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Ulrike Hohensee, Mathias Lawo, Michael Lindner, Michael Menzel, Olaf B. Rader, eds.. Die Goldene Bulle Karls IV: Politik - Wahrnehmung - Rezeption. Berichte und Abhandlungen, ed. /Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Sonderband 12. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2009. 1249 pp. 2 vols. EUR 99.80, cloth, ISBN 978-3-05-004292-3.

Reviewed by Joachim Whaley

Published on H-German (March, 2011)

Commissioned by Susan R. Boettcher

"Every kingdom divided against itself shall and the "Slavic tongue" from the age of seven to disintegrate. For its princes have become the com‐ fourteen. The bull further provided for an annual panions of robbers and thieves." These opening meeting of the electors in which they were to de‐ words of the of 1356 set a forthright liberate with the . The emperor's authori‐ agenda for the reform of the Holy Roman . ty was asserted by giving him the power to re‐ The following thirty-one chapters, agreed upon by scind an elector’s privileges in certain circum‐ Charles IV and the German princes at the Hoftage stances. Leagues of all kinds, except those devoted (diets) of Nuremberg 1355-56 and Metz 1356-57, to maintaining the peace, were to be prohibited. set out the mode of procedure for the election and Conspiracies against the electors were to be pun‐ succession of a Holy , the rights ished severely. Finally, the practice of subjects and privileges of the seven electors, together with who lived in a territory claiming freedom in re‐ detailed stipulations concerning orders of prece‐ spect of citizenship in a free city (Pfahlbürger) dence at elections and other occasions. The elec‐ was outlawed. tors were guaranteed immunity from imperial ju‐ The general aim was to establish the on risdiction and hereditary tenure of their electoral a new basis: to end the divisive and chaotic con‐ titles. Their rights to maintain mints and levy cus‐ duct of imperial elections, to pacify the Reich and toms dues were confrmed, as was their right to to create a mechanism for its efective govern‐ promulgate legislation and their duty to protect ment by the emperor in close consultation with the Jews in return for the payment of a fee. The the electors and in wider consultation with the lands of the electors were declared to be indivisi‐ princes generally. The emphasis placed on Bo‐ ble and electoral titles were to be passed on by hemia throughout the text refected Charles's as‐ and it was laid down that eldest piration to make that kingdom into the secure sons should receive instruction in , Italian, foundation for his dynasty's tenure of the imperi‐ H-Net Reviews al . The prohibition of Pfahlbürger refected the Golden Bull can in some respects be seen as a the particular interests of certain electors, notably formalization and implementation of principles the of , whose more prosper‐ and aspirations developed in the thirty or so years ous subjects were wont to claim that they were re‐ before Charles's election. Menzel indeed speaks of ally citizens of the imperial city of Cologne which a "hostile takeover" of ludovician principles in the lay at the heart of his lands. Golden Bull (p. 39). Equally, Paul-Joachim Heinig How novel was this Bull? What did it signify draws attention to antecedents in the prior devel‐ for the reign of Charles IV, and how far did it opment of the electors: their gradual emergence change the nature of the German after as recognized exclusive players in German royal his death? What were the implications of the elections and in particular the role of the ecclesi‐ Golden Bull for the longer term development of astical electors in the dispute over papal preroga‐ the Reich? These are the questions addressed by tives, culminating in the Declaration of Rhense of the two-volume work edited by members of the 1338 which explicitly rejected the notion that the Berlin research unit of the Monumenta Germani‐ emperor might in any way be dependent on the ae Historica responsible for "Constitutiones et . In two separate contributions Michael Lind‐ acta publica." Twenty-four of the essays were pa‐ ner shows how Charles built on the practice of his pers given at a conference that marked the 650th predecessor and also drew on the works anti-pa‐ anniversary of the Golden Bull in 2006. Ten fur‐ pal writers such as , William of ther essays have been added to the publication. Ockham and, above all, Lupold of Bebenburg to The whole work comprises 1249 pages, including clarify and reinforce his own position. meticulous indices of people, places, and subjects, While Heinig emphasizes that the Golden Bull which alone cover eighty-nine pages. was essentially the outcome of a complex compro‐ The essays are arranged in four thematic sec‐ mise between emperor and electors, Lindner tions: emperor and Reich in the fourteenth centu‐ stresses that it was a sovereign declaration of in‐ ry; the "staging" or "performance" and represen‐ dependence from the pope. Wherever one lays tation of the Reich; the Reich and its neighbors; the emphasis, the bull was certainly, as Eva the reception and impact of the Golden Bull in the Schlotheuber suggests, a striking expression of 450 years following its promulgation. Many of the Charles's image of himself as a law-giver, whom essays deal with topics that go far beyond the bull Petrarch famously recognized in a letter of March itself; some are in reality more contributions to 1361 as having a profound understanding of im‐ the study of the reign of Charles IV and his times perial law. Even so, in practice, as Claudia Garnier generally. Overall, though, the volumes raise im‐ argues, the bull was scarcely heeded for the rest portant questions about the early development of of the century. Indeed, the election of Charles's the Holy and about the signif‐ own son, Wenceslaus, as his heir ( of the Ro‐ cance of Charles IV's key . mans) in 1376 arguably represented a transgres‐ sion, for elections vivente imperatore were not ex‐ The frst group of essays is directly concerned plicitly envisaged, though the election and coro‐ with the text of the bull. Contributions by Jean- nation themselves were carried out according to Marie Moeglin and Michael Menzel show how the letter of the law. Similarly, in subsequently de‐ much Charles IV owed to Louis IV (Louis the posing Wenceslaus in 1400, the electors exceeded Bavarian). Despite Charles's ferce hatred of his their powers. It was almost certainly this act that predecessor and his attempts to eradicate his led Wenceslaus to commission the most splendid memory in the Reich, much of his legislative pro‐ of all copies of the Golden Bull, which he used to gram that was at least conceived under Louis and justify his resolute refusal to recognize his deposi‐

