Читать книгу The Present State of Germany - Samuel Pufendorf - Страница 18

CHAPTER II

Of the Members of which the present German Empire is composed.

Germany a potent State, tho’ much diminished as to its extent.

1. After the German Nation [peoples], by the help of the French [Franks], became one Body, it has in all times been thought one of the strongest States in Europe; and at this day it is not less regardable, on the account of its bulk, though great parts of it have been ravished <25> from it, and either annexed to other Kingdoms, or formed into separate and independent States.¹ How much the German Empire is now less than it was anciently, has been [thoroughly] shewn by Hermannus Conringius, a most skilful man in the German Affairs, in his Book, de finibus Imperii Germanici, concerning the Bounds of the German Empire.² But it will be enough for us to observe what she has at present.

The principal Members then of this Body are designed [designated] by the Title of The States [Estates] of the Empire, who have, as we express it, a Right to Sit and Vote in the Diet. Tho’ many of these are opposed [excluded] by others, |[or whose Right to be immediate States is disputed by other more potent States, who pretend they ought to represent them in the Diet]|:^a The occasion of these Controversies is, because these Potent States would make those that are controverted Members of their own Provincial |[States]|,^a and not of the general Diet.³ But then, as to the Families of the Princes, it is to be observed, that there regularly belongs to each House a certain number of Votes in the Diet <, according as the powers it possesses have customarily entailed a right to vote>; as some Houses have only one Vote, some two, some three, some four, and some five. In some Principalities the eldest Brother enjoys the whole Estate [ditio], and all the younger must be content with an Apanage,⁴ and in others, they have all a share, though not an equal one, with the eldest. Where the first of these is observed, the eldest [alone] represents the Person of the whole Family; |[where the latter, they may all come to the Diet, but they <26> have altogether but one Vote, of which they must all agree amongst themselves]|.^b

Which are the Members of the Empire.

2. To prove a Person a Member of the States of the Empire, two things are commonly thought sufficient, 1. if his Name is in the Catalogue or Matricula of the |[States]|;^c and 2. if he is obliged to pay what he contributes to the Publick, to the Empire, and not into the Exchequer or Treasury of any other [subordinate]^a State. [Tho’ the plainest Proof is, to alledge the Possession of this Priviledge.]^b [For] some pretend they have by mistake paid their quota into other inferiour States [another’s treasury]; and others say, [on the contrary,] that some others, by meer Usurpation [presumption], have passed by the Provincial Treasury [to which they belonged of Right,]⁺ and have flown with their share to the publick Treasury; and these Allegations are made, as men endeavour to [acquire or deprive others of the Right of being Members of the Diet respectively].^c Nor was there ever yet any Matricula extant, in which nothing was wanting or redundant [excessive],^d and about which there was not some Controversie; |[tho’ those that were published in the year 51, 56, 66. of the last Century, are thought [the most]⁺ authentick]|.^e But I should however think, that the most ancient Matricula’s which represent many as Parts of the States of the Empire, who have been long since excluded out of the Diet, are [better than the latter, because they are nothing but Lists of those who were then in the Diet, when publick Instruments were made by publick Authority; and therefore fromthence undoubted Arguments may be made for both the <27> contending Parties].^f But in the mean time, from this variety in the Matricula’s I may safely conclude, That in the most ancient times the number of the States of the Empire was never fixed and certain, [and that all that were enabled by their Wealth or Prudence, to contribute any thing to the Welfare of their Country, had liberty to be present in]^a the Diet. Afterwards the Poorer [not being able to attend the Diet, by reason of the Expence and Charge, remained willingly at home];^b and [that in after-times others, who would willingly enough have been there, were excluded by others, who were too powerful for them to contend with],^c till the States were by degrees brought to the number we now see them.

It were too tedious for us to transcribe here a [whole] Matricula, but yet I shall represent the Principal of the States [the chief estates], as a thing absolutely necessary to the forming a Judgment of the Magnitude of this whole Body.

An account of the House of Austria.

3. Amongst the Secular Princes, we give the first Place to the House of Austria, not so much for its Antiquity, as on the score of the greatness of its Dominions, and because it has now for some Ages possess’d the Imperial Throne. This unusual Clemency of the Fates has raised this Family from a very mean original, to an invidious greatness.

Its Rise.

