d not accept him, including Phillip, was the threat of excommunication. Innocent III made sure that the German princes knew the decree of Venerable. The decree stated that, first the German princes are allowed to elect a king. Second this right was given them by Apostolic See when it transferred the imperial dignity from the Greeks to the Germans in the person of Charlemagne. Third, the right to investigate and decide whether a king thus elected is worthy of Imperial dignity belongs to the Pope, whose office it is to anoint, consecrate, and crown him; otherwise it might happen that the pope would be obliged to anoint, consecrate, and crown who was excommunicated, a heretic, or a pagan. Fourth, if the pope finds that the king who has been elected by the princes is unworthy of imperial dignity, the princes must elect a new king or, if they refuse the pope will confer the imperial dignity upon another king; for the Church stands in need of a patron and a defender. 5) In case of a double election, such as Otto and Phillip, the pope must exhort the princes to come to an agreement. If after a due interval they have not reached an agreement they must ask the pope to arbitrate, failing which, he must of his own accord, and by virtue of his office decide in favor of one of the claimants. Fifth, the popes decision need not be based greater or less legality of either election, but on the quality of the claimants. It was not Innocents fault when by 1203 most of the princes had sided with Phillip. Otto was often irritable and usually made mad his best friends. In 1207 Innocent rescinded the decision and made Phillip not only king of Germany, but free of his ban. However the Holy Roman Empire kept on being a medieval soap opera as on June 21, 1208 Phillip was assassinated by Otto of Wittlesbach. After the murder Otto IV was widely viewed as the king of Germany by the princes and was coroneted on October 4, 1209. Soon however Otto would turn on Innoce...