2 H-Net Reviews tion. It was this copy that Emperor Frederick III underlines the character of the Reich as a polity acquired around 1440-41 from the estate of Al‐ dominated by an oligarchic association of emper‐ brecht II of and , and increas‐ or and electors, while in the king was por‐ ingly used to stabilize the Reich during his long trayed as surrounded by wise advisers and in reign. England the was tied to parliament. The Golden Bull was only gradually accepted, The following essays in this section examine and adhered to, as a fundamental law of the Re‐ diverse aspects of the way that Charles projected ich. In the same way, as Dietmar Willoweit sug‐ his power. Martin Kitzinger contrasts Charles's gests in one of the most important essays in the confdent assertiveness with the nervous collection, the bull itself might be seen as part of grandiosity with which his contemporary Charles the gradual reception of Roman law in the Reich. V of France sought to compensate the weakness of It illustrates, he argues, the way that German his position. Robert Suckale compares Charles IV's rulers appropriated those elements of Roman law iconography with that of Rudolf I and Louis IV, that reinforced their interests as rulers and which while Jiří Fajt investigates what is "caroline" in they combined as required with elements of the court art of Charles's reign. Richard Nĕmec de‐ canonical, Swabian, and Saxon law. He also un‐ constructs the iconographic programme of derlines the striking parallel between the institu‐ Charles's residence at Lauf an der Pegnitz near tional development of Reich and territories in the Nuremberg and Olaf Rader examines his burial fourteenth century: in each case the major inno‐ monument in in comparison with those of vation was the formation of a ruling council (Rat) other German . Wolfgang Schmid illumi‐ with particular ofce holders as permanent mem‐ nates Charles's use of relics and the distinction ap‐ bers. In both Reich and territories, he argues, Ro‐ parently made between the "private" reliquaries man law facilitated the formalization of political held at the Karlstejn castle and the public reli‐ procedures and enabled contemporaries to step quaries, including the remains of Saint Wences‐ out of the shadow of customary law and develop laus, at Prague itself. Representations of the the more rational constitutional structures that monarch on coins and in literature are dealt with were characteristic of the . by Torsten Fried and Martin Schubert respective‐ Emphasizing the slow acceptance of the ‐ ly, while Mathias Lawo analyzes the development en Bull focuses attention on its signifcance for the of the language of ofcial documents, showing reign of Charles IV. If even he ignored some of the that Latin predominated in the early period as fundamental precepts of his most important edict, Charles consolidated his power while German then perhaps its signifcance initially lay more in gained steadily in the later years as Charles no the fact that he could promulgate it at all and in longer felt the same need for a formal diction that the wider aspirations it conveyed than in the de‐ underlined the distance between himself and his tails concerning royal elections and the defnition subjects. of the electors as "pillars of the Reich" that later The third section, devoted to the theme of the became so exclusively important. The second "Reich and its neighbors," opens with an essay by group of essays investigates the ways in which Werner Maleczek that shows just how little con‐ Charles IV presented himself as ruler. Bernd temporaries knew in detail about the vast ex‐ Scheidmüller compares the rituals and orders of panse of the that straddled precedence contained in the Golden Bull with the the center of . The other pieces in this sec‐ equivalent forms in France and England. His fas‐ tion are diverse in the extreme. Franz Tinnefeld's cinating analysis of relevant clauses of the bull juxtaposition of the powerful Charles and his hap‐

