senses wonderfully democratic. The sovereign was dependent upon the
decisions of the various representative assemblies; and though the
lower classes had little voice except in purely local affairs, yet the
rights and privileges of all classes were hedged round so securely by
written charters or immemorial usage that any infringement of them
might be attended with serious results. In England the Parliament, in
Spain the Cortes, in France the States General, and in Germany the
Diet, should have proved a strong barrier against absolute rule. But
the authority of such assemblies was soon weakened or destroyed. Under
the Tudors the English Parliament became a mere machine for
registering the wishes of the sovereign; the Cortes and States General
were rarely consulted in Spain and France; and, though the Diet
retained its position in the Empire, it was used rather to increase
the influence of the princes than to afford any guarantee of liberty
to the subject.

In bringing about such a complete revolution the rulers were assisted
largely by the introduction of the Roman Code of Justinian.[1]
According to the principles of the Roman Code the power of the
sovereign was unlimited, and against his wishes no traditional customs
or privileges could prevail. Such a system was detested especially by
the Germans, who clung with great pertinacity to their own national
laws and customs; but the princes, supported by the universities,
carried through the reform on which they had set their heart. They
succeeded in strengthening their own power and in trampling down the
rights guaranteed to their subjects by the old Germanic Code, while at
the same time they were untiring in their resistance to imperial
reforms, and were unwilling to do anything to increase the power of
the Emperor.