CHAPTER XV.

The Empire as an International Power.

Revival of Learning 240 Beginnings of Political Thought 241 Desire for an International Power 242 Theory of the Emperor's Functions as Monarch of Europe 244 Illustrations 249 Relations of the Empire and the New Learning 251 The Men of Letters--Petrarch, Dante 254 The Jurists 256 Passion for Antiquity in the Middle Ages: its Causes 258 The Emperor Henry VII in Italy 262 The _De Monarchia_ of Dante 264