be held by us and these
same princes in our imperial city of Metz. And then, and henceforth on any day
of an assembly of this kind, the place where they shall meet the following year
shall be fixed upon by us with their counsel. And this our ordinance is to
endure just so long as it may be our and their good pleasure. And, so long as
it shall endure, we take them under our imperial safe conduct when going to,
remaining at, and also returning from said court. Moreover, lest the
transactions for the common safety and peace be retarded, as is sometimes the
case, by the delay and hinderance of diversion or the excessive Frequenting of
feasts, we have thought best to ordain, by concordant desire, that henceforth,
while the said court or congregation shall last, no one may be allowed to give
general entertainments for all the princes. Special ones, however, which do no
impede the transaction of business, may be permitted in moderation.
13. Concerning the
revocation of privileges.
Moreover we establish, and by this perpetual imperial edict do decree,
that no privileges or charters concerning any rights, favours, immunities,
customs or other things, conceded, of our own accord or otherwise, under any
form of words, by us or our predecessors of blessed memory the divine emperors
or kings of the Romans, or about to be conceded in future by us or our
successors the Roman emperors and kings, to any persons of whatever standing,
pre-eminence or dignity, or to the corporation of cities, towns, or any places:
shall or may, in any way at all, derogate from the liberties, jurisdictions,
rights, honours or dominions of the ecclesiastical and secular prince electors;
even if in such privileges and charters of any persons, whatever their
pre-eminence, dignity or standing, as has been said, or of corporations of this
kind, it shall have been, or shall be in future, expressly cautioned that they
shall not be revokable unless, concerning these very points and the whole tenor
included in them, special mention word for word and in due order shall be made
in such revocation. For such privileges and charters, if, and in as far as,
they are considered to derogate in any way from the liberties, jurisdictions,
rights, honours or dominions of the said prince electors, or any one of them,
in so far we revoke them of certain knowledge and cancel them, and decree, from
the plenitude of our imperial power, that they shall be considered and held to
be revoked.
14. Concerning those
from whom, as being unworthy, their feudal Possessions are taken away.
In very many places the vassals and feudatories of lords unseasonably
renounce or resign, verbally and fraudulently, fiefs or benefices which they
hold from those same lords. And, having made such resignation, they maliciously
challenge those same lords, and declare enmity against them, subsequently
inflicting grave harm upon them. And, under pretext of war or hostility, they
again invade and occupy benefices and fiefs which they had thus renounced, and
hold possession of them. Therefore we establish, by the present
ever-to-be-valid decree, that such renunciation or resignation shall be
considered as not having taken place, unless it shall have been freely and
actual]v Elude by them in such way that possession of such benefices and fiefs
shall be personally and actually given over to those same lords so fully that,
at no future time, shall they, either through themselves or through others, by
sending challenges, trouble those same lords as to the goods, fiefs or
benefices resigned; nor shall they lend counsel, aid or favour to this end. He
who acts otherwise, and in any way invades his lords as to benefices and fiefs,
resigned or not resigned, or disturbs them, or brings harm upon them, or
furnishes counsel, aid or favour to those doing this: shall, by the act itself,
lose such fiefs and benefices, shall be dishonoured and shall underlie the bann
of the empire; and no approach or return to such fiefs or benefices shall be
open to him at any time in future, nor may the same be granted to him anew under
any conditions; and a concession of them, or an investiture which takes place
contrary to this, shall have no force. Finally, by virtue of this present
edict, we decree I that he or they who, not having made such resignation as I
we have described, acting Fraudulently against his or their lords, shall
knowingly invade them-whether a challenge has previously been sent or has been
omitted,-shall, by the act itself, incur all the aforesaid punishments.
15. Concerning
conspiracies.
Furthermore we reprobate, condemn, and of certain knowledge declare void,
all conspiracies, detestable and frowned upon by the sacred laws and
conventicles, or unlawful assemblies in the cities and out of them, and
associations between city and city, between person and person or between a
person and a city, under pretext of clientship, or reception among the
citizens, or of any other reason; furthermore the confederations and pacts-and
the usage which has been introduced with regard to such things, which we
consider to be corruption rather than any thing else-which cities or persons,
of whatever dignity, condition or standing, shall have thus far made and shall
presume to make in future, whether among themselves or with others, without the
authority of the lords whose subjects or serving-men they are, those same lords
being expressly excluded. And it is clear that such are prohibited and declared
void by the sacred laws of the divine emperors our predecessors. Excepting
alone those confederations and leagues which princes, cities and others are
known to have formed among themselves for the sake of the general peace of the
provinces and lands. Reserving these for our special declaration, we ordain
that they shall remain in full vigour until we shall decide to ordain otherwise
concerning them. And we decree that, henceforth, each individual person who,
contrary to the tenor of the present decree, and of the ancient law issued
re~arding this, shall presume to enter into such confederations, leagues,
conspiracies and pacts, shall incur, besides the penalty of that law, a mark of
infamy and a penalty of ten pounds of gold. But a city or community similarly
breaking this our law shall, we decree, by the act itself incur the penalty of
a hundred pounds of gold, and also the loss and privation of the imperial
liberties and privileges; one half of such pecuniary penalty to go to the
imperial fisc, the other to the territorial lord to whose detriment the
conspiracies, etc., were formed.
16. Concerning
pfalburgers.
Moreover since some citizens and subjects of princes, barons and other
men-as frequent complaint has shown us,-seeking to cast off the yoke of their
original subjection, nay, with bold daring despising it, manage, and frequently
in the past have managed to be received among the citizens of other cities;
and, nevertheless, actually residing in the lands, cities, towns and estates of
the former lords whom they so fraudulently presume or have presumed to desert,
succeed in enjoying the liberties of the cities to which they thus transfer
themselves and in being protected by them-being what is usually called in
common language in Germany "pfalburgers": therefore, since fraud and
deceit ought not to shelter any one, from the plenitude of the imperial power
and by the wholesome advice of all the ecclesiastical and secular prince
electors, we establish of certain knowledge, and, by the present
ever-to-be-valid law do decree, that in all territories, places, and provinces
of the holy empire, from the present day on, the aforesaid citizens and subjects
thus eluding those under whom they are, shall in no way possess the rights and
liberties of those cities among whose citizens they contrive, or have
contrived, by such fraudulent means to be received; unless, bodily and actually
going over to such cities and there taking up their domicile, making a
continued, true and not fictitious stay, they submit to their due burdens and
municipal functions in the same. But if any, contrary to the tenor of our
present law, have been, or shall in future be received as citizens, their
reception shall lack all validity, and the persons received, of whatever
condition, or standing they may be shall, in no case or matter whatever, in any
way exercise or enjoy the rights and liberties of the cities into which they
contrive to be received. Any rights, privileges, or observed customs, at
whatever time obtained, to the contrary notwithstanding; all of which, in so
far as they are contrary to our present law, we, by these presents, revoke of
certain knowledge, decreeing from the plenitude of the aforesaid imperial power
that they lack all force and validity. For in all the aforesaid respects, the
rights of the princes, lords and other men who chance, and shall in future
chance, to be thus deserted, over the persons and goods of any subjects
deserting them in the oft-mentioned manner, shall always be regarded. We
decree, moreover, that those who, against the ordering of our present law,
shall presume, or shall in the past have presumed, to receive the oft-mentioned
citizens and subjects of other men, if they do not altogether dismiss them
within a month after the present intimation has been made to them, shall, for
such transgression, as often as they shall hereafter commit it, incur a fine of
a hundred marks of pure gold, of which one half shall be applied without fail
to our imperial fisc, and the rest to the lords of those who have been received
as citizens.
17. Concerning
challenges of defiance.
We declare that those who, in future, feigning to have just cause of
defiance against any persons, unseasonably challenge them in places where they
do not have their domicile, or which they do not inhabit in common, cannot with
honour inflict any harm through fire, Foliation or rapine, on the challenged
ones. And, since fraud and deceit should not shelter any one, we establish by
the present ever-to-be-valid decree that challenges of this kind, thus made, or
in future to be made by any one against any lords or persons to whom they were
previously bound by companionship, familiarity or any honest friendship, shall
not be valid; nor is it lawful, under pretext of any kind of challenge, to
invade any one through fire, spoliation or rapine, unless the challenge, three
natural days before, shall have been intimated personally to the challenged man
himself, or publicly in the place where he has been accustomed to reside, where
full credibility can be given, through suitable witnesses, to such an
intimation. Whoever shall presume otherwise to challenge any one and to invade
him in the aforesaid manner, shall incur, by the very act, the same infamy as
if no challenge had been made; and we decree that he be punished as a traitor
by his judges, whoever they are, with the lawful punishments.