Rudolphus5 [, the first of these, who obtained the Imperial Dignity,]⁺ was Count of Hapsburg, and possessed a small Estate, nothing above his Condition and Title in the Borders [vicinity] of Switzerland, but then he was a good Souldier, and a man of Valour: |[There having been in his times an Interregnum <28> of about 20 years, the State of Germany was in great confusion and disorder. [So] the principal Princes of Germany met, and to put an end to these Calamities, resolved to elect [creato] an Emperor. Wernerus, then Bishop of Mentz, mentioned Rudolphus, who had civilly waited upon him in one of his Journeys to Rome, from Strasburg [Argentina] to the Alps, and he much extolled his Prudence and Courage [magnanimity], and the Electors of Cologne and Trier soon joined with him. Now he that is any thing well acquainted with the Temper of the Churchmen, will, without any difficulty, conjecture what occasion’d this great desire in the Bishop of Mentz to raise this Gentleman. [He concluded, he]^a would be the more obnoxious or compliant to him[self], because [the Nobility of his extraction]^b did not [yet] encourage him to act with that freedom another would have used; and besides, he would [in greater degree be obliged to him]^c for his preferment. But then it might seem a wonder that none of the greater [other] Princes should aspire to the Imperial Throne, except we consider the confused state of things in Germany, at that time, which made them all [some of them] fearful they might not be able to reduce it into order; and perhaps others of them were not of sufficient age and experience to effect so difficult a Work. Thus the Secular Electors complied with the Spiritual. But then the Elector of Saxony, and the Burgrave of Norimburg [Nuremberg], would not give their Votes for him till he had promised each of them a Daughter in Marriage; and the same was asked by the Duke of Bavaria, who [was then present],^d and granted. Thus Rudolphus <29> [immediately] became allied to the best Families of Germany,]| ^e which in the beginning was both an honour and a support to this House.

Austria, Stiria, Carniola, &c. came into this House as vacant Fees.

The Imperial Dignity gave him also afterwards opportunity of obtaining a considerable Patrimony for his Posterity; |[for when any Fee [fief] became vacant, none could better pretend to it than one of his own Sons, for to take it to himself, would have been very invidious [aroused much ill will]. Thus that House]|^a obtained Austria, Stiria [Styria], Carniola [Carinthia], and the Marquisate of Vindish in Carniola [the Wendian March], and some other Territories <which he [Rudolph] took from the vanquished Ottokar, king of Bohemia, who had [previously] seized them>. |[And in process of time many others were added, by the Bounty of other Emperors, as the Opulent are more frequently obliged [courted] with such Favours than the Poor.^b Being thus enriched, it became very easie for this Family to match into the best Houses; and because Ladies are not only won by Riches, but dazzled sometimes with the glittering of a new and extraordinary Title, [a Son might easily gain in that case, from a less yielding Father, some new additions, which might]^c set him above the other Dukes.

The first amongst Spiritual Electors.

And yet even here the Prudence [skill] of the House of Austria deserves commendation.]|^d It would have been very invidious [given rise to great jealousy] for this new Family to have taken a Place in the Diets, above the more ancient; and yet it did not become it to follow the rest[, now it was possessed of the Empire]⁺. Therefore they took the first place amongst the Spiritual Electors [Ecclesiastical Princes], who have a Bench distinct from the Secular Princes; for these [being for the most part descended of lower Families],^e did without any reluctance yield the first place to this Family. {And yet this their modesty went <30> not unrewarded: for} on this account they [the house of Austria] obtained that Employment or Honour which they call the Directory in the Colledge of the Princes, to be exercised by turns with the [Arch]bishop of Salsburg.⁶ {These things are so far from deserving the blame of any wise man, that it would have been the utmost degree of stupidity to have done otherwise.}

Thus the House of Austria [gained to it self]^a the greatest part |[of the Eastern Countries of Germany. After this, they got [In addition, they possess] the Crown of Hungary, by almost an Hereditary Title, which amongst other advantages serves as a Bulwark to their other Dominions against the Irruptions of the Turks, and gives the Austrians many pretences of draining the Moneys of Germany [to maintain its Wars against that dreadful Enemy].^b]|^c

This Family has long possessed the Imperial Throne.

4. We ought well to consider [also not only that the House of Austria has continued its self so long in the Imperial Dignity, that there is scarce any other House in Germany, which has a Revenue sufficient to bear the Expence of that [splendid] Station; but that they have also found]^d means in the interim so to order their Dominions, that without any difficulty they can erect them into an Independent separate State or Kingdom, if any other Family [someone else] should happen to be advanced to the Imperial Crown. For they have procured such Priviledges, that whenever they shall not be pleased to acknowledge the Authority of another Emperor, they may [immediately] say, They have no business with the Empire of Germany, their Dominions are a separate State [civitatem]<, or they acknowledge the Emperor’s authority only at their discretion and insofar as it pleases them>.⁷ Which would not only wonderfully [significantly] maim the Empire by depriving it of <31> so great a part of its body, but would also set a dangerous Example to other powerful Princes [for others] to do the like, especially if they conceive they are able to preserve themselves without the assistance of the Empire. Yea, if this example were once given, [even] the meaner and lesser Princes would not continue in the state of Subjects [would reject their lower status]. And thus Germany would soon be brought into the same state [condition] with Italy; but then it seems to me to be very doubtful, whether [it could so well preserve it self as Italy doth].^a

That I have not rashly feigned all this, will be easily granted, if any one is but pleased to consider, That the Kingdom of Bohemia has very little concern with the Empire [rest] of Germany, {besides its Vote in the Election of the Emperor;}⁸ or if he will but reflect [a bit more carefully] on the greatest part of the Priviledges of the House of Austria. It will to this purpose be sufficient to represent [excerpt] a few Heads of the Immunities given by Charles V.⁹

The Priviledges granted to this Family by Charles V.

