Observations on the Dead Emperor Collected from Annals and Laws

and caused it to be transported to Metz with honor. In the Life of Meinwerk, no. 90, we read this about the funeral of Henry II:

The bishop, however, having heard of his passing, ordered his passage to be conducted solemnly throughout the whole city of Paderborn and the entire bishopric, and for the remedy of his soul, he distributed not insignificant alms to the poor in both food and clothing.

Furthermore, we observe that the body of the Emperor was carried around through many churches, so that the duty owed to the dead might be paid. An example is provided by the funeral of Otto III in THIETMAR, Book IV, p. 358. Otherwise, we understand that the bodies of later Emperors, of the House of Austria, were carried by chamberlains, both from the Annals of Ferdinand by KHEVENHÜLLER, Vol. VII, p. 440, where, however, it is said that in addition to the chamberlains, the Duke of Brunswick carried the bier of Emperor Rudolph II; and from the life of Leopold and Joseph and later accounts which teach at length that the body of Lord Charles VI was carried on the shoulders of twenty-four chamberlains to the temple of the Capuchin Fathers; from there, however, it was carried to the sepulchral chapel by twelve more honored Capuchin Fathers.

§ VII.

Burial, accepted by the custom of nations,

Who would doubt that an Emperor should be buried honestly? For if GROTIUS, Book II of De Jure Belli ac Pacis On the Law of War and Peace, ch. 19, thinks correctly that burial can be demanded by the law of nations; if that is denied, war is considered to be justly undertaken; and we know that war was undertaken by Theseus against Creon. Already before Grotius, ALBERICO GENTILI, Book II of De Iure Belli On the Law of War, ch. 24, discussed these other chapters of the law of nations learnedly. Add Novella 54 of Leo. The custom of the Egyptians seems to have been somewhat harsher, for they deprived the king of the honor of a funeral unless he was judged to be worthy of it publicly. ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, Genialium Dierum Days of Delight, Book III, ch. 7. From which the Roman Pontiff unjustly decided that he could strip the Emperor not only of the communion of the sacraments but also of his empire.