We prohibit also each and every unjust war and feud, and all unjust
burnings, spoliations and rapines, unlawful and unusual tolls and escorts, and
the exactions usually extorted for such escorts, under the penalties by which
the sacred laws prescribe that the foregoing offenses, and any one of them, are
to be punished.
18. Letter of
intimation.
To you, illustrious and magnificent prince, lord margrave of Brandenburg,
arch-chamberlain of the holy empire, our co-elector and most dear friend, we
intimate by these presents the election of the king of the Romans, which is about
to take place on account of rational causes. And, as a duty of our office, we
duly summon you to said election, bidding you within three months, counting
continuously, from such and such a day, yourself, or in the person of one or
more envoys or procurators having sufficient mandates, to be careful and come
to the rightful place, according to the form of the holy laws issued concerning
this, ready to deliberate, negotiate and come to an agreement with the other
princes, yours and our co-electors, concerning the election of a future king of
the Romans and, by God's favour, future emperor. And be ready to remain there
until the full consummation of such election, and otherwise to act and proceed
as is found expressed in the sacred laws carefully promulgated concerning this.
Otherwise, notwithstanding your or your envoys' absence, we, together with our
other co-princes and co-electors, shall take final measures in the aforesaid
matters, according as the authority of those same laws has sanctioned.
19. Formula of
representation sent by that prince elector who shall decide to send his envoys
to carry on an election.
We . . . such a one by the grace of God, etc., of the holy empire, etc.,
do make known to all men by the tenor of these presents, that since, from
rational causes, an election of a king of the Romans is about to be made, we,
desiring to watch with due care over the honour and condition of the holy
empire, lest it be dangerously subjected to so grave harm, inasmuch as we have
the great confidence, as it were of an undoubted presumption, in the faith and
circumspect zeal of our beloved . . . and . . ., faithful subjects of ours: do
make, constitute and ordain them and each one of them, completely, in every
right, manner and form in which we can or may do it most efficaciously and
effectually, our true and lawful procurators and special envoys-so fully that
the condition of him who is acting at the time shall not be better than that of
the other, but that what has been begun by one may be finished and lawfully
terminated by the other. And we empower them to treat wherever they please with
the others, our co-princes and co-electors, ecclesiastical as well as secular,
and to agree, decide and settle upon some person fit and suitable to be elected
king of the Romans, and to be present, treat and deliberate in the transactions
to be carried on concerning the election of such a person, for us and in our
place and name; also, in our stead and name, to nominate such a person, and to
consent to him, and also to raise him to be king of the Romans, to elect him to
the holy empire, and to take, upon our soul, with regard to the foregoing or
any one of the foregoing, whatever oath shall be necessary, requisite or
customary. And we empower them to substitute altogether, as well as to recall,
one or more other procurators who shall perform each and every act, included in
and concerning the foregoing matters, that may be needful, useful, or even in
any way convenient, even to the consummation of such negotiations, nomination,
deliberation and impending election. Even if the said matters, or any one of
them, shall require a special mandate; even if they shall turn out to be
greater or more especial than the above mentioned; provided that we could have
performed them ourselves had we been present personally at the carrying on of
such negotiations, deliberation, nomination and eventual election. And we
consider, and wish to consider, and firmly promise that we always will consider
satisfactory and valid any thing done, transacted or accomplished, or in any
way ordained, in the aforesaid matters or in any one of them, by our aforesaid
procurators or envoys, or their substitutes, or by those whom the latter shall
substitute.
20. Concerning the Laity
of the electoral principalities and of the rights connected with them.
