[Illustration: Fig. 387.--Dalmatica and Sandals of Charlemagne, Insignia
of the Kings of France at their Coronation, preserved in the Treasury of
the Abbey of St. Denis.]
The ceremonies which accompanied the accessions of the emperors of Germany
(Fig. 388) are equally interesting, and were settled by a decree which the
Emperor Charles IX. promulgated in 1356, at the Diet of Nuremberg.
According to the terms of this decree--which is still preserved among the
archives of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and which is known as the _bulle d'or_,
or golden bull, from the fact of its bearing a seal of pure gold--on the
death of an emperor, the Archbishop of Mayence summoned, for an appointed
day, the Prince Electors of the Empire, who, during the whole course of
the Middle Ages, remained seven in number, "in honour," says the bull, "of
the seven candlesticks mentioned in the Apocalypse." These Electors--who
occupied the same position near the Emperor that the twelve peers did in
relation to the King of France--were the Archbishops of Mayence, of
Treves, and of Cologne, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the
Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. On the
appointed day, the mass of the Holy Spirit was duly solemnized in the
Church of St. Bartholomew of Frankfort, a town in which not only the
election of the Emperor, but also his coronation, almost always took
place, though one might have supposed that Aix-la-Chapelle would have been
selected for such ceremonies. The Electors attended, and after the service
was concluded, they retired to the sacristy of the church, accompanied by
their officers and secretaries, They had thirty days for deliberation, but
beyond that period they were not allowed "to eat bread or drink water"
until they had agreed, at least by a majority, to give _a temporal chief
to the Christian people, that is to say, a King of the Romans, who should
in due time be promoted to be Emperor_, The newly-elected prince was, in
fact, at first simply _King of the Romans_, and this title was often borne
by persons who were merely nominated for the office by the voice of the
Electors, or by political combinations. In order to be promoted to the
full measure of power and authority, the King of the Romans had to receive
both religions consecration and the crown. The ceremonies adopted at this
solemnity were very analogous to those used at the consecrations of the
kings of France, as well as to those of installation of all Christian
princes. The service was celebrated by the Archbishop of Cologne, who
placed the crown on the head of the sovereign-elect, whom he consecrated
Emperor. The symbols of his authority were handed to him by the Electors,
and then he was proclaimed, "_Caesar, most sacred, ever august Majesty,
Emperor, of the Holy Roman Empire of the nation of Germany_."
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