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EDUCATION  DEFT. 


Jlelsoit0  .School  .Series  SBfe! 


THE 


GREAT  EVENTS  OF  HISTORY, 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA  TO 
THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


ihr  ' 
WILLIAM  FRANCIS  COLLIER,  LL.D., 

AUTHOR  OF  "  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE,"  "  HISTORY  OF  GREECE,* 

"  HISTORY  OF  ROME."  "  HISTORY  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE," 

ETC. 


LONDON: 
T.    NELSON  AND   SONS,    PATERNOSTER  ROW; 

EDINBURGH  ;  AND  NEW   YORK. 
l884. 


EDUC. 
DEPT. 


PKEFACE. 


To  give  in  a  series  of  pictures  such  a  connected  view  of  the  Chris- 
tian Era  as  may  be  pleasantly  readable  and  easily  remembered, 
is  the  aim  of  this  book. 

Many  pupils  leave  school — some  students  even  leave  college — 
with  great  gaps  in  their  knowledge  of  History.  There  are  thou- 
sands whose  knowledge  of  Europe  between  the  Fall  of  Rome  and 
the  Reformation  is  confined  to  a  few  misty,  floating  ideas  about 
Charlemagne,  the  Crusades,  and  Rienzi.  This  is  partly  owing 
to  the  study  of  History  in  schools  being  confined,  in  many  cases, 
to  the  beaten  round  of  Britain,  Greece,  and  Rome  ;  and  partly 
to  the  fact  that  most  "Outlines  of  General  History"  take  but 
a  slight  hold  of  the  mind.  Professing  to  give  in  complete  detail 
the  history  of  every  land  in  the  world,  they  are  often,  however 
valuable  as  books  of  reference,  worse  than  useless  for  class  pur- 
poses. When  we,  whose  minds  are  ripe  and  strong,  consider  bow 
little  of  Gibbon  or  Macaulay  we  can  remember  beyond  their 
very  brilliant  passages,  we  shall  at  once  see  the  folly  of  expecting 
young  and  tender  memories  to  retain  more  than  the  Great  Events 
of  History.  What  these  Great  Events  are,  the  young  need  to  be 
told,  or  else  their  after-reading  will  be  confused  and  wearisome. 
It  is  the  earnest  hope  of  the  writer,  that  this  book  may  be  num- 
bered among  the  works  which  abridge  the  labour  of  the  learner 
and  sweeten  his  toil. 

The  Great  Events  of  British  History  are  not  here  described, 
being  merely  named  in  the  Chronological  Tables;  because,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  writer,  this  book  should  be  read  immediately  after 
the  study  of  our  national  story.  It  will  then  bust  z/iim  its  primary 

961688 


IV  PREFACE. 

object,  serving  as  a  guide  and  preparation  for  the  reading  of 
special  and  more  detailed  histories. 

Every  chapter  is  headed  by  its  Central  Point  of  interest,  upon 
which  the  memory  may  easily  rest,  and  round  which,  without 
difficulty,  the  minor  events  will  group  themselves  in  the  mind. 
To  this  plan  of  teaching  history  by  Central  Points,  the  attention 
of  those  teachers  who  have  not  yet  adopted  it  in  their  class-work 
is  earnestly  directed. 

At  the  close  of  each  Period,  except  the  last,  a  supplementary 
chapter  is  devoted  to  the  delineation  of  Life  and  Manners  in  some 
leading  country  or  great  age,  occupying  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
history  of  the  time.  The  writer  is  glad  to  know,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  eminent  Teachers,  that  similar  chapters  in  his  British 
History  have  proved  to  be  among  the  most  attractive,  and  cer- 
tainly not  the  least  useful  portions  of  that  work. 

The  Geographical  Appendix  is  intended  for  constant  reference ; 
for  the  more  Geography  and  History  are  studied  together,  the  more 
accurate  and  lasting  will  be  the  knowledge  acquired  in  both  fields. 
Every  place  mentioned  in  the  course  of  the  History  is  not  given, 
since  it  was  necessary  to  draw  the  line  somewhere,  and  such 
names  as  are  either  well  known  to  all,  or  too  unimportant  for 
special  notice,  have  been  omitted.  Else  the  Appendix  would 

have  rivalled  the  book  in  size. 

w.  ff.  o. 


CONTENTS. 


FIRST  PERIOD. 

PROM  THE  OPENING  OP   THE   CHRISTIAN  ERA   TO  THE  FALL  OF  THE 

WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Cfcap.  Page 

I.  The  Crucifixion, ...              ...              ...              ...  ...              ...  9 

II.  The  Siege  of  Jerusalem,     ...             ...             ...  ...  ...  n 

III.  Early  Persecutions  of  the  Christian  Church,     ...  ...  ...  18 

IV.  The  Reign  of  Constantine  the  Great, ...              ...  ...              ...  25 

V.  The  Fall  of  the  Western  Empire,        ...              ...  ...              ...  32 

VI.  Domestic  Life  in  Imperial  Rome,       ...             ...  ...  ...  39 

Great  Names  of  the  First  Period,        ...             ...  ...             ...  44 

Chronology  of  the  First  Period,          ...             ...  ...  ...  47 

SECOND  PERIOD. 

FROM   THE  FALL  OF  THE   WESTERN  EMPIRE   TO  THE  ACCESSION  OF 

CHARLEMAGNE. 

I.  The  Age  of  Justinian,         ...             ...             ...  ...  ...  49 

II.  The  Growth  of  the  Papacy,                ...              ...  ...  ...  55 

III.  Mahomet  and  his  Creed,     ...              ...              ...  ...  ...  59 

IV.  Merovingians  and  their  Mayors,         ...              ...  ...  ...  66 

V.  Barbarous  Races  of  Infant  Europe,    ...              ...  ...  ...  69 

Great  Names  of  the  Second  Period,    ...             ...  ...  ...  74 

Chronology  of  the  Second  Period,      ...             ...  ...  ...  76 

THIRD  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF   CHARLEMAGNE   TO  THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE 

CRUSADES. 

I.  Charlemagne,     ...              ...              ...              ...  ...  ...  77 

II,  Moslems  in  the  West  and  the  East,    ...              ...  ...  ...  86 

III.  The  Rise  of  the  Romano-Germanic  Empire,      ...  ...  ...  88 

IV.  The  Byzantine  Court,          ...              ...              ...  ...  ...  92 

V.  The  Norsemen,    ...              ...              ...              ...  ...  ...  95 

VI.  Life  at  the  Court  of  Charlemagne,     ...              ...  ...  ...  100 

Great  Names  of  the  Third  Period,      ...             ...  ...  ...  103 

Chronology  of  the  Third  Period,         ...             ...  ..%  ..,  104 


Vl  CONTENTS. 


FOURTH  PERIOD. 

PROM   THE    BEGINNING   OP  THE   CRUSADES  TO  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OJ1 

SWISS  INDEPENDENCE. 

Chap.  Page 

I.  The  Crusades,     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  106 

II.  The  Crusades,  (continued),  ...  ...  ...  ...  114 

III.  The  Albigenses,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  120 

IV.  Conquest  of  Prussia  by  the  Teutonic  Order,       ...  ...  ...  125 

V.  The  Swiss  War  of  Independence,        ...  ...  ...  ...  128 

VI.  Chivalry,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  133 

Great  Names  of  the  Fourth  Period,     ...  ...  ...  ...  140 

Chronology  of  the  Fourth  Period,       ...  ...  ...  ...  141 

FIFTH  PERIOD. 

CHIEFLY  FROM  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  SWISS  INDEPENDENCE  TO  THE 
REFORMATION. 

I.  Italy  in  the  Middle  Ages,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  148 

II.  The  Ottoman  Turks,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  154 

III.  The  Expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain,         ...  ...  ...  160 

IV.  The  Discovery  and  Conquest  of  America,        ...  ...  ...  16fi 

V.  Life  in  Italy  and  Spain  during  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  ...  172 

Great  Names  of  the  Fifth  Period,      ...  ...  ...  ...  177 

Chronology  of  the  Fifth  Period,       ...  ...  ...  ...  178 

SIXTH  PERIOD. 

PROM  THE  REFORMATION  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR. 

I.  The  Reformation,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  180 

II.  The  Emperor  Charles  V.,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  189 

III.  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,      ...  ...  ...  ...  198 

IV.  The  Huguenots,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  204 

Genealogy  of  the  Bourbon  Family— First  Tree,  ...  ...  212 

V.  Cardinal  Richelieu,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  213 

VI.  The  Thirty  Years'  War,     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  219 

VII.  Life  in  Germany  during  the  Age  of  the  Reformation,  ...  ...  229 

Great  Names  of  the  Sixth  Period,     ...  ...  ...  ...  237 

Chronology  of  the  Sixth  Period,        ...  ...  ...  ...  240 

SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

PROM  THE  END  OP  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  TO  THE  BEGINNING 
OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

I.  Louis  XI V.  of  France,        ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  242 

Genealogy  of  the  Bourbon  Family— Second  Tree,  ...  ...  256 

U.  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia  nnd  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden.  ,..  267 


CONTENTS.  VI  i 

Chap.  Page 

III.  Frederic  II.  (the  Great)  of  Prussia,                   ...  ...  ...  2fi4 

IV.  Life  in  France  under  Louis  XI V.,     ...              ...  ...  ...  274 

Great  Names  of  the  Seventh  Period,                 ...  ...  ...  279 

Chronology  of  the  Seventh  Period,  ...              ...  ...  ...  281 

EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

FROM   THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION   TO  THE 
FORMATION  OF   THE  GERMAN    EMPIRE. 

I.  The  French  Revolution,      ...              ...              ...  ...  ...  283 

II.  Napoleon  Bonaparte,          ...              ...              ...  ...  ..  293 

Genealogy  of  the  Bonaparte  Family,                 ...  ...  ...  311 

111.  Continental  Europe  since  1815,          ...              ...  ...  ...  312 

Great  Names  of  the  Eighth  Period,    ...              ...  ...  ...  323 

Chronology  of  the  Eighth  Period,       ...              ...  ...  ...  325 


GEOGRAPHICAL  APPENDIX. 

Austria  and  Hungary,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  329 

France,                 ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  330 

Germany  and  Prussia,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  333 

Italy,    ...              ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  337 

The  Netherlands,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  339 

Russia  and  Poland,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  340 

Spain  and  Portugal,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  342 

Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark,        ...  ...  ...  ...  343 

Switzerland,        ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  344 

Turkey  and  Greece,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  344 

Asia,     ...              ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  346 

Africa,                  ...  ...  ...  ...  347 

America,              ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  34S 


INDEX,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...       349 


THE 

GREAT  EVENTS  OF  HISTORY. 


FIRST    PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA  TO  THE  FALL 
OF  THE  WESTERN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CRUCIFIXION. 

THE  great  central  event  in  all  history  is  the  death  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  The  centuries  circle  round 
the  Cross.  Hundreds  of  stately  figures — some  in  dazzling 
lustre,  some  in  deepest  gloom — crowd  upon  our  gaze,  as  the 
Btory  of  the  world  unrolls  before  us ;  but  infinitely  nobler 
than  the  grandest  of  these  is  the  pale  form  of  Jesus,  hanging 
on  the  rough  and  reddened  wood  at  Calvary — dead,  but 
victorious  even  in  dying — stronger  in  that  marble  sleep  than 
the  mightiest  of  the  world's  living  actors,  or  than  all  the 
marshalled  hosts  of  Sin  and  Death.  Not  the  greatest  sight 
only,  but  the  strangest  ever  seen ;  for  there,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross,  lie  Death  slain  with  his  own  dart,  and  Hell  van- 
quished at  his  very  gate. 

All  that  have  ever  lived — all  living  now — all  who  shall 
come  after  us,  till  time  shall  be  no  more,  must  feel  the  power 
of  the  Cross.  To  those  who  look  upon  their  dying  Lord 
with  loving  trust,  it  brings  life  and  joy, — but  death  and  woe 


10  THF.  CRUCIFIXION. 

to  all  who  proudly  rejeoi,  that  great  salvation,  or  pass  it 
iml.  ceding  by. 

The  details  of  that  stupendous  history — His  lowly,  yet 
royal  birth— His  pure,  stainless  life — His  path  of  rtystery 
and  miracle — His  wondrous  works,  and  still  more  wondrous 
words — His  agony — His  Cross — His  glorious  resurrection 
and  ascension, — all  form  a  theme  too  sacred  to  be  placed 
here  with  a  record  of  mere  common  time,  or  blended  with  the 
dark  sad  tale  of  human  follies  and  crimes.  Rather  let  us 
read  it  as  they  tell  it  who  were  themselves  "  eye-witnesses  of 
his  majesty," — who  traced  the  very  footsteps,  and  heard  the 
very  voice,  and  beheld  the  very  living  face  of  incarnate  Love. 
And  remember,  as  you  read,  that  History  is  false  to  her 
noblest  trust,  if  she  fails  to  teach  that  it  is  the  power  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ  which  alone  preserves  the  world  from  hope- 
less corruption,  and  redeems  from  utter  vanity  the  whole 
life  of  man  on  earth.  Wildly,  and  blindly,  and  very  far 
have  the  nations  often  drifted  from  the  right  course, — there 
seemed  to  be  no  star  in  heaven,  and  no  lamp  on  earth  ;  but 
through  every  change  an  unseen  Omnipotent  Hand  was 
guiding  all  things  for  the  best :  soul  after  soul  was  drawn 
by  love's  mighty  attraction  to  the  Cross  ;  light  arose  out  of 
darkness ;  a  new  life  breathed  over  the  world ;  and  the 
wilderness,  where  Satan  seemed  alone  to  dwell,  blossomed 
anew  into  the  garden  of  God. 


VIEW  OF  JERUSALEM. 


11 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  JERUSALEM. 


Central  Point :  THE  BURNING  OF  THE  TEMPLE. 


View  of  the  city. 
Vespasian. 
March  of  Titus. 
Factions  within  the  walls. 
Opening  of  the  siege. 
First  wall  taken. 


Second  wall  taken. 
Pause  of  five  days. 
The  famine. 
Roman  banks  burned. 
Capture  of  the  Tower  of 
Antonia. 


Strange  omens. 
Horrors  of  the  siege. 
Burning    of    the    Tem- 
ple. 

Upper  city  taken. 
The  triumph  at  Rome. 


"  THE  days  shall  come  upon  thee,  that  thine  enemies  shall 
cast  a  trench  about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round,  and  keep 
thee  in  on  every  side,  and  shall  lay  thee  even  with  the 
ground,  and  thy  children  within  thee ;  and  they  shall  not 
leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another."  *  So  said  Jesus,  as, 
riding  on  a  colt  down  the  leafy  slope  of  Olivet,  he  looked 
through  his  dropping  tears  upon  Jerusalem.  His  gaze  could 
trace  every  turret  and  winding  of  the  three  walls  with  which 
the  city  was  enclosed.  Below  in  the  deep  valley  ran  the 
silver  thread  of  Cedron.  Right  in  front,  cutting  the  western 
sky,  and  crowning  the  steep  crest  of  Moriah  with  white  and 
gold,  the  countless  spikes  which  studded  its  burnished  roof 
flashing  in  the  sunlight,  rose  the  magnificent  Temple,  en- 
larged and  completed  by  Herod  the  Great.  To  the  south- 
west—highest of  the  four  hills  on  which  the  city  lay- 
towered  the  rocky  Zian,  bearing  on  its  rugged  shoulders  the 
citadel,  the  royal  palace,  and  the  houses  of  the  Upper  City. 
Behind  the  Temple,  and  north  of  Zion,  was  the  hill  Acra, 
shaped  like  a  horned  moon,  and  covered  with  the  terraces 
and  gardens  of  the  Lower  City ;  while  on  another  slope 
Bezetha,  or  the  New  City,  stretched  further  north  towards 
the  open  country. 

The  aspect  of  the  city  had  changed  but  little  when,  thirty- 
seven  years  later,  the  Roman  eagles  gathered  round  their 
prey.  But  during  these  years  the  Jews,  as  if  maddened  by 


*  Luke  xix  43,  44. 


12  MUSTER  OF  THE  ROMAN  ARMY. 

the  sacred  blood  for  which  they  had  thirsted  so  fiercely,  had 
been  plunging  deeper  and  deeper  into  sin  and  wretchedness. 
At  last,  goaded  by  outrage  and  insult,  they  had  risen  against 
their  Roman  masters  ;  and  the  great  Vespasian,  a  general 
trained  in  German  and  British  wars,  had  been  sent  by  Nero 
to  tame  their  stubborn  pride.  Moving  with  his  legions  from 
Antioch  to  Ptolemais,  he  was  there  joined  by  his  son  Titus, 
who  brought  forces  from  Egypt.  Galilee  and  Perea 
6  7  were  subdued  with  some  trouble  and  delay  ;  and  the 
A.D.  conqueror,  having  drawn  a  circle  efforts  round  Jerusa- 
lem, was  at  Cassarea,  preparing  for  the  last  great  blow, 
vrhen  he  heard  the  news  of  Nero's  death.  The  murder  of 
Galba,  the  suicide  of  Otho,  and  the  seizure  of  Rome  by  the 
glutton  Vitellius  and  his  plundering  soldiers,  followed  in 
quick  succession.  The  army  in  Palestine  then  proclaimed 
Vespasian  emperor.  He  hastened  to  secure  Alexandria,  the 
second  city  in  the  empire ;  and  having  heard  while  there 
that  Vitellius  was  dead,  and  that  the  people  of  Rome  were 
holding  feasts  in  his  own  honour,  he  set  out  for  Italy.  So 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem  was  left  to  Titus. 

Mustering  his  forces  at  Caesarea,  and  dividing  them  into 
three  bands,  he  marched  for  the  doomed  city.  Arrived 
there,  he  fortified  three  camps — one  on  the  north,  one  on  the 
west,  and  one,  garrisoned  by  the  10th  Legion,  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  Upon  this  last  the  Jews  made  a  sally  as 
the  soldiers  were  digging  the  trenches ;  but  they  were  soon 
beaten  down  the  hill. 

While  the  trumpets  were  blowing  at  Csesarea,  and  the 
clang  of  the  Roman  march  was  shaking  the  land,  murder, 
and  outrage,  and  cruel  terror  filled  all  Jerusalem.  Robbers, 
calling  themselves  Zealots,  had  flocked  in  from  the  country. 
Eleazar,  at  the  head  of  one  set  of  these,  held  the  inner  court 
of  the  Temple.  John  of  Gischala,  another  leader  of  ruffians, 
occupying  ground  somewhat  lower,  poured  constant  showers 
of  darts  and  stones  into  the  holy  house,  often  killing  wor- 
shippers as  they  stood  at  the  very  altar.  In  this  mad  war, 
houses  full  of  corn  were  burned,  and  misery  of  every  kind 
was  inflicted  on  the  wretched  people.  In  despair  they  called 
in  Simon  of  Gerasa  to  their  aid,  and  thus  there  were  three 
hostile  factions  within  the  walls.  The  great  feast  of  the 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SIEGE.  13 

Passover  came,  and  the  Temple  was  thrown  open  to  the 
thousands  who  crowded  from  every  corner  of  the  land  to 
offer  up  their  yearly  sacrifice.  Mingling  in  disguise  with  the 
throng,  with  weapons  under  their  clothes,  John's  party 
gained  entrance  into  the  sacred  court,  and  soon  drove  out 
their  foes.  The  poor  worshippers,  all  trampled  and  bleed- 
ing, escaped  as  best  they  could.  John  remained  master  of 
the  Temple  ;  and  the  three  factions  were  reduced  to  two. 

Within  the  city  there  were  above  23,000  fighting  men— a 
strong  body  if  united.  There  was,  indeed,  a  temporary 
union,  when  they  saw  the  Roman  soldiers  busily  cutting 
down  all  the  trees  in  the  suburbs,  rolling  their  trunks  to- 
gether, and  to  the  top  of  the  three  great  banks  thus  formed 
dragging  the  huge  siege-engines  of  the  time — rams,  catapults, 
and  balists. 

The  siege  opened  in  three  places  at  once  on  the  22d  day 
of  Xanthicus,  or  Nisan.     The  Roman  missiles  poured 
like  hail  upon  the  city  ;  but  none  were  so  terrible  as    April, 
the  stones,  sometimes  weighing  a  talent,  which  were     70 
cast  from  the  east  by  the  10th  Legion.     The  Jewish    A.D. 
watchmen,  soon  learning  to  know  these  by  their  white 
colour  and  tremendous  whiz,  used  to  cry  out,  "  The  son 
cometh  ; "  then  all  in  the  way  fell  flat,  and  little  mischief 
was  done.     But  the   Romans,  not  to  be  tricked,  painted 
the  stones  black,  and  battered  on  more  destructively  than 
ever.     The  Jews  replied  with  some  engines  planted  on  the 
wall  by  Simon,  flung  torches  at  the  Roman  banks,  and 
made  an  unavailing  sally  at  the  Tower  of  Hippicus. 

Three  towers  of  heavy  timber,  covered  with  thick  iron 
plates,  were  then  erected  by  Titus.  Rising  higher  than  the 
walls,  and  carrying  light  engines,  they  were  used  to  drive  the 
Jews  from  their  posts  of  defence.  The  falling  of  one  of  these 
at  midnight  with  a  loud  crash  spread  alarm  through  the  Ro- 
man camp,  but  it  did  not  last  long.  At  dawn  the  rams  were 
swinging  away,  and  pounding  against  the  shaking  wall, 
which  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  siege  yielded  to  Nico  (the 
Conqueror),  as  the  most  ponderous  of  the  Roman  engines 
was  called  by  the  Jews.  The  legions,  pouring  through  the 
breach,  gained  the  first  wall. 

Pitching  his  camp  within  the  city,  Titus  then  attacked  the 


14  HORRORS  OF  THE  FAMINE. 

second  wall,  where  he  was  vigorously  met  both  by  Simon 
aiid  John.  Sorties  and  wall-fighting  filled  up  every  hour  of 
daylight;  and  both  sides  lay  by  night  in  their  armour, 
snatching  hasty  and  broken  sleep.  In  five  days  the  second 
wall  was  forced.  Titus  passed  within  it  at  the  head  of  1000 
men ;  but  the  Jews  set  on  him  so  hotly  in  the  narrow  streets, 
that  they  soon  drove  him  out  again.  Easily  elated,  they 
exulted  greatly  in  this  success;  but,  four  days  later,  the 
second  wall  was  retaken,  and  levelled  to  the  ground 

Then  followed  a  pause  of  five  days,  during  which  the 
Romans,  having  received  their  subsistence  money,  paraded, 
as  their  custom  was,  in  glittering  armour.  The  wall  and 
the  Temple  roofs  were  paved  with  pale  Jewish  faces,  behold- 
ing nothing  in  the  splendid  sight  but  terror  and  despair. 
The  attack  was  renewed  at  John's  Monument,  and  the  Tower 
of  Antonia.  At  the  same  time,  Josephus,  a  noble  Jew,  from 
whose  graphic  history  this  sketch  is  drawn,  went  to  the 
walls,  as  he  had  done  before — as  he  did  more  than  once 
again,  to  plead  with  his  countrymen.  But  all  in  vain,  for 
the  Zealots  were  bent  on  holding  out,  and  slew  such  of  the 
people  as  they  found  trying  to  desert. 

Famine  had  long  before  begun  its  deadly  work.  Mothers 
were  already  snatching  the  morsels  from  their  children's 
lips.  The  robbers  broke  open  every  shut  door  in  search  of 
food,  and  tortured  most  horribly  all  who  were  thought  to 
have  a  hidden  store.  Gaunt  men,  who  had  crept  beyond  the 
walls  by  night  to  gather  a  few  wild  herbs,  were  often  robbed 
by  these  wretches  of  the  poor  handful  of  green  leaves  for 
which  they  had  risked  their  lives.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  the 
starving  people  went  out  into  the  valleys  in  such  numbers 
that  the  Romans  caught  them  at  the  rate  of  500  a  day,  and 
crucified  them  before  the  walls,  until  there  was  no  room  to 
plant,  and  no  wood  to  make  another  cross.  What  a  fearful 
retribution  for  that  mad  cry,  uttered,  some  seven  and  thirty 
years  before,  at  Pilate's  judgment-seat :  "  His  blood  be  on  us 
and  on  our  children !" 

The  Romans  then  raised  four  great  banks.  But  these, 
which  cost  seventeen  days'  labour,  were  all  destroyed — two 
by  John,  who  dug  a  mine  below  them,  and  set-  fire  to  the 
timbers  of  its  roof — and  the  others  by  three  brave  Jews,  who 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  TOWER  OF  ANTONIA.  15 

rushed  out  upon  the  engines,  torch  in  hand.  And  then  it 
was  "  pull  Koman,  pull  Jew ,"  and  heavy  blows  were  dealt 
round  the  red-hot  rams.  The  Romans  were  driven  to  their 
camp,  but  the  guard  at  the  gate  stood  firm ;  and  Titus,  tak- 
ing the  Jews  in  flank,  compelled  them  to  retreat. 

This  serious  loss  made  Titus  resolve  to  hem  in  the  city 
with  a  wall.  It  was  built  in  the  amazingly  short  time  of 
three  days.  The  attack  was  then  directed  against  the  Tower 
of  Antonia,  which  stood  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
Temple,  on  a  slippery  rock,  fifty  cubits  high.  Four  new 
banks  were  raised.  Some  Roman  soldiers,  creeping  in  with 
their  shields  above  their  heads,  loosened  four  of  the  founda- 
tion stones ;  and  the  wall,  battered  at  all  day,  fell  suddenly 
in  the  night.  But  there  was  another  wall  inside.  One 
Sabinus,  a  little  black  Syrian  soldier,  led  a  forlorn  hope  of 
eleven  men  up  to  this  in  broad  noon-day,  gained  the  top,  and 
put  the  Jews  to  flight ;  but  tripping  over  a  stone  he  was 
killed,  as  were  three  of  his  band.  A  night  or  two  after,  six- 
teen Romans  stole  up  the  wall,  slew  the  guards,  and  blew  a 
startling  trumpet  blast.  The  Jews  fled.  Titus  and  his  men, 
swarming  up  the  ruined  wall,  dashed  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Temple,  where,  for  ten  hours,  a  bloody  fight  raged.  Julian,  a 
centurion  of  Bithynia,  attacking  the  Jews  single-handed, 
drove  them  to  the  inner  court ;  but  the  sharp  nails  in  his 
shoes  having  caused  him  to  fall  with  a  clang  on  the  marble 
floor,  they  turned  back  and  slew  him  with  many  wounds. 
Then,  following  up  their  success,  they  drove  the  Romans 
out  of  the  Temple,  but  not  from  the  Tower  of  Antonia. 

Strange  omens  had  foretold  the  coming  doom.  A  star, 
shaped  like  a  sword,  had  hung  for  a  year  over  the  city.  A 
brazen  gate  of  the  inner  court,  which  twenty  men  could 
hardly  move,  had  swung  back  on  its  hinges  of  itself.  Sha- 
dows, resembling  chariots  and  soldiers  attacking  a  city,  had 
appeared  in  the  sky  one  evening  before  sunset.  And  at  Pen- 
tecost, as  the  priests  were  going  by  night  into  the  inner 
court,  they  heard  murmuring  voices,  as  of  a  great  crowd, 
saying,  "  Let  us  go  hence." 

After  the  Roman  wall  was  built,  the  famine  and  the 
plague  grew  worse.  Young  tnen  dropt  dead  in  the  streets. 
Piles  of  decaying  corpses  filled  the  lanes,  aud  were  thrown 


16  THE  BUKNING  OF  THE  TEMPI/IS. 

by  tens  of  thousands  over  the  walls.  No  herbs  were  to  be 
got  now.  Men,  in  the  rage  of  hunger,  gnawed  their  shoes, 
the  leather  of  their  shields,  and  even  old  wisps  of  hay. 
Robbers,  with  wolfish  eyes,  ransacked  every  dwelling,  and, 
when  one  day  they  came  clamouring  for  food  to  the  house 
of  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Eleazar,  a  high-born  lady  of  Perea, 
she  set  before  them  the  roasted  flesh  of  her  own  infant  son, 
whom  she  had  slain.  "  This,"  screamed  she,  "  is  mine  own 
Bon.  Eat  of  this  food,  for  I  have  eaten  of  it  myself."  Brutal 
and  rabid  though  they  were,  they  fled  in  horror  from  the 
house  of  that  wretched  mother. 

At  last  the  daily  sacrifice  ceased  to  be  offered,  and  the 
war  closed  round  the  Temple.  The  cloisters  were  soon 
burned.  Six  days'  battering  had  no  effect  on  the  great 
gates ;  fire  alone  could  clear  a  path  for  the  eagles.  A  day 
was  fixed  for  the  grand  assault ;  but  on  the  evening  before, 

(10th  Lous,  or  Ab)  the  Romans  having  penetrated  as 
Aug.  far  as  the  Holy  House,  a  soldier,  climbing  on  the 
70  shoulders  of  another,  put  a  blazing  torch  to  one  of  the 
A.D.  golden  windows  of  the  north  side.  The  building  was 

soon  a  sheet  of  leaping  flames ;  and  Titus,  who  had 
always  desired  to  save  the  Temple,  came  running  from  his  tent, 
but  the  din  of  war  and  the  crackling  flames  prevented  his  voice 
from  being  heard.  On  over  the  smoking  cloisters  trampled 
the  legions,  fierce  for  plunder.  The  Jews  sank  in  heaps  of 
dead  and  dying  round  the  altar,  which  dripped  with  their 
blood.  More  fire  was  thrown  upon  the  hinges  of  the  gate ; 
and  then  no  human  word  or  hand  could  save  the  house, 
where  God  Himself  had  loved  to  dwell  Never  did  the  stars 
of  night  look  down  on  a  more  piteous  scene.  Sky  and  hill 
and  town  and  valley  were  all  reddened  with  one  fearful  hue. 
The  roar  of  flames,  the  shouts  of  Romans,  the  shrieks  of 
wounded  Zealots,  rose  wild  into  the  scorching  air,  and  echoed 
among  the  mountains  all  around.  But  sadder  far  was  the 
wail  of  broken  hearts  which  burst  from  the  streets  below, 
when  marble  wall  and  roof  of  gold  came  crashing  down,  and 
the  Temple  was  no  more.  Then,  and  only  then,  did  the  Jews 
let  go  the  trust — that  God  would  deliver  His  ancient  people, 
Bmiting  the  Romans  with  some  sudden  blow. 
The  Upper  City  then  became  a  last  refuge  for  the  despair- 


THE  END  OF  THE  SIEGE.  17 

ing  remnant  of  the  garrison.  Simon  and  John  were  there ; 
but  the  arrogant  tyrants  were  broken  down  to  trembling 
cowards.  And  when,  after  eighteen  days'  work,  banks  were 
raised,  and  the  terrible  ram  began  to  sound  anew  on  the  ram- 
parts, the  panic-struck  Jews  fled  like  hunted  foxes  to  hide 
in  the  caves  of  the  hill.  The  eagles  flew  victorious  to  the 
summit  of  the  citadel,  while  Jewish  blood  ran  so  deep  down 
Zion  that  burning  houses  were  quenched  in  the  red  stream. 

The  siege  lasted  134  days,  during  which  1,100,000  Jews 
perished,  and  97,000  were  taken  captive.  Some  were  kept 
to  grace  the  Roman  triumph ;  some  were  sent  to  toil  in  the 
mines  of  Egypt;  some  fought  in  provincial  theatres  with 
gladiators  and  wild  beasts ;  those  under  seventeen  were  sold 
as  slaves.  John  was  imprisoned  for  life ;  Simon,  after  being 
led  in  triumph,  was  slain  at  Rome. 

It  was  a  gay  holiday,  when  the  emperor  and  his  son, 
crowned  with  laurel  and  clad  in  purple,  passed  in  triumph 
through  the  crowded  streets  of  Rome.  Of  the  many  rich 
spoils  adorning  the  pageant  none  were  gazed  on  with  more 
curious  eyes  than  the  golden  table,  the  candlestick  with  seven 
branching  lamps,  and  the  holy  book  of  the  law,  rescued  from 
the  flames  of  the  Temple.  It  was  the  last  page  of  a  tragic 
story.  The  Mosaic  dispensation  had  come  to  a  close,  and 
the  Jews — homeless  ever  since,  yet  always  preserving  an 
indestructible  nationality — were  scattered  among  the  cities 
of  earth  to  be  the  Shylocks  of  a  day  that  is  gone  by,  and  the 
Rothschilds  of  our  own  happier  age. 

ROMAN  EMPERORS  OF  THE  FIRST  CENTURY. 


A.D. 


AUGUSTUS 

TIBERIUS 14 

CALIGULA  37 

CLAUDIUS 41 

NERO 54 

GALBA 68 

OTHO 69 


(47) 


A.D. 


VITELLIUS 69 

VESPASIAN 69 

TITUS 79 

DOMITIAN 81 

NERVA 96 

TRAJAN 98 


18  PERSECUTION  UNDER  NERO. 

CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY  PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 
Central    Point:    DIOCLETIAN'S    PERSECUTION.    303,    A.D. 


The  fire  of  Rome. 
Persecution  under  Donii- 

tian. 

Trajan's  edict. 
Torture  inflicted. 


Martyrdom  of  Polycarp. 
The  miracle  of  rain. 
Persecution  at  Lyons. 
Story  of  Perpetua. 
Rage  of  pagan  mobs. 


The  Decian  storm. 

Valerian's  edict, 

Aurelian. 

The  last  persecution. 

Edict  of  Galeriua. 


ELEVEN  persecutions  of  the  Christians — some  fiercer,  others 
fainter — marked  the  dying  struggles  of  the  many-headed 
monster,  Paganism.  More  than  three  centuries  were  filled 
with  the  sound  and  sorrows  of  the  great  conflict. 

1.  In  the  tenth  year  of  the  brutal  Nero's  reign  the  first  great 
persecution  of  Christians  took  place.    A  fire,  such  as  never 
had  burned  before,  consumed  nearly  the  whole  city  of  Rome ; 
and  men  said  that  the  emperor's  own  hand  had  kindled  the 
flames  out  of  mere  wicked  sport,  and  that,  while  the  blazing 

city  was  filled  with  shrieks  of  pain  and  terror,  he  sat 
64  calmly  looking  on  and  singing  verses  on  the  burning 
A.D.  of  Troy  to  the  music  of  his  lyre.  This  story  finding 

ready  acceptance  among  the  homeless  and  beggared 
people,  the  tyrant  strove  by  inflicting  tortures  on  the  Chris- 
tians to  turn  the  suspicion  from  himself  upon  them.  On 
the  pretence  that  they  were  guilty  of  the  atrocious  crime,  he 
crucified  many ;  some,  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts, 
were  worried  to  death  by  dogs  in  the  theatres ;  tender  girls 
and  greyhaired  men  were  torn  by  tigers,  or  hacked  with  the 
swords  of  gladiators.  But  the  worst  sight  was  seen  in  the 
gardens  of  Nero,  where  chariot  races  were  held  by  night,  in 
which  the  emperor  himself,  dressed  as  a  common  driver, 
whipped  his  horses  round  the  goal.  There  stood  poor  men 
and  women  of  the  Christian  faith,  their  clothes  smeared  with 
pitch,  or  other  combustible,  all  blazing  as  torches  to  throw 
light  on  the  sport  of  the  imperial  demon.  In  the  wider 
persecutions  that  followed,  for  this  one  was  chiefly  confined 
to  Rome,  there  was  perhaps  no  scene  of  equal  horror. 

2.  By  Domitian,  sixth  in  succession  from  Nero,  proceed- 


THE  EDICT  OF  TRAJAN.  19 

ings  of  great  severity,  but  of  a  character  less  brutal,  were 
taken  against  the  Christians.  It  was  a  harvest-time  for  tlie 
spies,  who  crept  everywhere,  and  grew  rich  with  the  spoils 
of  the  dead  and  the  exiles.  The  cousin  and  the  niece  of  the 
emperor,  accused  only  of  "  Atheism,  and  Jewish  manners," 
were  among  the  sufferers.  Many  were  banished ;  among  them 
St.  John  the  Evangelist.  Driven,  about  95  A.D.,  to  the  isle 
of  Patmos,  he  saw  there  those  visions  of  glory  and  mystery 
recorded  in  the  book  of  Revelation.  The  two  grandsons 
of  St.  Jude,  who  was  the  brother  of  our  Saviour,  were 
brought  before  a  Roman  tribunal,  charged  with  aiming  at 
royal  power,  for  they  traced  descent  from  David.  But  when 
they  showed  their  hands  hardened  with  honest  toil  on  their 
little  farm,  they  were  sent  home  unhurt. 

3.  Under  the  gentle  Nerva  the  Christians  lived  in  peace, 
and  spying  ceased  to  be  a  well-paid  business;  but  when 
Trajan,  a  stern  Spanish  soldier,  wore  the  purple,  evil  days 
returned,  as  yet,  however,  only  in  a  single  province.  Pliny 
the  younger,  appointed  proconsul  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus, 
found  himself  at  a  loss  how  to  deal  with  the  Chris- 
tians, who  were  very  numerous  under  his  rule.  He  110 
wrote  to  the  emperor,  saying  that  the  superstition —  A.D. 
so  he  called  it — had  spread  everywhere  among  rich 
and  poor ;  that  the  temples  were  empty,  and  the  sacrifices 
were  hardly  ever  offered.  But  the  worst  he  could  say  of  the 
Christians,  although  he  seems  to  have  taken  great  pains  to 
know  all  about  them,  was  that  they  used  to  meet  on  a  certain 
day  (Sunday)  to  sing  a  hymn  in  honour  of  Christ ;  that  they 
bound  one  another  by  a  vow  not  to  steal,  or  commit  adultery, 
or  break  their  words,  or  defraud  any  one ;  and  that  on  the 
same  evening  they  met  at  a  simple  and  innocent  meal.  The 
fact  that  a  skilful  lawyer,  as  Pliny  was,  did  not  know  how  to 
deal  with  the  Christians,  shows  that  there  were  no  special  laws 
as  yet  framed  against  them.  The  answer  of  Trajan  must  be 
looked  on  as  the  first  edict  of  persecution.  It  declared  that 
the  Christians  were  not  to  be  sought  for  by  the  police,  like 
common  criminals  ;  but  that,  when  openly  accused  and  con- 
victed, they  were  to  be  punished.  However,  before  receiving 
the  imperial  rescript,  Pliny  had  let  loose  the  terrors  of  the 
la.w.  He  demanded  that  the  Christians,  cursing  Christ, 


20  MARTYRDOM  OF  POLYCARP. 

should  burn  incense  and  pour  wine  before  the  statues  of  the 
emperor  and  the  gods.  Those  who  refused  died  j  some,  of 
weaker  faith,  yielded  to  the  terror  of  the  hour. 

4.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Adrian,  who  came  to  the  throne 
in  117,  the  rage  of  the  pagan  mobs  burst  out  upon  the  Chris- 
tians with  a  force  which  had  been  gathering  for  years. 
Those  attacks,  which  were  encouraged  by  the  common  belief 
that  Christianity  was  now  condemned  by  law,  took  place 
especially  in  Asia  Minor.  Two  learned  Christians  approached 
the  throne  with  Apologies  or  defences  of  their  faith,  when 
the  emperor  came  into  their  neighbourhood  on  one  of  the 
constant  and  rapid  journeys  for  which  he  was  remarkable. 
Influenced  perhaps  by  these  addresses,  but  rather  by  his 
love  of  justice  and  order,  he  published  an  edict,  forbidding 
Christians  to  be  arrested  on  mere  rumour,  and  ordering  all 
false  informers  to  be  heavily  punished.     However,  in  Pales- 
tine Bar-cochba,  an  impostor,  who  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah 
put  many  Christians  to  a  cruel  death,  because  they  refused 
to  follow  his  flag  of  rebellion. 

The  reign  of  the  elder  /  ntonine  was  a  time  of  compara- 
tive peace  to  the  Christian^ ;  but  when  Marcus  Aurelius,  the 
Stoic  philosopher,  became  emperor  in  161,  there  was  a 
change.  Active  search  was  made  for  Christians.  Torture 
began  to  be  inflicted  on  them.  It  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  both 
the  rulers  and  the  people  of  pagan  Rome  were  beginning  to 
realize,  though  as  yet  vaguely  and  dimly,  the  growth  of  that 
stone,  cut  out  without  hands,  which  was  destined  soon  to 
shiver  the  idols  in  all  their  temples,  and  smite  their  iron 
empire  into  dust. 

5.  At  Smyrna  the  Christian   Church  suffered    heavily. 
Yielding  to  the  rage  of  the  heathens  and  the  Jews,  the  pro- 
consul flung  the  followers  of  Jesus  to  wild  beasts,  or 

167  burnt  them  alive.  The  noblest  of  the  noble  victims 
A.D.  was  Bishop  Poly  carp,  a  man  bending  under  the  weight 
of  nearly  ninety  years.  When  seized  he  asked  for  an 
hour  to  pray.  They  gave  him  two,  then  hurried  him  on  an 
ass  towards  the  city.  The  chief  of  police,  meeting  him  on 
the  way,  took  him  up  into  his  chariot,  and  vainly  strove  to 
turn  him  from  the  faith.  On  his  refusal  he  was  flung  so 
violently  to  the  ground  that  a  bone  of  his  leg  was  injured. 


PERSECUTION  IN  GAJJL.  21 

Before  the  tribunal,  amid  a  crowd  howling  for  his  blood,  he 
was  urged  to  curse  Christ.  "  Eighty-six  years,"  said  he, 
"  have  I  served  Him,  and  He  has  done  me  nothing  but 
good;  and  how  could  I  curse  Him,  my  Lord  and  Saviour?" 
Before  the  flames  rose  round  him,  he  cried  aloud,  thanking 
God  for  judging  him  worthy  to  drink  of  the  cup  of  Christ. 

The  legend  of  the  "  thundering  Legion,"  which  belongs  to 
this  period,  probably  rests  on  some  historical  foundation, 
though  handed  down  to  us  manifestly  in  a  somewhat  mythi- 
cal form.  While  Marcus  Aurelius,  so  the  story  runs,  was 
warring  with  some  German  tribes,  his  soldiers,  marching 
one  day  under  a  burning  sun,  were  parched  with  deadly 
thirst.  The  foe,  hovering  near,  threatened  an  attack. 
A  terrible  death  seemed  to  stare  them  in  the  face,  174 
when  a  band  of  Christian  soldiers,  falling  on  their  A.D. 
knees,  prayed  for  help.  A  peal  of  thunder,  accom- 
panied with  heavy  rain,  was  the  immediate,  and,  as  it  seemed, 
miraculous  response  from  the  skies ;  and  the  soldiers,  catching 
the  precious  drops  in  their  helmets,  drank  and  were  saved. 

6.  This  event  is  said  to  have  softened  the  emperor's  feel- 
ing towards  the  Christians;  but  the  change,  if  any,  was 
very  slight,  for  three  years  later,  a  fierce  persecution  arose 
in  the  heart  of  Gaul,  at  Lyons  and  Vienne.   Pothinus 

the  bishop,  a  feeble  old  man  of  ninety,  died  in  a  177 
dungeon.  Those  Christians  who  were  Roman  citizens  A.D. 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  death  by  the  sword;  the  rest 
were  torn  by  wild  beasts.  The  friends  of  the  dead  were 
denied  even  the  poor  consolation  of  burying  their  loved 
ones ;  for  the  mutilated  bodies  were  burned  to  ashes,  and 
scattered  upon  the  waters  of  the  Rhone.  One  Symphorian, 
a  young  man  of  Autun,  a  town  not  far  from  Lyons,  was 
beheaded  for  refusing  to  fall  on  his  knees  before  the  car  of 
the  idol  Cybele.  As  he  went  to  execution,  his  soul  was 
strengthened  by  his  mother's  voice,  crying :  "  My  son,  my 
son,  be  steadfast ;  look  up  to  Him  who  dwells  in  heaven. 
To-day  thy  life  is  not  taken  from  thee,  but  raised  to  a  better !" 

7.  The  reign  of  Septimius  Sevei'us  was  marked  by  a 
terrible  persecution  in  Africa.     By  the  same  emperor    202 
a  law  was  passed,  forbidding  any  one  to  become  either     A.D. 
a  Jew  or  a  Christian. 


22  THE  STORY  OF  PERPETUA. 

From  many  touching  stories  of  those  bitter  days  take  one. 
A  young  mother,  named  Perpetua,  aged  only  twenty-two, 
was  arrested  at  Carthage  for  being  a  Christian.  Her  father 
was  a  pagan ;  but  from  her  mother's  lips  she  had  learned  to 
love  Christ.  When  she  was  dragged  before  the  magistrate, 
her  grey-haired  father  prayed  her  earnestly  to  recant ;  but, 
pointing  to  a  vessel  that  lay  on  the  ground,  she  said,  "  Can 
I  call  this  vessel  what  it  is  not?"  "  No."  "  Neither,  then, 
can  I  call  myself  anything  but  a  Christian."  Her  little  baby 
was  taken  from  her,  and  she  was  cast  into  a  dark,  crowded 
dungeon.  There  was  no  light  in  her  desolate  heart  for  some 
days,  until  her  child  was  given  to  her  again ;  and  then,  in 
her  own  tender  words,  "  the  dungeon  became  a  palace." 
Before  the  trial  came  on,  her  father  pleaded  again  with  tears, 
and  kisses,  and  words  of  agony,  seeking  to  turn  her  from 
what  he  considered  her  obstinate  folly.  But  all  in  vain. 
Neither  her  father's  tears  nor  her  baby's  cries  could  wean 
her  soul  from  Christ ;  and  she  died  with  many  others,  torn 
to  pieces  in  the  circus  by  savage  beasts,  amid  the  yells  of 
still  more  savage  men. 

8.  Maximin,  the  Thracian  giant,  who  gained  the  purple  by 
murder  in  235,  persecuted  those  Christian  bishops  who  had 
been  friends  of  his  predecessor.     In  many  provinces,  too — 
Pontus  and  Cappadocia,  for  instance — the  people,  roused  to 
fury  by  severe  earthquakes,  fell  upon  the  Christians,  crying 
out  that  their  blasphemies  had  brought  these  judgments  on 
the  land. 

9.  Conquering  Philip  the  Arabian,  Decius  Trajan  ascended 
the  throne ;  and  then  the  long  calm  which  the  Christians  of 

Rome  had  enjoyed  was  rudely  broken.  One  great 
249  use  of  these  persecutions  was  the  sifting  of  the  Church 
A.D.  — the  driving  out  of  those  who,  in  peaceful  days,  had 

become  Christians  from  convenience  merely  or  vanity. 
The  gold  was  tested  and  refined  in  a  fiery  furnace.  Decius 
seems  to  have  resolved  utterly  to  destroy  Christianity.  His 
hatred  of  the  bishops  was  intense.  Fabianus  the  Roman 
bishop  was  martyred.  Both  in  Rome  and  the  provinces  im- 
prisonment and  torture  awaited  every  faithful  witness ;  and 
among  the  refinements  of  torture,  hunger  and  thirst  came 
into  common  use.  But  a  rebellion  in  Macedonia  and  a 


DIOCLETIAN'S  PERSECUTION.  53 

Gothic  war  turned  the  attention  of  the  emperor  from  the 
Christians,  and  by  his  death  they  soon  gained  a  short  breath- 
ing time. 

10.  In  the  fourth  year  of  Valerian  an  edict  was  issued  in 
unmistakable  words — "  Let  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacon* 
at  once  be  put  to  the  sword'1    The  aim  of  this  edict 
seems  to  have  been  to  check  Christianity  by  cutting    258 
off  the  heads  of  the  Church.     Sixtus,  the  Roman    A.D. 
bishop,  and  four  deacons  were  the  first  to  suffer.    But 

a  more  distinguished  victim  was  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
who,  after  having  escaped  the  Decian  storm,  was  now  be- 
headed for  refusing  to  sacrifice  to  the  pagan  idols.  Valerian 
having  been  defeated  by  Sapor  the  Persian  king,  whose 
triumphal  car  he  was  forced  to  drag  in  chains,  died  in  the 
far  East.  His  son  Gallienus  restored  to  the  Christians  their 
burial-grounds  and  other  property  taken  from  them  in  the 
late  reign.  This  was  a  great  step,  for  it  was  a  public 
acknowledgment  that  the  Christian  Church  was  a  legal 
society ;  and  it  no  doubt  did  much  to  save  Christians  from  the 
wrath  of  the  low-born  fire-worshipper  Aurelian,  who  became 
emperor  in  270.  A  bigot  by  nature,  and  bent  upon  persecution, 
he  yet  allowed  five  years  to  slip  away  without  striking  a  blow 
at  the  Cross.  His  murder  in  275  left  forty  years  of  peace 
to  the  Church,  which,  like  a  sturdy  young  oak-tree,  amid 
all  these  great  and  frequent  tempests,  had  been  only  strik- 
ing its  roots  deeper,  and  taking  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  soil. 

11.  Fiercest,  widest,  and  last,  was  the  persecution  that 
broke  out  under  Diocletian  and  Maximian.     On 

the  day  of  the  feast  Terminalia,  at  early  dawn,  the    Feb.  23, 
splendid  church  of  Nicomedia,  a  city  of  Bithynia,      303 
where  Diocletian  had  fixed  his  court,  was  broken      A.D. 
open ;  all  copies  of  the  Bible  found  there  were 
burned ;  and  the  walls  were  levelled  to  the  ground  by  the 
imperial  soldiers.     This  was  done  at  the  instigation  of  Ga- 
lerius,  the  emperor's  son-in-law.     Next  day  a  terrible  edict 
appeared,  commanding  all  Christian  churches  to  be  pulled 
down,  all  Bibles  to  be  flung  into  the  fire,  and  all  Christiana 
to  be  degraded  from  rank  and  honour.     Scarcely  was  the 
proclamation  posted  up,  when  a  Christian  of  noble  rank  tore 
it  to  pieces.     For  this  he  was  roasted  to  death.     A  fire, 


24 


EDICT  OF  GALERITJ9. 


which  broke  out  in  the  palace  twice  within  a  fortnight,  was 
made  a  pretence  for  very  violent  dealings  with  the  Chris- 
tians. Those  who  refused  to  burn  incense  to  idols  were  tor- 
tured or  slain.  Over  all  the  empire  the  persecution  raged., 
except  in  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Spain,  where  Constantius 
Chlorus  ruled.  Yet  there,  too,  it  was  slightly  felt.  Even 
after  the  abdication  of  the  emperors  in  305,  Galerius  kept 
the  fires  blazing ;  and  so  far  did  this  pagan  go  in  his  miser- 
able zeal,  that  he  caused  all  the  food  in  the  markets  to  be 
sprinkled  with  wine  or  water  used  in  sacrifice,  that  thus  the 
Christians  might  be  driven  into  some  contact  with  idol- 
worship.  With  little  rest  for  eight  years,  the  whip  and  the 
rack,  the  tigers,  the  hooks  of  steel,  and  the  red-hot  beds, 
continued  to  do  their  deadly  work.  And  then  in  311,  when 
Life  was  fading  from  his  dying  eye,  and  the  blood  of  martyrs 
lay  dark  upon  his  trembling  soul,  Galerius  published  an 
edict,  permitting  Christians  to  worship  God  in  their  own 
way.  This  was  the  turning-point  in  the  great  strife;  and 
henceforward  Roman  heathenism  rapidly  decayed,  until  it 
was  finally  abolished  by  Theodosius  in  394. 

ROMAN  EMPERORS  OF  THE  SECOND  AND 
THIRD  CENTURIES. 

THIRD  CENTURY — Continued. 

PHILIP  the  Arabian 244 

DECIUS 249 

GALLUS  and  his  Son 251 

.EMILIANUS 253 

VALERIAN  and  his  Son 253 

GALLIENUS 260 

CLAUDIUS  II 268 

QUINTILLUS 270 

AURELIAN 270 

Interregnum  for  nine  months  275 

TACITUS 275 

FLORIAN 276 

PROBUS 276 

CARUS 282 

CARINUS  and  NUMERIAN...283 

DIOCLETIAN 284 

MAXIMIAN  taken  as  a]_ 28e 

Colleague - J  '" 


SECOND  CENTURY. 

A.D. 

TRAJAN 

ADRIAN 117 

ANTONINUS  PIUS 138 

MARC.  AURELIUSand)        161 

L.  VERUS >  '" 

COMMODUS 180 

PERTINAX 193 

SEVERUS 193 

THIRD  CENTURY. 

CARACALLA  and  GETA 211 

MACEINUS 217 

HELIOGABALUS 218 

ALEX.  SEVERUS 222 

MAXIMIN 235 

GORDIAN  and  his  Son 237 

BALBINUS  andPUPIENUS...237 
GrOBDIAN  the  Younger 238 


THE  YOUTH  OF  CONSTANTINE. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  REIGN  OF  CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT. 

Central  Point:  REMOVAL  OF  THE  SEAT  OF  EMPIRE  TO 
CONSTANTINOPLE,  330  A.D. 


Birth  and  early  days. 
Proclaimed  emperor. 
Six  emperors  at  once. 
Battle  of  the  Red  Rocks. 
Vision  of  the  cross. 

Emperors  reduced  to  two. 
Death  of  Licinius. 
Christianity  favoured. 
First  General  Council. 
Site  of  the  new  capital. 

Its  dedication. 
Constantino's  policy. 
His  last  years. 
His  death. 
His  character. 

THE  reign  of  Constantine  is  remarkable  in  Roman  history 
for  three  reasons  :  he  was  the  first  emperor  professing 
Christianity;  he  adopted  a  new  policy,  in  which  we  can 
detect  some  foreshadows  of  the  speedy  decay  of  the  Western 
Empire ;  he  founded  a  new  capital,  thus  giving  a  powerful 
impulse  to  that  separation  of  the  Empire  into  East  and  West, 
which  began  under  Diocletian  in  286,  and  was  completed  in 
364,  when  the  brothers  Valens  and  Valentinian  wore  the 
purple. 

Constantine  the  Great  was  born  at  Naissus  in  Dacia; 
some  say  at  Drepanum  in  Bithynia.     His  father  was 
Constantius  Chlorus  (the  Sallow),  who  ruled  Gaul,  Bri-    2  74 
tain,  and  Spain;  his  mother  Helena  was  the  daughter    A.D. 
of  an  innkeeper. 

The  mother  being  divorced,  the  son,  who  shared  her  fall, 
was  left  at  eighteen  with  little  fortune  but  his  sword. 
Taking  service  under  Diocletian,  he  fought  his  way  up  in 
Egyptian  and  Persian  wars  to  be  a  tribune  of  the  first  rank ; 
and  so  popular  did  the  brave  youth  become  with  the  sol- 
diers, that  Galerius,  Emperor  of  the  East,  began  to  look 
upon  him  with  a  jealous  eye.  Just  then  came  word  that 
Constantius,  whose  health  was  failing,  wished  to  see  his 
long-estranged  son.  Setting  out  at  night  from  Nicomedia, 
Constantine  hurried  overland  to  join  his  father  at  Boulogne. 
Together  they  crossed  to  Britain,  where  soon  afterwards  the 
father  died  at  York. 

Constantine,  at  once  proclaimed  emperor  by  the  soldiers 


26  BATTLE  AT  THE  RED  ROCKS. 

of  the  West,  wrote,  announcing  the  event,  to  Galerius,  who 

in  answer  acknowledged  him  as  his  father's  successor. 

306    but  conferred  on  him  only  the  title  of  Coesor,  re- 

A.D.     serving  the  higher  step  Augustus  for  a  favourite 

friend.     This,  no  doubt,  galled  Constantine  at  the 

moment ;  but,  like  a  man  of  prudence,  he  was  content  to 

bide  his  time. 

Two  years  later  the  world  saw  a  strange  sight,  without 
parallel  before  or  since — six  emperors  dividing  the  Eoman 
dominion  among  them.    In  the  West  were  Maximian, 
308    his  son  Maxentius,  and  Constantine ;  in  the  East  Ga- 
A.D.     lerius,  Licinius,  and  Maximin.     Maximian,  once  the 
colleague  of  Diocletian,  had  already  bestowed  on  Con- 
stantine the  hand  of  his  daughter  Fausta,  and  the  title  of 
Augustus. 

But  among  six  emperors  there  could  be  little  union.  Every 
man's  hand  was  soon  turned  against  his  fellow.  The  first 
to  die  was  old  Maximian,  who,  falling  into  the  hands  of  his 
son-in-law  at  Marseilles,  was  there  slain  in  secret.  The 
death  of  Galerius,  from  disease  caused  by  intemperance, 
reduced  the  list  still  further.  And  then  Constantine, 
312  with  a  sword  sharpened  by  six  years'  successful  war 
A.D.  in  Gaul,  crossed  the  Alps  to  do  battle  with  the  effemi- 
nate Maxentius.  Susa,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cenis, 
was  stormed  in  a  single  day.  Forty  miles  further  on,  at 
Turin  he  scattered  an  army  strong  in  mail-clad  cavalry. 
Milan  and  Verona  then  fell ;  and  the  way  to  Home  was  open. 
At  the  Ked  Eocks  (Saxa  Eubra),  nine  miles  from  Eome, 
he  found  the  army  of  Maxentius  in  line  of  battle,  the  Tiber 
guarding  their  rear.  Constantine  led  on  his  Gallic  horse, 
and  made  short  work  of  the  unwieldy  masses  of  cavalry  that 
covered  his  rival's  flanks.  The  Italian  footmen  of  the  centre 
then  fled  almost  without  striking  a  blow.  Thousands  were 
driven  into  the  Tiber.  The  brave  Praetorians,  despairing  of 
mercy,  died  in  heaps  where  they  stood.  A  bridge  near  the 
modern  Ponte  Milvio  was  so  choked  with  flying  soldiers, 
that  Maxentius,  in  trying  to  struggle  through  the  crowd,  waa 
pushed  into  the  water,  and  drowned  by  his  weighty  armour. 
Writers  of  the  time  tell  us  that,  before  thib  battle,  Con- 
Btantine  saw  the  vision  of  a  cross  hung  in  the  sky,  with  the 


WAR  WITH  LICTNIUS.  27 

Greek  words,  'E^  TOVTQ  vlica.  ("In  this  conquer"),  written  in 
letters  of  light.  Henceforth  his  troops  marched  under  a 
standard  called  Labarum,  the  top  of  which  was  adorned 
with  a  mystic  X,  representing  at  once  the  cross  and  the 
initial  letter  of  the  Greek  word  Christ. 

Entering  Rome  in  triumph,  he  began  at  once  to  secure  his 
victory.     The  Praetorian  guards  were  disbanded,  and  scat- 
tered for  ever.     The  tax,  which  Maxentius  had  occasionally 
levied  on  the  senate  under  the  name  of  a  free  gift,  was  made 
lasting.    Three  of  the  six  emperors  now  remained.    But, 
war  soon  breaking  out  between  Maximin  and  Lici- 
nius,  the  former  was  defeated  near  Heraclea,  and  died    313 
in  a  few  months  at  Tarsus,  most  likely  by  poison.    A.D. 
Two  emperors  then  shared  the  power  between  them ; 
Constantine  holding  the  West  and  Licinius  the  East. 

A  quarrel  soon  arose,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  nature 
of  the  men, — Constantine,  pushing,  clever,  and  by  no  means 
troubled  with  a  tender  conscience ;  Licinius,  underhand,  art- 
ful, dangerous.  It  made  no  matter  that  the  sister  of  Con- 
stantine was  the  wife  of  Licinius.  War  was  begun.  At 
Cibalis  in  Pannonia,  and  on  the  plain  of  Mardia  in  Thrace, 
Constantine  was  victorious ;  and  the  beaten  emperor  was 
compelled  to  yield  as  the  price  of  peace  all  his  European 
dominions  except  Thrace. 

There  was  then  peace  between  the  rivals  for  nearly  eight 
years,  during  which  the  most  notable  event  was  a  war  with 
the  Goths  and  Sarmatians  (322).  They  had  long  been  mus- 
tering on  the  north  bank  of  the  Danube,  and  now  poured 
their  swarms  upon  Illyricum.  But  they  had  to  deal  with  a 
resolute  soldier,  who  drove  them  with  hard  and  heavy 
blows  back  over  the  broad  stream,  and  followed  them  into 
their  strongest  holds. 

Then,  in  the  flush  of  victory  he  turned  his  sword  again 
upon  Licinius.  At  once  all  Thrace  glittered  with  arms,  and 
the  Hellespont  was  white  with  sails.  A  victory,  gained  by 
Constantine  at  Adrianople,  drove  the  Emperor  of  the  East 
into  Byzantium.  Besieged  there,  he  held  out  a  while ;  but, 
the  passage  of  the  Hellespont  being  forced  by  Crispus,  Con- 
stantine's  eldest  son,  who  led  a  few  small  ships  to  attack  a 
great  fleet  of  three-deckers,  he  was  forced  into  Asia,  where 


28  SITE  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

he  was  finally  vanquished  on  the  hills  of  Chrysopolis,  now 
Scutari.     In  spite  of  Ids  wife's  prayers  and  tears 

324  he  was  executed  a  few  months  later  at  Thessalonica, 
A.D.     when  his  death  left  Constantine  sole  master  of  the 

Roman  world. 

This  emperor,  influenced  perhaps  by  his  mother's  early 
teaching,  favoured  Christianity.  He  did  not  openly  forbid 
Paganism,  but  chose  rather  to  work  by  ridicule  and  neglect. 
Some  rites  he  abolished,  and  some  temples  he  closed,  but 
only  those  notorious  for  fraud  or  indecency.  Without  de- 
pressing Paganism,  he  raised  the  new  creed  to  the  level  of 
the  old.  With  public  money  he  repaired  the  old  churches 
and  built  new  ones,  so  that  in  every  great  city  the  Pagan 
temples  were  faced  by  Christian  churches  of  architecture 
richer  and  more  beautiful  than  ever.  The  Christian  clergy 
were  freed  from  taxes.  Sunday  was  proclaimed  a  day  of 
rest.  And,  to  crown  all,  he  removed  the  seat  of  government 
to  a  new  capital,  which  was  essentially  a  Christian  city,  for 
nowhere  did  a  Pagan  temple  blot  the  streets,  shining  with 
the  white  marble  of  Proconnesus. 

In  the  controversies  of  the  Church  the  emperor  took  an 
active  but  changeable  part,  and  attended  in  person 

325  the  first  general  council  of  bishops,  held  at  ISTicsea,  in 
A.D.     Bithynia,  to  decide  on  the  case  of  Arius,  who  denied 

the  divinity  of  Christ.  Arius  was  banished;  but, 
three  years  afterwards,  Constantine,  who  regarded  the  whole 
question  as  one  of  slight  importance,-  restored  him  to  his 
church  at  Alexandria. 

The  spot  where  Byzantium  had  already  stood  for  more 
than  900  years  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  the  new  capital 
While  besieging  Licinius  there,  Constantine  saw  how  from 
that  central  position  a  strong  hand,  wielding  the  sceptre  of 
the  world,  could  strike  east  or  west  with  equal  suddenness 
and  force.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  Bosphorus  a  pro- 
montory of  the  Thracian  shore — washed  on  the  south  by  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  (then  called  Propontis),  and  on  the  north  by 
the  fine  harbour  of  the  Golden  Horn — runs  to  within  600 
yards  of  Asia.  Seven  hills  rise  there ;  and  on  these  the  city 
lay,  commanding  at  once  two  great  continents  and  two  great 
inland  seas. 


POLICY  OF  CONSTANTINE.  29 

The  emperor,  spear  in  hand,  heading  a  long  line  of  nobles, 
marked  out  the  boundary  of  the  wall  As  mile  after  mile 
went  by,  all  wondered  at  the  growing  space;  yet  he  still 
went  on.  "I  shall  advance,"  said  he,  "till  the  invisible 
guide  who  marches  before  me  thinks  right  to  stop." 

Gold  without  stint  was  lavished  on  the  new  buildings. 
Bronzes  and  marbles,  wrought  by  the  chisels  of  Phidias  and 
Lysippus,  were  stolen  from  Greece  and  Asia  to  adorn  the 
public  walks.     When  those  senators,  whom  the  gifts  and 
invitations  of  the  emperor  had  induced  to  remove  from 
Rome,  reached  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  they  found 
waiting  to  receive  them  palaces  built  exactly  after 
the  model  of  those  they  had  left  behind.     On  the    May  11, 
day  of  dedication  the  city  received  the  name  of     330 
New  Rome ;  but  this  title  was  soon  exchanged  for      A.D. 
that  borne  ever  since — Constantinople.    One  result 
of  this  great  change,  which  reduced  Rome  to  a  second-rate 
city,  was  to  concentrate  for  a  time,  in  the  old  capital,  more 
intensely  than  ever,  all  the  bitterness  of  paganism.     The  new 
capital  soon  became  the  centre  of  a  separate  empire,  which 
survived  the  old  for  nearly  a  thousand  years. 

The  new  policy  of  Constantine  was  marked  by  three  chief 
features.  1.  He  scattered  titles  of  nobility  with  an  unspar- 
ing hand,  so  that  there  was  no  end  of  "  Illustrious,"  "  Re- 
spectable," "  Most  Honourable,"'  "  Most  Perfect,"  "  Egregi- 
ous," men  about  the  court.  The  Asiatic  fashion  of  piling  up 
adjectives  and  nouns  to  make  swelling  names  of  honour 
became  all  the  rage ;  and  on  every  side  was  heard,  "  Your 
Gravity,"  or  "  Your  Sincerity,"  or  "  Your  Sublime  and  Won- 
derful Magnitude."  2.  He  laid  direct  and  heavier  taxes  upon 
the  people  Forty  millions  were  poured  into  his  treasury 
every  year.  These  taxes,  paid  chiefly  in  gold,  but  also  in 
kind,  were  collected  by  the  Curials,  men  high  in  the  magis- 
tracy of  the  towns ;  and  if  there  was  any  deficiency,  they 
were  compelled  to  make  it  up  out  of  their  own  property. 
3.  In  the  army  great  and  fatal  changes  were  made.  The 
military  service  was  separated  from  the  civil  government, 
and  placed  under  the  direction  of  eight  Masters-General 
The  famous  legions  were  broken  up  into  small  bands.  Num- 
bers of  Goths  and  other  "barbarians  were  enlisted  in  the 


30  DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  CONSTANTINE. 

Roman  service,  and  taught  to  use  arms,  which  they  after- 
wards turned  upon  their  masters.  And  a  distinction  was 
made  between  the  troops  of  the  court  and  the  troops  of  the 
frontier.  The  latter,  bearing  all  the  hard  blows,  received 
but  scanty  rewards ;  while  the  former,  rejoicing  in  high  pay, 
and  living  in  cities  among  baths  and  theatres,  speedily  lost 
all  courage  and  skill. 

The  last  years  of  Constantine  were  occupied  with  a  suc- 
cessful war  against  the  Goths,  undertaken  in  aid  of  the  Sar- 
matians.  Three  hundred  thousand  of  the  latter  nation  were 
settled  under  Roman  protection  in  Thrace  and  Macedonia, 
no  doubt  to  serve  as  a  rampart  against  the  encroachments 

of  other  tribes. 

337  Constantine  died  at  Nicornedia,  aged  sixty-four. 
A.D.  He  is  said  to  have  been  baptized  on  his  death-bed 
by  an  Arian  bishop.  According  to  his  own  last  re- 
quest, his  body  was  carried  over  to  Constantinople;  and, 
while  it  lay  there  on  a  golden  bed,  a  poor  mockery  of  king- 
ship, crowned  and  robed  in  purple,  every  day,  at  the  usual 
hour  of  levee,  the  great  officers  of  state  came  to  bow  before 
the  lifeless  clay. 

When  we  strip  away  the  tinsel  with  which  Eusebius  and 
similar  writers  have  decked  the  character  of  this  man,  we 
are  forced  to  believe  that  there  was  little  grand  or  heroic 
about  him  except  his  military  skill.  He  slew  his  father-in- 
law;  and,  in  later  days,  meanly  jealous  of  justly- won  laurels, 
he  hurried  his  eldest  son,  the  gallant  young  Crispus,  from  a 
gay  feast  in  Rome  to  die  by  a  secret  and  sudden  death. 
Many  of  his  strokes  of  policy  were  terrible  blunders,  full  of 
future  ruin ;  and  his  boasted  profession  of  Christianity  seems 
to  have  been  scarcely  better  than  a  mere  pretence,  made  to 
serve  the  aims  of  an  unresting  and  unscrupulous  ambition. 


EMPERORS  OF  THE  FOURTH  CENTUP.Y. 


31 


ROMAN  EMPERORS  OF  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 

A.D. 

CONSTANTIUS  and  GALERIUS 305 

CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT 306 

He  Sole  Emperor 324 

CONSTANTINE  II.,  CONSTANS,  and  CONSTANTIUS  II 337 

JULIAN  (the  Apostate) 361 

JOVIAN 363 


WEST. 

A.D. 

VALENTINIAN 364 

GRATIAN 367 

VALENTINIAN  H 375 

HONORIUS .395 


EAST. 

A.D. 

VALENS 364 

THEODOSIUS 379 

ARCADIUS 395 


32  JULIAN  THE  APOSTATE. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

Central  Point :  THE  SACK  OF  ROME  BY  ALARIC  THE  GOTH, 
410  A.D. 


Early  life  of  Julian. 
His  great  aim. 
Death  and  character. 
Goths  settled  in  Thrace. 
Death  of  Valens. 
Reign  of  Theodosius. 

Court  at  Ravenna. 
Three  barbarian  chiefs. 
Alaric  the  Goth. 
Britain,  Spain,  and  Gaul 
lost. 
Vandals  seize  Africa. 

Attila  the  Hun. 
Genseric  the  Vandal. 
Ricimer. 
Last  days  of  Pagan  Rome 
Causes  of  its  fall 

AFTER  the  confused  and  bloody  reign  of  the  three  sons  of 
Constantine,  Julian,  the  apostate,  became  emperor.  He 
was  the  nephew  of  Constantine.  Narrowly  escaping  the 
massacre  by  which  Constantine  cut  off  so  many  uncles  and 
cousins,  he  spent  his  early  life  in  Asia  Minor,  .where  he  was 
educated  to  be  a  Christian  priest.  But  his  later  residence 
at  Athens,  where  he  studied  deeply  the  philosophy  of  Plato, 
hardened  him  into  a  heathen.  He  began  public  life  as 
governor  of  Gaul.  At  Lutetia  (now  Paris)  he  was  saluted 
Augustus  by  his  soldiers  ;  and  in  the  next  year  became 
emperor  at  the  age  of  thirty  (361). 

To  raise  the  fallen  gods  was  his  great  aim ;  and  to  this  he 
bent  all  the  energies  of  no  mean  mind.  He  wrote  satires 
against  the  Christians.  He  forbade  them  to  teach  schools. 
He  shut  their  churches,  and  tried  to  fill  the  deserted  shrines 
of  Venus  and  Bacchus.  But  his  scorn,  and  his  anger,  and 
his  learning  were  all  thrown  away.  Amongst  other  efforts 
he  tried  to  rebuild  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  in  order  thus  to 
prove  those  prophecies  false,  in  which  the  Christians  trusted. 
But  balls  of  fire,  bursting  again  and  again  from  the  earth, 
drove  his  workmen  from  the  spot,  as  often  as  they  began  to 
build. 

Julian  died  in  the  far  East.  In  a  skirmish  with  the  Per- 
sians a  dart  struck  him  in  the  side,  and  he  expired  in  his 
tent  next  night  (363).  Though  we  pity  the  poor  little  philo- 
sopher, who  hugged  darkness  so  obstinately  to  his  soul. 


THE  GOTHS  ALLOWED  TO  PASS  THE  DANUBE.  83 

while  the  Dayspring  from  on  high  was  brightening  round 
him,  we  cannot  help  laughing  at  his  wretched  vanity,  when 
he  speaks  fondly  in  one  of  his  books  of  his  frowsy,  uncombed 
hair,  long  nails,  and  ink-black  hands,  as  if  these  were  essen- 
tial marks  of  genius  and  learning. 

The  final  division  of  the  empire  under  Valens  and  Valen- 
tinian  has  been  already  noticed.  While  the  former  ruled 
the  East,  the  Goths— most  civilized  of  the  German  tribes — 
gained  a  footing  south  of  the  Danube.  A  host  of  ugly  Calmuo 
savages,  with  flat  noses  and  little,  deep-sunk,  black  eyes,  had 
swept  down  from  the  chilly  tablelands  of  Siberia  upon  the 
hamlets  of  the  Goths,  who  lived  where  Moldavia  and  Walla- 
chia  now  lie.  These  were  the  Huns.  First  overcoming  the 
Alans — dwellers  on  the  sandy  steppes  between  the  Volga 
and  the  Tanais  (Don) — and  filling  their  ranks  with  these 
conquered  hordes,  they  fell  upon  the  Goths,  whose  leaders 
were  speedily  slain  or  driven  back  before  the  rush.  In 
despair  the  Goths  flung  themselves  on  the  pity  of  Valens, 
asking  leave,  in  the  humblest  terms,  to  place  the  Danube 
between  them  and  their  hideous  foes.  Leave  was  granted, 
on  condition  that  they  should  give  up  their  children,  and 
their  arms.  The  bargain  was  struck  at  once ;  Koman  boats 
were  provided;  and  for  many  days  and  nights  the 
broad  river  was  torn  into  foam  by  the  splash  of  376 
unceasing  oars.  The  fugitives,  surrendering  their  A.D. 
children  with  little  concern,  gladly  paid  away  all  they 
had  as  bribes  to  the  Roman  officers,  for  leave  to  keep  their 
arms ;  and  so  nearly  a  million  of  fierce  and  hungry  warriors 
settled  sword  in  hand  within  one  of  the  great  natural  fron- 
tiers of  the  empire. 

Two  years  afterwards  a  Gothic  army,  under  Fritigern,  one 
of  their  judges  or  leaders,  penetrated  Thrace,  and  inflicted 
a  severe  defeat  on  the  troops  of  Valens  near  Adrianople. 
The  emperor  himself,  carried  bleeding  to  a  cottage  close  by, 
was  there  burnt  by  these  remorseless  foes. 

Theodosius,  a  Spaniard  by  birth,  became  emperor  in  379. 
Invested  by  Gratian  with  the  purple  of  the  East,  he  set 
himself  at  once  to  repel  the  inroads  of  the  Goths ;  and  in 
four  campaigns,  by  timely  movements  from  his  head  quar- 
ters at  Thessalonica,  he  broke — for  the  time  at  least — the 

(47)  3 


34  THE  THREE  GREAT  BARBARIANS. 

strength  of  these  barbarians.  The  leading  principle  of  his 
policy  was  to  preserve  unbroken  the  great  frontier  line, 
naturally  marked  out  as  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
empire  by  Mount  Caucasus,  the  Black  Sea,  the  Danube, 
and  the  Ehine.  He  was  the  first  Roman  emperor  who  was 
baptized  in  the  true  Trinitarian  faith ;  and  is  further  re- 
markable for  having  put  down,  by  rigorous  laws,  the  last 
remnants  of  Paganism,  and  the  Arian  heresy,  of  which  Con- 
stantinople was  the  chief  seat  and  centre.  But  a  rash  and 
lawless  massacre  of  the  Thessalonians  casts  a  dark  blot  upon 
his  fame.  He  died  of  dropsy  at  Milan  in  395. 

Nothing  now  stood  between  the  Western  Empire  and  ruin. 
So  far  back  as  the  days  of  Maximian,  Milan,  in  the  rich 
plain  of  northern  Italy,  had  been  chosen  as  an  imperial  resi- 
dence. And  now,  when  Arcadius  and  Honorius,  the  feeble 
sons  of  Theodosius,  shared  the  empire  between  them,  the 
latter,  terrified  by  the  advance  of  Alaric  the  Goth,  fled  to 
Ravenna,  a  city  on  the  Adriatic  shore,  some  miles  south  of 
the  Po,  securely  guarded  by  impassable  swamps ;  and  there 
the  shrunken  and  faded  glory  of  the  Caesars  flickered  for  a 
few  miserable  years,  during  which  the  ancient  capital, 
deserted  and  unhappy,  suffered  every  imaginable  insult. 

Alaric  the  Goth,  Attila  the  Hun,  and  Genseric  the  Vandal 
were  the  great  leaders  of  the  barbarians  who  overthrew  Rome. 

Starting  from  Thrace  in  396,  Alaric,  a  Visigoth  of  noble 
race  and  Christian  faith,  overran  all  Greece.  The  Vandal, 
Stilicho,  the  chief  of  the  Roman  generals  in  the  West,  was 
sent  to  oppose  him ;  but  the  wily  Goth  escaped  into  Epirus, 
where  he  was  hoisted  on  a  shield  by  his  soldiers,  according 
to  their  national  mode  of  electing  a  king.  There,  too,  he 
received  from  Arcadius  the  title,  Master-General  of 
403  Eastern  Illyricum.  His  next  move  was  upon  north- 
A.D.  era  Italy.  Honorius  fled  from  Milan  to  Asti,  and 
would  have  been  captured  there,  but  for  the  rapid 
advance  of  Stilicho.  The  Goths,  beaten  at  Pollentia  and 
Verona,  left  Italy  for  a  time.  But,  five  years  later,  they 
marched  unopposed  to  the  very  walls  of  Rome.  Stilicho, 
the  only  match  for  Alaric,  had  just  been  murdered  by  his 
Benseless  master.  Famine  and  plague  raged  within  the  city, 
until  the  Gothic  king,  agreeing  to  accept  a  ransom,  retired 


SACK  OF  HOME  BY  ALARIC.  35 

fco  Tuscany,  loaded  with  all  the  gold,  silver,  silk,  scarlet  cloth, 
and  pepper,  that  could  be  gathered  in  Rome.  Honoring, 
secure  in  Ravenna,  refused  to  save  Rome  by  any  concessions; 
and  the  Goths,  seizing  Ostia  at  the  Tiber's  mouth,  again 
summoned  the  capital  to  surrender.  This  second  siege  was 
averted  by  the  citizens  agreeing  to  receive  as  a  new  emperor, 
Attains,  the  prefect  of  the  city,  who  was  nominated  by 
Alaric.  But  this  puppet  ruler  was  soon  degraded  by  the 
same  strong  hand  that  had  set  him  up.  Then,  a  band  of  Goths 
being  cut  to  pieces  near  Ravenna,  the  long-black- 
ening storm  at  length  burst  over  Rome.  In  the  Ang.  24, 
dead  of  night  hostile  trumpets  blew  for  the  first  410 
time  in  her  sleeping  streets.  And  after  six  days  of  A.D. 
bloodshed  and  pillage,  the  clumsy  baggage  waggons 
of  Alaric  went  creaking  southward  along  the  Appian  way, 
piled  high  with  the  richest  spoils  of  Rome.  All  southern 
Italy  was  soon  subdued ;  but,  before  the  conquering  hordes 
could  pass  into  Sicily,  their  leader  died  at  Cozenza  in  Cala- 
bria. To  make  his  grave  a  river  was  turned  aside;  and 
when  the  water  was  again  let  flow  into  its  bed  over  the  dead 
king,  the  prisoners  who  had  built  his  tomb  were  slain,  that 
no  one  might  be  able  to  tell  where  the  conqueror  of  Rome 
was  laid. 

And  now  the  great  Western  Empire  was  dissolving  fast. 
Early  in  the  fifth  century  three  fragments  broke  off  from  the 
decaying  trunk,  not  to  die,  but  to  start  up  with  new  and 
fresher  life  into  three  great  kingdoms.  Britain  was  left  to 
itself.  Spain  was  conquered  by  Sueves,  Alans,  and  Vandals. 
Gaul  was  filled  with  Goths,  Burgundians,  and  Franks. 
Adolph,  brother-in-law  of  Alaric,  marched  under  the  colours 
of  Honorius,  whose  sister  he  had  married,  to  rescue  Spain ; 
but  he  was  murdered  at  Barcelona. 

Africa,  too,  was  lost.  The  Roman  general  Boniface,  re- 
volting from  Valentinian  III.,  called  Genseric  and  his  Van- 
dals over  from  Spain.  Crossing  the  strait  in  Spanish 
vessels,  the  barbarian  leader  reviewed  a  motley  force  of 
50,000  on  the  Moorish  plains.  Vandals,  Alans,  Goths,  were 
all  there.  Tawny  Moors,  who  at  first  had  looked  on  the 
white  faces  with  fear,  gradually  joined  their  ranks.  And 
the  Donatists,  a  religious  sect  writhing  .under  persecution. 


36  ATTILA  THE  HUM. 

gladly  welcomed  a  protector  in  the  Arian  Genseric.  Boni- 
face, repenting  of  his  haste  only  when  it  was  too  late,  saw 
with  dismay  all  the  rich  wheat-fields,  upon  which  Rome  de- 
pended mainly  for  her  bread,  laid  waste  from  Tangier  to 
Tripoli.  In  431  Hippo  Regius,  a  sea-port  now  called  Bona, 
was  burnt.  Boniface,  sailing  to  Italy,  fell  in  battle  with  his 
rival  Aetius.  Carthage  yielded  to  Genseric  in  439  ;  and 
•soon  African  exiles  were  seen  all  through  Italy  and  the 
East. 

Meanwhile  Attila,  a  genuine  Hun  with  ugly  face  and 
strong  squat  frame,  had  gone  forth  from  his  log-house  on  the 
plain  of  Hungary  at  the  head  of  half  a  million  savages  to 
conquer  the  world.  Westward  to  the  Rhine,  northward  to 
the  Baltic,  eastward  far  beyond  the  Caspian,  the  terror  of 
his  name  spread  fast ;  and  ere  long  we  find  him  in  the 
suburbs  of  Constantinople,  dictating  insulting  terms  of  peace 
to  the  trembling  Theodosius  II.  (446).  A  year  or  two  later, 
after  the  Huns  had  gone  home,  an  embassy  was  sent  over 
the  Danube  by  the  court  of  Constantinople  to  visit  Attila 
in  his  wooden  palace.  Among  them  was  an  assassin, 
secretly  charged  to  murder  the  royal  Hun :  and  this  was 
the  real  business  of  the  embassy.  Though  the  treacherous 
design  was  detected,  they  were  entertained  with  barbaric 
splendour,  and  the  would-be  murderer  was  dismissed  with  con- 
tempt. 

In  450  Attila  sent  to  both  emperors  the  haughty  message, 
"  Attila  commands  thee  to  prepare  a  palace  for  his  recep- 
tion." Marcian,  Emperor  of  the  East,  from  whom  arrears  of 
tribute  were  also  demanded,  replied  with  spirit,  "  I  have  gold 
for  my  friends,  and  steel  for  my  enemies."  And  so  the  Hun, 
preferring  to  begin  with  the  easier  task,  fell  upon  the  West. 
Honoria,  a  disgraced  sister  of  Valentinian,  maddened  by  her 
tedious  banishment  to  Constantinople,  had  before  this  sent 
him  a  ring,  praying  him  to  claim  her  as  his  wife,  and  set 
her  free.  Seizing  this  pretext,  he  demanded  in  her  name 
half  of  the  Western  Empire,  which  was  of  course  refused. 
Then  gathering  his  Huns  round  him,  he  crossed  the  Rhine, 
pierced  to  the  centre  of  Gaul,  and  began  to  shake  the  walla 
of  Orleans  with  his  battering-rams.  Terror  filled  the  town, 
until  clouds  of  dust  on  the  horizon  marked  the  quick  advance 


HOME  PILLAGED  HY  GENSEKJC.  37 

of  a  Roman  and  Gothic  army  under  Aetius  and  Theodoric. 
Attila  retreated  at  once  to  the  plain  of  Chalons ; 
and  there  was  fought  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  451 
the  world,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of  the  Huns.  Thus  A.D. 
worsted  in  Gaul,  Attila  climbed  the  Alps  into  Italy. 
Aquileia  and  other  cities  were  laid  in  heaps.  Milan  and 
Pa  via  were  robbed,  but  left  standing ;  and  when  the  Hun 
was  preparing  to  march  upon  Rome,  Bishop  Leo  came  with 
offers  from  the  emperor  to  give  up  the  required  dowry  or  its 
value  in  money.  Awestruck  by  the  majesty  of  the  priest, 
and  remembering,  no  doubt,  that  his  soldiers  were  becoming 
unstrung  by  the  luxury  of  Italian  life,  and  that  the  active 
Aetius  was  threatening  him  at  every  move,  he  agreed  to  re- 
turn to  Hungary,  where  soon  afterwards  he  broke  a  blood- 
vessel. So  died  one,  whose  savage  boast  it  was  that  grass 
never  grew  on  a  spot  where  his  horse  had  trodden  (453). 
His  great  empire,  torn  by  intestine  wars,  and  pressed  on 
by  hordes  of  Ugri  and  Avars  from  Mount  Ural,  then  fell  to 
pieces. 

While  Attila  was  threatening  Rome  on  the  north,  Genseric, 
who  was  in  alliance  with  the  Hun,  had  cut  down  the  woods 
of  Mount  Atlas,  and  built  a  fleet.  Sweeping  the  Mediter- 
ranean, he  conquered  Sicily,  made  frequent  descents  upon 
the  Italian  coasts,  and  in  455,  at  the  invitation  of  Eudoxia, 
who  had  been  forced  to  marry  Maximus,  he  cast  anchor  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tiber.  The  purple,  still  called  imperial, 
though  sadly  torn  and  bedraggled,  had  then  been  worn  by 
Maximus  for  about  three  months.  While  the  Vandals  were 
advancing  from  Ostia  to  Rome,  Bishop  Leo,  remembering 
his  influence  over  Attila,  came  out  to  meet  them  at  the  head 
of  his  clergy.  But  this  could  not  save  the  city  now. 
For  fourteen  days  Vandals  and  Moors  wrecked  and  455 
pillaged  without  mercy.  Exquisite  bronzes  were  A.D. 
melted  down  ;  glorious  works  of  sculpture  and  archi- 
tecture were  wantonly  dashed  to  pieces.  Shiploads  of 
treasure  and  crowds  of  captives  were  carried  over  the  sea  to 
Carthage. 

Why  should  we  dwell  on  the  sad  story?  For  sixteen 
years  (456-472)  all  real  power  rested  with  Ricimer,  a  bar- 
barian soldier,  who  during  that  time  set  up  four  emperors. 


38  FALL  Of  THE  WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

There  was  a  gleam  of  hope  when  Majorian,  first  of  these, 
made  good  laws,  and  relieved  the  pressure  of  the  taxes  ;  but 
it  faded  in  461,  when  he  died.  Then  came  a  time  of  worse 
perplexity  and  terror.  In  472,  forty  days  before  his  death. 
Ricimer  sacked  Rome.  Three  more  inglorious  names  were 
added  to  the  roll  of  emperors,  that  of  Romulus  Augustulus 
closing  the  list.  He  was  a  handsome  youth,  but  he  was  no- 
thing more  ;  and  when  Odoacer,  a  G-oth  of  the  tribe  Heruli, 
came  at  the  head  of  the  Italian  soldiers,  threatening  him  in 
Ravenna,  he  yielded  ignobly,  content  to  retire  to  the  villa  of 
Lucullus  at  Misenum  with  a  pension  of  6000  pieces 
476  of  gold.  Then,  "  when  Odoacer  was  proclaimed  king 
A.D.  of  Italy,  the  phantom  assembly,  which  still  called  it- 
self the  Roman  Senate,  sent  back  to  Constantinople 
the  tiara  and  purple  robe,  in  sign  that  the  Western  Empire 
had  passed  away."  * 

The  division  of  the  empire  has  been  blamed  as  a  great 
cause  of  this  catastrophe  ;  but  truer  causes  were  the  oppres- 
sion of  its  own  unwieldy  weight  and  the  canker  of  vicious 
luxury  that  had  long  been  eating  away  the  strength  of  its 
inner  life.  An  empire,  thus  doubly  enfeebled,  with  patched 
and  rotten  barriers,  could  not  long  withstand  the  unceasing 
tide  of  hardy  tribes  that  came  pouring,  wave  upon  wave, 
from  the  swamps  and  forests  of  the  north. 

THE  LAST  EMPERORS  OF  ROME. 


HONORIUS 

VALENTINIAN  III 425 

MAXIMUS 455 

AVITUS 456 

MAJORIAN 457 

LIBIUS  SEVERUS 461 


ANTHEMIUS 467 

OLYBIUS 472 

GLYCERIUS 473 

JULIUS  NEPOS 474 

ROMULUS  AUGUSTULUS  475-6 


•  White's  Eighteen  Christian  CejQturiao. 


ROMAN  HOUSES  AND  FURNITURE, 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  IMPERIAL  ROME. 


Roman  houses. 
Furniture. 
Slaves. 
Malt  dress. 
Female  dress. 
Meals  and  food. 


Manner  of  eating. 
Garlands  and  wine. 
Baths. 
Travelling. 
Chariot-races. 


Gladiators. 
In-door  games. 
Books  and  letters. 
Marriage. 
Funeral  rites. 


A  GOOD  idea  of  a  first-class  Roman  house  may  be  got  by 
visiting  the  Poinpeiian  Court  in  the  Crystal  Palace  at 
Sydenham.  The  principal  apartments  were  on  the  ground- 
floor.  Passing  through  the  unroofed  vestibule,  often  between 
rows  of  graceful  statues,  a  visitor  entered  the  house 
through  a  doorway  ornamented  with  ivory,  tortoise-shell, 
and  gold.  On  the  threshold,  worked  in  mosaic  marble,  was 
the  kind  word,  "  Salve ;"  while  behind  the  door,  where  the 
porter  sat,  was  a  dog,  or  its  picture,  with  the  warning, 
e'Cave  canem"  Then  came  the  atrium,  or  great  central  re- 
ception-room, separated  from  its  wings  by  lines  of  pillars. 
Here  were  placed  the  ancestral  images  ;  and  here,  too,  was 
the  focus,  a  family  fire-place  dedicated  to  the  Lares.  In  the 
centre  of  this,  or  perhaps  of  an  inner  hall,  was  a  cistern,  into 
which  the  rain  plashed  through  an  opening  in  the  roof. 
Further  in  lay  a  large  saloon  called  the  peristyle,  while 
smaller  rooms  for  eating  and  sleeping  were  placed  according 
to  fancy  or  convenience.  The  floor,  though  sometimes 
boarded,  was  generally  a  mosaic  of  coloured  marble,  tiles,  or 
glass  ;  the  walls,  whitewashed  in  the  old  simple  days  of  the 
early  Republic,  were  now  carved  and  painted,  or  perhaps 
glittered  with  costly  mirrors  ;  gilt  and  coloured  stucco- 
work  adorned  the  ceilings  ;  while  the  window-frames  were 
filled  with  talc  or  glass.  On  the  roofs  were  gardens,  bright 
with  leaf  and  blossom. 

In  houses  like  these  might  be  found  ivory  bedsteads,  with 
quilts  of  purple  and  gold ;  tables  of  precious  wood — cedar, 
citron,  or  cypress— supported  on  marble  pedestals;  side- 
boards of  gold  and  silver,  loaded  with  plate,  amber 


40  ROMAN  SLAVES  AND  DRESS. 

beakers  of  Corinthian  bronze,  and  glass  vessels  from  Alex- 
andria, whose  tints  rivalled  the  opal  and  the  ruby. 

The  household  work  was  done  by  slaves  of  various  classes. 
In  earlier  times  a  few  sufficed ;  but  in  the  days  of  the  Empire 
it  was  thought  a  disgrace  not  to  have  a  slave  for  every 
separate  kind  of  work.  And  so,  besides  those  who  managed 
the  purse,  the  cellar,  the  bed-rooms,  and  the  kitchen,  there 
were  slaves  to  carry  the  litter,  or  to  attend  as  their  masters 
walked  abroad.  Some,  of  higher  pretensions,  were  physi- 
cians, secretaries,  and  readers.  Then,  for  amusement,  there 
were  musicians,  dancers,  buffoons,  and  even  idiots.  But  all 
may  be  ranked  under  two  heads — bought  slaves,  and  born 
slaves.  There  was  a  slave-market,  in  which  the  common 
sort  were  sold  like  cattle ;  but  the  more  beautiful  or  valuable 
were  disposed  of  by  private  bargain  in  the  taverns.  Prices 
ranged  from  £4  to  £800. 

The  most  remarkable  garment  of  the  Romans  was  the 
toga,  made  of  pure  white  wool,  and  in  shape  resembling  a 
segment  of  a  circle ;  narrow  at  first,  it  was  folded,  so  that 
one  arm  rested  as  in  a  sling;  but  in  later  days  it  was  draped 
in  broad,  flowing  folds  round  the  breast  and  left  arm,  leav- 
ing the  right  nearly  bare.  Though  its  use  in  the  streets  was 
in  later  times  exchanged  for  a  mantle  of  warm,  coloured  cloth, 
called  pallium,  or  lacerna,  yet  it  continued  to  be  the  Roman 
full-dress ;  and  in  the  theatre,  when  the  emperor  was  present, 
all  were  expected  to  wear  it.  The  later  emperors  wore 
braccae,  or  loose  trousers  tied  about  the  ankle — a  fashion 
borrowed  from  the  barbarians.  These  were  commonly  crim- 
son; but  Alexander  Severus  wore  white.  The  Romans  always 
kept  the  head  uncovered,  except  on  a  journey,  or  when  they 
wished  to  escape  notice.  Then  they  wore  a  dark-coloured 
hood,  which  was  fastened  to  the  lacerna.  In  the  house 
soleae  were  strapped  to  the  bare  feet ;  but  abroad  the  calceus, 
nearly  resembling  our  shoe,  was  commonly  worn.  On  the 
gold-finger,  the  fourth  of  the  left  hand,  every  Roman  of  rank 
had  a  massive  signet-ring.  There  were  fops  who  loaded 
every  finger  with  jewels ;  and  we  are  told  of  one  poor  fellow 
who  was  so  far  gone  in  foppery,  as  to  have  a  set  of  lighter 
rings  for  summer  wear,  when  his  delicate  frame  could  not 
bear  the  weight  of  his  winter  jewels. 


FEMALE  DRESS—  MEALS.  41 

The  dress  of  Roman  ladies  consisted  of  three  parts— an 
inner  tunic,  the  stola,  and  the  palla.  The  stola,  which  was 
the  distinctive  dress  of  Roman  matrons,  was  a  tunic 
with  short  sleeves,  girt  round  the  waist,  and  ending  in  a 
deep  flounce,  which  swept  the  instep.  The  palla,  a  gay- 
coloured  mantle,  was  worn  out  of  doors.  It  was  often  sky- 
blue,  sprinkled  with  golden  stars.  The  brightest  colours 
were  chosen ;  so  that  an  assembly  of  Roman  belles,  in  full 
dress,  was  a  brilliant  scene,  sparkling  with  scarlet  and  yellow, 
purple  and  pale  green.  The  hair,  encircled  with  a  garland 
of  roses,  was  fastened  with  a  gold  pin.  Pearls  and  gold 
adorned  the  neck  and  arms.  A  favourite  bracelet  was  a 
golden  serpent  with  ruby  eyes,  such  as  may  be  seen  on  many 
a  white  arm  in  our  own  drawing-rooms. 

To  many  in  the  degenerate  ages  of  Rome  the  great  ends 
of  life  were  to  eat  the  most  delicious  food,  and  to  eat  of  it 
as  much  as  possible.  Gluttony  had  grown  upon  the  people 
from  their  intercourse  with  Asia.  Roman  meals  were  three 
—jentaculum,  prandium,  and  coena.  Jentaculum,  taken 
soon  after  rising,  consisted  of  bread,  dried  grapes  or  olives, 
cheese,  and  perhaps  milk  and  eggs.  At  prandium,  the 
mid-day  meal,  they  partook  of  fish,  eggs,  and  dishes  cold  or 
warmed  up  from  last  night's  supper.  Then,  too,  some  wine  was 
drunk.  But  coena  was  the  principal  meal,  taken  about  the 
ninth  hour,  and  on  the  whole  corresponding  to  our  dinner. 
It  began  with  eggs,  fish,  and  light  vegetables,  such  as 
radishes  and  lettuces,  served  up  with  tasty  sauces,  all  being 
intended  merely  to  whet  the  appetite  for  the  more  substantial 
dishes  to  follow.  Then  came  the  courses  (fercula),  of  which, 
in  all  their  wonderful  variety,  no  just  idea  can  be  given  here. 
Among  fish,  turbot,  sturgeon,  and  red  mullet,  were  greatly 
prized ;  among  birds,  the  peacock,  pheasant,  woodcock, 
thrush,  and  fig-pecker.  The  favourite  flesh-meat  was  young 
pork ;  but  venison  was  also  in  great  demand.  The  courses 
were  followed  by  a  dessert  of  pastry  and  fruit. 

While  eating,  the  Romans  reclined  upon  low  couches, 
which  were  arranged  in  the  form  triclinium,  making  three 
sides  of  a  square.  The  open  space  was  left  for  the  slaves  to 
place  or  remove  the  dishes.  The  place  of  honour  was  on 
the  middle  bench.  In  later  times  round  tables  became 


42  WINE  PARTIES  AND  BATHS. 

common,  and  then  semi-circular  couches  were  used.  There 
were  no  table-cloths ;  but  the  guests  wore  over  the  breast  a 
linen  napkin  (mappa\  which  they  brought  with  them. 
Instead  of  knives  and  forks  two  spoons  were  used — one, 
cochlear,  small  and  pointed  at  the  end  of  the  handle ;  the 
other,  ligula,  larger,  and  of  uncertain  shape.  The  splendour 
of  a  Roman  feast  was  greatly  marred  by  the  oil-lamps,  the 
only  light  then  used.  The  lamps  themselves  were  exquisite 
in  shape  and  material,  as  were  all  the  table  utensils,  but  the 
dripping  oil  soaked  the  table,  while  the  thick  smoke  black- 
ened the  walls  and  ceiling,  and  rested  in  flakes  of  soot  upon 
the  dresses  of  the  guests. 

At  feasts,  instead  of  the  toga,  short  dresses  of  red,  or  other 
bright  colours  were  worn.  Before  the  drinking  '  began, 
chaplets  were  handed  round.  For  these,  roses,  myrtle, 
violets,  ivy,  and  even  parsley  were  used.  Before  they  were 
put  on,  slaves  anointed  the  hair  with  nard  and  other  sweet 
unguents.  Wine  was  almost  the  only  drink  used.  Before 
being  brought  to  table  it  was  generally  strained  through  a 
metal  sieve  or  linen  bag  filled  with  snow,  and  was  called  black 
or  white  according  to  its  colour,  just  as  we  talk  of  red 
and  white  wines.  The  famous  Falernian  was  of  a  bright 
amber  tint.  Besides  pure  wine  they  drank  mulsum,  a  mix- 
ture of  new  wine  with  honey,  and  calda,  answering  to  our 
negus,  made  of  warm  water,  wine,  and  spice. 

The  Romans  spent  much  time  in  their  splendid  baths. 
The  cold  plunge  in  the  Tiber,  which  had  braced  the  iron 
muscles  of  their  ancestors,  gave  place,  under  the  Empire,  to 
a  most  luxurious  and  elaborate  system  of  tepid  and  vapour 
bathing,  often  repeated  seven  and  eight  times  a  day.  At 
the  baths  the  gossip  of  the  day  was  exchanged,  as  was  done 
in  English  coffee-houses  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  as  is  now 
done  in  our  clubs  and  news-rooms. 

Their  many  slaves  enabled  the  Romans  to  travel  luxuri- 
ously. The  favourite  conveyance  was  a  wooden  palanquin 
(lectica)  with  leathern  curtains,  within  which  the  traveller 
lay  soft  on  mattress  and  pillows.  They  had  cabs  and 
carriages — as  many,  if  not  so  elegant,  as  ours ;  and  there  was 
no  want  of  hack  vehicles  and  post-horses.  Inns  were  used 
chiefly  by  the  lower  classes ;  for,  except  in  cases  of  neces- 


CHARIOTEERS  AND  GLADIATORS.  43 

eity,  respectable  travellers  lodged  at  the  houses  of  private 
friends. 

The  theatre,  with  its  tragedies  and  comedies,  the  circus, 
and  the  amphitheatre,  supplied  the  Romans  with  their 
chief  public  amusements.  At  the  circus  they  betted  on 
their  favourite  horses  or  charioteers;  at  the  amphitheatre 
they  revelled  in  the  bloody  combats  of  gladiators.  Four 
chariots  generally  started  together.  The  drivers,  distin- 
guished by  dresses  of  different  colours,  stood  in  the  cars, 
leaning  back,  with  the  reins  passed  round  their  bodies,  and 
a  sharp  knife  in  the  belt  to  cut  the  thong  if  anything  went 
wrong.  On  they  whirled  amid  clouds  of  dust,  seven  times 
round  the  course,  shaving  the  goal  amid  the  thunders  of  the 
excited  crowd.  A  large  sum  of  money  was  generally  the 
prize. 

The  most  brutal  of  all  Roman  pastimes  were  the  gladia- 
torial combats.  At  the  trumpet's  sound  throngs  of  wretched 
men — captives,  slaves,  or  convicted  criminals — closed  in 
deadly  strife.  The  trodden  sand  soon  grew  red;  yet  on 
they  fought  with  parched  lips  and  leaping  hearts,  for  they 
knew  that  a  brave  fight  might  win  for  them  their  freedom. 
Erelong  hacked  and  bleeding  limbs  began  to  fail,  and  dim 
eyes  turned  to  seek  for  mercy  along  the  crowded  seats. 
There  were  times  when  the  dumb  prayer  was  answered,  and 
the  down-turned  thumbs  of  the  spectators  gave  the  signal 
for  sparing  life ;  but  too  often  mercy  was  sought  in  vain, 
and  the  sword  completed  its  work.  Combats  of  gladiators 
with  wild  beasts  often  took  place.  Whole  armies  some- 
times thronged  the  scene.  When  Trajan  triumphed  after 
his  victories  in  Dacia,  10,000  gladiators  were  exhibited  at 
once.  Another  great  public  sight  was  the  triumph  of  a 
victor.  And  here,  too,  blood  must  stream,  else  the  pageant 
lost  its  zest.  When  the  glittering  files  reached  the  slope 
of  Capitolinus,  the  conquered  leaders  were  led  aside  and 
slain. 

Among  many  games  of  exercise,  playing  at  ball  was  a 
favourite.  Within  doors,  much  time  and  money  were  squan- 
dered at  dice.  Other  more  innocent  amusements  were  vari- 
ous board-games,  depending  chiefly  on  skill,  and  resembling 
a  good  deal  our  chess  and  backgammon. 


44  LETTERS— MARRIAGE— FUNERALS. 

Roman  books  were  rolls  of  papyrus-bark  or  parchment 
written  upon  with  a  reed-pen,  dipped  in  lampblack  or  sepia. 
The  back  of  the  sheet  was  often  stained  with  saffron,  and  its 
edges  were  rubbed  smooth  and  blackened,  while  the  ends  of 
the  stick  on  which  it  was  rolled  were  adorned  with  knobs 
of  ivory  or  gilt  wood.  Letters  were  etched  with  a  sharp 
iron  instrument  (stilus)  upon  thin  wooden  tablets,  coated 
with  wax.  These  were  then  tied  up  with  linen  thread,  the 
knot  being  sealed  with  wax  and  stamped  with  a  ring. 

The  Romans  had  three  forms  of  marriage,  of  which  the 
highest  was  called  confarreatio.  The  bride,  dressed  in  a 
white  robe  with  purple  fringe,  and  covered  with  a  bright 
yellow  veil,  was  escorted  by  torch-light  to  her  future 
home.  A  cake  (far)  was  carried  before  her,  and  she  bore 
a  distaff  and  spindle  with  wool  Arrived  at  the  flower- 
wreathed  portal,  she  was  lifted  over  the  threshold,  lest — 
omen  of  evil — her  foot  might  stumble  on  it.  Her  husband 
then  brought  fire  and  water,  which  she  touched;  and 
seated  on  a  sheepskin,  she  received  the  keys  of  the  house. 
A  marriage  supper  closed  the  ceremony. 

Great  pomp  marked  the  funeral  rites  of  the  nobler  Romans. 
The  bier  was  preceded  by  a  long  procession  of  trumpeters, 
female  dirge-singers,  and  even  buffoons,  all  clad  in  black. 
It  was  only  under  the  later  emperors  that  white  became  the 
fashion  for  female  mourning.  In  the  Forum  under  the 
Rostra  the  bier  was  set  down,  a  funeral  oration  was  deli- 
vered, and  then  the  gloomy  lines  wound  slowly  on  to  the 
burial-place.  When,  as  was  common  in  earlier  times,  the 
body  was  burned,  the  bones  were  carefully  gathered,  and 
preserved  in  an  urn.  But  in  later  days  the  custom  of  bury- 
ing in  a  coffin  was  more  frequently  followed. 

GREA  r  NAMES  OF   THE  FIRST  PERIOD. 

LIVY Born  59  B.C.  at  Padua— died  17  A.D.— 

lived  much  at  Rome — a  great  historian 
— chief  work,  '  History  of  Rome  up  to 
9  B.C.,'  originally  published  in  142  vols. 
— only  35  now  extant. 

OVID Born  at  Sulmo  43  B.C. — a  poet,  works 

licentious—  his  '  Metamorphoses '  are 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD.  46 

well  known — banished  by  Augustus 
8  A.D. — died  at  Tomi,  near  the  Euxine, 
18  A.D. 

PEESIUS Born  34  A.D.    in  Etruria— chief  works, 

'  Six  Satires  and  a  Prologue ' — died  at 
about  30  years  of  age. 

SENECA Born  shortly  before  Christ  at  Cordova— 

a  philosopher — tutor  of  Nero,  by  whose 
orders  he  bled  himself  to  death-^author 
of  '  Physical  Questions,' ' Epistles, 'and 
some  say  ten  Tragedies. 

LUCAN Born  at  Cordova  38   A.D.— only  extant 

work,  his  poem  of  '  Pharsalia'—  like 
Seneca,  sentenced  as  a  conspirator 
against  Nero  to  bleed  himself  to  death 
65  A.D. 

PLINY  (Elder) Born  23  A.D.— a  distinguished  naturalist 

— once  procurator  of  Spain — suffocated 
during  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius  79  A.D. 

PLINY  (Younger) Born  at  Comuin  62  or  63— proconsul  of 

Bithynia — a  great  friend  of  Tacitus — 
chief  works,  '  Epistles  '  and  '  Panegyric 
on  Trajan.' 

QUINTILIAN Born  perhaps  in  North  Spain— a  teacher 

of  rhetoric  at  Rome — chief  work,  '  In- 
stitutes of  Oratory. 

TACITUS Born  in  Nero's  reign—  a  great  historian — 

son-in-law  of  Agricola,  whose  life  he 
wrote — author  of  '  Annals,'  giving  Ro- 
man history  from  death  of  Augustus  to 
death  of  Nero ;  and  also  of  a  work  on 
Germany. 

SUETONIUS Born  about  Nero's  reign— author  of  many 

historical  works — only  complete  work 
extant,  '  Lives  of  the  Twelve  Caesars.' 

JUVENAL Born  about  40  A.D. — a  great  satiric  poet 

— his  satires  not  published  till  his  old 
age — little  known  of  his  life. 

GALEN Born  in  131  at  Pergamum— a  great  ana- 
tomist and  medical  writer — studied  at 
Alexandria,  and  practised  at  Rome — 
137  of  his  works  extant. 

TERTULLIAN Born  at  Carthage  in  A.D.  160,  died  A.D.  220 

— first  of  the  Latin  writers  of  the  Church 
— chief  work,  '  His  Apology  for  ChriB- 
tians.'  written  about  198. 


46  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD. 

ORIGEN Born  in  Egypt  185  or  186- at  first  head 

of  the  catechetical  school  at  Alexandria 
—editor  and  commentator  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— supposed  to  have  died  at  Tyre, 
aged  69. 

CYPRIAN Archbishop  of  Carthage  in  middle  of  third 

century— martyred  under  Valerian.  258 
— chief  work,  'Unity  of  the  Church.' 

AMBROSE Born  about  340  in  Gaul— Archbishop  of 

Milan — a  great  foe  of  Ariamsin — chief 
work,  'De  Omciis'— died  397. 

EUSEBIUS  PAMPHILUS....Born  in  Palestine  about  264— Bishop  of 
Caesarea— probably  tainted  with  Arian- 
istn — chief  works,  '  Ecclesiastical  and 
Universal  History,'  and  '  Life  of  Con- 
stantine'— died  338. 

ATHANASIUS Born  at  Alexandria  in  end  of  third  cen- 
tury— Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  328 
— a  great  foe  of  Arianism,  for  oppos- 
ing which  he  was  deposed  and  ban- 
ished— wrongly  called  author  of  the 
Athanasian  Creed. 

GREGORY  NAZIA3TZEN....Born  early  in  fourth  century  in  Cappa- 
docia — for  some  time  assistant  to  his 
father,  Bishop  of  Nazianzus  —  after- 
wards for  a  while  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople— noted  as  a  writer  of  theology 
and  religious  poetry. 

CHRYSOSTOM (Gold-mouth,  from  his  eloquence)— born 

at  Antioch  354— Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople 397 — his  works  contain  valu- 
able illustrations  of  life  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries. 

JEROME Born  in    340    in    Dalmatia  —  especially 

learned  in  Hebrew — founder  of  Monas- 
ticism — chief  work,  a  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  Latin  version,  called  the 
Vulgate  ;  wrote  also  Commentaries  and 
Lives  of  the  Fathers — died  420. 

A-UGUSTINE .Born  in  Numidia  354— Bishop  of  Hippo 

— taught  rhetoric  for  a  while — the  great 
foe  of  Pelagius— chief  works,  '  On  the 
Grace  of  Christ,'  '  Original  Sin,'  and 
his  own  life,  in  the  form  of  ' 
eions' — died  430. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD.  47 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD. 

B.C 

Birth  of  our  Saviour 4 

FIRST  CENTURY.  A.D. 

Tiberius  becomes  Emperor 14 

The  Crucifixion 29 

The  name  Christians  first  used  at  Antioch 40 

Claudius  invades  Britain 43 

First  Persecution  of  Christians  (at  Rome) 64 

Destruction  of  Jerusalem 70 

Agricola  commands  in  Britain 78 

Second  Persecution  (Rome  and  Syria) 95 

SECOND  CENTURY. 

Trajan  subdues  the  Dacians 103 

Third  Persecution  (Bithynia) 110 

Fourth  Persecution  (Asia  Minor) 118 

Jerusalem  restored  under  the  name  2Elia  Capitolina 137 

Fifth  Persecution  (Smyrna)— M  artyrdom  of  Polycarp 167 

Sixth  Persecution  (Lyons) 177 

THIRD  CENTURY. 

Seventh  Persecution  (Egypt) 202 

Death  of  Severus  at  York 211 

Eighth  Persecution  (Asia  Minor) 236 

Ninth  Persecution  (Rome  and  Pro-vinces) 250 

Tenth  Persecution  (Rome  and  Africa) 258 

Capture  of  Antioch  by  Sapor 261 

Defeat  of  Zenobia,  and  Capture  of  Palmyra  by  Aurelian 273 

Division  of  the  Empire  between  Diocletian  and  Maximian 286 

Britain  independent  under  Carausius  and  Allectus 288^300 

FOURTH  CENTURY. 

Eleventh  Persecution,  beginning  at  Nicomedia 303 

Accession  of  Constantino 306 

Six  Emperors  at  once 308 

Constantine  sole  ruler 324 

First  General  Council  held  at  Nicaea 325 

Dedication  of  Constantinople 330 

Division  of  the  Empire  under  Valens  and  Valentinian 364 

Goths  allowed  to  settle  in  Thrace 376 

Second  General  Council  held  at  Constantinople 381 

Paganism  abolished  by  law 394 

Arcadius  rules  the  East;  Honorius  th»  West 395 


48  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FIRST  PERIOD. 

FIFTH  CENTURY. 

A.D. 

Rome  sacked  by  Alaric. 410 

Romans  leave  Britain — 

Pharamond,  King  of  the  Franks 418 

Third  General  Council  at  Ephesus 431 

Vandals  take  Carthage 439 

Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes  invade  Britain 449 

Fourth  General  Council  at  Chalcedon 451 

Battle  of  Chalons  between  Romans  and  Goths  under  Aetius  and 

Theodoric,  and  Huns  under  Attila 451 

Pxraie  sacked  by  the  Vandals 455 

Fall  of  the  Western  Empire,  507  years  after  Battle  of  Actium,  and 

1229  from  the  building  of  Rome 476 


THEOPOKIC  RULES  ITALY.  49 


SECOND  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  FALL  OF  THE  WESTERN  EMPIRE  TO  THE 
ACCESSION  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  AGE  OF  JUSTINIAN. 
Central  Point:  THE  ROMAN  LAW  SIMPLIFIED,  529  A.D.  to  533  A.D. 


Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth. 
Clovis  the  Frank. 
Accession  of  Justinian. 
Conquest  of  Africa. 
Belisarius     besieged     in 
Rome. 

Conquers  Italy. 
His  disgrace. 
Again  in  Italy. 
His  last  days. 
Narses  destroys  the  Ostro- 
gothic  kingdom. 

Legislation  of  Justinian. 
The  riot  Nika. 
Justinian's  character. 
The  Lombard  invasion. 
Alboin,  King  of  Italy. 

ODOACEB,  held  the  throne  of  Italy  until  493,  when  he  perished 
at  Eavenna  by  the  sword  of  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth.  Under 
the  wise  rule  of  the  victor,  whose  chief  adviser  was  the 
learned  Cassiodorus,  Italy  revived.  A  waste  and  ruined 
land  was  soon  loaded  with  purple  grapes  and  yellow  corn. 
Fair  buildings  rose.  Once  more  gold  and  iron  were  dug 
from  the  earth.  Komans  and  Ostrogoths  lived  in  peace  and 
plenty,  although  a  broad  line,  jealously  preserved  by  the 
policy  of  Theodoric,  kept  them  apart.  The  fair-haired  Goths, 
still  wearing  their  furs  and  brogues,  carried  the  sword  ; 
while  the  Komans,  wrapped  in  the  flowing  toga,  held  the  pen 
and  filled  the  schools.  So  passed  three  and  thirty  years, 
until  Theodoric  died  in  526,  and  then  frightful  scenes  of 
blood  were  enacted  over  his  fallen  throne. 

Some  time  before  Theodoric's  descent  upon  Italy,  a  Frank, 
called  Chlod wig  or  Clovis  (the  name  was  afterwards  softened 
into  Louis),  crossed  the  Somme,  and  drove  pell-mell  before 
him  Romans,  Burgundians,  and  Visigoths,  never  resting 

(47) 


50  ACCESSION  OF  JUSTINIAN. 

until  his  dominion  stretched  from  the  delta  of  the  Rhine  to 
the  Pyrenees.  During  his  career  of  victory  he  was  baptized 
a  Christian  at  Rheims  in  496.  Soon  afterwards  he  fixed  his 
capital  at  Paris,  where  he  died  in  511.  The  old  church  is 
still  pointed  out,  in  which  this  founder  of  the  French 
monarchy  was  buried.  It  is  worth  remembering  that 
Theodoric  married  the  sister  of  Clovis. 

During  these  events  young  Justinian  was  growing  up  in 
Constantinople.  An  uncle,  Justin,  a  stalwart  peasant  of 
Dacia,  enlisting  in  early  life  among  the  guards  of  Leo,  had 
risen  to  be  Emperor  of  the  East.  By  him  Justinian  was 
educated,  adopted,  and  in  527  crowned. 

Belisarius  soon  became  the  foremost  name  of  the  age. 
The  first  laurels  of  this  great  general  were  won  in  Persia  ; 
he  was  then  chosen  to  lead  an  expedition  against  the  Van- 
dals of  Africa.      Landing  there,   within  the  same 
Sept.    month  he  led  his  troops  into  Carthage,  which  blazed 
533    with  torches  of  welcome.     Gelimer,  the  Vandal  king^ 
A.D.    after  a  vain  attempt  to  retrieve  his  fortunes,  fled  to 
the  Numidian  mountains,  but  was  soon  starved  into 
a  surrender,  and  carried  to  Constantinople  to  grace  the 
victor's  triumph.     Among  the  spoils  were  the  vessels  of  the 
Jewish  Temple,  which,  carried  to  Eome  by  Titus,  had  been 
brought  to  Carthage  by  the  pirate  Genseric,  and  were  now 
placed  in  the  Christian  Church  at  Jerusalem. 

But  the  greatest  achievement  of  Belisarius  was  the  con- 
quest of  Italy,  by  which  for  a  short  time  the  East  and  the 
West  were  re-united  under  one  sovereign.  The  sub- 
536  dual  of  Sicily,  the  capture  of  Naples  and  of  Rome, 
A.D.  mark  the  steps  of  victory  by  which  he  drove  the 
Goths  northward  before  him.  Mustering  the  whole 
strength  of  their  nation  at  Ravenna,  under  their  king 
Vitiges,  they  marched  to  besiege  Belisarius  in  Rome.  And 
then  the  genius  of  this  great  commander  shone  with  its 
brightest  lustre.  In  the  first  assault  the  Goths  were  nearly 
successful ;  but  Belisarius,  fighting  dusty  and  blood-stained 
in  the  front  of  the  battle,  turned  back  the  tide  of  war. 
After  many  days  of  busy  preparation,  another  grand  assault 
was  made.  Hastily  the  walls  were  manned ;  and,  as  the 
giant  lines  came  on,  Belisarius  himself,  shooting  the  first 


THE  CAREEK  OF  BELISARIUS.  51 

arrow,  pierced  the  foremost  leader.  A  second  shaft,  from  the 
Barne  true  hand,  laid  another  low.  And  then  a  whole  cloud, 
aimed  only  at  the  oxen  which  drew  the  towers  and  siege- 
train  towards  the  wall,  brought  the  attacking  army  to  a 
complete  stand-still.  It  was  a  decided  check  ;  and,  though 
the  siege  dragged  on  for  more  than  a  year,  every  effort  of 
the  Goths  was  met  and  foiled  with  equal  skill.  So  hot  was 
the  defence  at  times,  that  matchless  statues  were  often 
broken  up,  and  hurled  from  the  wall  upon  the  Goths  below. 
About  the  middle  of  the  siege,  the  Pope  Sylverius,  convicted 
of  having  sent  a  letter  to  the  Goths,  promising  to  open  one 
of  the  gates  to  them,  was  banished  from  the  city.  And  at 
last  the  besiegers,  worn  out  with  useless  toil,  burnt  their 
tents  and  fell  back  to  Ravenna,  where  before  long  they 
yielded  to  the  triumphant  Illyrian,  at  whose  feet  all  539 
Italy  then  lay.  Milan,  a  city  second  only  to  Rome,  A.D. 
had  been  destroyed  the  year  before  by  a  host  of 
Franks,  who  rushed  down  from  the  Alps  to  aid  the  Goths, 
and  enrich  themselves  with  the  plunder  of  the  plain. 