In the very entrance of this Grant he is pleased to acknowledge, that Men naturally [most of all] desire the welfare of their Families. Then he decrees, [1.] That Austria shall be a perpetual Fee of this Family, which no future Emperor shall deprive it of. 2.^a That the Duke of Austria, [for the time being,]⁺ shall be such a Counsellor of the Empire, as without his knowledge nothing shall be determined. And yet, 3. He declares his Dominions free from all Contributions to the Empire. 4. And yet obligeth the Empire to the defence of them; so that in all Advantages it [Austria] is a Member, in all Charges it is not. 5. The Duke of Austria shall not be obliged to demand the Investiture of his Dominions out of the Bounds <32> of them, but it shall be offered to him in his own Territories; to wit, [because for a naked acknowledgment of the Tenure, he will not confess himself |[subject to the Empire]|;^b or as if he were to be intreated to own himself a Vassal of the Empire].^c And then the [Ornaments that are allowed him in this action],^d do also sufficiently argue, that he is to be treated |[like an Equal, and not like a Subject]|.^e {6. If he please, he may come to the Diet; and if he please, he may forbear.}¹⁰ 7. The Emperor has no Author[it]y to rectifie any thing done by him in his own Dominions. 8. The Emperor [Empire] can dispose of no Fees within the Dominions belonging to the House of Austria. 9. His Subjects shall not be drawn out of his Dominions to answer in any other Courts. 10. From his Sentence there lies no Appeal. 11. He may without any danger receive such as are put under the BAN of the Empire, so [provided] that he take care to do Justice to the Party injured [the accuser]; but then those that are banished by the Duke of Austria, shall be absolved by no other Prince, nor in any other place than in Austria. 12. He may lay new Tributes or Taxes [on his own Vassals],^f at his own pleasure. 13. [Likewise] he may create Earls, Barons, and Gentlemen [nobles] within his own Dominions, which was heretofore [is otherwise] thought one of the Acts of Soveraignty [in Germany]. 14. Lastly, [to perfect his Power],^a it is decreed, That in case the Male Line fail in this House, the Estates [dominions] belonging to it shall devolve to the Female Issue; and if there be no Females, neither, the last Possessor shall give or dispose [alienare] of them as he thinks fit.

The Low Countries united to the Empire by Charles V. and why.

It is to no purpose to add any more, seeing these are sufficient to <33> convince any [moderately] wise man|[. So that the man must be very silly who doth not perceive the Sham designed [perpetrated on] the Empire by Charles V. when he submitted his 17 Provinces [Belgium suum] to the Empire, with a magnificent Promise, that they should pay as much as any two of the Electors paid to the Charges of the Empire. For he well considered that all was to be spent on the Turkish War, and the Preservation of the Austrian Dominions: and when [since] the Accounts of the Moneys expended in the Turkish War were to be in the hands of the Princes of this Austrian Family, [the Low Countries were not likely to be overcharged, nor to be very ill treated, if they proved slow in the payment].^b So that it was easie [for an Italian] to observe, That Charles V. by this Promise only encouraged the Germans to spend their Treasures [res] the more freely in the defence of his [someone else’s] Territories, when they saw him so freely consent to bring his own Patrimony under the same Burthen.

[T]ho’ perhaps there might be another reason too at the bottom of it, viz. That whereas his son Philip then aspired to the Empire, it might not be objected against him, that he had no Dominions in the Empire, those belonging before [in Germany] to the House of Austria, being then assigned to his Brother Ferdinand:¹¹ Or, perhaps, that the Germans might think themselves the more obliged to defend these Provinces, if they were at any time invaded by the French King.¹²

The Males of this House.

At this time that Line is reduced to two Males, Leopold Emperor of Germany, [(who has, since our Author wrote, had a Son named Joseph)]⁺ and Charles King of Spain [, who has no Issue]:^a I have heard many of the Germans wish this Prince [Leopold] a numerous Male Posterity,^b out of meer fear that the failing of the Line in <34> this Family may cause dreadful Convulsions in Europe [may require costly funeral games].¹³]|^c

The Counts Palatine of the Rhine, and the Dukes of Bavaria.

Bavaria.

5. The Family of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine, and of the Dukes of Bavaria, are [is], as to Antiquity, equal to the best, and it enjoys a vast Tract of Land, which extends from the Alps to the River Moselle, <though dotted here and there by the territories of others,> and two Dukedoms in the Borders of the Low Countries [Belgii]. It is divided into two Lines, the Rudolfian and William [ite]. One of these [the latter] is possess’d of the Dukedom of Bavaria, and has ever been thought very Rich, and in the [last tedious Civil War it got also the Electoral Dignity from the Palatinate Family].^a And for almost an hundred years it has possessed the Electorate of Cologne [(Prince Clement, who was lately chosen, being likely still to continue it in this Family, tho’ powerfully opposed by the King of France);¹⁴ his Predecessor also possess’d the Bishopricks of Liege [Lüttich] and Hildisheim].^b

The Palatine Family.

