Second Posting

The reading of the first and second chapters was an entertaining and enlightening one.  Personally though, the second chapter provided me with a more fruitful read.  If one looked at Germany today and it's governmental structure, they would have no idea of how disorganized the leadership used to be in the 15th-17th centuries.  This is what I found the most compelling, the hierarchical structuring and laws that Germania was composed of throughout these times.  While Germania was still considered part of the Holy Roman Empire, there were kings which ruled separately from the region in their own territories and principalities.  

Holy Roman Empire 1600

Detailed View of the Territories 1512

What really astounded me was the fact that  each king only had power in their own territory and every person in that territory had to follow the chosen religion of that particular ruler.  This fact seemed important because the government that is in charge of Germany now could look to the past to see how to better govern the country today.  Something else that intrigued me was that many people in Germania at this time did not consider themselves to be German in any sense.  However, they related more to the fact that they were descendants of the Trojans and still considered themselves Roman citizens.  It is amazing to me that Germany finally came out of that era with a huge sense of national pride.  Perhaps without the involvement of the Holy Roman Empire, Germania would have been more organized than it was during the 15-17th centuries.