Note 45 — Book the Second (continued 2)

This title is hopelessly irregular. The Princeps of the Holy Roman Empire only becomes Caesar Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustus mundi totius Dominus universis dominis universis principibus et populis Semper Venerandus by the herald’s proclamation after he has been stripped, anointed, clothed in the consecrated dalmatica, ordained deacon, and crowned with the Iron Crown of Monza and the Gold Diadem of the Empire by the hands of the Supreme Pontiff Himself. The title at present is dormant. If the sovereign is of the Swabian House, precedent demands that he must go to Monza or to Sant’ Ambrogio at Milan for the Iron Crown, and to San Giovanni Laterano at Rome for the Gold Diadem. But Imperial coronations, (the sovereign not being of the Swabian House,) at the Pope’s pleasure have taken place elsewhere. Caesar Friedrich IV was the last Emperor crowned in Rome. Caesar Francis II was the last to wear the imperial crown. He resigned it in 1806, having taken the title of Emperor of Austria in 1804. Before coronation by the Pope the title of “The Elect-Emperor” is used; and that is all which Maximilian can claim.