The changes in the internal constitution of Germany which the long anarchy of Henry IV's reign had produced are seen when the nature of the prerogative as it stood at the accession of Conrad II, the first Franconian Emperor, is compared with its state at Henry V's death. All fiefs are now hereditary, and when vacant can be granted afresh only by consent of the States; the jurisdiction of the crown is less wide; the idea is beginning to make progress that the most essential part of the Empire is not its supreme head but the commonwealth of princes and barons. The greatest triumph of these feudal magnates is in the establishment of the elective principle, which when confirmed by the three free elections of Lothar II, Conrad III, and Frederick I, passes into an undoubted law. The Prince-Electors are mentioned in A.D. 1156 as a distinct and important body[179]. The clergy, too, whom the policy of Otto the Great and Henry II had raised, are now not less dangerous than the dukes, whose power it was hoped they would balance; possibly more so, since protected by their sacred character and their allegiance to the Pope, while able at the same time to command the arms of their countless vassals. Nor were the two succeeding Emperors the men to retrieve those disasters. The Saxon Lothar the Second is the willing minion of the Pope; performs at his coronation a menial service unknown before, and takes a more stringent oath to defend the Holy See, that he may purchase its support against the Swabian faction in his own dominions. Conrad the Third, the first Emperor of the great house of Hohenstaufen[180], represents the anti-papal party; but domestic troubles and an unfortunate crusade prevented him from effecting anything in Italy. He never even entered Rome to receive the crown. FOOTNOTES: [171] 'Roma per sedem Beati Petri caput orbis effecta.'--See note _i_, p. 32. [172] 'Claves tibi _ad regnum_ dimisimus.'--Pope Stephen to Charles Martel, in _Codex Carolinus_, ap. Muratori, _S. R. I._ iii. Some, however, prefer to read 'ad rogum.' [173] _Corpus Iuris Canonici_, Dist. lxiii. c. 22. [174] Dist. lxiii. c. 30. This decree is, however, in all probability spurious. [175] 'Nos elegimus merito et approbavimus una cum annisu et voto patrum amplique senatus et gentis togatæ,' &c., ap. Baron. _Ann. Eccl._, ad ann. 876. [176] 'Divina vos pietas B. principum apostolorum Petri et Pauli interventione per vicarium ipsorum dominum Ioannem summum pontificem ... ad imperiale culmen S. Spiritus iudicio provexit.'--_Concil. Ticinense_, in Mur., _S. R. I._ ii. [177] Strictly speaking, Henry was at this time only king of the Romans: he was not crowned Emperor at Rome till 1084. [178] Letter of Gregory VII to William I, A.D. 1080. I quote from Migne, t. cxlviii. p. 568. [179] 'Gradum statim post Principes Electores.'--Frederick I's Privilege of Austria, in Pertz, _M. G. H._ legg. ii.