Romans." Lewis the Pious (814-840)
possessed the virtue of his father but not the power. When both power
and virtue were extinct, the Greeks despoiled Lewis II. of his
hereditary title, and with the barbarous appellation of _Rex_ degraded
him amongst the crowd of Latin princes.

The imperial title of the West remained in the family of Charlemagne
until the deposition of Charles the Fat in 884. His insanity dissolved
the empire into factions, and it was not until Otho, King of Germany,
laid claim to the title, with fire and sword, that the western empire
was restored (962). His conquest of Italy and delivery of the pope for
ever fixed the imperial crown in the name and nation of Germany. From
that memorable era two maxims of public jurisprudence were introduced by
force and ratified by time: (1) That the prince who was elected in the
German Diet acquired from that instant the subject kingdoms of Italy and
Rome; (2) but that he might not legally assume the titles of Emperor and
Augustus till he had received the crown from the hands of the Roman
pontiff.

The nominal power of the Western emperors was considerable. No pontiff
could be legally consecrated till the emperor, the advocate of the
Church, had graciously signified his approbation and consent. Gregory
VII., in 1073, usurped this power, and fixed for ever in the college of
cardinals the freedom and independence of election. Nominally, also, the
emperors held sway in Rome, but this supremacy was annihilated in the
thirteenth century. In the fourteenth century the power derived from his
title was still recognised in Europe; the hereditary monarchs confessed
the pre-eminence of his rank and dignity.

The persecution of images and their votaries in the East had
separated-Rome and Italy from the Byzantine throne, and prepared the way
for the conquests of the Franks. The rise and triumph of the Mahometans
still further diminished the empire of the East. The successful inroads
of the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Russians, who assaulted by sea or by
land the provinces and the capital, seemed to advance the approach of
its final dissolution. The Norman adventurers, who founded a powerful
kingdom in Apulia and Sicily, shook the throne of Constantinople (1146),
and their hostile enterprises did not cease until the year 1185.

_II.--Latin Rulers of Constantinople_

Under the name of the Latins, the subjects of the pope, the nations of
the West, enlisted under the banner