their tranquillity depends upon the equal counterpoise of those two Kings and therefore use their endeavours to hinder the one from bringing the other too much under but I dare not affirm that either of them have such high thoughts True it is that every one ought to fear it and that the wisest Princes seeing the balance too heavy on one side help to make weight on the other The King of Sweden who is prudent in Counsel and valiant in fight will not be the last to apply a remedy when he sees the danger And if he should forget his own and the Empires Interest the Venetians Hollanders and Swisses would employ their money and power for the preservation of theirs and our Liberty P. Europe breeds a people so ingenuous knowing valiant and so opposite to servitude that it seems impossible for it ever to come under the obedience of one only person Let us then leave the Ambitious to rack and torture their minds with imaginary conquests and let us look upon the House of the Guelphes which heretofore possest a great part of Germany And if you will oblige me speak as distinctly of it as possibly you can G. This House which without dispute held the first rank after the Electors before the Archbishopricks of Magdebourg and Bremen were converted into Secular Dignities is put back those two degrees Nevertheless it comes not behind any one in antiquity and had its Territories all along the Elbe in the Countrey of Saxony when it followed the fortune of Albovin King of the Lombards first into Pannonia and afterwards into Italy where these people fixt their seat having driven the Goths out of it and gave their name to the Province anciently called Gallia Cisalpina about 200. years before the time of Charlemagne Then it was that this family acquired the Dutchy of Modena which it possesseth even at this day P. Do you think then that the House of Este which still holds the Dutchy of Modena and lost that of Ferrara in the time of Pope Clement VIII after the death of Duke Alphonso is a branch of this of Brunswick G. I make no doubt of it and when the Kingdom of the Lombards was destroyed in Italy by the arms of Charlemagne some Princes of this House came back into their own Countrey where they had still so large an estate and authority that the Emperor Lewis the Debonaire married Iudith a Princess of that family and had by her Charles the Bald who was King of France and Emperor This Empress had a brother named Henry to whom Lewis his son-in-Son-in-law son to Lewis Germanicus gave those lands which are now called Bavaria P. These indeed are fair and advantagious alliances which having made those Princes Brothers-in-law and Fathers-in-law to Kings brought them so considerable a Principality G. The Descendents of Henry did not long possess this Countrey for his line failing in Guelphe IV. his Nephews son the Emperor Henry IV. gave his inheritance to Guelphe V. son to the Duke of Ferrara who as we have said was of the same House And in process of time Henry the Proud Duke of Bavaria descended from Guelphe V. married Gertrude daughter to the Emperor Lotharius II. who brought him the Dutchy of Saxony for her Dowry The issue of that marriage was Henry Leo who together with Bavaria and Saxony possessed many great Principalities lying upon the Elbe and elsewhere P. How comes it then to pass that the Successors of Henry Leo have their Estate confined within the Dutchies of Brunswick and Luntbourg G. That Prince being of a high spirrit and not able to comply with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossâ— his Unkle was proscribed and expelled the Empire and when he was thâ—s driven out of his Estates he made his retreat into England to King Henry II. who gave him his daughter Matildis or Mawd to wife and procured his reconciliation with the Emperoâ— But because he had in the mean time disposed of the Dutchy of Bavaria in favor of the Count of Schieren whose posterity enjoys it at this day Henry Leo was restored to no more then the Dutchy of Saxony which Principality past a little after into the House of Saxon-Lawembourg by the marriage of Helen daughter to the Emperor Otho IV. and grandchild to Henry Leo with Albert I. of that name Elector of Saxony At that time Frederick II. gave the title of Duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg to Otho a prince of that House P. The misfortune of Henry Leo should serve for a lesson to Great ones and make all men see that it is necessary to honor Superiors and not to provoke ones Masters G. Many great Princes desiring to shake off the yoke of their due obedience have forfeited their right and lost that which they would not acknowledge to hold of their Soverain That was the quarrel against the King of England who was devested of the Provinces of Normandy and Guyenne by Charles VII King of France And if the Guelphes had husbanded their strength better and paid the Emperor the respect they ought him they had still been the most potent Princes in Germany P. They are far less at present then they were in the time of Henry Leo and yet they seem to be very considerable by their own forces and by their alliances G. All the Houses that have admitted the right of Primogeniture are better kept up then others This having a large Estate and four voices in the Assemblies is divided but into two principal branches which are equal in