m
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE HISTORIANS'
HISTORY
OF THE WORLD
s^
■^Ir^jyrJf,;^^^^-*
RANKE
THE HISTORIANS'
HISTORY
OF THE WORLD
A comprehensive narrative of the rise and development of nations
as recorded by over two thousand of the great writers of
all ages : edited, with the assistance of a distinguished
board of advisers and contributors,
by
HENRY SMITH WILLIAMS, LL.D.
PRIVIS I J
DOCENDXjM
IN TWENTY-FIVE VOLUMES
VOLUME XrV— THE NETHERLANDS (Concluded)
THE GERMANIC EMPIRES
T^^ Outlook Company
T^f History Association
New York
London
1904
Copyright, 1904,
HENRY SMITH WILLIAMS.
A.II rights reserved.
Press of J. J. Little & Co.
New York, U. S. A.
Stack
Annex
Contributors, and Editorial Revisers.
Prof. Adolf Erman, University of Berlin.
Prof. Joseph Halevy, College of France.
Prof. Thomas K. Cheyne, Oxford University.
Prof. Andrew C. McLaughlin, University of Michigan.
Prof. David H. Miiller, University of Vienna.
Prof. Alfred Eamband, University of Paris.
Capt. F. Brinkley, Tokio.
Prof. Eduard Meyer, University of Berlin.
Dr. James T. Shotwell, Columbia University.
Prof. Theodor Noldeke, University of Strasburg.
Prof. Albert B. Hart, Harvard University.
Dr. Paul Bronnle, Royal Asiatic Society.
Dr. James Gairdner, C.B., London.
Prof. Ulrich von "Wilamowitz Mollendorff, University of Berlin.
Prof. H. Marczali, University of Budapest.
Dr. G. W. Botsford, Columbia University.
Prof. Julius TVellhausen, University of Gottingen.
Prof. Franz R, von Krones, University of Graz.
Prof. Wilhelm Soltau, Zabern University.
Prof. R. W. Rogers, Drew Theological Seminary.
Prof. A. Vambery, University of Budapest.
Prof. Otto Hirschfeld, University of Berlin.
Dr. Frederick Robertson Jones, Bryn Mawr College.
Baron Bernardo di San Severino Quaranta, London.
Dr. John P. Peters, New York.
Prof. Adolph Harnack, University of Berlin.
Dr. S. Rappoport, School of Oriental Languages, Paris.
Prof. Hermann Diels, University of Berlin.
Prof. C. W. C. Oman, Oxford University.
Prof. L Goldziher, University of Vienna.
Prof. W. L. Fleming, University of West Virginia.
Prof. R. Koser, University of Berlin.
^
CONTENTS
VOLUME XIY
THE NETHERLA]^DS
CHAPTER XVI
I PA6B
Holland from 1722 to 1815 1
Danger to the dikes, 2. War with France, 2. William IV declared stadholder,
3. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 5. The regencies of Anne and Ernst of Brunswick, 6.
Holland during the American revolution, 8. Treaty of Utrecht broken, 9. England
declares war, 10. Loss of the Dutch colonies and commerce, 11. Party quarrels, 12.
The revolution of 1785-1787, 12. The French Revolution, 15. The French conquest,
16. The flight of the stadholder, 19. The Batavian republic, 20. Louis Bonaparte's
account of his accession, 23. Reign of Louis Bonaparte, 24. Absorption of Holland
in the French empire, 24. The continental system, 25. The revolution of 1813, 26.
Holland and Belgium united, 28. Holland's part in the great alliance, 29. Consoli-
dation of the Netherlands, 30.
CHAPTER XVII
BELGroM FROM 1648 TO 1815 32
France in control, 33. Belgium the battle-ground of Europe, 33. Condition of
the country, 35. The army, 36. The arts, 37. Belgium becomes "The Austrian
Netherlands," 38. Spoliation and ruin of Belgium, 39. The war of the Austrian
succession, 40. Beneficial result of Maria Theresa's reign, 42. Joseph II and his
attempts at reform, 43. The Brabantine revolution of 1787-1789, 44. Belgium dur-
ing the French revolution, 46.
CHAPTER XVIII
Belgium since 1815 48
Belgian discontent, 49. Imitation of the French revolution of 1830, 50. The
Belgians secure independence, 53. Leopold I, king of the Belgians, 54. Leopold
II and the socialist advance, 56. Division in liberal party — advance of socialism, 56,
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIX
PAGE
Holland since 1815 59
The ministries of Thorbecke, 61. De Amicis on court life in Holland, 63. Last
years of William III, 63. A new constitution ; and a regency, 65. Accession of
Queen Wilhelmina, 66.
Brief Reference- List of Authorities by Chapters 68
A General Bibliography of the History of the Netherlands . . .71
A Chronological Summary of the History of the Netherlands . . 75
PAET XYIII. THE HISTORY OF THE GERMA:NI0
EMPIRES
BOOK I. THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
CHAPTER I
The Hohenstaufens (1125-1190 a.d.) .... 89
Lothair II, 90. Conrad III, von Hohenstaufen, 90. The crusade of Conrad the
Third, 93. Accession of Frederick Barbarossa, 95. Frederick in Rome, 97. The sec-
ond visit to Italy, 99. War against the Italian cities, 100. The formation of the
Lombard League, 101. Defection of Henry the Lion, 102. Frederick again in Italy,
103. The Peace of Constance, 106. Barbarossa's crusade and death, 106.
CHAPTER II
The Last of the Hohenstaufens (1190-1273 a.d.) . . . 110
Henry VI, 110. The war in Sicily, 111. Civil wars for the crown, 112. Otto
excommunicated, 113. Frederick II, 113. The emperor gains Jerusalem, 114.
Frederick returns to Europe, 115. Rival monarchs : Henry Raspe and William of
Holland, 117. Minor wars and the Prussian crusade, 118. Frederick's extraordinary
mind, 120. Estimates of Frederick, 121. Conrad the Fourth, 124. Manfred, 124.
William of Holland, 126. Conradin, 128. Disintegration of imperial power, 130.
CHAPTER III
A Review of the Empire (1125-1273 a.d.) .... 132
The German constitution, 132. The electoral college, 135. The cities, 138. Con-
dition of the common people, 140. Barbarism of the period, 141. The art and litera-
ture of the period, 144. Famous tales, 145.
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER IV
PAGE
The Readjustment op Germany (1273-1347 a.d.) . . . 148
Rudolf of Habsburg, 149. The Chronicle of Kolmar, 150. The battle of March-
feld, 155. The administration of Rudolf, 156. Personal traits of Rudolf, 157. Adol-
phus of Nassau, 158. Albert I, 160. Imperial aggressions, 162. The chronicle con-
cerning John the Parricide, 163. Henry VII, the Luxemburger, 165. Henry is crowned
emperor, and dies in Italy, 166. Civil broils, 167. Rivalry of Habsburg and Wit-
telsbach, 169. Ludwig of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria, 169. The battle of
Miihldorf, 171. New dissensions, 172. The reign of Ludwig the Bavarian, 173. The
Electoral League, 175. The death of Ludwig ; his character and policy, 177.
CHAPTER V
Charles IV to Sigismtjnd III (1346-1437 a.d.) . . .179
The domestic policy of Charles IV, 180. The Golden Bull, 181. The condition
of Germany under Charles, 184. The Hansa, 186. The Swabian League, 188. The
growing power of cities, 188. Wenceslaus, 191. Civil wars, 193. Rupert, 194.
The Church and Bohemia, 195. Race conflict in Bohemia, 197. The doctrines of
Huss, 199. Sigismund chosen emperor, 199. The trial of Huss, 202. Renewal of
the trial, 204. The death of Huss, 205. Dissolution of the council, 207. Social dis-
content, 207. Ecclesiastical interference, 208. Sigismund's invasion of Bohemia,
210. Condition of Germany during Sigismund's reign, 211. Germany and the
council of Bale, 212. The coronation of Sigismund, 212. Civil war and battle of
Lipan, 213. Death of Sigismund, 213. Hoheuzollern and Habsburg, 214.
CHAPTER VI
Albert II, Frederick III, and Maximilian I (1438-1519 a.d.) . 216
Frederick III, 218. Frederick's misgovernment in Germany, 220. The revival
of Habsburg power, 221. Griinbeck's description of Frederick's old age, 222. Death
of Frederick, 226. Ranke on the altered character of the empire, 227. The domi-
nance of papal authority, 228. State of Germany in the middle of the fifteenth cen-
tury, 230. The cities, 232. Private warfare, 234. The reign of Maximilian I, 237.
The diet of Cologne, 240. The separation of Switzerland, 241. Other wars, 242.
Ranke's estimate of Maximilian, 245.
CHAPTER VII
Charles V and the Reformation (1519-1546 a.d.) . . . 248
The appearance of Martin Luther, 252. Luther's own account of Tetzel and his
indulgences, 252. A modern view of Tetzel (Lea), 253. Luther rouses opposition,
254. Luther becomes a heretic, 255. Luther defies excommunication and proceeds
to Worms, 256. Luther at the Wartburg, 257. Luther's power increases, 259. The
peasants' revolt, 259. Luther's marriage, 264. Religious leagues and the diet of
Spires, 266. New diet of Speier (1529 a.d.) and the name " Protestants," 266. Con-
ference of Marburg, 267. The trend of political events ; the Augsburg confession.
CONTENTS
268. The Augsburg confession, 269. Ferdinand chosen King of the Romans, 270.
The spread of Protestantism ; the Anabaptists, 271. External affairs of Charles V,
273. Internal condition of Germany, 277. The new Penal Code of 1532, 279. The
emperor and the Smalkaldic League, 281. The death of Luther, 284. Luther's limi-
tations, 284. Luther's persouaHty, 285. Luther and his Protestant biographers, 286.
Critical views of Luther, 287. Luther's genius, 287.
CHAPTER VIII
A Dissolving Empire (1546-1618 a.d.) . . . .289
Maurice of Saxony, 291. The Smalkaldic War opens, 294. Surrender of the
cities, 297. The battle of Miihlberg, 299. The fate of the elector of Saxony, 300.
The council removes from Trent, 304. The " Interim," 305. The elector Maurice
deserts the emperor, 308. The Treaty of Passau, 311. Paul IV, 313. Russian ag-
gressions, 314. The abdication and death of Chai'les V, 315. Ferdinand I, 316.
Maximilian II, 318. Rudolf II, 320. The Protestant League, 322. The Catholic
League, 324. The house of Habsburg, 326. Conflict between Rudolf and Matthias,
327. Matthias emperor, 327.
CHAPTER IX
The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648 a.d.) . . .329
The war in Bohemia and the Palatinate, 331. The power of the Habsburgs
threatened, 332. Restoration of the Roman Catholic religion, 334. The outlawed
elector palatine and his champions, 335. Successes of Tilly, 336. Maximilian's
record, 337. Imperial victories and foreign interference, 338. The rise of Wallen-
stein, 339. The death of Mansfeld, 341. Wallenstein's power, 341. The edict of
restitution, 343. The dismissal of Wallenstein, 344. Gustavus Adolphus, 346. The
capture of Magdeburg described by Schiller, 349. Tilly meets Gustavus, 352. Battle
of Breitenfeld, or Leipsic, 353. The siege of Nuremberg, 355. The withdrawal of
Gustavus Adolphus, 356. The battle of Liitzen (November 16th, 1632), 357. The
death of Gustavus Adolphus, 358. The renewed attack, 359. The death of Pappen-
heim; Wallenstein retreats, 360. The war continues, 362. Wallenstein murdered,
364. The battle of Nordlingen, 365. The Peace of Prague, 367. The defeat of the
French, 369. Death of Ferdinand II, 370. Accession of Ferdinand III, 372. The
Treaty of Hamburg, 373. Victories of Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar, 374. Capture of
Laufenburg, 375. Siege of Breisach, 376. The treachery of France, 378. The death
of Bernhard, 379. Last ten years of the Thirty Years' War, 379. Torstenson suc-
ceeds Baner, 380. Wrangel succeeds Torstenson, 381. The Peace of Westphalia,
382.
CHAPTER X
Neither Holy, nor Roman, nor Empire (1648-1748 a.d.) . . 886
Death of Ferdinand III, 390. The Great Elector, 391. Ill-treatment of the
imperial cities, 393. The loss of Strasburg, 394. A disgraceful peace, 395. Vienna
besieged by the Turks, 396. French depredations, 398. The League of Augsburg,
399. The Peace of Ryswick, 402. German princes on foreign thrones, 403. Out-
break of the war of the Spanish succession, 405. Louis XIV and Prince Eugene, 406.
CONTENTS
XI
PAGE
The alliance of England, Holland, and Austria, 408. Battles of Donauworth and
Blenheim, 409. Death of Leopold I ; accession of Joseph I, 410. Marlborough in
the Netherlands; Eugene in Italy, 411. Further successes of Eugene and Marlbor-
ough, 414. Recall of Marlborough ; accession of Charles VI, 415. The Peace of
Utrecht, 416. The Barrier Treaty, 417. Eugene's campaign against the Turks, 419.
Capture of Belgrade ; Peace of Passarowitz, 421. Charles VI and the new political
equilibrium, 422. Death of Charles VI ; accession of Maria Theresa, 424. The attack
on Maria Theresa's heritage, 425. The war of the Austrian succession, 426. The
first Silesian war, 427. Maria Theresa calls the Hungarians to arms, 428. The Peace
of Breslau, 431. The general war continues, 431. The second Silesian war, 432.
The allies in Italy, 432. The French in Germany and Belgium, 433. The Peace of
Aachen ; changes wrought by the war, 434.
CHAPTER XI
The Later Years of Maria Theresa (1748-1780 a.d.) . . 436
The Treaty of Versailles, 437. The Seven Years' War, 441. The campaign of
1756, 441. The campaign of 1757, 441. The campaign of 1758, 442. The campaign
of 1759, 443. The campaign of 1760, 443. The last campaign (1761-1762), 444. The
result and significance of the Seven Years' War, 444. Joseph II as co- regent, 447.
Joseph II attempts reforms, 449. The first partition of Poland, 452. Belgrade, Bos-
nia, and Servia, 453. Provisions made by the Treaty of Partition, 455. Maria
Theresa and religion, 456. The dissolution of the Jesuits, 456. Avistria and the
Bavarian succession, 458. The Potato War, 459. The Peace of Teschen, 460. The
close of Maria Theresa's reign, 461. Estimates of Maria Theresa, 461.
CHAPTER XII
Joseph the Enlightened (1780-1790 a.d.) . . , . 466
The tolerance edict, 466. Protestantism in Bohemia, 468. The Jews, 469. Joseph
the man, 470. Joseph the administrator, 472. Joseph's ecclesiastical policy, 474.
The resistance of the Austrian Netherlands, 475. The "Joyous Entry," 477. The
emperor returns from the Crimea, 480. The resistance of Hungary, 482. Joseph's
visit to Catherine, 485. Victories over the Turks, 487. Revolt of the Austrian
Netherlands, 488. Concessions to Hungary, 488. Death of Joseph II, 489.
CHAPTER XIII
The Fall of the Empire (1790-1806 a.d.) . . . • 491
The Treaty of Reichenbach, 492. The Porte, 494. Pacification of Hungary and
Belgium, 497. Political state of Austrian dominions on Leopold's accession, 498.
Leopold II conciliates the provinces, 500. Leopold and the French Revolution,
502. The foreign policy of Leopold II, 504. Accession of Francis II, 505. France
declares war on Austria, 506. Thugut's policy of expansion, 508. Campaigns of
1794, 508. The defection of Prussia, 509. The third partition of Poland, 510.
Campaigns of 1795 and 1796, 511. The first campaign of the archduke Charles, 513.
Personalities and cliques in the nineties, 515. Personal traits of Archduke Charles,
516. Public sentiment in Austria, 519. The archduke Charles in Italy, 520. The
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
Peace of Campo-Formio (October 17th, 1797), 523. The peace congress at Eastatt, 524.
The Rastatt murder, 525. Rhine and Italian campaigns of 1798 and 1799, 527.
Bernadotte's tricolour, 528. The Tyrol and Italy, 530. Dissension among the allies.
531. Two imperial titles, 533. The third coalition against France, 536. The battle
of Austerlitz (December 2ud, 1805), 537. The Peace of Presburg (December 26th,
1805), 538. Francis II abdicates the imperial crown, 538.
Brief Reference-List of Authorities by Chapters 540
BOOK II. THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Introduction 543
The Austrian retrospect, 543. The Hungarian retrospect, 548,
CHAPTER I
Shaking off the Napoleonic Yoke (1806-1815 a.d.) . . 551
The archduke Charles and army reform, 552. The campaign of 1809 begins,
558. The battle of Essling, or Gross- Aspern (May 21st-22nd, 1809), 553. Battle of
Wagram (July 5th-6th, 1809), 555. The decay of patriotism in Austria (October,
1809), 556. Treaty of Schonbrunn, or Vienna (October, 1809), 558. Metternich and
the significance of the Peace of Schonbrunn, 560. Napoleon marries an Austrian
archduchess, 561. The struggle in the Tyrol, 562. State bankruptcy, 564. Increasing
aggressions of Napoleon, 568. Austria in the Russian campaign of 1812, 569. The
War of Liberation, and Austria's armed intervention, 570. The defeat of the allies
at Liitzen, 572. The congress of Prague, 574. The allies under Austrian leadership,
574. The battle of Dresden (August 26th-27th, 1813), 575. Battle of Leipsic, or
Battle of the Nations, 576. Austrian successes in Italy ; the overthrow of Napoleon,
576. The congress of Vienna, 577. The war with Napoleon renewed, 579. The final
overthrow of Napoleon, 580. The new Austria, and the German Confederation, 580.
Metternich's policy, 582.
CHAPTER II
From the Peace of Paris to the March Revolution (1815-1848 a.d.) 585
The Neapolitan and Sardinian revolts, 587. The events of 1821-1832, 588. The
fate of Napoleon II, 589. The destruction of the government of Parma, 592. Progress
under Francis I, 594. The growth of nationalities, 596. Government by the Staats-
konferenz, 598. The old machine and the new times, 598. War in the Levant, 598.
Metternich's oriental policy, 599. The revolt in Galicia, 601. The prelude to the
revolution of 1848, 603. The Legal and Political Literary Club, 605. Baron Andrian's
pamphlet, 607. The estimates of Bohemia and Lower Austria in the forties, 608.
The growth of opposition in Hungary, 609. The transformation of the Hungarian
opposition, 611. Louis Kossuth, 613. The death of the archduke Joseph, 616. The
storm draws near, 617. The revolution of February and the Viennese statesmen, 619.
The beginnings of concession, 620. The March revolution, 622. The students'
petition, 622. The thirteenth of March, 623. The mob, 625. The retirement of
Metternich, 627. The grant of a constitution, 628. A separate government granted
to Hungary, 629. The flight of Metternich, 629. Character and end of the March
revolution, 631. A contemporary estimate, 631. Lohner's estimate, 632.
CONTENTS xjii
CHAPTER III
-r^ „ PAGE
Reaction and Revolt (1848-1850 a.d.) . . . .635
The revolution at its height, 635. The " Fundamental Law of the Empire," 638.
The flight of the emperor (May 1848), 639. Suppression of the Prague revolution
(June, 1848), 639. Radetzky saves Lombardo-Venetia, 641. The battle of Custozza
(July, 1848), 644. The Viennese revolution suppressed, 645. The battle of Schwechat,
647. The rehabilitation, 648. The Hungarian war, 651. The Hungarian defeat at
Kapolna, 653. Hungarian successes (February-June, 1849), 654. Kossuth proclaims
Hungary independent (April 14th, 1849), 655. The Russians aid Austria, 656.
Gorgey surrenders at Vilagos (August, 1849), 657. The punishment of Hungary, 658.
Radetzky's campaign against Sardinia, 658. Battle of Novara, 659.
CHAPTER XVI
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815
During a period of thirty years following the Treaty of Utrecht, the
repubhc enjoyed the unaccustomed blessing of profound peace. While the
discontents of the Austrian Netherlands on the subject of the Barrier-Treaty
were in debate, the quadruple alliance was formed between Holland, England,
France, and the emperor for reciprocal aid against all enemies, foreign and
domestic. It was in virtue of this treaty that the pretender to the English
throne received orders to remove from France; and the states-general about
the same time arrested the Swedish ambassador, Baron von Gortz, whose
intrigues excited some suspicion.
The death of Louis XIV had once more changed the political system of
Europe; and the commencement of the eighteenth century was fertile in
negotiations and alliances in which we have at present but little direct interest.
The rights of the republic were in all instances respected; and Holland did
not cease to be considered as a power of the first distinction and consequence.
The establishment of an East India company at Ostend, by the emperor
Charles VI, in 1722, was the principal cause of disquiet to the United Prov-
inces, and the most likely to lead to a rupture. But, by the Treaty of Hanover
in 1726, the rights of Holland resulting from the Treaty of Miinster were
guaranteed; and in consequence the emperor abolished the company of his
creation, by the Treaty of Seville in 1729, and that of Vienna in 1731.
The peace which now reigned in Europe allowed the United Provinces to
direct their whole efforts towards the reform of those internal abuses resulting
from feudality and fanaticism. Confiscations were reversed, and property
was secured throughout the republic. It received into its protection the
persecuted sectarians of France, Germany, and Hungary; and the tolerant
wisdom which it exercised in these measures gives the best assurance of its
justice and prudence in one of a contrary nature, forming a solitary exception
to them. This was the expulsion of the Jesuits, whose dangerous and
VOL. XIV. B
2 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[173S-1747 A.D.J
destructive doctrines had been long a warrant for this salutary example to
the Protestant states of Europe.^
DANGER TO THE DIKES
About this time the destruction of a large portion, at least, of the wealthy
and populous provinces of Holland and Zealand, which Louis XIV, in the
zenith of his power, had been unable to effect, was well nigh brought about
by a very tiny agent. The dikes, which for three centuries had been formed
of beams and pile-work, were discovered in 1732 in Walcheren and North
Holland to be in a state of complete decay, in consequence of the attacks
of the small marine worm called the Pholas, supposed to have been brought
in the ships from the East and West Indies. This insect, by means of the
horny shell of its head, furnished with a sharp edge like a saw, is able to
hollow out the hardest wood, and even stone, and had been for some time
committing its destructive ravages unperceived. The dread that the storms
of winter would arrive while the dikes were thus incapable of resistance, and
the country be overwhelmed by the sea, w^as so great in the minds of all men
that public prayers were offered up in the churches to the Almighty to avert
the evil. Their alarms, however, proved groundless; and the danger to
which they had been exposed was, by the ingenuity and industry of the
people, productive of a permanent benefit; since it gave rise to the discovery
of a mode of covering the pile-work with a facing of earth, and flint and granite
stones, which not only protected it from the worm, but rendered the dike
firmer against the assaults of the waves.
About this time the long-pending suit between the King of Prussia and
the Prince of Orange-Nassau, concerning the inheritance of William III, was
compromised; the cession of the principality of Orange made to the King of
France at the Peace of Utrecht was confirmed, the prince being at liberty to
give the name of Orange to any one of his estates, and continue to bear the
title and arms of that principality .^
The peace of Europe was once more disturbed in 1733. Poland, Germany,
France, and Spain were all embarked in the new war. Holland and England
stood aloof; and another family alliance of great consequence drew still
closer than ever the bonds of union between them. The young prince of
Orange, who in 1728 had been elected stadholder of Groningen and Gelder-
land, in addition to that of Friesland which had been enjoyed by his father,
had in the year 1734 married the princess Anne, daughter of George II of
England; and by thus adding to the consideration of the house of Nassau
had opened a field for the recovery of all its old distinctions.^
W^\R WITH FRANCE
In 1743 the states joined England in supporting the claims of Maria
Theresa, queen of Hungary, and fell consequently into complications with
France, which invaded the barrier country. In 1744 they granted a subsidy
in money and put twenty thousand men in the field, and became a member
of the quadruple alliance with Austria, England, and Saxony. In 1745 the
provinces took their part in the rout of Fontenoy, after which Marshal Saxe
overran the Austrian Netherlands, while England and Holland were alike
paralysed by the Jacobite rising in Scotland. The states lost every barrier-
town, and lay defenceless before the French, who in 1747 entered Dutch
Flanders and made an easy conquest.
HOLLAND FEOM 1722 TO 1815 3
[1747 A.D.
WILLIAM IV DECLARED STADHOLDER (1747)
And now the Orange party, supported by English aid, began to lift its
head. The provinces had fallen so low that all men began to wish for a
dictator. Accordingly Prince William Charles Henry Friso was proclaimed
stadholder, captain and admiral-general of Zealand, at Terveer, under the
title of William IV. The movement thus begun spread like wildfire; all
Zealand accepted him with enthusiasm, and Holland was not far behind;
even at Amsterdam and the Hague the popular feeling was too strong to be
resisted, and the government had to give way. William IV became captain
and admiral-general of the whole union, and stadholder of the seven provinces ;
a little later these offices were declared hereditary in both male and female
lines.^
This change, completed within a week, was unattended by bloodshed;
and the prince of Orange, having been proclaimed by the towns separately,
was unanimously declared by the states of Holland, " in consideration of the
troubled state of affairs, and in order, by the blessing of God, to deliver the
country from the difficult and dangerous situation in which it is placed,
stadholder, captain and admiral-general of the province." The Orange flag
was hoisted on all the public buildings in the voting towns, and the event
was celebrated with bell-ringing, illuminations, the discharge of artillery,
and every demonstration of the most extravagant joy.
The manner in which the prince received the notification of his appoint-
ment contributed much to confirm the good opinion entertained of him, by
a large number of the inhabitants of the United Provinces. He declared
that he congratulated himself on his advancement, which appeared to tend
to the honour of God, and the welfare of his beloved country; and that it
gave him the greatest satisfaction to reflect that it had pleased the Almighty
to permit a work whereon he appeared to have set his seal, to be concluded
as it began, without being defiled by a single drop of blood. He immediately,
on the invitation of the states, repaired to the Hague, where, on his arrival,
he found himself already appointed captain and admiral-general of the union.
Utrecht and Overyssel quickly followed the example of Holland and Zealand;
and thus William IV became stadholder of all the seven provinces — a dignity
never yet enjoyed by any of his predecessors.
This resolution was followed by the more important one which whofly
deprived the states of their ancient dignity and lustre, and left the constitution
of the United Provinces a republic in little else but the name. The states of
Holland now took the lead in passing the decree that the offices of stadholder,
captain, and admiral-general should be continued in the direct heirs of the
prince of Orange forever, in the male and female line, professing the reformed
religion, as taught in the churches of the United Provinces; except in case, as
regarded male heirs, they should become possessed of royal or electoral dignity.
If the succession devolved on a female, she was to exercise the oflace of stad-
holder under the name of governess, and to enjoy likewise those of captain and
admiral-general, with a sitting in the council of state and the colleges of the
admiralty, and to be empowered to name an efficient commander of the troops
in time of war; she was bound not to marry but with the consent of the states
— otherwise her issue was ineligible to inherit. During the minority _ot the
stadholder, the provinces were to be governed by the mother of the ml ant.
The hereditary stadholderate was soon after conferred by the states ot the other
provinces on William, with the same authority as it had been held by William
4 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELAJnTDS
[1747 A.D.I
III, except in Friesland and Groningen, where this measure was not carried
till a subsequent period.
In this revolution we may remark the effects of the strong natural bias by
which the populace of Holland, in common with that of every nation in every
age, has constantly been inclined towards the government of a single head.
Here, as ever, the advocates of a more liberal constitution were found among
the wealthy, the educated, and the reflecting portion of the community; and
it was upon this comparatively small class of persons that the states and
municipal governments had to rely chiefly for support; the majority having
been induced to acquiesce in the existing order of things, only in proportion
as they enjoyed personal ease and happiness under it. No sooner, therefore,
did the hour of adversity and privation arrive, than the municipal governments
found numbers and physical strength arrayed against them; while their sole
arm of defence lay in the schuttery, or burgher-guard, which, though nomi-
nally under their command, was composed, in so large a proportion, of a class of
persons favourable to the opposite party as to render it, if not hostile, at best
little to be depended on. Accordingly, on the first appearance of actual force
or violence, the municipal governments, destitute of all means of resisting
such, at once and necessarily fell; and this serves to account, as well for the
rapidity with which changes were affected in Holland as for the absence of
bloodshed which usually marked their progress.
We have already had occasion to observe on the anomalies existing in the
office of stadholder, as combined with those of captain and admiral-general.
Still more striking did these anomalies become when functions so important
and multifarious as to be duly fulfilled by none but a man of mature age and
experience, and possessed of more than common skill in military and political
affairs, were liable to fall into the hands of a female or an infant : and when no
provision was made to prevent an authority which, if administered unfaith-
fully, might be used to the destruction of the liberties of the nation; and if
inefficiently, involved danger to its very existence, from coming into the pos-
session of a tyrant, a madman, or an idiot.
Another capital error into which the states had allowed themselves to be
hurried by the violence of popular commotion was that, with the virtually royal
authority they conferred on their minister, they permitted him, also, many of
the insignia of royalty. As captain-general, he issued the " patents" or orders
of march to the troops, and the soldiers took an oath of obedience to him, as
well as to the states ; in his name were pronomiced the sentences of the courts-
martial, which he annulled or modified at his pleasure; his arms were on the
military standards; he alone received the salute; he was constantly sur-
rounded by a military guard. The stadholder and his family were prayed for
in the churches; his birthday was celebrated with public rejoicing; he received
every morning from the president of the states-general an account of the mat-
ters to be deliberated in that assembly, and from the pensionary of Holland
the like, with regard to the states of the provinces; and a particular gate at the
Hague, leading to the court-house, was reserved for him and his family,
through which the members of the states themselves never ventured to pass.
Thus the name and right of sovereignty alone remained with the states; the
power and dignities were lodged in their subjects. Hence arose a perpetual and
dangerous confusion in the public mind as to which was, in fact, the sovereign.
The soldiery, especially the foreign troops, were accustomed to look up to
him alone as their real master, who had the distribution of offices, and rewards
and punishments at his disposal, and to whom they saw military honours paid ;
and were inclined to obey him, rather than the states to whom they really
HOLLAND FROM 1723 TO 1815 5
[1747-1748 A.D.]
belonged. The captain-general had thus the power of turning the forces of the
state against the state itself, and subjugating it with its own army. The popu-
lace also readily adopted the error of imagining that he who was adorned with
the outward trappings enjoyed the reality of sovereignty, and were led to con-
sider every instance of its exercise on the part of the states as an assumption of
powers which did not belong to them, and to resent such as an injury com-
mitted against their lawful ruler; while foreign nations, falling into the same
mistake, were apt to look on the attempts made at different times to restrain
the exorbitant authority of the stadholder not as a withdrawal by the sov-
ereign of powers from a subject that had become dangerous to the state, but as
acts of rebellion and encroachments on a legitimate prerogative, royal in every-
thing but the name. On such occasions, therefore, the cause of the stadholder
became the common cause of kings ; and
the neighbouring monarchs were always
found ready to assist him in crushing
his opponents, and regaining all the
privileges he claimed, no matter how
unconstitutional, or however glaringly
usurped.
It was the expressed opinion of
one of the wisest of their statesmen,
the pensionary Slingelandt, that the
abuses then existing in the constitu-
tion would, if suffered to continue, tend
to give the stadholder absolute power ;
and that they ought to be reformed
either by substituting a majority or
two-thirds in the states, in place of
the unanimity required in public meas-
ures; or by entering into an amicable
treaty with the prince of Orange to con-
fer on him the stadholderate, with strict
limitations for the security of public lib-
erty. Had the passions and prejudices of the opponents of the prince been less
strong, or could they have resolved to sacrifice their party spirit to the welfare
of their country so far as to follow this advice, they might have found in the
office of stadholder a source of benefit and a principle of stability to the con-
stitution.
That some such modification of the government had long been absolutely
requisite to the prosperity and happiness of the United Provinces was a fact
beyond all question. Selfish, luxurious, and intent upon gain, as the Dutch
had become, it was impossible to deny that they were no longer fitted for the
difficult task of sustaining a free constitution; that the labour, watchfulness,
and self-denial it requires had now grown irksome to them; that they no
longer considered what kind of government was most conducive to virtue, to
the strength and glory of their country, or most likely to transmit liberty and
happiness to their posterity, but what would procure for them the largest
share of security and ease in the acquisition or enjoyment of their wealth.^
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9
■\ViLLiAM IV (1702-1751)
TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE
The year 1748 saw the termination of the brilliant campaigns of Louis XV
during his bloody war of eight years' continuance. The Treaty of Aix-la-
6 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELA?s^DS
[1748-1759 A.D.]
Chapelle (Aachen), definitively signed on the 18th of October, put an end to
hostilities : Maria Theresa was established in her rights and power ; and Europe
saw a fair balance of the nations, which gave promise of security and peace.
But the United Provinces, when scarcely recovering from struggles which had
so checked their prosperity, were employed in new and universal grief and
anxiety by the death of their young stadholder, which happened at the Hague,
October 13th, 1751.^ His son, William V, aged but three years and a half,
succeeded him, under the guardianship of his mother, Anne of England,
daughter of George II, a princess represented to be of a proud and ambitious
temper, who immediately assumed a high tone of authority in the state .^
THE REGENCIES OF ANNE AND ERNST OF BRUNSWICK
The princess Anne, daughter of George II of England, retained the dignity
of hereditary stadholder from the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle till her death hi
1759; from this period Ludwig Ernst of Brunswick, who had been associated
with her in the government since 1748 as guardian of her son William V,
remained by virtue of this guardianship at the head of the war department by
sea and land. The duties of the stadholder devolved upon the states of the
separate provinces. By this means the aristocratic republican party in Hol-
land, called the patriotic party, obtained a very considerable increase of influ-
ence, particularly in the province of Holland, where Amsterdam exceeded all
the other towns in influence, both in the provincial parliaments and in the
states-general. In Amsterdam public opinion was decidedly against the gov-
ernment, for two reasons: the old anti-Orange party, called the Louvestein
party, still existed there ; and besides, it was observed with grief, in Amster-
dam as well as elsewhere, that commerce and trade, navigation and naval
power, were passing from Holland to England, and the government was blamed
for what was merely the effect of circumstances. All ranks, however, were
discontented with the prince of Brunswick and his partiality towards England.
Even before the death of the widow of William IV, many discussions had
arisen between the states and Duke Ludwig Ernst: since 1759 these discus-
sions had never ceased. The English, during Anne's lifetime, had taken
advantage of that princess's relation to the king of England, and of the neglect
of the Dutch navy, which was partly caused by Anne's confidence in the
friendship of England and partly by the eternal dissensions with particular
provinces, to restrict the commerce of Holland, and to extend their own power
at sea. They even violated the express treaties by which the right of the
Dutch to neutral trade was recognised, immediately after the commencement
of the Seven Years' War between them and the French in America. They
declared all commerce with the French West Indies illegal, ship-timber and
other materials for ship-building contraband, and in the year 1756 alone cap-
tured fifty-six Dutch ships which had violated the laws so arbitrarily laid
[' His benevolence, liberality, affability, and placable though choleric temper, rendered him
greatly beloved ; and it was thought, and perhaps justly, that if he had taken all the advantage
he might have done of the popular feeling in his favour, at the time of his elevation to the
stadholderate, he would have been able to obtain an absolute authority. But he constantly
showed himself averse to the adoption of any violent or illegal measures to this effect ; and,
according to Cerisier, on one of his courtiers remarking upon his moderation, and that any other
prince would seize the opportunity of manifesting his resentment against his opponents,
" Resentment ! " he answered quickly, '' I have none, except against those who offer me such
counsel." His zeal for the welfare of his country, though not always tempered with judgment,
and still more rarely guided by penetration in the choice of his ministers, was deep and sincere.
Accordingly, the memory of none of their stadholders, except Frederick Henry and William I
was ever cherished by the Dutch with so great or so well-deserved affection. <^]
HOLLAND FEOM 1722 TO 1815 7
[1759-1773 A.D.]
dovm. In the year 1758 the Dutch merchants represented to the states-
general, that during the short period since the commencement of the war
between the French and Enghsh they had lost upwards of twelve millions of
florins.
Duke Ludwig Ernst might certainly have made better preparations and
have acted with greater energy. This was so much the more the duty of a
captain and admiral-general, as actual naval combats took place whenever
the Dutch men-of-war which were conveying the merchant-vessels fell in
with English cruisers or men-of-war. It was computed that, up to the date
of the Peace of Paris, at least a dozen Dutch ships in each year were adjudged
to be fair prizes by the English admiralty court, according to the one-sided
English law.
^ After the end of the Seven Years' War, or rather, since the death of the
princess Anne (1759), the internal dissensions in the Netherlands had been
very much increased by the personal character of the duke and his anti-
republican tendencies. Ludwig Ernst, who was conceited and fond of
power, increased the natural incapacity of the young prince by the kind of
education which he caused to be given to him and made him dependent on
himself by means of a secret and consequently illegal and unconstitutional
agreement. He was unable indeed to conceal from the knowledge of his
numerous enemies this act, to which he caused his ward to subscribe on his
coming of age, although its actual contents were not discovered till a con-
siderable time afterwards.
When the prince attained his majority in 1766 he had a powerful party
against him, as well in the states-general as in the parliaments of the several
provinces: the magistrates of the powerful towns had almost all become
anti-Orange during the administration of Ludwig Ernst; the young prince
therefore believed himself to be utterly helpless without the assistance of
the duke, and was confirmed in this opinion by Prussia and England. This
was the motive for the step which the prince took at the duke's instigation
— the entirely imwarrantable step of subjecting himself and his free state
to a foreign prince in order to retain the latter near his person. He drew
up and subscribed to an agreement (Ade van Consulentschap) , according to
which he bound himself to follow the advice of his ex-guardian in all state
affairs. The only persons who knew of this agreement w^ere the pensionary
of the council (minister of foreign affairs), the English ambassador, and two
chiefs of the Orange party: the others only guessed that such a contract
might exist.
Under these circumstances the result was such as might have been expected;
even the wisest and most reasonable propositions of the duke met with opposi-
tion in the separate states, where the aristocratic party had the majority,
whilst the lower classes were entirely devoted to the prince. As early as
1767 the duke wished to take measures to prevent the increasing loss of trade,
but was unable to succeed in his attempt; he endeavoured in 1769, 1770,
and 1771 to increase the naval and military force, at least as much as might
be necessary in order to retain everything in its then position, and to strengthen
the garrisons in the strongholds on the Belgian frontier; but each time he was
prevented by the pedlar spirit and little-mindedness of the states.
In 1773, when it was perceived that Spain, as well as France, was not only
making great preparations at sea, but was even creating an entirely new naval
force, equal to that of England in the number of ships of the line, the province
of Holland was desirous that its naval force also should be strengthened,
but at the same time resisted such a proposal of the government.
8 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1773-1779 A.D.]
HOLLAND DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Because the English were aware that the Dutch were entirely unable
to fit out either a land or a sea force, or even to be of the same opinion con-
cerning any energetic measure, inasmuch as the Orange party and the patriots
mutually distrusted each other, they allowed themselves not only to disturb
the Dutch timber trade, which ought to have been free according to the law
of nations, but also to violate express treaties with Holland. Notwithstand-
ing the advantages allowed to the Dutch over other nations by the treaty
of 1674, which the Peace of Utrecht had confirmed, the English enforced
their right of search with violence and by force of arms in the midst of peace.
The government and its partisans, consisting principally of the inhabitants
of some provinces, such as Zealand and Gelderland, where the prince had
large possessions, and of the Dutch nobility, were favourable to the English;
the Dutch towais, on the other hand, and particularly Amsterdam, were
inclined to a treaty with France and to the support of the American colonies
then in revolt. The prince in 1767 had married the niece of King Frederick
II of Prussia and the sister of his successor, Frederick William II ; this princess
soon began to interfere in public affairs, because the prince was phlegmatic,
lazy, and helpless, and apparently always looked to England for support.
The influence of the princess was most felt in the states-general, and the
governments of several of the cities and provinces acted oftener on this
account in opposition to the government of the county.
The English were thus furnished with an opportimity of complaining,
that the province of Holland had given Paul Jones an asylmn in the Texel,
that the Dutch island of St. Eustatius [in the West Indies had become a
regular market for the North American trade, that an English frigate had
been taken almost under the gims of the island, and that English prizes were
sold there. ^
When the English coasts were threatened by the French and Spanish
fleets, the Dutch would not agree to their demand for a loan of the Scotch
Guards, which the prince would willingly have granted. This refusal particu-
larly displeased the English, because the pensionary of the province of Hol-
land and the two burgomasters of Amsterdam were kno^\^l to be declared
republicans and friends of the French. The Amsterdam merchants were also
at this time intimately connected with the Americans, and however ill the
democratic Franklin might consider it his duty to speak of the plebeian aris-
tocracy of Holland, they had favoured the loans which the Americans had
raised on French security. The English therefore annoyed the Dutch in
many ways; they totally destroyed their timber trade, on the pretence that
timber might be used as building materials for ships of war, and hindered
their communication with the French West Indies by force. The Dutch,
on the other hand, to please the French, gave orders to all their ships to
avoid touching at Gibraltar, in order that the English there might not be
provided with supplies by means of Dutch vessels.
Wliilst everything had the appearance of England being at silent feud
with Amsterdam and the province of Holland, but on the best understanding
' It will be seen from Franklin's letters that whilst he was in Paris his official correspond-
ence went by way of St. Eustatius and Holland, as soon as war had been declared between
France and England. The whole conduct of the Dutch and their relation to the other powers
is very justly delineated by Franklin/ in a few words, in a letter of the 13th of June, 1780 :
"Holland, offended by fresh insults from England, is arming vigorously. That nation has
madly brought itself into the greatest distress, and has not a friend in the world."
HOLLAXD FEOM 1722 TO 1815 9
[1780 A.D.]
with the hereditary stadholder and the states-general, a circumstance hap-
pened, the necessary consequence of which was the interruption of the friendly
relation between the stadholder and the English, although the Dutch on
account of the bad condition of their fleet and army, could not venture to
declare war. The Dutch rear-admiral Bylandt {Schoiit by Nacht), with three
ships of the line and some frigates, was convoying a Dutch merchant fleet
destined for the Mediterranean; this fleet was joined, without Bylandt's
consent however, or any promise of protection on his part, by some ships
ladenwith building timber, or timber which the English considered as such
and liable to search, because they were conveying materials to the enemy.
The English captain. Fielding, with a small squadron, was ordered to follow
the vessels under Bylandt's convoy, to search them, and to capture all such
as should be laden with marine stores or with timber for ship-building.
He came up with the fleet in January, 1780. Bylandt, however, properly
refused to suffer the vessels to be searched, and only yielded when the Eng-
lish, who far exceeded him in numbers, actually fired upon them; he then
struck his flag, as if he had been captured during a war, and followed the
English squadron with his whole fleet, as if war had been actually declared
and commenced by them. He remained in the harbour whither they were
conducted as a prisoner of war, until he received further commands from
his government.
TREATY OF UTRECHT BROKEN
This circumstance gave rise to a violent diplomatic contest — an inter-
change of notes full of bitter reproaches and complaints on both sides; until
the English, who would gladly have been long since relieved of the treaty of
1674, and of the clause in the Peace of Utrecht which was so entirely opposed
to their naval law, declared that, if the Dutch did not comply with what
was required of them within a period of three weeks, they (the English)
would no longer consider themselves bound by particular treaties. When
the demands of the English were afterwards discussed in the states-general,
all the provinces except Zealand voted against compliance, and a declaration
of war was then expected; this, however, the English ministry did not yet
consider advisable. They wished merely to gain time; they did not wish
immediately to have a third war upon their hands, but to prevent the states,
miserly and vacillating as they knew them to be, from adopting the proposal
of the stadholder, that preparations should be immediately made, and at
the same time to prevent the party of the stadholder from entering forthwith
into the neutral alliance proposed by Russia; they therefore gave hopes of
the continuance of peace, but in reality pursued a hostile course of action.
The English first formally declared null and void the Treaty of Utrecht with
the Netherlands — by means of which the latter had a right to particular
advantages — in a statement made by them to the states-general ; and then
issued a proclamation to the English people corresponding to the statement.
The Dutch rightly looked upon this one-sided abolition of marithne rights
which had existed for more than a hundred years as an act pf injustice, pro-
ceeding rather from commercial jealousy than from political enmity, the
intention of which was entirely to suppress the Dutch trade and to deprive
the United Provinces of all the advantages of their neutrality; they deter-
mmed, therefore, at least to arm.
The government required the states to furnish them with means for
raising the land army to about fifty thousand or sixty thousand men, and
for building fifty or sixty new ship j of war to strengthen their fleet; and long
10 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1780-1781 A.D.]
discussions and much contention were the consequences of this demand. At
length, after much squabbUng and a great deal of bargaining, the demand
was entirely refused as regarded the land army, and only thirty-two ships
were allowed to be built. The patriotic party was therefore fully as negligent
and slothful, out of reliance ori the French, as that of the house of Orange
was from confidence in England.
It was not until the 20th of November, 1780, that the Dutch resolved
to join the armed neutrality; the English therefore had time enough to fur-
nish the empress with a tolerable pretext for refusing the Dutch signature
to her treaty, which thus became of very little consequence to them.
ENGLAND DECLARES WAR (1780)
According to the extraordinary constitution of the republic, which con-
sisted of provinces united but in most things entirely independent of the
common government, a province or a city could conclude separate treaties
with any foreign state without communicating with the general government
on the subject; and this had been done by the city of Amsterdam in 1778.
The burgomasters of Amsterdam, and particularly the pensionary of the
province of Holland, were in favour of a very close connection with France.
In 1778, when the French concluded a treaty with the new republic, the
pensionary of Amsterdam was also agreed with the congress as to the articles
of a commercial treaty. We see from Franklin's letters that other cities
hastily applied to him in the hope of being enabled to conclude similar separate
treaties with America. When everything was arranged, the American con-
gress committed the duty of formally concluding the treaty with the city of
Amsterdam to one of its ex-presidents (Laurens) ; his departure was however
delayed in the year 1779, and took place in 1780. The English, however,
captured the ship on board of which he was, and succeeded in recovering his
papers, which he had torn and thrown overboard; he and his despatches
were brought to England on the 8th of October.
Laurens was treated very severely in England, and his imprisonment in
the Tower was very strict.
The English ministry communicated to the government of the hereditary
stadholder the papers which had been found on Laurens. They demanded
an explanation from the province of Holland and from the city of Amster-
dam; and, on their attempting to justify their proceeding by appealing to
the nature of the constitution, plainly signified their dissatisfaction. As the
English wished for a pretext for declaring war, their ambassador was instructed
to demand that the pensionary of Holland and the burgomasters of the city
of Amsterdam should be actually punished ; and this he did in a threatening
note. According to the constitution of Holland, the satisfaction which the
English demanded could not be given them. The English then declared war
against the United Provinces on the 20th of December, 1780.
The Dutch, in the year 1781, experienced the consequences of their divi-
sions, their narrow policy, their cautiousness, and their avarice, which had
hindered them from affording to their government the means of acting with
energy immediately after the commencement of the war. The French, on
the other hand, helped the Dutch again to their property, without being
bound to them by any treaty, and restored to them what had been taken
from them by the English. As to the English, in this war also they remained
true to a custom which had afforded matter for reproach against them in
every war during the eighteenth century. They gave permission and issued
HOLLAND FEOM 1722 TO 1815 H
[1781-1782 A.D.]
commands to capture the enemy's ships long before the declaration of war.
Before the English declaration of war arrived at the Hague, therefore the
merchant-vessels of the unsuspecting Dutch had been captured wherever they
were met with; so that, from the 20th of December, 1780, on which day war
was declared, till the end of January, 1781, two hundred Dutch ships were
captured, the value of which was estimated at 15,000,000 florins.
LOSS OF THE DUTCH COLONIES AND COMMERCE
The English ministry had long determined to destroy that depot of the
Dutch in the West Indies which was at the same time the regular port for
the North American trade, by the capture of St. Eustatius; on the same day,
therefore, on which war was declared, a swift-sailing frigate was despatched
to Rodney with orders to put this plan immediately into execution. When
Rodney received this order he was lying off Barbados, and he immediately
sailed towards Martinique as if to seek out the French : he appeared suddenly
before St. Eustatius on the 3rd of February, 1781, where the inhabitants had
no intimation of the breaking out of the war, and where consequently not the
slightest preparations for defence had been made by the miserable Dutch
government, at the head of which was Ludwig Ernst. No opposition was
even attempted; the island, which resembled one immense magazine, was
immediately given up. Two hundred and fifty ships and a frigate, which
were lying in the harbour, were captured ; sixty others under the convoy of
a frigate attempted to save themselves by flight; but Rodney sailed after
them and captured them all, together with the ship of war which was con-
voying them.
The Dutch settlements on the coast of the continent of South America,
the principal of which was Surinam, which surrendered immediately without
being summoned so to do, had to thank the unanimous disapprobation which
had been the consequence of Rodney's behaviour in St. Eustatius, for being
treated with more leniency. From this moment, the seven united provinces
entirely disappeared from the number of those states which had any authority
or influence in Europe; they became dependent on the favour of foreign
states, because they were driven out of their East Indian possessions after
having given up all their West Indian settlements without attempting any
opposition. In the East Indies, one settlement, one fortress, one island
after another was taken from them; their merchant- vessels dared not show
themselves anywhere; their fleet was useless, and even their trade with the
Baltic was obliged to be given up, because their ports were watched by
English vessels.
The Dutch at this time laid the blame of the losses which they had suffered
in the East Indies, and of the bad condition of their shipping, entirely upon
their government, and the partiality evinced by it for the English. The
displeasure against the duke of Brunswick, who, as a stranger, was more
blamed than he would otherwise have been, was afterwards very much
increased by the complaints made by the brave commanders of the fleet
which was opposed to the English at the entrance of the Baltic, in respect
to the very bad condition of their ships, and to the promotion of officers,
not according to merit but favour. The trade with the East and West
Indies was almost entirely annihilated, and even in the Baltic the Dutch
were obliged to trade under false colours; so that, while in the year 1780,
2,058 Dutch ships passed through the Sound — in the year 1782 only six.
About the same time the East India Company, to which Holland was indebted
12 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLAXDS
[1781-1785 A.D.
for much of its splendour, was very much broken up; the Dutch possessions
on the west coast of Africa were lost, and Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope
were only rescued by the French admiral Suffren, who was gaining glory in
the eastern seas whilst Grasse was being defeated in the West Indies by the
English admirals.
PARTY QUARRELS
The divisions in the Netherlands, which began to show themselves in the
last years of the war, served as the forerunners of the revolution which broke
out immediately after the peace, and foreign nations treated the Dutch in
an indifferent or contemptuous manner, because the latter were too weak to
be able to resent such treatment; the French alone did everything in their
power to connect the republican party closely with France.
The quarrel between the patriots and the party of the prince, which had
begun before the declaration of war, continued with equal violence after
the commencement of the war itself. The states had wished before the begin-
ning of the war to unite with France; the government did not wish to
break entirely with England. The stadholder demanded money for the
land army: the states, on the other hand, required ships to be built; their
progress was retarded, however, by the machinations of the stadholder.
After the commencement of the war a complete division was effected. The
city of Amsterdam in j\Iay, 1781, even went so far as publicly to express
their want of confidence in the prince, and more particularly in Duke Ludwig
Ernst, of whom the prince said that, notwithstanding the clamours of the
opposite party, he honoured him as if he were his father.
From this time forward the two parties, the Orange party and that of
the patriots, were to be considered as at open war.?
Almost the whole of those colonies, the remnants of prodigious power
acquired by such incalculable instances of enterprise and courage, had been
one by one assailed and taken. But this did not suffice for the satisfaction
of English objects in the prosecution of the war. It was also resolved to
deprive Holland of the Baltic trade. A squadron of seven vessels, commanded
by Sir Hyde Parker, was encountered on the Doggerbank by a squadron of
Dutch ships of the same force under Admiral Zoutman. An action of four
hours was maintained with all the ancient courage which made so m.any of
the memorable sea-fights between Tromp, De Ruyter, Blake, and JMonk
drawn battles. A storm separated the combatants, and saved the honour
of each; for both had suffered alike, and victory had belonged to neither.
The peace of 1784 terminated this short, but, to Holland, fatal war; the
two latter years of which had been, in the petty warfare of privateering,
most disastrous to the commerce of the republic. Negapatam on the Coro-
mandel coast, and the free navigation of the Indian seas, were ceded to Eng-
land, who occupied the other various colonies taken during the war.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1785-1787
Opinion was now rapidly opening out to that spirit of intense inquiry
which arose in France, and threatened to sweep before it not only all that
was corrupt, but everything that tended to corruption. It is in the very
essence of all kinds of power to have that tendency, and, if not checked by
salutary means, to reach that end. But the reformers of the last century,
new in the desperate practice of revolutions, seeing its necessity, but ignorant
of its nature, neither did nor could place bounds to the careering whirlwind
holla:n^d from 1722 to isis is
[1785-1787 A.D.]
that they raised. The well-meant but intemperate changes essayed by
Joseph II in Belgium had a considerable share in the development of free
principles, although they at first seemed only to excite the resistance of bigotry
and strengthen the growth of superstition. Holland was always alive to
those feelings of resistance to established authority which characterise repub-
lican opinions; and the general discontent at the result of the war with Eng-
land gave a good excuse.^ The stadholder saw clearly the storm which was
gathering, and which menaced his power. Anxious for the present, and
uncertain for the future, he listened to the suggestions of England, and resolved
to secure and extend by foreign force the rights of which he risked the loss
from domestic faction.
In the divisions which were now loudly proclaimed among the states, in
favour of or opposed to the house of Orange, the people, despising all new
theories which they did not comprehend, took open part with the family
so closely connected with every practical feeling of good which their country
had yet known. The states of Holland soon proceeded to measures of violence.
Resolved, in 1786, to limit the power of the stadholder, they deprived him
of the command of the garrison of the Hague, and of all the other troops
of the province; and, shortly afterwards, declared him removed from all
his employments. The violent disputes and vehement discussions consequent
upon this measure, throughout the republic, announced an inevitable com-
motion. The advance of a Prussian army towards the frontiers inflamed
the passions of one party, and strengthened the confidence of the other.
An incident which now happened brought about the crisis even sooner
than was expected. The princess of Orange in 1787 left her palace at Loo to
repair to the Hague; and, travelling with great simplicity and slightly attended,
she was arrested and (letaincd by a military post on the frontiers of the
province of Holland. The neighbouring magistrates of the town of Woesden
refused her permission to continue her journey, and forced her to return
to Loo under such surveillance as was usual with a prisoner of state.
The stadholder and the English ambassador loudly complained of this out-
rage. The complaint was answered by the immediate advance of the duke
of Brunswick, with twenty thousand Prussian soldiers. Some demonstrations
of resistance were made by the astonished party whose outrageous conduct
had provoked the measure; but in three weeks' time the whole of the republic
was in perfect obedience to the authority of the stadholder, who resumed all
his functions as chief magistrate, with the additional influence which was
sure to result from a vain attempt to reduce his former power .^
There is much political truth in the humorous description given by
Burke of these events. " A chivalrous king, hearing that a princess had been
affronted, takes his lance, assembles his knights, and determines to do her
justice. He sets out instantly with his knights in quest of adventures, and
carries all before him, achieving wonders in the cause of the injured princess.
This reminded him of the ancient story of a princess Latona who, haying
been insulted by a nation like the Dutch, appealed to Jupiter for satisfaction,
when the god in revenge for her wrongs turned the nation that affronted her
into a nation of frogs, and left them to live among dikes and waters. Although
the king of Prussia had, professedly, set out merely to obtain adequate satis-
faction for the injury done his sister, his army by accident took Utrecht,
possessed themselves of Amsterdam, restored the stadholder and the former
[> A commission of the states-general reported that the defences of the country had been
purposely ruined and the appeals of officers ignored by the stadholder, whose first remark after
the battle of Doggerbank was : " I hope the English have sustained no loss."]
14 THE HISTORY OF THE J^ETHEELANDS
[1787 A.D.]
government, and all this at a stroke and by the bye." (Speech in the debate
on the Hessian subsidy.) Nothing, indeed, but the weakness of Holland
— her utter inability to attract the attention of other nations to her cause
by the strenuous defence or reclamation of her rights, could have blinded
their eyes to the nature of the interference of England and Prussia in the
domestic affairs of that country. In direct violation of the law of nations
and the principles of justice, they had forced a sovereign [i.e. the states-
general] to reinstate a minister [i.e. the stadholder] whom, whether on good
grounds or not, that sovereign conceived to have betrayed his trust, and
had worked out the entire destruction of a constitution with which they could
have had no possible right to meddle. Yet scarce a voice was heard in remon-
strance or appeal against the aggression. Even the wdiigs of England,
dazzled by the influence their court had by such means gained over so impor-
tant an ally, forgot their usual zeal for the liberty and independence of nations;
and, though they fomid some faults in the detail of the measures pursued,
united in applauding their tendency.
The revolution had, to all appearance, annihilated the patriots as a party.
The most considerate members had fled the country;^ and the remainder,
mistrustful of each other, and fallen into the contempt of the nation at large,
ventured not to offer the slightest opposition to the proceedings of their
adversaries.
An oath to support the constitution as at present established was imposed
not only on all public officers but even on members of the lowest order of
guilds. Still further security for the existing order of things was sought
in an alliance with Prussia and England, whereby both these powers became
guarantees for the preservation of the stadholderate according to the act
of 1747; these two powers, moreover, by a separate treaty, somewhat novel
in the history of nations, binding themselves mutually to a similar guarantee.
So great a change had the public mind undergone that England, whom three
years before scarcely any dared mention except in terms of animosity, now
governed the councils of the United Provinces with undisputed sway; the
ambassador, Sir James Harris, mingled himself in all the affairs of state,
and on his appearance in public was received with marks of distinction
little inferior to those paid to the stadholder himself.
The influence of France, on the other hand, was now wholly annihilated.
In a late declaration made to the court of England, Louis had disclaimed
having ever had any intention of mterfering in the affairs of the United
Provinces. This act, which savoured, it was thought, as much of pusillanimity
as of infidelity, inspired the patriots in the United Provinces with a hatred
and contempt of France scarcely less than had formerly actuated the Orange-
ists.
Thus deprived of the aid, or even the intercession, of any foreign poten-
tate, and exposed defenceless to the vengeance of their adversaries, backed
by the power of England and Prussia, the unhappy patriots were constrained
to drink to the very dregs of the bitter cup of humiliation. Not a drop of
blood, however, was shed on the scaffold, a very few only being condemned
to death, and in their case the sentence was commuted to that of perpetual
exile.
Among the minor vexations to which the patriots had to submit, not the
least, perhaps, was the necessity of wearing the Orange badge, which no
person, of whatever sex or country, dared appear without. An Italian officer
' The number of emigrants and exiles who quitted the United Provinces in this and the
following year was reckoned at 42,394.
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815 15
[1787-1792 A.D.]
was actually expelled from Amsterdam for refusing obedience to this singular
mandate; and a woman was imprisoned for two years, and banished, for
having indulged in some expression of ridicule on the subject.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
As regarded its foreign politics, the Dutch nation at this period, under
the entire sway of England and Prussia, made no greater figure than if it had
been a province of one of those kingdoms. Out of complaisance to the latter
power, the states secretly assisted the people of the Austrian Netherlands,
though under constant professions of neutrality, in the formidable revolt
which the attempts of the emperor Joseph to introduce a more liberal system of
civil and religious government had raised against him ; and became nominally
a party to the treaty which, in consequence of a change of policy in the Prussian
court, was concluded with Leopold II, successor of Joseph, and the Nether-
land provinces, whereby the latter were annexed to the hereditary dominions
of the house of Austria, under the guarantee of Holland, England, and Prussia.
Further than this the United Provinces appeared to interest themselves
little in the affairs of neighbouring nations; or even in the course of those
mighty events which at this time drew towards France the contemplation
and wonder of Europe. Well pleased to behold the humiliation of a power
they detested, the Dutch government viewed with indifference the first attacks
made by the French people on the throne and monarchical institutions of
the country. They received the notification of the king's acceptance of the
constitution forced upon him in 1789, which that unhappy monarch had
neither the firmness to refuse nor the integrity to abide by. They kept
studiously aloof from the confederacy entered into at Pillnitz by the sover-
eigns of Austria and Prussia for the purpose of obtaining the restoration of
the king of France to his rights, and which drew from the national assembly
of France the declaration of war against the former power; they received
in silence the invitation of even the king of Prussia himself to become a party
to the league formed against the present administration of France by the
sovereigns of Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sardinia, Savoy, and the papal see;
and beheld with apparent indifference the march of the allied army of 180,000
men under the duke of Brunswick towards the frontiers of that kingdom.
But though exempt from participation in these acts, the Dutch were none
the less sufferers by their pernicious consequences. The king of England
having withdrawn his ambassador from Paris on the arrest of the king and
royal family, the states found themselves obliged, however reluctantly, to
assume a hostile attitude tow^ards France by following his example; while the
subjugation, soon after, of nearly the whole of the Austrian Netherlands, the
consequence of the brilliant victory obtained over the Austrian army in 1792
at Jemmapes by Dumouriez, appeared likely to produce a more immediate
cause of quarrel.
On the reduction of the town of .\ntwerp by the French general Labour-
donnaie, the citadel still holding out, two armed schooners were sent against it,
with orders from Dumouriez to sail down the Schelde. The emperor, anxious
to obtain co-operation in opposing the progress of the French arms in the
Netherlands, exhorted the states to take the speediest and most energetic
measures to resist so palpable an infraction of treaties and violation of their
neutrality. Great Britain, unable hitherto to find a pretext for the war she
was eager to commence, laboured diligently to invite the states to hostilities,
16 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1793 A.D.]
wherein she might bear a part as their ally, and declared her resolution of sup-
porting them in the assertion of their rights when required/ But the death
of Louis XVI on the scaffold in 1793, the expulsion of the French ambassador
from the court of London, and the consequent declaration of war by the
national convention against the king of England and the stadholder; the
acquiescence of the stadholder in all the measures, and his constant deference
to the counsels of the court of England, justified the national convention in
treating him as a dependent of that power. Accordingly it was to him, as
such, and not to the states — a politic distinction of which the convention
afterwards found the value — that the manif<;sto was addressed, declaring the
inhabitants of the United Provinces released from the oath they had been
forced to take to the stadholderal government in 1788, and that all such as
pretended to be bound by it were enemies of the French people and to be
treated with all the rigour :f the laws of war.
The states-general issued at once a counter-declaration, in the form of a
letter to the states of the provinces, couched in terms of mingled contempt,
derision, and aversion, both of the persons and principles of the party by which
France was at that time governed; while the stadholder, nearly at the same
moment, published a manifesto calculated to arouse the people to a strenuous
defence of their country. Preparations were immediately commenced with
great activity.
THE FRENCH CONQUEST
Wliether the Dutch emigrants had possessed the national convention with
an erroneous idea of the strength and disposition of the malcontents in the
United Provinces, or whether the result of the Prussian invasion six years
before had inspired the French wdth a profound and not wholly undeserved
contempt of the military prow^ess of the Dutch nation, the army sent under
the general Dumouriez to achieve the conquest of the provinces appeared
absolutely inadequate to the occasion. In the proclamation by which his
approach was preceded, the French commander had declared that he was
about to enter Holland with sixty thousand men, to assist the Batavians in
breaking the chains laid upon them by the t3Tanny of the house of Orange.
But he advanced toward the confines with an army no more than 13,700
strong, among whom were 2,000 Dutch and Belgian emigrants, and with a
ridiculously small train of artillery, consisting of only four twelve-pounders,
and about thirty-six smaller pieces.
With so small a force at his command, Dumouriez was conscious that his
only hope of success was in celerity, and in taking advantage of the feeling of
dismay he had so dexterously inspired. The event justified his sagacity;
since Breda, though defended on all sides by water and morasses, well fortified
and provided, surrendered February 24th, 1793, the day after his summons.
The magazines of Breda supplied Dumouriez v/ith the material of which he
stood so much in need.
The loss of Gertruydenberg, follovred by that of Klundert, excited the
' If we call to mind tlie events of a few years before, it affords a striking instance liow
greatly the ideas of justice among nations are modified by considerations of their own interest,
to behold the emperor now insisting npon the religious observation of a treaty which his prede-
cessor, Joseph II, had so unscrupulously set at naught ; France, asserting that the privilege of
closing the Schelde, which had been preserved to the Dutch at that time chiefly by her inter-
ference, was contrary to the natural and universal rights of mankind ; and England, who then
viewed the whole question with the most profound indifference, now ready to make it a cause
of proclaiLiing war on behalf of her ally.
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815 17
[1793-1794 A.D.]
most vivid anxiety for the safety of Dordrecht, which was in some degree
reheved by the appearance of a reinforcement of vessels from England
together with a body of two thousand fom- hundred troops under the duke of
York.
The revolutionary tribimal now governed France in all its terrible strength.
With the absolute disposal of the lives, the property, and the actions of
twenty-four millions of men, who submitted in the utter helplessness of fear
to its sway, it was enabled to bring a mass of force into the field such as had
never, under the most powerful monarchs, yet been seen, and to oppose an
army to its enemies on every side. And, while the power of coercion in filling
the ranks of the defenders of France was unlimited, its exercise was scarcely
necessary. The French, who at Paris appeared a nation of bloodthirsty
tyrants or trembling cowards, on the frontier were a people of heroes and
patriots. Wliile horror and execration rested upon the names of Danton,
Robespierre, and Marat, honour and victory followed the standards of Jour-
dan, Pichegru, Moreau, and Kleber. Instead of gaining a foot of ground on
the enemy's frontier, the allies lost a considerable portion of what they had
before possessed.
The Dutch in this campaign lost above eight thousand men in killed,
wounded, and prisoners and the expenses had been far above what the pres-
ent condition of the Un'tod Provinces was able to bear. The states of Hol-
land, in answer to the extraordinary petition of "the state of war," had con-
tributed nearly 3,000,000 guilders, besides 200,000 for the expenses of the
camp, and 900,000 for the maritime defence of the state. Aii additional sum
of 3,500,000 was also voted for the equipment of ten ships of the line and ten
frigates; 600,000 for the supply of the magazines, and 1,200,000 for the fortifi-
cations. A tax of a fiftieth had been imposed; but this w^as fomid so far from
sufficient that the states were obliged to have recourse to the mischievous and
uncertain expedient of a lottery for 1,000,000 guilders. Yet it is remarkable
that, in the midst of its embarrassments, the province of Holland did not cease
to supply funds to foreign nations. A loan of 5,000,000 guilders was this year
raised for the king of Prussia, and the American congress sold to the Dutch
two millions of acres situate in the state of New York for 3,750,000 guilders.
The campaign of 1794 was little less than a series of conquests on the side
of the French. Moreau took Sluys by siege. Pichegru routed the duke of
York, and took Crevecoeur and Bois-le-Duc. Maestricht was reduced by
Kleber. Venlo submitted to Laurens, and the English yielded Nimeguen. _
But notwithstanding these successes, the invaders found the most formi-
dable obstacles opposed to their further progr ss. The passage of the rivers,
defended by powerful batteries and large bodies of troops, appeared next to
an impossibilty. Nearly the wliole country before them was under water.
The hereditary prince in person superintended the cutting of the dikes.
But, though England did not want for zeal and activity in her behalf, the
troops she furnished, ill-organised and wretchedly commanded, appeared to
serve no other purpose than to abandon one by one every position they had
taken up; and, totally destitute of discipline, were an object of terror to the
inhabitants and contempt to their enemies. " Their conduct on their retreat
from Nimeguen," says a WTiter in the Nederlandsche Jaarboek, strongly fav-
ourable to that nation and the Orange party, " was marked by the most law-
less pillage, the most odious licentiousness, and detestable cruelties; so that
the inhabitants of the places they passed through would far rather trust to the
mercy of the invading enemy than to such allies and defenders." The prohi-
bitions issued by the duke of York were found wholly inefficient to restrain
H. W. — VOL. XIV. C
18 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1794 A.D.]
these excesses; and even the pensionary Van de Spiegel ^ himself began to
doubt whether it were not preferable to make a separate peace with France
upon such conditions as they could obtain, then await an issue dependent upon
the assistance of such coadjutors.
The severities exercised by the Orange party after the revolution of 1787
had effectually awed the patriots into silence; but the progress of the French
was hailed by them as the approaching era of the realisation of their cherished
dreams of liberty; and they were inclined rather to welcome them as deliverers
than repel them as invaders. The policy of the com-t of England, moreover,
in forcing upon the stadholder measures calculated to provoke the hostility
of the convention, had unconsciously forwarded their views ; since, the tleclara-
tion of war being issued against him personally, the patriots readily persuaded
themselves that they might, without incurring the imputation of treason
against their country, unite with the invaders, not as her enemies but as
auxiliaries in the overthrow of her tyrant.
Accordingly they had for some time begun to assemble in small meetings,
held under the name of "reading societies." As these in a short time became
numerous, there being no less than sixty in Haarlem alone, it was thought
advisable to organise two central committees, the one to keep up a corre-
spondence with their representatives in the French camp, with the revolu-
tionary committee at Antwerp, and with the different societies in the prov-
inces; while the other undertook to thwart all such plans and measures as
might contribute to the efficiency of the present government, and to adopt
every suitable and prudent means of arousing the enthusiasm of the people in
favour of liberty. The efforts of the first attracted, for a considerable inter-
val, but little notice. The results of the agency of the other were soon per-
ceived, though the cause as yet lay hidden, in the opposition offered to all
levies of money voted by the states; in the mistrust inspired of the govern-
ment, and the denunication of its measures as injurious to the commonwealth.
Wliile their deputies were at the French camp, the revolutionary committee
of Amsterdam continued in full activity. Magazines of arms were collected
in different places; a small naval force was raised to protect the harbours,
especially that of Amsterdam ; the Jews to the number of forty thousand were
bought off with heavy smns from the party of the stadholder, with the view
of embarrassing the money transactions of the government; and the troops
in the garrisons were tampered with, not altogether without success.
The government already entertained suspicions of some lurking mischief,
and had ceased to quarter any garrisons in the more doubtful places; all
assemblies, under whatever pretext, were forbidden unless by permission
previously obtained, and were then to be held with open doors. The arrest
of some of the members of the revolutionary committee spread consternation
and dismay through the whole party. They sent pressing invitations to
the French army to hasten their march, though the communication was
now become extremely difficult, the states of Holland having issued an edict
prohibiting any person under penalty of death from passing the boundaries
without a passport from themselves, the council of state, or the stadholder.
Ere long, nature herself declared as a champion of the invaders.
* Writing to the registrar Fagel, in London, Van de Spiegel, in a letter quoted by Wage-
naer,'' observes tbat " the prince is enraged at what he had witnessed, which surpassed the
bounds of imagination ; that the English were accustomed to answer to the complaints of the
inhabitants, that they would be sure to be plundered by the Carmagnoles, and it was better they
should forestall them. " In a subsequent letter to the ambassadors sent to Paris with proposals
of peace, he says, " Be assured that no English influence governs here ; and that the nation
has obtained in this country so bad a reputation that a century will not efface the impression."
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815 19
[1794-1T95 A.D.]
THE FLIGHT OF THE STADHOLDER (1794)
In the month of December, harbingers began to appear of the severity of
the winter emphatically called by the people of the United Provinces " the
French winter." With anguish and despair, the inhabitants (such at least
as were not in league with the enemy) behekl the daily increase of ice in the
rivers and land waters, which soon, instead of a formidable and almost insur-
mountable barrier, offered to the French, as to the barbarian Franks above
twelve centuries before, an easy passage into the heart of the country, and
firm fields of battle for the evolutions of their troops. On this eventful change
of circumstances Pichegru immediately formed the plan of a general attack.
Daendels was commanded to resume under new and favouring auspices his
twice foiled attempt to penetrate into Holland by way of the Bommel. The
result was now proportionably different. The attacks of the other division
of the invading army were equally successful.
The province of Utrecht was abandoned as untenable ; since the inundated
line of the Greb, before an impenetrable barrier, opposed since the frost not
the slightest obstacle to the advance of the enemy. The ice, also, afforded
a smooth and easy passage to Dordrecht, the ancient capital of Holland,
which was filled with fugitives from different parts of the country; in vain
were incessant efforts used to keep it broken, the intense cold of the night
as constantly destroying the labours of the day. Terror, confusion, and
despair took possession of the city and the whole province.
The announcement by the stadholder to the states-general and the states
of Holland of his intention to quit the Hague followed; and, having taken
a melancholy leave of the states, he set out, accompanied by his sons, for
Scheveningen, whence the princess and her daughter had already sailed
some hours before. The fishing smack in which he was to embark being at
some distance from the shore, he was about to wade into the water, when,
Bentinck exclaiming to the people, "Will you allow your prince to leave
you thus?" they immediately hoisted him on their shoulders and bore him
to the vessel. The next day he landed at Harwich. His departure from
the Hague was immediately followed by that of the ambassadors from the
courts of London, Berlin, Madrid, Turin, and Hanover.
Meanwhile, the general Daendels, impatient at the delay of the long-
promised and expected revolution at Amsterdam, had, on the day of his
arrival at Utrecht, sent to admonish the revolutionary committee to all
possible speed in the accomplishment of that work, in order that they might,
on his approach, be in a condition to treat with the French as friends and
brothers, instead of conquerors. Early on the following morning the tree
of liberty was planted on the Dam; and while the people were performing
their dance around it, the council were summoned to the guildhall for the
last time. They were then informed that, " the sun of freedom having now
dawned upon the Batavian horizon," the former government of the city
was superseded by the revolutionary committee, which would conduct the
administration of affairs till a regular constitution was established, and com-
manded to return to their homes in the quality of simple burghers.
On the 22nd of January, 1795, generals Pichegru and Moreau made their
entry into the Hague, already revolutionised.' The patriot party every-
' On Pichegru's quitting the Hague, in the month of March ensuing, to take the command
of the army of the Rhine, an annuity of 10,000 guilders was, according to Wagenaar,'' settled
on him by the states-general as the reward of his services.
20 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1794 A.D.]
where received the invaders with open arms as friends and dehverers, " frater-
nising," as it was called in the jargon of the day, with the French soldiers;
public feasts and rejoicings were held to celebrate the event; the tree of
liberty was planted in nearly every town.
THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
Immediately on the completion of the revolution in the towns of Holland,
tliey, in obedience to the summons of the central revolutionary committee,
senl deputies to the Hague for the purpose of framing a new constitution.
At this assembly,^ the sovereignty of the people and the "rights of man"
were formally acknowledged; and the ancient representative constitution
of Holland, which had now subsisted with but slight alteration for six hundred
years, and had withstood the successive shocks of the revolt from Spain, of
long w^ars, and of civil dissensions, was annihilated at one stroke.
It was decreed that every individual of the male sex, and of mature age,
should have a vote in the election of representatives, the states, as formerly
constituted, being forever abolished; as were likewise the dignities of stad-
holder and captain and admiral-general. The villages of the open country,
which had formerly been considered as represented in the states by the nobles,
now obtained the right of sending representatives of their own. Thus com-
posed, the assembly took the name of the "provisional representatives of
the people of Holland." The council and chamber of finance were also
abolished, and three committees, of "military affairs," of "general welfare,''
and of " finance," were formed in their stead. The pensionary Van de Spiegel
was deprived of his offices, and a few days after himself and William van
Bentinck were arrested; their papers were seized, and they were condemned
to imprisonment in the castle of Woerden.
The first business of the new assembly of representatives of Holland was
to bring forward a proposal in the states-general that they should acknowl-
edge the rights and sovereignty of the people; release the inhabitants of
the United Provinces from their oath to the stadholder and the old constitu-
tion; and send ministers to Paris to offer to the convention an alliance on
reasonable conditions, as between two equal and independent nations. The
states-general complied with all these demands; they did not, however,
change their title of "high and mighty lords"; the reformers being content
to indulge "that whim and prejudice" on account of their relations with
foreign states; neither did the constitution of the body itself undergo any
other alteration than that their votes w^ere sometimes taken individually
instead of by provinces, and that the date of their edicts bore, in addition to
the year of Christ, that of "Batavian liberty," and were headed wdth the
watch-cry of the revolutionists, "equality, liberty, and fraternity."
With respect to all the other parts of the constitution of the United
Provinces, however, the patriots, under the guidance, or rather coercion, of
the representatives of the French Republic at the Hague, proceeded rapidly
and unsparingly in the work of demolition. The beneficial provisions, the
essential principles, and the most valued privileges fell equally with the most
antiquated abuses and mischievous corruptions beneath the scythe.
The hereditary nobility was abolished, and their domains were applied
to the public service; the use of escutcheons and other ornaments of heraldry
was prohibited, together with the wearing of liveries; all remnants of feudal
' The president was Peter Paulus, who, on the revolution of 1787, had been deprived of
his office of fiscal advocate to the admiralty of the Maas.
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815 21
[1794 A.D.]
customs, where any such remained, were abohshed; and county tolls, staple
rights, and special commercial privileges were abrogated. The penal laws
existing against the marriage of political and military officers with Catholics
were revoked; and the religious ceremony of marriage was declared unneces-
sary. The synods were no longer to be held at the public expense; the hatch-
ments were removed from the churches; and even the pews were not per-
mitted to remain, as being inconsistent with the present notions of equality.
All the gallows and whipping-posts in the country were destroyed, on
the ground that they were derogatory to the dignity of mankind, and monu-
ments of ancient barbarism. Happily, the punishment of torture, which
still subsisted in some parts of Gelderland, shared in the general annihilation.
This sudden sweeping away of every relic of their constitution, of every
trace of their nationality, excited grief and dismay among all but the more
zealous and hot-headed of the patriot party; of whom the great majority
had never contemplated more than the reformation of the constitution in
such a manner as might render it suitable, as they thought, to the improved
condition of society and the more extended and varied necessities of the
body politic. The entire and fearful awakening from the dream in which
their own reckless frenzy had steeped their senses rapidly followed. They
found that those whom they had hailed as deliverers were become their
oppressors, with a tyranny of which the barbarous times they so severely
reprobated had given them no idea.
They dared not make the slightest political movement except at the
impulse of their new masters, the French representatives; at their bidding
they were forced to lay an embargo on all the vessels of England in their
ports, an act of which the consequence was a declaration of war by that
country, and the loss of all their most valuable colonies, which fell an easy
prey to her arms; their commerce, and more especially their fisheries, were
laid under such restrictions as it pleased the invaders to impose; who took
possession, moreover, of all their harbours, their strong towns and magazines,
and exacted an oath from the military and naval forces to undertake nothing
against the republic of France.
To other vexations was added the burden of the French troops quartered
in the towns, often of the smallest and poorest provinces, and whose inhabi-
tants were, by the severity of the winter, the floods which followed it, and
the consequent scarcity, left with hardly the means of subsistence. The
demands of the army for provisions, clothing, horses, forage, and fuel were
absolutely insatiable ^ ; nor did the consideration that the unhappy provinces
of Gelderland and Overyssel were already reduced to the extremity of misery
by the above causes and the pillage of the English army on its retreat, produce
any mitigation of their treatment.
But a grievance far more deeply felt than these was the constraint the
Dutch were under to receive as current the worthless paper money which
the convention had issued under the name of "assignats," in the begmnmg
of the war. This measure, enforced amidst professions of the most profound
veneration for the rights of property, was accompanied by the seizure and
appropriation by the French representatives of the effects of the stadholder
(which, as the states justly remonstrated, he possessed not in the quality of
stadholder but that of citizen), and, among the rest, his valuable museum
> The states-general were required, according to Wagenaer," to deliver in one month'
200.000 quintals of wheat ; 75,000,000 lbs. of hay ; 2,000,000 lbs. of straw ; 50 000,000 lbs of
oats ; 150,000 pairs of shoes ; 20,000 pairs of stockings ; 20,000 cloth coats and vests ; 4U,UUU
pairs of breeches ; 150,000 shirts ; and 50,000 caps, and, within two months, 1^,000 oxen.
22 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1795-1798 A.D.]
and gallery of paintings.^ His demesnes were sequestrated by the represen-
tative assemblies of the provinces where they were situated, in order to preserve
them from the hands of the French.
Acts of such a nature inspired the Dutch with no unreasonable doubts
as to the intention of the national convention really to respect that inde-
pendence which they had on the entrance of the French army into the United
Provinces solemnly promised to uphold. In order to satisfy themselves on
this point, they provided the ambassadors (Jacob Blauw and Caspar Meyer)
sent to Paris for the purpose of concluding the treaty of amity and commerce,
with instructions to obtain, if possible, an express acknowledgment of the
independence of the Dutch Republic. The ambassadors, on their arrival,
were refused admittance in that quality; and informed by the abbe Sieyes,
member of the "committee of public safety," that the question of indemnity
to France, for the expenses she had incurred in liberating the United Prov-
inces, must precede that of the acknowledgment of their independence. This
indemnity, as it was termed, amounted to no less than a subsidy of 100,000,000
guilders, with the like sum by way of loan at 2^ or 3 per cent. The provinces
were in no condition to yield any such subsidies. Holland had, since the
revolution of 1787, furnished 80,000,000 guilders in extraordinary expenses
only, and was, precisely at this juncture, obliged to have recourse to the
expedient of requiring all the inhabitants to deliver their gold and silver
plate to be melted into money. The navigation of the Rhine, Maas, and
Schelde was to be declared free to both nations.
In the treaty which the abbe Sieyes now repaired to the Hague for
the purpose of concluding, May 16th, 1795, France engaged to restore to the
United Provinces all their territories except Dutch Flanders as far as the
Hond, Maestricht, and Venlo, with the land south of the latter town. The
republic was also reinstated in the possession of her naval force and arsenals.
The Dutch received, with festivals and acclamations of joy, a peace
which, while it recognised in- imposing terms the independence and sov-
ereignty of the "Batavian Republic," rendered the sovereignty a jest and
the independence an illusion. Deprived of the power of making foreign
alliances, of the authority over their own troops — since the government was
obliged to consult the French general on every movement, and the army
itself, composed of more than half French soldiers, was remodelled in a manner
analogous to that of the invaders — with a military force ready to punish or
crush the slightest attempt at opposition to the behests (or "admonitions,"
as they were termed) of the representatives of the French people, who still
continued at the Hague, the Dutch Republic was now become virtually a
province of France.
The nominal government of the states-general was, in the next year,
superseded by the equally shadowy authority of a national convention. This
again gave place in 1798 to the so-called" constituent assembly of the Batavian
people," and an executive directory. After a struggling existence of scarce
four months, the constituent assembly was violently dissolved, and sub-
stituted by "chambers of representatives." This government proving as
' They restored to tlie states-general, according to Wagenaar,'^ with much pomp of circum-
stance and self-gratulation on their own magnanimity and generosity, the sword of De Ruyter,
Admiral Tromp's baton of command, the wooden cup in which the " gueux " pledged the first
health to each other, with the wooden bowl in which each of the confederate nobility had, on
that occasion, driven a nail as a token of their union and firmness in the cause ; and a piece of
ordnance given by a Javanese sovereign as an acknowledgment of fealty to the states. The
states, as though they could rise from the degradation of the present on the memory of the
past, received tliese glorious relics with a transport of joy and gratitude.
HOLLAND FEOM 1733 TO 1815 23
[1799-1806 A.D.]
utterly inefficient as its predecessors, it was at length found necessary to
recur in some measure to the traces of the ancient constitution, by instituting
new legislative bodies, termed the eight provincial and one central commis-
sions, bearing a resemblance to the states of the provinces and states-general.
These different and quickly succeeding governments agreed but in one
point, that of laying merciless imposts on the people. Commerce, navigation,
trade, and manufactures fell into rapid decay. Flood, famine, disease, and
the invasion of their territory by the hostile troops of England and Russia
filled up the measure of their woes. The Peace of Amiens afforded them but
a short respite. Not content with forcing the Dutch to take part in the
renewed war against England, Napoleon, now the first consul of France,
manifested at the same time his insolent contempt towards them, by investing
their own ambassador at his court, Schimmelpennick (1805), with the sole
government of their state, and a power scarcely less than monarchical, under
the title of pensionary — a suitable preliminary to the species of mock royalty
he, in the next year, conferred on his brother Louis.^
LOUIS Bonaparte's account of his accession
A deputation from Holland arrived in Paris towards the spring of 1806.
Couriers were despatched and instructions commanded, and after four months
of negotiation a treaty was concluded, by which royalty was established in
Holland, and foundetl on constitutional laws. Louis ^ was not invited to
these negotiations. From observations without any character of authen-
ticity, which were made to him, he learned that the conferences had reference
to himself.
The members of the deputation at length waited on him, informed him
of all that had taken place, and endeavoured to induce him to accept the
dignity. They assured him that the nation gave him the preference. He
did what he could to avoid expatriation; his brother answered that he took
the alarm too soon; but the Dutch deputies themselves informed him of the
progress of the negotiations. Seeing the decisive hour approach, he deter-
mined on an obstinate refusal, when they came to announce to him the death
of the old stadholder. His brother explained himself more openly, and gave
him to understand that, if he were not consulted in this affair, it was because
a subject could not refuse to obey. Louis reflected that he might be con-
strained by force; that, as the emperor was absolutely determined on the
subject, what had happened to Joseph would in all probability happen to
himself. Joseph, on account of his having refused the kingdom of Italy,
was then at Naples. However, Louis made a last attempt. He wrote to
his brother that he felt the necessity of the removal of the brothers of the
emperor from France, but begged he would grant him the government of
Genoa or Piedmont. His brother refused, and in a few days Prince Talley-
rand, then minister for foreign affairs, repaired to St. Leu, and read aloud to
Louis and Hortense the treaty and constitution which had just been adopted.
This interview took place on Tuesday, the 3rd of June, 1806. Prince Talley-
rand announced that on the Thursday following the king of Holland would
be proclaimed.
The existence of Louis in France became every day more insupportable.
Without domestic comfort; without tranquillity; mute in the council; having
no military occupation; seeing his functions in this respect confined to the
[' This book, by Louis Bonaparte, is written in the third person.]
24 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1806-1810 A.D.]
introduction of officers, for the purpose of administering the oath to them,
and visiting the mihtary school from time to time; leaving evident marks
of disfavour, and few persons daring to visit him — he felt himself in a state
of constraint and moral excitement which he could not have any longer
supported if events had not torn him from his position. "In Holland," he
said to himself, " interests of various kinds, matters of necessity, and public
affairs will wholly occupy me. I shall bestow on my country all the affection
which I cannot display in my own family. I shall thus perhaps gradually
recover from my physical and moral depression."
The 5th of June, 1806, was the day fixed for the proclamation of Louis
as king of Holland.*"
REIGN OF LOUIS BONAPARTE
The character of Louis Bonaparte was gentle and amiable, his manners
easy and affable. He entered on his new rank with the best intentions
towards the country which he was sent to reign over; and though he felt
acutely when the people refused him marks of respect and applause, which
was frequently the case, his temper was not soured, and he conceived no
resentment. He endeavoured to merit popularity; and though his power
was scanty, his efforts were not wdiolly unsuccessful. He laboured to revive
the ruined trade which he knew to be the staple of Dutch prosperity: but the
measures springing from this praiseworthy motive were totally opposed to the
policy of Napoleon; and in proportion as Louis made friends and partisans
among his subjects, he excited bitter enmity in his imperial brother.
Louis was so averse to the continental system, or exclusion of British
manufactures, that during his short reign every facility was given to his sub-
jects to elude it, even in defiance of the orders conveyed to him from Paris
through the medimn of the French ambassador at the Hague. He imposed
no restraints on public opinion, nor would he establish the odious system of
espionage cherished by the French police: but he was fickle in his purposes,
and prodigal in his expenses. The profuseness of his expenditure was very
offensive to the Dutch notions of respectability in matters of private finance,
and injurious to the existing state of the public means.
The tyranny of Napoleon became soon quite insupportable to him; so
much so that it is believed that, had the ill-fated English expedition to Wal-
cheren in 1809 succeeded, and the army advanced into the country, he would
have declared war against France. After an ineffectual struggle of more than
three years, he chose rather to abdicate his throne than retain it under the
degrading conditions of proconsulate subserviency. This measure excited con-
siderable regret, and much esteem for the man who preferred the retirement
of private life to the meanness of regal slavery. But Louis left a galling
memento of misplaced magnificence, in an increase of 90,000,000 florins (about
£9,000,000) to the already oppressive amount of the national debt of the
country.
ABSORPTION OF HOLLAND IN THE FRENCH EMPIRE
The annexation of Holland to the French Empire was immediately pro-
nounced by Napoleon. Two thirds of the national debt were abolished, the
conscription law was introduced, and the Berlin and Milan decrees against the
introduction of British manufactures were rigidly enforced.
The nature of the evils inflicted on the Dutch people by this annexation
HOLLAND FROM 1723 TO 1815 25
[1810-1813 A. D.]
and its consequences demands a somewhat minute examination. Previous to
it all that part of the territory of the former United Provinces had been ceded
to France. The kingdom of Holland consisted of the departments of the
Zuyder Zee, the mouths of the Maas, the Upper Yssel, the mouths of the
Yssel, Friesland, and the Western and Eastern Ems; and the population of
the whole did not exceed 1,800,000 souls. AVhen Louis abdicated his throne,
he left a military and naval force of 18,000 men, who were immediately taken
into the service of France; and in three years and a half after that event this
number was increased to 50,000, by the operation of the French naval and
military code: thus about a thirty-sixth part of the whole population was
employed in arms.
The conscription laws now began to be executed with the greatest of rigour;
and though the strictest justice and impartiality were observed in the ballot
and other details of this most oppressive measure, yet it has been calculated
that, on an average, nearly one half of the male population of the age of
twenty years was annually taken off. The conscripts were told that their
service was not to extend beyond the term of five years; but as few instances
occurred of a French soldier being discharged without his being declared unfit
for service, it was always considered in Holland that the service of a con-
script was tantamount to an obligation during life.
The various taxes were laid on and levied in the most oppressive manner:
those on land usually amounting to 25, and those on houses to 30 per cent,
of the clear annual rent. Other direct taxes were levied on persons and
movable property, and all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerable
severity. The whole sum annually obtained from Holland by these means
amounted to about 30,000,000 florins (or 3,000,000 pounds sterling), being
at the rate of about £1 13s 4d from every soul inhabiting the country.
The Continental System
The operation of what was called the continental system created an excess
of misery in Holland only to be understood by those who witnessed its lamen-
table results. In other countries, Belgium for instance, where great manu-
factories existed, the loss of maritime communication was compensated by
the exclusion of English goods.
The few licenses granted to the Dutch were clogged with duties so exorbi-
tant as to make them useless; the duties on one ship which entered the Maas,
loaded with sugar and coffee, amounting to about £50,000. At the same time
every means was used to crush the remnant of Dutch commerce and sacrifice
the country to France. The Dutch troops were clothed and armed from
French manufactories; the frontiers were opened to the introduction of
French commodities duty free; and the Dutch manufacturer undersold in
his own market.
The population of Amsterdam was reduced from 220,000 souls to 190,000,
of which a fourth part derived their whole subsistence from charitable institu-
tions, whilst another fourth part received partial succour from the same
sources. At Haarlem, where the population had been chiefly emploj^ed in
bleaching and preparing linen made in Brabant, whole streets were levelled
with the ground, and more than five hundred houses destroyed. At the Hague,
at Delft, and in other towns, many inhabitants had been induced to pull down
their houses, from inability to keep them in repair or pay the taxes. The
preservation of the dikes, requiring an annual expense of £600,000, was every-
where neglected. The sea inundated the coimtry, and threatened to resume
26 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1813 A.D.]
its ancient dominion. No object of ambition, no source of professional wealth
or distinction, remained to which a Hollander could aspire. None could vol-
untarily enter the army or navy to fight for the worst enemy of Holland. The
clergy were not provided with a decent competency. The ancient laws of the
country, so dear to its pride and its prejudices, were replaced by the Code
Napoleon; so that old practitioners had to recommence their studies, and
young men were disgusted with the drudgery of learning a system which was
universally pronounced unfit for a commercial country.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1813
Those who have considered the events noted in this history for the last two
hundred years, and followed the fluctuations of public opinion depending on
prosperity or misfortune, will have anticipated that, in the present calamitous
state of the country, all eyes were turned towards the family whose memory
was revived by every pang of slavery, and associated with every throb for
freedom. The presence of the prince of Orange, William VI, who had, on the
death of his father in 1806, succeeded to the title, though he had lost the
revenues of his ancient house, and the re-establisliment of the connection with
England were now the general desire.
The empire was attacked at all points after 1812. The French troops in
Holland were drawn off to reinforce the armies in distant directions ; and the
whole military force in that country scarcely exceeded 10,000 men. The
advance of the combined armies towards the frontiers became generally
known.
Count Styrum, Repelaer de Jonge, Van Hogendorp, Vander Du^n van
Maasdam, and Changuion, were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which planned
and executed the bold measures of enfranchisement, and drew up the outlines
of the constitution which was afterwards enlarged and ratified. Their first
movements at the Hague in 1813 were totally unsupported by foreign aid.
At the head of a force, which courtesy and policy called an army, of three
hundred national guards badly armed, fifty citizens carrying fowling-pieces,
fifty soldiers of the old Dutch guard, four hundred auxiliary citizens armed
with pikes, and a cavalry force of twenty young men, the confederates boldly
proclaimed the prince of Orange, on the 17th of November, 1813, in their open
village of the Hague and in the teeth of a French force of full ten thousand
men, occupying every fortress in the country.
The only hope of the confederates was from the British government, and
the combined armies then acting in the north of Europe. But many days
were to be lingered through before troops could be embarked, and make their
way from England in the teeth of the easterly winds then prevailing ; while a
few Cossacks, hovering on the confines of Holland, gave the only evidence of
the proximity of the allied forces.
In this crisis it was most fortunate that the French prefect at the Hague,
Stassart, had stolen away on the earliest alarm; and the French garrison, of
four hundred chasseurs, aided by one hundred well-armed custom-house offi-
cers, under the command of General Bouvier des Eclats, caught the contagious
fears of the civil functionary. This force had retired to the okl palace — a
building in the centre of the town, the depot of all the arms and ammunition
then at the Hague, and, from its position, capable of some defence. But the
general and his garrison soon felt a complete panic from the bold attitude of
Count Styrum, who made the most of his little means, and kept up, during the
HOLLAND FEOM 1722 TO 1815
** ra/} ■'^^^
1 "™li^f^^^s~ .
27
[1813 A.D.]
night, a prodigious clatter by his twenty horsemen; sentinels challenging,
amidst incessant singing and shouting; cries of "Oranje boven! Vivat
Oranje!" and clamorous patrols of the excited citizens. At an early hour on
the 18th, the French general demanded terms, and obtained permission to
retire on Gorkum, his garrison being escorted as far as the village of Ryswick
by the twenty cavaliers who composed the whole mounted force of the patriots.
Unceasing efforts were now made to remedy the want of arms and men.
A quantity of pikes were rudely made and distributed to the volunteers who
crowded in; and numerous fishing boats were despatched in different direc-
tions to inform the British cruisers
of the passing events. An individual
named Pronck, an inhabitant of
Schevening, a village of the coast,
rendered great services in this way,
from his influence among the sailors
and fishermen in the neighbourhood.
The confederates spared no ex-
ertion to increase the confidence of
the people, under many contradic-
tory ancldisheartening contingencies.
An officer who had been despatched
for advice and information to Baron
Bentinck, at Zwolle, who was in
communication with the allies, re-
turned with the discouraging news
that General Biilow had orders not
to pass the Yssel, the allies having
decided not to advance into Holland
beyond the line of that river. A
meeting of the ancient regents of
the Hague was convoked by the
proclamation of the confederates,
and took place at the house of Van
Hogendorp, the ancient residence of
the De Witts. The wary magis-
trates absolutely refused all co-operation in the daring measures of the con-
federates, who had now the whole responsibility on their heads, with little to
cheer them on in their perilous career but their own resolute hearts.
Some days of intense anxiety now elapsed, and various incidents occurred
to keep up the general excitement.
The appearance of three hundred Cossacks, detached from the Russian
armies beyond the Yssel, prevailed over the hesitation of Amsterdam and the
other towns, and they at length declared for the prince of Orange.
The Dutch displayed great ability in the transmission of false intelligence
to the enemy. November 27th, 1813, Fagel arrived from England with a
letter from the prince of Orange, announcing his immediate coming; and,
finally, the disembarkation of two hundred English marines, on the 29th, was
followed the next day by the landing of the prince, whose impatience to throw
himself into the open arms of his country made him spurn every notion of risk
and every reproach for rashness. He was received with indescribable enthu-
siasm. As the people everywhere proclaimed William I sovereign prince, it
was proposed that he should everywhere assume that title.
The 2nd of December, the prince made his entry into Amsterdam. He
Gate of Hougomont Chateau, Centre of the
Battle of Waterloo, defended by Dutch
AND Hanoverians
28 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1813-1814 A.D.]
went forward borne on the enthusiastic greetings of his fellow-countrymen, and
meeting their confidence by a full measure of magnanimity.
Within four months, an army of twenty-five thousand men was raised; and
in the midst of financial, judicial, and commercial arrangements, the grand
object of the constitution was calmly and seriously debated. A committee,
consisting of fourteen persons of the first importance in the several provinces,
furnished the result of three months' labours in the plan of a political code,
which was immediately printed and published for the consideration of the
people at large. Twelve himdred names were next chosen from among the
most respectable householders in the different towns and provinces, including
persons of every religious persuasion, whether Jews or Christians. A special
commission was then formed, who selected from this nimiber six hundred
names; and every housekeeper was called on to give his vote for or against
their election. A large majority of the six hundred notables thus chosen met
at Amsterdam, on the 28th of March, 1814. The following day they assembled
with an immense concourse of people, in the great church, which was splen-
didly fitted up for the occasion; and then and there the prince, in animpress-
ive speech, solemnly offered the constitution for acceptance or rejection.
Only one day more elapsed before the new sovereign was solemnly inaugu-
rated, and took the oath prescribed by the constitution — "I swear that first
and above all things I will maintain the constitution of the United Nether-
lands, and that I will promote, to the utmost of my power, the independence
of the state, and the liberty and prosperity of its inhabitants." In the elo-
quent simplicity of this pledge, the Dutch nation found an ample guarantee
for their freedom and happiness.
While Holland thus resumed its place among free nations, and France
was restored to the Bourbons by the abdication of Napoleon, the allied armies
had taken possession of and occupied the remainder of the Low Countries,
or those provinces distinguished by the name of Belgium (but then still form-
ing departments of the French empire).
HOLLAND AXD BELGIUM UNITED (1814)
The Treaty of Paris (May 30th, 1814) stipulated by its sixth article that
" Holland, placed under the sovereignty of the house of Orange, should receive
an increase of territory." In this was explained the primitive notion of the
creation of the kingdom of the Netherlands, based on the necessity of aug-
menting the power of a nation which was destined to turn the balance between
France and Germany. The following month witnessed the execution of the
Treaty of London, which prescribed the precise nature of the projected
increase.
It was wholly decided, without subjecting the question to the approbation
of Belgium, that that country and Holland should form one united state;
and the rules of government in the chief branches of its administration were
completely fixed.
^ The inhabitants of Belgium, accustomed to foreign domination, were little
shocked by the fact of the allied powers having disposed of their fate without
consulting their wishes. But they were not so indifferent to the double
discovery of finding themselves the subjects of a Dutch and a Protestant
king. The countries had hitherto had but little community of interests
with each other; and they formed elements so utterly discordant as to afford
but slight hope that they would speedily coalesce.
The prince of Orange arrived at Brussels in the month of August, 1814,
HOLLAND FROM 1722 TO 1815 29
[1815 A.D.]
and his first effort was to gain the hearts and the confidence of the people
though he saw the nobles and the higher orders of the inferior classes (with
the exception of the merchants) intriguing all around him for the re-establish-
ment of the Austrian power. Petitions on this subject were printed and
distributed.
As soon as the moment came for promulgating the decision of the sovereign
powers as to the actual extent of the new kingdom — that is to say, in the
month of February, 1815 — the whole plan was made public; and a com-
mission, consisting of twenty-seven members, Dutch and Belgian, was formed,
to consider the modifications necessary in the fundamental law of Holland,
in pursuance of the stipulation of the Treaty of London. After due delibera-
tion these modifications were formed, and the great political pact was com-
pleted for the final acceptance of the king and people.
The news of the elevation of William I to the throne was received in the
Dutch provinces with great joy, in as far as it concerned him personally;
but a joy considerably tempered by doubt and jealousy, as regarded their
junction with a country sufficiently large to counterbalance Holland, oppose
interests to interests, and people to people.
In Belgium the formation of the new monarchy excited the most lively
sensation. The manufacturers, great and small, saw the ruin of monopoly
staring them in the face. The whole people took friglit at the weight of the
Dutch debt, wliich was considerably greater than that of Belgium.
It was in this state of public feeling that intelligence was received, in
March, 1815, of the reappearance in Franco of the emperor Napoleon.
Holland's part ix the great alll\nce
The flight of Louis XVIII from Paris was the sure signal to the kingdom
of the Netherlands, in which he took refuge, that it was about to become the
scene of another contest for the life or death of despotism. The national
force was soon in the field, under the command of the prince of Orange, the
king's eldest son, and heir apparent to the throne for which he now prepared
to fight. His brother, Prince Frederick, commanded a division under him.
The English arni}^, under the duke of Wellington, occupied Brussels and the
various cantonments in its neighbourhood; and the Prussians, commanded
by Prince Bliicher, were in readiness to co-operate with their allies on the
first movements of the invaders.
Napoleon, hurrying from Paris to strike some rapid and decisive blow,
passed the Sambre on the 15th of June, at the head of the French army
150,000 strong, driving the Prussians before him beyond Charleroi and back
on the plain of Fleurus with some loss. On the 16th was fought the bloody
battle of Ligny, in which the Prussians sustained a decided defeat. On the
same day the British advanced position at Quatre-Bras, and the corps d'armee
commanded b}' the prince of Orange, were fiercely attacked by Marshal Ney;
a battalion of Belgian infantry and a brigade of horse artillery having been
engaged in a skirmish the preceding evening at Frasnes with the French
advanced troops.
The affair of Quatre-Bras was sustained with admirable firmness by the
allied English and Netherland forces, against an enemy superior in numbers,
and commanded by one of the best generals in France. The prince of Orange,
with only nine thousand men, maintained his position till three o'clock in
the afternoon, despite the continual attacks of Marshal Ney, who commanded
the left of the French army, consisting of 43,000 men.
>;;"-"-''
30 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1815 A.D.]
We abstain from entering on details of the battle of Waterloo [already
described in the history of France, Vol. XII]. Various opinions have gone
forth as to the conduct of the Belgian troops on this memorable occasion.
Isolated instances were possibly found, among a mass of several thousands,
of that nervous weakness which neither the noblest incitements nor the
finest examples can conquer. Raw troops might here and there have shrunk
from attacks the most tlesperate on record;^ but the official reports of its
loss, 2,058 men killed and 1,936 wounded, prove indelibly that the troops
of the Netherlands had share in the honour of the day.
The victory was cemented by the blood of the prince of Orange, who
stood the brunt of the fight with his soldiers. His conduct was conformable
to the character of his whole race, and to his own reputation during a long
series of service with the British army in the Spanish peninsula. He stood
bravely at the head of his troops during the murderous conflict; or, like
Wellington, in whose school he was formed and whose example was beside
him, rode from rank to
^ rank and column to col-
.^i^^rv^^ . , - umn, inspiring his men by
—=--'- ' - the proofs of his untiring
courage.
On the occasion of one
peculiarly desperate
charge, the prince, hurried
on by his ardour, was
actually in the midst of
the French, and was in the
greatest danger; when a
The Mound of the Lion, kaised on the Battle-field Belgian battalion rUshed
OF Waterloo forward, and, after a fierce
struggle, repulsed the en-
emy and disengaged the prince. In the impulse of his admiration and grati-
tude, he tore from his breast one of those decorations gained by his own con-
duct on some preceding occasion, and flung it among the battalion, calling
out, " Take it, take it, my lads! you have all earned it! " This decoration was
immediately grappled for, and tied to the regimental standard, amidst loud
shouts of "Long five the prince!"
A short time afterwards, and just half an hour before that terrible charge
of the whole line which decided the victory, the prince was struck by a
musket-ball in the left shoulder. He was carried from the field, and con-
veyed that evening to Brussels, in the same cart with one of his wounded
aides-de-camp, supported by another, and displaying throughout as much
indifference to pain as he had previously shown contempt of danger.
CONSOLIDATION OF THE NETHERLANDS
The battle of Waterloo consolidated the kingdom of the Netherlands.
The wound of the prince of Orange was, perhaps, one of the most fortunate
[' Alison gives various instances of this unsteadiness, especially tlie following incident :
"The brigade of Belgians of Perponcher's division formed the first line of infantry; they,
however, speedily gave way before the enemy were within half musket-shot, at the mere sight
of the formidable mass of the French columns. Such was the indignation felt in the British
ranks at this conduct of the Belgians, that they could with difficulty be prevented from giving
them a volley as they hurried through to the rear." The total Belgian loss, however, of the
five days, June 15th-19th, he puts at 4,038 men (not including officers) killed and wounded.]
HOLLAND FEOM 1T22 TO 1815 31
[1815 A.D.]
that was ever received by an individual, or sympathised in by a nation. To
a warhke people, wavering in their allegiance, this evidence of the prince's
valour acted like a talisman against disaffection. The organisation of the
kingdom was immediately proceeded on. The commission, charged with
the revision of the fundamental law, and the modification requiretl by the
inci-ease of territory, presented its report on the 3Lst of July, 1815. ' The
inauguration of the king took place at Brussels on the 21st of September, in
presence of the states-general ; and the ceremony received additional interest
from the appearance of the sovereign, supported by his two sons, who had
so valiantly fought for the rights he now swore to maintain — the heir to the
crown yet bearing his wounded arm in a scarf, and showing in his countenance
the marks of recent suffering.^
At this point of the short-lived union of the Low Countries into one state
under one monarch, it will be well to pause for a brief review of the history
of the southern provinces, which we have thus far somewhat neglected for
the sake of the more independent struggles of Holland and the other northern
provinces.^^
CHAPTER XVII
BELGIUM FROM 1648 TO 1815
The treaty concluded between Spain and Holland at the end of the Eighty
Years' War, in 1648, left Belgium no other enemy than France; and the
struggle seemed less unequal, thanks to the assistance brought by the arch-
duke Leopold. Besides a regular army, raised in Germany, he had with him
a numerous body of Croats who proved themselves as daring as they were
fierce. Duke Charles of Lorraine, driven out of his estates by France, had
led into Belgium and sold to the king the experienced troops formerly in his
service. Fresh soldiers had just arrived over sea from Spain at the same
time with cavalry from Brandenburg. It was with this imposing force that
the archduke obtained several advantages over the French in the year 1647.
He recaptured several towns from them and was already threatening the
frontier when the famous prince of Conde gave him battle at Lens and com-
pletely defeated him (1648). Ypres had fallen into the hands of the French
a few months before; Lens and Furnes met the same fate. In the following
year Leopold retook Ypres, but his troops experienced a fresh reverse in the
vicinity of Valenciennes. Conde and Leuze were lost.
Richelieu's government had raised France to a degree of strength and
unity that must make her arms in the future almost irresistible, and there
was only too much reason for the L^nited Provinces to become alarmed at
the rapid progress of that power. From that moment even the existence
of the Spanish Netherlands was constantly endangered by the growth of the
French monarchy, until the whole of Europe took up arms against the con-
quering nation.
Thus the successes of the archduke did not respond to the expectations
he had aroused. All of his foreign force raised with great difficulty for the
protection of Belgium was powerless to defend the country, while its pillaging
nearly ruined it. The Lorrainers, who had long subsisted on rapine, and the
Croats, whom Europe regarded as brigands, inspired less terror in the enemy
than they did in the unhappy country folk. The Spaniards, although subject
to severe discipline, displayed no less lawlessness when they could escape the
surveillance of their officers. The Walloon regiments alone, braver than they
were numerous, were anything but a scourge to the country.
The troubles, however, that overtook France in the war of the Fronde
32
BELGIUM FEOM 1648 TO 1815 33
[1655-1668 A.D.]
permitted Leopold for a time to regain the upper hand. He made himself
master of nearly all the places the enemy had captured during the last few
years. But in 1655 Cardinal Mazarin, who was directing French affairs,
secured an alliance with England — then under Cromwell's rule. This put
an end to the archduke's career and he returned to Germany a short time
after (1656). His successor was Don John of Austria, the king of Spain's
natural son.
Don John, young and without experience in war, might have had a guide
in the prince of Conde, who had taken up arms against his country rather
than bow the knee to Mazarin. But although this great captain might have
saved Valenciennes and Cambray, the Spanish generals could not bring
themselves to take his orders and dissuaded the governor from following his
advice. They succeeded only too well. The Anglo-French army, having
arrived under the celebrated Turenne to besiege Dunkirk (1658), the young
prince marched against them when it was too late, gave battle at an inoppor-
tune moment, and was completely defeated in spite of Conde's heroic efforts.
Dunkirk, Gravelines, Oudenarde, Menin, and Ypres fell in succession into the
power of the conqueror, whose soldiers ravaged almost the whole of Flanders.
FRANCE IN CONTROL (1659)
Don John left for Madrid in discouragement the following year, while
Philip IV made overtures of peace to Mazarin. A treaty was signed Novem-
ber 7th, 1659, between France and Spain. The young king Louis XIV
married the Spanish infanta and received, as dowry and indemnity for the
rights which this princess renounced, abnost the entire county of Artois,
Gravelines, Bourbourg, and St. Venant in Flanders, Landrecies, Avesnes, and
Le Quesnoi in Hainault, Philippeville and Mariembourg in the province of
Namur, and Montmedy in Luxemburg. Dunkirk remained in the hands of
the English, to whom Turenne had turned it over. Such were the conditions
of the Peace of the Pyrenees, whose consequences were destined to be almost
as grave as those of the Peace of Miinster.
BELGIUM THE BATTLE-GROUND OF EUROPE
From this moment Belgium, regarded by France as a prey and feebly
supported by ruined Spain, iDecame the arena of the campaigns of Louis XIV.
A detailed account of these campaigns belongs more to the history of Europe
than to that of Belgium, since the Belgians, governed by foreigners, and not
even having a flag to call their own, seemed only to be spectators of their
country's invasion and the struggles of neighbouring powers. Political life
had ceased for the suffering nation. The towns shut themselves up in the
interests of internal peace and domestic affairs; but, far from making
efforts for their defence, they bent under the storm and it might be said that
they sought now only inaction and immobility.
Philip IV having died in 1666, Louis XIV claimed that Brabant now
belonged to him by right of "devolution" (by this name was called a custom
established in some parts of the province by virtue of which the children of
a first marriage could not be disinherited in favour of those of a second union).
Armed with this slight pretext, but having collected sufficient forces to inspire
terror, Louis caused Hainault and Flanders to be invaded, and occupied
almost the whole of the latter province (1667). Nor did he stop until he
saw England, Holland, and Sweden leagued against hun (1668). The Treaty
H. W. — VOL. XIV. D
34 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1668-1684 A.D.]
of Aix-la-Chapelle, which he then arranged, gave him Charleroi, Binche,
Ath, Douai, Tournay, Lille, Oudenarde, Courtrai, Fiirnes, and Bergues.
This haughty prince was nevertheless wounded by the boldness and success
with which Holland had opposed his plans of conquest. He worked to win
over England and Sweden, and when he felt sure of their alliance he marched
against the United Provinces, this time attacked on all sides. The invaders
encountered scarcely any obstacle but that of the elements. The Dutch,
seeing themselves too weak, threw open the dikes and inundated a portion
of their country (1672). But the empire and Spain became uneasy at the
progress of France; Louis XIV, violating Belgian territory, had covered it
with troops which had already fallen upon Maestricht (1673). The count
of Monterey, the governor-general, declared war upon France in the name of
Charles II of Spain on the 16th of October, and put himself in commimication
with the Dutch and imperial forces, which were collected opposite Venlo
and Bonn. Thereupon Louis XIV quitted the offensive for a moment. He
had just been abandoned by England and Sweden, but he had in his power
almost all the strongholds which commanded the Maas, the Sambre, and
the Schelde. It was in this direction that he established his army, and the
unhappy Belgian provinces once more became for a long time a theatre of
battles.
William III, prince of Orange, was in command of the allied troops;
those of France had Conde for a leader. After a battle at Seneffe (in the
north of Hainault), the result of which was uncertain, the French took up
positions on both sides of the Sambre, covering their o-^m frontier while they
occupied that of Belgium (1674). False rumours soon spread among the allies
and paralysed their strength. The enemy took advantage of this to seize
Huy and Dinant, and Tirlemont and St. Trond shortly afterward (1675).
Conde, Bouchain, and Aire met the same fate a year later. In 1677 Valen-
ciennes, Cambray, and St. Omer surrendered one after the other; the prince
of Orange was defeated at the battle of Cassel by the duke of Orleans, and
compelled later on to raise the siege of Charleroi. Finally, in the following
year, the French monarch himself took part in the campaign, and besieged
and took Ghent and Ypres. By this time England, Denmark, and all the
German princes were preparing to unite their forces against the conqueror,
whose progress had become too alarming; Louis, as w^ll served by his diplo-
mats as by his generals, evaded the storm by treating with Spain and Holland,
He laid easy terms before these two powers, and peace was finally concluded
at Nimeguen on September 17th, 1678 ; but it was rather an armistice than
a true peace, and the king's ambition was far from being satisfied, although
he had torn a few more shreds from Hainault and Flanders.
In truth, as soon as the allies had separated, Louis established at Metz a
chamhre des reunions which declared, in defiance of the preceding treaty, the
town of Virton, the county of Chiny in Luxemburg, and some seigniorial
estates in the province of Namur escheated to the crown of France. These
harmful decisions were tolerated, in order to avoid a fresh rupture. The
chamhre des reunions also advanced some pretended claim to the ancient
county of Alost and imperial Flanders; and French troops, suddenly descend-
ing upon Belgium, occupied West Flanders, bombarded Oudenarde, invaded
the whole of the southern frontier and besieged Luxemburg, which was
compelled to surrender (1684). Such was the weakness of the Spanish
cabinet that it gave in again and purchased a twenty years' truce at the
price of Luxemburg, Beaumont, Bou vines, and Chimay (Treaty of Ratisbon).
The emperor Leopold, attacked himself by the Turks who were besieging
35
BELGIUM FEOM 1648 TO 1815
[1688-1697 A. D.]
^^ienna, could not think of lending the Belgians assistance, and Holland was
still suffering from the disasters of the invasion.
However, the course of events was changed when William HI ascended
the throne of England, from which he had driven his father-in-law
James II (168S-S9). All the smothered hatred against Louis XIV was
kindled almost at once, and the French monarch saw Germany, Holland,
England, Savoy, and Spain united against him. It was in Brabant that the
main army, composed of the Germans, Dutch, English, and some Spanish
and Walloon regiments, assembled.
The prince of Wakleck, who commanded it, drove the enemy out of the
Flemish provinces, but Hainault
and the valley of the Sambre un-
derwent all the horrors of war.
France's prodigious efforts still
assured her the superiority in
arms. William, who had come
himself to take the general com-
mand, was beaten at Fleurus and
later at Steenkerke (near Halle)
by Marshal Luxemburg, and
could relieve neither Mons nor
Namur, which Louis besieged and
captured almost before his eyes
(1691-92). But finally the re-
sources of France commenced to
be exhausted, while her adver-
saries made new sacrifices.
Maximilian, the elector of Ba-
varia, was appointed governor of
the Spanish Netherlands in 1692.
More fortunate than his prede-
cessors, he drew large sums of
money from the royal treasury
and the Belgian provinces. Wil-
liam obtained an army of fifty-six
thousand men from the English
parliament (Maximilian had only
twenty-eight thousand in all),
and the Dutch increased their
forces in like manner. Luxemburg began to lose his advantage, and although
the victory of Neerwinden (near Landen) and the capture of Charleroi still
assured him the honours of the campaign, the allies were enabled a little
later to capture Huy and Namur (1694-95), and Louis felt the necessity of
making peace. It was at Ryswick near the Hague that the negotiators met,
and the treaty which they finally signed in 1697 gave Luxemburg back to
Belgium, together with the county of Chiny, and Charleroi, Ath, Mons, and
Courtrai.
?7M
Statue of Rubens, Place Verte, Antv/erp : the
Cathedral, Notre Dame, in the Distance
CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY
It was almost a triumph, but it had cost very dear. More than two
hundred thousand foreign soldiers had swarmed over Belgium for the past
eight years, and with the exception of a portion of Brabant all the provinces
36 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1688-1697 A.D.]
had been despoiled from 3Tar to year by the enemy. The besieged and cap-
tured cities were not the only ones that liad suffered. All had been threatened
and had had to put themselves in a state of defence. In West Flanders the
country had been flooded; elsewhere the peasants took refuge m the fortified
towns. The genius of the famous Vauban for multiplying methods of de-
struction had made the war more dreadful than ever for these cities hitherto
impregnable. His artillery laid them low under a storm of shot and shell
which nothing could resist. It was thus, in order to force the allies to raise
the siege of Namur, in 1695, that Marshal de Villeroi went to Brussels, and
turning his batteries upon the town destroyed four thousanil houses in two
days. They were riddled wdth cannon ball, burned by red-hot bullets, or
enveloped in the burning of adjacent buildings.
The Army
The bad administration of the Spanish governors paralysed what strength
and resources still were left to the country. A contemporary writer. Field-
marshal Merode,^ whose testimony is incontestable, paints the condition of
the Belgian troops m these words: "We had in the Low Countries eighteen
wretched infantry regiments and fourteen of cavalry and dragoons, which
all together did not amount to six thousand beggars or robbers, who had
never been properly clothed and for whom pay could not be found. These
troops were very fortunate if in a year they received four months' pay. Under
the administration of the elector of Bavaria they secured scarcely two. The
cavalrymen existed only by acting as higliAvaymen in bands on the roads,
stopping coaches, public and private vehicles, and foot travellers, to rob
them, or at least to demand alms, pistol in hand. No one could go from one
town to another without meeting them."
However, these soldiers, so neglected, and reduced to so deplorable a
condition, performed miracles when brought face to face with the enemy.
Numerical weakness was the sole cause of their reverses and the small honour
maintained by their flag. ^Miatever may have been the impoverishment of the
country, more able management would still have found the means necessary for
its defence. For indeed did not the French administration, a few years later,
raise thirty-nine thousand infantrymen and five thousand cavalr}anen " well
clothed, armed, mounted and equipped" in Belgium? But the Spanish
government, lacking in energy and intelligence, did not know how to make
use of the people's money any more than it knew how to turn their courage
to accomit.
Besides this, it was due to the incapacity and jealousy of the foreign gov-
ernors that the best Belgian officers were not given any commands. Indeed
they scarcely deigned to entrust the native nobleman with a few of the subordi-
nate posts, and if Belgium may still cite glorious names for this period, it is
because her children found more appreciation abroad than at home. Among
those w^ho distinguished themselves in the wars of Germany the famous
Tserclaes, count of Tilly, who became generalissimo of the imperial forces
(1630), and for a moment counterbalanced the fortune of Gusta\Tis Adolphus,
must be mentioned. After him, history still makes mention of the celebrated
but unfortunate General Ernst von Mansfeld, and especially Johami von Werth
(Jean de Weert) who from a simple soldier raised himself to the command
of armies (1640). Thus^ did Belgian genius and valour show themselves
outside the coimtry's limits, while within all energy seemed crushed under a
restless and oppressive dominion.
BELGIUM FEOM 1G48 TO 1815 37
[1692-1702 A.D.]
THE ARTS
The fine arts themselves were extinguished in tlie midst cf public suffering.
The great school of Rubens had disappeared. Some genre painters after the
style of Adrian Brouwer and Teniers the Elder were still sharing their masters'
renown, but they left no disciples. Antoine van der Meulen, who excelled
as a painter of battle scenes, had placed himself at the service of Louis XIV,
together with the engravers Edelinck and Warin. A host of other artists
carried their talent to Italy and Germany, for there was no longer any career
for them in Belgium.
The elector, Maximilian of Bavaria, invested with the government of the
Netherlands since 1692, made every attempt after the Peace of Ryswick to
give to the country a measure of prosperity and to his court a show of magnifi-
cence. He was a prince of generous character, who loved splendour and the
arts, and who understood the necessity for reviving trade and industry.
But scarcely had the nation begun to breathe again after all its woes, when
a new quarrel between Europe and Louis XIV sprang up.
The eighteenth century opened gloomily for Belgium. The war had
dealt a final blow to the country's prosperity — to her very existence even;
but the future threatened to develop greater evils. It was not without a
sort of sinister presentiment that the provincial estates recognised the young
heir to Charles II. "We have sacrificed to the late king our lives and our
property," said those of Brabant and Flanders; "we shall sacrifice them
again to his successor." The general government remained with the elector
of Bavaria, who placed French garrisons in all the towns, while the Dutch
soldiers, who had remained, up to the present, as allies in the cities of Luxem-
burg, Namur, Charleroi, Mons, Ath, Oudenarde, Courtrai, and Nieuport,
withdrew to their frontier (February, 1701). But in the following month
England and Holland advanced claim to occupy eleven fortresses in Belgium
to serve as a barrier to the second of those powers. (They were Nieuport,
Ostend, Damme, Dendermonde, Mons, Charleroi, Namur, Luxemburg,
Stevensweert, Venlo, and Roermond.) Thus the coimtry's strongholds were
destined to protect a foreign nation.
The refusal of Louis XlV armed Germany, Savoy, and Portugal against
him as well as the two states mentioned above. All these powers united to
drive Philip of Anjou from the Spanish throne and replace him with a prince
of the Austrian house.
William III, who had been the prime mover of this league, died before
war was declared; but the celebrated John Churchill, duke of Marlborough,
took the command of the allied forces in the Netherlands, and this great
soldier's genius obtained the mastery over the French monarch's fortune.
He was able to hold in check the marquis de Boufflers, to whom Louis had
assigned the defence of the Belgian provinces; and the Dutch obtained
possession, one after the other, of Venlo, Roermond, and the well-fortified
Stevensweert, while the English army, which covered the operations of the
Dutch, made its way into the countrv around Liege, seized that town, and
took its citadel by assault (1702). Joseph Clement of Bavaria, who then
occupied the episcopal see, had taken sides with France. He now found hini-
self deprived of his estates for the whole course of the war, when an imperial
commission directed the affairs of the principality.
In the succeeding years the chances of war seemed more equal, ihe
French had received fresh recruits, and Marshal de Villeroi was following
38 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1704-1714 A.D.]
Marlborough's movements step by step. The latter thereupon turned
abruptly towards Germany, where the imperial troops were being worsted,
and joining them on the banks of the Danube he gained a decisive victory
near Hochstadt (battle of Blenheim) in 1704. Returning to Belgium after
this great success, he could not, for a long time, entice Villeroi into giving
him battle; but finally obtained a new triumph on the day of Ramillies
(May 26th, 1706).
BELGIUM BECOMES "tHE AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS" (1706)
The battle of Ramillies placed Flanders and Brabant in the hands of the
allies. These two provinces ceased to recognise Philip of Anjou as sovereign
and took oath of fidelity to his rival Charles of Austria (called Charles III as
king of Spain and afterwards Charles VI as emperor). Ostend, Dendermonde,
Menin, and Ath, which the French garrisons tried to defend, were besieged
and captured. The Walloons and other Belgians in the service of Spain
abandoned the army of Louis XIV almost to a man, and passed over to the
standard of the new king. The government of the Belgian provinces was
committed to a state council composed of native-born citizens. Belgium
was lost to the house of France.
The war, however, continued with great fury. Marlborough was joined
by Prince Eugene of Savoy at the head of a large body of imperial troops,
while the French army also received substantial reinforcement. But fortune
remained faithful to the allies ; they took Lille, Tournay , and Mons, and when
Marshal Villars tried to regain the latter place they won a bloody battle from
him at Malplaquet, near St. Guilain (September 11th, 1709). In spite of the
courage still shown by the French soldiers, each clay found them more at a
disadvantage.
Louis XIV sued for peace. His propositions were at first rejected, but
in 1711 there was a change in the English ministry and the new administration,
actuated by pacific intentions, accepted the monarch's proposals. In this
way England detached herself from the alliance and at the same time Villars
repulsed Prince Eugene, abandoned by Marlborough's successor. On the
other hand Charles of Austria had just been called to the imperial throne by
the death of his elder brother, and after this event the occupation of the
Spanish throne by this prince would have seriously deranged the balance of
power in Europe. Negotiations were thereupon entered into, and the con-
gress of Utrecht finally re-established general peace for a long time (1713).
The emperor alone refused at first to agree to the conditions devised in the
congress, but he did not delay to adopt them himself in the Treaty of Rastatt
(1714).
The articles of the Peace of Utrecht had for their basis the partition of the
Spanish monarchy. Philip V (duke of Anjou) retained Spain and her colonies.
Charles VI (the emperor) received the kingdom of Naples, the duchy of Milan,
and Belgium. It was an arrangement that lacked neither wisdom nor advan-
tage, but as far as Belgium was concerned the articles were particularly
iniquitous. The Spanish Netherlands had been given to the house of Austria
only on odious conditions. Of all the conquests of Louis XIV only Tournay,
Menin, Fumes, Dixmude, and Ypres were restored; while in the north, Venlo
and a part of Gelderland, of which they had always remained in possession,
were taken away from them. The stipulation of the Treaty of Miinster in
regard to the closing of the Schelde was renewed. An annual tax of 1,250,000
florins for the benefit of the United Provinces was imposed by means of
BELGIUM FEOM 1648 TO 1815 39
[1715 A.D.]
subsidies and under penalty of exaction by military force. But worst of all
was the obligation to turn over the most important fortresses of the country
to the Dutch, to serve them as a barrier. England and Holland were to
remain in possession of the Belgian provinces until the emperor had settled
this point to their satisfaction. They asked for Namur, Tournay, Menin,
Furnes, Warneton, and Ypres. Half the garrison of Dendermonde was to
be composed of troops in the pay of the United Provinces (1715).
Such was this Barrier Treaty — a work of tyranny and spoliation hitherto
unexampled. The whole of Belgium was roused to indignation on learning
to what a state of vassalage she was destined; but her resentment was power-
less. The fatal decree had been pronounced by Europe; and blame could be
imputed neither to Spain, which was destitute, nor to the emperor, who had
obtained the provinces only upon these severe conditions, nor to the powers
who had sacrificed in their o^\ti interests those of a foreign nation. Complaints
were made to Charles VI; he recognised the justice of them and declared
that he himself had foreseen "the difficulties" of the treaty, but that the
"very delicate conjunctures and the situation of affairs" had compelled him
to subscribe to them. The tone of his reply was affectionate and his inten-
tions were truly paternal; but his efforts to obtain some concession from the
Dutch had but indifferent success, and the Barrier Treaty was modified only
in its less important points.
SPOLIATION AND RUIN OF BELGIUM
In the interior, hardships and suffering were extreme. To be sure, there
existed some trade between Belgium and Spain, and the latter power with its
vast colonies still obtained from Belgian workshops the cloth and arms for
the rich inhabitants of the New World; the manufacture of linens, of which
the country produced both the raw material and the workmen, still held its
own, and the laces which the large towns supplied to the whole of Europe were
also a means of livelihood for a numerous class of the population. But herewith
ended industrial activity. After the Peace of Ryswick the governor-general
(Maximilian of Bavaria), alarmed at the utter ruin of the other branches of
commerce, thought that he ought to consult the states of all the provinces as to
the means of remedy (1699).
Two only were found: the exclusion of foreign merchandise; and the
re-establishment of marine navigation, " by means of a canal to float vessels
of large tonnage, " putting Ostend in communication with Brussels, Maestricht,
and Antwerp, and replacing, so to speak, the Schelde, lost to Belgian com-
merce. Maximilian forbade tke importation of cloth and spun wool, as well
as cotton and silk material, and seriously studied the project of the great canal.
But war soon broke out, and the entry of the allies into Belgium put an end
to these tardy measures.
The English and Dutch, who had practical control of almost the entire
country for ten years, used their power in the interest of their own trade and
manufactures to the detriment of those of the Belgians. They flooded the
towns with foreign merchants, while the difficulty of existing conditions
completed the ruin of the Belgian workshops and factories. This last blow
was so keenly felt that, in spite of the old national antipathies, there was
formed in the country a large party in favour of France. The harm that
Louis XIV had done to Belgium, the scorn that his grandson's ministers had
exhibited for the rights of the provinces during their short administration by
levying arbitrary taxes and banishing whomsoever they pleased, the inevitable
40 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1715-1740 A.D.]
loss of all political independence — none of these TVTongs prevented numbers
of the inhabitants from believing that French dominion would at least put
an end to the invasions of foreign armies, reopen perhaps the avenues of
trade, and protect them against odious rivalries.
In the majority of the large towms the people showed themselves disposed
to tumult and riot. This was the result of poverty and humiliation. The
very splendour of the traditions of the past made the present degradation
seem more bitter. The absence of a regular system of government, during
the occupation of the country by troops of the maritime powers, had also
relaxed all the ties of statehood; for the council assembled at Brussels had
but a shadow of temporary power, and as a general thing each locality had,
so to speak, to govern itself. Considering all these causes of disorder and
social dissolution, all the scourges that war brought in its train, it is perhaps
astonishing that the national character could have survived this melancholy
epoch without corruption and disgrace.^
Troubles were excited in the Austrian Netherlands in the year 1716 by
the exactions of the marquis of Prie, a Piedmontese who represented Prince
Eugene of Savoy, the governor-general, during his defence of Hungary against
the Turks. His exactions occasioned tumults in Brussels, Mechlin, and
other cities, but the inexorable Prie, favoured by the support of the emperor
Charles ^^I, crushed the defenders of municipal liberty .<^
In 1722 a commercial company was formed at Ostend by Charles "\"I,
but this was sacrificed in 1731 to the jealousy of the Dutch, who contended
that by the treaty of Miinster the inhabitants of the Spanish Netherlands
were specifically forbidden to engage in the trade with the Indies. Answer
was made that the Belgians were no longer Spanish and that the restriction
was contrary to the law of nature and of nations. But England also feared
the Belgian invasion of the Indian trade, and the disbandment of the com-
pany was agreed on in a treaty between the emperor and Great Britain signed
at Vienna 1731, Holland taking no part in the treaty .«
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION (1731-1748)
The marquis of Prie had been recalled by the emperor, and the arch-
duchess Maria Elizabeth, Charles' sister, had come to take up the reins of
government (1725). She was a princess of sweet and benevolent character,
who succeeded in making the Belgians love her but whose administration
was entirely lacking in vigour. She collected few taxes, but the finances
remained in disorder, the towns in debt, and trade in a languishing condition.
Agriculture alone, thanks to the return of peace, was able to reassume its
former prosperity. All traces of past misfortune were so well effaced in the
rural districts, by the labour and intelligence of the farmers, that there at
least was witnessed the renascence of Belgium's old-time opulence. But
Charles VI, who had no son, saw the succession ill-assured to his daughter
Maria Theresa.
In vain did he try to forestall all dispute on the subject by a special regula-
tion which was called the Pragmatic Sanction. The majority of the European
powers did indeed consent to recognise the princess's rights to her father's
possessions; but no sooner had the latter breathed his last than the storm
broke, and the young empress saw herself attacked by the king of Prussia
(Frederick II), who took Silesia from her; by the elector of Bavaria, who
claimed the empire; and by France, which upheld the elector, in the hope of
weakening the Austrian house. Nevertheless the war did not yet extend
y--
BELGIUM FEOM 1648 TO 1815 41
[1740-1748 A.D.]
to the Belgian provinces, whose neutrahty France from the first respected
in order not to offend the maritime powers. It seemed moreover that a
single campaign would suffice to overwhelm Maria Theresa, who was lacking
in troops, generals, and money. But the daughter of Charles VI was not to
JDe discouraged by her first reverses; and, putting her confidence in the
justice of her cause and the love of her subjects, she succeeded in arming
the war-like population of Hungary in her behalf.
England_ and Holland had become interested in the empress' danger.
In the Belgian fortresses sixteen thousand English replaced the Dutch troops,
which were sent to Germany. Thereupon the French changed their careful
tactics in the Low Countries. Louis XV, at the head of a formidable army,
entered West Flanders and took Menm and Ypres (1744) ; but he was obliged
to hasten to the help of
Alsace, attacked by the
Austrians, and an Anglo-
Dutch army reinforced
by some Belgian troops
invaded in its turn the
frontiers of France. Nev-
ertherless, the campaigns
that followed were all to
the advantage of France,
whose armies were under
the command of the cele-
brated Marshal Saxe. In
1745 they took Tournay
and defeated the entire
allied forces at Fontenoy
(near Antoing). A por-
tion of Hainault and the
whole of Flanders was
the price of the victory.
In 1746 the remainder of the Austrian Netherlands, except Luxemburg, fell
into the power of France.
The diocese of Liege now became the principal theatre of war. An imperial
army which had hastened to the support of the Dutch was beaten at Rocoux
(near Liege), and the year after the victory of Lawfeld near Tongres main-
tained the French in possession of all their conquests. Bergen-op-Zoom
was taken and the same fate befell Maestricht in 1748. Abusing the rights
the strength of their arms had given them, Marshal Saxe and the intendant
of Sechelles crushed the invaded provinces under heavy contributions; they
went so far as to demand of the clergy, at one single time, one sixth of the
value of all their property.
This accounts for the spontaneous expression of keen joy when, in 1748,
the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle restored Belgium to Maria Theresa. The
French withdrew the following year, and Duke Charles of Lorraine, the
empress' brother-in-law, arrived to take control of the government.
This prince had been appointed governor-general upon the death of Maria
Elizabeth (1741), but the war detained him a long time in Germany, where
he distinguished himself in fighting against Frederick II. His noble and
loyal character, his affability, his frankness, his inexhaustible goodness
endeared him to the Belgians, among whom he had since resided. The affairs
of the country were in the greatest disorder, the revenues of the state
mm
'v:
Palace of the Count of Flanders, Brussels
42 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1749-1768 D.A.]
insufficent for its needs, the provinces in debt; the whole government was para-
lysed. But the skill of the count of Cobenzl, appointed minister plenipotentiary
and directory of internal affairs, raised resources little by little, while the
affection of the people levelled the obstacles against w^hich the sovereign's
power had broken itself. If the minister's efforts to reorganise the govern-
ment and reform abuses appeared sometimes to exceed the just limits of
his authority, and struck at times at honoured customs, the empress's modera-
tion and duke Charles' conservative spirit impressed a character of moderation
and slowness upon the execution of his plans. Thus the gradual change that
took place in the administration from this time on was free from all agitation
and perturbation, and it was likewise by degrees that the young sovereign
learned to miderstand the importance of this part of her possessions.
BENEFICIAL KESULT OF MARIA THERESA's REIGN
Maria Theresa had thought for a moment of ceding the Netherlands to a
prince of the Spanish house, the infante-duke of Parma; and there was nothing
extraordinary in this idea, since up to the present time the possession of these
provinces had been nothing but a burden to Austria. But a new war broke
out between the empress and the king of Prussia (1757), and the Belgians
came forward at once with twelve thousand soldiers and 16,000,000 florins,
independent of the immense sums which the Antwerp capitalists lent to the
imperial treasury. Sacrifices of every kind were made up to the very close
of the war (1763), and brought the German ministers to realise the great
value of a possession which hitherto had not been half appreciated. The
empress was touched by the marks of devotion which the Belgian provinces
showered upon her, and from that moment she displayed the liveliest solici-
tude for their prosperity.
There was much to be done to raise Belgium from the state of depression
and inertia into which the disasters of the past had plunged her. The nation
had ceased to be rich; and, w^hile it remained hard-working, while it endeav-
oured to make up by economy for the loss of opulence, it must be admitted
that the energy that accomplishes great ends seemed extinguished together
with the intellectual progress that prepares them. Arts and letters had almost
disappeared. Continued depression had brought about a sort of indifference
— a lifelessness under the influence of which the nobility and vigour of the
national character were to some degree effaced. Nations pass through phases
of torpor that, like moments of sleep, succeed excessive fatigue.
The renascence of Belgium began under Maria Theresa. Not content
with re-establishing order in the government, with doubling the revenues of
the country, which soon reached 16,000,000 florins, with encouraging every
effort in agriculture and industry, she attempted to assure the progress of
civilisation, established colleges in the principal cities, a military school at
Antwerp, and an academy at Brussels. She honoured the fine arts, and
applauded the zeal of Charles of Lorraine in their protection. Severe towards
some abuses which would have harmed the church and religion, she set an
example of respect for sacred things and exercised as nuich influence over
her subjects by her virtues as by her great wisdom. Thus she became the
object of veneration and boundless love, and the last twenty years of her
reign have been regarded, with truth, as the happiest period in the memory
of the Belgians.
Although separated from the rest of Belgium, the diocese of Liege enjoyed
the same tranquillity after having experienced the same agitation. John
BELGIUM FROM 1648 TO 1815 43
[1764r-1786 A.D.]
Theodore of Bavaria, who had governed that province from 1744 to 1763
was the brother of Maria Theresa's rival for the empire, to whose party ties
of blood had bomid him; but he proved himself in his internal administration
a wise and peaceful prince. It was the same with his successors, under whom
the commerce and industry of the Liegeois regained their activity, while the
nation rejoiced untroubled in a liberty henceforth exempt from all peril.
Thus the different provinces of the Catholic Low Countries simultaneously
regained a part of their old-time prosperity. This state of things was pro-
longed during the whole of the reign of the empress, who was able to main-
tain peace in Europe and to make foreign powers respect the sceptre which
protected her subjects. She attained to an advanced age without ceasing
to guide the reins of her vast empire, and preserved to her last day her zeal
for the well-being of her people, and an authority founded on the union of
power and virtue. This great princess and Charles of Lorraine expired the
same year (1780), both mourned for by the Belgians, to whom this double
loss seemed to presage the end of their happiness.
JOSEPH II AND HIS ATTEMPTS AT REFORM (1780)
The child that Maria Theresa had brought in her arms before the Hunga-
rian diet, in 1741, had become a man; he had been associated with her in the
government since 1765, and succeeded his mother under the title of Joseph II.
He visited Belgium in 1781, but he only remained there a short time. He
appeared to carry away a false idea of the national character, yet he never-
theless at that time made projects favourable to the independence of the prov-
inces. The Barrier Treaty was still in force, although it had not been con-
firmed by that of Aix-la-Chapelle, but the United Provinces, being engaged in a
naval war with England, were not in condition to support another struggle.
The emperor ordered the demolition of all the Belgian fortresses, and those
occupied by foreign garrisons were the first to suffer; the garrisons retired with-
out resistance. He next proclaimed the freedom of the Schelde, and by his
command a brig, fitted out at Antwerp, sailed do-^m to the sea, braving the
forts and the Dutch cruisers. But scarcely had the ship, which was flying
the imperial flag, arrived before Saf tingen, when it was stopped by the batteries
and fell into the hands of those who were guarding the channel (1783).
Joseph thereupon made mighty threats, which alarmed the whole of
Europe. A war between the Empire and Holland was anticipated; for the
United Provinces would have braved everything rather than free Antwerp
and let Belgian commerce revive. They had already seen in the preceding
years (1781-1784) the port of Ostend suddenly attain a flourishing condition
on account of the neutrality and freedom it enjoyed during the naval war.
The right to use the Schelde might revive Antwerp, and that city's natural
advantages excited the jealousy and uneasiness of a trading people. _ But
Joseph II, as inconstant as he was precipitate, soon ceased to maintain his
righteous claims and contented himself with the sum of 6,000,000 florins
which Holland sacrificed in order to retain its privilege.
After having thus given up the completion of Belgium's liberation, the
emperor thought for a time of exchanging the country for the electorate of
Bavaria, which bordered upon his German possessions. But when the pro-
ject fell through, he directed the impatient activity of his mind to a plan of
general reorganisation of the countries subject to his sway.<^
Disgusted by the despotism exercised by the clergy of Belgium, Joseph
commenced his reign by measures that at once roused a desperate spirit of
44 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1787-1789 A.D.]
hostility in the priesthood, and soon spread among the bigoted mass of the
people. Miscalculating his own power, and undervaluing that of the priests,
the emperor issued decrees and edicts with a sweeping violence that shocked
every prejudice and roused every passion perilous to the country. Toleration
to the Protestants, emancif tion of the clergy from the papal yoke, reforma-
tion in the system of theological instruction were among the wholesale meas-
ures of the emperor's enthusiasm, so imprudently attempted and so virulently
opposed.^
The minds of the people had scarcely recovered from the first sensations
of surprise when new edicts appeared (January, 1787). One abolished the
existing tribunals and the seigniorial, ecclesiastical, and academic judges, and
substituted a judicial organisation based on the principle of unity; the other
united in one body the various councils connected with the government, and
submitted to the imperial approval the choice of permanent deputations (the
colleges of the estates-deputies). Two months afterwards a final decree
divided the country into nine districts, whose administration was confided to
intendants who were to replace all the old provincial authorities. This
was a complete upheaval, for which it would be difficult to find a parallel
unless we go back to the most violent revolutionary crises.
The Brabantine Revolution of 1787-1789
The estates complained; the people did more: they armed themselves.
If the edicts had been put into execution the struggle would have begun at
once.
Maria Christina of Austria, sister of Joseph II, and Duke Albert of Saxe-
Teschen, whom she had married, had been living in Brussels, in the quality of
governors-general, since 1781, The popular excitement terrified them, and
they provisionally suspended the execution of the decrees. The emperor at
first blamed them for this condescension, but when a deputation of the estates
presented itself, in obedience to his command, and he realised the degree of
firmness exhibited by the Belgians, he yielded in the majority of the disputed
points, and persisted only in the edict relating to the clergy (August, 1787).
The people rejoiced in this partial victory, and preparations for resistance
disappeared; but the opening of the general seminary at Louvain still kept
alive a little flame of discontent.
This last germ of irritation could not but grow when the diocesan semi-
naries were closed in spite of the bishops, and the University of Louvain
suspended on account of its opposition to the new institution whose doctrines
it condemned. In 1788 the Hainault estates refused all subsidies ; the emperor
broke them, declared their privileges forfeited, and caused the arrest of some
of the members. In Brabant, the third estate alone had made the
same refusal; the monarch demanded the provisional suppression of the
order, the concession of a perpetual subsidy, and the establishment of the
new judicial organisation. Upon the Assembly's negative response, an
imperial diploma broke and annulled the "joyeuse-entrce," that is to say,
the fundamental pact which bound the people to the sovereign (June, 1789).
Joseph declared that he could rule the coimtry by force and as a conquest ;
later he wrote to the general who was directing the movements of the military,
" that the more or less of blood shed to settle matters was not a matter for
consideration and that the soldiers would be recompensed the same as if they
had fought against the Turks." Strange blindness in a prince who made no
scruple of violating the most sacred ideas of justice and humanity, not through
BELGIUM FROM 16^8 TO 1815 45
[1789 A.D.]
violence and barbarism, but because he believed himself more enlightened
than his subjects.
Resistance was not long in coming. There had been formed at Breda a
colony of Belgian t'migres tolerated by the Dutch government, and still full
of resentment towards Joseph II. This colony soon collected two or three
thousand volunteers whose command was confided to Colonel van der Mersch
of Menia, an old officer of proven valour. He entered Brabant with his feeble
troops, encountered the Austrian division charged with guarding the frontier,
was able to allure it to the little town of Turnhout, where he placed himself
advantageously, and seconded by the efforts of the burghers he carried off
a complete victory (October 26th, 1789).
This was the signal for insurrection throughout the whole of Belgium. A
colunm of volunteers arrived at Ghent, and supported by the people, attacked
the garrison of the towii and soon made themselves masters of the citadel.
The whole of Flanders drove the Austrians out. The people of Brussels
attacked them in the streets and forced them to flee. Mons fell into the
hands of its citizens in the same manner. On the 11th of January, 1789,
the deputies of all the provinces situated north of the Maas, assembled at
Brussels, proclaimed the independence of the United Belgian States.
Joseph II, already ill, did not long survive the news (February 20th).
" It is your country that has killed me," he said to the prince de Ligne; " what
a humiliation for me!" The unhappy sovereign had forgotten how he him-
self had wounded the people whose institutions he hoped by one word to
overthrow.
Nevertheless the Brabantine Revolution (such is the name that history
has given it) was not to enjoy a long existence. It was a flash of enthusiasm
in a nation faithful to its old laws and to the spirit of its ancestors; but in
following this impulse they returned to a past already become impossible.
The march of time changes the social order; and, half a century after
Joseph's death, the Belgians possessed none of the old institutions for which
their fathers had fought. Their memory commands respect, but their day
has passed.
The movement could not continue, in the sense in which it had been
conceived. The man whose opinions best represented those of the country
— Henry van der Noot, formerly an advocate of Brussels, who had put
himself at the head of the committee at Breda — had been all-powerful in
overthrowing the emperor; but when he became the chief of the government
he did nothing. An already powerful party turned its glance towards the
future, desiring certain innovations, the majority of wiiich are in operation
to-day. But the advocate Vonck, who wac its leader, and the brave Van der
Mersch, who supported him, were powerless to overcome the profomid antip-
athy inspired in the nation by the principles and example of the_ French
Revolution which, then in progress, had already shaken the old social order
to its very foundations. The house of Austria also had its partisans, in whom
the memory of Maria Theresa's virtues inspired a sincere attachnient to her
sons. These adherents did not succeed in getting the people to listen, even
when their much-regretted flag was raised.
The Austrians withdrew to the right bank of the Maas. Van der Mersch
took up his position opposite to them at Namur, and in the neighbouring
townships. But his troops, although numerous, had but an imperfect organi-
sation. Instead of occupying himself exclusively with instructing and disci-
plining them. Van der Mersch wished to make his army a support to Vonck's
party, and his officers soon showed themselves disposed to lay down the law
48 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELAXDS
[1789-1792 A.D.]
to the estates. The latter thereupon gave the command of the force to a
Prussian officer, General Schonfeld, while Van der Mersch was arrested and
sent to the citadel at Antwerp.
But Schonfeld, who seems to have been the agent of a foreign power,
made no use whatever of the forces under his orders, and moreover he chilled
their enthusiasm by his coldness. The Maas continued to separate the troops
of the two nations. The Belgians did not even try to unite with the Liegeois,
at that moment in revolt against their bishop (1789), because on the occasion
of the games established at Spa he had refused to extend to the new estab-
lishments the privilege of taking part in them.
The congress had flattered itself that it would be able to obtain the support
of Prussia, of England, and, above all, of Holland. It was a vain hope; but
Van der Noot and the majority of the estates could not seek elsewhere the
salvation of their cause: they were unwilling to place their country's fate in
the hands of a warlike people, and, on the other hand, they had committed
the mistake of rejecting the peace propositions of the emperor Leopold II,
Joseph's brother. The courts with which they solicited an alliance left them
in their delusion up to the very moment when an imperial army was on the
march. Then the congress was advised to submit.
In the spring of the following year the Austrians, under the leadership of
Bender, re-entered the provinces from which they had been driven. Schonfeld
abandoned his soldiers, who managed their retreat towards Flanders with
less disorder than might have been expected; the members of the congress
dispersed — some leaving the country, the others returning to their houses.
The imperial troops re-established, in passing, the bishop of Liege in the
principality. Of all the great movements which had agitated Belgium,
nothing remained but disaffection for the imperial house and indifference to
threatened dangers.
BELGIUM DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1792)
In fact, while Counts Mercy, Argenteau, and Metternich, named one after
the other minister plenipotentiary to the Austrian Netherlands, were strug-
gling to revive in the provinces their old-time spirit of obedience and devotion,
the French Revolution reached its height, and prepared Europe for a more
bloody upheaval than any that had preceded. Leopold, although he had
foreseen the w^ar, w^as not to witness it, death having removed him at the age
of forty-five, in 1792; but Francis II, who succeeded him, had scarcely
mounted the throne when hostilities commenced. Spectators in the fight
which was to decide their fate, the Belgians took scarcely any part in it;
and perhaps this neutrality of a people formerly so devoted to Austria was
a great weight in the balance. For Belgium became the field upon which
the hostile powers long fought, with chances so nearly equal that the support
and concurrence of a faithful people might have changed the outcome of the
war.
The first actions were of little consequence, and the imperial troops gained
some advantage. Two divisions of the enemy left Lille and Valenciennes at
the same time and advanced upon Tournay and Mons (April, 1792). The
plan of the French was to prevent the union of the Austrian troops, and
suddenly overpower them; but a panic of terror seized upon their soldiers
at the sight of the German outposts, and the two columns dispersed without
fighting. An attempt of General Luckner upon Courtrai was likewise repulsed
with ease. In the month of October Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, who had
BELGIUM FROM 1G48 TO 1S15 47
[1793-1815 A.D.]
reassmiied the government of Belgium, marched upon Lille with fifteen
thousand men and bombarded the town during six days. But shortly after
this empty demonstration the French attacked, on their side, the troops
which were covering Hainault, Two brave Belgian generals, Clerfayt and
Beaulieu, commanded this corps, twenty thousand strong. Forty thousand
of the enemy under Dumouriez attacked them at Jemmapes, near Mons,
(November 6th,) and forced them to retire after a stubborn fight.
Then the French army penetrated into the heart of Belgium, while the
Austrians retired behind the Maas. Dumouriez entered Brussels the 14th,
and Liege on the 28th of the same month. He was received in the first of
these cities without opposition; in the second, amid the acclamations of the
people.
The Austrian army, which had retreated to the right bank of the Maas,
soon received large reinforcements there; and, commanded by the prince of
Coburg, took the offensive in the ensuing campaign, drove the French from
Limburg and the country around Liege, defeated Dumouriez at Neerwinden
(near Landen), reconquered the whole of Belgium, and took Valenciennes
(March-July, 1793). Nothing now stopped the victorious march of the
allied troops (for the English and Dutch had joined the imperial forces),
until the duke of York was detached with a considerable army to besiege
the towm of Dunkirk, which England was desirous of possessing. This mis-
take, in separating the two wings of the army, gave superiority to the enemy,
who w^as able to make them give way one after the other. They might have
been cut off by a bold attack of the French upon Menin, had not the brave
Beaulieu won a decided advantage before the town (September 15th).
Nevertheless, the duke of York was forced to raise the siege of Dunkirk,
and the prince of Coburg that of Maubeuge. Thus the career of the victors
was arrested. The neutrality of the Prussians finally permitted France to
place new forces on the banks of the Sambre. Charleroi was taken, June
26th, 1794, and the prince of Coburg, who marched to the assistance of that
place, was at some disadvantage in a general battle fought the next day on
the famous plain of Fleurus. Thereupon the allies abandoned Belgium
again, and it was occupied by the French as a conquered country .c
The Treaty of Campo-Formio (1797) and the subsequent Treaty of Lune-
ville (1801) confirmed the conquerors in the possession of the country, and
Belgium became an integral part of France, being governed on the same foot-
ing, receiving the Code Napoleon, and sharing in the fortunes of the republic
and the empire, as described in an earlier volume.
After the fall of Napoleon and the conclusion of the first Peace of Paris
(30th of May, 1814), Belgium was for some months ruled by an Austrian
governor-general, after which, as we have seen in the last chapter, it was
united with Holland under Prince William Frederick of Nassau, who took
the title of king of the Netherlands (March 23rd, 1815). The congress of
Vienna (May 31st, 1815) determined the relations and fixed the boundaries
of the new kingdom; and the new constitution was promulgated on the 24th
of August following, the king taking the oath (September 27th) at Brussels./
CHAPTER XVIII
BELGIUM SINCE 1815
The influences of the French Revolution of 1830 were first felt in the
adjoining country of Belgium. For the last decade no Httle inflammable
material had collected there, and an explosion had long been prophesied. In
order to have a stronger bulwark against the encroachments of France in the
north, the congress of Vienna had decreed that southern Belgium should be
united with northern Holland as an increase of territory under the house of
Orange. In this way the hegemony of Holland was recognised, while Bel-
gium was viewed as a sort of tributary province and treated accordingly;
this, in spite of the fact that two-thirds of the population belonged to Belgium
and only one-third to Holland. For more than two centuries each of these
two countries had been independent of the other, with the exception of a few
years under the Napoleonic rule. Belgium remained first under Spanish,
later under Austrian dominion; Holland, while yet a young republic, rose
to a maritime power of the first rank and ruled over an enormous colonial
territory. In the humanities and the art of painting she had been the rival
of Germany and Italy.
Added to these differences of their past career were other antagonistic
principles, of religion as well as language. Belgium is Roman Catholic, and
the language of cultured society as well as of business was French, although
two-thirds of the population of the north speak Flemish, which is closely
related to the Dutch language; in Holland, however, Calvinism took root
very early and the language of the country is a Germanic dialect. In his
hatred of everything French, King William strove to restrict the use of the
French language more and more, which was very inconvenient in the south-
ern provinces, especially in the law courts and in the army.
The Belgian clergy was very reluctant to submit to a Protestant govern-
ment and felt its very existence menaced when the king wished to place the
whole school system, this domain of hierarchy, under the supervision of the
government. The curriculums of the Belgian schools, colleges, and univer-
sities were greatly advanced, and in 1825 a college of philosophy was estab-
lished at Louvain, which everyone was obliged to attend who wished to enter
an episcopal seminary. It was expected that this seasonable institution would
act as a barrier to the excesses of ultramontanism. The challenge was
accepted. Although ultramontanism had a great influence over the people,
the government had nothing to fear if the liberal elements were in its favour.
But these also were antagonised by abolishment of trial by jury, by disci-
48
BELGIUM SINCE 1815 49
[1825-1829 A.D.]
plining officers of justice of the opposition, by restricting the Hberty of the
press/ and by the decided refusal to propose a law for the responsibiUty of
ministers.
As neither the clericals nor the liberals could achieve any advantage alone
the result was the unnatural combination of these two great parties. The
clericals assisted the liberals in the agitations for freedom of the press; the
liberals worked with the clericals in their efforts to obtain freedom of instruc-
tion, by means of which the clergy hoped to regain control of all public edu-
cation.
BELGIAN DISCONTENT
These grievances might have been settled in the states-general. But here
also the Belgians were at a disadvantage; for, in spite of their large majority
of population, they had no more delegates than the Hollanders — fifty-five for
each state. While the Dutch delegates stood like a solid phalanx, the Bel-
gians, not being so united, and some of them having been drawn to the side
of the government, could accomplish nothing.
Another cause for disagreement between the two states was their material
interests, although the king from self-interest did all he could to further indus-
trial enterprises.^ Belgium was made to share the enormous debt of Holland,
and was burdened with unaccustomed taxes (for instance on bread and meat)
in order to discharge it. This last-named tax exasperated the populace in
the highest degree, and in consequence the opposition succeeded in 1829 in
electing delegates to the states-general, who were nearly all liberals. The
king on his journey through the Belgian cities, where he was joyfully wel-
comed, allowed himself to be deceived as to the real sentiment of the country,
just as Charles X did in Alsace. At the reception of the civic authorities in
Liege he declared that he knew now what to think of the ostensible grie-
vances, and that he saw in them only the designs of a few who had their own
separate interests to advance — " such behaviour was simply infamous ! " At
once an order was formed in Flanders, the home of the clericals, whose mem-
bers wore a medal with the inscription " Fideles jusqu'a I'infamie " — alluding
to the motto of the Genevese of 1566: " Faithful unto beggary ! " The excite-
ment was heightened by a message to the states-general of December 11th,
1829, which clearly betrayed the absolutism of the king, and by a circular of
the minister of justice. Van Maanen, and the minister of the interior to all their
subordinates, ordering them to give at once a formal declaration of their assent
to the principles of the message. The Dutch were jubilant over the blow
which had been struck against the Belgians. The latter in the press pro-
tested against the manifesto of despotism against liberty, and placed Van
[' The newspapers, having reopened their attacks against Dutch supremacy, were piti-
lessly prosecuted in all the provinces at Brussels, Liege, Ghent, Tournay, etc. Nothing was
spoken of but the lawsuits against the opposition papers, both Catholic and liberal. On the
other hand, the ministerial papers also continued with renewed rage their insults and calurunies
against the members of the opposition in the states-general and against the unionists. — Juste. &]
[' If the political situation was an anxious one, the material prosperity of the country on
the contrary bore witness to the immense progress made in the reign of William I. One might
be proud of calling oneself a citizen of this truly flourishing kingdom, which was so rich and
inspired such noble sjTnpathv abroad. The population had increased in 1829 to the number of
more than six millions of inhabitants (Holland, 2,314,087 ; Belgium, 3,921,082). When he
opened the session of the states-general of 1827-28, the king had remarked the flourishmg
condition of commerce and industry : "Our commerce," he said, "is increasing prosperously.
Our naval constructions are developing favourably. Agriculture continues to improve. The
exploitation of mines is beginning actively. Manufactures achieve continual progress and
make a successful stand against foreign competition both in European markets and in other
parts of the world." — Juste.'']
H. W. — VOL. XIV. B
50 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1830 A.D.]
Maanen, the soul of the ministry, on a par with Pohgnac. There were even
then hints of a separation of Belgium from Holland and a separate constitu-
tion and administration of the country.
What did it avail that the government, in order to curry favour with the
Belgian opposition, now made a few concessions in regard to the grievances
of the language and the press, and abolished the college of Louvain! Its
true character had
been only too
clearly shown and
been made more
unpopular than
before by its dis-
missal of officials
and punishment of
authors; among
the latter was De
Potter, who had
suggested the for-
mation of a con-
federacy in order
that all the mem-
bers thereof might
be secure from all
violent measures.
He was arrested
and sentenced, in
April, 1830, to
eight years of ex-
ile. Hardly arrived
in Aix-la-Chapelle
on his journey to Lausanne, he was informed of the events of the July week in
Paris, went to France, and, settling in Paris, put himself into communication
with his friends in Brussels.
The Plantin-Moret Mus^e, Antwerp, a Famous Printing
tablishment dating from 1549, now a museum
IMITATION OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1830
The desire to rid Belgium of an anti-national government, after the example
of France, was very obvious, and it was hoped that the July monarchy and
the enthusiasm of the French people ^ might be depended upon. De Potter's
most intimate friend, Gendebien, went to Paris, in order to arrange for a union
of his native country with France and to offer a Belgian contingent in the con-
test for the Rhine boundaries. But Louis Philippe had no desire to risk the
throne he had just mounted by a war of conquest, and refused the offer.
Thereupon Gendebien and his friends tried to arouse popular demonstration
in order to force France to occupy Belgium, in case Prussia should aid Hol-
land. They were quite open in their undertaking, even going so far as to
advertise by posters: "Monday, fireworks; Tuesday, illumination; Wednes-
day, revolution! "
Meanwhile what course did the officials pursue in order to calm the excite-
[' The duke of Wellington said too truly to M. Decazes in 1819: "Sad experience has
shown you that no nation in the world can be tranquil if France is not so ! " From the
authentic testimony of a contemporary, an eye-witness, we learn that the news of the revolu-
tion against Charles X had been received in Brussels with the greatest interest. — Juste. ^]
BELGIUM SINCE 1815 51
[1830 A.D.]
ment? On August 25th, 1830, they permitted the presentation at Brussels
of the opera La Muette de Portici —which glorifies the rebellion of the Nea-
politans against Spanish rule, led by the fisherman Masaniello. Every allu-
sion to domestic affairs was applauded to the echo; and in the streets outside,
crowds of the lower classes shouted, " Hurrah for De Potter, down with Van
Maanen!"
At the close of the opera the crowds [crying " Imitons les Parisiens ! "]
attacked the residences of the ministerial editor Libri and of Van Maanen. One
was totally wrecked, the other burned to the ground. During the night
all shops where weapons were for sale were plundered; the work of destruc-
tion was continued on the 26th, the tricolour of Brabant raised on the city
hall, and the royal arms demolished. On the increase of this rioting among
the lowest classes the citizens arose, formed a civic guard, suppressed the
anarchy, arranged for a meeting of the most prominent men on the 28th of
August, and decided to send a deputation to the king asking him to change
the prevailing system of government, to dismiss his cabinet, and to call at once
a meeting of the states-general.
The uprising spread quickly over the whole country, was successful every-
where, and only a very few fortresses were able to withstand it. But the king,
like Charles and Polignac, had no idea of making concessions, until Belgium
should be subdued once more. He sent his eldest son, the prince of Orange,
to Brussels, to study the real state of affairs; and his second son. Prince Fred-
erick, to Antwerp, to raise troops. At the same time he called the states-
general to the Hague for an extraordinary session on September 13th. His
plan was to prolong the situation in this way and occupy Brussels in the
meantime. He declared to the deputation that he could not be driven by
force to dismiss Van Maanen.
On August 31st the two princes, arriving with the troops at Vilvorde, two
hours' distance from Brussels, summoned Baron Hoogvorst, commander of
the citizen guard, to their headquarters, in order to confer with him on the
restoration of the royal authority. Hoogvorst invited Orange to come to
Brussels without troops; the latter, however, insisted on the entry of the
troops and the restoration of the regal emblems. When Hoogvorst brought
back this answer to Brussels it caused tremendous excitement: a universal
clamour for weapons arose, women and children took part in the work, car-
tridges were manufactured, missiles placed in the houses, and more than fifty
barricades erected in the streets. At the same time the prince was notified
by a second deputation that the acceptance of his terms was out of the ques-
tion. The prince finally yielded, and rode alone on September 1st through
the densely crowded streets of the city, while the cry of '' Long live liberty!
Down with Van Maanen! " saluted his ears.
He appointed a committee to discuss the best methods as to an arrange-
ment for an understanding between the government and the citizens, and this
committee informed him that the only means was the legislative and admin-
istrative separation of Belgium from Holland, the establishment of a Belgian
special ministry, and a personal union of the two countries similar to that of
Sweden and Norway.
The prince promised to lay their wishes before his father and to support
them, and returned to the Hague. The garrison of Brussels also left and
joined the troops of Prince Frederick. But the king, deluded by the idea that
the great powers would certainly not allow their own creation to be over-
thrown, and that England above all could not refuse to aid him, would not
accede to the representations of his son and a few of his ministers; he did, to
52
THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1830 A.D.]
be sure, dismiss Van Maanen, but he tried to pacify the impatient ones by a
proclamation regarding the probable decisions of the states-general, and
emphasised again the maintenance of the real union and the continuance of
legitimate methods.
The situation was made worse by the attitude of the Dutch, They were
more royal than the king himself, and thus urged on the quarrel between the
two nationalities. In the Dutch papers it was said that rebel blood was not
fraternal blood; the time for nego-
tiations had passed : therefore, " War
to rebels and assassins! "
The states-general opened on
September 13th. The speech from
the throne was very indefinite about
the separation of Belgium and Hol-
land. The Dutch delegates had noth-
ing but force of arms to suggest.
Although it had been possible
before the opening of the states-gen-
eral to establish on September 11th a
committe of safety, '' for the preser-
vation of the dynasty and public
order," totally different forces as-
sumed control on receipt of the news
from the Hague. Hordes of revo-
lutionists and unemployed labourers
came from the other cities of Belgium
and from Paris, resolved to fight out
the old quarrel in the streets of
Brussels. On the 20th of Septem-
ber they took possession of the city
hall, disarmed the citizen guard,
drove out the committee of safety,
and restored to the populace the
power which had passed from them
to the citizens on August 27th.
Even the Belgian representatives now implored the king to employ force
of arms against this dominion of the working class. Prince Frederick was
commanded to advance from Vilvorde against Brussels. He issued a proc-
lamation in which he promised general amnesty, but threatened " the ring-
leaders of these much too criminal actions" with heavy punishment. He
appeared on September 23rd before Brussels with 10,300 troops and twenty-
six cannon, achieved a few trifling advantages in the beginning, entered the
city, but encountered such serious obstacles in the barricades and the firing
from the houses that he withdrew to the park. On the 26th, as his greatly
fatigued troops were being surrounded and attacked on all sides, and as
ammunition was giving out also, he was forced to retreat to Vilvorde. Among
those who led the arrangements for defence in these strenuous days may be
especially mentioned the brave sub-lieutenant Pletinckx and the Spaniard
Juan van Halen.
The object of the revolution was decided with this battle, at the cost of
much bloodshed. The idea of a personal union did not suffice, the dynasty
of Orange was no longer possible; only a complete severance of Belgium from
Holland, only the establishment of an independent state could now satisfy
Flemish Village Girl (1820)
BELGIUM SINCE 1815 53
[1830 A.D.]
the Belgian people, whether of high or low degree. The provisional govern-
ment, in which a seat was given to De Potter, who returned on September
20th, laboured with this end in view. With the news of the victory, victory
itself spread all over Belgium; the Dutch garrisons and officials were driven
out. The Belgian troops, relieved of their oath by the provisional govern-
ment, went over to the people, only the cities of Luxemburg, Venlo, Mae-
stricht, and Antwerp remaining in the power of the Dutch,
The Dutch government now yielded at last. The states-general on Sep-
tember 28th declared in favour of a separate administration of Belgium; the
king gave his sanction on October 4th, and sent the prince of Orange to Ant-
werp. The latter announced the separation of the two countries, proclaimed
liberty of education and unconditional amnesty, and even offered to place
himself at the head of the movement and acknowledge the resolutions of the
Belgian congress. As his father, however, disapproved of these arbitrary
measures, at the same time seeking to arouse civil war in Belgium, the son was
also regarded with suspicion, and his proposals were rejected; whereupon he
went to London, where the delegates of the great powers were just then
assembling for a conference.
Not long after this, about eight thousand volunteers under the French
general Mellinet advanced upon Antwerp. Two officers who had distinguished
themselves in the park combats, Niellon and Kessels, were assigned to him as
commanders; the former had lately been the director of a children's theatre,
the latter had travelled about the country exhibiting the skeleton of a whale.
Fortune favoured them in the theatre of war also. The Dutch troops were
driven out of the city of Antwerp, and General Chasse was obliged to with-
draw into the citadel. From here, when the Belgians were preparing to attack
him, he bombarded the city with all his batteries for several hours, destroying
more than two hundred houses and setting fire to merchandise to the value of
several millions. Venlo also fell into the hands of the Belgians; so that now
only Maestricht, Luxemburg, and the citadel of Antwerp were in the power
of the Dutch.
THE BELGIANS SECURE INDEPENDENCE
The independence of Belgium was already an established fact. The truce
proposed by the London conference * and the boundary line as it existed before
the union of the two states were accepted by the provisional government, and
the national congress convened on November 10th decreed the perpetual
exclusion of the house of Orange. The political constellations were favour-
able to the Belgians; since, of the Eastern powers usually so eager to inter-
vene, Russia was wholly occupied with the suppression of the Polish revolu-
tion, and Austria had to keep watch on Italy. From the Western powers,
moreover, there was nothing to fear; a more liberal tendency prevailed in
[* Talleyrand said, in reference to this treaty, that "England and France were two gen-
darmes who forcibly intervened to prevent a duel " ; political consequences, also, of the stran-
gest and most unexpected kind, followed the alliance, and the prodigy was presented to the
astonished world of an English fleet and a French army combining to wrest the great fortress
of Antwerp, which Napoleon had erected for the subjugation of England, frorn its lawful
sovereign, and to restore it to revolutionary influence and the sway of the tricolour flag. '
Antwerp was the point whence, for centuries, the independence of Great Britain had been most
seriously menaced. It is one of the most extraordinary circumstances recorded in history that, }
after having twice over, as the fruit of the victories of Marlborough and Wellington, wrested,
this great and menacing fortress from France, and after having been fully taught by her invet-
erate enemy its paramount importance, England should have entered into a compact with France
for its restoration to the dependant of that power, and rendered it again the advanced work of
the tricolour flag! — Alison.«]
64 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1830-1831 A.D.]
England since the fall of Wellington, and Louis Philippe was so little able to
proceed against Belgium that he declared, on the contrary, that he would
brook no intervention there.
Thus the Belgians became masters in their own house. On the question
of the future form of government, De Potter, who had republican views,
withdrew from the majority and retired into private life. The congress
declared itself in favour of a constitutional monarchy by 174 votes; only
thirteen were in favour of a republic. On February 13th the constitution,
based on the sovereignty of the people, and establishing a senate and house
of representatives, was unanimously adopted by the congress. More difficulty
was encountered on the question of boundaries, which the London conference
decided against Belgium in its protocol of January 20th, after having already,
on December 20th, 1830, decided in favour of the separation between Belgium
and Holland. The grand duchy of Luxemburg, which King William had
received on relinquishing his hereditary domains, was to be left to Holland.
Against this decision the Belgians protested, on the plea that the people of
Luxemburg had risen with them against King William, and desired union
with Belgium, not Holland. The outcome of this dispute depended in a
large measure on the selection of the new king.
The crown was first offered to the second son of Louis Philippe, the count
of Nemours. His father, rightly foreseeing that the other powers would
never consent to such an aggrandisement of French influence, declined the
offer, and now the duke of Leuchtenberg, a son of the former viceroy Eugene
seemed to have the best prospects. But this grandson of Napoleon was such
an unwelcome neighbour to Louis Philippe that he strained every nerve to
defeat his election, and withdrew his objections to the choice of his son. On
February 13th, the duke de Nemours was elected king by a small majority.
But Louis Philippe for the second time declined the Belgian crown. His prin-
cipal object had been attained by the defeat of the Leuchtenberg prince, and
he knew that the London conference had decided against his son.
LEOPOLD I, KING OF THE BELGL\NS (1831-1865)
A new choice was necessary, and it could not have been a better one. It
fell, on June 4th, upon Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who had brilliantly
distinguished himself in the wars for freedom. In 1816 he had married the
daughter of the prince regent of England; she died the following year, but he
continued to reside in England.^ Through the marriage of his sister with the
duke of Kent, he was the uncle of Princess Victoria, the future queen of Eng-
land. He had refused the crown of Greece in 1830, but now accepted that of
Belgium, after the congress had accepted the new decision of the London con-
ference of June 26th (the eighteen articles), that the Luxemburg question
should remain in statu quo for the present, to be definitely decided at some
future time. He made his entry into Brussels on July 21st, took the oath of
fealty to the constitution, and was proclaimed king of the Belgians.
Hardly had the new king begun a tour of the country when the Dutch
troops, more than seventy thousand men, entered Belgium on August 2nd,
defeated the Belgian army at Hasselt and Louvain, and threatened Brussels.
Leopold called upon England and France for aid. A French army came into
Belgium, and an English fleet took position on the coast of Holland. The
Dutch were obliged to retreat; but with the assistance of the Eastern pow-
[1 August 9tli, 1831, h.e married Princess Louise Marie, the daughter of Louis Philippe of
France.]
a
BELGIUM SINCE 1815 53
[1831-1865 A.D.]
ers, which had remembered the Holy Alliance after the suppression of the
Polish rebellion, they obtained a revision of the London protocol (October
6lh) according to which (in the protocol of the twenty-four articles) not the
whole of Luxemburg was to fall to Belgium; though the western portion with
165,000 inhabitants, mostly Walloons, was to be united w^ith Belgium, the east-
ern or German part, with 170,000 inhabitants, was to be restored to the king
of Holland, who had always re-
tained possession of the fortress of
Luxemburg. As a compensation he
was also to have several districts
of Limburg, to be taken from Bel-
gium, and also 8,400,000 gulden,
which Belgium was to pay annu-
ally to Holland as her share of the
national debt of the Netherlands.
When King William was not yet
satisfied and refused to sign his ac-
ceptance of the terms, an Anglo-
French fleet blockaded the Dutch
coast, and a French army under
Marshal Gerard crossed the Belgian
frontier, on November 15th, 1832,
to seize the citadel of Antwerp,
It was still occupied by the gallant
General Chasse with the Dutch
garrison. After holding out one
month, he was obliged to surrender
the citadel on December 23rd; it
was at once occupied by Belgian
troops.^ Chasse and the garrison
were taken to France as prisoners-
of-war, and not released until the
following year, when King William
consented at least to the prelim-
inary treaty of May 21st, 1833.
The unedifying quarrel w^as de-
cided, finally, only by the London treaty of April 19th, 1839, when William
at last accepted the twenty-four articles, and permitted the free navigation of
the Schelde.
Belgium was able to develop materially as well as intellectually under the
government of Leopold I, who married in 1832 Princess Louise of Orleans,
the oldest daughter of Louis Philippe. The union of the clericals and the lib-
erals, having served its purpose, soon changed into decided disunion and was
dissolved. Both parties sought for the majority in the house of representa-
tives, hoping thus to retain control of the ministry. Leopold, the model
constitutional king, under whom, rather than under his father-in-law, the con-
stitution was a reality, left them free to act. He was at the helm always, in
the most difficult times, even after the February revolution and under the
Napoleonism so eager for annexation, and guided the ship of state with
prudence and discretion. On his death, on December 10th, 1865, the whole
country mourned him truly and deeply.*^
[' The siege of the citadel of Antwerp, in a military point of view, is one of the most
memorable of which the annals of Europe make mention. — Alison."]
Cloth Hall, Ghent (built 1385)
56
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1865-1886 A.D.]
LEOPOLD II AND THE SOCL'O.IST ADVANCE (1865)
A glorious reign was ended; Leopold had not only consolidated the inde-
pendence of Belgium, but he had been the active promoter of her prosperity.
The country had not attained perfection, but under the reign of this, the
first national king, enormous and unhoped-for progress had been made.
The inauguration of Leopold II took place December 17th. The repre-
sentatives of the powers were present, and the proceedings were marked with
a solemnity which took its significance more from the patriotic enthusiasm
of the people than from the pomp of a court. Saluting the assembly, the king
pronounced with clear and steady voice the constitutional oath: " I swear to
observe the constitution and the
laws of the Belgians, to maintain
the national independence and
'p -^ the integrity of the national ter-
fe^ ritory."e
DIVISION IN LIBERAL PARTY —
ADVANCE OF SOCIALISM
The Franco-Prussian War of
1870 caused alarm in both Holland
and Belgium. Belgium feared
again becoming a battle-ground
for contending nations. This fear
was not realised, however, as the
powers recognised her as neutral,
thus leaving Belgium at liberty to
resume her internal political dis-
putes.
Miiller<^ in speaking of this
period sums up the condition of
Belgium in these words: "The
principal interest of Belgian his-
tory during the years 1876-81
lies in the battle there waged between liberal ideas and ultramontane big-
otry." Constant disputes occurred, and when the liberals, after a victory in
the two houses, proceeded to introduce measures for free education and
the exclusion of religious teaching in the schools, the bitterness of the Cath-
olic party became so great that the life of the king was threatened. Now
began again that ever-recurring struggle between conservatism and progress.
In a country dominated as Belgium had been by the clergy, this struggle was
necessarily a severe one. For a long time the supremacy of the clergy over
the masses made the number of scholars in the Catholic schools exceed that
of the state schools by some two hundred thousand. A definite issue to this
question was prevented by a division of the liberal party; this division was
caused by the franchise reform. The period from 1884-94 is known as '' the
bourgeois regime," one of the most disturbed periods of the nineteenth cen-
tury. The socialist element now comes forward and the next few years are
characterised by strikes and discord everywhere. March 18th, 1886, a socialist
uprising at Liege on the anniversary of the Paris commune spread swiftly; and
thousands of workmen went on strike, demanding higher wages and the power
.O
Leopold II (1835-)
BELGIUM SINCE 1815 57
[1886-1902 A.D.]
to vote. The insurrection was suppressed by force, but the result was increased
determination to revise the constitution.
Years of debate were embittered by inability to construct a majority
among those agreeing upon enlarged suffrage, but disagreeing as to whether
it should be qualified or universal. At length, in 1890, an unfavourable vote
having quashed various reform bills, fifty thousand workmen struck and vio-
lence reigned at Brussels and elsewhere. Quiet was restored by promise of
compromise in 1893. The right to vote for representatives to the chamber
was granted to every man of twenty-five years, and the right to vote for
senators to every man of thirty, while the Catholics secured the privilege of
two, sometimes three votes to an individual possessing certain educational or
property qualifications. This brought the number of votes for representa-
tives up from 140,000 to 2,085,000. In
1894 the Catholics secured an increased
majority over the liberals, though the so-
cialists obtained a solid representation;
the conditions of the suffrage being most
vividly shown by the fact that while the
Catholics received 900,000 votes, the so-
cialists 350,000, and the liberals 450,000,
yet their respective representation, were ^
in the senate, 71 Catholics, 29 liberals, and , /
two socialists; in the chamber 104 Catho- ' -^^
lies, 28 socialists, and 20 liberal progress- ^.'^ ~^ ^
ists. Opposition to such disproportion led ~"^
to constant efforts at reform, culminating in
riots in 1899, on the occasion of an act still
further strengthening the Catholic hold. i >--> q "^n,
The riots led to the government's --C|^l^lMT]M^^'^^^^ ^U?!^,^->
, , , „ . , . '^ , .... -i^t^sj^^snisnnTHTsrvj S'" f . f^ -^ f^ Veil's i
withdrawal of this measure, and a substitu
tion by which the Catholics in 1900 elected
to the senate 58 members, the liberals and
radicals 39, and the socialists 5; while in
the chamber there were 85 Catholics, 33
liberals, and 33 socialists. The system of
" plural universal suffrage," by which cer-
tain citizens have more than one vote, is opposed by both liberals and socialists
and must in time give way before a combination. The chief leaders of the
Catholic party have been Malou, whose ministry was last in power in 1884,
and the conservative Beernaert, who has recently found a rival in the strongly
clerical Woeste. The socialists find their great strength in the trades-unions
of the working classes, which are in unusually large proportion to the total
population.
The Flemish language and influence have been greatly revived. Of the six
million inhabitants in 1890, two and one-half millions spoke French, which
had been the official language since the fifteenth century, and two and three-
quarter millions spoke Flemish, which in 1873 obtained recognition in the
law courts and has since taken a place of equal official usage with French.
In 1900 the king presented his private estates to the Belgian nation to be
preserved and used as public parks. The queen's death occurred in 1902.
Shortly after that event, King Leopold was shot at by an Italian anarchist
while driving through Brussels. The present king having three daughters.
Belfry op Bruges, commenced 1283 and
completed a century later
the inheritance devolves on Prince Albert, second son of the count of Flan-
68
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
ders, brother of the king. The heir presumptive married the duchess Elizabeth
of Bavaria, on October 2nd, 1900, and in November, 1901, a son was born.«
Of the present state of the country its historian Leclere has written: Bel-
gium of the present day affords a picture of a rapid and general transforma-
tion. Politically it is becoming a democracy; economically, thanks to the
development of enterprise without, it is one of the wealthiest and most ener-
getic nations of Europe. Its economic progress has determined its political
transformation. Situated at the meeting-point of three great civilisations,
whose influence it at once feels and assimilates, Belgium is becoming more and
more a microcosm of Europe, an active laboratory of political, economic, and
social experiences./
■'■■■ J.<%Ar^^ ^Wi
CHAPTER XIX
HOLLAND SINCE 1815
The final separation of the kingdom of the Netherlands into the kingdoms
of Holland and of Belgium has already been described. It was not formally
and entirely consummated until 1839. The next year William I abdicated
in favour of his eldest son, and three years later his death occurred in Berlin,
where he had retired. His abdication was not a matter of regret to the Dutch
people, as, during the nine years pending the treaty of separation, his actions,
totally lacking as they were in dignity, had put him in disfavour both with the
Dutch and the Belgians. The accession of his son, who was inaugurated as
William II, was therefore a happy change for the people. This prince, cos-
mopolitan in his education and having a soldier's record, won the love of his
people. He made a decided change for the better in the finances of the
country, improved the commerce and added to its freedom, by his concessions
to the revolutionary fever which in 1848 spread from France throughout
Europe.^
When King William II died at Breda, in March, 1849, a remarkable prince
of Orange had passed away — a man of singular purpose and force of character.
A born soldier, he had developed, upon Wellington's battle-fields in the penin-
sula, in the Pyrenees, and around Waterloo, some rare tactical gifts, and a
personal valour which commanded the admiration and the lifelong friendship
of the Iron Duke himself; and he enjoyed a popularity, both in Holland and
in Belgium, which survived even after the Belgians had risen against the
unwise and intolerant rule of King William I, which the narrow-minded con-
gress of Vienna had imposed upon them.
But the second King William of Holland was not a politician. He showed
his lack of political wisdom in acting diametrically against the positive instruc-
tions of his royal father, who had sent him to the south with a mission which
he openly ignored by issuing a manifesto to the Belgians in which he pro-
fessed to recognise their independence. The king immediately repudiated
that manifesto, which, without adding to his son's popularity in the southern
Netherlands, seriously jeopardised his prestige and prospects in the north.
Indeed, the wrath of the Dutch people, then highly incensed at what they
59
60
THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS
r ^
J ^ -
MBS1 J. I
'^
[1840-1847 A.D.]
branded as Belgian treason, became so violent that it was publicly proposed
to exclude him from the throne. Nor was his conduct in London, whither
his father sent him on another political mission, which proved as futile as his
previous errand to obtain the hand of Princess Charlotte had been, calculated
to regain for him the hold he had lost upon his future Dutch subjects. Not
even the brilliant military campaign which he undertook in Belgium at the
head of the Dutch army could, fruitless as it turned out to be, entirely restore
confidence in him. So when King William II as-
cended the throne of Holland on the abdication of
his father in 1840, his position could hardly be called
satisfactory or secure.
Peace with Belgium had, it is true, at last been
made, but that more or less beneficial settlement of
^ the Dutch crisis abroad was perhaps more than
1 i counterbalanced by threatening internal complica-
■^^^^r, tions. The finances had become disordered, if not
"" critical, in consequence of the Belgian troubles; taxes
had been rapidly increasing, and with them popular
discontent and disgust against a regime which failed
to grasp the fact that the flimsy reforms, grudgingly
bestowed in 1840, were wholly unavailing to stem the
current of national feeling which set in stronger and
swifter as the fateful year 1848 approached. A wise
and statesman-like ruler would not have resisted the
popular demand for a thorough remodelling of Hol-
land's constitution upon an enlightened basis so
long as King William II did. But he was a soldier,
not a statesman. Married to
Anna Paulovna, aRussian grand-
duchess, he seemed to have aban-
doned the liberal traditions of his
predecessors and of his people
for the autocratic tendencies of
Muscovite rule.
For eight years the king
withstood the efforts of the
Dutch reform party, who in Jan
Rudolf Thorbecke, the foremost
statesman of Holland in the
nineteenth century — and ''too
great a man for so small a coun-
try " (as a British statesman is
said to have characterised him)
— had found a leader and a soul. Already in 1844 Thorbecke, with eight
other members of the Dutch chamber, had elaborated a reform bill. Thor-
becke, a student, afterwards a professor in the law faculty of Leyden Univer-
sity, was strongly supported by the vast mass of his educated and enlightened
countrymen, then mostly unrepresented in the legislature. Yet for a time all
his endeavours were baffled by the powerful court party, and Thorbecke even
failed to obtain re-election as a member of the second chamber in 1846. His
time, however, was coming rapidly. In 1847 serious riots occurred at various
places, even at the Hague, and notably at Groningen. The king at last saw
the danger of further delay, and, prompted maybe by the warnings of coming
Old House, Dort
HOLLAND SINCE 1815 61
[1848-1853 A.B.]
crisis all over Europe, he promised reforms when opening the states-general
in the autumn of the same year.
There is no doubt that this timely resolve warded off from Holland the
threatening revolution which had broken out in neighbouring states. In
March, 1848, a royal commission was appointed to elaborate a new constitu-
tion.^ Of that royal commission Thorbecke was much more than a member.
The commission was virtually his commission, and the project it presented to
the king, his life-work. Its main features having been fully discussed and
accepted beforehand, its progress was swift. In October following it became
law, and an interim cabinet was appointed to carry out its provisions.
THE MINISTRIES OF THORBECKE
The preponderance of Thorbecke in Dutch political life during the latter
half of the nineteenth century was such that the modern history of the
Netherlands may be safely divided into two periods — the Thorbecke period,
and the period after Thorbecke's death. The first Thorbecke ministry,
formed as the natural outcome of the triumph of his efforts and principles,
lasted only till 1853, but was marked by extraordinary activity. During that,
comparatively speaking, brief period many fundamental laws were passed for
which the constitution had already provided: such as a new electoral law; a
law to regulate the responsibility of ministers; another, to settle the rights
and duties of provincial governments and councils, and of communal govern-
ments and councils, together establishing, in large measure, a complete system
of decentralisation — thus practically introducing a kind of local government
in Holland half a century before it was attempted in Great Britain, but within
well-defined limits and safeguards; an act to regulate the rights and duties
of Dutch citizenship; another, to settle the parliamentary prerogative of
inquiry; etc.
In Van Bosse, Thorbecke had secured the services of an able and energetic
minister of finance, who raised the state credit, abolished several irksome and
oppressive taxes, and established free trade, Holland being the only conti-
nental state that afterwards remained faithful in the main to free-trade prin-
ciples. The postal and telegraph services were reorganised, and the great
work of draining the Haarlem Lake was completed. The first Thorbecke
cabinet came to an untimely end in 1853, in consequence of what was called
"fthe April movement," because it had originated in that month. Article 165
of the constitution had recognised, in a country where there was no state
church, the equaUty of all religious bodies, subject to governmental control.
The pope and the militant clerical party in Holland perceived in that article
an opportunity to re-establish in the Low Countries the ancient bishoprics of
Utrecht, Haarlem, Bois-le-Duc, Breda, and Roermond, the bishop of Utrecht
becoming an archbishop. This measure — coupled, it must be confessed, with
some unfortunate reflections on Dutch Protestantism by the pope, in his
decree on that occasion — revived all the anti-Catholic prejudices of former
days. Some political enemies of Thorbecke, who could not forgive him his
triumphs, were not loth to fan the flames, and a veritable no-popery storm
[' By it Holland received all the immunities of a free government, and her inhabitants
came to enjoy nearly the same rights and liberties as those of Great Britain. All traces of the
aristocratic privileges retained by the constitution of 1815 were swept away. All citizens
were, without distinction of rank or creed, made eligible to all employments ; the king's person
was declared inviolable, but his ministers responsible. The provisions contained all the ele-
ments of real freedom, and made as large concessions to democracy as were consistent with its
existence. — Alison. '^j
«i"
G2 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1853-1867 A.D.]
swept over the country, which Thorbecke resisted but could not withstand,
he himself being accused of treasonable " papism." For several years to come
Thorbecke was compelled to relinquish the active duties of leadership, and
not until 1862 did he regain it. The intervening years form a sort of inter-
regnum in modern Dutch history.
Four cabinets followed each other at about equal intervals, the most
important among them being the ministry of Dr. Justinus van der Brugghen.
It was during his premiership in 1857 that the Primary Education Law was
passed, which established neutral (non-sectarian) state schools, and after-
wards largely became the pattern of similar legislation in foreign countries,
notably of the Education Act of
1870 in England. The Dutch law,
however, did not as yet provide
for compulsory education.
The subsequent cabinet of
Dr. van Hall carried, in 1860, a
most important law, directing the
construction of a vast system of
state railways, connecting the
^^^^. already existing private lines, and
f'j/^'K"^ involving the building of very
costly bridges over the broad
. rivers in the south. That the
Dutch chambers adopted the prin-
ciple of state railways in 1860 was
largely due to Thorbecke's influen-
tial advocacy. By 1872 the whole
first network of Dutch state rail-
ways was at last completed. It is
noteworthy that the cost of build-
ing them was almost entirely fur-
nished by the surplus funds ac-
cruing annually (up to the year
1877) from the administration of
the Dutch East Indies under the " culture system." Consequently the Dutch
state railways are the only ones in existence not burdened with debt. The
state, however, did not undertake their working. This was entrusted to a
private company, the state merely receiving a share in the net profits.
Thorbecke came back to power in January, 1862. His second term of office
was marked by the same reforming energy as the first. In the four years that
it lasted Thorbecke had the Secondary Education Act passed (1863), com-
pleting the work of 1857; contributed to the legislation by virtue of which
the great canalisation works at Amsterdam and Rotterdam were sanctioned
(1863); carried his bill emancipating upwards of thirty thousand slaves in
the Dutch West Indies, at the cost of 10,000,000 guilders in compensation,
paid by the state.
Heemskerk, the leader of the conservative party, was Thorbecke's great
antagonist, the two Dutch statesmen playing in the political arena parts
somewhat resembling those of Gladstone and Disraeli in England. Heems-
kerk, who died in 1880, and who stood three times at the head of affairs, was
a politician of talent, though of less calibre and moral fibre than Dr. van
Hall, his greater predecessor, and his reactionary tendencies and views found
favour at court. There is little doubt that the king's proposal, in 1867, to
. In! v^5r--->«^
IMiif
1/ cSf
Dome of the Dort Museum
HOLLAXD SIXCE 1815 63
[1867-1874 A.D.]
transfer Luxemburg to France, if it did not emanate from Heemskerk, had
his warm approval. It was none the less dangerous, especially as it came
after Koniggratz, w^hich had settled the German question in a manner not
at all favourable to Napoleonic ambitions.
Queen Sophie belonged to the most unflinching and ablest opponents of
Bismarck's policy. She corresponded much with Napoleon III, and wrote
articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes against it. In 1871, after the sacking
of the Tuileries, among many documents discovered were a large number of
the queen's letters to Napoleon. Some were subsequently published, and
demonstrate that she repeatedly warned him against the designs and arma-
ments of Prussia. Says Lord Malmesbury^ : "The queen was a very clever
woman, and knew all the affairs of Europe better than most ministers." d
A picturesque view of court life and relations is given by De Amicis, who
visited Holland in 1874.
DE AMICIS ON COURT LIFE IN HOLLAND
In Holland the king is considered more as a stadholder than as a king ; he
represents, as has said the duke of Aosta, the smallest possible quantity of
kingship: the sentiment of the Dutch is less that of devotion to the royal
family than affection for that house of Orange which partook equally of their
triumphs and their reverses, and lived during three centuries their peculiar
life. The country at bottom is republican, and its monarchy is a sort of
crown-presidency : the king discourses at banquets and public festivals ; he
rejoices in a certain reputation as orator because he improvises his speeches
and because he speaks with a clear voice and a soldierly eloquence which incites
the people to enthusiasm. The hereditary prince, William of Orange, a stu-
dent at the University of Leyden, passed the public examination and obtained
the degree of doctor of law. Prince Alexander, the younger son, studied at
the same university; he is a member of a student's club and invites his pro-
fessors and fellow-students to dine with him. At the Hague Prince William
frequents the cafes, entertains his neighbours, and promenades the streets
with the young men of his acquaintance; in the Bois the queen seats herself
on a bench beside a poor woman. In this people, republican by nature and
tradition, there is not to be discovered the slightest trace of an element desir-
ing a republic. On the contrary, they love and venerate their king, and at
festivals given in his honour they take the horses from his carriage and
oblige everyone to wear an orange cockade in homage to the narne of Orange ;
at ordinary times they occupy themselves only with their affairs and their
families, e
LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM III
The dangers foreshadowed or undergone in 1866-67 were accentuated four
years later, during the Franco-German complications, ending in the downfall
of the French empire. The Fock cabinet succeeded in keeping the Nether-
lands outside the w^ar arena. The king sent for Thorbecke again in January,
1871, in this instance for the third and last time. He succeeded in forming
another ministry, but he was no longer the Thorbecke of yore. At any rate,
before Thorbecke died, in June, 1872, he must have been conscious that his
death might mean the partial disruption of the party he had created, as well
as the shattering of the edifice he had been instrumental in building up. His
cabinet did not survive for long under the leadership of his successor, Dr.
Geertsema, and finally disappeared in August, 1874, after having had its
64
THE HISTOEY OF THE ?i[ETHERLANDS
[1873-1880 A.D.]
Income Tax Bill rejected. Its most important measures had been the further
extension of state railways in Holland (1873) and her colonies, the abolition
of differential import duties in the Dutch East Indies, and the transference of
the remaining Dutch portion of the Gold Coast to the British government for
a sum of money and certain British " concessions " in the Eastern Archipelago.
This transaction, which shortly afterwards resulted, on the one hand, in the
Ashanti expedition, and on the other in the disastrous war of the Dutch
against the Achinese,^ had
been one of the many wea-
pons used by the opposi-
tion against Thorbecke.
Queen Sophie died at
the Hague in June, 1877.
As far as the Dutch royal
family were concerned, the
effect of Queen Sophie's
decease was absolutely dis-
astrous. The quarrels be-
tween the king and the
prince of Orange, who had
inherited the wit and the
mind of his royal mother,
and who if he had lived
might have proved one of
the most distinguished of
his race, became aggravated
when the wife and the
mother was no longer there
to conciliate and pacify.
Father and son parted,
never to see each other
:a^.
m,''^^
>;^-v-2
■bi
The Church of St. Lawrence, or Groote Kerk,
Rotterdam, consecrated in 1477
agam.
It is at least probable
that the departure of the
prince of Orange for Paris,
and the unlikelihood of his
return to Holland during
the lifetime of his father,
may have had as much bearing on the king's decision to remarry as the cir-
cumstance that his second son Alexander, who succeeded to the title and pre-
sumptive rights of the prince of Orange after the decease of his elder brother,
but who died in 1884, was then in very bad health. The direct Nassau line
was threatened unless King William were to marry again and had further
issue. His bride was Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, and by the
[> Holland had assumed a protectorate over the whole of Sumatra, and taken over Eng-
land's claims as well. War was now declared against the sultan of the Malayan state of
Achin, situated at the northwest extremity of the island of Sumatra, under the pretext of
putting an end to piracy and the slave trade. General van Swieten took command of an expe-
dition of about twelve thousand men, landed in Achin in December, 1873, defeating the enemy
in several encounters, surrounded the fortified palace of the sultan, called the Kraton, and
opened a bombardment. The sultan fled from the palace and withdrew into the interior of the
country ; Van Swieten took possession of the palace on January 24th, 1874. He forced the
tributary states of Achin to submit to Dutch supremacy. The state of Achin was incorporated
with the Dutch colonial possessions, and a strong garrison left behind when the expedition
returned home. — Muller.-^
HOLLAND SINCE 1815 65
[1880-1807 A.D.]
marriage King William consolidated his popularity. Popular rejoicings greeted
the birth, on the last day of August, 1880, of a princess who received the
name of Wilheknina Sophia Frederika and the title "princess of Orange."
A NEW constitution; and a regency
The revision of the old constitution, which had been prepared by a royal
commission, proved an even more arduous and more laborious task than that
of the penal code. The new Grondwet, or Fundamental Law, came into force
in 1887. The oath to be taken by each king or queen on ascending the throne is
given in the Fundamental Law, and shows that the regal rights in Holland
are conferred by special contract between the people and the crown, and not
inherited of divine right. According to the third chapter, the states-general
represent the whole people, being divided into a first and second chamber, the
former consisting of fifty, the latter of one hundred members — Amsterdam
returning nine, Rotterdam five, the Hague three, Groningen and Utrecht two
each. This was an important addition of strength, the old second chamber
having had at most eighty members, one for every forty-five thousand of the
inhabitants. The basis of the franchise was at the same time materially
altered and much enlarged, the effect being to add some two hundred thou-
sand male voters of the age of twenty-three to the electorate, the rights of
the latter being afterwards settled in a special statute.
The necessity of the new constitution had already been demonstrated early
in 1889, when the king's alarming condition, physical and mental, had com-
pelled the appointment of a regent. The king growing steadily worse, and
the end, to all appearances, rapidly approaching, a further bill was introduced
and passed, appointing Queen Emma regent of the Netherlands during the
minority of the princess of Orange, a council of guardians for the latter being
I also nominated. On the 23rd of November, 1890, King William died.
' Van Houten's bill, which abolished the scrutiri de liste, introduced the
I lodger franchise, and virtually made every male citizen capable of supporting
himself and family a qualified voter, passed the second chamber in June, 1896,
and the first chamber in the following September. It was the most far-reach-
, ing electoral reform yet attempted in the Low Countries, as it not only largely
! increased the number of voters, but extended the suffrage to social strata
I hitherto deprived of all franchise rights.
[ In the concluding years of the nineteenth century the ministerial efforts in
I Holland, under the influence of Dr. N. G. Pierson, formerly president of the
Netherlands Bank, and a distinguished professor of political economy, mainly
consisted of financial and labour legislation.
I So far as foreign relations since 1880 are concerned, these have been cordial
: with Germany, neither the opinions of some Germans that Holland ought to
, be annexed or acquired, nor the efforts of isolated Dutchmen to bring about a
' federation with Germany, finding much favour. The scheme, however, of
I many enthusiasts for a Zollverein, or even for a political federation, between
' Holland and Belgium has not yet taken practical shape. With England rela-
tions were not always of an entirely amicable nature.^
The policy of Holland in support of the policy of the United States, which
proposed great reforms in maritime law, has always tended towards minimis-
I [• This was due particularly to the attitude of the Netherlands toward the South African
' War. Early in 1902 Dr. Kuyper visited London, and subsequently it was announced that the
' offer of the Dutch government to facilitate the cessation of hostilities had been rejected by
! Great Britain.]
H. W, — VOL. XIV. F
66 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1898-1901 A.D.]
ing the risks of international strife by substituting the pacific adjustment of
disputes for the arbitrament of the sword. That poHcy culminated in 1899
in the peace conference of the Hague and the formation of a permanent inter-
national court of arbitration, Holland taking a prominent part in both.
ACCESSION OF QUEEN WILHELMINA (1898)
The young queen attained her majority in 1898, and was solemnly en-
throned in the so-called New Church in Amsterdam, taking her oath of
fidelity to the constitution in the presence of the states-general on September
6th. In October, 1900, the announcement that the young sovereign was
betrothed to Duke Henry of Mecklen-
burg-Schwerin, a Prussian officer of the
guard, four years her senior, was well
received. The approval of the states-
general, prescribed by the constitution,
was therefore readily obtained, and the
marriage was solemnised with great
pomp in the Great Church at the Hague
on the 7th of February, 1901, Duke
Henry having been created a prince and
a general in the Dutch army for the oc-
casion, under the title of Prince Henry
of the Netherlands, thus happily reviv-
ing the popular title of a popular prince,
r King William's brother, which threatened
to be extinguished with his demise in
1879.
Amongst the last achievements of
the Pierson cabinet were the enactment
of compulsory education (1900) and the
introduction of obligatory military ser-
vice consequent upon the reorganisation
of the Dutch army (1901).
The June elections of 1901 resulted
in the overthrow of the liberal party,
which had held almost uninterrupted control of the government for over two
decades. For some time all the conservative anti-liberal parties, the ultra-
Protestants (or anti-revolutionists), the Catholics, and the historical Christians
had been drawing together. In Dr. Abraham Kuyper, the recognised head of
the ultra-Protestants, they found a leader who could unite all factions. At
the same time a serious split in the liberal ranks made their success possible.
The liberal democrats advocated a revision of the constitution with a view to
the early adoption of universal suffrage. To this programme the moderate lib-
erals objected, refusing all revision on the ground that the time for electoral
reform was inopportune. The socialists, hitherto supporters of the liberal
candidates and programme, determined for the first time to act by themselves.
After a heated campaign, the elections both to the second chamber and to the
provincial estates, which chose the members of the first chamber of the states-
general, were carried by the conservative coalition. The second chamber was
found to be composed of 58 conservatives and 42 liberals, including with the
latter 7 socialist members — a clear anti-Hberal majority of 16 votes. After
the provincial estates had chosen the new members of the upper chamber, an
W^ILHELMIXA (1S80-)
HOLLAND SINCE 1815 67
anti-liberal majority of eight was found to exist in that body. The liberal
ministry of Pierson forthwith resigned, and Kuyper with some difficulty
succeeded in organising a ministry from the various groups of the anti-liberal
coalition.
In spite of its elaborate programme, the legislative changes introduced
by the conservative governments in 1902 were unimportant.a
Enormous strides have been made in every direction since 1850. The
population of the kingdom, which stood at only 3,000,000 in 1849, had
advanced to over 5,000,000 by January, 1900. In the provinces of North
and South Holland the population had indeed almost doubled in half a cen-
tury. The population of Amsterdam, the Hague, and Utrecht more than
doubled, whilst that of Rotterdam shot up from 90,000 to 318,000. The
imports for consumption, which were valued at £15,052,012 in 1849, had
grown to £136,241,666 in 1896 ; the exports having increased in the same
period froni £10,634,128 to £111,708,333.
Two principal conditions accompanied and dominated the great progress
of these fifty years — the uninterrupted maintenance of peace, and the
upholding of the principles of free trade, in which the Low Countries stood
absolutely alone on the continent of Europe.^
BRIEF EEFERENCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS
(The letter " is reserved for Editorial Matter.)
Introduction
^ John Lothrop Motley, 7%e Rise of the Dutch Republic. — « Julius C^sar, Commentarii
de Bello Oallico. — ** Tacitus, De Moribus et Popidis Germanice. — « James E. Thorold Rogers,
The Story of Holland. — /Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum libri XXXI. — 3 G. Dottin,
article on " La Religion des Gaulois " in La Revue de Vhistoire des Religions, Paris, 1898.
— '' Alexandre Bertrand, Nos Origines, Part 4 ; La Religion des Gaulois ; Les Druides et
le Druidisme. — ^Tacitus, Historice and Annates. — J'Zosimus, 'liTTopla v^a. — '^C. M. Davies,
The History of Holland and the Dutch Nation. — ' Procopius, 'IcropiKhv iv /3i/3Xoij (5kt<j.
— '" HugoGrotius (De Groot), Annates et historice de rebus belgicis. — " P. J. Blok, Geschied-
enis van het nederlandsche Volk.
Chapter I. The First Counts op Holland
''Melts Stoke, Rijmkronik. — cP. J. Blok, op. cit. — "^J. Beka, Chronicon episcoporum
IJltrajectensium et comittim HoUandim. — « Barlandus (or Baarlandt), Over de Graven van
Holland ; Over de bisschoppen van Utrecht. — / Jacob de Meyer, Rerum Flandricarum Annates.
— 0 BucHELius, annotations to the Chronicon of Beka. — '' Jan Wagenaar, Vaterlandsche His-
toric.— » Matthew Paris, Historia major. — jGulielmus Procurator, continuation of the
Annates Egmundani. — ^ C. M. Davies, op. cit.
Chapter II. Early History of Belgium and Flanders
b Julius C^sar op. cit. — f Cornelius Tacitus, qp. cit. — <iTH. Juste, Histoire de Belgique.
— «Ammianus Marcellinus, op. cit. — /A. G. B. Schayes, Les Pays-Bas avant et durant la
domination Romaine. — 9L. A. Warnkoniq and P. A. P. Gerard, Histoire des Caroling ieiis.
— ''P. J. Blok, op. cit. — ^ II. Pirenne, Histoire de Belgique. — J H. G. Moke, Histoire de la
Belgique. — *« Kervijn de Lettenhove, Histoire de Flandre. — ^L. A. Warnkonig, History
of tfie Jurisprudence and State of Flanders. — '"J. Michelet, History of France, (translated
by W. K. Kelly.) — "Giovanni Villani, Cronica Fiorentiiia. — "Jacob de Meyer, op. cit.
— p Sir John Froissart, Chronicles (translated by Thos. Johnes).
Chapter III. Holland under the Houses of HArNAULT and Bavaria
^ P. J. Blok, op. cit. — " Melis Stoke, op. cit. — «* J, de Meyer, op. cit. — * Gulielmus
Procurator, op. cit. — fC. M. Davies, op. cit. — ff Franz von Loher, Jakobda von Bayern
und ihre Zeit. — ''Hugo Grotius (or de Groot, Annates et historim de rebus belgicis. — *K.
Th. Wenzelburger, Geschichte der Niederlande. — J'Petrus Suffridus, De Frisiorum an-
tiquitate et origine (1590); De scriptoribus Frisim (1593). — ''Jan Gerbrandszoon (John of
Leyden), Chronicon Hollandice. — J J. Beka, op. cit. — '"Sir John Froissart, op. cit. —
» Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Chronicles (translated by Thos. Johnes).
Chapter IV. The Netherlands under Burgundy and the Empire
b A. DE Barante, Histoire des dues de Bo^irgogne. — c Henri Martin, Histoire de Frayice.
— <^T. C. Grattan, !Z7ie History of the Netherlands. — «K, Th. Wenzelburger, op. cit. — -''0.
M. DA\aES, op. cit. — » Philip de Comines, Memoires. — ''E. de Monstrelet, op. cit. — ' PoN-
Tus Heuterus, Rerwn Burgundicarum libri VI. — i P. J. Blok, op. cit. — '^ J. L. Motley, op.
cit. — ' Badovaro (in L. P. Gachard's Relations des Ambassadeurs Venitiens sur Charles Y et
Philippe II). — ™ W. Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V. — " Edward Armstrong,
Tlie Emperor Charles V. — " Hugo Grotius (de Groot), op. cit.
68
BEIEF EEFEEENCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS G9
Chapter V. Philip II and Spanish Oppression
^ J. C. F. VON Schiller, Revolt of the Netherlands, (translated by A. J. W Morrison") —
"Hugo Grotius (De Groot), op. cit. — dj, L. Motley, op. cit — ep J Blok on cit
— /C. M.Davies, op. cit. — oT. C. Grattan, op. ciY. — ''Famianus Strada. Be Bello Belqico
— 'Luis Cabrera de Cordova, Fiiipe Segundo. Rey de Uspafta.—iRmoiJ de France"
Histoire des causes de la desunioji, revoltes, et alterations des Pays-Bas. ^'L. P. Gachard'
Etudeset notices historigues. — '■ Jacob van Wesenbeke, La description de Vestal, succes et
occurrences advenus au Pais-Bas au faict de la religion (in 1566). — '"P. Bor, Oorsproonak
begin ende vervolg der Nederlandsche oorlogen. — "J. F. C. Le Petit, Orande Chronique
ancienne et moderne.— ° E. van Meteren, Belgische of Nederlantsche Historic, —p L. J. J. van
der Vynct, Troubles des Pays-Bas. — gPoNTus Payen, Memoires. — '"F. van der Haer Be
initiis tumultnm Belgicorum. — ^J. A. de Thou, Historia mei temporis. — 'Guido Benti-
voGLio, Delle Guerre di Fiandra. — "P. C. Hooft, Nederlandsche Historien. — uj. W. Burgon
Life and Times of Sir Thomas Oresham. ' '
Chapter VI. Alva
^ DiNGMAN Versteeg, The Sea Beggars. Liberators of Holland from the Yoke of Spain.
— [; Pierre de Brantome, Vie des Grands Capitaines Etrangers. — <* J. L. Motley, op. cit.
«GuiDO Bentivoglio, op. cit. — ^C. Groen van Prinsterer, Archives. — oY. Von' Schiller
op. cit. — ''Famianus Strada, op. cit. — 'T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — iP. J. Blok, op. cit.—
^ H. G. Moke, op. cit. — ' P. Bor, op. cit. — »« E. van Meteren, op. cit. — « L. P. Gachard, op.
: cit.
Chapter VII. Progress towards Union (1573-1579)
I *J. L. Motley, op. cit. — '^C. M. Davies, op. cit. — <*H. G. Moke, op. cit. — <W. J. Hof
DYK, Ley den's Wee en Zegepraal. — /P, Bor, op. cit. — f Groen van Prinsterer, oj9. c^7. —
''P. C. Hooft, op. cit. — 'J. Wagenaar, op. cit. — J Bernardino de Mendoza, Comentarios. —
''Luis Cabrera de Cordova, op. cit. — 'E. van Meteren, op. cit. — '"Famianus Strada, op.
' cit. — "P. J. Blok, op. cit. — » Pierre de Brantome, Vie des Hommes Hlustres et grands capi-
taines fran^ais. — pT. C. Grattan, op. cit. — ih. P. Gachard, Correspondance de Guillaume
• le Taciturne. — '"Robaulx de Soumoy, Memoires de Frederic Perrenot. — « Alexander Young,
I History of the Netherlands.
Chapter VIII. The Last Years of William the Silent (1579-1584)
'>Th. Juste, op. cit. — "H. G. Moke, op. cit. — "^F. Strada, op. cit. — «P. Bor, op. cit.
— •''P. Hooft, op. cit. — ^E. van Meteren, op. cit. — ''J. L. Motley, op. cit. — »P. J. Blok,
op. cit. — J'GuiDo Bentivoglio, op. cit. — *=Luis Cabrera de Cordova, op. cit, — 'Everhard
van Reyd, Historic der Nederlanteschen oovlogen begin ende vort gaanck. — »« J. B. de Tassis,
Commentarii {in Hornck van Pependrecht's Analecta). — "T. C. Grattan, op. cit.
Chapter IX. The Republic Established (1584-1598)
^ Duplessis-Mornay, Memoires et Correspondance — " John Lothrop Motley, History
of the United Netherlands. — '^T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — «C. M. Davies, op. cit. — /J. Bruce,
Leicester's Correspondence. — 9 John Lothrop Motley, The Life and Death of John of Barne-
veldt. Advocate of Holla?id. — '' P. Bor, op. cit. — 'Famianus Strada, op. cit. — ^ Lord Brooke,
Life of Sir Philip Sidney. — *-' James Anthony Froude, History of England. — 'Hugo
Grotius (de Groot), op. cit. — »" P. J. Blok, op. cit. — " E. van Meteren, op. cit. — " G. Benti-
voglio, op. cit.
Chapter X. The Sway of Olden-Barneveld (1598-1609)
''J. L. Motley, United Netherlands. — "C. M. Davies, op. ci7.—<' Henry Haestens, La
Nouvelle Troie ou Memorable Historic du Siege d'Ostende. — « Angelo Gallucci, De 5? Z/o
Belgico. — /E. van Meteren, op. cit. — ^T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — ''-?. J. Blok, op. cit.
— * Pierre Jeannin, Negociations.—i J. L. Motley, The Life and Death of John of Barne-
veldt.
70 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
Chapter XL Prince Maurice in Power
''Sir Ralph Winwood, llemorials. — <^C. M. Davies, op. cit. — <* J. L. Motley, Life and
Death of Barneveldt. — «P. J. Blok, op. cit. — /T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — ff Gerard Brandt,
Historic der Reformatie. — ^ Jan Wagenaar, op. cit. — » T. B. Macaulay, History of Eng-
land.— jR. Fruin, Tien Jaren.
Chapter XII. The End of the Eighty Years' "War
b T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — ''A. M. Cerisier, Tableau des Provinces TJnies. — <iQ. M,
Davies, op. cit. — « Hugo Grotius (de Groot), Annates. — /P. Bor, op. cit. — » James E.
Thorold Rogers, Holland.
Chapter XIII. Science, Literature, and Art in the Netherlands
^ P. C. ScHLOssER, Weltgeschichte. — " J. L. Motley, Life and Death of John Barneveldt. —
<J Edmund Gosse, article on Literature oi Holland in the Encyclopmdia Britannica. — « Sir J,
Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Works. — / H. A. Taine, Phiiosophie de I'art dans les Pays-Bas. —
ff H. G. Moke, Les Splendeurs de I'art en Belgique. — '» Eugene Promentin, Les maitres
d' Autrefois.
Chapter XIV. The De Witts and the War with England
f> T. C. Grattan, History of the Netherlands. — ♦^ C. M. Davies, History of Holland and the
Dutch. — <* J. R. Green, A Short History of the English People. — «J. Franck Bright, History
of England. — /S. R. Gardiner, Students' History of England. — ^A. Richer, Vies des plus
celebres mariyis — ''Marquis de Pomponne, Memoires. — 'P. P. G. Guizot, Histoire de France.
Chapter XV. Willlim III and the War with Prance (1672-1722)
''T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — ^C. M. Davies, op. cit. — '^ A. Richer, op. cit. — cWm. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough.
Chapter XVI. Holland from 1722 to 1815
*> T. C. Grattan, op. cit. — '^ C. M. Davies, op. cit. — <* G. W. Kitchin, article on Holland
in i\x& Encyclopcedia Britannica. — eA. M. Cerisier, op. cit. — /Benjamin Pranklin, Works.
— ffP. C. ScHLOSSER, History of the Eighteenth Century. — ''J. Wagenaar, op. cit. — » Louis
Buonaparte, Historical Documents of Holland. — i A. Alison, History of Europe.
Chapter XVII. Belgium from 1648 to 1815
f'J. P. E. MiSrode, Memoires. — ''H. G. Moke, Histoire de la Belgique. — <* Alexander
Young, History of the Netherlarids. — «T. C. Grattan, op, cit, — /David Kay, article on
Belgium in the Encyclopcedia Britannica.
Chapter XVIII. Belgium since 1815
^Tn, JvsTE, La Revolution Beige de 1830. — "A. Alison, op. cit. — '^Wilhelm Muller,
Politische Geschichte der Neuesten Zeit. — « Th. Juste, Histoire de la Belgique. — /L. LeclSire,
article on Belgian History in the Encyclopcedia Britannica.
Chapter XIX. Holland since 1839
^ Lord Malmesbury, Memoirs, — c a. Alison, op. cit. — <* H. Tiedemann, article on Holland
in the new •vo\uvaes oith.e Encyclopaedia Britannica. — eEDMONDODE Amicis, L'Olanda — /Wil-
helm MiJLLEE, op. cit.
A GENEKAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE HISTORY OF THE
NETHERLANDS
BASED ON THE WOKKS QUOTED, CITED, OB CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THE
PRESENT HISTORY : "WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Amicis, E. de, Holland and Its People (1880). — Annales Mosellani. — Annales Rodenses. —
Annales Xantenses. — Achery, L. d', Spicilegium, Paris, 1724. — Arend, J. P., Algemeene
gescLiedenis der Vaderlands, Amsterdam, 1855. — Armstrong, E. A., The Emperor Charles V,
London, 1902.
Baarlandt (or Barlandus), Adriaan van. Over de Graven van Holland ; Over de bisschoppen
van Utrecht. — Baerle, K. van, Kerum per octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum,
Amsterdam, 1645. — Bartels, A., Flandres et la revolution. — Baudjurt, W., Memorien, Arnhem,
1624, 2 vols. — Baudiua, D., De induciis belli Belgici libri III, Amsterdam, 1616. — Bavay, C.
de, Du regime de la presse sous I'ancien gouvernment des Pays-Bas. — Beka(Becanus), Johannes,
Chronicon episcoporum Ultrajectensium et comitum Hollandiae, 1393, Utrecht, 1643.
John de Beka, Flemish chronicler, was born at Bois-le-Duc in the beginning of the four-
teenth century. He entered the abbey of Egmont and there consecrated several years to the
direction of a'history of the bishops of Utrecht, which is still consulted. He was the greatest
chronicler of his day.
Bentivoglio, Guido, Delle guerre di Fiandra, Cologne, 1633, 3 vols.; Relationi, Venice,
1633. — Berchem, W. de, De nobili principatu gelrie, Hague, 1870. — Bertrand, Alexandre, ,
Nos Origines, Paris, 1889-1897. —Blok, P. J., Eene Hollandsche stad onder de Bourgonisch Oos-
tenrijksche heerschappij, Hague, 1884; Eene Hollandsche stad in de Middeleeuwen, Hague,
1883 ; Geschiedenis van het nederlandsche volk, Groningen, 1892 ; History of the People of the
Netherlands, translated by Oscar Bierstadt and Ruth Putnam, New York, 1898.
Petrus Johannes Blok, was born in Helder in 1855. After studying in Leyden he became
professor of history at Groningen in 1884 ; was afterwards appointed professor of Dutch history
in the University of Leyden and instructor in history to Queen Wilhelmina. His writmgs are
principally studies of the social and political history of the Netherlands during the Middle Ages.
He is professedly a pupU of Fruin, but his style bears no comparison with that of the master,
being too frequently colorless, hasty, and oblivious of the niceties of the national language.
On the other hand his conscientious "fairness is particularly refreshing after the deluge of parti-
san literature poured hot from Orange-Klaut, Calvinistic, and "liberal" sources.
Bomelius, H., Bellum Trajectinum, 1525.— Bor, P. C, Oorsprongk, begin ende yervolg
der Nederlantscher oorlogen, Amsterdam, 1679. — Brandt, G., Histoire der Reformatie Amster-
dam, 1660-1704,4 vols. — Brill, W. G., Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Leyden, 1863; Oyer
Nederlands herstel, Leyden, 1863, — Brink, R. C. B., van den, Het Nederlandsch Rijksarchiet,
71
72 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NETHEELAXDS
Hague, 1857. — Bruce, J. , Correspondence of Leycester during his Government in the Low Coun.
tries, London, 1844. — Bruyssel, E. van, Histoire du commerce et de la marine en Belgique. — •
Burgundius, W., Historia Belgica, Ingolstadt, 1639. — Butler, C, Life of Grotius, London, 1826.
Caesar, J., De bello gallico. — Campana, C, Delia guerra fatta per difesa de religione. — •
Oarnero, A., Historia de las giierras civiles, 1559-1699, 1612. — Carolus, J., Commentarii. -^
Ohastellain, G., Chronique, Brussels, 1883. — Choart, P., Lettres et Negociations, Leyden,
1846. — Ch5rtraeus, D., Chronicon Saxonise, Leipsic, 1599; Continuatio historica, Leipsic, 1599.
— Conunes, Ph. de, Memoires, 1855. — Cordova, Cabrera de, Felipe Segundo, Madrid, 1619.
Davies, C. M. , History of Holland and the Dutch, London, 1851, 3 vols. — Desroches, J. , HiS'
toire ancienne des Pays-Bas, 1787. — Dottin, G., "La Eeligion des Gaulois," in Revue de Vhis-
toire des Religions, Paris, 1898. — Diisseldorf, F. van, "Annales,"in Werken Hist. Gen., 1894.
— Dynter, E. von, Chronica nobilissimorum ducum Lotharingiae et Brabantiae ac regum Fran-
corum, 1854.
Emmius, U., Historia nostri temporis ; Guihehnus Lodovicus Comes Nassovius, Groningen,
1732.
France, Renon de, Histoire des causes de la desunion, revoltes, et alterations des Pays-
Bas, 1886. — Fresinga, R., Memorien, 1584. — Frcissart, J., Chroniques de Flandres, Paris,
1869. — Fruin, R., Tien Jaren uit den 80 jarigen oorlog, Hague, 1888 ; Geschiedenis der staats-
intellingen in Nederland, Hague, 1901 ; Verspreide geschriften, Hague, 1900.
Robert Fruin, one of the most eminent historical writers of the Netherlands and professor
of Dutch history at the university of Leyden, was born in Rotterdam, November 14th, 1823,
and died in January, 1899, after a brief illness. Unfortunately none of his works has been
translated : this places him beyond the reach of the student unfamiliar with the Dutch language;
and yet a thorough treatment of Dutch history is impossible without some knowledge of the
250 monographs left by Fruin on history in all its branches — military, political, social, finan-
cial, economical, ecclesiastical, and religious. " It is true Professor Fruin founded no school,"
says one of his biographers ; "he ne\er tried to make others adopt his line. His one aim was
to arouse love for his subject and to give a worthy example of devotion and unselfish perform-
ance of the duty in hand. He never urged his own opinions, never made propaganda for cer-
tain principles of instruction. His aim was to present the pros and cons, to collect data whereby
we might give judgment ; and to this watchword he remained true."
Gachard, L. P. (ed,), Actes des Etats Generaux, Brussels, 1849-1866 ; Correspondance de
Guillaume le Taciturne, Brussels, 1847-1866, 6 vols. ; Correspondance de Phillipe II sur les
affaires des Pays-Bas, Brussels, 1848,^5 vols. ; Correspondance de Marguerite d' Autriche avec
Philippe II, Brussels, 1864, 3 vols.; Etudes et notices historiques, 3 vols. — Gallucci, T., Me-
moires, 1736. — Geldenhauer, G., Vita Philippi a Burgundia, 1529. — Gerbrandsoon, J., Chron-
icon Egmundanum ; Chronicon HoUandiae, Antwerp, 1620. — Gerlache, E. C. de, Histoire du
royaume des Pays-Bas, Brussels, 1875, 3 vols. — Glay, E. le, Histoire des comtes de Flandres.
— Grattan, T. C. , History of the Netherlands, London, 1830. — Groot, H. de, Annales et Historia
de rebus Belgicis, Amsterdam, 1657 ; Historia Gothorum, Vandalorum, et Longobardorum,
1654 ; Obsidio Grollae, Amsterdam, 1629 ; Parallelon Rerum Publicarum, Haarlem, 1801-1803 ;
Respublica HoUandiae et urbes, 1630.
Hugo de Groot (Grotius so called), jurisconsult, diplomat, and Dutch historian, was born at
Delft, April 10th, 1583, and died at Rostock, August 28th, 1645. At the age of eight he com-
posed meritorious Latin verses ; at twelve he was a student at the university of Leyden. He
took the degree of doctor of law and entered upon a career as advocate, quitting it in 1608
when the United Provinces appointed him historigrapher. In 1613 he formed one of a deputa-
tion to the court of England, where his name became widely esteemed. During the religious
wrangles in which Olden-Barneveld forfeited his life, Grotius was condemned to life imprison-
ment but was enabled by the ingenuity of his wife to escape to Paris, where he put forth the
remarkable Be jure belli et pads, which established his reputation throughout Europe. He
was offered the post of Swedish ambassador to France, but Richelieu's ill will prevented his
succeeding there, and he obtained his recall. After taking leave of the Swedish court he was
shipwrecked near Dantzic. He never recovered from the exposure, dying upon his arrival at
Rostock.
Guise, J. de, Annales Hannoniae, 1390. — Guyon, F. de, Memoires, 1858. — Giustiniani,
P., Delle guerre di Fiandra, 1609.
Haer, Floris van der, De initiis tumultuum Belgicorum, Duaci, 1587 ; Les Chastelains de
Lille, 1611. — Heda, Wilhelmus, Chronique, 1642. — Heelu, J., Rijmkronijk, Brussels, 1836. —
Hemricourt, J. de, Miroir des Nobles et Werre d'Awaus et de Waroux, 1791. — Herberghen,
H. van. Coup d'oeil sur le royaume des Pays-Bas. — Heuter, P.. Rerum burgundicarum libri
VI, 1689. — Hocsem, Johannes, Historiae et res gestae pontificum Leodiensium. — Holzwarth,
WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
73
Abfall der. Niederlande, Scliaffhausen, 1865.— Hooft, C. P., Memorienen Adviezen Utrecht
1871. — Hooft, P. C, Nederlandsche Historien, Amsterdam, 1642-1654, 3 vols. — Hoppers J '
Kecueil et memorial des troubles des Pays-Bas. — Huguerze, M. de la, Memoires. — Huvgens
C, De terns ccelistibus, earumque ornatu, conjectur£e, Groningen, 1893; Memoires Haeue'
1883.— Huyter, P. de, Rerum Burgundicarum libri sex; Rerum Belgicarum libri qu'indecim'
Antwerp, 1598. '
Isselt, Michael ab, Historia belli civilis Coloniensis ; Historia sui temporis, Cologne 1603 •
Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus, Cologne, 1593. ' '
Jonckbloet, W. J. A. (ed.), Les romans de la Charrette, Hague, 1850 ; Roman van Karel
den Grooten, Leyden, 1844. — Jottrand, L., La question Flamande, Brussels, 1875. —Juste
Theodore, Histoire des Beiges, Paris, 1894, 3 vols. ; Histoire de la Revolution Pays-Bas Brus-
sels, 1860, 4 vols. ; La Revolution Beige, Brussels, 1872, 3 vols. '
Theodore Juste, Belgian historian, was born at Brussels, January 11th, 1818 ; died at the
same place in 1888. In 1859 he was appointed instructor in general history to' the militarv
schools. He was the most prolific among the historians of his country, but his work, both in
matter and manner, is very unequal. Here he gives himself up entirely to generalities, there
he gets lost in infinite details. He makes laudable endeavours to remain impartial, but frequently
succeeds only in being impassive. Yet it must not be forgotten that Juste, more than any
other Netherlandish writer, has given enormous impetus to the national taste for history in the
Netherlands.
EalflF, J., Onze banken van leening, 1849. — Keverberg, M. de, Du Royaume des Pays-Bas
1834. — Khevenhiller, F. von, Annales Ferdinandei, Leipsic, 1640. '
Lalaing, E. de, Memoires, 1583. — Leo, H., Zw5lf Biicher Niederlandischer Geschichten,
Halle, 1833. — Lettenhove, Kervijn de, Les Huguenots et les Gueux, Bruges, 1883-1885)
6 vols.
Maerlant, J. van, Spieghel Historiael (1283), Leyden, 1784-1785, Amsterdam, 1812.—
Marche, O. de la, Memoires, 1851. — Mark, R. de la, Memoires, 1753. — Meerbeeck, A. van,
Chronycke, Antwerp, 1620. — Memoires sur I'histoire de Belgique et des Pays-Bas (pub. by
Belgian Government). — Mendo9a, Bernardine de, Commentarios, Paris, 1591, — Meteren
E. van, Belgische of Nederlantsche Historie, Delft, 1599. — Meursius, J., Rerum Belgicarum
libri IV ; Induciarum historia ; Guilielmus Auriacus. — Meyer, Jacob de, Historische Kronijk
van Nederlandsche, Indie, 1825 ; Rerum Flandricarum Annales, Antwerp, 1561. — Moke, H. G.,
Histoire de la Belgique, Ghent, 1843 ; Moeurs des Beiges, 1849, 3 vols. — Mondoucet, C. de,'
Lettres et Negociations, Paris, 1891, 3 vols. — Monstrelet, E, de, Chronique, Paris, 1857-1 863^
6 vols. — Monumenta, Germaniaj, 1875. — Mornay, Duplessis, Memoires, Paris, 1824, 13 vols!
— Motley, J. L., History of the United Netherlands, New York, 1879, 4 vols. ; Rise of the
Dutch Republic, New York, 1879, 3 vols. ; Life and Death of John of Barneveld New York
1874.
John Lothrop Motley was born April 15th, 1814, at Dorchester, Mass. ; was graduated at
Harvard, and after a period of European travel returned to study law in America, where he
was ultimately admitted to the bar. In 1841 he was made secretary of legation to the Russian
mission ; but resigned in a few months, having definitely resolved on a literary career. He
spent years in the laborious investigation of the archives preserved at Berlin, Dresden, Brus-
sels, and the Hague, and his historical works are everywhere recognised as painstaking and
scholarly ; embodying an enormous amount of original research, with full attention to the char-
acter of the actors and strict fidelity to the details of the stirring scenes which he depicts.
From a literary point of view Motley is perhaps the most brilliant of American historical writ-
ers ; but while all acknowledge his superiority as a stylist, and his influence in instigating the
Dutch scholars to the development of their own resources, a number of modern historian con-
sider him more brilliant than trustworthy, declaring that he was not without partisanship, and
that he cultivated his imagination to the detriment of his historical perception. But such
criticism is made of every great chronicler, and on the whole America has no historian of
superior dignity. The last volumes of the History of the United Netherlands were published
in 1868, at which time the author held the post of United States minister at Vienna. Ill health
interfered seriously with the continuation of his literary labors towards the close of his career,
and on the 29th of May, 1877, he died at Kingston Russell House near Dorchester, England.
MuUer, P. L. (ed.), Documents, 1889. — Muller, S., Mare Clausum ; Documents; Bella
Campestria.
Nijhoflf, I. A., Gedenkwaardigheden uit de geschiedenis van Gelderland, 1833. — Nuyens,
A., Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche beroerten der 16de eeuw Amsterdam, 1865-70, 4 vols. —
Olden-Barneveld, J. van, Gedenkstukken, Hague, 1860. — Out-goutsch Chronycxhen.
Author unknown, Amsterdam, 1663.
74 BIBLIOGEAPHY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
Paridaens, F., Souvenirs nationaux. — Fay en, Pontus, Memoires, — Petit, J. F. le, Grande
clironique ancienne et moderne, Dordrecht, 1601, 2 vols. ; Nederlandts Ghemeenebeste, Arnliem,
1615. — Plot, C. (ed.), Chroniques de Brabant et de Flandre, 1879 ; Histoire de Louvain. —
Pirenne, H., Geschichte Belgiens, Gotha, 1899-1902. — Polain, M. L., Histoire de I'ancien
pays de Liege, 1866. — Potter, M. de. Souvenirs Personnels. — Praet, J. van, Histoire de la
Flandre. — Prescott, W. H. , Philip II, Philadelphia, 1891,3 vols. — Prinsterer, Groen van,
Geschiedenis van het Vaderland, Leyden, 1846 ; Archives ou Correspondance inedite de la
Maison Orange-Nassau. — Procurator (Gulielmus), Continuation Annales Egmundani to 1332.
Ram, P. F. X. de, Collection des chroniques beiges, 1858. — Rapsaet, Histoire des etats
generaux. — Reiffenberg, F. A., Monuments pour servir a I'histoire de Namur, Hainaut, etc.,
1837-1830. — Renard, M., Histoire politique et militaire de la Belgique. — Reyd, E. van, His-
torie der Nederlantschen oorlogen begin ende voortganck Arnhem, 1626 ; Oonsprong en voort-
gang van de Nederlandsche oorlogen, Arnhem, 1626, Amsterdam, 1647-1665. — Reygersberch,
J., Crqnycke van Zeelandt, 1551. — Rioust, M. N., Du pouvoir des princes sur les Eglises de
leurs fitats. — Rogers, J. E. Thorold, Holland, Boston, 1894. — Royal Chronicles of Cologne.
Schayes, A. G, B., Histoire de I'architecture en Belgique, 1830 ; Les Pays-Bas avant et
durant la domination Romaine, 1834. — Schiller, J. C. Fr. von, History of the Revolt of the
Netherlands, (trans, by A. J. W. Morrison, New York, 1860). — Scribanius, C, Veridicus Bel-
gicus, Antwerp, 1624. — Seversen, J., Divisiekronick. — Stoke, Melis, Rijmkronijk, Amsterdam,
1591, Leyden, 1772.
Melis Stohe, a Dutch writer of rhymed chronicles, lived at Utrecht during the latter years
of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth. He was a scribe and attache
to Count Floris V. Little is known of his history. He published a rhymed chronicle treating
of events in Holland from 885 to 1305, which was printed for the first time at Amsterdam,
in 1591. Small confidence can be placed in the actuality of events recorded in this chroni-
cle, and the commentaries added by Huydecoper to his edition of 1772 are equally open to doubt.
The versification, well sustained throughout, is musical but devoid of rhetorical ornament,
adhering to simple narrative. The early part is brief, often obscure ; but with the beginning
of the reign of Floris V, the details become fuller, and the description graphic and vigorous.
Strada, Famianus, De bello belgico decades duae, Rome, 1682, 2 vols. — Buffridus, P., De
Frisiorum antiquitate et origine, 1590 ; De scriptoribus Frisiae, 1593.
Tacitus, P. C, Germania. — Taxis, J. B., Commentarii. — Teylingen, A. van, Opkomste
der Nederlantsche beroerten, Munster, 1642. — Thaborita, P., Historie van Vriesland, 1828. —
Thorbecke, J. R., Historische Schetsen, 1872. — Tjaarda, W., Chronicorum Frisiae libri III,
Leeuw, 1850 — Trigland, J., Kerkelijke Geschiedenissen, Leyden, 1650. — Trithemius, J.,
Chronicon Belgicum Magnum, Berlin, 1887. — Trosee, Het Verraad van George de Lalaing,
Bois-le-Duc, 1894. — Turenne, H. de la Tour, Memoires, 1756.
Uyttenbogaert, J., Kerkelicke Historie, 1646.
Vere, Francis, Commentaries, Cambridge, 1657. — Vervou, F. van, Aanteekeningen ter St.
Gen ; Eenige gedenkwaardige geschiedenissen, 1841. — Vynckt, L. J. J. van der. Troubles des
Pays-Bas, Brussels, 1765.
Wadding^on, A., Republique des Provinces Unies, 1897. — Wagenaar, J. , Vaderlandsche
Historie, Amsterdam, 1749, 2 vols. ; Onmiddellijk vervolg, Amsterdam, 1788, 3 vols. —
Wargny, M. de, Esquisses historiques de la revolution de la Belgique. — Warnkoenig, L.
A., Flandrische Staats-und Rechtsgeschichte, Tilbingen, 1835; Warnkoenig, L. U., and Ger-
ard, P. A. F., HLstoire des Carolingiens, Brussels, 1862. — Wenzelburger, Geschichte der Nie-
derlande, Gotha, 1879, 2 vols. — Wesenbeke, J. de, Correspondance avec le Prince d'Orange,
Utrecht, 1896. — Williams, Roger, Memoires, 1864. — Wind, S. de, Bijzonderheden uit de
geschiedenis van het strafrecht in de Nederlanden, 1827. — Winsem, P. van, Chronique ofte
Historische Gescjiedenissen van Friesland, Francker, 1622 ; Historiarum per Frisiam Gestarum
libri quatuor, Leeu warden, 1629, 2 vols.
Yeats, J., Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce, 1789. — Young, A., History of the Nether-
lands, Boston, 1884.
A CHKONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY OF THE HISTOEY OF
THE NETHEELAXDS
PERIOD OF ROMAN, FRANKISH, AND SAXON INVASIONS
(28 B.C.-843 A.D.)
B.C. 15 Gallia Belgica becomes a separate province under an imperial governor.
A.D. 28-47 Roman conquest of Frisians.
70 Claudius Civilis, the " Mitbridates of the West," unites Celts and Teutons in a vain effort
to expel tbe Romans from Gaul.
280 Tbe Franks (Ripuarians) occupy tbe country.
358 Tbe Franks are given Toxandria.
406 Tbe Franks aid Rome to defeat tbe barbarians.
429 Tbe Salians from Dispargum (or Disiburg) win at Cambray.
451 Tbe Franks take part in tbe battle of Cbalons against tbe Huns.
481-511 Clovis in power. Tbe Saxons move in.
623-32 Dagobert I founds tbe first Christian cburcb.
693 Pepin of Heristal conquers King Radbod.
695 Willibrod tbe first bisbop.
700 Independent dukedoms arise, Brabant the chief.
719 Radbod dies.
754 Charles Martel conquers Radbod's son Poppo.
755 St. Boniface liilled by tbe Frisians.
785 Cbarlemagne crushes Frisians and Saxons,
843 Treaty of Verdun divides up the Netherlands.
EARLY HISTORY OF HAINAULT
During Caesar's time this county is inhabited by tbe Nervii, and does not get its name
until the seventh century. In tbe eleventh the Baldwins of Flanders are its rulers under
the title " Count of Flanders and Hainault." Hainault continues with Flanders until
it falls to the house of Burgundy in 1436.
EARLY HISTORY OF BRABANT
Godfrey the Bearded, first count of Brabant, flourishes in the early part of the twelfth
century. His great-grandson, Henry (I) the Warrior,
1190 changes tbe title of count for that of duke.
1235 Henry (II) the Magnanimous succeeds.
1248 Henry (in) the Debonair.
1261 His heir is set aside by John (I) the Victorious, his brother.
1288 Henry of Luxemburg killed at the battle of Woeringen.
1404 Brabant is united with Flanders.
1430 Tbe duchy passes to the house of Burgundy.
75
76 THE HISTORY OF THE XETHEELANDS
EARLY HISTORY OF GELDERLAND
Batavians and Chamavians, Saxons and Franks, mingle in the original population of
Gelderland. There seems to be no logical connection between the line of counts
governing under the Carlovingian kings and that of which Count Otto (end of the
tenth century) is a representative.
1096 A charter signed by Gerhard of Gelderland. Gerhard II took to wife Ermgard of
Zutphen.
1131 Their son Henry becomes ruler over both inheritances.
1182 Otto I, his son, succeeds.
1207 Death of Otto ; succession of Gerhard m.
1229 Death of Gerhard ; succession of Otto II.
1271 Reinald I succeeds, and during his reign Limburg is seized by Brabant.
1326 Reinald II follows and is made "duke " of Gelderland.
1339 Reinald III succeeds ; quarrels with his brother Edward.
1371 Death of Reinald. Contest between rival factions.
1378 A decision in favour of William, nephew of the late duke.
1402 He dies and is succeeded by his son Reinald IV, who dies childless.
1423 Arnold, his grand-nephew, succeeds. Civil war between him and his son Adolphus.
Charles the Bold of Burgundy, purchases the duchy from Arnold.
1473 Arnold dies and Charles of Burgundy is established as duke of Gelderland.
EARLY HISTORY OF FRIESLAND
The history of the Frisians is largely legendary, until a.d. 28, when we hear of them as
at strife with the Romans.
689 Battle of Dorstadt. Radbod is driven from West Friesland ; but returns to defeat
Charles Martel. He is succeeded by Aldegild II, who is also driven out of West
Friesland by the Franks.
754 Poppo, last independent prince of the Frisians, defeated by Charles Martel. Charle-
magne grants the Frisians many concessions. During his reign their country is divided
into West, Middle, and East Frisia.
843 Treaty of Verdun again changes the boundaries.
880 The whole country is reunited with Germany.
911 Frisia adheres to Conrad, king of the East, while Lorraine follows Charles king of the
West. The history of West Frisia is gradually merged with that of Holland, Dirk I,
first count of Holland, being the son of Gerulf, count of Frisia.
EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS
864 Baldwin Forester or Iron Arm, marries the daughter of Charles the Bald, and is
acknowledged by him as governor of the countship of Flanders ; he dies in
878 and is succeeded by his son Baldwin the Bald.
918 Death of Baldwin and succession of his son Arnold, during whose reign the first weavers
and fullers of Ghent are estabhshed.
989 Baldwin IV, son of Arnold, succeeds and adds to his realm Valenciennes, Walcheren, and
the islands of Zealand.
1036 His son, Baldwin V, succeeds.
1067 Baldwin VI succeeds and brings Hainault into the control of Flanders.
1093 Succession of Robert II, the crusader. His death and the death of his son, Baldwin VII,
in
1119 end the old line of Flemish counts, and the power falls to Charles the Good of Denmark,
1137 He is assassinated by the merchants of Bruges, who are in revenge tortured to death y
the people. Six claimants dispute the throne, the nobility electing William of Nor-
mandy. He is opposed by Count Thierry of Alsace, who overthrows and kills him and
who in
1128 is acknowledged legitimate ruler. Rise of the Belgium communes.
1168 Thierry dies, leaving his crown to his son Philip of Alsace.
1191 His brother-in-law, Baldwin of Hainault, succeeds and yields extensive territories to
France.
1195 Succession of Baldwin IX, who leaves the government to his brother Philip and goes to
found the Latin Empire at Constantinople.
1214 Battle of Bouvines.
1279 In default of heirs, Hainault goes to John of Avenues, and Flanders to Guy de Dampierre.
cheo:n"ologtcal summaey 77
1288 Battle of Woeringen.
1297 Pope Boniface VIII called to arbitrate between Guy and tbe French king.
1300 Guy and his sons imprisoned by Philip of France.
1301 Philip confiscates Flanders.
1302 The " Bruges Matins," during which three thousand two hundred French are massacred.
Battle of Courtrai (battle of the Spurs).
1305 Death of Guy in prison and release of his son Robert of Bethune upon his signing a con-
tract detrimental to Flanders.
1328 Death of the old count at the age of eighty-two. He is succeeded by his grandson, Louis
of Nevers or of Orecy. The communes defeated at Cassel.
1385 The peace between France and England broken and the Flemish provinces dragged anew
into a European war. Jacob van Artevelde puts himself at the head of the people.
1345 He is beset and murdered upon his return from a journey to Bruges.
1346 Death of Count Louis on the field of Crecy. His sixteen-year-old son Louis of Male suc-
ceeds.
1357 The duke of Brabant cedes Antwerp and Mechlin to Louis.
1369 Lille, Douai, Bethune, Hesdin, and Orchies ceded by France.
1382 Battle of Roosebeke.
1384 Death of Louis, last of the house of Dampierre. With Philip of Burgundy, his son-in-
law, was to begin a new order of things.
1404 Death of Philip. Succession of John cf Burgundy (the Fearless).
1431 Assassination of John. Accession of Philip, his son.
THE COUNTS OF HOLLAND (843-1299)
Charles the Simple bestows Egmond and its dependencies on Dirk I, who dies in or about
923 and is succeeded by his son Dirk n, who is in turn succeeded in
988 by his son Arnold. Arnold is killed in battle in
993 and is succeeded by his twelve-year-old son Dirk HI, with Luitgarde as regent.
1010 Last Norman invasion of the Netherlands.
1015 Dirk builds and fortifies Dordrecht.
1039 Death of Dirk III and succession of Dirk IV, who in
1049 is assassinated. He is succeeded by his brother, Floris L
1061 Death of Floris. Succeeded by his infant son under guardianship of Gertrude of Saxony,
who in
1063 marries Robert of Flanders and confers on him the government of the country during her
son's minority.
1091 Death of Dirk V j succession of Floris H, the Fat.
1121 Death of Floris ; succession of Dirk VI, a child under the guardianship of his mother
Petronella, who continues the struggle against Germany.
1125 End of the enmity between the emperors of Germany and the counts of Holland, upon the
election of Lothair to the throne of Germany.
