not to enter into dispute let us go forward and tell meat what time those Princes put the Imperial Crown upon their head G. Frederick II. having past from this life to a better the Empire continued some year without a Head After which Interregnum all Germany esteeming the vertue of Rodolph Count of Habspourg worthy of the Empire he was set upon the Throne in the year 1278. and reigned 18. Rodolph being dead Adolph Count of Nassau was chosen in his stead But Albert Rodolphs son being now become Duke of Austria by the gift which his Father made him of that Principality and Lord of Carinthia by the marriage which he contracted with Elizabeth inheritrice of that Province because he could not brook a Superior took arms slew the Emperor Adolph in battel and forced the Electors to put him into his place in the year 1298. and ten years after on May-day 1308. he was killed upon the high way by his Nephew John the son of Rodolph and his successors were no more admitted to that honor till the year 1438. in which Albert the Fifth Duke of Austria and second Emperor of that name was raised to that dignity He reigned no longer then one year and was succeeded by Frederick III. his Cousin who reigned 54. years and got his son Maximilian I. to be Elected whilest he lived To Maximilian Charles V. his grandchild succeeded and to Charles Ferdinand I. his brother from whom are descended in a right line of males all the Emperors that have reigned ever since his death and still reign happily to this day P. I think the sons of Philip Archduke of Austria Duke of Burgundy divided that House into two branches G. That House arriving to greatness by little and little by the acquisition of the Countreys of Austria Carinthia Stiria Tirol and Alsatia was raised to a prodigious grandeur by the marriage of Maximilian of Austria with Mary of Burgundy who brought him in Dowry the 17. Provinces of the Low-Countreys with the Franche-County And a little after it acquired a great part of the world by the marriage of Jane of Spain with Philip the saiâ— Maximilians son For by the death of the Queen of Portugal her elder Sister Jane became heiress of all that her Father and Mother had in Spain and of the Kingdoms of Naples Sicily Majorca Minorca Sardinia and the New World So that Charles V. seeing he had enough to satisfie the two branches severally quitted all that he had in Germany to his brother Ferdinand reserving nothing thereof to himself but the name of Austria and gave his son all his other Dominions which are so great that the Sun never sets upon them P. You do not tell me that Philip II. son to Charles V. got the Kingdom of Portugal partly by right and partly by force after the death of the King and Cardinal Henry Unkle by the Fathers side to Sebastian who was unfortunately lost in Africa in the year 1578. G. I reserve those things to be spoken of when we shall travel into Spain and then I shall tell you that Philip II. having gotten the Kingdom of Portugal with the East Indies Brasile the places of Ceuta Tanger Marzagan many Isles in the Ocean Sea and all the Coasts of Africa unto the great Monomotapa many lands and fortresses beyond the Cape of Good Hope in Persia Arabia and the Indies he and his son possessed them prosperously But Philip IV. his grandchild lost that Kingdom upon Christmas-day 1640. and afterwards all that depended upon that Crown followed the sway and revolution of Portugal P. This House being most mighty in Europe Africa Asia and America and having the Imperial Crown upon its head ever since the year 1438. without intermission it must certainly have priviledges unknown to other Houses of Germany G. The Princes of this House have received extraordinary mercies and advantages from God from nature and from men From Nature inasmuch as they have all a long chin and thick lips which is a Physiognomical mark of their piety constancy and integrity From God inasmuch as by giving a glass of water with their own hand to one that hath great Wens hanging at his throat they cure him and by kissing one that cannot speak plain they unloose his tongue nay which is more this House having within 300. years afforded twelve Emperors five Kings of Spain and forty other Kings Cardinals Archdukes and Dukes there hath been never a Tyrant amongst them all As for the priviledges they have received from the Emperors of that House they can create Gentlemen Barons and Counts through the whole Empire and the Emperor cannot take from them the lands they are seized of to give them to another The Archduke of Austria is the first and most intimate Privy Counsellor of the Empire and hâ—â— Principality is not subject to contributionâ— These Princes when they receive the land they hold in Fee are in Royal habit wear aâ— Archdukes Cap upon their head pay nothing for their Investiture and are not subject to the Justice of the Empire In Assemblies they take their place on the right hand of the Emperor after the Electors before the Ecclesiastical Princes If they be challenged to fight a Duel