Note 261 — Chapter XIII · FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN.
Reading edition
'Vacante imperio Romano, cum in illo ad sæcularem iudicem nequeat haberi recursus, ad summum pontificem, cui in persona B. Petri terreni simul et cœlestis imperii iura Deus ipse commisit, imperii prædicti iurisdictio regimen et dispositio devolvitur.'—Bull Si fratrum (of John XXI, in A.D. 1316), in Bullar. Rom. So again: 'Attendentes quod Imperii Romani regimen cura et administratio tempore quo illud vacare contingit ad nos pertinet, sicut dignoscitur pertinere.' So Boniface VIII, refusing to recognize Albert I, because he was ugly and one-eyed ('est homo monoculus et vultu sordido, non potest esse Imperator'), and had taken a wife from the serpent brood of Frederick II ('de sanguine viperali Friderici'), declared himself Vicar of the Empire, and assumed the crown and sword of Constantine.