Through  all  these  brilliant  achievements  Belisarius  had 
been  greatly  vexed  and  hampered  by  intriguing  rivals, 
especially  the  ambitious  Narses.  And  now  his  star  began 
to  pale.  In  two  campaigns  (541-42),  he  drove  back  over  the 
Euphrates  the  Persian  king  JSTushirvan,  who  had  ruined 
Antioch,  and  was  planning  a  raid  upon  Jerusalem.  A  re- 
port having  reached  the  camp  that  Justinian  was  dying,  the 
general  let  fall  some  rash  words,  which  implied  that  the 
Empress  Theodora — once  an  actress  of  most  wicked  life — 
was  unworthy  to  succeed  to  the  throne.  For  this  he  was 
recalled,  disgraced,  and  heavily  fined,  his  life  being  spared 
only  for  the  sake  of  his  profligate  wife  Antonina,  who  was 
then  in  high  favour  with  the  empress. 

Sent  to  Italy  again  in  544  to  oppose  Totilas,  a  brave  and 
clever  Goth,  who  was  making  manful  efforts  to  restore  the 
empire  of  Theodoric,  Belisarius  was  forced  to  stand  idly  by 
with  insufficient  forces,  while  the  Goths  took  Rome,  having 
reduced  the  citizens  to  feed  on  mice  and  nettles  (546).  He 
recovered  the  city  in  a  month  or  two,  and  then  held  out 
against  every  attack  ;  but  during  the  remainder  of  his  stay 
in  Italy  his  strength  was  frittered  away  in  the  south  of  the 


52  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  OSTROGOTHTC  KINGDOM. 

peninsula,  where  Totilas  pressed  him  hard.  At  length  in 
548  he  got  leave  to  return  home. 

Then,  having  narrowly  escaped  murder,  he  lived  in  private 
until  559,  when  he  was  called  into  the  field  to  meet  an  in- 
road of  Bulgarians,  who,  coming  originally  from  Mount 
Ural,  had  crossed  the  frozen  Danube,  and  were  now  only 
twenty  miles  from  Constantinople.  The  stout  old  soldier, 
having  beaten  back  the  savages,  came  home  to  be  treated 
coldly,  and  dismissed  without  thanks.  Soon  after,  accused 
of  plotting  to  murder  the  emperor,  he  was  stripped  of  all 
his  wealth,  and  imprisoned  in  his  own  house.  His  freedom 
was  restored,  but  the  death-blow  had  been  given  ;  he  lived 
only  eight  months  longer.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the 
bent  figure  of  a  blind  old  man,  begging  for  alms  in  the 
streets,  though  he  was  once  the  great  General  Belisarius, 
conqueror  of  Africa  and  Italy.  Painters  and  poets  have 
seized  eagerly  on  the  romantic  story ;  but  it  is  doubted  by 
most  historians.* 

It  was  left  for  Narses,  purse-bearer  to  Justinian,  the  rival 
and  successor  of  Belisarius,  to  destroy  the  Ostrogothic  king- 
dom in  Italy.  Lombards,  Heruli,  and  Huns  following  his 
banner,  he  defeated  and  slew  Totilas  at  Tadinae  in  552,  and 
then  occupied  Rome,  which  was  taken  and  retaken  five 
times  during  the  reign  of  Justinian.  But  his  task  was  not 
finished  until  Teias,  last  of  the  Ostrogothic  kings,  fell  at 
the  foot  of  Vesuvius.  Most  of  the  surviving  Ostrogoths 
were  then  allowed  to  leave  Italy  with  part  of  their 
553  wealth.  And  thus,  having  held  the  peninsula  for 
A.D.  sixty  years,  they  pass  from  our  sight.  Parses,  having 
then  repelled  a  swarm  of  Franks  and  Alemanni,  who 
ravaged  Italy  from  north  to  south,  was  made  the  first 
Exarch  of  Ravenna,  and  continued  for  many  years  to  rule 
with  prudence  and  vigour. 

It  is  now  time  we  should  turn  to  the  greatest  glory  of 
Justinian's  reign — his  reduction  of  Roman  law  to  a  simple 
and  condensed  system.  For  centuries  the  laws  had  been 
multiplying.  Every  decree  of  every  emperor — even  heed- 


*  Lord    Mahon,    in  his  Life  of   Belisarius,  defends  the  story, 
entirely  upon  the  authority  of  a  writer  of  the  eleventh  century. 


JUSTINIAN'S  SYSTEM  OF  ROMAN  LAW.  53 

less  words  spoken  by  the  veriest  fool  or  blackest  villain  in 
that  most  chequered  line  from  Adrian  to  Justinian—  became 
a  binding  law.  Nobody  could  know  the  law,  for  on  any 
point  there  might  be  a  dozen  contradictory  decisions.  Jus- 
tinian set  himself,  with  the  aid  of  Tribonian,  and  other 
learned  men,  to  work  this  chaos  into  order.  His  system 
consists  of  four  great  parts  :  1.  The  Code,  a  condensation  of 
all  earlier  systems,  was  first  published  in  529.  2.  Not  less 
valuable  were  the  Institutes,  &  volume  treating  of  the  ele- 
ments of  Eoman  law,  intended  for  students,  and  published 
in  533.  3.  In  the  same  year  appeared  the  Digest,  or  Pan- 
dects (the  latter  word  means  "  comprising  all "),  which  in 
fifty  volumes  gave  the  essence  of  the  Eoman  jurisprudence. 
This  great  work  was  finished  in  three  years  ;  and  some  idea 
of  the  cutting-down  found  needful  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact,  that  three  millions  of  sentences  were  reduced  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  4.  The  Novels  embraced  the 
new  laws  issued  by  Justinian  himself. 

During  all  this  reign  the  old  rivalry  between  the  Blue  and 
Green  factions  of  the  Circus  convulsed  the  capital.  It 
reached  a  crisis  in  532,  when  a  destructive  riot,  called  Nika 
(Victory)  from  the  watchword  of  the  combatants,  raged  for 
five  days.  Blues  and  Greens  united  against  the  emperor, 
who  was  on  the  point  of  fleeing,  when  the  firmness  of  his 
wife  restrained  him.  The  Blues  returned  to  their  allegiance ; 
and  the  blood  of  30,000  of  their  wretched  foes  soaked  the 
sand  of  the  Hippodrome.  The  secret  of  silk-making,  which 
had  been  jealously  guarded  by  the  Chinese,  was  now  made 
known  to  Europe  by  two  monks,  who  brought  the  eggs  of 
the  silkworm  from  the  East,  hidden  in  a  hollow  cane.  Jus- 
tinian adorned  his  capital  with  twenty-five  churches,  of 
which  the  chief  was  St.  Sophia,  gleaming  with  gems  and 
many-coloured  marble.  In  541  the  Roman  Consulship — 
once  the  world's  proudest  dignity,  but  long  since  dwindled 
into  an  empty  title — ceased  to  exist ;  it  was  not,  however, 
till  three  centuries  later,  that  the  "  grand  old  name "  was 
abolished  by  law. 

Justinian  died  in  565,  aged  eighty-three.  Leaving  no 
heirs,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Justin  II.  He  was 
active,  temperate,  good-natured  ;  but  the  slave  of  an  im- 


54  THE  LOMBARD  INVASION. 

perious  and  vicious  wife.  In  his  religious  views  he  was 
capricious  and  intolerant ;  in  early  days  a  persecutor  of 
heresy — in  old  age  himself  a  heretic. 

The  last  great  wave  now  rolled  from  the  North.  The 
Longobards,  or  Lombards,  taking  their  name  probably 
from  their  long  spears  (bardi),  began  to  move  towards  the 
Danube.  The  Avars,  a  wandering  race  of  archers,  driven  from 
their  home  on  Mount  Ural  by  the  Turks  of  the  Caspian,  joined 
the  tumultuous  march.  Together  they  fell  upon  the  Gepidae 
of  the  Danube.  The  king  of  the  ill-fated  tribe  was  slain, 
and  his  skull  made  into  a  drinking  cup  by  Alboin,  the  Loin- 
bard  chief,  who  then  married  the  daughter  of  the  dead  man. 
Leaving  his  conquests  to  the  Avars,  Alboin  crossed  the  Alps, 

overran  the  fruitful  plain  ever  since  called  Lombardy, 
568  and  was  there  raised  on  a  shield  as  King  of  Italy.  He 
A.D.  was  soon  murdered  at  the  instigation  of  Rosamund, 

his  wife,  whom,  we  are  told,  he  forced,  at  a  public 
banquet,  to  drink  out  of  her  father's  skull.  Cleph,  the  next 
king,  in  a  reign  of  eighteen  months  extended  his  dominions 
as  far  south  as  Beneventum.  Then  came  a  gap  of  ten  years, 
during  which  the  thirty-six  Lombard  Dukes,  among  whom 
the  conquered  parts  of  the  peninsula  had  been  divided,  ruled 
with  remorseless  cruelty.  But  monarchy  was  restored  in 
586  in  the  person  of  Autharis  ;  and  for  about  two  hundred 
years  the  Lombard  Kings  and  the  Exarchs  of  Ravenna,  who 
represented  the  Byzantine  or  Eastern  Empire,  held  Italy 
between  them. 

EASTERN  EMPERORS  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 


ANASTASIUS 

JUSTIN  1 518 

JUSTINIAN  1 527 


A.D. 

JUSTIN  II 565 

TIBERIUS  II 578 

MAUEICE 582 


THE  EARLIEST  DAYS  OF  THE  PAPACY. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  PAPACY. 

Central  Point :  GREGORY'S  LETTER  TO  THE  PATRIARCH  OP 
CONSTANTINOPLE,  595  A.D. 


The  martyr  popes. 
Christianity      a      Greek 

worship. 

Appeal  to  Bishop  of  Rome. 
Three  great  founders  of 

Papacy. 


Innocent  and  Alaric. 
Pelagianisra. 
Leo.  I. 

Jerome,  Ambrose,  Augus- 
tine. 


Conversion    of    barbar- 
ians. 

Gregory  the  Great. 

His  letter  to  John. 

Origin  of  popes'  temporal 
power. 


OUR  knowledge  of  the  Papacy  in  its  earliest  days  is  very 
dim  and  uncertain.  Peter,  the  fisherman  of  Galilee,  who,  as 
tradition  relates,  was  crucified  with  his  head  downwards 
about  66  A.D.,  is  claimed  by  the  advocates  of  the  Papal 
system,  but  without  a  shadow  of  historical  proof,  as  first 
Bishop  of  Rome.  No  doubt  for  many  a  day  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  were  humble  dwellers  in  a  mean  suburb,  scouted  as 
Jews,  and  despised  as  the  apostles  of  some  wild  Eastern 
heresy  by  the  magnificent  priesthood  of  Jupiter  and  Apollo ; 
and,  when  they  did  gain  a  place  in  the  public  eye,  it  was  as 
noble  witnesses  for  the  truth,  sealing  their  faith  with  their 
blood.  Out  of  thirty  Roman  bishops  of  the  first  three  cen- 
turies, nineteen  suffered  martyrdom.  Thus  cradled  in 
darkness  and  baptized  in  blood,  the  great  power  of  the 
imperial  see  struggled  through  the  years  of  its  infancy. 

At  first  the  history  of  the  Roman  Church  is  identical  with 
the  history  of  Christian  truth.  But  unhappily  there  came 
a  time  when  streams  of  poison  began  to  flow  from  the  once 
pure  fountain. 

Before  the  close  of  the  first  century  Christian  churches 
were  scattered  over  all  the  known  world.  These  were  at  first; 
essentially  Greek  in  their  language,  their  Scriptures,  and 
their  forms  of  worship.  It  was  in  Africa — where,  about  200, 
flourished  Tertullian,  first  of  the  great  Fathers  who  wrote  in 
Latin — that  Latin  Christianity  may  be  said  to  have  had  its 
birth.  But  Rome  being  the  centre  of  the  civilized  world, 
the  Christian  communities  everywhere  IHMJMM  naturally  to 
look  to  the  Roman  Bishop  as  a,  louder  in  the  Church. 


56  PONTIFICATE  OF  INNOCENT  T. 

A  great  step  in  this  direction  was  taken,  when  at  the 
Council  of  Sardica  in  343  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  was,  though  at  first  probably  only  as  a  temporary 
expedient,  formally  conceded.  In  the  time  of  Damasus  the 
bishopric  had  become  a  prize  worth  contesting,  and 
366  blood  flowed  freely  during  the  election.  Year  after 
A.D.  year  consolidated  and  extended  the  power  of  this  cen- 
tral see,  although  a  powerful  rival  had  sprung  up  on 
the  Bosphorus. 

Innocent  I.,  Leo  I.,  and  Gregory  the  Great,  were  the  three 
great  founders  of  the  Papacy. 

While  Honorius  was  disgracing  the  name  of  Emperor, 

Innocent  began  his  pontificate.*     It  was  soon  clear  from 

his  letters  to  the  bishops  in  the  West,  that  he 

Innocent  I.  was  bent  on  claiming  for  the  see  of  Rome  a 
402-4 1 7  complete  supremacy  in  all  matters  of  discipline 
A.D.  and  usage.  In  the  midst  of  his  efforts  to 
secure  this  end,  a  terrible  event  occurred, 
which  had  the  effect  of  investing  him  with  a  grandeur  un- 
known to  his  predecessors.  Alaric  and  his  Goths  besieged 
Rome.  Honorius  was  trembling  amid  the  swamps  of 
Ravenna ;  but  Innocent  was  within  the  walls  of  the  capital ; 
and,  deserted  by  her  emperor,  Rome  centred  all  hope  in  her 
biishop.  A  ransom  bought  off  the  enemy  for  a  while  ;  and, 
when,  soon  after,  the  great  disaster  of  wreck  and  pillage  fell 
upon  the  city,  Innocent  was  absent  in  Ravenna,  striving  to 
stir  the  coward  emperor  to  some  show  of  manliness.  He 
returned  to  evoke  from  the  black  ashes  of  Pagan  Rome  the 
temples  of  a  Christian  city.  Thenceforward  the  pope  was 
the  greatest  man  in  Rome. 

In  the  latter  days  of  Innocent  the  great  heresy  of  Pelagius 
began  to  agitate  the  West.  This  man  was  a  Briton,  who 
passed  through  Rome,  Africa,  and  Palestine,  preaching  that 
there  was  no  original  sin ;  that  men,  having  perfect  free-will, 
could  keep  all  Divine  commands,  by  the  power  of  nature, 
unaided  by  grace.  These  doctrines  were  combated  by 
Augustine,  Bishop  of  Hippo  in  Africa,  one  of  the  great 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  whose  opinions  soon  became  the 

*  The  name  Pontiff,  from  the  Pontiiex  Maximus,  the  chief  officer  of  the  Pagan 
Komau  hierarchy. 


FATHERS  OF  THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  67 

standard  of  orthodoxy  throughout  the  West.  Innocent,  lean- 
ing towards  Augustine,  declared  Pelagius  a  heretic,  but 
death  prevented  him  from  doing  more.  By  Zozimus,  the 
next  pope,  Pelagius  was  banished,  and  of  his  end  nothing 
is  known. 

Leo  I.,  a  Roman  by  oirth,  was  unanimously  raised  to  the 
popedom  in  440.     Distinguished  for  his  stern  dealings  with 
heretics,  and  his  energetic  efforts  to  extend  the 
spiritual  dominion  of  Rome,  he  yet,  like  Inno-         Leo.  I. 
cent  I.,  owes  his  great  place  in  history  to  the     440-461 
bold  front  he  twice  showed  to  the  barbarians          A.D. 
menacing  Rome.    The  savage  Attila  was  turned 
away  by  his   majestic  remonstrance;   and,   although  his 
intercession  with  Genseric  the  Vandal,  three  years  later, 
had  less  avail,  it  yet  broke  the  force  of  the  blow  that  fell 
on  the  hapless  city. 

While  the  Papacy  was  thus  laying  the  deep  foundations  of 
its  authority,  a  host  of  active  intellects  were  busy  moulding 
its  doctrines  and  discipline  into  shape.  Chief  among  these 
were  Jerome,  Ambrose,  and  Augustine.  Jerome,  the  secre- 
tary of  Pope  Damasus,  and  afterwards  a  monk  of  Beth- 
lehem, gave  the  first  great  impulse  to  that  monastic  system 
which  has  been  so  powerful  an  agent  in  spreading  the  doc- 
trines of  Popery.  Ambrose,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  vindicated 
the  authority  of  the  priesthood  even  over  emperors  and  kings, 
by  condemning  Theodosius  I.  to  a  long  and  weary  penance 
for  his  massacre  of  the  Thessalonians.  Augustine,  already 
noticed,  is  justly  called  the  Father  of  the  Latin  Theology. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  barbarians,  who  over- 
threw the  Roman  Empire,  had  already,  with  few  exceptions, 
been  converted  to  Christianity.  The  Goths  were  the  first 
to  receive  the  gospel ;  other  tribes  followed  in  quick  succes- 
sion, for  the  Teutonic  character  had,  even  in  its  barbaric 
phase,  a  groundwork  of  deep  thoughtfulness,  which  secured 
a  ready  acceptance  for  Christianity.  And  when  the  barbaric 
flood  had  swept  away  every  vestige  of  Roman  temporal 
power,  the  Papacy,  cherished  by  that  very  destroying  power, 
continued  to  grow,  gathering  every  year  new  strength  and 
life, — a  new  Rome  rising  from  the  ashes  of  the  old,  far 
mightier  than  the  vanished  Empire,  for  it  claimed  doniinioi) 


58  GREGOEY  THE  GREAT. 

over  the  spirits  of  men.     In  Gregory  the  Great,  who  "became 
pope  in  590,  we  behold  the  third  great  founder  of  the  Papacy, 
and  the  fourth  of  the  great  Fathers  of  Latin  Christianity. 
He  it  was,  who,  while  yet  a  humble  monk  of  St.  Andrew, 
being  struck  with  the  beauty  of  some  English  boys  in  the 
Roman  slave  market,  formed  the  design  of  sending  a  mission 
to   Britain ;  and  some  years  afterwards  de- 
Gregory  I.      spatched  Augustine  to  these  shores.    All  the 
5  9 0-6  04     West  felt  his  energy.  Spain,  Africa,  and  Britain, 
A.D.  were  brought  within  the  pale  of  the  Church, 

while  Jews  and  heretics  were  treated  with  mild 
toleration.  A  notable  fact  of  this  pontificate  was  Gregory's 
letter  to  John,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who  openly 
claimed  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop.  Gregory  branded  it 

as  a  blasphemous  name,  once  applied,  in  honour  of 
595  St.  Peter,  by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  to  the  Roman 
A.D.  Bishop,  but  by  all  succeeding  pontiffs  rejected  as 

injurious  to  the  rest  of  the  priesthood.  War  with  the 
Lombards  filled  Gregory's  hands  with  troubles ;  but  in  no 
long  time  these  fierce  warriors  felt  a  power,  against  which 
their  swords  were  worthless,  casting  its  spells  over  them. 
In  the  days  of  Gregory  they  were  converted  from  being 
heathens,  or  at  best  reckless  Arians,  to  orthodox  Christianity. 
He  died  in  604,  leaving  a  name,  as  priest,  ruler,  and  writer, 
second  to  none  in  the  long  roll  of  popes. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  when  Pepin  the  Short 
made  Pope  Stephen  II.  a  present  of  the  Exarchate  and 
Pentapolis  in  North  Italy,  the  temporal  power  of  the  popes 
began. 


KA11LY  LIFE  OF  MAHOMET.  69 

CHAPTER  TIL 

MAHOMET  AND  HIS  CREED. 
Central  Point:  THE  HEGIRA,  622  A.D. 


Arabia  and  the  Arabs. 
Mahomet's  early  life. 
Proclaims  his  creed. 
The  Hegira. 
Battles    of  Beder  and 
Ohod. 
Capture  of  Chaibar. 

Battle  of  Muta. 
Occupation  of  Mecca. 
War  in  Syria. 
Death  of  Mahomet, 
The  Koran  and  Sonna. 
Moslem  belief. 
Religious  duties. 

Caliphate  of  Aba  Beker 
Caliphate  of  Omar. 
Moslem  victories  at  sea. 
Election  of  AIL 
Siege  of  Constantinople. 
Conquest     of    Northern 
Africa. 

THE  Arabs  of  the  sixth  century  were  not  unlike  what  they 
are  now.  The  sandy  table-land,  which  fills  the  centre  of 
the  peninsula,  was  dotted  with  the  encampments  of  roving 
Bedouins,  whose  black  tents  nestled  under  the  shade  of 
acacia  and  date-tree,  only  so  long  as  grass  grew  green  and 
fresh  round  the  well  of  the  oasis.  The  fringes,  of  low  coast 
land  were  filled  with  busy  hives  of  traders  and  husbandmen. 
Mingled  with  these  were  men  of  many  races,  Persians,  Jews, 
and  Greeks,  scraps  of  whose  various  creeds  had  come  to  be 
woven  up  with  the  native  worship  of  sun  and  stars.  The 
great  temple  was  the  Caaba  at  Mecca,  in  whose  wall  was 
fixed  a  black  stone,  said  by  tradition  to  have  been  a  petrified 
angel,  once  pure  white,  but  soon  blackened  by  the  kisses  of 
sinners.  Strongly  marked  in  the  national  character  was  a 
vein  of  wild  poetry,  and  their  wandering  habits  predisposed 
them  for  plunder  and  war. 

Among  this  people  a  child  was  born  in  571  in  the  city 
of  Mecca.  His  father,  Abdallah,  of  the  great  tribe  Koreish, 
was  one  of  the  hereditary  keepers  of  the  Caaba.  His  mother, 
Amina,  was  of  the  same  noble  race.  Left  an  orphan  at  six, 
the  little  Mahomet  passed  into  the  care  of  a  merchant  uncle, 
Abu  Taleb,  whose  camel  driver  and  salesman  he  grew  up  to 
be.  So  it  happened  that  in  early  life  he  took  many  journeys 
with  the  caravans  for  Syria  and  Yemen,  and  filled  his  mind 
with  the  wild  traditions  of  the  desert.  At  twenty-five  he 
undertook  to  manage  the  business  of  a  rich  widow,  Cadijah, 
whose  iorty  years  did  not  prevent  her  from  looking  with 


60  THE  FLIGHT  FftOM  MECCA. 

fond  eyes  upon  her  clever,  handsome  steward.  They  were 
married,  and  lived  an  uneventful  life,  until  in  his  fortieth  year 
Mahomet  proclaimed  himself  a  prophet.  For  some  years 
before  this  he  was  in  the  habit  of  retiring  often  to  a  moun- 
tain cave  for  secret  thought  and  study. 

Then  to  his  wife,  his  cousin  Ali,  his  servant  Zeid, 
611  and  his  friend,  Abu  Beker,  he  told  his  strange  story. 
A.D.  Gabriel  had  come  from  God,  had  revealed  to  him 
wonderful  truths,  and  had  commissioned  him  to  preach 
a  new  religion,  of  which  the  sum  was  to  be,  "  There  is  but 
one  God,  and  Mahomet  is  his  prophet."  This  faith  he  called 
Islam,  an  infinitive  denoting  homage  or  surrender,  and  ex- 
pressing the  believer's  relation  towards  God.  The  word 
Moslem  (corrupted  into  Mussulmaun),  is  from  the  same  root 
—salm.  to  pay  homage. 

In  three  years  he  gained  only  forty  followers.  Then,  bent 
cipon  a  wider  sphere,  he  invited  his  leading  kinsmen  to  his 
house,  and  there  proclaimed  his  mission,  demanding  to  know 
which  of  them  would  be  his  vizier.  None  but  Ali,  a  boy  of 
fourteen,  the  son  of  Abu  Taleb,  answered  the  call ;  the  rest 
laughed  at  the  madman  and  his  silly  cousin.  All  the  weight 
of  the  tribe  Koreish  was  opposed  to  him,  until  ridicule  and 
persecution  drove  him  from  the  city.  Taking  refuge  in  his 
old  uncle's  castle,  he  continued  to  preach  Islam  in  the  face 
of  their  anger,  and  even  returned  to  Mecca  for  a  while. 
But  the  death  of  his  protector,  Abu  Taleb,  left  him  naked 
to  the  rage  of  his  enemies ;  and  when  the  leaders  of  Koreish 

laid  a  plot  to  murder  him,  each  swearing  to  plunge  a 

July  16,    sword  in  his  body,  he  fled  at  midnight,  leaving  Ali 

622      on  his  bed,  wrapped  in  a  green  robe  to  deceive  the 

A.D.      murderers.    After  hiding  in  a  cave  for  three  days 

with  Abu  Beker,  he  reached  Medina,  where  many  of 
his  converts  lived.  This  was  the  great  Mahometan  era  called 
Hegira,  or  the  Flight,  from  which  Moslems  have  since  reckoned 
the  years.  In  Medina  the  prophet  built  his  first  mosque, 
beneath  whose  palm-wood  roof  his  own  body  was  to  be  laid 
in  the  grave,  ten  years  later.  Thus  the  preaching  of  Islam 
began  to  radiate  from  a  new  centre. 

But  a  great  change  came.  The  dreamer  and  meek  preacher 
for  thirteen  years  turned  into  a  red-handed  soldier.  Islam 


BATTLES  OF  BEDER  AND  OHOD.  61 

"became  a  religion  of  the  sword.  "  The  sword,"  cried  Ma- 
homet, "  is  the  key  of  heaven  and  hell;"  and  ever  since — • 
never  more  loudly  and  ruthlessly  than  in  our  own  day  at 
Lucknow  and  Cawnpore— that  fierce  gigantic  lie  has  been 
pealing  its  war-note  in  the  Moslem  heart. 

His  earliest  attacks  were  upon  the  caravans  of  his  ancient 
enemies,  the  Koreish.  In  the  Valley  of  Beder  he  fell  with 
314  men  upon  nearly  1000  Meccans,  who  had  hurried 
out  to  protect  a  rich  camel-train  from  Syria.  The  624 
caravan  escaped;  but  its  defenders  were  driven  in  A.D. 
headlong  rout  into  Mecca.  Among  the  spoils  was  a 
sword  of  fine  temper,  which  was  in  the  prophet's  hand  in  al] 
his  future  battles.  Next  year  he  was  defeated  and  wounded 
in  the  face  at  Mount  Ohod,  a  few  miles  north  of  Medina. 
This  was  a  heavy  blow,  but  the  elastic  spirit  of  the  warlike 
apostle  rose  bravely  beneath  it,  although  he  had  now  to 
struggle  not  alone  against  the  Koreish,  but  against  the  Jews, 
who  mustered  strong  in  northern  Arabia.  From  Medina, 
now  fortified  with  a  deep  moat,  he  beat  back  a  great  host, 
headed  by  Abu  Sofian,  prince  of  the  Koreish.  So  greatly 
was  his  name  now  feared,  that,  when  he  approached  Mecca 
in  the  holy  month  with  1400  warlike  pilgrims,  an  embassy 
from  the  Koreish  offered  peace.  A  treaty  for  ten  years  was 
made,  of  which  one  condition  was  that  he  and  his  followers 
should  have  leave  to  visit  Mecca,  on  pilgrimage  for  three 
days  at  a  time. 

He  then  turned  his  sword  upon  Chaibar,  the  Jewish 
capital  of  northern  Arabia,  where,  we  are  told,  the  bearded 
Ali,  glittering  with  scarlet  and  steel  in  the  front  of  the 
battle,  having  lost  his  buckler,  tore  a  heavy  gate  from  its 
hinges,  and  bore  it  as  a  shield  all  day.  The  fortress  was 
taken ;  but  it  was  near  being  a  dearly  bought  conquest  to 
the  prophet.  When  he  called  for  food,  a  shoulder  of  lamb, 
cooked  by  a  Jewish  girl,  was  set  before  him.  The  first 
mouthful  told  him  something  was  wrong :  sharp  pain  seized 
him;  the  meat  was  poisoned.  One  of  his  followers,  who 
had  eaten  some,  died  in  agony.  Mahomet  recovered  for  the 
time,  but  his  frame  received  a  fatal  shock. 

The  battle  of  Honein  laid  all  Arabia  at  his  feet.  Then, 
king  in  all  but  name,  he  turned  his  eyes  beyond  Arabian 


62  DEATH  OF  MAHOMET. 

frontiers.  He  sent  embassies  to  Heraclius  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  Chosroes  of  Persia,  demanding  submission  to  his 
faith.  Chosroes  tore  up  the  letter ;  Heraelius  received  the 
message  more  courteously,  but  with  equal  disregard.  An 
envoy  of  the  prophet  having  been  slain  in  Syria,  a  Moslem 
army  under  Zeid  marched  from  Medina  to  avenge  the 
murder.  At  Muta,  some  distance  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
troops  of  the  Eastern  Empire  were  met  in  battle  for  the  first 
time  by  the  soldiers  of  Islam,  and  thoroughly  beaten.  Zeid, 
however,  and  two  other  Moslem  leaders  were  slain. 

The  great  achievement  of  Mahomet's  later  life  was  the 
occupation  of  Mecca  in  629.  At  the  head  of  10,000  men  he 
began  a  hurried,  silent  march.  No  trumpet  was  blown, 
629  no  watchfire  lighted,  till  they  came  close  to  the  city. 
A.D.  Abu  Sofian,  made  prisoner  outside  the  walls,  and 
converted  by  a  naked  sabre  which  was  swung  over 
his  head,  being  allowed  to  return,  told  the  Meccans  how 
useless  it  would  be  to  resist  the  warrior  prophet.  And  so, 
unopposed,  clad  in  a  pilgrim's  garb,  but  preceded  by  a  forest 
of  swords  and  lances,  flashing  in  the  sun-rise,  the  conqueror 
entered  his  native  city.  Three  hundred  and  sixty  idols  of 
the  Caaba  were  broken  to  pieces.  And  from  every  Meccan 
throat  burst  the  watchword  of  Islam,  "Allah  Achbar;" 
"  God  is  great,  and  Mahomet  is  his  prophet." 

The  last  military  efforts  of  Mahomet  were  directed  against 
Syria.  His  lieutenant,  Khaled,  spread  his  dominion  from  the 
Euphrates  to  Ailah  (Akaba),  at  the  head  of  the  eastern  prong 
of  the  Red  Sea,  the  capture  of  which  opened  the  path  of  the 
Moslems  into  Africa.  The  prophet  himself  was  half-way  to 
Damascus,  when  he  turned  at  the  oasis  of  Tabuk,  and  came 
back  to  Medina  to  die. 

At  sixty-one,  older  than  his  years,  racked  by  ineradicable 

poison,  and  spirit-broken  by  the  death  of  his  only 

June  7,    son,  the  infant  Ibrahim,  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  vio- 

632      lent  fever.    Though  the  apostle  of  a  great  falsehood, 

A.D.  we  cannot  deny  his  excelling  genius,  and  the  mould- 
ing power  of  his  strong  and  pliant  will. 

The  creed  of  Mahomet  is  embodied  in  the  Koran,  a  book 
compiled  by  Abu  Beker,  two  years  after  the  prophet's  death. 
It  consists  of  pretended  revelations  from  Gabriel,  uttered 


THE  MOSLEM  CREED.  63 

from  time  to  time  by  Mahomet,  and  carefully  written  on 
palm-leaves  and  mutton-bones  by  his  devoted  followers. 
Another  book,  called  Sonna,  composed  of  his  scattered  say- 
ings, is  of  less  authority. 

Some  of  the  leading  articles  of  belief  are  :  1.  There  is  but 
one  God.  2.  There  are  angels  of  various  ranks ;  among  them 
a  fallen  spirit,  Eblis,  driven  from  Paradise  for  refusing  to 
worship  Adam;  also  inferior  spirits  liable  to  death,  called 
Genii  and  Peris.  3.  There  are  six  great  prophets — Adam, 
Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Jesus,  Mahomet.  4.  There  is  a 
hell,  called  Jehennam,  and  a  Paradise  of  wondrous  beauty 
full  of  sensual  delights.  5.  Men  have  no  free-will;  but  all 
things  are  ruled  by  an  unchanging  Fate, — a  doctrine  tending 
at  first  to  kindle  reckless  fury  in  battle,  but  in  the  hour  of 
peace  a  source  of  corroding  indolence. 

Devout  Moslems  practise  four  great  religious  duties :  1. 
Washing  of  curious  nicety,  followed  by  prayers  five  times 
a  day,  with  the  face  towards  Mecca.  2.  The  giving  of  one- 
tenth  in  charity.  3.  Fasting  from  rise  to  set  of  sun  during 
the  thirty  days  of  the  month  Rhamadan.  Pork  and  wiuo 
are  specially  forbidden  at  all  times.  4.  A  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca  at  least  once  in  life,  which,  however,  may  be  per- 
formed by  proxy. 

When  Mahomet  died,  four  candidates  claimed  to  succeed 
him.  These  were  Abu  Beker,  the  father  of  his  best  loved 
wife ;  Omar,  father  of  a  second  wife  ;  Othman,  the  husband 
of  two  of  his  daughters ;  and  Ali,  his  own  cousin,  married  to 
Fatima,  his  only  living  child.  Abu  Beker,  being  appointed 
caliph  (that  is,  successor),  signalized  his  reign  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Moslem  kingdom  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Euphrates.  The  fiery  Khaled,  hero  of  this  conquest,  then 
laid  siege  to  Damascus,  which  fell  in  634,  on  the  very  day 
of  Abu  Beker's  death. 

Omar,  to  whom  the  caliphate  was  left,  pressed  on  the 
Syrian  war.  When  Jerusalem  surrendered  in  637,  the 
caliph — a  foe  to  all  finery  and  luxury — rode  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  city,  diessed  in  ragged  hair-cloth,  and  seated  on 
a  rusty-brown  camel,  round  whose  neck  were  slung  two  little 
bags  of  rice  and  dates.  We  are  reminded  of  this  conquest, 
by  the  Mosque  of  Oinar,  which  rises  where  the  great 


64  THE  CONQUEST  OF  EGYPT  AND  PERSIA. 

Jewish  Temple  once  stood.  By  the  fall  of  Aleppo  and 
Antioch  all  Syria  was  speedily  subdued.  Aniru  then  fought 
his  way  through  Egypt,  crowning  his  victories  with 
640  the  conquest  of  Alexandria.  The  victorious  Moslems 
A.D.  are  charged  with  having  burnt  the  magnificent  library 
of  this  great  city ;  but  recent  writers  say,  that  it  must 
have  been  destroyed  long  before  Mahomet's  day.  Mean- 
while, another  lieutenant  had  been  warring  successfully 
with  Yezdejerd,  the  Persian  king.  For  three  days  a  battle 
raged  at  Kadesia,  until  the  slaughter  of  30,000,  and  the  loss 
of  their  sacred  banner,  which  was  a  blacksmith's  leather 
apron,  put  the  Persians  to  flight.  The  capture  of  the 
capital,  Madayn,  and  the  victory  of  Nehavend,  drove  the 
royal  Persian  from  his  throne.  To  guard  these  conquests 
Omar  founded  Bassora  and  Cufa  on  the  Euphrates.  The 
former,  near  the  Persian  Gulf,  became  a  great  centre  of 
commerce ;  the  latter — whence  comes  the  word  Cufic,  applied 
to  the  oldest  shapes  of  the  Arabic  alphabet — was  for  a  time 
the  capital  of  the  caliphs.  This  greatest  of  the  immediate 
successors  of  Mahomet,  the  conqueror  of  Syria,  Egypt,  and 
Persia,  was  stabbed  in  the  mosque  at  Medina  by  a  Persian 
fire-worshipper,  and  died  a  few  days  later  (644). 

Under  Othman,  his  successor  (644-655),  the  most  notable 
event  was  the  appearance  of  the  Moslems  as  victors  by  sea. 
A  fleet,  built  by  the  Emir  of  Syria,  swept  the  Levant,  con- 
quering Cyprus  and  Rhodes,  and  destroying  at  the  latter 
island  the  great  brazen  statue  famed  as  the  Colossus.  Oth- 
man has  been  called  the  "  Gatherer  of  the  Koran,"  from  his 
success  in  restoring  the  purity  of  the  original  version.  The 
feeble  old  man  of  eighty,  badly  able  to  cope  with  the  rest- 
less spirits  around  him,  was  murdered  by  a  mob  in  his  own 
house  at  Medina. 

Ali,i.n  whose  veins  ran  Mahomet's  blood,  was  then  elected 
caliph ;  but  not  without  discontent  and  dissension,  of  which 
the  very  greatness  of  the  Moslem  dominion  was  the  source. 
The  election  was  a  scene  of  clamour.  Men  were  there  from 
Euphrates,  from  Jordan,  and  from  Nile.  Moawyah,  the 
victorious  Syrian  Emir  already  noticed,  raised  the  banner 
of  revolt ;  and,  when  Ali  was  assassinated  at  Cufa  in  661,  he 
became  the  first  caliph  of  the  great  Ommiyad  line. 


CONQUEST  OF  BARBARY.  65 

It  was  under  Moawyah  that  the  Arabs  girded  themselves 
for  their  first  dash  at  Constantinople.  Yezid,  the  caliph's 
son,  led  the  attack.  For  seven  years  (668-675)  the  siege 
lasted;  but  every  assault  was  repelled  by  torrents  of  the 
terrible  Greek  fire — a  mixture  which  seems  to  have  been 
made  chiefly  of  naphtha.  Scorched  and  blinded  by  the 
deadly,  unquenchable  flame,  the  Moslems  recoiled,  leaving 
the  Bosphorus  strewn  with  the  charred  fragments  of  their 
fleet.  A  second  siege,  forty-one  years  later,  had  the  same 
result. 

But  it  was  not  so  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Disunion  at  the  centre  of  the  Moslem  power  had 
at  first  hampered  their  movements.  But  soon  Akbah  pene- 
trated all  Barbary  to  the  Atlantic,  and  founded  in  674,  near 
modern  Tunis,  the  city  of  Kairouan,  which  grew  to  be  the 
great  mart  of  northern  Africa  in  the  Middle  Ages.  All 
efforts  of  the  Berbers  or  Moors  to  stem  the  flood  were  use- 
less. Gyrene  and  Tripoli  fell ;  Carthage  was  destroyed  in 
698 ;  and,  thirteen  years  later,  a  host  of  turbaned  Arabs  stood, 
with  red  scimitars  unsheathed,  gazing  fiercely  across  the 
narrow  strait  towards  that  great  rock  of  southern  Spain, 
\viiich  still  bears  their  leader's  name. 


66  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  FRANKISH  KINGDOM. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

MEROVINGIANS  AND  THEIR  MAYORS. 
Central  Point :   BATTLE  OF  TOURS,  732  A.D. 


Early  Merovingians. 
Fourfold  division. 
Dagobert  I. 
Mayors  of  the  Palace. 


Pepin  of  Heristal. 
Charles  Martel. 
Battle  of  Tours. 


Martel  Duke  of  the  French 
Pepin  le  Bref. 
Crowned  king 
Gift  of  land  to  the  pope. 


BEGINNING  with  Pharamond  in  418,  the  list  of  Merovingian 
kings  of  the  Franks  contains  thirty-four  names.  Third  of 
these  was  Meroveg  or  Meer-wig  (sea-warrior),  from  whom 
the  race  derived  their  name.  And  the  fifth  was  Clovis, 
who  has  been  already  named  as  the  true  founder  of  the 
French  monarchy. 

When  Clovis  died  in  511,  his  kingdom  was  cut  into  frag- 
ments, and  for  more  than  a  century  the  curse  of  a  divided 
power  vexed  the  land.  There  were  four  great  divisions. 
Neustria  lay  north  of  the  Loire ;  eastward  along  and  beyond 
the  Khine  was  Austrasia ;  Aquitaine  stretched  between  the 
Loire  and  the  Pyrenees ;  while  the  basin  of  the  Saone  and 
Rhone  formed  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy.  Murder  often 
left  vacant  thrones ;  and  then  one  sceptre  ruled  all  France. 
Under  Dagobert  I.  (628-638),  the  ablest  of  the  Merovingian 
kings,  there  was  a  short-lived  union  of  the  kingdoms ;  but 
with  his  sons  came  new  and  worse  divisions. 

The  kings  sank  into  the  rois faineants,  or  sluggard  kings, 
of  French  history,  while  the  real  power  passed  into  the 
hands  of  their  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  a  high  official,  chosen 
by  the  nobles  to  be  the  guide  and  controller  of  the  sovereign, 
and  who,  having  command  of  the  army  and  the  military 
chest,  in  reality  wielded  the  whole  power  of  the  State.  Of 
these  mayors  the  most  noted  were  Pepin  of  Heristal,  his  son 
Charles  Martel  (the  Hammer),  and  his  grandson  Pepin  le 
Bref  (the  Short).  The  third  of  these  iron-hauded  mayors  sat 
on  the  throne  as  the  first  king  of  the  Carlo vingiau  line. 

Pepin  of  Heristal,  Duke  of  Austrasia,  held  the  office  of 
mayor  under  Thierry  or  Theodoric  111.,  one  of  the  faineante. 


BULE  OF  CHARLES  THE  HAMMER.  67 

By  the  victory  of  Testri  he  gained  supremacy  over  Neustria ; 
and  then,  placing  Neustria  and  Burgundy  under  his  sons,  he 
made  the  mayoralty  hereditary.  He  ruled  from  687  to  714, 
holding  Cologne  and  Aix-la-Chapelle  as  centres  of  his  power. 

Charles  the  son  of  Pepin  succeeded  him  as  Duke  of  Aus- 
trasia  in  715, — as  Mayor  in  719.  Chilperic  and  Thierry  sat 
in  their  country  houses,  among  their  barns  and  dovecots, 
combing  the  long  hair  which  they  cherished  as  the  undoubted 
sign  of  their  kingship  ;  or  drove  about  with  blank  faces  and 
lack-lustre  eyes  in  a  clumsy  waggon  drawn  by  oxen,  while 
Mayor  Charles  fought  the  battles  and  made  the  treaties  and 
the  laws  of  the  Franks. 

One  of  his  grand  designs  was  to  reduce  the  German  tribes 
to  obedience ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  formed  the  restless 
Franks  into  a  sort  of  militia.  But  from  this  work  he  was 
turned  to  do  a  greater  deed — to  break  the  sword  of  Islam 
on  the  plain  of  Tours,  and  thus  win  his  best  title  to  the 
tremendous  name  he  bears  in  history. 

The  Arabs,  who  had  crossed  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  in 
711,  overthrew  the  kingdom  of  the  Visigoths  at  Xeres.  The 
dark  flood,  spreading  over  almost  all  Spain,  poured  through 
the  passes  of  the  Pyrenees  upon  southern  France.  Eudo, 
Duke  of  Aquitaine,  was  defeated,  and  a  swarm  of  turbans 
mustered  thick  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire.  But  on  a  grassy 
plain  between  Poictiers  and  Tours  a  terrible  blow  was 
struck,  which  saved  western  Europe  from  a  bloody  732 
conversion  to  the  Moslem  creed,  as  the  Greek  fire  A.D. 
had  twice  already  saved  Constantinople  and  the  East. 
Charles  Martel  and  his  Franks  strewed  the  field  with  300,000 
Moslem  slain  ;  and  soon  drove  the  shattered  remnant  of  the 
host  back  to  Spain. 

Then  turning  to  the  work  he  had  left  off  for  a  while,  the 
Mayor  rapidly  brought  the  Bavarians,  Saxons,  and  Frisians 
again  under  Frankish  sway.  He  was  held  in  no  great  esteem 
by  the  churchmen  of  his  realm  ;  for,  at  a  pinch  for  money, 
he  made  no  scruple  about  pillaging  a  church  or  monastery. 
The  pope,  Gregory  III.,  sending  him  the  keys  of  St.  Peter's 
tomb,  with  the  titles  of  Consul  and  Patricius,  begged  hia 
ivid  against  the  Lombards.  But  there  was  too  much  for  the 
Hammer  to  do  in  France,  and  the  aid  was  not  given. 


68  THE  MAYORS  BECOME  KINGS. 

When  Thierry  died  in  737,  the  throne  remained  vacant 
for  four  years,  Charles  Martel  ruling  under  a  new  title — 
Duke  of  the  French— until  his  death  in  741.  His  sons,  Car- 
loman  and  Pepin,  divided  the  mayoralty  between  them  ;  but 
Carloman,  soon  retiring  to  an  Italian  monastery,  left  Pepin 
alone  in  the  government. 

Pepin  le  Bref  (the  little  King  Pippin  of  our  nursery  tale) 
aimed  more  at  a  moral  influence  over  his  subjects  than  his 
iron-handed  father  had  ever  done.  In  securing  this,  his 
best  helper  was  a  Saxon  monk,  Winifred — otherwise  known 
as  Boniface,  Archbishop  of  Mayence. 

Long  since  the  sluggard  Merovingians  had  become  mere 
names  in  the  state,  and  the  time  was  now  come  when  the 
sham  was  to  be  done  away.  The  popes,  repeating  the 
urgent  request  for  aid  against  the  Lombards,  which  they 
had  made  in  vain  to  Charles  Martel,  found  Pepin  more 
willing  to  befriend  them.  But  for  this  a  price  must  be  paid. 
Pepin  puts  a  question  to  Pope  Zachary,  "  Who  ought  to  be 
king ;  the  man  with  the  power,  or  the  man  with  only  the 
name?"  Upon  the  question  and  its  answer  hinges  the  fate 
of  the  Merovingian  dynasty.  Only  one  answer  could 
752  be  given.  Mayor  Pepin  turns  into  the  first  of  the 
A.D.  Carlo vingian  kings  of  France  ;  and  poor  Childeric 
III.,  shorn  of  all  his  long  royal  hair,  retires  to  live 
and  die  in  a  convent.  Pepin  was  crowned  twice  with  the 
most  solemn  sanction  of  the  Church  ;  first  by  Boniface,  then 
by  the  hands  of  Pope  Stephen  himself,  who  came  all  the 
way  from  Kome  to  anoint  the  new  monarch  at  St.  Denis. 

For  this  service  Pepin  paid  a  royal  fee.  Two  expeditions 
of  the  Franks  into  Italy  left  him  master  of  the  Exarchate 
and  the  Pentapolis,  which  he  handed  over  to  the  pope, — thus 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  temporal  sovereignty  attached 
to  the  Papacy.  This  gift  of  territory  comprised  the  lands  be- 
tween Ancona  and  the  Po,  stretching  inland  to  the  Apennines. 

Besides  his  Italian  conquests,  Pepin  subdued  the  Saxons, 
took  Aquitaine,  drove  the  Arabs  finally  beyond  the  Pyrenees, 
and  reduced  the  Bavarians  to  vassalage.  He  died  in  768, 
leaving  the  southern  part  of  his  kingdom  to  Carloman,  the 
northern  to  Charles, — well  known  as  Charlemagne,  or 
Charles  the  Great. 


THE  PEOPLING  OF  EUKOPE. 

CHAPTER  V. 

BARBAROUS  RACES  OF  INFANT  EUROPE. 


Four  great  migrations. 
Their  effects. 
The  Goths. 
The  Franks. 

Burgttndians    and    Van- 
dals. 


Modern  Goths  and  Van- 
dals. 

Track  of  the  Lombards. 

The  Saxons. 

Contrast  between  Celts 
and  Teutons. 


Origin  of  the  Dutch. 
The  Sclavonians. 
Early  wealth  of  Poland. 
Foundation     of    Hun- 
gary. 


EUROPE  was  gradually  peopled  from  Asia.  Four  great  tides  of 
migration  may  be  noted.  First  came  the  wave  which  peopled 
Greece  and  Italy;  then  Celts  and  Cimbri,  who  occupied  Spain, 
France,  and  Britain ;  in  the  third  place,  the  Germans,  who 
filled  central  Europe;  and  lastly,  Sarmatianor  Sclavonic  tribes, 
who  peopled  the  north-east,  and  upon  whom  pressed  the  Huns 
from  Mount  Ural,  and  Tartars  from  beyond  the  Caspian. 

The  continuous  flowing  of  these  barbaric  tribes  west  and 
south,  under  the  ceaseless  pressure  of  new  immigrants  from 
the  east — their  mingling  and  blending  with  one  another, 
and  with  the  old  populations  of  the  lands  into  which  they 
poured— formed  the  power,  by  which  the  fragments  of  the 
fallen  Koman  Empire  were  wrought  into  the  variegated 
mosaic  of  mediaeval  and  modern  Europe.  A  glance  at  the 
map  of  our  Continent,  as  it  appears  at  the  close  of  each 
century,  will  show  the  pattern  of  the  mosaic  changing  con- 
tinually, like  the  stars  of  coloured  glass  in  a  kaleidoscope. 

The  chief  Germanic  tribes  were  the  Goths,  the  Franks,  the 
Vandals,  the  Lombards,  the  Saxons,  and  the  Scandinavians. 

The  earliest  home  of  the  Goths  was  Scandinavia,  where 
we  can  still  mark  their  dwelling-places  by  such  words  as — 
Godoland,  Godesconzia  (Castle  of  the  Goths),  and,  plainer 
still,  Gothland.  But  the  roving  spirit  natural  to  barbarism 
would  not  let  these  blue-eyed,  golden-haired  giants,  hardened 
by  the  breezes  of  the  north,  rest  content  with  their  native 
swamps  and  forests.  They  began  to  push  southward  about 
200  A.D.;  and  we  soon  find  them  in  central  Europe  in  three 
great  divisions,— Visigoths  (West  Goths),  Ostrogoths  (East 
Goths),  and  Gepidae  (Laggards).  They  were  the  most  civi- 


70  THE  THREE  GOTHIC  RACES. 

lized  of  the  German  tribes  ;  and  are  further  remarkable  for 
having  adopted  Christianity,  though'  in  the  corrupt  Arian 
form,  as  their  national  religion,  not  only  earlier  than  their 
brother  savages,  but  even  earlier  than  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  In  little  more  than  two  centuries  after  their  first 
start  from  Sweden,  Alaric  was  victor  within  the  walls  of 
Rome.  The  Visigoths,  after  this  achievement,  founded  a 
kingdom  in  Spain,  which  survived  till  the  invasion  of  Sara- 
cens in  711.  The  Gepidae,  who  liad  dwelt  at  first  round  the 
springs  of  the  Vistula,  and  had  slowly  moved  down  upon 
the  Danube,  fell  before  the  advancing  Lombards.  The  ex- 
tinction of  the  Ostrogoths,  who  had  settled  in  Italy  after 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  has  been  already  noticed. 
In  spite  of  their  rude  dresses  of  skin,  and  their  clattering 
brogues,  over  which  fell  in  clumsy  folds  their  wide  trousers, 
strapped  round  their  ankle  with  a  leather  thong,  we  recog- 
nise in  the  Goths  a  race  of  men  capable  of  high  polish,  and 
fitted  for  great  deeds.  They  were  honest  and  free-hearted ; 
and  among  them  the  Romans  saw  what  they  looked  for  in 
vain  among  themselves, — modest  and  virtuous  wives,  each 
the  centre  and  light  of  a  home,  where  parents  and  children 
lived  united  in  sweet  domestic  love.  Let  us  thank  God 
that  many  lands  of  modern  Europe  have  inherited  the  good 
old  Gothic  home,  hallowed  by  Christian  faith,  and  refined 
and  brightened  by  the  thousand  appliances  of  modern  civi- 
lization ;  and  nowhere  are  its  gentle  safeguards  more  dearly 
prized  and  cherished  than  within  our  own  island-shores. 

Early  in  the  sixth  century  we  find  France  parcelled  out 
among  three  nations, — Franks  in  the  north  and  centre,  Visi- 
goths in  the  south-west,  and  Burgundians  in  the  south-east. 
Underlying  these  ruling  races  was  a  great  mass  of  Celts  or 
Gauls,  and  some  Roman  settlers,  reduced  to  a  state  of  vas- 
salage. Of  the  Franks  (frak,  rude  in  fight,  or  undaunted)* 
there  were  two  great  tribes,— Salian  Franks,  at  first  occupy- 
ing modern  Belgium,  and  Ripuarian  Franks,  dwelling  along 
the  lower  Rhine.  The  former  word  still  survives  in  the  name 
of  a  law, — once  perhaps  rational,  but  now  absurd, — which  in 
some  states  (France,  for  example)  prevents  a  woman  from 

*  Other  authorities  derive  the  name  Frank  from  an  ancient  German  word  oi 
nearly  similar  sound,  signifying  a  battle-axe,  the  distinctive  weapon  of  the  race 


THE  MALLtJM  OF  THE  FRANKS.  71 

filling  the  throne.  Clovis,  leader  of  the  Salian  Franks,  was 
at  first  merely  a  captain  of  leudes,  or  free  warriors,  with  no 
title  to  command  except  what  his  personal  qualities  gave 
him.  He  roved  from  city  to  city,  until  the  influence  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  gift  of  a  gold  crown  and  purple  robes  from 
Constantinople,  gave  him  some  show  of  royalty,  and  then  he 
fixed  his  court  at  Paris.  The  assembly  of  the  soldiers,  called 
mallum,  met  in  spring  on  the  Champs  de  Mars.  The  towns 
were  still  under  the  old  Koman  law,  which  was  administered 
and  executed  in  each  district  by  a  Graf.  The  long-haired 
successors  of  Clovis  lounged  life  away  on  their  farms,  far 
from  the  toils  of  government,— almost  their  only  share  in 
public  life  being  the  yearly  expedition  to  the  mallum,  when 
the  old  state  cart  was  furbished  up,  and  the  king  and  queen, 
sitting  in  state  behind  the  goaded  oxen,  jolted  away  with 
clumsy  pomp  towards  the  Field  of  Mars.  It  must  be  re- 
membered, that  although  their  country  bears  a  name  derived 
from  the  Franks,  the  great  mass  of  the  modern  French  are 
of  Celtic  race. 

Pressed  by  the  Gothic  invasions,  a  mingled  host  of  Vandals, 
Alans,  Burgundians,  and  Sueves,  left  the  uplands  between 
the  springs  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  early  in  the  fifth 
century.  The  Burgundians,  settling  in  eastern  France,  were 
soon  subdued  beneath  the  sword  of  Clovis.  There,  as 
peasants  and  craftsmen,  they  long  preserved  traces  of  their 
original  barbarism,  retaining  among  other  strange  customs 
the  practice  of  buying  and  selling  wives ;  and,  although  they 
were  reputed  to  be  the  most  humane  of  all  the  barbarous 
races  within  the  Roman  frontier,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
domestic  life  among  them,  not  the  pleasantest,  in  the  right 
they  claimed  of  dismissing  a  wife  who  was  suspected  of 
poisoning  or  witchcraft.  These  unwifely  accomplishments 
seem  to  have  been  fashionable  among  the  ladies  of  old  Bur- 
gundy. The  Vandals  and  Sueves  pushed  on  to  Spain,  and 
founded  a  kingdom  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  peninsula. 
Here  the  Sueves  held  out  until  they  were  overthrown  by 
the  Visigoths.  The  fierce,  restless  Vandals,  leaving  their 
name  behind  them  in  the  word  Andalusia  (once  Vandalos), 
crossed  to  Africa  in  428,  swept  along  the  north  coasts  to 
Tripoli,  soon  launched  their  pirate  skiffs  on  the  Mediter- 


72  MIGRATION  OF  SAXONS. 

ranean,  grew  rich  by  plunder,  sank  amid  their  bowers  of 
orange  and  myrtle  into  the  voluptuous  habits  of  a  southern 
climate,  and  finally  perished  beneath  the  sword  of  Belisarius. 

From  Roman  ideas  of  their  barbaric  foes,  we  have  inherited 
two  words  of  bitter  contempt.  The  clown  in  dress  and 
manners  is  a  Goth  ;  the  animal,  whose  soul  is  dead  to  the 
love  of  the  beautiful  in  art,  and  who  would  rejoice  in  the 
wanton  destruction  of  glorious  paintings  and  sculptures,  is 
to  us  a  Vandal. 

The  track  of  the  Lombards  has  been  already  marked  out. 
Their  original  home  was  near  the  Skaw  in  Jutland.  Thence 
they  removed  to  the  flat  shores  of  Brandenburg ;  but  a  flood- 
tide,  washing  over  their  fields,  drove  them  to  the  higher 
banks  of  the  Elbe.  Then,  passing  south-east  towards  the 
Danube,  they  made  it  a  starting-point  for  their  march  upon 
Italy,  where  the  name  Lombardy  still  points  out  the  scene 
of  their  greatest  triumphs. 

The  Saxons  (knife-men  from  Sachs),  at  first  occupying 
Holstein,  soon  spread  over  the  basin  of  the  Weser.  Two 
kindred  tribes — Angles  and  Jutes — filled  the  peninsula  of 
Denmark.  All  were  of  the  Teutonic  type,  blue-eyed,  red  or 
yellow  haired,  pink-cheeked.  The  invasion  of  Britain  by 
these  three  tribes  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  the 
history  of  the  barbaric  migrations.  There  they  found  a 
population  of  Celts,  who,  retreating  to  the  mountains,  kept 
them  stoutly  at  bay  with  claymore,  dirk,  and  axe.  Akin  to 
the  British  Celts  were  the  Irish  people,  who,  living  under 
Brehon  law,  upon  game,  fish,  and  what  poor  cattle  they 
could  rear,  were,  even  in  that  grey  dawn  of  Western  history, 
famous  as  poets  and  harpers.  Patrick,  a  Scotchman,  began 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  Ireland  about  432 ;  and,  as  if  to  repay 
the  blessing,  an  Irishman,  Columba,  passed  into  Scotland 
in  563  on  the  same  sacred  mission. 

In  dress,  government,  occupation,  and  religion,  the  Teuton 
and  the  Celt  presented  a  strong  contrast  to  each  other.  The 
Teuton  garb  was  a  loose,  rude  tunic,  pinned  round  the  neck 
with  a  thorn.  In  youth  he  wore  an  iron  collar,  which  was 
flung  aside  when  he  had  achieved  the  distinction  of  killing 
a  man.  Then,  too,  the  young  men  of  some  of  the  fiercest 
tribes— the  Batavians  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  for  example — 


CONTRAST  BETWEEN  CELT  AND  TEUTON.  73 

cut  their  hair  and  shaved  their  heads  for  the  first  time.  The 
Gaul  or  Celt,  on  the  other  hand,  loved  bright  and  many- 
coloured  clothes,  and  hung  gold  chains  on  his  brawny  arms 
or  round  his  huge  neck.  This  characteristic  of  the  race  may 
still  be  noted  in  the  coloured  tartans  of  the  Highlander  and 
the  tasteful  fashions  of  French  dress.  The  Teutonic  govern- 
ment was  democratic, — the  chief  power  resting  with  the 
great  assembly  of  the  people,  which  was  convoked  at  the 
time  of  full  moon  ;  the  government  of  the  Celts  was  essen- 
tially aristocratic — clanship  being  its  leading  feature.  War 
was  the  trade  of  the  Teutons;  tillage  and  pasturing  the 
favourite  employments  of  the  Celt.  And,  while  the  Celts 
clung  long  to  Druidism,  the  Teutons,  acknowledging  only 
one  supreme  God,  were  easily  prepared  to  receive  Chris- 
tianity. 

Holland  (Hollowland),  whose  flat  meadows  have  been 
formed  by  gradual  deposits  of  Rhine  mud,  was  at  this  early 
time  a  vast  swamp,  skirted  here  and  there  along  the  coast 
by  tangled  forests.  On  mounds  rising  from  the  morass 
dwelt  a  race  of  fish-eaters,  who  clung  to  their  poor  hovels 
until  a  flood  swept  all  away.  The  emptied  Rhine-island  was 
then  seized  by  part  of  the  Chatti,  a  fierce  German  tribe, 
who,  making  the  most  of  their  new  home,  called  it  Betauw 
(Good-meadow),  afterwards  altered  into  Batavia.  From  this 
mixture  of  Celt  and  German  sprang  the  modern  Dutch. 

Of  the  Scandinavians,  or  Norsemen,  an  account  will  be 
given  in  a  future  chapter. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  the  bleak  shores  of  northern 
Europe  were  Finns,  of  the  Mongol  stock — a  gentle,  black- 
haired  people,  whose  best  representatives  now  are  the  Lap- 
landers. These  were  soon  subdued  by  a  race  at  first  known 
to  the  Romans  as  Sauromata?,  or  Sarmatians  (lizard  or  green- 
eyed),  but  who  soon  took  from  their  own  language  the  name 
Sclavonian  (manly  or  brave).  Their  cities  were  mere  wag- 
gon-camps. Their  warriors,  who  led  into  battle  a  spare 
horse  or  two,  wore  a  cuirass  of  coarse  linen,  plated  over 
with  thin  slices  of  horse-hoof.  Poisoned  fish-bones  formed 
the  points  of  their  arrows  and  lances.  Their  religion  was  a 
kind  of  Druidism  ;  and,  among  other  revolting  customs 
common  to  many  of  the  northern  tribes  they  were  wont,  ID 


74  FOUNDATION  OF  POLAND  AND  HUNGARY, 

rejoicing  after  a  victory,  to  drink  blocd  out  of  their 
enemies'  skulls.  Our  word  "slave"  (borrowed  from  the 
name,  Sclavi)  is  sadly  suggestive  of  the  woes  they  suffered 
in  the  wars  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  of  the  degrading  serf- 
dom in  which  millions  of  their  descendants  are  still  held. 

Poland  was  early  a  flourishing  country.  It  was  peopled 
by  the  Liaechs,  a  tribe  of  the  western  Sclavonians.  The 
farmers  went  to  battle  on  foot,  bearing  shield  and  lance ;  the 
landlords  on  horseback,  glittering  in  splendid  armour.  The 
traffic  between  the  Black  and  Baltic  Seas,  passing  along  the 
Vistula,  added  much  to  the  wealth  of  the  Poles. 

Wild  hordes  from  Mount  Ural,  passing  the  Carpathian 
gorges  in  quick  succession,  swept  down  on  the  Danube.  All 
pressed  upon  one  point — modern  Hungary,  with  its  grain- 
growing  vales  and  gem-producing  hills.  Goths  were  dis- 
placed by  Huns.  Then,  from  the  same  far-off  snowy  slopes, 
came  Avars,  Bulgarians,  and  lastly,  Magyars,  who,  in  855, 
seized  the  upland  between  the  mountains  and  the  Theiss. 
Scarcely  less  savage  than  the  Huns  were  these  later  invaders. 
They  ate  horse-flesh  (though  now-a-days  that  is  no  sign  of 
barbarism).  They  shot  arrows  with  terrible  force  and  aim, 
and  flashed  their  irresistible  lances,  tipped  with  bright- 
coloured  pennons,  in  the  faces  of  their  startled  foes.  Behind 
the  lines  of  cavalry,  as  they  marched,  heavy  carts  jolted, 
filled  with  their  wives  and  little  ones.  These  strangers,  once 
rooted  in  the  basin  of  the  Danube,  began  to  thrive  with 
wonderful  rapidity;  arts,  agriculture,  commerce,  flourished  all 
alike.  About  1000  A.D.  they  were  converted  to  Christianity, 
and  gradually  took  shape  as  the  noble  Hungarian  nation, 
who,  in  a  perilous  time,  stood  with  unflinching  valour  on 
the  furthest  outpost  of  Christendom,  three  times  within  ten 
days  beating  back  the  Turks  beneath  the  walls  of  Belgrade 
(1456),  and  whose  heroic  fight  against  a  giant  tyranny  this 
century  has  seen  with  deep  admiration. 

GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SECOND  PERIOD. 

SIDONIUS  APOLLINARIS...Born  in  Gaul  428— Bishop  of  Arverni 
(Clermont) — an  intimate  friend  of 
Theodoric — wrote  poems  and  epistles 
--died  484. 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SECOND  PERIOD.  75 

ZOSIMUS A  Greek  historian  of  the  fifth  century- 
chief  work,  '  History  of  Rome  from 
Augustus  to  Second  Siege  by  Alaric.' 

PRISCIAN Probably  born  at  Csesarea — lived  at  the 

court  of  Justinian — distinguished  as  a 
grammarian — chief  work,  '  Treatise 
on  Latin  Grammar.' 

BOETHIUS... Born    at    Rome,    455  —  consul    under 

Odoacer  and  Theodoric — only  Latin 
philosopher  of  his  day — chief  work, 
'  On  the  Consolation  of  Philosophy,' 
written  in  the  prison  of  Pavia,  where 
he  was  executed — 526. 

PROCOPIUS Born  at  Csesarea  in  end  of  fifth  century- 
lived  at  Justinian's  court— wrote  '  His- 
tory of  His  Own  Times,'  valuable  as 
a  link  between  ancient  and  mediaeval 
history — wrote  also  '  Anecdota,'  a 
secret  history  of  Justinian's  court. 

C ASSIODORUS Born  about  470— Secretary  of  Theodoric 

— wrote  '  History  of  the  Goths,'  after- 
wards abridged  by  the  Goth  Jornandes 
— other  works  were  on  Orthography 
and  Education — died  aged  nearly  100. 

GREGORY  OF  TOURS Born  in  Auvergrie  544— Bishop  of  Tours 

—wrote  in  Latin  a  History  of  France 
up  to  his  own  day  —our  only  authority 
on  the  early  Merovingian  reigns. 

AUGUSTINE Prior  of  St.  Andrews  at  Rome — sent  by 

Gregory  I.  in  596  to  preach  to  the 
English — the  first  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, where  he  died,  about  607. 

BEDE Born  at  Sunderland  about  673 — an  Eng- 
lish monk — surnamed  the  Venerable 
— chief  work,  '  History  of  the  English 
Church/  published  about  734 — died 
in  735. 

WTN1FRED Born  in  Devonshire  about  680— other- 
wise known  as  Boniface — justly  called 
the  '  Apostle  of  Germany,'  where  he 
laboured  for  thirty  years — made  Arch- 
bishop of  Mayence — slain  by  the  Fri- 
sians in  755. 


76  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SECOND  PERIOD, 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SECOND  PERIOD. 
FIFTH  CENTURY — continued. 

AJ>. 

Battle  of  Soissons  won  by  Clovis 485 

The  Ostrogoths  seize  Italy 488 

SIXTH  CENTURY. 

Paris  the  capital  of  Clovis 510 

Supposed  reign  of  Arthur  in  Britain 515 

Justinian  begins  to  reign 527 

Victories  of  Belisarius  in  Africa 533 

„  „          in  Italy 536-39 

Foundation  of  Poland  by  Liaechs 550 

Silk  manufacture  first  known  in  Europe 551 

Ostrogothic  kingdom  in  Italy  ends 553 

Lombards  conquer  Italy 568 

Birth  of  Mahomet 571 

Mission  of  Augustine  to  Britain 596 

SEVENTH  CEXTURY. 

TheHegira 622 

Death  of  Mahomet 632 

Jerusalem  taken  by  Omar 637 

Saracens  foiled  at  Constantinople 668-75 

Sixth  General  Council  at  Constantinople 680 

EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

Invasion  of  Spain  by  the  Saracens 711 

Second  fruitless  siege  of  Constantinople 716-18 

Defeat  of  Saracens  by  C.  Martel  in  the  great  battle  of  Tours 732 

The  Abbasides  get  the  caliphate 750 

Pepin  le  Bref  made  king 752 

Gift  of  Exarchate  and  Pentapolis  to  the  Pope 754 

Emirate  of  Cordova  founded 755 

Charlemagne  sole  ruler  of  the  Franks 773 


BIBTH  AND  EARLY  LIFE  OP  CHARLEMAGNE.  77 


THIRD  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHARLEMAGNE. 

Central  Point:    CHARLEMAGNE  CROWNED  EMPEROR  OF  THE 
WEST  AT  ROME  BY  LEO  III.,  800  A.D. 


Early  Ufa 
Reduces  Aquitaine. 
Charlemagne  sole  ruler  of 

the  Franks. 
Features  of  his  policy. 
Destruction  of  the  Saxon 

idol 


Wittikind. 
Saxony  annexed. 
Renewal  of  the  war. 
Conquest  of  Lombardy. 
Expedition  into  Spain. 
Battle  of  Roncevalles. 
Repels  the  Avars. 


Conquest  of  the  Riner. 
Crowned  Emperor  of  the 

West. 
His  sons. 

His  foreign  policy. 
Character  and  death. 
Treaty  of  Verdun. 


WE  now  see  the  splintered  fragments  of  Western  Europe — 
so  often  combined  and  dissolved  since  the  great  ruin  of  the 
Roman  Empire — once  more  united  into  a  solid,  towering 
rock,  the  noblest  landmark  in  the  history  of  the  Middle 
Ages ;  and  the  hand,  whose  strong  grasp  is  to  hold  these 
mixed  and  various  elements  in  firm  cohesion  for  three  and 
forty  years,  is  that  of  Charlemagne,  who  is  known  in  German 
history  by  the  more  modest  name  of  Karl  der  Gross. 

Charles,  the  son  of  Mayor  Pepin  and  Bertha,  was  born  about 
742  ;  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  great  Austrasian 
Frank,  although  best  known  by  his  French  name,  was  not  a 
Frenchman  at  all  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  but  a  thorough 
German  by  birth,  speech,  and  residence.  He  was  yet  a  child 
when  his  father  was  crowned  and  anointed  king ;  and,  when 
that  fether  died  in  768,  he  was  left  to  share  with  his  elder 
brother,  Carloman,  the  sovereignty  of  the  Frankish  kingdom. 
To  Carloman  were  left  Neustria,  Burgundy, — in  fact,  all 
northern  and  central  France;  to  Charles,  Australia,  Thu- 


78  THE  POLICY  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 

ringia,  and  other  parts  of  Germany  owning  Frank ish 
Bway. 

The  first  great  military  deed  of  Charles  was  the  conquest  of 

Aquitaine ;  and  scarcely  was  that  achieved,  when,  his  brother 

having  died  in  771,  the  chiefs  of  Carloman's  realm,  passing 

over  the  infant  children  of  the  dead  man,  according 

.771    to  a  custom  common  in  those  troubled  times,  chose 

A.D.     the  young  conqueror  to  be  their  king.     He  was  then 

twenty-nine  years  of  age. 

His  reign  divides  itself  into  two  parts.  The  one,  extend- 
ing from  its  opening  in  771  to  the  complete  subdual  of  the 
Saxons  in  804,  was  spent  in  constant  wTars  on  almost  every 
frontier ;  the  other,  from  804  to  his  death,  was  devoted  to 
the  organization  and  improvement  of  the  vast  empire  which 
his  sword  had  won. 

The  chief  wars  of  Charlemagne  were  with  the  Saxons 
beyond  the  Khine,  the  Lombards  of  Italy,  the  Saracens  of 
Spain,  and  the  Avars,  who  occupied  modern  Hungary.  He 
fought  also  with  the  Danes,  and  the  Sclavonic  tribes  on  his 
eastern  border. 

The  guiding  principle  of  Charlemagne's  policy  was  this, — 
to  secure  the  affection  of  his  subjects  by  working  on  two  of 
the  deepest  feelings  of  our  nature — patriotism  and  religion. 
He  gained  his  aim  by  cherishing  all  the  old  German  insti- 
tutions, upon  which  the  mass  of  his  people  looked  with  deep 
reverence,  and  by  becoming  the  protector  of  the  Pope  and 
the  champion  of  the  Church. 

The  Saxons,  who  dwelt  chiefly  round  the  Weser,  were 
pagans,  closely  connected  with  the  savage  Frisians,  by  whom 
Boniface  was  martyred  in  755.  To  anticipate  the  attack  of 
fierce  and  dangerous  neighbours,  and  to  open  the  way  for 
the  missionaries  of  the  Church,  seem  to  have  been  the 
motives  of  Charlemagne  in  this  war.  At  a  Diet  of  Worms 
he  called  his  soldiers  to  the  field.  The  opening  cam- 
772  paign  was  full  of  evil  omens  for  the  Saxons.  Their 
A.D.  castle  of  Eresburg  was  taken ;  but  worse  than  such  a 
loss  was  the  destruction  of  their  greatest  idol,  Irmin- 
Biil.  Within  a  spacious  court,  on  a  marble  pillar,  it  stood— 
the  colossal  statue  of  an  armed  soldier,  carved  in  wood.  In 
time  of  war  it  was  carried  by  the  priests  into  the  field ;  and, 


HIS  WARS  WITH  THE  SAXONS.  79 

when  the  battle  was  over,  all  prisoners  and  cowards  were 
slain  at  its  feet  in  sacrifice.  This  image,  round  which  the 
national  worship  centred,  was  broken  to  pieces  by  Charle- 
magne, and  the  pillar  buried  deep  in  the  earth.  Smitten 
with  sudden  terror,  the  Saxons  sued  for  peace,  giving  twelve 
hostages  as  pledges  of  their  good  faith. 

The  Saxon  custom  was  to  choose  a  leader  of  the  whole 
nation  only  in  times  of  emergency ;  and,  when  the  crisis  waa 
past,  the  king  sank  to  a  level  with  the  other  chiefs.  But 
now  a  man  arose,  who,  by  the  force  of  his  genius,  became 
for  years  the  master-spirit  of  his  nation.  This  was  Witti- 
kind,  to  whose  prowess  the  long,  determined  resistance  of 
the  Saxons  to  the  arms  of  Charlemagne  was  mainly  owing. 
Stirred  by  this  restless  chief,  they  rose  again  and  again.  The 
war  was  hottest  round  Eresburg  and  Sigisburg,  which,  taken 
by  the  Prankish  king,  had  been  made  his  chief  strongholds. 
Playing  upon  his  desire  to  Christianize  them,  the  defeated 
Saxons  asked  to  be  baptized,  and  promised  to  keep  peace  ; 
but  whenever  his  armies  were  withdrawn,  taking  advantage 
of  his  absence  in  Italy  and  Spain,  they  relapsed  into  their 
bloody  idolatry,  and  turned  their  swords  upon  the  Christian 
missionaries.  This  went  on  for  several  years,  until,  in  779, 
Charlemagne,  wearied  with  useless  clemency,  resolved  to 
annex  the  Saxon  country  to  his  empire.  He  appointed 
bishops,  and  enacted  laws  for  the  conquered  land.  It  gives 
us  a  painful  notion  of  the  savage  state  of  those,  sprung  from 
the  same  stock  as  most  of  ourselves,  when  we  remember  that 
the  laws  enacted  by  Charlemagne  as  fittest  for  the  Saxons 
bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  that  bloodstained  code  im- 
posed by  Draco  upon  the  Athenians,  in  which  death  was  the 
punishment  for  almost  every  crime. 

Wittikind,  who  had  fled  to  the  Danish  king  in  777, 
appearing  once  more  at  the  head  of  the  Saxons,  cut  to 
pieces  a  great  Frankish  army  at  Sinthal.  Never  perhaps 
did  Charlemagne's  wrath  blaze  more  fiercely  out  than  when 
he  heard  this  fatal  news.  Hurrying  to  the  scene  while  his 
fury  was  still  hot,  he  massacred  in  one  day  4500  of  those 
who  had  taken  the  field  with  Wittikiud.  The  chief  himself 
escaped  again  to  the  Northmen.  In  the  next  spring  (783) 
Charlemagne  gave  the  Saxons  another  stern  lesson,  by  de- 


80  THE  CONQUEST  OF  LOMBARDY. 

feating  two  of  the  greatest  armies  they  had  ever  mustered— 
the  one  under  Wittikind  at  D ethmoid,  the  other  on  the 
banks  of  the  Hase  in  Westphalia.  The  Saxon  chief  soon 
abandoned  the  hopeless  contest.  Some  feeble  revolts  fol- 
lowed ;  but  the  strength  of  the  nation  was  broken,  and  their 
final  subdual  dates  from  804,  when  10,000  of  them  were 
drafted  away  to  Flanders,  Brabant,  and  some  districts  «f 
France. 

Charlemagne's  first  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Desiderius, 
the  Lombard  king  of  Italy ;  and,  naturally  enough,  when  he 
divorced  her  to  marry  Hildegarde,  strong  ill-will  arose  be- 
tween the  monarchs.  This  made  the  Frankish  king  lend  an 
easy  ear  to  the  prayer  of  Pope  Adrian  I.  for  aid  against  the 
Lombards.  His  father  and  his  grandfather  had  been  enlisted 
on  the  pope's  side ;  and  why  should  not  he,  a  Roman  patri- 
cian anointed  with  holy  oil,  draw  sword  in  the  same  cause  ] 
His  army,  piercing  the  passes  of  the  Alps  in  two  divisions, 
found  the  country  all  open  to  them,  and  the  Lombard  king 
shut  up  in  Pavia.  In  Verona,  which  surrendered  at  once, 
he  found  the  widow  and  sons  of  Carloman,  who  had  fled  to 
the  court  of  Desiderius.  Of  them  we  hear  no  more.  One 
after  another  the  Lombard  cities  fell ;  but  Pavia  stood 
firm,  until  Charlemagne,  returning  from  a  brilliant  visit  to 

Rome,  drew  the  circle  of  blockade  so  closely  round 
774  the  city,  that  the  starving  garrison  flung  open  their 
A.D  gates,  and  gave  up  their  king.  Desiderius  spent 

the  rest  of  his  days  in  a  cloister,  while  Charlemagne, 
becoming  king  of  Lombardy,  assumed  the  famous  iron 
crown  worn  by  the  old  Longobard  chiefs  who  first  settled 
in  Italy. 

Some  time  before  the  accession  of  Charlemagne,  the 
Mahometans  of  Spain,  revolting  against  the  Abbaside 
caliphs,  had  set  up  the  Emirate  of  Cordova ;  but  embers  of 
strife  were  still  alive  among  them,  and  a  malcontent  invited 
Charlemagne  to  cross  the  Pyrenees.  Fired  with  the  memory 
of  his  grandfather's  glory,  and  hoping,  too,  to  heighten  the 

prestige  of  his  own  name  as  Defender  of  the  Faith, 
778  he  led  his  forces  into  Spain.  Here,  as  at  the  Alps, 
A.D.  he  adopted  the  plan  which  he  is  said  to  have  first 

applied,  if  not  invented,  of  dividing  his  forces  and 


THE  CORONATION  AT  ROME.  81 

moving  the  different  bands  by  converging  routes  upon  one 
great  centre.  His  chief  point  of  attack  was  Saragossa,  the 
fall  of  which  made  him  master  of  Aragon  and  Navarre.  A 
tract  of  country  south  of  the  Pyrenees  was  added  to  his 
empire  under  the  name  of  the  Spanish  March.  While  the 
victors,  laden  with  spoil,  were  returning  into  France,  their 
rear-guard  was  cut  to  pieces  in  the  pass  of  Roncevalles 
(Briar-valley)  by  the  Basques  or  Vascons.  Among  the  dead 
was  Count  Rolando  of  Bretagne,  the  nephew  of  Charlemagne, 
whose  name,  embalmed  in  many  a  Norman  romance,  is 
immortalized  in  the  verse  of  Ariosto. 

Tassilo,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  was  the  son-in-law  of  Desiderius 
the  Lombard.  When  the  Lombard  kingdom  was  destroyed, 
Tassilo,  rising  against  Charlemagne,  to  whom  he  owed  homage, 
secretly  invited  the  Avars  to  support  him  in  his  rebellion. 
The  rebel  duke  was  soon  shut  up  in  a  convent ;  but  the 
Avars  fulfilled  their  part  of  the  agreement  by  invading 
Bavaria.  In  his  first  campaign  against  them  Charlemagne 
penetrated  as  far  as  the  Raab  in  Hungary.  Then,  called  off 
by  Saxon  incursions,  he  left  the  war  to  his  son  Pepin,  who 
in  796  captured  the  Ring,  a  round  timber  fortress  at  Buda, 
full  of  gold  and  silver, — an  achievement  by  which  the  Franks, 
who  had  before  that  time  possessed  little  more  than  their 
swords,  became  well-nigh  the  richest  nation  in  Europe. 
During  this  war  Charlemagne  began  to  dig  a  canal  from 
the  Danube  to  the  Rhine, — a  grand  idea,  which,  how- 
ever, he  never  realized.  The  defeat  of  a  rising  in  799 
marks  the  end  of  the  Avar  power  in  Europe.  Still,  in 
the  defiles  of  Mount  Caucasus  dwell  a  few  warlike  tribes 
of  similar  name  ;  but  they  are  a  mere  shadow  of  the  great 
nation  smitten  on  the  Danube  by  the  conquering  sword  of 
Charlemagne. 

Take  now  the  central  picture  of  the  reign.  Pope  Leo  III., 
attacked  by  a  band  of  conspirators,  was  left  bleeding,  and 
all  but  dead,  one  April  day  on  the  streets  of  Rome.  On  his 
recovery  he  visited  Charlemagne  at  Paderborn,  where  he 
was  royally  entertained,  and  whence  he  returned  to  Italy 
under  the  escort  of  nine  Frankish  nobles.  The  king  himseli 
soon  followed.  On  Christmas  day  the  proudest  chiefs  and 
prelates  of  Italy  and  the  Frankish  land,  glittering  with  purple 

6 


82  THE  DEATH  OF  CHABLEMAGNE. 

800  and  gold,  stand  round  the  high  altar  of  St.  Peter's. 
A.D.  In  the  centre  of  the  throng  is  a  giant  figure,  whose 
dome-shaped  brow  and  flashing  eye  mark  a  great 
mind  and  heart.  Clad  in  the  long  robe  of  a  Roman  patrician, 
he  kneels  on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  and  bows  his  head  in 
prayer.  Some  minutes  pass  in  silence.  Then,  with  quick 
and  sudden  action,  the  noblest  of  the  splendid  priesthood 
places  a  crown  upon  the  kneeler's  head,  and  the  walls  ring 
with  pealing  shouts  :  "  Long  life  and  victory  to  Charles 
Augustus,  Emperor  of  the  Romans."  Pope  Leo  III.  has 
revived  the  Empire  of  the  West,  and  its  crown  is  sparkling 
on  the  brow  of  Charlemagne.  Though  the  emperor  said  that 
he  would  not  have  gone  to  the  church  if  he  had  known  of  the 
pope's  intention,  there  seems  small  doubt  that  this  daring 
act  only  anticipated  by  a  little  his  own  long-cherished  plans. 

So  early  as  781,  when  his  eldest  boy  was  only  ten, 
Charlemagne,  looking  on  to  a  time  when  he  should  have 
need  of  trusty  viceroys,  had  divided  his  kingdom  among  his 
sons.  Germany  was  given  to  Charles,  Aquitaine  to  Louis, 
and  Italy  to  Pepin.  This  arrangement  enabled  him  to  spend 
his  latter  years  in  comparative  peace,  for  to  his  sons  he  left 
what  petty  wars  were  necessary  to  secure  so  vast  a  frontier. 
Of  these  three  sons  Louis  alone  survived  him. 

The  influence  of  Charlemagne,  enthroned  in  his  great 
palace  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  extended  to  the  Byzantine  court, 
and  further  still  to  the  Tigris,  where  Haroun  al  Raschid 
dwelt.  The  great  caliph  and  the  great  emperor  were  especial 
friends.  But  the  best  energies  of  Charlemagne  were  given 
to  Western  Europe,  on  whose  destinies  he  wrought  so  notable 
a  change.  A  link,  too,  binds  him  to  British  history ;  for, 
when  Egbert  fled  from  the  cruel  Beortric,  he  found  a  safe 
and  pleasant  retreat,  and,  no  doubt,  kindly  advice  and  aid 
besides  in  the  court  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Charlemagne  feared 
only  one  foe,  and  that  not  for  himself,  but  for  his  successors. 
The  light  galleys  of  the  Norsemen  were  already  swooping 
down  on  the  British  coasts,  and  threatening  his  own  sea- 
board ;  and  the  keen  eye  of  the  old  warrior,  piercing  the 
future,  could  see  the  Raven  of  the  North  thrusting  its  beak 
into  many  a  crack  and  cranny  in  the  fair  structure  he  had 
spent  his  life  to  rear. 


THE  TREATY  OF  VERDUN.  S3 

Charlemagne  died  of  pleurisy  in  his  seventy-second    8 14 
year.     A  year  before,  in  the  cathedral  of  Aix-la-Cha-    A.D. 
pelle,  amid  the  applause  of  the  assembled  nobles,  he 
had  caused  his  only  living  son  Louis  to  assume  the  imperial 
crown. 

Active  and  untiring,  this  great  man  never  lost  a  minute 
he  could  help.  Even  while  dressing,  he  heard  the  reports 
of  his  officers  ;  and  as  he  dined  or  supped,  books  of  theology 
or  history  were  read  to  him.  Habits  like  these  enabled  him 
to  get  through  an  enormous  mass  of  work,  and  yet  neglect 
neither  bodily  exercise  nor  the  culture  of  his  mind.  Abroaa 
he  hunted, — at  home  he  talked  or  studied  with  the  learned 
friends  in  whose  society  he  delighted.  His  genius  was  essen- 
tially military.  His  sword  was  seldom  sheathed ;  but  war 
was  with  him,  as  it  ought  ever  to  be,  the  pioneer  of  civili- 
zation. 

Louis  le  Debonnaire,  fitter  for  a  monk's  cell  than  a  selfish 
court  or  brawling  camp,  succeeded  his  great  father,  and  did 
all  his  gentle  nature  could  for  twenty-six  years  to  humanize 
his  subjects.  But  belted  bishops  and  lawless  chiefs  were  too 
strong  for  him.  War  among  his  three  sons  then  divided  the 
empire.  Lothaire,  the  eldest,  seized  the  imperial  title  ;  but 
Charles  and  Louis,  uniting,  defeated  him  in  841,  on  the 
bloody  field  of  Fontenaille.  Two  years  later,  a  treaty  was 
made  at  Verdun,  by  which  France  and  Germany 
became  separate  and  independent  states.  Charles  843 
held  France  ;  Louis  ruled  Germany  ;  while  Lothaire  A.D. 
received  Italy,  with  some  broken  strips  along  the 
Rhone  and  Rhine.  As  had  happened  in  the  family  of  Clovis, 
the  race  of  Charlemagne,  called  Caiiovingians,  grew  very 
degenerate ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  kings, 
branded  with  nicknames,  such  as  the  Stammerer,  the  Fat, 
the  Foolish,  the  Lazy,  to  challenge  our  notice  or  respect. 
Such  men  misgoverned  France,  until,  in  987,  under  Hugh 
Capet,  a  new  dynasty  arose.  With  that  date  the  history  of 
the  Franks  ends  ;  that  of  the  French  begins. 


84 


CARLOVINGIAN  KINGS  OF  THE  FRANKS. 


CARLOVINGIAN  KINGS  OF  THE  FRANKS. 


A.D. 

PEPIN  LE  BREF 752 

CHARLEMAGNE  and  CAR- 

LOMAN 768 

Charlemagne  alone 771 

LOUIS  I.  (le  Debonnaire) 814 

CHARLES  (the  Bald) 840 

LOUIS  II.  (the  Stammerer)...  877 
LOUIS  HI.  and  CARLO- 

MAN  II 879 

Carlozaan  alone 882 


CHARLES  (the  Fat) 884 

EUDES  or  HUGH,  Count  of 

Paris 887 

CHARLES  III.  (the  Simple)..  893 
ROBERT,  Brother  of  Eudes...  922 

RODOLF  OF  BURGUNDY 923 

LOUIS  IV.  (d'Outremer) 936 

LOTHAIRE 964 

LOUIS  V,  (the  Lazy) 986-87 


THE  EMIRATE  OF  CORDOVA  FOUNDED. 


86 


CHAPTER  II. 

MOSLEMS  IN  THE  WEST  AND  THE  EAST. 

Central  Point :  REIGN  OF  HAROUN  AL  RASCHID, 
786  A.D.  TO  808  A.D. 


Division   of  the  Moslem 

empire. 

Battle  of  Xeres. 
Saracens    take    root    in 

Spain. 
Emirate      of       Cordova 

founded. 


The     Abbaside    dynasty 

begins. 

Haroun  al  Raschid. 
His  early  wars. 
The  Letter  of  Nicepho- 

rus. 


Asia  Minor  ravaged. 
Policy  of  Haroun. 
The  Emir-al-Omra, 
The  Seljuk  Turks. 
End  of  the  Caliphate. 


IN  the  time  of  Charlemagne  we  find  the  great  empire  of 
Islam,  which  had  stretched  from  the  Indus  to  the  Atlantic, 
broken  into  four  parts, — the  Emirate  of  Cordova  in  Spain  ; 
the  Abbaside  Caliphate  in  Asia  and  Egypt ;  and  two  king- 
doms in  Northern  Africa — Mekines,  answering  to  modern 
Morocco,  and  Kairouan,  along  the  old  Carthaginian  shore. 

In  710  Tarik,  a  lieutenant  of  the  Saracen  general  Musa, 
crossing  the  Strait  from  Tangier  with  500  men  to  reconnoitre 
the  Spanish  coast,  landed  at  the  rock,  ever  since  called 
Gibraltar  (the  hill  of  Tarik).     Next  year,  with  12,000  men, 
he  met  and  defeated  at  Xeres  Roderic,  last  of  the 
Visigothic  kings.   The  beaten  monarch,  who  had  come    711 
to  battle  crowned  with  pearls,  and  lounging  in  an    A.D. 
ivory  car,  was  drowned  in  the  Guadalquivir,  as  he  fled 
from  the  fatal  field.     Musa  completed  the  conquest  of  the 
peninsula,  driving  the  remnant  of  the  Visigoths  into  the 
mountain-land  of  Asturias. 

Cordova  on  the  Guadalquivir  speedily  became  the  centre 
of  Moslem  power  in  Spain.  We  have  already  seen  how 
the  march  of  the  Crescent  beyond  the  Pyrenees  was  checked 
at  once  and  for  ever  at  Tours  by  Charles  the  Hammer. 
Thrown  back  further  and  still  further  by  Pepin  and  Charle- 
magne, the  Saracens,  building  mosques  and  schools  and 
cutting  out  roads  on  every  side,  rooted  themselves  deep 
in  Central  and  Southern  Spain.  And  still  deeper  struck 
tlie  roots  of  their  power,  when  Abd-el-Rahmaii,  only  sur- 


86  THE  CALIPHATE  OF  HAROUN  AL  RASCHID. 

vivor  of  the  great  Ommiyad  line,  fleeing  from  murder  on  the 

Euphrates,  severed  Spain  from  the  dominion  of  the 

755    caliphs,  and  erected    the   independent   Emirate  of 

A.D.     Cordova.    Then  begins  the  most  brilliant  chapter  in 

the  story  of  Moslem  power  in  Europe. 

When  the  Ommiyad  dynasty  was  drowned  in  blood  at 
Damascus,  the  sceptre  of  the  caliphs  was  seized  by  the 
Abbasides, — offspring  of  Abbas,  the  uncle  of  Mahomet,  and 
they  held  it  for  more  than  five  centuries  (750-1258).  Of  this 
race  the  most  distinguished  was  Haroun  al  Raschid  (Aaron 
the  Just),  who  reigned  from  786  to  808.  The  fascinating 
pages  of  the  "Arabian  Nights,"  the  delight  of  childhood, 
and  of  riper  years  too, — our  great  Macaulay  does  not  dis- 
dain to  draw  frequent  illustrations  from  the  charming  book, 
— have  made  this  name  a  household  word  among  us.  We 
can  still  see  the  romantic  caliph  and  his  vizier,  disguised  as 
merchants,  slipping  out  of  the  postern  gate  at  dusk,  to  seek 
adventures  in  the  narrow  lanes  of  Bagdad.  This  great  city, 
founded  in  765  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Tigris,  was  for  cen- 
turies the  centre  of  Moslem  power  in  Asia,  the  splendid 
home  of  the  earlier  Abbaside  caliphs,  the  scene  of  their  later 
degradation,  and  the  blazing  tomb  of  Abdallah,  last  of  the 
ill-fated  line. 

Before  his  accession  Haroun  gained  a  soldier's  name  on 

the  Bosphorus,  where,  from  his  camp  on  the  hills  of 

781     Scutari,  he  granted  peace  only  on  condition  that  the 

A.D.     Empress  Irene  should  pay  a  tribute  of  70,000  golden 

pieces.    During  his  caliphate  he  invaded  the  imperial 

territory  eight  times  to  enforce  the  payment  of  this  sum. 

Nicephorus,  having  dethroned  Irene,  sent  Haroun  a  letter. 
"  The  queen,"  wrote  he  in  the  language  of  the  chess-board, 
"  considered  you  a  rook,  and  herself  a  pawn.  Restore  the 
fruits  of  your  injustice,  or  abide  the  determination  of  the 
sword."  The  imperial  envoy  at  the  same  time  cast  a  sheaf 
of  swords  at  the  Caliph's  feet.  Haroun,  with  a  smile,  drew 
his  scimitar, — Saracen  steel  was  then  famous  all  the  world 
over, — and,  without  turning  its  edge,  he  hacked  to  pieces  all 
the  badly-ternpered  blades.  Then,  turning  to  his  scribe,  he 
bade  him  write  :  "  Harouu  al  Raschid,  Commander  of  the 
Faithful,  to  Nicephorus,  the  Roman  dog.  I  have  read  Uiy 


THE  EMIR-AL-OMRA.  87 

letter,  thou  son  of  an  unbelieving  mother.     Thou  shalt  not 
hear,  thou  shalt  behold  my  reply." 

He  then  ravaged  Asia  Minor  from  end  to  end,  leaving  the 
ruins  of  Heraclea  on  the  Euxine  shore,  to  mark  the  terrible 
meaning  of  his  answer.  And,  to  imprint  the  disgrace  of 
submission  deeper  still,  the  emperor  was  compelled  to 
stamp  the  tribute-gold  with  the  heads  of  Haroun  and  his 
sons. 

Haroun  in  the  East  rivalled  the  policy,  by  which  his 
friend  Charlemagne  made  Aix-la-Chapelle  the  Western 
centre  of  genius  and  learning.  In  the  gorgeous  halls  of 
Bagdad,  too,  poets  and  scholars  found  a  home  and  rich  re- 
wards ;  and  under  this  kindly  fostering  the  most  brilliant 
period  of  Arabian  literature  began.  The  great  blot  upon 
the  memory  of  this  most  illustrious  of  the  caliphs  was  the 
massacre  of  the  Barmecides,  among  whom  were  two  of  his 
trustiest  viziers.  He  died  in  808,  while  on  an  expedition 
against  the  rebel  Satrap  of  Khorasan. 

In  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  a  new  feature  marked 
the  history  of  the  caliphate.     The  mayors  of  the  palace, 
usurping  the  functions  of  the  Frankish  kings,  found  their 
parallel  among  the  Moslems  of  Asia.      The  poor  Caliph 
Khadi  (Ahmed  IV.),  helpless  in  the  midst  of  an  un- 
ruly people,  gave  all  his  powor  into  the  hands  of    940 
Mahomet  ben  Raik,  with  the  title  of  Emir-al-Omra    A.D. 
(Emir  of  Emirs),  reserving  for  himself  only  the  sha- 
dowy dignity  of  High  Priest  of  the  Mosque.     This  chief 
Emirship  became,  of  course,  a  bone  of  furious  contention. 
For  a  century  (945-1056)  it  was  held  by  the  great  race  of 
Buides. 

Then,  sweeping  from  the  Caspian,  came  the  horsetail 
standards  of  the  Selj  uk  Turks,  whose  leader,  Togrul  Bei,  be- 
came Emir-al-Omra,  and  whose  conquests  were  soon  ex- 
tended to  the  borders  of  Syria.  Still  the  Abbasides  clung  to 
the  s-cene  of  their  vanished  power,  until  in  1258  a  host  of 
Mongol  Tartars  seized  Bagdad,  and  Abdalla.li,  last  of  the 
caliphs,  died  amid  the  ruins  of  the  once  brilliant  city. 


88 


THE  ELECTOR  DUKES  OF  GERMANY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  ROMANO-GERMANIC  EMPIRE. 

Central  Point :  THE  REIGN  OF  OTHO  THE  GREAT,  936  A.D., 
TO  973  A.D. 


Treaty  of  Verdun. 
Rise  of  Elector-Dukes. 
Henry  the  Fowler. 
Establishes  Burgs. 
Organizes  Cavalry. 


Otho  the  Great. 
Italian  affairs. 
Repels  Hungarians. 
Crowned  Emperor  of  the 
West 


A  new  day  for  Italy. 
Germany     among      the 

nations. 
Close  of  the  Saxon  line. 


BY  the  treaty  of  Verdun  in  843  Germany  and  France  were 
politically  separated,  the  Rhine  forming  the  general  line  of 
division  between  the  States.  For  sixty-eight  years  longer 
Carlovingians  continued  to  rule  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
severing  stream  ;  but  in  911  these  worn-out  sons  of  a  great 
sire  sank  from  their  royal  seat  in  Germany. 

Conrad,  Duke  of  Franconia,  was  then  elected  to  rule  the 
Germans  ;  but  it  was  not  until  987,  when  Hugh  Capet  be- 
came king,  that  the  Carlovingian  power  ceased  in  France. 
A  marked  difference  is  already  manifest  in  the  history  of 
the  two  nations.  The  West  Franks  have  all  united  into 
the  French  nation  ;  but  their  eastern  kinsmen,  though  cer- 
tainly forming  as  a  whole  the  German  nation,  still  preserve 
a  strongly-marked  distinction  into  five  leading  tribes,— 
Saxons,  Thuringians,  Franconians,  Suabians,  and  Bavarians, 
— whose  dukes  have  learned,  in  times  of  trouble  and  weak 
rule,  to  exercise  a  power  independent  of  king  or  emperor. 
These  dukes  were  the  electors ;  and  up  to  the  opening  of  this 
nineteenth  century,  when  the  Emperor  of  Germany  was 
transformed  into  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the  imperial  dig- 
nity continued  to  be  elective.  To  the  rise  of  these  elector- 
dukes  of  the  leading  tribes  can  be  traced  that  division  of 
Germany  into  petty  states,  which  is  so  strongly  marked  in 
the  map  of  modern  Europe. 

Henry  the  Fowler,  elected  on  the  death  of  Conrad,  was 

the  first  German  prince  of  the  Saxon  line.     His 

918    surname   is  said  to  have  been  given,  because  the 

A.D.     messengers,  who  came  to  offer  him  the  crown,  found 


HENRY  THE  FOWLER.  89 

him  catching  birds.  His  title  was,  as  Conrad's  had  been,  only 
King  of  the  Franconians ;  but  the  grand  object  of  his  policy, 
in  which  he  was  very  successful,  was  to  unite  under  his  sway 
all  the  German-speaking  tribes.  The  Dukes  of  Alemannia 
and  Bavaria  were  reduced  beneath  his  sceptre.  Lorraine, 
too,  west  of  the  Khine,  was  subdued.  But  what  called  his 
highest  powers  into  play  was  the  continual  irruption  of  the 
wild  Hungarians  upon  his  eastern  frontier.  He  secured  his 
borders  by  the  establishment  of  "burgs,"  or  fortified  castles, 
along  all  the  exposed  lines  of  country.  Many  of  these 
formed  centres,  round  which  afterwards  grew  those  great 
German  cities,  so  famous  in  the  history  of  art  and  com- 
merce. Besides,  he  organized  a  powerful  force  of  cavalry  to 
match  the  Magyars,  whose  chief  strength  lay  in  their  horse- 
men. For  this  he  has  been  called  the  founder  of  knight- 
hood ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  knighthood  was  the 
institution  of  any  one  man  or  time.  It  was  rather  a  national 
growth,  dating  from  the  earliest  times  of  the  German  nation. 
No  doubt  its  development  received  a  powerful  impulse  from 
this  prince,  under  whose  system  a  high  value  was  set  upon 
a  well-equipped  and  skilful  cavalier.  Henry  died  in  936. 

Otho,  his  son,  succeeded  him.     The  ceremonies  of  corona- 
tion   and    anointment    were  performed  at   Aix-la- 
Chapelle  by  the  Archbishops  of  Cologne  and  May-    936 
ence.      Otho  came  to  a  troubled  throne.      Most  of    A.D. 
the  great  dukes  rose  against  him  ;  but  feeling  the 
weight  of  his  heavy  hand,  they  soon  grew  submissive.    And 
then  through  all  the  duchies   he  scattered  counts  of  the 
palace  and  margraves,  whose  presence  was  a  check  upon  the 
dukes,  and  whose  watchfulness  neutralized  every  stir  of 
revolt. 

His  attachment  to  the  Church  led  him  to  turn  his  thoughts 
towards  Italy.  He  had  a  selfish  motive,  too,  for  interfering 
there — his  desire  to  gain  the  imperial  crown,  which  had  not 
been  worn  by  a  German  prince  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
Most  of  the  great  Italian  nobles  were  aspirants  to  the 
honour ;  and  the  pope,  in  whose  hand  lay  the  power  of 
conferring  it,  had  no  easy  task  to  perform  in  deciding  among 
the  rivals.  His  great  object  naturally  was  to  secure  an 
emperor,  whose  strong  hand  could  defend  him,  both 


90  OTHO  THE  GREAT. 

his  own  insolent  dependents,  and  against  the  Arab  plun- 
derers of  Southern  Italy. 

Lothaire,  King  of  Italy,  having  died,  his  beautiful  widow 
Adelaide  was  seized  by  one  Berengar,  who  meant  by  marry- 
ing her  to  secure  the  kingdom  for  himself.  She  implored 
the  aid  of  Otho,  who  was  not  slack  to  draw  sword  in  the 
cause  of  so  fair  a  suppliant.  In  no  long  time  he 
951  subdued  Lombardy ;  and  his  first  wife  Edith  having 
A.D.  been  some  time  dead,  he  married  Adelaide,  an 
alliance  by  which  he  gained  several  steps  towards 
the  great  object  of  his  ambition. 

Four  years  later,  he  met  the  Hungarians,  mustered  in  the 
full  strength  of  their  nation,  on  the  Lechfeld  near  Augs- 
burg, and  by  a  bloody  defeat  gave  a  decisive  check  to  their 
inroads  upon  Germany.  At  the  same  time,  "  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure,"  he  formed  a  military  district  along 
the  exposed  frontier ;  and  from  this  tract — the  East  march 
or  Austria — have  since  sprung  the  bitterest  woes  of  Hun- 
gary. Otho  defeated  the  Sclavonians  between  the  Elbe 
and  the  Oder ;  and  penetrating  to  the  Vistula,  was  astonished 
to  find  upon  its  banks,  occupied  by  the  brave  Poles,  fields 
loaded  with  grain,  and  markets  alive  with  the  hum  of 
commerce. 

In  961  Otho's  second  and  chief  descent  upon  Italy  took 
place.  At  Milan  he  was  crowned  with  the  iron  circlet  of 
the  Lombard  kings  ;  and  in  the  following  February 
962  at  Rome  he  received  from  the  hands  of  Pope  John 
A.D.  XII.  the  more  distinguished  diadem  of  the  Western 
Empire.  Just  162  years  had  passed  since  Charle- 
magne, in  the  new  flush  of  the  same  high  distinction,  had 
given  the  Roman  eagle  a  second  head,  to  denote  his  double 
dominion  over  Rome  and  Germany. 

Otho  found  a  fine  field  for  the  use  of  his  newly-acquired 
power.  Pope  John,  a  man  steeped  in  crime,  justly  branded 
in  history  as  the  Infamous,  being  detected  in  plots  against 
the  emperor  whom  he  had  himself  crowned,  was  forced  to  flee. 
Leo  VIII.  was  elected  in  his  room.  With  his  aid  Otho  Lrgnn 
a  wholesome  reform  in  Italy.  Sweeping  away  the  lawless 
nobles,  he  placed  the  large  domains  under  the  gentler  and 
juster  sway  of  the  bisiiops-  Thus  a  new  day  dawned  upou 


PLACE  OF  GERMANY  AMONG  THE  NATIONS. 


91 


Italy,  and  liberty,  almost  forgotten,  began  again  to  flourish. 
To  this  change  may  be  traced  the  growth  of  those  brilliant 
republics,  by  which  the  Italy  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  so 
much  distinguished. 

After  a  third  visit  to  Italy,  lasting  six  years,  Otho  973 
came  back  to  Germany  to  die.  He  drew  his  last  A.D. 
breath  in  his  old  Saxon  home. 

Through  all  the  later  history  of  Europe  Germany  has 
never  lost  the  place  among  the  nations,  which  he  was  among 
the  earliest  to  win  for  her.  And  when  we  remember  how 
much  the  world  owes  to  the  cradle  of  printing  and  Pro- 
testantism, and  how  closely  Britain  has  become  in  these 
days  of  ours  linked,  through  her  most  illustrious  family,  to 
that  old  Fatherland  of  her  main  race,  we  cannot  but  be  glad 
that  the  century  succeeding  that  which  wept  for  Charle- 
magne, saw  in  Otho  a  wearer  of  the  imperial  crown  so 
worthy  of  its  ancient  fame  and  its  brightening  splendour. 

Otho  II.,  Otho  III.,  and  Henry  II.  were  the  remaining 
princes  of  the  Saxon  dynasty.  The  crown  then  passed  to  a 
Frankish  line,  of  whom  the  first  was  Conrad  II.,  elected  ID 
1024. 


THE  SAXON  AND  FRANKISH  EMPERORS 
OF  GERMANY. 


CONRAD  1 911 

HENRY  1 918 

OTHO  THE  GREAT 936 

OTHO  II 973 

OTHO  III 983 

HENRY  II 1002 

CONRAD  II 1024 

HENRY  III 1039 

HENRY  IV 1056 

HENRY  V 1106 

LOTHAIRF" 1125 


Interregnum 1138 

CONRAD  III 1138 

FREDERIC  BARBAROSSA.  1152 

HENRY  VI 1190 

PHILIP 1198 

OTHO  IV 1208 

FREDERICK  II 1212 

CONF,AD  IV 1250 

WILLIAM 1250 

Interregnum 1256-73 


RISE  OF  THE  GREEK  CHURCH* 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  BYZANTINE  COURT. 


Central  Point :  REIGN  OF  JOHN  ZIMISCES,  969  A,D.  TO  975  A.D. 


Position  of    the  Eastern 

Empire. 

The  Image  Controversy. 
Rise  of  the  Greek  Church. 


The  Macedonian  dynasty. 
Leo  VI.  and  John  Zimis- 

ces. 
Byzantine  government. 


Sketch  of  the  court. 
Approach    of    the    Cru- 
sades. 


THE  Eastern  Empire,  pressed  between  two  gigantic  and 
growing  dominions — the  German  empire  on  the  west,  and 
on  the  east  the  caliphate  of  the  Abbasides — nevertheless 
held  its  ground  as  a  centre  of  civilization  and  refinement, 
Constantinople  looking  loftily  down  on  the  barbaric  pomp 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  the  Oriental  splendour  of  Bagdad. 

One  hundred  and  sixty  years  after  the  death  of  Justinian,  a 
great  controversy  about  the  worship  of  images  began  to  agitate 

the  mind  of  Europe.  East  and  West  were  divided 
725  against  each  other,  and  against  themselves.  Leo  III., 
A.D.  the  Isaurian,  then  Emperor  of  the  East,  believing 

that  the  victories  of  Islam  were  owing  more  to  Chris- 
tian weakness  than  to  Moslem  strength,  resolved  to  root 
out  the  idolatry  which  had  struck  its  roots  so  deeply  in  the 
Church.  At  once  the  factious  spirit  of  the  populace,  no 
longer  spending  itself  in  trivial  fights  about  the  green  and 
blue  jockeys  of  the  Circus,  found  a  new  and  expansive  field 
of  action.  All  Christendom  was  severed  into  two  great 
bands — Eikonodouloi  (image  servers)  and  Eikonoklastai 
(image  breakers).  Pope  Gregory  III.  solemnly  denounced 
the  sin  of  image  breaking  under  pain  of  excommunication. 
But  in  spite  of  threat  and  curse  the  work  went  on,  and  a 
gulf,  never  since  bridged  over,  grew  between  the  Churches 
of  Rome  and  Constantinople.  The  strife  lasted  for  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  lulled  only  for  a  season,  but  not 
settled,  by  a  decision  of  the  second  Council  of  Nica3a  in  787, 
which  sought  to  cast  oil  on  the  waves  by  permitting  the 
veneration,  but  forbidding  the  worship  of  images,  until  the 
final  triumph  of  the  image  party  in  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople in  842.  From  this  controversy  we  may  date  the  rise 


TRIUMPHS  OF  JOHN  ZIMISOES.  93 

of  the  Greek  Church,  whose  present  stronghold  is  the  Russian 
empire.  The  natural  effect  of  the  schism  was  to  make  the 
pope  lean  more  strongly  upon  the  Western  emperor,  whose 
ascendency  in  European  politics  folio  wed  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  rule  of  the  Macedonian  dynasty  for  nearly  two  cen- 
turies (867  to  1057)  contains  some  of  the  most  brilliant 
pages  in  Byzantine  history.  Hordes  of  barbarians,  who, 
bursting  through,  had  settled  within  the  barriers  of  the 
empire,  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  thus  bound  to 
the  centre  by  the  strongest  ties.  And  never  were  the  silk- 
looms  and  wool-marts  of  Constantinople  so  busy.  Far  west 
in  Germany,  and  northward  through  all  Russia,  their  beauti- 
ful fabrics  were  prized.  Through  the  bazaars  of  the  Byzan- 
tine capital  the  great  tide  of  traffic  from  the  East  poured 
into  Europe. 

The  ablest  of  the  Macedonian  emperors  were  Leo  VI.  (886- 
911)  the  Philosopher,  author  of  a  work  on  "Military  Organiza- 
tion," and  John  Zimisces,  who,  during  his  reign  of  six  years 
(969-975),  restored  the  glory  of  the  imperial  name  by  his  mili- 
tary exploits.  John's  most  notable  achievement  was  his  defeat 
of  the  Russians.  Swatoslaus,  whose  bed  was  a  bear-skin, 
and  whose  meat  was  horse-flesh  (such  were  early  Russian 
generals),  had  swept  all  before  him  from  the  Volga  to  the 
Danube ;  and,  piercing  to  Adrianople,  was  menacing  the  city 
of  Constantine.  John  drove  him  back  upon  the  Danube, 
broke  into  his  strong  camp,  and  sent  him  with  only  a  wreck 
of  his  army,  famished  and  spiritless,  back  to  his  native  wilds. 
Then,  in  sight  of  all  Constantinople,  the  doughty  little  hero, 
climbing  a  great  horse,  paced  in  triumph  through  the  streets 
with  a  golden  crown  on  his  head,  and  a  garland  of  laurel  i* 
his  hand. 

The  government  of  the  Byzantine  court  was  a  thorough 
despotism.  The  emperor,  who  was  dignified  with  the  title 
"  Autocrat,"  lived  in  splendid  style.  Take,  as  a  specimen, 
the  following  sketch  of  an  audience  granted  to  some  foreign 
envoys  : — 

The  ambassadors,  passing  through  endless  files  of  body- 
guards, glittering  with  brilliant  armour  and  suits  of  every 
hue,  beneath  the  rustle  of  silken  banners,  over  Persian 
carpets  strewn  with  roses  and  inyrrh,  at  last  enter  the 


94  SPLENDOUR  OF  THE  BYZANTINE  COURT. 

gorgeous  palace  of  the  empress.  The  air  is  loaded  with  per- 
fume ;  and,  when  they  have  reached  the  top  of  the  marble 
stair,  leading  to  the  hall  of  audience,  suddenly  the  curtains, 
which  fell  in  thick  folds  at  their  very  feet,  are  drawn  back, 
as  if  by  magic,  and  a  scene  of  bewildering  splendour  bursts 
upon  their  gaze.  Upon  a  golden  throne  sits  the  emperor, 
robed  in  purple  and  white.  Beside  him  is  his  beautiful  wife ; 
and  a  throng  of  courtiers  in  white,  the  colour  of  the  court- 
dress,  encircle  the  imperial  pair.  A  golden  palm-tree  over- 
shadows the  throne,  and  flitting  about  in  its  branches  are 
flocks  of  artificial  birds  of  the  brightest  plumage.  The 
lions  carved  in  gold  and  silver,  that  guard  the  throne,  spring 
forward  ramping  and  roaring  with  terrific  force.  And  high 
above  every  sound  swells  the  mellow  peal  of  trumpets. 
The  barbarian  envoys,  poor  Tartars  or  Sclavonians,  sink  to 
the  earth;  while  the  German  knights,  remaining  erect 
though  awestruck  by  the  costly  glare,  feel  their  great  rough 
hearts  dying  within  them,  and  every  word  of  their  carefully 
conned  speeches  passing  clean  out  of  their  bewildered  brains. 
A  day  was  coming,  however,  when  all  this  magnificence 
was  to  change  masters.  Great  events  were  brooding  over 
Europe,  when  the  Christian  centuries  passed  into  their 
second  decade.  The  Crusades  were  at  hand ;  and  in  the  wild 
hurry  and  crowding  of  these  religious  wars  Constantinople 
was  destined  to  suffer  heavily. 

MACEDONIAN  DYNASTY— EASTERN  EMPIRE. 


A.P. 


BASILIUSI 867 

LEO  VI 886 

ALEXANDER     and     CON- 

STANTINE  VII 911 

ROMANUS 919 

CONSTANTINE  VIII 920 

Five  Emperors'rule 928 

ROMANUSII 959 

NICEPHORUS  II.   (Phocas).  963 


A.D. 

JOHN  ZIMISCES 969 

BASILIUSII.  andCONSTAN- 

TINE  IX 975 

ROMANUS  III 1028 

MICHAEL  IV 1034 

MICHAEL  V 1041 

CONSTANTINE  X.  and  ZOE  1042 

THEODORA 1054 

MICHAEL  VI 1066-57 


THE  HOME  OF  THE  NORSEMEN. 


96 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    NORSEMEN. 

Central  Point:  SETTLEMENT  OF  ROLLO  THE  SEA-KING 
IN  NORMANDY,  911  A.D. 


Forebodings    of    Charle- 
magne. 

Home  of  the  Vikinger. 
Battle  of  Braavalla. 
Their  rovings  begin. 
Norse  passion  for  war. 


Ansgar. 

Norsemen  in  England. 

Rollo's  invasion  of  Nor- 
mandy. 

Speedy  refinement  of 
Normans. 


Ruric  founds  Russia. 
The       Varangian      life- 
guards. 
Normans     in      southern 

Italy. 


THE  Emperor  Charlemagne,  looking  out  one  day  over  the 
blue  Mediterranean,  saw  the  snake-like  galleys  of  the  Norse- 
men stealing  along  the  horizon,  and,  as  he  looked  on  them, 
he  wept  for  his  descendants. 

Already  for  many  a  year,  as  soon  as  the  spring  sunshine  had 
unlocked  the  sea,  these  Vikings— sea-kings  as  they  called 
themselves — stirred  by  a  restless  warlike  spirit,  had  pushed 
out  from  the  deep,  rocky  fiords  of  Scandinavia,  steering 
south  and  south-west.  In  the  names  Norway,  and  Nor- 
mandy we  still  trace  their  old  home,  and  the  scene  of  one 
of  their  most  successful  descents.  A  branch  of  the  great 
Teutonic  family,  they  had  spread  over  Denmark,  Norway, 
and  Sweden,  from  which  lands,  centuries  earlier,  had  come 
the  famous  Goths,  Teutons  too. 

To  guard  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  against  the  Norsemen, 
Charlemagne  built  there  a  strong  castle,  which  served  as  a 
nucleus  for  the  great  town  of  Hamburg.  Before  his  reign 
their  warlike  fire  had  spent  itself  within  the  circle  of  their 
own  lands.  We  read,  in  particular,  of  a  desperate  battle 
fought  in  740,  on  the  heath  of  Braavalla,  between  Harold 
Goldtooth  the  Dane,  and  Sigurd  Ring  the  Swedish  king. 
Harold,  old  and  blind,  died  like  a  hero  on  the  field  ;  and 
Sigurd  ruled  in  Scandinavia. 

But  then,  sweeping  both  shores  of  the  North  Sea,  began 
their  wider  rangings,  which  have  left  deep  and  lasting  marks 
upon  European  history.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these  rovers, 


96  THEIR  CONVERSION  BY  ANSGAR. 

Regnar  Lodbrok,  Sigurd's  son,  seized  by  Saxon  Ella,  as  he 
was  ravaging  Lindisfarne,  shouted  his  war-song  to  the  last, 
while  snakes  were  stinging  him  to  death  in  a  Northumbrian 
dungeon. 

Words  cannot  paint  the  ferocity  of  these  northern  war- 
riors. Blood  was  their  passion;  and  they  plunged  into 
battle  like  tigers  on  the  spring.  Everything  that  could  feed 
their  craving  for  war  they  found  in  their  religion  and  their 
songs.  Their  chief  god,  Odin,  was  the  beau  ideal  of  a  Norse 
warrior ;  and  the  highest  delight  they  hoped  for  in  Valhalla, 
their  heaven,  was  to  drink  endless  draughts  of  mead  from 
the  skulls  of  their  enemies.  There  was,  they  thought,  no 
surer  passport  to  heaven  than  a  bloody  death  amid  heaps  of 
slain.  And  their  songs,  sung  by  Skalds,  when  the  feast  was 
over,  and  still  heard  among  the  simple  fur-clad  fishermen, 
who  alone  remain  to  represent  the  wild  V iking er,  ring  with 
clashing  swords,  and  all  the  fierce  music  of  battle  to  the 
death. 

But  into  the  very  centre  of  this  dark  raging  barbarism 
sparks  of  truth  fell,  which  brightened  and  b)azed  until  the 
fierce  idolatry  lay  in  ashes.  Ansgar,  the  Apostle  of  the 
North,  and  first  Archbishop  of  Hamburg,  pressing  with  a 
few  monks  through  fen  and  forest,  early  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, preached  the  cross  at  the  court  of  Biorn,  on  the  banks 
of  Maelarn. 

England  and  France,  as  was  natural  from  their  position, 
suffered  most  in  the  descents  of  the  Norsemen.  During  a 
part  of  the  time  that  Harold  Haarfager  (Fair-haired)  reigned 
in  Norway  (863  to  931),  Alfred,  King  of  Wessex,  the  mightiest 
of  all  the  Norsemen's  foes,  was  laying  the  foundation  of 
British  greatness.  Little  more  than  a  century  later,  Alfred's 
crown  passed  to  the  Norseman  Canute,  and  Norsemen  wore 
it  for  twenty-four  years.  Then  a  little  gap,  and  William, 
no  longer  a  Norseman,  but  a  Norman — mark  well  the  change 
of  name,  for  it  denotes  a  deeper  change  of  rough  sea-kings 
into  steel-clad  knights — sat  as  Conqueror  on  the  English 
throne,  and  set  the  wild  Norse  blood  flowing  down  through 
the  whole  line  of  British  sovereigns. 

