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crown. He has no alternative but to
comply. Napoleon now can claim,
"I am indeed Charlemagne, the
sword of the church and its em–
peror."
Emperor Francis I1 announces his
Holy Roman Empire's demise from
the terrace of the church of the Am
Hof. He sheds the imperial crown
and discards the trappings of the
empire. Francis is now simply the
emperor of Austria, a title he had
taken
in
1804. The ceremonial Holy
Roman Empire is now
officially dead.
Few people bemoan
the death of the empire,
for it has been termina lly
ill for centuries. Goethe,
the German poet, writes
the following emotion–
less words in his diary
for August 6 and 7, 1806.
"Seven o'clock in the
evening at Hof. An–
nouncement of the proc–
lamation of the Rhenish
Confederation [con–
federation of the Rhine]
and the French Pro–
tectorate. Reflections
a nd discussions. Good
dinner. . . Quarrel be–
tween the se rvant and
coachman on the box ex–
cited us more than the
dissolution of the Roman
Empire."
For many decades the
institution called t he
Holy Roman Empire
was a mere joke. An old
German sayi ng made
the point clear, "Das liebe Hei lige
Romische Reich, wie halt's nur noch
zusammen?" - the dear old Holy
Roman Empire, how on earth does
it survive?
Napoleon is now the ruler of Eu–
rope
in
fact and ceremony. His
dream of a resurrected Roman–
European civiliza tion dominated by
France is near fru ition.
The empire of Napoleon is more
truly aRoman empire than even the
empire ofCharlemagne. Napoleonic
France represents "the imperia list
PLAIN TRUTH September 1974
spirit of Rome more truly than those
that the Middle Ages recognized as
the legitimate heirs of its name,"
writes historian James Bryce.
Napoleon concurs. "1 am," says
Napoleon, "of the race of the Cae–
sars, and of the best, of those who
la id the foundations." But his debt
to Charlemagne is not forgotten.
"1
did not succeed Louis XIV," he
thunders, "but Charlemagne."
During his later exi le on the is–
land of St. Helena, Napoleon will
utter the same thoughts when he
explains his position toward the
pope:
"1
was in a position to exalt the
pope beyond all bounds and to sur–
round him with such pomp and cer–
emony tha t he would have ceased to
regret the loss of his temporal
power ....
1
would have become the
master of the religious as well as the
política! world .... My church
councils would have been represen–
tative of a ll Christendom . . . .
1
would have opened and closed these
assemblies, approvcd and made
public their decisions, as did Con–
stantine and Charlemagne."
But Napoleon's glory is short–
lived: the second Charlemagne's
kingdom disintegrates before his
very eyes.
Year 1814: Napoleon's Empire
Ends.
In 1814, "Boney," as the Brit–
ish call Napoleon Bonaparte, is fin–
ished. His armies are defeated and
he is forced to abdicate uncon–
ditionally. With Napoleon's over–
throw in 1814 - 1260
years after Justinian re–
stored the Roman Em–
pire in the West in
554 -
the concept of the medi–
eva l Holy Roman Em–
ptre as a viable
orgamzmg principie of
European politics is
dead.
The crown of the Holy
Roman emperors begins
to gather dust at the Am
Hof in Vienna. German
rulers are no longer
crowned emperors;
popes no longer bestow
the title of Roman em–
peror on European
princes.
Though at times there
are weak attempts to "re–
vive" the medieval cere–
monial concept of the
Holy Roman Empire ,
hardheaded and secular
politics now dominates
the thoughts of Euro–
pean statesmen.
Yet , pa radoxically ,
Europe will fi nd itself organizing
around this time-honored geopolíti–
ca! blueprint - the Holy Roman
Empire. Even as Napoleon lan–
guishes in exile on St. Helena, Eu–
rope is reforming itself politically in
a most curious way. The Germanic
peoples again find themselves in the
center of the Continental política!
maelstrom. Greater Germany is
aga in the pivota! nation of Europe
as it was prior to Napoleon during
the heyday of the Holy Roman Ero–
pire.
o
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