3 H-Net Reviews less Byzantine contemporary John V underlines siders the Golden Bull as a "European fundamen‐ the contrast between an eastern empire on the tal law," by which he means that it was both an brink of collapse and the German Reich whose exemplary elective statute and one such statute greatest period was yet to begin. Ulrike Hohensee among others in the Europe of the time. The com‐ examines Charles's marriage policies with regard parative approach is welcome for it places the al‐ to Hungary and Poland while Sławomir Gawlas leged singularity of the Golden Bull into perspec‐ compares the German electoral system with the tive and locates it among the other medieval fun‐ development of the rights of succession and elec‐ damental laws. Yet the assertion that the Golden tion in Poland during the fourteenth century. The Bull deserves special attention precisely because formidable complexity of relations with the Ital‐ it did not lead to the emergence the kind of na‐ ian states contrasted with the rather simple ac‐ tion-state that subsequently caused Europe so count of them given by the Nuremberg Chronicle much sufering is as bizarre as the notion that emerges clearly from Marie-Louise Favreau-Lilie's study of the Golden Bull might help resolve the contribution while Uwe Ludwig dissects relations constitutional problems of the contemporary Eu‐ with specifcally and illuminates Charles's ropean Union. interest both in establishing a reliable and robust Borgolte's rather breathless broad sweep imperial vicariate in nort-eastern and in pur‐ does, however, raise the bigger question of the suing the idea of a new crusade. Anotnella Ghig‐ signifcance of the Golden Bull in German history, noli's presentation of Italian research into the Ital‐ albeit without really answering it. More illuminat‐ ian regnum in the age of Charles IV sheds further ing thoughts on this matter may be found in the f‐ light on relations with Italy, as does Flaminia Pi‐ nal cluster of essays devoted to its reception and chiorri's examination of Charles's careful recruit‐ impact. A valuable contribution by Marie-Luise ment of diplomats to represent him to the papacy Heckmann documents the reception and dissemi‐ and the northern and central Italian lordships nation of the Golden Bull and records no less than and communes. The early eforts to retain control 173 medieval copies of the text, in addition to the over the ancestral lands of Luxemburg, which cul‐ 7 original copies held by the electors, plus some minated in the calling of the Metz in 1356, 20 post-medieval copies. The frequency of copies after which, however, Charles focused more on increased markedly from about 1400, from which Prague rather than on Metz and Luxemburg, point the decree frst actually became known as which he left his half-brother Wenceslaus to deal the "Golden Bull" (after the gold casing which en‐ with as duke of Luxemburg and Brabant, are in‐ closed the seal attached to it). Most were either vestigated by Michel Margue and Michel Pauly. written or held by owners in south , Relations with papacy, touched on in numerous which again reafrms the signifcance of middle contributions, are analyzed here in detail by Ste‐ and upper Germany as the core areas of the later fan Weiß. Lenka Bobková's discussion of the Gold‐ medieval Reich. en Bull in relation to Charles's legislation in Bo‐ As Eberhard Holtz demonstrates in his essay hemia between 1346 and 1356 underlines the ex‐ on the role of the Golden Bull in the reign of Fred‐ tent to which the bull marked the culmination of erick III (1440-93), the emperor invoked the Gold‐ eforts to secure his hold on the kingdom, which en Bull when it suited him and ignored it just as he saw as the foundation of his power in the Re‐ easily. At the same time, Frederick sought to re‐ ich. It is signifcant that the privileges given to the vert to Charles's original program from the outset: electors in the bull, are granted frst and foremost on the one hand he acquired the emperor to the king of Bohemia, and then by extension to Wenceslaus's copy of the copy of the decree and the other electors. Finally, Michael Borgolte con‐

