And so far did their munificence gradually extend, that the sole
property of one of the three leagues[AC] was at one time vested in the
hands of the bishop.
This prelate and the nobles, the greatest part of whom became his
retainers, availed themselves, like all the German princes, of the
confusion, divisions, and interreigns which frequently distracted the
empire in the succeeding centuries, in order to establish a firm and
unlimited authority of their own. Henceforth the annals of this country
furnish us with little more than catalogues of the bishops and dukes,
who were still, at times, nominated by the emperors; and of the domains
granted out by them to different indigenate families; with accounts of
the atrocious cruelties exercised by these lords over their vassals; and
with anecdotes of the prowess of the natives in several expeditions into
Italy and Palestine, in which they still voluntarily accompanied the
emperors.
The repeated acts of tyranny exercised by those arbitrary despots, who
had now shaken off all manner of restraint, at length exasperated the
people into a general revolt, and brought on the confederacy; in which
the bishop and most of the nobles were glad to join, in order to screen
themselves from the fury of the insurgents.
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