1157 Death of Dirk VI ; succession of Floris HI.
1165 Philip of Flanders defeats and captures Count Floris.
1167 He is released and reinstated.
1170 Holland swept by a great flood.
1187 Floris departs for the Crusades and dies of a pestilence.
1191 Dirk VH succeeds. He engages in disastrous wars.
THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
1203 Death of Dirk. His daughter Ada succeeds ; William, the dead count's brother, succeeds
in replacing Ada.
1214 William participates in the defeat at Bouvines.
1217 He sets sail for the Holy Land, but goes to the assistance of Portugal, besieges Damietta,
and returns to Holland, dying
1224 Floris IV, aged twelve years, succeeds his father.
1235 He is slain by the count de Clermont. His son, William II, under the governorship of
his brother Otto III, bishop of Utrecht, succeeds.
1248 William is crowned king of Germanv.
1256 He is killed in battle against the Frieslanders ; and Floris V, then an infant, succeeds
under the governorship of his uncle Floris.
1296 Floris is murdered, and his son John I, a minor, succeeds under a divided regency.
1299 Death of the last of the counts of Holland. The count of Hainault recognised as the heir
under the title of John U.
78 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
THE HOUSE OF HAINAULT (1299-1356)
THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
1303 Zealand ceded to Flanders.
1304 The count abdicates in favour of liis son William, and dies. His son succeeds as William
ni.
1323 Flanders releases Holland from homage for the Zealand islands.
1337 Succession of William IV.
1345 He declares war against Utrecht, and later against the Frieslanders, by whom he is
defeated and killed. His sister Margaret succeeds. She is recalled to Bavaria and
leaves the administration to her second son William.
1349 Dissensions arising between mother and son, two parties are formed, that of William
being known as the "cods," that of Margaret as the "hooks." The struggle ends
1354 with an agreement by which William retains Holland, Zealand, and Friesland under the
title of William V, while Margaret receives a pension and the possession of Hainault.
1359 Albert, the count's younger brother, assumes the government upon evidence of William's
hopeless insanity.
1379 Death of the mad count.
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
1404 Death of Count Albert ; succession of his son William VI ; violent altercations between
the cod and the hook parties. Hollanders lose Friesland.
1417 Death of William, and succession of his daughter Jacqueline, whose claim is disputed by
her paternal uncle John of Bavaria until his death by poison.
1425 He having named Philip of Burgundy as rightful successor, the latter keeps up the war
against the countess, and succeeds in wresting from her, by the Reconciliation of Delft,
1428 the administration of all her states.
1434 Complete abdication and
1436 death of Jacqueline, leaving her territories to the undisputed possession of Philip duke
of Burgundy.
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY (1436-1493)
Philip of Burgundy, after purchasing the title of the duchess of Luxemberg to her estate,
now governs over an area about equal to that of the existing kingdoms of Holland and
Belgium.
1436 Philip declares war against England.
1440 The Dutch and Flemings capture Hanseatic fleet ; twelve years' truce declared.
1467 Succession of Charles the Bold, who has already held for some time the office of stad-
holder-general of Holland.
1468 Alliance with Edward IV of England against France.
1476 Charles defeated by the Swiss at the battle of Morat.
1477 Battle of Nancy. Charles loses both the battle and his life, leaving all his powers to his
eighteen-year-old daughter Mary. The congress meets at Ghent, February 3rd, and
the result of its deliberations is the formal grant, on February llth, by the duchess
Mary, of the " Great Privilege." August 18th of the same year she marries Maximilian,
son of the emperor of Germany, and dies.
1482 Maximilian is imprisoned at Bruges.
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER THE EMPIRE (1493-1609)
1493 Maximilian succeeds to the imperial throne, and in
1494 appoints his son Philip the Fair to the governorship of the Netherlands.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
1506 Death of Philip. Maximilian names his daughter Margaret govemante.
1510 War with the Hanseatic towns.
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 79
1515 Charles, having attained his fifteenth year, is inaugurated duke of Brabant and count of
Flanders and Holland.
1519 Election of Charles V to the empire.
1527 The bishop of Utrecht cedes to the emperor the whole of his temporal power.
1528 The duke of Gelderland lays down his arms.
1529 Peace of Cambray.
1540 Ghent severely punished for rebellion.
1543 Acquisition of Friesland and Gelderland by Charles.
1555 Charles abdicates at Brussels; Philip U succeeds.
1559 Philip sails for Spain. Margaret, duchess of Parma, a regent.
1562 Conspiracy for the overthrow of Granvella, the king's overseer in the Netherlands. The
regent joins her voice to the protests sent to Philip. Granvella removed.
1564 Wigele is appointed in his stead. Fresh indignities are perpetrated and Philip proclaims
the furious decree of the council of Trent.
1566 Establishment of the Inquisition in the Netherlands. Certain dissenting noblemen meet
at the baths of Spa, and the foundations for the Compromise of February are laid. The
image-breaking riot and the sack of the Antwerp cathedral follow.
Alva's Reign op Terror (1567-1573)
1567 The prince of Orange retires into Germany, and the confederacy is dispersed. Alva sets
out to conquer by force of arms. Arrest of Egmont and Horn. Philip establishes the
bloody " council of Troubles."
1568 Philip signs the death-warrant of all the Netherlanders as heretics. Execution of Egmont
and Horn. The prince of Orange opens his campaign.
1573 The Sea Beggars take Briel. Nearly all the important cities raise the standard of the
deliverer. Louis of Nassau takes Mons, which is later recovered by the Spaniards.
The states-general assemble at Dordrecht July 15th.
1573 The siege of Haarlem. Decline of Alva's fortunes. He is recalled December 15th and
Requesens takes his place.
William of Orange Triumphant (1574-1584)
1574 Spanish fleet is defeated off Middelburg by Boisot. Middelburg after two years' siege
yields to the patriots. Spaniards leave off siege of Leyden. Avila defeats and kills
Louis of Nassau at Mooker Heath. His soldiers mutiny and take Antwerp as security
for three years' back pay. Spaniards resume siege of Leyden. Boisot defeats Spanish
fleet near Antwerp. Orange has the dikes broken to let the sea round Leyden. Boisot
appears before Leyden with a fleet. Spaniards besiege Zieriksee. Leyden relieved.
The dikes are rebuilt. The university of Leyden founded in commemoration.
1575 Holland and Zealand form an alliance.
1576 Requesens dies. Zieriksee surrenders. Spanish mutineers seize Alost ; seize council.
The patriots hold a congress at Ghent. Spaniards by using women as shields take
Maestricht. Spanish mutineers sack and destroy Antwerp. " The Spanish Fury,"
November 4th. Don John of Austria replaces Requesens. The congress signs the
" Pacification of Ghent," an alliance against Spain ; all the provinces accept it.
1577 Union of Brussels signed. Don John signs " the Perpetual Edict." WUliam of Orange
enters Brussels and is made governor or ruward.
1578 The states make an alliance with England. Alessandro of Parma crushes patriot army at
Gembloux. Don John dies and is succeeded by Alessandro of Parma.
1579 Patriots sign the Union of Utrecht. Parma besieges Maestricht.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE REPUBLIC
1579 Egmont's son taken as a traitor. Parma sacks Maestricht. Hembyze seizes the govern-
ment of Ghent. Orange restores order. Renneberg sells Mechlin to Spain.
1580 The provinces declare independence. The states of Holland offer sovereignty to Orange.
Patriots routed at Hardenberg Heath. Philip offers a reward for the assassination of
William of Orange.
1581 William of Orange accepts temporarily the sovereignty of the provinces. Renneberg's
troops defeated. He dies. The act of Abjuration and Declaration of Independence
published. Five of the provinces elect the duke of Alengon and Anjou ; two elect
80 THE HISTOEY OF THE XETHEELANDS
Orange. The seven unite against Spain. Anjou forces Parma to retire from Cambray.
Parma takes Tournay.
1582 Anjou is inaugurated at Antwerp. Orange wounded by an assassin. Parma takes
Oudenarde. Orange accepts full sovereignty of Holland under a constitution, "The
Great Privilege of the Lady Mary."
1583 Anjou's plot to seize Antwerp fails.
1584 Two attempts made on Orange's life. Anjou dies. William of Orange killed by an
assassin.
Paktiai, Independence (1584-1609)
1584 Maurice of Orange succeeds his father.
1585 Parma takes Antwerp after a year of siege. Deputies offer sovereignty to France and
England. Elizabeth declines, but sends troops under Leicester.
1586 Spaniards beaten near Zutphen. Sir Philip Sidney killed.
1587 Leicester recalled because of his unpopularity.
1588 The Dutch greatly hamper the Spanish armada.
1589 English garrison surrenders Gertruydenberg to Parma.
1591 Maurice takes Breda, Zutphen, Nimeguen, etc.
1593 Parma dies.
1593 Maurice takes Gertruydenberg.
1594 Maurice takes Groningen, last Spanish stronghold. Archduke Ernest succeeds Parma.
Two attempts on Maurice's life fail.
1595 Archduke Ernest dies ; succeeded by Fuentes, who takes Cambray and is replaced by
Archduke Albert, who wins battles against France. The Dutch make explorations,
and colonise.
1596 Dutch and English fleet sacks Cadiz. Dutch form the India Company.
1597 Maurice defeats Spaniards at Turnhout and takes many cities.
1598 French and Spanish war ended by Treaty of Vervins. Philip II cedes the Netherlands
and Burgundy to Albert and Isabella. Albert crowned at Brussels. Philip II dies.
1599 Maurice takes Bommel. Spanish troops mutiny.
1600 Maurice defeats Albert and Mendoza near Nieuport.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
1601 Maurice takes Rheinberg, but fails before Bois-le-Duc. Albert begins a three years' siege
of Ostend.
1604 Maurice takes Sluys.
1605 A Dutch fleet defeats the Spanish and pursues them into Dover. Spinola takes towns in
Overyssel and defeats Maurice at Ruhrort. The Dutch defeat a Spanish fleet off Mala-
bar.
1606 Dutch fleet routed off Cape St. Vincent.
1607 Dutch fleet under Heemskerk defeat Spaniards at Gibraltar. Spaniards make proposals
of peace.
1608 Congress at the Hague.
1609 Twelve-years Treaty of Antwerp signed. Spain recognises Holland's independence.
Complete Independence (1609-1648)
1610 War between Cleves and Jiilich. Maurice takes Jiilich and ends the war. Arminius dies,
leaving fierce religious dissensions, taking shape of two parties, Remonstrants and
Counter-remonstrants.
1616 The towns held as security by England bought back.
1617 Riots at Amsterdam and the Hague. Maurice seizes Briel and overthrows
1618 government of Nimeguen, arrests Barneveld, Grotius, etc. ; deposes many town-govern-
ments. Synod of Dordrecht meets.
1619 Expels remonstrants; tries and condemns Barneveld, who is executed. Grotius imprisoned
for life. Thirty Years' War begins.
1620 Persecution of remonstrants.
1621 Grotius escapes from prison. Twelve-years truce ends. War with Spain begins.
1622 Spinola takes Jiilich by siege, but is repulsed at Bergen-op-Zoom.
1623 Plot to assassinate Maurice fails.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 81
1624 Treaty with France and England. Dutch build Xew Amsterdam (New York) in America.
1625 Maurice dies and is succeeded by his brother Frederick Henry. The Spaniards take
Breda.
1627 Frederick Henry takes Groenlo. Piet Heyn defeats Spanish fleet.
1628 Piet Heyn takes Spanish treasure fleet near Havana.
1629 Piet Heyn killed while capturing Dunkirk pirates. Frederick besieges Bois-le-Duc, and
takes it. Part of Holland flooded to frustrate the Spaniards.
1630 Dutch victories in the West Indies.
1631 Frederick Henry besieges Dunkirk, but is recalled. Dutch fleet wins near Tholen.
Frederick's three-year-old son declared his successor as stadholder. Grotius returns
and is rebanished.
1633 Frederick besieges Maestricht, and beats off Pappenheim at Meerssen ; Maestricht and
Limburg surrender. Spain makes overtures of peace.
1634 Dutch found colony at Curasao. Alliance made with France.
1635 French allies win at Avein.
1637 Spaniards take Venlo and Roermond. Frederick takes Breda. Dutch defeat Portuguese
in Brazil. The era of tulipo-mania.
1638 Frederick takes Calloo and Verrebroek, but is defeated at Liefkenshoek and Geldern.
1639 Van Tromp defeats the Spaniards in the Downs.
1640 Dutch win at Nassau. Lose at Moervaert.
1641 Frederick's son married to princess royal of England.
1643 Dutch win a skirmish at Bergen-op-Zoom.
1647 Frederick Henry dies ; succeeded by his son William II.
1648 Peace proclaimed with Spain, which acknowledges complete independence of the United
Provinces, in the Treaty of Miinster.
Entanglements in European Politics (1648-1715)
The French overrun Spanish Netherlands.
1649 English parliament's ambassador to Holland assassinated.
1650 Prince William arrests Admiral de Witt, but is forced to release him. Contest between
prince and the states ends in the prince being frustrated at Amsterdam. He dies and
is succeeded by his son William m.
1651 The " great assembly " meets, English parhament passes the Navigation Act and seizes
Dutch ships.
1652 War with England begins by an encounter between Blake and Tromp off Dover. Tromp
succeeded by De Ruyter, who defeats Ayscue off Plymouth, and fights Blake and
Ayscue. Blake fights De Ruyter off Kent. Van Galen defeats the English near Leg-
horn in Mediterranean. Tromp, reinstated, defeats Blake off Goodwin Sands.
1653 Tromp in three days' battle with superior force saves his convoy. Tromp defeated by
Monk off Nieupo'rt. Tromp fights drawn battle with Monk off Scheveningen. Holland
proposes peace, and forms an alliance with Denmark.
1654 Disadvantageous peace made with England and prince of Orange excluded from stadhol-
dership. Dutch driven out of Brazil.
1655 War between Denmark and Sweden.
1656 Dutch raise siege of Dantzic. Don John of Austria governor of Spanish Netherlands.
Brief naval war with French privateers.
1657 Sweden and Denmark at war. Dutch defeat Swedish fleet in the Sound,
1659 Dutch aid in capture of Nyborg. Dutch crush Algerine pirates. Treaty of the Pyrenees
gives Louis XIV large parts of Spanish Netherlands.
1660 Dutch blockade Swedish fleet in Landskrona. Peace arranged. Charles II of England
restored and welcomed in Holland. Act of exclusion against Orange repealed.
1662 Treaty with Brazil. Charles I's judges dehvered to England.
1664 English take many Dutch possessions. De Ruyter captures English ships and forts in
the West Indies.' Charles II seizes one hundred and thirty Dutch vessels and lays an
embargo.
1665 England declares war. Obdam defeated and killed in naval battle off Lowestoft. Tromp
in command, superseded by De Ruyter. De Witt takes command. Bishop Galen of
Miinster declares war and invades the United Provinces. Louis XIV of France sends
troops to aid the Provinces.
1666 Peace with Miinster arranged. France declares war on England. De Ruyter and Tromp
defeat Monk and Prince Rupert in a great naval battle off the North Foreland. Monk
defeats De Ruyter near Ostend. English burn 160 Dutch merchantmen in the Vlie.
1667 Peace conference fails. De Ruyter takes Sheerness and burns it. De Ruyter burns Eng-
lish war-ships at Chatham. De Ruyter enters the Thames and retires. Peace with
England. Louis XIV invades the Spanish Netherlands, which ask aid of the United
Provinces. The Perpetual Edict passed.
H. W. — VOL. XIV. G
82 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
1668 Peace of Aix-la-Cliapelle.
1669 Charles II treacherously joins France in a plot to crush the United Provinces.
1671 Charles tries to force Holland to insult the flag.
1673 The states-general appoint William, prince of Orange, captain-general. English under
Holmes attack Dutch Smyrna fleet without warning, and are repulsed. England and
France declare war on the states-general. French army invades Holland and takes
various cities. Amsterdam opens the dikes. De Ruyter defeats English fleet in the
battle of South wold Bay (Solebay). Perpetual Edict revoked; Orange made stadholder.
The De Witts massacred by populace. Elector of Brandenburg and emperor of Ger-
many join the United Provinces. Duke of Luxemburg aids the Provinces.
1673 Bishops of Miinster and Cologne defeated at Groningen and retire. Tromp and De Ruyter
defeat English and French. De Euyter defeats English fleet. De Ruyter defeats Eng-
lish and French invading fleet in the Texel. The French take Maestricht. Orange
recaptures Naarden.
1674 England makes peace with Holland. Bishops of Miinster and Cologne make peace. The
French capture cities. Orange fights a drawn battle at Seneffe with Conde ; then takes
Grave and Huy. De Ruyter repulsed at Martinique. Tromp lands on Belle-Ile.
1675 Conde takes Dinant, Huy, and Limburg.
1676 Orange fails to take Maestricht. De Ruyter fights two naval battles with the French and
is killed in the second. Orange deposes government of Middelburg.
1677 Orange defeated at St. Omer and Cassel. Orange besieges Charleroi but is repulsed.
Orange marries Mary, daughter of James duke of York (James II of England).
1678 Peace with France signed at Nimeguen. Orange, in spite of peace, attacks French at
Mons.
1681 Louis XIV breaks the peace ; Orange raises a confederacy against him.
1684 The French take Luxembiirg.
1685 Orange aids in Monmouth's invasion of England,
1686 League of Augsburg formed against France.
1688 William of Orange lands in England.
1689 William and Mary proclaimed sovereigns of England. Louis XIV declares war.
1690 Dutch under Waldeck defeated at Fleurus. Dutch and English fleets beaten at Beachy
Head.
1691 Mons taken by the French. Waldeck beaten at Leuze.
1693 Dutch and English fleets defeat French at La Hogue. Maximilian of Bavaria governor
of Spanish Netherlands.
1693 French win at Furnes and Dixmude, Maestricht, Huy, Neerwmden, Charleroi ; and lose at
Landen. Dutch fleets defeated at Cape St. Vincent.
1694 Dutch and English fleets bombard French coast.
1695 Queen Mary dies. William takes Namur by siege.
1697 William takes Ath. French capture Dutch fleet. Treaty of Ryswick signed.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1701 Dutch garrisons made prisoners by the French. William dies.
1703 War declared against France. Duke of Marlborough commands allied troops and gains
many victories.
1703 Marlborough takes Bonn. Obdam loses at Eckeren. Deputies of the states-general pre-
vent Marlborough attacking the French in their lines between the Mehaigne and Maas.
1704 Marlborough wins many battles, including Blenheim. Dutch and English take Gibraltar.
1706 Marlborough wins at Ramillies.
1708 French defeated in many battles. Louis XIV's proposals of peace rejected.
1709 Marlborough takes Tournay, Malplaquet, Mons. Barrier treaty with England proposed.
1718 England leaves the alliance. The Dutch take Le Quesnoy. The allies are beaten at
Denain, Douai, Le Quesnoy and Bouchain.
1713 Treaty of Utrecht provides against French claims on the Spanish (now Austrian) Nether-
lands.
1715 Satisfactory Barrier Treaty made with France.
A Republic Again (1715-1794)
1716-19 Financial panics.
1718 Mississippi and South Sea bubbles.
1720 Insurrection in Brussels secures privileges.
1723 William Charles Henry Friso of Orange-Nassau made stadholder of Qelderland.
1725-7 Treaties of Vienna and Hanover.
CHROXOLOGICAL SUMMARY 83
1731 Ostend Company aboliglied.
1731-33 Religious disputes. A sea-worm threatens to ruin the dikes.
1733 Prince of Orange-Nassau marries English princess-royal.
1735-39 The states involved in English-Spanish war.
1740 The Dutch massacre Batavians (in East Indies).
1742 The states involved in English-French war.
1744 The states join the Quadruple Alliance. French win at Menin and Ypres,
1745 Tournay, Fontenoy, and take many cities.
1747 French invade the states. William of Orange-Nassau made stadholder as William IV.
French take Bergen-op-Zoom after siege. The states make the stadholdership heredi-
tary.
1748 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
1751 William IV dies. Is succeeded by his son William V, a minor, with Anne of England as
regent.
1756 The states avow neutrality in Seven Years' War.
1757 Austrian Netherlands take part.
1765 The emperor Joseph II succeeds Maria Theresa.
1766 William V of age. Encounters with England, who claims right of search.
1779 Admiral Bylandt humiliated by English commodore.
1780 England forces war.
1781 English capture St. Eustatius ; are repulsed in naval battle of Doggerbank.
1783 Holland recognises the independence of the United States of America.
1783 The " Schuttery " reorganised. Joseph II interferes and takes the barrier towns.
1784 His ship is refused the passage of the Schelde, and he threatens war. Duke Ludwig of
Brunswick, commander of the troops, forced to resign and retire.
1785 Joseph II proposes peace and a treaty is made.
1786 The states of Holland remove the stadholder from various military offices.
1787 The free corps displaces members of town-governments favourable to Orange. Encoun-
ters between troops of the states of Holland and those of the stadholder. The princess
of Orange arrested on her way to the Hague. Joseph II arouses opposition in Belgium
by edicts. He also interferes in and invades Holland. Various cities surrender or are
abandoned. The states of Holland restore the stadholder to his office. Amsterdam
taken by siege. The stadholdership again made hereditary.
1789 Joseph II annuls the Joyeuse Entree and produces revolution in Brabant, where he is
defeated at Turnhout, Ghent, Brussels, Mons.
1790 The United States of Belgium declare independence, which they maintain for only a year.
1793 The states-general withdraw their ambassador from France on account of the arrest of
Louis XVI. The French invade Belgium.
Effects of the Fkench Revolution
1793 The French take Breda and various cities.
1794 French victory of Fleurus drives Austrians from Netherlands. Pichegru takes Sluys by
siege, also Bois-le-Duc, Maestricht.
1795 The stadholder abandons Holland. The patriots welcome the French and establish a new
government as the Batavian Republic.
THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC (1797-1806)
1797 English defeat Dutch fleet under De Winter ofE Camperdown. Treaty of Campo-Formio
gives Belgium to the French.
1798 A constituent assembly organised.
1799 The Dutch fleet surrenders in the Texel. Allies endeavour to reinstate the stadholder,
but are defeated near Bergen.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
;1801 Treaty of Luneville confirms French possession of Luneville.
1805 Batavian Republic given a new constitution and Schimmelpenninck made grand pension-
ary.
1806 Napoleon makes Holland a kingdom under his brother Louis.
81 THE HISTOEY OF THE XETHEBLANDS
1809 English fail in effort to invade Walcheren.
1810 Louis abdicates. Napoleon annexes Holland to his empire. Decay of Dutch prosperity
and Napoleon's fall prepare public for the plot to restore the house of Orange.
1813 Uprising against the French succeeds. The prince of Orange, son of William V, lands.
William of Orange is proclaimed sovereign prince as William I.
THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
1814 A constitution drawn up and accepted. Orange takes the oath. The allies establish
the Austrian baron Vincent, as governor of Belgium. The allies, by treaty of Paris,
annex Belgium to Holland under William of Orange as governor-general.
1815 Amalgamation of Holland and Belgium completed. Napoleon returns to France. English
and Dutch (under William Prince of Orange, son of William I) defeated at Quatre-Bras
by Ney. Dutch under Orange take part at Waterloo. Commission to reorganise the
kingdom reports. William I inaugurated at Brussels. Belgium, being Catholic, and of
greater population, grows restive under Protestants' and Dutch monopoly of govern-
ment and suppression of priests.
1827 The king signs a concordat with the pope. The king banishes malcontents.
BELGitJii Obtains Independence (1830)
1830 French Revolution excites the Belgians. Riots in Brussels spread to the other cities.
The heir-apparent promises reforms. States-general at the Hague adopt delay, and
troops move on Brussels. The Dutch occupy part of Brussels but retreat before the
opposition. Provisional government declares Belgium independent. Congress at Brus-
sels proclaims independence. London conference dissevers kingdom of Holland. Dutch
troops shut up in Antwerp citadel.
1831 Duke de Nemours (son of French king) chosen king of Belgium ; his father declines for
him. De Chokier chosen regent. Duke Leopold of Saxe-Coburg elected king. The
Dutch defeat the Belgians at Lou vain. The French send an army, and Orange con-
sents to an armistice. Treaty proposed by the powers accepted by Belgians, but refused
by the Dutch.
1832 Leopold marries daughter of the French king. England and France combine to cow
Holland. French besiege and take Antwerp. French army returns to France.
1833 Convention with Holland signed.
1834 Riots in Brussels against supporters of Orange.
1839 Treaty with Holland signed.
HOLLAND (1839-1900)
1840 William I abdicates for his son William II.
1843 William I dies.
1848 French Revolution leads to demand for a new constitution ; granted April 17th.
1849 William II dies ; is succeeded by William III.
1861 Great flood.
1863 Slavery ended in Dutch West Indies.
1865 Two canals begun.
1867 Disputes with Germany over Luxemburg.
1869 International exposition at Amsterdam.
1871 Possessions in Guinea ceded to England.
1872 Thorbecke dies.
1873-79 War in Sumatra with sultan of Achin ends successfully,
1882 Disputes over commercial treaty with France. New war in Sumatra ends in victory.
1887 Revised constitution in force.
1889 During illness of the king, the queen nominated regent.
1890 The king recovers ; declared incapacitated, and the queen made regent. William III
dies, and is succeeded by his daughter Wilhelmina under regency. Duke of Nassau
made grand duke of Luxemburg.
1892 Labour riots.
1894 Insurrection in Dutch East Indies put down.
1896-98 Severe fighting in Dutch East Indies.
1898 Conscription bill passed. Queen WUhelmina crowned.
cheo:j^ological summary ss
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
1901 Queen Wilhelmina marries Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
BELGIUM (1842-1901)
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1842 Educational bill passed over clerical opposition.
1846 Liberal congress at Brussels.
1847 Liberals win elections and form cabinet.
1848 French Revolution causes slight uneasiness. The king's offer to resign declined. Elec-
toral reforms passed. Attempted invasions from France fail. Financial panics.
1852-54 Liberals lose power.
1853 Army increased to one hundred thousand men.
1857 Clerical disputes over charities and Liberal gains.
1860 Octrois abolished.
1863 Schelde declared open.
1865 Leopold I dies, and is succeeded by his son Leopold II.
1869 Crown-prince dies. Belgium protected from France by England. Political riots force
resignation of ministry.
1872-76 Religious riots against Catholics.
1874 Van de Weyer dies.
1878 Catholics lose at elections.
1880 Liberals win against Catholics. Dispute with the Vatican.
1883 Bill for parliamentary reform passed.
1884 Clerics win elections, but passing a reactionary education bill are defeated.
1885 The king declared king of the Kongo Free State. Exposition at Antwerp.
1885-87 Riots among miners.
1892 Universal suffrage rejected for household suffrage. Heavy and continued strikes and
riots.
1894 Exposition at Antwerp. Electoral reform bill passed.
Treaty with England concerning Kongo Free State.
1895 Disputes over educational bills.
1897 Flemish made oflBcial language.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
1901 Military bill reduces time of compulsory service.
PART XVIII
THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC
EMPIRES
BASED CHIEFLY UPON THE FOLLOWING AUTnORITIES
^NEAS SYLVIUS, A. VOX ARNETH, A. BEER, K. BIEDERMANN H BLUM T
CARLYLE, CHRONICLES OF COLMAR, R. COMYN, W COXE M CREIGHTON
H. DELBRtJCK, E. DULLER, K. FISCHER, H. T. FLATHE, FREDERICK '
II, B. GEBHARDT, J. K. L. GIESELER, A. GINDELEY, K. R. HAGEN-
BACH, J. W. HEADLAM, O. KAMMEL, F. KOHLRAUSCH, R. KOSER, F X VON
KRONES, K. LAMPRECHT, J. MAJLITH, H. MARNALI, W. MENZEL D
Mt?LLER, W. ONCKEN, W. PIERSON, J. D. E, PREUSS, H. PRUTZ L VON
RANKE, H. VON SYBEL, H. VON TREITSCHKE, G. WAITZ, A. WOLF
TOGETHER WITH A REVIEW OF
THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRIA IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
BY
FRANZ X. VOK KRONES
A STUDY OP
THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF HUNGARY IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
BY
H. MARNALI
AND A CHARACTERISATION OP
THE DEVELOPMENT OF GERMANY FROM 1740 TO 1840
BY
REINHOLD KOSER
WITH ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FROM
A. ALLISON, E. ASHLEY, L. ASSELINE, H. BAUMGARTEN, E. BERNER, T. VON
BERNHARDI, A. BISSETT, W. BLOS, A. BOSSERT, J. BRYCE, K. BULLE, R.
CHELARD, CHRONICLE OF HEINRICH THE DEAF, CHRONICON THURINGI-
CUM, K. VON CLAUSEWITZ, CONRADUS, E. CSUDAY, G. DROYSEN, J.
G. DROYSEN, K. DRYANDER, S. A. DUNHAM, F. EBERTY, J. G.
ECCARD, J. P. ECKERMANN, F. EHRENBERG, K. EISNER, G...
ELLINGER, J. EMMER, W. ERNST, G. G. GERVINUS, F. GIEHNE, J. GRUNBECK,
C. GRitNHAGEN, K. HAGEN, H. HALLAM, C. HARDWICKE, K. HARTMANN,
W. VON HASSELL, L. HAUSSER, A. H. L. HEEREN H. HEINE, E. F.
HENDERSON, O. HENNE-AM-RHYN, J. L. A. HUILLARD-BRfiHOLLES,
A. JAGER, O. JAGER, J. JANSSEN, W. KELLY, F. KEYM, F. C.
KHEVENHILLER, A. KLEINSCHMIDT, F. VON KOPPEN, B. VON
KUGLER, H. LANGWERTH VON SIMMERN, F. LASSALLE, H. LAUBE, E. LAVISSE,
H. C. LEA, G. V. LECHLER, L. LEGER, G. G. LEIBNITIUS, C. T. LEWIS, T.
LINDNER, S. MALASPINA, MARIOTTI, MATTHEW DE PARIS, MATTHIAS OF
NEUENBURG, J. H, MERLE D'AUBIGNfi, H. MEYNERT, P. DE MLADE-
NOWICH, G. I. DE MONTBEL, W. MULLER, B. G. NIEBUHR, F.
PALACKY, C. T. PERTHES, J. S. PUTTER, F, VON RAUMER,
P. F. REICHENSPERGER, E. REBIANN, H. RESCHAUER, H. M.
RICHTER, B. ROGGE, W. ROGGE, C. SABINA, A. SCHAFER,
P. SCHAFF, J. SCHERR, J. C. F. VON SCHILLER, A. W, VON SCHLEGEL, F. VON
SCHLEGEL, A. SCHMIDT, K. SCHMIDT, J. SIME, A. SPRINGER. W. STRANTZ,
R. G. E. (ST. RENfi) TAILLANDIER, B. TAYLOR, D. THIEBAUT, E. UTTE-
RODT ZU SCHARFFENBERG, E. VEHSE, J. VON VICTRING, A. VON
VIVENOT, E. W. G. WACHSMUTH, G. WEBER, J. B. WEISS, K.
WERNER, E. WERTHEIMER, J. V. WIDMANN, H. WIERMANN,
WILLIAM I, G. WINTER, K. VON WINTERFELD, J. G. A.
WIRTH, A. WITZSCHELL, E. ZELLER
Copyright, 1904
By henry smith WILLIAMS
All i-iyhU reserved
t fi'^tiV
BOOK I
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
CHAPTER I
THE HOHENSTAUFENS^
[1125-1190 A.D.]
After the extinction of the Franconian dynasty, a moment had again
arrived when the German princes, if they were desirous of becoming inde-
pendent and sovereign rulers, were not obliged to place a new emperor above
themselves; but such a thought was foreign to their minds, and they pre-
ferred paying homage to one whom they had exalted to the highest step of
honour, rather than behold Germany divided into numerous petty kingdoms.
Accordingly in 1125 the German tribes again encamped on the banks of
the Rhine, in the vicinity of Mainz, and ten princes selected from each of the
four principal families, viz. , Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria, and Swabia, assem-
bled in Mainz for the first election. Three princes only were proposed: Duke
Frederick of Swabia (the mighty and courageous Hohenstaufen), Lothair of
Saxony, and Leopold of Austria. The two latter on their knees, and almost
in tears, entreated that they might be spared the infliction of such a heavy
burden, whilst Frederick, in his proud mind, ambitiously thought that the
crown could be destined for none other but himself; and such feeling of pre-
tension indeed was too visibly expressed in his countenance. Adalbert, the
archbishop of Mainz, however, who was himself not well inclined towards
the Hohenstaufens, put to all three the question: " Whether each was willing
and ready to yield and swear allegiance to him that should be elected ? "
The two former answered in the affirmative; but Frederick hesitated and
left the assembly, under the excuse that he must take council of his friends.
The princes were all indignant at this conduct, and the archbishop persuaded
them at length to make choice of Lothair of Saxony, although against his
own will.
[' We take up tlie story of the Holy Roman Empire where we left it in Volume VII.]
89 xiv
90 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1125-1138 A.D.]
LOTHAIR II (1125-1137 A.D.)
But hostilities soon broke out between the two powerful Hohenstaufen
dukes, Frederick of Swabia and Conrad of Franconia; and during nearly the
entire reign of the new king, the beautiful lands of Swabia, Franconia, and
Alsace were laid waste and destroyed, until at last both the dukes found
themselves compelled to bow before the imperial authority. In this dispute
the emperor Lothair, in order to strengthen his party, had recourse to means
which produced agitation and dissension, and continued to do so for more
than a hundred years afterwards. He gave his only daughter Gertrude in
marriage to Henry the Proud, the powerful duke of Bavaria (of the Guelfs),
and gave him, besides Bavaria, the duchy of Saxony likewise. This is the
first instance of two dukedoms being governed by one person. Nay, with the
acquiescence of the pope, and under the condition that after Henry's death
they were to become the property of the Roman church, he even invested
him with the valuable hereditary possessions of Matilda in Italy, as a fief, so
that the duke's authority extended from the Elbe to far beyond the Alps,
being much more powerful than even that of the emperor himself; for besides
his patrimonial lands in Swabia and Bavaria, he had likewise inherited from
his mother the moiety of the great ancestral possessions in Saxony, and in
addition to all this his consort now brought him the entire lands of Suplin-
burg, Nordheim, and old Brunswick.
Thus the foundation was laid at this period for the subsequent jealousy,
so destructive to Germany and Italy, between the Guelfs and Hohenstaufens
— the latter being called Waiblingers from their castle Waiblingen on the
Rems (styled by the Italians Ghibellini) — and the faction-names of the Guelfs
and Ghibellines henceforward continued for centuries to resound from Mount
Etna and Vesuvius to the coasts of the North and the Baltic seas. Lothair's
reign became so shaken and troubled, partly by the dispute of the Hohen-
staufens and partly by the Italian campaigns, that but very few, if any, of
the great hopes he had at first excited by his chivalric, wise, and pious char-
acter were realised. ^
During his second and rather successful campaign in Italy [against Conrad,
the anti-pope Anacletus, and Roger II of Sicily, resulting in his being crowned
as emperor by Pope Innocent II], Lothair was seized with an illness, and died
on his return, in the village of Breitenwang, between the rivers Inn and Lech,
in the wildest part of the Tyrolese mountains. His body was conveyed to
and interred in the monastery of Konigslutter, in Saxony, founded by himself.^
CONRAD III, VON HOHENSTAUFEN (1138-1152 A.D.)
The great struggle between church and state, the pope and the emperor,
had now commenced, and centuries were to pass away before its termina-
tion. On the one side stood the pope, supported by France and by an
un-German faction in Germany, which up to this period had been the Saxon
one, but, since Saxony had fallen to the Bavarian Welf, was denominated
the faction of the Welfs, or, as they were called in Italy, Guelfs. On the
other side stood the emperor, who, besides defending the prerogatives of
the state against the encroachments of the church, sought more especially to
[' On one of his Italian visits he paid homage to the pope in such abject manner that the
pope had a painting made of the scene, and wrote beneath it the words, "The king is made
the vassal of the pope" {Bex homo fit papa). Frederick Barbarossa later destroyed it.]
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 91
[1138-1146 A.D.]
uphold the interests and honour of the German nation against the Italians
and the French, in pursuance of which he was but too often treacherously
abandoned by his own party in Germany. After the extinction of the Salic
dynasty and the short reign of Lothair, the Hohenstaufens mounted the
throne, on which they long sat, and, naming their race after the allod of
Waiblingen in the Remsthal, which they had inherited from the last of the
Salic emperors, the name of the Waiblinger, or in Italian, Ghibellini, was
gradually fixed upon the imperial faction.
The election of a successor to the throne was appointed to take place at
Mainz (1138 a.d.); the Waiblinger, however, anticipated the Guelfs, in the
most unheard of manner, and proclaimed Conrad von Hohenstaufen emperor
at Coblenz. Handsome in his person, and replete with life and vigour, of
undaunted and well-tried valour, Conrad stood superior to all the princes of
his time, and seemed by nature fitted for command. His election was, more-
over, favoured by the decease of Adalbert of Mainz, and by the dread with
which the princes of the empire beheld the rising power of the Guelfs, which
it was Conrad's first aim to break. His faint-hearted opponent, staggered
by his unexpected attack, delivered up the crown jewels; the Saxons, and
even Lothair's widow, submitted to him; but, on his demanding from Henry
the cession of Saxony, under pretence of the illegal union of two duchies
under one chief, the duke rebelled, and was put under the ban of the empire,
Bavaria was given to Leopold of Austria, and Saxony to Albert the Bear.
The ancient feud was instantly renewed (1139 a.d.). The Guelfs pos-
sessed numerous allods and fiefs in Swabia and Bavaria, which, supported
by Welf, Henry's brother, defended the cause of their liege, whilst Henry
himself carried on the struggle in Saxony. Conrad von Zahringen, at the
same time, rose in favour of the Guelfs, and the emperor, sending against him
his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa (the son of Frederick the One-eyed), who
succeeded in getting possession of Zurich, took the field in person, and
invaded the lands of the Guelfs.
It was in 1141, when besieging Welf in Weinsberg, that the Germans for
the first time changed their war cry, " Kyrie eleiso7i," for the party cries of
''The Welf f" ''The Waiblinger/" After enduring a long seige, Welf was
compelled to surrender, Conrad granting free egress to the women, with
whatever they were able to carry. The duchess, accordingly, took her hus-
band, Welf, on her shoulders, and all the women of the city following her
example, they proceeded out of the city gates, to the great astonishment of
the emperor, who, struck with admiration at this act of heroism, permitted
the garrison to withdraw, exclaiming to those who attempted to dissuade
him, "An emperor keeps his word I " ^ The feud was put an end to by the
deaths of Henry and Leopold, who, amongst other places, had destroyed
Ratisbon. The son of the former, Henry the Lion, received Saxony, which
Albrecht was, consequently, compelled to cede; in return for which, Bran-
denburg, which had formerly, like Thuringia, been annexed to the duchy of
Saxony, was declared independent. Leopold's brother, Henry Jasomirgott, a
surname he derived from his motto,^ married the widow of Henry the Proud,
the mother of Henry the Lion, and became duke of Bavaria. Welf, the only
malcontent, leagued with Bela, king of Hungary, and Roger of Naples, and
continued to carry on a petty feud. Leopold was defeated (1146 a.d.) by
the Hungarians on the Leitha. In the same year, Conrad made an unsuc-
* According to the oldest chroniclers, St. Panteleon (Eccard ") and the Chron. Weingart,
Leibnitius,d Welf and his duchess were at that time not at Weinsberg.
* Or rather from his common oath, " Ja so mir Qott helfe. "
92 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1146 A.D.]
cessful inroad into Poland, for the purpose of restoring the duke, Wladislaw,
who had been expelled by his subjects on account of his German wife, who
continually incited him against his brothers, and treated the Poles with
contempt.
About this time the religious enthusiasm, which the Crusades had so
greatly tended to rouse, rapidly spread; the German prophets, nevertheless,
found a greater number of followers in France than in Germany. Ulrich of
Ratisbon became the reformer of the celebrated monastery of Cluny, the
pride of the monkish world, and the pattern after which all other monasteries
formed, or rather reformed themselves. St. Bruno of Cologne founded the
severe order of the Carthusians, who bound themselves by the strictest vow
completely to renounce the world; and Norbert of Xanten,^ the equally strict
order of the Premonstrants, in the wild vale of Premontre. Whilst these
pious Germans promulgated to the mountaineers of France the doctrine of
worshipping God in solitude, Count Hugo von Blankenburg, a Saxon, the
abbot of the convent of St. Victor, in Paris, known as Hugh de St. Victor
(1140), formed this doctrine into an ingenious philosophical system, and
invented scientific mysticism, or divine mysteries, which were further ampli-
fied by Honorius of Augst near Bale (Augustodunensis), and by Rupert,
abbot of Deutz, near Cologne. With these three fathers of mysticism, who
gave utterance to the spirit with which the Middle Ages were so deeply
imbued, was associated Hildegard, countess von Sponheim, and abbess of
Bingen, who was the oracle of the pope and of the emperor. She died at a
great age (1198 a.d.). She and her sister Elisabeth had visions, during which
they appeared to be influenced by a sort of poetical inspiration. Whilst the
Germans were thus buried in poetical mysticism, the French and Italians con-
structed a new system of scholastic divinity, the result of a comparison of
the doctrines of the ancient Greek philosophers, for instance, those of Aris-
totle, with the received tenets of the church, all whose ordinances were
defended by philosophical subtleties, which the free-thinkers laboured to con-
fute. Abelard, the freedom of whose opinions was quickly adopted by the
heretics (Ketzer, Katharer, purifiers) in Germany, flourished at this period in
France. He was the most celebrated among the free-thinkers of his times.
The Roman church endeavoured from the commencement to divide the
heretics into different sects, and to give them different names, as if they, in
opposition to the united church, could merely have confused and contra-
dictory notions. But the heretics were, from the commencement, extremely
simple, and their views aimed at nothing less than the restoration of Chris-
tianity in its original purity; they exhibited genuine piety, not merely the
mock devotion of church ceremonies; real brotherly love in Christ, not the
slavish subordination in which the laity was held by the despotic priesthood,
whose moral corruption unfitted them for the sacred office they filled. This ^
was the doctrine taught by Tanchelin at Antwerp and at Bonn, and for which
he was put to death, his conversion having been vainly attempted by St.
' A knight in the army of the emperor Henry IV, who was converted by a stroke of light-
ning, which struck him from his horse. Other celebrated enthusiasts of this age were Eber-
hard, brother to Count Adolf von Altena, and Mark, who was outlawed by Lothair as a partisan
of the Hohenstaufen, and being struck on the forehead with a battle-axe whilst fighting with
the count of Limburg, instantly changed his opinions, and fled, disguised as a serf, to France,
where he was afterwards discevered as a swineherd. In the country around Treves, Rochelin
the hermit dwelt for fourteen years naked in the forest. The countess Ida von Toggenburg
attained still greater celebrity in Switzerland. A raven flew away >vith her wedding ring,
which was found and worn by a huntsman. The count, perceiving the ring, believed his wife
to be unfaithful to him, and cast her from a window down a precipice. She escaped unhurt
and lived long after in seclusion.
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 93
[114(5 A.D.]
Norbert, who had been presented with the archbishopric of Magdeburg
(1126).
This heresy afterwards took a political character in Italy. The Romans,
who had long struggled against their chains, revolted against Innocentius II,
who had entered into an offensive alliance against them with their ancient
enemy, the neighbouring town of TivoH. In the heat of the insurrection,
Arnold of Brescia, a monk, the disciple of Abelard, promulgated his heretical
doctrines, which threatened to hurl the tiara from the pontiff's brow. This
man preached a universal reform, the reduction of the church to its primitive
state of simplicity and poverty, and the restoration in the state of the free-
dom and equality of the ancient Grecian and Roman republics, at the same
time that St. Bernard was raising a crusade, in which the religious enthusiasm
of the age was carried to its highest pitch; and thus did the adverse opinions
of so many centuries meet, as it were, in the persons of these two men. Arnold
expelled the pope from Rome, and restored the ancient republican form of
government. A Roman, Jordanus, was elected consul.
The pope, Eugenius III, after vainly entreating assistance from Conrad
III, who was sufficiently acquainted with Italy to be well aware of the futility
of an expedition to Rome, fled into France, to St. Bernard, in order to aid
him in the more important scheme of raising a general crusade. He returned
to Rome, whence he contrived to expel Arnold, in 1149. Heresy also spread
throughout Switzerland. Arnold of Brescia resided for some time at Constance
and Zurich. The shepherds of Schwyz carried on a long dispute with the
insolent abbot of Einsiedeln, who attempted to deprive them of a pasturage,
the ancient free inheritance of their fathers, in defence of which they were
aided by the neighbouring herdsmen of Uri and Unterwalden, and although,
in 1144, excommunicated by the abbot, by the bishop of Constance, and put
under the ban of the empire by the nobility, they refused to yield (being
probably infected with Arnold's free and bold opinions), and, for eleven
years, asserted their independence, without the priests or nobles venturing to
attack them in their mountain strongholds; a foretoken of the Swiss confed-
eration of more modern times.
The Crusade of Conrad the Third (1147 a.d.)
The bad state of affairs in the East, meanwhile, necessitated another
crusade. The crown of Jerusalem had passed from the house of Lorraine to
that of Anjou. The settlers in the Holy Land chiefly consisted of French,
who, merely intent upon plunder and conquest, neglected the cause of
religion. They had, moreover, married Arabian and Turkish women, and
their descendants, the Pullanes, devoid of their fathers' energy, and inherit-
ing the soft effeminacy of their mothers, were educated amid the intrigues of
Eastern harems.
The fall of Edessa filled the whole of Christendom with consternation, and
the loss of the Holy Sepulchre was everywhere prognosticated. The pope,
Eugenius III, a haughty and ambitious man, formed the scheme of assem-
bling the emperor, the kings, and princes of Europe beneath the banner of the
church, and of placing himself as a shepherd at their head. St. Bernard
travelled through France, emulating his predecessor, Peter the Hermit, in the
warmth of his appeal to the people. On the Rhine, a priest named Radulf
again incited the people against the Jews, who were assassinated in great
numbers in almost all the Rhenish cities. St. Bernard, on his arrival in Ger-
many, opposed Radulf, whom he compelled to return to his convent, and,
94
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1146-1147 A.D.]
aided by St. Hildegard, the Velleda of the times, persuaded multitudes to
follow the crusade. The people, in their enthusiasm, tore his clothes off, in
order to sew the pieces on their shoulders in the form of a cross. At Frank-
fort-on-the-Main he was so closely pressed that the emperor was obliged to
carry him away from his admirers like a child on his arm. At first Conrad
was unwilling to visit the Holy Land, on account of the unsettled state of
his authority in Germany, but he was forced to yield to circumstances, and,
whilst presiding over the diet at Spires, was presented with the cross by
St. Bernard, the sign of his vow.
Henry the Lion, Albert the Bear, all the Saxon nobility, and Conrad von
Zahringen, who had no inclination to accompany
the emperor to the Holy Land, turned their
arms, aided by their Danish allies, against the
pagan Wends. Henry the Lion, after making
peace with the Wendish chief Niclot, contented
himself with the destruction of the pagan tem-
ples at Rhetra and Oldenburg. He invested
the bishop Vicelin with the latter place, bestow-
ing it upon him in fee, as if he united in his own
person the prerogatives of both the emperor and
the pope. He also invested the count Henry
with Ratzeburg, after compelling Pribislaw,
another Wendish prince, who was less warlike
than Niclot, to surrender his lands. Albert the
Bear took Brandenburg, which was desperately
defended by Jatzco, one of Pribislaw's nephews,
by storm; and the whole of the territory be-
neath his jurisdiction took henceforth the name
of Brandenburg.
In the spring of 1147 Conrad III assem-
bled an immense multitude at Ratisbon, and
marched them along the Danube into Greece,
where, notwithstanding the friendly reception
of the emperor Manuel, many untoward events
took place. On reaching Asia Minor, the army
divided, Otto von Freysingen marching to the
left along the sea-coast whilst the emperor led
the main force inland. The scarcity of provisions
caused great suffering to both armies; the Greeks
on their approach fled into the fortified towns,
and the starving pilgrims were merely able to procure scanty and sometimes
poisoned food at an enormous price. The Greeks even confess that the
emperor Manuel permitted them to sell poisoned flour. It was no unusual
practice for them to take the gold offered in exchange for their provisions by
the honest Germans, and to run off without giving anything in return. Con-
rad, nevertheless, continued to push on, but was treacherously led by the
Greek guides into a Turkish ambuscade. The petty princes of Asia Minor
combined against the Germans, and Conrad's army, after wandering for
three days without food amid the pathless mountains around Iconium, was
suddenly attacked and routed by the Turks. The horrors of this dreadful
day, October 26th, 1147, were still further increased by an eclipse of the sun.
Conrad, who had received two severe arrow wounds, now attempted to
rescue the remainder of his army from their perilous situation by an orderly
A Twelfth Century Crusader
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 95
[1147-1152 A.D.]
retreat, but the brave Count Bernard von Pldtzke, who brought up the rear,
was deprived of the whole of his men by the arrows of their Turkish pursuers.
Otto von Freysingen reached Antioch with the remnant of his weakened
forces, whilst the Germans who marched under Conrad, and the French
under Louis, merely found their way to Adalia on the sea-coast, a desolate
abode, where hunger and pestilence alone awaited them. The leaders went
by sea to Antioch. The common soldiery were, for the greater part, starved
to death.
Edessa being irreparably lost, it was concerted in a council, held by all
the princes present, that an expedition should be undertaken against Damas-
cus, which, it was further agreed, should be bestowed upon Count Thierry
of Flanders, who had just arrived; and, after paying their devotions at the
Holy Sepulchre, the whole body of the pilgrims took the field, and a brilliant
victory was gained at Rabna, Conrad and his Germans forcing their way
through the retreating French, and falling with irresistible fury on the now
panic-stricken enemy. Conrad is said to have cut a Turk so completely asun-
der at one blow, that his head, arms, and the upper part of his body fell to
the ground. The Pullanes, jealous of the fortune of the count of Flanders,
now prince of Damascus, were easily bribed by the Turks to betray the pil-
grims, whom they persuaded to abandon their safe position, and then broke
their plighted word; upon which the emperor Conrad, and Louis of France,
justly enraged at their treachery, raised the siege of Damascus and returned
to their respective dominions. And thus was another brilliant enterprise
doomed to terminate in shame and dishonour.
Welf, who had hurried home before the rest of the pilgrims, had again
conspired, with Roger of Naples, against Conrad; and Henry the Lion,
deeming the moment favourable, on account of the recent discomfiture of the
emperor, openly claimed Bavaria as his own. Conrad hastened back to
Germany and Henry held a diet at Speier. His son Henry, who had
already been crowned king of Germany, reduced Welf to submission, but
shortly afterwards expired in the bloom of youth. The emperor did not
long survive him; he died at Bamberg (according to popular report, of
poison administered to him by Roger), when on the point of invading
Poland for the purpose of replacing Wladislaw on the throne (1152 a.d.).
The double eagle was introduced by him into the arms of the empire. It
was taken from those of the Greek emperor, by whom it was borne as the
symbol of the ancient Eastern and Western Roman Empires.
ACCESSION OF FREDERICK BARBAROSSA (1152 A.D.)
The claim of Frederick, Conrad's nephew, to the crown, was received
without opposition. The jealous vassals of the empire seemed under the
influence of a charm. Even the insolent Guelfs bent in lowly submission.
There was little union between the heads of this inimical and illustrious
house, Welf the elder of Upper Swabia, and Henry the Lion of Saxony, the
latter of whom was, moreover, at variance with his stepfather, Henry of
Babenberg, who withheld from him his paternal inheritance, Bavaria. In
1152 Frederick was elected emperor at Frankfort-on-the-Main; and crowned
with ancient solemnity at Aachen. This election was the first that took place
in the presence of the city delegates. Frederick publicly swore to increase
justice, to curb wrong, to protect and extend the empire. On quitting the
cathedral, a vassal threw himself at his feet in the hope of obtaining pardon
96
THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1153 A.D.]
on this solemn occasion for his guilt, but the emperor, mindful of his oath,
refused to practise mercy instead of justice.
Frederick was remarkable for the handsome and manly appearance, and
the genuine German cast of countenance, which distinguished the whole of
the Hohenstaufen family, and conduced to their popularit3^ Shortly cropped
fair hair, curling closely over a broad and massive forehead, blue eyes with a
quick and penetrating glance, and well-curved lips that lent an expression of
benevolence to his fine features, a fair white skin, a well-formed and muscular
person, combined with perfect
simplicity in dress and manners,
present a pleasing portrait of
this noble chevalier. His beard,
that inclined to red, gained for
him the Italian sobriquet of
Barbarossa. Ever mindful of
the greatness of his destiny,
Frederick was at once firm and
persevering, a deep pohtician
and a wise statesman. To guar-
antee the internal unity and the
external security of the state,
was his preponderating idea;
and regardless of the animosity
with which the German princes
secretly sought to undermine
the imperial authority he di-
rected his principal forces
against his most dangerous en-
emy, the pope, and rightly con-
cluded that he alone could over-
come him in Italy. Those who
charge him with having neg-
lected the affairs of Germany,
and with having devoted him-
self entirely to those of Italy, on
the grounds that he would have
acted more wisely had he con-
fined himself to Germany, for-
get the times in which he lived.
The pope would never have
suffered him to remain at peace
in Germany, he would ever have
stirred up fresh enemies around him, and Frederick had no other choice than,
as a good general, to carry on the war in his adversary's territory, and to
direct his whole force against the enemy's centre. The peaceful government of
Germany was alone to be secured by the imposition of shackles on the pope.
By giving the crown of Denmark in fee to Sweyn, Frederick at once
terminated the strife between him and his two brothers, Canute and Valde-
mar, and secured the northern frontier of the empire. The allegiance of
Henry the Lion being confirmed by a promise of the duchy of Bavaria in
reversion, he unceremoniously dismissed the papal legates, who interfered in
the election of the bishops, and assembled a powerful army, with the intention
of quickly following in their footsteps. When he was encamped on the Boden-
PoLiSH Nobleman, Twelfth Centubv
THE HOHEXSTAUFE^S 97
[1153-1155 A.D.]
see, the ancient cents or cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, marched
under the banner of the count of Lenzburg, their governor, to do him feudal
service in the field.
Whilst the emperor was assembling his forces at Constance, ambassadors
from the city of Lodi threw themselves at his feet, complaining of the oppres-
sion of their city by Milan, whose inhabitants affected the papal party. Fred-
erick commanded the Milanese to make restitution to their neighbours, but
they tore his letter in sign of contempt. He afterwards crossed the Alps,
and, planting the standard of the empire in the vale of Roncaglia, near
Piacenza (1154 a.d.), summoned all the Italian vassals to do their bounden
service as royal bodyguard, and declared all who refused to appear to have
forfeited their fiefs. The Ghibellines obeyed the summons; the Guelfs treated
it with contempt. Milan sent an open defiance, but Frederick, too prudent
to attempt by force the subjugation of this well-fortified and densely popu-
lated city, sought to weaken her by gradually occupying the towns with
which she was in league. The importance of the cities in upper Italy had
been greatly increased by the Crusades, by the consequent extension of their
commercial relations with the East, and also by the absence of the ruling
family since the reign of the countess Matilda; the warlike nobihty of the
country had, moreover, assumed the right of citizenship in the cities. The
richest commercial cities were Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, whilst Milan, situated
in the heart of Lombardy, was far superior to them all in military power, and
had become the focus of the papal faction. The cities of Rosate, Cairo, Asti
fell one after another into the hands of the victorious emperor, who, in order
to strike terror into his opponents, reduced the strongly fortified city of
Tortona, which had long resisted the siege, to ashes, and levelled the ground
on which it had stood. At Pavia he seized the iron crown of Lombardy, and
entered into a negotiation with the pope, Adrian IV, for the performance of
the ceremony of coronation. Rome was still convulsed by two rival factions,
one in favour of the pope, the other composed of the heretical repubUcan dis-
ciples of Arnold of Brescia.
FREDERICK IN ROME (1155 A.D.)
The aread with which the success and popularity of Arnold impressed
the pope, rendered him more docile towards the emperor, who little foresaw
of what a powerful weapon he voluntarily deprived himself, by persecuting
Arnold, a man as truly great as he was unfortunate, instead of aiding him
to the utmost in carrying out his plans for the complete reformation of the
church. When the ambassadors from the citizens of Rome entered his
presence, and spoke to him of ancient Roman virtue, he replied to them
contemptuously, " Ancient Rome and ancient Roman virtue no longer dwell
with you, her effeminate and perfidious children, but with us, her hardy and
true-hearted sons." The enthusiasm created by Arnold of Brescia appeared
to him merely an Italian comedy, the contemptible shadow^ of a temporal
republic, instead of, as m fact it was, the germ of a great ecclesiastical reform.
He, consequently, permitted Arnold's execution, and this luckless reformer
was hanged and then burned at sum*ise before the gates of the city, to whose
inhabitants he had preached religious and civil liberty (1155).
Rome trembled before the emperor. The pope solemnly placed the
crown upon his brow in the church of St. Peter, and the emperor, in return,
held his stirrup, an action, the symbolical interpretation of which signified
that spiritual power could not retain its empire without the aid of the tem-
H. W. — VOU.XIV. H
98 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1155-1157 A.D.]
poral. Frederick also caused the picture representing Lothair's acceptance
of the crown in fee from the pope, which was pubHcly exhibited in the
Lateran, to be burned, and expressed his displeasure at the artful method by
which the church falsely sought to extend her authority, in the following
remarkable words: "God has raised the church by means of the state; the
church, nevertheless, will overthrow the state. She has commenced by paint-
ing, and from painting has proceeded to writing. Writing will gain the
mastery over all, if we permit it. Efface your pictures and retake your docu-
ments, that peace may be preserved between the state and the church."
The Romans, in the meantime, imable to forget their long-hoped-for
republic, were maddened by rage, and the ceremony of the coronation was
scarcely over when an insurrection broke out, and Frederick, whose horse
fell beneath him, was alone saved by the courage of Henry the Lion. A
horrid tumult, in which multitudes were butchered, ensued, but was finally
quelled by the Germans. In order to punish the insolence of the Normans,
Frederick took the field against William, the son of Roger; but his army
being wasted by pestilence, he was forced to retreat through his enemies, who
in different places barricaded his path. Spoleto was reduced to ashes for
refusing the customary contribution (fodrum). The passage of the Etsch
was defended by the Veronese, whom he evaded by the rapidity of his move-
ments, and the pass through the mountains being guarded by a fortress,
it was carried by storm by Otto von Wittelsbach, his bravest adherent, who
reached it over almost inaccessible rocks, and the Veronese nobles, captured
within its walls, were condemned to hang each other.
On his return (1156 a.d.) the emperor held a diet at Ratisbon, in which
he rewarded Henry the Lion for the succour he had afforded him during
the Italian campaign with the duchy of Saxony. Henry Jasomirgott was
compensated with the duchy of Austria, which remained henceforth inde-
pendent of Bavaria. Welf was confirmed in the duchy of Tuscany ; Frederick
von Rotenburg was created duke of Swabia, the emperor disdaining the
title of duke in addition to his own; Berthold von Zahringen was compelled
to resign the government of Burgundy, which his father Conrad had held.
This province presented a scene of the direst anarchy. Its affairs had been
almost entirely neglected by the emperor, and the difference between the
language spoken by the inhabitants and that of Germany, had gradually
estranged them from the Germans, a circumstance of which the French
monarchs took advantage in order to gain over the Burgundian nobles,
whom they occasionally supported against Germany.
It was just at this conjuncture that William, count of Burgundy (Franche
Comt6), imprisoned Beatrice, the only child of his brother, Count Reinhold, in
a tower, and deprived her of her rich inheritance. The emperor, mindful of
the fidelity with which her father had served him in a time of need, hastened
to procure her liberation, and to raise her as his empress to the throne, which
her beauty, talents, and virtues were well fitted to adorn. The marriage was
celebrated at Wiirzburg. Five sons were the fruit of their happy union.
The whole province of Burgundy (of whose fidelity she was the pledge, and
which is traversed by the Rhone) swore fealty to the emperor at Besangon.
In 1157, assisted by Henry the Lion and by Bohemia, he opened a cam-
paign against Poland, and compelled Boleslaw, the king of that country,
once more to recognise the supremacy of the German Empire, and barefoot,
his naked sword hanging around his neck, to take the oath of fealty; after
which, the royal dignity was bestowed by the emperor upon his obedient
vassal, Wladislaw of Bohemia.
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 90
[1157-1158 A.D.]
The feuds so common throughout Germany were suspended by force; as
an example to deter others, he condemned the count palatine Hermann, who
persisted in carrying on a feud with the archbishop of Mainz, to carry a dog,
a disgrace so bitterly felt by the haughty vassal, that he withdrew into a
monastery. The Palatinate was bestowed upon Conrad, the emperor's
brother. The introduction of the different orders and customs of chivalry,
and the warlike notions inculcated by the Crusades, had greatly tended to
foster the natural predilection of the Germans, the love of arms, and there
were many knights who supported themselves solely by robbery and petty
feuds, or, as it was called, by the stirrup. Their castles were mere robbers'
nests, whence they attacked and carried off their private enemies or wealthy
travellers, the higher church dignitaries and merchants, whom they com-
pelled to pay a ransom. Frederick destroyed a considerable number of these
strongholds.
THE SECOND VISIT TO ITALY (1158 A.D.)
It is about this period that the oppression under which the peasantry
groaned comes under our notice. The magnificence and luxury introduced
from the East, and the formation of different orders of nobility, had multi-
plied the necessities of life, and consequently had increased the rent of land
and feudal taxes. Numbers of the peasants claimed the right of burghership
in the towns as Ausbilrger, absentees, or Pfahlhurger, citizens dwelling in the
suburbs; and by thus placing themselves under the protection of the cities,
occasioned numerous feuds between them and the provincial nobility, who
refused to give up their serfs. Some of the princes protected the peasantry,
and became in consequence extremely popular. The landgraf Ludwig of
Thuringia was long ignorant of the misconduct of his nobility. One day
having wandered from the track when pursuing the chase, he took shelter
for the night in the house of a smith at Ruhla, without discovering his rank
to his host. The next morning the smith set to work at his forge, and, as
he beat the iron, exclaimed, "Become hard, Luz! Become hard, Luz!" and,
on being demanded his meaning by the landgraf, replied, that "he meant
that the landgraf ought to become hard as iron towards the nobles." The
hint was not thrown away upon his listener, Ludwig henceforward adding to
his own power by freeing the peasants from the heavy yoke imposed upon
them by the nobility. The nobles made a brave defence in the battle of
Naumburg, but were finally defeated, and yoked in turn by fours in a plough,
which the landgraf guided with his own hand, and with which he ploughed
up a field, still known as the Adelacker (the nobles' acre). Ludwig received
thence the sobriquet of "the Iron." His corpse was borne from Naum-
burg to Reinhartsbrunn, a distance of ten miles, on the shoulders of the
nobility.
The policy pursued by the emperor was imitated by several of the princes,
who sought to keep their vassals in check by means of the cities. Henry
the Lion bestowed great privileges on his provincial towns, Liibeck, Bruns-
wick, etc. Berthold von Zahringen, who, in 1113, founded Freiburg im-
Breisgau, followed his example. Albert the Bear sought to ameliorate the
condition of his Slavonic frontier, by draining and cultivating the marshes,
and by bringing numerous colonists from the Netherlands, whence came the
name of Fleming that is still given to the frontier tracts of country filled with
dikes and marshes, more especially in the vicinity of Magdeburg.
Having thus given peace to Germany and extended his empire, the emperor
was once more at leisure to form his plans upon Italy, where the pope had
H. W. — VOL. XIV. Q
100 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIBE
[1158-1159 A.D.]
again ventured to mention the empire as a gift bestowed by him upon the
emperor, who no sooner menaced him than he declared that he had intended
to say honum factum not feudujii. In 1158, Frederick crossed the Alps, pre-
ceded by his zealous adherent, the valiant Otto von Wittelsbach, who every-
where spread the terror of his name. The Milanese, who, in revenge, had
laid the cities of Lodi and Crema in ruins, opposed the emperor at Cassano
and were defeated. He, nevertheless, treated Milan with great lenity, on
her surrender in the autumn.
Frederick, true to his pohcy of legally regulating the affairs of the country
as a prince of peace, not as a pow^erful conqueror, convoked a diet of the
native princes of Lombardy in the fields of Roncaglia, where the great feuda-
tories of Italy appeared in person. The cities were each represented by two
consuls. Frederick, in common with the rest of his contemporaries, acted
upon the idea of the intimate connection of the German Empire with that of
Rome, and therefore discovered no hesitation in reviving all the ancient
privileges, w^hich were, in fact, more conformable wdth his policy, no mention
being made of hierarchical power in the old Roman law, which merely pro-
poimded the temporal and unlimited authority of the empe.or, and thus
provided him with a powerful weapon not only against the pope, but also
against his unruly vassals, with which he willingly armed himself.
The new Italian code, delivered by the diet held at Roncaglia, was founded
partly on the German, partly on the Roman legislation. It was decided that
all the royal dues usurped by the dukes, markgrafs, and townships should
relapse to the crown, and that the nomination of all princes and counts, as
well as city consuls, w^as invalid unless confirmed by the emperor. This was
an old German prerogative. It was further resolved that the great fiefs
should be unalienable and indivisible, in order to put an end to the feuds
caused by their conferment and division. The universities were endowed
with additional privileges. A general tax, a most unpopular novelty, was
deduced from the Roman law, and now for the first time imposed. \Vhen
Otto von Wittelsbach attempted to enforce this tax on the Milanese, an
insurrection ensued, and he was driven out of the city; and, at the same
time, the majority of the cities declared against the deputies, their represen-
tatives at the diet, who had been chiefly induced to vote with the emperor
by the hope of being confirmed by him in their consulates. Adrian IV also
protested against the diet. Henry the Lion then attempted to negotiate
matters; the cardinals sent to him for that purpose being seized and
imprisoned in the Tyrol by the lawless counts of Eppan, Henry, in his right
as duke of Bavaria, punished them by destroying their castles. On the
decease of Adrian, in 1159, there was a schism among the cardinals, the
Ghibellines electing Victor IV, the Guelfs, Alexander III. [The latter was
a zealous and ardent prelate of very much the same character as Hildebrand.
Public opinion supported him in the church, and both England and France
recognised him. He laid Frederick under the ban, and assisted with every
means in his powder the Italian cities in their desperate struggle with the
emperor.]
WAR AGAINST THE ITALIAN CITIES
Frederick's first attack was directed against the cities, his nearest and
most dangerous foes. After a dreadful siege, such as no German had ever
yet been doomed to stand, he took Crema, the ally of Milan (1160 a.d.).
Four times without success did the enraged Milanese secretly attempt his
assassination. Milan defied him, and, during the winter, when most of the
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 101
[1160-1165 A.D.]
German princes returned as usual to the other side of the Alps, the Milanese
defeated him during an mroad into the province of Carnaro. In the spring
of 1161, strong reinforcements arrived from Germany, and the siege began
with increased fury, the emperor swearing that his head should not again
wear the crown until he had rased Milan to the ground. The contest lasted
a whole year without intermission, and terminated on the 6th of March, 1162,
in the capitulation of the proud city, which hunger alone had forced j^o yield.
The starved citizens marched out of the city in sackcloth, ropes around
their necks, tapers in their hands, and the nobles with their naked swords
hanging around their necks. In this state they remained some time exposed
to the heavy rain, until the emperor, w^ho was at table, came forth and saw
them deliver up their weapons and badges of honour, whilst their palladium,
a tall tree bearing a cross, was cut down with a German axe. He then ordered
a part of the city wall to be thrown dowm, and rode through the opening
into the city. He contented himself, notwithstanding, with the total de-
struction of all the walls, towers, and fortifications; the city and the lives
of the inhabitants were spared. A considerable booty was gained by pillage.
Frederick henceforth ruled Italy with, a rod of iron. He created Reinhold,
the austere archbishop of Cologne and count of Dassel, archchancellor and
regent of Italy, and gave him subordinate officers, who filled the country
with rapine and oppression. The extortion thus practised was known as
little as it had been enjoined by the emperor, the intention of whose regulations
was merely the enforcement of strict justice and the maintenance of order;
the unhappy results, however, fell upon his head.
During the absence of the emperor, feuds had broken out anew in Ger-
many. These disturbances hastened his return.
The emperor's attention was now recalled to Italy. The pope, Victor,
expired in 1164. The recognition of Alexander III by the emperor remained
dubious. This pope, a man of energy and cunning, had withdrawn to Genoa,
and thence to France, where he sought to form a league against the emperor,
in which he was encouraged by the republics of Venice and Genoa, w^hich
began to view wdth dread the supremacy of the emperor in Italy. A recon-
ciliation W'Ould indubitably have been proposed by Frederick, had not Henry,
king of England, exactly at that juncture, declared against Alexander, with
whom he was at variance concerning some ecclesiastical affairs, and Henry
the Lion, being that monarch's son-in-law, and the alliance with the Guelfs
being of greater moment to the emperor than the reconciliation with the
pope, he recognised the new pope. Paschal III, and invited him to Germany,
where, in 1165, he canonised Charlemagne at Aachen.
THE FORMATION OF THE LOMBARD LEAGUE (1167 A.D.)
This decision on the part of the emperor put the finishing stroke to Alex-
ander's projects. The insolent behaviour of the Germans had naturally ex-
cited the hatred of the Italians. Pagano, the governor of Padua, committed
violence on the beautiful Speronella Dalesmani. The governors w^ere Italians,
but the horrors they perpetrated w^ere countenanced by the Germans. The
confiscated estates were entered by these men in the Book of Pain, as it
was called. The rape of the beautiful Paduan was the signal for open revolt.
The Germans, although few in number, successfully defended their lives,
but were unable to hinder Alexander's triumphal entry into Rome, 1165 A.p.,
and the interdict laid upon the emperor. Notwithstanding this, they mam-
102 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1164-1169 A.D.]
tained their ground and continued their attacks upon the pope. The Lom-
bards in upper Italy, meanwhile, remained masters of the field. On the 7th
of April, 1167, the league between the cities of Lombardy was established,
and Milan was rebuilt on a handsome scale, and more strongly fortified, the
women giving all their jewels to the churches that had been plundered of
their decorations by the Germans.
In the same year, the emperor undertook his third expedition against
Rome, and invested Paschal with the tiara [being in return crowned at Rome
a second time as emperor]. But before he could attack the cities, his fine
army was almost entirely swept away by a pestilence. At Pisa, the emperor
threw his glove into the air as he pronounced the whole of the Lombard
League under the ban of the empire. He then retreated with the remainder
of his army beyond the Alps. On being closely pursued, he ordered the host-
ages that accompanied his retreat to be hanged on the trees on the roadside.
In Susa he narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the Italians ; the knight
Hermann von Siebeneichen, who had placed himself in the emperor's bed,
whilst the latter fled under cover of the night, being seized in his stead.
DEFECTION OF HENRY THE LION
As long as the good understanding between the Ghibellines and the Guelfs
subsisted, Henry the Lion lent his aid to the emperor during his Italian
expeditions, and was, in return, allowed the free exercise of his authority
in the north of Germany, where, although already possessed of Saxony and
Bavaria, he ceaselessly endeavoured to extend his dominion by the utter
annihilation of the unfortunate Wends or Slavs. The aged and brave prince,
Niclot, was treacherously induced to quit his castle of Werle, and assassinated.
His son, Wratislaw, was granted a petty territory, but becoming suspected,
was thrown into prison. His second son, Pribislaw, and his ally, Kasimir,
prince of Pomerania, placed themselves at the head of the Wends, who fought
with all the energy of despair, and gained a glorious victory over the Saxons
at Demmin (1164 a.d.); upon which Henry the Lion invaded the country,
hanged the unfortunate Wratislaw, and was on the point of laying the land
waste by fire and sword, when a similar attempt was made on his northern
frontier by the Danes. In order to protect himself from their attacks, he
concluded peace with the Wends, deeming himself more secure in the vicinity
of the petty Wendish princes than in that of the powerful Danish monarch.
In Denmark the dispute between the three brothers still continued.
Henry invaded Denmark, and compelled the proud Waldemar, with whom
he held a conference on the bridge of the Eider, to give up to him half of the
treasures gained in the pillage of Ancona, and to accept of him as colleague
in the government of Riigen.
The aged Welf died at Memmingen, where surrounded by boon com-
panions he held a luxurious court, squandered his revenues, and loadetl
himself with debt (1169 a.d.). For weeks at a time the whole of the Swabian
and Bavarian nobility would feast and dance on the Lechfeld near Augsburg,
at the expense of Welf, who at length became blind. Henry the Lion had
never assisted him; the emperor's treasury, on the contrary, was ever open
to him, and as he left no issue, he bequeathed his Swabian allods and the
lands of the countess Matilda in Italy to his benefactor. The loss of the
Guelfic inheritance estranged Henry the Lion from the emperor, and he lost
no opportunity for seeking for revenge.
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 103
[1169-1175 A.D.]
The Italians treated the election of Calixtus III by the Ghibellines with
indifference, and remained firm in their allegiance to Alexander III, in whose
honour they erected the formidable fortress of Alessandria, as a bulwark
against the Germans. Christian of Mainz, the only imperialist who still
kept the field in Italy, again vainly besieged Ancona. The emperor, whose
arrival in Italy was urgently implored, was retained in Germany by his mistrust
of Henry the Lion, who, in order to furnish
himself with a pretext for refusing his assist-
ance in the intended campaign without
coming to an open breach, undertook a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem (1171 a.d.) ; whence,
after performing his devotions at the Holy
Sepulchre, without unsheathing his sword in
its defence, he returned to his native country.
During his stay in the Holy Land, the papal
partisans in the East, who at an earlier
period had treacherously refused their assist-
ance to Conrad, the Ghibelline, loaded Henry
with attentions on account of his Guelfic
origin. This crusade has been adorned in
the legends of the time with manifold
wonders. On his return, he caused a lion,
the symbol of power, carved in stone, to be
placed in the market-place at Brunswick
(1172 A.D.); an occurrence that gave rise to
the fable of the faithful lion, by which he
is said to have been accompanied during his
pilgrimage.
FREDERICK AGAIN IN ITALY (1174 A.D.)
At length, in 1174, Frederick Barbarossa
persuaded the sullen duke to perform his >r|
duty in the field, and for the fifth time
crossed the Alps. A terrible revenge was Italian knight of the twelfth
taken upon Susa, which was burned to the
ground. Alessandria withstood the siege. The military science of the age,
every ruse de guerre, was exhausted by both the besiegers and the besieged,
and the whole of the winter was fruitlessly expended without any signal
success on either side. The Lombard League meanwhile assembled an
immense army in order to oppose Frederick in the open field, whilst treason
threatened him on another side.
The Venetians also embraced the papal party, and defeated Ulrich, the
patriarch of Aquileia, who held Carniola in fee of the emph-e. Henry
also at length acted with open disloyalty, and declared to the emperor, who
lay sick at Chiavenna, on the Lake of Como, his intention of abandoning him;
and, unshaken by Frederick's exhortation in the name of duty and honour to
renounce his perfidious plans, ofi"ered to provide him \yith money on condi-
tion of receiving considerable additions to his power in Germany, and the
free imperial town of Goslar in gift. These unjust demands were steadily
refused by Frederick, who, embracing the Guelf's knees, entreated him, as
the honour of the empire was at stake, not to abandon him in the hour of
104 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIEE
[1175-1177 A.D.]
need before the eyes of the enemy, with the flower of the army. At this
scene, Jordanus Truchsess, the Guelf's vassal, laughed and said, "Duke, the
crown, which you now behold at your feet, will ere long shine upon your
brow"; to which one of the emperor's retainers replied, "I should rather
fear that the crown might gain the ascendency." The emperor was at length
raised by the beautiful empress, Beatrice, who said to him, " God will help
you, when at some future time you remember this day, and the Guelf's inso-
lence." The Guelf withdrew with all his vassals.
Frederick, reduced to the alternative of either following his insolent
vassal, or of exposing himself and his weakened forces to total destruction
by remaining in his present position, courageously resolved to abide the
hazard, and to await the arrival of fresh reinforcements from Germany; the
Lombards, however, saw their advantage, and attacked him at Legnano, on
the 29th of May, 1176. The Swabians (the southern Germans still remain-
ing true to their allegiance) fought with all the courage of despair, but
Berthold von Zahringen was taken prisoner, the emperor's horse fell in the
thickest of the fight, his banner was won by the "legion of death," a chosen
Lombard troop, and he was given up as dead. He escaped almost by miracle,
whilst his little army was entirely overwhelmed.
In this necessity the emperor had recourse to subtlety, and ingeniously
contrived to produce disunion among his opponents. Evading the Lombard
League, he opened a negotiation with Venice and with the pope, to whom he
offered to make atonement; nor were his proposals rejected, the pope hoping
to turn the momentary distress of the emperor to advantage, by negotiating
terms before the arrival of the reinforcements, which he foresaw would be
sent to his assistance from Germany, and Venice being blinded by her jeal-
ousy of the rising power of the cities of Lombardy. An interview took place
at Venice, when peace was concluded between Frederick and Alexander III
(1177 A.D.), Guelfic historiographers relate that on the emperor's kissmg
the pope's feet, the latter placed his foot on Frederick's neck, uttering these
words of holy writ, "Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the lion"; to
which Frederick replied, "Not unto thee, but unto St. Peter be this honour!"
The letters of the pope that relate to these times are silent in regard to this
occurrence, whilst there are many proofs, on the other hand, that several
conversations took place between the pope and the emperor, each of whom
treated the other with respect and esteem, as the most intelligent men of
their age.
It is true, however, that the emperor sacrificed Calixtus, and that he
bestowed upon the Lombard cities the privilege of electing their own consuls ;
but it is also true that these concessions on the emperor's part were balanced
by those made by the pope, who released the emperor from the interdict, and
confirmed all the powerful archbishops and bishops, the stanch adherents of
the emperor, in their dignity, thus relieving him from any apprehension on
the side of the church, the most dangerous rival of his temporal power. The
story of the humiliation of Barbarossa by the pope has been preserved at
Venice by inscriptions and paintings, and another story equally fabulous has
also been handed down in Italy by means of a popular festival. It is said
that Otto, the emperor's son, attacked Venice by sea, but was defeated, and
brought a prisoner to the city; and that in order to perpetuate the memory
of this victory, the pope, Alexander, bestowed upon the doge the privilege
of making an annual excursion into the sea, in a magnificently decorated
ship, the Bucentaur, solemnly to espouse the sea by casting a ring into her
bosom, thus metaphorically asserting the rule of the city of Venice over the
I
THE HOHENSTAUFENS 105
[1170-1180 A.D.]
waves. This festival continued for several centuries, but its historical origin
is unknown.
Archbishop Wichmann, whose lands he had laid waste, besieged him,
dammed up the little river Bever, and directed its waters, which had col-
lected for several months, into the towm, which was quickly flooded. The
citizens took refuge beneath the roofs of the houses until the water had dis-
appeared, and refused to surrender. Shortly before this, Bernard had set
fire to the heath on which the archbishop had pitched his camp.
The death of Albert the Bear, in 1170, and the partition of Branden-
burg between his sons Otto and Bernard, diminished the number of Henry's
dangerous rivals in the north. The insolence with which the neighbouring
bishops, who relied upon the emperor for aid, opposed him, particularly
Reinhold, archbishop of Cologne, Wichmann of Magdeburg, and the bishops
of Halberstadt and Miinster, nevertheless, kept him fully occupied. Unin-
timidated by the influence and power of these "bald-pates," as he scornfully
termed them, he boldly attacked them in return, and gained possession of
Halberstadt, when Bishop Ulrich died in consequence of the ill-treatment
he received, and a thousand persons were burned alive in the cathedral.
On the emperor's return from Italy, he summoned the Lion to appear
before the supreme tribunal, and on the third public summons being unat-
tended, pronounced him under the ban of the empire. The bald-pates tri-
umphed. All his ancient foes, all those who hoped to rise by his fall, joined
the Ghibelline faction against the last of the Guelfs, to whose cause Saxony
alone adhered. The Lion, driven to bay, proved himself worthy of his name,
and almost obliterated the stain upon his honour, the treason of which he had
been guilty, by his valorous feats. Aided by his faithful adherents and
vassals, he gained a decisive victory on the Halerfeld, 1180 a.d. He main-
tained the contest for three years, but his suspicion and pride at length
estranged from him the vassals by whom he had been so long upheld, and he
was closely besieged by the emperor in Stade, where he was abandoned by
all except Bernard von der Lippe (who, after the remarkable defence of
Haldersleben had been forced to quit his country and his connections), and
the city of Liibeck, which refused to surrender to the emperor, until com-
manded to so do by its benefactor, the Lion.
Henry, seeing that all was lost, sent Ludwig, landgraf of Thuringia,
whom he had restored to liberty, to sue for peace, and threw himself at the
emperor's feet at Erfurt. Frederick no sooner saw his treacherous vassal at
his feet, than, with a generous recollection of their former days of friendship,
he raised him from his knees, and affectionately embracing him, shed tears
of joy at their reconciliation; but, sensible of the danger of permitting the
existence of the great duchies, he remained inflexible in his determination to
crush the power of the Guelfs, by treating Bavaria and Saxony as he had
formerly Franconia and Lorraine. Their partition was resolved upon, and
Henry was merely permitted to retain Brunswick. Bavaria was given to the
trusty Otto von Wittelsbach, in whose family it has ever since remained.
And for the better security of this new order of things, Henry the Lion was
exiled for three years. On his way to England, accompanied merely by a
small retinue, the citizens of Bardowiek, his own town, closed the gates
against him, and treated him with every mark of indignity.
Bohemia met with severe treatment at the hands of the emperor. The
aged Wenceslaus had secretly intrigued with the Italians, and, without obtain-
ing the consent of the emperor, had proclaimed his son, Frederick, his suc-
cessor on the throne. Barbarossa deposed both father and son, and bestowed
106 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1180-1185 A.D.]
the crown on one of their relatives, whom he drew for that purpose out of
prison; but this prince proving equally unruly and hostile, he deprived him
of his crown, which he restored to Frederick on payment of a sum of money
(1180 A.D.).
THE PEACE OF CONSTANCE (1183 A.D.)
Barbarossa granted the greatest privileges to the cities, with the intention
of still further diminishing the power of the great vassals; and it is, conse-
quently, to him that a number of the most considerable cities are indebted
for their complete affranchisement, and for their elevation to the rank of free
imperial cities under the immediate protection of the crown.
On the death of Pope Alexander, Frederick preserved good relations with
his successor Urban, and concluded a fresh treaty of peace and amity at
Constance with Lombardy, to which, although it still remained annexed to
the empire, he granted the privilege of electing their own governors and of
forming alliances.
The Whitsuntide holidays were celebrated at Mainz, in 1184, with
unwonted magnificence. Forty thousand knights, the most lovely women,
and the most distinguished bards in the empire here surroimded Frederick
Barbarossa, who seemed now to have attained the summit of his power;
and the splendour that was displayed on this occasion was long celebrated
in song. The emperor's five sons, Henry his successor on the throne, Frederick
duke of Swabia, Conrad duke of Franconia, Otto duke oT Burgundy, and the
youthful Philip were present. A violent storm that arose in the night, and
overthrew the tents in this encampment of pleasure, was, however, regarded
as an omen of future ill.
In the following year the emperor carried a great project into execution.
The difficulty he had experienced in keeping the cities of Lombardy in check,
and notwithstanding the endeavours of the archbishop Christian, in retain-
ing the papal dominions without the possession of lower Italy, drew his
attention thither, and he succeeded in obtaining the hand of Constanza,
the daughter and heiress of Roger the Norman, king of Apulia, and Sicily,^
1185 A.D. But scarcely had he crossed the Alps, than Knud, the new king
of Denmark, infringed the treaty, and, uniting his forces with those of Jari-
mar of Riigen, gained a naval victory over Boleslaw of Pomerania, whom he
compelled to do him homage. The princess of Mecklenburg, Niclot, the son
of Wratislaw, and Borwin, the son of Priczlaw, met with a similar fate. The
emperor, whom the affairs of Italy fully occupied, deferred his revenge; but
his son Frederick, Ludwig III of Thuringia and a Thuringian count, Sieg-
fried, sent back their brides, the three daughters of Knud, to Denmark.
BARBAROSSA S CRUSADE AND DEATH
The situation of the Christians in the East became gradually more per-
plexing. The treachery practised by the Greeks and the Pullanes during
the last crusade towards the emperors, Conrad III, and Louis VII, gradually
met with its fitting reward, although the disputes that arose among the
Mohammedans were at first in their favour. Zenki the Great had been
succeeded by his son Nurad-din, who was opposed by the Egyptian caliphs,
> He said, " Italy, like the eel, even when held fast by the head, the tail, and the middle,
still threatens to slip from our clutches."
thp: hohenstaufens 107
[1185-118S A.D.]
and whose son was deprived of his throne by a new aspirant, named Saladin,
who, uniting Syria and Egypt beneath his rule, subdued the Assassins, the
most dangerous enemies of the sultans, and attacked the weak and demoral-
ised Christians, whose strength had been spent in intestine feuds.
Henry the Lion, who visited Jerusalem in 1171, might have saved Egypt,
but merely contented himself with paying his devotions at the sepulchre,
and returned home without
drawing his sword against
the infidels. The other
troops of pilgrims that ar-
rived singly and few in
number were utterly power-
less. Jerusalem was for
some time valiantly de-
fended by the queen Sibylla,
but finally surrendered. A
German knight greatly dis-
tinguished himself during
this siege, by the valour
with which he resisted the
Turks when storming the
city. The Christians were
granted a free exit; Saladin
beholding them from a lofty
throne, as they quitted the
city in mournful procession,
October 30th, 1187. All
the churches, that of the
Holy Sepulchre alone ex-
cepted, were reconverted
into mosques. And thus
was Jerusalem lost by the
incapacity of her French
rulers, and the whole of Palestine would inevitably have again fallen a prey
to the Turks, had not Conrad of Montferrat, the son of the captive marquis,
encouraged the trembling citizens of Tyre to make head against Saladin.
William, bishop of Tyre, the most noted of the historians of his times,
instantly hastened into the west for the purpose of demanding assistance.
The pious emperor, then in his seventieth year, joyfully took up the cross
for the second time, and with him his son, Frederick of Swabia, and the
flower of German chivalry — in all, one hundred thousand men. Barbarossa,
after sending a solemn declaration of war to Saladin, broke up his camp,
' 1188 A.D., met with a friendly reception from Bela, king of Hungary, held
' a magnificent tournament at Belgrade, hanged all the Servians, w^hose robber
bands harassed him on his march, that fell into his hands, as common thieves,
' and advanced into the plains of Rumelia. The Greek emperor, Isaac, who
; was on friendly terms with him, and had promised to furnish his army with
, provisions, broke his word, and, besides countenancing the hostiUty with
. which the crusaders were treated by his subjects, threw the count von Diez,
whom Frederick sent to him, into prison. Barbarossa, upon this, gave his
soldiery license to plunder, and the beautiful country was speedily laid waste.
; The Cumanians, Isaac's mercenaries, fled before the Germans, who revenged
i the assassination of some pilgrims by destroying the city of Manicava, and
Armour of the Twelitth and Thirteenth Centuries
108 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1188-1190 A.D.]
by putting four thousand of the inhabitants to the sword. The large city
of PhiHppopoHs, where the sick and wounded Germans who had been left!
there had been mercilessly slaughtered by the inhabitants, shared the same ,
fate. These acts of retributive justice performed, Barbarossa advanced I
against Constantinople, where Isaac, in order to secure his capital fromj
destruction, placed his whole fleet at his disposal. The crusaders no sooner;
reached Asia Minor, than the Greeks recommenced their former treacherous ;
practices, and the sultan of Iconium, who, through jealousy of Saladin's '
power, had entered into a friendly alhance with the emperor, also attacked!
him. j
Barbarossa defeated all their attempts. On one occasion, he concealed the j
flower of his troops in a large tent, the gift of the Hungarian queen, and pre- *
tended to fly before the Turks, who no sooner commenced pillaging the aban- ;
doned camp, than the knights rushed forth and cut them down. A Turkish!
prisoner who was driven in chains in advance of the army, in order to serve |
as guide, sacrificed his life for the sake of misleading the Christians amid I
the pathless mountains, where, starving with hunger, tormented by thirst,!
foot-weary and faint, they were suddenly attacked on every side. StonesI
were rolled upon their heads as they advanced through the narrow gorge,!
and the young duke of Swabia narrowly escaped, his helmet being struck off j
his head. Peace was now offered by the Turks on payment of a large sum!
of money; to this the emperor replied by sending them a small silver coin,!
w^hich they were at liberty to divide amongst themselves, and pushing boldly
forward beat off the enemy.
The suffering of the army rapidly increased; water was nowhere to be
discovered, and they were reduced to the necessity of drinking the blood
of their horses. The aged emperor encouraged his troops by his words, and
was answered by the Swabians, who raised their native war-song. His son,
Frederick, hastened forwards with half of the army, again defeated the'
Turks, and fought his way to Iconiimi, entered the city with the retreating
enemy, put all the inhabitants to the sword, and gained an immense booty.
Barbarossa was meanwhile surrounded by the sultan's army. His soldiers
were almost worn out with fatigue and himger. The aged emperor, believ-
ing his son lost, burst into tears. All wept around him; when suddenly
rising he exclaimed, "Christ still lives, Christ conquers!" and heading his
chivalry in the assault, they attacked the enemy and gained a complete
victory. Ten thousand Turks were slain. Several fell beneath the hand of
Barbarossa himself, who emulated in his old age the deeds of his youth.
Iconium, where plenty awaited them, was at length reached.
After recruiting here, they continued their march as far as the little
river Calicadnus (Seleph), in Cilicia, where the road happening to be blocked
up with beasts of burden, the impatient old emperor, instead of waiting,,
attempted to cross the stream on horseback,^ and was carried away by the
current. His body was recovered, and borne by his sorrowing army to
Antioch, where it was entombed in St. Peter's church (1190).
The news of the death of their great emperor was received w^ith incredulity
by the Germans, whose dreamy hope of being one day ruled by a dynasty
of mighty sovereigns, who should unite a peaceful world beneath their sway,
at length almost identified itself with that of Barbarossa's return and gave
rise to legendary tales, which still record the popular feeling of the times.
In a deep rocky cleft, in the Kyffhauser Berg, on the golden meadow ol
[' According to some stories he was bathing in the stream.]
THE HOHE^TSTAUFENS 109
[1190 A.D.]
Thiiringia, still sleeps this great and noble emperor: his head resting on his
arm, he sits by a granite block, through which his red beard has grown in
the lapse of time; but when the ravens no longer fly around the mountain,
he will awake and restore the golden age to the expectant world. Accord-
ing to another legend, the emperor sits, wrapped in sleep, in the Untersberg,
near Salzburg; and when the dead pear tree on the Walserfeld, which has
been cut down three times but ever grows anew, blossoms, he will come forth,
hang his shield on the tree, and commence a tremendous battle, in which
the whole world will join, and the good shall overcome the wicked. The
attachment which the Germans bore to this emperor is apparent in the action
of one solitary individual, Conrad von Boppard, who bestowed a large estate
on the monastery of Schonau, on condition of masses being read forever for
the repose of the soul of his departed sovereign. The little church on the
Hohenstaufen, to which it was Barbarossa's custom to descend from the castle
in order to hear mass, still stands, and over the walled-up doors may be read
the words, '^ Hie transidat Ccesar." Excellent portraits of Frederick and
Beatrice may still be seen to the right of the door of the church at Welzheim,
which was founded by their son Philip. But the great palace, 710 feet in
length, which he built at Gelnhausen, in honour of the beautiful Gela, who
is said to have been the mistress of his youthful affections, and who renounced
'him against his will and took the veil, in order not to be an obstacle in his
glorious career, lies in ruins.e
CHAPTER II
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS
[1190-1373 A.D.]
HENRY VI
Frederick's eldest son, Henry, who during his father's Ufe was named
his successor, and who in his absence had been invested with the govern-
ment of the empire, was not dissimilar from his father in the power of his
mind, in chivalric bearing, and in grand ideas and plans; but his disposition
was extremely partial and severe, often cruel; and, in order to execute great
ambitious projects, he betrayed feelings of a very mercenary nature. This
was displayed in an occurrence which has not done him much honour. King
Richard Coeur de Lion, of England, when in Palestine had at the siege of
Acre a dispute with Duke Leopold of Austria; inasmuch as the Germans,
after the city was taken, were encamped on one of its quarters, Duke Leo-
pold caused the German banner to be raised upon a tower, like those of the
kings of England and France. But the proud Richard of England caused it
to be torn down, and it was trampled in the mud by the English.
This was an affront to the whole German army, and certainly deserved
immediate and severe punishment. But the revenge which the duke and
the emperor Henry took afterwards upon the king was of the most treacherous
and ignoble character. Richard, upon his return from Palestine in 1192,
was cast by a storm upon the Italian coast near Aquileia, and wished to
continue his route through Germany; but, although he had disguised him-
self as a pilgrim, he was recognised in Vienna by his expensive style of living
and by the imprudence of his servant. He was seized and delivered up to
Duke Leopold, who had previously returned, and by whom he was surrendered
to the emperor Henry. The noble, chivalric king of England, and brother-
in-law of Henry the Lion, was now detained at Trifels, in close confinement,
above a year, until he was formally brought before the assembly of German
princes at Hagenau, as a criminal, and defended himself; nor was he liberated
and allowed to return to his kingdom until the English had paid a ransom
of a million of dollars — for that period an immense sum. In thus proceeding
against Richard, Henry had, it is true, acted in conformity with the ancient
110
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS ill
[1190-1195 A.D.]
rights of the imperial dignity, according to which the emperor was authorised
to cite before him all the kings of Christendom, and sit in judgment over
them. But the manner in which he acted in this case was degrading, and
unworthy of any ruling power.
The emperor concluded with Henry the Lion, who after his return from
England had produced fresh wars, a permanent treaty of peace, and by the
marriage which took place between the duke's son, Henry the Slender, and
Agnes, princess palatine and niece of Frederick I, the reconciliation of these
distinguished houses was confirmed.^
V
THE WAR IX SICILY (1193 A.D.)
The departure of the emperor Frederick for the Holy Land had been
immediately followed by the death of William II, king of Sicily. Henry VI
laid claim to the kingdom of Sicily, in virtue of his marriage to Constanza;
but the German name was odious to the people, and the pretensions of a bas-
tard prevailed over the right of the legitimate heiress. Tancred, count of
Lecce, mounted the throne of his grandfather.
Henry crossed the Alps for the double purpose of obtaining the imperial
crown and reducing the usurper of Sicily. Henry and Constanza were
crowned by Pope Celestine III in St. Peter's (1191). The German forces
received but little resistance until they arrived at the gates of Naples. Whilst
that city held out against the invaders, Henry beheld his troops and captains
swept off by disease; retreat became necessary. The death of the eldest
son of King Tancred was soon afterwards followed by that of the afflicted
father. To Tancred succeeded his second son, William III (1193), whose
tender age invited Henry once more to attempt the reduction of Sicily.
With the assistance of Pisa and Genoa, he obtained an easy conquest of the
Italian provinces; and passing over to the island, became master of Messina,
Palermo, and other principal cities. The widow of Tancred, with the young
king and princesses, submitted to the conqueror on the promise of obtaining
for herself the county of Lecce, and for her son the principality of Tarentum.
The hapless William knelt before the emperor, and resigned the sceptre of
the Normans to the house of Swabia (1195).
But no sooner was Henry secure of the prize than he gave way to the
ferocity of his nature; and signalised the brutality of his mind by violating
the repose of the dead, and inflicting the most shocking cruelties on the living.
The sepulchres of Tancred and his son were broken open, their bodies stripped
of the last trappings of royalty; and under pretence of a conspiracy the young
Wifliam was arrested and inhumanly mutilated and blinded, and with his
mother and sisters doomed to hopeless captivity in Gennany. The merciless
emperor appeared intent upon the destruction of the Normans; and the
sympathy of Constanza was awakened by the groans of her fellow country-
men. Satiated at length with the blood and spoils of his new subjects, Henry
departed for his native land; and the Sicilians beheld with grief and indigna-
tion the treasures of the realm transported from the island to Germany .<^
, He not only conveyed away the gold and silver, together with afl the costly
ornaments of the ancient Norman kings, to such an extent that 160 animals
were loaded therewith and proceeded with them to the castle of Trifels on
the Rhine, but he caused the eyes of the grandees who had rebelled to be
;Put out, and as an insult to their misfortunes and in mockery of their efforts
ito get possession of the throne and wear the crown, he placed them upon
112 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1195-1209 A.D.]
seats of red-hot iron, and fastened upon their heads crowns formed equally
of burning iron. The rest of their accomplices were, it is true, so much
terrified thereby that they vowed allegiance; but this submission did not
come from their hearts, and Henry's successors paid severel}'' for his cruelties.
He meditated the most important plans, which, had they been accom-
plished, would have given to the whole empire a completely different form.
Among the rest he offered to the German princes to render their fiefs heredi-
tary, promised to renounce all imperial claims to the property left by bishops
and the rest of the clergy; in return for which, however, he desired the imperial
throne to be made likewise hereditary in his family. He even promised to
unite Naples and Sicily wholly with the empire. Many princes voluntarily
agreed to these propositions, which appeared advantageous to them; some
of the greater ones, however, refused, and as the pope likewise withheld his
consent, Henry was obliged to defer the execution of his great projects to a
more convenient time. Affairs now called him again to Sicily, and there
he suddenly died in 1197, in the thirty-third year of his age, and at the moment
when he contemplated the conquest of the Greek Empire, by which to
prepare and secure a successful issue to the Crusades.^
CIVIL WARS FOR THE CROWN (1197-1212 A.D.)
His son Frederick was but just eight years old, and the two parties in
Germany, the Hohenstaufens and the Guelfs, became again so strongly
divided that the one side chose as emperor Philip, Henry's brother, and the
other Otto, the second son of Henry the Lion, a prince distinguished for his
strength and valour, and thus Germany had again two sovereigns at once.
Through this unfortunate division of parties the empire became for the
space of more than ten years the scene of devastation, robbery, and murder, and
both princes, who were equally endowed with good qualities, could do noth-
ing for the coimtry; on the contrary, in the endeavours made by each to gain
over the pope to himself, they yielded to the subtle Innocent III, under
whom the papacy attained its highest grade of power, many of their privileges.
Otto IV even acknowledged the pope's claim of authority to bestow the
empire as he might appoint, and called himself in his letters to the pope a
Roman king by the grace of God and the pope. For which concession, and
because he was a Guelf, Innocent protected him with all his power; and
when Philip, in 1208, was assassinated at Bamberg by Otto of Wittelsbach
(a nephew of him to whom Frederick I had given the duchy of Bavaria),
in revenge because he would not give him his daughter in marriage as he had
promised, Otto IV was universally acknowledged as emperor and solemnly
crowned at Rome,^
But before the pope consented to bestow the imperial crown, he obtained
from the emperor-elect his signature to a written capitulation, which sliook
his authority in ecclesiastical affairs to the foundation. Not content with
extorting an oath of obedience to the holy see and the defence of its privi-
leges, Innocent hereby bound the emperor to correct all abuses in the choice
of the German prelates; to permit the elections to be conducted according
to the ordinances of the church; and to throw no obstacle in the way of
appeals to Rome. In this capitulation, the first of its kind, the greatest
care was taken that all should be general and undefined; so that it was
' Henry's tomb, at Palermo, was opened after nearly six hundred years, and the body
found well preserved.
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 113
[1209-1215 A.D.]
admirably adapted to assist the popes in their future encroachments on
the imperial prerogative. Otto moreover undertook to resign to the church
an important source of revenue, the property of deceased prelates and the
income of the see during a vacancy, which had hitherto been claimed by
the successors of Charlemagne.
OTTO EXCOMMUNICATED (1210 A.D.)
Immediately after the coronation, the long-cherished antipathy of the
Romans to the Germans broke out into open conflict; and the new emperor,
after the destruction of many of his followers, withdrew in dudgeon from
Rome. Between the pope and emperor all oaths were forgotten; the dis-
turbed state of Apulia invited Otto to its invasion; and he soon became
master of the greater part of the southern provinces of Italy. But whilst
the German monarch was lured to these distant conquests, his own ruin was
in preparation at home. The south was sacred groimd to Innocent; since
the empress Constanza had, in her last moments, made him the guardian of her
infant son, Frederick, the heir to the crown of Sicily. He had already expe-
rienced the greatest difficulties in tranquillising the Sicilian kingdom; and
finding the emperor deaf to his admonitions, Innocent sent forth his thunders,
by which Otto was declared to be deposed from the empire, and all his sub-
jects absolved from their allegiance. Otto learned with dismay that the
princes and prelates of Germany were rapidly falling off from a monarch
whose brow was blasted by the thunderbolt of God's vicar; and he recog-
nised his enemy Philip of France fanning the flame in his dominions.
Frederick, the son of the emperor Henry VI and of Constanza, princess
of Sicily, had barely attained his eighteenth year when he was summoned to
the throne of Germany. He was cordially welcomed by the German princes
who had invited him; he soon afterwards, in a conference with the dauphin,
established a league with France, and was crowned with great splendour at
Aachen, in 1215.
Meanwhile the affairs of Otto were fast hastening to a crisis. Supported
by John, king of England, the duke of Brabant, and the count of Flanders,
he met and engaged with the French army at Bouvines, 1214; and after a
desperate battle received a complete overthrow. Thus oppressed by the
spiritual arms of Innocent and the superior fortune of Philip, he withdrew to
his castle at Hartzburg in Brunswick; where not very long afterwards he
peacefully terminated his life (1218).'^
FREDERICK II (1215 A.D.)
The emperor Frederick II, the grandson of Frederick I, by his heroism,
firmness of will, and boldness of spirit, and combining with this majesty of
character both mildness and grace, was worthy of his noble family, so that
the impression of his personal greatness remained long after his demise. In
addition to which, he was a friend of art and science, and was himself a
poet, sentiment, animation, and euphony breathing in all his works. His
bold and searching glance dwelt especially upon the follies of his age, and
he frequently lashed them with bitter ridicule; whilst, on the contrary, he
saw in everyone, whence or of whatsoever faith he might be, merely the man,
and honoured him as such if he found him so worthy.
H. W. — VOL. XIV. I
114 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1215-1228 A.D.]
And yet this emperor executed but little that was great; his best powers
were consumed in the renewed contest between the imperial and papal
authority which never had more ruinous consequences than under his reign,
and Germany in particular found but little reason to rejoice in its sovereign,
for his views, even beyond all the other Hohenstaufens, were directed to
Italy. By birth and education more an Italian than a German, he was
particularly attached to his beautiful inheritance of the Two Sicilies, and in
Germany, thus neglected, the irresponsible dominion of the vassals took
still deeper root; whilst, on the other hand, in France the royal power, by
withdrawing considerable fiefs, commenced preparing its victory over the
feudal system.
There were also three grand causes which served to excite the popes
against Frederick. In the first place, they could not endure that besides
northern Italy he should possess Sicily and Naples, and was thus enabled to
press upon their state from two sides; secondly, they were indignant because
he would not yield to them unconditionally the great privileges which the
weak Otto IV had ceded to them; but, thirdly, what most excited their
anger was that, in the heat of their dispute, he frequently turned the sharp-
ness of his sarcasm against them and endeavoured to make them both ridicu-
lous and contemptible. The story of his rivalry with the popes is more fully
told under the history of the papacy and of the crusades.
THE EMPEROR GAINS JERUSALEM (1230 A.D.)
The commencement of the schism, however, arose from a particular
circumstance. Frederick, at his coronation in Aachen, had spontaneously
engaged to undertake a crusade for the deliverance of Jerusalem, and this
promise he renewed when he was crowned emperor at Rome in 1220.^ But
he now found in his Italian inheritance, as well as in the opposition shown
by the Lombard cities, which, after the death of Frederick I had agam become
arrogant, so much to do that he was continually obliged to require from
the pope renewed delays. The peaceful and just Honorius III granted
them to him; and there existed between him and the emperor a friendly
feeling, and even a mutual feeling of respect. But with the passionate
Gregory IX the old dispute between the spiritual and temporal power soon
again broke forth, and Gregory strongly urged the crusade. In the year
1227 Frederick actually sailed with a fleet, but returned after a few days,
under the pretext of ilhiess, and the whole expedition ending in nothing,
Gregory became irritated, and without listening to or admitting even the
emperor's excuses, excommunicated him, for he maintained his sickness
was a fiction.
In order to contradict these charges by salient facts, the emperor actually
went the ensuing year to Palestine. But upon this the pope censured him
even more strongly than before, declaring anyone under excommunication
to be an unfit instrument for the service of God. And in order that Fred-
erick might accomplish nothing great in the Holy Land, he sent thither
commands that neither the clergy there nor the orders of knight-
hood should have community with him; nay, he himself even caused his
troops to make an incursion into Frederick's Italian lands and conquered a
portion of Apulia. i
[' Two years later his son Henry was crowned king of the Romans at Aaclien.]
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 11.';
[1228-1237 A.D.]
But Frederick, in the meantime, speedily brought the war in Palestine
to a successful termination. The sultan of Egypt, Kameel, partly through
the great fame which the imperial sovereignty enjoyed in the East, and
partly from personal esteem for Frederick (but weakened principally by
family dissensions), concluded with him a truce for ten years, and gave up
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. The emperor then entered the Holy
City and visited the grave, but the patriarchs of Jerusalem and the priests,
obedient to the commands of the pope, would celebrate no religious service
in his presence. Notwithstanding this, he performed his devotions, and in
the presence of his nobles crowned himself with the crowTi of the kings of
Jerusalem: a right he had acquired by his marriage with Yolande, the
daughter of King John of Jerusalem; after which he returned quickly to
Italy. His presence speedily repaired all that was lost, and the pope saw
himself obliged, in 1230, to conclude a peace and remove the ban of excom-
munication.
FREDERICK RETURXS TO EUROPE
A tranquil moment seemed now to present itself in Frederick's life, but
fate attacked him from another side. His own son, Henry, whom he had
left in Germany as imperial viceroy, rebelled against him, excited, probably,
by ambition and evil counsellors. Frederick returned to Germany, and
with a bleeding heart he was obliged to overpower his own. son by force,
take him prisoner, and place him in confinement in Apulia, where, seven
years afterwards, he died.
Upon this occasion, Frederick held, in 1235, a grand diet at Mainz, where
sixty-four princes and about twelve thousand nobles and knights were present.
Here WTitten laws were made relative to the peace of the country, and other
regulations adopted, which showed the empire the prudence of its emperor.
Before the diet assembled, he celebrated at Worms his espousal with his
second consort, the English princess Isabella. The imperial bride was
received upon the frontiers by a splendid suite of nobles and knights; in
all the cities through which she passed the clergy met her, accompanied by
choirs of sacred music, and the cheerful peals of the church-bells; and in
Cologne, the streets of which were superbly decorated, she was received
by ten thousand citizens on horseback, in rich clothing and arms. Carriages
with organs, their wheels and horses concealed by purple coverings, caused
an harmonious music to resound, and throughout the whole night choirs of
maidens serenaded beneath the windows of the emperor's bride. At the
marriage in Worms, four kings, eleven dukes, and thirty counts and mark-
grafs were present, Frederick made the most costly presents to the English
ambassador; and, among the rest, he sent rich gifts of curiosities from the
East to the king of England, as well as three leopards, the leopards being
included in the English coat of arms. ^
The sister of Frederick II, duke of Austria, had been married to Henry,
the rebellious son of the emperor, and the young duke participated in the
revolt of his brother. His delinquency had hitherto remained unpunished;
but his rapacious disposition and odious excesses rendered hini generally
obnoxious to the German princes and to his own immediate subjects. The
emperor was therefore induced to visit Germany; and having vainly sum-
moned Duke Frederick to a diet held at Augsburg, declared Ws estates
forfeited, and immediately took possession of Austria (1237). At Speier the
116
THE HOLY EOMAN" EMPIRE
[1237-1341 A.D.]
emperor caused his second son, Conrad, to be elected king of the Romans;
and then again returned to the reduction of Lombardy. ^
Frederick speedily, with the assistance of his vahant leader, the knight
Ezzelino da Romano, conquered several of the allied cities, and so beat the
Milanese in 1237 at Cortenuova that they would willingly have humbled
themselves if he had granted only moderate conditions. But, unwarned by
the example of his grandfather, he required them to submit at discretion;
whilst the citizens, remembering earlier times, preferred dying under their
shields, rather, they said, than by the rope, famine, or fire, and from this
period commenced in reality the misfortunes of Frederick's life. According
to the statement made by one of our WTiters, "he lost the favour of many
men by his implacable severity." His old enemy also, Gregory IX, again
rose up against him, joined henceforth the confederation of the cities, and
excommunicated him a second time. Indeed, the enmity of both parties
went so far, and degenerated so much into personal animosity, that the pope,
comparing the emperor, in a letter to the other princes, " to that apocalyptic
monster rising from the sea,
which was full of blasphemous
names, and in colour chequered
like a leopard," Frederick im-
mediately replied with another
passage from Scripture: "An-
other red horse arose from the
sea, and he who sat thereon took
peace from the earth, so that the
living should kill each other."
But in that age there existed
one great authority which oper-
ated powerfully on the side of
the pope, and fought against
Frederick — this was the power
of " public opinion," The pope
now cast upon the emperor the
heavy charge that he was a de-
spiser of religion and of the holy
church, and was inclined to the
infidelity of the Saracens (the
fact that Frederick had em-
ployed, in the war with the
Lombards, ten thousand Sara-
cens, appeared to justify this
charge); and although the em-
peror several tunes, both ver-
bally and in WTiting, solemnly
declared that he was a true
Christian, and as such wished to
live and die: nay, although he
was formally examined in religion by several bishops, and caused a testimony
of his orthodoxy to be published, this accusation of the pope still found belief
amongst most men. In addition to this, Frederick's rash and capricious wit had
too often thoughtlessly attacked sacred subjects; whilst his life also was not
pure and blameless, but stained with the excesses of sensuality. Accordingly
he sank more and more in general estimation, and it was this that embit-
A KNiCinT IN Thirteenth Century Armottr
THE LAST OF THE HOHE^^STAUFENS 117
[1341-1249 A.D.]
tered the latter period of his Hfe, and at length entirely consumed him with
vexation,
Gregory IX, who died in 1241, at the age of nearly one hundred years,
was succeeded by Innocent IV, who was a still more violent enemy of the
emperor than even Gregory had been. As Frederick still continued to be
powerful in Italy, and threatened him even in Rome itself, the pope retired
to Genoa, and thence to Lyons, in France. There he renewed, in 1245, in a
large council the ban against the emperor, although the latter offered himself
in peace and friendship, and was willing to remove all points of complaint,
whilst, in addition to all this, his ambassador, Thaddeus of Suessa, pleaded
most powerfully for his lord. Indeed, the pope went so far as solemnly to
pronounce the deposition of the emperor from all his states and dignities.
RIVAL MONARCHS: HENRY RASPE AXD AVILLIAM OF HOLLAND
When the excommunication w^as circulated in Germany, many of the
spiritual princes took advantage of the excitement produced thereby and
elected, in 1246, at Wiirzburg, the lantlgraf, Henry Raspe of Thuringia, as
rival emperor. The latter, however, could gain no absolute authority and
died the following year. As Frederick, however, still remained in Italy,
entangled in constant wars, the ecclesiastical princes elected another sov-
ereign. Count William of Holland, a youth twenty years of age, who, in
order that he might become the head of the order of knighthood, was forth-
with solemnly promoted from his inferior rank of squire to that of knight.
The greatest confusion now existed in Germany as well as in Italy. "After
the emperor Frederick w^as excommunicated," says an ancient historian, "the
robbers congratulated themselves, and rejoiced at the oppoj-tunities for pillage
now presented to them. The ploughshares were transformed into swords,
and the scythes into lances. Everyone supplied himself with steel and flint
in order to be able to produce fire and spread incendiarism instantly."
In Italy the w^ar continued uninterruptedly and without any decisive
result, especially with the Lombard cities. The imperial arms were often
successful, but the spirit of the emperor was bowed down, and at last his
good fortune occasionally deserted him. In the year 1249 his own son,
Enzio, whom he had made king of Sardinia, and of all his sons the most
chivalric and handsome, was taken prisoner by the Bolognese in an unsuc-
cessful combat near Fossalta. The irritated citizens refused all offers of
ransom for the emperor's son, and condemned him to perpetual imprisonment,
in which he continued for two-and-twenty years, and survived all the sons
and grandsons of Frederick, who perished every one by poison, the sword,
or the axe of the executioner.
Exclusive of the bitter grief caused by his son's misfortune, the emperor,
in his last years, was aflflicted w'ith the additional pain and mortification of
finding his long-tried friend and chancellor, Petrus de Vinea, to whom he
had confided the most important affairs of his empire, charged with the
crime of attempting to take the life of his master by poison. Matthew
of Paris,<^ at least, relates as certain that the physician De Vinea handed
to the emperor a poisonous beverage as a medicine, which the latter, having
had his suspicions excited, did not drink. The chancellor was thrown into
prison and deprived of his eyesight, when he committed suicide by dashing
his head against the wall. Whether De Vinea was guilty, or whether appear-
ances which he could not remove, were alone against him is not to be decided,
118 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIEE
[1241-1250 A.D.]
owing to the insufficiency of the information handed down to us. The
emperor, however, did not long survive this painful event; he died in 1250,
in the arms of his son Manfred, at the castle of Fiorentino, in the fifty-sixth
year of his age.
His death produced great confusion in Italy, and still greater dissension
in Germany. In the latter country two emperors again stood opposed to
each other, throne against throne; the Hohenstaufen party acknowledging
and upholding Conrad, Frederick's son, in opposition to William of Holland,
the former having already, during his father's life, been elected king of the
Romans.
But before we relate the history of these two rivals emperors, it will be
useful and interesting to cast our glance at the countries in the east and
northeastern parts of Germany.
MINOR "WARS AND THE PRUSSIAN CRUSADE
Europe was about this time threatened by a terrible enemy from the East,
equally as dreadful as the Huns w^re in earlier times. This enemy consisted
of the Mongolians, who ever since the year 1206, under Jenghiz Khan, had
continued to ravage Asia, and led by him had advanced as far as Moravia
and Silesia. In the year 1241 they gained a great battle near Liegnitz over
the Silesians, under the command of Henry II of Liegnitz, who himself fell
chivalrously fighting at the head of his troops ; but by the valour with which
he disputed the victory with the enemy, he destroyed the desire they had
previously indulged in of penetrating further westward, as they now turned
towards Hungary. Thus, by his own death, Henry the Pious saved Europe;
and upon the same spot (Wahlstatt) where, on the 26th of August, 1813,
the action called the battle of Katzbach was so victoriously fought.
In this emergency Frederick well felt what his duty was as first Christian
prince, and very urgently pressed the other kings for their immediate assist-
ance against the common enemy; but at this moment the general disorder
was too great, and his appeal for aid remained without any effect. As regards
Silesia and Hungary the incursion of the Mongolians produced this result,
that many German peasants migrated to the deserted and depopulated
districts, and henceforward lower Silesia became, indeed, more a German
than a Slavonic country. Other neighbouring comitries also were about
this period occupied and populated by the Germans, consisting of the coasts
of the Baltic, Prussia, Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland. As early as at
the end of the twelfth century, Meinhard, a canon of the monastery of
Legeberg, built a church at Exkalle (in the vicinity of the present Riga),
where, shortly afterwards. Pope Clement III founded a bishopric, and from
this central point the diffusion of Christianity extended in that district. But
temporal force soon mixed itself in these spiritual and peaceful exertions;
the resistance of the heathen Livonians induced Pope Celestine III to cause a
crusade to be preached against them, and speedily a multitude of men from
the north of Germany stormed towards these parts. A spiritual order of
knighthood was formed under the name of the knights of the sword, and
with the Christian doctrines the dominion of this order was by degrees extended
over Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland. The natives who remained after the
sanguinary battles of this exterminating war were reduced to oppressive
slavery, which was for the first time moderated in our own age by the emperor
Alexander.
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 119
[1208-1273 A.D.]
In Prussia also the sword established at the same time with Christianity
the German dominion and superiority. About the year 1208 a monk of the
monastery of Kolwitz, in Pomerania, of the name of Christian, crossed the
Vistula, and preached Christianity to the heathen Prussians. But when
the pope made him a bishop, and wished to
establish a formal hierarchal government, they
rose in contest against him, in which the
knights of the sword, together with Duke
Henry the Bearded of Breslau and ma ay
warriors of the neighbouring lands, immedi-
ately marched forth and gave warlike aid
to the new bishop. But little was accom-
plished until the latter, upon the advice of
Duke Henry, summoned to his assistance the
knights of the Teutonic order, which had
originated in an institution of north Ger-
many. Accordingly, in the year 1229, their
first grand master, Hermann von Salza, with
not more than twenty-eight knights and one
hundred squires and attendants, advanced to
Prussia ; he proceeded in his work cautiously
by establishing fortified places, among which
Thorn, on the Vistula, serving, as it were, for
the entrance gate of the country, was the first;
and Kulm, Marienwerder, Elbing, Brauns-
berg, and others speedily followed. The
dominion of the Teutonic order was spread
even in Livonia, as the knights of the
sword, after a severe defeat by the Livo-
nians, in 1273, were received in it; and in
1255, upon the advice of Ottocar of Bo-
hemia, who had made a crusade against
the Prussians, in which Rudolf of Habs-
burg joined, the present metropolis of the
country was founded, and in honour of him was called Konigsberg. The
cities around soon flourished again, and the peasants found themselves in a
happier situation than their Livonian neighbours, for their services and
imposts were rendered more moderate, and absolute slavery was only experi-
enced by a few individuals as a pimishment for their defection.
When we add to this the various emigrations which had commenced
much earlier, populating the Vandal countries as well as Brandenburg,
Mecklenburg, and Pomerania, and take into consideration the many flour-
ishing cities which were built there by German citizens, we may be inclined
to style the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as the epoch of the migration
of the Germans towards the northeast, the same as that of the fourth and
fifth centuries after Christ is called the period of migration towards the west
and south. Indeed, if we reckon the hundreds of thousands which Germany
at the same period sent with the Crusades to the East, together with those
sent with the Hohenstaufen emperors to Italy, we must really feel astonished
at the population which that vast country produced, and assuredly cannot
join with many other historians in calling a period presenting, like this, so
much vigour and activity of life an epoch of absolute misery, servitude,
and desolation.
Thirteenth Century Armoub
120 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIRE
[1250 A.D.]
Had the emperor Frederick rightly known the strength of Germany, and
had he miderstood how to avail himself of the means to render it still more
powerful by union, the whole of the east and north of Europe might then
have become annexed to that country. But his eyes were turned exclusively
upon Italy, and there he fruitlessly sacrificed all his strength.
FREDERICK S EXTRAORDINARY MIND
If after contemplating the stormy phases which convulsed this emperor's
life, we turn our observation to his noble qualities, his acute and sensitive
feeling for all that was beautiful and grand, and, above all, to what he did
for science and enlightenment generally in Naples, his hereditary land, we feel
penetrated with profound regret when we find that all this, like a transitory
apparition, passed away without any lasting trace; but more especially
are we pained to witness how he neglected to reign with affection and devo-
tion over his German subjects. Since Charlemagne and Alfred of England
no potentate had existed who loved and promoted civilisation in its broadest
sense so much as Frederick 11. At his court, the same as at that of Charle-
magne, were assembled the noblest and most intellectual minds of that age;
through them he caused a multitude of Greek works, and in particular those
of Aristotle, to be translated from the Arabic into Latin.
He collected for that period a very considerable library, partly by
researches made in his own states, partly during his stay in Syria, and through
his alliance with the Arab princes. Besides, he did not retain these treasures
jealously and covetously for himself, but imparted them to others; as, for
instance, he presented the works of Aristotle to the University of Bologna,
although that city was inimically disposed towards him, to which he added
the following address: "Science must go hand in hand with government,
legislation, and the pursuits of war, because these, otherwise subjected to
the allurements of the world and to ignorance, either sink into indolence,
or else, if unchecked, stray beyond all sanctioned limits. "WTierefore, from
youth upwards we have sought and loved science, whereby the soul of man
becomes enlightened and strengthened, and without which his life is deprived
of all regulation and innate freedom. Now that the noble possession of science
is not diminished by being imparted, but, on the contrary, grows thereby
still more fruitful, we accordingly will not conceal the produce of much exer-
tion, but will only consider our o\\ti possessions as truly delightful when we
shall have imparted so great a benefit to others. But none have a greater
right to them than those great men who, from the original ancient and rich
sources, have derived new streams, and thereby supply the thirsty with a
sweet and healthy refreshment. ^Vhe^efore, receive these works as a present
from your friend, the emperor."
A splendid monument of his noble mind and genius is presented in his
code of laws for his hereditary kingdom of Naples and Sicily, and which he
caused to be composed chiefly by Petrus de Vinea. According to the plan
of a truly great legislator, he was not influenced by the idea of creating some-
thing entirely new, but he built upon the basis of what already existed,
adapted whatsoever to him appeared good and necessary for his main object,
and so formed a work which gave him as ruler the necessary power to estab-
lish a firm foundation for the welfare of his people. Unfortunately the
convulsions of his later reign and the following periods never allowed this
grand work fully to develop its results.
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 121
[l'J50 A.D.]
Frederick himself possessed a knowledge unusual, and .acquired by few
men of his time. He understood Greek, Latin, Italian, French, German,
and Arabic. Amongst the sciences he loved chiefly natural history, and
proved himself a master in that science by a work he composed upon the art
of hawking; for it not only displays the most perfect and thorough investi-
gation into the mode of life, nourishment, diseases, and the whole nature of
falcons, but dwells also upon their construction generally, both internally
and externally. This desire after a fundamental knowledge in natural
science had the happiest influence, especially upon the medical sciences.
Physicians were obliged to study anatomy before everything else; they
were referred to the enthusiastic application of Hippocrates and Galen, and
not allowed to practise their profession until they had received from the
faculty at Salerno or Naples a satisfactory and honourable certificate ; besides
which, they were obliged to pass an examination before the imperial chamber,
formed of a committee of members competent in the science.
The emperor founded the University of Naples in 1224, and he consider-
ably improved and enlarged the medical school at Salerno. At both places
also, through his zeal, were formed the first collections of art, which, unfor-
tunately, in the tumults of the following ages, were eventually destroyed.
Of Frederick II it is related, as was already stated of Charlemagne, that
the eastern princes emulated each other in sending him artistic works as
signs of friendship. Amongst the rest, the sultan of Egypt presented him
with an extraordinary tent, in which a sun and moon revolved, moved by
invisible agents, and showed the hours of the day and night in just and
exact relation.
At the court of the emperor there were often contests in science and
art, and victorious WTeaths bestowed, in which scenes Frederick shone as a
poet, and invented and practised many difficult measures of verse. His
^ chief judge, Petrus de Vinea, the composer of the code of laws, wrote also the
i first sonnet extant in Italian. Minds, in fact, developed themselves, and were
■ in full action in the vicinity and presence of the great emperor, and there
' they commanded full scope for all their powers.
His own personal merit was so distinguished and universally recognised,
that he was enabled to collect around him the most celebrated men of the age
', without feeling any jealousy towards them — always a proof of true great-
^ness. His most violent enemies even could not withhold from him their
'admiration of his great qualities. His exterior also was both commanding
and prepossessing. Like his grandfather he was fair, but not so tall
although well and strongly formed, and very skilful in all warlike and cor-
.poreal exercises. His forehead, nose, and mouth bore the impression of that
delicate and yet firm character which we admire in the works of the Greeks,
and name after them; and his eye generally expressed the most serene
cheerfulness, but on important and serious occasions it indicated gravity and
; severity. Thus, in general, the happy conjunction of mildness with serious-
'ness was, throughout his life, the distinguishing feature of this emperor.*^
ESTIMATES OF FREDERICK
James Bryce sums up Frederick as follows:
"Upon the events of that terrific strife, for which emperor and pope
■girded themselves up for the last time, the narrative of Frederick II's career,
■with its romantic adventures, its sad picture of marvellous powers lost on an
122 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1250 A.D.]
age not ripe for them, blasted as by a curse in the moment of victory, it is
not necessary, were it even possible, here to enlarge. That conflict did
indeed determine the fortunes of the German kingdom no less than of the
republics of Italy, but it was upon Italian ground that it was fought out and
it is to Italian history that its details belong. So too of Frederick himself.
Out of the long array of the Germanic successors of Charles, he is, with Otto
III, the only one who comes before us with a genius and a frame of character
that are not those of a Northman or a Teuton. There dwelt in him, it is
true, all the energy and knightly valour of his father Henry and his grand-
father Barbarossa. But along with these, and changing their direction,
were other gifts, inherited perhaps from his Italian mother and fostered
by his education among the orange-groves of Palermo — a love of luxury
and beauty, an intellect refined, subtle, philosophical.
"Through the mist of calimmy and fable it is but dimly that the truth
of the man can be discerned, and the outlines that appear, serve to quicken
rather than appease the curiosity with which we regard one of the most
extraordinary personages in history. A sensualist, yet also a warrior and a
politician; a profound lawgiver and an impassioned poet; in his youth fired
by crusading fervour, in latter life persecuting heretics while himself accused
of blasphemy and unbelief; of winning manners and ardently beloved by
his followers, but with the stain of more than one cruel deed upon his name,
he was the marvel of his own generation, and succeeding ages looked back
with awe, not unmingled with pity, upon the inscrutable figure of the last
emperor who had braved all the terrors of the church and died beneath her
ban, the last who had ruled from the sands of the ocean to the shores of the
Sicilian Sea. But while they pitied they condemned. The undying hatred
of the papacy threw round his memory a lurid light; him and him alone of
all the imperial line, Dante, the worshipper of the empire, must perforce
deliver to the flames of hell."^*
T. F. Henderson, who calls him "the most remarkable figure of the
Middle Ages," gives the following estimate of him:
The general contemporary opinion regarding Frederick II is expressed in
the words stupor mundi [the amazement of the world] ; and whatever amount
either of approbation or censure may be bestowed upon his career, wonder
and perplexity are the predominant sentiments which its contemplation
even yet awakens. It was not merely that his mental endowments were
exceptionally great, but that, owing to his mingled German and Italian
blood, the various influences to which he was subjected in his early years,
the strange times in which he lived, and the events with which destiny had
connected him, his character was exhibited in such multiform aspects and in
such an individual and peculiar light that in history we look in vain for his
parallel. As to the nature of his religious faith, there are no data for arriving
at a certain conclusion. The theory of M. Huillard-Breholles S' that he
wished to unite with the functions of emperor those of a spiritual pontiff,
and aspired to be the founder of a new religion, is a conjecture insufficiently
supported by the isolated facts and statements and the general consideration
on which it is made to rest.
Indeed, the character of Frederick seems to have been widely removed
from that of a religious enthusiast; and at every critical period of his life
he was urged to daring and adventurous projects, rather by external circum-
stances than by either the promptings of ambition or the consciousness of
* Qua entro e lo secondo Federico. — Inferno, Canto X.
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 123
[1250 A.D.]
divine commission. On any theory his enactments in reference to religion
are, however, somewhat enigmatical. His persecution of heretics may not
have been entirely due to a desire to vindicate his orthodoxy before his
Christian subjects; but although his ideas regarding freedom of conscience
were either inconsistent or hampered in their action by a regard to expe-
diency, his toleration of the Jews equally with the Mohammedans prevents
our ascribing his toleration of the latter either to secret sympathy with that
form of faith or wholly to political considerations. He was in all probability
a believer in astrology, and he shared in many of the other superstitious
ideas of his time. But there is no indication that he dreaded any other than
temporal consequences from the ban of the church; and if certain features
of the Christian system had perhaps an attraction for him, yet both from
his reported jests and serious conversation it is evident that his Christian
belief, if he possessed one, bore little resemblance to that current in his age.
In the extravagant accusa-
tions of cruelty, perfidy, and
licentiousness with which the
church has assailed his memory
there is some nucleus of truth;
but a candid judgment will
arrive at the conclusion that
few exposed to such pernicious
influences have shown such a
decided preference for goodness
and truth, and that there have
been almost none who against
such immense difficulties had
wrought to such wise purpose
in behalf of human progress and
', enlightenment, or have fought
; such a resolute and advanta-
; geous battle in behalf of spirit-
ual freedom. In this contest he
; was not an immediate victor;
and indeed the dissolution of the
imperial power in Italy which
' followed his death must be
chiefly traced to the fact that
his policy was governed by prin-
;ciples too much in advance of
I his age. But although the bene-
ficial results of his reign are not
at a first glance so palpable and
undeniable as some of its inju-
'rious results, yet so far was he
'from being a mere untimely pre-
; cursor of the new era which dawned in Europe more than two centuries after
his death, that, perhaps in a greater degree than any other, he was instru-
mental in hastening its arrival, both by sowing the first seeds of the Renais-
isance in Italy, and by giving to the old system of things a shock which was
felt throughout Europe, and continued to work silently long after.
After the death of Frederick the followers of Abbot Joachim continued
!to assert that he was still alive, and even attempted to personate him. The
German Woman of Quality ob' the Thirteenth
Century
124 THE HOLY EOMAN^ EMPIEE
[1250-1254 A.D.]
superstition that the emperor continued to haunt the castle of Kyffhauser, at
one time thought to refer to Frederick Barbarossa, has now been shown to
have its origin in the tradition that Frederick II still lived after he had ceased
to exercise the functions of emperor./
The news of the emperor's death was received with exultation by the
pontiff: "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad." With insolent
triumph he wrote to the city of Naples, declaring that he took her forthwith
into his possession, and that she should never again be under the control of
a temporal sovereign. He also declared the Hohenstaufens to have forfeited
their right upon Apulia and Sicily, and even upon Swabia. [He offered
the crown first to Richard, earl of Cornwall, then to Charles of Anjou, but
both declined.] The Alemannic princes made a lavish use of the freedom
from all restraint granted to them by the pope. The Alpine nobles became
equally lawless.
The imperial cause was sustained in upper Italy by Ezzelino, in lower
Italy by Manfred. This prince, Enzio's rival in talent, valour, and beauty,
was a son of the emperor by his mistress Bianca Lancia, whom he afterwards
married. Born and educated in Italy, he was the idol of his countrymen,
and as prince of Tarentimi was by no means a despicable antagonist to the
pope,
CONRAD THE FOURTH (1250-1254 A.D.)
Conrad IV, Frederick's eldest son and successor, everywhere driven from
the field in Germany, took refuge in Italy, and, trusting that his father's
death had conciliated the pope, offered in his necessity to submit to any con-
ditions he might impose, if he were recognised emperor by him. His advances
were treated with silent contempt. Manfred, with a truly noble and fraternal
spirit, ceded the sovereignty of Italy to his brother, whom he aided by both
word and deed. In 1253 the royal brothers captured Capua and Naples,
where Conrad placed a bridle in the mouth of an antique colossal horse's
head, the emblem of the city.
The terrible fate that pursued the imperial family was not to be averted
by success. Their younger brother, Henry, the son of Isabella of England,
to whom the throne of Sicily had been destined by his father, suddenly expired,
and in 1254 his fate was shared by Conrad in his twenty-sixth year. Their
deaths were ascribed to poison, said by the Guelfs to have been administered
by Conrad to Henry, and by Manfred to Conrad. The crime was, neverthe-
less, indubitably committed by the papal faction, the pope and the Guelfs
being solely interested in the clestruction of the Hohenstaufens.
MANFRED (1254-1266 A.D.)
Manfred's rule in Italy was certainly secured to him by the death of
his legitimate brothers, but on the other hand it deprived him of all hope
of aid from Germany; and his total inability unaided to oppose the pope
was evident immediately after Conrad's death, when he made terms with the
pontiff, to whom he ceded the whole of lower Italy, Tarentum alone excepted.
He was, nevertheless, speedily necessitated again to take up arms against
the lieutenant of the pope, and was driven by suspicion of a design against his
life to make a last and desperate defence. The German mercenaries at Nocera
under the command of the markgraf von Hochberg, and the Moors who had
served under the emperor Frederick, flocked beneath his banner, and on
o
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PQ
fa
o
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m
w
w
fa
o
•-3
fa ;i
1-3 '-S
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 125
[1254-1266 A. D.]
the death of the pontiff (1254), who expired on the anniversary of the death
of Frederick II, affairs suddenly changed. The cardinals elected Alexander
IV, who was powerless against Manfred's party; and the son of Conrad IV,
the young duke Conradin of Swabia, whose minority was passed in obscurity
at the court of his uncle of Bavaria, being unable to assert his claim to the
crown of Apulia,^ the hopes of the Ghibellines of lower Italy naturally centred
in Manfred, who was unanimously proclaimed king by his faithful vassals,
and crowned at Palermo (1258).
In upper Italy the affairs of the Ghibellines wore a contrary aspect.
Ezzelino, after making a desperate defence at Cassano, was defeated, wounded,
and taken prisoner. He died of his wounds (1259), scornfully rejecting to
the last all spiritual aid. His more gentle brother, Alberich, after seeing
his wife and children cruelly butchered, was dragged to death at a horse's
tail. The rest of the Ghibelline chiefs met with an equally wretched fate.
These horrible scenes of bloodshed worked so forcibly upon the feelings of
even the hardened Italians, that numbers arrayed themselves in sackcloth,
and did penance at the grave of Alberich. This circumstance gave rise to
the sect of the Flagellants, who ran through the streets lamenting, praying,
preaching repentance, and wounding themselves and others with bloody
\ stripes, in order to atone for the sins of the world.
It was in the course of this year that Manfred solemnised his second
nuptials, with Helena, the daughter of Michael of ^tolia and Cyprus, who
was then in her seventeenth year, and famed for her extraordinary loveliness.
The uncommon beauty of the bridal pair, and the charms of their court,
which, as in Frederick's time, was composed of the most distinguished bards
and the most beautiful women, were such as to justify the expression used
by a poet of the times, "Paradise has once more appeared upon earth."
Manfred, like his father and his brother Enzio, was himself a minnesinger.
His marriage with Helena had gained for him the alliance of Greece, and
the miion of Constanza, his daughter by a former marriage, with Pedro of
: Aragon, confirmed his amity with Spain. He was now enabled to send aid
, to the distressed Ghibellines in Lombardy (1260). They were again vic-
torious at Montaperto, and the gallant Pallavicini became his lieutenant in
i upper Italy. The pope was compelled to flee from Rome to Viterbo. The
[ city of Manfredonia, so named after its founder, Manfred, was built at this
' period.
The Guelfs, alarmed at Manfred's increasing power, now sought for
foreign aid, and raised a Frenchman, Urban IV, to the pontifical throne.
This pope mduced Charles of Anjou, the brother of the French monarch,
^ who had already "fished in troubled waters" in Flanders, to grasp at the
] crown of Apulia. On the death of Urban (1265), another Frenchman,
: Clement IV, succeeded to the chair of St. Peter, and greatly contributed
; to hasten the projected invasion. Charles was gloomy and priest-ridden;
extremely miprepossessing in his person, and of an olive complexion; inva-
' riably cold, silent, and reserved in manner, impatient of gaiety or cheerful-
' ness, and so cold-blooded and cruel as to be viewed with horror even by his
bigoted brother, St. Louis. This ill-omened prince at first fixed his resi-
dence in the Arelat, where the emperor's rights were without a champion,
and then sailed with a powerful fleet to Naples (1266). France, until now a
listless spectator, for the first time opposed her influence to that of Germany
in Italy, and henceforward pursued the policy of taking advantage of the
['It was reported that lie was dead, but when, after Manfred's coronation, his mother
claimed the crown for the child, it was too late.]
120 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1266 A.D.]
disunited state of the German Empire in order to seize one province after
another.
Manfred collected his whole strength to oppose the French invader, but
the clergy tampered with his soldiery and sowed treason in his camp.
Charles no sooner landed than Riccardo di Caseta abandoned the mountain
pass intrusted to his defence, and allowed the French to advance unmolested
as far as Benevento, where, on the 26th of February, 1266, a decisive battle
was fought, in which Manfred, notwithstanding his gallant efforts, being
worsted, threw himself in despair in the thickest of the fight, where he fell
covered with wounds. Charles, on the score of heresy, refused him honour-
able burial, but the French soldiery, touched by his beauty and gallantry,
cast each of them a stone upon his body, which was by this means buried
beneath a hillock still known by the natives as the rock of roses.^
Helena, accompanied by her daughter Beatrice and her three infant sons,
Henry, Frederick, and Anselino, sought safety in flight, but was betrayed to
Charles, who threw her and her children into a dungeon, where she shortly
languished and died. Beatrice was saved from a similar fate by Pedro of
Aragon, to whom she was delivered in exchange for a son of Charles of Anjou,
who had fallen into his hands. The three boys were consigned to a narrow
dungeon, where, loaded with chains, half-naked, ill-fed, and untaught, they
remained in perfect seclusion for a space of thirty-one years; in 1297 they
were released from their chains and allowed to be visited by a priest and a
physician. The eldest, Henry, died in 1309. With fanatical rage Charles
destroyed every vestige of the reign of the Hohenstaufens in lower Italy.
Italy was forever torn from the empire, from which Burgundy, too long
neglected for the sake of her classic sister, was also severed. Her southern
provinces, Provence, Vienne, and Toulouse were annexed to France, whilst
her more northern ones, the countships of Burgimdy and Savoy, became an
almost independent state.
Whilst the name and power of the Hohenstaufen family was being thus
annihilated in Italy, Germany seemed to have forgotten her ancient fame.
The princes and vassals, who mainly owed their influence to the Hohen-
staufens, had ungratefully deprived the orphaned Conradin of his inheritance.
Swabia was his merely in name, and he would in all probability have shared
the fate of his Italian relatives had he not found an asylum in the court of
Ludwig of Bavaria.
W^ILLIAM OF HOLLAND (1247-1256 A.D.)
William of Holland, with a view of increasing his popularity by an alli-
ance with the Guelfs, espoused Elisabeth, the daughter of Otto of Brunswick.
The faction of the Guelfs had, however, been too long broken ever to regain
strength, and the circumstance of the destruction of his false crown (the
genuine one being still in Italy) during a conflagration which burst out on
the night of the nuptials, and almost proved fatal to him and his bride, ren-
dered him an object or fresh ridicule. He disgraced the dignity he had
assumed by his lavish sale or gift of the imperial prerogatives and lands to
his adherents, whom he by these means bribed to uphold his cause, and by his
' L'ossa del corpo mio sai'ieno ancora
In CO del ponte, presso a Benevento,
Sotto la guardia della grave mora.
— Dante, Cauto III, del Purgatorio.
127
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS
[1347-1256 A.D.]
complete subserviency to the pope. His despicable conduct received its
fitting reward ; no city, none of the temporal nor even of the spiritual lords
throughout the empire, tolerated his residence within their demesnes. Con-
rad, archbishop of Cologne, ordered the roof of the house in which he resided
at Neuss to be set on fire in order to en-
force his departure. At Utrecht a stone
was cast at him in the church. His wife
was seduced by a count von Waldeck. This
wretched emperor was at length compelled
to retire into Holland, where he employed
himself in attempting to reduce a petty na-
tion, the West Frisians, beneath his yoke.
This expedition terminated fatally to him-
self alone; when crossing a frozen morass on
horseback, armed cap-a-pie, the ice gave way
beneath the weight, and whilst in this help-
less situation, unable either to extricate or
defend himself, he was attacked and slain by
some Frisian boors, to whom he was per-
sonally unknown. On discovering his rank,
they were filled with terror at their own
daring, and buried him with the utmost
secrecy. The regency of Holland was com-
mitted to Adelheid, the wife of John
d'Avesnes, during the minority of her
nephew, Floris V, the son of William. She
was expelled by the Dutch, who disdained
a woman's control. Floris succeeded to
the government on attaining his majority.
On the death of the emperor, Jolm d'Avesnes
was induced by a political motive to con-
ciliate his mother and step-brothers, who
were supported by France. The departure
of Charles of Anjou was purchased with
large sums of money. Guy de Dampierre ob-
tained Flanders; John d'Avesnes, merely
Hainault. Namur passed from the hands of Philip, the brother of Baldwin
of Constantinople, by intermarriage, into those of the French monarch, but
was sold by Louis to Guy de Dampierre, who bestowed it on one of his sons.
Artois remained annexed to France.
On the death of Conrad IV and of William of Holland, fresh competitors
for the crown appeared, although undemanded by the German princes, each
of whom strove to protract the confusion that reigned throughout the empire
and utterly to annihilate the imperial power in order to increase their own.
, The crown was, in consequence, only claimed by two foreign princes, who
1 rivalled each other in wealth; and the world beheld the extraordinary spec-
: tacle of the sale of the shadow crown of Germany to the highest bidder.
• The electoral princes were even base enough to work upon the vanity of the
.wealthy count Hermann von Henneberg, who coveted the imperial title, in
I order to extract from him large sums of money, without having the slightest
! intention to perform their promises. Alfonso of Castile sent twenty thou-
sand silver marks from Spain, and was in return elected emperor by Treves,
Bohemia, Saxony, and Brandenburg. Richard, duke of Cornwall, however,
German Piper
128 THE HOLY KOMA^ E:MPIEE
[1257-1267 A.D.]
sent thirty-two tons of gold from England, which purchased for him the
votes of Cologne, Mainz, and Bavaria; and, to the scandal of all true Ger-
mans, both competitors, neither of whom was present, were simultaneously
elected emperor — Alfonso in Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Richard outside
the walls of the same city (1257). Alfonso, buried in the study of astronomy,
never visited Germany. Richard claimed the throne, without regarding the
superior rights of Conradin, in right of his wife, the sister of Frederick II,
as the heir of the Hohenstaufens, a claim which drew upon him the suspicions
of the pontiff, who, notwithstanding Richard's apparent humility, delayed
his recognition of him as emperor. In Germany, where he made his first
appearance on the defeat of the citizens of Treves at Boppard by his rival
Conrad of Cologne, he was merely held in consideration as long as his treasury
was full. Necessity ere long compelled him to return to England. In
1269 he revisited Germany, where, during his short stay, he attempted to
abolish the customs levied on the Rhine. It was during this visit that he
became enamoured of Gode von Falkenstein, the most beautiful woman of
the day, whom he persuaded to accompany him to England, where he died
in 1271. ^
"Two kings when nobody wanted one," is the motto for that sad time
when no German prince wore the depreciated crown. Once hotly disputed,
it now attracted only foreigners to its purchase.^
CONRADIX (1267-1268 A.D.)
Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufens, resided sometimes in the court
of Ludwig of Bavaria, at other times under his protection at the castle of
Ravensburg on the Lake of Constance, an ancient allod of the Guelfs, which
had formerly been bequeathed by Welf the elder to Barbarossa. In this
retreat he associated with a young man of his own age, Frederick, the son of
Hermann, markgraf of Baden. Frederick assumed the surname of " Austria,"
on account of his mother, who was a descendant of the house of Babenberg;
he cherished, moreover, a hope of gaining possession of that duchy, on the
restoration of the Hohenstaufens. Conrad and Frederick became inseparable
companions; equally enthusiastic and imaginative, their ambitious aspira-
tions found vent in song, and sportive fancy embellished the stern features
of reality. One of Conradin's ballads is still extant.
The seclusion of Conradin's life and the neglect with which he was treated
became daily more harassing to him as he grew up, and he gladly accepted
a proposal on the part of the Italian Ghibellmes, inviting him to place himself
at their head. In the autumn of 1267 he crossed the Alps at the head of
ten thousand men, and was welcomed at Verona by the Scala, the chiefs
of the Ghibelline faction. The meanness of his German relatives and friends
was here undisguisedly displayed. Ludwig, after persuading him to part
with his remaining possessions at a low price, quitted hun, and was followed
by Meinhard and by the greater number of the Germans. This desertion
reduced his army to three thousand men.
The Italian Ghibellines remained true to their word. Verona raised an
army in Lombardy, Pisa equipped a large fleet, the Moors of Luceria took up
arms, and Rome welcomed the youthful heir of the Hohsnstauf ens by forcing
the pope once more to retreat to Viterbo. He was also joined by two brothers
of Alfonso the phantom monarch, Henry and Frederick, and marched unop-
posed to Rome, at whose gates he was met and conducted to the capitol by
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS 129
[1267-1273 A.D.]
a procession of beautiful girls bearing musical instruments and flowers.
The Pisans meanwhile gained a signal victory off Messina over the French
fleet, and burned a great number of the enemy's ships. Conradin entered
lower Italy and encountered the French army under Charles, at Tagliacozz,
where his Germans, after beating the enemy back, deeming the victory their
own, carelessly dispersed to seek for booty; some among them even refreshed
themselves by bathing. In this condition they were suddenly attacked by
the French, who had watched their movements, and were completely put
to the rout, August 23rd, 1268. Conradin and Frederick owed their escape to
the fleetness of their steeds, but were basely betrayed into Charles' hands at
Astura when crossing the sea to Pisa by Giovanni Frangipani, whose family
had been laden with benefits by the Hohenstaufens.
Conradin, whilst playing at chess with his friend in prison, calmly listened
to the sentence of death pronounced upon him. On the 22nd of October,
1268, he was conducted, with Frederick and his other companions, to the
scaffold erected in the market-place at Naples. The French were even roused
to indignation at this spectacle, and Charles' son-in-law, Robert, count of
Flanders, drawing his sword, cut down the officer commissioned to read the
sentence of death in public, saying, as he dealt the blow, "Wretch! how
darest thou condemn such a great and excellent knight?" Conradin, in his
address to the people said, "I cite my judge before the highest tribunal.
My blood, shed on this spot, shall cry to heaven for vengeance. Nor do I
esteem my Swabians and Bavarians, my Germans, so low as not to trust that
this stain on the honour of the German nation will be washed out by them
in French blood." He then threw his glove on the ground, charging him
who raised it to bear it to Pedro, king of Aragon, to whom, as his nearest
relative, he bequeathed all his claims. The glove was raised by Henry,
truchsess of Waldburg, who found within it the seal ring of the unfortunate
prince, and henceforth bore in his arms the three black lions of the Hohen-
, staufens.
His last bequests thus made, Conradin knelt fearlessly before the block,
' and the head of the last of the Hohenstaufens rolled on the scaffold.^ A cry
' of agony burst from the heart of his friend, whose head also fell; nor was
Charles' revenge satiated until almost every Ghibelline had fallen by the
I hand of the executioner.
I The Germans, nevertheless, looked on with indifference, and shortly after-
I wards elected an emperor, Rudolf von Habsburg, who married his daughter
i to the son of Charles of Anjou, and who was the tool of the pope and of the
' French monarch. The German muse alone mourned the fall of the great
Swabian dynasty. Conradin and Frederick were buried side by side to the
' right of the altar, beneath the marble pavement of the church of Santa Maria
' del Carmine, in the market-place of Naples, where the execution took place.
At the end of the seventeenth century the pavement of the church was
: renewed, and Conradin was found with his head resting on his folded hands.
;The remains were left in their original state. The (modern) inscription
, on the tomb runs thus: "Qui giacciono Corradino di Stooffen, ultimo de'
) duchi deir imperiale casa di Suevia, e Frederico d' Asburgh, ultimo rfe' duchi
' di' Austria, Anno 1269." The raiser of this monument must have possessed
' Malaspina,'' althougti a Guelf and a papal writer, sublimely describes Conrad's wretched
fate, his courage and his beauty. " Non voce querula, sed ad cxelum junnehat palmas. Suwn
Domino spiritum commendahai, nee divertebat caput sed exhibebat se quam victimam et cofsons
truces ictus in patientia exspectabat. Madet terra pulchro cruore diffusa, tabetque juvemli
sanguine cruentata. Jacet veluti flos purpureus improvida falce succisus.
H. W. — VOL. XIV. K
i30 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1269-1291 A.D.]
more piety than knowledge when he made the luckless Frederick the last of
the Habsburgs.
Conradin's unhappy mother, who had vainly offered a large ransom for
his life, devoted the money to the erection of the monastery of Stams, in a
wild valley of the Tyrol. Charles' next work was the destruction of Luceria,
where every Moor was put to the sword. Conrad, a son of Frederick of
Antioch, a natural descendant of Frederick II, alone escaped death. A
contrary fate awaited Henry, the youthful son of the emperor Richard, the
kinsman and heir of the Hohenstaufens, who, when tarrying by chance at
Viterbo on his way to the Holy Land, was, by Charles' command, assassinated
(1274). The imfortunate king Enzio was also implicated in Conradin's
fate.
Thus terminated the royal race of the Hohenstaufens, in which the highest
earthly dignity and power, the most brilliant achievements in arms, extra-
ordinary personal beauty, and rich poetical genius were combined, and
beneath whose rule the Middle Age and its creations, the church, the empire,
the states, religion, and art, attained a height whence they necessarily sank
as the Hohenstaufens fell, like flowers that fade at parting day.
Charles of Anjou retained Apulia, but was deprived of Sicily. In the
night of the 30th of March, 1282, a general conspiracy among the Ghibellines
in this island broke out, and in this night, known as the Sicilian Vespers, all
the French were assassinated, and Manfred's daughter, Constanza, and her
husband, Pedro of Aragon, were proclaimed the sovereigns of Sicily.
It is remarkable that about this time the Crusades ended, and all the
European conquests in the East were lost. Constantinople was delivered in
1261 by the Greeks from the bad government of the French Pullanes, and
in 1262 Antioch was retaken by the Turks. The last crusade was under-
taken in 1269 by Louis of France, Charles of Anjou, and Edward, prince of
Wales, who were joined by a Frisian fleet which ought to have been equipped
instead in Conrad's aid. After besieging Tunis and enforcing a tribute, the
French returned home. The English reached the Holy Land (1272), but
met with such ill success that Tripolis was lost in 1288, and Acre in 1291.
On the reduction of these cities, the last strongholds of the Christians, Tyre
voluntarily surrendered and Palestine was entirely deserted by the Franks.
DISINTEGRATION OF IMPERIAL POWER
The triumph of the pope over the emperor was complete; but the tem-
poral power of which the emperor had been deprived, instead of falling wholly
into the hands of his antagonist, was scattered among the princes and cities
of the empire; and, although the loss of the emperor had deprived the empire
of her head, vitality still remained in her different members.
The power of the Guelfs had ceased a century before the fall of the
Hohenstaufens. The princes that remained possessed but mediocre authority,
no ambition beyond the concentration of their petty states and the attainment
of individual independence. The limited nature of this policy attracted
little attention and ensured its success. Equally indifferent to the downfall
of the Hohenstaufens and to the creation of the mock sovereigns placed over
them by the pope, they merely sought the advancement of their petty inter-
ests by the usurpation of every prerogative hitherto enjoyed by the crown
within their states, and thus transformed the empire, which had up to this
period been an elective monarchy, into a ducal aristocracy. Unsatisfied
with releasing themselves from their allegiance to their sovereign, they also
THE LAST OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS im
fl274 A.B.l
strove, aitled by their feudal vassals and by the clergy, to crush civil liberty
by carrying on, as will hereafter be seen, a disastrous warfare against the
cities, in w^hich they were warmly supported by the pope, whom they had
assisted in exterminating the imperial house. The power they individually
possessed was, moreover, too insignificant to rouse the jealousy of the pontiff,
whom they basely courted and implicitly obeyed. The people, meanwhile
(at least those among the citizens and knights who still ventured freely to
express their opinions), bitterly lamented the dissolution of the empire, its
internal anarchy, the arbitrary rule of the princes, their utter disregard of
order, public security, and national right, and loudly demanded the election
of a successor to the imperial throne.'^
Thus expired the Hohenstaufen family. In lordliness and grace, in per-
sonal greatness and renown, it stands, perhaps, alone in history. Even the
Saxon and the Salic emperors fall short of it in these respects. But its ruin was
only the more frightful ; a fall without a parallel, in which this dynasty, and
with it the glory of the empire, fell from the highest earthly greatness within
a generation. In spite of all its splendour, the internal decomposition of
the empire had become complete under this house. When the Saxon dynasty
expired, the great fiefs or duchies were hereditary; when the Franconian
dynasty expired, all fiefs, even the small ones, had become so ; but at the end
of the Hohenstaufens these fiefs had become independent principalities.
The emperors had been diligent in splitting up the great duchies, which
endangered the imperial supremacy, into small districts, under both clerical
and lay lords. Now this disintegration was general, and as yet without im-
mediate evil consequences. In extreme need, as at the Mongol invasion, the
neighbours likely to be next attacked freely rendered their aid; and the
valour of its members still protected the union. But the collective strength
of the German nation no longer existed; and six hundred years were to pass
before it should again meditate common enterprises, and renew the ancient
empire./
L'AZI*^
CHAPTER III
A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
THE GERMAN CONSTITUTION
The period over which we have passed affords ample materials for tracing
the progress of the Germanic constitution. The first peculiarity regards the
alarming decline of the imperial authority. (1) From the time of Frederick
II, the crown no longer possessed the right of deciding even in litigated
ecclesiastical elections. The popes had found that this privilege, exacted
from them by the concordat of 1122, had uniformly led to abuse; that it
enabled the sovereign to exercise his influence as effectually as if he pos-
sessed the undisputed right of nomination. But to remonstrate with princes
so powerful as those of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was vain, and they were
compelled to await a more favourable opportunity of vindicating the inde-
pendence of elections. It was presented by the fall of the second Frederick;
they refused to favour any candidate who hesitated to surrender the obnox-
ious privilege; and they accordingly succeeded in transferring from the
crown to themselves the right of deciding whenever there was a division
among the electors. (2) Again, even Frederick II was compelled to publish
two pragmatic sanctions, by one of which he renounced, for hunself and suc-
cessors, the right of inheriting the movable effects of deceased ecclesiastics,
and of demanding other subsidies than those fixed by feudal custom; by
another he extended a similar indulgence to the secular princes, in renoun-
cing all claim to purveyance. (3) The imperial jurisdiction was still further
circumscribed for the aggrandisement of the states. By the ancient laws of
Germany, the sovereign was forbidden to revoke any cause to a tribunal held
beyond the confines of the province where the defendant resided. If, there-
fore, he would exercise his judicial prerogative, he was compelled to travel
from province to province to hear and decide causes. So long as the institu-
tion of counts palatine was in its full vigour, much of this laborious duty
devolved on these deputies ; but these offices gradually fell into insignificance,
probably because they were too dependent on the local dukes to have any
power of their own. It is certain that they ceased to be the slightest check
on those great feudatories; so that in 1231, when Frederick abolished
133
A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRE 133
[1125-1273 A.D.]
the jurisdiction of the royal judges over the vassals of those princes, he merely
abolished a vain formality.
Owing to the anarchy of the times, however, it was found that, if the
public tranquillity were to be maintained, there must be some tribunal to
take cognisance of the endless private wars and other disorders which ren-
dered individual and even social security a mere name. Hence, in 1235, the
same emperor was authorised to create a new judge, who should sit daily,
but who, however, should hold no tribunal beyond the precincts of the court,
and in no degree mterfere with the local jurisdiction of the dukes. Yet he
took cognisance throughout the empire of all cases which, by the Roman
law, now spreading its roots widely in the Teutonic soil, were the peculiar
province of the monarch. Still a vast majority of cases lay within the com-
petency of the ducal tribunals, who thus exercised a jurisdiction in other
countries inherent in the crown, or delegated to royal judges. (4) The
hnperial revenues w^ere diminished. Of these, the reception of mortuary
and purveyance fines, considerable in amount, ceased; but the loss was small
hi comparison with the usurpations of most fiscal and regalian rights by the
states. The exercise of the judicial functions placed at the disposal of the
dukes all such fines as were levied by their courts. During three centuries
they had possessed the privilege — originally a concession from the crown,
— of coining and fixing the value of money; now, by means which no con-
temporary historian condescends to explain, they obtained two thirds of the
returns from all gold and silver mines. Anciently the Jews were the exclu-
sive serfs of the emperor; and as the price of protection they paid him a
capitation tax: now, though on the imperial domain they still stood in the
same relation to him, within the jurisdiction of the dukes they began to be
regarded as subject to the local treasury.
Again, several of the imperial cities, which had hitherto paid some annual
revenue to the emperor, procured, probably in consequence of express stipu-
lations to that effect — as the express condition of joining the imperial cause
— exemptions from the obligation, and were henceforth styled free as well
as imperial. We may add that the Germanic domain, which extended on
both banks of the Rhine from Cologne to Bale, was invaded by the four elec-
tors of Franconia, viz., by the three archbishops and the count palatine of the
Rhine. It is, indeed, manifest that, had not the late emperors possessed
immense patrimonial domains, they could not have sustained the dignity of
the station. William of Holland had little patrimony: he was consequently
so poor as to be compelled to borrow money for his ordinary expenses; a
necessity which virtually annihilated what little influence the constitution
had left him.
At this period, however, neither the jurisdiction nor the revenues of the
crown were well defined. There was evidently a struggle between it and
the great dukes — the former to retain, the latter to usurp the rights which
had hitherto been inherent in the sovereignty. In some cases, too, there
appears to have been a compromise between the two parties. Thus, though
the civil and criminal jurisdiction was engrossed and valued by the states,
on account of the advantage they derived from pecuniary compositions or
fines, there were some cases in which appeals to him were permitted, and
some of which he took cognisance even in the first instance. These cases,
however, were generally decided by the new judge of the court; when the
parties implicated were of high dignity, the sovereign was expected to pre-
side; but even then he was compelled to act with seven assessors of equal or
higher rank than the parties themselves. It lias been contended by some
134 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
writers that the Swabian emperors conferred vacant duchies and other
princely fiefs on their own authority. To us this appears a rash assertion;
for though the chroniclers intimate the mere fact, unaccompanied by any
observation, the instruments which remain of that period distinctly express
the consent of the nobles, or of the states.
In some other respects the dignity rather than the authority of the sov-
ereign remamed unimpaired. He convoked and presided over the diets;
he rendered bastards legitimate; he conferred nobility by letters patent.
It has been also asserted that he could declare war or make peace at his
own pleasure. This is very partially true. As king of Lombardy, which
was his regnum proprium, he could certainly commence hostilities against
any potentate; but he could not force his ducal and princely vassals to
take part in them. On such occasions he could summon to his standard
the vassals who immediately held of him, those who were dispersed over
his still considerable domains; but he could undertake no war for the gen-
eral interests of the empire without the consent of his states. Thus, though
Frederick I urged them to join him in declaring war against the Hungarians,
they refused, and no campaign took place. The wars which that monarch
undertook were conducted at his own expense. Frederick II had the gold
of the two Sicilies to assist him.
Nothing, indeed, was so difficult as to prevail on the states to sanction any
war: they often regarded the irruptions of the Danes with an apathy which
seems irreconcilable with patriotism; they left all to the frontier miarkgrafs,
and the military authorities of the particular district invaded; they saw
Poland gradually emancipate itself from fealty to the empire, Aries become
virtually independent, Friesland choose, as its sovereign head, William
of Holland, the imperial dignity decline so as to become degraded in the
eyes even of second-rate princes, and the house of Hohenstaufen gradually
perish in attempting to preserve the connection of Italy with the empire.
All were eager to aggrandise themselves at the expense of their chief. So
jealous were they of imperial influence, that the duke whom they elected
to that dignity they always forced to surrender his hereditary fief to some
member of his family. In this there was good policy; for had such power-
ful princes as the dukes of Saxony or Bavaria been allowed to retain those
provinces, in time despotism would assuredly have been established.
Yet still there was a family interest which was sometmies dangerous,
always umbrageous, to the states. Thus the Swabian emperors, through
their connections and their personal qualities, obtained a preponderance
which we should not have expected to find under such a constitution. To
guard against the possible consequences of the system, the electors began to
select as candidates such prmces only as, having no considerable domains —
at least in Germany — could not give rise to apprehension ; but yet who
should have gold enough to pay dearly for so sterile an honour. Hence
the landgraf of Thuringia, William of Holland, Richard of Cornwall, and
Alfonso of Castile allowed themselves to become the tools of their contem-
poraries, the pity of posterity.
One privilege, however, the emperors had, which we should not omit. In
the imperial cities they could marry the children of the chief citizens accord-
ing to their pleasure. When the parties were provided, a herald paraded
the public places of the city, proclaiming that the kaiser had betrothed the
daughter of such a citizen to the son of such a one ; and the marriage always
followed that day twelve months. In 1232, however, the citizens of Frank-
fort obtained an exemption from it.
[1125-1273 A.D.]
A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRE
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
135
The most remarkable peculiarity during the period before us is the conver-
sion of the privilege of pretaxation into the right of election. That privilege
had existed for many reigns; this right does not appear to have been fully
established before the reign of Frederick.
From this right of pretaxation, or of deciding which of the candidates
should be proposed for the crown, the transition to that of absolute nomina-
tion was natural and easy; hence we now find them denominated the elec-
toral college. Soon after the time of Lothair II these great dignitaries
were seven, three ecclesiastical and four
secular princes: the former being the arch-
bishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Treves; the
latter, the dukes of Franconia, Bavaria, Saxony
and Swabia. It is certain that Conrad IV was
elected by these dignitaries, and that the rest
of the princes had no other privilege than that
of consenting — of suffrage not one word is said.
A fifth secular prince is said to have been added
to the electoral college. Other changes fol-
lowed, the knowledge of which is necessary
towards a clear conception of the Franconian
constitution. The count palatine soon suc-
ceeded to the duchy of Bavaria; but as in these
days no elector was allowed to possess two
votes, the suffragan privilege of Bavaria was
transferred to the crown of Bohemia. Again,
when one of the great dukes was elected to the
throne of Germany, he was coi ipelled to confide
the right of voting inherent in his duchy to
some markgraf not already an elector. Thus,
when Frederick of Hohenstaufen assumed the
reins of empire, he entrusted the suffragan right
of Swabia to the markgraf of Brandenburg, the
only markgraf not an elector who was not
dependent on some one of the four duchies.
By this arrangement, which appears to have
been the growth of accident, Bavaria and
Swabia lost the electoral right — the former
being united with the palatinate; the latter
being lent, never to be revoked, to the aspiring
house of Brandenburg. The former, indeed,
might be consoled with the reflection that its
suffrage was virtually retained, since it con-
tinued to rest in its hereditary duke, as count palatine; but the latter was
unjustly deprived of it, if the term injustice can be applied in a case where
the original privilege was an usurpation. There is reason enough for this
exclusion of the Hohenstaufens: they were at once obnoxious to the church
and the empire; and by both it was agreed that they should never again be
permitted to obtain their ancient preponderance.
Nor is this period much less remarkable for another college — that of
princes. Its formation and history is one of the most interesting circum-
stances relating to Germany during the Middle Ages. The result of the
German Priest of the Thir-
teenth Centcry
136 THE HOLY ROMAX EMPIRE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
proscription of Henry the Lion was the dismemberment of the great duchies
of Saxony and Bavaria. This called into existence a number of feudatories,
who, with domains from portions of those great fiefs, assumed the desig-
nation of princes of the empire, and obtained jurisdictions independent of
the electors and of each other. Among these were the dukes of Austria,
Styria, and Pomerania; the markgraf of Meissen; the landgraf of Meiningen;
and the counts of Mecklenburg and Holstein. The political existence of
the duchy of Swabia expired on the execution of Conradin, the last male
of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; and' the counts of Wiirtemberg, Fiirsten-
berg, Hohenzollern, with several others, made their appearance on the scene
of German history. By this deprivation of one man of the power of with-
standing the emperor or diet, the dissolution of these great duchies was
certainly a good. But not content with the divisions of territory already
made, these newly created princes, at their deaths, subdivided their domin-
ions among their sons, by which means the number of the order was much
increased.
The college of princes, thus called into existence, made a thorough revo-
lution in the territorial jurisdiction of the country. Before the dismember-
ment of the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, and the annihilation of the
imperial influence, the chief princes, though next in rank to the sovereign
dukes, had exercised a very limited feudal jurisdiction. They were them-
selves vassals of the emperor; and they had no authority over either the
allodial proprietors, or the inferior vassals who held immediately from the
same source. But now that the only bulwark which could defend the great
body of the untitled nobility was thrown down; now that the number of
princes was augmented so as to form an imposing body in the state, they
began to usurp the privileges formerly possessed by the dukes, and aim at
more. We must not forget that the ancient duchies were dissolved, some
wholly, others, if not nominally, virtually. With the Hohenstaufen dynasty,
both Swabia and Franconia fell as ducal states; never afterwards could they
boast of a single chief; they were divided among many princes, who aimed
at the jurisdiction formerly held by the dukes.
It might, indeed, be expected that the great body of the nobles in each of
the new states, whether by the disruption of the ties which formerly bound
them to the dukes, transferred from vassals to allodial proprietors, or allodial
proprietors as many were from time immemorial, would resist the efforts of
the princes for their subjugation. In many cases, no doubt, such resistance
was offered and was successful; but in more the degradation was complete.
The nobles and abbots not invested with the princely dignity now constituted
an equestrian body, ranking among the provincial orders, which were retained
by the princes as a sort of shadow of the ancient local states. This sub-
jection of a numerous class to the will of the princes confirmed, in process
of time, a maxim exceedingly useful to their views — that whatever lands
are situated in a territory, belong to that territory; that whatever lies within
a given boundary of jurisdiction, is necessarily subject to that jurisdiction.
The consolidation of the territorial govermnent in each state caused the
princes soon to regard it almost as patrimonial; and in their last dispo-
sitions, acting on an ancient maxim of Germanic law, they divided it equally
among their sons, and the sons themselves, in the order of things,
effected similar partitions among their heirs: thus prodigiously increasing
the number of territorial lords; for we must bear in mind that the indi-
vidual who succeeded to the smallest portion of domain, succeeded also to
all the rights attached to that domain. He sat in the provincial diets, and
A EEVIEW OF THE EMPIRE 137
[1125-1273 A.D.]
exercised all the feudal privileges of his caste. Nor was this custom confined
to the inferior princes and nobles: it was adopted by the most powerful of
the reigning houses.
In time, however, the sovereign houses themselves took the alarm, and
agreed that principalities should no longer be divided, whatever appanage
might be awarded to the younger sons. Still the good was to a certain extent
effected; the great duchies and principalities were consideralDly lessened
in magnitude, and were no longer dangerous to the rest. In all cases, this
policy of partition had been approved by the emperors; and though
it was soon disused in reference to the greater states, it continued
to flourish among the secondary and still inferior houses. It inevitably
reduced the greatest families to insignificance; for insignificant and power-
less every one became, whose
members by interminable sub-
division were thus reduced to
poverty. Had the agnates of
each family combined in aid of
individual interests, they would
still have been numerically
strong; but the separate views
and the passions of human
nature rendered such combi-
nation impossible — and well
for Germany that it was so.
But in tracing the progress
of territorial usurpation, we
have omitted to mention one
important fact, which facilitated
the success of the princes more
than the anarchy of the times
or the feebleness of the emperors
— on the dismemberment of the
duchies, the domains which
those princes acquired were
held by the feudal tenure, sub-
ject to the usual obligations
towards the empire and its
head; but many of them had
also patrimonial lands, over
which their influence was not
circumscribed by law or custom.
Their object was eventually to
place the two descriptions of
land on the same footing. In fact, a few generations, perhaps even a few
years, in such times of anarchy, sufficed utterly to confound the distinction
between feudal and patrimonial possessions. Of the unbounded power which
was usurped over all, we neetl no other proof than the fact that, when there
was a family in danger of extinction, females were allowed to inherit: a
custom derived from France and Italy, and foreign to Germanic jurispru-
dence. We know that the Palatinate of the Rhine passed successively by
marriage into the house of Saxony and into that of Wittelsbach.
The condition of the nobles immediately inferior to the princes no less
deserves attention. On the extinction of the great duchies of Swabia and
German Noble, Thirteenth Century
138 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
Franconia, the nobles of those duchies who had hitherto been vassals of the
house of Hohenstaufen became allodial proprietors, and succeeded to a terri-
torial jurisdiction within their respective domains. But the ascendency of
the princes in Bavaria, Austria, Saxony, Brandenburg, Meissen, and other
provinces w^as the grave of freedom to the vast body of nobles.
THE CITIES
Equally mteresting is the progress of the Germanic municipalities, the
existence of which we have noticed from their origin under Henry the Fowler
to the extinction of the Franconian dynasty. \\Tiile the electors and the
princes not electors were extending and consolidatmg their power undejr
the shade of anarchy, the cities were not idle.
Originally, in each city there was a wide distinction in the condition of
the inhabitants. The nobles were those to defend the w^alls, the free citizens
to assist them, and the slaves to supply the wants of both. By the first two
classes all the offices of magistracy w^re filled, even after the enfranchise-
ment of the last by Henry V. But as the last class was by far the most
numerous; as their establishment into corporations, subject to their heads,
gave them organisation, union, and strength, they began to complain of
the wall of separation between them. That wall was demolished, not,
indeed, at once, but by degrees; the burgesses gained privilege after privi-
lege, access to the highest municipal dignities, until marriages between their
daughters and the nobles were no longer stigmatised as ill-assorted or
unequal. The number of imperial cities — of those which, in accordance
with imperial charters, were governed either by a lieutenant of the emperor
or by their own chief magistrate — was greatly augmented after the death :
of Conradin; those in the two escheated duchies of Franconia and Swabia (
lost no time in securing their exemption from feudal jurisdiction. The next j
step in the progress of these imperial cities was confederation, which was !
formed, not only for the protection of each other's rights against either
feudal or imperial encroachments, but for the attainment of other privileges, i
which they considered necessary to their prosperity. The league of the j
Rhine, which was inspired by William of Holland, appears to have been
the first; it was soon followed by that of the Hanse towns. The latter
confederation, which ultimately consisted of above fourscore cities, the j
most flourishing m Germany, had no other object beyond the enjoyment of i
a commercial monopoly — of their own advantage, to the prejudice of all i
Europe. I
Of this confederation, or copartnership, Liibeck set the example before j
the middle of the thirteenth century: her first allies were the towns on the '
Baltic, then infested by pirates; and to trade without fear of these pirates
was the chief motive to the association. So rapidly did the example suc-
ceed that, on the death of Richard of Cornwall, all the cities between the
Rhine and the Vistula were thus connected. The association had four chief
emporia — London, Bruges, Novgorod, and Bergen ; and the direction of
its affairs was entrusted to four great cities, Liibeck, Cologne, Dantzic, and
Brunswick. The consequence was, not only a degree of commercial glory
unrivalled in the annals of the world, but a height of power which no com-
mercial emporium, not even Tyre, ever reached. The Hanse towns were
able, on emergency, not only to equip a considerable number of ships,
but to hire mercenaries, who, added to their own troops, constituted a
A REVIEW or THE EMPIRE 139
[1125-1273 A.U.]
formidable army. They were powerful enough to place their royal allies
— and their alliance might well be sought by kings — on the thrones of
Sweden and Denmark.
By degrees many of these communities not merely refused to undertake
any war for their superior's sake, but openly struck off his authority,
expelled his deputies, and elected magistrates of their own. Even in the
imperial cities which were situated on the domains of the crown, and during
the glory of the Swabian dynasty, one magistrate only, the advocatus or
bailli, was nominated by the crown; the rest were chosen by the people;
and without their concurrence he could undertake nothing of moment. In
the other cities, those submitted to the bishops appear first to have won their
enfranchisement. Gradually they withheld all the feudal obligations, and
annihilated all the vassalitic rights to which they had been subject. In vain
did the ecclesiastics apply to Frederick II for the suppression of all the
magistracies created by the people; that emperor knew his own interests
too w^ell to transform his best friends into enemies. In many cases, how-
ever, perhaps even in a majority, these municipalities, whether subject to
temporal or ecclesiastical princes, procured their exemption from feudal
obligations by purchase rather than by open force. Innumerable are the
charters in the archives of the German cities, placing this fact beyond
dispute.
The increasing dignity of these places, and the encouragement they held
out to military adventurers, naturally allured the more indigent rural
nobles wdthin the walls. The members thus admitted knew that the con-
fraternity contained names as noble as their own; and the prospect of civic
dignities, those which regarded the administration of the law and the police,
was always a powerful inducement. Others, again, instead of entering the
municipality, w^ere contented with obtaining the privileges of citizenship,
still remaining on their former lands, and connected wath their former lords.
But this custom of the noble vassals of princes, dukes, or counts, so eagerly
claiming the privileges in question, would have been fatal to those mag-
nates, had not authority intervened to limit it. The men thus received as
members of the municipalities contended that they were no longer subject
to the jurisdiction of their lords; and if the latter chose to enforce it, the
former speedily summoned the aid of their brethren. If one single member
was in peril, or insulted, it w^as the duty of the rest to fly to his assistance;
and formidable bands might often be seen issuing from the gates to resist
some local baron. On the other hand, these Pfahlhurger, or external bur-
gesses, were bound to lend their service to the municipality whenever it
was at war with another power. The territorial lords themselves were com-
pelled to combine for the maintenance of their rights, frequently defeated
their municipal enemies, intercepted their merchandise, and laid w^aste their
domains to the very gates of the city.
Yet, on the whole, the progress of events w^as exceedingly favourable to
the corporations. If the nobles could combine, so could they; and leagues
were formed capable of bidding defiance not merely to an elector, but to the
whole empire. Thus, in 1256, about seventy cities, great and small, entered
into a league to resist the new^ly enfranchised nobles of Franconia and Swabia,
who were so many banditti, and whose attacks w^ere peculiarly directed
against the carriers of merchandise. As, in a degree almost equal, the rural
churches suffered, the archbishops, bishops, and abbots were induced to join
the confederation. After the death of Richard, king of the Romans, another
was formed, for supporting the electors in the choice of an emperor.
140 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1135-1273 A.D.]
CONDITION OF THE COMMON PEOPLE
Descending in the social chain we come to the cultivators of the ground,
the serfs or peasantry, whose condition, though sufficiently onerous, was yet i
considerably ameliorated. Corporeal servitude had ceased throughout a
great part of the empire. This was, doubtless, owing to a variety of causes,
of which many are apt to elude our observation. Assuredly one of these |
was not the increased humanity of the lords: the German mind has not j
been favourable to abstract notions of right, whenever that right has i
opposed aristocratic preponderancy. I
In the view of a German noble, liberty meant no more than an eman-
cipation from the despotism of the territorial princes; in that of citizen,
exemption from the jurisdiction of emperor or prince; in that of a prince,
perfect independence of the emperor. The grades of society below the rank
of freemen were not thought worth the trouble of legislation; or if their
condition was noticed, it was only to secure their continued dependence on
their superiors. But human circumstances are more powerful than conven-
tional forms, or the pride of man. Policy and interest demanded that the
relation of the serfs should undergo considerable modification; that they
should be placed in situations where their industry should be most productive
German Peasants
to their masters. But the same industry benefited themselves: it could
not be provoked without some allurement ; for the galley-slave will drop the
oar when his taskmaster is not present. The encouragement thus afi^orded
completely answered its purpose; and as the serfs gained property of their
own, they became half enfranchised, not by conventional formalities, but by j
tacit consent, and by the influence of custom. I
The inevitable effect of this system was the rapid increase of the popula-
tion ; and this increase, in its turn, tended to the support and prosperity of ,
the whole order. To such consideration indeed did they arrive, that theyi
were sometimes furnished with arms to defend the cause of their master. '
This innovation tended more than all other causes to the enfranchisement of
the rural population; for whoever is taught to use, and allowed to possess,
weapons, will soon make himself respected. The class thus favoured was
certainly not that of the mere cultivators of the ground ; but of the mechanics,
the tradesmen, the manufacturers, and the chief villeins, who, holding land
on the condition of a certain return in produce as rental, were little below
free tenants. The agricultural districts had many gradations of society; and
in respect to those over whom the generic appellation was the same, much
would depend on the disposition of the proprietor, — on the nature of the
obligations which he introduced into the verbal contract between him and his
vassal. Nor must it be forgotten that, though the great aristocratic liody,
A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRE 141
[1125-1273 A.D.]
whether ecclesiastic or secular, were, as a body, indifferent to the welfare of
their dependents, though they preferred slaves to tenants half free, or peas-
ants, or liberti, the benign influence of Christianity on individuals was not
wholly without effect. The doctrine, that by nature all men are equal, and
equally entitled to the expectations of another world; that the only distinction
in a future state will be between those who have exercised, and those who
have neglected, works of mercy and other social duties — could not fail to
influence the hearts of some, and dispose them to ameliorate the evils of their
dependents. We must not, however, omit to state that in certain provinces
there was no amelioration whatever in the condition of the serfs.
The progress of the territorial jurisdiction in Germany is one of the most
remarkable features of its history. Much of the supreme jurisdiction was
wrested from the emperors; their frequent decease enabled the princes, with
some show of reason, to arrogate to themselves the cognisance of causes
within their respective domains; the royal assizes gradually declined in pro-
portion as the imperial domains were circumscribed by grant or usurpation;
the abolition of the provincial palatinian authority left these princes undis-
turbed chiefs of the tribunals within their territorial boundaries; and, of all
his ancient authority in this respect, the emperor retained only a court judge
to take cognisance of certain defined cases in the first instance.
This transfer of the judicial power from the emperor to the princes was
attended with two evils — the one necessary and invariable, the other acci-
dental. In the first place, the prince might be tyrannical or corrupt, without
much fear of punishment; virtually he was subject to no responsibility;
and we know that the best men, to say nothing of the lawless, will transgress
the bounds of their authority. But even if the reigning prince were disposed
to enforce the laws against the everlasting turbulence, the bloody strife of
the nobles, where was the power by which he was to affect the formidable
territorial nobles, who, having once been vassals of the emperor, were now
transferred into allodial proprietors, and who scorned submission to the man-
dates of the dukes and markgrafs? And there were many nobles whose
possessions, lying beyond the range of the electoral or even princely domina-
tion, were as much sovereigns as any monarch in Europe. These men
recognised no authority beyond the general diets; and even from them little
good was to be expected.
Violence took the place of order; arms were used both to commit injustice
and to revenge it; one crime produced retaliation, and retaliation, which in
reality was seldom, and, in the excited feelings of men, never, confined to
the due measure, gave birth to new aggressions, until the original subject
of offence was lost under a mass of injuries. Private wars, which were
regarded as justifiable in theory, were thus sanctioned by practice, until, in
certain districts, there was no such thing as social security.
BARBARISM OF THE PERIOD
The condition of society, indeed, was so horrible, that states were obliged
to confederate — to form a league for mutual aid in repressing domestic
disturbances. Where two states were at variance, the rest were constituted
arbiters; and if the award were disregarded, an armed force from the differ-
ent states of the confederation was ordered to enforce it. This conventional
tribunal must, one would suppose, have fallen with the cessation of the cir-
cumstances which created it; but though it was merely intended to meet the
142 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
anarchy of the period following the death of Frederick II, it continued to
modern times. The interruption to the ordinary course of justice, involved
in the irresponsibility of so many princes and nobles, produced another inno-
vation well worthy cf our attention, since it casts so clear a light on the
barbarism of the times — we mean that of hostages.
The word "hostage" seems, for want of a more precise term, to designate
two usages essentially distinct from each other. The first usage was founded
on the right of reprisals; it consisted in arresting, whenever there were the
right and the power to arrest, any countrymen, or subjects of the adverse
party, and of retaining them in prison until satisfaction was received. Hence,
by this whimsical species of jurisprudence, a Swabian — a citizen of Ulm,
for instance — who had an action against a citizen of Liege, did not give
himself the trouble to prosecute the cause before the tribunals of Liege; he
summarily laid his hands on the first citizen he could find, and led him away
captive to Ulm: in Ulm the cause was tried; nor was the hostage, thus
involuntarily made, released until the sentence was executed. What strikes
us as more singular is, that the man who in everything else would have derided
his own promises, never failed to surrender himself as a hostage; nor would
he, on any consideration, have quitted the place designed him for a prison.
Much as the Swabian emperors were occupied in the affairs of Italy, in
the Crusades, and other chimerical projects, we must not be so unjust to
their memory as to leave on the reader's mind an impression that they were
wholly negligent of their imperial duties. In regard to private war, for
instance, they, as w^ell as their predecessors of the Franconian and Saxon
dynasties, endeavoured to extirpate the abuse. Thus Frederick I renewed,
against all disturbances of the public peace, the ancient penalty of the har-
nessar — by which any one convicted was compelled to carry in public,
some badge of ignominy for a few hours or miles ; generally in the very place
where his crime had been committed. Sometimes the badge was a saddle,
sometimes a dog. Thus, in 1156, the count palatine, with eleven other
counts and many other nobles, was condemned to the same punishment:
he and they were compelled to carry, the distance of two leagues, in presence
of the assembled princes and nobles, a dog on their shoulders; but, through
consideration for his age and character, the archbishop of Mainz, who was
equally implicated, escaped the ignominy of the exposure.
Unfortunately, Frederick did not persevere in this salutary severity; for
so engrossed was he by other objects, that the internal tranquillity was
perpetually disturbed. In a subsequent instrument, he himself so far recog-
nises duels, as to decree that no man should make war on another without a
previous warning, and defiance of three days. To circumscribe, however,
the distractions that prevailed on every side, he published another decree,
in which all incendiaries were placed under the ban of the empire; and the
power of imposing that ban he delegated to the territorial princes. Thus
if, in conformity with ancient custom, blood might be shed with impunity,
as stone houses were yet uncommon, incendiarism, which might prove fatal
to a whole district, was a capital offence. These provisions were perfectly
in accordance with the spirit of ancient Germanic jurisprudence; which,
while it was satisfied with a pecuniary composition for homicide, exacted
the last penalty for wilful burning. The same punishment was decreed
against all wiio laid waste orchards and vineyards; but not against the
destroyers of corn; because, in the latter case, the damage could be repaired
in a few months; in the former, not for years.
Under Frederick II, another decree was passed, which gives us the most
,^-^ ^-
(9
"^^-^
A REVIEW or THE EMPIRE 143
[1125-1273 A.D.]
unfavourable impression of the times. It establishes penalties against the
son who made war on his father, who wasted that father's lands, or put him
in prison. But what, indeed, could be hoped in an age when all restraint
was removed? The chronicle of Bishop Conrad^ informs us that, after the
excommunication of Frederick by Gregory IX, the bandits rejoiced; that
ploughshares were turned into swords, and pruning-hooks into lances; that
everybody carried flint and steel about him for the purpose of setting fire
to the property of his enemy. Under William of Holland and Richard
of Cornwall the public safety was not likely to be much regarded. In the
expressive language of the chronicle of Thuringia,^ everybody wished to
domineer over his followers. During this melancholy period, fortresses
arose on every side — some for the habi-
tation of bandits, others for resistance;
the former, however, in greater proportion.
And, as in former times, though undoubt-
edly in a degree more fatal, the fortresses
which had been erected for the defence
of the country were converted to its
desolation, Frederick II had promulgated
severe penalties against all who, whether
advocates or others, should, on any pre-
text, build fortresses on the domain of any
church or community; and had ordered
the demolition of such as were already
standing. This is a remarkable illustration
of a fact which meets us in almost every
page — that no estimate whatever is to be
formed from the unperial edicts, concern-
ing the administration of law, though such
edicts afford the most incontestable evi-
dence of the state of society.
The number of castellated ruins which
now frown from the summits of the Ger-
man mountains, and the construction of
which may be satisfactorily referred to the
former half of the thirteenth century, prove
how httle the decrees of Frederick w^re
regarded. Nor were the towns themselves
without such fortresses. Ostensibly to
guard against the turbulence of the in-
habitants, but really to plunder them with
impunity, the princes and comits fortified
their own houses within the walls. Nothing, at this day, can seem more
extraordinary than the eagerness with which the bishops, for instance,
erected such castles. But though many of them were wolves instead of
shepherds, we have evidence enough to show that the flocks were often to be
feared. In fact, no authority, temporal or spiritual, moral or religious, was
respected, unless it had the means necessary to enforce respect. Simple
knights often united their means for the same purpose, and rendered the
structure their common abode: they became co-partners in the honourable
iProfession of bandits. Such a state of society as that just exhibited could
;3carcely be expected from the institutions of chivalry .'^
Costume of a German Emperor, Thir-
teenth Century
144 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
THE ART AND LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD
The climax of the empu-e coincided with the greatest age of German
hterature until the time of Lessing, Schiller, and Goethe. The splendid
display of Barbarossa's knightly assemblies, or the magnificence of Frederick
II's solenm entry into Mainz are but examples of a growing love of pagean-
try and artistic awakening that permeated every princely court. The spirit
of the Renaissance was already touching the perception of men, and chivalry
replaced monastic ideals with the worship not of women but of love. Then,
too, the narrow confines of feudal society were broken up, and the courts of
the north were thrilled with stories of the far-off suimy land of their emperor.
Cosmopolitanism shows itself in architecture as well as in the subjects of song.
The influence of the crusades and of that strange court of Frederick II, where
Moslem culture was favoured to a suspicious degree,and the verses of Provengal
or Italian poets beguiled the hom's that were stolen from affairs — these
worked to open up a new era in German culture .«
The architecture of the tune abandons the Roman and the Byzantine
style of the period of the Ottos and the Franconian emperors, to borrow
from the Norman, the French, the oriental, and sometimes from the Moorish.
The round arch gives way to the ogive; and, in place of solid columns or heavy
square pillars, there are clusters of slender columns which, with their inter-
lacing branches, sustain the arches and galleries. The church of St. Gereon
at Cologne, with its great ten-sided hall, opening by a stairway into the
elongated rectangular chancel, terminated by a Romanesque apse, flanked
by two square towers and its dome where the Byzantines, the Moorish, and
the Gothic mingle, was almost finished in 1227. About that time (1238-
1264), in the same town, arose the basilica of Saint Kunibert, whose enormous
square belfry surmounts the fagade and whose choir shows a gallery of raised
arcades after the Saracen manner. At Treves was built the Liebfrauen-
kirche (about 1227-1242), where a Moorish decoration adorns a Byzantine
dome. A conflagration destroyed the old cathedral of Cologne in 1248,
with its Romanesque and Byzantine treasures, and the church was replaced
by the prodigious Gothic monument whose choir was not consecrated until
1322, and whose towers with their spires were not finished until the present
day.
The subjects and the rhythm, brought by the poets who flocked from
every part of Germany — even from Italy, Provence, and England — to
take part in that solemnisation of marriage and the imperial diet under the
eyes of Frederick II and Isabella,^ bore witness to quite another sort of inspira-
tion and temperament. He who in Italy made amorous verses in the Italian
idiom, the favola volgare, which soon became the lingua cortigiana of Dante,
had brought from England a copy of the romance of Palamedes, or even
more certainly that of Giron le Courtois. Although he took pains that his
son should speak Latin and German equally well, he preferred, like the Freder-
ick II of the eighteenth century, the poetry of the Italians, of the French,
and even of the English to that of his own country.
It is at this period that various poetical themes of foreigners, of the poets i
of the north and south of France or the bards of England, crossed the German
frontier. Hartmann von Aue and Wirnt von Grafenberg retold in the German
tongue the tales of the Round Table — Erec and Ivain, Wigamur and Wigalois,
the knights of the Lion and the Eagle — echoes of Breton poetry which
passed with the English alliance from Guelfs to Ghibellmes. The translator
A EEVIEW OF THE EMPIEE 145
[1125-1273 A.n.]
of the Erec of Chretien de Troyes, Hartmann von Aue, shows more originahty
and hghtness in the poem of Ivain, that knight of the Round Table, escaped
from the forest of Brochelande, who condemns himself to the most romantic in-
adventures and the most terrible trials for having merely forgotten, not broken,
his promise to the lady of the fountain of Baranton. German inspiration in
its imitations must be given its due, although it is everywhere exaggerated,
contradictory, and sometimes even mocked by poetry itself.
The singer of the War of Troy, Konrad von Wiirzburg, had already held,
according to his original way of expressing himself, " a forge of gold and
diamonds from which issued thousands of joyous and precious poesies in
honour of the Virgin Mary," who had never been so highly honoured as in
that country where, since the time of Tacitus, men had recognised in women
a kind of prophetic and divine quality.
Meanwhile appears the legend of Alexis, who abandons his earthly bride
Adriatica to woo the bride of Heaven by his pilgrimages, his austerities, his
sorrows, and who, bent by age and weariness, and without making himself
known beneath the rags of the mendicant, comes back to die at the door of
the nuptial chamber which he had quitted young and filled with hope. The
story which Hartmann von Aue makes of the Poor Henry, that Job of German
poetry, in his misery and patience, who was abandoned, afflicted with leprosy,
until a young girl sacrificed herself to marry him and bring him back to health,
is worthy of a place beside the religious jewel casket of Mary. However, in
the face of all this poetry of adoration and renunciation, satire, already spread-
ing in Germany through the verse of Pretre Amis, showed forcibly the influ-
ence of the metrical tales of the earliest poetry, and of the neighbourhood
of those heretics, the patarins of Italy, whom Frederick occasionally burned
at the stake, without, however, particularly detesting them; and of those
satirical poems which Frederick and his friends readily composed. The
same struggle went on between the lyric and erotic poetry of the minnesingers.
Walther von der Vogelweide (Walter of the Bird Meadow) has still the
naive love of nature and discreet adoration for his lady. He is interested
in spring, which adorns the earth with verdure; he dares only once to name
his Hildegonde : his last thought is for the nightingales in whose rhythm he
has sung. He orders that four cavities shall be cut in his tombstone in the
convent of St. Laurence in Wiirzburg, and he leaves to the monks a bequest
providing that nourishment for the winged singers, his friends, may always
be placed therein; a request which was not long carried out and which has
given him his sobriquet. But after him the knightly poet Ulrich von Liech-
tenstein, while putting into verse his warlike and gallant adventures, in his
poem on the Service of Ladies [Frauendienst], already mocks the theme of
' gallantry. It is not a completely dismterested love which he bears for his
' duchess of Austria, wife of Frederick ; and she, by no means an ideal person-
age, plays singular tricks upon her knight : one day she punishes him for his
' timidity by cutting off a lock of his hair; another, chastises him for his bold-
;ness by letting him drop from a rope hanging from her window. It is true
.that the knightly poet gives her a singular proof of his devotion by having
; a painful operation performed on his mouth, in order that this feature may
i please her better.
FAMOUS TALES
1 In the heroic style and m narrative Wolfram von Eschenbach and Gott-
I fried von Strasburg have left the most notable works — the first with his
■ Titurel and his Parzival, the second with his Tristan und Isolde. But despite
VOL. XIV. L
146 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1125-1273 A.D.]
an original bias each worked on themes borrowed from French poems. It
is thanks to the good knight of Thm-ingia, Wolfram, the trusty servant of
the landgraf, that the poem of the Holy Grail, born in the monasteries of
Wales, treating of that sacred chalice made of most precious stones, in which
Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood of the Saviour, received in Germany-
its entirely mystical and sacerdotal form. Wolfram tells us himself that
he has borrowed it from a Provencal poet. But he certainly accentuates
the religious inspiration and the sentiment of nature. He could say with
reason: " He who reads it, or hears it, or copies it — his soul will be raised
heavenward." He almost rivals the originals in his picturing of this mystic
temple of Montsalvat, with its seventy chapels, its thirty-six openwork
belfries, and its dome spangled with emeralds, carbuncles, and sapphires,
symbolising as many virtues, but whose splendour pales before the carved
stone of the Holy Grail — before perfection itself. As for Parzival, the pure
knight who, without having sought for it, becomes the king of the Holy
Grail — his is a heart of the German Middle Ages beating beneath the breast-
plate, and it is a kindred spirit that dreams under his helmet, although he
was born in the forest of Brochelande and put on his spurs at the Round
Table of King Arthur. Introduced for the first time into the symbolic temple,
for the conquest of which he abandons his mother and his lady, he forgets
to pronounce the sacred words which might relieve the king Amfortas of
his protracted vigil. He now doubts; he wanders with that painful wound
in his heart, until a hermit cures him and replaces him on the road to the
infinite.
Let us not forget that the poem of the Holy Grail arrived at its perfection
in Germany when the enthusiasm of the crusade, at least for the Orient,
had died out. The gay and wayward Gottfried von Strasburg, a former
scholar, who takes us from the epic to the romantic tale, from the ideal to the
sensual, gave animation to the poem which he borrowed from Thomas of
Brittany. It tells of Tristan and of Isolde the blonde, those two culpable
lovers, whose peculiar humour, half tender, half playful, half weeping and
half jesting, corresponded with the manners of those who read of them. These
two lovers, buried in the solitudes, neither ate nor drank; love, preserved
with sweet spices, was their food in the depths of the forest. In their lovers'
grotto, hollowed out of the mountain-side, whence flowed a pure and limpid
stream, where no wind but the balmy breath of the zephyrs penetrated, they
listened to the songs of the birds, they told long tales of the unfortunates
slain by love ; for the benefit of prying eyes, when they slept upon their couch
of green boughs, the blade of a sword lay between them, as when the valiant
Siegfried and the chaste Grimilda dwelt in the enchanted castle of the Niebe-
lungen.
Germany has, moreover, interpreters of her poetry as well as of her
national sentiment, A minnesinger of the period — paying for German
faith and poetry a veritable heart-debt to the landgraf of Thuringia, Louis,
and to his holy wife Elizabeth — established at that enlightened and loyal
court of the fortress of Wartburg, ornamented with brave knights and fair
ladies, a sort of fantastic concourse of poetry, where figured all the German
poets of the different epochs and various countries; and he gave the victory
to the most pious among them over the devil himself, who had entered in
the lists. The cosmopolitan and politic Frederick II, the friend of the Arabs
and the enemy of the popes, who himself presided at the removal of the
remains of the canonised St, Elizabeth, would not have contradicted this
judgment at Mainz, if he had not had a reward to bestow in the midst of
A EEVIEW OF THE EMPIRE 147
[1125-1273 A.D.]
these diverse tendencies. He laid the first stone of that exquisite little funeral
monument whose harmonious whole, whose graceful columns, and whose
imposing arches seemed to uplift the faithful to the love of God.
But it is Walther von der Vogelw^eide — who had seen so many changes,
before whom had passed in review Henry VI, Otto IV, Philip of Swabia, the
young Henry, Frederick II — who best represents his period when he draws
his inspiration from the spectacle of disorders which, in the mask of a false
greatness, testify to the peril of the country and announce that decadence
of the holy empire, against which the mighty Frederick II waged a losing
battle. In the midst of the quarrels of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, he stigma-
tised the corruption of the clergy and the avarice of those princes who, while
at the service of the highest bidder, remained faithful to themselves through
their hatred for the pope and for Rome, whom they accused of being the
cause of all these wars.
He often repeated that "justice, honour, and the fear of God no longer
reign over their hearts," and regretted the sight of "felony behind the walls
of the fortresses, violence stalking the highways — war everywhere." He
lifted his feeble poet voice against the strife of sovereigns and of popes, who
compromised the empire and the house of God, " because a pope had crowned
two Csesars with the same crown to the ruin of the empire. All nature is
at war," said he — "the wild beasts of the forest, the fowls of the air, the
human beings upon the earth. \\Tiat wretchedness is thine, 0 Germany —
what wild disorder!"
During his latter days, seeing all changed about him, he fell a prey to
melancholy religious reveries: "Where are they fled," sang this last of the
minnesingers, " whither have they vanished — those beautiful departed
years? Has my life been a dream or a reality? Was it a slumber or an
awakening? That which yesterday was as familiar as my own right hand
is to-day become a world unknown. Were ye then but lies — people and
fatherland of my infancy? The companions of my youth are old and bent,
the sands of the desert have overflowed the fields, and scattered clumps
alone remain where stood the splendid forest. Only the streams flow on
forever; and mv life will leave no more trace than an oar-stroke in the great
sea."
This poet, however, did not live to witness the greatest event of the period
— the downfall of Frederick II and of the German empire, which did not
long survive the brilliant diet of the most powerful among the German
^ emperors at Mainz in 1235.^ In the anarchy which followed the fall of the
' great Hohenstaufen, the imperial power was all but extinguished."
CHAPTER IV
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY
[1273-1347 A.D.]
The inner liistory of Germany during the next two centuries is
essentially a struggle of the greater nobility among themselves for
power, and of the lesser nobility and dependents against them, for
what they called their freedom. — Lewis. ^
The fall of the Hohenstaufens marks the end of the mediaeval empire.
The Alps again become the frontier of Germany, and, amid the uncertainty
of a disputed sovereignty at home, the German monarchs turn from the
high dream of world empire to the more substantial practice of using the
emperor's office for personal and territorial aggrandisement. Opposed in
this by their brother princes, to whom their elections were due, they spent
the energies of the country in countless petty wars, and upon the misfortunes
of a land of anarchy, laid the basis for their hereditary states. The story
is not only intricate but it is dreary, and yields no contribution to the history
of Europe beyond the tumult of its wars and the development of one or two
great princely houses. For a while there was a veritable interregnum, when
neither the presence of Richard of Cornwall nor the distant schemes of Alfonso
of Spain could win for the rival claimants even the shadow of power. But
this cheerless period past, we come upon more national and direct lines of
history. Two houses especially rose to prominence above the rest and
established themselves as natural leaders. If, after the interregnum, one
keeps an eye upon the two houses of Habsburg and Luxemburg, a line of
history can be traced through the tangled web of civil wars and feuds of
rival claimants. With but a slight exception, after the great interregnum
the unperial dignity alternated between the house of Habsburg and the
party of Luxemburg.^ The first Habsburg was scarcely more than owner
of a single castle, but he gave his family the splendid duchy of Austria and
the surrounding states. The first Luxemburg came from old Lorraine
by the borders of France, but through him Bohemia became his family's '
hereditary possession, and while the Habsburgs took in the lands to the
south — Styria and Camiola — the Luxemburgs extended their power in
the north by the addition of the Mark of Brandenburg. Thus, almost from
' Ludwig of Bavaria, although a Wittelsbach, owed his throne to the Luxemburgs, who
had no strong candidate of their own at the time.
148
THE EEADJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 149
[1218-1273 A.D.]
the Baltic to the Adriatic, the eastern frontier of^he empire lay in the hands
of these two imperial families.
It will be for us now to trace the details of this territorial development,
and in some measure show its effect upon the empire.^
RUDOLF OF HABSBURG
In that corner of the kingdom of Burgundy comprehended between the
rivers Aar and Reuss, stood the castle of Habsburg, built early in the eleventh
century by Werner, bishop of Strasburg; which
imparted a domicile and a title to the ancient
counts of Upper Alsace. Here Rudolf, destined to
become the founder of the greatness of the Habs-
burg house, w^as born on the first of May, 1218, and
was presented at the baptismal font by the emperor
Frederick II. On the death of his father Albert in
1240, Rudolf succeeded to his estates; but the
greater portion of these were in the hands of his
paternal uncle, Rudolf of Laufenburg; and all he
could call his own lay within sight of the great hall
of his castle.
The early youth of Rudolf of Habsburg was
devoted to martial and athletic exercises; he was
distinguished by his skill in horsemanship, and his
great strength and activity; and was knighted by
Frederick II, whose train he joined, and who ad-
mired his gallantry and dexterity. But his dis-
position was w^ayward and restless and drew him
into repeated contests with his neighbours and re-
lations. After his father's death he attacked his
uncle Rudolf of Laufenburg, under colour of his
having appropriated an undue share of the family
estates; but his attack w^as vigorously resisted by
Godfrey, son of the old count, who carried the war
into Rudolf's own possessions, and burnt his prin-
cipal town of Brugg. A similar aggression upon
his maternal uncle Hartmann, count of Kyburg,
induced that nobleman to disinherit his refractory
nephew, and to make a grant of his possessions to the bishop of Strasburg.
He then entered the service of Ottocar II, king of Bohemia, under whom
he served in company with the Teutonic Knights, in his wars against the
Prussian pagans; and afterwards against Bela IV, king of Hungary. He
next turned his arms against the bishop of Strasburg, who refused to surren-
der the grant of the Kyburg estates; and after the bishop's death, so intimi-
dated his successor that he purchased peace from Rudolf, by surrendering
the disputed lands. The deaths of his cousin Hartmann, son of Werner,
and of his uncle Hartmann, soon afterwards, put him in possession of _ the
county of Kyburg; and he received the homage of many nobles and cities
who achnired his valour and courted his protection. Even the confederate
mountaineers of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden chose him as their advocate;
and the imperial citizens of Zurich elected him their prefect.
The count of Habsburg had extended his power and spread wide the fame
of his valour by these and other exploits, which belong rather to his biography
Buffoon of the Thirteenth
Century
150 THE HOLY ROMAX EMPIRE
[1273 A.D.]
than to the imperial history^ But now the greatest of all his successes awaited
him. At the urgent request of the newly elected Pope Gregory X, an elec-
toral diet was convened at Frankfort for the election of a Roman king. The
names of Alfonso X, king of Castile, and Ottocar II, king of Bohemia, stood
foremost as competitors for the imperial crown. But a new and unexpected
candidate was proposed by Werner, elector of Mainz. In the year 1259
Werner had been invested with that archbishopric, and on his way to Rome
to receive the pallium was escorted across the Alps by Rudolf of Habsburg,
and under his protection secured from the robbers who beset the passes.
Charmed with the affability and frankness of his protector, the archbishop
conceived a strong regard for Rudolf, and now proposed him as a person
eminently fitted for the great office in debate. The electors are described by
a contemporary as desiring an emperor but detesting his power. The com-
parative lowliness of the count of Habsburg recommended him as one from
whom their authority stood in little jeopardy; but the claims of the king of
Bohemia were vigorously urged ; and it was at length agreed to decide the
election by the voice of the duke of Bavaria. Ludwig without hesitation
nominated Rudolf.
At the moment of his election Rudolf was encamped before Bale, whither
he had returned to punish the refractory bishop and citizens. The good tid-
ings were announced to him by his nephew Frederick of Hohenzollern, burg-
graf of Nuremberg, but were at first indignantly received by the incredulous
Rudolf. Being at length satisfied of the reality of his good fortune, he made
peace with his enemies of Bale, who readily yielded that submission to the
sovereign of Germany which they had denied to the count of Habsburg. He
proceeded to Aix-la-Chapelle, where, with his countess, he received the royal
crowTi; and his two daughters Matilda and Agnes were immediately after-
wards married, the first to Ludwig II, duke of Bavaria, and the other to Albert
II, duke of Saxony.^ But his coronation did not secure for Rudolf the undis-
puted control. His disappointed competitor was still far more powerful than
he. Ottocar of Bohemia had built up a realm alone in the east of the empire
which was threatening the integrity of the empire itself. From Bohemia he
had added by marriage Austria, Styria, and Carniola — the very possessions
destmed to be associated through modern history with the name of the Habs-
burgs. Ottocar was a restless and vigorous ruler. The chronicler describes
him as " a fine youth, dark in colour, of middle stature, strong-hearted, of
comely comitenance ; brave, wise, superior to wise men and philosophers in
eloquence." He had been oppressive, however, to the German element and ,
especially to the lesser nobility, and the jealousy of the German princes soon
found in Ottocar's seizure of Austria, pretext for the war which Rudolf was
anxious to wage upon this defiant vassal. It was this war which gave Austria .
to the Habsburgs. Let the naive chronicle of the monks of Kohnar tell the <
story in detail."
THE CHRONICLE OF KOLMAR
In the year of the Lord 1273, count Rudolf called "of Habsburg" was;
chosen Roman emperor. The cities accepted him immediately and peace
spread over all German lands. When the nobles who lived mider the sov-
ereignty, or tyranny, of the Bohemian king heard this they were much rejoiced,
for they hoped now to get free of the sovereignty of the Bohemian king.
Therefore they sent messengers and letters to the Roman king with the humble
petition that he would come into their territory; they would submit to his
THE KEADJUSTMENT OF GERMANY
151
[1373 A.D.]
sovereignty those lands pertaining to the empire which the king of Bohemia
had acquired by violence.
When the king of Bohemia heard this he was sore troubled and called
together an assembly of the learned powers, that is of the archbishops, the
bishops, the provosts, the abbots and friars. When they had come into his
presence he spake as follows: "We have just heard that the count Rudolf of
Habsburg calls himself a Roman king, and says he will bring under his own
dominion our lands which „
we hold according to mani-
fold legal titles. As we
are not willing to suffer
this, for we hold these
lands on a variety of legal
grounds, moreover the
thing would involve us in
most grievous damage, I
ask of your loving favour
that you will strengthen
your allegiance to us by an
oath and that you will
drive all my enemies forci-
bly from the land." Then
all spoke with one accord :
" Whatever is the pleasure
of the lord king — that we
will do." Then the king
said: "Swear allegiance
to me." And they all
swore it. Moreover the
burghers of all his cities
swore allegiance to him
and furthermore gave
their children as hostages.
When king Rudolf had
seen the letters of the Bo-
hemian nobles he would
fain at once have come to
their aid, if he had been
able to leave the neigh-
bourhood of the Rhine.
But as at the moment it was impossible for him to betake himself in person to
Bohemia, certain of the nobility came themselves into Alsace to urge their
request to the king that he would waste no time before hastening into the lands
of the king of Bohemia. Moved by the requests of these lords the Roman king
Rudolf at last summoned in person all the knights whom he could approach
and commanded all his peoples not to tarry but to put on their armour and go
with him, for that he nmst suddenly hasten to another quarter. Many
promised him good support but were unable to fulfil their promises.
So the king left his country with few followers, yet from day to day he
gathered about him more and more knights. But when he came to Mainz
the lord of Klingen spake to hun, "Sire, who is your treasurer?" Towhom
the king replied, " I have no treasures, and no money except five shillings in
small com." Then answered the lord of Klingen, "How then will you
Rudolf I of Habsburg (1318-1291)
(From the probably unauthentic woodcut by Burgkmair in the Oenealogle
des Kaisers Maximilian 1, 1512-1515)
152 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1273 A.D.J
provide for your army? " And the king answered him back, " As the army has
always provided for me, so will it be able to provide for me on this campaign
also." Then the king moved forward with a light heart though with the
greatest lack of money. He advanced unresisted, and everything pertaining
to the empire gave itself up to him freely and fairly. Castles, fortresses,
lands — it mattered not to whom they belonged — surrendered of their own
free will, for they could not defend themselves.
But the king of Bohemia did not think that King Rudolf would seek or
would be able to devastate the lands of Austria without opposition. For had
he truly feared the approach of the Roman king he might very easily have
barricaded the bridges across the rivers and the narrow passes with a few
people and so have impeded for long, the advance of the king. But when the
Roman king came to his son-in-law the king of Bavaria, he was received by
him with reverence, and his followers as well as himself were abundantly and
willingly supplied with all that was necessary. The king also made agree-
ments with different lords that they would suffer him to pass through their
territories unmolested. When this reached the ears of the king of Bohemia
he was sore vexed ; he collected an army and confronted the German king in
the neighbom-hood of Rennes to force him out of his territory. But this he
was unable to do because the people of the king of Bohemia were encamped
on one side of the Danube and the army of the Roman king on the other. The
king of Bohemia had placed all his hopes in the city of Klosterneuburg, which
seemed to him impregnable. This city is situate on a mountain and is sur-
rounded with a strong wall and many towers. As a garrison he had placed
in it a powerful contingent of Bohemians whom he had furnished on the most
liberal scale with provisions. At the same time he had arranged that in case
Vienna was attacked by the Roman king, the city of Klosterneuburg should
lend its close support with everything necessary: in the event of the citizens
of Vienna surrendering to the Roman king he would harry them mercilessly
from Klosterneuburg. For the king of Bohemia had hoped by this fortress
to be able to hold all Austria in check.
The king of Bohemia had occupied the countries of Bavaria, Carinthia,
Carniola, and Styria for many years in undisputed possession. WHien now
Count Rudolf of Habsburg was elected king of the Romans, the king of
Bohemia made most diligent inquiries of the Dominican friars, the Minorites,
and others, of whom it was believed that they were informed of his circum-
stances, A brother of the order of the Dominican frairs by the name of
Ruediger, a pleasant preacher, who knew Count Rudolf intimately, said what
follows to the Bohemian king : " My lord the king, if you will grant me free-
dom and will not be angry I will indeed inform you of the condition of his
country and of his person." Then said the king of Bohemia: "Say what
thou wilt; never from me shalt thou suffer enmity on account of thy speech."
Brother Ruediger then observed : " My lord the king, Count Rudolf of Habs-
burg is a lean, tall man, with long aquiline nose, moderate in eating, already
in years, but not yet sixty. He has many, that is to say nine, children;
exposed to the direst need from his youth upwards, he has yet been faithful
to all his own ; from his boyhood he has passed a life of agitation in arms, wars,
feuds, endless labours and needs. By cleverness more frequently than by
force he has been victorious and in all he is favoured by good fortune. They
say of him that in his awe for the holy Virgin Mary he has never done evil on
a Saturday nor suffered it to be done by his people." Then the king of
Bavaria said : " Good and evil hast thou told me of this count, but above
all every enemy of his must fear his good fortune."
THE KEADJUSTMENT OF GEEMAXY 153
[1276 A.D.]
Then the king of Bohemia began to strengthen by further protections the
four works which were round the walls of the city. Also he forced the bur-
gher-knights, nobles, and barons to give him their children as hostages and to
deliver up to him their strongest castles besides their arms. Moreover he sent
many Bohemian knights armed into the cities of Austria and sent them pro-
visions in rich abundance, so that in case the Roman king Rudolf should
attack separate cities, the burghers might have no excuse but could if they
were willing defend their cities against the attackers. But above all he
furnished the city of Klosterneuburg with rich stores, because he wanted to
supply Vienna and the other cities from this centre. Also he forbade anyone
in his supreme presence to speak of the Roman king Rudolf as sovereign or
king. And he ordered the Dominican friars not to keep their provincial
capital in his territory.
But in the year of the Lord 1276 the Roman king Rudolf with two thou-
sand armed horse betook himself to Bavaria and allied himself with the duke
of Bavaria on condition that the son of the duke should marry a daughter of
the king. When this had taken place the vast district was given over to the
king, and a thousand knights on caparisoned horses joined his side. From
this time his army began to increase in knights. Then the Roman king
advanced with the said army against Vienna and laid siege to it. So nar-
rowly is he supposed to have shut it in that on one side of the city no one
without his permission could come in or go out without damage.
But the king of Bohemia collected twenty thousand knights and sent his
army on the other side of the Danube to confront the Roman king's and
forcibly eject the latter from the country. The knights of the king of Bohemia,
however, would not follow a single command of their king, unduly alarmed as
they were at the prospect of the battle with the Germans. And the king of
Bohemia too, did not dare to trust his own men, because for a long time he
had partly murdered and partly exiled from the land fathers, brothers, blood
relations and relatives by marriage among the nobility, sometimes by mere
force, sometimes by cunning. The army of the Roman king on the other hand
would have been very glad to have fought with the army of the Bohemian
king if it could have engaged it upon a suitable battle-field.<^
The Bavarians, by a ruse, succeeded in getting possession of Klosterneu-
burg.« After its capture King Rudolf betook himself thither with his army,
divided the booty, and for fourteen days gave abundant sustenance to his
army out of what the king of Bohemia had introduced into the city.
Through this town the city of Vienna was so held in check that neither
could the burghers well come to the help of the king of Bohemia nor could
the latter liberate the Viennese from their circumvention by the king of the
Romans. In their despair the Viennese knew not what to do. So they
held a council, concluded a treaty with the king of the Romans and handed
over the city to his dominion; also he was honoured by them with large and
splendid presents. When the Viennese then had abandoned their old sov-
ereign and recognised as sovereign the king of the Romans, they at once
requested the king of Bohemia to restore their children whom they had placed
with him as hostages. But the king refused to restore the children. Then
the Viennese collected an army, fell upon the territory of the king of Bohemia,
overcame several castles and cities, and so returned home. "When, however,
: the king of the Bohemians saw that he could not withstand the king of the
' Romans, he humbled himself, and surrendered himself to his mercy. Under
the following conditions peace was restored between the kingly sovereigns
by the princes. The Bohemian king was to give his daughter in marriage to
154
THE HOLY EOMAN" EMPIEE
[1276 A.D.]
king Rudolf's son, was to receive the regalia from king Rudolf as was befitting,
and was to place three hundred knights with caparisoned horses at the dis-
position of the army of the king if it should so please the latter.
The king of Bohemia, with a numerous company of knights and horses,
glittering in robes decked out with gold and precious stones, prepared at
once to receive the regalia from the Roman king. When the princes of
King Rudolf heard of this they told the king of it with joy, saying: "My
lord, make yourself ready with precious vestments as becomes a king."
Then the king spoke, " The king of Bohe-
mia has more than once made merry over
my grey jerkin; but now shall my grey
jerkin make merry over him." Then he
spoke to his notary : " Give me thy cloak, so that
the king of Bohemia may deride my poverty."
When the king of Bohemia arrived, the Roman
king said to his knights, " Don your armour, arm
your chargers, and, thus prepared for war as well
as you may be, place yourselves in order on both
sides of the way along which the king is coming,
and show the barbarian peoples the splendour of
the German arms." When all this had been made
ready according to the will of the king, the Bo-
hemian king appeared with gold-decked robes and
in royal splendour; he fell at the feet of the
Roman king and prayed him humbly for his re-
galia. Moreover he renounced a hundred marks
income, as well as forty thousand marks which
the duke had had from Austria, and the king of
Bohemia had owned through the Queen Margareta.
Then the Roman king gave the kingdom and the
regalia to the king of Bohemia, and before all
those present declared him his worthy friend.
While the Roman king did thus he appeared
lowly and ordinary in his grey jerkin and he sat
on a stool.
After a few weeks the king of Bohemia re-
pented of having submitted to the Roman king.
The king of Bohemia saw that King Rudolf had
many possessions, it was true, but for all that, was
always in the greatest need. On these and other
grounds he made a nun of his daughter whom he had furnished in marriage
to king Rudolf's son, and caused her solemnly to take the veil in a convent
of the order of the Minorites.<^
The external appearances of reconciliation and friendship had been pre-
served between the rival sovereigns during their residence in Vienna. But
Rudolf must have been strangely unacquainted with mankind, if he expected
a peace thus dictated at the head of an army to be of long duration. The
degraded Ottocar withdrew to Prague, and strained every nerve to gather
such a force as might retrieve his late losses of honour and territory. Henry
of Bavaria again joined his standard; and he was soon provided with an
army drawn from Bohemia, Moravia, Thuringia, and Poland, which promised
him complete success over the king of the Romans. Meanwhile the levies
of Rudolf were slow and scanty; he attempted a new negotiation with his
German Trumpeter ok the
Thirteenth Century
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 155
[1278 A.D.]
antagonist, but Ottocar resumed his haughty tone, and threw the adherents
of Rudolf into the utmost consternation by a rapid march upon Vienna.
Nothing, therefore, was left but to hazard a conflict; and Rudolf, being joined
by a timely reinforcement from Alsace and Swabia, marched out to meet the
enemy. A desperate battle took place on the Austrian frontier.^
THE BATTLE OF MARCHFELD (1278 A.D.)
Now when the king of Bohemia saw King Rudolf advance towards him
[says the Chronicle of Kolmar] he plunged recklessly all alone into the enemy's
ranks, and wounded many men with his mighty strokes. Thirty knights,
however, his body-guard, helped him with all their might. At last however
the king of Bohemia grew weary; he was captured by a man of low origin
and robbed of his arms. Thus he was led forth without his armour. But
a knight followed him crying out: "There is the king who foully murdered
my brother; now shall he atone for the deed." So he spake, and drawing
his sword, gave the king a violent thrust in the face. But another knight
who followed this one, pierced the king's body with his sword. But the man
who had captured the king of Bohemia was sore vexed and would fain have
protected him if his strength had availed for the purpose.
So fought King Rudolf against his enemies in the bravest fashion. At
last came a strong man and harried the king with his blows and as he could
not overcome him, he pierced the king's charger with his lance. The king
and the charger fell together; the king lay on the ground destitute of help;
he placed his shield over himself so as not to meet with a terrible death with-
out further ado beneath the hoofs of the horses. When the horses had passed
by, a man who wished to relieve him of his mortal danger raised him from
the ground as well as he might. Then said the king: "Quick! equip me a
horse!" As soon as this was done, he mounted and shouted to his men
with lusty voice. About fifty of them gathered about him. With these
the king fell on the Bohemian army in its flank, cut it almost in two, and
threw himself vigorously upon the rear. The advance section of the Bohemian
army cried "They flee, they flee" in order thus to mislead King Rudolf. But
the more they shouted, the more the Germans bore down on them with their
blows. But King Rudolf fought the rear of the host of the king of Bohemia
with stubborn audacity, and urged by fear they took to flight. No sooner
had they turned their backs than the Hungarians pursued them; they fought,
these still resisting, pursued the fugitives, brought in prisoners, did murder
and slew. It is generally said that in this battle fourteen thousand men
sacrificed their lives.
King Rudolf remained with his men on the battle-field until all had hailed
him an undoubted victor. The king of Bohemia died on the same day; after
the bowels had been removed, his body was salted and brought into a monas-
tery of the Minorite brothers. He had, to say truth, died under the ban of
the pope ; therefore he could not be buried in the churchyard. In the army
of the king of the Romans there were a few people feckless in battle, clerks,
monks, lay brothers of different orders. These had withdrawn to a hillock
to await the end of the battle and to intercede with the Lord for their people.
These men observed that over the army of the Bohemian king lay a glittering
brilliance and unmitigated heat, while the army of King Rudolf, wherever
it turned, was always covered bv a cooling cloud. Therefore they concluded
that the ^rmy of King Rudolf^ with God's help must be victorious. This
battle was fought over against the city of Vienna on the plain called Ganser-
156 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1378-1291 A.D.]
feld in the year of the Lord 1278, about the sixth hour on the day before St.
Bartholomew, the apostle's day.<^
THE ADMINISTRATION OF RUDOLF
In the first moments of his triumph, Rudolf designed to appropriate the
dominions of his deceased enemy. But his avidity was restrained by the
princes of the empire, who interposed on behalf of the son of Ottocar; and
Wenceslaus was permitted to retain Bohemia and Moravia. The projected
union of the two families was now renewed : Judith of Habsburg was affianced
to the young king of Bohemia, w^hose sister Agnes was married to Rudolf,
youngest son of the king of the Romans. For Albert and Rudolf, his eldest
and youngest surviving sons, he designed the duchies of Austria and Styria;
but his second son Hartmann was his best-beloved, and for this darling youth
a richer dominion was to be provided. It was the design of the king to revive
the ancient kingdom of Burgundy in favour of Hartmann, whom he had
already affianced to a daughter of Edward I king of England ; and to bestow
upon him that rich territory, which comprehended the possessions of his
ancestors. A melancholy catastrophe frustrated the fond father's design:
the best-beloved, whose valour and goodness justified all his father's affection,
embarked upon the Rhine at Breisach, with a train of noble dependents;
but darkness overtaking them, their bark became entangled amidst shoals
and islets; and being overset, its precious freight were all consigned to an
untimely death. The lifeless body of Hartmann was discovered near the
abbey of Rhinau, and buried at Bale beside his mother, Anna of Hohenberg.
Rudolf was more fortunate in the realisation of his views with respect to
his Austrian conquests. After satisfying the several claimants to those
territories by various cessions of lands, he obtained the consent of a diet
held at Augsburg to the settlement of Austria, Styria, and Carniola upon his
two surviving sons, who were accordingly jointly invested with those duchies
with great pomp and solemnity; they are at this hour enjoyed by the descend-
ants of Rudolf of Habsburg.
The remaining exploits of this celebrated prince are comparatively insig-
nificant. [He was uniformly successful in a series of petty wars and kept in
check the arrogant nobility. In this he was at least unhampered by the
distraction of foreign affairs. Italy did not draw him, even for the splendour
of a coronation.] He had now attained the age of seventy-three, and as his
increasing infirmities admonished him of the approach of death, he grew
anxious to secure to his son Albert the succession to the throne, and his
nomination by the electors ere the grave closed upon himself. The example
of Charlemagne, the Ottos, the Henrys, and of most of his predecessors,
warranted his expectations of compliance; and as no less than four of the
electors were his sons-in-law, a rejection of his desire was scarcely to be
anticipated. Accordingly he assembled a diet at Frankfort, and proposed
to the electors with the utmost earnestness the election of his son as king of
the Romans. But all his entreaties were unavailing ; he was coldly reminded
that he himself was still the king, and that the empire was too poor to support
two kings. Rudolf might now repent his neglect to assume the imperial
crown; but the character of Albert seems to have been the real obstacle to
his elevation. With many of the great qualities of his father, this prmee
was deficient in his milder virtues ; and his personal bravery and perseverance
were tainted with pride, haughtiness, and avarice. This last disappointment
hastened the operations of nature; and Rudolf, perceiving the hand of death
THE EE ADJUSTMENT OF GERMANY ir,7
[1291 A.D.]
upon him, desired to be carried to Speier, that he might visit the kings his
predecessors. But his increasing weakness compelled him to halt at Ger-
mersheim on the Rhine, where he expired on the 15th of July, 1291, in the
seventy-fourth year of his age, and the eighteenth of his reign. His corpse
was conveyed to Speier, and deposited amidst the mouldering remains of
the kings of the Romans.
PERSONAL TRAITS OF RUDOLF
That the character of a prince, who from a petty count of a narrow territory
became the sovereign of a mighty empire, should have been the subject of
lofty panegyrics by historians, who wrote whilst his descendants reigned,
is not wonderful; yet his elevation appears rather the result of a combination
of fortunate events than of any overwhelming merit of his own. That he
possessed many good and great qualities we may be assured, not merely
by the voice of his contemporaries, but by the more certain proof of the good
order which he restored in Germany, and the submission which he enforced
from the haughty and refractory nobles. He was brave, frank, and affable;
temperate in his enjoyments, and sincere in his piety. But his eagerness
for conquest may create a doubt as to his strict love of justice and modera-
tion; and his failure in obtaining the dearest object of his desire is at variance
with the report of his irresistible powers of persuasion. Bred up amidst war
and tunmlt, he affected no literary propensities ; but he supplied the defect
of his education by strong practical sense and a vigorous understanding;
nor does the rustic romance of his life lose any of its charm by his want of
scholastic learning. " He was glorious," says Muratori, " for his many virtues ;
but still more glorious for the many emperors who have descended from him" ;
— a shrewd distinction, which may furnish a palliative to the excessive
encomiums lavished upon him. He must, however, be esteemed a wise
and politic prince; unshaken by adversity, and bearing his good fortune
without insolence; and perhaps no man of his age was so well qualified to
organise the distracted empire he was called to govern.
In stature Rudolf was tall and slender, his head small, his hair scanty,
his nose long and aquiline, his countenance pale, his expression animated,
his temper gay, his manner simple, his dress homely.^ This last trait is
shown in the well-known story of the baker's wife, which we may let the
monks of Kolmar tell in their own words : «
When King Rudolf was in Mainz, on a day came a frost at sunrise and
the cold did outrageously hurt him. Then he looked across from the house
in which he lay, and saw a bakery which had a superabundance of glowing
coals. The king now donned his clothing and quickly ran to the glowing
coals. But the housewife, who knew not the king, rebuked him roundly
in strong language; it was not right that knights should invade the homes
of poor women. Then the king spoke humbly to the woman: "Dear lady,
be not disturbed by my presence; I am an old soldier who has devoted all
he has to the service of the miserable king Rudolf; in spite of all his fair
promises, he now lets me starve." Then spoke the woman: "So you follow
King Rudolf — the miserable, blind old man, who has made the country
desert and has swallowed up all the poor? Rightly do these and other ills
befall you." Then the king said to the woman, "What evil then has he
done you?" But she answered him with great bitterness, blaming and
ridiculing the king with high abuse: "I and all the bakers of the city, with
the exception of two, have been made poor by him, so that we can no longer
158 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1292 A.D.]
enjoy our former well-being in these days." Then the woman proceeded.
"Sir, get you gone, you disturb us here in our business." But the king
refused to go at the bidding of the woman. Then the woman lost her temper
and raising a glass of water poured it over the coals and did woefully spoil
the dress of the old soldier — or rather of the king. Then the king got him
gone, betaking himself in all haste to his quarters.
^Vllen now the king was seated at his table, the high steward placed
before him a pigshead. Then the king thought of the kindness that the baker
woman had shown him and wished to pay her his thanks. So he called
his house-keeper and said to her: "Take this dish with meat and a quart of
wine, and bear it to your neighbour from the 'old soldier.' He sends his
thanks for the warmth which he had from her coals this morning." This
done, the king told how the baker woman had abused and cursed him and
provoked in all great merriment. But the baker woman perceived that it
was the king whom she had abused. Then she was sore troubled, came to
the king, and earnestly besought him to forgive her for the injury she had
done him. But the king refused to forgive her except on one condition —
that she should now publicly repeat to him the abuse which she had uttered
upon him in private. This the woman did: she obeyed the will of the sov-
ereign and thus provoked laughter from many.^
ADOLPHUS OF NASSAU
Two consequences of the policy of Rudolf I in Germany remained in
operation for centuries and continued substantially to affect the destinies
of that country. The first was the founding of a great Habsburg dominion;
the second, the supremacy of the prince electors in the affairs of the empire.
Rudolf did not venture upon the laborious and hazardous attempt to restore
the splendours of the ancient empire; he set himself the easier and more
profitable task of keeping the kingdom of Germany on the hither side of
the Alps and making use of it to increase the powTr of his dynasty. In return
he let other local sovereigns do as they pleased; and the empire broke up
more and more into isolated segments, which developed an independent
existence, and bore many a fair flower of strength and culture.
So it remained thenceforward. Moreover, at Rudolf's death his house
and the prince electors were on a hostile footing. The prince electors would
not have the too powerful Habsburger for their lord. They elected in prefer-
ence (on May 5th, 1292) a prince of inconsiderable fortune. Count Adolphus
of Nassau, a valiant knight of noble descent, but scantily supplied with this
world's goods, and a vassal of the elector of Treves and of the Rhenish count
palatine into the bargain. The insignificance of his private property was
the strongest point in his favour in the eyes of the prince electors, as it relieved
them of all apprehension that the new king might become formidable to
them. For the rest, he was elected chiefly at the instigation of Gerhard
von Eppenstein, archbishop of Mainz, who was his uncle. The chosen candi-
date was compelled to purchase the crown by the sacrifice of certain important
prerogatives.
Thus Adolphus of Nassau was invested with the royal dignity ; the author-
ity of a king he had yet to wm for himself. To achieve this end he chose
the same course that his predecessors had taken ; he too was minded to exploit
the kingship for the aggrandisement of his own house. To procure money
for his immediate needs he concluded an alliance with King Edward I of
England against Philip the Fair, king of France, who had seized upon many
THE EEADJUSTMENT OF GEEMAI^^Y 159
[1292-1298 A.D.]
districts in imperial territory on the western frontier of Germany. For
the sum of £100,000 Adolphus undertook to furnish the icing of England
with soldiers for the war against France. He did actually levy a large army
of mercenaries with the money from England, but used it — as he used another
large sum which he took from Matteo Visconti, as payment for appointing
him imperial governor of Milan and several other cities in Lombardy — for
the conquest of Thuringia. The wretched quarrel between Albert, the unjust
landgraf of that provmce, and his two sons, Frederick and Dietzmann, had
broken out again, and Landgraf Albert, enraged at the success of his sons,
was ready to sell Meissen and Thuringia to King Adolphus (reserving the
usufruct of the latter for himgelf during his lifetime) for 12,000 silver marks,
rather than let them enjoy their good fortune.
King Adolphus closed with this dishonourable bargain. He added wrong
to wrong, for when the two young princes gallantly defended their dominions
he invaded Thuringia with the brutal mercenary soldiery he had enlisted
from the lowest of the people. By this means he added fuel to the civil
war that was raging there, while his soldiers perpetrated such outrages as
had hardly been laid to the charges of the barbarous Mongols. Most of the
Thuringian vassals fought with unswerving loyalty for their rightful sov-
ereigns, but Adolphus succeeded nevertheless in subduing Osterland and the
: fortified towm of Freiburg. There he put to death forty vassals of rank,
who had shovm themselves bravest in the defence, although he had pledged
his word as a king to spare them.
By this violent and unjust method of increasing his territory, the king
incurred the vehement displeasure of the German princes. They were also
angry that Adolphus entered into close relations with the cities, hoping by
their assistance to strengthen himself against the higher aristocracy. A
conspiracy was formed among the princes with the archbishop of Mamz
; and the duke of Austria at its head. The former had raised his nephew to
I the throne that he might use him as an instrument for the increase of his
; own power, and it was with great displeasure that he presently became aware
'of his aspirations after independence. Duke Albert had dissembled but
I never laid aside the grudge he bore against the king, and had zealously
laboured to augment his own power both by forcible means and by alliances.
\ So greatly did he covet the crown of Germany that after the death of Rudolf,
his father, he had believed that it could not elude his grasp, and had con-
,fidently aw^aited at Hanau the news of his election.
I Gerhard of Mainz and Albert now joined hands for Adolphus' overthrow,
and won over the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, as w^ell as King Wen-
ceslaus II of Bohemia, Albert's brother-in-law, to theu- side. Albert was
lavish of promises, which he had no intention of keeping. He then raised
the standard of rebellion (1298) and marched at the head of a splendid army
to the Rhine, while the electors of Mainz, Cologne, Saxony, Brandenburg,
'and Bohemia assembled at Frankfort and summoned the king to appear
before them and answ^er for his misgovernment and for crimes of all sorts,
\oi which they accused him. Wlien he did not appear, they formally deposed
ihim and elected Albert of Austria king, under the false and worthless pretext
that the pope had empowered them to do so. Soon afterwards (on July
2nd, 1298) Adolphus and Albert met for the decisive battle at the Hasenbiihl
near Gollheim, not far from Worms. Adolphus had only his knights with
ihim, but, eager for the fray, he would not wait for the arrival of his troops
ifrom the Rhenish cities, which strongly supported him. Splendid in his
jroyal armour (Albert meanwhile being unrecognisable under a shield not his
160 THE nOLY EOMAN EMriEE
[1298-1299 A.D.]
own) he dashed upon the foe and fought in knightly fashion for his crown.
In falhng from his saddle he lost his helmet, but promptly sprang on a fresh
charger, recognised his enemy, and dashed forward to meet him. He sank
to the ground, however, severely wounded, and was slain under Albert's
eyes, many say by Albert's own hand. His death gave his rival the victory
and the crown, and his mournful end atoned for many evil deeds into which,
as king, he had allowed himself to be hurried by the force of circumstances.*
ALBERT I
To secure a semblance of right for his claim, Albert now referred the
question of the succession to a fresh election, and he was in fact unanimously
elected king of Germany, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) on
the 24th of August, 1298. To gain his end he had bestowed great privileges
on the king of Bohemia, to the prejudice of the crowm, and no less upon the
three spiritual electors, especially the archbishop of Mainz, who thereby
became an almost independent sovereign. The other electors also obtained
great concessions from him; in particular, he confirmed their exclusive
jurisdiction over their subjects, and thus strengthened their sovereign power
in their own dominions.
Having achieved his purpose, however, he desired to wrest from the
electors the prerogatives which unposed restrictions on his own authority;
for he was passionately ambitious of being an absolute ruler. His will was
more to him than justice or law, and it was his pride to be feared. At first
he concealed his designs, fearing the opposition of Pope Boniface VIII, a
dauntless man who was trying to restore the world-dominion of the papacy.
Boniface refused to acknowledge Albert as king and summoned him to Rome
to answer for himself. For Albert was unworthy of the throne because
through his wife, who was Conradin's step-sister, he was akin to the accursed
race of Hohenstaufen. Wlien the king's ambassadors, who had been sent
to request the pope to confirm the election, brought this message back, Albert
flew into a violent rage, and forthwith allied himself with King Philip of
France, ratifying the alliance by the marriage of his son Rudolf with Philip's
daughter Blanche, and by lavish promises made to the French king at the
expense of the German frontier.
As in this case, so in others, he proceeded remorselessly to violate the
law, in the interest of his dynastic power. AVlien the count of Holland and
Zealand died, he tried to seize upon these provinces as a fief that had reverted
to the empire, although according to Flemish feudal law they devolved upon
the female line of Hainault. But Count John of Hainault resisted the king,
and Count Reinhold of Gelderland, to whom Albert had behaved with perfidy
' Joliaun von Victring » gives tlie following dramatic account of the death of Adolphus :
" In tempestuous course the chief banners were borne before the armies, that of Albert by the
count of Leningen, that of Adolphus by the lord of Rechberg, a man of good but not free
lineage. Everywhere you could see brave men making good their strength and their skill as
warriors and swinging sword and lance in the heat of battle. Adolphus' progress is brave but
reckless ; his helmet is torn from his head, he hacks about him like a mad she-bear in the
mountain forest, who has been robbed of her young. His swift charger brings him into the
neighbourhood of Albert and he challenges him to the fray ; but Albert, seeing his adversary's
uncovered head from which the helmet has gone, wounds him straightway at the first blow of
the sword above the eyebrows. The blood gushes forth and the wounded man's eyes grow
dim ; he plunges from his battle-horse to earth. Meanwhile both armies show the bravest fight
as if a whirlwind agitated one against the other. But when Duke Otto of Bavaria and the count
palatine Rudolf saw the evil fate that had overtaken their king, then they turned and fled."
THE EE ADJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 161
[1299-1302 A.D.]
even attempted to assassinate him. Albert narrowly escaped and was finally
constrained to bestow Holland in fief upon John of Hainault.
He had better fortmie in another feud with the princes. The Rhenish
archbishops, who smce the Interregnum had directed the election to the
throne to their own great profit and held it almost entirely m their own
hands, msisted upon maintaining the elective character of the German
monarchy, while Albert was desirous of making the crowTi hereditary in his
own house. Hence enmity arose between the two parties. Gerhard of
Mainz, who had made both Adol-
phus and Albert king, is said
one day while he was hunting, to
have exclaimed in haughty men-
ace, " I can blow other kings out
of my hunting horn."
But Albert knew how to deal
with this enemy. He entered
into alliance with the cities on
the Rhine against the archbish-
ops and demanded that the latter
should give up the Rhine tolls,
which he had promised them in
order to secure the crown, and
which he had afterwards granted
to them. By this demand he won
over to his side all the Rhenish
cities, whose trade was grievously
hampered by these tolls, and to
gain and cement their affection he
pretended that he was joining
1 issue with the princes from no
selfish motives but merely for the
protection of the cities, of the
lesser nobles, and of all others
who were oppressed by them.
IThe exasperated electors sum-
inoned him before the tribunal of
;:he count palatine, and prepared
;:o institute a second inquiry into
'.he legality of his election, but
ybert, the man of violence,
JDromptly took up the sword, to decide the question by force. The citizens
|ind lesser nobles of the Rhine joyfully flocked to his standard to fight against
heir oppressors, and presently the strong castles on the Rhine and the cities
')f the count palatine and the electors of Cologne and Treves were compelled
o_ surrender. Navigation and commerce became free, and the haughty
,)rinces were obliged to suppress their rage and submit (1302).
, At the same time Pope Boniface VHI found himself so hard pressed by
■he might of King Philip of France that he resolved to reconcile himself with
;dbert and acknowledge him as king; and having done this he called upon him
;0 protect the church from Philip of France. Albert's demeanour towards
ilie pope now underwent a sudden change; he humbled himself before him
'nd sacrificed to the church of Rome nearly all the real and presumptive
ghts which the empire had hitherto claimed in opposition to the papacy.
H. W. — VOIi. XIY. M
Albert I (1250-1308)
(After the sixteenth-century woodcut by Burgkmair)
162 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1303-1307 A.D.]
This he did to induce the pope to lend the support of the church's blessing to
his arbitrary measures for the extension of the power of the Habsburgs. But
the hopes which he built on Rome were not fulfilled. Boniface VIII was taken
prisoner by order of the king of France, and died of rage at his fall (1303).
His successor in the highest of ecclesiastical offices was under French influ-
ence, and even transferred the papal court from Rome to Avignon.
Imperial Aggressions
Albert was at that time at feud with his brother-in-law, Wenceslaus II of
Bohemia, who had received many promises and scant performance from him,
and who being deeply incensed on that account, had allied himself with the
king's enemies. But this was not the only motive for the war. Albert,
always greedy of territory, was wroth that the young son of Wenceslaus, who
bore his father's name, had been chosen king of Hungary by a party in that
country; he could not endure that the race of Ottocar should flourish and
enlarge its borders side by side with that of Habsburg. There was another
party in Hungary which desired to have prince Charles Robert of Naples,
Albert's nephew^, for their king, and to this candidature Albert gave active
support, commanded the king of Bohemia to abandon his pretensions to
Hungary, and, when he refused to do so, pronounced the sentence of outlawry
upon him and invaded his dominions. Wenceslaus died in the following year
(1305), and his youthful son, Wenceslaus III, renounced his claim to the Hun-
garian crown. He was murdered at Olmutz in 1306, and by his death the
male line of Ottocar became extinct. Albert then seized upon Bohemia as a
fief , lapsed to the crown, in order to bestow it upon his son Rudolf; and as the
Bohemian estates asserted their right of election he contrived by force and
fraud to get Rudolf elected king, though in the teeth of a strong opposition.
Albert was also desirous of gaining possession of Thuringia and Meissen
on the pretext that King Adolphus had not conquered those provinces for
himself but for the empire. To preserve the semblance of impartiality he
invited all those who put forward claims to them to appear before him at
Fulda and have them decided (1306). The two brothers, Frederick and
Dietzmann, did not come thither, and Albert therefore laid them under the ban
of the empire and sent a large body of soldiers into Thuringia from Swabia
and the Rhine. But at Lucka (in Altenburg) his forces were so thoroughly
beaten (1307) as to give rise to the Thuringian saying: ''You will prosper
like the Swabians at Lucka." This took place in May. Soon afterwards
Albert's son, King Rudolf of Bohemia, died (July, 1307), and the crown of that
confederacy was lost to the Habsburgs. The Bohemians would not have
Rudolf's brother for their king, and for a money consideration he abandoned
his claims in favour of Duke Henry of Carinthia, brother-in-law to Wences-
laus III, who was preferred by the Bohemian estates. Thus both here and in
Thuringia Albert's endeavours to aggrandise the power of his house had come
to naught, but in another quarter his greed was destined to redound to his
own perdition.
When he reconciled himself with Pope Boniface the latter had absolved
him from all engagements mto which he had entered with other princes. Thus
confirmed in his disregard of the obligations he had undertaken, the king soon
proceeded to violate those which he owed to his own kindred. His nephew
John, who had grown to manhood at his court, begged him in vain to give
him the portion of the Habsburg hereditary possessions in Swabia that had
belonged to his father Rudolf, or at least the county of Kyburg which -his
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 163
[1308 A.D.]
mother had bequeathed to him. To all the entreaties of the young man, who
was by this time nineteen years of age, Albert returned evasive answers; at
one time — he was still too young; at another — let him wait until Meissen
was conquered, then he should have that.
Hence John conceived a feeling of sullen resentment against his greedy
uncle. He conspired with his friends, Walter von Eschenbach, Ulrich von
Palm, Rudolf von der Wart, and Conrad von Tegernfeld, and watched for an
opportunity of wreaking sanguinary vengeance for the wrong that had been
done him. It was soon fomid.
Cherishing thoughts of his revenge upon the Bohemians and Thuringians
who had so stubbornly resisted his greed of territory. King Albert departed
in the spring of 1308 for Swabia and Switzerland. He had considerably
augmented the dominions of his family, he had acquired the patronage of
many churches and abbeys for his house — not without great wrong done to
the rights and liberties of others. Only the three valleys of Uri, Schwyz, and
Unterwalden, which he would gladly have incorporated with his dominions
in Aargau, manfully defended their ancient freedom and would not become
subject to the house of Austria. Albert was now preparing to compass the
downfall of their liberty by force. But vengeance was already dogging his
own footsteps.^
The Chronicle concerning John the Parricide
John, the son of the king's brother, whom he kept with his own sons at
his court, maintained that the strongholds of the lordship of Kyburg belonged
to him, for that in the past King Rudolf had given them as a dower to his
mother, and as it was a matter of much import with him to possess them, he
begged with much insistence that at least some of them should be yielded up
to him. But because the king was not moved to this, and furthermore cur-
tailed many barons in their properties and privileges, while the queen often
and often besought him to provide well for her children, accusing John of
wastefulness, therefore the latter finally decided with the barons Rudolf von
der Wart, Walter von Eschenbach, and Ulrich von Palm to murder the
king.
But when the queen drove to Rheinfelden and had reached Little Bale,
the bishop went out to her, and, stepping near her carriage, implored her
' favour and that she would reconcile him with the king. Com-ad Monch,
' however, a knight of Bale, said to the drivers that they would do well to urge
forward their horses; and when they did so, the bishop was bespattered with
mud. Another day the bishop of Strasburg begged the king, who happened
, to be in his palace at Baden, to yield one of his castles to the aforementioned
\ duke, but the king replied that he would entrust the duke with_ a hundred
: hehneted men on the expedition of the king of Bohemia, and on his return he
' would give him one of the castles. This was told by the bishop to the duke,
whereupon the latter observed that he was a poor man and that the commis-
sion to equip the men would be a heavy charge on him; death and depriva-
' tion of what was his seemed a hard lot to him.