dignity but the elder in years of the two Chiefs precedes the other in the general and particular Assemblies They all bear the same title and if one branch happen to fail the other shall succeed it They have both of them good Fortresses Wolfenbottel Cel Hanover Lunebourg and Giffhorne are strong places under the command of these Princes Brunswick hath never submitted to their power still enjoying the right of a Free City though the Duke hath often used skill as well as force to bring it under his obedience These Princes can raise and maintain great numbers of Souldiers within their Territories And the neighborhood of Denmark and Sweden may yet make them more considerable the Emperor being always willing to gratifie them to keep them to him and strangers to gain them to their side P. It is certain that a Prince whose lands border upon a Forain State may easily make himself more valuable then if they lay in the heart of the Empire but there is a great deal of prudence to be used in such cases G. The Dukes of Lorraine and Savoye have always been very much considered for the situation of their Estates and the need that neighboring Monarchs had of their assistance For which cause Bocalini having brought them to be weighed at Laurence de Medicis his Scales finds them as heavy as Kings Yet if these Princes be not very quick and expert as well as valiant and resolute they may hazard the
King of Sweden And all these Princesses have children P. If promises be debts you are bound to tell me to whom the other Princesses of this House are married G. Elizabeth Juliana daughter to Frederick who resides at Nortbourg married Antony Vlrick Duke of Brunswick A. D. 1656. Her Cousins daughters to Philip are thus married Mary Elizabeth to George Albert Marquiss of Brandenbourg Augusta to Ernest Gunther Duke of Holstein Christina to Christian Duke of Saxony and Dorothy to Christian Lewis Duke of Lunebourg Hedwig is still to marry and Sophia Hedwig dyed after she had born two children to her husband Maurice Duke of Saxony P. Doth the whole Countrey of Schleswick Holstein and their appurtenances yield a great Revenue G. All these Dutchies together make up above 7000. Crowns of yearly Rent I would in good manners adde one Cypher more and make it 70000 lest the Estates of many private English Gentlemen should exceed the Revenue of these Dutchies And although a great part of the Countrey be taken up in Lakes and Forests yet it abounds with all things by reason of the Ocean and Baltick Seas that make many Harbors there There come out of Jutland above 12000. head of Cattle every year and a great number of Horses which are to be brought into the Castle of Gottorf and if his Highness will have any of them he may take them at 18. Rix-dollars a piece The Dutchy of Holstein contains 8000. Ploughs and yet it contributes no more then the City of Lubeck to the necessities of the Empire The peasants there are slaves and the Nobility rich ambitious and valiant as much as any in Europe P. I have heard you say you have drunk so good Spanish Wine at Gottorf Plone Redwisch and Eutin that I am perswaded the remembrance thereof hath made you stay so long in Holstein Yet you must come from thence and see whether the Romeldenph of Ratzebourg and the Beer of Zerbst will be able to keep you at the houses of the Dukes of Saxony and the Princes of Anhalt G. If you would give me leave to entertain you at large about the generosity of the Princes of Holstein we would speak of the horses rings and other gentile presents that were offered me at Gottorf Plone Redwisch and Eutin but since we must pass into the Dutchy of Lawembourg and into the Principality of Anhalt I shall tell you that the Duke Augustus and the Prince Christian have by their favours sufficiently obliged me to be a particular servant to their House which hath at the same time afforded Electors both of Saxony and Brandenbourg P. I shall be glad to know when and how those Princes got and lost those Electorships with the antiquity of their Houses their Titles their Alliances their Religion the number of the Branches whereinto they are divided and other things that you shall judge requisite for my instruction G. No man denies but that these Houses sprung out of one and the same root and that they are reckoned amongst the ancientest in Christendom but I hold it a vanity to enquire for a descent from Father to Son ever since Adams time to ours because the Ancients were more studious to deserve an immortal glory then to seek for Writers to transmit the same to posterity The Author of the Genealogical Tables which the Prince Augustus gave me at Pleskau in the year 1650. Affirms that these Princes were Kings Dukes and Generals of the Saxons even before the coming of Christ and sets down for Head of this Family Berenthobald who in the quality of King led the Saxons to the War against Hermanford King of Thuringia A. D. 524. Limneus goes higher saying they come from Ascana son to Gomer Nephew to Iaphet Noahs son However it be this House is extremely ancient it being above 1000. years since Berenthobald II. and III. were Generals of the Saxons against Clovis II. and Dagobert Kings of France and since Clovis III. King of France married Batildis daughter to Beranger a Princess of this House All which things make it evident that this Family was come to