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AN 



UNIVERSAL HISTORY, 



TWENTY. POUR BOOKS. 



TRANSI^ATEp FROM THE GERMAN 



> JOHN VON MULLER. 



TN POUR VOLUMES. 
VOL. IIL 



BOSTON: 
COTTONS AND BARNARD. 

1834. 



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//^//^/ 



•9 



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CONTENTS 



THE THIRD VQLUME. 



BOOK XYH. 



ORADITAIi TRAirilTIOK PROM THK SOCXAL ORDER OP THE MID 
DX.B AOKl, TO THiyT OP MODKRIT TIMEI. A. D. 121^8 — 1468. 

Pace. 

S«ct I. — ^Inteimnttm • 1 

Ihot Ii;->«'RiidolphofHafa0baig • ^ 

Sect. in.-^AdolphaBdAllMrt>Kiog8ofCheG«iaiuM 4 

Sect. IV. — ^The Hooae or Lnxembnig «• 6 

Sect, v.— Naples and Sicily 6 

Sect VI.-*The Pope t .w.. .6 

Sect Vn.— The ItaUan Republics 10 

Sect Vni.— Florence * 12 

Sect IX.— Venice ....^ M 

SectX.-^flan. - • 17 

Sect XL— Savoy * 18 

Sect XII. — Lewis of Bavaria ...fc*.,^..,. %o 

Sect Xm.— Charles the Fowtb* ••'•<• •••• 82 

Sect XIV — Wenceslaf. > 28 

Sect XV.— SigisQiud. •••• 24 

Sect XVL— Awtrian Emperora ^ 26 

Sect XVn.— Naples and Sicily 27 

Sect XVIIL-^The Popes 29 

Sect XIX.— The Ceuioi]s«**« • 88 

Sect. XX.^Floreiioe— •••••^•^ <• 86 

4Bect XXI.^Gosmo de' Medici 89 

Sect. XXIL— Literature • • 48 

Sect XXIH.— yenioe * 47 

S4ct XXIV.— Oenoa M 

Sect. XXV.— Regasa 57 



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Tl CONTENTS. 

Sect. XXVI.— Milan '• «S 

Beet XXVn.— Savoy 64 

»Sect. XXVin.— Swilzerland 66 

Sect. XXIX.— Austria J 75 

Sect. XXX.— Bohemia 77 

Sect XXXI.— BraDdenboif r 82 

Sect XXXn .—The Electorate of Saxony 83 

Sect XXXm.— Hene * 84 

Sect XXXIV.— The Palatinate and Bavaria*. •• *••• 86 

Sect XXXV.— Spain 87 

Sect. XXXVI.— Portngal 90 

Sect XXXVn.— France 98 

Sect XXXVin.— Bwgundy lt)2 

Sect XXXIX.->£ngland< 104 

Sect'XL.— ScoUand 108 

Sect XLI.— Scandinavia • 109 

Sect XLn.— Poland % Ill 

Sect XUU.- Hongary « 118 

Sect XLIV— The Turka 114 

Sect XLV.— The Mogols 119 

Sect. XLVI.— Continuation of the Turidah History 121 

Sect XLVn.— The great Mogol.-r 124 



BOOK xvni. 

OF THOSS RBVOLUTIOirs WHICH X8FXCIAX.LY COVTBIBVTXD TO 
DXVXLOPE THS NEW ORDXR OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS A."D. 

1468—1519. 

9ect I.— Lewis the Eleventh • 126 

Sect, n.— Maximilian • 183 

Sect III.— Italy 184 

Sect IV.— Florence 186 

Sect V—Venice •/• 189 

Sect VI.^The Lesser Italian Princes 140 

Sect Vn.— The French in Italy 141 

Sect Vin.— Ferdinand the Catholic 148 

Sect IX.— America * 149 

Sect. X.— Milan and Switzerland '• 161 

Sect. XI.— Italian Wars •••• 1»8 

Sect Xn.— Charles the 6fth 164 

Sect Xm.— Portugal 166 

Sect XIV.— France 167 

Sect XV.— Switzerland • 161 

Sect XVI.— The Turks • 167 

Sect XVII.— Russia 170 

Sect XVIII.— Poland— Scandinavia 170 

Beet XIX.— England 171 

Beet XX.— The Empire of the Germans 178 



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CONTEirTt. fH 

BOOK so; 

9eet t— ChariM the Fifth.— nvnck the Fkik-^liMtk r«rh«n f%- m 

Sect. n. — ^Tne SDafonofitlon «*-»^.t-'««»««««»*«»»*-'*««»— IW 

Sect m.— ^onchnton bt the Age of Chaiievtho Fifth- • »«i,.«^ • « » . iQf 

Sect IV.— Slate of ReliglonB PaitiBB .•••,,^-..,.. IM 

Sect v.— Of the SStoation of the Donmrioni of dnrieethv Fifth %i 

haa decease • • •••^♦-••tf 109 

Sect VI.— France • •..f^».- gQl 

Sect. Vn.— The Pope •^•.•**,.«..«t-.--.^. iOt 

Sect VnL— Portogal -. 204 

Sect IX.— Italy. «0« 

Sect X.— Florence 209 

Sect XI.— SaToyandGencTa 214 

Sect Xn.— Switserland ••• 218 

Sect Xm.— Great Britain 221 

Sect XIV.— Scaodinayia 225 

• Sect XV.— PDland, Phiflwa, and Comland 226 

Sect XVI.— Riwia 22T 

Sect XVn.— The Ottoman Empire and the North of Afiica 229 

Sect XVni.—Conclwion of the Age of Charles the Fifth 282 

BOOK XX, 

TH» AQ« OF PHILIP THK BBCOWD. A. D," 1558— 1588. 

Seet I.— Philip the Second 288 

Sect n.— The Netherlands 288 

Sect, m.— France ••• • 241 

Sect IV— England ••.. 244 

Sect V.-— Portagal and Morocco *; • *• 248 

Sect VI.— Turkey and the North of Africa •• 262 

Sect Vn.— Situation of Italy 254 

Scot Vm.— Switzerland • •••• 257 

Sect IX.— The German Empire •• ^ 268 

SectX— Pohmd 259 

Sect XI.— Sweden 262 

Sect xn.— Denmark. ..•..•.... 264 

Seet xm,— ConchMon • •••• •• 264 



BOOK XXL 

TH» PS»I0D or THB THIllTY TXARS' WAR. A. D. 1588—1648. 

Seot L— ffitnatbn of the House of Habsbuig •••• 268 

Seetn.— Hereditary Succession of Jnliers 2TI 



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fill CONTENTS. 

Page 

Sect in. — ^England 272 

Sect IV.— Commencement of the Thirty Yeare' War 278 

Sect v.— Mantua • 276 

Sect VI. — Cardinal Richelieu • 277 

Sect Vn.— Gustavua Adolphus • • 279 

Sect Vin.— Richelieu 281 

Sect IX.— The Peace of Westphalia r • 28« 

Sect X.— Spain.. • 296 

Sect XI.— Portugal • 29« 

Sect XII.— Great Britain 297 

Sect XIII.— Ruflsia 299 

Sect XIV.— The Turks.... 808 

Sect XV.— Conclusion— » 804 



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.,\i 



UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 



BOOK XVII. 



GttADUAL TRANSITION FROM THE SOCIAL ORDER OF 
THE MIDDLE AGES, TO THAT OF MODERN TIMES. 
A. D. 1273-1463. 

SECTION I. 

INTERREGNUM. 

Upwards of sixty towns, skuated between the Alps and 
Cologne along the course of the Rhine, had formed the 
Rhenish confederacy, which held its regular sessions at 
Mayence, Worms, and Strasburg. In the north, eighty 
commercial cities, of which Bremen, Hamburg, Lubeck, 
Brunswick, Erfurt, and Dantzick were the principal, and 
with which London, Bruges, Bergen, and Novgorod were 
associated, formed the Hanseatic union. These combinations 
were both fofunded on commercial interests, and differed 
in that respect from the Swiss confederacy, the only object 
of which was freedom. 

As the more powerful electors refused to acknowledge 
the monarchs who were chosen by some of their brethren 
after the decease of Frederick, it appears that the German 
empire possessed no point of union, by the influence of 
which it might have been able to maintain its former ascen- 
dency m the European commonwealth.^ From this time 
the empire contained many powerful and flourishing princi- 

Ealities, while die whole body was feeble and disjointed : 
ence the national feeling underwent a change, and public 
spirit diminished in proportion as the several states became 
separate and distinct. The interest of their families was 
the. chief object of the princes ; who not only provided for 

VOL. III. 1 \ 



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2 ITNIYEBSAL HISTQRT* 

the transference of their fie& as heritable property, but con- 
cluded compacts of injberitance, by which the succession 
was secured to distant relatives or friends. No longer 
fearing the ascendency of the emperor, they cast a jealous 
eye on the privileges of the inferior .nobles, to. whom each 

Eetty prince stood in the same relation which the emperor 
ad formerly held with respect to his own ancestors. Even 
the form of ancient freedom remained only in those prov- 
inces the princes of which had acquired but littlejpower, as 
Franconia, Swabia, and the Rhenish territories. The ducal 
authoriQ^ in Franconia and Swabia ceased at the extinction 
of the family^ of Hohenstaufen : and from this time the knights 
of the empire, for their own security, began to enter mto 
the confederacy which still exists under their name. , It is 
easy to conceive the unsetded state of affiurs, when there 
was no emperor, no duke of Swabia, Franconia, or Austria, 
and no landgrave of Thurin^ia : the roads, the navigable 
waters, and indeed the whole face of the country, was ex- 
posed to the predatory excursions of the lawless knights 
and nobles, who inhabited innumerable fortresses ; and the 
princes of the empire began to wish for a monarch, who 
should have Sufficient authority and prudence to restore 
order, but not power enough to render him dangerous to 
their private interests. 



SECTION n. 

AUDOLPH OF HABSBURO. 

At this period count Rudolph, of the house of Habsburg, 
had acquired by his talents, boldness, and popular manners, 
the esteem of the higher ranks ; as well as of the citizens, 
whom he had frequently protected against the oppressions 
of the barbarous and despotic lords in their vicbity : he had 
long been the declared protector and chief of the ciues of 
Zurich and Strasburg, and of the forest cantons which are 
»tuated at the entrance of the Alps of St. Grothard. EBs 
hereditary power was inconsiderable ; but as he had been 
richly endowed by nature, he found resources which insured 



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UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 



him success,, in his great capacity and military talents. His 
manners displayed the frankness and sincerity which distin- 

giish a great man* Such was the chief whom the princes of 
ermany placed on the throne of the empire. A. D. 1273. 

Rudolpn conducted the a&irs of his government widi 
paternal aignity, and with the benevolence which he had 
been accustomed tp exercise toward the meanest of his 
people. He made no display of external magnificence, but 
founded his authority entirely on his merit ; and continued, 
in great engagements, to evince as much contempt of death, 
as when he had no crown to lose. He contributed to the 
prosperity of the empire in n^any respects, and particularly 
to the restoration of its internal peace ; and he laid the foun- 
dation of the future greatness of his own house. Rudolph 
^compelled Przemysl Ottocar, king of Bohemia and duke of 
'Austria, to acknowledge his feudal subordination: but the 
latter renewed the war, at the instigation of his consort; 
and the emperor, on the Marchfeld m Austria, obtained a 
decisive victory. A. D. 1278. The king was betrayed 
by some of his people, whom he had irritated by many ty* 
rannical proceedings, and was put to death, in his night, 
by two noblemen of Stiria. 

A. D. 1279. /Rudolph concluded a peace with the 
young kmg Wencedaf, whom he left in possession of his 
hereditary dominions, and married to his daughter, aprincess 
of great beauty. Austria, Stiria, Carinthia, and Cfarniola, 
were confiscated as vacant fiefe, and remained for four years 
under the immediate tutelage of the crown. After havmg 
obtained the consent of the electors at the diet of Augsbui^ 
(A. Ij>. 1282.), the emperor mvested his two sons, counts 
Albert and Rudolph, with the duchy of Austria, Stiria, Win- 
disraark, and Camiola, {is fie& of the empire. To the 
landgrave Meinhard of Tyrol, of the bouse of the counts 
of Goritz, who had always been his faithful firiend, and whose 
daughter was married to count Albert, he gave the duchy 
of Carinthia. 

Such was the beginning of jthe dominion of the house of 
Habsburg over its more considerable hereditary territories 
within the empire. The landgraviate m Upper Alsaoe 
devolved upon it by inheritance, tt^ether with estates in 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 



Swabia, to which king Rudolf added his tnother's ioheritaiice, 
the county of Kiburg, including Baden and Lenzburg; 
together with the possession of Lucern, Freiburg, the pro- 
tectorship of Sekingen, and some insulated estates, which 
he ^cc[uired by various compacts. 



SECTION III. 

ADOLF AI^D ALBERT, KINGS OF THE GERMANS. 

A* D. 1291. Rudolf died in advanced age, after hav- 
ing confirmed the power of his own family, ?md oonferred 
the greatest benefits on the empire by the restoration of 
public order and tranquillity. The electors, partly fix)m • 
dislike, and partly through jealousy of his son Albert, raised 
count Adolf, of the house of Nassau, to the throne. A. D. 
1292. 

The family of Nassau is descended fix)m Otho, the brother 
of that Conrad who had obtained the crown of Germany 
at the extinction of the Carlovingian dynasty. This Otho 
was a count, and resided at Laurenburg, on the Lahn : his 
family became divided into several branches, from one 
of which, viz. fi^m the house of Weilburg, Adolf was de- 
scended. 

The revenues attached to the rbyal office had been di- 
minished, by a third-part, since the death of Ferdinand 11. : 
several of them had been bestowed by Rudolf on nobles of 
different ranks. This decline obliged those kings, who 
possessed but moderate hereditary wealth, to contrive ex- 
traordinary means of supporting their authority, and Adolf 
cast his eye on Thuringia. The margrave Albert, of 
Meissen, sovereign of that country, who was possessed with 
an unnatural hatred against his legitimate sons, sold Thu- 
ringia to Adolf, to the exclusion of them, and in favor of a 
bastard son. Partly in order to obtain the money necessary 
for this purchase, Adolf entered into a subsidiary treaty 
agamst France with ipdward king of England. Meanwhile 
Albert of Austria took advantage of this, and of other cir- 
cumstances adverse to the influence of the king, formed a 



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tJNlTKRSAL HISTOBT. 5 

strooig pftr^ i^;ainst hnn, and procured fainiself to be deeted 
in his stead. Adolf, who was a valiant commander, oootend-r 
ed unsuccessfully for his dignity, and fell, as it is said, by the 
hand of hisri^. A. D. 1298. 

Kmg Albert was one of the firs{ princes who, in the ad- 
ministration of their governments, brought into practice the 
principles of the present monarchies. The privileges of the 
nobles and the rights of the people, were the objects of his 
detestation, because they continually opposed obstacles to 
his wiU. He endeavored to carry his arbitrary designs 
into execiiticKi, in every possible mode, by military force : 
and, m order to maintain the power of his arms in sufficient 
vigor, he found it necessary to extend his territories, as the 
countries already subjected to his swa;^ were not able to fiir- 
nish resources commensurate with his ambitious i»ojects. 

He also endeavored to a^randize himself at the expense 
of the margraves of Meissen ; and after many dissenaons 
with his brother-in-law Wenceslaf, which procured him no 
advantage, he'availed himself of an opportunity afforded by 
the death of that nobleman^s heir (A. D. 1306.), in whom 
the royal family of Bohemia became extinct, in order to 
compel the states to elevate his own son to the throne. On 
the failure of the house of Vlaarding in the person of John, 
grandson of William count of Holland and Zealand, who 
Sad formerly been elected king of the Grermans, he at- 
tempted to appropriate those sovereignftes, and at the same 
time alarmed die petty tribes in the Alps which bordered 
on his hereditary dominions. He subdued Rudolf, arch<p 
bishop of Salzbu]^, and oppressed his successor Conrad : 
he ccmtended against the opposition which began to mani- 
fest itself in Stiria, and infringed upon the liberties of IHenna. 

This active prince attained the proposed object of almost 
all his enterprises. He humbled the states, but drew upon 
himself so much detestation on that account, that his neigh-^ 
bors entered into a confederacy i^ainst him : his activity 
enabled him to dissipate their immature plans, but he 
obtained no , further advantage from his good fortune. In 
Bohemia,^ Hungary, and Bavaria, the admmistration of 
afiirs was in disorder, and the authority of th^ sovereign 
' in a precarious state ; but the general aversion to Albert 

VOL. III. 1 * 



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6 • tTNIVERSAL HISTOBT. 

8uffic$ed to preserve all th^se countries fitxn sutjeictioQ to 
bis nway. He was assassinated, not without the concur* 
fence, as is supposed, of several princes, by his nephew 
John, of whose inheritance he unjustly retailed possession 
(A. D. 1S08.) ; and his house was excluded, during four gen- 
erations, from the throne of Germany. This was the event 
of the administration of a prince who possessed many good 
' and great qualities, but who neglected to deserve and ac- 
quire the affection and confidence of his people. 



SECTION IV. 

THE HOUSE OF LtTXEMBURG. 

Henry, count of Luxemburg, who was recommended 
only by his personal merit, succeeded to the throne of 
Germany. He took advantage of the hatred of the Bohe- 
mian nobles to the family of Albert, and of the need in 
which they stood of his authority for their protection, in 
order to induce them to bestow their crown upon his son 
John : and thus the sceptre of Bohemia, after the death of 
the mi^ided Wenceslaf, the last descendant of the anciep^ 
Idngs, and after the short reign of Rudolf of Austria, and_ 
the weak administration of ]Henry of Carinthia, came into 
the hands of the counts of Luxemburg. John, who mar- 
ried the princess Elizabeth, sister of Wenceslaf, was an ener- 
getic and courageous prince. He and his successors opposed 
not less resistance to the rising greatness of the house of 
Habsburg, than the latter, in modern times, have maintained 
against the growing power of Prussia. 



SECTION V. 

NAPLES AND SICILY. 

It will be necessary, before we relate the expedition of 
king Henry VH. into Italy, to take a view of the state of 
that countiy since the time when Clement 11^. and Charles 
of Apjou had extirpated the family of Hohehstaulbn. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTOBT. . 7 

The latter prince was king of Naples and Sicilyj and had 
been invested with the chief temporal .dignity in Rome, 
under the tide of Senator : he was justly hated for his ava- 
rice, inhumanity, and haughtiness ; and was besides a foreign- 
er, and of a nation whose ^manners were in many respects 
opposite to those of the Italians. But Rudolf, king of the 
Germans, was so far from foiTning a powerful party m Italy, 
that he sold privileges to many of the cities, which became 
the foundation of their liberties. The nobles were also 
animated by a desire of independent power ; and it was in 
this spirit that John Orsini, who succeeded to the chair of 
St. Peter, under the name of Nicholas III., endeavored to 
erect principalities for his family in Lombardy and in Tus- 
cany (A. D. 1277.), and was accordingly the more anxious, 
to find occupation at horne for his troublesome neighbor 
Charles. 

With this view he fomented discontents among the sub- 
jects of that prince, whfch were augmented by the establish- 
ment of the Inquisidon. The more they suffered from the 
Vexations and oppressions of Charles and his French favor- 
ites, the more they were iijclmed to listen to the }^roposals 
of Cdnstantia of Hohenstaufen, queen of Arragon, who ve- 
hemently urged her husband Peter, and her sons, to revenge 
her family, and to raise themselves to a higher degree of 
.power and splendor. The pope, however, who favorbd 
these plans, died, and was succeeded by Martin IV., a 
French cardinal, who was guided by totally diflferent inten- 
tions ; but designs, which are projected in genuine accordance 
with the public feeling, often produce their efect alter their 
authors have ceased to direct their execution. 

A. D. 1282. The astronomer Brunetti, in Romagna, 
and the physician John Procida, in Sicily, communicated 
on the same day the signal for the universal massacre of 
the French. Peter of Arragon, soon after this occurrence, 
was called to the throne of Sicily : Charles in vam had re- 
course to* arms, and in vsun the pope launched his maledic- 
tions : the former died of vexation for his lossj and the 
descendants of the grand-daughter of the emperor Fred- 
erick maintained, for centuries, the dominion which they 
owed, in this instance, to the will pf the Sicflians. TTie 



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8 UNIVKBSAL HlSTOn* 

house of Anjou retained the kii^doin of Naples, d»B 
tory in the vicbity of Rome, and the marquisate of AncoiMU 
Frinces of conunanc&g talent, descended from this 
family, acquired the crowns of Hungary, Dalmatia, Slavonia, 
Croatia, and Poland. No royal French &mily had pos- 
sessed more extensive territories since the time of Charle- 
main : and if their dommions had been united under one 
head, or had been capable of forming a whole, it would have 
become even in that age the greatest power in Eurc^. 

SECTION VL 

THE POPE. 

After the popes had succeeded in subjecting all the 
princes and people of the Western world to their spiritual 
authority, they began to acquire temporal dominion in Italy, 
by the terrors of religion as well as by earthly weapons, 
for the holy see, and frequently for their .own relatives. 
The artifices which it was necessary to practise in ord6r to 
attain these objects, involved the court ot Rome in projects, 
in the pursuit of which the foundations of its greatness were 
utterly neglected ; fbr its reputation diminished in propor- 
tion as it approached to the character and principles dis- 
played in the courts of temporal princes. The obscurity 
also in which the truth had hitherto been enveloped, 
speedily began to be dbsipated ; and the papacy had never 
sustained a severer shock than that which it received in the 
course of the contest^ between Boni&ce the Eighth and 
Philip the Fair of France. 

Cardinals of the fiunily of Colonna, flying from the per- 
secution of the pope, who, whether jusdy or unjustly, was 
excessively enraged against them, sought refuge in the court 
of F^rance. The king was now engaged in a quarrel with 
Rome, in which he had involved himself by venturing to 
displace and imprison a bishop, and by imposing a ti^ of a 
te^ on the estates of the church; and be was therefore 
inclined to give the exiles a favorable reception. Boniface 
asserted the principle of the universal and supreme authority 



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UNTTEBSAIi BISTORT. 9 

of his chair, oyer ail spiritual and temporal powers ; and 
reminded the king that he reigned only by delegation from 
himself. Philip caused this bull to be burnt in the pres- 
fflice of an assembly of the ecclesiastical and temporal lords, 
and summ(Hied the states-general of his kingdom. He 
represented to this assembly, that Boniface, by means of 
fraud and violence, had caused himself to be illegally elevat- 
ed to the pontifical dignity ; and that he was now enid^v- 
oring to rob^him (the king) of the authority which had been 
conferred upon him by God : he appealed to the judgment 
of the next general council 'of the church ; and untH that 
should take pldce, he forbade all conmiunicatloii with the 
Romish see. 

The king, understanding at the same time that Boniface 
• was endeavoring to excite Albert, the German monarch, to 
war against him, sent the banished Sciarra Colonna mto 
Italy, together with William Nogaret, a French com- 
mander, who was hostile to the forms of the Romish ritual. 
^ These emissaries foubd the pope m the little town of 
^ Anagni, without any meaile of defence, but clothed in the 
insignia of his dignity, and resolved rather to die than to 
yisld. They treated him with contumely, and shut him up 
in that place ; until at length some of the noblemen of the 
vicbity taldng up arms in order to procure his liberation, 
his persecutors quitted Anagni on the third day. The con- 
sequence of this transaction was, that Boniface, tha^ whom 
no pope since the days of Gregory the Seventh had a higher 
feeling of his dignity, died, in the space of thirty-five days, 
of grief and vehement indignation. A. D. 1303. His 
measures had been consonant with ancient precedent, and 
were justified by the existing regulations ; but he was not 
aware of the character of his opponent, or of the alteration 
which had taken place in the spirit of the age ; and this 
heigligence in observing the progress of the prevailing ideas 
continued to accelerate the decfine of the papal power. 

A. D. 1305. Philip received the pardon of his ofilences 
fitJm Benedict the Nmth ; and when Clement the Fifth, 
archbishop of Bourdeaux, with the consent of the king, 
ascended the papal chair, he continued to reside in France, 
and clhiefly at Avignon : his six immediate successors, all of 



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10 UNIVEBSAL HMTOBT* 

whom were of French descent, in this respect followed hm 
example. 

But the holy see, at this period, had to contend with no 
Henrys or Hohenstaufens ; nor did the daring spirit of 
Philip descend on any of his successcHrs : establi^a usage^ 
roenaicant fnars, and thei InquisiticKi, rendered the papacy 
apparently bvincible ; but the popes, while they resided in 
a foreign country, were no longer the advocates of the free^ 
dom of Italy and of Europe ; and there existed at that pe- 
riod no apprehaision of a universal monarchy. The sove- 
reigns, on the other hand, had now established their power 
on more lasting foundations, on the influence of gpld and 
arms : they acquired a more extensive influence over their 
people, and beheld with indignation th^ ma^tude of those 
sums which were incessantly transmitted to the pope. 

The pursuits of schola^c learning fiimished an exercise 
for reflection ; a!nd what was of far greatei/ importance, pa- 
triotic citizens, possessed of talent and courage, began to 
write with freedom in their native language ; and the bold- 
ness, the ironical style, and the happy representations which 
their works contained,, acquired the approbation of the higher 
and most influential classes. 



SECTION vn. 

THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS, 

The rising republics of It^ had originally attached them- 
selves to the party of the Gudphs, .mrough apprehension 
of the Germans : during the latter days of the emperor 
Frederick, and subsequently to his death, the young Eze- 
lino di Romano was at the head of the Ghibellines. 

One of his ancestors, who was a German, had received 
jfrom the emperor Conrad the Second the fiefs of Onara 
and St. Romano, in the dominions of Padua and Asole, as a 
reward for his services ; and under Frederick Barbarossa, 
one^of his family (also named Ezelino), had foueht in the 
cause of freedom, as commander of the towns of Trevigi 
and Vicenza, and afterwards of the confederacy of Lom*. 



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UNITKRSAL HISTOttT. 11 

bardy . Frederbk the Second gave his iOe^timate daughter 
in marriage to yoiin| Ezelino, who in retum^put the em- 
peror in possession oi the towns of Trevigi and Padua, and 
received the appointment of general of the imperial arms in 
Italy. Ezelino was laid under the great bann by Innocent 
the Fourth, as a disturber of the peace of the country, and 
on account of his unprecedented cruelties ; and Padua was 
taken from him by Fontana, archbishop of Ravenna : but 
be soon began to exert himself, and commenced his re- 
vengeful operations against Padua, which had deserted his 
cause, by enclosing 13,000 of the citizens of that place in 
the ancient Roman amphitheatre at Verona, part ot whom 
he destroyed by fire, and the rest by depriving them of food : 
be razed Vicenza to its foundations, conquered Mantua, took 
possession of Tuscany, and defeated the forces of the Mi- 
lanese. At length he fell into the hands of his enemies, 
and died of his wounds : but his^ brother Alberigo, and his 
whole &mily, were put to death by the most dreadiiil tor- 
tures. All the cities recovered their freedom, and pur- 
chased from king Rudolf the right of exercising those privi- 
leges which had hitherto been reserved for the empire. 

From this itime forward republics began to appear in 
Italy. Government was intrusted, to the ancient families ; 
but the rpmains of factions stiD produced so much insecu- 
rity, that even in the towns the houses of the great were 
surrounded with strong towers and batdements, and fre- 

Juendy with fosses. The most trifling occurrence pro- 
oced skirmishes in the streets ; and 3ie victor m these 
contests frequendy became the tyrant of his native city, untU 
his rivals, as powerful and ambitious as himself, boldly 
availed themiselves of his unguarded moments, and destroyed 
his power ; or until the oppressed citizens secretly invited 
some fortunate adventurer, or one of the prmces of France 
or Naples, to assist them in regainii^ freedom. Treachery, 
conspiracy, and assassination by poison and by the dagger, 
came at last to be considered as necessary means of per- 
sonal security; and all the transactions of civil life were 
'often for a longtime interrupted. 

From the midst of these disorders the light of knowledge 
began to dawn, and virtues to display themselves, worthy 



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^9 nJ9IV£BSAL HISTORY. 

of the ancient Greeks and Romans. As tfae fife of nature 
is maintaiined by the action and reaction of opposing powers j 
and as religion is not designed to afford continual repose iii 
this state of existence^ but to fortify us for the struggles of 
life ; so the human faculties and the energy of the soul 
stand in need of great exertions, and of impediments which 
appear at first sight insurmountable, in order that, by re-acdng 
upon themselves, they may awaken, develope, and exalt 
those powers with which the Creator has endowed us. 



SECTION vm. 

FLORENCE. 

Florence was governed by the descendants of those no- 
bles who had founded the city on the ruins of Fiesole, at 
the foot of a mountain, on the smiling shores of the Arno : 
they had gradually increased its extent, protected its infant 

e>pulation, and purchased privileges for its benefit. The 
uondelmonti, the Amidei, the Bonati, and the Uberti, 
were the chief families of the city. 

It happened in the thirteenth century, than a widow of 
the family of the Donati wished to many her only daughter, 
a lady ot great beauty, to one of the Buondelmonti. The 
young knight, who was ignorant of her intentions, had given 
his promise to a daughter of the house of Amidei ; but as 
h§^was on some occasion passing the house of the Donati, 
the mother appeared at the door, entered mto conversation 
with him, and pressed him to recall his promise to the 
Amidei: Buondelmonti, influenced by the wealth and 
power of the Donati, as well as by the uncommon beauty of 
the young lady, consented to the prlposal. When the 
Amidei were informed of this afiair, they entered mto a 
confederacy with their relations, the Uberti, and resolved 
to put Buondelmonti to death : some of the family hesi- 
tated, lest the stability of the republic should be endangered 
by the result of the contest ; but they were determined to 
proceed by the impetuosity of Moscha Lamberti, who ex- 
claimed, " The man who is always calculating results never 



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imiTEIMAL HISTORY. 18 

ventures to act !" Accordingly, at die fesdvil of Easter, 
the^ posted four resoliKe men in the castle of the Amidei, 
which was situated close by the bridge over the Amo ; and 
when the knight, who was easily recognized at a distance 
by his snow-white horse, passed it according to, his custom, 
•they sallied forth and kiUed him at the foot of a statue of 
Mars which stood near the spot. 

The great families divided theii^dves thenceforward mto 
parties, fortified themselves against each other, and aug- 
mented their own power by all possible means. The em- 
peror Frederick declaring himself on the side of the Uberti, 
their adversaries were compelled to quit the c^ and retire 
to their estates ; but when, after the decease of me emperor, 
Ezelino had faUen, and the Ghibellines had become dispers- 
ed, Sylvester de' Medici availed himself of this opportunity, 
and with the assistance of a powerful party aniong the citi- 
zens, banished the Uberti in their turn, and mtioduced a 
regular form of government. Florence was now divided 
into six districts, from each of which two anziani, or elders, 
were annually elected : the head man of the people, and the 
criminal judge, in whose hands the supreme authority in all 
political, civil and criminal afiairs was entrusted, were chosen 
during the short period of their administration, from the 
other Italian cities, in order that they might be die less ex- 
posed to the temptation of partiality. Tlie citizens capable 
of bearing arms were arranged under twenty city banners, 
and the peasants linder seventy-six country standards ; and 
for each of these companies a captain was annually elected 
at Whitsuntide. The point of union in every battle was a 
large chariot hung with red ctoth, and drawn by oxen, and 
bearing the great banner, which, at the commencement of 
every campaip, was delivered with great solemnity to the 
city commander, by the whole body of citizens assembled 
m the new market. The sound of the great bell, Martmella, i 
which, was incessantly tolled for a month previous to the 
commencement of the expedition, served to announce the 
feud and to summon the military power of the country: 
it was carried with the army into the field, and was employed 
to gve the signal for every enterprise ; for it was hdd dis- 
honoraldeto attack the enemy by surprise. 

VOL. III. 2 



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14 umrcBSAL history* 

Florence soon became the most powerful city in T^is- 
cany, and reckoned Pistoja, Arezzo, and Siena, among the 
number of its allies. Vdterra was destroyed, and her cit- 
izens, as well as the inhabitants of several fortresses on the 
Roman side, incorporated with the population of Florence ; 
which became so populous, that after the plague, which 
has been bcomparaDly described by Boccacio, had swept 
away 96,000 persons, it still remained sufficiently powerml 
for the defence of its freedom and dominion. 

The Ghibellmes, who had been either banished or excluded 
from all share in the administration of public afiairs, omitted 
no opportqnity of disturbing the internal tranquillity of the 
state ; and the contests thus excited frequently produced 
chanees, more or less important, in the form of ue constitu- 
tion, but uniformly to the dbadvantage of the ancient fami^ 
lies : for as the people became accustomed to arms, it was 
found the more difficult to refuse to the defenders of their 
country equal rights and powers with the superior classes. 

Affiiirs were in this state when Gen Cancellieri, of a good 
family in Pistoja, received a severe wound in a tournament, 
from his kinsman Lore. When Lore went, by his father's 
command, to beg pardon of the father of his wounded rela- 
tive, the latter replied, " TTie wounds inflicted by iron are 
' to be healed by iron, and not by words," and caused the 
hand of the unfortunate youth to be cut off. All Pistoja 
was now divided into parties, the difierent families flew to 
arms, and the Donati of Florence declared themselves on 
one side, and the Cerchi on the other. As the young men 
of the house of the Donad rode out with their friends, during 
the festivals of May, to see the dances of the country people, 
the Cerchi rushed forcibly through their ranks and provoked 
a batde. From that time arose the &cUons of the black and 
the white ; the former of which colors was adopted by the 
Guelphs, while the Ghibellines chiefly associated themselves 
to the latter. The Ghibellines, together with their illustri- 
ous poet, Dante Allighieri, a chief magistrate of the com- 
monwealth, were overcome by the superior power of the 
Gruelphs, and banished from the city. 

Florence was ccmtinually improving, notwithstandineall 
these disturbances, in population and magnificence. The 



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wm 



UNIVERSAL HISTOBT. 15 

tower of Robert, one of ^e earliest masterpieces of aicbi- 
tecture, ivas raised during this period by the skilful band of 
Giotto. Universal prosperity was diniised by comineKcei 
while some particular families had the good fortune to ac- 
quire ^reat wealth, and obtained accordingly the higbeft 
distinction m the commcmwealtb. 



SECTION IX. 

VENICE. 

The constitution of Venice was also formed during the 
13th cientury. It had long been the policy of this city to 
attach itself to that party on the continent which appeared to 
promise the most powerful protecticm for its liberty. Its 
maritime commerce imparted to its citizens a growing spirit 
of enterprise, which was roused into new activity by the ccm- 
quest of the^^ietians in Dalmatia, and by the acquisttioa 
of several islands which fell into their hands after the occu- 
pation of Constantmople by the crusaders. * The Venetians 
possessed ^^ territory on the continent of Italy, but laid the 
foundation of their power on the sea. 

Each of the four islands on which the city is built had, 
in the beginning, its separate government : the offices of * 
government were few, and seldom the objects of ambition. 

The several islands united themselves only in time of 
war under a common leader, until Paulutius Anafestus ob- 
tained the supreme power for life under the name of Doge. 
A.D.709. 

The power of this officer was regulated by the laws ; and 
bstead of J)eing hereditary, it was conferred by the commu- 
nity, when it became vacant by death, on some person 
nombated by the other magistrates. The muldplication of 
affiiirs, to which few could apply themselves without ihtemip- 
tion to their necessary bu^ess, afterwards gave occasion to 
the formation of a regular council, consisting of 240 mem- ^ 
bers, and chosen from the nobles and the citizens. One de- 
partment of this body administered the financial, and another 
the judicial aliairs of the state. The elections were made 
6om the whole body of the citizens. 



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16 umVCBSAL BISTORT. 

In the period wbich succeeded the fidl of the imperial 
house of Hohenstaufen, during wUch the cities of Itaty 
were oppressed by a multitude of petty tyrants, it appeared 
dangerous to allow free access to the deliberatioQS of the 
council ; not only because secrecy and a more circumscribed 
interest were necessary to the safety of the state, but also 
because the effect of such enterprises as m^t be resolved 
upon seemed in great measure to depend on the same cir- 
cumstances. The first experiment was made on such of 
the members as were vassals of the king of Cyprus : these 
were excluded fix)m all such deliberations as mid reference 
to that kingdom. The prohilntion was soon afterwards ex- 
tended to all who were vassals of the continental princes of 
Italy in the territory of Ferrara and Treviso. It was further 
extended so as to include all the kinsmen of the persons 
above described. These were excluded firom the great 
council, and from the civil tribunal ; or at least firom govern- 
ing their decisions, or hearing the votes whiclf were given 
in those assemblies. When the rulers had thus proved by 
experiment that they might venture on setting limits to the 
eli^bility of candidates, in the eighth year of &e administra- 
tion of the do^e Petrp Gradenigo, they effected the ereat 
serratura del consMio (A. D. 1297 .j, by which all mose 
who had not sat in me great council within that year, or the 
four years preceding, as well as their descendants, were for 
ever deprived of me privilege of being elected to that 



The senators had taken the precaution, befi)re this last 
measure was proposed, to cause all the most powerful mdi- 
viduals of the different districts to be elected to the council : 
ifaey had also given to the whde body of citizeni, the un- 
limited right of fishing and fowling ; to the Pievegatins, the 
privilege of dining annually with the d(^e, and of embracing 
him on that occasion ; to the Nicolotti they had granted the 
distinction of bbding the felucca of their district to the 
magnificent Bucentaur which annually conveyed the doge, 
when he went out on the festival of the ascension, to 
perform the ceremony of throwing the wedding-ring into 
the sea ; and they had entitled the inhabitants of thb isle 
of St. Maria Formosa to receive a yeariy visit from the 



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vmrmnsAh histoey. 17 

doge, and the wnaH or chief lords. Numerous theanical 
entertamments h^d also been appointed, and great activity 
communicated to commercial enterprise. The ultimate 
designs w^re so carefully concealed, that when the gas- 
taldo of the JSTicolotti wished to be released from the pres- 
idency of the tribunal of property {del proprio)^ which be- 
longed to him by ancient custom, the government refused 
consent, until that officer extorted it by many solicitations, 
and by engaging to pay to the doge and themselves an 
annual tribute of a thousand pounds of salt fish, as a recoro- 
peuse.for the trouble which tney undertook. The senators 
were denominated the " pregadi," or the " much entreated,** 
on account of the labor attached to their office, which it 
was supposed that none would willingly undertake. 

A. D. 1310. In the last year but one of the reign of 
the same doge, Bajamonte Tiepdo, Basseggi and Querini, 
who were themselves nobles, fcnrmed the resolution of over- 
turning the government, and collected a party among the 
citizens for that purpose: their designs were dbcovoed, 
but they nevertheless flew to arms, and a severe contest 
ensued, whiph lasted a whole day. At length a convention 
was concluded, by whiqh the conspirators were permitted 
taleave the city. For die investigation of this, afikir a com- 
mission, consisting of ten members of the senate, was ap- 
Sointed, whose authority was at first limited to fourteen 
ays : it was afterwards prolonged for six weeks, and again 
for an indefinite ipetiod ; until at lei^th, while Francesco 
Dandolo reigned as doge (A. D. 1335.), it was declared 
perpetual, under the name of the council of ten. The 
province of this body is to watch over all popular move- 
ments '^ tending to a breach of the peace,'' and over all 
such abuses of power as may give occasion to such dis- 
turbances, 

SECTION X. 

MILAN. 

A. D. 131 1. A year had elapsed after this event, when 
Henry VII., king of the Germans, entered Italy. He found 
VOL. ni. 2 * 



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18 UNITBMAL HI8T0KT. 

Milan divided betvmen the fiuniljr deOa Torre^ who were 
ctaeAy Cruelphsy and the Visoonti, who bdeeged to the 
&ction of the GhibelliDea. Guidotto della Torre, com- 
mander of the city, and Matteo ViseoDti, an old and expe^ 
rieoced nobleman, appeared to have laid aside the animositj 
of their respective parties ; but the Germans^ excited dii<- 
oontent among the citizens. The artful Matteo seemed to 
' have forgotten, from affection to the cause of his countrVf 
his former attachment to the imperial party, and secretqr 
contributed to excite the daring spirit which had animated 
the ancient Milanese against the Fredericks : at length an 
insurrection broke out ; and no sooner had the nobles of ibe 
Torre taken up arms for the purpose of quelling it, than 
Matteo ran to the palace, declaimed against the ever hostile 
dispositions of that house, and agamst a design whub he 
imputed to them of obtabing possession of. the person of 
king Henry, in a tumult excited by themselves : this project, 
as he said, could only be defeated by himself, with the assist- 
ance of the German troops. The latter, inflamed with 
rage, marched under the guidance of Matteo against Gui- 
dotto, who was compelled to resist in his own defence. 
Visconti, by the assistance of the Germans, killed the greater 
part of the house of Tonre ; the rest were banished, and 
their property confiscated ; and Matteo was shordy after- 
wards appointed vicar-general of the empire (A. D. 1317.) : 
he assumed, after a few years, the tide of sovereign lord of 
Milan, the government of whkh continued in his house. 



SECTION XI. 

SAVOY. 

During the wars of the emperors, the counts of Savoy had 
availed themselves of the advantages of their situation ; 
which enabled them to attack an army either at its entrance 
into the passes of the Alps, or when it issued, disabled by 
fatigue, irom the recesses of the mountains. Hence all 
parties sought their alliance ; and the emperots, in particular, 
bestowed upon diem a very extensive vicar-generalship in 



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the empm. The noUemen who inhabited tiie vkinkf 
either sought protecdoa m vohmtary submission^ or wece 
subdued by force of arms : and the more they were divided 
among themselves, the greater was the influence of the 
count, who subjected to his power the \<x^ of Tarantaise, 
and tamed the haugh^ independence of Turin and Asti. 

While the count 6f Savoy on one side opened the passes 
of the Alps to the imperial arms, he formed at the same 
time a league of amity with the kings of England, who were 
also powerful in France, where the count possessed territo- 
ries in Dauphin6 and in other provinces : it was to his coi^ 
nection with England that Peter of Savoy owed the exten* 
sion of the power of his family in the Pays de Vaud. 

The latter country was divided among several powerful 
chiefs and a great number of inferior ones ; and it was doubt- 
fid whether the influence of the Upper Burgundy, of the 
empire, or of Savoy wodd acquire the superiority. When, 
after the deadi of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, Kichard of 
Cornwall, brother of the kii^ of England, was invited among 
other princes, by some of the electors, to the vacant throne, 
Savoy immediately recognized his title. At this period the 
count reduced under his sway the towns and fortresses of 
Moudon, Romont, Murten, and Iverdun, the latter of which 
made a vigorous resistance : and Richard, on his part, con- 
firmed the possession of the Pays de Vaud to the house of 
Savoy. A. D. 1263,. The territories of this family now 
extended from the waters of Nice to the Aar. The counts 
took no very deep interest in the contests of the Ghibellines 
andGuelphs; but occasionally a^randized themselves at 
the expense of both parties. 

Such also was the policy which Amadeus advised king 
Henry to pursue ; when the latter, as he enierged from the 
mountains at Susa and contemplated the magnificent pros- 
pect wMch Italy presented to his view, shed tears as he 
reflected on the factions by which it was torn. This mon- 
arch, however, endeavored to restore the salutary influ- 
ence of a universal sovereignty in Italy: but his arrival 
excited the anxiety of all those states which hai rendered 
themselves independent Florence hastily concluded an 
alliance with Robert king of Naples, notwithstanding that 



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20 UmYKRSAL BISTORT. 

the latter was so dangerous an enemy of the freedom of 
Tuscany ; and in order to conciliate the domestic Actions 
of that state, a part of the banished citizens were recalled : 
the Orsini also, the roost powerful family in Rome, attached 
themselves at this conjuncture to the piirty of king Robert. 
Henry was preparing the means of a vigorous resistance to 
so many enemies, when he unexpectedly died at Pisa, de- 
stroyed, as it was supposed, by poison. A. D. 1313. 
His son John, who found sufficient occupation in confirm- 
ing the basis of his power in Bohemia, interested himself 
.but little either in the affiurs of Italy or in those of the im- 
perial ctown» 



SECTION XU 

LEWIS OF BAVARIA. 

The last-mentioned prince, however, favored the pre- 
tensions of Lewis of Bavaria, who was chosen kmg by one 
party of the electors ^A. D. 1314.), while the votes of the 
remainder fell on Frederick, duke of Austria. Thisf division 
produced disturbances in tlie empire which lasted four years, 
and were at last decided, on the field of Miihldorf (A D. 
1 322) , m favor of Lewis, who gave battle to Frederick be&re 
the latter could receive the remibrcement which his brother 
Leopold was bringmg to his assistance. The victory was 
decided chiefly by the unexpected arrival of the burgrave 
of Numberg, of whose approach tlie enemy was ignorant: 
the latter took king Frederick prisoner, together with many 
of the nobles of Austria ; some of whom, as the price of 
their ransom, acknowledged themselves as the vassus of the 
burgrave, whose fs^mily from that time possessed in Austria 
a feudal judicature. Henry, duke of Caruithia, was also 
made prisoner by king John, with whom he had formerly 
contended for the crown of Bohemia. Lewis, however, 
dreaded the jealousy of the princes of the empire and the 
influence df the pope, who was hostile to his interests ; and 
his views were directed toward Italy, where John of Bohemia 
was already endeavoring to stir up enemies against him 



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UiriVERSAL. HisrroRT. 21 

I 

among the Lombards : a]l these circumstances induced him 
to consent to a peace, which was honorable even to Fred- 
erick. A. D. 1325. 

Lewis, following the example of his four predecessors, 
endeavored to consdiidate the power of his family, which 
was divided into two branches : accordingly, at the extinc- 
tion of the reigning branch of the house of Anhalt in Bran- 
deoborg, he obtained the sovereignty of .that country for his 
eldest son, Lewis (A, D. 1322.); and king John, whose 
consent was necessary to this arrangement, was rewarded 
widi Egra and the Lausitz. 

Soon aftear the condusion of the treaty in which he had 
acknowledged Frederick as co-regent, Lewis took a jour- 
ney mto Italy. The pope, who resided at Avignon, was 
mduced to expose him by the influence of the court of 
France ; and the measures of the court of Rome were sup- 
ported by the policy df Robert, kmg of Naples. This 
opposition on the part of France was owing to die alliance 
of Lewis with England, who had married die sister of the 
king of that country, and had acquired great influence in 
the Netherlands by this connection. But we prefer to take 
another opportunity of discussing the consequences of these 
relations, rather than intemipt the history of the German 
emperors with the narrative of Italian afi&irs. 

Lewis long found an enemy in Germany in the parson of 
his brother Kudolf, the elector palatme. Such were Ihe 
intestine divisions which ever prevented the house of Wit- 
telsbach from attaining that power which the extent of its 
territories seemed to promise it. 

The policy of the house of Luxemburg and the influence 
of the pope, eflfectually destroyed the peace of king Lewis 
and of his family : and before the period of his death, which 
took place suddenly at the close of a laborious reign, some 
of the electors were already occupied in choosing a suc- 
cessor. A. D. 1347. V 



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22 vnvnasMh history. 

SECTION xm. 

CHABIiES THK FOUBTH. 

The imperial crown nether reverted to the hoiue of 
Nassau, although count Gerlach was now elector of May- 
ence, nor to that of Habsburg, though duke Albert was 
highly celebrated for his wisdom. After Edward^ king of 
England, had refused to accept it, and Frederick of Meissen 
had waived his pretensions for a sum of mon^y, count 
Giinther of Schwartzburg having at length yielded and 
closed his long opposition by a suspicious death, Charies of 
Luxemburg, son and successor ot king John, was univer- 
sally acknowledged emperor. He had civen ten thousand 
marks to the margrave of Meissen, and twenty-two thou- 
sand to count Giinther ; and had bestowed many presents 
and privileges on the otl)er electors. 

It appeared to be the chief object of Charles, during an 
administration of thirtv years, to increase the power and 
splendor of his house, by obtaming from the alienable 
domains and privileges the greatest possible amount of' 
money and other advantages. He was', beirides, carefiil to 
maintain such a degree of pomp as should support in public 
the ipajesty of the imperial crown and an appearance of 
consistency. 

He raised Mecklenburg and EUwangen to the dignity of 
principalities of the empire : he bestowed hereditary offices 
on the margrave of Meissen, and on the count of Schwarz- 
burg; and gave the tide of duke to his brother Wences- 
laf, count of Luxemburg, to the count of Bar, and to the ' 
margrave ot JuKers. On his journey into Italy, he sold 
freedom to some of the towns, and independent power to 
the tyrants who oppressed other parts of that country: but, 
on the other hand, he promised not to visit it aeain without 
•consent of the pope, and not to pass a night m Kome. 

He promulgated that fundamental lieiw of the empire, 
called the golden bull, which regulates the election of the 
German monarchs, and some other ppmts of the constitu- 



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UNIVKRSIAI^ HISTORT. 23 

tion ; and on this occasion he adopted the language of the 
ancient sovereigns of the world. 

In imitation of the policy of' his father, who had cast- 
trived to sever Silesia from its connection with Poland (A. 
D. 1335.), and to annex it to bis own dominions ; Charles 
availed himself of the unprincely disposition of his son-in- 
law Otho, son of king Lewis, in order to bring the sove- 
reignty of the marks of Brandenburg into his own family. 
A. D. 1373. His hereditary dominions noilir extended 
from the boundaries of Austria to those of Pomerania ; and 
^ere was no prince in all Germany who equalled him in 
riches, or who surpassed him in power, or in acquamtance 
with the interests of his house. 

.When Charles perceived that the conclusion of his life 
was approaching, he abandoned the customs levied on the 
Rhine to the electors, and gained the members of that body 
by different measures suited to their diverse inclinations and 
cut^umstances. One of these methods was a present of 
a hundred thousand florins, by which he secured the 
election of his son Wenceslaf to tlie title of king of the 
Germans, during his own life : for the emperor had derived 
too much assistance, in pursliit of the increase and confirm- 
ation of his power, from the imperial dignity, not to wish 
that his son might obtain it ; for in that age it was found 
that it ini^ht be made, by good management, to. repay the 
expenses it had cost. 



SECTION XIV. 

WENCESLAF. 

Wenceslaf too early and too decidedly evinced prin- 
ciples which were disagreeable both to the clergy and to the 
nobles. He allowed tiie former to retam no considerable 
share of influence ; he even proceeded to appoint Przemsyl, 
duke of Teschen, a lay prince, to the office of vice-chan- 
cellor of the empire; ana endeavored to arrogate to him- 
self the privilege of deciding on the claims and the conduct 
of the cardinals Vbo were contending for the papacy. He 



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24 UNITKBAAL HI8TOBT. 

a^peu-ed to encourage the resistance noade by the Rhenish 
!and Swabian towns against |he noble members of the 
societies of St. George and of the Golden Lion : bat when 
that confederacy^ consisting of ei^ty cities, became too 
powerful in consequence of its aj^nce with Switzerland, 
he seemed to view without displeasure its dissolution. In 
order to promote this change, he favored the establishment 
of the constitution of circles ; for as the circles consisted of 
spiritual and temporal principalities and of towns, and as the 
Imights had considerable innuence in some of them, there 
was but little danger of their being hiought to unite in 
Qoeproject against the emperor. 

The nobles of Bohemia, who thought him too partial to 
die people, made him a prisoner (A. D. 1394.), under pre- 
tence of violent and immoral conduct, and put him into the 
safe custody of the dukes of Austria. He made his escape : 
but ax years afterwards, on the most shallow pretences, 
was deposed by the spiritual electors (A. D. 1400.), and 
by the count palatine, who shortly afterwards became his 
successor. Frankfort and Aix-la-Chapelle refused to take 
any part in this transaction. Wenceslaf was so little like 
other men, that the crown appeared not to be necessary to 
his happiness ; he chose rather to content himself with his 
goveitiment of Bohemia, than to retain the imperial title 
without the power of pursuing those principles which he 
thought just and necessary ; aiid hence he did not long 
hesitate to execute the instrument of resignation that was 
demanded of him. 



SECTION XV. 

SIGISMUND. 

Frederick, duke of Brunswick, was elected m the 
place of Wenceslaf, but was murdered on his return by a 
private enemy. Rupert, count palatine of the Rhine, a 
prince of jprudent and upright intentions, next obtained the 
crown. After his death it was bestowed on Jodochus 
of Luxemburg, margrave of Moravia, a nephew of 



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Chailes the Fourth. A. P. 1410. Qa the deee83e uf this 
niODarchy which soon followed his election^ Sig^smund, king 
of Hungary, brother of Wencesla^ was unanimously chosen. 
A. D. 1411. Wenceslaf, who was still livbg^ enjoyed his 
dominion of Bohemia, and beheld with secret satisfaction 
the origin of the Hussites, who shook the power of the 
aristocracy which he hated and despised. 

Few princes have united a greater number of crowns than 
Sigishiund : he became possessor, in his early youth, of 
Hungary, Dahnatia, and Bosnia, by his marriage with his 
first wife, Mary of Anjou : eight years after his election as 
king of the Germans, be succQ^ded ta the throne of Bohe- 
mia, vacant by the death of his brother; he received the 
imperial crown from the pope ; and tp all these dignities he 
united the sovereignty of Moravia, Lausitz, Silesia, and 
Brandenbure. But having suffered his'royal safe conduct, 
which had been granted to John Huss, to be broken, in 
consequence of which this honest and zealous declaimer 
against the abuses of the church was burned alive at Con- 
stance (A. D. 1414.), Sigismund became so much the 
object of popular hatred, that he was obliged to mabtain a 
war of eighteen years' duration against Ziska, Procopius, 
and other leaders* of the Hussites ; and only a few months 
before Us death attained to the quiet possession of the Bo- 
hemian crown. This prince narrowly escaped captivity or 
death, by the arms of the Turks, in the battle of Nicopolis : 
and after the termination of the dismal imprisonment in 
which he was kept by the nobles of Hungary, he reigned 
in that country peacefully, but without performing any deeds 
of fame against the Ottoman power. The loss of almost 
the whole revenue of the German empire, and the turbulent 
disposition of the people, were impediments almost insur- 
mountable by the greatest talents. Sigismund was so desti- 
tute of money, that he was obliged to sell the electorate 
of Brandenburg for 400,000 marks, to the wise and valiant 
count of Nurnberg, Frederick of Hohenzollem. A. D. 1417. 
He received the sum of 100,000 marks from Frederick, 
margrave of Meissen, as the price of the electoral hat of 
Saxony, which he bestowed on the latter at the extinction 
of the electoral branch of the femilyof Anhalt (A. D. 1422.), 

VOL. III. 3 



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26 umrsAsAL history. 

without regard to the claims of that branch which resided 
at Lauenburg. He also alienated for a sum of money the 
hereditary estates of the family of Habsburg, of which the 
Swiss, by his order, had taken possession on behalf of the 
empire. A. D. 1416. Notwithstanding all these occur- 
rences, Sigismund was so active in the restoration of order 
in the church, and in other salutary reforms, that he was 
evidendy prevented from achieving great and laudable en- 
terprises by the want of power and not by defect of incli- 
nation. 

SECTION XVI. 

AUSTRIAN EKPERORS. 

The imperial power, debased by weak or unfortun&te 
princes or by defective policy, did not recover its. splendor 
after the death of Sigismund. Albert, duke of Austria, 
a prmce endowed with many estimable Qualities, was son- 
in-law to the late emperor; and the Hungarians, at his 
coronation, stipulated diat he should not accept the crown 
of Germany ; for the afiairs of the empire bad too frequently 
deprived them of the presence of their former sovereign, 
and had prevented him from giving any attention to me 
progress of the Turkish arms. Albert was also compelled 
to submit to a capitulation in Bohemia. But after the elec- 
tors had in vain mvited the margrave of Brandenburg to 
accept the crown, it was at length placed, with the consent 
of the Hungarians, on the head of Albert (A. D. 1438.), 
who however died when he had scarcdy found time to show 
the Turks that he designed to guard the boundaries of 
Christendom with greater vigilance. A. D. 1439. 

A. D. 1440. His posthumous son, Ladislaf, succeeded 
to his portion of the hereditary dominions in Germany, 
and to his claim of election to the kingdoms of Hungary 
and Bohemia. But the Hungarians, who stood in need 
of a powerful chief for the support of their tottering throne, 
elected Vladislaf king of Poland, during Ladislaf s minority ; 
and m Bohemia, George Podiebradsky, one of the most 
intelligent and enterprising noblemen of that country, united 



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UNIVERflAL HI8TOBT. 27 

the wishes of the prevuling facdoo, and of the impartial 
and honest part oi the community. The imperial crown 
was offered to Frederick, duke of Austria, who was obliged 
to give up a considerable portion of that half of the heredi- 
tary German dominions which belonged to his house. His 
power was so much diminished by this division, that nothbe 
but the name of his family, ana the public estimation of 
his character, could have recommended him to this highest 
dignity. The powerful house of Luxemburg, which had 
been perceptibly enfeebled under the latter reigns, was now 
extinct : and it was the object of the electors to choose a sove- 
reign who should not be sufficiently powerfiil to compel obe- 
dience. The electors of the palatinates of Saxony and of 
Brandenburg were either too enterprising, or too much 
dreaded for their power, to unite the votes m favor of their 
claims. 

SECTION xvn. 

NAPLES AND SICILY. 

Robert of Anjou, km^ of Naples, was one of the great- 
est princes who have reigned in Italy since the destruction 
of its imperial power; but after his death (A. D. 1343.), 
the greatness of his family fell mto decay through the pas- 
sions of its chie£i. His grandchild and successor Johanna 
caused her husband An&ew, who was of the Hungarian 
branch of her family, to be put to death (A. D. 1345.) ; 
and by this measure drew on herself and on her kingdom, 
the vengeance of his brother, Lewis the Great of France. 
In vain she sought protecdon in the power of two other hus- 
bands whom she successively mamed, and in the authority 
of the papal court : the vengeance of Uood overtook her 
through the arms of her cousin Charles, duke of Durazzo, 
who put her to death and took possession of her kingdom. 
A. D. 1382. 

A. D. 1386. Charles was murdered in his turn a few 
years afterwards, on account of his efhrts to place himself 
on the throne of Huneary: after which Lewis of Anjou, 
brother of Charles the Wise, l(mg of France, and adopted scm 
oj the unfortunate Johanna, laid claim to the kingdom of 



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28 UNIVERSAL HISTOAT. 

Naples. His pretensions were vain ; tar Lancelot, son of 
Charles of Dumzo, displayed such heroic qualities, that he 
not only left to Lewis (a cunning and voluptuous prince) 
the bare tide to the kingdom, but seemed almost to have 
secured the union of all Ualy. But in the midst of his vic- 
torious career, and before he had attained the fortieth year 
of his age, Lancelot, enamoref], durine the siege of Penieia, 
of the daughter of a physician of that place, gave peace to her 
country for her sake, and was rewarded by poison, which 
his mistress administered to him on the first opportunity^ 

A. D. 1414. His sister and successor, tne secona Jo- 
hanna, was an encourager of learning and a votary of evety 
species of enjoyment. Her intercourse with Fandolfelb 
Alop, a youth of low birth, excitmg scandal and iealousyi 
she was compeHed to choose a husband, and gave ner hand 
to Jaques de la Marche, a French prince, who had scarcely 
made himself acquainted with the military chiefi of the 
country, when, in confidence of their support, he caused 
himself to be proclaimed king. A. D. 141 5. The insulted 
princess committed the revenge of her injuries to Jacob 
Sforza of Cotknuola, a man who had been raised, by his 
courage, good fortune, and enterprismg spirit, from die con- 
dition of a peasant to. that of condottiere, or leader of k 
ntimerous band, wholly devoted to his service. He expell- 
ed the count de 1^ Marche, and aflerwards, in order to make 
himself of greater importance, quitted the service of the 
queen ; who, instead of buying him at the price which he 
expected, appointed Alfonso kmg of Arragon and Sicfly, 
who deserved the Surname of Wise, as heir to her possessions. 
A. D. 1420. 

The opposition of the titular kings of the family of An- 
jou was too feeble to make any efiectual impression ; their 
exertions were suflfcient only to preserve their contiguous 
dominion of Provence. Alfonso, who was well aware how 
probable it was that the views of the unstable court of Na- 
ples might undergo a change, endeavored to secure the for- 
tresses which commanded the city and the bay : but when 
Johanna perceived his intentions, she reconciled herself widi 
Sferza, expelled the Arragonese, and recalled the titulttr 
king Lewis. A. D. 1424. Alfonso, however, again ac- 



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UNIVERSAL RI8T0RT« 



qtiired her iavoi*, and after. her death forcibly maintained 
his claims. A. D. 1425. Naples and Siic^ily thus became 
re-united, after a separation of one hundred and seventy- 
three years. The independent spirit of the ancient Normans 
still existed among the powerful towns and the barons, who 
maintained tbeir privilege of preventing the king fiom im- 
posbg any taxes without the consent of the parliament ; in 
later times, however, the representation Of the municipal 
towns was transferred to the capital. The imposts were 
granted only for a limited period, and were at first raised 
only upon the produce of estates ; but they were afterwards 
extended to houses, and at length to articles of consumption, 
especially to bread, meat, cheese, and oil. 



SECTION xvm. 

THE POPES. 

The popes who resided at Avignon, appeared, for their 
own benefit, to favor the division of power in Italy ; for by 
this method they obtained adherents in opposition to the 
* influence of die emperor, none of whom were alone suffi- 
ciently powerful to become formidable to themselves. With 
these views Benedict XII., who was a prudent and m many 
respects an excellent pontiff, confirmed the authority of 
the chiefs who had iusurped the supreme power in some 
of the large cities : and the emperor Lewis, of the house 
of Bavaria, could think of no better way of revenging him- 
self, than by afibrding the same protection to those who 
had made similar attempts in the papal towns. Thei^e two 
SQvereiens, in reality, only sufifered a change to take place 
which Siey could not have prevented ; for even the author- 
ity of Lewis was not capable of re-establishmg supreme 
power in Italy : he would in vain have attempted to effect 
any considerable measure in Lombardy without the concur- 
rence of the Visconti : or in Tuscany, without that of Cas- 
truccio Castracani, the hero of Lucca. 

Italy became continually more and more divided into 
small and independent states : the house of Este, which 

VOL. HI. 3 * 



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90 UNIFXMAL mSVOBT. 

even yet contmuesto mgHf estaUisbed its autborit)r at Mo- 
• dena : that of Gkmzaga, at Mantua ; die famfly of Scala, 
at Verona and Panna ; and tliat of Carrara, at Padua. 
The confusion was augmented by the interference of John 
king of Bohemia, who took Bfescia and Bergamo, and 
whose design was to deprive the arms of Lewis of the supe- 
riority whMch dexterity or good fiirtune might have con- 
ferred upon him. 

Pesaro and Rimini, two noblemen of the house of Ma- 
latesta, made themselves sovereigns of Fano : and the ter- 
ritory of Ancona was subject to £e Montefeltro. It wouU 
occupy too much time to describe the characters of the 
Maiifredi, the Alidosi, the Qrdelaffi, and ihe Polenta, the 
heads of which families were in those ages sometimes the 
fiithers and sometihies the oppressors of their country ; 
while it not unfreijuendy hiq^pened that the sajne person 
assumed both these characters in successicMi. 

While the pre-eminence m RcHne was the object of con- 
tention between the Colonna and the Orsini, Nicholas Rien- 
li, a man of plebeian origin, who was inflamed by the 
enthusiasm of the ancients, endeavored to restore freedom 
to his native city by erectbg a tribunate of the people. 
The people of Rome took up arms in favor of this cherished 
name : they gained possession of the capitol, and drove out 
the enemies of freedom. Rienzi was a man of courage 
and integrity, and the revival of the virtues of ancient Rome 
was expected from his influence, when suddenly, as if ex- 
hausted by his exertions or oppressed by the greatness of 
his own designs, he took flight ; but was made prisoner by 
Charles IV. and sent in that character to the pope. Fran- 
cesco Baroncegli endeavored to carry on his protect ; and 
the papal court, in order to prevent the sqpcess of his plans, 
sent back Rienzi himself, who soon caused Bar(mcedi to 
be put to death, and immediately afterwards jnet his own 
fate, during an insurrection, from the hands erf* the Cokmna. 
The city was now in the utmost confusion ; and Clement 
VI. sent finir cardinals for the purpose of restorip^ order : 
this they speedily effected; for we year of jubilee was 
^preaching, and the people were mciined to submit to any 
conditions, rather than lose the profits of that festival by 



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ynifiUMAJU WHOM. Si 

sujf|gpfsHtptl@tr«^^ ia ^QOfoquence of 

t^ijc disordeiff. 

Afier the jubUee, the r^l^cs oC the towos «nd fortreasea 
cppttnued to prosecute their feuds ; the maimers of the peo- 
ple becaaie altogether barbcupous, and every sentunent was 
uvyn[iersed in the prevailing devotion to sensual pleasures ; 
QQithfi; justice aor hmnsMpaty had any influence, when op» 
posed to the desire of wealth. It was common amone the 
chiefs to cause the rivals of their power to be put to death 
ait the most confidential entertainments, by the sword or by 
poison ; or to pursue with dogs the enemies of their &mily 
or the powerful citizens. Bamaba Visconti was accom- 
panied by these ferocious beasts when he w^it through the 
streets of Milan to seize oae of the Ugofini, and shut him 
up, with his whole family, in gloomy towers where they 
i|rere suffered to die of hui^er and to be devoured l^ 
wooos. This was a heroic age, like tb^t (d the Atrida. 
'liie science of finance consisted in robbery, and the policy 
qf the rulers in perjury. The open exercise of arms gave 
place to the dexteri^ of the executioner ; and all Italy longed 
for the presence of a pope whose humane influence might 
put ai^ end to such temble excesses. These circumstances 
induced the beneficent Gregory IX., the nephew of Clement 
VI., to fix his residence at Home. A. P. 1376. The 
evil destiny which pursued the papacy during the whole 
of the 14th century, shortly afterwards decreed the death 
of Gregory (A. D. 1378.) ; and the cai-dmals were unable 
to decide wnether the vacant dignity should be bestowed 
CO an Italian, in compliance with the wishes of the people, 
or on a Frenchmmi, agreeably to the choice of the majority 
of the electors. Two cardinals refused to accept of the 
perilous honor ; but a third, Donate^ of Venice, already far 
advanced in years, was shown tp the people under the title 
of Urban VI. It is said that he had previously engaged to 
resig^ thp papal crown in a few days after bis electicm, but 
that he haa nevertheless determined to reign in opposition 
to the will of the most powerful cardinals, whom, consist- 
ently with the severity and ambition of his character, he op- 
pressed and irritated by every species pf insult. This con- 
duct occaidoned a conspiracy, which affi)rded him a welcome 



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32 UHIVCR0AL HISTORY. ' 

pretence for imprisoiiiiig all the cafdinab; biriiops, and odi^ 
prelates whom he suspected. Those who had the good 
fortune to escape assemUed at Fondi ; where, on the au- 
thority of Nicolo Spinelli, a Neapditan Jurist, they proceeded 
to a new election and made choice of cardinal Robert, the 
last descendant of the ancient counts of Genevois. The 
latter assumed the name of Clement VH. and repaired to 
Avignon ; which city had been for seventy years the resi- 
dence of the popes, and was now become their property by 
purchase. Urban put the imprisoned cardinals to tlie most 
dreadful tortures, and caused the greater part of them to be 
executed. 

The western part of the Christian world was now di- 
vided between two factions, the chie6 of which were em- 
ployed in mutually anathematizing each other, and in deliv- 
ering over the followers of the opposite party to the flames 
of hell. The most upright and intelligent mdividuals 
raised their voices for a long time, but in vain, against the 
corruptions of the church. Henry of Langenstein, a 
native of Hesse and a teacher at Vienna, was one of the 
earliest of those who proposed a universal council as a 
remedy for these evils. The acute and honest Kerre 
d'Ailly flourished at the same time, as weU as the eloquent 
and courageous Gerson, who was banished from France be- 
cause his sense of justice was tcx) rigid to bend before the pow- 
«rful ; and the ingenious and benevolent Nicholas de Cle- 
mangis, worthy of a better a^e. It frequently happened 
that the two popes nominated different individuals to the 
same benefice ; and every crime waas readily forgiven, on 
condition that the perpetrator should acknowledge the 
authority of the one or of the other. At this period 
Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti murdered his uncle at ^Glan, 
and his own son, Giovttmi Maria, fell by a conspiracy : 
we have already seen how Johanna was put to death H 
Naples. All Italy fell a prey to leaders of banditti of 
French, German, English, and Italian origin. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 33 



SECllON XIX. 

THE COUNCILS. 

A. D. 1409. These scancl&h>i& luid (testniCdVI^ jrt»- 
c^edings ^t l^kietfa gaire occasion to the coadcfl of Ptsa, 
which deposed both the popes, and raised the prelate 
Fila^di, a native of Crete, uiider the title of AleKanaer V., 
t6 th^ ][^pal thlrone^ This election was chiefly the conse- 
quence of the intrigues of the Neapolitan cardinal Bal- 
dassare Cossa, whose genius and energy rendered Mm 
capable of the greatest as well as of the most mischievous 
entefprises. 

The two former popes refused to submit to the decision 
of the council of Pisa, and the general anarchy was now 
augmented by the pretensions of three contemporary pon- 
tif6. Alexander, however, died within a )rear from his elec- 
tion (A. D. 1410.), and was succeeded by the cardbal Cossa 
before mentioned, under the name of John XXIII. John 
was compelled, by the numerous and well commanded 
ttoops of King Lancelot, to fly from Rome : pursued by his 
enemies, and rejected by a great part of the chutch, he 
had recourse to Sigbmund, kmg of the Germans. An in- 
terview took place between toem at Mantua, m which 
they resolved upon the council, which was immediately 
afterwards summoned at Constance (A. D. 1414.), and 
from which John hoped to obtain peace and the confirmation 
of his title. His ally Frederick, duke of the lower Aus- 
trian provmces, aflTorded him protection in his journeys. 
Throughout all Italv, Germany, France, England, the north 
of Europe, Poland, Bohemia, Huneary, and at Constan- 
tinople, representatives of the churcn, and ambassadors of 
the emperors, kings, nobles, cities, and universities, were 
^pobted in ereat numbers to the universal assembly of 
Christendom mat was about to be convened. 

Soon after the deliberations of the council had com- 
menced, it became evident, that a union of the churdi 
was impossible, unless all the three popes would lay down 



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34 UNIVERSAL HISTOBT. 

their digni^, when a new and free election might take 
place. Neither of them^ however, chose to be the first to 
take this step. Corrari, or Gr^ory XII., was at Rimini ; 
and Luna, or Benedict XIII., in Spain ; but the situation 
of John was the most perplexing, who assisted at the coun- 
cil, and became more and more convbced of the serious 
and spiritus^ view in which this business was contemplated 
by the northern prelates, whom he had expected to be able 
to gain over to bs interest by m^ans of bribery and . per- 
suasion. He knew that the most solemn assurances would 
probably be sacrificed to the pretence or to the principle of 
the public good ; and therefore resolved to withdraw. The 
assembly appeared, firom its numbers, liable to those im« 

Etuous movements which lead a crowd into acts of vio- 
ice ; the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops present at 
the council were estimated at 346 ; the prelates, teachers, 
and masters of different universities and of the liberal arts, 
at 564 ; and the multitude of princes, counts, nobles, and 
knights, at 1600. 

Under these circumstances John took the opportunity of 
privately absconding, when the whole city was occupied in 
attending a tournament, and retiring to Schaffhausen, an 
Ausuian town, whither he was followed in the evening by 
the duke. The terror of the council, which feared that its 
objects might be frustrkted by tliis movement, was equaled 
by the rage of the people ; and in the night all the Ital- 
ians and. Austrians took flight. Ambassadors were des- 
patched to the pope and the duke ; but as they refused to 
return, the council declared that its decisions did not fail 
on that account, to represent the voice of the church which 
they were intended i<% unite and to reform. The sentence 
of excommunication was pronounced against the duke, and 
the monarch proclaimed him an outlaw. 

Frederick was now declared to have forfeited all his do- 
minions, and all claim to the performance of duties or 
obligations of every kind ; he was deserted on every side ; 
and Frederick, the burgrave of Niimberg (the ancestor 
of the kings of Prussia), placed himself at the head of a 
small imperial army of execution, while the emperor con- 
trived, by means of the influence of Bern, to excite the 



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UKlVfiRSAL HISTORY. 35 

Swiss against him, by which means he lost his hereditary 
estates in the Thurgau and Aargau. Such an opportunity 
of putting an end to the power of the house of Habsburg 
in this country, with the concurrence and at the reiterated 
commands oi the supreme head of the empire and of the 
church, seemed too favorable to be overlooked : and the 
duke was compelled to submit. John, who was publicly 
reproached with contempt of all religion, with unbounded 
licentiousness, and Crimes of every kind, was deposed, and 
committed to the custody of the elector-palatine : some 
years afterwards, however, h6 regained his liberty, obtained 
a cardinal's hat from his successor, and at length died at 
Florencq. 

Gregory the Twelfth, in the meantime, submitted ; and 
as Benedict, whose obstinacy was invincible, was deposed 
by a decree of the council, Otho Colonna, a prelate of 
great wisdom, ascended the sacred chair under the name 
of Martin the Fifth. A. D. 1414. This pontiff foupd 
means to evade, under specious pretences, dmost every 
regulation which the assembled church had adopted for 
the limitation of the papal power ; but the constitution of 
the church, which had hitherto been patriarchal, if not 
monarchical, appeared, by the introduction of regular coun- 
cils, one of which was to be held every ten years, to have 
assumed an aristocratical form. 

Martin contrived, during his life, to render the eflfect of 
this alteration imperceptible. Condulmere, or Eugenius 
the Fourth, havmg entered into a contest with the council 
of Basle, the latter set up another pope against him in the 
person of the first duke of Savoy, who had quitted his 
government and was living in a delightful solitude at Ri- 
paille on the lake of Geneva, and who took the name of 
Felix the Fifth. A. D. 1439. Eugenius opposed to 
the fathers of Basle the authority of the council, which 
first. assembled at Ferrara, and afterwards at Florence, and 
especially his own personal merits (^A. D. 1438^; for 
while the former had been deposing him, he had enected, 
at a great expense, the union of the Greek with the Romish 
church. John Palaeologus, emperor of Constantinople, 
who with many of his clergy was at Florence, gave his 



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S6 VNIirKMAL HISTOJB^T, 

coo^eot to the arrangement ; ajotd from that time a part]r 
has existed in the western countries, which is attached to 
the Greek church, and is called the " United." The coun- 
cil of Basle was compelled, by the disturbances of war, to 
remove to Lausanne, as the emperor had withdrawn from 
it the protection of his authonty. Under Sarzano, or 
Nicholas the Fifth (A. D. 1449.), the schism was healed 
by the moderation of his opponent Felix, who laid aside 
the papal dignity, and died in the character pf deacon of 
the college of cardinals. A. D. 1451. From this time 
the councils were disused; but the impressions which they 
had made to the disadvantage of Rome, remuned and 
gradually developed themselves. All the popes, with one 
exi^eption, were henceforward chosen from among the Ital- 
ians; they were accordingly better acquainted with the 
policy of their country, and they founded a temporal 
power in the territory of the state ; but the people ot for- 
eign countries became more estranged froi^ tnem. 