they may take a Champion though that priviledge be denied to their adversary And if all the Princes of this House happen to fail the eldest daughter shall inherit all their Estate and bring all these priviledges to her husband P. In real truth this House hath done so many good offices to the Empire that I wonder not to see it priviledged above all others Are these Princes many G. No That Emperor is since dead as also his brother and one of his sons but few The King of Spain at the time we are now speaking which is the year 1657. hath but one son the Emperor two and one brother and the Archdukes of Inspruck are two Thus the branch of Burgundy is in danger to be totally extinguished but that of Austria is strong enough still there being five young Princes of it P. If the Branch of Burgundy should totally fail should not that of Austria inherit G. I believe of Right it ought to succeed for it is no less descended of Jane of Spain then that of Burgundy But being daughters inherit it would be known whether the heiress of the Kingdom will not marry some other Prince and whether a Spanish Lord will not have a mind to taste so dainty a bit P. It would be a great weakening of the Emperor to take from him the strong support he hath alwayes found in King Phillips Exchequor Let us now look if you please upon the Palatine House G. By your demands you oblige me to follow the order which the Princes observe in their sitting at the Assemblies After the House of Austria that of the Palatine holds the first rank without dispute This House enjoyes the first Electorship and the first place amongst the Secular Electors after the
P. Parents do not love their children with more tenderness nor children their parents with more reverence then I love the Empire and for that cause you can tell me nothing that affects me comparably to the relation of its greatness Continue therefore and as you have touched something of the Majesty of the Head give me some account also of the Members G. The principal Members of the Empire are the Electors which at this present are three Ecclesiasticks and five Seculars They of Mentz Tryers and Collen are Arch-Bishops and Arch-Chancellors the first in Germany the second in France and in the Kingdom of Arles and the third in Italy The Seculars are the King of Bohemia who is great Cup-bearer the Duke of Bavaria who is great Steward the Duke of Saxony who is great Marshal or Constable the Marquis of Brandenburg who is great Chamberlain and the Prince Palatine of the Rhine who is great Treasurer of the Empire P Are those offices which you now mentioned the principal function of each Elector G. There is nothing that makes the Electoral dignity so eminent as the right they have to elect the Emperor and to depose him when by his enormous crimes or by an unmanly idleness he neglects the honour of the Empire the publick good and the duty of his place P. Was the Empire alwayes Elective G. Charlemagne having gotten the Imperial diginty transmitted it to his posterity by way of Succession and that right continued in his House as long as his descendents retained any thing of the generosity of that incomparable Heroical person But when his virtue became totally extinguished in his Successors the Empire was offered to Otho of Saxony who refused it and advised them to confer that honour upon Conrade Duke of Franconia After Conrade Henry Son to Otho of Saxony who had refused the Empire was chosen into his place and his Son Otho the I. succeeded him And that way of succession from Father to Son was observed till the time of Henry IV. who coming to that Dignity while he was under age and ruling badly enough when he was of years to do better the Lords of the Empire began to undervalue his authority and Pope Gregory VII taking occasion by the fore-top declared him unfit to Reign excommunicated him and commanded that the Imperial Scepter should be given to another Then the Germans made a Law whereby they abolished the right of succession and assumed to themselves that of choosing the Emperors P. It seems to me that the Empire was elective sooner then the time you specifie G. Some would have it that the Electors were instituted after the death of the Emperor Otho III. and others only in the time of Rodolph of Habspurg so that there is no certainty to be known in this matter and it is free for every man to follow the opinion he thinks most probable P. When the right of succession from Father to Son was abolished was the power of choosing the Emperors given to the Princes that bear the title of Electors at this day G. When the Empire became Elective all the Princes as well Secular as Ecclesiastical the Lords Prelates and Cities in one word all the Estates of the Empire got the power of creating the Emperors Afterwards in process of time the less considerable were debarred of that right and at length the confusion which grew from that great number of Electors made it be thought convenient to reduce them to a few Then they that held the highest Offices in the Imperial