The emperors of the house of Suabia succeeded to those of the house of Franconia, and held the empire from A. D. 1138, to A. D. 1254. They were, Conrad III. ; Frederic I. surnamed Barbarossa ; Henry VI. ; Philip ; Otho IV. ; Fre deric II. ; and Conrad IV. The principal events in the history of the latter princes of the Franconian line, and of all the princes of the Suabian line, were produced or in fluenced by the contests between the popes and the em perors ; and the principal ground of these contests was thi claim of the popes to the supreme dominion of every part of the Christian world, both in temporal and spiritual con cerns. This claim gave rise to the factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibelines ; of which the former were attached to the popes, and the latter to the emperors. These two fac tions kept Germany and Italy in perpetual agitation etur ing three centuries ; and during this period, the imperial authority continued to decline.
The next period, between 1254 and 1272, is generally called by the German writers, the Great Interregnum. Dur ing it, six princes claimed to be emperors. The interreg num was determined by the election of Rodolph, Count of Hapsburgh. From him till the ultimate accession of the house of Austria, the empire of Germany was held by the following emperors. Rodolph Count of Hapsburg, elect ed A. D. 1273. Adolph, Count of Nassau, elected A. D. 1292. Albert I. Archduke of Austria, elected A. D. 1298. Henry, Count of Luxemburg, elected A. D. 1308. Louis V. Duke of Bavaria, elected A. D. 1314. Charles. King of Bohemia, A. D. 1347. Winceslaus, King of Bohemia, A. D. 1378. Rooert, Elector Palatine, A. D. 1400. Sigis mond, King of Hungary, A. D. 1410. And Albert 11. Duke of Austria, A. D. 1438. During the period between the last accession of the house of Hapsburg and the election of Charles V. the empire was possessed by the following em perors. Frederic III. elected A. D. 1440 ; Maximilian I. elected 1493 ; and Charles V. elected A. I). 1519.
During this period, the boundaries of the Germanic em pire, the form of its government, and the rise of its towns, particularly those which composed the Hanseatic league, are the chief subjects of consideration. Its boundaries were the Eyder and the sea on the north ; the Scheldt, 1NIeuse, the Saone, and the Rhone, on the west : the Alps and the Rhine on the south ; and the Lech and Vistula on the east. In this great extent of country, the principal provinces were, the duchy of Burgundy, comprising Savoy, the Lesser Burgundy, Provence, Dauphiny, and Switzer land : the duchy of Lorraine, which, besides Lorraine, con tained Holland, Zealand, Brabant, Limburg, Hainault, Flanders, Geuldres, and Luxemburg. Friesland was at
tached to Lorraine, but was not governed either by a duke or a count. When the line of Suabian princes ceased, the ancient Aletnannia and Franconia, in which their posses sions chiefly lay, was divided into various principalities. At this period, Saxony was divided by the Weser into Eastern and Western. The former was sometimes called Saxony on the Elbe ; the latter Saxony on the Weser. Misnia, Thuringia, and Hessia were usually comprised un der Saxony. The Slavic territory, between the Oder and the Vistula, was occupied by the Margraves of Branden burg, and the Dukes of Poland and Bohemia. To the last, Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia were subject. Pomerania and Prussia were at this period in a very unsettled state. Bava ria still retained the name of Boisaria. To the east of it, a considerable tract was called Marchia Orientalis, or Oost rich ; afterwards Austria. The emperor was always elec tive; but great alterations took place in the mode of elec tion. In early periods, the emperor was chosen by the peo ple at large ; afterwards the nobility and principal officers of state possessed the privilege exclusively ; by degrees, is was engrossed by the five great officers, the chancellor, the great marshal, the great chamberlain, the great butler, and the great master. At first they contented themselves lvith proposing a candidate to the general body of electors. Afterwards they confined the whole right of election to themselves. This mode was finally settled in the reign of Charles IV. by the celebrated constitution called the Gol elen Bull, which fixed the right of election in four spiritual ,rind three temporal electors. These were, the King of Bo hemia, the Duke of Saxony, the Hargrave of Branden burgh, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and the three arch bishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne. Subsequently, the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Brunswick Lunenburgh were added. The multitude of princes, bishops, abbots, and male and female nobles, who, under various names, possessed sovereign rights, though all recognised the em peror as their feudal lord, were divided into the primitive states, or those which had always been held of the em peror, as the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, the Palatinate, and several bishoprics ; those which arose on the ruin of the Guelphic family, in consequence of the confiscation of the possessions of Henry the Lion ; those which arose from the ruins of the Suabian family ; and those which arose principally during the interregnum.