According  to  the  Norse  custom  of  piercing  a  land  to  the 
heart  through  its  rivers,  a  swarm  of  boats,  gilt  and  painted 


THE  NORSEMEN  IN  FRANCE.'  97 

like  dragons,  pushed  up  the  Seine  in  901.     The  captain  of 
these  pirates  was  Rolf  Ganger,  or  Rollo.    Seizing  and  fortify- 
ing Rouen,  they  made  it  the  centre  of  a  marauding  warfare 
that  lasted  for  years.     Wherever  a  branch-stream  met  the 
main  current,  up  they  went  to  its  very  springs.     New  arri- 
vals swelled  the  fleet ;  the  discontented  Frankish  peasants 
flocked  to  Rouen ;  Paris  was  twice  besieged.    Charles 
the  Simple,  terror-stricken  and  helpless,  yielded  up,    911 
by  a  treaty  concluded  at  St.  Clair  on  the  Epte,  the    A.D. 
rich  fields  of  Normandy  and  Bretagne  to  Rollo,  who, 
as  Duke  of  Normandy  and  peer  of  France,  took  an  oath  of 
fealty  to  him.     Already  another  Norse  chief,  Hastings, 
noted  for  his  dash  upon  England  in  Alfred's  later  years, 
had  settled  on  French  soil  as  Count  of  Chartres. 

The  infusion  of  Norse  blood  among  the  kings  and  people  of 
England  has  just  been  noticed.  Here  then  is  the  same  fresh, 
vigorous  stream  flowing  into  France  ;  and,  certainly,  of  the 
many  elements,  which  have  combined  to  make  the  French  a 
great  nation,  this  is  not  the  least  important.  The  old  love 
of  the  salt  waves  still  haunts  -la  belle  JVormandie,  from 
whose  smiling  fields  have  come  the  greatest  admirals  and 
best  sailors  of  France.  Rollo's  men,  marrying  French 
wives,  soon  laid  aside  the  rude  Norse  speech,  except  a  few 
nautical  words,  which  are  still  sung  out  by  French  captains 
to  French  crews.  They  began  to  speak  the  common  French 
dialect.  Their  love  of  enterprise  turned  into  new  channels. 
The  pirates  became  ploughmen ;  but  every  day  the  plough- 
men grew  more  polished  and  poetic.  Earing  and  sowing 
and  reaping  for  their  daily  bread,  they  still  cherished  in 
their  breasts  a  delight  in  the  daring  and  the  marvellous. 
Chivalry  took  deep  root  among  them.  Their  poets,  no 
longer  skin-clad  skalds,  but  gay  trouveres,  still  sang  of  war, 
but  in  strains  that  gave  the  earliest  shape  and  polish  to 
that  graceful  language,  in  which  La  Fontaine  and  Moliere 
have  written  ;  and  in  the  great  arena  of  the  Crusades  no 
knights  dealt  harder  blows  at  the  Infidels,  or  splintered 
lances  more  gracefully  in  the  tilt-yard,  than  did  the  off- 
spring of  those  rough,  old,  yellow-haired  Vikings  who,  but 
two  hundred  years  before,  had  swept  up  the  Seine  in  their 
dragon-ships,  yelling  the  praises  of  the  blood-stained  Odin. 

(47) 


98  RUEIC  FOUNDS  RUSSIA. 

But  not  by  sea  only  did  the  Norsemen  spread.  The 
north-east  of  Europe  was  filled  with  Sclavonian  tribes,  by 
whom  two  chief  cities  were  founded — Novgorod  on  Lake 
Ilmen,  and  Kiev  on  the  Dnieper.  Some  Norsemen,  known 
as  Waeregs  (rovers) — the  name  was  afterwards  Graecised  into 
Varangians — were  invited  to  rule  over  one  of  these  tribes, 
who  were  plagued  with  quarrels  among  their  own  chiefs. 
With  others  Ruric  the  Jute  answered  the  call ;  and 
862  entering  Novgorod,  he  founded  a  kingdom,  out  of 
A.D.  which  has  grown  the  great  empire  of  Russia.*  Oleg, 
guardian  of  Ruric'sson,  added  much  to  the  power 
of  the  Russo-Norsemen  by  the  conquest  of  Kiev.  The 
Christian  worship,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Greek 
Church,  was  first  made  known  in  Russia  under  Olga,  the 
daughter-in-law  of  Ruric  ;  and  it  was  formally  adopted  as 
the  state  religion  by  her  grandson  Vladimir  I.,  who  was 
baptized  in  980.  For  736  years  (862-1598)  Ruric's  descend- 
ants, of  whom  the  last  was  Feodor,  filled  the  Russian 
throne. 

Through  Russia  the  Norsemen  reached  Constantinople; but 
thither  they  came  not  to  conquer,  but  to  defend.  Vladimir 
having  dismissed  his  Danish  guard,  they  took  service  under 
the  Byzantine  emperors  ;  and  nowhere  could  be  seen  finer 
troops  than  these  Varangian  life-guards,  with  their  dark 
bear-skins  and  glittering  steel,  the  heavy  broadsword  swing- 
ing by  their  sides,  and  the  two-edged  axe  poised  on  their 
shoulders.  None  but  Scandinavians  were  at  first  allowed 
to  enlist  in  their  ranks  ;  but,  when  William  of  Normandy 
scattered  the  Saxons  at  Hastings,  some  of  the  fugitives  were 
admitted  as  recruits. 

A  few  Norman  pilgrims,  returning  in  1016  from  the  Holy 
Land,  helped  the  prince  of  Salerno  in  Southern  Italy  to 
repel  an  attack  of  Saracen  pirates.  Here  then  was  a  new 
field  of  warlike  enterprise,  where  sharp  swords  were  sure 
to  bring  a  good  price;  and  hither  flocked  over  the  Alps 
thousands  of  Norman  adventurers.  They  at  first  took 

*  The  origin  of  the  name  Russia  is  much  disputed.  Some  suppose  that  one 
of  the  Sclavonian  tribes  was  called  Russniak.  Others,  with  more  probability, 
eay  that  it  is  a  Norse  word  signifying  "  Wanderers;"  while  others  again  take  it 
from  the  name  of  the  Gothic  tribe  Rhoxalanl 


NORMANS  IN  SOUTHERN  ITALY.  99 

service  under  the  Byzantine  emperors,  whose  catapans,  or 
governors,  were  struggling  to  recover  Sicily  from  the  Sara- 
cens ;  but  irritated  at  the  mean  rewards  they  received  for 
hard  fighting,  they  seized  Apulia  and  Calabria  for  the 
balance  due.     Foremost  in  the  warlike  band  were 
two  brothers  from  Hauteville  in  lower  Normandy     1040 
—Robert  Guiscard,  Duke  of  Apulia,  and  Roger,       A.D. 
Count  of  Sicily.     Guiscard,  a  stalwart  handsome 
Norman,  whose  ruddy  cheek  and  drooping  moustache  of 
golden  flax  almost  won  the  heart  of  his  fair  foe,  Anna  Com- 
nena,  made  two  inroads  upon  Greece.     In  the  first 
of  these  was  fought  the  great  battle  of  Durazzo,     1081 
where,  by  a  strange  destiny,  the  Varangian  life-       A.D. 
guards  of  the  Byzantine  camp  met  their  country- 
men in  battle,  and  were  beaten.   The  conquest  of  Sicily  from 
the  Saracens  was  achieved  by  Roger,  whose  son  of  the  same 
name  was  crowned  first  king  of  the  fertile  island.     In  less 
than  a  century,  however,  this  Norman  power  in  the  south 
of  Italy  melted  away,  and  the  rough  Norse  warriors,  having 
played  out  their  part  in  history  right  well  by  giving  new 
life  to  worn-out  Europe,  soon  disappear  from  our  view  JLS  a 
distinct  nation. 


100  CHARLEMAGNE  AT  HOME. 

CHAPTER  VL 

LIFE  AT  THE  COURT  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


The  emperor's  dress. 
Meals  and  sleep.     • 
His  literary  friends. 
His  daughters 


Aix-la-Chapelle. 
The  palace. 
The  college. 


Counts  of  the  palace. 
The  Great  Assembly. 
"  De  Villis." 


CHARLEMAGNE  in  undress  wore  a  linen  shirt  and  breeches, 
a  tunic  fringed  with  silk,  stripes  of  cloth  swathing  his  legs, 
and  leather  shoes.  In  winter  a  fur  jacket  kept  him  warm. 
A  blue  cloak,  and  a  sword  with  hilt  and  belt  of  gold,  com- 
pleted his  equipment.  But  on  grand  occasions,  such  as  high 
church  solemnities  or  the  reception  of  ambassadors,  he  shone 
out  in  a  magnificent  costume  sparkling  with  gold  and  jewels. 
His  love  for  the  national  Frank  dress  was  so  strong,  that 
we  find  him  only  twice  exchanging  it  for  the  Eoman  garb. 

We  are  told  that  he  was  hunting  one  day  with  his  cour- 
tiers, when  a  violent  storm  of  wind  and  rain  came  on.  The 
silks  and  furs  of  the  richly  dressed  train  were  soaked  through, 
at  which  the  monarch,  who  was  dressed  in  simple  sheep- 
skin, laughed  heartily.  On  his  return  to  the  pala.ce  he 
mischievously  kept  them  in  attendance  on  him  until  their 
fine  clothes  were  all  shrunk  and  ruined.  And  next  day, 
directing  them  to  appear  in  these  same  garments,  he  took 
occasion  to  read  the  poor  faded  dandies  a  lecture  upon  their 
affectation  and  useless  luxury. 

He  dined  off  four  dishes;  and  was  very  fond  of  roast 
venison,  newly  killed,  and  served  up  to  him  on  the  spit.  At 
table  books  of  history  and  Augustine's  "  City  of  God"  were 
often  read  aloud  to  him.  In  summer,  after  eating  a  few 
apples  at  his  mid-day  meal,  he  took  a  simple  cup  of  wine 
(he  hated  drunkenness),  and  then  slept  for  two  or  three 
hours.  At  night  he  was  very  restless ;  and  we  read  of  him 
rising  and  dressing  four  or  five  times  in  a  single  night.  He 
held  a  levee  of  his  friends  while  dressing  in  the  morning. 

He  was  a  first-rate  Latin  scholar,  and  knew  something  of 
Greek.  Astronomy  was  one  of  his  favourite  studies.  With 
the  learned  men,  who  thronged  his  court,  he  lived  on  terms 


THE  CITY  OP  AQTO  CRANIIM*.  101 


of  the  most  playful  intimacy:  -  ,  To  Rut  ,them  ,nu)ve  >at,  tJieir 
ease,  he  was  known  among  thejti.  as  -L'a,\iflr,  Alculii  ;wa3 
Horace  ;  Angelbert,  the  chancellor,  a  student  of  Greek,  waa 
Homer  ;  another  of  the  set,  skilled  in  moulding  verse,  was 
Virgil.  So,  all  royal  pomp  cast  aside,  the  great  monarch 
argued,  wrote,  and  studied  with  his  lettered  friends.  Nor 
did  he  disdain  to  take  lessons  from  them.  Peter  of  Pisa 
taught  him  grammar  ;  Alcuin  gave  him  logic  and  astronomy  ; 
and,  when  in  his  old  age  a  new  way  of  writing  came  into 
fashion,  the  rude  Frankish  characters  being  exchanged  for 
Roman  letters,  he  had  models  kept  near  his  pillow  that  he 
might  practise  the  new  art  when  he  awoke  at  night. 

The  daughters  of  Charlemagne,  whose  bad  conduct  was  the 
source  of  much  grief  to  him,  were  occupied  at  home  in  the 
simple  domestic  duties  of  the  household,  stitching,  cooking, 
and  cleaning  the  rooms.  But  when  the  emperor  left  home, 
it  was  his  custom  to  carry  his  sons  and  daughters  in  his  train 
wherever  he  went. 

Aquis  G-ranum,  now  Aix-la-Chapelle,  a  city  of  Rhenish 
Prussia  near  the  Belgian  frontier,  was  the  northern  capital 
of  Charlemagne's  empire.  The  town  was  founded  by  the 
Romans  ;  and  the  French  name,  by  which  we  call  it,  is  a 
compound,  denoting  its  sulphur  springs  (Aix  for  Aqute)  and 
the  chapel  built  there  by  Pepin.  This  fertile  basin  with  its 
pleasant  stream  and  sheltering  hills  was  a  favourite  resort 
of  Charlemagne,  who  spared  no  pains  to  make  the  city  worthy 
of  his  fame. 

Here  he  resolved  to  build  a  palace,  which  should  be  the 
wonder  of  the  world.  The  pope  had  given  him  some  magni- 
ficent porphyry  pillars  and  mosaic  pavements  from  Ravenna, 
such  as  France  could  not  produce.  Gathering  workmen 
from  every  part  of  the  Continent,  he  soon  beheld  a  splendid 
building,  with  gates  of  the  finest  brass,  and  marble  walls 
which  enclosed,  among  many  halls  and  galleries,  a  library,  a 
college,  a  theatre,  and  baths,  in  some  of  which  a  hundred 
persons  could  swim  at  once.  On  all  sides  clustered  houses 
for  the  courtiers,  and  large  rooms  warmed  with  stoves  where 
all  classes  might  at  all  times  find  shelter  and  comfort.  A 
wooden  gallery  connected  this  great  building  with  the  chapel 
of  the  city. 


102  THJ]  GREAT  FllANKISH  COUNCIL. 

Tho  Royal  College  was  under  the  special  charge  of  the 
great  A-cui'i.  And  the  library,  there  collected,  preserved  for 
modern  times  some  rare  and  precious  volumes  of  the  ancient 
literature.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  Charlemagne  educa- 
tion, radiating  from  this  centre,  began  to  nourish  every- 
where ;  and  soon  every  province  could  boast  its  college  or 
school.  Every  monastery  endowed  by  the  emperor  was 
bound  to  maintain  a  school.  Among  the  seminaries  of 
France  Orleans  was  then  specially  noted. 

Although  Charlemagne  took  the  advice  of  the  wise  and 
brave  around  him  in  cases  of  difficulty,  yet  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  had  any  regular  privy  council.  But  under  the  im- 
perial roof,  often  presided  over  by  the  great  man  himself, 
sat  the  highest  court  in  the  realm.  There  the  principal 
courtiers,  no  mere  gaily  dressed  flutterers  round  a  throne, 
were  obliged  to  work  as  hard  as  the  busiest  lawyers,  in  de- 
ciding knotty  cases  of  appeal.  They  were  called  the  Counts 
of  the  Palace. 

The  Great  Assembly  of  the  Franks  met  twice  a  year.  Of 
these  meetings,  however,  the  earlier  was  the  more  impor- 
tant— the  second  being  rather  used  to  overtake  the  arrears 
of  state  business.  The  field,  thronged  with  ambassadors 
from  almost  all  the  lands  in  Europe,  was  a  glittering 
scene.  Here  the  laws  were  framed  and  the  taxes  for  the 
next  year  decreed.  For  days  and  nights  before  the  meeting 
of  the  council,  groups  of  vassals,  laden  with  bags  of  grain, 
or  leading  horses  by  the  head,  poured  in  from  the  country, 
which  was  budding  with  early  spring,  to  pay  in  money  or  in 
kind  their  yearly  gifts,  corresponding  to  our  modern  rents. 

The  Capitularies  of  Charlemagne— that  is,  the  enact- 
ments which  he  framed  with  the  aid  of  the  nobles  and  the 
bishops — descend  to  most  minute  details.  One  headed 
"  De  Villis"  is  particularly  interesting  from  the  glimpses  it 
gives  of  the  country  life  at  the  manors  of  the  emperor.  The 
judex  (steward)  is  enjoined  to  look  after  the  bees  and  the 
poultry,  the  fish-ponds  and  the  byres.  Things  made  with 
the  hand,  such  as  butter,  mead,  preserved  meat,  wine,  and 
vinegar,  were  to  be  very  clean.  Hawks'  nests  wore  to  be 
preserved ;  and  swans,  peafowl,  pheasants,  and  geese  to  be 
kept  for  ornament.  The  servants  were  not  to  idle  at  fairs ; 


THE  CAPITULARY  " DE  VILLIS."  103 

the  accounts  were  to  be  accurately  kept ;  and  a  general 
taking  of  stock  was  to  usher  in  the  New  Year.  The  fruit 
trees  and  flower  gardens  received  special  notice.  Apples, 
pears,  plums,  chestnuts,  filberts  were  to  be  grown.  A  list 
of  some  seventy  names  of  flowers  and  herbs,  headed  with 
roses  and  lilies,  appears  amongst  the  enactments.  The 
gardener  was  to  have  Jove's  beard  (what  we  call  house-leek) 
growing  on  the  roof  of  his  cottage.  The  cars  were  to  be 
covered  with  well-sewed  hides,  so  that  in  passing  a  river 
they  might  not  let  in  water.  Flour  and  wine,  a  shield  and 
lance,  a  bow  and  arrows,  were  to  be  stowed  in  every  vehicle. 
And  Sunday  was  to  be  strictly  kept.  On  that  day  none 
were  permitted  to  work  in  field  or  garden,  to  hunt,  to  wash 
clothes,  to  sew,  or  to  shear.  The  law  courts  did  not  sit ; 
and  no  cars  might  be  used  except  for  three  purposes — war- 
like expeditions,  the  carriage  of  victuals,  and  the  burial  of 
the  dead. 

GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  THIRD  PERIOD. 

ALCUIN Born  at  York— pupil  of  Bede— lived  much 

at  the  court  of  Charlemagne,  whom  he 
taught  —  wrote  poetry,  theology,  and 
elementary  science— died  in  804. 

PAUL  WARNEFRID (About  740-799)— called  the  Deacon— an 

Italian — connected  first  with  the  Lom- 
bard Desiclerius — taught  Greek  at  the 
court  of  Charlemagne — a  poet  and  his- 
torian— chief  work,  "  History  of  the 
Lombards." 

EGINHARD An  Austrasian  Frank  —  secretary  of 

Charlemagne  —  wrote  a  life  of  that 
monarch  and  other  historical  works — 
thought  to  have  died  about  841. 

JOHN  SCOTUS  ERIGENA...Born  in  Ireland— the  only  learned  lay- 
man of  the  Dark  Ages — lived  chiefly  in 
France  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century — theology  and  metaphysics  were 
his  favourite  studies — died  in  875. 

ALFRED King  of  England  —  translator  of  the 

Psalms,  Bede's  History,  uEsop's  Fables, 
&c.  into  Saxon — like  Charlemagne  a 
great  patron  of  learned  uieii— died  901 

A.D. 


104  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  THIRD  PERIOD. 

AVICENNA,  or  ABEN  SINA.Born  near  Bokhara,  980  A.D.— a  great 
Arabian  physician  and  philosopher — 
for  centuries  his  great  medical  work, 
"The  Canon,"  continued  to  be  the 
standard  authority  even  in  Europe — 
author  of  nearly  one  hundred  works- 
chief  philosophical  work,  "The  Re- 
medy." 

GUIDO  D'AREZZO Born  at  Arezzo  in  Tuscany,  in  end  of 

tenth  century — a  Benedictine  monk — 
famous  as  the  inventor  of  our  musical 
notation — his  work  "  Micrologus  "  de- 
scribes his  plan  of  writing  and  teaching 
music — died  in  middle  of  eleventh  cen- 
tury. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  THIRD  PERIOD. 

EIGHTH  CENTURY — continued. 

A.D 

Charlemagne  sole  ruler  of  the  Franks 771 

Battle  of  Roncevalles 778 

Haroun  al  Raschid  caliph 786 

Seventh  General  Council  (at  Nice) 787 

First  landing  of  Danes  in  England — 

Irene  empress  of  the  East 788 

Charlemagne  crowned  at  Rome 800 

NINTH  CENTURY. 

Charlemagne's  death 814 

Egbert  sole  ruler  of  England 827 

Battle  of  Fontenaille 841 

Treaty  of  Verdun 843 

Ruric  founds  the  Russian  empire 862 

Alfred  the  Great  king  of  England. 871 

TENTH  CENTURY. 

Alfred's  death 901 

Rollo  the  Norseman  obtains  Neustria 911 

Otho  the  Great  emperor  of  Germany 936 

Emir  al  Omra  first  appointed 940 

Otho  crowned  emperor  of  the  West 962 

John  Zimisces  emperor  of  the  East 969-75 

Otho's  death 973 

Capetian  dynasty  begins  in  France 987 


CHKONOLOGY  OF  THE  THIRD  PEPwIOD.  105 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY. 

Canute  the  Dane  on  the  English  throne 1017 

Normans  conquer  South  Italy 1040 

Edward  the  Confessor  restores  the  Saxon  line  in  England 1041 

Bagdad  taken  by  the  Turks 1055 

The  Guelph  and  Ghibelline  Feud  begins 1061 

Jerusalem  taken  by  the  Turks 1065 

The  Norman  Conquest  of  England 1066 

Battle  of  Durazzo -. , 1081 


106 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CKUSADES. 


FOURTH  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES  TO  THE  ESTAB- 
LISHMENT OF  SWISS  INDEPENDENCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   CRUSADES. 

Central  Points:  JERUSALEM  TAKEN  BY  CRUSADERS 1099 

RETAKEN  BY  SALADIN 1187 

RESTORED  TO  THE  CHRISTIANS  BY  TRUCE  1229 
TAKEN  BY  THE  TURKS 1239 


Origin  of  the  Crusades. 
Peter  the  Hermit 
Two  General  Councils. 
The  first  rush. 
Battle  of  Dorylaeum. 
Siege  of  Antioch. 
Capture  of  Jerusalem. 
Godfrey  made  king. 


Templars  and  Hospi- 
tallers. 

St.  Bernard. 

March  of  Conrad  III. 

Disasters  of  the  Second 
Crusade. 

Saladin  takes  Jerusalem. 

Siege  of  Acre. 


Great  muster  of  troops. 
March  of  Fred.  Redbeard. 
Capture  of  Acre. 
False  glare  of  the  Cru- 
sades. 

Deeds  of  Richard  I. 
End  of  Third  Crusade. 
The  Teutonic  knights. 


JERUSALEM,  the  cradle  of  the  Christian  faith,  suffered  cruel 
insults  at  the  hands  of  the  Mahometans.  Hakem,  third  of 
the  Fatimide  caliphs  of  Egypt,  himself  aspiring  to  the  honours 
of  a  god,  razed  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection  in  1009,  and 
spared  no  pains  to  destroy  the  very  rock-cave,  which  was 
pointed  out  as  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  Turks  then  seized 
the  city ;  Christian  pilgrims,  flocking  thither  in  crowds  of 
thousands  during  the  eleventh  century,  were  cruelly  maltreated 
by  them.  No  Christian  could  pass  the  gates  without  first 
paying  a  piece  of  gold  to  these  Tartar  conquerors.  Every  day 
brought  back  to  Europe  weary  palmers,  who  had  been  scoffed 
at  and  spat  upon  by  the  Infidels.  This  was  borne  for  a  time, 
but  soon  grew  intolerable ;  and  the  indignation,  burning  deep 
and  long  in  the  heart  of  Christendom,  found  its  first  great 
utterance  in  the  wild  eloquence  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 


PETER  THE  HERMIT.  107 

This  man,  said  to  have  been  a  native  of  Amiens,  was  a 
soldier  in  his  youth.  Upon  the  death  of  his  wife  he  retired 
broken-hearted  to  a  hermit's  cell,  from  which,  however,  his 
innate  love  of  change  drove  him  a  pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Land. 
Returning  thence  full  of  anger  at  the  degradation  of  the 
sacred  spot,  he  obtained  leave  from  Pope  Urban  II.  to  call 
all  true  Christians  to  arms ;  and  as  he  passed  through  Italy 
and  France,  a  fleshless  spectre  clad  in  mean  raiment,  with 
bare  head  and  feet,  and  staggering  under  a  heavy  crucifix, 
his  fierce  war-cry  woke  an  echo  in  millions  of  hearts. 

Within  the  same  year  two  general  councils  were  called 
by  the  pope — one  at  Placentia,  the  other  at  Cler- 
mont  in  Auvergne.     At  the  latter  both  the  pope  1095 
and  the  hermit  spoke  in  words  of  fire.     With  one     A.D. 
voice  all  who  heard  cried  out  in  the  old  French, 
"  Dieu  li  volt  /" '  — "  It  is  the  will  of  God  ; "  and  few  there 
were  who  left  the  old  market-place  on  that  day  without  a 
red  cross  on  the  shoulder,  to  mark  them  as  soldiers  in  the 
sacred  cause. 

THE  FIRST  CRUSADE. 
(1096-1099.) 

The  first  movement  of  the  Crusaders  was  a  mad  and  aim- 
less rush.  A  rabble  of  300,000,  comprising  not  men  alone, 
but  women  and  children,  and  even  some  stricken  with 
deadly  disease,  gathered  under  Peter,  and  a  soldier  called 
Walter  the  Penniless.  They  passed  through  Germany  with 
no  achievement  but  the  murder  and  robbery  of  thousands  of 
Jews.  Their  plundering  roused  the  rage  of  the  Hungarians 
and  Bulgarians,  who  set  upon  them ;  and  it  was  with  sorely 
thinned  and  broken  ranks  that  they  reached  Constantinople, 
where  Alexis  reigned.  He  persuaded  them  to  fix  their  camp 
upon  the  Asiatic  shore  of  the  Bosphorus.  Moving  thence 
towards  Nice  in  Bithynia,  they  were,  all  but  a  very  few,  cut 
to  pieces  by  the  Turks. 

But  an  army,  fit  to  redeem  the  character  of  the  West,  was 
marshalling  fast.  The  kings  as  yet  held  aloof,  in  person  at 
least.  Rufus  of  England  was  too  fond  of  his  money-bags  ; 
while  Henry  of  Germany,  and  Philip  of  France,  both  bitter 
foes  of  the  pope,  were  not  likely  to  arm  at  the  call  of  one 


108  SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  FIRST  CRUSADERS. 

they  deeply  hated.  The  great  captain  of  the  first  Crusade 
(War  of  the  Cross)  was  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  or  Boulogne, 
the  Duke  of  Basse-Lorraine.  There  were,  besides,  among 
the  chiefs  Robert  of  Normandy,  Hugh  the  brother  of  the 
French  king,  Stephen  of  Blois,  and  Bohemund  of  Tarentum. 
Nine  months  were  consumed  in  mustering  the  great  army 
of  more  than  half  a  million,  and  leading  it  by  different 
routes  to  Constantinople.  Having  crossed  the  strait,  the 
Crusaders  moved,  with  horns  blowing  and  drums  beating, 
upon  Nice,  which  fell  after  a  siege  of  seven  weeks.  At 
Dorylaeum  was  fought  one  of  the  greatest  cavalry  battles 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Considerably  more  than  100,000 
Turkish  horse  with  curved  sabres  and  light  djereeds  were 
scattered  before  the  lances  of  the  Christian \knights.  Soli- 
man,  Sultan  of  the  Turks,  fell  back  in  rapid  flight.  But  all 
this  glory  was  purchased  by  much  suffering.  Thirst  was 
the  worst  woe  that  befell  the  Christians ;  we  are  told  that 
once,  when  water  was  found  after  days  of  scorching  drought, 
300  of  them  drank  till  they  died.  They  threaded  the  rocky 
wilds  of  Taurus,  fainting  with  the  weight  of  their  armour  under 
the  burning  sun ;  and  at  last  saw,  set  in  the  emerald  meadows 
that  line  the  Orontes,  the  fair  turrets  of  the  Syrian  Antioch. 

Here  the  war  raged  anew.  The  Christian  knights  vied 
with  one  another  in  valorous  deeds.  Godfrey  one  day  cut 
his  foe  in  two  ;  one  half  fell  into  the  river,  the  other  sat  still 
on  horseback — "  by  which  blow,"  quaintly  says  Robert  the 
Monk,  "  one  Turk  was  made  two  Turks."  The  siege  was 
pushed  on  amidst  the  worst  miseries  of  winter,  famine,  and 
disorganization,  until,  by  the  treachery  of  a  Syrian  officer, 
the  Crusaders  were  enabled,  one  dark  stormy  night,  to  sur- 
prise the  town.  A  Saracen  army,  led  by  Kerboga,  Prince  of 
Mosul,  advancing  to  the  rescue,  was  then  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter ;  and  Bohemund,  the  son  of  Robert  Guiscard,  was 
made  prince  of  the  captured  city. 

After  a  delay  of  some  months  at  Antioch,  the  Crusaders, 
now  reduced  to  20,000  foot  and  1500  horse,  moved  south- 
wards toward  Jerusalem.  They  ought  to  have  reduced  the 
great  stronghold  of  Acre  with  its  vast  granaries  as  they 
passed ;  but,  eager  to  crown  their  enterprise  with  the  capture 
of  the  Holy  City,  they  contented  themselves  with  extorting 


THE  SECOND  CRtJSADE,  109 

a  promise  from  the  Emir  of  Acre,  that,  if  Jerusalem  fell,  he 
would  give  them  up  his  keys.     At  last  the  capital  of  Pales- 
tine, lovely  even  in  her  desolation,  rose  in  their 
view.     The  knights,  springing  from  their  saddles,  1099 
wet  the  turf  with  tears  of  mingled  joy  and  grief     A.D. 
Barefooted  and  weeping  the  little  band  advanced. 
Under  a  sky  of  burning  copper,  with  no  water  in  the  pools 
and  brooks,  they  fought  for  five  long  weeks  before  Godfrey 
and  his  stormers  stood  victorious  within  the  walls.     The 
massacre  of  70,000  Moslems,  and  the  burning  of  the  Jews  in 
their  synagogue,  stained  the  glory  of  the  conquerors. 

A  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  being  then  founded,  Godfrey  was 
elected  king.  But  modestly  and  wisely  he  chose  rather  the 
humbler  title  of  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  opening 
of  his  reign  was  signalized  by  the  battle  of  Ascalon,  in  which 
he  defeated  the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  After  this  victory,  which 
closed  the  first  Crusade,  many  of  the  actors  in  the  great 
drama  went  home.  Among  these  was  Peter  the  Hermit, 
whose  chequered  life  found  a  close  in  the  abbey  of  Huy, 
founded  by  himself  on  the  bank  of  the  Meuse. 

The  last  great  act  of  Godfrey's  life  was  the  enactment  of  a 
code  of  feudal  laws,  called  the  "  Assize  of  Jerusalem."  He 
had  scarcely  shaped  these,  and  seen  their  earliest  working, 
when  death  cut  him  off  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign. 

THE  SECOND  CRUSADE. 
(1147-1149.) 

Before  the  second  Crusade  began,  forty-eight  years  passed, 
during  which  the  infant  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  upheld 
chiefly  by  two  orders  of  military  monks — the  Hospitallers 
and  the  Templars.  The  former,  whose  scarlet  surcoat  was 
embroidered  with  a  silver  cross,  derived  their  name  from  their 
being  at  first  attached  to  an  hospital,  dedicated  to  St.  John. 
The  Templars,  afterwards  so  haughty  and  powerful,  calling 
themselves  so  from  their  residence  close  tc  the  site  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  sprang  from  a  little  society  of  nine  knights, 
who  bound  themselves  by  an  oath  to  pass  chaste  and  humble 
lives  in  constant  war  against  the  enemies  of  the  faith.  They 
received  the  sanction  of  Baldwin  II.  in  1118. 

When  the  news   reached  Europe  that  Edessa  beyond 


110  ST.  BERNARD  OF  CLAIRVAUX. 

Euphrates,  one  of  the  strong  outposts  of  the  faith  against 
the  encroaching  Moslems,  had  fallen  before  Zenghi,  prince  of 
Mosul,  the  smouldering  fire  began  to  blaze  anew.  St.  Bernard 
took  the  place  which  had  been  filled  by  Peter  the  Hermit. 

Born  in  Burgundy  in  1091,  Bernard  became  a  monk  in 
early  youth.  As  Abbot  of  Clairvaux  in  Champagne,  he  was 
soon  noted  for  his  austerity  and  abstinence.  Coarse  bread, 
beech-nuts,  and  even  the  leaves  of  trees  formed  at  one  time 
the  only  food  of  his  monks  and  himself.  But  the  spirit 
within  lived  and  glowed,  in  spite  of  pale  cheek  and  wasted 
frame.  And  when  on  the  hillside  at  Vezelai  in  1146,  he 
addressed  a  countless  crowd  of  French  knights  and  nobles, 
urging  them  to  another  Crusade,  the  old  war  cry,  "  It  is  the 
will  of  God,"  rang  through  the  air,  and  so  gre^t  was  the  rush 
for  the  Cross,  that  he  and  his  priests  were  obliged  to  tear  up 
their  vestments  in  order  to  supply  the  eager  soldiery  with 
the  sacred  symbol. 

His  eloquence  enlisted  in  the  war  Louis  VII.  of  France 
and  Conrad  III.  of  Germany.  Their  combined  armies, 
amounting  to  300,000,  took  the  same  route  as  the  first  Cru- 
saders had  taken — through  Germany  and  Hungary  right  on  to 
Constantinople,  and  so  over  the  straits  into  Asia.  But  the 
schemes  of  Manuel,  the  Emperor  of  the  East,  who  was  espe- 
cially unfriendly  to  Conrad,  so  far  reduced  the  strength  of 
the  Germans  by  cutting  off  their  supplies,  that  they  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  the  Saracens  among  the  mountains  of  Cappa- 
docia.  Conrad  returned  in  despair  to  Constantinople. 

The  troops  of  Louis,  passing  in  the  deep  winter  of  1148  to 
the  banks  of  the  Meander,  gained  a  slight  triumph  over  the 
Saracens.  But  this  success  was  soon  eclipsed  by  a  decided 
check  near  Laodicea.  When  they  found  the  gates  of  Attalia, 
where  they  had  hoped  to  find  a  refuge,  shut  against  them, 
the  heroic  army,  lessening  every  day,  struggled  on,  storm- 
beaten  and  famine- worn,  to  Antioch.  The  entry  of  the  two 
monarchs  into  Jerusalem — Conrad  had  now  joined  Louis — 
was  a  gleam  of  bright  promise,  reviving  the  hopes  of  the 
Crusaders.  But  their  first  undertaking,  the  siege  of  Damas- 
cus, proved  a  miserable  failure,  and  the  second  Crusade 
closed  in  gloom.  Nearly  forty  years  elapsed  before  the  third 
began. 


THE  GREAT  SIEGE  OF  AdRH  111 

THE  THIRD  CRUSADE. 
(1189-1192.) 

When  the  news  came  that  Jerusalem  had  fallen  before 
Saladin,  the  great  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  that  the 
golden  cross,  which  had  glittered  for  eighty-eight      1187 
years  on  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  marking  its  transfer-       A.D. 
mation  into  a  Christian  church,  had  been  trampled 
in  the  streets,  Europe  for  the  third  time  girt  herself  for 
war. 

First,  from  the  Italian  ports  there  sailed  out  a  large  fleet, 
thronged  with  eager  soldiers,  who  at  once  upon  their  ar- 
rival proceeded  to  aid  the  Christians  in  the  siege  of  Acre, 
which  had  yielded  to  Saladin. 

But  a  greater  movement  followed.  The  three  great  West- 
ern princes  took  the  Cross — Richard  I.  of  England,  Philip 
Augustus  of  France,  and  Frederic  Barbarossa  (Redbeard)  of 
Germany.  A  tax,  called  Saladin's  tithe,  was  laid  upon 
Christendom  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war.  As  was 
usual  in  all  the  Crusades,  complete  absolution  from  sin 
was  promised  to  every  soldier  who  struck  a  blow  at  the  in- 
fidel. 

While  Richard  and  Philip  were  filling  their  purses  and 
mustering  their  armies,   Frederic,  starting  from  Ratisbon, 
pushed  by  the  usual  land- route  to  Adrian ople, 
crossed  the  Hellespont,  and  pierced  right  through  1189 
Asia  Minor,  routing  the  Turks,  and  conquering     A.D. 
Iconium.     But  his  career  of  victory  was  stayed  in 
Cilicia,  where  he  died,  while  bathing  one  summer  day  in  the 
river  Selef.    A  remnant  of  his  army — some  5000  ragged  and 
footsore  men — reached  the  camp  of  the  besiegers  before  Acre. 

The  siege  of  that  stronghold  was  pushed  on  in  spite  of 
terrific  losses.  For  two  long  years  a  vague  hope  of  aid  from 
Europe  upheld  the  hearts  of  the  Christians.  The  Turkish 
garrison  was  renewed  again  and  again,  whenever  the  sea  was 
left  open.  Nine  battles  were  fought  under  the  shadow  of 
Mount  Carmel  with  changing  success.  Thousands  on 
thousands  of  the  crusading  soldiery  laid  down  their  lives 
before  the  ramparts ;  but  still  the  camp  was  filled  with  new 
hosts,  burning  with  martial  fury. 


112  RICHARD  I.  IN  PALESTINE. 

The  armies  of  Richard  and  Philip,  amounting  together  to 
100,000,  were  transported  by  sea  to  the  Holy  Land, 

1190  the  former  sailing  from  Marseilles,  the  latter  from 

A.D.  Genoa.  They  spent  the  winter  together  at  Messina 
in  Sicily,  not  indeed  on  the  most  friendly  terms. 
Richard  delayed,  besides,  at  Cyprus,  where  he  was  married. 
He  dethroned  Isaac,  king  of  that  island,  for  treating  some  of 
his  shipwrecked  sailors  badly.  It  was,  therefore,  nearly  a 
year  after  their  setting  out  that  the  royal  warriors  appeared 
before  Acre ;  Philip  first,  Richard  shortly  afterwards.  New 
vigour  stirred  in  the  besiegers;  and  Saladin  must  have 
trembled  for  his  hold  upon  the  key  of  Syria,  when  he  saw 
the  plain  whitened  with  a  new  camp  of  many  thousand 
tents.  One  glimpse  of  the  great  Saracen's  Character  must 
not  be  passed  by.  Even  at  so  great  a  crisis,  this  generous 
foe  sent  frequent  presents  of  pears  and  snow  to  cool  the 
fever,  of  which  Richard  and  Philip  lay  sick  in  their  tents. 
Ere  long  the  broken  ramparts  of  the  city  yielded  to  the 
Crusaders,  and  the  Sultan  fell  back  towards  the  south. 

The  story  of  the  Crusades,  and  of  this  third  one  especially, 
has  been  coloured  with  the  gayest  tints  of  romance ;  and  we 
are  apt  to  be  dazzled  by  a  deceptive  glare  in  reading  of  the 
noble  achievements  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  The  truth  is, 
that  the  crusading  armies  were  filled  with  the  worst  ruffians 
in  Europe.  There  were,  no  doubt,  noble  exceptions.  But 
very  few  were  inspired  by  motives  of  real  piety.  The  hope 
of  plunder  and  a  reckless  love  of  change  were  the  main- 
springs of  the  war.  The  Cross  met  the  eye  everywhere 
throughout  the  camp,  on  banners,  shields,  and  surcoats, 
sparkling  over  tent-doors,  and  shapen  into  the  hilts  of 
swords ;  but  it  was  not  in  the  hearts  of  the  soldiery ;  and 
this  being  so.  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  worst  vices  were  ram- 
pant among  them,  and  that  all  shame  was  cast  aside. 

Soon  after  the  fall  of  Acre,  Philip  returned  to  Europo, 
Richard  then  pushed  southward  along  the  sea-coast,  fight- 
ing his  way  for  eleven  days  amid  the  unceasing  rattle  of  the 
brass  kettle-drums,  that  called  up  new  hosts  of  Saracens 
to  the  front.  He  found  Joppa  and  Ascalon  dismantled. 
Next  spring  he  advanced  within  twenty  miles  of  Jerusalem ; 
but  turned  away  from  what  most  likely  would  have  been 


THE  DEATH  OF  SALADTN.  113 

the  crowning  achievement  of  the  war.     The  sad  havoc  al- 
ready made  in  his  ranks,  the  discontent  of  his 
allies,  and  news  from  England  of  danger  menacing  1192 
his  crown,  are  assigned  as  reasons  for  this  step.    On     A.D. 
his  way  home  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Duke 
of  Austria,  who  had  an  old  grudge  against  him,  he  lay  in 
secret  prisons  for  nearly  two  years. 

Richard's  departure  from  Palestine  was  the  signal  for  a 
peace  which  promised  to  be  lasting  ;  but  the  death  of  Saladin, 
in  1193,  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  history  of  the  Holy  Land. 

The  rise  of  the  Teutonic  Order  dates  from  the  third  Cru- 
sade, a  few  generous  knights  having  joined  to  tend  the  sick 
and  wounded  in  the  camp  before  Acre. 


114 


SCHEMES  OF  THE  EMPEROR  HENRY  TTL 


CHAPTER  IT. 
THE  ORUSADES— Continued. 


Fourth  Crusade  begins. 
Berytus  taken. 
Siege  of  Thoron  fails. 
Foulque. 
Delay  at  Venice. 
Blind  old  Dandolo. 
Capture  of  Zara. 

Movement  on  Constanti- 
nople. 
The  siege. 
Baldwin  made  emperor. 
The  Boy  Crusade. 
Frederic  II.  of  Germany. 
Concludes  a  truce. 

Crowns  himself  king. 
St.  Louis. 
In  Egypt 
Dies  in  Tunis. 
Edward  I.  of  England. 
The  Ruin  of  Acre. 

THE  FOURTH  CRUSADE. 
(1195-1197.) 

THE  Emperor  Henry  VI,  gaoler  of  our  Coeur  de  Lion,  had 
his  eye  upon  Sicily  as  a  key  to  the  conquest  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire.  To  cloak  his  real  design  he  organized  a  fourth 
Crusade. 

Reserving  a  body  of  40,000  under  his  own  command  to 
execute  his  secret  schemes  on  Sicily,  he  divided  the  rest  of 
his  forces  into  two  parts.  One,  crossing  the  Danube,  marched 
to  Constantinople,  and  sailed  in  Greek  ships  to  Acre.  The 
others,  setting  out  from  the  Baltic  ports,  did  not  reach 
Palestine  till  some  time  later. 

The  Syrian  Christians,  just  beginning  to  taste  the  sweets 
of  peace,  at  first  looked  coldly  on  their  brethren,  who  came, 
sword  in  hand,  from  Europe.  But  a  movement  of  the  Sara- 
cens, before  whom  Joppa  fell,  scattered  all  thoughts  of  dis- 
union. Banding  together,  the  Christian  soldiery  waited  only 
for  their  friends,  who  were  making  the  long  sea  passage, 
and  then  besieged  Berytus  (Beirout).  The  capture  of  this 
great  city  enriched  the  Crusaders,  and  set  free  9000  Chris- 
tian prisoners,  who  had  long  lain  in  its  dungeons. 

The  arrival  of  a  third  army,  despatched  by  Henry,  when 
he  had  succeeded  in  his  designs  on  Sicily,  raised  high  hopes 
that  Jerusalem  would  soon  be  freed  from  the  Infidels.  But 
the  approach  of  winter  delayed  the  great  enterprise. 

The  siege  of  Thoron  on  the  coast  was  undertaken  instead. 
German  miners  tunnelled  through  the  rock  on  which  it 
stood ;  and  the  walls  were  shaking  whew  the  besieged  sued 


THE  FIFTH  CRUSADE  TURNED  ASIDE.  115 

for  quarter.  It  was  refused;  and  with  the  courage  of  de- 
spair the  defence  began  again.  The  tide  turned.  Rumours  of 
an  advancing  Saracen  host  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Crusaders.  In  the  dead  of  night  their  leader  fled,  and  next 
day  saw  the  whole  army,  scared  by  a  storm  of  thunder  and 
lightning,  and  fiercely  hunted  by  their  infidel  foes,  scattered 
in  headlong  flight  on  the  way  to  Tyre. 

This  was  the  miserable  end  of  the  fourth  Crusade.  Other 
operations  might  have  been  undertaken ;  but  the  death  of 
the  Emperor  Henry,  whose  gold  had  been  the  mainstay  of 
the  war,  brought  the  adventurers  home,  to  see  what  might 
be  picked  up  on  less  distant  fields. 

THE  FIFTH  CRUSADE. 
(119&-1204.) 

Pope  Innocent  III.  sent  forth  letters  to  stir  up  a  new  Cru- 
sade. But  these  would  have  had  little  influence,  especially 
in  France,  which  lay  under  an  interdict,  if  they  had  not 
been  backed  by  the  simple  eloquence  of  Foulque,  curate  of 
a  little  town  on  the  Marne.  At  a  great  tournament  he 
preached  the  Crusade  with  such  a  trumpet-tongue,  that  the 
lists  were  deserted  by  the  knights,  who  thronged  to  take  the 
badge  of  the  Holy  War. 

With  the  Doge  of  Venice, "  the  blind  old  Dandolo,"  a  bar- 
gain was  struck  for  ships,  and  Venice  was  named  as  the  place 
of  muster.  But,  when  the  day  of  muster  came,  so  few  of  the 
barons  had  arrived,  that  they  were  not  able  to  raise  the  sum 
demanded  for  the  hire  of  the  ships.  In  their  distress  they 
accepted  the  offer  of  the  Doge,  to  free  them  from  all  claims, 
if  they  would  retake  for  Venice  the  revolted  city  of  Zara. 
It  lay  in  Dalmatia,  and  had  sought  the  protection 
of  the  Hungarian  king.  But  in  five  days  it  was  1202 
forced  to  yield  to  the  arms  of  the  Crusaders.  A.D. 

Having  once  turned  aside  from  the  real  object 
of  the  expedition,  they  easily  took  a  second  step  of  the  same 
kind.  Isaac,  Emperor  of  the  East,  having  been  deposed  and 
blinded  by  his  brother  Alexius,  his  son,  another  Alexius, 
came  to  the  crusading  chiefs  imploring  help.  Some  were  for 
sailing  instantly  to  Palestine ;  but  a  stronger  party  resolved 
to  grant  the  aid.  Arid  so  a  magnificent  fleet,  sweeping  down 


116  THE  BOY  CRUSADE. 

the  Adriatic  and  up  the  ^Egean,  anchored  within  sight  of 
the  glittering  turrets  of  Constantinople. 

Fixing  their  camp  at  Scutari  on  the  Asiatic  side,  the  Cru- 
saders prepared  to  pass  the  rapid  Bosphorus.  The  knights 
crossed  in  flat-bottomed  boats,  standing  lance  in  hand  beside 
their  horses.  The  opposite  shore  was  safely  occupied ;  and 
at  the  same  time  the  Venetian  galleys  broke  the  boom  across 
the  entrance  of  the  harbour.  And  then  the  siege 
1203  began.  Ever  foremost  in  the  fight  was  the  blind 
A.D.  old  Doge,  giving  life  and  spirit  to  every  movement 
of  the  besiegers.  For  eleven  days  (July  7-18)  there 
was  a  feeble  resistance,  until  Alexius  the  usurper,  fled  with 
all  the  gold  he  could  lay  his  hands  on. 

Isaac  was  restored  to  his  throne;  but,  a  quarrel  aris- 
ing between  the  Crusaders  and  the  Greeks,  war  began 
anew.  A  second  siege  of  Constantinople  ended  in  the  com- 
plete triumph  of  the  besiegers.  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders, 
was  elected  emperor  over  one-fourth  of  the  eastern  dominions, 
for  Isaac  and  his  son  were  both  dead.  The  remaining  shares 
were  divided  between  the  republic  of  Venice  and  the  barons 
of  France. 

THE  BOY  CRUSADE. 

One  of  the  strangest  sights  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  the 
Boy  Crusade  of  1212. 

A  shepherd  boy,  Stephen  of  Vendome,  gave  out  that  God 
in  a  vision  had  bestowed  on  him  bread,  and  had  sent  him  with 
a  letter  to  the  King  of  France.  Round  him  gathered  30,000 
children  of  about  twelve  years.  Boys  were  there,  and  girls  in 
boys'  clothes,  on  horseback  and  afoot.  The  tears  and  prayers 
of  their  parents  could  not  turn  them  from  their  mad  design. 
The  strange  flame  spread  through  all  France;  from  castle 
and  from  hut  the  little  ones  fled  to  follow  the  car  of  Stephen. 
With  wax  candles  in  their  hands,  clad  in  pilgrim's  dress, 
they  moved,  singing  hymns,  over  the  hot  dusty  plains  of 
Provence,  upheld  through  all  the  toils  and  terrors  of  the 
way  by  the  wild  hope  that  the  waters  of  the  sea,  drying  up 
before  them,  would  open  a  path  to  the  Holy  Land.  Robbed 
by  the  way,  they  were  yet  more  pitilessly  cheated  in  Mar- 
seilles. Two  merchants  agreed  to  take  them  to  Palestine, 


TRUCE  BETWEEN  THE  EMPEROR  AND  THE  SULTAN.      117 

for  the  love  of  God,  as  the  canting  scoundrels  said.  The 
children  set  sail  in  seven  ships.  Two  of  these  were  wrecked, 
and  all  on  board  lost.  The  other  five  bore  their  precious 
freight  to  Egypt,  where  all  were  sold  as  slaves.  It  is  some 
consolation  to  know  that  the  rascal  merchants  were  soon 
after  hanged  in  Sicily. 

About  the  same  time  two  armies  of  children,  gathering  in 
Germany,  crossed  the  Alps  to  Genoa  and  Lombardy,  where 
they  were  scattered  and  lost,  very  many  of  these  too  fall- 
ing into  the  cruel  hands  of  slave-dealers. 

THE  SIXTH  CRUSADE. 
(1227-1229.) 

The  next  great  movement,  passing  over  the  attack  on 
Damietta  in  1219,  where  the  Christians  suffered  heavily,  was 
headed  by  the  Emperor  Frederic  II. 

Urged  by  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  the  emperor  embarked  for 
the  Holy  Land ;  but  discontent  among  his  troops,  or,  if  we 
are  to  believe  some,  a  severe  fit  of  sickness  turned  him  back, 
after  he  had  been  at  sea  only  three  days.     The  furious  pope 
excommunicated  him ;  but  next  year,  in  spite  of 
the  pontiffs  continued  ill-temper,  he  set  sail  for     1228 
Palestine,  induced  chiefly  by  the  offered  alliance  of       A.D. 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt. 

The  wrath  of  the  pope,  following  him  to  Palestine, 
estranged  from  him  all  the  clergy  of  that  land.  Nevertheless, 
he  followed  up  his  plans  with  consummate  skill,  and  won  from 
his  friend,  Malek  Kamil  the  Sultan,  by  fair  words  and  good 
fellowship,  what  so  much  blood  had  been  spilled  to 
gain.  A  truce  for  ten  years  was  made  between  the  1229 
princes.  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  all  the  towns  A.D. 
from  Joppa  to  Ptolemais  were  given  up  to  Frederic, 
almost  the  only  stipulation  being  that  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
should  remain  open  to  Moslem  worshippers.  This  gaining 
of  the  object,  for  which  the  Crusaders  had  striven  from  the 
first,  ought  to  have  filled  Christendom  with  joy;  but  a  sullen 
silence  hung  upon  the  clergy.  And  the  excommunicated 
prince,  entering  Jerusalem  in  triumph  with  his  Teutonic 
knights,  was  forced,  for  want  of  a  priest  to  perform  the  cere- 
mony, to  place  the  crown  on  his  head  with  his  own  hands. 


116  EXPLOITS  OF  St.  LOtTIS. 

His  reign  in  the  East  was  short,  for  the  schemes  of  the  unfor- 
giving pope  against  his  empire  in  Europe  led  him  to  return 
in  haste  to  Italy. 

THE  SEVENTH  CRUSADE. 

Louis  IX.  of  France,  one  of  the  few  monarchs  honoured 
with  the  title  of  Saint,  led  the  Seventh  Crusade.  Jerusalem 
had  again  become  the  prey  of  the  Infidels.  As  he  left  the 
French  shore  with  a  large  force,  the  notes  of  a  sacred  anthem 
rose  from  the  ships. 

After  spending  the  winter  at  Cyprus,  where  his  army 
wasted  their  strength  in  riotous  living,  he  anchored  before 
Damietta  late  in  spring.  Leaping  sword  in  hand  into  the 
sea  amid  a  deadly  rain  of  arrows,  the  brave  king  led  the 
way  to  the  shore.  The  panic-struck  Moslems  left  Damietta 
to  its  fate. 

But  pestilence  began  to  thin  the  ranks  of  the  Crusaders ; 
and,  when  Louis  moved  inland  to  Mansourah,  a  sudden  rally 
of  the  flying  foe  met  his  straggling  files.  The  death  of  his 
brother  and  the  flower  of  his  army  made  his  dearly-bought 
victory  worse  than  a  defeat.  A  retreat  to  Damietta  was  re- 
solved on ;  but  at  the  village  of  Minieh,  Louis,  who  might 
have  escaped,  but  nobly  refused  to  leave  his  broken  force, 
was  made  prisoner.  Nor  was  he  released  until  he 
1250  agreed  to  restore  Damietta,  and  to  pay  400,000 
A.D.  golden  pieces.  He  lingered  at  Acre  for  four  years 
longer,  until  the  death  of  his  mother  obliged  him 
to  return  to  France. 

THE  EIGHTH  AND  LAST  CRUSADE. 
(1270-1272.) 

Sixteen  years  later,  a  Crusade  left  France,  bound,  not  for 
Palestine,  but  for  Africa — the  grand  object  of  St.  Louis 
being  to  convert  the  Prince  of  Tunis  with  the  sword. 

The  Moslem  troops  gave  way ;  but  a  deadlier  foe  descended 
upon  the  French  host,  when  plague,  made  worse  by  the  un- 
buried  corpses,  began  its  ravages.  Among  others  the  king 
sickened  and  died. 

Edward  of  England,  afterwards  Edward  I,  was  the  last 
of  the  crusading  princes.  Arriving  in  Africa  to  find  Louis 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  ACRE.  119 

dead,  he  lost  no  time  in  leading  his  little  force  to  the  Holy 
Land.  But  the  glory  of  the  war  was  past.  A  march  into 
Phoenicia  and  a  massacre  of  the  Moslems  at  Nazareth 
were  almost  his  only  doings.  His  head-quarters  were  at 
Acre.  The  stab  of  a  poisoned  dagger — we  are  told  that  his 
wife  saved  him  by  sucking  the  wound — warned  him  to  leave 
the  land;  and,  after  having  spent  in  all  some  eighteen 
months  of  aimless  enterprise,  he  returned  to  England  to 
conquer  Wales  and  vex  Scotland. 

Acre,  which  after  the  loss  of  Jerusalem  was  the  centre  of 
the  European  power  in  the  East,  grew  to  be  a  disgrace  to 
the  name  of  Christianity.     But  its  lust  and  riot 
were  buried  in  its  ruins,  when  after  a  siege  of     1291 
thirty-three  days,  the   heavy  engines   of  Sultan       A.D. 
Khalil  pounded  its  strong  defences  to  dust,  and 
opened  the  way  for  the  Mameluke  stormers.     Sixty  thou- 
sand Christians  were  slain  or  enslaved ;  and  of  the  few  who 
escaped  to  their  ships,  the  greater  part  perished  in  the  waves 
before  they  could  reach  the  friendly  coast  of  Cyprus. 

CHRISTIAN  KINGS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


A.D. 

GODFREY  OF  BOULOGNE.  1099 

BALDWIN  1 1100 

BALDWIN  II 1118 

FULK  OF  ANJOU 1131 

BALDWIN  III 1144 

AMAURI 1162 

BALDWIN  IV 1174 


A.D. 

SIBYL— then  Ms  Son 

BALDWIN  V 1185 

GUY  DE  LUSIGNAN 1186 

HENRY  OF  CHAMPAGNE..  1192 
AMAURI  DE  LUSIGNAN..  1197 
JEANNE  DE  BRIENNE....  1209 
EMPER.  FREDERIC  II.  1229-39 


120  THE  PROTESTANTS  OF  LANGUEDOC. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE    ALBIGENSES. 
Central  Point:— THE  BATTLE  OF  MUEET,  1213  AJX 


Innocent  III. 
The  Albigenses. 
Their  doctrines  and  name. 
Outbreak  of  war. 
Dominic  Guzman. 


Capture  of  Beziers. 
Of  Carcassonne. 
The  Castle  of  Minerva 
Of  La  Vaur. 
Battle  of  Muret. 


Prince  Louis. 
Death  of  Montfort. 
Peace  of  Paris. 
Political  aim  of  the  Cru- 
sade, 


THE  Papacy  reached  its  noonday  under  Innocent  III.,  who 
wore  the  tiara  from  1 198  to  1 216.  He  it  was  who  brought  John 
to  lay  the  crown  of  England  at  the  foot  of  the  papal  chair. 
But  we  have  here  to  speak  briefly  of  his  dealings  with  a  nobler 
race  than  such  as  John — the  Albigenses  of  Southern  France. 

Among  the  vines  of  Languedoc  dwelt  a  people  who  spoke 
the  rich  musical  Proven£al,  in  which  the  troubadours  sang 
of  love  and  war.  This  intelligent  and  accomplished  race 
looked  with  contempt  on  the  vices  of  their  clergy,  as  well  they 
might,  for  their  bishops  were  roues  of  high  rank,  and  their 
curates  mere  ignorant  hinds  taken  from  the  trencher  or  the 
plough.  Hungering  after  a  deeper  teaching  and  a  holier 
discipline  than  was  common  in  their  days,  they  scorned  the 
dry  husks  of  Rome ;  and  drawing  aside  from  the  established 
pale,  formed  themselves  into  a  separate  religious  society,  in 
which  they  strove  to  realize  on  earth  the  divine  ideal  of  the 
Church,  as  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people,  a  brotherhood 
of  saints. 

With  some  peculiar  tenets  of  their  own,  closely  resembling 
those  of  the  ancient  Manichees,  and  which  subjected  them 
not  altogether  without  ground  to  the  charge  of  a  heretical 
tendency,  they  were  yet  in  some  points  faithful  witnesses 
for  the  truth,  and  pioneers  of  that  great  Reformation  struggle 
that  was  yet  to  come.  In  an  age  of  rampant  superstition 
and  lifeless  formalism  they  testified  both  by  word  and  deed 
for  the  spirituality  of  religion,  and  of  the  worship  of  God ; 
and  even  their  errors  were  probably  in  large  measure  only 
an  excessive  reaction  against  the  prevailing  evils  of  the 


THE  ALBIGENSES.  121 

times.  They  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  real  corporeal  pres- 
ence. They  denounced  all  images  as  idols.  Their  worship 
was  simple  and  unadorned ;  and  sumptuous  ceremonial  and 
gorgeous  priestly  vestments  were  alike  eschewed.  The  holy 
volume  lay  open  on  the  table,  which,  in  their  places  of  wor- 
ship, supplanted  the  pompous  altar ;  and  the  simple  preach- 
ing of  the  word  formed  the  most  prominent  feature  of  the 
service.  They  abounded  in  mortifications  and  fastings,  and 
were  distinguished,  even  by  the  confession  of  enemies,  by 
a  strictness  of  life  which  was  then  rare,  and  which  went  the 
length  even  of  an  ascetic  severity.  They  received  the  name 
Albig^ois,  or  Albigenses,*  from  the  town  of  Albi.  They 
have  been  often  classed,  and,  save  for  the  serious  heretical 
leaven  above  referred  to,  not  unworthily,  with  the  Wal- 
denses,  who  cherished  the  truths  of  Christianity  in  singular 
simplicity  and  purity  during  long  ages  of  darkness  among 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont. 

Innocent,  looking  jealously  upon  these  men,  sent 
monks  to  watch  them.     One  of  these  legates  was     1208 
stabbed  to  death  by  a  retainer  of  Kaymond,  Count        A.D. 
of  Toulouse.     And  then  the  war  blazed  out. 

Dominic  Guzman,  a  Spanish  monk,  took  the  lead  in 
stirring  up  this  Crusade.  In  his  dealings  with  the  poor 
villagers  of  Languedoc,  we  trace  the  first  sign  of  that  terrible 
engine  of  the  Eomish  Church,  the  Inquisition,  which  began 
its  deadly  working  formally  in  1233  under  Gregory  IX.,  and 
continued  to  scorch  Italy  and  Spain  with  its  baleful  fires 
until  the  close  of  the  eight(  jr,th  century. 

Wearing  a  cross  on  the  breast  instead  of  the  shoulder,  the 
Crusaders,  encouraged  by  the  most  unbounded  promises  of 
absolution  from  sin,  moved  with  joy  from  all  parts  of  France 
to  a  field  of  plunder  and  bloodshed  so  near  and  so  promising. 
The  main  body  of  the  army  descended  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone,  entering  Languedoc  by  the  Mediterranean  shore. 
Tumultuous  mobs,  armed  with  clubs  and  scythes,  followed 
in  their  track. 

When  he  saw  the  terrors  of  war  approaching,  the  Count 

*  They  belonged  properly  to  the  sect  of  the  "  Cathari,"  or  "the  pure,"  ex- 
tensively scattered  over  the  whole  of  Europe  during  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and 
thirteenth  centuries. 


122  THE  SLAUGHTER  AT  BEZIERS. 

of  Toulouse,  cringing  to  the  legate,  underwent  sore  humilia- 
tion to  prove  his  penitence.  But  his  nephew,  young  Raymond 
Roger,  showed  a  bolder  front.  Dividing  his  forces  between 
his  strongest  cities,  Beziers  and  Carcassonne,  this  young  noble 
withdrew  to  the  latter  to  await  the  attack  The  citizens  of 
Beziers  made  a  hot  dash  upon  the  besiegers  as  they  were 
marking  out  a  camp.  But  an  overwhelming  force  driving 
back  the  sortie,  pressed  in  through  the  open  gates, 

1209  and  remained  masters  of  the  city.   And  then  began 
A.D.       a  terrific  scene  of  blood.    Arnold  Amalric,  the 

legate,  was  asked  by  some  officers  how  they  were 
to  know  the  heretics  from  the  true  sons  of  Rome.  Satan 
might  be  proud  of  his  reply.  "  Kill  them  all,"  said  he,  "  the 
Lord  will  know  well  those  who  are  his."  Sixty  thousand 
were  slain,  and  the  town  was  burned  to  ashes! 

Carcassonne  held  out  until  the  water  began  to  fail.  The 
garrison  escaped  by  an  underground  passage  nine  miles  long. 
Raymond  Roger,  surrendering,  died  in  prison  within  three 
months;  and  his  territories  were  bestowed  on  Simon  de 
Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  henceforward  was  the 
great  captain  of  the  war. 

In  the  summer  of  1210  Montfort  laid  siege  to  the  Castle 

of  Minerva  near  Narbonne,  which,  perched  on  a  steep  crag, 

was  looked  upon  as  the  strongest  place  in  the  land.     For 

seven  weeks  the  Albigenses  held  out ;  but  then  their  cisterns 

ran  dry.    Led  to  hope  that  their  lives  would  be 

1210  spared,  they  gave  up  the  castle.  But  they  soon  found 
A.D.       that,  if  they  wished  to  live,  they  must  confess  the 

doctrines  of  Rome  to  be  true.  A  heap  of  dry  wood, 
filling  the  courtyard,  was  set  on  fire,  and  more  than  one 
hundred  and  forty  men  and  women  leapt  willingly  into  the 
flames  rather  than  deny  their  faith. 

The  whole  of  that  land  of  deep-green  valleys  was  then 
ravaged  by  Montfort  and  his  pilgrims,  as  the  persecuting 
soldiery  were  called.  As  another  specimen  of  the  tender 
mercies  of  this  trusty  son  of  Rome,  take  the  story  of  La 
Vaur. 

This  castle,  lying  fifteen  miles  from  Toulouse,  had  long 
opened  its  hospitable  gates  to  those  Albigenses  who  were 


SlEftE  OF  THE  CASTLE  OP  LA  VATTR.  123 

driven  from  their  homes  by  the  flames.  It  was  looked  on 
by  the  Crusaders  as  a  very  nest  of  heresy.  Five 
thousand  men  of  Toulouse,  banded  together  as  the  1211 
White  Company,  advanced  to  the  siege.  Strange  A.I>. 
and  terrible  engines  of  war  fronted  the  walls.  One 
of  them  was  the  cat — a  mediaeval  form  of  the  old  battering- 
ram.  It  was  a  great  wooden  tower,  covered  with  sheepskin, 
from  whose  side  a  heavy  beam,  studded  with  iron  claws, 
struck  and  tore  at  the  masonry  till  a  breach  was  made.  At 
first  Montfort  could  not  reach  the  wall,  for  as  fast  as  he 
filled  up  the  ditch  the  garrison  cleared  away  the  earth.  At 
length,  however,  dislodging  them  from  their  subterranean 
passages  with  fire,  he  got  the  cat  to  work,  and  made  a  prac- 
ticable breach.  As  the  knights  clambered  up  the  ruined 
wall,  the  priests,  clad  in  full  robes,  chanted  a  hymn  of  joy. 
AVhen  the  sword  and  the  gallows  had  done  their  deadly 
work,  a  vast  crowd  of  the  captives  were  burned  alive. 

Raymond,  Count  of  Toulouse,  at  last  plucked  up  heart  to 
face  the  invaders.     An  alliance  was  formed  between  the 
Albigenses  and  Pedro,  King  of  Aragon.  At  Muret, 
nine  miles  from  Toulouse,  a  battle  was  fought,  in     1213 
which  Don  Pedro  was  slain,  and  the  victory  rested       A.D. 
with  Montfort.     The  iron-clad  knights  of  northern 
France  were  as  yet  more  than  a  match  for  the  light  horse  of 
Spain  and  the  defenceless  infantry  of  the  Pyrenees. 

This  crushing  blow  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Albigenses.  The  war  seemed  to  be  over,  and  the  Crusaders 
went  home. 

In  1215  we  find  Prince  Louis,  son  of  Philip  Augustus, 
taking  the  Cross  against  the  heretics.  The  time  allotted 
for  the  pilgrimage  was  six  weeks,  during  which  the  chief 
pleasures  were  to  be  living  at  discretion  in  Languedoc, 
pillaging  houses  and  castles,  and  singing  the  hymn  "  Veiii 
Creator"  round  the  burning  heretics.  But  for  that  time,  at 
least,  the  pleasant  programme  was  not  fulfilled,  for  Montfort 
took  good  care  to  get  Louis  as  quickly  and  quietly  as 
possible  out  of  the  land  which  he  had  conquered  for  himself. 
Toulouse  and  Narbonne  were  the  two  capitals  of  Montfort'a 
rule. 


124  FINAL  CONQUEST  OF  LANGUEDOC. 

The  citizens  of  the  former  revolted,  inspired  with  new 

courage  on  the  return  of  Count   Raymond.     In 

1218     the  attempt  to  retake  the  city,  Simon  de  Mont- 

A.D.       fort  was  killed  by  the  blow  of  a  great  stone  on 

the  head. 

Still  the  war  continued  with  the  same  terrible  bloodshed 
under  the  same  pretence  of  religious  zeal.  But  the  Albi- 
genses  grew  weaker.  Raymond  VI.  died  in  1222,  worn  out 

by  care  and  age.     Seven  years  later,  his  son  Ray- 

1229     niond  VII.  yielded  up  all  his  territory  to  the  King 

A.D.        of  France,  receiving  back  a  part  to  be  held  as  a 

fief.  This  arrangement  was  called  the  Peace  of 
Paris.  Some  vain  struggles  followed,  for  the  spirit  of  the 
Albigenses  was  yet  alive,  though  sorely  crushed.  However, 
the  final  ratification  of  the  peace  in  1242  completed  the  con- 
quest of  Languedoc. 

This  was  not  only  a  religious  persecution,  but  had  a  dis- 
tinct political  aim.  Guizot  well  describes  it  as  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  feudal  system  in  the  south  of  France, 
when  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  organize  society  there 
on  democratic  principles.  So  completely  was  the  nationality 
of  the  Albigenses  trampled  out,  that  their  beautiful  tongue 
— the  Langue  d'Oc,  the  sweet  provenpal  of  the  troubadour 
ballads — perished  for  ever,  as  a  distinct  speech,  from  among 
the  tongues  of  Europe, 

THE  CAPET  KINGS  OF  FRANCE. 


HUGH  CAPET 987 

ROBERT  II.  (the  Sage) 996 

HENRY  1 1031 

PHILIP  1 1060 

LOUIS  VI.  (le  Gros) 1108 

LOUIS  VII.  (the  Young) 1137 

PHILIP  II.  (Augustus) 1180 

LOUIS  VIII.  CCoeur  de  Lion)  1223 


A.D, 


LOUIS  IX,  (St.  Louis) 1226 

PHILIP  III.  (the  Hardy)...  1270 

PHILIP  IV.  (the  Fair) 1285 

LOUIS  X.  (Hutin) 1314 

JOHN 1316 

PHILIP  V.  (the  Long) 1316 

CHARLES   IV.   (the  Hand- 
some)   1322 


THE  ANCIENT  PRUSSIANS.  126 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONQUEST  OF  PRUSSIA  BY  THE  TEUTONIC  ORDER. 

Central  Point :— THE  SEAT  OF  THE  ORDEK  FIXED  AT 
MARIENBURG.    1309  A.D. 


The  BorussL  I  Removal  to  Marienburg. 

Occupation  of  Culm.  German  colonists. 

The  war.  1  Territory  of  the  order. 


The  grand  masters. 
Luxury  and  vice. 
Battle  of  Tannenberg. 


ONE  of  the  most  remarkable  achievements  during  the  hey- 
day of  chivalry  was  the  conquest  of  Prussia  by  the  few 
thousand  knights  of  the  Teutonic  order,  which,  it  will  be 
remembered,  originated  during  the  third  Crusade. 

Among  the  heaths  and  marshes  and  pine  forests,  which 
bordered  the  Baltic  on  the  south  and  east,  the  Borussi, 
fiercest,  perhaps,  of  all  the  Sclavonic  tribes,  had  long  main- 
tained themselves.  They  wore  furs  and  coarse  linen ;  ate 
horseflesh  and  drank  mare's  milk.  The  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  were  their  gods;  and  when  a  chief  died,  his  wives, 
slaves,  arms,  and  horses  were  burned  with  his  corpse.  Their 
javelins  and  lances  baffled  every  attempt  to  plant  Chris- 
tianity among  them.  They  were  deadly  and  dangerous  foes 
of  the  Polish  nation,  whose  vigorous  efforts  to  subdue  them 
had  been  all  in  vain  for  nearly  four  hundred  years. 

The  fifth  Crusade  was  over,  and  the  sixth  had  not  yet 
begun.  During  this  lull  in  the  fighting  world,  the  Teutonic 
knights,  just  home  from  the  Holy  Land,  accepted  the  invita- 
tion of  a  Polish  duke  to  occupy  Culm  on  the  Vistula,  and 
turn  their  arms  against  these  fierce  heathen. 

Fixing  their  head-quarters  by  the  Vistula,  first  at  Culm, 
then  at  Thorn,  which  was  built  by  themselves  in 
1231,  the  knights  commenced  a  war  of  fifty-three     1228 
years,  which  ended  in  the  complete   overthrow         to 
of  the  Borussi  or  Prussians.     The  Sword  Knights     1281 
of   Livonia   joined  the  banner  of  the  Teutonic      A.D. 
Order  early  in  the  war. 

About  thirty  years  after  the  conquest  of  the  land  the 


126  POWER  AND  GRANDEUR  OF  THE  ORDER. 

grand  master  removed  the  seat  of  the  order  from  Venice 
to  Marienburg,  thus  completing  the  settlement  of  these  new 
lords  upon  Prussian  soil. 

Some  of  the  native  Prussian  chiefs  were  ennobled ;  but 
the  mass  of  the  people  sank  into  serfdom.  Feudal  castles 
studded  the  conquered  land ;  and  to  fill  the  place  of  the 
thousands  who  had  perished  in  the  terrible  war,  German 
colonists  were  drafted  in.  The  German  tongue  began  to  be 
freely  spoken,  and  a  spirit  of  enterprise  pervaded  the  land. 
The  Prussians  turned  to  their  cattle-rearing  with  new  zeal. 
Commerce  flourished  along  the  Baltic  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  Vistula.  Neat  German  farms  smiled  everywhere  around. 
The  Baltic  supplied  profitable  stores  of  fish ;  and  the  amber, 
gathered  on  the  shore,  drew  wealth  into  the  coffers  of  the 
state. 

Unbroken,  except  by  a  wedge  of  Lithuania,  which,  north 
of  the  Niemen,  touched  the  sea  with  its  point,  the  territory 
of  the  Teutonic  Order  stretched  along  the  Baltic  from  a 
good  distance  west  of  the  Vistula  to  the  southern  shore  of 
the  Gulf  of  Finland.  Running  inland  as  far  as  Thorn,  it 
included  eastern  and  part  of  western  Prussia,  with  Courland, 
Livonia,  and  Esthonia,  three  provinces  of  modern  Russia. 
The  islands  of  Dago  and  Gothland  were  also  within  the  limit. 
The  chief  cities  were  Marienburg,  Konigsberg,  and  Gdansk  or 
Dantzic.  In  the  first  of  these,  which  was  the  capital  of  the 
Order,  from  1309  to  their  fall  in  1466,  the  grand  old  Gothic 
ruins  of  their  palace — das  Deutsche  Jiaus — still  mark  the 
greatness  of  a  pride  long  since  crumbled  into  dust. 

The  grand  masters  lived  in  most  magnificent  state.  One 
of  them,  gathering  an  army  on  the  banks  of  the  Niemen  to 
invade  Lithuania,  entertained  his  knights  at  a  grand  banquet. 
Richly  dressed  servants  held  canopies  of  cloth  of  gold  over 
each  knight  as  he  sat  at  table ;  and,  when  the  thirty  courses 
of  the  banquet  had  come  and  gone,  the  guests  were  permitted 
to  carry  away  the  golden  plate  and  cup  they  had  just  been 
using.  Such  luxury  began  to  sap  the  prosperity  of  these 
soldier-monks.  Vices,  at  first  hidden  within  castle  walls, 
began  to  be  practised  more  openly  with  little  shame.  With 
blacker  vice  there  grew  up  greater  arrogance.  They  lashed 
their  Prussian  serfs  and  the  German  settlers  with  such 


THE  DECISIVE  BLOW.  127 

merciless  severity,  that  the  trampled  races,  rising  in  revolt, 
called  in  the  aid  of  the  gallant  Poles.   On  one  fear- 
ful field — Tannenberg  in  Southern  Prussia — the     1410 
Grand  Master  Ulric  died  with  most  of  his  knights,       A.D. 
and  30,000  meaner  soldiers. 

This  blow  utterly  broke  the  power  of  the  order.  And, 
half  a  century  later  we  find  the  Teutonic  knights,  shorn  of 
their  old  splendour,  sink  into  nothingness  as  the  vassals  of 
the  Polish  crown* 


128  THE  FOREST  CANTONS  OF  SWITZERLAND, 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SWISS  WAR  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

Central  Points:  3ATTLE  OF  MORGARTEN,  1315  A.D. 
BATTLE  OF  SEMPACH,  1386  A.D. 


Old  Helvetia. 
Rodolph  of  Hapsburg. 
Appointment  of  bailiffs. 
The  meadow  of  RutlL 
Tell  and  the  apple. 

Gessler  slain. 
The  outbreak. 
Battle  of  Morgarten. 
The  name  Switzerland. 
The  eight  cantons. 

Battle  of  Sempach. 
Battle  of  Nefels. 
The    Sempach    Conren 
tion. 

EARLY  in  the  Christian  era  Helvetia,  which  was  peopled 
chiefly  by  Gallic  tribes,  formed  a  part  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
Then,  overrun  by  various  barbarous  races,  it  was  included 
in  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy  the  Less,  and  as  such  fell 
under  the  rule  of  Charlemagne.  After  his  death  it  was 
annexed  to  the  Romano-Germanic  Empire.  Conspicuous 
among  the  many  small  sovereignties  and  states,  into  which 
it  was  broken,  even  while  owning  a  sort  of  dependence  on 
the  empire,  were  the  Forest  Cantons  of  Schweitz,  Uri,  and 
Underwalden,  clustered  round  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Lucerne. 

In  1273  Count  Rodolph  of  Hapsburg  (Hawk's  Castle  on 
the  Aar  in  North  Switzerland)  was  elected  King  of  the 
Romans,  or  Emperor  of  Germany.  He  is  distinguished  in 
history  as  the  founder  of  the  Imperial  House  of  Austria. 
Lord  of  many  lands  and  towns  in  Switzerland,  he  held 
besides,  by  the  free  choice  of  the  foresters  themselves,  the 
advocacy  or  protectorship  of  the  Forest  States.  He  did  not 
allow  his  elevation  to  the  imperial  throne  to  sever  the  ties 
which  bound  him  to  the  mountain-land.  He  spent  much 
time  among  the  Swiss  ;  and  the  many  benefits  and  enlarged 
privileges  they  received  from  him  were  repaid  on  their  part 
by  unbroken  affection  and  unbounded  trust. 

But  when,  in  1298,  his  son  Albert — Duke  of  Austria, 
which  had  been  taken  by  Rodolph  from  Bohemia — was  made 
emperor,  a  gloom  fell  upon  Switzerland.  It  soon  became 
clear  that  his  design  was  to  make  himself  despotic  master 
of  all  the  land.  The  Forest  Cantons  were  placed  under  two 


WILLIAM  TELL  AND  HIS  FAMOUS  SHOT.  129 

bailiffs  or  governors,  Gessler  and  Beringer,  whose  insolent 
tyranny  grew  intolerable. 

Three  of  the  oppressed  foresters,  Walter  Fiirst,  Arnold 
von  Melchthal,  and  Werner  Stauffacher,  met  to  plan  the 
deliverance  of  their  country.   On  a  November  night 
in  the  meadow  of  Rutli  by  Lake  Lucerne,  these     1307 
three  patriots,  in  the  presence  of  thirty  tried  friends,       A.D. 
swore  beneath  the  starry  sky  to  die,  if  need  were, 
in  defence  of  their  freedom.     And  all  the  thirty  joining  in 
the  solemn  vow,  the  coming  New  Year's  Night  was  fixed 
for  striking  the  first  blow. 

Meanwhile  Gessler,  the  Austrian  bailiff,  was  slain  by  one 
of  the  thirty,  William  Tell,  a  native  of  Burglen  near  Altorf, 
and  famous  over  all  the  country  for  his  skill  with  the  cross- 
bow. The  romantic  story,  upon  which,  however,  some 
doubt  has  been  cast  by  modern  historians,  runs  thus : — 

Gessler,  to  try  the  temper  of  the  Swiss,  set  up  the 
ducal  hat  of  Austria  on  a  pole,  in  the  market-place  of  Altorf, 
and  commanded  that  all  who  passed  it  by  should  bow  in 
homage.  Tell,  passing  one  day  with  his  little  son,  made  no 
sign  of  reverence.  He  was  at  once  dragged  before  Gessler, 
who  doomed  him  to  die,  unless  with  a  bolt  from  his  cross- 
bow he  could  hit  an  apple  placed  on  his  son's  head.  The 
boy  was  bound,  and  the  apple  balanced.  Tell,  led  a  long 
way  off,  aiming  for  some  breathless  seconds,  cleft  the  little 
fruit  to  the  core.  But,  while  shouts  of  joy  were  ringing 
from  the  gathered  crowd,  Gessler  saw  that  Tell  had  a  second 
arrow,  which  he  had  somehow  contrived  to  hide  while 
choosing  one  for  his  trying  shot.  "  Why,"  cried  the  bailiff, 
" hast  thou  that  second  arrow?"  And  the  bold  answer  was, 
"  For  thee,  if  the  first  had  struck  my  child." 

In  a  violent  rage  Gessler  then  ordered  Tell  to  be  chained, 
and  carried  across  the  lake  to  the  prison  of  Kussnacht.  A 
Btorm  arising  when  they  were  half  way  over,  huge  waves 
threatened  to  swamp  the  boat.  By  order  of  the  governor, 
Tell,  whose  knowledge  of  the  lake  was  remarkable,  was 
unchained  and  placed  at  the  rudder.  Resolved  on  a  bold 
dash  for  liberty,  he  steered  for  a  rocky  shelf  which  jutted 
into  the  waters,  sprang  ashore,  and  was  soon  lost  among  the 
mountain  glens.  And  some  time  after,  hiding  in  a  woody 

<4W  9 


130  BATTLE  OF  MORGARTEN. 

pass  within  a  short  distance  of  Kussnacht,  he  shot  the 
tyrant  Gessler  dead  with  his  unerring  cross-bow. 

Thus  for  a  few  hours  Tell  shone  out  in  the  story  of  the 
world  with  a  lustre  that  has  never  since  grown  dim.  Dark- 
ness rests  on  his  after  life.  We  know  nothing  more  than 
that  he  fought  in  the  great  battle  of  Morgarten,  and  that  in 
1350  he  was  drowned  in  a  flooded  river. 

The  dawn  of  1308  saw  the  foresters  in  arms.  The  Aus- 
trian castles  were  seized.  The  Alps  were  all  alight  with 
bonfires.  Albert,  hurriedly  gathering  an  army,  was  advancing 
to  crush  the  rising,  when  he  was  assassinated  at  the  Reuss 
by  his  nephew,  Duke  John  of  Suabia.  To  their  lasting 
honour,  be  it  said,  that  the  three  revolted  cantons  refused  to 
shelter  the  murderer,  who  lived  and  died  miserably  in  Italy. 

Three  great  battles — Morgarten,  Sempach,  and  Nefels — 
mark  the  steps  by  which  the  brave  Swiss  achieved  their 
independence. 

Seven  years  after  Albert's  death,  his  son,  Duke  Leopold 
of  Austria,  resolving  to  pierce  the  mountains  of  Schweitz 
and  punish  the  audacious  herdsmen,  left  Zug  with  an  army  of 
15,000  men,  carrying  great  coils  of  rope  to  hang  his  prisoners. 
The  Pass  of  Morgarten,  which  ran  for  three  miles  between 
the  steep  rocks  of  Mount  Sattel  and  the  little  Lake  Egeri,  was 
the  only  way  by  which  heavy  cavalry  could  pass  into  the 
doomed  canton.  With  the  dawn  of  a  November 
Uov.  16,  morning,  as  the  sun  shone  red  through  a  frosty 
1315  fog,  the  Austrians  entered  the  pass — a  host  of  steel- 
A.D.  clad  knights  in  front,  and  the  footmen  following  in 
close  order.  Their  advance  was  known  and  pre- 
pared for.  Fourteen  hundred  herdsmen,  who  had  com- 
mended their  cause  and  themselves  to  the  God  of  battles, 
lined  the  rocky  heights.  Fifty  exiles  from  Schweitz,  burning 
to  regain  an  honoured  place  among  their  countrymen, 
gathered  on  a  jutting  crag  that  overhung  the  entrance  of  the 
defile,  and  when  the  Austrians  were  well  in  the  trap,  hurled 
down  great  rocks  and  beams  of  wood  upon  the  close-packed 
ranks.  Amid  the  confusion,  which  was  increased  by  the 
fog,  the  Swiss  rushed  from  the  heights,  and  with  their 
halberts  and  iron-shod  clubs  beat  down  the  Austrian  knights 
in  crowds.  Horses  plunged  into  the  lake  ;  many  knights 


BATTLE  OF  SEMPACH.  131 

fell  back  upon  the  footmen,  trampling  them  to  death.  It 
was  a  woeful  day  for  Austria,  and  for  chivalry,  when  the 
steel  cuirass  and  the  knightly  lance  went  down  before  the 
pikes  and  clubs  of  a  few  untrained  footmen.  Duke  Leopold 
scarcely  saved  himself  by  a  headlong  flight  over  the  moun- 
tains to  Winterthur,  where  he  arrived  late  in  the  evening,  a 
haggard,  beaten  man. 

The  valour  of  the  Schweitzers  was  so  remarkable  in  this 
battle,  and  throughout  the  great  future  struggle,  that  the 
name  of  their  canton  was  extended  to  the  whole  country, 
henceforth  named  Switzerland. 

The  three  cantons  renewed  their  solemn  league  of  mutual 
defence.     Lucerne  joined  the  Confederation  in  1335 ;  Zurich 
and  Zug  in  1351 ;  Glarus  and  Berne  soon  followed,  thus 
completing  the  list  of  the  eight  ancient  cantons  of  the  infant 
Republic.   A  treaty,  ratified  at  Lucerne,  is  remark- 
able as  being  a  distinct  acknowledgment  on  the     1353 
part  of  Austria  that  the  Swiss  had  triumphed,  and      A.D. 
were  free.     The  ceaseless  industry  and  steady  eco- 
nomy of  the  mountaineers  proved  them  worthy  of  the  free- 
dom they  had  so  bravely  won. 

But  their  task  was  not  yet  done.  Bent  on  crushing  the 
Confederation  with  one  terrible  blow,  Leopold,  Duke  of 
Suabia,  one  of  the  Hapsburg  line,  marched  from  Baden 
towards  Lucerne.  He  found  his  way  barred  at  Sempach  by 
1300  men,  who  held  the  wooded  heights  round  the 
lake.  The  Austrian  force  consisted  of  4000  horse,  July  9, 
and  1400  foot.  At  the  hastily  summoned  council  1386 
the  arrogant  nobles  were  loud  in  their  cry  that  the  A.D. 
peasant  rabble  should  be  crushed  at  once,  without 
waiting  for  the  rest  of  the  army.  And  rashly  the  duke 
gave  orders  for  the  fight.  As  the  broken  mountain-ground 
was  unfit  for  cavalry  movements,  the  knights,  dismounting, 
formed  a  solid  mass  of  steel  blazing  in  the  hot  harvest  sun. 
A  short  prayer,  and  the  Swiss  were  formed  for  the  charge. 
On  they  came,  the  gallant  mountain  men,  some  with  boards 
on  their  left  arms  instead  of  shields.  But  the  iron  wall 
stood  fast,  with  its  bristling  fence  unbroken ;  sixty  of  their 
little  band  lay  bleeding  on  the  earth  ;  the  wings  of  the  Aus- 
trian line  were  curving  round  to  hem  them  in  a  fatal  ring, 


132 


THE  SEMPACH  CONVENTION. 


when  Arnold  von  Winkelried,  a  knight  of  Underwalden, 
dashing  with  open  arms  on  the  Austrian  lances,  swept 
together  as  many  as  he  could  reach,  and  as  they  pierced  his 
brave  breast,  bore  their  points  with  him  to  the  ground.  Like 
lightning  the  Swiss  were  through  the  gap ;  the  Austrian  line 
was  broken;  all  was  rout  and  dismay.  Two  thousand  knights 
perished  on  the  field.  Duke  Leopold  himself  died  while  gal- 
lantly defending  the  torn  and  bloody  banner  of  Austria. 

This  brilliant  success  was  followed,  two  years  later,  by  an- 
other at  Nefels,  in  which  6000  Austrians  were  scattered  by  a 
handful  of  Swiss.  Here,  as  at  Morgarten,  rocks  flung  from 
the  heights  caused  the  first  disorder  in  the  Austrian  lines. 

At  the  diet  of  Zurich,  held  in  1393,  a  general  law-martial, 
called  the  Sempach  Convention,  was  framed  to  bind  the 
eight  cantons  together  in  firmer  league.  It  enacted  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  every  true  Switzer  "  to  avoid  unnecessary 
feuds,  but  where  a  war  was  unavoidable,  to  unite  cordially 
and  loyally  together ;  not  to  flee  in  any  battle  before  the 
contest  should  be  decided,  even  if  wounded,  but  to  remain 
masters  of  the  field;  not  to  attempt  pillage  before  the 
general  had  sanctioned  it ;  and  to  spare  churches,  convents, 
and  defenceless  females." 

So  Switzerland  shook  off  the  yoke  of  Austria ;  and  never 
since,  but  once,  when  for  a  time  Napoleon  laid  his  giant 
grasp  upon  her,  has  the  liberty  won  at  Morgarten  and 
Sempach  been  imperilled. 

GEEMA1ST  EMPEROES  OF  THE  HOUSES  OF  HAPS- 
BURG,  LUXEMBURG,  AND  BAVARIA. 


RODOLPH  (Count  of  Haps- 

burg) 1273 

Interregnum 1291 

ADOLPHUS(Count  of  Nassau)1292 
ALBERT  (Duke  of  Austria)  1298 
HENRY   VII.  of  LUXEM- 
BURG  1308 

Interregnum 1313 

LOUIS  IV.  (of  Bavaria)....) 
FREDERIC  III.  (of  Aus->1314 

tria),  reigning  rivals ) 

Louis  alone 1330 


CHARLES  IV.  (of  Luxem- 
burg)  1347 

WENCESLAS  (King  of  Bo- 
hemia)  1378 

FREDERIC  (Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick  1400 

RUPERT  (Count  Palatine  of 
the  Rhine) 1400 

JOSSUS  (Marquis  of  Mora- 
via)  1410 

SIGISMUND  (King  of  Hun- 
gary)  1410 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  CHIVALRY. 


133 


Origin  of  chivalry. 
Three  grades. 
The  page. 
The  squire. 
His  chief  duties. 
Creation  of  a  knight. 
Chain  mail. 


CHAPTER  VL 

CHIVALRY. 

Plate  armour. 
Picture  of  a  knight. 
Overweighted. 
The  tournament. 
The    three    elements    of 
chivalry. 


Battle  of  Courtrai. 
Swiss  infantry. 
Gunpowder  and  guns. 
The  last  knights. 
Literature  of  chivalry. 
The  gentleman. 


THE  life  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  deeply  coloured  with  the 
brilliant  hues  of  chivalry.  There  the  knight  is  the  central 
figure— the  model  of  mediaeval  art — the  hero  of  mediaeval 
literature — foremost  in  every  court  revel  and  greenwood 
sport,  in  the  glittering  tilt-yard  and  the  dusty  battle- 
field. 

The  origin  of  chivalry  cannot  be  marked  by  any  distinct 
date.  While  the  Caesars  ruled  in  Rome,  the  germs  of  the 
system  were  alive  amid  the  German  forests.  Of  this  Tacitus 
gives  us  a  glimpse,  when  he  writes,  "  that  the  noblest  youths 
were  not  ashamed  to  be  numbered  among  the  faithful  com- 
panions of  a  celebrated  leader,  to  whom  they  devoted  their 
arms  and  their  service."  Silently,  but  surely  the  system 
grew  amid  the  warring  waves  which  swept  over  Europe 
after  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  In  the  days  of  Charle- 
magne it  received  a  powerful  impulse.  Then  the  caballarii 
or  horsemen  got  a  separate  summons  to  serve  in  the  army. 
But  chivalry  ripened  to  its  fullest  growth  during  the  two 
centuries  of  the  Crusades. 

The  young  aspirant  served  in  two  subordinate  grades 
before  he  received  his  spurs.  First  a  page,  and  then  a 
squire,  he  became  at  last  a  knight. 

A  boy,  destined  for  military  life,  was  sent  at  seven  or 
eight  years  of  age  to  the  castle  of  some  noble  distinguished 
in  war.  There,  called  a  page  or  varlet,  he  was  at  first  set  to 
attend  the  ladies  of  the  mansion,  to  run  their  messages,  to 
follow  them  in  their  walks,  or  to  accompany  them  when  they 
rode  out  hunting  or  hawking.  In  return  for  these  services. 


134  THE  DUTIES  OP  PAGE  AND  SQUIRE. 

which  he  was  obliged  to  render  with  all  humility  and  cour- 
tesy, he  received  instruction  in  the  use  of  light  weapons,  in 
music,  chess,  and  the  chief  doctrines  of  religion.  For  these 
last,  indeed,  he  was  oftener  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  his 
lady  than  to  the  zeal  of  the  priest. 

The  page  was  made  a  squire  at  the  age  of  thirteen  or 
fourteen.  His  father  and  mother,  bearing  tapers  in  their 
hands,  brought  him  before  the  altar,  where  the  priest,  with 
words  of  prayer  and  blessing,  gave  him  a  sword  and  belt. 
The  introduction  of  religious  sanction  into  the  ceremonies  of 
chivalry — which,  however,  does  not  appear  till  after  the  time 
of  Charlemagne — gave  the  system  its  greatest  strength.  In 
one  sense,  indeed,  and  that  the  literal,  chivalry  may  be 
called  the  religion  of  the  Middle  Ages,  for  its  influence  kept 
down  to  some  extent  the  growth  of  barbarous  vices,  giving 
a  gentler  and  softer  tone  to  social  intercourse. 

The  page  was  the  attendant  of  the  ladies  ;  but  the  squire 
served  the  men.  Every  squire — for  in  a  great  household 
there  were  many — had  his  own  special  work  to  do.  One, 
the  body-squire,  was  the  personal  attendant  of  his  lord ; 
another,  the  squire-trenchant,  bore  the  napkins  and  bread  at 
meal-time,  and  carved  the  chief  dishes  ;  a  third  looked  after 
the  horses,  and  others  kept  the  keys  of  the  cellar  and  the 
pantry.  When  the  meal  was  over,  the  squires  prepared  the 
hall  for  dancing,  and  through  the  evening  their  time  was 
fully  taken  up  in  handing  round  sweetmeats  and  spiced 
wine  during  the  pauses  in  the  pastime.  The  squires,  too, 
were  often  called  on  to  add  to  the  pleasures  of  the  evening 
with  music  and  song. 

These  duties,  however,  were  secondary  to  the  more  impor- 
tant work  which  lay  before  the  squire,  when  the  dangers  of 
the  hunting  field  and  the  constant  practice  of  military  sports 
had  strengthened  his  thews  and  quickened  his  eye.  His 
great  duty  was  to  follow  his  lord  to  the  battle  or  the  tour- 
nament, leading  the  war-horse.  On  the  high-peaked  saddle 
was  piled  the  armour  of  the  knight,  who,  lightly  dressed, 
rode  before  on  a  hack.  When  the  hour  of  battle  came,  he 
arrayed  his  master  in  full  armour,  rivetting  the  plates  with 
a  skill  which  it  had  taken  much  time  and  pains  to  gain. 
During  the  tight  he  kept  behind  his  lord,  handed  a  fresh 


?HE  CREATION  OF  A  KNIGHT.  135 

lance,  led  in  a  horse  if  his  lord  was  dismounted,  dashed  to 
the  rescue  if  he  saw  him  hard  pressed,  and  often  bore  him 
bleeding  to  a  place  of  safety.  Such  were  a  squire's  duties 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

The  change  from  squirehood  to  knighthood  was  marked 
with  much  religious  pomp.  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whit- 
suntide were  the  chief  seasons  for  the  creation  of  new 
knights.  Having  fasted  and  confessed  all  his  sins,  the  can- 
didate passed  a  night  in  prayer  and  watching.  Then  having 
bathed,  he  was  dressed  in  new  robes, — an  underkirtle,  a  silk 
or  linen  vest  embroidered  with  gold,  a  collar  of  leather,  and 
over  all  the  coat  of  arms.  Proceeding  to  the  church,  he 
handed  his  sword  to  the  priest.  A  prayer  was  said  ;  a  vow 
to  defend  churches,  widows,  and  orphans,  and  to  fight  for 
the  faithful  against  all  pagans,  was  taken  ;  another  prayer, 
and  a  part  of  the  44th  Psalm  was  sung.  The  prince,  who 
was  to  confer  the  distinction,  then  put  the  usual  questions 
as  to  the  motives  of  the  candidate  in  seeking  to  be  made  a 
knight,  and  the  final  oath  being  taken,  the  sword,  now  con- 
secrated by  the  priest,  was  handed  to  the  attendants.  The 
baldric — a  belt  of  white  leather  and  gold — was  slung  round 
the  candidate,  and  his  golden  spurs  were  buckled  on.  The 
prince  then  drawing  the  sword,  completed  the  ceremony 
with  a  blow  of  its  fiat  on  the  neck,  thus  dubbing  the  candi- 
date squire  a  knight  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  A  box  on 
the  ear  sometimes  took  the  place  of  the  sword-stroke. 

The  dress  and  equipment  of  the  knight  varied  much  at 
different  periods.  The  Roman  cavalry  being  clad  in  mail, 
made  of  metal  scales  sewed  on  a  leather  garment,  the  Goths, 
Alans,  and  other  barbarous  tribes  began  to  wear  the  same. 
But  when  the  Moslem  horsemen,  in  later  times,  met  the 
troops  of  the  West,  this  Roman  mail  was  exchanged  for  the 
Saracen  chain  armour,  formed  of  interlinked  rings  of  steel. 
The  heroes  of  the  first  Crusade  wore  this  chain  mail,  of 
which  the  great  advantage  was,  that  it  allowed  freer  move- 
ment of  the  limbs.  A  great  clumsy  hauberk  or  tunic  oi 
steel  rings  hung  to  their  knees.  The  head,  too,  was  protected 
by  a  hood  or  cowl  of  chain-mail  over  which  was  worn  a 
low  flat  cap  of  steel.  Mittens  covered  the  hands,  and 
pointed  shoes  of  mail  the  feet.  Their  long  iron  spurs  had 


136  THE  PICTURE  OF  A  KNIGHT. 

no  rowels.  The  clumsy  sombreness  of  the  whole  equipment 
was  hardly  relieved  by  the  bright  colours  of  the  device, 
shining  on  the  three-pointed  shield,  which  hung  over  the 
breast,  or  by  the  embroidery  of  the  surcoat  with  its  ermine 
lining,  which  was  worn  over  the  hauberk.  In  such  attire 
Godfrey  and  Tancred  fought. 

The  horses  were  at  first  quite  unprotected.  But  when  at 
Dorylaeum  and  other  early  battles  of  the  Crusaders,  the 
Turkish  arrows  unhorsed  the  knights  by  thousands,  and 
slew  many  of  them  in  spite  of  their  mailed  hauberks,  it 
became  the  custom  to  sheathe  the  horses  in  complete  armour. 
And  during  the  fourteenth  century  the  chain-mail  of  the 
early  knights  was  exchanged  for  armour  formed  of  overlap- 
ping metal  plates,  which  was  found  more^  serviceable  in 
resisting  pointed  missiles. 

The  knight,  as  he  appears  in  the  hey-day  of  chivalry, 
glittering  in  his  costly  armour  of  steel  inlaid  with  gold,  with 
plume  and  crest  and  vizored  helmet,  wearing  gauntlets 
instead  of  the  old  chain  cuffs,  his  lance  and  mace,  axe  and 
sword  and  dagger  all  ready  for  the  fray,  presents  a  splendid 
and  romantic  figure  too  well  known  to  need  fuller  descrip- 
tion. His  robe  of  peace  was  of  silk  or  velvet ;  on  great 
occasions  he  wore  a  long  scarlet  cloak  doubled  with  ermine, 
and  a  massy  gold  signet  ring,  like  that  worn  by  bishops, 
glittered  on  his  finger. 

But  this  splendid  warrior  soon  became  of  little  use  in  the 
field.  When  it  was  found  that  the  weight  of  a  mass  of 
iron-clad  men  and  horses  in  full  charge  bore  down  every- 
thing before  it,  to  increase  the  weight  heavier  armour  was 
used,  until  both  knight  and  horse  were  locked  up  in  a  little 
fortress  of  steel, — safe,  indeed,  from  most  missiles,  but  very 
harmless  to  an  active,  light-armed  foe.  Those  great  suits  of 
armour,  at  which  we  gaze  with  wonder  in  museums  and 
armories,  belong  to  the  decline  of  chivalry  ;  and  when  we 
think  of  the  herculean  frames  that  must  have  borne  them, 
we  should  not  forget  that  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for 
knights  to  be  so  lamed  in  their  shoulders  with  the  weight  of 
such  armour,  as  to  be  unfit  for  active  service  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-five. 

The  tournament   has   been  well  called  the  link   which 


THREE  ELEMENTS  OP  CHIVALRY.  137 

united  the  peaceful  to  the  warlike  life  of  the  knight.  They 
were  first  held  in  France,  as  the  French  origin  of  the  name 
seems  to  show.  England  and  Germany  soon  followed  the 
example  of  their  neighbours.  The  lists,  in  which  the  en- 
counters took  place,  were  roped  or  railed  off  in  an  oval 
form,  generally  between'  the  city  and  a  wood.  The  open 
spaces  at  each  end  were  filled  with  stalls  and  galleries  for 
the  ladies  and  the  noble  spectators.  The  tilting  was  gene- 
rally with  lances,  'on  the  points  of  which  were  fixed  pieces 
of  wood,  called  rockets  ;  and  the  great  object  with  each 
knight  was  to  unhorse  his  antagonist.  When  the  heralds 
cried,  "  Laissez  aller"  off  they  dashed  from  opposite  ends  of 
the  lists,  and  met  in  the  centre.  This  rough  sport  often 
ended  fatally,  as  when  Henry  II.  of  France  got  his  death- 
wound  at  a  joust  with  one  of  his  knights.  Accidents  like 
this  brought  the  tournament  into  disrepute,  and  soon  the 
clergy  began  to  set  their  faces  against  it, — nominally,  because 
it  was  a  perilous  and  bloody  sport — really,  perhaps,  because 
they  thought  that  the  gold  and  silver  wasted  on  these  spec- 
tacles of  useless  glitter  would  be  safer  and  better  in  the 
money  boxes  of  the  Church. 

Chivalry  in  its  fullest  development  was  a  compound  of 
three  distinct  elements.  It  was  at  first  a  purely  military 
institution,  growing  out  of  the  warlike  character  of  the 
Teutonic  tribes.  But  a  religious  element  was  introduced 
about  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  clergy  began  to  feel 
the  importance  of  gaining  a  hold  upon  a  body  so  great  and 
powerful  as  the  military  order.  The  ceremony  of  creating 
a  knight  became  a  solemn  religious  scene,  and  among  other 
vows  he  swore  to  protect  Mother  Church,  and  to  pay  faith- 
ful attention  to  his  religious  duties.  Latest  of  the  three 
chivalric  elements  was  the  spirit  of  gallantry  fostered  by  its 
vows.  This  influence,  though  deeply  tinged  with  licentious- 
ness, helped  to  raise  woman  from  the  low,  servile  place  she 
always  holds  in  barbarous  society,  to  her  true  position  as 
the  equal  and  companion  of  man. 

The  decay  of  chivalry  came  in  the  natural  course  of 
events,  when  the  system  had  done  its  destined  work  It 
was  found  that  the  ponderous  knight  was  as  useless  and 
helpless  as  a  log  when  he  lay  unhorsed  upon  the  ground. 


138  THE  DECAY  OF  KNIGHTHOOD. 

A  very  striking  instance  of  this — and  that  which  sank,  per- 
haps, most  deeply  into  the  mind  of  Europe  at  the  time — was 
afforded  by  the  battle  of  Courtrai  in  West  Flanders,  fought 
in  1302,  between  the  French  and  the  Flemish.  To  quote 
the  words  of  an  eloquent  living  writer,  who  sketches  the 
scene  in  stirring  Saxon  words  :  "Impetuous  valour  and  con- 
tempt for  smiths  and  weavers  blinded  the  fiery  nobles. 
They  rushed  forward  with  loose  bridles ;  and  as  they  had 
disdained  to  reconnoitre  the  scene  of  the  display,  they  fell 
headlong,  one  after  another,  horse  and  plume,  sword  and 
spur,  into  one  enormous  ditch,  which  lay  between  them  and 
their  enemies.  On  they  came,  an  avalanche  of  steel  and 
horseflesh,  and  floundered  into  the  muddy  hole.  Hundreds 
— thousands,  unable  to  check  their  steeds,  or  afraid  to 
appear  irresolute,  or  goggling  in  vain  through  the  deep  holes 
left  for  their  eyes,  fell,  struggled,  writhed,  and  choked,  till 
the  ditch  was  filled  with  trampled  knights  and  tumbling 
horses,  and  the  burghers  on  the  opposite  bank  beat  in  the 
helmets  of  those  who  tried  to  climb  up  with  jagged  clubs, 
and  hacked  their  naked  heads."  Our  English  archers,  too, 
formed  a  force,  against  whom  heavy-armed  cavalry  were  of 
little  avail.  At  Cressy  and  Poictiers  the  cloth  yard  shafts 
won  the  day. 

Infantry  began,  towards  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  to 
be  reckoned  of  some  value  in  the  field  once  more.  In  this 
movement  the  Swiss  took  the  lead,  inspired  by  the  victory 
of  their  foot-soldiers  over  the  chivalry  of  Austria  ;  and  for 
some  centuries  the  Swiss  foot  were  to  be  found  on  almost 
every  Continental  battlefield,  ranged  in  deep  battalions, 
bristling  with  pikes,  two-handed  swords,  and  spiked  maces, 
which  bore  the  poetic  name  of  morning  stars. 

But  it  was  gunpowder  which  really  blew  chivalry  to 
pieces.  Armour  of  proof  might  have  been  forged,  and  no  doubt 
was  forged,  able  to  withstand  the  English  shaft,  or  turn  the 
edge  of  the  Swiss  broadsword  ;  but  what  could  resist  the 
cannon-ball !  Battles  were  now  to  be  fought  chiefly  at  a 
distance,  no  longer  hand-to-hand ;  science  began  to  take  the 
place  of  sheer  strength.  The  art  of  war  was  wholly  changed 
by  this  invention,  which  is  said  to  have  been  brought  into 
Europe  by  the  Saracens.  An  Arabic  writer  in  1249  speaka 


CHIVALRIC  LITERATURE.  139 

of  its  use  in  war  in  his  own  day,  one  hundred  years  before  the 
time  of  Schwartz,  the  monk  of  Goslar,  who  is  reported  to 
have  mixed  the  ingredients  accidentally  one  day  during  some 
chemical  experiments.  A  hand  cannon  was  at  first  used.  In 
the  sixteenth  century  a  long  musket,  which  rested  on  a  forked 
stick,  dealt  out  leaden  death.  At  first  pikemen  were  scat- 
tered among  the  musketeers  to  repel  cavalry  ;  but  the  inven- 
tion of  the  bayonet  made  the  musketeer  a  pikeman  too.  Since 
that  time  infantry  have  formed  the  main  strength  of  armies. 

Bayard,  who  fell  in  France  in  1524,  was  almost  the  last  of 
the  preux  chevaliers  of  that  knightly  land.  The  Emperor 
Maximilian  I.  is  still  called  in  Germany  "  der  letzte  Ritter" — 
the  last  knight.  In  England  chivalry,  as  a  system,  lasted 
till  the  time  of  Elizabeth. 

We  find  a  brilliant  reflection  of  chivalry  in  the  romantic 
literature  which  grew  up  about  the  time  of  the  Crusades. 
The  Romance  pictures  the  knight  in  his  glory,  splendid  but 
clumsy ;  suave  and  courteous  in  the  extreme,  but  very  often 
brutal.  The  enchanted  castle  with  its  beautiful  and  dis- 
tressed captives,  the  monster  dragons  and  other  terrors  to 
be  overcome  by  the  unconquered  arm  of  the  hero,  were  the 
allegorical  images  of  evils  existing  in  that  terrible  time, 
when  might  was  the  only  right,  highly  magnified  and 
coloured  by  the  untaught  poets,  who  sang  of  them.  It  is  a 
pity  to  think  that  the  knight-errant  is  a  very  doubtful  cha- 
racter, whose  picture,  if  ever  he  existed,  must  have  been 
drawn  from  those  chevaliers  who  travelled  from  tournament 
to  tournament,  claiming  and  receiving  hospitality  every- 
where as  citizens  of  the  world.  The  Romance,  owing  its 
birth  to  chivalry,  repaid  the  benefit  by  prolonging  the  life 
of  chivalry  for  many  years.  The  deeds  of  Arthur  and 
Charlemagne  formed  the  subjects  of  some  of  the  earliest 
Romances.  The  trouveres  of  Normandy,  the  troubadours  of 
Provence,  and  the  minnesingers  of  Suabia  kept  up  the 
strain.  We  find  it,  its  wild  ruggedness  all  toned  away, 
flowing  in  the  melodious  verse  of  Ariosto  and  Tasso,  and  the 
less  musical,  but  not  less  picturesque  tales  of  our  own 
Chaucer.  And,  in  our  own  day,  the  Idylls  of  the  King, 
breaking  from  the  harp  of  Tennyson,  tell  a  delighted  laud 
that  the  noble  old  music  of  chivalry  is  not  yet  dead 


140  THE  KNIGHT  AND  THE  GENTLEMAN. 

From  the  Knight  of  the  Middle  Ages  grew  the  Gentleman 
of  modern  days,  the  elements  of  character  remaining  the 
same.  As  the  true  knight  of  old,  the  true  gentleman  now 
must  be  religious,  brave,  and  courteous.  All  who  pretend 
to  the  "  grand  old  name,"  without  possessing  these  qualities, 
are  cheats  and  counterfeits.  But  as  there  is  no  good  in  the 
world,  out  of  which  by  Satan's  device  some  evil  is  not  made 
to  grow,  so  from  these  three  roots  of  true  knighthood  and 
gentlemanhood,  strange  distorted  things  have  sprung.  From 
the  warlike  element  came  absurd  fantastic  notions  of  honour, 
and  the  duel,  now  happily  all  but  extinct  in  this  country. 
And  too  often  the  courtesy  due  to  the  weaker  sex  has  been 
lost  in  a  degrading  licentiousness,  whose  foul  breath,  pollut- 
ing the  very  word  "  gallantry,"  has  turned  it\into  a  light  and 
jesting  name  for  a  deadly  sin. 

GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FOUETH  PERIOD. 

A.BELARD Born,  1079,  in  Bretagne — a  famous  teacher  of 

logic  and  divinity — 5000  students  attended 
his  lectures  at  once — charged  by  St.  Ber- 
nard with  heresy — author  of  many  theolo- 
gical works — died  near  Chalons  in  1142. 

THOMAS  AQUINAS.... Born,  1227,  at  Aquino  in  Naples— a  noble- 
famed  for  theology — chief  work,  "  Summa 
Theologiae"— wrote  also  Latin  hymns —the 
great  opponent  of  Duns  Scotus — his  follow- 
ers, called  Thomists,  upheld  the  supreme 
efficacy  of  divine  grace— died  1274. 

CIMABUE Born,  1240,  at  Florence— a  noble— the  father 

of  modern  painting — restored  the  study 
from  living  models — worked  in  fresco  and 
distemper,  for  oil  painting  was  not  yet  in 
use— died  in  1300. 

JOHN  DUNS  SCOTUS.. Born  about  1265 — famed  as  a  theologian— 
a  Franciscan  monk  —  called  the  "  Subtle 
Doctor"— had  great  controversies  with  T. 
Aquinas  about  free-will  and  divine  grace 
— his  followers  called  Scotists — died  in  1308. 

DANTE Born,  1265,  at  Florence— one  of  the  Alghieri 

family — much  engaged  in  political  feuds — 
the  greatest  of  Italian  poets — chief  work, 
"  Divina  Commedia,"  a  vision  of  the  invi- 
sible world — died  at  Kavenna  in  1321, 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.  141 

PETRARCH Born,  1304,  at  Arezzo— a  great  Italian  poet- 
lived  much  at  Avignon,  at  the  papal  court 
—deeply  attached  to  a  lady  called  Laura, 
whose  praises  are  sung  in  his  soft  melodious 
"  Sonnets" — he  wrote,  besides,  Latin  verse 
and  prose — died  1374. 

BOCCACCIO Born,  1313,  in  Florence— the  author  of  the 

earliest  chivalrous  poem  in  Italian,  "  La 
Teseide,"  from  which  Chaucer  took  the 
Knight's  tale — but  more  remarkable  as  the 
father  of  Italian  prose — chief  work  the 
"  Decameron, "  consisting  of  one  hundred 
tales— died  1375. 

WYCLIFFE Born  in  Yorkshire —professor  of  divinity, 

Baliol  College,  Oxon — the  first  English 
reformer — the  father  of  English  prose — 
famous  as  the  translator  of  the  Bible  into 
English— died  1384. 

FROISSART Born,  1337,  at  Valenciennes— son  of  a  herald- 
painter — for  some  time  secretary  of  Queen 
Philippa  of  England — noted  as  a  historian 
and  poet— chief  work  his  "  Chronicle,"  a 
brilliant  picture  of  war  and  chivalry  in 
Western  Europe  from  1326  to  1400. 

CHAUCER Born,  1328,  in  London— the  first  great  English 

poet — lived  at  the  courts  of  Edward  III. 
and  Richard  II.— chief  work,  the  "  Canter- 
bury Tales"— died  1400. 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD. 

ELEVENTH  CENTURY — Continued. 

A.D. 

The  First  Crusade  begins..... 1096 

Jerusalem  taken  by  the  Crusaders 1099 

TWELFTH  CENTURY. 

Guiscard  of  Normandy,  King  of  Naples 1102 

Knights  Templars  instituted 1118 

Justinian's  Pandects  discovered  at  Amalfi 1137 

The  Second  Crusade 1147 

Accession  of  Plantagenets  in  England 1154 

Invasion  of  Ireland  under  Henry  II.  of  England 1172 

Jerusalem  taken  by  Saladin 1187 

The  Third  Crusade 1189 

The  Fourth  Crusade 1196 

The  Fifth  Crusade 1198 


149  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD. 


THIRTEENTH    CENTURY. 

A.D. 

Conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the  Crusaders 1203 

War  against  Albigenses  inLanguedoc 1208 

The  Boy  Crusade 1212 

Magna  Charta  signed  by  John  of  England 1215 

The  Sixth  Crusade 1227 

Zenghis  Khan  overruns  the  Saracen  empire 

Inquisition  formally  established  by  Gregory  IX 1233 

The  Seventh  Crusade 1248 

End  of  the  Abbaside  Caliphs 1258 

The  Greeks  retake  Constantinople 1261 

The  Eighth  Crusade— Death  of  St.  Louis 1270 

Rodolph  of  Hapsburg,  elected  Emperor  of  Germany 1273 

Conquest  of  Prussia  by  the  Teutonic  Order ^ 1281 

Conquest  of  Wales  by  Edward  I.  of  England 1282 

Acre  taken  by  the  Turks— End  of  the  Crusades 1291 

FOURTEENTH   CENTURY. 

Battle  of  Courtrai 1302 

Seat  of  the  Popedom  removed  to  Avignon 1305 

The  Swiss  Revolution  begins 1307 

Battle  of  Bannockburn 1314 

Battle  of  Morgarten 1315 

Battle  of  Cressy 1346 

Rienzi  tribune  of  Rome 1347 

Charles  IV.  of  Germany  institutes  the  Golden  Bull— the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  empire 1356 

Union  of  the  eight  Swiss  cantons 1352 

Final  embodiment  of  the  Hanseatic  League  by  act  signed  at 

Cologne 1364 

Return  of  the  Popes  to  Rome 1377 

Battle  of  Sempach 1386 


RISE  OF  ITALIAN  REPUBLICS. 


143 


FIFTH  PERIOD. 

CHIEFLY  FROM  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  SWISS  INDEPEN- 
DENCE  TO  THE  REFORMATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ITALY  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 
Central  Point:  RIENZI  TRIBUNE  OF  ROME,  1347  A.D. 


Rise  of  Italian  republica 
Gregory  VII. 
Guelphs  and  Ghibellines. 
Frederic  Redbeard. 

The  Council  of  Ten. 
Marino  Faliero. 
The  Foscari. 
Her  decline. 

Battle  of  Legnano. 
Decline    of  most  repub- 
lics. 

Florence. 
The  Signoria 
Feuds. 

Glory  of  Venice. 
Her  territory. 

Cosmo  de  MedicL 

Plot  of  the  Pazzi. 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent 
Savonarola. 
Crescentius     Consul     of 

Rome. 

Arnold  of  Brescia. 
Popes  at  Avignon. 
Rienzi  the  Tribune. 


EXCEPT  a  few  scattered  spots  chiefly  in  the  south,  Italy 
formed  a  part  of  the  empire  of  Charlemagne ;  and  when  that 
great  fabric  fell  to  pieces,  this,  its  loveliest  fragment,  dowered 
with  the  fatal  gift  of  beauty,  became  a  prey  to  unceasing 
changes,  which  left  it  what  it  has  been  ever  since,  a  piece  of 
patchwork  on  the  map  of  Europe. 

In  the  ninth  century  the  ravages  of  Hungarians  and 
Saracens  compelled  the  inhabitants  of  Italian  towns  to  build 
strong  walls  round  their  homes  and  market-places.  The 
sturdy  burghers  then,  feeling  their  own  strength,  refused  any 
longer  to  brook  the  insolent  dominion  of  the  nobles,  who 
were  accordingly  forced  to  retire  to  their  castles  in  the  coun- 
try. Thus  arose  the  famous  Italian  republics,  whose  story 
is  the  brightest  page  in  the  history  of  modern  Italy.  About 
the  same  time,  and  from  causes  somewhat  similar,  arose  the 
communes  of  France,  and  the  great  free  cities  of  the  Low 
Countries  and  Germany. 

A  Tuscan  monk,  Hildebrand.  who  had  long  been  Arch- 


144  POPE  OKEGORY  VII. 

deacon  of  Rome,  became  pope  in  1073,  with  the  title  of  Gre- 
gory VII.  His  grand  aim  being  to  subdue  the  whole  world 
to  the  power  of  the  priesthood,  he  enacted  that  all  rulers, 
even  up  to  the  emperor  himself,  who  should  dare  to  invest 
any  one  with  an  ecclesiastical  office,  should  be  excommuni- 
cated. The  emperor,  Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  tenacious  of 
rights  long  held  by  his  fathers,  among  other  deeds  in  de- 
fiance of  this  edict,  appointed  an  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 
Gregory  summoned  him  to  Borne  to  take  his  trial  for  such 
conduct.  Henry  wrote  with  his  own  hand  a  letter  to  the 
pope,  announcing  that  he,  Gregory,  had  been  deposed  by  the 
Synod  of  Worms.  But  it  was  an  unequal  contest.  The  ter- 
rible thunders  of  excommunication,  pealing  from  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter,  fell  upon  the  devoted  empero^,  drove  his  faith- 
less or  terror-stricken  chiefs  from  his  side,  and  brought  him 
in  mid- winter  over  the  snowy  Alps,  to  make  his  peace  with 
the  offended  pontiff.  In  the  courtyard  of  the  castle 
1077  of  Canossa  he  lay,  barefooted  and  clad  in  a  hair  shirt, 
A.D.  for  three  frosty  days  of  January,  before  Gregory 
would  grant  him  an  audience.  Yet  even  this  humi- 
liation was  forgotten,  and  the  War  of  Investitures,  as  it  was 
called,  being  renewed,  continued  to  convulse  Italy,  until 
1122,  when  it  was  closed  by  the  Peace  of  Worms. 

The  owner  of  Canossa,  when  Henry  IV.  did  penance 
there,  was  Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany,  who  was  one  of 
the  warmest  friends  the  papacy  has  ever  had.  At  her  death 
she  bequeathed  to  the  Church  the  duchy  of  Spoleto,  and  the 
march  of  Ancona.  The  legality  of  this  gift  being  questioned, 
a  new  quarrel  sprang  up  between  the  emperors  and  the 
popes,  which  widened  into  the  great  feud  between  Ghibel- 
lines  and  Guelphs.  These  names  were  borrowed  from  two 
great  rival  German  houses,  the  Guelphs  of  Bavaria,  and  the 
Hohenstaufens  of  Suabia,  who  were  called  Ghibellines  from 
a  corruption  of  Waiblingen,  one  of  their  forts  on  the  Rems. 
The  Ghibellines  were  the  friends  of  the  emperors;  the 
Guelphs,  with  whom  the  pope  generally  sided,  upheld  the 
cause  of  the  Italian  people,  who  were  striving  to  rend  the 
links  that  bound  them  to  the  German  empire.  The  great 
struggle  desolated  Italy  for  centuries. 

