Ludwig had now become so unpopular, that when another Pope, Clement VI., in April, 1346, hurled against him a new excommunication, expressed in the most horrible terms, the Archbishops made it a pretext for openly opposing the Emperor's rule. They united with the Pope in selecting Karl, the son of John of Bohemia (who fell by the sword of the Black Prince the same summer, at the famous battle of Crecy), and proclaiming him Emperor in Ludwig's stead. All the cities, and the temporal princes, except those of Bohemia and Saxony, stood faithfully by Ludwig, and Karl could gain no advantage over him. He went to France, then to Italy, and finally betook himself to Bohemia, where he was a rival monarch only in name. In October, 1347, Ludwig, who was then residing in Munich, his favorite capital, was stricken with apoplexy while hunting, and fell dead from his horse. He was sixty-three years old, and had reigned thirty-three years. In German history, he is always called "Ludwig the Bavarian." During the last ten years of his reign many parts of Germany suffered severely from famine, and a pestilence called "the black death" carried off thousands of persons in every city. These misfortunes probably confirmed him in his superstition, and partly account for his shameful and degrading policy. The only service which his long rule rendered to Germany sprang from the circumstance, that, having been supported by the free cities in his war with Frederick of Austria, he was compelled to protect them against the aggressions of the princes afterwards, and in various ways to increase their rights and privileges. There were now 150 such cities, and from this time forward they constituted a separate power in the Empire. They encouraged learning and literature, favored peace and security of travel for the sake of their commerce, organized and protected the mechanic arts, and thus, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, contributed more to the progress of Germany than all her spiritual and temporal rulers. CHAPTER XXI. THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL. (1347--1410.) The Imperial Crown in the Market --Günther of Schwarzburg. --Karl IV. Emperor. --His Character and Policy. --The University of Prague. --Rienzi Tribune of Rome. --Karl's Course in Italy. --The "Golden Bull." --Its Provisions and Effect. --Coronation in Rome. --The Last Ten Years of his Reign. --His Death. --Eberhard the Greiner. --The "Hansa" and its Victories. --Achievements of the German Order. --Wenzel becomes Emperor. --The Suabian League. --The Battle of Sempach. --Independence of Switzerland. --Defeat of the Suabian Cities. --Wenzel's Rule in Prague. --Conspiracy against him. --Schism in the Roman Church. --Count Rupert Rival Emperor. --Convention of Marbach. --Anarchy in Germany. --Death-Blow to the German Order. --Rupert's Death. [Sidenote: 1347.]