Also Walter von Eschenbach demanded of the king to have back what was
taken from hun, saying he was a blood relation of the king, that his father had
fallen in the royal service, and it would do the king no benefit to oppress hmi
also. Now when they were taking a meal with the king, he placed a crown of
roses on the heads of the sons of each and all, including Duke John, But with
tears in his eyes the duke set his down upon the table and refused to remain
with his people any longer at the board.
164 THE HOLY EOMA:Nr EMPIEE
[1308 A.D.]
Now when the king after his meal decided to ride to the queen at Rhein-
felden and had come to the river Reuss, John and his men were the first to sail
over in the sole ship that was there. Thereupon the king also crossed over and
rode through the meadows as was his wont in parley with Walter von Castelen;
the duke and his men drew nigh to him. First of all Rudolf von der Wart
cried out: "How much longer shall we suffer this carrion crow to ride on?"
His servant Rulassingen caught the king's bridle, Duke John plunged a knife
into his neck, Rudolf von der Wart pierced him with a sword, and Ulrich von
Palm cleft his head open; but Walter von Eschenbach, though he stood
by while the deed was done, did him no despite. Thus was murdered in his
own land the mighty Roman king Albert, the son of King Rudolf, after a reign
of ten years, in the year of the Lord 1308 on the 1st of May at noon. On the
spot was built the monastery of Konigsfelden of the order of the Minorites,
and at first the king was placed in it, but was afterwards transported to
Speier. In the same monastery several of his sons also were buried; here,
too, later on, the daughter of the king, the former queen of Hungary, spent a
holy life of forty years' duration.
The murderers escaped and came first to the castle of Fribourg; but,
betrayed by the count of Nidau the lord of the castle, with whom they had
taken refuge, they dispersed. Von Palm, a brave knight, was for long at Bale,
concealed in the house of the lay sisters, where he died. Wliile he was still
living, his castle Altbiiren was taken by Duke Leopold, the king's son, and
fifty of the castellans were beheaded. The castle of Schnabelburg and other
possessions of Walter von Eschenbach were destroyed; he himself became a
herdsman in the territory of the graf of Wiirtemberg. Thirty-five years later
he revealed his identity on his deathbed and was honourably buried. Von der
Wart was fain to make a pilgrimage to the apostolic chair after that he had
for somewhile lain perdu in his castle of Falkenstein. "When he came to Yla,
a city of the count Theobald de Blamont, the court fool betrayed him to the
count and his lady, who was of the house of Veringen; and with tears in her
eyes she said: "Far be it from my thoughts that he should escape who
murdered my sovereign, and blood relation." Together with his servant
Rulassingen he was taken captive by the count and ransomed for gold to
Duke Leopold. Hence this count is called "the bargainer."
Rulassingen was broken on the wheel at Ensisheim, but Von der Wart
was conducted to the scene of the king's murder to be there awarded judg-
ment. As he was given no legal support, he made his own defence, denied at
first that he had murdered the king, and offered a challenge to single combat;
then he added, no crime had been committed against the man who himself had
incurred the guilt of high treason by killing his sovereign, the Roman king,^
But after the murder had been condemned by the proclamation of the emperor
Henry, it was decided that a further verdict was no longer necessary. So he
was bound to a horse's tail, dragged to the place of execution, and here, after
his limbs had been broken, tied to a wheel. His wife, a Von Palm before
her marriage, came in the night and threw herself upon the ground under the
wheel, like the crucified man, and remained fixed in prayer. But when he was
asked if he desired the presence of his wife, he replied that he did not want
this, for that her compassion was as painful to him as his own suffering. As a
widow this woman passed a holy life for many years at Bale. But Duke John,
after he had concealed himself in many places, came at last to Pisa disguised
as a Beguin, was taken prisoner by the emperor Henry, and remained many
['The Strasburg manuscript adds: "Since Albert himself bad undone Adolpbus, bis
sovereign."]
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 165
[1308 A.D.]
years after the emperor's death in prison; at last he too died and was honour-
ably buried.^
But after the death of the king there came a messenger in the twilight,
when the besieged on the Fiirstenstein were fain to suiTender and he cried up
to the summit of the mountain: "Lord of Raperg, the king is murdered." ^
KING HENRY VII, THE LUXEMBURGER
After the murder of King Albert some time elapsed before the crown of
Germany again fell to his line, for the memory of his imperious rule and the
dread of the overpowering might of the Habsburgs held the princes in fear;
moreover many of them aspired to the same splendid position. Least of all
were the spiritual electors disposed to let the monarchy become hereditary
in one family; for, as matters stood, every fresh election was a chance of
bargaining for fresh prizes for themselves.
Among the candidates who now came forward, Philip the Fair, king of
France, appeared to urge the claims of his brother, Charles of Valois. The
danger that Germany would thus fall under the dominion of a foreign ruler
was by no means chimerical, for two German princes, the archbishop of
Cologne and the duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, were prepared to vote for Charles,
and the German nation had no voice in the choice of its king. Fortunately
for Germany, the pope realised that the dignity and independence of the
church would be hopelessly forfeited if he unconditionally obeyed the king
of France in this matter, and that his best protection against French omnipo-
tence would be a German king.
He therefore secretly and urgently admonished the electors of Mainz
and Treves to hurry on the election, and their country profited by the self-
interested motives of the two prelates. They both proposed Count Henry
of Luxemburg; the elector Baldwin of Treves urged his candidature because
he was his brother, and the elector of Mainz, whose name was Peter Aich-
spalter, because such a choice would exclude the Habsburgs he hated, and
because, having been intimately connected with the Luxemburgers in earlier
days, he hoped for great future benefits from Henry. In fact Henry had
to promise him the confirmation of all the privileges and liberties of the
archiepiscopal see of Mainz, together with continual support and large sums
of money. Peter Aichspalter then put forth all his craft and restless energy,
and so contrived to have his protege elected king of Germany under the
title of Henry VH, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, on November 27th, 1308.
The votes were given by ballot, and were therefore secret, a complete departure
from previous usage. This method of election was due to the influence of
the archbishop of Mainz, because by its means he could be more certain
of the successful issue of his wiles.
King Henry VII's private dominions were small, but his reputation for
j 1 This corresponds with the account given by Heinrich the Deaf/ "The wandering fugi-
tive, Duke John, murderer of King Albert, wrapped in the robes of an Augustine monk, threw
' himself before his (the emperor's) feet and begged for mercy. He explained that he was sent
■ by the pope who had decided that his crime must be punished according to civil law, but not
• according to the regulations of the church. The emperor was no little moved and knew not
■ what to do. He felt it hard to refuse to listen to the weeping man, but to permit a crime so
' unheard of to go unpunished seemed to him unjust and godless. Struggling between mercy and
I uprightness he at last found a third way out of his difficulty : the criminal should not lose his
I life, but should be severely punished. So the emperor gave orders to put him in a tower and
] keep him in strict confinement there till his death, so that thus he might at least repent and
i obtain God's pardon." [The account of Ferreto di Vicenza is very similar to this; only he
i makes Genoa the scene of the interview between the emperor and John.]
106 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIEE
[1309-1312 A.D.]
courage, wisdom, and justice stood high — and for good reason. To be
saved from a French king was unquestionably a boon for Germany; if only
Henry VII had not been infected with so many un-German qualities! In
education and tastes he was half French, he loved splendour and pomp,
there was something of the adventurer in his temperament, which was chival-
rous but over-fantastic. His first appearance as king was both gorgeous
and significant, for he caused pompous funeral rites to be celebrated
at the first great diet which he held at Speier. He had the bodies of his two
predecessors, Adolphus and Albert, carried thither and interred with great
honour beside the empress, in the cathedral. There those two enemies lay
side by side in the peace of the grave, while he comforted their sorrowing
widows (1309). At the same time he laid Albert's murderers under the ban
of the empire and abandoned them to the vengeance of the Habsburgs. Thus
he secured the gratitude of that great princely house.
On the other hand, he intimidated them by confirming the immediacy
of the free communes of Switzerland and postponing the enfeofment of Fred-
erick the Handsome of Austria, the eldest son of Albert I. Thus he suc-
ceeded in procuring the assent of the Habsburgs to a project which greatly
augmented the family dominions of the new king.
Bohemia, which King Albert had taken much trouble to procure for his
own house, and for his eldest son Rudolf, had been given up after the death
of the latter, as has already been mentioned, to Duke Henry of Carinthia.
He, however, had made himself so unpopular among the Bohemians by the
preference he exhibited for his countrymen the Carinthians, that one party
in the country determined to offer the crown to John, son of Henry VII,
on condition that he should marry Elizabeth, the youngest sister of their
former king, Wenceslaus III. In return for many concessions, made in
part at the expense of the empire, the Habsburgs consented that Bohemia
should not revert to them but pass in the manner aforesaid to the house of
Luxemburg. The princes of the empire then deposed Henry of Carinthia
on the ground that he had neglected to do homage for Bohemia as a fief of
the German Empire, and declared that the country had lapsed to the crown.
Thereupon Henry bestowed it on his son John and married him to Elizabeth.
This took place at a general diet of the empire (parlamentum generale, as
the assembly was styled), held at Frankfort in 1310. Here the king's peace
was once more enjoined; for it had been disturbed by many unruly nobles,
and especially by Eberhard, the haughty count of Wiirtemburg, who had
driven the Swabian cities of the empire into revolt by his oppressions. The
king laid him under the ban. On the other hand, Landgraf Frederick (who
was nicknamed Frederick with the Bitten Cheek ^) was once more acknowl-
edged sovereign of Meissen and Thuringia, where his rights had been contested
by Albert I.
Henry is Crowned Emperor, and Dies in Italy (1312-1313 A.D.)
The most urgent affairs of state were hardly disposed of, and Henry had
only just succeeded in acquiring a considerable extent of territory for his
[' In Meissen and Thuringia, Albert the Degenerate had persecuted his wife, Margarete, of
the noble house of Hohenstaufen, and his children, with the most rancorous hatred, on account
of the disappointment of the hopes of aggrandisement which had formed the sole motive of his
alliance with that family. He even despatched one of his servants to the Wartburg for the
purpose of assassinating her ; but the countess, warned by him of his lord's intention, fled
secretly (after biting her eldest son, Frederick, in the cheek, in token of the vengeance she
intended to take) to Frankfort, where she shortly afterwards died of grief. — MENZEL.e]
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 167
[1313-1313 A.D.]
house (a matter which all kings felt imperative, and with good reason, in
view of the power of other princely families), before he brought forward
the idea which most strongly stirred his ambitious spirit. He longed to set
the imperial crown upon his head, to revive the ancient greatness and glory
of the shattered empire, to add Rome and Italy once more to the imperial
dominions; and so he turned into the abandoned paths which the Hohen-
staufens had trodden, and which had led them, in spite of power far greater
than his, to such an unfortunate end.
It is true that things in Italy seemed at that time extremely favourable
to the restoration of the ancient empire. It had been conquered by the
papacy, but the credit of the papacy itself had suffered a severe shock in the
struggle, and had soon afterwards succumbed before the French king, who
had brought it under his own ascendency in the Babylonian Captivity.'^
The story of Henry's triimiphal entry into Italy has already been told
in volume IX of our history. It will be recalled that Henry received the
imperial crown at Rome on the 29th of June, 1312, and that he died suddenly
at the convent of Buon Convento on August 24th of the following year.«
The circumstance that he received the sacrament shortly before his death
gave rise to the [probably unfounded] assertion that a Dominican friar had
administered poison to him in the consecrated elements.
Thus speedily perished this chivalrous emperor and his high-flown pro-
jects. Rapid and splendid as a meteor, he pursued his course over the ruins
of the past, and like a meteor vanished suddenly into the night of time, leaving
; no trace behind. He pursued a phantom; therefore he lived and strove in
vain. That which he had founded in Germany — the power of the house
of Luxemburg — survived him for a while ; but it brought no blessing to
the nation and kingdom of Germany.
CIVIL BROILS
Henry VII, unmindful of his nearest duties and interests, had gone to
Italy to restore the ancient glories of the empire. And yet Germany was in
' dire need of a zealous defender, a careful organiser. The empire was filled
with tumults and feuds waged by the greedy princes, sometimes against their
\ own kin, more often against their weaker neighbours. Ever since the Inter-
regnum the various members of the empire had looked in vain for effective
1 and lasting support from the king; they had been driven to learn how to
j protect themselves, and among the weak the expedient of confederacy had
proved its value. The cities, above all, had become effective guardians of
the public peace by means of firm alliances; and it was mainly to their aid
' that the kings owed the victories they sometimes gained over the great
' troublers of the peace.
Thus it was mainly by the substantial assistance of the Swabian cities
of the empire that the sentence of outlawry which Henry VII had pronounced
; upon Count Eberhard of Wiirtemberg before his expedition to Rome could
I be carried into effect.
1 It was a harder task to impose tranquillity upon the great princes, whose
self-interested ambition was perpetually fanning the flame of war to a blaze.
; The families of Anhalt and Wettin in the north, and of Wittelsbach and Habs-
; burg in the south were seklom at peace among themselves or with their neigh-
I hours.
1 In Brandenburg the conquests and institutions of Albert the Bear had been
i continued with skill and success by his descendants, the Anhalt princes.
168 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
ri313-1319 A.D.]
During the thirteenth century they had greatly extended their territory
up the Havel and Spree and across the Oder, had acquired Barnim, Teltow,
Lebus, Ukermark, and Neumark by purchase or conquest, and made the
country German by colonisation. The settlements were usually made in
the following way : The markgraf sold a Mark, or district, to a German who
cleared the land and planted a village on it, and then gave it back to the
markgraf, the lord of the country, receiving in return certain privileges,
such as a share of the proceeds of the law-courts, toll from millers and gar-
deners, four hides of land and the office of village-magistrate (Schuh), which
remained attached to his farm as a feudal privilege {Lehensschulzen) . Besides
the Lehensschulz the village was inhabited by peasant settlers, who paid
moderate dues to the lord of the manor and followed the markgraf in war;
the local jurisdiction was exercised by the markgraf's bailiff, who was assisted
by the Schulz in the capacity of sheriff. The cottars (Kossdten) held a lower
position than the land-owning peasants. The larger landowners in the new
marks soon constituted a kind of aristocracy (consisting largely of the military
vassals of the markgraf) which imitated the character of the German knightly
class. Cities were likewise founded in the new marks by the Anhalt line, one
of them being Frankfort-on-the-Oder. Like the villages, they came into
being by German colonisation, all the citizens (Ackerbiirger — an inhabitant
of a town who practises agriculture) were German, and were divided into
four principal guilds (shoemakers, tailors, butchers, and bakers) and applied
themselves to husbandry as well as to their trades. The Slavonic aborigines
had no citizen rights and lived outside the walls in the vici slavicales {Kietzen) ;
they were for the most part fishermen and gardeners. The older cities of
the mark, especially Stendal, drove a brisk trade, and some of them joined
the Hanseatic League.
Thus fresh German blood was poured into the marks, and its vigour
enhanced the consequence of the markgraf. He was the military over-lord
and ruled his marks as his private property, as to the government of which
the nobles and clergy had little to say, and the king hardly anything at all.
Good fighters and good managers all, the Anhalt princes created a considerable
domain in these parts, and strove to augment it by every means in their
power. They divided their territory in 1266 between the two branches of
Stendal and Salzwedel, but they nevertheless continued to live together in
harmony. Markgraf Otto with the Arrow was famous among them as a
knight and minnesinger (died 1309); but the most famous of them all was
Markgraf Waldemar, who was the head of the family at the beginning o^ the
fourteenth century. He was the bravest and most powerful prince of his
day in north Germany, a successful conqueror and a sagacious statesman.
He divided Pomerellen (the country between the Stolpe and Vistula) with
the knights of the Teutonic order, and won large poritions of Lusatia and
Meissen to the south of his dominions. This brought him into conflict with
the Wettin princes, whose chief representative, Landgraf Frederick of Thu-
ringia was as warlike as he himself. Waldemar defeated him at Grossenhain
in 1312 and took him prisoner.
In the north, Waldemar's reputation steadily rose; all the princes in
those parts looked on him with envy, and when he presently went to war
with Witzlaf, prince of Riigen, who had attempted to bring Stralsund under
his authority, most of the princes of north Germany, together with Poland,
Denmark, Sweden and Norway, entered into a league against him. Walde-
mar, however, made head against his enemies valiantly at the battle of
Gransee in 1316, and the league was dissolved. He died in the year 1319,
THE EEADJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 169
[1314 A.D.]
leaving no issue, and was soon followed to the grave by Landgraf Frederick
with the Bitten Cheek, whose long life had been an uninterrupted series
of conflicts and adventures.
RIVALRY OF HABSBURG AND WITTELSBACH (1314 A.D.)
Meanwhile in south Germany the two great families of Habsburg and
Wittelsbach were vying with one another in importance, the one strongly
established in the Austrian provinces and Switzerland, and ever covetous
of fresh possessions; the other in Bavaria and the palatinate. The strength
of the Habsburgs was their unity; five brothers, sons of King Albert, ruled
the hereditary dominions of their house conjointly, under the superinten-
dence of Frederick the Handsome and Leopold — the eldest two. Wittels-
bach, on the contrary, exhausted its own strength by territorial divisions
and family quarrels.^
Nevertheless Duke Ludwig of Upper Bavaria, of the house of Wittels-
bach, was able to make headway against Frederick the Handsome of Austria,
in a petty war which had resulted from a domestic quarrel, and at the death
of Henry VH he already stood out as the most likely leader of the party
that opposed the Habsburgs. «
The choice of the electoral princes was certain not to fall upon Henry VH's
son, the young king John of Bohemia, because they were anxious, from
motives of self-interest, that the monarchy should not become hereditary.
Some of them favoured Frederick the Handsome : he himself cherished con-
fident hopes of obtaining the crown; the Habsburg power was great; he
had friends in high places, such as the archbishop of Cologne, Rudolf the
count palatine, and the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg and Carinthia; above all
he had strong support in his able brother, Duke Leopold.*
The latter, '' the flower of chivalry" as he was styled, laboured indefatigably
and with passionate zeal to procure his brother's elevation. But the Luxem-
burgers, with John of Bohemia and the elector of Treves at their head, were
firmly resolved that the cro"w^l should not fall to the Habsburgs. They turned
their eyes to Ludwig the Bavarian, who had just defeated Frederick the
Handsome at Gammelsdorf, and made him an offer of the crowm. He had
scruples about accepting it at first, but ultimately did so, when the Luxem-
burgers gave him assurances of the strongest support against Frederick.
They brought some other princes over to their side, mainly by the exertions
of Peter Aichspalter, archbishop of Mainz, the chief of whom were the electors
of Brandenburg and Saxe-Lauenburg. Like his immediate predecessors,
; Ludwig the Bavarian was obliged to promise the electors great privileges
, and large sums of money in return for their votes.
LUDWIG OF BAVARIA AND FREDERICK OF AUSTRIA
When the day of election was at length come the two parties of Habsburg
, and Luxemburg encamped on the Main outside Frankfort. On the 19th
! of October the first named elected Frederick the Handsome by four votes,
[' This Leopold, the son of Albert I, siipported the Habsburg party, and his brother,
; Frederick the Handsome, against Lud^vig. He should be remembered in connection with the
i Swiss victory of Morgarten in 1315, at which he was beaten in the endeavour to punish the
; Waldstatte for siding with Ludwig. He is to be distinguished from his nephew Leopold ; who
; attacked the Swiss with equal violence and with an efEect even more disastrous to Austria later
i on at Sempach in 1886. «]
170 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1315-1322 A.D.]
and the following day their opponents elected Ludwig the Bavarian by five.
The city of Frankfort readily opened its gates to the latter and did him homage
as the rightful sovereign of the empire, while it refused to admit Frederick
the Handsome. The latter tried to get to Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) with all
speed and be crowned there ; but Ludwig the Bavarian was the first to arrive,
and Frederick consequently had himself crowned at Borm by the archbishop
of Cologne on November 25th. Ludwig received the crown at Aix-la-Chapelle
on the following day from the hands of the archbishop of Mainz. Thus each
of the rivals had something of traditional usage in his favour — Frederick
that he had been crowned by the archbishop who had been wont to perform
the ceremony from ancient times, Ludwig that his coronation had taken place
on the spot which tradition had assigned for it. Moreover the elections
had hitherto been made by a unanimous vote, and the law of election did
not provide for the case of a mere majority.
Thus each of the two adduced precedent for the lawfulness of his election,
and the decision was referred to the judgment of God in battle, Germany
was divided into hostile camps and a civil war broke out which lasted for
years. All noble families and cities took sides, the latter holding mainly
with Ludwig the Bavarian, the friend of the people. The four cantons
likewise declared for him. They had been at feud with the abbot of Ein-
siedeln, who was protected by the house of Habsburg, and having attacked
the abbey had been interdicted and laid under the ban of the empire in con-
sequence; Ludwig released them from the ban, and caused the archbishop
of Mainz to absolve them from the interdict also.
Meanwhile the contest between the two rival kings lasted for eight years
without coming to a decisive issue, for the might of the Habsburgs was great
enough to counterbalance that of any other German prince, and as Ludwig
the Bavarian gained little substantial support from the Luxemburgers, who
had elevated him to the throne, he was unable to make himself master of
the empire. The worst of the suffering fell upon the country itself. The
electors were not sorry to witness the general confusion, as it left them freer
to rule as they pleased within their own dominions.
To the pope, John XXII, the chaotic state of the empire was even more
welcome. Instead of taking the side of either of the disputants in the name
of the church, he called them both " his beloved sons and chosen kings of
Rome," at the same time making the quarrel a pretext for declaring himself
the rightful regent (vicar) of the empire. His motive for this step was
self-interest, for under this title he purposed to win upper Italy for himself.
With the same object he used his revenues (which he had enormously increased
by the institution of a fresh ecclesiastical tax, the annates, i.e. the first year's
income of every vacant benefice) to keep an army in his pay, and commanded
the chiefs of the Lombard cities to resign the imperial governorships con-
ferred upon them by the emperor Henry VII.
On this point his will was most stubbornly withstood by Milan, where the
family of the Visconti had acquired the supreme power. In vain did the
papal mercenaries besiege the city; it appealed for aid to King Ludwig,
and obtained from him a body of auxiliaries who put the papal troops to
flight. John XXII now openly took his stand against Ludwig, who in the
meantime had grown too strong for him in Germany. Thus the decision
between the two rival kings was at length brought about. To put an end
to the uncertain strife Frederick the Handsome, in the autumn of 1322,
made an incursion into Bavaria, where his soldiers wrought frightful havoc,
while his brother Leopold invaded the country from Swabia.
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 171
[1332 A.D.]
The Battle of Mdhldorf (1322 A.D.)
Frederick, with a large and well-equipped army, reinforced by auxiliary
troops from Hungary, was camped at Miihldorf on the Inn, and from thence
sent couriers to his brother Leopold to join him with all speed. If the brothers
succeeded in effecting a junction Ludwig was lost, but Leopold inopportunely
lingered by the way, and, to Ludwig's great good fortune, the messengers
who went to and fro between the brothers were caught by the Bavarian
peasants, so that neither learned anything of the other's movements. Ludwig
advanced rapidly to meet the enemy and ranged his army in order of battle
on Ampfing Heath (no far from Miihldorf). The men of the cities formed
the main body of his force (as the nobles, of Frederick's), and he had with
him the troops supplied by the elector of Treves and King John of Bohemia.
He placed the burggraf of Nuremberg, Frederick III of Zollern, in ambush
with four hundred knights who assumed Austrian colours and carried Austrian
banners to delude the enemy. King Ludwig, probably for prudential reasons,
wore a plain coat of mail; Frederick, on the contrary, rode proudly in the
van of his host in royal armour, the imperial eagle on his glittering golden
mail, the crown upon his helmet — never had he been handsomer than on that
day.
The battle began in the early morning of the 22nd of September, 1322.
The trumpets blared, the drums rattled, and with wild outcries Frederick's
Hungarian auxiliaries, the savage Cumanians and Bulgarians, charged the
left wing of Ludwig's line. That position was held by the Bohemians under
King John, and they gave ground before the onslaught; the Bavarian horse-
men were presently driven back in places. Ludwig himself was in danger
of being taken prisoner, but the bakers of Munich forced their way to him
through the press and cut him a way out with sturdy blows; the rest of the
citizen foot-soldiers also bore themselves bravely. For hours the fight surged
to and fro. The Bohemians rallied again, and then the burggraf of Nurem-
berg decided the fortune of the day.
From a wooded valley on the river Isen the Austrians suddenly saw fresh
troops advancing with their own banners and colours, and thought Duke
Leopold had come. The new arrivals pressed close upon the fiai ks and rear
1 of the Austrians, they were eye to eye before the stratagem was discovered;
I this was no Duke Leopold, but their enemy the burggraf of Nuremberg with
'\ fresh succours. Terror ran through the Austrian ranks. Surrounded on
I all sides, they took flight to the Isen and across it; Frederick with three
noble comrades still fought madly in a meadow. At length his horse fell
, and he was taken prisoner. Ludwig greeted him kindly, but profound grief
: kept Frederick silent. According to one legend Schweppermann's brother-
in-law. Hitter Albrecht von Rindsmaul, was the man to whom Frederick
, yielded himself prisoner. Schweppermann himself, so the story goes, had
greatly distinguished himself that day, and at the meal on the evening of
; the battle, where the scanty fare consisted of a number of eggs, one for each
I and one over. King Ludwig honoured him by giving him the last, with the
I words: "One egg to every man, two to honest Schweppermann" (Jedem
\ein Ei, dem frommen Schiveppermann zwei). The old hero had these words
; inscribed upon his tombstone. In the days immediately following, Ludwig
[sent his captive rival in honourable custody to the castle of Trausnitz on the
i Pfreimdt, near Nal^burg.
i By this great victory Ludwig the Bavarian set the crown securely on his
ihead and gained power and prestige enough to come forward openly as
172 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1328-1324 A.D.]
sovereign of the whole empire. He used his good fortune with prudence and
courage. The first thing he did was to try and increase his hereditary domin-
ions. In the same year, 1323, he held a diet at Nuremberg, commanded that
the king's peace should be maintained, and put an end to a long quarrel about
the mark of Brandenburg, the sovereignty of which had fallen vacant by the
death of the elector Waldemar (1319) and of his sole heir, Henry of Landsberg
(1320). He adjudged it to be a fief that had lapsed to the empire, and
bestowed it upon his son Ludwig, then eighteen years of age. Thus the rule
of the Wittelsbach line followed upon that of tho Anhalts in the mark.
New Dissensions
But in spite of the momentary advantage he had gained, King Ludwig
had by no means entered into peaceful possession of the throne. Duke Leo-
pold of Austria had not given up his brother's cause as lost, but was moving
heaven and earth to oppose his victorious enemy. Moreover two fresh and
mighty adversaries arose, the Luxemburgs and the pope ; the former because
they feared and envied the overweening might of the Wittlesbach prince and
thought their own services insufficiently rewarded ; the latter because Ludwig
had kept him from conquering Lombardy and had not conferred the imperial
governorship of that province upon him. The pope had a document affixed
to the doors of the cathedral at Avignon, the purport of which was that Lud-
wig should refrain from all government functions and cancel all that he had
hitherto done as king, because he had not applied for the pope's sanction to
his election. No man was to acknowledge him king on pain of excommuni-
cation.
Wlien Ludwig heard of this proceeding he wrote at Nuremberg a solemn
and indignant defence of the rights of the empire and of the independence of
the German crown, and appealed to a general council of the church. The pope
carried his arrogant pretensions a step farther, and made secret preparations
for depriving Ludwig of the crown and procuring it for King Charles IV of
France. He excommunicated Ludwig (1324) for failing to obey his com-
mands, and laid Germany under an interdict. Substantial weight was added
to these curses by the fact that King Ludwig's numerous political opponents,
especially the Luxemburgers and the Habsburgers, made common cause with
the pope.
Ludwig and Germany, however, found weighty supporters in an unex-
pected quarter — the order of Minorites (Franciscans) . This brotherhood
stubbornly upheld the vow of unconditional poverty, according to which they
might not possess the slenderest share of this world's goods, and because the
pope repudiated this doctrine they boldly opposed him and impugned his
authority. By sermons and in the confessional they strove zealously to open
the eyes of the populace to the usurpations of the Roman see, to the abuses
and vices of the Roman court, and thus tore asunder the veil of illusion behind
which, in the minds of the people, the pope had appeared not merely as the
vice regent of God upon earth but almost as divine omnipotence itself, in the
glory of inconceivable holiness and majesty. By this means the dreaded
weapon of the interdict was shorn of much of its terror even amongst the
lower classes of the population.
The burgher class likewise remained loyal to the king and was no less
wroth than he at the arrogant pretensions of the papacy, and hence the
superior clergy, the Dominicans, and many of the bishops gained little by
their attempts to stir up rebellion against the excommunicated sovereign.
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 173
fl325 A.D.]
The pope endeavoured all the more fiercely to compass his overthrow by
temporal means. He induced the king of Poland to invade Brandenburg
(1325) and prompted Duke Leopold of Austria to offer the crown of Germany
to King Charles IV of France. This the Habsburg prince did, and received
from the French king in return a promise of the gift of many free German
cities and counties in the event of the business coming to a successful issue.
But the other German princes were more conscientious, and the election of
Charles came to nothing. Count Berthold von Bucheck, commander of the
3rder of Teutonic knights at Coblenz, distinguished himself by his manful
protest against such an ignominious act.
None the less King Ludwig's position was insecure enough, in view of the
snmity or lukewarm friendship of all the electors. Moreover (in 1325) he was
defeated in the field by Duke Leopold. With a heavy heart he reviewed the
perils which were gathering about him on every side, and ultimately resolved
to propose a friendly agreement to his captive rival. He rode secretly from
Munich to the castle of Trausnitz, and offered Frederick the Handsome his
liberty. Frederick's confessor Gottfried, the pious prior of the Carthusian
monastery of Mauerbach, lent his aid in the work of reconciliation. Fred-
erick was willing to come to terms; he abdicated the crown and promised on
his own. behalf and on that of his brother, to do homage to the king and to aid
him against all his enemies, undertaking that, if he could not accomplish this
reconciliation, he would surrender himself prisoner again at the solstice on
the feast of St. John. The reconciled friends devoutly heard mass and
received the holy Sacrament together. They then embraced and kissed one
another with profound emotion. This took place on the 13th of March, 1325.
Frederick returned to Vienna and did his utmost to induce his family to
recognise the compact. He even tried to bring about a reconciliation between
Ludwig and the pope. But John XXII would not hear of peace; he declared
that the oath which Frederick had sworn to the king was void and that he was
liable to excommunication if he kept it. Even his brother Leopold was not to
be moved by his arguments, but loaded him with taunts for his weak com-
plaisance and would have nothing to say to the agreement. The pope encour-
aged Leopold in his vehement opposition; he went so far as to call upon the
kings of France and Poland to take up arms against Germany, and absolved
the people of Brandenburg from the oath they had sworn to Ludwig's son.
When Frederick found that he could not keep the compact he resolved
nevertheless to keep his word. At the solstice he came back to Munich and
voluntarily gave himself into custody. Ludwig clasped him to his heart with
profound emotion and received him as a friend. For a long while the pope
could not believe that such loyalty was possible to German nature, but Lud-
wig placed firm reliance upon it. When he was forced to go to his son's
assistance in Brandenburg he left Bavaria under the faithful guardianship of
Frederick. On the 5th of September, 1325, they entered into a compact to
rule the empire conjointly, which was opposed by the pope and the electors as
soon as it became known to them, but was maintained by the two kings in
spite of opposition. Fortunately Duke Leopold died soon after at Strasburg;
and Frederick, full of grief and yearnmg for repose, retired into the Carthusian
monastery of Mauerbach. He did not long survive his brother, but died in
1330.
THE REIGN OF LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN
After the death of Leopold, Ludwig's irreconcilable foe, the energy of his
opponents in Germany began to flag; the pope alone did not cease from setting
174 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1326-1335 A.D.j
snares and difficulties in his way. Ludwig, for his part, resolved to clutch at
his adversary's crown, to put an end to the scandal of Avignon, and, as
defender of the church, to set up a pope at Rome once more. With this object
he went to Italy in the year 1327, there to assume the imperial crown, and so
acquire a higher and more authoritative standing in ecclesiastical matters.
He met with a favourable reception at Milan, and also at Rome, where the
Ghibelline party was for the time in the ascendant ; in the former place he had
himself crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy, in the latter with the
crown of the empire (1328). The imperial coronation ceremony was not per-
formed in the name of the pope as heretofore, but in that of the city of Rome,
the ancient mistress of the world. A Roman noble of the great house of the
Colonna opened the gates of the city to the king and handed over the diadem
to him in St. Peter's. Ludwig then deposed the pope, on the charge of having
profaned his high office by simony and heresy, and caused the Romans to
elect a Minorite monk, who assumed the name of Nicholas V, to be pope in his
stead. The emperor himself invested him with the papal mantle and placed
on his finger the ring which was the symbol of papal authority.
For the moment it seemed as though, after its long struggle, the empire
had won a final victory over the papacy ; but the victory was a mere illusion
and this journey to Rome proved no less futile than many before it. For the
German princes who had accompanied Ludwig returned home soon after the
coronation, and his powerful supporter Castruccio, a Ghibelline soldier who had
risen to be master of the city of Lucca, and whom Ludwig had elevated to the
rank of duke of Lucca, likewise left Rome.
The soldiers of King Robert of Naples made raids right up to the gates of
the city; Ludwig could no longer pay his own men, and he was compelled by
sheer need of money to impose taxes on the Romans. His popularity rapidly
declined; rebellion and treason grew rife about him; John XXII summoned
all Italy to arms against him. Ludwig was obliged to leave Rome on the 6th
of August; the fickle Romans followed him with shouts of '' Long live the holy
church!" "Death to the heretics!" and made their peace with Pope John,
Dogged at every step by want and danger, the emperor marched through Italy
back to Germany, after having brought about a family compact at Pavia to
ensure the hereditary dominions of the house of Wittelsbach against partition.
It was the king's constant endeavour to increase and consolidate the power
of his house by every possible means, and in this matter he went prudently
and zealously to work. The fear of the Luxemburgs, who were perpetually
striving to forestall the Wittelsbachs in the race for territory, withheld him
from arbitrary measures, for which, indeed, he had neither sufficient audacity
nor substantial might. For although the death of Frederick the Handsome,
in 1330, left him sole king of Germany, he gained little by it in the way of
revenue or property; and other great princely families, such as the Luxem-
burgs and Habsburgs, matched, if they did not surpass him in the extent of
their dynastic possessions. In fact, these two houses soon afterwards enriched
themselves by a great heritage which they snatched from the king's grasp.
The latter would gladly have seized upon at least a portion of the lands of
old Duke Henry of Carinthia, but was outwitted by King John of Bohemia,
who married his younger son, John Henry, to the duke's daughter Margarete
Maultasch (so called from her birth-place, the castle of Maultasch in the
Tyrol), and then came to an agreement with the Habsburgs, who were collat-
eral relations of the duke of Carinthia, by which he took the Tyrol and they
Carinthia and Carniola after the death of the reigning sovereign (1335).
Meanwhile the pope continued ceaselessly to stu- up strife against the
THE READJUSTMENT OF GERMANY 175
[1336-1338 A. D.]
emperor until, for the sake of peace, the latter made a great effort to come to
terms with the adversary he had failed to conquer. The pope demanded that
he should sacrifice the hated Minorites, and Ludwig was weak enough to
profess his willingness to do so. The pope then went a step farther in his
demands and required the emperor to abdicate. Ludwig, weary of perpetual
commotions, was almost inclined to accede even to this, when the murmurs of
the patriotic party iji Germany, and of the cities in particular, gave him cour-
age to assume a more dignified attitude. He continued to negotiate with the
papal court at Avignon, all the more readily since John XXII was dead and
had been succeeded by Benedict XII. But the new pope, an upright but weak
man, was completely under the influence of Philip king of France, who hoped
to win the imperial crown for himself.
The Electoral League
At length the emperor and all the princes of Germany arrived at the con-
clusion that the honour and independence of the whole German nation were at
stake, and combined to safeguard their native land for evermore from the
arrogant pretensions of foreigners in general and of the pope in particular.
Learned men came forward as champions in the great struggle. Bonagratia,
a Minorite friar, addressed a letter upon the unlawfulness of the mterdicts of
John XXII to all cathedral chapters and seminaries of learning; William of
Occam, another Minorite, and an Englishman, wrote upon the limits of the
temporal and spiritual power, adducing proofs from Roman and canon law;
and a German, Canon Leopold von Babenberg, deduced from history the rights
of the Roman Empire and the imperial prerogative.^ They all loudly asserted
the principle, which had unhappily been forgotten for so long, " that in Ger-
many the sovereignty of a king comes of the election of the people, whose
rights are delegated to the prince-electors, and that the validity of the election
depends upon the assent of the people alone and not upon the pope ; that the
coronation has fallen into the hands of the pope by accident, and gives him no
right to examine, still less to reject the kings and emperors; and that, more-
over, the authority of the papacy is not superior to that of the empire, for God
hath committed the supreme power in temporal affairs to the emperor alone,
and in spiritual affairs to all bishops; that, consequently, the pope is not
superior, but inferior to a general council of the church; and hence it is an
abuse that he should excommunicate those who do not recognise his authority
in all things as supreme and infallible."
The emperor proceeded to act in conformity with these principles. In the
July of the year 1338 he held a great diet at Frankfort-on-the-Main, to which
he summoned the nobles and freemen of the empire, the cathedral chapters,
and delegates from the cities, as well as the temporal and spiritual princes and
lords, so that the greater part of the nation was represented by deputies.
Ludwig first gave proof of his orthodoxy and rebutted the false charge of
heresy, and then showed how he had employed every imaginable means con-
sistent with the honour of Germany to make his peace with the church. Here-
upon the estates of the empire declared that, "the unjust interdict of John
XXII is null and void and is to be abrogated by the emperor." On the 15th
[' Greater tlian these, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, was Marsiglio of Padua,
whose Defensor Pads had perhaps less direct effect in its day because it was so far beyond it.
Marsiglio laid down in this work a theory of the state which is distinctly modern. He foresaw
democracy and analysed the basis of sovereignty with the keenness of one of the greatest and
most prophetic men of genius in the history of human thought. But centuries were to elapse
before his greatness was discovered.]
176 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1338-1346 A.D.]
of Jiily, Ludwig, accompanied by all the electors, except King John of
Bohemia, proceeded to Rhense on the Rhine, where the "king's chair" stood.
There they bomid themselves by oath that they would protect and maintain
the Holy Roman Empire with all its rights and liberties against all foreign
domination or usurpation, by unanimous resolution, or, should discord arise,
by the votes of the majority; and that he whom they all, or the majority of
them, should elect king or emperor should so remain, in virtue of that election
without the sanction of the pope. Ludwig caused this resolution of the con-
federation of electors at Rhense to be openly promulgated as a fundamental
law of the empire. Thus the majesty of the empire was solemnly restored.
The arrogant claims of the papacy to the disposal of the German crown
were in this way finally decided and rejected for all time. They had struck
upon a two-fold obstacle, the national sentiment of the German nation, which
would endure no foreign interference in German affairs, and the pride of the
electors, who regarded the choice of a king and the highest affairs of state in
general as their peculiar province, and did, as a matter of fact, govern them
thenceforward. They were the first to profit by the defeat of the papacy.
Their claims to be the pillars of the empire, to have the sole choice of the
emperor and to be his associates in the government, were incontrovertibly
established by the confederation of electors {Kurverein) as against the pope or
any other authority. But the assurance of its independence abroad at least,
and the barrier now erected against the baneful influence of a foreign pope
upon the government of the empire, was a boon to Germany. Papal aggres-
sion was by no means at an end, however, and Ludwig had only a brief season
to enjoy his victory and the advantage which his successful appeal to the nation
had given him. The princes had taken his part from self-interested motives,
and the same motives soon Jed them to side with his enemy. They were
incited to do so by the emperor's successful pursuit of his plans for increasing
the Wittelsbach possessions. He not only united the whole of Bavaria under
his sway on the extinction of the lower Bavarian branch of the family, but
gained considerable accessions of territory by dissolving, in virtue of his
imperial authority, the marriage of the heiress of the Tyrol, Margarete Maul-
tasch, who had repudiated her impotent husband, and marrying her to his son,
Ludwig of Brandenburg.
The acquisition of the Tyrol was of vast importance to him on account of
its situation between Bavaria and Italy; but by this proceeding he not only
enraged the new pope, Clement VI, who was inspired by the spirit of John
XXII, but lowered himself in general esteem, since popular opinion still
assigned the jurisdiction in matrimonial causes to the papal authority. Worse
still, he roused afresh the opposition of the whole Luxemburg party. And
when, after the death of his brother-in-law. Count William of Holland (1346),
he further took possession of the counties of Holland, Zealand, Friesland and
Hainault for his own family, by declaring them lapsed fiefs and bestowing them
upon his wife, the German princes, envious and apprehensive of this expansion
of the Wittelsbach dominions, rose in open revolt against him. The king of
France, greedy to gain possession of the west German frontier, the pope,
instigated by the king and wroth with Ludwig, and the Luxemburgs, all com-
bined to compass the emperor's overthrow.
On the 13th of April, 1346, Clement VI pronounced the sentence of excom-
munication upon him in the following words: "Smite him to the dust. Lord
God Almighty! Hurl thy lightnings upon his head that the earth may open
beneath his feet and the abyss swallow him up! Cursed be he in this world
and the next and cursed be all his race!" Thereupon he absolved the people
THE READJUSTMENT OF GEEMANY 177
[1347 A.D.]
from all their oaths of fealty to the king, deposed Ludwig's steadfast old
friend Archbishop Henry of Mainz, directed the electors to proceed to a new
election without delay, and designated the markgraf of Moravia (a son of
King John of Bohemia and therefore a Luxemburger), who had made him the
most disgraceful promises, as the worthiest candidate. Several of the princes
stooped to be won over by gifts of money, and on July 11th the electors — with
the exception of Brandenburg and the count palatine — met at Rhense, where,
eight years before, they had sworn to maintain their freedom of election
against the pope; there in all haste they elected Markgraf Charles king of
Germany, When the banner of the empire was waved at that election it fell
into the Rhine and sank, a symbol of the honour and loyalty of the princes.
But the cities held manfully with the emperor Ludwig in spite of the pope's
curse and the princes' desertion, and neither Frankfort nor Aachen would
open their gates to Charles.
THE DEATH OF LUDWIG j HIS CHARACTER AND POLICY
When Ludwig hastened to the spot with an army, Charles timorously
evaded him and went to France with his blind father John. There the latter
fought against the English at Crecy and met his death in the fray. Charles
escaped, went to Bonn, had himself crowned, and then fled into Bohemia,
where he armed against the emperor. Ludwig presently found himself
menaced and attacked on three sides. Nevertheless he would probably have
held his own against all comers by the help of the cities and the resources of
the Wittelsbach hereditary dominions; but he died suddenly on a bear hmit
at no great distance from the monastery of Fiirstenfeld in Bavaria (October
11th, 1347). The Augustinians at Munich would not admit his body within
their walls because he died excommunicate, and it was buried in the church of
Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche) in that city.
Ludwig the Bavarian, or Ludwig IV, as he was styled during his reign as
emperor, displayed both prudence and courage m many of his public actions,
and magnanimity in some of the details of his private life, but in spite of that
he was among the least able of German emperors. His was not a strong char-
acter, his actions were dictated by the needs of the moment, his policy was
deficient in large views and lofty purposes; it was petty and wavering, often
to the point of pusillanimity. Thus he was as much to blame as the great
nobles for the fact that under him the dissolution of the empire into separate
principalities proceeded apace and the royal authority steadily lost ground.
The crown revenues and lands, which had come do\\Ti from better days, were
all but lost in his reign; he sold or pawned them without scruple whenever he
was short of money ; and that was very often the case, for he needed merce-
naries for his protracted feuds. In earlier wars the king had summoned his
vassals to the service of the empire, but now that they had risen to the rank
of powerful hereditary sovereigns they rendered to the crown only such duty
as they pleased, and the election capitulations deprived the king of the right
of demanding more. Nor was the spirit of adventure strong enough among
the knights to rally many warriors to the royal standard of their own free will;
and, on the other hand, the love of money had waxed stronger. Mercenary
armies consequently took the place of the old armies of the empire. For
money, princes and courts led their own or hu-eling troops to the aid of the king,
or of anyone else who would pay them.
Under these circumstances the king had no choice but to acquire consid-
erable private dominions if he hoped to count for anything. But this was not
H. W. — VOL. XIV. N
178
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
the only expedient at his command; Ludwig himself resorted to another. He
allied himself with the cities, and to them he mainly owed his successes. It is
true that he was driven by necessity to do so ; he was far from rightly appre-
ciating their importance or from giving the citizen class the solid and legiti-
mate foothold in the councils of the nation which was its due. In his extrem-
ity only, as in the Frankfort Diet of 1338, did he bring the people into the
foreground. But the population of the cities — the mainstay of the nation —
made an enormous advance in honour and importance in his reign because he
let them do as they pleased so long as their action served his ends.^
CHAPTER V
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND HI
[1346-1437 A.D.]
The reign of Charles IV introduces us to a new chapter in the history of
Germany. Charles, it is true, simply followed out the now familiar policy of
using the empire for the aggrandisement of his hereditary estates. But those
estates were not Germanic; and the resources of Germany were drained,
German commerce and industry were made to suffer, that the Slavonic king-
dom of Bohemia might prosper. It is a saying as old as Maximilian that
Charles was the father of Bohemia, but only step-father to the empire.
He aimed at the consolidation of the property of his house into a vast
Bohemian empire ; in the pursuit of this end he confused the administration of
imperial affairs with the territorial administration of Bohemia, and, as Lam-
prechtP has so well said, "To Charles the empire was but an annex of his
Czech property." Prague was to be the capital of this great consolidation
before which the Roman Empire itself was to sink to a position of inferior
splendour; and to this day the city bears traces of the greatness of the design.
The death of Ludwig, however, did not secure the submission of the whole
empire to Charles. The party of Bavaria still made headway against him,
and it determined upon another election." Three of the electors met at Lahn-
stein and, declaring the former election of Charles a nullity, fixed upon Edward
III, king of England, as a monarch worthy their choice. The character of
Edward had been advantageously displayed whilst vicar-general of the empire;
and his renown was recently augmented by the splendid victory of Crecy and
the famous siege of Calais. He was, however, too intent upon the conquest
of France to hazard a division of his forces: the example of Richard of Corn-
wall was before his eyes; and he had the wisdom to decline the offer. He
merely availed himself of the occasion to detach Charles from the French
cause; and in consideration of Edward's refusal the king of Bohemia engaged
to remain neutral in the contest between England and France.
179
180 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[134(>-1353 A.D.]
The four electors next fixed their choice upon Frederick II, landgraf of
Thuringia, who had married a daughter of the late emperor. But that noble-
man preferred a bribe to the imperial cro\\Ti, and received from Charles 10,000
marks as the price of his refusal. Not disheartened by this second rejection,
the electors addressed themselves to Gontram, or Giinther, count of Schwarz-
burg, one of the ablest generals of the age, and of no less wisdom than valour.
Gl'mther readily accepted an offer which promised him some warlike pastime;
and, having taken possession of Frankfort, he was there solemnly enthroned.
But his death immediately delivered Charles from a formidable rival, though
it threw upon him the serious charge of having poisonetl Giinther.
Thus relieved from competition, Charles succeeded in gaining over the
other electors; and having by his diplomacy secured all the votes, he was
content to be chosen a second time, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle by
the elector of Cologne.^ At last unquestioned sovereign, Charles set about
making the most of his office. But the entire country was in a most pitiable
condition.^
In the beginning of his reign Germany was visited by dire afflictions — the
Jewish massacres, the processions of Flagellants, the plague or Black Death, j
The long-continued political insecurity, the strife for the crown, and the civil !
war were consequently doubly hard to bear. As far as any human interfer- j
ence which might have stemmed these disturbances was concerned, Charles '
remained rather indifferent. A self-contained, prosaic nature opposed to all
daring schemes whose consequences could not with certainty be foretold, he, j
like his predecessors since the Interregnum, refrained from giving the German I
kingdom a true significance, either by the overthrow or by the peaceable !
reorganisation of existing conditions. Like all his foreruimers, with the I
exception of the chivalrous and fantastic Henry VII, he saw that strict home I
rule alone could lend prestige to the German kings. But he, more than they, '
had consistently followed this policy with unceasing activity, and with a j
diplomatic skill which rarely missed its aim, avoided all entanglements with
the German princes and all conflict with the papal curia or any of his powerful
neighbours. Thus he reached a position such as not one of his predecessors
had attained — a position which enabled him to make his royal prestige suc-
cessfully felt in the majority of cases, and to secure the right of inheritance
to his son Wenceslaus. The loose conglomeration of political powers, which
then constituted the realm, now found a central point in the well-established
possession of the Luxemburg dynasty.
THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF CHARLES IV
Charles did not receive all the territories belonging to his father and
bequeathed to hun by the latter's will. The principal realm of Bohemia, the
duchy of Breslau, and the tenure of most of the other principalities of Silesia
were indeed his; but he was obliged to resign the markgrafschaft of Moravia
to his brother John Henry, and Luxemburg, the cradle of his race, soon to be
raised to a duchy, to his youngest brother Wenceslaus, at the close of the
year 1353.
King John, his father, had left the hereditary lands in the greatest confu-
sion, political as well as economic. If Charles intended to rule in the German
realm he had first to establish order and prosperity in his own country. It
was then shown how much he had profited by his sojourn in Italy and France-
countries so much farther advanced than his native land in the development
of domestic economy and the culture of the arts and sciences. He invited
CHAELES IV TO SIGISMUND III I8i
fl34&-1356 A.D.]
artists and artisans to Bohemia and made Prague a city of palaces. He
encouraged agriculture, started and developed new trades, assisted commerce
by opening new routes of travel; he also patronised poetry and learning, and
created a home for the sciences by founding the University of Prague (ADril
7th, 1348). ^ ^
He constantly endeavoured to keep his territories in a state of peace by a
strict suppression of all deeds of violence and a just administration of the law.
Although he had to abandon his plan to introduce an entirely new code of
laws, the so-called Majestas Carolina, into Bohemia, on account of the oppo-
sition of the nobles whose powers were greatly reduced by it, yet he did
improve the legislation in many ways, and created especially for the duchy
of Breslau the so-called Silesian Code. Finally he sought to establish the
legal position of Bohemia in relation to the German Empire. He declared
the bishopric of Olmiitz, the markgrafschaft of Moravia, and the duchy of
Troppau Bohemian fiefs; united Bautzen, Gorlitz, and the Silesian princi-
palities definitely with Bohemia, and assured to the crown of Bohemia the
office of cupbearer and the electoral dignity.
Having thus provided for the welfare of his own land, in its growing pros-
perity he built a strong foundation for his German kingship. At the same
time — by influencing the episcopal elections, by endeavouring to increase the
royal prestige, and by encouraging the efforts to establish the Landfriede in
the empire — he checked to a certain extent the frequent feuds and private
warfare. As far as possible he also restored peace and tranquillity in those
regions where there were no powerful territorial magnates, and finally decided
to have himself crowned with the imperial crown in order to strengthen him-
self both in Germany and abroad. In the autumn of 1354 he marched over
the Alps, received the Iron Crown January 6th, 1355, in Milan, and was
crowned emperor in Rome, April 5th, 1355. He then returned to Germany
without attempting any rearrangement of Italian conditions, satisfied with
the outward recognition alone which he had secured.
Having thus increased the importance of his throne in the eyes of all, he
now pursued with energy his favourite scheme of assuring the future of the
house of Luxemburg and his Bohemian heritage. After having announced
a, formal law of the realm for Bohemia on April 5th, 1355, which gave the
wearer of the Bohemian crown a position with privileges far greater than
Ithose of all the other princes of the realm, he determined to undertake a regu-
.lation of the decisions of the laws of the realm relative to the choosing of a king
pY the electoral princes, as well as to endeavour to form a fixed privileged
oosition for these princes. This was done in the Golden Bull, which was
iccepted on December 11th, 1356, in Metz, by the electoral princes after a
series of deliberations, and solemnly proclaimed on Christmas Day.^
THE GOLDEN BULL (1356 A.D.)
This Golden Bull, so named from the gold imperial seal attached to the
document, is one of the most important documents of history. Slight as it is.
It formed almost the only constitution of the empire and fixed the method of
mperial election until the Peace of Westphalia." In it, definite regulations
:;vere made for the election of the king, the rights and duties of the electoral
orinces were firmly established, and the measures for the public peace were
arranged. There was no mention in the Golden Bull either of the emperor's
,;laims on Italy, or of the pope; nay, it was now assumed that by his election
,he German king had already received the title of "Roman emperor."
182
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1356 A.D.]
Concerning the election of the king and of the emperor, the Golden Bull made
the following stipulations:
After the demise of the Crown, the electoral prince of Mainz as primate of
the empire shall summon the remaining electoral princes within three months
to an election at Frankfort-on-the-Main. Here they must swear to vote
without selfish motives, and may not disperse before the election has taken
place. A majority counts as much as a unanimous vote. The coronation
will be performed by the archbishop of Cologne at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen).
During the vacancy of the throne the count-palatine on
the Rhine shall be imperial regent (vicar of the empire)
in the lands under Frankish law, and the duke of Saxony
in those under Saxon law. The electoral franchise be-
longs exclusively to the seven electoral princes. These
consist of three ecclesiastical members, the archbishops of
Mainz, Treves, and Cologne, who at the same time are
lord high chancellors of
the empire, and four
temporal members, the
king of Bohemia (chief
cupbearer), the count-
palatine on the Rhine
(lord high steward), the
duke of Saxe-Witten-
berg (lord high mar-
shal), and the mark-
graf of Brandenburg
(lord high chamber-
lain).
The position of the
electoral princes, the
seven columns of the
empire, was very much
exalted. They re-
ceived the first
rank amongst the
German princes
with the following
rights and duties:
the electoral dignity as well as the high imperial dignity * was always to go
with possession of electoral land, which was indivisible and in the temporal
electorate hereditary, according to the law of primogeniture. Every year,
four weeks after Easter, the electoral princes were to assemble for an electors'
diet, so as to deliberate with the emperor on the affairs of the empire. Fur-
ther, the electoral princes received the "jus de non evocando" — that is to say,
the important law that their subjects and estates could not appeal from their
courts of justice to the imperial courts, except when legal help was refused
them. Thanks to this, the electoral princes now possessed an exclusive and
conclusive territorial jurisdiction.
Besides this, the imperial regalia in their lands (mines, the mint, taxes,
protection-duty from the Jews) belonged to them, and without special per-
' The dignity of elector was enhanced by the Golden Bull as highly as an imperial edict
could carry it ; they were declared equal to kings, and conspiracy against their persons incurred
the penalty of high treason. — Haxlam."
Charles IV (1316-1378)
(After a print of about 1356, the date of the Golden Bull)
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 183
[1356 A.D.]
mission from the emperor they could acquire land from other princes and
estates. And as in rank they were set above all other princes of the empire
and ahnost on an equality with the emperor, so too their persons were
to be inviolable, and any attacks upon them were to be reckoned high
treason.
By these enactments of the Golden Bull many disputes w^re obviated at
the imperial election, but on the other hand the division of the German Empire
into distinct German states was legally accomplished. The imperial suprem-
acy was only a loose thread for preserving the political unity.
Moreover, the disintegration of the empire into a German confederacy of
states went farther and farther; for as the
electoral princes were in jealous competition
with the emperor, so the other princes of the
empire were in jealous competition with the
privileged electors, all endeavouring to build
up a complete sovereignty and to perfect a
special empire of their own. The more pow-
erful among them gradually succeeded in
making the emperor confer rights on them
almost equal in extent to those conferred
on the electoral princes. Others received at
least a promotion in titles; thus the counts
of Luxemburg and Mecklenburg became
dukes. The system now came into existence
by which the emperor conferred titles with-
out their corresponding lands. This nobility,
obtained by letters patent, a French inven-
tion, was introduced into Germany by
Charles IV, but it was only later that its
application became extensive.
By the Golden Bull it was the high aris-
tocracy, especially the electoral princes, who
scored. The nobility in general received an
acknowledgment of its special privileges as
a class, inasmuch as it was left in possession
of its old right of private warfare. Other-
wise the smaller states were prejudiced in
favour of the great. But the provision by
which the towns and individual persons
were prohibited from forming any union
among themselves, without the consent of
the sovereigns whom it concerned, was absolutely hostile to freedom. Thereby
the estates lost a very important means of protection against the arbitrary
caprice of their sovereigns. In the territories the confederacy which yielded
such efficient protection to general liberty was robbed of its legal basis, although
it continued its formal existence for a while longer.
By this prohibition the emperor and the electoral princes partly had in
view the assurance of public peace, which was endangered by the self-protec-
tion of the individual members. In the interests of the public peace the
Golden Bull also enacted that every feud was to be preceded by a three days'
announcement. It is true, not much was gained by this.^*
' The conditions of the time are sufficiently outlined in the preamble to the Bull : "Every
kingdom which is at odds with itself will fall, for its princes are the companions of robbers ;
Noblewoman of the Fourteenth
Century
184 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1356-1397 A.D.]
This famous Pragmatic Sanction was finally promulgated in the diet of
Metz in 1356. On that occasion the emperor and the empress feasted, in the
presence of the dauphin Charles V and the legate of Pope Innocent VI, with
all the pageantry and ceremonies prescribed by the new ordinances. The
imperial tables were spread in the grand square of the city; Rudolf, duke of
Saxe-Wittenberg, attended, with a silver measure of oats, and marshalled the
order of the company; Ludwig II, markgraf of Brandenburg, presented to
the emperor the golden basin, with water and fair napkins; Rupert, count
palatine, placed the first dish upon the table; and the emperor's brother,
Wenceslaus, representing the king of Bohemia, officiated as cupbearer.
Lastly, the princes of Schwarzburg and the deputy-huntsman came with three
hounds amidst the loud din of horns, and carried up a stag and a boar to the
table of the emperor.^
THE CONDITION OF GERMANY UNDER CHARLES
The policy of Charles IV failed to win the affection of his German subjects,
for he sacrificed the national feeling which Ludwig of Bavaria had awakened.
Yet his character and the results of his policy are important, for they mark an
epoch in the history of culture. Charles had little of the mediseval character.
In him there is lacking the rude, disorderly, sometimes violent strength of the
more talented princes of the Middle Ages; nor does there appear in him that
unbalanced, romantic, and fantastic spiritual development which was the
result of the general tendencies of church and state. The spirit of the early
Renaissance ruled him and left its stamp in his statesmanship. He stood at
the boundary between two ages: spiritually he was the child of the Renais-
sance thought, which broke with the ecclesiastical and political philosophy
of the Middle Ages. In advance of his time, he took advantage of the
decadence in the political and social organisation of the period to increase the
influence of his family.
Seldom are the lines which separate epochs so well represented in the per-
sonalities of men as in the last decade of Charles' life. In 1377 England lost
in Edward JII the greatest representative of her mediaeval power; in 1378,
a few months before the death of Charles, Gregory XI died at Rome, the last
universally recognised pope for years to come. The great division in ecclesi-
astical interests began, the influence of which was felt through all Europe.
While Germany fell into a state of discontent and disorder, new political
powers arose in the north and east, which threatened the government and
property of the Germans. There, when the authority and policy of Germany
had ceased to wield any influence, and the Germans orders and the Hansa had
represented the honour and industrial interest of Germany, the ancient
enemies united for common action against Germany. The domination in
north and east, which had compensated for losses in south and west,^ was now
questioned; indeed, the superior power found it necessary to act on the defen-
sive. The union of Poland and Lithuania, under ^Vladislaw (IV) Jagello,
broke the strength of the German order; the Union of Kalmar in 1397 threat-
ened to take from Germany her dominion over the Baltic. Not long after,
the Hussite movement, less ecclesiastical than national, seemed to unite the
whole Slavonic world in a common rising against German leadership. The
and therefore God hath removed their candlesticks from their place. They have become blind
leaders of the blind : and with blinded thoughts they commit misdeeds."
[' The dismemberment of the kingdom of Burgundy.]
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 185
1356-1397 A.D.]
critical issues of German policy are no longer in the south and west, but in the
north and east. Here must Germany's future be decided.
The greatness of the mediaeval empire depended on two elements — the
fight for leadership in the south, and the extension of German culture to the
north and east. This division of national strength was not without disad-
vantages, which became more apparent as, with the gradual dissolution of the
empire, it ceased to represent the divergent interests of north and south.
While the south and west conformed to the old Italian influences, the north
and east rejected them. This development of diverse interests was especially
noticeable in the Hohenstaufen period. The union of north and south became
a purely formal one, lacking all the elements that make an alliance of life
interests. Also in political development north and south were far different.
In the south and west the feudal relations, which were the foundation of the
kingdom, resulted in territorial confusion, and the majority of the lower
imperial vassals became as good as independent. This breaking up of the
south into small powers resulted in a variety of interests which made a lasting
constitution impossible, and produced each year new conflicts. In imitation
of his stronger neighbour, each territorial lord sought to bring under his domin-
ion the free powers in his reach, nobles as well as cities. Their endless con-
flicts characterised south Germany in the later half of the fourteenth century;
without interest in themselves, they illustrate the political development of the
age.
In the north and east conditions were more fortunate. The territory
Tom the Saale and Elbe to the Oder was not lost to the empire. Certain
orave princes, intleed whole families of them, had settled in this region, and
with the help of their feudal retainers had driven back the Slavs and extended
the German boundaries to the east. It is sufficient to remember what the
Askanians in the mark of Brandenburg, or the house of Wettin in the middle
isouth, and above all what the Guelfs, chiefly Henry the Lion, had achieved on
uhe lower Elbe. These princes organised into states, without the aid of the
empire the territories they conquered; in them there were no lords directly
;ubject to the imperial power. The Guelfs and Askanians placed their own
ninisterials in the leadership of the new duchies; the bishops also were from
he beginning vested only with territorial powers and received their temporal
i'ights from the lords of the land, not from the king. There were no imperial
;ities; the burghers and the peasants were subject to the lords of the land and
,iad no immediate relation to emperor and empire. In political civilisation,
jn organisation of administration, through the growth of an office-holding
;lass, free from feudal obligations, the north was far superior to the south and
\^est. The future of Germany rests in these territories; for the south and
■vest continued to divide into small states through the division of territories
'-nd the decline of princely families.
Above all, it was important for the future of Germany that the city life of
he north was protected from the shadow in which the Golden Bull placed
■hat in the south. There was, indeed, a conflict between princes and cities
,1 the north and east, but never such a conflict as in the south since the latter
lalf of the fourt" nth century. Industrially and politically the princes and
iities of the north were dependent on each other, on account of their relations
'? their neighbours and the interests which they both had against them. Since
'rederick li the Danish kings had no thought of yielding their landed inter-
ists on the Elbe; the Germans must rely on their strength to take it. There
le national interests of Germany developed most successfully. Wliile the
^ever Luxemburgs sought to secure the welfare of Germany and the fortunes
186 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1356-1397 A.D.]
of their dynasty by shrewd treaties with their neighbours, the cities of the
north, making alhances with the princes, instituted a national poHcy which
was fruitful of important results. The same tendency was found in the east.
It was the mission of the Hansa and the Teutonic orders to protect north
and east from the Danes and Poles, and at the same time to preserve the
honour of the German name.
THE HANSA
From a simple association for the protection of trade and commerce, the
Hansa developed into a great industrial power of political importance. The
country between the lower Elbe and the Trave was the centre of north German
trade; from Hamburg and Bremen it extended to the cities of the Low
Countries, thence to England; from Liibeck northward to Sweden and Nor-
way; then by way of the cities on the south of the Baltic towards Pomerania
and Prussia, to lower Livonia and Esthonia, while the cities of central Ger-
many established the leadership of the Hansa on the territories of the lower
Rhine and in lower Saxony and Brandenburg. Under the able protection of
its association, the Hansa developed well-defined rules and customs, well
represented by the Steel-yard in London, situated between the Thames and
Thames street. Here were all the elements of a city — warehouses, markets,
halls, banks, and dwellings. Protected by privileges obtained from the Eng-
lish king, it became the storehouse for the foreign trade of the German mer-
chants. At the factories in Bruges, products of the north were exchanged
for those of the south and the far east. For the northern trade Wisby was the
most advanced protected point. There wares were shipped to Livonia,
Esthonia, and Russia. At Novgorod the Hansa established its influence and
won privileges from the native rulers. Moreover the Hansa had a national
character. From the western boundaries of the German language to distant
Prussia, to the cities of Dantzic, Brandenburg, and Konigsberg, from these to
Livonia and Esthonia, where Riga and other towns belonged to the Hansa,
German people were bound together in a common union. In foreign lands
the Hansa burghers lived according to their own customs, exempt from the
law of the land. Also the political organisation of the Hanse towns was
uniform, based in the old aristocratic ideas.
Hence the number of the cities in the association was so great and the influ-
ence of certain landed interests so strong that internal conflict could not be
avoided. There were three classes of cities, later four. The Liibeck-Wend
class, whose leader was Liibeck, included the Mecklenbm-g cities — Wismar,
Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Kolberg, Riigenwalde, as well as
certain smaller cities; and the cities of the north, as Salzwedel, Stendal, Havel-
berg, Brandenburg, Berlin-Kolln (Berlin), and Frankfort, A second class
was composed of the cities of the lower Rhine and of lower Saxony, as Cologne,
Dortmund, Miinster, Herford, and Minden, certain of the neighbouring
Netherland cities, and the distant cities of Thorn, Kulm, and Dantzic, In
the northern territory of the Hansa, Livonia and Esthonia, were a nmnber of
cities which composed the Jutland group. Later the Saxon cities of Got-
tingen, Halle, Hildesheim, and Liineburg formed a fourth class under the
leadership of Bremen. The division into classes gave the individual the
opportunity to develop in harmony with the political conditions which sur-
rounded it. The rules of trade and navigation and of weights and measures
were fixed by the whole association, but each group arranged the particular
affairs with its neighbours and those with whom it entered into commercial
CHARLES lY TO SIGISMUND III 187
[1360-1374 A.D.]
relations. The Hansa also developed into a war power. Each city, in case
of war, had to send a contribution of men and ships. So, in the time when the
monarchy fell into helplessness, and Charles IV used weak kingly authority
to build up his dynasty, Germany developed of itself into a strong power in
the north. ^
The strength of the Hansa was, however, soon to be put to the test in a
struggle with the rising power of Denmark. Valdemar IV had raised the
Danish realm from insignificance to the rank of a great power. As an ally of
Ludwig of Bavaria, he had had the ready aid of the cities in putting down
piracy on the sound and along the Baltic. But having once gained the
mastery of the sea, he found his former allies to be his most troublesome com-
petitors. Their great influence was an obstacle to the fulfilment of his great
plan, which was to secure the predominance in the north which Denmark had
once held under Valdemar I.o In a war against Sweden in 1360 he conquerecl
Skane. By this the herring fishery of the Hanseatic cities was greatly men-
aced. The Hanseatic cities demanded therefore from Valdemar the ratifica-
tion of their privilege of fishing off the coast of Skane. He, however, went
with his fleet over to the island of Gotland and captured Wisby in 1361. The
commerce of the Hanseatic cities was now in the greatest danger.
They therefore conclufled an alliance with Sweden and Norwegian Greifs-
wald in September, 1361. Their fleet, led by the burgomaster of Liibeck,
John Wittenborg, appeared in the Sound and took Copenhagen. But on July
8th, 1362, Valdemar fell upon the Hanseatic fleet at Helsingborg and routed
it completely. The peace of 1365 left Gotland under Danish sovereignty.
As Valdemar continued with inconsiderate recklessness to trepass on the
rights and customs of the cities, fresh hostile entanglements naturally ensued,
Hakon of Norway also oppressed the Hanseatic League in Bergen, and so the
Prussian and Netherland cities came to an agreement in the summer of 1367
regarding preparations for war. In November, 1367, at a great meeting in
Cologne, seventy-seven cities declared war against the two northern kings.
The nobility of Holsteiii and the Swedish king, Albert of Mecklenburg, joined
with the cities. War began in the spring of 1368. It was a brilliant success.
Skane, Wisby, Copenhagen, all fell into the hands of the cities of the Baltic,
Jutland was taken by the counts of Holstein, while the North Sea towns turned
their arms victoriously against Norway. King Valdemar was obliged to flee
from his country.
After lengthy deliberations an agreement was made between the Danish
parliament and the cities, in consequence of which the cities regained all their
privileges and also the right themselves to manage the revenues from Skane.
On the basis of this agreement peace was definitely concluded at Stralsund,
' May 24th, 1370. The German princes, who had an essential interest in the
' decision, were not consulted at the treaty. Valdemar, who had in vain sought
^ for aid at the hands of his former patrons, saw himself forced to ratify the
■ Peace of Stralsund, December 29th, 1371. ^
; The cities had won a great victory, and now Charles IV attempted to share
, in their prosperity. He desired nothing less than to obtain the leadership of
> the Hansa, and he had cherished this plan ever since he had come into posses-
• sion of the mark of Brandenburg. In order to impress the people of Liibeck
: in its favour, he granted them in 1374 great liberties; then he honoured the
: city with a visit, and displayed all possible pomp and magnificence, so_ as
i to show the people of Liibeck how much he was attached to them. During
1 his stay he flattered the council outrageously; he invited the members to his
i table, and addressed them by the title of "lords" (a compliment which they
188 THE HOLY EOMAN" EMPIEE
[1373-1374 A.D.]
modestly declined), and called them his imperial comicillors. But all this
flattery was of no avail. The burghers of Liibeck showed him all due honour,
but took care not to enter into any of his proposals, as they knew that he
thought only of his owti advantage. Meeting with no success, he was com-
pelled to retire./
THE SWABIAN LEAGUE
Turning now to south Germany, we find the same story of independence
in the cities, but with a different setting. There, where foreign politics do not
intrude, Lamprecht v thinks that we find mirrored a more correct view of the
social condition of the empire than in the distant north.
The struggle between the princes and the cities, according to Lamprecht,
may be said to date from the first half of the thirteenth century, while that
between the nobility and the cities was of more recent origin. Princes, the
nobility, and cities still acted in concert when the thirteenth century came to a
close, but with the first and second decades of the fourteenth century a change
is visible. There is both an economical and a military decline in the condi-
tion of the noblemen. In the revolutions of the guilds the separation between
the burgher and the nobleman becomes marked. The nobility, as soon as it
ceases to be a compact social unit, ceases to be the main feature of the social
structure. Unlike the landowner and the burgher, the nobleman always
lacked individuality. But territories and cities rapidly acquire individual
existence, so that all men can realise how differently Bale or Frankfort would
behave from Cologne or Nuremberg under the same circumstances.
Charles' dealings with the Swabian cities were marked by diplomacy
rather than by any strict conformance to the constitution which he had
drawn up. Having satisfied them with his help in the formation of a league,
contrary to the express provisions of the Golden Bull, in order to have their
support against Wittelsbach, he now wished to add to it non-city elements
and thus establish a constitutio pacts or Landfriede} In 1373 Charles carried
into execution this amalgamation of the cities and the nobility in Swabia, but
with the count of Wiirtemberg, the most notorious chief of the nobility, as
president. The peace society and its president were then skilfully utilized
by the emperor to aid him in raising money for the imperial treasury .«
THE GROWING POWER OF CITIES
In order to make sure of the succession to the imperial crown in his own
house, Charles determined to have his son Wenceslaus crowned during his
own lifetime, and to carry through this election he needed vast sums of money.
These the cities were to pay. Consequently they were again very highly
taxed ; others were mortgaged and pledged ; in particular the emperor allowed
the count of Wiirtemberg to redeem all the imperial mortgages in Swabia,
[' The Landfriede occurs first in the form of Konigsfriede and then of Gottesfriede, both
of which seem to have been monarchical declarations of peace between two parties engaged in
feud. The Landfriede was a similar declaration proceeding from territorial lords. Thus peace
ordinances came to be issued in Bohemia, Bavaria, Meissen, and Thuringia. So long as they
were merely defensive alliances, the emperor could permit them to continue without challenging
their legality. But when, as we shall soon see, they were used for purposes of attack as well
as of defence, imperial supremacy was endangered. At the bottom of the diflBculty lay the old
German reluctance to submit to authority. If two men fought, they denied the right of anyone,
including the emperor himself, to stop them, and the intricate study of conflicting legal sanctions
of this kind is quite as potent a factor in the understanding of modern Germany in its federal
aspect as the observance of a common desire for union proceeding from a variety of sources,
which the historians have delighted to trace with greater zeal than accuracy.]
CHARLES lY TO SIGISMUND III 189
[1374-1378 A.D.]
that is, to buy up all magisterial and other offices in the possession of the
empire. In this way the cities of Swabia, to a considerable extent at least,
would come into the power of Wiirtemberg.
To avert this was of vital importance to the cities. They instantly
recognised that Charles was determined to sacrifice them to the princes with
the sole object of making his son emperor. Under the circumstances they
could perceive in WencesTaus nothing but a partisan of the princes. They
were therefore determined to venture to extremes. Incited by Ulm, fourteen
cities on the Lake of Constance, joined shortly after by four more, formed a
league in which they agreed they would stand together against everyone who
should seek to suppress them from the empire and to injure their freedom;
also they refused to acknowledge Wenceslaus as king, for fear of being taxed
again.
The emperor was extremely provoked by this opposition, which crossed all
his plans. He wished to crush it by force. Therefore in the year 1376 he
marched with a large army on Ulm, the originator and leader of the league,
in order to compel it to submission. In the army of the emperor were his son
Wenceslaus, Eberhard count of Wiirtemberg, the burggraf of Nuremberg, the
count of Werteim, the count of Hohenlohe, and many other princes and lords.
The siege lasted six weeks, but the citizens defended themselves so bravely
that there could be no thought of taking the town.
Unrewarded by any success, the emperor had to retire after having agreed
to an armistice. He wished to clear up the question in dispute at a diet at
Nuremberg. But the cities did not appear; on the contrary, they attacked
the count of Wiirtemberg, destroyed some of his citadels, and devastated his
territories. A large contingent of nobles and princes now forsook the cities:
among them the dukes of Bavaria, of Teck, the counts of Hohenlohe, and the
Frankish counts. War broke out simultaneously in Swabia, Bavaria, and
Franconia. But the cities fought bravely against all their enemies and main-
tained their advantage. The count of Wiirtemberg suffered a most bloody
defeat at Reutlingen in May, 1377, when almost all the nobility were killed,
and Eberhard's son, Ulrich, who commanded the army of the lords, narrowly
escaped being made prisoner.
In some respects the battle of Reutlingen formed a turning point. Shortly
before, negotiations for peace had been initiated; but they were now broken
off by the count of Wiirtemberg, who wished to avenge th? defeat. On the
other hand courage and self-reliance were increased in the champions of the
cities.
The league of the eighteen cities increased visibly: Nordlmgen, Dinkels-
biihl, Aalen, Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, Weissenburg, Schweinfurt, and
Halle joined their ranks. The fortune of war remained true to the cities, and
in the year 1378 they were still maintaining a superiority over all their enemies.
This development seemed very critical to Charles. He had long ago been able
to realise on many occasions that the cities were hostile to him. In Bale,
Worms, Esslingen, and Mainz at various times he had been treated by the
burghers with anything but respect. In Esslingen and Mainz the people
mobbed him and his escort: he scarcely escaped personal insult. "Wlien we
remember the traditional fidelity and adherence of the cities to the emperors,
such occurrences would seem impossible but for the fact that the whole con-
duct of Charles had justified the deepest mistrust against him in the popula-
tions of the cities.
The lower classes of these populations were always scenting treachery
from him, for he not only pushed the cities into the background but he had
190 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1373-1378 A.D.]
also shown himself no friend to democratic administration. His policy was
rather to favom* the great families where he could, and so mider his reign there
began a reaction against the victorious democracy of the time of Ludwig the
Bavarian. This preference of Charles for the time-honoured sovereignty of
the great families naturally made the guilds mistrustful of him, all the more
so as it was knoum how he used his interference in the internal affairs of the
cities for purposes of extortion to the detriment of the democracy. Had
Charles attached a trifle more value to public opinion, the experiences which
he had already partly made in the early period of his reign would have been
sufficient indication to him of what he had to expect from the cities. His
stock of experience was still further increased shortly before the war of the
Swabian cities.
After the death of the archbishop of Mainz in 1373, Charles had thought
to confer this important archbishopric on Ludwig, who was then bishop of
Bamberg, and had managed to win the pope for his favourite, although a
majority of the chapter had chosen Adolphus of Nassau. Both now dis-
puted the archbishopric. Thuringia too was a scene of the combat, for here
the archbishopric of Mainz o^med possessions. At this point in the struggle
the town of Erfurt took Adolphus' part, ^^^lat could be more natural? For
Ludwig, the protege of Charles, was by birth markgraf of Meissen, of the
house of Wettin, which was constantly on bad terms with the Thuringian
cities. Erfurt feared to lose its independence under this archbishop, who could
acquire such powerful support from his brothers; it therefore denied the claims
of Ludwig and acknowledged Adolphus of Nassau as archbishop. For this it
was to be punished by Ludwig and his brothers; in 1375 the city was besieged.
Charles, who had already placed the ban on the city for its disobedience, also
came to the siege, but his presence did not improve matters. Erfurt could
not be taken. After a siege of five months an armistice proved necessary;
and, at this, Charles consented to raise the ban, naturally in return for a con-
siderable sum of money, which the citizens of Erfurt had to pay.
And now followed the great movement of the Swabian cities. Charles
felt that he was on the point of raising the whole citizenhood of the empire
against him, and he had just had ample experience of how much strength such
a rising was capable of clevelopmg. It was high tmie to lower his tone. He
saw there was nothing to be done but to yield to the will of the cities. Every
attempt to mortgage them or to surrender them to the princes under any
pretext would have met with their strongest opposition. And accordmg to
his latest experience this opposition was not to be overcome ; on the contrary
it increased daily, for the league of the cities was visibly gaining ground.
That this league was also dangerous to his son, if Charles continued to show
himself hostile to the cities, was evident. Charles decided to negotiate a
peace which should grant the cities all they demanded. On the 30th of
August, 1378, it came to pass. In consequence of this peace the governorship
of the province was taken away from the count of Wiirtemberg, and all
favours which had been granted him to the detriment of the cities were
recalled. Duke Frederick of Bavaria was entrusted with the governorship.
The conclusion of this peace which announced the victory of the cities in
such striking fashion was the last important act of Charles IV.^ A few
months later, in November 1378, he died at the age of sixty-three. He left
three sons, Wenceslaus, Sigismund, and John. His lands were divided among
* As Lampreclit p says, the recognition by the emperor of the Swabian League at the peace
was unquestionably a violation of the Golden Bull. But in return for this the cities acknowl-
edged the election of Wenceslaus, which before this they had refused to do.
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 191
[1378-1381 A.D.]
them — a remarkable instance of political inconsistency in an emperor other-
wise so judicious. The power of the house of Luxemburg was superior to that
of other German princes only so long as it remained united. Divided, it
shared the lot of all the other German princedoms, where, as we have seen, the
members of one and the same house were often at variance and made the pur-
suit of a common policy impossible. Thus the fruit of all the care and anxiety
of this restless emperor for the future of his house seemed to have been placed
; in jeopardy by his last will. But this, like the other acts of Charles, was the
• result of self-delusion. He had hoped that his children as well as all mem-
bers of his family would keep as close together as if they were all inspired by
the same spirit.
Thus Wenceslaus received the kingdom of Bohemia, Sigismund the mark
of Brandenburg, John a part of Lusatia under the name of the city and dis-
. trict of Gorlitz. Charles had already yielded Moravia to his brother John,
I after whose death the mark passed to his sons Jobst and Procop./
WENCESLAUS (1378-1400 A.D.)
The reign of Wenceslaus is one of the most unfortunate in all German
history. To the disintegrating political and social influences which taxed the
strength of Charles IV there was added a new problem of international impor-
1 tance — the great schism of the papacy.^ Wenceslaus, endowed with a robust
' body and pleasing address, but deficient in the qualities of leadership and
character, w^as unable to meet successfully the difficulties before him, and his
reign ended in disgrace and anarchy.
Events that took place soon after Wenceslaus' coronation indicate the
■ instability of the system which his father had hoped to establish. Desiring to
] increase the mfluence of royalty by alliances with European governments,
, Charles IV had made a contract of marriage for his son Sigismund with Prin-
i cess Maria, heiress to the thrones of Hungary and Poland. The Poles, dis-
I satisfied with the prospect of a German ruler, soon after the death of Charles
chose as their sovereign a younger sister of Maria, who had married the duke
jof Carinthia. Then the Hungarians, jealous of the growth of the house of
(Luxemburg, offered the hand of the affianced princess to Charles of Naples.
! A compromise was finally arranged by which Sigismund received his promised
wife, but gained no governmental authority in Hungary. Thus both Hun-
gary and Poland were lost to the house of Luxemburg.
The failure of Wenceslaus to take a decisive action in these foreign affairs
for the interest of his family was followed by failure to reconcile the con-
iflicting elements in German society. Prejudiced as much as his father against
the Swabian League, he refused to recognise it officially. The members of
;the league then sought allies with the prmces. In 1379 an alliance was made
iwith the duke of Bavaria, as well as with many minor nobles of the Rhine
'valley. To this hostile attitude of the princes and the imperial cities was
I added that of the free towns. Harassed by the depredations of the knights
iof the lower nobility, the inhabitants of a number of towns, among them
.Strasburg, Worms, Speier, and Frankfort, formed in 1381 a union for mutual
I protection. The same year the new league entered into an alliance with the
; Swabian League which guaranteed the independence and organisation of
each. The princes were alarmed at this federation, which threatened the
[' Gregory XI had died at Rome four months before the death of Charles.]
m THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1382-1390 A.D.] j
existence of the knights and the lower nobiUty; and in 1382, under the j
leadership of Leopold of Austria, the nobles of Swabia signed an agreement I
to prevent war between towns and knights. j
Wenceslaus, following the tactics of his father, hoped to conciliate the ,
leagues by persuading them to become a part of the imperial system. In i
1384 was formed the union of Heidelberg, which united princes and cities into *
an association of which the emperor was the head and protector. However, j
none of the parties in this imperial federation were satisfied, and armed con- j
flict was precipitated by the conduct of Leopold. The Swabian League had j
increased its membership by a number of towns, among them the Swiss city {
of Bale. There was enmity of long standing between the Swiss and the house j
of Austria. By certain offences to Bale, Leopold awakened the old hostility, i
This led Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and a few other Swiss cities to make an alii- i
ance with the federations of the Rhine and Swabia to " preserve peace and j
protect our common country" (1385). Leopold then began war against the |
Swiss cities. The Austrians were defeated in the battles of Sempach (1386) ?
and Nafels (1388), and the last clahns of Germany in Switzerland were lost. |
The German League did not assist the Swiss in their struggle, on account j
of the war which broke out in Germany between themselves and the princes !
of Bavaria in 1388.« The burghers were defeated in a great battle at Wiirtem- j
burg, and in May, 1389, Wenceslaus commanded the imperial cities in Swabia,
Franconia, Bavaria, and those on the Rhine to dissolve their alliance, of •
which he had seen enough to know it was "against God himself, the Holy
Empire, and the law." On pain of losing their privileges, he ordered them to
accept a general peace (Landfriede) which he proclaimed for a large part of j
the kingdom. For each locality a peace tribunal was to be established; its'
members to be chosen by princes and cities, and the presiding officer by the
emperor. Few definite conclusions were expressed in the Landfriede, for'
Wenceslaus knew that he must appeal to the honour of the combatants to i
have it accepted. But it clearly stated that " the common league of all the
cities must dissolve," exception being made in favour of those members of the
Nuremberg League which had observed the Heidelberg Union, Ratisboii
and Nuremberg were willing to obey the king, and the remaining cities gradu-,
ally accepted the Landfriede — first those on the Rhine, then the Swabian,!
Bavarian, and Franconian cities.
The city leagues were thus dissolved, and they never again attained the
power and prominence they lost, although some small unions of neighboimng-
cities remained and others were established. For example, the seven cities
on the North Sea maintained their league, and in 1390 a new league was'
formed by Ulm and other cities, which lasted until late in the next century.
Still the significance of the great city league was not lost. The imperial cities
came out of the great battle without losing any of their rights and privileges,;
and had attained what the Swabians had primarily striven for — the abolitioD
of that practice by which they were mortgaged and pledged to meet the
imperial expenses. But the broader issue, resistance to the princes, was lost
This was in part the fault of dissimilar interests which had led the differeni
members into the league, in part the fruit of discussion and selfishness, in pari
the constitution of the league, which had no unifying leader and no commor
treasury. The situation, also, of the cities — which were scattered over th(
empire — made their common object difficult of attainment. Finally, then
arose a conviction that the movement had undertaken more than was neces
sary, that the fight was immaterial and without a definite end. So the earlie
indifferent attitude of princes and cities was revived.?
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 193
[1391-1399 A.D.]
Civil Wars
In addition to the conflict between princes and cities, Wenceslaus' reign
is notable for numerous petty wars among the princes. Jobst, markgraf of
Moravia, duke of Brandenburg and Luxemburg, was not satisfied with these
territories; he coveted Bohemia and the empire itself. Supported by the
nobles of Bohemia, who wished to increase their feudal privileges, and by
ambitious princes of other states, he defeated Wenceslaus in 1394, at Beraun,
and forced him to yield the government of Bohemia. «
This was the signal for a series of civil wars of which Bohemia was the
subject. Certain German princes demanded and obtained increased privileges
from Wenceslaus, who acted with his accustomed weakness. At war among
themselves for Bohemia, the brothers of Wenceslaus, Sigismund and John
Henry, and his cousins, Jobst and Procop of Moravia, in turn combated
or supported the king, as they saw opportunity to obtain riches for themselves.
Often required to diminish his power, twice imprisoned, Wenceslaus regained
Bohemia in 1403, and held it for some time in peace by allowing his brother,
John Henry, and upon the latter's death his cousin Procop, to act as regent.
Through these obscure conflicts, without interest for the history of Germany,
Bohemia lost its leadership in the empire and Wenceslaus well merited the
loss of the imperial crown. ^
More decisive for the fortune of Wenceslaus was his attitude toward the
Great Schism. From 1305-1372 the papacy was under French influence;
the popes resided at Avignon, and each year lost more of the influence they
had formerly exercised upon European life. In 1377 Gregory XI returned
to Rome. On his death, two popes were elected: Urban VI and Clement VII,
who respectively represented Roman and French parties. This double
election was the beginning of the Great Schism, which lasted for forty years
and was a problem of international interest. When Urban VI died, Boni-
face IX was elected to succeed him by the Roman party. A movement
was then inaugurated at the University of Paris to secure the abdication of
the two popes and to have the Roman and Avignon cardinals unite in a
common election. Wenceslaus was persuaded to give his sympathy to the
movement,^ but Germany, though by no means entirely lacking m sympathy
for the propositions which emanated from Paris, was, in fact, not well inclined
toward the transaction which took place. Germany regarded the pope of
Rome as its pope, and did not desire to separate from hun. Wenceslaus
was therefore accused of betraying the empire. The storm, long accumula-
ting, now broke. Many princes had only awaited a pretext to dethrone their
king, and they seized this opportunity to make known, as defenders of Ger-
many, their complaints against Wenceslaus. The electors, who formed a
kind of permanent council, an oligarchy whose duty was to guard the security
and greatness of their country, acted first. In avoiding a compromise, they
demonstrated better than on the day of their election that the supreme
authority belonged to them and that they were free to resume after having
delegated it. Each was actuated by his personal ambition. The archbishop
of Mainz did not wish to have questioned the rights of Boniface IX from
whom he held his nomination, which the king opposed. Wenceslaus had
not a friend in the college of electors. He was reproached for alienating
the domains of the empire, for his alliance with the French, and for the political
and ecclesiastical anarchy which existed. Yet up to the last moment a little
activity on the part of Wenceslaus might have sufficed to overthrow the
H. W. — VOL. XIV. O
194 THE HOLY EOMAN" EMPIRE
[1400-1410 A.D.]
plans of his enemies. But, according to a well-known German saying, "he
lay like a pig in his sty." The Luxemburgs abandoned their country. The
electors reduced to five years a peace of ten proclaimed by the emperor.
He remonstrated. On April 20th, 1400, the archbishop of Mainz appeared
before the gate of Lohenstein, with the ecclesiastical electors and certain
princes and lords among them — the duke of Bavaria, the burggraf of Nurem-
berg, and the elector of the Palatinate. A large crowd assembled, attracted
by the novelty of the occasion. The archbishop of Mainz declared Wenceslaus
useless, idle, and incapable, unworthy to retain his title of king. That even-
ing, the three archbishops met at Rhense and chose, as king of the Romans
and future emperor, the elector Rupert, count of the Palatinate.
RUPERT (1400-1410 A.D.)
The reign of Rupert was no more fortunate than that of Wenceslaus.
He was not the choice of all the electors; in fact, they were not all present
when he was honoured with the imperial crown. Moreover, he was not
popular with the cities, and so he was recognised by only a small part of
the empire. Conscious of his weakness, Rupert hoped to win popularity
and strength for his government by accepting an invitation from Florence
to aid her in a war against Milan and, incidentally, to be crowned emperor
in Rome. Florence promised a subsidy; the Venetians and other enemies*
of Milan offered their alliance. But the German princes who had elected
him refused to support him; the Florentines sent their subsidies very slowly.
Rupert arrived in Italy in the later months of 1401 and moved against Brescia;
but the army of Milan barred the way. The Germans and Italians were
almost equal in number; but the Germans, poorly commanded, without
discipline, could not sustain the attack of the Milanese mercenaries. The
Italians were victorious and took a number of prisoners, among them Leopold
of Austria. Abandoned by a number of his allies, Rupert retreated to Trent,
hoping to return by way of Friuli, with a subsidy of several thousand Venetian
ducats. To pay his soldiers, he pledged his jewels, his crown, and, im-
poverished for life, he reappeared in Germany " without army, without money,
without cro^vn, and without honour." During his journey and even in his
capital, Heidelberg, he was pursued with mocking refrains about his poverty.'^
For eight years more he attempted to make headway through the anarchy
of political intrigues and civil wars, but his death in 1410 left the empire
weaker and more divided than it had been even under Wenceslaus .« Rudolf
of Saxony and Jobst of Moravia, who was also elector of Brandenburg, still
recognised Wenceslaus as king of the Romans; but the electors of Cologne
and Mainz chose Jobst; then the burggraf Frederick of Nuremberg cham-
pioned the son of Rupert, and the archbishop of Tours proclaimed Sigismimd.
The empire was thus disputed by three pretenders, at the same time that
Christendom was divided by three popes. The successor of Boniface IX,
Gregory XII, had promised to resign if Benedict XIII, the Avignon pope,
would do likewise; but Benedict refused to resign, and the cardmals (1409)
decided to abandon the two competitors and convoke an ecumenical council
at Pisa. Much was expected from this movement. The council deposed
Gregory XII and Benedict XIII, and elected Alexander V. But the deposed
popes would not accept the decision of the council, and there were now three
popes instead of two. The two powers which had long disputed the leader-
ship of the world were now objects of scandal and mockery.'^
CHAELES IV TO SIGISMUXD III 195
[1309-1373 A.D.]
THE CHURCH AND BOHEmA
We turn now away from the superficial story of emperors rivalling each
other in powerlessness, to the intense interest that is associated with the
name of Huss. But the tragedy of Bohemian national history, which here
opens up before us, is inextricably interwoven with the larger questions of
European politics, and especially with the politics of the papal government.
It is hopeless to attempt to understand the part played by Bohemia at this
most important epoch of her history, unless one first knows what was that
ecclesiastical system which awakened her national consciousness, and how
religion and patriotism were combined.
From the residence at Avignon to the Reformation there was undoubted
mismanagement at the papal court. The loss of much of the revenue from
Italian cities forced the Avignon popes to maintain their state by levying
heavy dues upon the higher officers of the church, who in turn were forced
to recoup themselves at the expense of the lower clergy and the laity. Then
too the centralisation of ecclesiastical business, as well as the personal motives
and political ambitions of the popes, had increased expenditures, which were
met by means judged by the different countries of Europe — where a sense
of nationality was well developed — corrupt, unjust, and unworthy of the
head of the church.
We have no complete and satisfactory knowledge of the system of papal
patronage, but from the universal complaints of the time we can reconstruct
the general impression which it made on the people .« It is well known how
John XXII made the investiture of bishoprics and benefices into a highly
profitable business. The bishops were liable to certain taxes: the bishop
of Miinster, for instance, was assessed 300 gulden; soon other obligations
were required of episcopal candidates. It was likewise with the small
I benefices — not only were they sold for gold, there were also expectant
' documents to be had. Boniface IX carried on an extensive trade : he revoked
the favours which had been granted, only to sell them again; and careful
examinations of the claims of the candidates could not make clear who with
. money or who by influential recommendations gained precedence at the
i papal court. It was the general impression that the curia sold offices to
1 the highest bidder. To such an end had come the Gregorian fight against
' simony : the papacy, having achieved its greatness because it opposed
i simony in others, fell into disrepute through the same evil.
The papacy was also a great source of secular law. Numerous contro-
versies were carried to Rome, since the lay powers found it convenient to
carry litigations with clerks to the highest spiritual court. This was always
:a costly proceeding. On account of the accumulation of business at the
I papal court, there was always delay before an appealed case could be decided.
' There was nothing to be done but to begin with the lower officials, who were
I mediators between the higher officers and the prosecutor. Then, after the
'decision was made, there was always delay before the bull was issued, and
■to avoid longer residence in Rome the minor officials had again to be con-
sulted. There was often much haggling over the sum to be paid the pope.
A considerable sum was always paid, and the general opinion was that without
;gold nothing was decided at Rome.
The extraordinary demands which the pope made on the church, the
tenths, subsidies, and other levies of money, were also the cause of great
iscandal. Closely associated with these was the question of investitures.
196 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1309-1373 A.D.]
The king had no influence on elections except as he might use his personal
influence in the chapter or the curia for a favoured candidate. The inves-
titure with regalia was only a form, which no longer gave the secular lord
influence. But since the election of the chapter required the confirmation
of the curia, and the pope himself nominated many bishops, the highest
administrative office of the church was given only to those men who could
control the secular and spiritual conduct of their subjects.
The chapters in which electoral rights were vested had little of a spiritual
character, since they were the foundations of neighbouring noblemen. Usu-
ally some members were educated clerks — because they were necessary;
but otherwise members of the nobility and their favourites composed the
chapter. In elections there were always factions, not ecclesiastical but family
factions; often two bishops were chosen. Even in case of a successful elec-
tion, the successful candidate was hampered with heavy expenses, which he
defrayed out of the income of the diocese. In the double election of bishops,
one of the two candidates must suffer, the spiritual or the secular; and
usually it was the former. The endo^Mnent of money and property made
bishoprics very desirable offices, and consequently no bishop could avoid a
certain amount of secular activity .S'
These conditions reacted on the lower clergy. The priests imitated their
bishops.^ The canons which forbade remimeration for religious services were
long since forgotten. Baptism, marriage, confession, burial of the dead were,
for the clergy, mexhaustible sources of revenue; penitential alms and dis-
pensations which many of the churches and monasteries had received were
replaced by fines, and a tariff excused all sins (from the church's censure) —
from the most trivial to ^ the most enormous. The tithes, heavier than ever,
were levied with unaccustomed vigour, and at the same time the tendency was
for the priests to avoid delivery to higher authorities of the imposts collected
from the parishioners. In many instances the priests were familiar only with
the advantages of their profession and neglected its duties.^
But after hearing the evidence for all the varieties of ecclesiastical corrup-
tion, we should not forget that — as Nicholas Clemenges, himself a severe
critic of the church, says — the same abuses were found in the secular gov-
ernments of the time; also that the century of greatest corruption was also
the century of Master Eckhart and Tauler, the fathers of German mysticism,
and of numerous religious foundations.
The Great Schism, by increasing the number of popes, multiplied the
abuses and confusion in the administrative system of the church. In England
and France, the strong, well-organised monarchies which had developed in
the thirteenth century were able to modify, to some extent, these abuses.
But Germany, with a weak and divided central government, was a prey to all
possible forms of corruption .«
In 1367 and 1372 the clergy of Mainz formed a league to protect them-
selves against exorbitant tithes; there was a similar association at Cologne,
and in 1373 the three ecclesiastical electors met to protest against the demands
of Gregory XL In many villages of north Germany, Magdeburg for example,
the bishops protested against the usurpations of the papal court. Sometimes
the conflict resulted in violence. Henry, bishop of Hildesheim, caused to be
assassinated in 1373 the priests whom the pope wished to impose on him.
The nims of the convent of Derneberg received an order from Avignon to
appoint a certain Johann von Mimsted to an ecclesiastical office which was
dependent on the convent : they aroused against hun some lay brothers, and
in the combat Johann was killed.'^
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 197
[1375-1379 A.D.]
The movement inaugurated by the Parisian theologians, to call a general
council of Christendom to end the schism and reform the church in head and
members, naturally found much sympathy in Germany. In fact, besides the
corruption m ecclesiastical administration, there was in the empire another
problem, that of heresy, which demanded the careful consideration of all who
had the interests of the church at heart.
RACE CONFLICT IN BOHEMIA
In no country of Europe were the people more dissatisfied with existing
conditions than in Bohemia. There was, first of all, a conflict of races. The
indigenous population, the Czechs, found rivals in the Germans who had
settled among them.o Not only had most of the frontier been occupied by
German colonists, but in the villages the Germans had obtained control of the
higher industries and commerce, and, allowing the Slavs to carry on the
small trades, they became the great burghers and occupied the municipal
offices. The Czechs fought with energy against absorption. They protested
against foreign influence by making impassioned and well-directed use of
their national language. In an age when the German language, in spite of
the work of the mystics, had hardly passed from its period of formation, the
Czech literature under Charles IV produced knightly romances, satires, lyrics,
elegies, chronicles, and attempts at drama, based on the national life, which
the Germans of Bohemia could hardly imitate or translate.^ The conflict
in secular affairs extended to religious life. The Bohemian church was noted
for its wealth. "No kingdom in all Europe has so numerous, stately, and
ornate churches," said ^neas Sylvius. But the common law vested rights
over ecclesiastical property in the crown, not the church. This opened the
way for simony and the confusion of spiritual and secular duties. The arch-
bishop of Prague, we are told, was lord of 329 towns and villages, and an
examination of the thirty clergymen in 1379 resulted in the conviction of
sixteen.^ The national opposition against the Germans blended with the
opposition against the church and so the programme of reform, to which John
Huss gave his name, had a national character which made it suspected in
Germany.
The emperor and king, Charles IV, began reformation in the church, but
he abandoned the attempt. Then followed a protest of the Czech national
feeling. A German, Conrad of Waldhausen, began an attack on the monks
and the superstitious practices which disgraced the church. But the move-
ment become entirely Czech. A Moravian, Milicz of Kremsier, indicated the
papacy as the source of the evils in the church; and one of his followers,
Mathias of Janow, continued his work, contrasting the customs of the primi-
tive church with those of the church of his time. A knight, John of Mil-
heim, and a certain merchant founded at Prague the chapel of Bethlehem for
Czech preaching and the reform of morals, and the preachers of Bethlehem
became the religious directors of the whole Slavonic population of Prague.
These orators and writers devoted their time to the abuses, not the dogmas of
the church. But, in passing from the preachers to the masters of the Uni-
versity of Prague, the reform movement became more important and added
a new element of opposition to the church. The work of John Huss was to
unite and express the protest of nationality, of morality, and of dogma,
against the German influence in Bohemia and the corruption and teachings
of the church. 'i
The rivalry of nationalities extended to university life, and is well illus-
198 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1379-1412 A.D.]
trated by the attitude of the university toward the work of the council of
Pisa. The Czech students and masters, as well as Wenceslaus, who was still
king of Bohemia, wished to renounce Benedict XIII and Gregory XII and
accept a new pontiff to be chosen by the council. The German members,
however, by their control of the Polish nation, outvoted the Bohemians. A
movement against the German students began, which was encouraged by
Wenceslaus, and resulted in an exodus of the Germans. The result was the
foundation of the first German universities, especially that of Leipsic, by the
migrating students. The University of Prague lost its cosmopolitan char-
acter, but was now recognised as the exponent of the national feeling in
Bohemia. In the meantime, criticism of the nature of the church and its
doctrines had been active at Prague. The intercourse with students of
foreign lands which was notable in the early days of the institution and the
rule that the works of French and English masters might be used in
the courses of instruction, made possible the introduction of new thought. The
marriage of Amie, daughter of Charles IV, to Richard II of England, seems to
have mcreased the intercourse between the universities of Prague and Oxford
and the introduction into Bohemia of the works of Wycliffe. Many of his
writings were known in Bohemia before 1385, but they aroused no opposition
until 1403, when, as the result of the rivalry of Germans and Czechs, Johann
Hiibner, a Silesian, publicly challenged forty-five theses from Wycliffe's
writings. Three years later. Innocent VII ordered the archbishop of Prague
to suppress the study of Wycliffe's works.
Among those charged with fostering Wycliffe's heretical teachings was
John Huss, a member of the university and preacher at the Bethlehem
chapel.« Less coarse in speech than Conrad of Waldhausen, less fantastic in his
views than Milicz, he made a more profound impression on his hearers than
his predecessors had done, and the results of his work were much more lasting.
He appealed to the intelligence of his hearers, aroused their reflective facul-
ties, taught and persuaded them, and was not lacking in impressive words.
He had an earnest character, a devout spirit, and a conduct to which his
enemies could not find exception; a burning zeal for the moral improvement
of the people, as well as the reformation of the church; also a keenness and
tenacity, stolidity and obstinacy, and a remarkable desire for popularity,
which saw in the martyr's crown the highest end to which man's life could
attain .*
In 1407 he was made dean of the faculty of arts, and the following year,
rector of the university. Heresy again became an issue at Prague. Wen-
ceslaus, wishing to gain recognition as king of the Romans from the council
of Pisa, decided to purge the university of false teaching. The Bohemian
doctors themselves now condemned certain of Wycliffe's doctrines and
certain Czech preachers and doctors were imprisoned by the archbishop and
delivered to the Inquisition. Huss protested and demanded that they be
released. The archbishop replied by banishing him from the diocese. Huss'
break with the ecclesiastical authority had begun. The next step was for
the Germans to bring before the pope an accusation against the Bohemian
university on the ground that it was teaching heresy. Alexander V, elected
at Pisa and endorsed by the Bohemians, issued a bull ordering the archbishop
of Prague to drive all heretics and false teachers from his diocese, and to
suppress the writings of Wycliffe. Huss, however, decided to appeal against
the bull, claiming that it was the result of false pretence on the part of his
accusers. He next refused to appear at Rome when summoned by the new
pope, John XXIII, and was therefore excommunicated. In 1412 ho
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 199
[1410-1412 A.D.]
denounced the sale of indulgences instituted by John XXIII and boldly-
questioned the validity of priestly absolution. Reform had extended to revolt
against the church and its teaching.
THE DOCTRINES OF HUSS
The doctrines which led Huss into revolt against the established authori-
ties in the church were similar to those of Wycliffe and were doubtless the
results of study of the English reformer's works. His starting-point, the
theory of salvation, was entirely orthodox. " No is one is saved by the law,
but only through faith in Christ." "God's grace is not acquired through
service, but is freely given." These declarations of Huss were not in conflict
with those of Thomas Aquinas and the later theologians. But conclusions
drawn from these statements regarding Christ's relation to salvation caused
conflict with the church. This revolutionary thought was based on two
conceptions, the law of Christ, the written word of God, and the true church
of Christ.^ Huss many times declares that the law of Christ, that is, the
sacrifice of God as the New Testament reveals it in the time of Christ and
the Apostles, is sufficient for Christians, church, and salvation. Not that the
Scriptures are the only source of truth; indeed, he recognises moral revela-
tion or experience and reason or systematised thought to be sources of knowl-
edge of the truth. But in matters of faith and salvation. Holy Scripture has
unconditioned and final authority. Christ is the best teacher and final judge.
Man must neither add to nor take away from his message. Each Christian
must believe that truth which the Holy Spirit has concealed in the Scripture,
and he must give unconditional obedience to the law of Christ. The opinions
of the factions and the bulls of the popes are not worthy of man's faith —
they only express what is clearly in Scripture or what can be deduced from
Scripture. Indeed, papal bulls cannot be foundations of faith for the pope, and
his curia can err. It is his gain to err, and he also errs without knowledge of it.
Huss' second reformatory principle is that of the true church. The
germ of his conception of the true church is in the sentence, " The church is
the assembly of the elect." The origin of the idea goes back to Augustine,
but Huss derived it from the writings of Wycliffe. In 1410 he first realised
its consequences, and he developed it in many of his writings, especially
the De Ecclesia. Since the church of Christ is the assembly of the elect, those
do not belong to it who are not destined to salvation by grace. There is
therefore a difference, which Augustine had indicated, between the true and
the visible body of Christ. All the justified since the beginning of the world
are chosen by grace to salvation, are real members of the church. Member-
ship in the true body of Christ, the true church, depends on the eternal
election by grace. Therefore outward membership in the church, even office
and authority in the same, do not make membership in the true church. /
These conceptions of the law of Christ and the true church made Huss
accept the nature and authority of the existing ecclesiastical organisation
only in so far as it conforms to the word of God revealed to him in the Bible
by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When neither pope, university, nor
king could persuade him to modify his views, it remauied for the ecumenical
council to discipline him.
SIGISMUND CHOSEN EMPEROR (1411 A.D.)
In 1411 died Jobst of Moravia, one of the thj-ee emperors elected after
the death of Rupert. After a reconciliation with Wenceslaus, Sigismund
200 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1412-1414 A.D.]
was chosen emperor by five of the electors but was not crowned till four
years later.<^
It was long since Germany had had a ruler so wealthy and influential
as Sigismund, last of the Luxemburgs. He was king of Hungary, heir to
Bohemia, and his estates extended from the Balkans to the Baltic, from the
Carpathians to the Rhine. His allies were among the most powerful princes
of Germany, Albert V of Austria, the burggraf of Nuremberg, and Frederick
of Hohenzollern. His enemies were also numerous. The Venetians threat-
ened the Adriatic coast; the Turks, after years of civil war, had united under
Muhammed II; the Poles wished to dissolve their union with Hungary,
while many subjects of the empire were turbulent.
Sigismund had the advantage of a good education. He spoke Latin,
German, Czech, French, and Italian. He was generous and affable, enjoyed
mingling with his people, and his pleasant manner won the good will of all
whom he met. Large, well proportioned, with light hair and complexion
and blue eyes, he was conscious of his beauty and strength. Unfortunately,
he was a king only in appearance, and loved only the show of power. He
was incapable of perseverance, as easily discouraged as ardent in enterprise.
He confused excitement with activity, a brusque manner with firmness,
sensationalism with renown. He was inconstant in friendship, and shocked
his contemporaries with the unscrupulousness and facility with which he
forgot his promises and dissolved his alliances. He had that one lasting
passion, pleasure, and the caprices in which he indulged sometimes com-
promised his honour.
The task before him was a great one, to re-establish imity in church and
empire. This, however, was not enough for him. He wished to regain
Italy for the empire, as well as the kingdoms of Aries and Burgundy. He
was in Italy when Rupert died. Before accepting the imperial crown, he
wished to conquer that country, and make his return to Germany a triumphal
journey. But the German princes would not furnish aid. He was unable
to pay his Swiss mercenaries, and they deserted him. The Italian princes
who caused the expedition increased his humiliation and disgrace. Philip of
Milan defied him, Genoa closed its gates, and at Asti he was almost made
prisoner. Other princes recognised his authority but gave him no aid. When
he fmally reached Germany, he called a diet at Coblenz, which no one
attended.^
Such an inauspicious opening of his reign ill corresponded with his high
hopes and dreams. But Sigismund was yet to play a great role in history —
if not as restorer of the empire, at least as restorer of the papacy. The ending
of the schism was even more imperative than the assertion of imperial author-
ity, and moreover the task was more within the scope of Sigismund 's powers.
AVliile he was yet in Italy, John XXIII, defeated by Ladislaus of Anjou,
kmg of Naples, decided to trust himself to the emperor and to call the council
which was universally desired. The pope issued the bull of convocation and
the emperor chose the meeting place — Constance. This news awakened a
profound interest and enthusiasm throughout Europe. When the council
finally met, in October, 1414, the eyes of all Europe were turned to it. Rarely
to-day, in this age of vast assemblages, is so notable and large a body of men
gathered together.^
Besides the patriarchs of Constantmople, Grado, and Antioch, there were
present twenty-nine cardinals, thirty-three archbishops, one hundred and
fifty bishops, more than a hundred abbots, and fifty priors. But the majority
of the members were representatives of the universities, which had been the
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 20i
[1414-1415 A.D.]
real leaders of the church during the decline of the papacy. There were not
less than three hundred doctors and masters at Constance. The council
was also a political congress. All the sovereigns of Europe, save one, sent
ambassadors. The prelates and princes were accompanied by soldiers. There
came also merchants, clowns, jugglers, actresses, and curiosity seekers. At
one time there were m the city three hundred conjurors and musicians, six
hundred barbers, and seven hundred courtesans. The officials of Constance
were at first alarmed at the task of feeding
and lodging this vast multitude of people. " The
Swabians," wrote Huss, " say it will take thirty
years to purify Constance of the sins which it
has committed." ^
The programme mapped out was that which
the University of Paris had for years demanded :
first, the termination of the schism; second,
correction of the abuses in the church; finally,
the extirpation of heresy. To end the schism
it was necessary to depose the three existing
popes. A process was therefore instituted
against John XXIII.« But John had taken
precautions not to be deposed and had risked
too many hazards to give himself up. While
crossing the Tyrol on his way to Constance he
made an ally of Sigismund's enemy, Frederick
of Austria. He now promised to abdicate if
the other two popes would follow his example.
Then he proposed to transfer the council to
another city. When the fathers refused, he
left Constance disguised as a messenger, while
Frederick was entertaining the people at a
grand festival. The same evening! the duke
joined him at Schaffhausen.
The council now seemed about to dissolve.
Sigismund, however, acted the part of emperor.
He rode through the streets on his horse, re-
vived the courage of all, and promised the
fathers that he would protect them. The council,
reassured, on March 30th, 1415, declared that
it represented the Catholic church, that it held
its authority from Christ, that it was superior
to the pope ; and John XXIII was summoned to appear before it as a heretic
and promoter of heresy. Sigismund then took vigorous measure against
Frederick, and the friends of John. He cited the duke to his tribunal, on
pain of the ban of the empire and forfeiture of his domains to rival clainiants.
But Frederick was turbulent and quarrelsome. Then four hundred princes,
lords, knights, and cities of Swabia declared war upon him. After a short
but decisive campaign, Frederick surrendered to the emperor without condi-
tions, placed his possessions at the disposition of Sigismund, and promised
the return of John XXIII. [The renegade pope attempted to escape to
Avignon. He was captured at Freiburg by the burggraf Frederick of Nurem-
berg and brought to Constance.] On May 12th, 1415, he was brought before
the council; he maintained a haughty attitude and after a difficult and scan-
dalous procedure was deposed, May 29th. Gregory XII then resigned and
Sigismund (1368-1437)
(After an old print)
202 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1414 A.D.]
died soon afterwards; Benedict XIII refused all propositions of the council
with inflexible obstinacy, and from his fortress at Pensicola braved all the
threats of the fathers until his death.
THE TRIAL OF HUSS (1414 A.D.)
[The schism was ended. The council then turned to the revolt against
the church represented by Huss. All were prejudiced against him.] The •
English wished to draw attention, through Huss, to the teaching of Wycliffe: i
the Germans had not forgotten that he had been in the movement to drive i
them from Prague. .An innovator in religion, he was reactionary in philos- |
ophy, professing realistic doctrines, while the Parisian theologians were
nominalists. The French, indeed, were more anxious for the condemnation
of Huss than they had been for the deposition of John XXIII. ^ The reason
was that the doctrines of Huss suggested a revolution m the church. Their
significance was well stated by Gerson, a French scholar: "The most danger-
ous error, destructive of all political order and quiet, is this — that one pre-
destined to damnation or living in mortal sin has no rule, jurisdiction, or
power over others in a Christian people. Against such an error it seems to
my humility that all power, spiritual and temporal, ought to rise, and exter-
minate it by fire and sword rather than by curious reasoning. For political
power is not founded on the title of predestination or grace, since that would
be most uncertain, but is established according to laws civil and ecclesiastical."
Yet Huss was willing to trust his case to the comicil. He was promised a
safe conduct and a public hearing at Constance by Sigismund. The inquisitor
general at Prague declared before witnesses that Huss was a good Christian;
the archbishop said he knew nothing of his heresy. It seemed to the people
of Bohemia that there was somewhere a misunderstanding, and that a public
hearing and trial at Constance would result in adjustment of all difficulties.
On November 3rd, 1414, with a number of Bohemian friends, Huss arrived
at Constance. The procedure of the council towards Huss was based on that
of the Inquisition. He was excommunicate and a heretic; and he was there-
fore outside the law and no promise or contract made with him was binding;
he was not allowed to defend his teachings; the church alone could decide
upon their validity; he must recant or suffer death.
The first step was a formal accusation and imprisonment.^ On November
28th [says an old chronicler], the cardinals sent two bishops, a civil magistrate
of Constance, and a soldier to the house where Master Huss resided. They
told Master John of Chlum that they had come at the order of the cardinals
and the mandate of the pope for Master John Huss, and as he had wished
to speak with them they were ready to hear him. John of Chlum replied
to them angrily, saying: "Do you know, most reverend fathers, how and
through whom Master John Huss came here? If you do not, I tell you that
Master Wenzil of Lestria and I were with the emperor at Friuli and spoke of
returning to Germany; he commanded us to take in our care Master John
with his safe conduct, that he might come to the present council", and he
said further : " If Master Huss shall consent to remain at Constance with you,
say to him that he shall speak nothing of this matter except in my presence,
when I shall come, God willing, to Constance." Those who had come replied,
"We come only for the sake of peace, that there may be no tumult." Then
Master John Huss, arising from the table, replied, " I did not come here to see
the cardinals nor did I ever desire to speak with them : I came to the whole
CHAELES IV TO SIGISMUND III 203
[1414 A.D.]
council ; but at the request of the cardinals I am ready to go to them and
I am willing to be examined concerning anything. I think I should prefer
death than the denial of truth as revealed to me by the Scriptures or other
means." And when he had come to the cardinals and saluted them, they
said to him, " Master John, many things are said about you, that you hold
many errors and dissemmate them in Bohemia; and so we have sent for you
wishing to ask you if this be true." He replied: "Most reverend fathers,
you know that I would rather die than hold an error. I have come to this
sacred council, and, having been sho^m in what I have erred, I am ready in
all humility tocorrect
and amend." The car
dinals said, "Truly
those are good words."
Thus they departed,
leaving Master (Huss)
under an armed guard.
But Lord John (Chlum)
remained with them.^
A subtle theologian
disguised as a friar then
came and sought to in-
volve Huss in a discus-
sion of the Eucharist.
At four o'clock the pope
and the cardinals met.
In true inquisitorial
method, charges were
preferred against Huss
in his absence. The
accuser was a former
priest at Prague and the
indictment included
(1) teaching the neces-
sity of receiving the
Eucharist under both
kinds and attacking
transubstantiation ; (2)
making the validity of
the sacraments depend
on the moral character
of the priest; (3) erroneous theories regarding the property, disciples, and
organisation of the church.«
When this was done [continues our chronicler] they sent a messenger
to Lord John, who said that he might depart, but Master Huss should remain
in the papal palace. John of Chlum was angered; he went to the pope and
protested in the name of the emperor's safe conduct. John's reply was,
"You know how matters stand: the cardinals brought Master Huss as a
prisoner and I am bound to receive him." The same night at nine o'clock,
he (Huss) was taken to the home of a canon of Constance where a cardinal
was staying: there for eight days he was guarded by armed men. Then
he was taken to the Dominican monastery and was placed in a dark and
obscure dungeon, near which was a sewer. He was seized with fever; and
when his life was despaired of, Pope John sent his own physicians to himj^
Medieval Interior
204 THE HOI Y EOMAN EMPIKE
[1414-1415 A.D.]
John of Chlum and the Bohemian nobles drew up a written protest against
Huss' imprisonment, but without avail.
Sigismund arrived on Christmas day. He felt very deeply the insult
to his authority in the violation of the safe conduct : he feared the bad impres-
sion it would make in Bohemia, a country he hoped to inherit. The pope
excused his conduct to the emperor, as he had excused it previously to John
of Chlum. Sigismund had to settle with the council. When the fathers
opposed to his right to protect a subject their right to judge a heretic according
to the established rules of the church, Sigismund several times left the council
in wrath. As evidence of his earnestness, it appears that he at one time
left Constance, in the latter days of 1414. A deputation followed him and
declared that, if he hindered or interfered with the legal authority of the
council, it would dissolve. Sigismund was not willing to accept the respon-
sibility of such an event. Huss was not worth the failure of the long-cherished
desires of Christendom for the establishment of unity and reformation in the
church. He also consoled himself with the thought that, since no promise
to the disadvantage of the Catholic faith is valid in the light of divine or
human law, he was not under obligation to keep his word given to a heretic.
He therefore allowed the process against Huss to take its course.*
Renewal of the Trial
The difficulties occasioned by the conduct of John XXIII for a time over-
shadowed the cause of Huss. Wlien the pope fled from Constance, Sigismund
was, for a time, the central figure in the council, and Huss' friends hoped
he would use his influence for the liberation of the imprisoned reformer.
But the emperor had identified himself with the fathers of the council. On
March 24th, he committed Huss to the custody of the bishop of Constance,
who imprisoned him in a castle near the city. In May, Wy cliff e's writings
were condemned and his bones were ordered to be exhumed and taken from
consecrated ground. The friends of Huss were alarmed. They again pro-
tested against his imprisonment. The partiarch of Constantinople replied,
in behalf of the council, that Huss would not be released but that he should
be given a public hearing. On June 5th, 1415, the council assembled at
the Franciscan monastery. A committee offered a report on the case of
Huss, which ended with a condemnation of various extracts taken from his
writings. He was then brought in, and the articles against him and the
evidence were read.« When the master wished to respond, many cried out;
on account of the strength of their voices he could not be heard: when he
wished to take exception against ambiguous words or give interpretations
different from those in the articles, they cried out, "Dismiss your sophistry
and say yes or no"; some laughed at him. When he cited the authority
of the fathers for certain articles, many exclaimed, "That is not true," or
" It is not to the point." Seeing that a defence was not possible, he was silent
on some points. Then they said, "Behold now you are silent; that is a
sign that you believe these errors."^
On account of the tumult the hearing was adjourned till June 7th. Sigis-
mund was then present and better order prevailed. There was a lengthy
discussion of the sacrament of the altar. Huss denied that he accepted
Wycliffe's views, and was found to be orthodox. Then the nature of the
evidence which should determine a man's opinions was examined. One of
the cardinals said: "Master John, do you know that it is written that in the
mouths of two or three witnesses every word shall be established? Behold
CHAELES lY TO SIGISMUND ITI 205
[1415 A.D.]
there are twenty witnesses against you — doctors, prelates, and others —
some of whom have heard, others know by report." He repHed, "If God
and my conscience are my witnesses that I never taught what I am accused
of teaching, the testimony hurts me not." Cardinal d'Ailly responded,
"We cannot judge you according to your conscience, but according to the
evidence before us." After other fruitless discussion. Cardinal d'Ailly quoted
a remark of Huss, that he had come to Constance of his own will, and that
not even the king of the Romans or the Bohemians should have compelled
him. John of Chlum arose and said : " Indeed that is true, I am a poor knight
in our country yet I would keep him for a year, whomsoever it pleased or
displeased, so that he could not be taken. There are many great lords who
have strong castles who would keep him, even against both kings." This
was the critical point. Evidently heresy was revolt against civil as well as
ecclesiastical authority. The cardinal advised Huss to submit to the council,
and Sigismund added : " Hear, John Huss ; I gave you a safe conduct before
you left Prague and commanded that you should be brought here without
violence and that a public hearing should be given you. This has been done.
All say that I cannot give a safe conduct to a heretic or one suspected of heresy.
Therefore, I advise you to hold nothing obstinately but to submit to the
mercy of the council. If you continue in your errors, it is for the council
to determine what it will do. I have said that I will not defend a heretic;
nay, if anyone remained obstinate in heresy, I would burn him with my
own hands."
The audience, however, was resumed the following day, June 8th. Thirty-
nine articles against Huss, taken from his writings, were read. Most of them
were based on his theory of the church as the body of the elect, and the
dependence of the ecclesiastical authority on the character of the one exer-
cising it. When the article which stated that pope, bishop, or priest who
is in mortal sin is not true pope, bishop, or priest, Huss quoted the words
of Samuel to Saul, "Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he
hath rejected thee from being king." Sigismund replied, "Huss, no one is
without sin"; and D'Ailly added, "It is not sufficient that you destroy the
spiritual power by your teachings; you also wish to drive kings from their
state." After all charges had been read and discussed, D'Ailly advised Huss
to submit to the mercy of the council and warned him not to attempt further
defence. "I came here freely," he replied, "I crave another audience to
explain my meaning, and if my judgments do not prevail, I am willing
to submit to the information of the comicil." On all sides the answer was,
"The council is not here to inform but to judge." The final decision of Huss
was an appeal, "I stand before the judgment seat of God, who will judge
both you and me as we deserve."
So ended the trial of Huss. He was led back to prison to await his sentence.
A final attempt was made through a private individual to get him to retract.
Agam his reply was an appeal to Christ. On the sixth of July Huss was led
to the great church of Constance, where a general session of the council was
assembled, presided over by Sigismund. Let us watch the last fateful scene
through the eyes of an onlooker .«
THE DEATH OF HUSS (1415 A.D.)
In the middle of the auditorimn stood a platform on which were placed
the sacerdotal robes for the degradation of Master Huss. Wlien he was led
into the church, he stepped before the platform, and kneeled in prayer. The
206 THE HOLY EOMA^" EMPIEE
[1415 A.D.]
bishop of Lodi ascended the pulpit and preached a sermon concerning heresy,
declaring that heresies do much evil to God and the church and that it is the
duty of kmgs to extirpate them. Next the procurator of the council arose
and asked for the sentence on Master John Huss. "When the articles against
him were read (Huss protesting against some) a certain Italian prelate read
the sentence against him. And Master John Huss responded, against orders,
to certain points of the sentence ; specially when he was pronounced obstinate
in error he responded, " I never was nor am I obstinate, but I have always
desired and to-day desire better information from the Scriptures." "\Mien the
condemnation was complete, Master Huss fell on his knees and prayed, " Lord
Jesus, have mercy, I pray, on all my enemies; thou knowest they falsely
accuse me, they bring false witnesses, and charge me with false articles."
"When he had finished, many laughed at him.
Then seven bishops clothed him with the priestly robes. He said, " "When
my Lord Jesus w^as led before Pilate, he wore a white robe." Then he was
exhorted by the bishops to recant; sadly he turned to the multitude and
replied, "The bishops beg me to recant; I fear to do that lest I lie in the sight
of God and offend my conscience and God's truth." The bishops then began
to degrade him, taking from his hands the chalice and tearing off the vest-
ments, pronouncing maledictions against him. They said, "We commit
your soul to the devil." And he, folding his hands and turning his eyes to
heaven replied, "I commit it to our good Lord Jesus." A paper cap, almost
a cubit high, on which were painted devils and also an inscripition, " This is a
heresiarch," was placed on his head. The emperor said to Clem of Bavaria,
"Take him"; and Clem placed him in the hands of the lictors, who led him
forth to death.
When they arrived at the place of death, a meadow outside the city, Huss
kneeled in prayer. He w^as then chained to the stake, made a final refusal to
recant, and as the flames swept up around him he chanted from the Liturgy,
O Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon us,
O Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me;
Thou who wast born of the Virgin Mary
"With the last line the voice ceased ; his lips moved a few minutes and then he
expired. The executioners were careful to burn his body to ashes; his
clothes were likewise destroyed ; and the dust was throwm into the Rhine that
his followers might not secure any relics of their hero's death.^
The trial and execution of Huss awaken our sympathy. It is an excellent
example of the treatment of heresy in the Middle Ages. The church found
the accused guilty of error; the state then stepped in and administered
suitable punishment. The whole procedure is revolting to us. Why should
one suffer death for opinions which he refuses to give up for fear of offence to
God and his conscience? The answer is found in the nature of mediaeval
civilisation. The church was not a private institution, but a part of the
machinery of government. Sin and faith were matters of public importance.
The position of Huss has been stated by Creighton ^ : "He is charged with
subverting the existing system of thought; he answers that some modifica-
tion of the existing system is necessary and that his opinions, if rightly under-
stood, are not subversive but amendmg. Into this issue his judges camiot
follow him. It is as though a man accused of high treason were to urge that
his treason is the noblest patriotism. There may be truth in his allegations,
but it is a truth which human justice cannot take into accomit. The judge is
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 207
[1415-1418 A.D.]
appointed to execute existing laws, and till those laws are altered the best
attempts to amend them by individual protests must be reckoned as rebel-
lion."
DISSOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL (1418 A.D.)
As regards the reformation of the church, the council did not realise the
dreams of the reformers a The Germans, supported at first by the English,
desired that the proposed reformation should be taken in hand before the
election of the new pope. But the cardinals and the rest of the nations were
so urgent in their opposition to this measure that
the council w^as satisfied with framing some few
reformatory decrees, and with recommending the
other subjects of reform to the future pontiff.
Otto di Colonna was then elected pope, Novem-
ber, 1417, under the name of Martin V. The re-
sults justified the fears of the Germans. The feeble
glimmer of the council grew pale before the splen-
dour of the new pope, the first who had been univer-
sally acknowledged for a long time. The papal
monarchy was immediately elevated above all the
limits which the ecclesiastical aristocracy meant
to have imposed upon it. The rules in chancery
prepared by Martin V were but slightly different
from those of former popes, about which there had
been so much complaint. Proposals for reforma-
tion which he set forth did not correspond with
expectations. The strength and unity of the coun-
cil were so much broken that the pope was able to
adjust the most critical points of reformation by
concordats with separate nations. The pope not
only granted ecclesiastical tithes to the emperor
Sigismund, notwithstanding all the outcries which
had been raised against this kind of church oppres.-
sion, but he even ventured, in direct opposition to
Ithe expressed principle of the council, to pro-
jiounce all appeals from the pope to a general
council to be inadmissible. Thus the council be-
came so unlike itself that its dissolution in April,
1418, was no cause for regret. The old complamts of extortion and church
oppression, as well as the venality of the curia, began afresh; only the Italians
were satisfied with the new condition of affairs."^
A German Soldier op the
Fifteenth Century
SOCIAL DISCONTENT
! The news of the execution of Huss provoked general exasperation in
3ohemia. It was regarded as a defiance to the Czech nation — a crime which
effected the entire Slav race. Sigismund and the Germans had thought of
hat deed only in reference to one man: they found a whole nation involved.
Belgians and national questions were confused more than ever.'^
I The principal doctrine of the religious revolt that now began was the
lemand for the administration of the Eucharist in both kinds. Huss did not
propose this innovation — nor, in fact, any of the extensive changes made by
is followers in the ecclesiastical system, though they were natural conclu-
208 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1415-1418 A.D.]
sions indicated in his system of thought. It was while he was in Constance
that Jacobellus (Jakobek) of Mies began to preach in Bohemia the necessity
of administermg the wine as well as the bread of the Eucharist to the laity.
Huss in a letter to Jacobellus spoke favourably of the innovation, but he did
not regard it as a necessary reform. After his death this was regarded as the
cardinal doctrine of the conservative Hussites, who were therefore called
utraquists (from the Latin utraque, "both") or calixtines (from "chalice," or
"cup").
Social discontent contributed to the religious and national revolt. The
result was the formation of a radical party, whose ideals extended beyond
reform to the abolition of the existing ecclesiastical system.^
In the Middle Ages church and society were far removed from their natural
bases, and were forced to conform even in their most important life-fimctions
to the prescription of ecclesiastical statutes; therefore it came to be believed
that an end of all oppression would be made, if the social organisation of early
Christianity, as revealed in the New Testament, were carried over into the
degenerate present. As the poor priests and Lollards of England, so now the
so-called Taborites, led by enthusiastic members of the lower nobility, as well
as by priests, added to Hussitism a socialistic and communistic programme.
Besides the church, the state and society should be reorganised on the basis of
the gospel. These people added to the hatred of the Germans and dislike of
Sigismmid a fanaticism based on the literal interpretation of Scripture, an
inspiration, a passion, and a spirit of sacrifice which regarded nothing as
impossible and transformed the suffering, micultured, and impoverished
peasants mto an irresistible force. The whole development of humanity was
to these people a great confusion, a fall from God's law, for whose final restora-
tion there must be a purification of the world; and they were the ones chosen
of God to carry out that work — a conception which two centuries later the
English puritans also represented. Above all, absolute equality was to be
introduced; church, birth, property, education should no longer create social
classes; likewise there should be no separation of the priesthood and the laity.
The form of government should be republican, for in the people resides the
sovereign power. That the emancipation of woman was one of their articles
of faith shows how completely these revolutionary idealists would overthrow
all legal and moral limitations. Never had the Middle Ages seen any similar
movement, never was such unmerciful war declared against ecclesiastical,
political, and social conditions.^
ECCLESIASTICAL INTERFERENCE
On the ecclesiastical side, the council took energetic measures agamst
the new schism which threatened the church. It forbade connnimion under j
both kinds; revoked the charter of the University of Prague and threatened j
with ecclesiastical penalties King Wenceslaus and the archbishop of Prague i
if they did not take heresy in hand. The university retaliated by declaring j
communion under both kinds indispensable to salvation, and designated '
July 6th as the feast of John Huss, which was observed till the seventeenth
century. j
The schism, however, progressed peacefully mitil the dissolution of the
council in 1418. Martin V, the new pope, wished to see active measures j
instituted against heresies. He ordered Sigismmid to have all priests restored i
to the parishes from which they had been driven. Wenceslaus, fearing his
brother would take advantage of this order to have himself made king of
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 209
[1419 A.D.]
Bohemia, willingly complied with the wishes of the pope. This was the
signal for war.
When the Catholic priests, re-entering Prague, wished to go in procession
to the dedication of their churches and threatened with excommunication
those receiving the Eucharist under both kinds, there was a popular rising.
Once Wenceslaus was surroimded in the street by a multitude and was
requested to permit the commimion in both kinds. The king ordered the
people to deliver their arms to him. John of Zizka, one of the popular
leaders, then went to the castle where the king resided and said: "Behold
us with our arms. Where are your enemies?"
The movement spread from Prague to the country. The peasants ceased
to attend the churches when the Catholic curates were installed. The Huss-
ite priests held service in private houses, in barns, even in the open fields.
They also held meetings on hills to which they gave biblical names: Tabor,
from which the Taborites received their name, near Aussig on the Elbe; and
Horeb, near Trebeckovic (Hohenbruck). In July, 1419, the municipal council
of Prague at the instigation of Wenceslaus imprisoned some Hussites. A
great procession formed, marched to the town hall, and demanded the release
of the prisoners. The magistrates refused. In the tumult outside a monk
who carried the chalice was struck by a stone. Zizka and his followers
assaulted the building, ascended the stairways, seized the judge, the burgo-
master, and the councillors, and cast them through the windows upon the
, lances and pikes of those who were below. This was the final humiliation of
King Wenceslaus. That " defenestration, " as it is called in Bohemian history,
caused his death. Seized in the midst of the tumult by an attack of apo-
plexy, he died in August, 1419.
A political question was now added to the religious issue. Sigismund,
the heir to Bohemia, was German, he had allowed Huss to be burned, and
I was a partisan of Martin V. The Germans and Catholics, who belonged to
;the feudal nobility and to the wealthy families of the cities, recognised Sigis-
'mund as the legitimate heir. Among the dissenters, the calixtines agreed
'upon four articles of faith : (1) free preaching of the word of God in the popu-
lar tongue; (2) communion under both kinds; (3) the suppression of eccle-
l^iastical domains; (4) the punishment of public sins of the priests by temporal
'penalties. On these conditions they consented to recognise the rights of
, "sigismund. Much more numerous, however, were the Taborites, whose
loctrines we have described, and the Adamites, the Nicolites, and Horebites,
'ill of them sects whose teachings were socialistic in character. At Prague,
-he more ardent Taborites fell upon the churches and monasteries, destroyed
'he images and pictures, burned the robes and books. The archbishop and
{he cathedral chapter fled; the Germans took refuge in the chateaux. With
.. little activity and energy, a few concessions, and prompt action, Sigismund
'night have gained a following. But he was indolent, and too devoted to
; pleasure. Moreover the Turks were threatening Hungary, and the Hunga-
,ian nobles were unwilling that Sigismund should leave them. The govern-
ment of Bohemia was therefore entrusted to Sophia, widow of Wenceslaus,
{nd Teheiniech, one of the wealthiest lords of the country. They were
;ostile to the popular movements, and civil war commenced. The Czech
:iuse was ably summarised in a pamphlet issued at Prague: "The church
ias treated us as a stepmother. She has raised against us our worst enemies,
jie Germans. What cause of war have they, save their eternal hatred for
jir race? They wish to dominate in Bohemia as in Meissen, in Prussia,
■ id on the Rhine. Who would not resist their hatred? The cross of Christ,
H. W. — VOL. XIV. P
210 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1420-1434 A.D.]
the symbol of all kindness and beauty, has become a sign of massacre and
death. Beloved fellow citizens, you who are devoted to the crown of Bohe-
mia, we pray you to unite with us; remember your ancestors, the ancient
Czechs who passionately loved their country. To arms, to protect our
country against injustice and oppression! By the aid of God we will sustain
our cause!"
siqismund's invasion of boheml\
Sigisraund saw that a war of religion and race was at hand. He made
preparations to invade Bohemia in Silesia and Moravia, and asked Martin V
to preach a crusade against his heretical subjects. With an army of eighty
thousand men he invaded Bohemia in 1420 and captured two fortresses near
Prague. A decisive battle was fought at the hill of Vitkov, which commanded
the northeast of Prague, and was held by the Hussites. On July 14th, while
the troops of the fortresses attracted attention by a sortie, several thousand
cavalry charged the hill. It was almost abandoned by the Hussites. A
handful of Taborites, among them two women and a girl, remained firm.
Zizka came to their aid; his troops were inferior in number and began to
give way, when reinforcements arrived; the Germans were then defeated.
Vitkov then took the name of the mount of Zizka. The fortresses were
retaken by the Bohemians, a few months later the German army was defeated,
and Sigismund evacuated Bohemia.
We are astonished that Sigismund did not find m Catholicism and German
patriotism the necessary resources with which to fight advantageously against
the Hussites and Czechs, who inflicted so much loss on the church and German
influence. Although the universities and the people in Germany were opposed
to the Hussite reform because it was Czech, they were too dissatisfied with
the corruption in the church to defend it with niuch ardour. On the other
hand, the principalities and towns of Germany had become almost autono-
mous through the decline of imperial authority, and were thus incapable of
putting forth serious effort in any cause, however dear to them.
Another cause of Bohemian success was the character of their army.
The German army was feudal in character, each horseman fought indepen-
dently, and a battle was to them a series of duels. Zizka's army was composed
of peasants armed with pikes which terminated in hooks and wooden bars
loaded with iron. In a campaign they were protected by movable walls
formed by chariots covered with boards and attached to each other by iron
chains. Wlien they camped, this was a fortified enclosure; in battle they
cast projectiles from it before attacking the enemy; then they took refuge j
if necessary. If the land were favourable, or sloping, they rolled against I
the enemy their chariots loaded with armed men. Before this democratic |
national army of the Czechs, the German cavalry fell, just as the French !
horsemen had gone down at Crecy and Agincourt before the English archers.
After the death of Zizka in 1424, one of the Taborite leaders, Procopius
the Great, instituted a movement to unite all the Bohemian sects in an offen-
sive war against the Germans, who corresponded to the Midianites and
Amalekites of the Old Testament. Under his leadership, from 1429 to 1434,
the Bohemians made a number of expeditions into Germany .^'^ In Austria
the duke fled before them; they also overran Silesia, Lusatia, Saxony, Bran-
denburg, Bavaria, and Hungary. Not since the invasion of the Hungarians
had Germany suffered so much. " Such was the terror of the Christians,"
says a chronicler, " that, long before the arrival of the heretics, they abandoned
the fortified villages and the forts. Thanks to the universal confusion, the
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 211
[1415-1434 A.D.]
accomplices of the devil reduced the faithful to such misery that they burned
their homes before taknig flight."
In vain Rome appealed to religion for aid to Germany. Cardinal Julian
Cesarini, one of the more popular and courageous priests of the church,
preached a crusade at Nuremberg. He assembled 40,000 cavalry and 90,000
infantry, which crossed the mountains into Bohemia in 1431. Procopius
had 55,000. When the armies were a mile apart, the Germans threw down
their arms and fled in confusion to the frontier. " The flight of the Germans
could not have been more rapid," says the chronicler, "if they had at their
back two hundred thousand enemies." The cardinal barely escaped; he lost
his mantle, his crucifix, and the pontifical bull. "We have sinned against
the Saviour," he said; " he has put his curse upon us, and the Christian people
are punished with anathema."
Thus heresy became the stamp of Czech nationality. In the villages of
Bohemia, the domination of the German patricians passed to the Slav corpo-
rations. The war was notable for the fury and the cruelty characteristic of
religious conflicts. Villages were usually sacked and burned, and prisoners
massacred. The Tabor ites were especially violent against churches and
monasteries. Bohemia lost the admirable religious monuments around which
the piety of the people had heaped treasures and artistic wonders. The
German domination in Bohemia, the work of five centuries, was completely
; broken.
CONDITION OF GERMANY DURING SIGISMUND's REIGN
Since the death of Charles IV Germany had had no real government.
It was only an incoherent agglomeration of states, divided in administrations,
habits, and interests. Princes and bourgeoisie, laymen and ecclesiastics,
i alienated from each other by their ambitions and traditions, were imited
] in hatred and distrust of the central authority. Without permission of the
; king, even without his knowledge, provinces were divided, laws of succession
' were modified, offensive and defensive treaties were signed, and often imperial
I subjects were found m armies hostile to their emperor and to Germany.
The feudal service fell into decay. The imperial passed with the religious
J rights into the hands of the princes. The charters of investiture of the period
igave the lords the right to \e\y at will imposts and aides. There was no
! money and therefore there were no regular troops. There was no army
' except midisciplined masses — numerous, but without cohesion, practice
'in arms, or pay.^
Sigismund in vain strove to bring order out of this confusion. At Con-
i stance, in 1415, he proposed a new city league of which he should be the head.
iThe cities, however, were cautious of any movement led by the emperor,
•and the scheme failed. Sigismmid then suggested a new Landfriede by
! which cities and principalities should be divided into four districts, each
iwith a head and a central bureau organised by the emperor. This plan
'was received with favour by the cities, for it recognised them as equal to
',the feudal powers; but the princes in 1417 pledged themselves against it,
imd similar negotiations for a reform of the empire in 1434 failed on account
;3f the hostility of the territorial princes. ^
; The touii chronicles are full of revolutionary movements in which the
j'evolt against the church was fused with democratic aspirations. At Mainz
!:he corporations rose against the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie against the
Ijlergy; Wiirzburg, Ratisbon, and Bamberg were at war with their bishop;
! Magdeburg made an alliance with many towns of the north against her bishop,
212 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1428-1431 A.D.]
defeated his soldiers, and forced him to take refuge at Stettin; at Speier,
Strasburg, Passau, and Constance there were quarrels between the middle
classes and the labouring people, and between the mimicipality and the
ecclesiastics. The discontent spread to the country districts. In 1428 the
inhabitants of Appenzell were excommunicated because they menaced the
bishop of Constance, the abbot of St. Gall, and the neighbouring lords. A
little later several thousand peasants besieged Worms: they had on their
banner the crucified Christ and demanded that the priests and the Jews
should be put to death because through them scandals had come into the
world. '^
These conditions, as well as the failure to suppress heresy in Bohemia,
revived the old demand for an ecumenical council of the church.
GERMANY AND THE COUNCIL OF BALE (1431-1443 A.D.)
Like the council of Constance, that of Bale was also an international con-
gress. The question of heresy and the reform of ecclesiastical abuse were
agam subjects for deliberation. In place of the schism, there was an equally
absorbing problem — that of the constitutional relation between pope and
council, which should be the supreme source of ecclesiastical authority.
The struggle between the two powers was precipitated by Pope Eugenius
IV. Alarmed by the independent and revolutionary tendencies at Bale,
he made a vain attempt to dissolve the council. The policy of Sigismund
was naturally important for both parties. He had favoured the meeting
of the council by taking it under his imperial protection. But, in 1431, he
decided to make an expedition into Italy for the conquest of Venice and
Florence. He attempted to play the mediator between pope and council,
but failed. Wlien his army was unsuccessful, he encouraged the council
to give the pope the choice of revoking his bull of dissolution and sending a
representative to Bale or of submitting to a charge of contumacy. The
pope was now humbled and the work of the council seemed assured. But
the first step in the revival of papal leadership was an alliance of Eugenius
and Sigismund. At the pope's suggestion, the conflicting claims of Florence,
Venice, Milan, and the emperor were submitted to the arbitration of Niccolo
of Este, lord of Florence. Sigismund recognised Eugenius IV as a "true
and undoubted pope," and promised to act in defence of his holiness "among
all kmgs and princes — all persons in the world, ecclesiastical as well as
secular." The consummation of the alliance was a coronation of Sigismund
by the pope — an event well described by Eberhard Windecke,'^ a contem-
porary German traveller and chronicler .«
The Coronation of Sigismund
On May 12th, St. Pancras' Day, the Roman king entered Rome, and on
Whitsuntide he rode to St. Peter's church. At length pope and emperor
went and took their seats under their respective tabernacles. They stood
while the gospel was read and an office of the Holy Trinity was sung. Then
he, who had been accustomed to crown the emperor (the pope) approached
and placed the crown on the emperor, so that it slanted to the right. The
emperor then kneeled before the pope, when the latter straightway raised
his right foot and removed the crown with it, according to the law and ancient
custom. Then when they sang the gospel and came to the words, "And I
will give you a sword," the pope gave the emperor the sword of a former
CHAELES IV TO SIGISMUND III 213
[1431-1437 A.D.]
emperor, according to custom. When the high office was over, the kiss was
given in Itahan fashion, the pope kissing the emperor on the right cheek
and hkewise the emperor the pope. Then the emperor took his sword in
hand, the pope his cross, and the latter gave his blessing to the emperor .«
The coronation of Sigismmid affected his attitude towards the council.
He still desired its success in its reformatory work, but looked with little
favour on the constitutional problem of the relation of pope and council.
It was due to his influence, as well as to that of other sovereigns of Europe,
'that the council did not depose Eugenius, and that the papal autocracy in
the church was preserved. The coun-
cil then turned to the consideration
of heresy. The invitation to send
representatives to Bale was accepted
by the calixtines or moderate party
in Bohemia. After prolonged de-
bate, the Four Articles of Prague were
accepted as the basis of a compro-
mise. The definition of the articles
and the method by which they should
be enforced in Bohemia were rele-
gated to a diet held at Prague in
, 1434.
CIVIL WAR AND BATTLE OF LIPAN
(1434 A.D.)
But Procopius and the Taborites
were unwilling to be reconciled to
I the church. Civil war in Bohemia
; was the result; the moderate party
i defeated the Taborites at the battle
I of Lipan in May, 1434, in which
Procopius and the flower of his army
] perished. Encouraged by these dis-
; sensions, the representatives of the
j council refused to accept the inter-
i pretations of the Articles of Prague
' offered by the Bohemians. Sigismund
; skilfully took advantage of the situa-
, tion by offering to concede religious
( questions at issue in return for the crown of Bohemia. The Bohemians then
■ re-entered the church without surrendering the principles which had caused
; their separation. They also gained recognition of their nationality, for
: Sigismund promised to appoint only native officials in Bohemia. But he
' made the fatal mistake of encouraging a Catholic reaction. This prolonged
I the strife between Czech and German.
Costume of the Late Fifteenth Century
DEATH OF SIGISMUND (1437 A.D.)
On Sigismund's death, Albert the new emperor was endorsed by the
: Catholic party but rejected by the calixtines; and the religious problem in
' Bohemia continued to dominate political issues.
214 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1135-1415 A.D.]
HOHENZOLLERN AND HABSBURG
Besides the religious dissensions and neighbourhood wars which char-
acterised Sigismund's reign, his policy is notable for one action which was of
great importance for the future of Germany, This was the investiture of the
house of Hohenzollern with Brandenburg, the immediate results of which
foreshadowed the rise of Prussia, the leading state of the modern German
Empire.
Brandenburg included a large stretch of country extending from the Elbe
to the Oder and Vistula. In the early centuries its inhabitants were Slavs
and its conquest and conversion to Christianity were as difficult as those of
Saxony had been. Although the scene of border warfare under the early
German emperors, it was not until about 1135 that it was finally conquered.
The conqueror was the famous Albert the Bear, who fomided the Askanian
house, which with the Wettins and Guelfs ranked among the most powerful
feudal families of Germany. About the middle of the fourteenth century
the Askanian house became extinct, however, and the royal house of Luxem-
burg claimed Brandenburg as fief of the empire. Charles IV had treated
it rather as personal property, however, and willed it to Sigismund. But
Sigismmid had more land than power or money, and in 1411 he made a bar-
gain with the wealthy Frederick of Hohenzollern, burggraf of Nuremberg,
by which Frederick advanced the needy Sigismund 150,000 marks, and
received in turn the stewardship of Brandenburg, or, as the phrase ran, he
became " complete general administrator and highest lord."
The knightly house of Hohenzollern has often been mentioned in the
preceding pages. Originally ow7iers of a single castle on the upper Danube
not very far from the ancestral seat of the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns
had become influential at the Swabian court, and in 1192 Frederick I became
burggraf of Nuremberg, where the family was established, with the rich
territories of Ansbach and Bayreuth spreading on either hand. It was a
Hohenzollern who had saved the day for the first Habsburg, when the troops
of Ottocar went down before the valour of Rudolf I and of Frederick of Nurem-
berg. But wealth rather than valour constituted their strength, and when
in 1415 Sigismund wished to raise more money for his expenses at Constance,
he borrowed 250,000 marks more from his most helpful creditor, and for
his whole debt of 400,000 marks gave up Brandenburg and its electoral
dignity, to the shrewd man of business who was at the head of the Hohen-
zollern house. In this way the Hohenzollerns came to Berlin ! j
There is a strange contrast in the spirit of the two participants in this '
transaction. Sigismund needed the money because he was leaving Con- i
stance for a visit to the kings of Spam, France, and England. It was his 1
dream that he might thus end the schism by bringing Spain in with the \
council; that he might prevent the new outbreak of the Hundred Years'
War which was just bringing Henry V over to the battle-field of Agincourt,
and that then, with a European peace established, he might direct united
Christendom in one grand crusade against the Turks. ^ Against this imprac-
ticable but lofty dream one must place the less imaginative but more practical j
plans of the wealthy count of Nuremberg. Out of the dream of Sigismund (i
came no result but humiliation and failure; out of the business bargain of
Frederick of Hohenzollern came the Prussian kingdom.
' Cf. his speech before the council, iu Vou der Hardt, II, 483.
CHARLES IV TO SIGISMUND III 215
[1415-1437 A.D.]
Indeed the results of the changed position of the Hohenzollerns were at
once apparent in the relations between monarch and vassal. Frederick
began to adopt an mdependent policy. He cast in his sympathies with the
Rhine princes, who were hostile to Sigismimd, opposed the wars against the
Hussites, and, in opposition to the wishes of Sigismund, made an alliance
by marriage with Poland. Thus began that policy of aggrandisement at
the expense of the body of the empire which finally resulted in German revolt
and the formation of an independent kmgdom.
Sigismund died without male heirs. His daughter, Mary, had married
Albert of Habsburg, duke of Austria, and his dying wish was that Duke
Albert should be his successor. But when the college of electors met, there
was a rival candidate, namely, Frederick of Brandenburg. Here was the
prelude of the later conflict of Habsburg and Hohenzollern. Albert was
elected and Frederick resigned his claims. The imperial crown reverted
to the house of Habsburg, which to-day rules Austria. The worthy policy
of Charles IV to establish the house of Luxemburg by alliances with various
kingdoms of the empire and its neighbours, had failed. The Habsburgs
replaced the Luxemburgs, but Sigismund by exalting the Hohenzollerns
did much to establish the rival power which later divided the possessions of
the Habsburgs .«
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CHAPTER VI
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I
[1438-1519 A.D.]
At tliis period Germany, as a state, was little more than a
cipher in the political system of Europe. Full of strength within, it
was yet unable to apply its power. Its constitution, formed upon pre-
scription, was scarcely better than a chaos. Even though the Golden
Bull (1356) had sufficiently determined the relations between the head
of the empire and the chief of its princes, who could say what the
mutual rights of the emperor and the remaining states truly were ?
The degree of authority which he should possess was thus commonly
dependent upon the character and personal power of the emperor.
Under the long reign of Frederick III, who slumbered away above
half a century upon the throne (1440-1492), this authority was nearly
annihilated ; and under that of Maximilian I, notwithstanding the
new institutions, it was, as regarded its own interests, but little
augmented.
On the other hand, there was not one of the remaining princes
of Germany whose power was sufficient to command respect. In
fact, if the impetuous advance of the hereditary foes of Christendom,
who had for fifty years been securely settled in the east of Europe,
had not frequently compelled the Germans to make common cause
against them, there seems to be no reason why the bands of the empire
should not have been wholly dissolved. — Heeren.'
There could hardly be a doubt as to the man upon whom the electors
would confer the crown after Sigismund's death. To be sure. Elector Fred-
erick of Brandenburg wished to place himself or one of his sons on the throne;
but fortune did not favour the ambition of the Hohenzollerns, since the north,
like the Wittelsbachs, had to bear the burden of royal duties and to support
the Habsburgs, who had entered into the inheritance of the former Luxem-
burg rivals. Albert of Habsburg, who was lord of Upper and Lower Austria,
and who held the cro-wn of Bohemia and Hungary, was the strongest prince of
the empire. He did not solicit the crown, but not to elect him would have
216
ALBERT II, FEEDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 217
[1438-1439 A.D.]
meant the provocation of a new civil war, at least it would have resulted in the
separation of Bohemia and Austria from the empire. On March 18, 1438 he
was unanimously chosen king by the electors at Frankfort. A brave, earnest,
and energetic administrator; a bold, valiant soldier, Albert was not unworthy
of the long line of rulers which his house gave to the German throne.
He strove for the establishment of a new Landfriede, and likewise turned
his attention to the schism which had broken out between Pope Eugenius IV
and the council of Bale,
with the hope of rais-
ing the secular power
and of ending the mis-
government in the
church. Unfortunately
the conditions in his in-
herited kingdom were
not such as to admit of
much activity on his
part in the empire.
The Taborites and the
radical calixtines would
not accept a Catholic
duke who had used his
sword for Sigismund in
the Hussite wars. He
was indeed recognised
king of Bohemia after
the reconciliation of
Sigismund with Catho-
lics and moderate ca-
lixtines in 1436, and
was crowned in 1438 at
Iglau, but the anti-
Austrian party gave its
allegiance to Kasimir
of Poland. A civil war
followed. Before Al-
bert's power in Bohe-
mia was fully secured,
an attack of Murad II
called him into Hungary. With determination he undertook the defence of
the country but received little aid from the Hungarian nobles, who thought
more of their privileges and the expulsion of the Germans from their land,
than the protection of the boundaries. From his residence in the swampy,
low comitry of the Theiss and Danube he contracted a fever, and died in Octo-
iber, 1439, in the beginnmg of his forty-second year.^
1 The reign of Albert is notable not for itself, for in spite of all his splendid
Isnergy, Albert was unable in the two short years of his reign, to accomplish
'tnuch; but it marks a great mile-stone in both Habsburg and imperial history.
■.From his reign until the empire was dismembered at the dictation of Napoleon,
l^vith but an insignificant interruption, the throne was in the possession of the
iHabsburg family. The growth of their power, however, was particularly
jiccomplished in the reign of the next emperor, Frederick III — perhaps the
inost unpractical, incompetent, and absurd figure in the unperial history, who
Albert II (1397-1439)
(After a woodcut of ca. 1515)
218 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1440-1452 A.D.]
by a strange stroke of fate gave his descendants the richest heritage Qf
Europe o
FREDERICK III (1439-1493 A.D.)
The same considerations which had caused the election of Albert II led the
electors to unite on Duke Frederick of Styria (Steiermark) at their meeting at
Frankfort on February 2, 1440. Frederick with his brother had possession of
Inner Austria. As head of the Habsburgs he was guardian of Sigismund, the
head of the Tyrol and Hither Austria, and, although he did not preserve the
guardianship of the prospective thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, he was the
natural representative of the rights which the Habsburgs had acquired over
those lands. As one of the strongest German princes, he was called to assume
the cro-^Ti and defend the rights of the empire.
Frederick was no warrior at heart, he was strongly prejudiced against
using violent means to enforce his decisions ; but he had the quiet, phlegmatic
Habsburg faculty for diplomacy. He had strong faith in the future greatness
of his house. He cast his eye to the hazy distance and was too often an
inactive spectator of the present. It was natural that such a ruler should do
nothing toward introducing the reforms needed in the empire. The indiscre-
tion with which the German states always followed their ovm. interests, and
the difficulty of dealing with them, increased during this reign. Although
Frederick, in spite of all his weakness, never surrendered any of the theoretical
claims of the imperial authority, yet he never was man enough to take prac-
tical steps for their defence.
The first problem before him was that of the church. The neutrality
which the electors had adopted toward the quarrel of Eugenius IV and the
council of Bale, had put an end to the worst abuses of papal administration in
Germany.^ But when Eugenius was deposed and a new pope, Felix \ (Duke
Amadeus A^III of Savo}^), was elected by the council, it was impossible for the
ecclesiastical issue not to become a matter of political importance. If a
council might depose a pope at will, why might not the nobles or the people
depose a king? Frederick and the sovereigns of Europe naturally refused to
recognise Felix V and remained faithful to Eugenius. Through the diplomacy
of ^Eneas Sylvius the German princes were persuaded to remain loyal to
Eugenius and a concordat regulating the relations of Germany to the papal
curia was drawn up (1446). The council of Bale was now but a name: it
adjourned to Lausanne and dissolved three years later (1449). In a few years
all the abuses arising from papal administration were revived in Germany;
the councils of Constance and Bale had failed to accomplish the reforms
expected of them.
Frederick's loyalty to the papal cause was rewarded by coronation at Rome
in 1452, by Eugenius' successor, Nicholas V. With meagre equipment,
without escort of electors or great princes, Frederick journeyed to Italy.
iEneas Sylvius, his secretary, later Pope Pius II, gives the following account
of the last imperial coronation at Rome.«
After all preparations had been made, the Roman bishop took his place
before the high altar of St. Peter upon a high throne, while the cardinals took
up their positions on his right and the bishops and the rest of the prelates on
liis left. Outside the screen were two raised seats, one designed for Frederick,
the other for Leonora,^ but a free passage was left so that the ascent from here
to the altar should be open. Leonora, who had betaken herself in good time to
' Frederick's wife, a Portuguese princess, whom he had recently married.
ALBERT II, FEEDEEICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 219
[1453 A. D.]
her seat iii the company of her maids of honour, drew all eyes upon her; she
was a winning maid both owmg to her natural charms and her tasteful attire.
Frederick was conducted by a number of cardmals to the chapel, called
"twixt the Towers," and here swore allegiance to St. Peter, Pope Nicholas,
and his successors, in the form used by Louis the son of Charlemagne, as the
papal decrees assure us. Here the alb was also put on him, and he was
adopted as a canon of St. Peter; on this occasion he gave to his confratres, the
canons, as many of them as were present, a kiss. Without pausing he then
proceeded in the midst of the cardinals to the main portal of the church.
When he had reached this a most solemn blessing was spoken over him by
Cardinal Pietro of San ]\Iarco, a nephew of Eugenius IV. Thereupon he
entered the chapel of St. Gregory, put on sandals, assumed the tunic, and
received the imperial cloak. When immediately after this he came into the
middle aisle of the basilica, the blessing was pronounced upon him by a second
cardinal. And again a third time he was blessed at the screen of St. Peter.
Then he was led to the altar of St. Maurice, and, in accordance with ancient
usage, anointed with the sacred oil between the shoulder blades and on the
right arm by the cardinal of Porto, the vice-chancellor of that time. In the
same places his consort Leonora was anointed. After this had been done both
went to their seats. Then the pope began the high office, and at the celebration
many solemn usages introduced by the ancient fathers of the church were
observed. In turn there were handed to him the sceptre, by which the fulness
of royal power was denoted, the apple of the empire, which is the usual repre-
sentation of world sovereignty, and the sword which means the right to make
war. Finally, the golden cro^\ai, invested with the mitre and studded with
precious jewels, was placed upon his imperial head. The empress also
received, after the emperor, a crown from the pope's hand, from which it was
established that she descended from the wife of Sigismund.
But the emperor, although he had bought adornment for himself at an
incredible price, yet on this solemn occasion had caused to be sent from the
archives at Nuremberg the cloak, the sword, the sceptre, the apple, and the
crown of Charlemagne, as tradition describes them, and of these pieces he had
made use. For this advantage is conceded to antiquity that ancient objects
command a higher degree of veneration, while new ones lack reputation.
But if this really was the fuiery of Charlemagne then without doubt did the
princes and kmgs of the old days look less to the magnificence of their dress
and more to the glory of their name; then did they prefer to do brilliant deeds,
rather than wear shining raiments.
Meanwhile for me, seeing that I examined the separate pieces more
closely, the impression could not be stifled, as I looked at the sword, that this;
I did not belong to the first Charles (to Charlemagne), but to the fourth Charles
who was the father of Sigismund. For, richly engraved upon it, was the
; Bohemian lion which the latter bore as king of Bohemia. But among the
populace the rmiiour prevailed that these were the ornaments of Charlemagne.
I For the great fortune of so famous a man will have it so, that to him shall be
I credited also that which belongs to others called Charles; just as the Theban
; Hercules has collected in his person the heroic feats of the rest of the men who
\ went by his name, and much is told of Julius Caesar which was accomplished
I after him by other ca?sars. So important a thing is it to be first in the field.
I But if, as I am convinced, those pieces date from the time of Charles IV, then
' we must marvel all the more that in so short a time ornaments have made
such strides, so that the costume of Charles may be regarded as that of a
peasant, if it is set by the side of the extraordinarily rich and brilliant posses-
220 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1452-1453 A.D.]
sions of our Frederick. Would that we excelled our old predecessors as pre-
eminently in virtue as we do in idle frippery.
But while Nicholas set the crown upon the imperial head, the bishop's
mitre all but fell off his own cranium, which some took for an evil omen for the
pope, saying that from this could be prophesied the attack made later in the
same year by Stefano Porcaro, who nearly succeeded in murdering the pope.
Yet by the grace of God was Pope Nicholas saved, and he fortunately pre-
served his position
for yet a few
years. The mis-
creant was seized
and did penance
for the evil de-
sign, for an end
was put to his life
by strangulation
in the castle of
Crescentius.c
Fredericks Mis-
government in
Germany
Frederick's
reign began with
much talk of
peace, under the
peace-lovmg king,
who bore such an
auspicious name,
(Frederick, from
Friede, peace).
But indolence is
not a good guar-
antee of peace, and
Germany suffered
more disasters
under his long
reign than had
been its lot since
the Interregnum. In the first place he attempted to reduce Switzerland to
its ancient dependence upon the Habsburgs, and mvited in French assis-
tance. The Swiss heroically maintained their independence, and the French
troops, defeated in battle, turned into bands of robbers who plundered Alsace
and Swabia. They were the same "free companies," who during the Hundred
Years' War had learned their savage business from captains like Du Guesclin,
Their bandit life was not the only evil in the south, however. The cities
and the princes were again at war. Thirty-one cities united against the
princes of Baden, Austria, Wiirtemberg, and Brandenburg. The same
anarchy reigned in the north, but worse than all the frontiers were agam
attacked, especially upon the west, where the great house of Burgundy was
at the height of its power.«^
' See volume on France.
Frederick III (1415-1493)
(After the woodcut portrait by Hans Burgkmair)
ALBERT IT, FEEDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 221
[1454-1477 A. D.]
The solidarity of the empire was broken up by neighbouring states. The
ancient possessions of the Luxemburgs, the duchy of Luxemburg, and the
Wittelsbach possessions in the Netherlands fell to Burgundy; the Poles
seized West Prussia, made the land conquered by the Teutonic knights a
vassal state and reduced the German colonies on the Baltic, while the union
of Schleswig-Holstein with Denmark extended the Danish boundaries to
Hamburg and Liibeck.
Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that the necessity for a stronger
leadership in the empire was felt. From 1454 an idea developed of deposing
Frederick or of choosing a Roman king as a fellow administrator of the empire.
Duke Philip of Burgundy, Albert VI of Austria, and Elector Frederick of the
Palatinate were suggested for such an office. Even King George Podiebrad,
who had succeeded Albert IPs son Wladislaw as king of Bohemia, hoped to
be named king of the Romans with the consent of the emperor. But all
these attempts failed on account of the resistance of Frederick and the lack
of unity among the electors. But the desire for a reform by the empire
became stronger; the negotiations were not given up; but they were prolonged
by the resistance of the emperor to the curtailment of his theoretical
sovereignty and the aversion of the princes to the limitation of their actual
authority. Yet new Landfrieden were proclaimed which were no better than
those of former years.
Frederick's influence in the eastern part of the empire and in his inherited
! territory was weakened by his neighbours as well as by domestic dissensions.
' George Podiebrad of Bohemia threatened Austria, and King Matthias, who
had succeeded Ladislaus of Hungary, not only increased his kingdom by
taking Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia from Podiebrad; he also conquered
Austria, Styria, and Carinthia. He almost brought to pass his dream of a
powerful kingdom in the heart of Europe, a union of German, Slavonic, and
I Hungarian provinces, which had also been the dream of Ottocar and the first
Habsburgs.
The Revival of Habsburg Power
But after these humiliations the power of the Habsburgs revived. On
I the boundary of Germany and France the strong kingdom of Burgundy
developed. Philip of Burgundy planned to found a new kingdom of Lor-
raine, and perhaps to procure for his house the imperial crown. But the
obstinacy of Frederick prevented his realising this ambition. He was indeed
inclined to make the duke king of Brabant, but he would not give up his
feudal rights over the German provinces belonging to Burgundy. Philip's
;plans were also those of his son, Charles the Bold. He wished to be elected
iking of the Romans with the consent of Frederick III, and offered in return
the marriage of his daughter Mary to Maximilian, Frederick's son. In
December, 1473, Frederick and Charles met at Treves to come to an under-
; standing in regard to the marriage and the royal authority of Charles. The
I emperor refused the election of Charles to the Roman kingship, as well as the
formation of Burgundy into a separate kingdom. Charles was disappointed.
';He then turned his influence against Frederick on the Rhine, encouraged the
■Jonfusion in the archdiocese of Treves, and defended Neuss in a rebellion
'igainst the empire. The outbreak of a war with Switzerland, however,
jlrew his attention from Germany, and in January, 1477, he lost his life in an
pbscure battle with the Swiss at Nancy. Louis XI of France did not hesitate
'0 take advantage of Charles' death. He seized Picardy, Artois, the duchy
!>f Burgundy, and many cities of Flanders. Maximilian now went to the
222 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1477-1493 A.D.]
Netherlands, and in August, 1477, married Mary of Burgundy. It was
necessary to take up arms to defend the possessions of his wife against the
French. His brilhant victory at Gumegate (August 7th, 1479) won for him
the reputation of a hero, and secured the Netherlands for the house of Habs-
burg. After the death of Mary, he signed the treaty of Arras (1482) by which
he yielded to the French the duchy of Burgundy and Picardy, while Artois,
Macon, Franche-Comte, and Auxerre were later given to the dauphin as the
dowry of his wife, Maxhnilian's daughter.
The death of Matthias of Hungary in 1490 opened the way for a further
realisation of Habsburg ambition. Austria and the Tyrol were again united
and the acquisition of Hmigary and Bohemia also seemed possible. So the
old Frederick lived to see his fortunes changed from the deepest humiliation
to dazzling greatness, a change, indeed, in which he took no active part.
In the empire, at last, the work of reform reached solid ground for future
development in the establishment of the Swabian League, which aimed at
peaceful settlement of old matters of feud. In the different territories there
was now displayed a growing artistic, scientific, and political activity. At
the same time the w^eakness of the imperial constitution was deeply felt, in
contrast to those in the neighbouring monarchies, which had so suddenly
reached their prime. Already great hopes were placed upon the young
Maximilian. Frederick III, however, spent the last years of his life buried
in the experiments and mysterious sciences of alchemy and astrology. He
died at Linz on the nmeteenth of August, 1493, after a reign whose fruitless
inactivity had stretched out for over half a century.^
The actual events of Frederick's reign w^e have passed over quickly and
with but slight attention. We shall now glance at his character and his
government through the two most widely different sources that is possible to
find. The naive Griinbeck, whose simple attachment to his master makes
his contemporary picture grotesque as it is graphic, and the cold scholarly
science of the great modern historian Ranke. The one speaks to us of Fred-
erick the man, the other of the land he governed."
Griinheck's Description of Frederick's Old Age
WTien he began to be oppressed by the inconveniences of enfeebled health
he chose as a resting place the castle of Linz, which in consequence of its
antiquity threatened to fall into ruins. On this he caused to be built a
number of watch towers, which people at that time were wont to call mouse
traps, and which faced all the four quarters of heaven, so that he could keep
off encroachment by strangers and particularly also by his dependents.
Hence amongst players and gormandisers arose the habit of saying that the
emperor had become a mouse-killer; he was accustomed to admit none who
appeared on imperial affairs but granted access to flies and gnats only. But
evil gossip on all sides was poured upon him by the tongue-wagglers who were
cut off from the chance of increasing their store of usurious gain. Ridicule
and contempt of this kind, however, he knew how to shake off from his should-
ers with ease. Shut off from the outer world the emperor devoted himself in
the fulness of leisure and repose to mathematical science, obtaining from the
teachers of this art the most accurate information concernmg the movements
of the stars, the relations between land and sea, the various compositions of
the whole world, and he acquired such intmiate and marked knowledge of
the celestial science, that he foresaw from the coincidence of the stars several
future events that took place. There are also extant prophecies dra\\Ti by
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I
hi3 own hand with regard to the whole career of his son MaximiUan and of his
end. One day, the talk falling on the fate of mdividuals, he jestingly prophe-
sied for one of his secretaries a terrible and dishonourable death; whereupon
the man immediately committed suicide by hanging himself. Furthermore
in the royal libraries
may be seen me-
morials in writing of
his hand, in which
from the hour of na-
tivity he has calcu-
lated the natural
proclivities, and the
character of certain
kings and even from
facial traits and from
the lines of the hands
he has foretold down
to all the details
events that were to
happen in the near
or in the remote fu-
ture in a cunning
> fashion, and in a way
in every respect con-
sonant with the
truth. Men there
are, I make no doubt,
; who maintain that
I he fooled himself
; with idle tricks of
magic; yet he used
the night more than
the day for these
; occupations of his as
! altogether for a re-
lief from imperial
'affairs. For the
most part his habit
was to watch until
,past midnight, but then as a consequence to extend his night's rest until the
I third hour of the day.
Collections of picked gems and pearls he possessed in great nmnber, and
;of immense value too, not so much to appease his zeal for collecting by their
; natural colour and the beauty of their form, but much more to make a show to
|foreign kings and to awake their desire, or rather their envy. For in the
'(decoration of the crown and of the imperial cloak he is said to have spent three
': hundred thousand gold gulden in the purchase of pearls and cut stones and to
have paid for the gold sewing and the finishers of the crown a sum of ten thou-
sand gold gulden apiece. The trustworthiness of this statement is confirmed
I by the English jewelers, who, when they saw the emperor in the glory of his
imperial dignity, with the mitre set in jewels, estunated his dress and crown
■it a million. How great his pleasure in these collections was, may be gathered,
lowever, from the circumstance that at the buying of them he used all kinds
Medieval Town
(From a pen-and-ink drawing of 1491)
S24 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
of artifice and always established the weight of the pearls with his own hands.
When it was necessary to take precautions against the deceits of the dealers,
he did not omit to test the gems and pearls, and when he discovered false
pieces or pieces of imitation he rescinded the deal and sent the swindler about
his business. Futhermore he learned great skill in the transformation of
metals and in their intermixture, and how to make orpiment from quicksilver
by an admixture of powder, and to produce genuine gold from pure orpiment
by smelting and bj'' the addition of certain other ingredients, and how from
the shavings of this to make a water that healed many diseases. In the
pursuit of such occupations he closed his life at an advanced age.
The strictly appointed hours for fulfilling religious duties he observed
punctually and with warm devotion, whenever his bodily condition permitted
it ; apart from this he also found time in his leisure hours at night as well as by
day for directing his prayers to heaven. Such was the piety with which he
always turned his thoughts to the divinity in heaven that not only did he have
the houses of worship decorated with purple hangings and baldaquins, with
golden apparel magnificently elaborated, with representations of weapons,
pictures of the finest execution, with vestments, wax candles, and other orna-
ments for the sanctuaries, but he also constructed a whole number of new
chapels from their foundations upward.
And, for that he devoted especial reverence to St. George, he determined
that all men should regard him in all the distresses of war as a sacred pro-
tection and fellow combatant, and as such they should appeal to him. Hence
it is that the most famous societies and knightly orders m the German lands
have risen under the name of this saint and under his protection have executed
all their glorious deeds both at home and in war. Certain orders of priests also
the emperor inaugurated, which differed from the other ecclesiastical converts
not so much in their garb, its colour and cut — for they wear two long linen
bands in which crosses are inserted back and front — as in their customs and
ceremonies. He also provided them in the most sumptuous way with per-
petual rents and in the end tacitly allowed himself to be publicly described as
one of these priests of St. George without fuller title. Upon no other enter-
prise did he ever bring so warm an interest to bear as upon the growth and
development of this, his new foundation.
It was his habit, as often as he felt an inclination to eat, at every time and in
every place, even whilst driving in a carriage, to consume sweet pears, peaches,
or apricots. Sometmies he breakfasted so late in the morning that the food
which had been brought up cooked had to be cooked all afresh to avoid its
going bad. Rarely he indulged in great carousals, and when he did it was in
order partly to make a show with his riches, or partly for imperial reasons that
he sometimes invited certain princes, entertaining them at the board and
cajoling them in the most endearing fashion with the choicest dainties. On
such occasions he would thaw and be full of conversation, telling without
exaggeration of his experiences and the vicissitudes of fortune, and giving a
perfectly true account of the history of his ancestors. Moreover he had the
pleasures of the table seasoned with comic presentations by jesters, just as also
he would interrupt breakfast, the midday meal, or supper in this way and pro-
tract the conversation until far into the night. All the days of his life it must
be admitted he was sober and drank no wine; only occasionally he relished
the taste of the fresh grape juice when it was quite sweet from the wine-press,
or the young wine of Pucinum. So also he had an especial liking for the grapes
of Triest and Rsetia, which he seemed not to suck dry but to eat up altogether.
When he began to be oppressed with sleep, he would sleep as a rule not longer
ALBEET II, FEEDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I
22Z
than five hours, and even then not without interruption but in such a way that
within this space of time he would wake several times. And when he could
not recapture the sleep that had been broken into, he left his bed, seated him-
self on a stool, and summoned his personal attendant in order to hold converse
with him. Then he made a fresh attempt to sleep, or wandered round the
room until fatigue seerned to overmaster him. Thereupon he protracted his
rest until the fifth or sixth hour of the day, and if he caught anybody who
waked him he upbraided him roundly, into such an irritable mood was he put
by staying up until early morning.
Now because marvels and prophecies usually denote the death of men of
high degree, I deem it suitable at this place
to introduce what marvels befell him, my
king, before he died. From them he could
foresee clearly and unmistakably his death and
the dangers which threatened the empire in
the future. First of all there fell a number
of stones from heaven, and stones of immense
weights, but one of them exceeded all the
others in size. This one, triangular and show-
ing on its surface traces of burning in its colour
and in the form of the metal, may be seen to
this day in the possession of the Sebusiani;
it came thundering down through the air out
of a bright sky and had powerfully agitated
the minds of all the inhabitants. Then ex-
traordinary stars, such as antiquity was ac-
customed to describe as comets, had shone m
the sky. Furthermore the dwellings in which
the emperor was wont to pass the night were
' so frequently struck with lightning and some
: of the places of preservation for his collections
of gems caught fire and burned in such won-
' drous wise through the flashes, that the em-
, peror no longer held such happenings for
1 prophecies, but declared them to be the mis-
1 chievous teasing of nature, such as she may
. daily be observed to offer. Also a number of
: household animals, with which the emperor al-
■ ways delighted in busying himself in all times
; of adversity, having the knack of enlivening himself through them, came to an
' end before his eyes through wonderful incidents. Thus amongst other occur-
I rences, an ostrich was hurled over a bridge by a whirlwmd, and to the greatest
, horror and sorrow of all broke its neck. All this kind of marvels the emperor
; had not needed to note any further, had not he fuially encountered a prophetic
i indication unheard of and unprecedented which conveyed to him complete
I certainty concerning his end. One of his legs had been devoured all over by a
1 continuous suppuration, and so ill luck would have it that, in consequence of
■the eating away of the lower thigh bone and the lesion of the joint, the whole
;leg had to be completely severed with an iron instrument from the sole of the
ifoot to right above the knee cap.' This malignant blow of fate the emperor
i [' He had a habit of thrusting back his right foot and closing the doors behind him with it ;
'.but one day, kicking out too violently, he so injured his leg that the physicians were obliged to
iimputate it. — Bayard Tatlou.'"]
H. W. — VOL. XIV. Q
Musician or the Fifteenth Cen-
tury
226
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1493 A.D.]
bore with far less equanimnity than all the pains which the saw caused him.
How hardly he bore his ill fortune is clear from the complaints which he
uttered, under the most excruciating pain, to the surgeons and physicians who
were attending on him. For instance he said: "Woe to thee. Emperor Fred-
erick, that thou must receive the abominable by-name of the Lame from all
posterity, for that everything which may be set down of thy deeds to the last
years of thy life will happen under the auspices of this foul title." Finally
when the leg had been cut off and he had taken it in his hand he observed:
" Now has a foot been taken at once from the emperor and the empire. On
the whole and hearty condition of the emperor depended the welfare of the
empire. Now both are robbed of all hope ; both of us now have plunged from
the summit of our fame into the depths!" That this premonition was no
erroneous one is clearly proved by the subsequent vicissitudes of fortune to
which affairs were subjected and the thousand dangers
which beset him who bore the sovereign power.
Death of Frederick (lJt93 A.D.) \
After he had governed the empire for fifty-four j
years, he died on the 14th before the Kalends of Sep- j
tember, in his seventy-eighth year, his death being almost '
milder and gentler than can be imagined, for the
flame of life in such an old man burns with but
feeble glimmer, and as the days go on the natural
heat of the body is wont to decline gradually.
With a marked preference he ate fresh fruits. On the
said day he was going through the festival of the As-
cension of the Virgin Mary and so took to himself only
bread and water, but before partaking of the morning
soup he was handed melons, and, being accustomed up
till now to indulge his inclinations to eat when similar
tempting fruit was offered him, he immediately conveyed
the unripe fruit to his empty stomach. Through its
cold juice the little warmth of vitality that still re-
mained in him was soon completely extinguished. Thus
I S^^ without a murmur he breathed forth his soul and left be-
ll \w hind him, as a legacy, a glorious memory, as it is writ in
the history books, for that no emperor among the sov-
ereigns from the time of Augustus onwards held the
reigns of government longer, with greater justice, and
with equal gentleness. For after he had ruled for fifty-
four years and restored peace to a great portion of the whole world he quitted
this world and went up into heaven.
When he was dead, the bowels were at once taken from the body and the
body — as is the custom with the corpses of princes — was embalmed. Then
the bowels were placed upon the chief altar in the church at Linz, but the
corpse was put in a coffin and conveyed thence by vessel up the Danube to
Vienna and placed with the customary pomp m the cathedral of St. Stephen
in the vault of the princes of Austria. Hereupon began the funeral rites, and
it would have been hardly possible to add to the number of bishops and clergy
who appeared and sang hymns and said numerous masses for the dead, nor to
the magnificent aspect of the cathedral in which the solemn function took
place, nor to the masses of servants who were present^ each of whom was
Court Attendant of
THE Fifteenth Cen-
TmiY
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 227
[ca. 1450-1500 A.D.]
dressed in mourning and provided with a torch and could not give enough
expression to his sorrow, nor finally to the number of candles which burned
round the hearse. In the meanwhile numerous funeral orations and pane-
gyrics were recited in honour of the dead man in which were expressed a deep
regret, so that of all those thousands you could see no single one, into whose
eyes the tears were not constantly coming. So great were the merits acquired
by the emperor Frederick all over the world [concludes Griinbeck], that his
inevitable death cannot be sufficiently mourned and lamented in Germany .<^
RANKE ON THE ALTERED CHARACTER OF THE EMPIRE
The most remarkable fact in the history of this century in Germany was
that the imperial throne was no longer able to afford support and protection.
The empire had assumed a position analogous to that of the papacy, but
extremely subordinate in power and authority.
It is important to recollect that, for more than a century after Charles IV
had fixed his seat in Bohemia, no emperor appeared endowed with the vigour
necessary to uphold and govern the empire. The bare fact that Charles'
successor, Wenceslaus, was a prisoner in the hands of the Bohemians, remained
for a long time unknown in Germany; a simple decree of the electors sufficed
to dethrone him. Rupert the palatine only escaped a similar fate by death.
When Sigismund of Luxemburg (who after many disputed elections kept
possession of the field), four years after his election, entered the territory of
the empire of which he was to be crowned sovereign, he found so little sym-
pathy that he was for a moment inclined to return to Hungary, without
accomplishing the object of his journey. The active part he took in the
affairs of Bohemia, and of Europe generally, has given him a name; but in
; and for the empire he did nothing worthy of note. Between the years 1422
and 1430 he never made his appearance beyond Vienna; from the autumn
;0f 1431 to that of 1433 he was occupied with his coronation journey to Rome;
; and during the three years from 1434 to his death he never got beyond Bohe-
,mia and Moravia; nor did Albert II, who has been the subject of such lavish
eulogy, ever visit the dominions of the empire. Frederick III, however, far
outdid all his predecessors. During seven-and-twenty-years, from 1444 to
'1471, he was never seen within the boundaries of the empire.
Hence it happened that the central action and the visible manifestation
of sovereignty, in as far as any such existed in the empire, fell to the share of
the princes, and more especially of the prince-electors. In the reign of Sigis-
tniind we find them convoking the diets, and leading the armies into the
field against the Hussites; the operations against the Bohemians were attrib-
uted entirely to them.
' In this manner the empire became, like the papacy, a power which acted
;'rom a distance, and rested chiefly upon opinion. The throne, fomided on
ionquest and arms, had now a pacific character and a conservative tendency.
' Yet the emperor was regarded, in the first place, as the supreme feudal
Jord, who conferred on property its highest and most sacred sanction; as
;he supreme fountam of justice, from whom, as the expression was, all the
■ompulsory force of law emanated. It is very curious to observe how the
[hoice that had fallen upon him was announced to Frederick III — by no
jieans the mightiest prince in the empire; how immediately thereupon the
•atural relations of things were reversed, and "his royal high mightiness"
'.remised confirmation m their rights and dignities to the very men who had
'ist raised him to the throne. All hastened to obtain his recognition of
228
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
their privileges and possessions ; nor did the cities perform their act of homage
till that had taken place. Upon his supreme guarantee rested that feeling
of legitimacy, security, and permanence which is necessary to all men, and
more especially dear to Germans. "Take away from us the rights of the
emperor," says a law-book of that time, "and who can say. This house is
mine, this village belongs to me?" A remark of profound truth; but it
followed thence that the emperor could not arbitrarily exercise rights of
which he was deemed the source. He might give them up; but he himself
must enforce them only within the narrow limits prescribed b}^ traditional
usage, and by the superior control of his subjects. Although he was regarded
as the head and source of all temporal jurisdiction,
yet no tribunal found more doubtful obedience than
his own.
The fact that royalty existed in Germany had
almost been suffered to fall into oblivion ; even the
title had been lost. Henry VH thought it an
affront to be called king of Germany, and not, as he
had a right to be called before any ceremony of
coronation, king of the Romans. In the fifteenth
century the emperor was regarded pre-eminently
as the successor of the ancient Roman csesars,
whose rights and dignities had been transferred,
first to the Greeks, and then to the Germans, m the
persons of Charlemagne and Otto the Great ; as the
true secular head of Christendom. Emperor Sig-
ismund commanded that his corpse should be ex-
posed to view for some days; in order that every
one might see that " the Lord of all the world was
dead and departed."
"We have chosen your royal grace," say the
electors to Frederick III (1440 a.d.), "to be the
head, protector, and governor of all Christendom."
They go on to express the hope that this choice may
be profitable to the Roman church, to the whole of
Christendom, to the holy empire, and to the com-
mimity of Christian people. Even a foreign mon-
arch, Wladislaw of Poland, extols the felicity of the newly elected emperor,
in that he was about to receive the diadem of the monarchy of the world.
The imperial dignity, stripped of all direct executive power, had indeed no
other significance than that which results from opinion. It gave to law and
order their living sanction; to justice its highest authority; to the sover-
eignties of Germany their position in the world. It had properties wh'ch,
for that period, were indispensable and sacred. It had a manifest analogy
with the papacy, and was bound to it by the most intimate connection.
Courtier of the Fifteenth
Century
THE DOMINANCE OF PAPAL AUTHORITY
I
Hence we see that the German people thought themselves boimd in
allegiance to the papal, no less than to the imperial authority; but as the
papal authority had, in all the long struggles of successive ages, invariably
come off victorious, while the imperial had often succumbed, the pope exer-
cised a far stronger and more wide-spread influence, even in temporal things,
than the emperor. An act of arbitrary power, which no emperor could ever
ALBERT II, FREDEEICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 229
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
have so much as contemplated — the deposition of an electoral prince of
the empire — was repeatedly attempted, and occasionally even accomplished,
by the popes. They bestowed on Italian prelates, bishoprics as remote as
that of Kammin. By then- annates, pallia, and all the manifold dues exacted
by the curia, they drew a far larger (Maximilian I said, a hundred times
larger) revenue from the empire than the emperor; their vendors of indul-
gences incessantly traversed the several provmces of the empire. Spiritual
and temporal principalities and jurisdictions were so closely interwoven as to
afford them continual opportunities of interfering in the civil affairs of Ger-
many.
Gregory VII's comparison of the papacy to the sun and of the empire
to the moon was now verified. The Germans regarded the papal power as
in every respect the higher. When, for example, the town of Bale founded
its high-school, it was debated whether, after the receipt of the brief containing
the pope's approbation, the confirmation of the emperor was still necessary;
and it was at length decided that it was not, since the inferior power could
not confirm the decisions of the superior, and the papal see was the well-head
of Christendom. The pretender to the Palatinate, Frederick the Victorious,
whose electoral rank the emperor refused to acknowledge, held it sufficient
to obtain the pope's sanction, and received no further molestation in the
exercise of his privileges as member of the empire. The judge of the kings
court havmg on some occasion pronounced the ban of the empire on the
council of Liibeck, the council obtained a cassation of this sentence from
the pope.
However great was the devotion of the princes to the see of Rome, they
felt the oppressiveness of its pecuniary exactions; and more than once the
spirit of the Bale decrees, or the recollections of the proceedings at Constance,
manifested themselves anew. We find draughts of a league to prevent the
constitution of Constance, according to which a council should be held every
\ ten years, from falling into utter desuetude. After the death of Nicholas V,
the princes urged the emperor to seize the favourable moment for asserting
the freedom of the nation, and at least to take measures for the complete
execution of the agreement entered into with Eugenius; but Frederick III
;was deaf to their entreaties. ^Eneas Sylvius persuatled him that it was
necessary for him to keep well with the pope. He brought forward a few
commonplaces concerning the instability of the multitude, and then natural
hatred of their chief — just as if the princes of the empire were a sort of
democracy; the emperor, said he, stands in need of the pope, and the pope
of the emperor; it would be ridiculous to offend the man from whom we
;fvant assistance. He himself was sent, in 1456, to tender miconditional
iDbedience to Pope Calixtus. This inmiediately revived the old spirit of
resistance. An outline was drawTi of a pragmatic sanction, m which not only
;ill the charges against the papal see were recapitulated in detail, and redress
of grievances proposed, but it was also determined what was to be done, in
'iase of a refusal; what appeal was to be made, and how the desired end was
',;0 be attamed. But what result could be anticipated while the einperor,
:ar from taking part in this plan, did everything he could to thwart it? He
sincerely regarded himself as the natural ally of the papacy.
; The mevitable effect of this conduct on his pare was, that the discontent
l>f the electors, already excited by the inactivity and the absence of the
fmperor, occasionally burst out violently against him. As early as the year
' 456 they required him to repair on a given day to Nuremberg, because it was
lis office and duty to bear the burden of the empire in an honourable manner;
230 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
if he did not appear, they at any rate, would meet, and do what was incum-
bent on them. As he neither appeared then nor afterwards, in 1460 they sent
him word that it was no longer consistent with their dignity and honour to
remain without a head. They repeated their summons that he should appear
on the Tuesday after Epiphany, and accompanied it with still more vehement
threats. They began seriously to take measures for setting up a king of the
Romans in opposition to him.
From the fact that George Podiebrad, king of Bohemia, was the man on
whom they cast their eyes, it is evident that the opposition was directed
against both emperor and pope jointly. What must have been the conse-
quence of placing a utraquist at the head of the empire? This increased the
zeal and activity of Pope Pius II (whom we have hitherto known as iEneas
Sylvius) in consolidatmg the alliance of the see of Rome with the emperor,
who, on his side, was scarcely less deeply interested. The independence of the
prmce-electors was odious to both. As one of the claims of the emperor had
always been that no electoral diet should be held without his consent, so Pius
II, in like manner, now wanted to bind Diether, elector of Mainz, to summon
no such assembly without the approbation of the papal see, Diether's refusal
to enter into any such engagement was the main cause of their quarrel. Pius
did not conceal from the emperor that he thought his own power endangered
by the agitations which prevailed in the empire. It was chiefly owing to his
influence, and to the valour of Markgraf Albert Achilles of Brandenburg, that
they ended in nothing.
From this time we find the imperial and the papal powers, which had come
to a sense of their common interest and reciprocal utility, more closely united
than ever.
The diets of the empire were held under their joint authority; they were
called royal and papal, papal and royal diets. In the reign of Frederick, as
formerly in that of Sigismund, we find the papal legates present at the meet-
mgs of the empire, which were not opened till they appeared. The spiritual
princes took their seats on the right, the temporal on the left, of the legates;
it was not till a later period that the imperial commissioners were introduced,
and proposed measures in concert with the papal functionaries. It remains
for us to inquire how far this very singular form of government was fitted to
satisfy the wants of the empire.
STATE OF GERMANY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
We have seen what a mighty influence had, from the remotest times, been
exercised by the princes of Germany. First the imperial power and dignity
had arisen out of their body and by their aid; then they had supported the
emancipation of the papacy, which involved their own; now they stood
opposed to both. Although strongly attached to, and deeply imbued with,
the ideas of empire and papacy, they were resolved to repel the encroachments
of either; their power was already so independent that the emperor and the
pope deemed it necessary to combine against them.
If we proceed to inquire who were these magnates, and upon what their
power rested, we shall find that the temporal hereditary sovereignty, the gemi
of which had long existed in secret and grown unperceived, shot up in full
vigour in the fifteenth century; and, if we may be allowed to continue the
metaphor, after it had long struck its roots deep into the earth, it now began
to rear its head into the free air, and to tower above all the surroimding plants.
All the puissant houses which have since held sovereign sw^ay date their
ALBEET II, FEEDERICK III, AN'D MAXIMILIAN" I 231
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
establishment from this epoch. In the eastern part of north Germany
appeared the race of Hohenzollern; and, though the land its prmces had to
govern and defend was in the last stage of distraction and ruin, they acted
with such sedate vigour and cautious determination that they soon suc-
ceeded in driving back their neighbours within their ancient bounds, in pacify-
ing and restoring the marches, and in re-establishing the very peculiar bases
of sovereign power which already existed in the country.
Near this remarkable family arose that of Wettin, which, by the acquisition
of the electorate of Saxony, soon attained to the highest rank among the
princes of the empire and to the zenith of its
power. It possessed the most extensive and at
the same time the most flourishing of German
principalities, as long as the brothers, Ernest and
Albert, held their imited court at Dresden and
shared the government; and even when they
separated, both lines remained sufficiently im-
portant to play a part in the affairs of Germany,
and indeed of Europe.
In the Palatinate we find Frederick the Vic-
torious. It is necessary to read the long list of
castles, jurisdictions, and lands which he won
from all his neighbours, partly by conquest,
partly by purchase or treaty, but which his su-
periority in arms rendered emphatically his own,
to form a conception what a German prince in
that age could achieve, and how widely he could
Bxtend his sway.
A similar spirit of extension and fusion was
ilso at work m many other places. Jiilich and
iBerg formed a jimction. Bavarian Landshut
;vas strengthened by its union with Ingolstadt;
'n Bavarian Munich, Albert the Wise maintained
'he unity of the land under the most difficult cir-
^:umstances — not without violence, but, at least
|Q this case, with beneficial results. In Wiirtem-
lierg, too, a multitude of separate estates were
Iradually incorporated into one district, and as-
iumed the form of a German principality.
Next to these princes were the spiritual lords (whose privileges and internal
Tganisation were the same as those of the secular but whose rank in the
'ierarchy of the empire was higher), among whom nobles of the high or even
'f the inferior aristocracy composed the chapter and filled the principal places.
,1 the fifteenth century, indeed, the bishoprics began to be commonly con-
Tred on the younger sons of sovereign princes; the court of Rome favoured
ills practice, from the conviction that the chapters could be kept in order
aly by the strong hand and the authority of sovereign power; but it was not
iiiversal, nor was the fundamental principle of the spiritual principalities by
ly means abandoned in consequence of its adoption.
. There was also a numerous body of nobles who received their investiture
lith the banner, like the princes, and had a right to sit in the same tribunal
'.th them; nay, there were even families or clans, which from all time claimed
'iemption from those general feudal relations that formed the bond of the
ijite, and held their lands in fee from God and his blessed Son. They were
Nobleman of the Fifteenth
Century
232 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
overshadowed by the princely order; but they enjoyed perfect independence
notwithstanding.
Next to this class came the powerful body of knights of the empire, whose
castles crowned the hills on the Rhine, in Swabia and Franconia; they lived
in haughty loneliness amidst the wildest scenes ; girt round by an impregnable
circle of deep fosses, and within walls four-and-twenty feet thick, where they
could set all authority at defiance; the bond of fellowship among them was
but the stricter for their isolation. Another portion of the nobility, especially
in the eastern and colonised principalities in Pomerania and Mecklenburg,
Meissen and the marches, were, however, brought into undisputed subjection;
though this, as we see in the example of the Priegnitz, was not brought about
without toil and combat.
The Cities
Still more completely independent was the attitude assumed by the cities.
Opposed to all these different classes of nobles, which they regarded as but
one body, they were founded on a totally different principle, and had struggled
into importance in the midst of incessant hostility. A curious spectacle is
afforded by this old enmity pervading all the provinces of Germany, yet in
each one taking a different form. In Prussia, the opposition of the cities gave
rise to the great national league against the supreme power, which was here in
the hands of the Teutonic order. On the Wendish coasts was then the centre
of the Hansa, by which the Scandinavian kings, and still more the surrounding
German princes, were overpowered. The duke of Pomerania himself was
struck with terror when, on coming to succour Henry the Elder of Brunswick,
he perceived by what powerful and closely allied cities his friend was encom-
passed and enchained on every side. On the Rhine we find an unceasing
struggle for municipal independence, which the chief cities of the ecclesiastical
principalities claimed, and the electors refused to grant. In Franconia,
Nuremberg set itself in opposition to the rising power of Brandenburg, which
it rivalled in successful schemes of aggrandisement. Then followed in Swabia
and on the upper Danube (the true arena of the struggles and the leagues of
imperial free cities) the same groups of knights, lords, prelates, and princes,
who here approached most nearly to each other. Among the Alps, the con-
federacy formed against Austria had already gro^Ti into a regular constitu-
tional government, and attained to almost complete independence. On every
side we find different relations, different claims and disputes, different means
of carrying on the conflict; but on all, men felt themselves surrounded by
hostile passions which any moment might blow into a flame, and held them-
selves ready for battle. It seemed not impossible that the municipal principle
might eventually get the upper hand in all these conflicts, and prove as
destructive to the aristocratical, as that had been to the miperial power.
In this universal shock of efforts and powers, with a distant and feeble
chief and inevitable divisions even among those naturally connected and
allied, a state of things arose which presents a somewhat chaotic aspect; it
was the age of universal private warfare. The F elide is a middle term between
duel and war. Every affront or injury led, after certain formalities, to the
declaration, addressed to the offending party, that the aggrieved party would
be his foe and that of his helpers and helpers' helpers. The imperial authori-
ties felt themselves so little able to arrest this torrent that they endeavoured
only to direct its course ; and, while imposing limitations or forbidding particu-
lar acts, they confirmed the general permission of the established practice.
The right, which the supreme, independent power had hitherto reserved to ,
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 233
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
itself of resorting to arms when no means of conciliation remained, had
descended in Germany to the inferior classes, and was claimed by nobles and
cities against each other; by subjects against then- lords, nay, by private per-
sons, as far as their means and connections permitted, against one another.
In the middle of the fifteenth century this universal tempest of contending
powers was arrested by a conflict of a higher and more important nature
the opposition of the princes to the emperor and the pope; and it remained to
be decided from whose hands the world could hope for any restoration to order.
Two princes appeared on the stage,
each of them the hero of his nation, each
at the head of a numerous party, each
possessed of personal qualities strikingly
characteristic of the epoch — Frederick
of the Palatinate and Albert of Bran-
denburg. They took opposite courses.
Frederick the Victorious, distinguished
rather for address and agility of body than
for size and strength, owed his fame and
his success to the forethought and caution
with which he prepared his battles and
sieges. In time of peace he busied him-
self with the study of antiquity, or the
mysteries of alchemy ; poets and minstrels
found ready access to him, as in the spring-
time of poetry; he lived under the same
roof with his friend and songstress, Clara
Dettin of Augsburg, whose sweetness and
sense not only captivated the prince, but
were the charm and delight of all around
him. He had expressly renounced the
comforts of equal marriage and legitimate
heirs; all that he accomplished or acquired
was for the advantage of his nephew
PhiHp.
The towering and athletic frame of
Markgraf Albert of Brandenburg (sur-
named Achilles), on the contrary, an-
nounced, at the first glance, his gigantic
strength; he had been victor in count-
less tournaments, and stories of his cour-
age and warlike prowess, bordering on the fabulous, were current among
the people — how, for example, at some siege he had mounted the walls alone
and leaped down into the midst of the terrified garrison; how, hurried on by a
slight success over an advanced party of the enemy, he had rushed almost
unattended into their main body of eight hundred horsemen, had forced his
way up to their standard, snatched it from its bearer, and, after a momentary
realisation of the desperateness of his position, rallied his courage and defended
it, till his people could come up and complete the victory. iEneas Sylvius
declares that the markgraf himself assured him of the fact. His letters
breathe a passion for war. Even after a defeat he had experienced, he relates
to his friends with evident pleasure, how long he and four others held out on
the field of battle; how he then cut his way through with great labour and
severe fighting, and how he was determined to reappear as soon as possible in
Costume showing Armour of the Fif-
teenth Centuky
234 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d ]
the field. In time of peace he busied himself with the affairs of the empire, in
which he took a more lively and efficient part than the emperor himself. We
find him sharmg in all the proceedings of the diets, holding a magnificent and
hospitable court in his Franconian territories, or directing his attention to his
possessions in the Mark, which were governed by his son with all the vigilance
dictated by the awe of a grave and austere father. Albert was the worthy
progenitor of the warlike house of Brandenburg. He bequeathed to it not
only wise maxims, but, what is of more value, a great example.
About the year 1461 these two princes, as we have said, embraced different
parties. Frederick, who as yet possessed no distinctly recognised power, and
in all things obeyed his personal impulses, put himself at the head of the oppo-
sition. Albert, who always followed the trodden path of existing relations,
undertook the defence of the emperor and the pope; fortune wavered for a
time between them. But at last the Jorsika, as George Podiebrad was called,
abandoned his daring plans. Diether of Isenburg was succeeded by his
antagonist, Adolf of Nassau; and Frederick the palatine consented to give up
his prisoners: victory leaned, in the main, to the side of Brandenburg. The
ancient authorities of the empire and the church were once more upheld.
At Ratisbon, some time later, in the year 1471, the allied powers ventured
on an important step, for the furtherance of the war against the Turks, which
they declared themselves at length about to undertake; they attempted to
impose a sort of property tax on the whole empire, called the "common penny,"
and actually obtained an edict in its favour. They named in concert the
officers charged with the collection of it in the archiepiscopal and episcopal
sees; and the papal legate threatened the refractory with the sum of all
spiritual punishments — exclusion from the community of the church.
These measures undoubtedly embraced what was^ most immediately
necessary to the internal and external mterests of the empire. But how was it
possible to imagine that they would be executed? The combined powers
were by no means strong enough to carry through such extensive and radical
innovations. The diets had not been attended by nearly sufficient numbers,
and people did not hold themselves bound by the resolutions of a party. The
opposition to the emperor and the pope had not attained its object, but it still
subsisted; Frederick the Victorious still lived, and had now an influence over
the very cities which had formerly opposed him. The collection of the "com-
mon penny" was, in a short time, not even talked of; it was treated as a project
of Paul II, to whom it was not deemed expedient to grant such extensive
powers.
The proclamation of public peace also produced little or no effect. After
some time the cities declared that it had occasioned them more annoyance and
damage than they had endured before. It was contrary to their wishes that,
in the year 1474, it was renewed with all its actual provisions. The private
wars went on as before. Soon afterwards one of the most powerful imperial
cities, Ratisbon, the very place where the public peace was proclaimed, fell
into the hands of the Bavarians. The combined powers gradually lost all
their consideration. In the year 1479 the propositions of the emperor and the
pope were rejected in a mass by the estates of the empire, and were answered
by a number of complaints. And yet never could stringent measures be more
imperatively demanded.
Private Warfare
It is not necessary to go into an elaborate description of the evils attendant
on the right of diffidation or private warfare (Fehderecht) ; they were probably
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 235
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
not SO great as is commonly imagined. Even in the century we are treating
of, there were Itahans to whom the situation of Germany appeared happy and
secure in comparison with that of their own. country, where, in all parts one
faction drove out another. It was only the level country and the highroads
which were exposed to robbery and devastation. But even so, the state of
things was disgraceful and insupportable to a great nation. It exhibited the
strongest contrast to the ideas of law and of religion upon which the empire
was so peculiarly founded.
One consequence of it was that, as every man was exclusively occupied with
the care of his own security and defence, or could
at best not extend his view beyond the horizon
immediately surrounding him, no one had any at-
tention to bestow on the common weal; not only
were no more great enterprises achieved, but even
the frontiers were hardly defended. In the east,
the old conflict between the Germans and the Let-
tish and Slavonic tribes was decided in favour of
the latter. As the king of Poland found allies in
Prussia itself, he obtained an easy victory over the
Teutonic order, and compelled the knights to con-
clude the Peace of Thorn (a.d. 1466), by which
the greater part of the territories of the order were
' ceded to him, and the rest were held of him in fee.
Neither emperor nor empire stirred to avert this
incalculable loss. In the west, the idea of obtain-
ing the Rhine as a boundary first awoke in the
minds of the French, and the attacks of the Dau-
phin and the Armagnacs were foiled only by local
resistance. But what the one line of the house of
\ Valois failed in, the other, that of Burgundy, ac-
; complished with brilliant success. As the wars
between France and England were gradually ter-
minated, and nothing more was to be gained in
that field, this house, with all its ambition and all
its good fortune, threw itself on the territory of
lower Germany. In direct defiance of the imperial
' authority, it took possession of Brabant and Hol-
land ; then Philip the Good took Luxemburg, placed his natural son in Utrecht,
and his nephew on the episcopal throne of Liege ; after which an unfortunate
, quarrel between father and son gave Charles the Bold an opportunity to seize
, upon Gelderland. A power was formed such as had not arisen since the time
of the great duchies, and its interests and tendencies were naturally opposed
to those of the empire. This state the restless Charles resolved to extend,
: on the one side, towards Friesland, on the other, along the upper Rhine.
' When at length he fell upon the archbishopric of Cologne and besieged Neuss,
! some opposition was made to him, but not in consequence of any concerted
■ scheme or regular armament, but of a sudden levy in the presence of imminent
danger. The favourable moment for driving him back within his own fron-
tiers had been neglected. Shortly after, on his attacking Lorraine, Alsace,
i and Switzerland, those countries were left to defend themselves. Meanwhile,
' Italy had in fact completely emancipated herself. If the emperor desired to
;be crowned there, he must go unarmed like a mere traveller; his ideal power
i could be manifested only in acts of grace and favour. The king of Bohemia,
pikeman of the fifteenth
Century
236 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[ca. 1450-1500 a.d.]
who also possessed the two Lusatias and Silesia, and an extensive feudal
dominion within the empire, msisted loudly on his rights, and would hear
nothing of the corresponding obligations.
The life of the nation must have been already extinct, had it not, even in
the midst of all these calamities, and with the prospect of further miminent
peril before it, taken measures to establish its internal order and to restore its
external power — objects, however, not to be attained without a revolution ia
both its spiritual and temporal affairs.
The attempted reforms of the last part of his reign found a consistent oppo-
nent in the aged emperor. Frederick III had accustomed himself m the course
of a long life to regard the affairs of the world with perfect serenity of mind.
His contemporaries have painted him to us — one while weighing precious
stones in a goldsmith's scales; another, with a celestial globe in his hand, dis-
coursing with learned men on the position of the stars. He loved to mix
metals, compound healing drugs, and, in important crises, predicted the future
himself from the aspects of the constellations; he read a man's destiny in his
features, or in the lines of his hand. In his youth his Portuguese wife, with
the violent temper and the habitual opinions of a native of the south, urged
him in terms of bitter scorn to take vengeance for some injury; he answered
that everything was rewarded, punished, and avenged in time. In 1449,
when the cities and princes, on the eve of war, refused to accept him as
mediator, he was content; he said he would wait till they burnt each other's
crops; then they would come to him of their own accord, and beg him to bring
about a reconciliation between them — which shortly after happened. The
violences and cruelties which his hereditary kingdom of Austria suffered from
King Matthias did not even excite his pity; he said they deserved it, they
would not obey him and therefore they must have a stork as king, like the
frogs in the fable. His frugality bordered on avarice, his slowness on inert-
ness, his stubbornness on the most determined selfislmess; yet all these faults
are rescued from vulgarity by high qualities. He had at bottom a sober depth
of judgment, a sedate and inflexible honour; the aged prince, even when a
fugitive imploring succour, had a personal bearing which never allowed the
majesty of the empire to sink.*
All his pleasures were characteristic. Once when he was in Nuremberg,
he had all the children in the city, even the infants who could but just walk,
brought to him; he feasted his eyes on the rising generation, the heirs of the
f utm-e ; then he ordered cakes to be brought and distributed that the children
might remember their old master, whom they had seen, as long as they lived.
Occasionally he gave the princes who were his friends a feast in his castle. In
proportion to his usual extreme frugality was now the magnificence of the
entertainment. He kept his guests with him until late in the night (always
his most vivacious time), when even his wonted taciturnity ceased, and he
began to relate the history of his past life, interspersed with strange mcidents,
decent jests, and wise saws. He looked then like a patriarch among the
princes — all of them so much younger than himself .^^
[' Elsewhere Ranke says : "At the very time in wMcli all the monarchies of Europe con-
solidated themselves, the emperor was driven out of his hereditary estates, and wandered about
the other parts of the empire as a fugitive. He was dependent for his daily repast on the
bounty of convents, or of the burghers of the imperial cities ; his other wants were supplied
from the slender revenues of his chancery. He might sometimes be seen travelling along the
roads of his own dominions in a carriage drawn by oxen. Never, and this he felt himself,
was the majesty of the empire dragged about in meaner form. The possessor of a power
which, according to the received idea, ruled the world, was become an object of contemptuous
pity."]
THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN AND HIS FAMILY
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I
[1493-1496 A.D.]
237
THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I
Frederick III died in 1493. Maximilian was proclaimed his successor on
the imperial throne without a dissentient voice, and speedily found himself
fuUy occupied.
France at that time cast her eyes upon Italy. Nepotism, the family-
interest of the popes,
XIMILIAN¥S-
who bestowed enor-
mous wealth, and even
Italian principalities, on
their nephews, rela-
tives, and natural chil-
dren, was the prevalent
spirit of the court of
Rome. The pope's re-
lations plundered the
papal treasury, which
he filled with the plun-
der of the whole of
Christendom, by rais-
ing the church taxes,
amplifying the ceremo-
nies, and selling abso-
lution.
France, ever watch-
ful, was not tardy in
finding an opportu-
nity for interference.
Charles VIII unexpec-
tedly entered Italy at
the head of an immense
army, partly composed
of Swiss mercenaries,
and took Naples.
Milan, alarmed at the
overwhelming strength
of her importunate ally,
now entered into a
league with the pope, the emperor, Spain, and Naples, for the purpose of driv-
ing him out of Italy, and Alexander VI astonished the world by leaguing
with the arch-foe of Christendom, the Turkish sultan, against the "most
Christian" king of France. Charles yielded to the storm, and voluntarily
returned to France (1495 a.d.) Maximilian had been unable, from want of
money, to come in person to Italy, and three thousand men were all he had
been able to supply. He had, however, secured himself by a marriage with
Bianca Maria, the sister of Galeazzo Sforza, and attempted, on the with-
drawal of the French, to put forward his pretensions as emperor. Pisa (1496)
imploring his aid against Florence, he undertook a campaign at the head of an
inconsiderable force, in which he was unsuccessful.
A still closer alliance was formed with Spain. The marriage of Philip,
Maximilian's son, with the Infanta Johanna, and that of his daughter Mar-
garet, with the Infant Don Juan 0496) brought this splendid monarchy mto
Maximilian I (1473-1531)
(After a woodcut portrait by Hans Burgkmair)
238 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1489-1495 A.D.J
the house of Habsburg, the Infant Don Juan expiring shortly afterwards, and
the whole of Spain falling to Philip in right of his wife.^"
At this point the demands made upon the activity of King Maximilian
came to the rescue of the imperial idea. As early as 1489 he promised to do
all in his power to introduce a chamber of justice on the lines proposed, so that
he had pledged himself morally. But after his father's death in the year 1493,
when Europe was again plunged into the greatest agitation, he had to recon-
cile himself to still larger concessions. In this connection particular impor-
tance attaches to the diet at Worms of 1495. The prevalent idea was, after
the imperial dignity had lost its significance as the central power, for the
diet to make an attempt at founding a unity of a different kind. The inten-
tion of the representatives, particularly of their leader at that time, Berthold
von Mainz, was to found a federation of all the parts of the empire and by this
means to base the power of the realm, which could no longer be monarchial, on
a more aristocratic-republican foundation. Their first idea was to form an
imperial council to be made up of king, electors, and the different deputies
from the provinces, who would have had the entire control of internal affairs.
Maximilian's purpose, on the contrary, was to obtain supplies of money and
men; not only the urgent assistance which w^as needed for the moment, but
what he called a permanent source of support, a military constitution of
supply. Both parties, as we have seen, desired unity, but the former more
in the aristocratic, the latter in the monarchical sense. Naturally the former
preponderated because it was in itself much the stronger. Moreover, even the
estates proposed to foimd a military constitution, not on the basis of the
feudal system, however, but on that of a general assessment. They had the
generosity to make a preliminary grant to the king of the money which he
demanded for his urgent need, to avoid his being placed in pawn as it were
(such were the terms of their expression).
The cities, which particularly pressed for a public peace, only contributed
at the instance of Berthold, and not without a certain amount of resistance.
But as Maximilian still hesitated, and demanded again and again money and
troops, and the establishment of "a permanent supply," they began to refuse
him everything till peace and order should be reinstated. Coimnittees were
formed, proposals made and referred to experts. In consequence of the oppo-
sition, Maximilian was at last compelled to bow to necessity and accept them.
The four items were the following: (1) The public peace (Landfriede), which
differed particularly from the former Landfriede in that it was not established
for a term of years, but was to be perpetual, "general, and continual." The
punishment of outlawry was retained. (2) The chamber of justice, which
was now to be constituted in a manner to which Frederick III would never
have consented, both at the will and with the advice of the assembly and ia
final election on the spot; the president himself w^as even empowered to pro-
noimce the ban of the empire on his own responsibility. (3) The " common
penny," or the permanent main subsidy; a general poll-tax which never
actually came into operation, but which was intended to represent one-tenth
per cent, on the value of all property. (4) Not the council of regency, but
for a month in every year an assembly of the estates of the empire, which
on urgent occasions was even to be convened by the presidents. Obviously
the result w^as now in favour of the estates. The imperial assembly would
have had the control of the money and the conduct of foreign affairs, and a
share of the judicial power would have passed over to a combination spring-
ing from the estates, as a consequence of the access of dignity bestowed upon
the chamber of justice.
ALBEET II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 239
[1495-1504 A.D.J
It is no wonder that Maximilian did not like to further a constitution of
this kind. He did not appear at the first imperial assembly. The conse-
quence was that no executive measures could be carried in accordance with
the previous resolution concerning the "common penny." Some princes had
the generosity to return the money to their subjects; in the second year
no one would pay it any longer. The further consequence of this was
that the chamber of justice, which it had been proposed to pay out of this
"common penny," could not be maintained, so that the public peace totally
lacked effective execution. It was evident that the king was mostly at fault.
As he had at the same time come off a loser in his wars both with Switzerland
and Italy, he was obliged m the year 1500 at the Augsburg diet to consent to
a council of the empire — or imperial regency, which he had always refused
before; each elector was to send one representative, and each of his cities
two. The chanceUorship was to be filled by the elector of Mainz. The estates
in return consented to a kind of military levy. Thereupon the newly con-
stituted imperial council did in point of fact receive the ambassadors of France.
But the king, who ought to have presided over this council, did not appear.
He prevented the complete filling up of the places in the council; agam the
whole proceedings resulted in nothing. Nor did he summon a new diet.
Instead of founding the empire at this time, as he has been so often credited
with doing, he rather contributed towards its complete dissolution. He cer-
tainly founded a sort of chamber of justice, but quite of the old kind, made up
of a few bishops and depending on perquisites; but, as nobody acknowledged
it, it accomplished nothing.
In the year 1502, the electors agreed to assemble at least every year, each
one to deliberate upon the interests of the empire with the estates situated
nearest him. But Maximilian managed to midermine this intention by secur-
ing the nomination to the vacancy at Cologne of a prince who was absolutely
devoted to him. He himself was so indignant that he sometimes declared he
would throw down his crown at the feet of the representatives and trample it
to atoms. The representatives, on their side, actually conceived the idea in
1503 of deposmg the king. Thereupon he himself appeared, as Louis of
Bavaria once did, in the assembly to frustrate this purpose. He was really,
however, not so utterly powerless in the empire; he possessed a number of
bishoprics and livings. Albert of Saxony and Henry of Calenberg were in his
service. Furthermore it was a piece of good fortune for him that the Land-
shut quarrel broke out, in which he took a part so fruitful of results that he
regained his former influence and prestige. This happened chiefly through
that Swabian League which dates its formation from 1488.' Moreover his
son Philip, whose father-m-law Ferdmand the Catholic was establishing his
authority in Naples, was also victorious in the war in Gelderland, and an
accommodation had just been made with the French. All these fortunate
circumstances contributed to the gradual extinction of motives for forming a
constitution in which the claims of the king and the estates of the reahn
should be equally balanced. The purely "representative" principle could no
longer maintain the upper hand, but yet it was impossible to suppress it
entirely.
• [* This is known as ' ' the great " Swabian League to distinguish it from the numerous others
! that are associated with the internal history of Swabia from 1376 onwards. The subject of the
' conflicting policies of the cities and the princes of Swabia and their respective relations with
' the emperor is yet another illustration of that anarchy which is the main characteristic of Ger-
man history before the period of the Reformation, and which, it may be added, by no means
disappeared entirely with the advent of that period.]
240
THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
THE DIET OF COLOGNE (1505 A.D.)
[1505-1512 A.D.]
At the diet at Cologne in 1505, the estates agreed to assist the king against
Hungary in accordance with former proposals. Every thought of calling in
the "common penny" was expressly discountenanced. But it was at once
determined that the assistance granted was to be in money, and a tax was
settled. The king promised to establish a chamber of justice and to negotiate
a public peace in the maimer resolved upon at Worms. In the diet at Con-
stance in the year 1507 these efforts
w^re continued. The power of the king
was already so consolidated that a
French ambassador, who carried with
him despatches addressed to the im-
perial estates, was arrested and treated
pretty roughly. Here the former pro-
posals were renewed and directed
towards an expedition to Rome.
Clearly the cities were drawn upon
pretty heavily. All the electors to-
gether, including Bohemia, had to
place in the field 760 horsemen, 557
infantry, and pay 16,230 gulden; the
cities had to provide 632 horsemen,
therefore almost as many as the elec-
tors, and on the other hand 1,335 in-
fantry, two and a half times as many,
and to pay 39,942 gulden.
Further, a firm foundation was laid
for the chamber of justice, the nomi-
nation of its members divided between
the king and the estates, the payment
to be made out of penal money fines,
and, if these were not sufficient, an
imperial tax was to be raised. The
president of the chamber was to have
the right of pronouncing the ban of the
empire. However the vote of supply
was only granted for half a year, and
the council was provisionally ac-
cepted for six years only. But still
it was of the greatest importance that it really held sittings, and exercised a
regular activity, which dates from this time.
These labours then were continued in the diet at Cologne in 1512. It was
again agreed to retain the imperial chamber for another six years, and its
reform was also resolved upon. The only thing wanted now was to provide
for the execution of its decisions. For this purpose the empire was divided
into ten circuits. Six circuits, exclusive of the king and the electors, had
already been sketched out in 1500 at Augsburg. Two new ones were now
formed out of the Austrian possessions, and two out of the electorates, one for
the Rhine and one for Upper Saxony. They are called " circles " in the imperial
decree.^ In each circle there was to be a captain with his contingent of sub-
BOURGEOIS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
[• Ranke makes the distinction in the German between Kreis (translated
Cirkel (translated "circle ").]
'circuit") and
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 241
[1498-1499 A.D.]
ordinates. At every breach of the public peace the captain of the circle in
which the perpetrators, their helpers and dependents lived, was to summon
his contingent and consult with them, and take proceedings to maintain the
public peace. Switzerland was excluded from this constitution of things —
as she looked after herself. Other plans were also made ; there was talk of a
new universal tax such as had been resolved upon at Worms; of a scheme of
appointing eight councillors to the king, above all of a closer union of the
empire. The emperor expresses this very clearly in the recess : " We and the
estates of the holy empire have contracted and pledged our common duty to
carry out the following articles and intentions as a Christian body and assembly
to and with each other." The cities had been for some time excluded from
the settlement, but now they were readmitted.
We must guard, however, against concluding that these resolutions were
at once carried into effective operation. They were ideas and plans, the
necessity of which was obvious to everyone, but to execute them presented
the gravest difficulties. The circuits were in all probability not really estab-
lished till about twenty years later; the captains were not appointed, neither
were the councillors, who were considered of so much importance. Maxi-
milian himself was in a perpetual dilemma between respect and contempt,
fortune and misfortmie, power and weakness. The fact was largely due to
his foreign relations. In these he accomplished an incredible amount for his
family and its power chiefly by treaties and marriage alliances; how remark-
able it is that, on the contrary, when he strove for the rights of the empire,
with an assiduity greater, though not always so well-matured and warlike, he
failed in everything.^
THE SEPARATION OF SWITZERLAND (1499 A.D.)
The empire, like the oak whose topmost branches first show symptoms of
the decay spreading from its roots, first lost the finest of her German provinces,
and her holy banner was hurled from those glorious natural bulwarks, whence,
mid ice and snow, our victorious forefathers had looked dowa upon the fertile
vales of Italy.
The Swiss confederation had been declared an integral part of the Swabian
circle, but, influenced by distrust of the Swabian cities, which had ever pre-
served a false neutrality towards them, and of the princes and nobles, their
hereditary foes, they refused to enter into the league. Their success against
Burgundy had, moreover, rendered them insolent and presumptuous, whilst
France incessantly incited them to declare themselves mdependent of the
empire. France drew her mercenaries from the Alps, was a good paymaster,
and flattered the rough mountaineers with a semblance of royal confidence;
whilst the German princes, and even the emperor, thoughtlessly treated them
with contempt. A dispute concerning landmarks that arose between the
Orisons peasantry and the Austrian Tyrolese, and occasioned their enrolment
in the confederation, brought the matter to an issue. The enraged emperor
declared war (a.d. 1498) against the Swiss, in which he was seconded by the
Swabian league. In 1499 the Swiss concluded a treaty with France, and,
quitting their mountams, attacked the approachmg foe on every side. Willi-
bald Pirkheimer, who was present with four hundred red-habited citizens of
Nuremberg, has graphically described every incident of this war. The impe-
rial remforcements arrived slowly and in separate bodies; the princes and
nobles fighting in real earnest, the cities with little inclination. The Swiss
were, consequently, able to defeat each single detachment before they could
H. W. — VOL. XIV. B
242 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1499-1504 A.D.J
unite, and were in this manner victorious in ten engagements. The emperor
on his arrival, publicly addressed an angry letter to the Swiss from Freiburg
in the Breisgau. The Tyrolese failed in an attempt to take the Grisons in
the rear across Bormio, and four hundred of the imperialists were, on this
occasion, crushed by an avalanche. Pirkheimer saw a troop of half-starved
children under the care of two old women seeking for herbs, like cattle, on j
the mountains, so great was the distress to which the blockade had reduced {
the Swiss. They, nevertheless, defended themselves on every side, and slew i
four thousand Tyrolese near Mais in the Vienstgau, in revenge for which four
hundred Grisons peasants, detained captive at Meran, were put to death. |
The emperor went to Constance, where a letter from the confederation was j
delivered to him by a young girl.^ Peace was, however, far from the thoughts i
of the emperor, who, dividing his forces, despatched the majority of his
troops against Bale, under the Count von Fiirstenberg, whilst he advanced
towards Geneva, and was occupied in crossing the lake when the news of
Fiirstenberg's defeat and death, near Dornach, arrived. The princes, little
desirous of staking their honour against their low-born opponents, instantly
returned home in great numbers, and the emperor was therefore compelled
to make peace. The Swiss retained possession of the Thurgau and of Bale,
and Schaffhausen joined the confederation, which was not subject to the
imperial chamber, and for the future belonged merely in name to the empu"e,
and gradually fell under the growing influence of France, a.d. 1499.
!
OTHER WARS
Some years after the Swiss war, Maximilian was involved in a petty war'
of succession in Bavaria, a.d. 1504. Disturbances had also arisen in the
Netherlands (a.d. 1494), where the people favoured Charles of Gueldres to:
the prejudice of the Habsburgs. Maximilian's son, Philip the Handsome, at!
length concluded a truce with his opponent, and went into Spain for the pur4
pose of taking possession of the kingdom of Castile, whose queen, Isabella,!
had just expired, in the name of her daughter, his wife, Johanna. Ferdinand
of Aragon, his father-in-law, however, refused to yield the throne of Castile
during his life-time, and, in his old age, married a young Frenchwoman, in
the hope of raising another heir to the throne of Aragon.
Maximilian beheld the successes of the French monarch in Italy, and
Ferdmand of Naples dragged in chains to France, with impotent rage, and
convoked one diet after another without being able to raise either money or
troops. At length, in the hope of saving his honour, he invested France with
the duchy of his brother-in-law, Sforza, and, by the treaty of Blois (a.d. 1504),
ceded Milan to France for the sum of two hundred thousand francs. Thej
marriage of Charles, Maximilian's grandson, with Claudia, the daughter of
Louis, who it was stipulated should bring Milan in dowry to the house of
Habsburg, also formed one of the articles of this treaty, and in the event of
any impediment to the marriage being raised by France, Milan was to be
unconditionally restored to the house of Austria. The marriage of the
Archduke Ferdinand with Anna, the youthful daughter of Wladislaw of
Hungary and Bohemia, was more fortunate. Ferdinand of Spain, unable to
' On being asked the number of the Swiss, she replied: "There are plenty to beat you;
you might have counted them during the battle had not fear struck you blind"; and on an old
soldier, stung by the sarcasm, drawing his sword upon her, she said, " If you are such a hero,
seek men to fight with." G5tz von Berlichingen, who was present, thus describes the emperor ;
' ' He wore a little old green coat, and little short green cap, and a great green hat over it.
(Quite Tyrolean.) i
ALBERT II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 243
[1504-1516 A.D.]
tolerate the Habsburg as his successor on the throne, entered mto a league
with France, who mstantly infringed the treaty of Blois, and Claudia was
married to Francis of Anjou, the heir-apparent to the throne of France.
Maximilian, enraged at Louis' perfidy, vainly called upon the imperial
estates of Germany to revenge the insult; he was merely enabled to raise a
small body of troops, with which he crossed the Alps for the purpose of taking
possession of Milan and of being finally crowned by the pope. The Venetians,
however, refused to grant him a free passage, defeated him at Catora, and
compelled him to retrace his steps. At Trient, Matthaeus Lang, archbishop
of Salzburg, placed the crown on his brow in the name of the pope, a.d. 1508.
The insolence and grasping policy of Venice had rendered her universally
obnoxious. Maximilian had been insulted and robbed by her ; Louis dreaded
her vicinity to his newly-gained duchy of Milan; whilst Ferdinand, the pope,
and the rest of the Italian powers viewed her with similar enmity. These
considerations formed the basis of the league of Cambray, a.d. 1508, in which
all the contending parties ceased their strife to unite against their common
foe. The French gained a decisive victory at Aguadello. Vicenza was taken
by the imperial troops, a.d. 1510. The Swiss, who had at first aided Venice,
being forced to retreat during the severe winter of 1512, revenged themselves
by laying Lombardy waste. Venice, deprived of their aid, humbled herself
before the emperor, and the senator Giustiniani fell in the name of the republic
at his feet, and finally persuaded both him and the pope to renounce their
alliance with France. The new confederates were, however, defeated at
I Ravenna by the French under Gaston de Foix. The Swiss confederation,
gained over by the bishop of Sion, who was rewarded with a cardinal's hat,
now took part with the emperor and the pope, and, marching into Lombardy,
drove out the French and placed Max Sforza on the ducal throne of Milan,
; A.D. 1512.
1 The emperor, although unable to offer much opposition to France in
, Italy, was more successful in the Netherlands, where, aided by the English,
. he carried on war against Louis and gained a second battle of spurs at
1 Terouanne.* He also assembled a troop of lancers under George von Frunds-
berg, who besieged Venice, and fought his way through an overwhelming
' force under the Venetian general, Alviano, at Ceratia. Maxmiilian entered
\ Lombardy in person (a.d. 1516) with twenty thousand men, ten thousand
! of whom were Swiss, under the loyal-hearted Stapfer of Zurich, but was
I compelled to retreat, owing to want of money, and the superior numbers of
1 Swiss in the service of France. Unable to save Milan, he made a virtue of
•necessity and ceded that duchy to Francis I, who had succeeded Louis. In
I his old age, he zealously endeavoured to raise means for carrying on the war
lagamst the Turks. ^ Anticipating the full co-operation of the European states
I he struck a medal, m which he was designated as lord of the West and East,
;and flattered himself with the prospect of again rendering Constantinople the
;3eat of a Christian empire. The pope also entered into his views, sent him a
'consecrated hat and sword, declared the kingdom of the East an imperial fief,
Jind appointed him generalissimo of the Christian army, which was to consist
pf Germans and French, while the English, Portuguese, and Spaniards were
"^0 furnish a naval armament.
» Peter Daniel says, in his History of France, "because our cavalry made more use of their
! purs than of their swords." The Chevalier Bayard, on perceiving the impossibility of escape,
iook an English knight, who had just dismounted, prisoner, in order instantly to surrender
himself to him. Maximilian, on being informed of this strange adventure, restored Bayard to
I herty.
244 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1516-1519 A.D.]
He laid his plan before the diet, and appealed to the states with his usual
eloquence; but he was answered by remonstrances against the exactions of
the pope; and a considerable sensation was excited by a writing attributed
to Ulrich von Hutten, which was circulated among the members, describing
the pope as a more dangerous enemy to Christianity than the Turks, and
charging the court of Rome with having drained the states of Christendom
by annates, reserves, tenths, and other exactions; discussion was deferred
to a future meeting.
The same ill-success attended his attempts to secure the election of his
grandson. He had already entered into secret negotiations with several of
the electors, and Charles had sent into Germany a considerable sum to bribe
the electoral college. By these means Maximilian secured the votes of
Mainz, Cologne, the Palatinate, and Brandenburg; but he experienced an
opposition from Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, who, as one of the
vicars of the empire, wished for an interregnum, and the elector of Treves,
who was devoted to France. In addition to these obstacles, the nomination
of Charles was counteracted by Francis I, who aspired to the imperial dignity,
and by the pope, who was unwilling to see the crowns of the empire and
Naples united in the same person. In consequence of this opposition, the
electors declined the proposal of Maximilian, by urging their usual plea that,
as he had not been actually crowned at Rome, they could not infringe the
laws of Germany by electing two kings of the Romans, and, having failed
in all his endeavours to convince the electors of the validity of the bull of
Alexander VI, which declared him as much emperor as if crowned at Rome,
Maximilian was obliged to defer his project to a future occasion.
That occasion never arrived. Although no more than fifty-nine, he had
long felt his health declining, and for the last four years he never travelled
without a coffin, which he was occasionally heard to apostrophise. Soon after
his arrival at Innsbruck, where he purposed to regulate the succession to his
hereditary dominions, he was seized with a slight fever, which he hoped to
remove by exercise and change of air. He accordingly descended the Inn,
disembarked at Passau, and with a view to dissipate his melancholy, or to
improve his health, proceeded to Wels in Upper Austria, where he amused
himself with his favourite diversion of hawking and hunting. But the fatigues
of the chase aggravated his complaint, and the immoderate use of melons
brought on a dysentery. Being recommended by his physicians to fulfil the
last duties of a Christian, he replied, " I have long done so, or it would now be
too late." On the arrival of the friar, he sat up in his bed, received him with
the most joyful expressions and gestures, and said to the bystanders, "This
man will show me the way to heaven." After much pious conversation, dur-
ing which he would not suffer himself to be called emperor, but simply Maxi-
milian, he received the holy sacrament according to the ordinances of the
church. He then summoned his ministers, and executed his testament. He
ordered that all the officers of state and magistrates should continue to exer-
cise their fimctions, until the arrival of one of his grandsons. From a principle
of extreme modesty, which he carried so far that he never put on or took off
his shirt before any person, he called a short time before his death for clean
linen, and strictly forbade that it should be changed. He ordered the hair of
his head to be cut off, and his teeth to be pulled out, broken, and publicly
burnt in the chapel of his court. As a lesson of mortality, his body was to be
exposed to view for a whole day, then to be enclosed in a sack filled with quick-
lime, covered with white silk and damask; to be placed in the coffin already
prepared for its reception, and to be interred in the church of the palace at
ALBEET II, FEEDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 245
[1519 A.D.]
Neustadt, under the altar of St. George, in such a situation, that the officiating
priests might tread upon his head and heart. He expressed his hope that by
these means his sinful body, after the departure of his soul, would be dis-
honoured and humiliated before the whole world. Having finished this busi-
ness, he stretched out his hand to the bystanders, and gave them his bene-
diction. As they were unable to conceal their emotions, and burst into tears,
he said, "Why do you weep, because you see a mortal die? Such tears as
these rather become women than men." To the prayers of the Carthusian he
made audible responses, and when his voice failed, gave signs of his faith with
his gestures. He died at three o'clock in the morning, on the 11th of January,
1519, in the sixtieth year of his age. ?
RANKE's estimate of ISIAXIMILIAN
Maximilian was a man of schemes but not of achievements, full of talents
and artistic capacities; a splendid sportsman and shot, a chamois-hunter by
habit and inclination; indefatigable, mysterious, and withal popular, so that
his person is associated with pleasant memories — but he never did or accom-
plished a single thing. He was inexhaustible in new ideas; for this reason he
acquires much significance for the future of the empire, but not in virtue of
direct institutions. The last years of his government lack a commendable
orderliness even more egregiously than the first. In the year 1513 he sum-
moned a diet which did not meet at all; in the year 1517 another one cer-
tainly met in Mainz, and which may be compared to the diet in Reineke Fuchs,
so many were the grievances that poured in. Even the chamber of justice,
which had only just been established and in whose proceedings Maxmiilian
incessantly interfered, met with the most violent attacks.
The empire generally was in a state of ferment. Emperor and princes were
at variance on every point as regarded their respective rights. Not one
institution was really carried into effect. It was still not yet known what
estates were immediate and what mediate. In all districts this was a source
of many-sided dissatisfaction. The lists * which came into existence were for
this very reason utterly useless. The nobility, particularly fearful of a widen-
ing authority especially in the princely jurisdiction, made alliances with one
another or fought for fame and fortune in isolated groups. The cities also
were in a state of considerable agitation. Oppression on the part of the
princely power, the continual restlessness of the provinces, the restriction on
their trade, which nevertheless increased with magnificent rapidity, and a
number of internal troubles threw them into commotion. Most dangerous of
all however was the profound disaffection amongst the peasantry. _ Even in
the second half of the fifteenth, and almost in every year at the beginning of
the sixteenth century we hear of insurrections amongst the peasantry, which
were naturally fostered all the more by the fact that the peasants had now
learned the art of war; and as they knew as well how to fight as the Swiss, they
now claimed the same rights as the latter.
A period full of so much internal unrest as that of Maximilian's reign does
not reoccur in the whole of German history; even the present tune cannot
be compared with it. A firm government, which might have stemmed the
discontent, had not been established. In these circumstances it was really
the religious movement of the Reformation which, by providing the general
[' "Matrikeln " iu tlie original ; the assessments being made from the list of estates and no
one knowing which were mediate and which were immediate estates, it is clear that the revenues
were imperilled by this state of affairs.]
246 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
agitation with a new motive power, at once diverted it from the reign of
pohtics and absorbed it in itself.
The glory which surrounds the memory of Maximilian, the high renown
which he enjoyed even among his contemporaries, were not won by the success
of his enterprises, but by his personal qualities. Every good gift of nature
had been lavished upon him in profusion: health up to an advanced age, so
robust that, when it was deranged, strong exercise and copious draughts of
water were his sole and sufficient remedy; not beauty indeed, but so fine a
person, so framed for strength and agility, that he outdid all his followers in
knightly exercises, outwearied them in exertions and toils; a memory to
which everything that he had learned or witnessed was ever present; so
singular a natural acuteness and justness of apprehension, that he was never
deceived in his servants ; he employed them exactly in the services for which
they were best suited ; an imagination of imequalled richness and brilliancy.
He was a man, in short, formed to excite admiration and to inspire enthusiastic
attachment; formed to be the romantic hero, the exhaustless theme of the
people.
What wondrous stories did they tell of his adventures in the chase — how
in the land beyond the Ens, he had stood his ground alone against an enormous
bear in the open coppice ; how in a sunken way in Brabant he had killed a stag,
at the moment it rushed upon him ; how, when surprised by a wild boar in the
forest of Brussels, he had laid it dead at his feet with his boar-spear, without
alighting from his horse! But above all, what perilous adventures did they
recount of his chamois hunts in the high Alps, where it was he who sometimes
saved from death or danger the practised hunter that accompanied him. In
all these scenes he showed the same prompt and gallant spirit, the same
elastic presence of mind. Thus too he appeared in the face of the enemy.
Within range of the enemy's fire, we see him alight from his horse, form his
order of battle, and win the victory; in the skirmish attacking four or five
enemies single-handed; on the field defending himself in a sort of single combat
against an enemy who selected him as his peculiar object: for he was always
to be found in the front of the battle; always in the hottest of the fight and
the danger. The Venetian ambassador cannot find words to express the con-
fidence which the German soldiers of every class felt for the chief who never
deserted them in the moment of peril. He cannot be regarded as a great
general ; but he had a singular gift for the organisation of a particular body of
troops, the improvement of the several arms and the constitution of the army
generally; the militia of the Landsknechts, by which the fame of the German
foot soldiers was restored, was founded and organised by him. He also put
the use of fire-arms on an entirely new footing, and his inventive genius dis-
played itself particularly in this department.
He had a matchless talent for managing men. The princes who were
offended and injured by his policy could not withstand the charm of his
personal intercourse. "Never," says Frederick the Wise of Saxony, "did I
behold a more courteous man." The wild, turbulent knights, against whom
he raised the empire and the league, yet heard such expressions from his lips
that it was, as Gotz von Berlichingen said, "a joy to their hearts; and they
could never bear to do anything against his imperial majesty." He took part
in the festivals and amusements of the citizens in the towns — their dances
and their shooting matches, in which he was not unfrequently the best shot;
and offered prizes, damask for the arquebusiers or a few ells of red velvet for
the crossbow-men. At the camp before Padua he rode up to a sutler and
asked for something to eat. John of Landau, who was with him, offered to
ALBEET II, FREDERICK III, AND MAXIMILIAN I 247
taste the food; the emperor inquired where the woman came from. "From
Augsbm-g," was the reply. "Ah!" exclaimed he, "then there is no need of a
taster, for they of Augsburg are God-fearing people." In his hereditary
dominions he often administered justice in person, and if he saw a bashful man
who kept in the background, called him to a more honourable place. He was
little dazzled by the splendour of the supreme dignity. "My good fellow,"
said he to an admiring poet, "thou knowest not me nor other princes aright."
All that we read of him shows freshness and clearness of apprehension, an
open and ingenuous spirit. He was a brave soldier and a kind-hearted man;
people loved and feared him.^
r
VV
CHAPTER VII
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION
[1519-1546 A.D.]
On one occasion only had the two men stood face to face who split
the life of Germany into two halves, the two great opponents who
are still fighting to this day in the spirit of that posterity which has
sprung from them, the Burgundian Habsburger and the German son
of the soil, Emperor and Professor ; the one, speaking German only
to his horse, the other translator of the Bible and creator of the new
German written language ; the one, the forefather of those who be-
lieve in the Jesuits, original founder of the dynastic policy of the
Habsburgs, the other, the predecessor of Lessing, of the great Ger-
man poets, historians, and philosophers.
It was a desperate hour in the history of Germany when the
young Emperor, heir of half the earth, uttered at Worms the con-
temptuous words : " This man will never make a heretic of me ! " for
therewith began the struggle between his House and the spirit of
national Germany : a struggle during three centuries, with victories
and defeats on both sides and an issue predestined. — Gustav Frey-
TAG.
The imperial throne, now vacant by the death of Maximilian, requirec
a successor. The general agitation throughout Europe, as well as the con-
fusion prevalent in Germany itself, where the Faustrecht [or "law of violence".,
appeared immediately after the death of the emperor to resume its sway-l
demanded a monarch, endowed with energy and consequent power, in ordei,
to maintain the necessary equilibrium between the internal and the externa
government. The war still continued between Spain and France upon tin
subject of Italy, although neither of these powers possessed the right of deci
sion in the cause of a country which knew not how to govern or even helj
248
CHARLES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 249
[1519 A.D.]
itself, such decision being vested in the hands of the emperor alone. In the
east the Turks again threatened to devastate the country; and Hungary,
reduced by maladministration as well as by the luxury and effeminacy of
the people, was no longer able to serve as a bulwark against this formidable
enemy; hence from this quarter likewise the emperor was called upon to
come forth as the protector of Europe. In Germany itself, and in the very
heart of the empire, feuds were raging with all their ungovernable fury.
Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg, having cause to revenge himself upon the free
city of Reutlingen for some offence, fell suddenly upon that place, in the
winter of 1519; and having made himself master of it, he continued to hold
it in possession as his own. The Swabian League, however, which had been
established by the emperor Maximilian, in order to maintain the tranquillity
of the land, finding the duke paid no respect or attention to their repeated
summons to surrender the town, advanced at once against him, and by their
superior force not only regaiiied possession of the place, but pursued the duke
throughout his own territories so closely that he was compelled to quit them
for safety.
Maximilian had, in the course of his reign, gained several voices in favour
of his grandson Charles, already king of Spain; many princes, however,
still thought consideration requisite before they could undertake to place
the imperial power in the hands of a sovereign who already reigned over the
half of Europe; for, as inheritor of the houses of Spain and Austria, Charles
possessed, besides Spain and the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, the beautiful
Austrian provinces, and all the patrimonial territories of Burgundy in the
Low Countries. If to so much splendid power the additional lustre acquired
by the possession of the imperial crown were to be added, it was to be feared
— thus the princes thought — that his house might become too powerful,
and thence conceive the proud and ambitious project of invading and destroy-
ing the liberty of the German princes, and seek accordingly to render the
empire, without limitation, hereditary and independent.
From another side again, as his competitor for the imperial crown, came
forth to oppose him the king of France, Francis I. The ambassadors from
France presented to the assembled princes at Frankfort a document laudatory
of their royal master, in which they thus alluded to the danger threatened by
the incursions of the Turks : " He must indeed be wanting in understanding
who, at a time when the storm has broken forth, should still hesitate to con-
fide the steerage of the vessel to the most skilful helmsman."
Nevertheless, in spite of the confidence with which the envoys spoke, the
princes felt the danger of electing a French king to be emperor of Germany;
and as the elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, to whom they had offered
the crown, declined it with the magnanimous observation, in excuse, that
the inferior power of his house was not equal to contend with the difficulties
of the times, adding even his recommendation to them to elect the yomig
Spanish king instead, the princes after further consideration remembered and
admitted that at least he was a German prince, and the grandson of their late
revered emperor Maximilian; they decided accordmgly in his favour, and
elected him to the imperial throne on the 28th of June, 1519. Before the
election, however, his ambassadors were obliged by the princes to sign the
following conditions; viz., "That the emperor shall not make any alliance,
nor carry on any war with a foreign nation, without the approbation of the
princes, neither shall he introduce any foreign troops whatever into the empire;
that he shall hold no diets beyond Germany; that all offices at the imperial
court and throughout the empire shall be conferred upon native Germans;
250
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1519 A.D.]
that in all the affairs of the empire no other language but German or Latin
shall be employed; that, in conjunction with the estates, he shall put an
end to all the commercial leagues which, by means of their capital, have
hitherto held so much sway, and maintained so much independence; that
he shall not pronounce the imperial ban against any state of the empire
without urgent reasons nor without a proper form of judgment; and, finally,
that he shall come to Germany as speedily as possible, and make that country
his principal seat of residence." These and other articles being sworn to by
the ambassadors in the name of their royal master, they proceeded at once
to hasten his arrival in the Germanic Empire.^
The great contest had lasted for a year, and the tension it had evoked in
Europe was by no means relaxed by its decision; the clash of warring interests
had penetrated too deeply into the life of the Powers, and the discord was
intensified rather than mitigated
by the victory of tlie Catholic
King.
It must be conceded that
Charles did everything in his
power to soothe the apprehen-
sions bound up with his triumph.
He seems to have learnt the cer-
tainty of his election as early as
the 25th of June, by a letter from
the elector of Mainz. In the
early morning hours of the 6th of
July a Flemish secretary delivered
to Charles the elector's letters
announcing his election. As soon
as the momentous news was
known all the grandees hastened
to the court to kiss the hand of
Charles; the nuncio and the am-
bassadors of England and Venice
appeared to congratulate, only
the French ambassador held con-
spicuously aloof. Nevertheless
in the course of the next few days
Chievres and Gattinara assured the ambassadors of France and Venice of
Charles' desire, now that he had attained so high a dignity, to maintain peace
in Christendom, to proceed against the infidels as a good Christian should,
and above all to be on terms of good friendship with their two states. " Our
king," they said, "loves peace and is prepared to do everything to maintain
it." To the pope he was even more gracious. No sooner did he receive
from his plenipotentiary in Germany the news of the result of the election
than he laid it before the papal legate, and addressed a letter of thanks to
the pope, in which he completely ignored all that the latter previously had
done to oppose him and spoke of the resignation exercised by the pope at
the last moment as a kindness for which he owed him the utmost gratitude.
He promised ever to cherish such sentiments towards him that the pope
should never regret the kindness which, in his paternal affection, he had
shown him./
The Spaniards themselves were discontented at beholding their sovereign
invested with the imperial dignity; they feared they might in consequence
Frederick the Wise
(U63-1525)
CHARLES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 251
[1520-1521 A.D.]
be reduced to the form of a secondary kingdom, subject to the rule of arbi-
trary governors. " What else had the empire now become," they said, " but
the mere shadow of an immensely overgrown tree?" In such poor estimation
was the ancient and, formerly, so venerated imperial crown now held in
foreign countries.
The majority of his councillors advised and warned Charles not to abandon
his hereditary kingdom for the sake of a possession so uncertam, and at least
difficult to maintain; but his genius saw and acknowledged that this very
circumstance paved the way for bold and independent action. It was at
this time, whilst he was on his journey to Germany, there to take possession
of the crown offered to him, that the important news arrived announcing the
acquisition made in his name of a second empire, that of Mexico, then just
discovered in the new world.
Charles landed in the Netherlands and continued his journey to Germany.
He was crowned on the 22nd of October, 1520, at Aachen, with great pomp
and magnificence, and he then appointed the 17th of April of the following
year as the day for holding the first imperial diet at Worms. This diet was
one of the most briUiant that had ever been held; it was attended by six
electors and a numerous body of spiritual and temporal princes. The most
famous transaction that occurred on tliis occasion was the trial of Martin
: Luther.^ But the diet was important for other reasons as well. The emperor
was just then in a most critical situation. In Spain there was open rebellion
' and his viceroy was unable to cope with the commons who were abetting it.
One of the first tilings to be done at the diet was to appoint a council of regency
to govern Germany while Charles returned to Spain. At the outset the embar-
rassment of ruling his scattered dominions was apparent, and Charles' chief
interest in Germany at the time was in getting from it men and money. As
to the latter, Charles inherited from his grandfather little but debts, and he
had to borrow 20,000 gulden from Franz von Sickingen, the knight whose
Icastle of the Shrenberg threatened the imperial city where the diet was
'meeting.
But even of greater importance were the negotiations with the pope.
Francis I, the disappointed rival, was threatening Italy, and Leo X (Gio-
yanni dei Medici) was only too likely to be favourable. Besides, the pope felt
uncomfortable in the grip of all the Spanish and imperial might which had its
'lold on the south and the north of Italy. The emperor's need for the alliance
of the pope was very great, and not to be influenced by the protest of a German
nonk. On May 8th, 1521, a treaty was signed between Charles and Leo,
vhich shows where Charles' interests lay at the moment of the Lutheran
evolt. Milan and Genoa were to be freed from the French yoke and restored
'o the feudal dominions of the emperor, and both pope and emperor were to
urnish troops and money. The emperor was to send Neapolitan troops to
id the pope in regaining Bologna; and Parma, Piacenza, and Ferrara were
0 be recovered for him. The pope was to support Charles in Naples against
ihe Venetians — they were to have the same friends and enemies; and
'istly, "the emperor was to support the pope against those fallen from the
■lith." The Edict of Worms against Luther was issued the same day.
: There are now two cUvergent interests in our story — the history of the
'^peror and his foreign policies, and the narrative of the revolt of Martin
;Uther. As the latter was destined to influence history far more deeply than
:ie transitory successes of Charles, we leave aside the details of the long
;orld-struggle of the greatest Habsburg for those of the origins of Protes-
i^ism. We have already given the main outline of the wars with Francis I
252 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1483-1517 A.D.]
in the history of that monarch, and we turn from the path to the great victory
of Pa via and the Treaty of Madrid, to the more genuinely German history of
Luther.«
THE APPEARANCE OF MARTIN LUTHER
Martin Luther, born at Eisleben on the 10th of November, 1483, became
a monk in the monastery of the Augustin-Eremites at Erfurt (1505), in conse-
quence of pecuHar circumstances; he was early led to Augustinism and the
study of the Bible by deep rehgious requirements, which could find no satis-
faction in the mechanism of the church. Removed in 1508 to the Augustine
monastery at Wittenberg, he laboured there, in the newly founded university
(1502), first as bachelor, from 1512 as doctor, with especial zeal to promote ;
the study of the Bible. He met with much success as a lecturer; by him and j
some hke-minded fellow-labourers the |
study of theology at Wittenberg was [
diverted from Aristotle and the school- i
men, to Augustine and Holy Scripture;
and denying the sanctity of works, it I
made its animating central point the •
doctrine of salvation of man by faith {
in Christ alone. Such a practical and [
scriptural turn of mind had often ex- '•
isted silent and still in the church be-
fore, and so long as it was not directly
assailed in its inmost sanctuary, hold-
ing fast its allegiance to an ideal church
instead of to the real, it had overlooked
the shortcomings of the latter, or ex- 1
cused them on the plea of human im- '
perfectibility. Thus even Luther held
fast to the church, without considering
the internal difference between his point
of view and that of the church ; but at
the same time his inward religious hfc
and faith attained such rocklike stead-
fastness that, counting all outward
things as nought, he was ready to face every danger and every onset in
defence of the saving truth he had recognised. ^ ,
At this time the Dominican Johan Tetzel [Dieze or Diez], as sub-commis-
sary of Albert, the elector of Mainz, began to preach in the borderlands, as it
was not allowed him to preach within the Saxon dominions, the indulgence,
prescribed by the pope for the advancement of the building of St. Peter 'f|
church; he sold indulgences wdth unheard-of exaggeration and incredible
effrontery at Jiiterbog (or Jiiterbock) and Zerbst, not far from Wittenberg
Luther soon discovered in the confessional the corrupting consequences o!
this. His own words regarding the affair are worth quoting.
Martin Lcther
LUTHER S OWN ACCOUNT OF TETZEL AND HIS INDULGENCES
It happened in the year 1517 [he tells us] that a preaching friar, Johani
Tetzel by name, came hither, a noisy fellow, whom Duke Frederick had save-
from drowning at Innsbruck, for Maximilian had commanded Mm to b
CHARLES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 253
[1517 A.D.]
drowned in the Inn (you may imagine it was for his great virtue's sake).*
Duke Frederick reminded him of it, when he began to trouble us at Witten-
berg; he acknowledged it freely. The same Tetzel now hawked about the
indulgence, and sold grace for money, dear or cheap as he best could. At the
time I was a preacher here in the monastery, and a young doctor fresh from
the anvil, glowing and bold in Holy Scripture. As many people went from
Wittenberg to Jiiterbog and Zerbst after the indulgence, I (so truly as Christ
tny Lord hath redeemed me) not knowdng what the indulgence was — as,
indeed, at that time no one knew — began to preach mildly that men might
■do better, forsooth, than purchase the indulgence. I had before this, here at
the castle, preached to the same effect against indulgence, and had displeased
Duke Frederick thereby, for he entertained a great affection for this foundation
(which possessed a particularly ample indulgence). Now, to come to the true
cause of the Lutheran teaching, I let all go on as it went. However, it comes
;to my mind how that Tetzel had preached loathsome and fearful articles,
which I will now name, to wit: he had such grace and power from the pope
that if any man had defiled or impregnated the Virgin Mary he could forgive
the sin, as soon as a fitting sum was deposited in the chest. Item, the red
indulgence-cross with the pope's banner, erected in the churches, was as
isfiicacious as the cross of Christ. Item, if St. Peter were here now, he could
have no greater grace or power than he had himself. Item, he would not
change places in heaven with St. Peter : for he had released more souls with
•.ndulgence than St. Peter by liis preaching. Item, when a coin was placed
'.n the chest for a soul in purgatory, so soon as the penny fell ringing upon the
'bottom, the soul immediately started for heaven. Item, the grace of indul-
gence was the very grace whereby man was reconciled to God. Item, there
was no need to feel grief, or sorrow, or repentance for sin, if a man bought the
indulgence, or the letter of indulgence. Tetzel also sold the right to sin in
future time. He pushed his traffic to a fearful extent; every tiling might be
lone for money.^
^ A MODERN VIEW OF TETZEL (LEA)
Of course modern apologists have sought to prove that Luther calumniated
Tetzel and his preachers in his reports of their assertions. We see no reason
l:o doubt his accuracy. For centuries the qucestuarii had been accustomed to
iise such arguments and promises; the people were accustomed to them, and
Tetzel would never have acquired his reputation as a vendor of indulgences
■lad he not vaunted his wares in the ordinary manner, W^e have good ortho-
dox testimony that Arcemboldi, the papal commissioner for north Germany,
■ms not over nice, committing a thousand knaveries and carrying off all the
jnoney of the country, and thus assisted in spreading the Lutheran revolt.
-^See Balan.w) Luther, moreover, was altogether too shrewd to conimence
!iis assault by basing his case on calumnies; if he used these assertions as
lirguments it was because they were of common notoriety and could not be
confuted ; he was not particularly scrupulous in controversy, but in this case
lie was virtually taking liis life in liis hands, and it would have been the
ixtreme of folly to depend on lies capable of easy disproof./
[' Lutlier is alluding to the story that Tetzel had been condemned to death for seducing a
jQarried woman at Ulm, in 1512, but on the intervention of Frederick the Urse, elector and
!luke of Saxony, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, from which he was later
;iardoned. Grone in his defence of Tetzel finds the accusation incompatible with Tetzel's high
lommission, but Lea.^' thinks rather that " no one at that time would have thought of visiting
' 0 heavily so trivial an offence."]
254 THE HOLY ROMAN^ EMPIEE
[1517-1519 A.D.]
LUTHER ROUSES OPPOSITION
On the 31st of October, 1517, Luther affixed to the door of the castle
church at Wittenberg ninety-five theses drawn up against the sale of indul-
gences as practised by Tetzel.
Although in his theses Luther assailed only the Thomist doctrine of mdul-
gences, and did not pass on to many others of the schoolmen, still they pro-
duced an effect important in the highest degree, and roused the Dominicans
especially to oppose them. The spirit of this order was particularly sensitive
by reason of humiliations but lately undergone in the case of Savonarola and
Reuchlin; and they considered themselves injured m the persons of St.
Thomas and Tetzel at the same time. Tetzel at once assailed Luther with
counter theses, for the defence of which he obtained the degree of doctor
at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. Sylvester Prierias wrote against hun with similar
zeal. Dr. Johann von Eck, vice-chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt,
united himself with them, and wrote Obelisci against Luther's theses. The
tenor and the maimer of these attacks could not discourage a Luther; they
only kindled him into a noble indignation.
The Dominicans carried their complaints to Rome. Leo X, who regarded
the whole matter as a mere monkish wrangle, suffered Luther to be summoned
before him; but he was easily induced, out of consideration for Frederick
the Wise, elector of Saxony, whom he wished to bend to his views for the
approaching election of the Roman emperor, to commission his cardmal '
legate Cajetan at Augsburg to bring the new heretic to submission. ^ However,
this legate, before whom Luther made his appearance at Augsburg in October, j
1518, could subdue the humble monk neither by his kindness nor by hisj
threats. Moreover, the monk appealed, from the pope ill-informed to the
pope better-informed; and afterwards, when the whole doctrine of indul-
gence, as developed down to this time, was confirmed from Rome by a bull,
he issued an appeal from the pope to a general council (at Wittenberg, the (
28th of November, 1518).
Sympathy with the bold champion had long been expressed only in a j
tone of fear and deprecation; gradually some few voices ventured to encour-i
age him, especially among the humanists, and his associates and fellow- j
townsmen at Wittenberg; but in the young Melanchthon, who was won:
over to the Wittenberg school in 1518, he found his most faithful helper m
the great work for which he was destined, without as yet knowing it himself. ,
His luminous and edifying works, by means of which he made the subject of |
controversy intelligible to a larger circle, and contrived to awaken the feelings '■
of the people, with moral and religious addresses in the spirit of Augustine's
system, to an inward religion, won for him more and more the hearts of the j
German nation. _ i
The elector of Saxony was at this time a person of too great importance
to the pope, in a political point of view, to be alienated for the sake of an
insignificant monk. Leo X sent to him his chamberlain, Karl von Miltitz,
with the golden rose, in order to win him over to his views with regard to the
election of the Roman emperor, and to come to an understanding with him
on the subject of Luther. Miltitz quickly saw upon his entrance into Ger-j
many (December, 1518) that nothing could be effected here by force, and^
so much the less when, on the death of Maximilian I which now followed
(January 12th, 1519), the elector of Saxony became regent in northern Ger-
many. He tried with Luther a flattering kindness, and thereby actually
obtained, not indeed the recantation he wished for, but still the promise to
CHAELES V AND THE REFORMATION 255
[1519 i.D.]
be silent if his enemies kept silent, and to declare openly his obedience to the
see of Rome. Under existing circmnstances Miltitz thought he might ven-
ture to be satisfied with this result in this troublesome matter. He rebuked
Johann Tetzel, the real author of the difficulty, at Leipsic, with such stern-
ness for his shameless proceedings that he died [so it was said] of fear. Luther
gave the promised declarations, and the matter seemed to be brought to an
end.^
LUTHER BECOMES A HERETIC
The question of indulgences was one that was still open to such university
disputations as Luther invited in his theses. It had never been settled
authoritatively by the church beyond the bull Unigenitus of Clement VI,
which, however, covered but part of the ground. So long as Luther's attack
upon abuses was confined to this debatable subject, even so keen an enemy
of Rome as Hutten saw nothing in it. It was a great sight, he VvTote, to
watch the monks tearing each other! The humanists cared little about the
whole matter.
But an entirely different question arose in 1519, when Luther turned from
such fairly safe matter of controversy in theology to the ground of church
history and attacked the primacy of the "bishop of Rome." When he did
this, Luther was no longer a theologian, he was a rebel against the institution
which for a thousand years had administered the sacraments of salvation.
! This was the crisis ; the theses, tentative and faltering, were as nothing com-
pared to it. It was brought about through a sentence Luther let fall in a
defence of his thesis, which he sent to the archbishop of Brandenburg. There
Luther stated that the primacy of the bishop of Rome had not existed before
St. Gregory's time. This weak spot was at once picked out by Dr. Eck, a
( famous disputant of the time, who had challenged Luther's cause in the person
I of his friend Carlstadt. Luther had bound himself to Miltitz to remain
'; silent. He now felt himself absolved from the promise by Eck's attack, and
; set to work to defend his statement. As he studied church history, and found
I how often the primacy of Rome had been ignored in the early history, he
came to the rather unwarranted conclusion that that primacy had not existed
'before the great age of Hildebrand. This was the decisive moment. All
} Luther's friends wanted him to refrain from attack on such grounds. Spalatin,
Iwho was the intermediary with the elector Frederick, "was in an agony of
'apprehension." ^ What was the use of this rebellious attitude? How could
evils in the selling of indulgences be bettered by imnecessary statements
about the pope's early primacy? By entering upon this new field, Luther
was making himself a heretic; but, once convinced, nothing could stop him.
,His own heroic mood was the source of Protestantism. He wrote that though
his friends forsook him, as the disciples forsook Christ, "yet Truth left alone
;5vill save itself by its own right hand — not mine, nor yours, nor any man's;
out last of all, if I perish, the world will lose nothmg."
I In this mood he threw down his defiance to the pope, in De Potestate
fa-pce, which contamed his point of view for the disputation. The pope's
:)ower was not rooted m divine right, he said, but should be accepted as a
natter of expediency. It was, therefore, only valid in so far as it justified
tself. The church was not the sacerdotal framework of the sacraments,
imt the "ecclesia" was the faithful; faith would bring all the rest — keys,
'•acraments, and power. " Last of all, I say that I do not know whether the
' Charles Beard: Life of Martin Luther.
256 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1519-1520 A.D.]
Christian faith can bear it, that there should be any other head of the universal
church on earth than Christ himself."
AVlien Luther went to Leipsic to uphold such views against Eck, he was
going to the university which had been founded by those who fled from the
contamination of Jolin Huss at Prague. The memory of the Hussite wars
was still fresh in men's minds; and the terror of the rumbling wagons of
Procopius had not yet died out. To go into such a city and openly proclaim
such doctrines was certainly the act of a brave man, whatever one may
think of his conclusions. But the students of Wittenberg did not propose
to let their professor suffer violence. A hundred of them escorted his car-
riage, armed, and with all the state they could display. The cavalcade that
entered Leipsic was sufficiently imposing to ensure as fair a trial as possible.
Eck was a skilful debater. The other points in dispute, questions of grace
and the Augustinian doctrines of free-will, were comparatively unimportant.
The primacy of the pope was the main point. Eck managed to bring Luther
to a declaration that several of Huss' doctrmes had been unjustly condemned,
then that the council of Constance had erred. This was sufficient. Luther
was clearly a heretic. He had already denied the final authority of the
pope. Now he was driven to refuse that authority to a general council.
What was left but individual judgment and its mterpretation of divine
revelation? Luther stood confessed an anarchist in the church-state. Eck
had all he wanted. He went to Rome for the bull of excommimication,
while Luther went back to Wittenberg to write against "the Babylonian :
Captivity of the church," and to appeal to the "Christian nobility of the
German nation" (June, 1520) — a trumpet blast of war.
The "Address to the German Nobility" summarises the evils which Ger-
many has suffered through Roman interference. It points out the economic
distress that had come through extortions of the papacy for the maintenance
of the splendour of the pontifical court. It lashes the misgovernment of
bishops with sinecures or pluralities, the arrogance and wealth of the cardi-
nals. It appeals for the abolition of all the economic claims of Rome wliich,
as he saw them, were responsible for so much misery. Tliis stinging attack
was not couched in elegant humanistic Latin, but written in plain German.
No such work had ever appeared in Europe before. The "Babylonian Cap-
tivity" (October, 1520) was, on the contrary, in Latin, though like all of
Luther's works soon translated. It rejected the sacramental system and
transubstantiation. Only baptism and the Lord's Supper remained true
sacraments in Luther's eyes, and as to the latter the presence of Christ was in
the bread as fire in hot iron — the substance cUd not change. The great revolt
was now begun. It remained to check it or watch the overtlirow of the
church in Germany .« Luther felt himself summoned as the soldier of God to
war against the wiles and deceit of the de^dl, by which the church was cor-
rupted; and together with this character, wliich he maintained immovably,
he assumed the unconquerable courage, the rocklike trustfulness, and the
cheerful confidence with which he steadfastly pursued Ms aim from this time
forth through every danger.
LUTHER DEFIES EXCOMMUNICATION, AND PROCEEDS TO WORMS (1521 A.D.)
As soon as the election of Charles V to the empire was decided by th(
influence of Frederick the Wise, counteracting the pope's wishes (June 28th
1519), the curia had no motives of interest to withhold it from proceeding ii
Luther's case. Accordingly, when Eck betook himself to Rome in 1520, t<:
CHARLES Y AND THE REFORMATION 257
[1520-1521 A.D.]
carry on his work with the help of the Dominicans, Luther might certainly
foresee a sentence of excommunication. However, Frederick the Wise, sup-
ported also by Erasmus' opinion, remained determined to protect the most
revered teacher of his rising university against unjust violence. But Luther
had already found in other parts of his German fatherland most determined
friends; several knights offered him refuge and protection against persecution.
Thus he was possessed of the outward means for expressing in his works his
present acquaintance with the state of the church and its relation to Christian
truth. This he did with the rnost umestrained boldness in the work, An den
christlichen Adel deutscher Nation von des christlichen Standes Besserung (June,
1520), with reference to the external constitution of the church, and in the
Produdium de Captivitate babylonica Ecclesice (October, 1520), with reference
to the Cathohc doctrine of sacraments.
The bull of condemnation against Luther, which was prepared in Rome
on the 15th of June, 1520, appeared yet more the organ of personal hatred,
fromiKthe fact that Dr. Eck was entrusted with the pubHcation of it, and
arbitrarily extended its appUcation to several of Luther's friends, distinguished
by name. In Germany the bull was received with an almost universal
antipathy, in some places with resistance. Luther declared it a work of anti-
christ, renewed his appeal to a general council, and at length, on the 10th of
December, 1520, formally abjured the papal see, and at the same time pub-
licly burned the bull, together with the books of the papal law.
A fresh bull of the 3rd of January, 1521, pronounced upon Luther and his
adherents sentence of excommunication, with all the penalties enforced
against heretics, and of interdict upon their place of residence; the papal
legate Alexandro, at the diet of Worms, called in the secular arm to the exe-
cution of the decree. But so greatly were circumstances altered by the pre-
vailing excitement, that the diet determined first to hear the men condemned
I by the pope, and at the same time drew up 101 grievances against the Roman
; see. Luther proceeded with the emperor's safe conduct to Worms, welcomed
'everywhere on the way with great respect and sympathy; here he testified
'before the emperor and the empire, April 18th, 1521, that he could not recant.
His courage made a deep impression; but the existing constitution was too
[powerful; after he had been dismissed in safety, the ban of the empire was
[passed against him and his adherents on the 26th of May,
LUTHER AT THE WARTBURG (1521-1522 A.D.)
In order to protect him therefrom, the elector had him seized on his return
home, and secretly conveyed to the castle of the Wartburg.^
' Removed from the world and from public intercourse with men; pro-
tected from the pursuit of his enemies and the menacing consequences of the
'ban of the empire, he there under the name of Junker Gorg (Younker George)
passed ten months, during which he was busied incessantly with the great
Work of church reform. The governor of the castle with the feehngs and
sympathy of a friend looked after his maintenance most conscientiously,
While at the same time he anxiously endeavoured to prevent his _ residence
bhere from being discovered and so becoming known to the outside world,
/-juther was consequently obliged to present an appearance in accordance with
I he name and rank he had assumed. " I have laid aside the habit of a monk
;ind put on the attire of a knight, and let my beard and hair grow, so that you
•vould scarcely recognise me: in fact I no longer recognise myself." Thus
'yrote Luther to Spalatin in the same letter in which he informs him of the
1 H, W. — VOL. XIV. S
258
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1521 A.D.]
experiences and adventures on his homeward journey, and in a letter of the
26th of May to Melanchthon we read: *'I have no more to WTite, for I am a
hermit, an anchorite, a real monk, but not with the tonsure or habit of one;
I should appear before you as a knight and you would hardly recognise me."
Two pages were deputed to serve him; with these exceptions nobody saw him
during the first months of his concealment ; and even later on he had seldom
intercourse with anyone else. On the
other hand, he was soon allowed to cor-
respond with his friends, but it appears
that the governor at first carefully scru-
tinised this correspondence. A letter to
Amsdorf of the 12th of May contains
the following communication, "that he
had already lately written to his friends
in Wittenberg but had hstened to bet-
ter advice, and torn up all letters^ as it
had not been safe as yet to write"; and
in a later letter to Spalatin we read : " I
have scarcely been able to manage to
send this letter, because there is so
much fear that the public will get to
know where I am. Therefore if you
tliink this may be to the honour of Christ
let it remain or become doubtful whether
friend or foe has me in charge, and keep
silence, for it is not necessary that any-
body but yourself and Amsdorf should
know more than that I am still living."
In all his letters Luther avoids men-
tioning his real abode. He wTites "out
of my desert; out of my hermitage; on
the mountain; in the air-preserves; in
the region of the birds; amongst the
birds who sing on all the trees most
sweetly and praise God day and night
with all their might." Most of the
letters, however, are dated from his
" hermitage " or from " Patmos," the
name which he preferred later on to give
to the Wartburg. Once he tried to de-
ceive his adversaries by a trick as to
his concealed place of abode. In a letter to Spalatin he enclosed another
which his friend was to lose with intentional carelessness so that it might fall
into the hands of his opponents. He particularly -^dshed it to get into the
hands of Duke George in Dresden, for the latter would be certain to deUght in
reveahng and pubUshing the secret.
Luther's sudden disappearance had certainly excited much anxiety and
astonishment. Many of his supporters were greatly afraid that his crafty
opponents had made away with him ; others, however, hoped and wished that
he was being concealed by friends. There was in Eisenach, where all sorts
of things were told of Luther, a firm beHef and report that he had been made a
prisoner by friends from Franconia. On the other hand, his enemies and
persecutors were soon seized with fear and anxiety lest the excitement of the
Knight of the Sixteenth Centtjby
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION 259
[1521-1524 A.D.]
people against them should become still more dangerous and violent, and they
wished him back again in pubUc hfe.^
Luther's power increases
Meanwhile the execution of the sentence of annihilation was crippled by
the war in which the emperor was immediately afterwards entangled with
France. Only in the dominions of the emperor, his brother Ferdinand, the
elector of Brandenburg, the duke of Bavaria, Duke George of Saxony, and
certain ecclesiastical princes was the Edict of Worms carried into execution,
so as to furnish martyrs for the new doctrine, and thereby increase the enthu-
siasm in its favour. In the rest of the German dominions the edict was not
observed, partly because the princes were favourably inclined to Luther's
cause, partly because they were withheld through fear of rebellion. At
Wittenberg the alteration of the constitution of the church according to the
new principles was forthwith commenced, and Melanchthon supplied the new
church with the first systematic statement of its doctrines.
It was no cause for wonder that the new and unaccustomed freedom made
many men giddy. In Wittenberg a party had existed since the beginning of
: December, which wished, like the Taborites, to restore suddenly and by force
the original simplicity of divine worship. A body of students and townsmen
began to hinder the celebration of mass and the chanting of hours, and threat-
iened the barefooted friars. Only the reformer himself, in whom cHscretion,
enthusiasm, and energy were united in such an extraordinary manner, could
protect his work from sinking into an empty fanaticism. He suddenly came
forth from his concealment in March, 1522; his powerful preaching scared the
false prophets, and quieted men's minds. Soon after, he offered to his Ger-
man fatherland the precious fruit that had grown in his retirement at the
iWartburg, his translation of the New Testament, which furnished every man
:of the people with the means of becoming certain of his faith, and of being able
to give a reason for it.
Adrian VI, a pious and earnest man, who mounted the papal throne after
Leo X (1522), thought that, the more sincerely he acknowledged and promised
i:o redress the errors which had crept into the external constitution of the
;hurch, so much the more decidedly he might venture to claim the execution
,)f the existing law of heresy against Luther's doctrinal errors. But the
)ublic declarations which he caused to be made with this end in view, at the
liet of Nuremberg (December, 1522), produced no other effect than a fresh
.nd importunate claim for the redress of the grievances of the German nation
'Iready repeated so often before. In return for the earliest efforts for reform
!t Rome, Adrian VI was rewarded with hatred, resistance, and an early death
September 14th, 1523). His successor, Clement VII, immediately returned
0 the old papal course, and demanded by his cardinal-legate Campeggio, at
;he diet of Nuremberg (January, 1524), the unconditional suppression of
ieresy. The legate obtained only an unsatisfactory decree to observe as
Hr as possible the Edict of Worms.'^
THE PEASANTS REVOLT
Meanwhile a political ferment, very different from that produced by the
;Ospel, had long been at work in the empire. The people, bowed down by
'vil and ecclesiastical oppression, bound in manv countries to the seigniorial
260 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1503-1524 A.D.]
estates, and transferred from hand to hand along with them, threatened to
rise with fury and at last to break their chains. This agitation had shown
itself long before the Reformation by many sjniiptoms, and even then the
religious element was blended with the political; in the sixteenth century it
was impossible to separate these two principles, so closely associated in the
existence of nations. In Holland, at the close of the preceding century, the
peasants had revolted, placing on their banners, by way of arms, a loaf and
a cheese, the two great blessings of these poor people. " The alliance of the
shoes" had shown itself in the neighbourhood of Speier in 1502. In 1513 it
appeared again in Breisgau, being encouraged by the priests. In 1514
Wiirtemberg had seen the "league of Poor Conrad," whose aim was to main-
tain by rebellion "the right of God." In 1515 Carinthia and Hungary had
been the theatre of terrible agitations. These seditions had been quenched
in torrents of blood ; but no relief had been accorded to the people. A political
reform, therefore, was not less necessary than a religious reform. The people
were entitled to this; but we must acknowledge that they were not ripe for
its enjoyment.
Since the commencement of the Reformation, these popular disturbances
had not been renewed; men's minds were occupied by other thoughts.
Luther, whose piercing glance had discerned the condition of the people, had
already from the summit of the Wartburg addressed them in serious exhorta-
tions calculated to restrain their agitated minds: "Rebellion," he had said,
"never produces the amelioration we desire, and God condemns it. AVhat is
it to rebel, if it be not to avenge oneseK? The devil is striving to excite to
revolt those who embrace the Gospel, in order to cover it with opprobrium;
but those who have rightly understood my doctrine do not revolt."
Everything gave cause to fear that the popular agitation could not be
restrained much longer. The government that Frederick of Saxony had
taken such pains to form, and which possessed the confidence of the nation,
was dissolved. The emperor, whose energy might have been an efficient
substitute for the influence of this national administration, was absent; the
princes, whose union had always constituted the strength of Germany, were
divided ; and the new declarations of Charles V against Luther, by removing
every hope of future harmony, deprived the reformer of part of the moral
influence by which in 1522 he had succeeded in canning the storm. The
chief barriers that had hitherto confined the torrent bemg broken, nothing
could any longer restrain its fury.
It was not the religious movement that gave birth to political agitations:
but in many places it was carried away by their impetuous waves. Perhaps
we should even go farther, and acknowledge that the movement communicated
to the people by the Reformation gave fresh strength to the discontent fer-
menting in the nation. The violence of Luther's writings, the intrepidity oj;
his actions and language, the harsh truths that he spoke, not only to the pope
and prelates, but also to the princes themselves, must all have contributec
to inflame minds that were already in a state of excitement. Accordingly
Erasmus did not fail to tell him : " We are now reaping the fruits that yoi
have sown." The multitude, seeing their desires checked in one direction
gave vent to them in another. *'AVhy," said they, "should slavery be per
petuated in the state, while the church invites all men to a glorious liberty
WTiy should governments rule only by force, when the Gospel preaches noth
ing but gentleness?" Unhappily, at a time when the religious reform wa
received with equal joy both by princes and people, the political reform, oi
the contrary, had the most powerful part of the nation against it; and whil'
CHAELES V AND THE REFOEMATION 261
[1524-1525 A.D.]
the former had the Gospel for its rule and support, the latter had soon no
other pruiciples than violence and despotism.
Luther, who had rejected the warlike enterprises of Sickengen, could not
be led away by the tumultuous movements of the peasantry. He ever
firmly maintained the distmction between secular and spiritual things; he
continually repeated that it was immortal souls which Christ emancipated by
his Word; and if, with one hand, he attacked the authority of the church,
with the other he upheld with equal power the authority of princes. "A
Christian," said he, "should endure a hundred deaths, rather than meddle
in the slightest degree with the revolt of the peasants." He wrote to the
elector: "It causes me especial joy that these enthusiasts themselves boast,
to all who are willing to listen to them, that they do not belong to us. The
Spirit urges them on, say they; and I reply, it is an evil spirit, for he bears no
other fruit than the pillage of convents and churches; the greatest highway
robbers upon earth might do as much."
The insurrection began m. the Black Forest, and near the somces of the
Danube, so frequently the theatre of popular commotions. On the 19th of
July, 1524, some peasants of Thurgau rose against the abbot of Reichenau,
who would not accord them an evangelical preacher. Ere long thousands
were collected round the small town of Tengen, to liberate an ecclesiastic who
was there imprisoned. The revolt spread with inconceivable rapidity from
Swabia as far as the Rhenish provinces, Franconia, Thuringia, and Sax-
ony, In the month of January, 1525, all these countries were in a state of
rebellion.
About the end of this month, the peasants published a declaration in
twelve articles, in which they claimed the liberty of choosing their own pas-
tors, the abolition of small tithes, of slavery, and of fines on inheritance, the
right to hunt, fish, and cut wood, etc. Each demand was backed by a passage
from holy writ, and they said in conclusion, " If we are deceived, let Luther
correct us by Scripture."
[ The opinions of the Wittenberg divmes were consulted. Luther and
, Melanchthon ^ delivered theirs separately, and they both gave evidence of
the difference of their characters. Melanchthon, who thought every kind
of disturbance a crime, oversteps the limits of his usual gentleness, and can-
'not find language strong enough to express his indignation. The peasants
;are criminals, agamst whom he invokes all laws hmnan and divine. If
'friendly negotiation is unavailing, the magistrates should himt them down,
jas if they were robbers and assassins. " Aiid yet," adds he (and we require
iat least one feature to remmd us of Melanchthon), "let them take pity on
the orphans when having recourse to the penalty of death ! " Luther's opinion
'of the revolt was the same as Melanchthon's; but he had a heart that beat
[' Philip Melanchthon (Philip Schwarzerd was his German name), a native of Bretten, in the
■Rhenish palatinate, was born 16th February, 1497. He was the son of an armourer, called
' the locksmith of Heidelberg." Melanchthon was not only profound and thorough in his
jitudies, but also many-sided. With his extraordinary natural gifts, and in the condition in
■•vhich science then was, he found it possible to embrace, in the circuit of his learning, the
'several faculties of medicine, law, and theology. His decided preference was always for the
iatter, although he never became an ecclesiastic. In this respect Melanchthon forms a con-
lecting link between Erasmus and Luther. He exhibits a more decided theological tendency
ban the one, and possesses, on the other hand, a wider culture and greater elegance of style
han the other. Erasmus himself highly esteemed the learning of Melanchthon, and publicly
lestified his appreciation of it. "Immortal God," he exclaims with reference to the youth who
liad excited his admiration, " what promise is there in this young man, this hoy ! His attain-
Qents in both literatures are equally valuable. What ingenuity and acumen, what purity of
inguage, what beauty of expression, what a memory for the most unfamiliar things, what a
"de extent of reading ! " — Hagenbach.^]
262 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1525 A.D.]
for the miseries of the people. On this occasion he manifested a dignified
impartiahty, and spoke the truth frankly to both parties.
But the revolt, instead of dying away, became more formidable. At
Weinsberg, Count Ludwig of Helfenstein and the seventy men under his
orders were condemned to death by the rebels. A body of peasants drew up
with their pikes lowered, whilst others drove the count and his soldiers against
this wall of steel. The wife of the wretched Helfenstein, a natural daughter
of the emperor Maximilian, holding an infant two years old in her arms,
knelt before them, and with loud cries begged for her husband's life, and
vainly endeavoured to arrest this march of murder; a boy who had been in
the count's service, and had joined the rebels, capered gaily before him, and
played the dead march upon his fife, as if he had been leading his victims in
a dance. All perished; the child was wounded in its mother's arms, and she
herself thrown upon a dung-cart, and thus conveyed to Heilbrunn.
At the news of these cruelties, a cry of horror was heard from the friends
of the Reformation, and Luther's feeling heart underwent a terrible conflict.
On the one hand the peasants, ridiculing his advice, pretended to receive
revelations from heaven, made an impious use of the threatenings of the
Old Testament, proclaimed an equality of ranks and a community of goods,
defended their cause with fire and sword, and indulged in barbarous atrocities.
On the other hand, the enemies of the Reformation asked the reformer, with
a malicious sneer, if he did not know that it was easier to kindle a fire than to
extinguish it. Shocked at these excesses, alarmed at the thought that they
might check the progress of the Gospel, Luther hesitated no longer, no longer
temporised; he mveighed against the insurgents with all the energy of his
character.
Neither gentleness nor violence could arrest the popular torrent. The
church-bells were no longer rimg for divine service ; whenever their deep and
prolonged sounds were heard in the fields, it was the tocsin, and all ran to
arms. The people of the Black Forest had rallied round Johann Miiller of
Bulgenbach. With an imposing aspect, covered with a red cloak, and wear-
ing a red cap, this leader boldly advanced from village to village followed by
the peasantry. Behind him, on a wagon decorated with ribands and branches
of trees, was raised the tricolour flag, black, red, and white — the signal of
revolt. A herald, dressed in the same colours, read the twelve articles, and
invited the people to join in the rebellion. Whoever refused was banished
from the commmiity.
Ere long this march, which at first was peaceable, became more disquieting.
"We must compel the lords to submit to our alliance," exclaimed they. And
to induce them to do so, they plundered the granaries, emptied the cellars,
drew the seigniorial fish-ponds, demolished the castles of the nobles who
resisted, and burned the convents. Opposition had inflamed the passions of
those rude men; equality no longer satisfied them; they thirsted for blood,
and swore to put to death every man who wore a spur.
At the approach of the peasants, the cities that were unable to resist them
opened their gates and joined them. In whatever place they entered, they
pulled down the images and broke the crucifixes ; armed women paraded the
streets and threatened the monks. If they w^re defeated in one quarter, they
assembled again in another, and braved the most formidable forces. A com-
mittee of peasants was established at Heilbrunn. The counts of Lowenstein
were taken prisoners, dressed in smock-frocks, and then, a white staff having
been placed in their hands, they were compelled to swear to the twelve articles.
" Brother George, and thou, brother Albert," said a tinker of Ohringen to the
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION 263
[1525 A.D.I
counts of Hohenlohe, who had gone to their camp, "swear to conduct your-
selves as our brethren; for you also are now peasants; you are no longer lords."
Equality of rank, the dream of many democrats, was estabhshed in aristocratic
Germany.
Many nobles, some through fear, others from ambition, then joined the
insurgents. The famous Gotz von Berlichingen, finding his vassals refuse to
obey him, desired to flee to the elector of Saxony; but his wife, who was
lying-in, wishing to keep him near her, concealed the elector's answer. Gotz,
I being closely pursued, was compelled to put himself at the head of the rebel
1 army. On the 7th of May the peasants entered Wiirzburg, where the citizens
received them with acclamations. The forces of the princes and knights of
Swabia and Franconia, wliich had assembled in this city, evacuated it, and
retired in confusion to the citadel, the last bulwark of the nobility.
But the movement had already extended to other parts of Germany.
Speier, the Palatinate, Alsace, and Hesse accepted the twelve articles, and the
peasants threatened Bavaria, Westphalia, the Tyrol, Saxony, and Lorraine.
The markgraf of Baden, having rejected the articles, was compelled to flee.
The coadjutor of Fulda acceded to them with a smile. The smaller towns
said they had no lances with which to oppose the insurgents. Mainz, Treves,
and Frankfort obtained the hberties which they had claimed.
An immense revolution was preparing in all the empire. The ecclesiastical
and secular privileges, that bore so heavily on the peasants, were to be sup-
;: pressed ; the possessions of the clergy were to be secularised, to indemnify the
• princes and provide for the wants of the empire ; taxes were to be abolished,
with the exception of a tribute payable every ten years; the imperial power
was to subsist alone, as being recognised by the New Testament ; all the other
princes were to cease to reign ; sixty-four free tribunals were to be established,
I in which men of all classes should have a seat ; all ranks were to return to their
; primitive condition ; the clergy were to be henceforward merely the pastors
I of the churches ; princes and knights were to be simply the defenders of the
; weak ; uniformity in weights and measures was to be introduced, and only one
kind of money was to be coined throughout the empire.
Meanwhile the princes had shaken off their first lethargy, and George
,Truchsess von Waldburg, commander-in-chief of the imperial army, was
I advancing on the side of the Lake of Constance. On the 2nd of May he
1 defeated the peasants at Beblingen, marched on the town of Weinsberg, where
'the unhappy count of Helfenstein had perished, burned and rased it to the
ground, giving orders that the ruins should be left as an eternal monument of
the treason of its inhabitants. At Fiirfeld he united with the elector palatine
and the elector of Treves, and all three moved towards Franconia.
' The Frauenburg, the citadel of Wiirzburg, held out for the princes, and the
'main army of the peasants still lay before its walls. As soon as they heard of
,Waldburg's march, they resolved on an assault, and at nine o'clock at night,
m the 15th of May, the trumpets sounded, the tricolour flag was unfurled, and
l'.he peasants rushed to the attack with horrible shouts. Sebastian von
iflotenhan, one of the warmest partisans of the Reformation, was governor of
: he castle. He had put the fortress in a formidable state of defence, and
laving exhorted the garrison to repel the assault with courage, the soldiers,
•lolding up three fingers, had all sworn to do so. A most terrible conflict then
look place. To the vigour and despair of the insurgents the fortress replied
jrom its walls and towers by petards, showers of sulphur and boiling pitch,
i-nd the discharges of artillery. The peasants, thus struck by their unseen
jnemies, were staggered for a moment; but in an instant their fury grew more
264 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1525 A.D.]
violent. The struggle was prolonged as the night advanced. The fortress,
lit up by a thousand battle-fires, appeared in the darkness like a towering
giant, who, vomiting flames, struggled alone amidst the roar of thunder for
the salvation of the empire against the ferocious valour of these furious hordes.
Two hours after midnight the peasants withdrew, having failed in all their
efforts.
They now tried to enter into negotiations, either with the garrison or with
the truchsess, who was advancing at the head of his army. But this was going
out of their path; violence and victory alone could save them. After some
little hesitation, they resolved to march against the imperial forces, but the
cavalry and artillery made terrible havoc in their ranks. At Konigshofen, and
afterwards at Engelstadt, those unfortunate creatures were totally defeated.
The prisoners were hung on the trees by the wayside. The bishop of Wiirzburg,
who had run away, now returned, and traversed his diocese accompanied
by executioners. Gotz von Berlichingen was sentenced to imprisonment
for life. The markgraf Kasimir of Aiisbach put out the eyes of eighty-
five insurgents, who had sworn that their eyes should never look upon that
prince again; and cast this troop of blinded individuals upon the world. The
wretched boy who had played the dead-march on his fife at the murder of
Helfenstein was chained to a post; a fire was kindled around him, and the
knights looked on laughing at his horrible contortions.
PubHc worsliip was everywhere restored in its ancient forms. The most
flourishing and populous districts of the empire exhibited to those who
travelled through them nothing but heaps of dead bodies and smoking ruins.
Fifty thousand men had perished, and the people lost nearly everjn^vhere the
little liberty they had hitherto enjoyed. Such was the horrible termination
of this revolt in the south of Germany.*
Luther's marriage
Let us now turn from theological and politico-social disputes to a more
peaceful picture — namely, that of the family. Luther's form here appears
invested with an entirely new greatness. The quondam monk is revealed to
view as a house father and house priest, as the founder of the German parson-
age. In June, 1525, amid the storms of the sacramental controversy and the
Peasant War, Luther was married to Katharine von Bora, Katharine von
Bora (Bore) belonged to the ancient and noble family of the Von Hugewdtzes,
and in early youth was placed in the noble Cistercian nunnery of Minptschen,
not far from Grimma, in Saxony, On the night of Good Friday, April 4th,
1523, Katharine, and eight other young ladies, to all of whom the veil had
grown too burdensome, were, not without the knowledge of Luther, abducted ;
from their convent by Leonard Koppe, a burgher of Torgau, assisted by a few j
of his friends. From Torgau the fugitives proceeded to Wittenberg, where
Luther provided for their accommodation, Katharine was received into the
house of Philip Reichenbach, the burgomaster. Luther had at first so little
intention of marrying her as to take all possible pains to find her a worthy
husband, A wooer soon announced himself in the person of Hemy Baum-
gartner, a patrician of Nurem'berg. This individual, however, changed his ,
mind in the sequel ; and Luther, after ha\dng fruitlessly admonished him that j
he must make haste if he wished to marry Fraulein von Bora, as another j
suitor had presented himself in the interval, proposed for her hand, through i
his friend Amsdorf, in behalf of one Glatz, a preacher of Orlamiinde, who had
signified his desire to make Katharine his wife. But the lady, with perfect
CHAELES V AITD THE EEFOEMATION 265
[1520-1535 A.D.]
frankness, declared that she could not make up her mind to bestow her heart
and hand upon any save Nicholas Amsdorf or Luther himself. The latter,
who a year previous to this, in 1524, had laid aside his monkish habit, thereby
plainly declaring his absolution from the vow of ceHbacy, took the matter into
consideration and prayed over it. Having, in his own conscience, become
firmly convinced of the propriety of the step which he contemplated, he pro-
ceeded without delay to its execution. On the Tuesday after Trinity Sunday,
June 13th, 1525, accompanied by his friends, Dr. Bugenhagen, the painter
Lucas Kranach, and a jurisconsult named Apelles, he repaired to Reichen-
bach's house and there solicited the hand of Katharine in marriage. She at
first regarded his petition as a jest, but speedily betrayed the earnestness of
her own desire. Friend Bugenhagen then joined the hands of the contracting
parties, and thus accompHshed the betrothal at once. A fortnight afterwards
Luther gave a marriage entertainment, at which his parents were present.*
The town councillor of Wittenberg sent him a wedding gift of fourteen meas-
ures of different kinds of wine, among which were Malvoisie and Rhine wine.
Katharine was twenty-six years of age at this time, and Luther forty-two.
Judging from her portrait by Lucas Kranach (to be found, together with that
of Luther, at the Museum of Bale), her face must have been not exactly
handsome, but cheerful, prepossessing, and good-humoured. She impresses
one as a good German wife and housekeeper.
Notwithstanding Luther's small income he was exceedingly hospitable and
beneficent. He kept a free table for poor students. His house was open to
all who were oppressed, to every stranger as well as to every friend. He not
only frequently recommended poor persons to the elector, or to other benefi-
cent individuals, but he also himself set an example in affording them aid.
Upon one occasion when a poor man sought his presence and complained of his
destitution, Luther's ready money was exhausted, and his wife was confined
to her bed. Not wiUing, however, to dismiss the man without reUeving his
wants, the Reformer procured him some money wliich had been presented to
his children by their god-parents, and gave this to the poor fellow. To his
mie, who looked somewhat grave when she discovered what her husband had
done, he said, "Dear Kate, God is rich. He will give us some more." Wherever
he could dry tears, cause joy, create happy faces around him, he did so, and
did so for the most part in secret, without regard for reward or thanks. As he
was driving once with Doctor Jonas and a few other friends, Luther gave an
' alms and Jonas did the same. "Who knows," said the latter, "when God will
return me this.'" But Luther laughed heartily at him, saying, "As if God
did not give it to you at the first! We ought to give freely, simply, of pure
^ love, wilhngly."
'i This anecdote leads us to Luther's circle of friends, concerning one of
whom we must say a few words more. Melanchthon was married before
Luther, in November, 1520. The name of his wife also was Katharine. She
was a daughter of the burgomaster Jerome Krapp, and was born in the same
' year with her husband. His wadding day w^as the only day wiien the con-
[' Melanclitlion expressed himself concerning Luther's marriage in a confidential letter
which shows respect neither for Luther nor for Katharine von Bore. He puts the chief blame
for the marriage on the escaped nun who was living with Luther. "Luther," he wrote to
Camerar, "is an exceedingly light-minded (leichtfertig) man, and the nuns have pursued him
with aU sorts of devices. At the same time the frequent living with nuns has weakened him,
' although he is a strong man." Thereby he believes that Luther has fallen into an " inoppor-
tune change of life." He hopes, however, that marriage wiU make him more moral. The
; letter, in Melanchthon's text, is given in the Sitzungsberichten der munchener Akademie der
i Wissenschaften, 1876, 601-604.— Janssen,^]
266 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[152&-1529 A.D.]
scientious teacher permitted himself to intermit his lectures. His wife is
described as simple in her manners, pious, and charitable. Housekeeping
cares were often a heavy burden to the professor, on account of his inadequate
salary. The good couple frequently deprived themselves of the most neces-
sary articles, in order that they might be able to help the poverty-stricken ones
who daily applied to them. The happy father was warmly attached to his
children, of whom he had four — two sons and two daughters. Upon one
occasion, when a French savant visited the famous "teacher of Germany," he
found him with a book in one hand, while he rocked the cradle with the other.
In hours of spiritual conflict, he, hke Luther, found comfort in his children.
Passing from tliis glimpse of the domestic still-life of the Reformers, we
must chrect our eyes once more toward the field of conflict, again fixing our
attention on the cause with, which they were occupied.^
RELIGIOUS LEAGUES AND THE DIET OF SPIRES (1526 A.D.)
By this time several states of Germany, determined to resist the progress
of the new opinions, had constituted a religious league. Their example was
soon followed by negotiations of John the elector of Saxony, and the landgraf
Philip of Hesse — two of the most powerful princes of the empire, and alike
devoted to the cause of reformation. The treaty into which they entered
is commonly called the League of Torgau, where it was ratified, May 4th,
1526, although in truth concluded at Gotha in the previous February. Other
princes, more particularly those of lower Germany, united in the compact, and
on the 12th of June they all agreed at Magdeburg to stand by each other with
their utmost might, in case they were violently assaulted " on accoimt of the
Word of God or the removal of abuses." In this temper they proceeded to
the diet of Speier [also Spires or Speyer], which opened a few days after-
wards (June 25th), with fresh discussions on the state and prospects of the
German church.
But the resolutions of the empire were again defeated by the obstinate
adherence of Charles V to the established usages of Christendom. His failure
to comply with the predominating wishes of this diet destroyed, perhaps
forever, the religious unity of the German states. The emperor had been
entangled on the one side m a quarrel with Clement VII, which terminated
in the storming of Rome (May 6th, 1527), and the surrender of the pontiff.'
On the other side, the fall of Louis II, king of Hungary and Bohemia, in his
efforts to withstand the armies of the mighty Ottoman at Mohacs (August
29th, 1526), diverted the attention of the archduke Ferdinand (brother
and representative of Charles). The months consumed m gaining his objects
proved a breathing-time to the reformers.
NEW DIET OF SPEIER (1529 A.D.) AND THE NAME ''PROTESTANTS"
But the storms of war passed over, leaving Charles and Ferdinand at
liberty again to vindicate the old opmions. A fresh diet was convoked at
Speier, for March 15th, 1529. On this occasion the unperial message, breath-
* The state of feeling in the army is illustrated by the following from von Ranke : " Sol-
diers dressed as cardinals, ■with one in the midst bearing the triple crown on his head and
personating the pope, rode in solemn procession through the city, surrounded by guards and
heralds ; they halted before the castle of St. Angelo, where the mock pope, flourishing a huge
drinking-glass, gave the cardinals his benediction ; they even held a consistory, and promised
in future to be more faithful servants of the Roman Empire : the papal crown they meant to
bestow on Luther."
CHAELES V AXD THE EEFOEMATIOX 267
[1529 A.D.]
ing anger and intolerance, added to the flames already burning among the
adversaries of the Reformation, and impelled them to resume more vigorous
measures. After a sharp struggle the pacific edict of the former diet of
Speier (1526), by virtue of which important changes had been consummated
in nimierous provinces of Germany, was absolutely repealed (April 5th);
and the reformers, pleading that such revocation violated both the laws of
the empire and the sacred rights of con-
science, fearlessly drew up the docu-
ment ^ which has obtained for them
and their posterity the name of Pro-
testants (April 19th). The resolution
which they manifested at this crisis was
indeed remarkable, sufficient even to
convince the ministers of Charles V
that nothing but the convocation of
some free council in Germany itself
was likely to compose the multiplying
discords.
The force, however, of such protests
,was materially abated by contentions in
'the camp of the reformers. The aliena-
■tion that grew up between the Saxon
iitheologians (of northern and middle
'Germany) and the Swiss (including also
parts of southern Germany) was pecu-
liarly apparent when the landgraf
PhiUp of Hesse, anxious either to con-
tfirm his own belief respecting the
Eucharist, or to strengthen the defences of the Reformation in its threatened
.conflict with the emperor, secured a meeting of the Protestant chiefs at
;VIarburg (October 1st, 1529).
Erasmus
CONFERENCE OF MARBURG (1529 A.D.)
I These " princes of the Word," as a contemporary poet calls them, included
'jiuther, (Ecolampadius, Bucer, Zwingli, Melanchthon, Schnepf, Brenz, Hedio,
')siander, Justus Jonas, Myconius, Johannes Sturm (of Strasburg), and
thers. Zwingli cleared himself from the suspicions which hung over his
rthodoxy respecting the Divinity of Jesus Christ; he also professed his agree-
;ient with the Wittenbergers on original sm and the effects of baptism. It
i^as otherwise when the theologians entered on the fifteenth article of the
Bries before them, that relating to the Eucharist. Both parties felt the differ-
nce to be fundamental, and they separated, not indeed without assurances
f mutual charity, but with a firm conviction that then- principles would not
'How them to work together.
', This fruitless conference is on other grounds remarkable, as giving birth
;) the first series of dogmatic definitions (fifteen in number), on which the
rticles and other symbolical writings of the Lutherans were generally
I * It proceeded from the elector of Saxony, the marquis of Brandenburg, the duke of Bruns"
lick-Liineburg, the landgraf of Hesse, and the count of Anhalt. Fourteen of the cities also
'.inedinthis protest. In answering the argument of the imperial party with respect to the
iterpretation of the Bible, they contended that, so long as the church itself was the subject of
Impute, the best method of expounding hard texts of Scripture was to call in the help of clearer
268 THE HOLY EOMAN^ EMPIEE
[1529-1530 A.D.]
modelled. Subscription to the series, as revised and augmented at the con-
vent of Schwabach (October 16th, 1529), was made an indispensable condition
of membership in the reforming league.^
THE TREND OF POLITICAL EVENTS,* THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION
During this time the emperor Charles had not been without occupation
abroad. He had proceeded from the diet in Worms to the Netherlands and
thence revisited Spain, where he remained nearly eight years; his penetrating
glance embraced the whole of Europe. His immediate attention, however,
was more especially directed to the movements of Francis, king of France,
who, as a dangerous neighbour and rival, availed himself of every opportunity
to gain some advantage over him. The story of the rivalry of the two mon-
archs has been told in our histories of Spain and France, and need not be
repeated here. After the final humiliation of Francis, in 1529, Charles was
prepared to make his first visit to his Italian states.^ He landed m August,
1529, in Genoa, and continued his progress on to Bologna with the pomp
worthy of an emperor. Here he had appointed a meeting with Pope Clement,
which took place in great solemnity. The former enmity was altogether
forgotten; the emperor, following the example of his ancestors, dropped on
his knee and kissed the foot of the holy father, and the latter solemnly crowned
him emperor and king of Lombardy.
Thus was celebrated the coronation of the greatest and most powerful
monarch who had borne the crown since Charlemagne, and who was, likewise,
the last emperor to visit Italy. Charles appeared now to the Italians, who
had only known him hitherto as a prince to be dreaded, in the character of a
mild and noble ruler, and their fear was changed into the most sincere vener-
ation. The emperor would not even retam Milan for hunself, but, before he
left Italy, restored it into the hands of Francesco Sforza, who received it as
a fief of the empire.
In the following year, 1530, the grand diet was held in Augsburg, to which
the emperor himself repaired from Italy as he had announced. Even before
he arrived, he was met on the road by several deputies from both parties,
who sought to gain his preference ; he referred them, however, to the approach-
ing diet itself, without declaring his sentiments on the subject. On the 22nd
of June, in the evening, he made his entry into the city with great pomp,
surrounded by the numerous electoral and other princes and nobles. No
longer now the young and inexperienced prince, as when ten yea^s before he
first appeared in Germany, the emperor at this moment stood unrivalled by
any contemporary monarch, unsurpassed by his predecessors since the domin-
ion of the great Charlemagne, and admired universally for his distinguished
qualities. In Francis I of France he had humbled one of the most hnughty
and ambitious of his foreign enemies, and Rome itself had not been able to
withstand his mighty power. His noble figure and dignified carriage pro-
duced their imposing effect upon all — whether friends or foes — who
approached his presence. Melanchthon, who had come to Augsburg in the
suite of the elector of Saxony, thus expresses himself in a confidential letter
upon the subject of the emperor: " But the individual most worthy of remark
in this assembly is certainly the emperor himself. His uninterrupted success
has no doubt excited wonder even in your country ; but far more to be admired
is his great moderation, amidst all this good fortime, which seems to come at
his bidding, for neither by action nor word does he indicate in the slightest
degree the effect it may have upon his feelings."
CFARLES V AND THE REFORMATION 269
[1530 A.D.]
THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION (1530 A.D.)
In spite, however, of the veneration with which the emperor's personal
character was regarded, the preponderance of his own power, and that of the
Cathohc princes generally, the Protestant princes, who were all present, main-
tained their ground of opposition with so much determination and firmness
that they succeeded in effectmg their object even in matters of merely external
ceremonies of worship, and obliged him to revoke several of his edicts. Thus
when he had ordered that all the princes present should join in the celebration
of the festival of Corpus-Christi-day (the day after his arrival), the whole
number of German princes, mounting their horses at dawn of day, proceeded
in solemn state to the palace, where, demanding an audience of the emperor,
they firmly declared they would not attend; and he found it expedient to
abandon his purpose. With equal resolution they protested against the ordi-
nance prohibiting their clergy from preaching in Augsburg, and withdrew
only after he had revoked it and substituted another, in which he ordered that
no sermon should be preached on either side, and that on Sundays the gospel
and epistles alone should be read.
At the head of the rest of the Protestant princes was John, elector of
Saxony, a man whose remarkable zeal and firmness in the cause of reform
acquired for him the surname by which posterity has distinguished him.
When even threatened by the emperor with his refusal to invest him with the
enfeoffment of the electorate of Saxony, as yet not conferred, he still main-
tained his position. This prince possessed a simple but resolute mind, which,
when once under the influence of conviction, was impressed by no fear,
regardful of no sacrifice. At the same time, he did not conceal from himself
the fact that with his inferior power it must be impossible for him to contend
against the mighty and preponderating force of the emperor; but the ques-
; tion he put to himself was whether he should renounce " the almighty power
. of God or the world;" the answer to which removed all doubt from his mind
■ and heart. He was likewise much encouraged and confirmed in his conyic-
' tion by the letters of Luther, who, on account of the ban still in force against
him, was able to proceed only as far as Cobm-g, from which place he watched
; with the greatest anxiety and expectation the important proceedings that
were taking place in Augsburg; but, at the same time, with an indomitable
[ resolution inspired by his faith and zeal in the great cause. It is said that at
' this time he composed his beautiful hymn Fine feste Burg ist unser Gott
(A mighty fortress is our God). When now the question of the rehgious
disputes was at length discussed before the diet of Augsburg, the Protestant
! princes laid before the assembly their confession of faith, exhibiting in suc-
i cinct but comprehensive language all the articles in which the new church
' differed from the old. This was completed by Melanchthon froni the seven-
' teen articles prepared by Luther at Schwabach, and from other writings which
; the Protestant princes had brought with them; thus was produced the Augs-
\ burg Confession which from that moment has formed the basis of the Protes-
I tant church. It was read publicly before the diet by Bayer, the chancellor of
: Saxony, on the 25th of June, and its reading occupied several hours.^
The general tone of this confession is humble, modest, and apologetic; yet
so violent were some of the opponents of the Reformation, who had listened to
I the reading of it, that they urged the emperor to gird on his sword immedi-
; ately and execute the Edict of Worms. Instead of this, however, Charles
; adopted the advice of the more moderate members of his party. He directed
! a committee of divines, then present at Augsburg, four of whom, Cochl^us,
270 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1530-1531 A.D.]
Eck, Wimpina, and Faber, were among the ablest champions of scholasticism,
to write a confutation of the Lutheran document. Their answer was eventu-
ally recited before the diet on the 3rd of August; and soon after, on the open-
ing of a conference (August 16th) between the leading theologians of each
party, many of the serious differences on points of doctrine were so far adjusted
that the rest appeared to those engaged in it no longer incapable of reconcilia-
tion. Such hope, however, weakened by the opposition of the sterner Luth-
erans, vanished altogether when Campeggio, the papal legate, reasserted all
the strongest arguments in favour of the jurisdiction of the Roman church.
Inflamed by his representations, and more
conscious as the interviews proceeded that real
harmony was unattainable, the diet finally issued
another edict enjoining the reformers, at least
until a council could be summoned, to appoint
no more married priests, to practise auricular
confession with the same minuteness as in former
years, to abstain from mutilations of the canon
of the mass and from all language tending to dis-
parage private masses, and even to acknowledge
that communion in one kind is quite as vahd as
in both. A threat was at the same time sus-
pended over them, importing that if they con-
tinued firm in their resistance after May 5th, 1531,
the unreforming states would instantly adopt
coercive measures.
The necessity of acting still more vigorously
in self-defence now led to the formation of the
Smalkaldic or Smalcaldic League (March 29th,
1531), by which the Protestants bound themselves
for six years to help each other in maintaining
the distinctive ground which they had occupied
in the Augsburg confession. They next endeav-
oured to fortify their position by political aUiances
with France, and other powers antagonistic to the
house of Austria.^
FERDINAND CHOSEN KING OF THE ROIMANS
Warrior of the Sixteenth
Century
Meantime the emperor, on leaving the diet of
Augsburg, had proceeded to Cologne, where he
summoned the electoral princes to meet him. He
there proposed to them that they should select, as king of the Romans, his
brother Ferdinand, to whom he had already ceded his hereditary lands in Aus-
tria — and who since the extinction of the royal house of Bohemia and Hun-
gary, in the person of Louis II, who was killed when fighting against Suleiman
II, in the battle of Mohacs, in 1526, had acquired the crowns of Bohemia and
Hungary, by the rights founded upon ancient treaties of inheritance — in order
that he might be enabled to maintain good order throughout the empire during
the frequent absence of the emperor. The electors consented, and Ferdinand
was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) ; the elector of Saxony, who caused
his protestation against this election to be handed in by his son, and the dukes
of Bavaria, who had for a long time been jealous of the power of the Austrian
house, and who on this occasion joined in alliance with their enemies m
CHAELES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 271
[1531-1534 A.D.]
matters of religion, the princes of the Smalkaldic League, were the only two
parties who made any opposition, and refused to acknowledge Ferdinand.
The new king of the Romans was extremely desirous of preserving tran-
quiUity in Germany, as his new kingdom of Hungary was at this time hard
pressed by the Turks, and his chief source of assistance must be derived from
the German princes. The Protestants, however, refused to give their co-oper-
ation until peace had been secured to them in their own country, and its
continuance sworn to be maintained. The emperor accordingly now con-
certed fresh measures, in order to promote a state of union, and at length,
after the most warm and urgent exhortations from Luther in favour thereof,
they produced the provisionary religious Peace of Nuremberg, in 1532. The
emperor declared, in contradiction to the opinion of the Cathohc majority,
that, in virtue of his imperial power, he would establish a general peace,
according to wliich no person should be attacked or condemned on account of
his faith, or any other rehgious matter, until the approaching assembly of the
■council, or the meeting of the estates of the empire. Nay, he promised Hke-
wise to suspend all proceedings taken by liis imperial chancellor in matters of
faith against the elector of Saxony, until the next council.
The subsidiary troops against the Turks were now collected and formed an
army of such force as had not been produced for a length of time, the Protes-
;tant princes and cities themselves sending very large contributions. The
danger appeared, indeed, extremely urgent, for the sultan had advanced with
a force of three hundred thousand men to attack the Austrian territories from
ifour points; and to oppose him the emperor had only seventy-six thousand
men at command. However, the first attempts they made very soon showed
the Turks with what men they had to deal. Ibrahim Pasha, who led the
vanguard, considered he was bound for honour's sake to punish the little town
oi Giins, in Hungary, which to his mortification had closed its gates against
;tiim, thinking that it would easily fall into his hands on the first assault; but
iits brave commandant, Jurischtisch, with his small garrison, repulsed all his
;ittacks, and kept him before the walls for the space of a fortnight. At this
'sudden and unexpected check upon his march, Suleiman calculated what the
'^reat city of Vienna might cost him, especially as now the emperor had come to
ts aid ; and perceiving, in addition, that the German princes, whom he thought
i:o find in a state of dissension, had now become reunited, he resolved at once
i-o sound a retreat. Thus the whole of Europe, to its great surprise, saw the
i^eat Suleiman quickly abandon an expedition which it had cost him three
('•ears to prepare.
The emperor was now enabled to turn his attention to other affairs, and
)roceeded, first of all, to Italy, for the purpose of arranging with the pope upon
'he subject of the convocation of the grand council. But he found that the
'tope was by no means in earnest about the matter, neither was it, at this time,
t all desired by the papal court; and Charles accordingly departed for Spain
athout doing anything.
THE SPREAD OF PROTESTANTISM; THE ANABAPTISTS
During the absence of the emperor in Spain, and whilst Ferdinand was
Qgaged in employing all his means to estabhsh his dominion in Hungary, the
octrine of the reformers spread more and more in Germany, and party spirit
iaily increased. The Protestants went so far, in the year 1534, as to declare
';) the imperial chamber that they would no longer obey its decrees; because
i^ntrary to the conditions of the Treaty of Nuremberg, it pronounced
272 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIRE
[1530-1535 A.D.]
judgment against them in cases which referred to the restitution of confis-
cated church propertj' ; and which proceeding rendered completely invaUd the
laws for the perpetual peace of the country as established by the emperor
MaximiUan.
Another subject of dispute was the territory of Wiirtemberg. Ulrich,
duke of Wiirtemberg, had, just after the death of Maximilian, and before the
election of Charles V, been driven out of his country by the Swabian League,
on account of a feud which had existed between him and the town of Reut-
lingen. The league ceded the land, which was burdened with a heavy debt,
to the emperor, and the latter transferred it, in 1530, to his brother Ferdinand,
together with his Austrian states. It appeared now as if that country was
destined to form forever a portion of the Austrian possessions ; but the deposed
duke, who was now wandering through the empire a fugitive, seeking to enlist
his friends in his cause, found at length a protector in his relation Philip, land-
graf of Hesse. Ulrich had already adopted the Lutheran faith, and Philip
now formed the determination to re-estabhsh him in his possessions even by
force of arms. He accordingly raised an army of twenty thousand men,
marched unexpectedly into the very heart of Wiirtemberg, defeated the Aus-
trian governor of the country at Lauffen, in 1534, and restored the recon-
quered duchy to Ulrich, It was expected that this bold act would produce a
sanguinary war ; but this time the storm passed over. Charles and Ferdinand
were both too much occupied elsewhere to augment their already extensive
power by the addition of a foreign country; whilst, on the contrary, the other
members of the Smalkaldic League, who had taken no share in this act of the
landgraf, endeavoured to bring the matter to a peaceful adjustment. Thence
was effected, under the mediation of the elector of Saxony, the Peace of
Cadan in Bohemia, by which Duke LTlrich received back his land as an arriere
fief of Austria; the religious peace as signed at Nuremberg was confirmed,
and Ferdinand was formally acknowledged Roman king by the elector of
Saxony and all his family. And in order to maintain at least the imperial
sovereignty, it was decided that the landgraf and Duke Ulrich should ask
pardon of the emperor personally, and of the Roman king by deputy, for
having disturbed the peace of the land.
Another circumstance occurred which threatened important and serious
results, but still did not interrupt definitively the peace of the empire — viz.,
the contentions of the anabaptists in Miinster, in 1534 and 1535. The prin-
ciples of Thomas Miinzer upon Christian liberty and equality, and upon the
community of possessions, as well as upon his faith in immediate divine
revelations, were not as yet eradicated, and had still been preserved, especially
in Holland, among the so-called anabaptists. They demanded that mankind
should do penance and be baptised anew in order to avert the wrath of God.
Two of their fanatic preachers, Jan Matthys, a baker of Haarlem, and a tailor,
Jan Bockhold or Bockelsohn, of Leyden, proceeded, in the early part of the
year 1534, to Miinster, at the time that an ecclesiastic, called Rothmann, had
just introduced the doctrine of Luther; they gained him over to their sect
likewise, and with the aid of the populace and other anabaptists from the
vicinity, drove out of the city all the wealthy citizens, created fresh magis-
trates, and established a community of possessions. Each person was required
to deposit in a general treasury all he possessed, whether in gold, silver, or
other precious articles, whilst the churches were despoiled of their ornaments,
pictures, and images; and all the books they contained, except the Bible,
were publicly burned. Every^A'here, as in all such scenes of fanaticism, the
most licentious acts were committed, and passions the most violent and brutal
CHAELES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 273
[1534-1535 A.D.]
raged throughout the city. Under the sanction of their creed of Christian
liberty, each man was authorised to take to himself several wives, and their
chief, John of Leyden, set the example by marrying three at once. Finally,
one of his partisans, who made a boast of having especially received a divine
communication, John Dusentschur of Warendorf, saluted him as kmg of the
whole globe, and as such appointed to restore the throne of David; and
twenty-eight apostles were selected and sent forth to preach this doctrme to
the whole world, and to brmg the inhabitants thereof to acknowledge the
newly appointed king. These agents, however, wherever they arrived, were
immediately seized as rebels and executed.
The bishop of Miinster, supported by the landgraf of Hesse, and several
other princes, advanced, in the year 1534, with a large army against the city.
In the first assault, however, that they made on the 30th of August, they
were repulsed most valiantly by the fanatic anabaptists; but the more slow
and not less fatal attacks of famine, to which the latter were gradually reduced
by the besiegers, who cut off the supplies, could not be overcome. Want
increased from clay to day, and diminished more and more the zeal of the
people. The new king resolved to establish his royal authority more firmly
by terror, and even beheaded one of his wives with his own hand in the public
imarket-place, because she gave vent to the expression that she could not
'possibly believe that God had condemned such a mass of people to die of
hunger, w^hilst the king himself was livmg in abundance. At length, however,
ifter a great number had really perished through starvation, two citizens led
:he bishop's troops, on the night of the 25th of June, 1535, into the city; and
after a sangumary battle, John of Leyden, and his executioner, Knipper-
Jolling, together with his chancellor, Krechting, were made prisoners, and
[laving been publicly exhibited in several cities of Germany as a spectacle,
;they were tortured with burning pincers and put to death by having their
learts pierced with a red-hot dagger. Their bodies were then placed in iron
'3ages, and suspended from the steeple of the church of St. Lambert, in the
narket-place of Miinster, and the form of Catholic worship and the authority
)f the bishop were immediately re-established in that city.
I EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OF CHARLES V
1 Meantime the emperor had proceeded upon an expedition the results of
'Vhich crowned him with lasting honour and fame. A pirate, Khair-ed-Din
3arbarossa, born of obscure parents in the island of Lesbos, but one of the
nost darmg and extraordinary men of his day, had established himself on the
.lorth coast of Africa. To join him in his depredations he had gained over a
|iumerous body of Moors, who, driven out of Spain by King Ferdinand the
Oatholic, burned with the desire of revenging themselves upon the Christians;
.nd thus strengthened, this desperate pirate infested the Mediterranean seas
Q every direction. His cruelty and audacity rendered him the terror of all
ihe inhabitants along the coasts; whilst in the African peninsula he held in
His possession Algiers and Timis, and the Turkish sultan, Sulehnan himself,
■lad confided to his charge the whole of his fleet, in order to employ it against
he Christians, of whom already some thousands languished as captives in
he hands of the barbarians,
1 As protector of entire Christendom, Charles felt he could no longer endure
:he existence of such outrage and cruelty, especially as the fugitive and right-
-il kmg of Tunis, Hassan, had come to him for protection. He embarked,
tierefore, with an army of thirty thousand men, including eight thousand
H. W, — VOL. XIV. T
274 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1535-1538 A.D.]
German troops, under the command of Count Max of Eberstein, and a fleet
of five hundred vessels, the latter being under the orders of Doria, and the
army commanded by the emperor himself in person and the marquis de
Vaston. They arrived before Tmiis in the summer of 1535, and captured the
citadel of Goletta, which defended the port, on the first assault; all the ammu-
nition was seized, and more than two thousand Turks put to the sword. The
army of Khair-ed-Dm Barbarossa, which was drawn up ready for battle on
the plain in front of the city, was attacked at once and completely put to
rout. The victorious troops now took possession of the city, and proceeded
immediately to open the prisons of their suffering fellow Christians; and
Charles, to his inexpressible joy, was enabled to set at liberty no less than
twenty-two thousand of these objects of severe oppression, who now, with
tears of joy and gratitude, were restored to their relations and friends. The
emperor himself declared that glorious day to be one of the most happy and
delightful of his entire life. His fame spread far and wide throughout every
country; and this he truly merited by the courage and perseverance he had
evinced in this perilous but heroic undertaking; whilst, at the same time, he
proved by his example how easily these barbarian corsairs of the African
coasts might, with a bold and resolute spirit, be overcome. He restored the
fugitive king, Hassan, to his throne of Tunis; but, at the same time, pro-
hibited him from all capture or imprisonment of Christian slaves, and as a
pledge of his obedience the emperor retained possession of the citadel of
Goletta. Khair-ed-Din, after his defeat, had fled to Algiers, whither Charles
resolved to pursue him in the ensuing year.
A fresh war, however, with the king of France prevented him from exe-
cuting this intention. This prince, on the death of Francesco Sforza, had
renewed his claims to Milan, and in order to ensure for himself an open road
to Italy, he unexpectedly attacked and took possession of the duchy of Savoy,
upon whose duke he also made claims. Charles saw at once the necessity
for war, and resolved to fix the scene of contest in the south of France.
Unwarned by the disastrous results which attended his first expedition,
under the duke de Bourbon, he undertook another in 1536, and having
advanced as far as Marseilles he once more laid siege to that city. He how-
ever found that it was much too strongly fortified to hold out any chance of
success, whilst the whole of the neighbouring comitry was laid waste by the
French themselves ; whence want of supplies and disease forced the emperor,
after having remained two months before the place, to withdraw his troops
and make as good a retreat as he could, but in which he nevertheless lost
much of his ammunition and luggage.
By the mediation of the pope, a suspension of arms, during ten years,
took place in Nice, in the year 1538, and soon afterwards the two monarchs
had an interview at Aigues-Mortes, on the Rhone. The proposal for this
meeting was first made by the king of France; and although the imperial
council considered it unsafe for the emperor to trust himself upon French
ground, Charles, notwithstanding the doubts they expressed, resolved, were
it even for the novel and extraordinary nature of the project — to him so
pleasing — to accept the invitation. When he arrived in the harbour the
king himself embarked in his state barge to receive him, and conducted hini
ashore. Here a splendid dinner was prepared and served up, which was
followed by a grand fete, at which the royal personages presided until mid-
night. On the following morning the dauphin himself attended upon the
emperor and handed him the water and towel for his toilet, and, mdeed, both
sides rivalled each other m marks of mutual friendship and civility. And in
CHAliLK^ V AND FKAXCIS I IX THE CHURCH OF ST. DENI8,
JANUARY, 1540
(From tlie i);iintin<:; by Gros)
CHAELES V AND THE EEFOEMATION 275
[153&-1541 A.D.]
all this there was no hypocrisy; they were both desirous of a lasting peace,
and in the following year,^ 1539, Francis gave an additional proof of his good
intentions and sincere wishes. The city of Ghent, in Flanders, owing to
some new impost, had risen in revolt against the emperor Charles, and offered
to place itself under the protection of the king of France; but the latter
immediately communicated the circumstance to the emperor himself, and
proposed at the same time, in order to reach the scene of contention in Flan-
ders with more expedition, that he should take the shortest route from Spain
through France.
This offer was accepted by Charles without any mistrust, and as he pro-
ceeded on his journey through the kingdom he was everywhere received with
the greatest honours, and at every city or town he entered the keys of each
place were presented to him, whilst in Fontainebleau, where the king had
previously arrived, he was detained by magnificent fetes during the space of
an entire fortnight, and when he reached Paris he was equally well enter-
tained during another week. His presence in Ghent very soon appeased the
rioters; and whilst he was still there, Charles received the most urgent appeals
from Germany, hoping that he would quickly reappear in that country,
where his presence was become more necessary than ever, m order to put
down the disorders which had daily increased.
He acceded to their wishes and, in the year 1541, presided at the diet of
Ratisbon. On this occasion, and subsequently for several years, he endeav-
oured by writings, religious discussions, and his own persuasive eloquence to
reunite the contending parties; and, at the same time, the maintenance of
internal peace in Germany was the desire and aim of his government, as well
as the necessary principle of his reign, threatened as he was on the one hand
by invasions from the Turks, and forced on the other hand to carry on wars
with the French.
Charles quitted the diet at Ratisbon, and proceeded to Italy, whence he
set out on his expedition to Algiers, as previously determined upon. His
enterprising mind, ever delighting in new and brilliant exploits, aspired to
the realisation of a project, at once grand and commensurate with his powers
— the annihilation of the corsairs of the barbarian states of Africa ; the accom-
plishment of which he now felt himself especially called upon to effect, inas-
much as the audacious Barbarossa had again excited general indignation by
, his recent piracies on the coast of Spain. This new expedition, however,
commenced under very unfavourable circumstances; the season for the navi-
gation of the Mediterranean had already become extremely tempestuous, and
the experienced admiral Andrea Doria himself prognosticated a disastrous
■' voyage. Charles, however, would not consent to its being postponed, and
they accordmgly set sail. The fleet arrived on the 20th of October, 1541,
before Algiers, and the troops were forthwith landed. Towards the evening,
however, before the artillery, baggage, and provisions could be brought on
; shore, a tremendous gale arose, and did much damage to the ships, several of
.which were wrecked on the coast.
1 All thoughts of conquering Algiers were of course abandoned, and the
grand object now was the preservation of the army; for the light cavalry of
the Turks made their appearance on the following day and pressed hard
upon the ranks of the jaded troops. In this trying and dangerous momeut,
however, the emperor' Charles displayed the energy and perseverance for
which, as a warrior, he was ever distinguished. During a march of three
,entire days, through water and mud, he led his troops, amidst the harassing
attacks of the enemy, along the whole extent of the coast as far as the bay
276
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1542-1543 A.D.]
of Metafuz, where the remnant of the dispersed fleet had assembled. With-
out distinction he shared with his common soldiers the most severe privations
and fatigue, and thence it was that he succeeded in reviving their spirits and
stimulating their courage, till at length they reached their destination and
re-embarked. The emperor set sail for Italy, where, having arrived safely,
he disembarked, and proceeded at once to Spain.
The king of France had availed himself of Charles' absence in order to
renew hostilities. All his experiments of friendly understanding with Charles
would not suffice to banish from his recol-
lection the duchy of Milan; and now he
thought the moment had arrived when he
must succeed in reconquering it, and for
this purpose he renewed his alliance with
the Turks. Whilst, therefore, Charles,
after his return from Algiers, sought a
little repose from the fatigues of that
sad expedition, Francis forthwith entered
the field against him; the incapacity of
his generals, however, when brought to
compete with the experience and superi-
ority of the Spanish leaders, combined
with disease and the scarcity of supplies
for the troops, operated so much against
him that the whole of his five armies
could effect nothing in the first campaign,
and they were forced to return home dis-
pirited and disappointed.
In the following year, 1543, Charles
set out for Italy, and thence, suddenly
crossing the Alps, proceeded to the lower
Rhine, where the duke of Cleves had made
an alliance with Francis I ; and this
prince, who had recently begun to en-
courage the doctrines of Luther, was
selected as the first to feel the imperial au-
thority. The appearance of the emperor
in this country was quite unexpected. It
was reported among the people that he
had been shipwrecked on his return from
Algiers and had perished. Believing this statement, they treated the news
of his arrival in Germany as a mere fable. The garrison of the small town
of Diiren, on being summoned by Charles to surrender, replied : '' They were
no longer in dread of the emperor, as he had long since become food for the
fishes.'' When, however, the Spaniards scaled the walls, cut down all before
them, and set fire to the town, alarm and terror spread throughout the whole
country. They said the emperor had brought with him a species of wild men,
half black and half brown, with long, sharp nails at their fingers' ends, which
enabled them to climb the loftiest walls, together with huge teeth with which
they tore everything asunder.
It is unnecessary to say that the beings thus marvellously described were
no other than the old warriors of Charles, who, by constant exposure to the
sun, had become dyed completely brown, and reckless of all danger, when
making an assault on a fortified town, usually fixed their daggers or lances in
Chevalier in Half Armo0r
CHARLES V AND THE REFOEMATION 277
[1543-1544 A.D.]
the fissures of the walls, and thus formed for themselves the means of ascent
to the ramparts. The terror, however, which their appearance created very
soon brought under subjection the entire country; and the duke of Cleves was
obliged humbly to sue for pardon on bended knee. This was granted to him
by the emperor, but under the condition that he should not forswear his
religion; that whatever changes he had introduced should be immediately
abolished, and the original regulations re-established, and that he should not
enter upon any alliance in opposition to the emperor.
No action or engagement of any importance took place with the French
this year; but for the ensuing one Charles collected a very large army, and
after he had held a new diet in Speier, in the winter of 1543, and had secured
to himself the co-operation of all the German princes, he marched in the
following spring into the enemy's country at the head of a numerous body of
chosen troops. The flower of this army consisted of thirty thousand Ger-
mans, the result of the good understanding which the emperor had established
at this last diet between himself and the Protestant princes, and more espe-
cially the elector of Saxony and the landgraf Philip. The first place he took
was St. Dizier, whence he marched direct for Paris; and having taken posses-
sion of Epernay and Chateau-Thierry, he was within a march of only two
days from the capital, whence the inhabitants, already alarmed at his
approach, took to flight. Now, however, Francis made proposals of peace,
which the emperor accepted at once, being anxious for a reconciliation with
his rival, as affairs in Germany grew more and more complicated, and, on the
24th of September, 1544, the Peace of Crespy was signed — the last that
Charles signed with the king of France. By this treaty little alteration was
made in the main points of dispute ; as before. Burgundy remained in the
possession of France, and Milan was retained by the emperor. Francis,
however, pledged himself this time to support the emperor, not only in check-
ing the Turks but in restoring the unity of faith. ^
INTERNAL CONDITION OF GERMANY
Although the times were stormy and agitated, and party strife threatened
to divide the nation against itself, yet industry and commerce still remained
in a satisfactory condition. The Hansa, it is true, went under because it was
wanting in public spirit and patriotism; but on the other hand the traffic of
the south German cities increased considerably, one of their most flourishing
branches of industry being the manufacture and export of linen goods. Not
only in the cities but also in the rural districts both men and women were
engaged in this useful industry and earned a bountiful living. The wares
I found their way into all parts of the world and amongst others over the Alps
into Italy, while through Frankfort they were forwarded northwards. In
■ order that the industry might receive the greatest possible stimulus, capitalists
formed themselves into companies to provide the necessary funds for the
' manufacture. In the district round the Lake of Constance and in Swabia,
[ many of the peasants devoted the winter season to the preparation of yarn
; and to weaving. As, besides this branch of industry, precious metals, dyes and
I hardware were exported, the active commerce remained considerable.
I Nuremburg and Augsburg displayed the greatest commercial energy, and
j were the richest of the imperial cities and the centres of industrial life. Augs-
: burg was not only at the head of the trade with Italy, but also exported goods
; on its own account direct to the East Indies. The profits were so great that
I the emperor Maximilian I was astounded at the prosperity of his free city of
278
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1519-1546 A.D.]
Augsburg, where amongst others the rich family of the Fuggers rose from the
position of mere hnen merchants to the rank of princes. In Nuremberg, on
the other hand, the growth of commerce and industry was accompanied by
that of the fine arts. Pre-eminent among his compeers towered the cele-
brated painter Albrecht Diirer, who was justly admired in his ovm country
and abroad, for his works displayed above everything the German vigour
and exalted dignity of the national artistic genius. At his side stood the
excellent sculptor Adam Krafft and the master-founder Peter Vischer; the
latter's masterpiece, the tomb of St. Se-
baldus, still exists in Nuremberg, while
extant works of the former artist tes-
tify to the originality of his creative
genius. The ancient imperial city was
proud to include besides these the glass
painter Veit Hirschvogel and the artists
Lindenast and Veit Stoss among her
citizens.
In Saxony there was brisk rivalry
with the cities of southern Germany, in
the growth of commerce, industry, and
the fine arts, the mainspring of which
was the productiveness of the mines,
which continued to yield precious met-
als in abundance. While the old min-
eral veins of Freiberg maintained their
ancient fame, new ones were started
near Marienberg which were extraordi-
narily productive. Even in the Fich-
telgebirge the gold mine near Kronach
was worked, not without profit, while
the Mansfeld silver mines led to a vig-
orous trade with Venice. Just as sci-
entific life in Saxony was powerfully
stimulated by the University of Witten-
berg and extended its influence thence
over all Germany, art was also worthily
represented by the genius of the painter
Lucas Kranach.
Simultaneously with painting and sculpture, there came a revival of
poetry, on which the Reformation exercised a remarkable influence. The
productions of the Middle Ages stood out as models of excellence in these
serious times of intellectual struggle, and served to cultivate taste. But
while the minnelied, full of jest and joyousness, was sung for the social delight
of the higher classes, now national life expressed itself principally through
the awakened consciousness of the middle classes. It was in the cities, on
the minds of thoughtful artisans, that the rousing voice of Dr. Martin Luther
made the most powerful impression. The purifying of morals, the incite-
ment of independent thought in the lower classes, and freedom in the pursuit
of knowledge were all characteristic of the Reformation, and thus it was that
the latter awoke the poetical instincts of the middle classes to fulness of life.
A worthy artisan, Hans Sachs of Nuremberg, stood out as a living example
of the union of the noble art of poetry with a handicraft. Joyfully impressed
by the teachmg of Luther, his soul turned to poetry as a means of assisting the
Artisan of the Sixteenth Century
CHARLES V AND THE REFOEMATION 279
[1498-1544 A.D.]
work of the Reformer. But as the impulse was of a deep, moral character,
his simple verses became imbued with a solemn earnestness and their effect
was extraordinary.
The real significance of the Reformation of the church now became out-
wardly apparent, for the middle classes searched the Holy Scriptures for
themselves, and strove earnestly by example, speech, and song after moral
excellency and purity. The intimacy of family life developed more and more
fully among the German artisan class, and purity of religion and an honest
life came to be regarded as a stern duty. Even if this tendency did border on
pedantry and mystic obscurity, its effect was none the less invigorating to the
middle classes, and subsequently it became the only safeguard which pre-
served the nation, when it fell a prey to ever-growing inward decay, from
complete dissolution,
THE NEW PENAL CODE OF 1532
At the time when religious peace was proclaimed at Nuremberg in 1532,
the imperial diet at Ratisbon inaugurated an improvement in legislation
which was of the highest importance for Germany — namely, the introduction
of a new penal code. When the trials by ordeal, which were in olden times
called to the assistance of both accusation and defence, fell into disuse, the
nations, following the example of Roman law, had recourse to the cruelties of
the torture. As we have already seen, this system was in use from the earliest
times with serfs; but from the fifteenth century the practice became more
general. Torture now became a regular test which was also employed to
extort confession from the freeman. Desire for revenge, hatred and super-
stition, and all the evil passions gained in the torture chamber a fearful
weapon against their victims, and cruelty very soon became so general and
horrible that the human soul revolted against it.
If the mere use of torture was in itself a barbarity, one can gauge the
magnitude of the evil when one remembers that the courts of justice were
often guilty of revolting abuses. The punishments meted out in the courts
both as to life and limb were no less arbitrary than the criminal procedure.
The sentence of death was pronounced upon the innocent with a truly hardened
unscrupulousness, and this became such a crying abuse that all friends of
humanity raised a vehement protest against it. When the imperial supreme
court was instituted, appeal was made to it against the arbitrary sentences of
death which were customary in all the courts of justice of the separate states,
whether of the cities of the empire or of the principalities. Thus we see that
the unity of the empire was at all times in the history of Germany regarded as
the only protection and refuge for the oppressed.
Unfortunately, the imperial court had not sufficient power to check the
Injustices of the intermediate courts. The supreme court therefore appealed
".0 the imperial diet, and urgently implored redress by way of legislation.
Aheady in the reign of the emperor Maximilian I, this court had represented
1.0 the imperial diet at Freiburg in 1498 that complamts were being lodged
ilaily against princes, imperial cities, and other sovereignties because they
;ondemned men to death without guilt, just cause, or reason. The imperial
!liet postponed the examination of the matter to some future meeting, and as
iisual nothing w^as done. When the court reiterated its remonstrance still
;nore urgently at the imperial diet of 1500 held at Augsburg, the reform of the
:)enal code was at length promised in the decree of dissolution. The promise
'vould probably have remained an empty one, but for the timely uiterference
280
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
^^^
[1507-1532 A.D.]
of a friend of mankind. Johann, baron of Schwarzenberg, minister of the
prince-bishop of Bamberg, drew up in 1507 a scheme for a new penal code,
which, according to the standard of morahty and civihsation then prevailing,
was distinguished for its discrimination and humanity. This excellent man
endeavoured to make this code the foundation of the general law of the
empire ; but, soon convinced that nothing was to be expected from the firmly
rooted red-tapeism of the imperial diet, he used the whole weight of his influ-
ence to raise his code temporarily to the force of law in the bishopric of Bam-
berg. This wise determination was carried out and the Schwarzenberg code
was proclaimed by princely decree to be the law of the land in the grand
chapter of Bamberg.
After it had been circulated through the press in 1508 and 1510, it was
received with such approval that the markgraf
of Brandenburg caused the same law to be
introduced in 1516 into the principalities of
Ansbach and Bayreuth. From that time the
fame of the Schwarzenberg code rose so high
that in 1521 it was, with a few alterations,
made the foundation of the deliberations for
the revision of the law by the regency of the
empire then in session at Nuremberg. Fi-
nally, there was presented to the imperial
diet in 1529 the draft of a new penal code
which in all essentials was identical with that
of Schwarzenberg, that is to say with the
Bamberg and Brandenburg codes. After three
years more of deliberation, that draft was
finally proclaimed the law of the empire by
the imperial diet at Ratisbon in 1532. This
bore the title The Criminal or Penal Code of
the Emperor Charles V, and is known as the
Carolina.
The new code had sprung, not only from
deep special knowledge, but also from keen
discernment into the requirements and pos-
sibilities of the time. It was a work of slow
maturity, and therefore universally beneficial.
Fixed regulations are prescribed for procedure
in penal cases as well as for the kind and meas-
ure of the penalty, without imduly restrictmg
the discretionary powers of the judge. Yet
the Carolina must appear hard and even cruel, judged by the present stand-
ard of morality, and nothing testifies more convincingly to the progress of
civilisation than facts of this order. It is clear that the new code was framed
with humane intentions, for concessions relatively great for those times were
made to the accused, in order to protect innocence, and compassion with the
unfortunate cruninals is often expressed — the condemned being alluded to as
"the poor one." Nevertheless, even in this comparatively mild penal code,
torture is still preserved and it seems, as it were, to revel in the great variety
of the capital punishments. Thus is the erroneous old commonplace about
the "good old times" refuted. And yet even this Carolina was an important
step in progressive legislation, as is shown by the circumstance that it remained
in force for three hundred years.<^ '
Nobleman of the Sixteenth
Century
CHAELES V AND THE EEFORMATION 281
[1540-1545 A.D.]
THE EMPEROR AND THE SMALKALDIC LEAGUE
Both the emperor and his brother Ferdinand were strenuous in their
endeavours to reunite both parties, and for this object they estabhshed from
time to time successive rehgious conferences: at Hagenau, in 1540; at Worms,
in 1541, where Melanchthon and Eck stood opposed to each other; and in the
same year Ukewise at Ratisbon, at which the emperor himself presided and
took an active part therein. All, however, was m vain; the new doctrine was
too widely separated from the old, and in it were now involved too many
interests: on all sides too many worldly considerations were brought into
operation, and amidst the wild party passions and distractions of that period
it was impossible to obtain for the subject that calm and profomid investiga-
tion so necessary and so desirable.
These attempts at reconciliation producing little or no results, the emperor,
as usual, had recourse either to a general council, confirming in the interval the
Treaty of Nuremberg; or, of his own authority, issuing, even against the voice
of the Catholic majority, decrees by which all the Protestant churches in the
land were recognised by the state. Thus it occurred at the diet of Ratisbon,
in 1541, before Charles' expedition to Algiers; thus likewise at Speier, in
1542, by the mediation of Ferdinand and the elector of Brandenburg, in order
to collect all the forces of the empire against the Turks; and finally, in 1544,
at the second grand diet in the same city, at which the emperor and all the
seven electors were present, when he prepared his second expedition against
Francis I of France. The personal relations between the emperor and the
two Protestant leaders, John Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse, had
never been upon a more favourable footing; so much so, indeed, that the
question of a marriage between a son of the elector and a daughter of Ferdi-
nand had already formed a subject of discussion, whilst the landgraf received
from the emperor a promise that in the next campaign against the Turks he
should be appointed commander-in-chief in lieu of himself.
And yet, in spite of all this, the Protestants about this time sought to aid
themselves by force of arms. Duke Henry the younger, of Brmiswick, a
zealous Catholic, and of mipatient and violent spirit, was at enmity with the
elector of Saxony and the landgraf of Hesse, more particularly on account of
their religion ; and each party attacked the other in fierce pamphlets abound-
ing in passionate invective and furious abuse. In addition to this the two
towns of Brunswick and Goslar, which formed a part of the league of Smal-
kald, invoked the protection of the Protestant provinces against their own
duke, who oppressed them in every possible way, and whom the emperor
himself as well as Kmg Ferdinand had repeatedly, although m vain, reproached
for his imjust violence against those towTis. At length, in 1542, the league
raised an army, invaded the territory of the duke, conquered and drove hmi
from the comitry, and held possession thereof. The duke appealed to the
I emperor for succour; he, however, only referred the matter to the consid-
I eration of the next diet.
i Accordingly at the diet of Worms, held in 1545, it was decided that, mitil
; the affair was equitably adjusted, the emperor should hold the estates of
' Brunswick mider his own immediate dominion. This arrangement, however,
: by no means accorded with the demands of the unpatient and haughty duke,
who would willingly have found himself at the head of the Catholic party:
to pretend to make use of threats in the name of the emperor was, he said,
" just like hunting with a dead falcon." In his zeal he was misled into an act
282 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1545 A.D.]
for which he stood committed in the eyes of Francis I, king of France. This
monarch had confided to his charge a considerable simi of money, for the pur-
pose of collecting a body of troops for his service; as soon, however, as the
duke had succeeded in this object he marched them into his own duchy, in
the autumn of 1545, in order to regain it from his enemies. The no less bold
and energetic landgraf Philip, however, was soon on the alert with his army,
and the elector of Saxony with Duke Maurice having joined him with their
forces, they surrounded the duke so completely m his camp of Kale-feld, near
Nordheim, that he was forced to yield himself a prisoner, together with his
son. The landgraf led them away as captives to the castle of Ziegenhain, and
the emperor took no further interest in the matter, beyond advising him to
treat his prisoners with lenity and according to their rank as princes.
Meantime the before-mentioned diet of Worms, although it operated once
more towards the maintenance of religious peace, presented, nevertheless,
stronger indications of the growing schism, and the complaints of both parties
became more and more urgent. The Catholics did not fail to complain of the
confiscation of their ecclesiastical possessions in the Protestant countries, and
the Protestants on their side refused to acknowledge the decrees pronounced
by the imperial chamber in these and similar matters, inasmuch as the Catho-
lics would only permit judges of the ancient faith to preside there. Distrust
had now increased to such an extent that but a small number of Protestant
princes appeared at all at the diet. The grand medium for reconciliation,
from which Charles had formerly hoped so much, viz. a general comicil of the
church, was now ineffectually employed ; for it was now too late to resort to it,
neither was it regulated in a just and equitable form. The court of Rome had
eventually given its consent to such an assembly, and had convoked the
council for the 15th of March, 1545, at Trent, in the Tyrol, which was solemnly
opened on the 13th of December of the same year. The Protestants, however,
refused to recognise its authority for deciding in their affairs, giving as their
reasons that the council was convoked on the frontiers of Italy, in a country
totally unacquainted with the customs of Germany, and which consequently
could not fail to have an injuriously preponderating influence; and further
that the pope, who had already condemned them as heretics, or at least had
treated them as accused of heresy, presided at the said council as their judge.
If, therefore, this council was to be regarded as an independent one, they must
enjoy equal rights with the others.
Some time previously, Frederick, the elector palatine, who had then
recently gone over to the new church doctrine, made a proposition which
might have produced advantageous results if everyone had been animated
with good faith and influenced by pure principles. He proposed " to convoke
a national or general council of Germany, and to transmit to Trent the con-
vention therein concluded between all parties, as being the opinion of the entire
body of the German nation." The same idea had been vainly suggested, even
prior to this, by John Frederick of Saxony, who proposed that the said council
should meet in Augsburg. This expedient, free from all foreign influence, and
by which the nation would have been so represented as to express its wants
fairly and directly, appeared the only one which must have proved beneficial
and have led to a conclusion of religious disputes.
The anxiety felt by the emperor and the Catholics, lest the Protestants
should acquire a superiority throughout the empire, was not without founda-
tion. Three out of the four lay electorate princes in the imperial coimcil had
already adopted the new doctrine (although the elector palatine and the
elector of Brandenburg had not as yet joined the league of Smalkald), and now
CHAELES V AND THE KEFOEMATION 283
[1545 A.D.]
even one of the three prelates, Hermann, the venerable elector of Cologne,
declared himself more and inore decidedly in favour of the new cause. He
was desirous, with the sanction of his states and a portion of his chapter, to
introduce into his bishopric the most searching and important reforms, and
had already entered upon the grand work himself, having invited Melanchthon
from Wittenberg to aid him therein. The university and the corporation of
Cologne, however, together with the opposition party of the chapter, were
against all such reforms, and appealed to the emperor and the pope for their
authority against these measures. This university had, previously to the
Reformation, in the time of Jacob Hoogstraten, taken an active part in
the dispute against the humanists — the professors and restorers of the study
3f the ancient languages — and especially against Reuchlin; whilst it was
me of the first to condemn the dogmas of Luther.
In this increasing complication of affairs where no longer the least hope
)f conciliation remained, the emperor, more and more urged to hostile meas-
iires by Rome and Spain (the duke of Alva having now arrived m Germany
'rem the latter country), considered himself at length called upon to employ
IS a last resource the force of arms, and thus promptly and definitively to
lecide the question. His chancellor, Granvella, held, therefore, secret council
Vith the pope's legate. Cardinal Farnese, on the possibility of carrying on a
'var against the Protestants; he gave him to understand that the pope must
iiecessarily join in active co-operation, as the emperor himself was exhausted,
ind the Catholic princes were without energy; and the cardinal, m his joy
0 find the emperor now seriously determmed to proceed to extremities,
aade the most flattering promises. In order to be unoccupied with any
3reign enemy, Charles now concluded a truce with the sultan, and with
rancis I he likewise made peace.
1 We are now arrived at a critical period of Charles' life. In forming the
|3Solution to accomplish with the sword that which he had so long endeavoured
'd effect by peaceful means, he fell into a great error, falsely imagining that
'le mighty agitations of the mind could be checked and held in chains by
rternal power. From that moment, on the contrary, he was himself van-
uished by that very overwhelming epoch, the course of which until then he
ad appeared to direct and hold in rein; it was henceforth no longer in his
bwer to restrain its career. His genius, impaired with increasing years,
'id over which about this time the Jesuits had gained an influence not to
13 mistaken, became more and more clouded and prejudiced against all that
las new and vigorous in life, and thus in his gloomy and morose spirit he
lought he was able to cut with the sharp edge of his sword the knot he found
, so difficult to loosen. This mistaken idea of the emperor Charles at the
psing period of his reign resembles a tragedy, in which we find a noble mind
;rced to bend and sink beneath the heavy burden to which fate has sub-
,,3ted it.
I These latter years, it is true, may be included amongst the most brilliant
'i his life, by their external successes produced so rapidly; but it was pre-
<'iely this good fortune which made him lose sight of the exact point of mod-
(■ition which, down to this moment, he had so happily maintained, and
^lence he was soon laid low by the iron hand of destiny, and all his plans,
f*med with so much trouble and anxiety, were completely annihilated.
l|)thing else now remained for him but to collect his reduced powers in order
t withdraw in time from the w^hirlpool before him, and whilst he threw
aide the shining brilliancy of earthly grandeur, to preserve at least the inde-
Ridence of his spirit. And, assuredly, by this last resolution the emperor
284 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1546 A.D.]
Charles secured to himself his dignity as a man, whilst he conciliated the
voice of posterity.
THE DEATH OF LUTHER
Shortly previous to the commencement of the sanguinary war of religion,
Luther, the founder of the grand struggle, breathed his last^ (February, ,
18th, 1546). We may fitly bring the present chapter to a close by citing a
few of the multitudinous estimates that have been passed upon the personality i
of the famous reformer. <^ ■
Luther stands forth [says Schaff] as the great national hero of the German ,
people, and the ideal of German life. Perhaps no other civilised nation has |
a hero who so completely expresses the national idea. King Arthur comes, I
perhaps, nearest to Luther amongst the English-speaking race. He was great j
in his private life, as well as in his public career. His home was the ideal of i
cheerfulness and song. He was great in thought, and great in action. He|
was a severe student, and yet skilled in the knowledge of men. He was I
humble in the recollection of the designs and power of a personal Satan, yetj
bold and defiant in the midst of all perils. He could beard the papacy andj
imperial councils, yet he fell trustingly before the cross. He was never!
weary, and there seemed to be no limit to his creative energy. Thus Luther (
stands before the German people as the type of German character. Goethe,!
Frederick the Great, and all others in this regard pale before the German j
reformer. He embodies in his smgle person the boldness of the battle-field, i
the song of the musician, the joy and care of the parent, the skill of the writer,!
the force of the orator, and the sincerity of rugged manhood with the humility
of the Christian.
As there is a constant danger that the Germans will deify Luther, so, oni
the other hand, for a long time, the English race failed to recognise his true(
worth, and to appreciate the manliness of his character. Such writers asj
Coleridge, Julius Hare, and Carlyle have given to us a better and truer con-!
ception and admiration of him. Carlyle says of him, " I will call this Luthei
a true great man — great in intellect, in courage, affection, and mtegrity
one of our most lovable and precious men ; a right spiritual hero and prophet
and, more, a true son of nature and fact, for whom these centuries, and man}
that are to come yet, will be thankful to heaven." »
LUTHER S LIMITATIONS j
Luther had the instincts of a statesman [says Creighton] as well as th,
zeal of a teacher. He saw the paramount importance of the maintenanc,'
of order and was not misled by his sympathies. For himself, he had alway!
inculcated civil obedience, and had striven against confusion; prophets c
murder had arisen in spite of his attempts, and none withstood them mor
diligently than he. But he exliorted the nobles to lay aside their tyrami)
to deal reasonably with the peasants and consider their demands when the
were just. To the peasants he spoke with equal force: they took God's nam
in vain by making him the author of confusion ; he allowed no man to judg
and avenge his own cause. He bade them endure, and pray, and trust i
God's help. Even as he wrote, the issue of events was doubtful, and Luth(
knew that his werds would give dire offence to the insurgents. " I go home,.
he wrote, "and with God's help will prepare for death, and await my ne
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION 285
masters, the murderers and robbers. But rather than justify their doings I
would lose a hundred necks."
But Luther was not called upon to suffer martyrdom for his moderation.
Rebellion was stamped out in blood. Luther rejoiced in the triumph of
authority, and threw himself unreservedly on the side of repression. His
denunciations of the "robbing, murdering peasants" lost all sympathy with
their grievances. They were guilty of every sin, and clothed their sins with
the pretence of God's law. Luther, who had exhorted his countrymen to
cast off the yoke of their ecclesiastical superiors, could find no punishment
too severe for them when they attempted to diminish the burdens wherewith
their temporal superiors oppressed them. His utterances caused much dis-
appointment and indignation. He was called a hypocrite and a flatterer of
princes. But he only repeated his general principle: "It is better that all
the peasants should be slain than the magistrates and princes, because the
, peasants take the sword without God's authority."
The limits of his principles and of his influence had been painfully mani-
' fested. His utterances had been harsh and unsympathetic : he had no better
advice to give than patience under old wrongs, and submission to grievances
for God's sake. There was nothing that was new, and little that was hopeful,
; in such a message. Still Luther's attitude encouraged the nobles of Germany,
and saved the country from disorder, which must have proved fatal to the
future of the Reformation. Luther carried with him the good sense of Ger-
many, and proved that his teaching was free from revolutionary fanaticism.
But he lost greatly in personal importance, and could no longer claim to
command the movement which he had originated. There was henceforth
a difference between the Lutheran movement and Luther. The simplicity
of an ideal had passed away, and the sternness of practical life had been
disclosed. Germany was reduced to desolation; on all sides were heard the
mutterings of discontent. The new ideas were no more powerful than the
'old to bring an immediate remedy to the woes of society. With sombre
resoluteness men ranged themselves on one side or the other, in the conflict
, which was now inevitable; and both sides felt that the struggle would be
long and stubborn.?
Luther's personality
Is it acuteness of perception or inventive genius that we admire in Luther?
[asks Hagenbach]. He was the inventor of neither gunpowder nor printing,
^nor did he discover a fresh path across the waters, or a new quarter of the
iglobe, like Columbus and Vasco da Gama. His telescope searched out no
■hidden star in the heavens; his microscope descried no previously unknowii
■plant or insect on the earth; no law of mechanics or physics is called by his
.name.
' May we, then, behold ui him the thinker who, in the mvisible realm of
Jthe intellect, opened new paths for speculation or led the way to new views
:of supersensual matters? This last he certainly did, after his own fashion,
without intending it. But philosophical thought, research, investigation,
as such, was not his business. If the name of philosopher had been applied
jto him, he would have protested against it. We know in what estimation he
:held the "old storm-brewer," Reason, and her priestess. Philosophy, and
iwhat opinion he entertained of that master of thought, Aristotle; and Luther,
liudging thus, must be content if the wisdom of this world pass him
28G THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIRE
by unheeded, and if the history of philosophy omit to mention him or notice
him only as a psychological problem.
Since, then, it is neither the man of learning, nor the philosopher, nor the
sage, nor the saint, that we revere in him, in our effort to classify him we must
perhaps have recourse to the word genius, a convenient category which we are
wont to employ whenever our ordinary standard for the measurement of great-
ness is insufficient. And it is, in truth, the presence of genius which impresses
us when we contemplate the character of Luther. In whatever sphere of life
we meet him, on whatever side we view him, flashes of intellect scintillate
from him. His style may in some instances be ponderous, but he never
becomes tedious. We are invariably refreshed if we read aught that has
flowed from his pen, or hear any anecdote concerning him. The most unim-
portant things are handled by him, in his letters, in such a manner as to
awaken our interest. We become interested in every individual who has once
come in contact with Luther.
It will, perhaps, be said that his was a thoroughly poetic nature. And
this is true. It is not, however, to Luther as a poet that our thoughts fly as
quickly as his name is mentioned. Some of his devotional songs — for
instance, that powerful hymn, Ein^ feste Burg ist vnser Gott, etc. — live, it
is true, not only in the church but in the nation. But of independent poetical
productions, of artistic creations in the service of art, Luther neither was nor
cared to be the author. Profoundly poetical as his whole nature was, as is
manifest from his charming mingling of jest and earnest, the like of which is to
be met with in no other man except Shakespeare, Luther was called to some-
thing else than poetry — we may with propriety say to something higher.
The poetical vein in his composition was ever in the service of the reformer.
Yet even as a poet, how superior Luther is to the other poets of his time, who
either studied in Latin verses, imitated the ancient classics, or, in the broad
and easy style of Hans Sachs, practised the master-song, giving birth to pro-
ductions that were naively entertaining, but destitute of all elevation of
sentiment. That which gives elevation to the poetry of Luther is, again, the
religious element in his character.
It is, then, a genius presided over by religion and supported by a German
spirit and nature, which so peculiarly affects us as we gaze upon Luther. He
is the man of faith and the German, the man of the German people. The two
characteristics are inseparably intertwined. Divest Luther's character of
either its religious or its national impress, and the man becomes but a lifeless
mask and his whole history a falsehood. Nay, it is not any abstract greatness
that we reverence in Luther ; it is Luther himself in his whole essence, in his
complete and solid personality, before whom we involuntarily bare our heads.^
LUTHER AXD HIS PROTESTANT BIOGRAPHERS
The biographic lacuna, as far as the critical history of Luther is concerned
[says Gauss], becomes all the more obtrusively potent in view of the fact that
few, if any, single characters since the close of the Middle Ages afford more
autobiographic, plastic, dramatic elements and data. Luther was no tacitm-n,
self-absorbed misanthrope; no solitary, self-commmiing spirit. He was not
only a man of strong passions, unbending spirit, violent temper, of irregular,
wayward and undisciplined will, of insurgent, radical originality, of half-
formed ever changing theories, of continually excited nerves and seething
blood, but of a most blunt, fearless, brutal frankness. He was fearless to the
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION 287
border of irresponsible rashness, blunt to the exclusion of every qualm of
delicacy, audacious to the scorn of every magnanimous restraint, coarse beyond
the power of reproducible Anglo-Saxon, lubricous to a degree that even pales
Rabelaisian foulness. His was a volcanic, torrential personality/
CRITICAL VIEWS OF LUTHER
Luther was ceaselessly engaged [says Janssen] in a struggle with himself
and his conscience, from which, on his own confession, he tried to escape by
excessive drinking, by games and amusements, by thinking of a beautiful
maiden, or by falling into a violent fit of anger. He was accustomed always
to get into a rage over the church, its doctrines and institutions, and espe-
cially over the papacy.
Luther's language was so intemperate that Wilibald Pirkheimer said of
him that he seemed to have fallen into absolute madness with his impetuous
daring tongue or else to be led by an evil spirit.
"Luther observes no bounds," wrote Bollinger, one of the most respected
theologians of the new faith in Switzerland; "yea, his writing is more often
nothing else than a blustering and scolding so that if God has advised him of
a good cause, he surrounds it with so many evil and wild words that the good
is not especially respected. In a flash he gives all to the devil who do not
submit to him on the spot. Thus in all his attacks there is much of an inimical
•spirit and little of a friendly or fatherly attitude." 9
Luther's genius
It is evident of itself [says Schlegel] that a man who accomplished so
^mighty a revolution in the human mind, and in his age, could have been
lendowed with no common powers of intellect, and no ordinary strength of
icharacter. Even his writings display an astonishing boldness and energy of
ithought and language, united with a spirit of impetuous, passionate, and con-
vulsive enthusiasm. The latter qualities are not, indeed, very compatible
vith a prudent, enlightened, and dispassionate judgment. The opinion as to
he use which was made of those high powers of genius must of course vary
vith the religious principles of each individual; but the extent of those
ntellectual endowments themselves, and the strength and perseverance of
iharacter with which they were united, must be universally admitted. Many
A^ho did not adhere afterwards to the new opinions still thought, at the com-
aencement of the Reformation, that Luther was the real man for his age,
v^ho had received a high vocation to accomplish the great work of regen-
eration, the strong necessity of which was then universally felt: for no
!/eIl-thinking man then dreamed of a subversion of the ancient faith.
'^_ If, at this great distance of time, we pick out of the writings of this indi-
idual many very harsh expressions, nay, particular words which are not only
parse but absolutely gross, nothing of any moment can be proved or deter-
iiined by such selections. Indeed, the age in general, not only in Germariy
lut in other very highly civilised countries, was characterised by a certain
i^arseness in manners and language, and by a total absence of all excessive
iolish and over-refinement of character. But this coarseness would have
l^en productive of no very destructive effects; for intelligent men well knew
liat the wounds of old abuses lay deep, and were ulcerated in their very roots;
|id no one was therefore shocked if the knife, destined to amputate abuses,
jit somewhat deep.
288
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
Luther acquii'ed, too, the respect of princes, even of those opposed to him.
Thus when, shortly after the commencement of the Reformation, a general
insurrection of peasants broke out, which renewed all the excesses of the
Hussites, Luther, so far from exciting the rebels, like some of the new gospel-
lers, opposed them with all the powers of his commanding eloquence, and all
the weight of his high authority; for he was by no means in politics an advo-
cate for democracy, like Zwingli and Calvin, but he asserted the absolute
power of princes, though he made his advocacy subservient to his own religious
views and projects. It was by such conduct and the influence which he
thereby acquired, as well as by the sanction of the civil power, that the
Reformation was promoted ancl consolidated. Without this, Protestantism
would have sunk into the lawless anarchy which marked the proceedings of
the Hussites, and to which the war of the peasants rapidly tended; and it
inevitably would have been suppressed, like all the earlier popular commo-
tions ; for under the latter form Protestantism may be said to have sprung up
several centuries before.
None of the other heads and leaders of the new religious party had the
power, or were in a situation to uphold the Protestant religion — its present
existence is solely and entirely the work of the deed of one man, unique in his
way, and who holds unquestionably a conspicuous place in the history of the
world. Much was staked on the soul of that man, and this was in every
respect a mighty and critical moment in the annals of mankind and the
march of time.^
"^^^^^^
CHAPTER VIII
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE
[1546-1618 A.D.]
' From the middle of the fifteenth century on, Germany progresses
rapidly towards a crisis that can only be compared, in its world-wide
importance, with the crusades and the French Revolution. The Holy
Roman Empire, as it still was officially called, although it embraced
little territory that was not German, had come to be scarcely more
than a lofty conception. — Henderson.''
Whilst the diet of Ratisbon was still sitting, in 1546, where for the last
uime the Protestants urged " a lasting peace and equal rights for the evan-
gelical and Catholic estates, together with an equitable council of the German
lation," the emperor had already collected an army, and concluded a treaty
)f alliance with the pope. He determined, in combination with the holy see,
0 adopt extreme measures against Hermann, the archbishop of Cologne,
vho was at once formally deposed from his electorate. This and other acts
,ilarmed the confederates of Smalkald; and they demanded from the emperor
he object of his mihtary preparations. He replied briefly that all those who
;ubmitted to his authority would find him influenced by the same gracious,
maternal, and good intentions he had hitherto shown; but, on the other hand,
ill such as acted in opposition to him must expect to be treated with the
,Teatest severity. And shortly after this, when the messenger returned from
lome with the treaty signed by the pope, he issued his declaration of the
l!6th of June, 1546, that, as hitherto all the diets had produced no effect, it
i^as his desire that all should await with patience the determination he might
i'dopt upon the subject of religion, whether for peace or war. This declara-
;ion showed evidently that it was the emperor's intention to have recourse to
H. W. — VOL. XIV. U
289
290 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1546 A.D.]
war, and the Smalkaldic League immediately prepared to take up arms in
their defence. The marked contrast, however, between the two great leaders
held out but little prospect of brilliant results.
The elector of Saxony, who adhered to his faith with his whole soul, and
was but little influenced by anything external beyond it, would not for a
moment admit any political calculation to connect itself with his cause, but
rested solely upon his conviction that God would not forsake his gospel.
Previously, he had already refused the alliance of the kings of England and .
France, because they both appeared to him unworthy to defend the doctrines
he held to be the most pure, and he even considered that he was bound to
refuse the co-operation of the Swiss, because they deviated from him in their
belief in the doctrine of the Eucharist. The elector, whose ideas were
extremely circumscribed, had never for a moment suspected the existence of
the plans so long contemplated by the emperor; on the contrary, he always
continued to nourish in his heart, even to the last moment, the most sincere
and genuine veneration for the ancient, sacred name and person of the
emperor. And, indeed, had it not been for his able chancellor, Briick, to
whom he confided everything, and who, fortunately, knew better than himself
how to bring into connection the maxims of state policy with the strict prin-
ciples of religion, so firmly advocated by his master, the league would have
suffered still more severely.
Philip of Hesse was not wanting, either, in attachment and zeal for his
faith; but there were other motives besides of an external character by
which he was influenced in the part he had chosen. He had from the first
been excited by the most burning ambition, and had it not so happened that
a combination of events had cut him off from all friendly connection with
the imperial throne, he would doubtless have occupied a distinguished posi-
tion amongst the councillors and generals of the emperor. Finding himself,
however, placed by fate at the head of the opposite party, his bold and enter-
prising genius prompted him to employ every expedient against the emperor;
for which purpose he was gifted with powers far more comprehensive than
the elector of Saxony. He would willingly, in several cases, have taken up
arms where the circumstances were favourable, in order to obtain for himself
and his co-religionists at once those rights for which they were otherwise
forced to wait until granted them by the emperor. We have seen already how
he twice boldly took the field at all hazards — at one time in favour of Ulrich
of Wiirtemberg, and at another against the duke of Brunswick; but when-
ever he urged the policy of undertaking more extensive expeditions, he found
himself always checked by the elector, who was ever anxious not to infringe
the laws; whence it was alone the common danger which held in union two
minds so different in character, and almost wholly opposed to each other.
This inequality of thought and feeling, however, could not fail to produce
necessarily great confusion and opposition in moments of decisive action.
This was the weak side of the Smalkaldic League; but for this, its power
under good and wisely concerted direction would have been sufficiently effec-
tive to have obtained complete success in a legitimate defence against the
emperor. And in such case, to have proceeded upon the principle and feeling
with which the elector of Saxony acted would have been highly praiseworthy
and honourable; for thence the Protestant party would have been able to
defend its liberty of faith with advantage, without the interference of for-
eigners, which was always destructive to Germany; it would have preserved
the respect and reverence due to the imperial majesty — so long, at least, as
the latter did not transgress the limits of justice; and without having recourse
A DISSOLYIXG EMPIEE 291
T1546 A.D.]
to the dishonest artifices of that poUcy which honours truth in proportion
inly as it accords with its own interest. But the league was unhappily devoid
3f unity of action and cordial co-operation, as well as in fixity of purpose in
:he execution of its plans. A considerable number of princes had refused to
oin its ranks, and even opposed it by attaching themselves to the emperor's
jarty. Maurice, the young duke of Saxony, although himself a Protestant and
;ousin of the elector, as well as heir to the landgraf Philip, was in secret com-
nunication with the emperor; whilst the markgraf of Brandenburg, John of
viistrin, abandoned the league, and Albert of Bayreuth also, openly enter-
ng the service of the emperor, acted with him in concert against it.
MAURICE OF SAXONY
( .Maurice of Saxony was one of the most remarkable and distinguished men
'if his day. Young, bold, and active, he already possessed the keen glance
nd quick perception of the more experienced warrior, and had at command
hat searching, comprehensive view of circumstances which enabled him to
xecute his purposes with characteristic promptitude. His whole appearance,
.kewise, displayed the perfect man; and his eye of fire and penetration,
jogether with the entire expression of his noble, daring countenance, mdi-
;ated his heroic character. The emperor Charles himself, who always ranked
;ie Germans far behind his subjects of the southern climes, and accordingly
'jeld but few of them in much respect, soon learned to know the young duke's
laracter, and quickly penetrating into all that was grand and noble in his
ature he singled him out at once as worthy of especial regard and esteem
syond all his other courtiers.
Maurice, whose keen glance penetrated far more deeply into future events
lan that of his cousin the elector, discovered very soon that the latter could
,Dt possibly maintain the contest against the superior address and tact of
■le emperor, and he accordingly formed at once the resolution of making
mself the chief of the house of Saxony. In doing this, he may, perhaps,
ive justified himself by the plea that there was no other means of saving it;
ill his justice and truth were put thereby severely to the test. He would
|)t join the league of Smalkald, because he wished to attach himself to the
laperor and preserve his alliance until, by the attainment of his object, he
,ould be at liberty to act with independence.
I On the formation of the league he gave his advice against it, and when
'vited to join it he refused and declared that he would only take up arms in
' fence of his own lands. He was, however, already, at the moment he made
lis declaration, in secret understanding with the emperor; but to what extent
jjd how closely he was allied, and under what stipulations, has not been
Oarly shown; unfortunately, however, there is every probability to suppose
'at the reward held out to him was the prospect of receiving the electorate,
ijich being the case, what an inward struggle must it have cost him, and how
iinfully must it have agitated his whole soul, when the unsuspecting elector,
;)3t before he set out on his expedition against the emperor, confided into his
1 nds the whole of his lands, in order to protect and watch over them as his
fbstitute during his absence, to be faithfully restored to him on his return!
Jiivertheless, no external sign betrayed this inward contention, and wisdom
liumphed over truth; and, in order not to betray himself, he accepted the
liotectorate of the electoral territories.
j The emperor exerted every effort in order that the approaching war should
i;t assume the character of a purely religious war. In a proclamation to
292
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1546 A.D.]
the principal Protestant cities, Strasburg, Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Ulm,
printed in Ratisbon, he assures them' positively that the preparations for
war made by his imperial majesty were by no means adopted for the purpose i
of oppressing either rehgion or liberty, but solely in order to bring to sub- j
mission a few obstinate princes, who, under the cloak of religion, sought to I
seduce over to their party other members of the holy empire, and who had 1
lost all sense of justice and order, as well as respect for the imperial dignity, i
The straightforward good sense of the German citizens told them plainly |
that a part of this proclamation was nothing but mere empty words, whilst
they felt the danger with which they were themselves threatened by the over-
throw of the princes. They held themselves, therefore, firmly attached to
their league with the Protestant states. An unexpected event which now
took place rendered perfectly useless all the pains that Charles had taken to
conceal the object in view. He
had scarcely concluded his alliance
with the pope, the nature of which
was exactly the opposite of what
he had so lately assured the cities
in question, when the pope made
it publicly known, and issued a
bull throughout Germany, in
which he represented the emper-
or's expedition as a holy under- i
taking for the cause of religion:
"The vineyard of the Lord," it
says therein, "shall now be puri-
fied, by fire and sword, of all the |
weeds which have been sown by
the heretics throughout the Ger-|
manic Empire." By the terms of j
the compact itself, the pope!
promised to assist the emperor
with twelve thousand Italian foot .
soldiers, and fifteen hundred light j
cavalry troops, which he undertook to maintain at his own cost for the
space of six months. Besides this, he gave 200,000 crowns towards the gen-
eral outlay of the war, and authorised the emperor to draw the moiety of thei
revenues from the ecclesiastical possessions in Spain, and to dispose of Span-j
ish monastic property to the amount of 500,000 scudi. In return for which
Charles promised that he would compel, by force of arms, all the rebels in'
Germany to return to their obedience to the holy chair of Rome; that he|
would restore the ancient religion, and that, without the consent of the holyj
father, he would enter into no treaty with those of the new heresy, that might?
be disadvantageous or injurious to the Romish church.
This manifesto, contrary to the wish of Charles, gave a religious character
to the war, and such was the pope's desire. In the Protestant countries,
however, the most bitter and indescribable exasperation was excited, and if
the leaders had only known how to avail themselves of that moment, by'
directing the entire strength of the mass thus aroused, the emperor, with hisi
Spaniards and Italians, must have been completely overcome. For the other
German princes, and even the Catholic princes, held themselves generally
quiet; dreading lest, after overthrowing the Protestants, the emperor should
exercise sole dominion over the whole empire. I
Charles V
A DISSOLVING EMPIEE 293
[1546 A.D.]
The army furnished by the cities of upper Germany marched first into
the field — a well-appointed and select body of troops under the command of a
man distinguished for his military skill and well-tried experience, Sebastian
Schertlin, of Burtenbach near Augsburg. This brave officer and knight was
remarkable for his resolution and firm, undeviating principles of action; he
would never brook half measures, but always manoeuvred for the total
defeat and destruction of his enemy. He had served in all the campaigns
against the Turks and the French, and had shared in the battle of Pavia and
the storming of Rome under the duke de Bourbon. He was now soon joined
by the corps of Ulrich, duke of Wiirtemberg, under the command of the brave
John of Heydeck. Schertlin speedily drew up his plan of the war, accord-
ing to which he commenced operations by at once seeking to annihilate the
emperor's forces at the very onset of their formation; for Charles, who still
remained stationary in Ratisbon, had as yet at the utmost only from eight
to ten thousand men, whilst he still awaited the troops collecting in Germany
and those that were marching to his aid from Italy and the Netherlands.
Schertlin advanced against the town of Fiissen on the river Lech, in
Swabia, one of the principal military depots of the emperor; but the troops
on his approach evacuated the place, and retired into Bavaria, and just as he
was about to march in pursuit of them a messenger arrived from the council
of the city of Augsburg, in whose service he was more especially engaged,
with instructions not to enter the territory of the duke of Bavaria, who was
a neutral power. The house of Bavaria had threatened to join the emperor
in case they did not leave his country unmolested; at the same time it may
be observed that, if it was resolved to remain entirely neutral, it ought assur-
edly not to have permitted the troops of the emperor to pass through its
territory. But there was at that moment a secret compact concluded between
the Bavarian house and the emperor, by which the former agreed to furnish
at least a certain contribution in money. It was, therefore, with no Uttle pain
land mortification that Schertlin found himself thus suddenly checked and
: forced to make a halt on the very banks of the river Lech, without being
I permitted to cross it and destroy the enemy thus slipping through his fingers;
especially as his plans embraced far more important and decisive results, it
; having been his determination, after having defeated the troops now before
him, to proceed by forced marches to Ratisbon itself. The army there col-
lected being but small, the emperor would have been forced to take to flight,
' in which case he must have lost the whole of upper Germany. Referring to
this subject Schertlin wrote that assuredly Hannibal himself had not experi-
enced greater regret and mortification, when compelled to withdraw from
Italy, than he had endured when forced at that moment to retire from the
Bavarian territory.
The brave Schertlin now proceeded at once to carry into execution the
;plan he had formed immediately after the failure of his first project, which
was to oppose the march of the pope's troops across the Tyrolese mountains
Into Germany. Never had such a well-appointed army been formed in Italy
as that which now marched forth to join the emperor's force; the soldiers,
under chiefs long distinguished for courage and experience, being all united in
one zealous, enthusiastic feeling against the Protestants. Scherthn, by forced
marches, soon gained the passes and made himself master of the important
jdefile of Ehrenberg. Thence he marched against Innsbruck, and had he been'
allowed to proceed he would have obtained his object and commanded
:the whole country; but here he received fresh orders from the leaders of the
league, by whom he was now instructed to evacuate the land, inasmuch as
294 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1546 A.D.]
King Ferdinand, to whom it belonged, had not as yet declared war against
the Smalkaldic League. Thus was evinced already, even at the commence-
ment of operations, all that doubt and fear amongst the confederates whence
might easily be foreseen the most unfortunate and disastrous results. For it
was the height of folly and madness, after the war had become inevitable, to
show consideration towards those who, although as yet not declared enemies
were nevertheless known to be decidedly hostile. Nevertheless, the general
was obliged again to obey superior orders, and was thus unable to avail him-
self of the advantages he already possessed, or might at any future period
gain.
THE SMALKALDIC WAR OPENS (1546 A.D.)
Meantime, the Saxon and Hessian troops were brought into the field, and
directed their march towards upper Germany. The two chiefs of the league
addressed, on the 4th of July, a letter to the emperor stating that they were
not conscious of having committed any act of disobedience, for which they
had been accused by the emperor. If, how^ever, they had laid themselves
open to such reproach, it was only just and equitable that they should be
heard beforehand; and if this did take place, then they would make it clear
in the eyes of all that the emperor undertook the war merely at the instigation
of the pope, in order to oppress and crush the doctrine of the evangelists, and
the liberty of the Germanic Empire. This last and most grave accusation,
now made for the first time against the emperor by his opponents, was soon
eagerly caught at and disseminated throughout the world. This one sentence,
if it was held to be truly expressed, must have produced a startling change
even in the Roman Catholics themselves, must have subdued all their zeal
and rendered them less desirous to behold the emperor succeed in overcoming
his adversaries.
Charles, indeed, immediately afterwards, by committing a most rash act,
appeared to confirm the accusation thus made against him; for when the j
document from the leaders of the league was laid before him, he would not |
even touch it, but proceeded at once, on the 20th of July, to reply to it by a
declaration of the imperial ban against the two princes of Saxony and Hesse. ;
He therein charged them with disobedience to the imperial authority, and a j
design to deprive him of his crown, his sceptre, and all authority, in order to '
invest themselves therewith, and finally to subjugate everyone to their tyran-
nical powder. He called them " rebels, perjurers, and traitors," and absolved ;
their subjects from all obligation of homage and obedience to them. Thus i
severely did he express himself in reply to their address, although quite in j
conformity with the excitement and violence of that turbulent period. By j
this, his last act, however, the emperor violated the ancient rights of the j
empire, according to which he was not empowered to declare the ban against \
any state without the council and judgment of the princes. No exact esti-
mate, therefore, can be made of the extent to which the emperor might have
been carried, had circumstances continued favourable; for to minds like his,
which subject themselves entirely to the dictates and guidance of prudence,
circumstances constitute the only measure of restriction. They undertake ,
only what appears to them practicable, and Charles accordingly was cautious '
in not attempting what he could not complete. He held the sway over so ,
many extensive states, and had opposed to him so many powerful adversaries
in Europe, that he felt it quite impossible to devote that continual and exclu-
sive care to Germany which a plan of absolute sovereignty, to be carried out
successfully, strictly demanded; hence he wisely abstained from the attempt.
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 295
[1546 A.D.I
Nevertheless, Charles gave ample evidence of his character as a proud and
mighty emperor, ruler of half the world, by acting in particular circumstances,
when everything depended upon prompt measures of execution, independent
of all forms of law; whence it may be said that the violation of the rights and
privileges of the empire rested more in his intentions than in his plans.
Meantime he entered upon this opening scene of the Smalkaldic War in
conscious superiority of mind and true heroic independence. Although hav-
ing at command but a small body of troops, and threatened by an army of at
least fifty thousand men, the most complete and formidable force that Ger-
many had produced for several years, he only replied to the declaration of
the princes by the said document of excommunication, and then proceeded
from Ratisbon to Landshut in order to be more immediately at hand to
receive the succours marching from Italy. To remove, however, all doubt
or fear from the minds of his partisans, he declared to them that he would
never abandon the German soil, but would adhere to it living or dead. His
best guarantee was the state of dissension existing in the camp of the allies.
Schertlin with the municipal troops had now joined the army of the two dis-
united princes. The citizen-general now advised that they should march
with their combined forces against Landshut, and there surround the emperor
at once; but, as usual, they could come to no determination, and the valuable
opportunity was lost once more. The emperor, on the contrary, lost no time
in making the most of these valuable moments; he collected around him all
the reinforcements as they arrived from Italy and Spain, as well as the aux-
iliary troops from Germany, and when he found himself in sufficient strength,
he ascended the banks of the Danube as far as Ingolstadt. There he encamped,
and strongly fortified himself; for as yet he could not venture to enter the
open field and attack the enemy, preferring to await the arrival of Count
Buren, who was advancing to join him with a considerable body of troops
; from the Netherlands. The allies had followed him to his present position,
, and now they at length determined to attack his camp, as yet not quite
secured, with their artillery, and thus force him to draw up in line of battle.
Accordingly, on the 31st of August, they advanced at break of day, and
forming themselves into a half circle occupied all the heights in the rear of
! the camp with their planted cannon. The allied troops were animated with
courage and a desire for battle; and at this favourable moment a bold and
decisive assault, conducted with prompt and energetic effect, would have pro-
duced for the allies an easy but complete and glorious victory. For the
emperor was far inferior in force, and his camp was as yet only defended by
a simple trench. The idea of such an assault was not unthought of by the
i allies; according to some accounts the landgraf Philip, according to others
General Schertlin, had suggested it at the very moment when the fire from
his twelve heavy cannon was dealing destruction amongst the emperor's Span-
: ish arquebusiers, and sent them back flying into the camp. But again this
: time irresolution and disunion among the leaders rendered futile the decision
I which ought to have been put into force immediately. The emperor, who
1 with the grr:.test sang-froid encouraged his troops, and himself defied all
\ danger, now gained time to complete the fortifications of his camp, and was
soon enabled to witness in perfect security how vain were the efforts of the
, enemy to point their cannon with any effect against him. From this moment
I Schertlin, as he himself relates, placed no longer faith in this war, declaring
; that he saw no serious efforts being made to render it an honourable and
; legitimate war.
I The princes continued during five entire days to cannonade the imperial
296 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1546 A.D.I
camp, without producing any desired result; and when they heard that
Count Buren, with his auxihary troops from the Netherlands, had already
crossed the Rhine, they raised the siege, and suddenly retired with their
whole army in order to march against him. The emperor could scarcely
believe his eyes, when he beheld the powerful army of his enemy thus retire
without having effected anything; and mounting his horse he rode out of
his camp escorted by the duke of Alva and others of his staff, to observe
their retreat more closely.
Meantime, the princes, notwithstanding their rapid march, were unable
to prevent the junction of Count Buren with the emperor, who, being now so
much reinforced, proceeded at once to march in advance, taking possession
of one place after another along the Danube, and making himself complete
master of that river. When at length he approached and threatened Augs-
burg, the citizens summoned their general, Schertlin, to their aid and protec-
tion. The allies, however, notwithstanding they had not understood properly
how to avail themselves of their superiority, maintained the war by an
obstinate resistance until November, so that the emperor could not bring
them to a general action; whilst, in the meantime, the Spaniards and Italians
of his army already suffered greatly from disease and fatigue.
The allies suffered likewise from the severe weather, to which was added
the want of supplies, both in provisions and money, and the army now began
to show signs of discouragement and dejection, because the leaders were
incapable of inspiring confidence; the Swabian division of the army was
more especially disgusted with the war, because the whole burden was thrown
upon its shoulders, whilst the two armies had now been encamped face to
face for more than six weeks, without doing anything. The princes at length
sent a despatch to the imperial camp, in which they declared themselves
ready to negotiate for peace, or at least a suspension of arms. By this act,
however, they only betrayed and acknowledged at once their weakness, and
yielded themselves as conquered without striking a blow. Rejoicing tri- j
umphantly, the emperor commanded the document to be read before the '
whole army drawn up in order of battle, and for all reply he briefly announced
to the princes, through the markgraf of Brandenburg, that his majesty knew
of no other way by which peace was to be restored than by the submission of
the electors themselves and their adherents to the imperial authority, together
with their entire army, their lands, and subjects.
Upon receiving this reply, the allied princes broke up and separated on
the 22nd of November, at Giengen, and each returned to his own territories. ,
The presence of the elector of Saxony had been more especially claimed
by his country through a message despatched to him in his camp, announcing
that Duke Maurice had, with the exception of a few small places, taken entire :
possession of the whole land. For the emperor had authorised his brother i
Ferdinand, as king of Bohemia, to execute, in conjunction with Duke Maurice,-
the sentence of the ban adjudged against the elector; and such was the
position of affairs that it appeared, if Maurice did not himself take immediate
possession of the electorate, it would most probably be lost forever. Such
at least was the representation made by Maurice when he summoned together
the states of the country, in order to obtain their sanction for such proceed-
ing; for without that he could not have commenced upon such an important
undertaking. He employed all his powers of speech and argument, in ordei
to give his conduct and wishes the semblance of right and justice. The sud-
den arrival, however, of Ferdinand, with his Hungarian light cavalry, which
he had brought with him from Bohemia, produced a decided effect; their savag(
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 297
[1546 A.D.]
appearance spread universal terror, and it was regarded as a happy relief to
yield to the Saxon warriors of Maurice. The entire electorate, therefore, with
the exception of Wittenberg, Eisenach, and Gotha, was speedily in the hands
of the ambitious duke. The voice of the people, nevertheless, loudly con-
demned his proceedings; he was looked upon by
them as a renegade in the cause of the new doctrine
of faith; and by the clergy, both in the pulpit and in
their various writings, he was most severely cen-
sured and lashed.
The elector himself now, in December, 1546, re-
turned to Saxony, full of sadness and dejection. He
soon succeeded, however, in reconquering his lands,
and in seizing a portion of the duke's territory, after
he had overthrown and taken prisoner, in Rochlitz,
Albert, markgraf of Brandenburg, who had been
sent to the aid of his friend, Duke Maurice, by the
emperor, Maurice was likewise left without any as-
sistance from Bohemia, as the estates of that country
refused to fight against their co-religionists in Sax-
ony, referring, at the same time, to a treaty of in-
heritance which existed between the crown of Bohe-
mia and the electoral house of Saxony; w^hilst
Ferdinand himself began to feel rather uneasy on
account of his own kingdom. That country had
already ripened into a state of open revolt, and the
states had even proceeded to collect a considerable
army, in order, as they pretended, to protect the
Bohemian territory against the attack of the un-
christian Spanish and Italian forces. Whence it re-
sulted that Maurice, of his own land, only retained
possession of the towns of Dresden, Pirna, Zwickau,
and Leipsic, and he was reduced to place all his hopes in the emperor
Charles.
Musketeer of the Six-
teenth Century
SURRENDER OF THE CITIES
Meantime Charles was occupied in bringing to subjection the Protestant
cities in the south of Germany. This, however, was deemed no easy under-
taking, these places being exceedingly strong and able to resist his arms for
a length of time; whilst, in the interval, the princes of the north could avail
; themselves of the opportunity, and make their preparations for a fresh cam-
, paign. It seemed, however, as if both courage and resolution had suddenly
deserted them altogether; for wherever the emperor presented himself the
cities submitted to him at once without offering any resistance. Bopfingen,
Nordlingen, Dunkelsbiihl, and Rothenburg threw open their gates without
' its being necessary for him to unsheath the sword at all; whilst Ulm itself,
powerful as that city was, despatched messengers to meet him, who on their
knees, and in the open field, besought his pardon in the Spanish tongue.
; This act was especially, and with justice, most severely condemned by the
I allies. The city was also obliged to pay over to him as a fine 100,000 florins.
1 Frankfort paid likewise a sum of 80,000 florins, Memmingen 50,000 florins,
and the smaller towns paid sums in proportion; and now the turn came for
Augsburg. This city was protected by walls ahnost invulnerable, mounted
I with two hundred pieces of artillery, and provided with a strong garrison, and
298 THE HOLY E0MA:N^ EMPIRE
[1546-1547 A.D.]
a warlike population; if, therefore, it had only maintained its ground with
determined bravery, it must thereby have revived once more the sinking
courage of the entire body of the allied forces. But the rich members of the
municipality took fright when they found the danger so close to their own
door; and one of them, Anthony Fugger, proceeded as deputy to wait upon
the emperor in his camp, and returned with the conditions exacted : the city
was to pay a sum of 150,000 gold florins, receive a Spanish garrison, and banish
its brave commandant Schertlin. The latter employed every effort to pre-
vail upon them to defend the place, but all his eloquence was in vain : he could
not infuse courage into them; finally, he reminded them of their contract
with himself, according to which they had engaged to retain him in their
service, and could not banish or discharge him. They, however, only replied
by begging him with tears in their eyes to leave the city; accordingly the
brave old warrior quitted the place in disgust and indignation, and retired to
Switzerland — the Spanish troops taking immediate possession. The cities,
indeed, had reason to congratulate themselves upon having the permission
granted them to retain the same privileges in respect to religion as were
enjoyed by Duke Maurice and the house of Brandenburg; although this
arrangement certainly did not accord with the promise made to the pope.
Besides the cities, two princes in Upper Germany had taken an active
part in the war: Ulrich, duke of Wtirtemberg, and Frederick, elector of the
Palatinate. The latter was not a member of the Smalkaldic League, and
had only, in accordance with an hereditary treaty between himself and Duke
Ulrich, furnished the latter with a subsidiary force of three hundred cavalry
and six hundred foot soldiers; added to this, he had been a juvenile com-
panion and playmate of the emperor when both were together in Brussels as
boys; hence he easily obtained a pardon. The duke of Wi'irtemberg, how-
ever, was obliged, together with his council, to beg for pardon on his knees,
and likewise to give up his strongest castles with all the cannon, and to pay
a fine of 300,000 gold florins, after having sworn to obey the emperor in all
things.
Thus the Smalkaldic League in upper Germany was speedily destroyed,
and the emperor resolved at once not to allow his army any repose, but to ;
bring matters in the north of Germany to an equally prompt and decisive j
termination. He himself stood, indeed, much in need of rest; his hair dur- '
ing this war had become quite gray, his Umbs were completely lamed from
gout, whilst his countenance was so deathly pale, and his voice so weak and
tremulous, that he could hardly be recognised or understood. His spirit, ,
however, still reigned with all its original power within that infirm body; and j
he was now urged on by necessity to obtain his object, inasmuch as he was |
anxiously expected at Eger by King Ferdinand and Duke Maurice, who there j
tarried like two fugitives driven from their possessions until he came. He I
joined them at length, on the 15th of April, and they celebrated together i
the Easter festival; they then forthwith proceeded on their march, and on the
22nd of April Charles found himself already encamped within a short distance
of the walls of Meissen on the Elbe.
The elector could not, for a long tmie, believe it possible that Charles was
marching against him; but now, when to his no small surprise he found he
was actually within sight and close upon him, he gave hasty orders to destroy
the bridge near Meissen, and marched with his army along the right bank of
the Elbe, in order to reach Wittenberg, his capital, where he would have at
command all the means necessary to maintain a long and vigorous resistance.
The emperor, on the other hand, held it to be most important that an imme-;
A DISSOLVING EMPIEE 299
[1547 A.D,]
diate attack should take place, to bring the war to a speedy end; especially
as his army was four times as strong as that of the elector. Accordingly, he
lost not a moment, but pursued his march along the opposite shore, almost in
a line with the elector's troops, and searched along the river for a spot to ford
it and get his army safely and expeditiously across. The elector halted near
the small town of Miihlberg, whilst the emperor, very late at night, once more
rode with his brother and Duke Maurice along the shore, seeking in vain for
a favourable spot by which to cross over; for the Elbe here was at least three
hundred feet wide, and the opposite shore was considerably higher than on his
side. At length his general, the duke of Alva, brought from a neighbouring
village a young miller (his name — preserved by history — was Strauch), who
promised to lead them to a fording-place. He was induced to commit this
act of treachery by a feeling of revenge towards his fellow countrymen, who,
as they marched in the course of the day through his village, had taken with
them two of his horses; this circumstance, and the tempting offer of a hun-
dred crowns, made him by Duke Maurice, with the promise of two other
horses to replace those taken from him, determined him to serve the enemies
of his country.
At the dawn of morning, and under favour of a very thick fog, several
thousands of Spanish arquebusiers now commenced crossing the river, and
a select troop among them, having cast aside their guns and thrown off their
armour, placing their swords in their mouths, holding them tight between
their teeth, plunged into the stream, and swimming to the other side, seized
the remains of the bridge which had been destroyed by the Saxons. This
they succeeded in repairing whilst the cavalry forded the river, each horseman
taking with him on his saddle a foot soldier. Lastly followed the emperor,
his horse guided by the said miller, King Ferdinand, Duke Maurice, and the
duke of Alva, wdth the rest of the imperial suite.
THE BATTLE OF MtJHLBERG (1547 A.D.)
On the morning of this eventful day — the sabbath — the elector attended
divine service in Miihlberg, and when in the midst of his devotions a mes-
senger arrived in breathless haste and announced to him that the enemy had
crossed the river and was in full march in pursuit of him he would not believe
it, but desired the service of God not to be interrupted. When it was over
he found the news was too true, and he had scarcely time to retire with his
army. He ordered his infantry to march in all haste for Wittenberg; but
he directed the cavalry to keep the enemy at bay by skirmishing, the artillery
having already been sent in advance to Wittenberg. The imperials, however,
pursued the Saxons with such speed that they overtook them on the plain of
Lochau; and although his artillery and the greater portion of the infantry
still remained behind, the emperor, nevertheless, by the advice of the duke of
Alva, gave orders for an immediate attack. The Spanish and Neapolitan
I troopers dashed with impetuous force against the Saxons, Maurice himself
! leading the attack.
The elector's cavalry was soon thrown into confusion, and fell back upon
the ranks of their own infantry, which was hastily drawn up in battle array
on the borders of a deep forest. The elector gave his orders from a carriage,
; his weight of body not permitting him to mount on horseback; the emperor,
■ on the other hand, in whom the signs of illness were less than ever perceptible
; on this day, rode an Andalusian charger, holding in his right hand a lance,
' and wearing a helmet and a cuirass gorgeously decorated with gold, his eye
300 THE HOLY EOMAi^ EMPIRE
[1547 A.D.]
beaming with warlike ardour. The imperial cavalry, with their terrific shout
of ''Hispaniaf Hispaniaf " broke now through the ranks of the Saxon infantry,
which were completely put to rout. All now took to flight; everywhere was
confusion and terror. As they fled across the plain, the fugitives were over-
taken and struck down by their pursuers, covering with their bodies the
whole line of road from Kossdorf to Falkenburg and Beiersdorf. One of the
elector's sons was overtaken by some troopers of the enemy;' he defended
himself with great courage, and shot one of them dead at the moment when,
having received two sword-cuts, he was sinking from his horse; some of his
own men coming up just in time rescued and bore him away in safety. But
his father was not so successful; he could not escape. He had been
urgently entreated by his faithful adherents to seek safety in flight, and
gain a secure asylum in Wittenberg; but his only observation was, " What
will become of my faithful infantry ? " and he remained on the field of battle.
In the heat of action he had quitted his carriage and mounted a powerful
Frisian charger; he was, however, very soon surrounded by the enemy's
cavalry, and as he valiantly defended himself, he received a cut on his left
cheek from the sabre of a Hungarian trooper. The blood streamed all over
his face, but even in this sad condition the undaunted warrior would not j
yield, until a Saxon knight in the suite of Duke Maurice, Thilo of Trodt, pen-
etrated through the Hungarians that surrounded him, and called out to him
in German to save his life. To him, as he was a German, the elector gave
himself up a prisoner, and in token thereof he drew from his finger two rings
which he presented to him; whilst to the Hungarian he gave his sword and
dagger„
The knight conducted his royal prisoner to the duke of Alva, and the
latter, at the earnest and repeated persuasion of the elector, led him "before
the emperor, who still continued mounted on his horse in the centre of the
plain. The elector, as he approached, sighed deeply, and raising his eyes up
to heaven, said, mournfully, " Heavenly Father, have pity on me, for behold
I am a prisoner! " His sad condition and appearance excited the compassion
and sympathy of all around — his wounded face still streaming with blood,
and his cuirass likewise being covered with spots of gore. He was assisted
to dismount by the duke of Alva, and was about to drop on his knee before
the emperor, taking off the gauntlet from his right hand, in order, according
to German custom, to present it to his majesty; but the latter refused to take
it, and with a stern and haughty look turned from him. The mortified prince
now addressed him with the words, " Mighty, gracious emperor! " ''Ay, now ^
I am your gracious emperor, am I?" returned Charles, haughtily. "It isj
long since you styled me thus ! " The elector continued: " I am your imperiali
majesty's prisoner, and beg to receive the treatment due to me as a prince."<
" You shall receive the respect you merit," concluded the emperor. Thel
elector was now conducted to the camp by the duke of Alva, together withi
Ernest, duke of Brunswick-Liineburg, who had also been taken prisoner.
Thus was that important day brought to a successful close for the
emperor. In the style of Csesar, he writes: "I appeared, I fought, and
God vanquished."
THE FATE OF THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY
After a repose of two days, Charles marched on to Torgau, which sur-
rendered forthwith, and thence he proceeded to Wittenberg, the capital of
the country. The place was defended by a strong fort and a good garrison,:
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 30i
[1547 A.D.]
whilst the citizens themselves assisted with determined courage and loyalty;
had they continued to make resistance for any length of time, the emperor
would have been forced to withdraw from Saxony without having completed
his work, as he was not at all prepared for a long campaign. Thence, in his
impatience, and by the urgent persuasion of his confessor and others around
him, he had recourse to an expedient which completely transgressed the limits
of his prerogative, and was contrary to the constitutional rights of the empire.
He summoned a council of war, and pronounced sentence of death upon the
unfortunate prince — an act which, however just the sentence, could not
legitimately take place, except in a diet held by the German princes of the
empire. Probably he may not seriously have contemplated the execution of
the sentence, but only sought to use it as a means to terrify the friends and
faithful adherents of the elector within the walls of the city, and thus induce
them to surrender the place; but the violation of the law was based in the
form of the judgment, and in case it did not operate in the way, perhaps,
originally intended by Charles, there was too much reason to fear from his
stern nature, which never allowed him to waver or recede, that execution
would follow.
The elector, who, when in prosperity, was too often wanting in resolution
and fixity of purpose, evinced at this moment all the heroic courage of a firm
and energetic soul founded upon unchanging and indomitable faith. The
sentence of death pronounced upon him was announced to him at the moment
he was engaged in a game of chess with his fellow prisoner, Duke Ernest of
Brunswick-Liineburg. His appearance and manner betrayed neither alarm
nor despondency, but as he resumed his game he calmly replied: "I can
never believe that the emperor will proceed to such extremes in his treatment
of me; if, however, his majesty has truly and definitively thus resolved, then
I demand to be informed thereof in such positive and legitimate form as will
allow me to proceed to fix and arrange my affairs in regard to my wife and
children."
It is not known whether Duke Maurice did at all interest himself on this
occasion with the emperor in favour of the elector; but, on the other hand,
it is known for certain that the elector Joachim of Brandenburg hastened
immediately to the imperial camp, where he strenuously exerted all his pow-
ers of eloquence with the emperor to prevent, by some mediatory accommoda-
^ tion, the fulfilment of the sentence. He succeeded at length in his object,
; but under conditions most severe and painfully humiliating to the elector of
' Saxony. He was obliged to renounce for himself and descendants all claim
to the electoral dignity, as well as the possession of the territory, which were
, transferred to Duke Maurice. His castles of Wittenberg and Gotha were
■ surrendered to the emperor, whilst he himself remained his prisoner during
imperial pleasure; so that, if deemed proper and necessary by Charles, he
' might even have been sent to Spain itself, and there placed under the imme-
diate charge of the infante Don Phihp. The necessary provision for him and
\ his family was to be furnished by Maurice, produced by the revenues derived
! from the towns of Eisenach, Gotha, Weimar, and Jena. In one article of
; the conditions it was proposed that the elector should even promise in advance
to accept everything that might be decreed by the council of Trent and the
imperial power in religious matters; but to that the resolute prince would by
no means be brought to agree, and on this point he remained so firm and
inmiovable that the emperor was obliged to yield : he struck out the passage
with his own hand, and even the Spaniards themselves acknowledged the
firmness of the elector to be both honourable and praiseworthy.
,%2 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1547 A.D.]
When it became known in Wittenberg that the city was to be dehvered up to
the emperor, although in rehgious worship it was guaranteed the free exercise of
the Augsburg confession, considerable indignation and consequent opposition
and confusion arose. At first the citizens resolved to defend themselves to
the last man, because they found it impossible to place any confidence in the
promise made that they should have their religious liberty; particularly after
the cruel manner in which the Spaniards had acted towards their land. The
elector, however, commanded them not to make any further resistance, as
the emperor would, he assured them, faithfully keep the promise he had given;
especially as the latter granted them permission to receive only German troops
as a garrison. Accordingly on the 23rd of May, 1547, the Saxon soldiers
marched out and the imperials took possession of the town. In the course
of a very short period an interchange of a more peaceful and friendly feeling
arose between the camp and the city, and mutual distrust disappeared more
and more. The Saxons, to their great wonderment and admiration, beheld
their deposed lord and prince comfortably lodged and entertained in the tent
of the duke of Alva, where he was waited upon and treated with the greatest
distinction and reverence by the Spaniards. The electress herself and her
children, dressed in complete mourning, were led before the emperor by the
sons of the Roman king and paid him their homage; Charles assisted the
princess to rise, and consoled her in her sorrow and affliction with words of
sympathy and encouragement, granting permission to the elector to pass an
entire week with his family in his castle of Wittenberg, and there celebrate
with them the festival of Whitsuntide. In addition to this, he himself repaired
to the castle and returned the visit of the princess. The impression produced
by his noble and exalted spirit, now so much softened, diminished and almost
extinguished that feeling of antipathy hitherto existing against him through-
out the country; whilst, on his part, he formed a much more favourable
opinion of the people of the north of Germany than the enemies of the new
doctrine had led him to conceive: ''Things and people appear far different in
this evangelical country to what I fancied and believed them to be before I
came among them," was his expression now. And when he learned that on
his arrival the Lutheran form of divine service had been prohibited and had
ceased, he exclaimed: " Whence has that proceeded ? By whose authority?
If it be in our name that the service of God has been interdicted here, then
does it incur our high displeasure! We have not altered aught touching
religious matters in High Germany, why should we do so here?" He then
visited the royal chapel of the castle and examined the tomb of Luther. One
or two of his suite advised him " to have the remains of the heretic disin-
terred and publicly burned "; but Charles replied: " Let him repose in peace,
he has already found his judge; I war only with the living, not with the dead."
Maurice, the new elector, showed himself equally friendly and indulgent
towards the people of Wittenberg: " You have been so faithful to my cousin
that I shall always remember and think well of you," were his words to the
corporation as he left them. On the 6th of June the imperials withdrew
from Wittenberg, and immediately afterwards the soldiers of the new elector
marched in and took up their quarters in the city.
On the same day that the emperor Charles entered Wittenberg, his former
rival, Francis I of France, was borne to the tomb, as if fortune had resolved
to remove at once from before his path every obstacle to the plans he had
formed. From Wittenberg he marched on to Halle, in order to attack the
second leader of the Smalkaldic League, the landgraf of Hesse; and the
latter, having now no longer any hope of deliverance but through the grace
A DISSOLVING EMPIEE 303
[1547 A.D.]
and pardon of the now all-powerful emperor, employed every effort by means
of his son-in-law, Duke Maurice, and the markgraf of Brandenburg, to obtain
both.
Both these princes exerted themselves most actively and zealously for
him, and at length they succeeded; the emperor declaring, through his
chancellor, Granvella, that if the landgraf came to him in person, surrendered
himself at discretion, and signed the conditions which would be submitted to
him, he promised not to seize his lands, neither would he take his life nor
punish him with lasting imprisonment. Thus it is expressed in a copy of
the transactions of that period. The mediators, however, did not well weigh
the last sentence of the declaration, and imagined it was meant to convey
that the prince should suffer no imprisonment; and they pledged their word
of honour with the landgraf to give themselves up prisoners to his sons in
case the emperor did not give him full liberty to return. Accordingly, on
the 18th of June, Philip, in full reliance on their word, came to Halle, and on
the following day he was led before the emperor.
Charles was seated on his throne, surrounded by a crowd of Spanish
grandees and Italian and German nobles, and amongst them stood conspicu-
ous Henry, duke of Brunswick, lately the landgraf's prisoner, but whom he
had been forced to release and who now triumphed in his late conqueror's
humiliation. With dejected and mortified mien the landgraf humbly knelt at
the foot of the throne, whilst his chancellor Giintherode, kneeling behind him,
read aloud to the emperor the petition for pardon. It was expressed in the
most humble terms, and an eye-witness relates that, in the excess of shame
and confusion with which the prince was overwhelmed at this moment, in
the presence of such a large and august assembly, a slight smile played about
his mouth, as if produced by an unconscious effort of nature to repress the
feeling of shame by which he was so painfully tried. But this expression did
not escape the lynx-eyed monarch; he held up his finger menacingly, and
said in his Netherland dialect — for he spoke the German very badly — " Wol,
ick soil di lachen lehren!" (Ay, ay, I will teach you to laugh!) The imperial
chancellor, Doctor Seld, then read the emperor's reply — that, although the
landgraf, as he himself acknowledged, deserved the heaviest punishment,
the emperor, nevertheless, in his innate goodness, and in consideration of the
intercession made in his favour, would allow mercy to take the precedence of
justice; he therefore removed the ban of excommunication pronounced against
him, and granted him the life he had by his acts forfeited. After this docu-
ment had been read, the landgraf was about to rise as a free prince from his
humble posture, but waited in vain for the signal from the emperor; finding,
• therefore, that this was withheld, and that the clear and solemn promise of
pardon was likewise refused to him, he rose of his own accord and withdrew
from the assembly.
In the evening he supped with the elector Maurice and the markgraf of
Brandenburg, in the quarters of the duke of Alva; after the meal, he was
about to retire, when the duke informed him he must consider himself his
prisoner. He was seized at once with astonishment and indignation, as were
also the two princes who had guaranteed his liberty. They immediately
appealed to the emperor and represented to him that they had pledged their
princely word for the landgraf's liberty; but Charles denied having promised
him remission from all imprisonment — as the mediators had falsely under-
stood — although he declared at the same time that he would not punish him
with perpetual captivity. And indeed it is very possible that his councillors
promised more than he himself intended to grant; or that in the ignorance
304 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1547 A.D.]
of the chancellor Granvella and his son of the German, and of the two electors
of the Spanish and French languages, an error may have arisen in the corre-
spondence.
The deposed elector and the landgraf were therefore obliged to follow as
prisoners the court and camp of the emperor wherever he proceeded. Be-
sides this, all the Hessian castles and strongholds, from Cassel to Ziegenhain,
were rased, all the cannon and ammunition seized and taken away, and the
states of that country were forced to pay a fine of 150,000 florins. In his
treaties with the cities of upper Germany, the duke
of Wiirtemberg, the elector of Saxony, and the
landgraf of Hesse, he gained more than five hun-
dred pieces of cannon, which he caused to be con-
veyed to Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. The
Spanish garrisons which he quartered wherever he
found it possible, and especially in the cities of
upper Germany, excited everywhere the greatest
discontent. The overbearing pride and shameful
treatment displayed and exercised by these j
haughty foreigners, animated as they were byf
their religious hatred, were insupportable, whilst j
it was not forgotten that the emperor, in the
stipulations of his election, had promised not to j
bring or introduce any foreign troops into thei
empire. j
THE COUNCIL REMOVES FROM TRENT j
It now became more and more evident that
peace in matters of religion would not emanate.
from the council of Trent, for as its members j
consisted altogether of Italians and Spaniards,:
they could not possibly be regarded as the repre-
sentatives of the Christian world in the sense of
the former convocations of the church. The
Protestants now, as well as previously, refused!
not only to acknowledge their authority, but, on|
the contrary, insisted upon a council " in which
the pope should not have the presidency, and
where the Protestant theologians should enjoy
the privilege of voting with and on the side of the
bishops, and where the decrees recently made should undergo fresh exami-
nation and revision."
The papal party, on the other hand, would not consent to these demands
although the princes of Germany, including even the Catholics, urgentl)
demanded that the states which had assisted at the confession of Augsburg
should be admitted to join the council. Nay, the cardinals themselvei
viewed the circumstance of its being held at Trent with a very unfavourablf
eye, and they strenuously endeavoured to have it transferred to the interio ^
of Italy; for they were afraid that, if the aged pope, Paul III, died durinji
the period of its assembly, the council, supported by Charles, would tab
upon itself the office of electing a new pope in opposition to the rights en joye(
by the college of cardinals, and by which the interests of that institution mus
be materially affected. At length a case of fever came fortunately to thei
aid and seconded their wishes; and although it was feared that the diseas
Soldier of thk Sixteenth
Century
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 305
[1547-1548 A.D.I
would prove more generally fatal, still one only of the bishops became its
victim. This, however, was sufficient to produce the accomplishment of
their object, and on the 9th of March, 1547, the council was removed from
Trent to Bologna.
The emperor, on hearing of it, was highly indignant, and flew into a most
violent passion, whilst the pope approved of the step taken by his legate ;
hence the division already existing between him and the emperor, owing on
the one part to the pope's having withdrawn his troops from Germany
immediately after the expiration of the agreed term of six months' service,
and on the other to the emperor's not having availed himself of the triumph
he had obtained in his empire by forthwith extirpating the Protestant party,
became more confirmed. The emperor told the pope's nuncio in plain lan-
guage that it could not be expected that the Protestants, who were willing
to submit to the council, would themselves repair to Bologna, or even pay
i attention to what might be concluded there; whilst the rest did not require
this motive for refusing to attend. If, therefore, Rome did not furnish him
with a council, he himself would speedily have one assembled which should
be so formed as to satisfy everyone, and produce all the reforms required;
adding that the pope was an obstinate old man, whose only desire was to
ruin and demolish the church to its foundation. Such w'ere the angry terms
in which Charles, contrary to his usual manner, addressed the prelate, and by
that we have another proof of his anxiety and zeal to promote the peace of
the church. The German bishops, on their part, now likewise most urgently
besought the pope to remove the seat of council to Trent, but their efforts
remained for a length of time without producing any effect.
THE "interim"
In consequence, Charles now proceeded to re-establish of his own accord,
.at a diet held in Augsburg, in 1548, order and peace in religious matters in
Germany, and with this view he opened a new conference, to which, on the
'side of the Catholics, two moderate men were appointed : the bishop of Naum-
burg, Julius Pflug, and the grand vicar of Mainz, Michael Helding; whilst
|the court chaplain of the elector of Brandenburg, Johann Agricola of Berlin,
,5vas selected on the part of the Protestants. They applied themselves to the
^subject with great industry and zeal, and marked out a plan of reunion which
'they laid before the emperor. Agricola, however, from his too great anxiety
;to establish the desired peace, had deviated in several essential points from
;the original principles of his faith. He had succeeded, it is true, in gaining
ifor his own party, the admission of the two articles, viz., of the marriage of
clergymen, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper in both forms, but to
continue valid only until the council should have given its decision upon the
mbject. As to the rest, he recognised the authority of the pope, the celebra-
tion of mass, and the Catholic church and its signs of faith generally; whence
|t was easy to foresee that great discontent and opposition must arise,
i As, however, the elector of Brandenburg, and likewise the elector palatine,
'engaged both to sanction and adopt it, Charles considered he should now be
ible to compile therefrom his code of doctrines, called the Interim. He
convoked his states on the 15th of May, and then caused to be read to them
i^he work in question which was entitled '' Declaration of his imperial and
:'oyal majesty, which determines how religion shall be exercised and maintained
vithin the holy empire until the decision of the general council shall be pro-
lounced." After the reading, and a short discussion had taken place among
H. W. — VOL. XIV. X
306 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1548 A.D.]
a few individual members, but which led to no result, the elector of Mainz
arose, and in the name of the states returned thanks to the emperor for the
trouble, labour, industry, and love he had taken and shown for the sake of
the country; and as none ventured to make any objection, the emperor con-
cluded that the sanction of the entire body of the states was given to the
measure, and regarded it now as the law of the empire.
Whilst the emperor Charles thus sought on the one hand to make himself
independent of the proceedings of the pope, and on the other to maintain
the unity of the German church — by which that of the Germanic Empire
itself must be rendered still more firm — he was
guided by the one grand and fundamental prin-
ciple observed throughout his entire reign — the
restoration of the importance and dignity of
the ancient empire, as had formerly been pro-
jected and in part effected by the great Charle-
magne, the Ottos, and other high-minded em-
perors. His aim was to render the empire
replete with spiritual and temporal power. The
emperor, according to Charles' plan, was to be
made in reality the chief authority of entire
Christendom; with his temporal power he was
to unite a material and effective influence over
the church, and not only protect, as a machine
of the spiritual power, the order of the church,
and assist in enforcing duty to its commands,
but he was to have an important share and in-
terest in its councils and resolutions. Like
Charles the Great, who presided at the synods
of his bishops, and whose decrees were sanc-
tioned by his signature, so, likewise, it was the
desire of Charles V to partake in the direction
of the general council, or at least to maintain
next to the pope, and as the central point of the
ecclesiastical order of the Germanic Empire, the
dignity with which he was invested.
The emperor was well aware that a grand and
important step would be gained towards the
establishment of his Interim, if the imprisoned
elector of Saxony, whose spiritual influence in the Saxon territories had recently
very much increased — he being now regarded as a martyr to his faith — could
be persuaded to give it his approval. Accordingly, he sent his chancellor, Gran- ,
vella, and his son, the bishop of Arras, together with the vice-chancellor Seld,
to submit to him the proposals to accept that code of doctrines, and likewise
to recommend its adoption to his sons. The elector, however, in reply to
their request, handed over to them a declaration which, in anticipation of
such a visit, he had already prepared and written with his own hand, stating
that the education he had received from his youth upwards at the hands of
the servants of the divine word, together with the profound researches he had
himself since made in the writings of the prophets and apostles, had united
to convince him that the true Christian doctrine was to be recognised in the
Augsburg confession, and his conscientious belief therein remained unshaken.
If he accepted the Interim as a Christian and divine doctrine, he should be
forced, against his conscience, to deny and condemn the Augsburg confession :
Arquebusier of the Sixteenth
Century
A DTSSOLYINCt empire 307
[1548-1549 A.D.]
in many articles u}:>on which his immortal happiness depended, and sanction
with his Hps what in his heart he held to be completely contrary to the doc-
trines of the holy scripture; in doing this he should consider he was shame-
lessly abusing and blaspheming the holy name of God, for which sin he must
severely and bitterly suffer in his soul. His imperial majesty, therefore,
would not, he hoped, feel ungracious towards him, if he refused to accede to
the Interim, and persisted in adhering strictly to the Augsburg confession.
The ministers refused to accept this declaration, and reminded the elector
that the emperor was empowered to make laws and decrees even in religious
matters, and that several Roman emperors, ancestors of his present majesty,
had created such, which even to that day were obeyed by all the subjects of
the Roman Empire. The elector, however, remained immovable; and as
during the discussion they were interrupted by a loud peal of thunder, the
elector felt rejoiced and strengthened by the conviction that this was sent as
an indication from heaven that his conduct met with divine approbation, and
that he should be guided by the judgment of God alone, and not by that of
mortals.
The act committed against the elector, immediately after this interview
— although it is believed to have been done without the sanction of the
emperor himself — was both petty and unjustifiable. He was deprived at
once of the society of his chaplain, Christopher Hoffmann, and a seizure was
made of all his books, amongst the rest of his own especially treasured copy
of the Bible, beautifully illuminated; but amidst the painful mortification he
endured, whilst forced to submit to this trial, his firmness did not forsake
him, for as the minions quitted the place with these to him invaluable treas-
ures, he said, resignedly: " You may take the books; but that which I have
learned from them you can never take or even tear from my heart."
The sons, following the example of their father, refused to introduce the
Interim into their territory, and in fact the emperor soon found himself
' deceived in his hopes of bringing his code into general use. The Protestant
; theologians rose in one body against the measure, and many were forced to
^ vacate and abandon their offices, and take up the pilgrim's staff as wanderers,
as in Augsburg, Nuremberg, Ratisbon, Ulm, Frankfort, and other cities: the
, number of banished ecclesiastics in the upper countries alone amounted to
' four hundred. What, however, is still more astonishing is that the Catholics
' themselves disapproved of this Interim, although it was by no means pre-
' tended that it should be put into practice amongst them. The Catholic
church would have reaped the greatest advantage therefrom; for if the
emperor had succeeded in his plan, the reunion of both would have been a
necessary consequence. Thence their opposition can only be interpreted into
',a declaration that they would not regard as valid any regulation in matters of
religion coming from him as a layman.
Thus, during his sojourn of two years in the Netherlands, whither he had
repaired after the diet of Augsburg, the emperor was forced to receive con-
itinual complaints from Germany; his Interim was only acknowledged out-
'wardly in a few places, whilst generally, in all parts of the empire, much bitter
■feeling was expressed against it, and even the elector Maurice himself gave it
but a very limited reception in his land. He had commissioned several theolo-
gians, including Melanchthon, to prepare a church formulary for his own
'.subjects, and with great trouble, and not without incurring severe censure
'.from the more rigid of the Lutheran clergymen, they completed what was
icalled " the Leipsic Interim," and which, certainly, deviated in many points
(from but as a whole adhered to the Protestant faith. It was introduced in
308 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1550 A.D.]
several parts of the north of Germany, although here and there with consid-
erable alterations; but, on the other hand, in many other parts of the coun-
try the greatest stand was made against any change whatever. The cities of
Constance, Bremen, and Magdeburg, especially, declared themselves most
firmly opposed to it, and refused to submit to the imperial order; whereupon
the emperor pronounced the ban of the empire against them, and the two
former places returned to their obedience. But Magdeburg continued obsti-
nate, being influenced in a great measure by several theologians who had
taken refuge there after their banishment from Wittenberg on account of the
Interim; amongst whom a certain Flacius, with the by-name of Illyricus,
was the most violent and zealous. The elector Maurice received at the new
diet of Augsburg, in 1550, orders to execute forthwith the sentence of the
ban pronounced against that city. He accordingly marched with his army
at the commencement of the autumn in the same year, and laid siege to the
place.
At this diet Charles sought to gain for his son Philip, whom he had sent
for from Spain, the title of king of the Romans. However, neither his brother
Ferdinand, nor the latter's son, Maximilian, nor, in fact, any of the electors
or princes, would give their consent; for, besides other causes, the haughty,
gloomy, repulsive appearance and manner of the prince could not possibly
operate in his favour among the Germans. His father, therefore, saw him-
self obliged to send him back to Spain, whither Philip, indeed, was too glad to
return, for he was more attached to that country than to any other. The
emperor, at the conclusion of the diet, left Augsburg for Innsbruck, as the
new pope, Julius III, having now removed the seat of the council from
Bologna to Trent, Charles was anxious to be in its vicinity.
THE ELECTOR MAURICE DESERTS THE EMPEROR
Meantime the new elector of Saxony nourished in his heart a most bold
and determined design against the emperor, the immediate motives for which,
however, we are not able to define, inasmuch as the whole of this man's
thoughts and actions have remained an enigma in all historical research.
Still there is no doubt he was influenced in his conduct by at least two grand
causes: (1) the severe and unjust confinement of his father-in-law, the
landgraf of Hesse, towards whom he considered he was still bound to redeem
the word and guarantee he had given for his liberty, whilst neither the argu-
ments nor prayers resorted to by him had the least effect upon the emperor;
and (2) the sad condition of the Protestants in Germany. These latter felt
more and more convinced that the emperor only waited now for the resolu-
tions of the council of Trent, in order to establish them as the laws of religion
throughout the empire, and as he had already commenced hostilities against
Magdeburg, on accoimt of the Interim, so likewise, as soon as he had collected
fresh troops, it might be expected that he w'oukl force all the states of the
land to submit to all those decrees of the church. Indeed, at this moment,
the whole body of the Protestants w^as in a state of anxious expectation and
suspense. Those who dreaded the worst results condemned the elector Mau-
rice as the most culpable party : inasmuch as he had betrayed the league of
Smalkald, and it was through him that John Frederick of Saxony and the
landgraf of Hesse were now suffering imprisonment. Those, on the other
hand, who still cherished some hope of relief, turned their eyes towards him,
for to them he appeared the only one now left, capable of protecting the new
faith.
A DISSOLVING EMPIEE 309
[1550-1553 A.D.]
The moment had indeed arrived when with one grand and mighty stroke
he might expunge all recollection of the past and regain the public confidence.
Maurice was not long in deciding the course he should take, and he deter-
mined to put his plan into execution at once. He availed himself of the
opportunity presented in the expedition against Magdeburg, to collect, with-
out exciting suspicion, a numerous body of troops; whilst at the same time,
in accordance with the object in view, the siege of the city itself was con-
ducted as tardily as possible. At length, in September of the following year,
1551, he, of his own authority, agreed to a suspension of arms, and in the
succeeding November he concluded a treaty with the city — the terms of
which were extremely mild and favourable for the latter — whilst, however,
he took care not to discharge his troops on this account. He secretly de-
spatched his early friend and companion, Albert, markgraf of Brandenburg-
Kulmbach, to the court of Henry II, king of France, the son of Francis I, in
order to conclude an alliance with him, and he immediately engaged in his
service the leader of the Wiirtemberg troops, Jolin of Heydeck, who, together
with Schertlin, had been previously placed under the imperial ban.
These proceedings, however, had not escaped observation, and were com-
municated to the emperor; but Charles remained deaf to all the warnings
given to him. He placed the greatest confidence in the man whom he thought
he had thoroughly tested, and when thus cautioned against him, he replied
that as he had never, to his knowledge, given cause, either to Maurice or the
markgraf Albert, to act inimically towards him, but, on the contrary, had
shown to both great proofs of his favom* and consideration, he could not
believe it possible that they would be guilty of such ingratitude; and he
was convinced that with them their acts would go hand in hand with their
words, and that they would not swerve from that honourable line of conduct
for which the German nation had ever distinguished itself. And thus, whilst
on the one hand the emperor placed his firm reliance upon German fidelity,
his minister, Granvella the younger, calculated upon the simplicity of the
Germans ; for the observation he made in reply was that it was wholly impos-
sible for a phlegmatic German to conceive a plan and endeavour secretly to
bring it to bear, without its being immediately discovered and known in all
its details.
Both the emperor and his minister, however, were struck as it were with
a clap of thunder, when Maurice, in the month of March, 1552, suddenly
appeared with his whole army, and invaded Franconia, augmentmg hi?
forces with those of the landgrafschaft of Hesse and the troops of the mark--
graf Albert. At the same time both these princes drew up a declaration
against the emperor, which they made public, wherein they sought to justify
the war they commenced. They complained of the prolonged imprisonment
of the landgraf, as likewise of the attacks made by the emperor upon the
liberty of Germany. They reproached him with having confided the seals of
the empire to foreigners, who were totally unacquainted both with the lan-
guage and the laws of Germany, so that the Germans themselves were actually
forced to learn a foreign tongue before they were allowed to make known
their demands to the imperial government. Contrary to the oath he took,
he had, they said, mtroduced into the country foreign troops, who pillaged
and ruined the unfortunate inhabitants, whom they likewise abused and ill-
treated m every possible way; nay, he had gone to such extremes that he had
clearly shown he was swayed by no other thought or feeling than that of
subjecting all and each to the most shameful servitude, whence his conduct
had been such that if the sweeping torrent of destruction were not speedily
310 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1552 A.D.]
and effectually checked, posterity itself would have too great reason to abomi-
nate the negligence and cowardice of the present generation, during which
the liberty of their fatherland — its greatest and most precious treasure — had
been allowed to fall a sacrifice.
The emperor again, whose actions were better than in these declarations
they were represented to be, in his dignity made no other reply than : " The
accusations of the two princes being so childish, unconnected, and absurd,
they only contain in themselves their own falsehood and want of foundation,
whilst they lay bare in ample evidence the mischievous character of those
who have invented them."
The enterprise of the two princes, however, very soon lost character in
public opinion through the conduct of the markgraf himself, who, with his
people, committed throughout the fiat portions of the country violence and
devastation equalled only by the most lawless band of freebooters and incen-
diaries. Thence Maurice and the young landgraf William of Hesse, both of
whom had nobler objects in view, were forced to separate from hmi and leave
him to act for himself.
The emperor was now in a state of great embarrassment ; he was in want
both of troops and money, which latter, to his mortification, the money-
lenders of Augsburg refused to advance him, and he was reduced to the
extremity of deputing his brother Ferdinand to open negotiations with Mau-
rice. As, however, they led to no result, and Maurice easily perceived that
the design of Charles was to gain time, he broke up at once from Swabia and
marched his troops into the Tyrol, in order^ if possible, to fall upon him
unprepared. His progress was so rapid that he actually preceded in person
the announcement of his advance; he marched on to Ehrenberg, which fell
into his hands, and had he not been detained an entire day by a mutiny which
broke out in one of his regiments, he would have succeeded in gaining Inns-
bruck in time to surprise the emperor there and take him prisoner. Charles,
however, was thus enabled to escape on the previous night (May 19th), during
a dreadful thunderstorm, and arrived in safety at Trent; he himself was
conveyed there upon a litter, being at the time extremely ill, and his brother
Ferdinand, with the captive elector of Saxony, and the rest of the suite
followed, some on horseback, others even on foot, whilst servants with torches
lighted them on their road through the narrow passes of the Tyrolese moun-
tains — such had been their haste. But even Trent itself was no longer
secure, and after a few hours of repose Charles was again forced to resume his
flight across the most difficult and dangerous roads as far as the village of
Villach, in Carinthia — the assembled council at Trent having also in their
alarm broken up and taken flight on every side. Maurice, however, on
finding that Innsbruck was evacuated, turned back again, after he had dis-
tributed amongst his troops the imperial booty collected, and marched on to
Passau, whither an assembly of the princes had been convoked.
Charles now gave the imprisoned elector of Saxony his liberty once more;
stipulating only that he should remain with the court a short time longer.
And truly the sight alone of this suffering prince must have produced within
him bitter and painful feelings ; for it was only five years previously that, on
the plain of Lochau, the elector, with bleeding form, appealed to him on his
knees for grace; whilst now the same prince behold him, the former conquerer,
sick and helpless, traversing almost impassable mountains as a fugitive, and
pursued, too, by another elector of Saxony, whom he in his days of pride and
glory had himself promoted and rendered powerful. What, however, afflicted
the emperor more than anything else was to find himself deserted by all his
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 311
[1553 A.D.]
states — not even being aided by the Catholics; whilst they all preferred
submitting patiently to be plundered by the markgraf Albert rather than
uniting for the succour and protection of their emperor. Then it was that he
but too truly felt the conviction at heart — that only in the love of his people
can a sovereign hope to find a sure protection in the hour of danger. In
Augsburg, the elector John Frederick took leave of the emperor, who, in this
parting scene, testified much respect and even emotion towards the prince.
The latter left Augsburg immediately, and hastened to return to his own
lands.
THE TREATY OF PASSAU (1552 A.D.)
The emperor meantime left it to his brother Ferdinand to negotiate with
Maurice at Passau. He himself had a great objection to the whole trans-
action, but he was nevertheless very desirous to make peace with Maurice, in
order to be enabled to turn all the power of his arms against the enemy he
most hated — the French — who, during this interval, had invaded Lorraine
and taken one city after another. Under such circumstances the Treaty of
Passau was concluded, on the 31st of July, 1552. Therein it was stipulated:
that the landgraf Philip of Hesse should at once be set at liberty, and that the
ban of the empire pronounced against all who had joined in the war of Smalkald
should be withdrawn; that with respect to the other religious grievances, a
new diet should be convoked, and that until then the imperial chamber of
justice should exercise its judgment with equal impartiality for both parties,
but that the imperial council should be composed of Germans only.
After the conclusion of this peace, Maurice, in order to prove the justice
of his intentions, disbanded all the foreign troops of his army, and marched
with his own soldiers to Hungary in aid of King Ferdinand. Philip of Hesse
was liberated, and returned to his family and country. The long and severe
imprisonment he had endured had humbled and depressed his independent
spirit, and destroyed all further inclination for great undertakings; he
employed the remaining years of his life in the praiseworthy task of healing, as
far as possible, the wounds inflicted during the previous unhappy period of
anarchy throughout his dominions.
The emperor having, in the meantime, collected an army from Italy and
Hungary, marched against Henry II, king of France, and, sick and enfeebled
as he was, he followed it in a litter and commanded it at the siege of Metz.
But it appeared now as if fortune had abandoned him entirely; the city
defended itself with great obstinacy, and however determined the emperor
and his army might have been to carry on the siege, they were nevertheless
compelled to yield to the severe effects of the winter, and to withdraw from
its walls. Much discontented, Charles returned to the Netherlands, and
commenced making preparations for the next campaign (1553). This, how-
ever, as well as the two following expeditions of 1554 and 1555, produced
nothing decisive for the two nations: the French, when Charles sought to
bring them to an open engagement in the field, fortified themselves in their
strongholds, and the entire war limited its operations to merely devastating
the provinces of the frontiers. Charles was accordingly forced to transfer its
achievement to his son Philip II.
The Treaty of Passau had produced in Germany a happy state of repose ;
one man alone appeared determined not to allow its uninterrupted enjoy-
ment—the turbulent markgraf Albert of Brandenburg. He pursued his
war of pillage and incendiarism against the bishops and several cities in
Franconia, Swabia, on the Rhine and Moselle, with unheard of impudence and
312 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1553-1554 A.D.]
daring, and as at length all the warnings given to him were of no avail, Duke
Maurice, to whom the peace of Germany had now become more and more
dear, united with Henry duke of Brunswick, and both made a combined
attack upon the markgraf, in 1553, on the plain of Liineburg, near Sievers-
hausen; he having by this time extended his depredations even to lower
Saxony. The battle was severe and bloody; the markgraf, however, was
completely beaten ; but two sons of the duke of Brunswick, a prince of Liine-
burg, fourteen counts, and nearly three hundred of the nobility besides were
left dead on the field, whilst Maurice of Saxony himself was mortally wounded.
He was conveyed to a tent erected close to a hedge, and there he received the
captured banners and papers of the markgraf ; which latter he examined with
all the eager curiosity his sinking state would permit. Two days afterwards
he expired, exclaiming with his dying breath: "God will come "; the
rest of the sentence was unintelligible.
Although only thirty-two years of age, he had already acquired greater
authority and commanded more influence in Germany than any one of his
contemporaries. Hence any further testimony is unnecessary in order to prove
the preponderating power of his genius. The final efforts he so patriotically
made for the promotion and establishment of general tranquillity and his love
for peace and order, which he sealed with his own blood, have in a great degree
served to throw the mantle of oblivion over his earlier proceedings, and con-
ciliated the critical voice of public opinion. He was succeeded in the electo-
rate by his brother Augustus.
Albert, the restless markgraf, in whom the turbulent spirit of the times of
the Faustrecht was revived in all its destructive form, still continued, in
spite of the severe defeat he had suffered, to harass the country. Completely
reduced after this last battle, he, in his extremxity, sought the aid of the king
of France, and supported by the money he received from that monarch he
immediately began, in 1556, to collect fresh troops and make arrangements
for another campaign — or rather series of depredations. Happily, however,
his death, which occurred suddenly amidst his vvarlike preparations, prevented
him from committing further devastation. He was likewise a prince of extra-
ordinary powers, and resembled very much his ancestor Albert, the AchUles
of Germany ; but the innate wildness of his disposition and character gen-
erally, combined with the disordered state of those times, which destroyed all
principle, however firmly based, had operated to give to his energies a direc-
tion fatally destructive.
In the Treaty of Passau it had been fixed that a diet should be held in order
to regulate the affairs of religion, and to investigate the accusations of the
elector Maurice against the emperor. Charles himself urged with great zeal
its assembling, in order that it might not appear as if he stood in any fear of
the inquiry ; but the affairs of Germany having now become altogether equally
indifferent to him, nay even odious, he confided their direction to his brother
Ferdinand, who devoted all his energies with noble and praiseworthy zeal to
the undertaking. In spite of the lethargy and indolence of the German
princes, and not discouraged by several vain attempts to effect his object, he
at length succeeded, in 1554, in forming a diet at Augsburg. A committee
was immediately named to examine and settle the various matters of religious
contention, composed of the ambassadors of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg,
Wiirtemberg, Eichstadt, Strasburg, Jiilich, Augsburg, and Weingarten, and
they all worked with sincere and laudable industry in the great cause. The
Roman king aided them therein most strenuously; he removed every exter-
nal difficulty presenting itself in the progress of their task, and when he
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 313
1555 A.D.]
earned, amongst other things, as is related by his chancellor, Zasius, that
several of the spiritual princes were engaged in fruitless disputes, that they
Nere occupied in strewing the path with every sort of disquisition and diffi-
culty, adapted more to destroy altogether, even to the foundation, the build-
ng they were engaged to reconstruct, whilst such proceedings must produce
)n the other side bitter and inimical feelings," he despatched Zasius and his
yice-chancellor Jonas to them, and warned them in most grave and solemn
;erms to desist from such a line of conduct; and in thus acting he effected his
jbject.
And by proceeding in another circumstance to act with equal firmness
owards the Protestants, he caused them likewise to yield to his wishes. The
)oint was one of great importance, inasmuch as they demanded that the
ecclesiastical body of Germany should be at liberty to adopt the Augsburg
!onfession, and retain at the same time their offices and lands; but the Catho-
ic party rose in strong opposition against it: If this demand, they declared,
vere conceded, the whole of the ecclesiastical possessions in Germany would
•^ery soon be transferred into the hands of the Protestants. Much rather, on
.he contrary, ought the law to be that as soon as a spiritual prince, in his own
i)erson, passed over to the new doctrine, he should be forthwith succeeded by a
patholic. Eventually the Protestants were obliged to cede the point for the
jQoment, but they held it in reserve, meantime, to be discussed on a future
occasion: a subject of dispute which became important under the title of the
I Ecclesiastical Reservation."
' Thus was concluded at length, on the 26th of September, 1555, at Augs-
lurg, the religious peace which for a time put an end to the long contest,
^ree exercise of religion was granted legally to the Protestants throughout the
Vhole of Germany, and they retained possession of all the revenues hitherto
eceived from the ecclesiastical institutions. Neither Protestants nor Catho-
' OS were allowed to seek proselytes at the expense of either party, but every
ierson was permitted to follow freely his own faith. And whilst every reigning
■rince was privileged to fix and establish the religion of his dominions, he was
iOt at liberty to force any of his subjects to adhere to any one church beyond
nother; on the contrary, it was left open to anyone, who might desire to do
J from religious motives, to remove from one territory into another. Hence,
•1 this respect, the progress of reform had not as yet attained that degree of
itolerance which allowed the subject professing a faith different to the estab-
shed creed of the country equal rights with those enjoyed by all the rest of
Is fellow subjects. Another law, however, by which the interests of the
rotestants were beneficially promoted was that their co-religionists became
ow likewise members of the imperial chamber of justice.
I After the conclusion of this religious peace, the subject-matter of the
i3cusations brought by Prince Maurice against the emperor came on for dis-
ission in the college of the electoral princes; but, to the satisfaction of
harles, none of the other states of the empire would join in the investigation,
ad consequently the whole question was abandoned.^
PAUL IV
Meanwhile circumstances had arisen which seemed to more than com-
jromise the English combination. Cardinal Caraffa had become pope under
^le name of Paul IV, and seldom did Habsburg have a more violent opponent,
i" the church a more blindly zealous and perverse leader. He hastened to
i'nn an alliance with France, being determined to free Italy from Spanish
314
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1555-1562 A.D.I
rule and to restore it to the state of independence it had enjoyed in his eariv
youth. He thwarted an agreement between the emperor and Henry 11.
Droysen relates: "Foreign and Neapolitan emigrants filled the curia; the
papal exchequer made against Charles V and King Philip a formal appeal in
which it was proposed to excommunicate I
these princes and to release their sub- j
jects from the oath of allegiance." I
He implored Suleiman to spare Hun- I
gary and seize Naples and Sicily instead. I
Charles had to be careful that the Catho-
lie fanaticism of his Spaniards played him
no pranks. In spite of this the combined i
papal and French troops were defeated, j
and Paul had to submit to terms of peace |
which only consolidated the Spanish do- I
minion in Italy. The duke of Tuscany
by the annexation of Siena, the French
by that of Piacenza, which had been won
from the Spaniards, were the obedient
friends of the Spaniards. Although the
pope had been unfortunate on this occa-
sion, he far surpassed himself elsewhere.
Immediately after entering on the pon-
tificate he sent a violent bull to England
in which he demanded the surrender of
all the estates of the convents. Parlia-
ment decided to comply only in the case
of those possessions which had been
handed over to the crown. His demands
became ever more violent, the persecu-
tions ever more ruthless, and the results
were ever more bloody, one rebellion fol-
lowing another, extortions succeeding ex-
tortions. There was satisfaction in Eng-j
land over the fact that Mary had no
heirs; the princess Elizabeth obstinately
adhered to Protestantism. It was hoped
that soon an end w^ould come to the
whole troubled condition.
And an end did come. Mary died without heirs (1558); Elizabeth suc-
ceeded; the Spanish alliance was repudiated after the loss of Calais. The:
bloody Catholic episode was over. Thus Charles saw his plans frustrated
even here; Italy alone remained assured to his house in Spain. The reckon-j
ing of his life work, which during his retirement at San Yuste he had leisure
to draw up, showed that he had barely escaped bankruptcy, full as were his
columns of brilliant though bloody numbers. A cold calculator, at all times
and in all ways, he had no claim to compassion.
German Lord of the Sixteenth
Century
RUSSIAN AGGRESSIONS
Whilst negotiations were pending with the Ottomans, terminating with
the peace of 1562, and when Ferdinand was chosen emperor, in the East the
czar had already obtained successes which increased his empire, and upon
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 315
555-1558 A.D.]
'hich the future undertakings and the whole power of Russia depended,
[azan and Astrakhan were subjected, the frontiers extended to the Don
nd Caucasus; the international market at Astrakhan was Russian, but it
^as empty. The differences with Poland and Sweden, the plundering of
jthuania and Finland, were temporary manifestations, but in Moscow earnest
)oks were being turned towards the possessions of the German knights of
[le sword: the question of the Baltic was raised, and Russia armed herself
3 decide its fate. It was only by these coast possessions that the European
osition of the great eastern empire was to be created and upheld. The
ttention of Europe, during the whole of the sixteenth century, was occupied
y the Baltic question in the East and the Spanish
uestion in the West.^
THE ABDICATION AND DEATH OF CHARLES V
Charles had beheld all the grand plans created
•ithin his comprehensive mind either incompletely
xecuted or altogether destroyed; and accordingly
,16 greater his desire to bring them to bear, the
Teater was the mortification he was forced to ex-
erience in the contemplation of their failure, and
iiiore especially did he feel this in his present
;it!licted state of body. On the other hand, the
juntry towards which he had ever turned his eye
ith pleasurable, genial feelings — Spain — had now
Dund in his son, Philip, a protector who possessed
le general confidence of the nation. Accordingly
iverything now combined to strengthen the mo-
ives for the plan determined upon by Charles,
i'hich, ui imitation of Diocletian, he had some time
'ad in contemplation — to abdicate his throne, and
id his days m the retirement of a monastic life.
In the autumn of 1555 he summoned his son
ihilip to Brussels, and on the 25th of October of
lie same year he solemnly transferred into his
;ands the dominion of the Netherlands.
On the 15th of January, in the ensuing year,
556, his abdication of the crowns of Spain and
;aly. in favour of his son Philip, took place in Brussels with equal solemnity;
ad in the following August, that of the Germanic Empire, in favour of his
rother Ferdinand, was effected by an embassy, at the head of which was
rince William of Orange. Ferdmand assumed the government from that
lonient on his owm authority, but was only formally acknowledged by the
•ody of electoral prmces m the beginnmg of the year 1558, at Frankfort,
,here he swore to the stipulated terms of his election, and the imperial
rown was solemnly placed on his head by the arch-chancellor of the empire,
ae elector Joachim of Brandenburg, which crown, together with the sceptre,
ad been brought from Brussels, at Charles' desire, by the imperial deputation.
< Charles embarked on the 17th of September, 1556, for Spam, where he
iroceeded to a small building which he had caused to be built expressly for
iimself, near the convent of San Yeste. There he died on the 21st ot
leptember, 1558, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. ^ Details of his abdica-
on-ceremonies and of his life during the years of retirement have been
Buffoon of the Sixteenth
Century
316 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1556-1559 A.I).]
given in our histories of Spain and the Netherlands, and need not be repeated
here. Our present concern is with the affairs of the empire whose control
Charles had voluntarily relinquished. «
FERDINAND I (1556-1564 A.D.) \
The reign of Ferdinand I offers few political events of a striking character. 1
In Bohemia there was tranquillity, since he had made himself the absolute j
master of the kingdom. In Hungary!
the war still lingered, with little advan- j
tage either to him or his rival, Johiij
Sigismund. In Austria, his hereditary !
possession, he found the number of dis- i
sidents so much increased that, though I
a zealous Catholic, policy induced him I
to apply to the Roman court for twoj
great concessions, the marriage of the?
clergy and the use of the cup : the latter j
he obtained; the former, the pope had*
no power — as he had, doubtless, no
inclination — to grant. And in an-
other respect the emperor showed that,
if he was a true Catholic, he was no
slave to the papacy. At the commence-
ment of his reign, having signed the
usual convention with the electors — a
convention which differed from that of
his brother and predecessor only in so
far as it afforded security to the Pro-
testant religion — he notified his acces-
sion to Paul IV, and at the same
time expressed his desire to receive the
imperial crown from the hands of that'
pontiff.
Never was conduct more impolitic
than that of Paul on this occasion.
Protesting that Ferdinand had never
been the lawful king of the Romans,,
since he had been elected to that dig-
nity without the concurrence of the head
of the church, he refused to receivej
the ambassador; reproached the neW'
sovereign for daring to assume the imperial title without his sanction; declared
that the abdication of Charles was null, since it had been effected without the
consent of the papal see — the acknowledged superior of the empire; and
ordered a new election to be made, before Ferdinand should be recognised as
the temporal head of Christendom. Were not this monstrous instance of
arrogance too well attested to be doubted, mankind would have some diffi-
culty in believing that, at a time when half of Germany, almost the whole oi
Scandinavia, England, the Netherlands, half of Scotland, and part of France
had thrown off all obedience to him, the pope could use language which would
scarcely have been tolerated in the darkest ages.
In this imexpected crisis, the emperor acted with the spirit becoming hif
^1^
Nobleman Carrying Banner
'A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 317
1589-1561 A.r>.]
station. He ordered his ambassador to quit Rome, unless an audience were
jnmediately granted him. In alarm, Paul temporised; but, though he was
uixious to mollify the monarch, death surprised him in the midst of his
legotiations. Pius IV, who succeeded, was more tractable; and though
Ferdinand, in the instrument of notification, omitted the word obedientiam,
,vhich had hitherto been inserted in it by all his predecessors, his title was
icknowledged. Catholics, no less than Protestants, were irritated at the pre-
hensions of the pope: both declared that it was high time to dissever the last
,,ies which connected his secular authority with the empire; and that, while
he Catholic princes and states yielded him in spirituals a ready obedience, he
nust be openly taught that his temporal claims were no longer admissible.
■.t was resolved that henceforth no emperor should receive the crown from
he hands of the pope. That resolution has been wisely observed; and from
his period not a vestige of dependence is to be discovered in the intercourse
if the emperors with the popes. Soon afterwards, though Pius interposed
fiany obstacles, Maximilian, the son of Ferdmand, was elected king of the
lomans, with the unanimous consent of the electors; and instead of an instru-
nent containing the obedience of the empire towards the head of the church, a
bare complimentary epistle was substituted. "Thus terminated the long
!).ependence of the emperors on the see of Rome, which had been established
!.i ages of darkness and ignorance ; had been continued from respect and habit ;
Ind which, in all periods, had involved the empire in innumerable embarrass-
!ients and calamities, without producing a single real advantage."
' In many other respects the duties of Ferdinand were sufficiently delicate,
lis great object was to preserve internal tranquillity, by continuing the good
nderstanding between the rival parties in religion. He held the scales of
jstice so evenly balanced between them that no one could accuse him of
lartiality. He would not allow the Catholics to suppress, in their own states,
jtie exercise of the reformed religion ; nor, to gratify the Protestants, would
'e abolish the Ecclesiastical Reservation. Nor was outward harmony
Jetween them his only aim. With the same zeal, and, unfortunately, with
fS little success as his predecessor, he laboured to effect a union between them.
Thile, on the one side, he endeavoured to make the Protestants acknowledge
,ie council of Trent, on the other he attempted to wring from the pope,
'mong other concessions, that of the two points we have mentioned — the
'ierical marriages, and the use of the cup. But, moderate as was Pius IV, his
irejudices could not be made to bend; he evaded every request, however
iemanded by policy.
With equal pertinacity, the Protestants refused to recognise the council,
.nless the pope attended like any other bishop, without the power of presid-
',ig, or swaying, or ui the slightest degree directing the proceedings; unless
:ie reformed theologians should be declared equal in character and dignity
,) the Roman Catholic bishops; unless the council were transferred from
i'rent to some city of the empire. In a subsequent assembly at Naumberg,
iiey went further. They would not receive the papal ambassador, the cardinal
'ommendoni; nor the papal letters, addressing them in the usual style of
'FilU;' since, as they did not acknowledge the bishop of Rome as their father,
ley would not accept the title which he had given them. At length they
mdescended to write, but in a tone of the bitterest invective : they heaped
i^ery abusive epithet on the Romish hierarchy, especially on its head, and
Isclared that they would never attend any council convoked by him, simply
Iscause he had not the power of convocation — that being the undoubted
jrerogative of the emperor.
318 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1561-1564 A.D.]
If Ferdinand were disgusted with the savage opposition of these fanatics
who, without sacrificing one rational point of their creed, might surely have
used courtesy towards the oldest bishop in the universe, and have shown a
disposition to be tolerant where forms only were concerned, where the essen-
tial articles of belief were tacitly laid aside for a season, he had soon the
gratification to perceive that they were more fierce in their hatred to each
other than to the common enemy. Three great points, in particular — the
nature of the Eucharistic sacrament, that of justification, and the extent of
the divine decrees — continued, and with greater virulence than ever, to
divide the reformed doctors. In this very assembly of Naumburg, on the
suggestion that the confession of Augsburg should be received as the general
exposition of the reformed faith, scenes of violence occurred, which had been
hitherto miparalleled.
For the preservation of internal peace, Ferdinand substituted diets of
deputation for the general diets. They consisted of deputies returned from
the several electorals and imperial cities, with the elector at their head. As,
whenever the public peace was menaced, or new regulations were required for
securing it, they were easily convoked, the innovation was certainly an
improvement. With the same view, the powers of the military chief or
colonel in each circle were enlarged ; he was enabled to call out a greater
levy of troops, in a less time. The aulic council was purged of its foreign
advocates, and remodelled, so as better to suit the wants and wishes of the
Germans.
On the whole, Ferdinand may be regarded as one of the best sovereigns of
the country. Though attached to his own religion, he tolerated the reformed
even in his own hereditary dominions of Austria ; and, in his efforts alike for
the reformation of his owti church and for the union of all religious parties, he
showed an enlightened zeal for the best interests of society. That such a man
should be beloved need not surprise us. Hence he had little difficulty in
procuring the election of his son Maximilian as king of the Romans. But the
readiness with which the states entered in this respect into his wishes must,
doubtless, be assigned to his dividing the hereditary domains of his house
among his children and their posterity, and, consequently, to his disarming
the jealousy of the empire. That the king of Bohemia, the king of Hungary,
the archduke of Austria, the duke of Styria, Carmthia, Carniola, the Tyrol,
and other places, should, when elevated to the imperial throne, appear formi-
dable to the patriotic Germans, was natural. In his eldest son, indeed, he
secured the succession alike to the two kingdoms and the archduchy : but then
Himgary was half in possession of a rival, and neither it nor Bohemia was
well affected to the house of Austria. To his second son, and the posterity of '
that son, he bequeathed the Tyrol, with the exterior provinces. The third ;
■had Carinthia, Styria, and Carniola. I
MAXIMILIAN II (1564-1576 A.D.)
Maximilian II was worthy to succeed his able and patriotic father. In his
policy as regarded the empire, it was his constant aim to preserve the religious
peace, which was never more threatened than during his reign. Because he I
had so much attachment to the Lutheran doctrines as to receive the commu- 1
nion under both kinds, and detested persecution, though he remained in the
bosom of the Catholic church, he had great personal influence with both
parties. Listening with patience to the complaints of both, he was able i
to show both that they were wrong — the Roman Catholics in seeking to |
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 319
[1564-1576 A.D.]
persecute the Lutherans of their states, the Lutherans in clamouring for the
aboUtion of the Ecclesiastical Reservation/
It was the fate of Protestantism not to have many suggestions carried out,
on account of increasing disputes amongst its supporters. In the first place
Calvinism forced its way into the country from France and Switzerland. This
severe and logical form of dogma and constitution, based on the fearful doc-
trine of predestination, was eminently calculated to train men in strength of
will and resolution ; but it was mi-German — an entirely Roman-French
representation of Protestantism which never became
■ indigenous in Germany, and w^hich was looked upon
by strict Lutherans as in no sort a co-religion, but as
a violation of the sacraments, and not deserving the
protection of the religious peace. The conversion to
Calvinism of the Palatinate, therefore, under Fred-
erick III, caused a great rupture between that prov-
ince and Saxony and Brandenburg.
On the other hand, in Lutheranism itself there
were struggles and disputes between the strict Lu-
therans and a section of moderates, who in their
teaching about the Eucharist and justification had
adopted slightly Calvinistic views and who took their
name from the gentle Philip Melanchthon (1560), but
were dubbed heretic crypto-Calvinists by their oppo-
nents. They were the dominating sect round Wit-
tenberg and the electorate of Saxony; the views of
their opponents radiated from the newly founded
University of Jena, 1558, into the Ernestine Thurin-
>gia and the towns of lower Saxony. So the new op-
;position in the church was closely bound up with the
'old dynastic opposition and both together caused
great convulsions in central Germany.
John Frederick's eldest son of the same name in
Gotha, whose feeling of deep indignation at the treat-
ment of his family left him no peace and robbed him
of all clear-headed reflection, made an alliance with
the Franconian knight of the empire, William von
Grumbach, an old companion-at-arms of the markgraf Albert; because Wil-
iliam, who was engaged in a long and unfortunate lawsuit with the bishopric of
Wiirzburg, held out to John the inducement of being able to restore the lost
jglories of his house by a general uprising of the nobility, or at least of the
knights of the empire, against the princes. Harboured in Gotha by John
Frederick, Grumbach obtained possession of AVurzburg by an unexpected
attack in October, 1563, but fell under the ban of the empu-e on account of his
breach of the peace; and the same fate befell the duke, because he would
inot give up his alliance w4th Grunibach,
I This affair, so small in itself, had much to do with matters of great and
World-wide importance. In the east loomed threateningly a fresh and
(rightful war with the Turks; in the north Eric XIV of Sweden, supported by
Russia, had just begun the struggle for the control of the Baltic against Den-
imrk, the Hanse towns, and Poland, and had come to an understanding with
:the Ernestines in order to prevent the interference of the empire m favour of
;:he Danes and the Hanseatic League, whilst the elector Augustus of Saxony,
phe husband of a Danish princess, made an alliance with Denmark. Great
Warrior of the Sixteenth
Century
S20 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[156&-1576 A.D.]
interests flemanded, therefore, the speedy overthrow of the Ernestines. The
invasion of Habsburg-Hungary by the Turks came to a standstill through the
brave defence of the little fortress of Sziget by Niklas Zrinyi in September
1566, and was completely repulsed after the death of Sultan Suleiman (Sep-
tember 4th) by the powerful army of Maximilian II ; though the latter cer-
tainly did not manage to effect more than an inglorious peace of eight years
(February, 1568). Meantime the elector Augustus, as the head of the circle
of upper Saxony, commissioned to execute the ban of the empire, forced the
fortified town, of Gotha into unconditional surrender, after a brave resistance
of many months, in April, 1567. Grmnbach was executed, the duke kept a
prisoner till his death in Menna-Neustadt, and his sons were compelled to
mortgage the Neustadt circle to the electorate of Saxony as reparation for the
expenses of the war. But the victory of the Albertines was by no means
followed by a victory for the followers of Philip Melanchthon's teaching,
which Augustus had only tolerated in his country hitherto because he thought
that the teaching was purely Lutheran. Puzzled and nervous, and believing
himself purposely deceived by those around him, he put down with an iron
hand crypto-Calvinism in Saxony, which then became the central fortress of
Lutheran orthodoxy; and so there could be no further question of a common
understanding with the Palatinate. In consequence, the proposal of the
Palatinate in the diet in 1576 to make a confession of faith optional in the
cathedral chapters was frustrated, and so the suspension of clerical restrictions
and the condition of the evangelicals remained as insecm-e as before.
"Wliilst these fruitless disputes distracted the empire, the nation in its
inactivity was losing one possession after another. Since the old colony of
Livonia, a combination of lands belonging to some German orders and bishops,
had gone over to Lutheranism, that league of ecclesiastical states had lost
all internal authority and stability. Placed between the great Slav powers
and the ambitious northern kingdoms, and left in the lurch by the emphe,
Livonia fell under foreign rule. As the Russians even since 1558 were spread-
ing over the country. Revel and Esthonia in 1561 placed themselves under
the protection of Sweden; Gotthard Kettler, the last grand master of Livonia,
took Courland in 1561 as a secular duchy holding of Poland; Livonia proper
became for centuries an apple of discord between Danes and Swedes, Poles
and Russians. The last attempt of the Hanse towns in alliance with Den-
mark to secure at least the former trade with Russia met with a certain amount
of success, after the fall of Eric XIV, in the Peace of Stralsund, 1568, but the
fate of Livonia was not influenced thereby. The outlook for the future,
therefore, was very gloomy when Maximilian II died at Ratisbon, on the
12th of October, 1576.
RUDOLF II
Under the rule of his son and successor, Rudolf II (1576-1612), things
grew worse. Not that he had ever been a church fanatic, though brought up
in Spain and originally intended to succeed to the throne there; he was, on
the contrary, inclined like his predecessor to occupy the position of a mediator
in the empire and to maintain peace; but midecided, shy, and more devoted
than is becoming in a ruler to scientific and artistic hobbies, he was by no
means fit to govern, and he fell gradually into a mania for persecution. Almost
of themselves things went from bad to worse in the empire. As the Ronian
church everywhere in France, England, Poland, and Sweden was beginning
its work of restoration, so was this the case in Germany, first of all in the
conception by the ecclesiastical prmcedoms of the religious peace, according
A DISSOLVIXG EMPIEE 321
1576-1598 A.D.]
0 which the Lutheran states were to be content with what they had already
,ron, particularly with the ecclesiastical property, which had become theirs
ince 1552. The prince-abbot of Fulda began first and was followed by the
lishops of Treves, Mainz, Hildesheim, Bamberg, Wiirzburg, Paderborn', and
liinster. Ever}'where m these dioceses the Protestant clerg}^ and teachers
/ere exiled, orthodox Catholic priests were appointed, Jesuitical schools were
Dunded; congregations which had thus lost their pastors were compelled to
0 over to the Catholics or leave the district: all this was done tlirough the
Dvereign power in the church of the governors of the country.
On the other hand, however, the split between the parties grew wider. In
ain did Jolin Kasimir of the Palatinate,
1 1577, try to unite for common de-
^nce the Protestants of all countries; he
)und little response. Elector Augustus
3llected eighty-six Lutheran imperial
states in 1580 round his "formula of
Dncord," in order to establish some com-
lon basis of agreement; but it only suc-
3eded in widenmg the rift with the
•alvinists. Quite transitory was the con-
'?ction of the electorate of Saxony with
le Palatmate; after the death of Au-
'istus in 15S6, and under his successor
■ iristian I, the chancellor Nicholas Crell
polished the obligations of the "formula
concord" and made an alliance with
le Palatinate for the support of Henry
[I of France. The early death of the
lector brought about the fall of the
liancellor, and again delivered over
l^ctoral Saxony to the unconditional
)mmion of Lutheran orthodox}'.
Thus the Roman party trenched on
,e department of politics in the sys-
^matic restoration of its possessions and
the endeavour first of all to get the
" tire imperial power into its hands. La
,e college of electors in the diet the soldiek of the time of emperor rcdolf
■otestants were already m a minority,
T electoral Saxony scarcely ever went with the Palatinate, but with the
tclesiastical electors; the idea of gaining a majority (1583) by the conversion
' the elector archbishop of Cologne, Gebhard of Waldburg, was rendered
;,ortive by the mstability of the Lutheran estates as well as by the decided
i"^rference of the pope, Gregory XIII, who deposed the archbishop and
si pointed Ernest of Bavaria m his place. After the loss of his capital, Bonn,
i' the March of 1584, Gebhard fled to the Netherlands.
■ In the college of princes the Protestants had a decided majority so long
i' the Lutheran " administrators" kept their seats and votes. Consequently
tj Roman party disputed their right; and as the Lutherans gave way, for
ti sake of peace, they were driven out of the imperial diet after 1598, and
ti^ majoritv in the diet of princes also became Catholic. The imperial diet,
iw again ^entirely dominated bv Catholics, inflicted m 1598 the sentence
Ci3utla\\Ty on the imperial town of Aachen, because, contrary to the Peace of
H. W. — VOL. ilV. Y
322
THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1598-1602 A.D.]
Augsburg, it had admitted Protestants to the diet; and the sentence was
carried out in the same year by the neighbouring princes. The hnperial
courts of justice, too, rejected more often than not the claims of the evangel-
icals, notably the aulic council, the old king's court, which Ferdinand I in
1559 had organised as a permanent authority, and the members of which
were nominated by the emperor alone.
Having succeeded in getting the control of the empire into their hands,
the Roman party found in the young duke of Bavaria, Maximilian I, their
most determined champion, and a firm support
in the Bavarian state, which the yomig duke
had remodelled through a strictly organised and
reliable administration, a well-regulated system
of finance, and the transformation of a small
standing army into a power quite prepared for
war and capable of giving assistance. Maxi-
milian did not desire the annihilation of Prot-
estantism in the empire and was most decidedly
not in favour of the Habsburg Catholic rulers,
whom he as a prince of the empire distrusted;
but he was determined to oppose firmly every-
thing which seemed to him an encroachment,
on the rights of the Protestants, and for this
purpose he professed to agree with the inter-
pretations laid dowTi in the Peace of Augsburg.
At the same time he wished to secure for Ba-
varia a leading position in the empire.
In face of these increasing dangers, the Pala-
tinate statesmen under Frederick IV (1583-
IGIO) — especially the Calvinist, Prince Chris-
tian von Anhalt-Bernburg, who was their head
at that time — formed views and plans which
plunged the empire into great confusion, but
which, considered from the strictly Protestant
point of view of protection against the existing
condition of things, were ahnost necessary.
THE PROTESTANT LEAGUE
Armour of the Sixteenth
Century
In opposition to imperial power exercised
entirely by Roman Catholics, it seemed an ab-
solute necessity to curtail as far as possible the exercise of this power in
ecclesiastical questions, to unite the Protestant states into a separate league,
and, under certain circumstances, to call in the assistance of foreign pow-
ers, after the old fashion of opposition amongst the princes of the empire.
The Lutheran states, particularly the two north German electorates, would
have nothing to do with this; they wanted to maintaui peace in the empire,
and also their alliance with the emperor, in order that they might assist the
latter in the war with the Turks which had again broken out in 1593. The
policy of the Palatinate was bound in the end to destroy the constitution of
the empire and to invoke the interference of foreign powers, but the prospect
of the latter in this time of conflicting forms of confession and creeds did not
seem so very terrible, and it certainly set a limit to the progress of reaction
in church matters. The conservative policy of electoral Saxony avoided both
A DISSOLA^^TG EMPIRE 323
[1600-1605 A.D.]
these (langors, but did not hinder the forward pressure of Protestantism
which it was willmg to protect. It was impossible for anyone to say from the
point of yie^v of the unperial government of the time how the destruction of
the constitution could be avoided, while continual efforts were made to weaken
Protestantism. The Palatinate policy, however, was superior, in that it
knew what it wanted, whilst the conservatives knew only what they did not
want. Some tangible result, therefore, sprang from it. It suspended the
powers of the imperial chamber to decide questions about church property,
by contesting in 1603 the neglected revision of its sentences, a revision which
had been proposed by the imperial diet and which naturally rested on the
supposition that they were legal. For the law had condemned several south
German states to deliver up four monasteries of which they had held possession
since 1552; and so a dangerous beginnmg had been made towards bringing
the whole Catholic question again under consideration./
In the year 1604-1606 the policy of the Palatinate, directed by Christian of
Anhalt, had succeeded in coming to a more definite understanding with
Ansbach, Kulmbach, Anhalt-Dessau, and the landgraf Maurice; and also in
bringing Wurtemberg, w^iich had hitherto held aloof on religious grounds
(even in the diet of 1603) from the Calvinists of the Palatinate, over to the side
of the Correspondireride (corresponding parties), and in paving the way for a
separate treaty with that state. This understanding had been started as long
before as the year 1600, at an interview between the elector palatine and the
duke at Pfullingen. Wiirtemberg's principal motive for the present rap-
prochement lay in the fact that in the meantime the aulic council of the empire
had interfered in the ecclesiastical affairs of the country.
But before matters had gone as far as the conclusion of a separate treaty
between_ the Palatinate and Wurtemberg, the latter had been drawn into
negotiations with a view to union with the Neuburg palatmate and Baden-
Hochberg, which likewise realised the necessity of a coalition, but desired to
•see it confijied to Lutheran princes. Thus there was imminent danger that
matters might end in the formation of separate Calvinistic and Lutheran
unions, especially as Neuburg and Baden were trying to gain over the elector
Df Saxony, who, however, returned an evasive answer. At a meeting held at
Stuttgart in May, 1605, a separate alliance was actually concluded betw^een
VViirtemberg, Neuburg, and Baden, with a proviso for the admission of other
dncere adherents of the Augsburg confession. It was to hold good for twelve
/ears, durmg the first four of which the very considerable sum of fifty Romer-
nonate (the contribution of the German states to a common war) was to be
oaid down, while in the succeeding period an annual contribution of six
Romermonate w^as to be made. The confederates were not only to render
'issistance when a member of the union w^as unlawfully injured in respect of
!'he territory he already possessed, but also if territory or rights which he had
ustly acquired by inheritance or purchase within the limits of the empire
■hould be forcibly withheld from him. This clause bore special reference to
I'he pretensions of the Neuburg palatinate to the Jiilich inheritance. A deed
ijivmg effect to this covenant was signed by the three princes on the 9th of
!^ay. Thus a foundation was laid, upon which a Protestant league might
'lereafter arise, though it was in the first instance confined to Lutherans,
uittle progress was made, however, towards the settlement of further details,
!>ii account of various petty territorial quarrels between Wiirtemberg and
leaden; and all the less because since the resumption of his connection with
he elector palatine the duke of Wurtemberg was no longer whole-hearted in
he matter of this separate Lutheran alliance. Duke Frederick of Wiirtem-
324 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1606-1609 A.B.]
berg was thus the natural intermediary between the two confederacies in
embryo, the combination of which into a common union was the object Prince
Christian of Anhalt had most at heart. In August, 1606, the duke of Wiirtem-
berg was at one and the same time treating with Neuburg and Baden at Geis-
hngen and with the Palatinate at Bretten. In 1607 a separate alliance was
concluded between the count palatine and the duke of Wiirtemberg, who was
thenceforth practically a member of both confederacies.
The progress of events in the empire, and the obvious danger with which
the open discord in the imperial house and the serious conflicts in the diet of
Ratisbon were fraught for all Protestants, naturally brought about a further
raip'prochement of the two separate confederacies, for whose cause, as we have
seen. Christian of Anhalt had meanwhile secured the active assistance of Henry
IV of France. At the diet of Ratisbon itself he prosecuted his negotiations
energetically, and there succeeded in winning over the markgraf of Ansbach
to the idea of a union. During the session of the diet Duke Frederick of
Wiirtemberg died (February 8th, 1608). A considerable number of Prot-
estant princes gathered at his solemn obsequies in Stuttgart, and Christian of
Anhalt was promptly busy negotiating with them.
Thus was the final conclusion of the long-planned alliance at length arrived
at. On the 12th of May, 1608, the duke of Wiirtemberg, the markgrafs of
Ansbach, Kulmbach, and Baden, Wolfgang William, son of the duke of Neu-
burg, and Christian of Anhalt (as the representative of the elector palatine
and the soul of the whole union movement) met for this purpose at the village
of Ahausen in Ansbach. And now that the union was fairly resolved upon,
the Neuburg palatinate went even beyond the Palatinate project. In the
latter, mention was made of small contingents of troops to be furnished by the
members of the union, but the Neuburg proposal provided for the levy of con-
tributions to the confederacy and for a common confederate army, the
strength of which should amount to twenty thousand men. For this purpose
a military organisation was required; and this also was actually agreed upon.
The elector palatine took his place at the head of the union as its director,
and a nmnber of military advisers were appointed by the imited powers to
assist him. A compact organisation with far-reaching aims had thus been
created, as we may see, and took its place beside the mouldering institutions
of the empire; and there can be no question that, from the outset, it was i
animated by a tendency directly opposed to the central government. The i
union was founded for the express purpose of resisting the coercion which the |
Protestants had reason to apprehend from the government, on the ground of a |
forced interpretation of the religious peace. ? Although this league was soon
extended by the accession of Hesse-Cassel, under the excellent landgraf
Maurice, of Zweibriicken, Anhalt, and sixteen south German states, yet it was ;
essentially confined to the southwest of Germany and consisted of a number
of small states, which could do nothing without the most desperate efforts, j
i
THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE !
Much stronger was the counter-alliance of the "Catholic League" which
Maximilian of Bavaria formed with six petty ecclesiastical princes in June, j
1609, at Munich. This was to endure for nine years and was further strength- »
ened by the addition of the three ecclesiastical electors; it was open, further-
more, to the accession of all the imperial states outside of Austria, for Maxi-
milian maintained the supreme and unconditional control of it, as being, by
far, the most important confederate of the league.
A DISSOLVING EMPIEE 325
[1609-1613 A.D.]
The two leagues came into contact with each other for the first time in the
dispute about the accession to Jiihch and Cleves, after the death of the imbecile
duke, John William — a very debatable question, which made unavoidable
the interference of the foreign powers, France, Holland, and Spain. In this
very much involved question the only important point was that John Sigis-
mund of Brandenburg and Philip Ludwig of the Neuburg palatinate
founded their claims of inheritance on descent from the female line, while the
elector of Saxony based his on tlxe
agency of the emperor. The imperial
Habsburg policy stepped in between
these two heirs-apparent, in order to
push to one side every claim of succes-
sion, and to confiscate as a vacant
imperial fief the country, which from
its position was of the greatest im-
portance, and to give at least a por-
tion of it to Spain. Spain, even in
1609, had been obliged to acknowl-
edge the actual independence of the
, northern Netherlands, but she yet
held fast to the determination of sub-
jugating them. Austria favoured the
claims of Sxony only in order to cause
disagreement between the two north
German electors. But Brandenburg
and the Palatinate at once came to
an understanding w'th each other,
and, supported by the union, the
I Netherlands, and France, took joint
, possession of the country and drove
out the archduke Leopold, bishop of
iStrasburg and Passau, who, commis-
sioned by the emperor, had taken pos-
'session of Jiilich in 1610. But as the
strength of the two parties w^as soon
exhausted and the assassination of
'Henry IV of France (May 14th, 1610)
put an end to the hope of succour from
the French, the two claimants, after a
llong contention, agreed to a settlement
iby which Wolfgang William of the Neuburg palatinate should take provi-
sionally under his government Jiilich and Berg, whilst Brandenburg should
:have Cleves, the Mark, and Ravensberg, without prejudice to a later and final
iSettlement.
I In order to keep the assistance of the league and of Spain, Wolfgang Wil-
',liam had become a Roman Catholic in November, 1613, and with the zeal of a
irenegade he at once began romanising his acquisitions on the lower Rhine.
John Sigismund declared himself a Calvinist at Christmas, 1613. But, more
broad-minded than Wolfgang, he renounced from principle the idea of making
|iise, against the strict Lutherans in his province of Brandenburg, of the posi-
;tion in the church conferred upon him by law. Wliile thus showing the first
'■ixample of ecclesiastical tolerance and gaining a firm footing on Geiman soil
'm the extreme east by the inheritance of the duchy of Prussia after the
"-' \
A Bavarian PxtiNX-ESS
326 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1564-1606 A.D.]
death of Albert Frederick in 1618, and in the west by the acquisition of the
Cleves provinces on the lower Rhine, he prepared in this severe crisis quite
unconsciously the part his country was to perform in the future. i
i
j
THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG j
In all this confusion the Habsburgs had played no important part; indeed !
they had left the leadership of the Catholic states to the Bavarian Wittels- 1
bachs, for internal disorders crippled the power of their large possessions, i
Since the death of Ferdinand I these had been divided. The Bohemian pes- !
sessions and Austria, with the Habsburg part of Hungary, were ruled by the i
elder branch — first Maximilian II, then Rudolf II; Styria, Carinthia, and;
Carniola were under the dominion of the younger line, represented immedi-j
ately by the archduke Charles ; the Tyrol and the provinces of further Austria {
were the common possession of the whole family and were ruled by a younger |
archduke as governor. Therefore, as the natural effort of the ruling house
was to strengthen the power of the princes of the land, it was obliged to break ;
up this liberty and Protestantism, Religious reaction set in first and most
energetically in Carniola. Still the archduke Charles did not succeed im
founding a Jesuit miiversity in Gratz; his son Ferdinand II (1590-1637), who!
had been brought up with his cousin Maximilian of Bavaria by the Jesuits and|
was later entirely in the hands of his father confessor, suppressed with unmerci-j
ful rigour the evangelical services and the Lutheran schools in all the placesj
belonging to the princely power; only the nobility were allowed a certain'
measure of religious freedom.
Austria, where at first Archduke Ernest, and after 1595 Archduke Matthias,;
reigned in the name of Rudolf II, Melchior Klesel, the vicar-general of the!
bishop of Passau, confined Protestantism to the estates of the nobles, by
doing away with the evangelical form of worship and using his rights of
patronage as a prince and bishop to appoint Roman Catholic clergy andj
abbots. Still, in 1603, the states under the leadership of Erasmus of'
Tschernembl boimd themselves to a defence of their rights. In Bohemia and
Moravia utraquism enjoyed a lawful and unassailable position, which how-
ever did not benefit the Lutherans. The zealous bishop of Olmiitz, Francis
of Dietrichstein, was able in 1603 to exclude the Lutherans from the diets oi
a few towns belonging to the reigning prmces and from the Moravian courts
of law; but by these means he irritated the nobility, whose leader was th(:
accomplished Charles of Zjerotin, '
What only half succeeded in these German Slav provinces failed entirely'
in Hungary and led to a reaction in the states of the latter in favour of Prot
estantism, a reaction which afterwards spread to the former. The Turkisli
war, with the assistance of the empire or rather of the circles of the empu^e!
had been, on the whole, successfully carried on by the imperial troops, an(
had even in 1602 brought under the direct rule of the Habsburgs the much
quarrelled-over Transylvania. Uplifted by this success, the imperial cour
conceived the fatal idea of using the strong army of mercenaries which wa
mostly under the command of Italian officers, not only to suppress the Ubei
ties of the Magyar Calvinistic nobles, which were incompatible with an
monarchical government, but also to put down Protestantism. The powerfi
noble, Stephen Bocskay, rose in resistance at the head of the nobility (
eastern Hungary in the autumn of 1604, attracted the flourishing towns (
northern Hungary to his side, drove the imperial troops out of the counti'V
and in the Peace of Vienna on the 29th of June, 1606, extorted his recognitio'
A DISSOLVING EMPIRE 327
[1606-1613 A.D.]
as prince of East Hungary and Transylvania, and also exacted toleration for
all Christian creeds in the whole of Austrian Hungary. Shortly afterwards,
on the 11th of _ November, 1606, Turkey concluded the twenty years' Peace
of Zsitvatorok in Komarom, on the basis of the existing territorial possessions
of the contracting parties. This victory of Protestant interests had an irre-
sistible influence on Austrian Bohemia. This was furthered by the dissen-
sions in the house of Habsburg, whose archdukes, on account of the increasing
imbecility of Rudolf II, recognised his younger brother Matthias as their
head.
CONFLICT BETWEEN RUDOLF AND MATTHIAS
An alliance was formed in June, 1608, between Hungary, Upper and Lower
Austria, and Moravia, for the preservation of their national and ecclesiastical
rights, and they supported the archduke Matthias so emphatically that Rudolf
II was obliged to give up these four countries to his rule. Matthias, of
course, bought this help by the renewal of all the grants of Maximilian II.
The emperor saw himself forced in the Royal Charter of the 9th of July, 1609,
to grant full liberty of conscience to the utraquists and the Lutherans and to
the three upper estates, lords, knights, and imperial towns, the right to erect
evangelical schools on their possessions and to appoint consistories and four-
and-twenty "protectors" to guard their interests. A special agreement
between the Catholic and evangelical estates extended the right of church-
building to the crown lands, among which, according to old Bohemian law,
the church lands were also reckoned. On the 20th of August of the same year
Silesia also received its charter; negotiations about a charter were carried on
with the state of Lusatia, which was almost entirely Protestant.
Deeply embittered at the turn of affairs, Rudolf II attempted an armed
reaction. Under his authority, his cousin Leopold, bishop of Passau, appeared
in Prague with the mercenary troops which had been engaged in the Cleves
campaigns, the famous Passauers; and, after a bloody fight, garrisoned the
Kleinseite and the Hradschin. But the Bohemian estates called Matthias to
their assistance and with his help forced Rudolf II to renounce the Bohemian
crown, and on the 23rd of May offered it to Matthias. On the 20th of Jan-
uary, 1612, in the midst of hazy and revengeful plans, Rudolf died. The
man who had dethroned him, King Matthias, after the victory for Protestant
interests which had raised him to power, became little more than the chief of
a confederacy of aristocrats.
MATTHIAS EMPEROR (1612-1619 A.D.)
But in the empire conflict was approaching a most disastrous crisis. On
the 13th of June, 1612, Matthias was chosen emperor; Protestant grievances,
as demanded by Brandenburg and the Palatinate, had not been previously
removed. The emperor opened his first and last diet in Ratisbon (August
13th, 1613), under the most unfavourable auspices. For already in March
the league had resolved to seek the assistance of Lorraine, Savoy, Spain, and
the pope in order to maintain their standpoint in ecclesiastical matters, even
at the risk of a war, and the union, supported by treaties with England and
the Netherlands, was determined to enter into no negotiations before the
ecclesiastical grievances were redressed.
The mediatory proposals, therefore, of Klesel, who was now the president
of the emperor's privy council, which were to allow the Protestant adminis-
trators the possession of their institutions, fell to the ground; the allied
328 THE HOLY ROMAN" EMPIRE
[1613-1617 A.D.]
states refused every deliberation about the Turkish war tax, and, for the
second time, the diet separated without being dismissed. And, to make
reconcihation still more impossible, the emperor chose that very moment to
relinquish his position between the parties, which had been formal, though
neutral, and to go over to the side of the league.
While Matthias was thus doing his best to make the hostilities in the empke
still more irreconcilable, he excited the greatest indignation in Bohemia
because, being childless, he proclaimed as his successor in Hungary and
Bohemia his cousin Ferdinand of Styria, the merciless exterminator of Prot-
estantism in the eastern Alps. This, however, could not take place without
the consent of Spain, for Philip III of Spain, as the grandson of Maximilian
II (through his daughter Anna), was a nearer heir to the Bohemian lands
than Ferdinand. Ferdinand therefore bribed Philip into a renunciation by
ceding to him (in the Treaty of Gratz, June 21st, 1617) upper Alsace, and
holding out to him the prospect of a cession of all the imperial fiefs in Italy.
So, for the second time, was an alliance concluded between Spain and Austria
and again to the detriment of Germany./ In this posture of affairs Matthias
died, an event not likely to restore tranquillity, as the king of the Romans was
perfectly detested by the Protestant party. The causes of the Thirty Years'
War, one of the most disastrous that ever afflicted a country, were in full
operation. A contest of principles no less than of personal ambition was
about to commence — one which shook Europe to its extremities, and must
be remembered so long as books remain to record it.e
CHAPTER IX
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
[1618-1648 A.D.]
It is, strictly speaking, not accurate, in an examination of the
Thirty Years' War, to talk of a Catholic and a Protestant point of
view ; for these terms suggest that the war was a religious one — a
conflict between the old faith and the new teaching. One of our chief
aims must be to efface this notion and to secure for the Thirty Years'
War its due measure of purely political significance. Attitudes of
mind there may be in this stupendous struggle, but they are not
Protestant and not Catholic ; they are rather national and anti-
national. The simple question is whether one party or the other
wished to preserve or to shatter the venerable German Empire ; and
it is only because the destroyers were chiefly recruited from the
Protestant ranks that we have any right to talk of a Protestant
aspect. So too, because' they were mostly Catholic princes whose
mission it was to uphold the ancient Roman empire of national Ger-
many in this war, we may justify the use of the expression " a Cath-
olic aspect." We shall find Protestant princes standing on the side
of empire and Catholic princes bearing arms against it. Not from
religion did this thirty-three years' contention spring ; it is on the
whole a contrivance of politics. — Fraxz Ketm. ^
Ferdinand II attained the throne under circumstances the most perplex-
ing: Bohemia in arms, and threatening Vienna itself with invasion; Silesia and
Moravia in alliance with them; Austria much disposed to unite with them;
Hungary by no means firmly attached, and externally menaced by the Turks;
encountering besides, in every direction, the hatred of the Protestants, against
whom his zeal was undisguised. But in these circumstances Ferdinand mani-
fested his undaunted firmness and courage: "Notwithstanding these immi-
nent perils," says Khevenhiller,^ "this illustrious prince never desponded;
he stiU retained his religion and confidence in God, who took him under his
329
330 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE i
[1618-1619 A.D.] I
protection and, contrary to all human expectation, brought him in safety |
through this Red Sea." d j
Before we take up the details of this tempestous reign it may be well to
say a word of qualification regarding the estimate of the causes of the Thirty
Years' War which we have just quoted at the head of this chapter. As :
exhibiting a somewhat different point of view from that of Keym,^ we may i
quote Gindely,? who says: " The cause of the murderous war which, for thirty
years of the seventeenth century, lacerated Central Europe is to be sought
chiefly in the incompatibility of the religious views which prevailed among
the peoples of the time. It would be unreasonable to ascribe to one of the ,
religious parties alone the guilt of this fierce struggle; they were equally i|
guilty. We should judge them by the ability with which they filled their !
places and carried out their plans; by the self sacrificing spirit which actuated |
them in relation to their associates, and should inquire also whether they
observed, and in what manner they observed, those eternal, moral laws which
are respected alike by all Christian nations. Led by these principles, we can j
rightly judge such men as Ferdinand II, Maximilian of Bavaria, and Gus- *
tavus Adolphus, and do them justice, although their action was so oppo-
site that the approval of the one seems to involve the condemnation of the :
other." ^ ^ I
This seems wide enough from Keym's view, but Gindely immediately '
qualifies his estimate as follows: "But disagreement in religious convictions
was not the sole cause of the war. The insubordination of the estates in
Austria, the avidity of the princes to enrich themselves at the cost of the
church property, the ambition of individual party leaders, who could be
satisfied only in a general disorder, contributed so largely to the kindling of .
the confiagration as to make it doubtful to what particular the greater guilt I
should be ascribed. But whatever may have kindled the strife, it is certain
that its long duration was caused only by material interests. Though ideal ij
views may give rise to a war, this once begun, the material questions of pos-
session and power advance to the front and become, in contests which the
party at first defeated would have been glad to end by yielding somewhat, j
the sole causes of continuance. All the princes and statesmen who came sue- >
cessively to participate in the Thirty Years' War wished to augment their
power by triumph. This is true of Ferdinand II and Maximilian of Bavaria;
of Louis XIII, and his minister Cardinal Richelieu; of Gustavus Adolphus,
and Oxenstierna. Having once drawn the sword, the question was the same
with all ■ — increase of territory and people. All the words with which they
tried to conceal this purpose were empty phrases which never deceived those
who employed them. We would not, however, deny that Ferdinand II and ,
Gustavus Adolphus, each in his way, regarded themselves as chosen instru-j
ments of God, and that their efforts were not, like those of Louis XIII, gov-
erned by mere desire of conquest."
Be the exact balance of causes what it may, the war whose history forms
the chief theme of the period upon which we are entering is a momentous
one. It will be well to recall, however, that, in the midst of all this tumult,
German culture did not altogether decline. Almost two centuries had now
elapsed since Gutenburg and Fust had begun printing books with movable
type; in the mean time a flood of publications had come from the German
presses. German culture was also stimulated by the rivalry existing between
the various rulers. " Every little prince," says Gindely,? " was ambitious to
have his educational system culminating in a university. Thus has Germany,
since the great struggle in the opening of the seventeenth century, become
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 331
[1619 A.D.]
the world's school and its library, though this state of things seemed to work
against the cause of freedom in that contest."
Among the princes who accomplished most in this direction were those
whose history has furnished the theme of our recent pages. In particular,
Rudolf II, by bringing Tycho Brahe to Prague, and subsequently by his
patronage of Johannes Kepler, was instrumental in making Germany the
centre of scientific progress. It was while working at Prague that Kepler dis-
covered and promulgated his famous laws of planetary motion. Ferdinand
II continued for a time to patronise Kepler, and the great general Wallen-
stein was peculiarly interested in the astrological studies of the astronomer.
We shall do well as we follow out the military and political history of this
epoch to recall that this is the age of Kepler, no less than of Wallenstein and
Gustavus Adolphus. With this corrective reflection in mind, we take up
the detailed history of the Thirty Years' War. In so doing we shall first have
occasion to turn back to certain events that have been referred to in the pre-
ceding chapter, for the struggle began while Matthias still occupied the
imperial throne.^
OUTBREAK OF THE WAR IN BOHEMIA AND THE PALATINATE
In Bohemia the exasperation of the Protestants at the consistent repres-
sion of religious and civil freedom broke out in 1618, the mimediate cause of
the outbreak being the erection by the Protestants of churches for their use
in the cities of Kloster-Grab and Braunau, which were under ecclesiastical
jurisdiction. The Catholics would not suffer this, because they asserted that
, in Bohemia only the nobility and gentry and the royal cities enjoyed religious
freedom, but not the subjects of ecclesiastical territories; and, in fact, noth-
ing definite on this subject was decreed in the royal charter of Rudolf II. On
I the other hand the Protestants urged that the ecclesiastical estate is not
; recognised in Bohemia as an independent one, and, therefore, ecclesiastical
' territories are really crown possessions. WTien this dispute came before the
emperor Matthias, he decided in favour of the Catholics, and the two Prot-
estant churches w^ere closed by the Catholic clergy, that of Kloster-Grab
I even being demolished, while several of the burghers were punished with
, imprisonment.
■ Thereupon the Protestants met in a convention, according to a right
j conceded to them by Rudolf II, to elect "defenders" (defensores) for the
' protection of their common interests. They therefore summoned six men
of their party from each district in Bohemia to come to Prague, and these
i defenders sent a petition to the emperor against the violent procedure which
I they considered an infringement of the royal charter. Matthias, however,
' returned them a very harsh reply, prohibited for the future all meetings,
I and instructed his chief magistrate in Prague to dissolve the assembly of
; defenders.
', This filled the people wdth great bitterness, and Count Henry Matthias of
) Thurn, a brave and universally beloved nobleman, who was one of the defend-
■ ers, placed himself at the head of the oppressed and led the Protestant dele-
gates, all fully armed, to the castle of Prague, where the imperial magistrates
i were to be found, of whom two, William of Slavata and Jaroslav of Martinice,
; had long been hated. After a heated discussion these two men and their
i secretary Fabricius were seized and pitched out of the window, which stood
' fully sixty feet from the ground. However, the fall did not kill them; Mar-
! tinice and the secretary had a narrow escape; Slavata, who was wounded in
332 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1619 A.D.]
the head, had to leave Bohemia on his recovery. The Protestants continued
resolutely to act as defenders of their country's liberty. They seized the
imperial estates and revenues and drove out the Jesuits as the instigators of
all oppression and discord. Later on the same fate overtook the members
of this order in Moravia, Silesia, and Hungary. A commission of thirty
directors was appointed in Bohemia to manage the affairs of the country,
and Count Thurn was appointed commander-in-chief and chief burggraf, or
magistrate; the latter position he had previously held, but lost it through
the influence of the CathoHcs.
When these proceedings reached the ears of the emperor, he was at first
seized with such fear that he did not know which way to turn, and was willing
to make concessions. But the Jesuits and their pupil and tool, King Ferdi-
nand, would not hear of this; they perceived that the rising of the Bohemians
was directed against them and their statecraft, and they were consequently
bent upon carrying out their designs by force. They urged the emperor to
try the fortunes of war. The call to arms soon began to sound all over Ger-
many, here for the Catholics, there for the Protestants; it was not long
before the clank of weapons w^as also heard, and the two parties stood face
to face impatient to cool in the blood of their antagonists the long-repressed
fury unremittingly fostered by the clergy on each side. The evangehcal
states in Austria roused themselves after their long period of oppression and
refused to give the emperor any assistance; the Silesians, Moravians, and
Lusatians made common cause with the Bohemians, to whose national assem-
bly they sent delegates. The leader of the rebellion. Count Thurn, defeated
the imperial army. Count Ernst von Mansfeld, skilled in all the arts of war
as was no one else in his day, was deputed by the elector palatine to bring
the Bohemians a reinforcement of four thousand men. Success apparently
favoured the cause of the Protestants and of liberty.
Shortly thereafter the emperor Matthias died suddenly (May 20th, 1619)
and King Ferdinand ascended the throne under most unfavourable circum-
stances. The Austrian states refused to do homage to him until he had
redressed religious grievances, and Count Thurn advanced with his army mto
Austria to their support. On June 5th he was already before Vienna, which
he besieged. The Protestants in the city rebelled. Ferdinand was in sore
straits, flight or captivity being apparently his only alternatives.
But presently Count Thurn received news that Boucquoi had beaten
Mansfeld and was rushing upon Prague. He then raised the siege of Vienna
and marched back to Bohemia. In spite of this, Ferdinand's position was
desperate. All the hereditary states of the house of Habsburg had forsaken
him. Prince Bethlen Gabor of Transylvania rose in revolt and conquered
Hungary with the greatest ease, for these countries, too, were greatly embit-
tered by the religious tyranny of the Habsburgs. The delegates from the
rest of the hereditary states, the Bohemians, Silesians, Moravians, Lusatians,
Austrians, convened at a great assembly in Prague (July 8th, 1619), in which
they once again asserted their rights and liberties as against the king, and
more especially their right of electing the sovereign, universal religious free-
dom, and the privilege of the states to resort to force in defence of the consti-
tution.
THE POWER OF THE HABSBURGS THREATENE-D
Simultaneously with these events the empire seemed doomed to slip from
the grasp of the house of Habsburg. The most energetic party among the
Protestants, instigated, pre-eminently by the clever and daring Prince Chris-
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 33S
[161^1620 A.n.]
tian of Anhalt, bestirred itself eagerly to form a great league of all the adver-
saries of the house of Habsburg, with a view to its complete downfall. Prot-
estantism and popular freedom were to be established in Germany, the
ecclesiastical principalities were to be abolished, and at the head of the
reformed empire a Protestant was to be installed as emperor, in the person of
Frederick V of the Palatinate.
But these magnificent projects were doomed to be shattered, mainly through
unfortunate discords in the Protestant party — more especially through the
faithlessness of the elector John George of Saxony, who once again at the
imperial election deserted his co-religionists and went over to the side of the
Habsburgs and Catholics. The latter thereby gained the majority among
the electoral princes: Ferdinand II was elected emperor of Germany (Frank-
fort-on-Main, August 28th, 1619) and crowned twelve days later.
This was the first great success won by the cause of the Jesuits. Ferdi-
,nand II immediately set about reconquering his hereditary domains. In
order to effect his purpose, he purchased at a high price the support of Duke
Maximilan of Bavaria, who amongst other advantages also stipulated that
the electorate of the Palatinate should be transferred to him. On August
19th, before the imperial election, the diets of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia
}iad declared that Ferdinand had forfeited the sovereignty of their lands;
'md, in accordance with ancient Bohemian rights, they elected a new king,
the young elector Frederick V of the Palatinate. The latter, who had mar-
-ied Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, imagined that in his powerful
"ather-in-law he would have a strong supporter. Therefore, after slight
Hesitation, he accepted the proffered dignity which was so flattering to his
imbitions, and set off for Bohemia. On November 29th he was crowned in
Prague amidst the great rejoicings of his new subjects. The question now
kvas whether he would be able to defend the land against the emperor, for it
lOon became apparent that he had exaggerated his power. He had fondly
relieved that all would immediately fly to his assistance, whereas neither the
Netherlands nor the king of England afforded him any appreciable help.
Bohemia was thrown upon its own resources, and matters were very badly
nanaged. The nobles would make no sacrifices, but wanted the expenses of
'he war to be borne by king and people, although they had been the instiga-
tors of the rebellion. The king himself was undecided, reckless, and ill-
idvised; his court offended popular feeling by exhibiting its Reformed lean-
' ngs, whereas the Bohemians were, for the most part, Lutherans or utraquists.
[n addition to all this, the military preparations, which had been mapped out
/ery well by the prince of Anhalt, were but badly and partially executed.
jiU the more energetically did the enemy act. Duke Maximilian proceeded
,^ith the greatest zeal and vigour to equip one of the armies of the league, and
;o march with it into Upper Austria. He had himself acknowledged as repre-
[jentative of the emperor, and after joining forces with Boucquoi advanced on
Bohemia. Two Spanish generals, the marquis of Spinola and the marquis of
Oordova, advanced with thirty thousand men upon the king of Bohemia's
liereditary dominion, the Palatinate; and the elector of Saxony seized Lusatia,
■vhich had promised to assist Bohemia but which had been ceded to him by
he emperor Ferdinand in recognition of the assistance he had given.
Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, with the armies of the league, now rapidly
iidvanced into Bohemia, drove back Frederick's troops, and marched on
■^rague. Frederick's forces, twenty thousand strong, and led by Prince
; christian of Anhalt, were disposed in battle array m a semicircle on the
'io-called Wliite Mountain. Opposed to them was the army of the league, m
334 THE HOTvY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1620 A.D.]
number almost twice as strong, and commanded by Duke Maximilian, Count
Boucquoi, and General Tserclaes von Tilly. Tilly was by birth a Dutchman,
an experienced old warrior, of stern morality. His appearance was sinister,
his body powerful but lean, the wide brow full of wrinkles, the eyes large and
gloomy, the cheeks sunken, the nose and chin long, the moustaches pointed
and upturned, the grey hair disordered and bristling. He usually wore a
green satin doublet and a little hat with a tall red feather.