The House of Newburg.

The other Branches of this House.

The King of Sweden of this Family.

His Dominions in Germany.

The Rudolfian Line is divided into many Branches, |[the Principal [at the head] of which is the Elector Palatine, and it [who still] enjoys the Lower Palatinate on the Rhine,¹⁵ a Country [region] which for its strength, pleasantness, and fertility, was equal to the best parts of Germany[, before the French with Fire and Sword barbarously laid it desolate, not only demolishing, but burning down to the Ground the greatest part of its Towns, Cities, Palaces, and Churches].^a The Count Palatine of Newburg possess’d heretofore [still possesses] the Dukedoms of Juliers [Jülich] and Montz [Berg], and some Dominions on the Danube. [And in the year 1685, Charles Lewis the last Elector dying without Issue, Philip William of the House of Newburg, succeeded in the Electorate too, which in the year 1688, he resigned to his Son John William, being grown very old, and <35> sorely oppressed by the French.]^b Besides these, there are the Palatines of Sultzback, Simmeren, Deuxpont, or Zuibrucken [Zweibrücken] [(as the Germans call it)]⁺ Birkenfield and Lawtreck [Lautereck][, all with modest domains]. The Family of Deuxpont [also] produced Charles Gustavus King of Sweden, who [whose son, Charles, though still a minor] now reigns in that Kingdom,¹⁶ [and] who by the Peace of Osnaburg has obtained in Germany the Dukedoms of Breme [n], Ferden [Verden], and the upper [western] Pomerania, together with Stetin, the Principality of Rugen [Rügen], and the Barony of Wismar.

This Family [enjoys now also Princes of great worth and virtue].^c For as the Bavarian Line are celebrated for their great Piety, so the [Electoral Family have been much esteemed for their Prudence];^a which character will belong equally to the House of Newburg. The last of this Family was on that account thought worthy of the Crown of Poland, tho’ he was no way related to the Families that had worn it.¹⁷ And Prince Rupert, [a Branch of the elder House of the Palatinate, who died in England, was a Person of great Valour and Worth,]⁺ and famous over all Christendom, for the Wars he had managed by Sea and Land]|.^b, ¹⁸

The House of Saxony.

6. The Dukes of Saxony possess almost the [entire] middle parts of Germany, to whom belongs Misnia [Meißen], Thuring, and a small Country [region] on the Elbe, called the Upper Saxony, Lusatia [Lausitz, Łużyce] and in Franconia, the Dukedoms of Coburg, and the Earldom of Henneburg, [overall] a Country celebrated in some parts for its Fertility, and in others for its Mines.

This Family is divided into two Branches, viz. Albert and Ernest: |[the last [first] of these is in possession of the Electorate, and the second Son [among the three remaining brothers] is to be Bishop [Archbishop] of Magdeburg [for life];¹⁹ of the first [latter] <36> are the Dukes of Altenburg, Gotham, and 4 Brothers of the Family of Wimar [Weimar], and a numerous Posterity besides]|.^a

The House of Brandenburg.

7. Next these are the Marquesses of Brandenburg, the Head of which Family is one of the Electors, who has large Dominions in Germany. Besides Prussia, which is placed now out of the [Roman] Empire, which also he lately obtained from the Crown of Poland, he has Mark, [the further [eastern] Pomerania gained from the Swedes, tho’ it belonged to him by Inheritance, upon the death of the last Duke without Issue; Halberstad, Minden, and Camin, three Bishopricks, given him as an Equivalent for the hither [western] Pomerania; and he was also to have that of Magdeburg after the death of Augustus the present Possessor of the House of Saxony.]^b These Dominions are large and fruitful, yet some believe he would have chosen the two Pomerania’s entire, before all the rest.

{I remember when I was in my return from Germany, being at an Entertainment at Padoua [Padua], in which were present some Italian and French Marquesses, I had an occasion to say the Marquess of Brandenburg could travel 200 German miles in his own Dominions, without lying one night in any other Prince’s Country (though in some places it was indeed interrupted [by intervening territories]) whereupon many that were present, began to suspect I was guilty of the common fault of Travellers, [i.e., exaggeration] and my Faith [credibility] was much questioned [by my countrymen, who for some reason hardly ever leave their native land], but that an old Souldier [officer], who was present, and had served long in Germany, and had been one of my Acquaintance[s] in that Prince’s Court, delivered me from their Suspicions [supported my statements]. They could not but <37> blush thereupon, when they considered, that some [many] prided themselves in this Title [Marggrave] in Italy and France, who were scarcely Masters of Two Hundred Acres of Land: So little did they understand, that [our]⁺ German MARGGRAVES are [much] more considerable than their [our] Marquesses.}

There is another Branch of this Family in Franconia, who (if I am not mistaken) possess the old Inheritance of the Burggraves of Norimburg [Nuremberg], and are divided into two Lines, that of Culemback [Kulmbach], and that of Onolzbeck [Onolzbach, Ansbach].

Of the other Princes of the Empire.