Frederic  Redbeard,  already  named   in  the  story  of  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LEGNANO.  145 

third  Crusade,  was  emperor  from  1152  to  1190.  His  at 
tempts  to  strip  the  Italian  towns  of  their  dearly-prized  liber- 
ties kindled  a  war.  Milan  first  took  up  arms :  but  after  a 
valiant  resistance  it  fell  in  1162,  and  all  its  fine  old  Roman 
buildings,  monuments  of  dead  grandeur,  were  mingled  with 
the  dust.  Frederic  then  placed  over  the  Italian  towns 
military  governors,  called  Podestas,  whose  oppression  kept 
alive  the  fire  of  revolt,  which  was  carefully  fanned,  too,  by  the 
exiles  of  Milan.  In  1 1 67  the  League  of  Lombardy  was  formed, 
when  twenty- three  Italian  cities  united  to  claim,  among  other 
privileges,  the  right  of  electing  their  own  magistrates  and 
making  their  own  laws.  By  granting  charters,  and  working 
on  local  jealousies,  Frederic  contrived  to  muster  in  opposi- 
tion a  league  of  Ghibelline  cities.  For  nine  years  war  wasted 
northern  Italy,  until  the  decisive  battle  of  Legnano 
was  fought  on  the  road  from  Milan  to  Lago  Mag-  1176 
giore.  There,  at  one  time  of  the  day,  the  carroccio  of  A.D. 
Milan,  a  great  chariot  drawn  by  oxen,  which  bore  the 
huge  flagstaff  of  the  city,  was  all  but  captured  by  a  fierce 
rush  of  the  German  horse.  But  when  the  company  of  death 
— 900  young  Milanese,  sworn  to  die  rather  than  be  defeated 
— rescued  the  sacred  banner  by  a  gallant  charge,  the  fortune 
of  the  day  was  changed,  and  Redbeard  narrowly  escaped  with 
his  life.  Seven  years  later,  by  the  peace  of  Constance,  the 
emperor  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  Republics  to  govern 
themselves,  to  levy  their  own  troops,  and  to  wall  their  own 
towns. 

In  the  early  days  of  these  Italian  Republics  their  chief 
magistrates  were  consuls,  varying  in  number  from  two  to 
six,  whose  power  was  checked  by  certain  municipal  councils. 

Bitter  jealousy  of  one  another  blazing  often  into  war,  and 
within  the  walls  unceasing  discord  between  the  nobles  and 
the  people  sapped  the  prosperity  of  the  Republics.  One  by 
one  they  fell,  petty  sovereignties  rising  on  their  ruins.  And 
it  would  seem,  as  if,  when  these  scattered  points  of  light 
went  out  one  by  one,  the  brilliance  of  Italian  glory  was 
not  dimmed,  but  concentrated  with  intenser  lustre  in  a  few 
great  survivors.  Venice  and  Florence  were  stars  of  the  first 
magnitude.  Pisa  and  Genoa  still  burned  bright,  though 
with  an  inferior  splendour. 

(47)  10 


146  THE  RISE  AND  GLOKY  OF  VENICE. 

In  order,  then,  to  get  some  idea  of  Italian  history  during 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  let  us  rapidly  glance 
at  Venice  and  Florence,  concluding  the  chapter  with  a  glimpse 
of  Rome  during  the  same  period. 

VENICE. — Fleeing  from  the  sword  of  Attila  in  452,  the  in- 
habitants of  Venetia,  a  province  which  lay  round  the  head 
of  the  Adriatic,  sought  refuge  in  the  clustered  islets  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Brenta.  There,  governed  by  tribunes,  they  and 
their  descendants  fished,  made  salt,  and  carried  on  a  con- 
stantly widening  commerce  for  more  than  two  centuries. 
In  697  it  was  found  necessary,  from  growing  jealousies,  to 
unite  all  the  island  republics  under  the  rule  of  a  Duke  or 
Doge.  Through  all  the  changes  of  early  Italian  history 
these  islanders  maintained  independence  atnid  their  lagoons, 
defying  even  the  power  of  Charlemagne.  While  at  war  with 
Pepin,  the  son  of  the  great  Frank,  they  built  the 
809  capital  of  their  republic  on  the  island  of  Bivo  Alto, 
A.D.  or  Rialto.  Thither,  some  years  later,  they  carried 
from  Alexandria  the  body  of  their  patron,  Saint  Mark, 
whose  lion-flag  ever  after  floated  from  the  top-masts  of  their 
galleys,  and  from  the  cupolas  of  that  magnificent  pile  of  gold 
and  marble — the  cathedral  of  St.  Mark — which  is  still  the 
crowning  beauty  of  romantic,  picturesque  Venice. 

The  glory  of  Venice  began  with  the  Crusades.  Her  posi- 
tion, favourable  for  commerce,  had  already  led  to  ship- 
building on  a  large  scale ;  and  the  hire  of  vessels  to  carry  the 
Crusaders  to  Palestine  filled  her  coffers  with  gold.  Her 
ships  brought  back  from  Syria  the  silks  and  jewels  and 
spices  of  the  East.  So  this  city  of  the  waters,  like  Tyre  of 
old,  grew  rich  and  strong,  and  her  merchants  became  princes. 
The  same  causes  led  to  the  rapid  rise  of  her  rival  Genoa  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  Italy.  With  her  commerce  her  manu- 
factures, too,  throve,  the  silks  and  the  glass  made  at  Venice 
being  especially  prized.  Among  the  splendid  pageants  of 
her  days  of  pride  the  most  striking  was  the  wedding  of  the 
Adriatic.  Every  year,  on  Ascension  Day,  the  Doge,  accom- 
panied by  a  countless  fleet  of  black  gondolas,  sailing  out  in 
the  great  Bucentaur,  flung  a  ring  into  the  blue  waters  of  the 
sea. 

The  Venetian  territory  spread  at  an  early  date  round  the 


THE  TEN—  FALIERO — THE  FOSCARI.  147 

northern  shore  of  the  gulf.  Istria  and  Dalmatia  became 
hers.  During  the  fourth  Crusade  she  gained  the  Ionian 
Islands,  the  Morea,  and  Candia ;  and  later  she  extended  her 
sway  inland  through  Lombardy,  as  far  as  the  Adda.  Cyprus 
was  conquered  by  her  in  1480. 

In  1172  the  appointment  of  the  Doge  and  other  magistrates 
was  vested  in  the  grand  council  of  four  hundred  and  eighty 
members.  Change  after  change  took  place,  until  a  Council  of 
Ten  secured  the  government  to  themselves.  Under 
this  unchecked  oligarchy  a  reign  of  terror  began.  1325 
The  Ten  were  terrible ;  but  still  more  terrible  were  A.D. 
the  three  inquisitors — two  black,  one  red — appoint- 
ed in  1454.  Deep  mystery  hung  over  the  Three.  They  were 
elected  by  the  ten;  none  else  knew  their  names.  Their 
great  work  was  to  kill ;  and  no  man — doge,  councillor,  or 
inquisitor — was  beyond  their  reach.  Secretly  they  pro- 
nounced a  doom ;  and  erelong  the  stiletto  or  the  poison  cup 
had  done  its  work,  or  the  dark  waters  of  the  lagoon  had 
closed  over  a  life.  The  spy  was  everywhere.  No  man 
dared  to  speak  out,  for  his  most  intimate  companions  might 
be  on  the  watch  to  betray  him.  Bronze  vases,  shaped  like 
a  lion's  mouth,  gaped  at  the  corner  of  every  square  to  re- 
ceive the  names  of  suspected  persons.  Gloom  and  suspicion 
haunted  gondola  and  hearth. 

Forty-ninth  Doge  of  Venice  was  old  Marino  Faliero, 
elected  in  September  1354.  A  lord,  who  had  a  grudge 
aga'inst  the  Doge,  stole  into  the  banquet-hall  one  night  when 
the  guests  were  gone,  and  wrote  upon  the  wooden  throne 
some  words  insulting  to  the  young  and  lovely  wife  of 
Faliero.  Next  day  the  writing  was  seen ;  the  culprit  was 
soon  discovered.  But  the  light  punishment  inflicted  on  him 
by  the  council  so  enraged  the  Doge,  that  he  joined  in  a  plot 
to  murder  the  chief  nobles  and  make  himself  Lord  of  Venice. 
The  conspiracy  was  discovered,  and  the  Doge  was  beheaded 
on  the  Giant's  Staircase  in  April  1355. 

Another  noted  Doge  was  Francesco  Foscari,  a  man  of 
much  military  genius,  who  ruled  from  1423  to  1457.  In- 
spired by  his  warlike  ardour,  the  Venetians  conquered  a 
part  of  Lombardy.  But  the  nobles  grew  jealous  of  his  popu- 
larity. His  son  Jacopo,  charged  upon  suspicion  with  receiv- 


148  THE  MERCHANTS  OF  FLORENCE. 

ing  bribes  from  the  Duke  of  Milan,  was  terribly  tortured 
three  times,  and  driven  into  exile  where  he  died  ;  and  the 
old  man,  deposed  after  a  government  of  thirty -four  years, 
died  while  the  great  bell  of  St.  Marks  was  pealing  out  its 
welcome  to  his  successor. 

The  aristocracy  had  then  no  rivals  in  ruling  Venice. 
But  the  power  of  the  State  was  decaying.  The  League  of 
Cambray  was  formed  against  the  island  city  in  1508  by  the 
Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  the  Kings  of  France  and  Spain ; 
and  the  defeat  she  suffered  at  Aignadel  in  May  1509  was  a 
blow  from  which  she  never  recovered.  Her  principal  foes 
in  after  times  were  the  Turks,  who  stripped  her  of  Cyprus 
and  Candia. 

FLORENCE. — Florence  was  originally  a  Colony  of  Eoman 
soldiers.  Lying,  in  the  opening  of  the  twelfth  century,  under 
the  dominion  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  it  naturally  became 
strongly  attached  to  the  popedom ;  and,  when  all  the  Re- 
public cities  of  Tuscany  took  one  side  or  other  in  the  great 
struggle — pope  versw  emperor— we  find  Florence  at  the 
head  of  the  Guelphic  League,  organized  by  Pope  Innocent 
III.,  while  Pisa  headed  the  Ghibelline  cities.  But  long  be- 
fore the  days  of  Innocent  III.  the  Florentines  had  drawn 
blood  in  the  great  quarrel.  It  was  their  first  feat  of  arms. 
Matilda  was  still  alive  in  1113,  when  at  Monte  Cascioli  the 
goldsmiths  and  weavers  of  the  fai ;  city  met  the  imperial 
Vicar  in  battle,  scattered  his  knight/-,  and  slew  himself. 

The  strength  of  the  State  lay  in  the  commercial  spirit  of 
the  citizens.  They  wove  in  silk  and  wool,  made  jewellery, 
and  especially  followed  the  occupation  of  bankers.  They 
transacted  business  with  kings.  Their  gold  florin,  coined  in 
1252,  became  the  standard  currency  of  Europe.  The  neigh- 
bouring nobles  sought  to  be  admitted  as  citizens ;  but  by  tha 
city  law  they  were  obliged  to  enrol  themselves  on  the  regis- 
ter of  some  trade.  Thus  we  find  the  name  of  Dante  gracing 
the  roll  of  the  Florentine  apothecaries. 

In  1250  the  citizens,  revolting  against  the  rule  of  the 
Ghibelline  nobles,  established  a  magistracy  styled  the  Sig- 
noria.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  newly-formed  power  was 
to  recall  the  Guelph  exiles  to  Florence.  The  year  1254  is 
known  in  the  annals  of  Florence  as  the  "  year  of  victory," 


THE  GREAT  FAMILY  OF  MEDICI.  1 49 

for  during  it  they  took  Volterra  and  Pistoia.  In  1406  they  con- 
quered Pisa,  and  in  1421  bought  Leghorn  from  the  Genoese. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  confusing  to  trace  the  feuds,  in 
spite  of  which  Florence  grew  great  and  rich.  Enough  to 
say  that  the  Guelphs  triumphed,  and  then  split  into  two  fac- 
tions— Bianchi  and  Neri — white  and  black.  Dante  was  a 
white  Guelph ;  but,  when  banished  with  his  party,  the  mode- 
rates, he  became  a  Ghibelline,  and  died  poor  and  broken- 
hearted at  Ravenna. 

In  1342  a  leader  of  mercenaries,  Gualtier  de  Brienne, 
Duke  of  Athens,  became  Lord  of  Florence, — a  sad  sign  of 
the  state  of  things  within  the  city.  In  a  few  months,  backed 
by  his  troops,  he  cut  off  the  chief  men  of  the  city,  and  con- 
trived to  make  up  for  himself  a  purse  of  400,000  gold  florins. 
But  one  day  when  he  had  summoned  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens,  more  of  whom  he  meant  to  slay,  the  burghers  rose 
with  their  rallying  cry,  "  Popolo,  Popolo"  besieged  his 
palace,  and  soon  forced  him  to  leave  the  Florentine  territory. 

The  feuds  of  the  Albizzi  and  the  Ricci  convulsed  the  state 
at  the  opening  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Siding  with  the 
latter  were  the  great  family  of  the  Medici. 

The  merchant,  Giovanni  de  Medici,  made  a  great  fortune ; 
and  his  son  Cosmo,  born  in  1389,  himself  too  a  banker,  took 
a  lead  in  Florentine  politics.  The  Albizzi  gaining  the 
upper  hand,  he  was  imprisoned  and  exiled.  But  he  was 
recalled  within  a  year.  Although  he  held  no  distinct  name 
as  governor  of  the  state,  he  yet  continued  to  guide  all  poli- 
tical movements  by  his  influence  over  the  Balia — a  commit- 
tee of  citizens,  to  whom  all  sovereignty  was  intrusted. 
And  when  he  died  in  1464,  the  grateful  epitaph,  "  Father  of 
his  country,"  was  graven  on  his  tomb. 

Lorenzo,  the  grandson  of  Cosmo,  was  born  in  1448.  His 
crippled  and  delicate  father,  Pietro,  had  left  the  government 
in  the  hands  of  five  friends ;  but  Lorenzo  and  his  brother, 
when  they  came  of  age,  took  the  reins  themselves.  The 
rage  of  the  Pazzi,  rich  ambitious  merchants,  one  of  whom 
had  been  among  the  five,  being  excited,  an  attack  was  made 
upon  the  brothers  in  the  cathedral.  Giuliano  was 
Blain ;  but  Lorenzo,  parrying  the  blow,  escaped  into  1478 
the  sacristy.  The  friends  of  the  Medici  then  fell  A.D, 


150  MARTYRDOM  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

upon  the  conspirators.  The  archbishop  and  three  of  the 
Pazzi  were  hanged  out  of  the  palace  windows. 

So  Lorenzo  became  chief  of  Florence,  fulfilling  the  design 
of  his  grandfather,  whose  aim  had  been  to  subject  the  state 
to  the  Medici.  The  pope,  Sixtus  IV.,  enraged  at  the  death 
of  the  archbishop,  excommunicated  Lorenzo,  and,  with  the 
aid  of  the  King  of  Naples,  made  war  against  him.  After  two 
campaigns  Lorenzo,  visiting  Naples,  made  a  treaty  with  the 
king,  which  led  to  a  peace  with  the  pope.  Both  events 
were  hastened  by  a  descent  of  the  Turks  upon  Otranto. 

His  splendid  patronage  of  art  and  literature  gained  for 
Lorenzo  the  name  of  the  Magnificent.  Himself  was  no  mean 
poet.  He  enriched  the  Laurent ian  library  with  many  hun- 
dred rare  manuscripts  collected  in  Italy  an^  the  East.  He 
turned  his  gardens  at  Florence  into  an  academy,  to  which 
students  flocked  to  study  the  antique  from  the  exquisite 
sculptures  gathered  there.  And  by  supporting  young 
artists,  and  bestowing  prizes  for  works  of  merit,  he  gave  an 
impulse  to  art,  which  made  Florence  the  scene  of  some  of  the 
most  brilliant  triumphs  ever  won  by  brush  or  chisel. 

In  1489  Savonarola,  a  Dominican  monk  of  Ferrara,  came 
on  foot  to  Florence,  and  soon  began  with  eloquent  tongue  to 
lash  the  abuses  of  the  Eomish  Church.  Three  years  later, 
Lorenzo,  dying  of  gout  and  fever,  sent  to  seek  absolution 
from  the  brave  monk ;  but  Savonarola  would  not  grant  it 
unless  the  dying  prince  restored  liberty  to  his  country. 
Lorenzo,  unwilling  to  do  this,  died  unabsolved.  He  was  then 
forty-four.  Savonarola  was  burned  to  death  in  the  grand 
square  of  Florence  in  the  year  1498. 

When  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  crossing  the  Alps,  invaded 
Italy  (1494),  the  fair  city  of  Florence  was  rudely  spoiled. 
The  magnificent  library  was  destroyed;  statues,  vases, 
cameos  were  wantonly  defaced,  or  carried  off  and  lost.  The 
Medici,  then  banished  from  Florence,  were  restored  in  1512. 
And  in  the  following  year  Giovanni,  second  son  of  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  became  pope  under  the  title  of  Leo  X. 
The  extinction  of  the  republic  dates  from  1537,  when 
Cosmo  I.,  one  of  a  collateral  branch  of  the  Medici,  was  pro- 
claimed T)iike  of  Florence.  In  1509  he  \vaa  created  by  tilt 
pope  Grand  JJuke  of  Tuscany. 


NICOLA  DI  RIENZI.  151 

ROME. — The  names  of  Crescentius  and  Arnold  of  Brescia 
are  prominent  in  the  story  of  medieval  Rome. 

The  consul  Crescentius,  a  man  of  patrician  rank,  made  a 
vain  effort,   at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  to 
revive  the  old  republic.     The  emperor,  Otho  III.,    998 
stormed  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  hanged  the    A.D. 
daring  patriot. 

About  a  century  and  a  half  later,  a  monk,  named  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  was  by.  order  of  the  pope  burned  alive 
at  the  gate  of  St.  Angelo  for  preaching  against     1155 
abuses  in  Church  and  State.     "  Roman  Republic,"       A.D. 
"  Roman  Senate,"  "  Comitia  of  the  People,"  were 
strange  and  dangerous  words  to  be  heard  in  Roman  streets ; 
and  therefore  the  bold  tongue  that  spoke  them  withered  in 
the  flames. 

But  most  remarkable  was  the  revolution,  of  which  Nicola 
di  Rienzi  was  the  central  figure.  It  took  place  during  the 
seventy- two  years  (1305-1377)  spent  by  the  popes  at  Avig- 
non, to  which  place  a  French  pope,  Clement  V.,  removed  the 
papal  court  in  1305. 

Rienzi,  the  son  of  an  innkeeper  and  a  washerwoman,  was 
in  early  youth  deeply  read  in  the  great  masters  of  the  Latin 
tongue.  Cicero  and  Livy  were  his  special  favourites.  His 
classic  enthusiasm  gained  for  him  the  friendship  of  Petrarch. 
He  was  very  poor,  reduced  to  a  single  coat,  when  he  received 
the  post  of  apostolic  notary,  which  rescued  him  from  poverty. 
The  feuds  of  the  noble  families,  Colonna,  Orsini,  and  Savelli 
filled  the  streets  with  daily  riot  and  bloodshed.  Rienzij 
whose  fiery  eloquence  made  him  a  man  of  mark  in  Rome, 
might  often  be  seen  in  the  centre  of  an  eagerly  attentive 
crowd,  interpreting  the  words  of  some  old  brass  or  marble 
tablet,  and  dwelling  fondly  on  the  ancient  glories  of  senate 
and  people.  Encouraged  by  the  flashes  of  patriotic  fire 
which  from  time  to  time  burst  from  the  enslaved  people, 
he  formed  the  bold  design  of  seizing  the  helm  of  the  state. 

When  the  time  was  ripe,  and  old  Stephen  Coloniia  was  ab- 
sent from  Rome,  one  hundred  citizens  met  by  night 
on  Mount  Aventine.    Next  day  a  solemn  procession    May  20 
I>- Mi-ing  three  great  banners  passed  from  St.  Angelo    1347 
to  the  Capitol.     Rienzi  was  there,  bareheaded,  but      A.I>. 


152  THE  FALL  AND  DEATH  OF  RIENZI. 

clad  otherwise  in  full  armour ;  and  on  his  right  hand  marched 
the  papal  vicar,  the  Bishop  of  Orvieto.  The  deep  tolling  of 
the  great  bell  drove  the  nobles  in  alarm  from  Rome. 

Rienzi,  then  elected  tribune,  ruled  Rome  for  seven  months. 
At  first  all  went  well.  He  was  beloved  at  home  and  hon- 
oured abroad.  His  grand  design  was  to  unite  all  Italy  into 
one  great  republic.  Throughout  the  Roman  territory  rob- 
bers found  their  occupation  gone ;  the  inns  were  full ;  the 
buzz  of  commerce  sounded  in  the  markets,  and  the  plough- 
man's whistle  was  heard  in  the  fields.  But  Rienzi's  vanity 
spoiled  all.  Forgetting  the  simple  grandeur  of  the  old  tri- 
bunes, he  dressed  in  silk  and  gold.  Silver  trumpets  sounded 
his  approach,  as  he  rode  on  a  white  steed  amid  his  fifty  guards- 
men. The  nobles,  secretly  gathering  strength,  rose  in  arms 
against  him.  Possessing  no  military  genius,  he  speedily  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  A  papal  bull  was  issued 
against  him.  When  the  Count  of  Minorbino  with  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  soldiers  seized  Rome,  the  alarm-bell  tolled  in 
vain.  None  answered  the  summons ;  and  the  degraded  tri- 
bune hid  his  head  within  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  whence 
he  soon  escaped  to  lead  a  miserable  life,  wandering  through 
Italy,  Germany,  and  Bohemia.  In  1352  the  emperor  gave 
him  up  to  the  pope,  and  for  some  time  he  dwelt  in  custody 
at  Avignon. 

Two  years  later  he  was  sent  to  Rome  by  Pope  Innocent 

VI.  with  the  title  of  senator.    A    burst   of  enthusiastic 

welcome  greeted  him.     But  in  four  short  months, 

Oct.  8,    his  palace  being  stormed  and  burned  by  a  furious 

1354  mob,  he  was  stabbed  to  death  beside  the  Lion  of 

A.D.     Porphyry  which  guards  the  base  of  the  Capitol 

stairs. 


POPES  OF  THE  14TH  AND  15TH  CENTUKIES. 


163 


POPES  OF  THE  FOUKTEENTH  AND  FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES. 


BONIFACE  VIII 

BENEDICT  XI 1303 

Vacancy  for  Eleven  Months    1304 

CLEMENT  V 1305 

Vacancy,  2  years  4  months...  1314 

JOHN  XXII 1316 

BENEDICT  XII 1334 

CLEMENT  VI 1342 

INNOCENT  VI 1352 

URBAN  V 1362 

GREGORY  XI 1370 

URBAN  VI 1378 

BONIFACE  IX 1389 

BENEDICT  XIIL 1894 


INNOCENT  VII 1404 

GREGORY  XII 1406 

ALEXANDER  V 140$ 

JOHN  XXIII 1410 

MARTIN  V 1417 

EUGENIUS  IV 1431 

NICHOLAS  V 1447 

CALIXTUS  m 1455 

PIUS  II 1458 

PAUL  II , 1464 

SIXTUS  IV 1471 

INNOCENT  VIII 1484 

ALEXANDER  VI 1492 


164  THE  TURKISH  EM1K  OTHMAN. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

Central  Point:  SIEGE  AND  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE 
1453  A.D. 


Rise  of  the  Turks. 
The  Emir  Othman. 
The  Janissaries. 
First  footing  in  Europe. 
Victories  of  Bajazet. 
Timour  the  Lame. 


Accession  of  Mahomet  II. 
Siege    of   Constantinople 

begins. 

The  fire  ships. 
The  turning-point. 
The  great  assault 


Death  of  Constantino, 
Policy  of  Mahomet. 
Defeat  at  Belgrade. 
Crimea  taken. 
Otranto. 


SOMEWHERE  in  the  wild  steppes  between  t^ie  Caspian  Sea 
and  Lake  Aral  the  Turkomans  or  Turks  once  dwelt. 

The  first  branch  of  this  Tartar  race  that  came  pouring 
westward,  extending  their  empire  even  up  to  the  very  Bos- 
phorus,  were  the  Seljuk  Turks.  But  their  power  went 
down  into  ruins  before  the  terrible  Mongol,  Zenghis  Khan, 
who  in  the  thirteenth  century  drenched  Asia  with  the  blood 
of  millions. 

There  was,  however,  another  Turkish  tribe  destined  to 
play  a  more  brilliant  part  in  the  world's  history.  These  were 
the  Osmanlis  or  Ottomans,*  who  derived  their  name  from 
the  Emir  Osman  or  Othman  (the  Bone-breaker),  the  founder 
of  their  empire.  Othman,  a  handsome  black-browed  man, 
with  very  long  arms,  ruled  the  Turks  from  1299  to  1326. 
The  great  object  of  his  unceasing  efforts  was  to  conquer  the 
possessions  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  Asia  Minor;  and 
when  he  lay  on  his  deathbed,  the  news  came  that  the  arms 
of  his  son  Orchan  had  been  crowned  by  the  capture  of  the 
great  city  of  Brusa.  There  the  seat  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 
was  for  some  time  fixed. 

The  reign  of  Orchan  (1326-1360)  was  marked  by  the 
establishment  of  the  famous  Janissaries  (New  Troops). 
Every  year  a  thousand  Christian  children  were  torn  from 
their  parents,  forced  to  become  Moslems,  and  trained  to  a 


*  The  modern  Turks  call  themselves  U&manii --  not  Turks,  which  latter  name 
implies  rudeness  aud  barbarism. 


THE  TURKS  INVADE  EUROPE,  155 

soldier's  life  by  the  most  rigorous  discipline.  This  was  done 
yearly  for  three  centuries ;  and  thus  was  formed  that  terrible 
body  of  troops,  whose  fierce  military  ardour  and  unpitying 
hearts  made  them  first  the  safeguard  and  then  the  terror  of 
the  sultans. 

Solyman,  the  eldest  son  of  Orchan,  crossing  the  Helles- 
pont one  night  with  a  few  warriors,  seized  a  castle 
on    the  European  shore.      In    three    days  3000  1356 
Ottomans  garrisoned  the  stronghold.     This  event     A.D. 
marks  the  first  firm  footing  gained  by  the  Turks 
on  European  soil;   and  they  never  since  have  lost  their 
hold. 

Under  Amurath  I.  (1360-1389)  Adrianople,  being  taken 
by  the  Turks,  was  made  for  a  time  the  centre  of  their  Euro- 
pean possessions.  A  league  was  formed  by  the  Sclavonic 
nations  along  the  Danube  to  repel  the  infidel  invaders,  but 
in  vain.  The  crescent — such  was  the  device  borne  on  the 
Turkish  banners  —  still  shone  victorious  in  Thrace  and 
Servia. 

Bajazet,  a  drunken  sensualist,  who,  succeeding  his  father, 
reigned  from  1389  to  1402,  exchanged  the  title  Emir  for  the 
prouder  name  of  Sultan.  At  Nicopolis  he  routed  the  chivalry 
of  Hungary  and  France,  which  had  mustered  to  roll  back  the 
dark  flood  of  Moslem  war.  Classic  Greece,  too,  was  ravaged 
by  his  victorious  hordes.  Steadily  he  seemed  to  be  advanc- 
ing in  the  gigantic  plan  of  European  conquest  sketched  out 
by  his  ambitious  father,  when  the  most  terrific  warrior  Asia 
has  ever  borne,  rising  on  his  eastern  frontier,  dashed  his 
power  into  fragments. 

This  was  Timour  the  Lame,  whose  name  has  been  cor- 
rupted into  Tamerlane,  a  Mongol  descended  from  Zenghis 
Khan.  From  his  capital,  Samarcand,  he  spread  his  con- 
quests on  every  side — from  the  Chinese  Wall  to  the  Nile  ,- 
from  the  springs  of  the  Ganges  to  the  heart  of  Kussia. 
"Whenever  this  demon  conqueror  took  a  city,  he  raised  as  a 
trophy  of  his  success  a  pyramid  of  bleeding  human  heads. 
Bajazet  was  obliged  to  forego  the  intended  siege  of  Con- 
stantinople by  the  attack  of  the  ferocious  Mongol  upon 
the.  eastern  frontier  of  his  newly  acquired  dominions  in 
Asia  Miiiur.  The  decisive  battle  \\as  fought  at 


156  THE  SIEGE  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

where  Bajazet,  utterly  defeated,  was  made  prisoner.     Car- 
ried about  with  the  Mongol  army  in  a  litter  with 
1402     iron  lattices,  which  gave  rise  to  the  common  story 
A.D.       of  his  imprisonment  in  an  iron  cage,  the  Turkish 
sultan  died,  eight  months  after,  of  a  broken  heart. 
His  conqueror  Timour  died  in  1405,  while  on  the  march  to 
invade  China. 

Four  Turkish  sultans  reigned  between  the  wretched  Baj  azet 
and  the  conqueror  of  Constantinople. 

Amurath  II.,  last  of  the  four,  having  died  at  Adrianople 
in  1451,  his  son  Mahomet,  crossing  rapidly  to  Europe,  was 
crowned  second  sultan  of  that  name.  He  was  a  terrible 
compound  of  fine  literary  taste  with  revolting  cruelty  and 
lust.  One  of  his  very  first  acts  after  he  became  sultan  was 
to  cause  his  infant  brother  to  be  drowned,  while  the  baby's 
mother  was  congratulating  him  on  his  accession. 

The  throne  of  the  Eastern  Empire  was  then  filled  by  Con- 
Btantine  Palaeologus,  no  unworthy  wearer  of  the  purple. 
Limb  after  limb  had  been  lopped  from  the  great  trunk. 
There  was  still  life  in  the  heart,  though  it  throbbed  with 
feeble  pulses  ;  but  now  came  the  mortal  thrust. 

After  more  than  a  year  of  busy  preparation,  70,000  Turks, 
commanded  by  Mahomet  II.  in  person,  sat  down  in  the 
spring  of  1453  before  Constantinople.  Their  lines  stretched 
across  the  landward  or  western  side  of  the  triangle  on  which 
the  city  was  built.  A  double  wall,  and  a  great  ditch  100  feet 
deep,  lay  in  their  front;  and  within  this  rampart  the  Emperor 
Constantine  marshalled  his  little  band  of  defenders.  A 
little  band  indeed  it  was,  for  scarcely  6000  out  of  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  100,000  souls  would  arm  for  the  defence 
of  the  city ;  and  Western  Christendom  was  so  dull  or  care- 
less, that,  with  the  exception  of  2000  mercenaries  under 
Giustiniani,  a  noble  of  Genoa,  these  had  no  foreign  aid.  The 
harbour  of  the  Golden  Horn,  guarded  by  a  strong  chain 
across  its  mouth,  sheltered  only  fourteen  galleys.  The 
Turkish  fleet  consisted  of  320  vessels  of  different  sizes. 

The  siege  began.      On  both  sides  cannon  and 

April  6.   muskets  of  a  rude  kind  were  used.     One  great  gun 

deserves  special  notice.    It  was  cast  by  a  European 

brassfounder  at  Adrianople,  and  threw  a  stone  ball  of  600 


THE  TURKISH  FLEET  CARRIED  OVERLAND.  157 

pounds  to  the  distance  of  a  mile.  But  such  cannon  could 
be  fired  only  six  or  seven  times  a  day.  Lances  and  arrows 
flew  thick  from  both  lines ;  and  heavy  stones  from  the  balista 
filled  up  the  pauses  of  the  cannonade. 

At  first  fortune  seemed  to  smile  on  the  besieged.  A  vigo- 
rous assault  of  the  Turks  upon  the  walls  was  repulsed, 
and  the  wooden  tower  they  had  used  in  the  attack  was 
burned. 

One  day  in  the  middle  of  April  the  watchmen  of  the 
besieged  saw  the  white  sails  of  five  ships  gleaming  on  the 
southward  horizon.  They  came  from  Chios,  carrying  to  the 
beleaguered  city  fresh  troops,  wheat,  wine,  and  oil.  The 
Greeks,  with  anxious  hearts,  crowded  the  seaward  wall.  A 
swarm  of  Turkish  boats  pushed  out  to  meet  the  daring  barks, 
and,  curving  in  a  crescent  shape,  awaited  their  approach. 
Mahomet,  riding  by  the  edge  of  the  sea,  with  cries  and  ges- 
tures urged  his  sailors  to  the  attack.  Three  times  the  Turks 
endeavoured  to  board  the  enemy ;  but  as  often  the  flotilla 
reeled  back  in  confusion,  shattered  with  cannon  shot  and 
scorched  with  Greek  fire,  while  the  waters  were  strewn  with 
the  floating  wreck  of  those  vessels,  which  were  crushed  by 
collision  with  the  heavy  Christian  galleys.  Steadily  onward 
came  the  five  ships,  safe  into  the  harbour  of  the  Golden 
Horn.  The  Turkish  admiral  was  doomed  by  the  furious 
sultan  to  be  impaled ;  but  the  sentence  was  commuted  to 
one  hundred  blows  with  a  golden  bar,  which,  we  are  told, 
Mahomet  himself  administered  with  right  good  wilL 

Then  came  the  turning-point  of  the  siege.  The  sultan, 
feeling  that  his  attack  by  land  must  be  seconded  by  sea, 
formed  a  bold  plan.  It  was  to  convey  a  part  of  his  fleet 
overland  from  the  Propontis,  and  launch  them  in  the  upper 
«nd  of  the  harbour.  The  distance  was  six  miles ;  but  by 
means  of  rollers  running  on  a  tramway  of  greased  planks, 
eighty  of  the  Turkish  vessels  were  carried  over  the  rugged 
ground  in  one  night.  A  floating  mattery  was  then  made, 
from  which  the  Turkish  cannon  began  to  play  with  fearful 
effect  on  the  weakest  side  of  the  city. 

When  the  attack  had  lasted  for  seven  weeks,  a  broad  gap 
was  to  be  seen  in  the  central  rampart.  Many  attempts  at 
negotiation  had  come  to  nothing,  for  Constantine  refused  to 


158  THE  FINAL  ASSAULT. 

give  up  the  city,  and  nothing  else  would  satisfy  the  sultan. 

At  last  a  day  was  fixed  for  the  grand  assault.    At 

May  29,   daybreak  the  long  lines  of  Turks  made  their  attack. 

1453    When  the  strength  of  the  Christians  was  almost 

A.D.  exhausted  in  endless  strife  with  the  swarms  of  irre- 
gular troops  who  led  the  way,  the  terrible  Janis- ' 
saries  advanced.  The  storm  grew  louder,  the  rattle  of  the 
Turkish  drums  mingling  with  the  thunder  of  the  ordnance. 
Just  then  the  brave  Giustiniani,  defending  the  great  breach, 
was  wounded ;  and  when,  after  this  loss,  the  defence  grew 
slacker,  a  body  of  Turks,  following  the  Janissary  Hassan, 
clambered  over  the  ruined  wall  into  the  city.  Amid  the 
rush  Constantine  Palseologus,  last  of  the  Csesars,  fell  dead, 
sabred  by  an  unknown  hand ;  and  with  himXfell  the  Eastern 
Empire. 

At  noon  on  the  same  day  Mahomet  summoned  the  Mos- 
lems to  prayer  in  the  church  of  St.  Sophia — thus  establishing 
the  rites  of  Islam  where  Christian  worship  had  been  held 
ever  since  the  days  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

It  was  not,  however,  the  policy  of  the  sultan  to  root  the 
Greek  worship  out  of  the  conquered  city ;  and  so,  ten  days 
after  his  victory,  we  find  him  installing  a  new  patriarch,  and 
announcing  himself  to  be  the  protector  of  the  Greek  Church. 
And  to  fill  the  ruined  and  deserted  streets  of  the  long  decay- 
ing city,  he  transplanted  thither  crowds  from  all  parts  of  his 
empire ;  so  that  once  more  Constantinople  was  alive  with  a 
busy  throng. 

Mahomet  was  only  twenty-three  when  he  overthrew  the 
Eastern  Empire.  The  remainder  of  his  reign — twenty-eight 
years — was  spent  in  ceaseless  endeavours  to  extend  the 
Turkish  power.  His  great  opponents  were  Scanderbeg, 
Prince  of  Albania,  and  Hunyades,  who  drove  him,  with 
broken  ranks  and  the  loss  of  all  his  cannon,  from  before  the 
walls  of  Belgrade,  then  the  key  of  Hungary  (1456).  Two 
years  earlier  he  had  conquered  the  Peloponnesus. 

But  his  great  conquest,  next  to  the  capture  of  Constanti- 
nople, was  the  reduction  of  the  Crimea  in  1475  by  the  Grand 
Vizier  Ahmed.  The  failure  of  an  attack  upon  Rhodes,  held 
by  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  a  successful  descent  upon 
Southern  Italy,  which  was  crowned  by  the  taking  of  Otranto, 


DEATH  OF  MAHOMET  II. 


159 


were  the  chief  events  of  his  last  years.  The  success  at 
Otranto  was  the  first  step  to  a  long  cherished  plan — the  con- 
quest of  Italy ;  but  his  sudden  death  in  1481  checked  the 
further  progress  of  the  Moslem  arms  in  that  land. 

THE  LAST  EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 


MICHAEL  VIII 1261 

ANDRONICUS  II.  (Palseo- 

logus  the  Elder) 1282 

ANDRONICUS  III.  (the 

Younger) 1332 


JOHN  PAUEOLOGUS 1341 

MANUEL  PAL^OLOGUS....  1391 

JOHN  PAL&OLOGUS  II 1425 

CONSTANTINE   XIII.  PA- 
LM)LOGUS 1448-53 


THE  FIRST  TWELVE  TURKISH  SULTANS. 


A.D. 

OTHMAN 1299 

ORCHAN 1326 

AMURATH  1 1360 

BAJAZET  1 1389 

SOLYMAN 1402 

MUSA-CHELEBI 1410 

MAHOMET  1 1413 


AMURATH  II 1421 

MAHOMET  II 1451 

BAJAZET  II 1481 

SELIM  1 1512 

SOLYMAN  II.  THE  MAG- 
NIFICENT  - 1520-66 


160  THE  GLORY  OF  ABD-EL-RAHMAN. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EXPULSION  OF  THE  MOORS  FROM  SPAIN. 
Central  Point:  THE  CAPTURE  OF  ALHAMA,  1482  A.B. 


Emirate  of  Cordova. 
Abd-el-Rahman. 
Al-Hakem. 
The  Moors. 
The  Cid. 

Navas  de  Tolosa, 
Kingdom  of  Granada. 
The  Alhambra. 
Marriage  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella. 

Alhama  taken. 
Fall  of  Malaga. 
Siege  of  Granada. 
Building  of  Santa  F£. 
Fate  of  Abdallah. 

THE  Ommiyads,  as  already  said,  breaking^  loose  from  the 
Caliphate  of  Asia,  established  the  Emirate  of  Cordova  in 
755.  Their  dominions  soon  extended  as  far  north  as  the 
Douro  and  the  Ebro.  But  among  the  mountains  of  Astu- 
rias  the  wreck  of  the  Visigothic  nation,  shattered  on  the 
field  of  Xeres,  still  survived ;  and  these,  breathing  the  free 
mountain  air  and  eating  the  bread  of  hardship,  became 
steeled  into  a  race  of  heroes,  whose  succeeding  generations 
never  rested  until  the  infidels,  driven  continually  southward, 
were  at  last  expelled  from  the  peninsula. 

The  greatest  of  the  Ommiyads  was  Abd-el-Rahman  III. 
(912-961).  Having  assumed  the  title  of  Caliph,  he  cleared 
the  land  of  rebels,  defeated  the  Christians  of  Leon  at 
Zamora  on  the  Douro,  and  developed  the  resources  of  the 
country  with  surprising  wisdom.  Roads,  canals,  and  aque- 
ducts spread  a  net-work  of  industry  everywhere.  There 
were,  besides  eighty  cities  of  lower  rank,  six  capitals  glitter- 
ing with  gorgeous  mosques  and  palaces.  The  fields  smiled 
like  lovely  and  fertile  gardens.  The  seventeen  universities, 
famous  for  the  teaching  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  chemis- 
try, and  medicine,  were  thronged  with  students  from  every 
corner  of  Europe. 

The  peaceful  reign  of  Al-Hakem,  his  successor,  has  been 
called  the  golden  age  of  Arab  literature  in  Spain  (961-976). 
This  prince  delighted  in  the  society  of  literary  men;  no 
present  pleased  him  better  than  a  good  book.  His  chief 
enjoyment  wa.s  in  the  collection  of  rare  manuscripts,  with 


THE  CID.  161 

which,  to  the  number  of  600,000,  he  filled  every  nook  and 
corner  of  his  palace.  And  this  at  a  time  when  England, 
France,  and  Italy  were  steeped  in  intellectual  darkness. 

Quarrels  for  the  throne  of  Cordova  broke  up  the  great 
Emirate ;  and  in  1031,  when  Hisham  III.,  the  last  of  the 
Ommiyads  died,  a  number  of  petty  princes  sprang  up,  whose 
feuds  led  to  their  own  destruction.     Pressed  hard  by  the 
Castilians,  they  called  in  the  aid  of  the  Moors.     Yusef  came 
over  the  strait  with  a  great  army  burning  with  fanatic  zeal, 
overthrew  Alfonso  VI.,  and  then  subdued  beneath 
his  rule  all  the  pigmy  Saracen  princes,  whose  battles     1086 
he  had  come  to  fight.   So  upon  the  ruins  of  the  once        A.D. 
brilliant  Saracen  dynasty  a  Moorish  power  was 
built  up,  whose  glory,  though  long  dimmed,  still  lingers 
in  romantic  twilight  among  the  hills  of  southern  Spain. 

Rising  from  amid  the  dust  of  these  early  wars  was  seen 
the  famous  hero  of  the  Spanish  ballads,  Roderigo  Diaz  de 
Bivar,  called  by  the  Christians  Campeador  (the  Champion), 
and  by  the  Moors,  whom  he  so  often  defeated,  El  Seid,  the 
Cid  (lord).  Like  the  British  Arthur,  the  outlines  of  his 
story  are  so  dimmed,  that  some  have  doubted  his  existence 
at  all.  He  was  born  at  Burgos  in  the  eleventh  century. 
Driven  from  Castile  by  the  usurper  Alfonso,  he  began  a 
guerilla  warfare  against  the  Moors  of  Aragon,  where  he  fixed 
his  castle  on  a  crag,  which  is  still  called  the  Rock  of  the 
Cid.  His  great  achievement  was  the  conquest,  after  a 
long  siege,  of  the  Moorish  city  of  Valencia.  There  he  estab- 
lished a  little  state,  over  which  he  ruled  until  his  death  in 
1099. 

The  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  a  fatal  time 
for  the  Moslems  in  Spain,  whose  power  was  terribly 
shattered  in  the  great  battle  of  Navas  de  Tolosa.     1212 
We  then  find  the  great  Emirate  of  Cordova  dwindled       A.D. 
down  to  one  half  its  former  size,  and  pressed 
to  the  south  of  the  peninsula  by  the  five  kingdoms  of  Portu- 
gal, Leon,  Castile,  Navarre,  and  Aragon.     The  crowns  of 
Leon  and  Castile  were  united  in  1230  in  the  person  of 
Ferdinand  III.  (the  Saint),  whose  arms  carried  defeat  ami 
dismay  into  the  heart  of  Moorish  Andalusia.     He  took  from 
the  infidels  the  rich  basin  of  the  Guadalquivir,  the  cradle  of 


162  THE  ALHAMBRA. 

their  Spanish  dominion.     Cordova  fell  in  1236,  and  the 
Moors  were  then  forced  to  concentrate  their  power 
1236     within  the  mountain-land  of  Granada. 
A.D.  Here  shone  the  last  blaze  of  Moorish  splendour  in 

Spain.  Though  shrunken  to  a  circuit  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  leagues,  the  kingdom  of  Granada,  under  the  Alha- 
marid  monarchs,  remained  strong  and  glorious  for  two  centuries 
and  a  half,  defying  the  chivalry  of  Spain,  and  enriched  by  a 
commerce  which  carried  her  silks  and  sword-blades,  her  dyed 
leather,  her  fabrics  of  wool,  flax,  and  cotton  to  the  bazaars 
of  Constantinople,  Egypt,  and  even  India.  Mulberry  trees 
and  sugar  canes  clothed  her  fertile  valleys.  The  fair  Vega, 
or  cultivated  plain,  sweeping  away  from  the  city  of  Granada 
for  ten  leagues,  brought  forth  delicious  fruits  and  heavy 
grain,  nourished  by  the  waters  of  the  Xenil,  which  were 
spread  through  a  thousand  rills  by  the  industry  of  the 
Moorish  husbandmen. 

To  the  east  rose  the  white  peaks  of  the  Sierra  Nevada; 
and  crowning  one  of  the  two  hills  on  which  the  city  stood, 
was  the  palace  or  royal  fortress  of  the  Alhambra,  still  even 
in  its  ruins  the  great  sight  of  Spain. 

Outwardly  the  Alhambra  seems  to  be  but  a  plain  square 
red  tower  ;  but  within,  in  spite  of  monkish  whitewash  and 
the  vandalism  of  Charles  V.,  who  pulled  down  a  large  part 
to  make  room  for  a  winter  palace  that  was  never  finished, 
it  is  a  group  of  halls,  courts,  and  colonnades  of  wonderful 
grace  and  beauty.  Their  slender  columns  rivalling  the 
taper  palm-tree ;  walls  whose  stones  were  cut  and  pierced 
into  a  trellis-work,  resembling  in  its  exquisite  delicacy  lace 
or  fine  ivory  carving ;  domes  honej^-combed  with  azure  and 
vermilion  cells,  and  bright  with  stalactites  of  dropping 
gold;  groves  of  orange  and  myrtle,  clustering  round  the 
marble  basins  in  which  cool  silver  fountains  plashed  their 
merry  music,  formed  a  scene  of  fairy  splendour,  amid  which 
the  monarchs  of  Granada  held  their  brilliant  court. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  Ferdinand,  son 

of  John  II,  King  of  Aragon,  married  Isabella,  the 

1469     daughter  of  John  II.,  King  of  Castile.   This  happy 

A.D.       union  was  a  great  turning-point  in  the  history  of 

Spain.    On  the  death  of  her  brother  Henry  in 


THE  WAR  OF  GRANADA.  163 

1474,  Isabella  was  proclaimed  Queen  of  Castile;  and  Ferdi- 
nand received  the  crown  of  Aragon  in  1479  when  his  father 
died.  Thus  all  Spain,  except  the  little  states  of  Navarre 
and  Granada,  lay  under  the  double  sceptre  of  this  illustrious 
pair. 

At  once  Ferdinand  and  his  wife  formed  the  design  of 
rooting  out  the  Moorish  dominion  from  the  peninsula.     The 
famous  War  of  Granada  began.     The  surprise  of 
the  little  border  town,  Zahara,  by  the  Moors  pro-     1481 
voked  the  storm.     Well  might  an  old  Moorish       A.D. 
Alfaki  cry  out,  when  he  heard  the  news,  "  Woe  is 
me;  the  ruins  of  Zahara  will  fall  on  our  own  heads!" 

Ere  long  the  first  stone  fell.     The  Marquis  of  Cadiz, 
gathering  5500  horse  and  foot,  marched  upon  Al- 
bania, a  strong  city  embosomed  among  hills,  about     1482 
eight  leagues  from  Granada.    In  the  silence  of       A.D. 
night  the  citadel  was  surprised;  but  the  city  was 
not  so  easily  taken.     Barricades  were  flung  up,  cross-bow 
bolts  and  arquebuse  balls  swept  the  narrow  streets,  while 
women  and  children  poured  hot  oil  and  pitch  from  the  flat 
roofs  upon  the  Christian  soldiery.   But  all  in  vain.   Moorish 
blood  choked  the  kennels ;  Moorish  gold  and  jewels  rewarded 
the  exulting  victors.     Twice  during  the  same  year  vain 
attempts  were  made  to  recover  this  key  of  Granada. 

Loxa  on  the  Xenil  was  then  invested  by  the  Spaniards; 
but  they  soon  abandoned  the  siege.  Meanwhile  the  strength 
of  Granada  was  paralyzed  by  internal  discord.  The  old 
king  was  deposed;  his  brother  and  his  son,  both  named 
Abdallah,  contended  for  the  throne.  Soon  after  the  Spanish 
arms  sustained  a  severe  reverse.  The  grand  master  of  St. 
Jago  on  his  return  from  a  descent  upon  the  borders  of 
Malaga  becoming  entangled  among  savage  mountains,  his 
troops  were  shot  down  in  crowds  by  the  Moors  who  lined 
the  heights. 

But  this  was  an  exception;  one  success  after  another 
crowned  the  arms  of  the  Christians.  The  king  Abdallah 
was  made  prisoner,  as  he  was  lurking  among  the  willows  by 
the  Xenil  after  his  defeat  at  Lucena.  He  was  soon,  how- 
ever, released  for  400  Christian  captives  and  12,000  pieces 
of  gold 


164  THE  SIEGE  OF  GRANADA. 

Immense  cannon,  throwing  huge  balls  of  marble,  gave 

the  Spaniards  a  decided  supremacy  in  this  war  of  sieges. 

Gradually  the  circle  of  fire  narrowed  round  Granada.    After 

a  brave  resistance  of  three  months,  the  starving 

1487     garrison  of  Malaga  yielded  their  shot-torn  ramparts 

A.D.        to  Ferdinand.     And  the  fall  of  Baza,  two  years 

later,  prepared  the  way  for  the  last  great  scene. 
During  the  spring  and  autumn  of  1490  the  Vega  was 
ravaged  under  the  very  shadow  of  Granada  itself. 
April,       Early  in  the  next  year  Ferdinand  encamped  by  the 

1491  Xenil  with  50,000  men.    The  city  was  choked  with 
A.D.        fugitives  from  all  the  country  round.     Challenges 

often  passed  between  the  besieged  and  the  be- 
siegers; and  the  Vega  was  the  scene  of  many  single  combats 
between  the  Spanish  and  Moorish  cavaliers.  The  bright 
eyes  of  Isabella  and  her  ladies  kindled  the  valour  of  the 
gallant  Dons ;  and  surely  the  dark-skinned  warriors  fought 
none  the  less  bravely  for  remembering  the  soft  Moorish  eyes 
that  watched  their  deeds  from  the  lattices  of  Granada, 
But  Isabella  took,  besides,  a  more  active  share  in  the  siege, 
for  like  our  own  Elizabeth  at  Tilbury,  she  rode  about  in 
full  armour,  inspecting,  reviewing,  and  encouraging  her 
troops. 

Constant  skirmishes  took  place.  One  day  the  garrison 
made  a  grand  sally  at  early  dawn.  They  were  met  by  the 
Marquis  of  Cadiz.  The  Moorish  horse  fought  bravely;  but 
the  foot  giving  way,  all  were  driven  into  the  city  with  the 
loss  of  their  cannon. 

Force  of  arms,  however,  did  less  for  Ferdinand  than  the 
building  of  Santa  Fe.  In  three  months  this  town  arose 
where  his  tents  had  been.  Solid  stone  took  the  place  of 
fluttering  canvas ;  and  the  hearts  of  the  Moors  died  within 
them,  when  they  saw  the  masonry  which  typified  the  stern 
resolve  of  the  Christian  king  to  win  Granada.  Famine, 
too,  began  to  be  felt.  Unknown  to  the  people,  Abdallah 
and  his  advisers  entered  into  negotiations  with  the 
Jan.  2,  Spaniards.  On  a  fixed  day  the  Moorish  king  gave 

1492  up  the  keys  of  the  Alhambra;  and  the  great  cross 
A.D.        of  silver,  which  had  been  throughout  the  war  the 

leading  ensign  of  the  Christian   host,  was  borne 


THE  FATE  OF  ABDALLAH.  166 

into  the  Moorish  capital  amid  the  pealing  notes  of  the  Te 
Deum. 

A  few  hours,  and  Abdallah  reined  his  horse  on  a  rocky 
hill,  which  is  still  called  "  The  last  Sigh  of  the  Moor,"  to 
take  a  farewell  look  of  Granada.  His  eyes  were  brimming 
with  tears.  "  Well  doth  it  become  thee,"  said  his  mother, 
"  to  weep  like  a  woman  for  what  thou  couldst  not  defend 
as  a  man."  The  treaty  of  surrender  had  left  him  still  a 
shadow  of  royalty, — the  lordship  of  a  mountain  territory,  for 
which  he  was  to  do  homage  to  the  Castilian  sovereigns. 
After  holding  it  for  a  year,  he  sold  it  to  Ferdinand,  and, 
crossing  to  Africa,  died  in  battle  there. 

So  with  the  fall  of  Granada  ended  the  Moslem  power  in 
Spain,  after  an  existence  of  nearly  eight  centuries.  The 
loss  of  Constantinople  to  Christendom  was  well  atoned  for 
by  the  day  when — 

"  Down  from  the  Alhambra's  minarets 
Were  all  the  crescents  flung.'* 


KINGS  OF  CASTILE  DURING  THE  FOURTEENTH 
AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES. 


FERDINAND  IV 

ALFONSO  XI 1312 

PETER  THE  CRUEL 1350 

HENRY  II 1368 

JOHN  1 1379 


HENRY  III 1390 

JOHN  II 1406 

HENRY  IV 1454 

FERDINAND  V.  the  Catho- 
lic  ~ 1474 


166  EAKLY  LIFE  OF  COLUMBUS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DISCOVERY  AND  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA. 

Central  Point  :  COLUMBUS  LANDS  ON  ST.  SALVADOR, 
Oct.  12,  1492  A.D. 


Early  days  of  Columbus. 

At  Lisbon. 

His  grand  idea. 

His  struggles. 

Success  at  last. 

The  voyage  out. 

A  light  ahead. 


Lands  on  St.  Salvador. 
Reception  at  Barcelona. 
His  last  days. 
Ferdinand  Cortez. 
Occupies  Mexico. 
Seizure  of  Montezuma. 


Battle  of  Otumba. 
Francisco  Pizarro. 
The  Massacre  of  the  Peru- 
vians. 

Death  of  the  Inca. 
Pizarro  slain. 


\ 

THE  autumn  of  the  year,  whose  dawn  witnessed  the  fall  of 
Granada,  was  distinguished  by  the  discovery  of  America,  and 
the  planting  there  of  the  Spanish  flag. 

Christopher  Columbus  (the  Latin  form  of  the  Italian 
Colombo — in  Spanish,  Colon)  was  born  at  Genoa  about  1435, 
the  son  of  a  wool-comber.  A  few  months'  study  at  Pavia 
deepened  his  natural  love  for  mathematics.  He  was  especi- 
ally fond  of  geography,  astronomy,  and  navigation.  At  four- 
teen he  went  to  sea. 

After  many  voyages  and  adventures  he  settled,  about  1470, 
at  Lisbon,  which  was  then  the  great  centre  of  maritime 
enterprise.  The  fiery  boy,  ever  ready  for  a  fight,  had  then 
sobered  down  into  a  man  of  thirty-five,  gentle,  temperate, 
with  a  long  fair  freckled  face,  sharp  light-grey  eyes,  and 
flowing  hair  prematurely  white.  There  he  married  an 
Italian  lady,  Felipa.  His  chief  occupation,  when  not  at  sea, 
tvas  the  construction  of  maps, — a  pursuit  which  brought 
him  into  contact  with  the  leading  scientific  men  of  the  day. 

There,  as  he  pored  over  his  maps,  a  grand  idea  began  to 
take  definite  shape  within  his  brain.  He  believed  that  it 
was  possible  to  reach  Asia  by  sailing  westward  across  the 
Atlantic.  His  thoughts  upon  the  globular  shape  of  the 
earth,  the  opinions  expressed  by  old  writers  on  geography, 
and,  stronger  still,  the  facts  that  pieces  of  carved  wood,  huge 
reeds,  and  pine-trees — even  two  drowned  men  of  unknown 
race—-drifted  towards  Europe  by  westerly  winds,  had  been 


THE  SPANISH  COURT  GIVES  HIM  SHIPS.  167 

picked  up  in  the  Atlantic,  or  washed  ashore  at  the  Azores, 
deepened  this  conviction;  and  his  soul  kindled  within  him, 
as  he  felt  that  he  was  the  man  chosen  by  Heaven  to  carry 
the  light  of  the  Cross  into  a  new  world  beyond  the  western 
waves. 

His  plans  were  first  submitted  to  John  II.  of  Portugal, 
who  was  mean  enough,  while  haggling  about  terms,  to  send 
a  vessel  out  on  the  proposed  route.  A  few  days'  sailing, 
however,  cowed  the  would-be  robbers,  who  put  back  with- 
out having  seen  anything  but  a  waste  of  stormy  waters.  His 
offers  to  the  government  of  his  native  Genoa  were  rejected 
too.  In  1485  we  find  him  in  the  south  of  Spain.  The  time 
was  not  in  his  favour,  for  the  land  was  ringing  with  the  din 
of  the  Moorish  war.  Obtaining  an  audience  through 
Cardinal  Mendoza,  he  pleaded  eloquently  for  aid.  But  he 
was  put  off,  his  plans  being  referred  to  pedantic  monks,  who 
either  could  or  would  make  no  decision.  In  truth,  for  many  of 
these  years  his  bitter  portion  was  that  hope  deferred  which 
maketh  the  heart  sick 

At  last  the  banner  of  Spain  floated  on  the  Alhambra. 
The  war  was  over.  Once  more  Columbus  laid  his  plans  be- 
fore the  court.  Filled  with  the  grandeur  of  his  scheme,  he 
demanded  that  he  should  be  admiral  and  viceroy  of  all  the 
lands  he  discovered,  and  that  he  should  receive  one  tenth  of 
all  the  gains.  As  an  offset  to  these  demands  he  offered  to 
bear  an  eighth  of  the  expense.  Unfortunately  the  Castilian 
treasury  was  empty ;  and  Ferdinand,  grudging  the  two  ships 
and  3000  crowns  needful  for  the  voyage,  had  already  re- 
jected the  proposals  of  Columbus,  when  Isabella — to  her 
lasting  honour — declared  that  she  would  pawn  her  jewels 
for  the  cost  of  the  expedition.  Columbus,  who  had  left 
Santa  Fe,  was  recalled,  and  an  arrangement  was  completed. 

On  a  Friday  morning,  three  ships — two  of  them  being 
caravels,  or  light  undecked  boats,  called  the  Pinta 
and  the  Nina,  the  third  a  larger  vessel,  the  Santa   Aug.  3, 
Maria,  which  bore  the  flag  of  Columbus — left  the  1492 
harbour  of  Palos  in  Andalusia.     One  hundred  and     A.D. 
twenty  men  were  on  board.     As  the  last  farewells 
were  said,  and  the  heavy  tears  fell  fast,  hope  died  out  in 
every  breast  but  one.     True  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  the 


168  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  BAHAMAS. 

brave  heart  of  the  admiral  pointed  to  its  grand  purpose. 
Touching  at  the  Canaries,  they  sailed  westward  for  forty 
days,  when  it  was  noticed  that  the  needle  was  not  pointing 
to  the  north  star.  The  pilots  were  in  alarm,  until  Columbus 
explained  away  their  fear.  Seaweed  drifting  past,  and  birds 
wheeling  round  seemed  to  betoken  that  land  was  near.  But 
as  day  after  day  rose  and  set  on  the  heaving  circle  of  water, 
unbroken  by  one  speck  of  shore,  the  murmurs  of  the  crews 
grew  deep.  Clouds  on  the  horizon  deceived  them  more  than 
once.  On  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  October  the  clamour 
broke  wildly  out.  Go  home  they  would.  But  still  the  iron 
will  of  Columbus  beat  down  these  feebler  souls,  and  the  prows 
still  pointed  to  the  west.  Sternly  he  told  them  that,  happen 
what  might,  he  was  resolved  to  go  on,  and,  1^ith  God's  bless- 
ing, to  succeed.  Next  day  their  hopes  revived,  for  they  saw 
green  rock  fish  playing  in  the  sea,  river  weeds,  and  a  branch 
with  fresh  berries  floating  by,  and  they  picked  up  a  reed,  a 
board,  and  a  carved  stick. 

That  evening  at  ten  o'clock,  Columbus,  standing  on  the 

raised  poop  of  his  ship,  thought  he  saw  a  light  on  the  dark 

horizon.     He  called  two  of  his  associates.     One  saw  it — the 

other  caught  some  gleams  as  it  rose  and  fell  in  the  dim 

night.     Four  hours  later,  at  two  o'clock,  a  shot  from  the 

Pinta  announced  that  land  was  ahead.     And  when 

1 4.  Q  9  ^at  famous  Friday  morning  dawned,  there  it  lay  six 

J   miles  off,  the  dream  of  many  struggling  years  realized 

at  last, — a  low  green  shore  fringed  with  many  trees. 

Columbus,  dressed  in  rich  scarlet,  landed  with  the  royal 
banner  of  Spain  in  his  hand.  Kissing  the  welcome  soil  with 
tears  of  joy,  he  returned  thanks  to  God;  and  then  with 
drawn  sword  took  possession  of  the  island,  which  he  named 
San  Salvador.  It  was  one  of  the  Bahama  group.  The 
simple  natives,  who  had  at  first  fled  in  fear  to  the  woods, 
soon  returning,  timidly  made  friends  with  the  Spaniards, 
touching  their  beards  and  wondering  at  their  white  faces. 

Cruising  among  these  islands,  which  have  ever  since  been 
called  the  West  Indies  from  the  mistaken  idea  of  Columbus 
that  they  formed  a  part  of  Asia,*  the  Spaniards  discovered 

*  The  aborigines  of  America  are  still  called  Indians  from  the  same  error. 


THE  DEATH  OF  COLUMBUS.  169 

Cuba  and  Hispaniola.     Columbus  reached  Palos  just  seven 
months  and  twelve  days  from  the  sailing  of  the  ex- 
pedition.    His  reception  at  Barcelona  was  a  bril-  March  15, 
liant  triumph.     The  king  and  queen,  rising  to  re-   1493 
ceive  him,  bestowed  on  him  the  rare  honour  of  a     A.D. 
seat  in  their  presence.     He  told  his  story ;  showed 
the  birds,  the  plants,  the  gold  ore,  and  the  natives,  he  had 
brought  from  the  New  World ;  and  when  he  ceased  to  speak, 
the  sovereigns  fell  on  their  knees,  while  a  hymn  of  thanks- 
giving rose  from  the  assembled  choir. 

Columbus  made  three  more  voyages  of  discovery.  In  1500, 
upon  a  false  charge  of  oppressing  the  colonists  of  Hispaniola, 
he  was  superseded  by  Bobadilla,  who  sent  him  in  fetters  to 
Spain.  These  irons  he  kept  ever  after,  hanging  up  in  his 
private  room,  to  remind  him  of  the  ingratitude  of  princes: 
and  he  ordered  them  to  be  buried  in  his  grave.  Returning 
from  his  last  voyage  in  1504,  this  greatest  of  the  world's 
sailors  laid  down  his  weary  head  to  die  at  Valladolid,  May 
20th,  1506. 

In  1518  the  Spanish  governor  of  Cuba  sent  an  officer, 
Ferdinand  Cortez,  with  ten  ships  and  six  hundred  men,  to 
conquer  the  newly  discovered  Mexico.  Having  founded  the 
colony  of  Vera  Cruz  as  a  basis  of  operations,  Cortez  then 
broke  all  his  ships  to  pieces.  This  he  did  to  insure  success, 
for  he  thus  shut  himself  and  his  soldiers  up  in  the  invaded 
land. 

Montezuma  was  the  emperor  of  the  Mexicans.  Gradually 
advancing  through  his  territories,  the  Spanish  force  at  last 
reached  the  capital.  Everywhere  they  were  regarded  as 
deities — children  of  the  sun.  Scrolls  of  cotton  cloth  were 
carried  far  and  wide  through  the  terror-stricken  land,  on 
which  were  pictured  pale-faced  bearded  warriors,  trampling 
horses,  ships  with  spreading  wings,  and  cannons  breathing 
out  lightning,  and  dashing  to  the  earth  tall  trees  far  away. 
The  emperor  admitted  Cortez  to  his  capital,  but  at  the  same 
time  sent  a  secret  expedition  to  attack  Vera  Cruz.  The 
hopes  of  the  Mexicans  revived  when  they  saw  the  head  of  a 
Spaniard  carried  through  the  land ;  for  then  they  knew  that 
their  foes  were  mortal.  At  this  crisis  Cortez  resolved  on  a  bold 
stroke.  Seizing  Montezuma,  he  carried  him  to  the  Spanish 


170  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO. 

quarters,  and  forced  him  to  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of 
Spain. 

Having  held  Mexico  for  six  months,  Cortez  left  it  to 
defeat  Narvaez,  whom  the  Cuban  government,  jealous  of 
his  success,  had  sent  against  him  with  nearly  a  thousand  men. 

During  his  absence  all  was  uproar  in  the  capital.  Two 
thousand  Mexican  nobles  had  been  massacred  for  the  sake 
of  their  golden  ornaments ;  and  the  Spanish  quarters  were 
surrounded  by  a  furious  crowd.  The  return  of  Cortez,  with 
a  force  increased  by  the  troops  of  the  defeated  Narvaez,  was 
oil  cast  on  flame.  Montezuma,  striving  to  mediate,  was 
killed  by  a  stone  flung  by  one  of  his  angry  subjects.  The 
Spaniards  were  for  a  time  driven  from  the  city ;  but  in  the 
valley  of  Otumba  (1520)  the  Mexicans  w\ere  routed,  and 
their  golden  standard  was  taken.  Soon  afterwards 
1521  the  new  emperor  was  made  prisoner,  stretched  on 

A.D.  burning  coals,  and  gibbeted.  The  siege  of  Mexico ; 
lasting  seventy-five  days,  was  the  final  blow. 

The  cruelty  of  Cortez  is  undoubted ;  but  it  is  possible  to 
find  in  the  story  of  our  own  empire  cases  which  can  rival  in 
atrocity  the  bloodiest  deeds  of  the  Spanish  adventurer.  He, 
too,  like  Columbus,  was  looked  coldly  on  at  home.  He  died 
in  1547  at  Seville,  aged  sixty-two. 

The  conqueror  of  Peru  was  Francisco  Pizarro,  a  man  who 
could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  whose  early  days  were 
spent  in  herding  swine.  Kunning  away  from  home  in  early 
life,  he  became  a  soldier,  and  saw  much  service  in  the  New 
World.  Between  1524  and  1528,  while  exploring  the  coast 
of  Peru,  he  formed  the  design  of  conquering  that  golden 
land,  being  tempted  by  the  abundance  of  the  precious  metals 
which  glittered  everywhere,  forming  not  merely  the  orna- 
ments of  the  people,  but  the  commonest  utensils  of  every- 
day life. 

He  sailed  from  Panama  with  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
men  in  February,  1531.  A  civil  war  then  raging  in  Peru 
between  two  brothers,  who  were  rivals  for  the  throne,  made 
his  task  an  easier  one  than  it  might  otherwise  have  been. 
The  strife  seems  to  have  been  to  some  extent  decided  when 
the  Spaniards  landed,  for  Atahualpa  was  then  Inca  of  Pern 
—BO  they  called  their  kings. 


MASSACRE  OF  THE  PERUVIANS. 


171 


Pizarro  found  the  Inca  holding  a  splendid  court  near  the 
city  of  Caxamarca;  and  the  eyes  of  the  Spanish  pirates 
gleamed  when  they  saw  the  glitter  of  gold  and  jewels  in  the 
royal  camp.  The  visit  of  the  Spanish  leader  was  returned 
by  the  Inca,  who  came  in  a  golden  chair,  encompassed  by 
10,000  guards.  A  friar,  crucifix  in  hand,  strove  to  convert 
this  worshipper  of  the  sun,  telling  him  at  the  same  time  that 
the  pope  had  given  Peru  to  the  King  of  Spain.  The  argu- 
ment was  all  lost  on  the  Inca,  who  could  not  see  how  the 
pope  was  able  to  give  away  wha,t  was  not  his,  and  who,  be- 
sides, scorned  the  idea  of  giving  up  the  worship  of  so  magni- 
ficent a  god  as  the  sun.  The  furious  priest  turned  with  a  cry 
for  vengeance  to  the  Spaniards.  They  were  ready,  for  it  was 
all  a  tragedy  well  rehearsed  beforehand.  The  match  was 
kid  to  the  levelled  cannon,  and  a  storm  of  shot  from  great 
guns  and  small  burst  upon  the  poor  huddled  crowd  of  Peru- 
vians, amid  whose  slaughter  and  dismay  Pizarro  carried  off 
the  Inca.  As  the  price  of  freedom,  Atahualpa  offered  to  fill 
his  cell  with  gold.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the 
treasure  divided  among  the  Spaniards  ;  but  the  un-  1533 
happy  Inca  was  strangled  after  all.  The  capture  of  A.D. 
Cuzco  completed  the  wonderfully  easy  conquest  of 
Peru. 

Pizarro  founded  Lima  in  1535 ;  and,  six  years  later,  was 
slain  by  conspirators,  who  burst  into  his  palace  during  the 
mid-day  siesta. 


KINGS  OF  ARAGON  DURING  THE  FOURTEENTH 
AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES. 


JAMES  II 

ALFONSO  IV 1327 

PETER  IV 1336 

JOHN  1 1387 

MARTIN  1 1396 

Interregnum 1410 


FERDINAND  the  Just 1412 

ALFONSO  V 1416 

JOHN    II.,    King    of   Na- 
varre  1458 

FERDINAND  V.,  the  Cath- 
olic  1479 


172  ITALIAN  AIlCHITECTtrKE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN  DURING  THE  CLOSE  OF 
THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


Rise  of  cathedrals. 
Houses  of  Florence. 
Condottieri. 
Monks  and  monasteries. 
Pilgrimages. 
Life  in  Venice. 

The  Guilds  of  Florence. 
Italian  amusements. 
Literature  and  art. 
Chivalry  in  Spain. 
Three  military  orders. 
The  Inquisition. 

Auto  da  Fe. 
Learned  ladies. 
Royal  dress. 
Popular  sports. 
The  drama. 

DURING  the  last  years  of  the  tenth  century  a  great  horror 
fell  on  all  Christendom.  It  was  everywhere  believed  that 
the  last  day  of  the  year  999  would  close  the  book  of  human 
history.  And  so  everything  was  neglected.  But  when  the 
mornings  of  1000  A.D.  grew  brighter  as  the  year  rolled  on,  hope 
revived.  Men  felt  that  they  had  a  new  lease  of  life,  and  one 
striking  form  their  gratitude  took  was  the  rearing  of  those 
magnificent  cathedrals,  which  are  the  noblest  monuments 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  Italy,  as  over  all  Europe,  many  a 
solemn  minster  rose.  Amongst  the  Italian  temples  of  that 
date  were  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  and  St.  Mark's  at  Venice. 
In  Italy  the  pure  Gothic  architecture  never  took  root.  There 
are,  indeed,  buildings  called  Gothic  there ;  but  the  style  is 
an  awkward  mixture  of  classic  and  Gothic.  There  are 
specimens  pf  Norman  buildings  in  Southern  Italy,  and 
traces  exist  of  Moorish  mason- work  too,  especially  in  Sicily. 

The  history  of  early  Florence  may  be  read  in  the  dark, 
square,  rough-hewn  mansions,  built  for  her  restless  nobles. 
Four  piles  of  building,  unadorned  even  by  a  pillar,  sur- 
rounded a  central  court.  On  the  summit  frowned  a  heavy 
cornice,  more  like  a  rampart,  as  indeed  it  was.  The  lower 
story  rose  some  thirty  feet,  either  without  windows,  or  pierced 
by  a  few  grated  loop-holes.  Within  such  dark  prison-houses 
the  tyrant  nobles  were  often  forced  to  shut  themselves, 
when  the  angry  commons  came  surging  like  a  stormy  sea 
down  the  street  with  pikes,  and  cross-bows,  and  shouts  of  war. 

The  constant  feuds  of  the  Italian  towns  drew  into  the 
peninsula  hordes  of  mercenary  soldiers.  These  Free  Lances, 


MONKS  AND  PILGRIMAGES.  173 

or  Companies  of  Adventurers,  were  led  by  capti.  ins  called 
Condottieri.  From  city  to  city  they  roved,  living  by  murder 
and  pillage,  ready  to  draw  sword  in  the  cause  of  the  highest 
bidder.  Sometimes  the  chances  of  war  cast  them  to  the 
head  of  the  State,  in  whose  cause  or  against  whose  freedom 
they  were  fighting.  Since  it  was  their  object  to  make  their 
profession  pay,  they  lengthened  out  war  into  campaigns ; 
and  often  for  the  length  of  a  summer  day  rival  bands  of  these 
rovers,  tilting  gracefully,  perhaps  unhorsing  a  foe  now  and 
again,  fought  without  bloodshed,  merely  playing  at  soldiers. 

Everywhere  throughout  Italy  the  shaven  crown  and  sad- 
coloured  robe  of  the  monk  were  to  be  seen.  These  men  were 
often  of  the  highest  birth.  The  novice  generally  spent  his 
preparatory  year  in  herding  swine  and  other  drudgery ;  and 
sometimes,  at  the  time  of  admission,  was  forced  to  lay  his 
cowled  head  on  the  bare  earth  for  three  days  and  nights, 
while  he  mused  on  the  mysteries  of  religion.  And  hard  was 
the  discipline  by  which  the  rank  of  saintship  was  sometimes 
won.  St.  Eomuald,  founder  of  many  monasteries,  passed 
several  of  his  last  years  in  perfect  silence.  The  chief  monas- 
teries of  Italy  were  placed  high  among  the  wooded  cliffs  of 
the  Apennines.  From  the  eighth  to  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury most  of  the  religious  orders  arose.  The  close  of  this 
period  was  marked  by  the  institution  of  the  two  orders  of 
begging  friars — Franciscans  and  Dominicans — beneath  whose 
foul  patched  gowns  and  girdles  of  rope  too  often  there  lurked 
hearts  swollen  with  lust  and  pride. 

The  devotion  of  the  people  found  vent  chiefly  in  pilgrim- 
ages. The  Holy  House  of  the  Virgin  at  Loretto,  placed 
miraculously,  so  the  story  went,  on  the  hill,  was  a  favourite 
resort  of  remorseful  penitents.  The  Jubilee  Pilgrimages  drew 
crowds  to  Rome  every  fifty  years.  And  for  three  months  of 
1399,  through  all  Italy,  bands  of  penitents,  dressed  in  white, 
with  crucifix  in  hand,  went  singing  a  low  wailing  hymn  to 
the  Virgin.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing,  about  the  same 
time,  to  see  the  Flagellants  trooping  along  among  the  vine- 
yards or  through  the  city  streets  with  bleeding  backs  and 
limbs,  on  which  their  own  cruel  hands  were  laying  the 
•scourge 

Lu  Venice  the  merchants  went  on  'Change  in  the  little 


174  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

square  of  che  Rialto.  In  the  cool  evenings  the  bridges  were 
thronged  with  sailors,  glass-workers,  and  silk-weavers.  The 
waters  of  the  Canal  were  alive  with  the  black-peaked  gon- 
dolas. Faction-fights,  sanctioned  by  the  authorities,  com- 
monly took  place  on  the  Bridge  of  St.  Barnabas,  where  black 
cap  and  sash  slashed  with  stiletto  or  sword  at  his  opposite 
neighbour,  who,  dwelling  on  the  other  side  of  the  Grand 
Canal,  wore  red.  Spies  crept  everywhere  in  Venice.  The 
terror  of  the  time  has  been  already  spoken  of,  when  often  in 
the  dead  midnight  a  sullen  splash  in  the  waters  told  but  too 
surely  that  to-morrow  would  see  in  some  princely  house  a 
vacant  chair  that  would  never  be  filled  again. 

The  citizens  of  Florence  were  of  two  grades— Greater  and 
Less.  The  seven  Greater  trades  were  lawyers,  dealers  in 
foreign  cloth,  dealers  in  wool,  silk-mercers,  and,  higher  still, 
furriers,  apothecaries,  and  goldsmiths.  Among  the  fourteen 
Less  guilds  were  butchers,  smiths,  shoemakers,  builders.  The 
seven  Greater  had  each  its  own  consul,  council,  and  gonfa- 
loniere,  or  standard-bearer,  who  led  the  guild  to  war.  Such 
was  the  arrangement  of  the  Guelph  Constitution  of  Florence, 
formed  in  1266. 

Shows  of  various  kinds  were  provided  for  the  people  by 
the  rulers.  The  Carnival — wildest  of  modern  Italian  revels 
— was  in  the  Middle  Ages  a  religious  festival  only.  There 
were,  of  course,  in  a  land  of  song  many  minstrels.  Some- 
times, as  at  Mantua  in  ]  340,  a  court  of  pastime  was  pro- 
claimed, to  which  from  all  parts  of  Italy  resorted  a  motley 
crowd,  princes  and  nobles  mingling  with  actors,  rope- 
dancers,  and  clowns.  The  glittering,  many-coloured  Harle- 
quin of  our  Christmas  pantomimes  and  his  partner,  Colum- 
bine, made  their  first  appearance  on  the  Italian  comic  stage. 
The  tragedy  of  Punch  and  Judy,  too,  so  often  enacted  in  our 
streets,  had  its  origin  in  the  Italian  puppet-show.  The 
lighter  amusements  and  pageants  of  chivalry,  such  as  con- 
tests in  music  and  poetry,  and  mock-trials  upon  points  of 
honour,  prevailed  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Italy;  but 
rougher  sports  like  the  tournament  had  scarcely  any  home  in 
the  peninsula. 

The  court  of  the  Florentine  Medici  shone  conspicuous  as 
fche  most  splendid  scene  of  mediaeval  life  in  Italy.  The 


THE  CHIVALRY  OF  SPAIN.  175 

Roman  court  of  the  Borgias,  a  Spanish  family  of  whom  two 
held  the  popedom  (Calixtus  III.  and  Alexander  VI.),  pre- 
sented a  spectacle  of  gilded  and  jewelled  crime  hardly  paral- 
leled in  history. 

Her  works  of  literature  and  art  give  unfading  lustre  to 
mediaeval  Italy.  Dante  and  Petrarch  are  foremost  among 
her  poets ;  and  though  all  must  lament  the  licentious  tain* 
which  sullies  his  pages,  none  can  help  acknowledging  the 
graceful  beauty  of  many  of  Boccaccio's  "  Hundred  Tales." 
The  noonday  of  Italian  art  had  not  yet  come.  But  to  the 
close  of  the  Middle  Ages  belongs  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  the 
painter  of  "  The  Last  Supper."  Born  in  the  valley  of  the 
Arno  in  1452,  he  drew  his  last  breath  at  Fontainebleau,  in 
the  arms  of  King  Francis  I.  of  France  (1519). 

SPAIN.— Chivalry  lingered  in  Spain  long  after  it  had  died 
out  in  other  parts  of  Europe.  It  received  its  death-blow 
from  the  sarcastic  pen  of  Cervantes,  whose  inimitable  ''Don 
Quixote  "  turned  the  knight-errant  into  undying  ridicule.  The 
hostility  of  Moors  and  Spaniards  contributed  much  to  keep 
alive  the  spirit  of  knighthood,  for  the  Moors  were  brilliant 
cavaliers,  skilled  in  all  knightly  exercises,  and  therefore  foe- 
men  well  worthy  of  the  Spanish  steel.  The  Moors  of 
Granada  especially  were  noted  for  their  skill  with  the  cross- 
bow and  in  horsemanship.  The  chivalry  of  the  Spanish 
Moors  displayed  itself  in  the  freedom  granted  to  their  wives 
and  daughters,  who,  unlike  the  women  of  Mahometan  lands 
in  general,  mingled  freely  in  the  most  public  society.  The 
learned  ladies  attended  academic  meetings ;  and  the  fair  sex, 
as  with  the  Christians,  rewarded  the  victors  in  the  tourna- 
ment. 

Three  great  military  brotherhoods  succeeded  the  dominion 
of  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers  in  Spain.  These  were  the 
orders  of  St.  Jago,  Calatrava,  and  Alcantara. 

The  chief  object  of  the  Order  of  St.  Jago  (St.  James),  which 
was  established  by  papal  bull  in  1175,  was  to  protect  from 
the  attacks  of  the  Arabs  those  who  were  making  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  saint's  tomb  in  Galicia.  The  cavaliers  wore  a  white 
mantle,  embroidered  with  a  sword  and  the  escalop  shell, 
which  was  the  device  of  their  patron.  The  knights  of  Cala- 
trava, whose  order  was  established  in  1164,  kepi  perfect 


176  TERRORS  OF  THE  INQUISITION. 

silence  at  table  and  in  bed,  ate  meat  only  three  times  a 
week,  and  slept  sword  by  side.  The  knights  of  Alcantara 
wore  a  white  mantle  with  a  green  cross. 

The  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  was  remarkable  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain.  Four  priests, 
armed  with  terrible  powers,  were  sent  in  1480  to  commence 
operations  in  Seville,  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  having  already  issued 
a  bull  to  authorize  their  appointment.  Ere  a  year  had 
passed,  three  hundred  Jews  had  perished.  Suddenly  and 
silently  the  accused  was  snatched  from  his  friends.  None 
but  his  jailer  and  a  priest  were  permitted  to  see  him.  If  he 
refused  to  confess  his  guilt,  the  torture  was  applied  in  a 
dungeon,  whose  thick  walls  no  cry  could  pierce.  Then  with 
dislocated  joints  and  crushed  bones  he  was  flung  into  a  dark 
cell  once  more,  perhaps  not  to  leave  it  again  but  for  the  last 
sad  scene. 

This  was  the  Auto  da  Fe  (Act  of  Faith).  Clad  in  black, 
the  highest  nobles  of  Spain  bore  the  flag  of  the  Inquisition. 
The  Romish  priests  stood  round,  robed  in  their  gorgeous 
vestments.  The  wretched  victims  were  brought  out  to  die, 
clad  in  san  benitos.  These  were  long  robes  of  coarse  wool, 
dyed  yellow,  and  painted  with  a  red  cross  and  the  figures  of 
devils  and  flames.  The  populace  thronged  to  witness  the 
exciting  spectacle;  and  a  savage  joy  thrilled  the  assembled 
crowds  as  the  red-tongued  flame  licked  up  the  life  of  the 
so-called  heretics. 

In  the  days  of  Isabella  the  study  of  Latin  and  rhetoric  was 
fashionable  among  the  ladies  of  Spain.  The  queen  herself 
was  a  woman  of  much  literary  taste,  speaking  her  own 
tongue  with  elegance,  and  versed,  too,  in  several  modern 
languages.  Latin  she  studied  after  her  accession,  and  took 
only  a  year  to  gain  great  proficiency  in  it.  She  took  delight 
in  the  collection  of  manuscripts,  which  in  that  day  were, 
according  to  Moorish  fashion,  bound  in  bright  colours,  and 
richly  decorated.  We  read  of  Spanish  ladies  of  this  time 
lecturing  from  the  university  chairs  upon  classical  literature 
and  kindred  subjects. 

The  first  printing-press  in  Spain  seems  to  have  been  set 
up  at  Valencia  in  1474 ;  and  the  first  book  printed  there  was 
a  collection  of  songs  in  honour  of  the  Virgin. 


SPANISH  DRESS  AND  SPORTS.  177 

A  meeting  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  during  the  Moorish 
war  is  thus  described  by  the  curate  of  Los  Palacios  :  —  "  The 
queen  sat  in  a  saddle-chair  embossed  with  gold  and  silver, 
upon  a  chestnut  mule,  whose  housings  were  of  crimson  and 
bridle  of  gold-embroidered  satin.  The  infanta,  her  daughter, 
wore  a  scarlet  mantle  of  the  Moorish  fashion,  a  black  hat 
laced  with  gold,  and  a  skirt  of  velvet.  The  king  figured  in 
a  crimson  doublet,  and  breeches  of  yellow  satin,  a  cuirass  and 
Moorish  scimitar.  Both  king  and  queen  wore  a  close-fitting 
coif  of  fine  stuff  below  the  hat,  to  confine  the  hair." 

The  tournament  was  the  great  pastime  of  the  day.  Splen- 
did galleries,  hung  with  silk  and  cloth  of  gold,  enclosed  the 
lists.  After  the  day's  tilting,  music  and  dancing  enlivened 
the  evening  hours.  Bull-fights  —  now  the  grand  national 
sport  of  Spain  —  and  the  graceful  tilt  of  reeds  were  foremost 
among  the  popular  amusements. 

We  find  dramatic  entertainments  taking  their  rise  in 
Spain,  as  in  our  own  country,  in  the  mysteries  or  sacred 
plays  of  the  clergy.  A  law,  passed  in  the  thirteenth  century 
to  forbid  some  profanities  that  were  creeping  into  the  per- 
formances, laid  down  as  fit  subjects  for  exhibition  the  birth, 
crucifixion,  and  resurrection  of  our  Saviour.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  Middle  Ages  we  read  of  the  Spanish  stage  being 
constructed  of  a  few  planks  laid  upon  benches.  The  "  pro- 
perties" —  consisting  of  four  dresses  of  white  fur  and  gilt 
leather,  with  accompanying  beards,  wigs,  and  crooks  —  were 
then  carried  in  a  single  sack. 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FIFTH  PERIOD. 

FAUST  (JOHN)  ..............  A  goldsmith  and  engraver  of  Mentz—  one  of 

the  earliest  printers  —  associated  for  five 
years  with  Guttenberg  in  the  working  of  a 
press  with  movable  metal  types  (1450-55) 

—  first  work  printed,    '  An  Indulgence  oi 
Pope  Nicholas  V.'—  died  1466,  at  Paris. 

KEMPIS  (THOMAS  A)...Born  about  1380  at  Kempen,  near  Cologne 

—  studied  at  De  venter  —  became  a  canon  of 
the  monastery  of  Mount  St.  Agnes—  tran- 
scribed the  Bible,   the  Missal,  and  other 
religious  books  —  good  copyist,  and  fond  of 
it  —  said  to  be  author  of  four  books  of  great 

(47) 


178  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  FIFTH  PERIOD 

merit,  entitled,  '  De  Imitatione  Christi,' 
but  he  transcribed  these  from  older  manu- 
scripts. The  work  is  more  justly  ascribed 
to  John  Gerson  of  Paris,  who  died  1429 — 
T.  'AKempis  died  in  1471,  aged  90. 

POLITIAN  (ANGELOV...Born  in  Tuscany,  1454— in  after  life  took  the 
name  of  Poliziano — a  great  friend  of  Lo- 
renzo de  Medici,  whose  children  he  edu- 
cated—professor of  Latin  and  Greek  at 
Florence — wrote  scholia  and  notes  to  many 
ancient  authors — translated  into  Latin  the 
History  of  Herodian — noted  also  for  his 
Italian  poems — wrote  'Orfeo,'  which  is 
said  to  be  the  earliest  specimen  of  the  opera 
or  Italian  musical  drama. 

DA  VINCI  (LEONARDO).  Born  in  the  Val  d'Arno,  below  Florence,  in 
1452 — a  famous  painter — remarkable  for 
his  knowledge  of  other  arts  and  sciences 
— his  works  are  not  many — one  of  his 
greatest  is  'The  Last  Supper/  painted  on 
the  wall  of  the  Dominican  convent  of  the 
Madonna  delle  Grazie — wrote  very  many 
treatises — lived  much  at  Rome,  but  died 
at  Fontainebleau  in  France,  2d  May,  1519, 
aged  67. 

RAPHAEL  (SANZIO) Born  at  Urbino,  6th  April,  1483— perhaps 

the  greatest  of  modern  painters  —  lived 
both  at  Florence  and  Rome — the  '  Trans- 
figuration '  usually  considered  his  master- 
piece—  famous  for  his  Madonnas — died 
on  his  birth-day,  1520,  at  the  early  age 
of  37. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FIFTH  PERIOD. 

FOURTEENTH  CENTURY— continued. 

A.D, 

The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  discovered  by  the  Portuguese. 1392 

The  Treaty  of  Calmar,  uniting  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway 

under  Margaret 1397 

Tamerlane  takes  Delhi 1398 

FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Battle  of  Agincourt 1415 

John  Huss  burned 

Jerome  of  Prague  burned „.., 1416 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  FIFTH  PERIOD.  179 

A.D. 

Jfoan  of  Arc  victorious  at  Orleans 1428 

Her  death 1431 

Guttenberg  prints  at  Strasburg 1444 

Accession  of  Constantino  Palseologus,  last  of  the  Byzantine 

Emperors 1445 

Constantinople  taken  by  the  Turks 1453 

Wars  of  the  Roses  begin  in  England 1455 

Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  rules  Florence 1478 

Union  of  Castile  and  Aragon  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 1479 

Battle  of  Bos  worth 1485 

Fall  of  Granada 1491 

Columbus  discovers  America 1492 

Invasion  of  Italy  by  Charles  VIII.  of  France 1494 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  doubled  by  Vasco  di  Gama 1497 

Sa\oAarola  burned  at  Florence « .....1488 


180 


PROTESTANTS  BEFORE  LUTHER, 


SIXTH  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  REFORMATION  TO  THE  CLOSE  OP 
THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  REFORMATION.      \ 
Central  Point:   THE  DIET  OF  AUGSBURG,  1530,  A.D. 


Earlier  Protestants. 
Sources  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

Three  central  figures. 
Luther's  early  days. 
The  cloisters  of  Erfurt. 
Professor  at  Wittenberg. 
Sale  of  indulgences. 


The  ninety-five  theses. 
The  disputation  at  Leip- 

sic. 
Burning    of    the    Papal 

bull. 

The  Diet  of  Worms 
The  Castle  of  Wartburg. 
Ulric  Zwingle. 


Diet  of  Augsburg. 
Last  days  of  Luther. 
John  Calvin. 
Settles  in  Geneva. 
Stay  in  Strasburg. 
His  return  to  Geneva. 
His  code  of  discipline. 
Death  and  character. 


THERE  were  Protestants  before  Luther.  Paulinus  of  Aquileia 
in  the  days  of  Charlemagne;  the  Albigenses  in  sunny  Langue- 
doc ;  the  Waldenses  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont ;  John  Wyc- 
liffe  in  England;  Huss  and  Jerome,  the  Bohemians,  who 
perished  in  the  flames  at  Constance ;  and  Savonarola,  who 
met  the  same  fate  at  Florence, — all  nobly  deserved  the  noble 
name. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  printing-presses  of  Guttenberg 
and  Faust  and  Caxton  had  multiplied  books,  especially  the 
Bible,  a  thousandfold,  and  the  capture  of  Constantinople  by 
the  Turks  had  scattered  far  and  wide  the  Greeks  and  their 
language, — thus  giving  to  the  West  the  key  to  the  right 
understanding  of  the  New  Testament, — that  Central  Europe, 
in  the  grey  dawn  of  a  new  era,  could  see  the  shackles  laid 
on  her  by  Borne,  and  summon  all  her  might  to  tear  them 
from  her  burdened  limbs. 

Then,  in  the  fulness  of  the  time,  Martin  Luther  arose, 


LUTHER'S  COLLEGE  LIFE.  181 

and,  somewhat  later,  John  Calvin  and  Ulric  Zwingle,  the 
three  leaders  of  the  Continental  Reformation.  Grouped 
round  these  three  grand  central  figures  stood  a  little  band  of 
brave  spirits,  foremost  among  whom  were  Melancthon,  the 
friend  of  Luther;  Lefevre  and  Farel,  the  associates  of 
Calvin. 

Luther,  the  son  of  a  miner,  was  born  at  Eisleben  in 
Saxony  in  December  1483.  While  at  school  in  Eisenach 
he  used  to  sing  in  the  streets  for  bread, — a  custom  which  was 
common  among  the  German  students.  Entering  the  Uni- 
versity of  Erfurt,  he  took  his  degree  in  1505  :  he  was  then 
twenty-two. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  college  life,  which  was  free  and 
jovial,  three  events  stirred  his  mind  powerfully : — he  found 
in  the  library  a  Latin  Bible ;  a  dear  friend  died ;  and  he  him- 
self was  sick  nigh  unto  death.  Calling  his  fellow-students 
around  him  one  night,  he  entertained  them  at  a  merry 
Bupper;  and  scarcely  had  they  left  his  lodging,  when  he 
stood  knocking  at  the  door  of  the  Augustine  convent  with 
two  books  in  his  hand — a  Virgil  and  a  Plautus.  His  three 
years  within  the  cloisters  of  Erfurt  were  spent  in  terrible 
mental  struggles,  and  in  vain  attempts  to  gain  peace  by 
monkish  fastings  and  penances.  It  was  not  until  the  advice 
of  Staupitz,  his  vicar-general,  directed  him  to  the  Bible  and 
the  works  of  St.  Augustine  that  Luther  began  to  see  light. 
We,  who  glory  in  the  privileges  of  Protestantism,  owe  a  deep 
debt  of  gratitude  to  that  wise  and  kind-hearted  priest,  who, 
pitying  pale  and  haggard  young  Brother  Martin,  showed  him 
the  tree  of  life. 

In  1508  Luther  was  appointed  Professor  of  Philosophy  in 
the  University  of  Wittenberg.  There  he  won  renown  as  a 
bold  and  original  preacher.  The  little  old  wooden  chapel  of 
the  convent  could  not  hold  his  audience.  The  great  idea  of 
the  Reformation  was  now  taking  full  possession  of  his  soul. 
So  strong  was  its  influence,  that  when  he  went  to  Rome  in 
1510  or  11,  on  a  certain  mission,  and  tried  to  climb  Pilate's 
staircase  on  his  knees  as  an  act  of  penance,  his  conscience 
never  ceased  to  thunder  in  his  soul,  "  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith."  The  Rome  of  that  day  he  found  to  be  a  hot-bed 
of  infidelity,  blasphemy,  and  criui-e.  In  1512  he  was  made 


182  THE  NINETY-FIVE  THESES. 

Doctor  of  Divinity.  So  far  we  have  traced  the  outlines  of 
his  preparation ;  now  for  his  great  work. 

Leo  X.,  in  want  of  money  to  build  St.  Peter's  at  Rome, 
authorized  the  sale  of  indulgences.  John  Tetzel,  a  Domini- 
can monk,  arrived  within  a  few  miles  of  Wittenberg  with  a 
bundle  of  these  paper  lies,  and  the  simple  country-folk  of 
Saxony  crowded  round  his  counter  to  buy.  With  brow  of  brass 
and  lungs  of  leather,  he  shouted  all  day  long  the  wonderful 
powers  of  the  indulgence.  "  Drop  a  penny  in  my  box  for 
some  poor  wretch  in  purgatory,"  said  he,  "  and  the  moment 
it  clinks  on  the  bottom,  the  freed  soul  flies  up  to  heaven." 
Luther  heard  of  these  things,  and  saw  their  effect  upon  some 
of  his  own  flock,  who,  believing  themselves  pardoned  by  the 
indulgence  they  had  bought,  refused  to  submit  to  his  direc- 
tion. He  felt  the  time  had  come  for  the  first  blow  in  a 
momentous  struggle.  "  God  willing,"  said  he,  "I  will  beat 
a  hole  in  his  drum." 

Then,  shaping  his  belief  on  the  subject  of  the  indulgences 

into  ninety-five  theses  or  propositions,  he  sent  a  copy  of  them 

to  the  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg ;  and  on  the  same  day — that 

which  we  call  Hallow-Eve — he  nailed  another  copy, 

3lst  Oct.   signed  with  his  name,  on  the  gate  of  the  Castle 

1517    Church  of  Wittenberg.       In  these  theses  Luther 

A.D.  did  not  altogether  deny  the  power  of  the  Church 
to  grant  absolution ;  but  he  maintained  that,  unless 
there  was  real  contrition  on  the  part  of  a  sinner,  an  indul- 
gence was  of  no  avail.  This  public  defiance  was  the  start- 
ing-point of  the  Reformation.  The  news  ran  with  lightning- 
speed  through  Germany  and  Europe. 

Tetzel,  retiring  to  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  issued  a  list  of 
counter  theses,  maintaining  the  infallibility  and  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  pope.  These  were  burned  by  the  students 
of  Wittenberg,  who  entered  heart  and  soul  into  the  cause  of 
their  professor.  Pope  Leo,  a  literary  and  architectural  ama- 
teur, heard  a  buzz  in  Germany,  but  treated  it  lightly,,  as  a 
monkish  quarrel.  "  This  Luther,"  said  he,  "  is  a  man  of 
genius ;  he  writes  well." 

Cajetan,  the  papal  legate,  a  smooth  and  subtle  Italian,  was 
foiled  in  an  attempt  to  make  Luther  retract  at  a  conference 
held  at  Augsburg.  Miltitz,  a  German,  had  apparently  better 


THE  DISPUTATION  AT  LEIPSIC.  183 

success,- — having  enticed  Luther  into  a  conditional  promise  to 
keep  silence  upon  the  disputed  points. 

The  disputation  of  Leipsic,  however,  proved  that  Luther 
had  not  merely  drawn  the  sword,  but  had  flung  away  the 
scabbard.    When  that  man,  of  middle  size,  so  thin  as  to  seem 
mere  skin  and  bone,  yet  with  nothing  forbidding  or  sad  in 
his  bright  happy  face,  mounted  the  platform  in  the  royal 
hall  of  Duke  George,  with  a  bouquet  of  flowers  in  his  hand, 
those  who  sat  around — the  noblest  and  wisest  and  most 
learned  in  the  land — must  have  wondered  at  the 
daring  of  the  solitary  monk.     Yet  not  solitary,  for      June 
the  shield  of  God  was  over  him ;  and  thousands  of    1519 
German  hearts  blessed  him  where  he  stood.    Dr.       A.D. 
Eck,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Ingolstadt,  a  man 
noted  through  all  Germany  for  skill  in  controversy,  was  his 
rival.     Taking  his  stand  upon  the  text,  "  Thou  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,"  Eck  maintained 
the  supremacy  of  the  pope.     Luther,  applying  the  word 
*'rock"  to  Christ,  contended  that  He  was  the  sole  and  abso- 
lute Head  of  the  Church.     So  the  fencing  went  on  for  days, 
and  they  parted,  each  claiming  the  victory. 

During  the  folio  wing  summer  Luther  published  a  few  pages 
of  an  address  to  the  Christian  nobles  of  Germany,  in  which, 
with  that  strong,  blunt  speech,  that  he  was  noted  for,  he 
characterized  the  seat  of  Papacy  as  a  devil's  nest.  His  work 
"On  the  Babylonish  Captivity  of  the  Church"  followed  in 
autumn. 

At  length  the  thunder  of  Rome  broke  forth.    A  bull  was 
published,  declaring  Luther  a  heretic,  ordering  his  writings 
to  be  burned,  and  summoning  him  to  Rome  within  sixty 
days.     The  crisis  had  come,  and  bravely  the  monk 
of  Saxony  met  it.    -One  winter  day,  gathering  the  10th  Dec. 
students  and  townsfolk  of  Wittenberg  to  the  Elster    1520 
Gate,  he  cast  the  Papal  bull,  a  document  once  so      A.D. 
potent  and  terrible,  into  the  flames  of  a  fire  of  wood. 

A  few  months  later,  he  set  out  for  Worms,  where  the  young 
Emperor  Charles  V.  was  holding  his  first  Diet  of  the  Ger- 
man States.  Greatly  had  the  soul  of  Luther  rejoiced  when 
he,  received  a  summons  to  plead  his  cause  in  so  proud  a  pre- 
sence. He  journeyed  sluwiy.,  ciuwds  thronging  round  his 


184  THE  DIET  OF  "WOBMS. 

coach,  and  joyous  music  welcoming  him  at  every  stage, 
Friendly  warnings  met  him ;  a  heavy  sickness  seized  him  on 
the  way;  yet  still  he  pressed  undaunted  on.  And  when 
the  roofs  and  spires  of  Worms  rose  in  view,  standing  up  in 
his  carriage,  he  sang  the  famous  hymn,  Ein  feste  Burg  ist 
unser  Gott,  which  has  ever  since  borne  his  name.  That 
night  till  very  late  his  inn  was  thronged  with  nobles  and 
scholars.  But  when  all  were  gone,  alone  upon  his  knees,  he 
sobbed  out  a  broken  prayer,  casting  himself  at  this  hour  of 
great  need  entirely  upon  the  help  of  God.  Next  day,  as  the 
April  sun  was  near  its  setting,  he  came  before  the  emperor, 
who  sat  enthroned  among  his  splendid  courtiers. 
April  17,  It  was  a  striking  contrast, — a  pale  monk  against  a 
1521  brilliant  court.  As  at  Leipsic,  his\cheek  was  thin ; 
A.D.  but  there  was  that  within  his  heart  which  could 
brave  the  dark  looks  of  the  red-robed  cardinals  and 
violet-clad  bishops,  the  sneers  of  dressy  Spaniards,  or  the 
wrath  of  the  great  emperor  himself.  Eck  rose  to  ask  him  if 
he  would  retract  his  works.  Luther  required  a  day  to  pre- 
pare his  reply ;  and  next  day  he  closed  a  two  hours'  speech 
in  German  and  in  Latin  thus :  "  Unless  I  be  convinced  by 
Scripture  and  reason,  I  neither  can  nor  dare  retract  any- 
thing ;  for  my  conscience  is  a  captive  to  God's  word,  and  it 
is  neither  safe  nor  right  to  go  against  conscience.  Here  I 
take  my  stand ;  I  can  do  no  otherwise.  So  help  me  God." 
Paul  himself  might  have  spoken  the  brave  and  honest  words. 
He  was  then  dismissed  from  Worms,  the  emperor  having 
declared  his  resolve  to  treat  him  as  a  heretic.  Luther's  own 
epitome,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  of  the  proceedings  of  these 
three  momentous  days  is  a  gem  of  condensation.  "  Are  the 
books  yours  ?" — "  Yes." — "  Will  you  revoke,  or  not  ?"- 
"  No." — "  Get  you  gone  then." 

On  his  way  home  he  was  seized  by  a  band  of  armed  men 
in  masks,  and  carried  to  the  Castle  of  the  Wartburg  up 
among  the  mountains.  This  is  said  to  have  been  done  by 
his  friend  the  Elector  of  Saxony  to  keep  him  out  of  harm's 
way.  There  he  lived  for  about  a  year  disguised  as  a  knight, 
rambling,  hunting,  and  writing.  During  this  retirement  he 
began  his  great  work,  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
German.  Before  he  left  Wartburg  he  had  finished  the  New 


DLRIC  ZW7NGLE.  185 

Testament;  but  the  entire  work  was  not  completed  until 
1534.  The  news  that  Carlstadt  and  other  extreme  Reformers 
were  carrying  things  with  a  high  hand  at  Wittenberg, 
smashing  images,  and  seeking  to  banish  from  the  University 
all  books  but  the  Bible,  called  Luther  down  from  the  moun- 
tains. Then  came  a  controversy  with  Carlstadt,  who  was 
forced  to  flee  from  Saxony  to  Switzerland.  A  quarrel 
between  Luther  and  Erasmus  occurred  about  the  same 
time. 

In  1524  Luther  threw  off  his  monk's  dress  ;  in  the  follow- 
ing year  he  married  Catherine  Von  Bora,  an  escaped  nun. 
About  the  same  time  the  Peasants'  War,  excited  by  the 
Anabaptists  under  Munzer,  arose  in  the  Black  Forest,  and 
raged  through  out  the  Rhine  provinces,  en  ding  in  the  slaughter 
of  fifty  thousand  people.  Luther,  whose  enemies  blamed 
him  for  this  outbreak,  took  the  rashness  of  the  misguided 
peasants  deeply  to  heart,  and  inveighed  bitterly  against  their 
mad  actions. 

In  1529  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  desirous  of  a  union  be- 
tween the  Reformers  of  Germany  and  Switzerland,  invited 
Luther  and  Zwingle  to  meet  at  Marburg. 

Zwingle  was  born  in  1484, — a  Swiss  farmer's  son.  He 
saw  service  early  in  life,  as  chaplain  to  the  Swiss  troops  in 
Italy.  After  he  was  settled  as  a  preacher  at  home,  the  sal^ 
of  indulgences  excited  his  anger  at  Einsiedlen,  as  it  had  ex- 
cited Luther's  at  Wittenberg.  At  Zurich,  somewhat  later,  he 
preached  reform  more  boldly  still,  and  won  for  that  canton 
the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  embrace  the  pure  doctrines 
of  Protestantism.  His  great  mistake  as  a  Reformer  was  the 
attempt  to  mix  politics  with  religion, — to  reform  the  State 
while  he  purified  the  Church. 

When  the  Swiss  and  the  Saxon  met  at  Marburg,  they 
differed  upon  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Luther 
maintained  the  doctrine  of  consubstantiation,  in  which  he 
was  a  steadfast  believer;  Zwingle  verged  to  the  opposite 
extreme;  and  they  parted,  no  great  friends.  Two  years 
later,  in  a  war  between  the  Reformed  and  the  Romish 
cantons,  Zwingle,  whose  warlike  spirit  led  him  to  join  the 
ranks  of  the  Zurichers,  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Cappel. 

A  diet  was  held  at  Spires  in  the  spring  of  1529,  partly  to 


186  THE  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

raise  forces  for  the  Turkish  war,  and  partly  to  settle,  ii 
possible,  the  religious  differences  of  the  nation. 

1529  The  Romish  party  having  drawn  up  a  decree  in 
A.D.       favour  of  their  creed,  the  Lutherans  gave  in  their 

famous  "  Protest,"  from  which  they  were  henceforth 
called  Protestants.  The  names  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 
the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  the 
Duke  of  Liinenburg,  the  Prince  of  Anhalt,  and  the  deputies 
of  fourteen  cities,  were  affixed  to  this  document. 

Next  year  a  great  assembly  of  princes  met  at  Augsburg. 
Luther  was  not  there,  but  Melancthon  was;  and  to  this 

gentle  friend  of  the  brave  Reformer  fell  the  task  of 

1530  reading  the  celebrated  Confession  of  the  Protestant 
A.D.       Faith.    In  twenty-one  articles  the  belief  of  Protes- 
tants was  summed  up ;  the  remaining  seven  were 

devoted  to  the  errors  of  Rome.     The  document  was  written 
by  Melancthon,  but  much   of  the  matter  was  Luther's. 
Although  this  Confession  was  condemned  by  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg,  the  determined  attitude  of  the  Protestants  made 
the  decision  of  little  use.     The  emperor  wavered,  not  willing 
to  estrange  so  powerful  a  section  of  the  German  nation. 
The  league  of  Protestants  at  Srualcald  and  Frankfort  gave 
new  strength  to  the  cause  of  truth,  and  the  emperor, 
1530     whose  grand  object  then  was  to  lead  all  Germany 
A.D.       into  the  field  against  the  Turks,  annulled  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Diets  held  at  Worms  and  Augs- 
burg.    This  victory  of  Protestantism  marks,  for  the  time  at 
least,  the  close  of  the  struggle. 

Luther  lived  until  1546,  writing  and  teaching  at  Witten- 
berg. Every  year  saw  the  doctrines,  for  which  he  had  so 
stoutly  contended,  spreading  more  widely.  There  was  much 
to  vex  him  in  the  perils  which  still  beset  the  cause,  and  in 
the  follies  of  some  of  its  friends ;  but  within  his  little  home 
there  was  peace.  While  visiting  his  native  town,  Eisleben, 
to  reconcile  the  Counts  of  Mansfield,  he  died  after  a  short 
illness.  As  he  said  himself,  "  The  world  is  weary  of  me ; 
and  I  of  the  world."  His  work  was  done :  he  lay  down  to 
sleep.  Well  for  us  all  if,  when  the  summons  comes,  our 
work  be  so  bravelv  and  fully  done !  He  was  a  blunt,  affec- 
tiouate,  jovial  man,  free-spoken  sometimes,  but  always  to 


JOHN  CALVIN.  187 

the  point.  His  tender  love  of  his  Kate  and  children,  and 
his  noble,  manly  trust  in  G-od,  endear  to  our  grateful  hearts 
this  first  and  greatest  of  the  Reformers. 

No  sketch  of  the  Reformation  would  be  complete  without 
a  notice  of  John  Calvin.  Born  in  1509,  at  Noyon  in  Picardy, 
he  received  his  education  chiefly  hi  the  schools  of  Paris,  and 
afterwards  attended  law-classes  at  Orleans  and  Bruges. 
The  study  of  the  Bible,  and  the  conversation  of  two  friends 
first  opened  his  mind  to  the  truths  of  the  Reformed  faith, 
while  he  was  a  student  at  Orleans ;  and  his  association  at 
Bruges  with  the  Professor  of  Greek,  Melchior  Wolmar, 
deepened  his  convictions  of  Romish  error.  To  teach  religion 
then  became  his  grand  desire.  After  many  vain  efforts  to 
teach  the  Reformed  doctrines  peacefully  in  France,  we  find 
him  an  exile  at  Basle.  There,  in  1535,  he  published  the 
first  outline  of  his  great  work,  "The  Institutes  of  the 
Christian  Religion,"  which  was  undoubtedly  the  book  of 
the  Reformation,  and  is  still  a  standard  text-book  in  some 
of  our  schools.  After  a  stay  of  some  time  in  Italy,  and  a 
short  visit  to  France,  he  settled  in  Geneva  in  the  summer 
of  1536. 

Here  he  became  teacher  and  preacher  of  theology ;  and  in 
conjunction  with  Farel  framed  a  Confession  of  Faith  for  the 
citizens ;  who  were,  however,  scarcely  yet  prepared  for  the 
strict,  and,  as  some  thought,  over-rigid  discipline  which  he 
sought  to  establish.  A  hostile  party  accordingly  arose,  known 
as  the  Libertines,  whose  influence  grew  strong  enough  to 
banish  Calvin  and  Farel  from  the  city. 

Strasburg  was  Calvin's  refuge ;  and  during  his  three  quiet 
years  of  literary  and  pastoral  labour  in  that  city  he  married. 
His  strong  interest  in  the  Genevans  was  shown  by  two 
remarkable  letters,  written  from  Strasburg,  to  strengthen 
them  in  the  Protestant  faith.  The  completion  of  the  Insti- 
tutes in  1539,  too,  marks  this  green  resting-place  in  a  troubled 
life. 

Late  in  1540  he  received  a  letter  from  the  Council  of 
Geneva,  entreating  him  to  return ;  and  in  the  autumn  of 
the  following  year  he  obeyed  the  call.  He  lost  no  time  in 
laying  down  a  code  of  laws,  regulating,  not  the  Church  only, 
but  the  minutest  details  of  every-duy  lite. 


188  THE  DEATH  OF  CALVIN. 

The  rest  of  Calvin's  hard-working  life  was  spent  in  thia 
city,  which  became  a  great  centre  of  the  Reformation.  Con- 
troversy filled  up  his  days,  for  enemies  were  thick  around 
him.  After  a  long  struggle,  he  expelled  the  Libertines  from 
the  city.  By  many  he  is  supposed  to  have  given  his  sanction 
to  the  burning  of  the  Spaniard  Servetus,  who  denied  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity, — a  circumstance  which,  if  true,  only 
affords  another  melancholy  proof  that  even  the  greatest 
and  purest  spirits  cannot  always  rise  above  the  prevailing 
spirit  and  rooted  prejudices  of  the  age  in  which  they  live. 

After  much  suffering  from  gout  and  other  diseases,  this 

great  man  died,  one  evening  in  May,  just  as  the 

1564  sun  was  setting.     His  frame  was  meagre,  and  rather 

A.I),  low-sized  :  his  sallow  face  told  of  Jiard  study  and 
rigorous  self-denial. 

He  stands  out  among  a  noble  army  as  the  great  lawgiver 
and  organizer  of  the  Reformed  Church, — the  "impersona- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  order  in  the  surging  movement  of  the 
sixteenth  century." 

POPES  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 


ALEXANDER  VI 

PIUS  III 1503 

JULIUS  II 1503 

LEO  X 1513 

ADRIAN  VI 1522 

CLEMENT  VII 1523 

PAUL  in 1534 

JULIUS  in 1550 

BLARCELLUS  H 1555 


PAUL  IV 1555 

PIUS  IV 1559 

PIUS  V 1566 

GREGORY  XIII 1572 

SIXTUSV 1585 

URBAN  VII 1590 

GREGORY  XIV 1590 

INNOCENT  IX 1591 

CLEMENT  Vin 1592 


OHARLES  BECOMES  KING  OF  SPAIN. 


189 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES  V. 


Central  Point:  BATTLE  OF  PAVIA,  1525,  A.D. 


Early  life  of  Charles. 
Becomes  King  of  Spain. 
Elected  Emperor. 
Troubles  in  Spain. 
War  with  Francis  I. 
Imprisonment  of  Francis. 
Sack  of  Rome. 
The  Treaty  of  Cambray. 

Anabaptist  war. 
The  taking  of  Tunis. 
Invasion  of  France. 
The     great     design     of 
Charles. 
Close  of  the  French  war. 
Council  of  Trent 
Rise  of  the  Jesuits. 

Maurice  of  Saxony. 
The  Interim. 
The  danger  at  Innspnick 
Peace  of  Passau. 
Resignation  of  Charles. 
His  cloister  life. 
His  death   and  charac- 
ter. 

CHARLES,  the  son  of  Philip  the  Handsome,  Archduke  of 
Austria,  and  the  grandson  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  was 
born  at  Ghent  early  in  1500.  His  mother  was  Joanna,  the 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  His  early  life  was 
spent  in  the  Netherlands,  where  Adrian  of  Utrecht  acted  as 
his  tutor.  But  the  tastes  of  the  young  prince  lay  rather  in 
warlike  exercises  than  in  books.  History  and  politics  were 
made  the  groundwork  of  his  education.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  assumed  the  government  of  Flanders,  which  came  to  him 
through  his  grandmother,  Mary  of  Burgundy. 

The  death  of  Ferdinand  in  1516  placed  on  his  head  the 
brilliant  crown  of  Spain,  which  he  held  jointly  with  his 
mad  mother  Joanna.  The  celebrated  Cardinal  Ximenes, 
long  the  faithful  minister  of  the  dead  king,  ruled  as  regent, 
until  Charles,  whose  Flemish  friends,  in  their  jealousy  of 
the  Spaniards,  kept  him  among  them  for  more  than  a  twelve- 
month, reached  the  shore  of  Asturias.  There  a  splendid 
throng  of  Spanish  nobles  welcomed  their  new  king.  Ximenes, 
kept  back  by  illness,  wrote  to  the  young  monarch,  advising 
him  to  dismiss  all  strangers  from  his  train,  or  he  would 
mortally  offend  the  haughty  grandees.  The  sensible  advice 
was  rejected,  and  the  poor  old  cardinal,  stabbed  by  a  cold 
cruel  letter  of  reply,  laid  down  his  grey  head  to  die. 

While  at  Barcelona  Charles  heard  that  his  grandfather 
Maximilian  was  dead.  At  once  a  great  struggle  for  the 
vacant  empire  began  between  the  young  King  of  Spain  and 


190  CHARLES  ELECTED  EMPEROR. 

Francis  I.  of  France.  The  seven  Electors,  with  whom  the 
choice  lay,  fearing  that  the  power  of  such  candidates  would 
be  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  Germany,  offered  the  crown 
to  Frederick,  Duke  of  Saxony.  But  he,  refusing  it 
1519  on  the  ground  that  his  hand  was  too  weak  to  hold 
A.D.  the  sceptre  when  the  Turks  were  showing  so 
threatening  a  front  along  the  eastern  borders, 
advised  that  Charles,  a  German  by  blood  and  by  tongue, 
should  be  elected  emperor.  So  Don  Carlos  L,  whose  do- 
minions now  embraced  Austria,  the  Netherlands,  Naples, 
and  Spain,  with  all  its  golden  possessions  beyond  the 
Atlantic,  became  Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany. 

In  the  following  year  he  was  crowned  with  the  diadem  of 
Charlemagne  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  In  sketching  the  story  of 
his  reign,  his  share  in  the  great  scenes  of  the  Reformation 
need  not  be  touched  on,  since  they  have  been  noticed  in  the 
previous  chapter. 

The  appointment  of  his  tutor  Adrian  to  be  Regent  of 
Spain,  and  other  acts  of  the  same  kind,  kindled  a  rebellion 
in  the  peninsula.  Many  towns,  Toledo  among  the  number, 
took  up  arms.  A  "  Holy  Junta,"  or  association  of  deputies, 
was  formed ;  and  Joanna,  then  enjoying  a  lucid  interval, 
was  entreated  to  take  the  government  into  her  hands.  She 
graciously  consented ;  but,  when  the  glimpse  of  reason  had 
passed  away,  she  could  never  be  got  to  sign  a  paper.  War 
began.  The  troops  of  the  Junta,  successful  at  first,  were  in 
the  end  defeated.  They  lost  the  favour  of  the  nobles  and  the 
clergy.  The  arrival  of  Charles,  who  soon  won  the  hearts  of 
the  alarmed  Spaniards  by  granting  a  free  pardon  to  all 
except  some  twenty  of  the  ringleaders,  calmed  the  tumult ; 
and  the  removal  to  Italy  of  Adrian,  who  had  just  been  made 
pope,  helped  to  re-establish  peace  in  Spain. 