In the council of war, held by the generals of the league in their camp
before Prague, Tilly and the duke of Bavaria were in favour of inmiediate
attack, but Boucquoi suggested rather the surrounding of the enemy. While
the generals were thus disputing among themselves, a Spanish Carmelite
[Father Dominicus] kindled their religious ardour by bringing before them an
image of the Virigin with eyes put out, and calling upon them to go forth to
battle against those who had profaned the holiest. The command to attack
was given on the spot; and the army of the league advanced to the war-cry of
"Holy Mary!" The battle began; it was November 8th, 1620. At first the
battle was undecided. The Bohemians bravely bore the attack of the superior
force for jfully half an hour. But then the Hungarian cavalry took to flight
and bore the Bohemian infantry along with it. Complete panic and disor-
ganisation ensued. Comits Thurn and Schlick were the last to maintain the
field with their Moravians; at last Schlick was made prisoner and Thurn had
to take to flight. Four thousand Bohemian soldiers were left dead on the
field; ten guns and one hundred colours were taken by the enemy. Wlien
King Frederick heard of the disaster, he lost all courage and confidence. He
fled with his wife, with Thurn, and Christian of Anhalt to Breslau, thence to
Berlin, and finally to Holland. Maximilian of Bavaria proudly entered the
capital, and the fate of Prague decided that of Bohemia. Moravia and
Silesia also made submission to the emperor now that their faint-hearted king
had forsaken them. In derision the latter was henceforth dubbed the " winter
king."
RESTORATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION
The emperor Ferdinand II then restored the Catholic religion in Moravia.
With regard to Bohemia he behaved at first as if he meant to forget the past,
and he kept up the deception until he had reassured the Bohemians. Then
he suddenly began to wreak his vengeance with a cruelty which only the
violence of his religious fanaticism can explain and which has branded for all
time his memory and that of his spiritual advisers. On February 10th, 1621,
he had all the unsuspecting leaders of the popular movement arrested, and on
June 21st twenty-seven of the highest nobility were executed. They died
cheerfully for their faith : the rector of the university had his tongue torn out,
a celebrated scholar was beaten to death, 728 noblemen had their estates con-
fiscated, and many were imprisoned for life. This abominable tribunal is
called the "bloody diet of Prague."
The papal legate had absolved the emperor from the oath he had sworn to
the Bohemian nation, and now he also abolished all their religious liberties.
He brought back in triumph the expelled Jesuits and bestowed upon them
the confiscated estates and the University of Prague. Then the golden age of
the monks dawned in the once free Bohemia. First the Reformed party and
then the Lutheran clergy were expelled. With the restoration of the Roman
Catholic religion a reign of terror began for Bohemia, Ferdinand II believing
that thus only could Roman Catholicism be firmly established. These
horrors were perpetrated through the terrible delusion that they were done
THE THIETY YEAES" WAR. 335
[1620-1627 X.V.I
"for the glory of God." No less than thirt}^ thousand families forsook their
unfortunate fatherland rather than become Roman Catholics, and henceforth
the country declined both in wealth and culture.^ It was said that Ferdinand
tore up with his own hand the royal charter of Rudolf II as a sign that
Bohemia's freedom was forever at an end. According to another report, the
emperor tore the seal from the royal charter, and then cut it through the
middle. " We are unable to state," says Gindely,? " whether this is so or not;
but as a matter of fact the original of the royal charter has been preserved to
the present day only in this damaged condition." «
The emperor had pledged Upper Austria, a part of his hereditary domin-
ions, to Maximilian of Bavaria for his war expenditures, and Maximilian had
already received a forced homage in 1620, when he mstalled Count Herbers-
dorf as magistrate in Linz on the Danube, Count Herbersdorf was to destroy
the Reformation in Upper Austria, root and branch, and he governed with
as much cruelty as the duke of Alva in the Netherlands. Thus he drove to
desperation the people, as well as the privileged classes, whose charters he
treated with scorn. In the year 1626 the peasants, eighty thousand strong,
rebelled, and on their banners was inscribed "God grant us heroic courage,
for our souls and lives are at stake." A clever and bold man, Stephan Fa-
dinger, by trade a hatter, was chosen leader of the peasants. They defeated
Count Herbersdorf near Waitzenkirchen and Peuerbach, seized several towns,
and besieged Linz. Fadinger was shot while laying siege to this city, Achaz
Wiellmger, a nobleman, took his place. Then the peasants suffered several
lefeats, but were again victorious over two new armies which Maximilian
had sent out against them. The duke then placed the command of the war
against the peasants in the hands of Count Gottfried Heinrich von Pappen-
heim, the stepson of Herbersdorf. Pappenheim (born in 1594 of a noble
and ancient family) was a wild warrior who had from his youth loved war
beyond everything; his body was so covered with scars that his soldiers
called him "Jack o' Scars." Pappenheim brought the peasant war in Upper
Austria to a rapid close. He defeated the peasants at Eferding, Gmunden,
yocklabruck, then at the castle of Wolfseck, and finally at Peuerbach, They
submitted, and in 1627 their leaders were executed.
> Thus had the emperor, with the help of the league, entirely subjugated
'ill his hereditary dominions (except Hungary and Transylvania) and ruled
over them more despotically than ever. The duke of Bavaria, however, had
not won all these successes for the emperor out of mere religious zeal; he
ineant also to derive profit from them for himself. The war was therefore
jarried into Germany proper, first of all against the Palatinate, which was
;^o fall to Duke Maximilian as his share of the spoils.
THE OUTLAWED ELECTOR PALATINE AND HIS CHAMPIONS
Soon after the battle on the "white mountaui" the emperor outlawed the
I'lector palatine, Frederick V, and all his followers. This decree was illegal,
'or he pronounced it arbitrarily, without summoning a council of princes,
•klaximilian, who was entrusted with carrying out the ban, at once invaded
'he upper Palatinate, while the Spaniards, under Spinola, marched from the
'A^alloon Netherlands (Belgium), overran the whole of the lower Palatinate,
Imd captured all important places, with the exception of the cities of Heidel-
;)erg, Mannheim, and Frankenthal. None of the powers moved a finger to
iielp the unfortunate exile, Frederick V, The union, which had watched his
ilownfall without attempting anything for his relief, was now dissolved
336 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1621-1622 A.D.]
(1621); it had, indeed, no skilful leader like the Catholic league, which Duke
Max bore along with hini to great deeds and conquests; only a few dashing
partisans took up the cause of the Palatinate and bravely continued the
war.
One of these was Count Ernst von Mansfeld, also an outlawed, landless
nobleman but inexhaustible in bold schemes, dreaded for his methods of
warfare wherever he appeared with his troops; for, as he could give his
soldiers no pay, he always supported them at the expense of the country in
which he happened to be, and when there was nothing more to plunder he
moved on. This brave partisan fighter had turned from Bohemia to the
upper Palatinate; driven thence by Tilly, he passed first into the Rhenish
Palatinate, and, when he could no longer hold out there, into Alsace, returning
again to the Rhenish Palatmate.
The second champion of Frederick V's cause was Duke Christian of Bruns-
wick, a brother of the reigning duke Ulrich, and Protestant administrator of
the bishopric of Halberstadt. Christian was of the same stamp as Mansfeld,
but his warlike spirit was fantastically chivalric. Inspired by the beauty
and the misfortunes of the electress Elizabeth, when he met her at the Hague
with her husband, he fastened her glove to his hat and swore that he would
win back her throne for her. He lacked Mansfeld's ability as a general; he
was only a bold fighter. His wild troops, nineteen thousand in number, most
of whom were paid with Dutch money, were soon feared both far and near,
even more than he himself. Wherever he went he was the scourge of the
Catholics. At Paderborn he carried off the golden image of St. Liborius; at
Miinster he had the silver statues of the Apostles melted dowTi, saying: "Go
ye forth into all the world!" He then had them coined into thalers with
the inscription, "God's friend, the priests' foe."
The third champion of Frederick Y was the markgraf George Frederick
of Baden-Durlach, also a brave and resolute warrior. He put the reins of
government into the hands of his son and joined Count Mansfeld with an
army of fifteen thousand men.
SUCCESSES OF TILLY
While some of the smaller princes thus rallied boldly on the field of battle,
the more powerful Protestant princes still remained discouraged and inactive. ^
And yet the Bohemian conflict had now become a general German question,
and the ascendency which the Catholic party had won threatened all Prot-
estants; besides this, the constitution of the empire and the freedom of the
estates of the realm had become greatly endangered by the despotism of
the emperor, which grew rapidly with his good fortune. But most of the Prot- ,
estants allowed themselves to be persuaded that the matter concerned only |
the elector; many were pacified by intimidation, others by allurements and :
bribes. The three commanders, however, took the field in the spring of,
1622 with great confidence; they had collected large armies, collectively
superior in number to the army of the league. But Tilly, its commander-in-
chief, made up by his skill for his lack of means. He succeeded in separating
his adversaries and then defeated each individually. First he fell upon the
markgraf of Durlach, who had thought to conquer without Mansfeld. The
battle was fought at Wimpfen on the Neckar on May 6th, 1622. Tilly won
the victory owing to an accident after a bloody battle. Some powder wagons
had caught fire among the Protestant ranks and exploded, thus throwing the
army of the markgraf into disorder; taking advantage of this, a Neapolitan
THE THIETY YEARS' WAR 337
[1622-1623 A.D.]
cavalry regiment of Tilly's broke through into the midst of the markgraf's
troops, and decided the issue of the battle. The young duke Magnus of
Wiirtemberg fell on the battle-field after receiving twelve wounds, and Duke
William of Weimar and the count palatine. Christian von Birkenfeld, were
also killed. The markgraf hunself was in great danger; and it was entirely
owing to the bravery and self-sacrificing devotion of one of his regiments
(which tradition later translated into four hundred burghers of Pforzheim)
that he escaped with his life and hberty.
Tilly then directed his forces against Christian of Brunswick, who, on his
way to effect a junction with Mansfeld, was pillaging and ravaging the abbey
lands of Fulda and the cathedral lands of Wiirzburg. But when Duke
Christian reached the Main, conquered the city of Hochst, and constructed
a bridge, he was attacked by Tilly (June 20th, 1622), and his whole infantry
annihilated. Christian himself escaped with the cavalry and cut his way
through to the Palatinate and to Mansfeld, with whom was the elector Fred-
erick V.
England, Denmark, and Saxony were then negotiating with the emperor
for the restoration of Frederick's hereditary dominion. Ferdinand II dictated
as a primary condition that the elector should dismiss his two allies, Christian
of Brunswick and Mansfeld. The weak, shortsighted elector actually did
this, although their forces were still sufficiently strong to protect him, and
he returned to Holland. For some time the two partisan leaders carried on
the war on their own account — first along the Rhine, then m Lorraine;
finally they advanced to reinforce the Dutch against the Spaniards, and cut
their way through the army of the latter.
At last Tilly had free play in the Palatinate, which was entirely at his
mercy. He successfully stormed the last three fortified cities of Heidelberg,
Mannheim, and Frankenthal, and acted with all the arbitrariness of a con-
queror. Heidelberg lost its celebrated and precious library, where the rare
,old manuscripts alone were valued at 80,000 crowns. Maximilian of Bavaria
presented this library to the pope, and it was removed to Rome, where the
igreater part of it remains to this day. Under the protection of the victo-
rious Tilly, the Jesuits, at Maximilian's instigation, returned to the Rhenish
Palatinate over heaps of ruins and dead bodies ; the Protestants lost their
churches; the work of conversion began. A similar course was followed in
:he upper Palatinate.
MAXIMILIAN'S RECORD
The emperor was now victorious in upper Germany; every enerny had
,Deen crushed and he made use of this smile of fortune to reorganise the
affairs of the empire according to his mmd. First he fulfilled his obligations
0 the duke of Bavaria. The predominant position of this prince, at the
lead of the league, made him anxious, it is true, and there had always existed,
;)penly or secretly, a certain jealousy between the houses of Habsburg and
►Vittelsbach; but Ferdmand had been saved by Maximilian, who, moreover,
',!Ould not safely be slighted or offended. Therefore the emperor fulfilled
;iis original promise and made over the electoral dignity of the Palatinate to
lim, with the office of lord high steward for life. This was decided at an
^issembly of imperially disposed princes at Ratisbon, 1623. This act, too,
ivas illegal, for not all the estates of the realm were represented.
The electors of Saxony and Brandenburg vainly opposed this proceeding;
inally even they recognised the electoral dignity of Bavaria. The emperor
liowed his despotism in many other ways, and more especially in matters
H. W. — VOL. XIV. Z
S38 THE HOLY EOMAIST EMPIRE I
[1623-1634 A.D.] I
of religion, in which the Protestants suffered greatly. The imperial papist {
party then attacked lower Germany. At the beginning of 1623 Mansfeld and !
Duke Christian had made their appearance there again with an army levied in |
the Netherlands, the former making his incursion into East Friesland, and the !
latter into Lower Saxony. The provincial diet of Lower Saxony had nomi- i
nated Duke Christian to the command of their forces, for they were desirous to j
protect their faith against the despotic domination of the emperor and the j
Catholics. But after four weeks Christian resigned this position, on account 1
of the sorry discords among the districts. I
i
IMPERIAL VICTORIES AND FOREIGN INTERFERENCE j
He had the intention of forcing his way into Bohemia and of joining hands
there with Bethlen Gabor, the prince of Transylvania, in order to win back the
Bohemian crown for the elector. But Tilly advanced to the Weser against
him with superior forces. The elector of Saxony would not allow the Protes- j
tant army to cross his dominions. It therefore turned back towards West-
phalia to effect a junction with Mansfeld, whose troops at that time were not
numerous enough to enable him to carry out any great plans by himself. Near ■
Stadtlohn in Miinster, Tilly met and defeated Duke Christian, annihilating his
army (August 6th, 1623). This blow put an end for the time being to Mans-,
f eld's hopes. As he perceived that he could do nothing with his weak forces
against Tilly, he disbanded them temporarily and hastened with imcurbedf
spirit to London; there he never ceased his efforts to move King James I to|
lend assistance to the cause of his son-in-law. He succeeded at last, col-l
lected a new army, and led it to Holland. Yet even that did not satisfy him,|
and he tried to unite France, England, Venice, Savoy, Holland, and part ofi
Switzerland in alliance against Austria. The interests of all these countriesj
were prejudiced by the emperor's great and unexpected success. The ascend-|
ency of the house of Habsburg in Europe seemed to have taken a new lease ofj
me.e _ I
Peace was still out of the question. All the bulwarks of the ReformatioHj
in the south had been destroyed. The north, that fondly deemed herselii
secure, was next to be attacked. The dread of the general and forcible sup'
pression of Protestantism throughout Germany, and shame for their inaction
induced the circle of Lower Saxony to take up arms and to seek aid from theii
Protestant brethren in England, Denmark, and Sweden. Richelieu was a
this time at the head of affairs in France, and, although as a cardinal a zealou;,
upholder of Catholicism, he was not blind to the opportunity offered, by sup
porting the German Protestants against the emperor, for weakening the powe
of that potentate, partitioning Germany, and extending the French territor;
towards the Rhine.
The German Lutherans, ensnared by his intrigues, blinded by fear, an('
driven to this false step by the depotism and perfidy of the emperor, littl'
foresaw the immeasurable misfortmie foreign interference was to bring upoi
their country. Bellin, the French plenipotentiary, at first wished to place th
warlike Swedish monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, at the head of the Germai
Protestants, entered into alliance with England, and gained over the electo
of Brandenburg, who promised his sister, Catherine, to the Russian czar, i,
order to keep a check upon Poland, at that period at war with Sweden; bu
these intrigues were frustrated by Christian IV, king of Denmark, who antic
pated the Swedes by taking up arms and placing himself at the head of tn
movement. Gustavus, at that time engaged with Poland, was unable t.
THE THIRTY YEARS" WAR 339
[1625 A.D.]
interfere. The Russian match was broken off (1625), and the luckless bride
was given in marriage to Bethlen Gabor.
THE RISE OF WALLENSTEIN
War with Denmark no sooner threatened than Ferdinand, to the great
discontent of Bavaria, raised an army, independent of the league, by the
assistance of a Bohemian nobleman, Albert von Wallenstein (properly, Wald-
stein.) This nobleman belonged to a Protestant family, and had been bred in
that faith. He had acquired but a scanty supply of learning at the Univer-
sity of Goldberg in Silesia, which he quitted to enter as a page the Catholic
court of Burgau. Whilst here he fell, when asleep, out of one of the high
castle windows without receiving any injury. He afterwards studied the
dark sciences, more especially astrology, in Italy, and read his future destiny,
of which he had had a secret presentiment from his early childhood, in the
stars. He commenced his career in the emperor's service, by opposing the
Turks in Hungary, where he narrowly escaped death from swallowing a love-
potion administered to him by Wiczkowa, an aged but extremely wealthy
widow, whom he had married, and with whose money he raised a regiment of
cuirassiers for the emperor. His popularity was so great in Bohemia that the
Bohemians, on the breaking out of the disturbances in Prague, appointed him
'itheir general.
i He, nevertheless, remained attached to the imperial service and greatly
distinguished himself in the field against Mansfeld and Bethlen Gabor. By a
second and equally rich marriage with the countess Harrach and by the
favour of the emperor, who bestowed upon him Friedlantl and the dignity of
30unt of the empire, but chiefly by the purchase of numberless estates, which,
iDH account of the nmnerous confiscations and emigrations, were sold in
Bohemia at merely a nominal price, and by the adulteration of coin,^ Wallen-
stein became possessed of such enormous wealth as to be, next to the emperor,
the richest proprietor in the empire. The emperor requesting him to raise a
'3ody of ten thousand men, he levied forty thousand, an army of that magni-
tude being solely able to provide itself in every quarter with subsistence, and
wvas, in return, created duke of Friedland and generalissimo of the imperial
forces. A few months sufficed for the levy of the troops, his fame and the
principles on which he acted attracting crowds beneath his standard. Every
•eligion, but no priest, was tolerated within his camp; the strictest discipline
vas enforced and the greatest license permitted; merit met with a princely
•eward; the commonest soldier, who distinguished himself, was promoted to
'he highest posts; and around the person of the commander was spread the
'iharm of mystery; he was reported to be in league with the powers of dark-
less, to be invulnerable, and to have enchained victory to his banner. For-
tune was his deity and the motto of his troops. In his person he was tall and
jhin; his countenance was sallow and lowering; his eyes were small and pier-
I ing, his forehead was high and commanding, his hair short and bristling. He
Ivas surrounded with mystery and silence.
■ Tilly, jealous of Wallenstein's fame, hastened to anticipate that leader in
he reduction of the circle of Lower Saxony. The Danish monarch, who held
ilchleswig and Holstein by right of inheritance, and Dithmarschen by that of
onquest, whilst his son Frederick governed the bishoprics of Bremen and
' He purchased property to the amount of 7,290,000 florins, a fifth of its real value, and
ae com with which he paid for it was, moreover, so bad that the emperor was compeDed by
a express privilege to secure him against enforced restitution.
840 THE HOLY ROMAN" EMPIRE
[1619-1627 A.D.]
Verden, attempted to encroach still further on the German Empire and long
carried on a contest with Liibeck and Hamburg. During peace time, in 1619,
he seized tlie free town of Stade, mider the pretext, customary in those times,
of protecting the aristocratic council against the rebellious citizens. He also
built Gliickstadt, and levied high customs on the citizens of Hamburg. The
avarice and servility of the princes of Wolfenbiittel and Liineburg-Celle had
also at that period rendered them contemptible and deprived them of much of
their former power and influence. After the defeat of Christian of Brunswick
at Stadtlohn, the noble Danish bodyguard, that had been sent to Wolfenbiittel,
was attacked and driven across the frontier by the enraged German peasan-
try; and the Hanse towns, flattered by the emperor and embittered against
Denmark by the erection of Stade and Gliickstadt, were almost the first to
recall their troops and to desist from
opposition, whilst George of Liineburg,
attracted by the report of the great
arrondissements projected by the em-
peror, preferred gain to loss and for-
mally seceded.
The Danish monarch now found
himself totally unprotected, and, in
order to guard his German acquisitions
in case Brunswick followed the exam-
ple of the Hansa and embraced the
imperial party, set himself up as a lib-
erator of Germany, in which he was
countenanced and upheld by England,
Holland, and Richelieu, the omnipotent
minister of France. He nevertheless
greatly undervalued the simultaneous
revolt of the Upper Austrians, to whom
he impolitically offered no assistance.
The German princes remained tranquil
and left the Dane unaided. The Hes-
sian peasantry rose in Tilly's rear, and
those of Brunswick, enraged at the desertion of the cause of religion by the
princes and the nobility, killed nmnbers of his soldiery in the Sollinger forest,
captured the garrisons of Dassel and Bodenwerder, seized a large convoy near
Einbeck, destroyed the castles of all the fugitive nobility, and hunted George's
consort, the daughter of Ludwig of Darmstadt, from one place of refuge to
another. The citizens of Hanover, where the magistrate was about to capitu-
late to Tilly, also flew to arms and appointed John Ernest of Weimar com-
mandant of their city (1625).
Tilly, at first worsted at Nienburg by the Danish general Obentraut, who
fell shortly afterwards at Seelze, spread the terror of his name throughout
Hesse, Brunswick, and the rest of the Lutheran provinces. In the ensuing
year, the approach of Wallenstein caused Tilly to bring the Danish campaign
to a hasty close, and taking advantage of the state of inactivity to which the
Danish monarch was reduced by a fall from horseback, he seized Hameln and
j\Iinden, where the powder magazine blew up during the attack and destroyed
the whole garrison, consisting of twenty-five hundred men (1627). Havelberg,
Gottingen, and Hanover next fell into his hands, and a pitched battle was
fought near Lutter am Barenberge, which terminated in the rout of the whole
of the Danish forces and the surrender of Holstein.
Albert von Wallenstein
(1583-1634)
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 341
[1625-1629 A.D.]
THE DEATH OF MANSFELD
Mansfeld and John Ernest of Weimar, too weak, notwithstanding the
reinforcements sent to their aid by England and Holland, to take the field
against Wallenstein, who, at the head of a wild and undisciplined army of
sixty thousand men, was advancing upon lower Germany, attempted to draw
him through Silesia into Hungary and to carry the war into the hereditary
provinces of the emperor, but were overtaken and defeated on the bridge of
Dessau. Mansfeld, nevertheless, escaped into Silesia, where his popularity
was so great that in the course of a few weeks he found himself once more at
the head of an army consisting of twenty thousand evangelical volunteers
four thousand Mecklenburgers, and three thousand Scots and Danes. Wal-
lenstein pursued him, and the contending armies lay for some time in sight of
each other on the Waag, without venturing an engagement. Wallenstein,
meanwhile, gained over the Hungarian king, and Mansfeld, once more aban-
doned, attempted to escape to Venice, but, worn out by chagrin and fatigue
expired in Uracowicz, in Bosnia, 1626./
A popular tradition relates that Mansfeld died standing upright in his
armour. A more credible account of his death is given by Scharffenberg as
follows :« As the night (of November 9th, 1626) wore away, the condition of
Mansfeld became worse; his agony was intense. His loyal followers stood
speechless round his couch powerless to afford him relief or consolation. The
day began to dawn. Then, imbued with supernatural strength, the dying
man raised himself on his sick-bed, called for his clothes, his armour, and his
trusty sword. Amazed, his followers humored him: " Up, up!" cried Mans-
feld, "the parting is at hand ; bear me to the open window, my faithful friends,
that the morning air may refresh me once more : death shall not overtake me
on a soft couch — it has always spared me on the battle-field. Standing, I
will give back my soul to the Lord of hosts. Over the rocky heights the rosy
dawn approaches, heralding the commg day — yours, but mine no longer.
Yea, the coming day on which you are called upon to take up the struggle
once more, while I must ignominously succumb!" Supported in the arms of
two ofRcers, or rather two friends, the dying man was brought to the open
window; his transfigured gaze, oblivious of all earthly objects, was fixed on
the first rays of the sun, which had dispelled the last grey mists of da^\^l.
"Keep together, make a brave stand!" were Mansf eld's last words.? The
fallen hero was buried at Spalatro. His ally, John Ernest of Weimar, died in
Hungary. A body of his troops under Colonel Bandis fought their way,
although opposed even by Brandenburg, to Denmark. Bethlen Gabor died
in 1629, leaving no issue.
wallenstein's power
The triumph of the Catholics seemed complete. Wallenstein became the
soul of the intrigues carried on in the camps and in the little courts of north-
ern Germany; and had not the Catholics, like the Protestants at an earlier
period, been blinded by petty jealousies, Europe would have been moulded by
his quick and comprehensive genius into another form. He demanded a
thorough reaction, an unconditional restoration of the ancient imperial power,
a monarchy absolute as that of France and Spain. In order to carry out his
project for securing the submission of the southern provmces of Germany to
the imperial rule by the firm and peaceable possession of those m the north,
the seat of opposition, he invaded Holstein, defeated the markgraf of Baden
342 THE HOLY KOMAX EMPIEE
[1627-1628 A.D.]
near Aalborg, and made Christian IV tremble in Copenhagen. Tilly, mean-
while, garrisoned the coasts of the Baltic and seized Stade, whilst Arnheim,
with the Saxon troops sent by the elector to Wallenstein's aid, held the island
of Riigen. Rostock fell into the hands of Wallenstem, John Albert and
Adolphus Frederick of IMecklenbiirg were driven out of the country, and the
people were laid under heavy contributions. Wallenstein had already come to
an understanding with Poland, and the Hanse towns were drawn into his
interests by a promise of the annihilation of the Dutch, of the traffic of the
whole world being diverted from Amsterdam to Hamburg, and of the monopoly
of the whole of the commerce of Spain. The emperor, in order to counterpoise
tlie power of the ancient princely families which threatened to contravene the
schemes laid for his aggrandisement by his favourite, bestowed upon him
the principality of Sagan, in Silesia, and the whole of Mecklenburg, whilst he in
his turn proposed to gain the cro^\Ti of Denmark for his master, to create Tilly
duke of Brunswick-Calenberg and Pappenheim duke of Wolf enbiittel ; ancl,
in order to evade George's pretensions, that prince was sent to Italy under
pretence of securing the succession of the petty duchy of Mantua for the
emperor. /
In vain did the inhabitants of Mecklenburg supplicate to have their right-
ful dukes, whose family had reigned in their dominions for nearly a thousand
years, restored to them. Ferdinand forgot again, this time, the laws of
moderation in victory, and shamefully violated the constitution of the empire
in thus banishing these princes from their territories without legally impeach-
ing them before the electoral princes, and without giving them a hearing or
pronouncing judgment against them. On the contrary, it was to him an
object of great importance to secure for himself the presence of a Catholic
prmce of the empire on the coast of the Baltic Sea, who would thus be enabled
to keep in check the north of Germany, and form a protective power to watch
the proceedings of the Protestant kings of Denmark and Sweden; whilst
from this pomt he confidently hoped to be enabled to re-establish the Catholic
faith throughout the north. He also appears to have contemplated holding
complete dominion over the maritime commerce of the Baltic from this
quarter, for Wallenstein even assumed the title of admiral of the north and
eastern seas, and it is seen by his letters addressed to Arnim, general-in-chief
of the army in the north of Germany, during his absence, that the desire he
had most at heart was to burn all the Swedish and Danish vessels that sailed
within the range of his dominion, and to collect and establish a fleet of his own.
From Mecklenburg Wallenstein turned his looks towards its neighbouring
territory, Pomerania. The old duke, Bogislaw, was without any family, and
after his death his duchy might be very conveniently united with that of
Mecklenburg. A\^iat, however, was to this ambitious man of the utmost
importance, was the possession of Stralsund, which, it is true, was in the
dommion of the duke of Pomerania, but which, at the same time, as forming
part of the Hanseatic League, enjoyed many privileges, and an independent
administration in all its internal affairs. This city, as well as the whole
country, had contributed very large sums towards the maintenance of the
imperial troops; and now it was intended to furnish it with a garrison. This
the citizens refused to receive; and in the spring of the year 1628 Wallenstein
gave orders to General Arnim to march against and lay siege to the place.
The citizens, however, defended their walls with detei-mined courage and
perseverance, whilst the kings Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden anrl Christian
of Denmark furnished them with liberal supplies of troops, together with
ammunition and provisions from the sea-side. Their obstinate resistance
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 343
[1629 A.D.]
excited the furious wrath and indignation of the imperious general, and he
exclaimed : " Even if this Stralsund be linked by chains to the very heavens
above, still I swear it shall fall!" He then advanced in person against the
city, and repeatedly assaulted it; but he now learned to know what the
heroic courage of citizens can effect under prudent guidance; for after having
remained before the walls for several weeks, and suffered a loss of at least
twelve thousand men in the various desperate assaults made, he was forced,
to his no little mortification, to withdraw without accomplishing his object.
Meantime, the king of Denmark had demanded peace, which, contrary to,
all expectation, the emperor was advised by Wallenstein to conclude; from
which it may be presumed that, as he was now himself a prince of the empire,
he no longer considered it desirable to destroy further the power of the Ger-
man princes. The king, through the mediation of the general, made on the
12th of May, 1629, in Liibeck, a very advantageous peace, and he received
back all his lands, without paying the expenses of the war. But this peace
did not add much to the glory of the king, inasmuch as for his own preserva-
tion he sacrificed in the dukes of Mecklenburg two faithful allies. He promised
not to take any share in the affairs of Germany, otherwise than as a member
of the imperial states, and thus resigned the right he possessed to protect the
two dukes. Wallenstein now received from the emperor the investiture of
the duchy of Mecklenburg, and was thus confirmed in his rank among the
princes of the empire.
THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION
How rejoiced must the peacefully disposed inhabitants of Germany have
been, after their long persecution, when they received the happy tidings of
peace! The contest, indeed, could not now be continued any longer, for no
, enemy was left to oppose the emperor; whilst the duke of Bavaria had
obtained quiet possession of the electoral dignity, and that portion of the
' Palatinate which had been promised to him as an indemnification for his
; expenses in the war. The Protestants were now so completely reduced and
, subdued that there was no longer cause to dread fresh hostilities on their part.
The war had now reached its twelfth year, and every year had left behind it
I fresh traces of the ravages produced throughout the whole empire, turning
' flourishing provinces into deserts, and rendering once opulent citizens beggars
' and fugitives. The war, indeed, might now have easily been brought to a
I termination, had the victorious party only known when to fix the just limits of
1 their course, and if the emperor, after having thus completely purified his
: states of the new doctrines and re-established his authority therein with all its
; original power, had secured religious peace in all its plenitude to all the other
\ independent states of the empire, disbanded his army, and thus have deliv-
; ered the reduced and miserable country from that especially heavy burden.
; But nothing is more difficult to the human mind than to restrain itself in its
i course amidst prosperity. The Catholic party imagined this was a moment
itoo favourable for them to neglect, and they determined, accordingly, to
' draw all the advantages they could from the fortunate state of circumstances
; in which they were placed. They demanded of the Protestants the restitution
\ of all the ecclesiastical benefices of which they had taken possession since the
''Treaty of Passau, in 1552; being no less than two archbishoprics, Bremen and
i Magdeburg, twelve bishoprics, and a multitude of inferior benefices and con-
! vents. Until this moment, the restitution of what it had been so long the
I acknowledged right of the Protestants to hold possession had never been for an
i instant contemplated; but now, however, urged on by the Catholics, the
344 THE HOLY EOMAN^ EMPIEE
[162^1630 A.D.]
emperor published a solemn edict, known under the title of the Edict of
Restitution, dated the 6th of March, 1629. "The Protestants," says a dis-
tinguished historian, " were completely paralysed, whilst the more short-
sighted portion of their adversaries hailed it with exultation." The cause,
however, for such exultation produced eventually unutterable calamity all
over Germany.
Under these circumstances, therefore, it was determmed not to disband
either of the two grand armies at this moment engaged in their devastations
tlu-oughout the empire; their services were retamed in order to bring into
effect the execution of the Edict of Restitution, and orders were accordingly
issued that they should assist, if necessary, with the force of their arms, the
various imperial deputies authorised by the government to witness the due
accomplishment of its decrees. Operations were immediately commenced,
and the south of Germany was selected as the spot to receive the first visita-
tion. The city of Augsburg was forced, amongst the rest, to acknowledge the
ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop, and- renounce the Protestant form of
worship, whilst the duke of Wiirtemberg was obliged to restore all his monas-
teries. In addition to all this, the Catholic league, in a meetmg which took
place in Heidelberg, made a resolution " not to restore any of the possessions
conquered by their arms, whether spiritual or temporal, unless they were
indemnified beforehand for all their war expenses." Thence the Protestants
were threatened with still greater danger from the league party than even
from the emperor himself.
But the intolerable tjnranny exercised by Wallenstein's army produced
increasing indignation, and excited still more loudly the complaints and
murmurs of both parties, which attained at length such a degree of irresistible
power that the emperor could no longer shut his eyes against the universal
ruin — no respect being shown for either party, friends or foes. Catholics or
Protestants — caused by those overbearing, ruthless violators of right and
justice. The emperor's own brother, Leopold, himself wrote him a long
letter in which he gave a dreadful and harrowing description of the pillage,
incendiarisms, murderous outrages, and other shameful oppressions inflicted
by the imperial troops upon the peaceful inhabitants.^
THE DISMISSAL OF WALLENSTEIN
While Gustavus Adolphus was embarking for the purpose of brandishing
the war torch, which was scarcely extinguished in Germany, the emperor
Ferdinand II left his royal residence in Vienna to open his first diet at Ratis-
bon. The openmg took place on the 3rd of July, 1630. The elector of Bava-
ria and the three ecclesiastical princes were present; Saxony and Branden-
burg excused themselves. The emperor first dealt with the cause of the
count palatine, Frederick V, and foreign politics; before all things, the electors
demanded redress against the Friedland soldiery by the dismissal of the gen-
eral. All present contended against the unlimited power of Wallenstein,
"who forced everyone to do his will without right, even without just pre-
texts," and against the unbearable pressure of his warriors. The electors did
not rest at the dismissal of the over-powerful general. At the time that the
duchy of Mecklenburg had been given over to him they had protested against
the act. This matter, which had not troubled the emperor, they now brought
up for discussion. They demanded' that the empire should become consti-
tutional. This would require that justice should be open to the dukes of
Mecklenburg, and that defence should be granted them.
u
THE THIRTY YEAES' WAR 345
[1630 A.D.]
After long opposition Ferdinand II finally declared on August 13th that he
wished to alter the command of his army. Nevertheless a new difficulty
arose. The landmg of the Swedish king made the appointment of a new
commander-m-chief an immediate necessity, and for a long time the emperor
and the elector could not agree. The emperor's attention was next drawn
to Tilly. The ancient hero at first refused the acceptance of the imperial
command; then, hesitatingly, he took up with the imperial offer. The con-
federate princes urged the
emperor to accelerate the
dismissal of Wallenstein.
The emperor entrusted the
serious task of informing
the mighty man of his dis-
missal to two of the latter's
okl friends, the chancellor
Von Werdenberg and the
war councillor Von Ques-
tenberg. It was not with-
out fear that they ap-
proached him. Wallenstein
received them with great
■ politeness and entertained
them with great splendour.
After the conversation had
for long run on ordmary
matters, they took heart
and began to execute their
mission. The duke, who
for a long time had already
I been informed tlirough his
; adherents and paid friends
, of everything that had
taken place at Ratisbon,
, immediately interrupted
; them. " These papers,"
said he, taking a Latin
'manuscript off the table,
" contain the horoscope of
the emperor and the elector
.of Bavaria. From them
I you can for yourselves see that I know your mission. The stars show that
the spirit of the elector dominates the spirit of the emperor. I do not blame
, the emperor for this. I am truly sony that the emperor espouses my cause
so little; but I will obey."
' He dismissed the deputies with rich presents. He thanked the emperor
J by letter for all the trust he had conferred on him up till now, and begged hun
■to protect him in his possessions. The emperor, yielding to the requests of
the electors, had decided to institute an investigation of the affairs of the
duke of Mecklenburg, and ordered Wallenstein to betake himself to his pos-
I sessions in Bohemia until it was over. Wallenstein willingly acceded to this:
I in his banishment he nevertheless thought to carry away the sure hope that
jthe course of events was preparing a complete triumph for him over his
isnemies, and that the emperor would be obliged to recall hun.^
GUSTAVUS Adolphds
(1594-1633)
346 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIRE
[1611-1630 A. D.]
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
The power of the Protestant princes had now become much weakened,
and the Edict of Restitution was carried into effect generally. Those who
knew the character of Ferdinand might easily foresee what were his designs
against the new church, and it was scarcely necessary to question whether or
not his grand object was to annihilate its entire existence, for the proceedings
adopted throughout the empire clearly showed what its party had to expect.
But amidst this growing danger, and indeed almost in the very moment itself
when the minds of the Protestants, as they beheld the crisis gradually
approaching, had sunk into that state of despondency and settled gloom
which the sad succession of events must naturally produce, they received,
most unexpectedly, assistance from a nation hitherto but little known and
living in uninterrupted seclusion within the frontiers of their northern terri-
tory. This people, the Swedes, were nevertheless distinguished for their
bravery, whilst they were steadfast and faithful in their religious principles,
being the descendants of the Goths, the noblest of all those nations most justly
entitled to boast of their German origin. In the year 1611 Gusta\ais Adol-
phus succeeded to the Swedish throne, and he it was who was destined to lead
his people upon the grand scene of this eventful period. It was this firm con-
viction, so deeply emplanted in his mind, by which Gusta\ais felt inspired to
undertake the mighty contest against the powerful house of Austria.
His great plan was immediately demonstrated in the first moment of his
appearance upon the scene. Previous to the war in Germany he had already
conquered from the Russians and Poles the provinces along the coast, Inger-
manland, Karelia, and Livonia, together with a portion of Prussia. Various
important motives compelled him now to take a share in the affairs of Ger-
many. He had been very seriously provoked and mortified by the emperor
Ferdinand; his mtercession in favour of the Protestants and his cousins the
dukes of Mecklenburg, as well as his mediation for peace with Denmark, had
been treated with great contempt, and disdainfully rejected; whilst, in addi-
tion to this, Wallenstein had even sent ten thousand imperial troops to the
aid of the Poles against him. Beyond all these causes of complaint, however,
which might perhaps still have been peacefully adjusted by negotiation, his
presence was summoned by the danger which now hovered over the Prot-
estant church, and the fear he entertained lest, in the person of Wallenstein,
a fresh power might usurp the coast of the Baltic Sea, and thus strengthen
and extend the cause of Austria and Catholicism.
The danger to which the city of Stralsund was exposed had already pro-
duced his co-operation in favour of that place. He not only yielded to its
wishes in this respect, but formed an alliance with it, by which it placed itself
under his protection, and it was indebted to the succour he afforded especially
for its preservation when besieged by Wallenstein. Now, however, when he
beheld that the cause of Protestantism was menaced more seriously than ever
throughout the whole of Germany, he took the decisive step, and formally de-
claring war against the emperor, he on the 24th of June, 1630, landed on the
coast of Pomerania with fifteen thousand Swedes. As soon as he stepped
upon shore, he dropped on his knees in prayer, whilst his example was imme-
diately followed by his whole army. Truly he had undertaken, with but
small and limited means, a great and mighty enterprise !
Wlien the emperor was informed of his landing, he, in his feeling of confi-
dence, inspired by his continual success, appeared to treat the affair with
much indifference. All the Catholic party throughout the empire turned the
THE THIRTY YEAES' WAR 347
[1630 A.D.]
fact of the arrival of the petty king of the north, as they termed him, into
ridicule, and styled him, in contempt, the snow king, who would speedily
melt beneath the rays of the imperial sun. But these fifteen thousand men
constituted an army of heroes, a phalanx of hardy warriors, belonging as it
were to another world; their ranks were regulated by strict discipline and
religious principles, whilst those opposed to them knew nothing of war but
barbarism, and that licentious exercise of its worst passions which under no
circumstances would be curbed or submit to reason. The imperials were a
mixture of all nations and creeds, and bound together by no other ties but
those of connnon warfare and pillage; the Swedes, on the other hand, were
strengthened in the confidence they felt that God fought on their side, and
to him they offered up their prayers regularly twice a day, each regiment
possessing its o'v\-n chaplain. Besides this, the inventive genius of Gustavus
had introduced the exercise of some new military tactics into his army. He
surprised his enemies by the novelty and boldness of his positions and order
of battle-attacks. Hitherto it had been their practice to form the line of
battle ten rows deep, but Gustavus reduced it to six in the infantry and four
in the cavalry; whence his little army gained considerably in extension, and
was more easy and rapid in its movements when in battle, whilst the balls
; from the enemy's artillery committed less damage among their ranks, thus
[. less densely crowded. The Swedish troops, especially the foot soldiers, were
; likewise less heavily supplied with armour and other accoutrements, by which
I they were enabled to fire off their muskets with much more ease and despatch,
they being also constructed of far lighter materials than those of the impe-
rials.
The imperials, whose forces were by no means strong in the vicinity of the
coast, were soon driven out of Riigen and the smaller islands at the mouth
; of the Oder, and Gustavus now marched against Stettin, the capital of the
, duchy of Pomerania. The duke, who was both old and timid, would not
; venture to decide upon joining the king of Sweden, and yet he could not
' resolve to oppose him. After long hesitation, during which Gustavus used
' every means of persuasion in firm but mild and consoling language, he at
length surrendered to him the city, which the king intended at once to con-
] vert into a principal military depot during the war.
The Protestant princes of the empire, like the duke of Pomerania, appeared
^ quite undetermined how to receive their new ally. The king had invited them
all to unite and form one grand alliance; but many felt too much afraid, and
dreaded the vengeance of the emperor, others were jealous of all foreign
dominion in case of success, whilst the rest felt disposed rather to remain
; faithful in their allegiance to the empire and government than to risk any
' change whatever. Gusta\Tis was by no means pleased with the disposition
thus shown: ''We evangelicals," he said, in his address to the inhabitants of
Erfurt, " are placed in a position similar to a vessel when in a storm. In such
a moment it does not suffice for a few only to labour with zeal for the general
I safety whilst the rest of the crew look quietly on with their arms folded;
I all ought to work together, and each ought to assist with all his might m the
! particular part assigned to him." The Protestants, however, possessed no
;Such spirit of union, neither did they cherish that conscientiousness of pur-
, pose so necessary. As usual they were divided among themselves by jealousy
land prejudice. The Palatinate was entirely subjected; and Saxony, which
' for a length of time had kept aloof from the evangelicals, and at times, during
^the period of the palatine's influence, had even adhered to_ Austria, was now
'vacillating between its dread of Austria and a foreign prince.
348 THE HOLY ROMAN" EMPIEE
[16:^0-1631 A.D.]
The king of Sweden, now reinforced by a large number of enlisted troops,
advanced with rapid marches direct through Pomerania, and completely beat
and put to flight the whole of the imperials before him. The latter in their
retreat devastated the country, pillaged all the towns, many of which they
burned, and ill-treated and murdered the inhabitants. This dreadful war
now resumed all its horrors. The Swedes, so steady and strict in their disci-
pline, appeared as protecting angels, and as the king advanced the belief
spread far and near throughout the land that he was sent from heaven as its
preserver.
Gusta\ais desired to march in security step by step, and not to leave any
fortified place in his rear; after he had carried by assault Frankfort-on-the-
Oder, which contained a garrison of eight thousand imperials, he desired the
elector of Brandenburg to surrender into his hands the fortified towns of
Kiistrin and Spandau. The elector, although related by marriage to Gusta-
vus, who had married his sister, hesitated; but the king marched on towards
Berlin, and invited him to a conference on the plain between Berlin and
Cospenik. Here, however, the prince still continued to hold out, when, at
length, the king exclaimed with warmth: "^ly roads leads to Magdeburg —
at this moment closely besieged by Tilly — whither I must hasten, although
not for my own advantage but solely for that of the evangelicals. If none,
however, will lend me their aid, I will free myself from all reproach and return
to Stockholm; but bear in mind, prince, that on the last day of judgment you
yourself will be condemned for refusing to do aught in the cause of the Gospel,
and perhaps even in this world you may receive the punisliment due from
God. For if Magdeburg be taken, and I withdraw, imagine what must hap-
pen to you!" This appeal produced its effects; the elector surrendered Span-
dau into his hands at once. The distance thence to ^lagdeburg was but
short, and the inhabitants of that hard-pressed city were most urgent in their
prayers for assistance ; unhappily, however, Gusta\Tis found it quite mipossi-
ble to cross the Elbe in face of the enemy so as to proceed by the direct road.
Accordingly he requested permission from the elector of Saxony to pass
through his territory, his object being to proceed to Wittenberg; but the
prince refused to grant the accommodation desired. Whilst, however, the
king was engaged in endeavouring to prevail upon the elector to accede to his
request, the dreadful, fatal day of conquest arrived, and the devoted city was
lost.
The city of Magdeburg, which from the commencement had continued to
distinguish itself for its zeal in the cause of the Protestant faith, was likewise
the first in the list to throw itself into the arms of the preserver of religious
liberty. The people urgently invited him to direct his march towards the
Elbe, and promised not only to throw open their gates to him, but enlisted at
once a number of soldiers for his service; whilst Gustavus, who perceived the
great importance of such a grand depot, accepted their offers with eagerness,
and lost no tune in endeavouring to meet their wishes. Tilly, however, who
was equally aware of the advantage to be derived by his adversary from the
occupation of such an important place, used all diligence to make himself
master of it before the king's arrival. He commenced the siege in the month
of March, 1631, seconded by General Pappenheim, a brave and determined
officer. In the city itself there were only two hundred Swedes, under the
command of Melcher of Falkenberg, whom Gustavus had shortly before
despatched as commandant of the city; but the inhabitants, full of courage
and religious zeal, united in defending the place with determined perseverance.
They had even erected two strong entrenchments in front of the city walls,
THE THIETY YEARS' WAR 349
[1631 A.D.]
which, in testimony of their undaunted resolution, they styled Trutz-Tilly
(defiance to Tilly), and Trutz-Pappenheim (defiance to Pappenheim).<^
THE CAPTURE OF MAGDEBURG DESCRIBED BY SCHILLER
The outworks were soon carried, and Falkenberg, after withdrawing the
garrisons from the points which he could no longer hold, destroyed the bridge
over the Elbe. As his troops were barely sufficient to defend the extensive
fortifications, the suburbs of Sudenburg and Neustadt were abandoned to the
enemy, who unmediately laid them in ashes. Pappenheim, now separated
from Tilly, crossed the Elbe at Schonebeck, and attacked the town from the
opposite side.
The garrison, reduced by the defence of the outworks, scarcely exceeded
two thousanfl infantry and a few hundred horse — a small number for so
extensive and irregular a fortress. To supply this deficiency, the citizens
were armed — a desperate expedient, which produced more evils than those
it prevented. The citizens, at best but indifferent soldiers, by their disunion
threw the town into confusion. The poor complained that they were exposed
to every hardship and danger, while the rich, by hiring substitutes, remained
at home in safety. These rmnours broke out at last in an open mutiny;
indifference succeeded to zeal; weariness and negligence took the place of
vigilance and foresight. Dissension, combined with growing scarcity, gradu-
ally produced a feeling of despondency; many began to tremble at the des-
perate nature of their undertaking, and the magnitude of the power to which
they were opposed. But religious zeal, an ardent love of liberty, an invincible
hatred to the Austrian yoke, and the expectation of speedy relief, banished
as yet the idea of a surrender; and divided as they were in everything else,
they were united in the resolve to defend themselves to the last extremity.
Their hopes of succour were apparently w'ell founded. They knew that
the confederacy of Leipsic was arming ; they w^ere aw^are of the near approach
of Gustavus Adolphus. Both were alike interested in the preservation of
Magdeburg, and a few days might bring the king of Sweden before its walls.
All this was also knowm to Tilly, w^ho, therefore, was anxious to make himself
speedily master of the place. With this view, he had despatched a trumpeter
with letters to the administrator, the commandant, and the magistrates,
offering terms of capitulation; but he received for answer that they would
rather die than surrender. A spirited sally of the citizens also convinced
him that their courage was as earnest as their w^ords, while the king's arrival
at Potsdam, with the incursions of the Sw^edes as far as Zerbst, filled him with.
uneasiness, but raised the hopes of the garrison. A second trumpeter was
now despatched; but the more moderate tone of his demands increased the
confidence of the besieged, and unfortunately their negligence also.
The besiegers had now pushed their approaches as far as the ditch, and
vigorously cannonaded the fortifications from the abandoned batteries. One
tower w^as entirely overthrown, but this did not facilitate an assault, as it fell
sidewise upon the wall, and not into the ditch. Notwithstanding the con-
tinual bombardment, the walls had not suffered much; and the fire-balls
which w^ere intended to set the town in flames were robbed of their effect by
the excellent precautions adopted against them. But the ammunition of the
besieged was nearly expended, and the cannon of the town gradually ceased to
answer the fire of the imperials. Before a new supply could be obtained,
Magdeburg would be either relieved or taken. The hopes of the besieged were
on the stretch, and all eyes anxiously directed towards the quarter in which
350 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1631 A.D.]
the Swedish banners were expected to appear. Gustavus Adolphus was near
enough to reach Magdeburg within three days; security grew with hope,
which all things contributed to augment. On the 9th of May, the fire of the
imperials was suddenly stopped, and the cannon withdrawn from several of
the batteries. A deathlike stillness reigned in the imperial camp. The
besieged were convinced that deliverance was at hand. Both citizens and
soldiers left their posts upon the ramparts early in the morning, to indulge
themselves, after their long toils, with the refreshment of sleep; but it was
indeed a costly sleep and a frightful awakening.
Tilly had abandoned the hope of taking the town, before the arrival of the
Swedes, by the means which he had hitherto adopted; he therefore determined
to raise the siege, but first to hazard a general assault. This plan, however,
was attended with great difficulties, as no breach had been effected, and the
works were scarcely injured. But the council of war assembled on this
occasion declared for an assault, citing the example of Maestricht, which had
been taken early in the morning, while the citizens and soldiers were reposing.
The attack was to be made simultaneously on four points ; the night betwixt
the 9th and 10th of May was employed in the necessary preparations. Every-
thing was ready and awaiting the signal, which was to be given by cannon at
five o'clock in the morning. The signal, however, was not given until two
hours later; during the interval Tilly, who was still doubtful of success, again
consulted the council of war. Pappenheim was ordered to attack the works
of the new town, where the attempt was favoured by a sloping rampart and a
dry ditch of moderate depth. The citizens and soldiers had mostly left the
walls, and the few who remained were overcome with sleep. This general,
therefore, found little difficulty in mounting the wall at the head of his troops.
Falkenberg, roused by the report of musketry, hastened from the town-
house, where he was employed in despatching Tilly's second trumpeter, and
hurried with all the force he could hastily assemble towards the gate of the
new town, which was already in the possession of the enemy. Beaten back,
this intrepid general flew to another quarter, where a second party of the
enemy were preparing to scale the walls. After an ineffectual resistance he
fell in the commencement of the action. The roar of musketry, the pealing
of the alarm-bells, and the growing tumult apprised the awakening citizens
of their danger. Hastily arming themselves, they rushed in blind confusion
against the enemy. Still some hope of repulsing the besiegers remained; but
the governor being killed, their efforts were without plan and co-operation,
and at last their ammunition began to fail them. In the meanwhile, two
other gates, hitherto imattacked, were stripped of their defenders, to meet the
urgent danger within the town. The enemy quickly availed themselves of
this confusion to attack these posts. The resistance was nevertheless spirited
and obstinate, until four imperial regiments at length, masters of the ram-
parts, fell upon the garrison in the rear, and completed their rout. Amidst
the general tmnult, a brave captain, named Schmidt, who still headed a few
of the more resolute against the enemy, succeeded in driving them to the
gates; here he fell mortally wounded, and with him expired the hopes of
Magdeburg. Before noon all the works were carried, and the town was in
the enemy's hands.
Two gates were now opened by the storming party for the main body, and
Tilly marched in with part of his infantry. Immediately occupying the prin-
cipal streets, he drove the citizens with pointed cannon into their dwellings,
there to await their destiny. They w^ere not long held in suspense; Tilly's
indifference decided the fate of Magdeburg. Even a more humane general
THE THIETY YEARS' WAR 351
[1631 A.D.]
would in vain have recommended mercy to such soldiers; but Tilly never
made the attempt. Left by their general's silence masters of the lives of all
the citizens, the soldiery broke into the houses to satiate their most brutal
appetites. The prayers of innocence excited some compassion in the hearts
of the Germans, but none in the rude breasts of Pappenheim's Walloons.
Scarcely had the savage cruelty commenced, when the other gates were thrown
open, and the cavalry, with the fearful hordes of Croats, poured in upon the
devoted inhabitants.
Here unfolded a scene of horrors for w^iich history has no language —
poetry no pencil. Neither innocent childhood nor hapless old age, neither
youth, sex, rank, nor beauty could disarm the fury of the conquerors. Wives
were abused in the arms of their husbands, daughters at the feet of their
parents ; and the defenceless sex was exposed to the double sacrifice of virtue
and life. No situation, however obscure or however sacred, escaped the
rapacity of the enemy. In a single church fifty-three women were found
beheaded. The Croats amused themselves with throwing children into the
flames; Pappenheim's Walloons, with stabbing infants at their mothers'
breasts. Some officers of the league, horror-struck at this dreadful scene,
ventured to remind Tilly that he had it in his power to stop the carnage.
"Return in an hour," was his answer; "I will see what I can do: the soldier
must have some reward for his danger and toils." These horrors lasted with.
unbated fury till at last the smoke and flames proved a check to the plunder-
ers. To augment the confusion and to divert the resistance of the inhabi-
tants, the imperials had, in the commencement of the assault, fired the town
in several places. The wind rising rapidly spread the flames, till the blaze
became universal.
Fearful indeed was the tumult, amid clouds of smoke, heaps of dead
bodies, the clash of swords, the crash of falling ruins, and streams of blood.
The atmosphere glowed; and the intolerable heat forced at last even the
murderers to take refuge in their camp. In less than twelve hours, this
strong, populous, and flourishing city, one of the finest in Germany, was
reduced to ashes, w^ith the exception of two churches and a few houses. The
administrator. Christian William, after receiving several wounds, was taken
prisoner, w'ith three of the burgomasters; most of the officers and magis-
trates had already met an enviable death. The avarice of the officers had
saved four hundred of the richest citizens, in the hope of extorting from them
an exorbitant ransom. But this humanity was confined to the officers of
the league, wdiom the ruthless barbarity of the miperials caused to be regarded
as guardian angels.
Scarcely had the fury of the flames abated, when the imperials returned
to renew the pillage amid the ruins and ashes of the town. Many were sufTo-
cated by the smoke; many found rich booty in the cellars, where the citizens
had concealed their more valuable effects. Horrible and revolting to human-
ity was the scene that presented itself: the living crawling from under the
dead, children wandering about with heart-rendmg cries, calling for their
parents; and infants still sucking the breasts of their lifeless mothers. More
than six thousand bodies were thrown into the Elbe to clear the streets; a
much greater nmnber had been consumed by the flames. The whole number
of the slain was reckoned at not less than thirty thousand.
Tilly himself appeared in the town, after the streets had been cleared of
ashes and dead bodies. The entrance of the general, which took place on the
14th, put a stop to the plunder, and saved a few who had hitherto contrived
to escape. About a thousand people were taken out of the cathedral, where
352 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1631 A.D.I
they had remained three days and two nights, without food and in momentary
fear of death. TiUy promised them quarter, and commanded bread to be
distributed among them. The next day, a solemn mass was performed m
the cathedral and Te Deiim sung amidst the discharge of artillery. The
imperial general rode through the streets, that he might be able, as an eye-
witness, to inform his master that no such conquest had been made since the
destruction of Troy and Jerusalem. Nor was this an exaggeration, whether
we consider the greatness, importance, and prosperity of the city rased, or
the fury of its ravagers.'^
TILLY MEETS GUSTAVUS
After the conquest of Magdeburg, Tilly was very desirous of having a
battle with the king of Sweden, for his troops suffered much in that ravaged
district from want of supplies; Gustavus, however, considered he was not
yet in sufficient force to risk a meeting, and he continued to keep himself
entrenched in his camp of Werben, in Altmark. He was, likewise, extremely
anxious to restore his cousins, the banished dukes of Mecklenburg, to their
hereditary possessions. Accordingly, he furnished them with the necessary
troops, with which they reconquered their dominions and made their solemn
entry into their town of Giistrow, in which Wallenstein had previously estab-
lished his court residence. The king heightened the interest of the grand
festival given upon the occasion by attending it in person, and he ordered
that every mother with a suckling child should attend in the open square,
and that each infant should receive some of the wine there generally distrib-
uted, in order that the children of their children might forever remember the
day of the return of their own legitimate princes.
Tilly, meantime, now turned his eyes towards the rich provinces of Saxony
which had hitherto escaped the devastation of war, and in the vicinity of
which he had now taken up his position. At the same time, however, it was
certainly an act of injustice and ingratitude to inflict the burden of war upon
the elector of Saxony, who had shown so much fidelity towards the house of
Austria ; but Tilly very soon found a pretext for the proceeding. He referred
to the imperial decree which ordered that all the members of the Leipsic
League should lay down their arms; and, as he found that the elector, in
spite of this command, still continued on the defensive, he immediately
marched into Saxony without even making any declaration of war; and
taking possession of and pillaging the cities of Merseburg, Zeitz, Naumburg,
and Weissenfels, he advanced to Leipsic itself. This unjust act of violence
effected more than all the persuasive eloquence of the king might have pro-
duced, for the elector threw himself immediately and without any reserve
into his arms, concluded with him a firm and definitive alliance, offensive and
defensive, and joined him with his army at Diiben on the 3rd of September,
1631.
On this same day the imperial general made his attack upon Leipsic,
which had closed its gates against him, and he took possession of it the next
day; but the king now advanced with his united forces to recover the city,
and the day had at length arrived on which the decisive trial was to take
place between the old and hitherto unconquered general of the emperor, and
the royal and youthful hero of Sweden. Gustavus, who knew how necessary
it was that he should succeed by a grand action to secure and command the
confidence of Germany based upon his genius and good fortune, felt deeply
the importance of this day, and wavered in his determination. He still
THE THIETY YEAES' WAR 353
[1631 A.D.]
doubted the prudence of staking the fate of the war upon a single battle;
for there was too much reason to believe that the loss of this action must put
an end to all his hopes on that side of the ocean, whilst it would produce the
ruin of the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, together with the complete
and final destruction of the Protestant church throughout the whole empire.
The elector of Saxony, however, who could no longer endure to behold his
country thus demolished by the hands of a pitiless and ruthless foe, urged the
kmg in the most forcible language to give battle, and Gustavus accordingly
yielded and marched on to Leipsic. The two armies met in the fields of the
village of Breitenfeld, on the 7th of September, 1631, and there fought the
decisive battle, Gustavus divided the Saxons from the rest of his troops,
and posted them on his left wing, for as they were only recently enlisted he
could not put entire trust in them.^^
BATTLE OF BREITENFELD, OR LEIPSIC (1631)
Until mid-day between one and two nothing decisive had taken place.
Then the actual battle began, for the left wing of the enemy advanced against
the right wing of the Swedes, endeavouring to penetrate its right flank and
thus gain the wind. In consequence of the displacement of the Swedish front
farther to the right, the Pappenheim cavalry, which had to left-wheel so as to
attack the enemy's wing, lost connection with their centre. Instead of restor-
; ing this connection, they committed a new error, in drawing still further to the
west (calculated from their standpoint) when engaged with the Swedish right
wing. The king realising this movement strengthened his right wing by fresh
troops, which were soon broken by the enemy and compelled to take to flight.
Now the centre of the enemy, the whole compact mass of its infantry,
flanked on both sides by cavalry, began to descend the heights. It was Tilly's
plan to throw himself with all his weight on to the newly recruited and inex-
perienced Saxons, and only after having overcome them to deal with the more
'; terrible enemy. Tilly's battalions held the Saxons for a long time. The
; Saxon cavalry and artillery tried to defend themselves, but when their best
1 constable [gunner] had fallen, they could no longer be controlled. The
artillerymen deserted their guns, the infantry retreated in company form,
'and even the cavalry took to flight. The elector himself fled, surrounded by
!his bodyguard, and did not halt till he reached Eilenburg. As they fled, the
Saxons spread the report that they were beaten and all was lost. The Swe-
|dish troops, who were behind the line of battle with the convoy and baggage,
'With terror heard the cry; they immediately turned and hastened in great
disorder to Diiben.
1 Having repulsed the Saxons, Tilly's infantry attacked the exposed left
I lank of the Swedes, and the regiment of Fiirstenberg moved out to attack
'hem in the rear. It is proof of the progress of the Swedish art of manoeu-
i^o-ing that Horn was able at this threatening moment to wheel round the whole
1 eft wing, by which he fronted the enemy. Out of the second line of the
'centre, Gustavus Adolphus in person led the two brigades which stood next to
'i Horn's left wing, and opposed them to the superior force of the enemy._
■ In this place the battle raged long and furiously; on the imperial side the
^'iirstenberg cavalry of the right wing especially distinguished themselves.
The imperial infantry stood as a rock, and bravely repelled all attacks of the
iiwedish cavalry. Then, at the command of Gustavus Adolphus, the East
'Gothic cavalry came from the right wing. Field-Marshal Horn placed him-
ielf at their head, divisions of musketeers joined them, and thus they advanced
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2a
f?54 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1631 A. D.]
for the decisive attack. First of all occurred a couple of furious musketry
salvos, then a terrible melee with the enemy. Horn's ranks were broken
through, the Spanish battalions scattered. The Swedes afterwards retook
the Saxon cannon, and conquered the enemy's own battery. When evening
came, the Swedes were conquerors, the forces of the enemy were all destroyed
except four regiments, which succeeded in escaping, veiled by the thick clouds
of dust raised by the melee. The Swedish cavalry pursued the fugitives until
dark.
The loss of men on both sides was considerable. The number of wounded
and dead on the Swedish side was given at twenty-one hundred; that of the
imperials, in battle and in the pursuit, at from ten to twelve thousand. So
many prisoners were taken that not only could broken regiments be filled up
with them, but new regiments were formed. A report mentions seven thou-
sand prisoners. In any case, as Gustavus Adolphus wrote, the enemy's
infantry was completely destroyed; entire regiments, as that of Holstein,
had been cut to pieces. Both sides had heavy losses in superior officers.?
After Breitenfeld the progress of the Protestant army was a triumphal
march through south Germany. The castle of Wiirzburg was stormed, the
Spanish garrison of Oppenheim put to the sword; Christmas of 1631 was
spent at Mainz in feasting and drinking. Louis XIII began to be alarmed at
the successes of Gustavus. "It is high time," he observed, "to set a limit to
the progress of this Goth." But the "Goth" entered Nuremberg in March,
1632, and was idolised as the saviour of the Protestant cause and a descendant
of the old hereditary burggrafs of tlie town. The imperials were driven out of
Donauworth on the 5th of April. On the 14th the Swedes encountered Tilly,
who was guarding the passage of the Lech. The river was crossed in the
teeth of the enemy, and Tilly was mortally wounded. He was carried to .
Ingolstadt, only to die. At Augsburg Gustavus even demanded an oath of I
obedience, as from subject to sovereign.
Bavaria claimed attention next. With Frederick, the exiled elector pala-
tine, at his side, Gustavus rode into Munich. It was not the fault of Gustavus
if Frederick was not again ruling at Heidelberg. Gustavus had offered him his I
ancestral territories on the condition that he would allow Swedish garrisons J
to occupy his fortresses during the war, and that he would give equal liberty j
to the Lutheran and Calvinist forms of worship. Against this latter demand j
Frederick's narrow-hearted Calvinism steeled itself, and when, not many
months later, he was carried off by a fever at Bacharach, he w^as still, through
his own fault, a homeless wanderer on the face of the earth.
All Germany, except the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria, was '
at the feet of Gustavus. The position of the emperor was growing desperate. ;
It was at_ this critical stage that the Spaniards recommended the recall of ,
Wallenstein. The secret hopes of Wallenstein had risen at the reluctance j
with which John George and the Saxons had forsaken the emperor. True, !
they had marched through Bohemia after their disorderly flight from Breiten- '
feld, and had entered Prague amid almost universal enthusiasm; but Wallen-'
stein hoped they might be won from their new allies by sacrificing the Edict
of Restitution. All Germany could then resist Swedes and Frenchmen,
nominally under the sway of Ferdinand but practically under that of the gen-;
eral who had become indispensable.
The articles of Znakn, in which Wallenstein agreed to resume conmiand,
have been called an unparalleled document in history. They were finally
agreed upon in April, 1632, and provided that no army could be introduced
into the empire except under Wallenstein's command. He alone was to
THE THIRTY YEAES' WAE 355
[1632 A.D.]
possess the right of confiscation and pardon. He could then create a new
class of princes, who would owe their existence entirely to him. If Mecklen-
burg was not recovered he was to have a princely territory elsewhere. The
power of Wallenstein, like that of Napoleon the Great, was largely due to his
military supremacy. Like Napoleon, upon that military supremacy he
attempted to found an indisputable sovereignty. His power for raising
armies was truly prodigious. From Italy, from Scotland, from Poland, from
every German land between the Baltic and the Alps, men flocked to his
standard. With Wallenstein's acceptance of the permanent command in
April, the emperor was practically retiring before the tyranny of a dictator.
Wallenstein began by attacking the Saxons in Bohemia, forcing the garri-
son in Prague to surrender on the 22nd of May, 1632. Soon not a Saxon
remained in Bohemia. John George was now between two fires of negotia-
tion — one from Gustavus, the other from Wallenstein. He knew not whether
to favour the Swedish king's Corpus Evangelicorum or Wallenstein's plans for
unity of empire. Before John George's hesitating answer could reach Gusta-
vus, the war blazed out afresh ; Wallenstein fell upon Nuremberg, into which
Gustavus had thrown himself to defend the town. Along the Rhine from
Alsace to Coblenz, Pappenheim and the Spaniards were carrymg on the war.«
THE SIEGE OF NUREMBERG
It soon became apparent in which direction the enemy would turn. Wal-
lenstein and the allied forces followed him from Eger and reached Nuremberg
a few days after Gustavus Adolphus. But he had no battle in view, although
Maximilian of Bavaria urged one upon him. The imperial general declared,
not without reason, that he could not put the force, of which he had only just
assumed command and which was not yet sufficiently disciplined, to such a
test. He preferred to set ten regiments and nine companies to work uninter-
ruptedly at a strongly-fortified camp, which was ready in three days. It
stretched on the left bank of the Rednitz for two and a half miles round, from
Stein to Fiirth. It was an entrenchment such as had never before been seen
in Germany. His strongest point was the so-called old castle stable, or " the
old fortress," near which was a forester's house. In this stronghold Wallen-
stein, with his force of from sixty to eighty thousand men, now waited grimly
immovable with the intention, no doubt, of starving out the Swedes. He
declared that he wished to teach the Swedish monarch, who until now had
boldly and steadily advanced, another aspect of warfare ; he was to break his
I head against these impregnable fortifications. Gustavus Adolphus tried once
, more, and again in vain, to entice his enemy from his stronghold, and win him
to an open encounter in the field.
; For months these two generals, the greatest of their time, faced each other
before the walls of the old free city, without any serious encounter taking
'place. Only now and then there were skirmishes around newly arriving
' provision-convoys, in one of which the Swedes succeeded m taking prisoner
: Colonel Sparre, afterwards general and master of the ordnance, who was
'repeatedly employed by Wallenstein in his negotiations with Saxony. Con-
sidering the enormous number of troops assembled on a disproportionately
■small piece of ground, it was inevitable that after a tune, first within the town
'itself, but afterwards in both encampments, there should be a very serious
; scarcity of foodstuffs. Soon the resources of the whole country for miles
'iround were completely exhausted. The mortality, particularly in the town
350 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
ri632 A.D.]
itself, raj}itlly increased; numbers of horses succumbed, polluting the air of the
camp with the odour of putrefaction.
The situation became all the more serious for Gustavus Adolphus, because
whilst he was condenmed to absolute inactivity his generals in Bavaria and
along the Rhine were pressed harder and harder by the enemy. In order to
put an end to this intolerable position, Gustavus Adolphus decided to attempt
what most of those experienced in warfare considered an impossible enter-
prise, namely an attack upon the entrenchments of Wallenstein's camp.
From all sides he drew his detached corps together into one central force with-
out Wallenstein's doing anything to hinder him. Then, after making one
more fruitless attempt to move the imperial forces to a battle, on September
3rd, he ordered the attack to be made. With indomitable courage he hurled
his Swedish troops, hitherto unvanquished, upon those terrible fortifications.
A most murderous battle raged round the "old fortress." Three times the
valorous Swedes scaled the walls, to be repulsed each time by Colalto's men.
Bernhard of Weimar succeeded, it is true, in storming a neighbouring hill,
from wdiich the main fortress might have been commanded by the guns; but
as a steady rain set in, which thoroughly soaked the ground, it proved an
impossibility to drag the cannon up into place. In spite of the most admir-
able bravery the effort w^as unsuccessful, and Gustavus Adolphus was com-
pelled, towards evening, to withdraw his troops.
He had suffered no actual defeat. But for the first time he had failed to
carry out a military enterprise which he had taken in hand. Wallenstein
wrote a triimiphant report of the successful repulse to Vienna. He had
reason to feel proud, as it was the first occasion upon which the ''Invincible"
had been withstood with effect. Gustavus Adolphus determined to try to
renew the negotiations with Wallenstein, which had formerly been broken off.
For this purpose he employed the prisoner of war, Sparre, who was first to
try and arrange a treaty for the exchange of prisoners, and then to propose
new conditions of peace, over which delegates from both sides would meet to
consult. If desired, the king also volunteered to meet Wallenstein in person
— no doubt an attractive proposal. But Wallenstein now maintained a
persistently firm and irreproachably correct attitude towards the emperor.
He communicated the offer of Gustavus Adolphus to the elector Maximilian,
and replied to the king that he could give no answer without instructions from
Vienna. By this it is evident that the full powers to treat for peace, with
which Wallenstein had been invested when resuming the generalship of the
army, referred in the first place only to Saxony and could not be applied to
Sweden without further endorsement. Wallenstein informed the emperor on
September 10th of the offer Gustavus Adolphus had made. But, as the
emperor temporised before replying, the negotiations were broken off at this i
point. I
The Withdrawal of Gustavus Adolphus '.
A few days later, on the 18th of September, Gustavus Adolphus, having
the day before once again failed to draw the adversary to apen combat, at
last determined to withdraw from Nuremberg, finding as he did that a longer
stay in a neighbourhood so denuded of supplies was well-nigh impossible.
The impatient temper of the king had spent itself for the first time in vain
against the immovable calmness of an enemy very different from himself,
but his equal in strength.^" He marched away past Wallenstein's encamp-
ment; but Wallenstein let him go, broke up his camp, and w^nt northwards,
establishing himself firmly in Saxony, where he burned and plundered in the
THE THIKTY YEAES' WAR 357
[1632 A.D.]
hope of at last detaching the elector of Saxony from his alliance with the
Swedes when he should see how little protection they could give his country.
Had the imperial commander been able to gain the positions of defence he
needed, all might have gone well with him. Wallenstein always sought to
take up an impregnable position of defence. At Nuremberg he had suc-
ceeded; in Saxony he was destined to fail. Gustavus was upon him before
he could gain the necessary positions. Erfurt was saved from the imperials.
At Naumburg Gustavus was welcomed as a saviour, after the cruelties of
Wallenstein. The Saxon army was at Torgau and W^allenstein at Liitzen.
Pappenheim obtained permission to attempt a diversion upon the Rhenish
bishoprics, and accordingly left the main army. The division of forces
when Gustavus was close upon them was a ruinous policy. On the evening
of the 15th of November Gustavus came in sight of Wallenstein's position
at Lutzen.«
THE BATTLE OF LUTZEN (NOVEMBER 16TH, 1632)
The evening being far advanced, the Swedes, fatigued by a long march
in miry ground and impeded by a morass which was only passable by a single
bridge, the king deferred his attack, and permitted his troops to repose till
the morning, although the night was spent in skirmishes between the irreg-
ulars of both armies.
Wallenstein, aware that a retreat in the night, before so skilful and vigi-
lant an adversary, would be attended with the utmost danger, if not the ruin
of his army, and that his name would be irretrievably disgraced by giving
way before a far inferior force,^ condescended to call a council of war
and applied to his favourite astrologer, the confidant of all his secrets and the
director of his plans. His officers unanimously advised him to accept the
combat, should the Swedes venture to attack a force superior in strength and
position; but his resolution was more decidedly fixed by the opinion of his
astrologer, who declared that during the month of November the stars were
unpropitious to Gustavus. In conformity with this advice, Walleastein
determined to maintain his position, made the concerted signals for the recall
of Pappenheim, and employed the remainder of the night in widening the
trenches^ on both sides of the high-road in front of his army, throwing up
redoubts, and taking measures to strengthen his position. On the ensuing
dawn he drew up his army, and ordered mass to be celebrated throughout his
whole camp; after encouraging his soldiers, by suggesting every motive of
hope, honour, and greatness, he quitted his coach, mounted a bay jennet, and
prepared to receive the attack, which was every moment expected to com-
mence.
Fortunately for Wallenstein the morning of this important day, the 16th
of November, was lowering and overcast, and an impenetrable fog suspended
the movements of both parties till an hour before mid-day. When the gloom
dispersed, the two armies were discovered in order of battle on each side of
the high-road which skirts the extensive plain of Liitzen. The kiiig, adopting
the same order as at the battle of Leipsic, drew up his troops in two lines,
intermixing platoons of musketeers with his cavalry. On the other side,
Wallenstein appears to have formed his in one line, according to the pre-
' Many authors have supposed, after the authority of Khevenhiller, that the forces of Wal-
lenstein did not exceed twelve thousand men. Such a sup})Osition is disproved by the accounts
of other contemporary writers, and by the amount of his forces before his retreat from \\ eis-
senfels. From a comparison of various authorities, we may justly estimate his force at thirty
thousand men, exclusive of the corps under Pappenheim.
* As the country was open, these trenches were dug as fences for the corn fields.
358 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1632 A.D.]
vailing tactics of the times, the cavalry on the wings, and four ponderous
squares of infantry in the centre; the trenches in his front were lined with
musketeers, and flanked with cannon, and the rest of his artillery was dis-
tributed principally along his centre and on his right flank, to bear obliquely
on the centre and left of the enemy. The wings of both armies were supported
on one side on the Flussgraben, and on the other stretched to Liitzen, which
was occupied by the imperials.
The cannonade and skirmishing commenced with the dawn, but from the
darkness of the fog it was eleven before the king could put his army in motion.
After a public prayer, he gave out the fortieth psalm, " God is our refuge and
strength," which was sung by the whole army, accompanied by all the mili-
tary music, and then led forward his troops. The Swedish infantry first
advanced against the imperial musketeers posted along the trenches, but
were received with such a galling fire that they gave way. In this extremity
the king himself leaped from his horse, flew to their head, and seizing a pike
encouraged them by his voice and gestures to renew the combat ; at the same
time Wallenstein advanced to animate his men, fresh reinforcements crowded
to the point of attack, and the two parties, encouraged by their respective
chiefs, fought with unparalleled desperation. The Swedes, though frequently
repulsed, as frequently returned to the assault; and at length the imperial
infantry were driven from the trench back on their own cavalry .»
The Death of Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus was already confident that the day was won. But
whilst he was trying to break and destroy the left wing of the imperial forces
an unexpected message came — '^ The whole of the conquered ground is lost!"
It was near mid-day. The fog floating overhead came down from time to
time and settled in dense banks upon the plain. This was the king's undoing.
He was at the head of the Smaland cavalry, meaning to come to the help of his
centre under Nils Brake by attacking the imperial centre on the left flank.
His impatience carried him forward in advance of the regiment, a cloud of fog
came down and covered him, he lost the direction, wandered a little to the
right, and suddenly coming upon an imperial regiment of cuirassiers was met
by a volley of pistol shots. One bullet hit his horse in the neck, a second
shattered the king's left arm. Turning to the left to get out of the way — a
very small following with him — he was overtaken and shot through the back,
the shot being fired by Falkenberg of the Florentine regiment. The king
reeled in the saddle, fell backwards from his horse, and still hanging in the
stirrups was dragged along, falling at last in a dying state upon the ground;
his horse galloped away towards the trenches and across the road. A cuiras-
sier fired again at the king and shot him through the temples, and the page
Leubelfing, who tried to conceal the king's identity, was stabbed. The rest of
the king's attendants, including Duke Francis Albert of Saxe-Lauenburg,
made their escape under cover of the fog.
The duke of Friedland (Wallenstein) knew nothing of this occurrence.
He had withdrawn from the front as soon as the enemy was driven over the
trenches, and had retired near his litter. [Wallenstein in this battle had a
kind of litter drawn by two mules, as his gout prevented his mounting a horse.]
The physical pain he suffered became unbearable whenever the counterbal-
ancing moral tension was relaxed. News was now brought from the right
wing — and the news was favourable. The assaults on the windmill heights
had been sternly repulsed by the Colloredos and the Piccolomini, and Hagen
THE THIETY YEAES' WAE 359
[1633 A.D.]
sent a request to the duke that he would allow an attack to be made by the
right wing, as he believed such an attack would have a wonderful result.
Then an officer came galloping up from the left wing; his message was
encouraging; the enemy was_ driven across the trenches, and had lost its
leader. It was supposed their leader was the king himself. Wallenstein's
eyes flashed like an eagle's. ''What's going on there?" he called out to the
front, where disturbance and shouting could be heard. The reply came : a pair
of deserters from Nuremberg said they recognised the king's white horse gal-
loping about riderless on the battle-field.
"Ride to Hagen," cried Wallenstein with visible excitement; " tell him to
hold himself in readiness with the Benninghausen regiment. As soon as Pap-
penheim's force is seen in the distance, and as soon as he hears us attacking
here, he must wheel to the right with his own and Benninghausen's regiments,
and fall on the enemy's flank from the other side of Liitzen."
The messenger hastened away, not noticing that from the imperial front
came sounds of great tumult and agitation, and officers rode hurriedly up to
the duke's litter. They brought him information that the enemy's line was
boisterously and clamourously re-forming for the attack. And this was
actually the fact. A chamberlain, or truchsess, of the king's suite had
brought the news of the king's fall to Duke Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar. After
I the first great shock of dismay, both officers and troops were seized . with
furious rage, and Duke Bernhard, who assumed the supreme command, took
i advantage of this temper and at once ordered a general attack.
The Renewed Attack
This new attack, threatening destruction to the whole line from the centre
; up to the windmill heights, opened the third bloody act of the battle of
I Liitzen. Meanwhile the conditional orders of the duke of Friedland were
; communicated to Hagen. Hagen, a man of sanguine temperament, listened to
' the condition with only half an ear, but took in with both ears the permission
' to attack, and hearing the sound of renewed conflict thought that Wallen-
stein was attacking.
I It was the attack of the Protestant army he heard. With wild cries of
, vengeance it closed in upon the imperial army, and fatally broke into Fried-
I land's position. The battery in the centre, which Wallenstein had seized
;only half an hour earlier, was now taken at the first assault; and Wallen-
; stein's whole centre, as well as the whole right wing, was driven inwards by
the enraged Swedes. Duke Bernhard himself led the Swedish and German
1 troops towards the windmill heights and took the guns by storm. He had
I anticipated Hagen's idea of a flank attack and opposed it with superior force.
Protestant regiments, with sharpshooters interspersed in all gaps, were press-
:ing forward with a rush under the windmills just where Hagen wanted to
wheel about. Hagen lost his head, and retired in disorder. The enemy shot
I volley after volley into his midst, and turning to the right imperial flank broke
I into the Tertska. Piccolomini, and Defur regiments stationed there. At that
'; moment a terrible explosion was heard. Several powder wagons behind
them were shot up into the air, a panic of terror spread through Hagen's and
J Benninghausen's troops; neither of the two leaders could pull himself together
jin time to regain command.
i The duke of Friedland himself and his staff" were completely surprised by
■the impetuosity of the attack. As has been already said, the battery of the
! centre was taken in a moment, and the violence of the assault threw back the
360 ^ THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1632 A.D.]
centre in such a way that Wallenstein had neither time nor space to get him-
self put on to his horse. He was obhged to content himself with being drawn
by his mides to a less dangerous spot. He would only allow them to take him
a very little way back, however; he called on them to halt, crept out of the
litter, and in spite of excruciating pain got upon his legs and drew his sword,
stabbing without ado any of the fugitives who came within his reach as they
fled past him. He even tried to mount his horse unaided, but the effort
nearly threw him into a swoon. His servants caught hold of him and put him
on to a small bro-^n horse, spotted like a tiger, whose skin was afterwards
stuffed, and is preserved to the present day at Prague.
He was scarcely in the saddle, when he was again engulfed by the seething
turmoil which became ever more impetuous and close-compacted. From
the right the new shock came, and with it a cry which rang out high above all
the din and confusion : " The windmill heights are taken ! The enemy breaks
into our right flank!" There was no stopping them, and the commander-in-
chief was borne powerless along wdth the fleeing troops. Niemann, at his
side, managed to keep a clear space in front of the duke, by slashing about
with his sword and by making his horse curvet and prance, until they came to
Goltz's infantry, still untouched by the panic, still fronting towards the
enemy's lines. He cried out to the officers, ''Pikemen forward!" and they,
seeing the commander's litter before them in the midst of all the confusion,
took up the order and inmiediately executed it. The pikemen drew forward
their pikes, and divided the stream of fugitives, driving them right and left.
The commander halted again before another regiment, which still kept its
front to the foe, and he gave orders that the cavalry regiments of Lamboy,
Lindels, and Drost should be fetched up from the left wing. Scarcely had his
three officers disappeared through the crowd to execute this order, when Pap-
penheim arrived on the field of battle with seven thousand cuirassiers, dra-
goons, and Croatians. The fourth act of the battle of Liitzen opened.
The fog had cleared away and the sun shone out. Pappenheim came
galloping up at the head of his cuirassiers, his thin sharp face with its piercing
eyes looking as if it were springing upon the enemy from out of the black
helmet; his own trumpeter, Ehinger, on a white horse close to the black-
harnessed leader, sounded the fanfare on the gallop — which was repeated by
the trumpets behind. Pappenheim drew his sword, tiu-ned to look at his
cuirassiers, swung the sword over his head and shouted to Ehinger, the
trumpeter, "To the charge!" Ehinger blew the short vigorous notes, the
trumpters behind repeated them, and like a thunderstorm the seven thousand
horsemen burst upon the enemy, overthrowing all before them.
Wallenstein on his part made good use of this favourable turn of affairs.
The panic was checked. He was riding everywdiere, giving orders; troops
had been brought up from the left wing, and under cover of Pappenheim's
victorious advance he led his own troops forward at the double towards the
entrenclmients. Within a quarter of an hour all lost ground was won back,
the artillery again in the hands of the miperial forces, and sixty standards
and ensigns — among them the king's own standard — were taken from the
enemy. The sun, hastening to the west, shed its faint, wintry rays upon
the scene of Friedland's victory. ■
THE DEATH OF PAPPENHEIM; WALLENSTEIN RETREATS
But the last act was still to come ; the battle was not over with the setting
of the sun. Pappenheim's spirit was not content with the recapture of lost
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 36i
[1633 A.D.]
ground; he pursued the wavering enemy inexorably, heedless of a bullet in
his hip. "Forward!" he cried to Ehinger. Ehinger again sounded the
charge, the exhausted horses were again spurred on ; then a falconet ball hit
Pappenheim. Ehinger caught the horse by the bridle and Pappenheim slid
to the ground, still shouting with dying voice, "Forward, forward!" But
this fall at sunset was as momentous an event for the Catholic side as the
death of Gustavus Adolphus in the morning for the Protestant side — only
with a totally different result.
The death of the Swedish king had roused his army to a fury of revenge;
the death of Pappenheim caused dismay and bewilderment. The wild
cavalry charge had lost the presence and voice of its leader: it split up,
faltered, lost sight of its common aim — and on the instant Duke Bernhard
was aware of it. He collected his stricken troops and rallied the entire force
of the Protestant army once more to the assault on the entrenchments. It
crossed them, recaptured the guns, struggled and fought and massacred with
superhuman energy.
Such were the last scenes, which exacted the largest sacrifices. The
imperial army stood its ground with steady endurance, its leaders fighting in
the midst of the turmoil side by side with the common soldiers and falling like
heroes. Hieronymos Colloredo fell dead and Colonel Berthold von Wallen-
stein, a cousin of Friedland; General Breuner, of the ordnance, was thrown
from his horse by a shot in the face, Comit Harrach likewise; and Colonel
Piccolomini, who had assumed command at the windmill heights, became a
target for the enemy's fire. Ball after ball resounded from his cuirass; he
was bleeding from four wounds, three horses had been shot under him, but
again and again he appeared high on horseback, leading the broken regiments
against the enemy over the bodies of the blue and yellow regiments of the
Swedes which covered the ground like a blue and yellow cloth. Friedland
himself rode up and down like a ghost amidst the carnage, with drawn
sword, pointing, urging, commanding — to all appearance invulnerable. The
bullets pierced through his cloak, but seemed to make no impression on him.
Just as he disregarded the pain he suffered from gout, so he disregarded the
pain of his wounds. He was hit in the left hip, and had to defend himself
against a Swedish captain of horse, bent upon capturing or killing him, like a
common trooper. Everything was at stake, and he was the man to hold on to
the very last.
The sun had set, darkness fell over the plain; but he was resolved not to
yield, not if high and low — not if he himself should go down in the slaughter.
The troops could no longer see hun, but they could hear him; they could hear
his terrible voice, now here, now there: "Jesus Maria! ^ Steady, steady, we
are winning!" No one won. The darkness was now complete; the battle
had to come to a standstill, for no one could tell whether he fought friend or
foe. Deep silence followed the terrible uproar. Night now lay over the field
of battle, which was as though sown with the bodies of the dead and wounded.
Nine thousand men lay there, never to rise again./
During the night Wallenstein retired, leaving the field to the enemy, with
all his artillery. The Swedes were deliberating a retreat, when the ensuing
morning saw them masters of the field. Their victory was dearly purchased by
the loss of their beloved monarch. His body, which was discovered stripped,
mangled, and covered with gore, under a heap of slain, was conveyed to
Naumburg and afterwards to Wolgast, whence it was transported to Stock-
; holm.o
* "Jesus Maria " was Wallenstein's battle cry.
362 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1633 A.D.]
THE WAR CONTINUES
It now became a question whether or not the Swedes, after the death of
their king, would continue to carry on the war. If they did not, the Prot-
estant alhes had good reason to be apprehensive that Wallenstein would
visit them with a heavy retribution. The Swedish council, however, to whom
the guardianship of Christina, the daughter of Gustavus, was entrusted,
resolved to continue the war which might entitle Sweden to some of the
provinces of Germany; and the late king's friend, the chancellor Axel Oxen-
stierna, was determined to fill his place — a man whose comprehensive and
prudent mind knew how to hold the strength of his party together. Never-
theless, he had not the suavity and generous magnanimity of his late master.
The electoral princes, especially Saxony, found it irksome to yield obedience
to the dictates of a Swedish nobleman, and although he succeeded in uniting
the Protestant states of the four upper circles, Swabia, Franconia, and the
upper and lower Rhine, in the Treaty of Heilbronn in the spring of 1633, it
was soon manifested, by the indecision of some, the opposition of others, and
the want of union amongst the leaders of the army, that the genius of Gustavus
Adolphus no longer presided over the whole.
Wallenstein alone, whose genius surpassed all others, might have availed
himself of this moment of doubt and hesitation by bringing the war to a
decision, and making the emperor triumphant; but he was occupied with
other cares, and remained in a state of incomprehensible inaction. After the
battle of Liitzen he smnmoned a court-martial, in order to remove from his
own shoulders all responsibility for the loss of that action, and as he possessed
the power of life and death over all those under his orders, he forthwith con-
demned several of his generals and superior officers to the axe, and adjudged
a great number of private soldiers to be hung; finally, he ordered more than
fifty names of absent officers to be nailed to the gallows in Prague, as those of
traitors and cowards. He then enlisted fresh troops, replaced his artillery
by melting down the bells of the churches, and was soon in possession of an
army as powerful as his former one. Instead, however, of directing his
march through the imperial states, and advancing against the Swedes under
Gustavus Horn and Duke Bernhard of Weimar, who were masters of the
frontiers of Germany, he marched on to Silesia, where such a large army was
not at all required, and negotiated with the Saxons for a length of time upon
the subject of a separate treaty of peace, after he had already concluded an
armistice with General Arnim, in command of the Saxon army. At the same
time, according to the subsequent accusations brought against him, he en-
deavoured to ascertain what amount of mdemnification the enemy would
allow him in case he went over to their side, for he had long since believed he
read in the stars that it was his destiny to reign and hold unlimited sway as
king.
Meantime, in order by more active proceedings to prevent the emperor
from suspecting his intentions, he attacked the Saxons and Swedes, and
drove them out of Silesia, taking prisoner the old count of Thurn, the origi-
nator of the war. The whole of A^ienna was in a state of excitement, and
fully expected that the man they so much hated would be led through their
streets as the most culpable of all those connected with the dreadful scenes
of the revolution. Wallenstein, however, to the astonishment of all, gave him
his liberty, and when he was remonstrated with by the emperor for releasing
his prisoner he replied: " What use was I to make of such a fool? I wish the
Swedes possessed no better generals than this Thurn, for at the head of the
THE THIETY YEAES' WAE 363
[1634 A.D.]
Swedes he will do more service for the imperial cause than he could if in
prison."
During this interval Bavaria was very hard pressed by Horn and Bernhard
of Weimar; and, urged by the elector's earnest demands for aid, the emperor
had already repeatedly summoned his general to march to the relief of that
country. Wallenstein, however, delayed doing so for a considerable time;
at length he advanced slowly through Bohemia, arrived in the upper Pala-
tinate and marched back again into Bohemia, where he fixed his winter
quarters. He gave strict orders to all his generals, in command of distinct
divisions of the army, under the most severe penalties, not to obey the orders
of the emperor; and when the latter caused a Spanish army to march from
Italy into Germany without placing it under the orders of Wallenstein, and
even commanded that a portion of the grand army should be detached
from the main body in order to form a junction with the Spanish division,
the generalissimo complained loudly and indignantly at this violation of the
treaty made between himself and the emperor.
Wearied with these mortifications, and tormented by his attacks of gout
to such an extent that he was obliged to have pieces of flesh cut out of the
excoriated foot, he resolved to resign the supreme command; but he was
determined to do so in such a manner as to place himself in a position to
command the fulfilment of the promises originally made to him. He endeav-
oured, therefore, to attach the leaders of his army still more closely to himself,
and to that end summoned them all to assemble, at the commencement of the
year 1634, at Pilsen. It was by no means difficult for him to gain them over
to his exclusive interest, for it was upon his promise, and in the hope of being
completely indemnified through his recommendation, that they had all raised
and equipped regiments at their own expense, and, in some instances, staked
their whole fortune. If, therefore, he fell, they were in danger of losing all
I compensation. Consequently, on the 12th of January, 1634, forty superior
; officers, having at their head field-marshals Illo and Count Terzka, assembled
' at a dinner — at which, however, through severe illness, Wallenstein himself
could not preside — and entered into a solemn compact to adhere faithfully
to the duke in life and death as long as he should remain in the emperor's ser-
jvice, or as long as the latter should require his services in the war; and they
, at the same time made him promise them to remain with them for some time
longer, and not to withdraw from the supreme command without their privity
'and consent. Field-marshal Piccolomini, who subsequently betrayed his
'general, attached his signatm-e to this agreement likewise, with the rest. _
Wallenstein's enemies availed themselves of this certainly important cn-
icumstance to bring him more and more imder the emperor's suspicion, and
I carried out their designs to such an extent as to make Ferdinand resolve, at
length, to divest him of the supreme command, and to transfer it into the
: hands of Gallas. It is not to be at all doubted that an Italian-Spanish con-
spiracy was firmly established against Wallenstein in the imperial court, and
I was joined by the elector of Bavaria, who continually complained, in most
I bitter terms, against the general. The principal agent in these secret pro-
Iceedings was an Italian, Colonel Caretta, marquis of Grana.
. These intrigues against Wallenstein were conducted so secretly — the
I emperor Ferdinand himself being in actual correspondence with him on offi-
jcial business twenty days subsequently to that of the 24th of January, when
ibe had issued the instrument for Wallenstein's dismissal — that the latter
;3nly first learned it when Gallas, Piccolomini, and Aldringen published then-
; ordinances, in the name of the emperor, in which they interdicted all the
364 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1634 A.D.]
leading officers of the army from accepting further orders from Wallenstein,
Illo, and Terzka. Wallenstein drew up immediately a solemn declaration,
signed by himself and twenty-nine of his generals and colonels, in Pilsen, in
which it was stated that the compact entered into between himself and offi-
cers on the 12th of January contained nothing whatever that was hostile to
the emperor or the Catholic religion. He also despatched two officers to the
emperor, with the declaration that he was ready to resign his office of general-
issimo, and would appear to justify himself before any tribunal the emperor
might be pleased to appoint. These two officers, however, were met and
detained on the road by Piccolomini, and the message they bore only reached
the emperor after the death of Wallenstein.
• Piccolomini marched with his own troops against Pilsen, and Wallenstein
was obliged to withdraw to the citadel of Eger, of which the commandant. Col-
onel Gordon, was especially attached to him from motives of gratitude for
favours he had conferred upon hun. Here, three days previous to his death,
having too much reason to feel assured of the hostile intentions of his enemies,
he was impelled by necessity to seek for aid from Duke Bernhard of Weimar,
who was now encamped in Ratisbon, and whom he urgently requested to
advance with some of his troops towards the Bohemian frontiers. It is
historically proved that Wallenstein's brother-in-law. Count Kinsky, banished
from Bohemia on account of his Protestant faith, was in treaty with the
French ambassador, Feuquieres, for the engagement of his relative's services
in the cause of France and against the emperor, and that Cardinal Richelieu
promised Wallenstein the crown of Bohemia as a recompense; and, according
to the Swedish writers, similar negotiations were carried on with their party, j
But no written document, nor any direct act of Wallenstein himself, cor- (
roborates these statements or proves that he did charge Count Kinsky with
the execution of such commission, whilst both the French and the Swedes
remained to the last moment in doubt as to whether or not Wallenstein was |
merely playing with them in order to gain their confidence. At the same time j
it is not unlikely that this extraordinary and incomprehensible man, antici-
pating the probable loss of the emperor's favour, was desirous not to refuse |
altogether the propositions of the enemy, but rather to hold this resource in \
reserve in case of being again overturned, as he was before at the diet of |
Ratisbon. !
WALLENSTEIN MURDERED (1634 A.D.) |
(
Wallenstein quitted Pilsen on the morning of the 22nd of February, borne j
along in a litter, and suffering excruciatingly from the gout. He was accom- j
panied by only ten followers, including Colonel Butler, by whom he was sub- I
sequently betrayed; and at the end of the second day's journey he reached j
Eger, taking up his quarters in the house of the burgomaster, Pechhelbel, in i
the market-place. On the following evening, Terzka, Illo, and Kinsky, with
Wallenstein's secretary Neimiann, proceeded to the citadel to sup with Colonel
Gordon, the commandant. Whilst they were dining, thirty dragoons, com-
manded by captains Deveroux and Geraldin, suddenly burst into the hall
froni the anteroom in which they had been waiting, and falling upon their
victims, pierced them to death; not, however, before Terzka, who bravely
defended himself, had killed two of the band of assassins. Immediately after
this murderous act, Deveroux proceeded with six dragoons to complete the
sanguinary plot by assassinating Wallenstein himself. It was now midnight,
and the duke had already retired to rest. Having, however, been roused by
the shrieks of the countesses Terzka and Kinsky, who had just learned the
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 365
[1634 A.D.]
fate of their husbands, he rose, and opening the window asked the sentinel
what had happened? At the same moment, Deveroux forced open the door of
the chamber, and rushing upon him exclaimed, as he stood at the window,
"Death to Wallenstein ! " The latter, without uttering a word, laid bare his
breast, and received the fatal blow.
Thus silent and reserved to the hour of his death, all the profound and
mysterious thoughts and sentiments of his soul remained hidden from the
world, and a veil of obscurity was cast over his whole life and actions. He
was one of those men whose deep-laid plans and motives it is impossible to
fathom, and of whom little or nothing can be said in explanation of their
views or ideas.
After his death his estates were confiscated, and a great portion of them
were transferred as a reward into the hands of his enemies, and even to those
by whom he had been murdered. Gallas received the duchy of Friedland,
Piccolomini had the principality of Nachod, whilst Butler and the actual
assassins were rewarded with others of his estates and large sums of his money.
The major part of his possessions, however, was retained by the emperor him-
self. The value of Wallenstein's landed property alone was estimated at
50,000,000 florins. His widow received the principality of Neuschloss; and
his only surviving child, Maria Elisabeth, became shortly afterwards the wife
of Count Caunitz.c^
"His imperial majesty," says the chronicler Khevenhiller, "also showed
compassion for the soul of Friedland [Wallenstein] and had three thousand
masses said at Vienna for him and the others who were killed, in the hope that
m their last moments they regretted and repented of their sins."^
THE BATTLE OF NORDLINGEN (1G34 A.D.)
Wallenstein's army, a few regiments excepted, which dispersed or went
over to the Swedes, remained true to the emperor. The archduke Ferdinand
was appointed generalissimo of the imperial forces, which were placed under
the command of Gallas. Another army was conducted across the Alps (1634)
by the cardinal infante Don Ferdinand, brother to Philip IV of Spain. Had
Bernard been aided by the Saxons or by Horn, the whole of the imperial army
might easily have been scattered during the confusion consequent on the
death of its commander, but the Saxons were engaged in securing the posses-
sion of Lusatia, and it was not until May that Arnim gained a trifling advan-
tage near Liegnitz. Horn laid siege to Ueberlingen on the Lake of Constance,
with a view of retarding the advance of the Spaniards. A small Swedish force
under Baner retook Frankfort-on-the-Oder and joined the Saxons. The little
town of Hoxter was plundered, and all the inhabitants were butchered by
Geleen, George of Liineburg delaying to grant his promised aid in the hope of
seizing Hildesheim for himself. Hildeshemi capitulated in July. The coun-
try swarmed with revolutionary peasant bands, whom hunger had converted
into robbers. The upper Rhenish provinces were equally unquiet. Bernhard
remained inactive on the Danube, alone disturbed by Johann von Werth, who
once more drove him from his quarters at Deggendorf. Feuquieres, mean-
while, strenuously endeavoured to win the Heilbronn confederation over to
the interests of France, and to dissolve their alliance with Sweden. Lotiier
had abandoned the Swedish service for that of France, and his master, the
young duke Eberhard of Wiirtemberg, was, like William of Hesse, m the pay ot
that crown.
The whole of the Protestant forces was thus scattered when the great
366 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1634 A.D.]
imperial army broke up its camp in Bohemia and advanced upon Ratisbon,
with the design of seizing that city and of joining the Spanish army then
advancing from Italy. Bernhard vainly summoned Horn to his aid; the
moment for action passed, and, when too late, he was joined by that com-
mander at Augsburg, and the confederates were pushed hastily forwards to
the relief of Ratisbon. Landshut was taken by storm and shared the fate of
Magdeburg. Aldringer, whilst vainly attempting to save the city, perished
in the general conflagration. The castle, which had been converted into a
powder magazine, was blown up (1634). The news of the capitulation of
Ratisbon, on the 26th of July, reached the victors midway. Arnim and
Baner appeared on the same day before Prague. The imperials, nevertheless,
indifferent to the fate of Bohemia, continued to mount the Danube. The
advanced Croatian guard committed the most horrid excesses.
At Nordlingen, a junction took place with the Spanish troops. The
imperial army now amounted to forty-six thousand men under the archduke
Ferdinand, the cardinal infante, the elector of Bavaria, the duke of Lorraine,
generals Gallas and Johann von Werth. The Protestants, although reinforced
by the people of Wiirtemberg, numbered but thirty thousand. Bernhard, too
confident of success, and impatient to relieve the city of N5rdlingen, at that
time vigorously besieged by the imperials, rejected Horn's advice to await the
arrival of the Rheingraf,^ and resolved to hazard a battle. On the 26_th of
August, 1634, he made a successful attack and gained a favourable position,
but was on the following day overwhelmed by numbers. The explosion of
his powder magazine, by which numbers of his men were destroyed, contrib-
uted to complete his defeat. Count Thurn the Younger vainly endeavoured
to turn the battle, and led his men seventeen times to the charge. Horn was
taken prisoner, and twelve thousand men fell. Bernhard fled. His treasures
and papers fell into the hands of the enemy. The Rheingraf, who was bring-
ing seven thousand men to his aid, was surprised and completely routed by
Johann von Werth and Charles of Lorraine. Heilbronn was plundered during
the retreat by the Swedish colonel Senger, who fled out of one gate with his
booty as the imperials entered at another to complete the pillage.
The horrors inflicted upon Bavaria were terribly revenged upon Swabia.
The duke of Wiirtemberg, Eberhard III, safe behind the fortifications of
Strasburg, forgot the misery of his country in the arms of the beautiful
markgrafin von Salm. Waiblingen, Niirtingen, Kalw, Kirchheim, Boblingen,
Besigheim, and almost every village throughout the country were destroyed;
Heilbronn was almost totally burned down; the inhabitants were either
butchered or cruelly tortured. To pillage and murder succeeded famine and
pestilence. The population of the duchy of Wiirtemberg was reduced from
half a million to forty-eight thousand souls. The Jesuits took possession of
the old Lutheran university of Tiibingen. Osiander, the chanceflor of the
university, unmoved by the example of his weaker brethren, who recanted in
order to retain their offices and dignities, bravely knocked down a soldier, who
attacked him, sword in hand, in the pulpit. The Catholic service was in
many places re-established by force.
The whole of Wiirtemberg was either confiscated by the emperor or parti-
tioned among his favourites: Trauttmansdorf received Weinsberg; Schlick,
B5blingen and Tuttlingen; Taupadel, who had been left by Bernhard in
Schorndorf, was forced to yield. Augsburg was again distinguished amid the
general misery by the loss of sixty thousand of her inhabitants, who were
[' This was Otto Ludwig, count of Rlieingau, who had fought under Christian IV of
Denmark and in 1623 entered the service of Gustavus Adolphus.]
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 367
[1634-1635 A.D.]
swept away by famine and pestilence. The remaining citizens, whom starva-
tion alone compelled to capitulate, were deprived of all their possessions,
forced to recant, and refused permission to emigrate. Wiirzburg, Frankfort'
Speier, Philippsburg, the whole of Rhenish Franconia, besides Mainz, Heidel-
berg, and Coblenz, fell_ into the hands of the emperor. The whole of the
Palatinate was again laid waste, and the inhabitants were butchered in such
numbers that two hundred peasants were all that remained in the lower
country. Isolani devastated the Wetterau with fire and sword, and plundered
the country as far as Thuringia. The places whither the Swedes had fled for
refuge also suffered incredibly. The fugitive soldiery, without provisions or
baggage, clamoured for pay, and Oxenstierna, in order to avoid a general
pillage, laid the merchants, assembled at the fair held at Frankfort-on-the-
Main, under contribution. Thfe sufferings of the wretched Swabians were
avenged by the embittered soldiery on the Catholic inhabitants of Mainz.
The imperial army, although weakened by division, by garrisoning the
conquered provinces, and by the departure of the infante for the Netherlands,
still presented too formidable an aspect for attack on the part of Bernhard,
' who, unwilling to demand the aid he required from France, remained peace-
ably beyond the Rhine. The Heilbronn confederacy had, independently of
him, cast itself into the arms of France. Loffler, the Swedish chancellor and
I the chief leader of the confederation, had contrived to secure to France,
A without Bernhard's assent, the hereditary possession of Alsace, for which he
' was deprived of his office and banished by Oxenstierna. The celebrated
; Dutchman, Hugo Grotius, replaced him as Swedish ambassador in Paris.
Wiirtemburg and Hesse had long forwarded the interests of France.
THE PEACE OF PRAGUE (1635 A.D.)
i
j The sin committed by the Heilbronn confederation against Germany by
\ selling themselves to France is alone to be palliated by the desperate situation
! to which they were reduced by the defection of the Protestant electors.
' Saxony and Brandenburg again concluded peace (1635) at Prague with the
' emperor, to whom they abandoned all the Protestants in southern and western
I Germany and the whole of the Heilbronn confederation, under pretext of the
! urgent necessity of peace, of the restoration of the honour of Germany, and of
1 the happiness of the people by the expulsion of the foreigner. Saxony was
< reinstated in the territory of which she had been deprived by the Edict of
; Restitution, and received Upper Lusatia as a hereditary fief. Augustus,
' elector of Saxony, was also nominated administrator of the archbishopric of
; Magdeburg in the room of the archduke Leopold. A Saxon princess, the
' daughter of the electoress Magdalena Sibylla, was given in marriage to Prince
I Christian of Denmark as an inducement to that kingdom to take the field
J against Sweden. Brandenburg received the reversion of Pomerania, whose
llast duke, Bogislaw, was sick and childless. The princes of Mecklenburg and
lAnhalt, and the cities Erfurt, Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Ulm, also conformed
• to the treaty for the sake of preserving their neutrality, for which they were
1 bitterly punished.
' Had the emperor taken advantage of the decreasing power of Sweden, of
the procrastination on the part of France, and of the general desire for peace
1 manifested throughout Germany, to publish a general amnesty and to grant
';iihe free exercise of religion throughout the empire, the wounds inflicted by his
iDlood thirsty policy might yet have been healed, but the grey-headed hypo-
jirite merely folded his hands, dripping in gore, in prayer, and demanded fresh
3G8 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1635-1636 A.D.]
victims from the god of peace. Peace was concluded with part of the heretics
in order to secure the destruction of the rest. The last opportunity that
offered for the expulsion of the foreign robber from Germany was lost by
the exclusion of the Hoilbronn confederation from the Treaty of Prague by the
emperor; and although they in their despair placed the Empire at the mercy
of the French, and their country for centuries beneath French influence, their
crime rests on the head of the sovereign, who by his acts placed the empire on
the brink of the precipice, and on those of the dastardly electors, who, for the
sake of securing an enlarged territory to their houses, basely betrayed their
brethren. The elector of Saxony, for the second time unmindful of his
plighted faith, abandoned Protestant Silesia to the wrath of the Jesuits, and
the fate of the remaining Protestant provinces, excluded from the Treaty of
Prague, may be read in that of the Palatinate and of Wiirtemberg.
Oxenstierna hastened in person to Paris for the purpose of making terms
with Richelieu, and of thereby counterbalancing the league between the
emperor, Saxony, and Brandenburg; and Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar was
compelled passively to behold the dispute between Sweden and France for
sovereignty over Protestant Germany. The French soldiery were, moreover,
so undisciplined and cowardly that they deserted in troops. Bernhard was
consequently far from sufficiently reinforced, but nevertheless succeeded in
raising the siege of Heidelberg. The death of the energetic and aged rhein-
graf took place just at this period.
Whilst matters were thus at a standstill on the upper Rhine, success
attended the unperial arms in the Netherlands. The French, victorious at
Avein, were forced to raise the siege of Louvain by the infante and Piccolomini
(1635). The Dutch were also expelled from the country. Bernhard, fearing
to be surrounded by Piccolomini, retired from the Rhine into upper Bur-
gundy. Heidelberg fell ; two French regiments were cut to pieces at Reichen-
weier by Johann von Werth; Hatzfeld took Kaiserslautern by storm, and
almost totally annihilated the celebrated yellow regiment of Gustavus Adol-
phus. Mainz was closely besieged, and France, alarmed at the turn of affairs,
sent the old cardinal De la Valette to reinforce Bernhard, who advanced to
the relief of Mainz and succeeded in raising the siege, notwithstanding the
cowardice of the French, who were forced by threats to cross the Rhine.
Johann von Werth, meanwhile, invaded Lorraine, and, with Piccolomini and
the infante, made a feint to cross the French frontier. De la Valette and
Bernhard instantly returned, pursued by Gallas and already surrounded by
Colloredo,^ who was defeated by Bernhard at Meisenheim, where he had
seized the pass. Hotly pursued by Gallas and hard pushed by the Croatians,
Bernhard escaped across the Saar at Walderfingen on a bridge raised on wine-
casks, before the arrival of the main body of the imperials, which came up
with his rearguard at Boulay, but met with a repulse. After a retreat of
thirteen days, the fugitive army reached Metz, in September, 1635. Gallas
fixed his headquarters in Lorraine, but the country had been already so com-
pletely pillaged that he was compelled to return in November, and to fix his
camp in Alsace-Zabern, where he gave himself up to rioting and drunkenness,
whilst his army was thinned by famine and pestilence. Mainz was starved
out and capitulated, after havmg been plundered by the Swedish garrison. !
In the commencement of 1636 Bernhard visited Paris, where he was
courteously received by Louis XIII. The impression made upon his heart
' The CoUoredo are descended from tlie Swabian family of Walsee, wliicb, in the four-
teenth century, settled in Friuli, and, at a later period, erected the castle on the steep {coUo
rigido).
THE THIETY YEAES' WAE 369
[1636-1637 A.D.]
by the lovely daughter of the duke de Rohan was no sooner perceived than a
plan was formed by the French court to deprive him of his independence as a
prince of the empire. Bernhard discovered their project and closed his heart
against the seductions of the lady. The aid promised by France was now
withheld. Both parties were deceived. France, unwilling to defray the
expenses of a war carried on by Bernhard for the sole benefit of Protestant
Germany, merely aimed at preserving a pretext for interference in the polit-
ical and religious disputes agitating that comitry, and, for that purpose,
promised Bernhard a sum of 4,000,000 livres for the maintenance of an army
of eighteen thousand men.
The reconquest of Alsace followed : at Zabern, which was taken by storm,
Bernhard lost the forefinger of his left hand, and the bed on which he lay
was shattered by a cannon ball. He returned thence to Lorraine, where he
carried on a petty war with Gallas and took several fortresses. The humanity
'. evinced by him at this period, so contrary to the license he had formerly
allowed his soldiery from a spirit of religious fanaticism, proceeded from a
desire to please the French queen, the celebrated Anne of Austria, the daughter
of Philip III of Spain. He surprised Isolani's Croatians at Champlitte, and
deprived them of eighteen hundred horses and of the whole of the rich booty
,:they had collected (1636).
1
THE DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH
In the beginning of the year, Johann von Werth had, independently of
'Gallas, ventured as far as Louvain, where a revolution had broken out. The
Gallo-Dutch faction, nevertheless, proved victorious, and the imperials were
gxpelled. Werth, unable to lay siege to the town with his cavalry, revenged
himself by laying the country in the vicinity waste. In April he joined
Piccolomini with the view of invading France and of marching full upon
; Paris, This project was, however, frustrated by Piccolomini's timidity and
;by the tardy movements of the infantry. This expedition, imdertaken in
I iefiance of the orders of the elector of Bavaria, forms one of the few amusing
episodes of this terrible tragedy.
' Werth, advancing rapidly with his cavalry, beat the French on every
,Doint, forced the passage of the Somme and Oise, and spread terror through-
;)ut France. The cities laid their keys at his feet, the nobles begged for sen-
'inels to guard their houses, and paid them enormous sums. Paris was
! "educed to despau*. The roads to Chartres and Orleans were crowded with
fugitives, and the metropolis must inevitably have fallen had Werth, instead
l)f allowing his men to remain behind plundering the country, pushed steadily
i'orward. By this delay, Richelieu gained time to levy troops and to send
';he whole of the disposable force against him. A part of the French troops
;vas, nevertheless, cut to pieces during a night-attack at Montigny, and it was
;iot until the autumnal rains and floods brought disease into his camp that
Werth retired. He remained for some time afterwards at Cologne, where he
Ivedded the countess Spaur (of an ancient Tyrolese family). Ehrenbreitstein,
';itill garrisoned by the French, who had long lost Coblenz, was closely besieged
,)y Werth, and forced by famine to capitulate (1637).
; William of Hesse, instead of joining Bernhard after the battle of Nord-
iingen, had raised troops with the money received by him from France and
;iad seized Paderborn, which was retaken by the imperialists in 1636. George
"on Liineburg, who had, in 1634, become the head of the Guelfic house on the
'leath of Frederick Ulrich of Wolfenbuttel, long hesitated to give in his adhe-
I H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2 B.
370 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIKE
[1635-1636 A.D.]
sion to the Treaty of Prague, but Oxenstierna, on becoming acquainted with
his intercourse with the emperor, depriving him, by means of Sperreuter, of
his best regiments, his hesitation ceased and he acceded to the emperor's terms.
Sperreuter, who had deserted with the lower Saxon regiments to the Swedish
general Baner, now went over to the emperor, and Baudis to Saxony. A
reaction took place in all the German regiments under the Sw^edish standard,
of which tlie Prague confederation failed to take advantage, and their com-
manders were bribed by Kniphausen to remain in the pay of Sweden. This
general fell, in January, 1636, at Haseliinne, during an engagement with
Geleen, who was beaten off the field. Minden was betrayed, in May, by the
commandant Ludingshausen, Kniphausen's son-in-law, to the Swedes.
The remnant of the old Swedish army under Baner found itself exposed
to the greatest danger by the conclusion of peace at Prague. Baner, together
with the elector of Saxony, had advanced upon Bohemia, wdience he was now
compelled to retreat. On the alliance between George von Liineburg and
Saxony, Baudissin w^as despatched against him, November, 1635, but was
defeated at Domitz, and Baner, dreading to be cut off by an imperial corps
under the Bohemian Marzin, who had taken Stargard by storm and pillaged
that town, withdrew to Pomerania. During this autumn, the French ambas-
sador, Avaux, had succeeded in bringing about a reconciliation between
Wladislaw of Poland and Sweden, and in terminating the long war between
those countries. The Sw^edish regiments under Torstenson consequently
evacuated Livonia and Prussia and united with those under Baner; whilst,
on the other hand, a wald troop of Polish Cossacks marched to the aid of the
emperor.
This cunning policy on the part of France caused the war to rage with
redoubled fmy. Baner and Torstenson defeated the Saxons in the depth of
winter at Goldberg and Kiritz, and, in February, Baner again invaded Saxony
and cruelly visited the defection of the elector on the heads of his wretched
subjects. The arrival of Hatzfeld at the head of a body of imperials com-
pelled him to retire behind Magdeburg, where Baudissin was severely wounded
and relinquished the command. Each side now confined itself to manoeuvring
until the arrival of reinforcements. The Swedish troops arrived first, and
Hatzfeld and the Saxons, being drawn into an engagement at Wittstock,
before Gotz was able to join them, were totally defeated. Hatzfeld was
wounded, and the elector lost the whole of his baggage and treasure. Saxony
was again laid waste by Bauer's infuriated troops. The gallant defence of
Leipsic increased their rage. All the towns and villages in the vicinity were
reduced to ashes. A similar fate befell Meissen, Wurzen, Oschatz, Colditz,
Liebenwerda, and several smaller towns. The peasants fled in crowds to the
fortified cities and to the mountains, and, to complete the general misery,
famine and pestilence succeeded to sword and fire-brand. A bloody revenge
was taken by Derflinger with a Brandenburg squadron on a thousand Swedish
horse that ventured into the province of Mansfeld./
DEATH OF FERDINAND II (1637 A.D.)
In the midst of these military operations all things proclaimed the return- '
ing ascendency of Ferdinand in Germany and proved the advantage which
he had derived from his reconciliation with the two chief Protestant princes,
the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg. An electoral diet was assembled
at Ratisbon, by the emperor in person, on the 15th of September, 1636, for
the ostensible purpose of restoring peace, for which some vague negotiations
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 371
[1637 A.D.]
had been opened under the mediation of the pope and the king of Denmark,
and congresses appointed at Hamburg and Cologne, but with the real view
of procuring the election of his son Ferdinand as king of the Romans. Some
attempts were made by the Protestants to hasten the negotiations, by requir-
ing that Ferdinand, _ though elected, should not be crowned till after the
termination of hostilities, and by the English ambassador in favour of the
unfortunate princes of the palatine house. But the superior influence of the
emperor overruled all opposition; the benefits of the armistice were offered
only to the duke of Wiirtemberg, on the most rigorous terms, and the instances
for the restoration of the prince palatine evaded by requiring impracticable
conditions. The alarms of the diet were excited by an artful rumour that the
king of France fostered designs on the imperial crown, in case of an inter-
regnum, which from the declining health of the emperor was soon likely to
happen, and Ferdinand was elected with only the fruitless protest of the
palatine family and the dissenting voice of the elector of Treves, who was still
in custody at Vienna. His capitulation contained no stipulation of impor-
tance except a few temporary regulations occasioned by the war, with the
declaration that the exclusion of the elector of Treves should not operate on
any future occasion. He was accordingly acknowledged by all the powers
of Europe, except France and Sweden.
The emperor did not long survive this happy event. He died on the 15th
of February, 1637, soon after his return to Vienna, in the fifty-ninth year of
his age, of a decline, derived from incessant anxiety and continual fatigues of
body and mind.
When we review the awful period of his reign, pregnant with such extra-
ordinary events and stupendous revolutions, we cannot but admire, in Ferdi-
nand II, the great qualities which have distinguished the greatest men of every
, age and nation : penetration and sagacity, unbroken perseverance, irresistible
1 energy of character, resignation and fortitude in adversity, and a mind never
; enervated by success. But these great qualities were sullied and disgraced
'by the most puerile superstition, inveterate bigotry, and unbounded ambition.
'In many features of his public character, Ferdinand resembled his relative
Philip II — in his talents for the cabinet no less than in his incapacity for the
I field; in elevation of mind as weU as in bigotry, persecution, and cruelty; in
1 fortitude in adverse, and arrogance in prosperous circumstances. But it is a
.satisfaction to record that in his private character he differed essentially from
ithe gloomy tyrant of Spain. He was a good and affectionate father, a faithful
'.md tender husband, an affable and indulgent master; he was easy of access to
;bhe meanest of his subjects, compassionate and forgiving, where his religious
'orejudices were not concerned. From a principle of superstitious humility, he
lidmitted into his presence the poor of all descriptions; and even beggars who
,.vere suspected of being infected with the plague were not repulsed. He pur-
';hased the liberty of many Christian slaves from their Asiatic_ or African
;nasters, gave public entertaimnents to the needy, at which he assisted in per-
iion, and appointed advocates, at his own expense, to plead the cause of the
indigent and the helpless in the courts of justice.
As the virtues of his amiable predecessor and uncle, Maximilian II, were
principally derived from early habits and education, so the failings of Ferdi-
nand may be attributed to the early impressions which he received froni his
iaother and his uncle William of Bavaria, and to the prejudices instilled into
i im by the Jesuits, which strengthened with his years and grew with his
irowth. Had he not been influenced by the narrow and jaundiced views of
■uperstition and bigotry, he might have maintained the peace and happiness
372 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1637 A.D.1
of his hereditary dominions; might have ruled the empire — not as the head
of a sect or the chief of a party, but as the sovereign and friend of all; and
might have saved Germany and Europe from thirty years of anarchy, per-
secution, and terror, devastation and carnage. In fine, the defects of educa-
tion and erroneous principles rendered hun the misfortune of his family, the
enemy of his country, and the scourge of his age.
A prince of so superstitious a character as Ferdinand was not likely to be
sparing in his benefactions to the clergy. He endowed many religious estab-
lishments, and enriched others: for the Jesuits he founded sixteen colleges,
and convents for the Barnabites, Capuchins, Camaladunes, Paulines, bare-
footed Carmelites, reformed Augustins, Benedictines of Montferrat, Servites,
and Irish Franciscans. He settled an annual pension of 24,000 florins on the
archbishopric of Prague, the twenty-eighth part of the produce of the gold and
silver mines in Hungary on the archbishopric of Gran, and 40,000 florins
annually on the Austrian prelates. He founded also four bishoprics in
Bohemia, many schools for the education of the clergy, nmnerous hospitals
and almshouses, and gave great presents to the secular clergy of the hereditary
countries.
When we consider that his ordinary revenue did not exceed 5,400,000
florins, and reflect on the enormous expenses of his wars and the charges of his
splendid establishment, it is scarcely necessary to observe that notwithstand-
ing the sums he drew from the confiscated property of his adversaries and
rebel subjects, these benefactions contributed to exhaust his resources, to load
him with pecuniary embarrassments, and often to retard or prevent the
success of his military operations.^
ACCESSION OF FERDINAND III (1637 A.D.)
Ferdinand II was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand Ernest of Hungary, as
Ferdinand III. Soon afterwards the last duke of Pomerania died, on March
20th, 1637. The elector of Brandenburg issued a patent of seizure {Besitzer-
greifungspatent) and demanded the homage of the Pomeranian estates, which
they, however, were unable to render, as the greater part of the country was
in the hands of the Swedes. To enter into effective possession of his inheri-
tance the elector had first to conquer it for hmiself ; and he was therefore
obliged to put forth all his strength in the struggle with Sweden and to throw
himself completely into the arms of the emperor, Ferdinand III. To this end
(proceeding along the road marked out by Schwarzenberg) he concluded a
treaty with the emperor at Prague, by which he obtained the right of enlisting ,
soldiers to the number of six thousand foot and one thousand horse for the
purpose of gaining possession of Pomerania. These men took the oath of
fealty to both the emperor and the elector, and thus occupied an anomalous
position, which soon proved fraught with ominous consequence for the elec-
torate ; for the officers, most of whom were ill-disciplined and strong adherents
of the Habsburgs, and General Klitzing more than any of them, appealed
perpetually from the authority of the elector to the oath they had sworn to the
emperor, and established in the mark of Brandenburg a military anarchy,
which Schwarzenberg did nothing to prevent and which brought the country
to the verge of ruin. Brandenburg had finally returned into the channel of
Habsburg influence, which was equally prejudicial to her territorial and
religious interests. The prospect of winning lower Germany back to the cause
of Sweden and the Gospel had been dissipated utterly; Baner was once more
completely isolated. i
THE THIRTY YEAES' WAR 373
[1637 A.D.]
Nevertheless he would probably have succeeded m maintaining the com-
manding position on the lower Elbe, which was the advantage the battle of
Wittstock had given him, if he had been able to work hand in hand with Bern-
hard of Saxe-Weimar, as the latter most earnestly desired; that is to say if
Bernhard could have returned to the right bank of the Rhine and stayed there
thus arresting the imperial troops stationed in the west. Instead of so doing
he was constrained by the French first to clear Franche-Comte of the enemy
in concert with the duke de Longueville, so that it was August before he could
appear on the right bank of the Rhine, and then only for a short time. This
made it possible for Gallas to advance against Baner from the Rhine; and as
Hatzfeld and Gotz were also marching against him from Westphalia and
Hesse, he very soon found himself more and more closely hemmed in at Torgau
by a force of more than double the strength of his own, and could see no way
of escape except to retire into Pomerania and there join hands with Wrangel's
troops. Even this was in the highest degree difficult, and was only effected
by an operation carried out with masterly skill for the purpose of misleading
the enemy. Baner artfully spread the report that he was planning an attempt
to cut his way through at Erfurt. The enemy's attention being thus diverted
to this quarter and part of his troops detained on the left bank of the Elbe,
Baner suddenly turned eastwards, passed through Lusatia to the Oder in
forced marches, crossed it at a shallow jDJace near Fiirstenberg, and then
marched to Landsberg-an-der-Warthe, that by means of this important pas-
sage of the Warthe he might secure his junction with Wrangel, who wished to
press forward to Kiistrin by the right bank of the Oder.
But when he reached Landsberg on the 4th of July he found that the
enemy had promptly marched after him, had outstripped him by taking a
shorter way through Jiiterbog, Baruth, and Kiistrin, and was already posted
in complete order of battle on the heights behind the town. Being too weak
to cope with them in the field, he hurriedly returned to the Oder; crossed it
again at a place called Goritz, repulsed the Brandenburg troops under Klitzing
after a stubborn engagement, and joined hands with Wrangel behind the
Finow. By the masterly strategy of .this retreat he had evaded the superior
force of the enemy; but he was nevertheless obliged to give ground before
them and to retreat to the strongly fortified town of Stettin. The greater
part of Pomerania fell into the hands of the imperials.
After these reverses, what did it signify that, in the face of the intrigues of
the French and in spite of their lukewarm support, Bernhard — after gaining
some advantage over the duke of Lorraine — contrived to cross the Rhine at
Rheinau, exactly halfway between Breisach and Strasburg, on the 6th of
August? The project of concerted action with the Swedes, which he had
most at heart, was now entirely out of the question, for they had been driven
back to the Baltic coast; while on the other hand, himself isolated, he found
his position so menaced by the numerical superiority of the enemy under
Johann von Werth that, although he successfully repulsed several attacks
upon his entrenchments on the Rhine, he was ultimately compelled to retreat
to the left bank of the river (in September) and to take up his winter quarters
in the territory of the see of Bale, during which process he was forced upon
many unfriendly and vexatious explanations with the Swiss confederates.
THE TREATY OF HAMBURG (1638 A.D.)
On the whole, at the end of 1637, the imperials had gained a very decided
' advantage, m spite of the victory won by the Swedes at the beginning of the
374 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1638 A.D.]
year. Up to this time the intervention of the French had not affected the
progress of the war to any material extent. Marshals La Valette and La
Meilleraie had indeed succeeded in taking up a series of positions on the lower
Rhine, at the end of September Prince Frederick Henry of Orange had taken
Breda after a long siege, and the duke de Schomberg had defeated the Span-
iards at Leucate in Languedoc. But all these advantages gained over the
Spaniards could not be placed in the balance against the unfavourable state of
affairs in Germany, the principal theatre of war. Here the imperials appeared
to have finally attained a crushing superiority. They had even succeeded in
expelling from his own dominions the gallant landgraf William of Hesse — the
only German prince beside Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar who had manfully main-
tained the struggle against the emperor — and forcing him to flee into East
Friesland, where he succumbed to the agitations and exertions of a harassing
military career in the year 1637. There w\as not the shadow of a doubt that
great efforts would be required of the powers still in arms against the emperor
if they w'ere to carry their resistance to any successful issue.
The two foreign powers which were implicated in the war WTre by no
means blind to this fact. Although during the previous year Oxenstierna had
repeatedly entered into negotiations for peace with the imperials at Hamburg,
yet now that both were in danger of succumbing they concluded, on the 6th
of March, 1638, a new treaty of alliance, by wdiich both pledged themselves to
persevere in the common cause, and not to make peace with the emperor
except conjointly.
VICTORIES OF BERNHARD OF SAXE-W^EIMAR
But at the very time when the forces arrayed against the emperor's
supremacy entered into closer political union by this treaty, a complete
reversal of the military situation in favour of the Protestant and anti-Habs-
burg cause was brought about by the only prince who, throughout the war,
held the banner of that cause aloft under the most arduous circumstances
from motives of the loftiest idealism and patriotism, Duke Bernhard of
Saxe-Weimar.
Devoted as he w-as with ecjual fervour to his country and his religion, the
valiant duke had felt it bitterly that in the previous year he had been able
to do so little to support Bauer's gallant exertions. His loyal devotion to
the wdiole of his beloved native land of Germany was, he protested, at all
times the purpose and guide of all his midertakings. Thus he had written at
Strasburg in November of 1636. But in order to continue his resistance to
the emperor's policy, which he believed to be prejudicial to the interests of
his country, this prince, inspired by sentiments so truly German, had been
obliged to take the pay of a foreign power. This fact sets in a strong light
all the perversity of circumstances which had been brought about by this
unhappy war. And France, wdiich furnished the pay for him and his army, i
insisted that his first duty was to protect the French frontier, and did little
or nothing to provide him with an opportunity of taking effective part in the
war within the empire. Tardily, and without even approximate fulness, she
met the obligations which she had undertaken towards the duke. The ^
promised French auxiliaries came in driblets and in nothing like the prom-j
ised strength ; and, wdiat was even w'orse, they were extremely loth to carry '
the war over to the right bank of the Rhine.
What did the war m the empire yonder matter to France or to Richelieu?
The anny which they subsidised was to serve, in the first instance, for the
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 375
[1638 A.D.]
maintenance of the positions on the left bank of the Rhine which the cardinal
hoped to gain for France. The new alliance with Sweden made no difference
to this state of things ; it was merely intended to keep the war going, because
the private aims of France were only to be attained by that means. What
Richelieu desired was to extend French dominion on the left bank of the
Rhine while Sweden conducted the war within the empire. He could with
difficulty be induced to furnish French troops for the campaign on the right
bank, and when he did so they were not placed under Bernhard's command,
as the latter wished, but remained independent and were conmianded by
French marshals.
Capture of Laujenburg (1638 A.D.)
Then Bernhard, who had been waiting in his winter quarters in vain for
the French succours, determined to do what he could by himself. On Jan-
uary 28th, 1638, in the middle of winter, he started from Zwingen with his
little army of barely eight thousand men all told, marched along the upper
Rhine, past the important fortress of Rheinfelden, to a place called Stein,
which lay on the left bank of the river opposite Siickingen, where they crossed
in a couple of small boats on the 30th of January, The imperials, who
thought that the fortress of Rheinfelden gave them the command of the
whole upper course of the Rhine, had for some incomprehensible reason left
Sackingen without a garrison. The town consequently opened its gates to
Bernhard immediately, Laufenburg was taken by a coup de main on the 31st,
and a fine covered bridge thus secured. "Wlien Waldshut also had fallen,
Bernhard resolved to make an attack upon Rheinfelden itself, which was
strongly fortified and held by Major Rodel, a gallant commander. The siege
commenced on the 2nd of February, the bombardment on the 10th. But in
spite of the best progress the besiegers could make with their mines and
parallels the brave garrison held out. Bernhard then determined to carry
it by storm, and fixed the 28th of February for the assault.
On that very day, however, a hostile force advanced to the relief of the
fortress, the value and importance of the command of the Rhine which it
gave being fully appreciated by the imperials. For this reason the emperor
had summoned Savelli from Lorraine and requested the elector of Bavaria
to despatch that gallant cavalry leader, Johann von Werth, in support of
the relief expedition. The united forces of the two arrived before Rhein-
felden on the 28 th of February. A hot engagement ensued, in which Bern-
hard, whose forces were not only the weaker but were split up by the Rhine
into two divisions, though not actually defeated, suffered such losses that he
was obliged to retire and leave the way to the fortress open to the enemy.
While he withdrew to Laufenburg they supplied the fortress with provisions
and ammunition; and, fancying that they had put it out of Bernhard's power
to harm them, they disposed their forces in widely scattered positions without
the slightest apprehension as to the result. In addition to this, no real con-
cord prevailed between the two commanders. Bernhard turned these cir-
cumstances to his own profit; two days later he ventured to leave Laufenburg
once more, and march against the imperial and Bavarian forces. On March
the 3rd he succeeded in taking them completely by surprise and inflictmg a
cnishmg defeat upon them. The most obstinate resistance was made by
Johann von Werth, but ultimately he and Savelli, together with all the other
generals and most of the colonels of their army, were taken prisoners by
. Bernhard. The army itself was utterly annihilated, scattered remnants were
376 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1638 A.D.]
all that found refuge in Bale. In spite of this disaster the brave garrison of
Rheinfelden held out for fully three weeks longer, ultimately capitulating on
the 23rd of March, on condition that they were allowed to retire with the
honours of war to Breisach.
By this victory Bernhard had made himself master of the upper Rhine
all the way to Breisach. His position was already such that he could venture
to detach Taupadel with the bulk of the cavalry to the upper Danube, to
oppose the new imperial army which was being collected there and prevent
it from coming down through the Black Forest to the Rhine valley to relieve
Breisach. For the task which Bernhard now set himself was to take this
very strongly fortified town, which was considered the most important strong-
hold in the empire and was the point of greatest strategic importance to the
imperials.
Siege of Breisach (1638 A.D.)
Breisach, with its substantial bridge over the Rhine, was as a matter of
fact the point in the whole valley of the Rhine which, in the case of war
between the emperor and France, it was of the utmost consequence for either
side to possess. For the emperor it constituted the main bulwark of the
provinces of anterior Austria and the best approach for the invasion of Lor-
raine; for the French it was the best crossing-place for an attack upon the
empire. The emperor declared that the holding of Breisach was the most
important undertaking of the whole war, and sent orders to Reinach, the
commandant, to defend it to the last drop of his blood. The imperial lead-
ers had instructions to try and relieve it, should it be invested, though the
whole army should perish in the attempt. Even Gotz, who was in West-
phalia, received orders to hasten thither. It was a foregone conclusion that
the most stubborn fights of the campaign would be fought around this fortress.
Therefore, when Bernhard marched down the Rhine after the taking of
Rheinfelden, he addressed an urgent petition to Richelieu to send him an
auxiliary force under Guebriant and to pay at least a portion of the subsidy
that was due to him. For he could not venture to cherish the hope of dis-
charging a task of such extreme difficulty with his little army, which, small
as it was, he had to divide in order simultaneously to undertake the siege and
ward off the attempts at relief which were sure to be made from all quarters.
Relying on the anticipation of the French reinforcements, Bernhard's
first endeavour was to isolate Breisach. He took the strong castle of Rotteln
in the early days of April, and then proceeded to take Neuenburg and Frei-
burg. But a strong relieving force was already assembling about Nordlingen,
and Taupadel, who had fixed his quarters in Wiirtemberg, in the valley of
the upper Neckar, became involved in diflftculties, from which he was forced
to appeal to Bernhard to extricate hmi. To this request the latter could not
respond until he had received the promised reinforcements from France.
When they did reach Neuenburg on the Rhine, under the command of
Guebriant on ]\Iay the 2nd — not indeed in the promised strength, but only
to the number of three thousand men — Bernhard sped into the mountainous
country of the Black Forest to effect a junction with Taupadel and repulse
the hnperial army under Gotz. The latter evaded him and made a wide
detour to reach the Rhine through the valley of the Kinzig.
As a matter of fact, although Bernhard also returned in hot haste to the
Rhine, Gotz succeeded in reaching Offenburg and sending a fresh supply of
provisions into Breisach. The situation thus underwent a change very much
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 377
[1638 A.D.]
to Berrihard's disadvantage, for he was obliged at one and the same time to
keep his front towards the imperial relieving force and to blockade the fortress,
before which he sat down at the beginning of June. For this his forces were
wholly inadequate. On the 18th of June he was again compelled to raise the
blockade and to beg for additional help from France. He had to send a
special embassy to Richelieu — the conduct of which he entrusted to the
Swiss colonel Hans Ludwig von Erbach, who had entered his service as a
major-general — before he could attain his end; but at length Turenne was
despatched to his assistance, though with only two thousand men, and
arrived at Kolmar on the 27th of July.
No sooner had he obtained these succours than Bernhard set his army in
motion to attack Gotz, who had meanwhile brought reinforcements to Gen-
eral Savelli (who had escaped from captivity) and was about to throw a fresh
convoy of provisions into Breisach. On August 9th, a sanguinary battle was
fought at Wittenweier, in which the imperial troops, though surprised on the
march by Bernhard in an awkward defile, offered a most vigorous resistance
but were nevertheless thoroughly beaten. Only two or three thousand men
escaped from the field.
Now (by the middle of August) Bernhard was able for the first time to
devote himself seriously to the siege of Breisach. He made his engineer,
Thomas Kluge, girdle the fortress with a row of strong entrenchments. On
the night between the 6th and 7th of October he succeeded in occupying the
Island Redoubt, the outermost defence of the fortress. Breisach was now
completely cut off from the outer world, and all that remained to do was to
starve out the garrison, who refused to discuss terms of capitulation. But
the enormous importance ascribed by the imperials to the possession of this
fortress urged them on to fresh attempts to relieve it, in spite of their previous
defeats. Its relief was to have been undertaken simultaneously in the middle
of October by the duke of Lorraine from the west and Gotz from the east.
Bernhard would then have been reduced to a position of the utmost difficulty.
But Gotz, whose incapacity became daily more apparent, hesitated too long,
and Bernhard succeeded in inflicting a severe defeat upon the duke of Lorraine,
who was first in the field, at Sennheim (Cernay) in Alsace, on the 15th of
October, and then hurried back to the right bank of the Rhine, where Gotz
had appeared before Breisach on the 22nd. On the 24th an extremely fierce
engagement was fought in the lines round the fortress, and ultimately resulted
in the defeat of Gotz. This sealed the fate of the fortress, for it could now no
longer count upon relief from any quarter. At the beginning of November
the last outworks were taken, and the ring of besiegers drew closer and closer.
It was absolutely impossible to get provisions into the town. A famine
ensued among the inhabitants and the garrison, and gradually assumed more
and more hideous proportions. When all the provisions had been consumed
. the unfortunate people had recourse to the most unnatural and loathsome
articles of diet. Rats and mice became costly luxuries. The cup of anguish
i inseparable from a siege was emptied to the dregs, and still the commandant
'showed no disposition to accept the terms of capitulation which Bernhard
• offered. He held his post as long as it was humanly possible, and beyond the
■ limit imposed by the laws of humanity. Not until the last horrible extrenuty
was reached and repeated cases of cannibalism had occurred among a populace
driven by hunger to madness and despair, did Reinach resolve (on December
; 20th) to accede to terms by which the garrison marched out with the honours
;0f war. But those who left the fortress were mere shadows of humanity,
i broken down in body and mind. It was not without good reason that Duke
378 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[163S-1639 A.D.]
Bernhard wrathfully reproached Reinach for having let matters come to this
pass.
Bernhard, now at the zenith of his military reputation, was regarded by
the Protestants of Germany as their saviour and deliverer hi time of utmost
need, and was lauded in extravagant encomiums as a second Gustavus
Adolphus. The forces ranged against the emperor were every^'here on the
alert, drawing fresh life and vigour from the amazing successes of the hero of
Weimar. The decisive effects of the victories of Wittenweier and Rheinfelden
had been felt even in the north; the imperial forces had been withdrawn from
Westphalia, Hesse, and Thuringia to go to the relief of Breisach, and the road
was thus left open to Baner, who drove the emperor's forces back from Meck-
lenburg and Pomerania, and once more menaced Brandenburg. The imperial
troops, which were few in number, had to retire into Silesia and Bohemia. In
tlie following year (1639) Baner was able to venture far on the way towards
Bohemia after gaining a victory over the imperials at Chemnitz. Both he
and Bernhard indulged in the boldest plans for the campaign of 1639, in which
they were at last to act in concert and to subdue the emperor by tremendous
blows from the north and west; after which they might hope to compel him to
conclude the universal peace so long desired, upon the basis of true religious
liberty.
THE TREACHERY OF FRANCE
From one quarter alone Bernhard was confronted with difficulties and
attempts to withhold from him the fruits of his victories, and that was from
France, the very power in whose service he had gained them. By the agree-
ment of October, 1635, Richelieu had pledged himself to hand Alsace and the
government of Hanau over to him with all the rights which the house of
Austria had enjoyed in those territories. On the flimsiest pretexts he now
raised objection after objection to the carrying out of this compact, and more
particularly to the surrender of the fortress of Breisach which had just been
conquered with such difficulty. After dropping his original contention that
Breisach did not belong to Alsace, as too perverse and repugnant to the facts
of the case, Richelieu proceeded to argue that this important stronghold could
never be maintained by so small a force as Bernhard would have at his dis-
posal as landgraf of Alsace. The troops which he had commanded had been
in the service of the king of France, the king of France had paid him, and the
king was therefore entitled to share in the fruits of victory.
Bernhard, who had promptly set to work to construct a properly organised i
government in Alsace, vainly endeavoured by means of repeated embassies
to bring the French to recognise the contract of 1635. In consequence of the I
warnings of his friends in Paris he refrained from going thither in person.
But when Guebriant, acting on instructions from Richelieu, conveyed to him
the suggestion that he should hold Alsace " under the suzerainty of the king
of France," i.e. that he should become that king's vassal, he flew into a violent i
rage and declared that he would not be the first to dismember his country.
His relations with France grew more and more strained and unfriendly as the
perversity of their nature became more and more apparent. What might not
this prince have accomplished, with his high military abilities and his ardent
patriotism, if his victories had been achieved by the help of his German co-
religionists and not by the subsidies of France! To the German nation he
would have become what Wallenstein might have become had he not been a
general in the emperor's sei-vice.
Meanwhile on the imperial side there was no lack of tempting offers, by
THE THIETY YEARS' WAR 379
[1639 A.D.]
which it was hoped that he might be won over and induced to give in his
adherence to the Peace of Prague. But in spite of his dismal experience of
the French, Bernhard indignantly rejected all such overtures, the acceptance
of which w^ould have brought him into conflict with the whole tenor of his past
career.. From first to last he believed that the chief task of his life was to
bring the emperor to terms in a lasting peace, based upon sound principles and
satisfying the just demands of his co-religionists. With all the vehement
optimism of his character he clung to the hope that now that he had done such
great things he would find adherents and supporters among his Protestant
compatriots. He had already entered into an alliance with the high-spirited
landgrafin Amalia Elizabeth of Hesse, and had tried to win her over to take
part again in the war from which, by the agreement of Mainz of 1638, she had
withdrawn in her capacity of guardian to her infant son William VI, at the
urgent request of the estates of her dominions.
THE DEATH OF BERNHARD (1639 A.D.)
The valiant duke w^as making preparations for transferring the theatre of
war once more to the right bank of the Rhine and joining hands with Baner
for concerted operations; his troops had even crossed the Rhine at Neuen-
burg, when he fell a victim to a malady of the nature of plague at that place,
on the 18th of July, 1639. His death happened so opportunely for the French,
who had long been jealous of his proud independence, as to give rise among
his contemporaries to a wholly unfounded rumour that he had been poisoned
at the instigation of France.^
In these days of the fatherland's deepest need and degradation Duke Bern-
hard of Weimar had alone stood forth as truly great and honourable, and above
all a German at heart.
LAST TEN YEARS OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
With the successive deaths of Gustavus Adolphus, Wallenstein, and Bern-
hard of Weimar there w^as an end of the generals who were at the same time
statesmen, and whose military operations were conceived on a large scale,
commensurate with the magnitude of their political conceptions. From now
on the hordes of soldiers marched to and fro, from one end of Germany to the
other — without any coherent plan, but merely with a view to small advan-
tages and plunder. Germany, already exhausted, was now completely
devastated. The foreign powers, France and Sweden, sent gold and generals
to Germany. There they organised armies of their own which should subsist
on plunder; and with these armies as support they were able to play the
master in the realm. The emperor and the states which upheld him were the
enemy, and it was their lands which were to be ravaged in such a barbarous
manner. The emperor's forces, on the other hand, attacked with equal fury
the states allied to France and Sweden. For the rest the soldiery treated
friend and foe alike; they robbed and pillaged everyw-here without license.
During the long-continued war, with its numerous vicissitudes, numberless
places were plundered and laid waste by Swedes, French, and imperial troops
until they became a wilderness. The wretched, impoverished people became
stupid and brutal under so much misery. All escaped who could and c^n-
icealed themselves in the woods or in caves; many joined the soldiery, while
still others became thieves and murderers,
i All cried for peace: but no power was grer.t enough to overcome the
380 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIKE
[1640-1642 A.D.]
others, nor would any abate a bit of its own self-seeking. Foreigners
demanded indemnification; the Germans were still in controversy over
religious questions. The emperor and the Catholics, even the obstinate
Lutherans, would hear nothing of universal, religious freedoni ; the reformed
church should forever remain outside the pale. This solution was not of a
nature to please the reform party, while the emperor and the Catholics were
willing neither completely to raise the unfortunate restitution edict, nor to
grant a general amnesty.
Bavaria had no desire to give back the electorate and Palatinate : and the
emperor would not listen to any proposals of indemnification to Bavaria,
Sweden, or France. Many princes of the empire expected largely to increase
their territorial possessions of land by a continuance of the war. All nego-
tiations for peace were, therefore, fruitless, and the German people was com-
pelled to continue to pay the foreign invader and the domestic destroyer with
its goods and its blood, with the sacrifice of its power and its honour, its
freedom and its rights.
While the French entrenched themselves in the southwestern part of the
empire, the Swedish general Baner fought bravely in northern Germany
againstJ the forces of the emperor, which in the beginning were led by Gallas,
and afterwards were commanded by the brother of the emperor. Archduke
Leopold William. The latter drove Baner, who had been ravaging Bohemia
with fire and sword (1640), into Meissen and Thuringia, which he mercilessly
devastated because of the desertion of the elector of Saxony. It was the
unhappy people of those princes who had upheld the peace negotiations at
Prague who must now atone most fearfully: for what had been left undis-
turbed by the imperial allies, the Swedes now overran and destroyed. Then
Baner joined forces with the French general Guebriant; and while the emperor
was at Ratisbon, discussing in the diet the best means of driving foreigners
from the empire, he drew near by forced marches and came unexpectedly upon
the imperial army, from behind, wishing to take the emperor prisoner. For-
tunately for the latter, a thaw suddenly set in which broke the ice in the
Danube and swelled the waters to such a height that it was impossible to
construct a bridge of boats, and the Swede was obliged to retreat, thus leaving
the emperor untouched. At the same time Guebriant became separated
from Baner, and the imperial army now followed on the latter's retreat
through the Palatinate, Yet he fought his way bravely through Bohemia
to Saxony, where Guebriant again joined him. Baner died suddenly on the
20uh of May, 1641, at Halberstadt. He was a brave soldier; but overin-
dulgent in eating and drinking. It was his debauchery that carried him to
the grave.
Torstenson Succeeds Baner
General Lennart Torstenson now took the chief command of the Swedish
army. Torstenson was frail in body and could scarcely stand upon his legs
because of the gout. However, his spirit was vigorous and healthy and not
to be broken by any reverses; he passed his days and nights conceiving
daring plans for war. Torstenson immediately marched fresh troops out of
Sweden into Germany, restoring military discipline first of all. In 1642 he
suddenly carried the war into the emperor's land — Silesia and Moravia.
From there the archduke William and the imperial general Piccolomini drove
him back to Saxony, and on the 2nd of November, 1642, a decisive battle
was fought on the plain before Breitenfeld, not far from Leipsic. The Swedes
were again victorious, after the bravest resistance by the imperial troops.
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 381
[1643-1647 A.D.]
Suddenly Torstensqn, who despite liis gout was like a flash of lightning in
his military operations, opened a campaign in Bohemia and Moravia, and
penetrated even to the gates of Vienna. This daring exploit would have
decided the war in favour of the Swedes, if at the same time Guebriant had
advanced on Bavaria. However, Guebriant was killed at Rottweil and
another general of the French army, Rosen, was defeated by General Johann
von Werth, at Tuttlingen, on the 24th of November, 1643.
Meanwhile, negotiations for peace had been going on for a long time
between the emperor and Sweden, and Denmark had interfered as a media-
tory power. Prompted wholly by her jealousy of Sweden, it was her secret
intention to weaken the political power of that state. As soon as the bold
and vigilant Torstenson realised this, he marched, straight as an arrow, out
of Moravia into Holstein. He then occupied Jutland, and held Denmark in
terror. The emperor then sent an army under Gallas to the relief of the
Danes. However, Torstenson by a dexterous manoeuvre hastened past the
imperials near Rendsburg, and when the latter followed him, he overwhelmed
Gallas' force in a severe battle at Jiiterbog; afterwards, in 1644, he swept
back swiftly with sixteen thousand men to Bohemia. There, in 1645, he
won a decisive victory over the imperial army at Jankau, and then marched
upon Vienna, in the hope that Prince Rakoczy of Transylvania would sup-
port him while the French army was marching through Swabia to Franken
and advancing on Bavaria. By this move Emperor Ferdinand III was
placed in great danger; but his courage remained unaltered, and soon the
luck of war turned in his favour. Rakoczy made peace with him, and the
French army, although victorious over the imperial in an important battle
near Allersheim, was nevertheless so w^eakened by its great losses that it was
compelled again to return to the Rhine. At this point Torstenson, who had
beleaguered the city of Brlinn in Moravia was forced to raise the siege, by
which he suffered the loss of many brave soldiers.
Wrangel Succeeds Torstenson
Denmark, on the other hand, and the elector of Saxony decided to make
peace with Sweden, the latter for the reason that the Swedes had so fearfully
ravaged his lands. About the same time Torstenson relinquished his com-
mand of the Swedish army, his frail body being no longer able to withstand
the hardships of war. The chief command of the Swedish army then devolved
upon the brave Karl Gustaf Wrangel. In 1646 he joined forces with the
French general Turenne, and both armies now occupied Bavaria; and in
1647 the elector Maximilian, who for twenty-nine years, during innumerable
changes of fortune, had upheld the cause of the emperor and the Catholics,
was compelled to accede to an armistice until the consummation of peace.
It was out of anxiety for his territories, which he wished to save from ruin,
that the aged prince thus held himself neutral.
The outlook for the emperor was very dark about that time. He had
only twelve thousand men remaining in his army, and after the death of
Gallas he appointed for commander-in-chief a Protestant, Peter Holzapfel,
called Melander — a Hessian by birth. It was the jealousy which France
bore towards Sweden which saved the emperor. The French suddenly
marched their troops back to the Rhine, while Wrangel remained firm before
Eger. When Bavaria saw that the tide of war had turned, the truce with
Sweden was broken, and the Bavarian forces rejoined those of the emperor.
Soon after, Wrangel was forced back to the Weser, and the imperials and the
382 " THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIRE
[1648-1649 A.D.]
Bavarians followed. France now feared that the emperor might retrieve
some of his past ill-fortmie and the command was given to General Turenne
to unite again with the Swedes. This reunion did in fact take place at Geln-
hausen.
Then Wrangel determined to scourge Bavaria for its defection. He
crossed the Danube at Lauingen and defeated the imperial forces, which
were commanded by General Melander, on the 17th of May, 1648, at
Zusmarshausen. ]\Ielander himself fell in the battle. Wrangel then crossed
the Lech with the intention of carrying the war through Bavaria into Austria.
The Swedes now devastated poor Bavaria, while the old elector fled to Salz-
burg. Wrangel, however, could not maintain himself in the wasted land,
where moreover Johann von Werth successfully attacked him; so he returned
to Swabia.
Meanwhile the Swedish general Konigsmark had entered Bohemia,
advanced towards Prague, and mastered a portion of the city. The count
palatine of Zweibriicken, Charles Gustavus [afterwards Charles X of Sweden],
who had brought fresh troops from Sweden, joined him, and Prague was now
besieged by the united Swedish armies. Eight thousand imperial troops
came to its relief ; but in their wake flew messengers from Westphalia (Octo-
ber, 1648), bearing the glad tidings that peace was proclaimed. Thus after
thirty years of continuous, prolonged misery, and after Germany had lost by
it two thirds of its population, the war terminated on precisely the same spot
which in 1618 had been the scene of the original outbreak. «
Peace was proclaimed throughout the empire to all the armies, to all the
besieged cities, to the trembling princes, to the wailing people. The wild
soldiery was roused to fury at the news. At Feuchtwangen, Wrangel dashed
his cocked hat to the ground and gave orders to let loose all the furies of war
during the retreat. The beautiful city of Liegnitz in Silesia was wantonly
set on fire by one of his men. The neighbouring city of Jauer was similarly
treated by the imperial troops, who, shortly before the peace, had attacked
the Swedes in that place. Turenne, the idol of France, acted in the same
manner. Neresheim was sacked, and Weil was laid in ashes by his soldiery.
This robber band at length disappeared behind the Vosges (1649). Had the
disputes between the royalists and cardinalists in France been turned to
advantage, a peace more favourable for Germany might have been concluded;
but no one — with the exception of the indefatigable Charles of Lorraine, who
joined the French princes, carried on the war at his own cost, and, in 1649,
defeated Mazarin's troops at Cambray — appeared conscious of the fact.
THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1643-164S A.D.)
Plenipotentiaries from the belligerent powers had, since 1643, been assem-
bled at Osnabriick and Miinster in Westphalia, for the purpose of concluding
peace._ The hatred subsisting between the different parties in Germany had
insensibly diminished, and each now merely aimed at saving the little remain-
ing in its_ possession. Misery and suffering had cooled the religious zeal of the
people, license that of the troops, and diplomacy that of the princes. The
thirst for blood had been satiated, and passion, worn out by excess, slumbered.
Gerrnany had long sighed for the termination of a struggle solely carried on
within her bosom by the stranger. The Swedes and French had, however,
triumphed, and were now in a position to dictate terms of peace favourable
for themselves, and a long period elapsed before the jealous pretensions of all
the parties mterested in the conclusion of peace were satisfied. The procras-
THE THIRTY YEAES' WAR ^83
[1643-1648 A.D.]
tination of the emperor, who allowed three quarters of a year to elapse before
givmg his assent to the treaty of peace, the tardiness of the French and
Swedish ambassadors in appearing at the congress, the disputes between the
members about titles, right of precedence, etc., carried on for months and
years, are to be ascribed not so much to the pedantry of the age, to Spanish
punctilio, and to German tedium, as to the policy of the belligerent powers,
who, whenever they expected a fresh result from the manoeuvres of their
generals, often made use of these means for the sole purpose of prolonging the
negotiations.
The fate of the great German fatherland, the prospects of the immense
empire over which Charlemagne and Barbarossa had reigned, lay in the hands
of Avaux, the shameless French ambassador, who cited the non-occupation
of the left bank of the Rhine by France as an extraordinary instance of gener-
osity, and of Salvius, the Swedish envoy, who, ever dreading to be outwitted
by his principal antagonist, Avaux, vied with him in impudence. At the side
of the former stood Servien, at that of the latter John Oxenstierna, the son of
the great chancellor, Trauttmansdorf, the imperial envoy, a tall, ugly, but
grave and dignified man, alone offered to them a long and steady resistance,
and compelled them to relinquish their grossest demands. By him stood the
wily Volmar of Wiirtemberg, a recanted Catholic. The Dutch ambassador,
Paw, vigilantly watched over the interests of his country, in which he was
imitated by the rest of the envoys, who, indifferent to the weal of Germany as
a whole, were solely occupied in preserving or gaining small portions of terri-
tory from the great booty. Barnbiihler of Wiirtemberg, whose spirit and
perseverance remedied his want of power, and the celebrated natural philoso-
pher. Otto von Guericke, the inventor of the air-pump, burgomaster of ruined
Magdeburg, might also be perceived in the background of the assembly, which
had met to deliberate over the state of the empire under the presidency of
foreigners and brigands.
The misery caused by the war was, if possible, surpassed by the shame
brought upon the country by this treaty of peace. In the same province,
where Arminius had once routed the legions of Rome, Germany bent servilely
beneath a foreign yoke. At Miinster, Spain concluded peace with Holland.
The independence of Holland and her separation from the empire were recog-
nised, and Germany was deprived of her finest provinces and of the free
navigation of the Rhine — a fatal stroke to the prosperity of all the Rhenish
cities. The independence of Switzerland was also solemnly guaranteed.
Peace was concluded between France and the empire. France was confirmed
in the possession of Metz, Toul, Verdun, and the whole of Alsace, with the
exception of Strasburg, of the unperial cities, and of the lands of the nobility
' of the empire situated in that province, in consideration of which Breisach and
the fortress of Philippsburg, the keys to upper Germany, were ceded to_ her,
' by which means Germany was deprived of one of her finest frontier provinces
; and left open to the French invader, against whom the petty princes of south-
, ern Germany, being consequently unprotected, they fell, in course of time,
I under the influence of their powerful neighbour. At Osnabriick, peace was
• concluded with Sweden, which was indemnified for the expenses of the war by
the payment of $5,000,000 and by the cession of the bishoprics of Bremen and
Verden, the objects of Danish jealousy, of the city of Wismar, the island of
iRiJgen, Stralsund, consequently of all the important posts on the Baltic and
;the North Sea.
': One portion after another of the Holy German Empire was thus ceded to
her foes. The remaining provinces still retained theu- ancient form, but hung
384 THE HOLY EOMA^^ EMPIRE
[1318-1648 A.D.]
too loosely together to withstand another storm. The ancient empire existed
merely in name; the more powerful princes vu-tually possessed the power and
rendered themselves completely independent, and the supremacy of the em-
peror, and with it the unity of the body of the state, sank to a mere shadow.
Each member of the empire exercised the right of making war, of concluding
peace, and of making treaties with every European power, the emperor alone
excluded. Each of the princes possessed almost unlimited authority over his
subjects, wdiilst the emperor solely retained some inconsiderable prerogatives
or reservations. The petty princes, the counts, knights, and cities, however,
still supported the emperor, who, in return, guarded them against the encroach-
ments of the great princes. The petty members of the empire in western
Germany would, nevertheless, have preferred throwing themselves into the
arms of France.
Every religious sect was placed on an equal footing, their power during the
long war having been found equal, and their mutual antipathy having grad-
ually become more moderate. The imperial chamber was composed of equal
numbers of Catholics and Protestants, and, in order to equalize the power of
the electoral princes, the Rhenish Palatinate, together with the electoral
office, was again restored to its lawful possessor. Bavaria, nevertheless,
retained both the electoral dignity and the upper Palatinate, notwithstanding
the protest made by Charles Louis, the son of the ex-king of Bohemia, against
this usurpation. All church property, seized or secularised by the Protes-
tants, remained in their hands, or was, by the favour of the princes, divided
among them. The emperor and the Catholic princes yielded, partly from
inability to refuse their assent, and partly because they began to perceive the
great advantage gained thereby by the temporal princes; nor was it long
before they imitated the example. The pope naturally made a violent protest
against the secularisation of chm'ch property. Innocent X published a bull
against the Peace of Westphalia. The religious zeal of the Catholics had also
cooled, notwithstanding the admonitions of the Jesuits; the princes, conse-
quently, were solely governed by political ideas, which proved as detrimental
to the papal cause after, as religious enthusiasm had been during the Reforma-
tion. The authority of the pope, like that of the igmperor, had faded to a
shadow.
All secularised property reclaimed by the Catholics since the Normal year,
1624, consequently since the publication of the Edict of Restitution, was
restored to the Protestants, and all Protestant subjects of Catholic princes
were granted the free exercise of the religion professed by them in the said
year, which, happening to have been that immediately after the battle on the
White Mountain, and the emperor declaring that, at that period, his Reformed
subjects no longer enjoyed liberty of conscience, the protests made by the
emigrated Austrian Protestants remained without effect. The Silesian
princes, still remaining in Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, 01s, Miinsterberg, and the
city of Breslau, w^ere aUow' ed to remain Lutheran, and three privileged churches
were, moreover, permitted at Glogau, Jauer, and Schw^eidnitz. The ancient
system was strictly enforced throughout the rest of the hereditary provinces.
The sole favour shown towards the Protestants was their transportation to
Transylvania, where they wTre allowed the free exercise of their rehgion. The
Jesuits were invested with unlimited authority in that portion of the German
empire which remained Catholic after the Peace of Westphalia. In 1652 an
imperial edict enforced the profession of Catholicism, under pain of death, by
every individual within the hereditary provinces.
The disputes between the Lutherans and the Reformed church were also
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 385
[1618-1648 A.D.]
brought to a close, and the senseless law by means of which the faith professed
by the prince was imposed upon his subjects was repealed. The violence with
which the doctors of theology defended then- opinions, nevertheless, remained
unabated.
Germany is reckoned by some to have lost one half, by others, two thirds
of her entire population during the thirty years' war. In Saxony, nine hun-
dred thousand men had fallen within two years; in Bohemia, the nmnber of
inhabitants at the demise of Ferdinand II, before the last deplorable inroads
made by Baner and Torstenson, had sunk to one fourth. Augsburg, instead
of eighty, had eighteen thousand inhabitants. Every province, every town
throughout the empire had suffered at an equal ratio, with the exception of
the Tyrol, which had repulsed the enemy from her frontiers and had enjoyed
the deepest peace during this period of horror. The country was completely
impoverished. The working class had almost totally disappeared. The
manufactories had been destroyed by fire; industry and commerce had passed
into other hands. The products of upper Germany were far inferior to those
of Italy and Switzerland, those of lower Germany to those of Holland and
England. Immense provinces, once flourishing and populous, lay entirely
waste and uninhabited, andw ere only by slow degrees repeopled by foreign
emigrants or by soldiery. The original character and language of the inhabi-
tants were, by this means, completely altered. In Franconia, which, owing
to her central position, had been traversed by every party during the war, the
misery and depopulation had reached to such a pitch that the Franconian
estates, with the assent of the ecclesiastical princes, abolished (1650) the
celibacy of the Catholic clergy, and permitted each man to marry two wives,
on account of the numerical superiority of the women over the men. The last
remains of political liberty had, during the war, also been snatched from the
people; each of the estates had been deprived of the whole of its material
power. The nobility were compelled by necessity to enter the service of the
princes, the citizens were impoverished and powerless, the peasantry had been
utterly demoralised by military rule and reduced to servitude. The provincial
estates, weakly guarded by the crown against the encroachments of the petty
princes, were completely at the mercy of the more powerful of the petty sov-
ereigns of Germany and had universally sunk in importance. Science and art
had fled from Germany, and pedantic ignorance had replaced the deep learning
of her universities. The mother tongue had become adulterated by an incredi-
ble variety of Spanish, Italian, and French words, and the use of foreign words
with German terminations was considered the highest mark of elegance.
Various foreign modes of dress were also as generally adopted. Germany had
lost all save her hopes for the future. /
H. W. — vol,. XIV. 2c
CHAPTER X
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE^
[1648-1748 A.D.]
To the empire, as a great political body, tlie Peace of Westphalia
can appear scarcely in any other light than as a fatal blow to its
strength and influence. To a few of the greater states this peace
became the foundation of independence ; but to the smaller it was the
ultimate cause of weakness and degradation, and led to the subjuga-
tion of most of the imperial towns, once the chief seats of German
wealth, prosperity, and commerce. — CoxE.3
It will not require many words, nor will it prove a task of much difficulty
to represent the sadly depressed state of the country after a war of such
devastation. Two thirds^ of the population had perished, not so much by
the sword itself as by those more lingering and painful sufferings which such
a dreadful war brings in its train: contagion, plague, famine, and all the
other attendant horrors. For death on the field of battle itself is not the evil
of war; such a death, on the contrary, is often the most glorious, inasmuch
as the individual is taken off in a moment of enthusiastic ardour, and whilst
he is inspired with the whole force of his vital power ; thus he is relieved from
the anxious and painful contemplation of the gradual approach of his last
moments. But the true curse of war is based in the horrors and miseries it
spreads among and with which it overwhelms those who can take no active
share in it — women, children, and aged men, from whom it snatches all the
enjoyments, all the hopes of life; thence the germ of a new generation becomes
poisoned in its very principle, and can only unfold itself with struggling pain
and sorrow, without strength or courage.
Nevertheless, in Germany the natural energy of the people speedily aroused
E' It is perhaps hardly necessary to remind the reader that the famous phrase is Voltaire's.]
' According to Sime'' from one half to two thirds.]
386
NEITHER HOLY, NOE EOMAN, NOR EMEIRE 387
[1648 A.D.]
itself among them, and a life of activity and serious application very soon suc-
ceeded in a proportionate degree to that which had so long been characterised
by disorder and negligence ; and it is thus that the two extremes often meet.
The demoralisation so generally existing — produced on the one hand by the
warriors who, on their return home from the camp, introduced there much of
the licentiousness they had previously indulged in, and, on the other hand,
through the juvenile classes having grown up and become matured without
education, and being by force of example in almost a savage state — obliged
the princes now to devote all their attention and care towards re-establishing
the exercise of religious worship, and restoring the schools and ecclesiastical
institutions — measures which never fail to produce beneficial results. But
it was agriculture which more especially made rapid strides in the improve-
ments introduced, and which was pursued with an activity hitherto unex-
ampled. As a great number of the landowners had perished during the war,
■ land generally became materially reduced in price, and the population accord-
ingly showed everywhere the most active industry in the cultivation of the
soil; so that wdthin a short space of time the barren fields were replaced by
fertile meadows, and fruitful gardens amidst smiling villages greeted the eye
,in every part. The moment had now arrived, likewise, when the claims of
;the peasantry to the rights of freeborn men were acknowledged more and
more, and the chains by which they had been hitherto bound were gradually
■relaxed, until at length the final link which held them fell to the ground.
Thus Germany might have become more flourishing than ever by the pros-
perous state of its agriculture, for it is from the maternal earth that a nation
draws its source and strength of life, when it devotes its powers to that object;
,'but essential and general causes interfered, unhappily, to prevent the fulfil-
nent of this desirable object.
; In the first place, the declining state of the cities operated in a special
jiegree to destroy the beneficial results of agriculture. The prosperity of the
iities had received a vital blow, by the complete change which had been
'ntroduced into the whole system of commerce; its decline, however, was
only partial until the period of the Thirty Years' War. Shortly previous to
he commencement of the war, a foreign writer placed Germany still at the
I lead of every other country, in respect to the extent and number of its cities,
i-nd the genius, talent, and activity of its artists and artisans. They were sent
or from every part of Europe. At Venice, for instance, the most ingenious
'oldsmiths, clockmakers, carpenters, as well as even the most distinguished
'ainters, sculptors, and engravers, were at the end of the sixteenth century
,11 natives of Germany. But it will suffice to mention the names of such
islebrated artists as Albrecht Diirer, Hans Holbein, and Lucas Kranach, to
orm an idea of the prosperous state of the arts in the cities of Germany at
le commencement of the sixteenth century. This terrible war, however,
!ive them their mortal blow; numerous free cities, previously in a flourishing
;ate, were completely reduced to ashes, others nearly depopulated altogether,
I id all those extensive factories and institutions which gave to Germany the
aperiority over other nations were through loss of the workmen, completely
'serted and left in a state of inactivity.
Thence, at a meeting of the Hanseatic League in Liibeck, in 1630, those
,w cities which still remained in existence declared they were no longer able
'' contribute towards the expenses of the league. Economy and strict indus-
Y might perhaps have raised them gradually from the state of misery mto
lich they had thus fallen, but their ancient prosperity and importance were
'/th forever gone; and, as is stated by an early writer, on the foreheads ot
388 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1648-1671 A.D.]
these once wealtliy citizens might be traced in characters too clearly expressed
how fallen was their state, reduced as they now were to endure a painful and
laborious existence. Many of the cities, some voluntarily, others through
the necessity of the times, saw themselves compelled to submit to the power
of the princes, as, for instance. Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen made
himself master of Miinster, in 1661 ; the elector of Mainz, of the city of Erfurt,
in 1664; the elector of Brandenburg, of the city of Magdeburg, in 1666;
and the duke of Brunswick, of the city of Brunswick, in 1671; whilst those
which retained the title of free cities — how poor and miserably did they
drag on their existence, until at length, in more recent times, they likewise
lost their privilege altogether.
The nobility had likewise lost much of their ancient dignity and lustre.
Ever since they had ceased to form more especially the military state of the
empire, and their noble cavaliers no longer conferred exclusively glory upon
the nation; ever since they had abandoned their independence, by attaching
themselves to the court, or wasted all their strength in a life spent in indolence
and without any noble object in view; and, finally, ever since they had com-
menced imitating and adopting the manners, customs, and languages of
foreign nations, and substituted their effeminacy and refinement for the
ancient energy and sincerity for which Germany had ever been so renowned
— ever since these changes and innovations had been introduced, the nobles
of the empire had gradually degenerated and lost all their consequence and
dignity. Thus were eclipsed two of the most important and essentia) orders
of the empire, the two which, in spite of all their other defects, had above every
other contributed to give to the ^liddle Ages the grand and vigorous character
for which that period w^as so much distinguished.
It is true that during the last few centuries changes of a similar nature
had taken place in other countries of Europe, which, by thus substituting a
new order of things, obliterated all that had characterised the Middle Ages.
But with all this, ample compensation was found in the wealth and prosperity
commanded by commerce, whilst in this respect Germany was now deprived
of aU such resource. The share which a few of the cities still took in the com-
merce of the world could not establish or effect a balance of the whole ; whilst,
on the other hand, instead of restricting themselves to that simple order of
life so especially necessary among an agricultural people, and thus trying to
avert the coming indigence, they launciied out more and more into a luxu-
rious state of living; and accordingly, in exchange for precious and exotic
articles of merchandise, they gave up to foreign nations all the rich fruits of
agriculture and industry produced at home at the expense of so much toU
and anxiety. For however fertile the soil of their country, and however j
varied its produce, it could not possibly equal in value the rich wares imported j
from all parts of the world. When, however, the love of luxury and sensual '
pleasure has gained the upper hand, nothing can restrict or check its extrava-
gant and insatiable demands.
This evil, however, was not one originally implanted in the nature of the
German: it was communicated by those foreigners whom they sought to
imitate in everything — even in their degeneracy. The excursions now made
beyond Germany, and especially to France, and its metropolis ; the imitation
more and more indulged in of the fashions and manners of the French, and
even of theu- unmorality itself; the introduction and reception of French
professors and governesses into various German families for the education
of the juvenile members; the contempt more and more shown and felt for
their own native language; the enthusiasm indulged in for that French
NEITHEE HOLY, NOR EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 389
[1648 A.D.]
philosophy, so superficial, and yet at the same time so easily adapted to
render the individual wholly indifferent to his religious, moral, and social
duties — all these causes had operated more and more injuriously amongst the
higher, as well as the middle classes of society, and thence, at the present
period, their influence presented the most baneful effects.
On the other hand, however, it is not to be denied that relations with
foreign countries have materially promoted the civilisation of Germany; and
it is impossible not to recognise in the course of modern history a tendency
to render more and more firm and durable the bond of union between all the
nations of Christendom. Placed as the German
Empire is, in the centre of the principal nations of
Europe, it has ever warmly sympathised with, and
the forms of its political constitution have ever
encouraged the movement of moral and intel-
lectual progress. For in most other countries,
each of which was constituted into one homoge-
neous kingdom, the chief city was the first to set
the example in the adoption of all that it might
judge w^orthy of patronage and dissemination, and
thence it established the rule or law for the co-
optation thereof generally throughout the prov-
inces : by this means, however, the progress made
became gradually subjected to certain fixed forms,
whence it could not be exempt from partiality.
In Germany, on the contrary, science and art
have marched together full of activity and inde-
pendence as in a free dominion. The superior,
equally with the lesser states rivalled each other
in their patronage; no single town, no particular
individual, was empowered to impose laws ; and,
finally, no favouritism, no exception of person,
was shown, but everything bearing within it es-
sential and sterling merit was sure sooner or later
to meet with due acknowledgment and apprecia-
tion; and thence it is that the German nation has made such progress in all
the sciences.
Nevertheless, this moment must be regarded as teeming with dangerous
error. Nothing is more difficult for human nature than to maintam the one
direct and central path without diverging to one side or the other — nothing
more difficult than to combme civilisation and enlightenment with religious
\ and moral strictness, to unite an acute sensibility for all that is really good and
valuable in genius, wherever found, with honesty and constancy of principle,
, and to conjoin independence of spirit with self-denial and submission. The
period we are about to trace will show us in what degree this object was alter-
inately approached or receded from by the German nation; whilst, at the
I same time, it will present us with all those vicissitudes to which mankind
■ is subject.
' This series of good and bad fortunes is, we shall find, more especially
'' shown in external relations. Days of prosperity and peace were succeedet
Iby those of distress; but the latter down to and during this period continued
; in their degree to outweigh the former. In no period of German history do
I we find i^resented such melancholy pictures as during the long reign of Louis
iXIV of France, nor has German state policy ever shown so much weakness
German Spoon, Seventeenth
Century
390 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1654-1658 A.D.]
and pusillanimity as when suffering from his ambitious designs. During
the short interval of tranquillity from the time of his death to the war of the
Austrian succession, the arts of peace once more revived a little, but the
progress of their development was again checked by the storms of that con-
test, and more especially by the still more ruinous Seven Years' War which
immediately succeeded. The interval of twenty-five years, from the con-'
elusion of this war to the commencement of the French Revolution, was the
longest period of tranquillity Germany had hitherto enjoyed; and during this
space of time art and science once more came into activity, and made such
flourishing progress that, in spite of the war of twenty-five years by which
the French Revolution was succeeded, their development, although much
checked, was not altogether destroyed.
DEATH OF FERDIXAXD III (1657 A.D.)
The emperor Ferdinand III lived nine years after the Peace of Westphalia;
he reigned with moderation and wisdom, and until his death the peace of
Germany remained undisturbed. He had already procured the decision of
the princes in favour of his son Ferdinand as his successor to the imperial
throne, when unfortunatel}^ that young man, who had excited the most
sanguine hopes, and towards whom all eyes were turned with confidence, died
in 1654 of the small-pox. Ferdinand was, therefore, forced to resume his
efforts with the princes in favour of his second son, Leopold — although he was
far from possessing the capacity of his deceased brother — but he himself died
on the 2nd of April, 1657, before the desired object was fully obtained.
The election of the new emperor met with considerable difficulty, because
the government of France was anxious to avail itself of this moment to obtain
possession of the imperial dignity, to which it had long aspired. It had in fact
already succeeded in gaining over the electoral princes of the Rhine; but all
the rest of the German princes felt the shame and disgrace such a choice must
bring upon the nation, and decided at once in favour of Leopold, archduke of
Austria, although this prince was only eighteen years of age; and he was
accordingly elected at Frankfort on the 18th of July, 1658. i
Meantime Cardinal Mazarin, the prime minister of France, had already '
formed an alliance which, under the name of the Rhenish Alliance, had for its '
object the total annihilation of the house of Austria, although ostensibly its •
only aim was the conservation of the Peace of Westphalia. The parties j
included in the alliance were France, Sweden, the electors of Mainz, Cologne, !
and Treves, the bishop of j\Iunster, the palatine of Neuburg, the elector of '
Hesse-Cassel, and the tliree dukes of Brunswick-Liineburg : a singularly mixed ,
alliance of Catholic spiritual and lay princes with the Protestant princes and j
Swedes, who had only so recently before stood opposed to each other in open i
warfare. A learned historian of that period unfolds to us what were the real i
intentions of France in forming this alliance, as well as the motives by which
she was guided throughout her proceedings against Germany: "Instead of
resorting to open force, as in the Thirty Years' War, it appeared more expedient^
to France to hold attached to her side a few of the German princes, and espe-|
ciall}^ those along the Rhine, by a bond of union — and, as it is said, by the.
additional obligation of an amiual subsidy — and, above all things, to appear '
to take great interest in the affairs of Germany; thus the princes might be
brought to believe that the protection of France would be more secure than^
that of the emperor and the laws of the empire. This means of paving the.
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE gqi
[1658-1688 A.D.]
way for the destruction of all liberty in Germany was, as may be easily judffed
by no means badly conceived." ^ '
France very soon showed that she only waited for an opportunity of seizinc'
her prey with the same hand which she had so recently held out in friendshir?
The long reign of Leopold I was almost wholly filled up with wars against
France and her arrogant prince, Louis XIV; and unhappy Germany was again
made the scene of sanguinary violence and devastation. Leopold, who was a
prince of a mild and religious disposition, but, on the other hand, of an equally
inactive and pusillanimous character, was by no means fitted to enter the field
against the French king, in whom were united great cunning, unlimited ambi-
tion, and insolent pride. France now pursued with persevering determination
the grand object she had in view, of making the Rhine her frontier and of
gaining possession of the Spanish Netherlands — which, under the name of
the Burgundian circle, belonged to the Germanic Empire — Lorraine, the
remaining portion of Alsace, not yet in its occupation, together with all the
lands of the German princes situated on the left bank of the Rhine. This
spirit of aggrandisement was shared equally by king and people. Already,
during the reign of Louis XIV, the French authors began to write in strong
and forcible language upon the subject of conquest, and one among them, a
certain D'Aubry, even went so far as to express in a pamplilet his opinions
founded on the theory — at that moment a novel one, but which afterwards
became of serious consideration, and was nearly carried into execution — that
the Roman-Germanic Empire, such as it was possessed by Charlemagne,
belonged to his king and his descendants ; and the abbe Colbert, in an address
to the king, in the name of the clergy, adds the words: "0 king, who giveth
laws to the seas as well as to all lands; who sendeth thy lightning wherever it
pleaseth thee, even to the shores of Africa itself; who subjecteth the pride of
nations, and forceth their sovereigns to bend the knee in all humility before
thee in acknowledgment of the power of thy sceptre, and to implore thy
mercy," and so forth.
Accordingly, Louis now commenced operations by conquering the Nether-
lands, pleading his ancient hereditary right to the possession of that country.
The Spaniards appealed for aid to the other circles of the Germanic Empire,
but not one of the princes came forward to assist them — some through indif-
ference, others from fear, and the rest again from being disgracefully bought
over by French money: such were the results of the Rhenish Alliance. Aban-
doned thus by all, the Netherlands fell into the hands of the king, and at the
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), in 1688, the Spaniards saw themselves
forced to surrender a whole line of frontier towns to France, in order to save
a portion only of the country.
THE GREAT ELECTOR
In addition to this, in the year 1672, France with equal injustice invaded
, Holland itself, and had she succeeded in her plans she would very soon have
been in a condition to hold dominion over the European seas. This new
, danger, however, produced as little effect upon the princes of Germany as the
preceding one; they paid little or no attention to it; nay, the elector of
Cologne and the warlike bishop of Munster, Cristoph Bernhard von Galen,
ione of the most distinguished men of his day, actually concluded an alliance
;with France. One only of the princes of Germany, the elector Frederick
i William of Brandenburg, known likewise under the title of the Great Elector
! acted with the energy so necessary; and, completely aware of the exact
392 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIRE
[167a-1675 A.D.]
condition of the nation, felt the necessity of preventing the total subversion
of the equilibrium of Europe. Accordingly, he made immediate prepara-
tions for placing his territories of Westphalia in a state of defence, exposed
as they were in the immediate vicinity of the scene of action; for by the
definitive arrangement of the inheritance of Jiilich, in 1656, he had received
the duchy of Cleves and the provinces of Mark and Ravensberg, whilst to the
count palatine of Neuburg had been allotted the duchies of Jiilich and Berg.
Frederick William likewise induced the emperor Leopold to adopt measures
for opposing the further progress of the French invaders, and both together
raised an army which they placed under the orders of the imperial general,
Montecuculi; but the co-operation of the Austrians became almost nullified
through the influence of Prince Lobkowitz, the emperor's privy councillor,
who, gained over by France, opposed all the plans of the imperial general.
Thence the elector beheld his fine army harassed and worn out by hunger and
sickness, and in order to prevent the French from completely destroying his
territories in Westphalia, in 1673, he concluded with them a peace in their
camp of Vossem near Louvain. His possessions were restored to him, with
the exception of the castles of Wesel and Rees, which the enemy resolved to
retain until a general pacification w^as permanently established.
Now, however, the emperor, after having lost his best allies, determined to
pursue the war with more vigour. Montecuculi gained some advantages
along the lower Rhine, and, amongst the rest, he succeeded in making himself
master of Bonn ; but all along the upper Rhine and in Franconia, the French
redoubled their ravages, and more especially in the Palatinate, which was now
made the most sanguinary scene of the whole war, as it was subsequently, and
where the French have left eternal monuments of their cruel proceedings.
As they thus continued to invade even the very empire itself, the princes now
united to resist them, and the elector of Brandenburg renewed his alliance
with the emperor. On this occasion Austria was distinguished especially for
her energy and activity. At the diet of Ratisbon, long discussions were held
upon the subject of the w^ar, but nothing was concluded; and Austria, having
discovered that this delay was produced by the French ambassador, who there ,
endeavoured by every means to deceive first one and then another of the i
princes, that power immediately commanded him, without waiting for any |
other formality, to quit Ratisbon within three days, and on his departure a
declaration of war was forthwith made by the emperor against the king of
France.
The war was carried on with varied success and loss, but altogether the
advantage was on the side of the French, whose generals were completely suc-
cessful in their object of making the German soil alone the field for their opera- 1
tions; whilst, on the other hand, the leaders of the allied forces were without
activity or union. In order to furnish occupation in his own land for the
most powerful of the German princes, namely the elector of Brandenburg,
Louis XIV concluded an alliance with the Swedes, in 1674, showing them the
great advantage they would derive by the invasion of that territory. This
they accordingly did, severely handling the country; nevertheless, the elector
would not abandon the Rhine, but contributed his assistance, and remained
as long as his presence was necessary; and it was only in the follovvdng year,
1675, that he at length did withdraw from that seat of war, and hastened to
the aid of his suffering country.
To the astonishment of both friends and foes, the elector suddenly arrived
before the city of Magdeburg, and passing through it continued his march,
until he came right in front of the Swedes, who believed him to be still in
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 393
[1661-1675 A.D.]
Franconia. They immediately retired, and sought to form themselves into
one body; but he pursued them, and came up with them on the 28th of June,
1675, at Fehrbellin. He had only his cavalry with him, his infantry not
having been able to follow quickly enough; nevertheless he determined to
attack the enemy at once. His generals advised him to await the arrival
of his foot soldiers before he gave battle ; but every moment of delay appeared
to him as lost, and the action began forthwith. It was attended with the
most brilliant success; the Swedes, who ever since the Thirty Years' War
had been regarded as invincible, were now completely overthrown and put
to flight, directing their course towards their own Pomerania. Thither they
were pursued by the elector, who conquered the greater portion of the
province. This elector may be regarded as the founder of the Prussian
monarchy,^ and his successors only built upon the basis he laid down.^
ILL-TREATMENT OF THE IMPERIAL CITIES
Louis XIV, while carrying on his attacks externally against the empire,
exerted every effort for the destruction of the remaining internal liberties of
Germany. His invasion of Holland had been undertaken under the plausible
pretext (intended as a blind to the princes) of defending the monarchical
principle, and, whilst secretly planning the seizure of Strasburg, he sought
to indispose the princes towards the free imperial cities. He accordingly
flattered Bavaria with the conquest of Nuremberg, Ratisbon, Augsburg, and
Ulm ; Bavaria was, however, still apprehensive of the emperor and contented
herself with retaining possession of the old imperial city of Donauworth,
notwithstanding the Peace of Westphalia, by which the freedom of that city
had been guaranteed.
In 1661 French troops aided the bishop, Von Galen, in subjugating the
provincial town of Minister and in depriving her of all her ancient privileges.
In 1664 French troops, in a similar manner, aided the electoral prince of
Mainz to place the city of Erfurt under subjection. Erfurt belonged originally
to Mainz, but had long been free' and Protestant, and stood under the especial
protection of Saxony. The demand made by the elector of being included
in the prayers of the church being refused by the Protestant citizens, the
emperor, who beheld the affair in a Catholic light, put the city under the
ban of the empire, which was executed by Mainz, backed by a French army,
whilst Saxony was pacified with a sum of money. The unfortunate citizens
opposed the Mainz faction within the city with extreme fury, assassinated
iCniephof, the president of the council, and beheaded Limprecht, one of the
chief magistrates, but were, after a gallant defence, compelled to capitulate.
In 1665 Louis reduced the imperial cities of Alsace, Strasburg excepted,
to submission. In 1666 the Swedes, under Wrangel, made a predatory
attack upon Bremen and bombarded the town, but withdrew on a protest
being made by the emperor and the empire. In the same year, Frederick
William of Brandenburg annihilated the liberties of the city of Magdeburg,
the archbishopric having, on the death of Augustus of Saxony, fallen, in
consequence of the Peace of Westphalia, under the administration of Bran-
denburg. In 1671 the ancient city of Brunswick had been seized by Rudolf
Augustus, duke of Wolfenbiittel, and robbed of all her privileges. Most of
the merchants emigrated. In 1672 Cologne was subjugated by the elector,
the city having, at an earlier period, favoured the Dutch. The citizens,
[' See volume XV. 1
394 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1671-1689 A.D.]
tyrannised over by the council dependent on the elector, revolted, but were
reduced to submission (1689). The rebellious citizens of Liege were also
reduced, by the aid of the elector of Cologne, and deprived of their ancient
privileges (1684). A similar insurrection caused (1685) at Brussels by the
heavy imposts was suppressed by force.
Hamburg had been a scene of disturbance since 1671, on account of the
narrow-minded despotism of the aristocratic council, which, in 1673, fraudu-
lently obtained a decision, the Windischgratz Convention, from the emperor,
who rebuked the complaining citizens and recommended them to submit.
The syndic, Garmer, who had been principally implicated in the affair of
the convention, intriguing wdth Denmark, became suspected by the emperor
and was compelled to fly from Hamburg (1678). The burgomaster, Meurer,
was also expelled. The convention w-as repealed, and Meurer was replaced
by Schliiter, who w^as assisted by two honest citizens, Schnitger and Jastram.
The Danes, on the failure of Garmer's intrigues, sought to seize Hamburg by
surprise and to annex that city, under pretence of its having formerly apper-
tained to Holstein, to Denmark. The citizens were, however, on the watch;
Brandenburg hastened to their aid, and the Danes were repulsed. The
ancient aristocratic faction now rose and falsely accused Schnitger, Jastram,
and Schliiter of a design to betray the city to Denmark ; the two former were
quartered, the third was poisoned in prison; Meurer was reinstated in his
office, and the Windischgratz Convention reinforced. The ancient pride of
the Hansa had forever fallen. In 1667 the Dutch pursued the English mer-
chantmen up to the walls of Hamburg, captured them, and injured the city,
which, in order to escape war with England, compensated the English mer-
chants for their losses.
THE LOSS OF STRASBURG (1681 A.D.)
Strasburg, -the ancient bulwark of Germany, was, however, destined to a
still more wretched fate, and, deserted by the German princes, was greedily
grasped by France. The insolence of the French monarch had greatly
increased since the Treaty of Nimeguen. In 1680 he miexpectedly declared
his intention to hold, besides the territory torn from the empire, all the lands,
cities, estates, and privileges that had thereto appertained, such as, for
instance, all Cierman monasteries, which, a thousand years before the present
period, had been founded by the Merovingians and Carlovingians, all the
districts which had, at any time, been held in fee by, or been annexed by
right of inheritance to, Alsace, Burgundy, or the Breisgau, and for this pur-
pose established four chambers of reunion at Besan^on, Breisach, Metz, and
Tournay, composed of paid literati and lawyers, commissioned to search for
the said dependencies amid the dust of the ancient archives. The first idea
of these chauibers of reunion had been given by a certain Ravaulx to Colbert,
the French minister, and the execution of their decrees was committed to
bands of incendiaries, who, in Alsace, the Netherlands, and the Palatinate,
tore down the ancient escutcheons and replaced them with that of France,
garrisoned the towns, and exacted enormous contributions from the citizens,
with W'hich Louis purchased three hundred pieces of artillery for the defence
of the territory thus arbitrarily seized.
The whole of the empire was agitated, but, whilst a tedious discussion was
as usual being carried on at Ratisbon, the French carried their schemes into
execution and suddenly seized Strasburg by treachery. This city, according
to her historian Friese, had made every effort to maintain her liberty against
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE .'395
[1681-1684 A.r>.]
France, The citizens, since the Thirty Years' War, had lived in a state of
continual apprehension, maintained and strengthened their fortifications
kept a body of regular troops, and, in their turn, every third day had mounted
guard. For sixty years they had been continually on the defensive, and
immense sums had been swallowed up in the necessary outlay. Trade and
commerce declined. The bishop of Speier levied a high duty on the goods of
the Strasburg merchants when on their way through Lauterburg and Philipps-
burg to the Frankfort fairs, whilst France beheld the sinking credit of the
city with delight, exercised every system of oppression in her power, and
promoted disunion among the citizens. There were also traitors among the
Lutheran clergy. The loyalty of the citizens was, however, proof against
every attempt, and Louis expended $300,000 in the creation of a small party.
Terror and surprise did the rest. The city was secretly surrounded with
French troops at a time when numbers of the citizens were absent at the
Frankfort and other fairs, September, 1681, and the traitors had taken care
that the means of defence should be in a bad condition. The citizens, deluded
by promises or shaken by threats, yielded, and Strasburg, the principal key to
Germany, the seat of German learning and the centre of German industry,
capitulated, on the 13th of October, to the empire's most implacable foe.
Louis made a triumphal entry into the city he had won by perfidy and was
welcomed by Franz Egon von Fiirstenberg, the traitorous bishop, in the
words of Suneon, ''Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for
I mine eyes have seen thy salvation!"
The city was strongly garrisoned by the French, and the fortifications were
rapidly improved to such a degree as to render it one of the strongest places
in Europe. The great cathedral, belonging to the Protestants, was reclaimed
by the bishop, and the free exercise of religion was, contrary to the terms of
capitulation, restricted. All the Lutheran officials were removed, the clergy
driven into the country. The Protestants emigrated in crowds. The chief
I magistrate, the venerable Dominicus Dietrich, fell a victim to private enmity
; and was cited to appear before Louis at Paris, where he was long detained
I prisoner. Louvois, on his steady refusal to recant, sent him into the interior
of France, where he was long imprisoned. He was, towards the close of his
dife, allowed to return to Strasburg, where he expired (1794). His memory
'has been basely calumniated by many German historians. Numbers of
'French were sent to colonise Strasburg, Alsace, and Lorraine. Many of the
I towns and districts received fresh names; the German costume was prohibited,
land the adoption of French modes enforced.
; A DISGRACEFUL PEACE
' The elector of Brandenburg, influenced by his wife, entering into alliance
uvith France, and the Turks, at Louis' instigation, invading Austria, that
.nonarch found himself without an opponent, and, after conquering Luxem-
ourg, destroyed Genoa, which still remained faithful to the empire, by bom-
|)arding her from the sea (1684). The emperor, harassed by the Turks and
libandoned by the princes, was again compelled (1684) to sign a disgraceful
peace, [which arranged a truce of twenty years and] by which France retained
|ier newly acquired territory, besides Strasburg and Luxemburg. Among all
ihe losses suffered by the empire, that of Strasburg was the most deeply felt.
I ''or almost two centuries the possession of that powerful fortress by France
i eutralised the whole of upper Germany or forced her princes into an alliance
lath their natural and hereditary foe.
396 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1671-1683 A.D.]
VIENNA BESIEGED BY THE TURKS (1683 A.D.)
Louis, whilst thus actively employed in the west, incessantly incited the
sultan, by means of his ambassadors at Constantinople, to fall upon the rear
of the empire. In Hungary, the popular disaffection excited by the despotic
rule of the emperor had risen to such a height that the Hungr.rian Christians
demanded aid from the Turk against their German oppressors. A conspiracy
among the nobility was discovered in 1671, and the chiefs, Frankopan,
Nadasdy, Zrinyi, and Tattenbach, suffered death as traitors at Neustadt.
Zrinyi was the grandson of the hero of Sziget. His wife died mad. No mercy
was extended to the heretics by the triumphant Jesuits and by the soldiers of
fortune educated in their school. The magnates were induced by fear or by
bribery to recant. The people and their preachers, however, resisted every
effort made for their conversion, and a coup d'etat was the result.
In 1674 the whole of the Lutheran clergy was convoked to Pressburg,
was falsely accused of conspiracy, and two hundred and fifty of their number
were thrown into prison. These clergjanen were afterwards sold, at the rate
of fifty crowns per head, to Naples, were sent on board the galleys, and chained
to the oar. Part of them were set at liberty at Naples, the rest at Palermo,
by the gallant admiral De Ruyter shortly before his death. The defenceless
communes in Hungary were now consigned to the Jesuits. The German
soldiery were quartered on them, and the excesses committed by them were
countenanced, as a means of breaking the spirit of the people. The banner
of revolt was at length raised by the Lutheran Count Tokoly, but the unfor-
tunate Hungarians looked around in vain for an ally to aid them in strug-
gling for their rights. The only one at hand was the Turk, who offered chains
in exchange for chains. The emperor, alarmed at the impending danger,
yielded, and (1681) granted freedom of conscience to Hungary; but it was
already too late.
Louis XIV redoubled his efforts at the Turkish court and at length sue- i
ceeded in persuading the sultan to send two hundred and eighty thousand I
men under the grand vizir, Kara Mustapha, into Hungary, whilst he invaded \
the western frontier of the empire in person. Terror marched in the Turkish j
van. The retreat of the weak imperial army under Duke Charles of Lor- I
raine, under whom the markgraf Ludwig of Baden, who afterwards acquired ij
such fame, served, became a disorderly flight. The Turks reached the gates i
of Vienna unopposed. The emperor fled, leaving the city under the com- |
mand of Ernst Riidiger, count von Starhemberg, who for two months steadily |
resisted the furious attacks of the besiegers, by whom the country in the j
vicinity was converted into a desert and eighty-seven thousand of the inhabi- 1
tants were dragged into slavery. j
Starhemberg, although severely wounded, was daily carried round the
works, gave orders, and cheered his men. The Turkish miners blew up the ;
strongest part of the walls, and the whole city was surrounded with ruins and I
heaps of rubbish; still the Viennese, unshaken by the wild cries, the furious
attacks, and immense numbers of the enemy, gallantly resisted every attempt.
The wounded were tended by the bishop Kolonits, who so zealously fulfilled his j
duty as to draw a threat from the grand vizir that he would deprive him of
his head.^ The numbers of the garrison, meanwhile, rapidly diminished, and
the strength of the citizens was worn out by incessant duty. Starhemberg
' Kara Mustaplia was subsequently strangled on account of his defeat, and liis head, found
on the taking of Belgrade, was sent to the bishop, who sullied his fame by his cruelty towards
the Hungarian Protestants.
NEITHEE HOLY, NOE EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 397
[1683 A.D.]
was compelled to punish the sleepy sentinels with death. Famine now began
to add to the other miseries endured by the wretched Viennese, who, reduced
to the last extremity, fired, during a dark night, a radius of rockets 'from the
tower of St. Stephen's, as a signal of distress to the auxiliary forces supposed
to be advancing behind the Leopold and Kahlenberg. The aid so long
awaited was, fortunately, close at hand. The vicinity and greatness of the
danger had caused an imperial army to be assembled in an unusually short
space of time; the emperor had 20,000 men under Charles, duke of Lorraine;
the electors of Bavaria and Saxony came in person at the head of 12,000 men
each. Swabia and Franconia sent 9,000 into the field. John Sobieski, the
chivalrous king of Poland, brought an auxiliary troop of 18,000 picked men
from the north. The German princes ceded to him the command of their
united forces, and on Saturday, the 11th of September (1683), he climbed
the Kahlenberg, whence he fired three cannon as a signal to the Viennese of
their approaching deliverance; and on the following morning fell upon the
camp of the Turks, w^ho had thoughtlessly omitted taking the precautionary
measure of occupying the heights, and w^ho, confident in their numerical
strength, continued to carry on the siege whilst they sent too weak a force
against the advancing enemy.
The Germans, consequently, succeeded in pushing on ; the imperial troops
on the left wdng, the Saxons and Bavarians in the centre, leaving the right
wing, composed of Poles, behind. The Germans halted and were joined at
Dornbach by the Poles. A troop of 20,000 Turkish cavalry, the indecision
of whose movements betrayed their want of a leader, was routed by Sobieski's
sudden attack, and the Germans, inspirited by this success, fell upon the
Turkish camp ; 30,000 Christian prisoners were instantly murdered by com-
mand of the enraged vizir, who, instead of turning his whole force against
the new assailants, poured a shower of bombs and balls upon Vienna. The
Turks, already discontented at the contradictory orders, refused to obey and
were easily routed. The grand vizir's tent and an immense treasure fell
into the hands of the Poles, the wdiole of the Turkish artillery into those of the
Germans. The secret correspondence between Louis XIV and the Porte was
discovered among the grand vizir's papers. Forty-eight thousand Turks fell
during the siege; 20,000 in the battle.
On the following day, the Polish king entered Vienna on horseback and
was greeted by crowds of people, who thronged around him to kiss his stimip.
The emperor, who had taken into deep consideration the mode in which a
meeting with Sobieski could be arranged without wounding his own dignity,
had at length resolved to come to his rencounter mounted on horseback, and,
after bestowing an amicable greeting upon his deliverer, remained stiffly
seated in his saddle, nor even raised his hat, on his hand being kissed by
Sobieski's son or on the presentation of some of the Polish nobles. The Polish
army w^as also ill provided for, and the Poles evinced an inclination to return;
Sobieski, however, declared his intention to remain, even if abandoned to a
man, until the enemy had been entirely driven out of the country, and
unweariedly pursued the Turks, 20,000 of whom again fell at Parkany, until
they had completely evacuated the country, when he returned to Poland.
Charles of Lorraine, aided by Ludwig of Baden, carried on the war during
the ensuing year and attempted to recover Hungary. Still, notwithstanding
the fate of Kara Mustapha, who had, at the sultan's command, been strangled
at Belgrade, and the inability of his successors, who were either too deeply
absorbed in the intrigues of the seraglio or too unskilled in war to take the
command of a second expedition, the Turkish commandants and garrisons
398 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1684-1699 A.D.]
retained possession of the Hungarian fortresses and offered a brave and obsti-
nate resistance. Every attempt against Buda failed, notwithstanding the
defeat of the reheving army at Handzabek by Duke Charles. Ibrahim, sur-
named Satan, maintained the city during a protracted siege, which cost the
Germans twenty-three thousand men (1684). In the ensuing campaign,
Caprara, field-marshal of the imperial forces, besieged the fortress of Neu-
hliusel, which, after being desperately defended by Zarub, a Bohemian noble-
man, who had embraced Islamism and been created a pasha, was finally taken
by storm. The whole of the garrison, the pasha included, fell. The whole of
upper Hungary fell into Caprara's hands. The unfortunate count Tokoly was
carried off in chains by the Turks, and his valiant wife, a daughter of the
decapitated Zrinyi and the widow of a Rakoczy, long defended her treasures
in the rocky fastness of Munkacs. Most of her husband's partisans, however
went over to the triumphant imperials, and the greater part of the fortified
towns capitulated (1685).
Buda, defended by Abdurrahman Pasha and by a garrison, ten thousand
strong, who were favoured by the inhabitants, all of whom were Turks, was
again besieged by the elector of Bavaria, whilst Charles of Lorraine marched
against the Turkish army advancing to its relief. The contest was carried on
with equal fury on both sides. The Germans were repulsed with a loss of three
to four thousand men. The grand vizir was, meanwhile, kept in check by
Duke Charles, and Buda, after a terrific struggle, was finally taken by storm,
September the 2nd, 1686, without an effort being made on the part of the
terror-stricken vizir. The Turks defended themselves even in the courts and
apartments of the ancient castle, where they were slain together with their
women and children. The brave Abdurrahman fell. Two thousand men,
who had taken refuge in one of the castle squares, alone received quarter. The
grand vizir fled. A fearful revenge was taken by the emperor upon Hun-
gary. A tribunal, known as the slaughter-house of Eperies, was held by
General Caraffa. Every Hungarian suspected of having sided with Tokoly
was thrown into prison and cruelly tortured, and a great number were exe-
cuted. Vengeance fell upon all who refused implicit obedience to Austria;
the national right of election was annulled, and the hereditary right of the
house of Habsburg proclaimed throughout Hungary. Charles of Lorraine was
again victorious over the Turks at Mohilcs, 1687. He was succeeded in the
command by Ludwig, markgraf of Baden, who, in 1691, again beat the Turks
at Slankamen, but who was compelled to yield his post to Frederick Augustus,
elector of Saxony (Peace of Karlowitz, 1699 a.d.). The incapacity of this
prince induced the emperor to bestow the command on Eugene, prince of
Savoy. In the battle of Zenta, Eugene entirely broke the power of the Turks;
he took Belgrade, and, by the Peace of Karlowitz, confirmed Austria in the
possession of the whole of Hungary. Rakoczy (1699) again set up the stand-
ard of rebellion in Hungary, but was reduced to submission, and the next
emperor, Joseph I, sought to conciliate the people by a great show of lenity.
FRENCH DEPREDATIONS
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, published by Louis XIV in 1685,
had driven eight hundred thousand of the Reformed out of France. ServUe
Switzerland repulsed them from her inhospitable frontiers, and they emigrated
to Holland, England, and, more particularly, to Brandenburg, where they were
permitted by the great elector to settle at Berlin (1685). Their gradual inter-
mixtm-e with the natives produced the peculiarly boastful and shrewd character
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 399
[1685-1686 A.D.]
for which the people of Berlin are proverbial. Louis, at the same time, continued
his encroachments, seized Treves, harassed Lorraine and Alsace, and erected
the fortress of Hiiningen,^ opposite to Bale. The Swiss murmured, but, ever
mercenary, furnished him with all the contingents he required, and during the
subsequent war their number amounted to 28,700 men. Valckenier, the
Dutch envoy to Sw^itzerland, at the same time succeeded in raising 8,50o'men
from the Reformed cantons.
The possession of the Palatinate had long been the principal object of
Louis' ambition The count palatine, Charles Ludwig, who had been
deprived of his inheritance by French intrigue, laboured throughout the whole
of his life to reconcile the various religious sects. At Friedrichsburg he built a
church, named by him the Temple of Concord, in which he had the service
successively performed according to the three Christian forms of worship, the
Catholic, the Lutheran, and the Calvinistic. He also abolished the severe
laws against the anabaptists. His toleration drew colonists from every part
of Germany, who again cultivated his wasted lands and rapidly restored Mann-
heim, in particular, to a state of prosperity. The capricious conduct of his
2onsort, Charlotte of Hesse-Cassel, provoked a divorce, and he married Loysa
wn Degenfeld, by whom he had thirteen children, who, on account of the
inequality of their mother's birth, were excluded from the succession. Of his
;;wo children by his former wife, the prince died early, and his daughter, Eliza-
beth Charlotte, he was in 1671 persuaded by Louis XIV to bestow upon Philip
;)f Orleans, as security against all further attacks on the part of France,
'.ijouis' insolence was, however, thereby increased, and, under pretext of
Jharles Ludwig's having aided in again depriving him of Philippsburg, he
lemanded 150,000 florins by way of reparation and sent troops to Neustadt
n order to enforce payment. Germersheim was declared dependent upon
i^'rance, and the unfortunate elector, unsupported by the empire, died of
iihagrin (1685).
I THE LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG (1686 A.D.)
Louis instantly claimed the inheritance for Philip, Charlotte's husband,
' nthout regard to the right of the house of Wittelsbach. The German princes,
/ho had unscrupulously deserted the imperial free towns and the nobility of
I he empire in Alsace, and the Dutch Republic were, at length, roused by this
Usolent attack on their hereditary rights, and, entering into a close confed-
!racy, formed (1686) the great league of Augsburg against France. Even
llaximilian of Bavaria, who, under the guidance of Marshal Villars and of his
'listresses, imitated all the vices of the French court, saw his family interests
adangered by the destruction of the Palatinate, ranged himself on the
'uperor's side, and dismissed Villars, who, on quitting him, loaded him with
'buse. The pope also, terrified at the audacity of the French monarch, once
lore pronounced in favour of Germany. Each side vied with the other in
iplomatic wiles and intrigue. On the demise of Maximilian Henry of Cologne,
/illiam von Furstenberg, who had, by Louis' influence, been presented with
, cardinal's hat, had been elected archbishop of Cologne by the bribed chapter
lid resided at Bonn under the protection of French troops. The citizens of
; 'Over the gateway stood the following inscription: " Ludovicus Magnus, rex Chris-
'inissimus, Belgicus, Sequanicus, Oerrnanicus, pace Europce concessd, Euningam arcem, sociis
\klam, hostibus terrorem, exstruxit." [Louis the Great the most Christian king, conqueror of
i Igium, the Sequani and Germany, having given peace to Europe, erected the citadel of
iningen as a guardian to his allies, a terror to his foes.] Louis carried his contempt of the
lois so far as to have a cannon founded for this fortress, with the inscription, " M tu te
■.mes, Bdle,Je te tue." [Bile, if thou stirrest, I will slay thee.]
400 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1688 A.D.]
Cologne, however, closed the gates against him and were aided by Branden-
burg troops from Cleves and by the Bavarians. The election was abrogated
by the emperor, the empire, and the pope, by whom Prince Joseph Clement of
Bavaria was installed as archbishop of Cologne instead of the cardinal. The
great league was (1688) considerably strengthened by the accession of William
of Orange to the throne of England in the place of his Catholic father-in-law,
James II, who took refuge in France.
Louis XIV, foreseeing the coimnencement of a fresh and great struggle,
hastened to anticipate the league, and, in the autumn of 1688, sent fifty
thousand men, under General Montclar, into the Palatinate, which was left
totally unprotected by the empire. The cities were easily taken; Treves,
Speier, Worms, Offenburg, Mainz, and the fortress of Philippsburg, which
offered but a short resistance, also fell. The electorates of Treves and Mainz
were overrun and plundered. Coblenz and the castle of Heidelberg alone
withstood the siege. Louis, meanwhile, unsatisfied with occupying and
plundering these countries, followed the advice of his minister, Louvois, and
as far as was in his power laid w^ aste the Palatinate and the rest of the Rhenish
and Swabian frontier provinces, partly to avenge his non-acquisition of these i
fertile territories, partly w^ith a view of hindering their occupation by a Ger- I
man army. Montclar and Melac, the latter of whom boasted that he would I
fight for his king against all the powders of heaven and of hell, zealously exe- 1
cuted their master's commands. Worms, Speier, Frankenthal, Alzei, Ober- '
wesel, Andernach, Kochheim, and Kreuznach w^re reduced to ashes, the ]
inhabitants murdered or dragged into France and compelled to recant. In .;
Speier, the imperial vaults were broken open, and the remains of the emper- \
ors desecrated. Similar scenes w'ere enacted on the right bank of the Rhine, j
Mannheim, Oppenheim, Ladenburg, Weinheim, Heppenheun, Durlach, j
Bruchsal, Rastatt, Germsheim, Baden, Bretten, Pforzheim, w'ere burned to |
the ground. Heidelberg greatly suffered; the castle held out. j
The French advanced thence up the Neckar, plundered Heilbronn, Ess- s
lingen, Swabian Hall, took the Asberg and plundered the arsenal, but were]
repulsed from Goppingen and Schorndorf, where the women inspirited thei
men by their example. Wiirzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, etc., were threatened j
wdth destruction and heavily mulcted. Frankfort-on-the-Main, Rothenburg-j
ob-der-Tauber, the latter of wdiich was surrounded by seventeen villages inj
flames, made a valiant defence. Feuquieres was routed before Ulm, and,
numbers of the fugitive French w^ere slain by the enraged peasantry. EhingenJ
was, in retaliation, burned to the ground. Tiibingen was taken and sacked!
by Montclar, who was, in his turn, deprived of his booty before Freudenstadt!
by the peasants of the Black Forest. The authorities of Stuttgart, struckj
with terror, opened the gates to the French against the wishes of the people,;
who loudly demanded arms. Melac attempted to fire the city, but wasj
expelled by the infuriated peasantry and by the Swabian Landwehr, underj
Charles, duke of Baden, and succeeded with difficulty in carrying off his booty^
and the hostages he had taken as security for the pajmient of the fine imposed!
by him upon the city. The French also penetrated into upper Swabia and-
burned VUlingen. They overran the lower Rhine, laid the territories of Liege
Jiilich, etc., waste, and burned Siegburg, w^here they practised every atrocity
A list of tw^elve hundred cities and villages, that still remained to be burned
was exhibited by these brigand bands. In the spring, the Bohemian citief
Trautenau, Braunau, Klattau, w^re completely destroyed, and on the 21st o
June four hundred houses w^ere burned in Prague. Five of the incendiarie
were taken, and before their execution confessed that the authors of the con
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 40l
[1689-1690 A.D.]
flagration, one hundred and fifty in number, were accompanied by a Bohemian
captain and by a merchant, the secret emissaries of France, With such tools
did Louis work. He attempted the life of William of Orange, the newly
elected monarch of England (1689).
The phlegmatic emperor was at length roused and hurried the long-delayed
levy of imperial troops. The great elector was dead, and his son Frederick,
unable to cause his will, by which his possessions were divided among his other
children, to be invalidated without the concurrence of the emperor, openly
declared against France and ceded the district of Schwiebus to the emperor.
The petty princes, alarmed for their ancient privileges, now threatened to be
trodden under foot by the despotic French monarch, also followed the general
impulse for defence, and hence originated the decree of the Ratisbon diet,
which, with unusual energy, expelled (1689) every French agent from Ger-
many and prohibited the reception of French servants and intercourse of any
description with France, the emperor adding these words: " Because France is
to be regarded not only as the empire's most inveterate foe, but as that of the
whole of Christendom, nay, as even worse than the Turk." Leopold, for the
sake of promoting the unity of Germany, even laid aside his ancient religious
prejudices and bestowed the eighth electoral dignity upon Ernest Augustus,
duke of Brunswick-Hanover, which placed the Protestant electors on an equal
footing with their Catholic brethren — Saxony, Brandenburg, Hanover —
Bohemia, Bavaria, and the Palatinate, the new elector of the Palatinate,
Philip, belonging to the Catholic branch of Neuburg. Wolfenbiittel, actuated
by fraternal jealousy, protested against the elevation of Hanover to the
electoral dignity. The emperor also turned to Switzerland and revived the
memory of her former connection with the empire ; how easily might she not
have prevented the devastation of the Rhenish province by falling upon the
enemy's flank! But she no longer sympathised with her German kindred and
even threatened the emperor in case he refused to draw his troops off her
frontiers to the upper Rhine, whilst she continued to furnish the French king
with his most valuable soldiery. Dr. Fatio, who (1691) raised a rebellion
against the bribed and tyrannical government of Bale, was arrested, cruelly
tortured, and executed with two of his companions.
The war commenced; but the dulness and disunion of the great league
I threw every advantage on the side of Louis. William of Orange, occupied
.n confirming his possession of the English crown, neglected Holland with a
l^iew of flattering his new subjects. The states-general remained devoted to
iiim both under their president Fagel, who died 1688, and his successor,
Heinsius; these men were, however, no military leaders, nor was the princely
;3ount of Waldeck, the Dutch commander-in-chief; and the emperor, intent
|jpon following up his success in Hungary, had sent thither his best generals
ind troops. Caprara, whom he despatched into Holland, fell into a dispute
.vith Schoning, the Brandenburg marshal, and they were, consequently,
nerely in each other's way. The elector of Bavaria, insincere in his profes-
liions, held back, and even when elected governor of the Spanish Netherlands
;iiscovered equal indifference. The elector of Saxony regained Mamz but
■lied in camp, and Mainz fell under the command of General Thungen, the
'greatest patriot of the day, who, in order to strike terror into the French
'missaries, condemned the first French incendiaries who fell mto his hands
jo be burned alive. Schoning, in conjunction with Saxony, drove the French
:)ut of Heilbronn; and Frederick, elector of Brandenburg, aided by the Dutch,
i'Ook Bonn (1689), that had been ceded by the archbishop of Cologne to
j^rance. Waldeck was, nevertheless, defeated (1690) at Fleurus, by a French
! H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2d
402 IHE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1690-1699 A.D.]
force, his superior in number, under Marshal de Luxemburg; and CorneHus
Evertsen was also beaten off Bevesier by a superior French fleet under Tour-
ville, who was, in his turn, defeated (1691) by the English under Almonde;
notwithstanding which, the French took Namur and bombarded Liege.
In 1692 the Dutch gained a brilliant victory at La Hogue, but William,
who had returned from England, was defeated by Marshal de Luxemburg
at Steenkerke, and the French under Catinat were at the same time victorious
in Savoy and again penetrated into and devastated Swabia, turning their
chief rage upon Heidelberg and the splendid castle commanding that city,
the residence of the count palatine, whose mighty towers were blown up and
converted into the ruin now the delight of the traveller. The incendiary
bands then mounted the Neckar. The duke, Charles Frederick, the admin-
istrator of Wiirtemberg, was taken captive; his ransom was fixed at half a
million livres. The mother of the infant duke, Eberhard, was threatened in
Stuttgart, which mainly owed its preservation to the courage of the peas-
antry; the whole of the country was plundered; the magnificent monastery
of Hirschau, the cities of Kalw, Marbach, Vaihingen, etc., were laid in ashes,
and numbers of hostages, taken as security for the payment of the enormous
sums levied upon the inhabitants, were starved to death on account of the
delay in the payment of the money. These predatory incursions were renewed
in the ensuing year, and Wmnenden and Baknang were burned. Rheinfels,
nobly defended by the Hessians, was long and fruitlessly besieged. Num-
bers of the French fell. Ludwig, markgraf of Baden, was now sent by the
emperor from Hungary to the Rhine, and that general instantly invaded
Alsace; but on his attempting to penetrate into the heart of France (1693),
the imperial troops, more particularly the Saxons, refused to follow, and he i
was compelled to return. William of Orange also suffered a second defeat j
in the Netherlands, near Neerwinden, Villeroi followed in the steps of Lux- j
emburg, who had bombarded Brussels. The allies regained Namur, 1694, I
but gradually displayed less energy. j
THE PEACE OF RYSWICK (1697 A.D.) j
}
The French, on the other hand, made considerable progress in Spain,
where, notwithstanding the gallant defence made by George, landgraf of
Hesse-Darmstadt, they took Barcelona. Savoy was also compelled to sue
for peace. Mainz was again attacked, and a popular insurrection, caused by i
the heavy war-taxes, took place simultaneously at Amsterdam (1696). A j
disgraceful peace was, consequently, concluded at Ryswick, 1697, by which
1 Louis XIV, besides Lorraine, the Palatinate, Breisach, Freiburg, and Philipps-
burg, retained all his conquests, among others Strasburg. The French j
language was, at this period, made use of in transacting all diplomatic affairs, I
the French ambassadors no longer tolerating the use of Latin.
Philip of the Palatinate instantly enforced the maxim, "Cujus regio,
ejus religio/' throughout his new possessions and emulated Louis XIV in
tyranny towards the Protestants, who emigrated in great numbers; and
Louis, notwithstanding the peace, marched troops into the Wiirtemberg
county of Montbeliard, where he established the Catholic form of service,
(1699). The Jesuits, at the same time, recommenced the persecution of the
heretics in the imperial provinces, and numbers of Silesians abandoned their
native soil. The complete neglect of the imperial fortresses on the upper
Rhine was, after such cruel experience, perfectly in accordance with the
spirit of the age.
NEITHER HOLY, NOE EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 403
[1654-1697 A.D.]
GERMAN PRINCES ON FOREIGN THRONES
Whilst Germany was thus a prey to external foes, a number of the reigning
families in Europe became extinct, and, by a strange whim of fate, bequeathed
their thrones to German princes. This circumstance, however, far from prov-
ing beneficial to the German Empire, greatly contributed to estrange her
native princes and to render their hereditary provinces dependent upon their
new possessions.
The house of Oldenburg had long reigned in Denmark and directed its
policy against the empire. Schleswig and Holstein were, as provinces sub-
ordinate to Denmark, governed by a prince of this house in the Danish interest
similarly with Oldenburg, when, in 1666, the elder branch became extinct.
In Sweden, the Palatine dynasty, raised (1654) to the throne, also pursued
an anti-German system, that of Oxenstierna, for the aggrandisement of the
north. The house of Orange was no sooner seated (1688) on the throne of
England, than the interests of Germany were sacrificed to those of Great
Britain.
Frederick Augustus, brother to John George IV, elector of Saxony, trav-
elled over the half of Europe during his youth. A giant in size and strength,
; he took delight in the dangers and pleasures pursued by the French gallants
jl of that period. On his arrival at Madrid, he mingled with the combatants in
; a bull-fight, seized the most savage of the bulls by the horns, and dashed him
to the ground. No woman withstood his seductions, and, after escaping all
the dangers with which he was threatened by the jealous Southerns, he
returned to Saxony, where (1694) he succeeded his brother on the electoral
; throne. Louis XIV was his model, and, aided by his favourite, Flemming,
on whom he had bestowed the title of count, he began to subvert Saxony.
The extravagance of his predecessor was economy when compared with his.
, One mistress supplanted another; all cost incredible sums. His household
; was placed upon an hnmense footing: palaces, churches, retreats (as, for
• instance, Moritzburg, the Saxon Versailles, notorious for its wanton fetes)
) were erected; the most costly chef-d'oeuvres w^ere purchased with tons of
gold; the "green vaults," a collection of useless treasures, was swelled with
I fresh valuables and curiosities of every description. And for all this his little
I territory paid. Not a murmur escaped the people until the elector, instead
; of raising his numerous army as usual from volunteers, levied recruits by
I force, and a revolt ensued (1696). The rebellion was quelled, and the recruits
', were forced by the infliction of torture to swear fealty to the colours.
The ensuing year found the elector at the smnmit of his ambition. He
iwas elected, by means of bribing the ivaiwodes and gaining Russia and the
I emperor of Germany over to his interests, king of Poland. Russia was at that
'' period under the rule of Peter the Great, w-ho raised her power to a height
'destined at a future period to endanger Europe. Sweden was at that time
J Russia's most formidable opponent, and Peter, with the view of paralysing
I the influence of that monarchy over Poland, favoured the elevation of the
(elector of Saxony. The emperor was won over by the recantation of the new
i sovereign. The reception of the successor of John Frederick, the sturdy
opponent to Catholicism, into the bosom of the ancient church was indeeda
! triumph. Shortly previous to this event, Augustus had been involved in
isome intrigues at Vienna, where he is said to have watched unseen the raising
;3f an apparition intended to work upon the imagination of the archduke,
ifterwards the emperor, Joseph I and to have thrown the priest who pei--
! donated the ghost out of the window into the palace court. He also gained
404 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1688-1697 A.D.]
over the Jesuits by favouring their estabhshments in Poland. The elevation
of the house of Saxony, on the other hand, deprived it of its station as the
head of the Protestant princes and of all the advantages it had thereby gained
since the Reformation, and Brandenburg became henceforward the champion
of Protestantism and the first Protestant power in Germany.
The frustration of the schemes of Louis XIV upon Poland and the igno-
minious retreat of the prince of Conti, the French competitor for that throne,
after the expulsion of his fleet under Jean Bart from the harbour of Dantzic,
were the sole advantages gained on this occasion by Germany. Augustus
was (1697) elected king of Poland. Still, notwithstanding his knee being
kissed in token of homage by the whole of the Polish nobility, and the mag-
nificence of his state (his royal robes alone cost a million dollars), he was
compelled to swear to some extremely humiliating yacta conventa and to
refrain from bringing his consort, who steadily refused to embrace the Cath-
olic faith, into the country. The privileges of the Poles were secured; Sax-
ony was taxed to meet the expenses incurred by her sovereign and was com-
pelled to furnish Poland with money and troops, whilst the Catholic prince,
Egon von Fiirstenberg, the governor during the absence of her sovereign,
drained the coffers of the Protestants; and, these sources proving insufficient,
some of the hereditary demesnes were sold, among others the ancestral castle
of Wettin. Augustus was finally reduced to the necessity of issuing a debased
coinage. Alchemists were also had recourse to. One, named Klettenberg,
was beheadea for failing in the discovery of gold; another, Bottger, whilst
imprisoned at Konigstein, invented porcelain, by the fabrication of which the
elector realised immense sums.
The loss of the inheritance of Saxe-Lauenburg, whose last duke, Julius
Franz, expired 1689, was severely felt by Saxony. The house of Anhalt, a
branch of that of Lauenburg, had the first claim, but was too weak to compete
for its right. That of Saxony had been confirmed by the emperor Maximilian
I, but John George, neglecting to take possession of it, was superseded by
George William of Brunswick-Celle, who occupied the duchy with his troops,
and Augustus, too much occupied with Poland to assert his claim, consented
to receive an indemnity of 1,100,000 florins.
On the death of the great elector of Brandenburg (1688) his will was
declared invalid by his son Frederick, who maintained the indivisibility of
the territory of Brandenburg against the claims of the children of his step-
mother, Dorothea, on whom he bitterly avenged himself. Frederick's mean
and misshapen person, the consequence of an accident in his infancy, gained
for him the sobriquet of the royal ^sop. His government was at first highly
popular. Danckelmann, his prime minister, who had formerly saved his life,
was severe but just. The elector had, however, a taste for pomp and luxury,
in which he was encouraged by his favourite, Von Kolbe, who placed his wife
in his master's arms. This notorious person was the daughter of a publican
at Emmerich, and, notwithstanding the t^^^e of Countess von Wartenberg,
bestowed upon her by the elector, often cansec' him extreme embarrassment
by the coarseness of her manners. It w^,s by her means that her husband
succeeded in his base machinations. Dn-nc!:o!^ lann was suddenly arrested
and thrown into a dungeon at Spandau, f.m\ Kvlhe succeeded him as minister,
with unlimited authority, under the name of Count von Wartenberg. Igno-
rant and mean, he solely retained his office by flattering the weak vanity and
ambition of the elector. The elevation of William of Orange to the throne of
England, and of Augustus of Saxony to that of Poland, roused Frederick's
jealousy, of which Kolbe took advantage to inspire him with a desire for the
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 405
[1698-1701 A.D.]
possession of a crown; and the transformation of the duchy of Prussia, then
no longer a Pohsh fief, into a kingdom was resolved upon, and its recognition
was effected by means of 6,000,000 dollars. The Jesuits in Vienna received
200,000 dollars. They treated the petty kingdom with ridicule, but Prince
Eugene, who foresaw that the successors of this new monarch would increase
in power and arrogance, said, " Those ministers by whom the king of Prussia
has been recognised deserve to be hanged." The pope also strongly protested
against the weak concession made by the emperor. A solemn coronation
and the creation of the order of the Black Eagle took place (1701) at
Konigsberg. Frederick placed the crown on his own brow, and then on that of
his consort.^
OUTBREAK OF THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
Two sovereign families, at that period, had the government of the greater
part of Europe — the houses of Austria and Bourbon. The former had
separated into two branches, the Austrian proper and the Austro-Spanish
branch; but the moment had now arrived when both could again blend
together in one. Louis XIV had, it is true, married the eldest sister of the
deceased king of Spain, but she had by a solemn covenant renounced her
right to the Spanish succession. The second sister was married to the emperor
Leopold; she had made no such renunciation; her daughter, however, con-
sort of Maximilian Emmanuel, elector of Bavaria, was obliged before her
marriage, like her aunt, to renounce all her hereditary claims to Spain. The
emperor Leopold, however, by a second marriage with a princess of the pala-
tine house of Neuburg, had two sons, Joseph and Charles ; Leopold demanded
the crown of Spain on behalf of the latter, on the ground that Leopold's
mother was an aunt of Charles II. France, however, as well as Bavaria
refused to allow that the renunciations of these princesses affected their
families, because they had given up only their own claims, and had no power
to renounce the rights of their posterity. Each of these powers now
endeavoured, through their ambassadors, to induce King Charles II of Spain,
during his lifetime, to make a will in their favour; and Charles, with the view
of maintaining the independence of Spain as much as possiple, named Joseph
Ferdinand, electoral prince of Bavaria, the son of Maximilian Ennnanuel, his
successor. This child, however, died of the small-pox, even before the king,
in the year 1699, and the contest between the houses of Bourbon and Austria
commenced afresh.
Leopold could easily have obtained the victory if he had been represented
by a more able envoy at Madrid, and if he himself had possessed more deci-
sion of character; for both the Spanish queen and Cardinal Portocarrero,
archbishop of Toledo, the most influential man at the court, were favourably
disposed towards Austria. But Leopold's ambassador. Count von Harrach,
; a haughty, avaricious blunderer, left the fie'd quite clear for the adroitness
' and cunning of the French agent, the m-^rquis d'Harcourt; this man gained
', over the most considerable of the Spaniards one after another, and, at last,
, even the cardinal, and through him the king himself. Charles made a secret
will, and when he died, on the 1st of November, 1700, it was discovered that
, he had named therein the grandson of Louis XIV, Philip, duke of Anjou,
; heir to the whole Spanish monarchy. The emperor was thoroughly con-
' founded by this unexpected blow; but he had to thank himself alone for it,
for previously, during the former war with France, when the Spanish court
had repeatedly pressed him to let his son, the archduke Charles, come into
406 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[iroo A.D.]
Spain with a small army, the emperor, owmg to his want of resolution, refused
to give his consent,
LOUIS XIV AND PRINCE EUGENE
Louis XIV knew well that, notwithstanding the will of the late king, to
take possession of Spain for his grandson without war was not possible; for
Austria had been too severely injured, whilst the other States of Europe like-
wise viewed with great jealousy the excessive power of the house of Bourbon.
William III, king of Eng-
land and stadholder of
the Netherlands, an ac-
tive and very able man,
who considered it his
province to preserve the
due balance of the powers
of Europe, and therefore
had always been the en-
emy of Louis, concluded
an alliance between both
of his dominions and Aus-
tria; this was the more
important as England
and Holland were the
wealthiest and most pow-
erful rulers of the sea.
Hence Louis considered a
while whether he should
accept the Spanish king's
will; he then called his
council together, and as
they unanimously con-
curred, he resolved to do
so; accordingly, he pro-
claimed his grandson king
of Spain and of both the
Indies, in the presence of
a brilliant assembly of his
court.
This was the signal for
a new and direful struggle ,
in Europe. Germany was,
alas! divided in itself;
Prussia, Hanover, the
Palatinate, and a few
other states were, from the beginning, for the emperor. Maximilian Emman-
uel, elector of Bavaria and also governor of the Spanish Netherlands, was on
the side of the French, and Louis, in consideration of his claims to the Spanish
succession, had already made a secret promise to him of the Netherlands;
whether seriously or not is difficult to say. The brother of Maximilian, the
elector of Cologne, followed his example and received French troops into his
territory, "for the good of the Germanic Empire and the preservation of its
peace," as it is expressed in the official declarations.
Maximilian (II) Emmanuel Maria
(1063-1726)
NEITHER HOLY, NOE EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 407
[1701 A.D.]
The emperor Leopold determined without delay on sending an army into
Italy, to take possession of the Spanish territories in that country, Milan and
Naples. He placed at its head Francis Eugene, prince of Savoy,' one of the
first of the warriors and statesmen of his time, as well as of all history. He
sprang from a collateral branch of the house of Savoy, and was intended in
his youth for the clerical profession; but his genius led him to the study of
history and its great examples, and this again impelled him into the rapid
current of active life, where the skill of such as aspire to glory is put to the
test in sight of waving laurels. When in his twentieth year, he offered his
services to Louis XIV. The latter, not deeming him worthy of notice on
account of his diminutiveness, treated his offer with ridicule, and advised him
to continue in the clerical profession, Eugene immediately turned to Austria,
where the Turkish war seemed to favour his wishes, and he soon distinguished
himself so greatly that, after the deliverance of Vienna, in 1683, on which
occasion he fought gallantly, the emperor gave him the command of a cavalry
regiment. Charles, duke of Lorraine, already recognised him as a hero, and
predicted what he would one day become in relation to the imperial house;
and in 1693 Leopold appointed him field-marshal. Louis would now gladly
have gained him over to himself, and for which object he sent to him an offer
of the governorship of Champagne, and the dignity of a marshal of France;
but Eugene answered the envoy : " Tell your king that I am an imperial field-
marshal, which is worth quite as much as the staff of a French marshal."
Eugene was in every respect a great general; his mind embraced at once
the most important enterprise, together with all its details, and whilst
engaged in forming his plan of battle, and all its accompanying operations,
he never neglected to provide for the most minute wants of his army, which
consequently placed the greatest confidence in its commander. His eagle eye
eagerly seized with the greatest promptitude the advantages of the moment,
and the errors of his adversary were speedily caught at and made available
for his own object. He was, however, not less distinguished in his private
character as a man; for his spirit rose superior to the religious and political
prejudices of his day, and he esteemed more highly the arts of peace than the
dazzling glories of war : whilst, at the same time, he was so modest and unpre-
tendmg, and estimated his o\mi qualifications with so much moderation, that
he not only regarded the promotion of others without envy, but, on the con-
trary, he willingly occupied a subordinate post, if by so doing he could pro-
mote the general good. In person Prince Eugene was under the middle size,
and as he walked amidst the tents of his camp, enveloped m his gray military
cloak, it may be supposed that few would recognise in his small figiire the
renowned leader of armies, except those to whom the brilliant fire of his dark
' eye betrayed his presence.
In the month of March, 1701, Eugene marched against Italy with the
, imperial army, together with ten thousand auxiliary troops from Prussia, and
a division of Hanoverians. The forces assembled at Roveredo, and ascended
' the mountain chain; but all the passes on the other side were already occupied
' by the French, so that it appeared impossible to descend. The imperial gen-
;eral, however, ordered his men, who always obeyed him with enthusiastic
■ ardour and alacrity, to cut a passage over the rocks and precipices to the
• extent of thirty miles, in which they m.arched, and thus, before the eneniy
; could be at all aware of it, his army poured forth from the terrific passes of the
'; mountains, and encamped on the plains of Verona. By two victories gained
iat Carpi and Chiari, Eugene drove the French from a part of upper Italy, and
i established his winter quarters there.
408 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1701-1702 A.D.]
THE ALLIANCE OF ENGLAND, HOLLAND, AND AUSTRIA (1701 A.D.)
As early as the autumn of 1701, an alliance was formed between England,
Holland, and Austria. The maritime powers stipulated that they should
retain possession of aU the conquests they might rnake in the Spanish Indies;
and in return they promised the emperor to assist him in conquering the
Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily. The English would not have
taken so active a part in the war if Louis XIV himself had not foolishly and
impudently provoked their exasperation. England had just succeeded in
driving from the throne the family of the Stuarts, on account of their zeal for
the Catholic religion, and had transferred it to William of Orange. Louis
received the exiled family and gave them his protection, and in 1701, on the
death of James II (who died at St. Germain), he recognised his son as James
III, king of Great Britain; and it was even reported that the prince was
about to effect a landing in England at the head of a French army. The
English were so incensed that a stranger should thus presume to dispose of
their throne, that King William, instead of ten thousand men, now obtained
from parliament a vote for forty thousand.
William placed at the head of this army the earl of Marlborough, created
afterwards a duke. He had not deceived himself in making this selection of
his commander-in-chief; Marlborough had learned the art of war in the school
of the great Turenne, and as a general stood second to none of his day. Nature
had formed him for a martial leader, he being taU, handsome, energetic, and
of such noble deportment and superior genius that the most elevated in rank
and distinguished men of every country involuntarily did homage to him.
In individual feeling he stood inferior to Eugene; he did not possess that
integrity and nobleness of mind which in the contemplation of grand objects
loses sight of self, whilst he is also accused of an immoderate thirst for gain.
In March, 1702, Marlborough landed in the Netherlands and placed him-
self at the head of the Anglo-Dutch army; his immediate object was to drive
the French out of the electorate of Cologne. King William III died the same
month in consequence of a violent fall from his horse whilst hunting, but his
successor. Queen Anne, implicitly adhered to all his plans, and the war was
continued.
With this firm determination shown on the part of foreigners, the states
of the Germanic Empire resolved upon taking a decisive part in this war of
vengeance against their hereditary enemy. The declaration of war followed
on the 6th of October, 1702, and it concluded thus: "France has done every-
thing in her power to humble and crush the German nation, in order that she
might the more easily effect what she has so long and zealously been aiming
at — the establishment of a universal monarchy." The conduct of the
elector of Bavaria had likewise provoked the decision of the other members
of the empire in favour of the same cause ; for, obstinately adhering to France,
he had collected a considerable force, with which he suddenly attacked and
took possession of the free, imperial city of Ulm, on the 3rd of September — an
act severely condemned by the other states.
The dukes of Brunswick also, in consequence of their continued indigna-
tion against the elector of Hanover, forgot themselves so far as to raise troops
for the service of France ; and as they paid no regard to the reiterated warn-
ings given to them, they were forcibly disarmed, in 1702, by the elector of
Hanover, and thenceforth compelled to submit to the will of the emperor and
the nation.
NEITHER HOLY, XOR ROMAN, XOR EMPIRE 409
[1702-1704 A.D.]
The fortress of Landau on the Rhine was also this year besieged and cap-
tured by the imperial general, Ludwig of Baden. The Roman king, Joseph
came himself into the camp, and evinced great courage and resolution. In
Italy, Eugene was as yet too weak to attempt anything of importance •' and
it appeared as though the hostile parties had determmed to test each other's
strength merely in skirmishes. The following year was one more rich in
exploits. Marlborough employed it in the conquest of several fortified places
on the borders of the Netherlands, and captured Bonn, Tongres, Huy, Lim-
burg, and Gelderland.
In southern Germany affairs were not so prosperous, for the emperor was
obliged to withdraw a considerable part of his army from the Rhine, in order
to suppress the dangerous insurrection headed by Count Rakoczy, which had
been raised in Hungary by French influence. The protracted struggle in that
country had the effect generally of greatly hindering the Austrian powers
from making anything like a demonstration against France. In the year 1703
the French marshal Villars succeeded in crossing the Rhine and uniting with
the elector of Bavaria. The latter now devised the plan of making an incur-
sion into the Tyrol, and possessing himself of that country, situated for him so
conveniently. He marched thither with about sixteen thousand of the flower
of his army, and the French marshal remained behind to cover Bavaria.
Owing to a fire which unfortunately broke out in Kufstein, that strong moun-
tain fortress fell immediately into the hands of the elector, and in their first
terror several other places surrendered, and amongst the rest even Innsbruck
itself. Thence the Bavarians ascended the Brenner pass to make their way
into Italy. Here, however, they were anticipated by the brave Tyrolese, a
people ever ready to lay down their lives and their aU in the cause of their
beloved country, who on the present occasion were strengthened by a large
reinforcement of Austrian soldiers, under the leadership of the gallant Atnt-
mann, Martin Sterzing. They climbed up the rugged heights on the sides of
the passes, and hurled trees and rocks down upon their foes, as they defiled
beneath them, who, finding it impossible to continue their march, retreated in
all haste. A Tyrolese sharpshooter in a ravine lay in ambuscade for the
elector himself, but deceived by a rich uniform he shot the count of Arco in his
stead. The Bavarian army suffered still greater loss on its retreat, and after
two months the elector returned to his territory with only half the forces he
had taken with him. As a sort of indemnification he succeeded, during the
winter of the same year, in taking possession of the opulent town of Augsburg,
as well as of that of Passau, the frontier fortress of Austria, and on the Rhine
the French had in the meantime conquered the strong fortresses of Breisach
and Landau.
BATTLES OF DONAUWORTH AND BLENHEIM (1704 A.D.)
To counterbalance these losses, the allies proposed the following year to
try with all their forces united for better success, and according to the plan
laid down it was determined that the three generals, Marlborough, Eugene,
and Ludwig of Baden, should fight in conjunction in southern Germany, and
that General Starhemberg should remain in Italy to carry on a defensive war.
The three generals met at Heilbronn on the Neckar, and Marlborough, with
the markgraf of Baden, directed his course to the Danube, and Eugene
marched along the Rhine. The Bavarians had stationed a part of their army
in an advantageous position on the Schellen mountain, near Donauworth, to
dispute the passage of the imperials over the Danube; but they were attacked
410 THE HOLY EOMAN^ EMPIRE
[1704-1705 A.D.]
there themselves, and after a brave defence compelled to fly, their entire camp
falling into the hands of the enemy.
After this engagement the united powers made overtures of peace to the
elector, and promised him considerable advantages if he would withdraw from
the alliance of France. He began to waver, and was on the point of signing
the articles of peace, when a messenger informed him that Marshal Tallard
was advancing with a fresh army to his assistance. On receiving this news,
the elector threw the pen out of his hand and refused to sign the treaty. The
marshal came, but with him came likewise Prince Eugene, who had followed
at his heels and now jomed Marlborough. They sent the old, unyielding
prince of Baden away to the siege of Ingolstadt, lest he should derange their
plans of battle; and the English general cordially fought hand-in-hand with
the unpretending Eugene, as the latter was ever ready to sacrifice his own
personal renown for the success of the common cause.
On the 12th of October both generals took up their position immediately
in front of the French, and the Bavarians near the small town of Hochstadt;
and on the 13th they began the battle. The enemy was far superior in num-
bers, and commanded a highly advantageous situation, whilst they were
well defended by morasses. Marlborough led the right wing, composed of the
English, Dutch, and Hessians, against the French; Eugene with the left
advanced against the Bavarians. The battle was most fierce, and the assail-
ants were several times driven back by a most terrible fire from the enemy's
artillery. The contest was most severe on the left wing, where Maximilan
fought with the utmost bravery, skilfully availing himself of his covered posi-
tion in the bog.
Eugene perceived that something extraordinary must be hazarded; care-
less of his own life, he rushed forward, animating his men, when a Bavarian
dragoon close by levelled his piece at him; but one of the prince's orderlies cut
him down. At that moment Prince Leopold of Dessau, with a number of
Prussian infantry, pressed forward to his aid, and to him Eugene himself
ascribes the determination of the contest in favour of this wing. Meanwhile
]\Iarlborough likevrise had with his wing routed the French, and when the
elector saw them flying from the field, he also retreated with his di^dsion.
Twenty-eight battalions and twelve squadrons of French still sought to
defend themselves in the village of Blenheim, but they were surrounded and
forced to yield themselves prisoners. Thus a great and decisive victory was
gained by the allies; 20,000 French and Bavarians lay on the field of battle,
15,200 were taken prisoners, amongst whom was Marshal Tallard himself, vnth.
his son and 818 officers. As to boot)^ the victors had won a rich military
chest, 117 cannon, 24 mortars, and 300 stand of colours; and besides this,
5,(X)0 wagons, 3,600 tents, and two pontoon bridges. From this day the name
of Marlborough became the theme of heroic song throughout Germany, and
the emperor created him a prince of the empire.
The elector of Bavaria saw himself compelled to cross the Rhine with the
French, and take up his position in Brussels; his territory was occupied by the
imperials, and his consort retained for her support only the town and revenue
of Munich. Thus, unhappily for him, terminated the campaign of 1704.
DEATH OF LEOPOLD I ; ACCESSION OF JOSEPH I (1705 A.D.)
In the following year, 1705, the emperor Leopold I died of dropsy on the
chest, in the sixty-fifth year of his age; few of his subjects mourned for him,
for he by no means possessed that affability with which princes so easily win
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 411
[1705 A.D.]
the hearts of those who surround them; and what rendered him still more
unpopular was that he was too fond of intrenching himself behind the bulwark
of the severest Spanish court etiquette, then still in practice. His dress was
always black, whilst the colour of his stockings and the plume of his hat were of
scarlet, and on his head he wore a peruke with long descending ringlets. His
form was insignificant, his deportment serious and frequently gloomy^ whilst
his countenance was disfigured by a large projecting under lip. The most
marked trait in his character was a severe, austere tone of piety, but it was of
such a nature that it placed him completely under the direction and sway of
the will of his clergy. In other respects he was conscientious, good-natured,
and very charitable to the poor, but from want of judgment his liberality was
severely imposed upon. Leopold I was not a sovereign equal to the times in
which he lived, neither was he at all a match for an antagonist like Louis XIV.
Leopold I was succeeded by his eldest son Joseph, who was in his twenty-
seventh year and was endowed with an energetic and aspiring mind. During
a short period it was doubtful whether or not the new emperor would continue
the war with equal energy in favour of his brother Charles, who had proceeded
to Spain in 1704, where he had since continued, and had been actually
acknowledged as king in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. Joseph, however,
declared his determination to prosecute the war with vigour, and he kept his
word.
MARLBOROUGH IN THE NETHERLANDS ; EUGENE IN ITALY
Nevertheless, there was nothing of importance accomplished anywhere
during the campaign of 1705. Eugene was sent to Italy, in order to reorganise
the army there, which had fallen into great disorder; but more than this he
was not able to do this year. Marlborough had returned to the Netherlands,
! where he was obliged to collect fresh forces. In Bavaria, meantime, a violent
I tumult broke out, in consequence of the oppressive measures adopted by the
'; Austrian officers and garrisons. They forced the youth of the country into
, the Austrian service, and this outrage led to a revolt on the part of the sturdy
and independent Bavarians. They took up arms, liberated the young men
, who had been pressed into the service, attacked several bodies of the Austrian
' troops, and, encouraged by their first success, they collected-about twenty-
\ thousand of the bold peasantry under the orders of a young and fiery student
' named Mainl. They proceeded at once to make an assault upon the fortresses
[ of Braunau and Scharding, and forced the small garrisons to surrender. The
Austrians were obliged to negotiate with them and to conclude an armistice
, not as with rebels, but as with men defending their independence.
I They however availed themselves of this circumstance by collecting a
small imperial army from the neighbouring districts, and with this assistance
rthey routed the peasants, recovered from them one town after another, and
lin some measure re-established order. This, however, was attended with
imany acts of severity, and the feeling of bitter animosity between the two
'parties increased more and more. The elector himself, being looked upon as
the first mover in the insurrection and an enemy of the empire, was, together
with his brother, the elector of Cologne, now formally declared an outlaw,
and his territory escheated as a fief of the empire. At the urgent request of
I the elector palatine, the emperor restored to him the upper Palatinate, which his
'family had lost in the Thirty Years' War, and which had been transferred to
: Bavaria, together with its ancient seat in the assembly of electors. About
i:his time also the princes, who had hitherto disputed the electoral dignity of
412 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1706 A.D.]
Hanover, at length yielded; it was universally acknowledged, and the elector
palatine resigned to the new elector of Hanover the office of grand treasurer.