8. Next after the Electors follow some other Princes, whose Houses are still extant; and because amongst these there are various Contests for the Precedence, I would not have the Order I here observe, give any prejudice to any of them in these their {vain} Pretences [those disputes].

The Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburg.

The Dukes of BRUNSWICK and LUNENBURG possess a very considerable Territory in the Lower Saxony. They are divided into two Branches; |[to the first of these belongs the Dukedom of Brunswick, now enjoyed by an ancient Gentleman;²⁰ two Brothers have divided the Dukedom of Lunenburg between them, one of which resides at Zel [Celle], the other at Hannover, and the third Brother is now Bishop of Osnaburg]|.^a, ²¹

Mechlenburg.

The Dukes of MECHLENBURG have a small Tract of Land belonging to them, which lies between the Baltick Sea and the River Elbe; and this Family |[is now]|^b divided into two Branches, Swerin [Schwerin] and Custrow [Güstrow].

Wurtemburg.

Montpelgart.

Hassia.

Baden.

The Duke of WURTEMBURG has in [Franconia]^c a great and a powerful Territory; his <38> Relations have also in the extreamest parts of Germany the Earldom of MONTBELGARD [Montbéliard] in Alsatia. The Lantgrave of HASSIA [Hessen] has also a large Country, and is divided into the Branches of CASSEL and DARMSTAD. The Marquesses of BADEN have a long but narrow Country on [the right bank of] the Rhine, and are also divided into two Lines, that of Baden, properly so called, and that of Baden Durlach.

Holstein.

Lubeck.

Sax Lawemburg.

The Dukes of Holstein possess a part of the Promontory of Juitland [the Cimbrian peninsula], which by reason of the Seas washing its Eastern and Western sides, is very Rich. That part of Holstein which belonged to the Empire, is possessed [governed] by the King of Denmark and the Duke of Holstein Gothorp; |[which last]|^a has also the Bishoprick of Lubeck. The Dukedom of Sleswick doth not belong to [is not dependent on] the Empire. <There are still other lines of the Dukes of Holstein sprung from their descendants, whose numerical increase has gone beyond the bounds of their modest territory.> The Duke of SAX[ONY]-LAWEMBURG |[has a small Estate [territory] in the Lower Saxony]|,^b and almost equal to that of the Prince[s] of ANHALT in the Upper Saxony.

Savoy and Lorrain.

9. These are the ancient Princes of the Empire. For the Dukes of SAVOY and LORRAIN, though Fees depending on the Empire, and so having Seats in the Diet, yet by reason of the Situation of their Countries, they are in a manner separated from the Empire, and have different Interests.

Ferdinand II. increased the number of the Princes.

Ferdinand II,²² who, as many believe, designed the subduing [of] the Power of the German Princes, and to gain an Absolute Authority [Imperium] over them, amongst other Arts by him imployed, [brought into the Diet many Princes, which]^c depended entirely on <39> him. He intended by their Votes to equal, if not over ballance, the Suffrages of the ancient Princes, if he should be at any time forced to call a [general] Diet, which yet he avoided as much as was possible; or that he might shew at least, that there was no reason why the ancient Princes should so much value their Power [be so proud of their status], seeing he was able, when he pleased, to set as many as he pleased on the same Level with them. And the Princes of the old Creation [the eminence of the old families] had without question been very much endangered, if the Emperor could have created Lands as easily as he could give Titles.

The Titles of Eleven of his creation.

Amongst those however that then gained Places in the Diet, [albeit with some resistance,] <and only upon the condition that, if they did not yet have them, they would later acquire goods worthy of a Prince’s rank,>are [so far as I know] these; the Prince[s] of Ho[h]enzolleren, Eggenburg, Nassaw-Hadmar, <Sigen,> Nassaw-Dillenburg, Lobkowitz, Salm, Dietrichstein, Aversberg, and Picolomini<, Schwartzenberg, Portia, East Frisia, Fürstenberg, Waldec, Oetingen>.²³ But then this Project of Ferdinand miscarrying, and the Estates [means] of the new Princes bearing no proportion with that of the ancient Families, their advancement to this Dignity has never been found as yet of any use to them [vis-à-vis the latter]. {And they have also been much exposed to the Reproaches [ridicule] of the ancient Princes (as the new Nobility is ever slighted by the old) [and they have taken it up as a Proverb against them,]^a That they have got nothing by this Exaltation, but of Rich Counts, (or Earls) to be made Poor Princes. Yet it is to be considered, That the most ancient Nobility had a beginning [was new once], and that these Families in time may get greater Estates.} |[Though]|^b the easiest way <for surrounding themselves with wealth> is <40> now foreclosed against them, [by restraining the Emperor from disposing of the vacant Fees as he thinks fit].^c

The Ecclesiastick States,

10. The Next Bench [of princes] in the Diet belongs to the Bishops of Germany, and Abbots. Though this Order consists of men of no very great Birth, as being but Gentlemen, or [at best]⁺, the Sons of Barons or Earls, and advanced to this Dignity by the Election of their Chapters;²⁴ yet in the Diet, and other publick Meetings, [for the most part, they are placed]^a above the Temporal Nobility: For since the Fortune of the Churchmen in these latter Ages has [been so vastly different from what it was in the beginning of Christianity],^b it were very absurd to expect they are now bound to observe those [obsolete] Laws of Modesty our Saviour at first prescribed [them];^c and perhaps those Laws too were by him designed only for the [those] Primitive Times: For in truth, it would have been ridiculous for Fishermen and Weavers ambitiously to seek the Precedence of Noblemen [a higher place]; who were to earn their [daily] Bread with the labours of their Hands, or to subsist on voluntary Contributions.