The  grand  struggle  of  the  time  was  between  Charles  and 
his  brilliant  rival,  Francis  of  France.  Italy,  so  often  the 
battle-field  of  Europe,  was  the  theatre  of  war.  There,  in 
1515,  Francis  had,  by  a  rapid  dash  over  the  Alps,  made  him- 
self master  of  Milan  and  Lornbardy.  But  nine  years  later, 
in  one  short  season,  he  lost  his  brave  Chevalier  Bayard  and 
every  fragment  of  his  Italian  conquests.  And  then  was 
fought  the  great  battle  of  Pa  via,  in  which  the  generals  of 


THE  SACK  OF  ROME.  191 

Charles  shattered  the  French  power  in  Italy  beyond  repair. 
King  Francis,  fighting  in  the  front  like  a  gallant  young 
soldier,  received  many  wounds,  and  had  his  horse  killed 
under  him  ;  but  the  desertion  of  his  Swiss  troops, 
and  an  attack  upon  the  rear  scattered  his  brave  24th  Feb. 
battalions.     He  was  taken  prisoner,  and  10,000  1525 
of  his  noblest  lay  dead  upon  the  bloody  field.     A.D. 
"Madame,"  wrote  he  to  his  mother,  "  all  is  lost  but 
honour."    After  lying  in  prison  at  Madrid  for  nearly  a  year, 
Francis  regained  his  freedom  by  a  treaty,  in  which  he  agreed 
to  give  up  to  Charles  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy,  to  renounce 
all  his  pretensions  to  Italy,  and  to  give  as  hostages  his  eldest 
and  second  sons.    Between  France  and  Spain,  on  the  waters 
of  the  Andaye,  the  father  and  sons  met, — they,  bound  for  a 
Spanish  prison — he,  for  the  free  French  shore.     Landing,  he 
sprang  on  his  Turkish  steed,  and  dashed  off  for  Bayonne 
with  the  joyous  words,  "I  am  yet  a  king."     The  promise 
about  Burgundy  was  never  fulfilled,  and  the  war  was  at 
once  renewed. 

The  league,  now  formed  against  the  Emperor  by  Francis, 
included  the  pope,  upon  whom  the  heavy  hand  of  Charles 
soon  fell.  Bourbon,  once  High  Constable  of  France,  who 
had  been  driven  thence  by  the  malice  of  the  king's  mother, 
led  to  Rome  the  imperial  troops,  mutinous  for  want  of  pay. 
Rushing  on  the  city  in  the  mist  of  morning,  they  scaled  the 
walls,  and  nothing  daunted  by  their  leader's  death,  who  was 
struck  down  from  a  ladder  by  a  musket  ball,  they 
fought  their  way  into  the  city.  A  fearful  scene  of  1527 
plunder  and  debauchery  ensued.  Pope  Clement,  who  A.D. 
had  shut  himself  into  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  was 
soon  starved  into  a  surrender.  Charles  tried  to  calm  the  in- 
dignation which  this  act  roused  by  pretending  deep  sorrow  for 
the  imprisonment  of  the  pope.  His  court  went  into  mourn- 
ing, and  prayers  were  offered  up  for  "  His  Holiness  "  in  the 
churches  of  Madrid.  But  all  Europe  saw  through  the  flimsy 
veil.  Francis  I.  and  Henry  VIII.  of  England  united  against 
the  Emperor.  The  French  army  entered  Italy.  The  fiery 
Francis  challenged  his  rival  to  fight  a  duel,  and  Charles 
agreed  ;  but  after  some  hard  names  had  been  bandied  be- 
tween the  monarchs,  the  matter  dropped.  Misfortunes  then 


192  THE  ANABAPTISTS. 

fell  thick  on  Francis.  One  heavy  blow  was  the  revolt  of 
Andrew  Doria,  a  famous  sailor  of  Genoa,  who  had  been 
fighting  under  the  French  colours.  In  quick  succession 
there  followed  the  ruin  of  a  French  army  before  Naples  by 
hunger  and  disease,  and  the  loss  of  Genoa.  The  threatening 
attitude  of  the  Turks,  and  the  ferment  of  the  Eeformation 
in  Germany  inducing  Charles  to  wish  for  peace,  two  old 
ladies — the  emperor's  aunt  and  the  king's  mother — met 
quietly  in  the  little  border  town  of  Cambray  to 
1529  talk  over  the  matter.  There  a  treaty  was  agreed 
A.D.  to,  in  terms  of  which  Francis  was  to  pay  two 
millions  of  crowns,  to  resign  Flanders  and  Artois, 
and  to  give  up  all  thoughts  of  Italy ;  while  Charles  was  to 
set  free  the  French  princes,  and  to  say  no^more  about  the 
promised  Burgundy. 

In  the  following  year  at  Bologna  Charles  was  crowned 
Emperor  and  King  of  Lombardy  by  the  pope,  whom  he  had 
so  hardly  used. 

The  war  of  the  German  peasants,  excited  by  the  Ana- 
baptist Munzer,  has  been  already  noticed.     The  doings  of 
this  sect  assumed  a  more  alarming  phase,  when,  in  1533, 
Matthias,  a  baker,  and  Boccold,  a  tailor,  seizing  the  West- 
phalian  city  of  Munster,  and  changing  its  name  to  Mount 
Zion,  set  up  a  commonwealth,  of  which  polygamy  was  the 
most  notable  feature.    Upon  the  death  of  Matthias,  Boccold 
assumed  the  title  of  King.  But  after  a  long  blockade 
1536     Munster  was  taken ;  and  the  tailor  king,  having 
A.D.       been  carried  in  chains  through  the  cities  of  Ger- 
many, was  put  to  death  with  lingering  tortures 
where  he  had  held  his  guilty  court. 

Twice  Charles  led  great  expeditions  to  the  coast  of  Africa : 
one  a  brilliant  success  in  1535,  the  other  a  wretched  failure 
in  1541.  All  the  harbours  of  Barbary  swarmed  with  Ma- 
hometan pirates,  of  whom  the  chief  was  the  daring  Barba- 
rossa.  Sultan  Solyman,  flattered  by  the  submission  of  this 
wily  corsair,  had  given  him  the  command  of  the  Ottoman 
fleet ;  and  Barbarossa,  thus  strengthened,  had  seized  the 
kingdom  of  Tunis.  To  dislodge  him,  and  thus  cripple  the 
Turkish  power  by  sea,  was  the  object  of  the  enterprise  of 
Charles.  The  great  fort  of  Goletta,  bristling  with  three 


WAR  WITH  FRAXCIS  L  193 

hundred  cannon,  was  carried  with  a  rush  by  the  troops  of 
the  emperor.  And  when  the  defenders  of  Tunis  were  driven 
back  into  the  city  in  headlong  rout,  ten  thousand  Christian 
slaves,  who  had  knocked  off  their  irons,  turned  the  guns  of 
the  citadel  upon  the  pirates.  Barbarossa  fled  in  dismay ; 
the  imperial  troops,  wild  for  plunder,  burst  into  the  streets, 
and  Tunis  was  filled  with  riot  and  blood.  Then  having 
restored  the  exiled  king  to  his  throne,  Charles  re-crossed 
the  sea. 

At  once  the  French  war  was  renewed.  Savoy  was  over- 
run by  French  soldiers,  but  speedily  lost.  Charles  then 
invaded  Provence  with  fifty  thousand  men.  But  Mont- 
morency  stood  firm  in  his  camp  at  Avignon ;  Marseilles  and 
Aries  were  besieged  in  vain ;  and  after  two  inglorious  months 
the  emperor  re-entered  Italy  a  baffled  man.  Through  the 
mediation  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  a  truce  for  ten  years  was  con- 
cluded at  Nice  in  1538. 

Next  year  we  find  Charles  trusting  so  far  to  his  rival's 
honour  as  to  seek  permission  to  travel  from  Spain  to  the 
Netherlands  through  France,  that  he  might  punish  the 
revolted  citizens  of  Ghent.  The  leave  being  freely  given, 
he  passed  safely  through  the  hostile  land,  everywhere  splen- 
didly received. 

The  favourite  design  of  Charles  during  all  his  reign  was 
to  roll  back  the  tide  of  Moslem  war,  which  threatened 
Christendom  on  the  east.  Solyman  and  his  Turks  now 
subdued  Hungary.  But  his  constant  and  wasting  wars  with 
Francis  prevented  the  emperor  from  ever  realizing  this 
glorious  vision.  The  terror  of  his  name,  indeed,  did  some- 
thing to  blunt  the  Turkish  sabre.  We  have  already  seen 
him  striking  a  blow  at  Tunis  on  the  Barbary  shore.  He 
aimed  another  at  Algiers  late  in  the  autumn  of  1541 ;  but  it 
was  a  blow  that  recoiled  upon  himself  ;  for  storm  and  sword 
and  hunger  and  plague  drove  him  back  to  Europe  with  but 
a  miserable  wreck  of  his  splendid  force. 

The  outbreak  of  renewed  war  between  Charles  and  Francis 
marks  the  year  1542.  The  worthless  truce  was  cast  aside. 
Francis,  forming  an  alliance  with  Solyman,  raised  five  great 
armies  ;  Charles  with  his  ally,  Henry  of  England,  gloated 
over  a  fancied  partition  of  France  which  seemed  to  float  in 
w>  13 


194  THE  JESUITS. 

his  future.  However,  the  defeat  of  the  emperor  at  Cerisoles, 
where  he  lost  ten  thousand  men,  quenched  these  glowing 
hopes,  and  the  strife  was  closed  by  the  peace  of  Crespy  in 
1544. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  following  year  the  nineteenth 
and  last  of  the  general  councils  met  at  Trent.  Nominally 
convened  to  settle  religious  differences  by  fair  discussion,  it 
was  yet  a  packed  assembly  filled  with  Italian  bishops,  whose 
overwhelming  number  enabled  the  pope  to  turn  the  course 
of  debate  at  his  will.  The  Council  of  Trent,  continuing  to 
sit  at  intervals  during  eighteen  years,  denounced  the  doc- 
trines of  Luther ;  it  is  therefore  not  surprising  that  the  Pro- 
testants have  always  denied  its  legality,  while  the  Church 
of  Rome  still  appeals  to  its  decisions  as  a  gr^eat  standard  of 
faith,  morals,  and  discipline.  Foremost  in  all  its  delibera- 
tions were  the  Jesuits, — a  new  order  of  monks  founded  by 
Ignatius  Loyola,  a  meagre  Spaniard,  once  a  soldier,  who, 
with  five  others — Francis  Xavier  among  them — had  sworn 
one  starry  night,  on  the  top  of  Montmartre,  to  devote  himself 
to  the  cause  of  his  tottering  Church.  Formally  instituted 
in  1540,  these  roving  monks,  who,  in  addition  to  the  three 
usual  vows,  took  an  oath  of  implicit  obedience  to  superiors, 
made  their  first  great  public  appearance  at  the  Council  of 
Trent ;  and  ever  since,  with  a  wonderful  and  restless  energy 
in  court  and  camp  and  market-place  and  private  house,  all  the 
world  over,  they  have  been  weaving  their  dark  plots  against 
Protestantism. 

The  chief  events,  which  marked  the  remaining  years  of  the 
Emperor  Charles,  belong  to  the  history  of  Germany.  Francis 
I.  and  Luther  died  within  a  few  months  of  each  other  ;  and 
Charles,  thus  freed  from  his  two  great  opponents,  re- 
solved to  root  out  the  reformed  faith  at  once  by  force  of 
arms.  The  Protestants  of  Germany  took  the  field ;  but  an 
ill-timed  negotiation  wasted  the  precious  days  which  should 
have  been  spent  in  active  war.  There  was  a  traitor  in  their 
camp — Maurice  of  Saxony— a  deep,  smooth-faced  hypocrite, 
whose  guiding  star  was  self.  This  man,  joining  the  em- 
peror, invaded  Saxony.  The  League  of  Smalcald  fell  to 
pieces.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
alone  stood  sword  in  Kand ;  but  the  former  was  defeated, 


MAURICE  OF  SAXONY.  195 

and  made  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Mulhausen  in  1547,  and 
the  latter  was  soon  terrified  into  a  surrender.  Maurice  re- 
ceived  as  the  price  of  his  infamy  the  Electorate  of  Saxony. 

Great  seemed  the  glory  of  Charles  now, — the  sword  of 
Francis  rusting  in  the  grave,  the  tongue  and  pen  of  Luther 
stilled  for  ever,  the  great  league  of  Protestantism  lying  in 
shivers,  and  its  two  boldest  champions  chained  at  his  feet. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  emperor  published  his  cele- 
brated system  of  religious  doctrine,  called  the  "  Interim," 
because  it  professed  to  settle  the  points  in  dispute  in  a  tem- 
porary way.  An  unhappy  move,  which  pleased  neither 
party, — seeming  to  the  one  to  yield  too  much,  and  to  the 
other  too  little. 

Maurice,  meanwhile,  had  been  growing  tired  of  the  em- 
peror's service.  His  father-in-law,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
was  still  a  prisoner  in  spite  of  his  pleading.  And,  although 
a  traitor  to  the  Protestant  cause,  he  had  yet  a  lingering 
feeling  that  it  was  good  and  true.  Managing  cleverly  to 
hoodwink  the  emperor  until  his  plans  were  ripe,  and  taking 
care  to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  French  king,  Henry  II.,  he 
appeared  suddenly  at  the  head  of  25,000  men,  and 
issued  a  manifesto  setting  forth  his  reasons  for  the  1552 
daring  step.  These  were  three — to  secure  the  A.D. 
Protestant  religion,  to  maintain  the  German  con- 
stitution, and  to  deliver  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  from  bond- 
age. Sweeping  rapidly  through  Upper  Germany,  he  moved 
upon  Innspruck,  where  Charles  lay  ill  of  the  gout ;  and  so 
quick  was  his  approach,  that  the  emperor,  gaining  only  a 
few  hours'  start,  was  obliged  to  flee  over  the  Alps,  carried 
by  torch-light  in  a  litter  through  the  dark  and  rainy  night. 
Hostilities  ensued ;  but  the  poverty  of  Charles  and  his  dread 
of  a  French  war  forced  him  to  conclude  a  peace  at  Passau, 
by  which  he  granted  to  Maurice  the  three  demands  (1552). 
The  Diet  of  Augsburg,  meeting  three  years  later,  confirmed 
this  treaty  by  a  solemn  declaration,  known  as  the  Peace  of 
Religion. 

At  the  age  of  fifty-six  Charles  resigned  the  sceptre  of 
Spain  and  the  Low  Countries  to  his  son  Philip,  for 
whom  he  had  been  vainly  trying  during  some  years     1556 
to  secure  the  empire.     Addressing  the  assembled       A.D. 


196  DEATH  OF  CHARLES  T, 

States  of  his  native  land  at  Brussels,  he  recounted 
what  he  had  done  in  fulfilment  of  his  public  duty,  pleaded 
broken  health  as  the  cause  of  his  resignation,  and  touchingly 
sought  the  pardon  of  those  whom  he  had  neglected  or  in- 
jured. Sailing  from  the  Netherlands  to  Spain,  he  soon  hid 
his  weary  head  within  the  monastery  of  Yuste,  in  Estrema- 
dura;  and  there  amid  dark  woods  of  oak  and  chestnut, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  mountain  chain,  he  spent 
two  quiet  years,  devoting  much  time  to  religious  exercises, 
still  taking  an  interest  in  public  matters,  but  quite  content 
to  listen  to  the  hum  of  the  rest]  ess  world  as  to  the  roar  of  a 
far-off  sea.  The  rich  landscapes  around  him,  and  his  collec- 
tion of  pictures,  especially  eight  gems  from  the  glowing  pen- 
cil of  his  well-loved  Titian,  were  never-failing  sources  of  de- 
light ;  but  his  favourite  occupation,  which  he  pursued  with 
the  help  of  an  Italian  engineer,  was  the  making  of  time- 
pieces and  little  puppets, — amongst  which  are  mentioned 
soldiers,  dancing  girls,  and  wooden  birds  that  could  fly  iu 
and  out  of  the  window. 

In  the  summer  of  1558  he  took  the  strange  notion  of  hav- 
ing his  own  funeral  rites  performed.  The  chapel  was  hung 
with  black ;  dim  wax  lights  burned  all  around ;  a  huge  scaf- 
folding, draped  with  black,  was  reared  in  the  centre ;  and 

round  it  stood  the  mourners,  Charles  himself  bear- 

1558     ing  a  taper  in  the  sombre  ring.     As  the  wailing 

A.D.       chant  arose,  a  strange  chill  struck  through  his 

blood,  and  a  few  'hours  later  he  was  laid  in  a  rag- 
ing fever  upon  the  bed  from  which  he  never  rose  again. 
The  gout,  racking  him  for  years,  had  so  wasted  his  strength 
that  in  three  weeks  he  breathed  his  last  (21st  September 
1558). 

As  a  monarch  and  a  statesman,  Charles  V.  possessed  shin- 
ing qualities.  Few  could  so  skilfully  have  guided  the  ever- 
tangling  threads  of  politics  in  three  great  realms.  Amid 
discontented  Spaniards,  surly  Flemings,  and  intriguing 
Italians,  with  French  cannon  ever  thundering  in  the 
west,  and  the  flash  of  Turkish  sabres  gleaming  along  his 
eastern  frontier,  with  all  Germany  agitated  by  a  question 
that  stirred  the  heart  to  its  lowest  depths,  he  yet  held  hia 
power  unbroken,  reading  the  men  around  him  at  a  glance, 


CHARACTER  OF  CHARLES  T. 


197 


and  shaping  out  his  own  course  with  a  rapid  and  dauntless 
decision.  The  secret  of  his  success  lay  chiefly  in  his  untir- 
ing industry.  His  great  faults  were  those  of  an  ambitious 
man.  The  haunting  fear  of  his  life  was,  that,  like  his 
mother,  he  should  die  mad  ;  from  this,  however,  he  was 
mercifully  spared. 


GERMAN  EMPERORS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF 
AUSTRIA. 


ALBERT  II 1438 

Interregnum  1439 

FREDERICK  IV 1440 

MAXIMILIAN  1 1493 

CHARLES  V 1519 

FERDINAND  1 1558 

MAXIMILIAN  II 1564 

RODOLPH  II 1576 

MATTHIAS 1612 

FERDINAND  II 1619 


FERDINAND  in 1637 

LEOPOLD  1 1658 

JOSEPH  1 1705 

CHARLES  VI 1711 

MARIA  THERESA 1740 

CHARLES  VH 1742 

FRANCIS  1 1745 

JOSEPH  II 1765 

LEOPOLD  II 1790 

FRANCIS  H 1792 


198  LES  GLTEUX 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  DUTCH  REPUBLIC, 
Central  Point:  THE  SIEGE  OF  LEYDEN,  1574  A.D. 


Philip  of  Spain. 

Les  Gueux. 

Counts  Egmont  and  Horn. 

Cruelty  of  Alva. 

Rise  of  the  Dutch  Navy. 


Siege  and  relief  of  Leyden. 
Sack  of  Antwerp. 
Pacification  of  Ghent 
Don  John  and  the  Arch- 
duke. 


Union  of  Utrecht. 
Murder  of  William. 
Independence     acknow 


Prosperity  of  Holland. 


WHEN  Charles  V.  retired  to  the  convent  of  Yuste,  his  son, 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  a  cold-hearted  and  bigoted  Romanist,  the 
husband  of  one  Queen  of  England,  the  rejected  suitor  and 
beaten  foe  of  her  successor,  received  the  Netherlands  as  a  part 
of  his  dominions.  Throughout  the  well-tilled  fields  of  this 
country,  where  such  cities  as  Brussels  the  Noble,  Ghent  the 
Great,  Mechlin  the  Beautiful,  and  Antwerp  the  Rich  arose 
strong  and  prosperous,  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation 
had  spread  fast.  Philip  resolved  to  root  out  the  heresy. 

Having  made  his  half-sister,  Margaret  of  Parma,  regent, 
he  attempted  to  introduce  the  Inquisition.  But  the  attempt 
was  met  with  a  storm  of  opposition.  The  Dutch  had  heard 
of  the  Auto  da  Fe,  and  knew  how  Mexico  had  been 
1566  drenched  in  blood.  "  We  are  no  stupid  Mexicans," 
A.D.  said  they.  "  We  will  maintain  our  ancient  rights." 
The  nobles,  walking  two  and  two  to  the  palace 
with  Count  de  Brederode  at  their  head,  presented  a  petition 
against  the  Inquisition.  "  Ah ! "  said  a  sneering  courtier  as 
he  looked  upon  the  procession,  "  it's  a  heap  of  beggars." 
The  name  stuck  to  the  faction,  who  were  henceforth  called 
Les  Gueux, — the  beggars.  The  king  taking  no  notice  of  this 
protest  of  the  nobles,  the  Dutch  rose  in  revolt  with  the 
storming  of  monasteries  and  the  destruction  of  many  fine 
pictures.  This  was  what  Philip  wanted.  He  had  now  a 
pretext  for  executing  his  bloody  schemes. 

The  Duke  of  Alva,  whose  name  is  a  by-word  for  bigoted 
cruelty,  entered  Brussels  with  12_,000  Spanish  and  some 
German  troops  in  the  summer  of  1567.  The  shadows  of  the 


CAPTURE  OF  BRILLE.  199 

coming  storm  fell  deep  upon  the  hearts  of  the  Dutch,  as  the 
news  of  Alva's  march  was  buzzed  about  the  land.  Many 
fled  in  fear  ;  most  of  them  to  England.  Brederode  soon  died 
in  exile.  The  greatest  man  of  all,  the  central  figure  of  a 
magnificent  drama — William  the  Silent,  Prince  of  Orange — 
unable  as  yet  to  organize  an  effective  movement  of  the  States 
against  the  deceitful  king,  went  into  Germany  to  his  brother 
John.  The  leading  nobles  who  remained  behind — Counts 
Egmont  and  Horn — were  arrested  after  three  weeks  of  pre- 
tended mildness  on  the  part  of  Alva.  About  nine 
months  later,  they  were  both  beheaded  in  the  1568 
market-place  of  Brussels  amid  the  sobs  of  the  de-  A.D. 
spairing  citizens. 

Alva  then  let  loose  the  full  flood  of  his  revengeful  bigotry 
on  the  wretched  Netherlander.  The  land  was  poisoned 
with  the  stench  of  18,000  decaying  corpses.  But  a  change 
came  just  when  it  seemed  impossible  to  bear  such  oppression 
longer.  A  band  of  the  Water  Beggars,  under  the  Count  of 
Lumay,  who  had  sworn  never  to  cut  or  comb  his  hair  until 
he  had  revenged  his  friend  Egmont's  death,  made  a  dash  by 
sea  upon  the  fortified  town  of  Brille,  and  took  it.  Every- 
where the  Dutch,  inspired  with  new  strength,  rose  and  ex- 
pelled the  Spaniards,  who  could  retain  their  footing  only  in 
Middleburg. 

During  the  war  that  ensued,  Frederick,  the  son  of  Alva, 
starved  the  little  garrison  of  Haerlem  into  a  surrender 
(1573) ;  and  then,  enraged  at  the  gallant  defence  they  had 
made,  butchered  them  without  mercy.  When  the  execu- 
tioners were  worn  out  with  their  bloody  work,  he  tied 
the  three  hundred  citizens  that  remained  back  to  back,  and 
flung  them  into  the  sea.  A  repulse  at  Altmaar,  and  a  great 
defeat  sustained  at  sea,  when  the  Water  Beggars,  with 
twenty-four  small  vessels,  beat  thirty  large  Spanish  ships, 
taking  seven  of  them,  turned  the  scale  completely  against 
Alva.  By  similar  successes,  and  the  capture  of  richly-laden 
merchantmen,  the  Dutch  soon  found  themselves  masters 
of  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  sail. 

The  brutal  Alva  was  then  recalled,  and  Requesens,  a 
milder  man,  appointed  in  his  stead.  Still  the  war  went  on 
with  changing  fortune.  The  Spanish  soldiery,  who  were 


200  RELIEF  OF  LEYDEN. 

badly  paid,  growing  mutinous,  were  led  to  the  siege  of  Ley- 
den.  A  circle  of  sixty-two  forts  was  drawn  round 
1574  the  devoted  city.  It  was  a  terrible  time,  and  the 
A.D.  cause  of  Protestantism  was  clouding  fast.  Famine 
pinched  the  poor  wretches  within  the  walls,  and 
without,  the  Dutch  soldiers  had  been  scattered.  In  vain 
the  Water  Beggars,  whose  broad-brimmed  hats  bore  a  half 
moon,  with  the  motto,  "  Better  Turkish  than  Popish,"  chafed 
on  their  decks  as  they  cruised  along  the  low  shore.  All  was 
despair,  until  William  the  Silent  ordered  the  dikes  to  be 
cut  and  the  sea  let  in  on  the  Spanish  works.  It  was 
done.  The  foaming  billows  rushed  over  the  cornfields.  A 
wind  arose,  which  drove  the  salt  waves  into  the  Spanish 
trenches,  while  at  the  same  time  it  bore  t|ie  boats  of  the 
bold  Dutch  skippers,  piled  up  with  bread  and  fish,  to  the 
walls  of  the  rescued  city.  Fifteen  hundred  Spaniards 
were  slain  or  drowned.  The  university  of  Leyden  was 
erected  as  a  memorial  of  this  gallant  defence  and  happy  de- 
liverance. 

The  relief  of  Leyden  was  a  fatal  blow  to  Spanish  power 
in  the  Netherlands,  although  Holland  was  not  yet  quite  free. 
The  exulting  people  elected  William  Stadtholder,  and  Pro- 
testantism of  the  Calvinistic  form  was  re-established  in  the 
land.  Much  to  the  grief  of  William,  who  tried  to  repress 
the  spirit  of  revenge,  the  Eeforming  party,  having  now  gained 
the  upper  hand,  inflicted  very  cruel  persecution  upon  the 
few  Romanists  that  remained. 

Requesens  died  suddenly  in  1576 ;  and  his  soldiers,  thus 
left  without  a  leader,  and  maddened  by  want  of  pay,  sur- 
prised and  sacked  Antwerp,  leaving  5000  citizens  dead  and 
500  houses  in  ashes  (November  4,  1576). 

At  a  meeting  of  the  States  held  about  the  same  time,  it 
was  proposed  to  form  a  Union  of  most  of  the  Netherland 
provinces,  upon  the  double  condition  that  religious  differ- 
ences should  be  arranged,  and  the  Spaniards  expelled. 
This,  which  was  accomplished  in  November  1576,  is  known 
as  the  Pacification  of  Ghent. 

Don  John  of  Austria,  famous  for  his  great  victory  over 
the  Turks  at  Lepanto  in  1571,  then  came  to  represent  the 
King  of  Spain.  There  was  a  party  among  the  nobles 


THE   UNION  OF  UTRECHT.  J01 

jealous  of  the  fame  of  the  Silent  Prince  of  Orange,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  infant  republic  seemed  in  fatal  peril,  when 
William,  with  a  wise  self-denial  which  proved  him  to  be  a 
true  patriot,  refusing  to  take  the  head  of  affairs,  gave  place 
to  the  Archduke  Matthias,  who  was  a  German  prince  and  a 
Romanist.  The  war  continued  between  Don  John  on  the  one 
side,  Matthias  and  Orange  on  the  other.  A  French  duke 
strove  amid  the  clash  of  parties  to  seize  the  government ;  but 
he  was  driven  from  the  land.  The  leading  soldier  on  the 
Spanish  side  was  the  young  Duke  of  Parma,  who  soon  re- 
duced to  subjection  the  southern  provinces,  in  which  the 
greatest  cities,  Ghent  especially,  were  hot-beds  of  civil  strife. 

Fortunately  for  themselves  and  the  cause  of  Protestantism, 
there  was  harmony  enough  among  the  northern  provinces 
to  make  them  follow  the  advice  of  Elizabeth  of  England, 
whose  heart  and  whose  aid,  when  she  could  give  it,  had 
been  with  them  through  all  the  perilous  struggle. 
The   famous  Union  of  Utrecht  laid   the    founda-     Jan.  22 
tion  of  the  Dutch  Republic.      Seven  provinces —     1579 
Guelderland,  Holland,  Zealand,  Friesland,  Utrecht,       A.D. 
Overyssel,  and  Groningen — agreeing  to  unite  their 
strength  as  a  single  state,  chose  William  of  Orange  to  be 
their  Stadtholder. 

Philip's  rage  was  terrific  when  he  heard  that  these  lands, 
poor,  indeed,  in  natural  qualities,  but  trebly  rich  in  the 
skill  and  industry  of  their  sturdy  inhabitants,  had  broken 
loose  from  his  realms.  Setting  a  price  of  25,000  ducats 
upon  William's  head,  he  promised,  moreover,  to  grant  no- 
bility to  any  one  who  should  murder  this  leader  of  the  rebel 
Dutch.  The  base  bribe  bought  a  ready  hand.  A  villain 
named  Balthasar  Gerard  came  to  Delft  seeking  an  audience 
of  the  Stadtholder.  He  was  courteously  received,  and 
honoured  with  a  rich  gift,  yet  his  heart  never  melted. 
Drawing  a  pistol,  he  fired,  and  three  balls  pierced  the  body 
of  the  Prince.  "  0  God !  have  mercy  upon  me, 
and  upon  this  poor  nation,"  were  the  last  words  July  17, 
of  this  great  man,  whose  life,  of  only  fifty-one  1584 
years,  most  truly  worked  out  the  meaning  of  his  A.D. 
motto,  "  Calm  in  the  midst  of  storms."  The 
Spanish  war  was  continued  by  his  son  and  successor 
Maurice,  who  ruled  the  Dutch  Republic  until  1625. 


202  PROSPERITY  OF  HOLLAND. 

The  independence  of  the  Seven  United  Provinces,  though 
really  won  at  the  relief  of  Leyden,  and  declared  by  the  Union 
of  Utrecht,  was  not  formally  acknowledged  by  Spain  until 
1609,  when  a  truce  for  twelve  years  was  made. 

A  sad*and  striking  contrast  was  soon  manifest  between  the 
free  provinces  of  the  north,  and  those  provinces  of  the  south, 
which  were  still  pining  in  the  bondage  of  Spain.  In  the  same 
year  that  saw  the  murder  of  Orange,  the  Duke  of  Parma  got 
complete  possession  of  Ghent.  There,  having  first  shut  the 
schools  and  stopped  the  printing-presses,  he  planted  a  colony 
of  Jesuits.  There  was  no  surer  way  of  strangling  liberty ;  and 
while  free  Holland  bloomed  like  a  garden,  and  the  docks  of 
Amsterdam  bristled  with  a  forest  of  masts,  the  cities  of  the 
south  stood  empty,  or  peopled  only  with  a  sluggish  few. 

The  population  of  Holland  soon  grew  too  great,  for  thither 
fled  numbers  of  Calvinist  refugees,  driven  from  the  Belgic 
provinces,  from  France  and  Germany.  So  thick  was  the 
crowd  in  some  places,  that  many  families  lived  in  boats. 
But  here  the  native  enterprise  found  a  speedy  remedy.  The 
Bremstersee  was  drained ;  and  the  wonderful  Water  Staat, 
or  system  of  canals  and  dykes,  was  wrought  out  over  all  the 
land.  The  ships  of  the  Water  Beggars,  which  had  done 
puch  gallant  service  in  the  War  of  Independence,  manned 
with  their  hardy  crews,  were  ready  for  sea  on  more  peaceful 
errands  ;  and  before  many  summers  had  shone  on  the  young 
republic,  the  Dutch  flag  was  flying  in  every  sea,  and  the 
merchandise  of  all  the  world,  from  the  spices  of  Java  and 
the  tea  of  China  to  the  cod-fish  and  whale  oil  of  North 
American  waters,  filled  the  giant  warehouses  on  the  banka 
of  the  Y, 


KULEH3  OF  HOLLAND. 


$408 


RULEKS  OF  HOLLAND. 


WILLIAM  of  Nassau,  first 

Stadtholder 1579 

PRINCE  MAURICE  of  Nas- 
sau   1587 

FREDERICK    HENRY     of 

Orange 1625 

WILLIAM  II.  of  Orange 1647 

The     States   suppress   the 

Office  of  Stadtholder 1650 

WILLIAM  III.  of  Orange  ...  1672 

(States  in  power  again) 1702 

WILLIAM  IV.  (Office  of  Stadt- 
holder made  hereditary  in 
the  House  of  Orange) 1747 


WILLIAM  VI.  of  Orange....  1751 
Netherlands  united  to  French 

Republic 1795 

WILLIAM  FREDERICK 1806 

LOUIS  BONAPARTE  King 

Holland 1806 

Holland  again  united  to 

France 1810 

WILLIAM  FREDERICK, 

Prince  of  Orange,  first  King 

of  the  Netherlands 1815 

WILLIAM  II.  (second  king 

of  Holland) 1840 

WILLIAM  III.  (third  king)  1849 


204  THE  NAME  HUGUENOT. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Central  Point :  THE  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW, 
August  24,  1572,  A.D. 


Henry  IV. 

Struggle  with  the  League- 
Battle  of  Ivi-y. 
Henry's  abjuration. 
Edict  of  Nantes. 
France  under  Henry  IV. 


The  name  Huguenot.  Reverses  of  the  Hugue- 
Heniy  II.  nots. 

Bourbons  versus  Guises.  Peace  of  St.  Germain. 

Francis  II.  St.  Bartholomew's  Day. 

Massacre  of  Vassy  Deathbed  of  Charles  IX. 

Battle  of  Dreux.  The  Catholic  League. 
Murder  of  Guise. 

THE  French  Reformation  began  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I., 
to  whom,  as  a  peace-offering,  John  Calvin  dedicated  his 
u  Christian  Institutes."  Amid  his  ceaseless  wars  with  the 
Emperor  Charles  this  knightly  monarch  did  not  forget  to 
fight  the  battle  of  Mother  Church.  He  doomed  to  the  stake 
crowds  of  Huguenots,  as  the  French  Protestants  now  began 
to  be  called,  probably  from  a  German  word,  Eignots,  mean- 
ing sworn  confederates,  and  applied  to  a  party  in  Geneva.* 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  (1547-1559)  the  fires  of 

persecution  continued  to  blaze,   the  Queen  Catherine  de 

Medici,  who  was  destined  afterwards  to  brand  her  name 

deeply  on  a  terrible  page  of  French  history,  rejoicing  in  the 

glare.     This  king,  holding  a  Bed  of  Justice,  issued 

1558     an  edict  to  establish  the  Inquisition  in  France ;  and 

A.D.       the  students  of  Paris,  who  used  to  gather  in  the 

"  Pr$  aux  Clercs"  now  a  part  of  the  Faubourg 

Saint  Germain,  to  sing  psalms  in  the  still  summer  twilight, 

were  denounced  as  guilty  of  sedition. 

A  political  element,  now  beginning  to  weave  itself  into  the 
battle  between  the  creeds,  gave  a  peculiar  bitterness  to  the 
strife.  The  great  family  of  Bourbon,  descended  from  Robert, 
the  fifth  son  of  Louis  IX.,  were  the  rivals  and  foes  of  the 
princes  of  Lorraine,  who  are  known  as  the  Guises.  We, 


*  Other  derivations  of  this  word  are  from  Hugon'a  tower  at  Tours,  where  tlio 
Protestants  often  met;  and  from  the  first  words  of  their  petitions,  "Hue  noj 
venimus  " 


THE  MASSACHE  AT  VASSY.  205 

therefore,  do  not  wonder  to  find  the  leaders  of  these  great 
factions  ranged  on  opposite  sides  in  the  religious  contest. 
Anthony  of  Bourbon,  who  was  King  of  Navarre  through  hia 
wife,  though  afterwards  a  renegade,  became  at  first  a  leader 
of  the  Protestants.  His  brother  Louis,  Prince  of  Conde, 
took  the  same  side.  Marshalled  against  them  were  the 
Queen,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  and  the 
Constable  Montmorency.  The  death  of  Henry  II.,  from  a 
wound  in  the  eye  accidently  inflicted  at  a  tournament,  saved 
him  from  the  worse  shame  that  haunts  the  memory  of  his 
son  (1559). 

Francis  II.,  the  husband  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  then 
becoming  king,  fell  so  completely  into  the  hands  of  the 
Guises,  who  were  the  uncles  of  his  wife,  that  the  conspiracy 
of  Amboise  was  formed  by  Conde  and  others  to  crush  the 
haughty  clique.  But  the  attempt  was  drowned  in  blood, 
the  Prince  of  Conde  narrowly  escaping  the  vengeance  of  the 
Guises.  The  death  of  young  Francis  in  1560  left  the  throne 
to  his  brother  Charles  IX. 

The  Queen-mother  then  became  the  ruling  spirit  of  France, 
for  she  had  unbounded  influence  over  the  mind  of  Charles, 
who  was  a  boy  of  only  ten.  Every  day  grew  darker  to  the 
Huguenots.  Guise,  Montmorency,  and  Saint  Andre,  three 
leading  nobles  of  France,  formed  a  triumvirate  to  root  out 
the  so-called  heresy.  Hope,  indeed,  seemed  to  brighten, 
when  the  edict  of  July  1561,  freeing  the  Huguenots  from  the 
punishment  of  death,  was  followed  by  the  edict  of  January 
1562,  giving  them  leave  to  meet  unarmed  for  worship  out- 
side of  the  towns.  But  the  murmurs  of  the  Romish  party 
grew  deep ;  and  a  massacre  of  Huguenots  at  Vassy  by  the 
followers  of  Guise,  acting  as  the  first  taste  of  blood  to  the 
tiger,  let  loose  a  host  of  butchers  upon  the  unhappy  Pro- 
testants. Loire  and  Seine,  Garonne  and  Sornme  ran  red 
with  Huguenot  blood. 

War  then  broke  out.  The  Prince  of  Conde  headed  the 
Huguenots,  and  not  less  distinguished  in  the  cause  of  truth 
and  freedom  was  Gaspard  Chatillon,  better  known  as  Ad- 
miral Coligny.  Conde  seized  Orleans,  which  became  the 
head-quarters  of  his  party,  and  from  this  centre  the  Hugue- 
not influence  spread  far  and  wide.  Elizabeth  of  England, 


206  KEVERSES  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

receiving  Havre  as  a  gift,  sent  them  6000  troops,  while  the 
alliance  of  Spain  gave  weight  to  their  Romish  foes. 

The  first  great  battle  was  fought  at  Dreux,  forty-five  miles 

from  Paris.     For  seven,  hours  the  strife  raged;  and 

1562     just  as  the  capture  of  the  Constable  Montmorency 

A.D.       seemed  to  make  the  victory  of  the  Protestants  sure, 

up  came  the  fresh  troops  of  Guise,  beat  back  the 

exulting  Huguenots,  and  took  Conde  prisoner.     That  night 

the  vanquished  Prince  shared  the  bed  of  his  captor. 

Orleans  was  at  once  besieged  by  Guise,  and  the  hopes  of 
the  Huguenots  were  sinking  low,  when  the  assassination  of 
the  duke,  who  was  shot  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  from  be- 
hind a  tree  by  a  young  Protestant  named  Poltrot,  saved  the 
stronghold  and  broke  up  the  triumvirate.  \ 

It  is  wonderful  what  life  there  is  in  truth.  The  defeat  of 
the  Protestants  at  Dreux  was  only  the  first  in  a  series  of 
similar  repulses,  suffered  during  the  eight  following  years. 
And  yet  the  cause  still  lived ;  for  every  champion  who  bled 
on  the  battle-field,  or  shrivelled  up  amid  blazing  faggots, 
tens  and  hundreds  arising  with  swords  as  sharp  and  hearts 
as  meekly  brave.  The  Komanists  triumphed  in  1567  at  St. 
Denis ;  but  the  death  of  Constable  Montmorency,  who  was 
shot  by  a  pistol  bullet,  cast  a  gloom  over  their  rejoicings. 
In  1569  the  Huguenots  were  defeated  at  Jarnac,  and  their 
great  leader,  Conde,  was  slain.  Their  attempt  upon  Poic- 
tiers,  which  was  then  the  second  town  in  France,  was  foiled 
by  the  valour  of  the  young  Duke  of  Guise ;  and  a  month  or 
two  later  they  were  beaten  at  Montcontour  in  spite  of  the 
bravery  of  Coligny,  who  escaped  with  difficulty,  bleeding 
from  many  wounds.  The  young  King  of  Navarre,  a  boy  of 
sixteen,  and  the  young  Prince  of  Conde,  were  already,  under 
the  guardianship  of  Coligny,  numbered  amid  the  Huguenot 
leaders. 

After  a  winter  spent  in  the  south,  Coligny,  nothing  daunted, 

collected  a  new  army,  and  reinforced  by  some   German 

troops,  was  marching  upon  Paris,  when  a  peace 

1570     was  concluded  at  St.  Germain  en  Laye,  in  terms 

A.D.       most  favourable  to  the  Huguenots.     They  were  to 

be  pardoned  for  taking  up  arms  ;  their  forfeited 

property  was  to  be  restored ;  they  were  declared  eligible  to 


ST.  BARTHOLOMEW'S  DAY.  207 

most  public  offices ;  and  they  were  to  hold  four  towns, 
Rochelle  among  the  number,  for  two  years  as  security  for 
the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty. 

But  already  dark  shadows  had  begun  to  fall  upon  the 
Protestants  of  France.  Five  years  ago  Catherine  de  Medici 
had  met  the  infamous  Duke  of  Alva  at  Bayonne,  and  such  a 
meeting  boded  no  good  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation, 
either  in  Flanders  or  in  France.  The  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
St.  Germain  were  too  sweet  to  be  sincere.  But  the  favour  of 
King  Charles  seemed  to  go  further  still;  for,  in  order  to 
cement  the  union  of  the  rival  parties,  he  proposed  a  marriage 
between  the  young  king  of  Navarre  and  his  own  sister  Mar- 
garet. "  Ah ! "  said  a  wary  noble  of  the  time,  "  if  it  takes 
place  at  Paris,  the  wedding  favours  will  be  crimson." 

Coligny,  Conde,  and  the  leading  Huguenots  went  to  Paris 
to  the  wedding,  which  took  place  on  the  18th  of  August  1572. 
Four  days  later,  as  the  admiral  was  walking  slowly  on  his 
way  from  the  Louvre  reading  some  papers,  he  was  fired  at 
from  a  window  by  a  man,  Maureval,  known  as  the  "  king's 
assassin."  A  ball  struck  each  arm.  The  king,  though 
secretly  enraged  that  the  murderer  had  missed  his  aim,  paid 
Coligny  a  visit  of  pretended  friendship.  Meanwhile  a  hor- 
rible plot,  of  which  Catherine  de  Medici  was  the  life  and 
soul,  was  darkening  to  its  fatal  crisis.  The  wretched  irre- 
solute king  trembled  at  the  prospect  of  the  fearful  crime ; 
but  neither  pity  nor  fear  could  pierce  the  granite  heart  of 
his  mother.  At  midnight  bands  of  armed  men  mustered 
according  to  orders  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  A  church  bell 
rang ;  a  single  pistol  shot  was  heard ;  and  the  work  of  blood 
began.  It  was  then  two  o'clock  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing— St.  Bartholomew's  Day — the  24th  of  August  Aug.  24t 
1572.  The  first  victim  was  the  grey-haired  Coligny ?  1572 
whose  lodging  was  broken  into  by  the  retainers  of  A.D. 
Guise.  Guise  himself,  Aumale,  and  Angouleme 
stood  in  the  court-yard  below,  and  when  the  corpse  of  the 
old  man  was  flung  from  the  window,  they  were  wet  with 
the  spirting  blood.  Shots  and  screams  echoed  through  the 
streets,  into  which  the  defenceless  Huguenots  fled  half-naked; 
and  by  the  glare  of  torches  which  were  placed  in  the  win- 
dows, bauds  of  Romanists,  wearing  a  white  cross  in  their 


208  THE  CATHOLIC  LEAGUE, 

hats,  butchered  without  mercy.  The  Paris  mob  went  mad 
with  the  lust  of  blood ;  one  wretched  man,  a  goldsmith, 
boasted  of  having  killed  four  hundred  persons  with  his  own 
hand.  The  Komish  nobles  rode  about  in  the  summer  dawn 
encouraging  the  murderers.  "  Crush  the  viper  blood," 
yelled  the  savage  Guise.  "  Bleed,  bleed,"  cried  Tavannes ; 
"doctors  say  bleeding  is  as  good  in  August  as  in  May." 
During  the  week  of  the  massacre  ten  thousand  were  slain 
in  Paris  alone ;  and  fast  as  the  news  reached  Rouen,  Orleans, 
Lyons,  and  other  cities,  similar  tragedies  were  enacted, 
seventy  thousand  Huguenots  perishing  in  the  provinces. 
The  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  escaped  only 
by  professing  to  abandon  the  Protestant  faith.  At  Rome 
cannon  were  fired,  and  a  Te  Deum  sung  in  honour  of  the 
great  event ;  but  to  the  court  of  Protestant  Elizabeth  the 
news  brought  fear,  and  anger,  and  deepest  gloom. 

Notwithstanding  this  fearful  blow,  the  Huguenots  held 
out  bravely  in  Rochelle,  and  after  a  time  gained  some  im- 
portant concessions.  Only  eighteen  months  after  the  mas- 
sacre of  St.  Bartholomew,  Charles  IX.  lay  dying  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-five.  His  soul  was  frozen  with  unutterable 
horror,  as  the  pale  and  bloody  spectres  of  that  fearful  Sunday 
morning  seemed  to  crowd  around  his  fevered-  bed.  His 
brother,  Henry  of  Anjou,  who  had  lately  been  crowned  King 
of  Poland,  then  became  King  of  France ;  but  so  strong  was 
the  desire  of  the  Polish  nobles  to  keep  him  among  them,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  palace  there  by  stealth. 
The  reign  of  this  prince,  under  the  title  of  Henry  III.,  is 

marked  by  the  establishment  of  the  Catholic  League 

1576     for  the  extermination  of  the  Huguenots.     Already 

A.D.       the  King  of  Navarre,  having  escaped  from  custody 

after  three  years'  imprisonment,  and  having  flung 
to  the  winds  his  forced  adherence  to  the  Romish  creed,  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Protestants.  Conde  was  with  him.  War 
was  renewed.  The  king,  who  was  at  first  in  favour  of  the 
League,  soon  formed  a  party  of  his  own.  The  desolating  war 
that  followed  is  called  the  War  of  the  Three  Henrys,  for  the 
Leaguers  were  under  Henry  of  Guise,  and  the  Huguenots 
under  Henry  of  Navarre.  Paris  having  declared  for  the 
Guises,  the  king  caused  the  duke  and  his  brother,  the  cardi- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  IVRY.  2O9 

nal,  to  be  assassinated.     Then  all  France  rose  in  flame ;  and 
the  king  had  no  resource  but  to  throw  himself  on  the  help 
of  the  Huguenots.    Aided  by  Navarre,  he  undertook  the 
siege  of  Paris ;  but  at  St.  Cloud  he  was  stabbed  by  James 
Clement,  a  Dominican  monk,  who  gained  admission  to  the 
royal  quarters.     So  perished  the  last  king  of  the 
princely  line  of  Valois.     On  the  5th  of  January  in     1589 
the  same  year  his  infamous  mother,  Catherine  de       A.D. 
Medici,  had  already  died. 

Henry,  King  of  Navarre,  who  had  for  twenty  years  been 
the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Huguenots,  then  became  King 
Henry  IV.  of  France  at  the  age  of  thirty-six.  He  was  the 
first  monarch  of  the  great  Bourbon  line,  under  whose  rule 
France  was  destined  to  see  days  so  glorious  and  so  disas- 
trous. The  death  of  his  mother  in  1572  had  left  him  King 
of  Navarre.  Two  months  later,  he  had  married  the  sister  of 
Charles  IX. 

His  struggle  with  the  League  still  continued  after  the 
crown  of  France  became  his.  Only  half  of  the  kingdom  at 
first  acknowledged  his  sway ;  and  his  rival,  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  was  appointed  Lieutenant-General  of  France  by 
the  Parliament  of  Paris.  In  the  war  of  four  years  which 
ensued  the  chief  events  were  the  battle  of  Arques  and  the 
still  more  celebrated  fight  of  Ivry,  both  resulting  in  favour 
of  the  king.  Elizabeth  of  England  aided  her  royal  cousin 
with  men,  money,  and  ammunition. 

The  battle  of  Ivry  was  the  crisis  of  the  struggle  between 
the  Huguenots  and  the  Leaguers.     On  a  plain  near  the  Eure 
the  two  armies  lay  under  torrents  of  rain  during  the  night 
before  the  conflict.     The  king  had  eight  thousand  foot  and 
more  than  two   thousand  horse;  Mayenne   had 
twelve  thousand  foot  and  four  thousand  horse.    A  March  14, 
cannonade  began  the  battle;  but  the  cavalry  did     1590 
the  real  work  of  the  day.     Never  was  the  dashing       A.D. 
valour  of  King  Henry  more  conspicuous  than  on 
this  eventful  day.     Before  the  onset,  riding  out  in  front  of 
his  men  "  all  in  his  armour  dressed,"  with  stirring  words 
he  had  bidden  them  follow  the  snowy  plumes  with  which 
his  helmet  was  adorned.     There  was  one  anxious  quarter  of 
cin  hour,  when  the  dust  of  a  sweeping  charge  hid  this  guiding 


210  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

star  from  the  straining  eyes  of  the  Huguenot  soldiery ;  but 
when  the  white  gleamed  out  again,  and  their  king,  breath- 
less, bloody,  and  soiled  with  battle-dust,  rode  safe  out  of  the 
melee,  a  cheer  arose  which  struck  panic  into  the  army  of  the 
League.  Mayenne  fled  across  the  Eure ;  and  scarcely  four 
thousand  of  his  fine  force  escaped  death  or  capture.  Count 
Egmont,  a  Spanish  officer,  was  among  the  slain. 

Henry  then  laid  siege  to  Paris ;  but  the  advance  of  a 
Spanish  force  under  the  Duke  of  Parma  obliged  him  to 
abandon  the  undertaking.  Negotiations  began  between  the 
king  and  the  members  of  the  League,  who  were  gaming  no 
ground  in  the  strife.  And  then  took  place  that  remarkable 
event,  which  stamps  Henry  as  a  worldly-wise  politician, 
Badly  at  the  expense  of  his  character  as  a^man  of  true  reli- 
gious feeling.  "  The  perilous  leap"— so  he  himself  called  it 
— was  taken  in  1593,  when,  acting  by  the  advice  of  his  cele- 
brated minister,  Rosni,  Duke  of  Sully,  and  desirous  to  end 
the  distractions  which  had  torn  France  for  so  many  years, 
he  abjured  the  Protestant  faith.  All  the  Romanists,  except 
the  extreme  bigots,  were  overjcyed ;  town  after  town  opened 
its  gates  to  him  ;  foe  after  foe  laid  down  the  sword,  until  in 
1598  he  ruled  in  peace  over  all  France. 

Though  he  had  ceased  to  be  a  Protestant,  he  had  not  ceased 

to  care  for  the  cause.     Five  years  after  his  abjuration,  in  the 

face  of  an  opposing  Parliament,  he  signed  the 

April  30,    famous  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  gave  freedom  of 

1598      conscience  to  the  Protestants,  declared  them  eli- 

A.D.  gible  to  all  offices,  and  permitted  the  public  exer- 
cise of  their  worship  in  certain  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. In  the  following  month,  a  treaty  between  France  and 
Spain  was  concluded  at  Vervins,  much  to  the  advantage  of 
the  former  nation.  Thus  Henry  gained  his  earnest  wish — 
peace  at  home  and  abroad. 

His  twelve  remaining  years  were  spent  in  constant  efforts 
to  make  France  a  land  of  plenty.  "  The  poorest  peasant  in 
my  realm,"  said  he,  "  shall  eat  meat  every  day  in  the  week, 
and  have  a  fowl  for  the  pot  on  Sunday."  He  gave  to  Sully 
the  task  of  arranging  the  money  matters  of  the  State,  which 
had  fallen  into  such  a  miserable  condition,  that  only  one- 
fifth  of  the  taxes  exacted  from  the  people  reached  the  roya] 


POLICY  OF  HENRI  QTJATRE.  211 

treasury.  The  remaining  four-fifths  stuck  to  the  fingers  of 
the  robbers,  worse  than  the  publicans  of  old,  who  were  in- 
trusted with  the  collection.  But  by  Sully's  skill  and  the 
strict  economy  of  the  court,  where  the  plain  grey  cloth  of  the 
king's  dress,  and  the  simple  dishes  of  his  table  left  the  nobles 
no  excuse  for  luxury,  debts  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  millions  of  livres  were  paid  off,  the  king's 
revenue  was  increased  by  four  millions,  and  thirty-five  mil- 
lions gathered  in  the  treasury ;  and  all  this,  while  the  mason's 
chisel  and  the  hammer  of  the  ship-builder  were  ringing  and 
clattering  without  rest  in  every  town  and  dock-yard.  New 
and  splendid  buildings  decked  the  streets  of  Paris.  Churches, 
bridges,  hospitals,  forts,  and  ships  grew  up  everywhere. 
Schools  were  endowed,  libraries  were  filled,  and  men  of 
learning  were  rewarded.  Grotius,  Scaliger,  Casaubon,  and 
De  Thou  were  among  those,  in  whose  society  the  king  often 
enjoyed  his  leisure. 

So  reigned  Henri  Quatre,  of  all  monarchs  still  the  dearest 
to  the  French  heart,  until  the  dagger  of  Ravaillac, 
a  mad  Jesuit,  slew  him  one  day  while  his  carriage    May  14, 
was  blocked  up  in  a  narrow  street.     His  son  Louis,     1610 
the  eldest  of  three  children  by  Mary  de  Medici,  his       A.D. 
second  wife,  succeeded  him  with  the  title  of  Louis 
XIII. 

FKENCH  KINGS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  VALOIS. 


A.D. 

PHILIP  VI.  (de  Valois) 1328 

JOHN  II.  (the  Good) 1350 

CHARLES  V.  (the  Wise) 1364 

CHARLES  VI.  (the  Beloved)  1380 
CHARLES   VII.  (the  Victo- 
rious)  1422 

LOUIS  XI 1461 

CHARLES  VIII.  (me  Affable)  1483 


A.D. 

LOUIS  XII 1498 

FRANCIS  1 1515 

HENRY  II 1547 

FRANCIS    II.    (husband    of 

Mary  Stuart) 1559 

CHARLES  IX 1560 

HENRY  III.  (King   of  Po- 
land)  1574-89 


212 


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REGENCY  OF  MARY  DE  MEDICI. 


213 


CHAPTER  V. 

CARDINAL  RICHELIEU. 

Central  Point :  THE  SIEGE  AND  CAPTURE  OF 
LA  ROCHELLE,  1628  A.D. 


Repency  of  Mary  de  Me- 
dici. 
Her  favourite  Concini. 
Misgovernment. 
Louis  XIII. 
His     favourite      De 
Luynes. 

Rise  of  Richelieu. 
His  three  aims. 
He  tames  the  nobles. 
Curbs  the  Parliament. 
Revival     of     Huguenot 
power. 
Buckingham  at  Rhe'. 

Taking  of  Rochelle. 
Huguenots  subdued. 
Gloiy  of  Richelieu. 
His  death. 
His  character. 
Death  of  Louis  XIII. 

A  MISERABLE  chaos  followed  the  wise  rule  of  Henri  Quatre 
of  France.  Louis  XIII.  being  only  nine  years  of  age,  his 
mother,  Mary  de  Medici,  was  made  Kegent ;  and  under 
her  weak  government  a  total  change  took  place.  Sully, 
whose  wisdom  was  set  at  nought,  resigned,  and  left  the 
court.  Concini  an  Italian,  and  his  wife,  having  gained 
ascendency  over  Mary's  mind,  guided  the  affairs  of  the  state 
as  they  pleased.  A  close  alliance  was  formed  with  the  pope 
and  the  court  of  Madrid.  The  nobles,  with  Conde  at  their 
head,  rose  in  arms,  enraged  at  the  favour  shown  to  foreigners. 
All  over  the  land  the  laws  were  utterly  despised. 

But  Louis  was  growing  up ;  and  in  1617  Concini  was 
arrested  and  shot,  and  soon  after  his  wife  was  beheaded 
The  Queen  Regent  was  driven  into  exile  at  Blois,  where  she 
lived,  until,  two  years  later,  she  was  released  by  the  rebel- 
lious nobles  under  D'Epernon.  These  steps  were  taken  by 
the  advice  of  Albert  de  Luynes,  the  falconer  of  young  Louis, 
who,  finding  means  to  slip  into  the  dead  favourite's  place, 
rose  to  be  Constable  of  France.  This  new  minion  was  more 
bitterly  hated  by  the  nobles  than  his  predecessor  had  ever 
been. 

Out  of  this  confusion  and  crime  there  arose  one  who,  with 
all  his  faults,  ranks  first  man  of  his  age.  Born  of  noble 
parents  at  Paris  in  1585,  and  educated  at  the  College  of  Na- 
varre, young  Armand  Jean  Du  Plessis,  though  at  first  in- 
tended for  u  soldier,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Lucon  in 


214  CARDINAL  RICHELIEU. 

his  elder  brother's  place,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two. 
Chosen  in  1614  to  represent  the  clergy  of  Poitou  in  the 
assembly  of  the  States  General,  this  clever  young  priest 
created  so  great  a  sensation  by  a  speech  which  he  delivered 
before  the  King,  that  the  Queen  Regent  made  him  her 
almoner.  This  was  the  turning  point  in  his  career.  Thrown 
henceforward  into  the  wild  turmoil  of  restless  court  in- 
trigue, with  cool  head  and  resolute  heart  he  won  step  after 
step  in  the  perilous  struggle.  While  the  star  of  Concini  was 
in  the  ascendant,  he  was  made  Secretary  of  State.  In  1622 
he  wore  for  the  first  time  the  red  hat  of  a  cardinal ;  and,  two 
years  later,  the  influence  of  Mary  de  Medici  having  gained 
for  him  a  seat  in  the  Council,  his  eloquence  and  deep  politi- 
cal wisdom  raised  him  to  the  proud  positio^  of  first  Minister 
of  France.  Such  was  the  rise  of  the  great  and  ruthless  Car- 
dinal Richelieu,  of  whom  Montesquieu  says :  "  He  made  his 
master  the  second  man  in  the  monarchy  of  France,  but  the 
first  in  Europe ;  he  degraded  the  king,  but  he  made  the 
reign  illustrious." 

The  writer  just  quoted  gives  the  essence  of  the  great 
French  statesman's  policy  in  a  few  striking  words  :  "  He 
humbled  the  nobility,  the  Huguenots,  and  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria ;  but  he  also  encouraged  literature  and  the  arts,  and 
promoted  commerce,  which  had  been  ruined  by  two  cen- 
turies of  civil  war.  He  freed  France  from  a  state  of  anarchy, 
but  he  established  in  its  place  a  pure  despotism."  The  first 
two  of  Richelieu's  three  great  achievements  claim  our  notice 
now.  His  successful  schemes  against  the  house  of  Austria 
will,  in  the  next  chapter,  appear  as  part  of  the  story  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War. 

Bitterest  of  Richelieu's  political  foes  were  the  restless  Mary 
de  Medici  and  her  son,  Gaston  d' Orleans,  who  could  not 
tamely  see  their  influence  over  the  king's  mind  swept  away 
by  the  subtle  cardinal.  But  so  it  was — let  them  bear  it 
how  they  might — and  so  it  continued  to  be.  Their  hold 
upon  the  king  was  loosened  for  ever ;  and,  spell-bound  by 
the  genius  of  his  minister,  whom  he  never  really  liked,  Louia 
saw  with  no  regret  his  mother  and  his  brother  Gaston 
banished  from  the  realm.  In  vain  Gaston,  plotting  agjihist 
his  foe,  called  his  friends  to  amus.  The  Dukes  uf  Guise., 


POLICY  OF  RICHELIEU.  215 

Soubise,  and  Vendome  were  forced  to  flee  into  exile.  Mar- 
shal Bassompierre  was  thrown  into  the  Bastile.  Marillac, 
Montinorency,  Cinq-Mars,  De  Thou,  and  many  others  were 
put  to  death.  Not  without  fierce  resistance  did  those  ter- 
rible blows  fall ;  but  the  unerring  craft  of  the  priestly  states- 
man was  too  much  for  the  nobles — many,  and  rich,  and  un- 
scrupulously wicked  though  they  were.  Plot  after  plot 
sprang  up ;  but  the  iron  hand  of  the  cardinal  calmly,  yet 
very  mercilessly  struck  them  all  down.  The  Parliament  too, 
and  the  Court  of  Aids,  by  which  the  money-edicts  were 
registered,  felt  the  power  of  the  haughty  minister  heavily 
— many  of  the  members  being  suspended  and  banished, 
because  they  refused  to  carry  out  his  views.  Thus  Richelieu 
gained  his  first  grand  aim.  Perhaps  the  secret  of  his  success 
lay  in  the  fact,  that  the  French  people  made  no  move  in  aid 
of  the  nobles  or  the  Parliament. 

The  second  aim  of  his  domestic  policy  was  the  humiliation 
of  the  Huguenots,  who  under  the  protecting  shadow  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  were  beginning  to  be  once  more  formidable. 
The  spirit  of  freedom  in  religious  matters,  for  which  this 
section  of  the  people  had  been  struggling  so  bravely  for 
nearly  a  century,  could  not  but  influence  their  political  opi- 
nions, and  make  them  dangerous  enemies  of  despotism.  Now, 
as  the  establishment  of  a  despotism  in  France  was  the  great 
end  of  Richelieu's  policy,  these  Huguenots,  for  whose  reli- 
gious opinions  the  cold  and  worldly  statesman  seems  to  have 
cared  not  a  whit,  must  either  bend  or  break  before  him. 
Bend  they  would  not.  So,  to  break  their  power,  he  planned 
the  siege  of  La  Rochelle,  a  seaport  on  the  western  coast, 
which  ever  since  1557  had  been  their  great  stronghold  and 
asylum. 

The  British  court,  whose  councils  were  then  ruled  by  that 
wicked  fop,  Buckingham,  sent  aid  to  the  Huguenots.  The 
duke  sailed  with  a  large  force  to  La  Rochelle  in  July  1627  ; 
but  the  citizens,  shutting  their  gates,  refused  to  give  entrance 
to  allies  of  whom  they  were  not  sure.  Rhe  and  Oleron  lie 
out  in  the  sea  opposite  Rochelle.  Instead  of  seizing  the  lat- 
ter, which  would  have  been  an  easy  capture,  he  attacked  the 
former,  although  it  was  studded  with  strong  stone  forts. 
Then  followed  a  series  of  miserable  blunders.  A  small  ibit 


216  THE  TAKING  OF  ROCHELLE. 

guarded  the  harbour,  yet  he  left  it  behind  him  untaken  ;  he 
allowed  French  ships  to  break  through  his  fleet  with  food 
for  the  garrison  of  St.  Martin  ;  he  lost  week  after  week  doing 
nothing  ;  and  before  any  breach  was  made  he  sent  his  men 
to  storm  the  rock-built  citadel  of  the  town.  They  were  of 
course  beaten  back,  and  had  to  fight  their  way  to  the  ships 
through  a  Trench  army  under  Schomberg.  Half  of  the 
English  troops  were  lost  in  this  ill-fated  expedition,  and  the 
rest  went  home  with  hanging  heads. 

Then  Richelieu,  exulting  in  the  defeat  of  the  English, 
on  whose  aid  the  Rochellers  had  mainly  relied,  went 
with  King  Louis  XIII.  to  the  camp  of  the  French  army, 
which  had  already  begun  to  besiege  this  "proud  city  of 
the  waters.5'  The  cardinal,  beneath  whose  priestly  robe 
a  soldier's  heart  was  ever  burning,  threw  himself  with 
all  his  energy  into  the  working  of  the  siege.  The  Dukes 
of  Soubise  and  Rohan,  now  the  leaders  of  the  Huguenot 
party,  were  not  within  the  walls  ;  but  the  mayor,  Guiton, 
directed  the  defence.  The  king,  growing  weary,  soon  went 
back  to  Paris.  The  cardinal  stayed  behind.  Finding  that 
his  greatest  efforts  by  land  could  not  take  the  city  so  long  as 
the  sea  was  open  to  the  garrison,  he  tried  to  shut  up  the  har- 
bour at  first  with  stakes  and  then  with  a  boom.  Both  plans 
failed,  but  his  resources  were  not  yet  exhausted.  Remem- 
bering how  Alexander  the  Great  had  taken  Tyre,  he  began 

to  build  up  the  entrance  of  the  gulf.     The  Hugue- 

1628     nots  at  first  laughed  loud,  when  they  saw  his  sol- 

A.D.       diers,  all  turned  engineers  for  the  nonce,  tumbling 

the  rocks  into  the  sea  for  the  foundation  of  the 
mole  ;  but  when  the  structure  topped  the  water  and  began 
to  grow  out  into  the  deep,  very  blank  they  looked.  Still  the 
masonry  increased,  until  a  dark  mass  of  cemented  rocks  half 
a  mile  long,  closing  in  the  harbour,  completed  the  circle  of 
blockade.  Earl  Lindesay  came  with  ships  from  England, 
but  could  do  nothing  to  aid  the  besieged.  Famine  ground 
them  with  its  slow  and  terrible  pain,  until  they  had  no 
resource  left  but  to  yield  up  to  the  triumphant  Richelieu 
the  last  hope  of  the  Huguenots.  The  siege  had  lasted  more 
than  twelve  months.  Of  15,000  who  had  begun  the  defence, 
there  were  then  remaining  only  4000  wasted  spectres. 


CHARACTER  OF  RICHELIEU.  217 

But  the  work  was  not  yet  done.  There  were  towns  in 
France  where  Protestants  still  stood  armed  within  stone 
walls.  The  Duke  of  Rohan  held  out  in  Languedoc,  until 
the  active  cardinal  taught  him  that  to  continue  the  struggle 
was  a  useless  waste  of  strength.  Then  began  negotiations, 
which  ended  in  the  destruction  of  the  political  power  held  by 
the  Huguenots,  but  left  them  still  free  to  worship  God  in 
their  own  way  according  to  the  terms  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

So  for  eighteen  years  this  great  minister  worked  out  hia 
schemes  of  foreign  and  domestic  policy— -his  strong  will  tri- 
umphant in  them  all.  He  left  the  stamp  of  his  excelling 
genius,  not  upon  France  alone,  but  on  all  Europe.  In  every 
court  his  name  was  spoken  with  respect.  The  French 
Academy  and  the  Palais  Royal,  then  called  Palais  Cardi- 
nal, remain  as  monuments  of  his  wisdom  and  his  taste. 
His  right-hand  man,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  manage- 
ment of  his  deepest  political  intrigues,  was  Father  Joseph,  a 
Capuchin  friar,  who  held  the  office  of  almoner  to  his  Emi- 
nence. 

In  the  last  month  of  1642  the  cardinal  died  in  his  palace 
at  Paris,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight,  almost  with  his  last  breath 
recommending  to  the  king  the  Italian  Mazarin  as  his  suc- 
cessor. 

The  good  of  France  may  have  been,  as  we  are  told  it  was, 
this  priest's  ruling  passion  ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  while  he 
worked  for  France,  he  never  for  a  moment  forgot  Richelieu. 
That  his  genius  as  a  statesman  was  magnificent  is  beyond 
question.  The  very  grandeur  of  his  success  lies  in  the  fact, 
that  he  could  reconcile  two  aims  seemingly  opposite — his 
own  glory  and  his  country's  good — which  have  often  clashed 
in  meaner  hands.  His  vanity  led  him  to  think  himself  a 
universal  genius.  Not  content  to  be  known  as  a  statesman 
of  surpassing  brilliance,  and  a  respectable  writer  of  sermons 
and  despatches,  he  aimed  at  the  fame  of  a  poet  and  a  wit, 
and  wrote  some  very  middling  plays.  He  seems  to  have  had 
a  passion  for  work.  He  never  swerved  from  the  end  he  had 
in  view.  Crafty,  pitiless,  and  cold,  he  crushed  rudely  down 
the  gentler  feelings  of  our  human  nature  ;  and  woe  to  the 
man  or  woman,  who  dared  to  cross  his  path  as  he  climbed 
the  steeps  of  power. 


218  DEATH  OF  LOOIS  XITI. 

The  king,  Louis  XIII.,  who  had  been  a  mere  puppet  in  the 
hands  of  his  great  minister,  died  five  months  later,  leaving 
a  son,  Louis,  who  was  then  only  four  years  old.  The  queen 
mother,  Anne  of  Austria,  assumed  the  go veriimeiit  us  regent, 
with  Mazariu  for  her  prime  minister, 


OPENING  OF  TilE  WAR, 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 
Central  Point:  THE  BATTLE  OF  LUTZEN,  1632,  A.D. 


Buttle  of    the  Reforma- 

Wallcnstein. 

Gustavus  on  the  Rhine 

tion. 

Defeats  Christian  IV. 

Death  of  Tilly. 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Bo- 

Fails at  Stralsund. 

Wallenstein  recalled. 

hemia. 

His  dismissal. 

Battle  of  Lutzen. 

Frederic  elected  king. 

His  life  at  Prague. 

Oxenstiern. 

The     Union      and     the 

Gustavus  Adolphus 

France  in  the  field. 

League. 

Lands  at  Rugen. 

Peace  of  Westphalia. 

Bohemia  invaded. 

Sack  of  Magdeburg. 

Wretched  state  of  Ger- 

Count Mansfeklt. 

Battle  of  Leipsic. 

many. 

CHARLES  V.  was  succeeded  in  the  empire  of  Germany  by  his 
brother  Ferdinand,  after  whom  reigned  in  succession  Maxi- 
milian II.,  Eodolph  II.,  and  Matthias. 

Ever  since  the  Keformation  Europe  had  been  split  into 
two  parties — Protestants  and  Komanists — and  the  conflict, 
at  first  waged  only  with  tongue  and  pen,  had  in  later  days 
been  often  maintained  with  the  cannon  and  the  sword. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  when  Matthias  had  held 
the  imperial  throne  for  six  years,  the  last  grand  struggle 
began, — the  great  Thirty  Years'  War,  which  enlisted  on  one 
side  or  the  other  all  the  chief  powers  in  Europe. 

The  war  opened  on  a  small  scale  in  a  contest  for  the  throne 
of  Bohemia,  to  which  the  Emperor  Matthias  had  managed 
to  raise  his  cousin  Ferdinand,  Duke  of  Styria.     This  man, 
who  was  a  bitter  enemy  of  Protestantism,  was  looked  on 
with  alarm  and  dislike  by  a  great  mass  of  the  people  of  that 
land,  which  had  cradled  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of 
Prague.      And  good  cause  the   Bohemians   soon     1618 
found  for  their  alarm.     Putting  into  practice  that       A.D. 
craft  which  he  had  learned  in  the  schools  of  the 
Jesuits,  he  rested  not  until  in  town  after  town  of  the  whole 
country  the  Protestant  service  was  repressed.     This  was  not 
to  be  tamely  borne.     The  Bohemian  Protestants,  rising  in 
linns,  man-bed  to  the  very  walls  of  Vienna,. 

When  Matthias  died  in  1619,  Ferdinand  was  elected  Em- 


220  STRUGGLE  FOR  BOHEMIA. 

peror.  But  almost  in  the  same  hour  he  heard  that  the 
Bohemians,  disgusted  with  the  spirit  of  his  entire  govern- 
ment, and  specially  enraged  at  a  secret  family  compact,  by 
which  he  had  bequeathed  their  crown  to  Spain  if  he  died 
without  male  heirs,  had  with  prayers  and  many  tears  chosen 
for  their  king  the  Elector  Palatine,  a  leader  among  the  Pro- 
testants of  Germany.  So  the  struggle  for  a  crown  between 
Protestant  Frederic  and  Romish  Ferdinand  was  the  out- 
break of  a  wider  war,  of  which  the  first  year's  •  fighting  had 
been  confined  within  the  curve  of  the  Bohemian  mountains 
and  the  Danube. 

Already  there  existed  in  Europe  two  great  antagonistic 
confederacies — the  Evangelical  Union  of  Protestants,  and  the 
Catholic  League,  which  was  supported  by  th^  Romish  powers. 
The  League  naturally  sided  with  Ferdinand,  and  the  Union 
with  Frederic.  The  former  depended  chiefly  on  Spain ;  the 
latter  looked  for  aid  to  England,  the  Dutch  Republic,  and 
all  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany. 

The  march  of  50,000  Romanist  troops  under  Maximilian, 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  into  the  Bohemian  territory,  took  Frederic 
somewhat  by  surprise.  A  battle  was  fought  at  the  "White 
Mountain  near  Prague,  in  which  the  elector  was 
1620  defeated  and  forced  to  flee  by  night  from  the  city, 
A.D.  leaving  his  crown  behind  him.  Twenty-seven  of 
the  leading  Protestants  were  sent  to  the  scaffold, 
and  thousands  were  driven  into  exile.  Ferdinand  tore  to 
pieces  with  his  own  hand  the  "letter  of  majesty,"  a  docu- 
ment by  which  Rodolph  II.  had  been  forced  to  grant  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  religious  freedom  to  the  Bohemians.  The 
beaten  elector  and  would-be  king  fled  to  Brandenburg,  and 
thence  to  Holland. 

The  electors  of  Brandenburg  and  Saxony  both  stood  aloof 
from  their  fellow-elector — the  one  afraid  of  Austria,  the  other 
cautious,  selfish,  and  watchful  of  his  own  position.  But 
there  was  a  Bohemian  soldier,  Count  Mansfeldt,  who  still 
dared  to  lift  the  sword  against  the  generals  of  Ferdinand. 
Frederic  came  back  with  reviving  hopes,  for  Mansfeldt 
was  at  the  head  of  20,000  men.  The  Bavarian  general, 
Tilly,  proving  more  than  a  match  for  the  elector  and  hia 
friends,  drove  him  to  take  refuge  once  more  in  Holland. 


ALBERT  COUNT  WALLENSTEIN.  221 

The  kings  of  Northern  Europe  were  then  greater  men  than 
are  their  descendants  of  the  present  day.  Christian  IV.  of 
Denmark  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden,  who  were 
both  powerful  princes,  contended  for  the  honour  of  leading 
the  Protestant  armies.  The  Swede  was  the  Protestant  hero  of 
this  great  war ;  but  the  time  had  not  yet  come  for  his  appear- 
ance on  the  changeful  scene.  The  King  of  Denmark,  nearer 
the  battle-ground,  and  anxious  to  be  beforehand  with  his 
royal  neighbour  and  rival,  took  the  field  with  a  great  army, 
as  the  leader  of  the  Union  and  the  champion  of  the  Pro- 
testant cause. 

Meanwhile  the  hero  of  the  other  side  had  arisen.  When 
the  Emperor  Ferdinand  was  at  his  wit's  end  for  men  and 
money  to  meet  this  new  confederacy,  Albert  Count  Wallen- 
stein,  a  rich  and  distinguished  Bohemian  officer,  proposed 
to  raise  an  army  at  his  own  expense,  saying  that  when  once 
in  the  field  they  could  easily  support  and  pay  themselves  by 
plunder.  The  emperor  accepted  the  proposal,  and  in  a  short 
time  Wallenstein,  at  the  head  of  a  motley  force  of  30,000  men, 
moved  to  the  Elbe.  The  Danish  war  did  not  then 
last  long.  Christian  IV.  was  defeated  by  Tilly  at  1626 
Lutter  in  Hanover ;  and  in  the  following  year  Wai-  A.D. 
lenstein,  whose  rapid  marches  with  a  gigantic  host, 
now  swelled  to  100,000  men,  are  the  wonder  of  historians, 
drove  him  out  of  Germany,  and,  seizing  all  the  peninsula  of 
Denmark  except  one  fort,  shut  him  up  in  his  islands.  We 
are  told  that  the  great  freebooter,  raging  that  he  had  no 
ships  to  cross  the  Belt,  bombarded  the  sea  with  red-hot  shot 
— a  pitiful  caricature  of  Xerxes'  folly  at  the  Hellespont.  For 
his  great  service  Wallenstein  was  rewarded  with  the  duchies 
of  Mecklenburg,  and  he  also  assumed  the  title  of  Generalis- 
simo of  the  Emperor  by  land  and  sea. 

The  next  step  in  his  plan  of  action  was  to  secure  the  com- 
mand of  the  Baltic ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  laid  siege  to 
Stralsund,  a  strong  fort  on  the  narrow  strait,  which  sepa- 
rates the  island  of  Kugen  from  the  mainland.  His  want  of 
ships  prevented  him  from  blocking  up  the  harbour,  so  that, 
when  the  Danish  garrison  was  weakened  by  repeated  as- 
saults on  the  land  side,  reinforcements  from  Sweden  found  a 
ready  entrance  by  sea,  and  defended  the  town  until  Wallen- 


222  THE  DISMISSAL  OF  WALLENSTEIN. 

Btein  had  to  abandon  the  hopeless  siege.     This  repulse  led 
the  emperor  to  treat  with  Christian,  who,  by  the 
1629     inglorious  peace  of  Lubeck,  agreed  to  lay  down  the 
A.D.       sword  he  had  so  feebly  wielded. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  the  great  aim  of  Riche- 
lieu's foreign  policy  was  the  humiliation  of  the  House  of  Aus- 
tria. In  1629  he  found  himself  free  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  design,  since  the  two  leading  objects  of  his  domestic 
government  had  been  attained.  He  had  broken  the  power  of 
the  Huguenots  at  Rochelle,  and  he  had  tamed  with  iron  hand 
the  haughty  noblesse  of  France.  Already  he  had  been  deep 
in  political  intrigues  against  Ferdinand,  and  now,  by  the  aid 
of  his  trusty  Father  Joseph,  he  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  war. 
Wallenstein,  who  had  wrung  million  after  million  of  dollars 
from  the  indignant  Germans,  was  hated  by  them  all  for  his 
arrogance  and  extortion.  Foremost  among  a  clamorous 
complaining  crowd  was  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  who  found 
himself  quite  thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  victorious 
brigand.  The  emissary  of  Richelieu,  making  a  handle  of  the 
emperor's  desire  to  please  the  German  princes,  artfully  per- 
suaded him  to  dismiss  Wallenstein.  Obeying  without  a 
murmur,  though  he  was  then  at  the  head  of  100,000  troops 
flushed  with  victory,  the  Bohemian  soldier  retired  to  Prague, 
where  he  lived  with  more  than  royal  magnificence. 

Schiller  gives  us  a  strange  picture  of  his  darling  hero 
during  this  time  of  eclipse.  A  tall,  thin,  yellow-faced  man, 
with  short  red  hair,  small  glittering  eyes,  and  a  dark,  for- 
bidding brow,  sat  silent  within  a  palace  of  silent  splendour. 
The  pen  seldom  left  his  fingers,  for  his  despatches  still  flew 
over  all  Europe.  The  surrounding  streets  were  blocked  up, 
lest  the  noise  of  carriage- wheels  should  reach  his  ear.  There, 
still  and  unsmiling,  he  waited  for  the  time  which  the  golden 
stars  had  promised — he  was,  like  most  men  of  his  time,  a 
devout  believer  in  astrology — when  he  should  be  once  more 
called  to  play  a  great  part  in  history. 

The  crafty  Richelieu,  having  thus  weakened  the  cause  of 
Ferdinand,  rested  not  until  he  saw  the  Protestant  armies 
marshalled  by  the  greatest  soldier  of  the  age,  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden,  who  had  indeed  been  long 
desirous  of  measuring  his  strength  with  the  emperor  There 


LANDING  OF  GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS.  223 

is,  in  all  the  range  of  history,  no  character  finer  than  that  of 
Gustavus,  the  hero  of  this  war.  Brave  himself,  he  kindled 
like  fire  of  courage  in  his  soldiers'  hearts ;  religious  himself, 
he  took  care  that,  morning  and  evening,  every  regiment 
gathered  round  its  chaplain  in  a  ring  for  prayer ;  severe 
apon  sin,  yet  ever  tempering  justice  with  mercy,  he  was  at 
once  loved  and  feared  by  his  subjects  and  his  soldiers. 

On  the  20th  May  1630,  Gustavus,  having  assembled  tho 
States  at  Stockholm,  took  in  his  arms  his  little  Christina, 
only  four  years  old,  and  showed  her  to  his  people  as  their 
future  sovereign.  His  farewell  was  uttered  with 
broken  voice,  and  heard  with  many  tears.  A  month  June  24, 
later,  he  landed  on  the  island  of  Kugen  in  Pomerania  1630 
with  15,000  men.  At  first  all  that  was  done  in  A.D. 
Vienna  was  to  sneer  at  the  Snow  King,  who,  as 
the  wits  said,  would  surely  melt  as  he  marched  southward. 
But  when  this  same  Snow  King,  seizing  Stettin,  over- 
ran all  Pomerania,  it  was  time  to  act.  Tilly  was  made 
General-in-chief  of  the  Austrian  armies.  Still  the  career  of 
the  victorious  Swedes  went  on.  Strengthened  by  an  alliance 
with  France,  they  took  Frankfort,  and  all  that  Tilly  could 
do  in  revenge  was  to  wreak  his  rage  upon  the  helpless  popu- 
lation of  Magdeburg.  This  town,  which  was  then  a  great 
Protestant  stronghold,  stands  on  the  Elbe.  Enraged  at  the 
gallant  defence  of  the  place,  this  ugly,  big-whiskered  dwarf, 
whose  green  doublet,  and  little  cocked  hat  with  a  red 
feather  hanging  down  his  back,  must  have  made  him  cut  a 
rather  remarkable  figure,  let  slip  his  dogs  of  war  upon  the 
city,  which  he  took  by  storm,  before  the  Swedes  could  come 
to  its  relief.  The  horrors  of  the  sack  of  Magdeburg  are 
unspeakable.  Beautiful  girls  and  wrinkled  grand-dames, 
strong  men  and  helpless  infants  were  shot  and  stabbed  and 
thrown  for  amusement  into  the  flames  of  the  burning 
streets.  The  pavement  was  slippery  with  the  blood  of 
30,000  dead. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  forcing  the  selfish  Elector  of  Saxony 
to  join  him,  marched  upon  Leipsic,  which  had  opened  its 
gates  to  Tilly.  And  then  there  was  a  great  battle,  which 
secured  the  freedom  of  Germany.  Tilly,  without  much 
difficulty,  routed  the  Saxons,  who  fought  apart  from 


224  BATTLE  OF  LEIPSIC. 

the  Swedes.     Seven  times  Pappenheim,  the  leader  of  the 

Austrian  cavalry,  dashed  with  his  heavy  cuirassiers 

Sept.  7,  upon  the  lines  of  Swedish  blue-coats ;  but   every 

1631  time  the  sweeping  wave  recoiled  in  broken  foam. 

A.D.     Having  thus  repulsed  Pappenheim,  the  royal  Swede 

attacked  the  troops  of  Tilly,  who  had  broken  the 

Saxon  wing,  and,  seizing  the  heights  where  their  cannon 

were  planted,  he  turned  their  own  guns  upon  them.     This 

decided  the  day.     Tilly  fled,  bleeding  and  defeated ;  and 

Gustavus  knelt  among  the  slain  and  wounded  to  thank  God 

for  his  victory.     Seven  thousand  of  the  Austrian  army  lay 

dead.     Their  camp,  all  their  cannon,   and  more  than  a 

hundred  colours  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 

Gustavus,  then  penetrating  central  Germany,  took  Frank- 
fort on  his  way,  and  crossed  the  Rhine  to  besiege  Mentz. 
The  Spanish  troops,  who  held  this  town,  surrendered  on  the 
fourth  day.  The  Swedish  king  thus  gained  the  command  of 
the  Rhine,  much  to  the  alarm  of  Louis  XIII. ,  and  even  of 
Richelieu,  who  thought  that  the  royal  victor  would  surely 
push  on  to  join  the  Huguenots,  and  overturn  the  Romish 
faith  in  France.  But  soon,  turning  south-east,  Gustavus 
pressed  on  to  the  Lech,  a  tributary  of  the  Danube.  Tilly, 
having  broken  down  all  the  bridges,  defended  the  passage  of 
the  stream  until  he  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  cannon-ball, 
which  shattered  his  leg.  Then,  breaking  up  his  camp,  he 
retreated  to  die.  The  Swedes,  at  once  overrunning  Bavaria, 
entered  Munich  in  triumph.  Already  their  Saxon  allies 
were  masters  of  Prague. 

Ferdinand  had  then  no  resource  but  to  recall  Wallenstein, 
who,  when  he  heard  of  these  brilliant  victories  won  by 
Gustavus,  knew  with  secret  joy  that  his  star  was  rising 
once  more.  Coming  forth  from  his  retreat,  by  the  magic  of 
his  name  and  his  splendid  promises  he  raised  in  three 
months  a  fine  force  of  40,000  men.  But  of  these  he  would 
accept  the  command  only  on  condition  that  he  should  hold 
unlimited  power  over  all  the  armies  of  Austria  and  Spain, 
and  that  no  commission  or  pension  should  be  granted  by 
Ferdinand  without  his  approval.  To  these  demands,  insolent 
and  imperious  though  they  were,  the  distressed  emperor  was 
forced  to  yield.  Wallenstein  took  the  field  and  drove  the 


BATTLE  OF  LUTZEN.  225 

Saxons  out  of  Bohemia.  Then  uniting  his  forces  with  those 
of  the  Elector  Maximilian,  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
60,000  veteran  soldiers, — an  army  much  larger  than  that 
marching  under  the  banners  of  Gustavus.  The  Swede  shut 
himself  up  in  Nuremberg.  There  for  eleven  weeks  the  two 
armies  lay  in  strongly  fortified  camps,  watching  each  other, 
and  wasting  away  with  hunger  and  disease.  In  vain  Gustavus 
offered  battle  ;  and  on  one  occasion  he  made  a  furious  attack 
upon  the  camp  of  Wallenstein,  which,  however,  was  repulsed. 
At  last,  weary  of  doing  nothing,  both  armies  broke  up  their 
camps,  to  meet  soon  upon  a  memorable  battle-field. 

Wallenstein  moved  towards  Dresden.     Gustavus  followed 
his  march  with  rapid  steps.     On  a  plain  near  Lutzen,  a 
village  twelve  miles  south-west  of  Leipsic,  the  imperial 
general  awaited  his  royal  foe.    A  fog  delayed  the 
attack  until  eleven  o'clock.      Gustavus  went  to    Nov.  6, 
battle  with  the  mus:'o  of  Luther's  noble  hymn  on  1632 
his  lips.     The   Swedish  infantry  took  a  battery,     A.D. 
whose  guns  had  galled  them  severely;  but  the 
flying  imperialists,  rallied  by  the  stern  voice  of  Wallenstein, 
turned  and  drove  them  back  in  confusion.     Gustavus,  who 
had  been  victorious  on  the  right,  galloping  like  lightning  to 
their  aid,  rode  too  near  the  enemy's  lines.    A  bullet  broke 
his  arm,   another  pierced  his  back, — he  fell  riddled  with 
balls,  and  his  riderless  horse,  dripping  with  blood,  carried 
the  sad  news  over  the  field.     The  Swedes,  roused  to  fury, 
grew  careless  of  danger  or  death.     In  spite  of  the  cool  daring 
of  Wallenstein,  whose  cloak  was  torn  with  many  bullets, 
and  the  dashing  valour  of  Pappenheim,  who  was  shot  to  the 
heart  at  the  head  of  his  dragoons,  the  troops  of  the  emperor 
gave  way  and  fled.     It  was  the  u  crowning  mercy "  of  the 
Protestant  cause  ;  but  there  was  no  joy  in  that  victory,  for 
Gustavus  Adolphus  was  dead. 

To  quote  the  eloquent  words  of  Schiller, — "  With  the  fall 
of  their  great  leader,  it  is  true,  there  was  reason  to  apprehend 
the  ruin  of  his  party  ;  but  to  that  Power  which  governs  the 
world  the  loss  of  no  single  man  can  be  irreparable.  Two 
great  statesmen,  Oxenstiern  in  Germany,  and  Richelieu  in 
France,  took  the  guidance  of  the  helm  of  war  as  it  dropped 
from  his  hands  ;  destiny  pursued  its  relentless  course  over 


226  FRANCE  IN  THE  FIELD. 

his  tomb,  and  the  flame  of  war  blazed  for  sixteen  years 
longer  over  the  ashes  of  the  departed  hero." 

But  with  the  death  of  Gustavus  nearly  all  interest  fades 
from  the  story  of  the  war.  At  once  Oxenstiern,  the  chan- 
cellor and  dear  friend  of  the  dead  king,  being  then  in  Ger- 
many, hastened  to  the  camp,  and  was  soon  chosen  head  of 
the  Protestant  confederacy  by  an  assembly  of  princes 
meeting  at  Heilbronn.  The  Swedes  and  Germans  still  kept 
the  field.  Katisbon  was  taken  by  the  Protestants  ;  but  the 
war  degenerated  into  a  succession  of  skirmishes,  and  pitched 
battles  became  very  rare. 

Wallenstein,  entering  into  secret  correspondence  with  the 
Germans,  grew  inactive,  was  deserted  by  his  army,  and  in 
February  1634,  being  then  lifty  years  of\age,  was  assassi- 
nated in  the  castle  of  Eger.  The  murderers  were  richly 
rewarded  by  the  emperor. 

When  the  Swedes,  who  were  now  fighting,  not  for  the 
empire  of  Germany,  but  for  their  very  existence,  suffered  a 
severe  defeat  at  Nordlingen  in  Suabia  (August  1634),  Oxen- 
stiern, unable  to  get  money  or  aid  of  any  sort  from  the 
German  States,  threw  his  cause  upon  the  compassion  of 
France.  Richelieu,  whom  we  have  already  beheld  working 
behind  the  scenes,  and  whose  covetous  eye  had  long  been 
fixed  on  Alsace,  as  a  means  of  extending  the  French  frontier 
to  the  Rhine,  gladly  obeyed  the  summons.  Two  fleets  were 
fitted  out,  and  six  French  armies  took  the  field.  In  aid  of 
the  Protestants  the  cardinal  undertook  to  cripple  the  power 
of  Spain,  whose  alliance  formed  the  main  prop  of  the  em- 
peror's cause.  In  the  Netherlands,  in  Italy,  and  in  the 
Valteline  his  soldiers  fought  the  Spaniards ;  and  on  the 
Rhine,  siding  with  the  Swedes  and  Germans,  they  met  the 
troops  of  the  emperor. 

Ferdinand  died  in  1637,  but  the  war  kindled  by  his  tyranny 
still  desolated  Europe.  Many  gallant  leaders  rose  to  fill  the 
place  of  Gustavus  ;  and  of  these  perhaps  the  best  was  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar,  who  died  of  plague  in  1639  at  Neuburg  on 
the  Rhine.  Banner  and  Torstenson,  who  was  once  the  page  of 
Gustavus,  led  the  Swedish  armies  towards  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  the  death  of  Richelieu  the  French  sustained  two  sig- 
nal defeats— in  1643  at  Diittlingen,  and  in  1644  at  Friburg. 


MISERY  OF  GERMANY.  227 

The  peace  of  Westphalia,  signed  at  Minister,  closed  this 
eventful  war.   The  leading  terms  of  this  celebrated 
treaty,  which  is  looked  upon  as  having  laid  the     1648 
ground- work  of  our  modern  Europe,  were — 1.  That       A.D. 
France  should  retain  Metz,  Toul,  Verdun,  and  the 
whole  of  Alsace  except  Strasburg  and  a  few  other  cities ; 
receiving,  instead  of  these,  two  fortresses— Breisach  and 
Philippsburg,  which  were  regarded  as  the  keys  of  Upper 
Germany.     2.  That  Holland  should  be  a  free  state,  inde- 
pendent alike  of  Spain  and  of  the  Empire.     3.  That  the 
Swiss  Cantons  should  be  free.     4.  That  Sweden,  receiving 
Stralsund,  Wismar,  and    other    important    posts   on  the 
Baltic,  should  also  be  paid  five  millions  of  dollars,  as  indem- 
nification for  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

Thus  Germany  lost  for  a  time  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Rhine  and  many  of  her  richest  provinces.  The  glorious 
old  empire  dwindled  away  to  a  mere  shadow  of  its  former 
greatness.  The  leading  princes  soon  made  themselves 
wholly  independent ;  and,  if  the  petty  states  still  clung  to 
their  emperor,  it  was  only  that  he  might  shelter  them  from 
the  inroads  of  their  more  powerful  neighbours.  The  social 
condition  of  Germany  after  the  war  was  utterly  wretched. 
Scarcely  one-third  of  her  old  population  crouched  in  the 
poverty-stricken  land,  whence  art  and  science  seemed  to 
have  fled  for  ever,  where  heaps  of  ashes  marked  the  site  o* 
once  busy  towns,  and  where  sandy  deserts,  stretching  for 
leagues,  filled  the  place  of  golden  corn-fields.  Even  the 
sturdy  German  tongue  was  changed  ;  a  host  of  French,  Span- 
ish, and  Italian  words  had  invaded  and  held  possession  of 
the  land ;  and  a  mongrel  speech,  formed  of  foreign  words 
tipped  with  German  endings,  became  the  miserable  fashion 
of  the  dav. 


LIST  OF  SWEDISH  SOVEREIGNS. 


SWEDISH  SOVEREIGNS  AFTER  THE  UNION 
OF  CALMAR. 


MARGARET      and      ERIC 

XIII 1397 

ERIC  alone 1412 

CHRISTOPHER  III 1441 

CHARLES  VIII.  (Canuteson)  1448 

Interregnum 1470 

JOHN  II.  (I.  of  Denmark) 1483 

Interregnum 1502 

CHRISTIAN  II.  of  Denmark 
(Nero  of  the  North).. 1520 


GTJSTAVUS     VASA     (frees 
Sweden  from  Danish  yoke)  1523 

ERIC  XIV 1560 

JOHN  III 1568 

SIGISMUND  (King    of  Po- 
land)  1592 

CHARLES  IX 1604 

GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS 1611 

Interregnum 1632 

CHRISTINA 1633 


\ 


THE  JESUITS  AND  THE  CAPUCHINS.  229 

CHAPTER  VII 

LIFE  IN  GERMANY  DURING  THE  AGE  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


Jesuits  and  Capuchins. 
Reformed  clergy. 
Coronation  splendours. 
Courts  of  law. 
Torture     and     punish- 
ment 

Soldiers  and  arms. 
The  citizens. 
Their  amusements. 
Their  houses. 
The  peasantry. 
Their  taxes. 

The  universities. 
Rage  for  alchemy. 
Witchcraft 
Poets  and  poetry. 
Other  arts. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  Reformation,  Rome  strove  with  all 
her  might  to  regain  her  lost  ground  and  prop  her  tottering 
Church.  Foremost  in  the  counter-work  were  the  Jesuits 
and  the  Capuchins.  The  latter,  an  offshoot  from  the  old 
Franciscan  order,  took  their  name  from  the  fact  that  they 
seceded  from  the  original  brotherhood,  because  they  main- 
tained that  St.  Francis  wore  a  pointed  hood  or  capuchin. 
These  two  orders  divided  the  land  between  them.  The 
Jesuits  haunted  the  cities  and  towns  ;  the  Capuchins,  by 
their  jocular  sermons,  strove  to  draw  the  country  folk  to 
their  services  ;  and  both  drove  a  profitable  trade  in  amulets 
and  little  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  the  saints.  The  wily 
Jesuits,  studying  medicine  and  practising  as  physicians, 
gained  a  power  over  life,  of  which  they  made  terrible  use ; 
for  their  knowledge  of  poisonous  herbs  and  minerals  often 
served  them  at  a  pinch,  when  they  desired  secretly  and  safely 
to  get  rid  of  some  active  foe.  Some  laymen,  too,  were  mem- 
bers of  the  order ;  nor  were  these,  who  were  called  short- 
robed  Jesuits,  the  least  useful  of  the  brethren.  With  deep 
foresight  the  Jesuits  strove  to  get  the  education  of  the  young 
into  their  hands.  In  Germany,  however,  their  influence  was 
feebler  than  in  Southern  Europe.  The  poisonous  creeping- 
plant,  springing  first  in  Spanish  soil,  never  throve  on  the 
heaths  and  hills  of  Germany.  There,  indeed,  a  great  blow 
was  levelled  at  its  root,  when  a  German  named  Jansen,  in 
the  University  of  Louvain  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  de- 
nounced the  hypocrisy  and  pride  of  the  Jesuits,  demanding 
instead  humility,  piety,  and  the  fear  of  God  (1638).  His 
doctrine,  called  Jansenism,  spread  especially  in  France. 


230  CORONATION  OF  THE  BMPKROS. 

The  Church  of  the  Reformation  was  torn  by  internal 
strife  after  the  death  of  her  great  fathers.  The  Lutherans 
were  opposed  to  the  Calvinists  ;  and  these  two  sections  were 
split  into  sub-divisions.  Country  ministers  became  too  often 
mere  hangers-on  of  the  nobility,  in  whose  gift  were  the  village 
churches  ;  and  the  condition  of  these  German  curates  grew 
even  worse  than  that  condition  of  our  English  clergy  in  1685 
of  which  we  read  in  the  brilliant  pages  of  Macaulay.  The 
sermon  continued  to  be  the  great  central  power  of  the  Pro- 
testant worship ;  but  a  crop  of  controversies  about  certain 
mysterious  articles  of  faith,  springing  up,  had  well-nigh 
choked  all  life  in  the  pulpit.  But  still  the  mass  of  the 
people  held  by  that  German  Bible  which  their  good  Luther 
had  translated  for  them  amid  the  solitudes  o^f  the  Wartburg ; 
and  all  the  war  of  empty  words  broke  harmless  at  the  foot 
of  that  great  rock  of  truth. 

A  sketch  of  the  coronation  of  the  emperor  will  best  con- 
vey an  idea  of  the  splendour,  which,  soon  after  the  decay  of 
the  imperial  power,  still  adorned  the  imperial  court :  "  The 
regalia,  which  were  kept  at  Nuremberg,  were  brought  to 
Frankfort-on-the-Main.  Besides  some  relics,  they  consisted 
of  Charlemagne's  golden  crown,  set  with  rough  diamonds  ; 
his  golden  ball,  sword,  and  sceptre  ;  the  imperial  mantle  and 
robes ;  the  priestly  stole  and  the  rings.  The  election  over, 
a  peal  of  bells  ushered  in  the  coronation-day  :  the  emperor 
and  all  the  princes  assembled  in  the  Romer,  and  proceeded 
thence  on  horseback  to  the  cathedral,  where,  mass  having 
been  said,  the  Elector  of  Mayence  rose,  as  first  bishop  and 
arch-chancellor  of  the  empire,  and,  staff  in  hand,  demanded 
of  the  emperor  in  Latin,  '  Are  you  willing  to  preserve  the 
Catholic  faith?'  To  which  he  replied,  'I  am  willing,'  and 
took  the  oath  on  the  Gospel.  Mayence  then  asked  the  elec- 
tors *  whether  they  recognised  the  elected  as  emperor  ]'  To 
which  they  with  one  accord  replied,  '  Let  it  be  done.'  The 
emperor  then  took  his  seat,  and  was  anointed  by  Mayence, 
whilst  Brandenburg  held  the  vessel,  and  assisted  in  half  dis- 
robing the  emperor.  When  anointed,  he  was  attired  in  the 
robes  of  Charlemagne ;  and  with  the  crown  on  his  head  he 
mounted  the  throne,  while  the  hymn  of  St.  Ambrose  waa 
clianted  by  the  choir.  His  first  act  as  emperor  was  per- 


LAW  AND  PUNISHMENT.  231 

formed  by  bestowing  the  honour  of  knighthood  with  the 
sword  of  Charlemagne,  usually  on  a  member  of  the  family  of 
Dalberg  of  Khenish  Franconia.  The  emperor  headed  the 
procession  on  foot  back  to  the  Romer.  Cloths  of  purple 
were  spread  on  the  way,  and  afterwards  given  to  the  people. 
The  banquet  was  spread  in  the  Homer.  The  emperor,  and 
(when  there  happened  to  be  one)  the  Roman  king,  sat  alone 
at  a  table  six  feet  high ;  the  princes  below ;  the  empress  on 
one  side,  three  feet  lower  than  the  emperor.  The  electoral 
princes  performed  their  offices.  Bohemia,  the  imperial  cup- 
bearer, rode  to  a  fountain  of  wine,  and  bore  the  first  glass  to 
the  emperor ;  Pfalz  rode  to  an  ox  roasting  whole,  and  carved 
the  first  slice  for  the  emperor ;  Saxony  rode  into  a  heap  of 
oats,  and  filled  a  measure  for  his  lord ;  and,  lastly,  Branden- 
burg rode  to  a  fountain,  and  filled  the  silver  ewer.  The  wine, 
ox,  oats,  and  imperial  banquet,  with  all  the  dishes  and 
vessels,  were  in  conclusion  given  up  to  the  people."* 

There  had  been  in  former  days  in  Germany  a  secret  tri- 
bunal of  strange  and  terrible  power,  called  Vehmgericht. 
First  formed  under  Engelbert,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  it  num- 
bered in  the  fourteenth  century  100,000  members,  all  bound 
together  by  a  solemn  oath.  No  churchman,  Jew,  woman,  or 
servant  was  admitted  a  member,  or  was  liable  to  the  punish- 
ment of  the  court.  The  meetings  of  the  tribunal  were  secret, 
and  if  sentence  of  death  was  passed,  the  unhappy  criminal 
was  found  dead  some  day  with  a  dagger,  marked  S.S.G.G. 
(stick,  stone,  grass,  grein),  sticking  in  his  heart.  Though 
this  tribunal  was  now  disused,  the  secrecy,  which  had  been 
necessary  to  shield  the  judges  from  the  dagger  of  revenge, 
*  as  still  retained  in  the  decisions  of  the  law  courts.  All 
German  law  was  despised ;  and  the  old  Roman  law,  which 
had  never  died  out,  became  general.  Since  the  people  did 
riot  understand  this,  it  became  necessary  to  employ  advo- 
cates, who  soon  grew  rich,  and  too  often  were  tempted  to 
lengthen  out  a  case  for  the  sake  of  larger  fees. 

Torture,  borrowed  from  Roman  days,  was  now  inflicted  in 
Germany  to  a  terrible  extent.  Every  township  and  court 
had  a  chamber  of  horrors,  where  the  accused— as  often  inno- 


"  Menzel't.  History  of  Germany. 


232  SOLDIERS  AND  THEIR  WEAPONS. 

cent  as  guilty — were  racked,  thumb-screwed,  pricked  under 
the  nails,  burned  with  hot  lead,  oil,  or  vitriol ;  and  on  every 
one  of  the  fair  hills  of  Germany  a  wheel  and  a  gallows 
stood,  as  ghastly  sentinels  over  the  bleaching  bones  of  the 
wretches  they  had  slain.  Some  of  the  punishments  were 
horribly  ingenious.  At  Augsburg  clergymen,  found  guilty 
of  serious  crimes,  were  hung  up  in  iron  cages  on  the  church 
towers  to  die  of  hunger,  because,  by  the  ecclesiastical  laws, 
the  hands  of  laymen  were  not  allowed  to  inflict  punishment 
on  priestly  wrong-doers.  And  in  the  White  Tower  of  Cologne 
a  dreadful  choice  was  offered  to  criminals — either  to  starve 
to  death,  or  break  their  necks  in  climbing  up  to  the  bread, 
which  was  hung  high  above  their  heads. 

Germany  was  affected  like  the  rest  of  Europe  by  the 
change  which  the  invention  of  gunpowder  wrought  upon 
the  art  of  war.  Troops  of  Free  Lances  under  experienced 
captains  roved  from  court  to  court,  serving  for  pay.  These 
soldiers  by  profession,  caring  nothing  for  the  cause  of  a  war, 
but  glad  to  find  it  raging,  sold  themselves  for  the  time  to 
the  highest  bidder.  They  were  chiefly  pikemen  and  arque- 
busiers  ;  the  former  bearing  long  spears  with  a  hatchet  at 
one  end,  the  latter  armed  with  clumsy  guns  which  were 
rested  on  forks.  Gustavus  Adolphus  made  many  changes 
in  the  arms  and  accoutrements  of  his  soldiers.  Taking  away 
the  heavy  arquebuse,  he  gave  them  the  lighter  musket.  The 
first  light  artillery  was  used  by  him;  and  those  dragoons 
without  armour,  carrying  carbines,  whom  Mansfeldt  had 
first  introduced,  were  by  him  brought  to  much  greater 
efficiency. 

The  power  of  the  German  cities,  which  had  been  very  for- 
midable in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  when  they 
were  united  by  the  Hanseatic  League,  began  to  decline  in  the 
age  of  the  Keformation,  and  during  the  storms  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  crumbled  nearly  altogether  away.  Of  the  Hansa 
towns,  Bremen,  Lubeck,  and  Hamburg  were  free  as  of  old. 
Gradually  the  great  towns  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
princes,  and  the  spirit  of  government  had  grown  very  aristo- 
cratic. The  breaking  up  of  the  Hanseatic  League  and  the  con- 
sequent decline  of  German  commerce,  was  one  result  of  the 
enterprise  of  the  English  and  Dutch  merchants,  who  now 


THE  DRESS  AND  MANNERS  OF  THE  CITIZENS,  233 

began  to  draw  the  traffic  of  the  world  into  their  havens.  The 
fat  old  burghers  had  now  grown  lazy  and  luxurious,  and  had 
little  notion  of  leaving  their  cans  of  strong  beer,  for  the  manu- 
facture of  which  Northern  Germany  was  then  famous,  to  face 
the  toils  and  dangers  of  war,  as  their  ancestors  used  to  do. 
Enough  for  them  that  their  fathers  had  fought  and  laboured 
for  power  and  wealth ;  it  was  theirs  to  enjoy  the  ease 
bought  with  ancestral  sweat  and  blood.  So  the  citizens 
began  to  ape  the  court  life,  and  even  exceeded  it  in  costly 
magnificence.  This  showed  itself  as  well  in  their  dress  a^j 
m  their  manner  of  living.  Shoes  with  long  points,  wide 
sleeves  and  hose,  were  sported  by  the  portly  burghers  to  so 
great  an  extent,  that  the  clergy  began  to  preach  against  the 
ridiculous  fashions  of  the  day.  And,  after  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  among  a  host  of  foreign  importations  of  dress,  speech, 
and  manners,  we  find  the  poor  fat  burgomasters  covering 
their  heads  with  long  flowing  wigs,  in  spite  of  the  oozy  dis- 
comfort which  such  finery  entailed  on  the  fat  fops  during 
the  hot  noondays  of  a  German  summer. 

The  amusements  of  the  citizens,  like  their  feasts  and 
finery,  were  on  a  rich,  clumsy  scale.  The  Carnival  and  the 
fair  days  called  out  all  the  wild  fun  of  the  city.  The  guilds 
vied  with  each  other  in  splendid  shows  and  decorations,  in 
which  something  to  eat  or  drink  seemed  to  be  the  grand 
inspiration  of  the  design.  Gigantic  tuns  were  built,  like 
that  of  Heidelberg ;  enormous  loaves  and  sausages  were 
exhibited,  to  the  intense  delight  of  the  well-fed  crowds.  As 
the  princes  had  their  buffoons  and  court  fools,  so  each  guild 
had  its  Hanswurst  or  Jack-pudding.  Plays,  called  farces  or 
mummeries,  in  which  the  actors  wore  masks,  became  a 
favourite  amusement  of  fair  time. 

Still,  in  the  old  quarters  of  German  cities  we  may  see  the 
narrow  streets,  and  tall,  old,  gloomy  houses,  which  tell  of  the 
troubled  Middle  Ages.  Even  at  the  period  of  the  Keforma- 
tion  many  changes  for  the  better  were  visible  in  the  streets 
of  the  free  towns.  Schools,  libraries,  hospitals,  poor-houses, 
and  hotels  were  built  by  rich  citizens,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor.  Fugger,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Augsburg,  who  was 
honoured  with  the  notice  of  Charles  V.,  built  more  than  a 
hundred  cottages  for  the  poor  in  the  suburb  of  St.  Jacobs. 


234  TflE  GERMAN  PEASANTRY. 

In  every  city  there  was  still  a  Jewry,  or  Jews'  quarter,  into 
which  they  were  locked  at  dusk. 

The  peasants  of  Eastern  and  Western  Germany  stood 
on  very  different  footing.  The  Sclavonians  of  the  east — 
Austria,  for  example — though  not  free  to  leave  their  lord, 
had  few  burdens  of  taxation  to  bear ;  but  the  boors  of 
Wiirtemberg  and  the  west  generally,  while  they  possessed 
more  personal  freedom,  were  ground  to  the  very  dust  with 
taxes  and  dues  of  all  kinds.  From  early  feudal  times 
it  had  been  the  custom  for  the  peasant  to  pay  his  rent  in 
grain,  flax,  fruit,  cattle,  poultry,  or  eggs.  He  also  gave, 
in  accordance  with  a  practice  called  soccage-service,  his  own 
labour  and  that  of  his  horses  to  his  lord  at  stated  times. 
Year  after  year,  as  the  reckless  nobles  grew  poorer,  these 
dues  became  heavier  on  the  villagers ;  and,  if  any  signs  of 
revolt  appeared,  the  screw  only  got  another  turn  or  two. 
The  baron,  who  had  ridden  after  wild  boar  and  deer  day 
after  day  over  the  green  crops  of  his  tenantry,  came  at  har- 
vest time  clamouring  for  the  better  part  of  the  reaped  grain. 
Every  change  in  the  peasant's  family, — birth,  marriage,  or 
death — every  season  of  the  year,  every  part  of  his  dwelling, 
or  of  his  little  farm,  had  its  own  tax ;  and  all  must  be  paid. 
So  bitterly  was  the  German  boor  oppressed.  There  were 
left  him  but  two  consolations — his  love  for  the  fine  legends 
of  his  old  Fatherland,  which  were  too  homely  to  please  the 
foreign  tastes  of  his  degenerate  masters  ;  and  his  unshaken 
faith  in  those  truths  of  the  Eeformed  religion,  which,  floating 
over  the  land  like  winged  seeds,  had  settled  and  taken  root 
even  in  the  poorest  cottage  homes.  Ballads,  proverbs,  aad 
coarse  cutting  jests  were  the  only  way  in  which  the  im- 
bittered  heart  of  the  peasant  could  speak  out. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  omit  in  this  sketch  of  German  life 
a  notice  of  the  German  universities.  During  three  hundred 
years  (1348-1648)  thirty-five  universities  were  founded  in 
the  land.  Before  the  Reformation  the  Romanist  colleges 
had  been  ruled  by  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans;  but 
after  the  great  change  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  wily 
Jesuits.  The  Protestant  universities  were  at  first  placed 
under  the  Reformed  clergy,  and  then  under  the  lawyers 
and  court-counsellors.  The  students  were  once  divided 


THE  GERMAN  COLLEGES.  236 

according  to  their  nations,  but  after  the  Hussite  war  there 
was  a  change.  The  professors  were  then  paid  by  the  State  ; 
and  the  students  (hence  called  Burscheri)  were  arranged 
according  to  Bursa,  which  were  institutions  for  their  sup- 
port. Students  of  older  standing  treated  those  who  had 
newly  joined  the  college  with  great  roughness  and  brutality. 
A  system,  resembling  the  fagging  in  some  of  our  public 
schools,  was  carried  to  so  great  an  extent,  that  in  1661  John 
George  II.  of  Saxony  was  obliged  to  prevent  the  Pennales 
or  young  students  from  being  robbed  by  the  Schorists  or 
elder  ones,  who  took  away  the  good  clothes  of  the  newly 
joined  boys,  compelling  the  poor  creatures,  too,  to  black  their 
shoes  and  run  their  errands.  Before  the  Reformation,  empty 
cavilling  about  words  and  the  splitting  of  straws  in  religious 
and  political  disputations  formed  the  hollow  learning  of  the 
schools.  A  more  healthy  tone  was  given  to  the  universities, 
when  the  study  of  classics  began  during  the  Reformation  to 
be  steadily  cultivated,  as  affording  the  key  to  the  true  inter- 
pretation of  the  Bible.  As  a  natural  result  of  this,  eminent 
critics  and  grammarians  arose  during  the  sixteenth  century ; 
and  the  classical  scholars  of  Germany  are  still  looked  to  with 
deep  respect  by  the  learned  of  all  lands.  Natural  philosophy, 
medicine,  and  anatomy  began  now  to  receive  special  attention. 

Even  the  great  and  learned  were  infected  at  this  time  with 
the  rage  for  alchemy.  The  Emperor  Rodolph  II.  is  called  the 
prince  of  alchemists.  An  Elector  of  Saxony  spent  his  whole 
life  in  searching  for  the  philosopher's  stone.  Men,  supposed 
to  have  found  out  the  secret,  were  chased  from  court  to  court, 
or  broken  on  the  wheel.  The  most  absurd  statements  were 
seriously  made  and  believed.  A  potter  announced  his  dis- 
covery that  the  bodies  of  twenty-four  Jews  burnt  to  ashes 
would  yield  an  ounce  of  gold.  The  Society  of  the  Rosicru- 
cians,  founded  in  Suabia  by  Valentin  Andrea,  spread  abroad 
the  knowledge  of  the  art  and  the  mystical  teachings  of  the 
physician  Paracelsus.  Besides  the  philosopher's  stone,  a 
universal  medicine  and  an  elixir  of  life  were  eagerly  sougl it 
for, — but  these  chiefly  by  physicians.  Astrology,  too,  and 
fortune-telling  from  the  lines  of  the  hand,  were  thoroughly 
believed  in,  and  afforded  to  many  a  profitable  trade. 

The  belief  in  witchcraft,  long  resisted  in  Germany  during 


236  WITCHCRAFT  AND  WITCHES. 

the  Middle  Ages,  sprang  suddenly  and  strongly  up  m  the 
fifteenth  century.  Sprenger,  a  Dominican  monk,  wrote  a 
book  called  "  The  Witch's  Hammer,"  and  forthwith  all  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland  trembled  with  fear.  This  man,  whose 
greatest  pride  was  that  he  had  burned  one  hundred  old 
women,  obtained  a  papal  bull  against  witchcraft.  It  was 
believed  that  there  was  a  certain  ointment,  prepared  by  Satan 
himself,  with  which  the  woman  smeared  her  body,  and  thus 
acquired  the  power  of  flying  up  the  chimney  and  away  on  a 
broom,  a  spinning-wheel,  a  spit,  or  a  cat,  to  the  Blocksberg, 
where,  on  Walpurgis  Night  (the  1st  of  May),  the  witches 
held  their  great  meeting.  There,  dancing  back  to  back,  they 
worshipped  a  black  goat,  which  caught  fire  of  itself  and  was 
burned  to  ashes ;  and  these  ashes,  being  carefully  gathered, 
were  carried  off  by  the  company  to  be  used  in  working  their 
magical  mischief.  The  chief  ordeal,  by  which  an  accused 
victim  was  tried,  consisted  in  tying  each  thumb  to  the  oppo- 
site toe  and  flinging  the  poor  thing  into  the  water,  where, 
if  she  floated,  she  was  surely  a  witch.  So  it  was  a  sorry 
choice  between  drowning  as  a  proof  of  innocence,  and  burn- 
ing on  suspicion  of  guilt.  The  misery  and  wickedness  result- 
ing from  this  vile  superstition  cannot  be  told.  We  read  of  a 
faithful  wife  and  mother  carried  out  to  the  stake,  her  weep- 
ing husband  and  little  ones  clinging  to  her  side,  and  there 
burned  without  mercy.  In  1678  six  hundred  were  doomed 
at  one  time  by  a  bishop,  for  having,  as  it  was  alleged,  caused 
disease  among  the  cattle.  So  late  as  1783  a  woman  was 
burned  for  witchcraft  at  Glarus  in  Switzerland.  Some  mer- 
ciful men  tried  to  preach  against  this  wretched  error,  but 
their  voice  was  drowned  in  a  howl  of  anger.  A  priest  of  May- 
ence  was  imprisoned  for  daring  to  raise  his  voice  against 
the  superstition,  and  another  was  himself  denounced  as  a 
wizard  for  so  doing. 

The  old  German  Minnesingers,  whose  lays  were  bright 
with  pictures  of  chivalry,  gave  place  at  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century  to  the  Mastersingers,  who  carried  on  the 
manufacture  of  feeble  and  pompous  verses  as  a  profession 
under  the  patronage  of  the  civic  guilds.  The  Mastersingers 
disappeared  after  the  Reformation ;  and  many  fine  ballads 
were  then  composed  by  soldiers  or  travelling  students.  These 


LITERATURE  AND  THE  ARTS.  P37 

became  great  favourites  with  the  common  people,  who  love 
Nature  in  such  things  all  the  better  when  she  wears  a  home- 
spun dress.  The  best  poems  of  the  Reformation  age  are  the 
satires,  which,  however,  grew  very  coarse  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Among  dramatic  writers  the  most  noted  of  the 
time  was  a  friend  of  Luther,  Hans  Sachs,  the  cobbler-bard  of 
Nuremberg.  Religion  and  politics  deeply  tinged  all  the 
stage  literature  of  this  age.  We  find  such  plays  represented 
as  "  Luther's  Life,"  "  The  Peasant  War,"  and  "  The  Calvin- 
istic  Post-boy," — in  the  last  of  which  a  Lutheran  writer  holds 
his  religious  adversaries  up  to  ridicule;  and  during  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  dramas  entitled,  "  A  Swedish  Treaty," 
and  "  Peace-wishing  Germany,"  were  publicly  performed. 

The  Reformation  was  a  great  blow  to  German  architec- 
ture; for  many  grand  Gothic  structures — the  Cathedral 
of  Cologne  and  the  Minster  of  Strasburg,  for  example — were 
left  to  stand  unfinished.  But,  where  architecture  lost  ground, 
other  arts  advanced.  Painting  on  glass  was  much  improved ; 
engraving,  which  had  been  invented  about  the  middle  of  tha 
fifteenth  century,  received  a  great  impulse ;  and  a  German 
school  of  painting  was  formed,  of  which  Lucas  Cranach, 
Albert  Diirer  of  Nuremberg,  and  Hans  Holbein  of  Basle 
were  the  chief  masters.  Music,  too,  especially  church  music, 
was  cultivated  with  much  success.  In  1628  the  first  Ger- 
man opera,  "  Daphne,"  was  composed  by  Schutz,  who  bor- 
rowed his  materials  from  the  Italian. 

GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD. 

MACHIAVELLI  CNTCCOLO).—  Born  at  Florence,  1469— at  twenty- 
nine  made  Secretary  of  the  '  Ten' — employed  much  in  political 
missions — chief  work,  '  The  Prince,'  a  book  written  to  please 
and  guide  the  Medici,  and  first  published  in  1532  at  Rome,  after 
his  death — wrote  also  '  Commentary  on  Livy '  and  '  Short  Chron- 
icles'  in  terza  rima — died  at  Florence,  June  22,  1527. 

DURER  (ALBERT). — Born  at  Nuremberg,  20th  May  1471 — a  painter 
and  engraver — his  masterpiece  said  to  be  a  drawing  of  Orpheus 
— was  the  first  man  in  Germany  who  taught  the  rules  of  per- 
spective according  to  mathematical  principles — died  1528,  in 
his  58th  year. 

AEIOSTO  (LUDOVICO).— Born  near  Modena,  8th  September  1474— 
gained  the  notice  of  Cardinal  Ippolito  by  his  lyrics — when  a 


238  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD. 

boy  \vrote  a  drama  —  is  considered  one  of  the  best  Italian 
satirists — his  great  work,  ( Orlando  Furioso,'  a  chivalric  poem, 
in  46  cantos,  describing  the  madness  of  the  famous  knight  Or- 
lando :  it  took  ten  years  to  write,  and  was  published  at  Ferrara 
in  1516— died  6th  June  1533,  in  his  59th  year. 