Since each and all the principalities, by virtue of which the secular
prince electors are known to hold their right and vote in the election of the
king of the Romans and prospective emperor, are so joined and inseparably
united with such right of election, also with the offices, dignities and other
rights connected with each and every such principality and dependent from it,
that the right, vote, office and dignity, and all other privileges belonging to
each of these same principalities may not devolve upon any other than upon him
who is recognized as possessing that principality itself, with all its lands,
vassalages, fiefs and domains, and all its appurtenances: we decree, by the
present ever-to-be valid imperial edict, that each of the said principalities,
with the right and vote and duty of election, and with all other dignities,
rights and appurtenances concerning the same, ought so to continue and to be,
indivisibly and for all time, united and joined together, that the possessor of
any principality ought also to rejoice in the quiet and free possession of its
right, vote and office, and dignity, and all the appurtenances that go with it,
and to be considered prince elector by all. And he himself, and no one else,
ought at all times to be called in and admitted by the other prince electors,
without any contradiction whatever, to the election and to all other
transactions to be carried on for the honour or welfare of the holy empire.
Nor, since they are and ought to be inseparable, may any one of the said
rights, etc., be divided from the other, or at any time be separated, or be
separately demanded back, in court or out of it, or distrained, or, even by a
decision of the courts, be separated; nor shall any one obtain a hearing who
claims one without the other. But if, through error or otherwise, any one shall
have obtained a hearing, or proceedings, judgment, sentence or any thing of the
kind shall have taken place, or shall chance in any way to have been attempted,
contrary to this our present decree: all this, and all consequences of such
proceedings, etc., and of any one of them, shall be void of their own accord.
21. Concerning the order
of marching, as regards the archbishops.
Inasmuch as we saw fit above, at the beginning of our present decrees,
fully to provide for the order of seating of the ecclesiastical prince electors
in council, and at table and elsewhere, whenever, in future, an imperial court
should chance to be held, or the prince electors to assemble together with the
emperor or king of the Romans-as to which order of seating we have heard that
in former times discussions often arose: so, also, do we find it expedient to
fix, with regard to them, the order of marching and walking. Therefore, by this
perpetual imperial edict, we decree that, as often as, in an assembly of the
emperor or king of the Romans and of the aforesaid princes, the emperor or king
of the Romans shall be walking, and it shall happen that the insignia are
carried in front of him, the archbishop of Treves shall walk in a direct
diametrical line in front of the emperor or l;ing, and those alone shall walk
in the middle space between them, who shall happen to carry the imperial or
royal insignia. When, however, the emperor or king shall advance without those
same insignia, then that same archbishop shall precede the emperor or king in
the aforesaid manner, but so that no one at all shall be in the middle between
them; the other two archiepiscopal electors always keeping their places-as with
regard to the seating above explained, so with regard to walking-according to
the privilege of their provinces.
22. Concerning the order
of proceeding of the prince electors, and by whom the insignia shall be
carried.
In order to fix the order of proceeding, which we mentioned above, of the
prince electors in the presence of the emperor or king of the Romans when he is
walking, we decree that, so often as, while holding an imperial court, the
prince electors shall, in the performance of any functions or solemnities,
chance to walk in procession with the emperor or king of the Romans, and the
imperial or royal insignia are to be carried: the duke of Saxony carrying the
imperial or royal sword, shall directly precede the emperor or king, and shall
place himself in the middle between him and the archbishop of Treves. But the
count palatine, carrying the imperial orb, shall march in the same line on the
right side, and the margrave of
23. Concerning the
benedictions of the archbishops in the presence of the emperor.
Furthermore, so often as it shall come to pass that the ceremony of the
mass is celebrated in the presence of the emperor or king of the Romans and
that the archbishops of Mainz, Treves and Cologne, or two of them, are present,
-in the confession which is usually said before the mass, and in the presenting
of the gospel to be kissed, and in the blessing to be said after the i' A gnus
Dei," also in the benedictions to be said after the end of the mass, and
also in those said before meals, and in the thanks to be offered after the food
has been partaken of, the following order shall be observed among them, as we
have seen fit to ordain by their own advice: namely, on the first day each and
all of these shall be done by the first of the archbishops, on the second by
the second, on the third, by the third. But we will that first, second and
third shall be understood in this case, according as each one of them was
consecrated at an earlier or later date. And, in order that they may mutually
make advances to each other with worthy and becoming honour, and may give an
example to others of mutual respect, he whose turn it is according to the
aforesaid, shall, without regard to that fact, and with charitable intent,
invite the other to officiate; and, not till he has done this, shall he proceed
to perform the above, or any of the above functions.