Once very rich and powerful.

Now [though] the Authority and Revenues of the Churchmen is very great [quite respectable] [in all those Countries that ever were under the Papacy];^d yet their Riches and Power are no where so great as in Germany, there being few of them [in the Empire]⁺ whose Dominions and [domestic] Equipage is not equal to that of the Secular Nobility. And <41> their Power [jurisdiction] and Authority over their Vassals [subjects] is of the same nature. And many of them are also more fond of their Helmets than their Miters, and are much fitter to involve their Country in Wars, and their Neighbours in Troubles, than to propagate true Piety.²⁵ [But however],^e in these later Ages there are more than there were in former times, who are not ashamed to take Orders, and [only] once or twice in a year to shew the World how expert they are in expressing the Gestures, and representing the Ceremonies of the most August [holy] Sacrifice [i.e., the Mass].

Now much diminished.

They possess the greatest part of the Lands on the Rhine.

But then, whereas of old their Estates equalled, if not exceeded, that [the domains] of the Secular Princes, the Reformation of Religion, which was embraced by the greatest part of Germany, and <whose seizure of ecclesiastical goods was confirmed by the Treaty of Passau, the Peace of Augsburg, and later by> the Peace of Westphalia [in the year 1648],^a have strangely [considerably] diminished them; for in the Circles of the Upper and Lower Saxony the Churchmen have very little left: But then, in the Upper [southern] Germany (if you except the Dukedom of Wurtemburg) [they escaped better].^b Now the reason of this is this; The Saxons being more remote, did not fear the Efforts of [Emperor] Charles V. so much as the other Princes, who were awed by his Neighbourhood to them, and oppressed by his Presence: Besides, in Saxony their [Churchmen’s] Dominions were intermixed with [those of] Potent Secular Princes, and consequently lay exposed to their Incursions; but in the Upper [southern] Germany <and in Westphalia> they were seated nearer one another <and better suited for rendering mutal assistance>, and [especially] on the Rhine, which is the most fruitful part of Germany, they <42> were possessed of the whole Country, except what belongs to the Elector Palatine, which^c as it interrupts that beautiful Chain of Church-Lands, {has for that reason alone, I perswade my self, been looked on by them with an evil Eye.} //This their Neighbourhood has in the mean time contributed very much to the preserving them from the Reformation, one of them assisting another to expel that dangerous Guest, till the French at last, by a just Judgment of God, (though a Catholick Nation, as they call it) came in to revenge their Contempt of the True Religion, and has laid the far greatest part of these populous well built fruitful Countries in Ashes twice or thrice within the Memory of Man, and now especially in the year now current 1689. But to return to our Author.)\\²⁶

The Ecclesiastick Electors.

Mentz, Trier, and Cologne.

The Bishops.

Mitered Abbots

The Prelates that are not Princes but vote in the Diet.

11. Ecclesiastick States, which are [not yet]^a come into the hands of the Protestant Princes, are these: The three Archbishopricks of Mentz, Trier, and Cologne, which are three of the Electors, and the Archbishopricks of Saltsburg and Besanzon in Burgundy {; for, as for Magdeburg, it is [now] a meer Lay-Fee}.²⁷ The inferiour [simple] Bishopricks are, Bamberg, Wurtzburg, Worms, Spires [Speyer], Aichstad [Eichstätt], Strasburg, Constance, Au[g]sburg, Hildisheim, Paderborn, Freisingen, Ratisbone [Regensburg], Passaw, {Trent}, Brixen [in Tirol]⁺, Basil [Basel], Liege [Lüttich], Osnaburg, Munster, Curen [Chur] [in Curland].^b The Master of the Teutonick Order²⁸ has the first Seat amongst the Bishops. And we must observe too, that in our times there are sometimes two or more Bishopricks united [in the same Person]⁺, either <43> because the Revenues of one single Diocess were not thought sufficient to maintain the Dignity and Splendor of a Prince’s Court, or that they might by that means be rendred more formidable to those that hated them [their rivals]. The Bishoprick of Lubeck is very little better than a part of the Patrimony of the Duke of Holstein, and all the Country has also embraced the Protestant Religion. Amongst the [Abbies which are called Prelates],^a are these; Fuld [a], Kempten, Elwang, Murback, Luders, the Master of [the knightly order of] St. John, Berchtelsgaden, Weissenburg, Pruym [Prüm], Stablo, and Corwey. The rest of the Prelates, who are not Princes, are divided into two Benches, that of the Rhine, and that of Schwaben or Suabia, [one of each of which has a]^b Vote in the Diet, and they are esteemed equal to the Counts or Earls of the Empire.

