With the death of Henry V the Franconian dynasty came to an end. The change of dynasty furnishes us a convenient place to pause in our narrative of the development of the Western Empire. We have seen that the centre of influence has long since shifted to the North, and that the Western Empire, though Roman in name, is essentially German in fact. Several important emperors are to come upon the scene in the next two or three centuries, and such men as Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II will make Italy the field of some of their most prominent activities. Nevertheless, these emperors are German and the records of their lives are a component part of the history of the German Empire. We shall again take up the story of the German Empire in a later volume with the accession of the Hohenstaufens. Now for a time we are to turn back to the East, to witness the development of a wonderful oriental civilisation.[a]
FOOTNOTES
[147] [As C. T. Lewis[e] notes: “The people took sides in their legends and songs with the unfortunate youth who had fought for his inheritance against a severe stepfather, and compared his fate with that of the equally unfortunate Ludolf, son of Otto the Great. Indeed, legend merged the two stories into one, and thus arose the song of Ernst of Swabia, which was long sung in the Middle Ages and represents the two friends as finally going to the East upon a crusade and meeting with manifold adventures.”]
[148] [Bryce[j] says: “Under Henry III the empire attained the meridian of its power. At home Otto the Great’s prerogative had not stood so high.”]