24.
(1) If any one, together with princes, knights or pri. vases or also any
plebeian persons, shall enter into an unhallowed conspiracy, or shall take the oath
of such conspiracy, concerning the death of our and the holy Roman empire's
venerable and illustrious prince electors, ecclesiastical as well as secular,
or of any one of them-for they also are part of our body; and the laws have
decided that the intention of a crime is to be punished with the same severity
as the carrying out of it:-he, indeed, shall die by the sword as a traitor, all
his goods being handed over to our fisc. (2) But his sons, to whom, by special
imperial lenity, we grant their life-for those ought to perish by the same
punishment as their father, whose portion is the example of a paternal, that is
of a hereditary crime-shall be without share in any inheritance or suceession
from the mother 'or grandparents, or even from relatives; they shall receive
nothing from other people's wills, and shall be always poor and in want; the
infamy of their father shall always follow them, and they shall never achieve
any honour or be allowed to take any oath at all; in a word they shall be such
that to them, grovelling in perpetual misery, death shall be a solace and life
a punishment. (3) Finally we command that those shall be made notorious, and
shall be without pardon who shall ever try to intervene with us for such
persons. (4) But to the daughters, as many of them as there are, of such
conspirators, we will that there shall go only the "falcidia"-the
fourth part of the property of the mother if she die intestate; so that they
may rather have the moderate alimony of a daughter, than the entire emolument
or name of an heir;-for the sentence ought to be milder in the case of those
who, as we trust, on account of the infirmity of their sex, are less likely to
make daring attempts. (I) Deeds of gift, moreover, made out to either sons or
daughters by the aforesaid persons, after the passing of this law, shall not be
valid. (6) Dotations and donations of any possessions; likewise, in a word, all
transfers which shall prove to have been made, by any fraud or by right, after
the time when first the aforesaid people conceived the idea of entering into a
conspiracy or union, shall, we decree, be of no account. (7) But the wives of
the aforesaid conspirators, having recovered their dowry-if they shall be in a
condition to reserve for their children that which they shall have received
from their husbands under the name of a gift,-shall know that, from the time
when their usufruct ceases, they are to leave to our fisc all that which,
according to the usual law, was due to their children. (8) And the fourth part
of such property shall be put aside for the daughters alone, not also for the
sons. (9) That which we have provided concerning the aforesaid conspirators and
their children, we also decree with like severity, concerning their followers,
accomplices and aiders, and the children of these. (10) But if any one of
these, at the beginning of the formation of a conspiracy, inflamed by zeal for
the right kind of glory, shall himself betray the conspiracy, he shall be
enriched by us with reward and honour; he, moreover, who shall have been active
in the conspiracy, if, even late, he disclose secret plans which were, indeed,
hitherto unknown,- t. shall nevertheless be deemed worthy of absolution and
pardon. (11) We decree, moreover, that if anything be said to have been committed
against the aforesaid prince electors, ecclesiastical or secular,-even after
the death of the accused that charge can be instituted.' (12) Likewise in such
a charge, which regards high treason against his prince electors, slaves shall
be tortured even in a case concerning the life of their master. (13) We will,
furthermore, and do decree by the present imperial edict, that even after the
death of the guilty persons this charge can be instituted, and, if some one
already convicted die, his memory shall be condemned and Lois goods taken away
from his heirs. (14) For from the time when any one conceived so wicked a plot,
from then on he has to some extent been punished mentally; but from the time
when any one drew down upon himself such a charge, we decree that he may
neither alienate nor release, nor may any debtor lawfully make payment to him.
(15) For in this case we decree that slaves may be tortured in a matter
involving the life of their master; that is, in the case of a damnable
conspiracy against the prince electors, ecclesiastical and secular, as has been
said before. (16) And if any one should die, on account of the uncertain person
of his successor his goods shall be held, if he be proved to have died in a
case of this kind.