The Earls and Barons of the Empire

12. The Estate [condition] of the Counts, or Earls; and Barons [Freiherren] of the Empire, is also much more splendid and rich than that of men enjoying the same Dignities in other Kingdoms. For they have almost the same Priviledges [rights] with the Princes, and the ancient Earldoms had [have] also large Territories belonging to them; whereas in other Kingdoms a small Farm or Mannour shall dignifie its owner with that Title. Yet the Division of the Estate amongst the Brothers has damnified [hurt] many of the German Families, [and]^c is only to be admitted in Plebeian Families, for its Equity and Piety sake. Someothers have been equally ruined by the [Carelesness and Luxury <44> of their Ancestors],^d and their prodigal Expences.

Have 4 Votes.

Their Names.

At this day, the Earls have four Votes in the Diet, one for Wetteraw, another for Schwaben, a third for Franconia, and the fourth for Westphalia. The Earls which are known to me, are these; NASSAU, {OLDENBURG},²⁹ FURSTEMBERG, HOHENLOHE, HANAW, SAIN [SAYN], WIT[T]GENSTEIN, LEININGEN, SOLMS, WALDECK, ISENBURG, STOLBERG, WIED, MANSFELD, REUSSEN [REUß], OETINGEN, MONTFORT, KO[E]NIGSECK, FUGGER, SULTZ, CRONBERG, SINTZENDORF, WALLENSTEIN, PAP[P]ENHEIM, CASTELL, L[O]EWENSTEIN, ERBACH, LIMBURG, SCHWARTZENBURG [SCHWARZBURG], BENTHEIM, {OSTFRI[E]SLAND, (who is now made a Prince)}³⁰ [RHINE, and WALTS],^a RANTZOW, and perhaps many other[s], whose Nobility is not to be prejudiced by my silence. And as to those I have named, I pretend no skill in the marshalling of them according to their proper Places. There are also many Earls and Barons [in the Hereditary Countries belonging to the Emperor, who being of late Creation, or subject to other States, have no Place or Vote in the Diets of Germany, and therefore are not to be mentioned here].^b

The Free Cities make a College in the Diet.

13. There is also in Germany no small number of Free Cities, who are subject to no Prince or State [estate], but are immediately under the Emperor and the Empire, and are therefore called IMPERIAL CITIES. In the Diet they constitute a particular College, which is divided into two [classes, commonly called] BENCHES, that of the Rhine, and that of Schwaben. The Principal of these are, NORIMBERG, AUGSBURG, <45> COLOGNE, LUBECK, ULM, {STRASBURG [Argentoratum],} FRANKFORD, RATISBONE [Regensburg], AIX LA CHAPELLE, or AKEN [Aachen], <and Straßburg, which awaits its return to the Empire;> [of lesser status are] [METZ]⁺, WORMS, SPIRE [Speyer], {COLMAR},³¹ MEMMINGEN, ESLING [Eßlingen], HALL in SCHWABEN [Schwäbisch-Hall], HEILBRON, LINDAW, GOSLAR, MULHAUSIN [Mühlhausen], NORTH HAUSIN. The rest have reason rather to pride themselves in their Liberty than in their Wealth.

[In the former Ages the conjunction of two or three of these Cities together made a great Power, and they were terrible to the Princes],^a but now [their Wealth is much]^b reduced, and we may probably enough conjecture, they will [one after another be all reduced]^c under the Yoke of the Princes: At least, the Bishops threaten those very much in which their Cathedrals are.

Hamburg.

There |[are also some potent Cities which preserve]|^d their Freedom, though (perhaps) not very well grounded [non ita liquido jure]. |[For the Dukes of Holstein pretend a Right over HAMBURG, which this most wealthy City of all Germany will not submit to; and [but] it is thought [the Strength of it and]⁺ the Jealousie of the neighbouring Princes (who envy the King of Denmark the possession of this fat Morsel) will preserve it.³²

Breme.

The King of Sweden has such another Dispute with the City of Breme [n], without which he can never secure that Dukedom;^e and perhaps the Kings of Sweden have too much reason [are right] to suspect that [that] City was admitted into the Diet, in the year 1641, [among the free cities,] when [they began to suspect those Princes]^a would become Masters of this Dukedom[, on purpose to keep it out of their hands, and deprive them of this <46> convenience and security].^b

Brunswick.

Hildisheim.

Magdeburg.

The City of BRUNSWICK doth strangely [greatly] weaken and disfigure the Dukedoms of Brunswick and Lunenburg, and by its Site interrupt their otherwise well compacted Territories: And yet they will never suffer the Bishop of Hildisheim to take possession of that City [Hildesheim].³³ The Elector of Brandenburg is not very favourable to [an excessive liberty of] the Cities in his Dominions, [as is well known,] and therefore it is not improbable, the City of Magdeburg may [suffer the loss of her Liberty]^c after the death of Augustus, of the House of Saxony.³⁴

Erford.