SECTION XX. 

FLORENCE. 

We have already seen that in Florence the class of 
citizens obtained a superiority over the nobles, which was 
continually increasing ; the jealousy of the parties rose at 
length to such a height, that it appeared necessary to the 
safety of the state to entrust the adminbtration to. a for- 
eigner ; and the choice fell upon Walter, a member of the 
French family of Brienne, which, during the misfortunes 
of the Greek empire, had acquired the sovereignty of 
Athens, A. D. 1342. Walter soon suffered himself to 
be persuaded, that if he could succeed in depressing the 
families of the powerful citizens, such as the Altoviti and 
Ruccellai, it would be possible for him to acquiie an ab- 
solute power. The people were at first pleased with the 
oppression of these objects of their envy ; but they soon 
discovered their mistake, and repented ol havbg called in 
tbe foreigner. They now began to flatter the nobles, and 



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.CWIVSIISAL BISTORT. 97 

mtsy evea placed the eseuteheons of Ittuslrious families 
ower their doors, as if to acknowledge tbeioselves among 
the number of ibeir clients ; and when the nobles rode 
abroad they were greeted with acclamations, which re- 
minded them of their ancestors the founders of Florentine 
liberty. While people were in this disposition, the duke 
demanded to be mv:ested with unlimited authority ; but the 
gov^imient represented to him, ^^that such nretensions 
were unknown in Florence, where the name of liberty was 
cherished and honored ; that no lengtii of time or extent 
of power was capable of extbguishing this sentiment ; nor 
could the merit of any individual, however great, render it 
safe to entrust an audiority of that description in his hands : 
that the remembrance of their freedom was renewed by 
every public place, by the courts of justice, the standards 
and banners of their troops ; and that he who might wish 
to rule against the will of the people, would not long retain 
his power." The duke replied, *' that freedom cannot 
' poss3)ly exist where faction rules ; and that no condition 
18 more unhappy than a state of public disquiet." The 
communities were now called together, and the goveni- 
ment proposed to them to confer absolute power on the 
duke for one year ; but the people, whose great aim it was 
to humiliate the governing families, exclaimed, ^' Be it so 
forever ! " 

The palace of the state was now delivered over to the 
duke, whose arms were every where displayed instead of 
those of the ci^ : he forbade the wearing of arms, under 
pretence of preventing tlie excesses of faction ; and imme- 
diately proceeded to augment the imposts. Places of pro* 
fit and honour were conferred on people of low condition, 
while persons of greater importance were punished for 
trifling errors with haughtiness and severity : a nutnber of 
Frenchmen were admitted to the privileges of cidzenship ; 
the customs of that nation began to predominate, and tne 
duke surrounded himself with a body guard. The nobles 
and the citizens of ancient families twice conspired to re- 
store the former constitution : the mechanics, who were 
scaring firom the diminution of demand for labor, <Hice 
entered into a combination for the same purpose ; and the 

VOL. HI. 4 



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S6 UN ITEBSAL HIITOmT. 

arehbbhop Acciajoali^ who fawi at first been a friend of 
the duke, became a party to these undertakings. These 
designs, eidier from lear or avarice, were betrayed : upon 
which the duke summoned three hundred of the most con- 
siderable persons in the city, under pretence of holdmg a 
council, but in reali^ in order to secure their persons 
while he was assembling his guards : but they, aware of 
their danger, admonished each other ** to die gbriously, 
with arms in their hands, for the cause of Florence.'' 
The nobles, citizens, and artificers, assembled in a body ; 
at nme in the mornine, some ran into the great place, ex- 
claiming, ^^ To arms for freedom ! " The population of all 
the quarters hastened to their accustomed posts; the 
French, who were running totvards the palace, were put to 
death in the streets ; and the duke, wer having lost the 
best part of his adherents, was compelled to capitulate with 
one of the Medici, who commanded the party ^ bis ad- 
versanes This capitulation took place under the media- 
^on of the ambassadors of Siena, and other strangers, who 
were accidentaUy present. William of Scesi, who had 
oeen the instrument of the duke's oppressions, was deliver- 
ed up, and executed, together with fab son : and while the 
mob was engaged in insulting their remains in the most 
horrible manner, the nobles consented to allow the duke 
immediately to quit the city in security. 

The administrators endeavoured to fortify, by the spirit 
of liberty, the constitution which had now been restored by 
die popular detestation of slavery; and the newly acquired 
freedom was proclaimed m city and country. A thi^rd 
part of the high offices of the state and the half of the infe-. 
rior posts, were reserved for the ancient families ; and Flo- 
rence might now have become a happy republic, if the lat- 
ter had been capable of imbibing the genuine spirit of 
republican equality: they however soon manifested by 
their conduct so little regard for the other classes, that the 
whole body of citizens, conceiving themselves deceived, 
flew to arms, destroyed the great citadels, and took exclu- 
sive possession of the government. From this period, 
whoever aspired to public offices was otjliged to adopt a 
popular manner of life, and the love of anns and the lofiy 
feeling of self-e3teem were lost. 



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UKITERSAL HISTORY. 30 

*I1i08e citisens who bad enriched tfaemsehres hj mdustij 
and commerce had scarcely possessed themselves of the 
sovereignty by these means, when the common people 
were inspired by some ambitious individuals whh the idea, 
that the numbers and courage of the multitude are able to 
command power, riches, and every good thing. Hence 
arose insurrections, in which the houses of opulent indi- 
viduals were frequently plundered. As, in the conduct of 
life, one bad action is often the cause of another; so it was 
here found necessary to subvert the constitution, in order 
diat those who had beeh thus injured might not have it in 
their power to take revenge. The common people were 
willing to incur any risk, because they had nothing to lose : 
individuals who had been educated in the peacefiil arts, 
when they were called to conduct the government, mani- 
fested less courage than the fonner rulers of the state, but 
were more anxious for the acquisition of money and for the 
conveniences of life. It was- through the operation of such 
causes, that the sovereign power in Florence came into the 
hands of the people. 

Wh^n the nobles, by force of arms under wise conduct, 
expelled the Ghibellines, the state was at open war : when 
the citizens of illustrious families undertook the govern- 
ment, the arts of peace flourished ; and now when the 
common people domineered, every thing was venal ; and 
the mean yet proud rulers of Florence endeavored, by an 
' expenditure above their means, to procure that splendor 
wmch was denied to diem by their birth. 

SECTION XXI. 



While the affiurs of the republic were in this state, a 
private citizen, who was distinguished by his liberality, 
guided at his pleasure the actions of the multitude. Cosmo 
de' Medici was descended from an ancient family, which 
is said to have flourished in Greece at the period when the 
Latin emperors governed in Constantinople, and which, by 
a s^es of illustrious heads, acquired an honorable name 
in Florence. John, the father of Cosmo, a man of a mild 



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40 UNtVERSAX, HISTOKt. 

( • 

and prudent character, had been gonfaloniere of the repub-^ 
lie m the war against Filippo, duke of Milan; during 
which, the state had in three years incurred a debt of three 
mSlion six hundred thousand scudi. This was a sum 
which in that age it appeared scarcely possible for a small 
state to discharge ; and John de' Medici proposed a tax 
which should be levied on the interest of capital, and which 
would consequently fall on himself aoid on the rest of the 
wealthy citizens. This sacrifice procured him the love of 
the people, together with the jealousy of his equals ; but 
he remained at a distance from all such offices as could 
have given him the appearance of peculiar authority and 
influence. At the approach of death he said to his two 
sons, " I leave you a name universally honored and be- 
loved, together with an honestly acquired fortune : keep 
yourselves at a distance from all those dignities of the state, 
m which it might be supposed that your power or properQr 
could pervert the course of justice : accept such offices as 
may be offered to you, without seeking them ; and beware 
of taking any share in the intrigues of factions." John 
died at the age of sixty-eight ; and his sons, Cosmo and 
Lorenzo, were accompanied to his funeral by twen^-six 
persons of the family of Medici, by all the members of the 
government, and by all the ambassadors t>f foreign states 
who were at that time in Florence. 

Cosmo was the richest private person in Italy ; and 128 
commercial houses in Europe, Asia, and Africa, were es- 
'tablished under his name. He was not distinguished by 
external pomp ; but he -maintained an. hospitable table ; 
his house was open- to the needy and unfortunate, and 
was the residence of the learned as well as of the most 
polished society. He supported almost all the members 
of the admmistration with his wealth, and frequently before 
they desired it : but he kept these transactions so secret, 
that his son discovered them only after his death. He 
pleased the priesthood by founding or endowing churches, 
altars, and convents ; and gamed over the mechanics by 
the advantages which he allowed them to derive from the 
building of his palace and of four elegant pleasure-houses, 
which cost*^ him seven hundred thousand scudi. The 



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UIVIVE&SAI' ' HISTORY. 41 

whole ChrsstUo world was fiUed with the fame of his bene* 
ficeoce, in building an hospital at Jerusalem for the recep- 
tion of the pilgrims who visited the holy sepulchre ; and all 
the learned venerated the individual who had established a 
library that was regarded as an admirable one even for the 
university of Padua. 

While Cosmo was thus conciliating the popular esteem, 
Rinaldo degli Albizi was mcessantly employed in the in- 
vention of means to ruin him. He paid the debts which 
had hitlierto prevented Cosmo's enemy, Bernardo Gua- 
dagni, from becoming gonfaloniere ; and as soon as he had 
thus elevated! the latter to that dignity, earnestly entreated 
him to deliver their country from a citizen who, as he said, 
was in reality cheating it of its freedom. Cosmo was 
cited, under various pretences,. to appear before the gov- 
ernment, and arrested as soon as he arrive(^ m the state 
palace : the party of Rinaldo called the people together in 
a tumultuary manner, and having terrified them widi false 
alarms, persuaded them to appoint two hundred reform- 
ers of the state. The enemies of Cosmo were not agreed 
whether to banish or to put him to death ; but he, con- 
cluding from the alarm bells, the noise of weapons and 
other sounds, that there was a powerful party in his favor, 
was more apprehensive of poison than of being put to death 
by violence, and therefore refrained from food during four 
whole days. Francesco Maltevolti, to whose custody he 
was confided, was frequently requested bv his enemies, m 
the. name of the government, to deliver Florence from the 
perils which menaced it, and the prisoner firom his fear, by 
a strong draught of poison : but he replied, *' I am a no- 
bleman of Siena, and incap^le of adishonorable act." 
He went to Cosmo, whom he found TfflSausted and dis- 
tressed ; reminded him that he was the nephew of hi^ 
friend the pious Orlando ; assured him that he was equally 
incapable of the base action which had been proposed to 
him, and of fearing the menaces of those who would have 
incited him to perpetrate it ; and he persuaded his prisoner 
to eat. A facetious man, a relation of the gonfaloniere, 
afterwards obtained permission to dine with Cosmo and 
Maltevohi : Cosmo gave the latter a sign that he should 
VOL. lit. 4* 



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4S VmWISBMAL HI8TQET« 

leave him alone with this person, whom be gained over hy 
magnificent promises, and by a present of eleven hundred 
scu^ made to him on the spot. The gonfaloniere called 
the people together : Cosmo was delivered from danger of 
his hfe ; but, with all the family of Medici, was sentenced 
to banishment for a certam numb^ of years. A. D. 1429. 
The gonfaloniere was rewarded by bodi parties. 

Cosmo was received at Venice with greater respect than 
Alcibiades had formerly experienced at Lacedsmon, and 
was consulted by the senate on the most important affiurs. 
Many of the princes of Italy ofiered to restore him to hb 
country : but he refused ; declaring, that he forgave ev&rv 
tbingto his fellow-citizens: and when he was recallea, 
(A. jD. 1430,) he manifested as much generosity as Me- 
tellus had shown under similar circumstances. 

A year affer his banishment^ Rinaldo Albizi, who had 
been summoned to give an account of the abuses of his 
power, filled the great square with armed men, and com- 

EUed the government to adopt defensive measures. Pope 
mgenius the Fourth, who was present, mediated a ces- 
sation of hostilities ; and in the mean time the government 
summoned to their assistance the people of the Pistdese 
mountabs, who came into the city by night. The com- 
muniues were now assembled ; and the government, amidst 
the loudest acclamations, proposed the recall of Cosmo. 
All his enemies were banished ; he ^received from his £^ 
low-citizens the appellation of father of his country ; and 
firom the rest of Jtaly and fix>m posterity, that of Cosmo the 
Great. From this time his ccmduct was in all respects 
V more cautious than before : he was master of Florence, 
while he appeai^d^ be only one of her citizens } and 
while foreign piflpH were suitors for his daughters, he 
-married them tojEtizens of his own counUy. Such was 
the origin of the influence of the Medici at Fbrence. 



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imirSBSAL HlSTOmT. 



SECTION xxn- 

LITERATUBE. 



The genius of the Medici and of their fellow-citizens, 
was beneficial to all nations; and a small republic. now 
gare a new proof that the admiration of virtue, science, 
and the fine arts, may impart a splendor to the most un- 
important city, which ^lipses the fame of powerful mon- 
archies. 

The arts and sciences have come to us fix)m the south. 
The countries of Germany were still enveloped in darkness 
in the age of the Othos, when monks and certain persons 
of greater temporal importance brought the classical au- 
thors over the Alps ; but the din of arms soon sUenced the 
voice of the muses. Italy at this time possessed the anon-^ 
ymous author who celebrated the first Berengar; and, 
subsequently, Domnizo who sang the praises of the eoun- 
tess Mathildis, with several other respectable Latin poets. 

When the republics rose upon the ruins of the imperial 
power, and the paths to the highest offices were open to 
every one.possessed of 'wisdom and eloquence, Italy exhi- 
bited the first example of an harmonious naticmal dialect. 

The pursuit of knowledge was attempted in two difier- 
ent ways : some devoted Siemselves to the cuhivadon of 
the abstract sciences ; and if we are to estimate genius, not 
by the direction which the circumstances of the times may 
induce it to assume, but by its intrinsic merits, we cannot 
refuse our admiration to the powerful mind of Tho^mas 
Aquinas, who was the wonder of his asaand has been the 
preceptor of many succeeding geneH[^^ Natural phi- 



k>sophy and chemistry were as ye^e1^[^Hed in a manner 
almost as mysterious as magic : AlbertulBagnus of Lau- 
ingen on the Danube, who was for soin^time bishop of 
Ratisbon, and the contemporary of Roger Bacon, was the 
first person in Germany who turned the attention of men 
to subjects of this nature. Peter of Apone soon afterwards 
astonished all Italy by his pretensions : he was said to have 
been instructed m the seven liberal arts by seven spirits, 
. whom he detained spell-bound in a certain crystal : what- 



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44 UKITXBSAL HlStO&n 

ever money he disbursed, found its way back t^n into his 
pockety and this miracle we need not dispute, since he re- 
ceived one nundred and fifty pounds for every visit which 
he made as a physician without the ci^, and tour hundred 
ducats per diem for his attendance during the illness of 
pope Honoriud the Fourth. His figurative language and 
strange conceits were unintelligible to the greater part of 
his contemporaries ; and he would have been seized by the 
Inquisition, if his death had not opportunely deprived that 
tribunal of its prey : the holy office, however, caused him 
to be burned in effigy ; while his mistress caused his body 
p be privately interred. 

While the profound thinkers were engaged in exploring 
uncertain paths' through these obscure regions, the wiser 
Florentines employed themselves in the cultivation of the 
ttalian language. In the 14th century, Dante, of the no- 
ble family of Aligliieri, wrote the " Divina Conunedia;" a 
work which displays ail the majesty and boldness that ex- 
cite our admiration in the ancients and in Milton : it abounds 
with the fervor of genius, with patriotism, and genuine 
love of virtue ; and is the earliest production of modern lite- 
rature which we may ventuj;e to compare with the jn^orks 
of the ancients. Dante is not always equal to hims^f : be 
frequently ofifends against the precepts of good taste, and 
bears traces of barbarous rudeness ; but he is never com- 
mon or low, and loses himself only in the lofty flights of 
his imagination. Dante survived his banbhment from Flo- 
rence twenty years, and died at Ravenna at the age of six- 
ty-six. A. D. 1321. 

His fellow-citizaa, Francesco Petrarca, was already in- 
spired by the {^^kkof the ancients and the charms of 
L^ura. In vaii^ipiit^er, incensed against him, burned 
his copes of t}fl[^ient poets and orators : be was des- 
tifted to impart^o the language of his country the most 
perfect refinement, and to furnish readers of lensibility, in ^ 
all succeeding ages, with the most elegant gratification. 
He became an orator in consequence of the misfortunes of 
the times, the perception of which had deeply peneurated 
bis mind ; and he was made a poet by Laura, a daughter 
of the knight of Noves jnd the wife of Hugo of Sade, 



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UNIVERSAL HISTOHT. 4B 

whom Petrarch has immortalised by his admirable sonnets, 
written m his lonely dwelling near a rivulet in the valley 
of Vaucluse. After he had celebrated the conqueror of 
Carthage, Rome and Paris rivalled each other in tesd^ring 
their lively sense of his merits. In the 37th year of bin 
age he was crowned ^th laurel in the capitol. The om- 
peror Charles the Fourth found him at Mantua, and 
mvited him to accompany him in his journey to Rc»ne. 
" It is not sufficient," said Charles, " that I anajgoing to see 
Rome ; I wish to see it with your eyes." The Floren- 
tines, by whose turbulent proceedings his family had been 
banished, sent information to him by Boccacio, that the 
republic had restored his confiscated property. He died 
at the age of 74. A. D. 1373. 

Giovanni Boccacio was also the son of a Florentme 
merchant; his relations intended to educate him for a 
merchant, or a teacher of ecclesiastical law; but nature 
destined him to be the scourge of human follies. He also 
began to compose in verse ; but when he met with die 
poetry of Petrarch, he destroyed his own compositions, 
and afterwards wrote in prose in a style of as much rim- 
plicity and liveliness as the best works of the Greeks ; it 
might be said that he brought the muses down firom Par- 
nassus into the circle of social Hfe. He is copious, and 
sometimes licentious ; but his Decamerone must always be 
considered a masterpiece. Boccacio was, in comparison 
with the Grecian authors, what I*etrarch was if we com- 
pare him to the Roman ; and Constantinus Lascaris says, 
with justice, that he is second in eloquence to none of the 
Grreeks ; and that his hundred tales outweigh the works oS 
an hundred poets. A. D. 1376. 

During a century and a half immediately succeeding the 
age of these great men, the best authors and orators were 
the secretaries of state of Florence, or of the pope ; or the 
tutors and friends of the Medici. Among them were Co- 
luccio, a Florentine secretary of state, of whom the duke 
of M3an complained that he had done him more injury 
with his pen than fifteen hundred Florentine knights ; Lieo- 
nardo Bruni, the first of the house of Aretino, who wrote 
in Greek and Latin like one of nhe ancients, and who was 



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46 UNiySBSAL HI8T0BT« ' 

one of the earliest goo^ historians of Italy ;^ his soecessori 
Charles ; Francesco Poggio, was the author of a history, 
but especiaUy of some excellent letters which abound with 
antique wisdom ; and he was one of the roost distinguished 
restorers of good taste. The knight Accialotti was de- 
nongjnated the prince of juridical subdeties, and in his old 
age quitted his professor's chair at Siena with sorrow, b^ 
cause he happened to have only forty hearers. In Barzi- 
zip, Cicero seemed to live again. Tne learned Francesco 
Barbaro defended Brescia for the Venetians against the 
arms of Milan, in the midst of pestilence and insurrection ; 
but the most illustrious of all was iBneas Sylvius Piccolo- 
mini, who was banished in his youth, with the rest of the 
nobility, from Siena : he devoted himself to the first of the 
arts, to agriculture ; was secretary to several cardinal le- 
gates, to the council of Basle, and to the emperor Frede^ 
rick III.; became afterwards a cardinal, and at length pope, 
by the tide of Pius II. : his writings display a lively and 
agreeable spirit, and are ornamented with the graces of 
antiauity. 

While the dawn of good taste began to appear in these 
great men, the Greeks, who were obliged to fly from Con- 
stantinople with their treasures of ancient literature, found 
a welcome reception under the roof of Cosmo de' Medici. 
The knight Manuel Chrysoloras, now instructed the Flo- 
rentines in reading and cornprehending those writings of 
.the ancient Greeks whoifi Boccacio had taught them to 
admire ; and John Arg}nx)pulus afterwards instructed the 
son and grandson of Cosmo. Argyropulus was ennobled 
by a series of illustrious ancestors ; he carried his ideas of 
morally almost too far, when he destroyed his translation 
of Plato in order that it might do, no injury to that of his 
friend Theodoras of Gaza, which wa3 not so well executed 
as hh own. Theodoras was also one of those who loved 
knowledge for its own sake, and not from interest or vanity. 
The learned men above mentioned, with Callistus the 
teacher of Reuchlin ; Demetrius Chalcocondylas, who su- 
perintended the printing of Homer ; John Lascaris, who 
was sent by the house of Medici to collect literaiy trea* 
flures ; Constantinus Lascaris, Hermonymus the Laced«- 



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UMXTKBSAL HISTOBT. 47 

moDiin, and many o&en, were engaged in grammatieal 
pursuits ; and ipaiiy were excellent caligraphers« 

The first attempts in tlie art of printing, which is called 
in the contract of Guttenberg with the citizens of Stras- 
burg, " the wonderful secret," were feeble and slow. A. 
I>. 1439. Guttenberg, who was a nobleman of Mayence, 
injured his fortime in the pursuit ; and as he was defrauded 
during his life by his associates, posterity also, for a long 
time, did him the injustice to attribute bis invention to 
another. 

SECTION xxm. 

VCNICB. 

> When the Venetians had brought a long war against 
the Grenoese to a victorious conclusion, they began to erjBCt 
a sovereignty on the continent, which brought £eir repub- 
lic into the greatest difficulties ; but which in the sequel 
was the only part of their splendid acouisitions that re- 
mained permanendy their own. The nobles and free cities 
in their vicinity, apprehending that they might become as 
powerful by land as they were by sea, imbibed the utmost 
jealousy against the Venetians. Such was the occasion of 
the long wars of the family of Visconti : of a hundred years 
of incessant commotion, and of two centuries of timid po- 
licy. But when recent discoveries opened new channels 
of trade, and when it was, no longer possible to maintain 
their possessions in the Levant against the arms of the 
Turks, the Venetians retained scarcely any thing except 
their acquisitions on the continent. 

A. p. 1403. The foundation of this dominion was the 
capture of the town of Padua, in consequence of whicK 
the city of Verona, terrified at the enterprises of Francesco 
Carrara, sent their standard to Venice by the hands of 
Antonio Mafiei. Hereupon the thirteen communities 
(comuni) submitted, and sujffered their privileges to be' 
confirmed to them by the Venetians, (lliese people are 
of German origin : they live between the Adige and 
Brenta, under tiieir own laws, imd are governed by their 



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4S UifITS«SAI» B|i90»T. 

mta council of thirty-nine, and their smaller couaKul'Or 
uiirteen.) Since the time ^^hen Dalmatian Zara was 
brought, by the arms of the crusaders, under the sove- 
reignty of the Venetians, several cities on the coast had 
also placed themselves under their protection : Sebenigo 
had been induced to take that step through fear of the 
power of Hungary ; and Lesina had been transferred to 
Venice by the last of its sovereigns. * 

It was not long before the powerful city of Pisa, which 
was exhausted by its enterprises, and threatened by Tus- ' 
cany, sought in vain for better means of security. The 
Venetians were aware what danger they incurred of entail- 
ing a heavy burden on their state, by receiving this great 
town under their protection ; and the question was put 
sixty-one times in the senate, before the majority of votes 
decided according to their wishes. 

Although the lorms of the constitution of Venice were 
neither introduced upon any one occasion, nor were uni- 
versally so ancient as this age, it will yet be proper to de- 
scribe them in this place, before we go on to consider the 
more important afiairs of Europe in later times. We shall 
then find it impossible to bestow sulSicient attention on the 
internal administration of any single commonwei^lth. 

In the period which immediately succeeded the serra-- 
tura del comigUo. or the limitation of eligibility to a certain 
number of families, a few additional members, as Mainotto 
Pulci and Nicolo di Scrovigno, of Padova, were associated 
vrith these aristocrats. A. D. 1301. The addition which 
was made to their numbers at the period of the last strug- 
gle with Geneva, (A. D. 1381,) wi^s more considerable ; 
notwithstanding that the, exclusion of all fiareign, vassals had 
been renewed in 1320, and that the newly-admitted citi- 
zens were obliged to make a previous renunciation or lim- 
itation of their claims to places in the government But 
the ancient families became extinct m the course of time, 
and their dignities were inherited by new houses. We 
dbaU observe the most ancient names and trace a spirit of 
cdbstinate discontent, among the Buranelli, Nicolotti, and 
Poggiotti. 

The election of the dpge soon 4}eased to be confirmed 



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,mnT£B8AL HI8T0(ET« 48 

by the people : he direw money to tbem, asd the senate 
endeavored to regulate their choice by the opinion of die 
public. When Sagredo and Foscarini were suspected of 
avarice and interested conduct in their adroinistrafions, die 
electors were changed^ and the people were contented : 
but when the real ground of this prejudice became known, 
Foscarini was, on anodier occasion, elected by acclamation. 

The supreme power resides, at Venice, in die great 
council, in which the nobles have seats by hereditary pri* 
vil^e when they have«ttamed then* twenty-fiftti year : fmm 
the number of those who are between tbe ages of twenty- 
one and twenty-five, thirty are annually chosen, as members 
of this assembly, bv lot. The right of introducing subjects 
for discussion resides in the doge, the six superi(»r counsel- 
lors, the president of the criminal tribunal, and the advo- 
cates of the community ; and it somethnes happens diat 
the senate makes a communication. The legislative func- 
tion, the power of pardon, and the disposal of offices, re- 
side in uie great council. A place is not unfrequendy 
rather a sort of ostracism than a reward : die expensive 
and unproductive dignities are readily bestowed on wealtliy 
nobles, who are notwithstanding wiling to receive diem, 
because they open the way to still higher posts; and a 
mean office is often a punishment to the nobleman cm vAiom 
it fa imposed ; because they are not all of the same char- 
acter with Epaminondas, to whom his fellow-citizens in- 
trusted the clearing of the public shores. Extraordinary 
places, which depend on the mutable condition of external 
relations, are at the disposal of the senate. 

The elections are conducted m the following manner : 
bt a bag, which contains as many balls as ther^ are mem- 
bers in£e council, sixty are of gold : those who happen to 
ge(t the latter, draw lots a second time, in s,uch a manner 
as to reduce dieir number to thirty-six : these are die electa 
ors, and divide themselves into four colleges, each of 
which c(mtains nine members* During the time of elec- 
inn, nine offices are ccmferfed every day ; in every col- 
lage^ eadi one ofihe nine members names a candidate for 
onecQ^ these offices, die nomination to wMch Ms to the^ 
freposer hy lot : thus feur t^ndidates are nominated by 

VOL. III. 5 



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80 mffmsBSAL histobt* 

Ihe four colleges for every office ; and the deetioo it «t 
length made by a majority of votes in the great council. 
None of those who seek an office on the same day, no re* 
lations of any of the electors, nor any persons who ture 
debtors to the state, are allowed to vote ; nor is more than 
one vote received from each name and family. 

The senate consisted of only sixty members ; but it was 
usual, as among the Swiss democracies, to double and even 
to treble its numbers in extraordinary cases. These addi- 
* dons became afterwards incorporated ; and the chief coun- 
sellors, the wise men (savi), the criminal judges, the coun* 
cil often, the administrators of St. A^ark, the treasurer, the 
dire^^tor of the arsenal and fc»tresses, and prmcipal officers 
of J^ergamo, were by degrees added to the number, in or- 
der that the senate might be assisted by their knowledge of 
business, as well as that the good will of these officers 
might be conciliated* The number of senators, which is 
not always the same, may amount to about three hundred. 

Every afiair, that comes before the senate, is prepared 
and introduced by the college, which consists of the doge, 
the three chiefs of the criminal tribunal, and the sixteen 
savi : the college is guided by the six great savi. And 
dius afiairs of all kinds are retained m the hands of a few, 
until they are matured for a conclusion. The great savi 
are in possession of tiie secrets and the maxims of the 
state, and are the persons in whom the greatest confidence 
is reposed. The Venetians perhaps learned this institution 
, firom the Carthaginians ; unless mey adopted it, without 
reference to any example, from the suggestions of reason. 
Domenico Mobnos, a savi, merited the memorable accusa- 
tion of Marco of Trevigi, " that he had filled all Europe 
with the fame of his wisdom, and gained as manv admirers 
as there were statesmen." The constitution of Venice has 
tiiis excellent peculiariQr ; that while those individuals, who 
are formed by nature for rulers, and whose numbers are in 
all ages and countries very small, have every resource in 
their power which caii contribute to the preservation of the 
laws, they are wholly destitute of the means ^hich might 
enable them to overturn the government. The business of 
the state is kept so secret, tiiat when the Avogadori have 



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vsmatSAh HnaroBT. SX 

ftdrninistered the oath of secrecy respecting any affior, to* 

every senator, it must not be mentioned even by the mem- 
bers of tl)e senate in their private meetings in any other 
place. The power of declaring war, of makio^ treaties of 
peace and of alliance, and of administering tne resources 
of the republic, is within the province of the senate : but 
though that body had the power of abandoning the whole 
condnental territory of the state, it could not make the 
most trijfling alterations in the laws, without the concur- 
rence of the great council. 

The monarchical dignity was vested in his most serene 
highness the doge ; the aristocracy m the senate ; and the 
democracy in tlie great council : no class is in possession 
of die whole sovereignty, which belongs to the laws alone. 
All afiairs are conducted by the senate; but whatever 
comes before that body, is previously exammed by the 
savi. The senate can confer no official employment; but 
it appoints inspectors of the admmistration, and represses the 
passions of individuals by the laws : it protects the subjects 
of the republic against the numerous inferior nobility, with- 
out oppressmg the latter ; because it is necessary to pre- 
vent the aristocracy from becoming formidable, as well as 
to take care that itsprivileges shall not be confined to too 
small a number. The senate, with admirable prudencey 
controlled Venice by means of fear and hope, and contriv- 
ed, in its external relations, to keep the impetuous pas- 
sions of the more powerful states in check, and to main- 
tain the dignity of the republic towards foreign potentates. 
When Venice declared herself on the Side of any state, it 
was more a matter of honor than of military importance, 
and conferred an appearance of solidity in die opinion of 
the public. Another excellent maxim was, to live on good 
terms with their neighbors, but to maintain the closest con- 
nection with those states that were by one degree further 
distant. 

The council of ten i^ the protector of the people against 
the great, and of the state against the spirit of fac^on : and 
since it has to watch over the incalculable caprices and ar- 
tifices of passion, it is not bound by the ordinary forms of 
kw, but is subject only to the " reason of state." Hence 



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58 UNIVCB8AI. Ht9T0Er. 

ft cixttdses less sev?rity^ toward offices against mora&tjr, 
tbui toward politic^ cnmes* The Venetians have been re- 
proached witn being so entirely occupied with the endeavor to 
preserve their present ccmdition, as to have omitted even 
the necessary attention to the maiqtenance of public mo- 
rals : those political virtues, however, by means of which 
alone it was possible for the citizens (wh6 were merely 
members of the government) to distinguish themselves, 
have flourished among the Venetians, in as great a degree 
as in any other state. Immorality is indeed regarded, in 
persons of a certain class, without disapprobation, because 
these indidduals bv that meaiis diminish their own influ- 
'ence with the people, which might otherwise become too 
great ; while, on die other hand, a person who has betray- 
ed a secret of state, is punished widiout appeal, and widi- 
out knowing his accusers. 

Tlie three state mquisitors are to the council of t^i, 
what that college is to the senate : they are superior to all 
the citizens, even to tlie doge himself : when unaninMHis, 
they have the power of inflicting punishment, but not of 
capitally condemning without the concurrence of the ten. 
The authority of the council of ten is independent of the 
senate : the latter has indeed sometimes interceded with 
them, at the request of some foreign prince, but in vain ; 
and this is even advantageous to the senate, which, stand- 
ing as it does at the head of afl[airs, ought not to be expos- 
ed, to the ill-will of foreigners. The ten employ, as meir 
spies, a crowd of monks, prostitutes, watermen or gondo- 
heri, and lacqueys. 

We must, however, judge, of the power of this body fix)m 
its beneficisd influence on the whole community, as we 
ought indeed to decide on the merits of the republic, rath- 
er from the principles of its administration than from the 
letter of i^ laws. If we survey it in this point of view, we 
shall find that the council of ten is the main pillar of the 
state, and the chief bulwark of fireedom : its powers would 
otherwise have been long ago circumscribed by the peri- 
odically elected correctors of the laws {carretiori deUt 
hggi). Some senators, indeed, with upright intentions, 
endeavored about twenty years ago (A. D. 1761), to in- 



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UNITERSAL HISTOIOr. 53 

troduce alterations of this tendency ; but the voice of the 
people was in favor of the ten : and while the power of 
the state inquisitors was diminished, the ten retained their 
criminal juirisdiction over the nobiHty in its whole extent. 

' The enforcement of rigid discipline was a task recom- 
mended to both bodies : and in every circumstance regard- 
ing public peace, thb dignity of the republic, the care of, 
its subjects at home, and its splendor abroad ; that high 
authority, the stedfast exercise of which had for so many 

s centuries preserved Venice, was fuDy confirmed to the 
council often. 

The three judicial courts of forty, consist of as many 
nobles, who must be above the age of thirty, and of whom 
not more than two of the same name and family can sit in 
the same court. The ancient civil quarantia determines 
respectmg appeals from the city tiibunals, and the crimmal 
decisions of die provincial judges, when these have been 
pronouncc^d without the concunience of the council often; , 
and gives judgment in cases, the decision of which, on ac- 
count of the power of one of the parties, would be hazard- 
ous to the inferior offices. The most ancient families 
xisually sit in this court, the spirit of which was a constant 
object of apprehension, because it is older than the other 
parts of the political system, and was always jealous of 
those institutions : but the opposition of two courts^ which 
are never indulgent one to another, is advantageous to the 
subjects ; for without some principle of opposition, no re- 
public can long maintam its vigor. The new civil qua- 
r^ntia determmes appeals from the continent of Italy and 
from Dalmatia ; and the objects of the criminal quarantia 
are sufficiendy explained by its name. 

' When the doge dies, all the members of the great coun- 
cil, who are above thirty years old, draw balls out of a hag, 
which contains thirty of gold : from these thirty, nine are 
chosen by lot ; of these nine, four nominate five electors 
each J and five four each, making in the whole forty elect- 
ors. Out of these forty, twelve are chosen by lot, each of 
whom nominates two electors, except the first, who ap- 
points three ; these make in all twenty-five. From these 
twenty-five, nine are again chosen by lot, each of whom 

VOL. III. 5* 



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tA 0NIVKBSAL HISTOBT. 

ntmes five, viz. the whole number fortT-five. From dui 
number the lot separates eleven, eight of vrtiom nominateB 
each four, and each of the remainiug three appoints three; 
so that the whole number is forty-one. From these forty- 
one, who are confirmed by the great council, the doge is 
elected by a majority, consisting of not less than twenty- 
five. This form of election was appointed in the age of 
the doge Marino Morosini. A. D. 1250. 

The sons, brothers, and nephews of the new doge, im- 
mediately quit the government during his life ; and his own 
authority has been so circumscribed by the correttori deBa 
permisstonej that he is nothing more than president of die 
college and the councils. He has the privilege of intro- 
ducing the subjects of deliberation, and may clothe them in 
whatever form he prefers ; but when he has once given his 
opinion, hd is not even permitted to support it, as such a 
proceeding would be contrary to his digni^ ; and it now 
becomes £e province of the advocate of the community to 
speak in his behalf. He superintends the arsenal, the 
docks, and the church of St. Mark. He .^ves, in the 
course of the year, five entertainments, which consume 
two-thirds of his income, and thus reduce his recompense 
to the mere dignity of his office. 

The procurators of St. Mark have seats for life in the 
senate, together with the superintendence of afiairs relating 
to testaments, guardianships, and debts : the business of the 
ofiice is transacted by nine of their number, and the other 
members are merely titular. Great care has been taken 
to leave very litde power in the hands of officers whose 
appointment is for lite. 

The six superior counsellors constitute the cabinet, and 
are also the ephori of the doge, whos^ proceedings ther 
have continually under their inspection : when four of their 
number are unanimous, they may make a proposition to the 
council, even without his concurrence. These persons are 
the presidents of the criminal quarantia. 

Of the power of the censors, nothing remains but the 
name, as their office now consists only in the superintend- 
ence of the Hveiy servants of the republic : they have, 
however, during their official existence of forty months, a 



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UiriVEllSAL BISTORT. 5f 

scat and vote in the senate ; they assist at the cnmimd tri* 
bunalsy and succeed to posts in the council of ten, or in the 
number of the six supenor counsellors. 

The three advocates of the community are acquainted 
with the most secret affidrs ; they have the privilege of en- 
tering uncalled, and as often as they choose, into the as- 
sembly of the council, which they can compel to postpone 
the execution of its resolutions, or even to alter them : 
they can make no arrangements, but watch over all abuses. 
Any one of the three possesses the authority of the whote 
number ; and their power is so great that Scarpi advised 
that it should never be conferred 6n a man of spwess cha- 
racter, lest he should become dangerous. 

The senators must at least have attained their 25th, and 
the ten and the siic superior counsellors, at least their 40ck 
year. In ancient times, distinguished abilityvb maritime 
affiurs was the most powerful recommendation. When it 
was desirable, which frequently happened, to place am 
office in the hands of a dependent man, poverQr was the 
decisive qualification ; and riches were necessary for those 
posts which were at die same time expensive and unpro- 
ductive. It was designed thftt the richest should be the 
most powerful, and therefore the marriages of the reigning 
nobles with the daughters of wealthy citizens were never 
forbidden. All the corporations possessing bdependent 
privileges, which confer a jurisdiction not emanating from 
the supreme power, are abolished. Many laws have been 
enacted, since the thirteenth century, against the abuses of 
ecclesiastical power ; and the court of Rome usually gave 
way to them without contest, under the specious pretence, 
that such matters were allowable and customary. The 

Svemment, on the same grounds, cherished the spirit of 
^don among the provincial ' nobility, and supported the 
peasants agamst the power of the towns. 

As the offices in the military service were not distributed 
by the commanders, the general had no party attached to 
his interests, and could therefore at any time be safely dis- 
missed or made prisoner. The command of the land 
forces was generally conferred on foreigners, while that of 
the fleet was bestowed on noble Venetians ; for the sea is 



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56 UNIVERBAL Ht!lTORir. 

the element, the foundation, and the securiiy of Venice i 
her territorial dominions are of subordinate importance. 

The government incurred but litde hazard of being over- 
turned by the nobles, who were in no country of so great 
.importance as at Venice. The commons are also m every 
respect unfettered, except that they are forbidden to inter- 
fere in politics ; for the ten sftate inquisitors are not formi- 
dable to persons of this class, but to the most powerful of 
the nobles, and to ambitious ecclesiastics. The history of 
the states of Italy is in general disfigured with massacres ; 
but it has seldom happened in Venice that one nobleman 
has been put to death by another, because many prejudices 
on which the notion of honor is usuallv founded, are here 
overcome bv maxims of state. The tounders of the con- 
stitution of Venice, like the ancient Lacedaemonians, made 
the preservation of their institutions the exclusive object of 
their solicitude, and, like them, founded freedom upon 
obedience. They were unwilling to confer power in per^ 
petuity ; and preferred that all officers should be kept in 
continual dependence, and that those to whom the supreme 
authority was entrusted, should be mcessantlv dependent on 
each other. They overlooked die private frailties of men 
without sanctioning them, as they wished that the govern- 
ment should be at the same time the object of awe and of 
afiection. The power of Venice is mit small, but her 
perseverance in established maxims is worthy of our vene- 
ration. ' 

SECTION XXIV. 

GENOA. 

Genoa was aggrandized by its n^time commerce. The 
emperors of Constantinople have been insulted in the bar* 
bor of their capital by Genoese ships; and sultans have 
sought their favor, as the means of acquirbg a footing in 
Europe. Phocaea, Chios, Lesbos, Lemnos, and Samo- 
thracia, were once the dommions of Genoese nobles ; and 
the fertile Crimea, with many scattered places in the Black 
and Grecian seas, were their gold mines. This republic 
not only maintained a contest for the islands of Sardinia 



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UimnBRSU!. HISTOaT. B9 

and Coffftca, hurt earlj acquired pow^ on the CoMMOtii 

by trhicjb her interests were brou^t into collision with dioaa 
01 Milan and Piedmont. 

The same inconstancy was still perceptible in the Ge- 
noese, which the Romans had remarked in their ancestors 
the Ligurians: and in consequence of this trait in their 
diftracter, the government of 'Genoa never became respect** 
able by its adherence to permfpaent maxims, but was ex- 
posed to perpetual disturbances. The people knew as lit- 
tle bow to govern as to obey : equality was insupportable 
to the nobles at home, and they governed their subjects 
with extreme severity, while they rendered even thdr ty- 
ranny contemptible, by combining it with avarice. 

Neither the laws, nor any^ separate party in Genoa, were 
sufficiently powerful to mamtain a preponderating authori- 
ty \ and therefore the republic was frequently obliged to 
accept, and even to seek protection, by submitting to some 
fcoreign power: but as obedience was btolerable to the 
Genoese, they often became burdensome, and not unfre- 
quently treacherous, to their protectors. This republic at 
lengdi forfeited the esteem and adecdonof its confederates! 
and its remote possessions easily fell into other hands. 

SECTION XXV. 

RAGUSA. 

EvKit Ragusa preserved her mdependeQce longer than 
Genoa. X^c territory of this republic is a line of coast 
extending scarcely forty Italian miles in length, and from 
two to three miles m breadth ; yet its history deserves a 
place in the memorials of Europe. In the transactions of 
the ereater states, we are liable to lose sight of many traits 
of character ; but in those of small republics, individuals 
arepresented more distincdy to our view. 

The ancient Epidaurus was destroyed by a horde of 
Slavonians ; and' a number of the fugitives built, on a 
neighboring peninsula, the town of Ragusa. The new 
C(mimonwealth was attacked in its mfancy by that barbar- 
oyfs race : but the priesthood found means, on this occa- 
mon, to mitigate the fiiry of tUe enemy, who contented 



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S8 UmVEBSAL HI8TOBT. 

themselves with levjdng a contribotion. Tlie numbers of 
the communi^ were now increased hj^ mamr fugitives from 
the ruins of Salona, and the mountains oi lUyrium ; and 
the assembled multitude built a new Ragusa, (A. D. 690,) 
better constructed than the former, which was situated on 
a rock in the bottom of a small bay, and strengthened by a 
citadel placed upon the eminence. The community elect- 
ed magistrates : on important occasions the people were 
summoned : ambition was unknown, as it was the common 
and exclusive wish of all to preserve their freedom. The 
surrounding country possessed but little fertility : under cir- 
cumstances nearly similar, the Romans became the con- 
querors of the world, and the Ragusans a people remarka- 
ble for their bdustry. Ragusa was the market for the su- 
perfluous productions of Bosnia: manufactures were es* 
tablished, the operations of which imparted an increase of « 
value to the goods wliich were to be exported ; and by 
these me^ns the city was provided with the necessaries of 
Hfe, and in process of time became opulent. 

A. D. 867. The Ragusans were equally remarkable 
for their valor m the defence of their city, which was be- 
sieged in vain for a whole year by the Moors of Africa^ 
whom they pursued across uie Adriatic into Italy, as fru: as 
Benevento and Capua. They purchased from a prince of 
Bosnia their territory, which was ahnost entirely a forest, 
but which they converted into a garden. , The Ragusans 
were disturbed by the confusion which took place after the 
decline of the regal power in Bosnia : but they attached 
themselves to the Greek emperors, who had it in their power 
to protect, but could not easily oppress, their common- 
wealth. 

At this period a tower, at the entrance of the haven, be- . 
longing to a Rascian nobleman, threatened both the free- 
dom and the subsistence of Ragusa : the commanders of 
this fortress were gained over to the republic, by being ad- 
mitted into the government, and they surrendered the tow- 
er. The government was now in the hands of the nobles : 
the assemblies of the people had fallen into disuse; and 
the rulers consisted of the descendants of the founders, 
and of noble Bosnians. The surrender of the above-men* 



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VmnBBMl. HIiTOBT. 59 

tbaed lower was celebrated bjr an annual fesdval ; for tri- 
fling affiurs are important to such small republics. A prince 
of Chelm presented the Ra^usans with the neighboripg 
island of Meleda; and they mhierited Breno from its last 



The affairs of the city were now in a prosperous state, 
when a tyrant made his appearance on the stage : Dami- 
ano, one of the rettori, whose power lasted two years, wish- 
ed to prolong the period of his authority ; and as the sen- 
ate could undertake no business without the concurrence 
of the rettori, it was impossible, according to the estab- 
lished forms, to proceed to a new election : these honest 
citizens, it must be confessed, paid by far too much regard 
lo established f(»rms, m suffering the laws to be subverted 
on their account. Damiano ordered the noble youths of 
the house of Bobali, who were zealous supporters of free- 
dom, to be made prisoners : but they had the good for- 
tune to escajpe. After this abuse of usurped authority, 
Peter Benessaj the son-in-law of the tyrant, who preferred 
the freedom of his country tp the splendor of his family, 
secredy assembled the senators ; and it was resolved to 
apply to Venice for a commissioner, who should restore 
the authority of the laws. The Venetians, in pursuance 
of this request, dispatched two galHes, under pretence of 
conveying presents for the emperor Henry to Constantino- 
ple : about A. D. 1210. Damiano entertained the cap- 
tain of the vessels, and accepted an invitation to retunt the 
visit on the following day ; but as soon as he arrived on 
board, Benessa summoned the citizens to arms in the cause 
of freedom, while the Venetians weighed anchor, and car- 
ried off Damiano as a prisoner : the latter, unable to endure 
his situation, killed himself, by striking his head agamst the 
side of the galley. While die peoj^e were engaged in 
plundering ti^e palace, the senate, under the direction of 
Venice, elected Lorenzo Querini as count of the city ; but 
stipulated that he should undertake no measure contrary to 
the laws, without th^ concurrence of the great council. 

Dandolo, the successor of Lorenzo, conducted himself 
ki such a manner as to make the Ragusans sufficiendy 
srafiible of the loss of their mdependence ; and during 



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so mnruMAL histobt. 

die discomem which arose from his lueaBimt, a GeooeM 
fleet mtde its appearance, (A. D. 1333,) but the factions 
were too powerlul to allow the cidseiis to send home the 
Veocliaii count on board of iu The Venetians encouraged 
the spirit of faction in Ragusa, restored the assanUief of 
the communitiesi in order to turn the attention <^ the peo- 
ple from the senitte, and augmented the numbers of the lat* 
ter by new appointments, in order that it might costain a 
number of members, who should owe their dignity to the 
influence of Venice. Some of the nobles at length applied 
for assistance to Lewis, king of Hungary, who delmred 
the city from the yoke of the Venetians. 

The influence of this protector appeared to be attended 
with the less danger to the liberty of the state, as liewis 
had no son : and it was absolutely necessary to ha?« re- 
course to some power for asastance, pardcularfy on ac- 
count of the navi^tion of Ragusa, which, since the empe^ 
ror Andronicqs II. had ceased to maintain a fleet, had 
become extreme^ hazardous in the seas of Grreece; while 
Genoa, Venice, and the tjrrants of the islands, ahemately 
exercised all kinds of violence. The senate of Ragusa 
turned its attention to the power of Orchan, tihe son of Os- 
man, whose authority was sdready so great on the Asiatic 
coasts, on the Hellespont, Propontis, and at the entrance 
of the Black Sea, that all commercial nations were obMged 
to conciliate his favor. In or^er to reconcile the peo{de to 
an alliance with the Turks, a nun was induced to declare, 
that this measure had been revealed to her as the will of 
God. A compact was formed, (abo« A. D. 1330,) by 
which the Ragusans engaged to pay to Orchan the jrearly 
sum of five hundred sequins : tms tribute, together with 
presents for the nobles, is sdU annually sent to the great 
sultan ; in return for which, Ragasa is taken under his 
protection, and its commodities are exempt from tolls. 

The government of Ragusa consists of the great council, 
the senate, and the smaller council. All the nobles above 
the age of eighteen jrears have the privilege of a seat in the 
. greater cotmcil, which enacts the laws, elects the magis- 
trates, and exercises the power of pardon. Forty-five 
pregadi, who must all be more than forty years old, cofi» 



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stitute the senate, which prepares the business to be hid 
before the greater council, has the power of dedarmg war 
and of forming alliances, and is the court of appeal in the 
last resort. Twelve persons are chosen from among the 
members of the greater council, one of whom, on the 
death of each senator, is appointed to fiD up his place : and 
when this body is reduced to the number of four, it is 
again completed. The smaller council consists of seven 
senators, and possesses the executive power. The head 
of the commonwealth is an officer called a rettore, without 
whose concurrence nothing can take place : but his autho- 
rity lasts onhr four weeks. He never sdrs dbroad, except 
on popular festivals, and at the letting of c^tam branches 
of the revenue ; and on these occasions is adorned with a 
mantle of red damask, with red stockings and shoes, which 
were insignia of the supreme power in the Grecian empire, 
and with the more modern ornament of a prodigiously long 
periwig : he is preceded by a band of musicians, accoia- 

Iianied by the smaller council and the secretaries, and fol- 
owed by a body guard of twelve unarmed men. 

Three senators are annually a[^lnted proveditori of the 
city, whose offices it is to watch over the execution of the 
laws, and to see that they keep the strong in subjection, and 
maintain in security the rights of the weak. No aheraticm 
can take place in the laws, without the concurrence of 
seven-eighths of the votes in the greater council ; but the 
operation of a law may be suspended, on some particular 
occasions, by the concurrence of three-fourths of those votes. 
It sometimes happens that, in periods of danger to the 
state, one of the members of the council makes a speech 
in Latin : and on such occasions the orator is congratulated 
by the nobility, and presented by the state with a pair of 
capons. The rewards bestowed by a republic on a citizen 
are usually not very splendid ; but they are the free gift 
of bis. own country, and thence incalculably valuable. 
Treasurers are elected every five years from among the 
eldest of the senatc^s, who have die superintendence of 
'the finances. They have the privilege of distributing 
twelve hundred pounds in secret alms, and of portioning 
&e daughters of poor noblemen : for it is the interest of the 
VOL. in. 6 



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68 uinrsBBAL niuromw. 

government to acquire the afiection of the people ; and it 
will not allow the nobles to become so needy as to render 
them desperate. Four judges conduct criminal processes ; 
but they cannot condemn to death without the concurrence 
of the senate : and four judges have the direction of the 
civil tribunal. The suits of the poor, of widows and or- 
phans, are conducted gratuitously by young noblemen, who 
wish to obtain the esteem and love of their fellow-citizens ; 
others take care that the city is properly supplied with pro- 
visions, guard against the introduction of foreign wines, and 
watch over the management of the hospitals, the conduits, 
the armory and other public buildings, the streets, the 
commerce in salt, the citadel, and the territory. The sen- 
ate is thus relieved from a number of troublesome details, 
and the youth are occupied, and acquire the means of hon- 
orable distinction, by the industrious exercise of their tal- 
ents. Three physicians and two surgeons are in the pay 
of the republic, in order that the poorest individual may 
easily obtain medical assistance, especially when the plague 
races in the neighboring provinces of Turkey. 

The population of Kagusa is divided into five classes : 
First, the clergy are dependent on the archbishop, who is 
chosen by the pope from two individuals nominated by the 
senate : mis body advances the necessary sum of money 
for the expenses of the bulls, and by this means keeps the 
prelate in a state of dependence. Secondly, the nobility 
are styled illustrious, are held in great reverence, and kept 
under exceUent order : the government is entirely in the 
hands of this class; the archbishop and the cathedral chap- 
ter are elected from among its members, and, in order that 
the persons of the rulers may be held mviolable, a noble- 
man can be only conducted to prison by one of his peers 
or equals. Rousseau says, that if a law has been enacted, 
ordaining that whoever enters into the council must place 
his right foot in the room before his left, even this regula- 
tion must be religiously obeyed: thus, in Ragusa, the 
length of the counsellors' robes is so accurately determined, 
that when Tuberone Cerva came into the council with a 
longer garment than was permitted, the superfluous length 
was cut off; and this disgrace affected him so violently, 



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UKIVSRSAL InSTOVY. 6S 

that he quitted public life, and entered into a monastery. 
Thirdly, the citizens are the descendants of families which 
are frequently of considerable antiquity ; or of the children 
of noblemen, either of illegitimate birth, or the fruit of 
marriages with persons of a lower rank : they are eligible 
to the inferior offices. Fourthly, the people, consisting of 
tradesmen, artisans, seamen, Greeks, Bosnians, and Jews, 
are the clients of the noble families. Fifthly, the peasants 
cultivate the ground' for the proprietor, and receive a part 
of the produce as their recompense : they are brave as well 
as industrious, and have often lost their lives in defence of 
their masters, against the predatory Montenegrins. 

. . « 

SECTION XXVI. 

MILAN. 

The Visconti, who governed Milan, domineered most 
cruelly over the citizens, oppressed their neighbors, and 
were incessantly embroiled with their own family. John 
Galeazzo, who had poisoned his uncle Barnaba, and re- 
ceived the title of duke from Wenceslaf, king of the Ger- 
mans, (A. D. 1395^, entertained plans for die subjection 
of all Italy, and diea in the midst of a splendid career of 
victory. A. D. 1402. His son, John Maria Angelo, im- 
prisoned his own mother ; and irritated the people to such 
a degree by his cruelty and avarice, that ne was put to 
death : his brother Philip was expelled, and freedom re- 
stored. A. D. 1412. 

About this time Fantino Cane, lord of Vercelle, Alex- 
andria, Tortona, and Novara, left all these dominions to his 
widow, Beatrix of Tende : the latter married the banished 
Philip; coUeeted a military force, conquered Milan, and 
caused the demagogues to be executed. A few years af- 
terwards, Philip beheaded Beatrix under pretence of adul- 
tery. A. D. 1418. This duke carried on wars in Lora- 
bardy, by i!neans of able generals, for his own aggrandize- 
ment, while he remained at Milan, abandoned to ^lup- 
tuous pleasures. He left, at his death, (A. D. 1447^, 
only an illegitimate daughter ; ^ and the senate and people 
again restored the freedom of the city. 



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64 ' UNXTSBSAL HISTOBT. 

Tbe military power of Italy was chiefly in the hands of 
cond6ttieri or leaders of banditti, who were ambitious or 
depraved, or overwhelmed with debts. Their followers 
consisted of people who neither had nor wished for any 
honest means oi maintaining themselves; who were in 
danger of punishment for their crimes, or had been reduced 
to poverty by misfortune : they lived on the pay which 
they received from their chief, or more commonly on the 
plunder which they obtained from the enemies of the princes 
or cities into whose service they had entered. We haye 
already seen, in the history of Johanna the Second of Na- 
ples, the part which was acted by Jacob Sforza, the valiant 
peasant of Cotignuola. His son Francesco, who possessed 
mapy good qualities, married Blanca, die illegitimate 
daughter of the last duke Visconti ; and the confidence of 
the Milanese raised him to the command of the army of 
the republic. 

He afterwards took oocasicHi to quarrel with the admini- 
strators of the public afiairs ; made himself sovereign (A. 
D. 1451) ; and, having assumed the title of duke, erected 
a citadel. He died in advanced age, crowned with gkny 
and fortune (A. D. 1467 J ; and left to the bouse of the 
Sfeirza the dominions which he had acquired, which com- 

C bended not only the state of I^an in its present iextent* 
the considerable districts which have since been sever- 
ed from it by the Venetians, the Grisons, the Swiss, and 
the dukes ot Savoy and Parma. 

SECTION xxvn. 

SAVOY. 

The dignity as weH as the power of the counts of Savoy, 
was now increasing.' A. D. 1365. Amadeus, called, 
from hb favorite color, " the Green Count," received from 
the emperor Charles the Fourth, a vicegerency of the em» 
pire, comprised in twelve dioceses, and so extensive in au- 
thority, that not only the ultimate decision of the appeals 
brought before the imperial tribunals belonged to him, but 
he had also the power of restoring, at all times, and at his 
own pleasure, the validity of all die obsolete privUegea of 



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trKinSRSAL BISTORT. 65 

tliB empire. His descendant, Amadeus the Eighth, re- 
ceived die tide of duke from Sigismund, son of Charles the 
Fourth. A. D. 1416. 

The importance of rounding and filling up the vacant 
spaces in the boundaries of a state, which consisted of dis^ 
tmct and separate sovereignties, and the necessity of di- 
minishing the authority of the nobles who were sufficiently 
powerful to oppose the duke, were the means of training 
the princes of this family to an unusual degree of activity 
and vigilance. They took part- in ^11 the wars of the 
neighboring countries; sometimes they allied themselves 
with the feeble, in opposition to states dangerous by their 
superior power, and sometimes m conjunction with a more 
powerful ally, when they hoped by such means to aggran- 
dize themselves. They flattered the vanity and took ad- 
vantage of the poverty and other difficulties of the em- 
perors, in order to obtain privileges which added weight to 
then* authority. It was a fortunate circumstance for their 
views, that their neighbors were either feeble in themselves, 
or Jealous of each other : they did not, however, found 
their power upon these variable circumstances 5 but turned 
their attention to military affidrs with so much success, that 
they obtained greater advantages with their own troops 
than others gained by their mercenaries. Almost all tlie 
ruling princes of this family fought at the head of their 
own armies. 

. With all their valor, however, they did not neglect policy. 
They usually supported the cause of the citizens against 
the great barons, m the hope that both parties would be- 
come enfeebled in the contest, and might thus be rendered 
more subservient. They took the part of the Greek 
princes who reigned in Montserrat,* against the marquises 
of Saluzzo, who, from their situation, were the most for- 
midable to them ; and in consequence of this interference 
the latter were compelled to become their vassals. At the 
same period, they caused the privileges of the emperor 
over his territory to be transferred to them, as well as the 
feudal superiority of the bishops of Ivrea over Montserrat 
which the ancient counts of that country had presented to 
the tutelary saint of their church. They afterwards formed 

VOL. III. 6* 



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66 uKivs&SAL HisTomr. 

matrimoiiial comiexioDs with the Gredc prince Palnoloeim, 
who was of imperial family, and had become by mamage 
count of Montserrat ; and thus secured the succession to 
themselves. During the wars of the Genoese and Vene- 
tians, they attached themselves to the party of the latter ; 
because diey entertained hopes of aggrandizmg themselves 
at the expense of the former : but as soon as Genoa wa4 
vanouished, and Venice was establishing her dominion on 
the Continent, the green count hastened to mediate a peace, 
before the latter should become too powerful. In the mid- 
dle of the 15th century, they estabhshed, as a family law, 
the right of primogeniture and the indivisibility of their do- 
, minions, wmch has hitherto suffisred in consequence of 
partidon. 

SECTION xxvin. 

SWITZERLAND. 

About the same period which gave birth to the com- 
monwealth of Venice, occurrences took place in the moun- 
tains of St. Gothard, which in the end gave origin to the 
well-known confederacy of Switzerland. 

The history of Wilham Tell and the men of the three 
cantons, is not the commencement of Swiss liberty, but is 
a circumstance which serves to confirm the existence and 
the more ancient freedom of the old confederacy of Uri, 
Schwyz, and Unterwalden. The internal government of 
these forest cantons is also more ancient, and ^ bears the 
original stamp of nature. The whole population of each 
of diese vallies exercises the supreme power under the su- 
perintend^ce of their landanunan, and entrusts its execu- 
tion to a council and to judges, appointed without any re- 
gard to nobility, and without a treasury or any other au- 
thority than that which is conferred by the will of the nub- 
Uc. Unterwalden was at that period divided by the forest 
of Kemwald into two communities, one of which has carried 
on wars and made conquests, without the concurrence of 
the other. 

Hese vallies were under the immediate guardianship of 
the empire ; but king Albert of Habsburg, whose father 



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DNrrftHSAL HISTOBT. ^ 

Iwd been their {Protector ih turbulent times, pro{y>sed that 
they should place themselves under die hereditary protec- 
tion of Ws family, which was near, and very powerful ; but 
they, being systematically averse to change, and regarding 
this king, who was feared by his other neighbors,, with dis- 
trust, refused to accept his proposal. The king, therefore, 
the more readily allowed the governors whom he appointed 
over the hereditary states of Habsburg in these countries, 
to be mvested with all the authority of the empire ; which 
they exercised without moderation over the mountaineers, 
whom the king, through ignorance of their character, held 
in contempt. The people, ever undaunted in a just cause, 
banished the governors, and demolished the fortresses 
(A. D. 1308) ; but neither violated the private estates of 
die boose of Habsburg, nqr committed any blpoddied ex- 
cept in the weU-known instance of William TeB, who 
avenged his own injuries on the governor, Herrmann Gress- 
ler. Before the king had time to adopt any measures in 
consequence of this afEair, which was not considered of im- 
portance enough to deserve much attention, he was mur- 
dered by his nephew; and his successor, Henry the 
Seventh, confirmed the ancient constitution of the forest 
cantons. A. D. 1309. 

Afier the death of Henry, Frederick the son of Albert 
and Lewis of Bavaria were elected; and the Swiss de- 
clared m favor of the latter. Leopold, the brother of 
Frederick, therefore seized the opportunity presented by a 
feud which had arisen between the canton of Schwyx and 
the monastery in the Einsideln, of which he was protector, 
to lead an army against these forest cantons ; and a batde 
took place in tiie narrow pass of Morgarten, between the ' 
mount Sattel and the lake of Aegeri, in which the Swiss 
made so good use of the advantages which local situation 
gave them over their imprudent enemy, that die latter was 
totally defeated. Count Otho of Strasberg made an irrup- 
tion on the same day into Unterwalden, and suffered a 
similar discomfiture. These warlike deeds were the first 
achievements which rendered the Swiss celebrated m 
foreign countries, and gave respectability to the union 
amcmg dieir neighbors. The confederacy neither made 



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^S!^ 



68 UNIVERSAL HI8T0AT. 

any alteration in its duties as a portion of the empire^ nor 
m the private relations of the estates or people belonging to 
the family of Habsburg in the forest cantons ; but contented 
itself with directing the exertions of the community to the 
simple object of maintaining its established constitutipn. 
By this moderate proceeding, it claimed the esteem even 
of its enemies. 

The Austrian city of Lucem, lying on the lake which 
bears the same name, and surrounded by the other forest 
cantons, was seventeen years afterwards received into the 
confederacy, in the same spirit of moderation. A. D. 
1332. The union of aU the territories surroundmg that 
lake, was of great importance : the social spirit of the citi- 
zens of Lucem, encouraged by the successful example of 
their neighbors, induced them to accede to the union; 
but their object and intention in taking^^at step, was not 
the overthrow of their government, butibe maintenance of 
their legal rights and relations. 

Berchtold Von Zaringen, who governed under the Swa- 
bian emperors the territory of Burgundy, (situated at the 
feet of the Alps and in mount Jura,) had founded the city 
of Bern (A. D. 1191), as an asylum for the nobility and 
commoners of the neighboring country, who, from ancient 
times, had lived as freemen under the imperial protection, 
but had been exposed to manifold oppressions from the 
greater provincial nobility. The citizens of Bern early 
manifested a noble and enterprising spirit, not only in de- 
fending iheir own freedom, which was subject to frequent 
attacks, but in communicating similar advantages to the 
neighboring people, who were in th^ same situation. 
Bern at length Appeared desirous of adding dominion to 
her 'independence, and received the city of Laupen in 
pledge from the emperor Lewis ; accordingly the nobles of 
the country united in a league for effecting her destruction. 

In this perilous situation, they received from the forest 
cantons, who we^e not under any obligation to help them, 
the most magnanimous assistance (A. D. 1339) ; and un- 
der the conduct of Rudolf von Erlach, gained by their 
courage and military skill, an important victory. From 
this time forth they remained members of tile Swiss Con- 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY* 



fed^acy, in which relation they were soon afterwards ctm- 
firmed by a perpetual league. A. D. i353. Bera 
formed, besides, a particular federal republic oa the west- 
em fixmtier ctf the cantons, which was partly estabMshad 
by confederacies with Solothum, Biel, Freibiiig, and Va- 
lais, which bad separate rights of their o#b, which they 
were ^sirous of maiBtaining ; and pardy by receiving the 
inhabitants of the valley of Hasli, the nobles of the upper 
district, and many other noblemen and peasants, under 
their protection, and admitting them to the rights of citi- 
zenslup. • 

The community annually elected a mayor, officers who 
presided under him over the quarters oi the city, and a 
council, which originally consisted of twelve but was after- 
wards doubled. As the residences of the citizens of Bern 
were dispersed over a considerable extent of country, it 
wafi ordamed at an early period, that a selection of two 
I^ndred pers(uis should represent the communis in im- 
portant anairs ; and in order to preclude the necessity of 
teo firequentljr calling this large body together, four out of 
en^ry town-district were nominated, to take |NX>visio]iaIly 
into their consideration all measures that might be ne- 
cessary.- 

Zunch was a place of great antiquity, which, by the 
natural advantages of its situation, had gradually recovered 
from the eifects of the disasters that accompanied the de- 
struction of the western empire, and haa subsequendy 
risen to considerable importance by the influence of its two 
ecclesiastical establishments, and of many privileges which 
had been conferred on it by kings and emperors of Ger- 
many. It was governed by a body of nobles and citizens, 
consisting of thirty-six members ; and the executive gov- 
erament was ccnnmitted to one-third of this number, of 
which eight w^e citizens and four nobles or knights, who 
held their autbcnity during only four months : the number 
twelve was indeed most commody adopted at the foundar 
tien of Grerman municipalities. Tiie statutes w^re enacted, 
the counsellors elected, and all measures of general im- 
pertanoe were resolved on, in the assemblies of the coitl- 
munity. Party spirit at length shook this constitution ; and 



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70 ' UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 

Rudolf Brun took advantage of the abuses to which a long-* 
coatmued administration is usually liable, in order to repre« 
sent a change as absolutely necessary, and to introduce a 
new form of government. The former rulers, who were 
eidier ccmscious of some delmquency, or wished to obtain 
assistance from abroad, or believed that their presence 
would be willingly dispensed with, withdrew into foreign 
countries. 

The office of burgomaster was now created, and wa« 
bestowed for life, together with extraordinary powers, on 
Rudolf Brun. A. D. 1336. The municipality was dis- 
tributed into companies, in such a manner that all the noble 
and wealthy citizens might constitute one body with the 
title of constables, out of which the new burgomaster and a 
few others should choose the half of the council ; while the 
remainder of that body was elected by the rest of the citi- 
zens, who were divided into thirteen companies, with the 
title of masters of the guilds. These companies^ or guilds, 
were at the same time societies of artisans. 

The expelled rulers, with the nobles of the vicinity, en- 
tered into a conspiracy against the new institution. At 
their head was count Hanns, of the family of Habsburg, 
lord of Rappersw}rl, a town which is also situated on the 
lake of Zurich: this enterprise was, however, unfortunate ; 
the count was made prisoner, and Rapperswyl destroyed. 
This occurrence excited the indignation of the other princes 
of Habsburg, especially of Albert duke of Austria, whose 
reputation as a politic ruler was very great ; and Rudolf 
Brun, seeing himself in danger of being mvolved m a war 
with this prince, proposed to the Swiss to admit his city as 
a member of the perpetual league. A. D. 1351. His 
application was accepted ; and Zurich thus acquired the 
assurance of support, and Switzerland obtained a bulwarit 
and a market in a friendly country. It was also agreed, 
that the constitution of Zurich should not be destroyed by 
force ; but that every state might remain at liberty to efiect 
peacea1)ly any alteration which it might think fit to adopt. 
The Alps of St. Gothard, and the rivers Thur and Air, 
were fixed as the boundaries of the country wUch the 
confederacy was bound to protect. 



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UfiriVSBSAL HISTOBT. 71 

The expected war broke out ; 'but as the duke was now 
too much rafeebled by age and disease to prosecute it 
with vigor, it was many times interrupted by negociations. 

The people of Glaxis, among, the other subjects of Aus- 
tria, were summoned to lend their assistance against Zu- 
rich. Claris lies on the rivers which form the lake of 
JZiu*ich, and had been bestowed, some centuries before 
these events, as an estate, on the monastery of Sekingen, of 
which the duke was protector. But the people of Claris, 
who, like all the Alpiqe tribes, possessed certam privileges, 
and whose rights had been infringed by some late bnova- 
tions, refused to take any part in this war, killed the gover- 
nor Stadion, (A. D. 1362), who endeavored to compel 
dieir services ; and, with exceptions m favor of the privi- 
leges of Sekingen, took an oath of allegiance to the dwiss 
confederacy. They were accounted excellent combatants; 
and like most races of shepherds, accustomed to endure 
fatigue and the inclemencies of the seasons, were much 
better adapted for the defence of a country, than to form 
the infantry of a regular army. 

The Swiss afterwards took possession of Zug, a city 
which had been inherited by the house of Habsburg from 
the counts of Lenz})urg and Kiburg. But the confede- 
rates were desirous of incorporated brethren, and not of 
subjects ; and therefore the three original forest cantons, 
together with Lucem, Bern, Zurich, Claris, and Zug, form 
the eight ancient states of the confederacy. In af&irs, 
however, in wWch Bern, being more distandy situated, 
takes no part, only seven states are enumerated. 

A. D. 1354. " Duke Albert laid siege to Zurich with a 
much larger army than it was possible to maintain in such 
a country. He afterwards induced Charles the Fourth to 
declare an imperial war against the confederates ; but the 
latter found means to convince the Cermans, that no me- 
thods of defence against superior power are attended with 
less inconvenience than confederacies, which demand no 
sacrifices from dieir members. The etnjperor was unable 
to counteract the force of public opinion for any considera- 
ble time ; and the campaign, which had been opened with 
great parade, was feebly conducted and produced no im- 



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78 innTERBAL HISTOBT* 

portant conseauences. From that time, die anhnoshy of 
the house of Habsburg against the Swiss, was si]8pa[iiled 
for thirty years. 

The three forest cantons fcirmed the centre of the league, 
around which all the new confederates attached themselves; 
they retained their own intimate connexion, and have fre- 
quently acted for themselves, without reference to the rest 
of the cantons. Their union depends not on a common 
chief or a senate, but on the general sentiment, the love of 
liberty : every separate state, therefore, detained its own 
separate and peculiar capabilities ; whole, with regard to 
die interest of their common country, they have but one 
soul. There is this difference between the Swiss and die 
ancient Greeks, that die latter wefre of an impetuous char- 
acter, while the former were remarkably calm and sedate ; 
diat among the confederates, the commanding quali^ was 
soundness of understanding ; among the ancients, a ridi 
exuberance of ideas. Though Athens and Sparta, accord- 
ingly, attained to a degree of importance which was never 
ascribed to Zurich or to Bern, the freedom of the Greeks 
was lost by the faults of that nation, in a very short time 
after they had attained the highest gfcry ; while the con-« 
federacy yet exists, and will continue until revolutions, ex- 
ternal to its constitution, shall swallow up this peaceable 
government, together with other states of inferior power. 
Whenever tiiat event shall take place, the integrity, indus- 
try, and sedateness of the national character, Will either 
gain the esteem of the conqueror, and await a favorable 
^change of circumstances at home, or it will induce the peo- 
ple to seek a new country beyond the ocean, or in other 
distant reeions of the earth. 

Soon after the wars of which we have been speaking, 
Gersau, a village which had purchased its freedom, enteriMl 
into a treaty of mutual defence with the forest cantons (A. 
D. 1359) ; and though it contained only four hundred 
men, retained its liberty as long and as inviolably as the 
powerful state of Bern. This prosperous £^t is governed 
by a landamman and a council of nine ; each of whom, in 
important cases, associates with himself one or two of the 
country people. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 73 

A. D. 1375. The peace of the. country was disturbed 
by a numerous and irregular host, consistbg of 'English 
and of the vassals of French noblemen : this body had been 
collected byEnguerrand, lord of Coucy, for the purpose 
of compelling the .dukes of Austria to pay the marriage 
portion of his mother, who was also their aunt. The con- 
federates situated on the borders, rendered themselves for- 
midable by the successful attacks of their wandering par- 
ties ; and at length the army of Coucy, having received 
some satisfaction from the dukes, was dissolved. 

The power of the family of Habsburg was divided, and 
m the hands of princes who possessed a chivalrous spirit, 
though they were destitute of systematic policy, and 
of the qualifications necessary to rulers. Hence arose 
disorders, oppression on the part of the public officers, and 
exasperation on that of tlieir subjects and neighbors : and 
hence, at length, that war was occasioned in the upper 
frontier countries, which was entirely conducted by the no- 
bles against the democracy. It must be observed, that the 
citizens and peasants had arisen to a greater degree of 
affluence, while the nobles had been dissipating their patri- 
monial wealth in a variety of follies. This war was decid- 
ed by the victory gained by the four forest cantons at Sem- 
pach (A. D, 1386), and by the advantages which the peo- 
ple of GJaris obtained at Nafels, (A. D. 1388). The ex- 
ploits of these days were equal to the most brilliant of an- 
cient history, and left to the nation the blessing of freedom, ' 
together with spkndid examples of valor: they are still 
celebrated, and with good reason ; for the lot of this peo- 
ple would still be emdable, if they only knew how to die like 
their ancestors ! 