25.
If it is fitting that other principalities be preserved in their
entirety, in order that justice may be enforced and faithful subjects rejoice
in peace and quiet: much more ought the magnificent principalities, dominions,
honours and rights of the elector princes to be kept intact-for where greater
danger is imminent a stronger remedy should be applied,-lest, if the columns
fall, the support of the whole edifice be destroyed. We decree, therefore, and
sanction, by this edict to be perpetually valid, that from now on unto all
future time the distinguished and magnificent principalities, viz.: the kingdom
of Bohemia, the county palatine of the Rhine, the duchy of Saxony and the
margravate of Brandenburg, their lands, territories, homages or vassalages, and
any other things pertaining to them, may not be cut, divided, or under any
condition dismembered, but shall remain forever in their perfect entirety. The
first born son shall succeed to them, and to him alone shall jurisdiction and
dominion belong, unless he chance to be of unsound mind, or idiotic, or have
some other marked and known defect on account of which he could not or should
not rule over men. In which case, he being prevented from succeeding, we will
that the second born, if there should be one in that family, or another elder
brother or lay relative, the nearest on the father's side in a straight line of
descent, shall have the succession. He, however, shall always show himself
clement and gracious to the others, his brothers and sisters, according to the
favour shown him by God, and according to his best judgment and the amount of
his patrimony,-division, partition or dismemberment of the principality and its
appurtenances being in every way forbidden to him.
On the day upon which a solemn imperial or royal court is to be held, the
ecclesiastical and secular prince electors shall, about the first hour, come to
the imperial or royal place of abode, and there the emperor or king shall be
clothed in all the imperial insignia; and, mounting their horses, all shall go with
the emperor or king to the place fitted up for the session, and each one of
them shall go in the order and manner fully defined above in the law concerning
the order of marching of those same prince electors. The arch-chancellor,
moreover, in whose arch-chancellorship this takes place, shall carry, besides
the silver staff, all the imperial or royal seals and signets. But the secular
prince electors, according to what has above been explained, shall carry the
sceptre, orb and sword. And immediately before the archbishop of Treves,
marching in his proper place, shall be carried first the crown of Aix and
second that of Milan: and this directly in front of the emperor already
resplendent with the imperial adornments; and these crowns shall be carried by
some lesser princes, to be chosen for this by the emperor according to his
will. The empress, moreover, or queen of the Romans, clad in her imperial
insignia, joined by her nobles and escorted by her maids of honour, shall
proceed to the place of session after the king or emperor of the Romans, and
also, at a sufficient interval of space, after the king of
27. Concerning the
offices of the prince electors in the solemn courts of the emperors or kings of
the Romans.
We decree that whenever the emperor or king of the Romans shall hold his
solemn courts, in which the prince electors ought to serve or to perform their
offices, the following order shall be observed in these matters. First, then
the emperor or king having placed himself on the royal seat or imperial throne,
the duke of Saxony shall fulfil his office in this manner: before the building
where the imperial or royal session is being held, shall be placed a heap of
oats so high that it shall reach to the breast or girth of the horse on which
the duke himself shall sit; and he shall have in his hand a silver staff and a
silver measure, which, together, shall weigh 12 marks of silver; and, sitting
upon his horse, he shall first fill that measure with oats, and shall offer it
to the first slave who appears. This being done, fixing his staff in the oats,
he shall retire; and his vice-marshal, namely, he of Pappenheim,
approaching-or, in his absence,the marshal! of the court,- shall further
distribute the oats. But when the emperor or king shall have gone into table,
the ecclesiastical prince electors-namely the archbishops,-standing before the
table with the other prelates, shall bless the same according to the order
above prescribed; and, the benediction over, all those same archbishops if they
are present, otherwise two or one, shall receive from the chancellor of the
court the imperial or royal seals and signets, and he in whose arch
chancellorship this court happens to be held advancing in the middle, and the other
two joining him on either side, shall carry those seals and signets-all
touching with their hands the staff on which they have been suspended-and shall
reverently place them on the table before the emperor or king. The emperor or
king, however, shall straightway restore the same to them, and he in whose
arch-chancellorate this takes place, as has been said, shall carry the great
seal appended to his neck until the end of the meal, and after that until,
riding from the imperial or royal court, he shall come to his dwelling place.