They of Erford, weary of a doubtful Contest for their Liberty, submitted, and for their Folly and Cowardice were thought worthy to lose their Liberty. Wise men wonder also that the Dukes of Saxony have not seized the Citadel of Thuring [for themselves instead].³⁵

Munster.

[A]nd I suppose, by this time, the Hollanders [Batavos] are made sufficiently [sensible they ought to have defended]^d the Inhabitan[t]s of Munster against their Bishop; seeing it would the better have became them who took Arms against their own Prince, for their Liberties, to have assisted their Neighbours in a like Attempt.]|^a, ³⁶

The Knights of Germany

Divided into three Classes.

But they have no Vote in the Diet.

14. The Knights of Germany are not all in the same condition, part of them being immediately subject to the Emperor and the Empire, and another part being under the subordinate States, who are their Lords. They that belong to the first of these Classes, call themselves the Free Nobles of the Empire, and [the Conjunct,]^b Immediate, and Free Nobility of the Empire. These, according to <47> the respective Circuits [districts] in which their Estates are, stand divided into three Classes, of Franconia, Schwaben, and the Rhine, which are again subdivided into lesser Divisions. They have of their own Order certain Directors and Assessors,³⁷ who take care of those Affairs, which concern the whole Body of this Order; and [occasionally,] if any thing of great moment happen, they call a general Convention. But then they have no Place in the [Imperial] Diet, which they look on as a Priviledge for the saving of the Expences necessary in such an Attendance. And in truth it would be no great advantage to them to be admitted into the Diet, [to give their Votes].^c In all other things they enjoy the same Liberties and Rights with the other Princes and Free States [estates], so that they are inferiour to the Princes in nothing but Wealth [opes].

To recompence this, they have great Advantages from the Ecclesiastical Benefices and Cathedral Churches [chapters] in which they are Canons; and by this way many of them [very easily] become Princes of the Empire. They that obtain this Honour [rank], have learned{, by the Pope’s example,}^a to take good care of their Family and Relations; and besides, [I imagine] there is a wonderful satisfaction in the [enjoyment of great Revenues with small]^b Labour. {For they employ their Curates or Vicars to make a noise in their Churches, so that they are in no peril of spoiling their Voices by any thing but Intemperance. And as to the inconveniences of living unmarried, their Concubines, which are not wanting,^c cure [easily remedy] them. [Those that <48> make themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven, are in the mean time very scarce in Germany: And it is almost as infamous in a Nobleman, to be continent, as not to love Dogs and Horses].}^d

[Moreover,] I have heard some of them complain that some of the Princes have an apparent disgust at their Priviledges [openly threaten their liberty], and look upon them with an evil Eye, because living in the midst of their Territories, they enjoy such large Exemptions [freedoms]: [And others say,]^e such vast numbers of small Royolets [do much weaken the Empires in which they are suffered].^f And [For] if a foreign War happen, they become an easie Prey to the Invaders [either side]: Yet for all this, these Gentlemen [knights] will not part with a certain Liberty for an uncertain Hazard or Danger; and the rest of the Princes will not [easily] suffer so considerable an Addition to be made to the Power and Riches of the [few] Princes they [the knights] live under, except some great Revolution open a way to this change, or by length of time and crafty Projects their [the latter’s] Estates be wasted and consumed.³⁸

The Empire is divided into ten Circles.

15. We must here, in a few words, admonish [also advise] the Reader, that this vast Body of the Empire|[, by the appointment of Maximilian I. in the year 1512, was divided into ten [regions or] Circles[, as they are commonly called]]|,^a the names of which are these; Austria, [the four Electorates on the Rhine:] Mentz [Mainz], Trier, Cologne, and the Palatinate, call’d the Lower Circle of the Rhine, the Upper Circle of the Rhine, Schwaben, Bavaria, Franconia, the upper and lower Saxony, Westphalia, that of Burgundy.³⁹ The Kingdom of Bohemia, with the [adjoined] Provinces <49> of Silesia and Moravia, belong not to any of these Circles [or constitute a special circle]: Which yields us a clear proof, that it is rather united to Germany by a kind of League, than [a part of that Empire].^b To which of these Circles any Place belongs, may be found [here and there] in common [reference] Books[, every where to be had]⁺. This Division was made [especially] for the more easie Preservation of the Publick Peace, and the Execution of Justice against contumacious [insubordinate] States and Princes. To which end each of them [the circles] has Power to name a General [ducem], for the commanding their Forces, and [the appointing their Diets, in which the principal Prince in the Circle, for the most part, presides;]^c in which they take care for the defence of the Circle, and for the levying Moneys for the publick use [fiscal matters]. Yet a man may well question, whether this Division doth not tend [more to the Distraction and weakening of Germany, than its Preservation, the whole Body being by this means made less sensible and less regardful of the Calamities which oppress or endanger the Parts of it, and threaten (though at a distance) the Ruin of the whole].^a

Thus much of the Parts of the [German] Empire. <50>