full growth before many very noble ones were produced P. Seeing those Princes were Kings or Dukes of the Saxons how comes it to pass that they kept not that Dignity G. Those titles were not always Hereditary Anciently the Saxons and many other people chose a Duke or a King when they stood in need of one for the War otherwise their State was Aristocratical and Dignities descended not to their heirs In the days of Charlemagne Witikind Head of the Saxons had Aribo Beranger his Son or Brother-in-law for his Lieutenant General And when they were vanquished by the valour of Charles and reconciled to him by the mediation of Henry Count of Henneberg Charlemagne honored Witikind with the quality of Duke and Aribo Beranger with that of Count of Ascania Ballenstet and Hircinia to them and their posterity When they were dead the Descendents of that House became Christians and the Emperor was Godfather to Charles Father to Poppo who took to wife Syndovine daughter to Lewis the Debonaire Emperor and King of France from whom all the princes of this House are propagated P. This indeed is a great alliance but tell me how they came to be Dukes of Saxony and Marquisses of Brandenbourg G. Otho the Great Count of Ascania Ballenstet and Wolpe having married Hileta daughter to Magnus Duke of Saxony had by her Albertus Vrsus who by the favour of the Emperor Conrade III. was made Marquiss and Elector of Brandenbourg the House of Stade being extinguished which had enjoyed that Marquisate a long time A little after Henry Leo Duke of Saxony and Brunswick having disobliged the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was degraded from his Dignity and the same given to Bernard son to Albertus Vrsus in the Diet of Wirsbourg 1169. which dignity continued in his Family till the year 1423. as that of Marquiss of Brandenbourg did till 1417. P. Do not Princes offend against the maximes of true Politicks when they make their Subjects too great G. Theodosius Duke of Bragansa and the richest Lord in Portugal being dissatisfied with Philip III. his Soverain because he would not suffer the Duke to walk equal by his side absented himself from Court and the Kings servants foreseeing what danger there might be to let a person go away discontented that had so great an estate and authority in a Kingdom full of bad humours entreated his Majesty to satisfie him before he returned from Castile The King commanded he should be brought to him the Duke came and being at Court the King with an extraordinary sweetness said to him Pedid duque Ask what you would have my Lord the Duke whose heart was swelled up with his riches answered Senor los mayores de vnestra Majestad que tanbien han sido los mios hizierontantas mercedes a mi casa que no me queda nada que pedir Sir your Majesties Ancestors who were mine
that are in possession of the Government and in places where the Principalities are divided into equal shares he calls all that have priviledge to sit in Diets as for example the Dukes of Weimar Altembourg and Gotta who have all voices for their particular Principalities But if all the divided Estates of Princes have but one voice as the Principality of Anhalt all the Lords together appoint one Deputy The Emperor doth also call thither some persons that have not right of Session as Count Papenheim who is always present there to execute the Office of Vice-Marshal And Charles V. caused Doctor Luther to be at the Diet of Wormes in the year 1521. And Rodolph II. called the Assessors of Spire to that of Ratisbon to give an account of their Judgements and Decrees in the year 1608. P. What is the Office of Marshal Papenheim at the Diets G. The Office of Vice-Marshal is 1. To choose Lodgings mark them and set them out for the Princes the most commodiously that possibly may be 2. To take care that all things necessary for the Assembly be brought thither and distributed at a just price weight and measure 3. To survey the Hall or room where the Assembly is to be held and to see it be adorned and fitted suitable to the Dignity of the persons that are to assist there 4. To have a special eye and regard to the publick safety 5. To signifie unto the Princes and other Estates the day and hour when they are to be present at the propounding of affairs and at debates and consultations where he also gatherâ— the voices and lastly he hath Jurisdiction over strangers that come to that place to sell and retail any commodity and the women of pleasure that come thither are obliged to present themselves before him to have their names registred P. As far as I perceive Count Papenheims Office bears a great resemblance with that of Grand Provost of the Household to the King of France But are all the Estates of the Empire obliged to appear in these Assemblies G. The Jurisdiction of the Grand Provost of the King of France his Household extends five Leagues compass about the place where the King resides he puts a price upon all that is sold for the use and entertainment of the Court and in that as in many other things he equals or exceeds the authority of Papenheim But that wherein he surpasses him indeed is that it brings him in 20000. Crowns yearly As to your question you must know that all the Princes of the House of Austria and the Duke of Lorraine are called to the Diets yet go not but when they please P. Are all the