The staff, moreover, that we spoke of shall be of silver, equal in weight to
twelve marks of slaver; of which silver, and of which price, each of those same
archbishops shall pay one third; and that staff afterwards, together well the
seals and signets, shall be assigned to the chancellor of the imperial court to
be put to what use he pleases. But after he whose turn it has been, carrying
the great seal, shall, as described, have returned from the imperial court to
his dwelling place, he shall straightway send that seal to the said chancellor
of the imperial court. This he shall do through one of his servants riding on
such a horse as, according to what is becoming to his own dignity, and
according to the love which he shall bear to the chancellor of the court, he
shall be bound to present to that chancellor.
Then the margrave of
The count palatine of the
After this, likewise on horseback, shall come the king of
Moreover, as we learn it to have hitherto been observed so we decree,
that, after their aforesaid offices have been performed by the secular prince
electors, he of Falkenstein the sub-chamberlain, shall receive for himself the
horse and basins of the margrave of Brandenburg; he of Northemburg, master of
the kitchen, the horse and dishes of the count palatine; he of Limburg, the
vice-cupbearer, the horse and cup of the king of Bohemia; he of Pappenhelm, the
vice-marshal, the horse, staff and aforesaid measure of the duke of Saxony. That
is, if these be present at such imperial or royal court, and if each one of
them minister in his proper office. But if they, or any one of them, should see
fit to absent themselves from the said court, then those who daily minister at
the imperial or royal court shall, in place of the absent ones,-each one,
namely, in place of that absent one with whom he has his name and office in
common,-enjoy the fruits with regard to the aforesaid functions, inasmuch as
they perform the duties.
28.
Moreover the imperial or royal table ought so to be arranged that it
shall be elevated above the other tables in the hall by a height of six feet.
And at it, on the day of a solemn court, shall sit no one at all except alone
the emperor or king of the Romans.
But the seat and table of the empress or queen shall be prepared to one
side in the hall, so that that table shall be three feet lower than the
imperial or royal table, and as many feet higher than the seats of the prince
electors; which princes shall have their seats and tables at one and the same
altitude among themselves.
Within the imperial place of session tables shall be prepared for the
seven prince electors, ecclesiastical and secular,-three, namely, on the right,
and three others on the left, and the seventh directly opposite the face of the
emperor or king, as has above been more clearly defined by us in the chapter
concerning the seating and precedence of the prince electors; in such wise,
also, that no one else, of whatever dignity or standing he may be, shall sit
among them or at their table.
Moreover it shall not be allowed to any one of the aforesaid secular
prince electors, when the duty of his office has been performed, to place
himself at the table prepared for him so long as any one of his fellow prince
electors has still to perform his office. But when one or more of them shall
have finished their ministry, they shall pass to the tables prepared for them,
and, standing before them, shall wait until the others have fulfilled the
aforesaid duties; and then, at length, one and all shall place themselves at
the same time before the tables prepared for them.
29.
We find, moreover, from the most renowned accounts and traditions of the
ancients that, from time immemorial it has been continuously observed by those
who have felicitously preceded us, that the election of the king of the Romans
and future emperor should be held in the city of Frankfort, and the first
coronation in Aix, and that his first imperial court should be celebrated in
the town of Nuremberg. Wherefore on sure grounds, we declare that the said
usages should also be observed in future, unless a lawful impediment should
stand in the way of them or any one of them. Whenever, furthermore, any prince
elector, ecclesiastical or secular, detained by a just impediment, and not able
to come when summoned to the imperial court, shall send an envoy or procurator,
of whatever dignity or standing,-that envoy, although, according to the mandate
given him by his master, he ought to be admitted in the place of him who sends
him, shall, nevertheless, not sit at the table or in the seat intended for him
- who sent him.