CORREGGIO  (ANTONIO).— Born  in  1493  or  94,  in  the  Duchy  of  Mo- 
dena — a  painter  remarkable  for  his  use  of  light  and  shade, 
and  his  pure  sweet  colouring — his  pictures,  'Notte,'  'The 
Penitent  Magdalen,'  'Venus  Instructing  Cupid/ and  '  Ecce 
Homo,'  are  very  beautiful — died  March  5,  1534. 

COPERNICUS  (NICOLAUS).— Born  at  Thorn  in  Prussia,  some  say 
19th  January  1472,  others  February  19th,  1473 — spent  much 
time  in  youth  at  mathematics  and  painting — struck  with  the  com- 
plex nature  of  the  Ptolemaic  system,  he  wrote  a  work  on  the  '  Re- 
volutions of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,'  in  which  he  fixes  the  sun  as  the 
centre  of  the  system;  his  theory  has  been  shaped  out  by  Kepler, 
Galileo,  Newton,  &c.,  and  freed  from  many  errors — died  in  1543. 

RABELAIS  (FRANCOIS).— Born  in  1483,  at  Chinon  in  Touraine— 
a  monk,  then  a  physician — appointed  cure  of  Meudon— a  great 
humourist — chief  work,  a  satirical  romance,  of  which  a  giant 
Gargantua,  and  his  son,  are  the  heroes — Swift  is  said  to  have 
imitated  Rabelais  in  '  Gulliver's  Travels' — died  in  1553. 

BUONAROTTI  (M.  ANGELO).— Born  in  Tuscany,  1474— the  father  of 
epic  painting, — also  a  fine  architect,  engineer,  sculptor,  and  poet 
— the  chief  architect  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome — used  to  study  the 
antique  in  the  gardens  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  who  took  him  to 
his  own  house — his  greatest  existing  picture,  '  The  Last  Judg- 
ment,' the  work  of  eight  years,  finished  in  1541 — his  statues  of 
'  Lorenzo'  and  of  'Moses'  are  magnificent — died  February  17, 
1563,  aged  89. 

TITIAN  (VECELLIO).-Born  in  the  Venetian  State,  1477— fellow- 
pupil  of  Giorgione — painted  the  portraits  of  doges,  popes,  and 
kings — lived  at  the  courts  of  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II. — it 
was  his  fallen  brush  that  Charles  V.  picked  up,  saying,  '  Titian 
is  worthy  of  being  served  by  Caesar  ' — among  his  pictures  may  be 
named  '  The  Tribute-Money,'  '  The  Martyrdom  of  San  Lorenzo,' 
'  Bacchus  and  Ariadne'— died  of  plague  in  1576,  aged  99— the 
finest  colourist  that  ever  lived. 

CAMOENS.— Born  at  Lisbon  or  Coimbra,  about  1517— the  great  poet 
of  Portugal — studied  at  Coimbra — saw  service  against  the  Moors 
—  sailed  to  India — returned  a  beggar  after  sixteen  years'  roving 
— died  in  an  hospital,  1579 — his  great  poem,  '  The  Lusiad,'  an 
epic  national  picture  of  Portuguese  glory,  of  which  Vasco  di 
Gama  is  a  leading  hero,  was  first  printed  in  1572. 

PAUL  (VERONESE).— Born  at  Verona,  about  1532— son  of  a  sculptor 
— an  eminent  master  of  ornamental  painting — painted  the  walla 
of  the  ducal  palace  at  Venice — his  chief  works  are  there,— 


GREAT  NAMEB  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD.  239 

'  The  Marriage  at  Cana,'  one  of  his  finest,  is  in  the  Louvre — 
died  very  rich  at  Venice  in  1588. 

MONTAIGNE  (MICHEL,  LORD  OF).- Born,  1533— son  of  a  noble  of 
Perigord — a  judge  in  the  Parliament  of  Bordeaux,  and  after- 
wards mayor  of  that  city — chief  work,  his  '  Essais,'  printed  in 
1580 — -tinged  with  scepticism — died  13th  September  1592, 
aged  60. 

TASSO  (TORQUATO).— Born  at  Sorrento,  in  1544— a  great  Italian 
poet — studied  at  Padua — wrote  a  chivalric  poem,  '  Rinaldo,'  at 
18,  also  many  love  sonnets — his  great  poem,  '  Jerusalem  De- 
livered,' is  an  epic  on  the  great  Crusade,  published  at  Parma 
complete  in  1581,  afterwards  at  Mantua  in  1584 — while  on  a  visit 
to  Rome  to  receive  the  laurel  wreath,  he  died  25th  April  1595, 
aged  51. 

SPENSER  (EDMUND).— Born  1553— second  great  English  poet- 
secretary  to  the  Lord- Lieutenant  of  Ireland — lived  at  Kilcol- 
inan,  county  of  Cork — chief  work,  '  The  Faerie  Queen,'  an 
allegorical  poem,  written  in  a  stanza  of  nine  lines,  called  the 
Spenserian — died  1598. 

TYCHO  BRAKE.— Born  of  noble  parents  at  Knudsthorp  in  Den- 
mark, 14th  December  1546— the  reviver  of  correct  astronomy 
— remarkable  for  his  invention  of  instruments  and  his  numerous 
works— much  favoured  by  Emperor  Rodolph  II. — died  October 
24,  1601. 

SHAKSPERE  (WILLIAM).— Born  1564— the  prince  of  dramatists- 
born  and  died  at  Stratford-on-Avon — lived  chiefly  in  London — 
wrote  thirty -five  plays  between  1591  and  1614  —  wrote  also 
sonnets  and  tales— died  1616. 

CERVANTES  (or  SAAVEDRA).— Born  at  Alcala  de  Henares  in 
Castile,  October  9,  1547 — famed  as  the  author  of  the  romance 
'Don  Quixote,'  first  published  in  1605 — wrote  also  '  Journey  to 
Parnassus,'  a  satire  on  bad  poets,  and  many  novels — in  early  life 
a  soldier— died  at  Madrid,  April  23,  1616,  aged  69. 

DE  THOU  (JACQUES-AUGUSTE).— Born  at  Paris  October  8,  1553 
— a  president  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris — made  royal  librarian 
by  Henri  IV.— chief  work,  a  Latin  history  of  his  own  time,  from 
1544-1607,  in  138  books— died  at  Paris  May  7,  1617— wrote 
also  Latin  poems. 

BACON  (FRANCIS).— Born  1561— Lord  Chancellor  and  Viscount  St. 
Albans — a  great  philosopher — wrote  ten  volumes — chief  work, 
'The  Instauration  of  the  Sciences,'  a  union  of  two  books, 
namely,  'The  Proficience  and  Advancement  of  Learning'  (1605) 
and  the  '  Novum  Organum'  (1620)— died  1626. 

KEPLER  (JOHN).— Born  at  Weil  in  Wiirtemberg,  21st  December 
1571 — studied  at  Tubingen — a  great  astronomer — appointed 
Professor  of  Astronomy  at  Gratz  in  Styria,  1593-94 — afterwards 
principal  mathematician  to  the  emperor — great  work,  his  '  Now 


240  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD. 

Astronomy/  containing  his  book  on  the  motion  of  Mars — died 
of  fever,  November  1630,  aged  59. 

LOPE  BE  VEGA.— Born  at  Madrid,  November  25,  1562— a  great 
Spanish  dramatist— at  first  a  soldier — served  in  the  Armada- 
then  a  secretary  to  the  Inquisition — then  a  priest — remarkable 
for  the  number  of  his  writings — served  as  a  model  to  Corneille 
and  others — 518  dramas  remain  from  his  pen,  perhaps  twice  as 
many  lost — died  August  26,  1635,  aged  73. 

RUBENS  (PETER  PAUL).— Born  at  Cologne  29th  June  1577— great- 
est painter  of  the  Flemish  school — painted  the  '  Descent  from 
the  Cross'  (Antwerp),  and  the  allegory  of  '  War  and  Peace/ 
(Nat.  Gallery) — patronized  by  Charles  I.  of  England — died  at 
Antwerp  very  rich,  May  30,  1640,  aged  63. 

VANDYCK  (ANTONY).— Born  at  Antwerp,  March  22,  1599— son  of 
a  glass  painter — pupil  of  Rubens — came  to  England  in  1632 — 
celebrated  for  his  portraits — those  of  Charles  I.  and  Strafford 
very  fine — best  historical  picture,  '  The  Crucifixion ' — died  in 
London,  1641,  aged  42. 

GALILEO.— Born  at  Pisa,  February  15, 1564— first  to  use  the  telescope 
much  in  astronomy — made  his  first  telescope  in  1609— discovered 
mountains  in  the  moon,  satellites  of  Jupiter,  Saturn's  rings,  &c. 
• — great  work,  (  Dialogue  on  the  Ptolemaic  and  Copernican 
systems' — died  January  8,  1642,  aged  78. 

POUSSIN  (NICHOLAS).— Born  at  Andely  in  Normandy,  June  19, 
1594 — a  great  painter — among  his  works  are  the  '  Death  of 
Germanicus/  the  'Taking  of  Jerusalem/  and  the  '  Last  Supper' 
—died  afe  Rome,  November  19,  1665,  aged  71. 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD. 

SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Cerizoles— the  French  lose  Naples 1504 

League  of  Cambray  against  Venice 1508 

Battle  ofFlodden 1513 

Francis  I.  becomes  King  of  France  1515 

Charles  I.  becomes  King  of  Spain 1516 

Luther  publishes  Ms  ninety-five  Theses 1517 

Charles  I.  of  Spain  becomes  Emperor  Charles  V 1519 

The  Disputation  at  Leipsic — 

Luther  burns  the  Papal  Bull 1520 

Cortez  takes  Mexico 1521 

Battle  of  Pavia 1525 

The  Sack  of  Rome  by  Bourbon's  Troops 1527 

The  Reformers  first  called  Protestants  at  Spires  1529 

The  League  of  Smalcald  1530 

Pizarro  conquers  Peru 1633 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SIXTH  PERIOD.  241 

A.D. 

The  order  of  Jesuits  founded  by  Loyola , 1535 

The  Council  of  Trent  begins  to  sit 1545 

Charles  V.  grants  the  Interim 1549 

The  Treaty  of  Passau 1552 

The  Abdication  of  Charles  V 1556 

Elizabeth  becomes  Queen  of  England 1558 

The  Inquisition  established  in  France — 

Battle  of  Dreux 1568 

The  Peace  of  St.  Germain  en  Laye 1570 

Battle  of  Lepanto— Turks  defeated  by  Don  John  of  Austria 1571 

The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 1573 

Siege  of  Leyden 1574 

The  Union  of  Utrecht 1579 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  beheaded : 1587 

Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada, 1588 

Henry  IV.  (first  royal  Bourbon)  becomes  King  of  France 1589 

Battle  of  Ivry 1590 

The  Edict  of  Nantes 1598 

Peace  of  Vervins — 

SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

Union  of  the  English  and  Scottish  crowns 1603 

Assassination  of  Henry  IV 1610 

Opening  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  1618 

Defeat  of  the  Elector  Frederick  at  Prague 1620 

Richelieu  gains  a  seat  in  the  Council 1624 

The  Siege  of  Rochelle 1628 

Peace  of  Lubeck 1629 

Gustavus  Adolphus  lands  in  Pomerania 1630 

Sack  of  Magdeburg — 

Battle  of  Leipsic 1631 

Battle  of  Lutzen— Death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus 1632 

The  great  peace  of  Munster  or  Westphalia , 1648 

Charles  I.  of  England  beheaded „ 164* 


16 


242 


FIVE  PERIODS  OF  THE  REIGN. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

PEOM  THE  END  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  TO  THE 
BEGINNING  OP  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LOUTS  XIV.  OF  FRANCE. 

Central  Point :  REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES, 
1685,  A.D. 


Five  great  periods. 

The  Triple  Alliance. 

War  of  Spanish   Succes 

Battle  of  Rocroi. 

William  of  Orange. 

sion. 

Les  Frondeurs. 

Spirit  of  the  Dutch. 

The  Grand  Alliance. 

Battle  of  St.  Antoine. 

Peace  of  Nimeguen. 

Victories  of  Marlborough 

Taking  of  Dunkirk. 

Arrogance  of  Louis. 

Treaties  of  Utrecht  and 

Louis  seeks  the  empire. 

Edict  of  Nantes  revoked. 

Rastadt. 

Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees. 

Turks  beaten  at  Vienna. 

Last  days  of  Louis. 

Death  of  Mazarin. 

League  of  Augsburg. 

His  character. 

Colbert. 

Battle  of  La  Hogue. 

The  regency  of  Orleana 

War  in  Belgium. 

Peace  of  Ryswick. 

THE  long  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  woven  as  it  is  into  a  thousand 
great  events  of  European  history,  may  best  be  viewed  in  five 
sections: — 

1.  The  administration  of  Mazarin,  extending  from  the 

beginning  of  the  reign  to  the  cardinal's   death   in 
1661. 

2.  From  the  coming  of  Louis  himself  to  power,  to  the 

treaty  of  Nimeguen  in  1678.     This  period  was  oc- 
cupied chiefly  by  a  war  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands. 

3.  An  interval  of  eleven  years,  during  which  the  domestic 

policy  of  the  king  is  most  clearly  displayed  (1678-89). 
4  A  second  great  war,  in  which  William  III.  of  England 
was  the  life  and  soul  of  a  powerful  league,  formed  to 
check  the  ambition  of  Louis.  This  war  broke  out  in 
1689,  and  was  closed  by  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  in 
1697. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  FTiONDE.  243 

5,  The  last  period,  embracing  the  great  war  of  the  Spanish 
succession,  which  opened  in  1701,  and  was  closed  by 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713.  Two  years  later  Louis 
died. 

When  in  May  1643  Anne  of  Austria  was  left  with  her  little 
Louis,  then  not  five  years  old,  at  the  head  of  French  affairs, 
she  placed  all  her  confidence  in  the  Italian  priest,  Mazarin, 
whom  Kichelieu  with  his  dying  breath  had  recommended 
to  Louis  XIII.  A  victory  won  over  the  Spaniards  by  the 
young  prince  of  Conde  at  Eocroi,  on  the  north-east  frontier 
of  France,  only  a  few  days  after  the  opening  of  the  reign, 
auguring  well  for  the  brilliance  of  the  new  era,  raised  both 
Mazarin  and  Conde  high  in  public  favour. 

Mazarin   directed  the  closing  operations  of  the   French 
armies  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War ;  but  these  were  marked  by 
no  great  events.     About  the  time  that  the  treaty  of  West- 
phalia was  signed,  an  insurrection  broke  out  in 
France.     This,  which  is  known  as  the  civil  war  of     1648 
the  Fronde  (from  the  French  word  for  a  sling),  con-        A.D. 
vulsed  the  land  for  six  years.     The  courtiers  in 
mockery  called  the  rebels  Frondeurs  (slingers),  because  on 
the  first  outbreak  of  the  quarrel  the  gamins  of  the  Paris 
streets  were  foremost  with  their  slings. 

The  cardinal  had  many  enemies.  A  strong,  discontented 
party,  directed  chiefly  by  Coadjutor  Archbishop  de  Retz,  after- 
wards a  cardinal,  and  the  Duchess  de  Longueville,  plotted  un- 
ceasingly against  him.  From  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  the 
women  of  Paris  were  deep  in  the  politics  of  the  day,  and  wielded 
a  remarkable  influence  over  the  movements  of  the  nation.  On 
the  one  side  in  this  civil  war  were  the  Queen,  Mazarin,  and  the 
courtiers ;  on  the  other,  the  leading  nobles,  the  Parliament, 
and  the  citizens  of  Paris.  The  disputes  between  the  Court 
and  the  Parliament  of  Paris  formed  the  chief  cause  of  the 
rebellion.  One  day  in  August  1648,  several  of  the  most  obsti- 
nate members  of  the  Parliament  were  arrested  and  sent  into 
exile.  At  once  the  Paris  mobs — always  inflammable — rising 
in  a  blaze  of  revolt,  threw  up  barricades  in  the  streets. 
Anne,  her  royal  son,  and  her  pliant  minister  had  soon  to  bow 
before  the  storm,  Retiring  to  St.  Gerrnains,  they  lived  a  while 


244  TRIUMPH  OF  MAZARIN. 

in  poverty  so  great,  that  they  were  obliged  to  pawn  the  crown 
Jewe^s  f°r  their  daily  bread.  Mazarin  was  declared 
^y  fae  pariiament;  an  enemy  to  the  kingdom  and 
the  public  peace.  The  Frondeurs  had  the  upper 
hand,  and  rose  aimlessly  over  all  France,  until  Conde.  siding 
with  the  king,  scattered  the  troops  of  the  Parliament.  The 
court  then  returned  to  Paris,  where  the  mob,  veering  round 
with  their  wonted  fickleness,  received  the  cardinal  with 
roars  of  joy.  Conde,  whose  great  military  renown  cannot 
blind  us  to  his  arrogance  and  discontent,  having  deserted  the 
royal  cause,  was  arrested  in  1650  at  the  council  board,  along 
with  some  of  the  leading  Frondeurs.  The  rebels  again  took 
arms  under  Turenne,  whose  name  as  a  soldier  was  rising 
fast.  Mazarin,  obliged  to  leave  France,  \took  refuge  in 
Cologne,  where  he  still  wove  his  crafty  schemes,  and  con- 
tinued, though  far  away,  to  act  as  pilot  of  the  State. 

Turenne  then  joined  the  court  party,  and  a  great  battle 
was  fought  between  him  and  Conde,  in  the  Faubourg  St. 
Antoine.  Young  Louis  looked  on  from  a  hill.  All 
1652  Paris  sat  waiting  the  event  of  the  fight,  which 
A.D.  raged  until  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
a  leading  Fronde  ur,  firing  the  cannon  of  the  Bastile 
upon  the  royal  troops,  forced  Turenne  to  retreat.  Thus  the 
Frondeurs  won  a  short-lived  triumph  ;  but  Louis,  again  dis- 
missing for  a  little  Mazarin,  whose  stay  at  Cologne  had  not 
been  long,  won  the  citizens  over  to  his  side.  The  Fronde 
war  was  really  over,  though  its  embers  smouldered  for 
a  year  or  two  longer.  De  Betz  was  in  prison ;  Conde  fled 
to  the  Spanish  armies,  with  them  to  draw  sword  against 
his  country.  The  Parliament  submitted;  and  in  1653 
the  triumphant  Mazarin  became  again  prime  minister  of 
France. 

During  these  miserable  years  of  aimless  change  and  blood- 
shed the  great  English  Revolution  reached  its  crisis.  How 
different  was  the  picture  on  each  side  of  the  narrow  sea !  In 
England,  a  great  national  movement,  whose  forces  were  cen- 
tralized, and  whose  aims  were  directed  by  one  master  mind, 
proceeded  steadily  towards  a  fixed  purpose.  In  France,  a 
jumble  of  petty  street  fights  and  broken  ]aws,  with  leaders 
changing  sides,  and  no  man  seeming  to  know  his  own  mind, 


TREATY  OF  THE  PYRENEES.  246 

except  the  crafty  Italian  fox,  who,  watching  the  scrambling 
crowds,  bided  his  own  time  for  a  spring. 

A  war  with  Spain,  growing  out  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
continued  meanwhile.  The  renegade  Conde,  fighting  under 
Spanish  colours,  was  opposed  by  the  great  Marshal  Turenne. 
The  Spanish  Netherlands  were  the  scene  of  war.  The 
genius  of  Turenne  had  the  best  in  this  struggle ; 
and,  when  Mazarin  induced  Cromwell  to  throw  in  1658 
the  weight  of  his  great  name,  and  to  send  his  invin-  A.D. 
cible  ships  and  pikemen  to  the  aid  of  France,  Dun- 
kirk, the  strongest  fortress  in  Flanders,  fell  before  the  allied 
besiegers.  According  to  the  treaty,  Dunkirk  was  made  over 
to  the  English,  who  received  it,  no  doubt  in  the  hope  that  it 
would  prove  a  second  Calais,  and  once  more  give  England  a 
footing  on  the  Continent.  How  basely  it  was  sold  by  our 
second  Charles  we  all  know ;  but  we  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury know,  too,  that  no  Calais  or  Havre  or  Dunkirk  would 
ever  repay  Britain  for  the  blood  and  money  it  would  cost 
her  to  keep  up  a  useless  power  in  France  or  Flanders. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  III,  Mazarin 
put  forth  all  his  energies  to  gain  the  imperial  throne  for  his 
master,  Louis.     Louis  himself,  too,  was  dazzled  by  the  glit- 
tering prize ;  but  neither  the  gold  of  the  young  king,  nor  the 
craft  of  the  old  priest  could  prevent  the  election  of 
Ferdinand's  son,  Leopold,  King  of  Hungary  and     1658 
Bohemia.     Thenceforward  there  never  ceased  to       A.D. 
rankle  in  Louis'  heart  a  bitter  hatred  of  the  em- 
peror, which,  sharpened  by  his  lust  of  absolute  power,  was 
the  cause  of  all  his  great  wars.     From  that  hour  he  never 
ceased  to  assail  the  power  of  the  House  of  Austria. 

The  war  between  France  and  Spain  was  closed  by  the 
treaty  of  the  Pyrenees,  when  Mazarin  and  his  rival  in  craft, 
Don  Luis  de  Haro,  the  Spanish  minister,  met  on  the 
Isle  of  Pheasants  in  the  Bidassoa,    The  chief  terms       Nov., 
of  this  treaty  were,  that  Louis  XIV.  should  marry     1659 
the  Infanta  Maria  Theresa ;  that  Conde  should  be       A.D. 
pardoned  for  his  desertion  of  the  French  cause; 
that  Roussillon  should  become  a  part  of  France ;  and  that  the 
northern  French  frontier  should  be  extended  to  Gravelines. 
By  the  same  treaty  Louis  agreed  to  renounce  all  claims  to  the 


246  MINISTRY  OF  COLBERT. 

Spanish  throne,  which  might  arise  from  his  marriage.  This 
he  did  both  for  himself  and  his  descendants. 

Cardinal  Mazarin,  whose  hold  upon  the  king  never  loos- 
ened to  the  last,  died  of  gout  on  the  9th  of  March  1661. 
His  avarice  was  unbounded.  In  his  last  days  he  had,  to 
use  Voltaire's  words,  two-thirds  of  the  national  coin  in  his 
chests;  and  the  livres,  rubies,  emeralds,  and  dia- 
1661  monds,  shared  by  his  will  among  his  relatives  and 
A.D.  friends,  seem  like  the  treasures  of  some  fairy-fa- 
voured prince  in  the  Arabian  tales.  He  was  the  very 
prince  of  dissemblers,  supple,  sly,  and  polite.  His  death  left 
Louis  XIV.  the  most  absolute  ruler  in  Christendom. 

Louis  was  then  twenty-three.  "With  Colbert  as  his  Minis- 
ter of  Finance,  and  Louvois  as  his  Minister  of  War,  he  began 
the  most  splendid  period  of  his  reign. 

Colbert,  who  found  the  state  loaded  with  enormous  debts, 
and  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  pocketing  fifty  millions  a 
year,  set  himself  to  retrieve  the  desperate  state  of  the  fin- 
ances. A  man  of  method  in  all  things,  he  knew  business 
well,  for  his  early  years  had  been  spent  in  a  counting-house 
at  Lyons.  Cutting  down  the  land  and  income-tax,  he 
greatly  increased  the  taxes  on  articles  of  consumption,  pre- 
ferring the  indirect  method  of  raising  a  revenue.  Then  he 
steadily  encouraged  commerce;  established  colonies;  gave 
an  impulse  to  manufactures ;  cut  the  Languedoc  Canal ;  built 
dockyards  at  Brest,  Rochefort,  and  Toulon ;  made  Marseilles 
a  free  port ;  bought  Dunkirk  and  Mardyk  from  Charles  II. ; 
and  sent  French  consuls  to  the  chief  ports  of  the  Levant. 
This  man  of  marble  and  of  method,  having  served  his  king 
faithfully  for  twenty-two  years,  had  the  vexation  in  his  last 
years  to  see  ruinous  loans  obtained  for  the  ceaseless  wars  of 
his  royal  master.  But  a  source  of  still  deeper  grief  was  the 
knowledge,  that  the  Protestants,  whose  skill  and  industry  he 
justly  regarded  as  the  great  prop  of  French  commerce,  were 
hampered  with  penal  laws,  and  shut  quite  out  of  office*  He 
died  in  1683. 

On  the  death  of  the  Spanish  king,  Philip  IV.,  in  1665,  Louis, 
conscious  of  his  strength,  laid  claim  to  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands. Wilfully  shutting  his  eyes  to  the  treaty  of  the  Pyre- 
nees, he  pointed,  in  defence  of  his  claim,  to  an  old  law  of 


WAR  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS.  247 

Brabant,  by  which,  in  cases  of  private  property,  the  daughter 
of  a  first  marriage  sometimes  came  in  before  the  son  of  a 
second.  The  new  king  of  Spain  was  a  delicate  child,  and 
the  queen  mother  a  weak  woman.  "  Why,"  thought  Louis, 
"  may  I  not  seize  the  golden  moment  ?  My  friend,  De  Witt, 
is  ruler  of  Holland ;  and  there  is  none  to  guard  Flanders." 
So,  with  three  great  armies,  amounting  to  60,000  men,  he 
passed  the  frontier,  and  pierced  Belgium  to  the  Scheldt. 
The  many  towns  he  took,  Lisle  among  the  number,  were 
fortified  for  him  on  a  new  plan  by  the  great  military  en- 
gineer, Yauban. 

Europe  was  startled  into  action  by  this  sudden  success. 
England,  Sweden,  and  Holland  formed  the  Triple  Alliance, 
of  which  William  of  Orange  was  the  chief  promoter.  Louis 
then  thought  it  best  to  wait  for  a  time,  until  he  could  under- 
mine and  blow  to  pieces  a  confederacy  so  dangerous  to  his 
plans.  In  1668  he  therefore  agreed  to  the  peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle. 

But,  even  while  the  ink  that  signed  the  peace  was  wet, 
his  heart  was  charged  with  war.  This  audacious  little 
Holland  must  be  crushed.  It  was  a  fitting  time  for  the 
blow,  since  civil  strife  between  the  Orange  and  De  Witt 
factions  had  weakened  the  nation.  With  ease  he  bought  off 
the  mean  Charles  II.  of  England,  whose  aid  was  the  great 
hope  of  the  Dutch;  and  then,  gathering  a  fleet  of  100  sail, 
and  arming  120,000  French  soldiers  with  the  bayonet,  a 
new  and  terrible  weapon,  he  began  the  war  again.  The 
Dutch  placed  their  army,  not  numbering  at  the  outsido 
50,000,  under  the  command  of  Orange,  who,  even  at  the 
unripe  age  of  twenty-two,  was  esteemed  for  his  grave  steadi- 
ness and  silent  wisdom. 

Early  in  1672  the  French  crossed  the  Ehine  in  great  force, 
Louis  had  with  him  Turenne  and  Conde,  the  greatest  cap- 
tains of  t'he  age ;  and  nothing  seemed  surer  than  the  ruin  of 
the  Dutch  Republic.  Town  after  town  surrendered  to  the 
French  armies ;  and  William  retreated  with  his  little  band 
to  the  province  of  Holland.  In  a  few  weeks  Gueldres, 
Utrecht,  and  Overyssel  lay  at  the  feet  of  Louis,  who,  fixing 
his  brilliant  court  at  Utrecht,  wasted  the  precious  days  in 
idle  splendour, 


248  TREATY  OF  NIMEGUEN. 

Meanwhile  the  sturdy  burghers  of  Amsterdam  had  caught 
the  spirit  of  their  young  captain.  Remembering  what  their 
forefathers  had  clone  in  the  Spanish  war,  they  opened  the 
sluices,  let  in  the  sea,  and  laid  the  whole  land  under  water. 
But  the  history  of  this  noble  struggle  is  stained  with  a  red 
crime.  John  and  Cornelius  De  Witt,  strong  Republicans, 
by  whose  means  the  Perpetual  Edict,  abolishing  for  ever  the 
office  of  Stadtholder,  was  passed  in  1667,  fell  victims  to  the 
factious  rage  of  the  Orange  party.  They  were  dragged  from 
prison,  and  torn  to  pieces  by  a  mob. 

The  spirit  of  the  Dutch  was  wonderful.  Resolved  to 
cling  to  the  uttermost  to  the  low  meadows  they  had  rescued 
from  the  ocean — as  William  strongly  put  it  in  his  reply  to 
the  English  ambassador, — "  to  die  in  disputing  the  last 
ditch,"  they  had  still,  even  if  their  last  standing-place  in 
Europe  were  cut  from  beneath  their  feet,  one  resource  left 
The  sea  was  open,  and  when  the  worst  came,  far  away  be- 
y ond  its  Eastern  waves,  "  the  Dutch  Commonwealth  might 
commence  a  new  and  more  glorious  existence,  and  might 
rear,  under  the  Southern  Cross,  amidst  the  sugar  canes  and 
nutmeg  trees,  the  Exchange  of  a  wealthier  Amsterdam, 
and  the  schools  of  a  more  learned  Leyden."  And,  as  if 
the  elements  were  commissioned  to  preserve  this  last 
safeguard  for  the  Dutch,  a  mighty  storm  arose,  which  shat- 
tered the  French  fleet,  and  prevented  new  troops  from  land- 
ing. 

Gradually  aid  came  from  many  quarters  to  revive  the 

hopes  of  Holland.     Peace  was  made  with  England. 

1 6  74     Then  William  of  Orange  met  the  veteran  Conde  on 

A.D.       the  bloody  field  of  Seneffe,  and,  though  worsted, 

extorted  from  his  noble  foe  the  praise  of  having 

acted  like  an  old  captain  in  everything,  except  in  venturing 

his  life  like  a  young  soldier. 

At  the  same  time  Turenne  was  fighting  successfully  on  the 
Rhine,  where,  with  a  small  force  of  20,000,  he  cleared  Alsace 
of  a  host  of  German  and  Austrian  invaders.  There,  early  in 
the  next  year  (1675),  while  surveying  the  position  of  his  rival 
Montecuculi,  he  was  killed  by  a  cannon  ball.  A  tomb  at 
St.  Denis  received  his  body,  which  there  mingles  with  the 
dost  of  the  French  kings. 


POLICY  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  249 

After  six  years  of  war,  during  which  Louis  put  forth  hia 
full  strength  in  unavailing  efforts   to  break  the 
spirit  of  the  Dutch,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Nime-     1678 
guen,  of  which  one  of  the  leading  terms  was,  that        A.D. 
the  French  king  should  keep  Tranche- Comte,  and 
several  towns  in  the  Southern  Netherlands. 

Between  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen  and  the  outbreak  of  the 
great  war  in  1689,  there  were  eleven  years  of  comparative 
peace,  which  afford  us  a  clear  view  of  the  policy  followed  by 
"Le  Grand  Monarque."  So  the  municipal  authorities  of 
Paris  had  begun  to  call  their  king,  who,  in  the  new-blown 
magnificence  of  the  name,  squared  his  elbows  and  strutted 
on  his  red-heeled  shoes  more  majestically  than  ever.  The 
task  of  establishing  a  thorough  despotism,  begun  by  Riche- 
lieu, and  earnestly  wrought  at  by  Mazarin,  was  completed 
by  Louis  XIV.  The  picture  of  the  beardless  king  of  seven- 
teen, flinging  himself  from  his  horse  after  a  sharp  ride  from 
Vincennes,  and  striding  with  heavy  boots  and  whip  in  hand 
into  the  chamber  where  the  Parliament  of  Paris  sat,  discuss- 
ing his  edict  upon  coinage,  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  a  will 
which  hardened  into  iron  as  the  years  went  by.  "  I  forbid 
you,  M.  le  President,"  said  the  royal  stripling,  "  to  discuss 
my  edicts." 

The  key  to  his  whole  policy  lies  in  his  well-known  words, 
when  some  one  talked  of  the  State.  "  L'Etat  ?"  said  Louis, 
"  c'est  moi."  It  was  the  sublime  of  arrogance.  Acting 
upon  this  principle  of  selfish  centralization,  he  made  Paris 
the  heart  of  France  more  truly  than  it  had  ever  been ;  and 
still  every  throb  of  the  mighty  centre  is  felt  from  Calais  to 
the  Pyrenees.  A  revolution  in  Paris  decides  the  destiny  of 
France. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  is  the  most  brilliant  period  of 
French  literature.  Of  this  more  will  be  said  in  a  future 
chapter.  Science  and  art  flourished  too,  but  in  less  degree. 

Louis'  great  blunder  as  a  statesman  was  his  silly  treat- 
ment of  the  French  Protestants.  They  had  come  to  be  the 
marrow  of  the  land.  They  carried  on  nearly  all  the  manu- 
factures, and  numbered  among  them  the  most  skilful  work- 
people ;  yet  Louis  never  looked  kindly  on  them.  One  right 
after  another  was  wrested  from  them,  until  at  last  their 


250  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES  REVOKED. 

ministers  were  forbidden  to  preach,  and  their  teachers  to 
give  instruction,  except  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
Public  offices  and  professions  were  shut  against  them  ; 
and  they  lost  even  the  shelter  of  the  laws.  Eegiments  of 
dragoons  hunted  them  down ;  and  these  barbarous  raids — 
called  dragonnades — scattered  the  poor  cottars  and  silk 
weavers  over  all  the  face  of  Europe.  And  to  crown  this 
senseless  cruelty,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  revoked,  two  years 
after  the  death  of  Colbert,  who  was  the  best  friend 
1685  the  Huguenots  had  in  his  day.  This  was  the  last 
A.D.  drop  in  their  cup  of  bitterness.  Shaking  the  dust 
of  France  for  ever  from  their  feet,  six  hundred 
thousand  carried  their  brave  hearts  and  skilful  hands  to 
other  lands,  where  quiet  homes,  bright  with^  religious  free- 
dom, were  the  rewards  of  honest  toil.  J  England,  Holland, 
and  Germany  received  the  refugees.  The  virulent  hatred 
which  Louis  bore  towards  the  Protestants  may  be  traced  in 
a  great  measure  to  the  influence  of  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
who,  at  the  time  of  the  Eevocation,  filled  his  dead  wife's 
place.  She  had  been  the  wife  of  the  buffoon-poet,  Scarron. 
Formerly  a  Calvinist  herself,  she  hated  and  would  hunt  to 
the  death  those  who  clung  to  the  faith  she  had  abjured. 
Another  motive  to  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants  was 
Louis'  desire  to  gratify  the  bigoted  James  II.  of  England. 

In  the  same  year,  as  if  to  show  his  utter  disregard  of 
Christianity  in  any  form,  Louis  bitterly  insulted  and 
humbled  Pope  Innocent  XL,  sending  his  soldiers  even  into 
the  sacred  city.  This  example  certain  later  rulers  of  France 
have  not  been  slow  to  follow. 

In  1683  an  event  occurred— a  turning  point  in  European 
history — in  which  Louis  played  a  very  shabby  part.  The 
Turks,  mustering  in  overwhelming  force,  200,000  strong, 
marched  upon  Vienna,  from  which  the  Emperor  Leopold 
fled  in  terror.  It  was  a  terrible  moment.  Once  before  had 
the  liberties  of  Christendom  been  in  similar  deadly  peril,  with 
the  Moslem  sabre  swung  for  a  fatal  blow,  which  seemed  about 
to  cut  them  for  ever  to  the  earth.  It  was  ten  centuries  earlier, 
on  the  plain  of  Tours,  when  Charles  the  Hammer  saved 
Europe.  Now,  too,  a  deliverer  arose.  John  Sobieski,  King  of 
Poland,  leading  an  army  of  Poles  and  Germans  to  the  rescue, 


BATTLE  OF  LA  HOGUE.  251 

drove  the  Turks  from  their  trenches  in  such  headlong  rout, 
that  tents,  cannon,  baggage,  even  the  famous  standard  of 
Mahomet,  were  all  left  behind.  It  turned  out  afterwards 
that  Louis  had  secretly  encouraged  the  Turks,  although  in 
public  he  had  plumed  himself  greatly  on  his  forbearance  in 
not  having  fallen  upon  the  distressed  emperor  in  this  time  of 
trouble. 

The  League  of  Augsburg  was  formed  in  1686,  in  order  to 
check  the  overweening  ambition  of  the  French  king,  and  thus 
preserve  the  balance  of  power.  Formed  at  first  by  the  princes 
of  the  empire,  it  soon  included  Spain,  Holland,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Savoy,  and  last,  though  far  from  least,  England. 
The  great  second  Eevolution  soon  dethroned  James  II.  of 
England,  and  placed  William  of  Orange,  Louis'  mightiest 
foe,  in  a  position  of  commanding  eminence.  That  great  cap- 
tain accepted  with  grave  joy  the  leadership  of  the  League. 

Then  war  opened  in  1689.  Louis  had  two  armies  in 
Flanders,  and  sent  another  into  Spain.  Then,  that  there 
might  be  a  barrier  between  France  and  Germany,  with  fire 
and  sword  he  turned  the  fertile  Palatinate  into  a  silent, 
black,  blood-stained  desert.  At  the  same  time  he  supported 
the  cause  of  the  dethroned  James  in  Ireland, — with  how  little 
success  every  reader  of  English  history  knows.  At  first,  in- 
deed, the  cause  of  Louis  prospered,  especially  by  sea.  In 
1690,  his  admiral,  Tourville,  beat  the  Dutch  and  English 
fleets  in  a  hot  action  off  Beachy  Head.  His  marshals  over- 
ran Savoy  and  Flanders  ;  and  in  1692  the  strong  fortress  of 
Namur  fell  before  his  troops.  But  even  then  there  fell  on 
him  the  heaviest  blow  he  had  yet  felt. 

About  four  o'clock  on  a  summer  morning,  Admiral  Rus- 
sell, sailing  in  the  Channel  with  English  and  Dutch  ships, 
caught  sight  of  the  French  fleet  under  Tourville 
cruising  off  Cape  La  Hogue.    They  closed  at  once  May  19, 
in    action,  and  through  all  the  hot  noonday  the  1692 
cannon  roared.     Not  a  French  ship  would  have     A.D. 
been  saved,  had  not  a  fog  fallen  in  the  afternoon. 
As  it  was,  the  loss  of  twenty  great  line-of-battle  ships  crippled 
the  navy  of  Louis  beyond  remedy.   And  so  his  great  scheme 
of  invading  England  vanished  into  thin  air. 

By  laud,  however,  the  French  arms  were  still  victorious. 


252  TREATY  OF  RYSWTCK. 

&t  Steinkirk  and  Nerwinde  (1693) — the  latter  a  most  bloody 
day — William  was  beaten  by  Luxemburg.  But  William  was 
one  of  those  rare  characters  whose  defeats  are  really  vic- 
tories, so  many  blows  of  the  hammer  that  but  weld  and 
toughen  the  metal.  He  bided  his  time  ;  and  the  time  came 
at  last.  When  Luxemburg  and  Louvois  died,  Louis,  with  an 
empty  purse  and  a  famine-stricken  kingdom,  ceased  to  show 
himself  in  his  camp.  The  news  of  English  mortars  shelling 
into  ruin  the  walls  of  his  seaports — Calais,  Havre,  and  Dun- 
kirk— quite  sank  his  failing  heart.  Then  William  retook 
Namur,  and  Louis  was  glad  to  conclude  the  treaty  of  Rys- 
wick,  by  which  his  rival  was  acknowledged  to  be 

1697  the  lawful  king  of  England.  One  great  point  gained 

A.D.     by  Louis  was  his  being  confirmed  in\the  possession 

of  Strasburg,  which  he  had  seized  in  1681,  and  had 

caused  Vauban  to  surround  with  huge  fortifications.     Thus 

he  still  held  a  key  to  the  Rhine. 

The  marriage  of  Louis  to  Maria  Theresa  of  Spain  has  been 
already  noticed,  and  we  have  seen  him  claiming  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  through  this  marriage.  We  now  find  him,  in 
1700,  upon  the  death  of  Charles  II.  of  Spain,  proclaiming 
one  November  morning,  at  his  levee,  that  his  grandson, 
Philip,  Duke  of  Anjou,  was  King  of  Spain.  To  this  prince 
the  dying  Charles,  indignant  at  an  arrangement  for  parcel- 
ling out  the  Spanish  dominions,  which  had  been  proposed 
by  the  English  king,  had  already  left  the  throne  by  will. 
But  the  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria,  the  second  son  of  the 
emperor  by  a  Spanish  princess,  came  forward  as  a  competi- 
tor for  the  vacant  kingship ;  and  the  destructive  "  War  of 
the  Spanish  Succession"  began. 

England,  Austria,  and  Holland  united  in  a  league  called 

the  Grand  Alliance,  which  had  for  its  chief  aim  the 

1701  rescue  of  Spain  from  the  Bourbons.     Prussia  and 

A.D.  Denmark  also  supported  the  Austrian  claimant, 
who  called  himself  Charles  III.  The  grandson  of 
Louis  was  known  among  his  friends  as  Philip  V. 

The  death  of  William  III.  of  England  in  1702  was  a  heavy 
blow  to  the  Austrian  cause  ;  but  of  the  two  captains  who 
rose  to  fill  his  place,  one,  at  least,  was  greater  in  the  field  than 
he — this  was  John  Churchill,  Duke  of  Marlborough,  so 


WAR  OF  THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  253 

great  a  soldier,  so  mean  a  man  ;  and  the  other  was  Prince 
Eugene  of  Savoy. 

It  would  be  useless  and  confusing  to  trace  in  detail  the 
marchings  and  counter-marchings,  battles,  sieges,  and  sur- 
prises of  this  war  of  twelve  campaigns.  Louis  had  now  no 
marshals  like  Conde  or  Turenne.  Men,  called  Villars,  Tal- 
lard,  Marsin,  and  Yilleroi,  led  his  armies,  skilfully,  no  doubt, 
BO  far  as  their  skill  could  go,  and  with  all  due  attention  to 
the  cut  and  dry  rules  of  warfare  ;  but  they  lacked  that  ori- 
ginal genius  for  soldiering  which  Nature  had  given  to  their 
foes.  Besides,  Louis  required  from  them  an  implicit  obe- 
dience to  his  will,  which  greatly  cramped  their  plans. 

In  1702  the  Dutch  and  English  ships  destroyed  a  French 
fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Yigo,  and  took  many  Spanish  galleons 
heaped  with  American  gold.  Then  came  Marlborough's  four 
magnificent  victories,  which  well  deserve  our  notice. 

A  French  and  Bavarian  army  of  80,000  men,  under  Tallard 
and  Marsin,  lay  on  a  hill  above  the  Danube,  between  the 
village  of  Blenheim  and  a  thick  wood.    A  brook,  whose 
water  spread  into  the  swampy  plain,  ran  between 
them  and  an  allied  force  of  equal  numbers  under  Aug.  2, 
Marlborough  and  Eugene.     Tallard  allowed  Marl-  1704 
borough  to  cross  the  swamp  unopposed  ;  and  thus    A.D. 
his  chance  of  victory  was  gone.     Rapidly  the  Eng- 
lish general  scattered  the  French  horse  and  foot,  slaying  and 
seizing  nearly  40,000  men.     The  same  year  is  renowned  in 
the  annals  of  Britain  for  the  taking  of  Gibraltar  from  the 
Spaniards. 

At  Ramillies,  a  Belgian  village,  the  second  great  blow  was 
given.  The  struggle  was  now  between  Marlborough  and 
Villeroi ;  and  the  English  chief  threw  his  rival's  lines  into 
confusion  by  a  feigned  attack  on  the  left  wing  (May  23, 
1706). 

Oudenarde  on  the  Scheldt  was  the  scene  of  the  third  great 
triumph.  There,  during  a  long  summer  day,  Marlborough, 
with  Eugene  not  far  off,  beat  a  part  of  the  great  French 
force  under  Brunswick  and  Vendome  so  thoroughly,  that 
they  all  fled  next  night  by  five  different  roads  (July  11, 
1708).  The  victors  then  took  Lisle. 
Within  a  league  of  Mons,  which  Marlborough  and  Eugene 


254  THE  TREATY  OF  UTRECHT. 

were  besieging  in  1709,  Marshal  Villars  intrenched  himself 
strongly,  beside  the  village  of  Malplaquet.  The  allied 
leaders  advanced  to  dislodge  him  (Sept.  11),  and  a  long  and 
bloody  battle  was  fought,  until  Villars  was  wounded,  and  his 
second  in  command,  Boufflers,  beat  a  speedy  retreat.  The 
capture  of  Mons  followed  at  once. 

Blows  like  these  were  irresistible  ;  but,  besides,  the  power 
of  the  French  had  been  broken  in  Italy.  In  Spain  alone, 
notwithstanding  the  early  successes  of  the  Archduke  Charles, 
aided  by  the  splendid  talents  of  the  English  Earl  of  Peter- 
borough, the  arms  of  Louis  were  crowned  with  victory.  The 
battle  of  Almanza,  won  in  1707  by  the  Duke  of  Berwick, 
placed  Philip  V.  on  the  Spanish  throne.  Henceforth  Charles 
III.  of  Spain  was  nowhere. 

Smarting  under  so  many  reverses,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Louis  longed  for  peace.  A  conference,  soon  broken  up,  how- 
ever, was  opened  in  1710  at  Gertruydenberg.  The  war  con- 
tinued. But  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  in  1711  gave 
a  new  turn  to  affairs.  The  Archduke  Charles  succeeded  his 
brother  on  the  imperial  throne.  Marlborough,  already  in 
disgrace  at  home,  was  fast  sinking  deeper  in  the  slough. 
All  Europe  was  tired  of  the  deadly  war  ;  and  so  the  Peace 
of  Utrecht  was  signed. 

By  this  treaty  England  got  possession  of  Gibraltar  and 

Minorca — great  keys  of  the  Mediterranean — along 

March  31, with  Newfoundland,  St.  Kitts,  and  Hudson's  Bay. 

1713  Philip  V.  was  permitted  to  hold  the  Spanish  throne, 

A.D.     on  condition  of  giving  up  all  claim  to  the  crown  of 

France.     The  Treaty  of  Rastadt,  between  Austria 

and  France,  which  completed  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  was 

signed  March  6th,  1714.     Austria  received  Naples,  Milan, 

Sardinia,  and  Spanish  Flanders ;  while  Lisle  and  French 

Flanders  went  to  France,  the  Rhine,  too,  being  fixed  as  her 

eastern  boundary  at  Alsace. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  closed  in  the  following  year.  For 
seventy-two  winters  he  had  held  the  sceptre  of  France  ;  and 
during  fifty-four  of  these  he  had  centralized  all  power  ip 
himself.  Before  cutting  down  the  grey-haired  monarch, 
death  left  his  splendid  palace  lonely.  His  son,  the  Dauphin, 
died  in  1711.  His  grandson,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  died  iu 


CHARACTER  OF  LOUTS  XIV.  2£5 

1712.  None  lived  but  a  little  child,  his  great  grandson, 
afterwards  Louis  XV.,  to  take  up  the  sceptre,  which  was 
dropping  from  his  withered  hand.  He  died  on  the  1st  of 
September,  1715,  aged  seventy-seven. 

Louis  XIV.  received  the  title  of  Great  from  the  lips  of 
his  flatterers  ;  but  history  has  not  endorsed  the  name. 
Great  in  sinful  extravagance,  great  in  love  of  pomp  and 
show,  great  in  selfishness  and  irreligion,  he  was  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  specimen  of  a  royal  fool  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  He  wore  shoes  with  red  heels,  four  inches 
high,  to  lift  his  little  body  to  the  level  of  average-sized  men. 
Strutting  about  with  rolling  eyes  and  out-turned  toes,  be- 
dizened with  rich  laces  and  velvets,  diamonds  and  gold,  he 
strove  by  his  majestic  deportment  to  awe  the  men  and  cap- 
tivate the  women  of  his  realm.  His  example,  penetrating 
all  French  society,  froze  the  whole  land  into  an  artificiality 
of  life  and  manners  so  costly,  that  the  nation  was  beggared 
by  the  icy  splendour. 

Louis  XV.   being  only  five  years  old  wThen  his    great 
grandfather  died,  the  government  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Philip,  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  nephew  of  the  dead  king. 
This  prince,  whose  licentious  extravagance  was  rivalled  by 
that  of  his  worthless  minister,  the  Cardinal  Dubois,  held 
the  regency  for  eight  years  (1715-1723).    During 
this  time  the  chief  event  was  the  rise  and  bursting  1719 
of  a  great  bubble— the  Mississippi  Company,  simi-     A.D. 
lar  to  our  own  South  Sea  scheme.     It  was  started 
and  directed  by  a  Scotchman,  named  John  Law.  The  shares 
rose  to  twelve  hundred  per  cent.     Then  came  a  panic,  a 
crash,  and  a  scene  of  wide-spread  bankruptcy  and  ruin.     In 
1723,  Louis  XV.,  then  aged  thirteen,  took  the  reins  of  power 
himself. 


SIX  FRENCH  KINGS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  BOURBON. 

A.D. 

LOUIS    XV.    (the  Well-be- 
loved)   1715 

LOUIS  XVI 1774 

LOUIS  XVII 1793-96 


A.D. 


HENRY  IV.   (King  of  Na- 
varre)   ; 1589 

LOUIS  XIII.  (the  Just) 1610 

LOUIS  XIV.  (the  Great) ....  1643 


256 


GENEALOGICAL  THEE. 


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—  S^ 


ACCESSION  OF  PETER  THE  GREAT. 


257 


His  social  reforms. 
Charles    XII.     of    Swe- 
den. 
Battle  of  Narva. 
Building    of  St.    Peters- 
burg. 
Charles  invades  Russia. 
Battle  of  Pultowa, 

War  on  the  Pruth. 
Charles  in  Turkey. 
Peter's  second  tour. 
His  last  exploit. 
His  death. 
His  character    by    Vol- 
taire. 

CHAPTER  II. 

PETER  THE  GREAT  OF  RUSSIA,  AND  CHARLES  XII.  OF 
SWEDEN. 

Central  Point :  BATTLE  OF  PULTOWA,  June  15, 1709,  A.D. 


"Sarly  facts  of  Russian 
history. 

Accession  of  Peter  the 
Great. 

His  reforms. 

His  first  success. 

His  tour  among  the  dock- 
yards. 


WE  have  already  seen  the  foundation  of  the  Russian  Empire 
laid  in  the  ninth  century  by  the  Norseman  Ruric ;  the 
conversion  of  Wladimir  about  986  to  the  Christianity  of  the 
Greek  Church ;  and  the  extinction  of  the  royal  race  of  Ruric 
in  1598,  in  the  person  of  Feodor,  last  of  the  Norman  czars. 
That  Russia  was  overrun  by  the  Tartars  of  Zenghis  Khan, 
and  rescued  again  from  their  hands  during  the  reign  of  Ivan 
III.,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1462,  are  the  most  remark- 
able facts  in  this  period  of  seven  centuries. 

The  Russia  of  our  day  is  the  creation,  humanly  speaking, 
of  Peter  the  Great,  who  became  sole  Czar  in  the  year  1689. 
His  father,  who  had  reigned  from  1645  to  1676,  had  been 
honoured  with  the  title  of  the  "  Good  Alexis." 

In  1682  Peter  was  crowned  along  with  his  half-brother 
Ivan  ;  but  the  latter,  a  poor  deformed  idiot,  was  only  a  name 
in  the  State.  Having  baffled  the  ambitious  schemes  of  his 
half-sister  Sophia,  a  bold  and  beautiful  woman,  who  acted 
as  Regent,  the  young  Peter,  when  only  seventeen,  seized 
alone  the  sceptre,  which  he  was  destined  to  wield  so  well. 

This  tall,  rough,  debauched  youth  set  himself  first  to 
reform  the  army,  as  the  right  hand  of  his  power. 
In  this  task  he  was  lucky  enough  to  have  the  aid     1689 
of  two  skilful  officers,  Patrick  Gordon,  a  Scotch-       A.D. 
man,  and  Le  Fort,  a  Swiss,  who  soon  filled  his 
ranks  with  recruits  from  Western  Europe.     The  long  cum- 


258  PIETKR  TIMMKRMAN. 

brous  coat  was  exchanged  for  a  shorter  dress.  Hair  and 
beards  were  cropped  close  ;  and  the  Russian  soldiers  were 
soon  dressed,  armed,  and  drilled  in  the  European  fashion. 
The  navy,  too,  received  much  of  Peter's  attention.  We  are 
told  that  at  first  he  sailed  his  yachts,  built  by  an  old  Dutch 
exile  named  Brandt,  upon  a  lake  near  his  palace.  Then  he 
saw  the  sea  at  Archangel,  felt  the  weakness  of  Russia  in 
having  little  or  no  available  sea-board,  and  resolved  not  to 
rest  until  the  Black  Sea,  the  Baltic,  and  the  Caspian  should 
be  merely  lakes  in  a  Russian  Empire,  upon  whose  shores 
Atlantic  and  Indian  waves  should  wash  for  thousands  of 
leagues. 

Beginning  war,  therefore,  against  Turkey  \  in  aid  of  the 
Poles,  he  seized  Azof,  thus  gaining  his  first  success  (1696). 
A  plot  formed  by  the  Strelitz  against  his  life — they  were 
guards  organized  by  Ivan  the  Terrible — was  met  by  Peter 
with  singular  courage,  and  punished  with  barbarous  cruelty. 

He  then  began  his  first  tour  of  Europe.  Leaving  Gordon 
with  some  thousand  soldiers  to  support  the  old  Boyard  who 
acted  as  Regent,  he  set  out  for  Holland.  There  at  Saardam 
he  began  to  explore  the  shipping,  jumping  down  into  the 
holds,  and  running  up  the  rigging  amid  the  jeers  of  Dutch 
sailors  and  street-loungers,  whom  he  sometimes  refreshed 
himself  by  thrashing.  But  odder  still  was  his  settling  down 
in  two  rooms  and  a  garret  as  Pieter  Timmerman,  receiving 
his  wages  every  Saturday  night  as  a  common  ship-carpenter, 
and  every  day  boiling  his  own  pot  for  dinner.  At  the  same 
time  he  picked  up  rope  and  sail  making,  blacksmith's  work, 
and  as  much  surgery  as  enabled  him  to  draw  teeth  and 
bleed.  Then  (1698)  he  went  to  England,  where  William 
III.  received  him  heartily,  and  made  him  a  present  of  a  fine 
yacht.  But  Peter  was  not  happy  until  he  got  his  darling 
adze  in  his  hand  again.  Lord  Caermarthen  was  his  attend- 
ant while  he  was  in  England,  and  many  a  night  the  two  sat 
up  together  drinking  brandy  and  pepper.  But  no  matter 
how  late  he  sat,  Peter  rose  at  four  to  his  work.  He  seldom 
spent  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  his  meals.  Having 
seen  Depttord,  Woolwich,  and  Chatham,  the  Czar  left  Eng- 
land for  Vienna,  to  see  the  soldiers  of  the  Emperor,  whose 
dress  and  discipline  were  then  the  model  for  all  Europe 


BATTLE  OF  NARVA.  259 

But  after  an  absence  of  seventeen  months  alarming  news 
called  him  home.  The  Strelitz  had  rebelled.  Peter,  hasten- 
ing to  Moscow,  found  on  his  arrival  there  that  his  faithful 
Gordon  had  crushed  the  revolt.  With  his  own  hand  the 
Czar  beheaded  twenty  of  the  wretched  guards  in  one 
hour ;  and  all  Russia  heard  the  groans  of  tortured  men. 

Peter's  social  reforms  then  began.  Dressing  himself  in  a 
brown  frock  coat,  he  insisted  on  all  Russians,  except  the 
priests  and  the  peasants,  casting  off  the  long  Asiatic  national 
robe.  He  laid  a  tax  on  beards.  He  changed  the  titles  and 
lessened  the  power  of  the  aristocracy.  Giving  greater  free- 
dom to  the  Russian  women,  who  had  previously  been  shut 
up  as  in  a  Turkish  harem,  he  got  up  for  their  amusement 
evening  parties,  lasting  from  four  to  ten,  at  which  the  Rus- 
sian gentlemen  were  required  to  keep  strictly  sober.  Dan- 
cing, chess,  and  draughts  were  the  chief  amusements  of  the 
evening.  He  checked  the  arrogant  clergy  by  tolerating  all 
sects,  except  the  Jesuits,  and  giving  free  circulation  to  the 
Sclavonian  Bible. 

We  now  turn  to  the  great  rival  of  the  Czar,  Charles  XII. 
of  Sweden.     Born  in  1682,  this  prince  succeeded  his  father 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  (1697).      Three  years  later,   Russia, 
Denmark,  and  Poland,  looking  across  the  sea  with  hungry 
eyes,  formed  a  league  for  the  dismemberment  of 
his  kingdom.      They  had  yet  to  learn  that  the     1700 
sword  was  a  toy  familiar  to  the  hand  of  the  boy-       A.D. 
king,  who  had  loved  from  his  earliest  days  to  play 
at  soldiers. 

Moving  swiftly  first  upon  Denmark,  and  then  upon  the 
Polish  army  at  Riga,  Charles  rid  himself  of  two  out  of  his 
three  foes.  And  then  he  beat  the  Russians  in  the  great 
battle  of  Narva. 

A  Russian  force  of  80,000  men,  largely  officered  by  Ger- 
mans, was  besieging  Narva,  a  small  town  near  the  Gulf  of 
Livonia,  when  Charles  advanced  with  only  8000  troops  to 
its  relief.  Having  battered  the  Russian  camp  with  his 
cannon,  he  poured  through  the  breach  his  gallant 
Swedes,  with  bayonets  fixed.  A  snow  storm  just  Nov.  30; 
then  drove  its  flakes  into  the  eyes  of  the  Russians,  1700 
who  gave  in  after  three  hours  of  close  and  desperate  A.D. 


260  THE  BUILDIXG  OF  ST.  PETEKflBTJBG. 

fighting.  The  jealousy,  with  which  the  Russians  looked  upon 
their  foreign  officers,  prevented  that  cordial  union  which 
might  have  saved  the  camp.  The  Russians  lost  5000  men  ; 
the  Swedes  scarcely  1200.  Charles  let  all  his  30,000  prisoners 
go  free,  except  a  few  of  the  officers. 

Peter  was  not  at  the  battle.  "  Ah,"  said  he,  when  the 
vexing  news  came,  "  These  Swedes,  I  knew,  would  beat  us, 
but  they  will  soon  teach  us  how  to  beat  them." 

Charles  made  use  of  his  victory  to  invade  and  conquer 
Poland.  Three  campaigns  completed  the  humiliation  of 
Frederic- Augustus,  and  the  crown  of  the  deposed  monarch 
was  conferred  by  the  conqueror  on  Stanislaus  Leczinski(1704). 

Meanwhile  Peter  had  been  straining  every  nerve  to  meet 
the  Swedes,  and  have  his  revenge  for  Narva,  melting  down 
the  church  bells  to  make  new  cannon,  and  drilling  his 
soldiers  with  incessant  activity,  he  prepared  for  a  great 
struggle.  Nor  amid  his  warlike  preparations  was  he  for- 
getful of  social  reforms.  The  building  of  hospitals,  of  linen 
and  paper  mills,  the  introduction  of  a  fine  breed  of  Saxon 
sheep,  and  the  establishment  of  the  printing  press  were 
among  the  many  boons,  which  his  fertile  and  untiring  spirit 
gave  to  Russia.  The  foundation  of  St.  Petersburg  dates 
from  this  time.  The  Czar,  filling  lakes  Peipus  and  Ladoga 
with  his  ships,  worked  his  way  steadily  northward  through 
Livonia  and  Ingria,  took  Marienburg,  and  secured  the  pos- 
session of  the  Neva.  At  the  mouth  of  that  river,  upon  a 
swampy  island,  he  built  his  new  capital.  While  superin- 
tending the  work  in  person,  he  lived  for  a  while  in  a 
wooden  hut.  It  was  nothing  to  him  that  the  cold  and  wet 
and  poisonous  gas  from  the  marshes  killed  100,000  of  his 
workmen.  In  spite  of  all  obstacles  the  city  rose  fair  and 
strong.  About  the  same  time  Menzikoff,  raised  from  selling- 
pies  in  the  street  to  be  the  friend  and  favourite  of  the  Czar, 
was  employed  in  founding  a  very  strong  fortress  on  the 
island  of  Cronstadt,  twenty-one  miles  down  /rom  St. 
Petersburg.  Every  succeeding  Czar  has  strengthened  and 
enlarged  the  granite  batteries  of  this  great  stronghold. 

On  all  these  doings  Charles  cast  a  scornful  eye.  But  he 
had  little  cause  for  scorn.  The  conquest  of  Ingria,  along 
the  southern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  still  further 


BATTLE  OF  PULTOWA.  261 

increased  the  growing  power  of  the  Czar,  who  made  Menzi- 
koff  governor  of  the  newly  acquired  province,  conferring 
upon  him  at  the  same  time  the  titles  of  Field-Marshal  and 
Prince. 

At  last  Charles  turned  from  his  Polish  and  Saxon  wars  to 
invade  Russia  with  80,000  veteran  troops.     It  was 
a  fatal  step.     "Nowhere  but  at  Moscow  will  I     1707 
treat  with  Peter,"  said  the  boastful  Swede.    •"  Ah,"       A.D. 
said  rough  Peter,  "  my  brother  wishes  to  play  the 
part   of  Alexander  ; — he  shall  not  find  a  Darius  in  me." 

The  plan  adopted  by  Peter  was  simple  and  sensible. 
Laying  waste  the  western  provinces,  he  decoyed  Charles 
into  the  heart  of  a  hostile  barren  land,  where  frost  and 
famine  did  their  deadly  work  on  the  Swedish  battalions. 
The  invitation  of  Mazeppa,  hetman  of  the  Cossacks,  turned 
the  Swedish  king  from  the  road  to  Moscow  to  the  district 
of  the  Ukraine.  But  Mazeppa's  promises  of  aid  were 
broken  reeds.  At  last  came  the  time  for  which  Peter  had 
planned  and  longed.  "With  an  army  of  18,000  frost-bitten, 
ragged,  hungry  men,  Charles  besieged  the  small  town  of 
Pultowa  on  the  Worskla,  an  eastern  tributary  of  the 
Dneiper.  Peter,  coming  up  with  70,000  fresh  troops,  poured 
reinforcements  into  the  town.  And  then  a  great  pitched 
battle  was  fought.  Charles,  who  was  suffering  from  a 
wound  in  his  foot,  was  carried  in  a  litter  to  the 
field.  The  Czar  led  the  centre  of  his  army,  intrust-  June  15, 
ing  the  wings  to  MenzikofF  and  Bauer.  The  1709 
Swedes  fought  with  desperate  valour.  More  than  A.D. 
once  they  broke  the  Russian  lines  ;  but  at  last,  out- 
numbered and  exhausted,  they  gave  way  and  fled.  In  two 
hours  the  ruin  was  complete.  The  litter  in  which  Charles 
lay  was  smashed  by  a  round  shot;  Peter  had  a  bullet 
through  his  hat ;  Menzikoff  had  three  horses  killed  under 
him.  The  royal  Swede  rode  from  the  field  with  a  few  hun- 
dred horse,  and  hid  his  diminished  head  within  the  Turkish 
town  of  Bender.  Nine  thousand  of  his  men  fell  on  the 
bloody  field.  From  that  day  Russia,  overshadowing  all  the 
East  with  her  giant  bulk,  has  been  one  of  the  great  powers 
of  Europe. 

The  Turks  were  not  unwilling  to  draw  the  sword  against 


262  DEATH  OF  CHARLES  XIL 

a  neighbour  so  dangerous  as  Peter.  When  Charles,  there- 
fore, came  among  them,  a  beaten  man  burning  for  revenge, 
they  declared  war  against  Russia.  The  Czar,  marching 
with  40,000  men  to  the  Pruth  in  Moldavia,  was 
1711  surrounded  by  a  Turkish  host  of  far  greater  number. 

A.D.  For  three  days  the  Russians,  formed  into  a  square, 
maintained  a  hopeless  contest.  Then  Peter's  young 
wife,  the  celebrated  Catherine  Alexina,  saved  her  husband 
and  -his  troops  by  sending  a  present  of  her  jewels  to  the 
Turkish  vizier.  Peace  was  proposed,  the  offer  was  accepted, 
and  a  treaty  was  concluded,  greatly  to  the  anger  of 
Charles. 

This  "  Madman  of  the  North,"  as  he  has  been  called  not 
unjustly,  wore  out  his  welcome  in  Turkey,  ana  would  take 
no  hint  about  returning  to  his  own  land.  Money  was  given 
him  to  pay  his  expenses  home.  He  took  it,  spent  it,  but 
would  not  go.  He  even  armed  his  servants  against  the 
Turkish  janissaries,  who  came  to  remove  him,  and  killed 
twenty  of  them  with  his  own  sword.  Still  scheming,  and 
tasking  the  generosity  of  the  Turks,  he  lived  on  in  a  sort 
of  state-custody,  while  Peter  stripped  Sweden  for  ever  of 
Ingria,  Livonia,  and  Finland,  and  the  kings  of  Prussia  and 
Denmark  laid  violent  hands  on  the  Swedish  dominions  south 
of  the  Baltic. 

Returning  in  1714  to  Sweden,  he  spent  his  last  strength 
in  a  vain  attempt  to  conquer  Norway,  during  which  he  was 
killed  by  a  cannon  shot,  that  struck  him  in  the  head,  at  the 
siege  of  Fredericshall  (December  1718).  Military  glory 
was  his  one  absorbing  passion. 

In  1716  Peter  made  a  second  tour  of  Europe,  visiting 
Stockholm,  Amsterdam,  Paris,  and  Berlin;  in  the  last  of 
which  Frederic  William  I.,  who  was  a  kindred  spirit,  gave 
him  a  hearty  welcome.  Catherine,  his  second  wife,  who  had 
formerly  been  married  to  a  sergeant  of  dragoons,  accom- 
panied him  on  this  tour.  But  the  news  of  a  plot,  in  which 
Alexis,  his  son  by  the  divorced  Eudokhia,  had  some  share, 
recalled  him  to  Russia.  The  unhappy  young  man  was  tried 
for  his  life,  and  condemned;  but  he  died  mysteriously  in 
prison  (1718). 

Peter's  last  military  exploit  was  an  unsuccessful  expe- 


CHARACTER  OF  PETER  THE  GREAT. 


263 


dition   to   Persia,   undertaken   on  pretence   of  supporting 
the  rightful  Shah  against  a  usurper,  but  in  reality 
with  a  view  to  secure  a  footing  on  the  Caspian     1722 
shores.  A.  D. 

This  greatest  of  the  Czars  died  January  28, 1725, 
of  fever,  caught  by  wading  knee-deep  in  lake  Ladoga,  to  aid 
in  getting  off  a  boat,  which  had  stuck  on  the  rocks. 

The  character  of  Peter  may  best  be  given  in  the  words  of 
Voltaire  :  "  He  gave  a  polish  to  his  people,  and  was  himself 
a  savage ;  he  taught  them  the  art  of  war,  of  which  he  was 
himself  ignorant ;  from  the  sight  of  a  small  boat  on  the 
river  Moskwa  he  created  a  powerful  fleet ;  he  made  himself 
an  expert  and  active  shipwright,  sailor,  pilot,  and  com- 
mander ;  he  changed  the  manners,  customs,  and  laws  of  the 
Russians,  and  lives  in  their  memory  as  the  l  Father  of  his 
country.'"  In  spite  of  his  savagery  and  coarseness,  the 
name  "Great"  is  fairly  due  to  him,  whose  foresight  and 
energy  moulded  a  mass  of  brutal  nobles  and  crouching 
serfs  into  the  great  nation  of  the  Hussions. 


SOVEREIGNS  OF  SWEDEN. 


CHARLES  X 1654 

CHARLES  XI 1660 

CHARLES  XII 1697 

ULRICA  ELEANORA 1719 

FREDERIC  I.  (her  husband)  1741 
ADOLPHUS  FREDERIC 1751 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  III.1771 
GUSTAVU3  ADOLPHUS  IV.  1792 

CHARLES  XIII 1809 

CHARLES      (JOHN),     XIV., 

Bernadotte 1818 

OSCAR .' 1844 


SOVEREIGNS  OF  RUSSIA. 


PETER  THE  GREAT 1689 

CATHERINE  1 1725 

PETER  II 1727 

ANNE 1730 

IVAN  VI 1740 

ELIZABETH 1741 


PETER  III 1762 

CATHERINE  II 1762 

PAUL 1796 

ALEXANDER 1801 

NICHOLAS 1825 

ALEXANDER  II - 1355 


264 


EARLY  LIFE  OF  FREDERIC. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FREDERIC  ii.  (THE  GREAT)  OF  PRUSSIA. 
Central  Point:    THE  CAMPAIGN  OF   1757,  A.D. 


Rise  of  the  Prussian  king- 
dom. 

Early  life  of  Frederic  1 1. 
His  accession. 
The  Pragmatic  Sanction. 
Frederic  seizes  Silesia. 
Maria  Theresa. 


The  Austrian  war. 
Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
Eight  years  of  peace. 
The  Seven  Years'  War  be- 
gins. 

Rossbach  and  Leuthen. 
Liegnitz  and  Torgau. 


Peace  of  Hubertsburg. 
Partition  of  Poland. 
Her  unhappy  fate. 
Last  acts  of  Frederic. 
His  death  and  character. 
Good     deeds     of    Maria 
Theresa. 


WHILE  Elizabeth  sat  on  the  English  throne,  the  Electors  of 

Brandenburg  added  to  their  dominions  the  dukedom  of 

Prussia.     Frederic  William,  the  "  Great  Elector,"  acquired 

Halberstadt  and  Minden  by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia.     In 

1657  the  same  active  prince  flung  off  the  yoke  of  Poland; 

and,  some  years  later,  he  obtained  possession  of 

1701     Magdeburg.     So,  with  gradually  widening  boun- 

A.D.       daries,  Prussia  grew  to  be  a  kingdom,  the  first  year 

of  the  eighteenth  century  marking  the  change  of 

the  last  elector,  Frederic  III.,  into  the  first  king,  Frederic  I. 

Third  on  the  list  of  Prussian  kings  stands  his  name — most 
renowned  in  the  royal  roll — who  forms  the  subject  of  this 
chapter. 

Frederic  the  Great  was  born  in  1712.  His  father  was 
Frederic  William  I.,  and  his  mother  Sophia  Dorothea  of 
Hanover.  Exposed  during  childhood  and  youth  to  the  fury 
of  his  savage  father,  who  seems  to  have  cared  little  for  any 
one  except  the  giant  guardsmen  whom  he  paid  so  well,  young 
Frederic  grew  up  amid  hardships  such  as  princes  seldom  suf- 
fer. He  learned  to  love  his  mother ;  but  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  he  bitterly  hated  his  other  parent.  At  last,  weary  with 
being  kicked,  raved  at,  and  fed  on  bread  and  water,  the 
prince  ran  away ;  and,  when  he  was  caught,  was  saved  from 
the  death  of  a  deserter  only  by  the  pleading  of  the  Emperor 
of  Austria. 

Having  married  a  German  princess  in  1733,  he  spen-t  the 


THE  PRAGMATIC  SANCTION.  265 

six  years  previous  to  his  accession  quietly  at  Kheinsberg — 
playing  billiards,  scribbling  books,  and  writing  letters  to 
Voltaire  and  other  literary  friends.  The  opinions  of  the 
brilliant  French  infidel  had  no  small  share  in  moulding  the 
character  of  Frederic. 

The  death  of  old  Frederic  William  in  1740  raised  his  son 
to  the  throne  of  Prussia.    At  once  this  son  began 
to  realize  the  darling  dream  of  his  unhappy  boy-      1740 
hood — to  be  a  great  soldier.     Plenty  of  money  and      A.D, 
a  fine,  well-drilled  army  were  ready  to  his  hand 
He  took  them,  and  began  a  war. 

Nearly  thirty  years  before,  a  law,  called  the  "  Pragmatic 
Sanction,"*  had  been  passed  by  the  Emperor  Charles  VI. 
By  this  he  decreed  that,  if  he  left  no  sons,  his  dominions 
should  descend  to  his  daughters.  One  by  one — in  some 
cases  with  trouble  and  delay — the  consent  of  the  great 
European  powers  to  this  arrangement  had  been  won.  And 
now,  upon  his  death  (October  1740),  his  daughter  Maria 
Theresa  became  mistress  of  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the 
house  of  Austria. 

At  once  a  rapacious  host  rose  around  the  hapless  princess, 
greedy  to  despoil  her  of  her  realms.  Foremost  among  these 
was  Frederic  of  Prussia,  who  pounced  upon  Silesia,  claiming 
it  as  an  old  territory  of  the  house  of  Brandenburg.  The 
victories  of  Mollwitz  in  1741,  and  Czaslau  in  1742,  left  him 
master  of  the  coveted  lands.  Maria  Theresa,  dreading  this 
formidable  soldier,  and  anxious  to  bend  all  her  energies 
against  her  other  foes,  made  over  to  him,  by  the  treaty  of 
Breslau,  the  full  sovereignty  of  Silesia  and  Glatz  (June  11. 
1742). 

The  other  foes  of  Maria  Theresa  were  many;  but  chief 
among  them  were  the  Elector  of  Bavaria — made  Emperor 
Charles  VII.  at  Frankfort  in  February  1742 — who  claimed 
all  the  Austrian  possessions,  and  the  King  of  France,  who 
helped  the  Elector,  in  utter  contempt  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanc- 


*  There  are  four  "  Pragmatic  Sanctions  "  in  modern  history— 1.  A  law  passed 
by  Charles  VII.  of  France  in  1438,  defending  the  Gallic  Church  from  certain 
interferences  of  the  Pope;  2.  A  decree  of  the  German  Diet  in  1439;  3.  That  of 
the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  here  noticed;  4.  That  by  which  Charles  III.  of  Spain 
gave  up  Naples  to  his  third  son  in  17S9. 


266  MARIA  THERESA. 

tion,  which  he  himself  had  guaranteed.  Her  only  friend 
was  England.  It  was  when  the  troops  of  Bavaria  and 
France  had  advanced  in  1741  within  a  few  leagues  of  Vienna, 
that  the  princess,  fleeing  to  Presburg,  had  flung  herself  on 
the  chivalry  of  the  brave  Hungarians.  When  her  sorrow- 
ful words,  spoken  in  Latin,  as  she  stood  in  her  mourning 
dress,  with  her  little  son  nestling  in  her  bosom,  fell  upon 
their  ears — "  Abandoned  by  my  friends,  persecuted  by  my 
enemies,  and  attacked  by  my  nearest  relations,  I  have  no 
resource  but  in  your  fidelity  and  valour"  — the  hall  grew 
bright  with  flashing  swords  ;  and  "  We  will  die  for  Maria 
Theresa!"  echoed  from  its  ancient  roof.  So,  with  Hunga- 
rian steel  bristling  in  her  defence,  and  English  gold  pouring 
into  her  coffers,  and  Frederic,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
bought  off  by  the  cession  of  Silesia,  standing  aloof,  the  cause 
of  the  queen  began  to  prosper.  The  French,  who  held 
Prague,  were  forced  to  retreat  in  the  depth  of  a  severe  win- 
ter ;  and  the  emperor,  too,  had  to  flee. 

But  this  sudden  turn  in  the  tide  of  war  brought  Frederic 
again  into  the  field.  Fearful  that  in  the  flush  of  victory  the 
Queen  of  Hungary  might  wrest  the  newly-won  Silesia  from 
him,  he  formed  a  secret  alliance  with  France  and  the  em- 
peror. In  accordance  with  this,  he  invaded  Bohemia  in 
1744,  but  was  forced  to  leave  it  before  the  end  of  the  year. 
The  death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VII,  which  happened 
early  in  1745,  relieved  Maria  Theresa  from  a  formidable  foe, 
and  excited  new  hopes  in  her  breast  that  her  husband,  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  might  be  elected  to  fill  the  vacant 
imperial  throne.  These  hopes  were  realized,  in  spite  of  all 
that  the  great  house  of  Bourbon  could  do  ;  and  Francis  I. 
became  emperor.  Frederic,  though  victorious  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1745,  was  glad  to  sheathe  the  sword ;  and  by  the 
treaty  of  Dresden,  which  closed  the  war  in  Germany,  he 
acknowledged  the  husband  of  Maria  Theresa  as  head  of  the 
empire. 

During  this  war,  in  which  England  and  France  took  oppo- 
site sides,  were  fought  the  battles  of  Dettingen  (1743)  and 
Fontenoy  (1745).  After  the  peace  of  Dresden  the  struggle 
was  continued  in  the  Netherlands  and  Italy  between  the 
houses  of  Bourbon  and  Austria,  until  a  peace  concluded 


OPENING  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS    WAR.  267 

at  Aix-la-Chapelle  gave  rest  for  a  while  to  worn-out  Europe. 
This  treaty  confirmed  in  general  the  arrangements 
made  by  those  of  Westphalia,  Nimeguen,  Ryswick,       Oct.  7, 
and  Utrecht ;  secured  the  possession  of  Silesia  and     1748 
Glatz  to  Prussia  ;    and  made  over  to  Don  Philip       A.D. 
of  Spain,  under  certain  conditions,  Naples,  Parma, 
Placentia ,  and  Guastalla. 

Eight  years  of  peace  followed.  This  breathing-space  was 
devoted  by  Frederic  to  the  good  of  Prussia.  He  drew  up 
the  Frederician  code  of  laws.  He  travelled  through  many 
parts  of  his  kingdom,  doing  what  he  could  for  tillage,  trade, 
and  manufactures.  He  built  palaces  in  Berlin  and  Pots- 
dam ;  and  he  spent  much  time,  pen  in  hand,  writing  books 
in  French.  Of  these  works  the  most  considerable  are  his 
"  Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg,"  and  his  poem  on 
the  "  Art  of  War."  But  he  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  sol- 
dier. A  large  slice  of  his  revenue  went  to  maintain  his  army, 
which  he  had  lately  raised  to  160,000  men.  These  soldiers, 
officered  with  care  and  drilled  incessantly,  were  lodged  in 
barracks  enriched  with  the  most  costly  and  beautiful  orna- 
ments of  architecture. 

Both  in  India  and  America  the  interests  of  France  and 
England  had  long  been  clashing.  Open  war  was  at  last 
declared.  Already  blood  had  been  spilled  in  the  colonies ; 
but  it  was  not  until  1756  that  the  German  King  of  Eng- 
land, trembling  for  the  safety  of  his  beloved  Hanover,  formed 
an  alliance  with  Frederic  of  Prussia,  and  prepared  for  a 
stern  struggle.  The  great  powers  of  Europe  ranged  them- 
selves on  one  side  or  other.  Austria,  glad  to  see  the  tie 
between  France  and  Prussia  at  last  broken,  took  arms  in 
the  hope  of  recovering  the  lost  Silesia.  Thus  Austria,  France, 
Russia,  Saxony,  Sweden,  and  Poland  were  arrayed  against 
Prussia  and  England ;  and  the  great  Seven  Years'  War  began. 

The  Colonial  War  between  France  and  England,  which  in- 
terweaves itself  with  the  Seven  Years'  War,  lies  beyond  our 
scope.  We  shall  trace  the  story  of  the  war  as  it  affected 
Continental  Europe  only ;  and,  to  make  the  sketch  clearer, 
we  shall  follow  the  order  of  the  seven  campaigns. 

Frederic  began  the  war.  At  the  head  of  70,000  men  he 
invaded  Saxony,  moving  his  troops  by  converging  roads 


268  BATTLE  OF  ROSSBACH- 

towards  Dresden,  the  great  centre  of  attack.     He  defeated 

the  Austrians    at    Lowositz.      Then    seizing  the 

Sept.       archives  of  Dresden,  and  smashing  the  cabinet  in 

1756  which  the  state  papers  were  kept,  he  read  the 
A.D.       whole  story  of  the  secret  plot  laid  for  the  partition 

of  Prussia.  These  papers  he  published  in  order  to 
defend  the  step  he  had  taken. 

The  second  campaign — greatest  of  the  seven — began  with 
the  invasion  of  Bohemia  by  Frederic  and  his  Prussians. 
Near  Prague  he  won  a  great  battle  over  the  Austrians,  and 
then  besieged  the  city.  But  the  advance  of  the  Austrian 
Marshal  Daun,  whose  intrenched  camp  at  Kolin  was  the 
scene  of  Frederic's  first  great  defeat,  saved  the  Bohemian 
capital.  A  thunder-shower  of  misfortunes  then  seemed  to 
burst  over  the  head  of  the  Prussian  king.  The  house  of 
Brandenburg  tottered  to  its  lowest  stone, — Russians  break- 
ing through  his  eastern  frontier,  Swedes  in  Pomerania 
marching  on  Berlin,  his  friends  the  English  driven  in  dis- 
grace from  Hanover  by  the  French,  who  were  rapidly  ad- 
vancing into  Saxony.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  mother  died. 
He  loved  her  well,  and  in  his  utter  despair  suicide  seemed 
his  only  refuge  from  a  crowd  of  miseries.  Then  came  the 
turn  of  the  tide.  The  Russian  empress  took  ill,  and  her 
troops  were  recalled.  This  was  one  foe  less.  Dashing  sud- 
denly into  Saxony,  with  only  20,000  men,  he  faced  a  French 
and  Austrian  army,  twice  the  size  of  his  own,  at  the  village 
of  Rosebach. 
About  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  a  winter  day  tho 

massive  lines  of  the  allied  armies  advanced  in  battle 
Kov.  5,  array,  exulting  in  their  strength,  and  sure  of  vic- 

1757  tory.     Frederic,  seeming  not  to  stir,  silently  moved 
A.D.        his  troops  into  a  new  position.     Their  march  was 

concealed  by  the  broken  ground ;  and  when,  later 
in  the  day,  the  allies  moved  to  the  attack,  they  were  met 
and  broken  into  huddled  crowds  by  an  avalanche  of  horses, 
men,  and  cannon-shot,  pouring  with  terrific  speed  and  force 
upon  their  lines,  already  disordered  by  the  hurry  of  their 
advance.  In  half  an  hour  the  fate  of  the  day  was  decided. 
While  Frederic  lost  only  a  few  hundred  men,  nearly  9000 
of  the  foe  were  killed,  wounded,  or  made  prisoners. 


BATTLES  OF  LEUTHEN  AND  ZOKNDORFF.  2C9 

Just  a  month  later  (December  o)  Frederic  defeated  the 
Austrians  in  the  great  battle  of  Leuthen,  or  Lissa,  in  Silesia. 
His  tactics  were  here  the  same  as  at  Rossbach.  Feigning' 
to  attack  their  right  wing,  he  suddenly  concentrated  a  great 
force,  which  he  had  quietly  mustered  behind  the  hills,  upon 
their  weakened  left,  and  swept  it  before  him.  Instead  of 
returning  the  move,  the  Austrian  general  moved  the  right 
wing  up  to  support  the  broken  left.  But  he  was  too  late ; 
and  the  whole  Austrian  force  was  driven  from  the  field,  in 
spite  of  their  gallant  stand,  maintained  for  a  full  hour  among 
the  houses  of  Leuthen.  The  action  lasted  from  one  to  four 
in  the  day.  The  Austrians  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  12,000 
men ;  the  Prussian  loss  was  at  least  5000.  The  immediate 
results  of  the  victory  were  the  re-capture  of  Silesia,  which  had 
been  overrun  by  the  Austrians,  and  the  exaltation  of  Frederic 
to  the  greatest  fame.  London  was  a  blaze  of  illumination  in 
his  honour,  and  the  English  parliament  voted  him  £700,000 
a  year. 

Early  in  the  third  campaign,  an  army  of  English  and 
Hanoverians,  under  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  drove  the  French 
back  across  the  Rhine.      Later  in  the  year,  Frederic  in- 
flicted a  terrible  defeat  upon  the  Russians  at  Zorn- 
dorff  in  Brandenburg.     From  nine  in  the  morning    Aug.  25, 
till  seven  in  the  evening,  the  Russians,  formed  into  a    1758 
square,  held  their  ground  under  incessant  discharges      A.D. 
of  artillery,  followed  by  rapid  charges  of  horse  and 
foot.     Twenty-one  thousand  Russians  lay  slain  on  this  fatal 
field.   Still  later  in  the  season,  Count  Daun,  the  leader  of  the 
Austrians,  broke  the  right  wing  of  Frederic's  army  at  Hoch- 
kirchen  in  Saxony ;  but  on  the  whole  the  cause  of  the  Prus- 
sian king  was  triumphant  in  the  campaign.     He  still  held 
Silesia ;  and  the  French  had  been  driven  from  Germany. 

Blow  after  blow  fell  heavily  on  Frederic  in  the  fourth  year 
of  the  war.     It  is  true  that  his  ally,  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick, 
defeated  the  French  in  the  battle  of  Minden  (August  1),  thus 
saving  the  Electorate  of  Hanover  from  a  second 
conquest.     But  the  Prussian  king  himself,  meeting  Aug.  12, 
the  Russians  at  Kunersdorf  in  Brandenburg,  was    1759 
driven  from  the  field  with  the  loss  of  18,000  men.      A.D. 
Dresden  was  taken  and  held  by  the  Austrians, 


270  BATTLES  OF  LIEGNTTZ  AND  TOKGATL 

An  army  of  nearly  20,000  Prussians,  hemmed  in  by  Austrian 
bayonets  among  the  passes  of  Bohemia,  was  forced  to  sur- 
render at  discretion  to  Marshal  Daun. 

After  some  vain  attempts  at  negotiations,  the  war  con- 
tinued with  increased  bitterness.  Frederic  was  desperate. 
He  stood  at  bay  amid  a  gigantic  host  of  200,000  men ;  and 
all  his  efforts  could  not  muster  half  that  number.  Yet  with 
these  he  was  victorious,  gaining  strength  from  the  very  hope- 
lessness of  his  cause.  The  defeat  of  his  general  Fouqud  in 
Silesia  roused  him  to  action.  Drawing  off  Daun  by  a  pre- 
tended march  into  Silesia,  he  turned  suddenly  upon  Dresden. 
For  many  days  a  storm  of  cannon-shot  poured  upon  the  city, 

crumbling  some  of  its  finest  buildings  into  dust. 

1760    But  the  return  of  .Daun,  who  quickly  perceived  the 

A.D.     false    move    he    had    made,   obliged  Frederic  to 

abandon  the  siege.  Yet  he  soon  made  up  for  this 
temporary  check.  By  his  victory  over  Laudohn  at  Liegnitz, 
when  three  Austrian  generals  lay  round  his  camp,  sure  now 
that  they  had  the  lion  in  their  toils,  he  prevented  the  union 
of  the  Russian  and  Austrian  forces.  Then,  enraged  by  the 
pillage  of  Berlin,  into  which  the  Russians  and  Austrians 
had  made  a  hasty  dash,  he  followed  up  his  success  by  an 
attack  upon  the  camp  of  Daun,  who  had  intrenched  himself 
strongly  at  Torgau  on  the  Elbe.  Broken  three  times  by  the 
fire  of  two  hundred  Austrian  cannon,  the  Prussian  troops 
struggled  bravely  up  to  the  batteries,  took  them,  and  drove 
the  defenders  in  disorder  across  the  river.  Darkness  alone 
saved  the  Austrians  from  annihilation.  The  immediate 
result  of  this  great  victory  was  the  recovery  by  Frederic  of 
all  Saxony  except  Dresden.  And,  stricken  with  sudden  fear, 
his  enemies  all  shrank  away  from  Prussia.  This  year  is  also 
marked  by  the  formation  of  a  secret  treaty,  called  the  Family 
Compact,  formed  between  the  Bourbons  of  France  and  Spain. 
The  war  dragged  on  through  its  sixth  campaign.  The 
King  of  Prussia,  thoroughly  exhausted  by  his  enormous 
efforts,  remained  in  a  strong  camp  in  the  heart  of  Silesia, 
watching  his  foes,  but  able  to  do  no  more.  Again,  we  are 
told,  the  thought  of  suicide  crossed  his  mind. 

A  death  saved  him.     Elizabeth  of  Russia  died  on  the  5th 
of  January  1762,  and  her  successor,  Peter  III.,  Frederic's 


PEACE  OF  HUBERTSBUKO.  271 

warm  admirer  and  friend,  not  only  made  peace,  but  sent  him 
aid.     The  example  set  by  Russia  was  followed  by  Sweden. 
Then  came  the  Peace  of  Paris,  concluded  by  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Spain.    Thus  Austria  and  Prussia      Feb. 
fronted  each  other  alone,  and  they,  too,  signed  the    1763 
Peace  of  Hubertsburg,  which  left  the  face  of  Ger-     A.D. 
many  on  the  whole  unchanged.     Frederic  still  held 
the  small  province  of  Silesia,  for  the  sake  of  which  the  life- 
blood  of  more  than  a  million  had  been  poured  out  like  water. 
And  so  ended  the  great  Seven  Years'  War,  of  which  the 
Prussian  king  was  the  central  figure,  and  in  which  he  won  im- 
perishable renown  as  a  gallant  soldier  and  a  daring  tactician. 

Frederic  then  set  himself  to  repair  the  terrible  mischief  done 
by  the  war.  He  gave  corn  for  food  and  seed  to  the  starving 
people,  and  rebuilt  the  houses  that  had  been  burnt.  Silesia 
was  freed  from  the  payment  of  all  taxes  for  six  years,  and 
other  districts  received  the  same  boon  for  a  shorter  time. 
Rewards  to  his  living  soldiers,  and  pensions  to  the  widows 
a,nd  children  of  the  dead  were  bestowed  with  no  niggard 
hand.  In  his  attempts  to  revive  the  drooping  commerce  and 
increase  the  revenue  of  Prussia,  he  made  some  sad  mistakes, 
of  which  perhaps  the  worst  was  the  debasement  of  the  coin. 
Great  as  he  was  in  military  affairs,  he  was  no  political 
economist.  And  amid  all  his  plans  and  works  of  peace,  he 
maintained  a  great  army  of  160,000  men. 

Frederic's  share  in  the  great  crime  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury must  now  be  noticed.  It  is  said  that  the  wicked  plot  was 
hatched  in  the  fertile  brain  of  this  great  Prussian  king  ;  but 
there  is  reason  to  think  that  it  was  an  old  design,  dating  so 
far  back  as  1710,  in  the  days  of  Frederic  I.  A  kingdom, 
"  the  eldest  born  of  the  European  family,"  bright  with  fair 
fields,  broad  rivers,  and  a  genial  sky,  and  filled  with  a  valiant 
but  very  restless  people,  lay  overshadowed  by  three  giants. 
The  curse  of  discord  filled  the  land  with  blood  and  tears 
and  failing  strength.  When  great  assemblies  of  her  armed 
knights  met  to  elect  their  king  or  transact  other  state 
business,  they  often  returned  home  without  having  passed  a 
single  act,  paralyzed  by  the  strange  power  of  a  veto,  which 
they  all  possessed,  and  by  which  a  single  man  could  dissolve 
the  assembly  Poland  was  the  unhappy  land.  Around  her 


272  THE  PARTITIONS  OF  POLAND. 

stood  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia,  who,  seeing  her  weakness 

and  her  broken  heart,  stooped  together  and  with 

1772    felon  hands  tore  away  one-third  of  her  dominion, 

A.D.  Frederic  thus  gained  Polish-Prussia  as  far  as  the 
Netz,  except  Dantzic  and  Thorn.  Catherine  II. 
of  Russia  and  Maria  Theresa,  whose  conscience  stung  her 
sorely  before  she  joined  in  the  robbery,  had  each  a  share  of 
the  unrighteous  spoil.  Stanislaus  II.  was  then  King  of 
Poland. 

Twenty-two  years  later,  there  was  a  great  uprising  of  the 
brave  Poles  under  Kosciusko.  But  might  was  stronger  than 
right.  Stanislaus  resigned  his  crown ;  and  the  second  and 
final  partition  of  Poland  took  place  (1795).  And  in  1832, 
while  Britain  was  dreaming  of  Parliamentary  Reform,  and 
France  was  still  throbbing  with  the  pangs  of  her  second 
Revolution,  the  old  kingdom  of  Poland  was  swept  from  the 
map  of  Europe  by  a  ukase  of  Nicholas  the  Russian  Czar. 

In  1778  the  emperor  formed  a  design  of  partitioning 
Bavaria.  But  here  Frederic  interfered  on  the  weaker 
side;  and  by  the  Peace  of  Teschen  the  evil  was  averted. 
Another  attempt  on  Bavaria  was  thwarted  by  the  "  Fur- 
stenlund,"  an  alliance  among  the  German  princes,  which 
was  concluded  chiefly  at  the  instance  of  Frederic.  His 
last  great  public  act  was  the  conclusion  of  a  commercial 
treaty  with  the  United  States  of  America  in  178G. 

Gout  and  asthma,  ending  in  dropsy,  brought  Frederic  to 

his  death-bed,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age, 

Aug.  17,  He  had  reigned  nearly  forty -seven  years.    He  was  a 

1786    great  soldier,  of  daring  courage  in  battle,  of  quick 

A.D.  and  fertile  genius  in  difficulty,  of  most  elastic  spirit 
in  the  hour  of  depression  and  dismay.  But,  like  all 
men  of  inordinate  ambition,  he  cared  nothing  for  the  feelings 
of  others.  Blood  he  shed  in  torrents,  yet  the  "  red  rain" 
seemed  never  to  cost  him  a  thought.  When  it  is  added 
that  he  was  a  hater  of  women  and  a  scoffer  at  religion,  we 
can  see  that  Frederic,  with  all  his  brilliancy  of  fame,  was 
not  a  lovable  man. 

The  name  of  Maria  Theresa  has  often  occurred  in  the  story 
of  Frederic's  reign.  When  her  husband,  Francis  I.,  died  in 
1763,  her  son  Joseph  was  raised  to  the  imperial  throne. 


DEATH  OF  MARIA  THERESA. 


273 


Still  holding  the  reins  of  power,  she  continued  to  rule  until 
1 780,  when  death  cut  short  her  course  of  usefulness.  Among 
the  benefits  which  she  gave  to  her  subjects,  the  checking  of 
the  Inquisition  and  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits  were  not 
the  least.  There  are  few  names  more  honoured  in  the  long 
roll  of  illustrious  women  than  the  name  of  this  Empress- 
Queen,  upon  whose  fair  fame  there  rests  but  one  blot, — her 
unwilling  part  in  the  division  of  Poland. 

DUKES  AND  KINGS  OF  PRUSSIA. 


DUKES. 

A.D. 

JOHN  SIGISMUND 1616 

GEORGE  WILLIAM 1619 

FREDERIC  WILLIAM  (the 

Great  Elector) 1640 

FREDERIC 1688 


KINGS. 

A.D. 

Crowned  King  as  FREDE- 
RIC I 1701 

FREDERIC  WILLIAM  1 1713 

FREDERIC  II.  (the  Great)...  1740 
FREDERIC  WILLIAM  II....  1786 
FREDERIC  WILLIAM  III.  1797 
FREDERIC  WILLIAM  IV.  1840 


274  THE  SOLDIERS  OF  LOUIS  JX.TV. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LIFE  IN  FEANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XIV. 


The  noblesse  humbled. 
The  soldiers. 
Sale  of  offices. 
The  Roturier. 
The  Gabelle/ 

The  rich  lords. 
View  of  the  Court. 
Shifts  to  raise  money. 
Vanity  of  Louis. 
His  expensive  life. 

Palace  at  Versailles. 
Dress  of  the  time. 
Brilliant  writers. 
Influence  of  ladies. 
Duelling. 

IT  was  the  great  aim  of  Louis  XIV.  to  centralize  all  power 
in  himself.  He,  therefore,  lost  no  opportunity  of  humbling 
the  French  noblesse.  Selecting  his  chief  ministers  from  the 
plebeian  ranks,  he  drove  many  of  the  lower  and  poorer  nobles, 
who  found  their  chance  of  making  a  name  and  living  by 
politics  gone,  to  become  merchants  and  shopkeepers.  He 
whose  pride  could  not  stoop  to  such  a  fall,  took  mask  and 
pistol  and  turned  chevalier  d?  Industrie,  or  wrhat  we  in  plain 
English  call  a  highway  robber.  But  the  army  was  the  grand 
refuge  for  the  cadets  of  noble  houses,  and  to  this  they  flocked 
in  spite  of  the  humiliations  which  awaited  them  there.  The 
army  then  became  the  true  aristocracy ;  and  the  haughtiest 
duke  in  the  realm,  who  could  count  back  his  ancestors  for 
centuries,  had  to  give  place  to  the  youngest  mare'chal  of 
France. 

This  army  was  the  grand  instrument  of  Louis'  despotism. 
There  was  no  disputing  his  will,  for  the  soldiers  were  always 
at  hand.  They  had  been  trained  and  drilled  from  early  boy- 
hood according  to  the  military  system  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 
For  the  first  time  French  soldiers  were  armed,  clothed,  and 
accoutred  on  a  uniform  plan  regulated  by  the  king.  From 
him  alone  could  promotion  come;  his  royal  hand  signed 
every  commission.  To  him  they  were  taught  to  look  for 
every  command  and  every  reward.  All  the  glory  they  won 
was  for  him.  While  they  were  young  and  strong,  he  drilled 
them,  petted  them,  and  made  them  the  great  men  of  France ; 
and  when  their  beards  grew  grey,  or  they  left  a  limb  on 
some  bloody  field,  the  splendid  Hotel  des  Invalides  stood 
ready  to  receive  them  in  their  decay. 

The  French  police  system  was  founded  by  Louis,  who 


OPPRESSION  OF  THE  LOWER  ORDERS.  275 

found  the  need  of  spreading  his  spies  into  every  corner  of 
the  land.  Nothing  could  happen  by  the  meanest  hearth 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  police,  who  sent  up  constant 
reports  to  head-quarters.  The  Church  lands  and  livings 
were  often  given  by  this  despot  to  laymen ;  and  many  a  rich 
abbey  had  for  its  owner  some  fair  favourite  of  the  king  or 
his  chief  courtiers.  Unblushingly  and  most  openly  the  pub- 
lic offices  were  sold, — sometimes  even  put  up  to  auction.  At 
Eennes,  for  example,  within  fourteen  years  the  king  sold, 
besides  all  the  seats  in  the  Civic  Tribunal,  twenty-seven 
other  posts,  taking  money  even  for  the  appointment  of  a 
house-porter. 

The  tiers  etat,  or  lower  orders,  groaned  under  fearful  bur- 
dens and  led  a  very  wretched  life.  It  was  this  evil  which 
grew  into  the  tornado  of  revolution  a  hundred  years  later. 
The  roturier,  or  ignoble  vassal,  owed  to  the  king,  as  hia 
seigneur,  eight  very  heavy  duties.  One  of  these,  called  cor- 
vee, was  the  obligation  to  work  on  the  public  roads  for  a 
certain  number  of  days  every  year.  There  was  a  capitation 
tax,  too,  imposed  by  Louis  XIV.,  which  fell  most  heavily  on 
the  roturiers.  But  of  all  imposts,  that  which  excited  the 
greatest  bitterness  of  spirit  was  the  gabelle,  or  salt  tax.  In 
the  fourteenth  century  the  trade  in  this  necessary  of  life 
began  to  be  made  a  royal  monopoly.  Tour  times  a  year 
every  householder  was  obliged,  whether  he  would  or  not,  to 
buy  as  much  salt  as  was  determined  by  the  authorities  to  be 
needful  for  the  use  of  his  family.  The  natural  result  of  such 
oppression  was  to  demoralize  the  lower  orders.  Smuggling 
became  a  common  trade;  and  the  passion  for  it  grew  so 
strong,  that  whole  cavalry  regiments  deserted  in  order  to  fol- 
low the  dishonest  occupation. 

But  the  king  and  his  court  cared  little  for  this  miserable 
state  of  the  tiers  etat.  Their  business  was  to  enjoy  life  as 
brilliantly  as  possible.  The  humiliation  of  the  poorer  nobles 
has  been  already  noticed.  That  of  the  rich  seigneurs  was 
yet  more  degrading,  because  it  was  voluntary.  The  court 
was  an  irresistible  magnet,  which  drew  them  from  their 
chateaux  among  the  woods  of  Auvergne,  Bretagne,  and  Pro- 
vence. They  plunged  into  the  whirlpool  of  fashion  and  folly, 
and  were  fooled  to  the  top  of  their  beiit.  Gambling  was 


276  WICKED  COURT  LIFE. 

carried  on  to  a  most  incredible  extent.  It  was  thought  no 
shame,  but  the  best  fun  in  the  world,  to  cheat  at  cards. 
Koyal  dukes  did  it,  and  were  esteemed  for  their  gentlemanly 
ekill  in  swindling :  why,  then,  should  not  men  and  women 
of  meaner  station  trick  and  lie.  Faithful  husbands  and 
wives  were  held  up  to  open  mockery  in  the  theatre  of  the 
time ;  and,  therefore,  husbands  and  wives  who  loved  each 
other  and  were  true  became  scarce  at  the  French  court.  The 
king  set  an  example  of  unfaithfulness  to  his  queen,  which  his 
train  were  not  slow  to  follow.  Life  was  a  constant  round 
of  dressing,  driving,  gambling,  and  licentiousness ;  to  pay  the 
heavy  cost  of  which,  all  over  France  ancestral  trees  were  cut 
down,  fair  acres  were  loaded  with  debt  or  brought  to  the 
hammer,  and  the  poor  tenantry  were  squeezed  dry,  left  hope- 
less and  heart-broken.  The  young  nobles,  finding  common 
society  to  pall  upon  their  depraved  taste,  invited  to  their 
tables  forgers  and  highwaymen,  whose  anecdotes — highly 
flavoured  with  crime — delighted  them  immensely.  Then,  to 
get  money,  the  meanest  and  most  cruel  things  were  done. 
Among  such  expedients,  the  raking  up  of  forgotten  penalties 
and  unclaimed  forfeitures  was  adopted  by  crowds  of  needy 
lords  and  ladies,  who  hunted  all  the  country  over  in  search 
of  victims. 

The  central  figure  of  the  brilliant,  giddy,  wicked  throng, 
was  of  course  the  absurdly  affected  little  man  who  wore  the 
crown,  and  believed  in  his  heart  that  he  was  in  reality  Louis 
le  Grand.  His  strut  and  swagger  were  copied  on  every  side, 
and  the  most  outrageous  flattery  was  poured  upon  him.  One 
gravely  called  him  u  a  visible  miracle."  A  lady  writing  of 
him  said,  "  That  even  while  playing  at  billiards,  he  preserved 
the  air  and  deportment  of  the  master  of  the  world."  This 
and  much  more  he  received  merely  as  his  due,  for  his  vanity 
was  inordinate.  We  read  of  him  singing  the  hymns  written 
in  his  praise  by  some  flattering  lyrist,  and  weeping  with 
delight  at  the  sound  of  his  own  sweet  voice  and  the  thoughts 
of  his  darling  self. 

Louis'  expenditure  was  on  a  most  extravagant  scale.  His 
wars  cost  the  country  enormous  sums,  and  his  home-life 
was  scarcely  less  expensive.  We  find  him  in  1670  on  his 
way  to  the  theatre  of  war  in  the  Low  Countries,  travelling 


DRESS  OF  THE  PERIOD  277 

in  a  glass  coach.  Kich  furniture  was  sent  on  before  him,  so 
that  when  he  stopped  he  might  be  lodged  in  royal  style. 
Every  night  there  was  a  file,  or  masked  ball,  with  a  grand 
display  of  fireworks.  It  seemed  as  if  he  could  not  live  a 
week  without  these  splendours. 

His  palace  of  Versailles  swallowed  up  incalculable  livres. 
The  little  hunting-lodge  of  Louis  XIII.  could  not  hold  le 
Grand  Monarque,  who  called  his  architects  and  gardeners 
together,  and  set  them  to  work  upon  a  mansion  worthy  of 
his  splendour.  The  principal  feature  of  the  huge  building, 
which  cost  sixteen  millions  sterling,  is  its  cold,  monotonous 
formality.  Magnificent,  but  not  beautiful,  it  has  been  well 
called  a  type  of  the  age  that  produced  it.  The  age  was  in- 
tensely artificial;  and  in  the  far-stretching  Ionic  colonnades, — 
the  closely  shaven  lawns, — the  symmetrical  terraces,  and  wide 
straight  walks  which  divide  the  trim  parterres, — the  lakes, 
cascades,  and  fountains,  resembling  anything  but  Nature, — 
the  even  rowTs  of  stately  elm-trees  which  border  the  avenues, 
and  the  mathematically  correct  lines  of  the  palace  itself, 
the  artificial  seems  to  have  reached  its  perfection.  Statues 
and  vases  in  great  profusion  adorn  both  palace  and  gardens. 

The  dress  of  Louis  may  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  the 
national  costume  of  the  time.  A  great  periwig,  full  of  pow- 
der, rose  high  above  his  forehead,  and  flowed  in  floury  ring- 
lets on  his  shoulders  and  back.  Round  his  neck  was  a  lace 
cravat,  with  embroidered  ends  hanging  on  the  breast.  Puffed 
cambric  sleeves  with  hanging  ruffles  at  the  wrist  came  out 
from  below  the  large  wide  cuffs  of  his  coat,  which  was  broad- 
skirted  and  of  velvet.  A  long  waistcoat  of  rich  brocade  fell 
half  way  down  over  his  knee-breeches  of  satin.  Tightly  fit- 
ting silk  stockings,  and  high  shoes  with  silver  buckles  and 
red  heels,  completed  his  dress.  A  gold-headed  cane,  a  dia- 
mond-hilted  small-sword,  and  a  jewelled  snuff-box  were  es- 
sential parts  of  a  fine  gentleman's  equipment.  The  little 
three-cornered  cocked  hat  was  seldom  perched  on  the  top  of 
the  wig,  but  was  generally  carried  under  the  arm.  The 
ladies  carried  fans,  wore  curls,  powder,  and  necklaces,  and 
contrived  to  spend  at  least  as  much  time  and  money  on  their 
dress  as  did  their  be-wigged  and  snuff-box-tapping  admirers. 

The  great  brilliance  of  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  was  owing 


278  FRENCH  LITERATURE  AND  LADIES. 

to  the  cluster  of  wits  and  literary  men  whom  he  gathered 
round  him.  Corneille  and  Racine,  the  tragedians  ;  Moliere 
and  Regnard,  the  comedians  ;  Boileau  and  La  Fontaine,  the 
poets ;  La  Rochefoucauld  and  La  Bruyere,  the  wits ;  Des 
Cartes  and  Pascal,  the  philosophers  ;  Bossuet  and  Arnauld, 
the  divines  ;  Mabillon  and  Montfaucon,  the  scholars  ;  Bour- 
daloue  and  Massillon,  the  preachers; — all  gave  lustre  to  his 
reign.  "With  such  men  he  lived  in  close  intimacy ;  and  thus, 
too,  he  struck  a  blow  at  the  old  noblesse,  for  this  aristocracy 
of  talent,  of  which  he  made  so  much,  was  drawn  almost  alto- 
get  Jier  from  the  ranks  of  the  people.  The  writings  of  these 
great  stars  of  French  literature  bear  the  stamp  of  the  age. 
They  are  highly  polished  and  have  a  stately  grace  ;  but  they 
were  written  by  men  who  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  splen- 
did artificiality  ;  and  they  lack,  in  consequence,  "  that  touch 
of  Nature  which  makes  the  whole  world  kin."  They  were 
not  written  for  the  whole  world,  but  for  the  favoured  few 
who  wore  ruffles  and  brocade.  Dryden  and  Pope,  who  got 
their  inspiration  from  Paris,  are  the  best  examples  in  our 
own  literature  of  a  similar  style. 

The  influence  of  the  French  ladies  upon  the  political 
changes  of  the  nation  was  an  important  feature  of  the  age. 
The  ascendency,  which  such  favourites  as  Montespan  and 
Maintenon  gained  over  the  mind  of  Louis,  caused  them  to 
be  courted  by  all  applicants  for  royal  favour ;  and  in  that 
age  of  king-worship,  who  did  not  look  eagerly  for  the  sun- 
shine of  the  royal  countenance  ?  The  boudoir  usurped  the 
functions  of  the  cabinet ;  grave  secrets  of  state  were  revealed, 
and  weighty  strokes  of  policy  discussed  beneath  silken  cur- 
tains, amid  guitars  and  flowers  and  tambour- work. 

The  duel,  unhappily,  still  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  in 
France,  though  the  evil  had  certainly  grown  less.  At  one 
time,  soon  after  the  well-known  cartel  of  defiance  which 
Francis  I.  had  sent  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  duels  were 
alarmingly  common.  A  word  or  a  look  often  cost  a  life ; 
and  the  loss  to  the  country  was  as  great  almost  as  the  drain 
of  a  bloody  war.  Under  Louis  XIV.  the  code  of  honour,  as 
it  was  called,  was  very  formally  laid  down  and  punctiliously 
observed  ;  and  the  cold  stateliness  of  the  proceedings  had 
the  good  effect  of  cooling  down  the  fierce  brutality  which 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PEKTO1).      279 

liad  often  marked  earlier  duels.  But  still  the  French  gen- 
tlemen, with  all  their  frippery,  were  high-spirited  and  brave: 
even  the  ice  of  Louis'  ceremonials  could  not  freeze  their 
valour  ;  the  hot  blood  would  often  boil  up,  and  the  diainond- 
hilted  swords  grow  red. 

GEEAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

MOLlfc-RE  (assumed  name  of  Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin).— Born  at  Paris, 
January  15,  1622 — a  distinguished  French  dramatist — also  an 
actor — his  first  play,  '  L'Etourdi,'  produced  in  1653 — among  his 
many  works  'Le  Misanthrope,'  '  Le  Tartuffe,'  'Le  Bourgeois 
Gentilhomme,'  may  be  named — died  February  17,  1673. 
MILTON  (JOHN).— Born  December  9, 1608,  in  Bread  Street,  London- 
greatest  modern  epic  poet — Latin  secretary  under  Cromwell- 
chief  works,  'Paradise  Lost,'  and  'Paradise  Regained' — chief 
minor  poems,  'L' Allegro,'  'IlPenseroso,"Comus,'and'Lycidas' 
— chief  prose  works,  'History  of  England, 'and  the  'Areopagitica/a 
plea  for  the  liberty  of  the  press— died  November  8,  1674. 
CALDERON  (DE  LABARCA).— Born  of  noble  parents  at  Madrid,  1601 
— a  great  Spanish  dramatist — wrote  about  500  pieces — like  Lope 
a  soldier  in  youth — entered  the  Church  at  the  age  of  50 — then 
devoted  his  pen  to  writing  '  Autos  Sacramentales,'  or  sacred  plays 
(like  our  Early  Mysteries) — died  in  1681,  aged  80. 
CORNEILLE  (PIERRE).— Born  1606  at  Rouen— son  of  an  advocate- 
a  great  French  dramatist — made  his  fame  by  his  tragedy  of  the 
'Cid' — other  great  works  'Horace'  and  'Cinna,'  produced  in 
1639 — his  comedies  are  not  first-rate — died  in  1684,  aged  78. 
LA   FONTAINE    (JEAN).— Born    in    1621    at    Chateau- Thierry— a 
French  poet — lived  a  quiet,  lazy  life  in  patrons'  houses— chief 
work,  his  '  Fables,'  chiefly  selected  from  ^Esop — died  in  1695  — 
succeeded  Colbert  as  a  member  of  the  French  Academy. 
RACINE  (JEAN).— Born  in  1639  at  Ferte  Milon  in  Aisne— a  French 
dramatic  poet— his  first  tragedy,  '  La  Thebaide,'  brought  out  in 
1664 — '  Phedre'  is  considered  his  masterpiece — '  Athalie'  was  his 
last  play — wrote    also   historical    fragments  —  died   April   21, 
1697,  aged  59. 

DRYDEN  (JOHN).— Born  August  9,  1631,  at  Aldwinckle  in  North- 
amptonshire— educated  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge — poet- 
laureate  in  1670 — chief  works,  a  satire  called  'Absalom  and 
Achitophel,'  an  'Ode  on  St.  Cocilia's  Day,'  and  a  translation 
of  the  JSneid— died  May  1,  1700,  aged  69. 

LOCKE  (JOHN).— Born  at  Wrington  near  Bristol,  August  29,  1632 
— educated  at  Westminster  school  and  Oxford — the  great  mental 
philosopher  of  his  time — great  work,  his  '  Essay  on  the  Human 
Understanding '--died  October  28,  1704,  aged  73. 


280  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

BOSSUET  (JACQUES  BENIGNE).— Born  at  Dijon,  September  27, 
1627 — consecrated  Bishop  of  Meaux  in  1681 — one  of  the  greatest 
pulpit  orators  of  France — died  at  Paris,  April  12,  1704,  aged 
76. 

BOILEAU  (NICOLAS).—  Born  in  Paris,  November  1,  1636— a  noted 
French  poet,  remarkable  for  the  moral  tone  of  his  writings — chief 
works,  his  '  Satires'  and  '  Epistles,'  and  the  '  Lutrin,'  a  mock 
heroic— died  March  13, 1711,  aged  74 — a  member  of  the  Academy. 

FENELON  (FRANCOIS).— Born  at  Perigord  in  1651— Archbishop  of 
Cambray — one  of  the  sect  called  Quietists— denounced  as  a  heretic 
by  Bossuet — best  known  work,  the  romance  '  Telemaque' — died 
January  7,  1715. 

ADDISON  (JOSEPH).— Born  near  Amesbury  in  Wiltshire,  May  1, 
1672 — educated  at  Oxford — much  engaged  in  politics  under  Anne 
and  George  I. — famous  for  his  prose  papers  in  the  Spectator — 
wrote  also  '  Cato,  a  tragedy/  a  '  Letter  from  ttaly/  and  other 
poems — died  June  17,  1719,  aged  47. 

NE  WTON  (ISAAC).— Born  at  Woolsthorpe,  Lincolnshire,  December  25, 
1642 — professor  of  mathematics  at  Cambridge — discoverer  of 
the  law  of  universal  gravitation — remarkable  also  for  his  optical 
discoveries — chief  work,  '  Principia, '  a  Latin  treatise  on  natural 
philosophy — wrote  also  on  Daniel  and  Revelation — died  at  Ken- 
sington, March  20,  1727,  aged  85. 

ROLLIN  (CHARLES).— Born  at  Paris,  January  30, 1661— professor  of 
rhetoric  at  Plessis — chief  work,  his  'Belles  Lettres'  and 
'  Ancient  History'— died  14th  September  1741,  aged  80. 

MASSILLON  (JEAN  BAPTISTE).— Born  at  Hieres  in  Provence,  24th 
June  1663 — the  greatest  of  the  French  preachers — made  Bishop 
of  Clermont  in  1717 — died  of  apoplexy,  18th  September  1742, 
aged  79. 

POPE  (ALEXANDER).— Born  in  London,  May  22, 1688— son  of  a  linen- 
draper — chief  works,  the  '  Dunciad/  the  '  Essay  on  Criticism,' 
the  '  Rape  of  the  Lock,'  a  mock  heroic  poem,  and  his  translation 
of  Homer's  Iliad— died  May  30,  1744,  aged  56. 

LE  SAGE  (ALAIN-RENE).— Born  May  8,  1638,  at  Sarzeau  in  Morbi- 
han — wrote  many  plays — translated  much  from  the  Spanish — 
best-known  work  his  novel,  '  Gil  Bias  de  Santillane,'  published 
between  1710  and  1735— died  at  Boulogne,  November  17,  1747, 
aged  80. 

MONTESQUIEU  (CHARLES).  —  Born  near  Bordeaux,  January  18, 
1689 — a  president  in  the  parliament  of  that  city— chief  works, 
'Lettres  Persanes,'  'Esprit  des  Lois,'  and  a  classic  romance, 
'  Temple  du  Gnide' — died  February  1755,  aged  66. 

HANDEL  (GEORGE  FREDERICK).— Born  at  Halle  in  Saxony,  Feb- 
ruary  24, 1684 — a  great  musician— came  to  London  in  1710— com- 
poser of  many  grand  oratorios,  among  which  may  be  named  '  Saul,' 
*  tlie  Messiah/  and  '  Samson' — died  April  13,  1759,  aged  75- 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PERIOD.  g^] 

VOLTAIRE  (FRANCOIS-MARIE).— Born  at  Chatenay  near  Sceaux, 
February  20,  1694— author  of  the  '  Henriade,'  the  only  French 
epic  poem — among  his  historical  works  are  the  '  Age  of  Louis 
XIV.,'  '  History  of  Charles  XII.,'  and  '  History  of  Russia'— 
wrote  numerous  plays  and  minor  poems— lived  his  last  twenty 
years  at  Ferney  in  Ain — an  enemy  of  the  Christian  faith — died 
30th  May  1778,  aged  84. 

LINNAEUS  (CARL).— Born  at  Eashult  in  Sweden,  May  13,  1707— a 
great  botanist — professor  of  botany  and  medicine  at  Upsal— 
author  of  many  works — died  January  10,  1778,  aged  71. 

ROUSSEAU  (JEAN  JACQUES).— Born  at  Geneva  in  1712— son  of  a 
watchmaker — a  sceptic  in  religious  matters— author  of  many 
operas,  and  eloquent  literary  works — obliged  to  leave  France  on 
the  publication  of  his  'Contrat  Social,'  an  essay  which  main- 
tains the  equal  rights  of  all  men — died  July  1778,  aged  66. 

METASTASIO  (PIETRO).— Born  at  Rome  January  6,  1698— a  dis- 
tinguished poet — made  imperial  laureate  at  Vienna  about  1729 
— among  his  sacred  dramas  may  be  named  '  La  Passione,'  *  La 
Morte  d'Abel,'  and  '  Isacco'— died  April  12,  1782,  aged  84. 

BUFFON  (GEORGE  COMTE  DE).— Born  at  Montbard  in  Burgundy, 
September  7, 1707 — a  great  naturalist — chief  work,  his  '  Histoire 
Naturelle'— died  April  16,  1788,  aged  81. 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY — Continued. 

A.D. 