Court excluded all others from them and the Emperor Charles IV. confirmed them in the possession of that right by a regulation which he made thereupon in an Ordinance called The Golden Bull. P. Until what time did that great number of Princes and Lords concur to the election of the Emperors G. It may be made appear to those that will be satisfied with reason that many had a voice in the Election of Emperors until the time of Frederick II. For Otho Frisingensis assures us that Henry II. was chosen Emperor by all the Lords of the Empire and when he was dead Conrade Duke of Franconia was advanced into his place by the consent of all Henry III. son to Conrade was also chosen but there is no mention made of the Electors The Abbot of Vrsperg writes that Henry IV. was raised to the Imperial dignity by the Bishops and Princes of Germany The same Author says that Henry V. was chosen by all that Lotharius II. was made Emperor by two Archbishops eight Bishops many Abbots and Lords of the Imperial Court that Conrade III. was placed upon the Throne the Duke of Saxony not being called to the Election and the See of Mentz being then vacant that Frederick Barbarossa was chosen by all the German princes that Philip came to the Empire by an Election which the Suevians Bavarians and Saxons made of him that Otho IV. received the Scepter from those of Collen Strasbourg and some other Cities The same Abbot of Vrsperg says that the Emperor Otho IV. was excommunicated and that the Princes of Germany to wit the King of Bohemia the Dukes of Austria and Bavaria the Landgrave of Thuringia and many other Princes chose Frederick King of Sicily to whom they had formerly sworn Allegiance even while he was yet in his cradle This is that Frederick until whose time as you see the number of the Electors was uncertain P. There seems to me to be a contradiction in what you say that the Empire was successive until Henry IV. and a little after you affirm that Henry II. Conrade Henry III. and IV. were Elected G. I had taken notice before that the Authors who write upon this subject are at variance among themselves for which reason I alledge those that speak of those Elections And it is sufficient for me to shew you it is the opinion of Writers that the number of Electors was not reduced to Seven till after the time of Frederick II. And here you may observe that the Eighth was not heard of till the last peace of Germany P. Why was the number of them increased at the Treaty of peace concluded at Munster and Osnabrug in the year 1648. G. In the year 1623. the Emperor Ferdinand II. transferred the Electoral dignity from Frederick V. Count Palatine to Maximilian Duke of Bavaria This translation of dignity and many other acts of Soverainty which the Empire remarked in Ferdinand with a jealous eye as the taking upon himself alone to decide matters which cannot be determined but by the judgement of all the Estates of the Empire the resuming of Church-lands possessed by Protestants and giving them to Religious Orders together with a fear of worse proceedings obliged the Princes to joyn in a League and to call strangers to their assistance The War was long and so bloody that it swept away more then half the people of Germany At last both sides being weary an Assembly was held at Munster to
sacred Empire The Bishops of Mets Toul and Verdun do also bear the title of Princes of the Empire though they neither send any more to the Diets nor have the same power which formerly they had P. There being so many Lutheran Bishopricks converted into a Secular State I do not think the Protestants have many in their possession G. They have none but Lubeck which belongs to the House of Holstein ever since the year 1547. when Balthasar of Rantzau died When I was in that Countrey John Duke of Schleswick and Holstein was Bishop thereof and laid out the Revenue of his Benefice in doing good to the poor and maintaining Gentlemen that had not means to raise themselves at their own charge That Prince dyed A.D. 1650. and had one of his brothers sons for his Successor young in years but very hopeful This Prelate makes his residence at Eutin a fair seat upon a Lake four leagues distant from Lubeck P. Since you have done with the Benefices in Germany which have suffered some alteration you will be so kind as to speak of the others and to begin with Saltzbourg so much famed for its abundance of Salt which makes that Prelate extraordinary rich and for the situation of the City which puts it into the rank of the fairest and strongest in Europe G. Dignities are not only considerable for the strength riches and beauty of a place but also and more especially for the rank they give unto the persons that possess them The Archbishop of Saltzbourg is Legate born of the Apostolick See he alternates with the Archdukes in the Diets of the Empire and gives place to none but the Electors Paris Count of Ladron was long in possession of this Benefice with great honour and when he dyed made room for Gardobaldi Count of Thurin who