Moreover when those matters shall have been settled which were at that
time to be disposed of in any imperial or royal court, the master of the court
shall receive for himself the whole structure or wooden apparatus of the
imperial or royal place of session, where the emperor or lying of the Romans
shall have sat with the prince electors to hold his solemn court, or, as has
been said, to confer fiefs on the princes.
30. Concerning the
rights of the officials when princes receive their fiefs from the emperor or
king of the Romans.
We decree by this imperial edict that the prince electors, ecclesiastical
and secular, when they receive their fiefs or regalia from the emperor or king,
shall not at all be bound to give or pay anything to anybody. For the money
which is paid under such a pretext is due to the officials; but since, indeed,
the prince electors themselves are at the head of all the offices of the
imperial court, having also their substitutes in such offices, furnished for
this by the Roman princes, and paid,-it would seem absurd if substituted
officials, under cover of any excuse whatever, should demand presents from
their superiors; unless, perchance, those same prince electors, freely and of
their own will, should give them something.
On the other hand, the other princes of the empire, ecclesiastical or
secular,-when, in the aforesaid manner, any one of them receives his fiefs from
the emperor or king of the Romans,-shall give to the officials of the imperial
or royal court 63 marks of silver and a quarter, unless any one of them can
protect himself by an imperial or royal privilege or grant, and can prove that
he has paid or is exempt from such, or also from any other, payments usually
made when receiving such fiefs. Moreover the master of the imperial or royal
court shall make division of the 631 marks as follows: first reserving, indeed,
10 marks for himself, he shall give to the chancellor of the imperial or royal
court 10 marks; to the masters, notaries, copyists, 3 marks; and to the sealer,
for wax and parchment, one quarter. This with the understanding that the
chancellor and notaries shall not be bound to do more than to give the prince
receiving the fief a testimonial to the effect that he has received it, or a
simple charter of investiture.
Likewise, from the aforesaid money, the master of the court shall give to
the cupbearer, him of I`imburg, 10 marks; to the master of the kitchen, him of
Northemburg, 10 marks; to the vice-marshal!, him of Pappenheim, 10 marks; and
to the chamberlain, him of Falkenstein, 10 marks: under the condition, however,
that they and each one of them are present and perform their offices in solemn
courts of this kind. But if they or any one of them shall have been absent,
then the officials of the imperial or royal court who perform these same
offices, shall carry off the reward and the perquisites of those whose absence
they make good, individual for individual, according as they fill their place,
and bear their name, and perform their task.
When, moreover, any prince, sitting on a horse or other beast, shall
receive his fiefs from the emperor or king, that horse or beast, of whatever
kind he be, shall be the due of the highest marshal-that is, of the duke of
Saxony if he shall be present. otherwise of him of Pappenheim, his
vice-marshal!; or, in his absence, of the marshal! of the imperial or royal
court.
31.
Inasmuch as the majesty of the holy Roman empire has to wield the laws
and the government of diverse nations distinct in customs, manner of life, and
in language, it is considered fitting, and, in the judgment of all wise men,
expedient, that the prince electors, the columns and sides of that empire,
should be instructed in the varieties of the different dialects and languages:
so that they who assist the imperial sublimity in relieving the wants of very
many people, and who are constituted for the sake of keeping watch, should
understand, and be understood by, as many as possible. Wherefore we decree that
the sons, or heirs and successors of the illustrious prince electors, namely of
the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony and
the margrave of Brandenburg-since they are expected in all likelihood to have
naturally acquired the German language, and to have been taught it from their
infancy,-shall be instructed in the grammar of the Italian and Slavic tongues,
beginning with the seventh Year of their age. so that, before the fourteenth
year of their age, they may be learned in the same according to the grace
granted them by God. For this is considered not only useful, but also, from the
aforementioned causes, highly necessary, since those languages are wont to be
very much employed in the service and for the needs of the holy empire, and in
them the more arduous affairs of the empire are discussed. And, with regard to
the above we lay down the following mode of procedure to be observed it shall
be left to the option of the parents to send their sons, if they have any-or
their relatives whom they consider as likely to succeed themselves in their
principalities, -to places where they can be taught such languages, or, in
their own homes, to give them teachers, instructors, and fellow youths skilled
in the same, by whose conversation and teaching alike they may become versed in
those languages.