Cromwell,  Protector  of  England 1653 

The  Restoration  of  the  Stuarts  in  England 1660 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  1668 

Battle  of  Seneffe 1674 

Treaty  of  Nimeguen 1678 

Habeas  Corpus  Act  passed  in  England 1679 

John  Sobieski  of  Poland  defeats  the  Turks  at  Vienna 1683 

The  Edict  of  Nantes  revoked  by  Louis  XIV 1685 

The  League  of  Augsburg 1686 

The  Second  English  Revolution 1688 

Peter  the  Great  sole  ruler  of  Russia.. 1689 

Battle  of  the  Boyne 1690 

Battle  of  La  Hogue 1692 

Treaty  of  Ryswick 1697 

Charles  XII.  becomes  King  of  Sweden — 

Battle  of  Narva 1700 

EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  Grand  Alliance 1701 

French  Fleet  destroyed  at  Vigo 1702 

Battle  of  Blenheim 1704 


282  CH-RONOLOGY  OF  THE  SEVENTH  PE1UOI). 

A.  IX 

Battle  of  Ramillies 1708 

Union  of  England  and  Scotland 1707 

Battle  of  Oudenarde 1708 

Battle  of  Pultowa 1709 

Battle  of  Malplaquet - 

Treaty  of  Utrecht 1713 

The  Guelphs  ascend  the  English  throne 1714 

Death  of  Louis  XIV.  of  Prance 1715 

Charles  XII,  of  Sweden  killed  at  Frederic-shall 1718 

Death  of  Peter  the  Great 1725 

Frederic  the  Great  becomes  King  of  Prussia 1740 

Treaty  ofBreslau 1742 

Battle  of  Dettingen 1743 

Battle  of  Fontenoy .. 1745 

Peace  of  Dresden  A — 

Second  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 

The  Seven  Years'  War  begins 1756 

Battles  of  Rossbach  and  Leuthen 1757 

Battle  of  Zorndorff 1758 

Battle  of  Minden 1759 

Close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War— Peace  of  Paris 1763 

Birth  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte 1769 

First  Partition  of  Poland 1772 

Accession  of  Louis  XVI.  of  France 1774 

Beginning  of  American  War , 1775 

Independence  of  the  United  States  acknowleaged  by  Britain 1783 

Death  of  Frederic  the  Great  of  Prussia 1786 


AGiJ  OF  LOUIS  XV. 


283 


EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 
TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FKENCH  REVOLUTION. 

Central  Point :  LOUIS  XVI.  GUILLOTINED, 
January  21, 1793,  A.D. 


France  under  Louis  XV. 
Accession  of  Louis  XVI. 
His  ministers. 
Meeting  of  the  Notables. 
Recall  of  Necker. 
The  States- General 
Tiers  Etat. 

The  National  Assembly. 
Storming  of  the  Bastile. 


March  of  women  to  Ver- 
sailles. 

Events  of  1790. 
Death  of  Mirabeau. 
The  Legislative  Assembly. 
The  three  parties. 
A  foreign  war  threaten  ing. 
Sack  of  the  Tuileries. 
Battle  of  Jemappes. 


The  National  Convention 
Trial  and  death  of  Louis. 
The  Reign  of  Terror. 
Christianity  abolished. 
La  Vendee  and  Toulon. 
Murders  on  the  Loire. 
Fate  of  Robespierre. 
The  New  Constitution. 
13th  Vende'iniaire. 


WHEN,  in  1723,  Orleans  and  Dubois  sank  within  a  few 
months  of  each  other  into  the  grave,  Louis  XV.  was  a  boy 
of  fourteen.  Three  years  later  began  the  administration  of 
Cardinal  Fleury,  tutor  to  the  king,  which,  lasting  for  seven- 
teen years  (1726^13),  marks  the  best  period  of  a  shameful 
reign.  Then,  when  Fleury  died,  France  went  rapidly  down 
the  hill.  The  court,  ruled  by  the  painted  favourites  of  the 
licentious  king,  Pompadour  and  Dubarry,  exhausted  every 
shape  of  costly  debauchery.  The  last  sou  of  taxation  was 
wrung  from  the  starving  peasants.  The  soldiers  of  France 
were  beaten  at  Dettingen,  at  Kossbach,  and  at  Minden. 
Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  some  of  the  finest  of  the  Antilles 
were  wrested  from  Louis  by  the  English.  The  health  of  the 
public  mind  was  sapped  by  the  infidelities  of  Voltaire  and 
the  mock  bcntiineutalisui  of  Rousseau.  Bitter^  indeed,  iiiuat 


284  MINISTERS  OF  LOUIS  XVI. 

have  been  the  fading  days  of  the  worn-out  voluptuary,  aa 
he  sank  from  his  throne  into  a  dishonoured  grave.  Looking 
on  to  the  future  he  was  not  to  see,  no  wonder  that  he  sighed 
out  to  his  courtiers  the  terrible  truth,  " A pres  moi  le  deluge" 

Louis  XVI.  succeeded  his  grandfather  on  the  10th  of  May 
1774.  Then  twenty  years  of  age,  he  had  been  already  four 
years  married  to  Marie  Antoinette,  the  beautiful  daughter 
of  Maria  Theresa.  The  young  couple  entered  with  the  fresh 
joy  of  their  years  into  the  gaieties  of  the  coronation,  and  all 
high-born  France  rang  with  the  noise  of  feasting.  But  in 
every  square  mile  of  the  land  there  were  men  whose  wives 
and  children  cried  to  them  in  vain  for  bread 

Louis  XV.  had  left  a  debt  of  four  thousand  millions  of 
livres.  It  was  a  gigantic  task —  an  unsolvable  problem — to 
support  an  expensive  court  and  government  under  this 
enormous  pressure.  Old  Maurepas,  the  first  prime  minister 
of  Louis  XVI.,  tried  it  and  failed.  Turgot,  a  clever  disciple 
of  Voltaire  and  Diderot,  failed  too.  The  lawyer  Malesherbes 
had  to  give  place  to  Necker,  a  banker  of  Geneva,  who  re- 
formed the  taxation  and  restored  public  credit  during  his 
five  years'  tenure  of  office  (1776-81).  Then  Calonne  took  the 
purse  from  Necker,  who  was  dismissed  by  a  court-cabal ;  and 
never  was  seen  such  a  financier.  When  the  king  or  queen 
wanted  money  to  meet  a  jeweller's  bill,  or  pay  the  expenses 
of  a  ball,  or  what  purpose  you  please,  this  smiling,  witty 
minister  never  refused  to  honour  the  demand.  His  plan 
was  a  simple  one,  but  by  no  means  a  new  invention.  We 
meet  Calonnes  every  day  of  our  lives.  He  borrowed  on 
every  side,  without  one  thought  of  repayment.  For  a  time 
this  lasteol.  But  the  day  came  when  even  Calonne  could 
not  fill  the  royal  treasury,  and  some  new  plan  must  be 
devised  to  make  both  ends  meet,  and  stave  off  clamorous 
creditors ;  and  the  expedient  adopted  in  this  difficulty  was 
the  assembling  of  the  Notables — the  chief  noblea 
1787  and  magistrates  gathered  from  all  parts  of  France,  . 
A.D.  who  met  at  Versailles.  Calonne  wanted  to  make 
up  for  the  deficiency  of  revenue  by  a  land-tax,  but 
his  proposal  was  rejected  by  these  lords  of  the  soil.  They 
suggested  other  plans,  which  were  adopted  by  the  king. 

Then  came  the  dismissal  of  Calonne,  who  was  soon  sue- 


THE  NATIONAL  ASSEMBLY.  285 

ceeded  by  Brienne,  Archbishop  of  Toulon.  But  Brienne  could 
do  nothing  to  stem  the  rising  tide,  and  Necker  was  recalled 
in  1788.  There  were  then  only  250,000  francs  in  the  royal 
treasury. 

Necker  yielded  to  the  cry  for  a  meeting  of  the  States- 
General, — an  assembly  not  unlike  our  English  Parliament. 
There  had  been  no  such  thing  since  the  days  of  Richelieu. 
It  was  a  sign  that  the  day  of  despotism  in  France  was,  for 
a  time  at  least,  nearly  over. 

All  over  France  the  elections  went  on,  and  no  man  who 
wore  a  good  coat  was  refused  leave  to  vote.  Three  millions 
of  the  people  sent  up  their  deputies — lawyers,  doctors, 
priests,  farmers,  writers  for  the  press — to  the  great  States- 
General,  in  which,  for  the  first  time  during  nearly  two 
hundred  years,  the  down-trodden  "tiers  etat"  was  to  sit 
in  council  with  the  nobles  and  the  high  clergy.  After 
hearing  a  sermon  in  Notre  Dame,  they  met  in  a 
great  hall  at  Versailles.  Here  a  difficulty  arose.  May  5, 
The  deputies  of  the  tiers  etat  would  not  submit  1789 
to  be  separated  from  the  other  houses.  Sitting  in  A.D. 
their  own  chamber,  they  asked  the  coronets  and 
mitres  to  join  them  ;  and,  when  the  invitation  was  rejected 
in  scorn,  they  formed  themselves  into  the  National  Assembly. 
The  king,  forgetting  the  lesson  he  might  have  learned  when, 
in  early  days,  he  read  the  History  of  England  with  Fleury, 
stationed  soldiers  at  the  door  of  the  hall  to  keep  out  the 
members  of  Assembly.  This  was  the  fatal  move.  Bailly, 
then  president,  led  them  to  the  Jeu  de  Paume 
(Tennis  Court),  where  they  swore  a  solemn  oath  June  20. 
not  to  dissolve  their  Assembly  until  they  had 
framed  a  constitution  for  France.  Then  the  mitres  and 
some  of  the  coronets  began  to  flock  into  the  Assembly  hall. 
Among  the  latter  sat  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  infamously 
known  as  Philip  Egalite, — a  name  he  took  to  please  the  mob ; 
and  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  a  hero  of  the  American 
war.  But  greatest  of  the  throng  in  fiery  eloquence  and 
political  genius  was  the  ugly  debauchee,  Honore  Gabriel, 
Comte  de  Mirabeau,  who  sat  as  deputy  for  the  town  of  Aix. 
Robespierre,  too, — the  sea-green,  as  Carlyle  loves  to  call  him, 
— whose  pinched  face,  deeply  pitted  with  the  small-pox,  was 


286  THE  STORMING  OF  THE  BASTTLE. 

soon  to  be  the  guiding-star  of  the  Jacobins,  had  already  in 
thin  cracked  voice  made  his  maiden  speech. 

At  last,  after  many  muttered  warnings,  and  long  gathering 
darkness,  the  tempest  broke  in  awful  fury.  A  fierce  mob, 
whose  souls  were  leavened  with  infidelity,  and  brutalized  by 
changeless  misery  and  never-satisfied  hunger,  raged  through 
Paris  streets.  The  spark  which  fired  the  mine  was  a  rumour 
that  the  soldiers  were  marching  to  dissolve  the  Assembly. 
Necker,  too,  the  sole  hope  of  the  starving  people,  had  been 
dismissed.  Cockades  of  green  leaves,  torn  from  the  trees, 
became  the  badge  of  the  rioters.  Shots  were  heard  in  many 
quarters.  An  old  man  was  killed  by  a  bullet  from  the 
German  guards.  \ 

Then  the  grim  old  prison  of  the  Bastile  was  stormed. 
Within  its  dark  walls  hundreds  of  innocent  hearts  had 
broken,  pierced  through  with  the  iron  of  hopeless  captivity. 
The  terrible  lettres  de  cachet — sealed  orders  from  the  king 
to  arrest  and  fling  into  prison  without  a  trial,  and  often 
without  any  distinct  charge — had  packed  its  dungeons  with 
wretched  men  during  the  late  reign.  Little  wonder,  then, 

that  the  first  rush  of  the  mob  was  to  the  Bastile. 
July  14.  Dragging  cannon  from  Les  Invalides,  they  opened 

a  fire  upon  the  walls,  burst  in,  and,  seizing  the 
governor,  slew  him  in  the  Place  de  Gr&ve. 

The  flames  then  burst  out  all  through  the  land,  except 
in  La  Vendee.  The  chateaux  of  the  nobles  were  pillaged 
and  burned  to  the  ground.  Tortures  were  inflicted  by  the 
fierce  peasants  upon  their  former  masters.  The  royal  Fleur 
de  Lis  was  trampled  in  the  mud,  and  the  Tricolor  upraised. 
One  day  in  autumn  a  swarm  of  women  gathered  round 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  crying,  "  Bread !  give  bread !"  It  became 
the  nucleus  of  a  riotous  crowd,  surging  with  wild  outcries 
through  the  streets.  Then  out  came  Millard  with  a  drum, 
who  said  he  would  lead  them  to  Versailles.  Outside  the 
barriers  he  strove  to  disperse  them,  but  no — they  would  go 

on.  Hungry  and  wet  with  heavy  rain,  when  they 
Oct.  5.  found  that  the  king  and  the  Assembly  would  give 

them  only  words,  they  gathered  round  the  palace. 
Some  fool  fired  on  them.  Sweeping  through  an  open  gate, 
they  spread  through  all  the  splendid  rooms ;  and  the  queeu 


DEATH  OF  MIRABEATL  287 

had  scarcely  time  to  escape  by  a  secret  door,  when  her  bed- 
chamber was  filled  with  a  fierce  and  squalid  throng.  The 
timely  arrival  of  La  Fayette,  and  the  consent  of  the  king  to 
remove  to  Paris,  alone  quelled  the  tumult. 

The  next  year  saw  sweeping  changes  in  the  constitution 
of  France.  The  Assembly,  of  which  Mirabeau  was  the 
master-spirit,  proceeded  to  parcel  out  the  kingdom 
into  eighty-four  departments  of  nearly  equal  size.  1790 
Stripping  the  king  of  his  patronage,  they  gave  the  A.D. 
appointment  of  new  magistrates  and  officers  to  the 
people.  Violent  hands,  too,  were  laid  on  the  Church  lands ; 
and  to  create  a  currency,  by  which  these  might  be  purchased, 
paper  bills  —  called  Assignats — were  issued.  But  these 
speedily  became  worth  nothing,  for  nearly  all  the  gold  and 
silver  coin  was  either  carried  out  of  France  by  the  flying 
nobles,  or  buried  in  quiet  corners  of  field  and  garden. 
Hereditary  titles  were  abolished ;  and  no  greetings  were 
heard  in  the  streets  but  "citizen"  and  " citizeness."  On 
the  first  anniversary  of  the  storming  of  the  Bastile  there 
was  a  grand  pageant  in  the  Champ  de  Mars,  where  the 
king,  the  Assembly,  the  soldiers,  and  the  people  swore  a 
solemn  oath  to  maintain  the  new  constitution  of  France. 
The  Jacobin  club,  so  called  from  holding  its  meetings  in  a 
hall  lately  occupied  by  the  Jacobin  friars  in  Paris,  now 
began  to  be  formidable  in  its  influence  over  the  Assembly. 
Branch  societies,  all  in  correspondence  with  the  central 
club,  grew  up  in  every  corner  of  France.  The  dismissal  of 
Necker,  who  was  not  radical  enough  in  his  policy  to  please 
the  heads  of  the  Assembly,  took  place  in  the  last  month  of 
this  most  threatening  year. 

Dark  and  still  darker  grew  the  sky.     Mirabeau,  "  our  little 
mother  Mirabeau,"   as  the  fishwomen  of  the  gallery  used 
lovingly  to  call  him,  was  made  President  of  the  Assembly  in 
January  1791.     He  exerted  all  his  giant  genius  to  quell  the 
storm,  whose  rising  gusts  had  been  felt  at  the  Bastile  and 
Versailles;   and  poor  Louis   clung  to  the  hope  that  this 
aristocratic  darling  of  the  rabble  might  yet  save 
him.     But  Mirabeau  died  in  April ;  and  while  the         '  * 
spring  blossoms  were  brightening  in  all  the  fields 
of  France,  the  Bourbon  lilies  drooped  their  golden  heada 


288  THE  THREE  PARTIES. 

There  aeemed  no  hope  for  Louis  but  in  flight.  He  fled  in 
despair,  but  was  recognised,  stopped  at  Varennes,  and  brought 
back  to  Paris. 

The  Constituent  Assembly,  having  sat  for  three  years, 
passed  a  resolution  dissolving  itself  (Sept.  29).  The  break- 
ing of  the  nobles'  power,  the  establishment  of  the  National 
Guard,  and  the  abolition  of  torture,  tettres  de  cachet,  and  many 
oppressive  taxes,  were  among  the  boons  it  had  conferred  on 
France.  Its  place  was  taken  by  a  new  body  called  the  Legis- 
lative Assembly,  which  began  to  sit  on  the  1st  of  October. 

Three  distinct  factions  were  already  clearly  marked  out 
in  this  terrible  time,  and  among  these  a  strife  began  for  pre- 
eminence. It  was,  in  truth,  a  battle  to  the  death. 

The  spirit  of  the  vanished  Assembly  was  embodied  in  the 
party  of  the  Feuillants,  who  sat  on  the  right  of  the  tribune. 
These  friends  of  limited  monarchy  numbered  among  them  the 
National  G-uard  and  most  of  the  officers  of  State.  The 
Girondists,  or  Moderate  Republicans,  formed  the  second 
party.  Occupying  the  highest  seats  in  the  hall,  and  there- 
from called  the  "  Mountain,"  sat  the  Red  Republicans — 
chiefly  members  of  the  Jacobin  and  Cordelier  Clubs — whose 
rallying  cry  was  "  No  King."  The  list  of  this  third  party 
contained  those  terrible  names  which  make  us  shudder  at 
their  very  sound,  and  turn  sick  with  thoughts  of  blood. 

The  sympathy  of  the  neighbouring  sovereigns  for  the 
wretched  Louis,  and  for  the  imperilled  cause  of  monarchy,  led 
them  now  to  interfere.  A  great  army  of  Austrians  and  Prus- 
sians, under  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  entered  the  French  terri- 
tory. Already  the  violent  manifesto  which  Brunswick  issued 
had  roused  the  French  to  show  a  most  determined  front. 

Matters  then  grew  worse  than  ever  at  the  centre  of  the 

Revolution.     The  Paris  mob  rose  like  a  sea,  swelled  by  some 

troops  from  Marseilles,  who,  first  singing  along  Paris  streets 

the  war-hymn  of  Rouget  de  Lille,  caused  it  henceforth  to  be 

known  as  the  Marseillaise.     Amid  pealing  bells,  and  drums 

beating  the  generate  in  every  street,  they  crowded  to  the 

Tuileries,  whose  steps  were  soon  piled  with  the 

Aug.  10,  bleeding  bodies  of  the  brave  Swiss  Guards.     Louia 

1792  escaped  to  the  Assembly;  but  he  was  imprisoned 
A.D.  with  his  family  in  the  old  palace  of  the  Temple. 


EXECUTION  OF  LOUIS  XVI.  289 

A  National  Convention  was  summoned.  La  Fayette  fled 
to  the  Netherlands,  where  he  was  arrested  by  the  Aus- 
trians. 

While  the  prisons  of  Paris  were  still  wet  with  innocent 
blood,  shed  by  order  of  the  Jacobin  leaders,  Dumouriez, 
having  taken  command  of  the  French  army,  was  marshal- 
ling his  men  on  the  Belgian  frontier.  Crossing  into  Belgium, 
he  inflicted  a  signal  defeat  upon  the  allies  at  the  village  of 
Jemappes  (November  6).  Acting  as  aid-de-camp  of  the  French 
leader  was  the  young  Duke  of  Chartres,  whom  we  know 
better  in  later  days  as  Louis  Philippe,  King  of  the  French. 

The  Assembly  gave  place  to  the  National  Convention, 
whose  members  were  also  elected  by  the  people.      The 
wildest  orators  of  the  clubs  found  here  their  fitting 
sphere.     But  three  men  stood  far  above  the  rest  in  Sept.  21, 
lust  of  blood.     These  were  Danton,  Marat,  and  1792 
Robespierre.     The  lawyer,  Danton,  was  a  strong,     A.D. 
thunder- voiced  bully,  who  held  office  as  Minister 
of  Justice.    Marat,  a  quack-doctor  and  editor  of  the  Peoples 
Friend,  was  the  most  blood-thirsty  villain  of  the  lot.    Robes- 
pierre we  have  already  seen  sitting  on  the  benches  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly,  a  very  serpent  coiled  for  his  deadly 
spring.    Now  the  time  had  come.    Louis  must  die. 

The  trial  of  the  king,  for  treason  and  conspiracy  against 
the  nation,  began  in  December.    He  denied,  with  proud 
calmness,  the  justness  of  the  charge.     But  denial  was  use- 
less before  judges  such  as  his.     Death  was  the  sentence  of 
the  court  after  a  discussion  of  some  days.    At  ten 
o'clock  on  a  January  morning  he  was  brought  in  a  Jan.  21, 
carriage  to  the  Place  de  Louis  XV.,  where  the  1793 
guillotine*  awaited  its  noblest  victim.     Before  the     A.D. 
fatal  knife  fell,  he  tried  to  address  the  crowd,  who 
were  stunned  for  the  time  into  deep  silence ;  but  the  inces- 
sant rattle  of  drums  drowned  his  voice,  and  in  a  few  seconds 


*  "  La  Guillotine,"  as  the  French  call  this  deadly  machine,  forgetting  their 
native  gallantry  when  they  make  the  name  feminine,  was  invented  about  1785, 
by  Dr.  Guillotin.  It  is  a  large  loaded  knife  set  in  a  wooden  frame,  and  its  action 
is  instantaneous.  Dr.  Guillotin  did  not,  as  is  commonly  thought,  perish  by  his 
own  invention.  A  similar  instrument  was  in  early  use  in  Scotland,  where  it  wao 
called  the  Miiden.  It  was  also  used  at  Halifax  in  England, 

(47)  19 


290  THE  RETGN  OP  TETTROR. 

more  the  head  of  poor  Louis  Capet — so  his  Republican  mur- 
derers called  him — rolled  bleeding  in  the  sawdust. 

At  this  insult  to  royalty  all  the  powers  of  Europe  arose, 
and  a  circle  of  steel  began  to  narrow  round  devoted  France. 
But  her  energies  were  not  exhausted.  AH  the  powers  of 
the  State  were  now  centred  in  a  small  body  of  Jacobins, 
called  the  "  Committee  of  Public  Safety,"  foremost  among 
whom  were  the  three  tigers  lately  named.  The  Reign  of 
Terror  began.  The  Girondists,  friends  of  moderate  repub- 
licanism, were  slain  without  mercy,  or  driven  over  the  land, 
without  shelter  or  food,  to  die.  When  Marat  met  a  merited 
death — he  was  assassinated  in  his  bath  by  Charlotte  Cor- 
day,  a  young  girl  from  Caen  (July  1793) — Robespierre  was 
left  sole  dictator  of  France.  A  frightful  carnage  followed. 
Every  day  saw  red  baskets  of  human  heads  carried  from 
the  guillotine,  whose  dull  thud  was  music  to  the  crowd. 
Women  sat  and  worked  as  calmly  as  in  the  pit  of  the  theatre, 
while  the  fearful  tragedy  was  played  out  before  their  eyes. 
Fathers  brought  their  little  ones  to  see  the  heads  fall.  And 
as  fast  as  the  prisons  were  emptied  by  this  wholesale  butchery, 
fresh  victims,  denounced  often  by  their  nearest  neighbours, 
were  thrust  into  the  cells  to  await  their  certain  doom. 

Queen  Marie  Antoinette  followed  her  husband  to  the 
guillotine  and  the  grave  in  the  October  of  the  same  year. 
Bailly,  Condorcet,  Barnave,  and  Madame  Roland  met  the 
same  fate.  Philip  Egalite,  whose  vote  had  been  given  for 
the  death  of  his  royal  kinsman,  went  also  to  his  richly  de- 
served doom. 

Still  the  mob  cried  for  more  heads.  The  guillotine  could 
not  be  stopped.  Some  of  the  Mountain-men,  less  tigerish 
than  their  fellows,  were  first  laid  below  its  edge.  Such  were 
Danton  and  Camille  Desmoulins.  It  is  little  wonder  that 
Christianity  was  cast  aside  in  this  Reign  of  Terror.  The 
Goddess  of  Reason,  impersonated  by  a  worthless  woman, 
was  openly  worshipped,  and  torches  were  burnt  before  her 
shrine.  A  thing  was  then  tried,  the  failure  of  which  is  a 
noteworthy  proof  how  little  man's  wisdom  is  when  compared 
with  that  of  the  all- wise  God.  Every  tenth  day  was  ap- 
pointed a  day  of  rest  and  amusement ;  but  neither  man  nor 
beast  could  bear  the  strain  of  ten  days'  work.  It  was  found 


DEATH  OF  ftOBESPIEHRE.  201 

that  no  arrangement  will  suit  the  human  frame  but  that  of 
God's  own  making — one  day  in  seven — not  for  sloth  or  re- 
velry, but,  as  His  law  says,  to  be  kept  holy. 

During  these  terrible  days  the  Republic  was  in  great 
danger.  The  army  of  Dumouriez  was  defeated  by  the  Aus- 
trians  at  Neerwinden  (1793),  and  he,  finding  himself  hated 
and  suspected  by  those  in  power  at  home,  rode  away  to  the 
Austrian  camp.  The  desertion  of  so  skilful  a  leader  was  a 
heavy  blow.  Insurrection  raged  both  in  La  Vendee,  where 
the  Royalists  mustered  strong,  and  in  the  cities  of  Mar- 
seilles, Lyons,  and  Toulon.  Marseilles  and  Lyons  were  soon 
reduced  to  subjection.  Toulon  gave  more  trouble,  for  the 
garrison  were  aided  by  English  and  Spanish  ships.  The 
cannon  of  the  Republic  made  but  small  impression  on  the 
town,  until  their  fire  was  turned  upon  the  forts  commanding 
the  harbour.  When  these  gave  way,  Toulon  was  abandoned 
by  the  allied  defenders.  This  success  was  mainly  owing  to 
the  skill  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bonaparte,  a  Corsican  officer 
of  artillery,  who  planned  the  attack,  and  directed  the  laying 
of  the  guns.  We  shall  hear  more  of  this  olive-cheeked  little 
soldier  in  succeeding  years. 

Murders,  rivalling  in  atrocity  those  of  Paris,  were  perpe- 
trated in  many  parts  of  France,  but  especially  at  Nantes. 
Carrier,  who  was  president  there,  shot  men,  women,  and 
children  by  hundreds.  Boats,  crowded  with  poor  sufferers, 
were  rowed  out  into  the  deep  Loire,  there  scuttled,  and  left 
to  sink  with  all  their  shrieking  freight. 

The  death  of  Robespierre  marks  the  crisis  in  the  red  fever 
of   Revolution.      Thenceforward  France   began   to  mend. 
Accused  by  Billaud-Varennes  of  seeking  to  establish  his  own 
power  by  the  death  of  his  colleagues,  this  sleek  and  smiling 
villain  was  condemned  to  die.     He  escaped,  but  was  re- 
taken.    Terror-stricken  at  the  thought  of  the  guillotine,  long 
the  slave  of  his  frightful  passion  for  blood,  but  now  to  be 
the  instrument  of  his  most  righteous  punishment,  he  tried 
to  kill  himself ;  but  he  only  broke  his  jaw.     Groan- 
ing  with  the  agony  of  this  wound,  and  shivering      J[ 
with  deadly  terror,  the  unpitied  wretch  was  dragged   •*•  •  "' 
to  the  place  of  execution,  and  there  slain,  amid  the 
jibes  and  yells  of  the  crowd  for  whose  brutal  appetite  be 


292  THE  DIRECTORY. 

had  been  chief  caterer.  With  his  death  the  Reign  of  Terror 
ended. 

In  the  summer  of  the  next  year  (June  9th,  1795)  little 
Louis  XVII.,  who  had  been  lingering  in  the  Temple  since 
the  death  of  his  parents,  died,  worn  out  by  abuse  and  neglect. 
He  was  only  ten  years  old. 

The  Convention  then  gave  place  to  the  Directory.    France 

received  a  new  Constitution — the  third  since  1789.     The 

laws  were  to  be  made  by  two  Councils — the  Ancients  and 

the  Five  Hundred.     The  power  of  proposing  a  new  law  lay 

with  the  latter ;   while  the  former,  numbering  two 

1795  hundred  and  fifty  members,  all  above  forty  years 

A.D.  of  age,  sat  in  judgment  to  pass  or  reject  the  pro- 
posals of  the  larger  body.  The  execution  of  the 
laws  was  vested  in  five  Directors,  who  were  chosen  by  the 
Ancients  and  the  Five  Hundred.  Each  Director  was  Pre- 
sident for  three  months,  and  then  yielded  to  the  next  in  turn. 

The  Directory  was  not  established  without  a  struggle.  It 
was  short,  sharp,  but  thoroughly  decisive.  The  Sections  of 
Paris  protested  against  the  change  proposed  by  the  Conven- 
tion, and  the  National  Guard,  to  the  number  of  30,000, 
backed  the  citizens  in  their  resistance.  There  were  only 
5000  troops  in  Paris  to  oppose  this  formidable  mass.  The 
command  of  these  was  given  to  Barras,  who  wisely  intrusted 
the  cannon  to  that  same  artillery  officer  we  have  seen  direct- 
ing the  bombardment  of  Toulon.  Bonaparte  pointed  the 
guns,  charged  to  the  muzzle  with  grape-shot,  down 

Oct.  4,  all  the  streets  by  which  the  Tuileries  could  be  ap- 
1795  proached;  and  when,  on  the  morning  of  the  13th 

A.D.  Vendemiaire,  the  heads  of  the  advancing  columns 
began  to  appear  along  the  quays  and  Rue  St. 
HonorS,  they  were  ordered  to  disperse  in  the  name  of  the 
Convention.  They  moved  on.  The  matches  were  applied. 
Gun  after  gun  thundered  in  the  faces  of  the  wedged-up 
crowd,  and  the  grape-shot  tore  its  way  in  broad  lanes 
through  the  mass.  There  was  no  standing  this.  After  a 
few  straggling  shots  and  some  feeble  show  of  fighting,  the 
National  Guard  fell  back,  and  the  new  Constitution  stood 
on  firm  ground.  With  this  ended  the  French  Revolution,  and 
here  opened  the  wonderful  career  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 


EABLY  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON  L 


293 


CHAPTER  IL 

NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 

Central  Point:  THE  BATTLE  OP  AUSTERLITZ, 
December  2,  1805,  A.D, 


Early  life  of  Napoleon. 

Treaty  of  Amiens. 

The  Austrian  marriage. 

Entry  upon  public  life. 

The  Code  Napoleon. 

The  Russian  campaign. 

His  marriage. 

Becomes  Emperor. 

Battles  of  Leipsic. 

Italian     campaign     of 

Crowned  King  of  Italy. 

The  abdication. 

1796. 

Battle  of  Austerlitz. 

Elba. 

Campo  Foiinio. 

Battle  of  Jena. 

Louis  and  the   Char- 

Invasion of  Egypt. 

The  Berlin  Decrees. 

ter. 

Made  First  Consul 

The  Peninsular  War. 

The  Hundred  Days. 

Battle  of  Marengo. 

Battle  of  Wagram. 

St.  Helena. 

NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE  was  born  at  Ajaccio  in  Corsica  on 
the  15th  of  August  1769.  His  father,  Charles,  was  a  lawyer, 
but  saw  some  military  service  under  Paoli  against  the 
French.  His  mother  was  Letizia  Ramolini.  Of  these 
parents  Napoleon  was  the  second  son.  In  April  1779  the 
little  fellow,  then  not  ten  years  old,  left  home  for  the  Mili- 
tary School  of  Brienne.  Here  he  spent  five  years  and  a  half. 
His  name  appears  in  the  report  furnished  yearly  to  the  king 
by  the  Inspector  of  Schools,  with  these  remarks  :  "  Distin- 
guished in  mathematical  studies,  tolerably  versed  in  history 
and  geography,  much  behind  in  Latin,  belles-lettres,  and 
other  accomplishments ;  of  regular  habits,  studious,  and 
well  behaved,  and  enjoying  excellent  health."  The  story  of 
the  snow  fortress,  attacked  and  defended  by  the  Brienne 
boys,  when  Napoleon  led  the  stormers,  is  a  well- 
known  bit  of  his  school  life.  In  October  1784  the  1785 
young  mathematician  left  Brienne  for  the  Military  A.D. 
School  at  Paris ;  and  in  less  than  a  year  he  got  his 
commission  as  sous-lieutenant  of  artillery. 

In  the  Revolution  Napoleon  took  the  popular  side.  We 
have  already  seen  him  cannonading  the  outworks  of  Toulon, 
and,  a  little  later,  tearing  the  National  Guard  to  pieces  with 
canister  and  grape.  He  little  thought  on  that  October  day 


294  THE  ITALIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  *96. 

that  the  shots  of  the  cannon,  which  then  boomed  out  the 
death-knell  of  Revolution,  were  pealing  in  a  great  era  of 
French  history,  in  which  himself  was  for  twenty  years  to  be 
the  central  figure. 

His  rise  was  rapid  after  the  day  of  grape-shot.  Barras 
being  made  one  of  the  Directors,  by  his  influence  Bonaparte 
became,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  General  of  the  Army  of 
the  Interior.  His  next  great  step  in  life  was  marriage. 
Josephine  Beauharnois,  a  Creole  of  Martinique,  and  the 
widow  of  a  general  officer  who  had  perished  by  the  guillo- 
tine, became  his  wife  in  March  1796.  She  was  older  than 
he  by  some  years,  but  a  warm  and  strong  affection  united 
their  hearts.  Before  the  wedding-day  he  had  received  from 
Carnot,  the  Minister  of  War,  his  commission  as  General  of 
the  Army  of  Italy. 

The  fair  northern  plains  of  the  most  beautiful  land  in 
Europe  were  swarming  with  Austrian  soldiers.  Old  Beau- 
lieu  commanded  them.  When  Bonaparte  arrived  at  Nice, 
he  found  the  army,  with  which  he  was  expected  to  beat 
these  hordes  of  Austrians  and  their  Sardinian  allies,  little 
better  than  a  rabble — badly  clothed,  badly  fed,  badly  drilled, 
badly  paid,  and  with  scarcely  a  hundred  serviceable  horses 
among  42,000  men.  The  one  point  in  favour  of  the  French 
soldiers  was  that  they  were  young.  Their  new  general  was 
young  too,  only  twenty-six,  and  had  yet  to  be  tried  as  a 
leader  of  armies.  It  seemed  a  hazardous  cast,  on  which  to 
set  the  fame  of  the  new  French  government.  Yet  that 
young  general  with  his  raw  recruits  conquered  Italy  within 
a  twelvemonth.  A  succession  of  the  most  brilliant 
1796  and  decisive  victories  marked  his  steps  through  the 
A.D.  land  of  art  and  song.  At  Montenotte  and  Millesimo 
he  drove  back  the  Austrians,  and  thus  cut  them 
off  from  the  Piedmontese.  Having  then  the  latter  at  his 
mercy,  he  soon  subdued  them.  The  Sardinian  king,  Victor 
Amadeus  III.,  was  glad  to  conclude  a  peace  upon  the 
humiliating  terms  of  giving  up  to  France  all  his  chief  for- 
tresses and  all  the  passes  of  the  Alps.  Crossing  the  Po 
below  Pavia,  Bonaparte  then  forced  Beaulieu  to  fall  back 
upon  the  Adda.  Here  was  the  Bridge  of  Lodi,  ever  since  a 
name  to  stir  the  blood  of  Frenchmen.  The  Austrian  cannon. 


TKEA.TY  OF  CAMPO  FOKMIO.  296 

commanding  the  passage,  hurled  death  in  iron  torrents  upon 
the  advancing  columns.      But  the  grenadiers  of 
France  dashed  gallantly  on,  carried  the   bridge,   May  10. 
and  were  among  the  Austrian  guns,  bayonetting 
the  artillerymen,  before  Beaulieu  could  bring  his  infantry  tc 
the  rescue.    Milan  fell  at  once  before  the  conqueror.    Mantua 
alone,  through  all  the  Lombard  plain,  held  out  for  a  time. 
Early  in  November  the  bloody  battle  of  Arcola  raged  for 
three  days,  ending,  like  all  the  rest,  in  the  triumph  of  the 
Corsican.     The  victory  of  Eivoli,  and  the  capitulation  of 
Mantua  formed  the  brilliant  opening  of  1797.     Italy  lay  at 
the  feet  of  a  young  soldier  in  his  twenty-sixth  year ;  and 
beaten  Austria  crouched  among  the  pine- woods  of  the  Tyrol. 

Crossing  the  Alps  and  driving  the  Archduke  Charles  before 
him,  Bonaparte  then  advanced  towards  Vienna.  But,  when 
he  had  arrived  within  eight  days'  march  of  the  Austrian  capital, 
he  was  met  with  proposals  for  peace ;  and  he  turned  back  to 
overthrow  the  ancient  government  of  Venice.  This  "  Bride  of 
the  Adriatic"  was  made  a  scape-goat  for  the  sins  of  Austria. 
The  galley  Bucentaur  was  stripped  of  its  golden  decorations; 
the  Venetian  fleet  was  either  sunk  or  sent  to  sea ;  the  bronze 
horses  of  St.  Mark's  were  carried  to  the  Tuileries,  whither 
already  the  master-pieces  of  Italian  painting  and  sculpture 
had  gone.  Manin,  last  of  the  Doges,  fainted  as  he  gave  in 
his  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  The 
Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  concluded  between 
France  and  Austria,  was  the  seal  of  this  iniquitous  Oct.  17, 
bargain.  By  it  France  gained  the  Netherlands  1797 
and  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  the  Ionian  Islands,  A.D. 
and  the  Venetian  territories  in  Albania.  The 
Milanese  and  Mantuan  States  were  erected  into  the  Cisalpine 
Republic. 

After  a  time  of  quiet  repose  we  find  Bonaparte  seeking 
new  laurels  on  the  sands  of  Egypt.  Arriving  there  in  the 
summer  of  1 798,  he  defeated  the  Mamelukes  in  the  battle 
of  the  Pyramids.  His  grand  object  was  to  tear  India  from 
the  British  crown.  But  a  mighty  foe  was  on  the  watch. 
Nelson  had  chased  him  down  the  Mediterranean,  and  now 
destroyed  his  fleet  as  it  lay  in  the  roads  of  Aboukir  (August 
1,  1798).  His  repulse  at  Acre  ruined  for  ever  his  hopes  ol 


296  NAPOLEON  FIRST  CONSUL. 

crippling  British  power  in  the  East.  Leaving  his  soldiers- 
tired,  sick,  and  starving — under  Kleber  to  attempt  an  im- 
possible conquest,  he  secretly  returned  to  France  with  a  few 
devoted  officers.  During  his  absence  of  seventeen  months 
(May  9,  1798 — October  8, 1799)  the  Directory  had  fallen  into 
disgrace  with  the  French  people.  Austria,  with  the  aid  of 
Suwarrow  and  his  Russians,  had  recovered  Italy.  French 
soldiers  had  been  defeated  on  the  Rhine.  And  the  money 
matters  of  the  country  were  sadly  behind. 

All  eyes  turned  to  Bonaparte,  who  resolved  on  a  change. 
Abbe  Si&yes,  one  of  the  Directors,  had  sketched  out  a  new 
Constitution,  and  it  remained  for  Bonaparte  and  his  grena- 
diers to  overthrow  the  old  state  of  things  \and  lay  the 
foundation  of  the  new.  The  two  Councils  were  removed  to 
St.  Cloud,  lest  they  might  be  overawed  by  the  mob  of  Paris. 
Bonaparte  appeared  one  day  among  them,  passed  from  the 
Hall  of  the  Ancients  to  that  of  the  Five  Hundred, 
Nov.  10,  and  when  in  the  latter  the  cry  of  "  No  Dictator  " 
1799  rose  from  the  angry  members,  who  crowded  noisily 
A.D.  round  him,  a  file  of  soldiers  rushed  in  to  save  him. 
His  brother  Lucien,  who  was  president,  left  the 
chair,  and  proclaimed  the  Assembly  dissolved.  Murat  then 
led  through  the  hall  a  band  of  grenadiers,  with  drums  beat- 
ing and  bayonets  at  the  charge,  clearing  out  the  members, 
some  of  whom  tumbled  with  undignified  haste  out  of  the 
windows.  Then  the  government  of  France  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  three  Consuls,  appointed  for  ten  years.  Bona- 
parte was  First  Consul,  and  held  all  real  power,  Ms  col- 
leagues, Sieyes  and  Ducos,  being  mere  assistants  and  advisers. 
These  two  inferior  Consuls  soon  gave  place  to  Cambaceres 
and  Lebrun.  The  law-making  was  done  according  to  the 
new  plan,  by  the  Consuls,  a  Senate  of  80,  a  Legislative 
Assembly  of  300,  and  a  Tribunate  of  100  members. 

The  First  Consul  then  began  to  act  the  king.  He  wrote 
a  letter  to  George  III.  of  England  proposing  peace,  but  tho 
offer  was  rejected  in  a  strongly- worded  reply  from  Grenville. 
Already  he  had  detached  Russia  from  the  coalition  of  nations 
against  whom  he  had  to  contend.  At  home  he  bent  all  his 
energies  to  the  raising  of  troops,  and  a  quarter  of  million 
conscripts  were  soon  marshalled  beneath  his  banner.  He 


BATTLE  OF  MARENGO.  297 

gagged  the  press.  He  put  down  the  civil  war  in  La  Vendee. 
He  filled  France  with  detectives,  whose  vigilance  covered  the 
land  with  an  unseen  network  of  espionage.  And,  well  aware 
of  the  national  taste  for  show,  he  gathered  into  the  ball- 
rooms of  the  Tuileries  crowds  of  handsome  soldiers  gay  with 
scarlet  and  gold,  and  lovely  women,  whose  toilettes  rivalled  in 
taste  and  splendour  the  fashions  of  the  later  Bourbon  dames. 

Eesolved  again  to  humiliate  Austria  on  the  plains  of 
Lombardy,  he  signalized  the  last  spring  of  the  century  by 
his  famous  passage  of  the  Alps.    With  36,000  men, 
and  40  cannon,  he  climbed  the  Great  St.  Bernard,       May, 
his  soldiers  dragging  the  dismounted  guns  up  the     1800 
icy  slopes  in  the  hollow  trunks  of  trees.     Like  an       A.D. 
avalanche  he  poured  his  troops  upon  the  green  plain 
below.     On  the  2d  of  June  he  entered  Milan  in  triumph, 
and  met  the  wings  of  his  army,  which  had  crossed  by  the 
Simplon  and  the  St.  Gothard.     A  fortnight  later,  he  met 
old  Melas,  the  Austrian  leader,  on  the  plain  of  Marengo 
near  Alessandria.     The  French  army,  outnumbered 
three  to  one,  was  driven  back  and  all  but  beaten,    June  14. 
until  the  gallant  Desaix  flung  himself  with  the 
last  reserve  upon  the  Austrian  column  and  broke  it  to  pieces. 
The  leader  of  the  charge,  to  whom  not  long  before  Bonaparte 
had  presented  a  sword  engraven  with  the  proud  words, 
"  ConquHe  de  la  Haute  Egypte"  fell  dead  from  his  horse, 
shot  through  the  breast  in  the  moment  of  victory.     The 
Austrians  were  soon  driven  beyond  the  Adige  and  the  Brenta. 
In  the  same  year  (November  3)  Moreau,  who  had  been 
sent  to  the  Khine,  defeated  the  Austrians  at  Hohenlinden. 
These  successes  were  followed  by  the  Treaty  of 
Luneville,  concluded  between  Austria  and  France.      Feb.  9, 
The  leading  terms  of  this  peace  were  similar  to     1801 
those  of  Campo  Formio.  A.D. 

Ere  this  Christianity  had  been  re-established  in 
France;  and  the  people  gladly  welcomed  the  old  familiar  chime 
of  the  church-bells,  ringing  in  the  seventh  day's  rest.  Now 
a  general  amnesty  was  granted  to  all  emigrants,  who  would 
take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  new  government  before  a 
certain  date,  and  about  100,000  exiles  turned  their  weary 
feet  towards  home.  Wherever  it  was  possible,  these  return- 


298  THE  CODE  NAPOLEON. 

ing  wanderers  got  back  their  old  estates.  The  "  Legion  of 
Honour"  was  instituted  for  both  soldiers  and  civilians. 
England  was  the  power  most  dreaded  by  Bonaparte  ;  and 
he  well  knew  that  her  navy  was  her  highest  glory  and 
greatest  strength.  He  worked  in  the  northern  courts  until 
he  united  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  afterwards  Prussia, 
in  a  formidable  league  against  England  and  her  ships.  But 
Nelson,  sailing  into  the  harbour  of  Copenhagen  in  the  face  of 
2000  cannon,  crushed  the  naval  power  of  Denmark  in  four 
hours  (April  2, 1801).  And,  a  few  days  earlier,  the  Emperor 
Paul  of  Russia  was  strangled  by  conspirators.  So  the  giant 
league  melted  into  nothing.  At  the  same  time  British 
bayonets,  under  Sir  Ralph  Abercromby,  scattered  the  last 
relics  of  the  army  which  Bonaparte  had  abandoned  in 

Egypt.     These  disappointments  and  reverses  made 

March  27,  the  First  Consul  wish  for  peace.     At  Amiens  this 

1802    short-lived    peace  was    signed.     France  retained 

A.D.     Belgium  and  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  got 

back  her  West  Indian  Islands.  Holland  received 
once  more  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  England  kept  Ceylon. 
But  Napoleon  never  meant  peace  ;  all  he  intended  was  a 
short  breathing  time,  that  he  might  take  an  important  step 
at  home,  and  gird  himself  for  a  more  brilliant  career  of 
victory  abroad. 
All  France  was  wild  with  delight  at  the  dazzling  glory  of 

the  First  Consul's  victories,  and  the  kindness  of 

Aug.  2,     his  rule.     When  the  enthusiasm  had  reached  the 

1802     boiling  point,  a  decree  of  the  Senate  appeared, 

A.D.       proclaiming     Bonaparte    First    Consul    for    life. 

The  votes  of  the  people  all  over  the  land  ratified 
the  change 

One  work  he  did  at  this  time,  which  half  redeems  his 
memory,  in  France  at  least,  from  the  red  cloud  that  blurs  its 
glory.  He  set  a  number  of  his  best  lawyers,  with  Camba- 
ceres  at  their  head,  to  arrange  the  laws  of  his  adopted  land. 
Six  distinct  codes,  published  at  various  times,  are  loosely 
grouped  together  as  the  Code  Napoleon.  Of  these  the  Civil 
Code  is  undoubtedly  the  best ;  and  France  still  enjoys  the 
valued  legacy.  In  the  schools  instruction  took,  as  might  be 
expected,  an  almost  exclusively  military  turn.  Latin,  uiathe 


INTENDED  INVASION  OF  ENGLAND.  299 

matics,  and  drill  were  the  great  aims  of  the  teacher's  work 
The  First  Consul  laughed  metaphysics  and  kindred  studies 
to  utter  scorn.  No  better  proof  to  him  of  time  well  spent  at 
school  than  the  ability  to  fence  with  skill,  to  point  a  gun,  or 
sketch  out  the  map  of  a  position. 

Then,  with  studied  insults,  he  drove  England  again  into 
war.  In  May  1803  the  British  Government  seized  all 
French  vessels  in  British  harbours, — an  act  which  Napoleon 
retaliated  by  throwing  into  prison  all  Englishmen  found  tra- 
velling in  France.  French  soldiers  then  rapidly  overran 
Hanover,  and  prepared  to  invade  Naples.  At  the  same  time 
the  First  Consul  began  to  muster  his  legions  and  fleets  for 
the  invasion  of  England.  This  was  his  grandest  design ;  but  he 
never  was  able  to  cross  the  narrow  strait.  With  160,000 
blue-jackets  standing  by  her  guns  at  sea,  and  double  that 
number  of  red-coats  lining  her  southern  shores,  Britain  stood 
on  her  guard.  The  whole  scheme  vanished  into  nothing. 
Eighteen  hundred  years  before,  a  mad  Emperor  of  Eome  had 
set  his  legions  to  pick  shells  on  that  same  low  beach,  where 
the  "  Army  of  England "  lay  encamped,  and  had  then  cele- 
brated his  conquest  of  the  white-cliffed  island  by  a  splendid 
triumph  at  Rome.  Bonaparte  could  not  stoop  to  folly  like 
this.  But  he  turned  away  in  fear ;  and  leaving  his  flat-bot- 
tomed boats  at  Boulogne,  he  marched  his  soldiers  towards 
the  Danube. 

But  before  he  won  there  his  greatest  victory,  he  had 
perpetrated  his  greatest  crime,  and  reached  his  highest 
eminence.  A  plot  against  his  life  was  detected  by  his  sleep- 
less police.  Two  generals,  Pichegru  and  Moreau,  were 
involved  in  the  affair.  While  Pichegru  lay  in  prison,  he  was 
found  strangled ;  Moreau  went  into  exile.  But  an  innocent 
man  fell  a  victim  to  a  vague  suspicion  of  the  same  kind. 
His  true  crime  was  only  that  he  was  a  Bourbon.  Seized  in 
Baden,  the  young  Duke  d'Enghien  was  hurried  to  the  castle 
of  Vincennes.  There,  after  a  mock  trial,  he  was  shot  by 
torch-light  in  the  darkness  of  a  wild  March  morning,  and 
buried  as  he  lay,  in  his  bloody  and  bullet-turn  clothes  (March 
21).  Within  two  months  the  First  Consul  was  declared,  by 
the  Senate  and  the  Tribunate,  Emperor  of  the  French.  The 
votes  of  the  people  being  taken,  only  about  4000  names 


800  NAPOLEON  ELECTED  EMPEKOfc. 

were  registered  against  his  elevation.     He  was  too  impa- 
tient to  wait  for  the  collection  of  the  votes.     On 
May  18,  the  18th  of  May  he  assumed  the  imperial  name  at 

1804  St.  Cloud,   and  on  the  following  day  he   created 
A.D.     eighteen  of  his  best  generals  Marshals  of  the  Em- 
pire.   The  pope,  Pius  VII. ,  was  invited  to  Paris  to 

crown  the  newly  elected  emperor.  At  Notre  Dame,  on  the 
2d  of  December,  the  ceremony  of  coronation  was  performed. 
The  pope  blessed  the  crown,  and  Napoleon,  taking  it  from 
the  altar,  placed  it  on  his  own  head.  Her  husband's  hand 
then  crowned  Josephine  as  empress. 

The  republics  of  Italy  were  then  all  merged  into  a  king- 
dom, of  which  Bonaparte  was  invited  to  become  king.  It 
pleased  him  well.  Indeed,  he  must  have  foreseen  and  worked 
towards  this  ancient  end  of  French  ambition.  In  the  cathe- 
dral of  Milan  (May  26,  1805),  he  assumed  the  iron  crown  of 
Lombardy,  saying,  as  he  placed  the  rusty  rim  upon  his 
temples,  "  God  has  given  it  to  me  ;  woe  to  him  who  shall 
attempt  to  lay  hands  on  it !"  He  then  named  Eugene  Beau- 
harnois,  his  step-son,  as  his  viceroy  in  Italy. 

England,  Kussia,  Austria,  and  Sweden  were  now  united 
against  this  little  man,  who  threatened  so  seriously  to  disturb 
the  balance  of  power  in  Europe.  He  had  broken  faith  with  all, 
and  it  was  clear  that  he  meditated  new  and  mightier  conquests. 
The  first  great  blow  was  struck  by  the  English  Nelson,  who 
shattered  the  navies  of  France  and  Spain  in  the  great  tight 
off  Trafalgar  (October  21,  1805),  when  he  found  a  warrior's 
death  on  the  quarter-deck  of  his  ship,  the  Victory.  But  on 
land  the  French  eagles  were  brilliantly  triumphant  Mack, 
the  Austrian  leader,  was  hemmed  in  at  Ulm,  and  forced  to 
surrender  with  nearly  30,000  men  (October  17, 1805).  In  less 
than  a  month  the  victorious  French  marched  into  Vienna, 
from  which  Francis  II.  had  fled  to  Olmutz.  And  then  came 
the  crowning  triumph  of  the  campaign. 

At  Austerlitz,  a  Moravian  village,  the  rival  armies  faced 

each  other, — 80,000  Russians  and  Austrians  pitted  against 

a  nearly  equal  number  of  French  veterans.      A 

Dec.  2,    frosty  sun  shone  bright  upon  the  yet  unsullied 

1805  battle-ground,    as  three  emperors — Alexander   of 
A.D.     Russia,  Francis  of  Austria,  and  Napoleon  of  the 


BATTLE  OF  ATJSTERLITZ.  301 

French — rode  up  the  heights  to  watch  the  great  game 
played  out,  and  direct  the  movements  of  the  day.  France 
and  Russia  were  to  cross  bayonets  for  the  first  time  at  Aus- 
terlitz.  Cannon  thundered,  steel  glanced,  whirlwinds  of 
cavalry  swept  across  the  field;  and  all  the  terrors  and 
fury  of  battle  began  to  rage.  The  Russian  lines  were  too 
long  and  thin.  At  once  Napoleon  saw  the  fault,  and 
like  lightning  formed  his  plan.  Pushing  in  the  centre,  and 
breaking  up  the  wings,  he  attacked  the  fragments  of  the 
line  separately,  and  swept  them  in  flying  crowds  from  the 
field.  In  vain  the  Russian  Guard  strove  to  turn  the  tide  of 
battle.  It  was  a  total  rout.  Then  began  the  horrors  of 
pursuit.  A  crowd  of  poor  wretches  were  fleeing  over  the 
ice  which  sheeted  a  neighbouring  lake,  when  the  guns  of  the 
victors  opened  fire  upon  them,  and  they  sank  through  the 
ripped  and  splintered  floes.  The  loss  of  the  allies  exceeded 
30,000— that  of  the  French  amounted  to  fully  12,000.  The 
Treaty  of  Presburg,  between  France  and  Austria,  was  signed 
on  the  26th  of  December. 

One  result  of  Napoleon's  triumph  was  a  great  change  in 
the  constitution  of  Germany.  The  Electors  of  Bavaria  and 
Wiirtemberg  were  made  Kings;  and  many  of  the  smaller 
States  were  formed,  by  the  victor  at  Austerlitz,  into  the 
Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  Already,  in  1804,  Austria 
had  been  declared  an  empire,  and  the  Emperor  Francis  II. 
of  Germany  had  begun  to  call  himself  Emperor  of  Austria. 
This  severance  of  Austria  from  Germany  was  formally  com- 
pleted in  1806. 

The  Emperor  of  the  French  then  began  to  give  away  king- 
doms. Seizing  Naples  early  in  1806,  he  made  his  brother 
Joseph  king.  Turning  the  Batavian  Republic  into  a  Kingdom 
of  Holland,  he  placed  its  crown  on  the  head  of  his  brother 
Louis.  His  brother-in-law,  Murat,  famed  as  the  most  dash- 
ing cavalry  officer  in  Europe,  became  Grand  Duke  of  Berg. 

But  this  year  is  most  remarkable  for  the  complete  prostra- 
tion of  Prussia.  She  had  been  playing  a  double  part ;  and 
never  has  man  or  nation  done  so  without  suffering  just  and 
heavy  punishment.  Although  she  professed  to  be  the  friend  of 
England,  she  made  no  scruple  about  receiving  Hanover  from 
the  emperor,  who  was  England's  bitterest  foe.  Napoleon  nov? 


302  BATTLES  OF  JENA  AND  EYLATJ. 

changed  his  tone,  having  no  longer  any  need  for  keeping  this 

truckling  power  in  good  humour.  In  two  great  battles, 

Oct.  14,    —  Auerstadt  and  Jena, — fought  upon  the  same  day, 

1806  he  utterly  c-rushed  the  military  power  with  which,  but 

A.D.     half  a  century  ago,  the  Great  Frederic  had  wrought 

such  marvels.  Prussia  lay  writhing  at  his  feet. 
From  the  Prussian  capital,  which  he  entered  in  triumph  a 
week  after  the  bloody  day  of  Jena,  he  launched  the  Berlin 
Decrees.  Thunderbolts  he  meant  them  to  be,  scathing  to 
the  roots  the  oak  of  British  commerce ;  but  the  petty  squibs 
fizzed  harmlessly  at  the  foot  of  the  great  unshaken  tree. 
The  British  islands  were  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  blockade. 
The  Continent  of  Europe  was  to  hold  no  correspondence,  to 
transact  no  business  whatever  with  Britain.  \British  manu- 
factures and  produce  were  declared  contraband.  British 
property  was  a  lawful  prize.  Letters  to  and  from  the  shores 
of  Britain  were  to  be  kept  and  opened  at  the  post-offices. 
The  defeat  of  these  tremendous  decrees  was  complete  and 
very  amusing.  "  Artillery,  horse,  and  infantry  were  always 
defeated  when  opposed  to  his  battalions  ;  but  printed  ging- 
hams were  irresistible.  There  were  conspiracies  beyond  the 
reach  of  his  spies  in  every  parlour,  where  the  daughters  were 
dressed  in  coloured  muslins;  and  cloths,  cutlery,  an  dearth  en- 
ware  were  smuggled  wherever  an  English  vessel  could  float."* 

We  next  find  Russia  facing  the  "  Little  Corporal,"  as  his 

bronzed  grenadiers  loved  to  call  him  in  their  stories  by  the 

midnight  watch-fire.     It  was  in  the  depth  of  winter 

Feb.  8.   that  the  armies  met  on  the  field  of  Eylau.     It  was 

1807  a  drawn  battle ;    but  Napoleon,  camping  for  eight 

A.D.     days  upon  the  reddened  snow,  claimed  a  great 

victory.     But  there  was  no  doubt  about  the  battle 

of  Friedland,  fought  on  the  14th  of  the  following  June.     The 

Russians  were  driven  across  the  Aller,  with  the  loss  of 

60,000    men  ;    and  the   Czar  Alexander  sought   a  peace, 

which  was  concluded  at  Tilsit  on  the  Niemen.     Prussia, 

who  had  plucked  up  heart  again  to  dare  French  bayonets, 

had  got  her  share  of  the  beating,  and  was  a  partner  in  the 

humiliation  of  the  peace. 

*  White's  History  of  Franca 


BATTLE  OF  WAOftAM.  303 

The  re-action  now  began.     Having  driven  the  royal  house 
of  Braganza  from  Portugal  to  Brazil,  and  having  flung  the 
Bourbons  from  the  throne  of  Spain,  he  set  his  brother  Joseph 
up  in  place  of  the  latter,  as  King  of  Spain.     Murat  was 
promoted  to  fill  Joseph's  vacant  throne  at  Naples.     The 
Spaniards  drew  their  knives,    called   in  British  aid,    and 
the  Peninsular  War  began.      The  story  of  this  war  may 
be  read  in  British  history.     Vimiera  was  its  great 
opening  field;    and  Vittoria  (1813)  the   decisive  1808 
triumph  of  its  great  hero,  Wellington.     The  war  in     A.t>. 
the  Peninsula  was  conducted  by  Napoleon's  mar- 
shals, for  greater  interests  occupied  himself  at  the  heart  of 
Europe.     He  paid  a  short  visit  to  Spain  in  the  first  year  of 
the  struggle,  going,  as  he  said,  to  rid  the  Peninsula  of  "  the 
hideous  presence  of  the  English  leopards."     He  beat  the 
Spaniards  at  Tudela,  entered  Madrid  in  triumph  (Dec.  4). 
and  tried  without  success  to  cut  off  the  retreating  army  of 
Moore.     Then  news  of  an  Austrian  war  recalled  him  to 
France  after  an  absence  of  scarcely  three  months. 

Austria  now  mustered  half  a  million  soldiers,  bent  upon 
washing  out  in  French  blood  the  stains  which  Marengo  and 
Austeiiitz  had  left  upon  her  banner.  All  around  her  fron- 
tiers and  within  her  boundaries  a  spirit  had  begun  to  burn 
which  boded  no  good  to  Napoleon.  Maj  or  Schill  (soon  slain  at 
Stralsund)  drilled  his  corps  of  Prussian  volunteers ;  andHofer, 
the  inn-keeper  of  Tyrol  (afterwards  shot  at  Mantua),  roused 
the  chamois-hunters  to  a  patriotic  war.  There  was  no  time 
to  lose.  Napoleon,  dashing  over  the  Rhine,  beat  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  at  Eckmuhl,  bombarded  Vienna,  and  carried 
his  eagles  again  into  the  splendid  streets  which  had  witnessed 
their  triumphant  march  not  four  years  before  ;  and  all  this 
in  nine  days  (April  3-12).  He  then  crossed  the  Danube  to 
the  left  bank,  and  fought  there  the  indecisive  battle  of  As- 
pern.  The  Austrians  broke  down  the  bridge  behind  him, 
by  throwing  huge  logs  of  timber  into  the  swollen  river.  So 
he  was  obliged  to  shelter  his  army  in  the  island  of  Lobau, 
where  he  lay  for  six  weeks.  From  this  retreat  he 
issued  to  fight  the  great  battle  of  Wagram.  It  was  J^ly  5, 
a  terrific  day.  The  thunder  of  the  sky  almost  1809 
drowned  the  peals  of  gunpowder,  as  the  armies  A.D. 


304  THE  AUSTRIAN  MARRIAGE. 

rushed  to  the  charge.  All  the  roof-tops  of  Vienna  were 
crowded  with  pale,  excited  men  and  women,  gazing  on  a 
sight  such  as  has  seldom  been  seen.  Four  hundred  thou- 
sand men  were  on  the  field.  By  mid-day  the  Austrian  centre 
was  driven  in,  and  Francis,  who  had  watched  the  battle  from 
a  hill,  rode  madly  from  the  scene  of  slaughter  and  defeat. 
Peace  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  Treaty  of  Schon- 
brunn,  signed  on  the  14th  of  the  following  October,  yielded 
to  the  conqueror  territory  containing  more  than  two  millions 
of  people. 

Yet  Napoleon  did  not  despise  Austria.  Far  from  it.  It 
was  indeed  great  glory  for  the  parvenu  to  humble  to  the 
dust  an  ancient  house  like  that  of  Hapsburg.  But  he  had 
still  that  hankering  after  ancient  name  and  lineage  which 
often  disfigures  the  character  of  a  self-made  man.  Divorc- 
ing the  faithful  and  loving  Josephine,  whose  only  faults  were 
that  she  was  a  plebeian  and  had  no  children,  he 
March  11,  married  the  Archduchess  Maria  Louisa  of  Aus- 

1810       tria,  in  the  hope  that  this  daughter  of  the  Haps- 

A.D.  burgs  would  bear  him  a  son.  A  year  afterwards 
his  hope  was  realized.  On  the  20th  of  March 
1811  a  son  was  born  to  him,  whom  he  created  at  once  King 
of  Rome.  But  this  King  of  Rome,  better  known  as  the 
Due  de  Reichstadt,  was  not  destined  to  hold  the  sceptre 
of  France.  Upon  the  fall  of  his  father  in  1814  he  retired  to 
the  Austrian  court,  and  died  at  Schonbrunn  in  ]  832. 

The  year  which  preceded  the  Austrian  marriage  had  wit- 
nessed strange  things  in  Rome.  When  Napoleon  annexed  to 
his  far-spreading  empire  the  Papal  States,  the  poor  pope  issued 
a  bull  of  excommunication  against  the  sacrilegious  usurper. 
Napoleon,  minding  this  once  terrible  instrument  no  more 
than  the  bite  of  a  gnat,  took  a  still  more  daring  step.  Send- 
ing his  gendarmes  one  summer  night  to  scale  the  walls  of  the 
palace  on  the  Quirinal,  he  carried  the  pope  a  captive  to  Sa- 
vona,  whence  he  removed  him  in  1812  to  Fontainebleau. 

The  position  of  Napoleon  at  this  height  of  his  power 
(1811)  is  well  worth  marking.  The  French  empire,  over 
which  he  ruled,  extended  from  the  borders  of  Denmark  to 
those  of  Naples.  Holland,  Naples,  and  Westphalia  were 
ruled  by  his  kinsmen.  His  brother  Joseph  held  an  insecure 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN.  305 

throne  at  Madrid.  Bernadotte,  one  of  his  generals,  had  been 
chosen  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden.  As  Protector  of  the  Con- 
federation of  the  Rhine,  he  held  the  German  States  in  sul> 
jection,  and  he  did  the  same  kind  office  for  the  Helvetic 
Confederation,  into  which  he  had  formed  the  cantons  of 
Switzerland.  Prussia  and  Austria  crouched  at  his  feet,  and 
Russia  seemed  his  firm  ally.  In  four  years  all  was  changed. 
The  magician's  wand  was  broken,  and  his  magnificent 
theatre  of  action  had  shrunk  into  a  little  house  and  garden 
on  a  barren  rock  far  out  in  the  tropic  seas. 

The  miserable  Russian  campaign  of  1812  was  but  the  be- 
ginning of  disasters.     In  defiance  of  the  advice  of  old  and 
wise  counsellors"  he  declared  war  against  the  Czar,  who  had 
opened  his  ports  to  British  goods.    Assembling  a 
magnificent  army  of  more  than  half  a  million  be-     1812 
tween  the  Vistula  and  the  Niemen,  he  crossed  the       A.D. 
latter  stream  in  the  middle  of  June.    The  Russians 
had  mustered  to  the  number  of  about  300,000  men.     But 
they  wisely  trusted  more  to  their  climate  than  to  their 
bayonets  or  their  cannon.      Falling  back  before  the  in- 
vading  army,  they  lured  Napoleon  into  the  heart  of  a 
bleak  and  barren  land,  where  his  horses  died  for  want 
of  forage,  and  his  soldiers  sickened  with  ague  and  rheuma- 
tism.     Still  his  heart  never  failed  him,  for  he  believed 
that  he  was  destined  to  march  triumphant  into  St.  Peters- 
burg, as  he  had  marched  into  Vienna  and  Madrid.      On 
he  pressed  through  Wilna,  and  up  to  the  walls  of  Smolensk, 
against  which  he  turned  all  his  force.    A  heavy 
cannonade  made    little  impression  on  the  solid    Aug.  16. 
walls ;  but  the  city  was  set  on  fire  by  his  shells ; 
and  in  the  night  the  Russians  fled  from  its  burning  streets. 
The  march  of  Napoleon  to  Moscow,  where  he  meant  to  take 
up  his  winter  quarters,  was  checked  for  a  little  at  Borodino. 
There  Kutusoff  faced  the  French.      The  armies 
numbered  about   130,000  men  each,  and  had  be-     Sept.  7. 
tween  them  over  1000  cannon.     From  early  morn- 
ing till  nightfall  the  battle  raged,  and  then  the  Russians 
fell   back  in  unbroken  order  towards  Moscow.      Ninety 
thousand  men  were  slain  or  wounded  on  that  terrible  day. 
A  week  later,  the  army  of  Napoleon   saw  the  longed-for 
r47)  20 


306  THE  RETREAT  FROM  MOSCOW. 

haven.     The  towers  of  the  Kremlin,  and  the  fantastic  spires 
of  Moscow,  linked  together  with  gilt  chains,  lay  below  them 

to  the  east.  But  when  they  entered  the  city,  it  was 
Sept.  14.  silent  and  empty.  Next  night  a  fire  broke  out, 

then  another  and  another,  until  the  city  was  a  sea 
of  flame.  Napoleon  and  his  troops  could  not  stay.  He  in- 
deed returned  for  a  while  to  the  Kremlin ;  but  when  peace 
was  refused  by  the  enraged  Czar,  there  was  nothing  left  for 
the  baffled  Emperor  but  to  hurry  back  to  France. 

The  retreat  began  on  the  19th  of  October.  The  Russians 
followed  fast,  harassing  the  fugitives  at  every  step.  But 
worse  than  Cossacks  were  the  snow  and  the  wind.  The  land 
spread  before  them  one  vast  winding-sheet  of  drifted  snow. 
The  blinding  flakes  fell  thick  around  them  as  they  stumbled 
on.  They  often  marched  between  files  of  their  comrades 
who  had  been  frozen  to  death.  Harassed  by  repeated  at- 
tacks, they  struggled  with  constantly  thinning  ranks  through 
Smolensk,  where  they  found  a  little  food,  on  to  the  banks 
of  the  Beresina.  There  they  were  frightfully  cut  up  as  they 
made  the  passage  of  the  wintry  stream.  Twenty-four  thousand 
were  either  drowned  in  the  icy  water  or  smashed  with  Rus- 
sian shot.  At  Smorgoni  (December  5)  Napoleon  abandoned 
the  wretched  phantom  of  the  grand  army,  and  set  out  in  a 
sledge  for  Paris.  Only  a  few  thousand  gaunt  and  frost- 
bitten men,  more  like  famished  wolves  than  human  beings, 
mustered  on  the  Vistula  after  this  tragic  campaign.  It  is 
calculated  that  125,000  perished  in  battle  ;  that  132,000  died 
of  fatigue,  hunger,  and  cold  ;  and  that  193,000  were  made  pri- 
soners. Seldom  has  so  fearful  a  blow  fallen  upon  human  pride. 
The  beaten  conqueror  reached  the  Tuileries  about  mid- 
night on  the  18th  of  December.  He  knew  that  the  struggle 
was  now  to  be  for  life  or  death.  It  gives  some  idea  of  the 
amazing  hold  which  he  had  upon  the  heart  of  France,  to  read 
that  in  four  months  he  was  at  the  head  of  350,000  men. 
And  he  needed  every  bayonet  there,  for  all  Europe  was 
arrayed  against  him.  The  banks  of  the  Elbe  became  the 
scene  of  war.  The  victories  of  Lutzen  and  Bautzen,  both 
won  in  May,  were  of  little  use  to  stem  the  great  tide  of 
enemies  which  had  set  in  towards  Paris.  A  conference 
at  Prague  decided  nothing,  but  threw  the  weight  of  Austria 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  BOURBONS.  307 

into  the  coalition  against  Napoleon.     Battle  after  battle  was 
fought,  until  he  made  his  final  stand  at  Leipsic. 
There  two  bloody  battles  took  place,  in  the  latter  16th  and 
of  which  a  body  of   10,000  Saxons  deserted  the  18th  Oct. 
French  lines,  and  so  weakened  Napoleon,  that  next    1813 
day  he  began  to  fall  back  upon  the  Rhine  with      A.D. 
a  broken  and  disordered  force.     In  the  same  year 
the  great  battle  of  Vittoria  (June  21,  1813)  had  driven  the 
French  armies  out  of  the  Peninsula. 

The  dawn  of  the  following  year  saw  a  great  allied  host  on 
the  march  for  the  French  frontiers.  Wellington  was  in  the 
south  of  France  ;  and  the  Emperor  found  even  old  friends  and 
fellow-soldiers — Murat  and  Bernadotte — arrayed  against  him. 
He  summoned  all  his  energies  to  meet  the  crisis.  For  more 
than  two  months,  with  a  greatly  inferior  force,  he  faced  his 
foes,  winning  many  victories  and  enduring  with  unbroken 
courage  many  checks.  At  last  he  made  a  false  move.  He 
dashed  to  the  rear  of  the  allies  in  the  hope  that  they  would 
retreat  in  terror.  Instead  of  this,  however,  they  marched  at 
once  upon  Paris,  which  was  surrendered  without 
a  struggle  by  Marmont.  On  the  following  day  Mar.  3H, 
the  allied  sovereigns  led  their  troops  in  triumph  1814 
along  the  crowded  Boulevards.  Napoleon,  who  A.D. 
came  up  too  late  to  save  his  capital,  rode  away  to 
Fontainebleau.  In  two  days  he  was  deposed  by  a  decree  of 
the  Senate  ;  on  the  4th  of  April  he  signed  the  deed  of  abdi- 
cation, which  stripped  him  of  the  French  and  Italian  crowns ; 
and  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month,  having  spoken  a  few  sad 
words  of  farewell  to  the  Old  Guard  in  the  court-yard  of  Fon- 
tainebleau, he  set  out  for  the  little  island  of  Elba,  where  he 
was  henceforth,  as  all  the  world  thought,  to  enjoy  the  name 
of  Emperor  and  a  revenue  of  six  million  francs.  The  British 
frigate  Undaunted  carried  him  from  Frejus  to  his  new  home. 
A  few  days  after  Napoleon  reached  Elba,  his  faithful 
Josephine  died. 

The  Bourbon  dynasty  was  now  restored  in  the  person  of 
Louis  XVIII.,  the  brother  of  the  guillotined  king.  But  the 
Bourbons  knew  as  little  how  to  rule  as  they  had  known 
before  the  terrible  days  of  the  Revolution.  The  remnant  of 
the  exiled  noblesse  came  back  to  France,  clamouring  loudly 


306  CORPORAL  TTOLET. 

for  their  lost  estates,  upon  which  new  owners  had  long  been 
peaceably  settled.  Louis  carried  out  the  same  line  of  action 
on  a  greater  scale.  He  reclaimed  everything  that  had  ever 
belonged  to  the  crown  ;  and  although  he  gave  the  people  a 
Charter,  which  guaranteed  eight  great  privileges,*  it  was  given 
with  immensely  patronizing  airs,  and  its  provisions  were  soon 
found  to  be  empty  forms  in  the  eyes  of  the  king  and  his 
court.  The  disbanded  troops  of  Napoleon  filled  every  village 
in  France,  sneering  at  the  host  of  foreign  troops,  who  were 
fed  on  the  fat  of  the  land,  that  the  Bourbon  might  sit  safely 
on  his  throne.  Men  began  to  talk  through  all  France  of  the 
violets  of  next  spring ;  and  the  innocent  little  blossom  hid 
treason  under  its  sweet  leaves.  A  certain  Corporal  Violet 
would  come,  perhaps,  in  spring.  Ladies  who  longed  for  his 
coming  wore  violets  in  their  bonnets ;  and  little  pictures  of 
the  flower  were  sold,  which  revealed  beneath  their  lifted 
leaves  the  face  of  the  banished  Emperor.  All  this  foretold 
a  change,  which  speedily  came. 

Napoleon  spent  in  all  about  ten  months  in  Elba  (May  3, 
1814,  to  February  26,  1815).  He  had  around  him  there 
some  of  his  old  soldiers,  who  were  ready  to  dare  anything  in 
his  cause.  Letters  from  France  told  him  of  the  Bourbon  mis- 
rule, and  of  the  unquenched  love  for  his  magic  name  which 
was  alive  throughout  the  land.  He  was  seen  to  grow  more 
thoughtful  as  the  days  went  by.  The  works  of  engineering, 
in  which  he  had  at  first  taken  some  interest,  had  lost  their 
charm.  A  great  plan  was  ceaselessly  shaping  itself  out  in 
his  brain. 

The  winter  of  1814-15  was  spent  by  a  Congress  of  the 
Allied  Powers  at  Vienna,  in  trying  to  restore  order  among 
the  states  of  Europe.  We  are  told  that  "they  consulted 
wisely  all  day,  and  danced  indefatigably  all  night."  This 
agreeable  round  of  business  sweetened  with  pleasure  was 
rudely  disturbed.  Like  the  bursting  of  a  shell  on  their 
council-table  came  the  news  that  Napoleon  was  in  France. 

Slipping  away  from  Elba  in  a  brig  called  the  Inconstant, 

*  These  were— 1.  Equality  before  the  law  ;  2.  Admission  to  all  employments; 
3.  Unity  of  administration ;  4.  Representative  government ;  5.  Taxation  only 
by  the  votes  of  the  representatives ;  6.  Individual  liberty ;  7.  Liberty  of  worship  ; 
8.  Liberty  of  the  press. 


THE  HUNDRED  DAYb.  309 

he  had  landed  after  three  days'  sailing  in  the  Gulf  of  San 
Juan  near  Cannes.  He  had  with  him  1000  men — 600  of 
the  Old  Guard,  and  400  Poles  and  Corsicans.  At  Grenoble 
700  men  deserted  the  Bourbon  banner  for  the  tricolor. 
Marshal  Ney,  who  had  promised  on  leaving  Paris  that  he 
would  bring  the  daring  little  Emperor  back  with  him  in  an 
iron  cage,  could  not  resist  the  old  memories  which  the  sight 
of  the  well-known  face  and  the  sound  of  the  old  cry,  "  Vive 
VEmpereur"  called  up  within  his  breast.  Onward  to  Paris 
Napoleon  pressed.  Louis  XVIII.  set  out  for  Ghent ;  and 
on  the  same  evening,  with  the  clatter  of  horse  hoofs 
and  the  flash  of  drawn  sabres,  a  carriage  dashed  up  Mar.  20, 
to  the  Tuileries,  and  the  Emperor  Napoleon  once  1815 
more  sat  down  to  work  in  his  little  study.  And  A.D. 
there  he  worked  night  arid  day  with  most  tremen- 
dous energy.  He  looked  narrowly  into  every  department  of 
the  government.  He  agreed  to  all  the  provisions  of  the 
Charter,  for  he  saw  clearly  it  was  no  time  to  breathe  a  word 
of  despotic  rule.  And,  most  important  of  all  to  a  man  in 
his  perilous  situation,  he  strained  every  nerve  to  raise  a 
great  army.  By  the  middle  of  June  he  had  mustered 
125,000  men,  and  with  these  he  opened  the  campaign,  which 
was  destined  to  come  so  speedily  to  an  end. 

Nearly  a  million  of  troops  had  gathered  at  the  summons 
of  the  Vienna  Congress.  But  of  these  only  the  British  and 
the  Prussians,  both  of  whom  lay  in  Belgium,  ready  to  unite 
and  march  upon  Paris,  gave  Napoleon  immediate  concern. 
If  he  could  only  beat  these  closer  foes,  he  would  have  time 
to  meet  the  more  distant  armies  upon  the  Rhine.  He  there- 
fore moved  towards  Charleroi  on  the  15th  of  June.  Ney, 
Soult,  and  Grouchy  were  his  marshals.  On  the  following 
day  (the  16th)  he  gave  battle  in  two  places — himself  driving 
Bliicher  from  Ligny,  while  Ney  made  an  unsuccessful  attack 
upon  a  body  of  English  troops  at  Quatre  Bras.  On  the  17th 
Wellington,  in  consequence  of  Bliicher's  retreat,  fell  back 
to  Waterloo.  And  there  was  fought  the  greatest 
battle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  resulting,  after  the  * 

strife  had  lasted  through  all  the  length  of  a  mid-    lolO 
summer  day,  in  the  utter  defeat  of  Napoleon.     His        '  ' 
Last  hope  on  that  day  \vas  in  the  invincible  Old  Guard,  whom 


310  FALL  AND  DEATH  OF  NAPOLEON. 

he  held  in  reserve,  until  he  heard  that  the  Prussians  were 
advancing  to  the  aid  of  Wellington.  But  when  he  saw  these 
favourite  veterans  broken  by  the  withering  fire  of  the 
British,  he  turned  pale,  and  crying  out,  u  They  are  mixed 
together,"  he  rode  fast  from  the  field. 

When  he  got  to  Paris  and  saw  the  temper  of  the  nation, 
he  knew  that  his  day  of  rule  was  past.  On  the  22d  of  June 
he  signed  his  second  abdication,  which  was  in  favour  of 
his  son.  But  the  Allies,  who  entered  Paris  on  the  7th  of 
July,  annulled  this  deed,  and  reinstated  Louis  XVIII.  as 
King  of  France. 

Napoleon  then  went  to  Kochefort  with  the  view  of  escaping 
to  America ;  but  this  he  could  not  do,  because  the  British 
cruisers  watched  all  the  coast.  On  the  15th  of  July  he  went 
on  board  the  British  ship  Bellerophon  (Captain  Maitland), 
having  previously  written  to  the  Prince  Regent  to  say  that 
"  he  came,  like  Themistocles,  to  claim  the  hospitality  of  the 
British  people,  and  the  protection  of  their  laws."  The  ship 
sailed  to  Torbay,  where  Napoleon  received  word  that  the 
British  G-overnment  had  resolved  to  send  him  to  St.  Helena. 

The  Northumberland  carried  him  out  to  that  lonely  rock, 
which  he  reached  on  the  15th  of  October  1815.  And  there 
he  lived,  first  at  Briars  and  then  at  Longwood,  for  nearly 
six  years,  quarrelling  with  the  governor  and  dreaming  of  the 
glorious  past.  In  1818  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  on  the 
5th  of  May  1821  he  died  of  an  ulcer  in  the  stomach.  His 
body,  laid  at  first  in  Slane's  Valley,  near  a  clump  of  weeping 
willows,  was  borne  to  France  in  the  winter  of  1840,  and 
placed  with  brilliant  ceremony  in  the  Hotel  des  Invalides. 

The  character  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  is  a  threadbare 
theme.  Never  has  the  world  seen  ambition  so  brilliantly 
successful,  so  frightfully  reckless  of  human  life,  or  so  miser- 
able in  its  tragic  fall 

LATEST  SOVEREIGNS  OF  FRANCE. 

A.D. 

NAPOLEON  I,  (Emperor  of 


the  French) 1804 

LOUIS  XVIII.  (Comte  de  Pro- 
vence)  1814 

CHARLES  X.    (Comte  d'Ar- 
tois) 1834 


LOUIS      PHILIPPE      (Due 

d'Orleans) 1830 

REPUBLIC 1848 

NAPOLEON    III.    (Em- 
peror;  1852 


GENEALOGICAL 


311 


^ 

fl1^ 

Is 

£  3 

o  o 
O  8 


LUCIEN 
1775,  d. 
ince  of  G£ 


Si 

~ig£ 
-»j£3. 


312  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  TIL 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE  SINCE  1815. 


Second  Peace  of  Paris. 
State  of  Spain. 
Of  Portugal. 
Second  French  Revolu- 
tion. 
Louis  Napoleou. 


His  attempts  on  France. 

Third  French  Revolu- 
tion. 

Louis  Napoleon  Empe- 
ror 

The  Netherlands. 


Austrians  in  Italy. 

Pio  Nono. 

Greek    War   of    Inde- 

pendence. 

Hungarian  Struggle. 
Poland. 


THE  Second  Peace  of  Paris  was  signed  by  France  and  the 
Allies  on  the  20th  of  November  1815.  Its  terms  were  on 
the  whole  unfavourable  to  France,  for  her  frontier  was  con- 
tracted to  the  old  line  of  1790.  She  had  to  pay  .£28,000,000 
sterling  to  meet  the  cost  of  the  war,  and  a  still  larger  sum 
for  the  mischief  she  had  done  to  her  neighbours  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution ;  while  all  the  bronzes  and  pictures  and 
marbles,  which  Napoleon  had  gathered  into  the  Louvre, 
were  to  be  sent  back  to  the  cities  whence  they  had  been 
stolen.  At  the  same  time  two  other  treaties  were  concluded ; 
— one  by  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  and  England,  shutting 
out  the  Bonaparte  family  for  ever  from  the  throne  of  France  ; 
the  other,  called  the  Holy  Alliance,  binding  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Prussia,  "  to  aid  one  another,  in  conformity  with  Holy 
Scripture,  on  every  occasion." 

SPAIN. — After  the  expulsion  of  Joseph  Bonaparte  in  1814, 
Ferdinand  VII.  was  restored  to  the  throne  of  Spain.  But  it 
seemed  impossible  for  Bourbons  to  reign  except  as  despots. 
Against  this  the  Spanish  spirit  rebelled  ;  and  in  1820  a 
rising  of  the  soldiers  forced  Ferdinand  to  restore  to  the 
people  the  Constitution  of  1812,  which  was  almost  republican. 
This  was  the  opposite  extreme,  and  did  not  mend  the  matter ; 
for  the  republican  party,  when  they  felt  the  power  in  their 
hands,  used  it  anything  but  well.  It  was  resolved,  there- 
fore, at  a  Congress  of  European  powers  held  at  Verona,  to 
re-establish  the  authority  of  the  Spanish  King.  In  1823  a 
French  force  of  100,000  men,  under  the  Duke  dAngouleme, 
entered  Spain,  and  with  little  trouble  overthrew  the  Con- 
stitutionalists. The  king  then  renewed  all  the  machinery 


SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL.  3J:3 

of  despotism  ;  and  so  lie  continued  to  rule,  until  in  1833  he 
died.  His  daughter,  Isabella  II.,  being  then  only  three 
years  old,  the  queen-mother,  Christina,  was  appointed  regent. 
But  Don  Carlos,  the  brother  of  the  dead  king,  claimed  the 
throne,  and  a  desolating  civil  war  began  to  rage.  Some  aid 
from  Britain  was  given  to  the  queen,  whose  cause  triumphed 
in  1840.  Almost  ever  since,  Spain  has  been  in  a  troubled 
state.  In  1854  a  revolution  broke  out,  of  which  the  chief 
centres  were  Barcelona  and  Madrid.  Then  a  National  Junta 
was  established  ;  and  the  queen-mother,  who,  driven  from 
Spain  in  1840,  had  returned  in  1844,  was  again  obliged  to 
leave  the  land.  Matters  grew  steadily  worse  during  the  next 
few  years.  In  1868,  Queen  Isabella  was  formally  deposed. 
Two  years  later,  she  tried  to  secure  the  crown  for  her  son 
Alfonso,  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  by  abdicating  in  his  favour. 
But  the  device  failed.  The  Spanish  people  elected  as  king 
Amadeo,  second  son  of  Victor  Emanuel  of  Italy,  and  he 
entered  Madrid  in  January  1871.  For  two  years  he  strove 
to  reconcile  the  factions  by  which  the  country  was  torn. 
His  difficulties  were  increased  by  a  Carlist  war,  which  broke 
out  in  1872.  Disheartened  by  the  hopelessness  of  his  task, 
Amadeo  abdicated  in  1873,  and  returned  to  Italy.  A 
republic  was  then  proclaimed ;  but  the  failure  of  its  generals 
against  the  Carlists  brought  it  into  disrepute.  Monarchy 
was  again  resolved  on.  Alfonso,  Isabella's  son,  was  chosen 
to  be  king,  and  he  entered  Madrid  early  in  1875. 

PORTUGAL. — When  in  1807  Napoleon  issued  one  of  his 
haughty  edicts,  declaring  that  the  House  of  Braganza  had 
ceased  to  reign  over  Portugal,  the  royal  family  of  that  land 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  Brazil,  where  the  Eegent  John  con- 
tinued to  live  even  after  he  became  king  in  1816.  This 
absenteeism  greatly  displeased  the  people  of  Portugal,  who, 
catching  fire  from  their  Spanish  neighbours,  rose  and  estab- 
lished a  new  Constitution.  In  1821  the  court  returned  from 
Brazil,  which  was  soon  finally  severed  from  the  crown  of 
Portugal,  Don  Pedro,  the  son  of  John,  becoming  Emperor 
of  Brazil  in  1826.  By  thus  choosing  the  crown  of  Brazil, 
Pedro  left  that  of  Portugal  to  his  little  daughter,  Maria  II. 
But  her  uncle  Miguel  usurped  the  tlmnu\  and  a  civil  war 
ensued,  in  which  the  British  helped  Pedro  and  his  daughter. 


314  SECOND  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

The  defeat  of  Miguel's  navy  in  1833,  off  Cape  St.  Viiicent, 
by  Admiral  Napier,  brought  the  war  to  a  close,  throwing 
Lisbon  into  the  hands  of  Pedro.  Donna  Maria  reigned  from 
1834,  when  she  was  declared  of  age  by  the  Cortes,  until  her 
death,  which  happened  in  1854.  Her  son  Pedro  V.  then 
became  king;  He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Luis  I.,  in 
1861. 

FRANCE. — The  history  of  France  since  1815  is  full  of 
change.  When  Louis  XVIII.  died  in  1824,  his  brother  be- 
came king  with  the  title  of  Charles  X.  This  king,  like  all 
his  Bourbon  kindred  and  our  own  unhappy  Stuarts,  had  a 
mania  for  despotic  rule.  He  could  not — poor  blind  king — 
read  the  lessons  written  in  French  blood  upon  those  pages  of 
the  national  story  which  had  not  long  been  closed.  In  1827 
he  disbanded  the  Civic  Guard.  In  1830,  aided  by  a  minister, 
Polignac,  as  blind  and  foolish  as  himself,  he  issued  three 
ordinances,  which  kindled  the  Second  French  Revolution. 
These  were  : — 1.  That  the  liberty  of  the  press  was  suspended  ; 
2.  That  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  dissolved  before  it 
had  met ;  3.  That  the  elections  were  to  be  made  by  the  pre- 
fects, who  were  all  creatures  of  the  government. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  July,  Charles  went  out  to 
hunt  rabbits  at  St.  Cloud,  little  dreaming  of  a  brooding 
storm.  Next  day  many  of  the  morning  newspapers  were  pub- 
lished in  defiance  of  the  royal  edict ;  upon  which  the  police 
broke  into  the  offices  and  smashed  the  presses.  Throughout 
that  day  the  streets  were  crowded  with  men  and  women,  so 
angry  and  excited  that  Marmont  thought  it  best  about  four 
o'clock  to  put  the  troops  under  arms.  There  was  some 
skirmishing  ;  but  at  night  all  seemed  so  quiet  that  Marmont, 
thrown  off  his  guard,  sent  word  to  the  king  that  the  riot 
was  subdued.  That  night  the  street  lamps  were  broken, 
and  the  paving-stones  torn  up  to  form  barricades. 
1830  The  28th  dawned  upon  a  more  stirring  scene.  Men, 

A.D.  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  disbanded  Guards, 
hurried  along  with  the  tricolor  cockade  in  their 
hats.  A  sharp  fire  of  musketry  from  the  barricades  and  the 
windows  of  the  houses  drove  back  the  soldiers  everywhere, 
while  paving-stones  rained  on  them  from  the  roofs.  Point 
after  point  was  won  by  the  people,  until  the  night  set  in. 


EARLY  LIFE  OF  LOUIS  NAPOLEON.  315 

Next  day  (29th),  the  desertion  of  some  regiments  to  the  in- 
surgents strengthened  the  cause  of  Revolution  so  much  that 
before  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Paris  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  people.  A  provisional  government  was  appointed  ; 
and  in  a  few  days  Louis  Philippe,  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  son 
of  Egalite,  was  elected  King  of  the  French.  Charles  took 
refuge  at  Holyrood  Palace,  Edinburgh,  where  he  lived  for 
some  time.  He  died  at  Gra'tz  in  Austria  in  1836. 

The  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  lasted  from  1830  to  1848. 
The  man  whom  he  would  have  dreaded  most,  if  he  could 
have  foreseen  the  future,  was  Louis  Napoleon,  afterwards 
Emperor.  He  was  the  son  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  once  King 
of  Holland,  and  was  born  at  Paris  in  1808.  His  mother, 
Hortense,  went,  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  to  Switzerland ; 
and  while  her  boys  were  growing  up,  she  used  to  spend  the 
summers  there,  and  the  winters  at  Rome.  After  the  Revo- 
lution of  1830,  Louis  Napoleon  wrote  to  Louis  Philippe  for 
leave  to  return  to  France,  offering  to  carry  a  musket  in  the 
ranks  as  a  common  private.  This  being  refused,  he  joined 
the  revolutionary  party  in  Italy,  and  saw  some  service 
against  the  Papal  troops  ;  but  he  was  soon  obliged  to  settle 
down  to  a  quiet  literary  life  in  Switzerland.  The  death  of 
the  Due  de  Reichstadt  gave  a  new  hope  to  his  life.  Thence- 
forward he  devoted  himself  to  the  restoration  of  the  Napo- 
leon dynasty  in  France.  His  works,  some  of  which  were 
written  in  his  Swiss  seclusion,  all  bear  the  stamp  of  this 
great  purpose. 

When  the  time  seemed  ripe  for  the  execution  of  his  plans, 
Louis  Napoleon  came  to  Baden,  and  there  met  with  Colonel 
Vaudry,  who  commanded  the  artillery  in  Strasbourg.  On 
the  30th  of  October  1836,  Vaudry  assembled  his  men  in  the 
square  of  the  artillery  barracks  at  Strasbourg,  and  presented 
to  them  Louis  as  the  nephew  of  the  late  emperor.  A  cheer 
was  raised,  and  all  seemed  well ;  but  the  other  colonels  of 
the  garrison  were  not  so  enthusiastic.  Then  came  hesitation 
among  the  soldiers,  fatal  to  the  design.  Louis  was  arrested, 
and  all  hope  was  gone.  It  did  not  seem  a  very  formidable 
affair  to  the  French  government,  and  the  only  sentence 
passed  was  banishment  from  France.  Louis  went  to  Amerii-i , 
where  he  travelled  much  both  in  the  Northern  and  Southern 


316  THIRD  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

Continents.  The  illness  of  his  mother,  who  died  in  1837, 
called  him  back  to  Europe.  He  stayed  a  while  in  Switzer- 
land ;  but,  when  he  found  Louis  Philippe  demanding  from 
the  Swiss  that  he  should  be  banished  from  their  cantons,  he 
went  to  England.  There  he  lived  for  about  two  years,  until, 
growing  tired  of  inaction,  he  resolved  again  to  try  his  fortune 
on  French  soil.  "With  Count  Montholon,  fifty  other  friends, 
and  a  tame  eagle,  he  sailed  from  Margate  in  a  hired  steam- 
boat, and  landed  on  the  6th  of  August  1840  at  Boulogne. 
His  first  move  was  to  the  barracks.  But  the  soldiers  would 
not  surrender  ;  and  the  crest-fallen  invaders,  after  a  few 
shots,  made  for  their  steamer  again.  Before  they  could  get 
on  board,  however,  most  of  them  were  arrested,  Louis 
Napoleon  among  the  rest.  He  was  tried  before  the  Peers, 
defended  by  Berryer  with  great  eloquence,  but  sentenced  to 
perpetual  imprisonment.  Ham  was  the  fortress  chosen  as 
his  prison  ;  and  there  he  lay  until  1846,  when,  aided  by  Dr. 
Conneau,  he  managed  to  escape  in  the  dress  of  a  workman. 
England  became  again  his  home,  until  the  great  change  of 
1848  opened  for  him  a  new  theatre  of  action. 

Louis  Philippe  was  no  favourite  with  the  French  people, 
especially  after  the  death  of  his  son  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
who  was  thrown  from  his  carriage  in  1842.  Murmurs  grew 
loud  and  deep  against  the  corruptions  of  the  government. 
The  crisis  came  in  1848,  when  a  reform  banquet,  appointed 
to  take  place  on  the  22nd  of  February,  which  was  the  birth- 
day of  the  great  American  Washington,  was  forbidden  by 
the  government.  That  evening  there  was  a  riot  round  the 
tavern  where  the  banquet  was  to  have  taken  place.  The 
next  day  (23rd)  barricades  were  thrown  up,  and  some  firing 
was  heard.  Louis,  alarmed,  dismissed  the  Guizot  ministry, 
and  on  the  24th  issued  a  proclamation  that  Thiers  and  Odil- 
lon  Barrot  were  to  take  the  direction  of  affairs.  It  was  too 
late.  The  troops  gave  up  their  muskets  to  the  mob,  the 
Tuileries  were  broken  into,  and  a  great  bonfire  was  made  of 
the  throne  and  the  royal  carriages.  Louis  Philippe  hurried 
through  the  private  garden  away  to  St.  Cloud,  to  Versailles, 
and  soon  over  to  England.  There  he  died  at  Claremont 
(August  26,  1850). 

France  was  now  a  Republic  once  more  ;  but  the  tumults 


COUP  D  ETAT  OF  DECEMBER  '51.  317 

of  the  change  were  not  yet  over.  The  Eed  Eepublicans  or 
violent  democratic  party  made  several  efforts  to  gain  the 
upper  hand,  and  renew  the  horrors  of  the  guillotine.  Espe- 
cially in  June  there  was  a  fierce  struggle,  lasting  five  days, 
during  which  many  thousands  were  slain  in  the  streets  of 
Paris.  The  firmness  of  General  Cavaignac  restored  order 
and  saved  Trance.  A  new  Constitution,  vesting  the  execu- 
tive power  in  a  President  of  the  Eepublic,  who  should  be 
chosen  by  all  the  people,  and  should  hold  office  for  four 
years,  was  adopted  on  the  4th  of  November  ;  and  in  Decem- 
ber Louis  Napoleon,  who  had  been  in  June  elected  deputy 
for  the  department  of  Seine,  and  had  taken  his  seat  in  Sep- 
tember on  the  benches  of  the  National  Assembly,  was,  by 
the  votes  of  five  millions  and  a  half  of  the  French  people, 
elected  President  of  the  Republic. 

He  never  agreed  well  with  the  Assembly,  and  it  was  soon 
manifest  that  one  or  other  must  be  crushed.  One  night  the 
President  was  in  remarkably  gay  spirits  in  the  brilliant  ball- 
room of  the  Tuileries,  chatting  and  laughing  with  all  his 
guests.  The  carriages  had  scarcely  ceased  to  roll  away,  when 
bands  of  soldiers  began  to  move  silently  through 
the  streets.  Next  morning  Paris  was  in  the  Presi-  Dec.  2, 
dent's  hands  ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition,  1851 
who  had  been  seized  in  their  beds,  were  fast  locked  A-D- 
within  the  walls  of  Vincennes.  On  all  the  walls  of 
Paris  a  decree  of  Napoleon  was  posted,  proclaiming  that  the 
Assembly  was  dissolved,  that  universal  suffrage  was  restored, 
and  that  Paris  was  under  martial  law.  This  was  the  coup 
d'etat  of  December.  On  the  4th,  some  eight  hundred  of 
those  who  rose  to  resist  the  blow  fell  by  the  bullets  of  the 
soldiers.  A.nd  on  the  14th  of  the  following  January  a  new 
Constitution  placed  in  the  hands  of  Louis  Napoleon  the 
government  of  France  for  ten  years.  The  cry  "  Vive 
VEmpereur!"  now  began,  after  a  silence  of  nearly  forty 
years,  to  be  heard  again  in  France  ;  and,  after  wisely  allow- 
ing the  idea  to  leaven  the  public  mind  for  nearly  a  year,  the 
nephew  of  the  little  Corsican  ascended  the  steps  of  an 
imperial  throne  as  Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of  the  French 
(December  1852). 

The  maintenance  of  a  close  alliance  with  Britain,  com- 


318  HOLLAND  AND  BELGIUM. 

mercial  and  political,  was  a  chief  object  of  the  new  emperor's 
policy.  When  Turkey  asked  for  help  to  resist  the  encroach- 
ments of  Russia,  France  and  Britain  formed  an  alliance  in 
her  aid  ;  and  French  and  British  soldiers  shared  the  honours 
of  the  Alma  and  of  Inkermann.  In  1859  Napoleon  helped 
Italy  to  recover  most  of  her  northern  provinces  from  Austria, 
receiving  Savoy  and  Nice  as  the  reward  of  his  services. 

The  emperor  regarded  with  jealousy  the  increasing  power 
of  Prussia.  The  manner  in  which  that  power  prevented  his 
purchase  of  Luxemburg  from  Holland  in  1867,  imbittered 
his  feelings  toward  her.  The  conduct  of  Prussia  in  connec- 
tion with  the  vacant  Spanish  throne  in  1870  displeased 
France.  The  explanations  offered  were  deemed  unsatisfac- 
tory, and  France  declared  war.  Napoleon  had  both  miscal- 
culated his  own  resources  and  under-estimated  those  of  his 
enemy.  Before  the  war  had  lasted  many  weeks  his  armies 
were  crushed,  and  he  himself  was  forced  to  surrender  at 
Sedan  (September  1,  1870).  The  Parisians  then  abolished 
the  empire  and  proclaimed  a  republic.  The  Prussian  armies 
gradually  closed  around  Paris,  which  surrendered  after  a 
brave  defence  of  four  months  (January  28,  1871).  The  war 
was  terminated  by  the  Peace  of  Frankfort,  by  which  most 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were  transferred  to  Prussia. 

Paris  was  then  seized  by  insurgent  Communists,  and  was 
besieged  by  the  forces  of  the  National  Assembly  meeting  at 
Versailles.  Not  till  they  had  tried  the  power  and  the 
patience  of  the  Assembly  for  three  months  did  the  insur- 
gents surrender.  M.  Theirs  was  elected  first  president  of 
the  new  republic.  He  resigned  in  1873,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Marshal  M'Mahon.  The  ex-emperor  died  in  England 
in  1873. 

HOLLAND  AND  BELGIUM. — After  the  abdication  of  Louis 
Napoleon  in  1810,  the  Netherlands  were  annexed  to  the 
French  empire  ;  and  so  continued  until  1813,  when  the  people 
rose,  shook  off  the  French  yoke,  and  recalled  the  House  of 
Orange  to  be  their  rulers.  In  1815  the  seven  northern  and 
the  ten  southern  provinces  were  united  under  William  I.  into 
the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands.  But  the  Belgians  were 
kept  down  with  too  strict  a  hand,  and  when  the  French 
Revolution  of  1830  took  place,  the  men  of  Brussels,  fired  by 


ITALIAN  AFFAIRS.  319 

the  example  of  their  neighbours,  turned  on  the  Dutch 
soldiers,  and  after  four  days'  fighting  drove  them  from  the 
city  (August  1830).  Belgium  was  then  declared  free,  and 
the  people  looked  round  them  for  a  king.  The  Due  de 
Nemours,  second  son  of  Louis  Philippe,  had  the  first  offer  of 
the  newly-erected  throne ;  but  the  old  French  king  refused 
it  for  his  son.  The  crown  was  then  accepted  by  Prince 
Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  who  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  in  1865.  Antwerp  was  the  only  place  still  held  by  the 
Dutch.  But  a  French  army  of  65,000  men  entered  Belgium, 
to  enforce  the  will  of  the  five  great  European  powers  that 
had  acknowledged  the  independence  of  Belgium,  and  Ant- 
werp fell  after  a  month's  siege.  Belgium  has  thriven  rapidly 
since  this  great  change. 

ITALY. — Austria,  after  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  hung  like 
a  millstone  round  the  neck  of  Italy.  The  deadly  weight  was 
felt  from  the  Alps  to  Spartivento.  Austrians  swarmed  in 
the  basin  of  the  Po,  and  creatures  of  Austria  wore  the 
coronets  of  Tuscany,  Modena,  and  Parma.  When  Pio  Nono 
became  Pope  in  1846,  he  began  to  make  some  useful  changes 
among  the  people  of  the  Papal  States.  The  Austrians, 
alarmed  at  any  signs  of  growing  freedom,  entered  Ferrara  in 
1847,  and  all  Central  Italy  rose  in  arms  against  the  tyrants. 
The  following  year  saw  the  flame  of  revolution  kindled  in 
Lombardy.  Radetsky  and  his  Austrian  soldiers  were  driven 
from  Milan ;  and  Charles  Albert,  King  of  Sardinia,  took  the 
field  against  them.  But  the  hou?  of  triumph  was  short. 
Radetsky  soon  reconquered  Lombardy  and  invaded  Sardinia. 
Venice,  too,  had  revolted,  and  had  proclaimed  the  Republic 
of  St.  Mark,  but  was  retaken  by  the  Austrians.  There  was 
war  also  in  Sicily.  In  1848  the  well-meaning  but  feeble 
Pope  had  to  flee  to  Gaeta,  and  his  people  proclaimed  a  Roman 
Republic.  This,  however,  was  overthrown  by  a  French 
army  under  Oudinot,  by  whom  Rome  was  besieged  and  taken 
in  the  summer  of  1849.  The  Pope  was  then  restored  to  his 
chair,  but  not  to  the  hearts  of  the  Romans. 

The  recovery  of  Lombardy  and  Tuscany  from  Austria  with 
the  help  of  France  in  1859  has  already  been  referred  to.  In 
1861  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy  was  proclaimed,  with  Victor 
Emanuel  as  king.  When  Prussia  declared  war  against 


320  THE  GREEK  REVOLUTION. 

Austria  in  1866,  Italy  joined  Prussia,  hoping  to  recover 
Venetia.  Italy  was  defeated  both  by  land  and  by  sea,  but 
she  nevertheless  gained  Yenetia,  which  had  been  handed 
over  to  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle.  In  1870, 
owing  chiefly  to  the  efforts  of  Garibaldi,  Rome  was  incor- 
porated with  Italy ;  and  in  the  following  year  Victor 
Emanuel  made  it  his  capital.  The  temporal  power  of  the 
Popes,  begun  in  754,  then  came  to  an  end. 

GREECE. — For  more  than  three  centuries  the  Turks  had 
ground  Greece  in  an  unhappy  bondage.  The  crushed  worm 
turned  at  last.  In  March  1821,  Major  Ypsilanti,  a  Greek 
holding  the  commission  of  the  Russian  Czar,  roused  his 
countrymen  to  arms  in  Moldavia.  He  was  met  by  whole- 
sale butchery ;  his  army  was  cut  to  pieces ;  he  fled  to  Trieste, 
where  he  was  seized  by  the  Austrians.  The  rage  of  the 
Turks  was  specially  directed  against  the  Greek  clergy,  who 
were  murdered  by  dozens.  But  the  fire  of  revolution  was 
kindled,  and  it  spread  fast.  A  ten  years'  war  began.  In 
1822  the  Greeks  met  at  Epidaurus  to  proclaim  a  provisional 
government  under  Alexander  Mavrocordato.  Vainly  the 
Turks  strove  to  quench  the  flames  in  blood.  The  fair  island 
of  Scio  was  wasted  with  fire  and  sword;  but  this  only 
roused  the  Greeks  to  greater  fury.  With  fire-ships  they 
greatly  crippled  the  navy  of  the  Turks,  and  on  land  they 
won  the  strong  fortress  of  Napoli  di  Romania.  Foremost 
among  the  patriot-Greeks  were  the  brave  Suliotes,  a  moun- 
tain tribe,  whose  leader,  Marco  Botzaris,  met  a  soldier's 
death  while  repelling  a  Turkish  attempt  to  break  through 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  into  the  Morea.  Byron  flung  his 
wasted  energies  into  the  Greek  cause ;  and  many  of  his  songs, 
written  under  this  inspiration,  stir  the  heart  like  the  blast  of 
a  trumpet.  But  his  early  death  at  Missolonghi,  in  1824,  de- 
prived Greece  of  a  devoted  friend.  Up  to  this  time  .the 
government  of  Greece  had  been  conducted  with  much  dis- 
order and  irregularity.  But  now  order  began  to  develop 
itself.  Taxes  were  justly  levied;  the  public  credit  was 
firmly  established  ;  justice  was  administered  ;  the  liberty  of 
the  press  was  allowed;  and  education  was  promoted.  To 
these  good  things  there  was,  however,  much  opposition.  A 
civil  war  arose,  which  greatly  hampered  the  movements  of 


GREECE  MADE  A  KINGDOM.  321 

the  patriots.  Torn  by  dissensions,  the  Greek  councils  and 
armies  lost  power.  An  addition  to  the  Turkish  force  came 
from  Egypt,  under  Ibrahim  Pacha,  who  landed  in  the  Morea, 
and  began  at  once  a  career  of  victory.  The  fall  of  Misso- 
loiighi  in  April  1826  seemed  to  lay  the  hopes  of  Greece  in 
the  dust  for  ever.  Yet  this  very  hour  of  black  darkness 
heralded  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  brighter  day.  Christian 
Europe  was  roused  from  her  neutrality.  In  the  year  1827, 
three  leading  powers — Britain,  France,  and  Russia — signed 
at  London  a  treaty  for  the  pacification  of  Greece.  It  was 
submitted  to  the  Divan  at  Constantinople,  but  was  haughtily 
rejected.  Matters,  indeed,  looked  bad  for  Greece.  The 
Turks  held  all  Eastern  and  Western  Hellas ;  there  was  dis- 
union in  the  Morea  ;  the  National  Government  had  fled  to 
Egina,  and  had  chosen  Count  Capo  d'Istria  to  be  their  presi- 
dent. At  this  crisis  a  British  fleet  appeared  in  the  Greek 
waters,  and  was  soon  joined  by  French  and  Russian  ships. 
The  admirals  demanded  peace  ;  and,  when  it  was  refused, 
they  sailed  into  the  harbour  of  Navarino,  where,  in  a  battle 
of  four  hours7  duration,  they  utterly  destroyed  the  Turkish- 
Egyptian  fleet  (October  20,  1827).  In  the  following  year  a 
great  Russian  army  crossed  the  Pruth ;  and  on  the  20th  of 
August  1829,  Adrian  ople,  which  lies  only  130  miles  from 
Constantinople,  fell  before  their  victorious  march.  Blows 
like  these  forced  the  Sultan  to  conclude  the  Peace  of  Ad- 
rianople,  by  which  he  acknowledged  the  independence  of 
Greece.  It  then  remained  to  settle  the  government  of  the 
newly  freed  land.  Greece  was  raised  into  a  kingdom,  and 
the  crown  was  conferred  on  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg.  He 
held  it  only  three  months,  resigning  on  the  ground  that  the 
Greeks  were  dissatisfied  with  his  rule.  Otho,  a  Bavarian 
prince,  then  (1832)  received  the  vacant  throne,  but  was 
driven  from  it  in  1863.  Prince  George  of  Denmark  then 
accepted  the  crown,  with  the  title,  King  of  the  Hellenes 
or  Greeks.  The  Ionian  Isles,  which  had  been  under  the 
protection  of  Great  Britain  since  1815,  were  annexed  to 
Greece  in  1864. 

HUNGARY. — The  Magyars,  whose  settlement  in  the  basin 
of  the  Danube  has  been  already  noticed,  form  the  flower  of 
the  Hungarian  nation.  They  number  about  6,000,000, 


322  DEFEAT  OF  THE  HUNGARIANS. 

forming  two-fifths  of  the  population  ;  the  remainder  of  which 
is  made  up  chiefly  of  Croats,  Servians,  and  other  Sclavonic 
tribes.  Much  discontent  was  alive  among  the  Magyars,  ow- 
ing to  the  attempts  of  Austria  to  destroy  the  nationality  of 
Hungary  ;  and  when  the  Servians  and  Croats  showed  a  dis- 
position to  side  with  Austria  in  this  design,  war  broke  out 
between  the  Magyars  and  these  Sclavonic  tribes.  Jellachich, 
ban  or  governor  of  Croatia,  invading  Hungary,  moved  upon 
the  capital,  Pesth,  but  was  soon  obliged  to  retreat.  Fore- 
most among  the  Hungarian  patriots,  whose  eloquence  roused 
the  land  to  arms,  was  Lajos  or  Louis  Kossuth,  a  man  of 
noble  parentage,  who  followed  the  profession  of  the  law,  and 
had  already  wielded  a  powerful  influence  over  the  nation  as 
editor  of  the  Pesti-Hirlap  or  Pesth  Journal.  Then  an  im- 
portant change  took  place  at  Vienna.  The  Emperor  Fer- 
dinand abdicated  in  favour  of  his  nephew  Francis  Joseph, 
whom  the  Hungarians  refused  to  receive  as  their  king. 
This  kindled  the  war  in  earnest.  In  December  1848  the 
Austrian  armies  began  to  move  by  nine  converging  lines 
towards  the  capital  of  Hungary.  Almost  without  a  shot 
Pesth  yielded  to  the  Austrians,  while  Kossuth  and  the  Par- 
liament retired  to  Debreczin.  The  Hungarian  armies  were 
placed  first  under  Dembinski,  and  then  under  Gorgei,  whose 
fidelity  to  his  country  was  more  than  suspected.  In  April 
1849  he  won  a  brilliant  series  of  victories,  which  all  but  ex- 
pelled the  Austrians  from  Hungary.  But  instead  of  follow- 
ing up  these  blows  by  marching  on  Vienna,  he  delayed  to 
besiege  Buda.  Thus  Vienna  was  saved.  The  Hungarian 
Diet  then  declared  the  land  free  (April  14,  1849),  and 
appointed  Kossuth  governor  of  Hungary.  Roused  again  by 
this  daring  step,  Austria  applied  for  aid  to  Russia.  Early 
in  June  400,000  Austrians  and  Russians  entered  Hungary 
at  Presburg.  They  were  led  by  Marshal  Haynau,  whose 
name  has  become  infamous  on  account  of  his  cruelties.  He 
was  the  man  who  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  from  the 
furious  draymen  of  Barclay  and  Perkins,  when  he  went  to 
visit  the  brewery  in  London.  On  the  19th  of  July  Haynau 
reached  Pesth,  where  he  wreaked  his  mean  and  brutal  re- 
venge on  some  of  the  high-spirited  ladies  of  Hungary,  whom 
he  publicly  flogged.  Day  after  day  the  hopes  of  Hungary 


GERMANY.  323 

grew  dim  and  dimmer,  until  the  decisive  battle  of  Temeswar, 
where  the  ammunition  of  the  Hungarians  ran  short,  com- 
pletely broke  up  the  southern  army  of  the  patriots  (August 
9,  1849).  Kossuth  laid  down  his  office,  and  Gorge!  became 
supreme  ;  but  this  traitor  made  use  of  his  power  to  betray 
his  country.  On  the  13th  of  September  he  surrendered 
with  his  whole  army  and  all  his  cannon  to  the  Eussian 
general.  It  was  a  fearful  day  for  Hungary  ;  and  all  through 
the  ranks  of  the  patriot  army  bitter  curses  were  heard.  One 
officer,  snapping  his  sword  in  pieces,  threw  it  at  Gorgei's 
feet.  Hussars  shot  their  horses,  and  many  regiments  burned 
their  banners  rather  than  give  them  up  to  the  foe.  Kossuth 
gave  himself  up  to  the  Turks  at  Widdin,  and  lay  in  various 
prisons  till  August  1851,  when  he  was  set  free  by  the  inter- 
vention of  England  and  America.  Thereafter  he  lived  in 
the  United  States,  in  London,  and  in  Italy. 

In  the  war  between  Prussia  and  Austria  in  1866,  several 
Hungarian  legions  joined  the  Prussian  army.  After  the 
Peace  of  Prague,  the  government  of  Hungary  was  reformed 
on  moderate-liberal  principles.  Austria  and  Hungary  were 
made  coordinate  kingdoms  under  the  same  sovereign.  The 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria  was  crowned  King  of 
Hungary  at  Buda  in  1867. 

Poland  has  not  been  behind  in  her  valiant  struggles  for 
liberty  during  this  century.  In  1830  the  army  of  Warsaw 
declared  in  favour  of  the  people,  and  the  Diet  soon  declared 
the  throne  of  Poland  vacant.  The  Bussians  were  beaten  in 
the  battle  of  Growchow,  near  Praga,  with  the  loss  of  7000 
men.  They  were  yet  more  signally  defeated  at  Ostrolenka 
(May  1831)  ;  but  the  recapture  of  Warsaw  by  the  soldiers  of 
the  Czar,  in  September,  blasted  the  budding  promise  of 
Poland's  freedom.  The  Poles  made  another  serious  struggle 
against  their  oppressors  in  1846;  and,  during  the  Eussian 
war  in  the  Crimea,  their  hopes  were  high  that  Britain  and 
France  would  stretch  out  powerful  hands  to  raise  Poland 
once  more  to  her  ancient  place  among  the  thrones  of  Europe ; 
but  the  dream  was  not  realized,  and  Poland  still  lies  beneath 
the  heel  of  Eussia. 

GERMANY. — Prussia  has  made  more  rapid  strides  than  any 
other  European  power  during  late  years.  Her  position  and 


324  GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

extent  long  ago  marked  her  as  the  rival  of  Austria  for 
supremacy  in  Germany.  The  actual  contest  declared  itself 
in  1848,  when  Schleswig  and  Holstein  tried  to  secure  their 
independence.  They  were  encouraged  by  Prussia,  but 
opposed  by  Austria.  In  the  following  year  the  Diet  voted 
Austria  out  of  the  empire,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  heredi- 
tary Emperor  ;  but  the  decision  was  held  to  be  informal,  as 
only  half  of  the  states  had  voted.  In  1864  the  rivals 
appeared  as  allies  in  a  short  but  successful  raid  on  Denmark, 
from  whom  they  wrested  Schleswig  and  Holstein.  Two 
years  later  the  rivals  quarrelled  over  the  spoil,  Prussia 
claiming  both  principalities  for  herself.  The  Seven  Weeks' 
War  followed,  in  which  Austria  was  humiliated.  The  old 
Germanic  Confederation  was  dissolved.  A  new  North 
German  Confederation  (including  states  north  of  the  Main) 
was  formed,  with  Prussia  at  its  head,  the  states  south  of  the 
Main  forming  a  South  German  Confederation. 

When  France  declared  war  against  Prussia  in  1870, 
Napoleon  anticipated  that  he  would  secure  the  aid  both  of 
Austria  and  of  the  South  German  States.  He  was  dis- 
appointed in  both  particulars.  Austria  held  aloof  from  the 
contest.  The  Southern  States  joined  Prussia.  From  that 
moment  German  unity  became  a  certainty.  The  success  of 
the  combined  armies  hastened  its  realization.  While  they 
were  still  encircling  Paris,  the  confederations  of  1860  were 
abolished,  and  all  the  German  states  except  Austria  were 
combined  in  a  new  German  Empire,  under  the  hereditary 
supremacy  of  Prussia.  King  William  of  Prussia  was  pro- 
claimed Emperor  of  Germany  at  Versailles. 

GREAT    NAMES    OF    THE    EIGHTH    PERIOD. 

MOZART  (J.  C.  W.  A.).— Born  at  Salzburg,  January  27,  1756— a  great 
musician — lived  much  at  Vienna — chief  works,  '  Don  Giovanni,' 
and  the  celebrated  '  Requiem,'  the  latter  written  on  his  death- 
bed—died of  fever,  December  5,  1792,  aged  36. 

MARMONTEL  (JEAN  FRANCOIS).— Born  at  Bort  in  Limousin  in 
1723 — a  writer  of  dramas  and  romances— chief  works,  '  Contes 
Moraux,'  and  '  Belisaire ' — died  at  Abbeville  in  1799,  aged  76. 

SCHILLER  (FRIEDRICH).— Born  at  Marbach  on  the  Neckar,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1759— made  Professor  of  History  at  Jena  in  1789— the 
great  dramatist  of  Germany— chief  works,  'William  Tel)/  and 


GREAT  NAMES  OF  THE  EIGHTH  PERIOD.  325 

'  Wallenstein  '—wrote  also  a  '  History  of  the  Thirty  Years'  Wai* 
—died  in  May  1805,  aged  46, 

HAYDN  (JOSEPH).— Born  at  Rohrau,  near  Vienna,  M^rch  31,  1732 
— a  great  musical  genius— father  of  modern  orchestral  music 
— greatest  work,  *  The  Creation/  an  oratorio — died  29th  May 
1809,  aged  77. 

WIELAND  (CHRISTOPHER).— Born  at  Oberholzheim  in  Suabia, 
Septembers,  1733— a  leading  German  writer —chief  poem,  the 
epic  romance  of  '  Oberon,'  published  in  1780  —  best  novel, 
'  Agathon'— died  January  30,  1813,  aged  80. 

HEYNE  (CHR.).— Born  at  Chemnitz  in  Saxony,  in  1729  — a  great 
classical  scholar — Professor  at  Gottingen — published  editions  of 
Homer,  Virgil,  Pindar,  &c.,  &c. — died  July  1814,  aged  85. 

CANOVA  (ANTONIO).— Born  at  Possagno  in  the  Venetian  territory, 
November  1,  1757 — a  great  sculptor — famous  for  his  portraits 
of  Popes,  his  groups,  *  Cupid  and  Psyche,'  '  Hercules  and  Lycas/ 
the  '  Graces,'  &c. — died  in  October  1822,  aged  65. 