. The object of the succeeding wars was not so much the 
acquisition or defence of. liberty, as of their dominions. 
The pontinual exercise of their arms ^ave the Swiss 
infantry so decided a superiority, that, until the introduc- 
tion of modern tactics, it was too formidable to dread an^ 
fresh attacks. The Swiss were never overcome in their 
own country : and even their defeats at Basil and Marig- 
nano were not less honorable than victories. 

The example of aggrandisement was chiefly displayed 

VOL. III. 7 



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74 UNIVCBSAL HISTOBT. 

by Bern, which took advantage of the financial difficuldes 
of the neighboring nobles to purchase their dominions, and 
of the perplexity to which other states had reduced the 
house of Habsburg, in order to make conquests. They 
contributed principally, in the favorable moment of the 
council of Constance, (A. D. 1415), to overthrow the pow- 
er of that house in the Aargau : the representatives of west- 
ern Christendom had summoned them to this achievement; 
the emperor and die church dissolved the compact of peace 
which subsisted between the house of Habsburg and the 
forest cantons, and which bad hitherto been religiously ob- 
served ; and, at length, the hereditary estates of that fam- 
ily, in the vallies of Switzerland, were confiscated. These 
common acquisitions were, and still conunue to be, |ov- 
erned by magistrates chosen alternately from the victorious 
cantons 5 and their annual accounts, together with the com- 
plaints of their subjects, are examined by deputies appoint- 
ed by all the participating cities and states. These com- 
mon domams form an additional bond of union between 
the latter; but dieir administiration is accused of many 
gross abuses, and of a perpetual conspiracy of the provin- 
cial governors with th^ deputies, especially with those of 
the democracies which expose that office to sale, to the . 
prejudice of the interests of their subjects. Complaints 
are, b fact, renewed, similar to those which were brought 
, against the Athenians and Lacedemonians during the pe- 
riod of tlieir domination. The sums, however, which are 
given for offices in the democratic states, preclude the en- 
trusting of power to men wholly destitute of property, who 
would scarcely be restramed by the rules of propriety. 
. At the death of Frederick, the last count of Tokenburg, 
a civil war took place between Zurich and Schwyz; both 
which Slates earnestly \nshed eithei* to take the subjects of 
the late nobleman under their protection, or entirely to 
connect and incorporate them wiui their own country ; and 
ofiered them tlie rights of citizenship in perpetuity, as well 
as a share in the privileges of their late master. Schwyz 
was the eldest, but Zurich at that time the most powerful, 
of those states whom the founders of the liberties of the 
country, occupied with afiairs of greater importance, had 



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OimrSBSAL HISTOAT. 76 

alkfwed to hold the first nmk. The war tiook a turn un* 
fayorable to the interests of Zurich} agabst which all the 
confederates declared themselves. That state, therefore, 
concluded an alliance with Austria : but the contest was 
carried on successfully on her part ; for the city itself was 
divided by factions, and neither tlie negociations for peace, 
nor the operations of war, could be carried on unanimously. 
After some bloody battles had been fQught, Zurich was 
again left to herself; and at length agreed to tlie same pro- 
posals which had been made to her before she had tried 
the fate of arms. A. D. 1450. 



SECTION XXIX. 

AUSTRIA. 

All the different branches of the house of Habsburg 
became extinct about the same period. They were all de« 
scended from Albert, who, in the year 1352, had besieged 
Zurich. Rudolf his eldest son, who first assumed the tide 
of archduke and was a ruler of great talents, had acquired 
the county of Tirol. Margaret, the former sovereign of 
the country, had intended to declare Stephen, duke of 
Bavaria, her heir ; but while the latter neglected the op- 
portunity afforded by this favorable moment, and was 
amusing himself with entertainments, Rudolf was not de- 
terred by the severity of the season, from undertaking a 
journey to the residence of Margaret, whom he succeeded 
m persuading to change her intentions. A. D. 1363. The 
archduke died however in the bloom of youth, without 
heirs (A. D. 1365); and his brothers, Albert and Leopold, 
divided his territories. The fonner inhefited Austria; and 
the latter, who had many sons, obtained all the remainder. 
A. D. 1375. 

Albert the Third restored peace and order. to the state, 
which had been kept in perpetual alarms by the predatory 
nobles. For this purpose it was necessary to levy a land- 
tax, the produce of which amounted to a hundred thousand 
pounds. His pious son,. Albert the Fourth, undertook a 



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7t 



UNIVCKSAL HISTOB.T. 



pilgrimage to the Qpty Land (A. D. 1S9&); whSe Ml 
servants, with the help of the clergy, the citizens, and the 
Jfews, were engaged in carrying on the war against the 
domestic robbers, many of whom were publicly hanged, 
while such of them as were noblemen of very high rank, 
were executed in the night, by drowning diem in the 
Danube. A. D. 1404. This duke caused one hundred 
heretics to be burned to death in Stiria. He was the 
father of Albert the Fifth, to whom the last emperor of the 
house of Luxemburg gave his daughter, and who succeed- 
ed to his father-in-law in the empire, and in the kingdoms 
of Bohemia and Hungary (A. D. 1438) ; but he s^med to 
have inherited these three crowns, only to adorn his pas- 
sage to the tomb. A. D. 1439. His posthumous son, 
Ladislaf, a mild and beautiful youth, was acknowledged by 
his people as king, only a short time before his death (A. 
D. 1458) ; and with him expired that branch of the house 
of Habsburg, which was descended from Albert the Third. 

Leopold, who had fought bravely Against the Venetians, 
and the cities of the Rhenish confederacy^ lost the battle 
of Sempach, together with his life, in a contest with the 
Swiss. A. D. 1386. He left behind him the reputation 
of a hero ; and his family owes to him the acquisition of 
Freiburg, in the Breisgau, which delivered itself, with his 
assistance, from the tyranny of Egon, count of Fiirstem- 
berg. A. D. 1368. Leopold left four sons, one of whom, 
named William, an active and amiable prince, gained the 
affection of the heiress of Poland : that princess was how- 
ever obliged, by political considerations, to marry Jagel, 
?and prince of Lithuania, by the addition of whose territory 
oland was raised to the rank of a powerful monarchy. Of 
Leopold the Long, the brother of^William, we only know 
that he repressed, by very severe measures, the spirit of 
liberty in tlie inhabitants of Vienna. A. D. 141 1 . Ernest 
and Frederick transmitted the hereditajTy dominions of 
Leopold to their descendants. 

Frederick, the unfortunate friend of pope John the 
Twenty-third, was deprived of the family estates in the 
Aargau, by the fathers assembled at Constance. His son 
Sigismund, during his long administration, lost the Thurgau , 



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VmVZna'Mh HISTORT. 77 

10 the Smss (A. D. 1460) ; and, as he died childless, left 
Tirol and all the remaiDing frontier territories, to Ernest, 
the only surviving archduke. A. D. 1495. 

Ernest had two sons : one of these was the emperor Fre* 
derick, and the other the chivalrous archduke Albert. A. 
D. 1424. The former oudived his brother, and Ladislaf 
the son of Albert, and saw his son Maximilian elected kine 
of the Germans, appointed heir to his coiism of Tirpl, and 
married to the heiress of the dukes of Burgundy. 



SECTION XXX. 

BOHEMIA. 

Pn^ue and Bohemia had attained, imder the kings of 
the house of Luxemburg, to a high degree of prosperity 
and civilization. We have ahready spoken of lung John, 
who first compelled the nobles, after maiy years of confu- 
sion, to respect order. He retained the Silesian principal- 
ity of Glogau, and by such means acquked pretensions to 
the Polish cities of Pos^n and Kalisch. Casimir of 
Teschen, whom he invested with the fief of Glogau, to- 
gether with the dukes of Oppek, Sagan, Oels and Wolau, 
Steinau, Brieg and Lignitz, Miinsterberg and Ratibon, and 
at length the whole b(Kly of Silesian princes, most of whom 
were jealous of Poland, placed themselves under the pro- 
tection of king John : Casimir, king of the Poles, re- 
nounced all share in these proceedmgs. A. D. 1335. 

A. D. 1 346. Charles, the fourth emperor of that name, 
was, as a sovereign, worthy of John his fajther. He had 
received in the university of Paris, and at the court of 
France, an education superior to that of roost princes of 
the age. He began his reign by relieving the people firom 
a part of their burdens : and though his necessities were so 
great, as to compel him to borrow m the city of Spires a 
sum of one thousand pounds, which he obtained with diffi- 
culty, and under humiliating conditions, he seized with 
such vi^ance every opportuniQr of enridiin^ himself, that 
in the end he succeeaed in amassmg a considerable trea- 

VOL. III. 7* 



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76 unnrxBSAL BisTosr. 

tore^ He now founded an umveraiy b Praguei far At 
four nations of Bohemians^ Poles, Saxons, and Bavuiansi 
whom he arranged in the above-mentioned order: and 
without oppressing his own country, he purchased the 
Upper Palatinate and Brandenburg. 

The Upper Palatinate, in the ' mountains which extend 
from the north of Bavaria to the forest of Bohemia, had 
been mortgaged by the last princes of the family of Ho* 
henstaufen to the dukes of Bavaria. Rupert, a count pa- 
latine of that family, sold his claims to the emperor Charles, 
who was his father-in-law, for twenty thousand marks. 
Charles su£fered a small part of this territory- to remain un- 
der the dominion of the duke of Bavaria, m consideratioD 
of a sum of money ; but the 'princes of Bavaria continued 
' to maintain that dukedom to be inalienable ; and during 
the disturbances which accomp^ed the reign of Wencea- 
laf, the^ rendered their declaration valid by the good for- 
tune ot their arms. 

The marks of Brandenburg, the count of which territo- 
ry held the hereditary office of arch-chamberlain, were go- 
verned gloriously by the family of Anhalt. Berlin flourish- 
ed under their sway, in the enjoyment of exemption from 
foreign judicature and arbitrary decisions ; the rivers were 
rendered navigable, and Stendal and Soltwedel became com- 
mercial towns, whose names were famous in the Hanseatic 
league, and m the havens of the Baltic. John of Anhidt 
died without heirs ; and the emperor Lewis, without regard 
to the rights of the nation, under the pretence that the feu- 
dd claim to Brandenburg belonged only to that branch of 
the house of Anhalt, which was now extinct, resumed the 
marks as a reverted fief of the empire, and bestowed them 
b that character on his sen Lewis. A. D. 1322. The 
latter fixed his residence at Berlb, the inhabitants of which 
were animated b]^ an enterpriang spirit, directed to the im- 
TOOvAnent of their country and the preservation of liberty. 
The encroachments of the eccleaastics were repressed by 
many popular commotions, and the magistrates were com- 
pelled to observe the laws. 

After the death of this emperor, the dukes of Bavaria 
found an indefatigable enem^ in Charles the Fomth. He 




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■« 



ONItSmSAL HISTORY. 79 

invested Rudolf of Anhalt, elector of Saxony, with the fief 
of the old mark ; he relinquished his feudal claims over 
Stargard; and raised the princes of Mecklenburg, who 
had received Stargard from Brandenburg, to the rank of 
independent dukes. 

While Charles was surrounding the electorate with rivals 
and enemies, an occurrence, suitable to the romantic spirit 
of the age, took place, which presented an opportunity of 
interfering with its internal constitution. A miller named 
Rehbok, declared himself to be the elector Woldemar, 
(who had been manjr years dead), j^retending that he had 
returned from pilgrimage, after having spent a long time 
m penance. The emperor encouraged this adventurer, 
procured a party to advocate his pretensions, and called 
nim his brother-in-law : he was besides supported with an 
armed force by Rudolf of Saxony. Lewis of Bavaria was 
accordingly compelled to seek a full reconciliation with 
Charles, upon wnich the adventurer was recognised as an 
impostor. 

Otho, the son of Lewis, afterwards sold the electorate of 
Brandenburg to Charles, in order to be able to devote 
himself, without interruption, to pleasure. A. D. 1373. 
But the electors possessed large , demesne estates m the 
marks, and the tolls afforded a revenue of 160,000 dot 
hurs : the country was cultivated by a numerous peasantry, 
distributed m far more numerous villages than at present ; 
and the value of estates, coinpared with that of our own 
nmes, was in the proportion oi one to ten. 

Charles the Fourth united under his hereditary sceptrA, 
Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, the Lausitz, and Brandenburg: 
but previous to the introduction of regularly disciplined 
standmg armies, every popular commotion was sufficient to 
overthrow such a power as his. This became manifest 
under his sons. 

This emperor, by the advice of the electors, promul- 
edited the golden bull, which was framed by his counsellor 
Bartolus ; to whom, as the latter was not a nobleman, he 
presented the arms of Bohemia. A. D. 1356. The iro« 
perial elections were thus regulated, eighteen years after 
die diet of the electors at Reuse, (A. D. 1338), by which 



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80 T7VIVSRSAL HI8TOBT. 

the empire had been declared independent of the will of 
thepope. 

This prince was also the legislator of Bohemia : but, 
although he, on the one hand, aimed at the extirpation of 
many abuses, and, among others, of the judicial combat | 
and, on the other, paid so much respect to the ancient 
rights of his subjects, that he demanded military service 
from them only during four weeks without pay ; yet his 
laws, probably on account of the neglect of some estab- 
lished forms, were not confirmed by the states. He sue* 
ceeded, however, in circumscribing, in a certain degree, 
the power of the nobles ; and, in cases of wounding or 
maiming, established the Mosaic law of retaliation. 

A. D. 1378. The spirit of investigation which had been 
excited at Prague by the studies which were there pur- 
sued, developed itself under the reign of Wenceslaf. 

The difference of opinioQ, which was prosecuted with 
extreme rancor, at first regarded only . the metaphysical 
subtildes of the reality, or the mere nominality of universal 
ideas. The division was afterwards increased by national 
antipathy, the Bohemians demanding three voices in the- 
academical senate, in which the votes were given accord- 
bg to the three nations. The other three nations, there- 
fore, returned their records, msignia, and matriculations to 
the king ; and many thousand students, with their teachers 
and masters, quitted Prague. A..D. 1409. 

This twofold fermentation was augmented by religious 
difierences. John Huss, rector of the university, a man 
who was distinguished from his colleagues not more by hi3 
knowledge of the original languages of the holy scriptures, 
than by his eminent vutues, zeabusly opposed the abuses 
which, during a long period of ignorance and forbearance, 
had been introduced into the church. When the council 
of Constance assembled, king Sigismund sent Henry of 
Lefib to Prague, to invite Huss and his learned friend Je- 
rome, under the assurance of a safe convoy, to appear be- 
fore diat assembly. The prelates hated the moral censor, 
and hoped to be able to repress the growth of the spirit of 
free inquiry ; and Sigismund was induced to second their 
purposes. Huss was condemned, although the Bohemians 



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,l7NtT£RSAL HISTOBY. $L 

\h vain &J)pealed to the roydl promise for his security : he 
Wai defirered by the bishops to the secjular arm^ and his 
soul given to the devil ; " and I," he replied, " give up fey 
spirit into the hand of my God and Saviour." He was 
burned alfve, (A. D. 1414), and continue to pray in the 
midst of the flames. His friend Jerome suffered the 
same punishment, which was justly esteemed by Pog- 
gio, the Florentine, to be preferable to that which was in- 
flicted upon Socrates. 

The base compliance of Sigisraund cost him the crown 
of Bohemia, (A. D. 1418), which he in vain epdeavored 
to govern after the death of Wenceslaf. With the firm- 
ness which belongs to a good cause, Ziska and Procopius, th* 
leaders of the Hussites, maintained the rights of their coun- 
try and of outraged humanity. Their arms Were the 
terror of Austria, Franconia, and Saxony ; and their 
speeches before the councils, the voice of conviction, of 
good sense, and of the unconquerable mind : they were at 
J^ngth divided by the artifices erf their enemies, (A. D. 
1436), and Sigismund was acknowledged a few months 
before his decease. 

A. D. 1439. The short reign of Albert was followed 
by the long minority of Ladislaf : and after the premature 
death of the latter, (A. D. 1466), George Podiebradsky, 
a Bohemian nobleman, and a Hussite, at first without a tide, 
and afterwards with the royal dignity, administered the gov*- 
ernment of the country according to the principles of equity, 
and with extraordinary wisdom and vigor. A. D. 1 467. The 
people were in a state of agitation, the joint effect of the 
spirit of inquiry and the tyranny of persecution ; and as 
mey were destitute of guidance, ^ multitude of parties 
arose : the Calixtines, however, reunited themselves to the 
church, as the latter admitted them to the communion. 

The high'-spirited Taborites resolved themselves into the 
peaceable communities of the Moravian brethren : tfieir 
directors received consecration from Stephen, a bishop of 
the Waldenses, and Fulneck became the chief seat of their 
union, which possessed two hundred churches. The 
Abrahamides, who contented themselves with the simple 
worship practised by that patriarch ; and the Deists, who 



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UiriTXRSAL' HISTOmT. 



held the em^o^ent of human reason to be the only safe 
source of religious doctrine, kept themselves more care* 
fully concealed. 



SECTION XXXI., 

BBANDENBUBG. 

The house of Luxemburg, the male line of which ex- 
mred with Sigismund, had previously been deprived of 
JBrandenburg. This country, under the late feeble admin- 
istrations, had been agitated by terrible disorders : the 
roads were insecure, even to the deputies of the provincial 
assemblies ; and the lakes and rivers were infested by rob- 
bers, until Frederick, burgrave of Niirnberg, undertopk, 
for the sum of one hundred thousand Hungarian florins, 
to tranquilize the marches. He drove the violent Wikard, 
of Rochow, from Potsdam, defeated Dietrich of Quitzow, 
the chief of the nobles who had conspired against the peace 
of the country, and demolished the oppressive fortresses. 
Frederick was descended from a younger branch of the 
family of Hohenzollern, (of whom the eldest had perhaps 
twelve thousand subjects, and a revenue of seventy thousand 
florins,) which was descended from Thassilo of Altorf, of 
the race of the Guelphs. Eiselfriedrich, a descendant of 
this count, probably acquired the burgraviate of Niirnberg 
by marriage with an heiress of Yohburg* This family ag- 
grandized itself at the extinction of the dukes of Meran, 
who had dominions in Franconia, Tyrol, and Upper Bur- 
gundy : and king Rudolf, who was brother-in-law to the 
burgrave Conrad, favdi'ed the enterprises of his son Fre- 
derick. The principality, which was afterwards governed 
by two lords ol Anspach and Baureuth, was thus formed 
around the fortress of Niirnberg. Frederick purchased 
the mark of Brandenburg from Sigismund. A. D. 1417* 

Frederick and his successors were possessed of so many 
distinguished qualities, of so great activity, prudence, and 
perseverance, that the nobles of the marks were kept in 
order; the insurrections in Berlin appeased ; and the state, 



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UKITERSAL RI8T0B.T. 93 

as it were created anew, became of importaDce to all the 
powers of the vicinity. The son of the first Frederick, 
who bore his father's name, took advantage of the diffi- 
culties into whi'ch the Teutonic order which governed 
Prussia had fallen, (A. D. 1440,) and obtained the new 
mark, claimed Pomerania, (A. D. 1464), and laid the 
foundation of those pretensions to Poland, which were ren- 
dered valid after the lapse of three hundred years. 

The emperor Sigismund, who .was unable to impart 
vigor either to the execution of the laws, or to his own 
word and will, thus founded the authority of 'th6 house of 
HohenzoUern, in Brandenburg, while his own daughter 
brought crowns into the family of Austria. Both these 
families were descended from the ancient count Albert, of 
Habsburg ; the Austrian branch being derived from his 
son Rudolf, and that of the burgi*ave from his daughter 
Clemenda; and both, as we have just seen, acquired at 
the same period a new degree of splendor. 



SECTION xxxn. 

THE ELECTORATE OF SAXOmT. 

The electorate of Saxony fell, about the same time, to 
the margraves of Meissen. As the electorate of Branden- 
burg was attached to the possession of the city of that 
name, so was that of Saxony, by the authority of the golden 
bull of Charies IV., to the town of Wittenberg. 

The electors of Saxony of the family of Anhalt, who 
had hfeld that dignity ever since the fall of Henry the Lion, 
became extinct, just at the time whi&n Sigismund, who was 
engaged in his war against the Hussites, stood in the ut- 
most need of the aid of Frederick, the^artial and power- 
ful margrave of Meissen and landgrave of Thuringia. The 
duke of Lauenburg, and the new elector of Brandenburg, 
were also joint competitors for the electorate of Saxony. 

Henry the Lion had taken the territory of Lauenburg 
from the Slavonians ; and one of his sons bestowed it, as a 
fief, on the count of Holstein : the latter, who was taken 



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jmsomer by WoMemar, kingofDeniBark, gwe tbis di^nft 
for bis ransom ; and Woldemar transferred it to his son4Qr 
kw, the count of Orl^miinde. Orlamunde being made 
prisoner by the count of Schwerin, Lauenburg again served 
as a ransom : and Schwerin, who had been supported in a 
war which he had carried on by the electors of Saxony of 
the house of Anhalt, gave it to them as a remuneration iat 
their expenses. From that time forth it was governed by 
a younger branch of that family, who expected to succeed, 
to the electorate on the extinction of the elder : and the 
imperial protonotary Michel von Priest, provost of Bunz- 
lau, either with or without the concurrence of the em- 
peror, had prepared a deed of reversion for the duke of 
Laueuburg. 

On receiving intelligence that the electorate of Saxony 
had become vacant, the elector of Brandenburg, Seken- 
dorf, sent to the emperor, and begged to be invested with 
that fief : but it was now discovered that the margrave <^ 
Meissen was also provided with a deed of reversion, pre- 
pared by the same protonotary. The profusion of the 
emperor himself, and the pleasures of his consort Barbara, 
of Cilley, who was another Messalina, rendered poverty 
the common condition of his court : and the war againiSt 
the Hussites proved to be the " reason of state " which de- 
cided in favor of the margrave. The elector of Branden- 
burg concluded a paternal treaty of succession with the 
new electoral house, by which diat fainily which should 
first become extmct, left all its possessions to its survivors. 
A. D. 1435. 



SECTION XXXffl. 

A. D. 1373. A more ancient compact of inheritance, 
with regard to the estates in Thurinpa, abeady existed 
between the family of Meissen and that of Hesse. A. D. 
1248. Judith the eldest sister of the last landgrave of 
Hiuringia, was the ancestor of the family of Meissen ; and 



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OHIVKBSAL HlSTOinr. 86 

tiib landgrtvesof Hesse are descended from her niece 
Sophia. The parents of the latter occupy a distinguished 

Ei in the list of saints ; and her husband was Henry the 
aanimous, duke of Brabant, whose family is traced 
wards to the Carlovingians. After the death of her 
faosband, Sophia con(]|uered the dominion of Hesse from 
the Thuringian inheritance, on behalf of her minor scm 
Henry, who transferred it to the empure as a fief (A. D. 
1292} ; in consequence of which he became a prince of 
the empire, under the title of landgrave, which had been 
retained from Thurinda. 

The possession of Ziegenhayn was afterwards acquired/ 
bat the chief foundation of tlie power of this family was 
teid by. another Henry in his marriage with Anna oi Cat* 
lenelnbogen. A. D. 1479. This heiress of powerful 
dounts brought the true old Cattenland, situated at the 
mouotain of Melibog, and all that had been added to it in 
a long course of centuries, into the house of Hesse, which 
How reigned from the shores of the -Dymel to the fertile 
^ beautiful district caUed the Bergstrasse, where the 
aerchiepiscopal estates of Mayence bwder on the dominions 
ol the Palatinate. 



SECTION XXXIV. 

THE PALATINATE AND BAVARIA. 

After the extinction of the princes of Luxemburg, and 
when the houses of HohenzoUem and Meissen were ad- 
vancing toward thek more recent splendor, the family of 
Wittenbftch, whibh ruled m Bavaria and* in the palatinate 
of the Rhine, might eaialy have become the most powerful 
in Germany, had not its prosperity been prevented both by 
enon and misfortunes. 

A. D. 1265. The dominions of this family had been 
divided in an early age ; and the treaty which was con- 
cluded atPavia (A. D* 1329) by the emperor Lewis, duke 
of Bavaria, with his nephew Rudolf, prince palatbe, seemed 
CO complete the separation, which now became evident in 

VOL. III. " 8 



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86 TTNIVSBSAL HISTORY. 

all afiairs of state. At the contested imperial election, tba 
father of Rudolf was opposed to his own brother ; as was 
Maximilian of Bavaria, m the seventeenth century, to tlie ' 
count palatine Frederick, when the latter was elected king 
of Bohegiia. The countries were separated by many for- 
eign dominions : and the emperors of the family of Lux- 
emburg opprefSsed the house of Lewis. 

Lewis himself, who had at lengtli succeeded ia uniting 
the whole of Bavaria under his sway, contributed to en- 
feeble his family by dividing tliat country among four sons. 
Stephen at length remained sole duke of Upper Bavaria, at 
•Munich ; and Albert, of Lower Bavaria, at Straubingen. 

The princes of this house have always had the singular 
fortune to reign in widely distant countries. We have al- 
ready seen that Brandenburg was governed by the sons of 
Le\iis, who bequeathed to the lower Bavarian branch of 
his family, whose revenue in that country did not exceed 
tWenty-eight thousand florins, the earkioms of Holland, 
Zealand and Hennegau, and the hereditary possessions of 
his wife Margaret, heiress of the house of Avesnes. The 
dukes of Lower Bavaria reigned in both dominions for 
eighty years, until the princess Jacqueline inherited the 
Netherlands in conformity with the law of that country. 
That portion was left by her, notwithstanding the 6ppo- 
sition of the emperor Sigismund, whose power was insuf- 
ficient to support his objections, to the duke of Burgundy ; 
and Lower Bavaria became united to the upper division 
of that country, from the ruling family, of which, other 
branches had sprung. 

A. D. 1424. This union, however, was not effected 
without great misunderstandings. Sigismund declared 
Lower Bavaria t6 be a reverted imperial fief, and entrust- 
ed its administration to Albert o( Austria, his nephew : 
while the four princes of Upper Bavaria were contesting 
the question, whether Lower Bavaria should be inherited 
by the first-born or by all the four. The states, who best 
understood the constitution of the country, and wer^ pro- 
bably the best judges of what would be advantageous to 
its interests, decided that Lower Bavaria reverted to the 
collective family of Upper Bavaria ; but that, until a new 



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UNIVEBSAL HISTOBT. 87 

arrangement should be agreed upon, the former district 
should be administered in comroon by a deputy and receiver. 
The duke of Austria was at length induced to give up his 
claira, and the emperor confirmed the succession to the 
family of Wittelsbach ; which gradually arose to great im- 
portance without any reunion of the power of its different 
branches. 

The house of the electoral palatinate of the Rhine, how- 
ever, under active and inteDigent princes, attained to a 
much greater degree of splendor : among these we must 
reckon Rupert, the original founder of the university of 
Heidelberg (A. D. 1346) ; his second successor, of tlie 
same name, who mounted the throne . of the German em- 
pire (A. D. 1400^; the judicious elector Lewis (A. D. 
1439) ; and especially that Frederick who is justly styled 
the Victorious, who gained the batde of Sekenheim, (A. D. 
1462), and was the most powerful prince on the Rhine, 
and the father of his cx>untry. The family of Lowenstein, 
at Wertheim, is descended from the unequal marriage of 
this latter prmce with Clara of Tettingen. 

In all other EuFopean countries, as well as in the em- 
pire, the superiority was acquired by great vassals : and 
even where they were not sufficiently powerful to establish 
independent dommion, they were at least able to prevent the 
monarch from obtsdning absolute power. 



SECTION XXXV. 

SPAIN. 

The possessions of the Moors, or Arabs, in Spam, whose 
sovereign held his residence at Grenada, were confined to 
the province of Andalusia ; and the Christian part of the 
peninsula was governed by the four kings of Navarre, of 
Arragon, of Casdle and Leon, and of Portugal. 

That the sense of common danger was scarcely capable 
of uniting their power in pursuit of one object, wvls suflS- 
ciently demonstrated when Abu Haf, the Merinide prince 
of Morocco, united the whole power of the Moors tor the 



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88 UlinrERSAL RISTOET. 

refief of Algezira. This town, situated on a hill in a fimg 
and very advantageous position on the shore o[ the straitSf 
had risen to the rank (/one of the mpst importtuit cities of 
Spain : it was defended with gunpowder, and held out 
three years against kinc Alfonso the Eleventh ; but its fale 
was decided by the defeat which the powerful army of Aba 
Haf sustained near Tarifia, on the banks of the Salado, 
from the united forces of Castile and Portugal. A. D. 
1340. The chief of the Merinides had made his entrjr 
into Spain with the pride of Xerxes ; and, like that Per- 
sian in his adversity, fled dismayed in a fishing-boat. He 
owed tliis defeat to the military skill of the Spaniards, 
which had begun to approach perfectTon. Algezira wa# 
demolished ; and the plough now passes over her 0iagni<^ 
ficent streets. 

The progress of die kingdom of Castile was retarded bf 
the internal commotions, which were excited chiefly by the 
clergy, against Pedro, the son of Alfonso, jusdy or ixyuabr 
ly surnamed the Cruel ; and which terminated, after a vio^ 
lent contest, in the murder of that prince, and in the reign 
of his spurious brother, Henry ot Transtamara. A. D. 
1369. From this period the throne of Castile became 
firmly established ; and its dominion was extended over 
Biscay, where Ithe Cusculdunas exult in their descent fran 
the aborigines of Spain. 

Pedro, king of Arragon, son of the conqueror of the 
Baleares, acquired (A. D. 1282), by means of the Sicilian 
vespers, as fine a kingdom as that which the arms of the 
Cid had bestowed on bis ancestors. Jayme the Second, 
his son, united Sardinia to the dominions of Arragon. A* 
D. 1326. 

Pisa and Genoa had long endeavored, with variable for- 
tune, to obtain possession of diis island, which was gor* 
erned, in a state of independence, by four judges $ and 
would have preserved its freedom if the government bad 
possessed prudence equal to its courage : but the wUxy 
of the king was facilitated by internal disturbances. 

Navarre continued to be the smallest of the kingdoms of 
Spain, because the succession of females often transferred 
h to foreign princes : it descended firom the fan^ily of I&f 



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UHITSBSAL HISTOmr* 9t' 

nto the counts of Champagne (A, D. 1234), and from 
itter to the kings of France. A. D. 1284. Johanna 
of France, who was excluded by the Salic law from the 
succession to the crown of her native country, conferred^ 
Navarre, the kingdom of her grand-mother, on Philip,* 
count of Evreux (A. D. 1328) ; and m like manner, the 
daughter of her descendant brought it into the family of 
Arragon. A. D. 1426. The king of Arragon had chil- 
dren by another wife; and the daughter of the princess of 
Navarre conveyed her inheritance to the family of the 
counts de Foix. Her descendant, Francis Phoebus, dying, 
without heirs (A. D. 1479), his surviving sister brought 
the estate to her husband, John of Albret (A. D. 1483), 
who was deprived of more than the half of that territory by 
the arms ofArragon, and whose only grand-daughter occa- 
sioned the transferring of Lower Navarre to the house of 
Bourbon. A. D. 1655. Navarre seemed indeed to ex- 
i&t in the vicinity of France, for the purpose of affording a 
perpetual example of the advantages of diat law -which -ex- 
cludes females irom the succession to the crown. In the 
kingdoms of Spain, where religious enthusiasm contributed 
m so great a degree to politick events, the clergy enjoyed 
an extraordmary share of authority. The bishops of this 
country had from early ages been elected by the elders of 
the church, who constituted the chapter ; but as the king 
influenced these elections, and the archbishops consecrated 
those who, in fact, had been chosen by his recommenda- 
tion, the court had but little to fear from the power of the 
bishops, which was in reality identified with its own. The 
popes afterwards arrogated to themselves the privilege of 
nomination ; and the clergy made no objection to this in- 
novation, as it increased dieir collective importance, by 
uniting them as ah independent body under one ecclesias- 
tical chief: the kings, however, lost by these means the 
disposal of the immense estates which had been bestowed 
on the church by their pious or artful predecessors. For 
this reason Don Pedro, king of Castile, forbade the nope, 
for the future, from bestowing any bishopric or benence m 
his.dominions ; and it was probably on account of this pro- 
hibition that he obtained the surname of- " The Cruel : '' 

VOL. III. 8* 



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90 tmtTxmtAL' Rmolnr. 

but die pedple fiatened to the voiee of the suprame shep* 
herd. 

Scarcely any kind of knowledge was cultivated except 
gach as related to ecclesiastical affiurs. Don Inigo Lopes 
de Mendoza, and Fernando Perez de Grusman, were the 
first protectors of profane literature, at the court of John 
the Second, kmg of Arragon. The character of public 
morals, consistendy with the spirit of the times, was chi«« 
yalrous, grave, and di^ified, if not severe. Gaming cardi 
were invented in Spain, but the use of them was fisrbiddeii 
to the knights of Castile. 



SECTION XXXVI. 

PORTUGAL. 

A. p. 1357. Don Pedro* king of Portugal, endeavored 
io^vbtBtnrby jmtiee aird wisdom, that authority which his 
mndfather Denis had acquired by his personal merits. 
Pedro, though frugal with regard to himself, was perse*' 
vering and vigilant, and beneficent to others ; but so se- 
vere, that he was more feared than loved ; and it has been 
said of him, that he should either have reigned forever, or 
not at all, as he had acqubed a degree of power which was 
in danger of being abused by a less benevolent prince. He 
had improved the condition of the citizens, and protected 
them agamst the oppressions of the nobility ; and he wished, 
in common with republican legislators and despots, to re- 
duce all classes to an equality of privileges. A prebendaiy 
having murdered a shoemaker, was Only coiroemned by 
the ecclesiastical power to be excluded from the chdr dur- 
bg one year : the son of the shoemaker having revenged . 
his father's death on the priest, was ordered by the king to 
abstain from making shoes for a like period. Ferdinand, 
the son of Pedro, who was a less vigorous prince, did not 

ffrosecute his father's plans ; and as he left only a daughter, 
A. D. 1367), who mftned John, king of Castile, (A. D. 
1383), Portugal was in great danger of losing its inde- 
pendence. 



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■■ 



Tb« queen dowager, Leonora Telles de Meoeses, ad-« 
mimstered the regency, in which the interest of cowt 
Ourem predominated. The latter, who was suspected by 
tbe states of the kingdom, and detested by the people, was 
the object of a conspiracy, into which a great number of 
nobles and citizens entered, who disliked the Castilian yoke. 
Jdm, the natural son of king Pedro, and grand-master of 
the ecclesiastical and military order of Aviz, placed himself 
at die head of the malcontents : the conspirators rushed 
into the fortress, and penetrated into the chamber of the 

Sieen, where Ourem was put to death before the eyes of 
at princess, by Don Ruy Pereyra. In the meanwhile 
the gates were closed ; and m order to try the temper of 
the people, a report was spread, that the grand*master had 
fiillen by die arm of count Ourem. The people imme- 
diately began to storm the palace in the utmost fury ; but 
when John showed himself at a window, they set up a 
riiout of joy, mixed with execrations against tbe Castilians. 
The bishop of Lisbon, who Was m the interest of the latteri 
was hunted from the tower of the cathedral, and dogs licked 
his blood on the banks of the Tagus. In this emergency 
k was not difficult to persuade £e queen to take mght; 
and her party, and that of her daughter, was immediately 
aibandoned as the weakest* The grand*master, in order to 
accelerate the attainment of his object, gave out that he 
was about to repair to England, from fear of the Castilians ; 
upon which the nation conferred on him tbe regency, and 
the supreme command of die whole power of Portugal. 

The king of Castile approached Portugal with a large 
vtm ; and the states of uie countir, who were assembled 
at Uoimbra, declared him to have forfeited his right by thit 
proceeding ; as it was his du^ to have promised not to ior 
troduce any foreign force mto the kingdom. • These mea- 
sures appeared to some of the assembly to be too hosdle ; 
but while they were deliberating on the subject, Don Alw 
rez Pereyra stood up, gave it as his opinion that the grand- 
master should be cnosen king, and declared, that if any 
man, either in that assembly, or elsewhere, was inclined 
to dispute it, lie was ready to maintm his own opiniont 
ind tne grand-master's right, in judicial combat, before 



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judges and witnesses. The greater port of the nobks were 
inc&ed to the party of the Casdlians ; but as the citizens 
were decidedly in iavor of John and of the national inde-* 
pendence, he was proclaimed king. In the plains of Al- 
mbarotta, under the command of Don Ruy Pereyra, 7,000 
Portuguese, animated by the cause of their country, ob- 
tained the victory over 30,000 Castilians. A. D. 1385. 

The reign of Don John, which lasted forty-eight years, 
was disdnguished by a degree of splendor and happiness, 
of which Portugal had never before seen an example. His 
sons, under the command of Pereyra, (A. D. 1416), not 
only Conquered, at the head of his whole knighthood, the 
great and strong town of Ceuta, beyond the suraits, but the 
third of these princes, named Henry, by his discoveries 
gave the first impulse which led to the establishment of. a 
new order of things throughout the world. 

Henry resided on the coasts of the ooean, surrounded 
with virtuous friends ; (for to devote his life to the disco-' 
very of truth, is virtuous m every man, however situated ; 
and how much more virtuous in a prince of the middle 
ages !) There he pursued the path which was indicated > 
by the remarks of ancient geographers, and by a few ob- 
scure vestiges. Zareo discovered Madeira (A. D. 1419), 
on which island an Englishman, named Machem, was 
found, who had been driven thith.er, and cast away in a 
storm, and had become savage in the solitude of its forests* 
Don Gonsalez Velho Cabral discovered the two Azorean 
islands, which are dedicated to the Holy Virgin and St. 
Michael. Terceira was soon added to their number ; and 
Payal was descried by some young adventurers. While 
Alfonso the Fifth, the grandson of Don John, in the holy 
war against the Moors of Fez, conquered the Alcassar of 
Cegu and Arzilla (A. D. 1469), and while Tangiers opened 
its gates to him in terror, other heroes were engaged in 
exploring the paths of the Carthaginians, the Pharaohs, and 
the Rolemies. A. D. 1 47 1 . St. Thomas was discovered 
in the time of Henry ; a setdement was made on the gold 
coast ; and IHego Cane had sailed to the south as far as ' 
Congo. The king obtained charts even from the Vene- 
tians, of the importance of which they had no conception : 



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xjtrmEBBJda Hisftisf. 99* 

the seotheMi ccean 'appeared to tbem t^ be itoo pevrAwt 
ervr to become the path of conunerce, and ihe ^twmif 
Ct^ 5eerned to bar tip the entraDce tothe eouoitries o( m 
e98t. But the more adrenturous hero of Portugal, Vasco 
die Grama, called this ppomoDtory the Cape of Good Hope, 
sailed round it, arrived in the East Indies, and thus opened 
an tmtried and a noble field for the comiterce of Eorope, 
and ibr extensive ciirilization. No nation in that age was 
superior to the Piwttuguese. 



SECTION xxxvn, ^ 

FRANCE. 

The authority of the crown in France, during the risiga 
df Phffip the Fair, the'grandson of St.' Lewis, was no loc^jer 
increased by patriarchal wisdom and virtues, but bjr all &e 
methods which the circumstances of the age permitted an 
enterprising prince to undertake. Philip augmented the 
kingdom bjr his marriage widi the heiress of Champagoe 
and Navanre. A. D. 1285. He ordained that sudi do* 
minions as were given to princes of the blood as a portion, 
^ouid not be inherited by females ; by which reguktion 
the consolidadon of France, as an undivided countiy, wa« 
greatly promoted. It had frequently haf^ened, under 
preceding reigns, that the kbg, on the acquisition of a new 
dominion, liad received the investment of fiefs fix>m th# 
superior lords, who were at the same time his own vassals : 
and in order to put an end to the absurdity and inconv^ 
nience of this practice, Philip enacted, diat in such, cases 
the lord paramount should receive a compensation in lieu 
of his claim of superiority, but that the king should never 
be held a vassal on accodnt of any of his possessions. The 
balienable tenure of the royal estates became gradually 
^ablished as a fundamental maxim. 

Tlie power of the nobles had been augmented by the 
assumption of authority, in every possible way ; and the 
kings, when they undertook to curtail that power, com<- 
menced their operations by in^oducing distinctions, in con- 



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94 umrciisAL histoet* 

sequence of which certain cases (cos rayaux) were re« 
served for their own decision. They afterwards spread 
abroad an opinion, that they were the especial defenders of 
aH good old usages, derived from the Franks ; and, in the 
character of the heads of the commonwealth, the natural 
judges in all matters of national concern. This latter pre- 
tence was capable, under a dexterous and intelligent prince, 
of receiving a most extensive application ; for the most 
trifling afiairs may be shown to have some relation to th^ 
interests of the whole community. Cases of high treason, 
murder, rape, counterfeiting of the coin, of breaches of 
the peace, and of convoys, were especially reserved to the 
supreme national judge. The king was at the same time 
the greatest proprietor of land, and could therefore render 
his tribunals less expensive than any other : in other in- 
stances it might be truly said, respectbg the lord of the 
court, as weU as tlie litigating parties, "that judgment and 
justice often cost more than tihey were worth ;" hence the 
judges were willing to pass over such causes as they found 
it difficult to determine ; appeals were continually on the 
bcrease, and the royal court became the most extensive 
in its jurisdiction. 

The parliament held its sittings at such times and places 
as the king chose to appoint ; and Philip now ordered that, 
for the future, a parliament should annually sit at Paris for 
two months, after Easter and .All-Saints' day. Scarcely 
fifty years afterwards, Charles the Wise caused it to be 
enacted, in an assembly of the states-general, that the par- 
liament should sit during the whole year ; and at another 
time, he chose that it should never separate until the mem- 
bers of the succeeding assembly shoudd have been chosen» 
This was the origin of the parliament, which was the coun- 
cil of the supreme royal judicature, and the immediate re- 
presentative of the king himself. The votes were taken, 
not according to the majority, but to the importance of the 
voting counsellors, by the presidents, who, during the 
vacations, were the only judges. Prelates sat in tlus as- 
sembly until Philip the Long, son of Philip the Fair, con- 
fined the sphere of their operations to ecclesiastical affiurs* 
The judging counsellors (conseiUers jvgeurs) were chosen 



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mnVSRSAI. BISTORT. 96 

from among the nobles, and the reporting counsellors fix)m 
the jurists : their number was indeterminate, and the elec- 
tion was made by the chancellor, the three presidents, and 
the ten royal deputies. Care was taken to choose the 
coimsellors out of the different provinces, that the assembly 
might be better able to observe the usages of all. But the 
election soon became nothing but a fresh confirmatidn in^ 
office ; as it was enacted, that no office could be vacated, 
except by the free will, or the decease, or the formal dis- 
placement of its possessor. Justice was never administered 
tree of expense, because the fees of the courts everywhere 
contributed to defray the expenses of the tribunals ; and 
upon this principle even St. Lewis was not ashamed to 
farm out the baUiwicks. 

From this time the decisions of the parliament served to 
fill up the deficiencies of the obsolete and defective laws : 
the olim, or most ancient records, were collected by Jean 
de Montluc. - The kings magnified the authority of the 
parliament as thfeir own, and readily permitted them pub- 
licly to place themselves, in their wisdom, beyond the reach 
of missive letters, and all appearance of foreign influence, 
just as the best of the emperors honored the senate, whose 
power was entirely dependent on themselves. The great 
statesmen, Macchiavelli and Sarpi, jusdy considered the 
parliament as the fundamental security of the French con- 
stitudon ; because this institution prevented the master of 
the military force and revenue of the counUy from appear^ 
ing to be also master of the laws. 

With respect to the public administration of justice, 
Philip foUowed the system of his ancestors ; but he took 
greater liberties with the property of his subjects than they 
had done. Besides the produce of his demesne lands, he 
had inherited the tolls, the feudal acknowledgements, espe- 
cially those which were paid at the sale of a fief, or its 
transference to a collateral family, the revenues of the tri- 
bunals, and the price of manumissions. He willingly ex- 
changed the obligations of villeinage for a tribute ; and 
even compelled the villeins of the crown estates to purchase v 
their freedom, or to pay an annual tax. This principle 
was followed by his eldest son and successor, I^wis X., 



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M UtflVEBSAL RISTOBT. 

wbo> eauded h to be aanounced^ '< 1^ ev^ w»9m ia dii 
whole kingdom of the Franks should be fre^; tfaot diev^ 
fore, in the name of the king, and hr the tdTice «f Ms 
cdQDsellors, freedom, was now proclaimed thiougbout tho 
eountr)r, and was to lie obtained on reasottaUe condiiions*" 

When PhtUp was about to pajr his debts, he altered the 
intrinsic value of the com : and when thi& fraud was ^i^ 
covered, he pretended that diis operatioii was the efieel of 
a mistake, and assured his subjects;, vupGo. his< honor, tlial 
he would indemnify all the sufferers, and would pled^ 
die crown' revenues for that purpose. Under pretenoife 
that this was an affidr which concerned the. whole nadonr, he 
appointed^ in every one of the thirty mints of his kingdom, 
an overseer of the business of exchanging, and of the swbQ. 
coiUk These persons compelled the barons to buy or to 
sell silver at the most inconvenient times that they could 
nlect : a refusal was certain to be followed by a legal prd* - 
oess ; and the vexation became so great, that they pr#* 
ferred to abandon altogether their privilege of coining : m 
consequence of which the king's money became the only 
specie in circulation ; and this was so frequendy altered in 
its value, as to be productive of universal confusion. * 

Philip the Liong imposed a tax on salt, which was in^ 
creased by Phillip de.Valois during the wars with England; 
and though the wars at last ceased, the augmented impost 
remained. The Jews were compelled to purchase an in^ 
complete security, by the paymeht of large sums to the 
king. The ecclesiastics were obliged to contribute a tenth 
part of their revenues : for the popes, who now resided at 
Avignon, were in the power of the crown, and were there* 
fore obliged to allow it at least a joint share : and the infe* 
rior orders of the clergy were fleeced by the avarice of the 
superior prelates. The contributions of the citizetift were 
the source of their modern influence in affidrs; and the 
court had rendered itself deserving of diem, by the esfcour^ 
agement which it gave to the endeavors of that class* 

At this period the spiritual and temporaMords arid repre- 

*N*^toit homme, qui en juste payement de moDiioy«T^pixtconnoitto 
d» jow aa jour. 



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imiYSBSAL H18T0ET. W , 

\ 

WDttrtivM of the citieB were summoned under the tide of 
the states-general ; not with the intention of restoring the 
ancient national assemblies of the Franks, but because ex- 
traordinary sacrifices were necessary for the preservadon 
of the country. The foundation of the national assemblies 
of the Merovingians was the legislative power which be- 
longed to the nation ; while that of the states-general was 
merely the public exigencies of the moment. Philip, m 
order to attach the citizens to his interests, began to de- 
clare them exempt from the odious and unjust exactions of 
power; from the forced loans and military services to which 
they had been subjected. He recommended his deputies 
to the cities to conceal the extent of their power, and to 
make report to him of those who were most obstinate in 
their refusal to pay the impost, declaring " that he intend- 
ed to gam over such persons by eentle methods, in order 
that no disaster might be incurred.'' Every town sent two 
or three deputies, furnished with the proper instructions 
and powers : the king negociated with each class separate- 
ly, and gave the most positive assurances that he would 
accept their grant as a favor, and not build upon it any 
new pretence of right ; be adduced the state of public 
affiiirs as the motive which obliged him to take the present 
step, and furnished the assembly with information upon 
those subjects, in order that each individual might perceive 
the necessity for the supplies which he was about to vote. 
In consequence of the powers thus acquired, this assembly 
proceeded, after his death, to assume the power of calling 
ministers to account, and even of punishing them ; of nom- 
inating the supreme governor of the finances, and of re- 
jecting or confirming treaties. They hanged, beheaded, 
and burned ministers, as in the instances of Enguerrand de 
Marigny, who had filled the office of viceroy under the 
reign of Philjp the Fair, and Pierre des Essarts, grand 
governor-general of finance. From this time the opera- 
tions of debasing the coin, of raising forced loans, and of 
confiscating of estates, were more sedulously pursued. 
The three sons of Philip were overwhelmed with debt, and 
their successors involved m such disastrous wars against 

VOL. HI. 9 



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9o UNIVERSAL HI8T0&T. 

England, that the necessities of the state were contmuaBy 
increasing, and at length the taUie was xieclared perpetual. 

The prosperity of the citizens had a considerable influ- 
ence on the mode of conducting war, chiefly by bringing 
infantry into use : every city had its captain, and every 
provmce a district captain. Arsenals were established in 
the cities, and private feuds among noblemen forbiddien, on 
the penalty of forfeiting their domains. The cities also 
laid the foundation of the art of fortification. As nobility 
was distinguished by exclusive privileges, and was itseli 
conferred by the profession of arms, many of the youth de- 
voted themselves to waj-, collected needy or disorderly 
persons, and formed banditti, which were the terror of the 
enemy, and not unfrequently the scourge of their own 
countrymen. 

One of the most remarkable acts of Philip the Fair, was 
the abolition of the order of knights-templars. A trea- 
cherous brother, who lay in prison with a citizen of Baziers, 
related to the latter a number of ungodly and scandalous 
practices which existed among them : this relation came to 
the ears of the king ; and as the order was extremely opu- 
lent, a secret command was dispatched to all the king's 
oflicers, to imprison all the knights throughout the whole 
kingdom on the same night: pardon was promised to all 
those who should make a circumstantial confession ; but 
the more obstinate were put to the rack, with such cruelty, 
that many died from the torture. Their property, which 
was probably their chief crime, was confiscated. 

It is certain, that after the Holy Land had been re-con- 
quered by the infidels, the knights-templars entered into 
treaties with the latter, by which they were able to aflford 
the pilgrims more effectual assistance than by an idle dis- 
play of indignation : but it was less probable that they de- 
nied' Christ, of whose sepulchre they were thd guardians, 
than that ignorant and partial judges misinterpreted certain 
expressions or customs which the knights might have 
learned from s5me mystical sect in the east : nor is it likely 
that they worshipped a picture of Mohammed, whom the 
Arabians themselves do not adore under any sensible re- 
presentation. But their fraternal kindness, their* decorous 



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UKITERSAL BISTORT. 99 

eiterior, and their charities, were imputed to hypocrisy, 
and considered as crimes. 

In consequence of these accusations, the pope, who re- 
sided at Avignon, and was under essential obligations to the 
kihg, formally abolished the order in the council of Vi- 
enne. A. D. 1312. The most distinguished commanders 
and masters of the order, together with sixty-eight of the 
knights, were burnt alive : they died protesting their inno- 
cence, and invoking the supreme Judge of all the earth. 
The grand-masfer, in particular, summoned Philip the Fair 
before the judgment-seat of Grod ; and it was remarked, 
that the king died within the same year, after having con- 
fiscated the greater part of the estates which the council 
had recognized as the property of the order of St. John. 

In Arragon the knights-templars resisted the attempts 
.made to destroy them ; in Castile they were set at liberty ; 
and in Portugal they transferred themselves to the order of 
Christ, of which Castro-Marin, in Algarve, was the prin- 
cipal seat, and the abbot of AlcaQova the visitor. At May- 
ence, Hugo Wildgraf suddenly made his appearance in the 
chamber of the synod, accompanied by twenty knights in 
complete armor ; made a protest and appeal, and none of 
the members of the assembly were hardy enough to con- 
demn them. 

Philip the Fair and Pope Clement the Fifth, both died 
shortly after this crimmal transaction ; and the throne of 
France was successively filled by the three sons of the 
former, who were all insignificant princes and unfortunate 
husbands. Lewis the Tenth caused Margaret of Burgun- 
dy, his consort, who was convicted of infidelity, to be 
strangled ; Philip tlie Long was not more happy with Jo- 
hanna of Burgundy ; nor Charles the Fan- with Blanca, a 
princess of the same family. The house of Philip the 
Fair, which had been strengthenec' by three sons, thus be- 
came extinct within thirteen years after his death. 

Philip de Valois,. son of his brother, succeeded to the 
throne (A. D. 1 327 ;) but Isabella, daughter of Philip the 
Fair, the atrocious murderer of her husband, the king of 
England,^ gave rise, by her pretensions to the throne of 
France, to a war which lasted one hundred years, and 



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100 UVmBBSAL H18TQ&T. 

which entirely arrested the progress of civil order «id of 
legislation. 

The first prince of the house of Valois, had, howeydr, 
the merit of increasing the royal power of France, by ob-> 
taining Dauphine from Humbert de la Tour du Pin, who 
was weary of the cares of business and of life, and sought 
to end his days in retirement and repose. A. D. 1349. 
The heir apparent to the crown of France obtained the 
appellation ot Dauphin, from this province, which had been 
acquired two hundred years before, by & hero ^named 
Wigo, for that family from which Humbert was descended 
in the female Une. A treaty of demarcation was con- 
cluded with Savoy. 

Philip of Valois was in other respects better calculated 
for a good king in peaceable times, than to maintain the 
security and the military reputation of his kingdom, during 
the storms which Edward of England raised aeainst him. 
He lost the great battle of Crecy (A. D. 1S46) ; and his 
calamities were renewed by the still more unfortunate day 
of Poitiers, (A. D. 1356^, where kmg John fell into the 
hands of the Engfish ; ana France was m extreme danger 
of falling mto utter anarchy, but for the mterposition of the 
dauphin Charles. . 

Charles, who was one of the greatest princes in the 
house of Valois, inventive in wise measures, unshaken in 
adversity, and accustomed to contemplate occurrences in 
their true colors, while others were led away by the im- 

fulse of the moment, was the preserver of the kingdom* 
)harles put an end, on the one hand, to deeply rooted 
abuses, and on the other, set bounds to the fury of the de- 
magogues : he enlivened the periods of calamity by diver* 
sions; and was so economical, that after having, by his 
pmdence, overcome the En^di, without a battle, he 
brought the treasury into so flourishing a condition, that a 
part of the imposts could be remitted as unnecessary. He 
disapproved of cards and dice, because he perceived that 
they were in danger of becoming prejudicial to the practice, 
of military exercises. 

•His generous disposition prevented him from opposing 
his father in his project of founding the power of the house 



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nmVKRSAL BISTORT. 101 

of Burgundy. A. D. 1 36 1 . The last duke of that family . 
was dead, and kbg John, who was his heir, immediately 
invested his son Philip, who had been his companion in 
ciaptivity in England, with that duchy (A. D. 1363) : the 
latter married Sf argaret, the sovereign of Tranche Comte, 
in Burgundy, which, according to the custom of that coon- 
try, descended to females. She was the daughter of Lewis 
01 Mechlin, count of Flanders, Artois, Mechlin, and Ant- 
werp : and as her brother died without issue, inherited his 
territories. Philip became the ancestor of a family, which 
for eighty years maintained a counterpoise to the power 
of the crown, and carried on a succession of severe con- 
tests ; and even at its destruction, became the occasion of 
still more extensive wars, which lasted for centuries. 

Charles the Wise was succeeded at too ^arly a period 
by his son, Charles the Sixth, who, at his father's decease 
was a minor, and passed the greater paitof his mature age 
in a state of insanity. Both these causes of weakness 
tempted the ambition of the princes of the blood, espe- 
cialty of Lewis of Orleans, and John the son of Philip of 
Burgundy. Valentina Visconti, wife of the former, whose 
pa*etensions to Milan gave rise a century later, to wars of 
sixty years' duration, contributed especiaUy to inflame the 
animosity of these parties. A. D. 1404. The duke of 
Orleans was murdered ; and fifteen years afterwards (A. 
D. 1419), Charles obtained revenge on the Burgundjans, 
by the assistance of the dauphin. But an alliance was 
formed between Philip the Second of Burgundy and Hen* > 
ry the Fifth of England, against Charles the Seventh, who 
had succeeded to his father. A. D. 1416. Henry havine 
gained a splendid victory over the French, in the field ot 
Agincourt, was proclaimed king of France, in Paris, with 
the consent of the old king ; and the dauphin, to whom, on 
his accession, nothing remained but Orleans, wandered 
about like an oudaw. 



VOL. ni. 9* 



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102 USIVEBSiX aiSYOBT. 

SECTION XXXVffl. 

BUBGUNOT. 

A. D. 1440. The first duke of Burgimdy, athk deatfai 
was possessed of the most extensive donunions ; but so 
destitute of monejr, that his widow, according to the custom 
of the country, laid his keys, purse, and girdle, upon bis 
grave, in die first twen^-four hours, as a tojcen that she 
renounced that portion of his territories, which was nefther 
a fief nor a part of her own inheritance. Her son John, 
who distinguished himself by his undaunted vak)r in the 
Turkish wars, and who would have been a great man if he 
could have controlled his passions, married Margaret of 
Bavaria ; and by that connection conferred on his family 
jnretensions which were afterwards employed for the ac- 
quisition of Holland, Zealand, and Hennegau. 

With the exception of Italy, the Netherlands at this pe- 
riod surpassed all the other countries of Europe in bdusr 
try, population, and opulence : Lyons alcxie contained 
150,000 manufacturers. The source of. this prosperi^ 
was freedom : the sovereign of the country levied certain 
fixed imposts from the people and estates ; and 'the pro- 
portion of each individual was setded anew every fourth 
year. The states were allowed to grant extraordinary 
subsit^s on occasions of emergency ; and the prince m^ 
queil(j^paid'a visit to the cities previously to such demandiy 
m order to incline the inhabitants to his wishes. The tax€;g 
were soon imposed on artides of consumption, or on prpr 
perty, in land or money. The people of the Netiierlaioda 
united to their commercial spirit the love and the practice 
of arms : a bloody battle took place between Ypr^ ao^ 
Poperinguen, because the people of ti>e ktter invtetted tba 
cloths made in the former ; and a civil war was oarnied ^ 
in the streets of Ghent, in which the cloth-makers, James 
Artavelle, and Gerhard Dionisy, defeated the fullers and 
dyers, who fought under John Bacon. Dendermond 
fought against Ghent, ' which destroyed its maii^fact^^s. 
Artavelle, by his alliance with Edward king of England, 



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vmwmm4^ distort. 1MB 

coo^buted to excite the jbuo4red years' wwr wi A Frsnee ^ 
aod his son Philip, at the head <^ the citizens, fought m the 
field against *Charle8 the Sixth, and PhiKp the First of 
Burgundy. 

A. D. 1419. The power of Burgundy was never mfxe 
considerable than under Philip the Good, son of John, who 
WiW duke of Burgundy, lord of Tranche Comte, count of 
Artoiis and Flanders, margrave of Antwerp, and lord of the 
town of Mechlin. He purchased the county of Namur ; 
b9paineduke pfLothier, Brabant, and Limburg, by the death 
of ^ prince of his own name ; he partly inherijted from bis 
mother, and pardy purchased the earldoms of Holland, 
Ziealand, and Hennegau; and acquired the duchy of 
Luxemburg by compact. For many years he carried on, 
mth ability, as well as courage, a contest against Charles 
the Sevendi, in revenge for the death of his father ; and 
as soon as he quitted die alliance of the English, France 
was {saved. Charles was glad to purchase peace, by mort- 
gaging to him the towns situated on the Somme (A. D. 
1436) ; and Philip perceived that it would conduce more 
to his interest to govei'n his own dodiinions in tranquillity, 
than to persevere in an alliance which was odk)us to the 
nation. 

^ Charles of Orleans, son of the hereditary enemy of 
Bwrgundy^ was a prisoner in his hands ; and Philip gener* 
oDtify^ restored him to freedom, and gave him his own niece 
in marriage. In like manner he set at liberty Renatus of 
Anjou^ the titular king of Naples and count of Provence, 
almost without ransom. 

Philip founded his authority on good order and the 
happiness of his people. He instituted a well-organised, 
government: he was a beoefieent patron of intelligent men ; 
acquired the love of the citizens by his popular manners ; 
surrounded himself with an imposmg magnificence^ for- 
gave jbsurnecdons because he did not fear ihetm $ exercised 
the ^oblea in military practices, and treated them with due 
repeat, while he kept them under strict discipline. He 
wouM ,Qot allow 5hein to intermarry with the citizens, be* 
C9ii$e jiMch .« praotiee m^ht have produced conaequence^ 
dangerous to princely power:, the noble families w«rt 



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104 inmrCBSAL Ht8T0BT« 

arranged m catalogues ; and heralds at arms watched over 
trifling circumstances, which he knew how to render of 
importance to hi^ government. He at the same time en- 
deavored, by the introduction of rules of politeness, to 
civilize the knights, and to inspire them with reverence for 
their lords : he raised the most distinguished to a rank that 

8 laced them nearer to himself, by the order of the golden 
eece ; but he caused the valiant and powerful John of 
Granson to be put to death, on learning mat he had acted 
in a manner incompatible with his duty. The court of 
Philip was the most brilliant in the west of Europe ; his 
rank was next to the royal dignity ; he was revered by all 
princes, and by the eastern nations as the " great duke of 
the west." After an administration of neany fifty years, 
he left a state such as we may imagine the land of promise ^ 
to have been m its happiest period. His vessels of silver 
and of gold were valued at upwards of two millions. 

Charles the Sevendi succeeded in restoring the mon- 
archy of France. The English, who wished to appropriate 
that dignity to themselves, forfeited the prize of their victo- 
ries. Talbot was driven out of Guienne'; the proud and 
resdess spirit of the family of Britanny was subdued ; and 
Lorraine, the dukes of which were on all sides most threat- • 
ened by those of Burgundy, attached themselves to the 
party of the king. Charles prepared the way for die im- 
provement of aU the arts of peace and of war, which are 
the genuine sources whence national greatness springs.' 



' SECTION XXXIX. 

^ ENGLAND. 

A. D. 1272. The love of freedom had so much in- 
creased in England, under the feeble administrations of 
John and of Bteniy the Third, that their more active suc- 
cessor, Edward the First, was scarcely able to keep it 
within bounds : this king confirmed his authority in Ireland, 
defeated and subjected the Britons of Wales, and was die 
terror of the Scots. 



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UKITERSAL HI8TORT. 106 

H» SOD, Edward the Second^ who was too much de« 
voted to his farorites, became the victim of his own weak* 
ness, and of the cruelty of his perfidious wife. A. D. 
1307. 

The latter was the mother of Edward the Third, the 
' conqueror of France. A. D. 1327. His conquests, how- 
ever, were not permanent : and the valor and lofty spirit 
with which his good fortune inspired the English, was the 
noblest fruits of his victories. If that nation had possess- 
ed a sufficiently perfect system of laws, their valor would 
have been formidable only to their enemies : but Richard 
the Second, son of the Black Prince, who gained the vic- 
tory of Poitiers, and who died before his father, was una- 
ble to keep them within the bounds of obedience ; and 
lost his throne and life through the rebellion of Henry of 
Bolingbroke. A. D. 1377. 

A. D. 1399. This Henry, the son of John of Gaunf, 
who was the third son of Edward, did not succeed to the 
crown m his father's right ; because Edward Mortimer* 
earl of March, and husband of Philippa of Clarence, 
would have taken precedence of him m that line ; but de- 
duced his title from his mother, and, through her, from Ed- 
mund of Lancaster, who was the son of Henry the Third, 
and elder than Edward the First. ^From these claims 
arose a contest, which lasted upwards of eighty years, be- 
tween tlie rival families of York and Lancaster, the parti- 
sans of which were distinguished by the white and the red 
rose, as their respective emblems. The flame of discord, 
sometimes almost smothered, and at others breaking out 
with new fury, brought destructicm upon the royal family, 
and on almost die whole of the nobility of higher rfuik. 

The natk>nal freedom was not infringed upon by the 
mat Edwards ; who depended, for support in their splen-* 
did enterprises, on the afiection and contributions of the 
people. The industry of the citizens was the chief source 
of revenue; the king, who was master of the coasts and 
havens, exacted a toll on the export of the staple commodi- 
ties, wool and hides, and the third penny for every pound 
of foreign goods, while strangers were obliged to pay a still 
heavier tax at the chief custom-house. The imposts 



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106 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

which the nation granted, were the twelfth penny from such 
ol^ects of commerce as were not staple commodities, or a 
fifteenth from the revenues of the towns, which might 
amount to about thirty thousand pounds sterling. There 
was an addition or two shillings upon every cask of wine 
imported, the greater ^art of which was from France. 
The tax on every hydage of land, and the imposts on the 
towns and villages, were denominated the great subsidy ; 
and produced, at the rate of foot shiDings on land, and two 
shillings and six-pence on moveables, seventy thousand 
pounds sterling : this tax, on land only, produces in our 
times two millions annually ; and as the quantity of gold and 
silver in circulation is not more than ten times as great as 
in those days, 1,300,000Z. of the above sum have been 
produced by the improvement of the countiy. The annual 
export, soon after the battle of Crecy, amounted to 294,- 
184Z. ; of which 189,900Z. consisted of unmanufactured 
wool, and only 9,548/. of coarse cloths: on the other 
hand, the value of the goods imported was 38,970Z., of 
which 10,900/., consisted of fine cloths. The Flemings 
were the people who enriched themselves at the expense 
of their ignorant neighbors. The taxes were voted by 
the representatives of the cities and other communities, 
with tlie concurrence, of the barons, and (by sufierance of 
the other houses) of an assembly of ecclesiastics. A par- 
liament was held every year : the districts and boroughs 
allowed their representatives stipends; for which reason 
the sessions were probably shorter. There was no duke 
m the upper house, until the time of the hero of Poitiers, 
to whom his father gave the title of duke of Com\yall : be- 
fore Edward the Third, the kings themselves bore the du- 
cal tide of Normandy ; but that king dropped the claim to 
the duchy on account of his pretension to the sovereignty 
of France. All titles referred either to territorial posses- 
sions or to dignity : as a seat in the upper house was con- 
ferred not by birth but by the possession of an estate, the 
constitution of parliament was entirely representative : but 
this part of the institution was soon altered when the ci- 
tizens began to acquire possession, by their wealth, of the 
seats of noblemen. The importance of the parliament ol 



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UNIYCRSAL HISTORY. 107 

England, like that of the states-general of France, was 
owing to the public necessities. 

The maxim was now traced, that the king is under the 
law ; because, by it, he sits on the throne to impart to the 
law that which he receives from it, viz. authority and efTec- 
Wre power. The judicial office was divided, under Ed- 
ward the First, into three branches : first, the eldest tribu- 
nal, or court of King's Bench ; second, the Norman tribu- 
nal, or court of Exchequer, for the affairs of the crown es- 
tates ; and, third, the court of Common Pleas, which had 
been restored by the Magna Charta, and in which, since 
die beginning of the reign of Edward the Second, all trans- 
actions are recorded and published. The English jurists 
rescued the nation from die yoke of the civil and ecclesi- 
astical laws of Rome ; and even the provincial synods, and 
the decrees cf papal legates, were not allowed to invalidate 
the legal customs of the country. 

The heavier the taxes which the people are able to pay, 
the greater the resources of the king for enterprises : and, 
on diis principle, tlie chief object of policy with the Ed- 
wards was to increase the prosperity of the nation. They 
encouraged industry, and removed the obstacles to its pro- 
gress; facilitated the transfer, and secured the posses- 
sion oi] property. Even in the thirteenth century, they at- 
tempted to induce industrious strangers to settle in the 
country ; and in the fourteenth, the products of foreign 
lands could be dispensed with : the importation of ck)tns 
manufactured abroad was prohibited; and, according to 
the testimony of learned historians, Edwar<f the Third 
forbade the export of unmanufactured wool, in order to 
confine its manufacture to the English. The spirit of the 
navigation act is apparent in the regulation of Richard the 
Second, that English ships should at least be preferred. 
The magnificence of this sovereign, and of his barons, is a 
proof that the kingdom contained a great quantity of gold 
and silver plate : their opulence was in fact greater than 
their knowledge of the manifold uses to which wealth can 
be applied. ' . 

This was altogether a happy period for England, since 
the nation was as free as was necessary to its prosperiQT) 



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108 VmiTEMMAL HISTOSr. 

and was as much devoted to mdusOy and oommeree ts 
was compatible with the militaiy spirit connected with hs 
security and magnanimity of character. The princes of 
the house of Valois were scarcely able to support their tot- 
tering dir^ne ; and the haughty chiefs who ruled beUnd 
their loiW Snowdon, over the descendants of the ancient 
S[ymri, bent their hitherto unconauered necks to the yoke 
of the victorious Edward, who ordered the bards to be ex- 
tirpated, that they might no longer remind their country- 
men of their ancient independence ; and that the patriotic 
songs of Merlin and Taliessin might be buried in oolivion : 
but he left the people in possession of their civil rights. 
Edward also destroyed, as far as was m his power, the 
historical monuments of the Scots, which fostered their de- 
sire of national independence. 



SECTION XL. 

•COTLAMD. 

The crown of Scotland was contested by Robert Bruce 
and John Baliol, the latter of whom placed himself under 
the protection of Edward. The noble Wallace summoned 
the peasants of Clydesdale : and his enthusiasm soon suc- 
ceeded m assembling the warriors of the valleys and islands 
b the cause of king Robert and of Scotland,' which be- 
came victorious ; though not till after the death of Edward. 

From this period the names of the heroes of Scodand, 
which hitherto had remained hidden in the mists of their 
native hills, be|in to shine in history. Among them we 
remark James Douglass, the friend of Robert Bruce, and 
the ancestor of an heroic race, who had a parliament m 
bis own dominions, bestowed knighthood, and fought at 
tlie head of two thousand men in a family feud against the 
Percys, and defended his country against England ; Gil- 
bert Hamilton, who msulted the pride of Le Despencer, 
the favorite of Edward the Second, in that monarch's pre- 
sence ; James Mount Stewart, the son of kibg Robert ; 
and the Campbells and Macaulys. 



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UNIVERSAL HlSTOilT. ' 109 

The Hebrides, a short time before, had been partly 
conauered and partlypurchased from the kings of Norway : 
lie Mac Doogals of Lorn, first-born of Argyle, were lords 
of Argyle, Midi, and the northern islands ; and the Mac 
Donalds were their younger brothers. The great Mac 
Donald, the l<»'d of the isles, who governed So&or, or the 
southern islands, resided in lona : he received the homage 
of his vassals, seated on a rock in the lake of Day ; and 
thirteen judges under his authority decided the suits of the 
people at Na Ck>rlle, and were rewarded with a tax amount- 
ing to a tenth of the disputed sura. The great Mac Do- 
nidd rendered himself independent in Sodor ; and joined 
the party of the English against the Scots. 

A. D. 1422. The fifteenth century brought with it in 
the British isles, as the fourteenth h^ done in France, an 
interruption to the /progress of national prosperity, through 
the rage of factions. Even the history of diese periods b 
less to be relied on : every thing is more or less enveloped 
in obscurity. We shall onljr observe, that after Henry the 
Fourth had seated the family of Lancaster on the throne, 
and Henry the Fiith, by his victory at Agincdurt, and by 
the advantage which he took of the dissensions of France, 
had raised his people to the pinnacle of military glory, the 
country was abandoned, under the protracted administration 
of the gentle Henry the Sixth ^A. D. 1461), to the most 
dreadful excesses of faction, untd its reputation abroad and 
good order at home were utterly destroyed, and the imbe- 
cile mcHiarch forfeited both his tlurone and life. A. D. 1 47 1 . , 



SECTION XU, 

SCANDINAVIA. 

The race of Woden became extinct m Sweden in the 
twelfth century ; and in the fourteenth, the houses of the 
deified heroes of Denmark and Norway expired in the per- 
sons of Woldemar and Olaf. Margaret, who was daughter 
of ihe former, mother of the latter, and heiress of both, 
defeated Albert of Mecklenburg, king of Sweden, cora- 

VOL. III. 10 



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110 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

felled him to abandon his crown, and united the three 
ingdoms of Scandinavia by the league of Calmar. A. D. 
1398. Had she been capable of conquering national* pre- 
judices as well as armies, her dominions would have con- 
stituted a great and powerful monarchy. 

But the passions of her people were too powerful for her 
policy : and it was perhaps better that these three natious 
should remain in the tranquil possession of freedom, than 
that they should become fonnidable to the inhabitants of 
southern Europe. Margaret died without issue : her cousin 
and successor Erich, of the family of the dukes of Pome- 
rania, was expelled from the three kingdoms (A. D. 1439) ; 
upon which Denmark invited Christopher, a duke of Ba- 
varia, who was also acknowledged by Sweden and Norway. 
A. D. 1448. After the death of Christopher, the crown 
of Denmark and Norway fell into the possession of that 
family which still retains the sovereignty. 

The title of count or earl was introduced into Amerland 
and Rustringia in the time of the emperor Frederick Bar- 
barossa : King Harold of Denmark had abandoned this 
district to the son of Charlemain : Laringia, in which Del- 
menhorst is situated, was conquered from the Friezeland^ 
ers : Sibbet Papinga, and other district chiefs, placed 
themselves voluntarily under the protection of the earls, of 
whose dominion Oldenburg was the seat. Earl Gerhard 
intoxicated Hajo, its feudal lord, and obtained by artifice 
the domain of Barel. Earl Dietrich united Delmenhorst 
and Qldenburg by inheritance : this nobleman had two 
sons by Hedwig, sister of the last earl of Holstein, one. of 
whom, Gerhard, succeeded him in Holstein, and the other, 
Christian, became king of Denmari^, and contended with 
Charles Knutson and Steno Sture for the crown of Sweden. 
This was the origin of the house of Oldenburg, which 
now governs a large portion of the earth : the descendants 
of that venerable race, which formerly considered it a great 
conquest to rescue from the waves, by means of dykes, a 
tract of land on the shores of the sea of Oldenburg ; and 
which in those days held the reins of a gentle government 
over a free people, now domineers over all Scandinavia 
and from the frontiers of HoUand to those of Chma. 



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U17IVERSAL HISTORY. Ill 

The counts of Holstein, of the house of Schaumburg, 
bequeathed their fertile country, in which agriculture and 
pasturage is advantageously alternatefon the same spot, to 
the sons of the princess Hedwig. A. D. 1459. The 
states of the country declared in favor of Christian, who 
promised to bestow the fiefs on native noblemen : he con- 
firmed the clergy and the knights in their exemption from 
tolls and taxes : he promised to leave the country, when- 
ever he should be absent in Denmark or elsewhere, under 
the administration of the bishops of Lubeck and Sleswick, 
with the assistance of a council of five respectable land- 
holders. In his reign, Holstein became a dukedom. 



SECTION XLH. 

POLAND. 