France had determined to turn her chief force in the succeeding campaign
against the Netherlands, in order that she might, if possible, obtain in wealthy
Holland the means of continuing the war. Accordingly she sent into the field
the finest army that had as yet appeared in this war; but its general. Marshal
Yilleroi, was no match for the daring jNIarlborough. Actuated by vain con-
fidence, he left his strong position at Louvain on the 22nd of May, in order to
attack the enemy on the plains of Ramillies.^ This was exactly what Marl-
borough desired; his position was excellently defended by a morass and some
ditches filled with water, so that when the enemy advanced to the attack, it
was impossible for them to approach the weaker and more exposed points in
his order of battle, protected as they were by a natural defence; whilst he,
on the other hand, could turn his whole force upon their separate points and
break through them. Before the battle, a French officer declared their army
to be so superior that if they did not conquer that day they ought never again
to show their faces before the enemy. Nevertheless they were defeated; for
no bravery can atone for the faults of a general. ]\Iore than twenty thousand
men were lost, and eighty standards, together with the drums and colours of
the royal guard itself; and two months elapsed before the French army was
able to repair its losses. The conqueror marched through Brabant and
Flanders, took possession of all the towns, made them swear allegiance to
Charles III as their rightful sovereign, and a council of state was established
at Brussels in the name of the new king.
Prince Eugene on his part would not allow this year to pass without some
great action in Italy. He undertook one of the most daring expeditions to
be found in the annals of war. With not more than twenty-four thousand
German troops he completed a march of more than two hundred miles, ascend-
ing mountains and crossing rivers, through a country wholly occupied by the
enemy, in order to effect a junction with the duke of Savoy, who was closely
pressed, and whose capital city, Turin, was at that moment besieged by the
enemy. To the astonishment of everyone the expedition succeeded. Eugene
arrived in time to aid the duke, and hastened to the relief of Turin. Although
his army was much inferior in strength, and only indifferently equipped, he
nevertheless ventured an attack upon the French lines on the 7th of Septem-
ber at four o'clock in the morning. He was received by a terrific cannonade,
which, however, did not prevent his men from bravely rushing forward.
Prince Leopold of Dessau, subsequently known by the name of the old
Dessauer, led the Prussians on the left wing against the intrenchments, fol-
lowed in the centre by the Wiirtemburgers and the troops of the Palatinate,
and those of Gotha on the right wing; at the same time Count Daun made a
sally with his men from the citadel. The battle was extremely obstinate;
two assaults made by the Germans were repulsed, when at length, after two
hours' fighting, the Prussians ^ succeeded in mounting the ramparts first, and
were soon followed by the others.
The confusion of the enemy was greatly increased through their rear line
' This field is almost identical with that on which the great battle of La Belle Alliance and
Waterloo was fought, and the latter name was employed to designate the engagement above
referred to more than a century ago.
' In a letter to Count Singendorf, Prince Eugene himself says: "The prince of Anhalt
has once more done wonders with his troops at Turin. I met him twice in the thickest fire, and
in the very front of it, and I cannot conceal it that in bravery and especially in discipline his
troops have far surpassed mine." The emperor Joseph himself wrote to Prince Leopold, as
well as to Prince William of Saxe-Gotha, letters of thanks.
I I^EITHER HOLY, XOR EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 413
[1706-1707 A.D.]
being attacked by the garrison of Turin, and the loss of both their chief
generals, the duke of Orleans and Count Marsin, who were severely wounded
and obliged to leave the field of battle. Marsin was taken prisoner and died
next day at Turin; 5,000 dead, and a yet greater number of wounded covered
the field of battle, and the rest fled in such disorder over the mountains into
France that of the whole army, originally 80,000 strong, scarcely 16,000 men
escaped. All the immense supplies they had brought with them, 213 pieces
of cannon, 80,000 barrels of gunpowder, together with a vast quantity of
ammunition, fell into the hands of the victors. The results of the battle,
however, presented still greater advantages than all this booty, for the French
lost rapidly one place after another in Italy, and were forced to conclude a
general capitulation, according to the terms of which they evacuated Italy
entirely, and engaged to send no more troops there during the whole war.
The heroic conduct of Prince Eugene during this memorable campaign had
; produced such glorious results that his fame resounded from one end of Europe
to the other, and in token of his high regard for his great and distinguished
merits, the emperor presented him with a valuable sword and appointed him
governor-general of Milan.
In the year 1707 France lost a third portion of the Spanish inheritance,
, which fell into the hands of the emperor; Lombardy and the Netherlands had
already been secured to him by the two great battles of the preceding year.
; Naples, where only a small body of Spanish troops was quartered, was taken
-possession of without any difficulty, and thus France lost its last hold in
Italy; whilst in the Netherlands not a single place was now left for Marl-
borough to take. The only compensation left to Louis XIV was in the upper
Rhine, where he availed himself of the slow progress made by the imperials
in their operations. The old general, Ludwig of Baden, who died in 1707,
■was succeeded by the markgraf of Bayreuth, who was as inactive in his moAT-
Iments as his predecessor and who by his irresolution allowed the French to
; cross the Rhine at Strasburg and to resume their whole system of relentless
;clevastation in Franconia and Swabia. It has been calculated that, in the
?pace of only two months, they levied contributions to the amount of 9,000,000
florins. The markgraf, to the satisfaction of all, did not long delay giving in
'his resignation as commander-in-chief, and he was replaced by a more active
J leader, George Ludwig, elector of Hanover. The ill condition of the imperial
larmy, however, prevented him from undertaking anything important; he
3 was obliged to content himself with forcing the French, through want of sup-
i plies, to recross the Rhine and with opposing their passage a second time in
the following year.
; An expedition which Prince Eugene had to make, by desire of the mari-
itime powers, in the same year, 1707, from Italy to the south of France, in
Drder to take possession of Toulon, succeeded no better than those previously
(undertaken by Charles V in the same quarter, whilst King Louis had the
; satisfaction to see his grandson Philip V once more master of nearly the whole
bf Spain. The archduke Charles had been, it is true, extremely fortunate in
Shis operations in Spain the preceding year: his army, which consisted chiefly
:Df Portuguese auxiliaries, had succeeded in taking the capital, Madrid, and
:he had there been proclaimed king of Spain; but his own natural indolence,
Ihe dissension existing amongst his generals, the hatred of the Castilians
1 towards him and the Aragonese, as well as towards the English and Portu-
■^ese, together with other causes, assisted gradually to deprive him of his
: conquests, so that in the year 1707 he retained nothing more beyond Catalonia,
i Meantime Louis XIV had already suffered such severe losses in this war,
414 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1708-1709 A.D.]
and his country was so exhausted, that he most anxiously longed for peace,
and by controlling his innate feeling of pride, he made attempts to purchase
it even at great sacrifices. His adversaries, however, determined to punish
him severely this time for all his former arrogance; Eugene and Marlborough
especially, being hostilely disposed to the vain monarch, used all their influ-
ence equally both in Austria and England to prevent any pacificatory meas-
ures, being resolved to reduce him to the most hmniliating condition, in
which object they succeeded.
FURTHER SUCCESSES OF EUGENE AND aiARLBOROUGH
These two generals, after Eugene had regulated affairs in Italy, formed a
junction once more in the Netherlands; and thus united, they gave battle to
and completely defeated the dukes of Burgundy and Vendome — between
whom there was great disunion — on the 11th of June, 1708, at Oudenarde,
After this victory, Eugene boldly attacked the citadel of Lille, which was
regarded as impregnable, and of which he made himself master.
The ill success experienced by France in this campaign was made still
more grievous by its being followed by an unparalleled, severely cold winter,
1708, and the consequently serious injury produced thereby. The cold was
so intense that the very animals in the forests and the birds in the air were
frozen to death, and the vines and fruit-trees completely destroyed; whilst
the inhabitants themselves, already suffering so acutely from the war, were
driven completely to despair by this terrible visitation of nature; their
lamentations were heartrending, and all resources for the supplies of the
army in the next campaign were entirely destroyed. Thence the king, being
now completely discouraged and crestfallen, was obliged to hmnble himseS
once more, and make overtures of peace; he declared, accordingly, that he
was willing to renounce Spain, India, Milan, and the Netherlands, if they
would leave to Philip V Naples and Sicily. But the two generals, who ap-
peared at the Hague, in the midst of these negotiations, declared briefly that
the house' of Austria shoidd not lose even a single village of the Spanish mon-
archy, and when this severe exaction was at length agreed to, they demanded
still further concessions from the territory of France itself: "Alsace," they
said, " must be given up, and an entire line of strong places in the Netherlands,
as well as in Savoy, must be surrendered, to secure these countries for the
future against the crafty proceedings of France." All this the French envoys
successively conceded; they only refused their consent to one proposal of
their enemies, and which was in truth of a character highly derogatory and
dishonourable : that, in case his grandson, Philip, would not resign Spain of
his own accord, Louis should himself assist in expelling him therefrom by
force of arms. To such an indignity the French monarch would not submit,
and the war was commenced again.
Part of the summer of 1709 had already passed away in these negotiations
and Eugene and Marlborough hastened to avail themselves of the remaining
portion of the season. They took possession of Tournay, and marched against
Mons. This place Marshal Villars wished to protect, and had accordingly
taken up a strong position at Malplaquet, in front of the city. The two victor-
ious generals, however, attacked him in his intrenchments without delay, on
the 1 1th of September, and after a battle, the most obstinate and sanguinary
during the whole war, victory declared in favour of the allies. Eugene him-
self, at the very outset of the action, was grazed on the head by a shot; but he
very calmly folded his handkerchief round his head, and led on his troops into
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 415
[1709-1710 A.D.]
the very hottest fire. Mons was now closely besieged, and shortly afterwards
taken.
Another campaign was now lost, and Louis XIV was again forced to renew
his offers of peace. He agreed to everything that was demanded, excepting
that in order not to be obliged to send an army to assist in the expulsion of his
grandson from Spain, he promised to furnish the allied powers with a sum of
money instead for that purpose. But Louis was now to experience in his own
person what others had but too often felt through him — how acutely severely
the haughty insolence of the conqueror pierces the heart of him whom misfor-
tune has laid prostrate at his feet. He was now forced to witness what was
but too clearly manifested — how by the duplicity he had hunself formerly
practised in all his negotiations he had alienated from him the confidence of all
the other European nations. He was answered that, as long as Philip V
remained in Spain, they could put no trust in the promises of his cabinet; and
if he seriously desired peace, he must commence by satisfying all the demands
made by the allied powers, and fulfil all the conditions of the treaty within the
period of two months.
After such a declaration expressed in terms so haughty and overbearing
the humbled monarch was forced to recommence war, at whatever sacrifice,
1.1 and Eugene and Marlborough succeeded without much difficulty in capturing
ji one town after the other on the frontiers of France ; whilst in addition to this
i the news now arrived from Spain that Count Starhemberg, Charles's general,
!; had completely defeated the army of Philip V, and that on the 28th of Septeni-
'■ ber, 1710, Charles had made his triumphal entry into Madrid. Louis XIV,
already old and feeble, was now reduced to the last extremity, and was left
without one resource. After so many wars, and the consequent sacrifice of so
many thousands of lives, together with such large sums of money, he was
; forced to behold the destruction of the whole of the fabric built to perpetuate
1 the grandeur of his name and government, and he was even called upon to
' offer up a portion of his own ancient patrimonial realm.
' RECALL OF MARLBOROUGH; ACCESSION OF CHARLES VI (1711 A.D.)
Never did fate appear to have dealt more hardly with one who felt secure
' in the conviction that he had elevated himself to the highest pinnacle of mon-
; archical greatness and imperial glory. But his adversaries had themselves
' now lost sight of moderation in the moment when its influence would have
, saved them ; they had likewise become arrogant through their good fortune,
: whence they lost a great portion of the fruits of their victories. Three favour-
', able circumstances at once rescued France from the great extremity to which
\ she was reduced, and gained for her more liberal conditions of peace. These
; fortunate events were the recall and dismissal of the duke of Marlborough, the
I triumph of the French partisans in Spain, and the death of the emperor
\ Joseph I.
i In England, where the friends of Marlborough had hitherto governed the
' state, an opposite party had, during his absence, gradually and secretly formed
; itself into a powerful body, and adopted the term tories or royalists, in con-
' trast to the other, the Marlborough party, which represented the whigs or
friends of the people. The efforts made by Marlborough in the war were now
: regarded as suspicious by Queen Anne, and his wife, who liad hitherto held
■ great sway over her mind, was now supplanted by another influential person,
iLady Masham. A new parliament was elected in 1710, of which the tories
(formed the majority, and thence measures for peace were loudly advocated in
416 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1711-1713 A.D.]
substitution for those of war. Marlborough was allowed to hold command
for a short time longer, but with such restrictions that he almost immediately
afterwards resigned it altogether.
The death of the emperor Joseph I, on the 17th of April 1711, contributed
not a little to establish a peace. He died of the smallpox, in his thirty-third
year, and is represented in history as a prince of an active and prompt char-
acter, and far superior to his father and brother. His mind was capable of
entertaining the most noble and enlarged ideas, and thence it was that his
penetrating eye selected Eugene, with his extraordinary genius, as worthy of
his entire confidence.
As the emperor died without heirs, he was succeeded on the throne by his
brother, the archduke Charles. The question now arose respecting the equi-
librium of the powers of Europe, as in the time of Charles V: whether or not
it were advisable that the present Charles, if elected by the Germans as their
emperor, under the title of Charles VI, should be allowed to preside over the
half of Europe, and the power of the house of Austria thus become so prepon-
derating? For Charles VI would possess the same domination as Charles V,
if he united the whole of Austria to the Spanish monarchy. Such a predomi-
nance appeared dangerous to the other states, especially to the maritime pow-
ers, and they accordingly promoted the election of Charles as emperor, with
the view of afterwards depriving him of a portion of the Spanish succession.
He was therefore crowned at Frankfort, on the 22nd of December, 1711.
Charles, however, had in the meantime lost all he had gained in Spain.
Defeated several times by the able French general, the duke of Vendome, all
his possessions there were reconquered, and Philip V was re-established in his i
kingdom. j
THE PEACE OF UTRECHT (1713 A.D.) '
During this interval the English ministers had been secretly negotiating i
with France, and the preliminary conditions of peace were already signed; so
that the allies found themselves forced to agree to stipulations by no means j
advantageous to them — so little honourable had been the conduct of England }
in her proceedings with regard to her confederates. The conferences for a
general peace now commenced, and Utrecht was chosen as the place of assem- |
bly. Upon the subject of the main point to be discussed, the Spanish inherit-
ance, they were soon agreed, notwithstanding the protestations of the emperor.
Philip V was to have Spain and the Indies, and Charles the remainder ; at the
same time Philip was to renounce all claim to the throne of France, so that the
two crowns of Spain and France could never be placed upon the same head.
France ceded to England Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland, and moreover, ,
by desire of that power, she demolished the whole of the fortified works of |
Dunkirk. To Portugal she gave up likewise various territories in South
America; to Prussia the possession af Spanish Gelderland, and the sover-
eignty of Neuchatel and Valengin, and she acknowledged its prince as king of
Prussia. Savoy obtained important fortresses on the French frontiers, and as
that country could also lay claim to the Spanish crown the island of Sicily was
resigned to her as an indemnification. Holland, which had adhered to the
league more faithfully than all the others, and had always refused the advan-
tages offered by a separate peace with France, received but very poor amends,
whilst she was forced to relinquish the strongest fortresses she had conquered,
being allowed to retain a few only of the weaker places, to her of little service.
Spain eventually surrendered to England the stronghold of Gibraltar and the
NEITHER HOLY, NOE ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 4i7
[1713-1715 A.D.]
island of Minorca, and thus England reaped the greatest benefit from this
treaty of pacification.
The emperor and the imperial states, deserted now by their allies, found
themselves obliged either to negotiate a peace or prosecute the war alone.
The stipulations made by the French were of the most shameful and humiliat-
ing nature ; inasmuch as Louis, in order no doubt to prove himself extremely
generous towards his ally, the elector of Bavaria, demanded that all the estates
of that prince should be restored to him, and that the territories of Burgau
and Nollenburg, together with the island of Sardinia, as a kingdom, should
likewise be ceded to him — a truly royal recompense for him who had been
the faithful ally of the empire's foe. To have agreed to such conditions
would have been too dishonourable ; accordingly the war was resumed — but
with what chances of success? Eugene with his forces, now reduced to a mere
handful of imperials, was not in a condition to face the entire French army
under the command of Villars, nor even to maintain his ground in defence of
the banks of the Rhine; whence the adjacent circles of that territory were
again devastated, and the important fortresses of Landau and Freiburg again
fell into the hands of the French.
In this state of things, Eugene and Villars, in November, 1713, met in the
castle of Rastatt, and recommenced negotiations. These two great generals,
who had already more than once confronted each other on the field of battle,
were now equally desirous of being distinguished as the promoters of peace,
and after overcoming the difficulties thrown in their way they at length signed
the treaty of peace, on the 7th of March, 1714. ^
The Treaty of Ryswick was made the basis of the peace. Charles was also
guaranteed in the possession of Naples, Milan, Mantua, Sardinia, and the Low
Countries, under the condition of ratifying the Barrier Treaty; he obtained
the restoration of Breisach, Freiburg, and Kehl; in return he reinstated the
electors of Bavaria and Cologne in their dominions and dignities ; he agreed to
leave the princes of Italy in the peaceable enjoyment of the territories which
they actually possessed, and permitted the important fortress of Landau to be
retained by France.
"Thus," justly exclaims marshal Villars, "after a war of fourteen years,
I during which the emperor and the king of France had nearly quitted their
respective capitals, Spain had seen two rival kings in Madrid, and almost all
'the petty states of Italy had changed their sovereigns; a war which had deso-
lated the greater part of Europe was concluded almost on the very terms
which might have been procured at the commencement of hostilities."
THE BARRIER TREATY (1715)
Among the most difficult points which remained for future adjustment was
the transfer of the Netherlands in the possession of the Dutch to the emperor,
i ind the final ratification of a barrier treaty.
] The pretensions of the two parties were so opposite and contradictory,
)ind the mediation of England was so lukewarm, that all compromise seemed
Impracticable; even the death of Anne during these negotiations, though it
changed the conduct of England, did not overcome the reluctance of the
,imperor, and George I in vain despatched generals Stanhope and Cadogan to
iVienna, the first from his personal credit with the emperor, and the other from
;"iis friendship with Prince Eugene, who had the greatest preponderance in the
'Austrian cabinet. . .,
Many motives influenced the conduct of the emperor in declining to ratity
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2e
418 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1715-1716 A.D.]
this treaty. Towards the close of the reign of Anne he had entertained an
opinion that the party of the pretender was paramount in England, and had
affected to listen to overtures for a match between the exiled prince and one
of his nieces. Even the accession of George I did not wholly dissipate this
illusion; Charles imagined that his establishment on the British throne would
be of but temporary duration, and was unwilhng to involve himself in an
engagement to guarantee the Protestant succession. He therefore dismissed
Stanhope with great marks of personal regard, but without gratifying him
in the object of his mission.
Both the emperor and his ministers treated Lord Cobham, who succeeded
General Stanhope, with studied neglect; and Prince Eugene testified the
utmost reserve and indifference to his friend and fellow soldier, General Cado-
gan, who repaired to Vienna in the character of ambassador. In various
conferences he bitterly inveighed against the harsh and degrading conditions
which the maritime powers attempted to impose on his imperial master, and
declared that the revenues of the Netherlands would be inadequate to the
support of the civil establishment, after the payment of the subsidies to
the Dutch.
Charles, aware of the weakness of the Dutch government, and of the embar-
rassments of England by the rebellion of 1715, which was magnified almost
into a new revolution, and encouraged by the secret overtures of France,
delivered an ultimatmn by his minister. Count Konigsegg, to the congress at
Antwerp, and threatened to march his troops into the Netherlands, unless in
six weeks his demands were complied with. These disputes delayed the con-
clusion of the treaty until the total defeat of the rebels in England, the death
of Louis XIV, and the dread of a Turkish war changed the politics of the
emperor; while Prince Eugene suddenly promoted the ratification, from a
jealousy of the Spanish council, who obstructed the treaty, and from resent-
ment against the deputies of the Netherlands, who desired an archduchess
for their governess. The treaty was accordingly concluded on the 15th of
November, 1715. Prince Eugene was appointed governor, and the Dutch,
on the 4th of February, 1716, delivered the Netherlands to Count Konigsegg,
as plenipotentiary of the emperor.
By the Barrier Treaty the States agreed to yield to the emperor
the provinces possessed by Charles II, as well as those ceded by France at
the Peace of Utrecht. A corps of from thirty thousand to thirty-five thousand
men was to be maintained in those countries, of which the emperor agreed to
furnish three fifths, the states the remainder; and in case of war a further
augmentation was to be arranged by the two parties. The emperor allowed
the states the sole right of garrison in Namur, Tournay, Menin, Furnes,
Warneton, Ypres, and the fort of Knocque; but the garrison of Dender-
monde was to be furnished jointly, the governor to be nominated by the
emperor, and to take an oath that he would do nothing to the prejudice of
the states. In like manner, in the garrisons belonging to the states, their
officers were to preserve to the house of Austria the sovereignty of the places
committed to their care, and not to intermeddle in civil affairs. The Dutch
troops were also allowed the free exercise of their religion in the different
garrisons; but were to establish no churches, nor annex any exterior dis-
tinctions to their places of worship.
The states were permitted to repair the fortifications of the different
towns, but not to erect new works without previous notice to the governor-
general, nor to charge the emperor with the expenses without his consent.
Different cessions also were made to the states for the security of their fron-
NEITHEE HOLY, NOR EOMAN", NOE EMPIRE 419
[1715-1718 A.D.]
tiers; ami the emperor engaged to pay the annual sum of 500,000 crowns for
the maintenance of the Dutch troops, and charged himself with the debts of
Charles II to the United Provinces. Their rights and privileges of commerce
were to remain on the same footing as established by the Treaty of Miinster
in 1648, and the ships, commodities, and merchandises from Great Britain to
the Netherlands, or from the Netherlands to Great Britain, were to pay the
same duties of export and import as were established at the conclusion of
the treaty, till new regulations should be made by the three powers in a
treaty of commerce which was to be arranged as early as possible. The
emperor also engaged that these provinces should never be transferred to a
prince of the house of Bourbon by marriage, sale, or otherwise. England
guaranteed this treaty, and engaged, should the Netherlands be attacked, to
furnish ten thousand men, with twenty ships of war, if necessary, or to act
with her whole force.
But notwithstanding the signature of the treaty, the mutual jealousy of
the emperor and the Dutch did not subside; the emperor deemed the condi-
tions on his part too severe, and exhibited evident signs of a resolution not
to fulfil the articles; while the Dutch, on theirs, retained possession of the
districts which were restored by France.
A general consternation also prevailed among the natives of the Nether-
lands, who complained that the Dutch, jealous of their prosperity, wished to
.exclude them from all commerce. The states of Brabant and Flanders made
istrong remonstrances by deputies sent to Vienna; they represented the
' treaty as derogatory to the emperor's dignity, and fatal to the dearest inter-
ests of his subjects. They stated the impossibility of executing the treaty
without annihilating their immunities, because subsidies were granted to the
Dutch as a fixed revenue, whereas, according to their constitution, no sub-
sidies could be granted without the consent of the states.
\ Hence the scruples of the emperor returned, and he opened new confer-
ences with the states-general, in the hope of obtaining a modification of the
conditions; but the negotiation was protracted by the discussions relating
ito the appointment of the magistracy in several of the towns garrisoned by
the Dutch troops, the toleration of religion, the extension of the limits, the
[arrears of the subsidies; and the convention which finally settled these and
,1 few other contested points was not concluded till the 22nd of December,
1718, by the imperial and Dutch plenipotentiaries at the Hague.
Eugene's campaign against the turks (1715-1718 a.d.)
, During the negotiations for the Barrier Treaty, several events occurred
|)f great importance to the house of Austria. Among those the most remark-
•ible was the Peace of Passarowitz, which terminated the war with the Porte,
imd by the acquisition of Belgrade secured the frontiers of Hungary from
.Turkish invasion.
\ The good effects of the fortunate change which had taken place in the
Ininds of the Hungarians, from the pacification of Szatmar, were displayed
;n this war; when the native troops had no inconsiderable share in driving
he Turks beyond the Danube, and in conquering the Banat of Temesvar
,-nd the territory of Belgrade.
1 In 1715 the Turks broke the Peace of Karlowitz, declared war against the
/Venetians, conquered the Morea, and laid siege to Corfu. These rapid suc-
i esses, which recalled to recollection the former preponderance of the Otto-
'lan power, spread general alarm among the princes of Europe; and the
420 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1716-1717 A.D.]
king of Sardinia projected a confederacy of the Italian states under the pro-
tection and guidance of France. But Charles, jealous lest this confederacy
should give pre-eminence to the house of Bourbon and Savoy, counteracted
the league; and when the Venetians appealed to him as a giiarantee of the
Treaty of Karlowitz, made preparations for immediate hostilities. After an
offer of mediation, which the Porte rejected with disdain, he despatched
Prince Eugene into Hungary at the head of a small, but well-disciplined
army, flushed with victories in the Netherlands and on the banks of the
Rhine. Eugene passed the Danube in sight of the Ottoman army of 150,000
men, and encamped near Peterwardein behind the very intrenchments which
he had occupied in his former campaign, and which, by an unaccountable
negligence, the Turks had not destroyed. Without delay he led his troops
against the enemy, routed their numerous and undisciplined forces, who
could only oppose to the military skill of Eugene, and the deliberate courage
of the imperial army, a blind and imj^otent valour, killed the grand vizir
and 30,000 Turks, took 50 standards, 250 pieces of heavy artillery, and an
immense booty. This action was fought on the 5th of August, 1716, near
Karlowitz, in the very camp wherein, seventeen years before, the Turks had
signed the truce of twenty years, which, by attacking the Venetians, they
now broke. The capture of Temesvar, the last of the ancient dependencies
of Hungary retained by the Turks, secured the possession of the Banat and
the conquest of Wallachia.
These conquests, which distinguished the campaign of 1716, were followed
by still greater successes in the ensumg year. In the month of June, 1717,
Eugene invested Belgrade, the key of the Ottoman dominions on the side
of Hungary, The place, which contained a garrison of 30,000 men, was
vigorously defended, and supported a blockade of two months, till the arrival
of an immense army under the command of a new grand vizir, gave hopes
to the besieged, and alarmed the besiegers. The Turkish troops advancing,
intrenched themselves in the form of a semicircle, stretching from the Dan-
ube to the Save, and thus confined the imperial army in the marshy grounds
between those two rivers.
In this exposed and unwholesome situation, numbers of the imperials
daily perished from the fire of the enemy, and more fell victims to the ravages
of a contagious disorder. Yet the troops supported these accumulated evils
with the most exemplary patience, anxiously expecting that the Turks would
be compelled, for want of provisions and forage, to break up their camp;
but these hopes were frustrated by the perseverance of the enemy, who pushed
their lines and batteries to an eminence commanding the bridge over the
Save. Eugene now found himself in a critical situation; the enemy by
destroying the bridge might prevent his retreat, or might send a corps across
the Save to surprise the detachments intrenched at Semlin, and cut off the
parties employed in bombarding the lower town of Belgrade. The imperial
troops also, daily diminishing in number, would be soon unable to guard the
lines; and the emperor and empire, exhausted by the war which they had just
concluded with France, could not support the enormous expense of another
campaign. The danger was still further increased as the enemy had advanced
their trenches and raised batteries within musket-shot, and were even pre-
paring to storm the lines. Eugene was therefore aware that a decisive victory
alone could relieve the army from their dangerous situation, and preserve
Hungary and Transylvania.
Under these circumstances Eugene summoned a council of war, and being
unanimously supported ui his opinion, issued orders for a general engagement.
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 421
[1717-1718 A.D.]
During the anxious night preceding this action he visited the posts, instructed
the officers, exhorted the soldiers, and distributed with his own hands refresh-
ments to fortify them against the fatigues of the ensuing fight, and as he passed
from post to post, cries of exultation resounded from every quarter. " Lead
us," they exclaimed, "against the enemy! Eugene commands! thesafety of
our country and the interests of our religion are at stake: we will conauer
or die!" ^
Capture of Belgrade ; Peace of Passaromtz
The imperial army consisted of 60,000 men ; but as 20,000 were stationed to
keep in check the garrison of Belgrade; and as several detachments were
posted on the opposite bank of the Save, not 40,000 could be brought into
action, to storm intrencliments mounted with a numerous artillery, and
. defended by not less than 200,000 men, the most complete army which the
Porte had ever sent into the field since the siege of Vienna.
Before midnight Eugene was on horseback; three bombs were discharged
■ as a signal, and the whole army was instantly in motion. About two, the
right wing, advancing in order and silence under cover of the darkness, burst
', upon the enemy's works, and surprised the guard, who were reposing in
' negligent security. But the same darkness which had at first favoured their
; attack, was so much increased by a thick fog, that part of the right wing fell by
i mistake upon some intrenchments which the enemy had raised that night, and
' meeting with a desperate resistance were thrown into confusion. As long as
' the fog lasted this confusion was irreparable, and the imperials, ignorant of
the ground, and harassed by the impetuous assaults of the enemy, suffered
extremely. At length the sun rose and dispelled the mist; Eugene discov-
ered part of the right wing separated from the centre, taken in flank and rear,
and exposed to imminent danger. To see and remove the danger was the
', effort of a moment. Placing himself at the head of the second line, and fol-
, lowed by a corps of volunteers, he charged the enemy sword in hand, and
I though wounded, forced his way through their ranks, mowing down all before
him. The troops, alarmed for the safety of their intrepid leader, pressed for-
' ward, redoubled their efforts, and drove the Turks back to their intrenchments.
! At this moment, Eugene surveyed the lines with awful apprehension. Aware
that the spirit of the army had led them to be too precipitate in the attack, he
\ endeavoured to curb their impetuosity, and to give a more certain and solid
' direction to their force. But his own example overbore a deference even to his
orders. The impulse was given, and nothing could restrain the ardour of the
, troops. The infantry made the attack with irresistible violence, forced the
, intrenchments, carried the batteries, and turned the Turkish cannon against
'■ the banners of the crescent. From that moment all was rout and dismay;
' before midday the imperialists were in possession of the intrenchments artil-
: lery, and camp; and the enemy fled with such disorder and precipitation that
' those who were in the rear killed those who impeded their flight.
I The immediate consequence of this defeat was the surrender of Belgrade,
'; which was followed the next year by the Peace of Passarowitz, so called from a
' small town in Servia, where Eugene and the grand vizir opened the confer-
ences, and signed the preliminaries, on the 21st of July, 1718, under the media-
i tion of Great Britain and the United Provinces. This treaty established a
■ truce of twenty-five years, and secured to the house of Austria the Banat of
: Temesvar, and the Banat or western part of Wallachia and Servia, together
i with the town and territory of Belgrade and part of Bosnia.?
422
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1713-1733 A.D.]
CHARLES VI AND THE NEW POLITICAL EQUILIBRIUM
In the important war concluded by the Peace of Utrecht, France lost her
ascendency; whilst for Austria and Germany in general it produced that
favourable moment by which they were enabled to occupy, once more, their
ancient honourable position in the world's history. As it "was to be feared
since Louis XIV had manifested such desire for conquest, that if left to itself
a single state must be too weak to resist the preponderating power of France,
King William III of England strenuously laboured, single-handed to oppose
The
Belvedere, erected by Prince Eugene of Savoy, 1724 ; now the Imperial Art
Museum
by means of a convention of several states a barrier to that ambition, so that
in future the laws of justice and equity should alone govern nations among
themselves. Thence he was the founder of the new system of political equi-
librium, and merits the appreciation due to a great man; for he effected great
things with small means, and was, in truth, the shield of Europe. Beyond
everything else, however, he founded his hopes for the maintenance of lasting
peace and security upon the union of England with Austria — an alliance, to
use the expression of that period, of the most independent Protestantism with
the most legitimate Catholicism. This union, in fact, produced an entire new
form in the development of all the relations of the different European states.
But one of its most important results has been to render the principles of tol-
erance, reciprocal esteem, and moral dignity more prevalent among nations;
and it is in this respect especially that the first moiety of the eighteenth cen-
tury distinguished itself, in spite of its many imperfections. Thence, by this
means, Austria was placed once again in the centre of Europe, as the power
destined to establish relationship among all other nations, and to maintain
NEITHER HOLY, NOE EOMAN, NOR EMPIRE 423
[1713-1733 A.D.]
amongst them order and union; whilst with respect to Germany itself she was
called upon to defend, with still greater power, the pristine dignity and the
ancient constitution of that empire. The glory and the acquisitions that had
fallen to her share through the late war appeared indeed as an indication of the
favour of divine providence, and as a ratification of the rank she was to hold
in order to bring into operation the objects she was destined to realise. She
was, in fact, more powerful now than even if she had succeeeded in uniting the
Spanish crown with that of Austria; for the reign of Charles V himself had
already shown that such an extension of dominion is anything but real augmen-
tation of power. Austria was chiefly indebted for her present state of eleva-
tion to the great genius of Prince Eugene, and to the sovereign she lost too
soon, the emperor Joseph I, who entered completely into the exalted ideas of
that distinguished man.
Had the emperor Charles VI possessed sufficient penetration of mind to
perceive the position he was called upon to secure to Austria and Germany in
the history of European policy, and of which he might have made himself
master forthwith, he would have been enabled to establish the greatness and
renown not only of his own portion of the empire, but of the whole of Germany,
and have laid the foundation for a long and glorious peace throughout Europe,
But Charles' genius, as well as that of the age he lived in, was not capable of
> comprehending, much less executing such an important plan. The idea of the
1 equilibrium of the states became more and more materialised into a careful
estimation of the physical powers, a measurement of the produce of countries,
and an exact census of their subjects and soldiers. Thence one of the greatest
evils originating in the reign of Louis XIV became now more universally
adopted, inasmuch as sovereigns sought for the security of their independence
not in the love of their subjects, where alone it rests, but in the great number
; of their soldiers, ever ready to strike the blow. Wlienever one state aug-
I mented its mercenaries, its neighbour followed the example, and this was
\ almost the only scale of proportion between nations; whilst, at the same time,
; all moral and intellectual power was accounted as nothing, because it could
1 not be reduced to measurement. Such a state of things must bring with it a
heavy judgment; intellect thus misprised, abandoned altogether the struc-
i ture, the formation of which had cost so much labour and pain, and which it
1 alone could uphold, and thence this system of equipoise, after a short duration
I of splendour in the time of Eugene and William, and an extended period of
' doubtful existence, finally fell its own sacrifice at the end of the same century
in which it took its rise.
In consequence of this system, and the position therein occupied by the
I house of Austria, Germany found itself implicated in the wars of that domin-
|ion; besides which, it was forced to share m all the commotions of Europe,
: without reaping any advantage by them, until the venerable and tottermg
[fabric of the empire, completely overcome by continual concussion, fell to
\ pieces. For m the existence of nations, as m that of individuals, there is no
i pause; if they do not press onwards they retrograde incessantly, and Ger-
'many had just shown itself frigidly indifferent and unwilling to embrace a
; favourable opportunity for its elevation.
' Meantime, the last twenty years of the reign of Charles VI were, with
trifling exceptions, a period of peace. He more especially devoted himself to
[the internal administration of his extensive and beautiful provinces; and this,
: after an epoch of so much suffering and calamity, operated gratefully and
i beneficially. As he had no male issue he had drawn up a solemn law, called
(the Pragmatic Sanction, according to which he transferred to his daughter,
424 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1733-1740 A.D.]
Maria Theresa, the peaceful possession of his hereditary lands. This he was
extremely anxious to have confirmed by the leading states of Europe, and in
this object, after many abortive endeavours, he succeeded; but this sanction,
nevertheless, did not serve to secure his daughter, after his death, from the
attacks of a host of enemies, who hoped to make good their pretensions by
force of arms.
The emperor himself carried on a war from the year 1733 to 1735, on
behalf of Augustus III of Saxony, who had been elected king of Poland,
against the French, who were desirous of dethroning him, and substituting in
his place Stanislaus Leszczynsky, father-in-law to the French monarch, Louis
XV. Tliis war, however, was not favourable to Austria and Germany;
Augustus III continued, indeed, by the subsequent treaty of peace, king of
Poland, but in return for this Germany was obliged to sacrifice to its rapa-
cious neighbour a new province — Lorraine being ceded to Stanislaus, and
through him it came into the hands of France; Francis Stephen, then duke
of Lorraine, being made grand duke of Tuscany, whilst the Spanish infante,
Don Charles, was indemnified for Tuscany by the cession of Naples and
Sicily. The Austrian army was equally unsuccessful against the Turks, and
at the conclusion of peace in 1739 the government was forced to give back
the important fortress of Belgrade, which Prince Eugene had conquered, and
which had served as a frontier stronghold in that quarter.
DEATH OF CHARLES VI ; ACCESSION OF MARIA THERESA (1740 A.D.)
The emperor Charles VI died October 26, 1740, and his daughter, Maria
Theresa, by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction, took possession of the govern-
ment in all his dominions. But immediately after the decease of the emperor
an envoy of the elector of Bavaria arrived, furnished with a declaration from
his master, in which he said he could not acknowledge the young queen as the
inheritress and successor of her father, because the house of Bavaria had
legitimate claims to the hereditary Austrian provinces. These pretensions
the elector founded upon his descent from the eldest daughter of the emperor
Ferdinand I, whose posterity ought to insist upon their title to those posses-
sions, seeing that the male line of the house of Austria was now extinct. This
claim, however, it was evident could only be made valid in case the late
emperor had not left a daughter; but, as he had done so, she must take preced-
ence of all collateral female relations. The law advisers of the elector
attempted to justify the claims of their sovereign, upon several grounds; but
what, however, influenced the elector in his proceedings beyond everything
else was the encouragement he received from France, who secretly promised
him her aid in the dismemberment of the Austrian inheritance.^
Basing herself on the above-mentioned law, which had been accepted by
all Austrian realms and states, sanctioned by the German Empire, and guar-
anteed by the European powers in special treaties bought at considerable
sacrifice, Maria Theresa, as rightful heiress to her imperial father, immediately
after his death took possession of all the Austrian lands with the title of
queen of Hungary and Bohemia. The rich heritage consisted of the king-
dom of Hungary and the lands united to it, namely Transylvania, the banat
of Temesvar, Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia; the kingdom of Bohemia with
the markgrafschaft of Moravia and all the Silesian duchies; the grand duchy
of Upper and Lower Austria; the inner Austrian lands, namely the duchies
of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, the countship of Gorz and Gradiska, and
the lands on the coast; the Tyrol and the anterior Austrian provinces; the
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 425
[1740-1744 A.D.]
Italian duchies of Milan, Mantua, Parma, and Piacenza; finally the Austrian
Netherlands.
After Maria Theresa had been proclaimed sole ruler of all these lands on
the 28th of October, 1740, the usual succession ceremony followed in Vienna
on November 22nd, accompanied by the same solemnities which had been
usually observed at the succession of a male ruler, except that the queen was
carried in a litter, whereas the former as a rule appeared on horseback or in
a carriage. Her beauty, her youthful grace (she was then in her twenty-
fourth year), and her _ fascinating affability drew all hearts to her, and from
all the states and provinces whose ruler she now was there reached her, through
deputations, one voice of love and devotion. Within the next four years
Maria Theresa received the homage of the remaining states and provinces,
according as the affairs of state permitted. On the 25th of June, 1741, the
coronation in Hungary took place; on the 12th of May, 1743, that in Bohemia;
on the 20th of April, 1744, the homage of the Austrian Netherlands was
solemnised. On the 21st of November, 1740, the queen conferred upon her
husband, the grand duke Francis Stephen of Tuscany, the electoral vote of
Bohemia and appointed him co-ruler in all her states, thereby preparing for
him the w^ay to the imperial throne; she did not, however, thereby place a
limit on her owm plenitude of power, nor did she abrogate any of the
provisions of the Pragmatic'Sanction.
THE ATTACK ON MARIA THERESA's HERITAGE
The young princess, in spite of her great determination and strength,
required a male protector; for on all sides covetous demands were raised
against her, with menacing hints on the arbitrament of the sword. Her
good right alone could give the queen courage to repel these unjust claims,
and only courage could save her. The demands of Charles Albert, the elector
of Bavaria, aimed at nothing less than the whole of the inheritance, although
on his marriage with the daughter of the emperor Joseph I, the archduchess
Maria Amalia, he had expressly renounced all claims. He based his claims
on a will of Ferdinand I of the 1st of June, 1543, by which the latter, in the
event of the extinction of all male heirs, reserved the succession for his daugh-
ters, and especially for the eldest. (Ferdinand's daughter, Anna, in 1546,
married Albert V, duke of Bavaria, one of Charles Albert's forefathers.)
His second claim he derived from his wife, and the third from the alleged
former connection of Austria with Bavaria, which in fact had only existed
with regard to the lands above the Enns and had been put an end to by the
emperor Frederick Barbarossa whose Golden Bull of 1156 excluded female
successors, excepting the daughter of the last possessor.
The Bavarian ambassador in Vienna, Count Torring-Seefeld, had the
audacity immediately after Charles VI's burial to issue decrees calling upon
all the heads of the court officers to report to hmi, and to demand obedience
from them as the representative of his master, who was now the ruler of
Austria. But his letters were returned to him unopened, and he was advised
to leave Vienna wathin six hours, which he did all the more willingly as the
opinion of the people, w^ho were enthusiastic for their new ruler, began to
express itself in menacing form against him.
France, believing that the moment had now come for carrying out her
old plan, perseveringly fostered for the destruction of Austria, showed herself
extremely active in encouraging the other powers to lay claim to Maria
Theresa's inheritance, and spared neither eloquence nor promises. Assuming
426 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1740-1741 A.D.]
the mien of a mediator or arbitrator, Louis XV of France hoped to divide
the inheritance between Spain and Bavaria, out of which business he himself
would not come empty-handed, as the marriages of his predecessors Louis
XIII and XIV with Spanish and Habsburg princesses easily offered a pretext
on this side. Influenced by France, King Philip V — as representative of
the 3xtinct Spanish-Austrian line from which he descended on the maternal
side from Anna, Philip IPs wife and Emperor Maximilian II's daughter —
also raised a claim to the entire Austrian inheritance; for his ministry had
planned to obtain the remaining Spanish-Austrian heritage in Italy, namely
Milan, Mantua, Parma, and Piacenza, for the second infante (the eldest
Charles was already king of the Two Sicilies),
Count Henry von Briihl, the all-powerful minister of Augustus III, king
of Poland and elector of Saxony, seemed disposed at first to maintain his
promise inviolate, and even brought about an alliance with Russia for the
support of the Pragmatic Sanction. But as Maria Theresa's affairs became
more and more troubled, Briihl also changed his policy, and the claims which
Augustus' wife. Queen Maria Josepha, the emperor Joseph I's eldest daughter,
had renounced at her marriage were suddenly brought to the fore ; although
Augustus had not only acknowledged the renunciation of his wife, but had
also, for the sake of the Polish crown, which he had obtained by the assistance
of the emperor Charles VI, given up all the claims of his wife, in the most
formal and solemn manner, and without reservation. Finally Charles Em-
manuel III of Sardinia also demanded the duchy of Milan, because he was
descended from a daughter of King Philip II of Spain, the infanta Catherine,
who had married Charles Emmanuel I, duke of Savoy, in 1585.
The War of the Austri.\n Succession (1740-1748 a.d.)
But the greatest danger w^as threatening from quite another side. After
King Frederick William's death (March 31st, 1740) Frederick II — whose
life, when he was yet crown prince, Austria's intercession had once saved
from his infuriated father — ascended the throne of Prussia. Unexpectedly
Frederick again took up the ancient claims of the house of Brandenburg to
the Silesian principalities of Liegnitz, Wohlau, Brieg, and Jagerndorf, which
his predecessors had expressly renounced in 1688 and 1694. Well aware that
such an unjust claim must be supported by the force of arms and that he
could only win his case by the sword, Frederick began at once to make mili-
tary preparations. These armaments were effected with all possible precau-
tion and secrecy, but were not hidden from the observant eye of the Austrian
ambassador, Damrath, at Berlin. But trusting in the guarantee which
Prussia had assumed, they would not for a long time believe in Vieima in
the hostile intentions of the king, until all doubt was dispelled by the proposal
which he made in Vienna, through his ambassador Gotter, and the invasion of
the Prussian army into Silesia, which took place two days before Getter's
arrival in Vienna.
In his king's name Gotter promised a close alliance with Austria, Prussia,
England, and Holland to ensure Maria Theresa in the possession of her inher-
ited lands; further, the pajonent of 2,000,000 gulden, to facilitate and hasten
the Austrian armaments, and the employment of the whole weight of his
authority and army to help place the archduke Francis Stephen on the
imperial throne of Germany. In return for this Frederick demanded lower
Silesia, on account of the alleged rights of Brandenburg, and, in addition,
the remainder of Silesia as compensation for the expense of his armaments.
NEITHEE HOLY, NOE ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 427
[1741 A.D.]
The queen was advised on many sides to enter into this proposal and thus to
assure herself the support of a brave and influential prince against the enemies
of the Pragmatic Sanction, especially since Frederick subsequently declared
himself satisfied with lower Silesia. But, however threatening the moment
may have seemed, Maria Theresa considered her father's legacy too sacred to
allow any of it to be torn away without a struggle. The substance of Maria
Theresa's earnest and dignified reply was to the effect that the king of Prussia's
invasion of Silesia with an armed force was not the way to uphold the Prag-
matic Sanction, but rather to destroy it. The king's friendship was valuable
to her, and she had done nothing to lose it ; his offer of help was already stipu-
lated for in the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction, which he had assumed
together with all Europe. The alliance with Russia, England, and Holland
had already existed before the invasion of Silesia, and certainly it had never
occurred to those pov/ers to expect the queen to lose part of her states in order
to fortify the alliance,which ought rather to contribute towards keeping these
states undivided. War had never yet been undertaken in order to compel a
power to accept proffered money; the sums which Frederick had already
drawn from Silesia far exceeded the two millions, to the payment of which he
offered to bind himself. The queen acknowledged with gratitude the good
opinion the king had of her husband; but the choice of an emperor must take
place freely and without compulsion, and nothing could hinder it more than
these agitations caused in the midst of the empire. On no account would she
begin her reign with the dividing up of her states; therefore she could not
consent to the cession of all of Silesia or a part of it, and before a settlement
could be arrived at, the army of the king must evacuate Silesia.
Frederick made the same declaration to the marquis of Botta that Gotter
had to make in Vienna. The marquis entreated him to desist from this plan,
and when Frederick would not hear of it, he concluded with the words, " I
grant that your majesty's troops are fine; but the Austrians have seen the
wolf [the Turks]." Gotter was ordered to leave Vienna within twenty-four
hours, and war was declared.^^
THE FIRST SILESIAN WAR (1740-1742 A.D.)
Austria was not ready for war, but preparations were hurriedly carried
forward, and the following spring the army under Marshal Neipperg entered
the field against the Prussian forces. The troops came in contact on the 10th
of April, 1741, at Mollwitz, and a memorable and decisive battle was fought —
a battle which was fraught with important consequences to Austria, and
which served also to introduce into the arena of war the great captain who
was to be known in future as Frederick the Great of Prussia. We shall have
occasion to treat the incidents of this battle in detail in our history of Fred-
erick the Great ;^ here we shall be concerned chiefly with the internal conse-
quences to Austria of the war now under consideration and of the so-called
Second Silesian War that followed it a little later. These two wars served as
stepping stones by which Frederick II rose to power, and their history forms
an integral part of the story of his life. In the course of that story we shall
learn how the Prussian king succeeded, soon after the battle of Mollwitz, in
effecting an alliance with France. We are told that there was consternation
in Austria when the news of this alliance reached that capital. We must now
learn how Maria Theresa rose to the occasion ; we must witness the heroic but
futile efforts by which she strove to resist the Prussian encroachments.o
' See volume XV.
428 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1741 A.D.]
Maria Theresa Calls the Hungarians to Arms
It had long been one of the fundamental principles of the domestic policy
of the house of Austria not to put into the hands of the Hungarians weapons
which they might sooner or later be induced to turn against the crown; a very
real danger in view of their national tendency to tumult. The many insur-
rections which had taken place in the course of centuries might have stood for
a warning example, the fierce and intemperate speeches heard at Pressburg
only a few weeks before proved clearly that the old refractory temper was still
alive and ready to break out in revolutionary movements on the slightest
provocation. Many therefore shrank from the hazardous experiment of call-
ing the Hungarians to arms en masse; one person only had no fear, and that
was the queen.
On the morning of the 7th of September, 1741, Maria Theresa summoned
the chief magnates of Hungary to a consultation in the imperial castle. She
herself explained to them the perilous situation, lamenting her subjects' mis-
fortunes, not her own. She told them that the defence of the crown, of the
empire — nay, possibly of all the dominions of the house of Austria rested
with the Hungarians alone. With incomparable eloquence she called upon
them to take up arms. Carried away by the flood of the queen's emotion,
they all declared unanimously that they would devote themselves, their sons,
and their revenues to the service of Maria Theresa. It was determined to
enrol an army of forty thousand Hungarians, and the necessary orders were
issued to the comitat [administrative districts] that same day. They entreated
the queen to go to Raab, and to trust herself and her son to the Hungarians
without reserve.
Without refusing this offer, Maria Theresa postponed the acceptance of it
till she should be constrained by necessity. For she realised how essential it
was to oppose a bold front to danger and to buoy up the courage of others by
her own. It was also necessary to give to the movement to which the leaders
of the nation had so joyfully pledged themselves the impetus and scope by
which alone a decisive result could be achieved. The whole of Hungary was
to be called upon for the insurredio (general levy of the militia) decreed by the
laws of the land in the last extremity. The queen's German counsellors still
raised a thousand objections to this course, but the queen set them all boldly
aside; she felt in herself a spirit capable of electrifying and inspiring a whole
people.
She did indeed act upon the happy inspiration of her own heart when she
summoned the members of both tables ^ to meet her on the 11th of September.
At eleven o'clock in the morning they streamed towards the royal castle, full
of eager expectation. When they were assembled in the hall of audience
Maria Theresa entered, robed in mourning garments and wearing the crown of
St. Stephen. Her mein was grave and melancholy as she slowly and majesti-
cally passed through the ranks of the Hungarians, ascended the steps of the
throne, and took her place there. In accordance with the legal procedure
observed in laying royal propositions before the diet, the Hungarian chancel-
lor. Count Louis Batthyc4nyi, first addressed the members assembled. He
described the unlawful attacks of foreign princes, their invasion of the queen's
hereditary dominions, the danger of the capital, the menace to Hungary itself.
He proclaimed Maria Theresa's intention of confiding her person, her house,
and her crown, to the care of the Hungarians. He expressed the queen's con-
[' The tables are the two divisions of the Hungarian diet, the magnates and the deputies.]
NEITHER HOLY, NOE EOMAX, NOE EMPIEE 429
[1741 A.D.]
j&dent hope that the members of the diet would without delay address their
energies to setting up a strong barrier against the unjust attempts of greedy-
foes, in order that by such a deed the fame of the Hungarian nation should
shine forth with its ancient lustre before the eyes of the world. When the
chancellor had finished Maria Theresa herself spoke from the throne.
"The distress of our situation," she said in a voice full of feeling, ''has
moved us to lay before the loyal estates of our well-beloved kingdom of Hun-
gary written information concerning the invasion of our hereditary dominions
of Austria by the enemy, the danger which menaces Hungary itself, and the
measures to be taken to meet it. The matter concerns the kingdom of Hun-
gary, our person, our children, the crown itself. Deserted by all, we rely
wholly and solely upon the loyalty of the Hungarians and the valour for
which they are famed of old. We entreat the estates, in this extremity of
peril, to care zealously for our person, our children, the crown, and the empire.
' We ourselves will do all that in us lies to restore the former happy state of
1 Hungary and its people and the glory of its name. In all things the loyal
estates shall feel the effects of our favour,"
Towards the end of this speech, and especially when she referred to her
■ children, Maria Theresa, overcome by profound emotion, burst into tears.
! Weeping she held her kerchief to her eyes ; but quickly regaining self-control
;i she listened to the words in which the primas (primate) answered her in the
I name of the assembly. He assured the queen of the joyful support of the
J whole nation and of their firm determination to devote their lives and prop-
' erty to her cause. An indescribable emotion took possession of the Hungar-
ians, whose pride was not a little flattered by the thought that Maria Theresa
should take refuge with them. Compassion for the queen's grief and the
I charm of her presence filled all who were there with enthusiasm, and from
j many hundred throats the unanimous acclaim thundered through the hall —
' "Vitam nostram et sanguinem consecramiis" (we dedicate our lives and our
' blood).
I The whole proceeding strikingly illustrates the extraordinary ease with
which the Hungarians can be excited to love or hate. For while some, their
, utterance choked by tears, exhausted themselves in outcries of devotion and
! homage to Maria Theresa, others broke out into loud maledictions upon her
1 German counsellors. The members of the diet listened in joint session to the
i royal declaration, which set forth first of all the danger which menaced not the
1 queen alone but Hungary itself from the seizure of Silesia by the king of
■ Prussia and the advance of a Franco-Bavarian army upon Vienna. The bulk
: of the Austrian army being in Silesia, in the field against King Frederick, there
: was no adequate force to oppose the French and Bavarians. Therefore it was
! that Maria Theresa had recourse to the valorous spirit of which the Hungarian
, nation had for centuries given proof. That nation, Maria Theresa as their
I lawfully crowned sovereign was convinced, would reject by force of arms the
1 claim upon Hungary set up by the elector of Bavaria, and would repel his
' threatened invasion of the realm. Therefore, in accordance with the law to
! that effect, she summoned them to the insurredio in their own defence.
' Mindful of the nation's ancient fame, the diet should determine without
' delay the number of troops to be levied, and should take such other measures
1 as were necessary to prevent an invasion of Hungary by the enemy. Till this
i had been done Maria Theresa would remain in Hungary and contribute to the
; fullest extent of her powers towards the desired end.
i When the prothonotary, Pecsy, had finished reading the declaration, the
primate, and after him the palatme, took up the word. They produced the
430 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1741 A.D.]
letters which the elector of Bavaria had addressed to them and in which he
laid claim to the crown of Hungary. The judex curicT, the personal (deputy)
Grassalkovics, and the two Erdodys spoke to their countrymen, all supporting
the queen's request in vehement terms. Not a single dissentient voice was
raised, and the diet unanimously determined to appoint a deputation, which
should forthwith propose the measures to be taken to save the country and
the queen.
Another sitting was held in the afternoon of the 11th of September, and
the answer of the diet to the royal declaration (which had been drawn up in
the interval) w^as unanimously adopted. It expressed unqualified acqui-
escence, and flatly rejected any claim upon Hungar}^ on the part of the elector
of Bavaria. Unanimous, too, was the acceptance of the proposals submitted
to the diet by the deputation on the 13th of September, by the mouth of its
president, the palatine. It was decided to levy thirty thousand foot, to be
divided into thirteen regiments. Every member of the nobility who was
under the obligation of taking part in the insurrecHo was either to take horse
in person or to send a substitute. It was estimated that by this means
15,000 horsemen could be put in the field by Hungary alone, 14,000 by Croatia
and Slavonia, and 6,000 by Transylvania. Counting the troops expected
from the banat of Temesvar and from the Jazygian, Cumanian, and Haiduk
districts, they could reckon upon 100,000 men.
With regard to the resolution of the diet of the 11th of September, the
extraordinary expectations of success which had been indulged in were very
imperfectly realised. In various quarters the plea was raised that the number
originally fixed was too large. The infantry sank from 30,000 to 21,600, the
number of regiments from 13 to 6. Tedious negotiations on the subject of
the le\'y of troops ensued, not only with the diet but with the separate comi-
tats, and frequently led to no result. To such an extent were they carried
that up to the end of the year 1741 — that is, nearly three months later —
only a few hundreds of the soldiers promised by the diet had been sent from
Hungary to join the Austrians who were fighting the enemy. And (with the
exception of the hussars) those who were fuially got together left much to be
desired in the way of efficiency, as the Hungarian troops who took the field
before the resolution of the diet had done. The bodies of volunteers from
the southern Slavonic provinces, in particular, were alike a terror to the
neighbourhood they approached and a torment to their officers. Towards
the inhabitants of the former they allowed themselves the most unbridled
license, towards the latter they showed neither discipline nor subordination.
Cruel to the defenceless country-folk even in Maria Theresa's own states,
they were of small service in the open field, and the reports of the Austrian
generals are full of complaints of the sort of reinforcements with which their
commands had been supplemented. Only by degrees did exceptionally
gifted leaders, like Trenck and Menzel, succeed in bringing some order into
these undisciplined hordes, and thus making them more efficient; though
Trenck himself was once put under arrest by Neipperg for insubordination
and tried by court-martial.
If, in addition to this, we bear in mind that the levy of even small sums
of money for the equipment of the forces was accompanied by far greater
difficulties than the levy of the troops themselves, no one will venture to deny
that the material result of the resolution which seemed so satisfactory must
be confessed to be trifling. The more sagacious Austrian statesmen were by
no means blind to the fact, nor can we say that from this time forward they
looked to the future with less anxious eyes. Even Maria Theresa could not
NEITHER HOLY, ^^OR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 431
[1743-1743 A.D.]
steel herself for long against the recognition of the fact, and the subsequent
transactions of the diet were of a character to fill her with the most melan-
choly anticipations for the time to come.«
The Peace of Breslau (m^ A.D.y
Early in 1742 the Bavarian ejector was chosen emperor, under the title
of Charles VII. On the very day of his election the Austrian troops, under
Charles of Lorraine, suffered defeat at Chotusitz, near Czaslau, at the hands
of Frederick ; and nothing remained to Maria Theresa but to negotiate terms
of peace. The resulting Peace of Breslau (ratified later at Berlin) gave to
Prussia Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia and the principality of Glatz —
"jewels from the crowTi" of Maria Theresa, to the loss of which she was
never fully reconciled. «
THE GENERAL WAR CONTINUES
The Austrians had so long been accustomed to consider the imperial crown
an appanage of the house of Austria, that they looked upon the election of
Charles VII as a species of rebellion on the part of the German Empire, and
turned with all the more energy to their warlike preparations. The sympa-
thies of England had been greatly stirred on behalf of the heroic and hard-
pressed Maria Theresa. Enormous sums were subscribed for her, the ladies
of London alone contributing 1,500,000 gulden. But with a spirit truly
royal Maria Theresa declared that she would accept no subsidies except from
parhament. The movement in her favour was so strong that for the second
time George II determined to defend the Pragmatic Sanction by force of
arms. Parliament granted the distressed princess a subsidy of £300,000,
and King George collected an army in the Netherlands and another in Ger-
'many to go to the succour of Maria Theresa. The states-general of Holland
■contributed money, and presently themselves took up arms. The Hungarians
had kept their word. Two new imperial armies had taken the field; one was
led into Bohemia by Maria Theresa's husband, and "with the other General
Barenklau reconquered Upper Austria, invaded Bavaria, and occupied
Munich, where only a few days before the elector had been solemnly chosen
bmperor. In Bavaria Trenck's pandours and other bodies of freebooters
'ATOught frightful havoc./
1 The next step was the expulsion of the French from Prague. Belle-Isle
vas closely shut up. A fresh French army under Harcourt approached to
ills relief and drove the Austrians out of Bavaria, but fell a prey to cold and
, amine. A third army imder Maillebois penetrated as far as Bohemia, but
etraced its steps, being forbidden by the miserable petticoat-government
mder Louis XV to hazard an engagement. Belle-Isle, driven desperate by
1 amine, at length made a vigorous sally and fought his way through the Aus-
irians, but almost all his men fell victims during the retreat to the severity
' f the winter. The Bavarians under Seckendorf and twenty thousand French
:nder Broglio, who attempted to come to his relief, were defeated by lOieven-
iiller at Braunau.
Fortune declared still more decidedly during the campaign of 1743 in
;Iaria Theresa's favour, George II, king of England (who, not long before,
;irough fear of losing Hanover, had yielded to the counsels of France and
,'nissia and had voted in favour of Charles VII), actuated by a double jeal-
i-isy, on account of England against France and on account of Hanover
432 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1743-1745 A.D.]
against Prussia, bringing a pragmatic army levied in northern Germany to
her aid. Notwithstanding his bad generalship, he was victorious at Dettingen
not far from Aschaffenburg, over the French, who were still worse conmianded
by Noailles. In the ensuing year, Charles of Lorraine crossed the Rhine at
the head of the whole Austrian army and laid waste Alsace and Lorraine.
THE SECOND SILESIAN WAR
These successes were beheld with impatience by Frederick, who plainly
foresaw the inevitable loss of Silesia, should fortune continue to favour Maria
Theresa. In Austria, public opinion was decidedly opposed to the cession
of that province. In order to obviate the danger with which he was threat-
ened, he once more unexpectedly took up arms.^
Frederick exerted his genius for command to the full and successfully.
The Prussians won the battles of Habelschwerdt and Hohenfriedberg, and
then once more invaded Bohemia. They gained victories at Soor, Henners-
dorf, and Kesselsdorf ; but all these battles, the protests of Brandenburg and
the Palatinate, and the victory of the French over the duke of Cumberland at
Fontenoy did not suffice to keep the duke of Lorraine from being elected and
crowned emperor of Germany. It was one of the happiest moments of Maria
Theresa's life when she watched the coronation procession from a balcony in
Frankfort and was the first to greet with plaudits the beloved husband whom
her energy had raised to the imperial throne.
After the battle of Kesselsdorf the Austrian, Prussian, and Saxon ambassa-
dors met at Dresden and peace was quickly concluded. The conditions were
the same as those of the Peace of Breslau and Berlin. In a special document
the king of Prussia expressed his concurrence in the election of Francis I to
the imperial purple.
THE ALLIES IN ITALY
Both in Germany and Italy the war with France lasted for three years
longer; but the most important engagements were fought at sea, where the
English were generally victorious. But the issue w^as finally decided in the
Netherlands, and a brief summary of the events of the Italian campaign will
therefore be sufficient.
The pope and the republic of Venice remained unconcerned spectators of
the struggle, though it was frequently waged on papal or Venetian soil ; the i
grand duchy of Tuscany was declared neutral ground by both belligerents, i
The king of Sardinia seemed at first disposed to jom Maria Theresa's enemies,
but presently became apprehensive lest the victory of the French and Span-i
iards should give these two powers a supremacy dangerous to himself; and
upon Maria Theresa's promise to give him certain Milanese districts and to
resign her claims upon Finale (then held by the Genoese) in his favour, he
came over to her side and was subsidised by the English. The cession of
Finale, however, flung Genoa into the arms of the opposite party. The king
of Naples, being a Spanish Bourbon, was also opposed to Maria Theresa.
The Italian campaign was opened by the Spaniards, who had sent Monte-
mar, the victor of Bitonto, to Italy with an army; but its results were not
worthy of his previous reputation. The king of Naples would willingly have
joined the Spaniards, but an English fleet appeared off Naples and coerced
him into neutrality by threatening to bombard the town. Montemar was
recalled, and Gages, his successor, was defeated at Montesanto in Modena by
Marshal Traun. Then Don Philip crossed the Alps, took Savoy, and pressed
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NOR EMPIRE 433
[1743-1747 A.D.]
forward into the heart of Piedmont. The Austro-Sardinian army tried in
vain to reheve Coni ; Prince Lobkowitz was defeated by Gages at Rimini ; at
Alessandria the Sardinians suffered serious losses at the hands of the French,
and a great part of Piedmont, Milan, Parma, Piacenza, and Montferrat fell
into the hands of the French and Spaniards.
The fortune of war changed when Austria made peace with Prussia and
was thereby enabled to send reinforcements to the army in Italy. Maillebois
was routed at Piacenza by Prince Wenzel Lichtenstein; Browne, master of
the ordnance, repulsed the marquis of Castelar at Guastalla; Don Philip was
defeated at Rottofrede by generals Botta and Barenklau. The French and
Spaniards were forced to evacuate the whole of Italy. Browne occupied the
Bocchetta ; the republic of Genoa paid the penalty of the support it had given
to Maria Theresa's enemies. Beset by the English at sea and the imperials on
land, it was forced to capitulate; all the artillery and munitions of war fell a
prey to the imperials, four senators were given as hostages for the execution
of the terms of surrender, and the doge and six senators went to Vienna to
implore mercy of Maria Theresa.
After these brilliant successes, however, dissensions arose among the allies.
The Austrians wished to attack Naples, which had allied itself with Spain, but
this project was opposed by the king of Sardinia, who dreaded lest Austrian
supremacy in Italy should be assured by victories in Neapolitan territory.
The English propounded their favourite scheme of an invasion of the south of
France; and after protracted negotiations this proposal was adopted. An
attack was made upon Provence, but in this, as in the earlier instance during
the war of the Spanish Succession, the attempt on the meridional provinces of
France led to no good result.
The revolt of the Genoese contributed not a little to the unfavourable issue
of the enterprise. Maria Theresa sent orders to General Browne, who was
before Antibes, in Provence, with twenty-five thousand men, to return at
once and recapture Genoa; but the united forces of Austria and Sardinia
besieged the city in vain, and were forced to retire when the French and Span-
iards advanced to its relief. Marshal Belle-Isle held Nice, Montauban, Villa-
franca, and Ventimiglia. The most brilliant action of the Austrians during
this campaign was the battle between Fenestrelle and Exilles, where, under
General Colloredo, they successfully held their intrenchments against the
French and Piedmontese. The sieur de Belle-Isle, one of the firebrands of the
war, was left dead on the field. This was the last engagement of any impor-
tance in Italy, for Ferdinand VI, the new king of Spain, had not expressed his
sentiments concerning the continuance of the war ; his generals did not know
how far he was prepared to sacrifice himself on behalf of his half-brother Don
Philip, but they did know that he was averse to the French and that both his
wife and his favourite, Farinelli, were favourably inclined towards Austria
and England.
THE FRENCH IN GERMANY AND BELGIUM
In Germany and Belgium the issue of the campaign was, on the whole,
favourable to the French. Louis XV joined the army; he was present at the
taking of Freiburg in the Breisgau and when Marshal Saxe defeated the Eng-
lish at Fontenoy and conquered Flanders and Brabant. The French forces
spread farther and farther over Belgium, Brussels fell into their hands, they
\ took Mons and Namur, and Charles of Lorraine lost the battle of Rocoux in
: Liege to them. Count Lowendahl, a Swede in the French service, within a
jivery short time took Sluys, Sas van Gent, and Hulst. These losses occasioned
' H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2f
434 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1747-1748 A.D.I
a revolt in Holland, by which the existing government was overthrown, and
Prince William of Orange was made stadholder. But the stadholder, general
and admiral, was not able to hold the French in check, and (1747) the fortress
of Bergen-op-Zoom, which had been thought impregnable, fell into Lowen-
dahl's hands. In the same year the duke of Cumberland was defeated at
Lawfeld by Marshal Saxe. Louis XV was present at the battle, but he was
eager to be gone from the army; he longed for peace, as did the empress also.
Negotiations were therefore set on foot that same winter, but before they could
be concluded hostilities recommenced. "The peace is in Maestricht," said
Marshal Saxe, and commenced the siege of that city. The empress Maria
Theresa, for her part, had concluded an alliance with Russia ; forty thousand
Russians were on the march through Germany to the Netherlands, and Mae-
stricht was reduced to the last extremity, when the preliminaries of peace
were signed at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle).
THE PEACE OF AACHEN; CHANGES WTIOUGHT BY THE WAR
Maria Theresa ceded some districts in Milan to Sardinia ; Parma, Piacenza,
and Guastalla fell to the share of Don Philip, but with remainder to heirs male
only, Austria retained the reversion of Parma and Sardinia, stipulating for
that of Piacenza if Don Philip's male descendants should die out or if the crown
of Naples should devolve on him or his heirs.
Such was the end of the war of the Austrian Succession. It had been
begun by Maria Theresa's enemies in the hope of dividing the Austrian mon-
archy among themselves, but Maria Theresa had defended it sucessfully and
their object had not been attained. The loss of Silesia was serious, but it bore
no proportion whatever to the disasters which had menaced Maria Theresa at
the beginning of the war. In these tempestuous times the Austrian monarchy
had once more given proof of its power of resistance./
With the exception of Austria, none of the states which took part in the
war of the Austrian Succession had to lament loss of territory or subjects,
while to some of them it brought important gains. Foremost among these
was Prussia. By the acquisition of the greater part of Silesia and the count-
ship of Glatz she obtained an accession so considerable that, in the place of
one of the smallest of European kingdoms, there arose a mighty state whose '
decision henceforth frequently determined the turn of the scale.
Next to Prussia, the kingdom of Sardinia gained the most important i
increase of territory, by the districts ceded to it under the Treaty of Worms, |
Spain was enabled to realise, in part at least, the idea for which she had taken
up arms, the creation of a new Bourbon state in Italy; England did actually
obtain the commercial advantages for the sake of which she had allowed her-i
self to be dragged into a naval war. As for the rest, they withdrew from thd
struggle without any loss of territory, although in other respects the war had
entailed many evil consequences upon them.
Austria alone emerged from the struggle with considerable loss. To
Prussia she had forfeited the great part of Silesia and the countship of Glatz
to Sardinia, the whole region west of the Ticino; to the infante, Don Philip
Parma and Piacenza. Hence her power was impaired to what we must admit
to be a very considerable extent, by loss of territory and subjects as well as ol
revenue ; and yet, compared with the programme which the enemies of Aus-
tria had begun the war to accomplish, these losses appear almost insignificant
The truth of this assertion will hardly be contested if we recall the far
reaching projects for the realisation of which a whole congeries of Europeai
NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN, NQR EMPIRE
43;
States waged war upon the daughter of Charles VI. The Austrian Nether-
lands and Luxemburg were destined for France, Lombardy, Parma, and
Piacenza were to fall to the lot of the infante of Spain; the Tyrol, the "Vor-
lande " (Austrian provinces in Swabia), the archduchy of Austria and Bohemia,
to that of the elector of Bavaria. Saxony was to be extended by the addition
of Moravia, Prussia by that of Silesia. Indeed, it is by no means certain that
Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola were not already, in imagination, annexed to
Bavaria. Nothing was to be left to Maria Theresa except the Hungarian
provinces, and it was held as a matter of course that the imperial crown had
passed away from the house of Austria forever. In fact, there was no longer
to be any house of Austria, and the word all too prematurely spoken by Cardi-
nal Fleury, the aged director of French policy, "The house of Austria has
already ceased to be," was to be fulfilled.
If we further take into consideration the advantage given to the enemies of
Maria Theresa by the immense numerical superiority of the forces at their dis-
posal for the furtherance of their schemes, we can understand that the wreck
of these schemes w^as looked upon almost as a miracle. This consideration
also helps to explain the attitude of Maria Theresa's allies. For while the
empress could hardly bring herself to brook the loss of such considerable
portions of her dominions as Silesia and the parts of Italy she had been com-
pelled to cede, such losses did not seem to the maritime powers hard to endure,
when compared with the ruin that had threatened Maria Theresa in the first
; two years of the war.^
CHAPTER XI
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA
[1748-1780 A.D.]
Few periods in European history have been so variously judged as that
which preceded the Seven Years' War. To the initial difficulty of finding a
path through the chaos of diplomatic activity, the diverse attitudes of
Prussian and Austrian historians have added the confusion of national prej-
udices. Certain it is that the new idea in Austrian policy developed slowly,
and that the alliance with France, which was definitely concluded at Ver-
sailles in 1756 (May 11th), had been recommended as early as March, 1749,
by Count von Kaunitz, the youngest member of the council summoned by
the empress to consider Austria's policy. The Peace of Aachen had provided
Austria with more than one occasion for displeasure with her traditional ally
England, and the rapprochement between Austria and France began in earnest j
when Kaunitz became ambassador at Versailles (1751). He was recalled to '
Vienna to carry through the new policy upon which the empress was
determined alike in home and in foreign affairs, and became chancellor in
May, 1753. In 1754 England, preparing to go to war with France on the
question of Acadia and the Ohio Valley, pressed Austria for a more effective
maintenance of the Barrier (against France) in the Low Countries, and i
expected to find in her a willing ally. Kaunitz replied with a note demand-
ing whether Austria might rely on English support in the event of an attack
from Prussia.^
If Kaunitz were, as a matter of fact, already weighing the chances of an
appeal to France in the event of England refusing the Austrian proposals, his
project was not yet ripe; and at that time the idea of regaining Silesia and.
436
THE LATEE YEAES OF MAEIA THEEESA 437
[1754-1756 A.D.]
Glatz through an alHance with England seemed far more within the range of
practical politics than the doubtful experiment of substituting an entirely
new policy from that hitherto pursued.^ The idea that Austria might look
upon her alliance with England as directed against Prussia no less than against
France roused much astonishment in England, and an answer was returned
refusing to consider the question of Prussia at all, and reminding Austria of
her duty of defending the Belgian provinces and Hanover if attacked by
France. Kaunitz, in reply, openly told the English ambassador, Keith, that
hostility to Prussia was a necessary factor in the alliance. To his note which
suggested, without actually expressing, the same opinion, England returned
no answer. Yet at this time Austria had made no definite treaty with France;
indeed, as late as the autumn of this year (1755) Kaunitz had to recognise
that France still clung to her Prussian alliance, although the Austrian ambas-
sador, Starhemberg, had been graciously received by that influential poHtician
;and great enemy of Frederick, Madame Pompadour.
THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (1756 A.D.)
, It was not until England's Westminster Treaty with Prussia (concluded
;fanuary 16th, 1756) was known, that France eagerly welcomed the Austrian
idvances. The treaty between the two countries was signed at Versailles in
-he May of 1756, and by the first of its two secret articles the empress-queen
';vas guaranteed French help against an attack from Prussia.^ The treaty
las many points of resemblance with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, in the
ixteenth century, and with the intimate understanding between Maria
,le' Medici and the Spanish house of Austria in the seventeenth century.
People in a position to know the facts assert confidently that Louis XV
ntended to do the Catholic church a service by overpowering the king of
I'russia; the feeling of their common Catholic faith contributed to remove the
;ntipathy which had grown up between Versailles and the court of Vienna
'1 the course of a struggle more than a century old. To aid this, the idea
nee more sprang up of a union between the Bourbons and the Austrian
ouse. Princess Isabella of Parma, granddaughter of Louis XV and daughter
if that marriage which had already exercised great political influence, had
list reached her fifteenth year, and was now destined to become the wife of the
,rchduke Joseph, the future emperor. The king, who was not wanting in
itherly tenderness for his daughter, was flattered at the notion of her
lecoming empress. The marchioness was encouraged and favoured this
Ian, thereby strengthening her position in the king's favour; she was the
litermediary for both sides of these alliances, the religious and the dynastic.
I'Ut thereby a way was cleared for a turn of events which filled the world
ith astonishment, and appeared to be of the utmost importance.
' All the great events of the last historical epoch depended on the antago-
jism between Bourbon and Austria; the most important relations in Europe
lid sprung from it, the policy of both cardinals, of Louis XIV, the war of
!ie Spanish Succession, and the establishment of the house of Bourbon in
luthern Europe; that this world-embracing antagonism should now be
llowed by an alliance between these two mighty houses was bound to alter
:1 other existing relations.
i The decision of April 19th, 1756, in which the French government recog-
|sed and accepted in principle the pending negotiations, still enveloped in
jiep mystery, must be reckoned one of the great turning points of modern
story. In the two treaties which were now concluded and are known in
438 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1756 A.D.]
history as the Alliance of Versailles, there is still no complete agreement
between the two persons; nevertheless their contents have great significance,
and we have the less right to abstain from discussing them since we have
before us an authentic discussion from the Austrian chancery of state con-
cerning them. They were concluded on May 1st, not actually in Versailles,
whence they are dated, but in Jouy, the neighbouring villa of the minister
Rouille, with whom the other two plenipotentiaries, Starhemberg and Bernis,
were quartered, for the negotiations still bore the character of a private
discussion.
The first treaty was a convention of neutrality, the second a defensive
alliance. In the first, the court of Vienna promises to take no share, direct
or indirect, in the struggle between France and England, which further
means that the imperial power was not to be employed for the advantage of
the king of England as elector of Hanover; otherwise the German Empire
would have been excepted from the operations of the treaty. In return, the
king of France agreed not to attack the empress-queen either in the Nether-
lands or in any other of her dominions — an imitation of the Treaty of West-
minster, and, at the same time, its direct contradiction; for whilst that
shielded Germany from the attacks of France, this left it open to them.
Every word was weighed with the utmost care, WTien the king declared
therein that he would involve no other government in his war with England,
it was by the request of Vienna, so that it should not appear as if Austria
desired to rid herself of other obligations.
So also in the second treaty, a deed of union and friendship for mutual
defence, it was expressly stated that this had no offensive purpose against
any power whatever; and a very moderate number of troops was named to
be furnished on either side for this purpose — only twenty-four thousand men. j
Austria further expressly stipulated that she should not be expected on her :
side to furnish this help in the present war, because that would not be in i
accordance with her obligations of neutrality. But France was not only j
without such an exception to her responsibilities — they were so all-embracing
that they even held good in the event of attack by the Turks. The French
statesmen had long striven against this, but Count Starhemberg insisted on !
his point and knew how to carry it.
So far the treaty was divulged to the public. Understood literally, it
could give no offence. Far less innocent is the tenor of the secret articles
which were added to the defensive treaty. The true purpose of the alliance
did not appear even here, but nevertheless some of the stipulations involved
point to it.
Austria had demanded an especial guarantee, in case she should be
attacked by Prussia during the war between the two western states. The i
French ministers did not see fit to specify the king by name, but were '
ready for a clause in which he was included. According to the reciprocal
nature of the arrangement, however, it could not be constructed without
tending also to the further advantage of France. In consideration of this,
an article was added in which Austria finally promised that if, in consequence
of the present war, France should be assailed by another power, Austria
would aid her, and France undertook the same if Austria should be assailed
in a similar way. The expressions are general, but the meaning is especially
to insure for Austria the help of France in case of attack from Prussia.
In the second article, it is noticeable that among the powers which were
to be invited to join this agreement only the Bourbons in Spain and Italy
and the emperor, as archduke of Tuscany, are named. The x\ustrians would
THE LATEE YEAES OF MAEIA THEEESA 439
[1756 A.D.]
have wished that the empress of Russia, their closest ally in this affair, should
be included, but on the French side it was argued that then the allies of
France, that is, Sweden, Denmark, and even the king of Prussia, would have
to be named. This was the reason why only the very nearest blood relations
on both sides were mentioned by name; and when it was further agreed that
wider invitations should be extended only after mutual agreement, one to
the Russian empress was at once decided upon. Another clause of the
articles had reference to the privileges reserved in the cession of Parma.
We are aware of the reluctance with which Maria Theresa accepted the
confirmation by the Treaty of Aachen of her territorial concessions, particu-
larly the renewed guarantee of the surrender of Silesia; she must therefore
have felt all the greater satisfaction at the third secret article of this treaty,
in which the prospect was held out of a revision of the Treaty of Aachen in
respect to the question of territory. She hoped by French aid to free herself
from the onerous conditions imposed upon her by England, In a fourth
secret article the two parties promised not only to undertake no new respon-
sibiUties towards other powers, but also not to renew old understandings,
without first consulting with each other and coming to an agreement thereon.
The court of Vienna had proposed a similar arrangement, in order to do away
with the suspicion that its alliance with England had not yet been completely
severed; but an even more important reason was that by this means all appre-
hension lest the understanding between Prussia and France should be renewed
on any fresh basis was removed.
In the communication to the Russian court in which these articles were
elucidated, there was even expressed the hope that the king of Prussia might
be led by this treaty to take steps which would finally embroil him with the
crown of France. As before shown, even here the final aims of the alliance
were not expressed; even this understanding was only to be the precursor
of one still more comprehensive.
The treaty was laid before a conference of the privy council in Vienna by
Kaunitz. The emperor and the empress as well as the council of ministers
took part in it. Kaunitz remarked that he did not expect the court of France
to accept it so readily; there was now good ground for hoping that the secret
convention would be brought about before long. Already France was com-
pelled by the existing agreement to stand by Austria, which need not on that
account be thrown into dependence upon her, as had admittedly been the
case with Spain, though for all that France must be the first consideration in
imperial policy. There was also no ground for objecting to the fact that
mention was made in this treaty of the French guarantee of the Peace of
Westphalia, for as far as the German Empire was concerned this guarantee
' was far more necessary for the Catholics than for the Protestants. Kaunitz
; pointed out as the greatest advantage to Austria that the aid of France
against the Porte had been secured.
If we recollect that at the first council after the Treaty of Aachen it was
1 agreed on all sides that Austria had three dangerous enemies — Prussia, the
' Porte, and France — it will now be seen that by this defensive alliance with
! France Austria had neutralised all three. What had, at that time, appeared
' desirable, but scarcely to be hoped for, had now, at the right moment, been
accomplished by the chancellor. There were some among the Austrian states-
; men who inclined to the contrary views as long as there seemed any chance
; of upholding the old alliance; but now they gave way before the accomplished
i fact, and there was not one dissentient voice. The empress expressed her-
i self to the effect that she had never in the course of her reign signed any
440 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1756 A.D.]
convention with so much pleasure; she was congratulated on the conclusion
of a transaction which would redound to the welfare of her country and also
of her faith. Ratifications were exchanged on the 28th of May, and the
two conventions were then communicated to all courts where there were
French and Austrian ambassadors, the two ambassadors, in most cases,
acting simultaneously.
The Alliance of Versailles gave to France this advantage: that all opposi-
tion from the Netherlands and from Spain, from Italy and Russia was ended
by it, and the far-reaching influence of the Catholic church was bound up
with her political interest. The concessions granted to the house of Austria
were the price of the dissolution of her old bond of alliance with England.
Whilst seeking to hold fast all the threads of the old alliance and to inter-
weave them with the new understanding, Austria was forced, by the reaction
of the later agreement, out of the ex-
isting system into dependency on the
new ally, in whom confidence could
hardly yet be placed with certainty.
But, on the other hand, France lost
by the Treaty of Versailles the federal
position for which she had formerly
striven — a change which was to lead
to the gravest results.
Wliat was asserted in reference to
Germany was not less true in regard
to the north and the east. There the
opposition against Russia, in which
France was united with Prussia and
Sweden, had to be given up; the rela-
tions to Poland, so long at least as
Austria and Russia were united, were
completely deranged; it might well be
declared that, without this alliance,
France could not have assented to the
passive part she played during the first
partition of Poland. And whereas,
since the time of King Francis I, it had been a leading feature of French
policy to support the Turks against Austria, this was now quite at an end.
France did not actually connect herself with the principal tendency which
bound the two imperial courts, but she connived at it, and allowed for it.
The political relations of the powers were in this way completely changed.
The balance of European power had to seek another basis. Although in itself
this bond between France and Austria was not against the natural order of
things, seeing that it held, to the great advantage of Austria, more than a
generation, still with regard to universal relations there lay in it even for
Austria a new departure of the most questionable kind. It had been found
necessary for a long time to form defensive alliances against the greed of new
conquests which France was always manifesting. Even the transactions of
that time showed that these were by no means given up; Austria decided not
only to let them run their course, but even to support them. And how was
this to be accomplished if France were once more to be actuated by this greed
against Austria herself? The outbreak of the revolutionary wars begins
with a popular reaction against the Treaty of Versailles, and coincides with
its abrogation. But the powers of reaction were then divided among them-
"^^w^m'/'i
Maria Theresa
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 441
[1756-1757 A.D.]
selves. From this point of view, the Treaty of Versailles appeared pregnant
with consequences for Europe.c
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR (1756-1761 A.D.)
The rupture of peace between Austria and Prussia towards which events
had been trending, came about in 1756. The war that ensued was the famous
Seven Years' War, through which Frederick II of Prussia won a place among
the great captains of all time. The details of this war will of course be given
in the history of Frederick (in Vol. XV); it will suffice here to give the barest
synopsis of events, after which we shall deal more at length with the conse-
quences to Austria of the great conflict.^
The Campaign of 1756
The war commenced with the sudden invasion of Saxony by Frederick.
The Saxon army, too weak for resistance, withdrew to the fortified camp at
Pirna in September. The king decided to starve out the Saxons. General
Browne of the imperial army advanced to their relief. The king met him
with thirty thousand men, and a battle was fought at Lobositz on the Saxon
ii'rontier (October 1st). Frederick asserted his position, and therefore won
ohe battle. He could not follow up the Austrians, as he required his troops
;-,o subdue the Saxon camp. Browne made yet another attempt to support
'i sortie of the Saxons; but this also failed, and the Saxons, seventeen thou-
;and strong, had to surrender (October 14th). Thus ended the first cam-
)aign. The Prussians took up winter quarters in Saxony.
In the winter the king made preparations for the next campaign. He
ilealt with Saxony as conquered land; he placed the common soldiers taken
\X Pirna in the Prussian regiments: this was small gain, for they deserted
'^^holesale. His strongest ally was the king of England; he raised a consider-
!ble army in Hanover, and the duke of Cumberland was to be at its head.
Austria extended its alliance with France. Louis XV promised to place
00,000 men in the field, to take 10,000 Bavarians and Wiirtembergers into
I is pay and place them at the disposal of Austria, to contribute 2,000,000
lulden as subsidy to the war, and finally not to lay down arms before the
lonquest of Silesia and Glatz. Sweden promised to place 20,000 men in'the
jeld. The German Empire declared the invasion of Saxony to be a breach
jf the imperial peace, and declared w^ar with Prussia. Of these allies, the
Wiirtembergers were reluctant, for they thought it wrong to fight against
le Protestant king for the Catholic empress; they thought the entire war
'as directed against Protest? ntism. They felt that the imperial army was
iicomplete and badly put together, as many imperial princes preferred to
iire out their troops to the English than to place them at the disposal of the
!npress at their own cost. The Russians furnished 60,000 and the Austrians
1)0,000 men. These masses were to fight in the next campaign.
• King Frederick came before the enemy. He advanced from Silesia and
lixony with four army corps, and on the appointed day the main forces
!ok their stand not far from Prague (May 4th). To save Prague, Prince
iiarles of Lorraine had to give battle. He lost it, and with 50,000 men fell
jLck on Prague, which the king immediately besieged. General Daun, who
442 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1757-1758 A.D.]
with 29,000 men was only at the distance of a day's march from Prague,
took up the defeated right wing of the main army, 14,000 strong, and retired
to Moravia. Reinforcements advanced from all sides, whilst Prague was
hard pressed by the king. Five hundred houses had already been destroyed
in the bombardment, horse flesh was consumed, tin money was coined, the
powder ran out. To save the town a battle had to be fought. With 50,000
men, Daun advanced to Kolin. He had thought of everything and even made
previous arrangements for retreat, whence the erroneous tradition has arisen
that he gave up the battle as lost and wished to withdraw.
The king had advanced to meet and attack him with 34,000 combatants
(June 18th). For the first time Frederick was beaten; he lost 13,000 men,
45 cannon, and 22 banners. The imperial losses amounted to 8,000 men.
Daun himself had two horses shot under him, received two wounds, but did
not desert the battle-field.
The king immediately raised the siege of Prague and retired to Dresden.
Luck seemed to have deserted him. The duke of Cumberland — who with
an army consisting of troops from Hanover, Brandenburg, Hesse, Gotha,
Lippe, Biikeburg, and a small Prussian force, was to cover north Germany
— was beaten at Hastenbeck by Marshal d'Estrees (July 26th), and had to
sign a convention at Closter-Seven in accordance with which the auxiliaries
were dismissed to their homes, but the Hanoverians removed to the other
side of the Elbe. Hereupon, the French occupied Hanover and threatened
Magdeburg. The Swedes had invaded Prussian Pomerania. The Russians
had conquered Memel, and beaten General Lehwald at Jiigerndorf. The
imperial general, Hadik, had successfully led an expedition to Berlin, and
exacted 350,000 reichsthalers in war taxes and 25,000 thalers for the troops
from the town.
The king rose up, marched against the French, and defeated them at
Rossbach (November 5th). Then he turned to Silesia, which had been
invaded by the Austrians under Prince Charles and Daun. Nadasti con-
quered Schweidnitz (November 11th). The prince of Bavaria, who was
against the Austrians, was beaten and taken, and Breslau surrendered to
the imperials (November 24th).
The king restored his fortunes by the battle of Leuthen. The Austrians,
about 66,000 strong, were totally defeated (December 5th). They lost
20,000 men and 66 cannon. The result of this victory for the Prussians was
the conquest of Liegnitz and of Breslau. Two other circumstances were
favourable to the king. The king of England did not ratify the Convention
of Closter-Seven : he recalled the duke of Cumberland, who was replaced by
the able Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. The Russians suddenly withdrew, '
for the empress was very ill; General Apraxin was awaiting her end, and as i
her successor was in favour of the king of Prussia, Apraxin hoped to win j
approbation by withdrawal. The empress Elizabeth recovered, and Apraxin
was cashiered, but the king was exempted by the Russians from blame in
this campaign.
The Campaigji of 1758
The fight between the French and Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick led to
no important results. The Russians had conquered Konigsberg and almost
all Prussia, and besieged Kiistrin. The king defeated them at Zorndorf;
they lost 20,000 men, and retired to the Polish frontier (August 25th).
The king had opened the campaign against the Austrians by the invasion
of Moravia. He invested Olmiitz. The maintenance of the Prussian army
THE LATER YEAES OF MAEIA THEEESA 443
[1758-1760 A.D.]
by Moravia itself, which the king had intended, was impossible; as the
imperials easily cut off all communications, provisions had to be brought
from Silesia. The king sent for a large convoy of 4,000 wagons from Silesia;
10,000 men formed the escort, but Daun, receiving intelligence of this, sent
generals Laudon and Ziskovitz to break it up. They completely succeeded.
The convoy was attacked in the pass of Domstadl (July 30th); all wagons
were seized. The Prussians lost 3,000 men. The king now raised the siege
of Obniitz. The town had bravely defended itself for six weeks. As already
stated, the king beat the Russians at Zorndorf and returned to Silesia.
The king encamped at Hochkirchen with 40,000 men. It was an unfav-
ourable position. Before day-break Daun surprised him (October 14th).
The Prussians resisted heroically, but succumbed to the well-ordered attack
of the Austrians. They lost 10,000 men, 100 guns, 70 ammunition wagons,
and 28 banners. Among the dead were the king's brother-in-law. Prince
Francis of Brunswick, and Field-marshal Keith. The Austrian loss amounted
to 7,000 men. The victory did not lead to the results which it might have
had, for Daun did not attack the king again in the day-time. This was the
greatest feat of arms in this campaign.
The Campaign of 1759
The French successfully opened the campaign. They repulsed the attack
of Prince Ferdinand on Bergen near Frankfort, occupied the see of Miinster,
and conquered Hesse; but on the same day were beaten at Minden by Prince
Ferdinand (August 1st), and at Gohfeld by the hereditary prince Charles
William Ferdinand of Brunswick, and thus all advantages were lost.
The Russians advanced in the field with 70,000 men. When General
Wedel was beaten by them at Ziillichau (July 23rd), they marched to Frank-
fort on the Oder, where they were joined by the imperial general, Laudon,
with 18,000 men. Meanwhile the king had arrived. He fought the Russians
near Kunersdorf (August 12th). He had thrown the right wing of the
Russians into confusion, had already taken over 100 cannon, had already
written to the queen, " Before two hours elapse, we shall have gained a com-
plete victory." Meanwhile Laudon had advanced; the Prussians could not
JDreak through his ranks, the Russians rallied; the Prussians were defeated:
it was their greatest defeat throughout the whole war; 20,000 men and all
the artillery were lost. If the Russians, as Laudon advised, had followed
the king, Prussia would have been lost; but Soltikov replied, ''I have
received no order to destroy the king of Prussia."
Soltikov had the same motive in this as had Apraxin when he suddenly
withdrew from the first campaign — namely, the failing health of the empress
and the preference of her heir for the king of Prussia.
The Austrian and imperial armies took Dresden, after a siege of twenty-
seven days. As the king drew near, Daun dealt a vigorous blow. General
Finck was at Maxen with 15,000 men. Daun unexpectedly burst upon him,
surrounded him, and Finck was obliged to surrender with the whole force
(November 21st).
The Campaign of 1760
In this campaign the Austrians were the aggressors. Laudon who now
coromanded an independent force of 36,000 men, fell upon General Fouque
at Landeshut, stormed the fortified camp, and took Fouqu6 and two other
generals prisoners (June 23rd). The Prussians lost 8,000 men, 67 cannon, 38
444 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1760-1763 A.D.]
ammunition wagons. Laudon just as eagerly attacked the fortress of Glatz
(July) and took it by storm. A combined attack on the king by Daun,
Laudon, and Soltikov was now to take place, but the king frustrated this
by suddenly attacking Laudon and defeating him at Lignitz. The imperials
lost 10,000 men, 80 cannon, 23 banners.
In this campaign, the capital of Prussia was invested by the Austrians
under Lacy and the Russians under Chernichev. When the king hastened to
deliver Berlin, they drew back. A decisive battle was fought at Torgau in
Saxony (November 3rd). At first the advantage was with the Austrians, but
when in the evening Daun left the field wounded, the Prussians triumphed.
The Austrians withdrew to Dresden. They had lost 20,000 men, and the
Prussians 13,000. The king himself was slightly wounded.
The Last Campaign (1761-1762)
This campaign was less rich in deeds than the preceding. On the 1st of
October Laudon surprised the stronghold of Schweidnitz and took it by
storm; this was the only great feat of the Austrians in the campaign. The
king of Prussia was so exhausted that he could no longer take the aggressive,
but had to limit himself to the defensive. He would certainly have been
defeated, except for the death of Elizabeth, the empress of Russia (5th of
January, 1762). Her successor, Peter III, was an active admirer of Fred-
erick's. He immediately concluded peace with him, returned all conquests,
and allowed Chernichev to join the Prussian army with 20,000 men. The
Austrians now felt how mistaken they had acted in dismissing 20,000 worthy
soldiers, and among them 500 officers, in the expectancy that the king would
suffer defeat through want of means and men.
Suddenly affairs took an unexpected turn. Peter III was overthrown by
his wife Catherine, and the new empress recalled her troops. The king
attempted to call them out. The Austrians, who were as yet unaware of
the order received by Chernichev, had to oppose the Russian troops, and
thus the king succeeded in displacing the Austrians from their entrenchments
at Burkersdorf. Thereupon, he besieged Schweidnitz and conquered it after
sixty-nine days. This was the last exploit of the war. At Fontainebleau
peace was concluded between France, England, Spain, and Portugal.*^
THE RESULT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR
France renounced her intention of standing in the way of Anglo-American
development beyond the ocean; and although England undoubtedly gained
the maritime ascendancy in North America, she nevertheless refrained from
accomplishing what she could certainly have achieved at that time — the
simultaneous ruin of the French and the Spanish colonial power. Austria
also relinquished her purpose of freeing her ancient authority in Germany
from the restrictions which Prussian power had imposed upon it. She
decided to grant to the king of Prussia that security the imperilment of which
had caused him to take up arms. Although there might have been moments
in which Frederick thought he could dictate laws to the Austrian power or
overthrow it, he nevertheless seems never to have adopted such a plan, which
certainly could not have been realised. During the years of the war Austria
had developed its own fighting forces and remained intact. The provinces
of the monarchy were still more closely united by the dangers and the strain
of the war.
THE LATEE YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 445
[1763 A.D.]
It is a notable fact that the independence of North America from France
and the undiminished existence of the Prussian state were not only achieved
at the same time but stood in very close relations to each other. The former
opened out an immense future; the eyes of contemporaries were directed
mainly to the latter. It was a success of eminent historical significance. All
life must prove itself in strife and struggle. The Prussian state, based on
ancient foundations which corresponded to those of the other states, although
they were not exactly similar, had obtained a position of actual independence
which represented a characteristic principle. But it had been attacked by
overwhelmingly powerful opponents, and threatened with an amputation
which would have destroyed it. For its power was its existence. This
immense danger was now victoriously overcome by Frederick; the posses-
sion of that province by the acquisition of which the rank of a European power
had been attained could now be considered to be maintained in perpetuity.
Such was the general state of affairs; but there were still questions of
detail of a certain importance which awaited a decision. One of these con-
cerned the Westphalian-Rhenish provinces of the house of Brandenburg,
which had so often been the subject of general differences. In consequence
of former transactions the intention of France was to concede them tempo-
rarily to the emperor, in his capacity as head of the empire. The Austrians
only lacked troops which they could employ for seizing these provinces. To
provide for all cases Starhemberg took care that in the preliminary articles
which concerned the evacuation of the provinces, the restrictive clause '' as
soon as possible" should be admitted. The English consented to this even-
tual delay, but at the same time they intended to bring about a definite
pacification between Prussia and Austria. The point in dispute, which might
otherwise have caused new difficulties and complications, was finally settled
by an independent declaration of the two leading powers. In order to protect
these provinces and also the Austrian Netherlands against attack, the plan
had been entertained of declaring them neutral territory. But in a confer-
ence of the 15th of January, 1763, the powers flatly ordained that the prov-
inces were to be given back to Prussia.
Maria Theresa showed some displeasure at this, for it seemed as if an effort
were being made to conclude the peace over her head, but she raised no serious
objections, for she herself was determined to have peace. Her chief motive
for this lay in her relations with the Ottomans. Although they had not
entered into the proposals of the king of Prussia, they brought to mind that
the Peace of Belgrade would shortly expire, and seemed ready to renew the
war. The uncertainty of peace with the Turks made peace with Prussia
doubly necessary.
France had already given her consent to direct negotiations between
Austria and Prussia. The Viennese court, nevertheless, had some misgiv-
ings in opening them, as the king was not to be strengthened in the opinion
that peace was indispensable to Austria; it was first desirable to find out
whether he was disposed for it. Just at the right time an old Saxon coun-
cillor to the legation, of the name of Saul, well known from a former mission,
arrived at Vienna; he came from Paris and was going to Warsaw. In con-
ferences with him and the Saxon ambassador Flemming, Kaunitz requested
the Saxons to ascertain whether the king of Prussia was in favour of peace.
Kaunitz made use of the mediation of the Saxons in preference to any other,
as they could not then put forward special demands on their own part, and
also because their position made the speedy conclusion of peace an absolute
necessity for them.
446 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[1763 A.D.]
The king of Poland, Augustus III, who was still in Warsaw, consented to
the proposal, and by the intervention of the crown prince the councillor
Fritsch, a high Saxon official for whom Frederick had a certain esteem, was
delegated to him. The king was then at Meissen; after a short interview he
declared that he was ready to offer his hand to all that could lead to a lasting
and fair peace. But he demanded that the Viennese court should make a
declaration as to his claims.
The first overture on both sides gave little hope for an understanding.
Maria Theresa demanded the cession of Glatz and the indemnification of
Saxony. The king declared that, if he did not receive back all his states,
there could be no peace, nor would he contribute a penny or a village towards
the indemnification of Saxony. But these differences of opinion did not put
an end to the conferences, which now almost by chance were transferred to
Hubertusburg. We learn that the Austrian plenipotentiary Collenbach had
some misgiving at seeking peace at the headquarters of the king, and while on
the road to Leipsic, where these were, revealed his scruples to the Saxon ambas-
sador, and caused the negotiations to be transferred to that hunting-seat.
In Leipsic he would have to negotiate with Finckenstein; at Hubertusburg
the king sent to him one of the ministry, the privy councillor of legation
Hertzberg, who first gained some renown by this mission. In Hubertusburg
there was again some talk of the cession of Glatz; Hertzberg urged, as Daun
himself allowed, that in the hands of Austria it had some importance for the
offensive, while for Prussia it had only a defensive value. The Austrians
demanded the demolition of the fortress, but this was opposed by the same
argument. On the 2nd of February, 1763, the court of ^^ienna consented to
the restoration of Glatz.
The Austrians, with a view to the approaching settlement of the Fran-
conian markgrafsc hafts, proposed the establishment of a Brandenburg secun-
dogeniture, but this was quite contrary to the dynastical ideas of Frederick.
He replied that this concerned his house exclusively and could not be made
the subject of a treaty. On the other hand he interposed no objections to
Austria's requests with regard to Modena; and as to the main point, the
raising of the archduke Joseph to the Roman kingship, he had no further
objections. The negotiations also concerned the demanded indemnification
of Saxony. But the Saxon statesmen did not formulate their demands clearly
and precisely; and it was observed that they were not on good terms with
the Austrians. The crown prince let the matter drop.
The other states and estates of the German Empire which had held to the
court of Vienna also longed for settlement. In his repeated invasions of the
autonomous states of the empire, Frederick declared that his proceedings only
concerned those whose contingents were still amongst the troops of the
empress and that they would cease as soon as they withdrew their troops.
The estates of the realm now found protection neither with France in conse-
quence of the preliminaries, nor with Austria; and the emperor and empress
released the estates from the promise given by them in 1757. After some
individual treaties had been made, then followed the neutral declaration at
the diet of Ratisbon on the 11th of February.
After manifold disputes, which however never compromised the main point,
it finally came to the act of signing the articles agreed upon, which were no
longer to constitute the preliminaries, as was the intention in the beginning,
but a definitive treaty. Collenbach was again seized with anxiety, which arose
as much from his subordinate position as from his personal characteristics;
he went from the Prussian plenipotentiary to the Saxon, from one to the
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 447
[1763-1765 A.D.]
other; he even asked his secretar}^ what he would do in his place; at last he
signed.
In Vienna itself no doubt prevailed. In consequence of the decision of
the Anglo-French conference, Maria Theresa was still more decided to urge on
the peace. Deserted by Russia, threatened by the Turks, in the face of the
impending superiority of Frederick, which might assert itself at any moment,
she had no alternative. She had prepared for war, caused its outbreak, and
with aknost passionate energy directed the military operations and the nego-
tiations. It was from her that the system of alliances proceeded, from which
it was expected with certainty that Silesia would be reconquered. She had
rejected all proposals of settlement and of peace, but her two great allies had
been compelled by their own positions to conclude peace independently.
The most important moment of her political life, considered as a whole, was
that in which she had to consent and agree to the peace.
The events on both sides are at the same time personal and the greatest
affairs of state: in Maria Theresa are represented the politics of Austria, which
dominated Germany and occasionally the world; in Frederick II the inde-
pendence and power of the Prussian state, to the acquisition of which he was
the chief contributor.
To sum up, the peace amounted to this: the empress restored the Peace of
Breslau, which in taking up arms it had been her purpose to destroy; she
evacuated the provinces which at the outbreak of the war had belonged to
Prussia; and the king in return withdrew his troops from Saxony.«
JOSEPH II AS CO-REGENT
Joseph, the eldest son, and the fourth child, of Maria Theresa, born
March 13th, 1741, married in October, 1760, Isabella of Parma; to Joseph's
great grief she died shortly after the birth of her second daughter (November,
,1763), and he made, for state reasons, a second, and unfortunate marriage
with Josepha, daughter of the emperor Charles VII (January, 1765). In the
interval between the two events he was elected king of the Romans (March
27th, 1764), and crowned in Frankfort (April 3rd). His father, the emperor
Francis I, died in August of the next year, a husband to whom Maria Theresa
iwas deeply attached (her first words to her rival. Countess Auersperg, after
his death were, '' How much have both of us lost! "), a passionate huntsman
and gambler, not without some quaUties as a collector and a financier; a
man whose extreme good nature did not always save him from the discom-
forts of his position — as husband of Maria Theresa — as he showed espe-
i3ially in his jealousy of the all-powerful and trusted Kaunitz.«
I These family affairs, as is the case in all monarchical states, had a many-
Bided effect on the public life of the country; but the most important and
;iiost telling event was the co-regency of Joseph. Immediately after his
'ather's death he styled himself German emperor, and assumed the govern-
'nent of the German Empire, so far as there was any government at all.
Alaria Theresa transferred to him all personal dignities and privileges to
!^hich, as the heir and male head of the dynasty, he could be entitled. On
December 8th, 1765, only a few months after the death of her husband, she
\ lamed hun co-regent of Austria, without, as she expressed herself, relinquish-
ing any portion of the rule which she possessed "over the perpetually
inseparable Austrian states." She left him the arrangement of the imperial
■lousehold, the direction of the military and finance departments; but she
'emained the reigning sovereign, and prescribed from time to time wider or
448 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1765-1768 A.D.]
narrower limits to his activity as co-regent according to her own judgment
and the advice of her ministers. A relation of this kind can subsist only when
one or the other of the two parties possesses a wholly passive, acquiescent
disposition; and this was the case neither with Maria Theresa nor her son.
Conflicts between them were, therefore, unavoidable; all the more so since
their views on religious and political matters differed widely.
First of all, the emperor broke through the bounds of the old stiff court
ceremonial. He struck out of the court calendar all the gala days, the pil-
grimages and processions, the Eastertide custom of washing the feet of the
poor, and all ceremonious audiences. He dismissed the pages and the Swiss
guards employed since 1745. He united his court household with that of
the empress, and he did away with the old Spanish court dress. It is said that,
the first time Joseph appeared at court in his military uniform, he remarked
to those standing near him, " What will my lord steward say to this? " He
drew tighter the strings of the " court purse," setting a limit to the distribu-
tion of gifts and pensions. He struck the item of hunting expenses out of
his household budget. It was at his suggestion that in 1766 the Prater in
Vienna, which up to that time had been reserved as a hunting ground for
the court, was thrown open for the free use of the entire public; likewise the
Augarten in 1765.
A new spirit was also noticeable in political and social life. Joseph's ideas :
of monarchical rule were quite different from his mother's. Maria Theresa,
notwithstanding all reforms, represented the old Austrian governmental sys-
tem with its provincial and feudal tendencies. Joseph longed to sweep away
completely the remains of the Middle Ages which still lay like a rubbish heap
on Austria, Maria Theresa dispensed favours to an extravagant degree;
Joseph sought to accord honour only to merit. Maria Theresa set a great
value upon ancient families and inherited privileges; Joseph estimated the
value of a man by his work. Maria Theresa disliked to disturb the existing
order of things; Joseph wanted to see the forces of the state refreshed and
infused with new vigour.
The courtiers who dreaded his innovations accused him of violence, harsh- 1
ness, and rapid changes in his reforms; but those of his letters and opinions
about his period in our possession prove how deeply the young emperor had
thought on matters of state and government. He did not regard the state '
as a patrimony, but as Rechtsstaat — that is, a state where all administration
is based on law. His whole being was penetrated by a consciousness of his
responsibilities and by thoughts making for the good and the honour of
Austria. The private fortune, amounting to about 8,000,000 florins, which
he inherited from his father, over which he had a little disagreement with his
brother Leopold, he surrendered to the state for the reduction of the public j
debt. In 1768 he wrote to his brother: " Love of the fatherland, the good of
the monarchy, this is the only passion which I feel — it guides my every
action. I am so penetrated by it that my soul is at peace only when I am
convinced of the usefulness of our course of action. Nothing appears too
trivial to me, everything interests me." His youthful spirit demanded work
and activity, but he was early compelled to recognise the force that habit and
inertia lend to existing institutions. His co-regency resolved itself into a
consulting rather than an active office; so that he was often compelled to
give his sanction to what he disapproved. He found himself often in con-
tention even with Kaunitz, and as a rule the empress sided with the latter.
In the first years Joseph was completely under his mother's rule; he carried
submission to a degree of self-obliteration and personal humiliation; but as
THE LATER YEAES OF MARIA THERESA 449
[1769-1780 A.D.I
time went on he could not bring himself to continue playing the part his
father had played. As early as 1769 he desired that his signature might
have an independent significance, and in 1773 and 1775 he openly requested
to be permitted to withdraw from participation in the government.
As his mother was against both alternatives, he went more and more his
own way; he expressed his real opinions with more decision in the council
chamber, but was always inclined to yield. In 1773 and 1775 he wrote to
his mother, '' I love nothing on earth but you and the state. I have the will
and strength to be obedient, but not to change my convictions and princi-
ples." The antagonism of principles continued to exist, but this did not
prevent Maria Theresa from arriving at an understanding with her son and
agreeing to "good and useful" innovations. From the retarding and accel-
erating movements, as represented respectively by Maria Theresa and Joseph,
there issued the reform period of 1770-1780, which laid the foundation of
the Josephinian system. This system discarded feudalism, and the hierarchy
in favour of the power of the state, remoulded the legal and military admin-
istration, created a new code, established the public school, freed the peasants
from the crushing burden laid upon them by their landowners, and trans-
formed not only the political structure but also the nation itself in its social
organisation, its customs, and its habits of thought.
The portrait of Joseph II is well known — that open face with the blue
eyes, now so mild and again so determined, the high forehead, the little mouth
and soft lips, the full, rather sensuous chin, the powdered hair rolled into
curls on the temples and worn in a bag behind. At that time, between 1770
and 1780, he was in the prime of life, strong and healthy, no work being too
hard for him, no effort too great. He walked quickly, his gestures and
action were rapid. On his journeys he always pressed forward with the
speed of the wind, through night and mist, across torrents and over wild
mountain passes. He was always ready to learn and delighted to enter into
, the minutest details. He paid far too little attention to the advice given
him by the great Frederick at Neisse, not to let himself be oppressed by trifles,
which wearied the spirit and hindered it from considering great matters.
His household and his way of life were quite simple. He liked to affect
' independence of anyone's service. He was accustomed to command — strict,
unsparing, often violent and crushing; and then again gentle and kindly,
full of pity and sympathy for every kind of suffering, particularly for the
sighs of the poor and oppressed. He w^as the first prince of his race in cen-
turies who stepped forth into the common hfe, the first prince who spoke and
wrote intelligible German. Wherever he appeared he charmed everyone, high
and low, with his frank, friendly manner; he was during those years the most
ipopular prince in all Germany, the joy and the hope of the new generation.
JOSEPH II ATTEMPTS REFORMS
1^ As German emperor, Joseph II attempted to shake at least the highest
Functionaries of the administration out of their rigidity; but how was it
; possible to introduce the germs of progress into the dead mass of imperial
.'ederation? The German king had long been denuded of all actual rights,
,md real influence he possessed only through the aulic council of the empire,
imd even here it was difficult to accomplish anything actually affecting the
power and the rights of the territorial sovereignties. The imperial law court
jvas moreover overladen with business, and the members had little inclination
or any continuous activity. They looked upon their position, as a state
a. w. — VOL,. JUVt 3q
450 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1765-1776 A.D.]
councillor once expressed it, as on a farm, upon which time and labour are j
spent only in proportion to the yield.
Joseph had the honest intention to get rid of the glaring abuses. After
he had assumed the direction of affairs in 1776, he plainly expressed to the
members of the council his dissatisfaction with their manner of working. A
decree dated October 21st, 1767, ordered four weekly meetings of the council
and the settlement of all disputes within, at most, two years; in particular
he denounced the evil of receiving and demanding presents.
" The slightest evasion or violation of my earnest command," ran the
imperial decree, " I will punish — for the benefit of the honest and the terror
of the selfish — in the severest way, even by dismissal, and this without regard
to services rendered with no matter how great ability." In the same way
Joseph endeavoured to check the corruption of the imperial supreme court |
in Wetzlar. In this court of highest instance, however, the administration
of justice was not possible; the small numbers of the workers could not
compass the amount of business, and those suits which were settled were not
always decided according to equity. There had been no inspection of its
work since 1588. Under Joseph I, one was planned but never carried out. j
Joseph II attacked the question once more, in order to make an end of the-
selling of justice and of general corruption. On the 11th of May, 1767, a!
commission of inquiry began its work. Prince Fiirstenberg acted as prin-
cipal, the old chancellor of Treves, Spangenberg, was commissioner, Baron
Erthal, canon of Mainz, afterwards taking the latter's place. j
The commission was active, but nothing was accomplished. In thef
imperial supreme court, as in the aulic council, everything remained in itsi
former condition. The number of lawsuits in arrear in 1772 was not less]
than 61,233; one lawsuit, concerning the property of an imperial count, j
lasted 188 years. 1
Joseph II experienced here in matters of detail what he was to encounter!
later in his policy as a whole. The mass of stagnation was too enormous fori
him to be able to infuse the breath of life into it. The decay of the chief}
offices of the empire, of the military, financial, and law departments, was not,
to be attributed only to individual negligent councillors and corrupt agents;]
it lay deeper, in the complete collapse of the federation of the empire and in'
the utter absence of municipal character. In earlier generations there had
still existed a communion of outward interests through the disposition ofi
the German princes. At the end of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-|
turies in particular, the combined action of Austria and Prussia had led to a|
new development of strength, and had revived the importance of the empire!
in the eyes of Europe. This union was destroyed by the enmity of Frederick!
II to Austria and by the new position which he had won for Prussia; andj
it was not evident how the federal arrangement of the empire could evolve £|
new order of things from its native strength.
In domestic matters the co-regent's reforming activity was directed, ir
the first place, to the affairs that were admitted to be his province — the mili-
tary and the financial. After the death of Daun (1765) Joseph for a moment
contemplated taking over the supreme direction of military affairs, but thai
the German emperor should at the same time appear as Austrian minister o
war was impossible.
Laudon, in the opinion of Frederick II the only really capable Austriai
general, was not elected as president of the council of war, but instead Coun
Maurice Lacy, a foreigner of low birth, who at the beginning of the Sevei
Years' War was one of the youngest colonels in the army, and who was nov
THE LATER YEARS OP MARIA THERESA 451
[1765-1776 A.D.]
raised over the heads of thirty generals into the foremost position. Daun
had recommended him and the choice appeareil, in fact, a fortunate one, for
Lacy was a magnificent organiser. He provided a better dress, better wea-
pons, and an improved equipment for the army; introduced improved exer-
cises for the cavalry; united the commissariat administration to the ministry
of war; founded the general staff; caused the fortresses of the empire to be
restored, etc. His administration brought new life into the army, but caused
great opposition in the civil administration. Lacy even got into slight dif-
ferences with the emperor, and resigned in 1774. His successor was, again,
not Laudon, but the cavalry general. Count Andrew Hadik.
Joseph had taken the liveliest interest in the military reforms, but
seemed nevertheless dissatisfied. He complained to his mother that the
army budget was only 17,500,000 and that scarcely half the men were
fit for war. When the army took the field, in 1778, it was neither so
large nor so well equipped, nor so prepared for war as Maria Theresa and
Joseph had expected. Neither was Joseph II satisfied with the financial-
economic condition of the state. He condemned with sharp words the short-
sightedness of the state officials, who had no grip on the situation as a whole,
and who could not draw their conclusions as to what was necessary for the
state from their own private household and business experience.
Joseph II was an extreme protectionist, with physiocratic leanings. In a
memorial written in 1765 he had already pronounced against the importation
of all foreign goods, with the exception of spices and groceries. It is known
that he once had many thousand gulden worth of foreign watches destroyed,
and the foreign wines in his house were sent away to the hospital. ''Agriculture
and industry are of more importance than commerce," he wrote. Austria, he
considered, having so little sea-frontage, would never drive a very brisk for-
eign trade, and the balance of trade would always remain a passive one, as
in former times.
From year to year he laid before his mother comprehensive schemes of
reform which he had drawn up, and which showed great keenness of insight
and knowledge of details. In these he always laid stress on the general good
and the necessity of thoroughgoing measures. '' My ardour," he wrote to
Maria Theresa, ''for our fatherland and for your majesty will never cool;
but to succeed in great things one must examine thoroughly and act in a
determined manner, penetrating into the heart of things, else it will be, as
we see, all patchwork that yields no results; consideration for too many
special interests renders unavaiUng the efforts of the best intentioned."
But bold measures were not to the taste of the empress, especially in her
1 later years. Joseph's reforms appeared rash to such an unheard-of degree
I that the courtiers who belonged to the good old times shook their heads
• doubtfully, and the empress herself shrank from them. One of the courtiers
I said to her that an effort was being made to disgust her with the government,
; to draw her away still further from business of state, and to wrest the sceptre
'wholly from her grasp; she should rouse herself to defend her rights with
Christian strength,
Maria Theresa had no real intention of abdicating, and when the first
mood had passed she took the reins of government into her hands again; but
,the old liveliness and inner cheerfulness did not return. From this time the
l^omplaint comes to us — "am no longer en vigueur, am alone and forsaken,
';T(iy courage begins to fail me," etc.
; Those whose strength had served her of old gradually died out, and she
I'Ould not understand the new men. In the ideas and personalities of the
452 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1763-17S0A.D.]
day, the contrast between the old time and the new mirrored itself; and this
contrast made itself felt in the state council, in the ministerial bureaus, and
in the relations of the provinces and the different classes of people. The
peculiar relations existing between the royal mistress and the co-regent did
not, indeed, bring divided councils into the centre of government, but certain
essential reforms halted and foreign policy became uncertain and hesitating.
Although the empress often sanctioned the proposals made by Joseph,
in all those where tolerance and the relation of church and state were in
question, an understanding between them was impossible. Maria Theresa
not only regarded the Catholic church as the only one which brought sal-
vation with it, but also as the only one that had a right to exist. She hated
tolerance, enlightenment, philosophy, and indifferentism. She lamented the
corruption of manners, the spread of irreligion, the striving after universal
freedom, and most of all the scholars and philosophers of the enlightenment, !
who in her opinion were immoral and made bad fathers, bad sons and i
husbands, bad ministers and citizens. j
When Joseph II was travelling through Switzerland, and in one of hisj
letters made use of the world "tolerance," she answered him: ''Nothing is'
so wholesome or so necessary as religion. Would you have everyone form-;
a religion after his own fancy — no prescribed cult, no submission? Peace!
and contentment would be at end, the right of might and other terrible effects:'
would once more be among us. I desire no spirit of persecution, but still,
less one of indifference and tolerance. I wish to be gathered to my fathers/
with the knowledge to comfort me that my son thinks in religious matters-
as his ancestors did, that he has given up his false logic and his bad books;;
that he is not as those who sacrifice all that is holy and venerable so that
their mere intellect may shine, and who desire an imaginary freedom whichi
could only lead to unbridled license and confusion." But in these respectsi
Joseph could not bring himself to alter his views.
When in Inner Austria in 1773, and in Moravia in 1777, many burghera
and peasants confessed themselves Protestants, Joseph demanded freedoirl
for all religions, and condemned in severe terms the proceedings of the gov-
ernment, which desired to take the harshest steps provided by the existing-
law for the punishment of the recalcitrants. " The orders of the government,'
he wrote to his mother, " against the Protestants in Moravia are against th(
principles of our religion and of good government- — even against commoi
sense. In order to convert the people the government would make soldier
of them, send them to the mines and to the public works. That was no
done even when the Lutherans were first persecuted. I declare positive!;
that whoever has written this order is unworthy to serve the governmeni
and has, as a man, my contempt." As Kaunitz also advised moderation, Mari|
Theresa in 1779 and 1780 let herself be persuaded to milder measures; th'
leaders of the apostasy were to be exiled to Hungary or Transylvania; publi
worship was to be forbidden them, but the government was to endeavour t!
correct the people only by mild teaching and persuasion. 9
I
THE FIRST PARTITION OF POLAND (1772 A.D.)
On October 5th, 1763, Augustus III king of Poland died, and on the sU'
cession of the Russian candidate, Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (Septen
ber 6th, 1764), a civil war broke out between the Russian and the nation
parties, in which Catherine participated by sending troops into Poland '
defend the Greek Christians (1767). The situation was further complieatr
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 453
[1769-1772 A.D.]
in the following year by a declaration of war from Turkey, whose territory
had been invaded by Russian troops. In order to secure the strict observance
of her neutrality, Austria marked out the Polish border, and in doing so (June^
1769) included the Zips district (which had once belonged to Hungary), and a
little more of Polish territory. As early as 1771 Frederick had persuaded
Catherine to favour his plan for enlarging their territories from Poland, rather
than from Turkey, and desired Austria to participate. Maria Theresa, hostile
to Frederick, resisted the idea. Joseph, who had met Frederick twice in 1769,
was from the first for a forward policy in Poland and the East, and Kaunitz
came round to his opinion. The situation which presented itself to Maria
Theresa was indeed difficult. Her neighbours, Frederick and Catherine, were
about to enlarge their borders at the expense of Poland, and self-interest,
championed by her chancellor and her son, suggested that she should claim a
corresponding increase of territory from one quarter or another — from
Prussia, if Frederick would permit it — from Poland, which she shrank from
robbing, or from Turkey, which trusted in Austria, and whose cause Joseph
had taken up against Russia."
Complaisant as Kaunitz usually proved w'hen it was a question of acting
upon the clearly expressed wishes of the empress, he could not make up his
mind to yield in this instance. As Maria Theresa herself not merely acknowl-
edged but averred with mournful insistence, for more than a year it had not
been her opinion but Joseph's that decided the foreign policy of Austria.
Joseph alone was answerable for the occupation of districts on the Polish
' border, for the levy of forces in Hungary, and for the convention with the
Porte. Maria Theresa had strenuously opposed and strongly disapproved of
all these measures ; but Joseph had nevertheless carried his point. This being
so, it was difficult, if not impossible, to take a diametrically opposite course at
; this stage of the proceedings. Kaunitz w^as glad that Joseph had at least
' desisted from his demand that the Porte should be forced to continue the war,
', and had assented to the proposal that Thugut should exert himself at Con-
; stantinople to gain acceptance for an armistice and permission to convene a
1 peace congress. Maria Theresa, whose most earnest desire from beginning to
end had been a speedy conclusion of peace, W' as of the same mind, and Kaunitz
' hastened to issue a commission to Thugut to that effect.
I It was otherwise with the instructions which were to be sent to Van
Swieten in Berlin ; and the negotiations with the court of St. Petersburg were
' continued through the agency of Galitzin. At Potsdam, on February 4th,
1772, the audience took place in which Van Swieten discharged his mission to
the king of Prussia. Frederick readily agreed in principle to the idea that
1 Austria ought to gain an accession of territory proportionate to the acquisi-
I tions of Russia and Prussia. But he gave a start when Van Swieten remarked
• that the equality must not be confined to the extent and inherent value of the
; districts to be annexed, but must extend to their political importance, and that
; there was hardly any part of Poland that would be of the same importance to
' Austria as Polish Prussia was to Frederick. And when at length Van Swieten
', came to the point and proposed that the king should take all Polish territory
; that fell to Austria and indemnify the imperial house by the cession of Glatz
and Silesia, Frederick rejected the idea with vigour.
I
! Belgrade, Bosnia, and Servia
\ So decided and unmistakable was the king's determination, that Van
I Swieten was soon convinced that there was not the slightest prospect of indu-
454 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIRE
[1772 A.D.]
cing him to change his mind on the point. He therefore brought forward the
second proposal, that which referred to the acquisition of Belgrade and part of
Bosnia and Servia by Austria. In the chancehor's opinion, the way to make
the Porte accede to this was by the return of Russia — secure in her acquisi-
tions in Poland — to the conditions of peace first proposed between her and
Turkey, and by the evacuation of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bessarabia to
induce the Porte to make the concessions desired by Austria. Frederick
received this proposal very favourably. He declared that he was ready
to give it his warmest support at the Russian court; and Van Swieten, natu-
rally, refrained from proceeding to the other alternatives.
The king of Prussia's letters to his brother show the duplicity of his conduct
towards Austria. At the very time that he promised Van Swieten to employ
all his influence at St. Petersburg in favour of the demands of the imperial
court, he was writing to Prince Henry to the opposite effect. He called it a
breach of trust on the part of Austria that she should propose to take from the
Porte (a power which had confided in her and begged her mediation) a district
the loss of which would w^eaken it on the Hungarian frontier to the same
extent that it had already been weakened by the Russian occupation of the
Crimea. He was convinced, he said, that Austria was afraid of war and would
accept anything that was offered in order to avoid it.
Reprehensible as this proceeding on the part of the king of Prussia may be
from the point of view of political honesty, it cannot be denied that the reflec-
tions in which he indulged and the accusations which he launched against
Austria were not wholly without warrant. The opinion, wdiich had always
been professed by Maria Theresa, that it w'as impossible to take the course
desired by Joseph and Kaunitz without being guilty of a breach of trust,
steadily gained ground in Vienna. The chief credit for this must doubtless
be attributed to the empress. In vigorous terms she once more repudiated
the notion that Austria should enrich herself at the expense of the Porte,
which had trusted her and with which she had just entered into a convention.
Maria Theresa even went further and contested the justice of the principle
which had been laid down — that if two states were in the act of enriching
themselves by dishonest means a third must necessarily be driven, for weighty
political reasons, to do the same. For this cause she declared afresh that she
W'Ould take no part of the Polish dominions. If, however, this was not to be
avoided, she could only assent on condition that Poland should receive Mol-
davia and Wallachia as compensation for the loss thus inflicted.
" I confess," she says, " that it costs me something to come to a decision in
a matter of the justice of which I am by no means convinced, even if it were
advantageous. But in all the three alternatives amongst which we have to
choose I cannot discover the advantage. The easiest way would be to agree
to the proposed partition of Poland. But what right have we to rob the inno-
cent, whom we have always prided ourselves upon protecting and defending?
To what end all these great and costly preparations, to what end so many
blustering threats to maintain the balance in the north of Europe? The only
motive — the advantage of not being left alone between the other two powers
without gaining any advantage for ourselves — does not seem to me sufficient,
does not seem even an honourable pretext for associating ourselves with two
unjust usurpers in the design of still further injuring a third party without the
slightest legal right. "^
Since it was clear that Prussia and Russia would carry out their partition
treaty whatever Austria might do, Maria Theresa submitted, though always
with misgivings, and Austria chose as her share of the spoil Galicia and various
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 455
[1773-1774 A.D.]
other districts in Poland which had once belonged to the Hungarian crown.
The announcement of Austria's occupation of the country was not published
till September 26th, 1772, by which time she was already in possession. No
protests were raised anywhere either at home or abroad. Poland lost to the
three powers 3,925 square miles of her best land out of a total of 13,500. Rus-
sia, having waged a successful war against Turkey (1768-1774), refused all
intervention, and in spite of Austrian threats made her own peace at Kutchuk-
Kainardji (July 16th, 1774). Austria, however, succeeded in getting from
the Porte a little territory of 181 square miles, Bukowina, which she had
occupied on Turkey's behalf against Russia while the preliminaries to peace
were being settled."
Provisions Made by the Treaty of Partition
According to the letter of this treaty, Austria should have taken possession
of all the Polish territory that fell within the new boundary line, which was
to run from Silesia along the right bank of the Vistula as far as Sandomir and
the junction of the river San, thence in a straight line to Zamoste, and on
through Hubieszow to the Bug, then along the course of that river and the
frontier of Borussia to the environs of Sbrysh and from thence to the Dniester.
Finally, Pocutia as far as the border of Moldavia was to fall to Austria.
The fifth article provided that the three powers should proceed in complete
accord to bring about an agreement with the kingdom of Poland concerning
the territories severally acquired by them, and to restore tranquillity and order
in the interior of the kingdom. For the attainment of this end it appeared
necessary to agree upon both the date and method of taking possession.
The question of issuing a manifesto now came into the foreground. Panin
had sent the rough draft of such a manifesto to Vienna with his first proposals
for a treaty of partition, but the idea had been vehemently opposed, especially
by the empress. In spite of Kaunitz' advice to waive what was after all a
minor consideration, she could not bring herself to do so. Kaunitz was
therefore obliged to draw up a counter-project, in which Maria Theresa ulti-
mately acquiesced, subject to certain alterations. At a later period she her-
self speaks of it as ''very successful." It was also sanctioned by Russia and
\ Prussia.
We are probably right in assuming that the great political triumph he had
gained by getting his scheme accepted as it stood, both in Berlin and St.
Petersburg, gave the chancellor the most lively satisfaction. But in the
brief reports in which he announces to the emperor and empress the conclu-
1 sion of the Treaty of Partition there is not a word of the impression it made
I upon himself. And while Joseph acknowledges the information in the words,
"I am much obliged for this agreeable news," the empress, who was wont to
be so communicative, refrains from any observation. On the report which
Kaunitz sent her with the deeds of ratification for signature she only put the
^laconic words, " Have signed."
! ^ But we should be wrong in assuming that, in her grief for what she con-
'ceived the injustice done by the partition of Poland, Maria Theresa was blind
to the advantages which would accrue to her own country from it. _ A short
but remarkable note from the empress to Lacy bears testimony to this ambig-
uous mood, if we may so call it. And her words are of great interest also as
proving that it was Lacy who had incited Joseph to such ambitious desires.
'The courier from St. Petersburg," Maria Theresa writes to the field-marshal
ivith her own hand, " has brought the wretched partition signed. I have you
456 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[174&-1780 A.D.]
to thank for this great advantage, if such it really is. One thing is certain —
that it was you who sketched the plan of it, who dared to demand so much,
and thus did the state this service, without entering upon the question of
whether it were just or not." In such wise did the treaty for the partition
of Poland become an accomplished fact.^
MARIA THERESA AND RELIGION
The spirit of monarchical absolutism guided Maria Theresa in the measures
in which she dealt with the ecclesiastical affairs of her subjects. In the first
years of her reign she was anxious to banish all Jews from the kingdom at
six months' notice, and nothing but the intercession of the elector of Mainz,
the kings of Poland and England, and the pope, who himself spoke on behalf
of the unfortunate race, diverted her from this intention. She was not toler-
ant by nature, and she could not rise to the idea that tolerance is not a reli-
gious but a political measure, which becomes indispensable when a state
includes professors of different creeds. Protestantism was kept in subjection;
she ignored many private misdemeanours committed against Protestants,
and often herself interfered in domestic concerns when it was a question of
religion.
Although a strict Catholic, she maintained towards the pope the principle
of absolute sovereign authority, and the last time the Roman curia was
applied to for an indulgence to allow the clergy to be taxed was during the
Seven Years' War. She prohibited the visitations of the apostolic nuncios
in her dominions, and the publication of any papal bull without the royal
warrant; many holy days were abolished as detrimental to agriculture and
trade, the abuse of exorcism was strictly forbidden, trial for witchcraft might
not be so much as mentioned, a limit was fixed to the fortunes which might
be taken into monasteries and nunneries, binding vows were not to be taken
before the age of twenty-four. She revived the old amortisation laws for
religious committees; a special edict was issued on the subject of the absorp-
tion of money by the monasteries, their prodigality, and their investment of
capital in foreign countries; restrictions were placed upon the use of prisons
by the superiors of monastic establishments; a special edict dealt with the
influence of the clergy upon wills and final dispositions, the right of sanctuary
was abolished, and all correspondence with the Roman curia had to be con-
ducted through the bureau for foreign affairs. With the pope's consent she
revived the ancient title of "apostolic" which had been conferred on St.
Stephen, the first king of Hungary, by Pope Silvester II, but which had fallen
into desuetude by the lapse of time. In virtue of this title and the rights
derived therefrom, she divided the large dioceses into smaller ones, and
erected new bishoprics; she took from the Hungarian bishops the privilege
of appointing prebendaries and vested it in the Crown.
The Dissolution of the Jesuits
The most important action of the empress in matters ecclesiastical was
the dissolution of the Jesuits. The order had been gradually introduced into
Austria under the emperors Rudolf II and Ferdinand, to maintain there, as
everywhere in Europe, the struggle against the spread of Protestantism. The
Protestants rightly recognised in the society their most serious and strongest
opponent, and tried by every means in their power to check its prosperity.
The Jesuits were repeatedly driven out of their colleges by the victorious ,
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 457
[1748-1780 A.D.]
Protestants, but they always came back again, sometimes in singular fashion.
Thus, when the archduke Charles, father of Ferdinand II, wished to introduce
them into Gratz they could only get into the town in disguise ; the day fixed
for their coming was known, the Protestants sounded the alarm, the cry,
"The Black Sow is coming!" rang through the streets; the carriage suspected
of containing the Jesuits was stopped, and the Protestants were not a little
surprised to see only two men in knightly garb inside. Somewhat out of
countenance, they let the carriage pass — with the Jesuits in it. A life-and-
death struggle was maintained between them and the Protestants, and the
fact that Austria is in the main Catholic to this day must be largely ascribed
to the activity of the Jesuits. Their influence upon the empire was due in
great measure to the schools, which they gradually monopolised until not
only the grammar schools (Gymnasien) but most of the higher educational
institutions were in their hands. The universities of Prague, Vienna, and
Tirnova were under their direction. They tried to enlist the ablest on their
side and to inspire all their pupils with a strong affection for the order, and
they usually succeeded in both objects.
The first traces of a spirit of opposition to the Jesuits are to be found in
the reign of Joseph I. It sprang from many causes, first and foremost the
jealousy of other religious orders, who either vied with them in learning, like
the Benedictines, in proselytising zeal, like the Dominicans, or envied them
their wealth and consequence. An antipathy also arose against them among
the secular clergy on account of the lax morality they taught and allowed to
the laity, for the Jesuits were only strict with themselves, not with others.
Rummel, the emperor's religious instructor and afterwards bishop of Neustadt,
was their avowed antagonist, and the emperor's confessor was no longer a
Jesuit; which made a great difference in the position occupied by the order.
Their Protestant adversaries were no longer dangerous; more formidable
enemies had arisen among Catholics.
Thus matters stood when Maria Theresa came to the throne. By that
time a glimmer of the philosophical principles of England and France had
begun to penetrate to the Austrian empire ; men began to find fault with the
Jesuit system of education, and not without just cause, for in the grammar
schools Latin was taught well, Greek hardly at all, and of other subjects there
was practically nothing: religious instruction was directed rather to external
form than to spiritual religion, and in the higher branches of study the Jesuits
were biased. They had among them countless scholars in every department
of knowledge, but they were unable to rise to the perception that no knowl-
edge can be hurtful to the Catholic faith, but every fresh discovery must
redound to its glory. They thought to serve religion by suppressing science,
they had enlarged the bounds of knowledge up to a certain point, and suffered
under the delusion that they could confine the spirit of inquiry within these
limits. Thus they had ranged against them their old enemies the Protes-
tants, the aversion of a section of the Catholic clergy, and the estrangement of
the ruling powers; and were exposed to the attacks of unbelief on the one
hand and of science on the other. One of the most eminent members of the
order reproached it with having met the new demands of science with
nothing but defiance and rigid adherence to old traditions; and he was right.
It is impossible to judge how subsequent circumstances might have shaped
themselves for the Jesuits in the Austrian Empire under these conditions, if
only they had stood alone. This they could not do, and they w^ere conse-
quently involved in the ruin which overwhelmed the society in other coun-
tries. In Spain, Portugal, and France it was compulsorily dissolved ; the pope
458 THE HOLY EOMAIi EMPIKE
[1748-1780 A.D.]
continued to protect it, and inquired of Maria Theresa how she was disposed
towards the Jesuits. She answered that she was not called upon to criticise
the proceedings of other courts, but that she could give nothing but praise to
the Jesuits in her dominions for their conduct, their zeal, and their labours,
and was determined to maintain the existence of the order as serviceable to
religion and the welfare of her people. But the Bourbon courts to which she
was bound by ties of friendship, and where she had married two of her daugh-
ters, pressed her to consent to the dissolution of the Jesuit order; her son
Joseph, as Roman emperor, and her minister Kaunitz were both in favour of
the dissolution, and she yielded, though reluctantly. Thereupon Pope
Clement issued the brief of abrogation, and the Jesuit order in the Austrian
Empire was dissolved, its members were pensioned, and its property was
formed into a fund for the endowment of learning.
The dissolution of the Jesuits made an entirely nev/ system of education
necessary. The details of the new
^^■;^^>y scheme were arranged by Van Swieten,
<^rC VA physician in ordinary to Maria The-
'4t^/. ■ •, J'ut? resa ; but learning had been so com-
'■'iL^m'^ riy pletely in their hands that the au-
thorities found themselves constrained
to fill up many professorial appoint-
ments with ex-Jesuits.*
Maximilian Joseph III
(1745-1777)
AUSTRIA AND THE BAVARIAN
SUCCESSION
As we turn back into the strictly
political channel of events, only one
important chapter of the history of
i \ V '^^ap^^'^yy >^//-v Maria Theresa remains to be told.
^^-^ "^^Bp' Y' [■€ This has to do with the Bavarian
— ' Succession .« As we know, England
and Prussia (the latter especially) were
on no friendly footing with Austria.
Prussia, suspiciously on the watch
ever since the second war she had waged with Austria, regarded every acqui-
sition of territory by that country as an injury inflicted upon herself. This
feeling was most conspicuous in connection with the relations between Austria
and Bavaria which led to the last Austro-Prussian War.
Maximilian Joseph, the elector of Bavaria, was childless, and had neither
brothers nor collateral descendants. His next heir was the elector Charles
Theodore of the Palatinate, by right of descent from Rudolf, eldest son of
Ludwig the Stern, who had taken the Palatinate for his own share in the division
with his brother Ludwig, leaving the dukedom of Bavaria to the latter. But
Charles Theodore himself had no lawful issue, and the imperial court therefore
entered into negotiations with a view to inducing him, after the death of Maxi-
milian Joseph, to concede part of Bavaria to the house of Austria in compli-
ance with ancient claims. Austria's claim was as follows:
When, in the reign of the emperor Sigismund, the duke of Bavaria died
without issue, the emperor gave his son-in-law, Duke Albert of Austria, a deed
of enfeoffment upon lower Bavaria for himself and his heirs in the male and
female line. This mortgage was never carried into effect; on the contrary,
the emperor himself withdrew it in favour of the dukes of upper Bavaria.
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 459
[1777 A.D.]
Austria nevertheless argued that it was valid, for the reason that the with-
drawal was made out of special favour to the dukes of Bavaria, and so did not
hold good for the Palatinate line. She also laid claim to the principality of
Mindelheim in Swabia, in virtue of a reversion bestowed upon the house of
Austria by the emperor Matthias. Finally she demanded that all Bohemian
fiefs in the Palatinate should be restored to the crown of Bohemia, the family
of the feoffee being extinct. In these various ways Austria laid claim to nearly
half of Bavaria.
Against these pretensions it might be argued that on the same day on which
he conferred the fief of lower Bavaria on Duke Albert, the emperor also con-
ferred it on three Bavarian dukes of the other line ; that by a formal sentence
he refuted the legal objections and defects of title advanced against the
Bavarian dukes, and confirmed the partition of lower Bavaria made by them ;
and, finally, that Duke Albert himself executed a deed of renunciation in
favour of these dukes, in which he resigned for himself and his heirs all claims
that might be raised on the ground either of his maternal relationship to the
house of Bavaria or of the aforesaid enfeoffment of the emperor.
The elector palatine, Charles Theodore, either felt the arguments of Aus-
tria unanswerable, or was afraid of being involved in tedious disputes by a
refusal, or found sufficient temptation in the prospect which was held out of
providing for his numerous illegitimate offspring by peaceful settlement; in
any case, he agreed to the partition proposals.
Maximilian Joseph, elector of Bavaria, was much incensed by these nego-
tiations, but he could do nothing to stop them, for he suddenly died of small-
pox. Four days later the compact respecting the cession of lower Bavaria
and Mindelheim and the lapse of the Bohemian fiefs in the Palatinate, with a
clause providing for the exchange of the latter as suited the convenience of
both contracting parties, was signed at Vienna by Prince Kaunitz and Freiherr
von Ritter. The palatine ambassador at Munich, in ignorance of this com-
pact, had the elector Charles Theodore proclaimed sovereign throughout the
whole of Bavaria. But Charles Theodore himself, on his arrival at Munich,
declared this proclamation premature, and confirmed the aforesaid agree-
ment. The districts named in the compact were promptly occupied by Aus-
trian troops, some in the name of Maria Theresa, and some in the name of the
emperor Joseph. Whereupon antagonistic forces arose in various quarters.
The first of these was the Bavarian nation, which desired loyally to adhere
to its ancient dynasty. This feeling was fanned by the courageous and gifted
Duchess Maria Anna ; she felt, however, that Bavaria alone was too weak for
resistance, and therefore called upon the duke of Zweibriicken, heir-at-law if
Charles Theodore died without lawful issue, to defend his rights and to appeal
for protection to the king of Prussia.
The Potato War
I The king of Prussia promised assistance and prepared for war. He was
! joined by Frederick Augustus, elector of Saxony. For this last proceeding
; Austria had herself to thank; for when Frederick Augustus also put in a claim
upon Bavaria, Maria Theresa had vouchsafed him no answer. The emperor
, Joseph had suggested that the matter should be referred to the law courts and
1 to amicable composition, and, when Frederick Augustus declared his wish to
; remain neutral, had coupled his consent with the condition that the fortress
; of Konigstein should be occupied by Austrian troops for two years, that the
t imperial army should have free passage through Saxony and free navigation
460 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1777-1779 A.D.]
of the Elbe, and that the Saxon army should be reduced to four thousand men.
The Austrians had set two armies in the field: one hundred thousand men
under the emperor Joseph and Lacy were encamped in a strong position at
Koniggratz ; the second army, on the borders of Saxony, was commanded by
Laudon. All Europe was in expectation of great military developments, but
the event proved otherwise. Maria Theresa, who had never believed that it
would actually come to fighting, exerted herself to prevent bloodshed. With-
out informing her son the emperor, or her chancellor. Prince Kaunitz, she sent
Freiherr Thugut, in the guise of a Russian secretary, to the king of Prussia
with an autograph letter, to set on foot peace negotiations. She told the king
that she was filled with dismay to see the two of them in act to tear out each
other's grey hairs.
The king returned a friendly answer, but the negotiations came to nothing,
frustrated by the emperor's opposition. On hearing of them he wrote to his
mother that if she made peace he would never come back to Vienna, but would
set up his capital at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) or some other place. But the
result of the empress' attempt at pacification was that the war was very
languidly conducted. No decisive blow was ever struck. The most impor-
tant occurrences were that the Prussians pressed forward to Briix and Braunau
and captured large quantities of military stores, and that the imperial general
Wurmser surprised the prince of Hesse-Philippsthal at Habelschwerdt, in the
countship of Glatz, and took him and all his little force prisoners. In Aus-
tria and Prussia men mocked at this method of making war; the Austrians
dubbed it the Zwetschkenrummel (a game played for points of no value), the
Prussians the Kartoffelkrieg (potato war).
The Peace of Teschen
Both belligerents had deceived themselves in their hopes of being sup-
ported by their allies. The French made every kind of pretext to refuse Aus-
tria the substantial assistance to which they were pledged by treaty, and
offered to mediate. The empress of Russia demanded an enormous sum of
money from the king of Prussia in return for the prospect of slight assistance.
Maria Theresa made use of the czarina's mood to bring about peace through her
mediation. She wrote her an autograph letter ending with the assurance that,
apart from any consideration but the pleasure she had in complying with the
wishes of her imperial majesty, she left to her the sole choice of the measures
of pacification which she, in concert with his most Christian majesty, thought
fittest for the restoration of peace, being convinced that she could place her
welfare and dignity in no better hands.
At Teschen the Russian prince Repnin and the French ambassador Bre-
teuil met to treat of conditions of peace, and their terms were accepted by the
Austrian ambassador Cobenzl, the Prussian ambassador Riedesel, the Saxon
ambassador Zinzendorf, Toringsfeld representing the elector palatine, and
Hohenfeld the duke of Zweibriicken. Austria received a small part of Bavaria,
the present Irmviertel, renounced all designs against the lapse of the two
Franconian principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth to Prussia, and the claims
of Saxony were settled with six millions. The emperor Joseph wrote to one
of his intimates that he had assented to the peace in order not to distress
the empress, that, like Charles V after his disastrous campaign in Africa, he
was the last to go on board, and that he felt like a Venetian general, who
was pensioned off after a campaign.
Frederick was annoyed too; the war had cost him 29,000,000 thalers and
THE LATER YEARS OF MARIA THERESA 461
[1780 A.D.]
twenty thousand men, and had jeopardised his mihtary reputation. Maria
Theresa alone was overjoyed. She thus expresses herself: "I have no liking
for Frederick, but I must do him the justice to say that he has acted nobly.
He promised to make peace on reasonable terms, and he has kept his word.
It is an unspeakable pleasure to me to think that I have prevented further
bloodshed."*
THE CLOSE OF MARIA THERESA's REIGN
To the end of her reign the old opposition between Maria Theresa and
Frederick continued to show itself. Desiring an establishment for her young-
est son, and feeling the necessity also, perhaps, of strengthening Austria's vote
in the empire, she put forward the archduke Maximilian, who was then only
twenty-four years old, for election as coadjutor to the archbishop of Cologne
and bishop of Miinster, and consequently as successor to the electoral dignity.
He was elected in preference to Frederick's candidate. Prince Joseph Hohen-
lohe, in August, 1780. The wish to compete with Frederick for Catherine's
favour was also among the motives of Joseph's visit to Russia (June and
July). Although politics were scarcely mentioned, the visit was the begin-
ning of a Russian alliance which came about next year, in spite of Frederick's
efforts to keep the first place in Catherine's sympathies for Prussia.
On the 29th of November Maria Theresa died, in the forty-first year of
her reign and the sixty-fourth of her life. During the first twenty-five years
of her reign she acted on her own judgment in all important decisions. A
change came with the death of her husband — not that he had influenced
her policy, but because Joseph won pow^r immediately as co-regent. Thence-
forward Maria Theresa was always wavering between her great love for this
son — whom she ever valued above his brothers and sisters, for all the anxiety
he caused her — between her deep-seated admiration for the extraordinary
qualities he certainly possessed, and her no less lively disapproval of his point
of view, a point of view which he championed to success often with a complete
neglect of the feelings of those who thought differently. For the establish-
ment of Austria as a great power she worked chiefly in two directions —
centralisation of the very various lands over which she ruled, and increased
effectiveness of the army. By her personality, as well as by her measures,
she gave her subjects the feeling of belonging together in a common cause.
In the first year of her reign Neipperg brought a force of 15,000 men into the
field against Frederick: within two years of her death Austria could meet
the same foe with an army of 170,000.
One of Joseph's first preoccupations after his mother's death was to pay
out of his private fortune her legacy to the army, a very great expense which
she obviously had intended should be defrayed not from her personal estate,
which was far too small, but from state moneys.^
ESTIMATES OF MARIA THERESA
Very few sovereign women [says Wolf] have awakened so much devotion,
love, and trust as Maria Theresa. The foreign ambassadors, Venetian, Prus-
sian, and Dutch, soon began to carry reports of her mind and character, of
her courage, and swift, sure judgment in public affairs. At the beginning of
her reign she was looked upon as a weak young woman, but she soon taught
the world its mistake. She grasped the helm of state with the strength of a
man, and guided it firmly through times of weal and woe. She had not
coveted her empire. "With joy," she wrote in a pamphlet, "had I been
462 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
insignificant and had remained simply grand duchess of Tuscany, if I could
have beheved that God so willed it; but as he has chosen me to bear the great
burden of government, I hold it on principle and consider it my duty to apply
all my resources to the task."
This sense of duty, the power of pious belief, proud self-consciousness,
and reliance on the strength of their dynasty, are traits of the Habsburgs;
and Maria Theresa excelled most of her predecessors in her power of endur-
ance, her open mind, and her skill in dealing with mankind. She never
succumbed to unnerving and fruitless discouragement, even when the cast of
fate was most heavily against her. The tears she shed in the Presburg par-
liament were tears of emotion and excitement, not of meek despair. In her
first war she inclined, even when forsaken by her allies, to continue the con-
test. Her great wish at that time was that she could take the field herself.
Those sad years taught her to hate and to love, as well as the difficult task of
dissimulation and negotiation. In foreign policy, when all treaties and guar-
antees failed, she took her stand upon "her good right." She then lost all
confidence in the Areopagus of European powers, and her faith in the good
of united action was only restored by her alliance with France and Russia,
which gave her a renewed sense of confidence and security.
Her conception of royalty and monarchical power was formed from the
blended ideas of two periods. She had inherited the sense of absolute power
from her forefathers, but this absolutism was neither the capricious despotism
of Louis XV, nor the military despotism of an autocrat like Frederick II.
She combined her domestic interests with the interests of the state. " Dearly
as I love my family and my children," she wrote, ''so dearly that I grudge
them no labour, care, grief, or anxiety, yet I preferred the good of my lands
to theirs whenever my conscience told me that the welfare of the country
demanded this; for of all these lands I am the common mother."
She herself had no liking for reforms, but did not disguise from herself
the necessity of many alterations and improvements. She was the first of
the Habsburgs to consider the empire before the provinces, the state before
the estates, the whole before its parts. She centralised the administration
rather than the constitution, and this only in order to strengthen the military
and economic power of the state. It was she that made it possible to regard
Austria as a monarchy which had the common interest of all the Austrian
peoples at heart. The provinces gave their adherence to the authority of
the new state. The new government, which had been at first considered a
burdensome innovation, was looked upon as an achievement working for the
public weal and for universal freedom. Even in Hungary, where Maria Theresa
had acted since 1765 as a queen with absolute power, the feeling prevailed
of a common interest and willing submission to authority. In German
Austria, particularly, the estates and the nobility submitted unconditionally
to the will of the sovereign. Her known love for military affairs made her
popular with the army, the clergy appreciated her piety and reverence for
the power of the church, the people were full of enthusiasm, love, and awe.
Her reign was attended externally and internally with success. In 1775 the
Prussian chancellor Fiirst WTote : " ^Vhen Maria Theresa ascended the throne
she found everything in complete disorder, and the exchequer was embar-
rassed with an eight years' war. What other sovereign would have been able
to bring the affairs of the realm to their present condition? Far into posterity
mankind will recognise Maria Theresa as one of the greatest sovereigns the
world has ever seen: the Austrian house has not produced her equal."
A great part of this success was due to the charm of her essentially human
THE LATEE YEARS OF MAEIA THEEESA 463
personality. The portraits which Moller, Meytens, and Matthaus Donner
have painted of her are still regarded with interest and admiration. The
finest are by Meytens and his school of the period between 1747 and 1760.
They show a round face with charming expression, light grey eyes, a finely
chiselled mouth, a smooth forehead, and a rounded chin. A veil is thrown
back over the wavy, slightly-powdered hair. The skin of the throat shows
rosy-white. In one picture she wears a blue dress with gold embroideries and
lace sleeves; one hand is extended in a gesture of command, the other rests
on a table near the Hungarian crown. Her pose is full of a noble dignity,
and the liveliness of earlier years is subdued. The later pictures, after 1765,
represent her as a widow in black dress, with a gauze cap on her smoothly
brushed hair. She has become stouter, the features are almost masculine,
the eye cold and penetrating. Age and illness, many childbirths, the dis-
appointments and experiences of life have obliterated the charm of youth,
but up to her last days she could be irresistibly amiable.
In her early years she had very lively manners and used much gesture;
when she was angry, irritated, or scornful her words came like a torrent in
broken sentences. Her temper rose, if her ideas were not quickly carried
out, or at the sight of injustice; but she was easily pacified. Whilst her
father and grandfather withdrew from all publicity and surrounded them-
selves with a cloud of etiquette and ceremonial, Maria Theresa often broke
through all forms and behaved according to her natural disposition; _ in
Presburg, for instance, in 1741, w^hen she took off the heavy Hungarian
crown and put it on the table by her; and in Frankfort, in 1745, when she
called out to the people, "Long live Emperor Francis!"; or in 1768, when
she came into her box at the Burg theatre and called to the people in the pit :
"Leopold has a boy." This hearty candour, this homely, wholesome tone is
also to be found in her letters. Ideality, everything that tended to abstract
thought, found no mercy at her hands. The delights of deep research were
utterly unknown to her, to science and art she gave only a condescending
attention. The homage paid to her by the poets of her own country was
graciously received by her, but the poetry of the ideal was not to her taste.
Philosophy and free-thought was disgusting to her; she would have nothing
to do with it; in a letter written in 1779 she displays the temper of quite
another century. Her religion was a genuine, firm, inward faith ; it had
supported her through many a heavy hour, and on this account she believed
herself under the especial protection of the Almighty. "When the strong
arm of God began to make itself felt on my side," she once wrote in remi-
niscence of the year 1742. All religious duties she fulfilled with the most
scrupulous care. She even took part in the toilsome processions and pil-
grimages introduced by her predecessors. She submitted to papal control
in most cases, and assumed the title, "apostolic queen of Hungary." She
supported monks and Jesuits; but she no longer had a Jesuit for her confessor,
and did not allow them access to her children. The Catholic faith was for
her the only one which brought salvation with it, and the true state religion
for Austria.
From this conviction sprang her churchly zeal and her mtolerance towards
Protestants and Jews. In 1744 she ordered all Jews to be driven out of
Prague and Bohemia, and only with great difficulty was she persuaded to
withdraw this order. In 1754 a former ordmance of Charles VI was renewed,
which ordained that renegades from the church should be rigorously punished.
The transmigrations, that is to say the enforced removal of Protestants to
Hungary and Transylvania, were continued. The religious committee in
464 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
Inner Austria took from the Protestants their books and put hinderances in the
way of Protestant worship. It was only in the last years of her reign that she
abated this spirit of persecution, and ordered milder measures.
With all this there was in her disposition a fine sympathy with everything
moral and refined. She guarded the peace and honour of the home and
demanded discipline and decency in all families. She even went too far in this
direction. Her commissions of purity were ill spoken of and the innumer-
able marriages which they brought about were not always a success. Books
she did not read, but hundreds of political documents which were often quite
as voluminous. She found time for everything, great and small. The foreign
ambassadors w^ere often astounded at this. She wrote an enormous amount —
letters, notes, short orders to her ministers and to her children, even to men
and women not personally known to her. Many have been printed ; they fill
whole volumes. Their contents are the mirror of her soul, the account of her
mental life. The orders to her ministers she generally wrote on little, insignifi-
cant pieces of paper; upon a proposal by a minister she would write her
"placet" with some remarks on the method of carrying it out. Her sen-
tences were half French, half German, badly spelled out, but always clear,
decided, and to the point. Most of her letters are in French, but the thought
is German. In her younger years she was very fond of fine toilettes, vivacious
company, cards, and the theatre. She was a connoisseur in music and in her
own domestic circle sang little Italian songs, especially after 1743, when the
first dangers of the war were over. Until 1756 and even 1760 there were many
festivities at court: balls and skating parties, merry-go-rounds, mythological
plays, operas, and little comedies played by the children of the house. Metas-
tasio composed the words, Gluck the music; and it was considered an extra-
ordinary mark of favour to be bidden to one of these festivities.
The Vienna court was still the pre-eminent German court : the aristocracy
was rich; much that had been irksome in the etiquette had been modified,
and the style of the whole was magnificent and luxurious in the extreme. The
court household was still organised and modelled after the traditional manner,
a combination of Old-German and Austrian styles. Every archduke and
archduchess received, on attaining majority, a separate retinue for exclusive
service. From 1755 each one was given the title of Konigliche Hoheit (royal
highness). The crowd of courtiers, court officials, and court servants was
very numerous. After the death of the emperor, the great festivals only took
place on very special occasions, as at the New Year, at Carnival time, at the
weddings of the imperial children, or on the reception of a prince.
The empress liked giving presents; swindlers and traitors took advantage
of this. She never went anywhere without a handful of gold coins to give
away among beggars and soldiers. The consequence was that the empress
yearly spent about 6,000,000 florins, while the economical king of Prussia was
satisfied with 340,000 thalers-S^
That in which Maria Theresa stood alone [says Arneth], and in which she
perhaps never had her equal, is the rich emotional life of this wonderful
woman. Nor was this displayed, as has often been the case in princely
families, only in her intercourse with her own kindred ; it extended to her sub-
jects, rich and poor, of high and low degree. There had been kindly men
among her forefathers, and none of the race could be called cruel or tyranni-
cal._ But to none of them had it occurred to step beyond the family and
social circle, beyond the nobles and courtiers, and to go down, in thought if
not in person, to the people, and out of pure human pity to sympathise with
their sufferings and distresses, and to strive without intermission to improve
THE LATER YEAES OF MAEIA THERESA
465
their lot and their surroundings as far as was possible under existing circum-
stances. Of Maria Theresa it must be said that she did this to the utmost of
her power, and hardly ever, in Austria or elsewhere, have such friendly and
natural relations been seen to subsist between the head of the state and the
people.
We will bring this retrospect of Maria Theresa's rule to a close with a brief
summary of what she did for her army. And it may well be said that the
immeasureable difference between things as she found them and as she left
them is nowhere more conspicuous than in military affairs. The little force of
about 15,000 men, in itself hardly worthy to rank as a single corps, with which
Neipperg opposed the Prussians at Mollwitz, bears no proportion to the army
of 170,000 men which met the same foes thirty-seven years later. Nor is this
difference confined to its numerical strength ; it is equally manifest in its equip-
ment and efficiency. It was under and through her that a corps of officers
in the modern sense of the term came into existence, and we know how zeal-
ously and successfully she laboured to arouse and elevate the professional
spirit among them. But she was affable to the soldiers as well as the officers,
and was most careful of their welfare. We need only recall that conversation
with an old soldier about Lacy, of which she boasts to the field-marshal
himself; and she was indefatigable in thinking and doing all that was prac-
ticable to ameliorate the soldier's lot.
Such was the work that Maria Theresa, the sovereign, did for her people.
The high place which is her right as woman and mother is known to all men.
In her solicitude for her children she was without peer, and the wise counsels
she gave them in her letters when they left her sheltering care are, in their ripe
wisdom and homely simplicity, among the most beautiful things that have
ever been written in such a case and from such a station. And from her
correspondence with the queen of France we know that Maria Theresa's
; watchfulness over her children did not cease with the moment of parting,
but followed them through life with an unchangeable devotion.'^
^556?ir
^a:^
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2h
CHAPTER XII
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED
[1780-1790 A. D.]
Altliougli there have formerly been Neros and a Dionvsius.
although there have been tyrants who abused the power delivered to
them by fate, is it on that account just, under pretence of guarding
a nation's rights for the future, to place every imaginable obstacle in
the way of a prince, the measures of whose government solely aim at
the welfare of his subjects '? I know my own heart ; I am convinced
of the sincerity of my intentions, of the uprightness of my motives,
and I trust that, when I shall no longer exist, posterity will judge
more justly and more impartially of my exertions for the welfare of
my people. — Joseph II.
THE TOLERANCE EDICT (1781 A.D.)
The moderating influence of Maria Theresa being removed, Joseph plunged
into the full tide of reform. The ten years during which he reigned alone
witnessed the most sweeping changes in every department of the adminis-
tration, and the unfortunate consequences of their precipitate introduction
were fully manifested during his lifetime.^
Joseph's clerical reforms were an outcome of increased govermnent activ-
ity, but they were more comprehensive and thoroughgoing than those in
Maria Theresa's time. They gave to his reign a stamp and to Austrian policy
a basis, which remained unchanged till the middle of the nineteenth century.
Not all these reforms were directly of the emperor's ordering; most of them
were set in motion by the council of state, and, after 1782, by the clerical
court commission; and others, but only a few, by the ministers.
The two persons actually concerned in working out the details of the
laws altering clerical matters were Freiherr (or Baron) von Kressel, president
466
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 4(57
[1780-1781 A.D.]
of the clerical court commission, and the court councillor Heinke, the first
referendary of the commission. They were supported by Kaunitz, by the
vice-chancellor Greiner, by Gebler, by the abbot Rautenstrauch, by the
younger Van Swieten, and by the free-thinking professors of the Vienna
University, particularly by Sonnenfels. Among the princes of the church,
the following showed themselves friendly to the reforms — the cardinal
Count Herzan, the bishops of Laibach, Gratz, and Koniggratz, the counts
Herberstein, Ario, and Leopold Hay; besides the archbishop of Salzburg,
Count Hieronymus Colloredo, with many abbots and prelates.
In opposition to these were the archbishops of Vienna, Olmiitz, and Gran,
Count Migazzi, Rudolf Colloredo, Joseph Batthyanyi, and particularly the
papal nuncios in Brussels and in Vienna; all these declared themselves openly
opposed to Joseph's policy. The nuncio in Vienna, Monseigneur Garampi,
in 1781 complained of the renovations in the church and added: ''Till now
no regent of Austria has laid a finger on the laws of the church or interfered
with rights which concerned the pope only; but we received a short and
sharp answer from the chancellor of state that the sovereign of the country
alone had the right to command the state ; that the emperor had no intention
of depriving the holy chair and the church of their lawgiving rights, so far
as dogma and the soul were concerned, but that he would not permit foreign
interposition in matters which belonged to the imperial power, and that these
embraced all questions which, although of the church, proceeded from man
and not from God, as for instance the direction of the outward discipline of
the clergy, particularly the spiritual orders, and others."
It must be remembered that at this time the movement against the
old state of the church was in force throughout Europe, and was part of
the effort of humanity in the direction of enlightenment, characteristic of the
time. Even in Rome the clergy, who feared nothing so much as schism,
, seemed inclined to concessions. The pope, Pius VI, yielded every point if
i it was put to him earnestly and with confidence. The state secretary was
' timid and half deaf, the cardinals Borromeo and Zelada were on the Austrian
' side. It was only after 1786 that the Romish opposition became more definite
and energetic.
The introduction of religious tolerance is the crowning point of these
clerical reforms, because it conquered the old Catholic Austria and because
, through it Austria took the lead of most of the German states, of England,
and of France. In Maria Theresa's time, recognition of Protestants and Jews
was not yet possible; the first were subjects "liable to notice," for, according
to the laws passed in 1752, 1758, and 1778, they could at any moment be
■expelled; and Jews appear to have been completely without rights or claim
ifor protection.
On Von Kressel's instigation, at the end of 1781, Joseph forbade missions
'md the whole pursuit of heresy; and when the court chancery advocated
;naerely mitigating the severity of the old laws, the emperor insisted that the
■senseless ''religious patent" of 1778 should be abolished, and that from this
pime, with the exception of public practice of religion, no difference should
iixist between Catholics and Protestants. The court chancery and the
najority of the state council expressed doubts, whilst Kaunitz and Gebler
ilefended the abolition of all difference between Catholics and Protestants
ivithout reserve, on the score of humanity and justice. The emperor joined
ihem and informed his ministers that his intention was to insist upon religious
;olerance throughout his dom^inions.
The editing of the law and the form of the proclamation gave the state
468 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1781-1782 A.D.]
council occupation for some time longer, until on the 20th of October the
"patent" or Edict of Tolerance was established; and on the 23rd of October
it was imparted to the court chancery " for observance in future." The same
edict guaranteed to the Augsburg and Helvetian religions, and to the unat-
tached Greeks, the right of privately practising their religious observances;
the Catholic religion retained the prerogative of public forms of worship; the
non-Catholic subjects might, wherever one hundred families were together in
a community, build a scliool and a house of prayer, but without a tower, a
bell, or public entrance on the street — " that the building might not be
mistaken for a church." They might install their own schoolmasters and
pastors, the right of wearing a surplice being reserved for the orthodox priest.
In mixed marriages all children of a Catholic father were to be Catholic,
but, should the father be Protestant and the mother Catholic, the children
followed then according to sex. The old bond to educate all children as
Catholics was annulled. The non-Catholics received the right of admission
to the rights of citizenship and to become masters, admission to academical
honours and to civil and military service.
All statutes, charters of guilds, or paragraphs of general ordinances,
which conflicted with these preceding, were annulled. The non-Catholics
could be summoned to take an oath only if it were consonant with their pro-
fessed religion, and they could not be compelled to take part in any procession
or function of the "dominating religion." Special points were provided for
by special conditions ; as, for instance, in the case of the Protestants in Asch
and in Silesia, who kept their ancient privileges, in the case of the question
of surplices and with regard to the actions of clerical officials.
These efforts made by the emperor in the cause of tolerance met with
much misunderstanding and opposition. The court chancellor entreated the
emperor not to make the edict public in Bohemia: emissaries from Saxony
and Russia would pervert the people to Protestantism and a religious war
would ensue. Count Hatzfeld, too, president of the state council, expressed
his misgivings; but Kaimitz and Gebler did not consider them cogent. The
emperor was obliged to visit the excesses of the clerics in Bohemia with
especial severity.
Protestantism in Bohemia
In Bohemia there were a few disturbances here and there; the peasants
declared they would not be Catholic any longer, they wanted to belong to
the faith the emperor held or prescribed. Because reports were spread that
the emperor favoured recantation, an open letter was issued on the advice
of the state council (April 16th, 1782), to the effect that his majesty held fast
to the Catholic faith, but that, on grounds of humanity, and with the soundest
intentions for the good of the subjects, he conceded to those of them who were
not yet incorporated with the holy church the right to follow then* own reli-
gion.
The authorities, who had to register the Protestants, were not a little
astonished at their great number, and at the continued recantation of Ca-
tholicism. In 1781, in German Austria, they numbered 73,722 Protestants, ;
and 28 houses of prayer; in 1785, already 107,454 Protestants; and in 1787,
156,865 Protestants with 154 houses of prayer. In Carinthia heresies had
already commenced in 1782. The bishop of Gurk attributed the blame to
a few fanatical priests, and recommended good schools, less severe fasts, the
distribution of the communion in both kinds, and a term to be set for recanta-
tions. In Bohemia, Bishop Hay adopted educational means and mild per-
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 469
[1782-1783 A.D.]
suasion. The court chancery blamed him; the emperor and the state council
praised him.
In Moravia the recantations lasted till 1784; 8,553 new Protestants were
enumerated, mostly newly arrived citizens and peasants. To prevent the
spread of heresy, the government forbade the acceptance of any names after
January 1st, 1783. Whoever should avow heresy after that date would not
indeed be considered guilty of crime, but would be compelled to submit to
six weeks' instruction in the Catholic faith; if after that he still persisted,
he would be entered in the non-Catholic lists as "admitted after date." The
Protestant clergy were charged not to proselytise, and the Catholics were
enjoined to use only tenderness and loving persuasion in their care of souls.
The government sought also to adjust the internal affairs of the church,
and the entire evangelical methods ; but they met with much opposition. In
1789 first appeared a general mandate, which was ratified by Leopold in
1792. Under Joseph it was forbidden to confiscate Protestant books; the
old hymn books and hymns were still used; in mixed marriages the parties
must also be blessed by a Catholic priest according to the observance of the
"dominant religion." The cemeteries remained open to all, if the commu-
nities did not desire a special piece of ground. The emperor desired also a
common liturgy and that the Protestants should have the right to build
churches. He had clone everything to make his system of tolerance a prac-
tised reality, but his intentions were not properly recognised by the govern-
ment. The court chancery, as well as the state council, haggled over every
ordinance which dealt with tolerance. The Protestant population received
them with joy and thanksgiving, and Catholics of penetration, lay as well as
clerical, hastened to exhort all the members of their church to brotherly love
and patience. Whilst the archbishops of Vienna, Olmiitz, Gorz, and Gran
neglected and postponed the publication of the edict, the bishops of Laibach,
, Gurk, and of the metropolis of Salzburg eagerly welcomed it. In the Tyrol,
too, the edict was published in an unassailable manner.
The pastoral letter from the bishop of Laibach not only gave to the land-
lords of the Tyrol supervision of the religious observances, but also invested
the bishop in his diocese with the same authority as the Roman bishop had in
his. He fell into such disfavour over this in Rome that he resigned his
bishopric and went into a cloister. Next to the Protestants, the hitherto
despised Jews also received a private right of equality.
The Jews
Neither the state council nor the government was friendly to the Jews, the
idesire of both being to expel or at least to segregate them. In the Tyrol, as
late as 1781, they were still excluded from the right of colonisation, and the
Instates of Inner Austria had instituted protective measures against the intro-
duction of Jews into the towns. The emperor regarded the emancipation of
I the Jews from the economic point of view. He wished to protect Jewish
I'reedom and to raise the Jews to a better social position, only in order that he
i:night turn the Jewry of the country to greater use. The baptism of Jewish
.children; the distinguishing mark, i.e. the yellow patches which the Jews were
iDound to exhibit on some part of their clothing; the body duty, a sort of per-
jsonal tax levied on the Jews — all these disabilities were removed. The
dews were permitted to attend all schools and were made eligible for academic
iionours,
} A universal edict concerning Jews was not at once issued. There was an
470 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIRE
[1781-1784 A.D.]
edict for Lower Austria, for Silesia, for Bohemia, for Gorz and Gradiska,
where the Jews still enjoyed most consideration. The Jews in Lower Austria
were tolerated in Vienna; in the country, only admitted when they sought
employment in factories. The Jewish ordinance of Maria Theresa in 1774 had
already established an exception. The Bohemian Jewish edict of November
19th, 1781, charged the Jews within two years ''to discontinue their national
language"; all law documents were to be drawn up in the language of the
country. They were permitted to practise agriculture, but not to hold land
as tenants; they might become artisans, painters, wholesale dealers, and
manufacturers. In Hungary they were allowed to lease small holdings and to
practise crafts outside the towns, but they were not allowed to wear beards.
In Galicia the Jewish question was not decided till 1789. The provincial
government had proposed in 1786 that all who were not engaged in agriculture
or trade should be united into 241 communities and all declared liable to
soccage, that they might grow accustomed to work in the fields. But the
emperor assured them the right of colonisation and equality of taxation with
the rest of the community, with the exception of protection duties, which in
their case were heavily increased.
The introduction of Jews into the recognised life of the state resulted in
the adoption of new family names, which were dictated to them wholesale by
the authorities. The question of other Cliristian sects was not touched upon
in the tolerance edict. The emperor ordered, in 1782, that all such sects
should be treated as Catholics ; for example the Hussites, who were numerous
in Czech Bohemia. According to Kressel's proposal, in 1784, the Hussites
and the Mennonites in Galicia were reckoned as Protestants. Other sects
had a less pleasant fate, as the Abrahamites in Bohemia and the deists in
Moravia. They professed belief in God and immortality, but not in the
Trinity and not m the penalties of hell. Bishop Hay declared them to be
Israelites; others denounced them as Socinians. The government would
have nothing to do with them on the ground that it was absurd to think of I
God without religion, or of a religion without a God. The emperor ordered 1
them off to Transylvania (October 10th, 1781). As nevertheless the sect
increased by considerable numbers (they were reckoned, in 1784, 424 adult
deists), the government issued a second order to the effect that they were to
be released from the necessity of transmigration, and that they were to be left .
alone to follow their own religion, "although mistaken." « (
JOSEPH THE MAN
Joseph was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Maria, daughter
of Philip duke of Parma, a princess of great beauty and accomplishments, j
She died in November, 1763, in the prime of youth, of the small-pox, and left a '
daughter who survived her only seven years. Joseph was long inconsolable
for her loss, and always cherished the warmest affection for her memory.
His second wife was Maria Josepha, prmcess of Bavaria, daughter of the
emperor Charles ^^II, whom he espoused in 1765. Joseph was reluctantly
induced to conclude this marriage by the importunities of his parents, and '■
the prospect of obtaining the allodial inheritance of her brother. But as the
prmcess was deficient in personal charms and mental accomplishments, she
never acquired his affection, and he treated her with coldness and neglect.
Death dissolved this ill-assorted union before the close of the second year, and
in May, 1767, the young empress fell a sacrifice to the same disorder which had
proved fatal to her predecessor. Joseph did not again enter into the bonds ot
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 471
[1767-1787 A.D.]
wedlock.^ Thus amidst all the stir and activity of public life he found hmiself
not less alone than his great opponent Frederick II, who lived separated from
his wife and who had lost most of his friends by death.
Joseph had not even dogs, in which old Fritz could always take pleasure;
but he showed the same partiality to beautiful and high-bred horses. He
often visited the riding-school in the morning and looked on while horses were
being broken in and trained. He was himself a bold, a magnificent horseman.
Frederick II had indeed given up flute-playing, so that he no longer enjoyed
the recreation of music, but Joseph continued his house-concerts, at which he
played both violin and violoncello. He was a thorough musician, skilled in
orchestration. His intercourse with composers, singers, and musicians, with
Mozart, Dittersdorf, with the singers
Kelly and Madame Storace, reveal the
rarely poetical and lovable side of his
character. He understood how to en-
courage creative talent of many kinds ;
four of Mozart's operas are due to his
inspiration.
Joseph was brought up in the tra-
ditions of Italian music, and remained
faithful to this taste. But he raised
the tone of both ballet and Italian
opera, and with his " German national
song productions" founded in fact the
national opera of Germany. To the
theatre Joseph gave earnest and con-
stant attention. The Imperial House-
Theatre, since 1776, the date from
which Joseph had commanded it to be
known as the "Imperial Court and
National Theatre," had been dignified
by really splendid acting. The best
German plays were given there : Minna
von Barnhelm, by Herr Justizrath Les-
sing; and, in 1786, Die Geschwister , by
Clavigo; moreover in 1787 the emperor
himself directed the performance of Fiesco.
the great court box but in the third box from the stage. When he returned
from a journey the public welcomed him with enthusiastic applause, and he
would bow graciously in acknowledgment from his box.
I There is no doubt that, with all Joseph's roughness and inconsiderateness,
he possessed an irresistible charm. Whoever came into contact with him
: became his slave; in prose and poetry he was celebrated as the "crowned
■ friend of men." He was pugnacious, witty, often harsh, but gentle to the
I poor and oppressed. The riddle of the mystical side of life, scientific research,
) tender poetry, the dreams of the idealist, were to him a closed book. Only
: what was practical, what could be of use to the multitude found favour in his
eyes. His letters were like his character, neither philosophical nor wordy,
ibut simple, homely, and decided. His French is not always correct, but he
i spoke fluently and intelligibly both French and Italian; it is a pity that so
;few of the letters we have are genuine. But his restless ardour for the good of
jhis people, his stoical severity as well as his mild sarcasms, are preserved in
numberless utterances. A few quotations follow:
Joseph ii
The emperor usually sat, not in
472 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1780-1790 A.D.]
" I want to feel the immediate effect of everything I midertake. When I
had the Prater and Augarten planted, I did not choose young plants which
would give pleasure only to posterity; I chose trees, under whose shade I and
my contemporaries could find pleasure and protection.
" The sovereign should not display partiality to the few, but rather feel
towards all men alike; I owe to all, justice without respect of persons.
"Every representation that is made to me, must prove itself to have
emanated from common sense, if it has the pretension to alter my mind upon a
matter I have already considered.
" One should proceed on one's own conviction and in one's actions have no
other aim than towards that which is best and most useful for the greatest
number. He who cannot feel love for his fatherland and his fellow citizens,
who is not moved by a burning desire for the upholding of what is good, he is
not born for the business of the state, and is not worthy to possess an honour-
able title or to be chosen for an appointment.
"German is the universal language of my kingdom; why should I allow
the public business of a province to be carried on in the language which is
peculiar to it? I am emperor of the German Empire; accordingly, the
remaining states which I possess are provinces which united to the whole
kingdom form one body, and of that body I am the head.
" My watchmen are my subjects, upon their love rests my security.
" A death sentence has never the same effect as a lasting heavy punishment
carries with it; for the first is quickly over and forgotten, but the other is long
before the public eye.
"That which is best for the many must always take precedence of the
convenience of the few. If the service of the state demands something, all
other considerations must give way.
"With one's friends one cannot be too candid; I hold this as a duty, but
to me it is nature and habit.
"Agriculture and industrialism are more important than commerce.
"Cause and reason: from these two all things come, to them all things
return, which serve mankind for sustenance. The ebb and flow of time
changes this in nothing.
"The idea that the subject classes have received their bits of land from
the higher classes as a voluntary gift is as absurd as if a sovereign should
persuade himself that the sovereignty of his kingdom belongs to him, instead
of far more to the country, or that these millions of human beings were
created for him, and not he for them, that he may serve them.
"The privileges and liberties of a nobility or a nation do not consist in
exemption from the duty of bearing their share of the human burden.
"I admit that my suffering remains the same, but I shall not cease to i
labour with what physical and moral strength I may possess, to do that I
which the service and the welfare of my fatherland require of me, without
counting the possible cost which may have to be paid out of my length and
strength of days."
JOSEPH THE ADMINISTRATOR ^
Joseph II was the first of the race of Habsburg-Lorraine who reigned in
Austria. As a political power, he stands higher than the last Habsburgs,
even higher than Maria Theresa, who paid far too superstitious a homage to
the old ideals. With all his habit of rapid thought Joseph gave time for the
execution of his projects, listened to his ministers, and, like his predecessors,
showed great skill in adjustment and compromise; but he had not that :
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 473
[1780-1790 A.D.]
tough power of endurance which had won for the old Habsburgs so much
success and achievement. He thought and worked only for the state, for
increasing its power and greatness. In home politics he went the same road
as Maria Theresa, only with freer and less precedent-haunted steps, and with
a more definite aim.
In early days he made for himself a "system" as they were so fond of
calling it then. In a memorandum in 1770 he describes the weaknesses of
the state government and discusses means of improvement, which in fact
afterwards formed the programme of his future work. He had grown up
in the period of enlightenment and his whole self seemed filled by it; all the
excellencies and weaknesses of the time seem mirrored in his way of thinking.
His up-bringing, his personality, his race, all fitted him, not to be a champion
of philosophy but to be a state reformer — an enthusiast in the political
sphere. Everything old he condemned; the existing order was not held to be
just, but the advent of a new justice was announced.
The main lines of Joseph's principles for directing the state are known to
us. Out of this many-peopled, strangely various Austria was to arise a homo-
geneous state, in which all provinces, all classes should work together without
exception for the common good. Whilst in Austrian society, the nobility and
clergy still clung to the old customs of the old monarchy as under Louis XIV,
Joseph used his absolute power over the council to support the equality of all
; classes, protecting the spirit of freedom, and showing special care for the
i commonalty. The power of the state should work like a machine, perfected
into simplicity, following certain fixed laws ; it should stir the people to their
depths, and gather all kinds of strength for the one great aim, the good of the
people.
He had faith in the good will of his subjects, and in the compelling might
of success. Throughout Europe so-called enlightened despotism prevailed,
I causing the old organic institutions of the state to die out and confining the
idea of universal freedom to private life. The Josephinian system corre-
sponded to this "enlightened despotism." He said, like Frederick II, "The
sovereign is the chief servant, the administrator of the state." Leopold II
also wrote in 1789: "I believe that the sovereign, evon when he is one by
inheritance, is only the delegated official of the nation." But between
i theory and practice there remained a great gulf. Woe to him who should
'seek to dispute the sovereign power of the monarch? To his r.utocratic will
'all must bow! Joseph desired that the governmeno should govern, the admin-
istration administer, the police keep watch, the justices punish and avenge
; — but always within the law as nature had conceived and ordained it.
1 It was the greatest error of Joseph's life that he did not recognise the
1 necessity of a formal constitution; that he trusted the giving and carrying-
out of the law to one and the same person. It must be borne in mind that
:in the eighteenth century all political constitutions were dissolved. In
; Prussia control was military; in France an absolute despotism prevailed; in
'England the feudal system was abrogated and the old constitution discovered
ito be notably corrupt in many ways. In Austria Maria Theresa had broken
!the back of the feudal monarchy; but everywhere lingered the remainder of
the mediaeval government, dead and disintegrated as it was. These remains
Joseph wished to destroy to the last shreds. He was an enemy neither of
; religion nor of the nobility, but only an enemy of the privileges of individual
; power and corruption. The power of the state was " to work not only on the
^different corporate institutions, but on the entire mass of the people."
' The pillars of the state were no longer to be the nobility and clergy, but
474 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[1780-1790 A.D.]
a ready and self-sacrificing staff of servants. Perhaps in no country was the
government so oddly parcelled out, and the administration of justice so
dependent on officialdom as in Austria. It could not take the place of the
representation of the nation, but it must be admitted that in Joseph's time
the bureaucracy manifested an extraordinarily quiet and far-reaching activity,
and that, influenced as it was by the ideas of the day, supported as it was
by the powerful will of the emperor, it helped to build a new state upon
the ruins of the old. It is however an old saying that a state whose
weal and woe lie only in bureaucracy bears within itself the seeds of decay.
Joseph learned soon enough that in this bureaucracy the spirit of sacrifice,
the intelligence, the power of work, and the love of w^ork which he demanded
were not inherent. Already in 1783 he complains of this " meanly perfunctory
manner of doing business" — of the idleness and the opposition to be met
with in all, from the mere official up to the ministry. He wrote to the chan-
cellor: *'If, after acquiring a conviction on any subject, I lay a charge on my
officers, their duty is to make my ideas their own, to show zeal, and to think
of every means whereby they can be carried out; they should refer to me in,
any difficulty, and not regard the command as something to which they can
apply their wits in order to make a lawyer-like reply, in justification of the
status quo ante.''
Joseph's Ecclesiastical Policy
The laws concerning the church promulgated under Joseph II are well
known and have been represented from many points of view. Their object
was to limit the clergy's power of law-making, to strengthen the hands of
the bishops against the primate, to procure protection and tolerance for Prot-
estants, to reduce the monasteries, to bring about a merely secular state
education and a strict right of rigid state inspection. The emperor dealt
boldly with the disputed boundary line between ecclesiastical and secular
power, and in so doing engaged in a conflict in which many proud heads were
brought low, and in which he himself did not escape without wounds. To
this very day he is described by priestly authors as an enemy of the Catholic
church — even as an atheist. Neither was Philip II a good Catholic in their
eyes, and his Spanish-Catholic policy w^as denounced by the pope.
Joseph was a believer; he thought and declared himself a Catholic. He
.recognised all the dogmas of the church and submitted himself to her doctrines;
he was neither a free-thinker nor a Voltairian, for he held fast to the creed of
Christianity. The intention in his church politics had its source far more in
the ever-increasing recognition of what the state should be, than in the phi-
losophy of the day. In striving to emancipate the state from the church, he
felt himself to be within his rights, and he would have succeeded; none the
less, he supported aU departments of priestly power, communicated all his
orders through the clergy, and endeavoured to procure their consent and
co-operation.
Like Maria Theresa's measures of reform, those introduced by Joseph
rather affected administration than the mass of the people ; they were rather
financial than economic. The leading idea of the govermnent is always the
power of the state, but it would be a crime to doubt that Joseph had the wel-
fare of his subjects at heart. The very first laws, the edict of censure, the
abolition of soccage, and the Tolerance Edict have regard to freedom of
thought and belief, as well as the release of humanity from its bonds of servi-
tude, from serfdom. In a lecture in 1782 Sonnenf els said: "The first year
of his reign was productive of more remarkable laws than the whole lifetime
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 475
[1781-1783 A. D.]
of other rulers. He has liberated the conscience from thraldom, he has given
freedom to the pen and the press, he has conceded to his people full rights of
appeal, he has recognised the right of the subject classes to the original privi-
leges of mankind. All Joseph's subjects are citizens; Joseph is an Austrian —
he is one of us, our fellow citizen."
Wliatever stories were invented about him and whatever failures he may-
have made, the Josephinian laws, the tendency towards enlightenment, and
the spirit of German culture planted an indestructible germ of appreciation
of freedom in Austria. George Forster said of Joseph II, " A spark from the
torch of his genius fell upon Austria, which will never die out."
In the earlier years everything gave way to the government. The clergy,
including some of the bishops, were content with the reforms in the church;
the younger clergy were reconciled to them, and the word of the pope alone
was not sufficient to check the tide of revolution. A large part of the influen-
tial nobility evinced a certain sympathy with the ideas of the emperor. But
he did not depend upon them, and indeed through his harshness and rigour
alienated their friendly inclinations, so that they harboured a steadily growing
mistrust of him. The letters of contemporaries show the constant conflict
between the old order and the new, the egoistic attitude of the aristocracy,
the power and influence of the church, and the stupidity and inertia of the
people. Moreover, Joseph was not the autocrat that he has sometimes been
described. Like Maria Theresa he could yield his own opinion and even
change his point of view if the men he trusted opposed him. Frederick II
was a monarch in reality ; every event was in his hand. In Austria the per-
sonality of the minister counted in the balance. For instance, Hatzfeld often
gave decisions which should really have come from the emperor. It hap-
pened, sometimes, that between the highest authorities there was strife and
opposition. In foreign policies Kaunitz had almost unlimited authority .c
THE RESISTANCE OF THE AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS
In no part of Joseph's dominions did his centralising efforts and his hos-
tility to Rome rouse stronger dislike than in the Netherlands, and nowhere
else was resistance to his measures carried so far — to the point, that is to
say, of complete independence. The picture presented by the Belgian oppo-
sition and rebellion, confused at first sight, and apparently contradictory^
becomes clear in its fundamental character if we understand that in this
quarter Joseph's reforms met with a double hostility : that of a proud priest-
hood and that of ancient corporations clinging to their liberties. Before the
important resistance began, however, Joseph's popularity had already suf-
fered from his failure to obtain from Holland the opening of that highroad of
Belgian commerce, the Schelde. There were indeed two Belgian questions on
which Joseph felt very strongly at the outset, and during his journey in
the Netherlands in 1781. He objected, first, to the expense of keeping up the
border fortresses created by the Barrier Treaty, and to the indignity of having
to share the occupation of these fortresses with Dutch troops. In this matter
Kaunitz was entirely agreed with the emperor; and in May, 1782, wrote to his
personal friend, the Dutch ambassador, that the Barrier Treaty had been
concluded against France, and that Austrian relations with that country-
were now become of such a sort as to make the Barrier an anachronism, since
the Franco-Austrian alliance provided a far better safeguard for Holland.
The efforts of emperor and chancellor were successful, and Holland,
engaged in a war with its ancient ally England, evacuated the Barrier. Joseph
476 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[178a-1786 A.D.]
was thereby encouraged to proceed vigorously in the second matter which he
had at heart, namely the opening of the Schelde. Holland, tenacious of the
monopoly of colonial trade, held, by the Peace of Miinster, the right of closing
the Schelde and thereby cutting off the trade of Antwerp, whose beautiful
harbour remained closed, and whose access to the sea was guarded by a Dutch
fort on the border of Flanders. In demanding the freedom of the Schelde
with threat of war, Joseph was as sanguine of success as he had been in the
matter of the Barrier; but events came to pass as Kaunitz had prophesied.
The sharp tone of the Austrian notes and the encouragement of France com-
bined to rouse patriotic enthusiasm in Holland. The emperor's demands
were refused, and on October 8th, 1784, a brigantine flying the imperial flag
was shot at and held up on its way down the Schelde from Antwerp. The
casus belli was there, and for a time war seemed certain. Three considera-
tions, however, were potent in holding Joseph back — the hostility of France,
the Eastern question, and above all the idea of exchanging the Netherlands
for Bavaria. One by one he gave up his demands, including the freedom of
the Schelde, and even to a considerable extent the indemnity; and on Novem-
ber 8th, 1785, he signed the Peace of Fontainebleau, which practically rein-
forced the Treaty of Miinster. The disillusion was bitter for the Belgians,
and the secret reason for Joseph's action did not make Belgian opinion more
favourable to him.
For he had hoped to use the quarrel to forward his plan of exchanging
Belgium for Bavaria — to wit, by offering France to come to terms with the
Dutch if she would support his plan with the Bavarian heir presumptive, the
duke of Zweibriicken. Kaunitz was in favour of the plan, and the heirless
Charles Theodore of Bavaria showed no dislike to it. The duke of Zwei-
briicken, however, supported by Frederick, declared he would ''rather be
buried under the ruins of Bavaria than agree to the proposal" (January,
1785). He was followed by the elector of Bavaria, who publicly denied the
rumours of an exchange, and Joseph gave up hope.
As a matter of fact Germany would probably have interfered if the plan
had been carried through, for Frederick, feeling himself isolated in his old age,
had eagerly headed a federation of German princes, both spiritual and tem-
poral. Catholic as well as Protestant, which from fear of Joseph or offence at
his violent entry on the scene, expanded until only Wiirtemberg, Oldenburg,
Hesse-Darmstadt, Cologne, and Treves remained faithful to Austria. Build-
ing on France and Russia, Joseph lost sight of the power through which Aus-
tria had in the past won her best victories — the support of Germany. Fred-
erick died August 17th, 1786, and Joseph, imagining there might now be an
end of the old rivalry, wrote generously to Kaunitz of the advantage attain-
able by an understanding between Prussia and Austria. The chancellor in
reply convinced him that the rivalry could never end until one had so com-
pletely reduced the other as to deprive it of all power to harm.
Joseph's first reforms in Belgium (1782) were accepted more quietly than
the government had expected. The suppression of certain monasteries, the
introduction of religious tolerance, the submission of the bishops' pastoral
letter to imperial approval, the forbidding of pilgrimages, hardly roused any
opposition except from the rich and influential clergy led by the Belgian
primate, Count Frankenberg, a Silesian by birth, who had been made arch-
bishop of Mechlin by Maria Theresa in 1759.
The submissiveness of the people encouraged Joseph to take a further step
for the regeneration of a country in which he found "bigotry triumphant,
education neglected, and the clergy itself ignorant.'' On the 15th of March,
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 477
[1786-1787 A.D.]
1786, the bishops were informed of his intention of creating a universal semi-
nary for all students of theology in Louvain, and in spite of protests the edict
was published on the 16 th of October. The Belgian estates declared that the
articles of the edict violated the constitution of the country as well as the rights
of the church and bishops, and that the nation was especially hurt because
the preface to the edict justified the innovation on the plea of the dissolute
state of manners in their country. The unfortunate institution, which opened,
November 16th, to the three himdred students who had been gathered from
all the various episcopal seminaries, was further damned by the choice of pro-
fessors whose anti-papal and Jansenist doctrines created a revolt of the pupils
(December 8th) in which several panes of glass and some benches were broken.
The students' demands included the reinstitution of episcopal supremacy, a
somewhat later breakfast, and beer for supper. The rector of the institute
asked for government support, and the minister, Count Belgiojoso, replied
by sending dragoons. The spiritual commission, sitting in Brussels, followed
with measures which made the recalcitrant students something very like out-
laws, and sent the papal nuncio and other leaders out of the country. The
estates of Brabant and Flanders as well as the magistrates of Brussels, Ghent,
and other towns, petitioned the emperor.
Before the country had recovered from its ferment about the seminary
at Louvain, new edicts appeared (January 1st, 1787) affecting the constitu-
tion. The various councils at the head of affairs were replaced by a single
"council of the general government of the Netherlands." The old provincial
divisions were destroyed, the Netherlands were declared one province of
the Austrian dominion, and were divided into nine circles governed by an
intendant and commissaries; the old courts of justice, which varied in every
district and city, and gave employment to some six thousand men, were
swept away. Even the first tribunal in the land w^as abolished — the high
court of Brabant, without whose approval the edicts of the sovereign himself
had no validity, whose powers were minutely detailed in the "Joyous Entry,"
the charter of ancient rights granted by former dukes of Brabant and sworn
to at Joseph's inauguration.
The reforms were doubtless good in many particulars, and after years of
suffering and of foreign dominion the Belgian people has given itself a gov-
ernment which is built on the same principles and in the same form as the
Josephinian institutions against which it revolted. But to a people accus-
tomed as the Belgians were to self-government and a feudal system of privi-
leges, Joseph's absolute enlightenment seemed merely tyranny. It has been
suggested that Joseph should have employed the existing corporations as
vehicles for reforms. So far as the character of Joseph's political conception
is concerned, the question whether the feudal bodies of that country were fit
to carry out the work of reform needs hardly to be discussed ; for it is certain
that the idea did not enter Joseph's head, and that no opposition among his
peoples, nor any failure among his officials, could suggest to him the con-
venience, at least, of representative government.^
The ''Joyous Entry''
As, shortly after, ordinances appeared which upset the organization of
the crafts and trades, especially in the life of the third estate (that of the
citizens), an outbreak of indignation took place such as had never been wit-
nessed since the accession of Joseph. All classes of the population now
cried out at the public breach of the administration which the emperor had
478
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1787 A.D.]
acknowledged and granted on his accession. The agitation spread itself like
lightning over the entire land; everywhere the old deeds of administration
and charters of the classes, towns, and trade were brought forward. The deed
of the "Joyous Entry," especially Article 59, was in all mouths. The passage
of the Joyous
Entry, sworn at
the inaugura-
tion of Joseph n,
reads :
''Should his
majesty, his
offspring, or suc-
cessors violate
the rights and
privileges, either
themselves or
through others,
on all or indi-
vidual points,
no matter in
w^hat manner, in
the name of his
majesty, we give
our consent that
the named pre-
lates, barons,
nobles, towns,
and republics,
and all other
persons, in this
case, are not
bound to render
any service to
his majesty, his
heirs, or succes-
sors, nor to be
obedient no
matter in what
cause his ma-
jesty might de-
mand, or desu"e
it, until his majesty desists from the above-named undertakings, and returns
to his former ways.''
The estates of the individual provinces now placed themselves at the
head of the agitation, and declared the innovations to be open violation of
rights and administration. The councillor of Brabant refused to publish
the imperial edict; the Brabantine states threatened the stoppage of sub-
sidies. Distinguishing himself by special zeal, the advocate Van der Noot
soon appeared as a powerful supporter of the opposition. The two to be
pitied under these circumstances were the governors of the Netherlands,
Joseph's sister, Maria Christina, and her husband, Duke Albert of Saxe-
Teschen, both distinguished by their goodness of heart and piety, but
inexperienced, and not made for relations such as were now arising in
Peter's Burial Ground, according to Tradition the Place
WHERE St. Maximus and his Companions were cast down by
the Pagan Heruli in 477
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 479
[1787 A.D.]
Belgium. They found themselves as it were between the haimner and the
anvil.
From the beginning of the reform, the emperor Joseph had exacted
earnestness and force, firm politics, and refusal of every concession from
them; on the other side they had bound their hands by a chance and well-
meant action. In order to make themselves popular, they had shortly
before bought property in Belgium, and sought to become naturalised as
citizens of the country. The estates of the realm now exacted that the gov-
ernors should fulfil their duties as citizens, and defend the rights and privi-
leges of the country. The oppression increased daily; companies of volun-
teers were formed with the avowed intention of opposing the carrying out
of the imperial commands with force; anarchical scenes were already taking
place here and there.
Under these circumstances, as there were no means for a powerful oppo-
sition, the governors found it more advisable partly to give in. On the new
and urgent representation of the estates, May 5th, 1787, the introduction of
the new administration was prorogued with the further declaration of the
governors that they had really sent the representation of the estates to the
emperor, and that until his return (Joseph was then with Catherine II in
the Crimea) nothing was to be done with regard to the administration; they
had anticipated the full and just consent of the emperor. Nevertheless
Maria Christina and Albert were soon compelled to make further concessions;
for after the first one they were regularly besieged with appeals. The clergy
of Bruges took the first step in a meeting on the 22nd of May; they requested
the estates to support their just wishes. This was done on the 23rd of May
by the estates of Flanders, the magistrate of Bruges, the University of
Louvain, the magistrates and clergy of West Flanders. Together they pre-
sented memorials to the emperor with specified demands: the recall of all
decrees, edicts, and despatches of the imperial highnesses issued to the detri-
ment of the church and its rights ; the reinstatement of all bishops in full
rights such as tliey had exercised before 1781; the restoration of all liberties,
privileges, and exemptions to the cathedral chapter, abbeys, and cloisters;
the reconcession of the former rights of the bishops for the maintenance of
the diocesan seminaries, and the granting of this right to the abbeys and
convents under the supervision of the bishops; and the entire suppression
of the ecclesiastical commission at Brussels. They further demanded that
the lands taken away from the brotherhoods founded by the parish churches
should be given back to them.
The political claims concerned the abolition of the innovations intro-
duced into the civil and legal administration; they entreated the emperor
to desist from these, as their execution could only be fatal. They referred
to the oath which he had solemnly taken to uphold the sacred rights of the
Belgians, rights which the Austrian rulers had over and over again confirmed
and which were now acknowledged by the foreign powers. To these appeals
of the clergy and estates of the named episcopates and provinces, the estates
of Brabant, the duchy of Luxemburg, and the countships of Hainault, as
; well as the metropoUtan capital of Mechlin, now joined theirs.
The power of these joint representations, which moreover alluded to the
imminent dangers which were already threatening the public peace of the
; land, were yielded to by the governors, who granted all requests without
; restrictions. They declared their firm resolve to persuade the emperor that
' in future all innovations must be stopped and obviated ; and in the mean-
' time, to give proof of the sincerity of their promises, they permitted the
480 THE HOLY ROMAN" EMPIEE
[1787 A.D.]
return to the old ordinances in ecclesiastical as well as political relations.
Now joy and triumph prevailed in Brussels. On the 31st of May, the gov-
ernors were drawn in their state carriages to the theatre by six hundred young
Brabantines; the town was illuminated, the cannon thundered forth on the
ramparts, all bells rang out joyously, and innumerable addresses came from
the provinces. But by this the emperor Joseph had learned to what
must lead, sooner or later, the thoughtless overthrow of institutions con-
sidered by the people inviolable and sacred. There was an end to
the authority of his government in the Austrian Netherlands. The victory
obtained was immediately made use of by the Belgians also; for the states
began to take the government into their own hands.
The first thing they undertook was the closing of the general seminary
at Louvain; besides this, the formation of patriotic volunteer companies,
the bearing of other emblems than the Austrian, and the organisation of
those elements of opposition which soon pressed farther on the path once
entered, continued their course uninterrupted.
The Emperor Returns from the Crimea
At the first news of the turn which things had taken in Belgium, the
emperor Joseph hastened from the Crimea to Vienna. On the 13th of June,
he had taken leave of the empress Catherine; on the evening of the 30th of
June, he entered Vienna. The four days spent in retirement and the vehe-
mence with which all, especially Kaunitz, had to contend, clearly showed how
much he had taken the Belgian event to heart. The idea of gaining time
decided Joseph to adopt the following measures. The Belgian provinces
were notified to send to Vienna deputies from the nobles, the clergy, and the
third estate. The governors and the emperor's authorised minister received
the order to come to Vienna. A propitious letter, not from Joseph but from
the government, in which all events were attributed to misunderstanding,
acquainted the Belgian estates with the promised suspension of all innova-
tions.
All these ordinances were issued on the 3rd of July. On the same day i
the emperor appointed Count Joseph Murray, who had been at the head of
the imperial troops in the Netherlands since 1781, to be governor-general with
full power, and accountable to none save the emperor. The instructions
which this general received included the command to suppress the agitation
in Belgium at any price. At the same time fifty thousand men received
marching orders, ancl for the present were to advance to the extreme frontier
of Austria. On the 6th of July, Brussels received the above-mentioned ordi-
nances. The recall of the archduchess and her husband caused a most dis- |
agreeable impression m Belgium, as in it a kind of declaration of war by j
the emperor against the provinces was perceived. The estates opposed the
departure and also refused to send deputies. It was only when the emperor
peremptorily sunnnoned them for the 15th of August, and otherwise threat-
ened to treat them as rebels, that they allowed the governors to go, and
thirty-three deputies followed them.
Meanwhile, on the 24th of July, Count ]\Iurray received notice from the
emperor to restore everything to the condition in which it had been before
the 1st of April. From the 27th to the 30th of July, the command followed
to concentrate the troops in certain places so as with one blow to compel
the Belgians to withdraw all the ordinances decreed by them.
The Belgian deputies entered Vienna before the 15th of August, and on ,
JOSEPH THE EIsTLIGHTENED 481
[1787 A.D.]
that day they were received in audience by the emperor. Little that is
trustworthy is known concerning the negotiations; the result of the whole
personal interview seems to have been that the deputies were not treated in
an unfriendly manner by Joseph, and were appeased by promises, but with
regard to the maui point they were dismissed without any fixed declaration.
Joseph promised them to send away Count Belgiojoso, who had made himself
hated, and to meet the wishes of the bishops with regard to the plan for
enlarging the general seminary, which the deputies joyfully reported at home
on the 22nd of August. Concerning the main point he gave them the indefi-
nite explanation that they would receive his further orders through the
governor-general. The deputies probably had greater hopes from these
expressions than they afterwards saw realised at home; for shortly after
their return the governor notified that the emperor would only come to an
understanding with the states under the following conditions:
(1) Everything in the provinces was to be placed on the same footing as
before the 1st of April. (2) The university and seminary at Louvain were
both to be restored to the condition in which they were before the 1st
of April, or in which they ought to have been according to the emperor's
wishes. The same thing was to take place with regard to the seminary at
Luxemburg. (3) All taxes in arrears and the current ones were to be paid
without delay. (4) All officials dismissed from their posts by the desire of
the estates were to be reinstated. (5) The volunteer companies to be dis-
banded, the inflammatory cockades and other signs to be set aside. (6) All
convents suppressed before the 1st of April were to remain suppressed, and
all appointments to the abbacies in abeyance since that date to be void.
(7) The general seminary at Louvain must be opened before the 1st of No-
vember.
The notification of these conditions raised a terrible fermentation; they
were found to be in contradiction not only with the fundamental laws of the
land, but also to the promises which the emperor had given on the 3rd of
July, and again to the deputies. Therefore the estates of Brabant on the
30th of August handed to the governor-general the declaration that they
could not accept the emperor's demanded return to the situation as it had
existed before the 1st of April.
When Murray published the imperial decree and adopted military meas-
ures to carry it through, as well as for the collection of taxes and other sub-
sidies which the government required, Brussels rose up in arms and was
supported by more than fifty thousand men, who came partly from the
country and partly from other towns.
From the 17 th to the 20th of September there were such demonstrations
that the government could have attained nothing without great bloodshed.
Under these circumstances Murray began to negotiate with the rebels, being
either intimidated or misled by a despatch of Prince Kaunitz which on the
10th of September notified him that the emperor had completely retracted
the former decree, and exhorted him to act in this manner; for it cannot be
denied that the governor-general received orders from the government, and
others again immediately from the imperial cabinet. He issued a proclama-
tion which was qualified completely to restore peace. He declared: ''The
constitutions, privileges, liberties such as the Joyous Entry, in accordance
with the acts of inauguration of his majesty, are, and will be upheld and
remain inviolate in ecclesiastical and civil affairs. With regard to the violation
of the Joyous Entry and the attack on the same, the estates will be dealt
with as desired; accordingly their proposals will be accepted, and then in
H. W. — VOt. SIV. 2l
482 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1787 A.D.]
equity and justice his majesty will take the necessary steps according to the
fundamental law of the land."
Joy and jubilation were as great now as had been formerly the agitation.
The Belgians now gave vent to their feelings in addresses of gratitude. For
example, that of the estates of Flanders began with the words: "Sire! The
ever-memorable day in our annals has now come (September 21st) in which
your majesty has restored to us our administration — this day on which the
fundamental law, the liberties and privileges of a faithful nation have been
forever assured ; the day on which the estates of all provinces have found an
end to their anxieties. What a noble example your majesty sets to your
contemporaries and those who will ascend the throne after you! You teach
them, sire! how careful they must be of overreaching and of abusing the
plans of the alleged reformers who surround the throne, and by their ambi-
tious plans cast a happy nation from the summit of its happiness to the deepest
abyss of its humiliation and misery."
But matters were not looked on in this light at the imperial court. The
emperor censured the governor-general for the weakness and transgressions
of his plenipotentiaries, and disapproved of his conduct. On the 8th of
October Kaunitz had to inform him of his dismissal. In his stead the
emperor determined to appoint two men from whom he anticipated quite
other results, and the suppression of the agitation if necessary by military
force — Count Ferdinand von Trauttmansdorff as imperial minister, and
Count D 'Alton, a dauntless warrior, as military governor of the Netherlands.
At home he gave himself up to philosophical and melancholy lamentations,
which he imparted to Trauttmansdorff and others in letters concerning the
mistaking of his good intentions and the spirit of opposition which for some
time past had been spreading itself over Europe.
Count Trauttmansdorff remained passive and unobserved after his arrival
in Brussels, until December, 1787; as, on account of the war with the Porte,
a cessation of the Belgian negotiations had taken place. ^
THE RESISTANCE OF HUNGARY
Joseph's Hungarian measures were conceived in the same spirit as the
reforms he introduced into Belgium, and they met with similar opposition.
The feudal and independent kingdom refused to be made into an Austrian
province. His first change, dealing with religion, gave perhaps as much
satisfaction as displeasure. True, the bishops protested against the measures
as oppressive to the church in which alone salvation is, but they did not
question the sovereign's right. The Hungarian clergy had never been ultra-
montane and were treated with great consideration by Joseph: this circum-
stance may go some way to explain why it was that the opposition in this
country did not come from the church, as in Belgium.
It was not indeed until 1783, 1784, and 1785, when the conviction grew
that Joseph would neither be crowned nor call a parliament; it was not
until the Hungarian crown was removed from Presburg to be placed as a
curiosity in the Viennese treasury along with the Bohemian crown and the
ducal coronet of Austria, not until the introduction of the German language
and the abolishment of serfdom — that Hungary began to grow uneasy.
The language ordinances were not intended, as the emperor explained, to
oust the national tongue, only in so mixed a country as Hungary a simple
business speech must be recognised, and in all enlightened lands Latin was
looked on as a dead language. The fear that the emperor therefore wished
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 483
[1786-1787 A.D.]
to employ oiily Gcrnian officials does not seem to be at all supported by
facts, for in the official ranks we meet almost exclusively names belonging
to the Hungarian aristocracy — Batthyanyi, Esterhdzy, Palffy, Almasy,
Karolyi, Nadasdy, Majlath, Teleki, Zichy, Wesselenyi. The measures con-
cerning serfdom were not carried out, and the peasants waited till 1827, 1832,
and 1836 before their position was regulated in the spirit of the Josephinian
reforms.^
In his aversion to any class or corporate institutions the emperor decided
to introduce administration proceeding from the government, managed and
controlled by officials. His legislation was especially directed against the
comitia of the comitat or departmental councils of the nobility, which had a
right either to protest against the injunctions of
the government or to stop them. The autonomy
of these comitia was done away with, their corre-
spondence prohibited, the office of supreme count
ceased to exist, the deputy counts became royal
officials without ''presidential authority." The
comitat councils should, with the permission of
the government, assemble only once a year, and
limit their scope of action to elections and taxes.
'< By a writ dated March 18th, 1785, the whole coun-
try was divided into ten departments, at the head
I of which was placed a royal commissioner who
had to look after the public peace, recruiting,
levying of taxes, and the safety of the people. The
commissioner had to exercise his influence upon
the deputy count, the deputy count upon the
president of the tribunal (judge), and the latter
' upon the country judge. The greatest part of
: the commissioners were taken from among the
supreme counts, were well paid, and had the title
' "privy-councillor."
The idea and the form of this institution were
the same as in Austria, in Belgium since 1787, and
later on in France. Modern governments know
. nothing of these assemblies of the nobility. Hun-
gary, too, had fought against them for a long time, and only in 1867 was this
mediseval institution abolished. At that time, however, the comitat councils
were considered the bulwark of Hungarian liberty and the autonomous ad-
' ministration. It was from these comitat councils, as from the higher and
lower nobility, that the opposition against the government of Joseph issued,
, whilst in Belgium it was chiefly the third estate that spoke and acted against
the orders of the government. The suffrage of the towns had no weight
; in Hungary, whilst the representation of the civic estate appeared to be an
affront rather than a privilege, as all the towns together had only one voice in
the imperial diet.
A writ issued on December 12th, 1786, which was to take effect on March
1st in the succeeding year, valid for the 1st of March, 1787, announced the
new administration from the court of chancery down to the country judge
' and the lord of the soil. Just as the financial management was handed over
to the Hungarian court of chancery, the provincial boards were amalgamated
I with the lieutenancy, and new financial administrators and tax-gatherers
were appointed for the ten provinces. The sixteen Zips towns, too, like all
Von Telkki
484 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1787 A.D.]
privileged districts, lost their autonomous administration. The adminis-
tration of justice was divided into three resorts: the "septemviral table"
as supreme court of judicature, the "royal table" as court of appeals, and
thirty-eight county courts as tribunals of first resort. All exemptions ceased,
but for differences of the nobility five district tables remained.
For Transylvania the writ of July 3rd was valid, which had dissolved a
few years ago the former comitat and municipal government, and especially
the union of the three nations in the country, in order, as Joseph remarked,
to exterminate the national hatred. In 1786 the Transylvanian court of
chancery ought also to have been united with that of Austria ; this, however,
was not achieved on account of the war with Turkey. With the 1st of Novem-
ber the new government should enter upon its functions.
Just as these reforms were intended to extend the supreme power as far
as the people, the emperor also endeavoured to strengthen the power of the
government by the introduction of a general defence and tax duty. That is
what was intended by the laws of 1785 relating to the popular census or the
conscription; and those of 1786 relating to the ground-rent conscription
existed already in Hungary, but not for the nobility nor for the estates.
With the 1st of November the new popular census and the numbering of the
houses would begin under the supervision of the national boards, assisted by
military persons who had already acquired experience and skill in this occu-
pation. A paragraph annexed to the law expressly declared that the con-
scription was not ordered with a view to the levying of recruits but for the
common weal; by the people, however, it was generally considered the first
step towards an introduction of the German military system in opposition to
the insurrectio of the nobility. The distribution of troops over the country
added to the strengthening of this belief.
The Hungarian imperial diet had always opposed the idea of a standing
army, and this measure, therefore, met with a unanimous general protest.
All remonstrances and representations of the comitat councils more or less
sharply expressed this view. The emperor, they pretended, had promised in
his letter of November 30th, 1780, the maintenance of the old privileges;
conscription, they further complained, was against the constitution — the
employment of military persons in civil administrations had already been
interdicted in 1741 and was consequently illegal. The equalisation of the
nobility with the subjects, added the comitat council of Temes, was an outrage
upon their privileges. "We cannot but infer from it," they said, "that even
we who have been born within the circle of inestimable liberty shall be reduced
to the miserable condition of slavery and submitted to the unconstitutional
system of government employed in the German provinces."
"This conscription," said the comitat council of Neutra, "has hitherto
been possible only in the outlying provinces and has always brought an
insupportable slavery over the people ; the Hungarian people has never been
forced to military service; we would rather sacrifice our lives and property
than lose our liberty and lead a miserable life in tears and lamentations."
In spite of these complaints the emperor remained firm in his decision;
the secular authorities and the clergy had only to enlighten the people with
regard to such a peaceable measure, which was intended for the common
welfare and would in no way weaken their lawful rights. The comitat coun-
cils, however, made new remonstrances and even defiantly prevented, here
and there, the execution of the preliminary measures. Only when the gov-
ernment declared that the popular census would take place in any case,
some comitat councils silently submitted; others, however, like those of
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 485
[17S3-17S7 A.D.]
Presburg, Vasvar, and Neutra, still resisted. Several supreme counts were
consequently dismissed, troops were again called together, the census took a
quiet course and was completed in the autumn of 1785. The authorities
recorded 6,935,376 inhabitants outside of the nobility.
The reform of the tax system, especially the abolition of the immunity
from taxation of the nobility and clergy, had already been planned during
the reign of Maria Theresa, and was taken up again during the reign of Joseph
in 1783, in the letter addressed to Count Palffy. In a second letter, dated
December 10th, 1785, he touched this question again and explained also his
reasons for the tax reforms, which were in accordance with the physiocratic
views. The ground-rent was the cheapest and therefore the least oppressive ;
the ground should therefore be measured and equally taxed in accordance
with the revenue, the produce prepared by nature or culture would be free
from duty as products of industry — for these the consumers in towns would
only pay a duty. The community had to superintond the measuring and
the distribution of the taxes ; the allodial estates of the nobility could not be
exempted from measuring and evaluation; the estates of the nobility and
of the peasantry, those of the crown and of the clergy, had therefore the same
rent duty. A writ dated February 10th, 1786, ordered that the new system
should be carried out; after its completion an imperial diet should be con-
voked and asked to fix the extent of the ground-rent, the discharge of the
insurrectio, and the abolition of the line of custom houses.
By these and other innovations Joseph touched the core of the social and
political life in Hungary. General excitement pervaded the country. The
ten commissioners, among them being Joseph von Ma j lath, spoke in favour
of the reform as the former tax system was deficient and erroneous. The
other party, led by the Hungarian chancery court, declared the reform to
be contrary to the constitution. They thought that the emperor should put
the idea of measuring and evaluation as a suggestion of the government
before the imperial diet. The two privy councillors Izdenczy and Eger
emphatically opposed the summoning of the diet. The emperor according
to old Hungarian custom was supreme in military and financial matters,
and it would be sufficient if the court of chancery w^re not overlooked in these
I innovations. It was due to Izdenczy 's influence that the diet was not called
I together and the emperor remained firm in his decision to carry out the tax
jsystem. Resistance could not be thought of: there were too many troops
jin the country, seventy thousand men before Buda-Pest. The emperor
I recognised the difficulty of evaluation but wished to have it finished in Octo-
ber. In fact, the preliminary measures were completed in August and the
.whole work towards the end of the year 1787, though it was deficient and
isrroneous in many respects. The emperor appointed a commission for the
introduction of the new system. His instructions, however, to this body
!fvere his last work in this affair; the war with Turkey soon compelled him
;l,o postpone and finally to recall everything.
Joseph's visit to Catherine
In 1780, while Maria Theresa still lived, Joseph had paid a visit to Russia
— a stroke directed against Prussia as a political power. Joseph had sent
0 the czarina to know if he might meet her somewhere on her journey to
White Russia, and make her personal acquaintance. The czarina accepted
:'he overture with cordiality, and fixed the town of Mohileff in Lithuania as
he meeting place. The emperor had ordered it to be made clear that this
486 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1780-1783 A.D.]
visit had no political significance; but nobody believed him, and he himself
owned to the wish that Austria and Russia should once more be close allies.
The French court believed the emperor had in his mind the dissolution
of the alliance ; the king of Prussia supposed that Joseph wished to combine
with Russia and seize a Turkish province; and Prince Potemkin already saw
in Joseph a welcome comrade in view of another war against the Turks.
The chancellor advised the emperor to explain to the czarina that Austria
had no intention of going to war with Germany and still less contemplated
any independent action against Poland, the principal motive for the journey,
he should state, being his desire that he, the future ruler of Austria, should be
rightly understood by the czarina; and that, if possible, the old friendship
between the tw^o countries should be revived. But Joseph did not follow the
programme laid down for him, preferring to follow his own bent. He left
Vienna on the 26th of April, and travelling by way of Galicia passed through
Kieff on the 2nd of June on his way to Mohileff. The czarina arrived there
on June 7th, and remained four days. The greeting was most cordial on
both sides, but in the matter of politics the czarina evinced a determined
reserve, merely throwing out the suggestion that Italy, and more particularly
Rome, might be a desirable acquisition to Joseph's dominions. To this
Joseph merely replied by a jest. About the Prussian monarch she only
remarked that he had grown old and morose, allowing all kinds of "small
people" to carry tales to him.
When the czarina invited Joseph to follow her to St. Petersburg, the
emperor first made a visit to Moscow, and on the 28th of June went to St.
Petersburg, where he remained for three weeks. Joseph was especially
anxious to win over the minister Panin, but i'n political affairs he adopted
the same reserve and non-committal attitude as the czarina herself. Upon
her again referring to Italy and the Turks, Potemkin said the emperor might
at least engage himself to form no alliance with the Ottomans against Russia.
Joseph declared himself willing, provided only that Russia would engage
never to take part in any war against Austria. It did not come to any definite
exchange of pledges, but Joseph had, as the English envoy said, won a place
for himself in the czarina's heart.
Maria Theresa noted the result in a letter to the queen of France. " Noth-
ing definite was said, but it appears he has had the good fortune to be able
to destroy the false, deeply-rooted prejudice against us." After his return,
Joseph carried on a lively correspondence with the czarina, in which each
addressed the other with exaggerated compliment. The task of turning this
friendship to political account w^as undertaken by the ambassador Cobenzl,
and it resulted finally in the Austro-Russian alliance of 1781. <=
In competing successfully with Frederick for Catherine's favour, Joseph
was acting entirely in accordance with the views of Kaunitz, the "Austrian
vice-vizir," as Frederick called him. From the correspondence between the
two sovereigns we learn that Joseph agreed to Catherine's oriental projects
of creating a new " Dacia " under a ruler of the Greek faith, and founding in the
place of Turkey, whence the Turks were to be expelled, an independent state
under her grandson Constantino, on the understanding that Austria should
be allowed to strengthen and enlarge her borders on the southeast, and obtain
the Dalmatian seaboard. Upon so extensive a project Joseph shrank froni
entering at once (February, 1783) for fear that his ally, France, should join
Prussia. When, however, Catherine contented herself with a smaller begin-
ning, and determined to possess herself of the Crimea, Austria marched troops
to the Turkish frontier and declared through her internuncio at Constanti-
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 4g7
, [1783-1789 A.D,]
nople that the two courts were acting in concord. For these services Joseph
i claimed Russia's help in the matter of the Bavarian exchange. With Bavaria
' instead of Belgium, Kaunitz argued, Austria would have nothing to fear
from France, could force back Prussia, and thus strengthened take up with
Russia Catherine's great oriental scheme.
In the course of another three years the czarina collected a new list of
i charges against the Turks, of which she notified Joseph while informing him
! of her proposed journey to the Crimea. At first Joseph was disinclined to
■ accept the invitation to accompany her — this " Catherinised princess of
I Anhalt-Zerbst" as he called her — but towards the end of the year Kaunitz
i was all for his going: ''Who knows what advantages we may get from it if
I time and circumstances _ are favourable to us." The superb stage manage-
I ment of Potemkin has given to Catherine's journey a world-wide fame (May,
1787). It does not appear that immediately warlike schemes were arranged
'. during the visit, and Joseph hurried back to Vienna at the end of June, uneasy
; about the opposition of the estates of Brabant. However, when Turkey
: declared war on Catherine two months later, Joseph, under the advice of
\ Kaunitz, supported her with a despatch of a strength that astonished her
' — 245,000 infantry, 36,000 cavalry, and 9,000 guns were to be in the field
I by the next year.«
i A personal interview took place between the two powers at Cherson. The
; partition of Turkey, like that of Poland, formed the subject of their delibera-
[ tions. A diversion made to their rear by Gustavus III of Sweden, however,
I compelled Catherine to recall the greater portion of her troops. Russia, since
• the days of Peter the Great, had been a field of speculation for Germans, who,
; to the extreme detriment of their native country, increased the power of
Russia by filling the highest civil and military posts. A prince Charles of
' Nassau-Siegen, who served at this period as Russian admiral, was shamefully
j defeated by the Swedes, lost fifty-five ships and twelve thousand men, and
i was forced to fly for his life in a little boat. The Turkish campaign was,
; owing to these disadvantageous circumstances, far from brilliant. The Rus-
i sians merely took Oczakow by storm and fixed themselves, as the Austrians
should have done in their stead, close to the mouths of the Danube. Joseph
J was even less successful. The extreme heat of the summer of 1788 produced
, a pestilence which carried off thirty-three thousand Austrians. The bad
I inclination generated among the lower class by the nobility and clergy had
1 crept into the army. At Caransebes, the troops were seized with a sudden
; panic and took to flight, carrying the emperor along with them, without an
■; enemy being in sight. The Turks, commanded by French officers, were
[several times victorious. Sick and chagrined, the emperor returned to
I Vienna.^
VICTORIES OVER THE TURKS
Then, following the popular voice, he replaced Lacy by his old opponent
|Laudon, in command of the independent Austrian army (August, 1789).
I After successful actions by Hohenlohe and Clerfayt, Laudon moved forward
land after three weeks' siege took Belgrade (September 15th to October 8th).
: Meanwhile, on August 1st and September 22nd, the combined Russian and
i Austrian armies under Suvarov and Prince Josias of Coburg gained the
(Splendid victories of Fokshani and Rimnik. These successes were followed
jby others until the allies became masters of the whole line of fortresses cov-
I Bring the Turkish frontier, and their three grand armies converged as if to
;the complete overthrow of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.
488 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1788-1790 A.D.]
Again the activity of Prussia interfered to rob Austria of the fruits of
her victories and prevent the triumphant third campaign which seemed so
Ukely. During the campaigns of 1788 and 1789 Joseph had quite well fore-
seen the gathering hostility of Prussia, and in 1790 he wrote to the czarina
that Prussia and Poland would certainly attack her in the spring. The
Russian chancellor, Ostermann, like Kaunitz himself, refused to take so
serious a view. Russia wished to continue the war so as to dictate terms;
Prussia worked against peace in Constantinople and concluded an offensive
and defensive treaty with the Porte, January 30th, 1790. The Prussian court
even welcomed the beginning of the French revolution as depriving Austria
of the one ally to whom she might have turned in her distress. Joseph had
already commanded Laudon to arrange a plan of campaign against Prussia
and Poland. The news of the loss of Belgium, which Joseph described as the
culminating point of misfortune and shame, came to weaken Russia's not
very eager desire to support Austria against Prussia.
REVOLT OF THE AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS (17S9 A.D.)
The calm which followed in Belgium upon the appointment of Trautt-
mansdorff and D'Alton (October, 1787) was not of long duration. The
Austrian authorities imagined that they had found the secret of success in
the employment of force, and D'Alton occupied with soldiery the palace
where the comicil of Brabant was in session over the decree for the reopening
of the unfortunate seminary. Thus threatened, the council signed the order
to publish the decree (January, 1788), while in the streets the first blood was
spilt between the military and the citizens. The opposition, suppressed for
the moment, burst out again when the government had to summon the
estates of the provinces in order to raise taxes. True, the clergy and
nobility of Brabant at last declared their w^illingness to grant subsidies, but
the third estate held out. Joseph, w^ho at this time was lately returned
from the Turkish war, decided upon stronger measures, such as the sup-
pression of the third estate ; but the democratic and revolutionary party had
got the upper hand. Bonck's secret patriotic association numbered seventy
thousand in October, and by that time insurgents had gathered over the
border at Breda to the number of twelve thousand. Edicts and threats were
useless, and on October 24th Ysm der Mcrsch marched the insurgents into
Belgium and won an engagement with the imperial troops at Turnhout,
When the patriot army was already threatening Brussels, Trauttmansdorff
began to withdraw the obnoxious measure, finally gave up everything, and
offered an amnesty into the bargain. It was too late — his action was
interpreted as fear. Flanders declared the emperor deprived of all his
rights in the duchy (November 25th, 1789). Brussels was evacuated by
the Austrians (December 12th). Brabant declared the independence of
the Netherlands. In January of 1790 a scheme of Belgian federation was
accepted and proclaimed. The Netherlands had torn themselves free of
Austria.
CONCESSIONS TO HUNGARY
There were those who believed that Hungary was well started on the same
road. We last saw that country at the moment when Joseph was success-
fully carrying out his new land valuation. Opposition was already stirring,
and late in the summer of 1788, when the government asked the comitat
assemblies for recruits, they supplied only 1,184 out of 15,000, and demanded
JOSEPH THE ENLIGHTENED 489
[1788-1790 A.D.]
the summoning of the diet with the restoration of former institutions. Joseph
seemed incHned to take the advice of the Hungarian chancery, which was
for calHng the diet; but his personal advisers persuaded him to refuse (Decem-
ber, 1788). No brilhant success of the Turkish war had yet occurred to
appeal to the imagination; next year recruits, corn supplies, and the addi-
tional war tax were again refused. National songs grew popular and the
national dress ousted the German. "The Belgian story over again," Kaunitz
said, and as in Belgium so in Hungary, Prussian influence was at work.«
In the midst of public distresses, the declining spirit of Joseph was troubled
with domestic feuds. He had offended his brother Leopold by an imprudent
partiality for his nephew the archduke Francis, who had been brought up
under his auspices, and by an unjustifiable attempt to secure for him the rever-
sion of the imperial crown. This impolitic attempt to raise the son above the
father created an incurable jealousy between the two brothers; and Leopold
not only censured every part of his conduct, both in internal and external
policy, but sedulously avoided even an interview or any species of commu-
nication which might implicate him in the transactions or embarrassments
of his brother.
Joseph sank under the struggle of contending passions, the weight of
accumulated calamities, and the effects of disease. The same languor which
prevailed in the chamber of the sick monarch was, for a time, diffused through
every department of state: although a war with Prussia seemed inevitable,
he neither formed magazines nor made the necessary augmentations of the
army; equally unable to avert and unwilling to encounter the danger, he
displayed the extremes of anxiety, alarm, and irresolution. But as the
storm approached, his mind regained a portion of its pristine activity, and,
in the commencement of February, 1790, he ordered the requisite prepara-
tions for impending hostilities. He felt also the necessity of conciliating his
subjects to frustrate the designs of Prussia, which were founded on their
growing disaffection, and accordingly revoked many of his unpopular edicts
and prepared to rescind many others. He received the haughty demands of
the Hungarians with condescension and complacency, restored their constitu-
tion as it existed at his accession, promised speedily to solemnise the cere-
mony of his coronation, and as an earnest of his intentions sent back the crown
of St. Stephen.
The rapture with which the crown was received proved the precipitation
and folly of wantonly choking the feelings of a people so susceptible to national
prejudice and so awake to national honour. Triumphal arches were erected
in its passage; every town was a scene of festivity; numbers flocking from
all quarters swelled the cavalcade, and at Buda exulting multitudes crowding
to the cathedral welcomed the precious palladium of their national splendour
and freedom.
At night the crown was removed into the chapel of the palace, and guarded
by two magistrates with drawn sabres. The whole city was illuminated, the
streets resounded with songs of joy and exultation, and on every side was
heard the exclamation, ''Long live the liberties of the Hungarian people!"
DEATH OF JOSEPH II (1790 A.D.)
But Joseph did not live to experience the good effects of this change of
conduct; for at this awful crisis his reign and his life were hastening to a
close. Though naturally robust and hardy, his incessant exertions of body
and mind had worn down his frame; and his last campaign accelerated his
490 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1788-1790 A.D.]
decay. He exposed himself to the sultry heats of the summer, and to the
noxious air which exhaled from the marshes in the vicinity of the Danube,
where he often slept on the bare ground. He was his own minister and gen-
eral; by day he encountered the fatigues of a common soldier, and regulated
the complicated affairs of the army ; at night he scarcely allowed himself more
than five hours for repose, conducting with his own hand the extensive cor-
respondence relative to all the affairs of his vast empire.
In December, 1788, a fever, derived from anxiety, hardship, and fatigue,
compelled him to retire to Vienna. During several months he was in con-
siderable danger, and was afterwards long confined by an asthmatic com-
plaint. With extreme care and attention he seemed to recover gradually;
but his incessant restlessness and the fatal revolution in the Netherlands occa-
sioned a relapse, and he finally sank under accumulated disorders of body and
mind.
Enfeebled by incessant sufferings, his dissolution was accelerated by the
unexpected death of his beloved niece, the archduchess Elizabeth, a princess
of the house of Wiirtemberg, and sister to the grand duchess of Russia. He had
himself chosen this amiable princess to be the consort of his favourite nephew
Francis, and loved her with paternal fondness, wdiile she looked up to him with
filial reverence and affection. On receiving the melancholy intelligence, the
emperor smote his forehead with his hands, remained for some time absorbed
in grief, and at length exclaimed, "0 God, thy will be done!"
In the midst of his agony he had the courage to support an interview of
three hours with his nephew ; but although his firmness of mind did not give
way, his bodily strength could not resist so awful a shock. Feeling the
approach of death, he summoned his confessor at three in the morning, and
devoutly heard the prayers ordered by the church for persons in the last
agonies. Though his sight failed, his senses remained unimpaired tUl the
last moment, and he expired on the 20th of February, 1790, with perfect
composure, and almost without a groan, in the forty-ninth year of his age
and the tenth of his reign.S'
'i^
CHAPTER XIII
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE
[1790-1806 A.D.]
At the end of the eighteenth century there were in Germany no
less than three hundred independent sovereignties, ecclesiastical
states, or free cities ; not to speak of fifteen hundred imperial knights
with jurisdiction over their subjects. The territory of modern Wtir-
temberg alone was divided among seventy-eight different rulers,
under the almost nominal headship of the emperor. Some of these
principalities were infinitesimally small, even when compared with
domains like those of a modern prince of Waldeck, which one can
traverse in the course of a morning's stroll. The abbess of Gutenzell
was down in the Reiclismatrikel, or military schedule of the empire,
for one-third of a horseman and three and one-third foot soldiers ;
the barony of Sickingen for two-thirds of a horseman and five and
one-third foot. The burgravate of Reineck could boast of one castle,
twelve poor subjects, one Jew, and a couple of farms and millwheels.
The rulers of these petty states wasted little thought on problems of
good government. The bishoprics and abbacies, not being hereditary,
were subject to a total change in the methods of administration with
1 every change of incumbent. A whole string of these bishoprics —
1 Mainz, Cologne, Treves, Worms, Speier, and others — extended along
the Rhine, forming the boundary against France : a weak bulwark
they were now to form when the waves of the French Revolution
came surging into Germany. — Henderson."
Leopold, the third son of Maria Theresa, was forty-three years old when
he succeeded Joseph. His wise and hberal administration of the archduchy
of Tuscany (1765-1790) remains to this day an almost unique phenomenon
491
492
THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1790 A.D.]
in the history of Italian governments. With the help of his minister, Pompeo
Neri, a native of Florence, he made land-tenure free, restored autonomy to
parish councils, simplified taxation, abolished torture and the Inquisition,
liberated trade and indus-
try, destroyed guilds and
monopolies, instituted the
system of hereditary tene-
ments, and founded an
untrammelled education.a
His future right to
the Habsburg monarchy
and to the imperial crown
had influenced Leopold
but little in his way of life;
he judged the character
of his imperial brother
correctly and with innate
tact avoided all interfer-
ence in Viennese affairs,
although during the life-
time of Joseph's second
wife he might have consid-
ered himself the successor,
and was in fact so re-
garded by his family. He
appeared wrapt up in ac-
tive care for his grand
duchy, and by his peculiar
position had grown to love
it to such a degree that the
idea of its being united to the superior home power — to which in 1784 Joseph
persuaded him to consent — was anything but agreeable to him.
Leopold II (1747-1793)
THE TREATY OF REICHENBACH (1790 A.D.)
During the first hours of his presence in Vienna, Leopold recognised that
he must transact all serious business himself. No initiative was to be looked
for from his brother's ministers. They were one and all useless for purposes
of advice, offering him no suggestions for a programme, and showing him no
confidence. Indeed, they, as well as the members of the state council, settled
at their posts though they were, had not the slightest idea of what Leopold's
views really were. The new emperor started by endeavouring to inform
himself thoroughly of the general state of affairs; he worked from ten to
twelve hours a day without interruption; not even pausing, as he wrote to
Maria Christina, to take a breath of fresh air. Foreign affairs became the
principal political question. Peace must be obtained, fresh conflict of any
kind must be avoided if the Austrian provinces were to be quieted. This
end once attained, it would be possible to restore to Austria her prestige in
the eyes of the other European powers. Kaunitz considered Austria's great-
est danger to be in the attitude of Prussia, from which he expected the worst
consequences. He advocated forcing the Turks to make peace by an out-
burst of military energy, to be accompanied by so strong and definite a
demonstration in Berlin as should defer the Prussian court from showing .
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 493
[1790 A.D.]
Turkey open support. Leopold on the other hand was of opinion that peace
with Germany was Austria's first necessity; a settlement with the Turks
did not to his mind present very great difficulties, because he did not consider
any advantage he could gain in the East worth holding out for, but would
have been content to allow affairs to resume the state in which they found
themselves before the war.
It is astonishing that in this matter Leopold's judgment should have been
sounder than that of Kaunitz. A war with Prussia at that moment would
no doubt have placed Austria in the gravest situation. Prussia could at any
minute send 160,000 able-bodied men into the field, and even if one takes
the most optimistic view of the Austrian troops — the view for instance of a
military author who ascribes to the Austrian army a force of 300,000 com-
batants — one must still admit that, on both fields of war, widely separated
as they were, so that mutual help was out of the question, Austria would
appear to be the inferior force. In such a case Austria must at least expect
to lose the Netherlands; and in Hungary the party already inclined towards
Prussia would make difficulties, the further consequences of which could not
be ignored. As an instance it is only necessary to consider the possibility of
a revolutionary movement, even a transient one, by which the troops engaged
against Turkey might be cut off from the centre of the kingdom, and from
the only dominions which could be depended upon in all cases of war, or
from which they might be threatened in their rear. The policy conceived by
Prince Kaunitz, of attacking Prussia and so circumventing the Prussian
scheme for a coalition against Austria, and of rendering Russia's aggressive
oriental policy inoperative by diplomacy, had proved itself a mere illusion.
Prussia had concluded an offensive alliance with both Turkey and
Poland, the aim of which was to protect Turkey against the slightest viola-
tion of her territory, and moreover to restore Galicia to Poland; England had
received the project of an Austrian alliance with the greatest coolness, and
France was out of the running in all foreign politics; Sweden was already at
issue with Russia, and the German central provinces were unanimously
inclined towards Prussia, whilst Prussia itself showed at present no signs
whatever of the collapse of its parvenu power, which Kaunitz expected and
so intensely desired: so that the decision of the old chancellor, once more to
1 try the luck of arms in battle with the detested Prussia, can only be called the
1 idea of a sick dreamer, an adventurer.
The moment in which the change of rule took place, allowing for the
circumstances of foreign and domestic policy, is described by Ranke as one
of the most dangerous for the existence of Austria which the world's history
' can show. It would seem that matters needed but a touch to bring about a
! completely new order of affairs. Leopold understood the situation and did
, not hesitate to break with a policy which had become a tradition. Over the
' heads of the two chief ministers, Hertzberg and Kaunitz, he hastened to try to
; establish a better understanding with the dreaded rival. He addressed him-
I self in an autograph letter (written March 25th) direct to King Frederick
! William, in order to persuade him to a peaceful settlement of the various
' difficulties. This step achieved at least one result — it caused the king to
forsake the line previously arranged for him by Hertzberg, and so occasioned
1 his minister's policy to waver, just when, in the spring of 1790, it would have
I had every chance of resulting in effective activity.
; Leopold's action received unexpected support through a sudden change,
i at that very time, in the attitude of England. To the Berlin cabinet England
declared herself fully satisfied that a situation should have been restored in
494 THE HOLY EOMA^^ EMPIRE
[1790 A.D.]
which the powers in possession retained the status quo ante ; she would not
strain the weakness of Austria further, and she would only undertake to
support Prussia. Prussia had to suffer hostilities in consequence of main-
taining her present course of action. With this, disappeared Hertzberg's
expectation of being able to force Austria to part with Galicia and, in the
same way, possibly to win Dantzic and Thorn for Prussia.
When Prince Kaunitz perceived that he was at issue with his new
emperor on a principal question of foreign politics, he decided to offer Leo-
pold his resignation. It was not accepted, and in this matter, too, Leopold
showed great insight. He could not have replaced Kaunitz from the younger
Austrian diplomatists. Cobenzl and Colloredo were insignificant. Stadion
and Thugut were not yet in the foreground. If Kaunitz would but agree
to this change of front and set himself to carry out Leopold's ideas, he would
still be the most useful as the most skilled actor on Austria's political stage.
Leopold took care to make the transition as easy as possible to the old
man; he was able to give him the assurance that the advances to Prussia
would not be made in every case, but on the contrary that he would only
make them to obtain a free hand to secure peace with the Porte; and that
he would be ready, when the eastern affairs should be in order, and Russia
showed itself ready to support him, to let the issue be a war with Prussia. In
any case Leopold would not disturb the existing relations with Russia.
Under such auspices the chancellor of state let himself be persuaded on the
27th of April to recall his resignation.
The two influences, the influence of the emperor and the influence of
Kaunitz, are from this point easily traceable in their exact effect on Austrian
policy : the two opinions often amounting to hot dispute, giving some colour
to the belief that Leopold himself was vague and unsettled in his decisions.
This was, however, not the case; it was simply that the emperor could not
silence this opposition, because he could not do without Kaunitz. He would
certainly not have hesitated to place the helm of state in other hands, could he
have found anyone able to cope with the difficulties which had grown out of
the situation. Statesmen in Austria were few and far between, and Kaunitz
was head and shoulders above any of the younger heads of that day.
The Porte
The understanding with Prussia was still a long time in the making.
Frederick William's answer to Leopold's advances was still quite in Hertz-
berg's manner: adjustment of affairs as before the war, or an interchange of
territory between Austria, Prussia, Poland, and Turkey, by means of which
the common interests of those states would be alike protected. In this event,
however, Austria would suffer, for in consequence of obligations too hastily
incurred by Diez, the Prussian envoy in Constantinople, Prussia as an ally of
the Porte could not allow Turkey, which would be expected to trim the
balance of power, to act towards Austria in a manner sufficiently generous
to recompense that country for returning Galicia to Poland. Yet upon this
condition hinged for Prussia the possibility of demanding Dantzic and Thorn
from Poland.
At the court of Vienna the reply of the Prussian monarch was considered
almost tantamount to a refusal of the proposed understanding, and Russia
was again urged to definite agreement in the event of a breach with Prussia.
A second communication from Leopold to the king (April 28th) stated quite
clearly that Austria would only be in a position to give a settled answer to
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 495
[1790 A.D.]
the proposal from Prussia when the basis of peace with the Porte should have
been agreed upon with Russia. Prince Reuss in BerHn had to amplify this by
word of mouth, and he explained to Prussia that objections to this could
hardly exist, since, if Prussia could declare its action to be dependent on that
of England, Austria could not be blamed for first consulting an ally. Upon
this the king demanded (May 9th) the quickest possible decisive reply. He
had responsibilities which would suffer no postponement, and found himself
in a situation more resembling an armed truce than a peace. To this state-
ment he added a sketch of the proposed adjustment of territory, which gave
to Austria that part of Servia and Wallachia which she had gained through
the Peace of Passarowitz.
The efforts of Austria in St. Petersburg were not followed by the desired
success. Russia would not be in any way bound in treating for peace with
Turkey. If Turkey would evacuate the territory between the Danube and
the Dniester belonging to Russia, the war should end; if not, Russia was
determined to pursue her advantage at the point of the sword. A decided
consent to support Austria in war against Prussia was not expressed: this
would also depend on the result of dealings with Turkey; Austria should,
however, endeavour to continue diplomatic relations with Prussia for the
purpose of gaining time.
So Austria really stood alone in the event of an attack from Prussia.
,rhe probability of this event was more and more apparent, especially since
;he arrival of a third letter from Frederick William (June 2nd) which treated
. recent proposal, a propos of Austria's relinquishing Galicia, as an ultima-
tum, and demanded decisively hostile advances on the part of Austria
towards Turkey. Simultaneously began the concentration of Prussian troops
n Silesia, whence the king, accompanied by Hertzberg, betook himself. He
bitched his camp in Schonwald, near the Bohemian border, and ordered his
;nvoys in Vienna to make it known that he was determined to go to war, if
jeopold did not agree to his demands.
This momentarily more pressing decision was dealt with in Vienna by
■jeopold himself, who in pursuance of a former resolution, and against the
dvice of the chancellor, gave the preference to accepting the Prussian pro-
'osals for war. Kaunitz convened a council to deal with this resolution,
,nd on the 16th of June the endeavour to meet Prussia had been already
pproved — several objections, however, being pointed out. Leopold replied
D these in writing on the 16th of June as follows: " I am much bound to you
)r the communication of your good opinion. Our home affairs are unfor-
inately in such a condition that we must use all possible decent means to
yoid breaking with Prussia." Field-marshal Laudon also assisted at this
inference. He had been placed at the head of that part of the army which
as held in readiness to oppose Prussia.
' When the first news of the Prusso-Turkish Alliance reached Vienna, the
nperor had already despatched 37 battalions and 66 squadrons, which were
winter quarters in Hungary, to the borders of Silesia and Galicia; during
.e following spring these troops were reinforced, so that 20 battahons and
't squadrons could take the field against Poland, and 91 battalions and 120
uadrons were in readiness to meet Prussia. Whether the two together
3uld really have formed a force of 150,000 strong, as has been often asserted,
i notwithstanding somewhat doubtful. Laudon's chief command resulted
ready from his position as highest in command over the entire Austrian
'Oiy, which Leopold had given to him when he came to the throne.
Laudon had drawn a cordon along the Silesian frontier in May, but his
496 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1790 A.D.]
main force he concentrated at Neutitschein. Prince Hohenlohe commanded
a force in Moravia. Laudon seems to have had a thoroughly miUtary grip
of the situation, but for all that he should not have spoken of the hopeful
results as though they were already achievements. This does not, however,
appear to have influenced Leopold. The treaties with Prussia were con-
ducted by the state referendary. Baron Spielmann, who went to Breslau on
the 25th of June and took the king a letter from Leopold, which insisted on
the peacefully minded dispositions prevailing in Austria, and which apostro-
phised Frederick William's rectitude in the most flattering terms. I
The consultation with Hertzberg first attacked the question of compensa- i
tion in Galicia, which, according to the Prussian estimate, ought to equal the;
value of Dantzic and Thorn, plus some of the border districts, which Hertz-;
berg apprised as possessing 120,000 inhabitants and yielding revenues to the
amount of 600,000 thalers. Austria offered some Galician territory, divided,!
not en bloc, having 300,000 inhabitants, and revenue to the amount of!
343,000 gulden. It was demanded that Brody and the saltworks of Wie-j
liczka should be withdrawn, but to this Spielmann would not consent withouti
further instructions from Vienna. Whilst these were pending, several impor-{
tant facts worked upon the mind of the king of Prussia, causing him toj
modify his determinations quite unexpectedly.
Lucchesini, the Prussian envoy in Warsaw, who had been summoned tc!
Reichenbach, the place chosen for the treaty, to report upon the public mood:
in Poland and to replace Hertzberg who was ill, declared his conviction thai^
Poland would scarcely be attainable in exchange for the two Galician townsi
The envoys from England and Holland also appeared at the same time iij
Reichenbach and declared that they could only agree to such an exchange?
of territory as should place matters on the same footing on which they wenj
previous to the Turkish wars. England had only just escaped the danger oj
being seriously embroiled with Spain on account of the right of possession oil
the Nootka Sound in California, whilst the national assembly in Paris ha(j
borrowed support from Spain. A change in French policy was not, how'
ever, out of the question, and in this case England, for the sake of its interest
in the New World, must hold itself free from any quarrel with a Europea:
power. For the increase of Prussian dominions and Prussian power on th
Baltic, England saw itself in no way called upon actively to interfere.
