the prince, who was chosen by the electors to be King of the Romans, should assume the rights and appanages belonging to his high dignity, without waiting for the confirmation of his title by the Pope. Whenever any one of the imperial vassals rebelled against the Empire, his life and property were to be forfeited; and whenever the Emperor, or his representative, summoned the army to serve in a war of the Empire, every man who held a feudal fief under the Crown, was bound by reason of his oath of fealty, to afford his aid. No one who had challenged another could, on penalty of disregarding the imperial injunctions, lay hands on the person or property of his adversary before three days had elapsed. Disturbers of the public peace and highway robbers were to be proceeded against with the severest penalties in regard to property and life, from which the Emperor even could not grant exemption. This promulgation of laws was followed by another emission of the imperial power, which was more closely connected with the former acts than would at first sight appear. Thus, for instance, the Emperor Louis, associating his brotherin-law, the king of England, in measures which the Diet had already proceeded with on account of the impending campaign, nominated him to be his Vicar, or representative, for all the imperial district lying on the left bank of the Rhine.

It had long been the custom to appoint imperial princes, and even foreign nobles, to be vicars or viceroys over the districts, or boundaries, in which they themselves exercised special influence. But the appointment of Edward, whose insular kingdom was so remote to this dignity, can be explained less on the ground of his

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close affinity with the Emperor, than on account of the great influence which English policy exercised in Germany, or at least, in the north-west of the Empire, and more especially perhaps in consequence of nearly one-half of the electoral princes, with the Emperor at their head, having concluded military treaties with the English, and having promised to serve in the war that was to be conducted by Edward. Under these circumstances, he certainly needed a position to which—at all events in certain territories-it was essential to attach some portion of imperial authority. His appointment and these laws of the Empire were, however, so far connected, that both measures were taken independently of the Pope, and that the war was to be carried on against that very power, from whom alone Benedict was certain of receiving efficient aid. These resolutions were passed with all the solemnity that could be imparted by imperial ceremonials, and the might of Germany appeared in the eyes of the world to be once more alike great and powerful. After the Emperor and the Diet had attended high mass together on the following Sunday in the cathedral of Coblentz, and after Archbishop Baldwin of Treves had concluded a treaty with King Edward, and had promised to supply a contingent of 500 men-atarms, and when, as it is related, the Emperor had sworn to the king for life or death, that he would assist him for seven years against Philip of Valois, and when finally the time for the opening of the campaign had been determined, the Diet was dissolved.

On Monday, the 17th of September, the two brothersin-law took leave of each other. The Emperor and Empress, to whose care Edward had committed his little

daughter, went slowly to Munich by way of Frankfort ; while Edward, after he had liberally paid the servants of the Emperor and court, and had presented large gifts and paid high fees amongst other things for a copy of the notices of the alliance, and for the papers connected with the imperial vicarship, to the notaries, chancery clerks, and writers, took nearly the same way homewards by which he had come, deviating, however, from the route in some slight particulars, which deserve to be recorded. For the first night, he again took up his abode at Andernach, but on this occasion, in a private house; while he passed the next night at Bonn, where he had a vexatious matter to settle with the burgomaster and magistrates of the place. It would appear that a portion of his English servants and attendants had remained here during his sojourn at Coblentz, and that on the 31st of August, these men, who had possibly been excited by too free indulgence in wine, had quarrelled with the inhabitants of Bonn, who very probably were not over civil to strangers. Some considerable amount of damage was done on the occasion, which the king was obliged to make good by a payment to the civic authorities of £22 10s. sterling. On the 9th of September, the journey was continued as far as Düren, and from thence through Sittard, where Queen Philippa again met her husband, to Bree and Herenthals and then on to Antwerp, where the court arrived after an absence of exactly four weeks.

Edward might now indeed flatter himself that in return for all his great expenditure of time and money, he was provided with the means necessary to proceed at once with his great undertaking. The delusion of

supposing that he had made a lasting compact and alliance with the Empire began, however, only too quickly to make itself manifest. For when in the

following October, he attempted to avail himself of his new dignity by summoning, in his capacity of Imperial Vicar, all the princes under his jurisdiction to a Diet at Herk, in Brabant, the hollowness of the ground on which he stood, in common with all the confederated allies, was made too clearly evident. It was not only those princes who were known to be decidedly in favour of the French, as the Bishop of Louvain, who refused to appear at this Diet, but others even who had hitherto been his friends, as the Duke of Brabant. The winter, during which no warlike operations could be conducted, passed without effecting anything essential in regard to the better amalgamation of the separate masses. We do, indeed, still notice a continuance of the former zealous intercourse between Antwerp and Munich, between which cities and the many small capital towns of Germany messengers continually came and went. It was not till the summer of 1339 that the English and German troops assembled in Brabant and Flanders. Many of the nobles who had accepted large sums of English money, amongst others the Margraves of Brandenburg and Meissen, arrived at the head of the promised horsemen; but the Emperor failed to appear, and others followed his example. Many were glad enough to put English angels in their purses, but it was found that the intrigues emanating from Avignon and Paris were powerful enough to neutralise the promises that had been made to Edward. We discover, nevertheless, by the course which the campaign took from its very com

mencement, that it was to be a war of the Empire, and that Edward would be pledged to a special course of policy in his character of Imperial Vicar. The first act was to enter the diocese of Cambray, which was still reckoned as a part of the Empire, and to lay waste and seize upon everything that fell in the way. King Philip VI. had, however, in good time carefully selected and strongly guarded the few good positions in the north of his territories, where the rivers had not many available fords. He avoided, with great circumspection, any serious encounter with the superior forces of the enemy, who found that wherever they went everything had been laid waste, and that there was seldom anything left to destroy. The autumn had already advanced, and the period for which the troops had been engaged was fast drawing to a close, while the love of fighting had also begun to decline among the German allies. The campaign came to an inglorious termination without having brought any favourable result to the Bavarian party in the Empire; while, besides spending a useless amount of money, the King of England had drawn upon himself the ridicule of his opponents and the earnest admonitions of the Pope, without having found any opportunity of distinguishing himself as a military leader, or of bringing the strength of his own nation into the conflict. Benedict XII. had, indeed, no great desire for a rupture with him, but still he had emphatically warned the King, that he could not, with proper respect to the papal chair, nor without drawing much vexation on himself, accept titles and dignities from a prince who was himself neither king, nor emperor, and who, moreover, lay under the severest form of