Golden Bull

GOLDEN BULL, the general designation of any charter decorated with a golden seal or bulls. The name, however, has become practically restricted to a few documents of unusual political importance, the golden bull of the empire, the golden bull of Brabant, the golden bull of Hungary, and the golden bull of Milan—and of these the first is undoubtedly the golden bull par excellence. The main object of the golden bull was to pro vide a set of rules for the election of the German kings, or kings of the Romans, as they are called in this document. Since the informal establishment of the electoral college about a cen tury before (see ELECTORS), various disputes had taken place about the right of certain princes to vote at the elections, these and other difficulties having arisen owing to the absence of any authoritative ruling. Under these circumstances the emperor Charles IV. determined by an authoritative pronouncement to make such uncertainty impossible in the future, and at the same time to add to his own power and prestige, especially in his capac ity as king of Bohemia. In its first form the bull was promulgated at the diet of Nuremberg on Jan. so, 1356, but it was not accepted by the princes until some modifications had been introduced, and in its final form it was issued at the diet of Metz on Dec. 25 following.

The text of the golden bull consists of a prologue and of

31 chapters. The early chapters are mainly concerned with details of the elaborate ceremonies which are to be observed on the occasion of an election. The number of electors is fixed at seven, the duke of Saxe-Wittenberg, not the duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, receiving the Saxon vote, and the count palatine, not the duke of Bavaria, obtaining the vote of the Wittelsbachs. The electors were arranged in order of precedence thus: the archbishops of Mainz, of Trier and of Cologne, the king of Bohemia, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg. The work of summoning the electors and of pre siding over their deliberations fell to the archbishop of Mainz, but if he failed to discharge this duty the electors were to assemble without summons within three months of the death of a king. Elections were to be held at Frankfort ; they were to be decided by a majority of votes, and the subsequent coronation at Aix la-Chapelle was to be performed by the archbishop of Cologne. During a vacancy in the empire the work of administering the greater part of Germany was entrusted to the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony being responsible, however, for the government of Saxony, or rather for the districts ubi Saxonica jury servantur.

The chief result of the bull was to add greatly to the power of the electors. To these princes were given sovereign rights in their dominions, which were declared indivisible and were to pass according to the rule of primogeniture. Except in extreme cases, there was to be no appeal from the sentences of their tribunals, and they were confirmed in the right of coining money, of taking tolls, and in other privileges, while conspirators against their lives were to suffer the penalties of treason. One clause gave special rights and immunities to the king of Bohemia, who, it must be remembered, at this time was Charles himself, and others enjoined the observance of the public peace. Provision was made for an annual meeting of the electors, to be held at Metz four weeks after Easter. This arrangement, however, was not carried out, although the electors met occasionally. Another clause forbade the cities to receive Pfahlbiirger, i.e., forbade them to take men dwelling outside their walls under their protection. It may be noted that there is no admission whatever that the election of a king needs confirmation from the pope.