other Estates to assist there in person G. All other Lords and Estates as well Ecclesiastical as Secular having right of Session ought to go thither in person unless they be excused by age sickness or other such impediments in which case they are permitted to send their Ambassadors Now when I say All I do not in that generality comprehend the Abbesses who cannot appear with decency to their Sex nor the Cities which cannot be transported It is sufficient then for the Abbesses and the Cities to send their Deputies to the Diets The Estates that go thither in person present themselves to the Emperor when he is present and to his Commissioners when he is absent and they acquaint the Chancellor of Mentz and the Vice-Marshal with their arrival that they may receive advertisement of the day and hour when the Councel is to be held The Ambassadors and the Deputies do not present themselves to the Emperor but to the Elector of Mentz into whose hands they put the Commission or Power by which they are authorized to come P. I am sufficiently informed touching the persons that ought to appear at the Diets Oblige me now to tell me the Order that is observed there G. The Emperor usually goes thither first to the end it may be taken notice of that all other Princes repair to him On the day appointed for opening the Diet the Electors Princes and Ambassadors come to the Emperors Lodging and when the Emperor comes forth to go to the place where the Assembly is to be held all the Ambassadors of absent persons march before in good order two and two or three and three after the Princes the Elector of Trier walks alone and directly after him the Elector of Saxony carrying the Sword naked with the Electors of Bavaria and Brandenbourg at each side the first bearing the Imperial Ball and the other the Golden Sceptre Those Electors are immediately followed by the Emperor who hath on his right hand the Elector of Mentz and on his left him of Collen After the Emperor the King of Bohemia goes alone and after him the Empress when she is in place and her Majesty is followed by all the Ecclesiastical Princes who observe the same Order that the Seculars did P. I believe it is a very fine sight But when they are come to the room which Count Papenheim hath caused to be furnished as richly as can be how do they sit G. Being entred thereinto the Emperor seats himself on a Throne raised upon a scaffold covered with rich Tapistry The Electors sit a degree lower in this order the Archbishop of Mentz followed by him of Collen and he by the Duke of Bavaria take place on the right hand the King of Bohemia when he is present which happens very seldom the Duke of Saxony the Marquis of Brandenbourg and the Count Palatine sit on the left and the Elector of Trier directly over against the Emperor Some say that when there is a King of the Romans the Elector of Trier sits where I said the King of Bohemia was to take his place and the King of the Romans in that place which the Golden Bull assigned to the Elector of Trier Others would have the Elector of Mentz King of Bohemia and Count Palatine to sit on the right hand those of Collen Saxony and Brandenbourg on the left and he of Trier right opposite to the Emperor The other Princes Prelates Counts and Barons are a degree lower then the Electors the Ecclesiastiques taking the right hand and the Seculars the left P. There is nothing to be seen so illustrious as those Assemblies and I fancy that he who hath the honour to speak at the first opening of them sayes very handsom things G. When every one hath taken his place one of the Emperors Counsellors or a Prince on whom that charge is imposed rises up salutes the Company and in an excellent discourse gives thanks to all the Assembly for that in compliance with the Emperors order all those Princes and Lords have freely and cheerfully resorted to that place After which his Majesty continuing the Speech desires the Assembly in few words that they would contribute with all their might so as their Countrey may receive the fruit expected from them That being done a Secretary reads the
few of them who set not a greater value upon it then upon their study P. I confess the sway of my inclination is absolutely bent to it and I could more willingly endure the pains of Hunting a whole day then of study but two hours Yet because you think it fit I will hunt as seldom as I can that I may keep the promise I made to you to follow your counsel in all things G. It is no small comfort to me to hear that you prefer my advice before your pleasure but I am sorry that you call and esteem that a Labour which is nothing but pure delight Study would be a sensual pleasure if the mind were capable of any They that have once tasted it can never take themselves off again and oftentimes it engages those who are born for action to give themselves over to contemplation in such manner that thereby they become despiseable and indeed altogether despised drawing upon themselves the point of those Lances which they have neglected and the venom of those Pens which they too kindly embrace P. As therefore all kind of studies are not proper for all kind of persons so neither is it lawful for every one to spend so much time in them as he would G. You say right for as Alexanders dog thought any creature of less strength and courage then a Lyon to