On the emperor and the empire

First chapter. Whether the emperor is born or chosen.

Charlemagne, born Duke of Austrasia, which is now Lorraine and Brabant, obtained the Roman Empire because of his great virtues and pious deeds, and he bequeathed it to the Germans, so that after him it remained to his descendants and heirs until Emperor Arnulf. Then the empire lapsed to the Saxon house, which also bequeathed it to Emperor Otto III. And after his death, it was determined by the princes that in future the emperorship would no longer fall to the emperor's descendants, but that the successor in the emperorship, whenever it was vacant, would be elected by seven princes, three spiritual and four secular, namely the archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne and by the king of Bohemia, the palatine count on the Rhine, the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Brandenburg. And this was then started and continued until Emperor Henry V, son of Frederick I. This Emperor Henry V stipulated that after him, the empire would always inherit on the closest male heir. To confirm this, and to make sure it would be applied, he attached the principalities of Sicily, Calabria and Naples, his son's own property, to the Roman Empire in perpetuity. And it is claimed that the Pope, the Electors of the Roman Empire and many other princes gave their assent. Soon after, however, the said emperor Henry died and he entrusted the guardianship of his young son Frederick to the pope. Since the child was still an infant and could not properly rule the empire, he had to be placed under guardianship. For this reason, the princes followed their old law and custom of election, and in this they have remained ever since.