Frederick William was much discouraged by these disclosures, and as a
the same time his trust in Hertzberg, who had been privately accused c
supporting revolutionary views, was rudely shaken, he now disclaimed th
leading policy of his ministers, and commissioned them to bring the negotii
tions with Austria to as speedy a close as possible, without endeavouring t
obtain further concessions to Prussia. " Do not let yourselves be put oj
any longer by Prince Kaunitz," he wrote to Hertzberg on July 14th. "'
for the moment I resign Dantzic and Thorn, it will at least compel the Vienr
court to speak plainly, and it will put an end to their thousand evasions; 1'
obtain this, one must propose a strict status quo, as I have clearly chargf
you."
Great was Spielmann's astonishment when he was informed of this chan{'
in the Prussian propositions. The status quo was not calculated to me
Austrian desires, and the court of Vienna could scarcely be expected
rejoice over it. Austria was no doubt convinced by this time of the slig
advantage which the possession of Galicia gave her; this conclusion moi
over masked a complete readjustment of territory, which would mean resig
ing all advantages that had been wrung from the Turks.
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 497
[1790 A.D.]
Laudon's death (July 14th, 1790), however, rendered more obvious than
before to the Vienna poUticians the necessity of moderation. Even if the
hopes which had been placed in him were admitted to have been extrava-
gant, his influence over the troops could not be gainsaid; they had for long
years placed great confidence in him. Really to replace him as commander
was at the moment hopeless, and this made the event of any war doubtful.
" Unpleasant as it is," so wrote Philip Cobenzl to Spielmann, " to let our-
selves be dictated to by the Berlin court, our home affairs are in such a state,
particularly now we have lost the great Laudon, that we must put up with
everything, only to get out of the slough."
The status quo was according accepted. Austria engaged herself to return
to the Sublime Porte all acquisitions derived from the late war; only Chotin
for the time being was to remain garrisoned, and the Bosnian frontier was
to be protected. Prussia, in return, made herself responsible for several
stipulated compensations. In a declaration commenting upon the arrange-
ment, the expectation was expressed that during the continuance of the
Russo-Turkish war Austria would hold herself aloof from any interference,
and would refrain from giving direct or indirect assistance to Russia against
the Porte. As to Belgian affairs, she declared that in the direction of subju-
gation as well as constitution she would be willing to throw in her lot with
the maritime powers.
This Treaty of Reichenbach, signed July 27th, 1790, is a great and most
diplomatic victory for Austria, which is due to Leopold's skill and modera-
tion. With one stroke the situation was adjusted, the respect for Leopold
among foreign powers strengthened, action in relation to the Netherlands
and Hungary freed from all outside restraints, and the way cleared for con-
centrating all Austria's strength on establishing conditions of peace through-
out the country itself. That, moreover, Prussia was compelled to withdraw
from her wide-reaching plans, and obliged to give up the idea of turning
Austria's embarassment to her own profit, was a very decided advantage,
obvious to all observers.^
PACIFICATION OF HUNGARY AND BELGIUM
One of the consequences of the Reichenbach Convention was the election
of Leopold as emperor. He was crowned October 9th, 1790. Leopold had been
very careful in his correspondence with his elder brother. Only in the matter
of Joseph's antipapal church reforms were Leopold's letters of agreement
entirely frank. Joseph no doubt thought he had his brother's sympathy for
his Hungarian and Belgian measures, and yet we know from the correspond-
I ence with his sister, the archduchess Maria Christina, that Leopold did not
' approve and thought that submission would be more politic.
: Three days after his arrival in Vienna, Leopold started upon the pacifica-
tion of Hungary by confirming his brother's recantation, promising a diet for
the coronation and for the discussion of measures for the happiness of the
! country. The Hungarians, however, had gone very far in their discontent, and
I like a swollen river the people was bursting its dams and overflowing on every
side. In the stormy diet which opened July 10th, 1790, the most extreme
views were expressed : the question was asked, for instance, whether the suc-
: cession had not been broken by the ten years' rule of an uncrowned king; and
it needed all the skill of able leaders, Joseph Batthydnyi, cardinal-archbishop
of Gran, Count Carl Zichy, judex curiae and president of the assembly of mag-
nates, and the personal, Joseph Unnenyi, president of the assembly of estates,
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2K
498 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1790-1791 A.D.]
to moderate the passion roused. " The French constitution has got into Hun-
gary's head," was the remark of the Prussian ambassador in Vienna. Leopold
tvas firm in refusing all the new restrictions which a committee of the Hun-
garian diet was busy putting into the inaugural coronation diploma. The vic-
tory of the moderate party was forwarded not only by Leopold's tact and the
skill of his advisers, but by two outside circumstances: the Austrian under-
standing with Prussia, which deprived the disaffected Hungarians of an ally,
and the anti-magyar attitude of the Serbs in Hungary who offered Leopold
forty thousand soldiers in return for his gracious proclamation to the '' Illyrian
nation." Leopold was crowned amid great enthusiasm at Presburg, Novem-
ber 15th.
Already on February 17th Leopold had prepared a liberal manifesto which
was to be laid before the Belgian estates directly Joseph died. The manifesto
was left unanswered by the Belgian congress, which had come into the power
of a clerical-revolutionary party led by Van der Noot. Meanwhile a number
of the democratic party were in favour of accepting the Austrian proposals.
Leopold recognised that force only could regain him the Netherlands, and he
threatened war if the estates did not submit before November 21st. At eleven >
o'clock on the previous evening, the congress decided that they would accept
Leopold's third son, Charles, as hereditary archduke, on the understanding
that the new state should never be united with Austria. The decision was not
listened to. Field-marshal Bender in command of thirty-three thousand i
Austrian troops started the march to Brussels, which he reached in ten days. .
On December 2nd the Austrians entered the city, welcomed by a people tired <
of congress and revolution. The whole of Belgium submitted to the emperor's i
proposals and on December 12th Cardinal Frankenberg celebrated a thanks- i
giving. By the Treaty of the Hague, England, Holland, and Prussia guaran- 1
teed the Belgian provinces to Austria, and Austria promised to retain the
ancient constitution as confirmed by Charles VI and Maria Theresa. Exactly I
one year after Joseph had been declared deprived of his rights in Belgium, i
memorial services were held for him in Brussels and Antwerp. Quiet was not I
to endure for long. Indeed Leopold had already felt the force of the revolu- \
tion which was stirring in France.^ i
POLITICAL STATE OF AUSTRIAN DOMINIONS ON LEOPOLD S ACCESSION
The wishes and requests of the corporations of the estates of the empire m
the years 1790 and 1791 give a faithful and anim.ated picture of the circum- 1
stances and temper of the time. When, in March, 1790, Leopold II assumed'
the reins of government, he found the various estates in a ferment all overi
Austria. " Internal affairs," writes this able and judicious prince in 1790, " are •
in the utmost confusion, I have no capable men about me ; all the provinces •
are in a stir; provinces and cities, nobles and merchants, bishops and monks ^
are all demanding rights and privileges, referring back to the times of Charle-ij
magne and requiring everything directly." *
In Tuscany Leopold had favoured the principles of an enlightened absolu-|
tism, in Austria he seemed inclined to recognise the old provincial constitution,!
and possibly to combine the provincial bodies into a states-general in which thej
middle class should be well represented. The imperial briefs of May and June,
1791, convoked the diets of the several provinces. They were required to set
forth the history of their constitution and functions, and to submit their
requests to the central government by the hand of delegates. In accordance
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 499
[1791 A.D.]
with local customs the nobles and ecclesiastical dignitaries appeared with a
modest and dejected accompaniment of mmiicipal representatives and free
peasants of the Tyrol. The arrangement, the presentation, and even the garb
of these delegations w^ere of the ancient fashion; the temper displayed in their
assemblies seemed to be that of the days of Leopold I and Charles IV: but
neither government nor estates, neither nobles nor burghers had any certain
knowledge or right understanding of the spirit of the old social system. The
most contradictory opinions were expressed by members of the government
commission appointed to confer upon the constitution. Some of them
demanded that the peasantry and the burgher class should be summoned;
others maintained that the peasantry were represented by the lords of the
manor and that equality of rights w^as dangerous and contrary to historic
precedent. The estates themselves confused the new legal system of the
state wdth their own ancient institutions. The estates of Bohemia talked of a
compact between prince and people, and of participation of authority; those
of Styria went so far as to take, in rationalistic fashion, the " origin of society"
for their starting-point. The right of the sovereign to reform the " representa-
tion" was questioned by none. "From thee, beloved father of so many
nations, whose million hearts yearn towards thee — from thee we look for
our happiness," is the phrase of one of the addresses.
Federalism took precedence of centralisation; the interests of the privi-
leged classes, of those of the nation at large. The Bohemians talked of their
king, the Styrians and Carinthians of their duke. Not a single state demanded
a homogeneous system of government, nor the general representation of the
burgher and peasant classes; not one advocated the abolition of the Robot
(villein or compulsory labour, the labour-rent by which the peasants held their
land), nor the complete personal enfranchisement of the peasantry: and this
at the time when, by the constitution of 1790, France had finally broken with
the ancien regime, and had proclaimed the right of all to citizenship, to a share
in the franchise.
The official instructions (cahiers) given by the various sections of the
estates to their deputies at Vienna are among the remarkable documents of
Austrian constitutional history. The restoration of the constitution of the
estates and of local government as it was before the days of Maria Theresa and
Joseph II is universally demanded — annual diets, the old organisation of the
estates, a share in legislation, the right of granting contributions, the election
' of committees and commissioners of the estates, the right of free assembly and
discussion, the right of naturalisation, the abrogation of all Josephinian laws
affecting the common and equal administration of the law, the relations
, between landowmers and peasantry, and national education. The clerical
I estates demanded the recognition of the Catholic church as the state church,
the abolition of public seminaries, episcopal censorship of the press, the
appointment of professors of theology at the universities, the restoration of
monastic property, administration of the fund for religious purposes by the
'estates, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the reform of the marriage laws by
', the bishops.
; The second and third estates, those of the nobility and gentry, demanded
precedence among the estates, a privileged position before the law, the restora-
tion of provincial offices, and the reappointment of the functionaries and
; servants of the estates, down to the Landschaftstrompeter (district trunipeter),
the halberdiers, and grooms; also exemption from tolls, the ancient rights of
the chase, the maintenance of entail, the abolition of peasant rights of succes-
'sion, the restriction of remainder in the female line, the reversion of lapsed
500 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1791-1792 A.D.]
estates, the monopoly of brewing and selling beer, and, above all, the restora-
tion of the ancient privileges of the lords of the manor.
LEOPOLD II CONCILIATES THE PROVINCES
The Bohemian nobles insisted on the recognition of the local ordinances of
1627 as a fundamental law, and the restoration of the Bohemian Hofkanzlei
(chancery) ; the Moravian nobles, upon the limitation of the number of attor-
neys by statute, and upon the expulsion of the Jews; the estate of Styria
wished for a provincial minister chosen from among themselves. The estates
of the Tyrol brought forward two thousand grievances in the diet of 1792.
They demanded the ratification of their privileges as in 1712, the administra-
tion of property according to the statutes of 1720, the abrogation of all
Josephinian laws concerning toleration, the reduction of monasteries, the
marriage laws, the new civil and criminal laws, and recruiting. The nobility
wished to establish the claims of noblemen to civil and military appointments,
to obtain exemption from tolls and customs dues, the title to large fees and
mortgages, and a distinctive uniform of knighthood. One nobleman
exclaimed in the open diet: "What does it matter to the Tyrolese w^hat may
happen in Bohemia, Moravia, or other provinces? The Tyrolese have their
own sovereign, their own laws, and their own constitution."
The fourth, or burgher estate was no less forward in complaining of the
Josephinian reforms, of the new judicial system, of the dissolution of mon-
asteries, the equalisation of city and suburban trades, of municipal and
peasant property, of the extension of the freedom of the guilds, the inhibition
of the Meilrecht (mile right) — that is of the right to sell beer within a mile
of the city. Some towns formulated grievances respecting the prohibition
of hawking wares, the turnpike charges, the highways, and the maintenance
of paupers, and even respecting the prohibition of the official dress of munici-
pal functionaries. Neither in Bohemia nor Moravia did the burghers put in
a claim to political rights. The admission of a representative of the Univer-
sity of Vienna to the status of a member of the estates was regarded as a
special concession. Only in Styria did the burgher estate demand, over and
above the antiquated privileges of exemption from toll and rights of the
chase, the franchise for the thirty-one burgher communes and the admission
of their deputies into the diet. The nobility and clergy, however, main-
tained that this claim was presumptuous, and even in Styria the local gov-
ernment came to the conclusion that a larger representation of the burgher
element had no legal justification and would be expensive and superfluoiL^i.
Taken in the aggregate these documents exhibit the boundless pretensions
of the privileged classes, the weakness of the middle class, and the absolute
immaturity of the people in political affairs. I
The government conferred with the deputies who brought to Vienna the
wishes and claims of the various estates; but in view of the particularism of
the provinces, and the feudal aspirations of the nobles and clergy, no effective
reform of the constitution appeared feasible. Leopold II yielded to pressure,
and re-established the provincial system of government, but only in the form
and scope settled in the time of Maria Theresa, and more particularly in the
year 1764. He coerced the estates into submission, and at the same time
propitiated them by formal concessions. The absolute authority of the
crown remained intact, the question of taxation was to be decided by long-
established custom, and if larger contributions were required in time of war
the estates were allowed to confer, not concerning the "whether?" but the
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 501
[1791-1793 A.D.]
"how ?" The emperor Leopold restored the committees of the estates: he
granted them the local posts of honour, the ancient ceremonial, special
functionaries, the management of the property of the estate, though all under
government supervision; and the privy councillors and privy chamberlains
regained their seats and votes in the diet. He refused the right of free assem-
bly and discussion, the exemption from toll, and the ancient rights of the
chase, the institution of a special tribunal, and (more particularly) of a
special minister of the province. The Landeshauptmann remained in Inner
\
Monument of the Emperor Francis II in the Franzens-Platz
, Austria and the Tyrol, the Landesmarschall in Austria proper, and in Bohemia
; the head of the administration was at the same time president of the estates.
; Political power remained vested in a central authority which represented the
I state to the outer world.
Leopold II gave up only the unpopular financial enactments^ of 1789;
he maintained unconditionally the agrarian, judicial, and administrative
statutes of Joseph II. He sacrificed the public seminaries to the clergy, and
left religious instruction and authority in matters of faith and discipline once
imore in the hands of the bishops; but he refused to abrogate the Tolerance
; Edict, to restore the monasteries, or to hand over to the church the revenue
jfor religious purposes. Leopold II was a friend to the cities and the burgher
class, as Joseph II had been to the peasantry. He restored to them the right
502 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1790-1792 A. D.]
of electing magistrates, the concession of trades, and the admmistration of
their own property. He could not give the fourth estate its rightful weight
in the constitution; in Styria alone each district was allowed in future to
send two burgher deputies to the diet, but even there the committee of the
estates remained closed to them.
What Leopold accomplished was a restoration rather than a reform, and
even this he did not bring about by enactments of general application but by
separate resolutions addressed to the estates of the provinces (April, May,
and June, 1791). This restored constitution subsisted with but slight alter-
ations till the year 1848.
It would be a great mistake to suppose that the documents of 1790 and
1791 convey a just impression of the whole body of public opinion in Austria.
The Josephinian laws, the more enlightened tendencies of the age, and the
spirit of German culture had created a nucleus of liberal opinion which could
not be extirpated. In opposition to the current of federalistic and aristo-
cratic feeling in 1790, Leopold II enunciated the principle that one system of
law and equity should prevail throughout Austro-Germany. Only one statute
(novella) of 1791 takes account of provincial differences. In 1792 the prin-
ciple of a uniform system of law for all the German provinces of Austria was
reasserted by the emperor Francis 11. In the struggle between the estates
and the bureaucracy, the people, the one permanent element in the state,
tranquilly pursued its avocations, its culture, its enjo}mients. It was
estranged from the estates and it feared the government. From neither the
one nor the other did it expect to derive benefit or advantage ; only the peasant
hoped for the abolition of the Robot, the burgher for the unrestricted rights of
industry, for representation and self-govermnent under a constitutional system
of equitable political administration.
Since the Thirty Years' War a distinctive national character had sprung
up in Austria; since the reign of Maria Theresa had arisen a new patriotism.
In spite of varying conditions of nationality the Austrian people remained
true to the conviction that it was essential for every provmce and every race
to abide as a member of the whole, and for this unity to be maintained and
furthered. For a long time the people found its satisfaction in the conven-
iences of an assured legal position and the zealous pursuit of material interests.
But the sanguinary revolutionary wars of 1797 and 1809 sufficiently proved
that common activity, common energy, and common enthusiasm were not
extinct.^^
LEOPOLD AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
The difficult picture presented by Leopold's attitude towards the Revolu-
tion in France corresponds to the difficult position in which the state of French
and European politics placed the brother of Marie Antoinette, the head of the
empire, the sovereign of a great European power — neither secure from the
hostility of her old rival Prussia, nor supported by the interested policy of
her recent ally Russia, His first move (1790) was at the instigation of the
German princes (the electors of Mainz, Treves, and Cologne, the prince-
bishops of Strasburg, Speier, and Bale, the dukes of Wiirtemberg and Zwei-
briicken, the landgraf of Hesse-Darmstadt, the markgraf of Baden, the
princes of Nassau, Leiningen, Lowenstein, and others), who had suffered
financially by the French national assembly's decrees abolishing ecclesiastical
and territorial rights within the limits of France : for the decrees affected the
German states in Alsace and Lorraine, which had been ceded to Louis XIV
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 503
[1791-1793 A.D.]
on the understanding that these German rights should be respected. The
emperor's protests, which, by a clause inserted in the coronation oath he was
bound to make, were ineffectual. The German complaints were soon answered
by French complaints of favom' shown in the Rhenish courts to emigres, and
in the spring of 1791 both Austria and Prussia determined to make no change
in their attitude towards France.
In June Leopold, naturally afraid of compromising his brother-in-law
with the French nation, was yet ready to support Louis in his plan of escap-
ing from Paris to the troops which still remained loyal; that is to say he
was ready, not to lend troops to the comit d'Artois nor to any other French
officer, but to march an army from Luxemburg as an ally, if Louis himself
requested it. It was not until he received news of the failure of the king's
attempted flight, and of his imprisonment, that Leopold sent (July 6th) an
identical note to the empress of Russia, to the chancellor of the German
empire, to the kings of England, Prussia, Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia, sug-
gesting combined action on the king's behalf. A httle later (July- 25th) the
preliminaries of an alliance with Prussia were signed, m which the two parties
were to stand together in their attitude towards France, and neither was to
, attempt any enlargement of territory from Polish domains. No power but
I Prussia responded warmly to Austria's suggestion of combined action, and
i Leopold himself relinquished thoughts of intervention (August) when he
; heard that the majority of the French assembly had preferred a constitu-
tional monarch}^ to a republic. He was the more inclined to hold back
from intervention since England had declared her intention of remaining
strictly neutral, while the czarina's enthusiasm for the cause of the French
, king looked as if it sprang chiefly from a desire to embroil Prussia and Austria
with France so as to be left undisturbed to work her will with Poland.
The chief importance of the meeting at Pillnitz (August 25th, 1791),
, between Leopold and Frederick William, lies in the decided coldness shown,
■ especially b}' Leopold, to the count d'Artois, who arrived at Pillnitz with
burning schemes for intervention, and in the firm decision to take no steps
against the Revolution without a European concert. By the 14th of Decem-
ber, the Girondists had pressed the king to threaten the elector of Treves with
[war if he did not dissolve the army of emigres within his borders, and thereby
igave Louis the occasion of collecting an army which he might use for his own
ends. This double game (the agreement with the republicans and the gath-
ering of an army) was the suggestion of j\Iarie Antoinette. The forward
'policy of the Girondists brought Prussia and Austria still closer; but their
definite alliance-treaty of February 7th, 1792, was purely conservative and
I defensive — indeed Kaunitz especially remarks the emperor's unwillingness
I to take part m any counter-revolution promoted in France by a foreign court.
The Revolution, Leopold's sincere desire for peace, and his own clear sight
Ihad turned the imcompromising enemy of everything connected with Prussia
mto a warm champion of the new friendship. In answer to the king's decree
Jof December 14th, Leopold declared that he would support the elector if he
[Were attacked, but that at the same tune he would send an envoy into Treves
Ito see that the scarcely less dangerous question of the emigre army (which
■numbered four thousand) should be set at rest. The Girondists however
I were determined on war, and put the question whether the emperor, who by
|his alliance with Prussia had broken the alliance with France of 1756, would
icontinue in peace with France and refuse to join any combination against her
[independence. No answer, or an unsatisfactory answer, would be taken as
la declaration of war. Kaunitz's answer (February 17th) was dignified but
504 THE HOLY KOMAN EMPIRE
[1T90-1792 A.D.]
not without hope of peace, nor did the emperor despair. The king of Prussia
was more convinced of the necessity of war, and despatched Bischoffwerder
to Vienna to come to decided conclusions with Leopold. He arrived Feb-
ruary 28th. On the 29th Leopold was taken with a sudden cold, developed
rheumatic fever, and died on March Ist.a
THE FOREIGN POLICY OF LEOPOLD II (1790-1792)
According to a former general impression, the emperor Leopold had been
the first and most active opponent of the French Revolution. Having just
escaped the danger of a war in the east, he made use of the understanding
he had arrived at with Prussia to preach a crusade against the Revolution; he
had been incited by the French emigres at Pillnitz to bring about the notorious
alliance with Prussia and had endeavoured with eager solicitude to win to it
both Russia and England. Then, in order to make France incur more deeply
the odium of a formal attack, he had delayed the declaration of war, but at
the same time had irritated and threatened the revolutionary party by excit-
ing against it the emigres and the German princes. At last the national
assembly brought the unworthy performance to an end with violence.
As regards Poland, Prussia, which had formerly been on bad terms with
Austria and Russia, is said since 1790 to have incited the patriotic party to a
reform of the constitution. In consequence of this the coup d^etat of the third
of May, 1791, had taken place there, to the great mortification of the two
imperial courts, which would have hated nothing more bitterly than the rise
of Poland out of its hitherto shattered condition into a liberal and well-
regulated monarchy.
Whilst then Poland had fixed all its hopes on the further support of
Prussia, the latter, seduced by Leopold's bugbear of French Jacobinism to
join the Pillnitz convention, had gone over bag and baggage from the liberal
into the despotic camp. The war with France having been decided upon, there
was neither will nor strength available for the east of Em'ope, and conse-
quently Poland was abandoned to the violence of Russia. In the summer,
therefore, of 1792, the German army had broken out upon the Paris demo-
crats, and simultaneously, that of Russia on the Warsaw liberals; and, after
the victory of the Russians, Prussia first and then Austria had not been
ashamed to take part of the booty as a reward for their infamous concurrence.
This opinion will not stand the test of an examination of the state papers;
but rather, according to them, the policy of the emperor Leopold moved in
quite different, incomparably purer and freer paths.
Far from being swayed in any respect by the French emigres, the emperor
thought only of the fate of the royal couple, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
In order to support their attempt at flight, in June, 1791, he made some
military demonstrations and to relieve their captivity in July he took diplo-
matic measures. In this respect the conference at Pillnitz had no further
import. When the former immediate purpose had been accomplished and
Louis was reconciled to the national assembly, the emperor placed his army on
a peace footing and in the autumn of 1791 made a public recognition to all the
European powers of the new French state. He had no keener wish than that
his already sufficiently heavy troubles should not be increased by an entangle-
ment with France. He was just as angry with Russia and Sweden, who were
egging on the emigres to an attack on France, as with the Paris agitators who
were striving to carry into the neighbouring countries the revolutionary dis-
turbance. But as the agitation of the two extreme parties in the winter of
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 50:;
[1790-1793 A. D.]
1791-1792 continued to increase, he made a special point of consolidating his
new friendship with Prussia and succeeded in February in concluding an alli-
ance for mutual defence against all attacks. Here also his whole ambition as
regarded France was to maintain the status quo and in the same conservative
spirit he made a motion in Berlin at the same time for the security of Poland
and its new constitution of the 3rd of May,
At the time when Joseph II with his restless aspirations had made an
unconditional alliance with Russia and had commended to the latter Turkey
and Poland, in order to receive in return Bavaria and Servia, Leopold had
always been of the opinion that in this way Austria's own strength would be
much less increased than Russia's oppressive superiority. He therefore will-
ingly renounced every aggrandisement of his own power and actually separated
himself as early as 1790 from the Russian schemes. Nevertheless he had not
intended for that reason, without further consideration, to adopt as yet the
attitude of Prussia towards Russia. Rather was it his opinion that, besides
the Russian and Prussian, there was a possible third position, well adapted to
promote the particular interests of Austria between and in spite of the two
powers. He saw the means to this in the efforts of the Polish patriots to
render their nation again strong and capable of defence by a thorough reform
of the constitution.
Poland and Austria in olden times had always been good friends and com-
rades, with kindred ideas. Of late certainly the Warsaw patriots had leaned
towards Prussia, but now they and their king had fallen into ruin and were
freshly embittered against her. If it were possible now to win them over to
Austria and then to erect on the banks of the Vistula a strongly allied kingdom
— perhaps in favour of the elector of Saxony, whose ancestors had reigned
there for three generations, and who himself cherished the warmest feelings
towards the Austrian empire — then by this means the most powerful advan-
,tages for Austria would have been reached with one stroke, and the imperial
influence, forcibly pressing forward between Russia and Prussia, would reign
from Wittenberg and Dresden to Dantzic and Riga. Leopold, therefore, did
everything he possibly could to further the regeneration of Poland, and when
the constitution of the 3rd of May, with the succession to the throne of the
I elector of Saxony, was announced there, he tried on every occasion to induce
Prussia to guarantee it, without, to be sure, betraying in any way in Berlin
his project for the amalgamation of Saxony and Poland into one state. Even
is it was, a strong Poland seemed dangerous enough to the Prussian court,
ind Leopold was at last obliged to be satisfied with the promise of Prussia to
protect the freedom of Poland, though not its constitution.
' We see how completely all parts of this imperial system correspond to one
mother. The uniform and exclusive aim of all is to defend the country taken
possession of in the summer of 1791, to prevent the encroachment of any third
oerson, to protect the Rhine against France as well as Poland against Russia.
j^o offensive act is purposed by the emperor, because he is aware that the
,naintenance of that position gives him a preponderating position in Germany,
un esteemed one in Europe; whereas every agitation may have immeasurable
iionsequences.^
ACCESSION OF FKANCIS II (1792 A.D.)
Francis, the eldest of the ten sons who outlived Leopold, had at the age of
ixteen left his father's Tuscan court for Vienna and the guardianship of his
ncle. Joseph's first impression of his nephew showed him a spoilt mother's
arling, selfish and apathetic, moderated with time. Krones says of him:
506 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIKE
[1792 A.D.]
" A young man without passion or spirit, reserved and practical-minded, a cool
and dry observer of men and the world, who, with a passive and tenacious
power of endurance, held his ground and let come what was to come — Francis
possessed the fundamental characteristics of industry, an understanding of
the business routine of government, firmness of character, a most exacting love
of order, and a supreme mistrust which never closed its eyes, and which was to
grow with the bitter reality of heavy and troublous years." Characteristic of
the bourgeois simplicity of his life was the Viennese dialect in which he liked
best to clothe his dry humour. His full consciousness of patriarchal sover-
eignty made him a natural enemy of revolution, and as a statesman, if he had
little power of looking forward, he had an eye for what could be done at the
moment.
When Francis came to the throne at the age of twenty-four, Kaunitz, " the
driver of the European coach," was still at the head of affairs, though his
influence had waned. The chancellor had forwarded Leopold's understand-
ing with Prussia as a necessary evil. In the matter of the European concert
for which Leopold had hoped, Kaunitz saw that the alliance between Austria
and Prussia would be a stumbling block to England, and that Russia wished to
embroil both her neighbours in a w^ar with France. Moreover the Austrian
entente with Prussia lacked the only true basis for an alliance, namely a clear
calculation of what advantages each partner was to assure the other in their
common action. The vice-chancellor, Philip Cobenzl, Joseph's favourite, was
for suiting Austrian policy to Prussian interests, and the victory of this opinion
finally moved Kaunitz, in August, 1792, to resign.
If the selfish policy of Russia and the ravings of the emigres did much to
make war inevitable, the most potent persuasive was in France itself, in the
mad jingoism of the followers of Brissot among the Girondists, who could do
what they would with Dumouriez and his Jacobin ministry.
FRANCE DECLARES W^AR ON AUSTRIA
Dumouriez strongly urged the king to declare war on Austria ; her alliance
with Prussia w'as formed with no other purpose than to keep France down,
and her reply to the French demand that she should separate from Prussia
was an impertinence: for the chancellor's declaration, that the alliance was
dissoluble only when those dangers were gone against which it was formed,
was practically a declaration that France must change her constitution accord-
ing to the fancy of the boy who was king of Hungary and Bohemia, It was
Condorcet who threw the final glamour upon a war which should move the
nations of the earth to claim their rights and liberties. There was also a less
ideal motive at work to favour war : the new king would probably have diffi-
culties in Hungary, certainly in Belgium — a country easily detachable from
the house of Austria, And, as a matter of fact, it was the French invasion of
Brabant (April 29th) which let loose a war that was to last twenty-three years.
Louis showed a certain indifference in declaring war. He may well have
argued that if the French w^re beaten, as seemed the more likely event, the
victors would set him more securely on the throne, and if, on the other hand,
the French conquered, he might reap popularity.
The first move of the French was a ridiculous failure. The troops which
invaded the Netherlands (April 29th) fled at the first sight of the Austrians.
But th3 duke of Brunswick, who was put in command of the combined Prus-
sian and Austrian Moselle army, was no friend of the Austro-Prussian alliance
and in little sympathy with the cause he was to fight. His first act was to
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 507
[179^-1793 A.D.]
issue from Coblenz, greatly against his will, "the deplorable manifesto" of
July 25th, which threatened to rase Paris to the ground unless the French
submitted to their sovereign. The manifesto, the production of an emigre
was answered by the sacking of the Tuileries (August 10th) and the deposition
and imprisonment of the king. The duke of Brunswick spent ten days reach-
ing the French frontier, and thus lost the chance of catching the French troops
and generals, disunited upon the question of republic or constitutional mon-
archy. He took the fortress of Longwy after a two days' bombardment
; (August 23rd), made his connection with the two auxiliary Austrian forces
under Clerfayt and Hohenlohe, and proceeded to Verdun, which capitulated
September 2nd. Wishing to halt and wait for a dryer season, he was neverthe-
less unwillingly urged forward by the king of Prussia. At Valmy (Septem-
ber 20th) he encountered Dumouriez, who refused to retreat before his can-
nonade, and he accordingly drew off his troops.
Dumouriez, diplomat as well as tactician, succeeded in stirring Prussia's
jealousy of her new ally; an armistice was offered by Prussia, accepted by
France, and the invaders evacuated France, having given up the fortresses
they had captured, and lost a quarter of their men by fever and dysentery.
, The Prussian retreat left Dumouriez free to hasten north and defeat the arch-
I duke Albert, who had hitherto successfully commanded a Belgian army, at
: Jemmapes (November 6th). Belgium fell immediately into the hands of the
. French; indeed by the middle of December Dumouriez had Aachen in his pos-
session. The alliance between Austria and Prussia held, in appearance, for
some time longer. But the rift between the two countries was already suffi-
ciently large at the end of the Champagne campaign.
Next year the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg, who commanded
jthe Belgian army, defeated Dumouriez at Aldenhoven (March 1st), chiefly
i owing to the brilliant generalship of the young archduke Charles. Seventeen
,days later they won another victory at Neerwinden, and Dumouriez, long
dissatisfied with the convention, deserted to the Austrians (April 5th).
Coburg went on slowly to take the fortress of Conde and Valenciennes, Only
their lack of unity prevented the allies from marching upon Paris — unity,
however, was farther off than ever. International jealousy had sharpened;
!the secret desire for self-aggrandisement, with which every party had indi-
yidually entered upon the war, began to show its head openly. Austria
;claimed Conde and Valenciennes as a perpetual possession, the duke of York
marched away with his English and fifteen thousand Austrians from the
main army to take Dunkirk, Prussia looked upon success in the war as more
dangerous — seeing that her rival gained territory by it — than defeat; and
■meanwhile the Terror and Carnot's genius organised an undreamed-of host
against the selfish enemies of France. Jourdan drove the Austrians off the
Seld at Wattignies (October) and forced the allies to winter not in France but
in West Flanders.
They fared little better on the Rhine. The Prussians were already sick
,)f the war and had found their booty in the second partition of Poland with
iRussia (April 16th, 1793). Wurmser, successful against the French at the
■ines of Weissenburg (October), could not persuade Brunswick to attack
Alsace. In November two new French generals were ready to meet the
lilies — Hoche with a Moselle army and Pichegru with a Rhine army. Hoche
iittacked Brunswick and was beaten at Kaiserslautern (November 29th,
;!Oth), but joined forces unhindered with Pichegru. Hoche, in sole command
i)f both armies, beat the allied troops badly at Froschweiler and at Worth
December 22nd), and thus freed the left bank of the Rhine.
508 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1794 A.D.]
So ended a campaign, gloriously begun, under the patronage of almost
the whole of Europe, by the bravest and best disciplined troops in the world,
against a state on the brink of ruin, with an army knowing nothing of disci-
pline or fighting.
thugut's policy of expansion
At this time Cobenzl was no longer the director of Austria's policy. In
March of that year his place had been taken by Franz Thugut, as general
director of foreign affairs, a man whose talents had raised him from the
burgher class, a pupil of Kaunitz. During the first year of office his desire
was to wage an aggressive war on France for the extension of the Austro-
Belgian borders to the Somme, and the recovery of Alsace and Lorraine for
the formation of a dependent state under an archduke. The difficulties of
carrying on the war for the preservation of an untenable Netherlands, how-
ever, suggested another possible enlargement for Austria, in the shape of
those Venetian possessions on the mainland which the emperor Joseph had
desired. An alliance with Russia and England was also an aim of Thugut's
for the isolation of Prussia and for the assurance that Austria should not be
left out at the third and last partition of Poland, but should march into
Poland with Russia and the other powers against Kosciuszko's final attempt
to save that ancient kingdom (March-November, 1794).
CAMPAIGNS of 1794
The outlook for 1794 was not cheerful. The German princes were not
for fighting, and, led by Prussia, they would not hear of the emperor's revolu-
tionary plan of proclaiming a universal arming of the people against France,
at any rate in the threatened districts. Prussia preferred to agree to con-
tribute a certain number of troops to the allied army under the archduke
Albert of Saxe-Teschen. But these 62,400 men under Mollendorf, an old
and active intriguer, were, by the contract of the Hague, to be paid for by
England and Holland. Whatever Thugut's policy may have been in the
spring of this year, the emperor showed that he at least was still in earnest
about holding the Netherlands, for he appeared in person at headquarters in
Valenciennes (April 14th). The Austrians were successful at first; but,
despairing of adequate assistance from his allies, the emperor despondingly
returned to Vienna (June 2nd): for Mollendorf refused to send his auxil-
iaries, and England was in communication with Prussian diplomats. The
French won Ypres and Charleroi and got the victory in the battle of Fleurus
(June 26th). From that moment the Austrians could do nothing but fall
back, and at the end of July, when the two French armies had joined hands
at Brussels, and Mollendorf still persisted in refusing his aid, Coburg retreated
across the Maas and gave over his command to Clerfayt (August 29th).
Meanwhile Archduke Albert had been forced to cross the Rhine (July 15th),
and he was followed by Clerfayt on October 5th and 6th. Cologne fell into
the hands of the French. All this while Mollendorf was promising aid and
refusing it. Unattached by the French, Mollendorf left his unpregnable
position and also crossed the Rhine (Octobe'r 22nd) "for political reasons."
This retreat made Coblenz untenable and a day later saw the allies in posses-
sion only of Luxemburg, Mainz, and Mannheim on the left bank of the Rhine.
Massena and Napoleon had been equally successful in the Alpine campaign
against Italy and Austria."
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 500
[1794-1795 A.D.]
THE DEFECTION OF PRUSSIA (1795 A.D.)
Thus, in 1794 France had driven all her enemies out beyond her " natural
frontiers," so called, had restored tranquillity within, and thus given evidence
of her vigour and vitality. The government had been purged of the worst
and vilest scum of humanity, and all Europe stood in amaze at the might of
an enemy who had boldly and dauntlessly performed feats so gigantic. Any
man who was not whole-heartedly devoted to the alliance against such a
country from profound conviction might well lose courage. Of such was the
grand duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, brother of the emperor Francis, and the
first to withdraw from the alliance and make his peace with the republic.
In itself this peace was of very slight importance; its significance lay in the
fact that it demonstrated to the world the possibility of coming to terms
with the French Republic. The example had been set; Prussia followed
suit, and Spain was not slow to do likewise.
The Prussians, as we know, had gone to the left bank of the Rhine, and
from thence had despatched twenty thousand men to the Polish theatre of
war. The imperial field-marshal was now unable even to hold the Rhenish
fortifications at Mannheim, which fell into the hands of the French on Decem-
ber 25th, 1794. They were now in possession of the whole of the left bank
of the Rhine with the exception of Mainz and Luxemburg, for the duke of
York had steadily retreated before them. Pichegru actually conquered the
whole of Holland in a winter's campaign, and transformed it into a Bavarian
republic.
As early as December, Prussia had sent Goltz, her minister, to Bale, there
to negotiate on neutral soil for peace with the French Republic, which was
represented by Barthelemy. After the death of Goltz the work he had begun
! was carried on by Hardenberg, who succeeded in effecting a peace on April 5th,
I 1795. In virtue of it the French were to remain in possession of the king of
' Prussia's dominions on the left bank of the Rhine until the question of the
, possession of the whole bank should be settled by a definitive treaty with the
I empire. By a secret article it was settled that if, under the said treaty with
the empire, the left bank of the Rhine were handed over to the republic in
' its entirety, Prussia should be indemnified for her loss; the proposed means of
j indemnification being the secularisation of the bishopric of Miinster. At the
1 same time a line of demarcation was laid down, embracing the whole of north
I Germany down to the Palatinate, Bavarian, and Bohemian frontiers, with
i the express purpose of permitting any prince of the German Empire within
\ that limit to make his peace with France either directly or through the media-
; tion of Prussia — three months' grace being allowed him for the purpose.
, By this disgraceful peace Prussia not only renounced her connection with
the German Empire, but usurped the prerogative of the emperor himself, who
alone was competent and entitled to be the instrument of mediation between
; the Holy Roman Empire and its enemies. Moreover, Prussia had purchased
'peace by a breach of faith with her allies and had shamefully left them in the
! lurch. But her pretensions to the role of mediatrix were no less than flat
.rebellion against the emperor and the empire; they amounted to the formation
[of a separate faction and a seditious attempt to stir up the estates of the empire
'against its head. If Germany had not already been wholly impotent as
jregards her internal organisation, the defection of Prussia and the consequent
split between north and south Germany would have brought about her destruc-
tion; as it was, nothing but vis inertice kept her from falling asunder altogether.
As far as the emperor was concerned, he was more patriotic than his rivals
610 THE HOLY EOMA^ EMPIRE
[1795 A.D.]
and did not abandon the hope of winning by arms a peace that should be
honourable to the empire, even though deserted by the majority of the princes
for whose interests he had drawn the sword.
THE THIRD PARTITION OF POLAND (1795 A.D.)
Prussia hoped that by the Peace of Bale she had purchased the undis-
turbed possession of Poland. Austria had permitted the second partition
of that country without interfering; in the patent of February 14th, 1793,
she had even admonished the inhabitants of Galicia to submit peaceably, in
spite of the obvious danger of letting her two neighbours, Russia and Prussia,
grow even more powerful than they were already. But when a fresh conflict
broke out in Poland, when the king was thrust aside and Kosciuszko appointed
dictator, Austria could no longer look on indifferently at the loosing of the
republican elements in the east, for she could not but fear that the very
elements she was combating on the Rhine might force their way into her own
territory.
As a matter of fact the Viennese police had actually got on the trail of a
revolutionary conspiracy in Hungary which seemed dangerous enough to
justify intervention in Poland. The leader of this conspiracy was Ignatius
Joseph Martinovics, mitred abbot of Szathmar and imperial councillor, a man
who had been overwhelmed with favours and benefits by Leopold II, but who
was possessed by unbridled ambition and insatiable greed, which led him into
all kinds of evil courses. He had begun life as a Franciscan, but contrived to
leave the order, and in the capacity of a secular priest was appointed pro-
fessor of natural science at the University of Lemberg, and afterwards at
Vienna. The ideas of liberty and equality soon found in him an enthusiastic
disciple and made him a political fanatic. He sought and found accomplices
and with them founded a league with the express object of stirring up the
populace by speeches and writings and of overthrowing the monarchy.
The police soon came on the trail of this treasonable agitation; members
of the society were arrested at various places, and all sent to Pest, as it was
the emperors' intention to withdraw no man from the jurisdiction of his
rightful judges. The office of judge in this momentous affair fell to the
youthful archduke Alexander Leopold, the emperor's third brother (who had
been appointed palatine of Hungary in 1790 at the request of the Hungarians
themselves), as president (Prases) of the septemviral board. Six of the con-
spirators w^ere condemned to death, eleven to miprisonment, and the rest were
pardoned. On January 20th, 1795, Martinovics was beheaded, with four
others, Szigray, Laczkovics, Szentmariay, and John Hajnoczy, who had
acted as directors of the league; and on the 13th of February the punishment
of death was also inflicted on Alexander Szolarczik, notary, and Paul Oetz,
advocate. Not long after the last act of this shocking catastrophe the arch-
duke went to Austria for the benefit of his health, where, on July 12th, an
unfortunate experiment in the laboratory at Laxenburg brought his promising
career to an untimely end.
A few days before the execution of the abbot of Szathmar a certain Lieu-
tenant Franz von Hebenstreit was put to death at Vienna for ha\'ing supplied
some newly invented war-machines to Poland and France, for having written
and disseminated seditious songs and endeavoured to subvert the tranquillity
and order of the country. His accomplices. Professor Billek von Billenberg
of the Vienna Neustadt Academy, and other conspirators, such as the coun-
cillor (Regierungsrath) Gotthardi, the head commissioner of police (Polizei
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 611
[1795 A.D.]
Oher commissar) Franz von Troll, a merchant named Hakel, the comicillor of
magistracy (Magistratrath) Prandstatter, a schoolmaster named Jeline, Baron
Riedl, and others were condemned to longer or shorter terms of imprison-
ment. The populace was indifferent; they looked upon these aberrations
as the monstrous births of an inflamed and diseased imagination.
None the less the Austrian government felt itself bound to take energetic
action against Poland, the seat of the revolution, and despatched troops to
occupy Little Poland. ^ Meanwhile Prussia and Russia had suppressed the
rebellion and were thinking of putting an end to all the supposititious dangers
to which they were exposed by the existence of Poland as a perpetual focus
and rendezvous of all turbulent elements, by a third and complete partition
of the country. The question of what course Austria should take in the matter
was one of no small importance. She might allow Russia and Prussia to effect
the partition without any interference from her, as she had done in 1793, but
then her neighbours would have aggrandised themselves at the very moment
when Austria had lost the Netherlands and sacrificed enormous quantities of
men and money in the long struggle. Or Austria might draw the sword against
Russia and Prussia in order to prevent the partition, a plan of all others least
fit to be considered just at this time. There remained therefore only the last
course, which was to take advantage of the partition of Poland for her own
profit. Prussia had latterly manifested such hostile sentiments that Austria
had reason to fear a recurrence of the days of Frederick II, especially if she
were strengthened by the acquisition of Poland. East Galicia, which had
fallen to Austria's share in the first partition, lay defenceless; Prussia had
only to march her troops into it, unless Austria kept a large force perpetually
under arms to guard the frontier. Accordingly the threatening attitude of
the northern power seemed to argue the imperative necessity of rounding off
; and securing Austrian territory in this direction.
For this reason Austria intervened in the negotiations which had long been
pending between Russia and Prussia, and demanded the four southern pala-
tinates of the republic of Poland, Lublin, Chelm, Cracow and Sandomir, for
herself. Thus she obtained a frontier protected by rivers and secured two
strategic points in the towns of Cracow and Sandomir. The negotiations were
,spun out for nearly a whole year, and did not lead to a complete agreement
'between the three interested powers until October.
'; On October 24th, 1795, the deed of partition was signed by all three, and
lin virtue of it Austria gained possession of all the region between the Vistula
land the Bug as far as Brest-Litowski, as well as of Cracow and Sandomir on
:the left bank of the Vistula. The Pilica, Vistula, and Bug thus formed the
;t)oundary of the new territory, which consisted of an area of 843 square miles
|vvith about a million inhabitants. The newly acquired province was united
;ivith the portion of Poland which had fallen to Austria in 1773, under the name
)f West Galicia, and constituted a single administrative district with two
capitals, Lemberg and Cracow. The oath of fealty was received in the foUow-
' ng year by Charles, prince of the empire and count of Auersperg, whom the
mperor deputed to represent him. The clergy and nobles sent plenipoten-
■ iaries to Cracow, and the commons and peasantry took the oath in the dis-
rict courts.^
i CAMPAIGNS OF 1795 AND 1796
I The first success gained by the French on the west was the taking of
l-iuxemburg (June 7th, 1795), after Bender had stood a siege of eight months.
|t was not until September that the French made a forward move, crossed
512 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1795-1796 A.D.]
the Rhine, and forced the Austrians to retire. Mannheim was treacherously
given up (September 20th), after Austrian reinforcements for the town had
been refused. The French could thus separate the two Austrian corps under
Clerfayt and Wurmser. Clerfayt, however, unfolded an energy and a skill
that astonished Europe. He hunted Jourdan back over the Rhine, after a
night march appeared before Mannheim (October 29th), which the French
believed they had made impregnable, and in six hours, with a loss of fifteen
hundred men, took the fortification by storm. Pichegru was forced back,
Kaiserslautern, Homburg, and Zweibriicken fell once more into Austrian
hands, and on November 21st the French garrison of Mannheim, consisting
of ten thousand men, submitted. An armistice was signed on January 1st,
1796, for five months. The Austrians now held the right bank from Bale
to the Sieg and a considerable piece on the left from Speier to Oberdiebach.
In Italy the Austrian command was given to Beaulieu, a distinguished
cavalry leader, but not the equal of Bonaparte, whose services to the conven-
tion had been rewarded by the lately instituted Directory with the command
in Italy. The Austrian plan was spoiled at the beginning by the skirmish of
Montenotte (April 12th), where Bonaparte separated Argenteau's troops
from the main body under Beaulieu. Provera with nine hundred men was
overcome by an overwhelming French force at Millesimo (April 14th), and
with equally overwhelming numbers Napoleon stormed Dego. The next day
(April 15th) it was taken back from Massena by a brilliant stroke of Major
Bukassovich and his Croatians. At two o'clock on the morrow, Massena
returned with reinforcements from Napoleon, attacked Dego from three sides,
and practically annihilated the Austrian troops there.
Beaulieu still hoped to make his connection with the Sardinian army, but
Bonaparte manoeuvred Colli still further back towards Turin (April 'l7th),
and the Sardinian king sent to ask the Austrian general what forces he had
at his disposal and what plans he had made. Perceiving that Victor Amadeus
was wavering in his alliance, Beaulieu determined to sacrifice his own line of
retreat in order to reinforce Colli; but, after a further move of Napoleon's,
the king requested an armistice (April 22nd), which Napoleon granted (April
24th), on the conditions fixed at Cherasco that the French should occupy
Ceva, Tortona, and Coni, fortified places of which Sardinia had refused the
occupation to her ally.
The defection of Sardinia changed the face of affairs. Napoleon, hitherto i
maintaining poorly supplied troops in a hostile country, and threatened in i
his rear, could turn the whole of an army, maintained at Sardinian cost, against i
this single enemy, who awaited his attack behind the Po. Napoleon was
enabled to win Lombardy, to occupy Milan, and to make peace with most of
the Italian states, after he had stormed the bridge at Lodi and crossed the
Adda (May 10th). Parma, Modena, Naples, and the papal states bought an
expensive and fragile armistice, Venice pretended an unarmed neutrality,
and secretly paid subsidies. The Austrians withdrew slowly to the T}to1,
keeping in their hands only Mantua.
Thugut did all he could to save the fall of Mantua. Wurmser was ordered
from the Rhine with twenty-five thousand men to succeed Beaulieu and a
good deal against his will, for his dream was the liberation of Alsace, his
home, he arrived in a month's time at Trent; at the end of June he relieved
Mantua, but, beaten at Castiglione (August 3rd), he had to withdraw into
the Tyrol and leave Mantua to the besiegers.
Now, it was Bonaparte's plan to join Moreau — who had been opposed to
Wurmser on the Rhine when the latter was called to Italy, and who had
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 513
[1796-1797 A.D.]
marched clown to the Danube — and to direct the combined army on Vienna.
To do this Wurmser had first to be incapacitated. After three weeks' restj
therefore, he moved up to find Wurmser; but at the same time the Austrian
general was moving down to make a second attempt to relieve Mantua.
Bonaparte reached Trent before he heard of Wurmser's march, and there was
nothing for it but to follow by forced marches. He caught him up on Sep-
tember 8th, but Wurmser continued to march to Mantua, overcame the
opposing French forces, and no decisive fighting occurred till September 15th
when Bonaparte had the advantage and forced Wurmser to take refuge with
■ his troops in Mantua. This uncalled for addition to the numbers shut up in
Mantua was a weakness rather than a strength, and the Spanish commander,
■ Canto d'Yrles, was persuaded only by Wurmser's extreme danger to receive
the new-comers.
Thugut and Wallis made another effort and despatched a third army,
chiefly of Croatians, under General Alvinzi, who had distinguished himself
in the Seven Years' War, in Turkey, and in the Netherlands. In the neigh-
bourhood of Verona, Alvinzi successfully opposed Bonaparte's attacks at
. Bassano (November 6th) and at Caldiero (November 12th), and on the 13th
: Bonaparte withdrew to Verona. The next night he left Verona secretly,
i crossed the Adige at Ronco, and threatened the Austrian flank and rear.
! For three days (15th, 16th, and 17th), the bridge over the stream Alpone at
Areola was the centre of desperate fighting which ended in a complete defeat
of the Austrians.
' In January a new army of sixty thousand men, chiefly recruits, was
sent over snow and mountain paths to strengthen Alvinzi for a fourth attack.
If he was to reach Mantua, it w^as first necessary to dislodge Joubert from his
' strong position on the heights of Rivoli. Skirmishing began on January 9th,
i 1797, and on the 14th Bonaparte arrived, reopened the decisive battle, which,
I at first favourable to the Austrians, ended in their entire defeat. Bonaparte
' pressed on from the victory to Mantua with what troops he could, and arrived
■ there on the 15th, to reinforce Serurier and the besieging army against a
^ combined attack from Mantua under Wurmser, and from without by an Aus-
trian division under Provera. Wurmser was flung back into Mantua and
; Provera's small force, surrounded on all sides, was forced to submit.
The troops in Mantua, sixteen thousand out of the original thirty thou-
I sand, had long been existing on quarter rations of salt horse. All hope of
' relief was over, and the key to the Austrian possessions in Italy was given
up on February 2nd, 1797. Five hundred cannon fell into the enemy's hands;
the garrison was allowed to withdraw to Austria under a promise to serve no
more in the war. As an especial honour Wurmser — contrary to the com-
I mands of the Directory — was allowed by Bonaparte a free march back with
I five hundred men and six light cannon. He died seven months later in Vienna
with the word "Alsace" upon his lips.
I THE FIRST CAMPAIGN OF THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES (1797 A.D.)
I _ We must now return to the Rhine and to the achievements of the most
' interesting Austrian figure during the wars against Napoleon — the archduke
'Charles. At the beginning of the year 1796 the successful Clerfayt, owing to
j disagreements with the war office and with Thugut, had resigned his com-
Imand, and the archduke Charles — the third son of Leopold and twenty-five
! years old at this time — took over the direction of the lower Rhine army of
'70,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry, against Jourdan with his Maas-Sambre
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2l,
514 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1796-1797 A.D.]
army of 65,000 infantry and 11,000 cavalry; while Wurmser commanded the
upper Rhine army of 60,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry, against Moreau with
a Rhine and Moselle army of 70,000. Before the campaign was opened,
however, Wurmser, as we have seen, was summoned to Italy.
The Rhine campaign of 1796 began after the expiration of the armistice,
on June 1st. Jourdan and Kleber successfully crossed the Rhine; but their
engagements with Kray and the archduke Charles necessitated withdrawal,
and by June 21st the French were in their old positions. Archduke Charles,
leaving Wartensleben behind, marched into the upper Rhine valley to oppose
Moreau, but he failed to stop the enemy's march against Swabia in the engage-
ment at Malsch (July 9th), and withdrew to Pforzheim in order to hold the
passage of the upper Neckar at Cannstatt and Esslingen.
The archduke now conceived the plan of contesting every point with the
advancing ]\Ioreau without letting himself into a decisive battle, falling back
step by step until occasion arose to make a junction with Wartensleben, who
was to retreat in the same manner before Jourdan with his Maas-Sambre
army. Wartensleben, an officer of the old school, in whose eyes the loss of
magazines or the failure to cover a bit of territory was the worst possible
offence against military art, clung to the notion of covering Bohemia, and
was forced only by Jourdan's blunders to carry out, unintentionally, his,
part in the archduke's plan. Having retreated, fighting, as far as Donau-
worth, Charles forced the enemy's right wing under Bernadotte to fall back
(August 22nd), and fell upon Jourdan's centre while Wartensleben attacked
it from the Raab (August 24th). Jourdan retreated, followed by Charles,
who refused to lessen his strength by supporting Latour on the Danube, and
at Wiirzburg Jourdan was well beaten by Charles, Wartensleben, and Kray
(September 3rd).
On the 16th he was forced back from Limburg, and by the end of the
month the French were almost entirely on the left bank again, and Charles, j
leaving Jourdan, could march to the upper Rhine whither Moreau had with-
drawn: for Moreau, whom Latour had failed to hold up at Friedberg, found j
his advance impossible, now that Jourdan was out of the way, although he j
had got far into Bavaria and made with that kingdom the armistice of Pfaff- ?
enhofen, by which he had the whole country and a subsidy of 10,000 livres at
his disposal. He therefore determined to withdraw, and aided by Saint-
Cyr made a splendid retreat, opposed not very brilliantly by Latour and
Naundorff. Arrived in the Breisgau, however, Moreau did not at once cross
to the left bank, but turned to Kehl against Charles, who was coming back
from the pursuit of Jourdan. Moreau was beaten at Emmendingen (October
20th), and by the 25th his forces were all on the left bank. On the right bank,
the French now had only Kehl and Hiiningen commanding the passage of the .
Rhine, and in order to retain these positions, which they could have rendered |
impregnable, they offered an armistice. It was not accepted and DesaLx
delivered up Kelil on January 9th, 1797, and Hiiningen capitulated February
2nd.
Such was the first campaign made by the archduke Charles as commander-
in-chief, at a time when Baden, Wiirtemberg, and the Swabian and Franconian
circles were concluding an armistice with Moreau, paying a subsidy between
them of 31,000,000 li\Tes and withdrawing some ten thousand men from
Charles' army. The money paid amounted to five times the amount which they
had been unable to contribute for the defence of the empire. Meanwhile
Prussia fell upon the imperial city of Nuremberg, which she would gladly have
devoured; and on August 5th was signed a new treaty with France.^
THE FALL OE THE EMPIEE 515
[ca. 1797 A.D.]
PERSONALITIES AND CLIQUES IN THE NINETIES
The young emperor Francis had not a firm enough will to reconcile and
arrange the extremely diverse elements at work. The emperor, indeed, felt
throughout the necessity of a guiding hand, and leaned upon his tutor,
Thugut's friend CoUoredo, as his brother, the grand duke of Tuscany, leaned
on Manfredini, At the same time the emperor did not hesitate to consult
men of the most opposite opinions. He let himself be easily confused, swayed
in resolve, and diverted from his purpose. Indeed he was even accustomed in
such cases unconsciously to make statements opposed to the policy of his
ministers, and naturally exploited by his enemies for their own purposes.
Colloredo would then at all costs smooth matters over, and, generally speak-
ing, Francis would abide by a system once adopted. But such a state of
affairs had most prejudicial effects. Endless talk and argument ensued that
only served to bewilder everybody concerned; everyone was encouraged in
intrigue, a hundred trifles happened which stultified intentions of the govern-
ment and which often had far-reaching consequences; everyone believed that
the ministers, particularly Thugut, could be trifled with, and that he could
presume unpunished on the goodness and clemency of the emperor.
If the youth of the emperor Francis had fallen in quiet times, or if it had
shown good results, a government possessing authority at least to a certain
degree would soon have been established. The exact reverse of this happened.
Great excitement had already been produced by the second partition of Poland
and the change in the ministry of 1793. Wurmser's defeat in the late autumn
of 1793 raised a great storm of opposition to this good man, and, indirectly,
to his patron, Thugut.
The loss of Belgium threw everything into a ferment. Waldeck was
blamed and still more was Thugut. The numerous nobility of the Nether-
lands, particularly those who were in Austrian pay, had, ever since their
country was lost to Austria, organised an opposition to Thugut and now
threw the responsibility of everything on him. Those families among the
Austrian nobility, who were nearly connected by relationship or otherwise
' with the Netherlands, as for instance the Starhemberg and Trauttmansdorft'
families, joined them. At the head of them aU stood that Trauttmansdorff
, who had won so few laurels in the Netherlands in Joseph's time, and who,
; now that he was chancellor of the Netherlands, could not forget that Thugut
! had desired to do away with the Netherland chancellorship, and not even to
pension its ex-officials.
At the same time, incomprehensible as it sounds, there was a fairly wide-
' spread Prussian party. Lacy, Mack, and later Rosenberg all belonged to it.
Without being aware of it, this party was constantly attacked and slandered
and bribes were dangled before its members by Lucchesini. They allowed
■ themselves to be led by the Sardinian ambassador, consulting the interests of
, Sardinia far more than those of Austria. Besides, they were intimately con-
: nected with Manfredini, and Lucchesini was not far distant.
Finally, and more important than all else, there was a party of revolution-
aries whose ranks were steadily being swelled by the country's want of success
and who would not hear of war against France, or of the new ideas. This
party was recruited in great measure from the illuminati and freemasons,
; people who hated Thugut, because he was an enemy to these societies. The
iyoung count Perger, son of the minister of police, who was sent to England on
business connected with the loan, said quite openly when he was there that
516 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[ca. 1797 A.D.]
the emperor iiuist he compelled to put an end to a war which was condemned
by freemasons all over the world. To these insurgents belonged also the more
opinionated followers of Joseph's reform measures, the school educated by
him; and, with these, the Prussian party naturally w^ent hand in hand. In
most cases, as in Germany, the friends of Prussia w^ere at that time also the
friends of France. Still there remained elements which were in closer and
more direct relationship to France and French ideas than the Josephites and
Fredericians, and there was not the least doubt that with these, too, bribery
had been busy. During the Belgian campaign of 1794 it had always been
recognised that there were traitors in the imperial army, who betrayed plans
to the French, and endeavoured to make use of their knowledge in other ways.
Thugut shared these suspicions, and even Witzleben joined in them.
General Fischer of the imperial force was especially suspected, but he was not
the only one. In 1794, even before the defeat, there was already talk of a
Jacobin clique in the camp ; and it is certain that a revolutionary temper or
something akin to it was to be discovered spasmodically in all classes.
Thoroughly to explain the position in which poor Thugut stood in relation
to all these inimical elements, one must again remind oneself that he was a man
risen from the ranks and quite without the pale of the reigning aristocracy.
He lived, indeed, in too constricted an environment. As near relations, the old
bachelor had only a brother, a young subaltern, whom he dared not even
promote; the office in the chancery was his home, his whole existence — he
was accustomed to remain there every evening till quite late. Even in the
imperial family Thugut had no support. The older members like the arch-
duchess Maria Christina and her husband, the elector of Cologne, and the
archduke Ferdinand, installed in Milan as viceroy, all found themselves in a
Fronde-like attitude towards the young court. Thugut had no liking for
them, finding them, in contrast to their great mother, narrow-minded and
narrow-hearted; moreover he found himself constantly thwarted by their
influence, and, as he maintained, by their intrigues.
Most of the emperor's brothers were too young to have any weight. The
grand duke of Tuscany, as we have seen, worked against Thugut in the most
aggressive fashion. The archduke Charles, as conquering hero and adopted
son of the archduchess Maria Christina, was the only one of any great impor-
tance, but the relations between him and Thugut had become very strained.
He belonged to Lacy's peace-party, and wanted to subject the army, in the
first place, and the state subsequently, to something like a radical reformation
before he could regard Austria as being ready to try conclusions with the
Revolution. As the archduke Charles had command of the army in Germany
in 1795, we must pause a moment to consider his position.
PERSONAL TRAITS OF ARCHDUKE CHARLES
In the first place he was a thorough Habsburg. Let us see what Varn-
hagen von Ense says of the personal impression which the archduke made upon
him thirteen years later, in camp, in the year 1809 : " I heard hmi that first
morning," said he, "from my window, devoting an hour to the muses, impro-
vising on a piano, upon which instrument he was a master of technique.
Shortly afterwards he went out, mounted his horse, made the round of the
camp, and on returning took exercise on foot. His appearance was pleasant
and prepossessing. He looked like a brave and honest man of kindly disposi-
tion, who inspired confidence but who could also make himself both feared
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 517
[ca. 1797 A.D.]
and respected; for his glance in the field was instinct with power and the habit
of command, whilst his usually friendly expression denoted earnestness and
dignity.
" His small, delicate figure was not lacking in the necessary strength and
muscularity ; warfare with its attendant strain and rude manner of life had
not been able to deprive his movements of a certain refinement and grace.
The most striking characteristic in the archduke was, however, the entire
simplicity and naturalness of his manner and the complete absence of any-
thing artificial or constrained; from the lassitude of many of his movements
one would have suspected, at times, a want of force ; but the heroic fire of his
eyes flashed forth a refutation of that idea. His unshaken courage, which
always showed the example of self-denial and self-sacrifice, his kindly solici-
tude, his just and steadfast mind, as well as the reputation of his earlier feats
and victories, had earned him the devoted love of his soldiers; the officers
were ardently attached to him, the men thoroughly devoted; wherever he
appeared, he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers."
There is no doubt that the archduke was a great and influential personage,
gentle and benevolent as was ever a Habsburg, mentally gifted and possessing
a serious and noble nature. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and the arch-
duchess Maria Christina adopted him, and the education these excellent people
afforded him developed his qualities in a singularly happy manner. His
;^ whole character was imbued with fitting earnestness. Unfortunately, how-
ever, the dark side of the Habsburg nature was not wanting, was even unusu-
ally marked in his case. Like his father he was physically delicate and often
ailing. He possessed almost no power of initiative. As Perthes remarked,
it is extraordinary that in the first paragraphs of the Laws of Military Science
he should declare war to be the greatest misfortune that can befall a state.
Niebuhr says of him: ''He felt none of the actual joys of battle; he
[regarded it as a game of chess and enjoyed arranging the figures, but on the
! day of action he had no pleasure in fighting, although he had courage enough.
'; A great general should go into the field as to a dance ; all his faculties ought to
, be multiplied from sheer delight in fighting ; but Archduke Charles remained
calm and would always have preferred to settle matters by manoeuvres
■ rather than by blows ; he attempted to win the day in the same manner as one
'solves a difficult problem; that being solved, he would turn to another: the
'; practice of following up a victory with all his might was repugnant to his
'; nature."
i Suvarov called him "general of the defensive." Clausewitz describes him
;as a "geographical general." "He has not," said Clausewitz, "the quick
I courage and prompt pleasure of the soldier — he never seizes his sword in
',both hands and rushes upon the enemy, and he never makes an attack into
a festivity; he is lacking in the spirit of enterprise and thirst for conquest."
All professional soldiers are of the same opinion — that the archduke
Charles lacked resolution, and so fell short of being a general of the first rank,
if he had possessed this, he would perhaps have been second to none; but,
Jas it was, he is to be ranked only among those who come next in history to
;the very first. This is the fate of his house, the fate tjiat has dogged the
■steps of all Habsburgs. In 1800 his conduct was most remarkable. Later
DH the archduke tried to postpone the war. In 1805 he had to be set on one
jside, when war was decided upon. At that time Gentz was his most violent
ppponent, and imputed to him the meanest of motives, the most corrupt
resolutions. How he conducted himself in 1794 we have already seen. Want
!)f confidence in himself and in Austria hampered him at every important
518 THE HOLY EOMAN" EMPIRE
[ca. 1797 A. D.]
crisis. What he said, in one of his mihtary memoranda, of the German
generals — that they were inactive because they were puzzled — was true of
himself. He lived in a perpetual state of feud with Thugut. To submit him-
self to the latter's strategical plans was all the more distasteful to him in that
he, the oldest of the emperor's brothers now living in Germany, held so bril-
liant a position in Austria, and was idolised by all the younger generation in
the army. By the mere fact of his youth he was necessarily placed in a
natural antagonism to almost all the generals. Besides, he had, even then,
the desire to reorganise the army completely, before it again departed upon
active service.
It is obvious how everything combined to drive the great soldiers pos-
sessed by Austria into the arms of the peace party. A certain liberalism
weighed even with the archduke as with his father. As he had admired
Napoleon more than he hated hun, just so he felt no real enmity toward the
Jacobins. He regarded his kingdom and its old formulas with a certain dis-
taste. The decisive years of his youth he had spent in the Netherlands and
in camp ; the army was home to him and, to the German way of thinking, he
appeared far more Austrian, far more a soldier than a German. The loss of
the Netherlands also produced a certain effect. This struggle for a conserva-
tive Europe, as Thugut designed it, did not chime in with the tone of his
ideas. His thoughts were predominantly military and, curiously enough,
this very military cast of his mind was his chief deterrent from action. The
difference between him and Stadion w^as perfectly evident in 1809. Only
when in actual battle was he stirred by the joy of fighting. Like all his race
he was distinguished for a mixture of high courage and cold-bloodedness.
Riihle von Lilienstern writes of him: "The archduke hurried to the posi-
tion of greatest danger, exposed himself recklessly, and immediately engaged
in a single-handed conflict." Another says of him: "One saw on the battle-
field that he cared nothing for death and dangers; his whole personality
became more impressive, and his soldiers looked up to him with pride and
confidence. If, after long survey, he called, 'My horse!' (he used, when obliged
to stand still for long, generally to dismount) one might be quite certain that
things were going badly, and could make sure that he would rush to where an
accession of strength was needed, in order to restore the balance and compel
good fortune. Not his the ruling principle that a commander-in-chief ought at
least to avoid the whirlpool of the conflict, and not to expose himself to gun-
shots. To seize a flag and show the disheartened or wavering troops the
road to glory, or to drive back isolated deserters at the sword's point when he
saw them influencing the masses, were actions which, performed by him on
occasion, did not fail of their effect. His presence had a visible effect on the
courage of the troops, whose confidence he possessed in a high degree." If
we may compare the warrior with the statesman, the archduke reminds us
again in such moments of Thugut, opposed as the two were in all else. But
we are reminded most vividly of Charles V, who always gave his enemies an
advantage; who, prostrate with gout, followed his troops on a stretcher, but
who, on critical days, seemed to be cased in steel and iron and to be quite a
different creature; almost trembling with war-fever, he was a knightly hero
in the old sense of the word.
In the second half of the campaign of 1796, the archduke proved himself
a hero. But at its commencement he had certainly done his best to give the
enemy every advantage, with unusual success. That he seldom managed to
gather about him the right people — Gentz and Thugut are agreed as to this
— and that this immediate circle had considerable influence over him (it is
' THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 519
ca. 1797 A.D.]
!;rue the doughty Bellegarde was one of his nearest advisers) must also be
:aken into consideration.^
"From childhood until now," Charles said of himself at a later period,
'in my education, and in my far-reaching environment I have striven for
)ne unattained ideal of perfection in the fulfilment of duty; and in this course
[ have continued uninterruptedly. I have found it absolutely necessary to
;;ive precedence and true rights to my undivided heart, allowing it free room
I "or action, and in its decisions with regard to myself and others honouring its
/erdict in everything which is its prerogative, and abiding in all things by
I ts decisions. The elevation of good feeling to moral strength is more impor-
tant than the deepest insight into the essence of virtue."^
To this conception of his own character may be added two estimates of
Irchduke Charles from another quarter. ''Archduke Charles," Napoleon
;aid, " would doubtless have been the first general of his time, had not fate
)ut in his way hinderances which with all his talent he was unable to over-
i;ome." And again Napoleon said of him: " Here is one who will never bring
L word of blame upon his head. The man has a spirit of heroic cast, and a
leart from the golden age. He is a moral being; applied to a prince that
pithet embraces all things." Such an estimate, from such a source, is not to
)e taken lightly. We shall have some opportunities presently to estimate its
i'orrectness, for the archduke in a sense holds the destinies of Austria in his
lands. But before we take up again the narrative of military events, we must
liiake further study of the temper of the times, that we may understand the
Austrian attitude towards the French on the one hand, and towards the asso-
iated German principalities on the other .«
PUBLIC SENTIMENT IN AUSTRIA
I There were numerous German patriots in the army, who served the
jmperor because he was the emperor. It would none the less be difficult to
. rove that in the nineties there was a genuine imperial party either in Ger-
lany or in the German army. And circumstances fell out so unfortunately
,tiat even the imperial party, as far as such a thing existed, could scarcely
'enture to support Thugut. The imperials desired an understanding between
■rermany and Austria at any cost, and, therefore, were always inclined to
'lake too light of any obstacles in its way. Men such as Duke Albert and the
jrince of Coburg quarrelled with Thugut on this point : for, as above mentioned,
:■ is undeniable that Thugut was a thoroughgoing Austrian, as the phrase
,"as understood in Maria Theresa's time, and yet he found himself supported
'■.ill less by the Austrian particularists.
Gradually, people grew tired of the war as it dragged its weary length
,long, and they had had more than enough of losses and defeats. Already
I ley were sullen and disheartened in relation to the Dutch, calling them
iDgrateful and unworthy of such sacrifice. A similar way of thinking affected
'lem towards the empire when Austria was forsaken by every ally and
; specially by Prussia. This was the sorrowful reaction after what had taken
iiace within the empire. Austria must not sacrifice itself, it was felt, for this
Stithankful empire. In fact no allies of importance remained, with the excep-
jon of England. It could not go on its knees to England's gold, pull Eng-
ind's chestnuts out of the fire. It was clear that speeches and opinions such
1 5 these were rife, and that there were elements inimical to Austria in Ger-
jany, out of which the Germans manufactured their sharpest weapons, and
520 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1797 A.D.]
in this course they were confirmed by their own inaUenable belief that Austria
would do the same as Prussia.
The particularists in Germanj^ as in Austria overlooked or wished to over-
look the fact that Austria had become so intimately bound up with the Ger-
man Empire that it could not oppose that empire's interests without deadly
danger to itself. Thugut's greatest support was still in the people, the real
people of the German provinces. The antipathy towards France was deep-
rooted and instinctive there, whilst in Hungary there existed strong French
sympathies. The people of the German crown lands had rushed to the uni-
versal armament in 1797 with touching readiness for self-sacrifice. Still, in
1798 there was no mistaking the national hatred shown by the people of Vienna
toward France.* ^
THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES IN ITALY
Thus much understood as to the internal conditions at the heart of the
empire, we are prepared to take up once more the trend of military events.
The loss of Italy and the pacification in his rear made Bonaparte's march on
Vienna seem imminent. Archduke Charles was called from the Rhine to
oppose him, but the Italian forces of which Charles became generalissimo were
but the wreck of an army depressed by constant defeat, so that Bonaparte
cried: "Hitherto I have had troops without a general to oppose me; now I
have a general without troops." ^
After the fall of Mantua the archduke was called away to take over the
command in Italy. But it was all too late and the time had gone by for win-
ning great laurels here. It is nevertheless clear that in this decisive moment
the archduke behaved in an extraordinary manner. He regarded the whole
situation as hopeless, delayed doing anything, and, to the horror of Thugut,
came back to Vienna, to ask for orders from the emperor in person. Much
time was lost by all this, and the new differences between Thugut and the
archduke had a paralysing effect. Thugut was much displeased at the arch-
duke's desire to abandon the Tyrol, and later on he cast it in his face that his
hesitation was alone responsible for the misfortune which followed.
Only far to the east, at Tagliamento, were operations again resumed. As
is well known, Bonaparte was victorious (March 16th, 1797). The imperial
forces now marched back through the mountains to Carinthia. Thugut
asserted that the disorder was truly colossal. He repeated his eternal com-
plaint that everyone did as he pleased. At Tarvis another battle was fought
(March 3rd), and no doubt with much glory; but still the French were not to
be stopped. The archduke appears to have done little to avert misfortune.
At heart he was in favour of a peace, or at least of an armistice. The only
bright spot in this period is the people's rising in the Tyrol. Even the neigh-
bourhood of the Lake of Garda was invaded. It was not certain whether the
French line of retreat might not be threatened; Bonaparte was in any case a
long way from his own country. In Italy, too, there were many elements
which were prepared for a rising. Though the French were now again press-
ing on into Germany they were nevertheless divided from the Italian army by
wide tracts of country, and — which was the main point — Bonaparte had
not forty thousand men with him. If the organisation of the militia in the
archduchy and the lower Austrian provinces succeeded, it was still not impos-
' When the French ambassador, Bernadotte, hung the French tricolour out of his ^yindo^y,
the people regarded it as an insult, rushed into the hotel, and tore down the flag ; and this
action led to endless discussions with the French government, and finally to the breach in 1799.
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 521
[1795-1797 A.D.]
sible that the French might find themselves in serious danger, and as factions
had now arisen in France a discomfiture would have cost Napoleon probably
his life and certainly his career.
Thugut therefore did not yet give up the cause as lost. In Austria the
militia was organised, in Hungary the insurrecHo. At the same time Thugut
again turned his eyes towards Russia where the emperor Paul had been reign-
ing since the autumn of 1796. There exists the draft of a letter from the
emperor Francis to the emperor Paul, the humble expressions of which leave
no room to doubt the earnestness of the meaning. Neither at the embassy in
Berlin nor in Petersburg was there any information of an impending change in
Austrian policy. ''Thugut's triumph over the cabal," says Prince Reuss
(the ambassador at Berlin), ''means the same thing as the triumph of the
good cause over the French. May God," he added, "grant him the victory."
Thugut carried out the fulfilment of the imperial decision to quit Vienna, but
at the last moment a change for the worse took place.
Bonaparte again made offers of peace and on apparently very favourable
conditions; Austria was to receive compensation for the Netherlands and
eventually for Lombardy, at the expense of Venice. The Rhine was demanded
only in case Austria insisted on the retention of Milan. The whole was
couched in rather ambiguous terms, and at first Bonaparte's authority was
distrusted. Besides Thugut was unwilling to enter upon the negotiation
because under no circumstances did he wish to break with England and con-
clude a separate peace. Had Thugut been emperor matters would have been
allowed to come to extremes. But the court now lost courage. It was above
all the Neapolitan influence which made itself felt in this decisive crisis. The
empress was a princess of Naples and moreover the queen of Naples was the
emperor's aunt. In order to cover her own defection it was the desire at Naples
to win Austria to a peace. " It is with it as with women," said Thugut once in
reference to this Italian court; ''when one has fallen she tries to make the
others trip." In the year 1796 the ambassador Gallo had gone to Bale to con-
clude a definite peace. He requested leave from Vienna to sound the French
governm.ent on its intentions in behalf of Austria. The empress favoured the
plan. The emperor thought the matter of no consequence and gave permis-
sion; Gallo was now again in Vienna and labouring for an understanding
between Austria and France.
It cannot now be denied that the Austrian government had for a long time
had various designs on Dalmatia and Istria, over which it asserted ancient
rights of the crown of Hungary. Further, in order to win the favour of the
empress Catherine for the third partition of Poland, Austria had on the first
of January, 1795, concluded with her a secret treaty which became known only
in our day and by which prospects were opened up to her of acquisitions in
the Balkan Peninsula and in Istria, at the expense of the Porte on the one
hand and of Venice on the other. And these plans had drawn her eyes ever
more and more in the direction of Italy, to which Frederick the Great had
already wished to turn Austria's attention. Besides this, the restitution of
the western border of Piedmont in exchange for a French conquest had long
formed part of Thugut's plans, and since the legations had fallen into the
hands of France he had also striven after their acquisition; it was then only a
step further to meditate ceding them to Venice in exchange for a possession
on the mainland. The luckless republic came more and more into the fore-
ground of the design. There was some sense of right in the last century, but
it gradually became more and more perverted into a sense of dynastic rights.
Tuscany, Modena, Parma, Naples, and even Sardinia Thugut would not have
522 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE
[179&-1797 A.D.]
taken by force. But Venice was a republic, and the Polish Republic afforded
a recent precedent for the seizure of a commonwealth which was not the
hereditary property of a dynasty. Indeed it cannot be doubted that Thugut
was never opposed to compensation at the expense of Venice. He only shrank
from a complete annihilation of the republic and wished to surround the whole
business with the forms of legality. But he did not oppose the transaction and
he had now given up the idea of adding to the number of Austrian subjects.
But it was quite another question as to whether things of this kind should be
received from the hands of France or from these allies.
It would be quite another matter, moreover, if France were at the same
time to derive from it an enormous increase of territory and power. It would
be quite another matter if Austria were completely to relinquish the object of
the war and abandon her allies. Finally, it would be quite another matter if
the left bank of the Rhine also were actually to be delivered over to France.
In order to present the then existing situation in the right light, stress must be
laid on the fact that in the year 1796 Prussia too had taken a decided step.
A new treaty had been brought about between her and France wherein were
defined the spiritual principalities, which Prussia and the king's near relative
and ally, the hereditary stadholder of Holland, were to receive, if by the terms
of a general peace the dismemberment of the left bank of the Rhine and con-
sequently secularisation should be taken in hand. By this means Prussia
would be once more considerably extended. In Austria, however, some appre-
hension was excited lest the prince of Orange should receive the south German
bishoprics of Wiirzburg and Bamberg, and the Prussian influence thus again
be established and increased within the sphere of Austrian power.
Although we are only very imperfectly informed as to the details of what
took place at the court of Vienna in April, 1797, and even Vivenot's letters for
this period are very unsatisfactory and deficient, still it seems fairly clear that
at this decisive moment the emperor consulted others rather than those who
had hitherto been his chief advisers, and especially lent an ear to the empress
and to Gallo. Colloredo, a man of much consideration, declared that it was no
part of his business to undertake the responsibility for such matters. He was
too little informed on the question for that. Thugut received an express com-
mand to draw up instructions for the negotiations with Bonaparte. He sub-
mitted. How little it lay in his intention to bring about what now took place
is shown by the words which he wrote to his friend Dietrichstein a short time
afterwards: "What do you say to our famous peace? I have kept out of it
and still think the same as ever." When Hiiffer says that Thugut ought to
have given in his resignation, he has modern conditions too much before his
eyes, and forgets that it was open to Thugut to hope to restore matters to their
former footing at some future date.
In direct demonstration of the direction from which the wind blew for
peace, it was not an Austrian diplomat who was despatched to Bonaparte
but the Neapolitan Gallo, with whom an Austrian general was associated. It
was really this man who took matters out of the hands of Thugut and the court.
Gallo had handled the whole question of peace in the most superficial, feeble,
and hasty manner. And before all, as Thugut had all along feared, he had at
the same time worked for the cause of Naples and represented her interests.
Thus it happened that the preliminary Peace of Leoben (April 18th, 1797)
was brought to a conclusion at a moment when the French were only eighteen
miles from Vienna. Notwithstanding, the left bank of the Rhine had not been
sacrificed at Leoben. It is to Hiiffer that we are indebted for having pointed
this out; Gallo had certainly permitted a very bad wording to be employed.
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 523
[1797 A.D.]
But the sense, as Hiiffer indicates, can be only that Belgium and the neigh-
bouring territories may indeed be comprehended under the constitutional
borders, but not the left bank of the Rhine. Besides the Netherlands, Aus-
tria also abandoned Lombardy with the exception of Mantua, and was to be
compensated at the expense of Venice. The town of Venice itself, with the
islands, was to remain intact for the present. The emperor, to whom Thugut
referred everything, ratified the treaty. Austria, he declared at the same
time, must before all things gain time to collect her forces for the prosecution
of the war, and this was attained by this preliminary arrangement. Thus
before the actual peace was concluded, on the 17th of October, much time
was suffered to elapse.
THE PEACE OF CAMPO-FORMIO (OCTOBER 17TH, 1797)
Thugut was distracted about the peace. He became quite ill with excite-
ment. But it was the same as with the peace of 1809. Having once gone so
far it was difficult to stop short and recommence hostilities. This time, also,
the emperor confirmed the proceedings. Amongst the Vienna public, unfortu-
nately, there was now great rejoicing. Men congratulated one another in
boisterous fashion on the peace, of whose more regrettable provisions it must
be confessed that they were ignorant. "What completes my despair,"
Thugut exclaims, "is the disgraceful debasement of our Viennese, who are
wild with joy at the word 'peace' without once asking whether the conditions
are good or bad. No one troubles himself over the honour of the monarchy,
no one thinks what will have become of the monarchy in ten years' time, if only
he can rush about to masquerades to-day and eat his roast fowl in peace.
What can be one with such characters to make a stand against the energy of
a Bonaparte who defies all dangers with a smiling face? Peace — peace!
But where is it? I see no security for it in the treaty. If I have not been
deceived in my hasty perusal of it, I find in it no sort of safety for us; and its
execution which is hanging over us will perhaps bring about a new chain of
preliminaries — I have only glanced at the different articles in a superficial
way, and we shall have time enough to consider them and bitterly to lament
them. Meantime I know enough to put me into a fever." '^
By the Peace of Campo-Foraiio Austria lost 780 square miles in Belgium,
Lombardy, and the Breisgau, and gained 865 in Venice, Istria, and Dalmatia.
Francis suffered by it, therefore, not as Austrian sovereign but in his honour
as emperor. For in the secret articles he promised to use his influence, at the
approaching congress, that the left Rhine bank from Bale to Andernach should
be French. Damages for losses thus sustained were to be got from the right
bank, or by secularisation, and a secret article arranged that Austria was to
begin by having the archbishopric of Salzburg. As it was exactly upon such
ecclesiastical foundations that the existence of the empire really depended,
the emperor was hereby overturning the constitution, as he was, in the matter
' of the Rhine provinces, straitening the boundaries of the confederate state of
! which he was the head and defender. The Austrian Peace of Campo-Formio
: was, in fact, a sort of rejoinder to Prussia's Treaty of Bale : the king of Prussia
was the first to betray the empire for the interests of his own state ; in making
the Peace of Campo-Formio the head of the empire himself followed suit. The
i pressure and the shock from outside brought each of them to balance the
weight of the empire against their positions as great European powers; in
either case the scale of empire flew into the air. The Peace of Campo-Formio
and the Treaty of Bale go together, and the later of the two events is not prop-
524 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1797-1799 A.D.]
erly understood until it is looked upon in the light of the rivalry between Aus-
tria and Prussia. For instance, it was declared by one of the secret articles
that as the French Republic had no objection to giving Prussia back her pos-
sessions on the left bank, there was no new territory to be gained by the king
of Prussia in Germany.
Istria and Dalmatia submitted to Austrian rule in May, 1797, and thus
was fulfilled an old dream of Austrian policy. In Venice itself there was first
played the comedy of a plebiscite (May 12th); on January 18th, 1798, the
French cleared out with a rich booty, and the Austrians entered to receive
the oath of submission from the last of the doges, Lodovico Manin.
THE PEACE CONGRESS AT R AST ATT (179S-1799 A.D.)
Before the articles of the Treaty of Campo-Formio were known, the
emperor sent (November 1st) a decree to all the states of the empire to send
delegates to Rastatt to settle the terms of a lasting peace, '' on the basis of the
integrity of the empire." Napoleon appeared at Rastatt on November 26th
and left again directly he had arranged for the taking over of Mainz and of
other fortresses (December 1st). The complaints of the elector of Mainz on
the withdrawal of imperial troops were of course unavailing; on December
8th the city w^as formally given over to France by Austria, and on January
8th, 1798, the diet at Ratisbon confirmed the transfer. That was the first
achievement of the congress. The second was the giving over of the whole of
the left Rhine bank (March 9th, 1798), and the third was the approval (April
4th) of a comprehensive plan of secularisation. The whole procedure was
consummately characterised in a pamphlet entitled The Passion: "And it
came to pass that, as Bonaparte had finished, there gathered together the
high priests, the scribes, and Pharisees, in a city which was called Rastatt, and
held council how the}^ might take the empire by deceit and kill it. And the
empire saw that its hour was come and said: 'My soul is sad unto death.'
And the ecclesiastical princedom was sore troubled and said in the congress:
' \^erily, verily, woe unto you, there is one among you will betray me.' And
behold the Prussian court whispered in the ear of France, ' What will you give
me that I betray it to you? ' Bonaparte gave sentence on the empire: 'We
have a law, and according to the law must it die.' The Palatinate and Hesse-
Darmstadt answered: 'What has it done? I find no fault in it.' But the
emperor said, ' It is better that one die than that the whole people be ruined.'
And he gave it over to be scourged and crucified." Of the imperial army it is
said in the pamphlet: " They beat their breasts and turned back again."
The peace congress lasted on at Rastatt weeks after war had again broken
out. Lehrbach, representative of Francis as archduke, left March 11th, with-
out giving notice; on April 13th, the plenipotentiary of the emperor as
emperor. Count Franz Georg Karl Metternich, father of the more celebrated
chancellor, left, declaring only in general terms that the armistice was broken
and the place of meeting dangerous. The three French delegates were warned
by no official announcement, nor did the archduke Charles, as head of the army,
see that they were dismissed, although it was clear that their dealings in south
Germany could not be suffered in war time. The delegates themselves asked
Talleyrand for permission to withdraw. The answer was that they were to
hold out at Rastatt as long as possible and leave only under protest. Close to
Rastatt was stationed a Szekler regiment of hussars under Colonel Barbaczy.
Barbae zy held his command from General Gorger, Gorger held his from Baron
Kospoth, and Kospoth from the archduke Charles at headquarters.^
f THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 52.>
' [1799 A.D.]
THE RASTATT MURDER (1799 A.D.)
On the 22nd of April Barbaczy sent one of his officers with an escort of
three privates and a bugler to ride straight into the courtyard of the castle
of Rastatt and hand to the " directorial " freiherr von Albini a letter to say
that, under existing military conditions, when for the sake of their own
safety the military were compelled to patrol the town and its environs, he
could not give any consolatory assurances with regard to the safety of the
corps dij)lomatique ; because, after the recall of the imperial plenipotentiary,
Rastatt was no longer regarded as a place of congress. For the rest, unless
prevented by the exigencies of warfare, the Austrian soldiery would continue
to respect their personal inviolability. To the Germans the tone of this letter
appeared so unmistakable that on April 23rd, in spite of their friendly senti-
ments towards the French, such members of the peace commission as were
still there resolved, on Albini's motion to that effect, to terminate the session
and prepare to return home.
The French, however, still doubted whether the " extremity " which would
justify their departure had actually come, and it was the 25th before they
issued a note to the members of the commission still presen t, in which they
protested against what they stigmatised as a breach of international law,
and fixed the 28th of April for their departure. On the morning of that
day their eight travelling coaches stood in the courtyard of the castle laden
with baggage. They were persuaded by Albini's representations to defer
their departure until Barbaczy sent the assurances of the safety of the
ambassadors for which he had been asked the day before. Hour after hour
elapsed and no answer came from Gernsbach, and the officer who at length
made his appearance at Rastatt, at seven o'clock at night, brought a letter
from the colonel giving the ambassadors twenty-four hours to get out of
the town and to pass through the lines of the army, and expressing his
regret that they had displayed such lack of confidence in the respect that
would be paid to their personal inviolability. The colonel's letter was drawn
up in accordance with the archduke's commands of April 25th, which imposed
on him the duty of expelling French subjects in general, and these same
I ambassadors in particular, from the sphere of the army.
But Barbaczy had secret orders besides these. Among the records of
,the Austrian military archives, which Herr von Sybel was the first to
investigate, two remarkable documents have come to light. One of them
is the resume of a report from Colonel Barbaczy and runs:
April 18th.
i Colonel Barbaczy to General GOrger :
I Reports arrangements made and still to be made in consequence of secret orders concerning
! tte French ambassadors now preparing to take leave. At the same time inquires whether the
, escort of these ambassadors, consisting of Baden troops, is to receive hostile treatment.
The second is an autograph postscript appended by Major-General von
• Marveldt to a report made to the lieutenant-general (Austrian lieutenant-
1 field-marshal) Kospoth under date of this same 18th of April, and runs:
With reference to the letter of Lieutenant- Colonel Mayer received yesterday by courier,
General von Gorger has made such arrangements that if the Szekler hussars do not find the
; nest empty the business can hardly miscarry. If only this wish had been expressed a few
! days sooner !
I Late in the evening of the 28th of April proceedings were taken against
the French ambassadors in accordance with the secret orders hmted at m
626 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1799 A.D.]
these words. A detachment of sixty Szekler hussars under Captain Burk-
hard appeared before the gates of the town at the same time as the bearer
of Colonel Barbaczy's letter, armed with orders to let no person connected
with the congress pass out or in. According to Barbaczy's letter the day
of grace for the ambassadors' departure lasted till the evening of the 29th.
Debry, however, insisted that they should leave within the time appointed
by the ambassadors themselves, and the start was consequently made before
eight o'clock. At the gate, however, they found their exit barred by hus-
sars, and it was nearly ten before this obstacle was removed, and the pro-
cession of carriages, escorted by torches, at length passed out of the town
by the Rheinau gate.
They had barely gone two hundred paces before about sixty Szekler
hussars, who had lain in ambush by the Murg canal, galloped up to the
carriages, stopped them, and inquired after the French ministers. To the
question of whom he was driving and in which carriage Bonnier (the French
minister) was riding, the postilion of the first carriage replied that Bonnier
was in that immediately behind him, and that Jean Debry and the ladies of
his party were in his owm. The carriage was surrounded in a moment.
Debry handed his passport through the window, the paper w^as torn up,
he himself was dragged out of the carriage, robbed of his watch and money,
and, on answering the question "Are you Jean Debry?" in the affirmative,
was struck down by several sabre-thrusts. He rolled into the ditch by the
roadside and was left there for dead. Bonnier and Roberjot were next
interrogated in the same manner, dragged out of their carriages and cut
down, and both the carriages and corpses were plundered. No one was ill-
treated except the ambassadors; on the contrary, the coachmen and servants
were told that no harm would be done them, only Roberjot's valet declared
that his watch and money had been taken. The first news of the massacre
was brought to the Casino at Rastatt, where the diplomatists were still
assembled, a quarter of an hour later by Boccardi, the Ligurian ambassador, .
who had been in one of the hindmost carriages. The carriages were brought j
back to Rastatt that same night, and in the morning Jean Debry appeared, '
covered with blood, having crept out of the ditch and taken refuge in a !
wood, where he had saved himself by climbing a tree. On the afternoon of i
the 29th he, with his family and those of the tw^o murdered men, was driven ij
to Plittersdorf with a guard of Baden and imperial hussars and was not ij
left by his escort until he was on board the boat that was to take him across Ij
the Rhine. I
The certain and conclusive results at which investigators of the most j
diverse party views have unanimously arrived of late may be stated as fol- I
lows. The Szekler hussars had orders to stop the French ministers and to i
rob them of their papers. In the report which Dohm made and published J
in the name of the German ambassadors, there is no mention of the robbery.
We learn why not, from a letter WTitten by Count Solms-Laubach and dated
May 18th, 1799. In it he says : " It was a knotty and much debated ques-
tion whether we should mention the seizure of the papers or not. I was
one of those who wished to have this circumstance, which was undeniably
important, included in the narrative for the sake of having a complete record
of the matter; the omission of any mention of the fact was due to excess of
caution and the apprehension that the persons referred to in the papers might
be regarded with suspicion, as though compromised by such reference."
They certainly were not ordered to rob the ambassadors, still less to kill
them, but they cannot have been forbidden to do so, otherwise they could
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 527
[1798-1799 A.D.]
not have openly boasted of the deed, openly sold their booty, and never-
theless have got off without any punishment whatever.
The mere fact that an attack was made with intent to seize the ambassa-
dors' papers constituted a breach of international law, and to this offence
the perpetrators added a heinous and murderous crime by letting loose the
passions of a barbarous soldiery; and it presently appeared that the whole
proceeding had been absolutely futile, for when they ransacked the inter-
cepted archives of the embassy they found nothing that could be used
against Bavaria or could serve in any other way as a tardy justification of
the murder. The clamorous cry for vengeance which the Directory raised
over the crime of the 28th of April was drowned in the brazen clang of the
great war then raging in Switzerland and Italy. It was not reserved for the
most despicable government France has ever known to exploit the national
indignation for its own ends, and in after days the first consul had more
serious work to do than to demand satisfaction for the blood of the murdered
Jacobins of Rastatt.^
RHINE AXD ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS OF 1798 AND 1799
When the emperor informed the German Empire of the Peace of Campo-
Formio, his hearers had been profoundly touched by the declaration in the
articles of peace that the integrity of the German Empire was to form the
basis of the negotiations now inaugurated between that empire and France.
The deputies of the empire who assembled at Rastatt for the peace congress
were therefore not a little surprised when the imperial forces evacuated
Mainz, Phihppsburg, Konigstein, Ulm, Mannheim, Ingolstadt, and Wtirz-
burg, and when French troops surrounded Mainz and forced the few
electoral and imperial soldiers left there to capitulate. The evacuation of
these fortresses by the Austrians was the outcome of a secret convention
concluded by Napoleon with Count Cobenzl. The French deputies at Ras-
tatt declared that in consideration of the long duration of the war, and of
the expense entailed upon her to repel an unjustifiable attack, France
required that the negotiations should proceed on the basis of taking the
Rhine for the boundary between the two nations. It was clear that this
claim could not in the long run be resisted, but the question then arose as to
how to indemnify the princes of the empire who would lose by the cession of
the left bank of the Rhine.
Austria, with an eye to Prussia, to whom she had owed a grudge since
the Peace of Bale, made an agreement with France, to the effect that the
latter should restore to Prussia all her- possessions on the left bank of the
Rhine, thus leaving her without any claim to indemnification. Prussia, on
hearing of this arrangement, declared herself willing to resign all claim to
indemnification if Austria would likewise claim none for her losses on the
farther side of the Rhine. This meant, in other words, that Austria should
resign the Venetian Republic of which she had already taken possession.
Austria naturally refused to entertain this suggestion. At length the French
emissaries at Rastatt spoke the magic word " secularisation." They said in
io many words that the ecclesiastical property on the right bank of the
Rhine must be used to indemnify the princes of the empire who suffered
; esses on the left. The word had scarcely been spoken before the temporal
Drinces who had hitherto talked big about the integrity of the empire ceased
:o concern themselves about it altogether, and only strove to snatch, each
"or himself, as much church property as he could. The negotiations which
528 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1799 A.D.]
ensued lasted until the beginning of the next war, which presently broke
out between France and Austria. The French had beleaguered Ehrenbreit-
stein all through the time, and had forced the stronghold into surrender by
starving the imperial garrison. They blockaded Philippsburg and levied
contributions in money and in kind on the right bank of the Rhine exactly
as if they had been in an enemy's country.
Every thinking man must have felt assured that the Peace of Campo-
Formio was no more than a truce. The early renewal of hostilities was due
to various measures taken by the French Directory. The republic of Genoa
had been transformed by the Directory into the Ligurian Republic and made
entirely dependent upon France; Tuscany had been incorporated into the
Cisalpine Republic; so had Modena; and the states of the church had ceased
to exist. During a riot in Rome a French general, Duphot, was shot; where-
upon the French ambassador quitted the city and it was occupied by a body
of French soldiers under Berthier. Pope Pius VI was obliged to resign the
temporal sovereignty; he was carried off to Savona, and the states of the
church were transformed into the Roman Republic. The king of Sardinia,
under French coercion, resigned Piedmont, which was then united to France.
The king withdrew to Sardinia. Thus the whole of Italy with the exception
of Naples and the state of Venice was under the direct or indirect control of
the French. In Switzerland the Directory was likewise stirring up strife, the
existing form of government was overthrown, the Helvetic Republic was
organised and drawn into the French alliance.
Bernadottes Tricolour (1799 A.D.)
After the revolutionary attempts in Italy and Switzerland had proved
successful, Bernadotte, the French ambassador at Vienna, ventured upon
a step which contributed not a little to the breach between Austria and
France. He ran up the tricolour on the balcony of his hotel in the Wal- ,
beerstrasse. Crowds upon crowds immediately gathered in front of the house. I
Vienna was in a ferment; the flag was interpreted as an incentive to revolu- I
tion on the part of the ambassador, but Vienna had no motive for a revolution, li
When the throng increased and loud menacing cries rang out on all sides,
Bernadotte sent a note to Thugut and demanded protection. Sentries
promptly appeared and mounted guard at the gates of the palace. Count ij
Perger, chief of police, and a certain Count Dietrichstein, went to the ambas-
sador and requested him to take down the flag; and on his obstinate refusal
to do so Dietrichstein and Perger merely exhorted the mob to be quiet, and
then withdrew. The mob, however, was not quiet; stones flew in at the i
windows, and one determined fellow — Kappelbub by name, said to be a j
cobbler's apprentice — climbed up to the balcony and boldly hauled down <
the flag. The court, anxious to save the ambassador from actual ill-usage, i
now called out the military. With clamorous outcries of ''God save thelj
emperor! " the crowd dispersed and the tumult was at an end. The ambas-
sador haughtily demanded his passports, nor could he be induced to stay by
any expostulations. Thereupon the emperor had the whole proceeding put
on record and signed by his ministers, and gave information of it to all the
foreign ambassadors, who unanimously declared that the scene had been
caused by Bernadotte's own imprudence and that the Austrian government
had done its duty. This explanation was forwarded to Paris. Bernadotte
took his departure.
These occurrences were more than enough to make Austria determine
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 529
[1799 A.X>.]
upon war, and the emperor could no longer be an indifferent spectator of
the revolutionary aspirations of the Directory, which were a menace to the
whole of Europe. Moreover the occasion was more favourable than ever
before, for the Directory had sent forty thousand picked men to Egypt
under Napoleon, their ablest general, to conquer that country. Napoleon
had landed safely in Egypt; but the French fleet under Admiral Brueys,
which had accompanied him and was to keep communication open between
France and Egypt, had been completely destroyed by the English admiral,
Nelson, in the roadstead of Abukir, and Napoleon was consequently cut off
from his base. This defeat seemed a signal for a fresh outbreak of hostilities.
The Turks declared war against the French Republic, Austria concluded two
alliances, one with Naples, the other with Russia and England. The king of
Naples had appointed the Austrian general Mack to the command of his
troops, and began the war before Austria was ready, or the Russians had
arrived. The Neapolitans occupied Rome, but were soon afterwards twice
defeated by the French under Championnet. Mack retreated upon Naples,
the king took ship with his family for Palermo in Sicily; the viceroy, Prince
Pignatelli, was forced by a mutiny among the Neapolitan troops to conclude
an armistice with the French. Aggrieved at this, the lazzaroni of Naples
stirred up a general riot, which was directed in the first instance against
Mack. To escape the mob he was obliged to flee with his whole staff to the
French, who sent him to France as a prisoner of war. The French were
victorious over the lazzaroni; they occupied Naples and converted the
kingdom into the Parthenopean Republic — one ephemeral republic the
more.
The Russians had already got as far as Moravia when the French republic
declared that it would regard their entrance into Germany as a declaration
of war. The emperor returned no answer and hostilities broke out. The
belligerent parties acted upon the principle that the possession of mountain
ranges carried with it that of the adjacent plains, and that south Germany
md Italy must therefore be conquered in Switzerland. The armies were
accordingly disposed as follows:
The archduke Charles was in Bavaria with 54 battalions and 138 squad-
:"ons, that is with 54,000 foot and 24,000 horse. Hotze with 24,000 men
protected the frontiers of the Grisons and Vorarlberg, to the inviolability of
which the court of Vienna attached great importance; 44,000 foot and 2,600
!iorse were posted in the Inn valley and southern Tyrol, under the command
i)f Lieutenant-General Count Bellegarde. A third army of 82 battalions and
^^6 squadrons (64,000 foot and 11,000 horse) assembled on the Adige.
Pending the arrival of Suvarov, Lieutenant-General Baron Kray was at the
,iead of the whole army. The French were not nearly so numerous. The
irmy of the Danube, under Jourdan, amounted to 46,000 men; an army of
;)bservation, 48,000 strong, under Bernadotte, was to blockade Mannheim
.nd Philippsburg and to assist Jourdan by creating diversions. Massena
'?ith 30,000 men was told off to conquer the Grisons and the Tyrol. There
ji^ere also 50,000 men in Italy under Scherer, and 36,000 under Macdonald
;i Neapolitan territory.
The Austrians were attacked before they were ready. The Russians
/ere still on the march, the Italian army had not yet assembled, when the
i^ar in Switzerland began. Massena conquered the Grisons, advanced to
Ihe frontier of the Tyrol, and even penetrated through some of the passes
iito the province itself. But the defeat of Jourdan left his line of retreat
Inprotected, and he withdrew. The Austrians, glad to feel that the enemy
H. W. — VOL, XIV. 2M
530 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1799 A.D.]
was gone from the Tyrol, let him alone. Both armies awaited developments
in Germany and Italy.
Jourdan had marched across the Rhine, the archduke Charles had marched
to meet him. When the armies met Jourdan was defeated in a decisive battle
at Stockach (25th of March, 1799), of which defeat his retreat across the
Rhine was the consequence. The pursuit of the enemy brought the Aus-
trians close to Rastatt, where the peace congress was still sitting.
The Tyrol and Italy
Many things conspired to prevent the Austrians from following up their
victory./ Clausewitz ascribes their failure to do so to the personal character
of the archduke Charles.^ The situation does not call for much elucidation
[he says]. The archduke had it in his power to crush his opponent at any
moment, and did not do so, and the reason for this is to be found in himself
and, more particularly, in two characteristics. In the first place he was
deficient in enterprise and thirst for victory. In the second, though in other
respects a man of excellent judgment, he had, as has been said, in the main,
a radically false conception of strategy: he took the means for the end and
the end for the means. The destruction of the fighting-power of the enemy,
for which no effort is too great in war, had no place in his mind as an object
in itself — to him it existed only as a means for driving the enemy from this
point or that; while on the other hand he estimated success wholly and
solely as a matter of gaining certain lines and districts, which, after all, can
never be more than a means towards victory, that is, towards the annihila-
tion of the physical and moral strength of the enemy.?
It must be recalled, however, that the archduke fell ill, and was obliged
to give over the chief command temporarily to General Wallis; moreover,
the transport system was slow, clumsy, and ill-adapted to modern methods
of warfare, a circumstance which hampered the movements of the army.
The court of \^ienna judged an attack upon Switzerland below the Lake of
Constance too desperate an enterprise, and expressly stated that the main
operations were to be directed towards the Grisons with the Tyrol as a base, (
and, finally, Austria lacked the advantage of a single leader in command. '
The archduke, who was responsible for the defence of Swabia, Hotze, who
was responsible for that of Vorarlberg, and Bellegarde, who was responsible
for that of the Tyrol, pursued each his allotted task, but combined move-
ments could only be brought about by correspondence, which involved an \.
enormous waste of time.
Ultimately operations began with the Tyrol as base. Bellegarde occupied |
the Engadine. Proclamations were scattered broadcast through Switzerland, j
stating that the Austrians had no other desire than to restore the ancient
constitution. The Austrians subsequently conquered the Grisons, and Mas- •
sena was driven back across the Glatt. The archduke advanced upon Zurich.
The French were worsted and took up a position beyond the Aar and the
Limmat. The archduke took up a strong position opposite, and both armies
lapsed into inaction. The key to this proceeding is to be found in the sub-
joined note, sent by the emperor to the archduke:
" Since I purpose in the course of a few days to provide your dilection
{Euer Liebden) with more detailed instructions respecting the present situa-
tion and the measures hereafter to be taken, I will at present only briefly
signify to you that from this time forward until the arrival of the Russian
imperial corjps d^armee, under the command of General Korsakov, at the
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 531
[1790 A.D.]
Rhine, every iindertaking which your dilection may propose to engage with
my army connnitted to your charge, which does not combine the certain
prospect of success with the no less certain absence of danger to my forces,
is for the presert quite opposed to the best interests of my service. Your
dilection will therefore have to confine yourself to maintaining the advan-
tages already gained, and only under the aforesaid double condition avail
yourself of the opportunities offered by favourable circumstances, or by
grave mistakes on the part of the enemy, and your dilection must before all
things turn your attention to the matters herein prescribed, and to the main-
tenance of the army at its present strength." This note bore reference to
the events in Italy, to which we must now return.
Scherer, the French commander-in-chief, attacked without giving notice
of the commencement of hostilities, but was repulsed at Legnago by Lieu-
tenant-General Kray. At Verona the French were severely defeated, and
beat a retreat across the Mincio. Suvarov, whom the emperor Francis had
made an Austrian field-marshal, now entered Italy with his Russians and
took over the chief command. Mantua, Peschiera, and Ferrara were invested;
Mirandola fell. Scherer crossed the Adda and gave over his command to
General Moreau. The latter lost the battle of Cassano, in consequence of
which defeat Serurier's division was forced to surrender on the battle-
field. Suvarov entered Milan. Moreau crossed the Po, hoping to effect a
junction with Macdonald, who had hastened by forced marches from
Naples. Pizzighettone and Ferrara, the citadels of Milan and Peschiera,
surrendered to the Austrians; in many places the country-folk rose in arms
against the French, whose situation became more and more critical. Their
safety depended upon the junction of Moreau and Macdonald, and to prevent
this from taking place Suvarov marched against the latter and defeated him
in a three days' fight on the Trebbia.
The French were in an evil plight, Mantua surrendered to General Kray,
the citadel of Alessandria did likewise, and a Russo-Turkish fleet bombarded
A.ncona. No sooner had Mantua fallen than Suvarov continued his advance,
loubert had taken over the command, and a battle was fought at Novi;
loubert fell early in the fight; Moreau, who had left that morning, was
|iastily recalled, but could not save the day. The sequel of this battle was
:he conquest of Tortona.
I Dissension among the Allies
Brilliant as were the results of this campaign, many dissensions had
ilready arisen among the allies. England, whose subsidies gave her the
ight to a voice in the discussion of military operations, was afraid lest the
lussians should effect a permanent occupation of some Italian port, and
^vas therefore anxious that they should retire from the peninsula. Austria
et a high value on her conquests in Italy, and desired to enjoy undivided
possession of them and to secure for herself as large a share as possible in
he future. To this the presence of the Russians was an obstacle, for the
zar Paul was bent on restoring the old state of things in Italy, a wish incom-
latible with the designs of the court of Vienna. He also felt affronted
lecause, at the capitulation of Ancona, the French had surrendered to the
Lustrian general Frohlich only, with the remark that " the surrender was
lade to him and not to the barbarians "— an observation which Frohlich
ad let pass without comment.
! The Russians themselves did not care to remain in Italy, for not only
532 THE HOLY EOMAX EMPIEE j
[1799-1800 A.D.] I
was there constant friction between them and the Austrians, but Suvarovi
himself had many reasons for dissatisfaction. He had stipulated that he'
should take orders from none but the emperor Francis, and the whole of the j
Austrian army was under his command; nevertheless he found that the emperor !
sent to the Austrian generals orders at variance with those he himself gave. I
He was desirous of retiring from the command altogether, and was therefore i
glad when a scheme was propounded and found acceptance, by which the;
Austrians were to operate in Germany and Italy and the Russians in Switz- j
erland. The corps now advancing through Germany was destined for the)
Swiss operations, as well as the Russians in Italy. j
The archduke received orders to evacuate Switzerland, to leave one corps \
for the protection of south Germany, to go down the Rhine with the main!
body of his force, and there to take the offensive in support of the operations
of an English and Russian army in Holland. Pending the coming of Suvarov i
he left twenty-five thousand men under General Hotze with Korsakov in;
Switzerland, and started for Germany in conformity with his orders. He,
relieved Philippsburg, which the French had invested, and took Mannheim j
at the point of the sword. On this occasion the Austrians gave a rare proofs
of discipline. At their entry into Mannheim not a single soldier fell out ofi.
the ranks, nor was a single act of violence perpetrated. These exploits werel
brilliant indeed, but of no service to the Dutch expedition. This enterprise :
had nothing but ill-luck; twenty-six thousand English and seventeen thou-i
sand Russians had landed, but being defeated at Bergen-op-Zoom by Brunei
(September, 1799), after a series of purposeless engagements, they embarked ■
again and definitely abandoned the undertaking.
The issue of the campaign in Switzerland was equally unfortunate. Kor-i;
sakov was defeated by Massena at Zurich (this was the second battle of;'
Zurich), and the Austrians were driven out of the Linth valley; and this at
the very moment when Suvarov was marching out of Italy to join Korsakov.l
With lion-like courage he fought his way through and arrived safely ini
Germany. The Russians then evacuated Switzerland. Then began a series >
of bickerings; Suvarov refused a personal interview with the archduke, the.
Russians accused their allies of bad faith, and the czar Paul, exasperated by;
the disasters to his forces in Holland and Switzerland, sent his Russians'
home. The coaUtion was broken up. /
At the beginning of October we find the archduke Charles between the.;
Rhine and the sources of the Danube, at Donaueschingen, having left Mann-i;
heim on receipt of the news of Korsakov's defeat at Zurich. He made no,
effort to join the beaten Korsakov, although with him he might have dealtj
a decisive blow at Massena, and thus have put some enthusiasm into a cani-l
paign whose flatness, whose nightmare ineffectuality weighed heavy on this^
young man's conscience — for it must not be forgotten that the archdukeii
was at this time only twenty-five years old.«
In the following year, 1800, Bonaparte made preparations for a fresh
campaign against Austria, under circumstances similar to those of the first.
But this time he was more rapid in his movements and performed more
astonishing feats. Suddenly crossing the St. Bernard, he fell upon the Aus-j
trian flank. Genoa, garrisoned by Massena, had just been forced by famine^
to capitulate. Ten days afterwards, on the 14th of June, Bonaparte gained
such a decisive victory over Melas, the Austrian general, at Marengo that he
and the remainder of his army capitulated on the ensuing day. The whok
of Italy fell once more into the hands of the French. Moreau had, at the
same time, invaded Germany and defeated the Austrians under Kray ii
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 533
[1800-1804 A.D.]
several engagements, principally at Stockach and Meskireh, and again at
Biberach and Hochstadt, laid Swabia and Bavaria under contribution, and
taken Ratisbon, the seat of the diet. An armistice, negotiated by Kray,
was not recognised by the emperor, and he was replaced in his command by
the archduke John (not Charles), who was, on the 3rd of December, totally
routed by Moreau's manoeuvres during a violent snow-storm, at Hohen-
linden. A second Austrian army, despatched into Italy, was also defeated
by Brune on the Mincio. These disasters once more inclined Austria to
peace, which was concluded at Luneville, on the 9th of February, 1801.
The archduke Charles seized this opportunity to propose the most beneficial
reforms in the war administration, but was again treated with contempt.
In the ensuing year, 1802, England also concluded peace at Amiens.
The whole of the left bank of the Rhine was, on this occasion, ceded to
the French Republic. The petty republics, formerly established by France
in Italy, Switzerland, and Holland, were also renewed and were recognised
by the allied powers. The Cisalpine Republic was enlarged by the posses-
sions of the grand duke of Tuscany and of the duke of Modena, to whom
compensation in Germany was guaranteed. Suvarov's victories had, in the
autumn of 1799, rendered a conclave, on the death of the captive pope,
Pius VI, in France, possible, for the purpose of electing his successor, Pius
VII, who was acknowledged as such by Bonaparte, whose favour he pur-
, chased by expressing his approbation of the seizure of the property of the
; church during the French Revolution, and by declaring his readiness to agree
to the secularisation of church property, already determined upon, in
Germany, /
In May, 1803, war broke out between England and France, and France
occupied Hanover. In April, 1804, the duke d'Enghien was taken prisoner
in Baden, and shot by Bonaparte's orders at Vincennes. Although Russia
; suggested a protest in the imperial diet against the trespass upon the
territory of Baden, neither Austria nor Baden would take the initiative.
Early in May, Talleyrand informed the Austrian ambassador, Cobenzl, that
Bonaparte was about to declare himself emperor of the French. There
was no feeling against this move in Vienna, only it raised the question of the
I relative importance of the Austrian sovereign."
TW^O IMPERLIL TITLES
The purport of the overtures which Cobenzl was commissioned to make
was most friendly and accommodating. The conversion of the first magistracy
.into a hereditary office, so ran the despatch, was only the coping-stone of
'the great work which the first consul had consummated when with energetic
hands he destroyed the anarchistic and revolutionary ideas which, starting
in France, had threatened to subvert all Europe; and everyone must now
confess that to the man who accomplished this work must be confided also
'the preservation and strengthening of the new order of things. Only as
iregards the title to be assumed some objections were raised, and it was inti-
mated that no change in the equality of Austria and France could be suf-
fered. Cobenzl received at the same time the order to discover whether
any exception would be taken in Paris to the conversion of the iniperial
idignity into a hereditary title. It was indeed recognised that great difficul-
■ties would attend the execution of such a design, since the German diet would
Icertainly not lightly give its consent, or else would couple it with heavy con-
'ditions; whilst if Francis confined himself to assuming the title of emperor
534 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIRE
[1804 A.D.]
of Austria no one had a right to make an objection, for the court of Vienna
must be at hberty to follow the example of Russia and France.
The objections which were raised in Vienna about the question of the
title, with regard to etiquette and ceremonial, Talleyrand silenced with a
reference to a circular directed to the diplomatic representatives in which it
was said that the title of emperor would introduce no change into the ancient
diplomatic forms. Philip Cobenzl was of opinion that titles could not be of
secondary importance in matters of ceremonial and etiquette; it could not
be a matter of indifference to Austria if the rulers of France exchanged the
title of king for that of emperor. When Talleyrand responded that Francis
also was an emperor and Napoleon did not dispute the precedence with him,
Cobenzl had his answer in readiness that indeed this was the case, but as a
ruler of Austria he was only king of Hungary and Bohemia; as emperor he
bore the title only for himself and was not in a position to bequeath it to
his successors. And to the observation that the house of Austria would
always remain in possession of the imperial dignity, the Austrian represen-
tative replied that if that were so all difficulties would be removed, but it
was doubtful if, in view of the recent changes in Germany which had pro-
cured such preponderance for the Protestants on the occasion of a new elec-
tion, the majority of votes would be secured to the house of Austria. '' What
does it matter," caid Talleyrand, "what title the chief of the government
bears? One names himself emperor, another king; in America he is called
president. The nation has chosen the title of emperor, which is the most
appropriate to the power and greatness of France; Napoleon has assumed it
and cannot give it up."
Cobenzl at last admitted that it was now very difficult to find a way out
of the labyrinth; it would have been easy to come to an agreement if the
matter had been privately discussed earlier: still, Talleyrand might think it
over; he, Cobenzl, would do the same and perhaps they would yet find a
solution. Talleyrand asked what he meant and why he did not speak out if
there were anything concerning the matter in his despatch. Cobenzl denied
having received any instructions on this point; it had not yet been possible
to consider the whole affair thoroughly, but merely to give a hurried con-
sent to the conversion of the first magistracy into a hereditary office. Tal-
leyrand said in reply: "This will be a protracted business; time presses,
Napoleon will be displeased with this delay; he wishes everything to be set-
tled as quickly as possible. Every nation is justified in choosing for its
chief the title which it wishes to grant him."
Cobenzl continued to play his role in a masterly manner. He remarked,
as though the idea had only just been suggested to him by this speech, that
either Bonaparte must relinquish the name of emperor or else the house of
Austria also must make a permanent claim to the title. Talleyrand raised
no objection. "Good!" he said; "assume the title of emperor quite inde-
pendently of the empire. Bonaparte will have no objection to that."
Cobenzl, not content with this, demanded Napoleon's formal assent; two
days later he received it. " If Austria," so ran Napoleon's reply, " thinks
good either now or at any future time to assume the title of emperor, France
will not only make no opposition to this, but will even exert her influence to
obtain its recognition from the other powers; only the other relations, between
the king of Bohemia and Hungary and the king of France, must remain the
same as they were before." Champagny received orders to conclude a con-
vention, only it was not to appear as though France had lent herself to a
bargain in order to obtain recognition on the part of Austria.
THE FALL OF THE EMPIEE 535
[1804 A.D.]
In Vienna there was every reason to be pleased with the diplomatic talent
of the ambassador; nevertheless ,_ difficulties arose in the way of completing
the transaction. Champagny viewed the matter in a different light. At
first he would not concede that any grounds existed for refusing recogni-
tion, since the precedence of the emperor was guaranteed by the most solemn
engagements. Afterwards he went one step further. In case, he said, the
imperial throne of Germany should no longer belong to the ruler of Austria,
and the latter should assume the title of emperor of his hereditary states,
then the French government would recognise the new title, but until then
the engagements undertaken by the two courts ought to remain secret.
But in Vienna there was great dissatisfaction at this suggestion, and it was
urged that the recognition should be simultaneous, that Austria was now in
a position to demand from all the courts what they were conceding to France.
Champagny 's propositions were easily overruled; he contended that it would
be well if the number of emperors were limited to three; against which it was
pointed out that if, in the election of a new Roman emperor, the choice did
not fall on a member of the house of Lorraine and the latter had taken on
itself the imperial title independently of the German Empire, there would
then necessarily be four emperors.
As a matter of fact the circumstance that the instructions received by
Champagny were not in harmony with the sense of the statements made by
Talleyrand to Count Philip Cobenzl was regarded at Vienna as a cause for
rejoicing; time was thus gained in which to ascertain the views of the court
of St. Petersburg, and it was not necessary to come to a definite arrangement
before these had been received. It was not expected that Russia would
make any difficulties at the assumption of the imperial title by the ruler of
the Austrian house, but rather that the authorities at St. Petersburg would
demand, in return for the recognition of Napoleon's title, a price which it
I would be hard to grant. Three stipulations were expected: the evacuation
by the French troops of Hanover and Naples, and the provision of a suitable
province for Sardinia. From the beginning it was determined not to make
common cause with Russia in this. There was one point which the Austrian
statesmen had at heart: that was Italy, and they intended above all things
;to demand definite securities in this direction before the recognition of
ithe imperial title; they wished that the Russian statesmen might also be
, active in the same direction.
Meanwhile, Napoleon was already impatient at the long delay, and when
the Austrian reply was received in Paris Talleyrand did not dissemble his ill
liumor. '' Count Ludwig Cobenzl," he said to the latter's nephew, the Aus-
'trian ambassador, '' does not show his usual amount of amiability and his
3ustomary conciliatory spirit in negotiating. By what act will the German
emperor assume the title of emperor of Austria? Bonaparte has done this
because the nation has conferred it upon him; it was the result of a com-
mon wish and embodied in a law by the resolutions of the senate."
I ' Oh," said Philip Cobenzl, " we also have constitutional forms, we have cor-
porate bodies which represent the nation." How^ever, when Talleyrand
/•eported to Napoleon the decided wishes of the court of Vienna, Napoleon
iiade no difficulties and declared himself ready to recognise the emperor at
Dnce, and Talleyrand did not let slip the opportunity to mock at the
'double-emperor" Francis.
, On the 7th of August Champagny submitted a secret declaration, which
bontained the promise of an immediate recognition, so soon as Francis chose
':o assume the title of emperor of his hereditary provinces; three days after-
536 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIEE
[1803-1805 A.D.]
wards a great council was called in which the ministers, the archduke Charles,
the palatine of Hungary, Starhemberg, and several other great dignitaries
were assembled and in their presence Francis announced that he had assumed
the title of emperor of Austria. On the 11th of August he was proclaimed in
Austria, on the 15th day of the month the change was announced to the diplo-
matic corps. At the same time Philip Cobenzl received two new credentials.
The 14th of August was the day on which Philip Cobenzl received the
despatches which apprised him of the assumption of the imperial title. He
had now to endeavour to arrange that the mutual recognition should take
place at once. In an official note he informed the foreign minister, Talley-
rand, of the event, which was already published in all the newspapers and
had been announced at all the courts; according to this Francis now actu-
ally bore the title of emperor of Austria and was ready on his part to recog-
nise Napoleon's imperial title. In Paris the fact of the recognition of the
French Empire was published with all speed, and the business world received
the news so favourably that paper rose two per cent. The Spanish ambas-
sador called on Philip Cobenzl, and declared to him that his king also would
now adorn himself with the title of emperor of Spain and Mexico, to which
the Austrian ambassador raised no objection. Talleyrand delayed his reply
to Cobenzl's note until immediately before the departure of Napoleon for
Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), and the tenor of this answer, which had been pre-
viously communicated to him privately, was to the effect that he should
immediately present himself at Aachen to deliver his new credentials did
not arouse the least misgiving in the mind of the representative of Austria.
That Napoleon should choose the old German imperial city for his recep-
tion did not at all surprise him. He hastened to pack his trunks in order
to make his entry on the appointed day.*
THE THIRD COALITION AGAINST FRANCE (1805 A.D.)
When Thugut retired from office in September, 1800, his last word was
of the hopelessness of the Austrian situation. But even more hopeless than
the financial and military ruin with which Austria emerged from the war was
the attitude of a government that could imagine salvation only in foreign
politics and cast no eye inward. Francis himself, as minister of the interior
(for there was no other), showed that with all his industry and good inten-
tions he possessed none of the qualities which fit a man to rule a great state.
Only one man concerned himself with reform, and it can hardly be said that
the archduke Charles, as president of the council of war, improved either
the finances or the fighting strength of the empire. Peace at any price —
that was the only Austrian policy. It is true that Stadion, Austrian ambas-
sador to Russia, signed an agreement with Russia against France; but he
meant only to make sure of Russian and English help in case of an attack
from France. England and Russia, however, without consulting Austria,
made a compact (1805) against France which compromised Austria and
brought the near prospect of war, like a sudden thunder cloud, upon aston-
ished Vienna. Cobenzl, following the advice of archduke Charles, declared
that Austria could not possibly declare war till the spring of 1806. The
fighting force numbered at the moment forty thousand, and not a single
battery was complete. And behold, there appeared in that dark hour a
general who showed the troubled minister that in two months Austria could
put 235,000 into the field — his name was Mack. Archduke Charles fought
long against the proposal to place Mack at the head of the army; but on
THE FALL OF THE EMPIKE 537
[1805 A.D.]
April 22nd, 1805, Cobenzl got his way. Mack was given the post, and the
war was thereby decided.
Mack marched into Bavaria (September 8th), to find that the elector
was an ally, not of Austria but of Napoleon. He chose a remarkably strong
defensive position at Ulm. Well-informed of the enemy's movements, he mis-
read them all, feared for Bohemia when he should have feared for himself,
imagined that Bernadotte's movements were intended to draw him away
from Ulm, and that Napoleon's march in his rear (October 13th) was the
beginning of a general retreat. On the 14th, however, every general but
Mack saw that the cause was lost if an attempt was not made immediately
to break out to the left bank of the Danube before they were completely
surrounded. On the 15th, Mack received the first summons to submit, which
he answered by declaring the other generals traitors, for there were still horses
to eat. But on the morrow he condescended to treat, and on October 20th,
at three in the afternoon, the Austrians laid down their arms, to the number
of twenty thousand infantry, and three thousand cavalry. The catastrophe
at Ulm summoned Charles quickly out of Italy, and kept Prussia's sword
sheathed.
THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ (DECEMBER 2ND, 1805)
j Archduke Charles had been successful at Caldiero against Massena
(October 30th and 31st), when the news of Ulm necessitated a retreat into
Austria. Napoleon entered Vienna November 13th and 14th. Meanwhile
forces were gathering against him.«
The great Russian army under Kutusov appeared at this conjuncture in
Moravia. The czar Alexander I accompanied it in person, and the emperor
Francis II joined him with his remaining forces. A bloody engagement took
iplace between Kutusov and the French at Diirrenstein on the Danube, but,
,on the loss of Vienna, the Russians retired to Moravia. The sovereigns of
Austria and Russia loudly called upon Prussia to renounce her alliance with
France, and, in this decisive moment, to aid in the annihilation of a foe for
A^hose false friendship she would one day dearly pay. The violation of the
jPrussian territory by Bernadotte had furnished the Prussian king with a pre-
;:ext for suddenly declaring against Napoleon. The Prussian army was also
I n full force. The British and the Hanoverian legion had landed at Bremen
'md twenty thousand Russians on Riigen; ten thousand Swedes entered
lanover; electoral Hesse was also ready for action. The king of Prussia,
levertheless, merely confined himself to threats, in the hope of selling his
neutrality to Napoleon for Hanover and deceived the coalition. The emperor
Alexander visited Berlin in person for the purpose of rousing Prussia to war,
)ut had no sooner returned to Austria in order to rejoin his army than Count
:Iaugwitz, the Prussian minister, was despatched to Napoleon's camp with
iixpress instructions not to declare war. The famous battle in which the
|hree emperors of Christendom were present took place, meanwhile, at Aus-
icrlitz, not far from Briinn, on the 2nd of December, 1805, and terminated in
;ine of Napoleon's most glorious victories. This battle decided the policy of
Russia, and Haugwitz confirmed her alliance with France by a treaty, by
yhich Prussia ceded Cleves, Ansbach, and Neuchatel to France in exchange
|or Hanover. This treaty was published with a precipitation equalling that
j/ith which it had been concluded, and seven hundred Prussian vessels, whose
•aptains were ignorant o^ 1^^*^ event, were seized by the enraged English either
\i British harbours or on the So.:.
638 THE HOLY EOMAN EMPIEE
[1805-1806 A.D.]
THE PEACE OF PRESBURG (DECEMBER 26TH, 1805)
The peace concluded by Austria, on the 26th of December, at Presburg,
was purchased by her at an enormous sacrifice. Napoleon had, in the open-
ing of the campaign, when pressing onwards towards Austria, compelled
Charles Frederick, elector of Baden, Frederick, elector of Wiirtemberg, and
Maximilian Joseph, elector of Bavaria, to enter into his alliance, to which
they remained zealously true on account of the immense private advantages
thereby gained by them, and of the dread of being deprived by the haughty
victor of the whole of their possessions on the first symptom of opposition
on their part. Napoleon, with a view of binding them still more closely to
his interests by motives of gratitude, gave them on the present occasion an
ample share in the booty. Bavaria was erected into a kingdom, and received
from Prussia, Ansbach and Bayreuth; from Austria, the whole of the Tyrol,
Vorarlberg, and Lindau, the markgrafschaf t of Burgau, the dioceses of Passau,
Eichstadt, Trent, and Brixen, besides several petty lordships. Wiirtemberg
was raised to a monarchy and enriched with the bordering Austrian lordships
in Swabia. Baden was rewarded with the Breisgau, the Ortenau, Constance,
and the title of grand duke. Venice was included by Napoleon in his king-
dom of Italy, and, for all these losses, Austria was merely indemnified by the
possession of Salzburg. Ferdinand, elector of Salzburg, the former grand
duke of Tuscany, was transferred to Wiirzburg. Ferdinand of Modena lost
the whole of his possessions.
FRANCIS II ABDICATES THE IMPERIAL CROWN
On the 12th of July, 1806, sixteen princes of western Germany concluded,
under Napoleon's direction, a treaty, according to which they separated them-
selves from the German Empire and founded the so-called confederation of
the Rhine, which it was their intention to render subject to the supremacy
of the emperor of the French. On the 1st of August, Napoleon declared that
he no longer recognised the empire of Germany. No one ventured to oppose
his omnipotent voice. On the 6th of August, 1806, the emperor, Francis
II, abdicated the imperial crown of Germany and announced the dissolution
of the empire in a touching address, full of calm dignity and sorrow. The
last of the German emperors had shown himself, throughout the contest,
worthy of his great ancestors, and had, almost alone, sacrificed all in order
to preserve the honour of Germany, until, abandoned by the greater part of
the German princes, he was compelled to yield to a power superior to his.
The fall of the empire that had stood the storms of a thousand years, was,
however, not without dignity. A meaner hand might have levelled the
decayed fabric with the dust, but fate, that seemed to honour even the
faded majesty of the ancient csesars, selected Napoleon as the executioner of
her decrees. The standard of Charlemagne, the greatest hero of the first
Christian age, was to be profaned by no hand save that of the greatest hero
of modern times.
Ancient names, long venerated, now disappeared. The head of the Holy
Roman Empire w^as converted into an emperor of Austria, the electors into
kings or grand dukes, all of w^hom enjoyed unlimited sovereign power and
were free from subjection to the supremacy of the emperor. Every bond
of union was dissolved with the diet of the empire and with the imperial
chamber. The barons and counts of the empire and the petty princes were
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 539
[1806 A.D.]
mediatised; the princes of Hohenlohe, Ottingen, Schwarzenberg, Thurn and
Taxis, the Truchsess von Waldburg, Fiirstenberg, Fugger, Leiningen, Lowen-
stein, Solms, Hesse-Homburg, Wied-Runkel, and Orange-Fulda became sub-
ject to the neighbouring Rhemish confederated princes. Of the remaining
six imperial free cities, Augsburg and Nuremburg fell to Bavaria; Frankfort,
under the title of grand duchy, to the former elector of Mainz, who was again
transferred thither from Ratisbon. The ancient Hanse towns, Hamburg,
Lubeck, and Bremen, alone retained their freedom.
The Confederation of the Rhine now began its wretched existence. It was
established on the basis of the Helvetic Republic. The sixteen confederated
princes were to be completely independent and to exercise sovereign power
over the internal affairs of their states, like the Swiss cantons, but were, in
all foreign affairs, dependent upon Napoleon as their protector. The whole
Confederation of the Rhine became a part of the French Empire. The
federal assembly was to sit at Frankfort, and Dalberg, the former elector
of Mainz, now grand duke of Frankfort, was nominated by Napoleon,
under the title of prince primate, president. Napoleon's uncle, and after-
wards his stepson, Eugene Beauharnais, were his destined successors, by
which means the control was placed entirely in the hands of France. To
i this confederation there belonged two kings, those of Bavaria and Wiirtem-
berg, five grand dukes, those of Frankfort, Wiirzburg, Baden, Darmstadt,
and Berg, and ten princes, two of Nassau, two of Hohenzollern, two of Salm,
besides those of Arenberg, Isenburg, Lichtenstein, and Leyen. Every trace
of the ancient free constitution of Germany, her provincial estates, was
studiously annihilated. The Wiirtemberg estates, with a spirit worthy of
their ancient fame, alone made an energetic protest, by which they merely
succeeded in saving their honour, the king Frederick dissolving them by
force and closing their chamber. An absolute, despotic form of government,
'similar to that existing in France under Napoleon, was established in all the
confederated states. The murder of the unfortunate bookseller. Palm of
Nuremberg, who was, on the 25th of August, 1806, shot by Napoleon's order,
at Braunau, for nobly refusing to give up the author of a patriotic work
.published by him, directed against the rule of France, and entitled Germany
in her Deepest Degradation, furnished convincing proof, were any wanting,
of Napoleon's supremacy./
BKIEF KEFEREXCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS
(The letter " is reserved for Editorial Matter)
Chapter I. The Hohenstaufens (1125-1190 a.d.)
& F. KoHLRAuscH, History of Germany (translated by J. D. Haas). — <■}. G. Eccard,
Veterum monumentorum quaternio. — '^G. G. Leibxitius, Scriptores rerum Brunsvicensium.
— « W. Menzel, History of Germany from the Earliest Period to the Present Time (translated
by Miss G. Horrocks).
Chapter II. The Last of the Hohenstaufens
f'F. Kohlrausch, History of Germany. — '^Robert Comyn, History of the VTesiern
Empire. — '^Matthew de Paris, Historia Major Anglice. — « James Bryce, The Holy Roman
Empire. — /T. F. Henderson, article on Frederick II, in the Encyclopedia Brifannica. — ffJ.
L. A. Huillard-Breholles, Historia Diplomatica Friderici II. — ^ S. Malaspina, Res
Siculas. — »W. Menzel, History of Germany from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.
— •' C. T. Lewis, A History of Germany from' the Earliest Times. — '^J. V. Widmann.
Chapter III. A Review of the Empire
^Conkadus, Chronicon. — ''Chronicon Thuringicum. — f'S. A. Dunham, Europe During
the Middle Ages. — « Jules Zeller, Histoire d'Allemagne.
Chapter IV. The Readjustment of Germany (1273-1347 a.d.)
^Robert ComYy, History of the Weste7-n Empire. — '"Chronicles of Kolmar. — <*£.
Duller and W. Pierson, Geschichte des Deutschen Volks. — ^ ^Matthias of Neuenburg,
Chronicon. — /Chronicle of Heinrrch the Deaf. — » Johann von Victring (translated from
the German version of Walter Friedensburg). — ^ Charlton T. Lewis, History of Germany.
Chapter V. Charles IV to Sigismund III (1346-1437 a.d.)
''Robert Coyns, History of the Western Empire. — ''Bruno Gebhardt, Handhuch der
deutschen Geschichte. — ^^ W. Pierson, Geschichte des Deutschen Volks. — ''H. Prutz, Staaten
Geschichte des Abendlands. — /Karl Hagen. Deutsche Geschichte von Rudolf von Hahsburg
bis nuf die neueste Zeit. — c T. Lindner, Deutsche Geschichte. — ''Jules Zeller. Histoire
d' Allemagne. — »F. Palacky, Geschichte ton Bvhmen. — jG. V. Lechler, Johann Hus.—^'P-
de Mladenowich, Relatio de 3Iagistri J. Hus causa, in Palacky's Documenta ]\Iagistri J. Hus.
Prague, 1869. — 'M. Creiqhton, History of Papacy. — "« J. K. L. Gieseler, Kirchengeschichte.
— "E. WiNDECKE.— oR. Hallam, Tkt State of Europe During the Middle Ages.—i>K. G.
Lamprecht.
540
BRIEF EEFEEEXCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS 541
Chapter VI. Albert II, Frederick III, a>'d Maximilian I (1436-1519 a.d.)
& Bruno Gebharut, Handbuch der Deutschen Geschiclite. — f' Aeneas Sylvius, De rebus et
gestis Friderici III. — ^^J. Grunbeck, Historia Friderici III et Maximiliani I. — « L. vox
Ranke, The History of the Reformation.— f^. A. Dunham, The Oermanic Fmpire.— aW.
Coxe, History of the House of Austria.— '^3. S. Putter, Historische Ejitwickehmg der
heutigen Staatsverfassung des deutschen Reichs (Historical Development of the Political
Constitution of the Germanic Empire). — ' W. Menzel, History of Oermany. — fc L. von Ranke,
Weltgeschichie.— K\.. H. L. Heeren, Historical Treatises. The Political Consequences of the
Reformation, etc. — ™ Bayard Taylor, A History of Oermany.
Chapter VII. Charles V and the Reformation (1519-1546)
&F. Kohlrausch, Deutsche Geschiclite. — cj_ h. Merle d'Aubigne, Histoire de la Refor-
mation au IGe siecle. — <* J. G. A. Wirth, Geschichte der Beutscheyi. — « K. R. Hagenbach, History
of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerlatid chiefly (translated by E. Moore) . — •''H, Baum-
GARTEN, Geschichte Karls V. — ^F. von Schlegel, The Philosophy of History (translated by
J. B. Robertson). — '^J. K. L. Gieseler, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte. — 'J. H. Merle
d'Aubigne, History of the Reformation. — J'H. C. Lea, A Modern View of Tetzel. — *= J. K. L.
Gieseler, A Compendium of Ecclesiastical History (translated by John Winstanley Hull).
— 'C. Hardwicke, a History of the Christian Church inthe Iliddle Ages. — " A. Witzschell,
Lidhers Anfenthalt auf der Wartburg. — "Philip Schaff, article on "The Reformation" inthe
Religious Encyclopedia. — p M. Creighton, A History of the Papacy during the Period of the
Reformation. — ij. Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters.
— '■ H. G. Gauss, article on " Luther and his Protestant Biographers " in the American Catholic
Quarterly Revieiv.
Chapter VIII. A Dissolving Empire (1546-1618 a.d.)
«>F. Kohlrausch, Z)eM/sc^e Geschichte. — ''Karl Fischer, Geschichte der auswdrtigen
Politik und Diplomatie im Reformationszeitalter. — «S. A. Dunham, A History of the Germanic
Empire. — /Otto Kaemmel, Der Werdegang des deutschen Volkes. — 9 G. Winter, Geschichte
des dreissigjdhrigen Krieges, in Oncken's Allgemeine Geschichte in Einzeldarstellungen. — ''E.
P. Henderson, A Short History of Germany.
Chapter IX. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648 a.d.)
b Franz Keym, Geschichte des dreissigjdhrigen Krieges.— <^¥. Kohlrausch, Deutsche
Geschichte. — ''E. Duller and W. Pierson. Geschichte des deutschen Volks. — -fW. Menzel,
Geschichte der Detitschen. — ff Utterodt zu Schaffenberg, Ernest, Graf zu Mansfeld. — ^ J. C.
F. von Schiller, Geschichte des dreissigjdhrigen Krieges. — »G. Winter, Geschichte des
dreissigjdhrigen Krieges. — J H. Laube, Z>er deutsche Krieg. — *-■ F. C. Khevenhiller, Annates
Ferdinandei. — °W. Coxe, History of the House of Austria. — pG. Droysen, Gustaf Adolf.
— 9 Anton Gindely, History of the Thirty Years' War (translated by Andrew Ten Brook).
Chapter X, Neither Holy, nor Roman, nor Empire (1648-1748 a.d.)
''F. KouhKAVSCB,_ Deutsche Geschichte. — ''W. Menzel, History of Germany. — ''H.
' Meynert, Geschichte dsterreichs. — «A. Arneth, Geschichte Maria Theresias. — /J. Majlath,
. Geschichte des osterreicMschen Kaiserstaates. — " W. Coxe, History of the House of Austria.
I — ''J. SiME, History of Germany.
Chapter XI. The Later Years of Maria Theresa (1748-1780 a.d.)
t>A. Beer, Die osterreichische Politik in den Jahren 1756.— "Ij. von Ranke, Der
; Ursprung des siebenjdhrigen Krieges. — <* J. Majlath, Gedrangte Geschichte des osterreichischen
' Kaiserstaates.— « L. voN Ranke, Zur Geschichte von Osterreich imd Pretissen zwischen den
Friedensschlussen von Aachen und Hubertusburg. — ff A. Wolf, Osterreich unter 3faria
Theresia, Joseph II, und Leopold II. — ''A. Arneth, Geschichte Maria Theresias. — ^ J.
' Majlath, Geschichte des osterreichischen Kaiserstaates.
542 THE HOLY ROMAN" EMPIRE
Chapter XII. Joseph the Enlightened (1780-1790 a.d.)
«A. Wolf, Oesterreich unter Maria Theresias, Joseph II, und Leopold II. — ^A. Jager,
Joseph II und Leopold II, in Osterreichische Geschichte fur dasVolk. — 3 W. CoxE, History of
the House of Austria. — '' W. Menzel, History of Germany.
Chapter XIII. The Fall op the Empire (1790-1806 a.d.)
'' H. VON Sybel, Historische Zeitschrift. — '"K. Werner, Kaiser Franz 1792-1803 {m
Osterreichische Geschichte fur das Volk. — f* H. Lanqwerth von Simmern, Osterreich und das
Reich im Kampfe mit der Frarizl'isisclien Revolution von 1790 bis 1797. — ^W. Oncken,
Das Zeitalter der Revolution, des KaiserreicJies ^ind der Befreiungskriege. — -^J. Majlath,
Geschichte des osterreichischen Kaiserstaates. — s'C. von Clausewitz, Hi^itergelassene Werke
uber Krieg und Kriegfilhrung. — » A. Beer, Zehn Jahre osterreichischer Politik 1801-1810.
— iW. Menzkl, Geschichte der Deutschen. — '^ Archduke Charles op Austria, J.ws5re!m/iZ<e
Schriften. — 'Adam Wolf, Osterreich tmter Jfaria Tlieresia, Joseph II, und Leopold II.
— "'Adam Wolf, Geschichtliche Bilder aus Osterreich. — "Ernest F. Henderson, A Short
History of Germany.
BOOK II
THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
INTRODUCTION
In the final chapter of the preceding book we witnessed the nominal
overthrow of the Holy Roman Empire. On August 6th, 1806, as we saw,
Francis II, acting under the mandate of Napoleon, formally resigned the
imperial crown. We have seen that for a long time the empire occupied a
somewhat anomalous position, yet the traditions associated with the name
had a certain power to the last. We shall see that efforts were made at a
later day to revive the imperial title, but that these efforts never culminated
in success. The abdication of Francis II, then, marked the final overthrow
of the old empire. Francis retained the title " emperor of Austria." As we
know, the house of Austria had long been dominant in the empire, and it is
natural that in a sense the modern empire of Austria-Hungary should be
regarded as the lineal descendant of the old empire.
Yet there were certain conditions prevalent that made the interests of
Austria divergent from those of the other principalities of the empire, and
some of these must now command our attention before we take up again
the story of Germanic development. Let us then consider very briefly an
outline of the Austrian retrospect, and, with equal briefness consider the
conglomerate nations that, combined with the Austrians, make up the
latter-day Austro-Hungarian Empire."
THE AUSTRIAN RETROSPECT
There was a time when it was the fashion to write Austrian history and to
draw the map of Austria without the slightest reference to the relations
between that country and neighbouring states. Austria was in a manner
cut out of the panorama of Europe, and gummed by itself upon a blank
background. The folly of this proceeding avenged itself in two ways: m
the first place, being unnatural, it led to false conceptions of the development
and character (historical and geographical) of the country ; and in the second,
it was no less harmful for practical purposes, since it severed the countless
threads, the rich network of arteries, which secure Austria in her place as a
living member of Europe as a political organism, just as her physical config-
uration forms an important feature of the varied surface of the European
continent.
In history- as ui map-making the contrary spirit is now increasingly and
rightly prevalent. We take more and more careful account of states con-
tiguous to Austria and organically connected with her; we strive to establish
links where former historians were quick to mark a cleavage. In dealing with
a state which presents so many frontiers for contact with others, ours is the
wiser method.
543
544 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGARY
From an historical point of view the nucleus of the Austro-Hungarian
state is a steadily growing conglomeration of German provinces of the empire,
which, remote from the centre of imperial authority, and obeymg the general
tendency towards the formation of dynastic territories, attained political
autonomy relatively early, as compared with the electoral provinces in Ger-
many itself. The bulk of the population was of the main German stock,
the Bavarians being most largely represented, and next to them the Swabians;
the several provinces were originally portions of the great Boyar dukedom,
and the oldest territorial rights in the Austrian highlands bring them into
relation with the whole of south Germany and even with the region beyond.
The first founders of the dynasties of the princes of the empire are of middle
and (for the most part) of south German origin. Such were the ancestors of
the house of Babenberg in Austria, of Traungau in Styria, of Eppenstein and
Sponheim-Ortenburg in Carmthia. The dynasty which welded the Austrian
empire together, the Austrian house of Habsburg, had its roots among the
Alamanni of Switzerland and held hereditary estates in Switzerland and in
south and west Germany. For centuries rulers of this house wore the imperial
crown, and, as the fount of imperial authority and the possessors of vast
feudal dominions, occupied a curious double position, fraught with far-
reaching consequences. The old German tribal or popular law obtained in
the Austrian highlands; Austrian legal procedure during the Middle Ages
was but a part of that common to all Germany, and Austrian development
in all departments of social life, however tinged with local peculiarity, was
merely a provincial form of the development (in its main outlines the same)
proceeding throughout Germany. Thus in mediaeval history the group of
Austrian provinces is inseparably connected with Germany, and in modern
times the connection is, if possible, even more strongly marked in the ques-
tions, great and small, which agitated successive periods. For the Reforma-
tion in Germany, the Thirty Years' War, and the struggle with France in the
reign of Louis XIV, may be set to the score of German no less than of Austrian
history, and the events from 1740 onwards are equally momentous for Ger-
many and Austria, so that here the line of division almost disappears.
But, over and above all this, there is a noteworthy analogy in the develop-
ment of the power of the two houses which were destined alternately to sway
the fortunes of Germany, and for long periods to stand together as allies or
strive with one another for predominance. The cradles of Habsburg and
Hohenzollern are hard by each other, and both may be reckoned Swabians
in the widest sense of the word. Both houses laid the foundations of their
dominion in foreign soil, the Habsburgs in the highlands of the Danube, the
Hohenzollerns in the region about the Elbe, Oder, and Vistula, in north
Germany, and in both cases this new territory included a region that had to
be won for the German race by wholesale colonisation on what had originally
been Slavonic soil. And it was natural that, in the one region and in the
other, this German population on the outermost confines of the empire
should develop and retain a strongly marked individual character.
Stockpreusse and StockoesterreicJier (out-and-out Prussian or Austrian) are
more than nicknames; taken seriously, they define the fundamental charac-
teristics of the two. In the organisation of the eastern and western pos-
sessions of Habsburg and Hohenzollern we find the same conditions at work
as we may see by comparing the Habsburg provinces in Swabia with the
Hohenzollern territory on the lower Rhine, and the east German dominions
of the latter family with the southwestern conglomerate of provinces ruled
by the latter.
INTRODUCTION 545
Hand in hand with the analogy, however, goes a significant contrast, more
distinctly marked after the year 1526, the date at which Habsburg acquired
her vast accession of territory m Hungary and Bohemia. However con-
temporary opinion may regard and interpret the present state of affairs in
Austria and the political mission of that country, the historian cannot shut
his eyes to the fact that an accession of territory three times as large as the
original German provinces of Austria and consisting of two distinct districts
in which the bulk of the population was not of German blood, must ma-
terially alter the centre of gravity in a state thus constituted, and give its policy
quite another tendency from that which it had when the boundaries of the
Habsburg dominions coincided with those of the Danubian highlands.
By the acquisition of East Prussia, and still more by the annexation of
Poland, the Hohenzollerns, too, were thrust more and more into the vortex
of east European politics; but they had at the same time made a series of
purely German acquisitions, while the conquest of Silesia had given them a
predominant position in east Germany.
The inevitable result of this contrast between the component elements of
the provinces and races under Austrian and Prussian sovereignty was a
political opposition between the two and a reversal of their relative position
in Germany. This did not come to pass without a severe struggle, for the
German element in Austria was sufficiently strong to assert her claim to
predominance in the empire, while, on the other hand, Prussia's private inter-
ests, and, above all, her position with regard to Russia, withheld her even
more decidedly than Austria from pursuing anything of the nature of an
imperial policy. Out of the history of the German Empire we have to dig,
so to speak, the mediaeval history of Austria, as a member of that empire
steadily advancing towards independence by a process of expansion.
The history of the other two groups of provinces before their union with
German Austria is bound up with that of Germany by intimate reciprocal
relations. Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia show this, both in their alliances
and their national association with Germany; the history of Hungary-
Transylvania offers quite as many points of contact with the policy of its
German neighbour, and its colonisation is a no less significant memorial of a
similar association.^
Early in the eighteenth century Austria had united a portion of the Ger-
man people with its interests to the peoples and interests of the East, and
bound the German world in a union with one completely foreign. Within
the wide boundaries of this kingdom, the Bohemians dreamed over the graves
of their fallen heroes of a bygone happier day, and idly suffered the maimed
life of the nation to drift at will under a foreign guidance. There, too, the
noble nature of the Magyars strove restlessly for the favour of the govern-
ment, whilst their persistence in half-barbaric lawlessness constantly destroyed
every new start they succeeded in making. Germany had nothing in com-
mon with that extraordinary medley of Hungarians and Germans, of Wal-
lachians and the most various Slav races, due to the immigration of different
peoples from Asia, to the Turkish wars, to inward factions, and to later
subjugations and incursions.
This state of things, in which several hundreds of thousands of straggling
Wallachians and Servians, without any bond of cohesion other than the
merely military, protected the borders against pestilence and against the
murderous attacks and rapacity of the neighbouring Mohammedans, accepting
land instead of pay — this state of things to the people of Brandenburg and
Westphalia, of Swabia and Bavaria, seemed like tales of the Thousand and
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2n
546 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
One Nights. It is true that at the heart of the realm there was a genuine
German brotherhood, in which all these contradictions, all these nationalities
and conditions were harmonised. But the circumstances in which and through
which Austria had become great, were not of German but of European origin.
The Thirty Years War, which ruined Germany, re-established Austria as a
Power and the reconquest of Hungary made this secure. From that time
Austria took part in all European developments as a self-sufficing power.
Such a kingdom as Austria had become, could not draw its impulse for political
life from Germany, like Bavaria or Mecklenburg, but must feel the moving
spirit within itself. History had cleared the way for this long ago. When,
in the middle of the twelfth century, Austria separated from Bavaria and
became a self-supporting dukedom, it assumed as one of its political duties
an outward independence. The privilege acquired in 1156 by Heinrich
Jasomirgott made Austria, the shield and heart of the Holy Roman Empire,
a united dukedom, which descended according to the rules of primogeniture.
Within these riiles the duke is absolute liege lord, subject only to the necessary
laws which even the emperor must not alter. It is true the duke is a vassal of
the empire, taking rank immediately after the elector, having all rights of
other princes of the realm, and being entitled in any danger to demand help
from the empire; but he receives his fief only on Austrian territory, he is
not subject to the jurisdiction of the supreme court of the empire, and is not
compelled to furnish soldiers or aid in money, or to attend the imperial diet.
All parts of the country were to share equally in any privileges which might
in future accrue to the dukedom. This arrangement, which procured every
advantage to be gained by union with the empire, without encumbering it
with a single duty or burden of any kind, has been preserved by Austria
through all times. Even at the end of the fifteenth century, when by a new
measure the restoration of political union for all Germans was attempted,
Austria remained exempt, not only from all powers exercised by the imperial
chamber of justice, but once more received from Charles V the assurance of
its privileges.
It was so self-supporting and so independent of the empire that Charles
V, immediately after the election of his brother Ferdinand as Roman emperor,
proposed to relinquish to him the five dukedoms of Lower Austria and to make
him king of Austria. Nothing happened in the following centuries to draw
Austria and Germany nearer together. Neither the jurisdiction nor the legis-
lation of the empire discloses any application to Austria. Austria's contribu-
tions to the maintenance of the imperial chamber were in arrears, but this
position had become legalised; in wars of the empire, the Austrian troops
went into the field separate from the imperial forces and led by their own
generals. Consequently the apparent union of Austria with the empire had
its only real ground in the fact that the ruler of Austria wore at the same time
the crown of Germany; should this crown at any time pass to another house,
Austria would then, as Puffendorf had already pointed out, exist no more
within the realm, but would stand by the side of it. As long as Charles VII
was emperor, there was open strife between him and Austria.
Corresponding to Austria's political division from Germany was its increas-
ing divergence in matters of spiritual development. The attempt made during
the century preceding the revolution, to win the people to a newer and freer-
spirited life, found no echo in Austria. The Reformation certainly took great
effect in Austria, as it did wherever the German tongue was spoken. The
nobility, the towns, the lowlands in Steiermark and in both Austrias, turned
towards the newer doctrines, which even told in the kingdom of Ferdinand I,
INTEODUCTION 547
though that was not German. In Bohemia, up to the time of Rudolf II
almost all scholars of note sprang from the Reformation, and the well-ordered
schools, to be found even in the smallest towns, were almost without exception
evangelical. The Hungarians streamed in great numbers to the German uni-
versities and brought back with them German culture as well as evangelical
doctrines, to which by far the most and the best of the numerous schools owed
their existence.
In Austria, as in all Germany, Protestants and Catholics lived together in a
mixed community, and here, as everywhere, the Reformation gave birth to
new interest in science and revived the care for education of the people. It
seemed as though from this time the Austrian Germans developed in the
deepest and most important relations a living union with the entire German
nation, and Magyars and Bohemians wei-e swept along the same road.
Nevertheless Ferdinand I took steps to hinder this inward advance towards
union between the Austrian powers and Germany, and these steps had a dis-
tinct effect that made itself felt for centuries. Determined to keep his country
in the Roman Catholic faith, he sought to destroy the power by which the
Reformation gained its mastery over the minds of the people. Because, wher-
ever the Reformation was felt, science was reborn and schools were multi-
plied, Ferdinand contended that it was the scientific culture of Protestantism
which attracted the people. Therefore he sought in these facts the roots of
the undeniable strength of the Reformation, and, in order to deprive these
roots of their sustenance he and his adherents turned their attention to placing
a Roman Catholic system of education in opposition to the progress encouraged
by the Protestants.
Bold and far-seeing as the scheme was, these great observers of mankind
had not reckoned correctly. They did not realise that the sense of nationality
is only to be destroyed with life, and that the national spirit, denied one form
of life, would be capable of winning for itself another sphere of activity. The
national strength of the Austrian Germans, hindered from seeking eminence
in science and in culture, sought expansion in matters of the family, of the
home, of the life of the community, in the creation and preservation of
national songs and sagas, in the genuine German confidence and loyal submis-
sion to the imperial house. In these spheres the strength of the nation was
preserved with childlike naivete, not perhaps applied to the larger uses of
life, but unwasted, unspoilt by the desolating winds, which, blowing over
Germany from this side and that, threatened to dry up the earnestness and
truth of the national spirit.
The political life of the German people in the preceding century was cer-
tainly indescribably small; but, unknown to the people, the inward force of
things pressed forward a new development, towards a building up of the gov-
ernment of the more important territories, and towards a united confederacy,
in order to find in that the needed complement. If now, with knowledge and
consent, Austria should be led, by an unsuspected principle of life peculiar to
itself, to a similar political goal, it nevertheless seemed to be united with Ger-
many in the deepest relations of political life, from which it was debarred by
its privileges and its Jesuits. In German territories and in Austria equally
strong and unconscious powers of statecraft, granted that they existed in both
countries, must soon awaken to the knowledge of their time, and then oyer-
come the separation which kept Austria and Germany apart. But it is a
question whether Austria's life principle could really follow the same road as
Germany.
Peculiar powers of conquest, the weakness of the opponent, the greatness
548 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
of its generals, and the good fortune attending Austrian arms, European rela-
tionships and marriages of state — all these causes had given unity to the most
foreign elements under the grand ducal house. But those peoples and terri-
tories brought together in this way were necessarily superior to a kingdom of
barbarians founded by force on mere chance and hazard, because they were
united by an inward principle which consecrated their policy. Longing for
personal and political education, the Hungarians, the Wallachians, and all
Slavonic races hung on the skirts of eastern culture. Unable to beget from
themselves the gifts they desired, or to win them from the Russians, Poles, or
Turks, they depended solely on Austria. Austria alone, for nearly a century,
had been in a position to provide the desired spiritual aid, and in return de-
manded that loyalty and self-sacrificing courage which the children of nature
with their fresh, invincible strength of life could give, and with this Austria,
even without the added strength and power of Germany, could strike fresh
roots in foreign soil. Seeking and giving culture, seeking and giving strength,
the widely differing elements grew steadily to a union which had inward reahty
as well as outward form.
It is true that until the death of Charles VI the political federation of the
united peoples and lands was evinced only in the persons of their princes, but
with Maria Theresa awoke the endeavour to let it be felt also in jurisdiction
and administration, in finance and in government. Austria appeared since
the preceding century to have set herself, as one of the tasks of her political life,
the business of getting free from the great German territories ; but this was
only in appearance.
Afterwards, as before, it remained an impossibility that in Austria from
one political heart should pulse the life through all the various component
elements and work them to a common political result. The king of Hungary
was a different man from the grand duke of Austria, and from the lord of the
Ruthenians and Croatians. An equal law and an equal cultivation for the
widely differing cultures and the foreign nationalities was not to be. Already
the slight attempt made by Joseph II had brought Austria to the verge of
ruin. Entirely senseless however had been the attempt to make the ruler of
Austria in all his countries appear as a German prince, and to acclimatise
German officers, German diets, German government in the steppes of Hun-
gary, in the wooded mountains of Siebenbiirgen, and in the rocky fastnesses of
Croatia. Austria could not be constituted as a state, but must be regarded as
an empire; her ruler could not be king, and must be emperor. It was soon
evident that even the German lands of this empire could not be conformable
to the national German spirit which would accentuate their difference from
the lands which were not German, and would therefore enhance the difficulties
of that which Austria demanded and for which Maria Theresa had consciously
striven — a united empire which should hold sway over all the differing
nationalities.*^
THE HUNGARIAN RETROSPECT
Before we take up the story of the developments through which this unifi-
cation was brought about, we must again turn back, and take a retrospective
glance at the history of the most important of the non-German nationalities in
question. The retrospect carries us back to the year 893 of our reckoning.^*
In that year a strange and small nation, numbering scarcely half a million
men, entered the east of Europe. They were the Magyars, called Hungarians
by the Germans. They belonged to the Ural race of the Mongolians and
Tatars; as the remainder of Europe was and is peopled only by Indo-Germanic
INTRODUCTION 549
races, the Hungarians were without relations with regard to their race and
language; sine matre et sororibus, as is still said of their language. The land
they entered was the Pannonia of the Romans, the Hungary of to-day, which
showed a great majority of primitive inhabitants and colonists of the Roman,
Slavonic, and Germanic races, who because they were European nations
already enjoyed higher culture.
And now, on this territory, the small strange nation of horsemen accom-
plished during 634 years a series of wonders which must have astonished the
objective historical philosopher, offering as it does an example of the inborn
rulership of individual races, and of the inborn power of subordination of others
scarcely to be paralleled in general history. Little by little these Magyars
conquered an empire of almost six thousand square miles, almost two thirds
as great as the present European France, in any case greater than the German
confederacies of Austria, than Prussia, Great Britain in its triplicity, and the
new kingdom of Italy, They subjected the tenfold greater number of primitive
inhabitants. But in spite of the greatness of the territory and the majority
of the subjected, the victorious little nation of horsemen did not introduce a
military dictatorship : but before it crossed the threshold of the new empire it
immediately founded a free constitution, all for one, and one for all, with the
fundamental principle that all power and right lay exclusively in the people,
and that the prince was only the first among them. And for 634 years the
Hungarians developed this constitution so that all, even the subjected, with-
out distinction of race or concession, had equal rights in it, and in 1222 as the
written fundamental law it became the basis of Hungarian political life.
England and Hungary are the only two countries of the world in which a
constitution has lasted historically and unbroken for six centuries; for the
English Magna Charta dates from 1217, the Hungarian Bulla aurea from 1222.
All nations of the Hungarian crown have submitted for 634 years without
opposition to the Hungarian hegemony, and had merged in the state and
politically into Hungarianism. This was organised by the whole empire in
the colossal building up of the constitutional principle. The base was formed
by the free communities ; every village was an independent state in the state
as far as its internal affairs were concerned — it elected its own magistrates,
controlled and paid them. In great missions the individual communities cen-
tralised themselves in counties. Fifty-six completely sovereign counties, their
functionaries likewise chosen by themselves, maintained at their own expense,
were still more independent than for instance the cantons of Switzerland, than
the individual states of North America in relation to the government of the
United States. For the communities elected the representatives of the county,
the whole population of the county their representatives at the diets, and
those only bound representatives who could decide nothing at the diet accord-
ing to their individual opinions, but had to keep to the precepts of their
primary electors.
The diets grasped and formed the resolutions prescribed to them, which
the king never thwarted and to which he could only deny his sanction to a
certain extent. For in Hungary the king was nothing more than the executor
of the resolutions made by the nation, and the nation never swore fidelity to
him; the king had to swear fidelity to the nation, and must still do so at the
present day if he really wishes to be acknowledged as king. But the counties
as chief guardians of the constitution were not content with the guarantee
that resolutions could only be taken according to their will; they also reserved
to themselves the highest sovereign right to be able to acknowledge, carry out
or reject as they pleased, all resolutions raised to laws, made by their represen-
550 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAKY
tatives, and sanctioned by the king. As this kind of constitutional Hfe of the
state with the exception of very few interruptions — from 1780 to 1790, and
from 1849 to 1859 — existed for 960 years and exists still, it can be conceived
that the constitutional consciousness of the Hungarian people was not artifi-
cially produced, but of necessity self-made, in transient flesh and blood.
This already created state was raised by the Magyars to a European power.
From St. Stephen to the great Louis of Anjou, and to the still greater Matthias
Corvinus, Hungary ruled at times from Poland to Naples, from the Adriatic
to the gates of Constantinople.
By the alliance with the fourth Wladislaw the first Habsburg overthrew
the powerful Ottocar and great Bohemia; and King Matthias Corvinus on his
side resided in Vienna, which he had conquered. During the Middle Ages the
kingdom of Austria was that great power on the Danube, the true "East
Empire."
The ambitious Habsburgs as small neighbouring dynasties knew the impor-
tance of their geographical position and early learned to value the historical
development which Hungary had already completed. The first Habsburg,
Rudolf, won the victory over Ottocar only with the help of the allied Hunga-
rians in 1278. After Matthias Corvinus' death, the emperor Maximilian I in
1507 formed the secret settlement of succession with tVladislaw Dobre, the
Bohemian king on the Hungarian throne, which was invalid, as no king of
Hungary had any personal rights to dispose of and least of all the crown. The
same emperor then married his granddaughter Mary to the last Hungarian
king, the unfortunate youth Louis II, and when the latter fell in the decisive
battle at Mohacs, with two archbishops, three bishops, five hundred nobles,
and nine thousand men — some writers always maintain the accusation that
Austria had a hand in it as also immediately after in the murder of Cardinal
Martenizzi — the c^ueen dowager Mary had already won over the palatine
Bathori for the scheme of procuring the election of her brother Ferdinand I as
king of Hungary. In consequence of these intrigues the people formed into
two camps, two different diets met. One, under the palatine Bathori, assem-
bled at Presburg, and against the fundamental law of the diet of 1505 that
henceforth no foreign prince should bear the crown of St. Stephen, Ferdinand
I, brother of the emperor Charles V, was elected king of Hungary; the other
diet was opened at Stechlweissenburg, and the count of Zips, John Zapolya,
was proclaimed king as John I. For thirteen whole years there were two actual
and legitimate kings of Hungary, who not only divided the empire, but
acknowledged one another, and made the personal treaty that the dynasty
of the survivor should in the future become the legitimate one for the whole of
Hungary. Zapolya died unexpectedly in 1540 and thus Habsburg won the great
stake; for as Zapolya's son was childless he was soon done with. In 1547 the
first Habsburg on the Hungarian throne, Ferdinand I, became sole monarch
of the empire, and the succession of his dynasty in the male line was granted
by the states.^^ How the two nationalities got on together during the ensuing
two centuries we have already seen, at least through occasional glimpses.
How they were to fare in the sequel, after the overthrow of the Holy Roman
Empire, will be set forth in the present book of our history."
r-./' '.^fm^
CHAPTER I
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE
[1806-1815 A.D.]
We have already learned that Francis II, the last emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire, was the first sovereign to bear the title of Emperor of
! Austria. The present chapter, dealing with the history of Ferdinand and
his people after the fall of the old empire will, therefore, take up the thread
. of the narrative where the final chapter of the preceding book left it. Indeed,
for a long time we have been concerned primarily with the affairs of Austria,
so our present narrative proceeds with scarcely even a change in the point
I of view.
1 The old empire had been so loosely organised as to be susceptible of toler-
■ably easy disintegration, and no doubt many of the principalities that it
comprised were glad to be freed from their position of subordination to the
house of Austria. But, on the other hand, the house of Austria itself natu-
rally retained a desire for supremacy among the German states — a desire
! that was sure to lead ultimately to disastrous complications, for a new influ-
ence centred about the kingdom of Prussia at the north, and the rivalry thus
engendered must one day be put to a conclusive test. The final test was not
made, as we shall see, till 1866, when, as everyone knows, the last hopes of
the remnants of the old Habsburg tradition were shattered. We shall follow,
'in due course, the details of this rivalry, through which the German princi-
ipalities were finally to be aggregated into two important empires.
But for the present our concern is rather with the contest between Ger-
Jmany as a whole and the autocrat of France. We shall in the present chapter
deal with such phases of this contest as had to do more particularly with
Austria; and in succeeding chapters we shall follow the story of the Austro-
Hungarian empire, leaving for subsequent treatment the history of the north
; German principalities. It will be understood of course that, since we have
i 551
552 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGAKY
[1806-1808 A.D.]
treated in great detail the history of the Napoleonic wars, we shall not dupli-
cate that history here. Some repetitions will be unavoidable, but, in the
main, an attempt will be made to treat the subject from an Austrian stand-
point. We have first to note what manner of effort was made to regain the
prestige which had been lost in recent conflicts with Napoleon.«
THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES AND ARMY REFORM
Wlien the archduke Charles assumed supreme control of the army system
in 1806, he did everything in his power to strengthen and increase Austria's
military resources. After the conclusion of peace a clearance was made in
the army as in the civil service. Five-and-twenty generals were pensioned,
and the ablest commanders were brought to the front. The archduke sim-
plified the mechanism of the supreme department, and divided the army,
according to the French model, into separate corps, each one complete in
itself. Drill was simplified, the artillery was increased, chasseur battalions,
and depots for recruits and horses were established. Much was done to
raise the status of the officers, and the self-respect of the men. The regula-
tions of 1808 forbade brutal treatment of soldiers in the ranks, "because it
destroys the self-respect which should be the soul of the military calling."
In 1806 the archduke began his two famous works, Grundsatze der hoheren
Kriegskunst (advanced principles of strategy) and Beitrdge zum praktischen
Unterricht (contributions to practical instruction), which became a repertory
for intelligent officers. A new system of fortification was adopted. The line
of the Inn and the town of Bruck in Styria were to be fortified, the valley
was to be blocked at Altenmarkt; Olmiitz and Komarom were more strongly
fortified. Unfortunately very little of this project was accomplished.
The archduke created a national militia (Heerbann) for the defence of
the country, and thus supplied the army with a standing reserve and placed
war once more on the old national basis. A patent of May 12th decreed the
formation of a militia force as a permanent reserve for the active army.
Two reserve battalions were to be levied in each regimental district, to be
trained to arms for two months and then to return to their callings ; and from
this reserve the regiments were to be recruited. Another regulation, dated
June 9th, 1808, ordered that all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-
five, capable of bearing arms and not at present serving in the army, should
be organised according to provinces and districts into a " militia (Landwehr)
for the defence of our native soil." The task of carrying out this truly national
undertaking was committed to the archduke John. Commissioners were
appointed for the provinces. In every district the able-bodied men were
selected by lot. The men drilled on Sundays and holidays, and once a month
they formed into larger divisions. The government supplied rifles, captains
were appointed by the commissioners, and the commanders of the battalions
by the emperor. ^The uniform was a grey tunic with red facings and a round
cocked hat with a brass badge. The members of the militia remained amen-
able to civil law. All men from forty-five to sixty years, of age were to be
available for guard and transport duty. Old soldiers and those who were
alarmed at any popular movement whatever might inveigh as they pleased
against the "national armament" as they called it: but no government
regulation was ever hailed by the country at large with greater enthusiasm
and delight, or met by a readier spirit of self-sacrifice than this militia levy.
It appealed to the manliness of the nation, to their love of their own country,
and their hatred of France.
c ^
H 3
p
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 553
[1807-1809 A.D.]
Everywhere in Austria there was such hfe and stir as had not been known
since the days of Maria Theresa. The Hungarian diets, which were held at
Budapest and Presburg in 1807 and 1808, gave evidence of the unanimity
of sovereign and people. Fiery speeches were made in the first diet (April
9th to December 15th, 1807), and the inclination to enforce hmitations upon
the royal prerogative was more manifest than ever; but the estates voted a
levy of twelve thousand men to complete the establishment and assigned
200,000 florins for the recruiting of volunteers. The second diet (August
31st to November 5th, 1808) passed straight from the coronation of the
empress Maria Louisa to the consideration of national defence. Without
once mentioning their grievances the estates voted a levy of twenty thousand
men for the standing army and granted the government for three years the
privilege of calling out the insurredio. The king was rignt when in his closing
speech he said, " We were united — we are united; and we shall remain united
till death us do part." In the Bohemian diet of 1808 the estates unanimously
voted a million and a half for the equipment of the militia (October 31st);
and those of Lower Austria undertook the clothing and provisioning of milia-
men in that province.^
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1809 BEGINS
Archduke Charles was named commander-in-chief in February, 1809, and
commanded 170,000 men in Bohemia. The French and mediatised German
troops in south Germany numbered perhaps 156,000; but they were scat-
tered from Ulm to Ratisbon. Charles would not attack them at once, but
spent four weeks in dividing his assembled army so as to attack from two
sides. He began the great operations on April 8th, while a successful revolt
in the Tyrol kept a large portion of Bavarian troops engaged. Eight days
later, Napoleon appeared, and like lightning was between the divided Aus-
trians with his whole army, and, thus outnumbering the individual divisions,
he beat Prince Hohenzollern at Hansen (April 19th), General Rosenberg at
Eckmiihl (22nd), and flung Charles himself over the Danube near Ratisbon
(24th). The effect of these reverses, in which the archduke had lost in all
' 50,000 men, was deplorable. The Tyrol was brought under by Lefebvre and
Wrede; a rising in Hesse, and the Prussian major Schill's independent raid on
Magdeburg, were checked; Prussia stopped arming; Archduke John was
recalled on his way to Verona with 60,000 men and Archduke Ferdinand from
Warsaw with 35,000.«
THE BATTLE OF ESSLING, OR GROSS-ASPERN (MAY 21ST, 22ND, 1809)
Napoleon followed up his victory with the same rapidity and vehemence
■ as in 1805; while the archduke Charles with the greater part of his army
marched from Ratisbon through Bohemia, Napoleon pressed after General
' Hiller down the right bank of the Danube. Vienna was reached on the 13th
! of May, and after a short bombardment compelled to capitulate. In the
; meantime the archduke Charles had come up from Bohemia and arrived
, opposite Vienna on the left bank of the Danube in the wide plain of the
; Marchfeld with an army of about eighty thousand strong. Napoleon, who
; had now assembled about ninety thousand men in Vienna, and was impatient
to decide the issue, elected to cross the river as quickly as possible and to end
the war in a pitched battle. For this purpose he chose a place where the
Danube washes the large island of Lobau and the latter affords a favourable
554 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1809 A,D.]
spot for a crossing, with the broadest arm behind it and only divided from
the eastern bank by a narrow channel. Here he established himself and
began a bridge, although the river, swollen by the spring rains, was as rough
as a mountain torrent and as wide as an arm of the sea. By the evening of
the 20th the first Frenchmen were across, and occupied the two nearest towns
on the river, Gross-Aspern and Essling. The archduke had purposely per-
mitted this, in the hope of falling upon them when divided by the river and
annihilating them in the dangerous retreat across the bridge. All in his host,
down to the lowest soldier, were imbued with the feeling that the struggle
was for house and home, for wife and child, for Germany and Europe; at
midday on the 21st they attacked the two towns with terrible fury; Gross-
Aspern was six times taken and lost and finally retained by the Austrians,
while the French kept Essling. All night long Napoleon was hurrying the
rest of his troops across, so that on the 22nd about seventy thousand men
on either side were drawn up in order of battle.
The deadly struggle began with the first dawn of the summer morning.
The French took the outlying streets of Aspern; the Austrians tried in vain to
storm Esslingen, on whose possession depended the French line of retreat;
attacks followed one another on this side and that: it is impossible to enumerate
them. The efforts made, the losses sustained, were enormous; towards mid-
day Napoleon collected in the centre a powerful attacking column with one
hundred cannon, gained some ground, and hoped that he had broken through
the Austrian lines; but the archduke Charles in person flung himself into the
breach, charging against the thick hail of bullets at the head of the Zach regi-
ment, and once more restored the balance. From this moment the day was
decided, and the French gave way at every point. At the same time Napoleon
received an urgent message that the force of the constantly increasing river
was threatening the stability of the great bridge, and immediately afterwards
that it had been broken by means of Austrian fireships and rafts. A part of
his reserve was thus divided from the fighting army, and what was still worse
the ammunition, which was gradually giving out, could not be replenished. A
retreat to the island had become imavoidable. Only it could not well be done
before dark and they dared not begin it in flight under pain of annihilation,
for the only way of safety was across the narrow bridge of Lobau. The
emperor himself went back over the river to make the necessary arrangements
there, and entrusted Massena with the continuation of the fight till nightfall.
And now a singularly terrible drama was enacted. Massena disposed his
troops round Esslingen and in the plain of Aspern that he might contest the
ground, step by step, to the Austrians, who, pressing forward with ever-increas-
ing successes, grew still more impetuous in their contempt of death ; an officer
called to a troop of grenadiers who were charging alone to know where their
battalion was. "We are the battalion" — the rest were all lying dead, with
their faces to the enemy. A trooper had his arm torn away by a cannon ball
and another asked him: "How is it, comrade?" "It is well. The French
are fleeing across the Danube." Against this glow of patriotic enthusiasm
military prestige had to justify itself. The French, unable to return the
enemy's fire, were mown down in ranks by the showers of Austrian grape; they
could not advance and dared not go back. They stood firm, closing up over
the dead bodies, whenever a gap appeared, and at least staved off utter destruc-
tion till at length the longed-for darkness fell, and Massena gave the order to
march away. Their loss was appalling — twelve thousand dead and twenty
thousand wounded ; the survivors crowded together on the island, disordered,
hungry, and thirsty : Napoleon himself, completely exhausted, lay for twenty
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 5:i5
[1809 A.D.]
hours in a dead sleep at Ebersdorf, and could not be awakened, though the
soldiers were plundering the town all round him. The marshals consulted in
low whispers as to how the Rhine was to be reached if he should never wake
again.
But so much the more triumphant was the rejoicing in the German camp
over the victory. There too the day had been purchased at the enormous
price of twenty-four thousand men ; but the victory was won — face to face
they had contended with the unconquered and had forced him to give ground.
The beaten, exhausted troops, labouring under all the disadvantages of a rapid
retreat, had met the haughty adversary in readiness for the fray and had
mastered him in the open field. The archduke, but now under the shadow
of the disaster of Ratisbon, stood once more in the brave light of victory; to
the gallant and upright man to whom fate had assigned the struggle with a far
superior enemy, a moment had come which might well repay him for all the
hardship and disappointment of a sorely tried existence. The time had at last
arrived in which the greatest things seemed possible. For the thunder of
Aspern reached throughout Europe as that of Ratisbon had done. Tyrol and
Vorarlberg once more rose ; from Bohemia, Duke Frederick William of Bruns-
wick broke with his Black Legion into Saxony, and occupied half the country ;
, a small Austrian corps pressed over the Fichtelgebirge into Franconia, where a
patriotic rising started at the same time; Wiirtemberg was in a ferment; there
were new disturbances in Hesse. What a chance it would have been had a
I Prussian army, 150,000 strong, risen in the common cause, setting all Germany
' on fire around it, whilst the archduke maintained the great struggle on the
Marchfeld with the same energy as at Aspern, and held the Gallic emperor in
an iron grip until the waves of a rising sea of the nations broke behind him.
Humanly speaking this was at that time possible. That it did not happen
was mainly due to two things. In Berlin there was no one with stern authority
who could have decided the king and urged him forward and in face of the
\ stupendous danger he took no decisive action, but, to the great indignation of
; Napoleon, gave orders for a new armament and then did not dare to make the
, venture. But in Austria, where, during several weeks' suspension of hostili-
ties, the two opponents vied with one another in supplying their losses, bring-
ing up reinforcements and collecting new strength, neither the government's
resources nor the archduke's talent were a match for Napoleon. In the
beginning of July the French emperor had a superior force of 180,000 against
' 120,000 men on the spot, and decided the issue of the war by the great battle
of Wagram fought on the 5th and 6th of July.
Austria emerged from the heroic struggle against half Europe with new
; forfeits of territory, but with a lasting accession of honour. Germany had
still three years in which to endure the foreign yoke, and then, when she did
rise, irresistible and conquering, she had to pay the full penalty for the mis-
takes and neglect of 1809. For in fortune and suffering, glory and disaster,
a nation always receives exactly what she deserves.^
I
BATTLE OF WAGRAM (JULY 5TH-6TH, 1809)
On July 4th, a stormy night. Napoleon took unopposed possession of a
position on the left bank of the Danube. The first day of Wagram (July 5th)
was not unfavourable to the Austrians, a powerful blow might have over-
thrown the French, but Charles projected a new plan for the battle, excellent
iin theory but difficult to carry out with effect, since it depended on precise
jmanoeuvring of separate bodies. Already by midday on July 6th, the
556 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGARY
[1809 A.D.]
victory of the French was determined. On the 12th of July the armistice
of Znaim was agreed to.
The defeat gave rise to bitter recriminations; but it was as unjust to |
accuse Charles' favourite, Count Griinne, of treachery, as it was to make the '
slowness of Archduke John in appearing on the battle-field responsible for the '
disaster. The moral effect on the Austrians themselves was sad enough, j
The hope, the enthusiastic spirit of self-sacrifice with which the country started j
another campaign, was replaced by a bitter and trivial spirit of unbelief and j
discontent. Stories of the emperor's indifference went from mouth to mouth; j
it was believed that, when the decisive moment came in the battle of Wagram, |
which he was watching from a hill, he turned his back with the chilling remark,
"Now we will go home!" The educated classes who saw the gross faults of
the ruling political system were apt to shrug their shoulders and shake off
responsibility with a witticism. The following account which we give from
Springer of the negotiations regarding the peace which followed Wagram is not
sparing in strictures on the imperial house."
THE DECAY OF PATRIOTISM IN AUSTRIA (OCTOBER, 1809)
The sudden decline of earnest patriotism [Springer says] and the torpidity
of political life can be most vividly studied at Vienna, where a French occupa-
tion of several months' duration had called more amicable relations with the
enemy into being and had given the city itself an air half French. The lower
classes, so sullen and resolutely hostile at first, gradually acquired the convic-
tion that since — and, as they imagined, through — the French occupation
their material prosperity had undergone a perceptible change for the better.
Nothing could be more preposterous, nothing more provocative of ridicule,
than the arrangements for the provisioning of the capital under the old Aus-
trian system. Even in the course of the preceding war the perversity of the
storehouse restrictions upon the baking trade had become clearly evident.
The shutting off of Hungary had stopped the supplies, and a severe bread-
famine ensued. The hungry populace stormed the bakers' shops, where of
course they found nothing; and in the storehouses, which were at length thrown
open by the paternal magistrate, nothing but mouldy flour was discovered.
Immediately after their entry the French had suspended the storehouse
regulations (Magazinirung), seen to the procuring of adequate supplies, and, I
with characteristic rapidity, had reformed the wliole system of provisioning, i
to the high satisfaction of the inhabitants. Moreover the foreign troops,
laden with booty, brought animation into the retail trade ; they spent freely ,
in gay soldierly fashion, and, as the paper currency actually rose somewhat in i
value, it was by no means with feelings of rage and abhorrence that the lower
classes looked back upon the period of occupation, especially in the lean years
that followed.
The educated classes availed themselves of the interregnum to regale
themselves with all speed upon the forbidden fruits withheld from them by
the Austrian censorship and, under the protection of the tolerant French
police, to retrieve the loss of what their own German government had reso-
lutely kept from them. The dusty productions of the days of Josephinian
enlightenment were brought forth from their hidden corners, while at the same
time the works of the greatest German thinkers and poets were made acces-
sible to the people. The mythical "vicedoms" vanished from the stage,
yielding place to living presidents; Franz and Karl Moor [in Schiller's play
Die Rduber] recovered their father, who had hitherto been merely a distant
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 557
[1809 A.D.]
relation ; the marquis Posa [in Schiller's Don Carlos] was allowed to plead for
freedom of thought; the Swiss were permitted to laugh at Gesslcr's hat —
though this was subsequently prohibited as improper and illegal. The adver-
tisements in the Vienna papers of all the books which might not be read under
the Austrian censorship and were now openly offered for sale, presents a pic-
ture, instructive in many respects but infinitely sad, of the intellectual condi-
tion of the times. We are amazed at the things which earned liberal praise
and charmed the popular taste, still more amazed at the narrow-mindedness
of the government, at the number and character of the books it fancied dan-
gerous, at the way in which it sniffed out poison everywhere. Literary piracy
also began to flourish during the occupation; it devoted its attention particu-
larly to classic German poetry, and sad as the confession may be, the fact
remains that the credit of having diffused the German classics, with Schiller
at their head, among the educated classes of Austria, is due to these thievish
pirates and the police of the national enemy.
Matters in Vienna looked less hopeful ; there was no confidence in a hap-
pier future, no strength to follow the dictates of sound judgment; everywhere
men shut themselves up in the narrow circle of private life and turned passing
events to account for personal and selfish ends. Wholly wretched is the
spectacle presented by the court at Totis, near Komarom, whither the emperor
Francis had withdrawn after the battle of Wagram. The enormous diffi-
culties of the situation cannot be denied. The enemy occupied the third
part of the monarchy and ruled in the capital of the empire; the German
provinces, where the clearest understanding of the ideal aims of the war
prevailed and the spirit of self-sacrifice was strongest, had been left in the
hands of the French by the hard conditions of the armistice, and the Austrian
government was reduced to relying upon the enthusiasm of Slavonic and
Magyar tribes, which had nearly touched freezing-point, and on the material
resources of Hungary, of which the most fertile districts, including Presburg,
Raab, and Odenburg, had also the enemy to feed. The bloody fields of
Aspern and Wagram had cruelly thinned the ranks of seasoned and efficient
soldiers. If a new army was to be called to arms the great gaps must be
filled by raw recruits or by a militia intimidated by Napoleon's threats and
disheartened by many defeats. And even if the ranks of the army had been
completely full, where were leaders to be found to inspire that army with
confidence and offer some guarantee for at least the possibility of victory?
The archduke Charles was out of the question. By squandering his troops
and making preposterous dispositions he had done aU that lay in his power
to render the prosecution of the war impossible ; and even if the chief respon-
sibihty for the disastrous issue of the war had not been laid at his door in
military circles, his own resolve was fixed to take no farther active part in
the struggle.
All the other archdukes, however, appeared even less capable of assuming
the supreme command, and in the case of the other generals the doubt of
their capacity was complicated by the question as to whether they would
meet with willing obedience on the part of their immediate subordinates.
And in truth there was not one of them who coveted the responsibility of
supreme command: no, not Johann Liechtenstein, nor Bellegarde; they all
expressed without disguise their opinion of the necessity of concluding peace.
But how could serious negotiations for peace be set on foot, complaisant as
the Austrian government might be, while Napoleon demanded conditions
which must of necessity end in the complete disintegration of the empire and
the absolute annihilation of the power of Austria?
558 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUJsTGARY
[1809 A.D.]
TREATY OF SCHONBRUNN, OR VIENNA (OCTOBER, 1S09)
Unfortunately, to meet difficulties so undeniably great, Austria had none
but petty measures and pitiful expedients. The emperor, ill-informed, as!
usual, concerning the course of events and ignorant of the state of his own
resources, pronounced in favour of the prosecution of the war, as did the
empress, who had by this time changed her mind; but not in favour of such
a method of warfare as Stein and Gentz already had in mind, the only one
that offered the remotest prospect of a favourable result. If they had vigor-
ously and without reservation set themselves to accomplish w^hat had been
feebly and half-heartedly begun at the commencement of the war, if they
had kindled a German national war, for which the stubborn resistance of the
Tyrolese and the bold raid of the duke of Brunswick constituted a most
promising introduction, and which the long-prepared but ill-conducted Eng-i
lish expedition was intended to assist; then, for all his material advantages,
Napoleon's position would have been gravely compromised. Instead of so
doing the Austrian court came to the following decision. The emperor Franci?
was to be nominally in chief command of the army, the despised Duca was tc
undertake the office of quartermaster-general, Bellegarde to remain ad Mm
to the emperor, Johann Liechtenstein was actually to wield the baton oil
commander-in-chief, but the plans of the campaign were to worked out by aj
committee upon which Bubna, Radetsky, and Mayer were to sit. These;
preposterous schemes and senseless arrangements could not possibly proceed
from genuine martial ardour; yet if peace was unavoidable, as became evident,
during the course of the month of September, what irresponsibility was dis-j
played by the disjointed and contradictory doings at court. i
The emperor Francis, with his adjutants Wrbna and Kutschera {les dev^
animaux, as Gentz maliciously nicknamed them) always by his side, accessiblej
to the influence of inferior persons, suspicious of the sagacious and well-'
intentioned, could arrive at no definite resolution; he had no feeling for tht|
miseries of war, but was all the more sensitive on the subject of the sum of
money which the enemy would demand as an indenmity on the conclusion
of peace. Averse from peace, he nevertheless lacked strength of purpose tcj
declare resolutely in favour of the prosecution of the war. He was a mar
of whom it was to be expected that he would thrust upon others the responsi'
bility of the most momentous political transactions, that he might be ablfi
afterwards to complain of the defective obedience rendered by his servantsi
and there was no one at hand to take such responsibility upon himself for th(l
public good. Stadion kept aloof from all official business; he had lost noj
only the confidence of the court but his confidence in himself and felt tbi
ground insecure beneath his feet; Count Metternich had neither the knowledgi|
nor the authority required to bring about the decision; and lastly, Thugut
to whose advice the emperor had also given ear, seems, first and last, to have
preferred the semi-obscurity of his position in relation to the emperor to opei'
action and the responsibility it involved.
Thus it came about that Austrian statesmen, like Austrian generals
themselves destitute of definite ideas and independent force, invariably too)|
the course prescribed by Napoleon, and delivered themselves over, bouni'
hand and foot, to the power of that astute individual. While the official
agents, Metternich and Nugent, were labouring to no purpose at Altenbur
to settle the basis of a peaceful arrangement with Champagny, a militar
embassy was despatched direct to Napoleon and a new kind of negotiatio
attempted in this manner, without the slightest reference to what was goin
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE
559
[1809 A. D.]
on at Altenburg. It was never known in Austrian diplomatic circles, who
had drawn up the instructions for the military ambassadors, Bubna and
Johann Liechtenstein. It is possible that they had no instructions, that all
they had to do was to bargain and haggle over the exorbitant demands made
of them. The cession of territory and subjects was at length agreed to by
the emperor Francis, after it had been reduced to more moderate compass;
but on the question of the amount of the war indemnity he proved obdurate,
and refused to go beyond the sum of 50,000,000 francs, the French demand
being 100,000,000. Of
earnest intercession for
the unhappy Tyrolese, of
a clear understanding
with them, there was not
a single word. What a
change had taken place
in public feeling in the
course of a few months!
When war was declared
the national spirit had
been invoked in eloquent
phrases to enforce the
summons to arms, and
now the government
acted as though there
had never been indepen-
dent nationalities in the /"
world, and completely '
forgot the poor Tyrolese,
who had obeyed the sum-
mons and set their trust
upon the oath of the
Austrian emperor. Aus-
tria had ventured upon
the struggle with none
but the loftiest aims — to
protect the liberties of
Europe and to restore the
independence of Ger-
many; and now the em-
peror Francis had no
thought but for the money question. As a matter of fact the newly knit
bond of peace was near to being severed by his obstinate determination to
pay no more than 50,000,000 francs. At length Bubna, prevailed upon by the
most influential personages about the court, ignored the emperor's prohibi-
tion and came to terms with Napoleon for a contribution of 85,000,000. The
emperor made no protest when the document with this condition was pre-
sented to him for signature, but revenged himself upon the "disobedient"
Bubna by petty slights. This gallant and highly cultured general was ap-
pointed to superintend the stud.
On October 14th, 1809, the roar of cannon proclaimed the conclusion of
peace. Austria lost nearly two thousand square miles of territory and more
than three million inhabitants, and her annual revenue was curtailed by about
11,000,000 gulden. Every province, with the exception of little Moravia,
\
560 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGARY
[1809 A.D.I
suffered a loss of territory, and heavy blows were inflicted upon the commerce,
industry, and wealth of the empire by the cession to Russia of the salt works of
Wieliczka (to the extent of one-half) and to France of the productive quick-
silver mines of Idria and the great iron and steel forges in the Villach district.
[An entire new state, that of the Illyrian Provinces was formed by Napoleon
from the cessions on the Adriatic and included Triest, Carniola, parts of
Carinthia and Croatia and the maritime territories of Hungary. The dis-
tricts of Upper Austria known as the Innviertel and Hausruckviertel, together
with Salzburg and Berchtesgaden were handed over to the confederation of
the Rhine. Russia received part of east Galicia, and the duchy of Warsaw
west Galicia. Austria was also compelled to accede to the continental system
and to recognise the territorial changes in the Spanish peninsula and in Italy.]
The moral consequences went even deeper. In the war of 1809 for the last
time the whole of Germany stood by Austria, and for the last time the empire
was conscious of its German character and alive to its purely German destiny.
To all men — and the thought found most energetic utterance among the
north Germans — it seemed a matter of course that Austria existed in and for
Germany, and in like manner thinking men in Austria were aware of no politi-
cal spirit except the spirit of Germany dominant in themselves. By the
unhappy issue of the contest these hopes were destroyed and these convictions
rendered frustrate; the Germans learned to conceive projects for a happier
future without reference to their connection with Austria, while in Austria the
leading men (and by degrees a still larger circle) accustomed themselves to
regard German interests as alien from their own and Germany itself as an
indifferent body, which might be made useful indeed, but with which they
were by no means indissolubly united.
Externally Austria renounced her connection with Germany on the 6th of
August, 1806, when the emperor Francis abdicated the crown of the German
Empire; but the internal rupture was not consummated until the Peace of |
Schonbrunn, on October 14th, 1809. From thenceforth the German nation
went its own way, and an independent Austrian policy was inaugurated at
Vienna.<^
METTERNICH AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PEACE OF SCHONBRUNN
There is no doubt that, had the war broken out again, Alexander of Russia
and his army would have been on Napoleon's side. This being so Francis did
well to make peace, especially as such important results followed. The treaty
added but another leaf to the history of Napoleon's fame and at the same time
prepared the way to an alliance with a Habsburg archduchess, with one of
the oldest ruling families of Europe, which it was intended should give just the
desired touch of nobility to his dynasty. No matter what important and suc-
cessful results this peace may have had for Napoleon personally, he kept them
strictly to himself from the very beginning of the disputes which later on
became fatal to this favourite of fortune. If at that time a contemporary
expressed a by no means unfounded fear that with this treaty disappeared the
last hope of freeing Germany, we can now safely affirm that the same Peace of,
Schonbrunn was the first step to Napoleon's downfaU. Owing to the affair of
the duchy of Warsaw, enmity between the French emperor and the Russian
czar was finally determined forever. The events which followed, up to the
war of 1812, and the subsequent rising of Europe were but the natural conse-
quences of the disputes which arose between Alexander and Napoleon imme-
diately after the peace of 1809.
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE
561
[1809 A.D.]
The Treaty of Schonbrunn was the turning pohit in French and universal
history, and also in that of the Austrian monarchy. Its importance, however,
does not lie in the great losses sustained by the Austrians but in the fact that,
with the defeat in 1809, the spirit of free judgment, which the archduke
Charles and Stadion maintained throughout, was opposed as a dangerous
sentiment. One of the chief advocates of this new course was Metternich,
and this is therefore the place to note the rise of the man who originally pro-
voked the war, at the conclusion of which he received, unopposed by Napoleon,
the post of minister of foreign affairs as his due. The actual circumstances
under which he became minister are still unknown.
It is said that when Stadion first retired, the emperor in a weak moment
promised the post to Metternich. It was whispered, even amongst those who
might be supposed to know, that Metternich would never be the successor of
Stadion, who was forced to retire from
office at the beginning of October,
while many said that, though Metter-
nich had been the cause of Stadion's
disgrace, he (Metternich) had declared
that it would be much against his will
to accept the control of foreign affairs.
This and all like statements which he
made sounded distinctly unnatural
and did not carry conviction with
them.
According to his own account he
was not ambitious and it needed a great
deal of persuasion, almost force, before
he could be made to accept any public
post. It was thus when he entered his
diplomatic career and remained so even
when he became ambassador, first in
Dresden and then in Paris. But had
Metternich's been a retiring nature it
would have been extremely difficult for
him constantly to declare, as he did, that had he but been given absolute con-
trol of the negotiations for peace, far different provisions to those obtained by
Liechtenstein and Bubna would have resulted. Whether he became minister
without any personal effort or through deep intriguing does not alter the
importance of the fact that to give him the control of a monarchy was to
1 hand it over to a man under whose directing influence the destiny of the nation
I would begin to unfold itself. Yet half the honour should be his of having
raised Austria, at least outwardly, to the position of a power of the first rank.
: But the neglecting of the inner needs of the country was a fault of which even
'. this mighty minister felt the consequences in his later days. Had he but fol-
I lowed the path so plainly marked out by the archduke Charles and Stadion
ihis fame would have been everlasting. As the bad luck of the monarchy
; would have it, there were no like successors to these two noble men, who had
ithe whole interests and needs of the people at heart.«
Metternich
NAPOLEON MARRIES AN AUSTRIAN ARCHDUCHESS (1810 A.D.)
• Like the princes of the confederation of the Rhine, Metternich now believed
t to be more to the advantage of Austria to procure friendship with France,
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 20
562 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1809-1810 A.D.]
and Napoleon was therefore able to accomplish his long-cherished plan of
allying himself by marriage with one of the ancient dynasties of Europe. In
December, 1809, he divorced his first wife, Josephine, who had borne him no
heir, and at the end of the following January he began negotiating for the hand
of the emperor's daughter, Marie Louise; the betrothal followed as early as
February, 1810, and in April of the same year the marriage took place. With
the Peace of Schonbrunn the hopes of Germany had perished, and despair was
in every heart. It was even to be feared from the evidence of frustrated, or
timely discovered attempts on Napoleon's life that the prolonged servitude to
France was undermining the old, honourable German spirit ; and that fanati-
cism, secret conspiracy, and political murder were striking root in Germany.
THE STRUGGLE IN THE TYROL (1809)
The general awakening of patriotism was evidenced in 1809 by fairer
tokens than such abortive attempts of criminal folly. The subsidiary events
of the great Austrian war are almost as important as that war itself, since they
show the change of temper and the beginnings of the revival of the German
nation. By the Peace of Presburg in 1805, the Tyrol, which for centuries had
been united to the house of Austria, had been severed from it and handed over
to Bavaria. The Bavarians introduced many innovations after the French
pattern, some good, some evil, but all alike opposed by this mountain people
in their attachment to the past. The Bavarian government was displeasing,
both because it was foreign and because it had been imposed on them, but they
especially detested the conscription, for under Austria the province had
hitherto been exempted from military service. The priests, who exercised
great and indeed almost unlimited power over the minds of these staunch;
Catholics, detested the Bavarians as innovators^ and allies of the revolutionary
French, the enemies of the church. Thus, with silent indignation, the country
endured the yoke of the confederation of the Rhine until the spring of 1809.
Secret understandings were continually entertained with Austria, and even
with the archduke John, and the hope of returning to their native rulers was
never abandoned.
When the great war of 1809 began, the emperor Francis summoned all his
people to arms. The Tyrolese joined in the response to his call. True to the
father of their country as to their faith, simple and unused to foreign ways,
they lived and moved only in the idea of the independence and liberty of
primaeval Germany. There the boy soon learns to stand alone ; with him the
youth and the man climb the steep Alpine wall to the line of eternal snow, in
the pursuit of the flying chamois. Thus, the warlike spirit, coolness in danger,
above all an inward confidence in the sacred mountains and ravines, is found
in every child of the country. Since Austria could calculate on the fidelity of
the Tyrol, she hastened to occupy the province at the beginning of the war.
Scarcely were her first troops visil3le in the border passes than the population
rose and expelled the Bavarian garrisons. Soon the tocsin rang through the
farthest clefts of the mountains, every commune, every valley took arms and
chose itself leaders, in the ancient German fashion, from the most determined
and proved men. Hunters, inn-keepers, priests led the hosts; the ex-poacher
Joseph Speckbacher, the inn-keeper Martin Teimer, the Capuchin Haspinger,
and many such. But at the head of all appeared a man who, like Saul of old,
towered a full head above the crowd, whose magnificent black beard descended
to his belt, Andreas Hofer, the Sandwirt, of Passeier [so called from his father's
tavern the Sandhof], a pious, simple, hmnble man but, in his single-hearted
SHAKIJ^G OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 563
flSOOA.D.]
fidelity, a true type of the people he led to the war — a holy war, for his
religion and his emperor, for his mountains and his liberty. As in Spain,
small bands soon appeared throughout the country, all of which pressed
towards the centre, Innsbruck, which was compelled to surrender with all its
Bavarian garrison (April 12th, 1809). The same day a Franco-Bavarian army
marched up. Though fired at by the peasants from every ravine and every
height it had nevertheless crossed the Brenner and now stood on the Iselberg,
close before Innsbruck. But here it found itself surrounded on all sides and it
likewise had to surrender itself prisoner. Then, amidst the ringing of bells and
huge rejoicings, the first Austrian soldiers under General Chasteler again entered
the town. No cruelties had stained this fair struggle for liberty; in the frenzy
of their rejoicing it now seemed to the victorious Tyrolese "as though the sun
shone by day and night," as though heavenly angels and saints had fought in
front of their ranks.
Then, like a thunderbolt came the news of the disaster of Ratisbon. In
the retreat of the Austrian main army which followed, the Tyrol was left
without support or stay. Napoleon, to his dishonour, regarded the war as a
rebellion and set a price on the head of Chasteler as on that of a robber.
Neither the latter, nor the army of his fellow Austrian commanders, knew
how to value the peasant struggle, and the Tyrolese were already left almost
entirely alone. Nevertheless, they determined to defend their mountains,
but the Bavarians under Wrede again advanced from Salzburg. On Ascen-
sion Day (May 11th), they took the Strub Pass on the borders of the Tyrol,
and Salzburg after a hard struggle, and then descended by St. Johann into
the valley of the Inn, Their way was everywhere marked by traces of a cruel
vengeance. At Schwarz there was a sanguinary struggle; the Bavarians
burned the town and pressed on to Innsbruck ; Chasteler retreated, and Wrede,
with his Bavarians, Lefebvre, with his French, marched into the capital.
The province seemed to be again subdued ; but the cruelty shown had enraged
the people, and when Wrede and his corps were sunmioned away by Napo-
leon, Hofer and his southern Tyrolese again crossed the Brenner. Once more
the alarm bell called, the leaders summoned the people to arms, and again
every pass, every rocky wall, every narrow road was alive. Again the strug-
gle commenced round the Iselberg (May 29th). The enemy, seven thousand
Bavarians, at last gave ground with heavy losses. Then for several months,
so long as the military operations at Vienna lasted, the Tyrol remained
unmolested.
After the fight at the Iselberg and after the battle of Aspern, an imperial
autograph letter had solemnly promised the Tyrolese that their country
should never again be separated from the Austrian empire, and that no
peace should be signed which did not provide for the indissoluble union of
the Tyrol with the monarchy. In confident reliance on the imperial word the
Tyrolese lived peacefully until the armistice of Znaim. In this armistice the
Tyrol was not considered and now the enemy mustered his forces to punish
the faithful and abandoned province. Lefebvre again marched into it with
French, Saxons, and Bavarians, and took the capital without resistance.
But for the third time, and more furiously than before, the Tyrolese people
rose (August, 1809). A body of troops approaching from the north, and
consisting chiefly of Saxons, was almost buried in the narrow gorges of Eisack,
beneath the rocks and tree-trunks that were rolled down upon it; ''it might
seem to those struck as though the mountains had fallen together over them."
Another column was annihilated in a similar fashion in the upper Inn valley,
above Landeck, and the French marshal himself only escaped with difficulty
564 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1809-1810 A.D.]
from " the accursed land" after yet another fight at the Isel mountain (August
13th). Hofer, as "chief commander in the Tyrol" entered the citadel of
Innsbruck.
But now came the Peace of Schonbrunn, which sacrificed the faitliful
province. Napoleon sent fifty thousand men to the mountains. Hitherto
the imperial court had rather encouraged than calmed the rebellion; now
these brave men were suddenly called upon to submit voluntarily and the
greater part of the people did actually bow to stern necessity. Even Hofer
had at first abdicated his command and bidden the people go home and lay
down their weapons. But, deceived in his honest heart by foolish dreamers
and roused to a fresh struggle, he once more took arms. The country, how-
ever, was already subdued. Only around the Passeier valley, attack and
defence stiU went on (end of November, 1809). Excited to the highest pitch,
bewOdered and despairing, Hofer had let the time go by in which he, like
others of his comrades, might have found safety in flight or by voluntary
submission. Even the most faithful dispersed. Speckbacher lay all the
winter through, hidden in a cow-shed under straw and manure, until he found
an opportunity for flight. Haspinger got away and as late as 1839 was able
to join in celebrating the dedication of Hofer's monument in the cathedral
of Innsbruck. Hofer himself had escaped to the mountains, where he took
up his abode in a herdsman's cottage which had been deserted for the winter.
But unhappily a traitor was forthcoming. In January of the following year
a troop of soldiers mounted the snowy slopes and brought down the hero,
bound. They treated him with brutal harshness, made him go barefoot
through the ice and snow, and tugged at his beard so that the blood flowed;
he bore it all with smiling patience. At Mantua a court-martial passed on
him the death sentence, and on the city walls, by the bullets of the soldiers,
he met his death — " the death he had so many times sent forth from the
Iselberg into the valley" — and which he faced with unbandaged eyes; on
the 20th of February, 1810, a few weeks before the marriage of the emperor's
daughter with the haughty enemy, this deed of blood took place. The Tyrol
was again subdued; but the martyr's blood had not flowed in vain.
STATE BANKRUPTCY
The struggle of 1809 had also culminated in Napoleon's victory. The
first uprising of the German nation had ended in destruction, and the general
feeling was one of sadness and hopelessness. Since Metternich had taken
Stadion's place Austria seemed to prefer the old diplomatic craft to enthu-
siastic patriotism and to have no other desire than to show anxiety to please
Napoleon. It is true that in spite of the matrimonial alliance neither the
emperor nor the higher nobility had any leanings towards the arrogant
parvenu. But, even if there had been, as the most zealous patriots wished,
a dispofeition to sustain a new contest with Napoleon, the shattered state of
the finances would have prevented any great undertaking: for just at this
time embarrassments were rapidly accumulating towards state bankruptcy./
The continuous war had so impoverished the land that the government could
but look forward to the future with anxiety and dread. From 1793 to 1810
the national debt mounted from 377,000,000 to 658,000,000 gulden, with
more than 39,000,000 gulden interest: 1805 added 30,000,000 to the deficit,
1807, 66,000,000, and the preparations for the war of 1809 alone cost 60,000,000
gulden. Year after year everything possible was tried in order to get a little
real money in the army. From 1792 to 1795 receipts were negotiated and
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 565
[1785-1810 A.D.]
from 1794 to 1797 the war loan was contracted by the intervention of some
provincial deputies. From 1798 to 1809 fief and lottery loans were raised.
The government increased the rates and taxes, introduced a class tax, put up
the rates of interest, and even made use of the people's savings. In 1806 all
gold and silver had to be recoined. The so-called delivery patent of December
19th ordered that all gold and silver should be called in. That which was
not privately sold was soon melted, weighed up and made good by state
shares and winnings in lotteries. The chief thing which helped the govern-
ment out of the difficulty, at least
for the time being, was the regular
issue of paper money.
During 1785 to 1792 to 300,-
000,000 gulden in coin there were
but 20,000,000 in bank-notes. In
1805 there were, however, 675,-
000,000, in 1807 over 700,000,000,
1809, 900,000,000, and in 1810
there were more than 1,000,-
000,000 cheques in circulation.
On the introduction of this money
silver soon disappeared, as also
did the small coinage of 1801, and
the government was forced to coin
300,000,000 gulden in 30 and 15
kreutzer pieces (a kreutzer = Jd
or one cent). Owing to the sud-
den increase in paper money its
value decreased, for in 1799 one
received for 100 florins in silver
103 in cheques; in 1803, 130;
1805, 133; 1806, 147; 1807, 190;
1808, 204; 1809, 221; 1810, 469,
so that 4 florins in notes only
valued 1 of silver. Only after the
battle of Aspern and the marriage
of the archduchess with Napoleon
did the premium fall somewhat.
The quantity of bank-notes which
streamed into Austria from the
deserted provinces lowered their
value still more. The natural consequence of this overflow of paper money
was that all provisions went up in price, the capital became raised, and that
usury and swindle of all kinds were openly practised.
In France, Prussia, and throughout the whole of Germany with the
exception of Saxony things were no better. To those who beheld the pros-
perity of the people, and knew of the economical management at court and
of the abundant resources of the country this state of things was a veritable
mystery. Although the ruin of the finances was brought about by the
threatened political position, bad management and the mistaken financial
policy did much to help it. The finance ministers or presidents of the
exchequer, as they were then called, were in 1796 Count Lazansky, 1797
Count Saurau, 1802 Count Karl Zichy, 1808 Count Joseph O'Donnell, 1810
Count Joseph Wallis. They all individually tried to relieve the financial
Monument of Francis I in Prague
566 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
[1809-1810 A.D.]
difficulties of the country, but could make only superficial amendment laws
against the practice of usury and stock-broking; the committee of economy,
the raising of postage rates, and the edicts forbidding the exportation of
grain and colonial products all did but little to check the evil. Neither the
government nor the people had a very clear idea of the actual importance of
paper money nor of its retrospective effect on the credit and welfare of the
country. During Count Zichy's term of office there was the least worry with
the paper money, and coinage was at its highest value. Count O'Donnell
tried hard to bring about a payment of at least a portion of the notes, but an
equalisation of value could be obtained only by a lasting peace and the greatest
economy. The patent of September 14th proclaimed that the government
had decided to hold cheques at their proper value. A fresh loan was to estab-
lish a sinking fund for the redemption of the bank-notes, but the war of
1809 soon put an end to it all.
In order to pay the contribution of 85,000,000 francs the most beautiful
church ornaments were melted down and the families of Schwarzenberg,
Jobkowitz, Liechtenstein, Harrach, and others handed all their family silver
over to citizens and peasants. Wliole bars of solid gold and silver were sent
to France. The real gold had no sooner disappeared than the depreciation
of paper money began again with alarming rapidity. From October to
December, 1809, the nominal value increased from 320 to 463. The amount
of bank-notes was given out as 950,000,000 gulden worth but in reality they
equalled 1,060,000,000. Count O'Donnell called a committee which assem-
bled and united with him in working out a fresh plan. The patent of Feb-
ruary 26th, 1810, announced a new system of finance: ''Bank-notes shall all
be gradually withdrawn in exchange for bills of payment, 300 florins in cheques
valuing a bill of 100 florins. This will represent convention money. Until
redeemed, bank-notes will be accepted at all banks and offices. In order to
pay off the national debt a fund will be founded for which a tenth part of all
properties and the landed estates of the clergy will be claimed." The patent,
however, was never properly carried out. Goods of the church were not
taken nor other properties taxed. The future was doubtful and the govern-
ment trembled. As the premium was fixed at 300, though it stood really
at 360, travellers and agents in the surrounding districts bought up all bank-
notes, and the stock-jobbing increased more than ever. O'Donnell with his
steadfastness of purpose might have eventually attained his object had he not
died in May, 1810. His successor. Count Wallis, formerly chief burggraf of
Bohemia, made minister of the exchequer on July 15th, 1810, was a powerful
and much feared man, but one knowing little of matters concerning credit
and the paper trouble. In the beginning he carried on O'Donnell's system.
The redemption committee assembled and* on September 8th, new laws
appeared for the execution of the February patent. The liquidation tax on
all movable and landed estates was imposed and a month later many public
properties were put up for sale. A board of court commissioners was to draw
up a land register and tax reform. The scarcity of money became so great
that the government was forced to issue a respite for all payments then due.
The tax of 10 per cent, on all estates ruined the value of landed property and
especially that of the small land-owners, who composed 90 per cent, of the
proprietors and who cultivated 80 per cent, of the ground.
Even after the charter of 1810 the realisations fell one third, the credit was
amortised, and the welfare of the people greatly impaired. On the 4th of
December, 1810, the premium stood at 1240 and the people fully expected a
complete depreciation of the paper money. With the produce of their lands
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 567
[1810-1811 A.D.]
peasants bought gold chains and rings in order to possess something, and
many lit their pipes with cheques. The scarcity of provisions was appalling.
A peck of corn cost 50 florins and a cord of wood 90. In consequence of the
continental blockade there was no trade in coffee, sugar, cotton, wool, silk, or
foreign wines, and their substitutes were not satisfactory. This brought priva-
tion of every description, discontent increased among the people and their
confidence and trust were broken. The redemption committee announced
on February 23rd, 1811, that the value of bank-notes then existing was 1,060,-
798,753 florins. The government declared itself bankrupt. On February
20th was signed and sealed the finance patent which with one mighty blow was
to put an end to all difficulties with the paper money. A copy was sent out to
all the provinces and on March 15th on the same day and same hour it was to
be proclaimed in every town and village. The first words gave out that the
circumstances demanded great sacrifices. Bank-notes would be reduced to one
fifth their nominal value and be exchanged for bills of payment. By Febru-
ary, 1812, cheques were out of circulation and the bills of payment were
decreased to 212,159,750 florins. Henceforth this rate was to be considered
as the Vienna valuation and all contracts were to be made accordingly.
Engagements entered upon before 1799 were to be fulfilled at the same rate
and contracts of 1799 were to be reckoned according to the exchange of the
day on which they were made. To help in the carrying out of this plan a scale
was given with the fixed circulation from year to year and from month to
month; for a loan of 100 florins in February, 1803, the debtor paid 129 florins
in paper; in 1806, 148 florins; in 1809, 234 florins; in 1810, 398 florins, and in
1811 a cheque of 500 florins. After March 1st all drafts on banks or offices were
paid in bills of payment or in bank-notes at the five-fold rate of value as
declared. Copper coinage realised one fifth its nominal value; 30 kreutzer
pieces equalled 6 kreutzers and pieces of 15 kreutzers equalled 3 kreutzers.
Interest on all notes of hand was reduced by one half, but in September all
fixed property taxes were done away with.
During the winter of 1810-1811 it had certainly been rumoured that the
government was making a reform, but such severe and sweeping measures
had not been expected. The ministers of finance explained the need and
justice of the steps they were taking and asserted that the actual properties
and possessions of the nation were not lessening, but that they were only being
differently divided. Nevertheless the finance patent was universally con-
demned. Its system was primitive and unsound and made no provision for
the future. It had no special object and was both unjust and unnecessary.
It confiscated the fruits of work and industry, upset all codes of debit and
credit, and sanctioned a complete change in the relationship with one's own
property. They who had 5 florins possessed now but one, whoever had bought
an estate for 10,000 florins on the 14th of March now had 2,000 florins, 60,000
florins' worth of inherited property fell to 12,000 florins, and he who had
mortgaged one fifth of his estate was now a beggar. Troubles and complica-
tions quickly arose, families were ruined, and many put an end to their
lives.
In Hungary the greatest confusion reigned, because the patent had not yet
been accepted and debtors wanted to pay but creditors would not accept and
nobody gave credit. The government wanted the state assembly, opened by
Emperor Francis on August 31st, 1811, to grant a guarantee for 100,000,000
gulden in bills of payment, a yearly contribution of 12,000,000 for the sinking
fund and the introduction of the scale. After a hard fight the assembly
granted the yearly contribution but the scale was rejected. The consultation
568 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGARY
[1810-1816 A.D.]
lasted ten months until May 20th, when the government closed the assembly,
and on September 1st they introduced the scale as a provisional law of justice.
The Austrians had shown their patriotism throughout the war, had paid
every tax imposed, suffered the depreciation in interest and the losses caused
by the fluctuating standard, but they would not submit to the finance patent
as they saw it had no definite end. The national debt was not lessened and
the deficit, the famine, and the scarcity of money remained. Then, as a change
in the affairs of Russia disturbed Austria again, back came the paper trouble
with all its fearful consequences. Count Wallis was dismissed from office.
His successor Count Ugarte circulated a new paper money consisting of bills
of advance to the value of 45,000,000 gulden. The sum was soon doubled
and this system remained until Count Stadion, in 1816, brought order into
the finances of the country and re-established them on a secure basis, without
proclaiming a bankruptcy.^
INCREASING AGGRESSIONS OF NAPOLEON
On the occasion of Napoleon's second marriage the court of Vienna had
been not a little astounded at his absolute refusal to allow the archduchess
Marie Louise to give that pledge which was required of every archduchess on
her marriage, and without which, according to an Austrian family law, the
marriage could be dissolved — we mean the pledge by which the bride resigns
all her claims to the monarchy. Some hidden design was suspected ; it was
feared lest, in the event of a still possible conflict between Austria and France,
Napoleon might found claims on this marriage. To this fear, affecting Aus-
tria alone, was soon joined another which freed the world from any delusion
that Napoleon would halt on the path he had hitherto foflowed. Up till now
he had bestowed more care on his family than was consonant with equity, but
now dissensions broke out; his brother Louis, king of Holland, seeing the ruin
of his country, refused to enforce the continental system to the extent which
Napoleon regarded as necessary for the overthrow of England ; unable to with-
stand Napoleon's power. King Louis resigned the crown of Holland, which he
had worn uneasily for four years, in favour of his eldest son Louis Napoleon,
handed over the regency to his consort, Hortense, and returned to Gratz in
Austria. But Napoleon did not recognise the transfer. Holland was declared
to be an alluvial deposit which had been formed from the French rivers, and
was incorporated with France. Soon followed other accessions of territory
for France. Not only the Valais, but the Hanse towns also, were annexed to
France, princes expelled from the confederation of the Rhine, and their lands
united to France; thus the duke of Oldenburg, yielding to Napoleon's might,
went over to Alexander, the emperor of Russia; a considerable portion of the
grand duchy of Berg, the provinces which had been handed over to Westphalia
only in the beginning of this year, 1810, the domains of the duke of Arenberg,
were incorporated with France. Thus the central and southern parts of Ger-
many were cut off from Denmark and the North Sea, and the frontier of France
was advanced to the Elbe.
All this must have caused the greatest anxiety to the Russian emperor,
since the Prussian fortresses on the Oder were still occupied by French troops,
and the duchy of Warsaw, erected after the Peace of Tilsit (July, 1807),
increased by a part of Galicia after the Peace of Schonbrunn, and obedient to
Napoleon's most faithful ally the king of Saxony, afforded a fruitful source
of disturbance for Russian Poland as well as a dangerous point of attack, a
most dangerous basis for military operations; besides this the emperor Alex-
o
'■i ■^
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 569
[1812 A.D.]
ander refused to enforce the continental system ^ in his dominions to the extent
that Napoleon wished. There were also other causes of quarrel between Russia
and France, and war between them threatened.
AUSTRIA IN THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1812
The two courts of Vienna and Berlin at last perceived that their interests
were the same ; that their policies must go hand in hand. Both now endeav-
oured to preserve neutrality; but to remain neutral in the full sense of the
term was impossible. When Napoleon went to Dresden, the emperor Francis
also repaired thither, but neither he nor the king of Prussia managed to hold
aloof from the war. Neutrality for the imperial state of Austria Napoleon did
indeed concede, but Austria, like Prussia, had to put in the field an auxiliary
corps of thirty thousand men for the Franco-Russian war; the Prussians
formed the extreme right wing of the gigantic French army, the Austrian corps
was under the leadership of Prince Schwarzenberg and had one privilege ov^r
the rest of the ahies, namely that Prince Schwarzenberg had to take orders
from no one but Napoleon himself.
Napoleon led 400,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, and 1,700 cannon across
the Russian borders. Never had the world seen such an army since the time
of the Persian king Xerxes. Napoleon's victorious advance to Moscow, the
firing of that city, the retreat of the French, their defeat at the Beresina, the
annihilation of the huge army by the treble forces of the pursuer, hunger, and
cold, belong to the history of Russia and of France. The Austrian auxiliary
corps fought unwillingly for France, but from discipline it fought with that
courage and that submission to the command of its emperor which has ever
distinguished the Austrian army.
Prince Schw^arzenberg rescued the Saxon corps under the French general
Reynier, whereupon it was placed by Napoleon under Schwarzenberg 's com-
mand. When the French began the retreat from Moscow, which was the
destruction of their army, a Russian official appeared before Prince Schwarzen-
berg with full powers to conclude a three months' armistice ; he demanded the
surrender of Warsaw and instanced, as an example, the Prussian general York,
who, with his corps, had forsaken the French, and in exchange he offered the
house of Austria west Galicia, which had been lost at the Peace of Schonbrunn.
Prince Schwarzenberg answered that he did not indeed doubt that there was
not a single man amongst his troops who had not entered against his will into
the war for the cause of France, but he was convinced that, if he were capable
of taking such a step as York had taken, even those who had been most
dissatisfied with the outbreak of the war with Russia would be the first to con-
demn him. The Austrian was accustomed to obey the orders of his monarch
and not negotiate on his own responsibility. But, acting on the principles of
his emperor, he was prepared, in order to avoid further bloodshed, not to
advance again in a hostile fashion, but he would declare that his emperor's
protection must extend to Saxony, and that he could in no wise sacrifice
Reynier.
To this the Russians would not agree and the armistice was not con-
cluded, but the Russians showed themselves no longer hostile to the Austrians,
so that when soon afterwards the Saxons were attacked by the Russians, and
Schwarzenberg had the Saxons relieved by Austrians during the night, the
[' In accordance with the continental system, instituted by Napoleon's decrees issued from
Berlin in 1806, all trade and intercourse with the British Isles was forbidden to France and her
allies.]
570 THE HISTOET OF AUSTKIA-HUNGARY
[1813 A.D.]
Russians abandoned the fight the next day when they perceived that the
Austrians were opposed to them. The Austrian auxihary corps left the seat
of war when the Russians had penetrated to Prussia. In accordance with
Napoleon's wish the emperor Francis made Prince Schwarzenberg a field-
marshal; certain persons who had especially distinguished themselves in the
campaign were rewarded by Emperor Francis at Schwarzenberg's request.
The decorations which Napoleon had intended for the Austrian army corps
had been declined by Schwarzenberg in the course of the campaign with the
declaration, '' The emperor of Austria will know how to reward his servants."
This promise was now fulfilled.
THE WAR OF LIBERATION, AND AUSTRIA'S ARMED INTERVENTION (1813 A.D.)
With the annihilation of the French army in the ice-fields of Russia the
first act of the war was ended; the second began when the Russians set foot
on German soil. All Prussia rose in arms against France; for six years she
had felt the yoke of French arbitrary rule. The king had gone to Breslau
and concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with Russia; the confeder-
ation of the Rhine was declared dissolved, the return of German liberty
proclaimed. But Napoleon had hurried to Paris to rouse the might of France
to the continuation of the struggle. With marvellous rapidity he raised a
new army, to which only cavalry were wanting, for, though all France was
called on to supply volmiteer horsemen, and though the call was responded
to with alacrity, yet the number of riders was still too small in relation to
those of the allies. In infantry he was superior to the allied Russians and
Prussians. In the spring of 1813 the armies stood opposed to one another
in Saxony, ready for a fresh contest.
In the meantime Austria had offered her intervention.^ The French ambas-
sador wanted to ascertain the condition of the Austrian auxiliary corps. So
his master declared that to this corps as a component part of his army he would
despatch special orders. Metternich replied that the auxiliary corps would
be too weak, compared with the Russian force, to engage in fresh battle. " So
then," persisted Narbonne, "in spite of the alliance and of the responsibilities
upon which you have entered, you will not fight?"
When Narbonne brought this fact before Emperor Francis at an audience,
"I cannot allow my troops to be extirpated," said the emperor. ''Your
majesty then regards the alliance as at an end?" "It is your master who
annuls it, and forces me to propose an armed intervention. I will assemble
two hundred thousand men, that they may co-operate with the French army."
"You have then decided to go with us?" "Yes, on condition that your
master listens to reason, as I hope he will. I am responsible to my subjects
for all the blood that I cause them to shed and I shall not alter my decision.
My conscience demands this of me. If I acted otherwise I should have to
bear the blame before God." Emperor Francis had already determined to
take up an independent position, so that he might act in accordance with his
own judgment. To do this it was necessary in the first place to annul the
treaty of March 14th, 1812, the provisions of which were no longer adapted
to circumstances so completely altered.
Meanwhile it was really France that facilitated Austria's transition from
its fettered position to one of greater independence. Even before Schwarzen-
berg's arrival in Paris, Count Bubna had proposed that the existing treaty of
alliance should be altered so that Austria might be able to "mediate" with
greater effect; there being no longer any question of a mere " intervention" —
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 571
[1813 A.D.J
Russia and Prussia could never believe in the impartiality of Austria as long
as intimate relations continued between the mediator and one of the hostile
parties. To Metternich's great satisfaction, Maret fell in with this proposal :
"Austria may play the principal part," he wrote on April 9th, to Vienna.
"As they wish for peace, let them equip themselves with the means of impos-
ing it upon the enemies of France; let them threaten Russia and Prussia with
the despatch of one hundred thousand men upon their flanks."
Metternich declared his acquiescence; only desiring Narbonne to inform
him what the basis of this peace was to be. As Narbonne could give him no
information, Metternich decided to make a beginning himself, and first of all
to make clear Austria's new position in relation to France. "The march of
events" so it appeared in a verbal note which Schwarzenberg, on the 21st
of April, 1813, gave to the French minister of foreign affairs," the advance of
the theatre of war from Czernowitz to Eger, the most important point,
throughout a distance of more than four hundred hours, on the Austrian
border, no longer admits of his majesty the emperor taking part in the war
merely as an auxiliary power. In the situation now approaching, Austria
finds her only course to be armed intercession. The emperor of Austria
desires peace. He will propose this to all the courts of Europe and will not
fail to give it its full weight. In this course he will not confine himself to
mere words of peace; if exaggerated views should triumph over sense and
moderation, he will without hesitation throw a deciding weight on the side of
that power which he recognises as his natural ally."
At this time Napoleon was no longer in France. Immediately after his
departure, the empress granted an audience to Schwarzenberg, who tried to
show her the seriousness of the situation. Marie Louise's eyes were still full
of the tears she had shed at the separation from her husband; she begged they
would treat her position in France with consideration. As regards Napoleon
and his minister, it did not occur to them, that Emperor Francis might
desire to break off his alliance with France. The duke of Bassano (Maret),
in his negotiations with Schwarzenberg constantly spoke of "the alliance"
and "the marriage" till at last the prince said: "The marriage, always and
always the marriage! It was made by policy and policy could unmake it"
(La politique Va faite, la politique pourrait la defaire).
Schwarzenberg's warnings were not without grounds. At the seat of war
Napoleon's cause looked in more than one respect, anything but favourable.
Since his absence the French arms had suffered one reverse after another.
On April 2nd, General Morand had been defeated by a skirmishing party
under Cerniseu; on the 5th [of April, 1813], Prince Eugene had fought, and
lost, against the united Russians and Prussians at Mockern; Czenstochowa,
Thorn, and Spandau had already fallen. Moreover even the old allies seemed
to be on the eve of a schism. Mecklenburg had already withdrawn from the
confederation of the Rhine. The conduct of King Frederick Augustus of
Saxony, appeared equally remarkable, although on the 23rd he had again
given an assurance, " that he would faithfully abide by the French system, to
which alone Saxony owed its recovery and advancement."
Between the 19th and 20th of April he suddenly forsook Ratisbon, in
dread lest he should be taken prisoner while on the road with his money and
treasures. The gunners with lighted lunts, the cavalry with drawn sabres,
marched in this fashion on a journey which resembled a war-march, first to
Linz and then to Prague, whence on the 27th of April Frederick Augustus sent
General Langenau to Vienna to arrange general rules of conduct, at the same
time informing the king of Prussia, that he had quite agreed to the armed
572 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGAEY
[1813 A.D.]
intervention of Austria. When in Vienna Narbonne requested an explana-
tion of the king of Saxony's appearance, Metternich feigned astonishment:
"He appeared in Bohemia Hke a flash of lightning." "Yes, like lightning."
Narbonne answered sarcastically, "but it seems that you have had the skill
of Franklin to turn the lightning in the direction you desired." At this time
Austria also tried to draw Bavaria into a share in the armed intervention; j
but the negotiations were terminated by the demand of Austria for the res- I
toration of that part of Bavaria which she had lost in 1809, without being able
to offer Bavaria any equivalent.
On the 15th of April Napoleon had left St. Cloud, in order to take com- \
mand of his newly gathered army. It was no longer the " grand army " of the '
year before, but not inconsiderable for all that; in fact a force fit to make
head against all his enemies. It was certainly formed, for the most part, of
young men, inexperienced in warfare; but Russia, too, had been compelled
to fill up the frightful gaps which the campaign of 1812 had made in the ranks
of veteran soldiers, with young men, while the Prussian troops, too, consisted
of a very large majority indeed of almost untried recruits. So, as far as the
heart of the army was concerned, things were about equally balanced on each
side; the majority in numbers and the advantage in the genius of its leaders
were, however, unquestionably on the side of the French.
Russians and Prussians together scarcely mustered 90,000 men. Against
these till now the viceroy of Italy with his 30,000 had been worsted. But
now Napoleon brought fresh troops to the number of 120,000 men, so that
his adversary was considerably outnumbered. On April 26th Napoleon was
in Erfurt. Here he was met by despatches from Paris and Vienna, the con-
tents of which greatly enraged him. It was the idea of the armed interven-
tion of Austria, now once more in an independent position, which so infuriated
him. He felt that the Austrian policy was drawing closer and closer around
him a circle through which his arrogance struggled in vain to break. Wishing
to ascertain how far the autocracy of his former ally had prospered, he com-
municated to the Austrian auxiliary force the order to proceed against the
Russians, jointly with Poniatowski. Precisely the reverse of this, however,
happened. The auxiliary corps, which, now that Frimont was ill, was under
the leadership of Major-General Bianchi, had, since the 23rd of April pro-
ceeded entirely to withdraw from the left bank of the Vistula.
The Poles, however, feU into a state of the greatest excitement over this
command from the French headquarters; they dreamed of reconquering
Warsaw. But, as the Austrians continued their work of withdrawal undis-
turbed, Poniatowski, whose force could not possibly make head against the
Russians, was also obliged to evacuate Cracow. The Poles, with the united
remnants of the Regnier corps and a battalion of French light horse, were sent
over the Austrian territory after disarmament, in order to meet on the other
side with the French army which now under Napoleon's personal generalship
was making rapid progress.
THE DEFEAT OF THE ALLIES AT LIJTZEN (1813 A.D.)
On May 2nd the Russo-Prussian army under Wittgenstein — Kutusov
was killed on the 28th of April — fought at Liitzen and Grossgorschen, but
after a sanguinary contest they had to abandon the field. On the 8th, Alex-
ander and Frederick William forsook the capital of Saxony, which Napoleon
presently entered in triumph. For King Frederick Augustus there was now
no possibility of staying longer in Prague. On the 3rd of May Napoleon had
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 573
[1813 A.D.]
akeady sent him word through the duke of Weimar: " If he is against me, he
will lose everything he possesses! " On the 5th and 6th of May, news came to
Prague of the victory at Liitzen; and close upon that, came Minister Serra,
despatched thither direct by Napoleon, to demand, with the threat of return-
ing the same evening in case of a refusal, that the king should immediately go
back to Dresden, Frederick Augustus, intimidated, weakened in health, and
naturally plastic, dared not resist such pointed instructions. He broke off
negotiations with Austria, and under cover of the night, on the stone bridge of
Prague, Langenau destroyed all papers bearing upon them. On the morning
of the 10th tiie king travelled by way of Teplitz to Dresden, whilst the queen
and other members of his family remained behind in Prague. Napoleon, how-
ever, insisted further that they should follow with the treasure, and accord-
ingly they left Prague on the 20th, a part of the transport carrying the treasure
having started for Saxony two days earlier. Langenau, who could no longer
remain with the king, went to Vienna and entered the Austrian service.
The tone the Austrian cabinet had adopted towards the French during the
last few weeks was clear and decided; there was no longer any doubt as to
Austria's position and firm resolve. But it was not yet the custom of the
time to print the foreign news of one day in the newspapers of the next;
indeed it was a part of the statecraft of that day carefully to avoid premature
hints of any matter which was not absolutely settled. So the great public
still in doubt as to the views of the Austrian government, continued to blame
Metternich for weakness and indecision. In hot heads alternated the most
extraordinary schemes — now of ways to get rid of him, now of ways to use
him against Napoleon. There was an organised conspiracy of the anti-
Bonapartists within and without the imperial state, formed with the intention
of furthering what they called "making Austria honest." On the other hand
the imperial government did its utmost to destroy Napoleon's suspicion that
it was fostering fresh negotiations for an alliance with his opponents, its efforts
naturally inspiring the opponents of France with renewed bitterness and
doubt.
England's diplomatic agents, King, and Alexander Horn, were obliged to
quit Vienna. General Scharnhorst, wounded at Liitzen, had accepted a
commission from his king, to endeavour to persuade Emperor Francis to join
the Russo-Prussian alliance. But two post stations before Vienna he was met
by the news that neither the emperor nor Count Metternich could receive him,
and consequently he had to return to Prague, where he soon afterwards suc-
cumbed to the effects of his wounds. In Vienna it was intended by the
authorities to keep a free hand, and not to allow themselves to be hampered or
diverted from their self-imposed task of independent intervention.^
Nevertheless the army was strengthened by recruiting and by the militia
ilandwehr) battalions. The emperor Francis had calculated on eight thousand
horse, but so keenly was the need of great efforts felt throughout the country,
and so ready was the country to meet the emperor's wishes, that within a
month sixteen thousand horsemen were offered. They received the name of
Veliten, and were divided amongst the regiments of Hussars ; the strength of
; the Hussar regiment was thus raised to twelve squadrons, two Hussar
regiments — the imperial and palatine Hussars — even counted fourteen
squadrons; the strength of these regiments reached two thousand horse.
; Napoleon now concluded a six weeks' armistice with the allies. He needed
: it to complete his armament, for it was now clear to him that Austria would
: sooner or later join his enemies. The situation of Europe was in the highest
' degree difficult. An offer which Napoleon had made to hand over Silesia to
5n THE HTSTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1813 A.D.]
Austria, and his angry declaration that the house of Brandenburg-llohenzol-
lern must be expelled, was entirely opposed to the views of tlie emperor
Francis, for he regarded tlie preservation of the Prussian monarchy in its pre-
vious extent as necessary for the good of Europe, It was also plain, from the
latest events of the war, that Russia and Prussia in spite of all their heroism,
were not equal to conquering Napoleon. If the present moment were lost,
Napoleon's solitary rule would be established, and the opportunity to win the
liberty of Europe would be lost forever. If Austria watched the struggle
without taking part, she must expect that she (would subsequently be dis-
membered and perish. Emperor Francis therefore pursued his armaments
with redoubled effort, but in order to try one more attempt at an agreement
Count Bubna was sent to Napoleon, Count Stadion to the allies. Emperor
Francis himself left Vienna and went to Gitschin in Bohemia to be nearer the
seat of war.
THE CONGRESS OF PRAGUE (1813 A.D.)
To keep his opponents occupied Napoleon had announced through the
French newspapers, soon after the battle of Liitzen, that he had proposed a
peace congress at Prague, in which plenipotentiaries of France, Spain, Den-
mark, and the other friends of France would appear on the one side, and those
of England, Russia, Prussia, and the rest of the allies on the other, to deter-
mine the principles of a long peace.
The suggestion had not been submitted by Napoleon to a single court;
but the glamour which surrounded him was now so great that this journalistic
notice sufficed to bring the congress into existence. It was actually opened at
Prague. It was, however, soon evident that Napoleon was not in earnest
about the peace negotiations. The passports promised to the English deputies
were first kept back, then refused altogether, and the French plenipotentiaries
did not arrive in Prague till sixteen days after the opening of the congress and
then without full powers; over this and over the forms of the negotiations
time was lost and the armistice prolonged to some weeks. The allies would
have left France her Rhine frontier, but have restored Prussia and abolished
Napoleon's influence in Germany and Italy. In order to get at Napoleon's
views in the shortest way, Metternich himself went to Dresden. A heated dis-
cussion ensued between him and Napoleon during which the angry emperor
threw the hat which he held in his hand on the ground. On any other occasion
any other foreign ambassador or minister would have picked up the hat, but
Metternich did not and went on speaking in a determined manner. The result
of the interview was the knowledge that peace was impossible. At midnight,
on the last day of the prolonged armistice, war was declared by Austria also
(August 10th). An ably written manifesto gave an account of the reasons
which had determined the emperor to this step. Soon after Austria formally
entered the confederation of the northern powers.
The Allies under Austrian Leadership
Already during the armistice, when the hope of a peaceful accommodation
had disappeared, the three great powers at Trachenberg in Silesia, had deter-
mined the plan of operations. The entire conduct of the war and the supreme
command over all the armies was given to the Austrian field-marshal. Prince
Karl Schwarzenberg. He also held immediate command of the main army,
composed of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians, which was stationed in
Bohemia on the Eger. It was 230,000 strong; in Silesia, Bliicher commanded
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEOXIC YOKE 575
[1813 A.D.]
95,000 Prussians and Russians on the Katzbach; on the Hamel and Spree the
ex-French marshal Bernadotte, now crown prince of Sweden, led 150,000 men.
According to the plan, whichever army Napoleon should march against was to
avoid a battle, whilst the other two were to overpower the divisions sent
against them and march against Napoleon in flank and rear. An Austrian
army stood opposed to the Bavarians on the Austro-Bavarian border. On the
Italian frontier an Austrian army under Hiller lay opposite the Franco-Italian
army of the viceroy.
Napoleon's forces between the Oder and the Elbe and in Franconia were
360,000 men, that is 100,000 less than those of the allies, but he had a concen-
tric position, had to consider no one in command, and what general could
show such military experience, so many astounding campaigns, so many bril-
liant victories? In calculating the opposing forces an inspired general like
Napoleon counted for 100,000 men. The war was therefore by no means so
easy a matter, the victory by no means so sure as it was then represented to the
nations, and as they, partly in the frenzy of enthusiasm, partly in the hatred
of the French, believed.
As soon as war was declared Napoleon started for Silesia with a superior
force to annihilate Bliicher, but the latter retreated before him in order to
avoid the battle which Napoleon desired.
THE BATTLE OF DRESDEN (AUGUST 26-27TH, 1813)
In accordance with the general plan the main army of the allies under
Schwarzenberg now marched on Dresden. On the fourth day (August 25th)
it stood before Dresden. Owing to exhaustion, and because all the troops had
not yet come up, the attack was deferred till the next day. This caused its
failure, for in the night Napoleon came back from Silesia with a great part of
the troops. All attacks of the allied arm failed; the weather was bad and
added to this the news arrived that the French general, Vandamme, had
reached the main line of retreat. This compelled the main army to a retreat
which had to be executed in disjointed masses in the face of the enemy. The
army had lost several thousand in prisoners and slain, amongst the last being
the French general Moreau, who had come from America to fight against
Napoleon, Only the long marches and the heroic courage with which the
Russian general Ostermann made head against the wild fury of Vandamme
averted the ruinous consequences which might have resulted from the mishap
of Dresden.
A whole day long (August 29th) had Ostermann ofTered resistance to the
superior forces of the French at Kulm, not far from Teplitz. This gave the
troops who fought unsuccessfully at Dresden time to come up. Vandamme
had calculated that Napoleon would hasten to his support and therefore con-
tinued the contest on the following day. But Napoleon came not, and so the
day ended with the complete defeat and the capture of Vandamme (August
30th). For a long time it was not known why Napoleon had not himself
made haste to cut off the retreat of the allied army. He himself at last
solved the riddle. He had meant to, but at Pirna he had been attacked with
sickness which made him fancy he had been poisoned. By this means all
operations were brought to a standstill, Vandamme was lost, and the main
army of the allies was out of danger. The Prussians meantime had won
the victories of Katzbach and Grossbeeren and the French defeats at Denne-
witz and other places soon followed.
516 THE HiSTOKY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1813-181i A.D.]
BATTLE OF LEIPSIC, OR BATTLE OF THE NATIONS (1S13 A.D.)
Napoleon marched in person against the main army in Bohemia and here
several brilliant skirmishes were fought, but no great battle. By the partial
defeats which Napoleon's marshals had suffered, his army had been weakened
in numbers and shaken in morale; Schwarzenberg now appeared in time to
deal a decisive blow. Bliicher had joined the northern army, the main army
advanced from the Erzgebirge, and Napoleon was threatened in flank and
rear. The king of Westphalia had been expelled from Cassel by Chernicheff.
Napoleon had to make up his mind to abandon his position at Dresden. He
hurried to Leipsic; Schwarzenberg despatched Bliicher and Bernadotte
thither. Never since the encounter of Attila and the Roman general Aetius,
had such masses been led to the fight as in the battle of the Nations at Leipsic.
It lasted four days [October 16th-19th, 1813] and ended with Napoleon's
complete defeat; 300 cannon, 1,000 ammunition carts, 3,000 waggons, 15,000
prisoners including 13 generals and 23,000 wounded fell into the hands of
the allies.^ With the relics of the army Napoleon hastened to the Rhine;
but had once again to fight during his retreat. Bavaria had joined the allies,
the Bavarians and the Austrians opposed to them had united and under
Wrede had occupied Hanau in order to stop Napoleon. After a fierce contest
the French broke through and crossed the Rhine without further opposition.
Soon the allied army also came in sight of the river. They stood on the
frontiers of that kingdom whence during many years victorious armies had
so often marched; now it was its turn to cross, in the triumph of victory, that
stream which Germany would no longer regard as her frontier but her river.
Wherever they turned their eyes mighty images arose. Looking back they
saw Germany liberated, before them the land, where, to their glory or death,
further contests awaited them. They were to seek the lion in his den.
Schwarzenberg wished to cross the Rhine at once, but the negotiations of
the cabinets prevented the execution of this plan. From Frankfort the allied
monarchs declared that it was their wish to see France great, strong, and
successful, and that the greatness and strength of France was a fundamental
principle of the European state system. They assured France an extension
which she had never possessed under her kings, but Napoleon refused their
offers and prepared himself for a despairing resistance. He could not believe
that fortune and victory had forever turned their backs on him. The war
had to begin again. The allies decided not to observe the neutrality of Switz-
erland which would have been solely to the advantage of Napoleon, and
determined to cross the Rhine through Switzerland.
AUSTRIAN SUCCESSES IN ITALY; THE OVERTHROW OF NAPOLEON (1814 A.D.)
Meantime the fortresses in Germany had capitulated one after the other
though not without a brave resistance. In Italy Hiller had driven the viceroy
back on the Adige, and Laibach, Triest, and the Tyrol as well as Dalmatia
had been occupied. Bellegarde now took command in Hiller's place and
there was a short suspension of hostilities. Murat occupied Rome (January
14) and concluded an alliance with Austria against his brother-in-law and
benefactor. The viceroy Eugene, resisted so long as Napoleon held his own;
with his fall Eugene also abandoned the struggle and left Italy.
[' See volume xii, p. 607, for other estimates of the losses.]
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 577
[1814 A.D.]
The allied army, disregarding the neutrality of Switzerland, crossed the
Rhine, and a month later 120,000 men under Schwarzenberg stood on the
heights of Langres; Bliicher was on the Maas with 50,000 men, 30,000 Aus-
trians threatened Lyons, Napoleon assembled his forces at Chalons-sur-Marne
to the number of 120,000. The campaign which he now began was one of
the finest in his life, but the momentary advantages gained were his ruin, for
they induced him not to enter frankly into the peace proposals of Chatillon.
In this town the allies had met Napoleon's ambassadors to negotiate a
peace (February 5th to March 19th, 1814). The advantages gained by the
French induced Schwarzenberg to offer Napoleon an armistice. But he
refused it. He hoped to divide Austria from the northern alliance by a
separate agreement.' But in this he was unable to succeed, because the
allies had already concluded at Chaumont an offensive and defensive alliance
aimed directly at Napoleon in case the congress of Chatillon should lead to
no results. Each power pledged itself to place 150,000 men in the field and
England undertook in addition to pay £5,000,000 in annual subsidies. Her
only privilege was that instead of her own army she might send foreign troops
or pay increased subsidies instead of sending any forces; should one of the
contracting powers be attacked the other powers must come to her aid with
60,000 men each. In view of such an alliance Napoleon's hope of winning
over Austria by herself was necessarily futile and since he was determined
not to agree to the allies' conditions the congress dissolved itself. Napoleon
appealed to the sword, but twelve days later he had to lay it aside, vanquished.