be unworthy of his anger and would not vouchsafe to stir if he did not see an object equal to his valour so men ought to make choice of such studies as are proportionable to their conditions And forasmuch as by Gods Providence you are born such a one as will one day have occasion to render him an account of a Principality you must of necessity learn to govern it well without amusing your self upon knowledges more curious then useful and which would better become a Professor in Philosophy than the General of an Army P. I know that men do not use to send for Shoe-makers to make their clothes nor to Taylors to make their boots Nevertheless many Princes enter upon the Government before they have past an Apprentiship for it and take the least care of that which concerns them the most But that I may not be one of that number I conjure you to instruct me in all that I ought to know to be able to govern G. The method of good Government is not to be learnt but from the mouth or actions of Kings and Princes Therefore I beseech you to give diligent heed to all you shall read in the Books of the Kings the Chronicles and the Wisdom of Solomon in the Sacred Story in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which James VI. King of Scotland and first of that name of England composed for the instruction of his Son in Guevara in the life of Marcus Aurelius in the Romulus Tarquin and David persecuted written by Malvezzi in the lives of Philip II. King of Spain and Henry IV. King of France and every where else where profane History takes notice of the vices and virtues of great men that so you may day by day grow to be an honester man and a more excellent Prince P. I have already read some part of that which you prescribe to me and should punctually observe this rule if I were not hindred by my ignorance in the Languages wherein they are written G. That defect would occasion many others to you and if you did not learn to understand Authors in their own Language you would recieve but little satisfaction for ordinarily translations have less grace and ornament then the Originals For which reason I have given order to your Master to use the easiest method for you and the greatest diligence he can that you may be a good Proficient in forain Languages I beseech you to second his laborious endeavours and help to make them fruitful P. Your will hath alwayes had the authority of a Law with me and I find it good for me to have learnt what you judged to be for my advantage Having therefore heard you say that Italian is easily obtainable by those that speak Latin and French I shall endeavour to get these two in perfection before I undertake the third G. I like your design and dare assure you that you will learn Italian with ease by the help of French for the knowledge of the one smooths the difficulties which occur in the other especially if one begin with French P. Which of these two do you esteem the finest Language and the most useful G. Your question doth somewhat perplex me for my part I think them both equally good and graceful but not equally useful for to know the utility of a Language it should be considered in what part of the world a man inhabits what persons he frequents and with whom he hath to do Italian is in high esteem and exceedingly useful in the Emperors Court and upon all the Coasts of the Mediterranean Sea They that trade in Asia Africk and Europe with the Turks Greeks Arabians Candians Rhodians Cyprians and other Levantine people may commodiously make use of it French is in greater vogue towards the North and is marvellously well entertained in Germany England Denmark Sweden and Poland where all the Kings Princes and Lords speak it exactly except the Emperor who neither loves the French nor their Language yet it is so much in fashion that the chiefest Italians nay even the Spaniards of his Court and all others that I have known in Germany speak it or clip it P. Then would it not be better for a German Prince to learn French perfectly and practise it continually then to amuse himself upon many Languages and become master of never a one of them G. Every man should take a just measure of his own strength and not grasp at more than he can hold But seeing you have a natural disposition to learn Languages and the honour to be a Prince which gives you the hope and almost the assurance of being employed in variety of business and in divers Countreys I lay it as a charge upon you to love French and not neglect Italian The end of the first Dialogue Dialogue II. Of the State of the Empire in general P. I Understand French indifferent well already and I think if I made a voyage through France I might easily attain to the perfection of it And therefore I earnestly entreat you to use the power and credit you have with my parents that by their good leave I may begin to travel and see what Europe affords worthy of my observation G. I know that travelling is a proper means to accomplish what you have begun but I cannot allow that you should imitate those who make it their study day and night to learn what was done at Rome 2000. years since without taking any thought to know how men live in Germany at the present They that study in such a manner are like those imprudent busie-bodies who having their eyes open to
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