A. D. 1295. Poland, which had become a kingdom 
since Przemysi, after the extinction of the dukes of Dant- 
zic, had felt himself strong enough to wear a crown, was 
engaged in war with the kings of Bohemia, who laid claim 
to the feudal superiority of Cracow, with the dukes of 
Stettin, who wished to inherit the domains of the Dantzic 
branch, with the electors of Brandenburg, who asserted 
themselves to be lords paramount of Pomerania, against 
the ambitious views of the Teutonic knights in Prussia ; 
and, finally, in a severe contest with the restless spirit of 
the nobles at home.. Dantzic was preserved, and at the 
extinction of the royal family of Bohemia (A. D. iSll), 
Cracow remained to Poland ; but Silesia w^s abandoned 
to the house of Luxemburg. 

The race of the Piasts, who in the course of ;^ve hun- 
dred years had raised Poland to a certain degree of civili- 
zation and to considerable power, expired with Casimir 
the Great (A. D. 1370), who was a conqueror and legis- 
lator, and the founder of the university of Cracow. He 
was succeeded in his dignity by his sister's son, Lewis of 
Anjou, king of Hungary, who was also justly surnamed the 



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112 , , UNIVERSAL HISTORT: 

Great, and whose father had given up Red Russia to Po- 
land for the prospect of the succession. 

A. D. 1382. Lewis, however, had no sons : the hus- 
band of his eldest daughter Maria, was Sigismund of Lux- 
emburg, who obtained the kingdom of Hungary ; and 
Hedwig, or the Poles, neglected to insist <m the compact 
by whiclyking Lewis endeavored to secure the permanent 
union of his crowns. Hedwig not only retamed the sove- 
reignty of Poland, together with that of Volhynia and Red 
Russia, hut also gave her hand to Jagel, the grand prince 
of Lithuania, who, together with all his people, ad(»>ted 
the Christian faith (A. D. 1386) ; and from that period the 
kingdom of Poland arose to the greatest importance. 

Dantzig UsuaUy freighted three hundred ships with com 
for England, the Netherlands, and France ; and even Con- 
stantinople frequently received supplies from Poland. 
Dantzig owed its elevation chiefly to the change which had 
taken place in the Vistula ; for the bed of that stream be- 
came gradually choked up to such a degree, that the towns 
which were situated farther inland, not excepting Culm, 
the original seat of the commerce of that nver, were 
obliged to yield the palm to Dantzig, which lay near^ to 
ther sea. 

A. D. MIO. King Wladislaf Jagel, in the battle of 
Tanereberg, gave the first blow to the power of the Teu- 
tonic knights. In other respects, uniformity of religion 
appeared, to this newly converted prince, to be necessary 
to his power ; and hence he proceeded with the utmost 
severity against pagans and heretics : he enacted, however, 
that DO man should be included in this number without 
investigation. 

A. D. 1437. His son, Vladislaf, was elected king by 
the people 6f Hungary, in consequence of which that 
kingdom and Poland became again united under one head : 
but this young prince lost his Hfe when scarcely twenty 
years old, in the battle of Varna, against sultan Morad. A. 
D. 1444. 

Casimir, the brother of the younger Vladislaf, and his 
successor on the throne of Poland, was one of the greatest 
princes of his age, and was frequently invited by the Hun 



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• ^arians and Bohemians to become their soyereiRu. A. D. 
1466. He aggrandized Polawd in a long contest with the 
Teutonic knights, in the. course of which he acquired Po- 
lish Pruissia, and the feudal superiority ov^r the rest of the 
Prussian territory. The latter countries were extremely 
flourishing in that age: but- the Teutonic knights disregard- 
ing the rights of their own subjects, and insulting the neigh- 
boring princes by their arrogance, their conduct excited 
internal discontent, and facilitated the enterprise of Casimir. 
Polish Prussia retained its own diets, i& accustomed laws, 
judicial forms, and coinage ; and the deputies of this coun- 
try ^ave their vote in the regal ejections. The mighty 
Casimir reigned nearly half a century, and saw Vladislaf, 
one of his sons, seated on the thrones of Bohemia and 
Hungary. 



SECTION XLffl. 

HUNG^ABT. 

In. the commencement of the fourteentti century, the 
family of Arpad, the chieftain who, four hundred years be-' 
fore, had first conducted the Hungarians into the country 
wMch they now occupied, expired in the person of An- 
drew III. A. D. 1301. Several parties endeavored to 
intnoduoe different princes to the. sovereignty; and tlie 
thrque retntuned for many years in a tplttf^ing state, until 
Charles Robert of Anjou, of the royal family of Naples, 
imparted a new splendor to die kingdom by the wisdom 
and vigor of his long^administratipn ( A, D. 1310), and pre- 
pared for his son Lewis an era of distinguishea good for- 
tune and glory. A. Pu X343. Lewis died, after a reign 
of forty years (A. D. 1382), just at the era when the arms 
• of, the GitlanMiis began to me^aee^ the frontiers ; and Hun- 
gary bad now the misibrtune to become .again the. prey of 
ra^g factions, and at lagt to obtain (A. D. 13&6), in Si- 
gisiXHind, an enteiprisiDg king, who was a foreigner and a 
kwless tyrmt* Sigismund maintained his throne during 
half a century, but rather by compliance than vigor : and 

VOL. III. 10* 



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114 UNIYEBSAL HISTORY. 

tboudi he was defeated by the Turks in the batde of Ni- ' 
copous, jet Hungary remained untouched, because the 
neighboring government of Turkey was rendered moi^e 
peaceable ; at first by misfortunes, and ajfterwards by the 
pacific character of less ambitious sultans. 

We have already seen that the reign of Albert of Aus- 
tria was very short, and that after his death (A. D. 1437), 
and during Ladislafs feeble minority (A. D. 1439), king 
Vladislaf governed both Poland and Hungary, until the fa- 
tal day of Varna. A. D. 1444. The courage and intelli- 
gence of John Hunyad, the administrator of "^eroy^ pow- 
er, now became the safeguard of Hungary, and the bul- 
wark of western Christendom. That nobleman died 
shortly after he had acquired immortal fame at Belgrade, 
against the conqueror df Constantinople (A. D. 1456) : 
and the government, which was conducted in the name of 
Ladislaf, had scarcely time to display its perfidy and ingra- 
titude toward the house of Hunyad, when that family be 
came extinct by the death of the young prince. A. D. 
1458. 

The voice of the nation now called Matthias, the son of 
the hero John Hunyad, to the throne. Matthias surpassed 
all the sovereigns of his age in wisdom as in good fortune : 
but it is to be regretted that he did not, like las father, turn 
his victorious arms against the barlrarians, rather than 
a^amst Bohemia and Austria. On the death of this great 
kmg (A. D. 1490), Hungary elected Vladidaf, the son of 
Casimir of Poland, who was abeady king of Bohemk. 



SECTION XLIV. 

THE TURKS. 

The Turks are descended from an ailcient race of peo- 
ple, who were long accustomed to wander through the east- 
em regions beyond the Caspian, and frequendy poured 
their swarms over the south of Asia. The Scythians, who 
had held Asia in subjection twenty-ei^t years before Cy- 
rus, inhabited this region. Here die Mbssageta^also wim- 




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ONITBRSAL BISTORT. 115 

Stood the arms of the Persians ; here Arschah raised die 
martial bands, which for five hundred years upheld the 
throne of the Parthians ; and here, in die fifth and sixth 
centuries, powerful Chans reigned; who were alternately 
flattered by the Romans and by the Persians. It was 
heiiice, after Turkestan submitted to the creed and the laws 
of the commander of the faithful, that those valiant 
youths descended, who were the ornament and security, 
and afterwards the imperious masters, of the dynasty of 
Bagdad ; who severed provinces from its dominion, and 
rendered the successors of Mohammed slaves in their own 
palace. From these Turks proceeded the house of Seljuk 
(A. D. 1035), who conquered Asia firom the confines of 
Persia and India to those of Phrygia. The Seljuk sultans 
in Lesser Asia canied on wars, during two hundred years, 
against the western crusaders and the Greek eJnperors ; 
and the power of the Mogols alone destroyed the throne of 
Iconium. 

At this period Solyman, accompanied by fifty thousand 
men, pardy of his own race, and pardy of the tribe of the 
Oghuzi, quitted the country of his ancestors on the Gihore, 
in order to escapd subjection to the yoke of the Mogols. 
He proceeded through Media ; and, continually foUowed 
by the conquerors of Asia, pursued his way to the confines 
of S3rria, where he was drowned in the vicinity of Hakb. 
While one division of his horde endeavored, by various 
roads, to find Its way back again to the northern* Steppe, 
others followed his son Erdogrul toward Lesser Asia. The 
Sultan Ala-ed-din Kai Kobad, who reigned at Iconium, 
l^dly received this warrior ; but vainly hoped that his own 
power would be supported by die twelve troops which ac- 
compuited his march : they consisted on^ of twenty-five 
thousand men, and were too feeble to withstand the five 
hundred thousand which composed die Mogolic swarm. 
Yajat^d-<&i Kai^Chosni, the succeeding sultan, fled ; and 
his kingdom, which was enfeebled by the insaasate ani- 
mosity of iris -scMVBj Rokn-ed-din-Kilig Arslan and Azz-ed- 
din-Kai Kawns, was entirely d^strcgred under the reigns of 
Masud, son of die last*mentioned prince, /and of Ala-ed- 
din-Kai Kawus, the nephew of Masud. The Turkish fol- 



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116 UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 

lowers of Erdogrul dispersed themselves in the meanwhiley 
in those disti-icts of the Taurus which in remote periods had 
protected the savage freedom of the Isauri, in the moun- 
tains of Phrygian Ida, and in other hilly tracts of Lesser 
Asia. They showed themselves not disinclined to adopt 
order and civilization from Alexius PhiianthropicuSy and 
the few intelligent statesmen of the declbing empire : but 
the first Palaeologus who reigned in Constantinople, for the 
sake of economy, discontinued the pay of the frontier gar- 
risons ; and under his son Andronicus, good commanders 
were the objects of dread to the timid, court, and finally 
became its victims. i 

The early valor of Osman, son of Erdogrul, • was de- 
veloped at that period aniong the Turks : it is said to have 
been first displayed in the vicinity of Troy. A. D. 12^9. 
It is supposed that he quitted that territory when, after the 
reign of Cazan, the son of Argun, the torrent of the Mo- 
gols gradually retired from the country, which they .left in 
die utmost conftision. ,A. D. 1304. Osman inspired his 
army with heroic valor and religious enthusiasm : the plea- 
sures of this life, and the joys of paradise, were equally ex- 
pected by the banditti assembled around the standard; which 
he pretended to have received from the last of theSelju- 
kides. 

He was accompanied by holy dervises, whose exterior 
was as severe 'as that of the anchorites of the fourth cen- 
tury, but who were elevated, by the effects of opium, to 
visions which led to active enterprises, instead of the qui- 
etude of contemplative, life: they were men of firm and 
heroic character. .The; kingdom of Osman was erected in 
the interior of Qithynia; and Prusa, at the foqit jof.the 
.Mysian Olympus, became his capital. A. D^ I3Q3. ... 

In the time of Jiis, son Orchan, almost the whole of 
Lesser Asia was already subjected, partly by. the Ottoman 
troops, «ind partly by other Turkish tribes. A. D. 1326. 
A very small number of towns remained under the Greek 
empire ; a portion of Cilicia was subiect to the sultan: of 
Egypt; and fortresses in possession of the western powers 
here and there commanded an island, or a small extent of 
coast. But even Greece and her islands experienced the 



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UKITERSAL HISTOBY. 117 

irresistible poWer of the Turks. The court of CoDStanti* 
nople accelerated its downfal by internal divisions, which 
were never morejdestructive than when the friends of An-, 
dronicus the younger, in the hope of obtaining the eovarn- 
ment under his name, induced him to undertake a civil war 
agamst his grandfather, who was already seventy years old : 
and when, after the death of both the former, John Kanta- 
kuzenus, the most powerful individual in the empire, was 
removed from the regency by the hatred of the courtiers, 
and compelled to take up arms in his own defence. 
Within six years after this occurrence, Tnrace and Mace- 
donia were nearly reduced to a desert, and became the 
prey of the Servians and Turks, whose assistance was 
sought by both parties. Kantakuzenus, indeed, ascended 
the throne ; but the empire was so exhausted^ that he was 
unable to maintain it: he retired into the agreeable solitude 
of Mount Adibs, and left the empire to «fohn Paleologua, 
who was immersed in sensuality. 

A. D. 1360. During these disturbances, the Turks 
took Adrianople, which, in magnitude, was the third city in 
the Greek empffe, and the key of Bulgaria and Servia* 
Morad, the son of Orchan, or nis elder brother Sol3rmaD, 
completed this enterprise without much resistance. Adri- 
anople was soon adorned with mosques, hung within with 
magnificent tapesl^es, ornamented with marble, and covered 
with roofs of copper, which glittered far over the surround- 
ing plains ; it became, from that time forth, the seat of a 
western power, which in the course of time formed the great 
monarchy of European Turkey. 

' This Morad, the sultan of die Ottoman Turks, formed a 
regular corps of twelve thousand captive Christian youths, 
called Janissaries, whose arms obtained, during two hun- 
dred years, an almost uninterrupted succession of victories; 
imd who, upwards of two hundred years longer, have pro- 
tected the Turkish empire against the military science of 
the Europeans, which, during the latter period, has become 
greatly superior to their own. Mora^ designed and trained 
uiem to the knowledge and love of no other employment 
•but arms, and taught them to devote their whole Kfe to his 
interests and to warfare : they depended on him for their 



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118 ^ UNIVERSAL BISTOaY. 

sustenance, clothing, and pay ; he bestowed great rewards 
on them, distributed them in barracks, and forbade them 
to marry. No institution similar to this insisted among tlie 
Europeans : the courage of the Germans disdained to sub- 
mit to the restraints of discipline ; and the great bands of 
France and Italy were more formidable to their own coun- 
try and friends than to their enemies. The principal ob- 
J'ect of attention in these armies, was to form an impenetra- 
le array : a good infantry was only to be found in the 
Alps and in die mountainous districts of Spain, among 
tribes who were too poor to procure a costly suit of defen- 
sive' armor, and were therefore obliged to supply its place 
by their courage and dexterity. 

' The irresistible progress of the. Ottoman Turks, arose 
from very natural causes. They took the great city of 
Philippopolis from the Greeks ; but these towns were now 
.considerable in no. respect but in circumference, as the 
greater part of the houses were empty and falling to decay. 
Morad had more difficulty in conquering the martial Bul- 
garians and Servians; and was killed. by a youth of the 
latter nation, near Cossowa. A. D. 1389. His son Ba- 
jessid, surnamed Dshilderun, or lightning, rekindled, in a 
more terrible manner, the fury of the Ottomang. 

Against this warrior, Hungary, Germany, and France 
assembled an army of an hundred thousand men, which 
was, conducted from Ofen by king Sigisraund : six thousand 
cavalry and four thousand infantry followed the undaunted 
John, prince of Burgundy, the illustrious vassals of En- 
guerrands ue Coucy, the last lord of Montfaucon Mumpel- 
gard, and .the flower of the nobility. The advanced guard 
cWas under the command of the king of Hungary ; Bur- 
gundy came next ; and the Hungarians and Bohemians 
displayed their force under the banner of St. George. 
Coucy, at the head of five hundred French, a thousand 
English, and a thousand Hungarian archers, had obtained 
a slight advantage, when, on.a sudden, the sultan Bajessid, 
with two hundred and fifty thousand men, endeavored to 
surround the Christian army on all sides. The duke of 
Burgundy, who, though he heard and saw the danger, was 
ignorant of its extent, advanced with bis whole force, but 



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VNIVSSSAL HISTORY. 119 

I 

without concert with the rest of the army ; while Sigismund 
and Coucy in vain ^ideavored to restrain him. The count 
of Artois exclaimed among the French troops, '' Montjoy 
and St. Denys ! will ye leave the fame of this day to the 
Germans ? " and these troops joined in the attack. Bajessid, 
having arranged his army in a crescent, and stationed the 
caval^ of the Spahi, arranged in the manner of the^ Janis- 
saries, made a stand. The French soon saw themselves 
surrounded^ and fought with ine&ctual valor for life and 
liberty : their fate spread an universal panic throughout the 
army; subordination was entirely destroyed, and each 
sought his own safety in flight Sigismund escaped, ac* 
companied by five knights, to the Danube, reached Con- 
stantinople, and at length arrived in his own countr}^ by 
sea, Coucy, Artois, Burgundy, La Tremouille, and all 
the most powerful barons, were taken prisoners, and the 
former died in captivity. Bosnia was afterwards subject- 
ed ; and Manuel Paleologus was compelled to resign hi.s 
throne to his nephew, who was patronized by the sultan. 



SECTION XLV. 

THE HOOOLS. 

After the battle of Nicopolis, there appeared no com<- 
petent rival of the power of the Ottomans, in Europe ; 
when a revolution took place, to the eastward of the Cas- 
pian sea, which entirely changed the relation!^ of power. 
The kingdom of Balkh, situated in that part of Asia, com- 
prises regions which may well contest the prize of fertility 
with the plains of Aifdalusia and Damascus : and in the 
midst of Sogdiana, in a beautiful and well-watered valley, 
eight or nme days' journey in length, stands Sarmacand, 
the ancient seat of power and literature. The country of 
Sogdiana is overlooked by the mpuntafns of Ferguna, 
which are rich in gold, silver, copper, and precious stones, 
and inhabited by an independent pastoral nation of the 
Turkish race : in the magnificent and extensive city of 
Kesch, not far from Sarmacand, Timur was viceroy of 



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130 UHiTBBSAL HISTOBT. 

mmxy fertile aod p<qnikus distriels betonging to the MogOh 
fie chan of Jagatai, who, like himselfy was descended from 
Jengis Chan. The presoit chan had given himself up lo 
repose, on the throne of hb fathers ; but he stiU retained 
the name of sovereign, which remains with his family to 
this day. Timur, who was a great warrior and an artful 
man, persuaded the chan to appoint him nowian^ or prime 
minister. 

Under the pretence of forcing some faithless viceroys, 
who bad declared themselves independent sultans or chans, 
to submit to their legitimate sovereign, Timur proceeded 
to re-establish the Mogolic power, in the same manner as 
Cyrus fought at first in the cause of his uncle Cyaxares. 
Persia was quickly subdued. Timur next excited divinons 
among the golden horde, which held Astrachan, Casan, and 
the Crimea under its sway, and reigned over the Russians. 
Nothing was able to withstand the terrors of artillery, which 
he employed, for the first time, m these Regions. 

Timur penetrated on one side toward the west, and pro- 
mised protection to the princes of Lesser Asia, who had 
been oppressed by die sultans ; while his grandson, Pir 
Mohammed Jehan Ghir, on the other, over-ran the coun- 
try of Hindostan firom the northern mountains ; and the 
Greek emperor found an unexpected deliverance from the 
Mogol arms. Timur obtamed a decisive victory near An- 
cyra, in the plains of Galatia, over the sultan. Bajessld 
himself, worthy of his fathers and of his focmer greatness, 
fought with the iiiry of despair, for freedom or the death 
of a hero ; but the Mogols, throwing a mande over him, 
took him alive, and brought him ignombiously before the 
conqueror, whom he despised. A. D. 1399. The un- 
fortunate sultan, consumed by grief, was despatched by 
Timur to the graves of the Ottomans. The whole of les- 
ser Asia was plundered and laid waste : the knights of St. 
John in vain opposed a resistance of fifteen days, in the 
citadel of St. reter near Smyrna : the Mogols filled the 
harbor ; only a small part of the order escaped ; And Ti- 
mur erected a tower as a monument of his victory, consist- 
ing of an equal number of stones and human heads. 

A. D. 1401. He now turned his cou^e toward the east 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. ISl 

and north-east } and all the Ulysses of the golden horde, 
on receiving information of this movement, raised their At- y 
bitkas, mounted their Tatar horses, and retreated into the 
steppes beyond the Wol^ and the Uralsk : the terrors of 
God came upon them in the night ; they saw the Mogols 
in imagination, and began to " slay on^ another. {lence 
arose family feuds which demanded revenge of blood ; of 
which Ivan, czar of the Russians, took advantage, to restore 
the independence of his country. 

Timur also vanquished the Egyptian mamelukes ; and 
on bis return to his own country, sent an army of two hun- 
dred thousand men against the dynasty of Sing, which at 
tbatvtime reigned in China. He died in the seventy-first 
year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. A. D. 
1406. 



SECTION XLVI. 

CONTINUATION OF THE TURKISH 'HISTORY. 

The tottering empire of the Ottoman Turks was still 
farther weakened by the effeminate Solyman, the restless 
Issem, and the perfidious and cruel Musa, sons of Bajessid ; 
and by their disobedient pashas : and was scarcely restored 
by the mild and prudent administration of Mohammed the 
First, and his noble vizier Bajessid. A. D. 1413. Ncme 
of the European powers were able to prevent its returning 
prosperi^ : Sisismund, who had revenged his wife on some 
of the nobles of Hungarv, was thrown into a dungeon eighty 
feet below the surface o/the earth ; and when he regained his 
liberty, his attention was occupied by the affidrs of the west. 

A.'D. 1420. Morad, the wordiy s(» of Mohammed, 
restored the janissaries to their former fame : he was heroic, 
and at the same time gentle ; and a just estimator of the 
vanity of external greatness, to which he preferred the real 
enjoyment of life, as often as his regal duties would permit. 
He did not take Constantinople, though the expiring em- 
pire scarcely breathed under John the Eighth. A. D. 
1422. This emperor made a journey to Italy, the ex- 

VOL. III. 11/ 



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UNITEK8AI. BISTORT. 

peoses of which were defrayed by the pope, id order to 
promote the union of the Greek and Romish churches ; a 
measure to which he subscribed, because he expected by 
means of it to obtain assistance. After his return from 
Florence, (A. D. 1438), the division became still wider 
than before ; because even those who had been dearly paid 
for their concurrence, now execrated the compact they 
had made. The inhabitants of Constantinople were chiefly 
engaged in theological conti oversies ; and tne city, with it» 
immediate neighborhood, contained three hundred con- 
vents ; while the whole military power did not amount to 

'five thousand men. 

The sultan Morad maintained peace with Hungary. 
Cardinal Julian, the papal legate, released the Hungarians 
firom their oath ; and as Morad was enjoying his pleasures 
in Magnesia, they thought it a good opportunity -to attack 
his kingdom both by sea and land. lung Vladislaf, ac- 
companied by Hunyad, advanced to the shores of the Black 
sea, and Morad once more arose to vindicate the fame of 
the OttoraaJ arms. A. D. 1444. The batde of Varna 
ensued, in which the victory for a long time inclined to 
Hunyad : Morad called on God to avenge the peijury of 
the Christian; and at this moment, the youthful king, 
agamst the wishes and counsels of Hunyad, broke into the 
ranks of the janissaries : his head was soon struck off, and 
carried about on the point of a spear ; and the sight of it 
inspired his own army with such terror, that Morad gained 

' the victory. 

A. D. 1451. His son, Mohammed the Second, inherit- 
ed all his father's virtues except his inoderadon ; and con- 
bined with them a more enterprising spirit. From the 
commencement of his administration, the destruction of the 
eastern empire was his ruling passion: and in the 1123d 
year from the building of Constantinople, he besieged tha,t 
city with the utmost exertion of his power. A. D. 1453. 
The emperor Constantme, the Genoese hero Giustiniani, 
the grand duke Lucas Notaras, and every individual who 
was interested for the Jast remains of the empire, and for 
the religion of their fathers, were not less active in its de- 
fence. The sdtan lay fifty days before the city, and 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY* 123 

shook its massy walls with machines of unexampled power. 
The Turks, entered on one side by a neglected postern, 
just at the moment when their comrades hkd scaled it in 
another quarter. Constantine fell as he was fighting val- 
iantly on the wall : the multitude, relying on prophecies, 
took refuge in the church of St. Sophia; but the city was 
plundered, and its inhabitants enslaved. The great duke 
and logothete Lucas Notaras, whose life had been spared, 
was executed, together with his sons, because he refused 
,an infamous request of the sultan ; and Mohammed, for a 
similar reasom, put to death, with his own hand, the son of 
Phranzes, the protovestiary. Thus ended the Roman em- 
pire, fifteen hundred years after the batde of Pharsalia. 

The imperial name, however, still existed in the family 
of the Comnei at Trebizond, on the Black sea, \^hich, 
together with jmie surrounding country, submitted at the ap- 

Ejarance of Mohammed. A. D. 1462. The emperor, 
avid Comnenus, was put to death at Constantinople. 
The Palaeologi still retained the greater part of the an- 
cient Peloponnesus ; but Mohammed feund mefiins to terrify 
Thomas, one of the princes of that district, to such a de- 
gree, that he took refuge in Italy ; and the former having 
§amed Demetrius over to his interest, took possession of 
le country, and led the prince into TTirace. A^D. 1462. 
Italy now trembled for its safety : Nicholas the Fifth, 
and after him Pius the Second, sent the most urgent en- 
treaties to '^U the western Christians : Pius even determin- 
ed to animate this new crusade by his own presence; but 
> he was prevented by death from executing his purpose. 
A. D. 1464. 

Alexander, or, as he was called by the Turks, Scan- 
derbeg, of the noble race of the Castriotes, preserved, 
during his life, the fireedom of Coroja in Albania. ^ The 
great batde fought by H'unyad, at Belgrade (A. D. 1467), 
saved Hungary : the impression which it produced on the 
sultan, remained to the day of his death, and induced him 
to content himself with the complete subjection of Servia. 
The Vayvodes of Moldavia defended themselves with so 
much valor, that he was satisfied with their apparent sub- 
mission. A. D. 1465. 



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124 VNirZBSAL DISTORT. 

Mahommed adorned Constantinople with new magnifi-* 
cence, and introduced the pomp of a regular court. He 
is said to have been fond ottranslations fi^om the works of 
the ancients, particularly respecting the achievements of 
Alexander : he caused bis own history to be written by 
Angiolello, a Vicentine slave bebnging to his son Mustafa, 
and patronized the art of painting. 

It was especially fortunate for the Christian nations of 
the west, that Hassan el Tawil, (who is called Usong by 
HaUer) by his prudence and distinguished talents, impart- 
ed an extraordinary vigor to the kingdom of Persia, which 
had been in a state of great disorder ever since the death 
of Abu Said, the Mogolic chan ; he endeavored, both by 
embassies and correspondence, to convince the duke of 
Burgundy, the republic of Venice, the Medici, and other 
western princes, how important lus kingdom was to their 
welfare. This prince has found in Haller a biographer who 
deserves to be compared widi the author of the Cyropsdia. 

The mamelukes in Egypt, and the houses of Merin, and 
Abu Hs^, in Tunis and Morocco, retabed their sove- 
reignties until the sixth century. 



SECTION XLVn. 

THE GREAT MOOOL. 

A.-D. 1398. The great Mogol of the femily of Timur, 
confirmed his sway in the East Indies. M3rrsa Pir Mo- 
haftimed, the founder of that empire, had found the suc- 
cessors of the ancient, sultans of Ghaur, in that state of 
weakn^s into which the d3n[iasties of the east usually sink, 
in the course of a few generations, from the combined ef^ 
fects of the climate and of despotism. When Timur him- 
self marched across the northern mountains into Hindostan, 
Sha Mahmud, under the walls of Delhi, fought a decisive 
battle against his troops, which were inspired by religicm, 
avarice, and ambition. Timur was accompanied by the 
garrisons of all the places which he had subjected in his 
progress ; and their number was become i^ great, that he 



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UMVERSAL HISTORY. 126 

was apprehensive lest they should set themselves at b'berty 
during the batd^ ; he therefore caused them aH toTbe put 
to deatli, and afterward defeated the Sha, and plundered 
his deserted capital. 

Tifnur pursued the defenders of Hindostan to the passes 
of Kupeli, where the Ganges issues from the mountains, 
and ih this sacred region obtained his second victory : he 
completed the conquest of the mountainous district, and a 
part of his army subdued the country to the southward. 
A. D. 1406. After his death, and t'be murder of Pir Mo- 
hammed, his kingdom, like that of Alexander, was divided. 
But the great sultan Borbr, preserved the dominion of the 
opulent and powerful country of Hindostan in his family, 
which was the reigning djmasty at the time when the Por- 
tuguese came, (as Marai Ben Joseph says), from the dark 
unknown ocean beyond Negroland, and landed in the East 
Indies. 

The discovery of the East Indies and of America ; the 
union of the kingdoms of Spain under Ferdinand ; the 
accession of power whith the kings of France received by 
the incorporation of Burgundy; the tennination of the civil 
wars of England ; the actions of Gustavus Vasa in Sweden, 
and of Ivan Vasilievitsch in Russia ; the alterations in the 
constitution of the German empire, arising partly from the 
power of Austria, and partly from the reformation ; pro- 
duced new arrangements in the political frame of Europe, 
gave rise to new interests, opmions, and manners, and new 
institutions, both in militarv affairs and in commerce. 



TOL. in* 10* 



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BOOK XVIII. 

/ 

OF THOSE REVOLUTIONS WHICH ESPECIALLY CONTRBBU- 
TED TO DEVELOPE THE NEW ORDER OF POLITICAL 
AFFAIR8.--A. D. 1452^— Iftld. 



SECTION I. 

LEWIS THE ELEVENTH. 

Chables the Seventh, king of France, was succeeded by 
his son, Lewis the Eleventh, in the sovereignty of his king- 
dom, which had been rescued from the yoke of the Eng- 
lish by the good fortune of the former, and which now be- 
gan to assume ( A. D. 1461), among the nations of Europe, 
a rank in some degree proportionate 'to its power. The 
judgment which we form of statesmen, is often decided 
rather by the consequences of their measures, than by an 
impartial estimation of their character : and it has accord- 
ingly happened, that the enemies of the kingdom, whose 
importance was so much augmented by Lewis the Eleventh, 
have frequently refused to do justic^to his talents. He 
said with truth, that his codncil was in his own head ; and 
it would, in fact, have been difficult for the most accom- 
plished minister to point out a better method of turning to 
account the circumstances of his age, than that which he 
adopted. 

The exorbitant power of the nobility appeared to him 
the greatest obstacle to that unity in the administration of 
afiairs, which imparts energy and rapidity of execution to 
the enterprises of a government : and he was so entirely 
occupied m diminishing the privileges of tliat class, that 
even his intemperate passions were incapable of diverting 
his atteution from the prosecution of his views. He was 
too well acquainted with the real extent of his power, to 
engage unnecessarily in foreign quarrels ; and conceived 



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UNIVIIRSAL HISTORY. 127 

that the most important benefits whach he couM confer oa 
his success(Ms; would be to render them masters of their 
own dominions : but even in this respect he refrained from 
a premature display of his authority, by which the nobles 
might hare been alarmed, and perhaps induced to enter 
into a combmation against bis designs. 

He appeared to follow the course of events, while in 
reaKty he frequently guided them. His enemies were as 
powerful, and more opulent, than himself : accordingly he 
opposed them not by force, but by cunning, in which he 
hoped to be superior to them, because they were numerous, 
and had different and frequently conflicting views, while 
his own will was uniform and undivided, and his attention 
constantly directed to the opportunities which their weak- 
nesses or misfortunes misht offer to his advantage. He 
not only misled his enemies to their ruin, but gave to hk 
administration a degree of reputation for order and justice, 
in ai&irs of a private nature, in which that of his adversa- 
ries was defective. He resembled Augustus in the sim- 
plicity \of his manner of life, in his power of dissimulation, 
and in the readiness to perpetrate any crime that could 
contribute to his interests; and like Augustus, he was 
greater in the cabinet than in the field : for both these 
sovereigns possessed a degree of timiditv in the midst of 
their ambitious plans, which was the origm of the extraor- 
dinary caution of thpir measures, and proved to be a source 
of torment to themselves, which avenged the misfortunes 
they inflicted on their enemies. 

jrhilip the (rood, duke of Burgundy during the life of 
Charles the Sevendi, who was generally at variance with 
his son Lewis, had given the young pnnce an asylum at 
his court. A. D. 1467. Philip left a son narhed Charles, 
who was as ambitious as the king, while his passions were 
more impetuous, and his character far more noble and ex- 
alted : his pride contemned the employment of artifice, 
and his feelings were so vehement as entirely to deprive 
him of self-control. The finest countries on this side the 
Alps, the two Burgundies, and almost the whole of Belgi- 
um, were his property : to these he added the duchy of 
Gelder* and the .county of Ziitphen, which he bought of 



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128 UNIVERSAL RISTORT« 

Arnold of Egroont, duke of Gelders, having delivered that 
nobleman from the imprisonment in which he had been 
held by his own son. 

Sigismund, lord of the disjoined provinces of Austria, 
who was in want of money to support a war against the 
Swiss (A. D. 1469), had alrea'dy mortgaged to the duke 
the county of Pfirt, and manv towns m Alsace and Swabia, 
Charles besides entertained hopes, that Renatus of Anjou, 
the titular kmg of Naples, whom Lewis had offended; 
would bequeath to him the county of Provence. Lorraine 
was not capable of resistbg the power of Burgundy ; and 
it appeared to be in the power of Charles to erect a king- 
dom of Austrasia, or of Lorraine, and thus for ever ta 
separate France from Germany and Italy. The king had 
reason to be anxious for the sa^ty of DLuphine and Lyons; 
for his sister, the regent of Savoy, is said to have enter- 
tained ai) attachment to the duke ; and the emperor Fred- 
erick was inclined to present him with a regal crown, if 
he would consent to betroth his daughter and heiress to the 
archduke Maximilian. 

Against this powerful sovereign of the most populous and 
wealthy countries, no military enterprise of die king was 
successful: the only weapon remaining was artifice, by 
which he endeavored to entangle his rival in foreign quar- 
rels ; and Charles facilitated these designs of his enemy, 
by pretensions and undertakings which alarmed the empire, 
and irritated the Swiss, who generally contemplated aU 
external changes with indijfference. 

The king, who had already found an opportunity in his 
youth, of appreciating the chai:acter of this nation, led 
forty thousand men to disperse the council of Basel, and 
to make a diversion in favor of the war, in which Austria 
was engaged with them. No victorious body of troops had 
^ver made so strong an impression on him as-^ the fifteen 
hundred Swiss produced, who at St. James on the Birs 
(A. D. 1444), after having killed four times their own 
number, suffered themselves to be cutoff, to a man, by the 
superior numbers of their enemy, while not a single indi- 
vidual offered to surrender. A. D. 1452. From that 
time France ^ sought their friendship and alliance; and 



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univbbsaij history. 129 

Lewis coBftrived to make iiiends at Bern^ ajod in other 
towns, by means of bribes : fear the poverty of these mpuo- 
taineers rendered gold the most valuable thing among them, 
next to freedom. Nicholas von Diesbach of Bern, a man 
whose reputation, eloquence, and popular manners, ren- 
dered him the most important individual in that canton ; 
Jost von Sillinen, provost of Beronmiinster ; Hanns Wald- 
man, the best knight and the greatest man at Zurich ; 
many of the confessors, and the warlike youth ; were espe- 
ciaHyydevoted to the king. Charles at the same, period 
ojffended the emperor by his pride, and by his oppressive 
treatment of the territories he held under mortgage in 
Alsace, in such a manner, that the house of Austria was 
eager to accede to any alliance,- by which this insulting 
and injurious conduct might be punished. 

A. D. 1474. In this state of affidrs the king mediated a 
" perpetual adjustment " of the ancient animosity of the 
house of Austria against the confederates, and advanced a 
sum of money to Sigismund for the ransom of his territo- 
ries, between whom and Switzerland a treaty was conclud- 
ed. The bishops of Strasburg and Basel ; Renatus, the 
young duke of Lorndne, and the most ccxisiderable cities 
of -Alsace, took the part of the confederates. Bern pro- 
mised its assistance to the king agamst the duke; eveVy 
thing was managed according to the wishes of the friends 
of Lewis ; and Haibian von Bubenberg, the chief magis- 
trate, their opponent in all these af[airs, who possessed in 
an extraordinary degree the veneration of his contempora- 
ries, was excluded from the assemblies of £he council. 

Charles, however, refused to accept the ransom which 
was offered by Sigismund, in consequence of which the 
latter had recourse to forcible measures; and by the deci- 
fflon and advice of the Swiss ambassadors, caused Peter 
von Hagenbach, the tyrannical magistrate to whom Charles 
had confided the government of the mortgaged fiefs in Al- 
sace, to be beheaded. This proceeding was probably in- 
stigated by the king, whose mterest it was to render the 
animosity irreconcilable : the duke swore to revenge his 
officer ; and Lewis seized this moment to propose an alli- 
ance with the Swiss, and to offer assistance, and a supply 



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130 ' UNIVEBSAL HISTORY^ 

of provisions to the towns of the lower confederacy : an 
hereditary alliance was concluded with Austria, and the 
emperor Frederick summoned the Swiss to their duty a» 
members of the empire. Qharles, on the other hand, armed 
the force of Burgundy, some Italian mercenaries, and the 
Savoyard population of the neighbcmng Pays de Vaud, 
The canton of Bern, undaunted by these preparations, sent 
the high provosts, Petermann von Wabem and Nicholas 
von Schamacthal, with three thousand men, over mount 
Jura, against Tranche Comte ; and aM the confederates 
concurred in a declaration of war at the diet at Lucem. , 

This was the beginning of the Burgundian war, which 
had so important a share in new-modelling the political 
system of Europe. The duchy was laid waste ; but at 
the approach of Charles, the Swiss retreated to the eastern 
, side of Jura, where they took possession of the dominions 
of prince William of Orange-Chateau Guyon, who com- 
manded in the service of Burgundy : terror accompapied 
their march, as they neither gave nor demanded quarter. 

The Swiss troops were better adapted for fightmg than 
for sustaining the fatigues of long-continued warfare. The 
aids sent by their confederates arrived but slowly ; pardy 
because these good allies would have been glad to see 
their power, as well as that of Burgundy, exhausted in 
the contest ; and partly because they were desirous of dis- 
cerning the probable issue of the contest before they took 
any active part. Meanwhile the troops of Bern conquered 
the Pays de Vaud, where James de Romont, of the house 
of Savoy, endeavored to obstruct their passage. These 
wars really deserved the name of Joumies, which was com- 
monly applied to them ; for few mstances occurred of re- 
sistance on the part of the fortresses. 

The, duke of Burgundy extended his force out of the 
middle passes of the Jura, towards the lake of NeufchateL 
Here he besieged and took the fortress of Granson, which 
was occupied by a Swiss garrison, whom he caused to be 
hanged, probably with the design of terrifying their coun- 
trymen. A. D. 1476. This injury, however, only served 
to inflame their national pride ; and they soon took revenge 
in the batde which the duke, through his impetuosity, suf* 



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UNIVEnSAL HISTORT.. ^ 131 

fered himself to be compeUed to fight In a narrow defile, 
where his superiority of numbers was of no avail. His 
army no sooner perceived the unexpected firmness of t^e 
despised enemy, than they took flight; and his camp, 
which resembled the most splendid court, together with up- 
wards of four hundred pieces of artillery, and six hundred 
colors and standards, fell into the hands of the victors. 

The duke, not dispirited by this disaster, appeared in a 
few months before Murten, a small town, which was de- 
fended with heroic valor by Hadrian von Bubenberg, who 
now manifested himself a true patriot, when the defence 
of his country was at stake. The confederates assembled 
slowly : the duke of Lorraine, who had been driven out of 
his own country, came to the assistance of the common 
cause, \^th only two hundred faithful knights and four 
counts of Leiningen. The people of Bern, and of all 
Switzerland, were left by the authorities to their own will ; 
and they exerted their powers with redoubled vigor in the 
plains and on the heights of Murten against the enemy, 
who, on this oQcasion, had chosen a field which allowed 
him piore room for the display of his forces than in the 
former batde, and which was much nearer to their own 
country. The victory was decided by Hanns von Hallwyl, 
a knight, and coilimander of the advanced troops and ar- 
tilleryj who infused his own ardent spirit into all around 
him. The duke was obliged, by an astonishing display of 
vigor on the part of the Swiss, to abandon his camp and 
artillery with great loss, and to save his own life by a pre- 
cipitate flight. " 

The affrighted Pays de Vaud once more submitted to the 
conquerors. This misfortune seemed to have deprived the 
duke of all his presence of mind, in consequence of which 
his army, having suflfered greatly in the engagement, was 
dispersed and still more enfeebled. The duchess of Savoy 
now displeased even Charles, who sent her a prisoner into 
his own dominions. The house of Savoy with difficulty 
obtained a peace from the conquerors, by the sacrifice of 
Murten and other places on the frontiers. 

Renatus shortly afterwards entreated the Swiss, in the 
most earnest manner, to re-occupy and defend Lorraine, as 



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132 UKITXBSAL BISTORT. 

Chaiies was besiegii^ his capital city, Nancy : eight thou- 
sand of their troops joyfully obeyed the sumaions, and 
marched, in the midst of a severe winter, across the moun- 
tainous tract of the Wasgau. The battle of Nancy took* 
place on the 6th of January (A. D. 1477), m which the 
Swiss took advantage of the broken grcHuid, and got into 
the rear of the enemy's position : the troops of Bui'gundy 
fled, and the duke lost his life by means of an Italian con- 
dottiere, who betrayed him. With him expired the male 
fine of the house of Burgundy. 

Lewis hereupon took possesion, agreeably to the laws, 
of the vacant duchy ; paitly as a forfeited, and partly as ft 
reverted fief. Burgundy remained in possession of Maria, 
the daughter and heiress of the late duke, who now, at the 
desire of the states of the coun^, married the archduke 
Maximilian. The influence of tKe citizens was now mack 
greater than usual, because the flower of the nobility had 
fallen in the late battles ; and the former, who were carefid 
of their liberties,' preferred the mild and popular son of the 
distant emperor to the dauphin. Maria died ^A. D. 1478), 
after having borne a son named Philip ; and ner dominions 
were governed by Maximilian, as administrator, on behalf 
of the infant. During his Yegency, the people, who sus- 
pected him of designs against their ngbts, made him prison- 
er at Bruges (A. D. 1482) : but even these Netherlanders, 
who prescribed such rigid bounds to the authority of their 
ruler, maintained his cause against France. A. D. 1487. 
Lewis acquired as much as he could obtam. without exier- 
tion ; but his character was not such as to induce iant to 
aim at the subjugation of the Netherlands by the power of 
the French monarchy. He gained over Fourbin,. the mia»- 
ister of Charles c^ Anjou, nephew and heir of the titidir 
king Renatus^ count of Provence, who ^ecfaffed the king 
his heir. A. D. 1481. After theunion of Rrovence with 
the crown, the odly remsdning great vassal, who was capa- 
ble of controlling the power of the king, was Francis 11. 
duke c^ Brittany, who had no scm. 



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SECTION n. 

9 HAXIMILIAN. 

Miaximilian, who had acquired the duchy of Burgundy 
and the Netherlands, chiefly because he 'was litde the ob- 
ject of apprehension, ^inherited also from bis cousin, the 
archduke Sigismund, the disjoined provinces of Austria. 
The four sovereignties of Bregence, rludence, Feldkirch, 
and Sonnenberg, in the Vicinity of Arlenbetg, which had 
formerly been under the dominion of the house of Mont- 
fort, were now transferred to that of Austria, together with 
the Swabian bailiwick at Akorf, the inheritance of the 
Guelphs, a remnant of the power of the ducal house o( 
^ Swabia ; the county of Nelleriburg, in the Hegau, border- 
ing on Zurich and Schafhausen; the county of Goritz, 
and the Italian districts bordfering (m VefiSee, abftig the 
confines of the bishoprics of Trent and Brixen ; with the Ty- 
rolese. The state of the Austrian finances under Freder- 
ick in. was so far from flourishing in proportion to this 
extent of territory, tHat the ^rhperor was obb'ged to allow 
king Matthias to hold the reins of government in Vienna 
for some years, in lieu of the payment of a sum of one 
hundred and twenty thousand ducats : and Maximilian for- 
gave the people of Bruges the insult offered to his toajesty 
by his imprisonment, in consideration of five hondted thou- 
sand ducats ; and made the receipt of five hundred thou- 
sand florins an essential condition of his marriage with 
Blanca Maria Sforza. The states of the empire also 
showed more inclination to grant him a supply of men than 
any pecuniary aid, towards his war against the Turks. 

This prince, after the death of his first wife, was on the 
point of a marriage with the heiress of Brittany ; which, if 
It had taken place, would have thrown the monarchy of 
France into greater difficulties than the power of Burgundy 
had already occasioned it. French artifice, however, pre* 
vented this misfortune ; and Anne gave her hand to Charles 
the Eighth. A. D. 1491. The states of Brittany deter- 

voi.. III. 12 



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134 UNIY£aSAL HISTOAY* 

mbed that, in. the event of her bearing two sons, the sec- 
ond of them should mherit the dukedom; but neither 
Charles, nor Lewis the Twelfth, who succeeded him on 
the throne, and who married his widow, left any -male 
issue : and Francis the First undertook, on this conjunc- 
ture, to incorporate Brittany with the dominions of the 
crown ; to which it was henceforward inseparably attached* 
At the same time a regulation was established, by which 
every province should be considered as incorporated, which 
the king had governed during ten successive years. ^ A. D. 
1 531 . But this most extensive and fertile of the European 
kingdoms would have attained its predominant influence, 
and the ancient boundaries of Gaul would have been re- 
stored, at a much earlier period, if these results had not 
been prevented by an administration destitute of any fixed 
principles : for while the hou^e of Maximilian was estab- 
lishing its power in the Netherlands, France was exhausting 
its resources m a contest of fifty years, for the acqjuisition 
of a precarious dominion, separated from its own territory 
by the Alpine barrier. 



SECTION ra. 

ITALY. 

A. D. 1450. We have already seen, in the seventeenth 
book, that Francesco Sforza acquired the dominion of the 
Visconti at Milan, by die success of his arms ; and that he 
confirmed his authority by his wise measures. A, D. 
1467. His son Galeazzo was murdered by some youths, 
who were inspired with the desire of imitating Brutus and 
Cassius, and restoring the freedom of the republic ; but his 
widow, BcHia of Savoy, by the assistance which she de- 
rived from the possession of the citadel, preser^^ed the du- 
cal pbwer for her sou John Galeazzo, who was yet a minor. 
A. D. 1478. Ludovico Moro, the brother of the mur- 
dered prince, a sagacious and enterprising man, d,estroyed 
his nephew by means of slow poison (A. D. 1494), an,d 
assumed the government ; but as he stood in fear of the 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 136 

king of Naples, whose daughter was the widow of the un- 
fortunate John Galeazzo, he sent the . cardinal Ascanio 
Sforza to the court of France, commanding him to repre- 
sent to Charles the Eighth, that if the latter wished to 
prosecute those claims on the kingdom of Naples which he 
had inherited from the house of Anjou, he and some others 
vof the Italian powers were inclined to support his preten- 
sions. 

The kingdom, however, (as the Italians dwiominate 
Naples), was under the sway of a collateral branch of the 
house of Arragon. Alfonso the Wise, king of Arragon 
and Sicily, who had deposed queen Johanna the Second, 
died without legal heirs; inconsequence of which Arragon 
devolved on his brother (A. D. 1468^ ; but Alfonso had 
bequeathed Sicily and Naples to Don Ferrando, his natural 
son. The reign of this prince was long and vigorous ; but 
while he appeared to imitate the mildness of Caesar, he 
found either pretences or secret methods for removing out 
of his way many of the noblemen whose influence was for- 
midable to his authority: he also excited the enmity of the 
lower classes by his burdensome imposts. The notorious 
qualities of his eldest son, Don AJfopso, were siich as to 
promise nothing but undisguised tyranny. 

At this period, the chair of St. Peter was filled, after a 
succession of some excellent pontifis, and others whose 
character was in no respect above mediocrity, by Alexan- 
der the Sixth, of the Spanish family of Borgia. The in- 
clinations of this high-priest of Christendom were not dis- 
similar to those by which Caligula and Nero have acquired 
so distinguished a place in the annals of voluptuousness : 
in other respects, his favorite project was to acquire a con- 
siderable power in Italy for Caesar, the most enterprising 
of his sons. 

Caesar Borgia was a man of a remarkably active mind, 
and of great strength of character. Neither his father nor 
himself was deficient in the boldness necessary for system- 
atic viUany ; and Caesar acquired, by means of treachery 
and assassination, the sovereignty of many Italian cities, 
which be afterwards governed with clemency and justice. 
The rulers of Italy were in general men more remarkable 



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136 CNIVE&SAL HIS^tOBY. 

(or imagination and eloquence, than for good sense and 
real knowledge : the restraints of all laws, divine and hu- 
man, were despised; and scarcely an age can be men- 
tioned in which contempt of religiop, and crimes of ev^ 
species, have been more openly msplayed. 



SECTION IV. 

FLORENCE. 

Cosmo de' Medici, the father of his country, died at 
Florence m the seventy-fifth year of his age. A. D. 1464. 
The emperor, king Lewis the Eleventh, the pope, and all 
the neighboring princes and cities, sent embassies to the 
Fk)rentines, expressive of then: synipathy, on account of 
the loss of such a citizen. His son, Pedro de' Medici, w^ 
^ man of sound intellect and refined manners ; but .as thp 
infirm state of his health prevented him firom exerting great 
aptivity in business, it became evident that the power of the 
Medici wa9 only personal : and Luca Pjtti did not hesitate 
tQ declare, that many things which had been tolerated j^ 
so old and so great a m^ as Cosmo, could not be alloT^Q4 
in Pedro. The lattier had, besides^ offended severa} of 
those who were indebted to him, by demanding payments. 

A. p. 1472. Pedro left two sons ; the elder oi whom, 
Lorenzo, acquired the surname of ^^ Father of the Muses,^' 
by his spljBndid taleats, and by his love of polite literature. 
Julian, his brother^ was a youth whose character was nctf 
less estimable. 4 

There pi^isted at thfit tiojy^t in Florence, a law, by which 
the d^Oghter^ were excluded firom inheritailce, wheo ther0 
Was no especial testamentary disposition in their favor. In 
eonsequei^cis of this reflation, ^ lady who had married 
iaip ii^ faia^y of the Pazzi w^ deprived of the hereditary 
astatic of her {amily. The Pazzi believed that the Medid 
fni^ by their influence have procured a difi^rent terminsi- 
tioQ to the affair, they ei^tered into a conspiracy with Fran- 
cesco Salviati, archiHshop of Pisa, and some of the nojbles 
of Florence, to destroy this family on the 26th of April 



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XJNIVEBSAL' HISTORY* 137 n 

(A. D. 1478), when the cardinal Riario, nephew of pope 
Sixtus the Fourth, was about to make his entry mto me 
city. For this purpose they went early to the church of 
St. Rfparata, in which the brothers were accustomed to 
attend divine service : and at the moment of the elevation 
of the host, Francesco Pazzi, as had been concerted, ac- 
costed the youngest, threw his arms in a familiar manner 
round him, in order to ascertain whether he had armotur 
under his clothes, and inquired concerning his health. As 
the young men were entirely unconscious of their danger, 
the conspirators found it an easy matter to put Julian to 
death ; and Lorenzo was wounded, but was saved by the 
concourse of priests, who hastened to the spot, and con- 
veyed him into the sacristy. While the church was filled 
with the tumult of arms, the archbishop of Pisa, accompani- 
ed, as was usual among the great, by an armed suite, came, 
as if to pay a visit of ceremony, into the state palace, at the 
moment when the magistrates were at dinner : while he 
was speaking to them, his attendants occupied the steps 
'and doors of the building, broke into the saloon, and got 
possession of the palace ; while the terrified members of die 
government saved themselves by flight. Pazzi ran into the 
square, exclaiming, " Long live the people, long live the 
fireedom of Florence !" In less than an hour, &e whole 
population was assembled in arms around the palace ; but 
contrary to the expectation of the conspirators, they ap- 
peared as defenders of the rulers and of the Medici : they 
laid fire to the doors, took the palace, and hung Pazzi, the 
archbishop, and many others, out of the window of the 

Sreat saloon. Bandi^i, one of the conspirators, who had 
ed to Constantbople, was delivered up by the sultan Mo- 
hammed, out of regard for Lorenzo. The son of Julian, 
supposed to be illegitimate, mounted the papal chair forty- 
five years afterwards, under the name of Clement the 
Seventh. 

The preservation of Lorenzo was a [ fortunate circum- 
stance for Italy : princes and republics were kept in peace 
by his prudent measures ; and it is asserted of him, that he 
never said or did any thing relative to public affairs, that 
was not laudable and worthy of his high reputation. Pope 

VOL. III. 12* 



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188 l^NIV£BS^ HISTOIUr. 

Sixtusjiaid the city under excompumiciitio]^, on aecount 
of the death of the archbishop of Pisa, aad appointed duke 
AJfonso of Calabria, the son of Don Ferrando of Naples, 
executor of the deqree.* As Alfonso demanded that tbfi 
Medici should be banished from Florence, as a prelimina^ 
condition of peace, Lorenzo declared that he yiras far from 
wishing to preserve his importance or his life at the hazard 
of his country ; and that he would take a decided step in 
favor of the latter, at the risk of all bis own intierests : h^ 
immediately retired to Naples, to the court of that very 
prmce who had endeavored to procure his rjun } and ao 
completely gained the confidence of Don Feixando, that 
the latter was ever after a steadfasit friend of Florence. 
Lorenzo g^ned many powerful friei^ds by his ;cnagnaninK;>u$ 
conduct ; and the days of the pope were shortened by enyy 
and chagrin. 

From that time Lorenzo the Magnificent, reigned in 
the greatest splendor, though without a title: he aban- 
idoned all commercial pursuits ; adorned the qity and hi^ 
own estates with noble edifices, an4 assembled around hinoi 
ibe most mgenious and learned perspns of the age. Lo- 
renzo engaged Angelo Puliziano as the teacher of his chil- 
dren. The celebrated prince Pico of Mirandola, who w^^ 
a prodigy of early leammg and extensive knowledge, took 
up his residence at Florence y Lorenzo employed Joh^i 
Lascaris, at his own expense, to collect the writings of th^ 
ancients in Greece and Asia; he encouraged MarsigUp 
Ficini to undei^take the trmiislatioin of Platp ; and he found;- 
ed an university at Pisa. He was hiniself a goo4 ppet, a^4 
employed his leisure hoyrs with music, or with the worl^ 
of statuaries, f>aint6rs, aio4 ^rchiteds. {{^ ^pps^^sed f 
jpenetraUng .genius and a sound understanding ; ^uncpn^uQP 
•activity and firmpes^, .together with an engaging gracefi^- 
ness en manner, aitd an ^^eeable wit. Mke alpaost ev;^ 
individual of his family, he was devoted to pleasure,. 

Lewis (the Eleventh endeavcured to obtain hi^ friepidship, 
through the me^i^tion of the Jjistofisui Philip d^ .Co^iines ; ; 
{K>pie I];tnocent the jEIigbth was happy to obtam j|;us dau^- 
iter in awarriage for his joiephew, ,prmce Cibo } B(Iatthi?is 
Hunyad applied to him for counsel ; the sult£|p of JCg}^t 



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UNIVfeliSAL HIStOKY. 189 

hoQoreci \mx with preheats ; ^d the grand sigaor of the 
Qttooians with proofs of his esteem. His death, which 
happened m the 44th year of his age (A. D. 1492), was ^ 
great misfcHtune to Italy ; for his son Fedro, who inherited 
iSi his father's possessions, was destitute gf his talents. 



SECTION y* 

VENICE. 

Venice, a short time before this period, had acquired pos- 
session of a kingdom. Charlotte, heiress of the familjr 
of Poitiers Lusignan, which was in possession of the sov0- ' 
r^ignty of 'Cyprus, ^vas involved in war with h^r illegitimate 
brother James, on account of the succession. The latter, 
in order to strengthen his party, married Catharine Coma- 
ro, the daughter of a senator of Venice (A. D. 1471) : his 
alnbassadors chose her from among seventy-two young no- 
(iJie ladies, who were presented before them in the state 
palace ; and the republic declared her its daughter. After 
the death of the king (A. D. 1473)^ her title to the throne 
wae maintained by the family ol Davila (to which the 
great hist(^ian of diat name belonged), by the viceroy qf 
9ie house of Constanzi, and especially by the Venetian ad- 
miral Piero Mocenigo, and by the high reputation of her 
mother country. The C)rpriots, excited by letters from 
Rome, which accused Csdiarine of ])oisonmg the. king, 
broke into the palace, and put the pbysicidn and two noble 
Venetians to death, in her presence ; but before the king 
of Nipples could give .support to this rebeflion, it was QMell- 
ed by the valiant commanders, Coriolano and Sorenzo. 

Jjames the Third, whom Calharine bore after the de^ath 
of the king, died in early infancy : and the anxiety a^end- 
a^t oii.il WAT with Turkey, afforded the republic a pretcpLt 
for sending Giorgio Comaro, a brother of the queen, to 
%Cffif^ and for persuading her to fix her residence at 
Venice. A.'D. 1486. Tlie standard of the .republic iwras 
fV^cted in the gre^t place of the capital city Famagosla ; 
and Cfttbarine was received on board the Buoentaur by the 



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140 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

doge Agostin Barbarigo, and by a numerous suite of sen- 
ators and noble ladies; and was afterwards conducted, 
with great pomp, to the church of St. Mark, at the high 
altar of which she formally transferred the kingdom of Cy- 
prus to the republic of Venice. She lived twenty-four 
years after this transaction, revered by her fellow-citizens, 
and in her splendid villas enjoyed pleasures which she 
preferred to the pursuits of ambition. The illegitimate 
sons of her husband were honorably supported at Padua. 

The expelled queen Charlotte died in poverty at Rome, 
after having transferred her title to the family of Savoy. 

Duke Lewis of Savoy had already acquired a claim to 
the sovereignty of Cyprus, by his marriage with Anna of 
Lusignan, daughter of king James ; and his descendants, 
to this day, call themselves kings of Cyprus and Jeru- 
salem. 

Cyprus, however, remained under the dominion of Ve- 
nice, which was the principal state in Italy. The most 
""considerable commerce with the east, before the discove- 
ries of the Portuguese, was carried on by the Venetians, 
by way of Alexandria, and was favored by the sultans of 
the mamelukes. The city was not only very opulent, but 
its military force was much superior to that of the other 
Italian states. 



SECTION VI. 

THE LESSER ITALIAN PRINCES. 

The princes of the house of Este, as vassals, partly of 
the enipire, and partly of the church, for centuries gov- 
erned Ferrara, Modena, arid Reggio, with the title of mar- 
quis : but JBorso had obtained the rank of duke from the 
emperor Frederick the Third (A. D. 1452) ; and his suc- 
cessors had preserved that tide. , 

In a similar manner, the descendants of Lewis Gonzagj^ 
who had expelled the powerful Buonaccolsi fi'om Mantua, 
had a short time before acquired the title of marquis from 
the pmperor Sigismund, in return for some service render- 
jed to him by John Francis^ A. D. 1433. 



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DNIVEBSAL HISTORT. 141 

Miraodola, at that time a fortified town, was the resi- 
dence of the princes Pico : the Malespma reigned ^at 
Malssa ; the Grimaldi at Monaco ; and the young Guidon^ ^ 
Ubaldo di Montefeltra maintained his power with difficult 
at Urbino. 

The dukes of Savojr for a considerable time had ob- 
tained the character ot mild rather than of great or fortu- 
nate princes ; and their power had been much diminished 
by short reigns and frequent minorities. 



SECTION vn. 

THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 

The situation of Italy was such as we have above de- 
^rihed, when the negotiations of the duke of Milan ex- 
cit^d the king of France to a campaign against Naple$. 
Dfothing was capable of resisting the overpowerbg impetu- 
o^ty of the French troops, and the immovable firmness of 
the Swiss, of whom Charles had a strong body in his army. 
4^. D. 1495. Don Ferrando was lately de^d, his liie 
having been shortened, as it was believed, by a dread of 
t|ie«e preparations ; and Alfonso, in terror, abandoned the 
government which he had scarcely assumed, and retirecji 
in^o the solitude of monastic life, whither he was said to be 
j^tllpyired by revengeful spirits, the ghosts of the, murdered 
nppies. In a few days after the accession of his son, Don 
Feirando, ^enty thousand French, and six thousand 
Swiss troops completed the conquest of Naples. Charles 
overraui Jt^ly, which was afterwards plundered by his suc- 
ce3SQr, Lewis: but the Spaniard Ferdinand obtained a 
permanent conquest, while the Swiss despised the acqui- 
sition. 

T^he manners of the French were displeasing to the 
NeJitpoUtans : even the character of the king was deficient 
ii) the greatness which commands obedience, while he 
Zfianif^sted a degree of insolent vanity, which provoked the 
ipdigUjation of people of all ranks. It was therefore not 
long before a league was formed betweerf pope Alexander ; 



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142 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. . 

the emperor Maximilian, who had just succeeded to his 
father ; Ferdinand, king of Arragon and Castile, and the 
Venetians, against the French ; in which Ludovico Moro, 
the original source. of all these evils, participated. In a 
part of the Parmesan territory, near Foronovo, and on the 
banks of the Tanaro, die allies awaited the approach of the 
king, who' was riiarching back with his weakened force, 
intending to attack him, when his army should gradually 
descend from the passes of the Apennines. His advanced 
guard, consisting of the Swiss troops, cut a passage through 
the lines of the enemy, who were three times more nu- 
merous ; and the king lost only two hundred men, in a 
battle which cost his adversaries three thousand. From 
this time until the reign of Lewis -the Fourteenth, the 
artillery of the French armies was always protected by 
Swiss troops. 

Since the period when the descendants of Charlemagne 
divided his empire, and subsequently to the decay of the 
family of Hohenstaufen, scarcely any political connection 
. had subsisted between the different states of Europe, while 
the princes contented themselves with confirming their au- 
thority in their own dominions : but the undertaking of 
Charles in Italy awaked the jealousy of Austria and Spain ; 
and by degrees the idea of a balance of power necessary 
to the' preservation of universal security was developed. 
The interest which all states took in the .transactions of 
others became greater, and partitions among the people 
themselves more frequent. Thus the characters of the dif- 
ferent Nations became more polished, and knowledge soon 
began to spread itself more widely. 

One of the first consequences of this more intimate con- 
nection was the propagation of the venereal disease, the 
.first remarkable effects of which were displayed during the 
Italian war. Christopher Columbus was not yet returned 
from his second voyage to America, whence it is commonly 
supposed that the Spaniards brought it ; lior had the latter 
yet landed at Naples, when the disease made its appear- 
ance in that country among the French troops. It is high- 
ly probable tliat this infection, like that of the small-pox, is 
a native of the hot climate of Africa ; and that it was 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 143 

brought to Europe from the coast of Gumea. The terror 
inspired by its first ravages was so great, that it is recorded 
by all the historians of that age : it was even supposed to 
be the angel of death mentioned in the apocalypse, which 
should destroy the third part of the human race. Those 
who were attacked by this disease were abandoned and 
separated from mankind, until it found its way to the in- 
habitants of palaces, and to ithe heads of the Christian 
world, among whom it met with better treatment. So 
great a schism arose among the medical professors of Leip- 
sic about the method of cure, that they separated from 
each other, followed by a number of students, and tlius 
gave occasion to the foundation of the university of Wit- 
tenberg, and that of Frankfort on the Oder. 

After the death of Charles the Eighth, Lewis the 
Twelfth endeavored to act the same part toward Milan 
which his predecessor had supported with regard to Na- 
ples. It is, however, necessary to explain the manner in 
which the relations of power were changed in favor of 
Austria : Philip the Fair, son of Maximilian by Maria of 
Burgundy,' and heir of ^Austria, the Netherlands, and Up- 

Ejr Burgundy, married the heiress of Arragon, Castile, 
eon, and all the other dominions of the catholic sovereigns 
Ferdinand and Isabella. 



SECTION vm., 

FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC. 

Ferdinand, the first prince who resumed the ancient title 
of " the catholic," was the son of Don Juan the Sec6nd, 
who had inherited the kingdom of Arragon and Valencia, 
the incorporated earldom of Catalonia, the Balearic isles, 
and Sicily, from his brother Alfonso the Wise. Isabella, 
the wife of Ferdinand, was sister to Henry the Fourth, the 
last king of Castile. A. D. 1451. 

It was declared, by the contrivance of Carillo, arch- 
bishop of Toledo, and Don Ferrando Gonzalez de Men- 
doza, that Henry was incapable of procreation ; and that 



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144 UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 

his reputed daughter, Jphanna, was the fruit of An adul- 
terous intercourse which had taken place, with the kmg's 
consent, between the queen and Bernard of Cueva, count 
of Ledesma, and first duke of Albuquerque. The ttiar- 

3uis de Villena, indeed, endeavored to secure the title of 
le princess, and attempted, with that view, to procure a 
marriage between her and Alfonso the Fifth, king of Por- 
. tugal : but the Portuguese iSroops were defeated ; Truxillo, 
the capital of Villena, was taken (A. D. 1474) ; and 4he 
party of Isabella supported her in the succession to the 
throne. The extensive kingdom of Castile had been aug- 
mented, during the preceding reign (A. D. 1462), by the 
acquisition of the strong fortress of Gibraltar, which had 
been taken from the Moors by the dukes of Medma Sidonia 
and Arcos, and the grand master of the order of Alcantara. 
The Moorish kingdom of Grenada was all that remained 
of the empire of the Arabs in Spam ; and this state was 
shattered by the factions of the Zegri and the Abencer- 
irages, which were inflamed to the utmost pitch of exasper- 
ation by the fate of an innocent queen, who had been ca- 
lumniated and unjustly executed. The bravest knights of 
the family of the Abencerrages lost their lives in a tumuk, 
to which this aifair gave occasion. The throne was now 
the object of contention between Mohammed el Zagal, tmd 
his nephew Abn Abdallah ; and these circumstances were 
improved to their own advantage by the sovereigns of Cas- 
tile ; for Isabella had now declared her husband co-regent. 
The noble spirit of the Moorish knights enabled them, how- 
ever, to prolong their resistance for teij years j and Fer- 
dinand lost twenty thousand men before Zagal could be 
compelled to give up Baeza. But when Ferdinand had 
thus become master of the mountains of Alpujarra, he ter- 
rified the Moors by building the city of Sante F6, which 
manifested his intention of keeping Grenada in a state 6f 
perpetual siege. A. D. 1492. This capital of their domin- 
ions was at lengtli given up ; and the inhabitants stipulated 
jbr that freedom in religion which their fathers had formerly 
'allowed to the Spaniards. Several of the nobles, however, 
, abandoned the profession of Islam for that of Christianity ; 
and while the posterity of Zagal still remains in the Afirican 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORT. 146 

Telemsan, the family of the Abencerrages flourish in Spain, 
under the title of marquis Campohejar. Thus ended, in 
its seven hundred and seventy-ninth year, the empire of 
the Mohammedans in S^iain. 

When Charles the Eighth, subsequently to this conquest, 
began hig preparations for his Italian expedition, he restored 
to Ferdinand the Pyrenean regions of Cerdagne and Rou- 
sillon, which Don Juan the Second had mortgaged to the 
king of France. 

The popular right of election in Spain had fallen, in the 
lapse of time, into oblivion. The people were content 
with maintaining their privileges, the most important of 
which belonged to the inhabitants of Arragon and Cata- 
lonia, who with justice retained their participation in those 
national rights, which had been restored by a state of war- 
fare, that lasted seven hundred years. Ferdinand attached 
himself to the ecclesiastical party, as the means of securing 
his domination ; for he was well aware in how great a de- 
gi'ee that party had contributed to the mirfortunes oT the 
last king of Castile, who had imprudentiy offended them 
by refusing to permit the pope to nominate Torremada to 
the archbishopric of Leon. Ferdinand accordingly took 
care to preserve a perfect cordiality with the court of Rome, 
and thus to make the head of the church a tool for the go- 
vernment of her body. The zeal which he manifested as 
defender of the faith, was in exact proportion to the ob- 
tuseness of his moral sense. 

He assumed, in this latter character, the grand master- 
ship of the ecclesiastical orders of knights of St. Jago, Ca- 
latrava, and Alcantara, which had been founded and very 
richly endowed, during the ancient religious wars, hy pious 
superstition. The fraternity of St. Jago had received the 
dignity of knighthood from Ferdinand the Second, king of 
Leon ; thfe order of Julian de Pereyro had acquired riches 
aod fame by the conquest of Alcantara ; and that of Cal- 
atrava had been founded by Sancho the Third of Castile. 
During the late religious war, and subsequent to the batde 
of Zamora, Isabella induced the knights of St. Jago to elect 
the king for theu* grand-master : their example was followed 
by the other orders ; and thus that important dignity was> 

VOL. HI. 13 



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146 vmrm^BAi, histo&t. 

inseparably united to the crown. The court by these 
means acquired the most powerful influence among all the 
noble families whose sons aspired to promotion in the or- 
ders ; together with the distribution of twenty-seven digni- 
fied posts, of one hundred and seventy-two benefices, and 
the control over a revenue of four millions five hundred 
thousand reals de vello : at the same time it precluded the 
possibility of any person in Spain, except the king, becora- 
mg head of a military union. Ferdinand afterwards Erect- 
ed a council of the orders. 

Before the conquest of the Moors was compelled, Men- 
doza, a minister of state, and Alfonso de Salez, bishopr of 
Cadiz, sketched, during a residence at Seville, the plan of 
an inquisition of the faith ; an institution which had already, 
during more than two centuries and a half, depressed the 
mental vigor of many of the nations of Europe. Its first 
exploit in Spain was the confiscation of property, and mur- 
der of a. great number of the citizens of Seville, descended 
from Jewish ancestors, and who were accused of an incli- 
nation to the faith of their fathers. 

Brother Francis Ximenes de Cisneros, commissary- 
general of the Franciscans, and confessor to the queen,* 
gained over the latter to this project. The church of Cas- 
tile, in which all affairs had hidierto been conducted by the 
archbishop, of Toledo and the synod, under the superin- 
tendance of die pope, resisted the introduction of the pkn ; 
and Sixtus die. Fourth, who foresaw the power which tliis 
institution would give to the court, even over the clergy, 
for a long time refused his concurrence. At length, how- 
ever, the latter consented ; and brother Thomas, of Tor- 
quemada, a dominican and prior of the holy cross at Sego- 
via, became the first inquisitor : he employed two hundred 
familiars, and had a personal guard, of fifty horsemen. 
A. D. 1481. In the first year of his office, seventeen 
thousand persons, who were either denounced by others, 
or who accused themselves under extreme terrors, because 
this was made a point of conscience, underwent examina- 
tion. Two thousand were in a short time burned alive ; 
and with the property of these victims, Torquemada found- 
ed the convent of St. Thomas at Avila, into which no per-. 



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UlflVERSAL HISTORY, 147 

8011 was admitted whose ancestors had been either of Moor* 
ish or Jewish race. 

The Jews, who, during the dominion of the Moors in 
Spain, had generally been suffered quietly to pursue their 
successful occupations, afterwards received orders to quit 
the kipgdom within six months : they were allowed to take 
with them their silver, gold, and jewels ; but all their pro- 
perty of other kinds was confiscated ; and all Christians 
were forbidden, on pain of excommunication, to give bread 
or water to any of that devoted nation. Of the Jews 
residing in the territory of Castile, who were eighty thou- 
sand in number, many fled to Portugal, and many to Mau- 
ritania; and ihose who inhabited Arragon, retired into 
Navarre : the emigration amounted in the whole to one 
hundred and seventy thousand families. 

While Mendoza, the successor of Carillo in the arch- 
bishopric of Toledo, was compelling the Castilians to re- 
ceive the inquisition, Arragon in vain offered Ferdinand a 
large sum oi money for the privilege of remaining exempt 
from this cruel scourge ; and vain were the mediatorial re- 
presentations of the Justizia, the constitutional preserver of 
the freedom of me country. These peaceable methods 
having failed, Peter of Arbues, first inquisitor-general in 
Arragon, was killed in a tumult of the people, on his ap- 
pearance in the cathedral church of Saragossa: Teruel 
revoked ; and the king, who, like Lewis the Eleventh, was 
artful in the highest degree, but deficient in that greatness 
of soul which controls the minds of the people, hesitated 
when he saw money on one side and opposidon on the 
other. During this state of irresoludon, Torquemada en- 
tered the chamber in which Ferdinand and Isabella were 
sitting, with a crucifix concealed under his mande : he 
held It before their eyes, exclaiming, " he whom your ma- 
jesties behold was sold for thirty pieces of silver : will you 
again betray him ? he will find means to revenge himself." 
The priest left the crucifix standing, and went away : it 
was now resolved to introduce the inquisition into Arragon 
by force of arms. Leon, Valencia, and Sicily resisted to 
a still later period, but with an equally unfortunate result. 

Although the Moors had given up the sovereignty of 



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148 ^ UNIVERSAL. HISTOHY. ^ 

Grenada under the express condition of freedom for thek 
religious profession, they were now ordered to submit 
either to baptism or banishment: the ecclesiastics and 
lawyers, in an assembly over which the archbishops of 
Toledo and Grenada presided, having declared their opin- 
ion " that Ferdinand and Isabella were not obliged to keep 
their promise with these infidels." On this occasion much 
blood was shed ; many were deprived of their liberty, and 
many of their property. -Ximenes extended his fury to the 
literature of the Arabs, and ordered their books to be de- 
stroyed. The vigor of these proceedings was renewed 
under the reign of Charleys the Fifth. 

In no country was the inquisition more destructive in its 
effects, or the conspiracy of the throne and altar agamst 
the spirit and character of the people more dreadfully suc- 
cessful, than in* Spain. The Spanish soldiers at that period 
possessed a superiority which is only to be attained by a 
long course of experience in wars carried an chiefly by in- 
fantry : none but the troops of Switzerland and the janis- 
-saries were to be compared with them. 

Domanial territories and subsides w^e the sources of 
the revenue. The crown lands which had been alienated 
by the last king of Castile (A. D. 1480), were revoked 
by a decision extorted from tne cortes of Toledo, by means 
of a commission, the president of which was a Hieronymite 
friar. 

One branch of the domanial revenue of Arragon, had 
been rendered peculiarly productive by Don Pedro the 
Fourth. Even m the times of the Romans, the wool of 
the Spanish sheep had been improved by the introduction 
of Arabian rams. This antient example was followed by 
Pedro with great success ; and the management introduced 
by him was imitated in Castile by Ximenes, who, as min- 
ister, succeeded to Mendoza. From this time, Spain has 
been annually traversed by five millions of sheep, which 
are conducted by twenty-five thousand shepherds: ten 
thousand compose a flock, and each flock is divided into 
ten stocks. The annual produce of each sheep is estimated 
at twenty-four reals, the fourth part of which sum belongs 
to the king : all the flocks were originally his property : the 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 149 

last was sold by Philip the Second ; but the laws and tho 
council of tfie great royal flock still subsist. The sheep 
travel every year, in forty days, from the sources of the 
Duero and Ebro, four hundred miles, into the soutliern 
districts ; and through this whole route, which lies through 
corn fields, gardens, and vineyards, a path of at least ninety 
feet wide is everywhere open to them. This migration 
proceeds, as in the Alps, from the impulse of nature; and 
if deprived of the guidance of their shepherds, the sheep 
would still, wander forth and find their favorite pastures. 

