James Madison deemed its institutions “feeble”, its history one of “general imbecility, confusion, and misery”. Voltaire disparaged it as not holy, not Roman, and not an empire. Yet for over two centuries, the empire has had a bad reputation. Centred on Germany, it also encompassed much of what is now France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Italy. As the dust jacket for Peter Wilson’s new book puts it, Europe made “no sense without it”. Charles had adopted the motto “ Plus ultra” to emphasise his imperial power, so underneath the restrained eagle, the defenders of Metz wrote “ Non plus Metas”, meaning both “not beyond Metz” and “not beyond the boundaries”.įor an entire millennium, from 800 to 1806, from its birth with Charlemagne to its death at the hands of Napoleon, the Holy Roman Empire’s borders defined the heart of Europe. These represented the ancient pillars of Hercules, the border of the known world at the straits of Gibraltar, where a notice warned “ Non plus ultra” – “no further beyond”. W hen the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V besieged Metz in 1522 the city taunted him with a banner emblazoned with the imperial eagle chained between two pillars.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |