[271] Sometimes we hear of a decree made by Pope Sergius IV and his cardinals (of course equally fabulous with Otto's). So John Villani, iv. 2.
[272] In 1152 we read, 'Id iuris Romani Imperii apex habere dicitur ut non per sanguinis propaginem sed per principum electionem reges creentur.'—Otto Fris. Gulielmus Brito, writing not much later, says (quoted by Freher),—
'Est etenim talis dynastia Theutonicorum
Ut nullus regnet super illos, ni prius illum
Eligat unanimis cleri populique voluntas.'
[273] Innocent III, during the contest between Philip and Otto IV, speaks of 'principes ad quos principaliter spectat regis Romani electio.'
[274] 'Rex Bohemiæ non eligit, quia non est Teutonicus,' says a writer early in the fourteenth century.
[275] The names and offices of the seven are concisely given in these lines, which appear in the treatise of Marsilius of Padua, De Imperio Romano:—
'Moguntinensis, Trevirensis, Coloniensis,
Quilibet Imperii sit Cancellarius horum;