During the war which Alfonso the Eleventh, king of 
Castile and Leon, carried on at Algesiras, against Abu 
Hafo, a prince of the dynasty of the Merinides, the alca^ 
vala, or great tax on all purchases, was first raised, with 
the consent of the states of the kingdom. This impost is 
levied upon all the products of the earth and of human art| 
and is reckoned at ten per cent. The collection of this 
revenue employs a countless multitude of officers, and 
gives occasion to frequent searches, which are in the high- 
etJt degree oppressive to domestic life. One branch of the 
' alcavala is the trade in salt, of which commodity every 
villagers compelled tb purchase a certain quantity : the 
people are not allowed to sell any portion which they may 
DC unable to consume ; and in order to enhance the price 
of this article, some of the salt works have been destroyed, 
and the approaches to others are secured by a guard of 
soldiers. 



SECTION IX. 

AMERICA. 

Tlje' discovery of the New World opened to the cathf)lic 
krags unexpected sources of wealth. Men of great genius 
and extraordinary acquirements had been occupied, for a 
century preceding this period, in investigating the ocean, 
in the hope of finding a more expeditious or convenient 
passage to the East fiidies than through Egypt. A tradi- 
tion existed, that when the Moors inundated Spain, seven 

VOL. III. 13* 



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150 TTNIVERSAI. HISTORY. 

hundred years before this time, a Portuguese ai^hl^shopi 
accompanied by seven bishops and a great body of Chris- 
tians, had found refuge with their flocks in an island be- 
yond the great ocean, called Antilia or Septemtirade : it 
was known that a country caDed Wine-land had been dis- 
covered beyond the ocean by the Normans ; a ship which 
had been carried far out t,o sea by a storm in the fifteenth 
century, was reported to have visited such a country. 
Marine charts at Venice, and the remarks of Behaimb, an 
inhabitant of Nuremberg, who constructed a globe, con- 
tributed to strengthen die conjectures of enterprising in- 
dividuals. 

Christopher Columbo, a native of Genoa, in order to 
ascertain the foundation of these opinions, after tedious 
solicitations and delays, at length succeeded in procuring 
assistance from Ferdinand and Isabella. He obtainea 
about two hundred and fifty ounces of gold in heavy 
masses, firom the inhabitants of the Antilles and St. Do- 
mingo, and observed some of them to be possessed of 
ornaments of the same metal : avarice was excited by 
these circumstances, to prosecute the new discoveries with 
greater zeal ; but the adventurers were subjected to a tax 
for the royal treasury, amounting to the half of the silver, 
and a third of the gold, which they should acquire in St. 
Domingo and Cuba. It was soon found that this impost 
was out of aU reasonable proportion to the expenditure of 
the adventurers ; and the court was therefore obliged to 
lower its demands to a fifth of the silver and a twentieth of 
the gold. Romano Pane, however, a. Spanish missionary, 
who discovered tobacco in St. Domingo, contributed essen- 
tially to improve the revenue from Uiis quarter : for that 
weed became not less productive than the gold mines to the 
royal treasury. 

America, for a long time, seemed an inexbausftible source 
of riches : in the earliest period, when only the mines of 
the Antilles, of comparatively trifling value, were known, 
the amount appeared incalculable ; and yet the influx of 
the precious metals, from the New World into Europe, 
continued progressively to increase during an hundred and 
forty years. Newfoundland and the neighboring contment 



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UKIVCRSAL HISTORY* 151 

diacoTered about this time by John Cabot, an En- 
glishman, and by the French : but the search was carried 
on with the greatest activity before the discovery which the 
Spaniards made of those remarkably profitable mines, the 
produce of which was so abundant, as to render it impos- 
sible any longer to work such as liad been previously known, 
with an adequate return. After die lapse of an hundred 
and fifty years, America acquired a new and more noble 
source of interest. 

Such were the dominions and the prospects of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella. Their only son died before his parents, 
and without heirs ; and the prize of the exploits of so many 
heroes and of ancient and modern policy, fell consequent^ 
ly, by the marriage of dieir eldest daughter, Johanna, to 
the archduke Philip ; who was the only son of MaximiUan 
and Maria of Burgundy. 



SECTION X. 

MILAN AND SWITZERLAND. 

A. D. 1500. In the same year in which Charles the 
Fifth, son of Philip, was bom, Lewis the Twelfth, king of 
France, acquired the dukedom of Milan. Valentina Vis- 
conti, wife of Lewis of Orleans (who was the ancestor of 
Lewis, brother of Charles the Wise), had given rise, dur^ 
ing her life, to many calamities ; and the tide derived fix>m 
her name gave occasion to the Milanese war, which was 
undertaken in ord^r to expel the family of Sforza. Both 
the king and the duke calculated especially on the assist- 
ance of the Swiss. 

. A. D. 1499. The Swiss were at this time engaged in 
the last war against Austria, which had been excited chief- 
ly by the interests of the Grisons.' T^e Rhaetians, inhab- 
itants of that territory, were a free and active people, and 
had bjr decrees united themselves into confederacies, in 
imitation of the Swiss : like the latter, these republicans 
were moderate enough to content themselves with such a 
degree of freedom as was consistent with the established 



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152 DNITfiBSAL HISTORf. 

privileges of the barons. A. D. 1424. Austria retained 
Its anpient rights of sovereignity over the greater part of 
the league of ten jurisdictions, until the middle of tne pre- 
ceding century, at which time its claims were alivnated by a 
peaceable contract : and it still possesses Razun, and ex- 
ercises the constitutional privilege of that sovereignty, by 
nominating, every third year, the judge of the upper coun- 
try of the Grisons. The freedom of thjBse people was at 
|hat time an object of apprehension to their neighbors, who 
dreaded lest they should extend their territory into tlie 
country of Tyrol, and the whole eastern district df the Alps. 
In addition to this, the nobility of Swabia hated the Swiss 
on account of the events of ancient wars, and despised tliem 
for their democratic simplicity, while the citizens and pea- 
sants of that country envied their freedom : and in propor- 
tion as tlie Swiss showed themselves disposed to cultivate 
a good understanding witli France, they became obnoxious 
to tlie displeasure of Maximilian, who entertained a per- 
sonal as well as a political animosity against the French. 

A. D. 1495^ The Swiss and the Grisons having formed 
a mutual alliance, a war broke out against the confederates, 
in which all the adherents of AusU'ia, in Upper Germany, 
took part. A. D. 1499. This contest, the theatre of 
which extended from tlie boundary of Tyrol to Base), last- 
ed ten months : during that time, eight battles were fought, 
in all of which the advantage was decidedly in favor of the 
Swiss ; nearly two tliousand citadels and villages were de- 
sti*oyed, an^ twenty thousand men lost their lives. Tliis 
war ended in a treaty, which was concluded at Basel, and 
which was zealously promoted, for their own pui-poses, by 
France and Milan. 

The king, indeed, by means of a large' sum of money, 
procured a renewal of his alliance widi tlie republic ; but 
both he and the duke obtained soldiers against the will of 
the magistrates, so that Both the hostile armies contained 
Swiss troops. The duke was betrayed near Novara, by 
Tumean, a native of Uri (A. D. 1600) ; who wa^ after- 
wards executed for his tieachery to ms native country. 
Milan continued twelve years under the yoke of the French. 



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miVCIUSAL HISTORY. 16S 

SECTION XI. 

ITALIAN WARS. 

Lewis the Twelfth had no sooner completed this con- 
quest, than he concluded a treaty for the partition of the 
kingdom of Naples, with Ferdinand, king of Spain. Fre- 
derick, the son of the first Don Ferrando, had nothing but 
his rights to oppose to these acts of oppression ; and was 
consequently obliged to submit. A.D. 1501. But the 
army of Lewis was soon reduced by an extraordinary 
mortality ; the joint effect of the climate, to which the 
French were unaccustomed, and of their licentious conduct: 
the Italians were also offended by their domineering man- 
ners and their neglect of decorum. The Spaniards were 
free from all these disadvantages ; and, therefore, when the 
partitioning powers disagreed about the prize of dieir injus- 
tice, the superiority was on their side. Ferdinand had, 
besides, in Gonsalvo de Cordova, a skilful general for his 
army, which was itself under excellent discipline. A. D. 
1503. The French were again driven from their con- 
quests, which remained in the possession of their opponent 
and of his family. 

Lewis afterwards formed a league, at Cambray, against 
the Venetians, with his enemies, the emperor and the king 
of Spain, and with pope Julius ibe Second. A. D. 1509. 
The senate, in this emergency, opposed the superior power 
of its enemies with great firmness : its generals displayed 
courage and skill ; and its subjects an invincible attachment 
to the cause of the republic. An opportunity soon occurred 
which rendered it practicable for the perseverance of the 
Venetians to effect the disunion of a coalition between 
courts of such different interests ; and Lewis now perceived 
that the emperor, the pope, and the king of Spain, had 
combined with the Venetians, and the Swiss whose pride 
be had imprudendy offended, to expel him from Italy. 
They effected their purpose (A. D. 1512) ; and Maximil- 
ian Sforza, son of the imprisoned Lodovico Moro, was re- 
stored to his dignity. The Swiss gained a victory at No- 



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164 0KIV£BSAL HISTORY. 

vara, which not only completed the conquest of this duchy, 
but encouraged them to make an irruption into France ; 
and the king was obliged to conclude a peace at Dijon (A. 
D. 1513), which, though he did not observe it, manifested 
the difficulties that surrounded him. 

After his death, Francis commenced his warlike reign 
by a passage across the Alps (A. D. 1515), which has 
been not unjustly compared to that of Hannibal. He 
effected a division among the Swiss ; defeated in the bat- 
tle of Marignano, which lasted three days, that party which 
remained firm in its attachment to duke Sforza ; regained 
possession of the dukedom of Milan ; and renewed treaties 
of alliance with the Swiss and the Venetians. 

Loredano, doge of Venice, who was now nearly eighty 
years old, had thus the satisfaction of seeing the storm 
which had so fearfully threatened the destruction of the re*- 
public, pass away without any important ill effects. The 
Swiss concluded a peace with Francis the First (A. D. 
1516), which subsists between themselves and the French 
to this day (A. D. 1521) ; and a treaty of alliance, which 
has been seven limes renewed. 

That great problem, which of the great powers should 
acquire the preponderance over all others by the conquest 
of Italy, the solution of which had been contested for 
twenty years, remained undecided: the Spaniards do- 
mineered at Naples, and the French at Milan. 



SECTION xn. 

CHARLES THE FIFTH. 

A. D. 1616. The battle of Marignano was soon fol- 
lowed by the death of Ferdinand the Catholic, who had al- 
ready survived his queen and his son-in-law Philip, and had 
lately augmented his power by the acquisition of Upper 
Navarre. John of Albret governed the kingdom of Na- 
varre in right of his wife, Catherine de Foixj and had 
taken part in the wars of the greater powers with Lewis 
the Twelfth. A. D. 1512. On this latter account he 



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t7NIV£BS41< HI8TOBT. 166 

was excommtinicated by the pope, and \Vas expelled by 
that obedient son of the church, the catholic king : he kept 
' possession, however, of the lower districts and of Beam. 

Charles of Austria, the son of Philip, grandson of the 
emperor, and heir of the hereditary sovereignties of Austria 
and Burgundy, succeeded, in the sixteenth year of his age, 
to all the power of Ferdinand in Spain, Italy, and America. 
His mother Johanna, ^the daughter of Ferdinand, had lost 
her husband, Philip the Fair, in the twenty-sixth year of 
his age ; and her grief on this occasion was so excessive as 
to deprive her of reason, in which condition she survived 
nearly fifty years. Three years after the death of Ferdi- 
nand, Charles succeeded his grand fadier Maximilian in the 
imperid dignity. Fortunate adventurers conquered, for 
his advantage, the extensive, populous, and wealthy empire 
of America, and subjected the powerful Navatiaks of Mex- 
ico, and the peaceful and magnificent sovereignty of the 
children of the sun, the Incasof Peru. Charles possessed 
great power on the coast of Africa, and drove the French 
from Milan ; and his brother acquired the kingdoms of 
Hungary and Bohemia. The house of Austria had arrived 
at this pitch of greatness only a litde more than tliirty years 
after that period, when Frederick the Third had found 
himself unable to mamtain his authority in Vienna. 



SECTION Xffl. 

PORTUGAL. 

Manoel, king of Portugal, whose reign is jusdy called 
the golden age of that nation, closed his life about this 
time. A. D. 1521. During his administration, Vasco de 
Gama had landed at Calcutta, on the coast of the East 
Indies, after a voyage of ten months ; and Amerigo Ves- 
pucci, the fortunate Florentine, who has given his name to 
the world which was found by Columbus, shortly after- 
wards discovered the rich country of Brazil. A. D. 1498. 
Pearo Alvarfez de Cabral also sailed thence to the country 
of the Zamorin of Calecut, while Gama and his successors 



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166^ UNITZfiSAU HISTORT. 

explored the whole coast of Mozambique, Sofala,. and the 
East Indies; and Albuquerque soon rendered Goa the 
seat of a PoUuguese empire. The Hindoos were at this 
time particularly unable to withstand the Portuguese, be- 
cause they were oppressed by the Mogul sultan Babr, the 
conqueror of Bengal and Guzurat. 

Every fresh expedition brought new constellations, for- 
eign manners, strange animals and plants, and unknown 
appearances of nature and of man, within the limits of 
European knowledge. 

In the internal administration of Portugal, principles 
were adopted similar to those which had been introduced 
in Spain : the kings of the former country appropriated to 
themselves the grand-mastership of the ecclesiastical knight- 
hoods of Avi^, Christi, and St. James, and thus acquired 
the patronage of six hundred and seventy-six benefices. 
These privileges, together with the pensions which they had 
always oeen accustomed to assign out of the produce of 
the crown lands,* to the descendants of those heroes by 
whose assistance the kingdom was founded, Wa^-sufficient 
to render the nobility dependent on the court ; especially 
as the ecclesiastical knights were not in Portugal, as in 
other countries, absolutely prohibited from marrying. 
Hence the families of the nobles were more numerous but 
less independent; and hence the nobility, as a body, were 
less powerful in this kingdom than in others, while the au- 
thority of the clergy was greater here than in almost any 
other country. 

The states of the kingdom wer« still powerful ; and they 
suffered the brother of king Edward, and of the noble 
prince Henry, to die a captive in the hands of the Me- 
rinides, rather than consent to ransom them, by restoring 
the fortress of Ceuta. They exercised the legislative au- 
thority, in conjunction with the king ; but Don Joan the 
First favored the Roman jurisprudence, y^hich affi>rds 
support to absolute power. The laws of die country were 
arranged in the reign of Manoel, in five books. 



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I^NIVCRSAI^ BISTORT. 1S7 

. I 

SECTION XIV. 

J'RANCE. 

No king of France, since the age of Philip the Fourth| 
had more zealously contributed to the importance of the 

Erliaments t)ian L<ewis the Eleventh. This prince estab- 
bed a parliament at Grenoble, while yet only dauphin : 
as sooa as he succeeded to the sovereignty, he divided the 
district to which thegurisdiction of the. parliament of Tou- 
louse extended, and erected a new court at Bourdeaux, 
for the country beyond the Garonne ; and after the re- 
union of the duchy of Burgundy, he introduced the parlia- 
ment at Dijon. He caused writings relative to treaties of 
peace and financial regulations to be prepared in that of 
jraris, because he found that it was necessary to allow the 
nation to retain the appearance of some participation in 
public affairs ; and that magistrates, who owed their c^cial 
existence to his favor, were more accommodating than the 
nobles and states-general. The parliament was gained 
over by these means to the court party, and seldom or 
never raised its voice in favor of the rights of the ancient 
national assemblies. In like manner, during the evil times 
of the fourteenth and the beginning^of the fifteenth centu- 
ries, when the court and the different factions endeavored 
in aU possible ways to strengthen their power, even the 
universities had been allowed to assume political influence. 
Lewis the Eleventh rendered himself more and more 
bdependent: the crown estates were considerably aug- 
mented during his reign. The nation, durbg that of his 
f^er, bad allowed the tailh to be rendered perpetual ; 
and he Observed the most exa6t economy^ as well with re- 
gard to receipt as expenditure. His own inclinations were 
so far trom expensive, that his manner of life was such as 
would, hardly be thought suitable to a private man of good 
fiHtune. His annual revenue amounted to 4,700,000 
Dounds ; a sum which, according to the computation of 
Henault, would have been equsu to 23,000,000 in the 
money of the age of Lewis the Fifteenth. 

VOL. 111. 14 



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158 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

He formed the principal instrument of the power of the 
kingdom, which was a standing army, consisting chiefly of 
foreign mercenaries, dependent on himself. A body of 
seven thousand Scots had been commanded by Douglas, 
one of their own countrymen, under marshal de la Fayette, 
in the last English war, out of whom Charles the Seventh 
formed a Scottish body-guard. The kings of Scotland 
were, from their situation, the natural allies of the French. 
Lewis the Eleventh concluded the first subsidiary treaty 
with the Swiss, by which the kings of France acquired the 
privilege, with the concurrence of the Swiss magistrates, 
of recruiting their armies in the cantons. It has been cal- 
culated that 600,000 Swiss have entered the French ser- 
vice within three centuries. The national army, properly 
so called, or gens d'armerie, consisted of forty-five ap- 
pointed companies, each of which contained one hundred 
men at arms ; and every man had six horses. A militia, 
called Frank-archers, served among the light cavairy as 
well as with the infantry ; but Lewis changed their consti- 
tution, and formed them into a better organized body of 
10,000 infantry : in their former state they lay dispersed 
throughout the wliole kingdona; but he now kept' them 
collected in more considerable bodies, ready to execute 
any sudden command. Their only employment was the 
use of their arms, manoeuvres and tactics. The mode of 
conducting war acquired a new appearance ; and it was 
no longer in the power of the vassals, with their contempt- 
iblf^ banditti, to withstand the troops of th^ king. 

The power of the monarchy was thus increased by the 
vigilant use which the court made of favorable occurrences; 
while the states-general, who were seldom assembled, and 
"consequently had opportunities of becoming acquainted 
with public afl[airs only at distant intervals, proceWed un- 
systematically. If, as there is reason to believe, the weak- 
ness of the intermediate power is destructive of the inter- 
ests of a monarchy, the parliaments deserve to be severely 
censured ; for they continued their sessions uninterruptedly, 
and had therefore the opportunity of forming and pursuing 
a system of political maxims, but they paid more regard to 
the interests of their own college, than to those of the com- 
monwealth. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. IS9 

There remained at length onhr the three folbwing fun- 
damental maxims of policy in France: "That the royal 
authority can never descend to a female ; that die crown 
lands are unalienable ; and that the minority of the king 
ceases at the expiration of his thirteenth year." The first 
is an ancient civil law, founded upon the military habits of 
the Salic Franks, and might', perhaps, have been universal- 
ly introduced with advantage : the second may be modified 
by imperious calls of state necessity ; and the third, an in- 
stitution of Philip the Third and Charles the Wise, is 
scarcely conformable to nature, which rarely renders a 
child thirteen years and one day old, capable of managing 
all the interests of a nation consisting of 25,000,000 peo- 
ple. 

The chancellor, or officer to whom state afiairs were re- 
ferred, was anciently the king's deputy in matters of busi- 
ness : the secretaries were under his direction ; and all 
affeirs were expedited by the notaries. At the conclusion 
of the fifteeoth century, the royal council of state was form- 
ed, which consisted of the above-mentioned officers, and 
of an indeterminate number of counsellors ; it was the com- 
mon point in which the conduct and direction of all public 
business centered. Charles the Eighth declared this body 
to be a supreme court of judicature {cour .souveraine), and 
thus rendered it a fit instrument for keeping the parliaments 
in order. 

Since the introduction of regular standing armies, the 
financial department was become much more important to 
the prosperity of the state ; and the tide of secretary of 
finance, ever since Florimond de Robortet had filled the 
office in the time of Charles the Eighth, had been ex- 
changed for that of secretary of state. The only ground 
of a claim to the dignity of counsellor of state, was the will 
of the king ; and Lewis the Eleventh used to prefer per- 
sons of no original importance, whose greatness was entire- 
ly owing to his favor ; who had no peculiar privileges which 
, they were anxious to protect ; and who existed exclusively 
for him and for the execution of his purposes. A prepon- 
derating authority was conferred in succeeding reigns, 
sometimes on an individual minister, and "sometimes on 



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180 0NITER8AL UI8TOKT. 

several, acoordmg to the caprice of the r^ent, or to die 
circumstances of the age : but even under the most feeble 
administrations, the error of the Merovingian lace, that ot 
suffering power to remain hereditary m a family, was avoid- 
ed : the competition for such dignities mdeed, rendered 
such a mistake hardly possible. 

In those provinces which possessed written laws, justice 
was administered according to the Roman code, while ia 
others the judicial decisions were founded on two hundred 
and eigh^ tlifferent laws of precedent ; and were m all 
points influenced by the royal ordinances. The trial by 
ordeal, so common among the ancient Franks, had been 
abolished by St. Lewis ; and the appeals to judicial com- 
bat were circumscribed by Philip the Fair. 

After the death of Lewis the Eleventh, the parliament 
of Rouen was formed from the echiquier, or district list of 
the ancient dukes of Normandy : Lewis the Twelfth erect- 
ed another for Provence at Aix ; and Francis had scarcely 
secured himself in his dukedom of Milan, when he provid- 
ed that state vrith a similar court. 

But it was not in this instance alone that the maxims ot 
Lewis the Eleventh were adopted by his successors : the 
military force of the kingdom, as it was the chief instru- 
ment in the maintenance of their power, continued to be 
the principal object of their solicitude. They had inherited 
from him a code of military law, improved artillery, and a 
body of Swiss infantry : Charles the Eighth augmented the 
latter description of Force, and surrounded his person with 
the body-guard of one hundred Swiss. The Grerman in- 
fantry, and the black bands alone, which constituted a body 
of six thousand troops, originally formed in the Netherlands, 
were equally celebrated in the wars of that age. Francis 
the First, probably incited to this attempt by the excellent 
treatise of Macchiavelli, endeavored to reduce the nsilitia 
of France to the form of the Roman legions ; but his un- 
dertaking was unsuccessiul, only because he confined his 
attention too exclusively to the form. 



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UHnnCBSAt EISTOBT. liSl 



SECTION XV. 

SWITZERLAND. 



Switzerland, after the war with Burgundy, was torn to 
pieces by foreign and domestic factions ; especially by the 

{*ealousies which had subsisted, from a very early period, 
>etween the inhabitants of the country and those of the 
towns ; and which were augmented to the highest degree, 
when Bern endeavored to introduce Soluturn and Freiburg 
ii\to the perpetual confederacy. 

Freiburg had been founded (A. D. 1178), like Bern, by 
the dukes of Zaringen ; but on their own hereditary do- 
mains, and not on the territory of the empire : hence this 
city descended by inheritance to the counts of Kiburg (A. 
D. 1277), who sold it to the family of Habsburg- Austria 
{A. D. 1452); from whom it passed, in a similar manner, 
to tie dukes of Savoy. Freiburg, however, from time to 
time, purchased immunities, and at length obtained inde- 
pendence : but a system of policy was requisite (A. D. 
1478), in order to place her on an equality with Bern, as 
the attention of many of the directors of her afiairs was 
turned rather to foreign powers thaji to the real interests of 
the state : the noble families, besides, intermixed far less 
with those of the citizens than at Bern ; an(i it was impos- 
sible to produce an uniformity of manners, and principles, 
in a community in which the classes inhabitmg the upper 
and lower streets could never be brought to speak the same 
language. 

Soluturn was originally more independent than Freiburg, 
and had to defend itself chiefly against the encroachments 
of the cathedral of St. Ursus. Austiia pretended to no 
rights over this city, and only twice attempted (once by 
force of arms, and once by secret intelligence) to obtain 
possession of the town. The citizens had the advantage, 
m the first attempt (A. D. 1318), by their magnanimity : 
the enemy having lallen into the Aar by the breaking of 
the bridge, they rescued them as they were carried down 
by the current, supplied their wants, and then set them free, 

VOL. III. 14* 



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MS UNIVSB6AI« HI8T0BT. 

The other design (A. D. 1382), that of scaling th6 city by 
surprise, was discovered by a faithful rustic. 

Freiburg was frequendy engaged in inveterate wars 
against Bern, while the latter had been, from ancient umes, 
in alliance with Solutum. After the Burgundian war, Bern 
endeavored to introduce both these cities, wluch had faith- 
fully adhered to her during the contest, into the Swiss con* 
federacy ; but the inhabitants of the country were sojeal* 
ous of die designs of the citizens, that a conspiracy broke 
out at Lucem (A. D. 1480), the object of which was the 
destruction of the town walls, and the introduction of un- 
limited democracy. This division so inflamed the animos- 
ity of the two classes, that there was reason to apprehend 
danger for the stability of the union. 

There resided at tnis period, in a lonely part of the can- 
ton of Underwalden, a man named Nicolaus von der Flue, 
descended from an ancient and respectable family, who 
in his youth had been a warrior in the service of his coun- 
try, but since his fiftieth year had devoted himself exclu- 
sively to the contemplation of God^^nd of nature, and who 
was accustomed to communicate his precepts of wisdom^ 
simplicity, and patriotism, to all who visited him. When 
brother Claus ^as he vwras now usually called) became aware 
of the impendmg danger, he repaired to Stanz, whese the 
confederates were assembled : the tall spare figure of the 
hoary-headed man filled them with veneration : he told 
them " that Gpd, who had bestowed freedom and victory 
on the ancient Swiss^ had revealed to him, that unanimity 
was the only method by which those blessings eould be 
mamtamed, and that immoderate desires are die most for* 
midable enemies : that Freiburg and Solutum deserved to 
be received without distrust ; and that it should be estab- 
lished as a fundamental maxim, that no state in the union 
should aggrandize itself at the expense of another, or en- 
deavor by force to introduce changes in its consUtudon." 
His advice was followed in both respects ; and it was en- 
acted, that in Ae event of any internal commotion, Frei- 
burg and Soluturn (to which Basel, Schafbausen, and Ap- 
penzell were afterwards added^ should use their influence 
solely for the purpose of mediation, instead of increasing 
the disturbance by taking the side of either party. 



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nKITSBSAL HISTOBr. 168 

A. D. 1501. Basel and Schafhausen, which Vvet^ re- 
ceived into the confederacy twenty years afterwards, had 
both established themselves m the neighborhood, and under 
the protection of ecclesiastical foundations; some noble 
^families were at the head of their constitution, until they 
were either destroyed or reduced to poverty in private 
quarrels, and m the wars against the Swiss ; after which 
the supreme power devolved on the tribes into which the 
citizens were divided. The constitution of the two states 
afterwards continued to differ in this respect ; that while at 
Basel the nobles were entirely excluded from public afiairs, 
at Schafhausen they retained one or two associaticms, after 
the manner of tribes, which like those of the other classes, 
take their share in the administration. 

Appenzell is a very elevated region in the Alpine district, 
which has formed itself around the mountain called Hohen* 
Sentis. This desert at first afforded pasturage to roving 
shepherds, who depended on the abbot of St. Gall for pro- 
tection and the rites of worship ; but having increased in 
numbers and wealth, and finding themselves oppressed by 
the governors appointed by the abbot, they joined in an 
insurrection against him (A. D. 1403) ; displayed, in many 
engagements and campaigns, a degree of valor which ap- 

E eared almost romantic ; and became the terror of the no- 
les, from the Thur to the Tirol. At length they com- 
pelled the abbot to acknowledge their rights. These dr- 
cumstances, together with other difficulties into which the 
abbot fell, in common with the city of St. Gall which arose 
b the vicinity of his monastery, induced him to conclude 
a right of citizenship or a defensive league, with Zurich, 
Lucem, Schwyz, and Glaris (A. D. 1461) ; which irom 
that time elected alternately, out of their own body, a head- 
man or district-chief over his territory. Under tfiese cir- 
cumstances, the town of St. Gall and the district of Ap- 
penzell thought it necessary to render their ancient connec- 
tions with the Swiss stronger and closer. From that time 
the privileges of the prelates and the liberties of the people 
were for the greater part defined with mildness and equity, 
afid agreeably to the laws : those privileges were however, 
by degrees, entirely purchased, and both Appenzell and 



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164 UNIVERSAL HI6T0BT. 

St Grail became indepeticlent ; the former becombg at 
length the thirteenth canton of the league, and the cityi 
with its abbot, holding the first rank among those which, by 
varibus compacts, have been confederated with the Swiss. 

The " Lower Union " with the Alsacian and Rhenish 
towns, was dissolved soon after their common quarrel with 
Burgundy ; the cit}'^ of Miilhausen alone remaining in alli- 
ance with the Swiss, and preserving by their aid an inde- 
pendent political existence, even when the other places 
were compelled, by the power of Lewis the Fourteenth, to 
exchange their privileges as imperial cities for the condition 
of provincial towns of France. The connection of the 
Swiss with Rothwyl, which is situated in the midst of 
Swabia, subsisted also a hundred years after this period ; 
until it became impossible, during the thirty years' war, to 
maintain the neutral system of the confederates in a place 
so distant. 

Biel, which in the first ages of the republic of Bern, 
connected itself with that city for the sake of protection, 
and which became a Swiss town chiefly through its meaos, 
remained closely and firmly united with the confederates. 
Though situated on the border of the German empire, ai^d 
in some respects subject to an imperial prince, the bishop 
of Basel, Biel, and the neighboring country maintained a 
constitution which was extremely complicated, but accu- 
rately defined by positive laws. ^ 

The various mutual relations of the counts, princes, and 
people of Neufchatel, gave occasion, in a similar manner, 
to different connections with Bern, Freiburg, Soluturn, and 
Lucem. An anpient race of counts, during the middle 
ages, had cultivated and governed the country on the shores 
of the lakes of Biel and Neufchatel, and other estates 
which extended far up toward the Alps ; and Rudolf of 
Habsburg, when king, had bestowed the feudal superiority 
to the lords of Chalons, ancestors of the princes of Orange. 
The county of Neufchatel (for all the rest had been pre- 
viously lost by wars and misfortunes) descended from the 
family of the first sovereigns, to heirs whose claims were 
founded on marriages : these were the counts of Freiburg 
in Swabia, the margraves of Baden and the dukes of 



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trNlTERSAL HlfitOBT. IM 

Longuenlle. The lord paiamount in vain asserted tint 
the succession belonged to himself: the people of Neuf- 
chatel, Bern, and other Swiss cantons, opposed his pre- 
tensions. Before the line of the dukes of Longueville ex- 
Eired, the upper Burgundian family cf Chalons-Orange 
ecame extinct, as well as the principal branch of the 
bouse of Nassau itself, which, by the right of an heiress, 
had acquired Orange, together with the remaining claims 
belonging to that house. These claims, as far as'^they af- 
fected Neufchatel, were transferred by William of Orange, 
king of England, to Frederick king of Prussia. A. D, 
1 694. When, after>the extinction of the family of Lon- 
gueviile, the succession became an object of contention 
among many distinguished personages, the states of the 
country declared for the king '(A. D. 1707), who assumed 
the tide of count, with the dignity of a sovereign prince. 
A. D. 1708. Neufchatel, amidst all its changes of ad- 
ministration, had gradually acquired a constitution as per- 
fect as could reasonably be desired : all the departments 
of the government were hapjHly balanced ; the decision! of 
disputable points was entrusted to Bern, and the security 
of the whole constitution to the four cantons which had the 
privilege of citizenship. 

The seven Ceuts, which constitute the territory of the 
Upper Valais, were distinguished from an early period of 
history by their love of freedom and democracy. The 
noble families^ of Thurn, of Gestelenburg, and of Raron, 
^ when they became too powerful in the estimation of the 
people, were expelled by a tumultuary ostracism, and their 
fortresses demolished. The bishop of Sitten, who had 
transferred to the king the ancient earldom, or presidency 
of the country, was obliged to submit himself to the will 
of the multitude. None of their other neighbors were so 
formidable to the people of Valais as the count of Savoy ; 
who, partly in right of his office as beadle of the ancient 
monastery of St. Maurice, domineered over the Lower 
Valais and the neighboring districts. This country there- 
fore endeavored, at an early period, to obtain the friendship 
of Bern and of the Swiss democracies ; and was protected 
by the former against Savoy, and by the latter against any 



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166 UNITCBSAL HISTOftT. 

ueurpaticMis that Bern might hare been inclined to make* 
Lower Vaiais was at length taken'from the house of Savoy 
by force of arms. Matthaeus Schyner, bishop of Sitten 
and ^ cardinal, during the Italian wars, in which he took 
part, rendered himself and his country important to the 
contendbg powers : and he exercised such influence in all 
the afl[airs of Switzerland, by his distinguished talents as a 
popular leader, that his friendship was courted by kings 
and emperors. The prize which the confederates gained 
in these wars, consisted in some districts of Milanese terri- 
tory lying at the foot of St. Gothard, which are to Ijhis day 
(A. D. 1512) governed bybailiffi appointed alternately by 
twelve of the cantons. At a still earlier period, during the 
sovereignty pf the Visconti (A. D. 1403), the three can- 
tons nearest Milan had taken possession of the whole valley 
, of Leventina, wliich is surrounded by mountains, and dT 
the pass of Bellinzona ; and to these were now added (A. 
D. 1519) the fortress of Locarno, the flourishing districts 
of Lugano, and some other vallies : there were other places, 
during these calamitous times, destitute of protection and 
of a magistracy, which, of their own accord, acloiowledged 
the government of Switzerland. 

The Rhaetians confirmed their authority in the moun- 
tains of Bormio, in the opulent Valtellin, and at Chia- 
venna, ^tuated at the entrance of their passes. Hence 
the Swiss could always take their choice, whether they 
\70uld await the approach of enemies, coming from the 
south, in their own mountains or at the entrance ef that 
district: and these pastoral tribes, attached to freedom, 
found means, in these beautiful regions, to obtain compen- 
sation for the want of many luxuries. 

A. D. 15*5. The day of Marignano was the last occa- 
sion on which the confederacy displayed its military strength 
aeainst foreign armies. The pope, duke Sforza, the army 
of Ferdinand the Catholic, wmch was lying on the Po, the 
emperor, and Henry the Eighth, king of England, who 
were all in confederacy with die Swiss and the Venetians, 
awaited the conclusion of this action as the signal for join- 
ing one party or the other. The giant battie, as it was 
called by marshal Trivulzi, lasted three days; whence, 



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^ uKxvsiisAL HisTomr. 167 

after losing many thousand men, the remainder of the Swiss 
force withdrew into the Alps in such compact and regular 
order, that their enemies were afraid to pursue them ; and 
from that day forward they remained undisturbed in thdr 
own country. 



SECTION XVI. 

T^E TUBKS. 

Greece and the whole of western Asia obeyed the 
peaceable Bajessid, son of Mohammed, the conqueror of 
Constantinople. His kingdom was as yet so pre-eminent 
in wealth, unity, and military science, that if he had been 
endowed with the talents and activity necessary to the em* 
ployment^and increase of the advantages which he already 
possessed, no power in Christendom would have been able 
to set bounds to his progress. But this opportunihr once 
neglected, was irretrievably lost : for, b the time of Selim 
and Solyman, the bravest and most illustripusof allthe sul- 
tans, a more connected system of defence was developed 
among the states of Europe. Of all the rulers of the 
Turkish power, next to Mohammed the Second, Selim th6 
First was the greatest. He completed, in the time of 
Bogdan the Third, the subjection of Moldavia, which had 
hitherto maintained, a valiant resistance under the command 
of Stephen. The Bojars. stiU retained the privilege of 
choosing their prince, of which they were afterwards de- 
prived by the eifl^ts of their own factious spirit. His 
grandfather had already rendered the chans of the Crimea, 
who were the descendants of Jenghis, his vassals and allies ; 
and that dignity was now filled by SahibGuerai. Asia was 
the theatre of his heroic achievements. 

Ismael, am Arab who was revered by his troops as a 
prophet and a victorious commander, had dethroned the 
family of Usong in Persia, restored the faith of the sect of 
AK, and established a formidable empire. He fought 
against the janissaries near Tabriz, and contrived to inter- 
cept their supplies. Selim blamed the sultan of the Egypt- 



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168 umvsKSAi. HirroxT. 

kn mamelilkes for Has disaster ; anerted thatheiiad «il« 
fiilly dehjed the business of collecting provisbns; «id 
would listen to no representadoos on Us pan. The ma« 
mehikes were no contemptibie militia : the sultans d Ka-* 
hira were on friendly terms with Venice and odier western^ 

EDwers ; they were opulent ; and the throne was not un- 
equendy adorned by a prince of great and amiable quali* 
ties, and beneficent and favorable to the sciences, such as 
they exist in that country. Their territory was the resi- 
dence of the prince of die faithful, the successor of the 
Seat prophet, and the supreme head of the followers of 
lam. The reigning sultan, Malek el Ashraf Abul Nasr 
Seif-ed-Klin Kausul 6auri,was a chief who preserved order 
at home,* and was respected abroad by the princes of India, 
the Imam of Yemen, the Nubians, the people of Habesh, 
and the Europeans : he was possessed of a fleet, and be- 
loved by the mamelukes, to whom he granted unbounded 
license in all respects not injurious to the sovereignty. A. 
D. 1516. This sultan fought a batde with Selim in the 
plains of Dabek, northward of Damascus, and in the begin- 
ning of the action took the Turkish camp ; but the effect 
of die artillery, in which his enemy was gready superior to 
him, and the treachery of two of his principal commanders, 
at length compelled him to retreat ; and he was killed in 
his flight by the falling of his horse. Damascus and Jeru- 
salem now surrendered, and Selim became Chadim al Har* 
amaim, or keeper of the sacred places. 

Malek el Ashraf Tuman Bey, the nejdiew and successor 
of Kausul Gauri, lost his kingdom in a decisive battle 
which took place near his capital, Kahira : he fought va* 
liandy in person ; but the Turks obtained the victory m thia 
mstance also by *meaiis of their artillery. The traitccr 
who dreaded their master even b captivity, obtuned per 
mission from the victor to cause him to be put to death 
(A. D. 1617) ; but Selim's joy was damped by the death 
of his visier, Joseph Sman, who fell in the battle. 

The chalif Motawaldcel Mohammed, to whom his father 
the old Mostamser Abul Sabr Jakub, had traasferred tlMt 
dignity, sent Selim toward Coostantinc^e : and Sioai^ witl| 
aU tt^B Arabian valUes in the vicmity^ submitted at his ap^ 



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vmrmiBAL, bistort. Ufi 

proach. Just at this time, an admiral' returned from an 
expedition on which he had been sent by the sultan Grauri, 
at the request of the Venetians, to destroy the new Portu- 
guese settlements in the East Indies : Selim caused this 
officer to be thrown into the Red Sea, and refused to re- - 
new the treaties of commerce with Venice^ intending to. 
take possession of all the islands and coasts which that re- 
public possessed in his seas. The destruction, of the sUltan 
of Kahira was a greater disadvantage to them than the 
league which the European powers had concluded at 
Cambray. 

A. D. 1520. Selim was succeeded, ajfter an enterpris- 
ing reign of eight years, by his son Solyman, who received 
from the Turks the surname of El Kanuni, or " the law- 
giver ; " and from the Europeans, that of " the magnifi- 
cent." He took Erzerum from the Persians, and com^ 
pelled them to consent to a partition of Jmfistan, or Geor- 

g'a, which was so divided that three of its seven provinces 
11 to himself, three remained with its former masters, and 
the last was given to the prince who was appointed to gov- 
ern the whole country, but was dependent on both the 
powers. The conquest of Rhodes (A. D. L522^ cost him 
180,000 men : he was unaccustomed to relinquish an en- 
terprise while there remained any possibility of carrpng it 
into effect ; and at length, by means of his heavy artillery, 
triumphed over the undaunted courage of the grand-master 
LOle Adam, and the knights of St. John. Solyman also 
vanquished the army of king Lewis of Hungary and Bohe- 
mia, in the battle of Mohacs (A. D. 1526) ; which v^- 
followed by the death of his youthful adversary, who was 
misled into a marshy district where he lost his life. The 
victor supported the Transylvanian Vajrvode Zapoyla, who' 
had been elected king by a part of the nation, against Fred- 
erick of Austria, and made himself master of more than 
half the kingdom of Hungary. A. D. 1527. 

i 
TOL. III. 15 



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170 UHITSBSAL BISTORT. 

SECTION xvn. 

RUSSIA. 

Nearly at the same period tliat witnessed the destruction 
of the Greek empire (A. D. 1462), the czar Ivan Basilo* 
vitch raised his kingdom from that state of humiliation pn> 
dueed by internal divisions, which had compelled it for a 
lon^ time to bend to the yoke of the Tartars: his wife was 
Sophia, the daughter of Zoe, whose fadier, Manuel Palso- 
iogus, was the last Greek emperor that reigned with dignity 
at Constantinoplie. Ivan endeavored to ammate his exten* 
sive empire by introducing the industry of western Europe ; 
but foreigners were, with reason, terrified at the barbarism 
of the prevailing customs. This sovereign, having a dis- 
pute with the city of Revel, seized on forty-nine merchants^ 
natives of that place, who bad settled at Novogorod, kept 
them imprisoned three years, and entirely confiscated their 
property. 

It appeared, however, that the czar was not deficient in 
the desire of increasing his importance : he entered into 
amicable relations with Maximilian (A. D. 1505), who 
called him "brother;" and bestowed great encourage- 
ments and facilities on the commerce of the seventy-three 
cities of the Hanseatic league. He also approved of the 
treaties of partition, of which Italy afforded examples; and 
concluded one of a similar nature with Christian the Sec- 
ond, kbg of the Danes, against Sweden. 



SECTION XVffl. 

POLAND.-— SCANDINAVIA. ^ 

Poland was in this age a considerable power,, but the 
superiority of the czars was already perceptible ; to whom 
this countiy was obliged (A. D. 1506), even under the 
reign of a monarch of great talents, to anandon Smolensko 
and Pleskow. When Sigismund, the son of Casimir, suc- 



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tmiTKllSAL HISTORY. 171 

ceeded to his brothers, John, Albert, and Alexander, a 
great part of the Sarmadan forests was abeady^ culdvated, 
and Poland was enriched by the exportation of corn ; but 
the state of bondage in which by far the greater part of the 
nadon was held, prevented them from making any progress 
in the arts of civil life, or in the caltivauon of the mental 
powers : hence the rude productions of the country were 
exported in their unmanufactured state ; all kinds of com- 
merce were abandoned to the Jews; foreign ornaments 
were purchased at a dear rate ; and almost the only enjoy- 
ments of life were the pleasures of the table. Their more 
intelligent king attempted to effect a change in the state of 
manners ; but as he was unable to remove the cause, his 
endeavors were in vain. >in other respects, he availed 
himself of the rude multitude of his barons and their slaves, 
who, accustomed to the yoke, were destitute even of the 
idea of desertion. In Scandinavia, Christian the First, 
John, and Christian the Second, of the family of Olden- 
burg, contended with various success against Sten and 
Swante Sture, champions of the independence of Sweden. 



SECTION XIX. 

ENGLAND. 

A. D. 1461. Edward the Fourth, of the house of 
York, by force of arms (the only source of power in the 
absence or impotence of the laws) obtained possession of . 
the throne of England, which had been filled by the inno- 

'cent Henry of Lancaster } he polluted it with the blood of 
that mild prince, and left it to his sons under the tutelage 
of their uncle Richard, a cruel tyrant, who deprived them 

/of their rights, and put both, or at least one of them, to 
death. A. D. 1483. Edward himself had, in like man- 
ner, murdered one of his ^own brothers. The order of 
succession to the throne was in confusion ; the greater part 
of the nobility had fallen in the civil wars ; and the culti- 
vation, industiy, and prosperity of the country were inter- 
rupted, and even decayed. 

Henry of Richmond was descended, on his father's side, 



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17fi UHmSBSAL HMTOJtT. 

from die French princess Ci^mne ; wboy after die lieedi 
of Henry the Fittb, king of En^and, had married Ovren 
Tudor, a Welsh gendeman : his modier was descended 
from an illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, the son of Ed* 
ward the Third, who could not have advanced the shadow 
of a claim to the crown. Henry's tide was ^ utterly de- 
ficient ; and though he had married a daughter of Edward 
the Fourth, he made no pretensions founded on that cir- 
cumstance ; perhaps, because he had no irrefragable proofa 
of the decease. of one of her brodiers. He defeated the 
odious Richard in the batde of Bosworth, and was acknow- 
ledged king by the parliament. A. D. 1485. 

Nothing indeed remained of freedom but the forms t 
national prosperity, the chief source of the importance of 
the commons, had vanished ; and only the vidence of the 
different panics compelled the kings to pay them some 
external respect From thb dme, every Englishman pos- 
sessed of u freehold estate of the clear annual value of forty 
dsiUings, gave his vote for the election of the representa- 
tives of the natkm m the lower house : but those possessed 
of an equal or a superior mcome, arising from a fief, were 
not allowed to vote, on the ground that they were not to be 
supposed independent, as being vassals. On the same 
principle, a duke of Bedford was expeUed from the upper 
house, because he was too poor to give a vote altogether 
uninfluenced as a peer of England; It was also enacted, 
oo accocDit of the dependence of the clergy on the pope, 
that a parliament was capable of legislatbg without the 
concurrence of the spiritual, though not without that of the 
temporal lords. 

The times were unfavorable to liberty : numerous con- 
spiracies, and the many circumstances which threatened a 
renewal of the former disturbances, served the court as a 
pretence for " acting with a vigor beyond the law." | 

The king rendered himself more independent of his 
people, by the economy of his administration ; and the 
projects which he commenced, were prosecuted by the 
energy of his impetuous son, Henry the Eighth. A. D, 
1609. England, her insular situation considered, had her 
sftare of influence in the wars of Europe ; but her autho- 
rity was by no means preponderant. 



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OMITEBSAL HI8TOBT. 173 

SECTION XX. 

THE EMPIRE OF THE GERMANS. 

The empire of the Germans was constituted in a rao«t 
extraordinary manner : it was a federal republic ; but its 
men;ibers were so diverse, with regard to form, character, 
and power, that it was extremely difficult to introduce 
universal laws, or to unite the whole nation in measures of 
mutual interest. 

The patriotic emperor Maximilian the First, endeavored 
to remedy this defect, tlie whole danger of which became 
apparent in proportion to the advancement of the neigh- 
boring power of France. All the territories not comprised 
in the dominions of one or other of the electorates, were 
disdibuted into the six circles of Bavaria, Swabia, the 
Rhine, Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Franconia. In 
the course of the combinations which took place among the 
powers of Europe, the necessity of order and of vigor iti 
which Germany stood, became continually more manifest; 
and Maximilian, accordingly, caused these ancient circles 
to be augmented by the four new ones : viz. the electoral 
circle, which comprises the four electorates which lie near 
the Rhine J Upper Saxony, containing Saxony and Bran- 
denburg ; the Austrian circle, comprehending the hered- 
itary dominions of the emperor; and tlie Burgundiao, 
including the territories which his family had acquired by 
his marriage. Each division of the empire was superin- 
tended by a chief -magistrate. It was designed that the ^ ^ 
constitution of each cbcle should be a representation m 
miniature of the whole empire ; and that each should pos- 
sess its separate president, assemblies, and regulations. 

This was an excellent design ; but it was impeded in its 
execution by the religious dissensions which arose soon 
after this period. These differences created a party, which 
exerted a power separate from that of tl^gir common 
country ; it acquired leaders of its own, whose projects 
were generally in opposition to the measures of the su- 
preme head of the empire : and thus, contrary to the ordi- 

VOL. III. 15* 



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174 UNXITEksAL HitTOBT* 

nary progress of national power, prepared the way for the 
destruction of uni^ and national feeling. It afterwards 
happened, that extensive countries, such as Bohemia and 
the provinces incorporated with it. though they became 
more germanized, did not acquire the constitution of the 
circles : whSie in many of the circles, one of the ranks ob- 
tained the whole power, or at least so decided a superiority, 
that the observance of ihe laws was endangered in various 
ways, and the diets were discontinued: other circles, 
which retained then* ancient fdrms, forfdted a part of their 
political importance. 

in former times, the contentions between the princes 
and people of Germany were decided by judges, who usu- 
ally took Hl^e imperial eourt for their guide ; but when the 
emperors became too much occupied in prosecuting their 
Italian wars to attend to the concerns of their own country, 
they delegated the care of administering justice to courts 
and provincial tribunals. The decisions of these courts, 
however, were respected only by those who had neither 
power nor connections sufficient to insure the execution 
of their decrees : and hence, especially after the decline of 
the imperial authority, incessant feuds were carried on, un- 
der the savage maxim that *' might gives right ; " and the 
Srogress of the national prosperity was necessarily impeded, 
laximilian, together with Berchtold of Henneberg, elector 
of Mayence, and other benevolent princes, long sought fat 
a remedy ; and it was finally enacted, that a supreme court 
of justice, for the adjudication of all causes between the 
members of the empire, should be erected in perpetuity in 
some free imperial city. The members of this tribunal 
were at first (A. D. 1495) elected by the diet of the em- 
pire: afterwards (A..D. 1607), the emperor chose two 
assessors as representatives of the circles which belonged 
to hira : all the electors followed his. example ; and eight 
assessors were chosen by the six elder circles. A per- 
petual internal peace was now proclaimed ; all feuds were 
prohibited ^sMnd an imperial regency was instituted, wfaidi, 
whenever Flanders or Italy should require the emperor's 
presence, might always rmnainatthe head of affiurd, in 
order to guard against sudden emergencies. 



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DmVBRSAL HIS^OBT. IfS 

The aherations which had taken place in the manner of 
ccmducting war, |iad a considerable influence on the afikiri 
of Germany ; as the emperors, instead of the ancient mili- 
tary services, henceforward required proportionate pecuni«* 
ary contributions, by means of which they procured infan- 
try: and George of Frundsberg quickly organized this 
force according to the best maxims of the military art of 
those times. 

The election of Charles the Fifth, the first emperor t6 
whom conditions were fdhnally prescribed, appears a suit- 
able occasion for taking a brief survey of the electors, as 
well as of the imperial powers. 

The monarchs of Germany were nominated in Ae be- 
ginning by the previous agreement of the prelates and 
dukes, and prpposed to the people, who were assembled in 
great multitudes : they were accepted by the latter, and 
enthroned on the ancient royal seat near Rense on the 
Rhine ; or at Aix-la-Chapelle, the residence of Charle- 
mab ; or at Frankfort, which in that age was situated near* 
ly in the middle of the empire ; or in any other place which 
circumstances rendered expedient. A greater or smaller 
number of princes was summoned, according to the cirr 
cumstances of the times in which each election took place ; 
until by degrees, though without any positive law, it be- 
came estabbshed, that the three archchanceUors of the (Jer- 
man, the Italian, and the Burgundian territories, the latter 
of which had been acquired in the eleventh century ; the 
elector ' palatine of the Rhine, as the emperor's original 
representative ; the duke of Saxony, who of all the dukes 
of ancient Grermany was the only one that retained suffi- 
cient power ; together with the margrave of Brandenburg, 
and the king of Bohemia, who were the most powerful 
princes on die frontiers, where 'the Teutonic and Slavonic 
tribes were intermixed ; were alone necessary to the elec- 
tion of the emperor. 

This institution was rather the effect of accidental cir- 
cumstances, than the resuh of a plan of nanonal represent- 
ation ; unless we consider Swabia, Franconia, and other 
important countries, to have been represented by the arch- 
biaiops in whose metropolitan dioceses they were included : 



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176 UNITEBSAL HISTOBT. 

and even in this respect, no provision wa& made for the 
people of Bavaria, Austria, and other countries. In reality, 
the dukes of Bavaria and of Austria were not even men- 
tioned'in the golden bull : the former, on account of the 
minute divisions of their territory, and of the prejudice 
which Chai'les the Fourth entertained against them ; and 
the latter, because their power was originally too incon- 
siderable, and because the eider branch of their family had 
become extinct at the death of the emperor Frederick the 
Second ; while the younger, under Albert the First, had 
rendered itself the object of general hatred, and afterwards 
fell into divisions. 

This law of Charles the Fourth professed to introduce 
no new regulation, but merely to record the established 
practice ; it was, however, like other human performances, 
not undnctured with the personal relations of its authors. 
The spirit of the age, apd the character of Charles, might 
induce us to seek for the gro)^ld of this institution in a 
superstitious veneration for the number seven ; or it the 
hereditary offices, the greater part of which were merely * 
conducive to tlie splendor of die imperial court : such a 
research would, however, be vain ; because the reasons 
which attached hereditary offices to particular dignities 
must themselves be sought in considerations of a similar 
kind., 

The manner of the imperial elections,. as it was describ- 
ed by the law. of Charles the Fourth, and determined by 
custom, is as follows : as soon as the death o( an emperor 
is announced to the elector of Mayence, as archchancellor 
of Germany, he invites all the electors to a convention at a 
specified time, which must be within one month, and is 
usually held at Frankfort on the Maine. The election 
itself must take place withih threq months ; and it is com-, 
pleted by such electors as are personally present, and by 
representatives of the absentees. Ori the day of tlie elec- 
tion, they ride, in their electoral habits, from the council- 
house of the city to the cathedral church of St. Bartholo^ 
mew : here they hear mass ; and having afterwards taken 
the oath, proceed to die election in secret conclave. When 
tiiey have decided, either by a majority of votes or unani- 



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mflVEBSAL BISTORT. ITT 

t 

mou^hr, the new emperor is proclahned to the jieople htm 
a planorm in front of the choir. The imperial msignit 
copststs of a golden crown ; a sceptre ; a globe called the 
imperial apple, equally the emblem of universal dominioOi 
and of the emptiness of all earthly things (in reference to 
which latter object, it was in the Greek empire filled with 
earth) ; the sword of Chaj-lemain ; the copy of the gosbels 
which was found in his grave ; and a mande which nad 
been presented by an Arabian prince to one of the empe- 
rors, and was at Aat time of great value. 

The emperor takes an oath to maintam the profession of 
the catholic faith ; to protect the church and the admin- 
Tstration of justice ; to restore all the rights belonging to 
the empire ; and to observe a faithful deference to the pope 
and to the church of Rome. The bystanders then declare, 
that, "conformably to the apostolic command, which ordains 
that every soul be subject to the higher powers, they will 
obey this emperor." The order of this ceremony is an 
abbreviation of that practised at Byzantium. The emperor 
now usually creates a few knights; and hsdy, repairs again 
to the senate-house clothed with all his trappings, where 
he devours a meal fit for an emperor, and is waited on by 
the electors, who fulfil their hereditary offices widi the ut- 
most pomp. 

The coronation was formerly performed at Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle : but this custom has been discontinued, both on ac- 
count oif the loss of time and the increase of expense with 
which it was attended. The emperors no longer receive 
the crown of Lombardy at Monza, or that of the empire 
from the pope. Since the time of Maximilian, they as- 
sume the tide of emperor without undergoing the papal 
solemnity. 

The electors are, by their birth, the privy counsellors of 
the emperor : they ought, in the phraseology of Charles 
the Fourth, " to enlighten the holy empire, as seven shining 
lights, in the unity of the sevenfold spirit ; " and according 
to the same monarch, are the " most honorable members 
of the imperial body." The rights which the emperor can 
legally exercise without their consent ; those which he can 
exert with their concurrence, but without that of die odier 



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178 UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 

^ 

States of tiije empire ; and those which belong only to an 
universal decision of thq. empire, have been very variously 
determined. It is decided that all affairs relating to the 
enacting of new, or to doubtful interpretations of the ancient 
laws, to wars, taxes, levies of men, fortifications, treaties of 
peace and of alliance, shall be determined by die concur- 
rent voice of the electors, princes and states. • But as the 
form, of the constitution was more accurately defined at the 
peace of Westphalia, we shall find a better opportunity to 
treat of it in the twenty-first book. 

At the period of the election which followed the death 
of Maximilian, Albert of Brandenburg, a nobleman of 
sound understanding and princely manners, was archbishop* 
and elector of Mayence; Richard -of Greiffenclau, who 
had the prosperity of his country sincerely at heart, filled 
the same offices at Treves ; and count Herman of Wied, 
a nobleman whose mind was open to truth, and moderate 
, in all respects, at Cologne ; Lewis, of the Polish and Lith- 
uanian family of Jagel, had the title of king of Bohemia, 
which was governed for him by guardians ; tue palatinate 
of the Rhine was administered by Frederick, a nobleman 
of great talents ; the elector of Saxony, of the same name, 
deserved his tide of the Wise ; and Joachim of Branden- 
burg was distinguished for his knowledge. 

Francis the First, king of France, the victor of Marig- 
nano, who as ahero commanded the admiration, and as a 
man acquired by his open and noble conduct the affection 
of all who approached him ; and Charles of Austria, the 
grandson of Maximilian and king of Spain, were the com- 
petitors for the imperial crown. The election was decided 
in favor of the prince who sprang from German blood ; 
. for his rival was so powerful, and his dominions so near, 
that the states of the empire would scarcely have been 
able to maintain their cherished independence under such 
an emperor. 

The power of ^e emperor was defined by an electoral 
capitulation, which has not only been renewed at every 
succeeding election, but has frequently received essential 
additions. It must be allowed that the imperial authority 
which was formerly tut small, was by this instrument re- 



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UNITERSAL HISTORT. 179 

duced to a shadow ; and thattlie electors, without the con- 
currence of the other states, have transformed the consti- 
tution into an oligarchy. 

We will now recount the principal points of this law, as 
it exists at present : the emperor must reside in Germany ; 
all public affairs must be transacted in German or in Latin* 
The emperor confirms to the states, all their royalties, pfi- 
vileges, rights and usages t he neither introduces foreign 
troops into the empire without their consent, nor permits 
others to do so : the states which submit to the administra- 
tion of the laws, are liable to no forcible proceedings : the 
emperor undertakes no wars, and enters into no treaties oa 
behalf of the empire, either within or without its bound- 
aries, but with the consent of the electors, or at least of 
the principal among them : he offers no impediments to the 
assembling of the diets : he respects, in every thing, the 
legislative authority of the assembled states : he observes 
all the concordats, or national compacts, with the holy see 
of Rome : reverted fiefs are to be incorporated with the 
imperial territories, and not to be, otherwise, arbitrarily 
disposed of; and even if the emperor himself should hold 
an imperial fief contrary to th^ laws, he must give it up at 
the requisition of the electors : he can neither impose new 
taxes, nor prolong the appointed durati(»i, or increase the 
amount of those already granted : he cannot oppose the 
election of a king of tlie Romans, which, however, can 
only take place when he may himself become incapable of 
conducting the operations of government, whether from 
physical inability or protracted absence : he confirms the 
confederacy of the electors and that of the Rhine ; and 
considers the former as ^e fundamental pillars of the em- 
pire, without whose consent he can neither grant a rever- 
sion, nor make any alteration in feudal afiairs, nor alienate 
the imperial revenues, nor divert them to foreign purposes : 
he co-operates with them in introducing a new and solemn 
regulation respecting the coining of money : he supports 
tlie electors in their rank, which immediately follows that 
of crowned heads and dowager queens ; so that even their 
ambassadors take ^precedence of mere princes : he can 



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180 DNIVEBSAL H18T0BT. 

never demand to see the family compacts of any of the 
yassals of the empire, nor ever give a new interpretation 
of feudal duties in favor of his own family : he cannot allow 
die empire to be drained of men, by subsidiary treaties 
with foreign powers : he acknowledges a provisional power 
to reside Ju the assembled college of electors : he will pro- 
mote the constitution of the circles, and never prevent the 
states from ^embling in diet : he undertakes to levy no 
troops without the concurrence of the empire ; and the 
generalship of the empire is bound in duty to the whole 
body as well as to him : he will never grant assistance to 
neighboring powers, in such a manner as to endanger the 
peace of the empire. > 

Many pomts however m these obligations, which we 
have represented in the sense in which they are taken by 
the par^ of the states, are of doubtful determinadon and 
application ; and from the state of affiiirs, cannot possibly 
be literally observed. Hence we can only consider as a 
general result, that the electors have enfeebled the opera- 
tions of the supreme imperial power to such a degree, (not 
however in favor of the liberty of the people, but for the 
acquisition and maintenance of absolute pow^er m their 
own hands), that the emperor must either remain inactive, 
or gain them over to his party, or be constantly at war 
with them. 



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BOOK XIX- 



SECTION L 

CHAHLCB THE TIFTH. — ^FRANCIS THE TIRST.— MARTUT 
LUTHER. 

The house of Habsburg had. united under its grasp 
Spain, Naples, Sicily, Austria, Burgundy, the imperial 
crown of Grermany, Mexico and Peru, and had nearly 
added Bohemia and Hungary to its acquisitions, when two 
individuals rescued from its yoke the freedom of Europe* 
This term is understood to signify the co-existence of a 
number of states ; each of which has its peculiar laws and 
customs, and offers to those who may be the objects of 
persecutiop under any particular government, the choice of 
a secure asylum among several countries. One conse- 
quence of this division is, that the princes of the different 
states do not, in all cases, venture on such proceedings as 
they otherwise might adopt, or securely abandon them 
selves to the negligence of Asiatic despots : on the con- 
trary, the action and re-action of a mukitude of interests 
maintain a certain degree of life in the political framie of 
Europe. 

One of those individuals, by whose means Charles the 
Fifth was in some degree restrained from availing himself 
to the utmost of his preponderance, was Francis 3je First. 
This prince was tlie most accomplished knight of that sera 
in which a Bayard was the ornament of chivalry, and one 
of the most enlightened and amiable men of the polished 
age-of the Medici : he was monarch of a nation worthy of 
such a king, and in reality only blamable for possessing, 
in his own character, the peculiar faults of his people. 
These defects, however, were such as would perhaps have 
rendered him incapable of arresting, alone, the progress of 

VOL. ni. 16 



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182 UNIVERSAL HISTOiir- 

his rival. The other of these champions, original a pri- 
vate individual, was Dr. Martin Luther, a monk from the 
county of Mansfeld, and a professor in the university of 
Wittenberg. This man, who was possessed of sound m- ' 
tellect and of courage, but nether of extraordinary learn- 
ing nor of cultivated taste ; without the aid of any other 
power than that of common sense exerted on many im- 
portant subjects, and that of truth wherever he attacked 
abuses ; by his heroism alone, imparted to the half of Eu- 
rope a new soul; created an opposition which became the 
safeguard of freedom; and, without any such design, con- 
tributed greatly to the successful issue of the contest so 
long maintained with indecisive results by Francis and his 
son. There is nothing in history more deserving of con- 
sideration, than the spectacle of an individual or a small 
state, contending victoriously, by such means only as are 
withm the reach of all, against all the gifts of fortune and 
all the terrors of power. 

Nothing was wanting to i*ender Charles the Fifth the 
greatest prince in Europe, except that quality which Lu- 
Uier opposed to him, the dauntless courage inspired by the 
consciousness of pure intentk)ns. Charles had from his 
youth accustomed himself to a certain external moderation 
m the free country of Flanders, and in the politic court 
which he inherited from Ferdinand the Catholic. The 
Weakness of his bodily constitution contributed to this habit ; 
and , he had a peculiar faculQr of foresight, of suspecting 
every thing, and of regarding every occurrence with dis- 
trust. Hence it resulted, that his plans were combined 
with ability, though the execution was defective : he was 
not so well adapted for sudden resolutions as for reflection. 
If, however, he also failed in previously concerted plans, it 
proceeded chiefly from his notcalculatuig so well the moral 
as the physical force opposed to him ; so that he was un- 
prepared for the disinterested courage of heroism. The 
higher departments of political science were in his time 
entirely uncultivated. Charles, it is true, read Thucydides 
and Machiavel assiduously ; but there is a wide difference 
between merely studying an author, and imbibing so en- 
tirety his spirit, as to be enabled uniformly to keep his 



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DNITSRSAL HISTORY. 183 

principles in view, amidst the turmoil of business and the 
conflict of the passions. Besides, as every reader sees 
objects in that point of view to which his inclination directs 
him, so Charles had chiefly acquired from history the art 
of dissimulating, which he confounded with the talent of 
governing. It must be allowed that the contradiction, in 
his own situation, between appearance and reality, might 
easily lead him into this mistake : his power appeared im- 
measurable, while he was in fact under the necessity of 
concealing the mediocrity of his resources. Though king 
of the opulent territories of the Sopth, heir of Burgundy 
and lord of the New World, he was often destitute of 
money ; the gold mines, when first worked, did not im- 
mediately produce a great revenue 5 and political economy 
was in its infancy. From the want of money proceeded 
weakness in the military discipline, which was also in itself 
defective in system. Armies disbanded themselves, or 
plundered their countrymen, when pay or subsistence was 
defective ; and for the same reason they were the more 
ready, in the moment of victory, to abuse their fortune by 
giving a loose rein to licentiojus passions : the generals were 
as yet not sufficientiy their masters ; Charles himself did 
not pdssess the commanding character of a hero } nor had 
tactics confirmed the habit of implicit obedience. Hence 
enemies, neidier better provided with money, nor better 
instructed in the art of war, often defeated the army of the ' 
emperor, through the influence of the moral causes which 
inspired their own soldiers, and often frustrated the objects 
even of his victories. It is evident, firora the composition 
of the armies of those days, that their leaders reckoned less 
upon the dexterity and accuracy of well-calculated ma-' 
noeuvres than upon the impetus of large and unwieldy 
masses. The companies in the French regiments con- 
tamed from five hundred to six hundred men. The 
squadrons of the emperor consisted qf sixty lancers in 
complete armor, one hundred and twenty half-armed cui^ 
rassiers, and sixty light-horsemen, furnished with long 
muskets : his companies of infantry comprised one hun- 
dred pikes, fifty halberds, two hundred muskets, and fifty 
supernumeraries. When the contest was to be decided by 



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184 TTIOrERBAI. HISTOBt. 

inmnsic force, the advantage was on the side of Ae troops 
of France and Switzerland. 

If Charles had given up the German empire to his 
brother, whose character excited less distrust ; or if, con- 
tented with the power he already possessed, he bad re» 
nounced all plans of aggrandizement, he would have de- 
served a more illustrious name. 



SECTION n. 

THE REFORMATION. 

Luther executed a work which had been for ages in a 
course of preparation. ' 

The leaders of those pations which had destroyed the 
Roman empire, had adhered to the chair of St. Peter, and 
had employed its authority to confirm the foundations of 
their newly erected thrones : the pope was the guardian 
and common father of the princes and people of tlie western 
nations. When he undertook to humiliate the emperors 
of the German states, tlie plan laid by his lust of domina- 
tion proved equally agreeable to the ambition of the princes, 
and to the independent spirit of the citizens. As the sev- 
eral courts introduced the practice of keeping on foot re- 
gular troops in their own pay, money became the support 
of monarchies ; and the riches of the church, especially the 
large sums which were continually flowing towards Rome, 
soon came to be regarded with envious eyes. The kings, 
during successive centuries, had been engaged in endea- 
voring to diminish the power of the nobles, and in some 
countries had gained their object ; in others, the latter had 
succeeded, by strenuous exertions, in establishing an in- 
dependent power. To princes of both these descriptions 
it naturally appeared insuflferable that an ecclesiastical 
sovereign, residing in a distant country, should exercise 
autliority within their dominions, and in many cases even 
over themselves. 

Those nations which were less exposed to the effects of 
these political collisions, were, in proportion to the gradual 



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OlflVfiRSAL HISTORY. 185 

» revival of more Gberal habits of thinkiDg, oflended at the 
ignorance, scandalous manners, absurd practices, and ty- 
rannical pride of a hierarchy, who were incapable of per- 
ceiving that some attention was necessary, on their part, 
to the spirit of the times. Even in divine worship, there 
were many things which had been derived firom pagan 
rites, or iiivented in the darkness of ancient barbarism ; 
and which had become unmeaning, from the mere lapse 
of time, or absurd in the view of increasing intelligence : 
hence the sudden applause which attended the attacks 
made on such fooleries by WicklifFe in England, and by 
Huss in Bohemia : but the way had been already in some 
measure prepared, even for these early reformers, by Ber- 
engar of Tours, Henry of Autun, and Arnold of Orleans ; 
by many courageous orators, in synods of the church ; by 
writers in the imperial interest ; by insulted Franciscans ; 
by pious mystics, who had expiated in flames the sanctity 
of dieir lives ;- and by wits, who tore die mask from hy- 
pocrisy, and held her up to ridicule. 

In the fifteenth century, subsequently to the scandalous 
schism, and to the loud remonstrances of the councils of 
Constance and Basel, the revival of ancient learning had 
given a new impetus to the human mind. Among those 
individuals who successively imparted to the new modes 
of thinking a vigor which it was impossible to restrain, we 
must enumerate Nicholas the Fifth, the founder of the 
Vatican library, who rewarded Philadelphus with a house, 
an estate, and several thousand ducats, for a translation of 
Homer ; the magnanimous Pius the Second, and his suc- 
cessor, whose merits, have not been justly estimated by 
posterity ; the emperor Frederick the Thh'd, who was a • 
lover of botany, chemistry, and astronomy ; Alphonso the 
Wise, who attended the lectures of the Neapolitan profes- 
sors even in his old age ; the liberal Matthias Hunyad, 
whose pleasure and pride consisted in his intimacy with 
learned Italians ; and above all, the illustrious house of 
Medici. The growth of knowledge had been gradually 
developed, chiefly in the flourishing universities of Wurtz- 
burg, Rostock, Lyons, Ingolstadt, Basel, Tubinpn, Turin, 
Poitiers, Toledo, Copenhagen, and Upsal. Hence had 

VOL. III. 16* / 



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186 mavmsMAh histcat. 

resulted a diffusion of literature, an enthusiastic love,, and 
often- a servile imitation of the great authors of antiquity ; 
which, aided by the vigorous and penetrating genius of the 
age, had produced a freedom of sentiment that disdained 
to submit longer to the yoke of antiquated terrors. 

The Italians, especially the learned Florentines,-ca8t off 
in their indignation all the restraints by which the purest 
religion keeps the passions within bounds ; and the danger 
of an unequal union between truth and error, was once 
more displayed. In the consciousness of their own pre- 
eminence, they despised the barbarians, as tliey esteemed 
the people of the north ; and imagined that they could 
continue to impose upon tliem with ideas, to which they 
were themselves far , superior. Many important proposals 
were indeed made ; but the court of Rome refused to 
listen even to the most moderate demands. 

Yet the Holy See had already received such lessons of 
experience as might have sufficed to render it more cau- 
tious. In the latter periods of the council of Basel, the 
afiairs of Rome were managed by iEneas Sylvius, a man 
equal in talent and far superior in courage to Cicero. It 
had cost him infinite trouble, and no smaJl sums of money, 
to render the agents of the elector of Mayence manageable, 
and after having gained the emperor, the duke of Bavaria, 
and the elector Palatine, to procure at Ascha&nburg, and 
by degreed every where, the desired authority for the oon- 
torbat which had been concluded at Vienna. This com- 
pact, which was named from Aschaffenburg because the 
reception which it there met with decided its fate, settled 
the relations of the German church to the see of Rome, in 
a manner tolerably advantageous to the latter ; but which 
naturally became, through die increasing demands of the 
Italians, an inexhaustible source of disputes^ 

The emperor Maximilian complained that half a million 
of ducats went annually from Germany to Rome. It hap- 
pened that a priest, whose mistress had been taken from 
him, had committed a murder in the public way. The 
- story of the false appearances of the Virgin and the five 
wounds, played off at Bern, by masked Dominican friars, 
on a journeyman tailor named Jetzer, is well known. The 



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sensuaBty of the South, as manifested by legates and their 
followers, fcMrmed too impudent a contrast with^tbe chaster 
ignorance of the northern nations: artd even among the 
latter, the priests endeavored too openly to indemnify them- 
selves, by various indulgencies, for the restrictions imposed 
upon them by their vows. t 

Lastly, Leo the Tenth, who was liberal to prodigality, 
and more remarkable for his talents, than for the modera- 
tion of his plans or of his manners, had contracted enor- 
mous debts with the banking-house of Fugger at Augsburg; 
partly to defray the expenditure occasioned by the building 
of the church of St. Peter, the wonder of architecture, and 
partly for more profane purposes. In order to discharge 
this debt, it was proposed to publish an unlimited absolu- 
tion for sins, on pecuniary conditions. It may easily be 
' supposed that the fortunate dealers in this new traffic, who 
would certainly not forget their own interests, were obnox- 
ious to the envy of their monastic brethren ; nor could the 
Pope fail to excite similar feelings in princes, who could 
not, without difficulty, procure much smaller suras from 
their subjects. But this was not enough : Tetzel, one of 
the preachers of these indulgences, as if with the design 
of making the scandal as striking as possible, taught openly, 
that for cveiy species of crime, of whatsoever denomina- 
tion, absolution might be purchased by money. However 
strange these doctrines might sound in the German univer- 
sity of Wittenberg, the sober Swiss were not less shocked 
by the juggles of Samson, anotlier of the sellers of indul- 
gences, who, in his public preachings, imitated the sound 
which the soul emits, while, at the moment when its ran- 
som is paid, it ffies-up out of the flames of purgatory. 

These occurrences induced Martin Luther, in Saxony, 
to speak against the validity of such indulgences and all 
the scandal connected with the traffic, in a powerful voice, 
which however Tvas but the echo of the universal sentiment. 
Luther had not that extensive learning which rendered 
Erasmus so illustrious : bat he possessed and cultivated 
that knowledge of the foundations of religion, which is ne- 
cessary for the reformation of a church ; and nature had 
endowed him with a clearness of perception which carried 



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188 UNIVERSAL HISTOBT. 

him further in the pursuit of truth than the most elaborate 
investigations ; together with an ardent and vigorous imagi- 
nation, not the result of ideas acqtired by study, but of his 
internal faculty. His eloquence was of a very popular de- 
scription ; and he employed his native language in a more 
powerful manner than any of his contemporaries. He was 
at the same ume full of patriotism ; and, in maintaining ac- 
knowledged truth, a hero., During his life, this vehement 
man was the guardian angel of peace ; and the flames of 
religious war were kindled immediately after his decease. 
His frankness procured him the utmcj^t respect from all the 
princes of his own creed ; au/i he never concealed any 
thing which he believed to be contemplated by a court, if 
it were contrary to the interests of his country : his doc- 
trine, whether addressed to the prince or to the peasant, 
was equally suitable to the duties of the respective ranks.' 
He loved Uie gende Melancthou, his fellow-laborer, and 
admired his superior learning. He might condemn bis 
opponents ; but he did not, like Calvin, allow himself to 
persecute them. Though unconquerably stedfast in pre-' 
sence of the emperor and the empire, and in his opposition 
to all the art and power of Rome, he was in private life a 
good man and a cheerful companion ; and so disinterested, 
diat he left at his decease scarcely any thing but debts. 