The course of the campaign in France is in brief as follows: Napoleon lost
the battle of Brienne to Bliicher (February 1st) ; then he turned against the
main army. When he failed to break through he once more faced round on
the Prussians who did not on this occasion advance with the circumspection
they had hitherto shown. He flung the individual corps apart. They drew
back and joined the northern army which was advancing under Billow.
Whilst this was being effected Napoleon again marched against Schwarzen-
berg. After the indecisive battle of Bar-sur-Aube, he threw himself by a bold
manoeuvre on the allies' line of communication and thought by this means
to make sure of victory. But the allies paid no heed, and, marching on Paris,
defeated the French division which had been stationed to guard the city.
Paris capitulated and the allied army with the emperor of Russia and the
king of Prussia marched in. The emperor Francis followed later. Louis
XVIII was proclaimed king. Napoleon abdicated and was taken to the
isle of Elba, (April 11th). Louis XVIII concluded with the allies a prelim-
inary treaty by which France was confined to the frontiers she had possessed
before the Revolution, Treaties of peace with the allied powers were con-
cluded with each separately (May 30th).
Emperor Francis returned to his own dominions and made a brilliant entry
into Vienna. Thousands and thousands surged through the streets, drunk
with joy and rejoicing in the wildest ecstacy; victory at last, after twenty
years of war. The happiness of the world seemed founded.
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA (1814 A.D.)
The allies had completed the great work of conquering Napoleon with
extraordinary harmony and constancy. It now remained to regulate the
conditions of Europe with a view to a permanent peace, and to this end a
great congress had been summoned to Vienna; in the autumn it met. Almost
all the monarchs appeared there in person while those absent were repre-
P^ W. — VOL. XIV. 3p
578 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1814 A.D.]
sented by their most trusted servants. The splendour and state which then
reigned in Vienna, the joyous excited Ufe and movement cannot be described.
Those who did not see, who did not share it, can form for themselves no satis-
factory picture. A hundred thousand foreigners streamed thither; the tales
of the Thousand and One Nights seemed to have become truth.
The negotiations themselves offered many difficulties, for the allied mon-
archs had bound themselves by promises during the course of the war. The
emperor of Russia had promised Poland an independent kingdom under his
protection; Austria had undertaken to secure Murat in the possession of
Naples, and, in the Treaty of Ried by which Bavaria declared against France,
had promised the king of Bavaria complete compensation for everything
which he might have to resign in favour of Austria. Finally the king of
Prussia was justified in expecting the restoration of his former power.
The congress of Vienna fell into a series of negotiations between the
powers according to the measure in which this or that dominion was affected
by the subject in hand. The main subjects of negotiation were Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, and Germany.
In Italy, where Austria was chiefly interested, everything was easily
arranged. The Austrian Netherlands devolved on the king of Holland,
though even at this time there were voices which called attention to the
differences of nationality and religion in the two countries and prophesied
that no good would come of this unnatural alliance; but no attention was
paid to them and it was thought that by this union a bulwark had been
raised against France, all the more so since the duchy of Luxemburg also
served to strengthen Holland. Great Britain was especially active in bring-
ing about this enlargement of Holland in order to compensate for the loss of
the cape of Good Hope which England was unwilling to return, but this ar-
rangement deprived the congress of a great source of compensation and made
the solution of the critical question more difficult.
In Germany the kingdom of Westphalia had fallen to pieces of itself and
the old rulers had everywhere returned to their former rights and possessions;
on this occasion the king of England also received the title of king of Han-
over. The question of the restoration of the old imperial dignity was agitated,
but Emperor Francis did not respond to the idea, and it would have been a
mere playing with forms since the ancient might of the German emperors
could never be restored. The difficulties of effecting an arrangement in Ger-
many lay in the claims of Bavaria and Prussia. The difficulties with Bavaria
were such that the question was raised of handing the whole of Bavaria over
to Austria, in exchange for which the house of Wittelsbach would receive the
kingdom of Italy. But the exchange was not effected. Finally, Austria
received from Bavaria, besides the Tyrol in the possession of which she had
established herself, Salzburg, the Innviertel and Hausrukviertel, which had
been resigned to Bavaria in the last unhappy war. Bavaria was indemnified
with her old palatine territories, Wiirzburg, Aschaffenburg, and the present
Rhenish Bavaria.
The greatest complication lay in the indemnification of Prussia. If it had
been possible to give her her former territories all would have been easy; but
this was impossible, for a great part of the old Prussia had been incorporated
after the Peace of Tilsit with the grand duchy of Warsaw, and the emperor of
Russia had, as we have seen, promised Poland the restoration of the kingdom
under his protectorate. Prussia, therefore, wanted the whole of Saxony as
compensation. Austria was not in favour of either the restoration of Poland
or the dethronement of the Saxon house. Prince Metternich (the emperor
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 579
[1814-1815 A.D.]
Francis had raised him to the princely rank during the war of hberation,) did
his utmost to induce the two powers, Russia and Prussia, to change their
minds. France maintained that the restoration of legitimate government
was a main task of the congress and that one of the most legitimate of rulers,
the king of Saxony, could not be declared to have forfeited his throne merely
because in the general upheaval of Europe he had lost his kingdom. Eng-
land, Austria, and France, stood on one side; Russia and Prussia on the other.
A new European war seemed on the point of breaking out but finally both
parties gave way. The emperor of Russia resigned the duchy of Posen to
Prussia, to Austria the salt-mines of Wieliczka, and those districts which in
Austria's last unhappy war had been torn from Galicia and handed over to the
Russians. The town of Cracow with a territory of nineteen square miles was
recognised as a free city. On the other hand Austria agreed to a sort of parti-
tion of Saxony. The Prussians had already occupied a part of the country
but were not satisfied with this; they wanted the w^iole. War appeared
imminent. Hanover, Bavaria, Holland, and Sardinia also joined with Aus-
tria, England, and France. Finally the Prussians abatecl their demands.
About a third of Saxony and the present Rhenish Prussia formed the Prussian
compensation. If we add Posen, Prussia was now quite as powerful as before
the last unsuccessful war with France.
THE WAR WITB. NAPOLEON IS RENEWED (1815 A.D.)
Thus the main difficulties had been partly overcome, partly evaded, when
suddenly, during a court festivity, the news came that Napoleon had quitted
the isle of Elba, and had landed in France. The congress now came to a hasty
conclusion. The German Confederation was brought into existence, the out-
standing matters were hastily disposed of, the final act prepared. The
powers armed for a fresh war.
The first step of the allied great powers was to declare the outlawry of
Napoleon. They announced that he had deprived himself of all claim to the
protection of the law by entering French territory with arms in his hands.
They added that with him there could be neither armistice nor peace. All
available forces were called into play for the struggle with Napoleon. He
might say with truth that his eagles were flying throughout France, from
tower to tower to settle on that of Notre Dame.
The prelude to the war took place in Italy. So soon as Murat received
news of the acclamation with which Napoleon had been received in France,
he came forward as his champion and, breaking through the papal territories,
fell on the Austrians. The pope protested and left Rome. The out-
posts had already begun skirmishing when Murat sent to Vienna to declare
that his intentions were wholly peaceful. But Austria concluded an offensive
and defensive alliance with Ferdinand IV, who had been expelled from Naples
ten years before, and was now living in Sicily. Murat had advanced to the
Po before he encountered serious resistance but the Neapolitans were over-
thrown in every fight and at last defeated at Tolentino (May 2nd) ; ten thou-
sand Austrians had beaten Murat's army which then numbered thirty-four
thousand fighting men. The NeapoH tan army was broken up; there was no
further question of resistance ; the Austrians pressed on unchecked to Naples.
Before they arrived the queen had been compelled by an English fleet to
deliver up the whole Neapolitan sea power (May 11th). Murat fled to the isle
of Ischia and from thence to France. The queen, Murat's wife, was, at her
own request granted permission to live in the Austrian monarchy. When the
580 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
[1815 A.D.]
Austrians had entered Naples, Ferdinand IV, appeared in the capital and
again mounted the tlirone of his fathers.
THE FINAL OVERTHROW OF NAPOLEON
It was not till after the Neapolitan conquest that the greater and more
serious struggle began with Napoleon. The armaments on both sides were
extraordinary. According to the general plan of operations the English and
Prussians were to advance from the Netherlands, and the Austrians through
the south of France. But before the latter could undertake anything of
importance the whole war had been decided in a three days' fight in the Low
Countries. Napoleon had attacked the Prussians at Ligny (June 16th) and
after a brave resistance had overthrown them, whereupon he turned on the
English and fought against the duke of Wellington, the world-renowned battle
of Waterloo (June 18th) which Napoleon lost because the Prussians, whom he
believed to be in full flight, had collected and attacked him in rear and flank.
The results of this extraordinary defeat were first that Napoleon, seeing his
way of flight to America barred by English ships, surrendered to the English
and, in accordance with the unanimous decree of the allies, was taken as a
prisoner to the island of St. Helena; secondly the return of the Bourbons;
and lastly the second Peace of Paris.
The second Peace of Paris changed the frontiers of France only on the side
of the Netherlands, and not to a considerable extent; but the works of art
which during the revolutionary wars and under Napoleon had been gathered
together from all quarters of the world and carried to Paris had now to be
given back. A war tax of 700,000,000 francs was imposed on the country,
and, in order to secure the tranquillity of France, 150,000 men of the armies of
the allied powers were left in France under the supreme command of the duke
of Wellington ; his army occupied several fortresses. The period for its reten-
tion in France was fixed at five years.?
THE NEW AUSTRL\, AND THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION (1815 A.D.)
On the 9th of June the document was signed which contained all the agree-
ments relative to the reconstruction of Europe, the final act (ade final) of the
congress of Vienna. At this point we may insert a brief smrimary of its pro-
visions as they affected Italy. The king of Sardinia, received all the territory
of the whilom republic of Genoa, while Austria got (besides the kingdom of
Lombardy and Venice) firstly, Modena, Reggio and Mirandola for the arch-
duke Francis of Este ; secondly, Massa and Carrara for the archduchess Maria
Beatrix of Este; thirdly, Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla for the empress
Marie Louise; and fourthly, the grand duchy of Tuscany for the archduke
Ferdinand of Austria. The infanta Maria Louisa, widow of the king of
Etruria, received the principality of Lucca. The states of the chm'ch were
restored, contrary to the wishes of Austria and by the instrumentality of
Russia and Prussia, who were anxious to please their Roman Catholic sub-
jects. The Marches, with Camerino and its dependencies, the duchy of Bene-
vento, the principality of Pontecorvo, the legations of Ravenna, Bologna,
and Ferrara (exclusive of the portion left of the Po) returned to the dominion
of the papal see. The emperor of Austria, however, retained the right of gar-
risoning Ferrara and Comacchio. Finally, after King Murat had forfeited
every claim on the forbearance of the powers by his wanton breach of the
peace on March 22nd, and had staked and lost crown and kingdom in a hope-
SHAKIN'G OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 581
[1815 A. D.]
less struggle with Austria and England, the whole kingdom of the Two Sicilies
was restored to King Ferdinand IV.
By this arrangement Austria became the one great power dominant
throughout the Apennine peninsula, and the autocratic rule of Austria was
the lot of the Italians so long as the territorial distribution of the 9th of June
remained in force.
In this new trans-Alpine Austria, which included, according to the original
scheme, the three legations of Ravenna, Bologna and Ferrara, Metternich
sought compensation and more than compensation for all that he sacrificed or
resigned without remonstrance and without regret on the hither side of the
Alps; thus abandoning the traditions of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, of
Kaunitz and Thugut. Metternich's Austria finally renounced her claim to
Silesia and Bavaria, to anterior Austria and Belgium, to the crown of the
Roman emperor and the status of the Roman empire. The Austria thus
reconstructed was a southern Austria, which had cast the anchors of her sov-
ereignty on the lower Danube and to right and left of the Adriatic, and had
thus voluntarily withdrawn from a multitude of arduous duties and irksome
complications which were bound up with her former frontiers and prerogatives.
The emperor Francis decisively refused to assume the crown of Roman emperor
which he had once worn, because he had neither the wish to fulfil imperial
duties nor the power to exact imperial rights. But in this renunciation he
gave up nothing but a mockery of valueless privileges and void possession.
It did not by any means imply that he withdrew from German politics or sur-
rendered the management of them to other powers. Quite the reverse. At
the very moment when Austria laid her iron hand on Italy she instituted the
German Confederation, in order to maintain in Germany an influence by
which her ancient sovereignty should be revived in a modern form, and to
prevent Russia from taking the place she desired. For this the German Con-
federation was her guarantee, and for this sole purpose she instituted it. But
it was a triumph of diplomacy that this motive was never laid bare, that
others worked for her without being aware of it, and that she was never
forced into any utterance that must have betrayed it.
The nature of the body which the act of confederation was meant to
create is tellingly expressed by a single phrase at the beginning of that docu-
ment : " The sovereign princes and free towns of Germany have agreed to
unite in a permanent confederacy." The word sovereign says all there is
to say. It implies the denial of any federal authority, of any power of coer-
cion on the one hand or obligation of obedience on the other, in a word, the
denial of every kind of unity involved in the conception of a federal state.
This word is enough to stamp the creation of the 8th of June, 1815, as a mere
confederation of states, and when it was superseded — in 1866 for the north
and in 1870 for the whole of Germany — by a federal state, the word sov-
I ereign dropped out of the vocabulary of German state law. As long as it
i stood, two points were incontestable — equality of privilege amongst all
' members of the Confederation, and the impossibility of deciding questions
', that involved alterations in these privileges by the vote of the majority.
I But, obvious as they are, these two consequences are nevertheless specially
, emphasised in Articles 3 and 4. In the one it is stated, that " all members
' of the confederation have equal rights," and in the other, that "when it is
; a question of accepting or altering the fundamental laws of the confederate
; body, of jura smgulorum, or religious affairs, no decision can be arrived at,
! either in select committee or in pleno (in the diet) by a majority of votes."
i The object of the confederation is stated as well as its character. Concerning
582 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HTJNGAEY
[1813-1815 A.D.]
this point Article 2 says : " The aim thereof is the maintenance of the external
and internal security of Germany and the independence and inviolability of
the several German states," which means, as far as it refers to internal con-
cerns, the maintenance of equal rights and protection against decisions of the
majority, by which they might be imperilled.
In Article 5 it is baldly stated that " Austria presides in the assemblies of
the confederation." Nothing is said of the privileges accruing to this pres-
idency, one duty only is mentioned. Austria must " submit the proposals of
members of the confederation for general consideration within a period here-
after to be determined." But she had other duties of which the act of con-
federation says nothing and needed to say nothing; in particular that of
using the military resources of the confederation in general and of Prussia
in particular for the benefit of Austria as far as might be, while at the same
time preventing Prussia from taking a leading place in the confederation.
Briefly, the whole was an instrument for exalting Austria and keeping
Prussia down, a confederation of states with Austria at its head, created to
prevent the rise of a federal state with Prussia at its head. So we judge to-
day, arguing back from the result that we know, to the purpose which was
not realised at the time. But is this conclusion correct? Is it necessary to
suppose that the subsequent occurences were desired, known, and calcu-
lated beforehand?
Metternich's Policy
That is the question to which we have to find an answer in Metternich's
words and actions. We will start from an avowal made by him in the strictest
confidence at Smalkald to Lord Aberdeen, the English ambassador, on the
30th of October, 1813, as they were travelling from Leipsic to Frankfort. As
a corollary to the declaration that the emperor Francis would never consent
to the complete incorporation of Saxony with Prussia and that a division
was the utmost he would allow, he said, referring to the future of Germany
in general, that the emperor knew it would be easy for him to proclaim himself
emperor of Germany without more ado, and that such a step would probably
be received with no great astonishment. But it would not bring the German
Empire back to life, and the practical difficulties that must inevitably ensue
might perhaps irreparably prejudice the advancement of the common cause.
His imperial majesty desired to unite the states of Germany in the bond of
mutual independence, and thus to establish a kind of union in which the
strong should protect the interests of the weak, a sort of jcFclus perpetuum, in
which his rank would assure to him to a certain extent the position of suzerain,
but without the grave drawbacks of an unworkable system. This question,
however, was one which the emperor wished to have left quite out of consid-
eration for the nonce. The future organisation of German}^ was not neces-
sarily bound up with the immediate object of the present struggle. His
majesty was of opinion that if all the German states were actuated by the
powerful motive of maintaining their individual independence no other
incentive to the exercise of all their powers would be needed. He desired to
see release from the domination of France put in the foremost place, and
regarded the discussion of any other question as premature.
Here we find at the outset an acknowledgement of the design w^hich we
have subsequently learned to know by its fruits. To accomplish this purpose
Metternich employed various methods, one of which is here mentioned, to
wit, his abstention from touching upon the German question while the war
was yet in progress, and in particular the avoidance of any explanation with
SHAKING OFF THE NAPOLEONIC YOKE 583
[1813-1815 A.D.]
Prussia, who must not be displeased or set on her guard so long as there was
such need of her incomparable army. On April 11th, 1813, Count Harden-
berg urgently entreated an interview with Metternich, that he might come to
a verbal understanding with him concerning German and Polish affairs.
Metternich declined the interview and put Hardenberg off with references
to the instructions he was going to send with Count Stadion to the head-
quarters of the allies. Stadion's instructions, however, contained no mention
of the German question, any more than of the Polish. Thus, even when he
was at headquarters with Hardenberg, Metternich contrived to wrap his own
views throughout the war in impenetrable obscurity as far as Prussia was
concerned, and meanwhile by his actions to frustrate the Prussian schemes,
which were frankly communicated to him, at all points. Hardenberg's
project, which he never attempted to conceal, was to raise Prussia to the
position of the sovereign power of north Germany, first by rounding off her
territory east of the Elbe (extending it if possible to the Weser), and secondly
by a constitution which should bring the minor north German states, great
and small, under her influence in matters political and military. In exchange
Prussia was prepared to yield to Austria a similar position in south Germany.
Such was the project which Knesebeck conveyed to Vienna on January 4th,
1813, and to the Russian headquarters on February 8th.
This Prussian project completely traversed the scheme of Metternich, who
repudiated the notion of any such partition of Germany, not because he
wished to save the body of the German nation from dismemberment — in
his eyes the German nation had no more existence than had national rights,
when they ran counter to the good pleasure of the cabinet — but because he
wished to secure for the Austrian cabinet an undivided ascendancy in Ger-
many. To maintain this ascendancy intact he had recourse to an infalliable
expedient. He set up the magic word "sovereignty" as a formula for the
rights of German states, and made Austria the patron of the minor states,
great and small, which prized this sovereignty above all things. On March
23rd, 1813, he commissioned Ritter von Lebzeltern to advise the emperor
Alexander, then at Kalish, to proclaim openly to the princes of the confedera-
tion of the Rhine that they should forfeit nothing of their present status but
should be allowed to enjoy "all sovereign rights in absolute independence."
Nothing came of this advice, for the Kalish proclamation dated March 25th,
contained threats only and no promises at all. But the emperor Alexander
privately authorised Count Metternich to come to an agreement with the
princes of the South German Confederation of the Rhine on what terms he
pleased, undertaking to sign whatever contract Metternich presented to him
ready for signature. Prussia abandoned south German affairs to her Austrian
friend, but it was in the south that the fate of all Germany was decided. By
the treaties of Ried (October 8th) and Fulda (November 2nd) Metternich
granted the kings of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg respectively not only the full
and entire independence stipulated for in the Treaty of Teplitz, but the
"sovereignty," concerning which (so far from coming to an agreement with
I Prussia) he had purposely avoided giving any sort of explanation. And
; with this word the whole German question was settled.
The word sovereignty implies the right of repudiating every kind of subor-
dination. To confer this right upon princes who may possibly have ruled
i tyrannically because they themselves were subject to a ruthless tyranny,
■ now past away, was not to pardon but to reward them. And if this reward
1 were granted to princes who, to say the least, had rendered no service to
! the ahied cause, how could it be withheld from others who had been the
584
THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
[1815 A.D.]
victims of tjrranny and whose cause was one with that of the alhes? Even
had the elector of Hanover not held an exceptional position as king of Great
Britain, he and the elector of Hesse, who had just returned from exile, could
not rightfully be put in a lower place than the kings of Bavaria and Wiirtem-
berg. In short, by the spell of the word sovereignty Metternich determined
beforehand that Germany was to have, not a constitution, but a mere treaty
of confederation, that she should be neither state nor empire, but a confed-
eration of states, in which there existed neither lawful predominance nor
legal subordination, but only the practical suzerainty of the emperor of
Austria. The employment of this spell of sovereignty was the chief instru-
ment of Metternich's German policy. With it he destroyed Prussia's federal
state of north Germany even before the first steps could be taken to establish
it. Another instrument was the prevention of the incorporation of Saxony,
which would certainly have turned the balance in north Germany in favour
of Prussia, and he thus saved a minor state of north Germany which was in
no case to be gained for the north German confederation. And, lastly,
another was to give a show of support to Prussia's project of a federal state,
which was foredoomed to failure but which issued in negotiations that stirred
up ill-will in all the minor states against Prussia and Prussia alone, because
as a matter of fact it was she who was the deadly opponent of what was
described in Bismarck's notorious phrase as "the godless and lawless sov-
ereignty-dodge." This last expedient Metternich employed at the congress
of Vienna so skilfully as to deceive not only his contemporaries but posterity
also. The emperor Francis expressed his objection to resuming the imperial
dignity in the words: "To no German emperor will I submit, nor am I made
for a new emperor myself. Such an emperor would have the princes, and the
people devoted to them, against him, and the political humbugs on his side.
I do not feel capable of managing such a crew." Every sentence of this sort
was interpreted as a token of absolute unselfishness on the part of the emperor,
and in the transactions of the German commission at the congress the minister
posed as equally unselfish, seemingly demanding everything for Germany
and nothing for Austria. Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were alone to blame if no
good came of it. Metternich had fought for the good cause shoulder to
shoulder with Hardenberg, Humboldt, Miinster, and Stein. Such [concludes
Oncken] was the impression he conveyed at the time, and by this view we
have continued to abide to this day, and have consequently misconstrued
the vital facts of the situation.'^
CHAPTER II
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION
[1815-1848 A.D.]
The wars, which with Uttle intermission filled the first three-and-twenty
years of the reign of the emperor Francis, were in the main a struggle for
national independence. On their first invasion of France, Austria and her
allies declared their intention to quell the revolutionary spirit, and to uphold
the cause of hereditary monarchy; but, having failed in the attempt, they
soon abandoned, tacitly at first, and afterwards in express terms, all preten-
sions to interfere in the domestic concerns of an independent state, or to pre-
scribe its form of government. They fought against French aggression, not
for abstract ideas, but in defence of their own rights and territories. After
the last fall of Napoleon, however, the great powers of the continent reverted
to their original policy, and constituted themselves the champions of the
principle of absolute monarchy. The maintenance of that principle ultimately
became the chief object of the so-called Holy Alliance established in 1816
between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and was pursued with remarkable
steadfastness by the emperor Francis and his minister, Prince Metternich.
The determination to resist all demands for constitutional rights, both
in their own dominions and in every continental state, was then an after-
thought of the allied sovereigns, who had previously made very liberal pro-
fessions, and apparently with perfect sincerity. The treaty of alliance
concluded at Chaumont in 1814 between Austria, Russia, England, and
Prussia, contained the following declaration:
" The sovereigns recognise as the fundamental principle of the high com-
pact now existing between them the unalterable resolution, neither in their
own reciprocal concerns, nor in their relations with other powers, to depart
585
586 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1814 A.D.]
from the strictest obedience to the maxims of popular right; because the
constant apphcation of these maxims to a permanent state of peace affords
the only effectual guarantee for the independence of each separate power,
and the security of the whole confederation." In the early part of the first
congress of Vienna, Austria, had declared that " the subjects of every German
state under the ancient empire possessed rights against their sovereign which
had of late been disregarded, but that such disregard must be rendered impos-
sible for the future." Prussia deliberately proposed a scheme of almost the
same constitution, which, thirty-two years after, was revived by Frederick
William IV; and Austria, Prussia, and Hanover concurred in placing on
record a note (November 16th, 1814), in w^hich was maintained the necessity
of introducing universally constitutional estates, and giving them a voice in
questions of " taxation, public expenditures, the redress of public grievances,
and general legislation."
Such was the disposition of the leading members of the German Confeder-
ation immediately after the first Treaty of Paris; but the events of the Hun-
dred Days appear to have produced a total change in their views. When
the congress of Vienna resumed its sittings after that period, the question
of constitutional rights underwent a discussion of four weeks, and the result,
effected chiefly through the influence of Austria, was the concise expression
of the thirteenth article of the Act of Confederation, viz., ''A representative
constitution shall be adopted in all the federative states" — a phrase which
committed its authors to no very definite issue, and of which the true mean-
ing has been to this day a subject of dispute. It became the avowed policy
of the chief sovereigns of Germany to maintain the rights of dynasties in an
adverse sense to those of their subjects. The people, on the other hand,
deeply resented the breach of those promises which had been so lavishly
made to them on the general summons to the war of liberation. Disaffec-
tion took the place of that enthusiastic loyalty with which they had bled
and suffered for their native princes; the secret societies, formed with the
concurrence of their rulers, for the purpose of throwing off the yoke of the
foreigner, became ready instruments of sedition; and Germany became pos-
sessed by a revolutionary spirit, working through hidden ways inscrutable
to the police, compressible only by an enormous preponderance of military
force, and always ready to break forth with devastating violence whenever
that pressure w^as removed.
The antagonism thus briefly indicated constitutes the dominant fact in
the history of Austria, and of every German state, in the succeeding years.
Its nature is thus portrayed by the philosophical historian Niebuhr, as
reported by the chevalier Bunsen:
'' Europe is threatened with great dangers, and with the loss of aU that
is noble and great, by two opposite but conspiring elements of destruction
— despotism and revolution; both in their most mischievous forms. As to
the former, the modern state despotism, established by Louis XIV, promoted
by the French Revolution, and carried out to memorable perfection by
Napoleon, and those governments which have adopted his system, after
having combated its author, is more enslaving and deadening than any pre-
ceding form; for it is civilised and systematised, and besides the military
force, has two engines unknown to the ancient world or to the Middle Ages.
These are, first, the modern state-government, founded upon a police force,
which has degenerated into a gigantic spy system; and secondly, a thoroughly
organised and centralised bureaucracy, which allows of no independent will
and action in the country. So likewise modern revolution is more destruc-
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION" 587
[1815-1820 A.D.]
tive of political life and the elements of liberty, than similar movements in
former ages; for it is a merely negative, and at the same time systematic
reaction against the ancient regime, of which it made the despotic part
universal by carrying out uniformity, and by autocratic interference in the
name of the state; whereas it gives no equivalent for the real, although
imperfect liberties, which the old system contained in the form of privileges;
and in condemning such privileges under the sanction of democracy, it
destroyed the basis of liberty under the pretext of sovereignty." b
THE NEAPOLITAN AND SARDINIAN REVOLTS (1820 A.D.)
As regards the Italian provinces constituting the Lombardo-Venetian
Kingdom which had been assigned to Austria by the congress of 1815, while
the Vienna government remained deaf to the well-grounded complaints of
the people, let even the proposals of its own adherents pass unheeded, and
only deigned to get through the scantiest routine of necessary work in the
most important branches of administration, it lent ear all the more readily
to the whispers of the police, and fancied that by perfecting this instrument
it could ensure lasting quiet in the Italian provinces. But although the
police took all possible pains to get copies of the rules of the various secret
associations and to guess at the members who belonged to them, conspiracies
continued to flourish rankly. Nor was any remedy supplied by the severe
measures taken by a government which invariably lacked full and timely
information. The increased rigour of the censorship availed nothing, nor
the prohibition of attendance at foreign seminaries, nor the menaces of
penal measures against the carbonari which were issued by the express com-
mand of the emperor — during his journey through Italy in 1819 — nor
impressive warnings against the pernicious political doctrines of the secret
societies. The tales of horror told by officials and official journals concern-
ing the doings of "the sects which walk in the darkness" and their pro-
gramme to murder all kings, to extort agrarian laws, to build human society
up again on a new basis, heated the imagination of immature youth and
constantly brought fresh auxiliaries to the conspirators. The ferment and
agitation waxed day by day till it discharged itself in the year 1820 in the
Neapolitan and Sardinian revolution.
Grievous was the disappointment of the ease-loving Austrian minister.
Coming home from the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (October, 1818) in the
secure hope that " now everyone might go and grow his cabbages in peace
for a long while to come, and that if the ambassadors could be forbidden to
report to their governments the only cause of differences would be removed,"
he suddenly and unexpectedly saw^ the public order, which he claimed as his
own work, in peril, and the commonwealth of Europe a prey to violent
agitations. The Spanish revolution of 1820 did not directly affect Aus-
trian interests; the cabinet of Vienna was content for the moment to launch
against it the doctrinnaire opinions of a spectator. The doctrine of spurious
equality — so it said — was the worm that was eating into the heart of
Europe, true peace and safety were no longer to be found upon earth; no,
nor morality, nor religion, nor patriarchal customs; and it could never be
required of princes that they should give way to every caprice of armed
representation and transfer to the political system of Europe the forms of
government that obtained in Tunis and Algiers. But when the movement
spread to Italy, and in Naples the old system crashed down at a breath;
when the revolution was begun and the constitution resolved upon within
588 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HU^^garY
[1820-1837 A.D.J
four daj'^s, then Austria could no longer look on with folded arms. Revolu-
tion in its worst form of military revolt here stared the emperor in the face;
the ascendancy of Austria in Italy was broken down, her power there, pos-
sibly her possession, imperilled. The Neapolitan revolution took the cabinet
of Vienna by surprise; when it broke out there was no great body of troops
in Italy at Austria's disposal, nor could she, with her slow and clumsy mili-
tary system, collect such a body quickly enough. The struggle was conse-
quently delayed. But from the outset the cabinet of Vienna, " the natural
guardian of order in Italy," was firmly determined to present a resolute front
to the revolution.c
THE EVENTS OF 1821-1832
Prince Metternich immediately convoked a congress at Troppau. The
czar Alexander, who had views upon the East and was no stranger to the
designs of the party who were preparing a revolution in Greece against the
Turks, was at first unwilling to give his consent unconditionally to the inter-
ference of Austria; but in 1821, on being informed to his great surprise by
Prince Metternich of the existence of a revolutionary spirit in one of the
regiments of the Russian guard, he freely assented to all the measures pro-
posed by that minister. The new congress, held at Laibach in 1821, was
followed by the entrance of the Austrians under Frimont into Italy. The
Neapolitans fled without firing a shot, and the Piedmontese, who unexpectedly
revolted in Frimont's rear, were, after a short encounter with the Austrians
under Bubna at Novara, defeated and reduced to submission. Meanwhile,
the Greeks had risen in open insurrection against the long and cruel tryanny
of the Turks; but Russia now no longer ventured openly to uphold them,
and the influence of Austria was successfully exerted against them at the
congress of Verona in 1822. Notwithstanding the professedly Christian spirit
of the Holy Alliance, and the political advantages which would accrue to
one at least of its members from the subversion of the Turkish Empire, the
revolt of the Greeks was treated as rebellion against the legitimate authority
of the Porte, and was strongly discouraged. On the same grounds, it was
decided that a French army should be despatched into Spain to reinstate
Ferdinand in his legitimate tyranny, and this was accomplished in 1823.
The duke of Wellington, who represented England at the congress of Verona,
protested, in the name of his government, against this violation of the con-
stitutional rights of Spain; the protest was disregarded, aruil Portugal would
have been likewise coerced, but for the landing of a protecting English force
upon its shores.'' In 1825 the czar of Russia died and, after a short struggle
with his next brother, Constantine, the third brother, Nicholas, succeeded in
establishing himself on the throne. The duke of Wellington was deputed
by the English government to present its congratulations to the new sov-
ereign and it was on this occasion (April, 1826) that an agreement known as
the St. Petersburg protocol was made between Russia and England by which
the two powers entered into a mutual engagement to mediate a reconciliation
between the Porte and the revolted Greeks.
A year later, July, 1827, a triple alliance based on this protocol was
formed between England, Russia, and France, and led to the battle of
Navarino, in which the allied fleets defeated that of the Porte (October,
1827). The result was a the establishment of the kingdom of Greece under
the protection of England, France, and Russia, which was regarded with no
favourable eye by Austria; but she did not interfere with the proceedings
of the other powers, nor was the harmony between her and Russia disturbed
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 588
[1828-1832 A.D.]
until the invasion of Turkey by the latter had excited her alarm. In 1828
England and Austria peremptorily intervened to prevent the impending
fall of Constantinople. France expressed her readiness to unite with Russia,
and to fall upon the Austrian rear in case troops were sent against the Rus-
sians. Prussia, however, presented herself as a mediator, and a treaty was
concluded at Adrianople in 1829, by which Russia, though compelled for
the time to restore the booty already seized, gained some considerable advan-
tages, being granted possession of several of the most important mountain
fastnesse's and passes of Asia Minor, a right to occupy and fortify the mouths
of the Danube, so important to Austria, and a protectoral authority over
Moldavia and Wallachia.
The piratical seizure of an Austrian trading brig in 1828, occasioned a
petty war with Morocco and the appearance of an Austrian fleet in the
Mediterranean. Satisfaction was obtained, and peace was concluded at
Gibraltar in 1830.
The commotions that pervaded Europe after the French revolution of
1830 affected Austria only in her Italian dominions, and there but indirectly,
for the imperial authority remained undisputed in the Lombardo- Venetian
kingdom. But the duke of Modena and the duke of Parma were obliged to
quit those states, and a formidable insurrection broke out in the territory
of the church. An Austrian army of eighteen thousand men quickly put
down the insurgents, who rose again, however, as soon as it was withdrawn.
The pope again invoked the aid of Austria, whose troops entered Bologna in
January, 1832, and established themselves there in garrison. Upon this the
French immediately sent a force to occupy Ancona and for a while a renewal
of the oft-repeated conflict between Austria and France on Italian ground
seemed inevitable; but it soon appeared that France was not prepared to
support the revolutionary party in the pope's dominions, and that danger
passed away. The French remained for some years in Ancona, and the
Austrians in Bologna and other towns of Romagna.^
THE FATE OF " NAPOLEON II "
The July revolution of 1830 by expelling the Bourbons from the throne
of France had not failed to revive a party whose interests were bound up
with the Napoleonic dynasty represented by Napoleon's young son, once
king of Rome, now duke of Reichstadt, who had been brought up at the
court of his grandfather the Austrian emperor. The Bonapartist schemes
increased in cunning in proportion to the condemnation with which they
were viewed by public opinion and in official circles. As the direct and more
open way did not lead to the desired goal, the schemers engaged in the
devious and intriguing ways of secrecy. The Austrian cabinet having refused
to surrender the duke of Reichstadt to the apostles of the Empire, they
endeavoured more boldly and imprudently to allure him away and abduct
him. He was constantly found surrounded by prowling individuals who
had never belonged to his entourage before; he was ever more and more
urgently pressed to escape to France or Italy with the help of the agents and
to place himself at the head of an adventurous enterprise.
There is no doubt that ambitious and daring members of the Bonaparte
family secretly held the threads of this intrigue. The most venturesome was
the countess Napoleone Camerata, niece of the emperor Napoleon, daughter
of his eldest sister, the princess Elisa Bacciochi. She, of all the relations of
the emperor, most resembled him in features and in her whole nature. She
590 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGAEY
[1830 A.D.]
possessed the most fabulously lively fancy, she was energy itself; she was
also a past mistress of manly accomplishments, such as riding and the hand-
Ung of weapons.
Weary of her weak and sanctimonious husband, for a long time she led a
restless, wandering life until the July revolution, reviving dynastic hopes,
induced her to go to Vienna. There she took up her quarters for several
weeks in the Karnthner Strasse, and endeavoured by means of a secret cor-
respondence to rouse her cousin, the duke of Reichstadt. She begged him
not to act as " an Austrian archduke," but rather " as a French prince and a
man." She adjured him " in memory of the terrible torments to which the
European sovereigns had condemned his father, in consideration of the long
death agony of the exile, by which he was made to expiate the crime of
having acted too magnanimously towards them, to bear in mind that he was
his son, and that his father's dying gaze had been fixed upon his portrait."
The letter containing these words, the third of the series, bears the date of
November 17th, and reached its destination on the 24th.
The duke of Reichstadt did not enter into all these challenges, on the
contrary he kept to the following statement: " I cannot return to France as
an adventurer! Let the nation elect me and I will find means to succeed."
But in his soul he suffered real torture, the outward signs of which were
visible to all his entourage, but the nature of which was only partially
revealed to two persons, the prince of Dietrichstein and Prokesch von Osten.
To the former the duke turned of his own free will in order to take counsel
with him, the well-known, unbounded admirer of Napoleon, and to receive
comfort from him in his heart's distress.
The written account of these conversations, set down by the prince of
Dietrichstein himself for the duke, forms the foundation of Montbel's « com-
munications. The prince took great pains to demonstrate that the party in
France which aspired to the restoration of the empire was a very weak one;
that it was evident, besides, that on account of the heterogeneous nature of
its constituents it was instinctively striving towards its downfall, it was in
fact daily dwindling and would soon quite disappear; and that finally if the
duke placed any dependence on this party he would have but little chance of
success. On the other hand he did not fail to recommend to the youth, so
eager to achieve great deeds, to emulate the great career of Eugene of Savoy.
Prokesch von Osten found the duke at this time, "sad, thoughtful, and
distrait." He often noticed in the middle of a conversation " that under
the appearance of outward calm he was a prey to a continual inward agita-
tion of extraordinary violence. The inclination to seclude himself from
everyone, and to treat the outer world " with distrust and bitter prejudice"
became more and more apparent in the duke. He conversed often exhaust-
ively with Prokesch concerning the future of France; and expressed his
conviction that "' she would henceforth be subjected to great changes which
would powerfully affect Europe." His lurking distrust on one of those
occasions was very plainly expressed thus: "General Belliard has requested
to see me since he arrived in Vienna," he said, " his request has been refused
and this was very wise. Wliat could Louise Philippe's envoy extraordinary
have to do with me? Did he by any chance wish to obtain my assent to
what has occured in France?" It is hardly necessary to recall Beiliard's
loyalty to Napoleon, nor how he suffered on that account at the restoration,
in order to point out the ambiguity of the suspicion as well as the curiosity
evinced by his words.
The warlike preparations occasioned in Austria as well as everywhere else
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 591
[1830-1831 A.D.]
by the July revolution, formed another topic of conversation. The duke
betrayed a passionate desire, should war really break out, to take an active
part in it. "But," he said to Prokesch, "to take part in an offensive war
against France! How could I do it, what would everyone think of me? "
He added, with evident pain, " I would take up arms only should France
attack Austria." But immediately after seized by fresh doubts he contin-
ued in a troubled voice, "And yet no! my father's will clearly lays down my
duty, and this command shall guide my actions throughout my life." He
was referring to the words of the testament of April 15, 1821: " I command
my son never to forget that he was born a French prince, he shall never fight
against France in any way or do her an injury."
In the meanwhile the outward condition of the prince reached a crisis.
Since the July revolution, he had had no more ardent wish, than to be able
to rejoin his regiment in Prague. Did he then find Vienna such a gloomy
place? Was he more oppressed than ever by the feeling of unbearable
dependence at a time of such powerful excitement? And did he really
believe, as he frankly confessed to Baron Prokesch, that in that desired
change lay the way to his " emancipation," the means of attaining at last the
" complete exercise of his will ? " " It is necessary," he said, " that I should
accustom myself to see and to be seen." Not only Prokesch, however, but
Metternich and even the emperor, looked upon such a change of condition in
those disturbed times "as a false kind of emancipation," Even if at first
they had hesitated to carry out the earlier plan, it was certain that at the
beginning of September, since Louis Philippe had been recognised, it had
already been determined that Napoleon's son should not return to his garri-
son, but should spend the next winter and perhaps longer still in Vienna. In
order to compensate him for his disappointed hopes, he was in November
raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the infantry regiment of Nassau.
At the same time efforts were made to win him from his brooding by
means of all kinds of distractions. He was allowed to witness in the second
half of September the brilliant ceremonies and festivities in Presburg, which
accompanied the coronation of the heir to the Austrian throne as king of
Hungary. He was purposely drawn into all the pleasures, assemblies and
balls at court, w^here he was — especially among the fair sex — the object of
universal attention and sympathy, and where his wit, his facility in express-
ing himself, the vivacity of his repartees, the elegance of his dress and man-
ners, the charm of his tall person and the beauty of his features insured him
considerable success. Judging from contemporary portraits, his face was
rather round than oval, with a very prominent nose and pouting underlip;
the forehead was open and high, the cheeks somewhat hollow, thoughtful
eyes looked out from beneath the curly, carefully parted hair, and increased
the interest awakened by his appearance.
At last he was given the entree into diplomatic circles, for the first time
on January 25th, 1831, when he appeared at a social gathering at the resi-
dence of Lord Cowley the English ambassador. This was for him a kind of
turning point in his life. It is true that no distraction had the power to dispel
his sadness. In spite of the good will with which he was welcomed in diplo-
matic circles, and the charm this intercourse possessed for him, it neverthe-
less left him depressed. He railed at the parties as being " dreary and
painful." He made the most bitter remarks upon the singular contrasts to
be found there; here the exiled heir to the Swedish throne and the very
minister who procured his exile; there the former ambassador of Charles
X, and the actual ambassador of Louis Philippe; finally he himself, in such
592 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1831 A.D.]
close intercourse with two Bourbons. One circumstance, however, com-
pensated for all this. '' It does me good," he asserted " to feel that I am
keeping in touch with Frenchmen; I did not wish to remain quite unknown
in France."
His meeting with Marshal Marmont was evidently very beneficial to him;
the former had sought a refuge in Vienna after his sad defence of Charles X
in the streets of Paris and had been there since November. They first met
at that gathering at Lord Cowley's and out of this grew more intimate inter-
course. Metternich sanctioned this in the name of the emperor on one con-
dition: that the marshal should tell the duke the whole truth without
concealing either "good or evil" from him. Marshal Maison, the accredited
ambassador of Louis Philippe, obtained an introduction to the duke who
tactfully received him with these words: "You were a distinguished general
under my father, that is at the present moment the only circumstance which
is at present in my mind." It is evident that the duke was and consciously
remained, in spite of all attacks, only the son and heir of Napoleon.
The Destruction of the Government of Parma (1831 A.D.J
Another excitement, the most powerful of all, was in store for him; when
in February, 1831, the revolutionary movement in Italy came to a head and
in the first rush his mother's government in Parma was swept away. His
cousins. Napoleon Louis and Louis Napoleon, unconcerned about this Aus-
trian archduchess threw themselves into the movement in that adventurous
way which was so repugnant to him, grew enthusiastic over liberty, in order
to make capital out of it as a power, and to dare everything in order to turn
popedom upside down, convinced that the ruins of overturned worlds was
the surest cement of Napoleonic throne building — the duke of Reichstadt,
however, was impelled by quite opposite feelings and convictions. In Marie
Louise he only saw his mother, and the wife of Napoleon; and in the duchy
of Parma the last remnant of Napoleonic dominion, which ought not to be
allowed to perish. He felt impelled on this account to take the field in
defence of his mother and against the Italian revolution, not as the leader of
a troop, however, but at the head of a European army.
The idea seized him like an electric shock. He hurried to the emperor
Francis in order to win his consent. He besought him with prayers, he
conjured him with tears; but in vain, his request was denied. Protesch
testifies that the prince had never been more excited; his imagination
revelled in a thirst for war; he seemed tortured by an ever increasing fever,
and incapable of settling down to any work. When he gave vent to his tor-
ments in words, in moments of greater confidence, it was always to complain
that the " first opportunity " of distinguishing himself had been taken from
him; that nothing could have been more honourable for him than to draw
his sword for the first time in the interest of his mother and to punish those
who had dared to insult and threaten her." Full of anguish, he wrote to
his mother: "For the first time it has been painful to me to obey the
emperor." And as Prokesch cheerily advised him to perfect himself first
by further studies, he exclaimed angrily: "Time is too short! it marches
forward too rapidly to waste it on a work of preparations! Has not the
moment for action evidently come? "
Austria's intervention damped the feverish ardour of Italy and that of
the duke of Reichstadt. But two sparks glimmered among the ashes in the
latter. The result of one of these was a constant vehemence and want of
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 593
[1831 A.D.]
consideration in speech which aimed at making an impression and gloried in
it; the result of the other was a thirst for achievement which led him to take
up the military career with a zeal that would brook no curb. The first we
take more particularly from a description by a foreign diplomat: "The duke
of Reichstadt, who lives at the court of his grandfather and in the bosom of
the imperial family, as soon as he had completed his twentieth year took up
a more and more independent and public position. Endowed with a very
favourable outward appearance, full of spirit and fire, filled with the military
glory of his father, rather lively than thoughtful or circumspect, he seems to
regard the impression he makes, especially on strangers, with anything but
displeasure."
The emperor was very willing to encourage the military ardour of the
duke. But the idea of allowing him to live elsewhere than in Vienna was
now entirely given up. When he entered his twenty-first year he was
appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Hungarian infantry regiment, Ignaz
Ginlay, on garrison duty in Vienna. On June 14th, he entered active mili-
tary service and at the same time he was drawn into a military circle. By
this circumstance the whole of his entourage was changed; his head tutor.
Count Dietrichstein, and his former tutors left him; and General Count
Hartmann von Klarstein, a man of science and culture and a deserving
ojfficer, and captains von Moll and Standeiski were appointed in their place.
The duke had now obtained what he longed for: standing on the thres-
hold of a career whose vastness seemed incalculable, he did not dream that
he was really at the entrance of the valley of shadows. It would lead us too
far, were we to attempt to describe all the conflicts into which he was drawn
by his passionate devotion to the duties of his calling, and by the state of
his health. According to the reports of Doctor Malfatti, who had been
appointed his doctor in May, 1830, disquieting symptoms of a consumptive
tendency were already then apparent, which had been increased by his alarm-
ingly rapid growth; at the age of seventeen, he was already five feet eight
inches tall. For this reason his entering active service was postponed, and
later on he was repeatedly prohibited from attending military duties. The
more decided the doctor's advice became, the more he feared it in the inter-
ests of his military passion, and the more violently he began to repel it and
the more obstinately he endeavoured to conceal from the doctor the progress
of the disease. More than once he exclaimed "I abhor medicine!" and to
all inquiries he would reply: "I feel perfectly well!"
But repeated attacks of complete exhaustion actually revealed what he
refused to put into words. He was then for the time being condemned to
inactivity by a command of the emperor based on the doctor's report, or
rather, as he expressed it in his bitterness "placed under arrest by the
doctor; " he fell back again in consequence into brooding fancies, which at
times were of a scarcely less exhausting nature than the exertions of military
service. It was while he was in this condition that he wrote to Prokesch on
October 2nd, 1831, as follows: "So many thoughts run riot through my
brain concerning my position, politics, history, and our great science of
strategy which destroys or maintains kingdoms." On the same occasion he
gave his attention for the first time to Lamartine's poems. One meditation
he considered more especially beautiful; he was never tired of studying it,
he read it aloud with delight to Doctor Malfatti. But it was evident that
one passage had above all electrified him, because it appeared as though it
had been specially addressed to him; with a voice trembling with emotion
he recited the following lines:
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2q
594 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGAEY
[1832-1835 A.D.]
Courage, enfant dechu d'une race divine;
Tu partes sur ton front ta celeste origine.
Tout homme en ie voyant, reconnaU dans tes yeux
Un rayon eclipse de la splendeur des cieux.
The state of the sufferer grew worse from month to month. He began
himself to be conscious of its gravity, but no complaint ever crossed his
lips, a settled sadness took possession of his soul.
Little joys and great illusions lightened it momentarily, as for instance
when the emperor raised him in the spring of 1832 to the rank of colonel,
and when a journey to Italy for his health was proposed. But he felt him-
self so dependent. He was filled with anxiety at the thought that perhaps
Metternich — the emperor was absent — would not consent to the journey.
How great was his joy when he received the desired sanction.
But his end was approaching rapidly; he helped to hasten it himself by
the imprudent risks he ran as soon as he seemed a little better, so that
Malfatti exclaimed in despair, that a fatal impulse was at work within him
urging and driving him to murder himself. On July 21st, when the last
agony had begun he acknowledged to the doctor for the first time that he
was suffering. He was weary of life. " When will my life of torture be at
an end? " he exclaimed. Early the next day, he breathed his last in the
presence of his mother who had hurried to his bed-side, and in the very room
of the castle of Schonbrunn, where his father, at the zenith of his power, had
dictated terms of peace to the world.
Hardly any personality in the nineteenth century has been the subject
of so many arbitrary assertions as the duke of Reichstadt. On the one hand
they culminated in the accusation, that the Austrian cabinet had purposely
driven him to his doom. On the other they took the form that Austria had
reserved him as a pretender with whom to threaten first this party then that
according to circumstances. It is evident that these assertions contradict
and neutralise each other./
PROGRESS UNDER FRANCIS I
On the 2nd of March, 1835, the emperor Francis I died, after a reign of
forty-three years, and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand I. During the last
twenty years of Francis I, and the whole reign of his successor, the care of the
government w^as directed with assiduity, and with no inconsiderable success
towards improvements in the industrial resources of the empire. Two great
companies were formed for the conduct of steam navigation, the one operating
from Linz on the Danube to the Black Sea, the other, the Austrian Lloyds,
effecting comimmication between Trieste and Egypt, Asia Minor, and Con-
stantinople. The state planned a net-work of railways, extending over the
whole empire, and undertook the construction of a railway from Trieste to the
Saxon and Prussian frontiers. A private company began the railway from
Milan to Venice, and being favoured with extraordinary aid from the govern-
ment, was enabled to complete the colossal viaduct across the lagunes, con-
necting Venice with the main land. Other important undertakings, supported
by private capital, are the railway from Debreczen to Pest, and the noble
chain-bridge over the Danube between Pest and Buda. But the solicitude
of the Austrian government for the material welfare of the people was in a
great degree neutralised by the erroneous policy which almost prohibited
commercial intercourse with foreign countries, and even between Austria and
Hungary, In 1838, however, a commercial treaty was concluded between
FEOM THE TEACE OF PARTS TO THE MAECH EEVOLUTIOJ^T 595
[1815-1835 A.D.]
Austria and England, by which the Danube was freely opened to British ves-
sels as far as Galatz, and all British ports, including Malta and Gibraltar, as
freely to Austrian vessels.^
[The principal axiom of the government in the days of the emperor Francis,
a principle which was still upheld by Metternich under Ferdinand was the
maintenance of the exclusive authority of the sovereign and the refusal of any
share in it to the representatives of the people.]
If the principal effect of the system of government was that it fostered
the private egotism of individuals by giving no scope to any wide conception
of political life antl thus excluded the possibility of genuine national sentiment,
we may see another and yet more disastrous effect of the same cause in the
fact that the several nationalities within the empire wrapped themselves up
in a similar egotism, and lived and laboured for separate aims and a separate
development instead of for the interest of a common fatherland. And, as the
government closed the dual monarchy against external influences, so in like
manner did it allow the several races to isolate themselves one from another;
thus strengthening the diversity of their national elements, aggravating their
differences, and ending by making the parts, formidable enemies to the whole.
This perilous state of things had its root in conditions for which the present
government was not to blame, but which it failed to understand and manipu-
lated without due consideration.
Since the decaying Turkish empire had ceased to be a menace to Europe,
the first and principal cause which had conduced to unite the most diverse ancl
discordant national elements into a single Austrian Empire had passed away.
Joseph II, meditating upon these altered circumstances, seems to have been
seized with a presentiment of the dismemberment of the empire, when, by
means of enlightenment and education, liberty and progress, he endeavoured
to substitute for the previous external unity an internal bond of union in
which the various races might prosper together as a harmonious whole. But
he made a mistake in the means which he employed to this end, aiming too
eagerly at a mark which, had it been set farther off, might have been attained
with fuller certainty and without prejudice to the nationalities. The conse-
quence of his centralistic extravagances was the rise of a national opposition,
which showed itself first in the Slavonic and Magyar provinces. They were
seized with a fresh enthusiasm for the revival of the Hungarian and Bohemian
languages, though at the time those who knew the latter best, classed it with
dead tongues.
The government of Francis I, on the one hand averse from all independence
of action, and therefore ill disposed towards nationalist pretensions, and on
the other inspired with a natural opposition to all Josephinian aspirations,
slipped in this matter of the treatment of the nationalities, the most difficult
of all Austrian political problems, into just the same slack and indeterminate
policy which it pursued towards the estates. It gave with one hand and took
away with the other. It abandoned Joseph's arbitrary attempts at centrali-
sation — a tribute to nationality, the credit of which has sometimes been given
to the emperor himself and sometimes to Metternich. The government
imagined that it could obviate all danger by suppressing the temper of politi-
cal inquiry, and it therefore reduced corporate representation to an unsub-
stantial phantom; or by lulling national sentiment to sleep, and it therefore
forbade the teaching of national history in the schools. It mixed up the
various portions of the army and transferred troops from station to station,
it resisted the encroachments of the Germans and balanced one party against
another, believing all the while that it was ruling most securely by dividing.
596
THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1815-1835 A.D.]
It watched with indifference the Hnguistic and literary exercises, the harmless
mUk on which the dangerous political temper waxed strong, and even assisted
them by various enactments for their benefit, meanwhile excluding the teach-
ing of the German language from the curriculum of German schools. The
conservative system, which based the most frequent argument for the neces-
sity of its continuance in Austria, on the combination of such diverse nation-
elements within the empire, erred in the most important of all respects when it
deviated from the path of logical consistency and, by permitting the disen-
gagement of its component elements, lapsed into the very innovation of all
others most characteristic of that spirit of the age which it desired most care-
fully to exclude.
The Growth of Nationalities
Thus it came about that in the apparent torpor of Austria there grew up
in certain non-German races a self-confidence wdiich gradually overtopped
that of the Germans. In 1818, at the
very time when the Bohemian diet was
opened in the Bohemian language,
the first steps were taken (mainly
through the agency of the nobility)
for founding the national museum
which was opened in 1822, and which
y- r<!-^5£^"f-^„^ exercised the most far-reaching in-
/"""''^ ^^^^^^^I^^T^ fluence upon the scientific and na-
^■""^■^ -^i>S!N^t<< V. '-c^-v— . tional temper of Bohemia, and gave
an impulse to the foundation of other
polytechnic, agricultural, and indus-
trial institutions, and to the study
of Slav literature throughout the
monarchy. Thoughtless frivolity there
gave place to strenuous intellectual
activity, and Prague was the sole spot
where the German, in the midst of
the full tide of Bohemian tendencies,
felt somewhat in touch with the Ger-
man spirit; just as in the transactions
of the Society of the National i\Iu-
seum of Bohemia we meet with more
virile capacity and scientific earnestness than in most intellectual productions
of contemporary Austria. This energetic action on the part of the Bohemian
nobles was imitated in a few instances in the German provinces, but in no case
with the like success. On the other hand it found a rival in Hungary, where
(although Metternich imagined that he had sent the whole country to sleep)
a storm was slowly gathering and where the particularist party in the oppo-
sition soon grew so strong that concessions had to be made to it at the expense
of the Slavs and Germans. In Italy the national literature continued to
flourish in defiance of tyranny; and the Italians began to assume more and
more definitely that attitude of proud aversion which rendered it hopeless
for the government to attempt to form a party and provoked the nobility
to hold aloof from the public service, to withhold its sons from the army
and refuse its daughters to German suitors, which induced the upper ranks
of society to close their doors completely to Austrian officers and officials^
V //
Maximilian Joseph II
(1811-1864)
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 597
[1815-1835 A.D.]
and which Metternich himself characterised as one of the most baneful evils
of the empire. Prejudice here stepped in to consummate so much of the
rupture as had been left incomplete by divergent interests and inclinations;
jealousy grew into sheer incompatibility, diversity into the extreme of hostile
opposition. Foreign domination, which Foscolo had called a hateful but
indispensable necessity for Italy, seemed gradually to work the beneficent
miracle of stanching ancient feuds. This slowly growing opposition, and the
self-confidence of the various nationalities that kept pace with it, reacted by
arousing the self-consciousness of the Germans themselves, who began to
realise with shame that they lagged behind. Was not the German forced to
pass on the humiliating tale of how the emperor had himself confessed that
he could not impose upon the Italians the corporal punishment to which no
one objected at home? And even in the twenties was not the English traveller
struck with the proud, self-confident bearing of the Hungarian as compared
with the listless Austrian, with the loftier sentiments and nobler intellectual
endeavours of the Bohemians, and with the many historical reminiscences
that were vivid amongst both races, while in Austria the people were wholly
lifeless in this respect?
This feeling of humiliation, together with the apprehension of a dismem-
berment of the empire, spurred on Austro-German patriots to an opposition,
unanimous in this, that it made the strengthening of the idea of unity, that is
of Teutonism, the pivot of their reform proposals. For they fully realised the
disadvantage at which this sudden rise of the nationalities would place the
Germans, who were in the minority and dispersed in various provinces, possess-
ing no political centre like the Hungarians, nor any such close connection with
German literature as that which linked the Lombard to Italy, and who found
no parallel to the national ambition of the Bohemian nobility amongst their
own nobles, many of whom spoke French more readily and better than Ger-
man. The trend towards political unity, however, brought the German
reformers back to the Josephinian point of view, to which the course of events
ultimately led the government likewise; they became more strongly abso-
lutist on this great national question, while becoming increasingly compliant
in the details of the administrative system. And yet even in Joseph's reign
experience had proved how vigorously, even in this state, the very stronghold
of conservatism, the new impulse of the age made itself felt, tending perpetu-
ally toward the substitution of organic for mechanical form and relations in
states.
So clearly manifest was this characteristic that even in 1810, Gentz had
expressed the conviction that "language and nationality are the only true
1 frontiers of political division," and that ''an organisation on this basis will
I yet take place." If this verdict contains a truth, it is to be feared that the
'■ antidote against dissolution may prove as questionable and dangerous as the
! evil which it is intended to cure, that this innate tendency of the age will give
; permanent efficacy to the nationalist opposition to efforts at unification, and
I will finally drive the unifying power in its extremity to proceedings against all
1 the nationalities similar to those that were taken in the single case of Italy, if
', not more arbitrary. But even at the congress of Verona, at the earliest stage
of these proceedings and long before their consequence had become apparent,
, they were recognised as futile and dangerous, not by the hostile opponents of
I the would-be infallible system, but by its own creatures, who charged the
! central administration of Italy on an Austrian basis and as an Austrian pro-
; vince with having made her " the object of the calculations of all revolution-
'aries."^
598 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1836-1840 A.D.]
GOVERNMENT BY THE STAATSKONFERENZ
After the death of Francis, Metternich obtained possession of the power
which Kolowrat disputed with him. In order to win over the dowager
empress, Carohne Augusta, and her sister Sophie, wife of the emperor's
brother, archduke Francis Charles, the Jesuits were granted toleration in 1836.
The struggle for the rule was finally terminated by the appointment of the
Staatskonferenz, the members of which w^ere the emperor, his brothers (both
were figureheads), Archduke Ludwig, the emperor's uncle, Metternich, and
Kolowrat.^
THE OLD MACHINE AND THE NEW^ TIMES
[Under the reign of Ferdinand] the old engine of the state puffed along in
the old beaten track, guided by no one, unchecked by any restraining power,
and impelled by nothing but its own force according to the law of indolence.
Metternich, Kolowrat, and many other statesmen recognised how rickety it
was, but from recognition they did not proceed to action; and as Count Hartig
says, " What is wanted is not executed, partly owing to the power of custom,
partly from indecision and want of unity." And Count Ficquelmont traces
the continuation of the evil to similar causes. " I do not know the shoulders,"
he declares, '' which with the strength of Atlas could carry the Austrian state
structure. I do not know the man who w'ould have presumed to wish it.
Many hands were summoned to raise and hold this structure aloft, it was
owing more to the want of unity than to the weakness of these hands that it
fell to the ground." He reproaches those on whom ''it devolved to take
thought for the preservation of the existing state of things," with ''want of
foresight," they had ''not chosen to see what was already visible to all,"
that "it had long been impossible to avoid a change," but "possible enough
to give it shape." And at last he goes so far as to declare that "the whole
state edifice is finally doomed to destruction."/
W^AR IN THE LEVANT (1839 A.D.)
Once only during the reign of the empejor Ferdinand did the foreign
relations of Austria assume a threatening appearance. War had broken out,
in 1839, between the sultan of Turkey and his powerful vassal, the pasha of
Egypt, whose son, Ibrahim Pasha, wrested Syria from the Porte, overrran
Asia Minor, and threatened the very existence of the empire. In 1840 the
five powers — England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria — interfered.
While their envoys consulted in London, the French and English fleets
cruised in the Levant to keep the truce. The case was now much perplexed
by the Turkish admiral having carried his ships to Alexandria, and put them
into the power of the pasha. A strong suspicion was entertained that the
French government encouraged the pasha to retain this fleet, when he would
otherwise have given it up. The four other powers demanded its surrender
by a certain day, and this not having been done, they signed a convention
on the 15th of July, to the exclusion of France. That power was jealous,
and remonstrated through her minister, Guizot; and war seemed imminent
in Europe. The only way to prevent it was to extinguish the war in the
Levant by a sudden blow before the conflagration spread farther; and this
was done by the British fleet, aided by a few Austrian ships. They blockaded
Alexandria and the Syrian ports; and in September they bombarded Beirut.
The Egyptians lost ground everywhere; and in November Acre fell before
FROM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 599
[1839-1841 A.D.]
the attacks of the alhed squadrons. Jerusalem returned to its allegiance to
the Porte, and the Egyptians had no other hope than that of getting back
to the Nile with the remnant of their force; Mehemet Ali delivered up the
Turkish fleet, resigned his pretensions to Syria, and in return received the
firman which gave the dominion of Egypt to himself and his heirs. A change
of ministry took place in France, and peace was preserved.^
metternich's oriental policy
The oriental policy of the Austrian statesman has found many admirers,
and quite recently he has again been applauded for having scented the designs
of Russia at the time of the Greek revolt. It may fairly be questioned
whether he deserves great credit for so doing; persons who had not his
opportunities for looking over Russia's political cards arrived at the same
conclusion. The real question in debate is, whether Prince Metternich suc-
ceeded in setting bounds to the commanding influence of the northern empire
in the East and in securing a pre-eminent position for Austria. It can hardly
be answered in the affirmative. The opinion, which he himself frequently
expressed, that he had succeeded in bringing over the Russian cabinet to his
views on the necessary permanence of the Ottoman empire, was sheer self-
deception. The pursuit of Eastern schemes was never for an instant aban-
doned on the Neva, though, with marvellous sagacity, their accomplishment
was delayed till a favourable opportunity should present itself, and the fiction
of having no other object in view than the maintenance of the status quo
was kept up in the meanwhile.
By Russia's exertions the rudiments of fresh political organisms had been
called into existence in the Balkan Peninsula. Servia, Moldavia, and Wal-
lachia had obtained an autonomous administration, Greece had become
absolutely independent. It must have been evident to all men that the
relation of these organisms to the Porte was in the long run untenable, and
that Greece was confined within all too narrow limits. A well-considered
policy should have taken these facts into account, and assumed an attitude
of good will towards the aspirations which began to make themselves manifest
in these provinces, in order to counterbalance Russian influence. Even from
the material point of view, Austria's interests were very seriously involved.
Metternich applied to oriental affairs the standard that was valid for the
West. The thing that was was justified in his eyes, he had no comprehension
of that which was to be. Metternich is largely to blame for the facts that
habits of thought hostile to Austria effected a lodgment on the Timok and
the Morava, at Bukharest and Jassy, and that Russia took and kept the
position of chosen adviser in all important questions, while the Vienna cabinet
was regarded with profound distrust. Neither did Austria make any friends
at Athens, although Vienna statesmen cannot have been blind to the fact,
that by means of diplomatic relations they had the opportunity of promoting
traffic and opening an important market to Austrian trade and industry in
that kingdom, small though it was. It is easy enough to understand that
Austria should have opposed the expansive tendencies of the Greeks, because
she wished to avoid everything that might provoke a fresh conflict in the
East. But even their endeavours to obtain a share in legislation and admin-
istration found no sympathy in Vienna, and Austria supported the king,
Otho, and his environment in their determination to retain absolute power.
As long as Otho gave ear to the counsels of Metternich, the latter's prejudice
against the young state appeared to give place to more amicable sentiments.
600 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1839-1841 A.D.]
There were moments when he opened before Greece a significant prospect.
''I have made my plans," he said to Prokesch in December, 1839, "Constanti-
nople must not be anything but Greek." "And all the country between
Athens and Constantinople?" asked the Austrian ambassador for the time
being. "All of it," was the answer, "as far as the Greek language prevails;
Athens must be transferred to Constantinople." So the king hoped, observed
Prokesch, and he pinned his hopes upon Austria — hopes that he, Prokesch,
had never wished to destroy or diminish. And Prokesch was perfectly right
when he insisted that in the nature of things the Austrian minister had the
most advantageous position in the country, if only he would avail himself
of its advantages.
Metternich recommended "a sensible Greek policy" to the king, and
elucidated this advice by saying that such a policy would keep itself remote
from all extremes, would be Greek conservative and not aggressive, that it
would hold aloof from the diplomatic game and never offer an opening, never
deviate from the paths of reason. He flattered himself that the French
cabinet was acting in harmony with the views that obtained at Vienna, and
that the czar was of one mind with him respecting the " English constitutional
and French political doings." He urgently warned the king to keep aloof from
the "Candiote doings." The Greek kingdom was revolutionary by origin,
and had received the baptism of legitimation by the force of circumstances;
it was therefore the interest of the king as of every enlightened Greek to hold
by the baptism rather than the birth. The claim of birth was the sovereignty
of the people with all its brainless applications, that of baptism was the
monarchical principle.
A complete justification for Metternich's oriental policy might be put
forward if he himself had believed in the possibility of a regeneration of the
Porte. But in this respect he differs from the English statesman to whom he
was diametrically opposed on almost every question. Palmerston justified
his attitude towards Mehemet Ali by the remark that all the assertions con-
cerning the inevitable and permanent break-up of the Ottoman Empire were
purely visionary ; no empire, he thought, would fall to pieces so readily if let
alone, the foundations, at least, of a better state of things had been laid during
the last few years, and intercourse with other countries would bring progress in
many respects to light.
The Austrian chancellor's views with regard to the Porte are set forth in
a note to Meysenburg, dated May 14th, 1841 : The Ottoman Empire is a body
politic in a state of decay, which has its origin in the radical evil of Islam, a
system devoid of all creative energy, in the conglomeration of heterogeneous
races, in the defects inherent in the oriental mind, and in the defeats which
Turkey has suffered in every war for the past hundred years, but the measure
of this evil has been filled up by reforms undertaken after European models
without any other basis than absolute ignorance and a vast multitude of
illusions. The Austrian cabinet has resolved to give the Porte the following
advice : Base your rule upon respect for religious institutions, which constitute
the foundations of the existence of your empire and the principal bond between
the sultan and his Mussulman subjects; give ear to the times and take counsel
with the needs they bring; remain Turks; give the fullest protection to your
Christian subjects, exercise genuine toleration towards them, do not allow
them to be molested by pashas or subordinate officials, do not meddle with
their religious concerns, but, on the other hand, be the strictest guardians of
their religious privileges; and observe the pledge you have given in the Edict
of Giilhane.
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 601
[1831-1846 A.D.]
Metternich appeared to be convinced that he had done the right thing
when a complete agreement with the principles thus set forth was expressed
on the part of the czar and the sequence of ideas contained in the Metternich
document was repeated in the instructions issued to Count Medem on June
24th, 1841. But to those who were in his confidence he made no secret of his
conviction that the prevention of the fall of the whole political structure
by acts of reform was merely a temporary expedient, and that the problem
was solved for the moment only. In his opinion Turkey was like one of
those people who are never well, for Islam does not admit of a sound political
organism. Inflammatory diseases break out from time to time, and if they
are cured the condition that ensues is not health but the old chronic malady.^
THE REVOLT IN GALICIA (1846 A.D.)
The province of Galicia began early in the new reign to occasion uneasi-
ness to the government. The congress of Vienna had constituted the city of
Cracow an independent republic — a futile representative of that Polish
nationality wdiich had once extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. After
the failure of the Polish insurrection of 1831 against Russia, Cracow became
the focus of fresh conspiracies, to put an end to which the city was occupied
by a mixed force of Russians, Prussians, and Austrians ; the two former were
soon withdrawn, but the latter remained until 1840. ^Vlien they also had
retired, the Polish propaganda was renewed with considerable effect. An
insurrection broke out in Galicia in 1846, when the scantiness of the Austrian
military force in the province seemed to promise it success. It failed, how-
ever, as all previous efforts of the Polish patriots had failed, because it rested
on no basis of popular sympathy. The nationality for which they contended
had ever been of an oligarchial pattern, hostile to the freedom of the middle
and lower classes. The Galician peasants had no mind to exchange the yoke
of Austria, which pressed lightly upon them, for the feudal oppression of the
Polish nobles. They turned upon the insurgents, and slew or took them
prisoners, the police inciting them to the work, by publicly offering a reward
of five florins for every suspected person delivered up by them alive or dead.
Thus the agents of a civilised government became the avowed instigators of an
inhuman jacquerie. The houses of the landed proprietors were sacked by the
peasants, their inmates were tortured and murdered, and bloody anarchy
raged throughout the land in the prostituted name of loyalty. The Austrian
troops at last restored order; but Szela, the leader of the sanguinary maraud-
ers, was thanked and highly rewarded in the name of his sovereign.
In the same year the three protecting powers, Austria, Russia, and Prussia,
took possession of Cracow, and, ignoring the rights of the other parties to the
Treaty of Vienna to concern themselves about the fate of the republic, they
announced that its independence was annulled, and that the city and territory
of Cracow were annexed to, and for ever incorporated with, the Austrian
monarchy.
From this time forth the political atmosphere of Europe became more and
more loaded with the presages of the storm that burst in 1848. It was the
Italian quarter of the horizon that first attracted the anxious gaze of states-
men. For more than thirty years after the final settlement of Europe by the
Treaty of Vienna, Austria exercised a peremptory control over the affairs of all
Italy. From every sovereign of that country she exacted the strictest main-
tenance of the established order of things in his own dominions ; and hence she
became for all Italian malcontents the object of their supreme enmity, the
602 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
[1815-1847 A.D.]
common cause to which they ascribed all their political and social grievances.
Agreeing in little else, they were unanimous in hating their northern masters;
and gradually this communion in hatred led them to fix their desires also upon
one common object, the achievement of Italian nationality. But they looked
upon Austria with no less dread than aversion, and plainly acknowledged to
themselves the impossibility of coping with her in arms. They busied them-
selves only with conspiracies to harass and annoy the Italian sovereigns, her
subordinates. "During these last thirty years," says a judicious Italian
writer,^ " the Italians had only been feeling their way. They cared very little,
and understood even less, about the representative forms of Transalpine free-
dom. The thorn in their side was plainly the foreigner. They tried him by
indirect attacks, by a feint upon the Bourbon, or the pope, at Naples, at
Rome, at Turin. Before they were fairly on their guard, down he came upon
them; and this ubiquity of the Austrian, this promptness and decision of his
movements, this omnipresence and omnipotence, ought, if anything, to have,
as it actually had, the effect of simplifying the question and identifying Italian
interests."
Ever preluding a levy of bucklers against Austria, but ever indefinitely
postponing the moment of action, Italy was prematurely overtaken in the
midst of her preparations by the fair-seeming but fallacious opportunity of
1848. Shortly before that period, the Italians had become conscious from
fatal experience of the total inefficiency of secret conspiracies and violent
measures, and they had adopted a more cautious and discreet policy, the
watchword of which was '' conciliation, union, and moral force." This change
of conduct led to concessions on the part of the princes, the first example of
which was given by Charles Albert of Sardinia, to whom the foreign yoke was
even more galling than to the meanest of his subjects. Some trivial differences
with the imperial government in 1846, on the subject of railways, and about
some matters of custom and finance, afforded him a pretext for repudiating
the dictation of Austria, and assuming the tone and attitude of an independent
sovereign. This beginning was dexterously improved by the leaders of the
national party, and three more of the principal Italian monarchs — the grand
duke of Tuscany, the pope, and the king of the Two Sicilies — were brought
by clever management to adopt, with more or less reluctance, a course opposed
to the wishes of their imperial protector.
Italy was now fairly launched in what was vaguely called ''the way of
progress," and which simply meant, rebellion against Austria. A peculiar
significance was attached to the mustering of the Italians in literary and
scientific associations. A trade and customs' union was largely discussed,
and was finally concluded at Turin on the 3rd of November, 1847. After the
accession of Naples, it seemed an easy step to convert that merely commercial
agreement into a political compact, an offensive and defensive alliance; but
this was not attempted until after the declaration of war in April and May,
1848, when it was too late.
Austria was by no means indifferent to these tokens; she resolved to sur-
prise the Italians in the midst of their too-leisurely deliberations; but in the
execution of that purpose, she forget her usual discretion, and made a false
move, which she was constrained to retract with discredit. She struck the
first blow and failed. Upon the publication of the pope's decree of July 6th,
1847, for the organisation of a civic guard, the Austrian garrison in the citadel
of Ferrara marched into the town, and took possession of it. Against this
violation of his territory, the pope protested in what the friends of Austria
called at the time "unusual and intemperate language," but the act which
FEOM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MAECH EEVOLUTION 603
[1830-1848 A.D.]
had provoked it was condemned by the whole civiHsed world, and Austria felt
the expediency of amicably revoking the step she had taken, and withdrawing
her troops within the citadel. She had put herself so palpably in the wrong
on her first aggression, as to make it difficult for her to venture soon upon
another attempt of the same kind ; and so conscious was she of her false posi-
tion, that she tacitly abdicated the high protectorate she had been used to
exercise over the minor Italian states, and even refused the benefit of her
advice to the sovereigns of Lucca and Tuscany in their perplexities. It was
fortunate for her that she had not to do with a pope like Julius II to head a
national crusade, which would have leagued all Italy against her. As it was,
she was compelled to endure, at the hands of Pius IX and his minister, Cardi-
nal Ferretti, a flat and harsh refusal of a free passage to the troops she con-
templated sending to the succour of her Neapolitan ally. Never was Aus-
trian influence in Italian afl"airs at a lower ebb since the coronation of Charles
V in 1530. Modena and Parma alone adhered to her unreservedly; even
Naples was wavering in its attachment.
Everything favoured the hopes of the Italians and tended to make Aus-
tria's position in the peninsula increasingly precarious. But that condition
of things was reversed in a most unexpected manner. Events, which por-
tended nothing less than the dissolution of the Austrian monarchy, proved
the means of consolidating its power and restoring its lost influence. ''All
the Italians wanted was time, and this was not given them. The success of
their enterprise rested on their consciousness of the magnitude of its difficul-
ties, and fortune made it appear portentously easy." The temptation offered
by the Vienna catastrophe of March, 1848, lured the Italian patriots to their
ruin.^
THE PRELUDE TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1848
Already in the last years of the emperor Francis it had been the convic-
tion of a majority of Viennese politicians that Austria must unavoidably pass
through a tremendous crisis in the immediate future. When, on the acces-
sion of the emperor Ferdinand, that large circle which had built expectations
of timely reforms on the change of ruler found itself completely deceived, the
indignation which already existed increased with truly dreadful rapidity.
Only the prevailing discontent was now more loudly expressed. The
obstinate, unbending will, which would have suppressed and maimed in its
first stages the political movement that was slowly preparing, was now missing
from the throne, and, since the frequent dissensions and lack of cohesion
amongst the members of the Staatskonferenz were no secret, men soon ceased
to be afraid to let their discontent likewise be no secret. The views and
temper of the educated classes became daily more unfavourable to the govern-
ment, and the latter had absolutely no following, no party, amongst the people.
A stigma was cast upon every attempt to speak in its favour, and it became
the prevailing fashion, amongst all who considered themselves in harmony
with the spirit of the times, to honour every enemy of the government as a
friend of enlightenment, progress, and humanity, and to afford encouraging
support, both publicly and privately, to every opponent of the existing order;
for expressly or tacitly the principle was accepted, that truth and independent
thought were to be found only in the ranks of the government's adversaries.
Down to the middle of the forties there was indeed little evidence in the
external life and movement of Vienna of the revolution in the national spirit.
With the exception of the Wiener-zeitung and the Beobachter, neither of which
interested anyone, and of the Augsburger allgemeine Zeitung, which had a fair
604 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1840-1844 A.D.]
circulation, regular political journals did not exist, and the public and secret
police also took care that the public should not feel disposed to discuss politics
to any great extent. But in the early forties the government itself roused
eager discussions in the whole world of trade, industry, and commerce by the
negotiations concerning the question of the accession of Austria to the Ger-
man ZoUverein. A sudden animation was now infused into the trades-unions;
and in industrial circles large and small assemblies now took place in which
the commercial policy of the government was discussed, so that it became
quite impossible to entirely avoid treading on the domain of pure politics.
The issue of the negotiations carried on within the heart of the Staatskon-
ferenz was notoriously extremely unfortunate for Austria. The accession to
the customs system of Germany, which would at that time have demanded little
sacrifice from Austria, was not effected, although it was warmly championed
by Prince Metternich, Kiibeck, (a man who had raised himself from the hum-
blest circumstances to be freiherr and finance minister) and by other influential
statesmen. It was not effected, for one thing, because some, like the archduke
Ludwig, nourished a dread lest the economical union with Germany might
introduce a change of system into Austria by which the statesmen at the helm
would find themselves ousted, and which it was desired to avoid at any price
as generally dangerous to the existence of the state; and for another thing
because it was thought needful to yield to the agitation of a large section of the
trading and industrial classes, who were never weary of assuring the govern-
ment that they would be completely ruined by an accession to the customs
union, and who were supported with the utmost fervour and zeal by Count
Kolowrat, less indeed from conviction than from rivalry with Prince Metter-
nich.
The movement for and against accession to the customs-union kept the
industrial classes more than four years in suspense. This movement reached
its zenith in the last months of 1844, when List, the memorable ZoUverein
agitator came to Vienna, in order to work on the government, as well as on
the industrial classes in favour of accession to the customs-union. List put
the German national side of the tariff question in the foreground, so that now
the united intelligence took part in the debate espousing the cause of acces-
sion. At this time, the 23rd of December, 1844, the trades-union arranged
in the Casino on the Holier Markt a banquet in honour of List, which for con-
temporaries was of the utmost significance, as it was the first political meeting
in Austria.
At this banquet, Professor Kudler highly praised List's efforts to raise the
science of political economy into a " really national doctrine," and extolled his
work as having proved that raising the activity of a nation was not really a
question of improving some isolated economic matters, but of perfecting the
social condition as a whole, of ''developing all its social institutions," and of
encom-aging moral and spiritual culture in all their branches.
List himself, in a speech whose closing sentence roused a storm of applause
seldom heard in Vienna outside a theatre or a concert hall, proposed " Ger-
many" as a toast, "Germany in art and science, literature and civilisation, a
star of the first magnitude among the nations of the earth — Germany
destined by its natural resources, by the ability of its people and by a wise
commercial policy to be the richest country on the continent of Europe —
Germany, whose solidarity and domestic development have won the high
position of one of the principal guarantors of European peace — Germany,
our great and glorious Germany, the Fatherland common to us all, and beloved
by us ail — long live united Germany!"
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION G05
[1842 A.D.]
At this banquet (as we are told in L. A. Frankl's interesting notes on the
Austria of the time previous to the March revolution of 1848) a toast, pro-
posed by the then Ainerican consul in Vienna, in honour of Prince Metter-
nich, was received with expressive silence. We in the present can form no
approximate idea of the extraordinary sensation the after dinner speeches of
that day produced throughout Austria. It should not moreover surprise us,
that after List had given the " tariff question" its national German character,
it should have been taken up and debated with a certain amount of passion
among all the educated classes. At that time throughout Vienna, and not
merely at the List banquet, there was an extraordinary prevalence of patriotic
German sentiment.
In 1842, at the laying of the foundation stone in Cologne, the toast which
Archduke John is said to have proposed, "No Prussia, No Austria! One
great united Germany, fixed as its mountains," to which toast he owed his
position at the head of Germany six years later, roused in Austria itself, especi-
ally in Vienna, an enthusiasm, which once more proved that the existing state
of affairs was not approved by the majority of the people. The wave of
patriotic feeling, which had pervaded Germany for two years past, and which
through the instrumentality of Becker's song: ''They shall not have it, our
free German Rhine!" had penetrated to all classes of the people, received a
mighty impetus from Archduke John's toast. New hopes animated every
patriotic circle and the work of those who laboured for union proceeded with
new ardour.
The Legal and Political Literary Club
It is certainly significant that in Vienna new societies sprang into existence
at this period, which acquired no little influence over the development of the
political life of the state and the formation of Viennese public opinion. Of the
various societies thus formed the Legal and Political Literary Club, founded
in 1842, was in every way the most important. This club, which Count
Sedlnitzky was fond of describing as the "crucible of the revolution," and
about which he prophesied, that its members would "read themselves into
crime" was, as related in L. A. Frankl's notes, founded in the year 1842 by
Eugen von Miihlfeld, Baron von Sommaruga, Dr. Alexander Bach, Dr. Von
Wiirth, Dr. Wildner von Maithstein and Professors Von Stubenrauch and Hye.
In order to get leave to inaugurate this society, its purpose was declared
to be, to give the educated, and more especially the legal public an opportunity
of becoming acquainted with the progress of literature in all its branches, by
means of the publication of the most important pamphlets and of the best
scientific and artistic works. The young men who founded the club used the
name of Baron von Sommaruga, one of the former tutors of the emperor,
court councillor and chairman of the state council, a man held by all circles of
society in high esteem; they employed his name as a banner of loyalty to be
displayed in the foreground and Von Sommaruga utilised the time during
which Prince Metternich was away for his health to personally urge Count
Sedlnitzky for his consent to the mcorporation of the club. This recommenda-
tion furnished the count with the surest guarantee of the innocent character
of the club, and shortly afterwards the imperial sanction was obtained; the
club announced its birthday by an invitation to join it, published in the
imperial Wiener Zeitung, whose daring tone, sounding like high treason or a
signal of revolution, amazed the whole reading world.
"The club," remarks L. A. Frankl, "drew its members chiefly from
eoe THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1842 A.D.]
amongst the high legal officials, and the military set. Authors from all
circles, doctors, and theologians were also enrolled. Such a happily com-
bined society must arrive at further results than the mere reading of books
and papers. Each member contributed lively information in the shape of
thought, events, and experience ; and every man who thought and who strug-
gled was thoroughly convinced that a new and different order of things was
approaching. Those who were over-strained in mind and character were also
to be found cherishing other hopes in their hearts. The members divided
themselves into groups for the livelier debate of different subjects. The long-
ing after free speech found its outlet first of all in smaller circles. Even the
club's book of suggestions bore many traces of a yearning for participation in
politics. Such intellectual activity was not without its effect, and attracted
people in outlying circles, individually and in groups. Electric sparks flashed
here and there, and there awoke a more curious impulse, even a noble ambition
to belong to a society which had the courage, though that was coupled with
caution, to give expression to the discontent which was everywhere simmering.
The club became the home of almost all the intellectual life of the capital.
Here correspondents for foreign newspapers drew their material from the best
sources. As the exchange was the thermometer for politics, so, if in less undis-
guised a manner, was the club for the public humour in Vienna. First and
foremost, however, it was intended to have free lectures on current questions
of common interest. Having contrived to evade the police, application for
permission was made at the student's ''court of commission" and the permis-
sion obtained. Dr. Joseph von Wiirth led off with lectures on the state of the
prisons, which were attended by all the notabilities of high officialdom, by
excellencies, directors of police, nobles, diplomatists. These lectures resounded
in all parts of the capital, and were discussed with avidity in foreign journals.
This, and more particularly the fact that Count Sedlnitzky had been cajoled,
ensured these lectures being the last, as well as the first.
The club intended to publish a collection of laws belonging to the
eighteenth century, edited by an official, named Polivka. The government
had given permission for printing them ; the minister of finance, or as he was
then called, the president of the imperial and royal court chamber, Freiherr
von Kiibeck, had promised that they should be printed free of charge by the
state press; Count Sedlnitzky stopped the printing, in spite of the clear
verdict of the law, to which the club appealed. Such arbitrary measures
as these, inspired by hatred, could only breed bitterness and win warmer
sympathy for the club.
The Concordia did not become so important an organisation as the Literary
Club. It was a club of authors and artists, which, in order to avoid the
required sanction by the police, which certainly would not have been given,
posed as a perfectly commonplace social club; but the discussions had so
decided a tendency toward freethinking politics that the police found it
necessary to keep them under strict surveillance. In many Concordia even-
ings, the lecturers and speakers who addressed the meetings, both in prose
and verse, struck so radical a note, that List, who on one occasion was present
as a guest, said, " You fellows, if you celebrate a few more suppers like this,
there will be only one course open to you — Revolution."
The Vienna's Men's Choral Society founded just about this time, played
an essential part in fostering the steady flow of German patriotism in Vienna.
The political movement, spreading so cautiously and increasing so steadily,
was felt not merely in intellectual circles; the petty bourgeoisie and the
smaller citizens also began to feel conscious of a constant discontent. At
FROM THE PEACE OF PARTS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION" 607
[1841-1843 A.D.]
any rate it is very significant, that on the 28th of December, 1841, the full
court of magistrates felt itself constrained to raise the question of establishing
a select committee of townsmen, a measure which had been proposed as
early as 1838, by Burgomaster Czapka. Walter, a municipal councillor, who
was in the chair, moved the adoption of the proposal as it would have a
favourable effect on the humour of the citizens; the committee of townsmen,
he suggested, should number one hundred members, should take part in
discussing and fixing the year's estimates, should be convened on extraordi-
nary occasions, and should be elected by means of voting papers, by the
municipality and some four hundred other citizens. A single municipal
councillor, Kiisswetter, was in favour of giving a wider sphere of activity to
such a committee; all the rest declared themselves more or less against the
chairman. Nevertheless, the majority of the municipal council decided to
apply to the government for permission to form a select committee of towns-
men consisting of sixty members.
The request of the municipal councillors was warmly recommended by
Count Kolowrat, received by Prince Metternich on the contrary somewhat
unfavourably, and by Archduke Ludwig, before whom it finally came, it was
shelved with the note, "The Czapka at his crazy tricks again." That is
the account given in the journal of a municipal official of that time. There
was no more question of a committee of townsmen, until in March it suddenly
came into existence.
Baron Andrian's Pamphlet
In the year 1843 appeared an anonymous pamphlet, published by HofT-
mann and Campe in Hamburg and entitled Austria and Her Future.
Although, or perhaps because, it was strictly prohibited in Austria, imme-
diately after its appearance, this book, whose author was subsequently known
to be Baron Andrian, a government official, made an immense sensation.
The severe prohibition did not prevent the booksellers from distributing
thousands of copies of the pamphlet throughout Austria, and its contents were
for weeks the talk of the cultivated classes. Not merely in the political liter-
ature but also in the political life of Austria this pamphlet marks a new
epoch. Austria and Her Future contained an oratorical appeal to the class
feeling of the Austrian aristocracy, and brought home to them the fact that
their position in Austria was one of little honour, and that it must depend on
themselves to rise from their fallen condition and press toward the restoration
of their ancient constitutional rights. Baron Andrian was not a feudalist in
the sense that he desired the fall of absolutism only to erect in its place
aristocratic supremacy in Austria, by which the people, hitherto kept in
leading strings by the bureaucracy, would henceforth be under the tutelage
of the aristocracy. Rather did he appeal to the nobility in the conviction
that the latter, by its past, its wealth, and its powerful interest was pre-
eminently qualified to reform conditions in Austria, peacefully, and in the
least dangerous way. Baron Andrian would have liked to see all the " estates"
of the nation taking a share in public affairs, and called on the nobility to
make it its object to obtain that the popular element should receive a sufficient
sphere of activity and its due place in the state, through the representation
of all classes in the provincial estates and in the future imperial estates,
through the liberty of the press and the publicity of judicial proceedings,
but above all through the freedom of communal life. This appeal to the
noble order, whose institutions had been pitifully crippled during the last
decades was not without effect; the estates, especially in Bohemia and Lower
008 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[184S-1847 A.D.]
Austria awoke to new life and prepared the way for that Hberal opposition
by which in the course of three days the system of the days before the March
revolution was completely abolished for all time.
The Estates of Bohemia and Lower Austria in the Forties
In Bohemia the movement in the diet was most vehement, but it was less
dangerous to the government than that in Lower Austria, because it was, for
the most part, of a markedly aristocratic character, although it must be
admitted that in the Bohemian diet, during the forties, many important
matters of democratic interest were openly debated. The Bohemian diet,
in the ardour of its opposition, went in the teeth of the government, to the
very last extremes of legal defiance. It was bold enough to remind the emperor
of the terms of his Bohemian coronation oath, by which in 1836 he had sworn
to uphold the privileges of the estates. They did not think twice in 1847
about refusing their consent to a tax that the government desired to impose;
and if 1848 had not arrived, it might perhaps have come to pass that the
Bohemian estates would have called upon the German Confederation to help
them in their administration of justice and in protecting the constitution of
their country. Indeed the German Act of Confederation declared that in all
countries included in the union, the existing constitution provided by the
diet was to be upheld, and personal freedom respected ; and where these did
not exist at the date of the act (1815), they were to be introduced and placed
under the protection and support of the confederation.
The movement of the estates in Lower Austria was more concerned with
asserting the general well-being of the people, and was therefore a greater
danger to the government, for whereas in Bohemia, many members of the
provincial diet were lulled into serenity in the conviction that the pressure of
centuries had long ago burst the paper fetters of treaties, concessions, and
reservations, that most of the old charters had become impossible, and that
the world could not return to the chaos of the Middle Ages, the opposition in
the estates of Lower Austria believed that their constitutional right and duty
enjoined them to guard the well-being of their country by word and deed.
In acting thus they did not for a moment blind themselves to the fact, that
in order to give effect to this right and adequately to perform this duty, the
institution of the provincial estates required the assistance of a new organisa-
tion, a comprehensive strengthening by means of the "fourth" (citizen)
estate. Their efforts were all the more disquieting to the government, in
that it was impossible to foist upon them the view that their business was,
after all, mainly to look after their private interests.
The estates, therefore, displayed courage, endurance and determination
in a high degree, when they refused to allow odious attacks of the government
to frighten them, but continued their work in a liberal fashion. Several of
their measures admitted of no misrepresentation or misconstruction, as, for
example, their motions for the institution of a bank for farmers (1846),
their petition for the reduction of the tax on food, the alteration of the starnp
tax '' which in its then existing condition was for the poorer classes a partic-
ularly hard measure, whilst the upper classes scarcely felt it," for the intro-
duction of a general income tax (1846), for the improvement of national
education and teaching, and for the introduction of autonomous municipal
regulations in Lower Austria (1847). It was in the end the government
itself which fell into the difficult position it had prepared for the estates.
Many of these manifestations were greeted with so loud an echo in wider
FKOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 609
[1815-1848 A.D.]
circles, that the government could not risk the consequences of directly
refusing all the demands of the estates; instead, they neglected to answer
the proposals for measures of reform laid before them. Well meant and
greatly to the interest of the public as these measures were, they had not the
slightest practical consequence, because it did not please the government,
until the days of March, 1848, to take a single one of them into consideration.
A deputation from the estates which was sent to present an address of
thanks for the reduction of the period appointed for military service, and which
desired to place the address upon the steps of the throne, was not admitted,
because to permit this address of thanks might justify the estates in presenting,
in other circumstances, an expression of censure; another deputation, arriv-
ing to present to the emperor an appeal to consider their right of being asked
for an opinion in any matter of importance for the province, was also refused
admittance. In fact, the government systematically proceeded to oppose a
stiff-necked resistance to any and every measure proposed by the estates.
But, although in every journal at their disposal in Germany and other foreign
countries they might misrepresent the estates as " that nuisance of the Mid-
dle Ages," public opinion was very soon enlightened as to the truth of the
matter. This enlightenment was due to Kuranda's Grenzhoten (border-mes-
senger), which described the action of the estates throughout Austria, and
thereby aroused the liveliest attention, and which never tired of encouraging
the estates to stand firm, and of reminding them that their vocation was not
merely to establish their own constitutional rights, in these struggles with the
government, but effectively to assert the general interests of the community.?
The Growth of Opposition in Hungary
Meantime in Hungary the opposition which had grown up in previous
diets under the emperor Francis had made itself conspicuous only as the
champion of the privileges of the estates and the opponent of encroachments
on the part of the government. The first reference to nationality came from
a young orator, Vagy Pal by name. " Privileges may perish," he said " nations
never!" The principle thus enunciated powerfully affected the minds of the
younger generation, and indicated a fresh phase in the history of the opposi-
tion, but the first opposition party of any importance came into existence
during the diet held after the Wallis state-bankruptcy. The government
wished to impose its scale upon Hungary by law, but the diet was distrustful
of the paper money and wished to take the currency as the basis of the scale.
Thus it came about that no law was enacted. The emperor, however, gave
his scale to the courts of justice, commanding them to judge according to it.
This proceeding aroused great dissatisfaction and was the first thing that
called forth the wrath of the opposition which grew to such great proportions
later. The emperor, apprehensive that the next diet would attack this patent,
postponed it from year to year. He was fortified in his views upon the post-
ponement by the fact that during the Franco-Russian war he had received
voluntary subsidies in response to a mere imperial rescript. In fact, during
the war of liberation the country went beyond the emperor's expectations, for
when he called upon the comities and towns by a rescript to furnish a voluntary
levy of light horse, the utmost the government expected to get was eight thou-
sand cavalry, but in a little more than a month the country raised sixteen
thousand, or twice as many. The Emperor's absolutist principles made him
think it easier, as it was in his opinion better, to give laws by rescript than
through the diet.
H. W. — VOt,. XIV. 2b
610 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1815-1820 A.D.]
After the second Peace of Paris, however, signs of growing opposition
began to be manifest in the comities. The increasing strength of this opposi-
tion was due, to some extent, to the fact that the Hungarian coast had not
been restored to Hungary but was now governed as German territory, and to the
tenor of the royal edicts, which were not always in harmony with the laws of
the land, but it was also due to a certain extent to the action of the archduke
palatine, who frequently recommended men from the the opposition party in
the comities for advancement and distinction, and of the government which
acted upon his recommendations. The archduke palatine was actuated partly
by a desire to enhance his own popularity, partly by the belief that at the
decisive moment his extraordinary ability would ensure him the victory over
the opposition in spite of all. But he did not consider that an individual
grows old, while his method was calculated to keep the oppoation perpetually
young. The government thought that it could weaken the opposition by
promoting its opponents. It was mistaken, for no sooner did the Magyars
(whose besetting sin is greed of titles and offices) perceive that the way to
office and honours lay here, than members of the opposition sprang out of the
ground like mushrooms.
But the government made a mistake even greater than this in its treatment
of the opposition, for it broke down one of the strongest barriers by which it
had been confronted ever since the house of Austria bore sway in Hungary.
The Catholic clergy were legally recognised as the first estate. Wealthy,
well-disciplined, and dispersed over the whole country, represented in the diet
by deputies in the chamber of estates and by the bishops in the chamber of
magnates, they exercised a great and often decisive influence in political
affairs. The emperor Francis did not realise this political aspect of the
Magyar ecclesiastical establishment, and said bluntly that ''he liked the
cleric best who troubled himself least about politics." The Catholic clergy
no sooner became aware of this than they began to withdraw by degrees from
the political arena, and thus it came to pass that in the course of the first
thirty years of the reign of the emperor Francis their influence on politics fell
to zero. The efforts they made afterwards to regain the political power they
had formerly wielded failed to accomphsh the desired result, the barrier, once
broken down, was not to be restored.
Another element, too, came into existence in the comities, where it worked
indescribable confusion later. This was the small squirearchy, the owners of
inconsiderable landed estates, or of none. At the time with which we are at
present concerned this inferior squirearchy, which was called the cortes (why
no man knows), was admitted into the assemblies of the comity, at first only
at the election of the officers of the comity, afterwards at all elections, then to
deliberations upon political matters, and finally even to the decision of private
affairs. The cortes was venal, its vote went to the highest bidder; it was
easily worked upon by political machinations, a prey to the richest or most
audacious agitator.
Thus the state of politics was not auspicious for the government when the
emperor, deceived by the apparent tranquillity of Hungary, promulgated two
royal edicts, which, if successfully carried out, would have suspended the
Hungarian constitution. By one of them it was decreed that taxes should be
paid in currency instead of paper money, by the other a le\y of recruits was
enjoined. Now, as it happened, the right of levying taxes and recruits was
one of the chief privileges of the Hungarian diet, upon which the two edicts
were consequently a direct encroachment. Several comities yielded none the
less, safeguarding their national privileges by protests addressed to the emperor.
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MAECH EEVOLUTION Gil
[1820-1828 A.D.]
When, however, the comity of Varasd refused compHance and declared openly
that it would not carry out these commands, its example was followed by the
comities of Neutra, Trencsen, and others. Then those comities which had
limited their opposition to protests likewise refused to carry out the imperial
command. Soldiers were despatched to the refractory comities, and they
submitted, but the excitement of the country was intense. To smooth mat-
ters over the emperor Francis restored Fiume to Hungary and convoked the
diet to Presburg for the coronation of the empress Caroline. The general
opinion in Menna was that the diet would be appeased without much trouble.
Count Karl Zichy, the minister, a very able man, thought that " a few gracious
expressions from the throne would set everything right." But in the diet it
was evident that a distinction was drawn between the king's person and the
government. He and the uncrowned queen received profuse demonstrations
of affection and respect, but a furious campaign was organised against the
system. Then were heard the first references to the German ministers who
exercised a baleful influence over Hungarian affairs, the first allusions to the
lack of Hungarian advisers of the crown. The result of this stormy diet,
which sat for over a year, was the enactment of fresh laws to protect and safe-
guard the Hungarian constitution. That it closed in peace was due chiefly
to Count Adam Reviczki, to whom (first as vice-chancellor and then as chan-
cellor) the emperor transferred the direction of the Hungarian chancellerie
after the sudden death of Prince Kohary, the Hungarian chancellor, during
the session. This man, the most gifted chancellor Hungary ever had, soon
convinced both emperor and opposition that it was in the interest of the dual
monarchy that the Hungarian constitution should be maintained. "The
king must be the first Hungarian ; and the constitution can only be altered if,
under a strict administration of the laws, it should demonstrate its inade-
quacy." These were his words, which were accepted as expressing the fact;
and nearly all the opposition in the diet went over to the government. They
had desired to maintain the constitution and had succeeded in doing so ; and
they no longer felt called upon to put obstacles in the way of the government.
On the contrary, it was their duty to support it in all constitutional action.
The Transformation of the Hungarian Opposition (1825 A.D.J
In this diet a young magnate. Count Stephen Szechenyi, first came into
prominence. He devoted a whole year's income — which he estimated in
round numbers at 40,000 florins — to the foundation of a Hungarian academy.
He immediately became the most popular man in the country. When the
session of the diet was over, this same count published a work written in
Magyar and entitled Credit. In this book the author lays the axe to the root
of the Hungarian constitution, and from its publication dates the first trans-
formation of the Hungarian opposition. The former opposition had fought
for the maintenance of the constitution, that which now began to take shape
aimed at its subversion, and the subsequent struggle between opposition and
government turns merely upon the manner and form of the remodelling.
Diets should be held in Hungary every three years, and when this interval
had elapsed the diet was again convoked. At the very end of the previous
stormy session, Count Reviczki had conceived the idea of having the heir to
the throne crowned in Hungary during the emperor's lifetime. The far-
sighted statesman saw clouds gathering on the horizon and was_ anxious to
keep the tempest from breaking. The emperor had acquiesced in the idea,
but the matter had been kept so secret since then that no one had the least
612 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGAEY
[1828-1835 A.D.]
suspicion of it until the writs convoking the diet declared the purpose for
which it was called together. The coronation was held with pomp and
splendour, but in the transactions that immediately followed, the first separa-
tist leanings of one party in Hungary made themselves apparent. The
expulsion of the Bourbons from Paris, the elevation of Louis Philippe to the
throne of France, and the consequent commotions which had taken place
and were expected to take place in Europe, rendered an increase of the army
desirable. The diet voted the levy of forty-eight thousand recruits, but
demanded that the officers of the Hungarian regiments should all be Hunga-
rians. It was the first attempt to create a Hungarian army. It came to
nothing, but from that time forward the separatist agitation gathered strength,
sometimes fermenting below the surface, sometimes dimly manifest above it.
The democratic tendency of the Magyar movement, fostered by the works
of Count Szechenyi, lasted for about ten years. He was the most popular
man in the country. The leader of the opposition in the diet was Francis
Dec4k. Incontestably neither of them desired the separation of Hungary
from the dual monarchy; they held firmly by the union, and the Pragmatic
Sanction was sacred in their eyes. Szechenyi repeatedly compared the con-
nection between Hungary and Austria to an indissoluable marriage. He
desired above all things to promote the material prosperity of his country by
means of steam navigation, railroads, etc. In order to rouse public spirit in
this direction he founded a casino in Pest, which soon had imitators in all
parts of the country, but these casinos became centres of opposition.
Szechenyi himself was a member of the opposition, but was blind to his
position in it, for he imagined that he could hold it in check whenever he
thought fit in the future. The loss of this illusion was bitter to him. Deak
desired enactments for the taxation of the nobility, oral procedure, publicity
of the law-courts, and trial by jury. The only difference between him and
the enlightened conservatives was that he wished to base all changes on
broadly democratic lines, while they aimed at making the increased power of
the crown keep pace with the alterations. In Hungary the power of the
crown was by no means strong, for not only had the jurisdictions {Juris-
dictionen) the right of refusing to fulfil the royal commands if they considered
them contrary to law, but they usurped the privilege of ignoring them if
fulfilment were not convenient. The enlightened conservatives therefore
wished to see the power of the crown strengthened, so as to ensure the admin-
istration of law and the maintenance of order. The opposition maintained
that all '' that was needed was to lift the coach out of the ruts, it would make
a new road for itself." And by an ill-considered measure the Government
itself joined hands with the opposition.
A singularity of the position of the presidents of the Hungarian diet and
assemblies of the comities was that the votes were not counted but " weighed,"
as it was phrased in the law on the subject, by the president, who was thus
able to give out the vote of the minority as the decision of the assembly if it
seemed to him — again in the phrase of the law — ''more reasonable." On
the other hand, neither the relation of the supreme count (Ohergespan) to
the comities, nor that of the palatine to the diet was defined by the law. Such
a state of things could exist only in a country where social relations were to
a certain extent patriarchal and presupposed reverence towards superiors and
towards the government; and the position was already insecure when the
government imprudently broke it down. In consequence of a few untoward
occurrences in some of the comities, the fiat went forth that in future the
votes were to be counted. The result was that the cortes gained incalculably
FROM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 613
[1835-1837 A.D.]
in importance. The government soon realised what a mistake it had made,
but it could not draw back, nor did it take the only measure to counteract it
that still lay in its power. The relation of the president to the diet was not
legally determined, and the government allowed the diet to reduce the voting
power of all clerical deputies
in the chamber of estates to
a single collective vote, and
to do the same with those of
the representatives of forty-
seven free royal boroughs;
thus giving an enormous
preponderance to the oppo-
sition, which was mainly
drawn from the comities.
The clergy and the towns,
ready for any bold venture,
appealed in vain to the gov-
ernment for help, it had not
the courage to enter upon a
struggle with the opposition
for the sake of these two
bodies which were still loyal
to it. The coach of the state
was lifted out of the ruts,
but the government had not
resolution enough to settle
what new ruts it was to run in.
Dissensions then arose in
the opposition itself. There
were some members who had
the vision of an independent
Hungary more or less clearly
in view; and this fraction
of the party was anxious to
go much farther than its
leaders. Its aspirations took
shape and found expression
through the medium of a
person who was at that time
wholly insignificant.
Louis Kossuth
In that diet of the Em-
pire which sat for forty
Louis Kossuth
(1803-1894)
months, a young and hand-
some advocate was ob-
served among the audience.
His name was Louis Kossuth. He published lithographed reports of the
proceedings, radical in tone and marked by a veiled separatist tendency.
The government confiscated his lithographic press, he continued his reports
in manuscript; they were circulated all over the country and met with a
favourable reception in many quarters.
614 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1837-1S47 A.D.]
Proceedings for high treason were instituted against certain persons,
those which attracted most attention being the trial of Nicholas Wesselenyi
for a speech made in the comity of Szathmar and the imprisonment of Louis
Kossuth for continuing to issue his manuscript newspaper.
Wesselanyi was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The country was
in a ferment of excitement, and the proceedings of the ensuing diet turned
almost exclusively upon this treason trial. The end of it was that the gov-
ernment quashed all the legal proceedings for treason and pardoned all the
prisoners. During this session of the diet the government had again been
vainly warned of the separatist tendencies of the fraction of the opposition
before mentioned. It felt itself all the more secure because the diet had
closed amidst general rejoicing and a show of satisfaction amongst all parties.
Tranquillity was restored! It was soon to be awakened from this delusion.
Kossuth, now pardoned, took a leading position as editor on the staff of
a Magyar newspaper. The tone of the paper was radical, and it met with an
extraordinarily sympathetic response. From that tune forward the sepa-
ratist tendency came more and more plainly to light. The opposition out-
stripped its former leaders; new leaders arose. Count Louis Batthyanyi
was the head of the opposition among the magnates, Kossuth led the party in
the comities. Magyarism and independence were the catchwords of the
opposition, which strained every nerve to keep the country in a perpetual
ferment, and succeeded only too well.
Any and all means were made to serve this purpose, and for three whole
years the excitement was kept up over the question of mixed marriages.
Every measure of the government, good or bad, was impunged. When it
inaugurated a trade in tobacco there was an uproar in all the comities. The
object of the agitators was to make government impossible. This end was
served in the comities by the cortes, which decided questions of the utmost
moment without comprehending them in the least. When soberminded
men protested that the government would ultimately be constrained to curb
the licence of the comities by force, and that it would therefore be better for
them to keep within bounds, the opposition's invariable reply was, ''In the
independence of the comities lies the salvation of Magyar liberty," and,
"these excesses must be endured for the sake of saving liberty," whereupon
the excesses of the comities rose to a fabulous height. Thus, the legal decis-
ions of the septemvirate, which the king himself had no power to alter, were
disregarded in the comity of Bihar because they were given in favour of per-
sons obnoxious to the opposition. Kossuth organised a league for the pro-
tection of Hungarian industries, no one was to wear any textile fabrics or use
any manufactured goods that were not made in Hungarj'-, the customs dues
between Hungary and Austria, which had been the subject of Magyar griev-
ance for a hundred years and more, were now taken under the patronage of
Kossuth and Co., and when the question of abolishing them and allowing free
trade between Austria and Hungary was discussed, the proposal was violently
opposed by Kossuth and his followers because it would have meant the loss of
a means of severance. Everything was done, nevertheless, under the motto
"No separation!" Wesselenyi declared in print, "Hungary's connection
with Austria is so advantageous to her that the Hungarians would be forced
to set the house of Austria on the throne to-day if it had not been done three
hundred years ago." Kossuth repeated this phrase in speech and writing,
and to it the whole opposition pointed when reproached with wanting to tear
Hungary away from the union. It could say " Trust to my word, not to my
works."
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 615
[1837-1847 A.D.]
The wretched confusion of the country was worse confounded by the
language question. The exertions of the Czechs in this matter, were child's
play to what took place in Hungary. By the programme six million inhabi-
tants wno did not speak Magyar were to be translated by magic into Hun-
garians. When disputes arose over accounts which were not drawn up in
Hungarian the comities refused to decide them. Petitions in German and
Slavonic were often returned to the petitioners, the official letters of the Croat
comities were sent back if the address was -vsTitten in Latin, The Croat depu-
ties could not get a hearing in the diet because they spoke Latin. Registers
of births, marriages, and deaths had to be written in Magyar, even in communi-
ties wholly unacquainted with the language, and extracts from such docu-
ments were sent abroad, and were not translated even at the request of the
foreign authorities. The Protestant clergy received orders to preach in Hun-
garian one Sunday out of three, even if there w^as not a creature in the con-
gregation who understood a w^ord of it. Religious instruction was to be given
in Hungarian, the children were to learn the Hungarian catechism by heart,
even if they happened to be Slovaks. Magyar ministers were set over Slovak
congregations, and if the congregations objected they were brought to reason
by hard knocks, " because the dignity of the nation requires it." The Slovaks
were naturally furious, the rather because nobody took their part. Two
magnates, and two only, raised their voices against this tyranny of language,
Count Stephen Szechenyi and Count John MajMth, but all they said or wTote
was lost in the general uproar, the storm that was then raging.
Opposition had become the fashion, the dullest could be sure of the
applause of the gallery and the acclamations of the cortes if only he abused
the government. Men who were absolutely ignorant of the Hungarian lan-
guage were cheered if they brought out the laboriously conned phrase, " I vote
with the opposition."
Society poured contempt upon the adherents of the government, and here
women played a great part. Some towns, weary of the vain expectation of
help from the government, had thrown in their lot with the opposition. Oppo-
sition principles were inculcated in the minds of the boys in the public schools
{Gymnasialschulen) , Kossuth's newspaper was supplied gratis to influential
village notaries and schoolmasters. The opposition started a fund for the
promotion of its objects. No small courage was required to take the part
of the government in the comities, which in many places had bidden farewell
to all order, discipline, and discretion.
The government now resolved to combat the excesses of the comities by a
measure which, had it been taken when first proposed, might have proved
successful, but which now merely poured oil upon the flames. It directed
that the supreme counts and administrators should reside in the comities in
which they held office and exercise a stricter supervision over the government
of the comity. Their stipends were raised, and more than thirty appointments
of this sort were made at once. The opposition set up a tremendous clamour.
Hitherto they had reviled the government for its inaction, now this step was
described as a violation of the law and an attempt to coerce the electors for
the next diet.
There was a split in the conservative party itself. Some members con-
sidered that the liberties of Hungary were bound up with the exemption of
nobles from taxation, and these were dissatisfied with the government because
it would no longer defend this privilege. The frequent changes in the chan-
cellorship also had a bad effect upon the party. Each chancellor had formed
a party of his own, distinguished from the rest by niceties of opinion. The
616 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
[1847 A.D.]
strict Catholic party complained of the neglect of its interests, and, in one
instance, conservative as it was in other matters, voted with the opposition
and against the government upon an ecclesiastical question. Such was the
state of affairs when the archdvUie palatine died.
The Death of the Archduke Joseph
Archduke Joseph, the palatine, had filled this high office for half a cen-
tury, and had amassed a rich store of experience. He commanded the
respect of all parties, though the conservatives deplored in him the lack of
the resolute spirit demanded in many matters of importance. But for this
very reason he was popular with the opposition, and he cared much for popu-
larity. The opposition had made great strides under him, but his extraordi-
nary good sense, his wide knowledge of men and affairs, his cunning (we may
use the word now without offence), had always supplied him at anxious
moments with the means of preventing the attacks upon the main pillars of
the throne from coming to a climax. The throne did not stand as firm as it
had done fifty years ago, but it had not begun to totter when, in a happy hour
for his reputation, the archduke passed away.
His obsequies were not over before his son. Archduke Stephen, was nomi-
nated locum tenens, i.e. proxy; and the nomination was received with great
approbation by the whole country. In a tour which the archduke made
through Hungary his personal charm won all hearts, and there was not the
slightest doubt that he would be elected palatine. In the next diet, there-
fore, the government reckoned upon the archduke's personal influence, upon
the attainments of the chancellor. Count Gyorgy Apponyi, and the talents,
energy, and resolution of his younger followers. The Transylvanian chan-
cellor had brought the Transylvanian diet to a successful conclusion, and a
similar result in Hungary was hoped for.
The parties which were to try their strength in the diet were extremely
energetic in their preparations for the struggle. It was ominous of the event
that Kossuth was elected deputy in the comity of Pest. The prudent mem-
bers of the opposition did not want him, they dreaded his extravagant schemes,
and only allowed him to be nominated as a concession to the eager wishes of
Count Batthyanyi. Batthyanyi favoured Kossuth because to do so added to
the perplexities of the government, and he cherished the vain hope that he
should be able to guide him. When the diet assembled, however, not only
was Kossuth the leader of the opposition in the estates, but Batthyanyi was
forced to obey the impulse given by Kossuth.
It may well be asked by what means Kossuth acquired such an extraordi-
nary ascendancy in Hungary. The answer is that it was by his intellectual
abilities, which were in many respects remarkable; he was an extraordinarily
gifted orator, a born tribune of the people, and with the exception of Mirabeau
and O'Connell, no other man of recent times was able so to sway the masses by
the magic of words. As a martyr for the cause of liberty, for as such he was
regarded, he inspired sympathy in generous minds. His very weaknesses —
lack of deliberate reflection, unbridled imagination, boundless self-esteem —
were effective, for they were the weaknesses of Magyar character, and were
carried to an extreme point in him. He laid hold of the Magyars by their
national pride and the notion of independence. He concealed from himself
and from others the dangers that lurked upon the road to independence, and
only exhibited the glorious end afar off. His active spirit lighted upon days
when the general disaffection of the country weighed heavily upon the raon-
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 617
[1847-1848 A.D.]
archy, and thus produced the readier effect. Besides this, he was attractive
and adaptable, and gained over by roundabout methods those whom he could
not win to direct assent to his schemes. For the fact that his talents were
wholly destructive, that nothing which he built up could bear the test, that it
all came to nought in his hands, he cast the blame upon the government, and
was believed. His attainments were superficial, but on knotty questions he
used to get his friends to collect data for him, which he put together himself,
whether rightly or wrongly was all one to him, so long as the result was bril-
liant, and the brilliancy was guaranteed by his eloquence. In a word — he
found the country disaffected, with rare talent he exploited the weaknesses
and the generous qualities of the Magyars, and he carried his audience away
by the charm of his oratory. He was that (happily) rare phenomenon, a
consummate revolutionary.
The diet had sat but a few months, before the government arrived at the
conclusion that no good thing was to be expected from it, and that it must be
dissolved. But ere the intention could be carried out monarchical govern-
ment was overthrown in France, and the days of March with their conse-
quences were upon the Austrian monarchy.^
THE STORM DRAWS NEAR
And now the Viennese government found itself in a condition of diplo-
matic isolation, England and France were both opposed to Metternich's
Italian policy and the relations of the Staatskonferenz with most of the
Italian governments had become strained. Offensive and defensive treaties
concluded with Modena on the 24th of December, 1847, and with Parma on
the 4th of February, 1848, brought no accession of strength to the Austrian
government, and, threatened by the daily increasing agitation in the home
provinces, the Viennese cabinet lost the power to control the situation and
to take united decisions.
The uneasy feeling in the ranks of the government increased daily and,
in proportion, the hope of a timely escape from the approaching storm grew
less. Here, better than anywhere else, it was known that no firm hand
guided the administration, that no energetic decision would be taken by the
cabinet, that helplessness and unwillingness to act were increasing with the
perils and difficulties of the situation. It is true that Metternich, according
to his custom, indulged in soothing commonplaces, and delighted in calming
himself and others by directing attention to the inexhaustible resources of
the empire and to the possibility of permitting the introduction of political
reforms into Austria '' at the right time." When the beginnings of a con-
stitutional existence had been created in Prussia, Metternich had declared
himself to be well disposed towards the states and let it be understood that
he desired an extension of privileges for the Austrian estates also. But
neither he nor the other members of the Staatskonferenz thought for a
moment seriously of making real concessions to the people; the guides of
the state never thought of an essential change in a system whose existence
was closely bound up with the duration of their personal power. The gov-
ernment was roused to take action only in a single instance. The clamours
raised on all sides against the unworthy oppressiveness of the censorship
were last to win a hearing. A control of the censorship and a superior censor
college came into existence on the 1st of February, 1848. Intended to pro-
vide the author with greater freedom and to protect him in his rights, it
618 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HTJNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
actually received such a direction that everyone regarded it as a further
tightening of the existing restraints of the censorship.
As neither considerations of foreign policy nor the warning afforded by
the efforts towards progress on the part of Germany and Prussia had any
power to bring about a reform of the prevailing system, so neither could the
needs of the exchequer suffice to break the unconquerable disinclination for
any change. When the condition of the state finances came under discussion,
criticism was wholly pessimistic in tone. Except amongst those connected
with the money market it was generally believed that a state bankruptcy
was imminent, that neither the government nor the national bank, which
was unfortunately only too closely connected with it, possessed the means to
meet the demands that would be made on it in a time of excitement. This
was doubtless a great exaggeration. If it had been possible to obtain a
complete insight into the budget the true sources of the financial distress
would have been recognised. The constantly recurring embarrassments of
the exchequer were not due to an over-straining of the national resources,
but to an irrational consideration for individual interests, a reprehensible
dread of leaving the beaten paths and raising the receipts, whose amount
was no relation to the capacity of the country. But the budget remained a
sealed book, locked with seven keys, and all that the citizens knew was that
the government, as soon as it perceived a dark cloud on the political horizon,
had recourse to extraordinary measures and trembled helplessly.
A lasting improvement in the Austrian treasury could be attained only if
a reform of the budget was undertaken, and, above all, if the people's hor-
rible distrust of the good faith and solvency of the state could be broken.
The recollection of the ill-omened finance patent would not fade from the
memory of the people, the fear of a repetition of like arbitrary measures would
not disappear. To get rid of these was the most pressing task for the presi-
dent of the exchequer, a task to the performance of which he diligently turned
his attention; having grown gray in bureaucratic traditions, however, he
was no longer susceptible of being moved to a rapid change of front and was
not capable of finding the right ways and means.
In the year 1810, in the midst of the severest pressure of the earlier
financial difficulties, a resolution had been taken at Vienna to summon
deputies of the estates to the control of the court, and from this measure —
which of course was not carried out — an improvement of credit had been
expected. Kiibeck now gave a similar counsel. Representatives of the
provincial estates should assemble in Vienna and there " receive the fullest
documentary explanation of the condition of the finances." He was also
willing to listen to their opinion as to the means by which the balance between
receipts and expenditure might be restored. This suggestion was not dis-
approved by the Staatskonferenz, but it was not carried to a resolution, not
executed. It was the same with other propositions which reached the mem-
bers of the cabinet from one side and another. The feeling of general inse-
curity and the dread of the approaching political storm had such an effect
that the strict, deliberate opposition to all innovations was gradually silenced,
while pious wishes and whispered hopes as to whether the privileges of the
estates could be increased and the condition of the peasants be definitively
settled, expressed themselves here and there. But as to passing from these
to serious action or even to a formal promise, this was never aimed at.
Completely unprepared, without fixed plan or clear aim, only tormented by
a fear which merely strengthened it in its indecision — this was the situation
in which the revolution of February found the government.
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 619
[1848 A.D.]
THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY AND THE VIENNESE STATESMEN
At Vienna, as everywhere else, the first tidings of the fall of Guizot, of
the flight of Louis Philippe, and of the erection of the republic produced
complete stupefaction. Men were unable to form a clear idea of the course
which events had taken, or to descry the faintest light which might shed a
glimmer on the immediate future. When the power of thought returned,
the Staatskonferenz made no attempt by extensive concessions to hasten the
removal of all fuel for the spirit of unrest. Even reforms which had been
recognised as useful and permissible were again put off, because they would
now have drawn on the government the suspicion of giving way to the pres-
sure of external coercion.c In this, in spite of their occupying totally different
standpoints after the 29th of February, the archduke Ludwig and Metternich
were completely agreed.
A group of other statesmen, with whom Metternich had hitherto been
essentially in agreement with regard to the principle of reform, had by no
means come to the same conclusion, but under the changed and urgent
circumstances were rather in favour of greater promptitude, and in part
even for a still further extension of concession, since in principle they were
less opposed than Metternich to the appearance of moral compulsion, or did
not consider it so dangerous as he did. To this group belonged especially
Kolowrat and Kiibeck, and the archduke John hastened to join himself to
them, or rather to place himself at their head.
Altogether in these critical days, the strangest schisms and alliances took
place in the leading circles. Notably a third and most remarkable group was
formed by the most prominent and influential personages of that court
party, which had already often proved adverse to Metternich in matters
connected with the church. The members of this group, most of whom
belonged to the imperial house, had hitherto adhered to the archduke Lud-
wig in matters of politics, and had consequently gone far beyond even the
conservative principles of Metternich in their conception of absolutism, so
that they felt so little sympathy for the latter's reforming notions that
these had even proved a new source of discord. It was just these men,
however, upon whom events in Paris made so powerful and alarming an
impression that — whilst Metternich was rendered all the more rigidly
determined and impelled towards an alliance with the archduke Ludwig —
they, on the other hand, suddenly deserted Ludwig and showed that they
were prepared to make concessions which would lead to the triumph of
principles diametrically opposed to those of Metternich. The immediate
result was the unexpected alhance of this third group with the second, that
is with those statesmen who were eager for the immediate introduction and
extension of reforms, from whom it had hitherto been completely divided on
questions of principle. But the result most noteworthy and fruitful in con-
sequences was this : that whereas before, the court party had been estranged
from Metternich because he had set his face against the ecclesiastical reaction
for which it was labouring; it now broke with him completely because he set
himself to work to moderate, restrain, and check the political liberalism
which its leaders suddenly came to represent. Hence from that hour it
toiled with every means that could be devised to effect his overthrow.
The metamorphosis of the reactionary church party of the court into a
party of political progress had important consequences. Henceforward this
court coterie was the principle pivot of action; but with the desirable came
also the undesired. The archduchess Sophie was again at its head. On the
620 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
very day after the arrival of the bad news from Paris, where these processes
of transformation and schism were still in their first ferment, Effinger wrote :
"They say that the archduchess Sophie, who never enjoyed greater popu-
larity in Austria, and whose conservative sentiments are security that she is
governed only by a conviction of the absolute necessity of certain innova-
tions, will succeed in winning over the archduke Ludwig to favour changes.
As president of the Staatskonferenz it is with him that the decision rests,
and he has always shown that he was not disinclined to them. The views of
Count Kolowrat on this point are well known. As to Prince Metternich, he
is too great a statesman to refuse his consent to constitutional reforms and
improvements in internal administration, when they have become urgently
necessary if Austria is to preserve her importance as a great European power."
Respecting the private intentions of the archduchess Sophie, only mys-
terious glimpses were and still are obtainable. According to these we must
conclude that she, like other members of the imperial house, feared the fate
of the '' royal family of Orleans," for her own dynasty, and in the hope of
being able to avoid it by a bold and startling movement, aimed at and
demanded nothing less than (1) the immediate abdication of the emperor
Ferdinand and the elevation to the throne of either her husband, the
emperor's next brother, or her son Francis Joseph; (2) the removal of
the archduke Ludwig and, more especially, of Metternich; (3) and finally the
convention of an imperial assembly, which assembly might easily be again
abolished when the storm and fury had spent themselves.
From this time the indignant court party, under the leadership of the
archduchess Sophie, made alliance with the leaders of the opposition in
the estates. This was evidently done in the belief, that, with the help of the
Lower Austrian estates whose meeting was to be opened on the 13th of
March, the revolution might be brought under, while at the same time a
change in the government might be effected.
THE BEGINNINGS OF CONCESSION (1848 A.D.)
On the 12th of March Professor Endlicher, who had close and constant
intercourse with the emperor and was one of the two deputies from the
university, first ventured to demand in plain terms from the archduke Lud-
wig, the dismissal of Metternich. In spite of some handshaking, the deputa-
tion was dismissed with evident displeasure, and without an answer. But
in the evening secret influence opened the door to the chamber of the
emperor himself. Ferdinand,, indeed, merely promised to consider the mat-
ter; it was still a hard thing for him to permit the overthrow of the man
whom — without liking him — he had accustomed himself to regard as the
main prop of the throne.
At the same moment that shocks from without, and from above even
more than from below, were endangering Metternich's position it was also
beginning to be shaken from within. For, on that same 12th of March,
Metternich himself began to have doubts of his system. As he saw the tide
mount, and the universal agitation and storm increase around him, he too
was no longer himself. He, in whose system only willingly accorded reforms
had a place, allowed himself to be impelled into forced concessions. On the
day mentioned the Landesmarschall, Count Montecuccoli, had a long and
secret interview with him, no doubt with the intention of convincing him^ of
the necessity of quieting the estates and of restoring the general satisfaction
FEOM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 621
[1848 A.D.]
by offering a concession at the approaching opening of the provincial diet on
the following day. The facts show his success. In the afternoon was the
sitting of the Staatskonferenz. The summoning of a " joint committee of
the estates," which had already been agreed to "in accordance with the
spirit of the law," but which had afterwards been laid on one side, was to
be considered and decided on anew. For again on the evening of the 12th,
notes in the emperor's own writing were sent to the LandesmarschaU, Count
Montecuccoli, promising the "speedy summons" of that committee.
But this tardy reform, now regarded, as under the circumstances it must
be, in the light of an extorted concession, appeared as so extraordinary a
compromise that it would have been more prudent to omit it altogether.
For it was all done in such a way as to challenge rather than to silence, rather
to fan the flame than to extinguish it. It has justly been described as a bad
beginning, " thrilling almost defiantly the dying song " of the expiring Staats-
konferenz. At the same time there can be no doubt that it was neither
Metternich nor Kolowrat, but solely the obstinate and invincible absolutism
of the archduke Ludwig which decided in favour of this monstrously short-
sighted grant. In accordance with it members of the estates were indeed
to be summoned to Vienna from all the provinces whose representative priv-
ileges were founded "on ancient and long unaltered constitutions"; but
only "one from each estate." These deputies were to be "brought into
touch" with a "committee appointed for the purpose," that they might
deliberate on their position as estates. It would seem to have been a partial
victory for Metternich and Kolowrat that at least the "reservation" was
added that " the measures demanded by the necessities of the moment should
be indicated " to these deputies, " in order that the declaration concerning
them, of the views of the deputies, and, necessarily also of the united body
of their estates, might be received as soon as possible." It was obvious that
this concession fell far short of those intended by the estate's address, which
demanded the summons of a central committee of all the provincial estates,
reinforced by special delegates from the corporations and in the nature of an
assembly representative of the whole people, the scheme for which had been
already submitted.
Amid these strange shocks of the reform convulsion, the 12th of March
drew to a close, to give place, with the dawn of the 13th, to the critical
phases of the fever of Revolution. At the Hofburg the Staatskonferenz
held its permanent sitting; beset by a threatening mob of the people, assailed
by vehement deputations and agitated by its own impotent fancies, its life
was flickering out like a dying lamp. But once more the proud vitality of
the old system blazed up in self defence; when the estates actually met they
were put off with the meaningless phrase: "that a committee shall inquire
into and the emperor decide what is expedient to be done." But when, like
spring floods, revolutionary demands came rolling up, when watchwords like
"National Guard!" "Liberty of the press!" " Metternich's resignation!"
" Constitution! " came thundering though the doors of the audience chamber
like whistling shot: then the rising spirit sank again, and the blaze became
a small flame which, growing ever weaker and weaker, at last dwindled to the
faint glimmer of a spark.
It was to no purpose that while the grants were conceded, a struggle was
still maintained; this was only damaging and it came to the same thing, if
instead of a national guard a " citizen militia " was granted; instead of liberty
of the press the " removal of the censorship " ; instead of a constitution the
" constitutionaUsing of the fatherland." Only one demand seemed capable
622 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
of no emendation — Metternich's resignation. And yet it was; instead of
the dismissal of the old Metternich they granted the dismissal of the new./
THE MARCH REVOLUTION (1848 A.D.)
The ministerial rescript, in which the emperor declared that he had deter-
mined to " summon to Vienna members of the estates of all the provinces,
from each estate one member, there to bring them into contact with a gov-
ernment committee that they might confer together concerning the affairs
of the estates," was communicated to the estates on the morning of March
13th, but never came to the knowledge of any wider circle. For while the
moderates among the members of the estates were vainly striving to prevail
with the government and while the Staatskonferenz was making this pitiable
venture upon the semblance of reform, another disturbing element came
upon the scene — the Vienna students.
For some time the temper of the students had given cause for disquiet.
The superficiality of most of their teachers and the crying insufficiency of
the whole scholastic system rendered a profound absorption in academic
studies the exception amongst them, while every ebullition of the turbulent
spirits of youth or of the Self-confidence of lads at the university, which,
though perhaps presumptuous in form is at bottom perfectly harmless, was
repressed with nervous precaution. The students were not only thwarted
in their natural tendencies, but felt themselves wilfully forced into a false
position. A blind terror was writ large on the attitude of the government
towards them, and it was no wonder that they acquired a belief in their own
peculiar importance and cheated themselves with the illusion that they were
a power in the state. In the chorus of complaints they heard raised against
the government, the first place was assigned to its insolent neglect of learning,
its hatred of any kind of culture. The students seized upon this as a personal
grievance, they felt themselves the victims of a direct affront on the part of
the cabinet and consequently justified in offering a particularly vigorous
resistance to the old system.
The Students' Petition
The idea of a students' petition was started in a tavern in the Alser suburb
on the 7th of March, and, the most unusual and extraordinary proceedings
appearing in those days a mere matter of course, was unanimously approved
by the students there assembled. When they met again two days later to
compare the schemes drawn up in the meantime and to consult upon the
final drafting of the petition, the wiser heads amongst them could not dis-
guise the extent of their perplexity. No state can be saved by literary
exercises, no government brought to naught by borrowed phrases. Nothing
but the fact that the enterprise was already too widely known to be dropped
and that ''the honour of the whole body of students was involved" deter-
mined them to proceed. By the evening of the 11th of March the petition
had been put into shape. It informed the emperor that " a great event sets
the public peace at stake," it assured him of " the readiness of the students
to defend their common fatherland against all enemies, whether they menace
it from west or east," of liberty it averred that "it renders men capable of
great actions and disposes them to endure sore trials with fortitude," and
FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 623
[1848 A.D.]
expressed the opinion of the students that "the actuahsation of hberty is a
pressing need in so critical a condition of the world." Buttressed by these
arguments the students demanded liberty of the press, of speech, of instruc-
tion, of study and conscience, and universal suffrage, and ended with a vague
sentence that referred to the reform of the German Confederation.
There was no real reason for attaching great importance either to the
contents of the petition or to the character of the petitioners. Nevertheless
this seemed to the government more serious than any other political demon-
stration. They had allowed the petition of the Juridisch-Politischen Lese-
verein (Juridical and Political Reading Union) to be circulated without
hindrance, they had opposed to the projects of the estates the barrier of
invincible indolence, nothing but the prospect of a students' petition was
capable of stirring them to energy. On March 12th the professors were
summoned to the university by command of the chancellor. The tutors,
who had hitherto been intentionally kept apart from the students, were to
exert their influence to prevent the presentation of the petition. They did
their duty by warning and dissuading them. When the dry observations of
the Studiendiredor Kremer failed of effect on the growing excitement of the
vast concourse of young men, Hye and Endlicher, both popular professors
and men of note among the liberals, endeavoured to turn them from their
purpose. Had they been able to address each man individually they would
have carried their point, but in the dense throng every one drew courage
from his neighbour. One concession only could they obtain — that when
the students had signed the petition they should leave it to be presented
by Hye and Endlicher. That same morning the two professors hurried to
the castle to beg for admittance to the presence of the emperor. They
knocked at many doors, were received by Kolowrat with hollow phrases of
condolence, had to listen to solemn exhortations from the archduke Ludwig,
but were unable to accomplish their mission. Not till evening, when a meet-
ing of the privy council had been held and had recognised the necessity of
at least a semblance of compliance, were they granted audience of the emperor,
and then by the backstairs. He received them with courtesy and kindness,
it was not in his gentle nature to do otherwise; but even he could not give
them a plain answer or a definite explanation.
The Thirteenth of March
Thus the 13th of March, the day awaited by many with dread, by all
with intense curiosity, the day appointed for the assembly of the estates,
dawned without the least attempt having been made to avert the threatening
storm. The first black clouds gathered from the quarter of the university.
Hye and Endlicher had promised to report to the students upon the result of
their mission, and early in the morning they found an immense crowd awaiting
them. Their words awoke a feebler response to-day than yesterday. The
students' excitement had gathered strength during the night, their preten-
sions had waxed with it, their political demands began to take tangible
shape. Denunciations of Metternich and Sedlnitzky as " traitors and thieves "
grew audible, together with outcries for their prompt dismissal. Who could
suppose that such a tumult could be allayed by assurances of imperial favour
and good will couched in general terms? While Hye was vaunting this
day as "the greatest in the history of Austria," declaring that "the eyes of
Europe were bent upon the university," and entreating his hearers to seek
624 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAET
[1848 A.D.]
progress by the ways of order and punctual attendance at lectiu-e, in the
lecture-rooms and quadrangle the procession was making ready to start for
the Landhaus, where, in defiance of traditional usage, the estates were assem-
bling without ceremony, furtively, and as it were by stealth. Tokens were
gathering on all sides to show that the programme devised by the liberal
party in the estates — the accomplishment of reform by peaceful means —
could not be adhered to.
Thousands of people, most of them of the better class, thronged the streets
near the Landhaus and presently surged into the open courtyard. The
mood of manifest perplexity which at first prevailed in the crowd forbids
the assumption — which was afterwards mooted — that the events of the
day had been deliberately planned and were inaugurated by old revolu-
tionary hands. This mood would have lasted longer, for each man was
anxious to play the part of spectator and hoped that some one else would
put an end to the painful period of waiting and suspense, but for the heated
imagination of a young physician, Fischhof by name, well known as a senti-
mental enthusiast. With a cheer for liberty he began, with a cheer for the
Hungarians and Italians he ended a speech which, though distinctly audible
to only few of those about him, incited others to speak in their turn and
brought life and movement into the crowd. But it was not until, amidst
general applause, a student began to read aloud Kossuth's speech of March
3rd, that political passion really began to rise and revolutionary desires to
stir in the breasts of the multitude. Now they, too, were provided with a
programme, and it therefore seemed all the more imperative to take steps
to realise the same, and to find a means of communication with the ruling
powers, or, as one of the orators phrased it, " to convert into a dialogue the
monologue which had hitherto been recited from the well-roof in the court-
yard of the Landhaus."
A crowd of people, squeezed by the pressure of the throng into the entrance
hall, stairway, and anterooms of the Landhaus, were already busy with prep-
arations to this end. A moment more, and the intruders, with an ever-
increasing mob at their heels, would have been in the room where the estates
were assembled, and a motley intermingling of the representatives of the
estates and the populace would have rendered further deliberations impos-
sible. To obviate such disorder the Landesmarschall made an agreement
with Fischhof, who was the leading spokesman in the anteroom, as he had
been in the courtyard, by which a certain number of delegates — six citizens
and six students — were to be present at the session to assure themselves of
the honest intentions of the estates. So far nothing had occurred to disturb
the concord between the estates and the populace. The crowd in the court-
yard repeatedly called for popular individuals among the members of the
estates — Montecuccoli, Dobblhof , Colloredo, Schmerling — greeted them
with applause when they appeared at the window, and listened quietly to
their speeches. It was reserved for one of those historic misunderstandings
which seem to have been epidemic in the year 1848 to sow the seeds of
hostility and to propagate a fierce lust of battle in the mob. At an earlier
hour, while Fischhof was negotiating with Montecuccoli, the crowd below
had been seized with nervous anxiety for the safety of its friends, and had
been appeased only by the appearance of Fischhof at the window, hand in
hand with the Landesmarschall. Suspicion was again aroused by a note
dropped from the upper story, and the reading of Kossuth's speech was
interrupted that its contents might be made known. It contained the request
of the estates that the budget should be published and a committee of estates
FROM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MAECH EEVOLUTION 625
[1848 A.D.]
summoned from all the provinces. The limited scope of the aspirations of
the estates could not have become known at a less opportune moment than
when Kossuth's speech had set the minds of men aflame and made them ripe
for the widest and loftiest demands. The sheet of paper was caught by a
student, who then declared in the name of the people that the petition of
the estates left the wishes of the nation unfulfilled, and tore it up. In the
midst of the ensuing excitement a cry was raised that the delegates of the
people were being kept prisoners in the chamber of the estates, while from
the other side an alarm was started that the Landhaus was being surrounded
by soldiers. The agitated crowd leapt to the conclusion that they had been
treacherously betrayed. Blind passion cast off all restraints and broke all
bounds. The staircase and the rooms were stormed in one furious rush,
and the mob vented its fury on window-panes, benches, chairs and tables.
The members of the estates were seized with consternation and panic.
Impelled by the desire to make good their escape from the disquieting atmos-
phere of the Landhaus they declared their willingness to petition the emperor
in person to comply with the wishes of the people. The revolution pressed
hard on their heels and they put themselves at its head. And, in the train
of the estates, panic and irresolution entered into the castle likewise.
The members of the Staatskonferenz, supported by Prince Windischgratz
and several privy councillors, had been in session for several hours without
coming to any definite conclusion. They had looked forward to the Ides of
March with doleful misgivings, but had made no provision whatever for any
particular occurrence. Even the most ordinary precautions had been
neglected; such as the timely posting of soldiers at dangerous points, the
concentration of the executive power in the hands of a single individual, the
issuing of summonses to the Regierungsprdsident (president of the adminis-
tration), to the chief of the police, and to the mayor. The Staatskonferenz
learned no more of the late proceedings than the thronging petitioners thought
good to tell, nor could it communicate with the people except through their
means. To all these evils was added the disastrous irresolution of the
emperor himself. He was and remained inaccessible the whole day long, and
there was no other person who had authority to give a final decision in his
name. The Staatskonferenz as a corporate body had no legal functions, not
one of its members could take absolute responsibility upon himself nor wield
the whole authority of the government. Such w^as the constitution of the
body which was called upon to display energy and wisdom if a strong curb
was to be imposed upon the revolution. The deputies of the estates naturally
met with no vigorous opposition, but they were as little able to congratulate
themselves upon getting a definite answer to their petition. After a long
discussion, in which the isolated position of Metternich, the only one who
advised strong measures, was made plainly apparent, the Staatskonferenz
agreed upon the following concession : '' the measures called for by the
present condition of affairs shall be inquired into by a special commission
appointed for the purpose and submitted to his imperial majesty (Allerhoch-
sten) for decision; and his imperial majesty (Allerhdchstdieselben) will there-
upon with all speed decree whatsoever shall serve the common welfare of his
beloved subjects."
The Mob
While those in the castle drew breath more freely after having accom-
plished this bold deed, events went their way careless of them in the streets
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2S
626 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1848 A.D.]
of Vienna. After the departure of the estates a considerable crowd stayed
behind in the courtyard of the Landhaus, paying homage to an improvised
revolutionary committee — composed of students under age — and other-
wise content to relieve its feelings by noisy expressions of impatience. The
space in front of the Landhaus and the streets in its immediate neighbour-
hood wore a more disturbed aspect. Youthful orators heated the popular
imagination and furnished popular fury with a definite object by such catch-
words as ''Pereat Metternich:" "Down with Sedlnitsky ! " The clamour
grew steadily louder and more general on the tennis ground in front of the
Chancellerie (Staatskanzlei) , in the Herrengasse, and in the Freimig. In the
intervals might be heard the screams of those who were borne down or crushed
in the throng, and adjurations to the soldiers to keep the peace; for soldiers
at last began to emerge from different points to purge the Landhaus and to
clear the streets between it and the castle, and as they advanced they came
upon a dense and immoveable mass of people everywhere, and themselves
became involved in the press. The military had no thought of resorting to
violence, the unarmed mob was not prepared to fight, and yet a collision was
in the long run inevitable. The soldiers, pushed to and fro in the surging
mass, ended by losing patience; their hesitating indecision in the early hours
of the morning and their incapacity now to obey the word of command, roused
the mocking laughter of the populace and gave a handle to the impudence of
a set of pert lads. The closely packed crowd behind, ignorant of the way
events were tending, were principally concerned for their personal safety;
they tried to get breathing-space by pushing and shoving, and rent the air
with hideous din. In the turmoil discretion went to the winds. Every
hasty word was caught up and repeated by a thousand throats, every action
found a thousand imitators. When some engineers advanced to take the
place of a grenadier division which had been driven back step by step before
the mob, some voices raised the cry of treason, while others whistled, hissed
and cursed. One part of the throng penetrated into the upper rooms of the
Landhaus, wrecked the furniture, and threw it out of the windows on the heads
of the soldiers, who replied by a volley. In a few seconds the Landhaus was
cleared, but on the other hand the riot spread into remoter streets and
extended its sphere to an element which had hitherto held aloof from it, the
citizen class proper.
The report that innocent and defenceless persons were being fired upon
decided the sympathies of citizens who already felt aggrieved at seeing the
loyal Viennese treated as if they were rebels. The citizen militia {Bilrger-
corps) assembled in uniform, men of reputation from patrician families, such
as Arthaber, Hornbostl, and Bach, urged the mayor, who had not gone out-
side his private residence all day, to exert his influence to obtain the with-
drawal of troops from the city; militia officers, relying on their privilege of
free access to the castle, joined the deputation of the estates which had been
besieging the Staatskonferenz since noon. They had no better success than
the deputation itself in extorting definite concessions from the government,
but their appearance contributed not a little to shake the resolution of the
ministers. When Metternich persisted in talking of a rabble misguided by
French, Polish, and Swiss emissaries they contradicted him sharply, and when
he called upon them to put an end to the ''street row" they answered in a loud
voice that " it was not a row but a revolution." The members of the Staats-
konferenz were driven to credit their words, for even the rector ma,gnificus,
the over-timorous Jenull, who had once been made to tremble by a visit from
Rotteck, came on the scene with an outrageous demand, no less than that the
FEO:\r THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION" 627
[1848 A.B.]
students should be provided with arms. The latter had assembled again in
the Aula that afternoon, had again listened with applause to Hye's temperate
speeches on liberty and order and on the obstinacy of the government; and
on the sacrifices which he, "though the father of four children," was making
for the good cause; but when the rumour reached them of the slaughter in
front of the Landhaus they had demanded arms and threatened to storm the
armory. Fortunately one of those present called to mind the rectorial privi-
lege of entering the imperial presence at all times unannounced. The vener-
able Jenull was sent for, and willingly undertook the office of applying to the
government for arms for the students. He met with a kindly reception from
the archduke Francis Charles; ''as a man of honour" the latter could assure
him that "concessions" were in process of being made. The archduke Lud-
wig offered a stouter resistance. Not until the old man flung himself upon
his knees and set forth the dire consequences of a refusal could he obtain so
much as a promise that the Staatskonferenz " would promptly take the matter
into consideration." With a heart but little lightened the rector returned to
the university, whence the students in their impatience had already despatched
another deputation after him, composed this time of members of the medical
faculty.
By the time the latter reached the castle the excitement there had come to
a cHmax. The rumour that citizens in uniform had actually been fired upon
from the police buildings set the blood of most of the deputies in a ferment and
caused them to forget the attitude of loyalty they had hitherto maintained,
nay, to forget civility itself. Even the Staatskonferenz perceived that the
moment had come for abating something of its stubborn determmation. Of
all popular grievances the censorship of the press was the oldest, the most
general, and the best grounded. They would begin by redressing it. It was
just possible that they might lay the storm by this means, or at least divert
the educated classes from taking part in the commotion. Had the boon of
liberty of the press been granted a few days earlier it might have called forth
some gratitude, though it could hardly have averted the catastrophe from old
Austria. Now it merely whetted the appetites of men for further concession.
The Retirement of Mettemich
Prince IMetternich withdrew from the archduke Ludwig's presence chamber
to an adjoining room to draw up with his own hand the scheme of a press law
on the model of the Prussian press regulations of March 8th. The chancellor
had scarcely left the room before the cry for his dismissal was raised from the
deputation of the estates, in the first instance by a member of the Grajenhank
(bench of counts). It was caught up with ever increasing violence, and the
noise drew IMetternich back from the next apartment. Not a voice was raised
in his favour, not only were the intruders eager for his fall but he felt himself
abandoned by his colleagues in office, and, realising that all was lost, he him-
self took the lead, saying, not without dignity — " It has been the business
of my life to labour for the welfare of the monarchy as I understand it; if it is
thought that I imperil its welfare by remaining at my post, it can be no sacri-
fice to me to leave it." Not a voice was raised in protest, no one begged him
to retract this declaration; nay, he had to listen to an old militia officer who
answered: "Your serene highness, we have no objection to your person but
every objection to your system, and we must therefore repeat that the throne
and monarchy can be saved only by your resignation." He had no option
but to consummate the sacrifice.
628 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
The old system did not perish with Metternich, as had been imagined,
but it lost its most brilliant exponent and its most typical representative.
Hence the people might well sum up the news of his resignation in the sen-
tence, " Everything is conceded." The first concession was arms for the people.
No remaining member of the Staatskonferenz was strong enough to defy the
persistence of the university deputation. The archduke Ludwig ratified the
decree that "for the maintenance of tranquillity and order arms should be
supplied to the students, foreigners only excepted." And when a member of
the estates added a corollary to the effect that all citizens should be required
to enrol themselves in the standing militia of the city the Staatskonferenz
again acquiesced. The deputies hurried into the streets to proclaim the
triumphs of the day, only to be met, before they could reach the university, by
bands of students whom the regierungspriisident, terrified at the disorderly
conduct of the proletariate in the suburbs, had authorized to take arms on
his own responsibility, and who were now marching with a lighted torch for
their banner to the town armory, there to provide themselves with the panoply
of liberty — rusty sabres and muskets without locks.^
The Grant of a Constitution
The next morning the improvised Stadtwehr (town guard) assembled. It
must be acknowledged to the credit of the students and toA\Tismen that they
mamtained peace and order. The citizen militia acquired and retained the
name of "national guard," and Comit Hoyos was appointed to the command.
The spokesmen of the revolt now thronged into the emperor's anti-chamber
in order to annomice their farther \^ishes; it had, however, been determined
not to allow the emperor to treat immediately with these boisterous petitioners
and aclmonishers. The chamberlain, a wealthy Hungarian magnate, there-
fore refused to announce them; they determined to take no notice of the
refusal and to penetrate to the emperor's apartment. The chamberlain —
mmdful of his duty and his oath — placed himself before the door, laid his
hand on the hilt of his sword, and declared that so long as he stood on that
spot no one should cross the threshold. The impetuous intruders drew back,
but on searchmg found a back door which brought them to the emperor. A
short time after it was announced in the streets: "The emperor has been
pleased to decide on the removal of the censorship and the immediate publi-
cation of a press law." The general rejoicing had scarcely begim when a cry
for a constitution was raised in the streets. In the evening, at the motion
of the archduke Francis Charles, the Staatskonferenz held a meetmg wliich
was also attended by Francis Charles' son, the archduke Francis Joseph,
now emperor of Austria. At this meeting it was decided that it would be
ad\dsable for the emperor to anticipate the wishes of the people by granting
a constitution on his own iniative.
\Y\ien Viemia awoke the next morning it w\as surprised by the information
that the emperor had decided to assemble the estates of the Gennan and
Slav kingdoms, as w^ell as deputies from Italy, at latest by the 3rd of July, in
order to secure for himself their advice on legislative and administrative
questions. Thus the constitution was granted without the utterance of the
word constitution. The jubilation was extraordinary and when, in the after-
noon, the emperor drove out, the enthusiastic people wanted to take out the
horses and drag the carriage themselves.
The same evening a deputation of the Hungarian diet, with the palatine
FEOM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MARCH EEVOLUTION 629
[1S48 A.D.]
archduke Stephen at its head, appeared, to submit to the emperor the wishes
of the diet. Here we must go back to see what had been happening in the
meantime at Presburg.
A Separate Government Granted to Hungary (ISJ^S A.D.)
So soon as the news of the events in Paris had reached Presburg, the
table of the estates held a meeting and passed the following resolutions:
"Hungary shall receive an independent ministry, responsible to the diet.
^Vhen the king is not hi the country the palatme, the archduke Stephen,
takes the king's place as his alter ego. He is irresponsible. All decrees must
be countersigned by a minister. The Hungarian ministry has its seat at
Budapest. All business which has been hitherto carried on by courts at
Vienna shall be exclusively the affair of the Hungarian ministry. The king,
or his representative, appoints only the prime mmister, who then nominates
the other ministers." The following phrase was added: "without prejudice
to the maintenance of the unity of the crowai and the connection of the mon-
archies and having consideration to the relations of Hungary to the hereditary
domains."
At the time of this decision the palatine was in Vienna. For ten days
the Judex curiw, George Majhith, refused to permit a sitting of the table of
magnates to be held. The table of estates was already anxious to impeach
him when the palatine at last returned. The hall of the magnates and the
galleries were filled with a fearfully excited crowd of young men. No one
ventured to speak, and so the decision of the table of estates was made into
a resolution of the diet and the deputation already mentioned proceeded to
Vienna. The enormous demands which it brought, and which threatened to
burst the bonds of the monarchy excited profound misgivings in the govern-
ment, but the Magyar deputation persisted in its demands; the archduke
Stephen declared that he would lay down the office of palatine if the royal
sanction was not given. The pressure was great; the emperor gave his
consent.
The Flight of Metternich fl848 A.D.J
In the general commotion which had taken place throughout the mon-
archy, our attention is primarily attracted by the fate of one individual,
namely, the man who for nine-and-thirty years had guided the fate of the
Austrian monarchy. It is probably unnecessary to say that we mean Prince
Metternich. It has been already told how he withdrew from his exalted
position. On the evening of the same day he discussed the event with his
entourage with as much calm as though he had no share in it. To the remark
of some friends that his retirement was not yet final, since the emperor had
not yet approved it, he answered that he could not remain in that way because
then his resignation would appear to be merely done for effect, and only the
petition of those who had brought it about could determine him to withdraw
it. He went quietly to bed.
In the morning he was warned of a rabble approaching the chancellery.
Two friends appeared and conducted him and the princess across the Bastei
to the dwelling of one of the said friends. Here he remained till evening.
A hackney coach was provided and brought there secretly. One of the
prince's friends wished to take his seat on the coachbox, but the driver said
"no, that will attract attention. Rely on me, I will get the prince away."
630 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
With extraordinary speed the man drove off, the prince, the princess, and
one friend in the carriage. The gate of the Rothethurm was barred; the
driver spoke into the carriage, *'do not be alarmed, I will get you out." Four
or five other hackney carriages were there and the gate was finally opened to
their insistence; the driver drove swiftly through. He brought the prince
to another friend in the lines of the Jdger. There a carriage was already
prepared and into this the fugitives and their companions stepped. They
came safely through the lines. The prince remained five days with a friend
and continued his journey. At Olmiitz he was refused admittance into the
town. He took a circuitous route to the railway, while a report was inten-
tionally spread which credited him with having taken another road. The
friend who accompanied the fugitives gave out that the carriage was empty;
the blinds were drawn so that no one could see in, and it therefore passed for
a luggage van. Seventeen hours the prince and princess spent shut up in
that carriage. Overcome with thirst, the prince said: "to die of thirst or
another way, is all one; I must drink." He demanded a glass of water.
The passengers were thus informed that the carriage was not empty and
immediately the word was passed round; "they are suspects." At this
critical moment the friend initiated the conductor into the secret and the
man gave the signal to start; several passengers who had alighted were left
behind, but the prince was saved.
Once more the prince was in great danger. It happened at an inn, that
the pretended Englishman and his wife continually spoke French, and their
linen looked suspicious on account of the embroidered initial, and was finer
than that usually belonging to persons of the condition of which they declared
themselves to be. It was whispered " it might be Prince Metternich." AMiere-
upon some one said, "If I knew that I would kill him with my o^^ti hand."
The journey was immediately continued and the prince again eluded the
danger. He encountered no further perils till he reached Holland and Eng-
land, where he was received with that consideration which misfortune merits.
The affectionate care of the friend who had rescued the prince had saved the
population of Vienna from a crime which would probably have occurred if
he had fallen into the hands of the excited crowd. ^'
While England afforded Metternich the shelter of her hospitality a severe
judgment was passed on him by her minister for foreign affairs. On June
15th Lord Palmerston wTote to Leopold, king of the Belgians :«
" As to poor Austria, every person who attaches value to the maintenance
of a balance of power in Europe must lament her present helpless condition;
and every man gifted with ever so little foresight must have seen, for a long
time past, that feebleness and decay were the inevitable consequences of
Prince Metternich's system of government; though certainly no one could
have expected that the rottenness within would so soon and so completely
have shown itself without. Lord Bacon says that a man who aims at being
the only figure among ciphers is the ruin of an age; and so it has been with
Metternich. He has been jealous of •anything like talent or attainment in
individuals, and of anything like life in communities and nations. He suc-
ceeded for a time in damming up and arresting the stream of human progress.
The wonder is, not that the accumulated pressure should at last have broken
the barrier and have deluged the country, but that his artificial impediments
should have produced stagnation so long." I
One after another the high state officials withdrew from their posts. A
new ministry was formed. Ficquelmont for foreign affairs, Pillersdorf for
the interior, Taafe for justice, Sommaruga for education, Kiibeck for finance,
FEOM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MARCH EEVOLUTION 631
[1848 A.D.]
Zanini was soon after added as minister of war. But a partial change in the
ministry quickly followed. Kraus took Kiibeck's place, Latour Zanini's,
and Sommaruga provisionally took over the ministry of justice as well. By
the addition of Doblhoff as minister of commerce and agriculture, and of
Baumgartner as minister of public works, the number of ministers was
increased to eight.^
CHAKACTER AND END OF THE MARCH REVOLUTION
We have now finished with the description of the occurences of the 13th,
14th, and 15th of March, 1848, in Vienna, and of the causes which led to them.
The reaction, which later triumphed over the Austrian upheaval, has chosen to
represent even the March revolution as the logical outcome of a propaganda
set going by French, Italian, Polish, or Hungarian emissaries. There is, for
any thing the wTiter has been able to discover, no trace of this. As evidence
against it, it is known that even before the days of March there was a strong
party at court which attempted to compass the downfall of the Staatskon-
ferenz, which was dominated by Archduke Ludwig and Prince Metternich,
because the domination which these two statesmen especially had managed
to secure had become unendurable to it.
This party, which was not concerned with the reforms in favour of free-
dom, but only with the possession of the power, in which the archduke and
Prince Metternich woulcl not allow it a share, supported the efforts of the
liberals in so far as these were directed to the downfall of the all-powerful
chancellor. But the liberals, who desired not a mere change of officials but a
radical alteration of the whole system of government, were not content with
Metternich's withdrawal. The revolution, far from ceasing to grow, struck
deeper and deeper root, and the constitution had to be proclaimed in order to
put an end to the revolution. That court party which by the downfall of the
chancellor, had attained their utmost wishes, would not have hesitated to
annihilate the revolution in Vienna by means of bombs and grape shot, if
they had been possessed of the necessary power. It was indeed their weak-
ness which compelled them to submit to the people, who at this time possessed
but one mind, one soul, as though all differences of class and fortune had sud-
denly ceased to exist.
A Contemporary Estimate
The Wiener Zeitung, shortly after the days of March, published an article
dealing with the causes of the Vienna movement, part of which we here quote :
" The movement was twofold : the sincere and peaceable, but now urgent
entreaty of the well-disposed for the improvement of the state organisation
was the movement of the great majority of the people of Vienna. But besides
that a comparatively small number of the proletariat in the suburbs and out-
side of the town had risen, with the idea of making use of this opportunity to
perpetrate atrocities. This was the seamy side, the second part of the move-
ment.
" The man who possesses insight into the deeds of his Fatherland is day
and night in company with the idea, and so acquires a conviction of what is
required. The severest censure and denunciation cannot stifle this first germ
of all wishes of the people. The friends of the Fatherland, who have acquired
a common conviction, exchange their views, for mutual instruction, and the
632 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1848 A.D.1
supplying of one another's defects. This is the second step in formulating
the wishes of the people. Intercourse with business colleagues of men of all
classes, one with another, extends the acquirements of the mind in all sections
of the state-family; and so the desires of the people become general.
For years this was the course of public opinion in Vienna; and m the
whole empire it formed itself and spread, in spite of espionage : and the censor-
ship had no other effect than to prevent the rulers from becoming acquainted
with the desires of the governed. A shock, a chance occurrence suffices to
make a long-disregarded public feeling burst into action; and so it was in
Vienna: the training, extending over long years, of the public mind to an
understanding of what it really wanted, the events in western Europe, the
example of Germany, the students' agitation — these are the true causes of
the single-hearted uprising of the people. No other need be sought. There
were no secret societies organised; there was no encitement, no pamphlets
were distributed; nor were any of those means employed, of whatever sort,
which some have thought to discover. It was not a manufactured thing;
it was like the sun, rising by force of the ever-inscrutable natural laws of the
world's history. It was a peaceable reversal of conditions, not a revolution.
Simultaneous pillagings on the part of individual bands of the mob did, it is
true, take place ; but they had no union, no cohesion. The strongest proof of
this lies in the fact that the pillagers did not betake themselves to the imperial
palace nor to the mansions of the nobility and statesmen, but to just those
places where the legitimate desires of the people could obtain no satisfaction —
to the factories and the dwelling houses of their employers."
Lohner's Estimate
A particularly exact estimate of the political importance of the events of
March has been arrived at by Lohner. He writes: ''Into the time that
separates the commencement from the close, a number of alterations were
compressed, which in the ordinary course of events would need a life-time for
their accomplishment. Therefore in their rapid transition the different
stages through which the revolution passed, from the few isolated reforms to
the foundation of a completely new order of government, are, though faintly
accentuated, recognisable. Almost all the parties who took part in the move-
ment found themselves in quite a different position at its conclusion from that
which they had occupied at its commencement.
"The new Austria which had replaced the old was, as regards both its
domestic and its foreign relations, in the condition of a state whose radically
altered conditions of existence had nothing in common with the old. These
very circumstances later involved various consequences, in aU directions,
whose results already forced themselves on the notice of the quiet spectator
as concrete subjects of observation, even as early as the joyous evening upon
which the constitution was celebrated.
''The most important of these results were as follows: At the conclusion
of me popular insurrection by the grant of the constitution, the court party
had at first supported it and later, though against their will, actually joined it;
they now seceded from this confederacy and adopted an opposite policy.
They had supported the movement as long as a common objective was in
question. This was quite sharply defined and restricted to the removal of
Metternich. From the time this was accomplished their friendly or unfriendly
attitude was decided entirely by the measure of reform, in no direction to be
exceeded, that they considered necessary. The farthest formal limit of this
FEOM THE PEACE OF PAEIS TO THE MARCH REVOLUTION 633
[1848 A.D.]
was, in fact, a representative constitution. From the moment that was con-
ceded, the original dynastic interests would naturally reappear in their full
determination, as a jealous endeavour to keep the consequences of that con-
stitution down to their minimum.
" The reform party of the estates was in a similar position. At first sup-
ported by the people, then outstripped by them, it feared lest, in the natural
course of things, when the division of power came to be arranged, it would be
more neglected than before.
"A constitution can become a gain to a body consisting of nobility only
when it is an aristocratic one. The Austrian estates had gone hand in hand
with the people in the cause of freedom; arrived at equality, they would be
forced to join the one stable party — namely, that which continually seeks to
hold in steady condensation the steamlike capacity for expansion of a political
relation.
" Valuable and full of results as the events of the three days had been, they
none the less bear in their effects the same relation to a true revolution as an
armed demonstration bears to a battle of annihilation. What is properly
called government, the exercise of state functions, was, even if only nominally,
still in the hands of those officials who had been previously intrusted with it.
The fundamental guarantee of the new state of affairs — the promise of a
constitution — had, so to speak, come into effect by agreement. The effective
pillars of the absolutist system, the official, the military, the clerical clergy,
were transferred in uninterrupted power to the new order, so that the safety
of the constitution was left in the keeping of the very people in the teeth of
whose opposition and interests it had come into being. Principles, however,
cannot be divided from the parties which hold them ; and whereas the French
Revolution triumphed because it brought into power a government of its own
school, the Austrian constitution presented the fantastic picture of a fortress
whose strong posts had been entrusted to its enemies.
" If already the existence of political parties presents itself in the light of a
succession of violent transitions, so those which could be forseen in Austria
were further complicated by the parties of the nationalities. The principle of
liberty and equality, when put to the test of practice, is simply government
by the majority. But this only holds good within the confines of the indi-
vidual nationality; beyond that it becomes just the reverse — servitude and
hegemony. The movement which broke the iron ring of benevolent despotism,
which had maintained the totality of things and conditions in some kind of
confused co-existence, prepared the way for calling in question everything
which had hitherto existed, as purely artificial; and so its break-up was a
signal for the nationalities, after shaking themselves free from the former
laws of gravitation, to choose a common centre. This principle once decided,
claim now opposed claim, independence was confronted by independence;
and this was manifestly true of the whole empire to its extremest borders
without distinction or exception. As in the Greek myth the iron men who
threatened Cadmus fought one another when he threw a stone into their
midst, so now for the people of Austria the constitution played the part of the
stone.
" Finally, as regards foreign affairs, while political sympathies for Russia
had, until now, held the scales of conflicting material interests in the East, so
now constitutional Austria must have appeared as the direct enemy of Russia.
Along a large extent of its boundary the related peoples of Austria would be
the most dangerous vehicle for propaganda of political and social changes
amongst those of Russia. In Austria revolution and imperialism met face to
634 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1848 A.D.]
face; only one could leave the battle-field victorious. Therefore Russia had
to try all means to ensure the ultimate decision. For the present the con-
clusion of the whole matter may be expressed in a single sentence : On the
15th of March the Austrian revolution ended; on the 16th the reaction
began!"/
CHAPTER III
REACTION AND REVOLT
[1848-1850 A.D.]
Abruptly as the shock of revokition had come, both Frankfort and Berlin
retained self-command enough to link the new state of things with the old,
even if by nothing more than a slender thread of legal continuity, by means
of the united diet in the one case and the confederation diet in the other.
In Austria it was not so. The country passed at a bound from the coercive
measures of absolutism to a constitutional government, which (with the
levity of political immaturity) it fancied that it had already attained, together
with all the attributes of constitutional liberty, because most of the towns
had improvised a to\\Ti militia in imitation of Vienna and had abolished the
censorship, and because nobody obeyed the authorities unless he pleased.
The ministry, which had taken the place of the defunct Staatskonferenz,
went so far as to dub itself responsible. At first it was under the presidency
of Count Kolowrat, after the 3rd of April under Count Ficquelmont, who
himself was succeeded after the 4th of May by Baron von Pillersdorf, a well-
known opponent of the old system, but a man who, enfeebled by the burden
of years and bureaucratic habit, thought he had done all that was necessary
if only outward tranquillity was maintained, and in all other matters held
himself in subordmation to the powers that were, and they — the archduke
Ludwig and the archduchess Sophie — were none other than those who had
occupied that position before the 13th of March. And the sole concern of
them both was to get through this turbulent period as creditably as might
be, and with the least possible injury to the government and the dynasty.
The free state of the future could have been built on no more rotten founda-
tion.
THE REVOLUTION AT ITS HEIGHT (1848)
But the fall of absolutism dragged the unity of the imperial monarchy
down with it. In Germany the desire for freedom and the desire for unity
635
636 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
blended together and strengthened each other reciprocally; the effect of the
revolution in Austria was "like the pouring of a hot liquid into a cold glass —
it shattered it." The antagonism of diverse nationalities, hitherto kept in
check with difficulty, broke ungovernably forth. As matters stood in Hun-
gary, nothing but this shock was required to allow the radical party to out-
flank the old opposition party, which took its stand upon the ancient con-
stitution. And the radicals had inscribed upon their banner the uncondi-
tional autonomy of Hungary, and thus forced the constituted authorities into
a struggle for the unity of the empire and all non-Magyars into a struggle
for their nationality.
The chamber of magnates, though it now hastened to concur in the rep-
resentation of the estates of the 3rd of i\Iarch, had found itself thrust aside
by the chamber of estates, which, carried away by the eloquence of Kossuth,
decreed absolute liberty of the press, universal liability to taxation, and the
relief of urbarial burdens. AVhen the monster deputation of the diet, which
Vienna, drunk with liberty and eager for fraternity, received with acclama-
tion, brought back the concession of a responsible ministry, Count Louis
Batthyanyi formed that ministry out of the spokesmen of the nationalist
opposition — Kossuth, Eotvos, Francis Deak, Francis Esterhazy, and
Szechenyi, who self-denyingly joined his former rivals. The Austrian
colours and the imperial eagles disappeared; but the diet had barely time to
enjoy its victory before it fell under the yoke of the sovereign will of the
people as represented by the Pest committee of security; and when Kossuth
extorted from it the abolition of the Urbarium and Herrenstuhle by the bug-
bear of a peasants' war, he won the peasantry over to his side, constrained
the nobles to assume a more friendly tone, and the clergy to resign the tithe.
The language used by the diet towards the government at ^^ienna became
all the more haughty. The conditions under which the latter (after dallying
as long as possible) acceded to the Hungarian claims — namely, the retention
of the supreme authority over the combined imperial and Hungarian armies,
the civil list for the king, the contributions towards imperial national burdens
and the imperial national debt, and the maintenance of the imperial troops
quartered in the country — were promptly rejected. In order that Batth-
yanyi should not make good his threat of resigning, the palatine had been
obliged to promise to hand in his ova\ resignation if his personal representa-
tions at Vienna proved ineffectual ; and these representations the diet backed
iDy the declaration that they awaited the result of his voluntary intervention
in the resolute spirit demanded by their country's peril. The Hofburg was
only too well aware that refusal meant revolution; and therefore all and
more than all for which Hungary had fought so long was granted at a single
stroke: the right of the palatine to exercise royal prerogatives in the absence
of the kmg, annual diets at Pest, a democratic law of elections, the abolition
of robot (forced labour) and tithes, of manorial jurisdiction and Aviticitdt,
reform of the assemblies of the comities, equal privileges for all religious
bodies, distinct national colours, and the abolition of the censorship and the
Hungarian chancellerie. The relation of Hungary to the dual monarchy
hardly amounted to a common sovereignty (Personahmion) . The command-
ers of Hungarian troops were forbidden' to take orders from Vienna.
On April 14th the emperor Francis went to Presburg to close the diet
and confirm the laws it had passed, and the government was transferred to
Pest. But the real ruler of Hungary was Kossuth, the tribune of national
rights, the idol of not only his ovm people but of the Austro-Germans. "I
am a plain citizen," he could say in the diet, "strong only in the might of
EEACTION AND EEVOLT 637
[1848 A. D.]
truth; and yet providence has so ordered it that by the turn of my hand I
can decide the existence or non-existence of the house of Habsburg."
But these very successes sowed the evil dragon-seed of future conflicts.
They were so great that the Austrian government could but strive with every
fresh accession of power to withdraw concessions extorted from its weakness,
and they incited other nationalities to imitate the Magyars. The latter had
barely begun to enjoy the sensation of having shaken off the old bureau-
cratic administration of Vienna, before the demands of the Slavonic national-
ities of the south began to grow audible with new insistence. In spite of
their common hatred for the fallen system, these claims clashed irrecon-
cilably with the aspirations of Pest to a Magyar autocracy over all other
national elements under the dominion of the cro^Mi of St. Stephen. The
national committee of Agram demanded complete severance of the three
kingdoms from Hungary, and their combination into an Illyrian state in
which Dalmatia and the military frontier were also to be incorporated, the
revindication of districts that had been incorporated with Hungary, and a
separate Croat ministry. On receivmg these proposals the Vienna govern-
ment obediently appointed Colonel Jellachich, Ban of Croatia, without the
concurrence of Pest; and his first official acts were to proclaim martial law
over the peasantry, who had been deluded into revolt by the Magyars, and
to issue to the tribunals a prohibition of direct intercourse with Hungarian
officials. The hatred that the Servians bore the Magyars broke out with
even greater violence, being complicated by religious differences. The rude
rejection of their demands led to a convocation of the national assembly at
Karlowitz by the metropolitan, Rajacic, the election of Colonel Suplicac to
the voivodeship, and the proclamation of the liberty and independence of
the Servian nation under the Austrian sceptre and the dual crown of Hun-
gary.
In Transylvania alone did the Magyars gain their end. Suspicious, appre-
hensive for their charter and the possession of the royal demesnes (Konigs-
hoden), the Saxons endeavoured to withstand their flattering allurements and
their promises of liberty; but, terrorised, left unsupported by Vienna, anil
in dread of the Wallachians, whom they hated no less than the Magyars and
who had likewise put forth a claim for equal rights in a great national assembly
at Blasentlorf, the diet of Klausenburg let itself be coerced on May 30th into
sanctioning the union of Transylvania with Hungary, little dreaming that it
was thereby signing the death-warrant of Saxon nationality.
Among the Czechs matters took the same course as in Hungary; there
was the same out-flanking of the okl liberals by the democrats, the same
conversion of a democratic into a nationalist movement. In Prague the
lead was taken by a national committee created by combining the committee
of safety with the Guhernial-commissioii appointed by the estates; deputa-
tions brought from Vierma the imperial ratification of the claims of the
Bohemian nation, a separate Bohemian ministry and the indissoluble union
of all Bohemian provinces appertaining to the crowTi — in a word, the trans-
formation of Bohemia into just such another state as Hungary, united by
very loose ties with the rest of the monarchy. The imperial proclamation of
the new Bohemian constitution, dated April 8th, went so far as to declare
the commg Bohemian diet a constituent assembly, to assert that the constitu-
tion of the state was dependent upon its decrees, and to place the German
and Czech languages on an equal footing. The institution of a Czech militia
and the newly invented Czech national costume were indications of the attack
upon Teutonism which was beginning under the leadership of the Slowanska
638 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
Lipa; Palacky's refusal of the invitation to join the committee of Fifty was
the bill of divorce between the Czechs and German Bohemia, and in the
greater part of the country the national committee frustrated the elections
to the parliament at Frankfort.
Moravia and upper Silesia offered no footholds to the separatist aspirations
of the Czechs; Galicia and the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, on the other
hand, went so far as to make an attempt at absolute severance. In the
latter the struggle grew into a war for Italian unity. The Polish nobility had
a forcible admonition to an attitude of cautious reserve in the memory of the
bloody year of 1846 and the unquenched animosity of their peasantry, but
when the amnesty of the 20th of March brought a swarm of political refugees
back from France the bridle of prudence gave way. But the insurrection
which broke out at Cracow on April 26th came to the common end of all
Polish rebellions on the same day. The town w^as laid under martial law,
and thenceforth the allegiance of Galicia was secured by the vigilance of its
governor, Count Francis Stadion.
The "Fundamental Law of the Empire"
With the Italians in open rebellion, the Poles always ready for the same,
the Magyars, Czechs, and southern Slavs dubiously loyal and cherishing aspi-
rations after national autonomy, which left no room for doubt; with the
Austro-Germans, rudely awakened from their torpor, a prey to the wildest
revolutionary extravagances on the one hand and shamefully subservient to
radical demagogues on the other; with, to boot, a financial depression, an
absolute lack of ready money which drove the minister of finance, Kraus,
to embrace the most desperate remedies in order to avoid pronouncing the
hideous word "bankruptcy" — in face of this situation, as it presented itself
after four weeks of civil con\ailsion, was it to be wondered at that faith in
the integrity and permanence of the empire grew dim, that the voluntary
abdication of the Polish and Italian provinces seemed almost a matter of
course? For even in the Centre itself confusion became ever worse con-
founded. The absolute uselessness of the patent of March 15th, with its
pedantic adherence to the old formulae of the estates, w^as obvious to all the
w^orld; and therefore on April 25th a "fundamental law of the empire" was
promulgated, which was nothing whatever but another toy to quiet political
babes : for it left untouched the main question at issue — wliether Austria
should contmue to be a federal state or should adopt a centralised form of
government; and in like manner said nothing of imperial relations with the
Hungarian crown lands and the Italian provinces, because, as Ficquelmont
confessed with the utmost naivete, "they were merely of a transitory nature."
The whole of this great act was received with indifference or rejection in
all quarters. The Czechs and Poles repudiated any interference with the
autonomy which they claimed as their due; the Germans distrusted a ministry
which carried its complaisance towards the Slavs to the pitch of offering the
education department to Palacky; the democratic party was indignant at
the two-chamber system and the composition of the senate; the mob ex-
pressed its dissatisfaction by nightly caterwauling, and on the 3rd of May
extorted Ficquelmont's resignation. Whereupon the Aula, the organised
association of students, combined with the representatives of the national
guard to form a political central committee for the protection of the rights
of the people, which proceeded to usurp government prerogatives without
EEACTION" AND REVOLT 630
[1848 A.D.]
more ado. In the same Austria where, Httle more than two months ago, no
breath of pohtical agitation penetrated the silence of an all-powerful bureau-
cracy, a handful of raw boys, in concert with the rabble, gave itself the airs
of a sole and supreme authority. When the ministers, who had not felt it
beneath their dignity to remain in office after the insult offered to their presi-
dent, summoned up enough courage to forbid the national guard to take
part in the committee, the enraged Aula extorted by the help of the mob a
retraction of the unheard-of affront. Helpless as it wag, the government
submitted to an5rthing. For, with a just perception of the fact that the fate
of Austria would be decided on the battle-fields of Italy, the war minister,
Latour, had despatched all the available troops thither. It was obliged not
only to concede the joint garrisoning of the gates and the citadel by the mili-
tary and the national guard, but to consent to an electoral law that abolished
the censorship, and to the convocation of a constituent assembly of the
empire — that is to say, to the abandonment of the constitutional charter
of April 25th.&
The Flight of the Emperor (May, I8J1B)
The continuous tumults and the dread of still more threatening scenes
determined those about the emperor to persuade him to a flight to Innsbruck,
which was effected on the 17th of May. This was soon followed by a change
in the public humour. The emperor's departure was altogether too much for
the loyal Viennese, who besieged him with petitions to return to his capital.
But instead of utilising at once this favourable turn of affairs, to take energetic
measures, the ministers, who had made the disbandment of the students'
legion the condition of the emperor's return, and had already published the
decree of disbandment, on the 26th of May, let themselves be driven by a
third rising and fresh barricades to concede the revocation of the decree and
the return of the troops to the barracks. More than this, the minister of the
interior, Freiherr von Pillersdorf, actually handed over the restoration of
order to its former disturbers, and permitted the installation of a committee
of security which was composed of municipal councillors, national guards,
and students. This was nothing but a popular dictatorship, by which not
only was the effectiveness of the ministry thrust aside but the educated and
moderate section of the population was driven from the dangerous channel
of the agitation.
SUPPRESSION OF THE PRAGUE REVOLUTION (JUNE, 1848)
To complete the measure of the embarrassments — as though the rising
in Italy which had begun on the 18th of March, the independent dreams of
the Magyars, even now clinking their spurs, the committee of security in
Vienna were not enough — Prague also entered the ranks of the revolutionary
cities. There the Czechs declared their hostility to the German population
and were determined no longer to remain a member of Germany, but to form
a separate Slav kingdom with Moravia and Silesia, which should have an
independent government.
In order to organise themselves as a powerful party, on the 2nd of June
they instituted a general Slav congress at Prague, under the presidency of
Palacky, established a provisional government in opposition to the unfree
ministry at Vienna, and caused a Czech constitution to be drawn up by
Rieger. Here also the students pursued high politics. There was no lack of
conflict with the Germans, menaced by the Czechs, and with the military, who
640 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGARY
[1848 A.D.]
had, in Prince Alfred Windischgratz, a determined but very aristocratic
commander. It is to him that is attributed the historic piece of naivete,
"Man begins with the baron." He refused the demand of the Czech stu-
dents that he should hand over to them a battery and sixty thousand car-
tridges; for it was easy to see that these cartridges were intended for no one
but the prince and his soldiers, and that it was designed to establish here, as
at Vienna, a popular government and one composed of Czechs. On the 12th
of June a sanguinjyy encounter took place before the prince's palace between
the Czechs and the mihtary, when the prince's wife, who was watching from
a window, was mortally wounded by a ball. On this and the following day
a few cannon shots quelled the rebelHon, the situation was made clear to the
vainglorious Czechs, the Slav congress was dispersed, and, after a long pause,
the fact was made manifest that the military power of Austria had no desire
to abdicate .c
The richest fruits of the revolt of Prague were garnered by the army.
All other consequences, such as the break-up of the Pan-Slavic party and the
indirect strengthening of the system of centralisation, were of minor import-
ance compared to the fact that, for the first time since the revolution, the
military w^ere exalted in their own eyes and the soldiers stood forth, not
merely as the strongest bulwark of order but also as the true pillars of Austrian
power and unity. Up to this time it had been the fashion to conciliate the
radicals at the expense of military pride; the army had been condemned to
play a very subordinate part, constrained first to share its privileges with
carpet-soldiers, students, and artisans, and then (in May) compelled to the
deeper degradation of flight at the command of its superiors. Despite these
measures, peace and tranquillity had not been restored; on the contrary, the
pretensions of the radical party had waxed more arrogant. At Prague the
general in command had neither been intimidated nor cajoled into retreating
before the authority of the people, and he had subdued the rioters and sup-
pressed the revolution. From this time forth the conservatives began to
cherish the idea that the army was destined to be the salvation of the state,
and to many the fate of Austria seemed wholly dependent on the attitude
of the military. The greatest of Austrian poets, Grillparzer, once the idol of
Vienna, became the most zealous apostle of this soldier-worship. He lauded
the army in enthusiastic verse as the most deserving member of the body
politic, in which wisdom was combined with strength, and true patriotism
was alone to be found. Another poet, himself a soldier, was not satisfied with
depicting the contrast between anarchic Vienna and the patriotic army;
according to him the latter had the right to exercise judicial functions and
had received authority to punish rebels and enemies of Austria. Grillparzer ^
' Grillparzer's poem to Field-Marslial Radetzky was first published in tlie constitutional
Donauzeitung. The following verses passed into a motto among the conservatives :
In Deinem Lager ist Oesterreich,
Wir andern sind einzelne Trmnmer.
Aus Tragheit mid aus Eitelktit
Sind wir in U7is zerf alien.
In denen die du fuhrst zum Streit
Leht noch ein Oeist in Allen.
Dort ist kein Jungling, der sich vermissi
Us besser als Du zu Jcennen,
Der ivas er trdumet und nirgends ist
Als Weisheit wagt zu henennen.
(In thy camp is Austria, we others are scattered fragments. By indolence and vanity we
have fallen into decay. Amongst those thou leadest to battle one spirit still lives in all. There
EEACTION AND EEVOLT 641
[1848 A.D.]
laments that Austria, once so great and mighty, is now to be met with only
in the soldiers' camp, while Marsano converts the lament into a threat against
Vienna and the Aula.
The mere fact that a poet here and there should ascribe a mission of such
significance to the army was not in itself enough to have aroused the appre-
hension of fresh political complications; but this belief did not exist only in
the imagination of poets : after the events of June the army itself was inspired
with a like proud conviction. The lengths to which thi^ feeling went are
best seen from the address of Prince Windischgratz to the Bohemian nation
when (on June 20th) he abrogated the state of siege. In this he declared
that the least attempt at a fresh revolt would restore the military dictator-
ship, and the first cannon shot re-establish martial law, under which every
rebel would be executed without mercy. The concluding words of this
imperious proclamation run: "I hereby solemnly guarantee to every well-
affected person protection and the maintenance of his just rights, life, and
property; but to the wrong-doer who shall dare to disturb the public peace
let it serve as a final warning." Such language had been unknown since the
days of March; and, in spite of his victory over the Czechs, Prince Windisch-
gratz would hardly have ventured upon using it at this juncture if the
favourable turn of events in the Italian theatre of war had not furnished a
powerful reserve upon which he could fall back.^
RADETZKY SAVES LOMBARDO-VENETIA (1848 A.D.)
The news of the events of March had scarcely reached Milan, when the
viceroy, Archduke Rainer, foreseeing the storm, set off by Verona for the
Tyrol (March 17th). Soon after, the struggle began; it had already lasted
three days when Count Radetzky, the commander-in-chief in Italy, received
the news that the Sardinian king, Charles Albert, in spite of the most solemn
assurances of peace, only recently repeated, had crossed the frontier with a
well-equipped army. There was but one means of defying the storm and the
way to do it was '' backwards." It was, as the old general himself says, "a
terrible resolution, but it had to be taken."
It is only in reverses that man is great; and no hero ever encountered
greater reverses than those which in these days fell, blow on blow, on Rad-
etzky, an old man in his eighty-third year.: the unexpected, energetic rising,
the treacherous attack from without, the scattering of his resources, the
is no youth who dares to boast that he knows better than thou, who dares to put forth as
wisdom what he dreams and what has no existence.)
In Marsano's soldier-song the most outspoken verse ran :
Thr Burger Wieiis, wir warnen euch,
Ihr mogVs auf der Aula erzdhlen ;
Bedenket dass Wien nicht Oesterreich
Uyid dass ihr ims nichts zu befehlen.
Dock horf ihr die ivarnende Stiinme nicht,
Die das Heer aus Italien sendet.
So setzen ivir seller uns zu Gericht
Wenn hier unsere Sendung vollendet.
(Citizens of Vienna, we warn you, you may tell it forth in Aula. Remember that Vienna
is not Austria and that you have no commands for us. But if you hear not the warning voice
that the army sends from Italy, we will take our place on the judgment seat when we have
accomplished our mission here.)
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2T
642 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
desertion and treachery in his own army, the confusion and helplessness at
home, the fall of so many fortresses, losses of so formidable a character as that
of Venice. That he immediately perceived the point at which a rein might be
put upon misfortune, and afterwards clung to it with the firm resolve of suc-
cumbing there or again conquering, is an achievement to be placed on a level
with the greatest of its kind and is greater than the subsequent victory.
The Austrians left Milan and withdrew to their reinforcements. The little
town of Melignano refused them a passage ; it was taken by storm and partially
plundered. At Lodi Radetzky learned the situation of the army and of
Lombardy. At the first news of revolt, General d'Aspre had collected his
army corps and had marched straight to Verona. He had left everything
else in order to maintain this decisive point or march thence to meet the field-
marshal. Mantua had been preserved to the emperor by the steadfastness
and penetration of General Gorzkowski. The little fortress of Peschiera was
in the power of the imperials; these were the most favourable tidings. The
unfavourable news outweighed them. Charles Albert had passed the border
on the same day on which the Austrians had left Milan. Of twenty Italian
battalions, seventeen had deserted en masse or in part; and hence the towns
of Udine, Treviso, Padua, Cremona, and Brescia had fallen into the hands of
the revolutionaries. The same was the case with Osopo and Palmanova; in
the last-named place alone thirty cannon and fifteen thousand rifles fell into
the hands of the insurgents.
More grievous than all was the loss of Venice. The first tumults there had
been quickly suppressed by the troops. The next morning the governor.
Count Aloys Palffy and the commandant, Count Zichy, allowed themselves
to be persuaded, in order to avoid bloodshed, not to permit the troops to
march out; and they sanctioned the arming of the citizen guard for the pur-
pose of preserving order. All seemed quiet; but, when the news of the pro-
ceedings in Milan arrived, the revolt broke out (21st of March). The revolu-
tionaries calculated on the weakness and incapacity of the heads of the imperial
party. When the rising began, the governor made over all his powers to
Count Zichy, but the latter was entirely helpless; he was separated from his
troops, roughly treated, intimidated, and agreed to a compromise which
delivered the fortifications, the precious, irreplaceable navy, and the Italian
soldiery to the rebellion. The loyal troops marched out and the republic was
proclaimed. The loss was immeasurable — far more than a lost battle.
The fall of Venice determined Radetzky to withdraw to the Adige and
Verona. Here the fate of Italy must be decided. His headquarters were in
Verona. Charles Albert marched after him and began the siege of Peschiera,
where there was a lack of provisions. Here it became manifest that the pre-
March government had made many mistakes in regard to the defence of Italy.
The army was neither so strong as Radetzky colild have desired, nor was it
composed of wholly reliable troops. Twenty battalions of Italian troops had
been left in Italy: it had been thought that they could be relied on because
they had remained faithful in previous wars ; but in this supposition the fact
was lost sight of that for years they had been exposed to seduction. Seven-
teen battalions had, as already said, gone over wholly or in part to the enemy,
but very few took service with the latter; they left their officers in the Aus-
trian army and went back to their homes. Each withdrawing battalion left
the Austrian army the weaker by a thousand men.
Lombardy and the Venetian mainland were in rebellion, the imperial army
occupied only Mantua, Peschiera, Legnano, and Verona, and the district com-
manded by those fortresses. The salvation of the monarchy lay in the
EEACTIOX AXD REVOLT
643
[1848 A.D.]
Italian army, and it had at least one of the finest defensive positions that
could be imagined ; but Radetzky could not advance to the attack till he had
received sufficient reinforcements ; for, if the imperial troops in Italy were to
suffer a crushing defeat, the Austrian army would be practically overthrown.
The minister of war, Count Latour, made every effort to strengthen the
army; he formed a reserve corps under Count Nugent, the master of the
ordnance; it was seventeen thousand strong and was intended to subdue the
Venetian mainland. Before this was done Radetzky could hardly advance
to the attack. Charles Albert
was well aware of this and he
attacked an Austrian division
at Pastrengo, but the fight was
insignificant; the Austrian di-
vision attacked withdrew to
the main army. Thereupon he
attacked the imperial main
army at Santa Lucia (May
6th). The Piedmontese were
effectually beaten, but on the
side of the Austrians it was
merely a defensive battle.
They had only taught Charles
Albert that it was not so easy
to dictate peace in Vienna as
he had boastfully averred.
Charles Albert received im-
portant auxiliaries from the
revolted Modena, Tuscany,
and, above all, from the states
of the church. Here a regu-
lar crusade against the Aus-
trians was preached. The able
general Durando led the Ro-
mans ; the pope disapproved of
the attack on Austria, but
could not prevent it ; the reins
of government had already
been torn from his hands.
In a moment of discouragement the Austrian government proposed to the
Lombards to sever their connection with the monarchy on condition of their
taking over a considerable portion of the state debt, and granting a favourable
commercial treaty. The vainglorious Lombards did not accept this offer;
they disputed among themselves as to whether Lombardy should become a
republic or whether Charles Albert should be chosen king ; but they neglected
the means to secure the success of their plans. Charles Albert was only spar-
ingly assisted with money and still more sparingly with troops. They reck-
oned on France and England, who had offered their mediation. Wliilst the
cabinets were discussing as to how and where the negotiations should take
place, the efforts of Radetzky gave the situation a turn very different from
that which the ItaHans expected. Radetzky assumed the offensive.
The forces which Charles Albert had at his disposal could not be computed
at less than eighty thousand men. The Austrian army, on the other hand, in
addition to the seventeen thousand men whom Nugent had brought up, and
Radetzky
(1766-1858)
644 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
the garrisons at Mantua, Peschiera, and Verona, consisted of forty-three
battahons, forty-four squadrons, and one hundred and fifty cannon. They
were divided into three corps under generals Wratislaw, D'Aspre, and Wocher.
The forces which Radetzky could lead to the attack might then be reckoned
at more than forty thousand. General Hess was the chief of the staff. The
troops were animated with the best spirit and full of trust in their leaders.
By a march prepared with as much boldness as foresight, the field-marshal
appeared before the enemy's entrenchments at Curtatone ; he wished to take
it and then to compel the enemy to give battle along the line of the Mincio or
to abandon that river. A victory would have had the greatest results. Hin-
drances due to the elements were the cause that the success was only partial.
The skilfully constructed entrenchments were stormed, and 2,000 prisoners
with five cannon fell into the hands of the Austrians (May 29th). _ The army
advanced, but a tremendous rain suspended further movements, in addition
to which came the news that, after a gallant resistance, Peschiera had been
compelled by famine to capitulate. iMoreover, the enemy had found time to
assemble his whole power, and the field-marshal therefore desisted from
attacks on this side; he sent a part of the troops back to Verona and with the
rest directed his way to Vicenza.
The town was well fortified and provided with a numerous garrison, and
in Charles Albert's camp it was believed that it could hold out for fourteen
days against an army of one hundred thousand men. Radetzky appeared
before the walls with forty thousand men and took it in one day. The
entrenchment on Monte Berico, which was regarded as impregnable, v/as
stormed by the tenth Jdger battalion under Colonel Kopal. The regiments
of Latour and Reising followed suit ; the other entrenchments were also taken
by storm, and the same evening the town was fired on from Monte Berico.
General Durando capitulated (11th of June). The fall of Vicenza was fol-
lowed by that of Padua ; General Welden took Treviso, Nugent had already
won Udine. Thus the whole Venetian Mainland had been again subdued and
free communication with the monarchy established. The corps of Count
Thurn, who had taken over Nugent's command on the latter's^ falling ill,
joined the main army. A great result had been attained with relatively small
sacrifices. The field-marshal returned to Verona.
THE BATTLE OF CUSTOZZA (JULY, 1848)
Charles Albert prepared to besiege Mantua, but Radetzky determined to
break the enemy's lines. Tliree days of brilliant fighting (22nd, 23rd, and
24th of July), in which General Simbschen's brigade was alone unfortunate,
led to the battle of Custozza (July 25th), in which the Piedmontese were
totally defeated and with extraordinary speed and in boundless disorder
the Piedmontese army fled to Milan. There the greatest confusion prevailed.
The mob rose against the Piedmontese; the palace where the king was lodged
was fired on and he was kept in a species of captivity. It was only by the
steadfast fidelity of a part of his troops that he escaped the rage of the people.
The Piedmontese evacuated Milan and a municipal deputation requested
Radetzky to march in with the imperial troops as quickly as possible, because
only thus could murder and destructionbe prevented and the fury of the people
be tamed. The Austrians marched in; Charles Albert concluded an armis-
tice; Lombardy was again subdued. But the Piedmontese admiral, who lay
before Venice with his fleet, refused under various pretexts to withdraw. It
was long before he left the waters of the Adriatic.^
EEACTIOX AND EEVOLT
645
[1850 A.D.]
THE VIENNESE REVOLUTION SUPPRESSED (1848 A.D.)
Meantime the constituent imperial diet had assembled at Vienna and had
been opened on the 22nd of July by Archduke John, the Reichsverweser
[imperial vicar of the German Empire]. There was a confusion of tongues as at
Babel and little in the way of a constitution could be expected from it, especi-
ally since foreign affairs furnished continual material for the most lively
rip;
1^1 fj
Cathedral of St. Stephen
(Foundation laid by Duke Rudolf IV in 1359)
debates; the return of the emperor, which followed at the special request of
the diet, on the 12th of August, contributed nothing towards calming men's
minds. A motion for the removal of all obligations connected with the
Rohot, or compulsory labour, and with servitude — that is, the shaking jDff
of all feudal burdens as had been done during the French Revolution of 1789
on the famous night of the 4th of August — was carried, with the stipulation
that an equitable indemnity should be given by the state to those entitled
to it.
The diet soon found itself in an untenable position between the ministry
and the working-men's unions, and daily lost influence; for through the gen-
eral desertion of the Slav members it had already shrunk into a rump parlia-
ment. Matters could not fail to come to an open struggle. Conditions
646 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTRIA-HUXGAEY
[1848 A. D.]
conformed themselves more and more to a copy of those prevailing among
the Parisian workmen. Trade and barter were at a standstill. The wealthy
families sought more idyllic abodes. The proletariat became thereby more
nmnerous and enhanced their claims. Public works, Parisian national work-
shops, had to be inaugurated by the government, and the already languishing
exchequer must pay the company of loungers a fair day's salary.
The Wessenberg ministry, which had succeeded that of Pillersdorf, finally
took courage, began by reducing the wages to five kreutzers, and suppressed
the rebellion of the refractory workmen by the help of the national guard
(August 23rd). Then came a fresh development. The breach with the
Hungarians was determined on. A portion of the Vienna garrison was to
march against Hungary on the 6th of October. A grenadier battalion refused
obedience, and when the cavalry attempted to compel it to set out, a struggle
took place in which the grenadiers were supported by the students, the national
guard, and the workingmen. General Bredy was shot and several cannon
were made spoil by the people. Barricades were set up in all directions, the
alarm bell tolled from the St. Stephen's Tower; an infuriated mob hurried to
the ministry of war in search of the minister Latour, whose measures with
regard to Hungary were not in agreement with the views of the Viennese
democracy. Dragged from his hiding-place, he was hauled into the court-
yard, and murdered in the most cruel fashion with sword thrusts and blows
from hammmers, after which the body, bleeding from forty-three wounds,
was suspended from a gas-lamp. Thereupon the arsenal was stormed and its
rich contents, consisting in part of rare and costly weapons, were divided
among the crowd. The diet declared itself permanent, and in an address to
the emperor demanded the formation of a new ministry, the dismissal of Gen-
eral Jellachich, ban of Croatia, and similar concessions. This time the
Viennese democracy had conquered but it was nevertheless lost.
Under such conditions the emperor could no longer remain in Schonbrunn.
On the 7th of October he fled with a strong escort to Olmiitz in Moravia, and
ordered Prince Windischgratz to reduce Vienna. The prince, who was
appointed commander-in-chief of all the troops except those in Italy, set out
from Prague with his army, arrived before Vienna on the 20th of October,
joined the troops of the ban Jellachich from Croatia, and the A'ienna garri-
son which Count Auersperg had conducted out of the city, and on the 23rd
demanded unconditional surrender.^
Meanwhile, preparations had been made for defence of Vienna, with much
bustle but little practical ability. Bodies of fighting men had flocked in from
the country round ; barricades and fortifications had been raised, and mounted
with cannon; the command of the national guard had been given to Messen-
hauser, formerly an officer in the Austrian army, and that of the mobile guard
to General Bem, a Pole, and a man of remarkable military talent. The forty-
eight hours allowed by Prince Windischgratz having expired, the attack began
on the morning of the 26th; and, after twelve hours' fighting, the exterior line
of the Leopoldstadt faubourg was taken, but the interior remained in the
hands of its defenders. The next day was spent in unavailing negotiations.
On the 28th, the attack was renewed on all sides with great vigour, especially
on the east and south. The city was set on fire in many places, and the con-
test was continued all night in the Leopoldstadt and Wieden faubourgs. On
the 29th, the Viennese sent a deputation to Prince Windischgratz with pro-
posals of surrender. The prince refused to abate his previous demand for
disarming the workmen and the students, but agreed to suspend hostilitiea
for twelve hours, while the besieged held a last deliberation.
REACTION AND EEVOLT 647
[1848 A.D.]
The deputation returned, and summoned a meeting of the town council,
which was attended by Messenhauser, the commander of the academic legion,
and some members of the diet. Messenhauser declared that he and the
officers under him were ready to hold out, if the council decided to do so ; but
the situation was nearly desperate. The troops were in possession of the
suburbs to the foot of the glacis, and the walls were incapable of general
defence against escalade. On the question being put to the vote, it was
resolved by three-fourths of the town councillors that the defence should
cease. This resolution was announced to Prince Windischgratz, and the dis-
arming was actually commenced; but, on the 30th, a brisk cannonade was
heard in the direction of Hungary, the sentinels on St. Stephen's Tower
announced the long-expected approach of the Hungarian army, and the citi-
zens were again summoned to arms, notwithstanding their engagements to
surrender. To punish this breach of faith, Windischgratz recommenced the
bombardment of some of the faubourgs known as the most rebellious, and the
firing was continued until nightfall.
The Battle of Schwechat (ISJtS A.D.)
The cannonade which had so raised the hopes of the Viennese in the morn-
ing was that of an engagement which took place at Schwechat, twelve miles
from Vienna, between a Hungarian army of twenty-two thousand men, com-
ing to the aid of the city, and twenty-eight thousand imperial troops
despatched against them under Auersperg and Jellachich. The Hungarians
had been awaiting on the frontier for many days the call of the Austrian diet.
At last, on the 28th of October, Kossuth himself joined the army. The
twenty columns of fire that rose that night from amid the palaces of Vienna
showed but too fearfully the need there was of speedy aid for the devoted
city; and without waiting longer on the Austrian diet, Kossuth gave the order
to advance. It was too late, for on that very day had the fatal blow been
struck. On the 30th the Hungarians came up with the scattered detach-
ments of the imperials, drove them out of Fischamend and Albern, carried
Mannsworth by storm, and pushed on toward Vienna, whilst Jellachich and
Auersperg awaited their approach in most secure and advantageous positions.
The main body of the Hungarians was between the Danube and the
Schwartzen Lachen, a sluggish arm of that river, as broad and deep as the
Danube itself. At the head of this botly of water the Austrians, with a park
of sixty guns, stood ready to receive them; while ten regiments, principally
cavalry, had been sent out to gain their rear and enclose them in the defile.
So gross a blunder could not escape the military eye of Gorgey, who was at
that time invested with but an unimportant command; he directed Kossuth's
attention to the fact, and by an immediate retreat they narrowly escaped the
trap and avoided a total defeat, in which an hour's advance would inevitably
have involved them. They were pursued by the victorious Austrians both
that day and the following, and driven back into Hungary. This was the
battle of Schwechat, in which Colonel Gorgey, for the efficient service rendered
in saving the Hungarian army from the cul de sac, was promoted on the
ground to the rank of general.
In consequence of the bombardment of the 30th, the city, on the following
morning, declared, for a second time, its unconditional submission. A deputa-
tion from the municipality communicated to the field-marshal the fact that
the greater part of the citizens were willing to surrender without reserve; but
648 THE HISTOKY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGARY
[1848 A.D.]
that they were too feeble to carry their determination into effect in opposition
to the radical club, the committee of students, and the armed mob, who
threatened to set the city on fire, and bury themselves beneath its ruins.
After receiving the deputation, the imperial general ordered large bodies of
troops into the faubourgs, the unconditional surrender of which was betokened
by the white flags hanging from the bastions and the adjoining houses; but
no sooner had the unsuspecting troops made their appearance on the open
glacis, than their ranks were torn by a murderous fire of grape and musketry,
poured upon them from the ramparts.
Incensed by this treacherous act, Prince Windischgratz ordered a bom-
bardment of the inner city, and an attack by storm on three of the eastern
and southeastern gates. The imperial library, several public buildings, and
two churches were set on fire. The burg Thor was carried by the troops, and
a short but bloody fight began in the streets. The defenders being still, as
on the 29th and 30th, divided among themselves — some only of them for
fighting, more for yielding — the success of the besiegers was rapid; and
before midnight the greater part of the capital was subdued. The contest,
however, was continued at detached points on the following day, and the
north-westerly parts of the city were not mastered until dawn on the 2nd of
November. The fire in the imperial library was extinguished without much
injury to its valuable contents, but the Augustin church was nearly destroyed.
Prince Windischgratz proclaimed that, in consequence of the breach of capitu-
lation, the conditions which he had at first agreed to were null and void; he
declared Vienna in a state of siege; the academic legion dissolved forever, and
the national guard for an indefinite time ; all newspapers and political associa-
tions suspended; domiciliary visits to be made for the discovery of concealed
arms, etc.
The loss of property occasioned by the siege of the Austrian capital has
been estimated at about a million and a quarter sterling. The loss of life
was much less than might have been expected after so protracted and des-
perate a struggle. Of the 1,600 persons arrested, nine only were punished
with death, nine sentenced to imprisonment for a term of years, 996 discharged,
and the remainder were tried by civil tribunal. Many of the most influential
participators in the revolt escaped by flight before the troops entered the
city. General Bem made his way into Hungary in disguise. Among the
prisoners tried by court-martial were two members of the diet of Frankfort,
sent thence by the deputies of the extreme Left to aid by their counsels the
insurrection in Vienna. One of them, Robert Blum, member for Leipsic,
being condemned, "on his own confession of having made revolutionary
speeches, and opposed armed resistance to the imperial troops," was shot on
the 9th of November. The other deputy, Frobel, was sentenced to be hanged,
but afterwards received a free pardon on the score of "extenuating circum-
stances." Messenhauser, the commander of the national guard, was shot./
THE REHABILITATION
Even as Old Austria had passed away during the days of March, so in these
terrible October days the old jovial Vienna passed away for evermore. The
subjugation of Lemberg by General von Hammerstein on November 2nd
formed an after-piece to that of the capital itself; with them the revolution
was stamped out in the Polish-German half of the imperial dominions. But
the question of the method and principles on which the reconstruction of the
EEACTION AND REVOLT 649
[1848 A.D.J
empire was to be accomplished became the subject of lively controversy, not
only between constitutionalists and absolutists, but in an even greater degree
between the petty jealousies of bureaucratic and military authorities. The
whilom president of the exchequer, Von Kiibeck, advocated as the simplest
method the dissolution of the diet, the proclamation of martial law through-
out the empire, and the appointment of Windischgratz as dictator — that,
having subdued the rebellion, he should proceed to take in hand the requisite
"rejuvenation" of the political system. Stadion, however, backed by the
Czech renitents of the diet, succeeded in convincing the court of the necessity
of retaining the diet, though in an innocuous form. After the resolutions
passed by the diet previous to the 6th of October had been confirmed by a
patent dated the 19th of the same month which guaranteed the unimpaired
enjoyment of all the rights and liberties conceded, the diet itself was pro-
rogued, but summoned to meet again on November 22nd in the country
town of Kremsier in the Hannak district, suggested by Palacky.
The ultimate decision rested nevertheless with the army, which had saved
the tottering unity of the empire and had still to fight for it in Italy and
Hungary. Windischgratz had prudently stipulated when he assumed the
chief command that no step should be taken nor any enactments promul-
gated that dealt with organisation, without his previous concurrence. But
the real leader of the military party was not even Windischgratz, but Prince
Felix Schwarzenberg, a dissipated man of fashion who had held various
diplomatic appointments and had recently fought with some distinction in
Italy. This man, in whom pri'de of rank took the place of moral earnestness,
whose attainments were represented by a coarse contempt for everything
unmilitary, and in whom heedless audacity stood for statesmanlike insight,
assumed the premiership of the new cabinet as minister for foreign affairs.
Stadion became minister of the interior; Bruck, the gifted creator of the
Austrian Lloyd, minister of commerce; while a mockery of the constitu-
tional system of the late cabinet was preserved by the inclusion of Kraus
and the converted democrat Bach, who had still a further process of conver-
sion to undergo, as ministers of finance and justice respectively. The min-
isterial programme of November 27th contained the principal liberal demands,
a liberal municipal law (Gemeindegesetz) , and the reform of the administra-
tive and judicial system.
But for Austria the true solution of the vital problem lay not so much in
a greater or less degree of liberty as in the adjustment of her relations with
Hungary and the Italian provinces on the one hand, and on the other with
the new Germany which was still in process of formation. The programme,
while passing lightly over the one subject, was all the more explicit on the
other: "Not until rejuvenated Austria and rejuvenated Germany have
attained to new and stable form will it be possible to define politically their
reciprocal relations. Until that time Austria will continue faithfully to
discharge her obligations towards the German Confederation."
The diet, which had assembled in full force in its place of exile, received
this programme with loud applause. After which the dominant powers
willingly allowed it the pleasure of immersing itself in vague discussions of
fundamental rights or equally barren disquisitions upon federalism and
centralisation, or spending its time in spiteful Czech attacks upon the German
Left, while they themselves strode unfalteringly to their goal. In accordance
with their political code, which did not treat pledges given by one ruler as
binding on his successor, they had long since settled upon the expedient by
which they would remove the insuperable barrier placed in the way of reaction
650 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1848 A.D.]
by the solemn promises the emperor Ferdinand had made to his subjects in
general and to the Hungarians in particular. On the 2nd of December the
emperor, heartily weary of the burden of rule, abdicated in favour of his
nephew, Francis Joseph. He died at Prague, June 29th, 1875. A proclama-
tion put into the mouth of the new eighteen-year-old emperor expressed the
hope that he would '' be able to weld all the countries and races of the
monarchy into a great united body politic."
The confident expectation of an easy subjugation of Hungary, and par-
ticularly the exaggerated importance attached to the victory of Kdpolna,
inspired the government to delay no longer the stroke of policy demanded
with increasing vehemence by the court, the aristocracy, the military, and
the clergy, but to put an end to the farce of the diet. On March 6th Stadion
submitted to a meeting of Deputies from the Right and Centre the scheme of
a chartered constitution. The consternation with which they received it,
the open opposition of even the rigid conservatives among them, appeared
to make some impression on him, and he promised to exert his influence in
the ministerial council to procure delay. Nevertheless, on the following
morning the deputies found the hall of session barred by soldiers and an
imperial manifesto posted at the street corners to announce the closing of
the diet, " which by its debates had placed itself in conflict with the existing
conditions of the monarchy," and the grant of a constitutional charter to
the whole of Austria.
In this bungled patchwork, made up of shreds of all the constitutions in
existence, the one thing that was meant to be taken seriously (apart from the
restrictions placed upon religious liberty) was the abolition of all distinctions
between the various dominions of the Crown and the reduction of all to the
status of mere administrative districts. By this means, to outward seeming
at least, the finishing touch was put to the tedious process which for a century
had been at work on the transformation of the conglomerated states of the
pragmatic union into a centralised political unit modelled upon the army.
The maintenance of the constitution which was promised to Hungary, (though
coupled with the separation of the voivodeship of Servia, of Transylvania,
Croatia, and the military frontier) amounted in practice to the same thing as
its abrogation. The definition of the relation of the Lombardo-Venetian king-
dom to the empire was left to be dealt with by special statute.
The dissolved diet vanished and left no trace behind; a ''justification"
from certain charges made against it, which was issued by thirty-three dep-
uties, is the last we hear of it. Of those who a short while ago had spoken so
loudly in the cause of freedom and justice, the majority submitted tamely to
the newly constituted authority. Amongst the people at large the chartered
constitution was received with the indifference it merited, but from the
dragon-seed of equal rights, which found its fullest expression in the
Allgemeine Reichsgesetz- und Regierungsblatt, printed in ten languages, sprang
the armed nationalities which the government had next to dispose of one by
one.
The Czechs found themselves dismissed with base ingratitude when once
their duty was done; the revolutionary aspirations of the radical young
Czech party, which was in touch with the German democrats, were soon
brought within bounds by arrests and martial law. The Servians and Croats
had a like experience. There was no question that the Hungarians would
not voluntarily submit to have the yoke of a universal constitution laid upon
their necks, but the government relied upon its ability to enforce it at the
point of the sword.
KEACTION AND EEVOLT 651
[1848-1849 A.D.]
THE HUNGARIAN WAR (1848-1849 A.D.)
After a final and fruitless summons to the Hungarians to return to their
allegiance, an imperial manifesto dated November 6th proclaimed the com-
mencement of armed intervention in all the provinces under the dominion
of the crown of St. Stephen, and at the same time quashed all such decrees
of the diet of Pest as had not already received the imperial sanction. Kos-
suth and his faction were denounced as traitors to their king and country,
and all Hungarian officials were placed under the authority of Prince Win-
dischgratz. On the other hand the loyal [Transylvanian] Saxons were
promised the restoration of their ancient privileges in the repeal of the union
of Transylvania with Hungary. The Ruthenians of Galicia were assured of
the imperial protection against Polish coercion, and Bulcowina was raised to
the rank of a distinct administrative province.
The situation of the Magyars was bad enough, indeed it was almost hope-
less. The fiction to which the diet of Pest steadfastly held — that the suc-
cession which had been accomplished without their concurrence was invalid,
that Ferdinand V was and remained their rightful king, that Francis Joseph
was a usurper, and that Windischgriitz, not Hungciry, was in rebellion — had,
it is true, a certain amount of effect upon the army; but the latter, one half
of which consisted of the debris of the old army and the other of the raw
material of the new, could hardly be considered fit to take the field. The
battle of Schwechat had severed the connection between the German and
Hungarian revolutions, and the Magyars had their own intolerance to thank
for the fact that from the island of Mur on the borders of Styria to Kronstadt
in Burzenland the whole south was in arms against them. The national
tricolour floated only over the region north of this line and up to the
Carpathians.
The Servians, though torn by party dissensions, still held the entrench-
ments of Szent Tomasch against the repeated assaults of Kiss and Mezaros,
and thereby helped to divide the forces of Hungary; while both the Servian
voivodeship, granted "in recognition of Servia's heroic resistance to the
enemies of the throne," and the restoration of the Greek patriarchate at Karlo-
witz, imparted to the national revolt of Servia more and more of the character
of a struggle to maintain legitimate authority. After the sudden death of
Suplicac, the newly-appointed voivode, on December 27th, the imperial
authority was the only one recognised by the Servian race; and in January,
1849, the Bacska and the Banat were finally evacuated by the Hungarians.
In Transylvania, as in Servia, the imperials were forced by their numerical
weakness to rest satisfied with opposing revolution to revolution. After
Magyar terrorism had proved of no avail to prevent either the mutiny of the
Wallachian border regiments or the confirmation and amplification of the
Blasendorf decrees, the local commanders, Puchner and Lieutenant-Colonel
Urban, acting on direct orders from Vienna, openly renounced their allegiance
to the Pest government and helped to organise the Romaic militia which fell
upon the Magyar towns with bestial fury. Klausenburg had to buy them off
with a ransom of two millions, and by the middle of November nearly the
whole of Transylvania was again under imperial domination.
On the west, however, from the Drave to the Carpathians, the castigator of
Vienna girdled the rebellious land in overwhelming force. His first army
corps, under Jellachich, was to operate on the right of the Drave; the second,
under Wrbna, on the left; Nugent was collecting a force of six thousand men
652 THE HISTORY OF AUSTRIA-HUJ^GAEY
[1849 A.D.-J
in the island of Mur, Simunich was posted on the March, Count Schlick at
Dukla in Gahcia: making altogether a force of 110,000 men, inclusive of the
divisions in Transylvania and the Banat. In spite of the stupid pedantry of
the commander-in-chief, by which far more time was lost over the military
preparations than need have been, the success of the plan devised by Latour
seemed to admit of no doubt.
According to this plan, a concentric advance from this periphery was to
drive revolution out of the third capital of Hungary, as it had been driven out
of Prague and Alenna. So convinced was Gorgey, the Hungarian general, of
the impossibility of holding this long line against a force so far superior, that
he advised the transfer of the defensive frontier, as well as of the seat of gov-
ernment and the diet, to beyond the Theiss ; thus to gain time to complete the
equipment of an army which was still in embryo. But Kossuth, the president
of the committee of national defence, who saw part of the nation fall away
from him with every lost hand's breadth of the soil, insisted on maintaining
the positions already taken.
The first blow in the Austrian advance was struck by Schlick, who dis-
persed the militia levies that barred his way, took Eperies and Kaschau; sent
Mezaros, who had hurried to the rescue of the latter place, home with his
wounded pride (January 4th, 1849) ; and thus seriously threatened the Hun-
garian right. Gorgey's troops were also scattered at their first contact with
Jellachich as he crossed the Leitha. Presburg and the fortified positions at
Raab were occupied by the Austrians almost without a blow, Gorgey's rear
guard only was reached and routed at Babolna on December 28th, and at the
same time Simunich crossed the Lesser Carpathians and on the 16th defeated
Guyon, who was to cover Tyrnau. From Raab Windischgriitz issued a proc-
lamation threatening to hang anyone who abetted the revolutionary authori-
ties, to rase every hostile town, and to confiscate the property of all rebels.
At Kossuth's instance Perczel did indeed turn, in order to counteract the
demoralising elTect of perpetual retreat; but he also suffered defeat at Moor
on December 31st, while trying to keep a far superior force of the enemy from
breaking through from the Bakony Forest.
AVhen it was no longer possible to conceal the danger by lying reports, the
principal towns were seized with consternation. A deputation consisting of
persons of the highest consideration, which was sent to meet Prince Windisch-
griitz, brought back nothing but a demand for unconditional submission;
the field-marshal had refused to receive even its head. Count Louis Batthy-
anyi. Necessity now drove the council of war to decide upon abandoning
the capital and retreating, according to Gorgey's original proposal, beyond
the Theiss, where climate and soil would fight for the Hungarians. The diet
and the committee of national defence fled to Debreczen, taking with them
the insignia of royalty and the press for issuing bank-notes. Perczel, at
Szolnok, covered the retreat, Gorgey with sixteen thousand men took up a
position at Waitzen, partly with a view to diverting Windischgriitz 's atten-
tion and partly to relieve Leopoldstadt, which was being besieged by Simunich.
On the 5th of January the Austrians marched into Buda-Pest. The
official Wiener Zeitung announced ''the glorious conclusion of the campaign."
Everyone praised the saviour of the monarchy, the only cause for dissatis-
faction being that victory had been so easy. ' The army gave itself up to the
delights of a new Capua, no one was hard-worked except the court martial
and executioners. Louis Batthydnyi, his brother-in-law Count Karolyi, D.
Pazmandy, and generals Hrabowsky, Lazar, and Moga were among the per-
sons arrested; '' even individuals who had taken the least part or no part at all
EEACTION" AXD EEVOLT 653
[1849 A.T).]
in the revolution" were required to exculpate themselves before a special com-
mission. So desperate did the case of the Hungarians seem that most of their
older officers withdrew from the army.
Deliverance came to them through Gorgey; through him, too, came perdi-
tion, in the shape of discord between the* military party and the government.
The ambitious and quarrelsome leader hated Kossuth in his character of
superior no less than in that of demagogue; in an address to his troops at
Waitzen he passed the most acrimonious censures upon the government and
the diet, coupled with the express declaration that the army was only defend-
ing the constitution sanctioned by King Ferdinand, and the diet was obliged
meekly to overlook the insubordination of an indispensable officer. Gorgey's
real object, after he had been obliged to abandon the relief of Leopoldstadt,
was to join the army of the Theiss; but the superior strength of the enemy
who encompassed him compelled him to take refuge in the inhospitable and
snow-clad mountain region between Schemnitz, Kremnitz, and Neusohl.
In this lurking-place he conceived the project of throwing himself upon
Schlick's rear, which, flushed with victory, was preparing to drive the troops
collected at Tokay, under the young and gifted George Klapka, across the
Theiss, and to repeat in Debreczen the havoc wrought by Windischgratz at
Pest. Twice Schlick had attacked the encampment at Tokay in vain, when
Gorgey unexpectedly appeared upon the scene, and, Guyon having provided
him with means of egress from the Zips by storming the Braniczko Pass on
February 5th, reached Eperies on the following day, joined hands with
Klapka, and forced Schlick to quit Kaschau with all speed and, relinquishing
his connection with Galicia, to fall back in fugitive haste upon the main army.
Even thus he would have run straight into the arms of Perczel, who was
marching to intercept him from the south after a successful engagement with
the Ottinger brigade of cavalry at Szolnok, if the dissensions between his
adversaries and the supreme military authority had not proved his salvation.
The Hungarian Defeat at Kdpolna (lSJf9 A.D.J
The committee of national defence fancied that it had at last found its
long-sought commander-in-chief in old Dembinski, one of those Poles who in
every revolution fought for their native land alone. Hence — over and above
his military experience — he brought with him a political programme, accord-
ing to which Hungary, together with the autonomous states of the Croats and
Serbs, was to form a federal state to act as a barrier to Russia, and which pal-
liated every act of military insubordination by the excuse of resistance to aims
utterly irrelevant to the Hungarian revolution and repugnant to the majority
of the nation. Coupled with his rough and quarrelsome disposition, this dis-
crepancy fanned the flame of discord to a blaze. Perczel sent in his resigna-
tion, Gorgey and Klabka gnashed their teeth with rage at the contradictori-
ness which had frustrated their plans and allowed Schlick to slip away.
Under these unfavourable auspices Dembinski attempted an offensive
movement against Pest, in which Gorgey and Klapka were to co-operate
from Erlau, Repasy from Szolnok, and Damjanics, now on the march from
the south, by way of Cybakhaza. Just at this juncture, however, Win-
dischgratz had been shaken out of his sluggish inaction by Sclilick, who
was on fire with impatience to wipe out his score with Gorgey. Before
Dembinski could reach Gyongyos he fell in with the main body of the hostile
army at Kapolna, on February 27th, 1849. The battle was still undecided
654 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUXGAEY
[1840 A.D.]
when Schlick's vigorous attack on his right flank determined Dembinski to
rehnquish the struggle and retreat.
The battle of Kapolna, unimportant from a military point of view inas-
much as it left the situation as it was, had important consequences for the
Hungarian side, for it brought the exasperation against Dembinski to a head.
All the divisonal commanders, Gorgey, Aulich, Repasy, and Ivlapka, refused
to serve under him any longer. Kossuth was forced to sacrifice his protege to
them; but he appointed Vetter, not the senior general the suspected Gorgey,
in his place. Vetter, however, fell ill, and the chief command soon passed to
Gorgey. Shortsighted and arrogant, the tyrants of Olmiitz did not think it
worth their while to inquire minutely into the state of things on the Hungar-
ian side — still less to win over those who were inclined to an amicable settle-
ment, or to take advantage of the aversion the majority in the Debreczen diet
bore to Kossuth. But in the midst of their triumph the incapable handling
of the army beyond the Leitha transformed victory into shameful defeat.
Hungarian Successes (February- June, 181^9)
The dire transformation was ushered in by Bem — on whom Kossuth had
bestowed the chief command of the Transylvanian army which had practically
almost ceased to exist — more with the object of removing an adversary of
the democratic party than in the expectation of important achievements,
Bem however displayed such a mastery of the art of guerrilla warfare and such
marvellous celerity of movement that within a week he had wrested the greater
part of Transylvania from Puchner, a brave man but dull. In the open, indeed,
at the battles of Hermannstadt and Mediach, the bold factionary lost the
advantages he had won and the towms of Klausenburg and Vasiirhely which
he had taken; but when all thought him lost he fell suddenly upon Urban's
division, drove it back into Bukowina, and gave Puchner such a fright that
he could think of nothing better to do than to call the Russian troops quar-
tered in Wallachia under Liiders to his assistance. For the emperor Nicholas
had taken advantage of the confusion of the rest of Europe to re-establish, by
garrisoning the Danubian principalities, that tutelary control which he bit-
terly repented having resigned by giving up the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi.
On February 2nd the Russians marched into Hermannstadt and Kron-
stadt, and Puchner, under cover of the Russian force, obliged Bem to flee
to Schassburg. He nevertheless re-appeared, took Hermannstadt again on
March 11th, and drove the Russians, together with Puchner and his whole
division, through the Rothenthurm Pass and across the frontier. By the end
of March the whole of Transylvania, with the exception of the little fortress
of Karlsburg, was in Bem's hands, and he was able to join hands with Perczel,
who had meanwhile been successfully fighting the Serbs, had WTested Szent
Tomasch and the Romerschanze from them, relieved Peterwardein, and now,
in conjunction with Bem, made himself master of the whole Banat.
Meanwhile Windischgriitz stayed as if spell-bound in Pest, vainly wait-
ing for the fall of the besieged town of Komarom, wearing his troops out by
useless marches to and fro, and doubly nervous since the discomfiture of his
advanced guard by Damjanics at Szolnok on March 5th. His inaction
allowed Gorgey to concentrate the main body of the Hungarian army, now
amounting to 50,000 men with 182 guns, on the line from Kapolna to Poroszlo.
The operations were opened by Gaspar and Poltenberg, who flung Schlick
back from Hatvan upon Godollo on the 2nd of April; and on the 4th the
EEACTION" AND REVOLT 655
[1849 A.D.I
engagement at Tapio Bicske put Aulich, Klapka, and Damjanics in possession
of all the roads leading from the Thiess to the capital. Menaced thus on the
right flank and again repulsed at Isaszeg by Aulich's opportune arrival, the
field-marshal continued his retreat to the very walls of Pest, "in order"
as his bulletin phrases it, " to draw nearer to his reserves — a movement
which the enemy followed up with the utmost rapidity." Damjanics took
Waitzen on the 10th, and the fight at Nagy Salo on the 19th drove the Aus-
trians beyond the Waag and completed the relief of Kamarom.
Loth as the government was to take any action adverse to the much
vaunted saviour of the monarchy, and thereby to aim a blow at the founda-
tions of the reactionary system, the prince's political and military incompe-
tence made it imperative to recall him at once, though with the greatest
possible show of consideration. His place was taken by the aged Welden
as a temporary makeshift, and the equally incapable Jellachich was trans-
ferred to Essek as commander of an army destined to keep the southern
Slav under control. The new commander-in-chief promptly arrived at the
conviction that his task must be limited to the extrication of the army,
decimated as it was by war, cholera, and typhus, and that the main objective
of defence was no longer Pest but Vienna. Committing the charge of the
citadel of Buda to General Hentzy, with instructions to hold out as long as
possible, he himself set out on his retreat to the frontier, and the war had to
be begun over again from where it had started four months before.
Kossuth Proclaims Hungary Independent (April lUh, 18Jt9)
Much of the advantage of these brilliant successes was, however, lost to
the Hungarians, not merely through the dissensions of their leaders but
through the headlong violence of political passions. In the intoxication of
joy at a turn of fortune so far beyond their hopes, the laboriously fostered
chimera of a lawful struggle for a rightful king faded away, the party of
reconciliation left the radicals masters of the field, and Kossuth swept the
diet along to the irreparable breach. On April 14th he proclaimed from the
pulpit of the Reformed church at Debreczen the independence of Hungary
and the deposition of the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, and therewith a life-
and-death struggle in place of peace for which most men yearned. Though
not expressly christened a republic, the new state was virtually a republic
with Kossuth for its president.
The consequences of this extreme measure were not what its author had
anticipated. The rendering of ties hallowed by time robbed both nation
and army of their unquestioning confidence in the justice of their cause,
begot confusions and divisions, and deprived the Magyars of the sympathy
which their gallant resistance to a brutal reaction had won at home and
abroad. The storming of Buda, which Hentzy defended to the death, and
the triumphal entry of Kossuth into liberated Pest, seemed at first fresh
pledges of ultimate victory; but the fact that— to the amazement of the
Austrians — the pursuit of Welden was neglected for the sake of the tedious
reduction of Buda was perhaps the turning-point of the war.
The independence of Hungary was only possible on two assumptions:
(1) that she would never have to assert herself against any enemy except
Austria, and (2) that the flower of the Austrian army would continue to be
locked up in Italy. Both were fallacious. The victorious conclusion of the
war with Sardinia allowed Austria to place generals of the school of Radetzky
in the field, and by that means to restore to her troops that confidence in
656 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGARY
[1849 A.D.]
their leaders which they had lost. From Italy, invested with absolute
authority, came the new commander-in-chief, Haynau, an illegitimate son
of the first elector of Hesse, a man of fierce and pitiless energy, who had
gained a terrible reputation as commandant of Verona and by the cruel
chastisement he had inflicted on rebellious Brescia. In like manner, while
the Hungarian Republic was vainly striving to gain recognition abroad, the
young emperor found a foreign ally.
The Russians aid Austria (ISJ^Q A.D.J
The rebuff, with which a confidential inquiry relative to an occupation
of Galicia by Russian troops had met, had not stood in the way of their
co-operation in Transylvania. Now, under the hourly apprehension of seeing
the Hungarians before the gates of Vienna, Schwarzenberg bowed his proud
neck to the deepest of humiliations and entreated the help of Austria's ancient
rival in subjugating them. The emperor Nicholas, that heaven-born defender
of the common interests of all governments against the international propa-
ganda of the revolution, who had a Polish revolution to ward off in Hungary
into the bargain, saw with supreme delight that same Austria which had so
often proved intractable now at his feet, and no magnanimity mitigated the
manner in which he granted the boon. He would not give his consent to
the levy of an auxiliary corps, and Austria was obliged to acquiesce in an
arrangement by which the Russian army under Paskevitch (the strength of
which the czar reserved to himself the right of determining) was to pose as
the real main army; and the Austrians, who were joined by special request
by the Panjutine division, were to take the position of subordinates. More-
over, at an interview between the two emperors at Warsaw, the commence-
ment of their joint operations was deferred to the middle of June.
Paskevitch came down with four columns through the passes of the
Carpathians to the lowlands of Hungary, and at the same time Liiders made
a fresh invasion into Transylvania, their combined forces amounting to
150,000 men. The Hungarians had been seized with the wildest consterna-
tion at the announcement of Russian assistance. Kossuth urged that the
invasion should be rendered impossible by laying the country waste and
destroying all dwellings and provisions; but the people, exhausted, sobered,
and impoverished by the lavish issue of paper money, could not rise to such
desperate measures. The magnitude of the danger, instead of enforcing
concord, merely inflamed the mutual jealousies of the generals and their
exasperation against the president; Gorgey in particular made an open
exhibition of his opposition to Kossuth whenever he could. After a long
period of indecision he threw himself upon the left bank of the Danube to
prevent the junction of his opponents, without a suspicion that Haynau had
decided to take the offensive independently on the right in order to avoid
direct contact with his haughty ally. Hence, while Gorgey was repulsed
at Pered on the 21st and 22nd of June with considerable loss as he attempted
to carry the right bank of the Waag, Haynau wrested the poorly garrisoned
town of Raab from the Hungarians on the 28th, under the eyes of his emperor.
These two mishaps brought the council of war to the determination to concen-
trate the army on the Theiss and Marosch wnth. the Banat as its base, leaving
only a strong garrison in Komarom, and to make separate attacks upon the
enemy as occasion offered.
For the second time the government and the diet fled to Szegedin. To
the prevaDing misery Kossuth added the blunder of taking the chief command
REACTION AND REVOLT 657
[1849 A.D.]
away from Gorgey and giving it to Mezaros, who was invariably unlucky in
the field. The outspoken opposition of the corps of officers obliged him,
however, to keep Gorgey at the head of the army on the Danube. Gorgey
showed all the less inclination to fall back upon the Theiss, and not until he
had made two futile attacks on the Austrians at Acs (July 3rd and 11th),
did he set out, at the risk of having his retreat cut off by the Russians on the
left bank of the Danube, or by the Austrians on the right. Klapka stayed
behind at Komarom with eighteen thousand men. Moving in a wide circle,
by Miskolcz and Nyiregyhaza, Gorgey reached Grosswardein after some
successful engagements with the Russians. If the Austrians had fastened
upon his retreating heels, according to their agreement with the Russians,
he could hardly have escaped annihilation, but Haynau was in a hurry to
be beforehand with the Russians in occupying the capital. Concerned above
all things to maintain the glory of the Austrian arms by stamping out the
revolution in the south by his single and unaided exertions, he intended next
to relieve the hard-pressed garrison of Temesvar and to join hands with the
ban, who had been repulsed on the 14th of July by Vetter and Guyon, but
was still holding his own within his main ramparts on the Tittel plateau.
Haynau reached Szegedin on August 3rd, before the Hungarians could effect
the proposed concentration of their forces at that place. What was left of
the diet migrated to Arad, which had fallen on the first of July after a three
months' siege, and had been selected as the final point d'appui. But Haynau
forced the passage of the Theiss, and by a successful engagement at Szored
on August 5th drove the enemy from the Arad road to that which led to
Temesvar. On the same day Bem's army, which had defended itself against
overwhelming numbers with the courage of despair, was dispersed by Liiders
at Gross-Scheuren. He himself arrived wounded under the walls of Temesvar
just in time to take over from the unskilful Dembinski the direction of the
battle by which Haynau relieved that fortress on August 9th.
Gorgey Surrenders at Vildgos {August, 1849)
Gorgey had reached Arad too late to save it. All was lost. Reluctantly,
at the urgent request of the council of war, Kossuth resigned his dignity and
authority to Gorgey on the 11th and took flight for Turkey. Nothing was
left for the army but unconditional surrender. On the 13th of August more
than 23,000 men with 144 guns laid down their arms on the field of Vilagos
before the Russians, with whom Gorgey had been negotiating for some time
previously with the cognisance of his government. "Hungary," Paskevitch
wrote to the emperor Nicholas, " lies at your majesty's feet. I have the *
satisfaction of announcing that the only condition stipulated for was permis-
sion to surrender to your majesty's army." The remaining divisions sur-
rendered one after another. After a last stand at Lugos on August 15th
Bem sought safety in flight, also to Turkish soil. Komarom held out till
September 27th, when Klapka capitulated on honourable terms.
The imputation of treason has been cast upon Gorgey, but unjustly. Yet
he laid an even greater burden of guilt upon himself by ignoring the Aus-
trians out of sheer animosity and surrendering to the Russians; for the course
he thus took was the exact opposite of the one that might have served to
alleviate the lot of the vanquished and those who had nothing but punish-
rnent to anticipate, and by which he might have contributed to the preserva-
tion of the national rights of Hungary.
H. W. — VOL. XIV. 2U
658 THE HISTOEY OF AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY
[1849 A.D.]
THE PUNISHMENT OF HUNGARY (1849 A.D.)
Exasperation and the thirst for revenge had now free play. Haynau,
according to Radetzky's verdict '^ sharp as a razor, that should be put into the
sheath directly it is done with," was a stranger to the impulse and the art of
forgiveness, and no higher hand bridled his cruelty. The victor was con-
verted into the executioner, punishment became vengeance. At Arad thir-
teen Hungarian officers of high rank were executed, nine of them by the
halter; Gorgey escaped a like fate by the intercession of Russia, and was
interned at Klagenfurt. Louis Batthyanyi met his doom at Pest by powder
and shot, a self-inflicted wound in the neck making the use of the rope imprac-
ticable. There were incarcerations, degradations of Honved officers to the
ranks, and other punishments without number, and the depreciation of Kos-
suth notes reduced thousands of families to poverty. Things came to such a
pass that Palmerston conveyed to the Austrian government in the strongest
terms the indignation felt by the English people at the reign of terror set up in
its name.
The Hungarian constitution was treated as forfeit; the country remained
under martial law ; even the idea of breaking it up into several crown provinces
was discussed. The blindness of this hatred even induced Austria to lend a
hand in browbeating the Sublime Porte, which in April Russia had forced to
consent, by the Treaty of Balta Limani, to her protectorate of the Danubian
principalities for a period of seven years. Both powers demanded with threats
the surrender of the fugitive ringleaders, but an English fleet at anchor in the
Dardanelles and the encouragement of the other ambassadors gave the
Divan courage to refuse the demand, in the name of humanity; and the two
powers were forced to be content with the internment of the fugitives. ^
radetzky's campaign against SARDINIA (1849 A.D.)
Meantime in the spring of 1849 hostilities were renewed in Italy. The
Piedmontese minister Gioberti had desired to delay the resumption of the
contest till the army should have been reorganised; but on the 20th of Febru-
ary, 1849, he was forced to resign, and on the 12th of March Charles Albert
urged on by the radical party, declared the armistice at an end. «
The auspices under which Sardinia re-entered the arena were by no means
calculated to inspire lively confidence. Forced to rely in this struggle upon
her own unassisted exertions, she looked in vain among Gioberti's successors
in office for the man of genius whose breath should be able to inspire the
state, the nation, and the army. With the last-named body the war was
unpopular. Of the 120,000 men who composed it, 85,000 only could be put
in the field, the staff was of inferior quality, and the equipment left much to be
desired. There was great difficulty in obtaining a competent commander-in-
chief after Bava, the only man fit for the post, had been sacrificed to the
animosity of certain officers of high rank. As no Frenchman was to be had,
the Pole Chrzanowsky was sent for at Bugeaud's suggestion — a man of
mean appearance, a perfect stranger to the army, and ignorant even of its
language. But the worst evil was the right of interference which, in spite of
his sorry qualifications as a general, the king reserved to himself under the
title of the supreme command. On the other side, Radetzky had only seventy
thousand men, but most of these were seasoned veterans, each one proudly
EEACTIOX AND EEYOLT 650
[1849 A.D.]
conscious of superiority in everything that conduces to victory. His artil-
lery was also the stronger by a third. The second reserve corps, under Hay-
nau, stayed behind in Venetian territory.
The field-marshal shrouded his plans in profound secrecy. While doing
everything to confirm the enemy in the belief that he intended to confine him-
self to acting on the defensive, merely holding fortified places and thinking of
nothing but his retreat across the Adda, he quietly made preparations to take
them unawares by a flank attack of astonishing vigour and celerity. Under
cover of a close line of outposts along the Ticino, he succeeded in entirely con-
cealing his strategic dispositions from the enemy up to the actual commence-
ment of the decisive struggle. In order to complete the deception he chose
to march from Milan, on March 18th, by the road that led eastwards to Lodi,
but turned sharply to the right towards St. Angelo; and on the morning of
the 20th arrived, to the amazement of his own troops, at Pavia. Thither, too,
came by forced marches the troops posted along the right bank of the Po as far
as Piacenza and north of the line of the Adda up to Brescia.
On the stroke of the hour that proclaimed the expiration of the armistice,
the Austrians crossed the river frontier. This movement took the enemy so
completely by surprise that their counter evolutions fell into confusion before
they could be fairly developed. Ramorino, who had occupied the strong
position at La Cava with the Lombard legion, evacuated it after a short
struggle, and by retreating across the Po left the passage of the Gravelonne
open. Meanwhile the king and Chrzanowsky had crossed the Ticino at the
head of their army at Buffalora, and then, amazed at finding no enemy,
returned to Trecate. The news of Radetzky's invasion did not arrive from
Pavia till nine o'clock in the evening, and it brought all the Sardianian plans
for offensive action to nought. Chrzanowsky resolved to divide his army;
Durando and the duke of Genoa were to detain the Austrians before Mortara
until he himself could come up with the rest of his forces; General Bes was to
march by way of Vigevano, cut off their communications with Pavia, and
drive them to the Po.
Radetzky, unaware of these dispositions on the part of the enemy, met
with determined resistance at both these places on the 21st; but by evening
Durando was obliged to abandon Mortara with heavy loss to the storming
party under D'Aspre, after an engagement in which Colonel Benedek greatly
distinguished himself. At Vigevano the opportune arrival of Wohlgemuth,
who had crossed the Ticino at Bereguardo, decided the day in favour of the
Austrians. Strategically the campaign was lost to the Sardinians after these
two battles, their line of retreat to Alessandria was cut off, that by Vercelli to
Turin was seriously threatened.
Battle of Novara (m9 A.D.)
Radetzky assumed that as a matter of course they would withdraw behind
the Sesia, and accordingly ordered Thurn's and Wratislaw's divisions to the
Vercelli road; but this assumption was falsified by Chrzanowsky, who col-
lected his whole force (which still amounted to 54,000 men, with 122 pieces of
artillery — 22,000 men being isolated on the far side of the Po) in a very advan-
tageous position for a defensive battle at Novara, with his flanks resting on
two brooks, the Agogna and the Terdoppio. Even D'Aspre, falling in with
the enemy at Olengo on the 23rd, imagined that he had merely conie up with
the rearguard of the retreating force, and incautiously attacked with his fif-
teen thousand men.
660 THE HISTORY OF AUSTEIA-HUIS^GAEY
[1849 A.D.]
Becoming aware of his mistake, he sent in hot haste for reinforcements.
By the time that the other corps, guided by the roar of cannon, arrived on the
scene of action, his troops had been reduced to the last stage of exhaustion in
the struggle with a superior force of the enemy. Thurn took the right wing
of the enemy in the rear, and towards evening the key of the position, in the
centre, at the hamlet of Bicocca, was carried by assault after an obstinate
resistance. Wherever the balls rained thickest Charles Albert was to be
found, rigid and immoveable ; but death disdained a self-devoted victim, and
in the end he was dragged away almost by force.
A night of horror followed for the city, where the beaten and utterly
demoralised army gave itself up to the grossest excesses. The king sent to
beg for an armistice ; but, receiving no answer except bitter reproaches for his
breach of faith from the mouth of the chief of the staff. Von Hess, he abdicated
that same evening in favour of his son, that his person might not serve as an
obstacle to the conclusion of peace. Passing unrecognised through the Aus-
trian outposts, he left Nice for Oporto, where he died broken-hearted on July
29th, atoning for many faults in the past by martyrdom for the independence
of his country. In so doing he gave a nobler and loftier consecration to
monarchy in his kingdom than could have been conferred by the most brilliant
victory, and a vital force without which it might have been uprooted before it
had firmly established itself by the prevalence of republican ideas.
On the morning of the 24th Radetzky granted the desired armistice in a
personal interview with the young king Victor Emmanuel at the farmhouse
of Vignale. He turned a deaf ear to the murmurs of his army, which was eager
to dictate terms of peace at Turin. Consideration for the situation in Hun-
gary, which was steadily becoming more critical, and the wish to avoid inter-
ference from the western powers to whom Sardinia had appealed, induced him
to rest satisfied with stipulating that she should place her army on a peace
footing, disband the corps which were composed of Austrian subjects, and
leave the district between Alessandria and the Sesia in his hands as security
for peace.
Such was the end of the six days' campaign, which was lauded as a master-
piece of strategy. Brescia, which had revolted on the day of the battle of
Novara, deluded with false hopes by the Mazzinists, was stormed by Haynau
on the 31st of March and subjected to most frightful punishment. On the
Sardinian side, the fanatics flung themselves upon Genoa, recruited a host of
criminals, adventurers, and dock-labourers, and proclaimed the republic;
but surrendered to General La Marmora without a blow on April 5th. Ramor-
ino was tried by court-martial and shot, because the army and the populace
clamoured for a victim. But the patriots held with unabated fervour the
faith that so much blood had not been shed for their country in vain.
Radetzky was eager for peace — he wanted a free hand to deal with cen-
tral Italy; but Schwarzenberg desired to reduce the vanquished to quiescence
for a long time to come. On one condition the young king could have secured
more lenient terms — he could have altered the constitution and given in his
adherence to the policy for Austria; for a constitutional Sardinia was a thorn
in the side of Austrian dominion in Italy. But Victor Emmanuel withstood
the temptation. He nominated D'Azeglio, who had been wounded at Vicenza,
his prime minister, and D'Azeglio's name was warrant that Sardinia, though
vanquished, would not strike the flag of national liberty. More than once
negotiations were on the point of being broken off; and although Austria,
anxious not to raise the tension to breaking-point, reduced the war-indemnity
to 75,000,000 francs, a third of the sum originally demanded, the Turin
REACTION AND REVOLT 6G1
[1850 A.D.]
chamber refused to ratify the peace because it included no indemnity for the
Lombard fugitives. As Austria remained inexorable upon this point, D'Azeg-
lio, careless of the clamour of the radicals, dissolved the chamber, the king
himself addressed an exhortation to discretion to his subjects, and in January,
1850, the new chamber granted the desired ratification.
The fate of Venice had likewise been decided on the field of Novara. On
the 26th Fort Maghere was evacuated after an obstinate but unavailing
defence, and at the news of Vilagos the city itself capitulated, stipulating only
that the leaders should be allowed to depart unmolested.^
BRIEF REFERENCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS
[The letter a is reserved for Editorial Matter]
Introduction
^ Franz X. von Krones, Handbuch der Oeschichte Oesterreichs. — •'C. L. Perthes, StaatS'
leben von der Revolution. — K. M. K., Briefe Ober die ungarische Frage.
Chapter I. Shaking off the Napoleonic Yoke [1806-1815 a.d.]
''A. Wolf, Kaiser Franz I8O4-I8II, in Oesterreichische Oeschichte fur da8 Yolk. — " H. vON
Sybel, Kleine historisehe Schriften. — <*A. Springer, QescMchte Oesterreichs seit detn Wiener
Frieden 1809. — «E. Wertheimer, GescJiichte Oesterreichs nnd Ungarns im ersten Jalirzehnt des
19 Jahrhunderts. — fD. Muller, Oeschichte des deutschen Volkes. — » J. Majlath, Oeschichte des
osterreichischen Kaiserstaates. — '^W. Oncken, Das Zeitalter der Bewlution, des Eaiserreiches und
der Befreiungskriege.
Chapter II. From the Restoration to the March Revolution [1815-1848 a.d.]
* Walter Kelly. Continuation of Coxe's House of Austria. — « A. Springer, Oeschichte
OesterreicJis seit dem Wiener Frieden 1809. — <*A. Beer, Die orientalische Politik Oesterreichs
seit 1774. — « Montbel, Le Dug de ReicJistadt. — /"A. Schmidt, Zeitgenossische Oeschichten. — cG.
G. Gervinos, Oeschichte des 19 Jahrhunderts seit den Wiener Vertriigen. — ^'H. Reschauer, Drt«
Jahr 1848. — *J. Ma.jlath, Oeschichte des dsterreichischen Kaiserstaates. — 'E. Ashley, Life of
Palmerston from I846 to 1865. — '"Mariotti, Italy in 181(8.
Chapter III. Reaction and Revolt [1848-1850 a. D.J
* H. T. Flathe, Das Zeitalter der Restauration und Revolution 1815-1861 (Oncken Series).
— ^oW. MtJLLER, Politische Oeschichte der neuesten Zeit 1816-1875. — <'A. Springer, Oeschichte
Oesterreichs seit dem Wiener Frieden 1809 (Biedermann's Staatengeschichte). — ^3. Majlath,
Oeschichte des osterreichischen Kaiserstaates. — /W. Kelly, History of the House of Austria from
the Accession of Francis I to the Revolution of I8J1S (Continuation of Coxe's House of Austria).
662
GERMANY
at the time of the
Reformation
Habsbu'g Possession^
Hohenzollern Possessions, ,
Ecclesiastical Territories pBHKl
Imperial Cities ■— — ^
SCALE OF MILES
Longitude
The Historians' History of the World. Vol. XIV.
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