HERSCHEL  (WILLIAM).— Born  at  Hanover,  November  15,  1738— a 
great  astronomer — came  to  England  as  a  bandman  in  the  Hano- 
verian Guards — improved  the  reflecting  telescope — discovered 
Uranus  in  1781 — lived  much  at  Slough,  where  he  died  August 
23,  1822,  aged  84. 

BYRON  (GEORGE  GORDON,  LORD).— Born  in  London,  January  22, 
1788— one  of  the  leading  British  poets — his  chief  work  is  '  Childe 
Harold's  Pilgrimage,'  written  in  the  stanza  of  Spenser — died  at 
Missolonghi  of  fever,  April  19, 1824,  aged  36. 

WEBER  (CARL-MARIA  VON).— Born  at  Eutin  in  Holstein,  Decem- 
ber 1786 — a  distinguished  musician  of  the  German  school — his 
greatest  work,  'Der  Freischiitz,'  was  brought  out  in  1822  at 
Berlin— died  in  London,  June  5,  1826,  aged  40. 

BEETHOVEN  (LUDWIG  VON).— Born  at  Bonn,  December  17,  1770 
— a  great  musician — among  his  many  works  may  be  named  the 
'Mount  of  Olives/  an  oratorio;  and  '  Fidelio/  an  opera — died 
March  26,  1827,  aged  57. 

SCOTT  (SIR  WALTER).— Born  in  Edinburgh,  August  15,  1771— 
famed  as  a  poet,  and  still  more  so  as  a  novelist — began  with  a 
translation  of  Burger's  '  Leonora'  and  the  '  Wild  Huntsman  ' — 
chief  poems,  '  Lady  of  the  Lake/  and  '  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel ' 
—died  September  12,  1832,  aged  61. 

GOTHE  (JOHANN  WOLFGANG  VON).— Born  at  Frankfort  on  the 
Main,  August  28,  1749 — one  of  the  most  glorious  names  of 
Germany  —  chief  works,  '  Werther/  '  Wilhelm  Meister/  and 
'  Faust'— died  in  1832,  aged  83. 

NIEBUHR  (BARTHOLD  GEORGE).— Born  at  Copenhagen,  August 
27,  1776 — a  great  historian— lectured  at  Berlin  and  Bonn— chief 
work,  his  '  History  of  Rome'— died  January  2,  1831,  aged  55. 

CUVIER    (GEORGE,    BARON).  —  Born    at  Montbeliard  in  Doubs, 


326  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

August  23,  1769 — remarkable  as  a  naturalist— chief  works,  his 
'  Fossil  Bones/  and  the  *  Animal  Kingdom' — died  May  13, 1832, 
aged  63. 

NODIER  (CHARLES).— Born  at  Besanc.on  in  France,  April  29,  1780 
— a  poet  and  general  writer — his  '  Napoleone/  '  Jean  Sbogar/ 
and  '  Therese  Hubert/  are  well  known — died  January  27,  1844, 
a^ed  64. 

MENDELSSOHN  (FELIX).— Born  at  Hamburg,  February  3,  1809— a 
musician  of  the  highest  genius — chief  works,  his  music  for  the 
' Midsummer  Night's  Dream/  and  his  sublime  oratorios,  'St. 
Paul'  and  '  Elijah'— died  November  4,  1847,  aged  38. 

NEANDER  (JOHANN).-Born  at  Gottingen,  January  15,  1789— 
Professor  of  Theology  at  Berlin — chief  works,  his  '  History  of 
the  Christian  Church/  and  '  Life  of  Christ'— died  1850. 

BERANGER  (PIERRE  JEAN  DE).— Born  at  Paris,  August  19,  1780 
— a  noted  lyric  poet  of  France — he  published  five  collections  of 
songs — died  1857. 

HUMBOLDT  (ALEXANDER,  BARON  VON).— Born  at  Berlin,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1769 — the  greatest  descriptive  naturalist  of  our  day 
— chief  work,  his  '  Kosmos/  an  account  of  the  physical  pheno- 
mena of  the  universe — died  in  1859. 

RANKE  (LEOPOLD).— Born  at  Wiehe  in  Prussian  Saxony,  Decem- 
ber  21,  1795 — a  great  historian — professor  at  Berlin — chief 
work,  '  History  of  the  Popes.' 

LIEBIG  (JUSTUS,  BARON  VON).  — Born  at  Darmstadt,  May  8, 
1803 — a  great  living  chemist — professor  at  Munich — has  written 
much  on  the  chemistry  of  agriculture  and  physiology. 

EHRENBERG  (CHRISTIAN  GODFREY).  — Born  at  Delitsch  in 
Prussian  Saxony,  April  19,  1795— a  famous  naturalist  and 
rnicroscopist — chief  work  on  *'  Infusorial  Animalcules." 


CHRONOLOGY    OF    THE    EIGHTH    PERIOD. 

EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— Continued. 

A.D. 

The  Assembly  of  the  French  Notables ..1787 

Meeting  of  the  States-General 1789 

Opening  of  the  first  French  Revolution — 

The  National  or  Constituent  Assembly  begins  to  sit... June  20,    - 

Storming  of  the  Bastile July  14,    - 

The  March  of  Women  to  Versailles October  5,    - 

Death  of  Mirabeau 1791 

The  Legislative  Assembly  begins  to  sit October  1,    - 

Attack  on  the  Tuileries August  10,  1792 

Battle  of  Jemappes - 

The  National  Convention  begins  to  sit September  21,   - 

Louis  XVI,  of  France  guillotined January  21, 1793 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  EIGHTH  PERIOD.  327 

A.D. 

The  Reign  of  Terror 1793 

Execution  of  Robespierre July  28, 1794 

The  Directory  established 1795 

Bonaparte  scatters  the  National  Guard October  4, 1795 

His  splendid  Campaign  in  Italy 1796 

Battles  of  Lodi  and  Arcola — 

Treaty  of  Campo  Formic 1797 

The  Battle  of  the  Nile 1798 

Directory  overturned— Bonaparte  First  Consul 1799 

Passage  of  the  Alps May  1800 

Battle  of  Marengo June  14,    — 

NINETEENTH  CENTUKY. 

Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 1801 

Treaty  of  Luneville — 

Treaty  of  Amiens 1802 

Napoleon  made  First  Consul  for  life - 

Renewal  of  war 1803 

Napoleon  I.  elected  Emperor  of  the  French May  1804 

Battles  of  Trafalgar  and  Austerlitz 1805 

Treaty  of  Presburg - 

Battle  of  Jena 1806 

Battles  of  Eylau  and  Friedland 1807 

Opening  of  the  Peninsular  War 1808 

Battle  of  Wagram 1809 

Treaty  of  Schonbrunn — 

Napoleon,  being  excommunicated,  imprisons  the  Pope — 

Napoleon  marries  Maria  Louisa  of  Austria 1810 

Birth  of  Napoleon  II.  (Due  de  Reichstadt) 1811 

The  terrible  Russian  Campaign 1812 

Battles  of  Lutzen,  Bautzen,  Vittoria,  and  Leipsic 1813 

The  Allies  enter  Paris 1814 

Abdication  of  Napoleon — 

Battle  of  Waterloo June  18,  1815 

Second  Peace  of  Paris — 

Revolution  in  Spain 1820 

Rising  of  Ypsilanti  in  Moldavia 1821 

Greek  Congress  at  Epidaurus 1822 

Brazil  severed  from  Portugal - 

Accession  of  Charles  X.  of  France 1824 

Death  of  Lord  Byron — 

Fall  of  Missolonghi 1826 

Battle  of  Navarino 1827 

Second  French  Revolution 1830 

Revolution  in  Brussels — 

Otho  made  King  of  Greece  1832 


328  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

Reform  Bill  passed  in  England 1832 

Attempt  of  Louis  Napoleon  on  Strasbourg 1836 

Accession  of  Queen  Victoria 1837 

Attempt  of  Louis  Napoleon  on  Boulogne 1840 

Repeal  of  the  British  Corn  Laws 1846 

Pio  Nono  elected  Pope — 

Third  French  Revolution 1848 

Revolution  in  Milan — 

Louis  Napoleon  made  President December  — 

War  between  Hungary  and  Servia — 

Francis  Joseph  becomes  Emperor  of  Austria — 

Hungary  and  Austria  at  war December  1848 

Rome  besieged  and  taken  by  the  French 1849 

Hungarian  Independence  declared July  14,  — 

Battle  of  Temeswar— Utter  defeat  of  the  Hungarians  bjf  Haynau  — 

Death  of  Louis  Philippe 1850 

Great  Exhibition  in  London 1851 

Louis  Napoleon's  Coup  d'Etat December  2,  — 

Elected  Emperor  Napoleon  III December  1852 

Opening  of  the  Russian  War 1854 

Battles  of  Alma,  Balaklava,  and  Inkermann — 

Capture  of  Sebastopol 1855 

Battles  of  Magenta  and  Solferino 1859 

Abolition  of  Russian  Serfage — 

Civil  War  in  America — 

The  Ionian  Islands  annexed  to  Greece 1864 

Seven  Weeks'  War  (Prussia  and  Austria) 1866 

Abyssinian  War 1868 

Queen  Isabella  of  Spain  dethroned — 

Suez  Canal  opened  for  traffic 1869 

A  French  Atlantic  Cable  laid  between  Brest  and  St.  Pierre — 

France  declared  War  against  Prussia July  1870 

Surrender  of  Napoleon  III.  at  Sedan September  — 

French  Republic  proclaimed — 

Prince  Amadeo  of  Italy  elected  King  of  Spain 1871 

Surrender  of  Paris  to  the  Prussians January  — 

Peace  of  Frankfort:  Prussia  gains  Alsace  and  part  of  Lorraine...  - 

King  William  of  Prussia  proclaimed  Emperor  of  Germany — 

Communist  Insurrection  in  Paris March  to  May  — 

The  Mont  Cenis  Tunnel  opened  for  traffic — 

Rome  made  the  Capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy - 

Carlist  War  in  Spain 1872 

Geneva  award  on  the  Alabama  Claims  - 

Death  of  Napoleon  III.  in  England 1873 

Abdication  of  King  Amadeo  of  Spain:  a  Republic  proclaimed..  - 
Alfonso,  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  King  of  Spain 1875 


GEOGRAPHICAL   APPENDIX 


AUSTRIA  AND  HUNGARY. 

AUSTRIA,  meaning  simply  East  Dominion,  got  its  name  about  1040. 
The  Hapsburgs  became  Archdukes  of  Austria  in  1273,  and  having 
gained  the  imperial  crown  of  Germany,  they  never  let  it  leave  their 
family.  In  1804  the  Emperor  of  Germany  exchanged  that  title  for  the 
present  one,  Emperor  of  Austria. 

When,  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  Austria  was  a  little  dukedom, 
Hungary  was  a  great  kingdom,  stretching  from  the  Carpathians  to  the 
Adriatic.  Now  Austria  is  a  great  empire,  extending  its  despotic  rule 
over  wider  limits  than  those  of  Old  Hungary. 


Austerlitz,  a  village  in  Moravia,  13 
miles  south-west  of  Brunn.  Here 
Napoleon  utterly  routed  the  Austri- 
aiis  and  Russians  in  December  1805. 

Buda,  forming,  with  Pesth,  the  capi- 
tal of  Hungary.  The  towns  face 
each  other  on  opposite  banks  of  the 
Danube,  Buda  being  on  the  west 
side.  It  is  135  miles  south-east  of 
Vienna. 

Dalmatia,  a  strip  along  the  east 
shore  of  the  Adriatic;  a  part  of  old 
Illyricum,  now  belonging  to  Aus- 
tria. 

Debreczin,  on  a  sandy  plain,  114 
miles  east  of  Pesth.  It  is  a  great 
centre  of  commerce  foi  Northern  and 
Eastern  Hungary. 

Eger,  a  town  in  the  north-west  of  Bo- 
hemia, on  the  Eger,  a  tributary  of 
the  Elbe.  Here  Wallenstein  was 
murdered  in  1634. 

Innspruck,  the  capital  of  Tyrol,   on 

the    Inn,    240   miles  south-west  of 

Viunna.       Here    Charles     V.    was 

nearly  surprised  by  Maurice  of  Sax- 

•  ocy  in  1662. 


Istria,  a  peninsula  Jutting  into 
the  Adriatic,  between  the  Gulf  of 
Trieste  and  that  of  Quarnero.  Venice 
held  it  till  1797.  It  was  ceded  to 
Napoleon  by  the  treaty  of  Presburg 
in  1805. 

Kolin,  a  Bohemian  town,  37  miles 
from  Prague.  Here  Frederic  the 
Great  was  defeated  in  1757  by  Daun. 

Olmiltz,  the  old  capital  of  Moravia, 
on  the  March,  105  miles  north-east 
of  Vienna.  Frederic  besieged  it 
without  success  in  1758. 

Pesth.— See  Buda. 

Prague,  the  capital  of  Bohemia,  on 
the  Moldau,  a  branch  of  the  Elbe. 
The  scene  of  a  battle  during  the 
Thirty  .Years'  War,  in  1620,  and  of 
another  more  celebrated  fight  in 
1757. 

Presburg,  a  Hungarian  town  on  the 
Danube,  33  miles  east  of  Vienna. 
Here,  in  1741,  the  Hungarians  ral- 
lied bravely  round  Maria  Theresa, 
and  here  a  treaty  was  signed  be- 
tween France  and  Austria  after  the 
battle  of  Austerlitz. 


330 


FRANCE. 


Schbnbmnn,  a  palace,  2  miles  from 
Vienna.  It  gives  its  name  to  the 
treaty  of  1809.  Here  Napoleon's 
son,  Due  de  Reichstadt,  died  in 
1832. 

Temeswar,  a  town  of  Southern  Hun- 
gary, capital  of  the  Banat,  on  the 
Bega  CanaL  Here  Haynau  utterly 
defeated  the  Magyars  in  1849. 

Theiss  (once  Tibiscus),  a  north- 
ern tributary  of  the  Danube,  flowing 
through  the  plain  of  Hungary. 


Trent,  a  town  in  Tyrol,  on  the 
Adige.  Here  the  Council  of  Trent 
sat  from  1545  to  1562. 

Vienna  (Roman  name,  Vindobona), 
the  capital  of  Austria,  on  the 
Danube.  It  was  occupied  twice 
by  the  victorious  Napoleon.  From 
its  central  position  it  may  be  called 
"  the  diplomatic  capital  of  Europe." 

Wagram,  a  village  a  few  miles  from 
Vienna,  where  Napoleon  won  a  great 
victory  over  the  Austrians  in  1809. 


FRANCE. 

France  means  the  land  of  the  Franks.  After  the  time  oi[  Charlemagne, 
a  number  of  independent  duchies  grew  up  round  the  kingdom  of 
France,  which  were  gradually  absorbed  by  the  central  power.  Chief 
of  these  were  Aquitaine,  Burgundy,  and  Bretague.  The  English,  too, 
held  a  large  part  of  France  for  four  centuries  (1066-1450).  But  under 
the  houses  of  Valois  and  Bourbon  France  grew  strong.  Napoleon  I. 
spread  her  frontiers  for  a  time  far  past  their  natural  limits.  But  now 
they  have  returned  to  more  reasonable  bounds.  Savoy  and  Nice  are 
the  latest  acquisitions  of  territory. 


Ajaccio,  a  seaport  in  the  west  of  Cor- 
sica, which  was  the  biith-place  of 
Napoleon  L  Corsica  was  sold  by 
the  Genoese  to  Louis  X V.of  France. 

Albi,  a  town  of  Languedoc,  on  the 
Tarn,  from  which  the  Protestants  of 
Southern  France  were  called  Albi- 
genses. 

Alsace,  a  province  in  the  east  of 
France.  It  was  ceded  to  France 
by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia  in  1648, 
but  was  restored  to  Germany  by 
the  treaty  of  Frankfort  in  1871. 

Amiens,  a  town  of  Northern  France, 
on  the  Somme,  which  gave  its  name 
to  the  hollow  peace  of  1802. 

Aquitaine,  a  duchy  of  old  France, 
filling  the  south  and  west.  Its 
northern  boundary  was  the  Loire. 
Distinct  from  this  territory  was  Sep- 
timania,  the  strip  of  Mediterranean 
shore  between  the  Rhone  and  the 
Pyrenees. 

Aries,  on  a  hill  above  the  Rhone,  35 
miles  north-west  of  Marseilles.  It  is 
noted  for  its  Roman  antiquities. 

Arqiies,  a  town  of  Northern  France,  4 


miles  south-east  of  Dieppe.  Here 
Henri  IV.  defeated  Mayenne  in  1589. 

Autun  (once  Augustodunum),  a 
town  near  Lyons,  which  was  a  scene 
of  the  sixth  Christian  persecution. 
It  was  then  noted  for  armour  and 
arrows. 

Avignon,  a  town  of  Southern  France, 
on  the  Rhone,  near  its  mouth.  Here 
the  popes  held  their  court  for  seventy- 
two  years  (1305-1377). 

Bayonne,  a  town  in  Low  Pyrenees, 
situated  where  the  Nive  and  the 
Adour  meet.  It  was  fortified  by 
Vauban,  and  there  the  bayonet  waa 
invented.  Alva  and  Catherine  di  Me- 
dici had  a  meeting  at  Bayonne  in  1565. 

Beziers,  a  town  of  Languedoc,  8  miles 
from  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  the 
scene  of  a  massacre  during  the  Albi- 
gensian  war  in  1209. 

Bidassoa,  a  river  flowing  from  the 
Pyrenees  into  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
and  forming  part  of  the  line  between 
France  and  Spain. 

Boulogne,  a  port  of  Northern  France, 
on  the  Sienne.  Here  Napoleon 


FRANCE. 


331 


gathered  a  flotilla  for  the  invasion  of 
England  in  1804. 

Brest,  a  town  and  harbour  in  the  ex- 
treme west  of  Bretagne.  It  is  one  of 
the  chief  naval  stations  of  France. 

Brienne,  a  town  of  Champagne,  near 
the  Aube,  noted  for  its  military 
school,  where  Napoleon  I.  was  edu- 
cated. 

Caen,  the  capital  of  Lower  Normandy, 
on  the  Orne,  125  miles  west  of  Paris. 
Here  William  the  Conqueror  was 
buried. 

Cambray,  a  strongly  fortified  town  of 
Northern  France,  on  the  Scheldt. 
Here  the  treaty  of  Cambray,  between 
Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.,was  framed. 

Cannes,  a  port  on  the  Mediterranean, 
near  which  Napoleon  landed  from 
Elba  in  1815. 

Carcassonne,  a  city  of  Languedoc,  on 
the  Aude,  noted  for  its  brave  defence 
by  the  Albigenses  in  1209. 

Chalons,  a  town  of  Northern  France, 
on  the  Marne.  The  scene  of  Attila's 
defeat  by  a  Roman  and  Gothic  army 
in45L 

Clermont,  a  town  of  Central  France, 
in  Auvergne.  Here  a  council  met 
in  1095,  to  stir  up  the  First  Crusade. 

Crespy,  a  town  in  the  department  of 
Oise,  12  miles  south  of  Compeigne. 
It  gave  its  name  to  a  treaty  in  1544, 
between  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I. 

Cressy,  a  village  of  Picardy,  95  miles 
north-west  of  Paris.  The  scene  of  a 
famous  English  victory  in  1346. 

Dreux,  a  town  45  miles  south-west  of 
Paris,  where  the  first  battle  in  the 
Huguenot,  war  was  fought  in  1562. 

Dunkirk,  a  seaport  in  the  extreme 
north  of  France.  When  taken  from 
Spain  in  1658,  it  was  given  up  to 
Cromwell,  but  was  sold  to  France  by 
Charles  II.  in  1662. 

FontainebleaU,  a  town  37  miles  south- 
east of  Paris,  celebrated  for  its 
palace  and  forest  Here,  in  1814, 
Napoleon  signed  his  first  abdication. 

Fontenaille,  near  Auxerre,  in  Bur- 
gundy, where,  in  841,  was  fought  a 
battle  between  Lothaire  and  his  bro- 
thers Charles  and  Louis. 

Ham,  a  fortress  of  Picardy,  70  miles 
north-east  of  Paris,  where  Louis 
Napoleon  lay  in  prison,  1840-4(5, 


Havre  de  Grace,  a  port  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Seine,  109  miles  north-west  of 
Paris.  It  was  given  up  to  Elizabeth 
of  England  by  the  Huguenots,  but 
held  by  her  a  very  short  time. 

Ivry,  a  village  east  of  St.  Andre^  near 
the  Eure,  where  the  army  of  the 
League  was  beaten  by  Henri  IV.  in 
1590. 

Jarnac,  a  town  in  the  west  of  France, 
on  the  Charente,  where  the  Hugue- 
nots were  defeated  in  1569. 

La  Hogue,  a  Norman  headland  near 
Cherbourg,  off  which  the  fleet  of 
Louis  XIV.  was  defeated  in  1692  by 
Russell. 

Languedoc,  a  province  of  Southern 
France,  consisting  chiefly  of  the 
basin  of  the  Garonne.  It  took  its 
name  from  the  use  of  oc  (yes)  by 
the  people,  when  the  northerns  said 
oui.  The  scene  of  the  Albigensian 
war. 

La  Vendee,  a  department  of  Western 
France,  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  re- 
markable for  its  royalist  spirit  during 
the  great  French  Revolution. 

Lisle,  a  fortress-town  of  Northern 
France,  on  the  Deule,  130  miles 
north  of  Paris.  It  Avas  taken  by 
Marlborough  after  his  victory  at 
Oudenarde ;  and  vainly  besieged  by 
the  Austrians  in  1792. 

Lorraine,  or  Middle  France,  de- 
rived its  name  from  Lothaire  (Lo- 
tharingia),  to  whom  it  was  ceded 
by  the  treaty  of  Verdun  (843). 
The  greater  part  of  it  was  restored 
to  Germany  by  the  treaty  of  Frank- 
fort in  1871. 

Luneville,  a  town  on  the  Vezouze,  a 
feeder  of  the  Meurthe,  180  miles  east 
of  Paris.  Here  was  concluded,  in 
1801,  a  treaty  between  France  and 
Austria. 

Lyons  (once  Lugdunum),  a  great 
city  of  France,  where  the  Saone 
meets  the  Rhone,  It  was  a  scene 
of  the  sixth  persecution  of  Chris- 
tians; now  famous  for  its  silks. 

Malplaquet,  a  town  of  Nord,  in  France, 
close  to  Belgium,  noted  for  a  victory 
gained  there  by  Marlborough  in 
1709. 

Mardyk,  a  seaport  4  miles  west  of 
Dunkirk. 


332 


FRANCE. 


Marseilles  (once  Massilia),  a  great 
port  on  the  Mediterranean,  410  miles 
from  Paris.  The  army  of  Richard  I. 
embarked  here  for  the  Third  Cru- 
sade. The  French  Boy  Crusade  also 
took  ship  here;  and  from  this  city 
came  some  of  the  wildest  spirits  of 
the  French  Revolution. 

Metz,  a  French  garrison  town  at  the 
junction  of  the  Moselle  and  Seille.  It 
was  ceded  to  France  in  1648. 

Montmartre,  a  hill  near  Paris,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Seine,  which  is 
said  to  have  taken  its  name  from  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Denis,  first  bishop 
of  Paris,  in  272. 

Mulhausen,  a  French  manufacturing 
town  in  Haut  Rhin,  on  the  111,  a 
tributary  of  the  Rhine,  18  miles  from 
Basle.  It  was  a  Swiss  town  till  1793. 

Muret,  a  battle-field,  9  miles  from 
Toulouse,  where  Montfort  beat  the 
Albigenses  and  their  Spanish  allies 
in  1213. 

Nantes,  a  city  on  the  Loire,  near  its 
mouth,  which  gave  its  name  to  the 
edict  of  Henri  IV.  in  favour  of  the 
Huguenots  (1598).  There  was  ter- 
rible butchery  at  Nantes  by  Carrier, 
during  the  French  Revolution. 

Narbonne,  a  city  of  Southern  France, 
5  miles  from  the  Mediterranean, 
much  connected  with  the  story  of 
the  Albigenses. 

Neustria,  a  division  of  old  Frankland, 
embracing  Belgium,  the  basin  of  the 
Seine,  and  all  Western  France  north 
of  the  Loire. 

Noyon,  in  the  department  of  Oise,  on 
the  Vorse,  a  feeder  of  the  Oise.  Here 
Calvin  was  born. 

Orleans  (once  Aurelianis),  a  city  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Loire,  at  its 
most  northerly  bend.  It  was  be- 
sieged by  Attila;  was  a  great  school 
in  Charlemagne's  reign;  and  was 
succoured  in  1428  by  Joan  of  Arc, 
who  was  hence  called  the  "Maid  of 
Orleans." 

Paris  (once  Lutetia),  on  the  Seine, 
110  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  is  per- 
haps the  gayest  and  most  beautiful 
city  in  the  world,  and  yet  some  of 
the  darkest  human  tragedies  have 
been  enacted  in  its  streets.  The  fate 
of  Paria  decides  the  fate  of  France. 


Poictiers,  a  town  in  the  department 
of  Vienne,  on  the  Clain.  It-  was  the 
scene  of  a  famous  victory  won  by 
the  Black  Prince  over  the  French  in 
1356. 

Rennes,  a  city  of  Western  France,  on 
the  Vilaine. 

Rochelle,  a  port  of  Aunis,  in  Western 
France.  It  was  taken  from  the  En- 
glish by  Bertrand  du  Guesclin  in 
1372 ;  and  was  held  by  the  Hugue- 
nots from  1557  to  1628,  when  it  fell 
before  Richelieu. 

Rochefort,  the  third  naval  station  in 
France,  9  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Charente.  Close  by  are  the 
Roads  of  Aix,  where  Napoleon  went 
on  board  the  English  ship  Better- 
ophon  in  1815. 

Rocroi,  a  town  in  Ardennes,  near  the 
Meuse,  which  was  the  scene  of 
Condi's  victory  over  the  Spaniards 
in  1643. 

Rouen,  a  city  on  the  Seine,  capital  of 
Normandy.  It  was  taken  by  the 
Norsemen  early  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. Here  Joan  of  Arc  was  burned. 

St.  Clair,  a  town  on  the  Epte,  where, 
in  911,  a  treaty  was  concluded  ceding 
Normandy  to  Rollo,  the  Norseman. 

St.  Cloud,  a  small  town  on  the  Seine,  5 
miles  west  of  Paris.  It  is  corrupted 
from  St.  Chlodoald,  which  was  the 
name  of  a  Frankish  prince.  Noted 
for  its  park  and  palace.  Here,  in 
1799,  Napoleon  dissolved  the  Council 
of  Five  Hundred. 

St.  Denis,  a  small  town,  5  miles  from 
Paris.  It  was  the  burial-place  of  the 
French  kings,  whose  monuments 
were  destroyed  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, but  afterwards  restored. 

St.  Germain  en  Laye,  a  town  and 
palace  near  the  Seine,  9  miles  north- 
west of  Paris,  where  a  treaty  favour- 
ing  the  Huguenots  was  framed  in 
1570.  Here  the  deposed  James  IL 
of  England  died. 

Toul,  a  fortress  on  the  Moselle,  167 
miles  east  of  Paris.  It  was  ceded 
to  France  in  1648,  with  Metz  and 
Verdun. 

Toulon,  a  strong  seaport  on  the  Medi- 
terranean. It  suffered  much  from 
the  Saracen  pirates.  At  its  siege  by 
the  army  of  the  Republic  in  179iJ 


GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  first  came  into 
public  notice. 

Toulouse,  a  city  on  the  Garonne. 
Here  Simon  Montfort,  terror  of  the 
Albigenses,  was  killed  in  1218 ;  and 
here  the  last  battle  of  the  Peninsular 
war  was  fought  in  1814. 

Tours,  a  city  on  the  Loire.  On  an 
adjacent  plain  Charles  the  Ham- 
mer defeated  the  Moslems  in  732. 

Valenciennes,  a  town  in  the  north  of 
France,  fortified  by  Vauban.  It  is 
famous  for  lace. 

Varennes,  a  town  on  the  Aire,  15 
miles  west  of  Verdun,  where  Louis 
XVI.  was  seized  in  his  flight  in  1791. 

Vassy,  a  town  in  Upper  Marne,  115 
miles  east  of  Paris,  where  a  terrible 
massacre  of  Huguenots  took  place. 

Vendome,  a  town  on  the  Loir,  which 
falls  into  the  Sarthe  about  6  miles 
above  the  junction  of  the  latter  with 
the  Loire.  It  was  taken  and  dis- 
mantled by  Henri  IV.  during  the 
War  of  the  League. 


Verdun,  a  town  on  the  Meuse,  fortified 
by  Vauban.  Here,  in  843,  was  con- 
cluded a  treaty  by  which  Germany 
and  France  were  declared  separate 
states. 

Versailles,  a  town  10  miles  south-west 
of  Paris,  famous  for  the  palace  of 
Louis  XIV.  In  October  1789  a  Paris 
mob,  consisting  largely  of  women, 
broke  into  the  palace. 

Vervins,  a  town  in  Aisne,  on  the 
Serre,  110  miles  from  Paris.  Here, 
in  1598,  peace  was  made  between 
France  and  Spain. 

Vezelai,  a  town  and  hill  in  Nievre,  117 
miles  south-east  of  Paris,  where,  in 
1146,  St.  Bernard  preached  the 
Second  Crusade. 

Vienne,  a  town  on  the  Rhone,  south 
of  Lyons.  A  scene  of  the  sixth  Chris- 
tian persecution. 

Vincennes,  a  strong  castle,  2  miles 
east  of  Paris.  Here,  in  the  castle 
ditch,  Due  d'Enghien  was  shot  by 
order  of  Napoleon  in  1804. 


GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 

One  half  of  Charlemagne's  empire  has  grown  into  modern  France, 
the  other  half  into  Germany.  The  greatest  event  of  modern  history,  the 
Reformation,  began  to  unfold  itself  in  Germany  ;  and  in  this  land  also, 
a  few  years  earlier,  the  sound  of  the  first  printing-press  was  heard. 
But  if  Germany  has  been  highly  favoured,  she  has  suffered  much,  espe- 
cially during  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

The  kingdom  of  Prussia  has  grown  out  of  the  little  duchy  of  Bran- 
denburg. The  military  genius  of  Frederic  the  Great  raised  it  high 
among  the  powers  of  Europe. 


Aix-la-Chapelle  (once  Aquis  Gra- 
num),  in  German,  Aa>:hen,  a  city 
in  Prussian  Germany,  39  miles  west 
by  south  of  Cologne.  It  was  the 
capital  of  Charlemagne.  Two  treaties, 
one  in  1668,  another  in  1748,  bear 
its  name. 

Alemannia,  an  ancient  duchy,  south- 
east of  Alsace,  comprising  the  mod- 
ern Baden,  Wurtemberg,  and  part 
of  Switzerland. 

Auerstadt,  a  town  of  Prussian  Sax- 
ony, 20  miles  north  of  Jena.  Here  the 
Prussians  were  defeated  in  1806. 


Augsburg,  a  Bavarian  town,  lying 
between  the  Wertach  and  the  Lech, 
34  miles  west  of  Munich.  Here,  in 
1530,  Melancthon  read  the  Protestanl 
Confession  of  Faith 

Austrasia,  or  East  Frankland,  in- 
cluding chiefly  the  basin  of  the 
Rhine.  Its  capital  under  Charle- 
magne was  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Bautzen,  the  capital  of  Upper  Ln- 
satia,  near  the  Spree,  30  miles 
from  Dresden.  Here  Napoleon  de- 
flated the  Russians  and  the  Prus- 
sians in  18l:i. 


334 


GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 


Berg1,  a  duchy  in  Western  Ger- 
many, along  the  east  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  south  of  Cleves.  This  with 
other  territories  was  given  as  a 
grand-duchy  to  Murat  in  1806. 

Berlin,  the  capital  of  Prussia,  on 
the  Spree.  It  was  entered  by  the 
Russians  and  Austrians  in  1760,  and 
by  Napoleon  in  1806.  From  it  he 
issued  his  decrees  against  trade  with 
Britain. 

Black  Forest,  in  German,  Schwartz 
Wald,  a  range  of  mountains  east  of 
the  Rhine,  between  Baden  and  Wiir- 
temberg. 

Blenheim,  a  village  of  West  Bavaria, 
on  the  Danube,  33  miles  north-east 
of  Ulm.  Here  Marlborough  won  a 
brilliant  victory  over  the  French  in 
1704. 

Brandenburg,  a  town  on  the  Havel, 
38  miles  south-west  of  Berlin.  The 
electorate  of  Brandenburg  has  ex- 
panded into  the  kingdom  of  Prus- 
sia. 

Breisach,  a  town  of  Baden,  on  the 
Rhine,  between  Strasbourg  and  Basle. 
It  was  ceded  to  France  in  1648,  but 
was  afterwards  restored  to  Baden. 

Bremen,  a  free  town  of  Germany,  on 
the  Weser,  50  miles  from  its  mouth. 
It  was  a  leading  city  of  the  Hanse- 
atic  League. 

Breslau,  the  capital  of  Silesia,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Ohlau  with  the  Oder, 
220  miles  south-east  of  Berlin.  It 
was  besieged  twice  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War. 

Cologne  (once  Colonia),  a  city  of 
Rhenish  Prussia,  112  miles  east  of 
Brussels. 

Culm,  a  strong  town  of  Polish  Prussia, 
on  the  Vistula. 

Czaslau,  a  town  of  Bohemia,  42  miles 
from  Prague.  Here  the  great  Prus- 
sian Frederic  defeated  the  troops  of 
Maria  Theresa  in  1742. 

Dantzic  (once  Gdansk),  a  port  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Vistula.  One  of  the 
early  leaders  of  the  Hanseatic 
League. 

Dethmold,  the  capital  of  Lippe-Deth- 
mold,  which  lies  between  Westphalia 
on  the  one  side,  and  Hanover  and 
Hesse  Cassel  on  the  other. 

Dettingen,  a  village  of  Bavaria,  on 


the  Maine,  16  miles  south-east  of 
Frankfort.  Here  George  II.  of  Eng- 
land, leading  his  troops  in  person, 
defeated  the  French  in  1743. 

Dresden,  the  capital  of  Saxony,  on  the 
Elbe,  100  miles  south-east  of  Berlin. 
In  August  1813,  Napoleon  won  a 
great  victory  under  its  walls.  It  is 
a  great  centre  of  literature  and  edu- 
cation. 

Diittlingen,  a  town  of  Suabia,  on  the 
Danube,  25  miles  north-west  of  Con- 
stance. A  battle-field  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War. 

Eckmuhl,  a  Bavarian  village,  52  miles 
north-east  of  Munich,  where  in  1809 
the  Archduke  Charles  was  defeated 
by  Napoleon. 

Eisenach,  a  town  in  Ijpper  Saxony,  on 
the  Nesse,  Here  Luther  went  to 
school 

Eisleben,  a  Saxon  town  on  a  hill 
above  the  Bb'se,  16  miles  north- 
west of  Halle.  The  birth-place  of 
Luther. 

Eresburg,  a  fortress  of  Saxony,  taken 
by  Charlemagne. 

Eylau,  a  town  of  East  Prussia,  28  miles 
south  of  Konigsberg.  Here  Napo- 
leon defeated  the  Russians  in  1807. 

Franconia,  a  district  drained  by  the 
Maine  and  the  Rezat  It  is  now 
divided  into  three  circles,  which  form 
a  part  of  Bavaria. 

Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  the  seat 
of  the  German  Diet.  It  was  made  a 
free  city  in  1154.  There  is  another 
Frankfort  on  the  Oder. 

Friburg,  a  town  of  Baden,  on  the 
Treisam.  There  are  two  other  towns 
of  the  same  name,  one  in  Saxony  and 
one  in  Switzerland. 

Friedland,  a  town  of  East  Prussia  on 
the  Alle,  28  miles  south-east  of 
Konigsberg.  Noted  for  a  defeat  ol 
the  Russians  by  Napoleon  in  1807. 

Glatz,  a  fortified  town  in  Silesia,  on 
the  Neisse.  Part  of  the  Sudetic 
range  is  called  the  Glatz  Moun- 
tains. 

Halberstadt,  a  Prussian  town  in  the 
government  of  Magdeburg,  on  a 
tributary  of  the  Saale.  It  was  united 
to  Prussia  by  the  treaty  of  West- 
phalia. 

Hamburg,  a  free  city  of  Germany,  on 


GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 


the  Elbe,  near  Its  mouth.  Originally 
a  castle  (Hammaburg),  built  by 
Charlemagne  for  defence  against  the 
Norsemen.  It  is  now  a  great  centre 
of  commerce. 

Heidelberg,  a  town  of  Baden,  on  the 
Neckar,  amid  vine-clad  hills.  It 
suffered  much  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  and  the  time  of  Louis  XIV. 
Here  is  a  celebrated  tun,  holding  600 
hogsheads. 

Heilbronn,  a  town  of  Suabia,  on  the 
Neckar,  20  miles  north  of  Stutt- 
gart 

HochMrchen,  a  small  Saxon  village, 
37  miles  east  of  Dresden,  where 
Daun  routed  the  Prussians  in  1758. 

Hohenlinden,  a  Bavarian  village, 
near  the  Isar,  19  miles  east  of 
Munich.  It  was  the  scene  of  a  battle 
in  1800,  between  the  French  under 
Moreau  and  the  Austrians. 

Hubertsburg,  a  town  of  Upper  Sax- 
ony, 22  miles  east  of  Leipsic.  Here 
in  1763  a  peace  was  signed  between 
Austria  and  Prussia,  closing  the 
Seven  Years'  War. 

Jena,  a  town  of  Saxe- Weimar,  on  the 
Salle,  where  Napoleon  defeated  the 
Prussians  in  1806. 

Konigsberg,  a  town  on  the  Pregel, 
near  the  Baltic,  which  is  a  great 
centre  of  trade. 

Kunersdorf,  a  village  of  Brandenburg, 
on  the  Oder  near  Frankfort,  55  miles 
south-east  of  Berlin.  Here  in  1759 
Frederic  the  Great  was  defeated  by 
the  Russians  and  Austrians. 

Lech,  a  Bavarian  river  flowing  into  the 
Danube  on  the  right  bank.  Here 
Tilly  received  his  mortal  wound  in 
1632. 

Leipsic,  the  second  city  of  Saxony,  in 
a  plain  watered  by  the  Pleisse,  72 
miles  north-west  of  Dresden.  It  is 
famous  for  Luther's  Disputation  in 
1519,  the  victory  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus  in  1631,  and  the  defeat  of  Na- 
poleon in  1813.  It  is  the  great 
book-town  of  Germany. 

Leuthen,  or  Lissa,  a  Silesian  town,  14 
miles  west  of  Breslau,  noted  for  the 
victory  of  Frederic  the  Great  over 
the  Austrians  in  1757. 

Liegnitz,  a  Silesian  town  on  the  Kats- 
bach,  46  miles  west  of  Breslau,  where 


in  1760  Frederic  beat  the  Austrian 
Laudohji. 

Lowositz,  a  Bohemian  town,  noted 
for  a  battle  between  the  Austrians 
and  Prussians  in  1756. 

Lubeck,  a  free  German  town  near  the 
Baltic,  between  the  Trave  and  the 
Wakenitz,  which  was  for  four  cen- 
turies a  leader  of  the  Hanseatic 
League. 

Llltter,  a  castle  and  town  of  Hanover, 
south-west  of  Brunswick,  where  in 
1626  the  King  of  Denmark  was  de- 
feated by  Tilly. 

Lutzen,  a  town  of  Prussian  Saxony,  12 
miles  south-west  of  Leipsic.  Here 
Gustavus  Adolphus  fell  in  battle  in 
1632,  and  Napoleon  defeated  the 
Russians  and  Prussians  in  1813. 

Magdeburg,  the  capital  of  Prussian 
Saxony,  on  the  Elbe,  74  miles  south- 
west of  Berlin ;  remarkable  for  its 
terrific  sack  by  Tilly  in  1631. 

Marburg,  the  capital  of  Upper  Hesse, 
on  the  Lahn,  in  Hesse  Cassel.  Here 
in  1529  Luther  and  Zwingle  met. 

Marienburg,  a  city  on  the  Nogat,  a 
branch  of  the  Vistula.  It  was  the 
capital  of  the  Teutonic  Order  from 
1309  to  1466. 

Mayence,  also  called  Mainz  or 
Mentz,  a  town  of  Hesse  Darmstadt, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  where 
the  Maine  joius  it.  This,  one  of  the 
strongest  towns  in  Europe,  has  long 
stood  as  the  chief  bulwark  of  Ger- 
many against  France. 

Minden,  a  town  of  Westphalia,  on  the 
Weser,  35  miles  south-west  of  Han- 
over; noted  for  the  defeat  of  the 
French  in  1759  by  Ferdinand  of 
Brunswick. 

MollwitZ,  a  Silesian  town,  4  miles 
west  of  Brieg,  where  the  Prussians 
won  a  victory  over  Maria  Theresa's 
troops  in  1741. 

Munich,  the  capital  of  Bavaria,  on  tho 
Isar ;  now  a  great  centre  of  art. 

Munster,  the  capital  of  Westphalia, 
on  the  Ahe,  celebrated  for  its  con- 
nection with  the  Anabaptist  War, 
and  for  the  peace  signed  there  in 
1648,  by  which  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  was  closed. 

Nordlingen,  a  town  of  Suabia,  on  the 
Eger,  38  miles  from  Augsburg. 


336 


GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 


Nuremberg,  a  Bavarian  city,  93  miles 
north-west  of  Munich.  It  was  pro- 
minent in  the  struggle  of  the  Refor- 
mation. 

Palatinate,  for  a  long  time  an  inde- 
pendent electorate,  now  a  part  of 
Bavaria,  lying  along  the  Rhine.  It 
suffered  much  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and  was  terribly  ravaged  by 
Louis  XIV.  in!689. 

PMlippsburg,  a  German  fortress  in 
the  bishopric  of  Spires,  40  miles 
north-east  of  Strasbourg.  It  was 
ceded  to  France  in  1648. 

Potsdam,  a  town  of  Brandenburg,  on 
an  island  formed  by  the  Spree  and 
the  Havel,  13  miles  from  Berlin. 

Rastadt,  a  town  of  Baden,  on  the 
Murg,  26  miles  north-east  of  Stras- 
bourg, where  Prince  Eugene  and 
Marshal  Villars  concluded  a  treaty 
in  1714. 

Rems,  a  river  of  Suabia,  beside  which 
was  the  mountain  Hohenstaufen, 
where  the  Ghibellines  built  a  castle, 
from  which  they  got  their  name. 

Rossbach,  a  town  of  Prussian  Saxony, 
near  the  Saale,  20  miles  south-west 
of  Leipsic.  Here  in  1757  the  French 
were  defeated  by  Frederic  the  Great. 

Rugen.  an  island  in  the  Baltic  off  the 
Prussian  shore,  where  GustavusAdol- 
phus  landed  in  1630. 

Sigisburg.  a  Saxon  fortress,  taken  by 
Charlemagne. 

Silesia,  a  Prussian  province,  divided 
by  the  Oder.  Its  capital  is  Breslau. 
It  was  seized  by  Frederic  the  Great 
in  1740,  having  formerly  belonged  to 
Austria. 

Smalcald,  a  town  of  Upper  Saxony, 
south-west  of  Erfurt,  famous  for  the 
Protestant  League  which  was  formed 
in  1531. 

Spires,  a  city  of  Bavaria,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  22  miles  south  of 
Worms.    Forty-nine  Diets  have  met 
within  its  old  palace.     Of  these  the 
most  famous  was  that  of  1529,  at 
which  the  Reformers  took  the  name 
of  Protestants. 


Stettin,  a  port  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Oder,  which  was  taken  in  1630  by 
Gustavus  Adolphus. 

Stralsund,a  port  on  the  strait  between 
Rugen  and  Pomerania.  It  was  be- 
sieged without  success  by  Wallen- 
stein  during  the  Thirty  Years' 
War. 

Suabia,  a  district  round  Augsburg,  on 
the  Upper  Danube,  now  one  of  the 
circles  of  Bavaria. 

Tannenberg,  a  battle-field  in  Southern 
Prussia,  where  the  power  of  the  Teu- 
tonic Order  was  broken  in  1410. 

Teschen,  a  town  of  Upper  Silesia,  near 
the  source  of  the  Vistula,  where  in 
1778  a  treaty  was  concluded  between 
the  Emperor  and  Frederic  the 
Great. 

Thorn,  a  town  on  the  Vistula,  76  miles 
south  of  Dantzic.  It  was  taken  by 
the  Swedes  in  1703,  and  retaken 
by  Prussia  in  1793. 

Thuringia,  a  district  between  the 
Weserand  the  Saale,  which  formed 
a  part  of  Charlemagne's  dominion. 

Torgau,  a  strong  town  on  the  Elbe, 
lying  in  marshy  ground,  66  miles 
south-west  of  Berlin.  Here  in  1760 
was  fought  a  battle,  in  which  Fre- 
deric the  Great  was  victor. 

Weimar,  the  capital  of  Saxe-Weimar- 
Eisenach  on  the  Ilm.  Here  Gothe 
and  Schiller  lived. 

Wismar,  a  town  of  Mecklenburg,  on 
the  Baltic,  36  miles  east  of  Lubeck. 
It  was  ceded  to  Sweden  in  1648. 

Wittenberg,  a  strong  town  of  Sax- 
ony, on  the  Elbe.  Luther  was  a 
professor  in  the  university  here. 
The  university  was  incorporated 
with  that  of  Halle  in  1817. 

Worms,  a  German  city  on  the  Rhine, 
28  miles  south  of  Mayence,  famous 
for  Luther's  appearance  before 
Charles  V.  in  1521. 

Zorndorf,  a  village  of  Brandenburg, 
20  miles  north-east  of  Frankfort, 
Here  Frederic  the  Great  defeated  the 
Russians  in  1758. 


ITALY, 


337 


ITALY. 

Overrun  by  Ostrogoths  and  then  by  Lombards,— annexed  to  the 
empire  of  Charlemagne,  and  then  to  that  Romano- Germanic  State  which 
rose  on  its  ruins, — made  the  seat  of  the  Papacy,  once  the  greatest, 
power  in  Europe, — raised  by  her  brilliant  Republic  cities  to  a  wealth 
and  a  fame  rivalling  those  of  pagan  Rome,  Mediaeval  Italy  fulfilled  a 
strange  and  changeful  destiny.  In  modern  times  her  soil  has  been 
a  battle-field  for  deciding  the  quarrels  of  France  and  Austria.  Her 
whole  story  has  been  one  of  brilliant  misery. 


Adda,  a  river  of  Lombardy,  flowing 
through  Lake  Como  into  the  Po.  On 
it  is  the  Bridge  of  Lodi,  famous  for 
Napoleon's  victory  in  1796. 

Amalfi ,  a  seaport  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Salerno.  A  thriving 
centre  of  trade  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Here  the  Pandects  of  Justinian  were 
discovered. 

Ancona,  a  city  on  the  bend  of  the 
Italian  coast,  opposite  Dalmatia. 
Now  the  first  seaport  in  the  Papal 
States. 

Aquileia,  originally  a  Roman  colony 
in  Venetia,  near  the  head  of  the 
Adriatic.  It  was  ruined  by  Attila  in 
452.  The  see  of  Aquileia  was  one  of 
the  oldest  in  Italy. 

Arcola,  a  Venetian  village  on  the 
Alpone,  a  tributary  of  the  Adige, 
15  miles  from  Verona,  Here  Na- 
poleon defeated  the  Austrians  in 
1796. 

Arezzo  (once  Arretium),  a  Tuscan 
town,  3  miles  from  the  Arno,  famed 
as  the  birth-place  of  Guide  the  mu- 
sician, and  Petrarch  the  poet, 

Bologna  (once  Bononia),  capital  of  the 
Romagna,  on  the  Reno,  south  of  the 
Po.  During  the  Middle  Ages  one 
of  the  strongest  of  the  Italian  Re- 
publics, and  a  great  supporter  of  the 
Lombard  League.  It  was  the  seat  of 
a  famous  law  school  and  university. 

Campo  Formic,  a  small  town  of 
Northern  Italy,  at  the  head  of  the 
Adriatic.  It  gives  its  name  to  the 
treaty  between  France  and  Austria 
concluded  in  1797. 

Canossa,  a  strong  castle  belonging  to 
Matilda  of  Tuscany,  on  the  Apen- 
nines near  Reggio,  where  Pope 
Gregory  VII.  forced  the  Emperor 


Henry  IV.  to  lie  in  the  court-yard 
for  three  days,  bare-foot  and  in  hair- 
cloth. 

Cascioli,  a  Tuscan  mountain,  near 
which  in  1113  the  Florentines  de- 
feated the  Imperial  Vicar  and  his 
knights. 

Elba  (once  Ilva),  a  small  island  of 
Tuscany  off  Piombino,  famous  as  the 
prison  of  Napoleon  I.,  from  May  1814 
to  February  1815. 

Ferrara,  a  city  4  miles  south  of  the 
Po,  only  seven  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

Florence,  capital  of  Tuscany,  on  the 
Arno.  It  was  a  Roman  colony 
founded  by  Sylla,  and  became  one  of 
the  most  famous  Italian  Republics ; 
destroyed  in  541  by  the  Goths  under 
Totila.  Its  most  brilliant  days  were 
under  the  Medici.  The  Tuscans  call 
it  Firenze. 

Gaeta,  a  port  of  Italy,  41  miles  from 
Naples  and  72  from  Rome,  where 
Pio  Nono  took  refuge  some  years 
ago. 

Genoa,  a  seaport  of  Northern  Italy,  on 
the  Mediterranean,  75  miles  south- 
east of  Turin.  It  became  a  republic 
after  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  and 
was  a  great  rival  of  Venice,  with 
which  it  had  many  wars.  In  1174 
it  owned  a  great  part  of  Northern 
Italy,  part  of  Provence,  and  the 
Island  of  Corsica. 

Legnano,  a  town  north-west  of  Milan, 
where  the  citizens  of  that  city  de- 
feated Frederic  Barbarossa  in  1176. 

Lodi.— See  Adda, 

Lombardy,  the  fruitful  plain  of 
Northern  Italy,  deriving  its  name 
from  the  Longobardi,  who  settled 
there  in  568.  Its  capital  is  Milan. 


388 


ITALY. 


The  present  district  of  Lombardy 
(I860),  between  the  Ticino  and  the 
Mincio,  is  a  part  of  the  new  Italian 
kingdom. 

LorettO,  a  town  in  the  Papal  States, 
near  Ancona,  famous  for  the  Santa 
Casa,  which  is  said  to  be  the  house 
of  the  Virgin,  brought  by  a  miracle 
from  Nazareth  to  Loretto. 

MarengO,  a  village  a  little  way  south- 
east of  Alessandria,  in  Piedmont, 
famous  for  the  victory  of  Napoleon 
over  the  Austrians  in  1800. 

Milan  (once  Mediolanum),  the  capital 
of  Lombardy,  80  miles  from  Turin, 
in  a  plain  between  the  Olona  and  the 
Lambro.  It  was  an  old  Gallic  town ; 
made  a  Republic  in  1221 ;  taken  by 
Louis  XII.  of  France  in  1505 ;  by 
Charles  V.  of  Germany  in  1525; 
taken  and  retaken  many  times  by 
French  and  Austrians;  made  by 
Napoleon  I.  the  capital  of  his  king- 
dom of  Italy. 

Millesimo,  a  village  28  miles  west  of 
Genoa,  where  Napoleon  won  a  battle 
in  1796. 

Montenotte,  a  mountain  ridge  west  of 
Genoa,  near  the  sea,  where  Napoleon 
won  a  battle  in  1796. 

Naples  (Neapolis),  on  the  beautiful 
Bay  of  Naples,  the  largest  city  of 
modern  Italy.  Long  under  rule  of  the 
Spaniards.  Their  tyranny  kindled 
a  rebellion,  headed  by  Masaniello,  a 
fisherman,  in  1647.  Joseph  Bona- 
parte was  made  King  of  Naples  in 
1806,  followed  by  Murat  in  1808. 

Ostia,  a  most  unhealthy  town,  once 
the  port  of  Rome,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tiber.  Its  chief  trade  is  in  salt. 

OtrantO,  a  city  on  the  south-east  pro- 
jection of  Italy.  It  was  taken  by  the 
Turks  in  1480;  but  they  were  ex- 
pelled in  the  following  year  by  the 
Dukes  of  Calabria, 

Padua  (once  Patavium),  a  town  near 
the  Bacchiglione,  21  miles  from 
Venice,  by  which  city  it  was  con- 
quered in  1406.  Called  by  the 
Italians  Padova. 

Pavia,  a  city  on  the  Ticino,  20  miles 
south  of  Milan,  noted  as  the  scene  of 
Charles  V.'s  victory  over  Francis  I. 
of  France  in  1525. 

Pentapolis,   a    maritime  district   of 


mediaeval  Italy,  so  called  because  1t 
contained  the  five  cities,  Rimini, 
Pesaro,  Fano,  Sinigaglia,  Ancona. 
It  was  part  of  the  gift  which  Pepin 
le  Bref  bestowed  on  Pope  Stephen  in 
753. 

Pisa,  a  Tuscan  city  on  the  Arno,  a 
famous  republic  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  was  ruined  in  a  struggle  with 
Genoa,  and  was  united  to  Florence 
in  1406.  Now  famous  for  its  leaning 
bell-tower. 

Pistoia,  a  republic  city  of  Tuscany, 
subdued  in  1254  by  Florence. 

Placentia,  or  Piacenza,  a  city  of 
Northern  Italy,  near  the  junction  of 
the  Trebia  with  the  Po,  37  miles 
south-east  of  Milan. 

Pollentia,  an  ancient  town,  of  which 
the  ruins  are  25  miles  south-east  of 
Turin. 

Ravenna,  a  city  south  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Po.  A  great  marsh  grew 
round  it,  formed  of  river  mud,  and 
stretching  out  into  the  sea.  The 
only  way  of  approach  was  a  narrow 
causeway  miles  long.  To  this  city 
Honorius  retired  from  Rome;  and 
here  Odoacer  and  Theodoric  held  the 
Gothic  Court.  The  Exarchs  of 
Ravenna  held  power,  as  Viceroys  of 
the  Byzantine  Emperor,  for  two  cen- 
turies after  the  time  of  Narses. 

Bivoli,  a  town  on  the  Adige,  where 
in  1797  Napoleon  defeated  the  Aus- 
trians. There  is  another  Rivoli  in 
Piedmont,  10  miles  from  Turin. 

Rome,  the  capital  of  Italy,  on  the 
Tiber.  It  was  sacked  by  Alaric  the 
Goth  in  410 ;  pillaged  by  the  Vandals 
in  455;  ruled  by  Rienzi  as  tribune  in 
1347  ;  sacked  by  the  troops  of  Bour- 
bon in  1527 ;  besieged  and  taken  by 
the  French  under  Oudinot  in  1849. 
It  is  now  famous  for  its  ruins  and  its 
galleries  of  art.  Its  chief  modern 
buildings  are  St.  Peter's  and  the 
Vatican. 

Salerno,  a  small  state  on  the  Gulf  of 
Salerno,  in  Naples,  which  was  a  frag- 
ment of  the  Lombard  Duchy  of 
Benevento.  A  prince  of  Salerno  first 
invited  the  Normans  to  Southern 
Italy. 

Savona,  a  walled  seaport  of  Sardinia, 
30  miles  south-west  of  Genoa. 


THE  NETHERLANDS. 


339 


Simploil,  the  most  easterly  col  or  pass 
of  the  Pennine  Alps. 

SpoletO,  a  city  and  duchy  on  the  west 
slope  of  the  Apennines,  correspond- 
ing to  part  of  ancient  Umbria. 

St.  Bernard,  a  peak  and  a  pass  of 
the  Pennine  Alps,  by  which  in  1800 
Napoleon  crossed  with  his  army  into 
Italy.  The  pass  runs  from  Martigny 
in  Switzerland  to  Aosta  in  Piedmont. 

St,  Gothard,  the  chief  pass  of  the 
Helvetic  or  Lepontian  Alps,  from 
Altorf  in  Uri  to  Bellinzona.  , 

Turin  (called  in  Roman  days  Augusta 
Taurinorum),  the  capital  of  Pied- 
mont, on  the  upper  course  of  the  Po. 

Urbino,  a  town  in  the  Papal  States,  20 
miles  from  the  Adriatic,  Here  in 
1483  Raphael  was  bora. 


Venice,  on  eighty  islands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Brenta,  founded  in  452.  It 
grew  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  be  a 
great  centre  of  trade.  Became  in- 
dependent of  the  Eastern  Empire  in 
997;  subdued  by  the  League  of 
Cambray  in  1508;  deprived  by  the 
Turks  of  Cyprus  and  Candia  1571- 
1669;  seized  by  Bonaparte  and 
handed  over  to  Austria  in  1797  ;  an- 
nexed to  the  Italian  kingdom  in 
1805 ;  transferred  to  Austria  in  1814. 
Insurrection  against  Austria  in  1848. 

Verona,  the  military  capital  of  Vene- 
tia,  pleasantly  situated  on  the  Adige, 
It  was  taken  by  the  Venetians  in 
1409. 

Volterra,  a  republic  city  of  Tuscany, 
subdued  by  Florence  in  1254. 


THE  NETHERLAOTS. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  county  of  Flanders  and 
the  duchy  of  Brabant  occupied  the  land  we  now  call  Belgium.  Holland 
was  little  more  than  a  name  on  the  map  of  Europe.  The  land  then  fell 
under  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  and  so  under  the  house  of  Austria. 
Charles  V.  ruled  the  Netherlands  ;  but  the  northern  provinces,  revolt- 
ing from  his  son,  formed  the  Dutch  Republic.  The  Netherlands  in 
1795  were  joined  to  the  French  Republic.  A  king  of  the  Netherlands 
was  proclaimed  in  1815 ;  but  in  1830  the  Belgians  revolted,  and  have 
since  had  a  king  of  their  own. 


Amsterdam,  the  capital  of  Holland,  on 
the  Y,  an  arm  of  the  Zuyder  Zee.  It 
is  still  a  great  centre  of  money  traffic. 

Antwerp,  the  first  seaport  of  Belgium, 
on  the  Scheldt,  45  miles  from  its 
mouth ;  noted  for  its  capture  in  1585 
by  the  Duke  of  Parma ;  bombarded 
in  1832  by  the  French. 

Brabant,  a  district  of  the  central 
Netherlands,  of  which  part— North 
Brabant— belongs  to  Holland,  and 
part— South  Brabant — to  Belgium. 
It  was  long  a  duchy,  under  the  suc- 
cessors of  Charlemagne. 

Brille,  or  Briel,  on  the  Island  of 
Voorn,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Maas. 
It  was  seized  by  the  Water  Beggars 
in  1572 ;  is  remarkable  as  the  birth- 
place of  Van  Tromp  and  De  Witt,  the 
admirals. 


Bruges,  a  city  of  Belgium,  the  capital 
of  West  Flanders,  on  the  Rege.  It 
was  once  a  great  centre  of  the  wool 
trade ;  and  here  the  Order  of  the 
Golden  Fleece  was  instituted  in  1430. 

Brussels,  the  capital  of  Belgium,  on 
the  Senne,  a  feeder  of  the  Dyle.  A 
revolution  took  place  here  in  1830, 
ending  in  the  separation  of  Belgium 
from  Holland. 

Courtrai  (in  Flemish,  Kortryk),  a 
town  of  West  Flanders,  on  the  Lys. 
Here  the  Flemings,  under  John 
Count  of  Namur,  defeated  the 
French  in  1302. 

Delft,  a  town  in  South  Holland,  on  the 
Schie,  10  miles  north-west  of  Rotter- 
dam. Here  William  the  Silent  was 
murdered  in  1.184. 

fontenoy,  a  village,  4  miles  south- 


340 


RUSSIA  AND  POLAND. 


east  of  Tournay,  where  the  French 
under  Saxe  beat  the  British  and 
Austrians  under  Cumberland  in  1745. 

Ghent,  the  capital  of  East  Flanders, 
where  the  Scheldt  and  the  Lys  meet ; 
noted  as  the  birth-place  of  Charles  V. 
in  1500.  Here  the  Pacification  of 
Ghent  was  signed  in  1576. 

Haerlem,  in  North  Holland,  on  the 
Spaaren,  which  falls  into  the  Y,  12 
miles  from  Amsterdam;  noted  for 
its  brave  defence  against  the  Span- 
iards in  1573. 

Jemappes,  a  village  near  Mons,  where 
Dumouriez  won  a  victory  over  the 
Austrians  in  1792. 

Leyden,  a  town  on  a  branch  of  the 
Rhine,  10  miles  from  the  Hague; 
noted  for  its  siege  by  the  Spaniards 
and  its  relief  in  1574.  Its  university 
is  much  renowned. 

Ligny,  a  Belgian  village,  18  miles 
south-east  of  Waterloo.  Here  on 
June  16,  1815,  Blucher  was  driven 
back  by  Napoleon. 

Louvain,  a  Belgian  town  on  the  Dyle. 
Its  university  was  the  cradle  of 
Jansenism. 

Mechlin,  or  Malines,  on  the  Dyle. 
It  was  sacked  by  the  Spaniards  in 
1572.  Once  famous  for  lace. 

Mons,  a  fortress,  32  miles  south-west 
of  Brussels.  It  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Marlborough  in  1709,  after  his  vic- 
tory at  Malplaquet,  which  is  only  a 
league  distant. 

Namur,  a  strong  fort  at  the  junction 
of  the  Sambre  and  the  Meuse,  67 
miles  south-east  of  Brussels.  It  was 
taken  by  William  III.  of  England, 
before  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  was 
signed. 


Neerwinden,  a  Belgian  village,  where 
the  French  under  Dumouriez  were 
defeated  by  the  Austrians  in  1793. 

Nimeguen,  a  Dutch  town  on  the 
Waal,  where  the  treaty  of  1678  was 
concluded. 

Ondenarde,  a  Belgian  village  on  the 
Scheldt,  33  miles  west  of  Brussels, 
famed  as  the  scene  of  Marlborough's 
victoiy  over  the  French  in  1708. 

Quatre  Bras  (four  arms,  that  is,  cross 
roads),  a  village,  10  miles  south  of 
Waterloo.  Here  Ney  strove  without 
success  to  dislodge  the  British,  June 
16, 1815. 

Ramillies,  a  Belgian  village,  28  miles 
south-east  of  Brussels;  noted  for 
Marlborough's  victory  over  Villeroi 
in  1706. 

Ryswick,  a  town  of  West  Holland,  2 
miles  south-east  of  the  Hague,  where 
the  treaty  of  1697  was  signed. 

Scheldt,  the  chief  river  of  West  Bel- 
gium, rising  in  Aisne  in  France,  and 
flowing  into  the  North  Sea. 

Steinkirk,  a  Belgian  town,  16  miles 
west  of  Brussels ,  noted  for  the  de- 
feat of  William  III.  by  Luxemburg 
in  1692. 

Utrecht,  a  Dutch  city,  where  the 
Vecht  meets  the  old  Rhine,  22  miles 
south-east  of  Amsterdam.  The 
Union  of  Utrecht  in  1579  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Dutch  Republic ; 
and  here  the  treaty  of  1713  was  con- 
cluded, ending  the  War  of  the  Span- 
ish Succession. 

Waterloo,  a  Belgian  village,  9  miles 
south  of  Brussels,  near  the  forest  of 
Soignies.  The  scene  of  Napoleon's 
utter  defeat  by  Wellington,  June  18, 
1815. 


RUSSIA  AND  POLAND. 

In  the  tenth  century  there  was  a  Duchy  of  Polonia,  which  at  the 
time  of  the  Crusades  had  become  the  Kingdom  of  Poland.  Gradually 
the  bounds  of  the  kingdom  widened,  until,  in  1385,  it  absorbed  Lith- 
uania, and  soon  stretched  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Black  Sea. 

Russia,  then  filled  with  broken  principalities,  of  which  the  largest 
was  Novgorod,  was  in  the  hands  of  Tartar  conquerors.  Ivan  III. 
drove  out  these  Tartars  ;  and  at  once  Russia  began  to  rise,  Meanwhile 


RUSSIA  AND  POLAND. 


341 


Poland  grew  weak  with  discord.  The  reign  of  Peter  the  Great  over 
Russia  made  her  one  of  the  chief  states  in  Europe;  and  the  old  king- 
dom of  Poland  soon  felt  the  evil  of  having  great  and  unscrupulous 
neighbours,  was  torn  to  pieces,  and  blotted  from  the  map  of  Europe. 


Alma,  a  river  in  the  west  of  the 
Crimea,  north  of  Sebastopol ;  noted 
for  the  victory  of  the  French  and 
British  over  the  Russians  in  1854. 

Archangel,  a  port  on  the  Dwina,  in 
Northern  Russia,  400  miles  north-east 
of  St.  Petersburg.  It  was  founded  in 
1584. 

Balaklava,  a  port  in  the  south-west 
of  the  Crimea,  about  10  miles  from 
SebastopoL  Near  it  a  battle  was 
fought  in  1854,  when  the  famous 
charge  of  the  Light  Cavalry  Brigade 
took  place. 

Beresina,  a  western  tributary  of  the 
Dnieper,  where  Napoleon's  army 
suffered  terribly  in  their  retreat 
from  Moscow. 

Borodino,  a  village  on  a  tributary  of 
the  Moskwa,  70  miles  south-west  of 
Moscow,  where  Kutusoff  and  Napo- 
leon fought  in  1812,  while  the  latter 
was  on  his  way  to  Moscow. 

Conrland,  a  Baltic  province  of  Russia, 
south  of  Livonia.  Its  capital  is  Mitau. 
It  belonged  to  Poland  until  1795. 

Cronstadt,  a  fortress  and  island  in  the 
Gulf  of  Finland,  16  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Neva,  21  miles  west  of 
St.  Petersburg.  It  was  founded  by 
Peter  the  Great  in  1710,  and  is  the 
great  naval  station  of  the  Baltic. 

Ingria,  a  province  south  of  the  Neva 
and  the  Gulf  of  Finland;  belonging 
to  Sweden  from  1617  until  1700, 
when  it  was  taken  by  Russia. 

Inkermann,  a  little  east  of  Sebasto- 
pol. The  scene  of  a  Russian  defeat 
in  the  late  war,  November  5,  1854. 
There  are  close  by  chapels  cut  out  of 
the  freestone  rock. 

Kiev,  a  Russian  city  on  the  Dnieper, 
660  miles  south  of  St.  Petersburg. 
It  was  the  capital  of  Southern  Russia 
under  Ruric— capital  of  all  Russia 
from  1037  to  1167. 

Ladoga,  a  large  lake  in  North-west 
Russia,  out  of  which  the  Neva,  40 
miles  long,  flows  to  the  sea. 

Lithuania,  a  district  of  Russia  round 
the  Niemen.  It waslongmdependent; 


but  was  united  to  Poland  in  1385,  by 
the  marriage  of  the  Queen  of  Poland 
with  the  Prince  of  Lithuania. 

Livonia,  a  Baltic  province  of  Russia, 
between  Lake  Peipus  and  the  Gulf 
of  Riga,  which  was  taken  from 
Sweden  by  Peter  the  Great. 

MOSCOW,  the  old  capital  and  holy  city 
of  Russia,  on  the  Moskwa,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Volga,  400  miles  south- 
east of  St.  Petersburg.  Here  in 
1812  a  great  fire  drove  Napoleon  to 
his  terrible  winter  retreat 

Narva,  a  small  Russian  town  on  the 
Narova,  81  miles  south-west  of  St. 
Petersburg,  famous  for  a  battle  in 
which  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  de- 
feated the  Czar  Peter  in  1700. 

Niemen,  a  river,  which  forms  part  of 
the  boundary  between  Russia  and 
Poland.  Its  mouth  is  in  Prussia. 
It  is  noted  for  its  destructive  floods. 

Novgorod,  a  city  of  Russia  on  the 
Wolchow,  where  it  leaves  Lake 
Ilmen,  120  miles  south-south-east  of 
St.  Petersburg.  The  seat  of  Rnric's 
government  in  the  ninth  century. 

Ostrolenka,  a  Polish  town,  68  miles 
north-east  of  Warsaw,  where  in  1831 
the  Poles  were  victorious  over  the 
Russians. 

Peipus,  a  lake  of  Livonia,  deep 
enough  for  small  frigates. 

Pultowa,  a  fortified  town  on  the 
Worskla,  an  eastern  tributary  of  the 
Dnieper,  where  Charles  XII.  was  de- 
feated by  Peter  the  Great  in  1709. 

Riga,  the  capital  of  Livonia,  on  the 
Dttna,  5  miles  from  its  mouth.  It 
was  taken  by  Gustavus  Adolphus  in 
1621 ;  but  was  taken  from  Sweden 
by  Peter  the  Great  in  1710. 

Sebastopol,  a  great  fortress  in  the 
south-west  of  the  Crimea ;  famous  for 
its  siege  during  the  late  war,  1854-55. 

Smolensk,  a  city  on  the  Dnieper,  230 
miles  from  Moscow ;  bombarded  and 
set  on  fire  by  Napoleon  in  1812. 

St.  Petersburg,  the  capital  of  Russia, 
on  the  Neva,  founded  by  Peter  the 
Great. 


342 


SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 


Ukraine,  the  district  of  Little  Russia, 
along  the  Dnieper,  comprising  four 
governments, — Kiev,  Podolia,  Pul- 
towa,  and  Charkov. 

Warsaw,  the  capital  of  Poland,  on  the 
Vistula,  650  miles  south-west  of  St. 
Petersburg.  It  was  assigned  to 
Prussia  in  1795;  but  in  1815  was 
made  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of 


Poland,  which  was  united  to  Russia 
In  1831  it  was  the  scene  of  a  revolu- 
tion, which,  however,  failed. 
Wilna,  the  old  capital  of  Lithuania, 
where  the  Wilna  and  the  Wilenka, 
tributaries  of  the  Niemen,  meet  In 
1812  Napoleon  took  it,  on  his  way  to 
Moscow. 


SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 

The  Roman  province  Hispania  was  divided  between  the  great  king- 
dom of  the  Visigoths  and  the  smaller  one  of  the  Suevi  in  the  north- 
west. The  Saracens  invaded  the  land  in  710;  and  the  Visigothic 
kingdom  shrank  into  Asturias,  while  the  great  Emirate  of  Cordova 
filled  nearly  all  the  peninsula.  Then  about  1107  Count  Henry,  a  JBur- 
gundian  prince,  founded  the  monarchy  of  Portugal,  while  three  king- 
doms— Leon,  Castile,  and  Aragon — grew  up  in  Northern  and  Central 
Spain.  Castile  and  Leon  united.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  married  in 
1469  Isabella,  who  soon  wore  the  double  crown.  Thus  arose  the  mon- 
archy of  Spain,  which  reached  its  height  of  glory  under  Charles  I.  (Em- 
peror Charles  V.),  but  received  a  shock  under  his  son,  Philip  II.,  from 
which  it  has  never  recovered. 


Alhama,  a  town  of  Granada,  on  the 
Frio,  25  miles  south- west  of  Granada. 
It  was  taken  from  the  Moors  in  1482. 

Alcantara,  a  city  of  Estremadura  on 
the  Tagus,  nearly  200  miles  from 
Madrid.  It  means  in  Moorish  "the 
bridge."  It  gave  its  name  to  an  order 
of  knighthood. 

Almaiiza,  a  town  of  Murcia,  on 
the  borders  of  Valencia.  Here  in 
1707  the  troops  of  Louis  XI  V.defeated 
the  Spaniards  and  their  allies,  win- 
ning the  crown  of  Spain  for  Philip  V. 

Asturias,  wooded  mountains  along 
the  north  of  Spain,  a  continuation 
westward  of  the  Pyrenees.  Their 
northern  slope  forms  the  province 
of  Asturias.  Here  the  Visigoths 
took  refuge  when  driven  northward 
by  the  Saracens. 

Barcelona,  a  seaport  of  Catalonia  in 
North-east  Spain.  Here  Columbus 
visited  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  on 
his  return  from  discovering  America. 
It  wgs  taken  in  1705  by  the  Earl  of 
Peterborough, 


Baza  (once  Basti),  a  town  of  Granada, 
taken  from  the  Moors  by  Ferdinand. 

BurgOS,  the  capital  of  Old  Castile,  on 
the  Arlan^on,  117  miles  north  of 
Madrid. 

Calatrava,  a  fortress  on  the  Guadiana, 
which  gave  its  name  to  one  of  the 
three  military  orders  of  Spain. 

Castile,  Old  and  New,  two  provinces 
of  Central  Spain,  which  formed  a 
kingdom  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Cordova  (once  Corduba),  on  the  Guad- 
alquivir. The  centre  of  the  Saracen 
dominion  after  755,  when  its  uni- 
versity, famous  In  Roman  days,  re- 
vived. It  was  taken  by  the  Span- 
iards in  1234. 

Gibraltar,  the  promontory  of  Calpe, 
called  Djebel  Tarik  (the  mountain 
of  Tarik),  after  the  Saracen  leader 
who  landed  there  in  710.  It  was 
taken  from  Spain  bythe  British  in  1704. 

Granada,  a  city  on  the  Darro,  a  tri- 
butary of  the  Xenil,  at  the  foot  of  * 
the  Sierra  Nevada.     Here  the  Moor* 
made  their  lust   stand  iu  JL491-U& 


SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  AND  DENMARK. 


343 


The  Alhambra  still  stands  on  a  hill 
by  the  city. 

Loxa,  a  town  of  Granada,  on  the  Xenil, 
which  is  a  tributary  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir. 

Madrid,  the  capital  of  Spain,  on  the 
Manzaiiares,  a  tributary  of  the 
Tagus.  Napoleon  entered  this  city 
in  triumph  in  1808. 

Malaga,  the  seaport  of  Granada,  on 
the  Mediterranean.  It  was  taken  by 
Ferdinand  in  1487. 

Navas  de  Tolosa,  a  plain  north  of 
Tolosa,  on  the  southern  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Moreria,  where,  in  1212,  the 
Moors  were  defeated  by  the  kings 
of  Castile  and  Aragon. 

Palos,  a  small  port  of  Andalusia,  from 
which  Columbus  set  out,  August  3, 
1492. 

Roncevalles,  a  valley  on  the  Upper 
Irati,  in  the  Pyrenees,  where,  in  778, 
the  mountaineers  defeated  Charle- 
magne and  slew  Roland. 

Santa  Fe,  a  town  built  by  Ferdinand 
on  the  site  of  his  camp  during  the 
siege  of  Granada  (1491-92). 

Seville,  the  capital  of  Andalusia,  on 
the  Guadalquivir,  45  miles  from  the 
sea ;  once  a  great  centre  of  Moorish 
power. 

Trafalgar,  a  cape  in  Andalusia,  30 
miles  from  Cadiz.  Here  Nelson  fell 
In  1805. 


Tudela,  a  city  on  the  Ebro,  110  miles 
east  of  Burgos. 

Valencia,  a  city  and  province  in 
Eastern  Spain.  Here,  till  1099,  the 
Cid  held  his  court. 

Valladolid,  a  city  of  Old  Castile,  near 
the  Douro,  95  miles  north-west  o.' 
Madrid.  Here  Columbus  died  in 
1506. 

Vigo,  a  seaport  of  Galicia,  in  the 
north-west  of  Spain,  where  Sir 
George  Rooke,  with  English  and 
Dutch  ships,  destroyed  a  French 
fleet  in  1702. 

Vimiera,  a  small  town  in  Portugese 
Estremadura,  30  miles  north-west  of 
Lisbon,  where  Junot  was  defeated 
in  1808  by  Wellesley. 

Vittoria,  a  town  in  Alava,  on  the  road 
from  Burgos  to  Bayonne,  where  iu 
1813  the  decisive  battle  of  the  Penin- 
sular War  was  fought. 

Xeres  de  la  Frontera,  a  town  on 
the  Guadalete,  in  South  Spain,  where 
in  711  the  Saracens  overthrew  the 
Visigoths  and  killed  Roderick  the 
king  of  that  nation. 

Yuste,  a  monastery  in  Estremadura, 
near  Plasencia,  to  which  Charles  \'. 
retired  in  1556. 

Zahara,  a  town  of  Andalusia,  built  on 
a  rock,  47  miles  south-east  of  Seville. 

Zamora,  on  the  Douro,  in  Leon,  150 
miles  north-west  of  Madrid. 


SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  AND  DENMARK. 

Sweden,  or  Svea  Kike,  was  at  first  the  home  of  a  Gothic  tribe, 
Svenskar.  Denmark  was  occupied  by  another  Gothic  tribe,  Dansker. 
Norway  means  North  Realm.  At  first  Norway  held  the  greater  part  of 
the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  and  the  Swedes  were  forced  to  spread  into 
Finland.  Then  came  the  Union  of  Calmar  in  1397,  joining  the  three 
crowns.  Gustavus  Vasa,  in  1521,  freed  Sweden  from  the  Danish  yoke. 
The  Czar  Peter  stripped  Sweden  of  most  of  her  possessions  in  the  east  of 
the  Baltic.  In  1814  Norway  was  ceded  to  Sweden  by  the  treaty  of  Kiel. 

Braavalla,  a  heath  in  East  Gothland, 
the  scene  of  a  battle,  in  740  between 
the  Danish  king,  Harold  Goldtooth, 
and  his  nephew  Sigurd  Ring,  king 
of  Sweden. 


Calmar,  a  town  on  the  west  of  Smaa- 
land,  opposite  the  Island  of  (Eland. 


Here  was  held  a  congress  of  tho 
three  northern  nations  in  1397,  wben 
the  famous  Union  of  Calmar  was 
signed. 

Copenhagen,  the  capital  of  Denmark, 
at  the  south  end  of  the  Sound,  on 
two  isljiuds,  Zealand  and  Auiager. 


344 


SWITZERLAND — TURKEY  AND  GREECE. 


Here  Nelson  crippled  the  Danish 
fleet  in  1801;  and  Cathcart  bom- 
barded the  town  in  1807.  Before  1443 
Roeskilde  was  the  capital  of  Den- 
mark. 

Fredericshall,  a  port  of  Norway,  at 
the  bend  of  the  Skager  Rack,  57  miles 
south-east  of  Christiania.  Here,  in 
1718,  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  was 
killed. 

Gotaland,    all  the    southern  part  of 


Sweden,  including  also  the  Island  ot 
Gothland. 

Mselarn,  a  lake  of  eastern  Sweden, 
filled  with  small  islands.  It  is  united 
to  the  Baltic  by  a  channel. 

Stockholm,  the  capital  of  Sweden,  on 
the  channel  from  Mselarn  to  the  sea. 
Counting  the  windings,  it  is  36  miles 
from  the  Baltic.  Upsala  was  the 
capital  of  Sweden  until  the  seven- 
teenth century. 


SWITZERLAND. 

The  central  parts  of  Switzerland  formed,  about  the  time  of  the  Cru- 
sades, the  Duchy  of  Burgundy  the  Less.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
the  Forest  Cantons  arose,  shook  off  the  yoke  of  the  Austrian  Dukes, 
and  formed  the  Swiss  nation.  In  the  time  of  Napoleon  there  were  many 
changes  in  her  Constitution;  but  in  1815  the  number  of  Cantons  was 
raised  to  twenty- two,  and  the  independence  of  the  Swiss  was  secured 
by  treaty. 


Aar,  a  tributary  of  the  Rhine  on  its 
left  bank,  draining  Northern  and 
Central  Switzerland. 

Altorf,  a  town  at  the  southern  end  of 
Lake  Lucerne,  on  the  Reuss.  It  is 
the  capital  of  Uri,  and  is  noted  as 
the  scene  of  Tell's  famous  shot. 

Basle,  a  Swiss  town  at  the  point  where 
the  Rhine  turns  north.  It  was  the  seat 
of  a  great  council  from  1431  to  1448. 

Cappel,  a  Swiss  battle-field  of  the 
Reformation  time,  where  Zwingle 
was  killed  in  1531. 

Constance,  a  town  on  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Constance  or  Boden 
See.  Here  (1414-18)  sat  the  famous 
Council  by  whose  sentence  John  Huss 
and  Jerom-e  of  Prague  were  burned. 

Einsiedlen,  a  town  in  the  Canton  of 
Schweitz,  15  miles  east  of  Zug.  Here 
Zwingle  lived  for  some  time. 

Geneva,  a  city  on  the  Rhone,  where  it 
leaves  Lake  Leman.  The  residence 
of  Calvin,  and  the  birth-place  of 
Rousseau. 


Glarus,  a  Swiss  town  on  the  Linthi 
the  capital  of  the  Canton  of  Glarus. 

Lucerne,  a  lake,  canton,  and  town  in 
Central  Switzerland,  famous  for  their 
associations  with  William  TelL 

Morgarten,  a  pass  between  Schweitz 
and  Zug.  The  road  ran  between 
Mount  Sattel  and  Lake  ^EgerL 
Here  the  Swiss  defeated  the  Aus- 
trians  in  1315. 

Nefels,  a  small  town  of  Glarus,  where 
the  Austrians  were  defeated  in  1388. 

Schweitz,  one  of  the  three  Forest 
Cantons  (the  others  are  Uri  and 
Underwalden)  which  has  given  its 
name  to  the  whole  land.  It  lies 
north-east  of  Lake  Lucerne. 

Sempach,  a  village  of  Lucerne,  famous 
for  the  battle  of  1386,  in  which 
Arnold  von  Winkelried  devoted  him- 
self for  his  country. 

Underwalden,  a  Forest  Canton,  south- 
west of  Lake  Lucerne. 

Uri,  a  Forest  Canton,  south  of  Lake 
Lucerne. 


TURKEY  AND  GREECE. 

The  footing  which  the  Arabs  tried  in  vain  to  get  upon  the  European 
shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  was  won  by  the  Turks  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. They  soon  overran  the  whole  peninsula ;  but  the  Danube, 


TURKEY  AND  GBEECE. 


345 


lined  by  the  brave  Hungarians,  was  a  barrier  they  couJd  never  pass. 
Their  power  has  gradually  decayed,  and  is  now  very  slight.  Greece, 
separated  from  Turkey  by  a  line  running  from  the  Gulf  of  Volo  to  that 
of  Arta,  arose  from  her  bondage  in  1821,  and  bravely  won  her  freedom. 


Adrianople,  a  city  of  old  Thrace,  on 
the  Hebrus,  now  the  Maritza,  134 
miles  north-west  from  Constan- 
tinople, now  the  second  town  in 
Turkey.  Here  the  Goth  Fritigern 
beat  the  Romans,  and  Valens  was 
slain,  in  378. 

Belgrade,  capital  of  Servia,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Save  with  the  Danube. 
A  great  barrier  of  eastern  Europe 
against  the  Turks.  Here  in  1456 
HuHyades  of  Transylvania  drove  the 
Turks  back  witli  great  loss. 

Bender,  now  a  Russian  town  on 
the  Dniester,  in  Bessarabia,  58  miles 
from  the  Black  Sea.  Here  Charles 
XII.  took  refuge  after  the  battle  of 
Pultowa.  It  was  laid  in  ashes  by 
the  Russians  in  1770,  and  taken  by 
them  in  1809. 

Byzantium,  or  Constantinople,  on 
the  European  side  of  the  Bosphorus. 
It  took  its  name  from  Byzas,  a 
Thracian  chief  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury B.C.  It  was  destroyed  by 
Darius.  Here  Constantine  fixed  the 
capital  of  the  Eastern  Empire  in  328. 
The  Moslems  vainly  besieged  it  It 
was  taken  by  the  Crusaders  in  1204. 
Famous  for  its  great  siege  in  1453, 
when  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Turks.  Called  by  them  Stamboul  or 
Istambol. 

Durazzo  (formerly  Dyrrachium,  capi- 
tal of  Epirus),  a  town  of  Upper 
Albania,  on  a  small  bay  of  the 
Ionian  Sea.  Scene  of  a  famous 
battle  between  the  Norsemen  and 
the  Byzantine  troops,  1081. 

Epidaurus,  once  a  celebrated  city  of 
the  Peloponnesus,  on  the  shore  of 
the  Saronic  Gulf  in  Argolis;  now  a 
miserable  village  of  scarce  one  hun- 
dred people.  Here  the  Greeks  held 
a  congress  in  1822. 

LepautO  (formerly  Naupactus).  in 
^Etolia,  on  the  north  side  of  the 


Gulf  of  Lepanto.  Here  Don  John 
of  Austria  destroyed  the  Turkish 
fleet  in  1571. 

Missolonghi,  a  small  town  of  ^Etolia, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Gulf  of 
Patras.  Here  Byron  died.  It  is 
also  famous  for  its  terrible  siege  in 
1826. 

Moldavia,  a  province  of  Turkey  west 
of  the  Pruth.  It  was  a  part  of 
ancient  Dacia,  and  with  Wallachia 
was  a  source  of  the  Russian  war. 

Napoli  di  Romania,  the  ancient  city 
of  Nauplia  (Neapolis),  lies  on  a  point 
of  land  in  the  east  of  the  Morea,  at 
the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Argos. 

Navarino,  on  the  south-west  coast  oi 
the  Morea,  near  the  old  Pylos.  Ita 
bay  is  guarded  by  the  island  Sphagia 
(once  Sphacteria).  The  scene  of  a 
great  naval  battle  in  1827. 

Nicopolis,  a  city  of  Bulgaria,  on  the 
Danube.  Here,  in  1396,  Bajazet 
and  his  janissaries  defeated  the  Hun- 
garians. 

Proconnesus,  a  little  island  in  the 
Sea  of  Marmara,  from  which  the 
marble  was  got  to  build  Constan- 
tinople. 

Sardica,  the  capital  of  Dacia  Interior. 
It  is  still  called  Triaditza,  and  was 
the  scene  of  an  ecclesiastical  council 
in  the  days  of  Constantine. 

Scio  (once  Chios),  an  island  off  tt>e 
west  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Remark- 
able for  the  beauty  of  its  scenery. 
Terribly  ravaged  by  the  Turks  in 
1822. 

Thessalonica  (now  SaloniM),  at  tb<? 
head  of  the  gulf  once  called  Ther- 
maic,  now  Salon ic.  Here  Paul 
preached,  and  to  the  people  of  the 
city  he  wrote  two  epistles. 

Wallachia,  a  province  of  Turkey, 
along  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Danube.  A  part  of  ancient  Dacia. 
—See  Moldavia. 


346 


ASIA. 


ASIA. 

Asia  was  the  cradle  of  the  human  race.  Europe  has  been  the  home 
of  its  ripe  manhood,  and  the  scene  of  its  greatest  achievements.  The 
great  mountain- wall  of  Imaus  (the  modern  Beloor-tagh  and  Soliman 
ranges)  has  kept  the  Mongols  to  the  east  of  Asia  with  their  imperfect 
civilization;  but  west  of  Imaus  there  has  been  much  change  since  the 
fall  of  Rome.  Mahometanism  sprang  up  in  Arabia  and  spread  beyond 
the  Indus.  The  Turks  pushed  their  way  from  the  Caspian  through 
Asia  Minor  into  Europe;  and  in  Palestine  the  great  Crusades  brought 
West  and  East  into  closer  contact.  In  later  times  the  occupation  of 
India  by  the  British  has  been  the  greatest  event  of  Asiatic  history. 


Acre,  or  Ptolemais,  a  strong  fortress 
on  the  northern  point  of  the  only 
considerable  bay  in  Palestine,  famous 
for  its  siege  in  the  Third  Crusade.  It 
was  taken  from  the  Christians  in 
1291  by  Sultan  Khalil.  and  was  un- 
successfully attacked  by  Napoleon  I. 
in  1709. 

Allah,  or  Akabah,  a  fortress  on  the 
north-east  prong  of  the  Red  Sea.  Its 
conquest  by  the  Moslems  opened 
their  way  to  Mount  Sinai  and  Africa. 

Angora  (formerly  Ancyra),  a  chief 
city  of  Northern  Galatia,  where,  in 
1402,  Bajazet  was  defeated  by  Ta- 
merlane. 

Antioch,  a  large  city  in  Northern 
Syria,  on  the  Orontes,  which  was  be- 
sieged and  taken  by  the  first  Cru- 
saders. It  is  now  called  Andakieh. 
There  was  another  Antioch  in  Pisi- 
dia,  in  Asia  Minor. 

Ascalon,  a  fortress  on  the  shore  of 
Palestine,  which  was  the  scene  of 
many  battles  during  the  first  three 
Crusades.  It  was  destroyed  by 
Saladin  in  1191. 

Bagxlad,  a  city  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Tigris,  founded  in  765  by  the 
Caliph  El  Mansur.  This  brilliant 
capital  of  the  Abbasides  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  Mongols  in  1258. 

Bassora,  a  city  on  the  Euphrates, 
near  its  mouth.  It  was  founded  by 
Omar,  and  became  a  great  centre  of 
Moslem  commerce. 

Beder,  a  valley  south-west  of  Medina, 
where  Mahomet  won  his  first  vic- 
tory, defeating  his  enemies  of  the 
tribe  Koreish. 


Berytus  (now  Beirout),  one  of  the 
capital  cities  of  maritime  Phoenicia, 
where  there  was  a  I  famous  Roman 
law  school.  The  city  was  taken  by 
the  knights  of  the  Fourth  Crusade. 

Bithynia,  a  province  of  Asia  Minor, 
lying  partly  on  the  Propontis,  or  Sea 
of  Marmara,  and  partly  on  the 
Euxine,  or  Black  Sea.  Jt  was  the 
scene  of  the  third  persecution  of 
Christians  under  Pliny  the  younger. 

Brusa  (formerly  Prusa),  a  city  of 
Bithynia,  near  the  Euxine.  It  waa 
taken  by  the  Turkish  Sultan  Orchan 
in  1326. 

Csesarea,  an  old  Roman  town  on  the 
coast  of  Palestine,  30  miles  south- 
west of  Acre.  Here  Peter  visited 
Cornelius,  and  Paul  addressed  Felix 
and  Agrippa.  It  was  taken  by  the 
Saracens  in  635,  and  by  the  Cru- 
saders in  1101. 

Chaibar,  the  Jewish  capital  of  North- 
ern Arabia,  where,  after  taking  the 
town,  Mahomet  was  nearly  killed  by 
eating  poisoned  food. 

Chalcedon,  a  city  of  Bithynia,  on  the 
Bosphorus,  where  the  Fourth  Gene- 
ral Council  met  in  451. 

Chios,  an  island  off  the  west  coast  of 
Asia  Minor,  now  called  Scio. 

Chrysopolis  (now  Scutari),  a  town 
opposite  Constantinople,  on  the 
Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  Here 
Constantino  defeated  Licinius  in  324. 

Cufa,  a  city  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Euphrates,  which  was  for  &  time 
the  capital  of  the  Caliphs.  Here 
Aliwas  assassinated  in  651. 

Dorylaeum,   a   city   cf   Phrygiii.    ui 


AFRICA. 


347 


Asia  Minor,  on  the  river  Thymbiis. 
It  was  the  scene  of  a  great  cavalry 
battle  in  the  First  Crusade  in  1097. 

Edessa  (now  Orfah),  the  capital  of 
Mesopotamia.  It  was  famous  in  the 
Middle  Ages  for  the  manufacture  of 
shields  and  armour. 

Heraclea,  a  city  of  Asia  Minor,  on  the 
shore  of  the  Euxine.  It  was  laid 
in  ruins  by  Haroun  al  Raschid. 
There  was  another  Heraclea  (Erekli) 
on  the  Thracian  Chersonese. 

Konein,  a  valley  north  of  Mecca, 
where  Mahomet  defeated  the  Ara- 
bian idolaters. 

Iconium  (now  Konieh) ,  the  capital  of 
Lycaonia,  in  Asia  Minor.  It  was 
taken  by  Frederic  Barbarossa  dur- 
ing the  Third  Crusade. 

Jerusalem,  the  chief  city  of  Palestine, 
built  upon  four  hills.  It  was  be- 
sieged by  the  Romans,  A.I>.  70;  sur- 
rendered to  the  Caliph  Omar,  637; 
taken  by  the  Crusaders,  1099;  taken 
by  the  Turks,  1239.  Its  present 
population  is  about  10,000,  of  whom 
two-thirds  are  Mahometans. 

Kadesia,  a  battle-field  some  distance 
west  of  the  Euphrates,  where,  dur- 
ing the  caliphate  of  Omar,  the  Mos- 
lems and  the  Persians  fought  for  three 
days.  The  Persians  were  beaten. 

Madayn,  consisting  of  two  towris, 
Ctesiphon  and  Seleucia,  opposite  each 
other,  on  the  Tigris.  This  capital 
of  the  Persian  kingdom  fell  before 
the  troops  of  Omar,  arid  Bagdad  was 
afterwards  built  from  its  ruins. 

Mecca,  the  capital  of  Arabia,  in  a 
sandy  valley  55  miles  from  the 
east  shore  of  the  Red  Sea.  Here 
Mahomet  was  born  in  571.  It  was 
re-entered  by  the  banished  prophet 
in  629. 

Medina,  a  city  of  Western  Arabia,  270 
miles  north  of  Mecca.  Hither  Ma- 


homet fled  in  622,  and  here  he  was 
buried. 

Muta,  a  battle-field  a  little  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  where  the  Moslems  and 
the  troops  of  the  Eastern  Empire 
met  in  conflict  for  the  first  time. 

Nehavend,  a  town  half  way  between 
the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Persian 
Gulf.  It  was  the  scene  of  the  last 
great  defeat  of  the  Persians  by  the 
Moslem  troops. 

Nice,  or  Nicsea  (now  Isnik),  a 
great  city  of  Bithynia,  where  the 
First  General  Council  met  in  325.  It 
was  taken  by  the  Crusaders  in 
1097. 

Nicomedia  (now  Nikmid),  a  city  of 
Bithynia,  on  the  Gulf  of  Astacus.  It 
was  the  capital  of  the  East  under 
Diocletian,  and  the  scene  of  the  last 
#reat  Christian  persecution  in  303. 
There  Cor.stantine  died.  It  was 
noted  in  the  story  of  the  Crusades. 

Palmyra,  or  Tadmor,  a  city  built  in 
an  oasis  of  the  Syrian  desert,  half 
way  between  the  Orontes  and  the 
Euphrates.  It  was  taken  by  Au- 
relian  in  273,  and  its  queen,  Zenobia, 
was  led  in  triumph  through  Rome. 

Rhodes,  an  island  off  the  south-west 
coast  of  Asia  Minor,  which  was 
attacked  without  success  by  Maho- 
met II. 

Samarcand,  a  city  of  Turkestan.  It 
M*as  conquered  by  the  Moslems  and 
then  by  the  Mongols,  when  it  be- 
came the  capital  of  Tamerlane. 

Smyrna,  a  large  commercial  city  on 
the  west  shore  of  Asia  Minor.  It 
was  the  scene  of  the  fifth  Christian 
persecution,  during  which  the  bishop, 
Polycarp,  suffered  martyrdom. 

Tabuk,  a  palm  grove  half  way  between 
Medina  and  Damascus,  at  which 
Mahomet  fell  sitk  and  turned  back 
to  die. 


AFRICA. 

The  spread  of  the  Moslems  along  the  shores  of  Barbary,  and  the 
events  of  the  later  Crusades,  are  the  chief  points  of  interest  in  the  his- 
tory of  Africa  during  the  Middle  Ages.  In  modern  times  the  name  of 
this  continent  has  become  sadly  associated  with  the  unnatural  horrors 
of  negro  slavery. 


348 


AMERICA. 


AbouMr,  a  bay  at  the  western  mouth 
of  the  Nile.  It  was  the  scene  of  Nel- 
son's victory  over  the  French  fleet 
in  August  1798. 

Alexandria,  a  city  14  miles  from 
the  most  westerly  mouth  of  the  Nile, 
built  partly  on  the  promontory  of 
Pharos.  It  was,  in  Vespasian's  time, 
the  second  Roman  city,  and  is  now 
the  great  port  of  Egypt. 

Algiers,  a  country  of  North  Africa, 
corresponding  to  the  old  Numidia. 
It  was  taken  by  the  Vandals,  who 
were  expelled  by  Belisarius  in  534. 
The  city  was  unsuccessfully  attack- 
ed by  Charles  V.  in  1541;  bom- 
barded by  the  English  in  1816;  and 
conquered  by  the  French  in  1830. 

Cairouan,  a  city  of  Northern  Africa, 
founded  by  the  Moslems  in  674.  It 
became  a  great  centre  of  commerce 
during  the  Middle  Ages. 

Damietta,  a  seaport  at  the  eastern 


mouth  of  the  Nile,  taken  by  St. 
Louis  during  the  Seventh  Crusade. 

Hippo  Regius  (Bona),  a  strong  city 
of  the  Numidian  coast,  where  St. 
Augustine  lived  and  died.  It  was 
besieged  by  the  Vandals  in  430. 

Mekines,  a  Moslem  kingdom  in 
Northern  Africa,  corresponding  to 
the  old  Mauretania,  and  to  part  of 
the  modern  Morocco  and  Algiers. 

St.  Helena,  a  rocky  island  in  the 
South  Atlantic,  belonging  to  Great 
Britain.  It  is  famous  as  the  prison 
of  Napoleon  from  1815  until  his 
death  in  1821. 

Tangier  (formerly  Tingis),  the  capital 
of  Mauretania  Tingitana,on  the  south- 
ern shore  of  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar. 

Tunis,  a  city  3  miles  south-west 
from  the  ruins  of  Carthage.  It  was 
taken  in  1535  by  Charles  V.,  when 
10,000  Christian  slaves  were  set  free. 
Goletta  was  its  great  port 


AMERICA. 

America  is  said  to  have  been  known  to  the  Icelanders  about  1000 
A.D.,  but  it  was  only  after  1492  that  the  New  World  began  to  figure  in 
history.  Spain  became  the  possessor  of  nearly  all  South  America  and 
a  large  part  of  the  Northern  Continent;  but  the  various  States  have  since 
risen  and  won  their  independence.  The  greatest  event  in  American 
history  is  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
by  Britain  in  1783.  The  Republic  then  founded  has  grown  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  Powers  in  the  world. 


Caxamarca,  a  city  of  old  Peru,  where 
Pizarro  massacred  the  guards  of  the 
Inca. 

Cuzco,  a  plateau  and  town  in  Southern 
Peru,  more  than  11,000  feet  above  the 
sea.  It  was  taken  by  Pizarro. 

Hispaniola,  also  called  St.  Domingo 
or  Hayti,  one  of  the  larger  Antilles, 
discovered  and  colonized  by  Columbus 
in  1493.  He  ruled  it  for  Spain  until 
^superseded  by  Bobadilla.  It  is  now 
independent,  under  a  negro  emperor. 

Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru,  6  miles 
from  the  Pacific.  Callao  is  its  port. 
It  was  founded  by  Pizarro  in  1535. 

Jttexico,  a  great  city  on  the  plateau  of 
Anahuac.  It  was  taken  for  Spain  by 


Cortes  in  1521,  but  it  declared  its 

independence  in  1821. 
Otumba,  a  valley  near  Mexico,  where 

the  natives  were  defeated  by  Cortez 

in  1520. 
Panama,  a  town  on  the  Pacific  shore 

of  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  or  Panama. 

Pizarro  sailed  from  it  in  1531,  bound 

for  Peru.     The  traffic  to  California 

now  passes  through  it. 
San  Salvador,  or  Guanahani,  one  of 

the    Bahama    Islands.      The    first 

American  land  seen  by  Columbus, 

who  landed  there  October  12,  1492. 
Vera  Cruz,  a  port  on  the  south-west 

shore  of  Gulf  of  Mexico,  founded  by 

Cortez,  who  there  broke  up  his  ships 


INDEX. 


Abbaside  Caliphate,  86. 

Azof,  258. 

Catherine  deMedici,207. 

Abdallah,  87,  164. 

Catholic  league,  208. 

Abdel  Rahman,  85,  160. 

Bagdad,  86. 

Celts  and  Cimbri,  69. 

Aboukir,  Battle  of,  295. 

Bajazet,  Sultan,  155. 

Chaibar,  Capture  of,  61. 

Abu  Beker.  Caliph,  63. 

Baldwin,  116. 

Chalons,  37. 

Acre,  111,  119. 

Barbarossa,  193. 

Charlemagne,  77-83. 

Adelaide,  Queen,  90. 

Barmecides,  87. 

Charlemagne's       court, 

Adrian's  edict,  20. 

Bartholomew,  Massacre 

100. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  82,  101, 

of  St.,  207. 

Charles     the     Hammer 

267. 

Beggars,  Water.  200. 

(France),  67. 

Akbah,  65. 

Belgium,  247. 

Charles      the      Simple 

Alaric  the  Goth,  34. 

Belgrade,  158. 

(France),  97. 

Albert,  Duke,  128. 

Belisarius,  50. 

Charles    IX.    (France), 

Albigenses,  120. 

Berengar,  90. 

208. 

Alboin  the  Lombard,  54. 

Berlin  Decrees,  302. 

Charles  X.  (France),  314. 

Alexius,  116. 

Bernadotte,  307. 

Charles  V.  (Spain),  189, 

Alfred  the  Great,  96. 

Bernard,  St.,  110. 

196. 

Al-Hakem,  160. 

Berytus  (Beirout),  114. 

Charles  XII.  (Sweden), 

Alhama,  163. 

Blenheim,  253. 

259,  262. 

Alhambra,  162. 

Bonaparte,      291,      293, 

Chivalry,  133. 

Ali,  Caliph,  64. 

296,  299,  307,  310. 

Christian  IV.  defeated, 

Alva,  199. 

Boniface,  35. 

221. 

Amalric,  Arnold,  122. 

Bourbon,  House  of,  204, 

Cid,  The,  161. 

Ambrose,  57. 

212,  307. 

Clairvaux,  Abbot  of,  110. 

Amiens,  Treaty  of,  298. 

Braavalla,  Battle  of,  95. 

Clermont,    Council    of, 

Amurath  II.,  356. 

Brederode,  199. 

107. 

Anabaptist  War,  192. 

Brienne,    Gualtier    de, 

Cloris,  50. 

Angora,  155. 

149. 

Colbert,  246. 

Antioch,  108. 

Brille,  199. 

Coligny,   Admiral,    205, 

Antoine,  St.,  244. 

Burgundians,  71. 

207. 

Antonia,  Tower  of,  15. 

Byzantine  court,  94. 

Columbus,  166. 

Antwerp,  200. 

Communes,   of  France, 

Aquitaine,  78. 

Cadi  j  ah,  59. 

143. 

Arabs,  59. 

Calonne,  284. 

Concini,  213. 

Aragon,  Kings  of,  171. 

Calvin,  John,  187. 

Conde,  Prince  of,  205. 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  151. 

Cam  bray,  192. 

Condottieri,  The,  173. 

Ascalon,  109. 

Campo  Formio,  295. 

Conrad,  Duke,  83. 

Attila  the  Hun,  36. 

Capet,  Hugh,  88. 

Conrad  III.  the  Great, 

Augsburg,  90,  186,  251. 

Capuchins,  229. 

110. 

Augustine,  57. 

Carcassone,  Capture  of, 

Constantine,  25,  29,  30. 

Aurelius,  Marcus,  21. 

122. 

Constantine  Palaeologus, 

Austerlitz,  300. 

Carlovingian  kings,  84. 

158. 

Auto  da  Fe,  176. 

Carlstadt,  185. 

Constantinople,  29,  116, 

Avars,  The,  81. 

Carthage  destroyed,  65. 

156. 

Avignon,  151. 

Cathedrals,  Rise  of,  172. 

Cordova,  Emirate  of,  85. 

350 


INDEX. 


Cortez,  Ferdinand,  169. 
Crescentius,  151. 
Crespy,  Peace  of,  194. 
Crimea,    Mahomet    II., 

158. 

Crucifixion,  9. 
Crusade,  The  Boy,  116. 

Dagobertl.,  66. 
Damascus,  Siege  of,  110 
Damietta,  118. 
Dandolo,  115. 
Decian  persecution,  22. 
Dethmold,  Battle  of,  80. 
Dettingen,     Battle     of, 

266. 
Diocletian  persecution, 

23. 

Dominicans,  173. 
Domitian's  persecution, 

19. 

Don  John  of  Austria,  200 
Doria,  Andrew,  192. 
Dorylaeum,  108. 
Dresden,  266. 
Dreux,  206. 
Dunkirk,  245. 
Durazzo,  Battle  of,  99. 
Dutch  Republic,  198. 

Eck,  Dr.,  183. 
Egypt,  Napoleon  in,  295. 
Eikonodouloi,  92. 
Eikonoklastai,  92. 
Eleazar,  12. 
Emir  al  Omra,  87. 

Faliero,  Marino,  147. 

Feodor,  98. 

Ferdinand  of  Bohemia, 

219,  227. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 

163. 

Ferdinand  VII.,  312. 
Finns,  The,  73. 
Florence,  148,  319. 
Fontenaille,  Battle  of,  83. 
Fontenoy,  Battle  of,  266. 
Foscari,  Francesco,  147. 
Foulque,  115. 
France,    Life    in,    274 ; 

Revolution    in,     283, 

314;  Geography  of  »330. 
Francis  I.,  190,  191. 
Francis  II.,  205. 
Franciscans,  173. 


Franks,  Rise  of,  70. 
Frederic  Barbarossa,lll, 

145. 

Frederic  II,  117. 
Frederic  the  Great,  264, 

272. 

Friedland,  Battle  of,  302. 
Fronde,  War  of  the,  243. 
Fttrst,  Walter,  129. 

Galerius,  24. 

Geneva,  Council  of,  187. 

Genseric,  37. 

Gerard,  Balthasar,  201. 

Germany  and    Prussia, 

323;  Geography  of,  333. 
Gertruydenburg,  254. 
Gessler,  129. 
Ghent,  Peace  of,  200. 
Gibraltar,  254. 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  108. 
Goths    in    Scandinavia, 

69 ;   and    Sarmatians, 

27  ;  in  Thrace,  33. 
Granada,  162,  165. 
Greek  revolution,  321. 
Gregory  the  Great,  58. 
Gregory  VII.,  144. 
Gregory  IX. ,  117. 
Guelphs     and     Ghibel- 

lines,  144. 
Gueux,  Les,  198. 
Guiscard,  99. 
Gunpowder,  138. 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  223. 
Guzman,  Dominic,  121. 

Haerlem,  199. 
Hanseatic  League,  232. 
Harold  Haarfager,  96. 
Haroun  al  Raschid,  82. 
Hegira,  60. 
Helvetia,  Old,  128. 
Henry  II.  (France),  204. 
Henry  IV.,  210,  211. 
Henry    (Germany)    the 

Fowler,  88. 

Henry  of  Navarre,  208. 
Henrys,  War  of  the 

Three,  208. 

Hippicus,  Tower  of,  13. 
Hohenlinden,  297. 
Holland,  198. 
Holland,  War  in,  247. 
Honorius,  34. 
Hospitallers,  109. 


Hubertsburg,  Peace  of, 

271. 

Huguenots,  The,  204. 
Hungary,  74,  321. 

Ibrahim,  62. 

Innocent  I.,  56. 

Innocent  III.,  115,  120. 

Innspruck,  195. 

Inquisition,  176. 

Interim,  The,  195. 

Investitures,  War  of,  144. 

Irene,  The  Empress,  86. 

Isaac,  Emperor,  115. 

Isabella  of  Spain,  167. 

Islam,  60. 

Italy  conquered  by  Bel- 
isarius,  |  51  ;  Repub- 
lics, 143;  Life  in,  172; 
Bonaparte  in,  294 ; 
Geography  of,  337. 

Ivry,  Battle  of,  209. 

Jansen,  229. 
Jemappes,  289. 
Jena,  Battle  of,  302. 
Jerome,  57. 
Jerusalem,  Siege  of,  13, 

106,    109  ;     Christian 

kings  of,  119. 
Jesuits,  194. 
John,  Duke  of  Suabia, 

130. 

John  of  Gischala,  12. 
John,  Pope,  90. 
Joppa,  Fall  of,  114 
Josephine,  294. 
Josephus,  14. 
Julian,  the  apostate,  32. 
Justinian,  50. 

Kadesia,  Battle  of,  64. 
Kiev  founded,  98. 
Knighthood,  135. 
Koran,  The,  62. 
Koreish,  The,  61. 
Kosciusko,  272. 
Kossuth,  Louis,  322. 
Kussnacht,  130. 

La  Hogue,  Battle  of,  251. 
La  Vaur,  Siege  of,  123. 
League,  Henry  IV.  and 

the,  209. 

Legnano,  Battle  of,  145. 
Leipsic,  Disputation  of, 


INDEX. 


351 


183;    Battle    of,   223, 

Marmont,  314. 

Norsemen,  95. 

307. 

Mary    de    Medici,    Re- 

Novgorod founded,  98. 

Leo  I.,  57. 

gency  of,  213. 

Noyon,  187. 

Leo  III.,  81. 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  194. 

Nuremberg,  225. 

Leo  VI.,  93. 

Maximilian,  220. 

Leo  VIII.  ,  90 

Maximin,  22,  23. 

Omar,  Caliph,  63. 

Leo  X.,  182. 

Mayors  of  the  Palace,  66. 

Ommiyad  dynasty,  86. 

Leopold,  Duke,  131. 

Mazarin,  217,  243,  246. 

Orchan,  154. 

Leopold,  King  of  Hun- 

Mazeppa, 261. 

Orleans,  Regency  of,  255. 

gary,  245. 

Mecca,  Occupation  of,  62. 

Ostrogoths,  52. 

Leopold  of  Belgium,  319. 

Medici,  Giovannidi,149. 

Ostrolenka,  323. 

Leuthen,  Battle  of,  269. 

Medici,  Lorenzo  di,  149. 

Othman,  64. 

Leyden,  Relief  of,  200. 

Melancthon,  186. 

Othman,  Emir,  154, 

Licinius,  War  with,  27. 

Mentz,    Surrender    of, 

Otho  the  Great,  89. 

Liegnitz,  Battle  of,  270. 

224. 

Otho  II.,  91. 

Lodi,  Bridge  of,  294. 

Menzikoff,  261. 

Otho  III,  91. 

Lombard  invasion,  54. 

Meroveg,  66. 

Otranto,  159. 

Lombardy,  72,  80. 

Mexico,  Siege  of,  170. 

Oudenarde,  253. 

Lorenzo,    the    Magnifi- 

Milan, 34. 

Oxenstiern,  226. 

cent,  150. 

Minden,  Battle  of,  269. 

Lorraine  subdued,  89. 

Mirabeau,  Death  of,  287. 

Pappenheim,  224. 

Lothaire,  83. 

Montezuma  seized,  169. 

Paris  besieged  by  Norse- 

Louis  VII.,  110. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  122. 

men,  97. 

Louis  IX.,  118. 

Montmorency    assassin- 

Paris, Peace  of,  124,  312. 

Louis  XIII.,  216. 

ated,  206. 

Passau,  Peace  of,  195. 

Louis  XIV.,  242,255,276. 

Morgarten,    Battle    of, 

Pavia,  190. 

Louis  XV,  283. 

130. 

Pelagius,  56. 

Louis  XVI.,  284,  289. 

Moscow,     The     retreat 

Pentapolis,  68. 

Louis  XVIII.,  307. 

from,  306. 

Pepin  le  Bref,  68. 

Louis    Napoleon,     315, 

Moslem  creed,  63. 

Pepin  of  Heristal,  66. 

318. 

Murat,  307. 

Perpetua,  Story  of,  22 

Louis  Philippe,  315. 

Muret,  Battle  of,  123. 

Peruvians,  Massacre  of, 

Louis,  Prince,  123. 

171. 

Lubeck,  Peace  of,  222. 

Nantes,   Edict  of,   210, 

Pesth,  322. 

Luther,  180. 

250. 

Peter  the  Great,  257. 

Lutzen,  Battle  of,  225. 

Napoleon  I.,  300;  Na- 

Peter the  Hermit,  106. 

poleon  III.,  317. 

Philip  Augustus,  111. 

Macedonian      dynasty, 

N  arses  and  the  Ostro- 

Philip II.  of  Spain,  198. 

93,  94. 

goths,  52. 

Pio  Nono,  319. 

Magdeburg,     Siege    of, 

Narva,  259. 

Pius  VII.  ,  300. 

223. 

Narvaez,  170. 

Pizarro,  Francisco,  170. 

Mahomet,  59,  62. 

Navarino,  321. 

Placentia,    Council    of, 

Mahomet  II.,  156. 

Nazareth,  Massacre  at, 

107. 

Malaga,  Fall  of,  164. 

119. 

Pliny,  19. 

Malek  Kamil,  117. 

Neerwinden,  Battle  of, 

Podestas,  145. 

Mallum,  of  the  Franks, 

291. 

Poland,  74,  272,  323. 

71. 

Nero's  persecution,  18. 

Polycarp,      Martyrdom 

Malplaquet,  254. 

Netherlands,  318,  339. 

of,  21. 

Mansfeldt,  Count,  220. 

Nice,  193. 

Popery,  Rise  of,  56. 

Marengo,  297. 

Nicephorus,    Letter  of, 

Portugal,  313. 

Margaret  of  Parma,  198. 

86. 

Pragmatic  Sanction,265. 

Maria  Theresa,  265. 

Nimeguen,    Treaty    of, 

Prague,  Siege  of,  268. 

Marie  Antoinette,  284. 

249. 

Proconnesus,  28. 

Marienburg,  124. 

Nordlingen,  226. 

Protestants,  ISO,  186. 

Marlborough,  Victories 

Normandy,  Invasion  of, 

Prussia,  125,  i>r,4.-J73.:n  8. 

of,  253. 

97. 

Pruth,  War  on  the,  262. 

352 


INDEX. 


Pultowa,  Battle  of,  261. 
Pyrenees,  Treaty  of,  245. 

Radetsky,  319. 
Ramillies,  253. 
Rastadt,  Treaty  of,  254. 
Ravenna,  52. 
Red  Rocks,  Battle  of,  26. 
Requesens,  199. 
Revolution,  French,  283, 

314,  316. 

Rhe,  Siege  of,  215. 
Richard  I.,  111. 
Richelieu,  Cardinal,  214, 

217. 

Ricimer,  37. 
Rienzi,  Nicola  di,  151. 
Robespierre,  290. 
Rochelle,  Siege  of,  216. 
Rodolph,  Count,  128 
Rolf  Ganger,  The,  97. 
Roman  empire  divided, 

26. 
Rome,   Life  in,  38,  39  ; 

sacked,    35,    37,   191; 

restored,  320. 
Roncevalles,  81. 
Rossbach,  Battle  of,  268. 
Ruric  the  Jute,  98. 
Russia,  98,  257,  263,  305, 

340. 

Rutli,  129. 
Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  252. 

Sabinus,  15. 
Saladin,  111,  113. 
San  Salvador,  168. 
Saragossa,  Victory  of,  81. 
Sardica,  Council  of,  56. 
Sarmatian  and  Sclavonic 

tribes,  69. 
Savonarola,  150. 
Saxon  emperors,  88. 
Saxons,  The,  72. 
Schonbrunn,  Treaty  of, 

304. 

Sedan,  Surrender  at,  318. 
Sempach,  131,  132. 
Seven  Years'  War,  267. 
Severus,  Persecution  by, 

21. 

Sicily,  Conquest  of,  99. 
Signoria,  The,  148. 
Silesia,  265. 
Simon  of  Gerasa,  12. 
Sinthal,  79. 


Smolensk,  305. 
Snow  king,  The,  223. 
Soliman,  Sultan,  108. 
Solyman's  invasion,  155 
Sonna,  The,  63. 
Spain,  175,  312,  342. 
Spanish  Succession, "War 

of,  253. 

Spires,  Diet  of,  185. 
Stauffacher,       Werner, 

129. 

Stephen  II.,  Pope,  58. 
Stephen    of    Vendome, 

116. 
St.   Germain,  Peace  of, 

206. 

St.  Petersburg  built,  260. 
Stralsund,  Siege  of,  221. 
Sully,  211. 
Swatoslaus,  93. 
Sweden,    Norway,    and 

Denmark,  Geography 

of,  343. 

Switzerland,  344. 
Symphorian,       Martyr- 
dom of,  21. 

Tannenberg,  Battle  of, 
127. 

Tarik,  Lieutenant,  85. 

Tell,  William,  129. 

Templars,  The,  169. 

Temple,  Burning  of  the, 
17. 

Ten  of  Venice,  The,  147. 

Terror,  Reign  of,  290. 

Tetzel,  John,  182. 

Theodoric  the  Ostro- 
goth, 49. 

Theodosius,  33. 

Theses  of  Luther,  182. 

Thessalonians,  Massacre 
of,  34. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  219. 

Thoron,  Siege  of,  114. 

Tilly,  Death  of,  224. 

Timour  the  Lame,  155. 

Titus  at  Jerusalem,  12. 

Torgau,  Battle  of,  270. 

Tournament,  The,  137. 

Tours,  Battle  of,  67. 

Trajan's  edict,  19. 

Trent,  Council  of,  194. 

Triple  Alliance,  247. 

Tuileries,  Sack  of  the,  288 

Tunis,  118,  193. 


Turkey,  154,  157,  344. 

Ulric,  127. 
Urban  II.,  107. 
Utrecht,  Union  of,  201 ; 
Treaty  of,  254. 

Valens,  Death  of,  33. 
Valerian's  edict,  23. 
Vandals,  71. 
Vassy,  206. 
Vaudry,  Colonel,  315. 
Venice,  146,  148. 
Verangians,  98. 
Verdun,  Treaty  of,  88. 
Verona,  Congress  of,312. 
Versailles,  277,  286. 
Vespasian,  12. 
Vienna, '251,  303;  con- 
gress, 308. 
Vikings,  95. 
Vimiera,  303. 
Violet,  Corporal,  308. 
Vittoria,  Battle  of,  303. 
Vladimir  I.,  98. 

Wagram,  Battle  of,  303. 
Wallenstein,  Count,  221, 

224. 
Walter    the    Penniless, 

107. 

Wartburg  Castle,  184. 
Waterloo,  310. 
Westphalia,Peace  of,227 
William  of  Orange,  247. 
William  the  Silent,  199; 

Murder  of,  201. 
Winifred,  68. 
Winkelried,  Arnold  von, 

132. 

Wittikind,  79. 
Worms,  Peace  of,  144 ; 

Diet  of,  184. 

Xenil,  163. 

Xeres,  Battle  of,  67,  85. 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  189. 

Ypsilanti,  Major,  319. 

Zahara,  Fall  of,  163. 
Zealots,  12. 
Zenghi,  110. 
Zimisces,  John,  93. 
Zurich,  132,  185. 
Zwingle,  Ulric,  185. 


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