Ulrich Zwingli, pastor of the foundation of the Blessed 
Virgm in Einsidel^ and afterwards at Zurich, had, at a still 
earlier pieriod, testified against the prevailing abuses ; but 
had he not been aided by the fiery zeal of Luther, and by 
his incessant attacks on the common enemy, Zwingli, like 
many other well-meaning preachers of truth, would ,have 
remained unknown, or would at least have failed to pro- 
duce any important revolution. He possessed the soul of 
a patriot and republican, which mailifested itself not lesa in 
his civil than in his religious undertakings : for he did not 
satisfy himself with leading his church into the wav of 
truth only ; but endeavored to give to his country all the 
principles and habits necessary to the preservation of free- 
dom. He was as zealous in the cause of civil order, of 
domestic virtue, and of the beneficent policy of perpetual 
peace, as in his controversial pursuits. His speeches in- 
spired dn irresistible feeling of the necessity of reform. 



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imilheRSAI. RISTOKT. 189 

Later than either of these, arose Jean Chauvin (CaWn) 
of Noyon in Picardy, a teacher at Geneva. This man, 
together with the spirit of an ancient legislator, possessed 
a genius and peculiarities, which gave him in some re- 
spects decided advantages : his failings were only the re- 
dundancy of those virtues, by means of which he accom- 
plished his work. He also was endued with indefatigable 
mdustry in the stedfast pursuit of one object, and with im- 
movable firmness in his principles and his duty : in life and 
in death he exemplified the seriousness and the dignity of 
a Roman censor. He contributed in an extraordinary de- 
gree to the freedom of -Geneva ; and his authority united 
the freauently dissenting Jtdministrators. From the influ- 
ence of his situation and of his native language, he assisted 
even more than he foresaw, in accelerating the progress of 
the human mind : for among the Genevese and the French, 
the principle of free discussion, on which he was obliged at 
first to ground his own proceedings, and which he after- 
wards endeavored in vain to control, became more fruitful 
of consequences than among nations less inquisitive than 
the former, and less audacious than the latter. Philosophic 
ideas were hence developed by degrees ; which, if not suf- 
ficiently pure from the passions and views of their pronriul- 
gators, have at least banishled a host of gFoomy and inju- 
rious prejudices, and have opened prospects of genmne 
wisdom in the conduct of life and of superior happiness. 

These consequences did not, however, appear imme- 
diately: on the contrary, religious controversies gave a 
wrong direction to many acute minds, and furnished them 
with employments which are no longer interesting to us : 
whereas we find in the writings of Italians of thiat age, and 
of a still earlier period, more noble principles of human and 
civil life, and a more unfettered philosophy. It is never- 
theless true, that these latter writers, misled by passion and 
by evil example, surpassed in many respects the bounds of 
moderation ; while the more considerate people of ^ the 
North required cooler an(^ more accurate investigations. 

Luther, as it easily happens in revolutions, was carried, 
principally by contradiction and opposition, much &rther 
than he at first intended to go ; and his cause having onoe 



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190 XTNIVXRS^L HlftTOBT. 

beeir adopted by the nation, becaine mvincible. The pe- 
cuKar character of the work which he performed, was 
however, ]ike all good religious institutions, negative : he 
taught nothing essentially new. What can man know of 
things above the sphere of his senses, more than has been 
comprised in our records, sentiments, and wishes, from 
early times ? But he destroyed a great portion of the 
strange garb in which truth had been, in darker ages, en- 
veloped, if not totally hidden. What he suffered to re- 
main, because the newly-opened eye was as yet too weak 
to endure the full splendor of the day, he left to the labors 
of later and more mature ages. The Bible, of which he 
made an excellent translation, was the foundation and sup- 
port of his whole system. 

Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, protected the 
rising party with the moderation peculiar to his character. 
John, his brother and successor, was the chief of that body 
which acquired the name of Protestants, by their protest 
at the diet at Spires against the regulations of the emperon 
and the Romish party : he was already inclined to risk 
every thing in defence of the new doctrine. The Protest- 
ants soon afterwards delivered to the emperor at Augs- 
burg, a confession of faitli, by which their professions 
acquired a definite form : and the union which die princes 
of their party formed at Smalkalde gave them polidcal 
importance. 

A. D. 1647. The war which was conducted by John 
Frederick, elector of Saxony, Philip, landgrave of Hesse- 
Cassel, and other protestant princes, against Chai*les the 
Fifth, broke out on the death of Francis the First and' of 
Luther, which happened nearly at the same time, and about 
fifteen years after the conclusion of the league of Smalkalde. 
This, like almost all wars carried on by a combination of 
several states ags(Mist an individual power, was conducted 
in a feeble and unconnected manner. 

The cause received but little assistance from the popular 
enthusiai^m for the new faith, because the first ardor of this 
feeling had subsided ; and the contest was managed too 
exclusively by the rulers, without sufiicient participation on 
the side of the people. The elector, moreover, as well as 



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UNlVeBSAL HISTORY. 191. 

many others of bis party, satisfied themselves with devoutly 
waiting for miracles, instead of performing the wonders of 
heroism. The consequence of this error was, that ' the 
elector was defeated in the battle of Miihlberg, and made 
prisoner. A- similar fate, shordy after, befell the land-^ 
grave, who had submitted with imprudent confidence in 
the good faith of his enemy. 

Charles, free fix>m his rival of France, and firofn the op- 
position of the Germans, forgot, in the fulness of his ioy, 
th6 moderation which had generally disdnguished his char- 
acter : he now thought himself master of the empire (A. 
D. 1548), and took no pains to conceal this opinion: he 
had Qonquered owing to the want of ability rather than to 
the weakness of his enemies ; and his future conduct was 
ore calculated to irritate than to terrify. Francis, whom 
^ had so often defeated in vain, and whom he had for- 
lerly made prisoner at the battle of Pavia, was no more, 
[enry the Second, whose qualities were less brilliant than 
lose of his father, by forming a connection with the very 
-ince who had chiefly contributed to Charles's late victo- 
ry, became more dangerous to the emperor than the latter 
had been with all his wars, which were carried on -with va- 
lor, but almost without plan. Maurice, duke of Saxony, as 
ivell as the present elector, was great-grandson to Freder- 
ick the Good ; but Ernest had transmitted the electorate 
to his sons, Frederick the Wise, and Jolin the Stedfast, who 
was the father of John Frederick : Maurice had inherited 
the territoiy of Meissen from his grandfather duke Albert, 
his uncle George, and his father Henry. He, as well as 
the elector, and the fathers of both them, was attached to 
the doctrines of Luther : but remarking the political failures 
of John Frederick, and either foreseeing in them a source 
of advantage to himself, or fearing that the whole house of 
Saxony might become a sacrifice to these errors, he at- 
tached himself to the party of the emperor. The latter, 
-^— -L. yj^jjQ^ of Miihlberg (A. D. 1548), bestowed on 
lectoral dignity, which, together with the territo- 
er since remained in the junior line. When th^ 
_^ afterwards became either suspected, or detested 
as a despot by his own party, Maurice resolved to acquire 




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UV mnrxmsAL Hitxamr* 

renown amon^ the Protestants, as be bad already deriice^ 

Emer from his former connection with the catholic party* 
e deceived the emperor as to tlie object of his preparatioos; 
and made bis attack so suddenly, that Charles, instead of 
offenng any resistance, saved himself by a precipitate flight 
(A. D. 1 552) ; and the council of Trent was obliged to 
clisperse. The imprisoned princes were hereupon set at 
libeily ; and the disturbances in the empire were setded, 
first by a convention concluded at Passau, and afterwards 
by a formal peace in matters of religion. A. D. 1555. 

Maurice, however, did not live to witness this contract 
he died in the bloom of his youth of the wounds which 
he had received. A. D. 1553. His brother Augustus, 
the most prudent prince of his ase, concluded a compact 
at Naumburg, with the family of John Frederick, who was 
also lately deceased. By this agreement, Augustus retainei ^ 
the electoral dignity (A. D. 1554), and the princes of tt 
line of Ernest received Altenburg, in addition to dieir othi 
hereditary territories in Thuringia. The decease of thi 
counts oi Henneburg afterwards contributed to the aggraa 
disement of both these branches of the house of Saxony. 
A. D. 1 583. While Maurice ww obliging the emperor tc 
retreat, Henry the Second had conquered the ecclesiastical 
principalities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. Rochus of Ly- 
nar had in vain endeavored to retard the enemy before the 
first of these places, by his defence, in which art he was 
the most distinguished man of the age. By these con- 
quests France obtained firm footing in the midst of Lor- 
raine. The bishops transferred to the king the autiiority 
which they had hitherto exercised over their cities ; and 
the latter henceforward maintained in the Qerman empire 
a power divided between the bead and the remote mem- 
bers. 

From this period the kings of France ceased to 
cut^ their Italian wars, llie dukedom of Milan, 
Charles the Fifth had wrested from the former 
conferred, after the death of Francesco Sfor: 
1535), on the son of the emperor ; and nothini 
mained to the French in Italy^ but the marquisa] ^ 
kzzo. On the other hand, tiie situation of affairs in 




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^ mOTSKSAL HISTORY. 

many became continually more important: the gi: 
nasties, as those of Saxony and Bavaria, having Ir 
a law for the indivisibility of their dominions, wl: 
vided for the future against those frequent partitlo? 
had formerly enfeebled them. By these means their pow- 
(er acquir^sd a degree of solidity which rendered their alli- 
nce more valuable : but at the same time the overthrow 
of such a dynasty became an object of greater solicitude, 
in proportion as die consequences must necessarily be of 
greater importance to the coijqueror. 



^ SECTION m. , 

COlfcLtTSION OS tHE AGE OF CHARLES THE FIFTH. 

Charles, mors; enfeebled bj^diseases which had impaired 
his vital pow€rs|^ and by vanoJi^ causes of dissatisfaction, 
than by age, tofk the resoludoji, soon after the cdnclusion 
of the religiojj/ peace^ who!)/ to withdraw himself from 
public aflairs. In his yo^ lie had given up his hereditary 
dominions in Germanjr fjn his brother (A, D. 1521); and 
duriijg one of these ireijnent intervals in which his confi- 
dence in his own foriuiiK tailed him (A* D. 1531), had 
^ cai:sed Ferdinand insteaS^Qf his own son to be declared 
' 'ifli bf the Romnbs, or p^JDsumpiive successor to the impe- 
ilWMi : in like nianrtfer he now actually transferred the 
empiMEo the former, and all his other dommions to the 
latter. (A. D. 1555—1556). Endeavors were in vain 
used to obtain Upper Alsace and Breisach for Pinlip, in 



order that he pjight have, as possessor of l^yi^ntrdy^ road 
through his own territory to the Rhine ; aiui that thlbiear- 
er connection witli the Netherlands migiit remain^ open 
fro:n this side. Froni these causes, combine^'^Wi oUier 
circumstances, a long disuniot arose between the politics 
of the court of Vienna and those of Madrid. This was, 
however,^ fortunate for the people of those times : and if, 
as there is reason to believe, dominions of too great extent 
are not favorable to the interests of humanity, it has also 
tended to the prosperity of later ages. Whd can calculate 
VQL. ux. 17 ' .. 




^ 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

vhich FrRiice might have su&red, if she had been 
by the dominions of Philip, during her civil 
loriy years ? And if he had been emperor, how 
le Hollanders have been able to erect, themselves 
into an independent state, when they must have had to 
c(Hitend with the whole power of the imperial crown, added 
to their other difficulties ? 

A. D. 1526. Long before this time, after the batde of 
Mohacs, in which Lewis king of Hungary and Bohemia 
had fallen, Ferdinand had been chosen king by the princes 
and nobles, municipalitiestand populace of the kingdom of 
Bohemia (A. D. 1527), on condition of confirming their 
constitution^ a proceeding, as they alleged, consonant with 
their establishe4 freedom. A similar negocianon took 

Elace in Hungarjr, in pursuance of a compact which had 
een concluded in the time of the grandlalher of Lewis. 
But in this country tlie sultan SolyimnTH^^^'^S^ ^^ failed 
of success in the siege of Vienna (j\- 0^^529), as well as 
in some of his other enter Apses, had contt-lt^ed, witli the 
assistance of a powerful dojMsiic party, to*^ive effectual 
support to John Zapoyla, the\;^bel vaywode of Traasyl- 
vania : and Ferdinand could neiTher acquire secure pos- 
session of the royal dignity in Btjheraia during the life of 
John, nor obtain command, eveii»after his death, (A, D, 
1540), of the capital city of pfen togetber witii a large 
part of its acMacent territory, or df the pnnripality of Tran- 
sylvania. The fonne r d e sc e n t ! e i^^lgth^ s 1 1 cc e ssors of So- 
lyman, and the latter remained undertne dominion rfJolin, 
and of a line of princes most of whom maintained a good 
understanding with the Ottoman Porte, and occasioned 
gss to the king of Hungary. 
ihe infernal power of Ferdin^d, and of his 
raincreasmg: some disturbances had taken 
Imia about &e time of the batde of Miihlberg, 

period the power o# the emperor appeared to be 

at its greatest height ; and^Ferdmand took advantage of 
this opportunity to circumscribe the uncontrolled freedom 
of election, wUch the states, composed principally of Hus- 
sites, had hitherto exercised. The wars which were car- 
ried on against the dreaded enemy of the Christian name. 



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UmvSRSAL HISTOAT.^ ^^ 



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priMHp 
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Served as a pretence for intpoduciag imposts whic 
well as in Silesia were speedily rendered perpeti 
also excited the zeal of tiie most distinguished prid 
knights ; and, above aU, they made it appear indisp 
necessary, for the security of the west of Europe, that the 
power of the house of Austria should be augmented. 

The prudent and laudable administration of Ferdinand, 
and especially that of Maximilian the Second, who governed 
all the subjects of his kingdom, without regard to their 
articles of faith, with paternal mildness, contributed greatly 
to the same end. 



SECTION IV. 

STATE OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES* 

Those personj^pb eyAused the greatest influence on 
the progress of^SSt mt^X ^ commerce, were to be found 
among the Ca^Kf^^Sms sect had received from its 
republican founWrs,TMBpirit of economy and strict mo-^ 
rality : whili others surpassed them in the fine arts, and in 
every occupation that demands a vivid imagination, their 
principal pursuits wei-e the acquisition of property, and the 
severe sciences. They ^ere attached to freedom, on ao^ 
count of the security which it gives to life and property ; 
but they were less remarkable for desire of innovation, than 
for steadfastness in the defence of their inherited or acquired 
rights. The disciples of Luther were their equals with 
respect to industry and economy ; but were, on the whole, 
more attached to the pleasures of social life. They brought 
Saiony mto so flourishing a condition, as well with regard to 
industry as to literature and science, that this electorate ac- 

auired a sort of authoritative pre-eminence over most of 
le other German states, in all that relates to taste and 
learning. The diversity of character which each sect thus 
acquired, rendered the people of tlie various states of Ger- 
many at least as foreign to each other as to the French, or 
Spaniards 5 and, under such circumstances, the common 
feeling necessary to the unity of a nation, could not long 



t 



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^^^^Lowing chiefly to the exertkms of the Jesuits, that 
^K^^Kipks of the reformers did not universally obtain 
^^^^Rind even superiority. The founder of this ordeff 
I^ffiras Loyola, a Spaniard, was a man of warm imagina- ^ 
tiod and strong passions ; and his whole soul, endued with 
these qualities, had abandoned itself in his early years to a 
vehement zeal for the religion which he professed. After 
having distinguished himself in war, especially against the, 
infidels, he became the founder of a religious order : an 
occupation to which he had been strongly inclined from his 
youth. In the monastery of Montserrat, which is scarcely 
accessible, situated in a wilderness, and elevated above all 
the mountains of Catalonia, he copied the rules of a spirit- 
ual life, which had been prescribed by a holy abbot, a rela- 
tion of cardinal Ximenes. His heated imagination repre- 
sented, in a vision of tlie night, Mary the mother of Jesus, 
from whom he received tlie gift of continence. At another 
time the mystery of the Tring^ug^s jR||dered clear to his 
comprehension, by the tonei^of^aTiamchord. Again, ' 
Jesus Christ and Satan appeahd to him V the form oi re- 
cruiting officers ; and, like the )io<it!fful*ercules, at the /" ,. 
diverging patlis of virtue and pleasure, he, of course, chose \ 
the better part. , 

The original plan of the order of Jesus was simple, de- 
vout, and innocent : after the death of the author, it was 
improved first by Lainez, and afterwards by Aquaviva ; 
men who were endued widi the deepest knowledge of hu- 
nFian nature, and immutably steadfast in pursuit of one main . 
object. Tliey deserve, indeed, to be considered as the 
founders of a society which will bear a comparison with the 
great institutions of the lawgivers of antiquity : like the lat- 
ter, this system took endre possession of the will, and of all 
the faculties of the mind ; like them it inspired its members 
with extraordinary activity, and infused a spirit of obedi- 
ence so implicit, that the whole order resembledi a healthy 
' body, actuated by a vigorous soul. Whoever entered into I 

the society, renounced, as it were, his individual existence, j 

and submitted himself, soul and body, to the general, as | 

though his voice was actually tliat of Jesus Christ. He j 

now stood in the relation of son and brother to the order, I 



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UKIVERSAL BflSTOttV* 197 

^rxd abandoned aJl his former and social relations : fa|%[u^ 
accept offices, but not without the consent of the SipP"* 
whose known will, even when not formally expressed, was 
to be his only law. The correspondence, and the learned 
undertakings of the whole order, were placed under the 
direction of this officer. It was forbidden to make any in- 
terpretations, objections, or conjectures, rearing to his or- 
ders, or to any thing tliat he did or might do. Every in- 
dividual was a Jesuit, and no longer a Spaniard, or a Ger- 
man, or a Frenchman 5 and no man was allowed to harbor 
a partial affection for any prince or any country. The 
constitution of thejesuits, in some particulars, remained a 
secret : even the Pope was acquainted only With the spirit 
of their institution ; and Paul the Third had allowed aliter- 

- ations to be made, without requiring to be informed in what 
they consisted. 

The first fraternity was established by Claudius Aqua- 
viva ; and the order, in a'short time, possessed congrega- 
tions of both sexes inr,''i^^ry country : here a secret was 
imparted to an indhniiual ; there a key to the house of 
prayer was given to another t ail participated in th^ privi- 
lege of indulgence, and in the good works of the whole com- 
munity. The order was divided into six assistances, and 
each of the latter mto forty provinces ; it possessed 638 
colleges, and 22,500 publicly acknowledged members. 

We will not investigate the merits of the Jesuits with 
regard to princes or to human nature, but tleir history 
proves that they understood the art of disseminating and of 
confirming certain ideas ; that they possessed the means of 
elevating feeble individuals to the authority of lords of the 
earth and of its kings, and of placing them^ as far as man 
can be raised, above the instability of fortune; and that they 
knew how to provide support for the future duratioi^ of 
their society. History records no institution, since the 
time of Pvtiiagoras, which has been found capable, like this, 
of giving laws successfuUy to savages, to half-civilized men, 
and to nations in a very advanced stage of refinement 

, The Jesuits, without external splendor, had more influence 
in extensive kingdoms than any order had before possessed ; 
and, without being themselves monks, they exemplified 

VOL. Ill, 17* 



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ISB xmyrvBSAL hutost. 

l|^ia|ftfier was worthy of imitation in the lives of the regular 
m^mcuizr clergy. It is said that they made a distinction 
between those despots who were also usurpers, and those 
who were tyrannical in the exercise of their legitimate au- 
thority ; and that they held it lawful for any man to de- 
stroy the latter, while they only permitted^ the people to 
emancipate th^selves from the yoke of the former. They 
are also accused of allowing breaches of morality of every 
kind, if it were for the advantage of the order : in reality, 
they were all things to all men ; in Spain and in America 
they showed themselves to be masters of policy ; in France 
they were men of great learning ; and in the catholic parts 
of Germany, the patrons of prejudice. 



SECTION V. 

or THX SITUATION OF THE DOMINIOim OF CHABLE8 THS 
PIFTH AT HIS .DECEASE. 

In the commencement of the reign of Charles the Fifth, 
the Spaniards made an attempt to recover their political 
freedom ; but their endeavors were unsuccessful, and they 
were thenceforward content to obey. In other enterprises, 
however, as well as in inventions and literary productions, 
they still displayed, during this century, their ancient spirit of 
bold enterprise ; wlule the Germans were devoted, on one 
hand, to religious controversies, and on the oth^, to the 
grosser pleasures of sensuality. This diversity of charac- 
ter rendered it not easy for one individual to govern both 
nations ; and the difficulty was still further increased by 
some peculiar circumstances in the situation of certain parts 
of Germany : thus, on one sid^. Saxony and Brandenburg 
were incessantly adopting regulations excellently calculated 
to augment their resources^ by promoting civil order and 
cultivation ; and on another, it was necessary to maintain a 
very eautious policy towards^e princes of the Palatmate, 
on account of their vicinity to France. 

Charles the Fifth neither attached the princes and people 
of his dominions by confidence and affection, nor held 



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tnriTXItSAL HI8TQ&T. 190 

them l^fi^ctually in check by the influence of fear. * Hi$ 
habits of life were pimple, and resembled those of a private 
nobleman. He usuaUy rose early, and dined at nine 
o'clock; from one o'clock, his time was occupied, bjr 
ilancing7parties until five, when he suppeM. His provi^ 
sions were chiefly furnished by the cduntry in which he 
happened to reside ; but in that age, foxes, seals, and other 
animals which are now banished from the table, formed n 
part of the entertainment* In his clothing also, and do- 
mestic regulations, he was remarkably moderate. It waa, 
however, his greatest misfortune, that he could never con- 
ceal the dissimulation of his character : his words were few, 
expressed slowly, and in a low unvarying tone : in fact, 
nothing spoke but his tongue, and none believed him. 
, This potentate, in his fifty-sixth year, gave the world the 
extraordinary and astonishiog spectacle of the renunciauon 
of all bis crowns ; and withj^rew to the monastery of St. 
Just, which is jsltuated among well*watered gardens and 
meadows in the plains of Estremadura : there he lived with 
his sisters, the widowed queens of France and Hungary, 
like a man whose happiness is entirely independent of ex- 
ternal greatness ; who felt the charm of equsdity ; ''and who, 
having abandoned the business of the world, was best quali- 
fied to estimate its worth. He passed two years, and ter- 
minated bis life, in this retirement. A. D. 1568. 

The emperor had given Spain, Milan, Naples, and 
Sicily, the Netherlands and America, to his son Philip. 
Mexico and Peru would have been totally depopulated, 
had not Charles set bounds to the pursuits of' avarice and 
fanaticism, by commanding that the Indian tribes should 
be re-established, and the mines worked by imported slaves. 
The aborigines of these countries had not made such pro- 
gress in the arts of civil life, as to deserve a comparison 
with the inhabitants of Europe ; for they were unacquainted 
with iron, the principal instrument of agriculture ; they 
were ignorant of the arts of writing and of the use of coin 
as an instrument of commerce ; and derived their subsist- 
ence firom the spontaneous production^ of their bountiful 
soil. It was, in fact, from this time, that their hamlets be- 
gan to improve in extent, in strength and civil regulations ; 



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200 XSmVET^iAh IttSTORT. 

in other words, that their toims^ according to the European 
acceptation of the word, began to be numerous : but it 19 
impossible to say to what degree of civilization these na- 
tions might have attained, if they had escaped the tempo- 
ral and spiritual despotism of the Spaniards, to whose yoke 
they were now subjected. 

Charles had contrived to draw from all the other coun- 
tries which his son inherited from him, as well as from 
America, sums as large as it was possible to obtain without 
irritating the people to measures of violent resistance. The 
consequence of these proceedings was a contest between 
the different nations of the Spanish monarchy and the court, 
which became every day more obvious : the people of 
these countries endeavored to maintain their rights in their 
ancient forms, while the emperor was attempting to subdue 
the spirit of liberty. In Italy and Spain, the court suc- 
ceeded in establishing its uncontrolled authority ; while, in 
the Netherlands, the people recovered tiieir freedom. But 
the apparent advantages which the government had gained 
in the former instances, enfeebled the foundation of the 
monarchy to such a degree, that it has ever since been 
found impossible to excite, among those degenerate people, 
any considerable spirit of enterprise for usetul undertakings. 
Rulers are willing enough to encourage industry in the arts 
and in productive branches of science, provided that their 
subjects will consent to abstain fVom discussions relating to 
their own rights, and will submit to the dictates of their 
vgovAnors as to the disposal of their property. 

Similar principles came generally into practice. In the 
history of die princes of the German empire, new and in- 
creased taxes on land and on consumption,, begin to be 
observable. The dangers which threatened the state, or 
the necessity for an expenditure suitable to the spirit of the 
age, were usually the pretences for these impositions j and 
when by custom they had become supportable, it was not 
difficult to find reasons for rendering them perpetual. 

The princes of the empire framed their system of, in- 
ternal government, in other respects, on the model of the 
imperial administration of justice, which had subsisted ever 
since the time of Maximilian the First. Even in the reign 



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of Charles the Fifth, a dealer in cattle ha4 the boldnes^ |o 
make war against the ^lectors of Saxpjoy and Branden- 
burg. This disturbance, It is true, was remedied j but it 
was thought so highly dangerous, that Joachim the Secood, 
elector of Brandenburg, could find no better means of re- 
sistance against tl^e leader and his banditti, than to employ 
the public executioner of Berlin to entice him into that 
city : he fell into the snare ; but maintained his right, in a 
public audience, which lasted three hours, in such a man- 
ner as to excite a considerable degree of sympathy ; and 
though he was at last executed on the wheel, the elector 
could npt afterwards reflect on the transaction without 
remorse. 

It must be confessed, however, that most of the princes 
showed greater dexterity in augmenting their revenue than 
in regulating their expenses : even the prudent Saxon, 
Frederick, was content to suffer the progress of reforma- 
tion, only on condition that it should not presume to ap- 
proach his court. Sumptuous entertainments, gaming, 
numerous suites, and expensive festival, gave rise every- 
where to financial embarrassment. 



SECTION VI. 

FRANCE. 

Lewis the Twelfth had diminished the expenses of his 
government to the half of tlieir former amount ; but Fran-- 
cis the First, at the beginning of his reign, departed from 
the frugal maxims of his predecessor. His views were 
usually just ; but they were often warped by passion ; and 
even policy afibrded a seeming justification of his errors : 
he believed that a splendid court would augment bis aii- 
tfaoriQr by its imposing effect, and would allure tlie nobles 
to quit their retirement ; while habits of expensive dissipa- 
tion would destroy their resources, and would by that means 
remove one of the greatest obstacles to the absolute power 
ff the monarch. Lewis the Twelfth had resorted to tem- 
porary means, perhaps to the sale of offices, for the pur- 



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203 VKlTBRSAIi HIBTOmY. 

pose of defraying the expenses of his wars: whereas Fran« 
cis increased the assessment of a st^din^ impost called the 
taUle, a tax which produced in his time nine millions. 
But when^ in advanced age, he began to perceive the van- 
ity of expensive pleasures, and the ill consequences of neg- 
lected economy and of bad example, he repaired the dis- 
order of his finances by more strict attention to such subjects, 
paid his debts, and left at his decease 1,700,000 dollars in 
his treasury. 

Henry, though by the favor of circumstances he was 
more fortunate in the early part of his reign, was neither 
equal to Francis in understanding nor in energy ; and he 
siiflTered himself to be governed by the selfish and vicious 
persons who surrounded him. 



SECTION vn. 

THE POPE. 

The treasury of t}ie holy see was now exhausted, in 
consequence of the enterprises of the family of Borgia, 
whose politic plans had been frustrated by obstacles which 
could not be toreseen ; and of the wars of Julius the Sec- 
ond, or Rovere, who entertained the grand design of driving 
the barbarians out of Italy. About this time tibe great ca- 
thedral of papal Christendom was begun to be reared, ac- 
cordyig to the plan of Bramante, over the graves of the 
aposdes ; and Leo the Tenth, of Medici, who set no limits 
either to his expenditure or to his bounty, aggravated the 
distresses of the treasury by his profusion, which obliged 
him, as we have already seen, to have recourse to the as- 
sistance of the Fuggers of Augsburg, the most opulent 
family in Europe, who had laid the foundation oi their 
prosperity in the unobtrusive and industrious pursuits of 
commerce, and the immense profit accruing to them from 
the quicksilver mines of Quadalcanal. 

Among the succeeding pontic, namely, Hadrian the 
Sixth, who was a pious dieologian ; Clement the Seventh 
of Medici, who was endowed with excellent faculties in 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 203 

several respects, yet not with such qualities as were neces- 
sary to the prosperity of the pontificate in times so difficult; 
the crafty Paul the Third, who, however, was more solicit- 
ous for th'e welfare of his fanaily, the Farnesi, than for that 
of the holy see ; Julius the Third, who was liberal in his 
manner ol life, and munificent in his disposition ; and Ca- 
riffa, or Paul the Fourth, remarkable for his haughty mo- 
nastic severity ; — among all these persons, who successively 
sat in the pontifical chair, there was no individual who 
possessed the talents that were requisite for retrieving the 
disordered finances of the see. In Germany also the Re- 
forrtiation was nearly as injurious to the interests pf the 
pope in the catholic, as in the protestant states : the courts 
most remarkable for devotion^ or at least for hypocrisy, 
kissed his feet, while they were busily engaged in fettering 
his hands. 

It was fortunate that Francis had concluded a compact 
relating to the liberties of the Gallican church, a short time 
before the appearance of Luther. In consequence of this 
concordat, which had been attempted to be carried under 
.Lewis the Eleventh, but which was at that time defeated 
by the efcrts of the parliament and of the university, af- 
fairs relating to tlie benefices were removed from the con- 
trol of the untractable parliament, to that of the minister 
of state, who was. more inclined to pay Regard to political 
circumstances; yet writers of later times confirmed the 
Gallican church in the maxim, << that the pope has no right 
to consider the bishops as merely his substitutes, and die 
synods as councils dependent on his will." The court took 
advantage of this disposition, and made so good use of the 
means within its power, that the Romans were obliged to 
abandon all hopes of deriving any revenue fi-om the church 
of France, without its own permission, conjoindy with that of 
the king. The court asserted and exercised the right of 
holding provincial synods ; and these assemblies ratified this 
principle, " that when the pope swerves, in matters of doc- 
trine, firom the established forms ; when he becomes heret- 
ical or schismatical, and when he stands in need of refor- 
mation, the councils are superior to him." Even the 
monks no longer ventured to maintain his infallibility, but 



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904 ^ xjinrzBBML msTonr. 

merely to assert that, among dilSisrent propositions, that is 
to be preferred which is the most directly opposed to the 
heretics ; and it became, in the end, the prevailing opin^ 
ion, that mfalGbility is to be ascribed only to the church. 
This way of thmking mitigated the severity of the duty of 
implicit belief, and rendered the Romish more dependent 
on the royal court ; while the latter, by means of the nu- 
merous presentations to spiritual digniJes, which it appro- 
priated to itself, acquired a powerful instrument for render- 
ing the nobility dependent. Some splendid relics of tlie 
magnificent hierarchy of Rome were however suffered, 
tlirough the collusion of the two courts, to remain in 
France ; and it is easily conceivable that Catholicism, thus 
modified, must have been far more agreeable to a regal 
government, than the republican spirit of the Reformation. 



SECTION vm. 

PORTUGAL. 

The popes, perhaps without being aware of what they 
were assisting to bring about, fsince even the Roman gov- 
ernment has more often availed itself of circumstances 
than called them forth) contributed to establish the political 
system of John the Thh*d, by which the Portuguese nation 
was subjected to oppression. John might possibly feel all 
the devotion to the holy chair which he professed ; but it 
is certain that die first eflfect of the inquisition, and of the 
favoi*able reception he gave to the Jesuits, was to increase 
his revenue, and to render his authority more absolute. 

Tfiis prince, from whose reign the decay of Portugal 
may be dated, endeavored to render himself master of the 
riches of the Jews, of which nation, though they had been 
banished by his grandfather, his kingdom contained a great 
number, who were however obliged to conceal the profes- 
sion of their faith. The king manifested so violent a de- 
sire for the establishment of the inquisition in his dominions, 
in order, by its means, to discover this devoted race, and 
to punish diem by confiscation and death, that Paul the 



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tKniC&8AL HISTOKT. 8K( 

Third, who, as well Jas' other ponti£, ^metimes had re- 
course to them for pecuniary assistance, long refused his , 
concurrence. At length, however, John obtained tlie ob- 
ject of his desire 5 and first the rojral confessor, and after 
him a son of the king, were appointed general inquisitors 
of the faith : immediately the nobles accounted it an honor 
to be appointed as servants of the holy tribunal, and to 
attend these miserable wretches to the stake* Similar tri- 
bunals were, in a short time, erected at Evora, at Coimbra, 
and at Goa, in the East-Indies ; and the property of the 
criminals flowed rapidly intp the royal treasury, as the court 
was directed, by positive instructions, rather to spare the 
lives than the seductive riches of the accused. 

John the Third had the honor of being the very first 
king who received the Jesuits. His minister at Rome re- 
commended the rising order as missionaries for India ; and 
whilst Francis Xjivier was spreading religion and the fame 
of his order in that part of the world, Simon Rodriguez 
obtslined such an ascendancy over the king, as to induce 
\\m\ to assume the title of especial guardisMi and adminis- 
trator of the society : and to impose it on himself, as a duly, 
to sign all the proposals which they should send to him, 
without investigation or delay. At Coimbra the Jesuits 
performed penitential processions, and their lives were ex- 
amples of Spartan severity. This spectacle of voluntary 
poverty and rigid discipline, procured them great credit 
with the people : but the university raised its warning voice 
against the'order,^ which evidently aspired to a superiority 
over all the prerogatives of kings, and all the rights of na- 
tions. The municipality of Oporto forbade parents, under 
pain of forfeiting the privileges of citizenship, to allow their 
children to be educated among them ; and cardinal Henry, 
one of the king's sons, waS hostile to their interest. On the 
other hand, the king, tlie queen and the court, remained 
zealously devoted to Rodriguez and his successor Gonsalez. 
The opposition was chiefly founded 'on the jealousy of the 
monks, who perceived the advantages which the Jesuits 
would derive from the combination they aflfected of the 
characters of the regular and secular clergy, as well as from 
the novelty of their rules, their distinguished activity^ the 

VOL* III. 18 g 



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206 UNITERSAI. HI8T0BT. 

favor of the nobles, and the instruction of the rising gene* 
ration. The king committed to their care the education 
of his grandson ; and they separated the young Teotonio 
from his father, the duke of Braganza, by force : for to the 
humility by which they acquired the confidence of the des- 
potic king, they united, under favorable circumstances, a 
sufficient degree of boldness. E>on John submitted himself 
to the authority of their general, and was rewarded by the 
honor of being buried in the garb of the order. A. D. 
1555. . 

There existed, in fact, a tacit conspiracy of the supreme 
powers, temporal and spiritual, against the constitutional 
rights of the people, which effected the annihilation of the 
privileges of the different ranks ; and in order to evade 
the necessity of obtauiing their consent to the raising of new 
taxes, their rulers imposed them under ancient names. 
The afiairs of the courts were managed by the intrigues of 
ecclesiastics, until, in the eighteenth century, when the 
submission of the people appeared unbounded, the kings 
wielded the whole force of absolute power, and caused it 
to be felt even by the Jesuits and the church. 

But in the times of which we are treating, the pope 
found it necessary to conduct himself with extreme caution 
towards the imperial court : in France he was obliged to 
give up many things, in order to avoid the l6ss of his whole 
influence, and especially the annates : in Spain and Portu- 
gal he countenanced the introduction of the absolute power 
of the naonarch ; but it was necessary to take measures for 
preserving this authority under the control of the Jesuits : 
while in Italy the temporal principality of the states of the 
church was founded on arms and negociations. 



SECTION IX. 

ITAJUHi I 

Pope Julius the Second seized on Bologna, and put an 
end to the influence of the BentivogU, who had held that 
ancient seat of learning under their authority : he retained. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 207 

through his perseverance, the sovereignty of Ravenna, the 
ancient residence of the Goths and exarchs ; and made his 
own nephew, Francesco Maria Rovere, whose lofty mind 
and heroic courage was worthy of his uncle, duke of Ur- 
bino. Ludovico Gonzaga, the general of Clement the 
Seventh, put an end to the turbulent freedom of Ancona, 
and subjected it to the authority of the pope ; the court of 
Naples still made an annual acknowledgment of his feudal 
superiority ; he reckoned the Esti of Ferrara, together with 
tlie Roveri, among the number of his vassals ; and Paul 
the Third succeeded in obtaining the same dignity for his 
own son, Piero Lodovico Farnese, ^hich Clement the Se- 
venth had formerly procured for his family, the Medici. 

When Leo the Tenth assisted to drive the French out 
of Italy, he transferred Parma and Piacenza from the do- 
minion of Milan to that of the church ; and during the 
vacancy of the papal chair, which followed his death, Par- 
ma was preserved for the church by the historian Guicci- 
ardini, who displayed admirable presence of mind. A. D. 
1645. Paul the Third gave these cities, with the consent 
of Charles the Fifth, to his son, who was already in pos- 
session of Castro and Ronciglioni : he received them as a 
fief of the church, with the title of duke. Piero Lodovi- 
co, who, though abandoned to voluptuousness of. all kinds, 
was a prince of strong talents, was murdered during the 
life of his father (A. D. 1517) : but the emperor, who had 
given his natural daughter to the young Octavio Farnese, 
and had taken him under his protection, enabled him to 
maintain his authority. Octavio reigned nearly forty years, 
confirmed the power of his family, and transmitted it to his 
son Alexander, who was one of the greatest generals of 
that age. 

Charles the Fifth aggrandized the family of Este, which 
akeady held the sovereignty at Modena, Reggio, and Fer- 
rara, by the gift of Carpi, a dominion which had been pos- 
sessed by a branch of the house of Pico of Mirandolo, but 
which ought in Justice to have devolved upon the other 
branch of that mmily. Almost all the states of Italy were 
at that period absorbed by or dependent 6n the Spanish 
monarchy : Venice alone maintained the appearance of 



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206 UNITERSAL filSTORT. 

ea&re freedom, and endeavored to preserve a eood uoder-^ 
standing witb tlie emperor. It was long a fundamental 

Eoint in the policy of this state, to prevent any prince fron,i 
ecoming too powerful in Lombardy, by the acquisition of 
Milan : but when an irresistible course of events transferred 
the latter sute to Spain, the senate consoled itself with the 
reflection, that it was desirable to have a neighbor so pow- 
erful as to be under no temptation to aggrandize himself at 
the expense of the republic ; and who besides could not 
adopt measures of that nature, without exciting the alarm 
of the other powers of Europe. 

Genoa had placed herself under the protection of France; 
and the greater part of her nobles were soldiers in the ser- 
vice of Francis the First : but this state of dependance was 
not even compensated by internal repose ; as the factions 
of the Adorni and Fregosi continued to disturb with their 
broils, the tranquillity of the siat^. At length Andrew 
Doria, who had been injured by the court of France, re- 
solved to become the Timoleon of Genoa, and to confer 
upon his country the benefits of freedom and laws. 

In order to accomplish his purpose, he entered into 
connection with Charles the Fifth, appeared unexpectedly 
before the city, and was admitted. A. D. 1528. He be- 
gan like Thrasybulus, by publishing amnesty ; and pro- 
ceeded to unite the different parties by intermarriages and 
other civil connections. Far from attemptbg, under pre- 
tence of the public good, to arrogate to himself an odious 
pre-eminence, he made all tlie citizens of any degree of 
respectability, with the exception only of the Adorni and 
Fregosi, eligible to the government : and after having en- 
acted that a doge should be chosen every two years, and 
that the state should be governed under his presidency by 
eight govematori, and by a council of four hundred, Doria 
retired to the simple station of a Senator. This great man, 
in his 87th year, commanded the fleet which secured to the 
Genoese the possession of the island of Corsica (A. D. 
1560^ ; and died in his 94th year, without ever having ob- 
tained the dignity of doge. 

Corsica had been taken in former times from the Ara- 
bians, by Hugo Colonna, who delivered the island to the 



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1^ 



UKll^ERSAL HISTORY. 209 

ipe, anjd who afterwards held it as a fief from the latter. 

be citizens of Pisa deprived his (amily bf this possession: 
from them it was taken by the Genoese. There subsisted 
from that time an' hereditary enmity between the wealthy 
Genoese and the unpolished Corsicans. At length Sampiero 
of Basbelica, who had espoused the only daughter of the 
wealthy general Omano, pobted out to the French how 
advantageous arid easy it would be to drive the Genoese, 
who were allies of the Spaniards, from this post so im- 
portant to Italy. The French admiral, Paul de Termes, 
was supported in this undertaking by the fleet of the pasha 
Sulejman ; but their united efforts were unavailing against 
the valor and good fortune of Doria. After the death of 
the latter, Sampiero endeavored in vain to excite his 
countrymen to a systematic effort for the recovery of their 
independence ; and was at length himself put to death, 
either by the brother of his wife, whom he had murdered, 
or by an assassin in the pay of the Genoese. 



SECTION X. 

FLORENCE. 

The revolutions of the Florentines ended in the destruc- 
tion of the republican form oPtheir constitution. 

Piero de Medici, the son of the celebrated Lorenzo, 
was a man of amiable disposition, a perfectly accomplished 
knight, and a ruler of considerable talents ; but (like all 
the members of his family) too much addicted to pleasure, 
and not possessed of sufficient self-control for the circum- 
stances in which he was placed. On the invasion of 
Charles the Eighth (A. D. 1494), seeing no possible means 
olf resisting the power of France, he delivered up Pisa and 
Leghorn to the troops of that natiofi, without a formal con- 
sultation of the authorities of the state. This step drew 
on him the hatred of the Florentines to such a degree, that 
he was obliged, from regard to his Mra safety, to leave the 
city : his palaces were plundere^frhis family was con- 
demned to banishment, and a price set upon their heads. 

VOL. III. 18* 



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210 CVIVBB8AL HisTonr. 

Piero had abandoned himself^ and was of course deserted 

by bis friends. 

During the four foUowing years, the people were chiefly 
guided by the preaching of a dominican iriar named Sa- 
vonarola, an orator, who to the ardent zeal of a prophet, 
added the spirit of a republican. He was at last burnt 
alive as a heretic ; and after hb death Florence approached 
with rapid strides to the condition of a lawless democracy : 
the deliberations of the coyncil lost their authority ; every- 
thing was determined by party spirit ; the most respectable 
of the citizens withdrew from public business ; and the vir- 
tuous gonfaloniere, Soderini, was scarcely able to preserve 
the appearance of order. Even under this irregular con- 
stitution the Florentmes subdued Pisa (A. D. 1509), and 
bade defiance to the pope ; but Julius, to punish them, 
employed his > influence at the court of Spain, and having 
by its means procured the assistance of Naples (A. D. 
1512), replaced Julian and John de Medici, brothers of 
Piero, who was already dead, in the authority which their 
house had possessed at Florence, eighteen years before. 

After the decease of Julius the Second, John, the younger 
of these brothers, was chosen as his successor (A. D. 
1513), under the name of Leo the Tenth. His influence, 
and tne necessity of preventing the recurrence of similar 
disorders, confirmed the authority of his amiable brother 
Julian ; and, after the premature death of the latter (A. D. 
1516), that of his nephew Lorenzo, the son of Piero. 
Tliese prbces rendered their era illustrious by the unex^ 
ampled liberality of the patronage which they bestowed oq 
the arts and sciences ; while they secured the attachment 
of the multitude by their liberality. A specious pretext 
having presented itself for expelling the family of Kovere 
from Urbino, Leo subjected bimselt and the church to th9 
expense of eight hundred thousand ducats, for the purpose 
of putting Lorenzo in possession of that dukedom. 

li was for this secona Lorenzo, that the Florentine se- 
cretary of state, Nicholas Macchiavelli designed his political 
work entided '* the Prince." This author, in his excellent 
essay on the history 4kf Livy, had already displayed the 
principles on which the foundation and support of republi- 




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can governments depend. In his later work he drew u, 
portrait of the arts of tyrants, which it is necessary to know 
in order to be able to defeat them. In this book he flattered 
tlie views of Lorenzo ; who, in an age in which it was Evi- 
dent to evqry statesman that the weakness of Italy was 
owing to its division into so many small states, had con- 
ceived the apparently feasible project of obtaining posses- 
sion of Lucca and Siena, fortifying Florence, and thus 
founding a new Italian kingdom which should extend from 
sea to sea. This plan, which was strengthened by Lorenzo's 
relationship to Leo the Tenth, the friendship of Francis the 
First, and the mutual jealousy of , those powers who, if 
united, might have defeated it, was frustrated by the death 
of Lorenzo, which happened in the 27th year of his age. 
A. D. 1519. He was the last prince of the male line of 
Cosmo, the father of his country ; and left only a daughter, 
the celebrated Catharine de Medici,, afterwards queen bf 
France. 

Shordy after the death of Lorenzo ,and of Leo the Tenth, 
Zanobi feuondelmonti and Luigi Alamani, two of Machi- 
avel's most intimate friends, conspired to rescue their couht 
try from the domination of Cardinal Julius, a natural son 
01 that brother of Llorenzo who had been murdered by the 
Pazzi. They were supported in this undertaking by Car- 
dinal Soderini, at the court of pope Hadrian the Sixth ; 
who, himself a native of the Netherlands, was unacquainted 
with th^ violent passions and factious views of the parties of 
Italy. Julius adhered to the emperor's party, and entered 
into the great league against the dominion of the French 
in Italy : and on the death of Hadrian, he was supported 
by the imperial interests, and elected pope with the tide of 
Clement die Seventh. A. D. 1523. Julius managed his 
affairs so artfully, that his elevation to the papal chair wa$ 
chiefly owing to the prince who had resolved on his ruin ; 
and, notwithstanding his libertine manners, he gained the 
'confidence pf the severe Hadriari. When he became 
pope, he would gladly have preserved the neuti'ality which 
oecume the common father of the contending parties ; but 
the vehement rivalry of Francis the First and Charles the 
Fifth, involved him in their quarrels : he was obliged to 



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212 UNIVCRSAIi HISTOBT. 

expose himself to the vicissitudes of their 6>rtunes, and fell^ 
on the decline of the French power m Italy, into the ut« 
most difficulties : for at this penod, George of Frundsperg, 
an imperial general, plundered Rome with as little mercy 
as the Groths had formerly exercised, and besieged the 
pope himself in the castle of St. Angelo. A. D. 1527. 
Alexander, the natural son of Julius, or of the second Lo- 
renzo, who was director of public affiiirs at Florence, now 
sought his safety in flight ; and upon this occasion the an- 
cient freedom of the constitution was restored under the 
gonfaloniere Capponi. 

But the house of Medici arose from this temporary de- 
cay to permanent greatness. A. D. 1529. Clement con- 
cluded a treaty of peace and alliance with the emperor, 
who gave his illegitimate daughter, Margaret, to Alex- 
ander, and engaged to put his son-in-law in possession of 
the ancient wealth and authority of his family. The Flo- 
rentines resisted this arrangement; and the city was besieged 
during ten months by the emperor's army ; at first, under 
the command of the last prince of Chalons-Orange, and 
after his death, under that of Ferdinand Gonzaga. After 
having exhausted all their means of defence, the citizens 
laid down their arms (A. D. 1530) ; begging at the same 
time that a regular form of government might be established 
within three months. The emperor, upon this nominated 
Alexander de' Medici as hereditaiy duke of Florence : -six 
of the enemies of his family were beheaded, and the rest 
Either detained in prison or banished. . 

Alexander, after the example of the ancient tyrants, built 
a citadel for the security of his person and authority : he 
took upon himself the supreme direction of afiairs of all 
kinds, and abolished the office of gonfaloniere of justice. 
Twelve citizens were appointed reformers; and from these 
he received the palace and the whole authority of the an- 
cient government : forty-eight citizens were appointed as 
counsellors of state, fdur of whom were to fulfil the duties 
of the office, and to be replaced by an equal number every 
three months. The ordmary busmess of the interior was 
committed to the council of two hundred, but under the 
direction of the reigning sovereign. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 213 

The duke conducted bis government on prudent and 
moderate maxims, until Lorentino, another member of the 
house of Medici, probably envious that a spurious branch 
of the family had possessed himself of the power, under- 
took, with great artfulness, to effect his ruin. He resolved 
to deprive him of the love and veneration of ll^e people 
before he attempted his life ; and his first step for this pur- 
pose was to acquire the confidence of the duke. Th«y 
studied Tacitus together : and when Alexander's mild dis- 
position startled at the malicious tyranny of Tiberius, his 
friend demonstrated to him how necessary it would be to 
adopt such measures in a country which had but lately lost 
its freedom ; and (developed so profound a system of policy, . 
that the duke soon began to rely implicidy on his judgment. 
LoreJitino flattered his voluptuous dispositions ; and while 
he abused all die powers with which he was entrusted, 
affected to lament that the severity of the sovereign com- 
pelled him tp sdch conduct, and took opportunities to point 
out to the Florentines the dangers to which the chastity of 
their wives and daughters was exposed. He obtained so 
completely the confidence of the duke, that he caused se- 
cret stairs to be made, by means of which he could at all 
hours, and unperceived, gain access to his chamber. 
When he supposed that the minds of men were worked up 
by his arts to a proper pitch of irritation, he assassinated 
the duke, and called on the people to assert their freedom. 
A. D. 1637. 

The young Cosmo de' Medici, a descendant of a brother 
of that Cosmo who was called the father of his country, 
prevented, by his presence of mind, the success of this enr 
terprize. He took his measures with so much celerity, 
that the more prudent among the citizens, independent pf 
the obstacles which the state of Europe at that time pre- 
sented, thought proper to abandon the idea of re-establish- 
ing the republic. Lorentino took flight ; but a faithful ser- 
vant of the murdered duke pursued him during nine 
years, through different countries, and ultimately put him 
to death. 

Cosmo, the first grand duke of Tuscany, really deserved 
this tide, which he received from pope Pius the Fifdii 



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214 UNIVEBSAL HISTORY. 

(A. D. 1569), and which was confii:med to his son by the 
emperor Maximilian the Second. A. D. 1555. In the 
course of his reign, which was as wise, as fortunate, and 
almost as long as that of Augustus, the Florentines forgot 
the former republican constitution of their government. 
He conciliated the good will both of the French and 
Spaniards ; abstained from all domestic confiscations ; and, 
though he made no enactment by which the ecclesiastics 
were prevented from acquiring landed property, he for- 
bade the notaries to make legal attestations of such con- 
tracts. 

From the survey which we have just taken, it appears, 
that at the time when Charles the Fifth abandoned the 
government, Milan and Naples were in the power of bis 
son, and Genoa and the grand duke in his interest ; Mar- 

Piret, the widow of Alexander, had married tlie duke of 
arma ; the Gonzaga had noither the power nor the im- 
prudence to undertake any thine hostile to 'the tranquillity 
of Lombardy; the senate of Venice was. desirous only of 

Eeace ; and the pope was the natural ally of the catholic 
ing. The knights of St. John, to whom Charles the 
Fifth had given die islands of Malta and Gozo, under con- 
ditions which kept them in a kind of dependence on the 
king of Sicily, contributed to keep the seas and coasts free 
from pirites. Italy was flourishing from its natural fertility 
and the eflfects of its ancient cultivation, and in the expec- 
tation of a durable peace : in the sunshine of prosperi^, it 
lost the ancient spirit of enterprize which had ' raised so 
many of its states to the proud eminence of freedom and 
greatness, yet its people bad now teisure to resign them- 
selves in security to the enjoyment of pleasure and re- 
pose. 



SECTION XI. 

SAVOY AND GENEVA. 

The house of Savoy, whose prosperitv had been great- 
ly dist^irbed by the unfortunate part it nad taken against 



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DNITERSAL BISTORT. -216 

the confederates in the war of Burgundy, as well as by fac- 
tions and the frequent vicissitudes of policy incident to 
short reigns and minorities, appeared now to be totally 
ruined by the still more c£(lamitous occurrences which at- 
tended the reign of Charles the Third. A. D. 1536. 
That duke having joined the party of the emperor against 
Francis the First, the kin^ seized a favorable opportunity 
of entering into an intimate connexion with Bern, con- 

Suered Savoy, and leaving the Swiss in possession of all 
le shores of the lake of Geneva, and of the whole dis- 
trict of the Pays , de Vaud, hastened to incorporate the 
duchy with the dominions of France, and erect a parlia- 
ment in Chambery. 

The inhabitants of the Canton of Bern had long taken 
a lively interest in the struggle in which Geneva was in- 
*cessantly engaged with the house of Savoy. Savoyard 
noblemen had been, during a long series of years, the 
bishops and magistrates of that city : and the dukes were 
constantly bent on the project of making themselves mas- 
ters of the place ; which was of extreme importance to 
them, not only on account of its situation, but of the spirit 
of freedom which animated its inhabitants, and which, un- 
less they could contrive some means of extinguisliing it, 
would probably at length ihfect their own towns in the 
Pays de Vaud. They had similar views with regard to 
Lausanne, which, as well as Geneva, was the theatre of 
that incessant agitation inevitable in those states where thel 
rights of a powerful body of citizens, and the authority of 
an ecclesiastical prince, are not sufficiently distinguished 
from each other. The dukes had, in reality, no justifiable 
pretext for interfering in the affairs c^ these cities i but 
they had often found means, under the administration of 
weak and dependent bishops, to cause the public business 
to be committed to their own management ; and in favor- 
able conjunctures, afforded by the dissensions between the 
bishops and the people, had assumed to themselves the 
menacing office of mediators. 

The Genevese-, whose forefathers had chiefly been in- ' 
duced by the attractions of freedom to choose this city for 
their place of residence, kept a. watchful eye on every ille- 



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&16 xmavzMAL histobt. 

gal innovation which the bishops might be inclined to at- 
tempt in favor of the projects of their ambitious neigh- 
bors, and strengthened their own party by alliances. The 
first of these was concluded with Freiburg, which had for- 
merly been* rescued from the power of Savoy by the as- 
sistance of Bern. The intimate connexion between these 
two cities, together with the influence of the new opinions 
in matters of faith, soon produced alliances between Bern 
and Geneva : and it was owing to this connexion tliat the 
latter city, in which the love of liberty was superior to 
every other consideration, escaped subjection to ecclesias- 
tical and temporal tyranny. Freiburg refused to have any 
fartlier connexion with innovators on the ancient faith. 

The citizens of Bern, however, while they appeared 
only as protectors of Geneva, made so judicious an use of 
the advantages of their situation, that the Pays de Vaud 
fell under their dominion : for the duke of Savoy was re- 
duced to the necessity of putting them in' possession, as a 
pledge for the maintenance of peace, of that district ; by 
which they obtained an acquisition equal to a third part of 
their former territory. It was not difficult, under theise 
circumstances, to find a specious pretext, in the hatred of 
the nobles against the citizens, or in other causes, for con- 
verting this acquisition into a permanent conquest ; and the 
rupture which took place between the duke and France 
facilitated the execution of the plan. Bern received no 
assistance in this afiair from the other cantons of Switzer- 
land : on the contraiT, most of- those states saw, with dis- 
satisfaction, that the t^ays de Vaud was torn from a catho- 
lic prince, and that Bern, the object of their jealousy, be- 
came still more powerful by the acquisition. Bern, in 
order to render its preservation the more easy, invited 
Freiburg and Valais to participate in the prize ; and when 
Chablais, as well as the Pays de Vaud, had been subdued, 
the citizens of Bern showed an inclination to protect Gene- 
va nearly in the same manner as Lausanne, and laid claim 
to the property of the expelled chapter of the cathedral, 
and to some pther ecclesiastical possessions ; in which at- 
tempt, however, they were disappointed. The bishop, 
Peter von Baume, had declared himself decidedly on the 



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vnpnoMA xnvosr. 217 

^(96^ df the duke; unci ar the state of afiain ia the c^ 
iSotded ho other prospect than thet of the destruction of 
his religious dignity, as weH as of Us t^nporal power, his 
conduct in this respect was exactly that which might have 
been expected : he quitted the city, and his power was 
now formally declared to be abolished. The stune pro«< 
cedure took (dace at Lausanne ; with this difierence, that 
as at Geneva the community took possession of the con* 
focated^ property of the church, so the senate of Bern 
here assumed to themselves the rights of the prince and 
biihbp, Sebastian de Montfaucon, who had thought proper 
to abscond,, and from whom all « prospect of reconciliation 
ttith his people was cut off by the reformation of the church 
Which the senate introduced. 

Things remained in this situation until Henry the Second , 
itii PhSip the Second cmicluded the peace of Cfaateatt 
G^»nbf6sis, after the defeat of the French at the batde of 
St. Quentin (A. D. 1559) ; whm, in pursuance of thai 
treaty, Eflaanuel Philibert of Savoy, samamed Iron-head, 
fl^rti his powers of endurance, was reinstated m his hei*ed* 
itary dukedom. This arrangement compelled the senate 
df Bern and their confederates, to abandon the iarther side 
of the lake of Geneva Chablais, and the smaH territory 
of Gex situated at the principal pass of Mount Jura. A. 
D. 1564v They retained the Pays de Vaud, and it was 
evident that this cirii^umstanCe was not easily to be forgot- 
ten : for the nobles of that country formed several conspi- 
i^cieS to restore it to the authority of the duke ; and the 
6thef Swiss cantons, in all the treaties which they con* 
eluded with the house of Savoy, during upwards* of a cen* 
tury, engaged to give the people of Bern no assistance to* 
wards defending that territory. 

Geneva was surrounded by the dominions of an active 
and prudent prince, supported by the power of Spain, and 
by an exasperated noMHty : it was sorpetimes af enmity 
with France, and detested by her as the mother and 
illtylum of the Huguenoid; and, when in aUianoe i^ith 
Fi^sMcC) cdold expect no dssistarice from die distracted 
t^fk^i^ovf of that kingdom : it was often shaken to its 
ftflMllidons by interna) dissensions; but it subsisted' notr ' 

VOL. xu. 19 



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218 UKXTSBSJkL HWTCmX. 

wid)staiidiiig all these dangers, supfxvted hy the Tutimi 
with which the lore of freedom inspired its magnanimoitf 
citizens, and by ^e activity and vigilance of the illustrious 
directors of its affiiirs. Its distinguished moral power so 
raised the reputatbn of this state, that it was often a party 
to the negociauons of tlie great powers of Europe; and 
it was almost the principal seat of a religious sect, which, 
however, did not take its origin in this city. 

The constitution of Geneva was free, but not accurately 
defined : and from this cause the government was fre- 
quently obliged to adopt sudden and secret resolutions on 
matters of the highest import ; while at other times the 
people were assembled to deliberate on the most minute 
regulations of police. Less regard was paid to the num* 
her or the names of those to whom the afiairs of the state 
were committed, than to their political virtue and wisdom; 
and the citizens were in the habit of comparing the cooh 
dition of Geneva with that of other countries, which en^ 
joyed a lower d^ree of freedom, instead of making in- 
vidious comparisons among themselves. Hence private 
ambition was lost in the sentiment of the gk>ry of their 
country ; and the authority of the magistrates, though it 
was deficient in the sanction which time imparts to ancient 
institutions, was founded on distinguished abilities and pop- 
ularity, which are in all countries its proper and legitimate' 
support. The citizens of Geneva borrowed some of the 
forms, of their constitution from the Swiss- cantons; but 
they imbibed a spirit which ,was peculiar to themselves, and 
which gave to this little republic a venerable and eternally 
memorable place in the history of human nature. 



SECTION xn. 

awiTzxiojafp. 

The spirit of rivalry that subsisted jn Switzerland, be- 
tween the inhabitants of the towns and those of the coun- 
try, was ibi^otten in the more vehement contests excited 
by the reformadon ; but there still esusted internal causci 



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of dispute between the several miBiicqMlitiesaiiddieoounp 

try people under their immediate jurisdiction. This class 
OT rulers was that which was first exposed to the influence 
of foreign gold and military habits : these formed, ac- 
cording to the ideas prevalent at that time, a striking con- 
trast with the dignity and integrity of the administrators of 
a ^republic ; and this collision was productiva of so much 
indignation, that the people, who were, however, generally 
the unsuspecting instruments of secret counter-parties, 
made many insurrections, with the intention of depriving 
them of their honors and lives. 

The prudence and ascendency of the government of the 
canton of Bern preserved the country, at the conclusbo of 
tbewars of Milan, from universal anarchy ; and the only 
violent tumult which took place among the country people 
of that canton was quelled by the ^hultheiss, Jacob von 
Wattewyl, who manifested the dignity and firmness of ao 
ancient Roman. 

The patriotic spirit displayed by Zuinglius, whose sys- 
tem tended to habituate the nation to the domestic virtues, 
to justice and quietness, and to induce them to live on 
peaceable terms among the surrounding monarchies, but 
by no means in the relation of intimate friendship with 
them, alarmed the democratic leaders of the people for 
the revenue which they annually derived from Paris and 
Rome, and which had assisted in no small degree to sup- 
port the catholic religion in these democracies, distin- 
guished, amid the darkness of the middle ages, by their 
opposition to the encroachmcDts of ecclesiastical power. 
The veneration which is usually found among a natioD of 
shepherds for sensible representations and ancient rites, io 
the worship of the Deity, also contributed materially to the 
^same end; while, on the other hand, a mode of belief 
which approached much nearer to perfection, was accept* 
able to the more advanced state of civilization in the 
towns. The latter system was embraced by private per- 
sons of ordinary station ; and from its severity was agree- 
able to the popular idea, that the Dei^ is most acceptably 
served by the subjection of that part of our nature which 
appears to be the most dissimilar to perfect purity. 



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The |0vni8 which adopted the reiormed .religion, witii 
the consent and advice of their -communities and peasants 
n^ted the proposal of a league with France; forbade all 
their countrymen to enter into foreign military service ; and 
enacted that the punishment of death should be inflicted on 
all tliose who were convicted of receiving pensions : and 
it must be alknved that the population and prosperity of 
the country were for a considerable space of time pi'omo* 
ted by these regulations. 

The council at Bern determined to adopt the reforma- 
tion, at the period when the majority of the citizens and 
country people appeared to approve it. At Basel, Schaff- 
hansen, St. Galle, in the country of Glaris, and in part 
of Appenzel the voice of the people was declared in it& 
favor oy such tremendous movements, as manifested that 
opposition on the part of the authorides would be utterly 
in vain ; and even the magistrates themselves. were rather 
unwilling to admit the new creed from tlie mere dread of 
ionovation, than inclined to retain the ancient system on the 
ground of its own merits. On the contrary, whatever 
came from Zurich could not be well received in the pas* 
toral distriots ; and it is possible that the reformers might 
have attacked die opinions of. the honest fathers of these 
people, with too litde moderation : in Bern also, it was with 
extreme difficulty that the new faith could be established io 
thid mountains. But the common subjects of the union 
were in the most perplexed and confused condition : twice 
within diree years, civil war broke out between the ruling 
canton^ : and the catholic party, though the less numerous* 
eonsisting of men who were not to be enervated by seden«- 
tary trades nor by the adoption of any modern indulgences, • 
and who had in no degree departed from the simple life 
of their forefathers, commonly came off with the victory jf 
while the officers of the towns endeavored to conduct the 
war in the scientific manner followed by the soldiers of 
kings, and acted the part of half-instructed men, opposed 
to the hardy sons of nature. The catholics were, how- 
aver, under the necessity of consenting to reasonable terms 
of peace, because the towns were more powerful, and 
therefore in acondltiou to sustain the burden pf war for 



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tkpipnr time ; and Zuridi was, after a9, tliei^'best itiar- 

An equipoise was^ thus ^tabli^ed, and the confederates 
vrere imperceptibly led to tolerate both parties in the torn* 
mem dominions, of the union : but they were not brought to 
^is result by attending, to the suggestions of reason ; for 
even in our times, the most intolerant principles preyailed 
ia the exclusive dominions of individual cantons : and it 
appears that a republican government is not necessarily a 
free consutution, since it is possible that under it, men 
ma^ be forbidden to worship the Deity in the manner 
which they think best. The catholics of Switzerland, 
however, never permitted the introduction of the in- 
quisition ; and among the reformers, the exorbitant influence 
of the preachers was diminished in proportion to the ex- 
tension of knowledge among other classes : so that at length 
every one was at liberty to think as he pleased, though he 
was permitted to teach only the established doctrine ; and 
in that age, and among states so feeble, these limitations 
may be excused. 

In the times immediately succeeding the reformation, the 
governments of the towns became more popular and peace- 
able in proportion, as the military spirit was taught to sub- 
mit itself to the laws. Among the reformed cantons, the 
greater part of the ancient vigor and hilarity of character 
was lost: the people became more domestic and industrious, 
but thdr enjoyment of life was diminished. 



SECTION xm. 

GBEAT BRITAIN. 

It would be difficult to name a country in which, during 
tbese ccmvulsions of the Christian world, the arbitrary wlU 
of the monarch exerted a more capricious influence over 
the determination of the most important questions of com^ 
science, than in England. The maxims of Henry the 
Seventh, and the lawless impetuosity of his successor, had 
enfeebled the parliament, and reduced it to a servile de- 

VCL. III. 19* » 



I i 



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peDdenea cm the wiD of the king ; while the oehWq^lM 
oeen destroyed and the commous ruined, in the wars te» 
tpreen the rival houses of York and Lancaster. The 
hierarchy, consisting of 60,000 individuals, the 13,000 
churches, and 645 monasteries, under their Italian chief^ 
who was possessed of the keys of die kii^dom of heaven, 
StUl constituted a body capable of maintaining its own will 
in opposition to that of the monarch; because the privileges 
enjoyed by their members and dieir property, effectual^' 
protected them against the encroachments of tyranny ; and 
because they were supported by that most universid and 
indelstructible power, which coerces even him who widds 
the sword and possesses the revenue,— the force of public 
opinion : but diis support was undermined by the reforma* 
ticm. 

Under Henry the Seventh, the acquirement of learning 
had begun to be extended ; the ancients became known, 
aoid communicated to their readers the sound understand* 
ing and the loitv and daring spirit which breathes through , 
their works. The light of reason thus imparted, was fatal 
to the age of chivalry, — ^when the nobility '* performed pil* 
grimages in countries which could never be found in fh« 
map ; and amused themselves by defying persons unknown 
to them, to single combat tat ladies whom they had 
never seen.'' The forests of Wales alone remained im* 

Krvious to the spirit of tiie age ; and were sdll governed 
^ barons, who, surrounded by marksmen, and on th^ 
guard dav and night against enemies, bestowed estates on 
such of their soldiers as distinguished themselves by theu: 
valor ; in order, to use the expression of Wynne, " to de- 
termine, by the prowess of these men, whether they or 
their neighbors snould be the first to salute." But even 
here, English and Latin were taught at Conway ; and at 
Caernarvoo, the commencement S[ dviKzatkxi was dis- 
cernible in the manners of the people. In Engbnd, fh* 
study of the ancients soon begin to produce a perceptible 
effect on the acquisition of science, and even on the tma^ 
ner of conducting business. 

This change was effected by men of the common class ; 
for the restprers^of learning were more frequendy oppressed 



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dtfa |»>t ri&4> One oiaa waa ohierred piiMaeiitiog Jam 
stiidiet by the side of a rireri and catching the pieces of 
wood diat occasioBilly floated down its current, in order 
to provide himself with fuel for the whiter ; another em«. 
pbyed his nights in making ahoes, that he might be at 
libarlf to study during the day. The love of independenosi 
which usually accompanies genius, induced Erasmus to 
gaia fa]^ livehhood by correcting books, at the time when 
Charles the Fifth and Henry the. Eighth were eaeerly^ in^ 
viting him to come to their courts. Grocyn, the nrst pro- 
fessor of Greek at Oxford, received no salary ; for a man 
who understood that language, was suspected of an incli* 
nation to heresy. Twenty grammar schools were however 
opened in a short time ^ and Thomas More read lectures 
before an assembly of the most respectable citizens of 
London, on Augustine's excellent work of the city of God. 
More himself, in his boldness before a haughty and all* 
powerful minister, in his immovable attachment to convie«» 
tioQs which were disasreeable to the kins, and in dia 

Suanimity with which he conducted himself on the aeafr 
d, displayed a spirit worthy of the ancients. • The libqr^ 
ality of hb mind still survives in his Utopia ; although that 
work proves that he was more capable of transporting himi*- 
self into former ages, than of transferring the spirit of dio 
ancient philosophy to his own times. These restorers of 
literature prq)ared the way for the reformation : they were 
not themselves its authors } for the external forms of Htm 
catholic religion wore more resemblance to the customs of 
the Greeks and Romans : but they put the humaA mind in 
motion, and the consequence was, that every thing was sub- 
jected to examination ; which was to be conducted in the 
sixteenth century, according to the history of the church ; 
in the seventeenth, according to the new philosophy ; and 
since the time of Bayle, according to the dictates of sober 
reason. 

Henry the Eighth was displeased with the pope, who 
refused to ^ve his sanction to the divorce between the kinE 
and his wife, the sister of Charles the Fifth : in the fury of 
his passion, he availed himself of the ideas rendered cur- 
rent by the reformation ; declared himself visible head of 



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Mi' mufiMAL 

tht einiich of hi$ kmgdom (A. D. 1584) ; ind bf fkb 
measure, destroyed in a moment, the autbori^ of the ca« 
nonical rights oi Rome. But wheo Heory Teotured arfai* 
trarily to impose the limits to the right of iufestigatioD, 
which the reformatiou necessarily pre-supposed, he in* 
volmi all parties in equal condemnation ; and several times 
atered his creed, as his passions prompted. 

A. D. 1547. Under his son £dward, the principles of 
the reformer of Geneva were introduced witn barbarous 
fury : the monastic libraries were destroyed^; the universi- 
ties were abandcxied; whole ship-loads of manuscripts 
were'sold to Flemish dealers, and others were consumed 
in cleaning plate and other domestic uses. The revolutioa 
under this prince, was the effect of passion long restrained 
' and rendered furious by opposidon. 

A. D. 1553. After the premature decease of this 
]mnce, his sister and successor Mary, prohibited all the in- 
novations which had been introduced during the nineteen 
years preceding : she sent a legation in testimony of her 
^obedience, to the pope ; maintained the authority of Rome 
with fire and sword, and married the catholic lung Philip 
the Second. Tliis connection appeared finally to turn on 
the side of Spain the balance ot power, which England 
had during forty years maintained between Charles and 
Francis. Henry the Second, although he had the good 
fortune to recover Calais from the English, the last prise 
of the victories of their Edwards, was compelled to enter 
mto a trea^ of peace with Philip. • 

During this century, the French endeavored to form 
connections with Scotland, in order to give the kings of 
England employment in their own island : but the former 
kingdom was never an equal match in power for the latter; 
and ft was besides so disturbed by mtemal dissensions, 
that most of the kings of ttie house of Stuart had fallen by 
an untimely death. Under such a state of affairs, it was 
scarcely to be expected that Mary, either during her long 
minoriQr, or her reign, devoted to levity and licentious in* 
trigues, could give energy to the sceptre of her fathers. 

Henry the Eighth,, when he declared all the British 
states an individual empire, had raised Ireland at the same 



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tirtie to the ran|c nt a kingdom. That coontrj, eren m 
those, tiipes, frequently refused to submit to the regulatbns 
of the English parliament, which were foreign to its maih» 
ners and often hostile to its interests : and at hngth, under 
the vice-royalty of Sir Edw(u-ds Poynings, the government 
of England was obliged to declare Ireland exempt from all 
taxes except those imposed by the Irish parliament ; and to 
acknowledge the legislative authority of that body, with 
respect to all acts passed by them, with the consent of the 
king in council. 



SECTION XIV. 

SCANDINAVIA. 

The long-continued struggle between Denmark and 
Sweden was decided against the house of Oldenburg, in 
consequence of a stroke of policy by means of which 
Christian the Second hoped to reduce the latter kingdom 
forevpr to a state of subjection. A. D. 1620. He had 
caused all those nobles who were obnoxious to him as de- 
fenders of the rights of Sweden, to be executed, contrary 
to all the principles of faith and justice ; and at the 
same time oppressed both kingdoms with unlawful im- 
posts. 

A. D. 1521. Under these circumstances, Crustavus 
Vasa, a leader who possessed the power of imparting to 
the people his heroic spirit, and whose views weie so just 
as to lead him to undertake no more than what was capa- 
ble of being carried into execution, raised his arm for the 
deliverance of Sweden. He first communicated his own 
enthusiasm to the intrepid and hardy miners of Dalecar- 
lia ; and Setting out at their head from the valleys of He- 
demora, appeared before the walls of the capital. 

A. D. 1623. The tyrannical monarch, a brother-in-law 
of Charles the Fifth, was deposed by his subjects of both 
countries, and lived six and thirty years in poverty and im- 
prisonment : and while Denmark was rendered hapg^ by 
the wisdom and mild government of his uncle, 



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erick the First, and his son and succoaaor ChmAm tbe^ 
Third, Sweden recovered its independence, and continued 
for nearly forty years to venerate the benefic^t virtues 
and mature wisdom of Grustavus. 
The whole of Scandinavia adopted the creed of Ludier. 

SECTION XV. 

POUINO, PRUSSIA, AND COUltLAND. 

Poland, under both the Sigiemunds, was well govern* 
ed, and enjoyed an age of prosperity. 

Albert of Brandenburg, the grand-master of the Teu« 
tonic knights in Prussia, sacrificed the duties of his order 
to the advantage of his family, A. D. 1525 : he declared 
himself of the Lutheran persuasion, married the daughter 
of Frederick king of Denmark, and accepted the heredi* 
tary dukedom of Prussia as a fief from Poland. He re- 
linquished for a sum of money the feudal lordship of Livo- 
nia, which had belonged to the former grand-masters ever 
since the coalition of the orders of knights of the cross 
and sword-bearers. 

By this arrangement, Walter von Plettenberg became 
independent military lord in the countries of Livonia and 
£sthonia, which last had been transferred a hundred and 
eighty years before by a Danish king, to Burkard of the ' 
three lions. Walter was raised to the rank of a prince 
of the German empire : but in the time of Gotthard Kett- 
ler, the Russian czar Ivan Vasilievitsch, under the pre- 
tence of liereditary right, but in reality with tlie view of 
approaching nearer to the more cultivated parts of Europe 
by means of the harbors of the Baltic, mvaded Livonia 
with the fury of a barbarian chieftain. A. D. 1560. In 
the universal terror, the people of Eslhonia placed them- 
selves under the protection of Sweden ; and the military 
lord transferred his rights to the king of Poland. The lat- 
ter followed the example of Albert of Prussia : he em- 
braced the Lutheran creed, married a princess of the house 
of Mecklenburgh, asd accepted Courland and Semgalliai 




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• mtiVKiuiAL HnTOinr. WT 

with the nmk of hereditary duke, as t fief from Pdltod* 
A. D. 1561. His family Vetained this acquiutbn a hun* 
dred and fifty years. 



SECTION XVI. 

BUSSIA. 

Ivan, the czar whom we have had occasion to mention 
in the last scc^on, had the same sentiment respecting the 
necessity of a reformation in his dominions, the same en- 
ergy and enthusiasm, as Peter the Great ; but, owing to 
^e rude state of the age in which he lived, he remained 
nevertheless a barbarian. He was the terror of his sub- 
jects, because he believed it indispensably necessary to 
exact from them implicit obedience. He conquered the 
great Tartaric countries of Casan and Astracan, and 
united them permanendy to his dominions. 

The Nomadic tribes of Baschkiria soon betook them-^ 
selves to his powerful protection. He received the pro- 
duce of their hunting excursions, and provided them in re- 
turn with salt ; for he traded in commodides of almost 
every kind. In order to facilitate the protection of tliese 
tribes, as well as to ensure their subjection, he restored 
the ancient Nogay residence of Ufa, which secured him 
the possession of a district extremely fertile, consisting of 
forests and meadows, and watered by rivers abounding in 
fish. 

Ivan endeavored, by all the means he could imagine, to 
gain the attachment of the hordes : he endced the Votjaks 
with cheap brandy ; he allowed Chrisdanity to be tau^ty 
but not to be forced on the natives ; and while civilized 
Europe was engaged in wars on account of religion, toler- 
ation reigned in the dominions of the czar. 

During his reign the Danes and Prussians began to di- 
vide the Lapponian territory on the shores of the Northern 
sea. None but seamen from Bergen and Drontbeira had 
visited these inhospitable coasts, and their proceedings were 
unknown to the rest of Europe^ until chance conducted 



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288 xmrrEmajOj bistoat. 

timber' lome stiJiM from Antwerp^ md now theseri 9f tb^ 
monks vm uroiisod uy coavey- to the Launders the (tox^ . 
solatioDS of religion. Kuriles and Ruasiaiis came after- 
wards into the .country ; the districts became more and 
more populous, and commerce extended itself, chiefly 
owing to the impulse dtdOnminiiiiiaTed to it by Simon von Sa- 
lingen. Even in this icy desert, contests arose relating to 
the boundaries ; and on the three kings^ day, at Kola, the 
Norwegians of Wardoehuus still protest against the occu- 
pation of the country by the Russians. 

Gustavus Vasa avoided the haughty czar, who refused 
to give audience to liis ambassadors and referied them to 
the governor of Novogorod. The same chief had replied 
to a request made by the king of Denmark for his media- 
tion, " that he could not comprehend how any man could 
propose that a czar, descended from the emperor Augustus, 
should enter into relations of any sort with a Swede, who 
was only an elective kinjg." In his transactions with Den- 
mark he acted also in the most arbitrary manner. To the 
commerce with the English he showed the greatest favor : 
Richard Chancellor and Sir Hugh Willoughby, having in 
bis reign undertaken a voyage of discovery to the north 
coast, discovered the harbor of Archangel. 

Jermdk Timofeov having found a pass through the 
Verchoturian mountains toward Sibenar- soon subdued 
Kutschum Chan, and presented Ivan with a kingdom a$ 
extensive as that which he received from his ancestors* 
From this time the dominion of the Russians extended 
itself continually towards the east, until, under Peter the 
Great, the extremity of the continent of Am was exploi^d. 
Departing, still later, from that boundary, tliey discovered 
the Aleutian, Fox, and Kurilian islands, the extensive pro- 
montory of Alaska, tlie great island Kadjak, and th« 
western shores of America. The boundaries of this ianh 
mense empire, on the sides of China and Sweden, were 
defined by treaties. 

Tribes of Finns inhabited the districts in the neighbor- 
hood of die capital, Tobolsk 5 Nogay Tartars dwelt in the 
d«sert regions of the copper mines, and beypnd them the 
tBarlikeivindepeBdent, and enterprising Kirg^ses. Around 



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VNIYEASAJU HISTOBT« 289 

die like of Aral the Karakalpaks contributed by their 
agrioulture to the power of the Kirgisian shepherds ; Mon- 
ies and Tungusesi the brethren of the Mandshurs who 
reign in China ; and Samoiedes, the descendants of the 
aborigines, who by the effect of their situation and ancient 
barbarism, are sunk into the deepest corruption of man- 
ners. 

Siich was the vast extent of power which Russia attained 
under Ivan Vasilievitsch, although science had disappeared 
10 consequence of domestic wars, and through the subjection of 
the country to the Tartars. So great was the ignorance that 
prevailed, that when Christian the Third of Denmark pre- 
sented the czar with a clock,^ that prince refused to receive 
it, and returned answer, <^ that such a piece of enchantment 
was not fit for a Christian king who believed in one (rod, 
and who was resolved to have nothing to do with the 
pfenets." 

Moscow, the qapttal, was fourteen miles in circumfer- 
ence, and was surrounded by three walls,, with batdements 
of di&rent colors. The fortress called the Kremlin, 
which was the residence of the czar, the patriarch, and the 
chief dignitaries of the clergy, was fcurtified by strong tow- 
ers and by walls of enormous thickness. Five and thirty 
churches, covered with gilt or silvered metallic plates, pre- 
sented a glittering spectacle to all the country within view 
et the city ; and m die tower of Ivan Veliki was a bell of 
prodigious dimensions, which was rung for the amusement 
of the mighty potentate. At the end of the great place 
was the temple , of Jerusalem. The Russians trembled 
before the bonHidless authority of their monarch ; and the 
;of Europe indistincdy' perceived his fearful power. 



SECTION xvn. 

ime OTTOIUH BMPIBX AITD THE NOBTH OJ AFBICA. 

The high and mighty Solyman, the conqueror of half 
Slimgary, whom diirteen batdes had rendered the terror 
of Germany, who was the confederate of Francis the First, 

VOL. HI. 20 



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230 UNIVERSAI* HI8T0&T. 

i 

and who now filled the throne of the Ottoman padishas, 
endeavored, like the czar, to raise bis people from their 
state of barbarism by a better regulated plan of govern* 
ment ; and with that view, modelled the court in a more 
splendid manner, and organized the divan. But he sacri* 
ficed Mustapha, Bajessid, and four others of his sons, to- 
gether with fifty thousand of their adherents, to his suspi- 
cions : this act gave occasion to the custom of keeping me 
successor to the throne shut up among'women and eunuchs; 
and from this epoch the degeneracy of the family may be 
dated. 

During his reign, and under his protection, arose the 
African republics, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Aruk 
Barbarossa, the son of a potter of Lesbos, whose lofty 
mind was capable of the boldest plans, with die assistance 
of a number of young men who were devoted to him, de- 
livered Algiers from the Spaniards. His companions in 
arms elevated him to the supreme command 5 and he, like 
a true tyrant, caused all those persons to be put to death 
who might have endangered the security of his new power : 
this gave rise to a conspiracy, by which the Spaniards were 
invited to return ; but their Vessels foundered within view 
of the city. Aruk, with only a thousand men, afterwards 
overthrew the ruling dynasty of Abu Hafs at Tunis ; and 
he was engaged in the taking of Telemsan when he heard 
of the preparations of the king of Spain : he marched to 
meet his enemy like a hero, and fell on the field of batde. 
A. D. 1617. 

The soldiers chose his brother Shereddin to succeed 
him ; who concluded a defensive alliance with the sultan, 
received from Constantinople some troops of janissaries 
and ships, and fortified Algiers. Francois de la Garde 
shortly after made him an offer of the friendship of Fran- 
cis the First, which he accepted ; and in conjunction with 
the admiral Enghien, he assisted the most Chi;istian king 
to plunder the coasts of his Catholic majesty, especially 
those of Naples. 

About the same period died Mohammed, who had re- 
established the authority of the dynastjr of Abu Hafs at 
Tunis. Hassan, who was his favorite among four and 



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UNTVKRSAL UVfTOKT. 281 

diirty sons, and whom he had declared bis successor, in 
order to secure his father from the irresolution incident to^ 
old age, had poisoned him immediately after the execution ^ 
of the testament, and afterwards murdered his bn>dsers. 
One of them, however, named Raschid, escaped to Al- 
giers, and was sent to Solyman 5 who espoused his quarrel, 
and equipped a fleet of two hundred and fifty vessels in 
order to place him on the throne of his ancestors. After 
the capture of Tunis, Tripoli was taken from Don Pedro 
de Navarra by Shereddin Barbarossa. 

Hassan, the murderer of his father and brothers, fled to 
Charles the Fifth, who resolved to embrace tliis pretence 
for taking possession of the coast, and sent over a Spanish 
army ia a fleet of five hundred vessels. Sinan lay m tlie 
Goletta with six thousand men, and Shereddin himself was 
posted under the artillery of Tunis with fifty thousand. 
The Spanish army was inspired with the ancient enthusH 
asm of the knights of the cross ; their fire stormed tlie 
fortress, and even Shereddin was obliged to give way. At 
this moment ten thousand Christian slaves burst their fet- 
ters and made themselves masters of the citadel of Tunis, 
This day cost the lives of thirty thousand of the people of 
Tunis. Shereddin retreated into the interior of the coun- 
try, and the Spaniards plundered the seat of the power of 
the Abuhafide. Hassan wasput in possession of the coun- 
try : he gave up the harbor to the emperor, and Tripoli 
was placed under the direction of the knights of St. 
John. 

These occurrences only served to inflame the rage of 
Shereddin against the coa^ of Italy. Charles's fleet was 
destroyed by a violent tempest; and the knights of St. John 
were soon driven from Tripoli. 

We shall see, in the foDowing Book, how the power of 
the SherlSs was established at this period in Morocco. 



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2tt uNxrxBaAL HifiTOwr. 

sEcHoii^ xvm. 

ooncLnsioir oi* tHS age of chables the riTTR. 

Charies reckoned among his dominions the greater part 
of the roost fertile provinces, and of the most warlike na» 
tions of Europe : he was sole master of the treasures 
of America ; and the power of his fortunate son was now 
so much augmented by his marriage with, Mary, queen of 
England, that France was obliged to seek alliances against 
him in Sweden^ at Constantinople, and among the protes-- 
tants of Grermany. 

Russia wasemerging from its barbarism ; and the Otto- 
man empire had long been the terror of the civilized world. 
Either of these powers, should their energy be increased 
by improved laws and customs, might shake the system of 
European society to its foundations. 

The revolution ultimately e^cted in commerce and in 
d)e relations of polidcal power by the gold mines of Peni^ 
was in progress, but was not yet developed. The human 
mind, more adventurous and enlightened than in former 
ages, but too much occupied by controversies which it is 
not possible to decide, was in commotion. Great altera- 
tions had taken place since the time of Lewis the Eleventh, 
and still greater changes were to be expected ; for every 
thing was out of proportion, and the rulers of the great 
states of Europe were more formidable from ^e extent 
of their dominions, than from their Ability to animate 
and govern them, or to avail themselves of their re-* 
sources. 



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BOOK XX. 

TOE AGX OF PHIUP THE SECOND. A. O. l6S*-ttn 



SECTION 1. 

PHILIP THE SECOND. 

Philip tbe Second, the only legitimate son of Charles 
the Fifth, was about twenty-nine years old when he suc- 
ceeded to the inheritance of the sovereignty of Spain, Na- 
$les, Milan, Scily, Upper Burgundy, all the Netherlands, 
lexko, and Peru ; and he had already obtained the 
crowns of England and Ireland by his marriage with Mary. 
His father was still living when his general, Emanuel Phili- 
bert of Savoy, obtained the memorable victory at St. Quentin 
over the constable Montmorency, of which the late emperor 
said, that it opened to his son the way to Paris. His uncle 
Ferdinand was emperor, king of Bohemia and Hungary, 
and prince of the hereditary dominions of Austria. Of the 
nations subject to the house of Austria, some were martial 
in their temper and now accustomed to military discipline ; 
others acute, enterprising, and successful in the peaceful 
arts. The silver mines of Potosi were becoming continu- 
ally more productive : two of the most distinguished com- 
manders, Don Juan of Austria, his natural brother, and 
Alessandro Famese, the son of his illegitimate sister, were 
both in his service, and devoid of all pretensions to his 
crowns. The inhabitants of the South were completely 
reduced to obedience, though they had not yet beeig^so 
long inured to despotism as to have lost their energy of 
VOL. III. 20* 



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234 UNlVCRSAIr HISTOBT* 

character ; and the Flemings, who had been warmlj at* 
tached to his father, were well inclined to support their 
present master. 

No other prince was ppwerful enough to venture oo 
disputing the pre-eminence of f^ilip. His nephew Don 
Sebasdan, king of Portij^al, was a child : in France, the 
death of Henry the Second waS succeeded by the feeble 
administration of Francis the Second, and by the long 
minority of Charles the Nbth : in Sweden, the turbulent 
reign of the unfortunate Erich the Fourteenth had followed 
the decease of Gustavus Vasa : in Poland, the extinction of 
the dynasty of Jagello was the signal for the most destructive 
commotions ; and the sultans of Turkey kept themselves 
shut up in their seraglio* Among the republics, Genolia was 
in the interest of Spain ; Venice in fear of her power ; and 
the catholic part' of Switzerland in alliance with her against 
the protestant districts. The pope was often obliged, 
against his inclination, to support the Catholic king ; be* 
cause the latter had taken upon hiqiself the office of de« 
fender of the faith. 

With all these advantages Philip united a reflecting 
mind, systematic principles in politics, a keen and steady 
attention to all such events as might happen b any countty 
to favor his interests, great perseverance, admirable firro« 
ness under adverse occurrences, and an appearance of 
devotion calculated to make a strong impression on thd 
people, together with that stately reserve which the multi- 
tude mistakes for dignity. Notwithstanding this severity 
of deportment, his manners were affable and gracious, when 
he chose lo assume that character. He suflfered nothmg 
to stand in the way of his undertakings : he regarded re- 
ligion and crime as two instruments, of which he equaUy 
availed himself without hesitation, according as either was 
suitable to his purposes ; for he seemed to think that the 
performance of certain exterior rites of devotion, and a 
strict adherence in religious opinions to the keys of Rome, 
gave him unbounded license in all other respects. , 

The natural gloom of bis disposition extended its infiu* 
enge over his violent passions, with which he combined a 
host of political prejudices ; for his inclinatbns were stiB 



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vntvvBSAh HiirroRT. 

ttoni despotic thdti'bis principles. He tboaghl tmfy of sa- 
crificing everj diing to his interest ; but never imagmed 
that his real interest could consist in the happiness of hia 
subjects, and in the confidence and esteem of the lieigb* 
bonng states. The only art of government which he em* 
ployed, was to terrify and abase all those to whom birth or 
wealth, or talent, had given any degree pf independent 
greatness ; and however decided his superiority, he could 
condescend to employ the meanest instruments, in order 
to compass, every object : united to a character such as 
this, which diffiised universal suspicion and disquietude, 
his political principles were a real misfortune ; for they 
only served to render him more persevering in pernicious 
undertakings. 

Philip has been compared, with justice, to Tiberius* 
Both these tyrants attempted and accomplished the abase-* 
ment of the character of their people ; both were equallv 
dreaded by their own families and by their subjects ; both 
full of the deepest dissimulation, cowardly, severe towards 
others, and licentious in tlieir own habits : but the tyranny 
of Philip was uniformly more insidious ; whereas Tiberius, 
at last, entirely diacarded the mask. They were both men 
of weak mmds : their souls were not sufficiendy vigorous to 
be capable of combining the sentiments of humanity with 
ifae possession of regal power. 

Mary queen of England died shordy after Philip's ac- 
cession to his other dominions (A. D. 1558] ; and he had 
rendered himself too odious to tl^ people ot diat nation, to 
hope to retain his influence over them, or to'^gab the hand 
of Mary's more prudent sister. His remembrance was 
inseparably connected in the minds of the English, with the 
loss of Calais ; and from the«decease of Mary he confined 
himself to Spain. 

'The judges of the inquisition soon began to develope the 
whole power of their horrid commission. Carranga, arch- 
bishop of Toledo, languished in despair eight years in the 
dungeons of Valladolid ; and if it had not been for the in- 
terference of the pope, he would have been burnt as a 
heretic. All the advantages which the natural fertility of 
the soil, the ancient example of Moorish industry, the Te- 



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236 UI^IVEHSAL BISTORT^ 

storatkm of learning, and the native energy of their mindfly 
seemed to have secured to th^ Spaniards, speedily disap- 
peared : the confidence of social intercourse was destroyed, 
and the pleasures of friendship were annihilated, by the 
pestilent activity of the spies employed by the court and 
the inauisition. The Moors of Grenada became weary of 
the yoke and made an insurrection : but the overwhehning 
ppwer of Philip subdued their spirit, and tliis occurrence 
only furnished his suspicious tyranny with new food and a 
fresh . pretext. He endeavored, in the same manner, to 
extinguish the spirit of liberty which from ancient times 
had distinguished the Flemings, and had rendered them so 
enterprising and opulent, but which, unquesuonably, con- 
tributed to the extension of the Lutheran doctrines among 
them. He resolved to introduce the inquisition and new 
taxes ; determined that there should be one mode of wor* 
ship and one Lord ; and, in the end, sacrificed his whQle 
interest in that country to these fantastic schemes^ 



SECTION n. 

THE NETHERLANDS. 

The ancient masters of the Netherlands, who had by 
degrees reclaimed the country which extends from the 
mouths of the Rhine to those of the Elbe and Weser, had 
no other means of performing this undertaking, than by in- 
viting men, by the attractions of security for property and 
social order, to settle among them. It was necessary to 
oppose the exertions of a great number of men to the in- 
. roads of the ocean ; for the 2uydersee, the Dollar, and the 
sea of Harlaem had, by sudden irruptions within the mem- 
ory of man, overwhelmed the insecure coasts with the 
waves of the ocean : hence it was requisite to protect the 
rest of the country by immense dams. But before such 
works could be undertaken as the cultivation of the heaths 
of Drenthe and Overyssel, or the improvement of the sands 
of Guelders, or the preservation of the rest of the Batavian 
peninsula, it was necessary that the inhabitants shquld be 



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wtntsBAt uftTter* 28r 

aaspred that they trere laboring for themselves «nd their 
children. Hence the ancient counts of this ooumry hed 
governed it with paternal mildness, and Philip the Good 
with his peculiar prudence and benevolence. When the 
necessities of the state increased, the exemptions were 
diminished; and the nobles, ecclesiastics, and citiiaens, 
when they became purchasers of lands subjected to the 
taxes, were with justice prevented from commooicating to 
such acquisitions their personal privileges, which would 
have had the effect of increasing the burdens of llie uopri- 
vileged class. But all the taxes on consumption^ or on the 
property of the inhabitants, were impoi^d witli the coosent 
of the states. 

Charles the Fifth several times gave these assembliee 
CMuse of alarm : but ancient laws and established custom 
justified his intolerance of innovators in matters of faith ; 
and when he required an augmentation of the impostOi 
he grounded his demand on the pressure of the circmm^ 
stances of the times, and gained the mipds of the people 
by his flattering manners. In fact, he respected his sub* 
jeets of the Netherlands, and promoted their interests. 

Philip was offended by the open simplicity of their man- 
ners : he was too proud to manifest any particular esteem 
for them, and he preferred the more obedient Spaniards as 
officers. By this conduct he offended the counts Egmont 
and Horn, and the prince of Orange, and thus provided 
leaders for the disaffected ; while all the odious and oppress* 
sive measures, which were devised by himself and his mi* 
nisters, strengthened the opposition. 

Under these circumstances, the king resolved to send 
the duke of Alva iilto the Netherlands, to terrify the »>• 
habitants into submission by his atrocities. A. D» 1567. 
,It has been computed, that in six years upwards of eighteen 
thousand individuals perished by the orders of this com- 
mander under the hand of the executioner. But Ae 
ministers of kings understand courts better than nations, . 
Alva knew how to calculate the number of tlie inhabitants^ 
and the measure of their physical powers ; and what were 
these compared with the resources of his master? But be 
had omitted in his calculation what the resolute firmness 



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JI38' tnffiTxmiAi. Hi8To&r# 

of an irritated people is capable of performine : be was 
tborougbljr acquainted witb the usual character of courtiers ; 
but he was incapable of coDceiving the strength of virtue 
such as was displayed in the prince of Orange. 

Count/WiUiani of Nassau had become prince of Orange 
by the will of his cousin Renatus, who, by bis mother's 
side, was the heir of Philibert the last prince of Orange, of 
the bouse of Chalons in Upper Burgundy. Philibert bad 
fallen, during the siege of Florence, in a combat widi the 
people of Pisa and Volterra, who were hastening to the re- 
lief of the Fbrentines. William possessed, in the county 
of Burgundy, the extensive estates of Chalons ; and in 
Flanders, those by' which the ancient house of Orange had 
been rewarded for its services to the dukes of Burgundy : 
at the same time he was royal staddiolder in the provinces 
of Holland, 2^aland, and Utrecht. He appeared, in de- 
claring himself on the side of the national rights, to hazard 
in every respeet, more than he could hope to gam ; espe- 
cially if we consider the irresoludon, the dissensions, and 
the inconsiderable resources of the multitude, and the 
jealousy of their leaders. 

His love of freedom, which the court might posably 
have tamed in the beginning by the adoption of the modt 
gende measures, was shocked at the idea of the fetters 
which he perceived the king to be preparing for the nobles, 
as well as for the citizens ; and he saw that no regard 
whatever was paid to the maxims of rectitude. William 
was not one of those enthusiastic heroes who inflame a peo- 
lie for the establishment of independence : he possessed 
\y no means an impassioned character ; but, on the con- 
trary, an unruffled tranquillity of mind, a cool understand- 
ing, and a native perception of right, which he maintained 
with great perseverance^ He exhibited the extraordinary 
union of the characteristics of a statesman, with the vir- 
tues of an ancient Roman ; and of the simple manners of a 
privzte citizen, with die sound and correct judgment of a 
man experienced in the world. 

As his only object was the public good, and as he' sacri- 
ficed bis own interest to those of Holland, he succeeded in 
uniting the different parties in pursuit of one object ; and 



t 



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UMIVK&SAL aisTovr. 2Si 

directed their measures witbout a title, and without their 
even perceiving the extent of his influence. By his ca- 

Eacity and his virtues he acquired their confidence ; and 
e was now equally inaccessible to the temptations and to 
the menaces of the court ; he was neither terrified with 
the sword of Alva, nor deceived by the arts of Ludwig von 
Reqiiesen ; nor perplexed by the boldness or by the arti* 
fices of Don Juan of Austria. • 

When Philip committed the task of reducing this coun* 
try to obedience to Alexander Farnese, the best general of 
his age, William found means to frustrate both his power 
and his military talents. The prince at length succeeded, 
by means of the compact concluded at Utrecht (A. D. 
1579), in uniting seven proviaces of oppoate constitutions 
and circumstances, in one republic : and aldiough there 
now existed neither a committee of the states-general, 
which had formerly been assembled, nor the privileges 
which were afterwards attached to the office of stadthdder, 
he remained at the head of the new confederacy. The 
fitates assembled in great numbers ; and bis courage, calm- 
fiess,' and penetration gave him that ccunmanding influence 
which the orators among the Greeks procured by their 
talents. 

The constitution of tlie unified Netherlands was simply 
that of a league for mutual defence against all enemies 
whatsoever ; and as this is necessarily a lasting cause of 
union, so the confederacy was declared to be permanent : 
but as this was their only common object, the consdtution 
of each separate province, town and district, remained un- 
changed, and subject only to such alterations as its inha* 
bitants might thmk proper to adopt. Their exertions 
in the cause of liberty arose naturally from the circum- 
stances of their country, which owed its very existence to 
freedom: for they could neither preserve their land, nor 
provide for their own sustenance without great exertions ; 
and great exertions are impossible among slaves. But 
even the nature of the country provided them with powers 
ful means of defence ; for as their labor was necessary to 
its preservation, so they oould at any time lay it under 
water. 



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BIS onirBKaAL histcuct* 

Thejr paid so little attention in the beginniiig of tfael^ 
career, to the plans of the constitution which they ultimate* 

Sr adopted, that they did not hesitate to offer the higbeit 
igni^ of their state. to Matthias of Austria^ brother of the 
emperor Rudolf, to Francis duke d'Alen^on, brother of 
the king of France, and to Robert earl of Leicester, the 
favorite of the queen of England. The Hollanders were 
ignorant of their own strength, and thought it an idle dream 
to imagine that they could support themselves by their 
own exertions, against the power of the Spanish monarchy ; 
and induced by this idea they Committed the dangerous 
mistake of putting themselves under the protection of the 
foreigners above-mentioned. Happily for them the arch^ 
duke was not a man of enterprise, when he saw that he 
had to do with a people who were not easily terrified ; the 
duke d'Alen^on, who was of a vehement character, but 
was destitute of fixed principles, marred bis own projects^ 
by manifesting too openly that he loiended to subjugate 
t^ose who hful applied to him for protection and defence ^ 
and earl Leicester, who knew no God but interest, and no 
country but the court, was not calculated to acquire infiu* 
ence among such a people. 

A. D. 1584. Before the new republic was secureh' 
seeded, the prince of Orange fell by assassination : tkxigh 
bom to great possessions be left behind bim nothing hat 
debts ; and he had endeavwed to secure no other fortunes 
for his sons, than- such as they might acquire for themselves 
by their virtue and abilities. Maurice, l»s first-bom, whose 
education had been conducted, according to the custom 
of otir forefathers, on the model of the ancients, had eager* 
ly adopted the Roman method of making war ; and when 
be bi^an to command the Hollanders, A. D. 1567, the 
officers who had grown old in service, ridiculed the learned 
rules which the young soldier wished to introduce. But 
Maurice, full of the genius of the ancients, raised hts views 
far above the precepts of Basta, Melzo, and Croce, the 
most esteemed teachers of the art of war in that age ; and 
began, in imitation of the Romans, by introducing military 
discipline, and a better method of encampment : in tte 
attack and defence of fortified places, which was the 



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VmrtBSAL MlStOltt. Ml 

•cience of which he stood most in need, he manifested ex- 
traordinaiy abXties'; ad weU as in the incessant invention 
of auxiliary resources, in opposition to the measures of 
Alexander. He had this one advantage over the Span- 
iards, that activity developed his talents, and his good for- 
tune increased his influence ; while the dural^on of the war 
consumed the treasure and the flower of the troops of 
Spain, and the success of Alexander excited the jealousy 
ot Philip. This general is said to have fallen a sacrifice 
to the vexations be experienced. A. D. 1592. 

Maurice, who was, stricdy so called, the first stadtholder, 
or* administrator of political power in the new republic, 
contrived to balance its relations, (A. D. 1587), bodi with 
France and England, so prudendy, that he happily pre- 
served its independence on each side ; and in the prose- 
cution of the Spanish war, secured the favor of both by 
ine«is of their common interests. 



sEcnoi* in. 

riUNCK. 

While the king of Spain was exerting himself in vain to 
subdue the Hollanders, he conceived the project of sub- 
jecting the French monarchy to his power, under the name 
of his favorite daughter, Clara Eugenia. 

After the peace of Chateau Cambresis, the French na- 
tion was dispirited, and its resources exhausted : an insur- 
rection took place in Guienne against the collectors ot the 
salt-duty ; agriculture was neglected ; and the capital, the 
citizens of which, as well as the nobility, were wholly ex- 
empt from the land-tax, began! to exert a very pernicious 
influence on the population of the provinces. The eccle- 
siastics complained of the^tax of a twenty-fifth, which had 
been imposed on the bells and church plate, and the pro- 
duce of which had been expended, by the policy of the 
state, in a war carried on in favor of the Protestants of 
Germany^ against a catholic emperor. Recourse was soon 
had to new forced loans ; and the iaiUe was augmented 

VOL. HI. 81 



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ftiH UHITSIUIAL Bit TOBT. 

exacily at the time when the spirit of party, emmttog 
from the court, was kindling the flames of domestic war, 
which necessarily diminished the productiveness of the 
country : this tax was quadrupled during the turbulent reign 
of Henry the Third. The court, instead of displaying 
the simple manners of the time of Lewis the Twelfth, or 
4he elegant refinement of Francis the First, was the theatre 
of the most shameless vice and of unpunished crime. 
Catharine de Medici, widow of Henry the Second, and 
mother of Francis the Second, Charles the Ninth, and 
Henry the Third, was a woman of a weak and narrow un- 
derstanding ; but licentious enough to make use indiffer- 
ently of the mask of 'virtue, or the abominations of tyran- 
ny, as they best suited her purpose. Public spirit was 
not yet entirely destroyed ; but the artifices of faction mis- 
led tbe opinions of , men with regard to the real advantage 
.of the state. One individual, the chancellor de I'Hopits^, 
whose genius and exalted soul deserves to be commemo- 
rated in' the histor) of human nature, employed the author- 
ity which tliis miserable age still allowed to the public voice, 
as expressed by the states-general, for the purpose of in- 
troducing a more perfect administration of justice; and 
excellent laws were promulgated by the assemblies at Blois 
and Moulins, under the most debased governments. This 
chancellor was the first who openly maintained that the 
sale of ofiices was advantageous ; contrary to the opinion 
of Catharine, who wished that court favor should be still 
more powerful than wealth, and who, in the certainty that 
she should have been no loser by the change, would wil- 
lingly have permitted the state to lose the revenue it derived 
from the appointment of counsellors of the parliaments. 
The abuse soon rose to such a height, that the sale of a£«- 
ces was again introduced, in a manner not without resem- 
. blance to the laws of the ancients. 

The divisions in the court of Francis the Second, where 
. several parties were striving for superiority, gave rise to 
the conspiracy at Amboise, the object of which was to 
break the formidable power of the dukes de Guise ; and 
excited many domestic wars, of which religion was the 
pretence or the watch-word. The harmless and reasonable 



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.demand of freedom in reKgious matters, was contended for 
by one party^ and refused by the otlier with increasing 
eagerness ; because the leader who embraced either side 
of the question, drew a multitude of people into bis interest. 
Hence the princes of the house of Bourbon, and the dukes 
de Guise, princes of Lorraine', carried on, under Chai*les 
the Ninth and Henry the Third, eight religions wars, the 
real causes of which were the weakness of the kings, and 
the approaching extinction of the dynasty of Valois. 

It was chiefly the levity of character which disgraced 
these two kings, both of whom w^re possessed of some 
good qualities, diat rendered them so easy to be misled by 
the influence of evil counsels. -Thus Charles the Ninth 
was induced to sully tlie annals of his country with the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew: a stroke of state policy 
against the Huguenots, which, like that of Christian the 
Second against the nobility of Sweden, was productive of 
as much mischief to the court, as to diose against whom it 
was directed ; for it converted that party into irreconcilable 
enemies, whose arms might have held in equipoise the 
overbearing power of the Guises. The vigor and talent 
which Henry the Third had in some instances manifested, 
were lost in his bvoof pleasure : and he thought to atone 
for his sins by penitential processions, without reflecting 
that other faults which he committed' in his kingly capacity, 
were the causes of his misfortunes. 

In this situation of ailairs, Philip expended the greater 

f)art of the revenue, which the contests in the Netherlands 
eft at his disposal, in fomenting the disturbances in France ; 
but the ambition of the party leaders counteracted bis de^ 
signs : for after Guise, on whom the hop^s of a great part 
of the nation were fixed, had been murdered by command 
of the king against whom he was continually m rebellion, 
each of his survivors chose rather to sell himself to the 
legki«viate successor^ than to cnntrihiite to subject his coun- 
try to. the yoke of die Spanish tyrant. 

Henry the Fourth, whose character was diametrically 
opposite, and who chose to display his indulgence for popu- 
lar prejudices in changing his religion, quickly succeeded 
in tranquillizing all parties ; and even in rendering France 



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8IPl CifWWMM* 

a Ibnnidable encmy^ to Spatn, ootmthstawlmg the civil mf 
of thirty years, in which the former natioa had been uk 
volved* During that struggle, amidst all its desolatiag 
eflfects, the excitemeot produced. by the agitatioa of inter* 
cats so powerful as those which had been the sources of 
contention, had imparted to the nation an energy which 
only stood in need of a better object. 

nenry the Second had left behind him a debt amount- 
ing to forty-two millions ; and Henry the Third, one of 
three hundred and thirty millions : but Henry the Fourth, 
although he was 'obliged to incur heavy expenses in order 
to defeat or to bribe his enemies, not only discharged all 
the state debts, but left a considerable sum in his treasury, 
together with an army competent to the greatest under<» 
takings. Sully, Henry's miniister, who dis|dayed as much 
heroism in his struggles against court intrigues, as his 
masttff in his contests with the Spaniards, had in that short 
spate of time, by the influence of his virtue and wisdom, 
retrieved the disordered affiiirs of the state : a striking ex- 
ample of what may be done for France, by the spirit of 
order, the courage and integrity of an individual. 

Philip, instead of becoming the father and umpire of 
Europe, as he would have been if he had employed his 
podigious power for the preservation of peace, rendered 
liimself the object of universal detestation by his fatsj am* 
bition. Henry the Fourtli, who was an excellent general, 
especially in the management of infantry, was not so ex- 
ten«vely learned in the whole compass of the art of wsr^ 
as prince Maurice of Orange ; but he was superior to him 
in the power of inspiring his soldiers with the ardor of en* 
thuaasm. His benevolent and amiable character, his recti- 
tude and intrepidi^, gave him the victory over all the in? 
sidious contrivances of Philip. 



SECTION IV. 

ENGLAND. 

' A. D. 1559. Elizabeth queen of England, the daughter 
of Henry the Eighth, and sister of Edward the Sixth andj 



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of Mary, was zealously supported by her subjects in her 
opposition to all the hostile projects of the Spaniards against 
die Protestants and the Netherlands. The tyranny of her 
father, which consisted in transitory oppression and in sin- 
gle instances of barbarity, had not destroyed the spirit of 
tne nation or undermined its laws. His arbitrary proceed- 
ings were endured, partly through the terror* which the 
court of the star-chamber inspired ; and partly because the 
influence of the peek's was so much diminished, the com- 
mons so much impoverished, and the king, enriched by 
the plunder of the monasteries, under so litde pecuniary 
difficulty 5 that the free spirit of the English nation could 
neithter control him by open resistance nor by the refusal 
of subsidies. Elizabeth was more frequendy under the 
necessity of applying to her faithful commons for supplies 
tdwards the prosecution of her wars against Philip, and 
these were granted without difficulty. The English 
cruisers were remunerated by the booty which the galleons 
from Mexico and Pern afforded them. The queen was 
able to accomplish all her objects, because she desired 
nothing but what was suitable to the spirit of the age ami 
of the nation. 

The enterprises of the English by sea, were as de- 
structive to the power of Spain, as those of prince Maurice 
and Henry the Fourth by land : and die naval power ofc 
the Spaniards niever recovered from the blow which its 
" invincible armada " received from the English and the 
Dutch. A. D. 1588. ^ 

The queen had sufficient understanding, and even learn- 
ing, to be able to distinguish, in the religious disputes of 
die age, the rational grounds of contention from those which 
had been overstrained by the spirit <rf party. She was a 
moderate protestant : she maintained, at the same time, 
with distinguished prudence, the dignity which became her 
station ; and displayed in great emergencies intrepid firm- 
ness. 

Refinement of taste and manners were cultivated as the 
means of gaining her approbation, and the knowledge of ' 
die ancients as the road to places of honor and profit. The 
military character of her age displayed something of ro- 

voL. in. 21* 



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SM6 tJmvXBAiJU V8X09Y. 

numtic qptodor, together with a cbivakous n^tiiii^^if 
respect towards the fair sex ; and at no former period had 
England possessed a greater number of eminent statesmen, 
warriors, and men of learning. Towards the end of tbif 
reign arose Bacon, the only man sbce the time of Aristotle^ 
who, surrounded with numerous and imposing errors, sur« 
veyed in one comprehensive view all that was yet knowny 
^d foresaw the future and more remote limits of human 
knowledge : he aroused the world to labor for the " aug- 
mentation of science," and the human mind was awakened 
ftom its tedious slumber. 

The militia con^sted of eighty-seven thousand men, half 
of whom were practised in military exercises : the cavalry 
^af fourteen thousand strong, of which number three thou- 
sand sOTved as light-horsemen ; and nine thousand men 
were engaged in other employments in the field and in 
fortresses. The militia of Yorkshire, and a part of the 
principality of Wales, and some garrisons in the Marchess 
|re not mcluded in these numbers. Sir John Smith was 
^principal teacher of tactics, apd Sir Robert William^ 
fndeavored to introduce the military discipline of the an- 
cient Romans. 

The queen had thirty-three ships of the fine, and b^ 
coasts were so well protected that they were seldom disr 
turbed by corsairs ; while those of Spam were often plun- 
dered by EngUsh commanders. A. b. 1580. Sir Fran- 
ei$ Drake made a voyage round the world ; and Richard 
Grenville discovered the country of Vingandecaow, which 
m honor of the queen was named Virginia, and where 
Raleigh and Smith founded the ^orth American colonii^s. 

Elizabeth's revenue did not exceed one million sterling. || 
t)ut the suppoit of her people was never refused to her ; 
fmd the parliament consented in this reign, for the first time, 
to double the subsidies. In sudden and very pressing 
fiSEipi^encies, however, the queen was under the necessity 
of semng a part of the crown lands ; and her successors 
hence bec$une more dependent on the will of the coznmons. 

The tyyo archbishops and twenty-four bishops continued) 
/even after the Reformation, to sit m the upper house ; pot 
however ^s a disdnct class, but as representatives of their 



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buppl^ : dney W^e noounated bjr the mefg;^^ j^ 

Uieir episcqspai ordlnajdon from the hands of cm^"^ ^ ^ 

and mo bi$liops. The queen had aI$o the noocuii^n (^ 
a third part ot the benefices ; and of these ther^ w^i^ (^ 
thousand belonging to parish . churches, and about ^ipf 
archdeaconries. The ctergy had no very distipgui^^d r^- 
putafiQP ; their mtellectual acquirements w^e nojt ^i^p^cj^ 
or fyfif^ emial to those of the other classes : aii4 ^ fj^ 
far from b^ng* consideried a misfortune by iiitelSgent meni 
who looked on the high church as ** a horse which was 
still kept always saddled, in readiness for the pope." 

The temporal lords, who had seats in the upper house, 
were one marquis, sixteen earls, two viscounts, and forty 
barons, peers of the realm. The commops were chosen, 
as in more ancient times, by counties, cides, and boroughs. 
Ope instance of bribery was discovered ; Thomas f<0|9ge 
paving given four pounas sterling to the voters of a borpu^ 
town. 

England was in a prosperous condition : common lan^s 
urere irequently enclosed, and a better system of manage- 
ment began to appear in agriculture and in the breeding pf 
cattle ; in consequence of which, advances took place in 
the prices of wool, rents, and the wages of labor. Th^ 
robbers were driven from the morasses of Solway, and irop 
doors and blood-hounds consequendy fell into disuse, as no 
.longer necessary. 

Amidst the proud and barbarous independence of Ire- 
land, Tyr O'Neale perceived the advantages of civili^^ation, 
and was attracted by the graces of genius and the fine arts. 

The natural course oi affairs, accelerated by the Re- 
formation, produced laws in the midst of the commodons 
of Scodand, the object of which was peace and prosperity. 
Queen Mary was endued with a much larger share of at- 
^racdons than was advantageous to her, surrounded as she 
^83 by rude barons and peaantic preachers. 

She fled from the vengeance of her Scottish subjects ; 
^t her 0vil star led her to Elisabeth, who thought it neces- 
niy, for the peace and security of Blnglandt to put her to 
4^. A. D. 1587. 

Thus, whilst the Hollanders were esublisbing their in- 



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Mtt milTSBSAL BItTOn/ 

dependence, and Henry die Great was restoring to Franca 
die enjoyment of her long lost tranquillity, an Augustan 
ace was preparing it^lf in England. Among the powers 
of which we have as yet spoken, Spain, the most powerful^ 
was the only one which fell into a state of decline ; because 
her king, the euemy of his own interests, preferred rather 
to throw the world mto confusion, than to promote the hap- 

E'ness of his people, bjr adopting a system of government 
unded upon liberal principles. 



SECTION V. 

POBTVOAL AND MOBOCCO. 

A. D. 1555. After the death of king Juan the Thmi, 
the minister wished to take Don Sebastian, who was still 
in his minority, out of the hands of the monks ; who, he 
thought, were not men fit to be entrusted with the educa* 
tjoo of a prince : and be was the more solicitous on this 
account, because the young king had already manifested 
an inclination to extravagant and fanatical notions. But 
the Jesuits gained over the cardinal Henry, brother to the 
late king, by means of a legation a latere, which the pope 
bestowed on him and which rendered him more dependent 
on Rome. With his assistance, they carried matters so 
far that their enemies, and even the queen-dowager, were 
obliged to quit the court. They caused the chairs of pro- 
fessors of toe laws to be given to members of their body ; 
and obtained, accordingly, the power of expounding the 
laws and of modifying £eir temper. Subsiaies had been 
obtained from Rome for the support of the naval power of 
Portugal; and hence the enterprising fleet of that kingdom 
came to be dependent on the pope. Don Alessio Menezes 
foresaw the consequences of these proceedings, and died 
of grief. A. D. 1569. 

When the king became of age, the cardinal was also 
removed. The old queen wishing that the king should 
marry, they gave her to understand that this could not take 
place, so long as she continued to receive the income of the 



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queOBS : tipon this, she withdrew from the ooiut^ but u 
die king showed some signs of tenderness Sot his rejected 
grandmother, the Jesuits, under pretence of showing him 
to the people, caused his attention to be diverted by travel* 
ling. They afterwards persuaded him to enact laws, by 
which the perfect purity of the ancient church was to be 
restored : but as this project was found to be unattainable, 
the only efiect of these regulations was to augment the in- 
fluence of the absolving confessors. The nation now be- 
gan to murmur ; and in order to give it a subject on which 
to fix its attention, the Jesuits advised the long to under^ 
take an expedition against the Sheriff. 

The Sheriff, whom we usually call king or emperor of 
Morocco, is sovereign of the country which reaches from 
the straits of Gibraltar and from the western coast of Africa 
into the desert beyond the mountains of Daran. This 
ccrantry is two hundred and fifty leagues in length from 
nordi to south, and a hundred and forty in breadth from 
east to west : it consists almost universally of fertile dis- 
tricts, and contains a number of towns. which are large and, 
for that part of the world, opulent. The descendants of 
the great prophet of the Arabs are called Sheri&. 

An individual of this family, named Muley Meheres, 
[duridered the caravans which were travelling to Mecca, 
and was obliged by the reigning prince of Fez tu take refuge 
in the mountains. The Merinides at that time were mas- 
ters of the country. Many of the sherifis took upon tliem- 
selves the profession of saints, which consists in renouncing 
the world, in order, by the duration and intensity of their 
d^wdons, to become absorbed in the fountain ot the eter- 
nal light, and to be assimilated to the nature of God. By 
this method ifaey acquired a privilege most acceptable to 
the passions, all actions becoming to them for the future 
guiltless and indsferent. Veneration for these impostors 
induced the hereditary princes of the wandering shepherds 
of that mountainous country to pay them dthes ; and with 
the revenue thus acquired, the sheriffi( took intp their pay 
a body of five hundred men, and ^t possession of the httb 
town of Tarudant. From this tmie they declared thei»- 
selves the messengers of God, commissioned to deliver 



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2Sd' tnvmmsAL anvoxr. 

Mftgrftb or the western country, from its infidol posseisoirs. 
meaning die Portuguese. 

A trifling victory filled all Magrab with confidenee : the 
saints took their course to Morocco, where the eoiir of the 
Meriiiides, seated on the throne of his fathers and sur*^ 
rounded by the nobles, was murdered (such, as they said,x 
was the will of God) by two of their number in the face 
of the people : and Morocco swore allegiance to the sberift 
Hamed, who was the founder of the present dynasty. 
The neighboring princes were reduced to obedience (A. D. 
1519) ; sheriff Mohammed conquered Fez, a Persian chief 
having brought Turkish soldiers to his assistance ; Henry 
the Eighth of England, who concluded a treaty of com- 
merce with him, relating to his sugar plantations at Taru- 
dant, provided him with arms and ammunition, and his 
cofiers were filled by the united treasures of many con* 
quered states. Abdallah, the son of tins sheri^ was the 
prince against whom Don Sebastian directed his arma* 
ment. 

The king of Portugal was occupied with the idea of 
going to the East Indies and being there crowned enaperor 
of the East, when a brother of Abdallah, who had been 
banished by the sheriff, applied to him for assistance. 
The old queen, sister of Charles the fifth, endeavored to 
counteract the design of an African campaign ; but she 
was unable to prevent it, and soon died from the effect of 
vexation. Meanwhile the king, full of zeal but utterly 
destitute of military knowledge, sailed to Africa. Sheriff 
Abdallah, although eighty years of age and in a dying state, 
arranged the order of batde : but be did not live to wit** 
ness the victory ivhich his troops obtained ; for during the 
beat of the engagement, and while, with closing eyes, he 
laid his finger on his lips as a signal that his death must be 
concealed, the vital spark escaped. A. D. 1^78* Sebas* 
lian disappeared, and probably fell .in the action ; yet 
many were for a long time of opinion, that he. bad beeii 
made prisoner in consequenee of having lost his . way, and 
that he was living in the condition of a slave, in distant 
countries. 

The king's great uncle, cardinal Henry, one of the sons 



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m 

«f Bmaiwely up6n the news of this dkaiter assumed the 
crown : ha was thix only remaining male desoendant of 
Emanuel^ except Auton, prior at Crato, an illegitimate son 
of the diriee of Bejo. Don Edward, ^ther of Emanuel's 
sons had left two daughters ; the eldest of whom, Maria, 
was mmried to tiie illnstrious Alexander Farnese, duke of 
Parma ; but her pretensions were opposed by a fundamen* 
tal law of Lam^o, by which she was exclucied, as being a 
foreigner, from the succession : the second, Catharine, had 
married the duke of Braganza, and the title to the throne 
was legally her's. The old king was conscious of her rights, 
and intended to declare her his successor : but Don Juan 
Mascarenhas betrayed this circumstance to the Spanish 
ambassador. The wife of Charles the Fifth, and motlier 
of Philip 'the Second, was a daughter of king Emanuel: 
she was exohided from the right of aucceseion as a forcien- 
er, but her son aspired to the throne ; and on the day 
when the pious and peaceable old man intended to declare 
bis soccesaor, the Jesuits so terrified him with superstitious 
flrognostkss and with the power of Philip, that he died at 
last without having made any decision. A. D. 1580. 

The duke of Braganza was a nobleman of peaceable 
dispositions and contracted views; and the confusion in 
which the affairs of France were involved, the hitherto 
trifling power of Holland, and tlie disinclination of Queejn 
Elizabeth to foreign wars, cut off all the sources of his 
hopes. The strs^tagems and the arms of the duke of Alva 
rendered Philip master of Portugal: the nobles wej;e 
gained over, the people terrified, and enterprising individ- 
uals put to death under various pretences. A small num- 
ber of troops was sufficient to secure the government 
against the attempts of the prior of Crato, wbicb were few 
and unsuccessful : and Braganza was contented with the 
dignities bestowed upon him. 

Eight hundred and sixty^-seveit year« after the destruc- 
tion of the monarchy of the Visigoths, the whole peninsu- 
la was again united under , one head: a great and happy 
empire, if Philip had only known the first duty' of, a 
ruler! 

The queen-regent, grandmother of Sebastian, had esta* 



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blisfaed, in imitfttkin of whatCbaileadw Fiftb hid dcMe m 
Spain, t council of stite conasting of spiritiitl and tawpo- 
ral brds, for the assistance of the voong Idof during his 
minority. This council, which had been substituted in the 
room of the former deputies of the states, was abolished 
by the new sovereign : and as it is a standing maxim of 
despotism, to divide in order to unite under its own power ; 
Philip did not choose that Portugal should possess a com- 
mon point of union in her ancient ca{Htal, and therefore 
erected at Oporto a separate jurisdiction for the oortfaern 
provinces. 



SECTION VI. 

TDBKET AMD TBS KOBTB OF AISIOA. 

A. D. 1566. Selim the Second, padisha of tibe Otte» 
nan Turks, whose harem contuned two thousand womcil, 
was induced by court intrigues and tempted by the ^es- 
erous wine of Cyprus, to declare war against the Venetiaos 
who were masters of that island. Malek el Asfaraf Abun- 
aser Barsabai, nephew of the great Sabtdin, had rendered 
the kings of Cyprus tributary about the year 12S6 ; and 
Selim, under pretence of some infraction of the compact 
which had been renewed by bis ancestors, made himself 
master of the island. A. D. 1571. Mustapha Pasha 
took the capital Famagosta, after a vigorous defence, and 
caused its commander, the noble Barberigo, to be cruelly 
murdered. These events renewed the terror of Italy^ and 
^excited the enthusiasm of all the Christians of the south 
of Europe ; who furnished a fleet, under the name of his 
holiness pope Fius the Fifth (Ghioiliari), the command of . 
which was given to Don Juan of Austria, the son of Charles 
the Fifth by Barbara Blomberc. This commander, who 
bad been educated together with Philip's tmfortunate son 
iad Alexander Famese, was equal to his two companions 
in talent, and their superior m the graces of his person* 
'and" in heroic courage : he was only twenty-six years of 
age when, as admiral of the Christian fleet, he gptve batda 



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to the Turks in the famous action of Lepanto (A. D. 
1571) ; in which thek* naval |N)wer received a shock which 
it did not recover for many years. 

Don Juan, after diis victory, conquered Tunis and Vi- 
serta ; and would have founded a powerful kingdom in 
tbe nofth of Africa, which would blave extended • to the 
coasts of the Atlantic, and over counti-ies which were the 
gnmAfies of southern Europe, if he had not been prevent-^ 
ed by the jealousy of Philip. After his reroovid, SerbeU 
bne, cofomandant of tbe citadel of Tunis, was left desti- 
tote of siiccoft', and was therefore obliged to surrender tbe 
fortress to Sinari, the captain pasba, who sent the prince, 
a descendant of the Abuhaffidse, who had been governor 
of die place under 'the protection of Spain, in chains to 
Constantinople. Don Juan never came again into thiii 
eountry : he was appointed governor of the Belgic prov- 
inces; and after undergoing innumerable vexations, by 
Which his constitutitHi was weakened^ be died (A. D. 
1576), not without suspicion of having taken poison. The 
dake of Parma quitted the world in a similar manner ( A« 
D. 1599) : and Don Carlos, infant pf Spain, had already 
been executed by order of his father. A. D. 1568. 

The Turks, notwithstanding their defeat at J^pantO) 
stffl retained possession of the kingdom of Cyprus ; but 
from that time they made no considerable conquests during 
sixty years. Morad, Mebmed, and Achmed, the succes*- 
sors of Selim, afoaiidoned tfaemseJves to voluptuousness, 
and forgot' both friends and enemies. Ibrahim Pasha, 
graiid visier of the Tliird Mohammed, or Mehmed, pro 
cured the abolition of tbe offices of the six visiers who had 
aeais in the ifivan ; aad the padisha, coetented with having 
pcit to^ death his niaete«n bfotbers, whose bodies were 
thrown into the sea, left the management^ all buaioess to 
his minister, and reserved Bothing iinr himself but the eor 
joyments of his seraglio. 

tou m. . 92 



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S54 vmfMMMja. ■mtomt. 

SECTION VH. 

SITUATION OF ITALY. 

In Italy, M9an, Najries, and l^iljr were sulgect to 
Spain. The voluptuous reign of pope Julius the Third 
was followed by the haughty goverament <^ Caraffii, or 
Paul the Fourth, who was succeeded bjr Pius the FourA 
or Medighino, and Pius the Fifth or GhisQieri, distinguidied 
for their holy zeal. Buoncompagni, or Gregory the 
Thirteenth, reigned next, whose piety and good intentions 
inspired veneration ; and afterwards Montalto, who took 
die name of ^xtus the Fifth. The measures of this poiK> 
tiff were directed by the wise and steady policy of a great 
statesman : he did not neglect his dudes c^i account of the 

Kwer of the church : he established a system of poKce in 
>me, wliich had hitherto been the scene of the excesses 
of powerful nobles, and he accumulated a treasure for fu« 
ture emergencies : he was well aware <^ the hypocrisy of 
Philip, and was secretly ifae enemy of his pdicjr. Aldo* 
brandini, Pope Clement the Eighth, found it indispensably 
necessary to adopt the severity of his predecessor as the 
rule of his conduct, on account of die licentTousness of the 
nobles, who, under the long reign of the mild Ehioncom* 
pacni, had entirely thrown off the restramts of social order. 

The ruling dynasty of Este, at Ferrara and Modena, 
became extinct: Cesar, the descendant of an unequal 
marriage, became duke of Modena, and the pope Akio- 
brandini took F^rara from the family. A. D. 1&97. 

Cosmo the first grand duke of Tuscany, whom we have 
compared with Aueustus, had also a melancholy resem- 
blance to the fate of that emperor in his domesdc misfeff- 
tttnes : a duke of Ferrara poisoned Lucreda his .wife, a 
daughter of the grand duke ; Ormni, a prmce, found some 
eaute for putdng to death IsabeUa, the sister of the former: 
the cardinal John de Medici was murdered by his brother 
Garcia in consequence of a hunting quarrel ; Co«no, the 
&ther of both the young men, killed Garcia with hh own 
band ; their vnretched mother died of grief: and die grand 



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duke c«tt9ed his eldest dau^ter to be poisoiie^t an aGCount 
of aa unbecomiag attachment. 

A. D. 1576—1587. Francis the Second, grand duke, 
met his fate in the following extraordinary maimer : Pedro 
Buonaventuri, a young Florentine, who was learning com- 
merce at Venice, resided near the palace of the family of 
Capello : an intrigue took place between him and Bianca, 
the daughter of that senator ; and the lady becoming preg- 
nant, the lovers retired into Pedro's native country, where 
they lived in pover^. On some fesdve occasion, the 
beauty of Bianca attracted the attention of the grand duke ; 
and his confidant, Mondragone, procured him an oppor^ 
tunity of meeting her in his house. From this time 
Buonaventuri became opul^t, and was advanced to itn- 
])ortant offices. He abused the favor which he had ob- 
tained, in oppressing the brothers of a widow of whom he 
had become enamored ; and the duke reproaching him with 
this misconduct, was threatened by him : the prince now 
permitted the brothers whopa Pedro had injured to revenge 
themselves; and this they effected by murdering him. 
The grand duchess,' a daughter of the emperor Ferdinand, 
was, deceased ; and Francis now married Bianca, who was 
acknowledged by the citizens of Venice as a daughter of 
the repubUc. Bianca, who had conceived an enmi^ 
against cardinal Ferdinand her brother-in-law, attempted, 
some time afterwards, to poison him at an entertainment; 
but the cardinal, perhaps warned of his danger, refused to 
* eat of the suspected dish : the grand duke, who was igno- 
rant of the afi&ir, b order to convince him that his suspi- 
cions w»e groundless, ate of it ; and Bianca, who saw that 
she was lost, partook also in despair, and died with her 
husband. 

A* p. 1587 — 1609. The cardbal, who now became 
grand duke and patriarch of the famify, was a piince of 
such distinguished wisdom in the management of state af- 
feini, that many of his principles became fundamental max- 
ims in the pdicy of more powerful courts. But in private 
life he abandoned himself, without reserve, to yoluptuousi- 
ness of all kinds. Florence followed his example ; and 
the ancient constitution was forgotten in the enjoyment 



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«f MMud j^tmures : even indusoy began to idadine $ fyr 
the manufacture of cloth produced, under the reign oS 
Cosino the Second, scareeiy an eighth pert'of the sum 
'which it hid yielded in the latter years of the first gmad 
duke ; and monopolies, and the privileges of corporations, 
contributed greatly to arrest the progress of the prospeiity 
of the state* Florence, however, still continued the most 
refined, the most beautiful, and one of the most opulent of 
dues. 

The house of Savoy wai^ in unceasing activity. When 
Emanuel Philibert, in consequence of the treaties of 
Chateau Cambresis and Noyon, had entered into posses* 
sion of liis territories, he found not m<»*ethan nine hundred 
tliousand subjects : his clear revenue amounted to only two 
hundred thousand scudi : the barons, who were in number 
about ten thousand, exerted privileges which were in part 
usurped ; and the exercise of which i^ is at all times ex- 
tremely difficult to reconcile with a good system of admin- 
istration* The duke was possessed of military taknta; 
but his good sense convinced him, that llie first and nxHtt 
important object of his attradon anust necessarily be the 
establishment of order, and of a new and firm foundatiim 
for the future welfare of the state. He raised a militia of 
twelve thousand men, whom he enciouraged by privileges, 
and whose nnmber he increased threefold befcH^ his de^* 
cease; he founded the citadel at Turin, and fortified 
Montmelian in Savoy, and Vercelle in Italy ; quadrupled 
the rev^ue, and encouraged the cultivation of the olive^ 
and the manufacture of silk. He purchased from the faxtP- 
ily of Doria the dominion of Oneglia, most advantageouriy 
situated in the midst of the Genoese terrkory : «id so C0»- 
firmed his authority by means of his excellent administop- 
tion and prudent measures, as to prevent the meeting of the 
States-General, and thus to bring those assemblies inib 
disuse. 

A. D* 1684-*-ie30. His son Charles Emanuel po»- 
Itessed the eminent talents of a great prince ; and in cases 
of emergency, the capacity so necessary in his situation, 
^f accommodating himself to^^U occurrences, and of avafl- 
ing Inmself of all the resotirces within bis power : iie dish 



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Tj^tf^A great presence of mind, coura^ and dexterity in 
the tntnagenieat of affiurs ; but he neither acquired nor 
deserved confidaice, because his desire of aggrandizetnent 
iodiiced him to forget his ^fomises, whenever circumstan- 
ces reodoped it s^rviceaUe to his interests. He exchanged 
SaliixaO) though it was important to him from its sitnadon, 
fer Bresse aikl Bugey (A. D. IGOl) ; and thereby pre- 
pared Sof duke Victor Amadeus, the acquisition of a part 
d* Montserrat. A. D. 1631. 



SECTION VIU. 

/ 

smiTSSSIiAND. 

Though tbe pensioners of Riilip excited suspicions and '. 
foisnoderstandmgs among the confederate states of Switzer- 
-iaiid»yet the coiodection of this country with France be- 
came more intimate. Under Charles the Ninth, the court 
owed the preservation of its honor and safeur at the re- 
treat of Meaux, to colonel Pfyffer, a native of the canton 
of Lucerne ; and in this reign the first colonel-general of 
the Swiss troops in the service of France was appointed. 
Henry the Third was often supported by the revenue as 
well as by the arms of Switzerland ; and during the perils 
to wUch Henry the Fourdi was exposed, Bern and Ge- 
Qeva» l^ ena|)loyiBg the troops of Charles Emanuel of Sa- 
voy which were destined against him, made an important 
diversion in his favor (A. D. 1689) ; tbe issue of which 
would have been niore honm'able and more advantageous, 
it tbe dangerous coonecdons, and perhaps the private inter- 
ests, of certain leading persons of Bern, had not been the 
means of proeuring the conclusion of a treaty at' Nyon, 
between the r«>ub]]c and Savoy, by which Geneva was in 
efl»ct sacrificed. A., D. 1 59 1 . 

All the communities of the German district of Bern, 
made representations on this subject, iiill of truth and 
energy; and the Schultheiss at Wattewyl, who, according 
to an establidied maxim should have held his dignity for 
life, was compelled to abandon his place. There existed 

VOL. m. . 22* 



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VHtnBMAL ■tflV0ftt. 

in tho peuet caatons a spirit of eqmdiQr, ad a degree af 
inibrm&tion respecting the affiurs of gorennDeiit, wMefi 
made it necessary to attend to the voice of the people in 
all matters of impmtaoce : and as their ooofidcnce is the 
only strength of these states, iiothbg can contrtbute more 
to the atuunmeat of that end, than theff consent to the 
measures of the corniseHons^ aod a sentiment of freedom 
.which could not exist, in an eoial d^ee, under any lests 
popular form of government. When the g we r ume at ei 
Zurich acceded, contrary to the wishes of the communi- 
ties, to the treaty with France (A. D. 1614),. that mea- 
sure was for the first tlfne proposed to the people after its 
conclusion. From this time forth the governments of 
Switzerland became mcNre nyaterious, and the inequality 
of ranks more evident : the two sects were also disposed 
to make sacrifiees to their religions zeal, of the most inju- 
rious tendency to the welfare of the state ; and benoe tbe 
confederacy lost a great part of its extehwl raspeetaUii^' 
aod of its mtrinsio worth. 



SECTION IX. 

THE OERMAN KKFOUB. ^ 

Philip could expect no assistance from the German 
branch of the house of Austria, between wfaicfa and die 
court of Spain, an unceasing coohiess and distrust subsist- 
ed for sixty years* Ferdinand the First and Maximitiati 
the Second, were prudent and judieious prin<6es ; th^ 
maintained toleration, and were principaHy anxbus for the 
peace and prosperity of then: people. Rudolf the Second 
was entirely devoted to study. The pardtion of tbe Rus- 
sian territories, the mutual jealoasy of the two branches of 
the house of Saxony (A. D. 156t), and the f^eblfenesiJ 
of that of Brandenburg, facilitated die preservation of the 
peace of Germany. 

A. D. 1663—1686. The electorate of Saxony was 
die most flourishing state of the empire. He sagacious 
Augustus regulated it by wise laws, and instituted a fni* 



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pfttAe fKli'uiiidof apf^ls for the^ purpose of wonAiiigcrmr 
fbe^ enttmetits ; b^ availed himsetf in rositters of ipoM* 
C6l economy, of the intelligence of Bernhani voo Arnim, 
whose vlevt^s the government of Berlin had been iocapabfe 
6( sp|)l'eeiating ; tmd (HVided the publie domains by his 
advice. A^ieuHare began vcy flourish, and gave birth to 
commercial industry and manufactures. 

Saxony would hare been a prosperous country if it had 
ftot been thrown into confusion by the divisions of the kin- 
dred sects of Augsburg and Geneva (A. D. 1*76), «rfaich 
were driven to the utrao^ pitch of exiaispcwrtbii by die 
iftis-named form of concord. The minority ef^die ekctor 
Christian the Second (A. D. 1591), was disturbed by in- 
quisitions in search of concealed Calvinism. 

While individual states were advancing itt the eai«6r of 
improvement, the common bond of union between tfaemi, 
tes^ad of becoming firmer, was relaxed by controvermes. 
Wfaen die visitation of the supreme court of jtidicatnre 
came to the turn of the protectant states, die n«ces^tty 
woric was completely at a stand. A. D. Id88. 



SECTION X. 

POLAND. 

Om tit the last benefits which thie dynasty of Jttfgf^ 
conferred on Poland, was the incorpcvation of Lithuania 
with that kingdom, which was concluded at the diet of 
Lublin. A. D. 1569. The first prince of this dynasty ^ 
bad united thes^ territories ; but it was a disputed point 
Whether the highly fertile countries of Wolhynia, PodoKt, 
and Kyow, which had been conquered firom the czars by 
tbe former princes of Lithuania, should be ccmsidered as 
belonging to that country or to Poland. Sigismund Au- 
gustus procured them to be considered as appurtenances of 
Red Russia, which was a province of the kingdom. 

The spirit of the age so facilitated the pn^ess of nove^ 
opinions, that tjie protestants soop possessed forty chineheti 
on the territories of the nobility : and the Arians and So> 



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mmmf who, in tlMir doctrines, went beyond any of tha 
{HTOteetint sects, increased in Poland to a greater degree 
than in any other country. Rukan, in the territory of 
Stendomir, became the principal seat of the Socinian or 
Unitarian societies. The mcorporation of Lithuania 
could not be obtained without the consentof the nobles of 
the Protestant and Greek churches; and in order to pro- 
cure their concurrence, the ]Nx»fession of faith of the latter 
was fennally established, wlule the former were raised to 
so perfect an equality with the catholic nobility, that thegr 
were allowed, on the simple condition of remainbg Qhrie- 
tiaos, to beoonie members of the senate, and to be e%ible 
to the highest offices in the state. Thus it was owing to 
the state of political afiairs that the s{Hrit of toleration was. 
legaKaed in Poland; as the spirit of intolerance, had 
been fostered by the circumstances of other states. 

A. D. 1572. This arrangement was soon followed by 
the death of the excellent kmg. Siffismimd Aimistus, tM 
last descendant of the male Gm of JageUo. On this oo* 
casion the diet, ccxisisting of one hundred and e^tv-tf«» 
country deputies, assembled, and enacted, that in Suture 
no kine should be allowed to cause his successor to be 
elected durine his own life; and bcm this time forward 
the kings of Poland were chosen nearlv in the foUowmg 
manner : In the plains of Wola, near Warsaw, the senate 
and the people were assembled. The forum was com* 
posed of the ardtbishop, primate of Gqesen, the avchUsbop 
of Lemberg, fifteen bidic^s, thir^r-seven varvodes, ^hose 
dignity was similar to that of the dukes (Mother countries in 
the middle ages ; eighty-two castellans, who were senators 
in peace, and deputies of the vay vodes in war ; and tea 
great officers of the crown. The senate of Poland was 
not an aristocratic assembly, the members of which held 
their seats by birthright; but the great council of the k^ig, 
who bestowed the places, and of the republic, to the hoo* 
or and advantage of which its measures were to be direct- 
(sd. Tbe king had the power of appobdng officers, but 
not of reinoving them ; and the high cbaocelbr and the 
treasurer wwe not even accountable to him. The senate 
assemUed in a wooden house, around which, and in a space 



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tticios^ with a wall and ditch, the dcpirtfes w^e sttftioofed ; 
the nobles, or their representatives, were arranged at a 
still greater distance. 

* Not only were the kings chosen, but the forms of the 
coiistitiition were also prescribed in these assemblies : by 
their regulations the monarch was forbidden of his own ats- 
thority to make war or peace; to conclude treaties; to 
appoint ambassadors^ to impose taxes; to make innova* 
tions of any sort with respect to religion or the laws ; or to 
filienate any of the hereditary possessions of the crowd. 
He had the right of conferring offices, but could bestow 
only one place on an individual, and was not aitewed to 
revoke the appointment during the life of the possessor. 
Crown lands were also at his disposal, but under the same 
limitations as prevailed with respect to c^ces. He had the 
fiomination of archbishops and bishops, of twelve abtK)ts, 
and one prior, and the presentations to benefices : but in 
order to exempt him from the temptation of permitting 
long vacancies, and appropriating the revenues to his own 

<^jiire, he was obliged to make his election within six months, 
(otherwise the right of appointing the archbishops atid 
bishops reverted to the pope,) and that of bestowing the 
inferior offices on the bishops. The king convoked the 
diet, presided over its sittings, and gave his assent to ks <^ 
actments, without which the latter were not valid. The 
judges administered justice in his name. The king wje 
regarded as the fountain of all honor, and could confer 
the privileges of nobility : but if a nobleman had occasion 
to vindicate the rights of his station, his appeal was made 
to the estates of the kingdom. Lastly, tte monarch had 
the power of summoning his nobility to arms, and of com- 
manding them when assembled. 

• The main design of the Poles was to give majesh'^ to 
the king, authority to the senate, and freedom to the whole 
body of the nobility ; and the latter object was punSued so 
for, that the resolutions of the diet were required to be 
unanimous. In cases of emergency, arising from the licen- 
'tiousness of a powerful nobleman, or by the capricious ex- 
ercise of the royal veto, the remainder of the natk>n enter- 
ed into a confederacy against the offender. 



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90t imiVEB^AX. RItVOftT. 

' III tbe ooofederation which took place after Iha deaAi c^ 
Sigismuod Augustus, all the religious sects^ were bduded 
under the natne of dissidents. The greater part of the 
senators, and Firley, marshal of the diet, were devoted to 
the new faith, and five thousand churches were in the pos- 
sessions of ministers of that persuasion ; but though Sza- 
franiec, a protjestant, was proposed as successor to the de« 
ceased monarch under these favorable circunostances, jet 
the votes, were united in favpr of Henri de Valois, duke of 
Anjou, and brother of Charles the Ninth f A. D. 1573) ; 
a prince who had already signalized himselt in France hy 
his heroic courage. 

A. D. ] 574. On the decease of his brother, Henry 
quitted Poland with a degree of precipitation not endr^Iy 
reconcilable with propriety, and hastened to assume im 

f>vemnient of his more brilliant but less happy kingdom of 
ranee. The Poles proceeded to elect in ms stead Ste- 
phen Bathori, prince of Transylvania (A. D. 1575), who 
was a wise and valiant ruler, and who married Anna .la- 
geUo, the sister of th^ late king, in compliance with the 
wish of his subjects, who were apprehensive lest she should, 
by marriage, confer any pretext lor a claim to the throne 
on a fcHreign family. Anna persuaded her husband to 
adopt the catholic faith. 

Bathori was succeeded by Sigismuod Vasa the crown 
prince of Sweden, who, by his maternal line, was a de- 
scendant of Sigismund the First. 



SECTION XI. 

SWEDEN. 

The kingdom of Sweden was governed rather by die 
personal authority of the monarch than by setded laws, 
and its external importance depended more on the charae- 
ter of its inhabitants than on the amount of its revenue. 
The income of Gustavus Vasa did not surpass twenty-four 
thousand marks, while bis expenses frequently exceeded 
sixty thousand ; and yet he was the object of veneration 
not only to his own people but to all Europe. 



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UK1VKBSAI4 HisTomr^ 963 

A. D. 1568. It was owing to the absurd conduct of 
his eldest son, and the artifices of his second, that Eric the 
Fourteenth was deposed, and that John became king in 
his stead. The artifices of his wife, Catharine of Poland^ 
and of the Jesuits, inspired this monarch with a predilection 
for Catholicism, which had very nearly drawn upon him a 
fate similar to that of his brother : he, lived, however, to 
see his son Sigismnnd seated on the throne of Poland. 

Sigismund had eagerly imbibed from the Jesuits, by 
whom he was educated and in whoi^e order he held the 
post of tertiarius, the same spirit of proselytism which an- 
imated his mother t and he thought proper to manifest his 
dislike of the Protestant nobilitv, in a manner which soon 
destroyed their confidence in nim. When he could pre- 
vail on one of this class to become a Catholic, all the 
churches of the dissidents on his estates were shut up ; die 
bondsmen were compelled to follow the example oi their 
superiors, and the free men to quit his territory : but when, 
on the odier hand, a Catholic nobleman went over to the 
Protestant party, dien the pourt maintained the freedom of 
his subjects as to religion. Dissident churches were for- 
bidden on all the crown estates, and Protestants were ex- 
cluded from the senate. 

The Swedes, who had scarcely kriown how to forgive 
hi$i father's tranouil preference for Catholicism, were, una- 
ble to endure a king who was endeavoring with imprudent 
zeal to counteract all the sentiments and nabits which had 
been introduced among them since the accesiA)n of Gus- 
tavus Vasa : they therefore deprived him of the kingdom, 
(A. D. 1597), and committed die administration of afiirs 
to his uncle Charles, duke of Sudermania ; at first under 
the tide of protector and afterwards of king. A. D. 1604. 
Charles had frequendy not more than a diousand dollars 
in his treasury ; but his prudence and successful adherence 
to die maxims of his father, sufficed to confirm his 
power. 



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SB4 mmruMUL bi^toht. 

SECTION xn. 

DSNMARK* 

Though Denmark bad by no means yet forgotten that 
her kings had formerly been sovereigns of Sweden, yet 
few attempts were made towards the re-union of Scandi- 
navia ; because Christian the Third was suflSciently occu- 
pied in abolishing the national council of the Norwegians, 
and in completing the incorporation of Norway with Den- 
Biark, in order to provide against the risk of another sim- 
ilar loss. This operation was rendered much more easy 
to the pious monarch by a measure of king John in the 
early part of this century ; who had beheaded the most 
powerful of the Norwegian nobility, and had by that means 
diminished the power of the nation. 

SECTION Xffl. 

CONCLUSION. 

In all the monarchies of Europe, that of the pope not 
excepted 5 and even among the republics, a decided ten- 
dency towards the concentration of power in the hands of 
one or a few individuals, was perceptible in the latter end 
of this century. The cardinals were not so frequently 
consulted; the republics became more aristocraticai ; the 
monarchies were unlimited, and the despotic governmeots 
less cautious. For as, in later ages, the manners of the 
court of Lewis the Fourteenth and the tactics of FredeT'* 
ick the Second, influenced the neighboring states, so tha 
system pursued by tlie domineering court of Philip, served 
more or less as an example to his contemporary sove- 
reigns. The recent and rapid increase in the quantity of 
the precious metals, and the progress of tlie industrious 
arts, also contributed to the same end, by producing a mul- 
titude of new desires, which rendered the courts more ava- 
ricious and the nobles more dependent 



L 



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UNIYEHSAL HISTORY. 266 

In this case, as in most others, the interests of humanity 
gained on one hand and lost on the other. Power had 

Eassed into a smaller number of hands, and obedience had 
ecome more uniform ; in consequence of which the pro- 
gress of cultivation was less freauently disturbed by war, 
and the arrangements of civil lilS^, the arts and sciences, 
were pursued with less interruption : but in those countries 
in w^iob d^poti^m Established its. detested sway, public 
spirit necessarily expired : s^ubjects were willing less fre- 
quently than free citizens, to die for their country ; or, 
what is still more difficult, to live only for its good. 

A. D. 1598. The year in which the peace of Vervins 
was concluded, was the epoch of resuscitation to tlie great- 
ness of France, apd an ill-omened period to Russia, on ac- 
count of the extinction of the dynasty of Rurick the Va- 
rseger, which bad reigned b that country during seven cen- 
turies and a half. In the same year, a horrible disease 
brought Philip the Second to the end of his career; during 
which be had lost the united Netherlands ; had seen the 
pow^ of Engkod and of France confirmed under the do- 
minion of his enemies ; had laid the foundation of the de- 
cay of his own nionarchy ; had given, though lord of the 
gold mines, the first example of a bankruptcy ; and, in an 
administration of two and forty years, had. acquired the 
detestation of all his contemporaries, and, according to the 
diverse views of the difierent parties, the contempt or tlie 
curses of posterity. 

23 



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BOOK XXI. 

THE PERIOD OF THE THIRTir TEARS' WAR.--A. D. 
1M6— 1M6. 



SECTION 1. 

SITUATION or THE HOUSE QY HABSBOBO. 

The seventeenth century, at hs commencement, feimd ^ 
Spain drained of its treasure and destitute of eminent men ; 
consequently neither b a condition to |)ro8ecute a war with 
vigor, nor likely to make great advances in the road of 
improvement, during an interval of ]^ace. Philip the 
Third was naturally a very weak prince ; and his prime 
minister, the duke of Lerma, had impressed him to such a 
degree with the necessity of unceasing suspicion, that he 
not only held no communication with his suDJects, but did 
not even venture to converse with the queen without previ* 
ously consulting the duke. The colonization of America, 
the war in the Low Countries, and the incessant enter- 
prises of his father, had produced a pernicious efieet on 
the population of Spain ; and the present kins banished 
two hundred thousand Moors, who constituted the most 
industrious portion of the remaining inhabitants. A. D. 
1610. 

The political importance of Spain was preserved by two 
individuals ; the first of whom, Ambrose Spinola, was an 
excellent general according to the tactics of that age ; and 
the other, Bedmar, a consummate negociator. Both were 
zealous for the interests of their master, as the source of 
their own fortunes. 



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UlffI¥fimaiAL HiSTOftT. ^7 

The em^etoT Rudolf die Second, inclined to peaceful 
pursuits, was compeUed by his brother the archduke Mat- 
thias, to abdicate the crowns of Hungary and Bohetnia* 
A. D. 1608. Matthias was not destitute of talents ; but 
both he and Rudolf died without male issue. A. D. 161 1. 

Ferdinand, a descendant of the first emperor of the 
same name, bad been educated in Spain, and appeared to 
be governed by this one prevailing maxim with regard to 
his duty as a monarch, <' uat it was necessary that his own 
creed, in matters of religion, should be the only mode of ^ 
faith in his dominions ; and in temporal afiairs, his bound- 
less authority the only power." There were, however, in 
the hereditary dominions of the emperor, as well as in 
Hungary and Bohemia, a great number of mdividuals who 
were attached to the principles of Protestantism, and zeal- 
ously devoted to the cause of ancient freedom : the mea* 
sures of the court of Spain met wilh impediments equally 
inip<Mrtant, arinng from the state of its finances ; which, 
were eximusted to such a degree, that the troops were fre- ^ 
quently obliged to extort subsistence from the territory in 
which they lay : and under these circumstances, the ne- 
cessity of uniting the interests and power of the two 
branches of the house of Habsburg became so urgent, as 
to extinguish the mutual jealousy which had now subsisted 
for sixty years. A. D. 1616. • 

Portugal was now under the power of Spain ; and saw, 
as the consequence of her subjection, the greater part of 
die discoveries and conquests of her better days tail into 
the hands of strangers. The Dutch who were forbidden, 
as rebels against thcv authority of Philip, to purchase in 
Lisbon the commodities of the East Indies, went to the 
-latter country in search of them, where they found an ad- 
ministration which had been rendered feeble by the influ- 
ence of the climate, by luxurious and effeminate habits, 
and by spiritual and temporal tyranny : and while Philip 
the Third (A. D. 1630), after a siege of three years, 
which cost him from eighty to a hundred thousand men, 
got possession of Ostend, the Dutch took the isles of Mo- 
lucca from his Portuguese subjects. 

All Asia arose for the expulsion of the strangers it most 



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detested : in the F^ Indies their empire W8s dflslfoyed 
by the Dutch ; the sopbi Sha Abbas made himself master 
of the magnificent Ormuz, called the diamobd of the 
East ; Toxogunsama terrified by the fate of other sove- 
reigns, forbade Christians of all denominadons to enter the 
empire of Japan ; and, by seventeen years of persecution, 
destroyed the newly planted faith : the same reasons in- 
duced the necush of Habesh to enforce a similar exclu- 
sion of the Western believers, while he maintained in this 
empire the ancient form of Christiahity. 

Of all the foreign possessions of the Portuguese, Goa 
in the East Indies, the safety of which was fi-equendy en- 
dangered by the nadves, and Brazil in America, whicb 
was often threatened by the Dutch, alone remained : and 
the state of weakness to which they were thus reduced, 
was the reward of their tame submission to tyrants whom 
they detested. 

The English commander, Sir Walter Ralagh, was only 
withheld by the inadequacy of the resources entru^ed to 
him, from giving a most dangerous overthrow to the power 
of the Spaniards, even in America. 

Italy endured their yoke with Impauence, and evea 
Rome wished to see them humbled : Venice had good 
reason both to fear and to hate the two lines of ihe family 
of Habsburg ; for the marquis of Bedmar took part in a 
conspiracy against the constitution of the republic, and dis- 
seminated writings calculated to excite discord among their 
subjects; while Ferdinand protected the pradatory Us- 
kochs, who inhabited the mountains beyond Daknatia. 
The overbearing power and the lofty tone of the cabinet 
of Madrid were insupportable to the dukes of Mantua ai^d 
Savoy. 

The Italian possessions of the Spaniards were separated 
from ^{16 hereditary dominions of the emperor, hy die Ve- 
netian and Valtelline territories. The latter, a fertile and 
populous valley, which had been conquered by the coi^e* 
derated cantons, in their wars against the house of Sforza, 
^ould, if it could be obtained, serve to connect the divided 
possessions of the Austrian family. The inhabitants of the 
Valtelline, who were chiefly catholic, bore with impatience 



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UNmfiSSAL HtSTO&T. 8Q9 

die joke ot the cantmis, the greater part of which were 
protestants ; and Milan gave an indulgent ear to their com- 
plaints. 

A. D. 1610. The good and great Henry the Fourth, 
kmg of France, whose excellent qualities were not appre- 
ciated in his own age, was assassinated, and liis kingdom 
became again the prey of factions. His widow, Maria de' 
Medici, sacrificed the welfare of the state to her personal 
inclinations ; and her son, Lewis the Thirteenth, who was 
a child at the time of his father's death, never became a 
man of independent character. The power of a state de- 
pends not so much on the numerical amount of its forces, 
as on the intelligence which animates their movements ; 
and France, which in tlie latter part of the reign of Hen- 
ry the Fourth seemed likely to produce an universal revo- 
lution in the condition of Europe, entirely lost its political 
importance. 

Holland no longer sought foreign protection ; and free 
nations are never more powerful than when they are 
obliged to depend exclusively upon their own resources 
for defence, and when the magnitude of the dangers which 
menace them compels the developement of their moral 
energy. The authority of the prince of Orange united 
the provinces in the conunon pursuit of the public good : 
to hmi, as Stadtholder, the appointment of the principal 
cheers in the army and in the cities was confided, in order 
that the republican party might not be subjected by those 
to whom peace might be dearer than liberty : and he ex-, 
ercised the privilege of pardon, because every otlier ob- 
ject was to be sacrificed to the maintenance of the laws, 
and it was therefore necessary to give due weight to every 
consideration which could efiect Aeir execution.. In the 
midst of its contest for freedom, the republic erected a 
mighty empire in the East ; and its seamen took posses- 
sion of the herring fishery, which produced, according to 
tl^e computation of Raleigh, a return of 1,700,000 pouuds 
sterling. 

iln this state of affiurs, Clara Isabella Eueenia, the 
daughter of Philip the Second, who possessed me hered- 
itary government of the Spanish Netherlands, conjointly 

VOL. III. 23* 



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87d OHire&SAL RKroitr. 

with Albert of Austria, son of MaximiEflB the Seeond, 
endeavored to put an end to the disturbam^s which had 
now subsistect during more than forty years. The Fran- 
eiscan proyinctal, J(An Neyen, prepared the wdy fer the 
twelve years' truce ^A. D. 1609), which was concluded 
by the privy counsellor, Lewis von Verheyk, and ratified 
by Spinola. A. D. 1621. 

From this time Holland was recognized as an independ- 
ent state ; and its minister, Van Aersens, was formalrjr.ac* 
knowledged as ambassador at Paris. .Peace, however, 
proved more dangerous to the republic than war; not 
merely because its citizens bst their martial habits, hot 
chiefly on account of the jealousy which begati to arise be- 
tween the stadtholder and the states-general. The latter, 
who were eight hundred in number, had been summoned 
for the last time, as the real representatives of the nation, 
to deliberate on the affair of the truce : their ofBce and 
title was thenceforward borne by a committee of their 
number. They had, indeed, assembled less frequently 
from the time when Elizabeth had given them the assurance 
of her protection, on condition that the English ambassa- 
dor should be entided to assist at their consultations : and 
it was now pretended that a select proportion of the whole 
body, appointee} in perpetuity, was best fitted to control 
the council of state, whose office was also perpetual, and 
which was accused of illegally favoring the ambition of 
the house of Orange. Oldenbarnevelt and Hugo Grotius 
refused to submit to the theological mandates of the synod 
of Dordrecht ; but the execution of the former of these 
great men, and the imprisonment of the latter,, by which 
It was intended to strike terror into the Anti-Orange party, 
had the contrary effect of fortifying their opposition. 

Both the prince and the states-general were, however, 
duly sensible, that the interests of the republic were likely 
to be implicated in the determination of the disputed suc- 
cession to the duchy of Juliers, which was also one of the 
causes of the thirty years' war. 



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SECTION n. 

BCREDITARY SUCCESSION OF JULIER8. 

The earls of Teisterbant bad distinguished themselves 
by their contests with the Normans, as early as the ninth , 
century ; and their descendants founded two sovereignties 
in Westphalia, which were afterwards known under the 
names of the duchy of Cleves and the earldom of Mtrk. 
One part of these territories had been received from the 
emperor as pledges; another obtained from the arch- 
bishops of Cologne by conquest ; and a third portion had 
voluntarily placed itself under the protection of these 
princes. The whole sovereignty had been finally united 
under one head, by the marriage of the earl of Mark with 
the heiress of Cleves. In the same manner, John of 
Cleves, at a later period, added the three neighboring 
states of JulierS; Berg, and Ravensberg, to the possessions 
of his family. The wealth of the house of Teisterbant, 
which had been accumulating for centuries, became at the 
death of the insane earl, John William, the object of nu- 
merous claims. A. D. 1609. It belonged to the dector 
of Saxony in right of an ancient reversion, in the event 
of the family becoming totally exfinct : but the right to 
these territories, which had been united, as above mention- 
ed, bjr marriages, was subject to other and very different 
auestions ; such as whether the daughter of the eldest sister, 
le wife of John Sigismund, elector of Brandenburg, or 
the second sister, the duchess of Pfalz-Neuburg, who 
was still Jiving, was to be regarded as the nearest heiress ? 
These countries deserve to be reckoned among the most 
fertile provinces of Germany : their value is enhanced by 
the industrious character of their population, and their sit- 
uation at the entrance of the Netherlands renders them 
of great political importance. 

The principal claimants could not adjust their preten- 
sions, and appealed to arms : prince Wolfgang of Neuburg, 
in order to secure the assistance of the princess Clata 
Isabella, and of her husband the archduke Albert, became 



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£re mmrvftSAL histost. 

a catholic (A. D. 161S), whik the elector c( Bhuideo- 
burg declared himself of the reformed creed of the prince 
of Orange. A. D. 1614. 



SECTION m. 

England attained during this age to sach a degree of 
power, as to be able to maintain t£^ balance of power m 
important ipatters. 

James Stuart, king of Scodand and son of the unfor- 
tunate Mary, succeeded on the death of Elizabeth to the 
crown of England ; and thus united, under one head; two 
kmgdoms whose rivalry had frequently prevented them 
from undertaking and sustaining, with undisturbed security, 
a distinguished part in the politics of Europe. James, 
however, was destitute of the vigor which had characterized 
Elizabeth ; and could neither invest his person with dignity 
nor his commands with authority. His vanity and timidity, 
^ his busy researches into the dubious meanbgs of the pro- 
phecies, and his wretched taste, rendered him contemptible 
and ridiculous ; while be openly displayed, in his pubKc 
documents, the principles ot desix>tism, which Henry die 
•Eighth and Elizabeth had put in practice in silence and 
security. He was governed by the duke of Buckingham, 
a man who with great personal beauty combined all the 
vanities 'to wliici) that quality can seduce, but who was 
destitute of its chief advantage, the art of pleasine. In 
his childish correspondence with the king, he signs himself 
^* his rasyesty's most submissive dog, Steenie ; " and the 
king calls himself ^' the good old dad and gossip." 

This monarch was not of a character to exercise a pow- 
erful influence in Europe : and the people were too much 
occupied with maritime expeditions, to bestow much atten- 
tion on the affairs of the continent. Id the latter part of 
the reign of Elizabeth, an East India Company had been 
established, which was regarded at Sumatra and Bantam 
as a deliverer; for in hatred of Philip, Europe and Asia 



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x^ere of ohe accord : k new Engbud had begun to Be co^' 
Ionized beyond the Atlantic ; ^and the ic]r ocean was ex- 

!)Iored, and Spitzbergen discovered and deoominajied New* 
bundland. James, who was at an equal distance iirom 
the vices and virtues of Caesar and of Trajan, was in the 
mean time* employing himself in studying the book of Re- 
velations, with speccriative defences of the doctrine of 
passive obedience, and with the petulance of Buckingham, 



SECTION IV. 

C0MHENCEME19T OF THE THIRTY YXABs' WAB* 

Frederick of Simmerh, elector palatine, was son-in4aw 
of James the Firsit of England ; and his family, which was 
descended from Stephen, son of the elector Rupert, who 
bad been king of the Germans, manifested an extraordinary 
zeal for the reformed creed. Palatine theologians were the 
authors of the catechism of Heidelberg; a book in which, 
notwithstanding that the controversial parts are too dog- 
matical and severe, the consoling spirit of Christianity is 
impressively displayed ; and which became not a prescript 
of faith, but the manual of the greater part of the Cal- 
viiiists of Germany. The sciences were no where culti- 
vated, with greater success than at Heidelberg: and the 
princes palatine were distinguished for their valor and ge- 
nius in war. 

Frederick wsfS seduced by religious zeal, by love of 
glpry, and by Elizabeth the king's daughter, to accept the 
crown of Bohemia. This kingdom, accustomed to a mild 
administration, was terrified at the prospect of the intolerant 
principles of government, which Ferdinand, even during 
the life of Matthias, had not indistinctly announced^ The 
Bohemians vented their indignation on his counsellors, and 
offered the crown to the elector palatine, on the ground 
that the kine had broken the compact, and had therefore 
no further claim to their allegiance. But Frederick, less 
through want of power than from a deficiency in the requi- 
site energy and talent, was unable to keep the party which 



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3f 4 UBITSMAL HifMnr. 

existed in Bdhemia and in the empve, united in one nar«^ 
suit. His cousin Maximilian duke of Bavaria, a pnnce 
of great activi^ and firmly attached to the catholic re» 
ligion, espoused the cause of the emperor, who was his 
most potent neighbor, in opposition to the interests of his 
own family. Frederick, defeated and helpless, abandoned 
the contest in despair, and forfeited both the crown and his 
dectorate. 

The failure of this enterprise produced the destruciion 
of the remainder of the constitution of Bcrfiemia, and of 
the ,protestant union in the empire wluch had neglected to 
support its own interests. , 

The fundamental laws of that kingdom were annihilated : 
a ereat number of noblemen were beheaded, and people of 
inierior condition executed on the wheel ; upwards of thirty 
thousand families were compelled to emigrate, and pro- 
paiy bekn^g to the protestants was confiscated, to the 
amount, as it was said, of 54,000,000 dollars. The em- 
peror Ferdinand, strengthened by victory, and by the ac- 
quisition of treasure, now turned the arms of his experienced 
generals, Wallensteio, Tilly, and Spinola, against the pro- 
testants of the empire. The ecclesiastical electors were 
from their order attached to his cause : the most intelligent 
of that class, John Swikard of Cronberg, archbishop of 
Mayence, adviised the adoption of moderate measures; 
but as his advice was not followed, he consulted the ap- 
parent interests of his archbishopric, and accommodated 
nimself to the circumstances of the times. Jqhn George 
the First, elector of Saxony, whose predecessor had ob- 
tained by his victories the religious peace, was full of ha- 
tred against the Calvinists, jeak>us oi the reputation of the 
count paladne, and confided implicitly in his court preacher, 
Ho^ of HoSnegg, who was supposed to be in the pay of 
Ferdinand, and who gave free rein to his bitter zeal against 
the Calvinists and the Bohemian brethren. The elector, 
George William of Brandenburg, was misled in the sdme 
manner by his chief minister, the count of Schwartzenberg: 
he remained a Calvinist, but manifested no vigor, and ex- 
pected to be able to secure himself by submission. 

This weak monarch was also Duke of Prussia. Albert 



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vmvrmMAL HitTomw. 376 

FVederick, sod ot that grand-tnaster of tljie Teatooic 
kotghts who had viohted his oath to the (vder for the pur- 
pose of securing Prussia to his family, had been dqpnved 
of his^understandiog in early youth, by the pious folly of 
his preachy and counsellors, who bad gcfea him, with the 
intentioD of allaying his carnal appetites, a narcotic potion, 
which had destroyed his mental powers. He had left the 
duchy as a fief of Poland, to his cousin, the elector John 
Sigismund, father of Greorge William, A. D. 1618. 
These territories, regarded as the dominion of an elector, 
formed a considerable state ;. and the cultivation of the 
demesne lands was very much improved :. but the finances 
were so incapable of meeting any great em^gency, that 
John Sigismund wa# obliged, durbg the contest for the 
succession of Juliers, to pledge his tolls on the river Elbe 
to ibe Danes, in order to raise two hundred thousand 
dollars : and though the number of regular troops, in the 
time of George William, never exceeded two thousand 
men, yet money was often wanting for the daily ex* 
penditure. 

Brunswick and Hesse were enfeebled by the partition 
of their territories. Two princes were descended from 
duke Ernest, one of whom reigned at Luneburg and the 
other at Wolfenbiittel, with the title of duke ; and the 
house of Luneburg had been agam subdivided into inferior 
branches. But the house of Hes3e sufiered still more 
severely, from the hatred which, inflamed by religious ani- 
mosity and political jealousy, had become habitual between 
the landgraves of Darmstadt and Cassel ; the former of 
whom continued to profess the Lutiieran faith, while the 
latter adopted the system of the Calvinists : and the inher- 
itance of the landgrave of Marburg furnished them with 
an especial occasion of dispute. The mutual exaspera- 
tion of the two families was never more keen than under 
Maurice, who reigned at Cassel, and who was not an igno- 
rant prince, although he was so little capable of elevating 
his views above the character of his age, tiiat he took a 
perscmal share in the prevalent controversies, and en- 
deavored to carry Calvin's ideas into execution by force. 

The Lutherans ddighted themselves with manifesting 



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976 vmrrEMAi* Hirresr. 

how raany particulars there were in which the CaMaists 
accorded with the Turks ; and how the htter were tteycr* 
theless better than the former : while 4he Caliriaists wef9 
of the opinion, " that wlien fire and water should unite 
without ttie one being dried up, or the other extinguished, 
then, and not till then, an union with the Lutherans might 
be supposed possible." With these sentiments, each pai^ 
tj carried on its part in the contest separately ; and the 
consequence was, that the Catholics easily got the better of 
both. 

At this period the court of France was too much oooo* 
pied with the party disputes by which it was agitated, to 
interest itself iii the afiairs of Europe. Holland was alst 
divided by faction ; and the great ^Atholder, prince Mau* 
rice, died of grief for the loss of Breda. King Janie^ 
instead of afibrding his son-in-law any assistance, was oecu* 
pied with the visionary idea of obtaining in in£inta for his 
son : and Charles was educated in despotic principles, und 
devoted to Buckingham. Christian the Fourth, king of 
Deumark, when he saw Germany almost reduced to sub<- 
jection, perceived the dangers to which the neighboring 
states were likely to be exposed ; and possessing the phV* 
fical strength of the old northern heroes, as well as their acr 
tivity and love of glory, took arms in favor of the Pro- 
testants : but his deficiencies in arrangement and in the 
science of war were so great and evident, that be was 
quickly convinced of his own impotence. Sigismundy 
king of Poland, who had sacrificed the kingdom of Sweden 
to bis devotion to the mass, was transported with senseless 
exultation at the misfortunes of the German Protestants. 



SECTION V. 

1CA9TUA. 

The house of Gonzaga, which had govemeo inantua 
and Montserrat, became extinct in Italy; and Charles duke 
of Nevers and Rethel, a descendant of a brother of the 
first duke, sim'ived alone in France : but the Spaniards, 



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XSniTRJkBAL HISTORT* 877 

AOtwkhstandifig his ckiniy took possesekiD of the country ; 
and the imfortunaie Mantua, the. seat of the fine arts and of 
peaceable vi^ptuoiisness, was ravaged with 6re and sword 
by the barbarous Caria Malat^ta, who respected neither 
right nor station. , 

' But Cardinal Richelieu, who had now overcome tl^e ri- 
vals of his power in the ministry of France, perceived the 
importance of having a princely family in Lombardy in 
the interest of his country ; and on tliis account he main- 
tained the title of the duke of Nevers so efiectually, that 
the Spaniards were obhged to consent to a treaty of peace 
at Cherasco, by which Charles became duke of Mantua, 
and obtained a patt of Montserrat (A. D. 1631); while 
the remainder of the latter country was added to the do- 
minions of duke Victor Amadeus the First, of Savoy. 

Richelieu manifested a just sense of the important ad- 
vantages that would accrue to the house of Habsburg b^ 
the proposed appropriation of the Valtelline t^itory, which 
would give continuity to |heir German and Italian domin- 
kms. The Catholics of that district had murdered all 
the Protestants in one day (A. D. 1620) ; and in order to 
free themselves from the authority of the confederates, 
who were mostly heretics, had applied for protectbn to the 
Spanish government at Milan ; which, by means of the 
clergy, had instigated their previous measures : while the 
Swiss, who should have assisted the confederates, were 
divided among themselves by religious differences and by 
Spanish pensions. But even this state of perplexity as- 
sisted the projects of Richelieu. 



SECTION VL 

CABDINAL RICBEUBU. 

Richelieu found France divided between the power of 
the king and that of the nobles ; provincial governors in 
possession of legal authority; parliaments in a state of 
formidable opposition to the court ; foreign connections ne- ^ 
glpcted ; the treasury empty ; the military department in 

VOL. iu« 24 



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2rB uNxvfiJisAi. HMCwnr. 

a stste of die utmoBl disorder; the govemmeiit conduoled 
upon ix> fixed principles, and the throne destitute of digoky* 
Notwithstaodmg all these difficulties^ Richelieu had the 
bddness to renew the designs of Henry the Great, for the 
diminution of the power of the house of Habsburg which 
was now more than ever prepboderant. 

This project was facilitated hy the miinner in which Fer- 
dband abused hb good fortune. A. D. 1629. At the 
time when the edict of restitution obliged the Protestant 
/States to restore all the ecclesiastical domains which bad 
been confiscated during the preceding seventy-four years, 
the insolent haughdness and the exactions of the soldiery 
had ofifended even the Catholics ; and Bavaria herself be- 
gan to perceive, that as one state after another became 
subjected until no effectual power of opposition should re- 
mam, the value of her own alliance must sink proportion- 
ally in the estimation of the conqueror. % 

Ferdinand, throwing aside aU moderation, while his 
troops were giving - alarm to tl^ frontiers of Switzerland, 
proposed to the diet of Ratisbon to insist upon the validity 
of the imperial claims on the united provinces of the 
Netherlands : he opposed all participation of the French 
in the afiidrs of Italy ; declared himself the enemy of Gus- 
tavus Adolphus king of Sweden, whose cousins, the dukes 
of Mecklenburg, had been outhiwed and banished without 
even the form of a trial ; and endeavored to introduce a 
standing army, which should be formed and maintained at 
the expense of the empire, but should remain at his dis- 
posal. At the same time, without the advice or consent 
of the states, be gave the duchy of Mecklenburg, to bis 
general Wallenstem ; and utterly disregarded the claims 
of the ancient ducal family of that country, as well as 
those of the electors of Brandenburg. , 

Twenty milli(xi& were in a few years extc»ted bom 
Brandenburg, ten from Pomerania^ and seven fix>m Hesse ; 
and the ministers of the emperor, arrayed in cosdy robes, 
seemed to design by their magnificent appearance to in- 
sult the depressed c<»>dition of the impoverished jmrinces. 
The party of the opposition was disarmed, and Wallen- 
stein was able to pronounce his own mandates and the corn- 



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nttoids of the cotnri, as {mbHe kws : Im ftietid Egmdiarg, 
the chief minister of the emperor, was commonly believed 
to be designed as the future duke of Wirtemberg, and a 
prince of Lorraine as the duke of Saxony ; while the pre- 
sent elector, John Greoree, was now treated with indifier- 
ence. Whether the habit of independence had rendered 
the exalted power of the emperor mtolerable to the states, 
or whether Ferdinand really designed to deter them from 
future opposition by a tyrannical display of his authori^, 
it is certain that a general feeling of subjection under a 
heavy yoke was prevalent in the emphre. 



SECTION vn. 

GUSTAYUS ADOI.PHU8. 
* 

Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, was now in his 
thirty-sixth year : his father had left him a well-confirmed 
authority, though without treasure : the nobles who might 
have endangered his power had been humbled in the pre- 
ceding revolutions, and there was nothing to fear from 
Russia, Poland^ or Denmark. The czar, Michael Ro- 
manoff, purchased peace from the young king, at the ex- 
pense of a part oi Livonia ; and the king of Denmark 
renounced the claim which the house of Oldenburg had 
hitherto maintained, to reign over the Swedes against their 
will. The talents and energy of Gustavus obliged Sigis- 
mund king of Poland, either entirely to abandon his long 
cherished hope of restoration to the throne of Sweden, <x 
at least to defer his expectations to a more remote enu 
The mterest which Gustavus took in the fate of the house 
of Mecklenburg, accustomed th^ oppressed and discon- 
tented portion of die empire to lode upon him as their 
protector. ' 

Crermany appeared, in reality, to be the country in 
which he might seek for power and opulence with the 
greatest prospect of success : he knew that, though the 
royal power was circumscribed in Sweden by definite laws, 
yet the devotion of nations to extraordinary men is not to 



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9MI vnamtmjos nwrprnt. 

h% coained bj ruk$; aad he usdertook to render bm 
people a nation of heroes. 

His method of conducting war was of his own inventioni 
and founded upon excellent principles : he was weU ac- 
quainted with the experience and the maxims of antiquity ' 
but bis intelligent fmind was able to modify them accordinz 
to the nature of tbe weapons and other circumstances of 
modern times : he felt the inconveniences of tbe beavy in* 
fantry ; and as be placed more reliance on the execution 
of manoeuvres than on physical strength, he disposed that- 
species of fprce in smaller divisions, and mixed tbem in 
platoons among the cavalry. Together with the lofty char- 
acter of bis genius, which manifested itself in the great- 
ness of his plans, he combined the power of attention to 
minute details in tbe organization of nis army, and a calm 
and penetrating insist into circuHistaoces of the greatest 
mtricacy : he also knew how to inflame his troops with 
teli^u^ ardor. 

His habits were of tbe most simple kind : though a mfiQ 
of huge stature, be shared in all the bodily fatigues of his 
soldiers ; though the boldness of bis enterprises astonished 
the world, he was personally mild, beneficent, susceptible 
of friendship and love, eloquent, popular, and full of re* 
liance on Providence : the prindpad traits of bis charact^ 
were magnanimity and gentieness. 

Gustavus, by his sudden and unexpected appearance in 
the empire, by bis irresistible progress, and finally, by the 
victory of Leipsic, revived the confidence of the protestant 
princes in their own power. With their assistance he. de- 
feated the best generals of the emperor ; over-ran tbe whole 
of Lower Germany, to tbe Rhine and tbe Danube ; and 
at length, in the battie of liutzen (A. D. 1632), found a 
victorious death, which the greatest commanders would 
prefer to the longest life. 

The commerce of Mecklenburg, and the support which 
tbe emperor afforded to the king of Poland, would have 
sufficed to justify this interference of Gustavus : but both 
tbe king oi Sweden and the court of France had naturally 
andjustly been alarmed at the union of the whole power 
of Germany, in the band of a ruler who assumed the tone 



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' UmVERSJUL filSTOBT. Sgl 

of an universal sovereien : aod the efficacy of a good im« 
litary system, directed oy the energetic genius of a sinde 
leader, wp never more eminently displayed than on mis 
occasion. 

A. D. 1632. Gustavus Adolphus had educated com- 
manders, who, subsequent to his death, and to the separate 
peace concluded by the elector of Saxonv (A. D. 1635), 
(continued for sixteen years to maintain the reputation of 
tjie Swedish arms and the cause which they had adopted, 
until the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia. Baniet 
resembled the late king in peneti'ation, as well as in his 
countenance ; he knew as well how to conquer, as after a 
defeat to assume such a posture as though he had not been 
beaten ; and had the art to compel the. confederated 
princes to continue on the side of the Swedes, or at least 
not to take part against them. They were all equal to 
Torstenson as generals ; but the latter was superior to most 
of them in private virtues. 



SECTION vm. 

RICHELIEU. 

A. D. 1634. When the affairs of Sweden, tStet the 
defeat at Nordlingen, appeared to have fallen into the ut* 
most peril, Richelieu openly declared his designs. TIm 
cardinal, who had the perseverance of an old Roman, and 
whose resolutions were as circumspect and mature as those 
of a senator of Venice, was the all-powerful minister of 
Lewis thq Thirteenth, who stood gready in need of such a 
statesman. He entertained and carried into efiect the plan 
of rendering France the most powerful state in Europe. 
Though the mother and the brother of his master were the 
chief movers of many conspiracies against his authority and 
his life ; while the king, who was in all respects a weak 
man, regarded him rather with fear than affection ; though 
the French army was far inferior to the veteran troops of 
the emperor, and the finances in the utmost disorder; 
•Ibough the nation was ignorant of his iperit, and the nobles 

VOL. m. 24* ' ' , , • 



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UHIFZIUAI. HISTOmT. 



eontiiiiially eaUed his attentioD from the moat important 
afiairs of state by their petty court cabals, yetRicheliea 
had in great measure contributed to fix the determinatioa 
of the king of Sweden ; he carried mto execution the de- 
signs of the latter (which were left at his death in a half 
complete state) and disappomted the revjying hopes of the 
enemies of France* 

Sweden possessed great men, who had only one deficien- 
cy, which the cardinalhad it in his power to supply : name- 
ly, the resources of a powerful state. 

A. D. 1635. In the year after the battle of Nordlingeo, 
the troops of France simultaneously attacked the Austrian 
monarchy at every accessible point, in order to prevent the 
forces ot the latter from acting with decisive efiect m any 
quarter. They commenced operations in the Vakelliney 
in, order, that it might be more difficult to recrait the im* 
perial armies out of Italy, and that the latter country might 
be secured from any attempts on the part of the Germans; 
while they might give occupation, in Flanders, to the Span- 
iards, and in Ae empire, relieve the Swedes. A body of 
twenty thousand infruitiy and seven thousand cavahy acted 
against Flanders ; three corps, each consisting of ten thou- 
sand infantry and four thousand cavalry, covered the fron* 
tiers on the side of the Netherlands, Lorraine, and Bur- 
gundy; and other armies were employed in the empire 
and in Italy. At the period when Richelieu entered upon 
his administration, France was in possession of no ships of 
war ; yet within ten years, a French naval force burned 
and destroyed a whole Spanish f]eet. The United Pro- 
vinces received an annual subsidy of 1,200,000 livres; 
Sweden and Savo^, each 1,000,000; and several princes 
of the empire, vanous sums. The frontiers were forufied ; 
and the annual expenses of the war amounted to 60,000,000, 
although France was not particularly oppressed with new 
taxes. In the year in which the cardinal died, the crown 
estates produced 22,500,000; the forests and waters, 
1,600,000; casual sources of revenue (including a loan 
of 8,000,000), 37,000,000; the greater and lesser taille, 
the voluntary contributions.of the clergy, and the territories 
of the states. 61,6pO,000; the farmed imposts amounted 



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t7NIVERSAL HISTORY* tSM 

not to more than 26,000,000 : and though the sum total 
scarcely exceeded 125,000,000, 10,000,000 remained in 
the treasury after all the demands upon it were satisfied* 
Five millions three hundred thousand were expended in 
the maintenance of foreign relations ; 3,490,000 for secret 
. services, and 2,785,000 for pensions : the minister of state 
had at his disposal 2,272,000; the expenses of the war 
by land amounted to 58,565,000 ; and those of the navy, 
CO 6,700,000 ; the permanent interest of the debt demand- 
ed 1,455,756; secret alSairs in tlie interior, 2,600,000; 
and extraordinary disbursements were estimated at 
2,000,000. 

Richelieu had found France in a state of commotion, 
with an exhausted treasury, and destitute of political influ- 
ence,; he Jeft it, (A, D. 1642), after seven years of war, far 
more opulent than it bad been during the seventeen years 
of peace which elapsed between the administration of Sully 
and his own ; and with an external influence which was 
decisively displayed in the negociations for the peace of 
Westphalia. The duke of Mantua was indebted to him 
for his territory ; the Orisons for the most beautiful district 
of their dominions, and the Protestant party in Germany 
for its consistency : he supplied Sweden with the means 
of carrying on a long, glorious, and advantageous war; 
and laid the foundation of the power of Liewis the Four-* 
teenth. 

' Upper Burgundy still belonged to Spain, and Alsace to 
Austna. Ancient treaties of neutrality, concluded under 
the mediation of the Swiss, guaranteed Upper burgundy, 
and the French frontiers on that side. It was of the ut- 
most importance to the king of Spain to continue in peace- 
able possession of the latter country; as his connection with 
the Netherlands was by that way secured;; whenever he 
waS' on friendly terms with Savoy or Switzerland, his troops 
had a convenient road through this country from Italy, to- 
ward the Austrian dominions of Alsace, into the territories 
duefly of ecclesiastical princes, and into Lorraine ; through 
lAich they arrived in the Belgian districts. If the plan 
respecting the Vakelline had entirely succeeded, the do>- 
I rf the house of Habsburg would have surrounded 



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UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 

and cime in contact with all those European states which 
were most important from their situation, populousness, 
and fertility, fix>m Sicily to Holland and Poland. Henry 
the Fourth, in order to break this chain, had exchanged 
Bresse, Biigey, and Gex, for Saluzzo, at the peace of 
hvons ; and ftichelieu, in the same spirit, took advantage 
ot the discontent of the prince of Mumpelnurdt who had 
been (tended by the haughty conduct of Spain, to draw 
him over to the French mterest; The cardinal alleged 
several instances in which the compact relating to the neu- 
trality had been infringed, for the purpose of prevendng 
its renewal : and the Swiss were at last obliged to leave 
this frontier to its fate. As soon as the connection was 
thus interrupted,^ the family of Habsburg experienced the 
utmost difficulty in the defence of its widely extended fron- 
tiers ; and the French entered Upper Bui^undy, Alsace, 
and the contiguous territories of Austria, witiiout much 
difficulty. Richelieu thus prepared the way fen: the incor«- 

g>ration of the two first ; just as Henry the Second had 
rmerly facilitated the conquest of jJorraine, by taking 
possession of the three bishoprics. 

Richelieu concluded a treaty with HoUand for the par- 
tition of the Spanish Netherlands ; where Frederick-Heniy, 
the old prince of Orange, maiutained the fame of his broth- 
er's arms. But the republic was aware that France was 
become a mdre formidable neighbor than Spain : and 
Frederick-Henry prosecuted the war without vigor, and 
thus acquired a reputation for policy equal to his. former 
fame as a soldier. 

The allies of Richelieu frequently failed to give him all 
the support in their power, and sometimes abandoned him 
entirely : he would not, however, make peace at their ex- 
pense ; but perceiving how important their very existence ^ 
was to die authority of his court, seemed to excuse their 
conduct on account of the difficulties of their situation. 

A. D. 1642. The cardinal died in the midst of the 
war, which he was carrjrbg on against the emperor and die 
king of Spain. The exhausted (empire stooa at this time 
peady in need of peace ; but the weakness of the minor* 
rty of Lewis the Fourteenth seemed to hold out a prospect 



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of concluding it at a later period, with less disadvantage to 
Austria. It was well knoWn that the Swedes would be un* 
able to continue the war without powerful support ; and 
negociations were commenced; but were prosecuted with 
extreme slowness : the loss of a province would have been 
less mischievous than the influence which France tlius ac- 
quired in the affairs of the empire. . 

But Conde and Turenne, heroes like those of antiquity, 
began to announce their illustrious career : the former in 
the plains of Rocroy (A. D. 1643), gave a deadly blow 
to the Spanish infantry ; and all the art of Mercy was re- 
quired to withstand, in the Black Forest, the arms of Tu- 
renne, to whom these campaigns served as a school in the 
art of war. The victorious army of duke Bernhard of 
Weimar, was attached to the interest of the French, through 
the influence of general Von Erlach. The Swiss con- 
tributed more to the conclusion of peace by making an ir- 
ruption into Bohemia, and obtaining possession of a part 
of Prague, than the most subtle negociations could have 
done : and the thirty years' war thus ended where it had 
begun. The emperor was convinced that nothing was to 
be eained by prosecuting it further ; the king of Spain had 
forfeited Portugal, and was in danger of ..losing Naples. 
The count d'Avaux, who was more earnestly bent upon the 
conclusion of peace than any other individual in the French 
ministry at Miinster, availed himself of these circumstan- 
ces : his more penetrating colleague Abel Servien, had less 
confidence in the good faith of his opponents, and his 
views were not so disinterested. 

Cardinal Mazarin now reigned in France ; for Lewis 
die Fourteenth was only in his tenth year, and the queen* 
mother Anna, daughter of Philip the Third, adopted the 
policy of the minister. Richelieu had prepared the. way 
tor great occurrences, which now seemed to follow as of 
their own accord ; and their execution was facilitated by 
the more pliant moderation of Mazarin, whose character 
had less of over-awing greatness, and who was therefore 
lett dreaded by the rest of Europe. Both these minl^rs 
were iUustrious men, though in different ways. 



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8B6 UKTTKKSAL BT8T0BT. 

SECTION IX. 

THE PEACE OF WiSSTFHALIA. 

A.D. 1648. Peace was concluded in the Westphalian 
towns of Miinster and Osnaburg, under the mediation of 
the pope and the Venetians, between the em]>eror Ferdj- 
nand the Third, Philip the Third, king of Spain, and the 
princes of the empire who belonged to their party, on one 
side ; and Lewis the Fourteenth, Christina, queen of Swe- 
den, the states-general of the United Provinces, and those 
princes oi the empu-e, mostty protestants, who were in 
alliance with the French and Swedes, on the other. Only 
France and Spain now remained at war. This peace is the 
foundation of the whole modern system of European poli- 
tics, of all modem treaties, of what is called the freedom 
of Germany, and of a sort of balance of power among all 
the countries of western Europe. 

The arrangements of this treaty gave a more decided 
form to the ecclesiastical and temporal polity of the em- 
pire ; secured the advantages obtained in the late contest 
oy France and Sweden ; ordained some new relations be- 
tween the different powers, and altered the situation of the 
great famflies of Germany. It will be useful, on diis oc- 
casion, to take a view of different parts of the constitution 
of the empire. 

The emperors invest the ecclesiastical princes of the 
empire, by means of the sceptre, with their feudal tempo- 
ralities, but not until the pope has confirmed their flectipn : 
and these princes, like the emperor himself, must observe 
the conditions of a stipulation, into which, as is usual in 
elective states, they are obliged to enter. The pope dis- 
poses of all dignities in Rome, or within two days' journey 
from that city, and of all such as become vacant by deposi- 
tion, transfer, renunciation, or the invalidation of irregular 
elections, or have been left by deceased cardinals and other 
persons, who have held any office or dignity about the 
person of his holiness ; as well as of all benefices of the 
second class, which fall vacant in the odd months, as Jan- 



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UNIT£B8AL UlSTOHT. / 287 

uary, March, Ma^,'&z;c« Letters of grace, rescripts, pro- 
visions, and coadiutories, are eitlier aouses, or at least ex- 
traordinary methods of influencing the appointments to 
ecclesiastical dignities : but these reservations of die holy 
chair have been continually diminishing ever since the re- 
formation. 

In protestant countries, the ecclesiastical institutions de- 
pend entirely on the supreme temporal power t in these 
respects the princes of the several states have assumed thh 
authority which was exercised in primitive times by the 
communities, and in the middle ages by the pope. In con- 
sequence of this arrangement, every change of creed which 
took place among the princes of tne empire, between the 
religious pacification and the treaty of Westphalia, was at- 
tended with the most vexatious consequences to their sub- 
jects : but at thfe latter period it was enacted, that the 
evangelical party or Lutherans, and the reformed or Cal- 
vinists, should enjoy in the empire absolute toleration and 
the free exercise of their religious rites; and that the latter 
should be independent of the opinions of the prince, and 
should remain as they were practised by the majority of 
the inhabitants in each country, on the first of January of 
the Normal year, or 1624. It remains, however, a ques- 
tion of 'jurisprudence, whether this Norma is binding be- 
tween Lutherans and Calvinists inhabiting the same coun- 
try, when that country has not been expressly named ; and 
whether its authority extends to the Palatmate. ' When 
any person becomes a protestant, who ii^ an inhabitant of 
a country which had not adopted that cre^d before the 
year 1624, he is allowed five years to sell or let his landed 
property ; at the expiration of which period the sovereign 
can compel him to quit his territory. When a {)rotestant 
prince turns catholic, that circumstance has no influence 
on the situation of his subjects, with regard to their relig- 
ious establishments : but tne catholic jurists are of opinion, 
tliat he may in this case grant a simultaneum to his new 
companions in religious beUef. The protestants do not ac- 
knowledge a prince, under these circumstances, to possess 
his former power in ecclesiastical aflairs, because be held 
tkat authority only as the chief of their religious commti«- 



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288 mriTSRSAL bistort. 

nity: and on the otber hand, a protestant prince does not 
possess the same autiiority over the catholic part of lus 
subjects, as in the churches of his own creed. 

These regulations are not to be regarded as civil, but as 
political laws, guaranteed in the peace of the empire ; the 
spirit and form of which was discussed by the two religious 
parties, in that character, not man to man, but rank to 
rank. Such affairs belong neither to the imperial chamber, 
nor tQ the council of the imperial cpurt, both of which are 
tribunals of justice ; but to the national representation, or 
imperial diet. It would have been diametrically opposite 
to the spirit in which the peace was concluded, which was 
intended to place both parties in an equality of rights, to 
attempt to subject the ecclesiastical afikirs of the protestants 
to lay tribunals ; because the authority of these courts m 
such affairs is denied in the catholic church. 

The treaty declared, that all grievances should be re- 
moved within three years ; in default of which the sufiering 
party should recur for assistance to France, Sweden, and 
the other parties to the contract of peace. But, as it was 
not possible to define accurately which was the suffering 
party over the whole empire, this notable clause produced 
no effect. ^ 

These arrangements are contained in the treaty of prirfcc, 
concluded with the Swedes at Osnaburg : but Lewis the 
Fourteenth, at Miinster, also guaranteed to the German 
protestanu the exercise of the same faith which he per- 
secuted in France with the utmost cruelty. 

All the states of the empire were confirmed in their 
common and peculiar rights and usages : the emperor en- 
gages to enact or to expound no law ; to impose no tax ; 
to carry on no war 5 to erect no fortification | and to con- 
clude no alliance or treaty of peace, without their consent/ 
The states are permitted to ^ter at pleasure mto connec- 
tions with each other, or with foreign powers, provided they 
do nothing hostile to the emperor and empire,' prejudicial 
to the peace of the country, or contrary to their feudal 
oaths. Diets are to be held frequently ; the imperial com- 
pact taken at the time of election 5 the order of execution, 
and the police and justice of the empire, are to be reformed 



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UNIVEBSAL HISTORY. 289 

and regulated. Commerce is to be protected, and no new 
toUs are to be imposed. 

As the constitution of the aulic council had fallen into 
confusion, in consequence of the religious differences, as 
well as of the abuses of the supremacy and power of the 
states, a plan for an improvement in its order had been 
sketched previously to the war. Some things relating to 
this new arrangement were determined by the treaty of 
peace; but it was never entirely accepted or rejected. 
This highest tribunal of the empire has no distinctly pre- 
scribed form of procedure : a judge, chosen from among 
the counts or lords, is its chief; and he is assisted by pre- 
sidents and assessors, a number of writers and readers, and 
a crowd of procurators and agents. The affairs of this tri- 
bunal are introduced in audiences, and transacted in sen- 
ates ; which consist of the assessors, who are appointed 
and maintained by the states of the empire : their number 
ought to be fifty ; twenty-four of whom are elected by the 
states of the protestant party, and an equal number by 
those of the catholics, and two are nominated by the em- 
peror ; but it was found impossible to provide for the re- 
muneration of so great a number : the income of the aulic 
demesne never exceeded 70,000 dollars ; nor did the as- 
sessors ever exceed the half of tlie number prescribed. 
In consequence of these deficiencies, together with the dis- 
use of any arrangement in the order of the processes, the 
decline of the visitations, and the complexity arising from 
every change in the affairs of Europe and of the empire, 
as well with regard to the processes as to the party spirit 
of the members of the court ; the confusion, and the arrear 
of untransacted business, is augmented almost to infinity. 
Four presidents were ordained ; but only two, (both of 
whom as well as the judge were appointed by the em- 
peror,) could be maintained. This tinbunal is influential 
not merely by its decisions : the resolutions of the senate, 
which by practice become precedents, iinpart to it in effect 
a share of the legislative power ; and the dvhia which it 
lays before the diet, are similar to motions, which are sel- 
dom infringed upon. 

By this treaty, the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and 

VOL. III. 25 



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290 UNIVERSAL HISTOBT. 

Verdun, which had been so long ago acquired, together 
with Moyenvic, were formally confirmed to France, but 
with the reservation of the metropolitan rights of Treves : 
Austria abandoned the town of Breisach, the landgraviate 
of Alsace, and the imperial jurisdiction of the ten cities ; 
and the king soon began to arrogate more than had been 
transferred to him: the ten imperial cities came to be 
tre^ed as municipal towns, and the nobles, who possessed 
estates in Alsace, as French vassals; and both were obliged 
by degrlees to submit. Even the imperial union of Stras- 
biirg, including the bishopric and city and the monasteries 
of Marbach and Ludern, soon existed only in name and* 
in the claim to a few estates lying on the hither side of the 
Rhine. 

The dominions of the dukes of Pomerania Stettin, the 
city of Wismar in the territory of Mecklenburg, and the 
confiscated ecclesiastical principalities of Bremen and Ver- 
dun, were the indemnification of Sweden. Pomerania, in 
pursuance of ancient compacts of inheritance, ought to 
have reverted to Brandenburg; and Frederick- William 
received as an indemnity for that part which had been con- 
firmed to Sweden, the secularized archbishopric of Mag- 
deburg, and the confiscated bishoprics of Halberstadt, Min- 
den, and Camin. 

This prince, the successor of a weak and betrayed fa- 
ther, in a few years laid the foundation of the greatness of 
Prussia. The possession of Pomerania, a country abound- 
ing in luxuriant pastures, where the Oder was to be the 
bqundary between the Swedes and Prussians, and which 
afforded an important commercial road for the Polish and 
Silesian products, laid Germany and Poland open to the 
Swedes. The elector, on the other hand, acquired a terri- 
tory far more fertile than his former dominions; while 
Mi n den put him in possession of a country much nearer 
to the hereditary dominions of Juliers, to which he had 
pretensions. 

Wismar, a city which was formerly an important mem- 
ber of the Hanseatic league, and which, together with Ros- 
tock, was the best town in the dominions of Mecklenburg, 
afforded the Swedes a good harbor : and the dukes were 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORT. 291 

remunerated for this sacrifice with the secularized bishop- 
rics of Schweria and Ratzeburg, and the benefices of Mi- 
row and Nemerow, belonging to the order of St. John. 
Bremen commanded the mouth of the Weser, and Ver- 
11 dAi gave Sweden an influence in the circle of Westphalia, 
which, together with the other acquisitions of that crown, 
was sufficient to have laid the foundation of a permanent 
interest in Germany. 

In this treaty the Swiss confederacy also was declared 
to be perfectly independent of the German empire, and 
exempt from its tribunals. This declaration, which was 
obtained by John Rudolf Wetstein, burgomaster of Basel, 
was the joint effect of the intercession of the French, and 
of the desire which the emperor had to procure a good 
understanding with the Swiss. ' 

With .regard to Italy, the peace of Cherasco was con- 
firmed. 

Holland, which, as soon as it was acknowledged by 
Spain as an independent republic, had no farther motive 
for continuing the war, made a separate peace, in which 
France, its ally, took no part. The old prince Frederick- 
Henry, who was now dead, had pointed out to the states 
how important it was, for the preservation of their freedom, 
that their enfeebled neighbors, the Spaniards, should be 
left io possession of their remaining dominions in the Ne- 
therlands. The party of the opposition also wished for an 
opportunity of removing the army from under the disposal 
of the ambitious stadtholder, William the Second. 

The independence of Holland and its East Indian con- 
quests, was acknowledged and confirmed by Spain : the 
two countries agreed mutually to forbear from navigating 
near each other's coasts ; as the Dutch wished to exclude 
all competitors from the Spice Islands, and the Spaniards 
to shut up the country in which her gold-mines are situa- 
ted, with the most jealous care. The European ports of 
both countries were to be open to each ; and neither was 
to impose heavier duties on the other, than those which 
were levied from their own subjects. 

The spirit of all the commercial treaties of the Span- 
iards, consists in preserving to themselves a monopoly of 



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292 UNIVERSAL HISTO&T. 

the commerce with their transmarine dominions, and in 
availing themselves of the industry of other European na- 
tions : they did not even seek those commodities in the 
countries where they are manufactured*; but encouraged 
the foreigners who brought them to their coasts. The 
only piece of good policy which they adopted in this re- 
spect consisted in bestowing equal privileges on the mer- 
chants of different nations, in order that they might profit 
by the competition : and on this principle the Hanseatic 
towns soon obtained the same facilities as the Dutch. 

The Spaniards abandoned Maestricht, which had been 
taken by Frederick-Henry, to the Dutch, on condition 
that the prince-bishop of Liege should retain his preroga- 
tives in the internal administration of the city. They dso 
gave up Bois-le-duc, Breda, Bergen-op-Zoom, Gravelines, 
and Hulst; and afterwards Dalem, Valkenberg, and the 
country of Rolduc : and commissioners were appointed to 
decide all doubtful points, and to regulate the tolls. 

Holland, after a severe . struggle of eighty years, thus 
obtained from its ancient enemy the prize of its persever- 
ance ; and acquired his esteem and confidence, as well as 
the Dutch Netherlands : and from that period the court of 
Brussels depended upon the Hague for the maintenance 
of its power. 

John-George, elector of Saxony, who was reigning at 
the commencement of the thirty years' war, and who sur- 
vived its conclusion, had received the margraviate of Lau- 
sitz as an hereditary pledge, on condition of assisting the 
emperor in the reduction of the protestants of Bohemia, 
and of accommodating himself as far as possible to the 
wishes of the imperial court. The states of the Lausitz 
had formerly devoted themselves; with the consent of Lewis 
of Bavaria, elector of Brandenburgh, to the emperor 
Charles the Fourth, king of Bohemia ; and Ferdinand the 
Second now transferred their country to the dominion of 
Saxony. 

The misfortunes of the elector Palatine and the resdess 
ambition of Maximilian of Bavaria, had the following ter- 
mination : All the states of the empire which had suffered 
in consequence of the disputes concerning Bohemia, or 



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UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 293 

« 

from the thirty years' war, were reinstated in their properties 
.and rights ; except that the duke of Bavaria retained that 
rank in the college of electors which had formerly belonged 
to the elector Palatine, together with the Upper Palatinate 
and its capita], Amberg : in return for which he remitted 
a demand on the emperor of thirteen millions, and the 
claims of Bavaria to the country of Upper Austria. On 
the other hand, Charlesr Lewis, son of the unfortunate 
elector and king Frederick^ who died in grief and poverty, 
and the place of whose burial is not even known, was re- 
instated in the Palatinate, and an eighth place was ci'eated 
for him in the electoral college : it was also settled, that in 
the event of the house of Bavaria becoming extinct, the 
elector Palatine should resume the fifth seat in that college, 
together with the Upper Palatinate; and should give a 
compensation to the allodial heirs of Bavaria. The other 
expelled branches of the Palatine family, were in like 
manner restored to their rights, with the exception of cer- 
tain fiefs, which remained in the possession of those on 
whom they had been bestowed, durmg the war, by the ex- 
isting masters of the Palatinate. 

The dukes of Wurtemberg were restored in this man- 
ner: and the county of Mumpelgard retained the fiefs 
which it possessed in Alsace, as well as Clairval and Pas- 
savant, m Upper Burgundy. 

The margraves of Baden, at Hochberg, were also in- 
cluded in the amnesty ; and every thing contained in the 
edict of restitution which had reference to these princes, as 
indeed the whole of that act, was annihilated by die present 
peace. 

The duke of Croi was likewise included in tha peace, 
and his dependence on France was without prejudice to 
his interests. 

For the rest, those who had suffered any loss previous 
to their adoption of the party of France or Sweden, re- 
ceived no indemnification ; while such nobles as had suf- 
fered losses after their declaration in favor of one or other 
of those crowns, received indemnities. On this principle 
the emperor was willing to do justice to his pr6testant sub- 
jects in Bohemia and his hereditary dominions ; but what 

VOL. III. 25* 



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294 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

they had lost was regarded as having been forfeited hf the 
laws of war. 

The peace of Westphalia indemnified the landgrave of 
Hesse Cassel with the secularized abbacy of Hersfeld, the 
possession of the greater part of the Westphalian county of 
Schaumburg, and the acknowledgment of feudal superiority 
over the smaller portion, which was bestowed on the broth- 
er-in-law of the last count and noble lord of Lippe. The 
feudal superiority of the county of Waldeck, a district ad- 
vantageously situated, fertile, and abounding in mineral 
riches, was also confirmed and guaranteed to the land- 
graves; and the right of primogeniture was confirmed in 
both the families of Hesse. M these advantages were 
obtained by the talents and energy of Amelia of Hanau, 
mdow of William the Sixth, for a family which was desti- 
tute of a ruling head (William the Seventh being in his 
minority), which was oppressed by its relatives, betrayed 
by its generals, and in the most imminent peril of utter ruin. 
The new masters of the secularized ecclesiastical princi- 
palities took their seats on the b^nch of the temporal 
{rinces. Protestant bishops and prelates were elected at 
iubeck, and alternately at Osnaburg, at Quedllnburg, Her- 
vorden, Gemrode, and Gandersheim. In consideration 
that the family of Holstein had delayed the secularization 
of Lubeck, the chapter determined to elect six bishops in 
succession from that family ; and the sixth procured his 
son to be named coadjutor. It was resolved that whenever 
the turn should come to the protestants at Osnaburg, the 
bishop should be elected from the Hanoverian family of 
Brunswick. 

The whole treaty, although concluded in two places, was 
declared to be ofie instrument, one fundamental law of die 
German empire, and a pragmatic sanction : and was guar- 
anteed by France and Sweden. The constitutions of Grer- 
raany, Holland, and Switzerland, thus acquired a simul- 
taneous recognition and guarantee. 



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tTKiyE&SAL HtSfORT. SIS 

SECTION X. 

SPAIN. 

The war continued eleven years longer between France 
and Spain ; but was feebly prosecuted, even on the part 
of the former. During the minority of Lewis the Four- 
teenth, disorders arose which reduced even Conde, and 
shortly afterwards Turenne, to go over to the side of the 
Spaniards. But the twofold despotism under which Spain 
suffered, had enfeebled that kingdom to such a degree, as 
to render it incapable of taking advantage of favorable oc- 
currences. 

Cardinal Mazarin, in person, at length concluded a 
treaty in the Isle of Pheasants, with Don Lewis de Haro, 
Spanish minister of state ; which was denominated, from 
the neighboring mountains, the peace of the Pyrenees. 
Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip the Fourth^ married 
the young king of France (A. D. 1659), who renounced 
all the hereditary pretensions arising from this aQiance : 
the county of Rousillon was transferred to him ; and the 
Pyrenees, as they ought naturally to be, rendered the boun- 
dary of the two monarchies : on the side of Flanders, the 
county of Artois was united to France, and the trade of the 
latter country with Spain placed on the footing of the most 
favored nations. 

Don Lewis, who concluded this treaty, had succeeded 
to the power and office of the count duke de Olivarez, who 
had acquired the favor of Philip the Fourth by methods 
of every description, not excepting the most ignoble, and 
afterwards kept him long in a state of subjection ; for which 
no political good fortune indemnified the king. Haro was 
ignorant and irresolute ; and full of the idea 3iat the power 
of his master, which he had appropriated to himself, was 
superior to that of all other princes and states. For this 
reason, he took no pains to infuse new life into the mo- 
narchy : on the contrary, the military departmetat was ne- 
glected, and the sums designed for diat service dissipated 
on other objects ; the energy of the generals was held in sub- 
iection by slavish fear, and public spirit was entirely extinct. 



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896 CrHIVERSAL HI8T0XT. 

SECTION XI, 



PORTUGAL. 



During this war, the court of Spam had forfeited the 
kingdom of Portugal. The Portuguese had reason to de* 
test the foreign masters to whom they owed the loss of the 
East Indies, and who contributed by their haughtiness and 
oppressions at Lisbon, to maintain the national antipathy. 
The Spanisli court had permitted the pope to practise an 
oppressive despotism over Portugal b matters relating to 
the constitution. The court chamber was subjected to the 
bann, because it had imposed taxes according to the laws, 
upon the estates of the ecclesiastics. The finances were 
exhausted on objects foreign to the interests of the nation, 
while their celebrated navy was suiSered to fall into decay. 

A. D. 1640. Under these circumstances, Don John 
duke of Braganza, overturned the Spanish d)masty m Por- 
tugal, almost without the sheddins of blood, by the mere 
declaration that he was the legitimate king. He was a 
ruler of moderate abilities, and his character by no means 
enterprising : the power of Spain was in the vicinity, and 
Braganza had scarcely any external assistance. The 
quarrel, for it hardly deserved to be called a war, continued 
twenty-eight years ; and Braganza maintained possession 
of the throne by the will of the people. The states of the 
kingdom acknowledged Don John the Fourth : they re- 
newed the fundamental laws of Lamego ; and declared that 
if the king should die without heirs, and should survive his 
brother, his nephew should inherit the sovereignty. 

The Jesuits acquired so much influence over John the 
Fourth and his queen, Louisa Gusman, of the family of 
Medina Sidonia, that they might more properly be said to 
reign in Portugal; while other individuals of their order 
exerted its credit and influence in support of the court of 
Spain. The king endeavored to gain over the maritime 
powers of Europe for the support of his authority : he pro- 
mised a port of Brazil to the Dutch; he allowed a free 
trade to the English, not only in Portugal but in her Afri- 



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T7NIVERSAL HISTORT. 29T 

candommions (A. D. 1641); and promised to treat the 
French in the same manner as the most friendly powers. 
These treaties appeared to be equally favorable to all the 
maritime powers ; but then: solid advantages were the prize 
of the most industrious. 



SECTION xn. 

GREAT BRITAIN. 

The kingdom of Great Britain was involved in a civil 
war, which was rather the effect of the natural course of 
afiairs than of the great abuses of royal power, or of any 
systematic plan pursued by the opposition. After the de- 
struction of the higher class of the nobility and of the pro- 
perty of the citizens which took place during the civil wars, 
and the consequent immoderate elevation of the power of 
the crown, the prosperous age of Elizabeth conferred ex- 
traordinary opulence on the commons, who, during the 
reigns of James and Charles, acquired the courage to em- 
ploy it' for their own benefit. 

Charles perhaps imagined that he was only exercising 
his hereditary powers, of which his pedantic father had 
given him ideas altogether erroneous. He replied to re- 
presentations with severity ; and expected to be able to 
give a degree of authority to his proclamations, which the 
victors of Agincourt and Cressy would scarcely have ven- 
tured to demand. At the same time he irritated cardinal 
Richelieu by his feeble support of the French Huguenots, 
and Austria by words, though not by actions, in favor of 
his brother-in-law the elector palatine. He offended the 
English by his predilection for the Roman catholic faith; 
and the favored missionaries of that church forgot the 
maxims of prudence : one of their number proved that 
the pope was legiiimate lord of England and Ireland ; 
another, that unless the Irish catholics were indulged with 
the unrestrained possession of their religion, they had a 
right to elect another king ; and the nuncio of the queen, 
who was a French princess, displayed his influence with a 
splendor which was odious in the eyes of the people. 



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298 UNIVERSAL IIISTORT. 

Queen Elizabeth, without regard to the resources of her 
successors, had alienated many of the crown estates: 
James was prodigal towards his favourites ; and Charles 
fell into difficulties in consequence of the disordered state 
of his financial affairs, and endeavored to obtain money 
by imposing taxes without the consent of the parliament. 
He manifested, on all occasions, a perseverance which 
was utterly destitute of foundation in system and in know- 
ledge of men ; and therefore often showed that timidity 
and irresolution, on the appearance of opposition, which 
are usually manifested in the efforts of a man of clouded 
understanding. Charles was magnanimous, amiable, and 
learned ; but deficient in steadfast exertion, in the gift of a 
sound judgment, and in the dignity and vigor necessary to 
the situation in which he stood. 

Samuel Vassall, who afterwards founded the town of 
Boston in New England, was the first member of parlia- 
ment who opposed the illegal levy of a tax on the impor- 
tation of every pound or cask of certain commodities. 
The king exacted the customs, during fifteen years, with- 
out authority from the parliament ; an arbitrary tax was 
levied on ships (A. D. 1640) ; many feudal privileges and 
ancient abuses were exercised with increased severity; 
contributions and loans, called voluntary, were exacted by 
force; soccageswere arbitrarily demanded, and distributed 
with partiality ; the rights of pre-emption and purveyance 
were exercised in an offensive manner ; personal freedom, 
or the people's privilege of being tried by their equals, 
and of remaining unmolested in their own house^, was in- 
fringed in various modes ; the forms of law were disre- 
garded by the court of star-chamber ; martial law was 
exercised in time of peace ; Englishmen were subjected 
to long and extremely injurious imprisonments, and op- 
pressed with exorbitant fines ; and, to crown the whole, 
their rights and complaints were treated with neglect, and 
even contempt. 

From the discussions to which these grievances gave 
rise, arose others relating to tlie nature and origin of polit- 
ical constitutions. The nation, uncertain to whom the su- 
preme power justly belonged, consulted its interests : a civil 



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UNIT£RSAL HISTORY. 299 

war arose ; and, amidst the conflict of the passions, the 
state negociations and the common rights of war were fol- 
lowed by the disappearance of all subjection, the suppres- 
sion of the prevailing form of worship, and of all estab- 
lished forms and authorities. Enthusiasts, equally inac- 
cessible to reason or revelation, to a senS; of propriety or 
any moral restraint, exercised the most irresistible influence 
on tlie course of events. The high church sunk into mis- 
ery, the ancient nobility were degraded to the level of the 
mob, the whole constitution fell into ruin, and tlie king 
finally perished by the axe of the executioner. 

The horror of this deed pervaded all Europe : ^ven 
Alexei Michailovitsch deprived the English of the commer- 
cial privileges which they had enjoyed in Russia. 



SECTION xm. 

RUSSIA. 

The empire of Russia recovered slowly and with diffi- ' 
culty from the effects of a revolution, which had no resem- 
blance either to that of Portugal or of England. 

Fedor, the son of the czar Ivan Vasilievitsch, and the 
last prince of the family of Rurik, having died without male 
heirs (A. D. 1598), the Bojars elected Irene Gudenov, 
his widow, as successor to the throne : but as she refused 
to accept that dignity, the patriarch of Moscow, the arch- 
bishop of Novogorod, the princes of the royal family, the 
Bojars, and all the nobility, united their votes in favor of 
Boris Gudenov, her brother. 

The new czar was honored with embassies from Sha 
Abbas the Great, king of Persia, the emperor Rudolf the 
Second, the kings of the North, and the Hanse towns. 
Boris, in imitation of the policy of Ivan, protected the 
commerce of Lubeck and Stralsund ; gave the same privi- 
leges to the Dutch as to the English, and allowed the Ger- 
man protestants the free exercise of their religion. He 
further encouraged commerce by loans without interest : a 
duty of five per cent, was levied upon all imported articles ; 



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300 UNIVERSAL HISTORY. 

but every man was permitted to export goods to the amount 
of his imports, free of duty. 

A. D. 1604. Boris was governing his empire with wis- 
dom and reputation, when Gregory Atrepieff, a young monk, 
conceived the project of attempting to obtain possession of 
the throne of Kn^ia. Boris was accused of having put to 
death, by different methods, both the late czar and his 
brother prince Demetrius : Atrepieff personated the latter, 

fersuaded the vayvode of Sendomiers, and many other 
^olish noblemen, of the truth of his pretensions ; and pro- 
mised, if he should be restored by their arms, to aggran- 
dise them, and to favor the Roman catholic faith : many 
of the Bojars forsook the czar, who died of grief, and left 
the throne to his son Fedor. 

A. D. 1605. Moscow was conquered by the Poles, 
and Dmitri ascended, as was supposed, the throne of his 
fathers, and married the daughter of the vayvode of Sen- 
domiers. It is on many accounts doubtful, whether the 
legitimate heir of the monarchy was not concealed under 
the name of Atrepieff: his administration was laudable; 
he manifested an exalted mind, and displayed many vir- 
tues : on the contrary, he appeared to prefer the customs 
of Poland, and offended the pride of some of the nobles, 
in such a manner as to occasion an insurrection which cost 
him his life. 

A. D» 1606. Wasilej Suskoi having been elected in 
his place, another Dmitri pretended to be that unfortunate 
czar. Moscow was besieged by the Poles ; and prince 
Gallitzin compelled the czar to deliver himself up as a pris- 
oner, in which condition he died. 

The majority of the votes was now in favor of Vladis- 
laf Vasa, a Polish prince, who by this election would have 
been indemnified for the loss of the crown of Sweden, and 
would have become the most powerful prince in the north 
of Europe. But the same zeal for the Roman Catholic 
religion, the difference of the manners, and the haughtiness 
of the Poles, excited the indignation of the Russians. 
Conspiracies, treasons, and murders, filled Moscow with 
distrust and bloodshed : more than one general massacre 
involved even the common citizens ; and the treasure of 



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UNIVERSAL BISTORT. 301 

the czar was transported to Warsaw. Three successive 
Dmitris in this manner deluded the nation. 

A. D. 1613. The great men and nobles of the empire, 
wearied with the confusions that prevailed, assembled for 
the purpose of deciding who should govern Russia. They 
passed three days in fasting and prayer ; and so rigorously 
was this ordinance observed, that even mothers refused their 
milk to sucking babes. At length tlie nobles and the dep- 
uties of the states united their votes in favor of a boy of 
fifteen. Michaila Romanoff, a son of the archbishop Phil- 
aretus, and grandson, by the mother's side, of the czar 
Ivan Vasilievitsch, was raised to the throne ; and it was re- 
solved that the czars should thenceforward be nominated 
from the family of Romanoff, and invested with the sole 
power of the administration. 

Michaila ascended the throne of an humiliated empire : 
all tlie institutions of Ivan, and all the useful regulations 
that Boris attempted to introduce, had vanished ; the ex- 
haustion was universal, and the influence of Poland and 
Sweden predominant. The young czar conducted his 
measures for the restoration of the power of his kingdom, 
chiefly in a peaceable and imperceptible manner. 

About this time the Cossacks began to attach themselves 
to the Russians : a multitude of young men who wished 
only to lead an independent life, had formed these hordes 
on the shores of the Jaik and of the Caspian sea, where 
they lived under the government of an ataman, in a repub- 
lic without women. The czar afforded them protection, 
and many of their number at length married their captives. 

The Saporogian cossacks had collected in the region 
about the falls of the Dnepr. Lyanskoronsky, a Polish 
nobleman, whom they had chosen for tlieir ataman, had 
conducted them into the Ukraine, and the prudent king 
Stephen Bathori had taken them into his pay : but Sigis- 
mund Vasa, and Vladislaf, in compliance with the urgent 
entreaties of his counsellors, endeavouring to convert thera 
by force to the Roman Catholic faith, the Saporogians ap- 

Eealed to ai-ms. Vladislaf gained one victory by artifice, 
ut in vain : their avenger, Chmielniizki, the conqueror 
of the Polish generals, made an irruption into the kingdom, 
VOL. III. 26 



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302 UHITERSAL HI8TOBT. 

at the head of 100,000 savage warriors, and obliged the 
king, John Casimir Vasa, to make the peace of Szborow. 

The latter had the weakness to al(ow this treaty to be 
broken ; in consequence of which these free und valiant 
hordes transferred themselves to Alexei Michailovitsch, 
czar of Russia. 

A. D. 1645. Under this Alexei, who was the father 
of Peter the Great, Russia prepared herself for that splen- 
did light which was soon to blaze forth with such rapidity 
in her realm. As yet, indeed, her power was formidable 
only to the Asiatics and to her own subjects. A. D. 1636. 
Richelieu had an indistinct knowledge, that an emperor 
and great duke of all Russia, Kasan, Astrachan, and Sibe* 
ria, reigned in the North, and sent Talleyrand into his do- 
minions as an ambassador : but as yet no ambassador re- 
mained in Moscow longer than until his commission was 
completed ; and Alexei could not comprehend for what 
reason Frederick von Gabel wished to reside at his capi- 
tal, on the part of Denmark. His knowledge of Europe 
was derived from the answers that he received to his nu- 
merous questions from foreign merchants ; until he at 
length Caused a political gazette to be translated into the 
language of bis court. * 

He was the first czar who sent an embassy to the em- 

Eeror of China ^ and hgLxaad^rttd J^obolsk the staple mar- 
et for Cbiri|se silk, nreciou/ stones^^and other manufac- 
tures. He *endeavore£Mo «ivert the commerce of the 
Persians from its track, by way of Bassora and Haleb, and 
to induce them to adopt the way across the Caspian, up 
the Volga, and through Russia. 

This plan was interrupted by the rebellion of Stenka 
Raszyn, a cossack of the Don, the Pugatscheff of his age. 
Raszyn corrupted the army, chiefly by promising to restore 
the ancient liturgy, and to abolish that which had been re- 
formed by the patriarch Nikon ; but his designs were be- 
trayed by the ataman, and he was put to death by being 
quartered. 



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UNIVERSAL HISTOHT. 303 

SECTION XIV. 

THE TURKS. 

While the czar was combating the hereditary barbarism 
of his people, the empire of the Turks was falling to de- 
cay. Under Achmed the First, Egyptian rebels, for the 
first time, carried the head of the pacha about on a spear. 
Distinguished qualities, no longer the means . of advance- 
ment, now only served to expose their possessors to de- 
struction ; and the welfare of the provinces was sacrificed 
to avaricious courtiers. 

The Turkish nation, or soldiery, for that people never 
coalesced with the inhabitants of the country, remained 
inaccessible to all improvements in the art of war, and to 
all the progress of European civilization. Their language, 
which is intermixed with a great number of Arabic, Per- 
sic, and Zagay words, has different characters for the use 
of the common people, the merchant, the man of learning, 
and the statesman : there are no characters for the vowels, 
and the thirty-three consonants have only seventeen cha- 
racters to express them. Every district has Its peculiar 
dialect. The books of the Europeans thus remained 
sealed to the Turks ; and the literature of the latter equal- 
ly unintelligible to tlie former. The Turks fell into a 
state of decline, not so much from degeneracy, as because 
they remained stationary. 

A. D. 1616. The effeminate Achmed died in his 
twenty-seventh year, from the consequences of excess. 
His brother Mustafa was excluded from the throne on ac- 
count of his imbecility (A. D. 1617); and Osman, the 
son of Achined, put to death (A. D. 1622), because he 
attempted to govern with vigor, and to enforce strict mili- 
tary discipline. At last, however, Morad the Fourth, the 
conqueror of Bagdad, reduced the janissaries to order : 
he was the last great padisha in the Ottoman family, but 
died at an early period, exhausted by intemperance. A. 
D. 1640. His brother Ibrahim was put to death in the 
same year in which the Christian powers concluded their 
thirty years' war, from which the Sublime Porte reaped 
no advantae:e. A. I). IGiS. 



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804 0NtVKRSAI« BISTORT^ 

SECTION XV. 



CONCLUSION. 



Such was the situation of Europe at the period when 
the family of Habsburg,' exhausted by its own efibrts, was 
obliged to submit to.the vexatious conditions which FraDce, 
with the assistance of Sweden and of the protestant party 
in Germany, was enabled to impose : and from that time 
Lewis the Fourteenth assumed the ascendancy. 

Remote states had also undergone violent commotions ; 
but Poitugal was content under the sovereignty of a na- 
tive king ; and the Porte was occupied in consuming the 
natural resources of her beautiful provinces in sloth and 
effeminacy. On the other hand, it was impossible to cal- 
culate what might be the future power of England; and 
none but Frederick William foresaw the formidable great- 
ness to which Russia would attain. 

During the one hundred and fifty years of the superior- 
ity of the house of Habsburg, a number of great men, 
called into existence by Providence exactly at the time and 
place io which their powers would be most effective, had 
decided the direction of human affairs : these illustrious 
individuals had shown themselves at the head of simple 
and feeble nations ; and had proved that virtue, which is 
at our command, is more effective than power, which is 
distributed by the hand of blmd fortune. 



END OF THE THIRD YOLUME. 



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