comes not behind him either in vertue or magnificence P. There is enough said of the Archbishopricks let us see the Bishopricks G. The Catholick Bishops that still enjoy a seat and suffrage in the Assemblies of the Empire are Bamberg Wirsbourg Wormes Spire Eichstedt Augsbourg Constance Hildesheim Paderborne Munster Osnabrug Passau Strasbourg Frisinguen Liege Trent Brix and Basile of which nevertheless Osnabrug belongs to the Catholicks only by turns and after the death of Francis Count of Wirtemberg a most venerable Prelate who was plenipotentiary of the Ecclesiastical Electors at Munster and gave great proof of his prudence dexterity and magnificence to the satisfaction and with the admiration of all the Assembly I say after his death Ernest Augustus Duke of Lunebourg shall be Bishop of Osnabrug though he be a Lutheran All the rest that I mentioned do absolutely belong to the Catholiques greatly fortifying the Popes authority in Germany and bringing a large Revenue to Rome by the obligation the Prelates have to send thither for their Bulls P. I think I have heard that Prague and Olmuts were Suffragans to the Archbishoprick of Mentz and yet you make no mention of them G. These two Bishopricks were Suffragans to Mentz but afterwards united to make up the Archbishoprick of Prague which sends no Deputy to the general Assemblies of the Empire nor hath any place or voice there no more then the Kingdom of Bohemia And that is the reason why I speak not of them here P. Tell me something in particular of every one of the Bishopricks G. That of Bamberg is the first of the Empire it acknowledges no Metropolitan but depends immediately upon the Pope and its Subjects cannot appeal from the Justice thereof This Bishoprick is of Imperial foundation and the Bishop hath right to receive the Oath which the Electors are to take to the Emperor for their Offices of Great Cup-bearer Great Steward Great Marshal and Great Chamberlain And which is to be admired these Electors were anciently hereditary great Cup-bearers great Stewards great Marshals and great Chamberlains to this Bishop who in that had the same honour the Emperor hath though every one thought it strange to see the greatest Princes of the Empire in the service of a Gentleman He that is Bishop at present succeeded Melchior Otho Voite of Salsbourg and is of the same House that he was of This Prelate is exceedingly well lodged at Bamberg where he hath pleasant gardens and excellent walks of Orange-trees but the City is weak which enforces the Bishop to betake himself unto some other place in the time of Wars P. If I be not mistaken Francis Count of Hasfeld brother to him that was General of the Imperial Forces had this Bishoprick and that of Wirsbourg both together and after his death they were given the one to Melchior Otho Voite and the other to John Philip Schemborne Gentlemen of Franconia G. That is true and Anselm Casimir Elector of Mentz departing this life soon after John Philip Schemborne was put into his place with the general applause of all that know him This Prince is fortifying Wirsbourg Castle which is marvellously well situated upon a lofty rising-ground at the foot whereof runs the river Meyn The City is large and fair entirely Catholique as Bamberg is This Bishop bears the title of Duke of Franconia and it is denyed him by none but the Marquisses of Brandenbourg His Countrey is pleasant and well peopled his Subjects are free from all other Jurisdiction and his Fortress of Konigshoiffen is excellent So that this Prelate is able to assist his friends with great forces if he will make use of his men and his money P. He cannot be poor being both Archbishop of Mentz and Bishop of Wirsbourg But Churchmen do oftentimes think more of enriching their kindred then succouring their friends Let us look upon the rest if you please G. Wormes is the Head and Director of the Circle of the Rhine joyntly with the Prince Palatine of Simeren The City is vast as well as Spire and both of them being fit for nothing but to exhaust the Treasure and employ the Army of him that holds them in time of War the Great Gustavus upon that consideration judged it necessary to dismantle them Spire belonged heretofore to Philip Christopher of Sotteren Elector of Tryer who having fortified Vdenheim a Village upon the Rhine where he had a Castle called it Philipsbourg At present the French have a garrison there which costs the Bishop nothing but may in time of war annoy both him and the rest of his neighbours P. Is not this Elector he whom Ferdinand II. caused to be secured and who after he got out of prison engaged himself to France in a perpetual bond of amity and interest G. The very same who to the great grief of his enemies lived till he was 80. years old and dyed A. D. 1652. He was succeeded in his Electorship by Charles Gaspar de Legen and in his Bishoprick of Spire by a Gentleman called Lotharius Frederick of Meternik P. I think it very reasonable that every great Benefice should have its own Prelate G. And I am of the