FEUDAL STATES OF EUROPE 263
- laim to treat kings as vassals, and to exercise a portion at
east of the prerogatives of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Of this we shall have further occasion to speak n connection with the history of the Papacy during this oeriod. For our present purpose it is enough to note that the Medieval Empire, although it encouraged commerce ind some interchange of ideas between the Germans and the Italians, in the long run assisted rather than checked
- he prevalence of feudalism and local division in both Italy
ind Germany. The emperors claimed to be overlords of so much territory that they did not become real governors i)f any one locality. Had they remained in Germany and bainstakingly developed a machinery of government of their !)wn, or had they devoted their entire attention to Italian [iffairs, they might have developed a strong kingdom in one blace or the other. Instead they roamed about, posing as International arbiters and forcing the kings of lands like Poland and Bohemia to become their vassals. The rule of the Holy Roman Emperor seems to have been for the most part personal, offhand, and unsystematic. For the first century after Otto there is extant Lack o{ 10 imperial law or ordinance directed toward the imperial government Maintenance of peace and order. There were no permanent imperial law courts, no professional judges nor ilegal advisers. There was no central exchequer and no .financial literature by imperial officials has reached us. The l&mperors allowed many other lords to coin money and made no effort to keep up the standard of the coinage. Customs duties and tolls also passed from the emperors into the hands of other lords. Private war was tolerantly regarded by public opinion, even when it was directed against the emperor himself; and Germans at feud with their country- men not infrequently made alliances with the Slavs and Hungarians. The fact that the emperor was elected by the other great lords, and that, while sometimes son succeeded father, the office did not remain permanently in the hands of any one dynasty, also weakened the power of the central (government.
