The Historians' History of the World 07

After the decease of Henry II, it was evident to every friend of Germany that the unity of the nation must be cemented without delay if all that had been founded by Conrad I and Henry I was not to come wholly to naught. The princes and the higher ranks of nobles would perhaps have been well content to see the empire break up into its old condition of disintegration; the clergy, on the other hand, had nothing to gain by such a turn of fortune, and they consequently laboured with the utmost zeal for the appointment of a capable head to the empire. As matters stood the king could only be nominated by election, and on this occasion the election had to be held with more freedom and more solemnity than usual, because the choice was not limited to the children or descendants of a deceased monarch. In the early days of the vacancy no candidates for the highest office of the state presented themselves, and the question on whom to bestow the crown was therefore long debated amongst the princes, higher nobility, and bishops.

They finally resolved to call a solemn assembly of the people, and there to let the public opinion of the nation decide upon Henry’s successor. It is possible that the persons who were secretly managing this business of the election had already a definite plan as to who was to be king; but such a plan might nevertheless present difficulties in the accomplishment, and for this reason each party tried to use the expedient of a national assembly for the furtherance of its own particular object. But to all appearance the public opinion of the nation occupied the position of arbitrator between the various parties, and as such exercised a stronger influence upon the election than might have been expected in view of the condition of the empire at the time.

Of course, except for the bishops and clergy this national assembly was entirely composed of the greater and lesser nobles and their followers, for the towns had not yet arrived at such a height of prosperity as to claim direct participation in the affairs of the empire. And, equally of course, the subordinate bondman had no opinion to give, only the gentry being qualified to vote. Hence the lesser nobility as a body represented the public opinion of the nation, in contradistinction to the sovereign princes; and it was they who were permitted to wield so great an influence in state affairs in the matter of the solemn election to the throne after the death of Henry II.

A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Henry’s death had taken place on the 13th of July, 1024, and on the 4th of September in the same year those qualified to vote amongst all the German races gathered together on the Rhine, between Mainz and Worms, in the neighbourhood of the old “Königstuhl” (a stone structure in the form of a chair, where the kings of Germany were proclaimed), to proceed with all solemnity to the election of a new head of the empire. The throng was considerable, and was distributed in accordance with the great duchies of the empire; the Lorrainers taking up their quarters on the left bank of the Rhine, the Saxons, Franconians, Swabians, and Bavarians on the right. The princes and bishops naturally took the lead in the election ceremonies, and they therefore met at Kamba, opposite Oppenheim. There they conferred concerning the candidates for royalty who should be proposed to the people—that is to say, to the aforesaid body of the minor nobility. The opinions they expressed always came to the knowledge of the popular assembly, so that the latter could exercise at least a moral influence upon the principal electors by applause or dissent. The conference lasted long, its fluctuations of opinion communicated a certain amount of agitation to the great throng, the minds of men were kept in suspense, and the solemn election became a scene of great animation. At length the diversities of opinion resolved themselves into an agreement that two men were worthiest to wear the crown, both of them Franconian nobles, both bearing the name of Conrad, and both being the sons of two brothers—grandsons of the famous Conrad the Red, son-in-law of Otto I. In order to distinguish between the two, one was styled the Elder and the other the Younger.