4 H-Net Reviews on the other hand he promulgated the "Reforma‐ set rules for its procedure and ensured that its tio Friderici" as the framework for a domestic membership remained confned to the specifed peace in the Reich. Frederick's persistence, his princes and their male heirs. This ultimately cre‐ success in promoting his son's prospects by mar‐ ated security and, as the Golden Bull became ac‐ riage and his sheer longevity combined to lay the cepted as a fundamental law, eliminated the dam‐ foundations for the reforms under Maximilian. aging interregna and multiple elections that had These realized, at least in part, what Charles IV characterized the Reich for much of the Middle and his successors had sought to achieve: stability Ages. Yet the references to the relations between in the imperial succession, the pacifcation of the electors and princes in future meetings of the Re‐ Reich by substituting judicial process for violent ich might be taken as the basis for the later devel‐ feuds, the coordination of defense of the Reich opment of colleges of electors, princes, and cities and the agreement of the princes to pay for it, and and the formalization of relations between them. the organization of the Reich in regional associa‐ Similarly, the disappearance of the pope from im‐ tions or Kreise. The key to all this was the trans‐ perial elections, now formally confrmed by the formation of the Hoftag into the Reichstag during silence of the Golden Bull regarding the papacy, the ffteenth century and the formalization of its reafrmed the Reich as a fundamentally German procedures that made it capable of efective deci‐ Reich. This did not, however, mean the seculariza‐ sion-making and of efective implementation of tion of the Reich: the decree opened with a prayer its decisions. and the prologue was couched in sacral and bibli‐ In this system and in the extensive body of lit‐ cal language; the word "Holy" remained in the ti‐ erature devoted to its constitution, analyzed here tle of the Reich to the end, and its rulers clung to by Arno Buschmann, the Golden Bull at last came the sacral aura of world rule, even though both to be seen as the fundamental law of the Reich, those attributes soon became utterly intangible which had established eternal principles which and implausible. Helmrath's wide-ranging essay were absolutely binding on subsequent genera‐ seeks to link the 650th anniversary of the Golden tions. It was thus entirely understandable, as Bull with the 200th anniversary of the end of the Michael Niedermeier points out, that the bull was Reich, which also fell in 2006. for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe the central lieu The Golden Bull, Helmrath concludes, ‐ de mémoire of the Reich. That view was fully tially represented the beginning and focal point of shared by the duke of Württemberg, who on be‐ the premodern in Europe. coming an elector in 1803 and acquiring the One might object that it took nearly one and a half abbey of Ellwangen, which belonged to Trier, im‐ centuries for the Golden Bull of 1356 to realize its mediately sent an envoy to the archbishop de‐ full potential. In some ways, early modern com‐ manding that he hand over his copy of the bull, mentators had to recover its memory as an an‐ which explains why it now resides in the state ar‐ cient constitution similar to those discovered by chive of Baden-Württemberg at . early modern writers in the more remote past of As Johannes Helmrath points out in his mar‐ other European countries. The Golden Bull was velous concluding essay, the constitutional struc‐ last studied comprehensively and in depth by Karl tures and political principles that characterized Zeumer at the start of the twentieth century.[1] the early modern Reich are perhaps presaged in These essays should ensure a renewed interest in the Golden Bull in ways that have not been fully the statute and its place in German and European appreciated. Of course the most explicit provi‐ history, and they provide a framework of constitu‐ sions were those that created the body of electors, tional, political, and cultural contexts that fully re‐

5 H-Net Reviews fect the new historical interests of the early twen‐ ty-frst century. Note [1]. Karl Zeumer, Die Goldene Bulle Karls IV, 2 vols. (Weimar: Böhlau, 1908).

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Citation: Joachim Whaley. Review of Hohensee, Ulrike; Lawo, Mathias; Lindner, Michael; Menzel, Michael; Rader, Olaf B., eds. Die Goldene Bulle Kaiser Karls IV: Politik - Wahrnehmung - Rezeption. H- German, H-Net Reviews. March, 2011.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=25826

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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